Missouri Life August 2016

SHOTGUN!

115 Summer Send-Offs • The County That Seceded

ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’!

ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’!

THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY

Coming HOME A Stagecoach Returns to the Ozarks

TOP

5 TENDERLOINS

The New State Park Our Peach Capital

AUG

August $4.992016 US | $4.99

(Display until September 30)

Cool Cave Tours

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EVEN MOTHER NATURE PUTS ON

A BIG SHOW

L A KE TA N E YCO M O

There’s always something breathtaking to be a part of in Branson - where you’ll find fall puts on quite a show.

Spend idyllic days surrounded by autumn color. Catch a show or two. Or witness American craftsmanship at it’s finest.

With so much to experience, fall in Branson is a season that will last a lifetime.

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Kansas City’s Northland

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Contents AUGUST 2016

[38] OZARKS GETAWAY Discover the newest member of the Missouri State Parks family, Echo Bluff State Park.

featured >

[22] SHOW-ME BOOKS A new book explores the beauty, history, and majesty of Downtown St. Louis, and we take a look at six more Missouri books.

[28] MUSIC Missouri native Leroy Van Dyke rose to prominence more than fifty years ago, and today, he still pleases fans with his Country Gold tour.

[30] MISSOURI ARTIST

special features >

[34] DIAMONDS IN THE SKY Summer is the best season for stargazing and for photographing the galactic center of the Milky Way galaxy. Learn some tips to do it yourself.

[44] OUR COOLEST CAVERNS With more than 6,400 caves, Missouri is the cave state. Go inside fi e of the state’s most legendary caverns that you can visit this summer.

[50] COMING HOME The Journey stagecoach has lived many lives: a mail carrier, an adventure park attraction, and an educational tool. Now, this stagecoach final y comes home to Branson.

[56] A COUNTY SECEDES Sixty year ago, the Missouri Department of Tourism forgot to include McDonald County on a vacation map. How the county reacted was priceless.

St. Louis mural artist Peat Wollaeger wants Missourians to keep their eyes open for his work.

[68] MUSINGS ON MISSOURI Senior columnist Ron Marr tries to strike a balance between the digital and real worlds.

[70] NO PLACE LIKE HOME Lorry Myers reminisces on a family trip to the Gateway City that her family remembers as the best worst vacation ever.

[84] SHOW-ME FLAVOR Fried pork tenderloin sandwiches are synonymous with Midwestern cuisine. Although they likely originated in Indiana, these tasty, decadent treats have perhaps been perfected in the Show-Me State.

[62] SWEET AS A PEACH For many people across the state, visiting Bader Farms is a summer tradition.

Take a look inside the operation, and plan your visit during the peach season.

special section > [72] FALL FUN At summer’s twilight, begin to plan your autumn with the section of fall festivals and fun.

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Contents

CONTENT BY LOCATION 88

AU G US T 2 0 1 6

departments >

89 16, 87

[12] MEMO

[20] MADE

Publisher Greg Wood is thrilled with

Tritone Guitars in St. Louis is helping

our new Route 66 guide, and Editor in

kids rock. Stacey’s Terrariums in Jack-

Chief Danita Allen Wood recounts a

son makes funky planters. And Ayers

wild ride following a stagecoach.

pottery in Hannibal offe s brightly

20, 46 20, 22, 28, 60, 36 89 75, 88, 26 89 92 19 49 16 50 49 19 40 20 19 16, 49

52

48, 56

64

colored earthen wares.

[14] LETTERS Readers write-in on all sorts of topics:

[88] RECIPES

contest prizes, longtime columnists,

Try your hand at two diffe ent pork

[95] ALL AROUND MISSOURI

Little Dixie, and more.

tenderloin recipes, and make a peachy

From late-summer music festivals to

keen treat.

old-fashioned county fairs, we have a

[16] MO MIX

variety of events for you to attend.

the Ozarks. Visit a Route 66 museum

[90] DINING WORTH THE DRIVE

[114] MISSOURIANA

and another kooky roadside attraction.

Fontenot’s brings traditional Cajun to

Ponder the stars with Huck Finn. Marvel

Learn about Kansas City’s garment his-

Fulton. The Block in St. Louis focuses

at how many hogs the Show-Me State has.

tory, and make a trip to Cape Girardeau

on quality meat. Van Till Winery near

Find a Mark Twain quote worth remem-

during the Greatest Race of the Century.

Rayville is a family-run operation.

bering, and learn more Missouri facts.

Go on an eerie flo t trip. Find peace in

– THIS ISSUE –

On the Web

Sign up for Missouri Lifelines, our free e-newsletter, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/MissouriLife or on Twitter @MissouriLife.

LEROY VAN DYKE PLAYLIST

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM

Want to explore the caves from this issue?

Sedalia native and country artist Leroy Van

If you enjoy the beautiful photography in the

Check our website for a driving tour that will

Dyke has had a long, illustrious career. Listen to

magazine, then you’ll love our Instagram ac-

take you to all fi e locations.

some of our favorite cuts by this music legend.

count. Follow us at @MissouriLife. !

THE MISSOURI CAVE TOUR

Hermann from November 2 to 4. Check our website for more information.

Cowboy Rick Hamby took his stagecoach on one fina journey from Texas to its home in Silver Dollar City. You can meet Cowboy Rick and check out the stagecoach this September at Silver Dollary City's National Harvest & Cowboy Festival.

GUN SHOT ROL LIN’ , RO LLIN ’, RO LLIN ’!

colorists will be hosting workshops in

THE JOURNEY STAGECOACH

ROL LIN’ , RO LLIN ’, RO LLIN ’!

Paint By Numbers

One of Missouri’s greatest living water-

on the cover>

115 Su mm

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Seced ed

Comin g HOME THE SPIR IT

A Stagec oach Re tur

OF DIS COV

ns to the

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Ozarks

5

TOP TEND ERLO INS The N ew State Park Our Pe ach Ca pitol

Cool Ca ve

Tours

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Pla n Y ou r Get a wa y!

So m uch to se e an d do in Le ba no n!

Join us for the inaugural Lebanon Gospel Music Get-Together in Lebanon, Missouri at the Cowan Civic Center. Featuring many of the Bill Gaither Homecoming friends.

Sure to be America’s largest su mmer sing with fans coming from over 30 states and abroad to enjoy the best in Gospel music.

Lebanon is known by its motto, “Friendly people.

Friendly place.”

These events are only part of the fun we have to offer.

Lebanon Gospel Music Get-Together August 3-6 Cowan Civic Center

22nd Annual Case Knives Celebration September 10 Shepherd Hills Factory Outlet on Route 66 417-532-7000

25th annual Starvy Creek Bluegrass Fall Festival September 15-17 Conway, MO 417-589-2013 [7] August 2016

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www.visitmarshallmo.com

Photo: Marshall Cultural Council Photo: Friends of Jim

Photo: Country Patchwork Quilt Guild

Country Patchwork Quilt Guild will host its 29th Annual Quilt Show on September 24 and 25 at the Martin Community Center. At this popular event you can view nearly 100 quilts of varying sizes and techniques.

Purchase chances to win this year’s Opportunity Quilt, shop vendors and the gift bazaar and bid on items in the silent auction. This year’s guest artist is author and pattern and fabric designer, Dawn Heese.

Admission to the quilt show is $5. For more information, call 660-886-8300 or visit www.countrypatchworkquilters.com.

The 2016 Santa Fe Trail Heritage Days will take place September 9 and 10 on the lawn of the beautiful Saline County Courthouse. The event begins with a Chuck Wagon Dinner on Friday evening.

The evening’s fun also includes the Freight Wagon Races and the South Fork Regulators’ re-enactment. Come back Saturday for the baby and toddler contest, the Prince and Princess contest, craft show, children’s games, music in the Jim the Wonder Dog Garden and other special surprises. We invite you to celebrate with us. For details call 660-229-4845 or visit www.marshallculturalcouncil.com.

Photo: Phyllis Moore

When you make plans for the holidays, put the Christmas Homes Tour in Marshall on your list. On December 11 come see 5 beautiful homes all decked out for the season. Visit at your leisure between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Tickets are $10.00 and may be purchased in advance or at any home on the day of the tour. For more information, call 660-886-8191 or visit www.jimthewonderdog.org.

Upcoming Events Be sure to visit the Marshall Welcome Center at 101 N. Lafayette!

Saturdays - Marshall Market on the Square Downtown – 7:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Marshall Market on the square on Facebook or call 660-833-7434 August 6 - First Saturday Lecture – “Genealogy Sleuthing” – Arrow Rock State Historic Site Visitor Center 10:00 a.m. www.arrowrock.org or call 660-837-3231 August 7 - Marshall Bowhunters Budweiser Shoot – Indian Foothills Park, Marshall – 7:00 a.m www.marshallbowhunters.org or call 660-886-2714 August 7 - Friends of Pennytown Homecoming – Pennytown Freewill Church, Marshall – 11:00 a.m. www.pennytownchurch.com or call 660-886-8300

September 3 – First Saturday Lecture – “Both Sides Now: Seeing the Santa Fe Trail from Santa Fe and Missouri” – Arrow Rock State Historic Site Visitor Center – 10:00 a.m. www.arrowrock.org or call 660-837-3231 September 3 – Ice Cream Freeze Off – Arrow Rock Boardwalk 2:00 p.m. www.arrowrock.org or call 660-837-3231 September 22-24 – Viking Stampede Rodeo – Saline County Fairground – 7:00 p.m. www.moval.edu or call 660-831-4230 October 8-9 – 48th Annual Heritage Craft Festival – Arrow Rock – 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday; until 4:00 p.m. Sunday www.arrowrock.org or call 660-837-3231 [8] MissouriLife

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There is much to see and do in our region. Plan to stay with us in Marshall while you travel in the area.

Comfort Inn - Marshall Station 1356 W. College Ave. 660-886-8080 www.comfortinn.com

Moore

our er

The 4th Annual Foothills Fest will take place at the Saline County Fairgrounds on October 14 and 15. Festival participants have the opportunity to soak up two days of art, music, food, fun and camping in a family-friendly environment. Music headliners are Samantha Fish and Come Back Alice.

There will be artists, a kids’ zone, food vendors, beer garden and much more.

Don’t miss one of Marshall’s newest, most popular events. To learn more and to view a list of other performers, visit www.foothillsfestmo.com.

ur .m. nd any e isit

Super 8 of Marshall 1355 W. College Ave. 660-886-3359 www.super8.com Marshall Lodge 1333 W. Vest St. 660-886-2326 www.marshall-lodge.com Kitty’s Corner Guest Houses 228 E. North St. 660-886-8445 Courthouse Lofts 23 N. Lafayette St. 207-841-9364 Claudia’s B & B 3000 W. Arrow St. 660-886-5285

Photo: Marshall Democrat News

Marshall will once again host the 2016 State Cornhusking Championship September 22 - 24. Most activities will be at the Saline County Fairgrounds, with the husking competition taking place nearby. Come take part in 3 days’ worth of events, including Education Day, a parade, biscuit and gravy breakfast, antique machinery show, homemade cookie competition, straw pile money hunt, corn toss, petting zoo, face painting, and of course, the cornhusking competition. This annual event is sure to be fun for all. Visit www.visitmarshallmo.com or call 660-631-2862 to learn more.

Come mark the official end of summer on Labor Day, September 5 at the 14th annual Fall Folk Festival. The festivities take place at Boone’s Lick State Historical Site from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This area was once an important salt mining region. Watch crafters demonstrate 19th century crafts. Listen as musicians play on instruments of the time period. This fun-filled day is free to the public. To learn more, visit www.boonslicktourism.org or call 660-248-2011.

Photo: Marshall Democrat News

Photo: Boonslick Tourism Council

Scan this QR code to visit our website!

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EXPECTATION

THE SPIR IT OF DISCOV ERY 501 High Street, Ste. A, Boonville, MO 65233 660-882-9898 | Info@MissouriLife.com

Publisher Greg Wood Editor in Chief Danita Allen Wood EDITORIAL & ART Managing Editor Jonas Weir Creative Director Sarah Herrera Contributing Editor Martin W. Schwartz Graphic Designer and Staff Photographer Harry Katz Calendar Editor Amy Stapleton Graphic Designer Kath Teoli Graphic Design Assistant Cassandra Hemeyer Contributing Writers Elizabeth A. Alexander, Traci Angel, Amy Burger, David Eslick, Rose Hansen, Savanna Maue, Eddie O'Neill, Alex Stewart, Carolyn Tomlin, Tom Uhlenbrock, Kelsey Walling, Elisha Wells Columnists Ron W. Marr & Lorry Myers Contributing Photographers Elizabeth A. Alexander, Traci Angel, Allen Bluedorn, David Eslick, Rose Hansen, Savanna Maue, Eddie O'Neil, David Piet, Carolyn Tomlin, Lindsey Webster, Elisha Wells MARKETING • 800-492-2593 Eastern District Sales & Marketing Director Scott Eivins, 660-882-9898, ext. 102 Western District Sales & Marketing Director Joe Schmitter 660-882-9898, ext. 104 Sales & Marketing Associate Jim Negen, 855-484-7200 Advertising Coordinator Sue Burns

History comes to life in Cape Girardeau.

Circulation Manager Amy Stapleton Bookkeeping Jennifer Johnson DIGITAL MEDIA MissouriLife.com, Missouri eLife, Facebook, Twitter Director Jonas Weir Editor Sarah Herrera Missouri Lifelines Kath Teoli

VisitCape.com/LST VisitCape.com/HeritageDays

TO SUBSCRIBE OR GIVE A GIFT AND MORE Use your credit card and visit MissouriLife.com or call 800-492-2593, ext. 101 or mail a check for $19.99 (for 6 issues) to: Missouri Life, 501 High Street, Ste. A, Boonville, MO 65233-1211 Change address Visit MissouriLife.com

DESTINATION

OTHER INFORMATION Custom Publishing For your special publications, call 800-492-2593, ext. 106 or email Greg.Wood@MissouriLife.com.

Back Issues Order from website, call, or send check for $10.50. Subject to availability.

’ve

Yoaurrived!

VisitCape.com/LST | VisitCape.com/HeritageDays 800·777·0068 dfghjkldfghjkl;’

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MISSOURI

emo

SNAG OUR ROUTE 66 AND MOTORCYCLE GUIDES! WE ARE PROUD

to announce the first-ever complete guide to Missouri’s Mother Road—Route 66—right on the heels of our second annual Missouri Motorcycle Guide.

We partnered with the Missouri Division of Tourism on both of these handy travel-sized publications, and you can pick up either—or both— for free at any Missouri Tourism Visitor Center and many other places in Missouri. You can also find the Route 66 guide at about any tourism information office along Route 66, which, of course, runs from St. Louis to Joplin.

Route 66 has intrigued us for many years, and we’ve run stories in the past. But now, thanks to Missouri Tourism, we’ve gathered everything together!

We also had many other sponsors along the route. I have driven many parts of what is left of the original route in Missouri, and there is still a lot to see and experience that harkens back to the early days of Route 66. In addition to these points of interest, you’ll find detailed maps of the ten counties in Missouri that historic Route 66 runs through and turn-by-turn directions that take you along the original route.

Missouri plays a significant role in the road’s history as the Route 66 designation was approved at the Colonial Hotel in Springfield in 1926. In 1939, John Steinbeck called it The Mother Road in his classic novel The Grapes of Wrath, and the name stuck.

Our guide is full of photos and points of interest that you can still visit today as you ramble down the old pavement. If you follow our guide, you’ll see things like Ted Drewes’ Frozen Custard, the Mule Trading Post and Rock Shop, the Totem Pole Trading Post, Cuba’s Mural City, the Vacuum Cleaner Museum, the Munger Moss Motel, the Devil’s Elbow Inn, the Old Stagecoach Stop, the Gillioz Theatre, the Precious Moments Chapel, and the Boots Motel, just to name a few.

You’ll still see lots of neon lights, authentic signs, old gas stations, and drive-ins along the way. We really are blessed to have this old historic road and connection to a time when traveling down the open road was a true adventure.

If you’d like us to send a copy of this funfilled Route 66 guide directly to you, just send us a check or money order for $5, and we’ll be GREG WOOD, glad to mail one to you.

PUBLISHER

OUR WILD RIDE ON A RAINY OVERCAST MORNING this spring, my husband, Greg, and I are saddling horses in the High Plains of Texas. We are getting ready to ride alongside an 1880s stagecoach, making its final journey in the Lone Star State before it comes home to stay in Missouri. We’ll be riding from Turkey, Texas to Caprock Canyons State Park. The Wild West suddenly seems very real.

Our two horses are antsy as we get ready to mount up, and the stagecoach is about to roll out. I’m having trouble with my Missouri Foxtrotter mare, Grace. She keeps backing up while I’m trying to mount. Maybe I’m slower because I’m still getting used to my heavy, new—and needed—rattlesnake boots from Kleinschmidt’s Western Store. Greg suggests switching horses, so I reluctantly get on his taller and much younger Foxtrotter mare. I had ridden her only once before.

The stagecoach heads out, and we follow along—or try to. Greg’s horse, Gypsy, is lunging around and fighting me—not liking the fact that the stagecoach is leaving us behind as its four-horse team flies down the road, rushing to get off this high-traffic, paved road and onto the dirt road ahead. Greg yells at me to slow her down or she might bolt. I’d had enough.

I yell back, “I’m not riding this horse!”

So we dismount, with riders ahead of us and riders behind, next to a road where traffic is zooming past. This time, Grace stands perfectly still while I mount—or maybe my step is livelier. Greg has his hands full with Gypsy, too, but he gets her under control, and we can ride.

We had other things to worry about: two Missourians in this land of rattlesnakes, wild bison, and prairie dogs and the holes they make. But we came to meet and ride with the cowboys bringing this stagecoach home to Missouri.

We had a wild ride. I was happy to get home safely and trade my horse for a bicycle. You can DANITA ALLEN WOOD, read about the stagecoach on page 50.

EDITOR

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experience macon this summer!

Missouri wine west winery - macon

town & country fair july 10 - 17 - macon county fairgrounds

Demolition derby

august 20 - Macon county fairgrounds

Fork and cork

august 27 - downtown macon

outdoor fun

View the full calendar of events at www.maconmochamber.com

long branch state park

live theatre

maples repertory theatre

AND SO MUCH MORE!

US 36 US 63

macon, missouri

Photos by Kelly Lewis and Kayla Murphy

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AUGUST

LETTERS from all over You write them. We print them.

A PLACE TO REFLECT Enclosed is a copy of a picture I took at the Higginsville Veterans Cemetery. It is located right next to the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site. The closest stone is where my beloved Chris is buried. This place is so peaceful, quiet, beautiful, and relaxing. When I went there a couple weeks back, it was early morning, and the fog was still present. There wasn’t a sound to be heard except for the birds chirping and some frogs in the trees close by. It was a perfect time to reflect —Tina Thompson, Belton

PRAISE FOR RON MARR I was pleased to see my letter in the April edition of your magazine. However, I left out how much I love and agree with Ron Marr’s “Musings” articles.

Southern Living magazine has Rick Bragg, and we in Missouri have Ron Marr—two gentlemen who tell it like it is but punched with humor! Does Ron Marr have a collection of his articles in book form?

Above: Tina Thompson included this beautiful photo of the Higginsville Veterans Cemetery with her letter.

Below: Dean Hazen sent us this postcard from vacation.

A FOREVER LITTLE DIXIE GUY I am one of your most loyal readers. I’m ninety-eight years old, a forever Little D ixie guy— Howard, Randolph, and Boone Counties.

I’ve been reading Missouri Life since Bill Nunn was editor and publisher. I enjoy the magazine. It captures everything good in Missouri—no negatives! It’s a great history resource. Keep it going.

—Ramona Allen, Sedalia At the moment, we do not have a collection of Ron’s “Musings.” With his prehistoric computer, Ron’s archives are

—Bill Crawford,

a mess! However, we hope to have one in the future.—Editors

Boone County Historical Society, Columbia

A BIG BAM SIGHTING Hello! My first subscription came in April, and I read with interest about the BAM tour coming in June. Was I ever surprised when the entire group cycled in front of my house! We live on a state road fi e miles south of Highway 36 just east of St. Joseph. I had no idea they would be riding this route but thoroughly enjoyed watching them go eastbound. Hope they all made it to their destination. It is too bad we are having this relentless heat wave–not typical for this time of year. Love your magazine!

— Flossie Dilorenzo, Stewartsville

WINNER, WINNER Thank you for the book The Civil War’s First Blood! I was so surprised that I was a survey winner. I just wanted you to know that I thought it was nice you did something for people taking the survey. And to think I won!

—Dean Hazen, Centralia

SEND US A LETTER Email: Fax:

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming surveys and contests

Facebook:

where we will dole out Missouri Life prizes for those who

Address:

participate. To keep your ear to the ground, subscribe to our free e-newsletter—Missouri Lifelines—and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.—Editors

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“Creating HOPPY memories, it’s the Yeast we! can do.”

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422 N. Main St. Hannibal, MO 573-406-1300

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Mo MIX

Kansas City

Back in Fashion A VINTAGE TWA UNIFORM, a wall of historic dress hats you can try on for yourself, and classic clothing catalogs—fun is in fashion at the Historic Garment District Museum in downtown Kansas City, located in DTS System’s Poindexter building.

A hundred years ago, the brick buildings that cluster

Cuba

near Eight and Ninth Streets and Broadway surrounding

Memorabilia Bonanza

the museum were home to more than four thousand garment workers. These workers sewed and shipped outfits across the country and beyond. In fact, an esti-

JUST A STONE’S THROW away from historic Route 66 sits Bob’s Gasoline Alley—an eclectic collec-

mated one in seven US women owned a clothing item

tion of roadside Americana meets Route 66 kitsch amassed by Bob and Darlene Mullen.

that originated here. New York was the only US market

Bob can’t put a date on when he started putting together his massive museum of classic advertising signs, vintage gas pumps, neon clocks, and other various nostalgic items. However, he does recall that it had something to do with cookie

larger than the Kansas City Garment District.

Museum founders Anne Brownfield and Harvey Fried

jars, which he and his wife had been collecting before their wedding. He had been bit by the collecting bug.

helped save the collection’s three hundred pieces and

“I had a friend who had an old gas pump,” Bob says. “Then, I got into signs, and it took off from there.

accessories as a way to preserve this piece of Kansas City

Bob says all of his collection is authentic. There are no knock-offs. It’s all handpic ed or donated.

history. Subsequently, they donated the collection to the

“My one criteria for putting any light-up signs or clocks on display is that they must work,” he says.

Kansas City Parks and Recreation D epartment, which

About a decade ago, Bob and Darlene started to offer food to bigger groups, usually car clubs, who stopped in. That

now runs the museum.

translated into an old barn that is now a banquet hall, which offers hospitality to those tr veling the Mother Road.

“The institution was founded to build awareness and

“I’ve had Europeans, a group from Chile, and there is a regular Australian bunch that is a lot of fun,” Bob says.

knowledge about KC garment district history and legacy,”

Bob’s Gasoline Alley is open by appointment only. Email Bob at mullenabc@yahoo.com or a call him at 573-885-3637

says the museum’s executive director Anna Marie Tutera.

to set up a visit.—Eddie O’Neill

Anna Marie sees potential to make the museum a part of Kansas City’s current fashion scene, while still embracing the history.

Springfie d

Earlier this summer, an exhibit featured dresses from contemporary Kansas City designer Heidi Hermonn. The

Motor Museum

such as the Western Auto sign and the giant shuttlecocks

GET YOUR KICKS at a new attraction on

on the lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Route 66 in Springfield. Guy Mace’s Route 66 Car Museum

“Museums are institutes and are really good at inspir-

at 1634 W. College Street just opened this summer.

ing and innovating ideas,” Anna Marie says. “The question

Guy began collecting cars in 1990 when he bought a

is how do we start a conversation about reactivating the

Jaguar. Today, the museum has sixty-seven cars. The cen-

garment district and repopulating it with designers?”

terpiece is the Gotham Cruiser—a Batmobile replica. The 1932 Ford M1 Racer named Bomb Squad is another intriguing

Open from 10 am to 4 pmevery Saturday and by ap-

vehicle. It is covered with aces decals that are given for a perfect score on a leg of the Hemmings Motor News Great Race.

pointment during the week, the museum is always free.

Open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, admission is $15 for adults, $13 for veterans and seniors,

For more information, go to kcmo.gov or email katherine

and $5 for children.—David Eslick

.warfield@ cmo.org.—Traci Angel

TRACI ANGEL, DAVID ESLICK, AND EDDIE O’NEILL

dresses were inspired by iconic Kansas City landmarks

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Mo MIX St. Robert

Float Trip Frights FOR ANYONE who’s ever seen Deliverance or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the idea of going on a canoe or camping trip in the woods can be a scary premise. The reality, though, is that these trips are safe, fun-filled adventures.

The folks at Lay Z Day Canoes and Camping thought, “Why can’t we combine both chilling scares and safe fun?”

The float trip destination’s Haunted River Float does just that. Each Friday and Saturday in September, Lay Z Day will host a creepy canoe trip from 7 to 10:30 pmon the Big Piney River. Think of a Halloween haunted house, but you’re on the water: creepy clowns, chainsaw maniacs, and zombies are a just a few of the frights that await.

After the float, take a walk through the haunted woods and then go for a hayride before returning to the big bonfire. Ages fi e and under are free, and admission is $25 for anyone older. Camping is included with each paid float. Find Lay Z Day Camping and Canoes at 23455 Teak Lane in St. Robert. Call 573-336-8639 or visit LayZDay.net for more information.—Jonas Weir

Cape Girardeau

Hog Wild

COURTESY OF LAY Z DAY AND CAPE GIRARDEAU CVB

Pacifi

Peace and Tranquility in the Ozarks

THE RACE of the Century will pass through Mis-

RESPITE from the stresses of city living is about an hour southwest of St. Louis. Sheltered in the foothills of the

coast-to-coast motorcycle trek, one hundred bikers will

Ozarks, the secluded, rustic Black Madonna of Czestochova Shrine and Grottos beckons anyone seeking solace.

set out from Atlantic City, New Jersey, on September

souri with a stop in Cape Girardeau this September.

Inspired by Erwin “Cannonball” Baker’s legendary 1922

The open-air Chapel of the Hills welcomes all visitors, even animals. Sparrows might swoop in and perch themselves

10 and ride across the country to San Diego, California.

on the altar, and wild turkeys often strut by. Next to the chapel, a small clearing is home to twelve stone crosses, each

Motorcycle Cannonball: The Race of the Century will

standing about seven feet tall, that lead the visitors through The Stations of the Cross.

have several stops before the 3,400-mile journey is over

Polish Franciscan monk, Brother Bronislaus Luszcz created the shrine and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary. He began in 1937 by building each grotto by hand. A stone bridge downhill from the chapel leads the visitor to these grottos, which are made of Missouri tiff rock. All are decorated with seashells, glass, and pebbles donated y visitors.

on September 26, and the motorcycle enthusiasts will be stopping in Cape Girardeau on September 14.

One thing that makes the Race of the Century unique

The large white cross above the Crucifixion and Gethsemane Grotto has been a hiker’s landmark for years. Nearby,

is that all the motorcycles are vintage, manufactured

trails lead to more shrines. The Mother’s Sanctuary is a new one, an Eagle Scout project to slow the effects of soil erosion.

before 1917. You won’t see any fancy crotch rockets or

Unfortunately, Bronislaus Luszcz did not live to see his beautiful shrine capture the attention of the public. The

modern-day choppers in this group.

Franciscan monk spent twenty-three years creating a place of remarkable beauty. One summer day, while working on

To welcome riders, Cape Girardeau is throwing a

one of the grottos, he was overcome by the heat and died at Our Lady of Perpetual Help grotto. His body was discovered

free, all-day party with food, music, and vendors in the

that night when he didn’t arrive for dinner at the monastery.

historic downtown district. For more information, call

The shrine is not supported financially by the archdiocese or any neighboring parish. It is dependent on revenue from gift shop sales and donations of visitors. Visit FranciscanCaring.org for more information. —Elizabeth A. Alexander

573-335-1631 or go to MotorcycleCannonball.com or VisitCape.com.—Jonas Weir

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Made IN MISSOURI Hannibal

The Ayers Empire STEVEN AYERS is a Hannibal luminary.

Although the town is known as Mark Twain’s hometown, Steven’s pottery shop, Ayers Pottery, has become another attraction. The shop delights parents and children alike. While adults shop for handmade ceramics, the kids will enjoy watching Steven and others at work.

With nearly three decades of experience, Steven is a master at creating earthenware for refined tastes. On top of cementing his place as Hannibal’s resident potter, Steven has also helped revive the business district.

Not far from Ayers Pottery, at 308 N. Third Street, is Steven’s gift shop, Fresh Ayers, at 209 N. Main Street.

While you’re there shopping for furniture and home décor, you can visit Java Jive, right next door. It’s the go-to coffeehouse and another part of the yers empire.

Visit AyersPottery.com to learn more. —Jonas Weir

Jackson

St. Louis

DAVE ANDERSON

GIANT GROW LIGHTS adorn the ceiling of Stacey Roth’s base-

knows guitars. Since the age of thirteen, he’s built, sold, and repaired them and started his own business, Tritone Guitars.

His passion these days is to find a guitar that’s just the right fit for the next generation “I’m a dad with a twelve-year-old daughter, and in looking around for a kidfriendly guitar that was the right size, I was having trouble finding one,” he says.

That was until he discovered Loog Guitars. Since 2011, Loog has created a line of small, three-string guitars designed for kids. The guitars come unassembled for kids and parents to build together. Their starting price is around $200.

“My daughter and I were able to put it together, but it had issues,” he says. “I knew how to fix this. For the mom with a screwdriver, it wouldn’t be that easy.”

After some negotiations with Loog, Dave became an officia dealer of the guitars and added a Tritone twist to his dealership. He’s created Tritone Rangers— a lifestyle brand geared toward getting kids interested in playing music through a collection of products that are exciting, educational, and inclusive.

“When they order a Loog from me, they get a package that includes a shopadjusted electric guitar, a guitar strap, and a hand-printed Tritone Rangers T-shirt with a logo that reads, ‘I’m in a band’,” Dave says.

Dave says he has sold around forty, and that’s good enough for him.

“If I can help the next generation, especially girls, I’ve done my part,” he says.

To learn more, visit Tritone-Guitars.com or call 314-807-5533.—Eddie O’Neill

ment and help some two hundred succulents and cacti photosynthesize.

Since October 2015, this budding entrepreneur has been running her business, Glass Gardens by Stacey, where she creates terrariums from plants, sand, rocks, driftwood, and the occasional garden gnome.

“I walk a lot, and I just find driftwood and rocks,” Stacey says. “I’m always coming out of people’s places carrying rocks and stuff.

It’s no surprise that her products have done well. She can answer almost any question you might have about terrarium care and is exceptionally modest.

“It’s funny because I don’t think of myself this way, but the other day someone said something like, ‘You’re an artist,’ ” she says.

Stacey’s ability to manipulate foliage is definitely an art form. Currently, she sells through her Facebook page, where she’d be happy to help design your very own terrarium. To order one, email Stacey at staceyroth9922 @gmail.com or visit facebook.com/staceysglassgardens.—Savanna Maue

COURTESY OF MISSSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM; EDDIE O’NEILL AND SAVANNA MAUE

Trendy Terrariums

Kid Rock

[20] MissouriLife

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[21] August 2016

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SHOW-ME

Books

THE HEART OF THE CITY Downtown St. Louis looks at 250 years in the Gateway City

IF ANYTHING UNITES us as Americans, it is our resilience.

Perhaps no other city in the Union exemplifies American resilience better than St. Louis. For more than two centuries, this city has made it through times, thick and thin. It’s seen everything from Ulysses S. Grant’s wedding to a handful of World Series championships, and author Nini Harris tries to pack it all into one gorgeous coffee table book, simply titled Downtown St. Louis.

Nini is as qualified as anyone to take on such a tome. She’s spent her entire life in St. Louis and the past thirty years giving tours downtown.

She’s like a human search engine for information about the Lou. Her tours include everything from Civil War history to detailed information about the city’s most architecturally significant art deco buildings.

Downtown St. Louis puts her wealth of knowledge to work, providing a great story of the city loaded with fascinating factoids. There are detailed accounts of the first European settlers, tales from the late nineteenthcentury brewery boom, and even a behind-the-scenes look at how the most recent downtown revival has taken shape.

Although the book was a labor of love for Nini, she’s not the only one who deserves credit for this accomplishment. The foreword from legendary St. Louis broadcaster Charlie Brennan contextualizes the book and sings its highest praises.

“I’m convinced as we more learn more about downtown St. Louis, we’ll develop a greater appreciation of this part of our region,” he writes.

“In turn, we’ll retell Harris’s stories again and again, and by doing so, enhance the ‘esprit de corps,’ as Chouteau might have called it, for the city he founded.”

Charlie Brennan’s kind words and Nini’s painstaking research are not all that makes this book essential. The photos throughout the book cannot be ignored, and Reedy Press photo editor Don Korte did an amazing job of assembling everything from rare archival images to well-done modern photographs. Some highlights include a map of St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase, a broad shot of St. Louisans gathering to greet President Theodore Roosevelt when he arrived by steamboat, a photo of couples doing the Charleston during a 1925 dance contest, harrowing photos of a 1976 inferno that claimed part of western downtown, and pictures of all the present-day attractions.

Essentially, the book is a sum of its parts, and there really are no weak parts. Sure, some parts will appeal to different people. Chapter 1 focuses on the time before the Louisiana Purchase and might fascinate those

BY JONAS WEIR

Downtown St. Louis Nini Harris, hardcover, 152 pages, Reedy Press, $35 enthralled with Colonial America. The second chapter moves through the Civil War and up to 1874. The middle of the book focuses on the industrial revolution and St. Louis’s first great influx of European immigrants. Finally, the last two chapters take readers through World War II and up to the present day, which will surely delight those who grew up in St. Louis way back when. Additionally, visitors who’d like to make the trip here might find some spots they’ll want check out.

Downtown St. Louis is a book for anyone with a connection to the city. It could serve as a research tool for kids working on school projects just the same as it might evoke memories from decades past. However, it most definitely instills a sense of pride in all Missourians who can lay claim to this great American city and, arguably, the crown jewel of our state.

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15091 FANTASY MAP MO LIFE AD.pdf

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See St. Louis like you’ve never seen it before when you visit the

FANTASY MAPS: IMAGINED WORLDS exhibit at Central Library.

“FANTASY MAPS: IMAGINED WORLDS” exhibit is made possible by generous support from: DM³, Edward Jones, U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation and Nancy & Ken Kranzberg

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI PRESS

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Dirt, Sweat, and Diesel

A Family Farm in the Twenty-first Century Steven L. Hilty 978-0-8262-2079-0 | $29.95

With very few people engaged in agriculture today, it is no surprise that most Americans have little understanding of the challenges that modern farmers face. This book provides readers a glimpse into life on a modern Missouri farm where a variety of grains, grass seed, corn, and cattle are produced. All of the conversations, events, and descriptions are drawn from the author’s experience working alongside and observing this father and son family farm operation during the course of a year.

Farming today is technologically complex and requires a broad set of skills that range from soil conservation, animal husbandry, and mechanics to knowledge of financial markets and computer technology. The focus on skills, in addition to the size of the financial risks, and the number of unexpected challenges along the way provides readers with a new perspective and appreciation for modern farm life.

USE DISCOUNT CODE MOLIF16 AT CHECKOUT SAVE 25% ON YOUR ENTIRE ORDER WWW.UPRESS.MISSOURI.EDU u 800.621.2736 OFFER VALID THRU SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 [23] August 2016

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SHOW-ME

Books

MORE GOOD READS

BY KELSEY WALLING

The Collapse of Price’s Raid: The Beginning of the End in Civil War Missouri

Secret St. Louis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Mark A. Lause, 194 pages, hardcover, nonfictio For readers interested in the Civil War or Missouri history, The Collapse of Price’s Raid is a must-read. This follow-up to Price’s Lost Campaign addresses the relationship between society and warfare as Mark A. Lause examines the context of Price’s Raid, the final Southern operation west of the Mi sissippi River to take back the state for the Confederacy. The book takes you throughout Price’s journey through Missouri as he and his men figh off Union cavalry and end at the epic battle in Lexington. History comes to life with this accurate, detailed portrayal of the Civil War in Missouri.

David Baugher, 195 pages, soft cover, nonfictio Get ready to find the answers to questions you never knew you had about St. Louis.

The book tells all the secrets of the city and recounts some of the more obscure stories from its past. Find out where you can see a million dollars in one dollar bills. Learn about the hidden cemetery in Florissant. Eat a picnic at a toxic waste dump, and see one of the largest mosaic collections in the Western Hemisphere.

Author David Baugher takes readers on a journey through the fun, and obscure facts and activities, so natives and tourists alike can explore things they never knew existed.

Thunder Beneath My Feet

How Could Cotton Be Hard?

Carolyn Mulford, 180 pages, soft cover, fictio If you’re a fan of the Titanic movie, then you will love Carolyn Mulford’s fictional sto y of a tragedy that struck Missouri 205 years ago. When a series of earthquakes hit near New Madrid in 1811, about 1,500 people were killed and many thought the world was ending. In the midst of all the tragedy, fifteen-year-old Betsy looks over the farm and little brother Johnnie for her mom. As they wait for their parents, the children meet some interesting strangers with secrets that keep them in New Madrid.

Rita Larkin Kayser, 114 pages, soft cover, fictio Have you ever wanted to know what it was like to grow up in Missouri in the 1950s? Marquand author Rita Larkin Kayser takes us on a journey through her childhood with fictionalized stories based on eal events. The idea came about when her granddaughters began asking Kayser about her childhood. When they asked, “How could cotton be hard?” Kayser decided to start writing her memoirs. The book goes month by month in the year of 1953 as the main character, Lucy, deals with working, relationships, school, and friends. Older readers will enjoy reminiscing, and young readers will be fascinated with life before the internet.

The History of Fort Leonard Wood Missouri

The Myth of Dr. Kugelman

Paul W. Bass, 211 pages, hardcover, nonfictio The History of Fort Leonard Wood explores the seventy-five year hi tory of Missouri’s largest military base. Author Paul W. Bass provides detailed information on the formation of the base in 1940 and then follows its growth during World War II until today. The book also documents how the base has impacted the development of surrounding counties in the region. Fort Leonard Wood is still training frontline defenders for the military today, so find out what led to such success with this book.

David Margolis, 252 pages, soft cover, fictio Greek mythology has been taught in school for as long as we can remember, but what are the Greek gods doing nowadays? According to St. Louis author David Margolis, Zeus is depressed because no one has worshiped him in a few thousand years. He is also suffering from gastrointestinal maladies, which have not been helped by mythological methods. After a few failed attempts at alleviating his symptoms, the physician/god Asclepius meets with Dr. Norman Kugelman, a gastroenterologist in New Jersey. Kugelman shows Ascelpius the ways of modern medicine, and Zeus even makes his way to Earth for a colonoscopy.

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LOOKING FOR A GREAT GIFT?

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Missouri Life!

Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites This 400+ page book is illustrated with over 500 full-color, large-format photographs. Through its detailed essays on each of Missouri’s 88 parks or sites, it will o‘ er an irresistible invitation to discover Missouri’s remarkably diverse natural and cultural heritage. These narratives go much deeper than the oÿ cial brochures, telling the story of each park in a way that will enhance the understanding and appreciation of its distinctive features. With a focus on the special places Missourians have elected to preserve to represent their history and culture, the book will open the door to a lifetime of exploration and will influence generations to come.

Hardcover, 416 pgs.

VISIT MISSOURILIFE.COM/STORE OR CALL 800-492-2593 EXT. 101 TO ORDER (Tax and shipping and handling not included.)

[25] August 2016

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Greetings from

Callaway County, Missouri

Auto World Museum off ers a fascinating glimpse of America’s love affair with autom obiles.

Nearly 80 rare and his toric vehicles, owned by on e family, are set among historic venues.

m is rchill Museu National Chu tury r a 16th-cen housed unde rch. u h c her Wren Sir Christop on d ht from Lon It was broug n orate Winsto to commem in” a rt u C “Iron 6 4 19 s l’ il h Churc e h prefaced th speech, whic h” g u e “Breakthro h T r. a W ld o C tions ted from sec a re c , re tu sculp lizes Wall, symbo of the Berlin e era. the end of th [26] MissouriLife

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Calendar of Events Callaway County Fair August 2-6 Fair, carnival rides, rodeo, truck and tractor pulls, Friday night races, and special kids’ day on Saturday.

10th Annual Bluegrass & BBQ September 11 Live bluegrass, BBQ and homemade pies.

ts can d sweet trea n a d o fo s u visit hops, delicio t. Be sure to ic tr is D k c Interesting s ri B llery that ur charming fine craft ga d n a be found in o rt a g n un Art e, a thrivi , including F ts n ve e the Art Hous d n a ks. es, exhibits n on the Bric offers class m tu u A d n a Fridays

Hatton Craft Day October 1 Founded in 1978. Features 180 craft vendors displaying in three buildings, plus wagon rides, food and fun for all ages.

Autumn on the Bricks October 8 Original works of fine art, artisanal foods, local wines, craft beers, live music, expanded farmers market, kids’ pumpkin patch and more.

Brick District Holiday Open House November 11-12 Holiday window displays by local shops, winter art exhibit and reception, wagon rides, music, kettle corn, candy cane house, and visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

lton, Crane’s A short drive from Fu e’s Museum in Country Store and Cran t life from the Williamsburg highligh s. Have a bite late 1800s to early 1900 en take a drive to eat at Marlene’s, th ty and check out through Callaway Coun Trail communities our wineries and Katy r. along the Missouri Rive

Callaway_0816.indd 2

For your next getaway or family vacation, visit Fulton and Callaway County. For more information and calendar of events,

visit www.visitfulton.com or call 573-642-7692.

7/8/16 1:57 PM

MISSOURI

COUNTRY GOLD

The legendary Leroy Van Dyke is still pleasing fan

BY ALEX STEWART

THE MUSICAL STYLINGS

of an auctioneer might not sound appealing, but the qualities of a talented auctioneer and a skillful singer are somewhat related. Case in point: Leroy Van Dyke’s 1956 “The Auctioneer,” a ditty that combined storytelling, music, and auctioneering into a chart-topping hit that sold millions.

The breakthrough hit about a man who grew up to be an auctioneer wasn’t written in a studio. It wasn’t even conceived in the United States.

It was born in Korea, where Leroy was serving in the Army as a counterintelligence agent during the war. The lyrics came to him like a fever dream as he took care of his routine military duties.

“As I kept driving up and down those roads, the words and music kept coming to me,” he says. “After three or four times I said, ‘Someone is trying to tell me something.’ ” So one day he sat in his tent and furiously scribbled the words to a song in his head, having no aspirations up to this point to perform or sing in front of anybody.

Before the words to “The Auctioneer” beckoned to him, Leroy was a small-town country boy born in a farmhouse south of Sedalia. He worked on the family farm alongside his father, a cattleman and truckline operator who frequently took him to livestock auctions. After seeing his cousin Ray Sims run an auction at a breakneck pace, Leroy was inspired. Between his junior and senior years at Mizzou, Leroy attended auctioneering school. Since then, he’s auctioned everything from buffalo to bulldozers.

His more glamorous life as a country star has been dubbed “countrypolitan” by some. But viewing that as a slur would be a mistake; Leroy introduced country music to the Las Vegas Strip, performed at the

Grand Ole Opry, and broke country music records. He just doesn’t look like a hillbilly—his word—when he does it.

“After selling millions, I noticed a peculiar phenomenon,” he says.

“Ray Price would have a number one song that would sell 75,000 records, then someone would cover it in the pop field and sell millions. I came up with the premise that if our music is good enough to go to the Strip, then the artist who created it should be good enough to take it there.”

He dressed up his performance like a true Vegas showman. The song was fast and slick, and he sported combed hair and a silk tie.

“We don’t dress like we’re catching hogs,” he says. “But we could.”

As in many instances of a succeeding generation evolving a genre, Leroy isn’t pleased with where today’s artists have taken country music.

“I don’t care much for new country,” he says. “A lot of the new country records would make good background noise for tire changing. I like to be able to understand the story. Now, quite often, it’s a loosely connected group of words that don’t tell a story.”

Leroy is fond of the golden age of classic country music—the latefifties, sixties, and seventies. Gene Autry, Hank Snow, Eddie Arnold, and Red Foley all served as early influences on Le oy’s musical style, and he decrees the late Merle Haggard the genius of the last fifty years in music.

At eighty-six, and after sixty years in the business, Leroy has one of the longest-running careers in country music. His Country Gold tour has been stopping at county and state fairs across the United States, bringing together the best country music names and its loyal fans. At many of these events, when he’s done singing hits like “Walk On By” and “The Auctioneer,” you may want to stick around, as he’s often asked to run an auction as its guest star.

COURTESY OF LEROY VAN DYKE

Celebrated country singer Leroy Van Dyke takes his Country Gold tour on the road.

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Let’s Paint!

Missouri Life invites you to join master watercolorist Paul Jackson in exploring landscape compositions. You’ll learn to reduce nature’s complexity by breaking down each element into basic shapes as Paul guides you through a painting, illustrating the principles of design, color, value, composition, and the mechanics of watercolor. Through informal lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and critiques, you refine your personal painting style. Beginners are welcome, too.

November 2-4, Hermann $325, sign up now, space is limited!

Register now at missourilife.com/pauljackson

[29] August 2016

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MISSOURI

OPEN YOUR EYEZ

EVERY INCH of stencil artist Peat Wollaeger’s south St. Louis studio is a visual playground. Painted across the front of an old building on an otherwise nondescript section of Jefferson Avenue, his signature Eyez mural lets visitors know that they’ve arrived somewhere magical. Open on Saturdays from noon until 5 pm, the small storefront is filled with prints, T-shirts, dresses, and a recently launched Eyez line of leggings. Behind the storefront, his work hangs with that of other artists he’s collected in his studio and office St. Louis residents and visitors may have seen Peat’s Eyez—a hypnotic stencil design that’s been adapted on murals and other spots around the city, both commissioned and not.

“Even in smaller towns like Wright City,” he says. “Every time I stop, I drop a couple eyeballs. My mission with Eyez is pretty much just to wake up the world.”

A St. Louis County native, Peat grew up in the suburb of Webster Groves and attended the College School, an experiential private school.

“They taught me to think differently,” he says.

In eighth grade, the students could pick a subject of interest to learn, so Peat began learning to draw on a Mac computer using MacPaint. It was his first experience with what would eventually lead to an early graphic design career. Later on in his schooling, Peat played guitar and sang in a local Ska band called Cucumber Jones while he attended Webster Groves High School.

BY AMY BURGER

“My art teacher loved Cucumber Jones logo and asked me who did it,” he says. “I told her that I did, and she told me that I should start looking into art.”

When Peat was seventeen, that teacher, Marilynne Bradley, connected him with a summer art program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, an experience that would forever broaden his perspective.

“It was the first time I saw true diversity,” he says. “I’d seen black and white, but once I got there, I was like, ‘There are so many kinds of people here.’ It made me really think about what St. Louis was lacking.”

Following high school, Peat took a few drawing classes at community college and spent several years gaining real-world work experience and building his portfolio with internships at graphic design agencies in St. Louis. He also married a fellow Missouri native from Kirkwood.

Then, in 1998, he landed a design job at a Chicago agency, KBA Marketing/ Draft Worldwide, doing marketing for large brands such as Camel cigarettes and Coca-Cola. His wife moved along with him, and he eventually worked his way to the top, becoming an art director, 3-D modeler, and animator.

When the young couple found themselves expecting their first child, however, the impending change in lifestyle and responsibility brought them back home to St. Louis and family, where Peat landed a job designing banner ads for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

COURTESY OF PEAT WOLLAEGER

Stencil artist eat Wollaeger uses street art to help wake up the world

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COURTESY OF PEAT WOLLAEGER

Above: Like many of St. Louis graphic artist Peat Wollaeger’s projects, this mural promotes peace, harmony, and diversity, and it incorporates his signature Eyez pattern. Right: Peat Wollaeger stands next to a mural he painted of his artistic hero, Keith Herring.

Around that time, he began painting portraits of his family and other people who had influenced him. They all had one thing in common: big eyes “I got a 1963 Econoline truck—the eyeConoline,” he says. “I had a small studio and needed a way to haul around all the supplies I needed as an artist, so I wanted to make it an art car. All my paintings had these big eyes, so I painted the truck with a pattern of eyes.”

In 2013, Peat did a large commissioned mural, Eyez on Delmar, at the walkway of Washington University’s Delmar Loop construction site.

People began identifying his signature pattern as the St. Louis eye, from spotting it around the city.

“The eye represents waking up,” Peat says. “We live in a world where people text things they’d never say in person, eye to eye. St. Louis is now having a lot of upheaval, and people’s eyes need to be open.”

After the Michael Brown shooting in the summer of 2014 and subsequent protests in Ferguson, Peat was set to do a mural—planned before those events—next to the iconic Crown Candy Kitchen in Old North St. Louis. Originally designed to be a pattern of homes reflecting community, he wanted to add a bit more substance in light recent events.

“I added some hands in diverse colors holding up peace signs, and the words ‘Rise Up As One,’ ” he says. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me that it really hit them and made them think about how we can come together.”

Peat counts other well-known street artists such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey, and Dabs Myla among his inspirations.

“With the whole movement of street art, my motivation is to beautify, not vandalize,” he says. “I’m not a graffiti artist. Some stuff I’ve not had permission to do; but I would not paint over a nice, raw building. It’s not really about me; it’s more about waking up the streets. The difference with street art is these are really artists, so where maybe only a hundred people might see their gallery show, thousands of people will see their art every day.”

He also credits social media—Instagram in particular, where his @Eyez account has more than ten thousand followers—with helping spread his art around the globe while he lives a comfortable life in St. Louis.

“I own my home here, and I’m raising three kids here,” he says. “I have probably one of the best studios in America, and I pay very little for it. It’s also allowed me to buy equipment and launch a clothing line from right here.”

The Eyez line of leggings is handmade in Peat’s studio. Right now, local crafts person Kristen Johnson does all the sewing, but they hope to provide jobs to the community by training local youth to do the job in the future. The bright, patterned leggings have caught the attention of large retailers, but Peat refuses to compromise his principles for a buck. He says he recently turned down an offer from a national retail chain to put them in every store because they wanted to produce his designs in Malaysia.

“I thought, ‘How hypocritical am I if I’m painting murals about peace and unity and then I’ve got some kid in a sweatshop in Malaysia making my clothes?’ ” he says.

In addition to his work in St. Louis, Peat has created projects in New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, and other cities. One of Peat’s first murals was of his idol, the late Keith Haring, for his fiftieth birthday. He says Haring, who passed away from AIDS in 1990, has been like an art angel for him. Peat still advocates for the late artist’s work.

In fact, the Keith Haring Foundation invited Peat to visit its offices in Haring’s extremely private former studio because he helped to preserve a Haring mural on a building slated for demolition in Melbourne, Australia.

“I was in Mecca,” he says.

To learn more about Peat Wollaeger’s work and to purchase artwork, T-shirts, or leggings, visit EyezBrand.com.

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STARRY N LEARN HOW YOU CAN CAPTURE THE SUMMER SKY. PHOTOS AND STORY BY ALLEN BLUEDORN AS LANDSCAPE ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY has become increasingly popular in recent years, spurred by the development and increasing improvement of digital cameras, the iconic subject has become our own galaxy, the Milky Way. My quest to capture this spectacular sight would eventually bring me to Arrow Rock State Park.

When I discovered this form of photography, I was pleased to learn that it does not require traditional astronomical equipment such as a telescope. The only equipment you’ll need is a modern digital camera that accepts interchangeable lenses and a tripod; this type of photography requires much longer exposure times compared to daylight photography. Even some digital cameras with fixed lenses can produce quality images of the Milky Way. These images were produced with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 II camera and Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 lens.

You’ll need two more things to capture the Milky Way: a dark sky, free of light pollution, and clear conditions. May through September is the prime season in the Northern Hemisphere. As the summer progresses, the Milky Way and its galactic core rises earlier and earlier in the night.

One of the worst sources of light pollution is the moon, especially a full moon. Plan your photo shoot around the phases of the moon.

I shot these images near Arrow Rock State Park at the park’s fishing lake at the beginning of August. The site possessed the other two key attributes of a good landscape astrophotography site: It was easy to get to, just a few miles of paved road north of Interstate 70, and it proved to be a place where one feels safe after dark. I checked this in person and by visiting with Central Missouri Astronomical Association.

The photos are from two evenings, and the results of those two nights saved me several thousands of dollars in travel expenses for trips to the national parks in Utah, Texas, and Maine. Although Missouri is not noted for its clear evening summer skies, they do occur, and in combination with a good, dark sky site like that at Arrow Rock State Park, it is possible to capture stunning images of the Milky Way.

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Y NIGHT

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COURTESY OF MSU, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, AND LAWS OBSERVATORY; ANDREW BARTON AND JOSEPH WRIGHT

PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS 1.

Learn as much as you can about this type of photography before you try it. A great place to learn about it is LonelySpeck.com.

2. Practice at home before going into the field with it 3. Locate and scout your site during the day.

Just as working with your equipment is much more difficult after dark, so is fin ing a good site and getting to it.

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What to Look for in the Summer Night Sky New Moon August 2 brings us a new moon, so this would be the ideal night for capturing the Milky Way and looking for other, fainter objects with a telescope.

Perseids Meteor Shower At its peak, the Perseids meteor shower produces up to sixty meteors per hour. The shower is known for producing a large number of bright meteors. It occurs annually from July 17 to August 24. This year’s peak will be the night of August 11. The moon will set shortly after midnight and leave darker skies for late-night stargazing. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Perseus but can appear anywhere in the sky.

Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation On August 16, Mercury will reach its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury because it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset.

The Sturgeon Moon The full moon on August 18 was known by some Native American tribes as the Full Sturgeon Moon because the large sturgeon fish of the Great Lakes and other major lakes were more easily caught at this time of year. This moon has also been known as the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.

FAIR GROVE Baker Observatory at Missouri State University MissouriState.edu 1766 Old Hillcrest Road 417-836-4467

ST. LOUIS Crow Observatory at Washington University physics.wustl.edu 1 Brookings Drive 314-935-6250

Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter On August 27, the spectacular conjunction of Venus and Jupiter will be visible in the evening sky. The two bright planets will be only a fraction of a degree apart. Look for this impressive pairing in the western sky just after sunset.

Another New Moon September 1 will bring another new moon, which marks the best date in September to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters.

There will be no moonlight will interfere.

Neptune at Opposition On September 3, this giant, blue planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and visible all night long. This is the best time to view and photograph Neptune.

Harvest Moon On September 16, the moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun, and its face will be fully illuminated. This full moon was known by some early Native American cultures as the Full Corn Moon because corn was harvested around this time of year. For the very same reason, this moon is also known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox each year.

COLUMBIA Laws Observatory at University of Missouri CMAAAstro.com 701 S. College Avenue 573-882-3335

FAYETTE Morrison Observatory at Central Methodist University CentralMethodist.edu 700 Park Road 660-248-6383

KANSAS CITY Warkoczewski Public Observatory at University of Missouri Kansas City cas.umkc.edu 800 E. Fifty-Second Street 913-208-0924

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AT

ECHO

BLUFF MEET MISSOURI’S NEWEST STATE PARK. /// BY TOM UHLENBROCK

ECHO BLUFF does answer back if you give it a shout.

But you might prefer to sit quietly on the gravel bar and listen to the clear waters of Sinking Creek murmur through the riffles at the base of the concave bluff on their way to the Current River downstream.

Echo Bluff is one of those picture-perfect Ozark settings that has drawn visitors for decades. Camp Zoe, a children’s summer camp, operated in the valley from 1929 to the 1980s. The area later was used for music festivals.

Now, the public is invited to explore this unique location as the home of Missouri’s newest state park.

Echo Bluff State Park opened July 30 and is billed as the Gateway to the Ozarks, surrounded by national forest, state conservation areas, and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways—home to two of the nation’s premier recreational rivers, the Current and Jacks Fork.

With an iconic twenty-room lodge, thirteen lodging units in nine cabins with kitchens, campgrounds, and sixty RV spaces, the park serves as a family-friendly base camp that allows visitors to explore the rivers, springs, waterfalls, grist mills, and wooded trails in the heart of the Ozarks.

A SPECIAL KIND OF PLAYGROUND Family-friendly is an accurate description. Children are the guests of honor at Echo Bluff State Park.

Adjacent to the lodge is a small lake where young anglers can test their skills; it will be stocked with crappie, bluegill, bass, and catfish “We also might have casting lessons for everybody and offer training in kayaking and other paddle sports,” says Bill Bryan, state parks director. An amphitheater for nature programs and entertainment is next to the lake, and beyond that is Adventure Playground, which has attractions designed to make aspiring adventurers comfortable in the outdoors.

“It’s a little different than a traditional playground with a swing set, slides, and sandbox,” Bill says. “The features are designed to reflect more of a natural environment. There are rocks to climb on and structures more like trees. It’s one step from Adventure Playground into the woods.”

SINKING CREEK The most exciting playground at the new park is Sinking Creek.

The creek is shallow and warmer than most Ozark streams, which makes it an inviting place for wading and swimming in the deeper holes.

It is known for its smallmouth bass fishing and for water so clear that swimmers liken it to snorkeling in an aquarium.

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COURTESY OF MISSOURI STATE PARKS

While Sinking Creek is calm and gentle most of the year, it also can present a challenging float trip when water is running fast, especially in the spring “Sinking Creek can be swift and sinuous; the gradient makes it one of the steepest creeks in Missouri,” says Bill, who was fresh off a five mile float of the creek. “There are not a lot of obstacles. It’s more being able to read the water and go with the flo . It’s really unbelievable—the color, the clarity, the temperature. It’s very comfortable. When you get to where it empties into the spring-fed Current, you can put one leg in warm water and one in chilly water.”

The park is in the middle of Missouri’s famed floating country, within a short drive of the best sections of the upper Current and Jacks Fork Rivers.

The rear deck of the lodge at Echo Bluff State Park overlooks Sinking Creek as it runs below Echo Bluff, the park’s namesake. There are twenty rooms at the lodge that are available to rent among a host of other lodging and camping options at the park.

Local outfitters can set up float excursions, and state park staff can offer advice on everything from the best stretches for a day float to what bait to use to entice those energetic smallies. The park plans to offer floatin services in 2017.

HIKING TRAILS Two trails within the park keep hikers happy. The Current River Trail is 5.25 miles one way and ends at the river. The Painter Ridge Trail has

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Top: The park has four “stacked” duplexes that have three bedrooms on the bottom and three on the top. Bottom: The lodge rooms all have gas fireplaces and rear decks.

Right: A stone fireplace soars to the ceiling in the central atrium

two loops that total two miles and runs along the bluff overlooking the creek valley.

“The trailhead for the Current River Trail begins at the southern end of the park and connects Echo Bluff to Current River State Park and the river itself,” says Kelley Brent, trail coordinator. “It runs through a classic Ozark terrain of glades and bluffs and ridges—a lot of good Ozarky type experiences.”

While the Current River Trail is for hikers only, the Painter Ridge Trail is for hikers and mountain bikers. It begins and ends in the parking area at the Blufftop Pavilion.

“Painter Ridge offers two bike challenge routes where mountain bikers can find ramps and obstacles to test their skills,” Kelley says. “The trail runs along the bluffs and goes by a couple of really nice glades. The scenic value is incredible.”

The park also plans to take advantage of its location adjacent to National Park Service lands and to Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry,

62,000 acres of forest owned by the L-A-D Foundation but open to the public with trails managed by the state.

“We’ll have an additional trail that goes into Roger Pryor Backcountry; we’ve already got it laid out,” Kelley says. “We have also a planned trail that eventually will run south of Echo Bluff through Round Spring along the Current River into Roger Pryor Backcountry and connect to the Ozark Trail. It’s going to be a very sought after trail for long-distance backpackers.”

WHERE TO STAY The centerpiece of the new park is a two-story lodge where guests are greeted in the atrium by a massive stone fi eplace that soars to the ceiling. The lodge has twenty guest rooms, a restaurant, and an outdoor deck that looks out over the sparkling creek and buff-colored bluff.

All the rooms in the lodge have gas fi eplaces, outdoor decks, and sleeper sofas, and there are some two-bedroom suites. Prices vary by the season and day of the week.

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Above: The crystal-clear Sinking Creek offers opportunities to float, fish, and play in the warm, shallow water. The creek feeds into the Current River. Below: The main lodge at Echo Bluff State ark is the centerpiece of this park in the heart of the Ozarks.

Five detached cabins are next to the lodge. Four have two bedrooms and one has four. The four-bedroom cabin is named the McMahan Cabin for the family that founded Camp Zoe. All have wood-burning fi eplaces with gas starters and spacious decks.

Four “stacked” duplexes stand on the hillside opposite the lodge. The bottom floors have three bedrooms, including one with bunk beds, and the top floors have three bedrooms with a loft. Large families and groups can rent both floors The park’s campground features sixty RV sites and twelve walk-in campsites, where visitors can hike a short distance on trails that lead from the woods to decks and fi e rings.

“People will find the campground is as good as any in the Midwest,” Bill says.

BISON MEATLOAF AND KANSAS CITY RIBS A private company will run the Creekside Grill, which has indoor

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THE FULL OZARK EXPERIENCE Visitors can spend a weeklong vacation exploring the beauty of Echo Bluff State Park, or they can venture out to the other scenic wonders located within an hour’s drive of the park. The ride along the forested roads is part of the fun.

“If you want to see a historic mill and turquoise spring, you can do it from Echo Bluff,” Bill Bryan says. “If you want to go trout fis ing, it’s a short drive to Montauk State Park. If you want to see elk, it’s a short drive to Peck Ranch.”

The Ozarks is busy with floaters on summer Saturdays, but is not traditionally thought of as a year-round destination, Bill says.

The new park’s goal is to attract visitors all year: in spring, when the redbuds and dogwoods bloom; in the fall, when the mixed forest glows in autumn colors; and in winter, when the rugged landscape shows through the leafless t ees.

“Floating the Current River is great, but we want to give people the opportunity to do everything they can in the Ozarks,” Bill says.

“Echo Bluff offers that full Ozark experience.”

Here are a half dozen of the scenic attractions located near the park, but this is just the beginning of the list of nearby attractions.

ROCKY FALLS At just forty feet tall, Rocky Falls is not the tallest waterfall in Missouri. That honor goes to 132-foot-tall Mina Sauk Falls at Taum Sauk Mountain State Park. But Rocky Falls is wider, perfect for climbing, and has a nice swimming hole at its base. Take a picnic basket. There are tables, grills, and restrooms just a short walk from the falls.

CURRENT RIVER

PECK RANCH CONSERVATION AREA

When Congress designated America’s first rivers to be protected as a national

The Missouri Department of Conservation has restored elk to the state by releasing

park in 1964, the Current and Jacks Fork were obvious choices. Echo Bluff

elk trapped in Kentucky at its Peck Ranch Conservation Area. They are thriving and

State Park is within an easy drive to four of the Current’s best stretches—

have expanded into the nearby Current River Conservation Area. The best way to

Baptist Camp to Cedargrove, Cedargrove to Akers, Akers to Pulltite, and Pullt-

see elk is to arrive at dawn or dusk, when they saunter out of the woods to feed in

ite to Round Spring. For a true Ozark National Scenic Riverways experience,

the meadows along the self-guided driving tour. These are wild animals that roam

plan to spend six to eight hours on the rivers to allow time for lunch on a

freely, so there are no guarantees. In fall, you may be lucky enough to hear one of

gravel bar and to explore the area’s caves and springs.

the haunting calls of the wild, a bull elk bugling to its harem.

BLUE SPRING The Missouri Ozarks are full of beautiful springs, but Blue Spring stands out for the intense color of its water. The word American Indians used for the spring translates to “spring of the summer sky,” and that’s an accurate description. The gravel road to the spring ends at a small parking lot, and a short walk along the Current River leads back to this scenic treasure.

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The Adventure Playground at Echo Bluff is for the children. The playground is one of many new features built on the site since the Missouri State Parks system acquired Echo Bluff November 2013. In total, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has invested approximately $52 million into turning an old music festival campground into Echo Bluff State ark.

ALLEY SPRING MILL The century-old, barn-red mill may be the most photographed site in Missouri, after the Gateway Arch. The waters of Alley Spring rush over a spillway and gurgle through the watercress-lined spring branch to the Jacks Fork River. The six-mile float from the nearby Alley Spring access to Eminence is a popular family outing. The headwaters of the Jacks Fork, known as The Prongs, have the reputation of being the most beautiful float in Missouri.

MONTAUK STATE PARK If trout is your quarry, Montauk is the place to find them. The D epartment of Conservation operates a hatchery at the park and releases trout into the spring branch that forms the headwaters of the Current River. The park has a restaurant and is a pretty place to visit even if you never wet a line. Watch for the pair of resident bald eagles that have nested for a decade in a tall pine on a ridge overlooking the park.

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and outdoor seating, and the Sinkin’ Creek Mercantile, a gift shop and general store that uses the local spelling for the creek.

“The restaurant follows the ‘eat smart in parks’ menu by offering healthy choices,” says Sandra Hoppe of Guest Services. “But we have a wide variety of food styles and flavors of the egion.”

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will feature a variety of options ranging from omelets, hamburgers, bison meatloaf, and Kansas City ribs.

The gift shop and store has snacks, souvenirs, and necessities, such as sunscreen and fishing gea .

“We feature local wines and artisan-crafted beers from Missouri, and we also offer pre-order picnic baskets,” Sandra says. “We specialize in local arts and crafts. We’re working with a couple of basketmakers, and an artist who makes beautiful wood-turned bowls.”

WEDDINGS, REUNIONS AND CONFERENCES The lodge has four rooms for special events and meetings. The largest holds more than a hundred and is named the Nixon-Wheeler Conference Room in honor of the fathers of Governor Jay Nixon and First Lady Georganne Nixon. Groups can also use two outdoor settings: a small shaded spring on the property that has been landscaped with a rock patio and wall near the existing stables and the Blufftop Pavilion, which is perched on a bluff and has an open shelter with a capacity for two hundred guests. Governor Nixon says Echo Bluff will become a popular destination for the state’s outdoor lovers.

“The site of the New Echo Bluff State Park has long been a gathering place; my mom was a counselor there when it was known as Camp Zoe,” he says. “If they don’t already know it, Missourians are going to discover we’ve got an immense treasure in Echo Bluff that will be preserved for generations to come.”

The park is on Highway 19, about halfway between Salem and Eminence, down the road from Current River State Park, a former corporate retreat that offers tours of its historic buildings and two fishing lakes For more information or to make a reservation at Echo Bluff State Park, call 877-422-6766 or visit mostateparks.com/park/echo-bluff-state-park.

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The Cave State Explore our state’s most

notable caverns.

COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM

By Jonas Weir

Tours of Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal last about an hour. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter toured the cave with his family.

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Th e Olde st Sh ow Ca ve MARK TWAIN CAVE

COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM

MISSOURI GOES BY

many names. The official nickname is the Show-Me State. Another is the Ozark State, although Arkansas might challenge that. Many might just know it as Jon Hamm’s home state. However, the state’s coolest nickname—pun intended—is the Cave State.

With more than 6,400 recorded caves, including twenty show caves that are open to the public for guided tours, enthusiasts around the United States know Missouri for its many caverns. Spelunkers, explorers, and geologists come from miles around to search for untouched caves, while vacationers follow roadside billboards from hundreds of miles away to the well-known show caves. Midwestern travelers will surely recognize Meramec Caverns’ iconic old barn marketing campaign.

Most of Missouri’s caves, however, are sealed off from the public, and for good reason: to either protect the natural habitats within or to protect people from the dangerous conditions within. Caves are home to a diverse and obscure set of wildlife that includes bats, Ozarks blindfish, cavedwelling salamanders, and other species adapted to the lack of sunlight and abundance of moisture. Great archeological finds have also been discovered deep within Missouri’s caverns. Fossilized footprints of extinct species, such as the mammoths, saber-tooth tigers, and American lions, have

been found in these caves, along with ancient human remains and primitive tools. In 2001, the oldest cave in the state, Riverbluff Cave, was discovered in Springfield, and it has yielded a wealth of fossils. Caves like Riverbluff are integral to continuing geological and archeological studies today.

There are many caves in the state, though, that are open to the public. Known as show caves, these geological wonders have been used by people for decades if not centuries.

Some have been in almost continual use by people for shelter since before Europeans settled in the region. Others were more recently discovered but have become tourist attractions because of their geological significance. A visit to any of the state’s show caves is breathtaking, but some stand out. Here’s a survey of the caves you can visit.

Visitors to the Mark Twain Cave complex near Hannibal snap photos of the etchings that have been made in the cave walls by various people over the years.

The Oldest & Newest Show Caves

Named for Missouri’s literary hero, the Mark Twain Cave Complex holds many distinguished titles. First and foremost, Mark Twain wrote about the original show cave more than fiv times, so you might call this the most literary cave in the state.

The first documented record of Mark Twain Cave dates back to 1820 when Bill Simms was hunting on a cold winter’s day, and he and his brother followed what they thought were panther tracks to the cave opening. Since that

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Th e Be st Fa mi ly Ca ve FANTASTIC CAVERNS

Above: A Silver Dollar City tour guide explains the formations of Marvel Cave to a group during the lantern tour. Right: A group is pulled around by jeeps during the Fantastic Caverns ride-through tour.

day, the cave has gone by many names—Simms Cave, Panther Cave, Saltpeter Cave, McDowell Cave—until the name Mark Twain Cave was settled upon after the 1880 publication of the iconic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

A young Samuel Clemens spent his boyhood playing in the cave, which inspired the scene where Tom and Huck find $12,000 worth of gold after overhearing its location.

You can see the exact location that inspired the scene in the Treasure Room. Mark Twain wasn’t the only famous Missourian to set foot in the cave, though. The infamous Jesse James used the cave as a hideout in 1879 after he robbed a bank in Saverton. In 1886, the cave opened as a tourist attraction, making it the oldest show cave in the state.

In 1925, the then-owners of the cave discovered another geological wonder on their property. In fact, what the Cameron family stumbled upon was more geologically significan than the original show cave on their property. More than fifty years later, the family opened the cave for tours in 1978.

Now named in honor of the family, Cameron Cave is the newest show cave in Missouri, but it’s not your typical show cave. As the third-largest maze cave in the Northern Hemisphere, the cave has five miles of surveyed passages.

To protect its natural beauty, no lights were ever installed, which distinguishes it from Mark Twain Cave. During tours of the cave, visitors carry either a lantern or flashlight.

Together, Mark Twain Cave and Cameron Cave make up

the Mark Twain Cave Complex, which also features a restaurant, winery, and campgrounds. Find everything at 300 Cave Hollow Road in Hannibal. Call 573-221-1656 or visit MarkTwainCave.com for more information.

The Deepest Cave

More than five hundred feet beneath the surface of the earth, Marvel Cave at Silver Dollar City near Branson is the deepest cave you can explore in the state.

Tours of Marvel Cave begin three hundred feet beneath the surface in the Cathedral Room. One of the largest cave entrances on the continent, the room measures 204 feet high, 225 feet wide, and 411 feet long, and the views are breathtaking. In fact, the room is so large that hot air balloons have been flown within the Cathedral Room.

The Cathedral Room isn’t the only cool feature, though.

The hour-long tour of the cave includes many geologically fascinating formations. The Liberty Bell, for example, is a fiftyfive-foot stalagmite that features a crack in its side, hence the name. The Dungeon is another interesting part of the cave as it features iron oxide stained walls that look blood red.

Silver Dollar City offers two different tours. The standard hour-long tour is included with the price of admission. However, cave enthusiasts might want to spring for the more exclusive, ninety-minute lantern tour. Up to twenty park guests at a time can take the lantern tours

COURTESY OF SILVER DOLLAR CITY AND FANTASTIC CAVERNS

Th e De epest Ca ve MARVEL CAVE

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Th e Wor ld’s Fa ir Ca ve ONONDAGA CAVE where the lights are shut off, but an extra service fee applies and reservations are required. For more information, visit SilverDollarCity.com or call 800-475-9370.

DAVID PIET

Best Family Cave Tour

Exploring caves is not for the faint of heart. When the first westering settlers started discovering and exploring Missouri’s vast network of caverns, there were no flashlights or modern-day climbing equipment.

In fact, when the first twelve men and women explored Fantastic Caverns back in 1867, they only used ropes, ladders, torches, and lanterns. Today, however, a tour of Fantastic Caverns near Springfield is a totally different experience than those frontier days.

Fantastic Caverns is the only cave in the state to offer a ride-through tour. Visitors can board a jeep-drawn tram for an hour-long tour through the well-lit caverns. It’s perfect for the whole family, from little kids to Grandma and Grandpa.

On the tour, you’ll learn about the cave’s history. It was actually discovered years before it was explored, but the owner did not want it to be exploited by either army in the Civil War. And for a short time in the 1920s, it was a speakeasy. In addition to history, you’ll also learn about the rich diversity of cave wildlife, from the grotto salamander to blind Ozarks cave fish Look for the signs for Fantastic Caverns in the Springfield area. In true Ozarks fashion, advertisements cleverly

claim the cave is a cool sixty degrees in the summer and a warm sixty degrees in the winter. Find Fantastic Caverns at 4872 North Farm Road 125 near Springfield. Call 417-8332010 or visit FantasticCaverns.com for more information.

Most Visited Cave

Onondaga Cave became a part of the Missouri State Parks system in 1982. Two years prior in 1980, the cave won the designation of National Natural Landmark from the National Park Service.

Meramec Caverns are synonymous with Missouri tourism, and it’s been ingrained in the state’s culture for generations.

More than 400 million years old, the cave was first explored by a French miner in 1722. During the Civil War, the Union Army used the cave as a saltpeter mine until Confederate guerrillas destroyed the operation. Supposedly, Jesse James was one of those guerrillas, and he returned to the cave with his brother Frank in the 1870s to use it as a hideout. After that, locals used the cave to throw parties to escape the summer heat.

The 1930s brought a watershed moment in Meramec Caverns’ history. In 1933, Lester Dill bought the cave from Charles Ruepple. That same year, Dill discovered more than four miles of previously unknown cavern. Two years later, in 1935, he opened the entire cave system as a tourist attraction.

Lester Dill is the man who made Meramec Caverns the attraction we know today. He began the marketing campaign of painting the attraction’s iconic logo on old barns across the country, often in exchange for season passes. He also pioneered the use of bumper stickers as advertisements. In fact, he’s even

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Mo st Ro ma nt ic Ca ve BRIDAL CAVE been credited with inventing the bumper sticker, though that’s been disputed. Starting in the 1960s, Dill began attracting Hollywood to the cave, and a few blockbuster films have shot scenes there, including 1972’s Tom Sawyer and 1998’s Deep Impact.

In any case, Dill made Meramec Caverns a seminal tourist attraction that will always be associated with hatchbacks, bumper stickers, and the 1960s. To this day, more than 150,000 people make a pilgrimage annually to 1135 Route W. Visiting this Stanton staple is a right of passage for Missourians and cross-country vacationers alike. Call 573-468-2283 or visit AmericasCave.com for more information.

Most Romantic Cave

Not since the ice age has a cave really been thought of as a romantic getaway. Dank, dark caverns and nocturnal creatures aren’t exactly wine and roses. However, more than three thousand couples have tied the knot at Bridal Cave in Camdenton.

The cave has long been associated with the idea of love.

The old folk tale says that Conwee, the Osage son of the Chief of the Big Hills, was infatuated with Wasena—the daughter of a Chief of the Little Hills. Alas, the love was unrequited. In a desperate effort, Conwee captured Wasena

Th e Mo st Vi sit ed Ca ve MERAMEC CAVERNS and her companion, Irona, and brought the two to presentday Bridal Cave.

Wasena escaped the cave, and rather than marry someone she did not love, she jumped to her death at a nearby three-hundred-foot cliff overlooking the Niangua River.

Today, locals still refer to the place as Lover’s Leap. Later, Irona married Prince Buffalo, Conwee’s brother, inside the cave, hence the name Bridal Cave.

Nobody knows for sure if the legends are true, but nonetheless, this show cave is still associated with love. Ceremonies take place under the gorgeous stalactite formation known as the chapel. All weddings are open to the public, so even if you’re just visiting, you might catch a couple eloping.

Find the cave at 526 Bridal Cave Road. Call 573-346-2676 or visit BridalCave.com for more information.

LINDSEY WEBSTER

Bridal Cave near Camdenton offer two different edding packages, one for $495 and one for $695. Both packages include lifetime passes to the cave for the bride and groom.

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COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM

The World’s Fair Cave

Onondaga Cave was almost mined for its onyx.

Leading up to the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, the Onondaga Mining Company formed. The plan was to mine the cave’s onyx to use when constructing buildings for the World’s Fair. The mining venture failed, however, due to a lack of funds and mining expertise.

To recoup costs, the owners set up a shuttle service to take visitors on an eighty-one-mile trip from the World’s Fair to the cave near Leasburg. Thus, Onondaga Cave will forever be linked to Missouri’s only World’s Fair as it has continued as a show cave ever since.

In the 1960s, though, Onondaga Cave faced a new threat. The US Army Corps of Engineers planned to dam the Meramec River. If that were done, the dam would in-

undate Onondaga Cave and many of the surrounding caverns. Public outcry from conservationists, cave enthusiasts, and other environmentalists led to the Corps of Engineers abandoning the plan, and the cave was saved.

In 1982, the cave became a part of Missouri’s state park system, and Onondaga State Park has been continually open ever since. Each year, visitors from all over come to see the cave’s abundance of quality cave formations, including stalactites, stalagmites, rimstone dams, flowstones, draperies, soda straws, and cave coral.

Park naturalists give tours May through October, and each October, there is a special day of spooky cave tours at night. Find Onondaga Cave State Park at 7556 Route H near Leasburg. Call 573-245-6576 or visit MoStateParks.com for more information.

Meramec Caverns offer cave tours all year long where visitors can see a plethora of cool geological formations, including the Theater Room where singers often perform.

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A STAGECOACH

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Comes Home The oldest stagecoach still in operation returns to Missouri.

BY DANITA ALLEN WOOD PHOTOS BY DENNIS CRIDER

T

his is the tale of a still-working

stagecoach—now fondly named The Journey—that has operated in three different centuries—probably the only stagecoach in this country to do that—and how it is coming home to Missouri.

THE COWBOY As a little boy, Rick Hamby was enthralled with all things Western, from Roy Rogers to Gunsmoke. At age five, he visited Silver Dollar City, and he was king of the world when the marshal asked him if he wanted to ride shotgun on a stagecoach pulled by two Missouri mules.

Fast-forward to 1999, and this little boy had grown up still loving to ride horses and captivated by all things Western. Rick had become a radio personality in West Plains, and he’d made a friend in Arizona who bought all kinds of antiques, such as old wagons and wooden wagon wheels for movie studios in the 1990s.

He and Rick made several scouting trips together, and in 1999, Rick saw what he thought was an old wagon tongue sticking out of tall weeds behind blacksmith Wallace Stone’s barn in Clarkridge, Arkansas.

But it wasn’t a wagon. He saw the Silver Dollar City name on the door first thing and instantly recognized it as the stagecoach from his childhood. It still had the Silver Dollar City inventory tag on it. He bought it on the spot.

“Cowboy Rick” got the blacksmith to restore the undercarriage, but he took the coach box home with him and restored it using as much of the original wood and metal as possible.

As he worked on it, Rick, his parents, his brothers, Rod and Joe, and Rick’s soon-to-be wife, “Arkansas Bev,” pondered what they could do with the coach that would be unique.

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On the ground from left, Dave “Colorado” Skinner holds a coach horse while Arkansas Bev watches Cowboy Rick tell children about the coach. Mike “Coop” Meyer and Rod “Maverick” Hamby with his horse Mildew look on, while “Sundance” Scott Lees keeps an eye on the children on top . The cowboys introduce their horses to children and allow them to pet the horses.

Cowboy Rick’s Posse Creed for Kid

“I started thinking about doing a mail run because stagecoaches used to carry mail,” Rick says. “I took the idea to my family for advice.

I recall standing in a hospital parking lot because my dad had prostate cancer, and I told my mom about it. She said, ‘That’s not a bad idea.’ I told my brother Rod, and he thought it was a good idea. In the hospital I told my dad, who replied how I thought he would, with ‘Let me sleep on it.’ But then the next day, he said, ‘You know, let’s do it.’ He was a sergeant in the Korean conflict and a drill sergeant afterward, and once he made a decision, it was rock solid.

It was going to be done.”

By 2000, Rick and Bev and a band of cowboys were taking the stagecoach to schools, talking to children, and collecting letters from Missouri schoolchildren to deliver to pen pals in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

“I probably talked to 17,000 kids at schools that first year before our journey,” Rick says.

“While sharing the past, instead of protecting gold and silver, we are collecting the mail and connecting the children. The letters are the heart and soul of our journeys.”

His goal was to teach history in a memo-

P lease mind your teachers and do well in school.

O bey your Mom and Dad or whoever is taking care of you.

S ay your prayers every day.

S eek always to do your best.

E very day, help around the house. rable and interesting way.

“I think sometimes our culture forgets the heritage and strife of our past,” he says. “I also want to show kids what can be done if you set your mind to it.”

He points out that he grew up with heroes who might have been fictional, like Roy Rogers, but they still taught moral lessons.

“I want kids to know that God does exist,” Rick says. “I think God uses this stagecoach to hitch all this together: history, this iconic image from the Old West, and moral values. If I can present it right, it might make a difference in some lives.”

Rick, Arkansas Bev, Rod, his parents, and their cowboy posse left for the first stagecoach journey on March 24, 2001. Since then, various members have made eight journeys, logging thousands of miles across Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada, and Arkansas. Bev handles the complex logistics of taking a stagecoach across a country full of modern highways.

During these journeys, Rick has talked to more than 100,000 children and created thousands of pen pals. He loves telling children of all ages the story of this stagecoach’s incredible journey, which began such a long time ago.

SAIL MAIL In fact, The Journey stagecoach’s story began before it was ever built.

During the 1840s and 1850s, mail to the West had to be delivered by ship across the Gulf of Mexico to Panama, where it was then carted across land to meet other ships heading for California. It took months. Even though Congress anticipated railroads would eventually connect the two coasts, in 1857, it authorized the postmaster general to seek bids for an overland mail service.

John W. Butterfield and his associates, including William G. Fargo of Wells Fargo fame, proposed a southern route from St. Louis to California. It wasn’t the exact route eventually operated, but the postmaster general liked the

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Rick Hamby shows two horses that pull the coach, Diamond and Mighty, who are Standardbred-Thoroughbred crosses.

These horses can travel fifty miles a da .

southern route because it could remain open in the winter. And so, Butterfield and his partners won the bid to provide two trips a week to deliver mail for $600,000 per year.

The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was born, and it carried both passengers and mail from St. Louis and from Memphis, Tennessee, to San Francisco, California, from 1857 to 1861. These two eastern routes joined at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and then continued westward on a route through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in San Francisco.

In Missouri, the route ran from St. Louis to Tipton and then on to Fort Smith.

The Overland Mail made two trips a week, traveling 2,795 miles and carrying passengers, freight, and up to twelve thousand letters at a time. The scheduled time between St. Louis and San Francisco was twenty-five days, but most stagecoaches made it in twenty-two.

However, with the Civil War looming, the Pony Express formed in 1860 to compete and deliver mail faster on a six-hundred-mile-shorter route through Denver and Salt Lake City. About the same time, the Overland Stage Company was taken over by a Wells Fargo company because

Photographer Dennis “Wichita” Crider captures a “selfie on the coach door, signed by celebrities such as The Oak Ridge Boys, who sang about the Frisco Silver Dollar Line.

of debt. Butterfield was forced out of the business, and other companies, which continued to operate on several overland trails, replaced his.

Still, the trail that Butterfields company blazed endured and continued to be used.

have traveled from Tipton to Springfield and then back. The Journey stagecoach worked mostly in Arizona on the Butterfield Overland Trail until it was retired in 1905. Then it was shipped back to Concord, where it spent the next fifty years in a barn.

THE BIRTH OF THE JOURNEY The Journey stagecoach was built in 1880 in Concord, New Hampshire. Cowboy Rick has been over the entire stagecoach many times, literally with a fine-tooth comb, but it wasn’t until last year that he discovered a serial number and seal on the undercarriage that show the steel was cast in Austria.

“European steel was considered superior to American steel at the time,” Rick says. “The undercarriage also has a stamp that reads, ‘I. Winter,’ the name of the foundry worker who assembled the coach.”

From Concord, the coach would have crossed Missouri, either pulled by a hitch of horses or possibly aboard a train on its way west. At the time, stagecoaches were generally run over the same portion of the trail and would have rarely traveled its entire length.

Instead, for example, one stagecoach might

ADVENTURE TOWN In 1955, the founders of Adventure Town Frontier Park in Alexandria Bay, New York, were seeking a stagecoach and kept hearing about one in a barn near Concord.

They scoured the area and found this coach wrapped in the original shipping blankets.

They bought it, along with a coach that had belonged to the Vanderbilt family and a steam train Henry Ford had built to entertain guests.

In 1960, the Herschend family, founders of Silver Dollar City, bought The Journey, the Vanderbilt coach, and the steam train. Nearly eighty years later, this coach came back to the state it would have crossed in the 1880s; this time it was here not to carry mail, but Silver Dollar City visitors. In the 1970s, both stagecoaches were retired and only used for décor at Silver Dollar City until one was sold to one

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of the park’s blacksmiths.

That’s where Rick found it so many years later, and Western dreams were reawakened.

THE KIDS Today, when The Journey travels, Rick, Bev, and the posse make an extra-special effort when they meet terminally ill children. He remembers camping one night on his first journey when an old blue Ford pickup truck came barreling down a dusty road. The man who got out described his nephew who loved cowboys and who didn’t have long to live. His nephew, Doug, was on dialysis and a double amputee; his body was shutting down. Rick diverted the route six miles to take the stagecoach to Doug’s home.

Rick met Doug, who was in a wheelchair, and Doug gave him a ceramic covered wagon.

Then, they took Doug out to the coach, where he met the cowboys and saw the horses.

Rick couldn’t help himself.

“Why don’t you come with us today? ” he asked.

Doug looked up doubtfully at the ten-foottall stagecoach, but Rick told him it could happen. The cowboys lifted Doug and sat him inside the coach. They stuffed as many of his family as would fit inside, too, and traveled for an hour before Doug tired out and needed to be lifted down. Rick says he’ll never forget Doug’s precious smile as he said, “You made my day. No, you made the rest of my life.”

The coach traveled on, and the next morning, they saw that same old blue Ford pickup coming into camp.

“His uncle came to tell us Doug had died that night, and that’s when it really hit us, ‘We are being used,’ ” Rick says. He still treasures the little ceramic wagon Doug gave him.

On another journey more than a decade ago, Rick met Alex Davis, a six-year-old with cerebral palsy who was going blind.

“His family thought he was going to die,” Rick says. “They brought him out to pet the horses, and he sat on the stagecoach. He made such an impression on me. We invited him to ride the stagecoach with us the next day, so he did. I stayed in touch with phone calls and letters to Alex for a year or so afterward, but then his family moved. I lost touch with him.”

As The Journey’s final cross-country trek was planned for May 2016, Rick kept telling Bev that he wanted to find Alex’s family. They were talking to some ranch women near Animas,

Coach driver “Pawnee Bill” Hobbs keeps his foot on the brake while he spins a yarn for passenger Alex Davis and other children. Scott Lees stays vigilant from the back.

New Mexico, where they had originally met Alex, and the women remembered Alex. Within thirty minutes, one of the women had tracked down Alex’s mom’s phone number. Rick called and chatted with her about this final journey.

Dreading the answer, Rick finally asked about Alex. The answer stunned him, “He’s sitting right here. You want to talk to him?”

Alex, now twenty years old, remembered Rick, Rick’s horse’s name, and other details of his ride into Tombstone. He remembered hearing people lining the streets cheering as the coach passed. Rick invited him to be a special passenger on this journey, too, and he rode the stage on its final three days into Matador, Texas.

Rick is still trying to make an impact in children’s lives. On this last journey, several bright yellow buses pulled into a parking area near a campground at Caprock Canyons State Park in Texas. Rick instantly had the excited children quiet and hanging on every word. He told them about cowboys, horses, and stagecoaches. He told them to love one another, to be kind to one another, and to follow the cow-

boy virtues of honesty, respect, and friendship.

“We want to touch lives,” he says, by inspiring children, lifting them up during hard times, making them laugh, and sometimes even comforting them. “We want to teach them how to treat each other with kindness and love.”

THE FINAL JOURNEY The final route for The Journey was from Clarendon to Matador, Texas. Rick, brother Rod, their mother Phyllis, Bev, and the crew made the journey; Rick’s father had passed on.

This September, the coach will come home to Silver Dollar City, as Rick and Bev are loaning it to the theme park where he first saw it Future plans, aside from a display at Silver Dollar City, will likely include Rick continuing to present school programs with The Journey on behalf of Silver Dollar City. The stagecoach and Cowboy Rick will keep touching lives.

You can meet Rick, Bev, and some of the posse and see the stagecoach during Silver Dollar City’s National Harvest and Cowboy Festival from September 14 to October 29.

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of the park’s blacksmiths.

That’s where Rick found it so many years later, and Western dreams were reawakened.

THE KIDS Today, when The Journey travels, Rick, Bev, and the posse make an extra-special effort when they meet terminally ill children. Rick remembers camping one night on his first journey when an old blue Ford pickup truck came barreling down a dusty road. The man who got out described his nephew who loved cowboys and who didn’t have long to live. His nephew, Doug, was on dialysis and a double amputee; his body was shutting down. Rick diverted the route six miles to take the stagecoach to Doug’s home.

Rick met Doug, who was in a wheelchair, and Doug gave him a ceramic covered wagon.

Then, they took Doug out to the coach, where he met the cowboys and saw the horses.

Rick couldn’t help himself.

“Why don’t you come with us today? ” he asked.

Doug looked up doubtfully at the ten-foottall stagecoach, but Rick told him it could happen. The cowboys lifted Doug and sat him inside the coach. They stuffed as many of his family as would fit inside, too, and traveled for an hour before Doug tired out and needed to be lifted down. Rick says he’ll never forget Doug’s precious smile as he said, “You made my day. No, you made the rest of my life.”

The coach traveled on, and the next morning, they saw that same old blue Ford pickup coming into camp.

“His uncle came to tell us Doug had died that night, and that’s when it really hit us, ‘We are being used,’ ” Rick says. He still treasures the little ceramic wagon Doug gave him.

On another journey more than a decade ago, Rick met Alex Davis, a six-year-old with cerebral palsy who was going blind.

“His family thought he was going to die,” Rick says. “They brought him out to pet the horses, and he sat on the stagecoach. He made such an impression on me. We invited him to ride the stagecoach with us the next day, so he did. I stayed in touch with phone calls and letters to Alex for a year or so afterward, but then his family moved. I lost touch with him.”

As The Journey’s final cross-country trek was planned for May 2016, Rick kept telling Bev that he wanted to find Alex’s family. They were talking to some ranch women near Animas,

Coach driver “Pawnee Bill” Hobbs keeps his foot on the brake while he spins a yarn for passenger Alex Davis and other children. Scott Lees stays vigilant from the back.

New Mexico, where they had originally met Alex, and the women remembered Alex. Within thirty minutes, one of the women had tracked down Alex’s mom’s phone number. Rick called and chatted with her about this final journey.

Dreading the answer, Rick finally asked about Alex. The answer stunned him, “He’s sitting right here. You want to talk to him?”

Alex, now twenty years old, remembered Rick, Rick’s horse’s name, and other details of his ride into Tombstone. He remembered hearing people lining the streets cheering as the coach passed. Rick invited him to be a special passenger on this journey, too, and he rode the stage on its final three days into Matador, Texas.

Rick is still trying to make an impact in children’s lives. On this last journey, several bright yellow buses pulled into a parking area near a campground at Caprock Canyons State Park in Texas. Rick instantly had the excited children quiet and hanging on every word. He told them about cowboys, horses, and stagecoaches. He told them to love one another, to be kind to one another, and to follow the cow-

boy virtues of honesty, respect, and friendship.

“We want to touch lives,” he says, by inspiring children, lifting them up during hard times, making them laugh, and sometimes even comforting them. “We want to teach them how to treat each other with kindness and love.”

THE FINAL JOURNEY The final route for The Journey was from Clarendon to Matador, Texas. Rick, brother Rod, their mother Phyllis, Bev, and the crew made the journey; Rick’s father had passed on.

This September, the coach will come home to Silver Dollar City, as Rick and Bev are loaning it to the theme park where he first saw it Future plans, aside from a display at Silver Dollar City, will likely include Rick continuing to present school programs with The Journey on behalf of Silver Dollar City. The stagecoach and Cowboy Rick will keep touching lives.

You can meet Rick, Bev, and some of the posse and see the stagecoach during Silver Dollar City’s National Harvest and Cowboy Festival from September 14 to October 29.

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Rod Hamby and Justin “Winchester� Wilson are the cowboys, from left, whose faces you see. At the end of every day, there is always coffee on the campfire. Be w, Bev and Rick reminisce with Caprock Canyons State Park interpreter Le'Ann Pigg, who first s w the stagecoach when she was a little girl. She brought her children this time. Below right, Rod and Bill dry their boots.

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FIFTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, MCDONALD COUNTY TRIED TO LEAVE THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

When the Missouri Highway Department distributed its annual Family Vacationland Map on April 3, 1961, a resort manager named Norman Smith Jr. noticed something funny. The details of his entire county, McDonald, had been excluded, which was strange because its vacation town Noel—prized for a scenic highway cut into limestone cliffs and Elk River’s serene waters—was the getaway destination of the time.

He circulated a petition at the McDonald County Republican Club and complaints were forwarded to the county representative, Boyd Walker.

The following week, Walker introduced a resolution in the Missouri General Assembly ordering the Highway Department to withdraw the offending, taxpayer-funded maps. He called the omission of the county “serious and extremely detrimental.” But the resolution was shuffled into the House Committee on Miscellaneous Affairs, where legal nuisances were often smothered.

Residents were outraged. Now what?

The solution was simple: If at first you dont succeed, secede.

A day later, McDonald County declared itself independent from the state of Missouri. It would go down in history as one of the best decisions the county would ever make. �������������������R “It was tongue-in-cheek,” says Lynn Tatum, president of the McDonald County Historical Society. “A ‘Don’t Mess With Us’ protest, a statement by this Ozark community.”

It’s worth noting that McDonald County has always been a bit rowdy.

When an unpopular ruling was made by the court in 1863, enraged residents

COURTESY OF MCDONALD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

By Rose Hansen

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“Long live the territory and what it stood for: to create, to improve, to build a better world, and to hold fast to the independent view of a free people. The ability to laugh at its own foibles is one of America’s sources of strength. It is a fitting epitaph to such rare and glorious moments when the human race shakes off its shackles of lethargy and does something interesting and funny.”

– Patric Stevens, Inside McDonald Territory

COURTESY OF MCDONALD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Left: The McDonald County Territory border guards were required to check visitors for passports and visas. Right: Ray Henry of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, appeared as an envoy from Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus to discuss annexation of McDonald County to Arkansas with President Z. L. McGowan.

allegedly burned the courthouse and its records to the ground. Now, nearly one hundred years later, the rebellious county was seceding. The stunt made front-page news across the country.

Immediately after declaring itself the McDonald Territory, a provisional government was elected with Z. L. McGowan as president and Robert Pogue, publisher of the McDonald County Press, serving as Press Secretary. Other officials included Dan M. Harmon, vice president; Robert Yocum, attorney general; Senator Lee Aaron Bachler, secretary of state, and more.

“Welcome to McDonald Territory” signs were posted at the border. A printer was commissioned at Noel for passports. About 100,000 territorial stamps and 50,000 visa cards were designed, engraved, and printed. Three hundred men were called to arms “against the tyranny of omission” to form a border patrol for keeping “undesirables” like Missouri state tax collectors out of the territory. There was even talk of contacting the United Nations for $4 billion in foreign aid relief. Offers began flooding in from Arkansas and the nearby Cherokee nation. On April 12, Bachler introduced a proposal to form a tri-state committee for Benton County, Arkansas, and Delaware County, Oklahoma, to join McDonald County in establishing a fifty-first state “I subscribe fully to and am a pioneer in the world of new frontiers,” Bachler said while introducing the resolution. “Progress is being made nationally. McDonald County is my place of birth, and in this controversy, I must go with her. I cannot reroute my affection.”

Residents were charmed. The future looked bright.

“When we secede, everybody will want to live here; we will be tax free and sell nickel beer,” says Rivers Wiley, a Noel service station operator. He called the secession one of the “greatest pieces of advertising we have ever had.”

McDonald County quickly became one of the most widely publicized resort areas in the nation. Coverage of the secession—including photographs of President McGowan sharing a peace pipe with Cherokee Chief Suagee of Jay, Oklahoma—landed in newspapers from St. Louis to New York City to Moscow. The territorial border guards granted television interviews and posed for cameras while costumed in over-the-top mountain man garb and muzzleloaders. As the media circus turned, government officials in the state capital became tangled in red tape.

Governor John B. Dalton acknowledged the map dispute as a serious over-

sight but deflected responsibility to the Highway Department, which was unable to supply a satisfactory explanation beyond human error. Then Robert Barron, who supervised publication of the guide, told the press that the exclusion of McDonald County’s towns was no accident.

“It was intended,” he said, “because of commercialization.”

Residents hotly disputed this claim. At the time, few roads in McDonald County were fully paved and the area was arguably less developed than many other vacation hotspots in the state.

“It is impossible for me to understand Mr. Barron’s statement,” said Ira England of Anderson, chairman of the McDonald County Resources and Development League. “He is completely uninformed. Our beautiful Ozark scenery, clear streams and abundant game and fishing area are the least commercial of any place in the Ozark region.”

McGowan later told the McDonald County Press: “What really happened, I think, was that somebody was playing politics in the State Capitol. The fellow who announced that the area had been left off the map intentionally was actually telling the truth, and the rest of the boys up there didn’t want that. They thought he was talking too much.”

Such conflicting reports at the state level fueled local frustrations and accusations of government dishonesty. �������������������R At an April 15 meeting in Anderson, Mrs. Robert F. Chambers of Goodman encouraged her rebellious countrymen to keep fighting

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“We should drop the word secession but continue with the movement,” she said. “We are the underdogs of the state. We should ask for donations from all over the country. We are poor people in a poor country. We are still a territory and fighting to be f ee.”

“The stunt has exceeded our wildest expectations; we have created a monster,” Yocum said at the same meeting. “We should be more judicious in our approach and should put more emphasis on attracting tourism, trade, and industries.”

Yocum was about to get more emphasis than he could have predicted.

The next day, a historical club in Jasper County called the United Sons of the Union and Confederacy issued an ultimatum: stop the secession or risk war. The next day, the seventy-man army invaded Noel.

An estimated four thousand spectators flooded into town to witness the mock warfare that followed. Two “generals” of the invading forces were captured. Peace arrived shortly after Ralph Hooker, age sixty-five, suffered minor burns from a Civil War musket that hadn’t been fi ed in nearly a hundred years.

“The darn gun blew up on me,” he said. “I’m going home.”

The sentiment rippled across the county and the secession petition was withdrawn. As upset as some people were about the Family Vacationland omission, the vast majority wanted to stay in the state and keep receiving

their pensions. Although the secession could not stand, the county continued bolstering the media hype and members of the provisional government kept their titles.

According to a May 1961 press report, Senator Edward V. Long wrote: “In my mail this week was a visa entitling me to a safe visit to McDonald Territory (formerly McDonald County, Missouri). The card was signed by Z. L. McGowan of Noel, president of the new provisional government. The McDonald incident was a bright spot in a week filled with ominous incidents. I sincerely believe that America’s ability to laugh at its own foibles is one of its sources of strength.”

The stunt brought comic relief to a nation faced with serious change and uncertainty. At the height of the McDonald County secession attempt, the Bay of Pigs invasion was unfolding. In 1961, John F. Kennedy became the thirty-fifth president. That same year, the Soviets beat the Americans in sending the first person to space, the freedom riders boarded buses to challenge segregation in the South, and East Germany began building the Berlin Wall.

The following year, McDonald County was back on the 1962 Family Vacationland Map with photos of its scenic terrain depicted in full color.

According to Gerald R. Massie, editor of the publication, the previous year saw record-breaking tourism profits above $632 million. Press coverage of the McDonald Territory undoubtedly contributed to that success. For years to come, the county capitalized on the hype of secession with mock visa checkpoints, fishing derbies, fashion shows, old car parades, train heists, and more.

COURTESY OF MCDONALD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY; ROSE HANSEN

Above: From left, McDonald County’s Sergeant Jim Stevens, Lieutenant Jim “Squeak” Howerton, and Corporal Jim Riley pose for a portrait. Right: Overhanging bluffs line Noel’s scenic oute 59.

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OFF THE MAP: McDonald County McDonald County is about an hour and forty-fi e minutes from Springfield via Interstate 4 West and Highway 71 South.

STAY Shack up in a rustic cabin at the River Ranch Resort at 101 River Road in Noel. It sits on the Elk River, where you can swim and paddle all weekend long—or rent a tube and float d wnstream old school style. Visit RiverRanchResort.com or call 800-951-6121 for more information.

COURTESY OF MCDONALD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

STUDY

Eventually, though, nearby Branson funneled visitors away from that remote corner of the state. Today McDonald County, even at the height of summer, is a sleepy outpost no longer at the center of Missouri’s tourism industry. In time, the secession became an event colored by selfdeprecating humility.

“We had some fun with it. I remember people out there making semiserious proposals. At the time, I was twelve years old and in the background was this secession thing going on and that was just part of summer,” says Rocky Macy, whose family owned the River View Court near Noel. “Right now we’ve got an angry undercurrent in the country politically. I think it’s important for people to have a voice and for government to respect the people and listen to them. I didn’t feel like it was a serious movement at the time, but I think things like that can become serious real quick. We are always seeing things coming from beneath rising up.”

Considering the colonial revolt that sparked United States independence in 1776, secession is a quintessentially American story. Since then, there have been more movements, the most bruising of which was the Civil War. Sectors of every generation carry their share of political frustrations, but as one decade rolls into the next, that anger often turns into indifference and then mere curiosity. But as Macy suggests, perhaps there’s a deeper lesson at the heart of McDonald County’s secession, a moral complexity too easily overshadowed by the light of its comedy.

“The secession was not initially a publicity stunt, although it turned into a great one. It had real meaning to the people of McDonald County. The territo-

Learn more about the secession at the McDonald County Historical Museum, housed in a National Register of Historical Places courthouse. Its picturesque spot is on the square, and its jail was featured prominently in the 1939 Hollywood movie, Jesse James. Find the museum at 302 Harmon Street in Pineville. Go to McDonaldCoHistory.org or call 417-223-7700 for more information.

SEE A far cry from the neon lights of flas y show caves, Bluff Dwellers Cavern at 949 Route 59 South in Noel is primitively developed but exquisitely preserved. The tour leads visitors through narrow passageways to see an underground lake and 12,000-year old archeological sites. For more information, visit BluffD ellersCavern.com or call 417-475-3666.

rial uprising will be regarded in history as a time when a small community organized and made the statement, ‘We count, too. We don’t want government without representation,’ ” Patric Stevens wrote in Inside McDonald Territory, a special publication for the McDonald County Historical Society.

Stevens has a point. It’s easy to underestimate the power of the ordinary citizen—until they join forces and speak up. The 1961 secession wasn’t just theater; it was also a political conversation between citizens and the elected officials meant to epresent them.

So what if Missouri was never going to show McDonald County the door?

The county showed Missouri something far more significant: itself

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THANK YOU TO

[60] MissouriLife County Market, Simply Soothing and Spin Cycle 060 ML0816.indd 60

7/8/16 11:40 AM

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NOTLEY HAWKINS

More than 600 cyclists from more than ten states came to Missouri to ride on Big BAM (Bicycle Across Missouri) in June, 2016. The ride started at the Missouri River in St. Joseph and went all the way to the Mississippi River in Hannibal with overnights in Hamilton, Chillicothe, BrookďŹ eld, Macon and Shelbina. Big BAM riders explored the scenic Missouri countryside and loved visiting the many great communities and towns that gave lots of fun and interesting local color to each of our six days of riding.

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Brookfield

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Shelbina

Missouri

7/8/16 11:40 AM

Just Peachy Bill Bader Farms makes Campbell the Peach Capital of Missouri.

Phot os an d St or y By Car ol yn Toml in

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M

ISSOURIANS TAKE PRIDE in many things. There are the beautiful Ozark hills that gradually fade into the distance; clean, sparkling rivers that weave through the countryside like a ribbon fluttering in the wind; and rustic old mills that tell of a lifestyle generations ago. And then there are Bader peaches.

Growing up in the northwest edge of the Bootheel, Bill Bader stared working in the peach orchards as a high school student in 1970 to earn money to buy his school clothes.

This part-time job changed his life.

“When a boy works on a peach farm each summer, picking, grading, packing, whatever is needed,” Bill says, “that peach fuzz gets under your skin.”

Finding his niche early, Bill bought his first 250-acre farm in 1987, and he was soon in the peach business.

As many real estate agents will tell you, location is everything. The same rule applies to producing quality peaches.

Good soil and a mild climate go hand in hand. With these ingredients, Bill realized that the small town of Campbell in Dunklin County, on the southwest tip of the Bootheel, was perfect for growing this golden fruit. Thirty years later, Bader Farms is a family-owned business known throughout the United States for its delicious peaches.

Gradually adding more acreage, Bader Farms has expanded from the original 250-acre tract to nearly 6,000 acres today. About one-sixth of the farm’s acreage is devoted to peaches, where about 110,000 peach trees thrive.

Bill’s farm sits on Crowley’s Ridge, a geological formation that extends from southeastern Missouri to the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas. According to Bill, it’s the best place in the state to grow peaches.

“The soil is better, and there is better protection from frost,” he says.

Hard work and good soil have paid off for this successful venture. Today, Campbell is nicknamed the Peach Capital of Missouri.

A Family and Employee Business More than peaches, family is important to Bill. He and his wife, Denise, depend on theirs sons Levi and Cody to operate the farm throughout the year. Bill’s brothers, Tom and Steve Bader, and several other relatives lend a hand at harvest time. The Bader family has extended outside of blood relations, too. With Campbell’s population at about 2,500, many local teenagers and high school students show up for summer work. Most come back for multiple summers and pass the tradition on to their family members.

Cody, the sales manager, started working at the farm when he was just six years old.

“I worked loading boxes in the loft,” Cody says. “Later, I worked in the shoots for the graders and then worked as a grader.”

Now thirty-three years old, he knows the peach business from the ground up—or rather from the tree up.

“Working with family has its rewards,” Cody says. “On occasion, you may bump heads, but by the end of the day, all is well.

You trust your family. That’s important in a business.”

Caring for the peach orchard is a twelve-month-a-year, and often a seven-day-a-week, job—especially during the harvest season. After all, peaches don’t stop growing just because it’s the weekend.

During the summer, the farm provides seasonal employment for approximately 110 people, most of whom are migrant workers who return for seasonal work each year. The farm provides housing for these workers in the peach industry. Between June and September, work begins as early as 6 am and usually doesn’t end until dark. Pruning and thinning trees is part of the off-season or winter work.

Due to the stress on trees, the number of peaches must be reBill Bader holds in his hand one of the peaches for which his duced during the early spring. farm in Campbell is known. A peach is picked by size and Otherwise, the trees could not color. Workers look for a yellow and red blush. withstand the weight of the peaches on each plant.

From the Tree to the Grocer’s Shelf The Bader family takes pride in the fact that their peaches can go from the tree to the grocery store shelf within twenty-four hours. Picked by size and color, the pickers look for yellow with a red blush on each piece of fruit. Workers remove each mature peach individually and load them into a picking bucket, which deposits the fruit in a tractor-drawn trailer. From there, the peaches move on to the farm’s shed,

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where they are run through the hydro-cooler wash, which reduces the internal heat and slows the ripening process.

Next, the fruit is graded by size and various other factors.

Finally, the freshly picked peaches are packed and loaded onto trucks, ready to be shipped to grocery stores across the region.

“Numerous factors determine the peach crop,” says Cody.

“Some years are good; some not so good. Last year, we sold approximately 30 percent of our usual crop. An April hail storm took its toll. A chemical drift from a nearby farm hit us hard.

Instead of the 100,000 bushels usually sold, we processed between 45,000 and 50,000.”

In a recent year, the farm packed about five hundred bushels an hour. On an average day during the summer harvest, workers often pack 4,000 boxes, which is equivalent to 400,000 peaches. However, on a very good day, the farm might pack 6,000 boxes with about 600,000 peaches. Peaches are picked, sent to a grocery store or roadside stand, and can be turned into a delicious cobbler or crumble in a matter of hours.

“We supply local grocery stores As each packing bucket is filled, workers gently deposit and roadside stands across souththe peaches into cardboard boxes that are loaded onto a east Missouri,” Bill says. “Large tractor-drawn trailer, which will take them from the fields chains, including Dierbergs in St. Louis, Henhouse in Kansas City, Fairway in Iowa, and others in Springfield also sell peaches f om our groves.”

In fact, produce buyers from miles around depend on Bader Farms to supply their fruit and vegetables.

“I’ve been buying peaches from Bill Bader for years,” says Bill Ray, who delivers Bader Farms fruit to several locations.

“He and his wife, Denise, are good people. I can depend on his produce being consistently top quality. When he didn’t have what I needed, there have been times he has told me to go to the orchard and pick. Bader is the type of person you want to do business with.”

Ray says that working with the Bader family makes his job as a fruit and vegetable buyer much easier.

More Than Just Peaches Signs advertise Campbell peaches for miles around. Roadside stands serve travelers and locals alike. But in addition to peaches, Bader Farms grows and sells nectarines, cantaloupe, watermelons, blackberries, strawberries, apples, tomatoes, pecans, corn, and alfalfa hay. Seasonal produce—from May strawberries to fall apples and early winter pecans—offer homegrown products during most of the year. If you miss the peach season, you have other produce to tempt your appetite. However, the peach trees make up a majority of their business, and not all of it is directly related to the fruit.

With 110,000 peach trees, the farm prunes the limbs and cuts down scores of trees each year, and they don’t go to waste. Peach wood adds a wonderful flavor to barbecue, so in addition to the peaches, bags of the wood, made for smoking meat, are available at Bader Farms.

A Summer Ritual Between late June and early September, Bader Farms markets fifty-four varieties of peaches. Each variety ripens at a different time, and people stop by the shed to purchase a specific type “They drive in from miles around, load up their truck or car, and buy peaches,” Bill says. “We sell them by the bushel or truckload. For some, it’s a rite of summer to find locally grown produce that is picked fresh and ripens on the trees. Our peaches look like a peach, smell like a peach, and taste like a peach.”

Sharing stories of buying Bader peaches, customers reminisce about parents or grandparents who made the summer pilgrimage.

Dick Wakefield makes this annual summer trip from Hartville, nearly two hundred miles a way.

“My wife was from Tennessee, and I’m a Missouri Ozarks guy,” Dick says. “For many years, we made the trip to Tennessee by way of Highway 53 through Dunklin County to Campbell, then turning on Highway WW. Years ago, Bader allowed my four kids to pick up the falls and box them up. These are the ones that have fallen on the ground and aren’t first grade. My children ate fresh peaches in the orchard, and the juice ran down their arms. There’s no comparison to eating tree-ripened fruit as opposed to those

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When cut, the flesh on a freestone peach almost pulls away from the pit. Bill Bader cuts into one of his farm’s peaches with his well-worn personal pocket knife.

that have been picked green and transported hundreds of miles across the country by truck.”

While times have changed and the peach farm doesn’t let kids eat fruit off the ground anymore, the summer trip to Bader Farms is still a tradition for many families, especially in southeastern Missouri.

To Cling or Not to Cling Families and produce-buyers purchase different types of peaches for different uses. Some varieties are better for preserving and canning; others are best tasting when eaten fresh. Of the fifty-four varieties grown at Bader Farms, they can all be divided into two categories.

One of the early summer categories is the clingstone peach. As the name implies, the flesh clings to the pit, also known as the stone. Sweeter and juicier, clingstones are used for canning and preserving. Commercially canned peaches are typically clingstone—peaches that do not pull away from the pit when cut open.

Those that do not cling to the pit are known as freestone.

This delicious variety is best eaten out of hand. Usually larger and less juicy, the freestone peaches are also favorites for baking and preserving. If customers purchase peaches in a

grocery store, they are usually freeBader Peaches are recognized as a top producer of Missouri peaches. It’s not unusual for two or three generations of stone. Consumers will recognize people to swap stories of visiting the peach farm. this variety by names such as the Spring Prince and Ruby Prince.

Crossed between a clingstone and freestone is a semifreestone peach that is a hybrid. Researchers have attempted to combine the best of both peaches into one—a peach with the qualities of the clingstone’s juicy sweet taste and

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The Bader Farm depends on migrant workers and local high school students to harvest the summer peaches and get them to market. When the trailer is filled the fruit goes back to the warehouse for transporting to the market.

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the ease of eating and using the pitted freestone variety.

The different type of peaches matter to Bill because his Missouri customers have come to expect a long season of summer fruit. In order to supply customers, both individuals and grocery stores, with an extended season, Bill offers a wide variety that is harvested throughout the summer growing season.

A Peach of a Deal Packed with natural sweetness, the fruit is simply delicious. However, Bill likes to remind people that peaches are also healthy. Not only rich in fibe , good for blood sugar, and helpful in reducing cholesterol, the peach contains several major nutrients, including vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium.

As for calorie-counters, a medium-size peach contains only thirty-eight calories—below the amount for apples and pears of similar size. The simple peach makes a perfect snack for children or adults as they’re 87 percent water.

Customers who follow Route WW out of Campbell marvel at the Bader peach orchards on both sides of the country road. Once there, expect a friendly staff that is knowledgable about peaches and who can answer any related questions. Also, check out the company’s framed newspaper articles that line the walls. It’s not surprising that Bader peaches help make Campbell the Peach Capital of the Show-Me State.

To meet market demands, migrant workers return each summer to harvest the peaches. Standing on a ladder, each employee uses a harness that supports a bucket that allows them to pick with both hands.

Schedule for Bader Peaches Bader Farms is located at 38601 Route WW in Campbell. Call 573246-2528 or 573-217-8008 and email info@baderpeaches.com for more information. The end of the summer is a fruitful time for peaches. To find out about more varieties that are picked earlier in the season, check out the farm’s growing schedule at BaderPeaches.com.

• August 1 – Rusten Red • August 8 – Cresthaven, PF 27 A • August 12 – Jersey Queen, Sun Prince • August 15 – Monroe, Summer Lady, Carolina Gold • August 18 – Sweet Sue • August 20 – O’Henry • August 22 – Flame Prince • September 1 – Fair Time • September 5 – Big Red • September 10 – Marston • September 20 – Last Chance, Autumn Prince

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Musings ON MISSOURI

THE OLD MAN AND THE CPU YOU MUST UNDERSTAND; I’ve spent many years in a state of considerable isolation. From 2007 until 2011, by choice, I rarely strayed beyond the confines of my remote property in the Ozarks. My tiny, wood-heated cabin—primitive and ramshackle— was a dream made real.

Surrounded by the Mark Twain forest and fronted by the Gasconade River, I awoke daily to the machinegun staccato of woodpeckers on dead oak. I drifted to sleep encased in the howls of coyotes, the chiming of tree frogs, and the horse-whinny sonata of screech owls.

Since 2011, by choice, I’ve lived in the rural flatlands of west-central Missouri. It’s the place where I grew up, and the place I left at age seventeen. I returned here not out of an abiding love for the topography or a latent sense of nostalgia, but because of familial duty.

My father, at ninety-four, is afflicted with severe Alzheimer’s. My mother, at ninety-one, possesses the typical ailments accompanying advanced age.

Thus, for the past five years I’ve ra ely wandered from the gravel road leading from my home to theirs. I venture out primarily to buy their groceries or take them to medical appointments.

You must understand: I’ve spent the past decade in a state of considerable isolation. That is, until a couple months ago when I made a whirlwind trip to New Jersey for my best friend’s surprise, sixtieth birthday party. We had a wonderful reunion, and I cherished the too-brief moments with those to whom I’m closest. It was beyond great, but that’s not the story.

Imagine how Rip Van Winkle saw the world after his slumber. Imagine a con leaving prison after a ten-year sentence. I know of the cultural changes, scientific leaps, and silicon-chipped gadgetry that have altered the manner in which people think, behave, and communicate, but I’ve not truly experienced them for myself. I’ve not witnessed the collective population constantly gazing down at phones and tablets, fingers flying, attention

spastically flitting from news briefs to texts to games to social media. I’ve not personally observed the masses simultaneously tapping screens, frantically sending tidbits of messages with their thumbs, drunk on incessant connection.

At first glace it was disturbing, reminiscent of a 1980s dystopian movie in which humanity merges with machine and adopts a hive mentality. I pondered that perhaps the minds of men are now geared toward interacting with the sterile shadows of virtual reality rather than with sentient creatures born of fles and blood.

I’d bet most people don’t notice these things, and really, there’s no reason they should. It’s a forest and trees scenario, and the comingling of man and gadget is so prevalent that it’s the new normal. In such cases, all one can do is accept the inevitable and tolerate the changes. To do otherwise is to risk becoming like the people my younger self viewed as embarrassingly annoying curmudgeons, the ones who pined for rotary-dial phones, cursed answering machines, and uttered a neverending mantra of “why can’t things stay like they were?”

It eventually struck me that the people hunched over their gadgets, eyes glazed in hypnotic focus, were not the strange ones. For good or ill, I was the odd man out, the anachronism sitting in the airport reading a book with (gasp) paper pages.

Since I refuse to be the bitter codger who believes joy lives only in the past, I’ll likely embark on a search for balance. There must be a happy medium between isolation and connectivity, between too much technology and a quasi-Luddite mentality.

New is not always bad. Old is not always good.

I won’t find my answers on Google. Rather, I RON MARR suspect they lie deep within myself.

HARRY KATZ

BY RON MARR

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NO PLACE LIKE

Home

BEST WORST VACATION EVER DETERMINED to expose my husband and three children to a little culture, I planned a mini-vacation to St. Louis. The plan was to stroll through the art museum, immerse ourselves in the science center, stay along the riverfront, and eat somewhere that didn’t have a drive-through.

Who wouldn’t want to do that?

Well, Taylor whined about not going to a water park, Hilary begged to go to a shopping mall, and all Mariah wanted to do was go to Hobby Lobby. My husband, who had vacationed with these three before, just wanted to stay home.

“Oh come on,” I said with fake enthusiasm. “It will be fun.”

The first fun-filled day was full of arguing, complaining, and an invitation to leave the museum. Apparently, there was a no-touching policy.

We ended up snarled in traffic, and then our car overheated in the parking lot of the St. Louis Science Center. A security guard pulled up when Randy lifted the hood and told us to leave. We hadn’t even been in.

Intent on shaking off yesterday and having some fun, we walked the next morning. A block from our hotel, we found a metro train station where a billboard of the mayor welcomed tourists to the city and offered a hotline should they encounter any problems. Underneath that billboard, the train schedule said we could hop on, hop off, hang out, and catch the train right back to where we were.

We managed to buy tickets from a vending machine and pondered the sign that reminded us to get them validated. Doesn’t the conductor do that?

The train doors opened, and Randy and the kids grabbed the first empty seat while I stumbled to the back for my own. When the train pulled out, the conductor slid through the door and began checking tickets, examining them with a flashlight. From the back of the car, I watched as the conductor snatched Randy’s tickets from his hand. The next thing I knew, the train stopped, the door opened, and the conduc-

tor kicked my family off the train.

After some shouting and a little pouting, I followed my family off the train. The conductor followed us and demanded identification. This man—with a wrinkled shirt and bad breath—informed us, bluntly, that riding the train illegally was illegal. I tried to explain that we’d paid for tickets but didn’t know they had to be validated before boarding. The irritated conductor, though, cut me off, and, looking at my license, asked: “Can you verify your weight?”

That was it! I was done with this vacation.

On the train ride back, our oldest child bragged about his mother making a grown man beg. The second child was embarrassed that her mother threatened to use the tourist hotline. And the youngest kept asking why daddy thought the conductor looked like he’d been hit by a train?

This was the worst vacation ever.

On the car ride home, the children were quiet, exhausted from the culture shock of the last two days. I looked at my dazed husband and knew Randy was wishing we had just stayed home.

All I wanted to do was expose my family to a little culture, but we’d been asked to leave every place we went. Apparently, culture wasn’t ready for us. My family isn’t perfect, but it is mine. I worried my children would believe that one bad vacation meant that we were bad, too.

I didn’t want them to judge their childhood by overzealous security guards and a tired train conductor who never knew what hit him.

That, of course, is exactly what happened. Over the years, stories of this city vacation have been re-told over dinner tables and bonfi es. Each child has her own detailed version, but their endings LORRY MYERS are always the same: Best. Vacation. Ever.

HARRY KATZ

BY LORRY MYERS

[70] MissouriLife

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Experience Missouri Wine Country Like Never Before

Horse drawn wagon excursions available this fall.

HERMANN ~ NEW HAVEN ~ ROSEBUD

Cherry Wine Pineapple Wine Maple Pecan Wine Jalapeno Wine Blackberry Wine And much more!

Reserve Your Ride Today 636-667-1174 WineCountryWagonRides.com

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Fiber Arts Exhibit: August 1-26 Montauk Free Fishing: August 6 Montauk Hummingbird Banding: August 7 Fall Festival at the Commons: August 11-13 Montauk Kids Trout Tourney: August 13 Relay for Life at the Park: August 20 2nd Annual Chamber Rodeo: September 2-3 Blue Ovals Car Craft Show: September 10-11 Montauk, MO Trout Tourney: September 10-11

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FALLF UN FESTIVALS

&

COURTESY OF ROOTS AND BLUES

THERE IS NO BETTER TIME to be outside in the Show-Me State than the fall. The heat has broken, the bugs have buzzed off, and Father Winter is still some time away.

Across the state, Missourians embrace the season in various ways. Our big cities say goodbye to summer with one final music festival, and our small communities hold fairs to honor the annual changing of the leaves. No matter where you are in the state— from Rock Port to Caruthersville and Noel to Canton—this is your chance to fall into fun.

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39TH Annual

HERITAGE FESTIVAL & CRAFT SHOW Saturday & Sunday, September 17 & 18, 10 AM - 5 PM Nifong Park, 3700 Ponderosa, Columbia, MO

Parking: Highway 63 to Grindstone Parkway Exit, then west to signs.

Three stages of entertainment featuring: • Haskell Indian Nation Dancers • Traditional, Americana, Bluegrass, Cajun, Folk, and German Music • Multicultural Dancing Festival Attractions include: • Traditional Arts and Trades demonstrations • Handmade Crafts for sale • Fun for Young’uns area • Lewis & Clark Outpost, Cowboy and Mountain Man Camps • Museum, village & historic homes tours • Concessions will be available

FREE ADMISSION! For more information, call 573-874-7460 or visit www.como.gov (search Heritage Festival) Stay overnight! Visit www.visitcolumbiamo.com

Coordinated by: Sponsored by: [73] August 2016

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Upcoming Events August 20: Brick City Bad Boy Cruise Nights Downtown Square, Mexico 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org August 26 & 27: 2016 Soybean Festival Downtown Square, Mexico 573-581-2765 | www.mexicosoybean.org September 17: Brick City Bad Boy Cruise Nights Downtown Square, Mexico 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org September 23-24: Walk Back in Time Audrain County Historical Complex, Mexico

573-581-3910 | www.audrain.org

Photo courtesy Megan Harrington

Mexico is a perfect combination of small-town charm and urban style. Artsy boutiques, jewelry, quilt shops, scrapbooking, antiques, and cultural offerings give Mexico a sophisticated air with a family-friendly attitude. Come visit us today!

MEXICO AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE We work hard as a Chamber of Commerce to be the pulse of the community, assisting all to provide services that will nurture and encourage our businesses and strengthen our community.

573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org

Our commitment to history in the restoration of Presser Hall has been a 25 year+ endeavor that has rewarded the communities in mid Missouri some of the best entertainment one could possibly see anywhere.

After accomplishing such a daunting task as restoration, fund raising, and public events, Presser has moved into the next phase of community service, by becoming a full “Performing Arts Center” offering a full array of arts education.

Our mission is to inspire, entertain, and educate people in the arts by providing the finest venue, productions, and programs. We also serve as a resource and gathering place for this and surrounding communities.

(573) 581-5592 ˜| www.presserpac.com [74] MissouriLife

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F

FALL UN FESTIVALS

&

DÉJÀ VU SPIRITS REUNION

COURTESY OF LOUISIANA CHAMBER AND CHARLES HOUCHIN

Beware of the spirits who come to life at Missouri’s oldest cemetery, Ste. Genevieve’s Old Memorial Cemetery, established in 1787. This annual event begins at 5:30 pmon October 22 and offers a lantern tour where visitors will meet twenty spirits who arise from their resting place donned in their traditional dress. The spirits portrayed include a Civil War colonel who died in the battle of Shiloh, Missouri’s first US representative, and other colorful, nineteenth-century characters from Ste. Genevieve. Visit HistoricSteGen.org or call 573-883-9622 for more information.

LOUISIANA COUNTY COLORFEST Louisiana, Missouri, comes alive on October 15 and 16 with more than one hundred vendors, a parade, the Fireman’s Challenge, a car and motorcycle show, a Louisiana’s Got Talent show, a Miss Louisiana pageant, concerts, and more. Events are held downtown and at the Riverfront and are open from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday.

Call 573-754-5921 or visit LouisianaColorfest.com for more information.

OCTOBER 8&9

h 4 8 TH A N N UA L

ARROW ROCK

HERITAGE FESTIVAL

1 6

ADMISSION $2

2 0

h

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Benton County Missouri Fall Fun Your Way

Fall Festival Events Cole Camp Fair

September 8-10 Join us for the 100th anniversary edition! The main event is a parade with large, elaborate oats. There are craft, art and hobby shows, evening dances and a midway with many rides and attractions.

Lincoln Fly-In

September 10 Antique, classic, home built, ultra-light, modern factory built aircraft, all are welcome. Fly in or drive in.

Mozarite Rock, Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show & Swap, Lincoln

September 16-18 Lincoln, the home of Mozarkite the Missouri State Rock, hosts this great event where you can even dig for Mozarite during the show.

Octoberfest/Prairie Days/Antique Bicycle Show, Cole Camp

October 8 Enjoy a day of German food, musical entertainment, crafters, artists, antique vendors, a classic and antique bicycle show, and more. If that wasn’t enough fun, stay and enjoy the Hi-Lonesome Prairie Day exhibits, tours and up-close nature viewing.

Heritage Days, Warsaw

October 15-18 See history and demonstrations from the 1800s. Explore pioneer life by visiting a real village of the period that includes original buildings. The living history experience includes more than 80 crafts, trades, and lifestyles.

Then, visit the Warsaw Drake Harbor area where scores of contemporary crafters will display and sell their wares.

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WALK BACK IN TIME

COURTESY OF MEXICO CHAMBER AND BRANSON CVB

The fifteenth annual Walk Back in Time event comes back to Mexico, Missouri, this year from September 23 to 25. Each year, the Audrain County Historical Society hosts this festival on its museum grounds, which include the Graceland Victorian mansion, the American Saddlebred Horse Museum, the Firebrick Museum, the Audrain County one-room schoolhouse, and a historic country church. The festival always includes exhibits with authentic artifacts, reenactors, music, storytellers, food, and more Why not get into the spirit of the weekend with your lodging, too? The La Paz Inn was completed in 1923 and is said to be a copy of the original American Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia.

Visit Mexico-Chamber.org for more information.

AUTUMN DAZE More than one hundred crafters and artists come from around the country to sell their wares at this celebration of Branson’s heritage and culture. During Autumn D aze Arts from September 15 to 17, woodcrafts, iron works, quilts, clothing, jewelry, and other traditional and handmade wares will be on sale. Many vendors will give demonstrations of

their creative techniques. Throughout the weekend, Branson’s musical talent will be on display on the Autumn Daze stage in the city’s historic downtown.

The celebrity tent will be the place to go for autographs, photos, and to buy CDs. Call 417-334-1548 or visit DowntownBranson.org/autumn-daze for more information.

State parks, cute little shops, microbreweries, underground art galleries and award-winning dining, all within walking distance. Or at least a short bike ride away. Columbia offers everything you need for a quick getaway. And you don’t have to take out a small loan to get here. visitcolumbiamo.com

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ROOTS AND BLUES From September 30 to October 2, a first-class lineup of more than thirty musical artists will descend upon on Stephens Lake Park in Columbia for this annual showcase of roots, blues, gospel, country, folk, bluegrass, rock, and soul. This year’s lineup includes nationally renowned acts, such as the Avett Brothers, Grace Potter, Jason Isbell, Ben Folds, The Devil Makes Three, Blues Traveler, and the Blind Boys of Alabama, and it will also feature local favorites, such as Chump Change and the Flood Brothers. While the jams pulsate through the crowd, local and regional vendors serve up barbecue. Half-marathon and 10K races and a Sunday gospel celebration round out the weekend.

Visit RootsNBluesNBBQ.com or call 573-442-5862 for more information.

PRAIRIE JUBILEE The majority of Missouri’s remaining tallgrass prairies are located within Prairie State Park, thirty-fi e miles northwest of Joplin near Mindenmines. The nature preserve is known for its diverse array of wildfl wers and resident herds of elk and bison. On Sunday, September 26, the

Prairie Jubilee will give attendees a first-han look at life on the plains. Activities include live music, a living history loop with interpreters, guided tours, and the chance to talk to representatives from conservation organizations. A bison barbecue lunch is available for purchase.

For more information, call 417-843-6711 or visit MoStateParks.com/park/prairie-state-park.

COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM AND MISSOURI STATE PARKS

FALL UN FESTIVALS

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Fine dining that’s good eatin’.

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ts m/even rilife.co missou

DANCEFESTOPIA

COURTESY OF DANCEFESTOPIA

This year marks the fifth year of this three-day, three night, non-stop dance party at Berkley Riverfront Park in Kansas City. From September 9 to 11, D ancefestopia will bring Kansas City three stages of music, fire orks, helicopter tours, canoe trips, a zipline, and more. There are also vendors, art displays, and workshops throughout the weekend. The festival site includes a campground with twenty-four-hour security, cell phone charging stations, flushable toilets, and showers.

Three-day passes range from $159 to $259. Visit Dancefestopia.com for more information.

South East Craft Beer Fest

14TH Annual

FOLK FESTIVAL

Period craft demonstrations, children’s games, music, and food Labor Day - Monday, Sept. 5 10 am - 4 pm Boone’s Lick State Historic Site Hwy 187 near Boonesboro, MO FREE ADMISSION www.boonslicktourism.org

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT WWW.SECBEERFEST.COM

Columbia, MO

October 14-15, 2016

Beer enthusiasts unite!

Join other hop-heads to enjoy music, food, entertainment, and of course, lots and lots of beer. With more than 55 breweries from across the nation in attendence, you’re sure to find your new favorite brew. Visit the website for tickets and more information.

Sponsored by The Boonslick Area Tourism Council and Missouri State Parks

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This 1837 historic town is a popular overnight destination and a favorite day trip. Experience the Tobacco Festival, old-fashioned ice cream socials, and Irish Fest (full of music and dance). Also, enjoy Applefest, the largest fall festival around.

Visit westonmo.com or call 816-640-2909 for information on Weston’s events.

The Best Small Town in Missouri (AAA Midwest Traveler)

Voted a AAA Best of the Midwest Destination

Festival Fun In Weston

Getaway ay Vintage charm

timeless beauty

TO MISSOURI WINE COUNTRY

Wine & Jazz Festival August 20 Heritage Days September 17-18 Oktoberfest A month-long celebration Holiday Fare Wine Trail November 19-20 Kristkindl Markt First two weekends of December Say Cheese Wine Trail December 10-11

VisitHermann.com | 800.932.8687 WINERIES • B&Bs • HISTORIC DISTRICT • SHOPS • MUSEUMS • DAILY AMTRAK STOPS

Weston is just 25 minutes north of Kansas City.

Classes • Workshops • Events Hand-Crafted Wares

www.BoonvilleClayCompany.com 505 E. Morgan St., Boonville, MO (660) 596-6934

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Wildwood Springs Lodge A special offer for missouri life readers

LEON RUSSELL

Enjoy some world-class music and fabulous food this fall with this special offer from Missouri Life and Wildwood Springs Lodge.

For a limited time only you can get exclusive discounts for seven live shows at Wildwood Springs Lodge in Steelville, Missouri. Tickets include dinner at Wildwood Springs Lodge and a ticket to the show of your choice.

There are only a handful of tickets per show available so don’t miss this offer!

AMERICA

POCO

Shows Poco with special guest Jim Messsina • September 16 The Hillbenders • September 24 David Grisman • October 1 Don McLean • October 8 Leon Russell • October 21 & 22 America • October 28 & 29 Ozark Mountain Daredevils • November 4 & 5

For special discount tickets and more information visit shopmissourilife.com/wildwood MissouriLife [82]

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Events St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Sept. 7

4D Theatre with Mark Nizer

Sept. 23

Oktoberfest

Sept. 24

Celebration of Nations

Sept. 24

Capitol Steps

Oct. 23

presented by Leach Theatre presented by Leach Theatre

presented by Leach Theatre

For more information on events visit

www.VisitRolla.com

Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center

Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce • 1311 Kingshighway Rolla, MO 65401 • 573-364-3577 or 888-809-3817

NOW POURING STATE WIDE

DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA•816 E BROADWAY, COLUMBIA, MO•WWW.BROADWAYBREWERY.COM [83] August 2016

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SHOW-ME

Flavor

THE TENDERLOIN Discover the Missouri restaurants that have made the pork tenderloin sandwich a Midwestern delicacy and a staple on our diners’ menus BREADED AND DEEP-FRIED to perfection, a good tenderloin sandwich can’t be contained by a mere bun. No, if it’s done right, the pork cutlet is hammered thin, and it hangs off both sides of a whitebread bun. It’s an indulgent treat that’s signature to the Midwestern palate.

The pork tenderloin sandwich, as we know it today, most likely has German roots. You’ll notice it closely resembles a delicacy known as the wiener schnitzel. However, what sets the tenderloin sandwich apart is the meat. Wiener schnitzel is typically made from veal, but the tenderloin sandwich uses meat from the loin of a hog. From there, the differences become thinner. Schnitzel is typically pan-fried; tenderloin is

usually deep-fried, though some diners don’t fry it all, offering a slightly healthier grilled tenderloin sandwich.

In the Midwest, many states lay claim to the best tenderloin sandwich.

Restaurants from Ohio to Idaho take pride in the batters, breading, and seasonings that make their tenderloin the best. No one can really say who has the best tenderloin sandwich, though. Indiana is most likely home to the very first iteration of the fried pork tenderloin sandwich, and Peoria, Illinois, claims to be the tenderloin sandwich capital of the world. But Missourians know how to do comfort food right, and you could say we have the best tenderloin sandwiches west of the Mississippi. Our status as

HARRY KATZ

BY JONAS WEIR

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Above: From the outside, Kitty’s Cafe in Kansas City might not look like much, but what’s being served up on the inside is certainly special. Right: The Pigwich food truck is permanently located behind the Local Pig in Kansas City. It’s a great lunch spot for a sunny day.

both a Southern and Midwestern state gives us a leg up on Iowans, whose signature dish is the loose meat sandwich, and Kansas, which is known for hamburger casserole. In fact, Kansas City­—one of America’s best cities for foodies—has, on its own, a cornucopia of delicious diners that do pork tenderloin justice.

Most comfort-food joints across the state offer some version of this sandwich, and most do a good job. Here are just five of our favorites.

They range from fine dining to Southern fried. Pork lovers of all kinds will find something to like in this g oup of Missouri’s top tenderloins.

Kansas City

COURTESY OF THE DLC AND STEVEKC VIA FLICKR

KITTY’S CAFE Kitty’s has a long history in Kansas City.

During World War II, Japanese-American Paul Kawakam was confined to an internment camp, but once the war was over, he bought a one-way bus ticket to Kansas City to start a new life. In 1951, he and his wife, Kitty, opened the now-legendary restaurant in south Kansas City.

In the 1980s, the couple retired and sold the restaurant.

Nowadays, Charley Soulivong runs the joint as he has for more than fifteen years, and Kitty’s is still known for its outstanding Midwestern comfort food.

The small, square box of a restaurant has limited indoor seating, but there are some picnic tables around back to accommodate a crowd. The simple menu offers many fan favorites, and you really can’t go wrong.

For less than $2, the grilled cheese is a go-to for a cheap meal. The most expensive item, a catfish sandwich, comes in at around $5.50 and is well worth the price. The sides of tater tots and french fries are up for debate on which is better. However, the dish that undeniably takes the cake as the best is the pork loin.

A light batter—more similar to a beer batter or tempura than traditional breading—coats three sizable pieces of pork tenderloin that are

fried to golden perfection. Add that to a white bun, shredded lettuce, cut-up tomatoes, and either mayonnaise or hot sauce, and you’ll be in hog heaven.

Kitty’s is a cash-only place, so come prepared.

810 E. Thirty-First Street • 816-753-9711

Kansas City

PIGWICH In 2014, chef Alex Pope brought his own brand of artisan butchery to the hungry residents of Kansas City. Now in its second location, the butcher shop known as the Local Pig has expanded to include a sandwich-focused food truck—aptly named Pigwich—right behind its northeast Kansas City location.

The Local Pig only sources humanely raised pork, beef, chicken, lamb, and duck from nearby farms in Kansas and Missouri, and in turn, so does Pigwich.

While the Local Pig lets you take home quality cuts, sausages, and cured meats to prepare yourself, Pigwich offers a way to taste Alex’s succulent creations on the premises. The menu includes five everyday options: a double cheeseburger; a Philly cheesesteak; the Pigwich, a combination of smoked pork, slaw, and barbecue sauce; the restaurant’s take on a Vietnamese-style Bahn Mi; and the surprising vegetarian option of a Falafel. Each sandwich can be made into a combo meal that comes with house-made chips and a drink.

On top of the regular menu items, Pigwich offers daily specials. Many patrons may argue over the day to visit. Friday’s Meatloaf Patty Melt is amazing, and Monday’s Cuban—served with roast pork, smoked ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and Dijon mustard—is another fan favorite. However, Pigwich’s take on the fried pork tenderloin sandwich, which is served up each Thursday, makes the case that diner food can be elevated, and it can be great.

The sandwich is simple but delicious. It’s all about the ingredients. First,

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Above: The Goody Goody Diner is a relic from a bygone era. Although the car-hop service is gone, this St. Louis establishment still serves great diner food like it did when it opened in 1948.

Right: The pork tenderloin sandwich at Toot Toot in Bethany is massive, so come hungry.

the kitchen team starts off with cuts from the Boston butt or shoulder.

Then, the pork is seasoned with bread crumbs made with baguettes, thyme, and rosemary. Next, it’s fried and served on a pretzel roll with arugula, house-made dill pickles, and ranch dressing. It might not be the same as the pork tenderloin you grew up on, but it is definitely a new Midwestern delicacy.

Pigwich.com • 2618 Guinotte Avenue • 816-200-1639

St. Louis

GOODY GOODY DINER Open seven days a week, the Goody Goody Diner on Natural Bridge Avenue is a St. Louis institution.

The diner first opened in 1948 to serve a new influx of motorists. Offering car hop service, fresh off-the-griddle-food, and A&W root beer, Goody Goody was a hot spot when America’s obsession with cars began.

In fact, the whole neighborhood was a hopping place back then; the very first Ted Drewes’ stood less than a football field away from Goody Goody, and many more once-legendary diners opened in the area.

While many restaurants have come and gone, the Goody Goody Diner has stood the test of time. For many of those years, the Connelly

family has run the place. The family started out as regulars and became full-fledged owners in 1954, and the est is history.

The Goody Goody still serves up diner food for breakfast and lunch.

The diner’s catfish breakfast—a fried catfish filet served with eggs and all the breakfast fixings—is a favorite you won’t see on a lot of menus, and the St. Louis slinger— eggs, hash browns, and a hamburger patty topped with chili, cheese, and onions—is in competition for the city’s best. However, the

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pork tenderloin sandwich stands tall among giants on this menu.

What sets the Goody Goody’s pork tenderloin apart is that it’s grilled and not fried. That might sound like sacrilege to some tenderloin enthusiasts, but one bite will likely change their minds. With a light seasoning and just the right amount of grill time, this sandwich showcases the tender part of tenderloin, and the homemade roll is light and flu fy enough to make the whole thing melt in your mouth.

Perche Creek Cafe is hidden gem of Mid-Missouri. Located a few miles outside of Columbia, down the street from the Midway truck stop, the diner has a reputation for serving delicious comfort food.

Check Toot-Toot Family Restaurant & Lounge’s Facebook page to see what’s being served at the buffet or to look for upcoming specials. You’ll have a honkin’ good time.

Facebook: Toot-Toot Family Restaurant & Lounge • 2905 Miller Street • 660-425-7001

GoodyGoodyDiner.com • 5900 Natural Bridge Avenue • 314-383-3333

Columbia

PERCHE CREEK CAFE

Bethany

TOOT-TOOT FAMILY RESTAURANT & LOUNGE If you see a billboard that says TOOT-TOOT in bold capital letters, don’t honk back; just prepare to stop for some good food. This Bethany establishment is located at Exit 92 off Interstate 35—only about twenty miles south of the Iowa border.

The family restaurant has made a name for itself by offering delicious lunch buffets during the week, breakfast buffets on the weekends, and special brunch spreads for holidays like Mother’s Day. A typical buffet at Toot-Toot will have all the Midwestern classics: a salad bar, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, you name it. The familyrun restaurant has a friendly staff, which is an added bonus to the heaps of delicious food served up daily.

If you don’t make the buffet or prefer made-to-order entrées, you’re in luck. Toot-Toot has an expansive menu full of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options to satisfy the hungriest of patrons. Pickle fries or the white cheddar cheese curds are a good way to start off any meal, and the restaurant’s steak menu is, if anything, hearty and delicious. However, the way to go here is to order Toot-Toot’s Famous Pork Tenderloin sandwich.

These hand-breaded, deep-fried pork cutlets come in either a fourounce or the larger eight-ounce version for those looking for a gut-busting, good sandwich served on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. Get a side a of curly fries to round out the experience.

The Perche Creek Cafe has just the right amount of Mid-Missouri charm.

Located in the Little Midway gas station, just down the road from the Interstate 70 Midway Truck Stop, a tongue-in-cheek sign hangs out front that reads “Perche Creek Yacht Club.” Well, the sign is not entirely a joke. The Perche Creek Yacht Club formed in 1989. However, their name is a joke. If you know Perche Creek, a tiny stream not far from the diner, you’ll know no yacht has ever taken to its waters.

The purpose of the yacht club is not to sail. It is merely to meet at the Perche Creek Cafe to “further its mission of having no purpose.” And what better place to do nothing than this stellar diner?

Open for breakfast and lunch, the diner serves comfort classics seven days a week, with specials on each weekday. The locals will tell you that Catfish Friday is the time to visit. Pork Steak Thursdays and Meatloaf Mondays are other great days to stop in, but the hidden gem on this menu is the breaded pork loin sandwich.

The sandwich specials rotate constantly, so if you see pork loin on the chalk board behind the counter, order it. Served on a standard white bun with lettuce, pickles, and onion, each tenderloin is hand-breaded and made to order. The light breading, quality pork loin from Patchwork Farms in Columbia, and perfect fry of this sandwich is the type of downhome cooking that has helped Perche Creek build its reputation over the past twenty years as being one of the best diners in Mid-Missouri.

PercheCreekCafe.com • 6751 Highway 40 West • 573-446-7400

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Flavor

MIDWESTERN TENDERLOIN SANDWICH

Courtesy of Missouri Pork Association Ingredients >

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 1 pound boneless pork 1 teaspoon salt loin or boneless pork 1/2 teaspoon black chops pepper 1 cup flou 4 large sandwich buns

Directions >

HARRY KATZ

1. Cut 4 1-inch slices of pork. Trim any exterior fat from edges and butterfly each slice y cutting horizontally through the middle almost to the edge so that the halves are connected by only a thick piece of meat.

2. Put each butterflied slice bet een pieces of plastic wrap.

3. Using a wooden meat mallet, or the side of a cleaver, pound vigorously until the slice is about 10 inches across.

4. Mix together flou , cornmeal, salt, and black pepper.

5. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a deep, wide skillet to 365 degrees F. Dip each slice of pork in water, then in flour mixture.

6. Fry tenderloin, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Drain on paper towels and season to taste with salt and pepper.

7. Serve on buns with desired condiments: mustard, mayonnaise, dill pickle chips, ketchup, sliced onion, lettuce, tomato.

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SANTÉ FE PORK TENDERLOIN SANDWICH

Courtesy of Missouri Pork Association Ingredients >

1 pork tenderloin (about 3/4 pound) 1/4 cup cornfla e crumbs 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 4 large sandwich buns Tomato Lettuce Avocado

Directions >

1. Cut tenderloin on the diagonal into 1/2-inchthick pieces.

2. Put each piece between two pieces of waxed paper or plastic wrap and gently, with heel of hand, press tenderloin pieces to 1/8-inch thickness.

3. In shallow, bowl blend well cornfla e crumbs, paprika, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and salt.

4. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat.

5. Coat each tenderloin piece with cornfla e crumb mixture.

6. Brown well on each side and serve on sandwich buns with sliced tomato, lettuce, and sliced avocado.

OZARK PEACH PIE Courtesy of Bader Peach Farms

Ingredients >

9-inch graham cracker or baked pastry crust 1 can sweetened condensed milk 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup lemon juice 8-ounce tub of whipped topping 2 cups ripe peaches, chopped Sliced peaches

Directions >

HARRY KATZ

1. Leave the cream cheese at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours to soften.

2. Combine the cheese, condensed milk, and whipped topping in a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until well blended.

3. Add lemon juice. This process makes the mixture become firm 4. Blend on low speed about 2 minutes.

5. Spoon in the chopped peaches. Pour immediately into the crust.

6. Top with peach slices.

7. Chill for at least 2 hours.

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SHOW-ME

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Dining worth the drive.

Webster Groves

Carnivore’s Delight THE BLOCK is a carnivore’s paradise.

This Old Webster staple operates as both a fin dining restaurant and an urban butcher shop. The Block’s butcher operation only stocks locally sourced meat. Along with cuts, the butcher shop also churns out sausages, bacon, barbecue sauce, and more.

The restaurant, on the other hand, does offer some less meaty items, such as a grilled portabella sandwich.

However, meat still dominates the menu and makes up the best items. Start off with an appetizer of the Potted Pig— confit of pork, apple chutney, pickled vegetables, and country bread—and go from there. The pulled pork sandwich and the braised beef brisket are both great entrées.—Jonas Weir

TheBlockRestaurant.com • 146 W. Lockwood Avenue • 314-918-7900

Fulton

Rayville

Creole Creations

Winery Retreat THE OWNERS

of Van Till Family Winery describe their service as Dutch hospitality, but it’s much more than that.

The winery is an oasis for city dwellers and locals alike. The family has worked extensively on the landscape but also created an indoor patio for winter. Patio heaters and a woodfired pizza oven, assembled by owner Cliff Van Till and his son, Brian, keep it comfortable in the wine garden, and the oven serves up delicious pizzas with farm-fresh ingredients.

The business grew from farming, and now the third and fourth generations have adapted it to the needs of the winery.

“Our goal is to extend the availability of our own produce for a longer season,” Cliff Van Till says. “That requires a lot of intensive management of the hoop houses and greenhouse. We are also looking at more varieties of greens that have unique fl vors for our salads.”

The family is also continuously building relationships with its customers through the wine club and winery events.

“The pizza is not like any you’ve ever had because of fresh produce,” says Teri Salyer, a repeat customer. “I love the selection of wines and the atmosphere at Van Till, too. It’s so calming and relaxing.”—Elisha Wells VanTillFarms.com • 13986 Route C • 816-776-2720

ELISHA WELLS, SHAWNA BETHELL, MO TOURISM

WHEN YOU step through the door of Fontenot’s, you step into Cajun country. Zydeco and spice hang heavy in the air. The staff shows Southern hospitality, and the shrimp po’boy and étouffée scream authenticit .

“I get called out of the kitchen all the time to talk to people from Louisiana or Mississippi,” says Candy Fontenot. “They always tell me the food tastes just like it should.”

When Candy and her husband, Ricky, opened Fontenot’s, the plan was to use Ricky’s family recipes that were passed down from his mom back in Louisiana.

Everything is cooked in-house, except for the meat pies, which come from Natchitoches Meat Pies in Coushatta, Louisiana, and the bread, which comes from Gambino’s—a New Orleans staple since 1949.

Diners’ favorites include the gumbo, the ’gator bites, and the frog legs. A shrimp boil is also a big draw, though it’s a specialty that only runs on Fridays and Saturdays.

“If people come in, they’re going to be served well and are going to eat well,” Candy says of the family operartion.— Shawna Bethell Facebook: Fontenot’s Po’Boys • 505 Nichols Street • 573-310-6500

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International Award Winning German Deli from the German Butchers Association and U.S. Small Rural Business of the Year Award Winner

•

Hundreds of Germanic/European flavored wurst, wine, bacon, beer and brats

•

Indoor and outside deli seating

•

In-house craft beer and wurst sodas

•

German food and Amish-made food gifts

234 East First Street, Hermann, MO 573-486-2266 • www.hermannwursthaus.com

Download the Wurst Haus mobile app in the Apple store and receive 10% off in-store purchase [91] August 2016

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Sp e cial Pro mot io n

Life

Financial

Testing the Waters of Retirement

BY DEBBIE VANLOO

Are you approaching that age where you are dreaming of retirement? Ah, the joys of not having to get up when the alarm clock goes off, not to mention the thought of completing projects around the house, planting a garden, playing a little more golf, and slowing down and enjoying yourself.

When the day final y comes, you might still wake up at the same time without the alarm clock going off.

The projects might get completed around the house or you might lose interest in them. Gardening might sound like a chore. More golf time might not meant better golf, and slowing down might mean getting bored. Maybe, you should have tried this out before making that final decisio .

Retirement is thought about in terms of what one is leaving behind: a career, difficult clients, job stress, daily commute, the grind. But you are also leaving behind what you have identified with for more than thirty years: the coffee breaks, having lunch with friends, discussing politics, getting out of bed every morning.

Maybe before retiring you should: •

Find a cause to which you would like to donate some of your time. Think about what you’re

•

Think about what your real interests are. Have you always enjoyed history, mechanics, fl w-

passionate about or what you’d like to change in the world, and then start small in your community. ers, or crafts? There are interest groups that you can join. Contact your local university, tech school, or career center. You don’t have to aim for a degree to audit classes that interests you. Find a group that holds seminars, brings in speakers, and gets together to discuss anything and everything.

•

What would be your ideal job? Maybe you could find something part-time that’s related to an interest and get paid to have fun.

•

Have you let old friendships go stale? Contact them, and set up weekly excursions to places of interest or old haunting grounds.

•

Do you like to travel? Try taking long weekends. If possible, take a month’s vacation, and see what it is like to visit diffe ent locations: campsites, museums, etc.

Testing the water early and planning for retirement can head off unpleas-

ant surprises after one enters retirement. It is important when considering what you will do in retirement to also consider the price tag. Monitor your finan es while testing the water. Make sure you are not going to drown in planned activities that cost a lot of money and that are unrealistic to your retirement income. Let us help. Stop by, discuss your retirement needs, and get a professional review of your financial eadiness for retirement.

“ To be fully satisfied in retirement, you need to retire to something, not just from something."

ADOBE STOCK

To be fully satisfied in retirement, you need to retire to something, not just from something. Defini g that and giving it a tryout is what we call pretesting your retirement.

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Life

Financial

MAKING RETIREMENT

THE BEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE.

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PEPSI_H1_NB_MEDIUM_4C (FOR USE 1.5" TO 4") CMYK

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ALL AROUND

Missour AUGUST 2016

RC FLYERS 3D BASH

Kennett RC Air Field will host a show and competition for remote control airplanes on September 8 to 11 from 10 am to 7 pm. The event is free, and concessions are available. Call 573-888-5828 or visit kennettrcmagicfl ers.itgo.com for information.

SOUTHEAST

COURTESY OF BRIAN WRATHER

JAYCEE BOOTHEEL RODEO

outdoor concert each week. Common Pleas Courthouse Gazebo lawn. 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. 573-3348085, visitcape.com

BROADWAY AT THE LAKE

Aug. 10-13, Sikeston > Come out for rodeo events and concerts. Sikeston Fairgrounds. 6-11 pm. $20$90. 800-455-2855, sikestonrodeo.com

Aug. 13, Lake Wappapello > The D ance Studio presents a dance performance of Broadway hits under the stars. Lake Wappapello. Dusk. Free. 573712-0602, poplarbluffdancestudio.com

MARK CHESTNUT CONCERT

JOUR DE FETE CELEBRATION

Aug. 12, Poplar Bluff > Country music star Mark Chestnut is joined by opening acts Craig Campbell and Ryan Hinkle. Black River Coliseum. 7:30 pm. $25$95. 573-686-8001, blackrivercoliseum.com

TUNES AT TWILIGHT Aug. 12, 19, 26, Sept. 2, 9, 16, Cape Girardeau > Bring a blanket or a lawn chair, and enjoy a differen

Aug. 13-14, Ste. Genevieve > Check out more than two hundred arts and crafts booths and hands-on exhibits. Historic D owntown. 10 am-6 pm Sat.; 9 am-4 pmSun. Free. 800-373-7007, visitstegen.com

dors, art, a parade, and a fiftieth class reunion.

Community Room of City Hall and school grounds.

7 pmFri.; 7 am-10 pmSat. Free (except special events and dinner). 573-625-0475, gideonalumni.org

FIRE FALL MUSIC FESTIVAL Sept. 3, Patterson > Hunter Hathcoat, John D .

Hale Band, Powder Mill, Shyner, and the Moonshine Bandits perform at this outdoor festival. Briarstone Amphitheater. Noon-11:30 pm. $25-$50. 573-7145682, fire allfestival.com

BOOTHEEL ART SHOW

GIDEON HOMECOMING

Sept. 6-Oct. 28, Sikeston > Exhibit features works by regional artists eighteen years and older.

Sikeston D epot Museum. 10 am-4 pm Tues.-Sat. Free. 573-481-9967, sikestondepotmuseum.com

Sept. 2-3, Gideon > Homecoming features a Miss Gideon contest, breakfast, a car show, a 5K, ven-

These listings are chosen by our editors and are not paid for by sponsors.

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SHRINERS RODEO

CIVIL WAR LIVING HISTORY

THE VAULT OF HEAVEN

Sept. 9-10, Poplar Bluff > Events include fifty and-over team roping, bareback bronc riding, goat tying, barrel racing, and steer wrestling. Ray Clinton Park. 7 pm. $8. 417-293-8840, rodeosusa.com

Sept. 24, Ste. Genevieve > Enjoy camp life demonstrations, cannon firing, a bank raid reenactment, cooking demonstrations, children’s games, and a ladies fashion show. Historic D owntown. 10 am3 pm. Free. 573-883-7097, visitstegen.com

Aug. 6, Knob Noster > Learn about our home galaxy, and view stars through telescopes. Knob Noster State Park. 8:30-10:30 pm. Free. 660-563-2463, mostateparks.com/park/knob-noster-state-park

FALL INTO ARTS FESTIVAL Sept. 10-11, Kennett > This festival features music, performances, films, paintings, photography, face painting, vendors, and more. Downtown Courthouse Square. 9 am-6 pm. Free. 573-344-4223, kafta.org

PARKLAND CELTIC FESTIVAL Sept. 16-18, Park Hills > Traditional Irish and Scottish dance, bag pipers, art, crafts, and food abound.

Downtown. 5-9 pmFri.; 10 am-9 pmSat.; 11 am-6 pm Sun. Free. 573-330-4543, parklandcelticfestival.com

OLD GREENVILLE DAYS Sept. 17-18, Greenville > See art, crafts, and a Civil War encampment, and enjoy live bluegrass, country, and gospel music. Greenville Recreation Area. 9 am6 pm. Free. 573-222-8562, recreation.gov

PLEIN AIR ART SHOW AND SALE Sept. 22-25, Ste. Genevieve > A show and sale follow a day of plein air paint-outs, competitions, and social events. Historic Downtown. Call for times. $35 for artists to paint. 573-576-0023. artstegen.org

MISSOURI STATE FAIR

DELTA FAIR Sept. 27-Oct. 1, Kennett > This fair includes a parade, art and hobby showcases, a demolition derby, a rodeo, tractor and truck pulls, and midway games and rides. Delta Fairgrounds. 5-10 pmTues.-Fri. noon11 pmSat. $3-$5. 573-888-9051, deltafairfun.com

LST MEMORIAL 325 Sept. 29-Oct. 3, Cape Girardeau > Tour the battleship turned museum and memorial that participated in the D -D ay landing on Omaha Beach.

Riverfront Park. 9 am-4 pm. $5-$10. 573-335-1631, visitcape.com

KANSAS CITY BLUES AND JAZZ FEST Aug. 5, Lee’s Summit > Festival showcases some of the area’s best blues and jazz bands. Downtown.

7-10:30 pm. Free. 816-969-1541, summeroffun.ne

Aug. 11-21, Sedalia > The fair includes concerts, agricultural exhibits, livestock exhibits, a horse show, a tractor pull, a carnival, and vendors. Missouri State Fairgrounds. 7:30 am-11:30 pm. Call for admission prices. 800-422-3247, mostatefair.com

FUN FUNKY SECOND FRIDAYS Aug. 12 and Sept. 9, Excelsior Springs > This art crawl incorporates music and wine tasting. Downtown. 5-9 pm. Free. 816-637-2811, visitexcelsior.com

HOT DOG FESTIVAL Aug. 13, Kansas City > This festival showcases legendary hot dogs from ballparks across the country.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Noon-10 pm. $5$10. 816-221-1920, visitkc.com

MOVIE NIGHT IN THE PARK Aug. 13, Warsaw > Celebrate a hundred years of our parks by watching Sergeant York. Harry S. Truman State Park. 8:30 pm. Free. 660-438-7711, mostateparks.com/park/harry-s-truman-state-park

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Check out these great reads

from Missouri author

VISIT MISSOURILIFE.COM/STORE OR CALL 800-492-2593 EXT. 101 TO ORDER

$17 each + tax, s/h

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SOUNDS OF SUMMER Aug. 19, Warrensburg > Bring your lawn chair for a folk music concert by Manda Shea and the Sumpthin Bros. D owntown Courthouse. 7-9 pm. Free.

660-429-3988, warrensburgmainstreet.com

REPTILES Aug. 25, Butler > Learn about some of Missouri’s most misunderstood creatures, reptiles. Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site. 7 pm. Free. 417843-6711, mostateparks.com/park/battle-island -mound-state-historic-site

BACON FEST

IRISH FEST Sept. 2-4, Kansas City > Celebrate the area’s Celtic heritage with music, dancing, hands-on workshops, exhibits, comics, and traditional food. You can visit the travel area, and plan your own trip to Ireland.

Crown Center Square and Musical Theater Heritage. 5-11 pmFri.; 11 am-11 pmSat.-Sun. Call for ticket information. 816-561-7555, kcirishfest.com

ETHNIC ENRICHMENT FESTIVAL

Come on out to Swope Park in Kansas City August 19 to 21 for the thirty-seventh annual celebration of diversity of the area. There will be forty-three ethnic food booths and craft booths. Stop by the pavilion, and enjoy ethnic music, a dance, and martial arts. The festival is open 6 to 10 pmon Fri.; noon to 10 pmon Sat., and noon to 6 pmon Sun. Admission is $3. Call 816-513-7553 or visit eeckc.net for more information.

Beks, in historic downtown Fulton, features local seasonal fair for lunch or dinner, an extensive beer selection and hand-selected wine list.

511 Court Street, Fulton 573-592-7117 beksshop.com

COURTESY OF JESSE FRAZIER

Aug. 27, Kansas City > This event is for ages twenty-one and older, features creative bacon fare, bacon-eating contests, live music, and libations. It is a fundraiser for the Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City. Institute parking lot. 2-5 pm. $40-$80. 816-7517781, baconfestkc.com

Don’t miss these fun festivals: Sliced Bread Saturday | August 5-6 Chautauqua in the Park | September 10-11

WWW.VISITCHILLICOTHE.COM • 1-877-224-4554 [98] MissouriLife

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EOS is a comprehensive business system, integrating a holistic business model with a complete set of simple tools and a proven process to align and synchronize all the pieces of a business. With this system, companies get traction on their vision with a healthy team. This leads to more results, control, and increased value of the business.

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What Others Have to Say Jeanet has been instrumental in the implementation of EOS for our executive team. Her vast experience with a variety of companies and personalities has made her extremely effective in our sessions.

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—Tim Williams, CEO of Crown Linen Services We have been working with Jeanet for about a year-and-a-half. We’ve seen a major difference in the way our employees and we as owners think about our company. We now have a leadership team that meets weekly, and we get things done. The best thing is we see everyone take more responsibility. Everyone feels accountable. We have achieved some huge break-throughs, and we always leave our quarterly meetings determined to achieve more, and with a clear path to do so.

—Greg Wood, Publisher at Missouri Life

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IT’S DOUBLES NIGHT

COUNTRY FAIR

FALL FESTIVAL

Sept. 3, Knob Noster > Volunteer astronomers reveal double stars, star clusters, and globular clusters, and learn how gravity orders the universe around us. Knob Noster State Park. 8:3010:30 pm. Free. 660-563-2463, mostateparks.com /park/knob-noster-state-park

Sept. 10-17, Higginsville > This fair includes Princess and Queen pageants, a chalk drawing contest, Taste of Higginsville, a rodeo, an ice cream social, a youth parade, craft vendors, a pedal tractor pull, an art show, and a kid’s play area. Downtown. Call for event times. Free (except some special events).

660-584-3030, higginsvillecountryfair.com

Sept. 23-25, Liberty > Have fun with a carnival, vendors with handcrafted and unique items, pedal car races, music, and a parade. Historic Liberty Square.

11 am-9 pmFri.; 9 am-9 pmSat.; noon-4 pmSun. Free.

816-781-5200, libertyfallfest.com

FALL FESTIVAL Sept. 9-10, Belton > See more than one hundred vendors of arts and crafts; enjoy live music, including rockabilly and blues; play children’s games; and eat a pancake breakfast. Historic Main Street.

4-10 pmFri.; 9 am-10 pmSat. Free (pancakes $5-$6).

816-322-0200, mainstreetbelton.org

FALL FUN FESTIVAL

INDEPENDENCE UNCORKED

OKTOBERFEST

Sept. 10, Independence > Rotary fundraiser features wine tastings from twenty-one Missouri wineries, live music, food, artists, classes, and games.

The Bingham-Waggoner Estate. 1-6 pm. $25-$50.

816-650-7019, independenceuncorked.com

Sept. 23-24, Lee’s Summit > Come out for handmade arts, crafts, a German Biergarten, traditional music and dancers, food vendors, Kids Street, and a carnival. Downtown. 5-11 pmFri.; 10 am-11 pmSat. Free. 816-524-2424, lsoktoberfest.com

CHALK AND WALK FESTIVAL

BURG FEST

Sept. 10-11, Kansas City > Artists create magnificent pieces of work on squares of pavement. Interact with the artists, and enjoy street performers.

Crown Center Square. 11 am-7 pm Sat.; 11 am-5 pm Sat. Free. 816-274-8444, kcchalkandwalk.org

Sept. 23-24, Warrensburg > This event has craft and food vendors, entertainment, children’s activities, a car show, and a Glow Run. Downtown. 4-11 pm Fri.; 10 am-11 pm Sat. Free (except some children’s activities). 660-429-3988, theburgfest.org

Sept. 16-18, Blue Springs > Enjoy a carnival, a children’s area, crafts, food, games, a parade, car and bike shows, and concerts. Downtown. Noon-10 pm Fri.; 10 am-10 pm Sat.; 10 am-6 pm Sun. Free. 816228-6322, bluespringsfallfestival.com

SOUTH CENTRAL FIBER ARTS CELEBRATION Aug. 1-26, Salem > Exhibit showcases handcrafted items of practical and fine art. Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center. 9 am-5 pmMon.-Fri. Free.

573-729-0029, oncrc.org

COUNTRY GOSPEL CONCERTS Aug. 4-6, West Plains > Artists from across the United States and Australia perform throughout the day, and showcases are in the evenings. An Awards Program will be held on Sat. night. Civic Center. 9 am-10 pm. Free. 417-372-1129, icgma.org

GUN, KNIFE, ARCHERY SHOW Aug. 27-28, St. Robert > Buy, sell, and trade with more than one hundred vendors. Community Center. 9 am-5 pm Sat.; 9 am-3 pm Sun. $5. 573-4336507, visitpulaskicounty.org

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SALEM CHAMBER RODEO Sept. 2-3, Salem > Rodeo fun includes kids’ games, bareback riding, calf roping, saddle bronc, breakaway, steer wrestling, barrel racing, bull riding, and a vendor area. D ent County Commons. 7 pm. $4$10. 573-729-6900, salemmo.com

RAILROAD DAYS Sept. 3, Crocker > This family-friendly street festival celebrates the town’s railroad roots and features music, arts, crafts, food vendors, and children’s activities. D owntown. 9:30 am-9 pm. Free.

573-736-5327, visitpulaskicounty.org

ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY

COURTESY OF SAMANTHA KRAMER

Sept. 7, Rolla > Celebrate the theater’s twentyfifth anniversary with hor d’oeuvres, drinks, and classical music. Leach Theatre. 7:30 pm. $60. 573341-4219, leachtheatre.mst.edu

COW DAYS FESTIVAL Sept. 16-17, Dixon > Win a cow at this street festival. Downtown. Noon-11 pm Fri.; 11 am-11 pm Sat. Free. 573-528-1159, visitpulaskicounty.org

CELEBRATION OF NATIONS Sept. 24, Rolla > Enjoy music, dancing, ethnic food, arts, crafts, and children’s activities. Downtown.

11 am-4 pm. Free. 573-341-4335, nations.mst.edu

FARMER’S MARKET

The Fort Leonard Wood Farmer’s Market is the only market in the country independently operated on an active military installation. All of the local foods are produced within a seventy-fi e-mile radius of the market, which is held at the MWR RC Plex on August 5 and 19 and September 2, 16, and 30 from 4:30 to 7:30 pmand is free to attend. Call 573-765-2500 or visit flwfarmersmar et.com for more information.

Courtesy of Robert Viglasky/Mammoth Screen for MASTERPIECE.

Inside Poldark Relive the thrilling first season of the swashbuckling romantic series with hints of what's to come for the dashing Captain Ross Poldark. Featuring cast and creator interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and the spectacular Cornish coastline.

August 20 & 21

KMOS engage educate entertain KMOS-TV presents four streams of programming:

A service of the University of Central Missouri

HD - 6.1 Create - 6.2 MHz Worldview - 6.3 WORLD - 6.4

kmos.org

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CENTRAL KINGDOM OF CALLAWAY FAIR Aug. 2-6, Fulton > This fair includes a carnival, a rodeo, skillet throwing and super farmer competitions, a kids tractor pull, truck and tractor pulls, Fri. night races, and kid’s day on Sat. Callaway Raceway. 5-10 pm Tues.-Fri.; 10 am-10 pm Sat. $5-$10.

573-642-7692, callawaycountyfairfultonmo.com

MUSEUM AFTER HOURS: BATS Aug. 3, Jefferson City > Fourteen kinds of bats call Missouri home. Learn more about bats and what you can do to protect them, and tour the galleries. Missouri State Museum’s History Hall located in the Missouri State Capitol. 5-9 pm (program at 7 pm). Free. 573-522-6949, mostateparks.com/park /missouri-state-museum

ASTRONOMY FOR BEGINNERS Aug. 6, Camdenton > Learn about the night sky with the Camden County Astronomy Club and a park naturalist. Check out stars and planets through the telescopes. Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

8:30-10 pm. Free. 573-346-2986, mostateparks .com/park/ha-ha-tonka-state-park

ALL-STAR SPORTS DAY

KALEIDOSPOKE

Aug. 6, Jefferson City > This event benefits the Special Learning Center and features live music, vendors, a beer garden, sack races, an egg toss, wacky softball, home run derby, and cornhole, washers, and pitching contests. Binder Park Sports Complex. 11 am-11 pm. Free (except beer garden and contests). 573-230-1756, visitjeffersoncity.com

Aug. 20, Columbia > Take a family-friendly nighttime bike ride on the illuminated trail. Meet at Flat Branch Park and ride the MKT to Twin Lakes. Advanced registration is required. 7:30-10:30 pm. $15.

573-874-7460, como.gov

MISSOURI STATE CRITERIUM

Aug. 25-27, Boonville > This music festival incorporates classical and folk music concerts. Thespian Hall. 7:30 pm. $27.50-$70. 660-882-7977, friendsofhistoricboo villemo.org

Aug. 7, Jefferson City > Cheer for this championship bike race on a fast .85-mile loop around the State Capitol, and enjoy family activities. Downtown on High Street. 9 am-5 pm. Free. 573-6322820, visitjeffersoncity.com

MISSOURI RIVER FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

SOYBEAN FESTIVAL

Aug. 14, Columbia > Grab a lawn chair, and come out to enjoy live music. D ouglass Park. 4-8 pm.

Free. 573-874-7460, como.gov

Aug. 26-27, Mexico > This festival has arts, crafts, and food vendors, a carnival, a beer garden, concerts, a Mexico Idol contest, a parade, and a car show. D owntown. 5-11:30 pm Fri.; 11 am-11:30 pm Sat. Free. 573-581-8330, mexicosoybean.org

PARISH PICNIC

JAZZFEST AND STREET ART

Aug. 14, Rich Fountain > Enjoy a homemade fried chicken and German pot roast dinner, raffles a kiddie tractor pull, children’s games, refreshments, a beer garden, Margaritaville, live entertainment, a dunking booth, and a quilt auction. Sacred Heart Parish grounds. 11 am-10 pm. Free (except food and drink). 573-744-5987, sacredheartrf.com

Sept. 4, Jefferson City > See a jazz concert, an art exhibit, and a chalk art competition. High Street. 11 am-9 pm. Free. 573-635-6866, visitjeffersoncity.com

COOLIN’ DOWN WITH THE BLUES

Eat.

BOONSLICK FOLK FESTIVAL Sept. 5, Boonsboro > See what life was like in a rural settlement in the late 1800s with period-

Stay.

Discover.

Enjoy.

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dressed interpreters, period music, and nineteenth-century craft demonstrations including D utch-oven cooking, washing, and quilting. Children can play with toys that were popular at that time. Boone’s Lick State Historic Site. 10 am-4 pm.

Free. 660-248-2011. boonslicktourism.org

STEAM ENGINE SHOW Sept. 8-11, Boonville > Experience daily farm life from the turn of the twentieth century through the mid-1900s and check out hundreds of tractors.

Brady Showgrounds. 8 am-10 pm. $5 Sun.; $10 all four days. 573-782-4485, mrvsea.com

SANTA FE TRAIL DAYS

COURTESY OF DAVID RONKOSKI

Sept. 9-10, Marshall > Enjoy a chuck wagon dinner, entertainment, a craft show, and shows by the South Fork Regulators, Preston Tone-Pah, Hote, and the Eagle Talon Brotherhood. Downtown Courthouse lawn. 5-9 pm Fri.; 9 am-3 pm Sat. Free.

660-831-1490, marshallculturalcouncil.org

ADVENTURE CHALLENGE Sept. 10, Columbia > Kayak the 5K water course on Peabody Lake, and then run a 5K on the Kelley Branch Mountain Bike Trail. All who finish will receive a medal. Finger Lakes State Park. Starts at 9 am. Free. 573-443-5315, mostateparks.com/park /finger-la es-state-park

SUMMER NIGHTS CAR CRUISE

Stop by the Sonic Drive-In in Versailles on September 17 to see some very cool cars, from antiques to newer models. There will be a live band, give-a-ways, fire orks at dark, and a fifty-mile cruise.

The car show is free and runs from 6 to 10 pm(cruise starts at 4 pm). For more information, call 573378-2226 or visit versailleschamber.com.

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BLUEGRASS AND BBQ

WINE STROLL

Sept. 11, Fulton > Enjoy several bluegrass bands, barbecue, and homemade pies at this fundraiser for the Fulton State Hospital Foundation. Grounds of the Fulton State Hospital. Noon-6 pm. $7. 573642-7692, visitfulton.com

Sept. 17, Rocheport > Purchase a wine glass at the Community Hall, stroll around town tasting Missouri wine and food pairings, and enjoy a street dance. Throughout town. 4-11 pm (tasting ends at 8 pm). $20. 573-698-4580, rocheport-mo.com

SO LONG SUMMER MUSIC FEST

HERITAGE FESTIVAL

Sept. 16-17, Jefferson City > Concerts include Bostyx, Montgomery Gentry, and Rodney Atkins.

Jaycees Fairgrounds. 5 pmgates; 7:30 pmshow. $12$65. 573-893-3950, visitjeffersoncity.com

Sept. 17-18, Columbia > See artisans and tradesmen dressed in nineteenth-century attire demonstrating their trades, peruse the handmade contemporary craft area, tour the Maplewood Home, and enjoy music, dancing, and storytelling. Nifong Park. 10 am-5 pm.Free. 573-874-7460, como.gov

HERITAGE REUNION

On September 24 and 25, Fair Grove will host more than three hundred arts and crafts booths, a parade, and live music. There will be demonstrations including log splitting and a horse run hay press. The festival has a parking fee of $5 and is open from 8 am to 6 pm Sat. and 8 am to 4 pmSun. Call 417-759-2867 or visit fghps.org for information.

Sept. 17, California > See a parade, a car show, an antique tractor show, a disc golf tournament, a barbecue contest, an apple pie baking contest, three stages of entertainment, craft vendors, and the world’s largest turkey sub sandwich. Downtown.

9 am-5 pm. Free. 573-796-3040, calmo.com

TUNNELS TO TOWERS 5K Sept. 17, Jefferson City > This run/walk honors the life and death of Stephen Siller, a New York City firefighte who lost his life September 11, 2001 after strapping on his gear and running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the Twin Towers. Starts and ends at the Missouri State Capitol building. 9 am. $15-$25 to run. 573-632-2820, visitjeffersoncity.com

CORNHUSKING CHAMPIONSHIP Sept. 22-24, Marshall > Watch the old-fashioned cornhusking competition, see an antique machinery show, and enjoy a cookie competition, a petting zoo, and face painting. Saline County Fairgrounds. 8 am8 pm. Free. 660-631-2862, salinecountyfair.org

WALK BACK IN TIME Sept. 23-25, Mexico > Enjoy a living history encampments, aviation history, a fish fry, candlelight tours, and a Tom Bass reenactor. Artist Jeanne Norton Schoborg will teach a class and speak on the art of painting horses. 10 am-8 pm Fri.; 10 am-9 pm Sat.; 10 am-5 pmSun. Free. 573-581-3910, audrain.org

COURTESY OF RON MCGINNIS

HAM AND TURKEY FESTIVAL

Nightly 7:00 to 10:00

Credit: Courtesy of LBJ Presidential Library

Learn about the lives and political careers of these influencial American presidents.

John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Richard M. Nixon Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush

KMOS engage educate entertain A service of the University of Central Missouri

kmos.org

August 8&9 August 10 August 11 August 15 August 16&17 August 18

KMOS-TV presents four streams of programming: HD - 6.1 Create - 6.2 MHz Worldview - 6.3 WORLD - 6.4

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You should never need a calculator to figure out your bill.

Or a magnifying glass.* *At least that’s what we think.

That’s why when you get a bill from us for phone and/or Internet service, it’ll be exactly what we told you it would be. Seriously.

k y lin an y r p tu m Co /Cen e l b &T AT Ca You can buy home phone and high-speed Internet.

There is another option.

And it’s a better one.

Your taxes and fees are included in the monthly rate.

You’ll get unlimited Internet with no data caps on all packages.

We respect our user’s privacy and data.

You’ll always talk to someone here in Missouri.

1-800-SOCKET-3

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7/8/16 11:00 AM

QUILT SHOW Sept. 24-25, Marshall > See more than eighty traditional and modern quilts, and enter a raffl to win a Reminiscence Quilt. Martin Community Center. 9 am-5 pm Sat.; 10 am-5 pm Sun. $5 donation. 660886-8300, countrypatchworkquilters.com

DR. LONNIE SMITH QUINTET Sept. 25, Columbia > The legendary Hammond B-3 organ master and his Evolution Quintet perform.

The Blue Note. 6 pm doors; 7 pm concert. $20-$35.

573-449-3009, wealwaysswing.org

SOUTHWEST

Aug. 3, Ozark > Celebrate the city’s birthday with vendors, children’s activities, music, and art. Historic D owntown Square. 4-7 pm. Free. 417-581-6139, ozarkchamber.com

GOSPEL MUSIC GET-TOGETHER Aug. 3-6, Lebanon > Gospel music greats The Mark Trammell Quartet, Inspirations Quartet, and more perform. Cowan Civic Center. 6-9 pm Wed.-Thurs.; 10 am-1 pmand 6-9 pmFri.; 10 am-noon and 6-9 pm Sat. $20-$80. 417-236-9090, lebanonsing.com

CROSSROADS CRUSH

Crossroads Crush is an art, music, and spirit festival that features local arts and artisans, demonstrations, musicians, and wine and beer makers from northwestern Missouri. On September 17, the festival takes place in Cameron’s downtown and McCorkle Park from noon to 6 pm.The event is free with a $20 tasting fee for beer and wine. Call 816-632-2005 or visit cameronmochamber.com for more information.

COURTESY OF SCOTT MCKAY

128TH BIRTHDAY BASH

A Welcome Place In America’s Heartland.

Leave the city behind and explore the natural beauty of Pulaski County.

Enjoy the breathtaking scenery of the Mark Twain National Forest, Gasconade and Big Piney Rivers, and Roubidoux Spring.

With welcoming towns, and unique attractions, Pulaski County offers the perfect setting for a getaway.

Explore your options at PulaskiCountyUSA.com Order a FREE Visitor Guide 877-858-8687 Join the Chamber of Commerce The Route 66 Road Rally Challenge-October 29, 2016 Call 573-336-5121

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BISON HIKE

MEMORIAL RODEO

Aug. 6 and Sept. 10, Mindenmines > Take a guided two-mile hike over uneven terrain to see bison in their native habitat. Prairie State Park. 10 amnoon. Free. 417-843-6711, mostateparks.com/park /prairie-state-park

Aug. 19-20, Maryville > See a variety of rodeo events and rodeo clowns. Ed Phillips Memorial Arena. 8 pm. $5-$10. 660-541-4696, maryvillechamber.com

Aug. 12, Springfield > Come out for a great concert with Asleep at the Wheel and special guests Rhonda Vincent and The Rage. The Gillioz Theatre.

8 pm. $54-$84. 417-863-9491, gillioztheatre.com

STREAM TEAM AND CLEAN UP Aug. 30, Joplin > Learn more about the Stream Team program, check water quality in the Silver and Shoal creeks, and walk the shoreline to pick up trash. Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center. 9-11 am. Free. 417-782-6287, wildcatglades.audubon.org

AUTUMN DAZE Sept. 15-17, Branson > This arts and crafts festival includes vendors, entertainment, food, sidewalk sales, and demonstrations. Awberry parking lot downtown. 9 am-6 pm Thurs.-Fri.; 9 am-4 pm Sat. Free. 417-334-1548, downtownbranson.org

SHAKIN’ IN THE SHELL Sept. 16-17, Shell Knob > Enjoy craft and food vendors, a children’s area with rides and games, entertainment, a beer garden, horseshoe pitching, an ugly dog contest, and a classic and custom car show. Chamber Park. 5-10 pmFri.; 10 am-8 pmSat.; Free. 417-858-3300, shellknob.com

PRAIRIE JUBILEE Sept. 24, Mindenmines > Celebrate the tallgrass prairie with living history demonstrations, live music, and the sounds of the prairie. Ride out to see the bison, and try some bison for lunch. Prairie State Park. 10 am-4 pm. Free. 417-843-6711, mostateparks.com/park/prairie-state-park

ARTS AND CRAFTS SHOW Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Ozark > The Utopia Club of the Ozarks sponsors a show with more than 350 arts and crafts vendors who will exhibit and sell their works. Finley River Park. 9 am-6 pmFri.-Sat.; 9 am-4 pmSun. Free. 417-581-4545, ozarkcraftfair.com

NORTHWEST CRIMES OF THE HEART Aug. 5-7, 12-14 St. Joseph > This Pulitzer Prizewinning play is deeply touching and funny. It follows three sisters from a small southern town who unite when one sister shoots her husband. Robidoux Landing Playhouse. 7:30 pm Fri.-Sat.; 2 pm Sun. $15-$35.

816-232-1778, rrtstjoe.org

Aug. 19-21, St. Joseph > There will be big name concerts each night, visual arts, and concessions. Civic Center Park. 5-10 pmFri.; 10 am-10 pmSat.; noon-5 pm Sun. $8-$10. 816-233-0231, trailswest.org

SOUND OF SPEED AIR SHOW Aug. 27-28, St. Joseph > D avid Cook, American Idol winner, performs. There will also be aerobatic demonstrations, F-16 Viper demonstrations, and an air show. Rosecrans Airfield. 10 am-10 pmSat.; 10 am-5 pmSun. Free. 816-236-3274, stjairshow.com

JOESTOCK MUSIC FESTIVAL Sept. 2-4, St. Joseph > Live concerts feature a variety of bands from blues, indie rock, to folk and hard rock. Coleman Hawkins Park. 4-11 pm Fri.; noon11 pm Sat.; noon-11 pm Sun. Free. 816-676-1112, stjosephmusicfoundation.org

COLEMAN HAWKINS BLUES Sept. 9-10, St. Joseph > Six blues acts perform.

Coleman Hawkins Park. 6-10 pm Fri.; 3-10 pm Sat. Free. 816-558-0325, colemanhawkins.org

CHAUTAUQUA IN THE PARK Sept. 10-11, Chillicothe > This craft festival has live music. Simpson Park. 9 am-6 pm Sat.; 10 am-4 pm Sun. Free. 660-646-4050, chillicothemo.com

FALL OUTDOOR DISCOVERY DAY Sept. 24, Trenton > Enjoy outdoor demonstrations and activities including Dutch-oven cooking, , a nature trivia contest, compass skills, and nature hikes.

Crowder State Park. 1-4 pm. Free. 660-359-6473, mostateparks.com/park/crowder-state-park

NORTHEAST BEAR CREEK RENDEZVOUS Aug. 13-14, Hannibal > Celebrate Native American culture with costuming, vendors, and dancing. Mark Twain Cave Complex. 10 am-dusk Sat.; 10 am-3 pmSun. Free. 573-221-1656, visithannibal.com

TASTE OF MISSOURI STROLL Aug. 20, Moberly > Sample Missouri wine, beer, and spirits, and enjoy a gourmet meal. There is a silent auction and dance to benefit Safe Passage, a domestic violence intervention center. Downtown. 3-10 pm. $18-$38. 660-236-6070, safepassagemoberly.org

HARVEST FEST Aug. 27, Kirksville > Enjoy live music, grape stomping, food, and wine tasting at this fundrasing event.

BATTLE OF ATHENS

This Civil War reenacment at the Battle of Athens State Historic Site in Revere on August 6 and 7 features period vendors, commemorative battle reenactments, and tours of the Cannonball House. Call for the times.

This event is free. For more information, call 660-877-3871 or visit mostateparks .com/park/battle-athens-state-historic-site.

Jacob’s Winery. 5-10 pm. $10. 660-627-2424, visit kirksville.com

CORK AND FORK FESTIVAL Aug. 27, Macon > This festival includes live music, high-end visual arts, a woodworking vendor, antique dealers, beer and wine gardens, and more.

D owntown. 10 am-7 pm. Free. 660-651-6923, maconforkandcork.squarespace.com

STEAMPUNK FESTIVAL Sept. 3-5, Hannibal > Celebrate Victorian inventions, industry, and architecture with costume contests, vaudeville shows, tea with Queen Victoria, a steam-powered calliope, and concerts. Historic Downtown. 10 am-midnight Sat.-Sun.; 10 am-4 pm Sun. Free (except special events). 573-248-1819, bigriversteampunkfestival.com

BACK COUNTRY CAMPOUT Sept. 9, Florida > Time to test your camping skills.

The minimal supplies needed to create your own shelter to survive for twenty-four hours are supplied.

Mark Twain State Park. 5 pm. Free. Pre-registration is required 573-565-3440, mostateparks.com/park /mark-twain-state-park

NEMO TRIATHLON Sept. 11, Kirksville > Test your skills with a .75-mile swim, 18-mile bike ride, and 5-mile run. Thousand Hills State Park. 7 am-2 pm. Free to spectators. 660626-2213, nemotriathlon.org

COURTESY OF PHOTO CREDIT MISSOURI STATE PARKS

ROUTE 66 FESTIVAL CONCERT

TRAILS WEST

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FOOD LIVES HERE.

EATS & DRINKS | FARM & FIELD | PEOPLE & PLACES NEWS & ISSUES | ARTS & CULTURE FlatlandKC.org

@FlatlandKC

/FlatlandKC

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Directory of our Advertisers 7C’s Winery, p. 110 ASL Pewter, p. 21 Beks Restaurant, p. 98 Bent Tree Gallery, p. 21 Big BAM Sponsor Thank You, pgs. 60 & 61 Boiling Springs Resort, p. 110 Branson CVB, p. 3 Branson Visitor’s TV, p. 107 Business Alchemist, p. 99 Callaway County, pgs. 26 & 27 Cape Girardeau CVB, p. 10 Central Dairy, p. 11 Central Trust Company, p. 93 Clay County, p. 4 Crow Steals Fire, p. 21 Endless Summer Winery, p. 71 Greater Chillicothe Visitor’s Region, p. 98 Hannibal, p. 15 Hardware of the Past, p. 100 Hermann Hill Vineyard & Inn, p. 116 Hermann Wurst Haus, p. 91 Innsbrook, p. 103 Isle of Capri, p. 11 James Country Mercantile, p. 21

Jennings Meats, p. 110 KCPT, p. 109 KMOS, Poldark, p. 101 KMOS, The American Experience, p. 104 Ken Richardson Knives, p. 21 Kirksville Chamber of Commerce, p. 102 Kleinschmidt’s, p. 96 Lebanon, MO CVB, p. 7 Lexington, MO Tourism Bureau, p. 106 Louisiana, MO Visitor’s Convention Bureau, pgs. 32 & 33 Lyceum Theatre, p. 32 Macon CVB, p. 13 Mark Twain Brewery, p. 15 Marshall Tourism, pgs. 8 & 9 Maryland Heights CVB, p. 18 Missouri Choice Marketing Co-op, p. 69 Missouri Division of Tourism, p. 115 Missouri Life Books, p. 97 Missouri Life Early Christmas Shopper, p. 112 Missouri Life Travel, p. 113 Missouri State Fair, p. 94

Missouri State Parks, p. 17 Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, p. 25 Moberly Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 2 Oak Grove Tourism Commission, p. 69 Old Trails Regional Tourism Partners, p. 102 Paul Jackson Workshop, p. 29 Pulaski County Tourism, p. 106 The Railyard Steakhouse, p. 97 The Raphael Hotel, p. 100 Rocheport Merchants, p. 110 Saleigh Mountain, p. 21 Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 71 St. Charles CVB, p. 18 St. Joseph CVB, p. 97 St. Louis Public Library, p. 23 Socket, p. 105 Stone Hill Winery, p. 13 Stone Hollow, p. 21 University of Missouri Press. p. 23 Washington Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 97 Weston Bed & Breakfast, p. 110

Wine Country Wagon Rides, p. 71 FALL RUN AND FESTIVALS Arrow Rock Co-op Marketing, p. 75 Benton County Tourism, p. 76 Boonslick Area Tourism Council, p. 80 Boonville Clay Co., p. 81 Boonville Tourism, p. 81 Broadway Brewery, p. 83 Columbia CVB, p. 77 Columbia Parks and Rec, p. 73 Hermann Tourism, p. 81 Mexico, MO Tourism, p. 74 Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 83 Sikeston CVB, p. 83 Southeast Craft Beer Fest, p. 80 Springfield CVB, p. 78 Visit KC, p. 79 Weston, MO, p. 81 Wildwood Springs Lodge, p. 82 Connect with us online! www.MissouriLife.com www.facebook.com/MissouriLife Twitter: @MissouriLife

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ST. LOUIS INTERPRETIVE KAYAK TOURS Aug. 4, 11, 18, and 25, Troy > Beginner-level kayak tours of Lake Lincoln feature a different topic each week. Kayaks are provided. Cuivre River State Park. 6-8 pm. Free. Reservations. 636-528-7247, mostateparks.com/park/cuivre-river-state-park

COOL CAVE MUSIC SERIES Aug. 6, Leasburg > Native American flute concert will be held in the Big Room of the cave. Onondaga Cave State Park. 6-10 pm. $25. Advanced reservations. 573-522-3760, onondagafriends.org

UNDERGROUND MINDFULNESS Aug. 13, Leasburg > Join Maureen Hall, a meditation teacher, for an evening of meditation underground. The cave is a constant fifty-se en degrees, so dress in layers with hat and gloves and bring a blanket or pillow. Onondaga Cave State Park. 6 pmmidnight. $30. Advanced registration required. 573522-6536, onondagafriends.org

SHAKESPEARE IN THE STREETS

This grass roots theatrical experience is where a neighborhood shares its stories using Shakespeare as a creative lens. Then, the residents and professional artists come together to create an original play. The play will be performed in downtown Maplewood from September 16 to 18 at 8 pmeach night and is free to attend. Call 314-531-9800 or visit sfstl.com for more information.

WICKED WINE RUN Aug. 13, Wright City > Ages twenty-one and over can dress up in your craziest outfit and run a 5K with wine at the finish, or take a 1K walk with four wine tasting stops along the route. A post-race party features food, beverages, a concert by Big Rain. Cedar Lake Cellars. 6-9 pm. $75. 636-7459500, wickedwinerun.com

COURTESY OF J. DAVID LEVY 2015, SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ST. LOUIS

FESTIVAL OF THE LITTLE HILLS

ter for the Performing Arts. Show times vary. $18$81.50. 314-968-4925, repstl.org

FARM FRIDAY Sept. 9, St. Louis > Enjoy pony rides, hayrides, barn tours, face painting, fishing, candle-making, and pedal cars. Suson Park. 10 am-1 pm. $10 per child and adults are free. 314-615-8822, stlouisco.com

Aug. 19-21, St. Charles > Party with more than three hundred art, craft, and food vendors, and enjoy live entertainment. Main St. and Frontier Park.

4-10 pmFri.; 9:30 am-10 pmSat.; 9:30 am-5 pmSun. Free. 636-946-7776, festivalofthelittlehills.com

MOSAICS ARTS FESTIVAL

WINE AND JAZZ FESTIVAL

HERITAGE AND ART FESTIVAL

Aug. 20, Hermann > Bring a lawn chair or a blanket for jazz performances by six different groups, and purchase a glass or bottle of wine to enjoy. Hermann Amphitheater. 1-9 pm. Free. 800-932-8687, visithermann.com

Sept. 17, Pacific > This event includes trolley rides, food, music, games, antique tractors, artisans, crafts, a talent show, and a children’s art show. Downtown. 9 am-8 pm. Free. 636-221-4900, pacific-partnership.org

SIP AND SAVOR Sept. 1, St. Peters > Local restaurants bring out samples, such as gourmet pizza, zesty barbecue, and sweet treats. Taste wines and beers, and enjoy live music. Lakeside Park. 5-8 pm. $30-$35. 636946-0633, foodfest370.com

FOLLIES Sept. 7-Oct. 2, Webster Groves > Stephen Sondheim’s musical salutes the world of show business with an exuberant score. The Loretto-Hilton Cen-

Sept. 16-18. St. Charles > Explore fine arts vendors, listen to music, and have fun at the children’s area.

Main St. 4-9 pmFri.; 11 am-9 pmSat.; 11 am-5 pmSun. Free. 636-946-7776, stcharlesmosaics.org

FAUST HERITAGE FESTIVAL Sept. 17-18. Chesterfield > This old-fashioned folk festival will feature period-dressed staff, traditional arts and crafts, historic games, and hay wagon rides. Faust Historic Village. 10 am-5 pm. $2-$5. 314615-8328, stlouisco.com

OKTOBERFEST Sept. 23-25, St. Charles > German music, food, entertainment, and crafts abound. Frontier Park.

4-11 pmFri.; 10 am-11 pmSat.; 10 am-5 pmSun. Free.

800-366-2427, saintcharlesoktoberfest.com

HISPANIC FESTIVAL Sept. 23-25, St. Louis > Come out for live Latino music, salsa and bashata dance lessons, folk art and crafts, authentic food, margaritas, beer, and a cultural village. Soulard Market Park.

10 am-10 pm Fri.-Sat.; 11 am-8 pm Sun. Free. 314837-6100, hispanicfestivalstl.com

FREE LISTING & MORE EVENTS At MissouriLife.com PLEASE NOTE: TO SUBMIT AN EVENT:

PIONEER DAYS Sept. 17-18, Defiance > Enjoy reenactments of life during the time of Daniel Boone, arts, crafts, and music. Daniel Boone Home and Heritage Center. 9 am5 pm. $6-$12. 636-798-2005, danielboonehome.com

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“° e beˆ way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up” —Mark Twain

Missouri Life magazine is the holiday present that lasts all year long. Missouri Life will deliver recipes, day trips, fascinating features, and our shared Missouri heritage to your loved one’s door. We’ll send a personalized gift card in early December. Just $19.99. (includes tax and s/h) www.MissouriLife.com • 800-492-2593, ext. 101

Shop early for the holidays!

MADE-IN-MISSOURI TREATS FOR YOUR LOVED ONES

$45 Gift

• Set of 3 grill seasonings from the Urban Farmgirl • Missouri Cookie Cutter • One-year subscription to Missouri Life (8 issues)

$65 Gift • • • •

Set of 4 garlic and seasoning rubs from Ellbee’s Blues Hog Barbeque Sauce Gringo Goose Pepper Relish Spread Set of 2 grill seasonings from The Olde Town Spice Shoppe • Missouri Cookie Cutter • One-year subscription to Missouri Life (8 issues)

Give the gift that keeps on giving.

Each Missouri Life gift box includes a one-year subscription to Missouri Life.

Tell us when to schedule delivery.

$75 Gift • • • • • •

Set of 4 garlic and seasoning Rubs from Ellbee’s Honey Bear from Gibbons Honey Farm Blues Hog Barbecue Sauce Gringo Goose Pepper Relish Spread Soup mix from Thompson Farm Set of 3 grill seasonings from The Olde Town Spice Shoppe • Missouri Cookie Cutter • One-year subscription to Missouri Life (8 issues)

Visit MissouriLife.com/giftbaskets or call 800-492-2593 ext. 101 to order (You will be redirected and charged by Olde Towne Spice Shoppe. Shipping and handling not included.)

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Travel with Fellow Missourians!

Essential Britain

Hurry!

Early Booking Savings Ends Soon

12 Days • August 13-25, 2017 $2,723* Military Tattoo included *airfare not included

On this Essential Britain tour you’ll experience some of Britain’s most fascinating towns as you travel through England, Wales, and Scotland stopping for overnights in London, Plymouth, Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, and York. Plus, part of the charm of traveling through Britain is seeing the marvelous scenery. Enjoy the best weather of the year with average highs of 66 to 73 degrees. You’ll cruise on Plymouth Sound, one of the world’s great natural harbors; take a photo at breathtaking Land’s End, England’s most southwesterly point; drive through Brecon Beacons National Park, with its dramatic landscapes; explore England’s tranquil Lake District, England’s largest and finest natural park; visit the Isle of Skye, with some of Scotland’s best scenery; and trace the shores of Loch Ness.

For more info visit missourilife.com/travel/travel-with-fellow-missourians/ or travelerslane.com • 314-223-1224 • travelerslane@hotmail.com

We’ll visit: Stonehenge, Cornwall, Bath, Builth Wells, Chester, Liverpool, Grasmere, Gretna Green, Mallaig-Armandale, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Alnwick Stratford-Upon-Avon, and York

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Missourian

Showcase your Show-Me State knowledge, and learn these facts and quotes

BY JONAS WEIR

Mark Twain said it best

“Training is everything. The peach was once a BITTER ALMOND; cauliflower is nothing but CABBAGE with a college education.”—Mark Twain

“It’s lovely to live on a

raft. We had the sky up

Missouri is the cave capital of the Midwest

there, all speckled with

stars, and we used to lay

on our backs and look up

at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.

—Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

THE MISSOURI CAVES RESOURCES ACT PROHIBITS REMOVAL OF SPELEOTHEMS FROM CAVES TO BE KEPT AS SOUVENIRS.

IN THE 2012 US CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE, MISSOURI RANKED SEVENTH IN THE NATION FOR HOG PRODUCTION, WITH A TOTAL OF 2,774,597 PIGS.

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