Ozark Hills & Hollows October • November 2016

Ozark

OCTOBER • NOVEMBER 2016

Hills Hollows

C E L E B R AT I N G H E R I TA G E , FA R M A N D H EA LT H Y L I V I N G I N T H E H EA R T O F A M E R I C A

OCTOBER • NOVEMBER 2016 $4.99

28

A Pie in the Oven

35

No Weird Beards Here

64

Secrets Under Ground

Pointers for the Perfect Crust

November's Popular Trend

The Legacy of Radium Springs October • November 2016 | 1

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October 13-16, 2016

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www.wareaglefair.com October • November 2016 | 3

Ozark

Hills Hollows

CELEBRATING HERITAGE, FARM AND HEALTHY LIVING IN THE HEART OF AMERICA

Our hope is to provide a window into the lifestyle, passions and beauty of the people and activities that are going on all around the Ozark communities we live in.

Our publication is widely available throughout southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas.

Please enjoy this issue -- and if you want to support us, please do so by advertising!

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS / SOUTHWEST MISSOURI Rob Lotufo ozarkhillsandhollows@gmail.com 417-652-3083

Our readers are your customers!

Ozark

Hills Hollows Celebrating Heritage, Farm and Healthy Living in the Heart of America PUBLISHER Rob Lotufo ozarkhillsandhollows@gmail.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sherry Leverich ozarkhheditor@gmail.com DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Veronica Zucca ozarkhhart@gmail.com

WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTORS Katrina Hine Jerry Dean Kim Mobley Nahshon Bishop Amanda Reese Stan Fine Kayla Branstetter Beckie Peterson Layne Sleeth Steve Parker PROOF EDITOR Barbara Warren

FACEBOOK Ozark Hills and Hollows Magazine TWITTER @ozarkhillhollow INSTAGRAM ozarkhillsandhollowsmagazine ONLINE www.issuu.com/ozarkhillsandhollows

www.ozarkhillsandhollows.com

Ozark Hills and Hollows is published bi-monthly by Exeter Press. In the pages of Ozark Hills and Hollows magazine, we hope to capture the spirit of country living in our beautiful region. Please feel free to contact any of our staff with comments and questions, and pass along any story subjects or ideas to our editor at ozarkhheditor@gmail.com. 417-652-3083 Exeter Press, P.O. Box 214, Exeter, MO 65647 4 |

OZARK

Hills&Hollows

Inside:

Fsatlivl als Fe

OCTOBER • NOVEMBER 2016

E! DAT E TH

E 12 SAV GE A

FEATURES:

P

22

Floating Through the Sky A Hot-Air Balloon Story

32

Throw Another Log on the Fire

35

No Weird Beards Here

Wood Heat for the Home November's Popular Trend

54

Fifty Years a Furrier Trading and Trapping

60

Gimme Something to Dance To Music Now and Then

64

Radium Springs

68

The Park at Jolly Mill

A Deadly Beauty

The City of Jollification

PLUS: 16

Gear & Gadgets It's Really Cold Outside

28 34

Pie A Recipe Tutorial Hickory Smoked Trail Across the Ozarks

40

Deer Camp Tales Pilgrim and the Mossy Buck

46

Skilled Pine Needle Weaving Enhancing Natures Beauty

50

Repurposing Revolution Useless to Useful

72

The Lulu Rule The Summer of 1962

IN EVERY ISSUE: 10

A Horsewoman's Journey He Watches Over Me

14

COVER: As the beauty of Autumn unfolds around us during the months of October and November, we hope that you will enjoy this time of transition, breath the fresh fall air and watch a few crimson leaves flutter to the ground.

Backroads and Byways Memories of Osage

18

4 Fishing Tactics For Cold Water Fishing

43

Among the Wildflowers Late Fall Aster

44

Good For You Ancient Einkorn

52

Back Home in the Hills What Was Old is New To Me

62

From the Hollow An Overlooked Tree Berry October • November 2016 | 5

Celebrating Heritage, Farm and Healthy Living in the Heart of America www.ozarkhillsandhollows.com

Dont’ t miss an issue of Don Hills Hollows Ozark

Magazine

Fill out the form below, or visit www.ozarkhillsandhollows.com to get the best of the Ozarks delivered right to your mailbox.

PHOTO BY LARRY STRONG, MARSHFIELD, MISSOURI

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OZARK HILLS & HOLLOWS IS A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE LIFESTYLE, PASSIONS AND BEAUTY OF THE PEOPLE AND ACTIVITIES IN THE OZARK COMMUNITIES WE LIVE IN.

Ozark

Hills Hollows ✁

Magazine

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Please fill out this portion and send to:

Exeter Press P.O. Box 214, Exeter, MO 65647

417-652-3083 • ozarkhillsandhollows@gmail.com

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

More than just a Pumpkin Spice Latte

T

When the Frost is on the Pumpkin

BY JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock, And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin’ turkey-cock, And the clackin’ of the guineys, and the cluckin’ of the hens, And the rooster’s hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence; O, it’s then’s the times a feller is a-feelin’ at his best, With the risin’ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest, As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock, When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.

They’s something kindo’ harty-like about the atmusfere When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here— Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees, And the mumble of the hummin’-birds and buzzin’ of the bees; But the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape through the haze Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days Is a pictur’ that no painter has the colorin’ to mock— When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.

The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn, And the raspin’ of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn; The stubble in the furries—kindo’ lonesome-like, but still A-preachin’ sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill; The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed; The hosses in theyr stalls below—the clover over-head!— O, it sets my hart a-clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock, When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!

Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps Is poured around the celler-floor in red and yeller heaps; And your cider-makin’ ’s over, and your wimmern-folks is through With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and saussage, too! ...

I don’t know how to tell it—but ef sich a thing could be As the Angels wantin’ boardin’, and they’d call around on me— I’d want to ’commodate ’em—all the whole-indurin’ flock— When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!

here's a cool wind blowing in from the west, across our porch tonight. It feels like Autumn is on the way. There's something very special about the coming of fall.

For some it's the pumpkin patch, the festivals, the merriment of Halloween. For others, it's all about the pilgrimage to see family and the bountiful feasts that follow.

For me it's the smell of crushed acorns and crispy oak leaves under my boots, the whiff of a buck's scent on a fresh rubbed limb. Sitting motionless under an old tree, intercepting a squirrel's chatter. These days I don’t allow myself nearly as many hours in the woods as I did when I was younger, escaping those 9 to 5 job doldrums. I don't worry about the latest gear. I've been toting the same old rifle for 30 years, and don’t plan on making an upgrade anytime soon. But I do feel the pull of the season, and it still draws me to the woods when the world cools itself off, preparing for the long winter to come...

Most men know that nature makes our beards grow thicker in these cold months, just like the hide on a critter's back, and we have a feature on weird beards for something called, “No Shave November” in this issue. I must admit, at first I felt a little left out, knowing that I'd never even make the runner up list here, but every man must realize his limitations. This time around we've got lots of pie recipes to tempt you, and an article on ancient grains. Tom Koob has an piece on the short history of Radium mining in Seligman, Missouri. Katrina Hine visits with a hot air balloon enthusiast, and Kayla Branstetter takes a nostalgic visit to Jolly Mills. We have articles about choosing the right kind of firewood, a local bluegrass hero and making baskets out of pine needles. There is always lots to see and do in the Ozarks!

What's your favorite part of this time of the year?

Some say it's holiday food, and get-togethers. Some say it's leaf watching, bonfires or football.

For me, Its a good day in the woods, a hearty meal and a warm drink by the fire with someone special. Hopefully, you have fond memories, and things to look forward to this fall, a nostalgic picture in your mind, and its more than just a pumpkin spice latte.

Robert Lotufo Publisher, Exeter Press

October • November 2016 | 7

About Our Contributors: Steve Parker is a relatively new transplant to NWA. Growing up in the farming country, he received his teaching degree in Nebraska before venturing to Arizona where he continued his education and teaching career.

He and his wife Angie love to travel and have been to many countries around the world – but always look forward to coming back to the Ozarks Living in Fayetteville, he has become a rabid Razorback fan, a blues fan and enjoys the great food in the area. He loves to cook, ride his bike on the beautiful trails and... just enjoy life.

Amanda Reese has spent most of her life training and teaching with horses. She has also studied journalism and is currently working on two books centered around her love of horses and God. When she is not riding or writing, Amanda enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters on their farm.

Kayla Branstetter is a born and raised Ozarkian is an avid traveler and local educator who loves spending time with her family, reading literature, and running trails. She lives on a beef and chicken farm with her husband Chris and daughter, Berlin. Many reasons she enjoys living in the Ozarks centers on the culture, the friendly people and the beauty of each season.

Veronica Zucca has been an Ozarks resident for over 10 years, moving from Virginia Beach, Va. She and her husband raise their two children in a quiet hollow in Southwest Missouri. When she’s not working as a freelance graphic designer, she enjoys time with her family and all the beauty the Ozarks has to offer.

Kim McCully-Mobley is a local educator, writer, self-described gypsy and storyteller with a home-based project dubbed The Ozarkian Spirit. The essence of this project is anchored in keeping the stories, legends, lore and history of the Ozarks region alive for the generations to come. She makes her home in Barry County on the Mobley Chicken Ranch with her husband, Al. She is always looking for that next adventure on the backroads and byways.

Mary Lowry, originally from California, has made her home in the Ozarks for nearly 30 years. She lives on a small farm, which she loves, with her husband, and two teenagers – and is still learning to garden. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in dietetics from MSU, is a R.D., L.D. and a massage therapist.

She has a passion for nutrition, and encouraging others and herself to heal and be whole – body, mind and spirit.

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Jerry Dean grew up on a 160acre farm in the Ozarks near Mt. Vernon. He studied Agriculture and Wildlife Conservation specializing in fisheries at the University of Missouri. He retired as Hatchery Manager at Roaring River near Cassville in 2010. Since then, photography has become a passion. He loves to photograph natural scenes and his three grandkids who he adores.

Sherry Leverich is a native Ozarkian. Born in northwest Arkansas and raised in southwest Missouri, Sherry grew up on a dairy farm where she developed a love for agriculture and all things outdoors. She writes, farms and gardens on a small homestead with her husband and three sons, and raises produce for a local farmers market with her mom.

Katrina Hine is originally a flat-lander from Kansas who has come to love the charm of the Ozarks. After high school she worked on two different ranches in Colorado, and then came back to Kansas to work on a commercial dairy. She married a Kansas farmboy who was in the Air Force and moved to New Mexico. Now in Missouri, she and her husband, Randall, have two daughters and one son – who currently serves in the USAF. They have five grandchildren and expect number six in June.

Barbara Warren is a freelance editor with several years experience. She is currently working on her fifth book to be published this winter. She has had short stories and articles published in magazines such as Mature Living and Home Life, as well as being a devotional writer for Open Windows. Barbara is one of the founders of the Mid-South Writers Group, and has been speaker at writers conferences and other area writers groups.

She and her husband live on a farm in the beautiful Ozarks, where they raise beef cattle.

Rose Hansen is a writer and photographer living on a cattle farm in southwest Missouri. Her work has appeared in Show Me the Ozarks Magazine, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Twin Cities METRO Mag, and more.

Stan Fine is a resident of McDonald County in Missouri.

Born in Long Beach California, he spent his childhood in the west, but went to high school in St. Louis. He then married his high school sweetheart, Robin. There they raised their two sons, David (who passed away with cancer in 2006) and Rob. Stan was a Detective Lieutenant in a St. Louis suburb and attained a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Management, and a Master of Science in Administration. He retired in 2006 and he and Robin moved to Noel. Robin passed away, due to cancer, in 2013 after 46 years of marriage. Stan now plays golf, substitute teaches, and writes, especially in the wee morning hours.

Wes Franklin is a born native of the Missouri Ozarks, where he has lived all of his life. He enjoys reading and writing about local history, especially Ozark folklore and culture, as well as classic literature. He also enjoys shooting blackpowder weapons. He is closest to heaven when roaming the hills and hollows of his beloved Ozarks.

Beckie Block was born and raised in the Wheaton area, and is admittedly a small town girl. She enjoys her job in customer service, along with writing freelance and blogging. She admits to always carrying a pen and paper in case she needs to jot down thoughts and ideas to write later. She has three children, two at home and one in Nebraska, where she enjoys going to visit her two granddaughters. Beckie spends her free time in church activities, gardening and baking.

T

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A Horsewoman’s Journey

“

BY AMANDA REESE

He Watches Over Me R ecently my grey gelding, Mercy, was diagnosed with Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM). Mercy’s athleticism seemed to diminish overnight. He felt off when I rode him. He was weak in the hindquarters, and his right hind leg had a subtle drag when walking. I also noticed him holding his head stiffly and tilted to the right. I made an appointment with Dr. Elizabeth Reed, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Cassville, Mo. To my astonishment Dr. Reed said, “I think he has EPM.”

Serving your equine needs with specialty feeds, supplements, deworming products and more!

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:16-17

”

His bloodwork was drawn and quickly sent to Florida for testing. The test results came back positive for EPM. Dr. Reed prescribed a treatment, and to my relief it worked. The damage was reversible, and the treatment successfully eradicated all of Mercy’s symptoms.

I’ve since learned, horses contract EPM from opossum feces. When feed, bedding, pasture or water is contaminated by opossum feces, horses are at risk of contracting the protozoal parasite Sarcosystis neurona. EPM is not transferable from horse to horse.

Once in a horse's body, Sarcosystis neurona can quickly move from the digestive track, to the blood stream and then cross through the blood brain barrier and begin attacking the central nervous system. According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners, EPM can cause any of the following symptoms:

“incoordination, stiff or stilted movements, abnormal gate or lameness, incoordination or weakness which worsens when going up or down slopes, incoordination or weakness which worsens when head is elevated, muscle atrophy, paralysis of the muscles of the eyes, face or mouth which is evident by drooping eyes, ears or lips, difficulty swallowing, seizures or collapse, abnormal sweating, loss of sensation along the face, neck or body, head tilt with poor balance, horse may assume a splayfooted stance or lean against stall walls for support.”

As a horse owner and horsewoman, it is my daily duty to keep watch over the animals entrusted to me. When dealing with parasites, sickness, disease or injury, it is in the best interest of horses to catch problems in the early stages, and then take the necessary measures to help each animal recover.

PERSONAL APPLICATION

FARM PRO 213 S. Highway 37 Monett, Mo. 417-235-0505

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As I think about how much my horses mean to me and the importance of keeping a close eye on them, my mind reflects on the love of God. He loves us perfectly, daily watching over every detail of our lives. He knows our thoughts, our feelings and understands every trial and hurt we face. I find great peace in knowing these truths.

There was a time, when I was disconnected from the love of God and unaware of Him watching over me. Then I began to learn about the man people called Jesus. As I opened up and listened, I started to hope and understand there was a loving God who had me in mind when He went to the cross.

God perfectly watches over His children and provides salvation for lost souls. Jesus is the provision to save mankind from sin. Mercy wasn’t able to save himself from the horrible effects of EPM. He needed someone to do for him what he couldn’t do for himself. Jesus does this; He does for us, what we can’t do for ourselves. He saves us! It is not by our power or might, it is a gift from God.

Lemon Tea Brined ChickeN

By Forester Farmer’s Market

Forester Farmer’s Market® is butcher-shop quality chicken – a healthy, wholesome chicken that is rare in today’s marketplace.

Our nutritious, hometown quality will take you back to a time when chicken was chicken.

Why Forester?

ALL NATURAL

RAISED WITH NO ANTIBIOTICS – EVER NEVER FED ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS NO ADDED HORMONES OR STEROIDS CAGE-FREE

2 lbs. Forester Farmer’s Market® boneless, skinless chicken breasts 6 tea bags 3 cups water NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION, 1 cup thawed frozen lemonade concentrate PER SERVING: 1/4 cup kosher salt 462 CALORIES 1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced 9 G FAT 1 G SATURATED FAT 3 garlic cloves, minced 44 G CARBOHYDRATE 2 fresh rosemary sprigs 1 G FIBER 1 tablespoon freshly cracked pepper 40 G SUGARS 2 cups ice cubes 49 G PROTEIN Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a saucepan, add tea bags. Remove from heat; cover and steep 10 minutes. Discard tea bags. Stir in lemonade, salt, onion, garlic, rosemary & pepper. Cool completely, stir in ice. Place tea mixture and chicken in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag, seal. Refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Remove chicken from marinade. Grill until done, approximately 15 minutes (until internal temp reaches 165°) Find more great recipes at www.foresterfarmersmarket.com

My goal is to provide your family the same quality chic ken that Ma cooked for Dad. Trea t your family to chicken that’s chic ken.

Dr. Ed Fryar, Foun der

foresterfarmersmarket.com October • November 2016 | 11

So, what's going on in the Ozarks?

October and November in the Ozarks is brimming with events! Keep your weekends free, and mark your calendars so that you don’t miss out on these festivals and arts and crafts celebrations!

Whispering Oaks Vineyard Grape Stomp & Harvest Fest 520 Lucky Road Seymour, Mo.

October 1 starts 2 p.m. Grape stomping fun with hayrides in the vineyard.

25th Annual Pumpkin Daze Main Avenue Republic, Mo.

October 1 Giant pumpkins, harvest festival and crafts.

Fall Festival at Hobbs State Park East Rogers, Ark. Hwy. 12.

October 2 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Step back into time during this family-friendly celebration of the Ozark way of life.

Neosho Fall Fest Historic Downtown Neosho, Mo.

October 1 – 2

Van Buren Fall Festival Arts & Crafts Fair And Midwest Steak Cook-Off Van Buren, Mo.

October 7 – 9 Autumn is welcomed in old-fashioned style as Van Buren opens historic Main Street for the Fall Festival. Over 200 exhibitors will be displaying fine artwork, handcrafted items, antiques, and collectibles. October 7 at 7 p.m. concert, Oct. 8 from 9 a.m.-- 6 p.m.with concert and Oct. 9 from 9a.m.-- 5 p.m. Visit OldTownVanBuren.com.

28th Annual Pea Ridge Mule Jump Weston St. and McCulloch St. Pea Ridge, Ark.

October 8 Call Jackie Crabtree 479-451-1102, or pearidgemayor@centurytel.net

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Crafts, vintage cars, food, music, races and rides, chili cook-off – you name it, they’ve got it!

50th Anniversary Apple Butter Making Days

2016 Ozarks Fall Farmfest

October 7 – 9

Ozark Empire Fairgrounds Springfield, Mo.

October 7 – 9 With over 750 agricultural exhibits.

Free admission and parking. Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Cackle Hatchery Annual Chicken Festival Lebanon, Mo.

October 7 – 8 Free family friendly event. Come have fun and celebrate chickens this year!

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Courthouse Square Mt. Vernon, Mo. Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This free event, est. in 1967, is one of the most established of fall Ozark events in the area. Many vendors, events and attractions throughout the fair.

69th Original Ozark Folk Fest Downtown Eureka Springs, Ark.

October 12 – 15 Times and events vary.

Bella Vista Arts and Crafts Festival Hwy. 279 Bella Vista, Ark.

October 13 – 15 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily. 1991 Forest Hills Blvd, Bella Vista, Ar. One of the few remaining juried festivals in the area, requiring that all items on sale be handmade by the artisan. Grown to nearly 300 artisans at our large, convenient festival site on Arkansas Hwy. 279 in Bella Vista, just south of the intersection with Arkansas Hwy. 340. www.bellevistafestival.org, a non-profit group and all proceeds are used for art scholarships, grants to grade school art programs, summer art camps and continuing art education

Spanker Creek Farm Fall Art and Craft Fest 8464 W McNelly Rd. Bentonville, Ark.

Oct. 12 – 16 Wed. -Sat. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The farm setting, celebrating 10 years of craft fair, has a great Ozark atmosphere with its surrounding beauty, ideal for an Arts & Craft Fair atmosphere.

Ozarks Bacon Fest Ozark Empire Fair Grounds, Springfield Mo.

October 29 11a.m. to 4 p.m. A $25 admission ticket (21 and older admitted) allows you samples of Bacon and bacon infused and inspired foods, local and local and regional beers and spirits.

War Eagle Mill Fall Craft Fair 11045 War Eagle Rd. Rogers Ark.

October 13 – 16 More than 300 booths offering a wide array of handmade crafts from skilled artisans located throughout the country.

See their ad on Page 3 for more information!

Carthage Maple Leaf Celebration Art and Craft Fair Historic Square, Carthage, Mo.

October 15 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Maple Leaf Celebration includes activities throughout the entire month of October and they are celebrating their 50th year in 2016!

Chili & Salsa Cook-Off, and “The Show” On the Square and Downtown Cassville, Mo.

October 22 Activities start at 8 a.m. Competitions, fun activities, vendors and crafts all day.

“The Show”, featuring local talent will be presented Oct. 20, 22 and 23 – for tickets, call 417-847-2814.

Sparta Persimmon Days Downtown Sparta, Mo.

October 21 – 23 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. This free fall festival event that has been held over 20 years. Contact Melvin at 417-838-2232 for more information.

Beeman Hollow Farm

2 Friends and Junk Ozark Empire Fairgrounds Springfield, Mo.

November 4 – 5

All Natural Pasture Raised Heritage Breed Pork No Chemicals or Antibotics No MSG

Vintage, repurposed, and shabby chic.

German Brats Apple Brats Nitrite Free Bacon Whole Hog Sausage Chops, Roast, Ham

Holiday Open House Rogers Historical Museum

November 6 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. Crafts, refreshments, and a Rogers Christmas theme tours of the Hawkins House.

Reserve Your Share Weekly and Monthly Deliveries

Not So Square Arts Festival Mt. Vernon, Mo.

November 12 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at The Marc - Mount Vernon. Art and craft booths, music and dance, Glass, Photography, Wood Carving and much more.

See us at the Market

Turkey Trot Southwest City, Mo.

November 24 To support Cultural Arts and City Library.

October • November 2016 | 13

Backroads

& Byways

Memories of An Osage Pumpkin Festival Bring Autumn Home to the Ozarks

BY KIM MCCULLY-MOBLEY

A quilt featuring the front of an old shirt commemorating the 1985 Osage Pumpkin Festival, along with a framed photo and a poem about the Stamps General Store.

Hogscald…Urbanette…Carrollton Beaver…Cisco…Yocum Yocum Creek…

Coin…Dry Fork…Rudd…Rule…Alpena Pass…Osage…Denver…Green Forest….

T

hose are the names I hear in my sleep, like a slow, steady drumbeat calling me home. The beat changes with the seasons and takes on a sense of urgency in autumn, reminding me of a time when Grandpa Herman would drive the Arkansas backroads to show me the “changing of the guard.”

As a little girl with dirty bare feet and pigtails flapping in the breeze, we roll down the windows in the unairconditioned truck, his meaning flew over my head. I just know I enjoy the stories, the ride and the dusky smell in the air as Mother Nature works her magic.

The leaves on Black Mountain and Round Mountain turn from hues of

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Hills&Hollows

dark green to an interesting blanket of oranges, reds, yellows and browns. The wax paper crinkles as I turn the lid on the old, red Coleman jug. I tighten the lid and pop the cap—turning the thing upside down, letting the cool water trickle down my chin as I take a long, slow drink.

Grandpa chuckles and brushes my cheek, comparing me to his hungry calves in the barn—waiting on milk from their mothers.

“You need some soap with that bath?”

As the last vestiges of our hot summers pave the way now for autumn’s cooler evenings, the orange-red blaze of color creeps across the Ozarkian landscape again. Soon, the fiery leaves will drop to the ground and provide a crunchy blanket

underneath our feet. I am reminded once more of the passage of time and the ticking clock we all have somewhere in our bones—that beckons us to stop for a moment as another season unfolds.

I close my eyes and am taken back to a cool October 5th Saturday in 1985. I am a young married girl spending the weekend with my husband at the home of my grandparents in Green Forest. Following a heated checker game between the two men, we travel by car to Osage, Arkansas— down Highway 103—about 20 minutes away. The Annual Osage Pumpkin Festival is in its 5th year. The hub of the festival is Stamps General Store. Frank Stamps, the owner, of this old-fashioned mercantile sees Grandpa and waves a greeting over the crowd. Grandpa grins, nods and tips his hat in recognition.

The fiddle music fills the air as we park the car and walk towards the sound.

Grandma Marie stops to look at some colorful rag rugs on a table at the front of the store. As she inspects the quality of the handiwork, I walk towards a shelf of vintage Coca Cola items, picking up a tray that begs me to make purchase and give it a new home.

Grandpa has found himself a chair and leans forward on his cane to visit with someone as he keeps one ear turned toward the music. His brown boot peeps out from under his britches—tapping time to the “Arkansas Traveler.” Soon we traipse into the store, where Stamps shows us some of the old ledgers. The two and one-half story building was built in 1898 and served for decades as a full-fledged general store.

As I trail my finger through the pages, frantically looking for family names, he chuckled. “Your bunch never bought anything on credit,” he said, as he and Grandpa Herman exchanged wry smiles.

I rake my fingers across a dusty shelf, looking at old rolls of tobacco, some boxes of black and white Kodak film and some spools of thread—still holding color from days gone by. The massive store has a unique style of architecture—using local wood, stone and craftsmanship. It took two years to build. A century of memories linger here.

We look at the pumpkins—glistening with the last vestiges of the morning dew as the afternoon sun shone strong. They are lined up like soldiers paying silent

tribute to the year’s harvest while the neighbors from near and far celebrated another kind of harvest. The bounty of food, fellowship and friendship will echo across the hills and hollows of northwest Arkansas in the years to come.

A total of 31 years have passed since that magical autumn day in 1985. Herman McMorris died in 1987. His longtime friend, Frank Stamps, died in 1988. Marie McMorris would follow suit in 1994.

Newt Lale now owns the old store— which is known as Osage Clayworks. He has a Facebook page and we share a few friends. I keep up with him there. His art is known throughout the countryside.

He still preserves some of the artifacts of the old store. His ledgers go back a

century—for those wanting to take a look while shopping for pottery, too.

A bolt of lightning caught a couch on fire in the upstairs of the old structure a few weeks ago. Thanks to the quick actions of the local fire department, the couch was removed from the structure and the building remains intact.

Every so often, I take a pilgrimage to Carroll County down Highway 103— to see if the “old girl” at Osage is still standing. When I see that she is still there—stoic and proud—I know the voices of those who stepped foot here are still here in spirit. If I close my eyes, I can hear them—especially in autumn— when memories of the Osage Pumpkin Festival are close at hand.

Osage Memories The stones are stacked…withstanding time and weather.

The hot sun beats a path to the steps leading up to the door.

The old shelves are dusty…the ledger is worn.

A century of memories linger here.

In this sacred place Joy was shared.

Few tempers flared.

Handshakes were made.

Folks sought shade.

Mercy was taught.

Flour was bought.

Kinships were blended.

Heartaches were mended.

Sorrows were spoken.

Few promises were broken.

Crops were born.

The weather was scorned.

Babies were weighed.

Debts got paid.

Photographs were taken.

Some sought bacon.

Jokes were told.

Time did unfold.

The vines wind their way now up to the sky, As the hinges creak out a message to the clouds lingering overhead.

The spirit of this place blankets fears with hope from the past.

The smells of coffee, flour, and sweat are faded sure.

The voices rise and fall from the floors and walls.

A century of memories linger here.

Because in this sacred place Joy was shared.

Our Team in Action for Justice 417.737.7154 | 877.470.4304 200 S. Elliott Ave. | Aurora, Mo.

www.pettitlawoffice.com

ESTABLISHED 1970

Newbold & Newbold PC

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS James E. Newbold, CPA Kevin J. Newbold, CPA Kristi D. Newbold, CPA ACCOUNTING | PAYROLL | TAXES

1402 S. Elliott Ave., Aurora Mo. 417-678-5191

Gigabit Internet COMING SOON! goBEC Fiber Network is close to completion in the Cassville area.

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• IPTV Digital Television • Digital Phone Servie • 100% Fiber Network • Local Customer Service • No contract required

Questions?

JR Smith

417-847 2131 • jsmith@barryelectric.com

www.gobec.net October • November 2016 | 15

GEAR&GADGETS

) y l l a e outside r ( s it' to keep yourcoldextremities B10abycool, gadgets warm when the thermometer drops

BY JESSE WOODROW

I

don't hate the cold, but I'm always looking forward to taking the bite out of the winter's freezing temperatures, especially if I'm out working, or playing in it all day long. Keeping dry is the most important thing you can remember.

Moisture can wick the heat out of your body quicker than you can say “shiver me timbers.”

Take along an extra set of clothes, sweat pants and shirt, a pair of warm socks. Give your gear a test run, when you are close to home, NOT on your big backcountry expedition!

I once had a friend give me a tip for keeping my feet warm on a frigid day. He said to mix 1 part cayenne pepper with 1 part talcum powder, and sprinkle it in my feet just before I put my socks on. I guess it worked pretty well until I came in from the cold. I took my boots off, and sat in front of the fire. Well I reckon my feet started to sweat, which proceeded to activate that cayenne pepper. They itched, then burned, then swelled up pretty bad. It was a good thing I had access to plenty of water to put that fire out, or I'd have been in bad shape for sure. That was the last time I tried that trick.

Consuming food can help your body stay warm. As does drinking hot liquids, like cider, coffee, tea or cocoa. I'm sad to say that although alcohol may make you feel warmer on the surface, it lowers your body's core temperature and can contribute to hypothermia. Here are a couple of gizmos that may keep you warm, or just make your winter experience a little more fun. I hope you see a thing or two that strikes your fancy.

Retro coffee thermos, for those who just can't get enough of dials and gadgets, even on their morning cup-o-joe. Plugs right in to your car's cigarette lighter.

Who doesn't want look like Ragnar Lothbrok (everybody's favorite Viking warrior) whenever they go out to fight the winter cold? Fun stuff.

For the outdoorsman who just has to stay in the loop, these beanies will keep you warm, and connected – via built in bluetooth headsets and battery powerpacks.

If you’re in Barry County, I’m for you.

Chad Yarnall (417) 847-3399

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We all know Zippo by its legendary lighters. But recently they used that technology to make some nifty hand warmers. In fact, it’s still a lighter, but without any open fire. You just fill one with Lighter Fluid, and you can warm your hands for 12 hours.

Fiberglass panel coated with platinum warms up incredibly fast from a fire inside of the warmer. I want one of these!

This is just genius. All you have to do is press these liquid warmers and the liquid crystallizes to create heat from the chemical reaction. Tuck them into gloves, scarves, and hats for up to two hours of heat.

The best part is they're reusable up to 100 times and to recharge, all you have to do is boil them.

Electric gloves. I am pretty sure I need at least one pair of these this winter.

The worlds warmest sleeping bag. This bad boy keeps you warm down to -40 Fahrenheit.

Over the top, maybe so. Everybody knows someone who will want to be the first kid on the block to have a hot tub hammock. Looks pretty chilly to me.

Here are a couple of more handy tips I like to use: Always keep a full Bic lighter in your pocket. Starting fires, seeing in the dark, warming up a key or lock, or just getting your fingers warmed up enough to be dexterous is much easier with the flick of a lighter.

Keep some hard candy in your pocket, or your console. That sugar may be just enough to keep your body fueled, and warm in a pinch.

Wet boots! If you do stuff outdoors all winter, this struggle is real. Imagine always having dry, warm boots waiting for you. I need one of these in my mud room

And, of course, make sure you have a car charger for your cell phone that works! It may be a real life saver someday.

I hope you feel a little warmer just thinking about these cool winter-battling gadgets. You might even want to put a couple of them on your gift list this season. As the kids say, "Some of this stuff is pretty Chill."

Specializing in land, ranches and farms Office licensed in Missouri and Oklahoma Member of two Multi-list Systems

417.226.3363

obrienrealty.biz

Donnie & Tammy O’Brien, agent/owners 26 Peacock Lane, Jane, MO October • November 2016 | 17

4

Cold Water I Tactics

t's a chilly Saturday morning in early November. The water is clear and cold. The lake is nearly empty, except for a few hard-core anglers. Is it a good day to nurse that second cup of coffee, and read the paper by the fireplace? Heck no!

The fish are still actively feeding, and there's hardly any fishing pressure. So put on your best thermals, gloves, and face mask toboggan and get out there. Here are just a few tactics that may be productive on a crisp autumn outing.

for the Ozark Fisherman

BY JESSE WOODROW

SPOON FED Try a ½-ounce spoon (War Eagle, Hopkins) in hammered chrome on 15-pound fluorocarbon line. You are impersonating a straggler shad, so cast it out where shad should or could potentially be, and let it tumble about halfway to the bottom. I like to fish a slow, wobbly retrieve with this rig. You can cover a lot of water with this bait, and the flash can be a real attractor. If it's not working for you, or you just need a change-up, you can try adding white, gold or chartreuse to your presentation.

RATS! Back in the '80s, we used to slay monster bass with a “Rat” or “Mouse” that we'd skitter across super thick cover like mill-foil or duckweed, and draw explosive strikes. Sometimes we'd even toss a “tiny torpedo” top-water bait into the hole the fish just blasted open, and score a double. Strike King's Perfect Plastic Rodent”, and “Baby Rodent” have nothing in common with those lures. These are super soft, gummy, salt filled, bubble-clawed coffee scented stylized crawfish looking baits that are getting lots of attention from pro and amateur fishermen alike. I've heard accounts of 1/8 to 1-ounce weighted versions, slow-crawled on the bottom, with great results. Fish a “roadkill” colored one, texas rigged with a 4/0 hook, Carolina rigged, or as an irresistible jig trailer. Rave reviews abound for this “beaver” style bait, it makes a ruckus in the water, and can be fished in the trickiest of cover.

They picked a crazy name for this critter, but the results can be phenomenal.

FLIPPING A JIG I'd try a ½-ounce green/punkin/brown or green/punkin/craw jig on some clear 15-pound test line. You are simulating a cold blooded, lethargic crawfish here, so flip it near some dense cover, and let it drift down. Let it fall as naturally as possible. Take your time, retrieve it slowly. Then toss it a couple of feet down the line, and repeat the process. Holes or gaps in thick cover, sunken trees or dock posts are good bets. Wait for the bumpity bump, and set it firmly.

CREEPING A FINESSE CRAW If the water is extremely cold, clear or both, you might want to try an 8-pound test rig with a baby jig like the Strike King Bitsy Bug. Green/ punkin or black/blue may be all the colors you need on a cold clear day, but you never know.

That's why we call it “fishing”, not “catching”.

Add a “chunk o' pork” trailer to make a flavor trail, and creep it super slow, like a mudbug with arthritis. Cast to, and creep it out of, cover like weedbeds, submerged stumps or rockpiles. My bet is a hungry bass can't resist a lethargic mini-lobster on a chilly day.

So on your next trip out on a chilly morning, remember to keep dry, stay warm and make sure you've got plenty of hot coffee. Be patient, good things come to those who wait.

Happy fishing!

Your Real Estate Source Residential • Commercial Farms • Land Developer

Get Outside the Box...

Find the Home of Your Dreams!

18 |

OZARK

Hills&Hollows

417-451-SWMO (7966)

1241 N Business 49 • Neosho, Missouri

Kevin VanStory, Broker

October • November 2016 | 19

Welcome to

Seneca

S

eneca, Missouri’s long history began with the discovery of a beautiful valley which contained two natural water ways, rolling hills, lush foliage and a peaceful atmosphere. Settlers soon realized the natural treasure they had discovered.

By the time Missouri became a state in 1821 the valley was already known by the name “Seneca”, which is an Indian name meaning “Keeper of the Door”.

The Seneca Area Chamber of Commerce would like to invite you to visit Seneca. While here enjoy the beautiful Lost Creek Valley and spend the day shopping in our featured Antique Stores, Flea Markets, Retail Shops, Casino’s & restaurant’s.

We would love to meet you and make you feel right at home.

Brought to you by the Seneca Chamber of Commerce. www.senecamochamber.com SENECA BUSINESS MAP LEGEND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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Hills&Hollows

Cedar Lane Farm & Lawn Gooseberry Quilt Shop Corner Cottage Vintage Store Dizzy Bee Country Cupboard restaurant Picket Fence Flea Market Lost Creek Flea Market Forget Me Not Flea Market The Mother Lode Flea Market G-string and F-holes Music Store The Vintage Vendor Nansy's Mexican Restaurant

Cedar Lane Farm & Garden

Delicious from-scratch meals like Mom makes!

COUNTRY CUPBOARD

TACK • SEED • STRAW AND HAY LARGE AND SMALL ANIMAL FEEDS LAWN AND GARDEN SUPPLIES

143 Cherokee Aveenuw Seneca, MO 64865 417-776-8231 Mon - Fri: 8 am - 5:30 pm Sat: 8 am - 2 pm.

Gooseberry Patch Quilting

CAFE

Quality Food & Service 1038 Cherokee Ave. Seneca, Mo. 417-776-3898 BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY HOMEMADE PIES DAILY SPECIALS • SMOKE-FREE And the best half-pound burgers in town!

Two floors of treasures with over 40 booths, including locally-made cedar furniture

Past the curve, look for the sign

By appointment 417-438-8916

Ready made creations for sale Aprons • Table Runners • Quilts Family Heirlooms and more

The

CORNER COTTAGE

A Vintage Store and More!

822 Cherokee Ave., Seneca, Mo. 417-438-3349 A FUN VARIETY OF OLD, NEW AND REPURPOSED ITEMS Wed - Fri: 10 m - 5pm • Sat: 10am - 3pm

We carry a full line of guitar parts

FLEA MARKET

705 N. Cherokee Ave. Seneca

Specializing in Long Arm Quilting, offering 108 inch backing and a selection of affordable fabrics

New and used Instruments in some of the most recognized names

Picket Fence

1050 Cherokee Ave, Seneca 417-776-4050 Wed. - Sat: 10am - 5pm • Sun: 1pm - 5pm

L OST R EE K C FLEA MARKET

Antiques & Collectables 124 Cherokee Avenue • Seneca, Mo 417-776-4752 Mon - Sat: 10 am - 5 pm • Sun: 12 pm - 5 pm

P.A. System installation GUITAR AND BASS LESSONS

G Strings and F Holes

MUSIC STORE

1318 Cherokee Ave. Seneca, Mo 417-776-7529

HOURS

Tues - Fri 11am - 6pm Sat 11am - 3pm

Vintage Vendor

A combination of classy and rustic, elegant and primative, an exceptional selection for anyone's taste

3910 Hwy. 60 Seneca

(East of Seneca two miles on Hwy 60) Located with the Fox Center Event Venue

417-776-7099 Mon - Sat: 9 am - 5 pm • Sunday: closed

are, Antiques, glassw dities and od ue iq collectables, un ed. 't know you need things you didn

Forget

Me Not

BIZZY BEES

Come visit our unique shop to wax nostalgic and relive memories from the Land of Ago.

1029 Cherokee Avenue Seneca • 417-776- 4483

www.forgetmenotfleamkt.com Be sure to check out our Man Cave and custom wood creations!

Antiques

Wed - Sat: 10 am - 5 pm • Sun: 1 pm - 5 pm

FLEA MARKET

1204 Cherokee Ave, Seneca "On the Creek!"

417-776-6368

Tues - Sat: 9am - 6pm • Sun: 10am - 4pm

Featuring your favorite Mexican and American dishes. And try our unique Mexican desserts

ORDER T

BY THE AMALES DOZEN

Nansy's Mexican Restaurant 7076 Orel Lane

At the Junction of Hwy 60 and Hwy CC, between Seneca and Neosho

417-776-4550

Mon - Sat: 11am - 9pm • Sun: 11am - 3pm

October • November 2016 | 21

" T h e b a l l o o n s e e m s t o s ta n d s t i ll i n T h e a i r w h i le T h e e a rt h f l i e s pa s t u n d e r n e at h . " — Alberto Santos-Dumont

Floating Through the

Sky

STORY BY KATRINA HINE PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY BILL LYNCH

22 |

OZARK

Hills&Hollows

M

ost of us can recall picking the white heads of dandelions and blowing the tufts of fluff to the four winds. Or maybe we were captivated by buzzards soaring higher and higher on an invisible current of air, silently wishing we could reach those heights beyond all the overstimulation of tweets, texts, posts and the general onslaught of modern life.

When we consider taking flight ourselves, we often find the stress of long TSA lines or baggage claims dampen our hope of escape. But the secret to our dilemma may be closer and more freeing then we realize.

Just a tad west of Granby, Mo., down a meadow path is the solution to your quest for that peaceful escape. It promises to take you above all the noise, fill your lungs with fresh air while riding the wind like a bird.

What magical solution is this, you might ask!? Why the oldest flying technology known to man, sheep, chickens and ducks! Hot Air Balloons!

It was exactly 233 years ago that the Montgolfier brothers of France launched innocent farm animals (sheep and fowl were first used to prove high elevations would be safe for human) skyward for an 8-minute aerial jaunt to the amazement of 130,000 onlookers. Later two friends of the brothers took to the air for a record 25 minutes, landing in a vineyard of shocked farmers who rushed the strange object with pitchforks. In order to stave off the farmers, the balloonists offered them champagne – and the tradition remains today.

According to balloon pilot, Bill Lynch, and the man who lured him in, Charlie Venable, there is no better way to build long lasting friendships and know the exhilaration or purity of flight than in a hot air balloon.

For Bill, the love affair began in the ‘70s, but alas it was from afar – that is until 1987 when Charlie invited him to be part of his crew at a rally in Enid, Okla.

Charlie got bit by the bug in 1984, and like most balloonists, it is an infectious disease.

By 1990, Bill was fully hooked and Charlie just happened to have a balloon for sale.

However, ballooning is not for everyone. “About every airplane pilot I know can’t stand the thought of not having a steering wheel or propeller as a form

The sight of hundreds of balloons taking off at the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque New Mexico is incredible.

of control,” Charlie remarks. “They don’t want anything to do with a balloon.”

Since balloons are considered lighter than air craft, one must possess a private pilot’s license under the oversight of the FAA. Bill obtained his license in 1992, and also has a commercial license, which allows him to give balloon lessons. Even though the FAA requires a medical certificate from a flight surgeon, it is not required for hot air balloon pilots. But they are required to have flight hours similar to fixed wing pilots. Once the number of hours are met, the potential balloon pilot meets with an examiner to take a short test, and then goes up for a solo flight.

Each pilot is required to keep two sets of logs, a balloon log and a personal log. A personal log often tracks everything from how many hours are flown, where it traveled, who the passengers were on the trip and any notable occurrences. Every 90 days, pilots are required to have three take-offs and landings and it is common for the FAA to check logs and insurance at a balloon rallies.

Hot air balloons consist of a brightlycolored balloon, or envelope, usually made of a fabric called ripstop nylon, which is the upper half of the envelope. The portion closest to the basket, or gondola, is Nomex, a flame resistant material similar to what

firefighter’s wear. The basket is constructed of wicker and light-weight wood and holds the propane burners which provide the heat for lift. The number of propane tanks is determined by the cubic feet of the envelope and the number of passengers to be carried. At the crown of the envelope is a vent that serves as a means of controlling the balloon, like a brake. The envelope is fortified with seams which hold cables that encase the envelope and actually are the load bearing portion of the balloon. The whole system is actually called the balloon.

The most common size of envelope is around 77,000 cubic foot of volume, roughly 50 feet wide and 75 feet tall.

This is the size of Bill’s balloon named Sizzler, for the pattern resembling flames leaping upward. He can legally take two passengers and himself, which is also what he is insured for when giving rides.

Bill’s balloon is actually considered a sport balloon due to its smaller size.

In order to inflate the balloon without damaging the fabric, large fans are used to blow life into the mouth held open by crew while it lies on the ground. Once the envelope comes to life with cool air, the propane burners roar as the concentrated flame fills the billowing cavity causing the balloon to spring to life. The more heat you apply the higher the balloon rises. The

combination of cold and hot air is what science calls thermodynamics. For this reason, morning and early evening are best times to fly when the air is cooler and the winds calmer.

Preparing to take guests "up, up and away!"

Each balloon has a pilot and various crew members who assist in setting up the balloon for flight and also for the “chase”.

The chase crew follows the balloon, which is at the mercy of the weather, and helps retrieve it once it has landed. They October • November 2016 | 23

typically carry radios or cellphones to keep in touch with the crew that is aloft in the balloon. The biggest danger are obstacles on the ground, such as power lines.

Although Bill has been accident free over his 25-year flying career, he admits there have been some interesting flights.

“It’s not to say I haven’t been scared,” Bill quips. “One time I started here and ended up clear at the Republic/Billings area.

My wife, Teresa, and another guy were chasing me and got held up by train as I flew right over. I began looking for the biggest field I could find to set down in and glided my basket right between some trees into a field.”

The owner of the field came out to help and they have been friends ever since, even traveling to New Mexico to watch Bill take part in the annual fiesta.

Bill Lynch also has a commercial pilot’s license.

Bill has flown in the Albuquerque International Fiesta for 23 years, where there are nearly 600 balloons.

Albuquerque has monopolized on the Fiesta, which has proven to be an economic shot in the arm. The event provides hotel accommodations all nine nights, propane, parties and gifts for participants.

According to the Topeka, Kansas based Great Plains Balloon Club website, “Ballooning is strictly a ‘fair weather’ sport. There are several conditions under which, for safety reasons, a balloon flight will not take place. Rain, surrounding storm systems, and high winds are typical weather conditions that will cause us to cancel or postpone a scheduled flight.

Generally a launch will not take place if wind speeds exceed 10 mph.”

What makes Albuquerque so unique is the mountainous topography, which creates what balloonist’s call a ‘Box Wind’.

According to Bill a ‘Box Wind’ is created when the lower level winds blow one direction and the upper winds are blowing the opposite direction, allowing the balloon to go up and down in an invisible box.

24 |

OZARK

Hills&Hollows

“You have to respect that there might be someone above you. As long as you don’t go up or down into another balloon there is no real danger” Charlie notes.

Adding that the lower balloons have the right of way. “Occasionally, we do run into each other but we’re going so slow that we call it kissing,” Bill adds with a grin.

Like Albuquerque, smaller communities have found balloon events to be a twist on local tourism efforts.

One such rural community is Columbus, Kansas which will be holding its 27th Hot Air Balloon Regatta, October 7-9, in conjunction with its 48th Columbus Day Festival. Chamber Director, Jean Pritchett, whose background is tourism and aviation, approached the board with the unusual idea two decades ago, and

today the event triples the population of 3,000, bringing in pilots and visitors from around the nation. Most come for the Friday evening glow, which is reminiscent of dancing fireflies, and they stay for the final lift-off on Sunday morning. Activities are held all day Saturday during the Columbus Day Festival giving pilots and visitors plenty to do.

“Because we don’t have enough hotel rooms to house the balloonists and visitors, our pilots are housed in private homes,” Jean adds. “Most have local crews that have been crewing with them for several years.”

While some balloons reflect the personality of their owner with characters such as Darth Vader, Yoda, Elvis or Snoopy. Others are forms of advertising

and some are just silly, such as flying pigs, cows and skunks. Generally, they are brightly patterned pear shaped envelopes with catchy names.

While balloon rallies draw crowds, the sport is actually dwindling with many pilots retiring. Another consideration is the cost to own and operate a balloon system, which in modest calculations can run $100,000 in equipment, inspections, insurance, and licensing. Rarely do pilots make a profit, they just love to share their passion for the lumbering giants with, otherwise, landlocked folks.

Both Bill and Charlie articulate the basis for their passion for the slow, quiet sport of ballooning. “It gives you an appreciation for the ability to do such a thing,” Charlie reflects. “Kind of an ego trip because not very many people do this sort of thing anymore.”

It truly is a low key sport and not for adrenaline junkies. But perhaps, the simplicity of the sport is what keeps pilots in it until they retire. As Bill states, “I love flying… Just goin’ with the wind because it makes you feel free.” Somehow, those slow moving bright balloons turn strangers into lifelong friends.

It only seems right to end with the balloonist prayer recited at each Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.

“May the winds welcome you with softness.

May the sun bless you with its warm hands.

May you fly so high and so well that God joins you in laughter and sets you gently back into the loving arms of Mother Earth.”

For more information about Bill and his flight services, visit www.aircraftballoons.com or call 417-437-2834.

Also check out other regional balloon events slated for the fall months at: The Balloon Federation of America page www.bfa.net The Great Plains Balloon Club in Topeka www.thegpbc.com The Columbus Day Balloon Regatta www.columbusdayballoons.com The Poteau Oklahoma Balloon Fest www.poteauchamber.com/poteauballoonfest www.balloondayz.com www.hotairballoon.com www.hotairballoonist.com/forum

C O L UM BU S DAY F E S T I VA L

Hot Air Balloon Regatta Columbus, Kansas

October 7 - 9 October 8

47th Annual Columbus Day Festival Columbus, Kansas

Activities include: Quilt Show • Bean Feed •5K Walk Run Jog • Parade Car & Motorcycle Show • Trolley Tours and much more!

620-429-1492

www.columbusdayballoons.com WEDDINGS • AUCTIONS • CHURC H FUNCTIONS BUSINESS AND CORPORATE DINNERS FAMILY REUNIONS • CLUB EVENTS BIRTHDAYS • RECEPTIONS

The most important moments of life happen here.

F ox

FULL-SERVICE VENUE READY TO HOST YOUR NEXT EVENT

CENTER `

`

SENECA, MISSOURI

2 miles east of Seneca on Highway 60 and 12 miles west of Neosho, on the northside of the Highway

3910 Hwy 60 • Seneca, Missouri 417-776-7099 Call today to reserve your dates!

October • November 2016 | 25

Fall in love this season with Anderson

(417) 475-3131 (417) 845-3600 arvest.com Member FDIC

I

t’s the best time to visit the Ozarks. And there’s not a better place to

spend an Autumn day than in Anderson.We’re tucked in the foothills of the Ozark mountains in the far southwest corner of Missouri.

There’s so much to do! Start the day by treating yourself to a tasty breakfast at one of our great local restaurants. Try a sausage kolache, an overstuffed omelet or just some good old fashioned biscuits and gravy.

Walk it off by strolling down Main Street and popping into one of our flea markets. In either shop, it’s like stepping back in history as you walk across the old, wooden floors and lose track of time searching for that special treasure.

It’ll be time for lunch, so maybe pizza, or a burger. Grab it to go and head to down to Dabbs Greer Town Hole Park. Nestled in the bend of Indian Creek, it’s right downtown but miles away from everything.

Spend the afternoon relaxing and taking in some of the best views the season has to offer. Drive around town for some other adventures, like a dollar store that has more to look at than you’ll ever imagine.

For dinner it’s Mexican, or Thai, or Italian. Anderson has it all to offer.

Then wrap up it up by catching a movie at our historic downtown theater. It’s a one of a kind that’s been in operation since the 1930’s but still shows first run features.

By the end of the day, you’ll have new memories, new friends and a new favorite place to spend the day.

You’ll be back. We’ll be waiting for you!

DI$COUNT DOLLAR More Selection, Bigger Bargains Over 35,000 items for $2 or LESS OPEN DAILY 8AM - 9PM Located at the Junction of Hwy 76 & 59 417-845-1089

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We are growing to serve YOU better!

www.cbthomebank.com 119 W. Main St. Anderson, MO 64831 417-845-3346

In the Fall of 2016, we will be opening Dental Clinics in Nevada, Carthage, and Neosho!

In the Spring of 2017, we will be opening a new Medical Clinic in Aurora!

Currently we have locations in Anderson, Neosho, Joplin, Lamar, Mt. Vernon and Cassville.

www.accessfamilycare.org

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Mon-Fri: 6 - 11am Sat: 6am - 12pm

122 W Main Street Anderson, Missouri 417-845-3688

Casa Cataldo Cafe Italian • Comfort Foods • BBQ • Desserts Located inside Incense and Peppermints

108 E. Main Street Anderson, Missouri 417-845-1400

See Our Facebook Page for Hours

PERS CAFE O O C

Serving the Medical needs of McDonald County & all of SW Missouri 927 N. Business 71 Anderson, Mo 417.845.8300 Monday - Friday 8 - 5 Tuesday until 7 We accept Medicaid, Medicare, & most private insurance. www.accessfamilycare.org

Mollycoddle Therapeutic Massage

Rags to Riches Flea Market 16,000 square feet of antiques, collectibles and much more!

113 West Main Street, Anderson MO 64831 (417) 845-7383 M-F 10:00-5:00 Sat 9:00-4:00

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We’ll Fix Your Pump Fast !

Orthopedic, Swedish and Deep Tissue massage for pain management and stress relief Pregnancy Massage

ANDERSON, MO 417-845-2402

Monday through Saturday - By appointment

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504 Hwy 76, Anderson, Mo.

Tues-Fri 8am-8pm • Sat-Sun 8am-3pm

Anderson Floral & Gifts

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Open daily 7am - 9pm

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BREAKFAST • LUNCH • DINNER Breakfast served all day!

OF GROCERY ITEMS 704 S Highway 59Anderson, Mo. FRESH PRODUCE 417-845-6387 FRESH MEAT

WATER SYSTEMS AGRICULTURAL • MUNICIPAL PWSD • INDUSTRIAL • RESIDENTAIL

Tuxedo Rental Fresh Flowers and Plants Gifts and balloons for all occasions In-county Delivery

AUTHENTIC ASIAN CUISINE Thai & Chinese

916 N. Hwy 71, Anderson 417-845-2880 M- F: 11am - 8pm •Sun: 11am - 4pm • Sat: Closed

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105 E Main Street Anderson MO 64831 For showtimes and information, visit us at

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114 W. Main Street Anderson, MO 417-845-ROSE (7673)

Making Anderson a better place to live, work and play. www.andersonbetterment.org

M-Sat: 10 am - 6pm, Sun: 12pm - 5pm October • November 2016 | 27

T ' N B E D L THE S U O W

O H T U I T W E AM

PIE

AF LL

What's your favorite pie?

There’s so many choices, and they are all great. Especially on Thanksgiving Day – which one do you choose?

Making and baking a pie from scratch is easy and rewarding. The possibilities are endless – with both crust options and fillings. If you haven’t tried in the past, this is the perfect time of year to dust your apron with floured hands and get out the rolling pin.

Here are a few crust and filling recipes to get you started. They are all tried and true and will not steer you wrong. No “Pinterest Fails” here.

Granted, crust can be tricky at first, but even an ugly crust taste great. You won’t want to go back to the freezer-section crust ever again. The pie recipes are traditional, and will taste like the ones you remember grandma making.

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Apple Pie Ingredients: Crust for covered 9-inch pie 3 1/4 pounds Granny Smith apples (or other baking apple), peeled, cored, sliced 1/4-inch thick 2/3 cup sugar 3 Tbsp. all purpose flour 2 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 Tbsp. butter Directions: Mix all ingredients except butter. Pour into pie pan with crust.

Top with pats of butter. Cover with top crust, crimp edges and make slits. Bake at 400 degrees F., for 20 minutes, then at 350 degrees F., for one hour, or until you see filling bubbling in slits and crust is golden brown.

PIE CRUST

The elementary pie crust recipe that premiers in every cook-book pie recipe section. The trick is to keep the shortening cold, and use only enough ice-water for dough to stick together.

Ingredients for two-crust pie: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 tsp. salt 3/4 cup vegetable shortening 6 Tbsp. ice-cold water Directions: Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the shortening until the mixture is crumbly, cornmeal-looking texture. Sprinkle in the water and mix with a fork, adding just enough until the mixture is moistened and begins to clump together. Gather up the dough and form into a ball and divide the dough into two equal pieces.

HOT-WATER CRUST

This crust goes against all rules of crust-making, but it works and makes an excellent flaky crust.

Most recipes advise refrigerating the dough before rolling out, but that has never worked for me. I let it rest just a few minutes after mixing, then split in half and roll it out.

Ingredients for two-crust pie: 1 cup vegetable shortening ½ cup boiling water 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. Salt

DUST ROLLING PIN AND WORK SURFAC E GENEROUSLY WITH FLOUR W HEN USING THIS CRUST RE CIPE.

Directions: Put the shortening in a medium bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Whisk for about 1 minute,until smooth and creamy. Add the flour and salt and stir with a fork until just blended. Let rest in bowl for five minutes. With spatula, scrape together all dough in bowl and split in half.

GENERAL PIE CRUST INSTRUCTIONS 1. On a floured counter, place one ball of dough and roll out with floured rolling pin to 1/8-inch thickness and about 12-inches in diameter.

2. With rolling pin, start at one side of circle and gently, without pressure, roll up dough onto rolling pin, then quickly place over pie pan and roll out.

3. Center dough circle over pie pan and trim edge.

4. Fill pie and cover with second pie crust. Trim top crust to meet with the ends of the bottom crust.

5. Fold both crust under the bottom crust the whole way around, then crimp as desired.

Crimping the top and bottom crust together helps eliminate filling leaks as it bakes and bubbles.

6. Cut holes in the top crust to let steam out during baking as well.

BUTTER CRUST (OR PATE BRISEE)

It’s a little trickier working with butter, because it is much softer than shortening, but the taste is undeniable.

Ingredients for two-crust pie: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. sugar 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice-water Directions: Using a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar.

Add butter, and process (with pulse) until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water through feed tube, one tablespoon at a time. Pulse a few seconds between each tablespoon. Pulse just until dough holds together. If dough can form ball, it has enough moisture, do not add more water.

Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic.

Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. When ready, roll out and bake just as you would other crust.

“GOOD APPLE PIES ARE A CONSIDERABLE PART OF OUR DOMESTIC HAPPINESS” ~Jane Austen

October • November 2016 | 29

TRENDY TOPPINGS COOKIE CUTTER TOP: Dressing up your pie is a great way to turn it into your dinner centerpiece. Fall leaf cookie cutters are a great, and easy, way to add eye appeal. Simply cut out leaf shapes from rolled-out crust using cutters dusted with flour. You can completely cover the top of a fruit pie this way, or edge a pumpkin pie by pressing crust cutouts to the crust around perimeter of the pie. To make the cut-outs bake golden and glistening, gently and lightly brush them with an egg yolk whisked with a teaspoon of water, or heavy cream. You can also sprinkle them with sugar, or a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

LATTICE IT UP: Old-fashioned and still makes a great looking pie today, the lattice is a great way to fancy up your pie presentation.

Using a pizza cutter, slice rolled out pie dough into ½-inch strips. Lay strips across one side of the pie, leaving a small gap between strips. On the other side, add strips as well, one at a time while weaving through the strips laid across the adjacent side. Once the entire pie is covered with the criss-cross weave, trip and tuck ends under bottom crust, and crimp the edge all the way around. Beautiful!

APPLE ROSES: Cut a fresh apple in half and core. Slice each half into very thin slices and immediately soak in lemon juice to prevent browning. Soften slightly by microwaving slices for 30 seconds, and then allow to cool for a few minutes. To make rose, take one apple slice and roll as tightly as possible for the center of the rose, exposing peel and rounded side of slice on the top part of rose. Hold in one hand as you continue to add slices and circle rose. Place in small custard cup or cupcake pan to help hold together while preparing others. These roses can be used to embellish the center of an apple or other fruit pie, or for an entire apple pie itself.

CRUMBLE TOPPING: A crumble topping can add texture, flavor and crunchy sweetness to any fruit pie, plus it gives it a little more variety than a typical top crust. With fingers, press together ½ stick butter, cut into pieces, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, ½ cup white flour, and ½ cup quick oats. A teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (or your favorite spice mixture) can be added to this. Sprinkle crumbly mixture over top of pie and bake as usual. Be sure to bake through, or topping can become soggy.

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CELEBRATE THE SEASONS IN CASSVILLE

IT’S GOING TO BE

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

OUT OF SIGHT!

Add maple leave crust cutouts around the edge of the pie after pouring in filling. Sprinkle crust leaves generously with pumpkin spice mixed half and half with sugar.

Ingredients: Crust for one-crust pie 3 eggs 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. pumpkin-pie spice 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin 1 cup half-and-half

chili COOKOFF Saturday,

Directions: In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, pumpkinpie spice, and pumpkin. Slowly whisk in half-and-half. Pour mixture into pie crust. Bake until set, about 1 hour, to 1-½ hours. Cool on rack at room temperature, then refrigerate to cool completely. Serve with whipped topping.

October 22 Booths open at 8:00 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC • CHILI & SALSA TASTING CRAFT BOOTHS • PET PARADE FOOD VENDORS AND MORE! Located around the Square

Cassville, Missouri

Blueberry Pie This recipe can be used with any berries, or a combination of berries.

Ingredients: Crust for covered 9-inch pie 4 cups blueberries (or any other berry) 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, strained 3⁄4 cup sugar ¼ cup cornstarch

1⁄2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest 1⁄4 tsp. salt 1⁄4 tsp. ground cinnamon 1 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces Directions: Toss together berries and lemon juice. Add sugar, cornstarch and everything but butter and toss to coat the berries evenly. Pour the berries into the pie shell and dot the filling with the butter.

Top with top crust, slit and bake at 400 degrees F., for 15 minutes. Continue to bake at 350 degrees F., for an hour or until filling bubbles through slits and crust has browned.

the SHOW

Thursday, October 20 7:30pm Saturday, October 22 7:30pm Sunday, October 23 2pm Cassville High School FEMA Building

Advance ticket prices are $7 each, Table prices are $15 12 and under are free Table seating and advance tickets can be purchased at Cassville area banks and Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce office.

You may also purchase tickets at the door.

417-847-2814

www.cassville.com October • November 2016 | 31

Throw Another Log on the Fire

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF WOOD HEAT STORY AND PHOTOS BY BECKIE BLOCK

W

ith wintertime coming, bringing colder temperatures, snow and ice, it’s the time of year that people start to worry about their winter heating bills. Winter weather also brings with it the worry of blizzards, ice storms and power outages – so many people are looking for alternative heating sources. Living in the Midwest, it’s only natural that people would consider, and ultimately make a decision to burn firewood. With firewood heat, you have many options, and many homes can find a way to use this heat source.

There are three main types of wood heating units There is a built in fireplace, a wood heating stove and an outside wood furnace.

Fireplaces are mostly thought of as an entertainment type of heat, building a fire, snuggling up on the couch and watching movies. But with the addition of a blower, a fireplace can be used to help heat your home, as the blower will push the warm air from the fire out into the house. Wood stoves can be installed in any house that has a chimney that is functional. There are

many options with wood stoves, such as sizes and styles, and you can usually find one that can fit your needs. There is also an outdoor wood burning furnace. The unit is kept completely away from the house, and the fire warms water, acting as a boiler furnace unit, and forcing the warm air into the house through the floor and wall vents.

Each type has its pros and cons, but with a little research, you can find the one that works best for you.

Buying Your Wood Now that we have discussed how to heat the home, let’s get to the heart of the matter and look at WHAT to burn. One good thing about living where we live is there is an over-abundance of trees, and they come in every shape and size. Some are good for burning and others are not.

Many people think that wood is wood, and that all of it would burn about the same, but this is not the case. Howard Chappuis, of Chappuis and Sons Logging and Wood, just outside of Wheaton, Mo., has been working cutting wood for a very long time.

“I was cutting wood, running a chainsaw since I was eight years old.” After 38 years in the wood business, he has learned quite a lot about what makes good firewood, and what does not. Howard, his wife Michelle and their sons, Eli and Ethan, run a successful business of logging and 32 |

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supplying firewood all over the area. They custom cut wood for Price-Cutter and Big Baldy’s BBQ in Monett, to use for their meat smokers, and for anyone needing wood for their homes.

“Oak is the best wood for burning, it puts out the most heat,” Howard stated. “Seasoned wood is best, in fact, wood needs to lay for at least a year to be considered seasoned.” He went on to add that green wood is hard to start a fire with, and puts off less heat. It also creates more ash and can cause a creosote build-up in the chimney that can lead to a house fire. “Newer stoves and fireplaces have a type of catalytic converter to lower the smoke and pollution and require dry seasoned wood.” Howard went on to add that ash, hedge and hackberry are also good wood to burn.

Wood Buying Information Purchasing wood can get a little complicated. Most people buy wood by the “rick” which is 4-feet-high by 8-feetwide by however long you want the sticks to be. But Howard shared that in many places, wood must be bought by the “cord”. A cord of wood is 4-feet by 4-feet by 8-feet, or 128 cubic feet. What the difference in this is, added Howard, is the length of the sticks. A cord with wood that is 12-inches long, would contain more sticks than a cord with wood that is 20-inches long. If someone buys a rick of wood that is 16-inches long, he is getting less wood than a person who buys a rick that is 24-inches long. So in reality, a rick of wood is not always a true rick of wood.

Howard and his sons work all year long to get wood cut and ready for the winter. “In just about every storm, there’s two or three people that run out. We go out in the ice and snow to get people their wood.” They cut logs and let them lay to season for the next year. In the late summer and early fall they start cutting and splitting the wood to get it ready for delivery.

“A medium-size house with a wood stove, in an average winter, would burn about 18 rick of wood if you have no other heat source.”

“Some people call and request green wood, which we sell at a cheaper price. That way they can store it and have it seasoned by the time winter gets here.” Howard added that he never recommends burning green wood, but if people want to save money they can get the wood while it’s green and let it season before burning it.

Most wood that people request is split into chunks of varying sizes. This is good for general burning, but for overnight, many people request what is called a night log. These pieces of wood can be either whole, or split into larger chunks, to burn longer so that you don’t have to get up as often to add wood to the fire. That is one of the downfalls of using wood heat. “Be prepared to get up during the night to add wood to the fire,” said Howard.

Igniting the Flame Starting a fire can also be somewhat of a challenge. Most stores sell fire starter bricks, or if you cut wood yourself you can save the smaller twigs to be used as kindling. Howard suggests crumpled newspaper with smaller pieces of wood placed over it. If the wood is good and dry, it will light easily. Once the fire is lit and burning well, larger pieces of wood can be added. Paper is good tinder for starting fires, but Howard cautioned against burning too much trash, due to the amount of ash this created, and burning paper can easily be sucked up the chimney by a draft and cause a fire outside. You should never burn plastic in a wood stove, as this can damage your stove pipe.

of a snowstorm. There is chimney upkeep, stove upkeep, and ashes to carry out. Wood heat makes a great back-up plan, and there is nothing better than a warm fire on a cold night. Depending on the type of stove you have, you can even do a little bit of primitive cooking on the stove top. But it is also more of a commitment than just turning up a thermostat on the wall.

Firewood Type

BTU Value

“Seasoned wood is best, in fact, wood needs to lay for at least a year to be considered seasoned.”

A “rick” which is 4-feet-high by 8-feet-wide stack of wood, by however long you want the sticks to be.

Howard added that the main thing to remember when you are deciding to burn wood, is to make sure that your chimney is cleaned out. It should be cleaned out before the first fire is built each year. Build-up of creosote from the previous winter, and bird nests are two hazards that can cause a fire.

Chimneys should also be inspected monthly during the winter, especially if you are burning any type of green wood, or wood that is not fully seasoned. “Not having a hot fire, keeping the damper closed, is also not good, because sometime during the day you need to open the fire up and let it burn the creosote out of the chimney.”

You should also remember that you have to keep your wood in the dry. “Wet wood is just as bad as green wood,” Howard added. Wood needs to be split and stacked either inside of a building, or kept under a tarp or other covering so that it stays dry.

So while burning firewood as an alternative to gas or propane might seem like an easy thing, there is a lot to consider.

You have to decide if it’s worth getting up at night to keep the fire going. You have to know where to buy wood, know how to buy it so you are getting your money’s worth.

You have to know that the person you are buying from is reputable and selling you the wood in the proper dimensions. You also have to make sure you keep enough supply that you don’t run out in the middle

Howard had one final piece of advice for anyone who burns wood. “You need to get a ‘Burn Indicator’, which is a gauge that tells the heat of the fire.” These can be bought anywhere you can get stove pipes and other supplies. This can also help keep a novice from having a house fire, by letting them know when their fire has gotten too hot and might cause a chimney fire.

Chappuis and Sons Logging and Wood 417-489-2421 or 417-592-4293 Or check out their Facebook page Firewood delivery for Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas October • November 2016 | 33

Following the Hickory Smoke Trail

Send restaurant recommendations and comments to ozarkhheditor@gmail.com, or mail to Ozark Hills and Hollows, P.O. Box 214, Exeter, Mo 65647.

BY JESSE WOODROW

Carefully smoked pig meat just makes me happy inside.

The sauce is the trademark of a good BBQ restaurant, and I always want the “house special.”

Honestly, I think the older I get, the more I want to just taste the plain smoked pork with a little sauce on the side. If it’s done right, it should be juicy, smoky, with just enough salt and pepper to set off the porky goodness inside of the bun. Our standard, for evaluation purposes, is a a pulled pork sandwich on the house bun, with dab of cole slaw right on top, sauce on the side and an iced tea.

I’m here to talk about Barbecue in the Ozarks. I’d like to keep this feature going each issue, highlighting new discoveries. Please feel free to send us suggestions, I’m always looking for an excuse to try out a new smoked pork destination! Some of the ground rules are: The meat has to be cooked and pulled (or sliced) on site (preferably at the time of ordering). It must be smoked with wood – of any kind. It must be served plain, not steeped in sauce. Points will be lost for microwaved, re-grilled or steam-tray stored meat. I really like to patronize local, independent restaurants, but I’ll visit a chain every once in a while, if I’ve heard good things about it.

Score is out of 100 possible points.

SMOKIN’ BOB’S, Springfield, Missouri At first look, you might think this was a chain restaurant.

Stainless tables and trays, a very neat menu and an efficient service line. But look closer, they slice their brisket just after you order it. And the pork is fresh smoked, pulled and piled high. People rave about the burnt ends and the side dishes. My sandwich was picture perfect, it’s as if they read my rule book before I got there! It was a big, juicy mess of pork, tangy sweet sauce, crispy slaw and a soft fresh bun. A near perfect sandwich. This place is a little short on atmosphere, very neat and clean, no old signs, no taxidermy or memorabilia on the walls. So if you can settle for a slightly sterile shopping center BBQ-joint with great food, run, don’t walk to Bob’s on Sunshine. Their butts are hard to beat. I’m giving them a 95. Very nice.

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PENGUIN EDS, Fayetteville, Arkansas A great location, with a beautiful outside patio. This is a classic BBQ joint, with old Blues music on the speakers.

I had the Regular, Memphis style (a dollop of slaw) .The porky flavor hit me right away, and the meat was very moist and tender. Although I tried, I could detect almost no smoke flavor or caramelized meat texture at all. The girls said that the pork is smoked from 2 until 9 each morning, and that’s why the smoke shack was empty and not smoking at lunchtime. I think the smokemaster must be keeping his butts under wraps (foil) from start to finish. Don’t get me wrong, their presentation is classic, and they had all the ingredients in place, but it was a very safe sandwich. The sauce was a good molasses and tomato based mixture, and the slaw was fine, but they couldn’t spark up that plain old pork. This is good Barbecue, but not exceptional by any means. I reckon I’ll give it another shot someday, but this visit didn’t live up to my expectations. I give it an 80.

BUBBA’S BARBECUE, Pineville, Missouri A little rib shack across the freeway from the Walmart in Jane, Missouri – this place is the real deal. Larry, Bubba’s cousin gave us the scoop. Bubba learned his craft from an old timer in Beaumont, Texas, and brought his talents back to Pineville, where they both grew up. Larry learned smoking skills from Bubba, and that’s pretty much it. A quaint little place, with good food and personal service.

My sandwich came on a warm bun that was kind of like a ciabatta roll. Piled high with moist and tender pulled shoulder meat. The slaw was fresh and crispy. The mild sauce was good, but the spicy was something special. Lots of red pepper flavor, with a touch of sweetness, I think it was apple juice. The pork was very well cooked, very clean and carefully pulled. This is just good barbecue, nothing bold or adventurous, but a fine pile of pork pickin’s. We need more solid, dependable barbecue restaurants like this these days. Nice people making good food. I gave my sandwich a 92. If you are anywhere near Pineville or Jane Missouri, or Bella Vista, Arkansas, and you need a Q fix, head over to Bubba’s. They make some excellent ribs, too!

Well, folks, those are my picks for this issue. Never underestimate the power of a finely smoked pork shoulder. Happy BBQ eating!

I

t's become a pretty wide spread phenomenon, and has given license to men everywhere to no longer look for an excuse to toss the razors out the window. Though it's been around in different forms for years, No Shave November became a real thing in 2009, when the American Cancer Society publicized it as a fundraiser, and it's been gaining momentum ever since.

To celebrate No Shave November with our rugged, whiskered readers, we are profiling some of our areas hairiest men. Though reasons for growing their beards vary, they all seem proud and happy to be known by their tresses, and the women in their lives have become pretty attached to the facial adornment as well. Most of them care for their beards in a similar fashion, washing daily and gently brushing – and most have a beard balm or oil that they would recommend.

NO WEIRD BEARDS HERE STORY BY SHERRY LEVERICH

Another typical response was that growing their beards was going to be a temporary condition, but after time passed, they haven't been able to mame their folical limbage.

So, as November draws near, will you pick up the torch and throw down the razor as well? At least for the month...or maybe even for a lifetime.

October • November 2016 | 35

JOE GLADSKI is club historian

ALISON ARCHER

of The Northwest Arkansas Society of Bearded or Mustachioed Gentlemen and has competed 16 times (in the goatee class), winning 13 awards and has also judged. He is a skilled beard photographer and all the beard club photos used here are taken by Joe.

Secretary of the NWA Society of Bearded or Mustachioed Gentlemen

Joe shared with me that he is more of an artist than a photographer, “Each individual photo is processed as though it were unique whether or not it actually is. I spend a lot of time tweaking and making sure the images look as I intend them to.”

He has been part of the club since looking up an old friend, Merv, a couple of years ago after he'd been growing his beard for a year. Joes learned a lot about beard competing, and after Troy invited him to beard competition roadtrip with them, the rest is history.

I asked Joe to share some about himself and about his photography work: I've been into art all my life, but didn't get into photography until about three years ago. I started out just taking pictures around the house.

Mainly cats and landscapes. I think taking pictures of the cats helped more than anything with portraits. My main focus was taking interesting pictures that had a clean focal point.

A friend of mine once said that I made the mundane look extraordinary.

I've spent a lot of time on Arkansas back and dirt roads, just taking pictures of the way the road cuts through the land.

Currently, what I like to do for a beard contest is a portrait setup for staged shots. Most people want to watch the event, not get their picture taken, so I try to get those done early. Then, I like to wander and take candids. It's a lot of work, but it really captures the depth of an event.

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From Alison: The beards have allowed me to secretary for 2015/16 Beard Seasons, enjoy their children and spouses, organize events, and overall just enjoy a great family feeling of community, beards and so much fun! I was able to accompany our award winning beards to Boulder, Co., last year and participate in giving back $14k to that community through "beard appreciation". Growth is always a good thing, and celebrating growth amongst friends makes it even better. Find them on Facebook, or contact Alison Archer directly.

All facial hair is welcome here. There are no stipulations on length, growth, or appearance of facial hair for our club participants – only the willingness to enjoy it and show up for monthly meetings and community events. We are continually greeting new members and celebrating their families, young and old, to experience our local bearded community.

Alison explains what their fun and amazing club is all about: Celebrating beards, beers, family fun, and benefitting our community in any way we can – we are the NWA Society of Bearded or Mustachioed Gentlemen.

A club celebrating facial hair and those who love it! Established in 2012 by Troy Hawley, founder and President; the club maintains a family atmosphere of events, and meets monthly in a variety of locations to discuss community events, upcoming competitions (throughout the US), and gather as friends, for recognition of recent awards.

The NWA SOBOMG's have participated in charitable events gifting over $10k back to local organizations and communities. In 2014 the club gathered gifts and 5-course meals to be delivered on Christmas Eve to 5 nominated families.

In 2015 our beards hosted the first annual Mr. Oktoberfest Pageant (commencing this year on October 2).

Our beards hosted a beer garden, and conducted keg races down Dickson for Oktoberfest celebration while Crowning Daniel Roulet as King. In 2016 our beards also hosted Block Street Party Clean-up Crew after a crowd of 13k people enjoyed an all day outdoor street festival of live entertainment and local food.

The beards are continually traveling state to state winning awards in competitions, as a well as international recognition. President Troy Hawley traveled abroad representing NWA last year before MC-ing our hilarious pageant held at Kingfish, just off of Dickson.

RUSSELL SIMS Siloam Springs, Arkansas Russell is a service adviser at Superior Dodge in Siloam, and enjoys hunting, fishing and anything outdoors. He is the proud dad of a sweet little girl.

From Russell: I wash it two or three times a week with shampoo and conditioner, sometimes specialized beard conditioner. I brush it daily with a boars hair brush or a beard comb. I'll usually use beard balm to get it soft and shiny.

I measured it a month ago and it was 13-inches to the longest hair.

When I compete I enter the “Full Beard with Styled Mustache” category. So far I have placed in every competition I have have went too. Four first places and two 3rd places.

I have been growing my beard for 3 years and 1 month. Started August 15, 2013.

I've always had facial of some sort. Goattee mainly, until I started growing my beard for hunting season. In 2012 I did it for 5 months and then went back to a goatee.

CALEB QUIN Springdale, Arkansas There are facial hair clubs around the world. Most of the clubs that exist are social clubs that raise money for local charities and non-profit organizations. The competitions are generally one of the clubs larger ways to raise money each year. There are normally about six to ten categories in most local small competitions. There are also a few very large competitions that happen here in the U.S. that are like a national competition. Then, every two years there is an international competition – World Beard and Mustache Championships. In the worlds there are more categories and the competition is, of coarse, pretty intense.

But again, the only thing anyone really wins from these events are trophies and bragging rights because the funds from the presale tickets and competitors tickets all go to funding a charity or nonprofit. The social clubs and all events hosted by clubs are really awesome ways to meet lots of people from different walks of life. We all bring different skills to the table and with many minds and many skill sets we can do great things.

Caleb is also a sponsored ambassador for a beard balm and mustache wax company in Independence, Missouri called "1740 Beard Balm.”

I have been growing my beard for 3 years on September 7. My beard style, most days, is just full beard natural. When I go to competitions the category I compete in is “Full Beard Freestyle.”

TROY HAWLEY

Club Founder and President Bella Vista, Arkansas Troy shares: I'm about 5 years in, but hit terminal length at about the three year mark. I'm currently considered a "Full Beard", but I compete in the "Full Beard, Styled Stache" category. I've competed in around 30 competitions in and out of the U.S. in 5 different categories.

A week from this Saturday I'm hosting the National Beard Competition in Denver with my buddy Jrod Rizz from Tulsa (from the The Dick and Rizz Show). I use Roughneck Beard Co., products daily. Starts with "Jrod Juice", then the "Ragermeister Oil," and finish with "Dr Dick's Bud Batter".(all are Roughneck products). I use a natural ox hair brush. I work in IT, and I'm a Texan that has been living in Bella Vista for the last 10 years.

CHRISTOPHER PUCKETT Fayetteville, Arkansas Christopher and his wife have just welcomed home a new baby in their sweet family.

Here is what he has to say about his facial fuzz: I have been growing my beard for six years this October. I started growing my beard because a friend bet me that I would shave before he did, and I haven't shaved since.

He made it about a year. After about a year into it I really started liking it, so I've kept it. My kids haven't seen me without a beard. My wife loves my beard, but not a huge fan of me not trimming my mustache.

My beard is called a Garibaldi. A full round beard under 20 cm from the bottom lip. I shampoo and condition daily. I towel dry and use a beard batter and oil. I I don't really trim my beard, I have cut a couple split ends off but that's it.

PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY JOE GLADSKI OF JOE FRIENDLY PHOTOGRAPHY, GARFIELD, ARKANSAS. October • November 2016 | 37

TYLER GILES Kansas City, Missouri Tyler is an Ozarks native now living in KC, full-time songwriter and musician. He sports a “tour beard” out of convenience, though it looks like it is becoming part of his overall style.

From Tyler: I have had a beard, of varying lengths, consistently since 2012. I started growing mine purely out of laziness, honestly. I don't have the gumption to shave day in and day out. It's been six weeks in the van, I may not have seen a shower in a few days, and there may be a knot or twelve.

I asked Tyler about his music: I play pedal steel guitar for several bands. The Brothers Roberson from Springfield, Mo., with whom I have opened for Alabama a couple times. I also play with a band called The Harmed Brothers from Portland, Oregon, as well as Dusty Rust from Kansas City and W.T. Newton & The Ozark Blood from Chicago, IL. I am also a singer-songwriter and tour on my own music as well. I host a weekly songwriter night here at a fantastic bar called The Westport Saloon. Every Tuesday evening I host Writers on the Rocks: A Songwriter Circle.

JAKE KLOSS Cassville, Missouri Jake and his wife Whitney live in Cassville, Missouri. Whitney is a staunch advocate of Jakes beard, in fact, she probably won't ever let him shave it off.

Jake drives schoolbus for the Cassville School District – and he has some funny stories about children on his bus route encountering him outside the school environment. He has gotten used to being identified by his beard profile, to say the least. Jake shared, “I have been driving a bus for Cassville for 10 years, I started driving when I was 21. I was the youngest driver when I started, and after 10 years I'm still the youngest by about 8 years.”

The Kloss' are very busy with children, there own at home, and working with others in their community, and with their church. They will be celebrating their eleventh anniversary on October 8. “I love children (hint why we have 7). Eight years into our marriage the Lord called us to help children in need, so we took classes to do foster care. Now we have 4 foster kids and 3 biological kids – we would take more if the state would allow!” Jake said.

“Whitney is a stay at home mom, wife, teacher, cleaning lady and she keeps me in line – she has a hard job!” Jake doesn't mind kids petting and looking at his beard, but he says sometimes the little ones can grab a few hairs and pull – ouch!

Motivated by his love and faith, Jake says, “I have been known to use my beard as a witnessing tool to share Jesus. 1 – it opens up conversation, and 2 – growing a beard is as easy as getting saved; all you need is Jesus! I love sharing my faith.

He has several products that he uses sparingly to maintain his beard, plus a special comb and brush. Whitney says that since he has started growing his beard in 2013, it has become considerably more gray – so, those hairs may hide the face, but it won't hide the age!

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DALLAS WYNN Huntsville, Arkansas With a different perspective, Dallas has grown his beard as a representation of his spiritual growth and journey. Dallas' beard is more than meets the eye, for him it is a significant sign of a life transition. I mentioned how his beard looks like spun gold when it catches the sunlight, and Dallas remarked that is how he feels about this point in his life – Golden. He is a single dad that cherishes time with his daughter, and is also friends a high maintenance Rottweiler. He has been growing his beard naturally for a little over a year. He doesn't trim or shape it, and maintains it by washing daily, along with beard softener every other day, and beard oil everyday. He suggests that if your skin gets itchy when you start growing a beard, try using beard oil.

Dallas shares: I am a reader and aspiring author. I walk for exercise each day contemplating my book – I simply imagine and sculpt it's world, characters, plot, and knowledge. I enjoy immersing myself in another world, a different time and place. I am also an avid reader and am about to finish the first book of the Game of Thrones series. I meditate – and explore my inner nothing and create from it's abundance. I experience and am grateful for this life.

TODD EBBINGHAUS McNatt, Missouri Todd and his wife Tammy are lifetime Ozarks locals to Newton County, Missouri, and live in the small community of McNatt just East of Neosho. They have 2 sons and a daughter.

Todd's beard was spawned from an incidence on June 15, 2011. It was the day before his daughter's birthday, and it was the day that his good bird dog died. He had to go into work, and he didn't have time to shave...and it's been growing ever since.

Similar to some of our other bearded men, Todd told his wife that he was thinking about shaving it off at one point...and she told him no.

Todd works for the financial institution giant, Jack Henry and Associates, but in his off-time, he is working on another project. He is a brewmaster and has started, “Indian Springs Brewery.” He explained to me the rich history of the area that they live in – Indian Springs was a thriving community built around medicinal water springs, similar to Eureka Springs. “The old roads that they built back in the 1880's and '90's are all timber now, and the what was a resort town is now all gone,” shared Todd.

Todd is in the process of opening a tap room in Neosho to sell his special brews. “I like IPA's – I like it all.” Not everyone likes the rich flavors of the hoppy beer, and Todd suggest, “It's a deal, I have buddies that say they don't like IPA's, but I start them on an Octoberfest, and before you know it, they are drinking hoppy brews.”

Todds Maintenance: I have to blow dry it, because it is so curly. Humidity is bad for it. It makes a big difference, like in Colorado – where it's dry – it straightens out.

I was born in Springdale, moved to Huntsville at age 11. I'm a 100% disabled (PTSD) Marine Corps vet.

My beard is a reflection of my spiritual growth. I haven't shaved it since around my awakening and I have no plans to touch it in the near future.

TODD KELLEY Springdale, Arkansas Todd Shares: I started growing it because I look like I'm about 18 without a beard and now if I shave it or trim it back, I look completely different. I actually asked my hair stylist to shave it off once and she flat out said no. I stopped shaving back in September of last year, but I trimmed it way down back in June to let it grow out more healthy.

I work at Walmart Home Office in Privacy and Compliance. On the side I am a writer. I've published a couple of articles in a magazine and I write songs now and then. My hobbies are hiking, camping, fishing, tinkering with cars and trucks and playing the guitar.

October • November 2016 | 39

Deer Camp Tales Pilgrim and the Mossy Buck

BY JESSE WOODROW

T

hey called me “Pilgrim,” This band of hoodlums that I was hunting with, they had me pegged as a newcomer to this pastime – but they let me tag along just the same. Gaither was the ringleader. He had long shaggy blond hair and a beard to match. To me he sometimes resembled a deranged golden retriever. He was obsessed with anything hunting or fishing related, and he had a knack for making most all of his outings productive. He was by trade a machinist who worked under me, and for some reason he was hell bound to initiate me into his band of merry sportsmen. I had read the NRA books, taken the Hunter’s Safety Course, studied ballistics, and talked to everyone I could find who had some advice to give. I had determined that the gun for me was a 243 Winchester bolt action. It was a flat shooting, sportsman’s round that had all the credentials I was looking for.

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I bought some Camo coveralls a matching cap and an orange safety vest.

I found a hunting knife with a built-in bone saw and a sharpening stone on the sheath. I was loaded for bear, or big bucks anyway. It was my first hunt ever. Gaither and his cronies met up with me at 5:30 a.m. in their van. We proceeded to a diner, where they all ate a huge breakfast.

I opted out, my stomach was a little out of sorts. We drove up Lewis Chapel mountain, off the two-lane, down a gravel road past what had to be a moonshiner’s compound, then up an old rocky quarry road. I heard cautionary tales about poachers, dog killers and other meanassed folks. My belly went from bubbly to disturbed. We tucked the van in under some trees and trekked up the side of a ravine. Gaither picked a stout hickory to set his stand up in. I decided to make a big boulder pile on top of the ridge my

From what was closing in at about base camp. The other two hunters crossed 15 yards, I pointed it dead center at the the ridge and hiked down in search of middle of his white chest, and pulled the good vantage points. trigger. Out of fear I guess, I closed my At 6:45 I heard a scary sound. A pack eyes for a second. When I opened them, of rowdy dogs was raising a ruckus down he was gone, disappeared, like a ghost.

Then, like an the holler. My mind was racing. I pictured Here came Brother Gaither, lumbering up a passel of heathren hillbillies toting apparition, I saw him. the hill. I did a check to see if I had soiled buckshot-loaded scatter guns trailing those A huge 10-point buck, my britches, just in case. “Where’s my hounds, dogging some poor whitetail up mossy buck, Pilgrim?” shouted that joker. with velvet covered the mountain. Then I heard another kind I told him my sorry tale, he just shook his of sound. Crashing timber, tumbling rocks antlers staggered up head in disbelief. “I never,” he said. “Me and heavy huffing and puffing. A big buck the ditch. He stood neither,” I thought to myself. We combed was careening his way up the ravine, with the hillside for a blood trail to no avail. broadside to me, the hell hounds on his trail. Then I heard an ear splitting boom, it was Gaither’s 7mm No sign, no fur, nothing. We waited, and about 80 yards away. I he chided me for the next couple of hours.

Magnum, I figured it was all over. Then a couldn't see any trace Then we heard two distant shots from second shot echoed through the holler, the dogs were silent. Gater’s bazooka must have way down the mountain. We went back to of blood on him at the van to eat lunch, and hoping for some scared them off the trail. all. I wondered if this word from the other two hunters.

Then, like an apparition, I saw him. was even the same Old Smoke sauntered into camp at A huge 10-point buck, with velvet covered about 12:15, grinning like a Cheshire cat. antlers staggered up the ditch. He stood buck Gaither had Mossy Buck, big ass ten-point he boasted. broadside to me, about 80 yards away. I fired at, since to my “At least one of us can shoot,” Gaither couldn’t see any trace of blood on him at knowledge, he had chimed in. “It took 2 slugs to knock that all. I wondered if this was even the same sum-bitch down, the bastard charged my buck Gaither had fired at, since to my never missed a shot in tree-stand!” Smoke added. I thought to knowledge, he had never missed a shot his life. myself, there sure are some wild bucks in his life. Surely he was down the hill, on this mountain. Meanwhile, Smoke field dressing him by now. Nonetheless, was trying to figure out how he was going I bench rested on a large rock, and lined to get that monster back to camp from up for a heart-breaker shot. He must have where he dropped it, nearly a mile up and smelled my fear, because he turned his head towards me and looked straight at me.

I squeezed off my shot.

He hesitated, rocked a little, dropped his head, pawed the ground – and charged me! This situation was not in the textbooks, not even in my imagination. To make things worse, in all the excitement I had forgotten to reload. I pulled the bolt back to eject my spent brass, but on the return, it jammed.

Jammed! I had a twohundred-sixty pound wounded buck full of testosterone charging me dead on, and I couldn’t chamber a round. I tore the magazine out of the rifle, pulled out a single bullet, tucked it in the chamber by hand, and Deer camp can be a great place to build camaraderie, and share experiences with like minded sportsmen. locked the bolt down.

October • November 2016 | 41

over the ridge. Just then, an old three wheeler came putting up towards us, with a hungry looking old red hound dog trotting close behind. The driver looked like a local for sure, with a prospector beard, a threadbare ball cap. He started asking about how our hunt was going, and Smoke proceeded to tell him about his dilemma. Smoke came back and told us that old Arville was going to help him drag his trophy back. He hopped on back of that wheeler, and they disappear into the woods. Honestly, I wouldn’t have given you a plug nickel for ever seeing either one of those two again.

Well, we waited, and swapped stories, and Gaither made me feel so bad for missing that buck that I thought hard about just walking home. More than once, I considered asking him why the buck ever made it past his tree stand, what with him being a sharpshooter and carrying the largest caliber rifle known to man and all, but I thought better of it. I had big shoulders, and I’d take all the blame.

Miraculously, about an hour later that three wheeler, Arvill, Smoke, Buckzilla and Redbone (in that order) came sputtering into camp. As fortune would have it, turns out, Arville and Smoke were kin somehow, and hadn’t even known it. The gods were smiling on Smoke that day for sure.

It was a huge specimen, muscular, with a massive rack, still covered in velvet.

His tarsal glands were still wet and shiny with pungent deer musk. That was a stinky old buck for sure. I got up close and personal with that bad boy on the way back, being relegated to the back of the van, after losing Gaither’s trophy and all.

By the time we got back to Smoke’s trailer, I’d about lost my lunch from the odor of that rutting beast.

I tossed and turned all through that night, replaying the scene over and over in my mind. I got up and went to work

Although hunting deer with dogs was once commonplace, it is frowned upon, and illegal in most states now.

A hunter can often form an inseparable bond with his conquest, memories that will stay with him for the rest of his life.

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that Monday morning, like I always did.

As I walked through the plant, I felt the shame. Everyone met me with a suspicious grin. By the time I got to the machine shop, I could see those boys pointing and laughing. This was going to be a long day.

By the time I got to the office, I had had enough. I paged Gaither to come in and have a talk. He came in grinning from ear to ear, and then he told me a most incredible story.

When he and Smoke skinned out that deer last night, they found 5 holes in it. Steve’s first shot went

right between two ribs, and didn’t do anything but ruin part of the tenderloin.

His second missed completely. My first shot was about three-inches high, threading the gap between two ribs, missing the heart and going clear through. My second shot lodged in the breastbone, nothing vital. Smoke’s first 12-gauge slug busted a rib, and poked a hole in his lung, which is a slow working injury. His second slug took out the windpipe and broke his neck, which is a pretty rare shot in itself, but that was the end of the road for that titan.

So we had all three took pokes at that bad boy, and it took 5 hits to bring him down. That’s one for the record books, as far as I’m concerned. I lost my pilgrim status when all the smoke cleared, although that was probably the biggest deer I’ll probably ever have in my sights and miss. After that hunt, I put up the 243 Winchester, and started toting a 3006 Browning A Bolt Rifle. I’ve never had a deer walk away since. But that’s another story for another day.

Among the Wildflowers

BY ROB LOTUFO

Pretty Purple Herbal Pharmacy?

I

spend a lot of time in the spring waiting for the first wildflowers.

Bluets, spring beauties, trout lily, blood root and Dutchman's breeches. I've been thinking lately about the last of them, the sturdy holdouts that don't die back until the first really hard freeze.

Ironweed, black-eyed Susans and late fall asters come to mind. It's the asters I'm going to focus on this time. You know, the tall purple flower with the powdery yellow center. It's a splash of color in a drab, withering field.

Not only are these asters pretty, but they are an important late pollen source for bees and other pollinators. But the real point of interest for me is the fantastic medicinal properties of this little powerhouse. Having just recuperated from pneumonia myself, I found the list of "good medicine" applications that American Indians (and modern herbalists) attribute to this plant to be amazing.

Late fall aster is part of the Asteraceae (Latin for "star", because of it's shape) family, also known as: aromatic (American) aster, wild blue aster and shale aster.

Medicinally, fall aster has been attributed properties like: antispasmodic, aromatic, a calmative, carminative, decongestant, diaphoretic, expectorant, nervine, relaxant and stimulant.

There seems to have been a universal reliance by Native American tribes on

burning the flowers and leaves that is interesting, the smoke being used in Inipi (sweat lodge) Ceremonies, to revive the unconscious, to treat mental illness, nosebleeds, headaches and congestion. The dried blossoms were also snuffed for similar purposes, or the vapor inhaled as a steam.

Aster tea was used to treat earache, relieve gas pains, stomach aches, & fevers. The flowers and roots were both commonly used.

In Chinese traditional medicine, an Aster Tea (zi wan) is described as bitter and slightly warm, and that it relieves cough and expels phlegm. Primarily used for chronic cough, especially cold induced cough with copious sputum that is difficult to expectorate, or coughing of blood streaked sputum. Sounds like the pneumonia I just got over!

When you’re feeling very congested and stuffy from a respiratory illness, call on fall aster’s decongestant and expectorant actions to help clear you up. This works best if the plant is used in a steam and it will almost immediately break up the congestion in the upper respiratory tract and help you to expectorate the excess mucus.

As a nervine and relaxant, fall aster can help you to slow down and take the time to stop and smell the flowers.

Though not as strong as a sedative, many people find using fall aster in place of Valerian root helpful for achieving a calm without the after effects that Valerian can bring. Topically, a wash made from an infusion of the flowers has been used for treating poison ivy, oak and sumac. Instead of making a wash, you can try poultices from the leaves and buds.

Lore of the Aster According to Cherokee legend, two young Indian girls who hid in the woods to avoid warring tribes sought the help of an herb woman. While the girls slept, the old woman foresaw the future and knew the girls were in danger. She sprinkled herbs over the girls and covered them with leaves. In the morning, the two sisters had turned into flowers. The one wearing the blue fringed dress became the first aster flower.

Both the English and the Germans believed the aster held magical powers.

In France the aster was known as the eye of Christ. Asters were laid on the graves of dead soldiers to symbolize the wish that things had turned out differently in battle.

The aster has been used in a variety of ways throughout history, most commonly as a means to appeal to the gods or ward off evil, but there are some other uses, too. The ancient Greeks made an ointment from asters to heal the effects of a bite from a mad dog.

Asters boiled in wine and placed near a beehive were thought to improve the flavor of honey.

I have heard of people using dried aster/tobacco combinations, tinctures of alcohol and fresh flowers, or just chewing up and eating several blossoms a day for health purposes. Whatever your preference, some folks swear by this flower that is purported to, "cures what ails you" in many circumstances. I suggest you do a little book and field research, and decide for yourself. I like to look at the pretty purple flowers. One of these days, I might just tuck a few between my cheek and gum and see what happens.

October • November 2016 | 43

Good For You

BY MARY LOWRY

Einkorn An Ancient Wheat for Today’s Gluten Sensitivity?

A

ncient grains are the seeds of plants in the grass family (Poaceae) that haven’t been hybridized or modified, and date back hundreds and even thousands of years ago. These grains include barley, oats, rye, rice, wild rice, corn, freekeh, kamut, sorghum, teff, millet, spelt, and einkorn wheat.

Many times the term “ancient grains” may also include grain-like seeds that are not true grasses but behave like them; buckwheat, hemp, flax, chia, quinoa, and amaranth.

I think of all of these grains, einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum,) is the most fascinating since it is man’s first wheat, and nature’s original design. It is believed to be the first wheat cultivated by man possibly 10,000 years ago, prior 44 |

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to that it is believed to grow wild for millions of years. It began in the Fertile Crescent area and moved to parts of Europe. It was discovered in the Italian Alps when the frozen remains of Otzi the Iceman was discovered in the Otztal Alps by two hikers in 1991. He was so well preserved in the ice that even his last meal of meat, roots, berries and einkorn wheat was discovered dating back around 3500 years ago.

Einkorn is the only grain that has never been hybridized. It still has 14 chromosomes, where modern wheat has 42. Thousand of years ago man started hybridizing wheat to increase yields in the field and after milling, and to make a softer lighter bread. All wheat contains gluten, and Einkorn wheat is no exception, however, it contains less than 2% gluten, and this is a small fraction of what modern whole wheat bread contains, i.e. nearly 10% gluten.

The form of the gluten seems to be better digested also. Dr. Davis author of “Wheat Belly” sites that Einkorn wheat may be the wheat solution for those with a gluten sensitivity. Those with Celiac Disease are best to avoid it completely since even the smallest trace of gluten can cause inflammation in the small intestine.

There are additional health benefits of Einkorn wheat compared with modern wheat. It has 30% more protein and 30% less starch. It spikes the blood sugar less quickly.

This is helpful for satiety, weight loss and glucose control. It contains 50% less phytic acid. Phytic acid inhibits nutrition absorption, especially of iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium in the digestive tract. It contains more B vitamins, essential fatty acids, and trace minerals. It also has significantly higher levels of the antioxidant lutein which helps prevent macular degeneration and cataracts. It has 3 to 4 times more beta-carotene, which boost the immunity and helps prevent heart disease and cancer.

Sprouted Einkorn Blueberry Pancakes

(Recipe from Jovial Foods)

The type of gluten in einkorn is unique and easier to digest, but it also poses some challenges while baking. www.jovialfoods.com has some wonderful tips on baking with einkorn wheat. They recommend substituting cup for cup with regular whole wheat flour in muffin, pancake, cake and cookie recipes, however, sometimes the amount of liquid needs to be reduced by 15-20%. Because einkorn absorbs liquids much slower than regular wheat, make sure your dough is nice and wet and sticky. Don’t try to add more flour to lessen its stickiness, otherwise the dough will end up being too dry and dense later.

Because the gluten is weaker than normal flour, don’t let the dough proof to the usual “double in size”. If the dough rises too much, it will fall in the oven. It’s better to under-proof than over-proof.

Einkorn is quickly growing in popularity, but it is still not found in all markets. Check your local health food store. There are many einkorn flours, pastas, and even cookies on the market. If you can’t find it locally try online. Jovial Foods and Einkorn.com have wonderful tips, recipes, and are a source for bulk einkorn flour and whole grain, in addition to smaller quantities.

2 large eggs 1 ½ cups plus 2 Tbsp. of buttermilk 2 Tbsp. melted butter 2 ½ cups Jovial Sprouted Einkorn Flour, plus 1 Tbsp. for dusting the blueberries 2 Tbsp. sugar 2 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries

Heat a skillet or cast-iron griddle to low heat. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and butter.

In a medium bowl, sift together the 2 1/2 cups of sprouted flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, whisking until the batter is smooth.

Combine the blueberries and 1 tablespoon of flour in the bowl that you used for the flour until evenly coated. Gently fold the blueberries in the pancake batter.

Lightly grease the pan or griddle with butter. Scoop up Ð cup of pancake batter and pour onto the griddle. Cook for 3 minutes, until the top of the pancake begins to firm and the bottom is deeply golden brown. Flip the pancakes and cook for 2 minutes until cooked through. Serve warm with maple syrup.

Einkorn Almond Butter Cookies 2 whole eggs 1 cup coconut oil I used Justin’s Ma ple 1 cup almond butter Almond Butter, bu t 1 cup coconut sugar raw, unsweetened almond butter wo ¼ cup brown sugar uld 1 cup all purpose einkorn flour also work just fine.

1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder ¼ tsp. salt ½ tsp. cinnamon (optional) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream first five ingredients. Mix the flour with the baking soda, powder, salt and cinnamon together in a separate bowl. Add this to the first bowl and mix all together. (Overmixing will make it oilier, and it may look a little like taffy rather than cookie dough, but be just fine.)

Spoon onto cookie sheet by the rounded tablespoon. Bake for 5-7 minutes. They are done with the bottom of cookie is lightly browned, and the cookie is still soft. Don’t overbake. Remove from oven, and cool a few minutes, then remove with spatula to a cooling rack till completely cool. Makes about 2 dozen.

October • November 2016 | 45

ENHANCING

’ Nature s Beauty STORY BY STEVE PARKER • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB LOTUFO

L

ong, long ago, natives discovered how to tie and weave many materials to assist in the necessities of everyday life. The first woven baskets were created for gathering grain, firewood and berries. Some baskets were woven so tightly it was possible to even carry water. The interior of the basket was covered in tree tar to make it water tight. Before man realized that mud pots and bowls could be placed in fire to harden with the capacity to carry water, woven water baskets had been used by ancient tribes around the world.

Reeds from the river were strong and could be woven to make huts or even boats.

Ancient traveling nomads first used reeds as bindings to carry goods from one site to another. As natives began to stay in a desired area, they started weaving strong mats, covered with animal skins for sleeping and warmth. A woven mat covered with a buffalo hide was more comfortable than sleeping on the cold ground.

Although game and fish were abundant, these nomadic people were constantly looking for new and better territory. When moving, they had to take their essential belongings with them, and the woven containers became a most valuable asset. Archeologists have discovered fragments of reeds and grasses tightly wound in a circular pattern and shaped into a container dating back thousands of years.

History tells us in the beginning natives were not concerned about the beauty of the weaving or the pottery, 46 |

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but focused on the utilitarian value of everyday objects. While the men hunted the women were left to gather enough wild grains and berries to feed a family for a week in large woven baskets. In order to keep young children safe, women created woven carriers to make children more transportable. Making baskets for carrying goods was an essential way of life. As nomadic tribes moved around the world, different weaving materials became available and art became a part of the weaver’s craft. Perhaps the earliest woven art was used as an identification of a person or family, or a basket might have been embellished to please a God or the tribe’s leader. As tribes advanced to a higher degree of development, a more sophisticated version of the woven essentials came into being. A wide assortment of materials of varying strength and color combined with natural dyes were used and the containers became durable and more artistic.

As centuries passed the art of basketry and weaving has retained some utilitarian value, however art has flourished and creativity applied to the basic weaving skills has produced some very unique pieces. The Seminole Indians of South Florida may have been the first to weave baskets from pine needles, using a sharp seashell or bone to do the weaving. The art of pine needle baskets has been handed down and developed through the generations into the wonderful creations we can see today. One needs to look no further than a visit to the display of Ms. Vivian London, one of the self-taught premier pine needle basket weavers in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas.

At the end of a long road east of West Fork, Arkansas is a five-acre piece of ground with a green painted house that blends into the environment so well, it seems to become part of the landscape itself. This is where Ms. Vivian London has lived for the past 50 years and in that half century she has become an integral part of the environment. An invitation to sit a spell on the front porch of this modest home, offers a guest a warm and welcome experience. Time quickly slows down. Rocking chairs with soft cushions invite one to relax, enjoy the quiet, smell the freshness of the grass, the aroma of flowers, and hear the buzzing of the hummingbird wings as they hover to drink the nectar at the feeders. Ms. London has her own well-worn rocking chair on the porch where she sits comfortably next to a table with the necessary supplies for her creation. A tall, elegant woman with beautiful white hair, seeming to favor the color blue, she sits with a long dress, a small towel spread in her lap and begins to start her next creation, presenting the perfect setting for an artist to capture the picture of serenity.

As she works, the story of her baskets unfolds. Self-taught, she began by seeing a basket, and after a thorough examination, Ms. London determined she could do this herself. Through trial and error and experimentation with different materials, she developed the current technique used in all her baskets beginning with a very tight coil creating the bottom of a basket.

In the yard, less than 10-meters from her chair is a mature Slash Pine providing the weaving materials for her creations. The pine needles are twelve to fourteen inches long, and grow in bunches and she waits patiently for them to dry each season and fall to the earth. She gathers and separates them into individual needles, trimming off the bottoms and banding them together in small bunches. Pine needles must then be soaked to become pliable enough to wind tightly to create a circular pattern.

To begin weaving, the pine needles are typically run through a straw to keep them tight. Ms. London long ago discovered she could slip just the right number of needles through a one-inch long brass .22 caliber shell casing which never wears out and keeps the needles tightly bound.

A length of approximately two feet from a spool of sinew, (an artificial deer skin thread) natural colored and exceptionally strong, is threaded through a needle and as the shell casing is moved down the length of the needles, a coil for the basket begins to form. When reaching the end of the pine needles another bunch of needles is threaded in and the weaving continues.

Over the years, Ms. London has used other natural materials to her embellish the baskets. Using the bottoms of gourds, she will often create beautiful tops and

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lids to adorn the shellacked and polished gourds. Another element in her work is provided by the black walnut. Sliced with a saw into small rings, the interior of the walnut becomes a beautiful design providing a natural element to her beautiful creations. The quiet solitude of her working environment allows for an abundance of creativity and design.

One of the original founders of the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market, Ms. London has watched it grow from a small beginning to the bustling market Northwest Arkansas patrons are enjoying several times each week from April to November.

Each week, she gathers up her baskets and makes the journey from her home to the market. Often she has the help of her son who has some acreage near her home. She sets up her table with a wire shelving rack and places her creations for sale and the enjoyment of the Market patrons. Ms. London has been showing her work for over thirty years, and has a true knowledge and sense of the patrons of the market. Pine needle baskets are somewhat rare and because they are so tightly wound, and professional in nature, many patrons pass by without understanding and appreciating the natural beauty and the individuality of the creations. Stop by her booth as the Farmer’s market and ask her for a demonstration on pine needle basket weaving…she always has one in the works.

A

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www.fohnfuneralhome.com October • November 2016 | 47

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que Craft fair season is upon us. The areas finest Anti king Stores, Flea Markets and Resale Shops are stoc rs. up with the best inventory for fall craft fair goe

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Bento in shop you plan your route so that you won't miss a iture, Furn ues, With a wide variety of merchandise – Antiq er – there's Clothing, Decorative Items or Flea Market Fodd or browsing. ng something for everyone – whether you are hunti some great for Check out Repurposing Revolution (page 36) from some ideas ing ideas for your flea market finds, including inspir of our resale and renovating experts!

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August • September October November 2016 | 49

Repurposing Revolution

to USEFUL UNUSEDâž˝

BY SHERRY LEVERICH

I

n the season of Junk Fairs, Craft Fairs and Flea Market Festivities, it’s time to gather some inspiration for perking up discards, broken and neglected items. Anything can potentially be upcycled into something wonderful. Here are a few ideas to get the wheels turning. Need more help? Our flea market, thrift store, antique and boutique advertisers would love to help you find that special item you need, or can direct you to skilled craftspeople that can help you as well.

LAMP RE-VAMP Lamps come and go. Why not put that lampbase to good use?

Remove cords and light fixtures.

Attach a vintage plate for a tall cake pedestal. Attach a concave dish or pan (even a pie pan) to make a sweet bird-bath for your flower garden. A round wood cutout can make a quick side table when attached to your lampbase.

CAKE UNDER COVER We all have beautiful cake stands that could use a cover. A discarded dome light fixture is a quick and beautiful solution. Just screw a pretty knob to the hole in the top for a handle and you are ready for your next dinner party!

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Christmas

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Old silverware is useful for many things. Drawer pulls and cabinet handles is just another great idea for putting them to work. Drill 1/8-inch holes in the spoon dish and handle, and use short screws to attache to doors and drawers.

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October • November 2016 | 51

BACK HOME in the HILLS

BY LARRY DABLEMONT

What Was Old Is New To Me

I

’ll admit I watch a little more television than I once did…as I get older.

Sometimes it gives me the opportunity to sit in my recliner and take a nap on a hot afternoon. I start out intending to watch an old western, sometimes Bonanza, sometimes Gunsmoke, on some channel called TVLAND. I didn’t watch many Bonanza shows because it came on Sunday nights and my dad made me go to church. I am still mad about that. All I ever heard from that country preacher was re-runs of another sermon. I took a nap there too; sitting in the back pew in the country church surrounded by up to eight or ten elderly folks who kept me awake hollering ‘amen’.

I nap better today in my recliner.

Bonanza is okay most of the time but Gunsmoke is even better. I didn’t see many of those shows either because I usually worked at the pool hall on Saturday nights from 1959 until about 1964. From 1965 to 1967 I seldom watched television on Saturday nights because I was at School of the Ozarks sort of interested in co-eds. I should have watched television. The girls there played hard to get. I’m thinking that too many of them stayed in their dorms and watched Gunsmoke.

But I really do enjoy those old westerns now, either because I saw so few of them when I was young, or I just can’t remember that I saw them. My gosh, I didn’t know Matt Dillon got shot so many times! I really get interested in watching some gang of bad guys kidnap Miss Kitty and then the next thing I know I wake up and I don’t know if she ever got rescued.

But she must have, because there she is in all her beauty and make-up and dyed hair in the next exciting episode. I loved Miss Kitty, I wanted to marry a girl someday who looked just like her. I met a redhead a lot like her in college but she wouldn’t marry me.

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As a kid in the pool hall, I knew a guy a lot like Doc Adams and one like Hoss Cartwright and there were several like Chester, only without the limp. There was Festus Haggin in later episodes, and I had a college roommate a lot like Festus. Still a good friend of mine, his name was Darrel Hamby. All he needed was a beard and that hat.

But going back to those old television westerns, I have to wonder if they had any idea what a bullet wound to the shoulder or leg would be like, whether from a colt .45 or a Winchester .30 caliber rifle! They all got well too quick. The television people made a bullet wound pretty easy to get over. And how many times do you see a shotgun blast pick up some ne’er-do-well and throw him ten feet! It ain’t that way.

Even buckshot doesn’t do that. Shoot a squirrel with high-powered number sixes and he’ll fall at the base of the tree.

But what I hate the most is what little knowledge they have of wild creatures.

You see grizzly bears and timber wolves in states they never even got to within a thousand miles of. John Wayne shot pheasants that hadn’t yet been brought to the west from China, and half-dozen westerns I saw had them. I saw a movie where a mountain man had a pheasant tail feather sticking out of his cap. No one seemed to notice but it just ruint the movie for me. When I saw a guy outrun a grizzly bear once in a movie I had such a fit about it, my girl friend threatened to leave without taking along her popcorn even.

Still and all, I remember how excited my cousins were when grandpa got an old television hooked up and we watched Davy Crockett on Walt Disney, Sunday nights at 6 p.m. Oh were those some great days!

Now the television is old Satan’s greatest tools. There are more women dancing on television in their underwear than I have ever seen. They are singing too, but you can’t really call it music.

Nobody can tell what they are actually saying, but who cares. They writhe around in such tantalizing ways that a man my age can’t watch without feeling a little guilty.

But what I hate the most is the commercials. That black haired whitecostumed overbearing woman called Flo just almost makes me sick. I wouldn’t buy the insurance she sells if it was half what my insurance costs.

Then there is Marie Osmond, touting some diet plan that got rid of her belly fat. I just hate Marie Osmond! And that bloomin’ green lizard… he better hope I never see him in the woods or crossing the road in front of me.

I could go on and on about commercials. I vow never ever to go into a Hardee’s restaurant ever again because of those intense sex commercials they run.

Whatever made them think we associate sex with a hamburger and French fries?

I will not leave you with this negativeness. I thought you might like to hear about my cousin Alfred Ray McNew, who often got himself around a whole bottle of home-brew and took to the road in his brand new, three-year-old 1954 Buick in that sort of predicament. Sheriff Carter liked old Alfred Ray, as did all the guys in the pool hall, but he couldn’t be allowed to drive drunk, as he had once taken a life while behind the wheel, knocking one of Virgil Hathcote’s half grown heifers into the ditch as it crossed a county road, and killing it dead as a lawnmowed lizard.

Alfred Ray spent the night in jail then, as he had on several other occasions. And despite his protests he had to fix his own fender and make monthly payments on the heifer.

One pretty Sunday afternoon in the fall of 1958, Sheriff Carter saw Alfred Ray weaving on the highway and he pulled him over.

Antiques, Collectibles, Modern Furniture, Primitives, Glassware and Flea Market

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CORNER ANTIQUES “What the heck are you doing boy,” Sheriff Carter asked as he walked up beside the car, “are you drunk again?”

“Why no Sheriff,” Alfred grinned, “I was just tryin’ to get the paper off this here piece of gum and it’s stuck to it, on account of I guess it set in the sun so long it all just about half melted.”

Alfred Ray allowed as how he couldn’t hardly drive straight trying to get that paper cover off a stick of gum.

Sheriff Carter just shook his head and went back to his car to get the boy some gum that had no paper stuck to it.

“I’ll give you all the gum you need,” he said, “if it will keep you between the ditches. How many do you want?”

Alfred Ray stuck his head out the window and allowed as how he was really appreciative. “I’ll need three or four Sheriff,” he said, “I’m a goin’ to church this evenin’ over to Bucyrus and I intend to court the preacher’s daughter. I need a lot of gum to get this smell of whiskey off my breath!”

The preacher’s daughter was spared the presence of Alfred Ray that night!

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October • November 2016 | 53

Ozarks Hills & Hollows Ad MNP 5529.1 2.31" x 9.75"

Fifty Years a Furrier OZARK SON, LOREN GARREN, ON TRAPPING AND TRADING

R

STORY AND PHOTOS

BY ROSE HANSEN

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accoon pelts dominate the Okmulgee Fur Auction, but other furs – coyote, possum, beaver, mink, otter, and even bobcat – lie stretched for display on the floor. Every item is tagged by hand to prepare for prospective buyers. At this annual event, roughly 200 people, mainly men, many clad in camo, sell their furs to the highest bidders on the market.

By the end of the day, one high-volume trapper will have collected $90,000 in profits. Another takes home $60,000.

Others accept a mere thirty-cents for a single raccoon pelt, pocket their earnings, and leave with a Styrofoam cup of complimentary coffee.

Fur sales like this occur thousands of times a year in small towns across the country, the humble entry into the $15 billion global fur industry.

The spread of pelts is a gruesome though impressive sight to virgin eyes. Still, it’s nothing to write home about for the event’s longtime auctioneer, McDonald County resident Loren Garren.

Loren, just a year shy of 70, has made a life in the fur business for more than

half a century, first as a trapper, then a dealer and auctioneer. At the peak of his career, he hosted three auctions a year.

He once auctioned a fur sale in Chandler, Oklahoma that brought in more than $2 million.

But the days of lucrative wild fur auctions in the United States have withered. If international markets continue their downward trend, they may never come again.

In the past, fur dealers played a key role in the establishment of Missouri’s frontier.

According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, Fur Dealer Permits peaked in the 1945-1946 trapping season at 1,192.

Today, they’ve all but disappeared – in 2014, just 60 were issued. According to Loren, there were once more than eight competing dealers within comfortable driving distance of his house.

Now, he says, there’s only one: “Me.” In the Ozarks, trapping season begins in November. There’s not an official database of fur dealers by region, but most sellers find Loren by quick internet searches or simple word-of-mouth. When I ask Loren what it feels like to be the last

surviving fur dealer in the area, he shrugs the question off. “It don’t feel like nothing to me. That’s something never did bother me none – I pay them just like I always paid. I pay the market and that’s all you can do.”

Trappers bring the skins directly to Loren’s home – a simple four-room building with his fur-house attached on the side. Typically, live traps and leg traps are used today. Care is taken to preserve

the quality of the fur, which means that kills ideally occur as seamlessly as possible.

But blood is usually harmless even when things don’t go well. (“You just wash it off,” Loren says with a wave of the hand.) After considering the size, color, thickness, and depth, he’ll make an on-the-spot offer.

To determine the price, he continually checks in with manufacturers and dealers several times a week during fur season.

Their names and organizations, he won’t say, instead describing them opaquely as “people in the know.”

Most furs come to him already processed, but if they’re not, he skins the pelts with a knife and dries them on wire stretchers. After, they’re stacked and wrapped in plastic, and then placed in cold storage. When prices rise enough to earn at least a one-dollar profit margin, he bales and air freights the furs to a broker with a manufacturing contract.

It’s worth noting that men like Loren are outliers. Much of the modern fur industry sources its raw materials not from wild animals, but from domestic fur farmers whose captive breeds offer consistency in sizing and color, which then makes

work easier for manufacturers. But the relationship is symbiotic. When prices for farmed furs rise, wild fur increases in value, too. And, though furs are most often associated with luxurious garments geared toward the Asian and Russian markets – at Neiman Marcus, one Oscar de la Renta fur coat sells for $59,900, another by Fabio Gavazzi is priced at $90,000 – furs can be dyed and shaved and eventually turned into rugs, blankets, ornaments, fishing lures, paint brushes, hats, and more. But how the furs are ultimately used hardly interests Loren: “I just don’t worry about that. It’s something I never needed to know about.

All I needed to know was what to look for on one when it come through my doors.”

When Loren first became a dealer, it was common to buy 5,000 furs a day. Those numbers have since dwindled to just ten or fifteen. During the ‘80s, fur gained a reputation as a frivolous commodity with cruel roots – though its exploitation’s are arguably equal to the industries of meat, milk, eggs, and every other animal product humans consume and use. And while it’s tempting and easy to blame October • November 2016 | 55

the fur industry’s fall on animal activists, that doesn’t necessarily make it true. In a fashion world that includes everything from leather motorcycle jackets to Ugg boots and crocodile skin shoes, the stigma against fur has largely faded out of the mainstream. In 2011, Khloe Kardashian posed for PETA’s “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” ad campaign; last year on Instagram, she posted a selfie while wearing a floor-length fur coat.

Like any other commodity, fur prices vary and fluctuate. For example, a trade embargo in Russia halted the export of hundreds of thousands of raccoon skins in 2014. Currency exchange rates also affect the volatility of the market and, as Loren puts it, when the US dollar is too high, nobody can afford to pay $250 for a raccoon skin. Last winter, he couldn’t sell a single pelt. Right now, he has more than 2,000 furs in storage, just waiting for market conditions to improve. When I ask if he predicts a better season this year, he just shakes his head and spits out the flat truth: “No.” Missouri’s fur market has seen enormous fluctuations throughout the century. The economic value of harvested fur peaked in 1979-1980 at over $9 million, but plummeted across the next two decades. Some market trends for 2015-2016 suggest that pelt values are losing strength due to territorial disputes in Russia, tariffs in China, and economic woes in Greece. They real peak of the modern fur industry was in the ‘70s which, as luck would have it, coincided almost exactly with Loren’s entry into the business.

There’s a saying that by fifty, every man’s face is the one they’ve earned.

Loren’s is grizzled but harmless, the product of a lifetime of hard youth and hard living and hard work. The Ozarks served as the idyllic setting for his childhood, but life was not without its shadows. He was raised in a remote corner of McDonald County called Possum Hollow. There, his formidable and capable mother, Lucielle, and his father, Lester, a man with a tendency toward gambling and a fondness for drink, raised their five children on a small farm. But it was a hard time to be a farmer and in times of drought, they struggled. Loren remembers helplessly watching bullfrogs 56 |

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eat the tassels off the family’s corn crop.

Childhood was no salve against hard labor. Everyone had chores – milking cows, slopping hogs, collecting walnuts, chopping wood, hauling hay. “We was busy all the time. It was just that way. There wasn’t no use minding. We had to work when I was a kid. If you didn’t do what you were told, you weren’t going to get nothing to eat,” Loren recalls.

At thirteen, he quit school to work on a well drill in Ritchie, sharpening bits. Two years later, he got married – his first of three. (To broadly describe him then as a ‘ladies man’ is a euphemism; in his wild youth, he claims, he “cut a rug” on every dance floor in the county.) He supplemented his income by trapping and selling fur. Possum sold for just a dime, but it was enough to encourage him. By the time he was nineteen, he realized the fur trade offered more than the ten-cent possums he’d been pushing. Real money could be made as a fur dealer and, if he

was lucky, perhaps a bit of adventure, too.

In his early twenties, Loren flew to Greece to meet with fur buyers. Though various work opportunities had taken him across the United States, this was his first time out of the country. He stayed just one night and flew home. “There was a furrier on every corner. If you had a square block, every corner had a furrier on it,” he recalls, but that’s all. Oddly, any other impressions of Greece he had then have since faded away. Looking back, the trip was simply part of the job, one small piece of a shrugging lifelong commitment to the industry.

“Fur will always be here. It’s the oldest business in the United States. I’ll be in it until I die, I imagine,” he tells me, “but it hasn’t defined my life. It’s just something I could do that I learned how to do and I just done it.” It’s a philosophy of practical truths and he has adhered to it throughout adulthood. Loren pursued every job opportunity that fell into his

lap – from auctioneering to pipeline work in Michigan to buying and crushing old cars. He’s worked cattle, backhoes, oil rigs, and even dug the ditches for Goodman’s gas lines in the ‘70s.

These days, Loren lives just outside the Goodman city limits. At the turn of the century, the town boasted a theater, a hotel, a general store that sold 15-pounds of sugar for $1, and a train that connected the remote, bustling outpost to the rest of the world. But like so many boom-and-bust towns of the era, the city peaked and then faded. Today only small remnants remain.

Storefronts stand empty, walls hold up nothing but sky. The hotel is gone, the train passes but does not stop. The only place to buy any semblance of groceries is the Dollar General, or the gas station.

Loren remains loyal to Goodman but sees room for improvement. When reflecting on his own life, the most important thing he inherited from his parents was work ethic which, he seems to believe, lends itself to dignity. Work is the solution to aimlessness, and Loren wants to find ways to bring employment opportunities to the area. He’s not shy about participating and contributing to civic matters. His booming voice makes him a chosen favorite for serving as the announcer at local parades. Twice he ran for county commissioner, is a dedicated voter, faithfully attends city meetings. “I think everybody ought to stand up and be heard.

Just like me, I don’t care if you disagree but at least voice your opinion. Don’t just lay down like a whipped pup. You’ve got to get up and go.”

His typical morning starts by meeting friends at the Goodman Tire Shop to drink coffee and visit. Midday, he’ll attend to various jobs – managing cattle or hay, the

occasional farm and estate auction. Last year, he split the profits from a pumpkin patch with a friend. On the highway, Loren seems to know everyone in the county.

He drives with the window permanently rolled down to make room for his wide wave and his tremendous voice, which he claims he can “throw.” (I’ve heard him yell from the highway to the barn, and he’s right. He can.) He refuses to carry a cell phone. In the hanging heat of most summer evenings, he finds relief in Indian Creek, overalls and shoes included.

Socially, he surrounds himself with a ragtag, larger-than-life group of friends and family – his siblings and children, and friends whose names range vaguely between ancient Roman poets (Virgil) and contemporary stoner movies (Cheech).

There’s also his girlfriend of nearly a decade, the inimitable Linda, who often wears matching overalls and doubles as his personal bookkeeper. In Loren’s life, everybody needs somebody, and nobody’s better, and nobody’s worse.

To an outsider, working as a rural dealer the fur industry sounds like a rosy remnant of the pioneer past, something many in Loren’s position might turn into a lazy living prop of Ozarks heritage. But he resists. For all the quirks of his personality, there’s a vast reserve of practicality for which nostalgia has no place. He seems guided by the philosophy that that the only direction to move is forward, and the only way to get there is to go. At best, there’s people and work – honest work – and that has always been enough. That’s life.

October • November 2016 | 57

OUR READERS ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS

Celebrating Heritage, Farm and Healthy Living in the Heart of America

Covering and Distributing all across Southwest Missouri, Northwest Arkansas, and the entire Ozarks Region.

Always available online at www.issuu.com/ozarkhillsandhollows

Available on news-stands throughout the region and bordering states with A subscriber base that is growing with every issue published.

We also provide free issues to all advertisers and in the local distribution area at the following locations: Chamber of Commerce Offices, Banks, Community Centers, Libraries, Restaurants, Hospitals and Medical Centers, Welcome Centers, Tourist Attractions, and others.

Our goal is to provide the finest quality content, building a loyal readership that anticipates reading every issue cover to cover.

417-652-3083 | P.O. Box 214 Exeter, MO 65647 | ozarkhillsandhollows@gmail.com

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Mending Fences I

f you have been on a farm long enough, you eventually come to grips with the fact that every fence is vulnerable and will require repair and maintenance. Even the tightest, highest, well-built fence can become loose, damaged and eventually deteriorate in quality over time. Once a fence is loose or damaged, livestock find those weak points and take advantage of it. Who doesn’t have an old cow that loves getting a bite of that fresh green grass on the other side?

It’s best to make fence maintenance part of the farm routine, especially before winter, when the grass starts waning, and cows (or other livestock) start investigating what is on the other side of the fence. A great way to tackle this chore is to put together a fence maintenance bucket with all the supplies you need to make simple repairs. This bucket can be loaded into the back of your ATV or pick-up for a drive around the fence perimeter.

Family owned and operated since 1971.

For over 30 years, Race Brothers Farm and Home Supply has been owned and operated by the DeForest family, who is dedicated to providing the Ozarks with quality service and products including a complete line of farm and home supplies.

Here are some essentials you will need: 5-Gallon Bucket To carry most of the necessary supplies

Fence Staples If you have wood corner post

Fence Clips Replacing missing fence clips will help maintain the strength of your fence

Wire Splicers Can be crimped to join two broken wires

Screwdriver Great for grabbing the looped end of a fence clip to twist around the wire Fence Stretcher Necessary for tightening a fence, and also holding a taut fence when repairing a break

Fence Pliers, Hammer and an 18” pry bar

CLOTHING | ELECTRICAL PLUMBING | LAWN AND GARDEN OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT TOOLS | TRUCK ACCESSORIES PET SUPPLIES | TOYS C AT T L E H A N D L I N G E Q U I P M E N T

A loop of barbed wire 20 feet or so Leather Gloves You will never regret using leather gloves when working with fencing

If necessary, pack extra t-post and post driver to replace bent or loose posts.

When doing the fence check, it’s also a good time to evaluate the overall condition of not only your fence, but corner post and bracing as well. If a fence is getting loose repeatedly, it may mean that your corner is sagging and will eventually need to be re-built. It may also be a good time to bring along your chainsaw and remove any branches that could potentially fall and severely damage the fence-line. Also, remove any branches, big and small that have landed onto your fence.

Maintaining and repairing fences now may save you hours of time searching for missing livestock, or having to repair much larger damage in the long run. Keep those critters in!

SPRINGFIELD 2310 W. Kearney 417-862-4378 CARTHAGE 2309 Fairlawn Drive 417-358-3592 MONETT 210 Hwy 37 417-235-7739

www.racebros.com October • November 2016 | 59

F

rom gospel hymns to ballads to Bluegrass to old and modern country, music plays a vital role in community festivals, car shows, class reunions, concerts, senior citizen dances and impromptu performances throughout the Ozarks region.

The roots of our mountain musicare long, winding and complex.

It can be heard in the strains of southern gospel, old-time rockabilly, jazz, blues and even today’s hip-hop and rap. This tapestry of genres creates a unique blend of “something for everyone” – regardless of age, interests, passions, social class or ability. Music is something that brings everyone together to share a common bond or story.

A ballad is a song that tells a story

Gimme Something to Dance To

How Music History Inspires Ozarks Music Today STORY BY KIM MCCULLY-MOBLEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB LOTUFO AND KIM MCCULLY-MOBLEY

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The settlers who perpetuated this type of music were usually English and Scotch-Irish. Back in the 1600s, they often sang these songs without any musical accompaniment as instruments were hard to come by some 300 to 400 years ago when our ancestors arrived. They brought their songs, stories and customs with them when they came to America and settled.

Music provided the necessary platform for remembering important events, conveying life lessons and promoting inspirational messages to persevere through hard times.

In essence, it was cheap therapy.

“Appalachian music is mostly based upon Anglo-Celtic folk ballads and instrumental dance tunes. The former was almost always sung unaccompanied, and usually by women, fulfilling roles as keepers of the families’ cultural heritages and rising above dreary monotonous work through fantasies of escape and revenge,” explained Debby McClatchy, a historian of note on Appalachian music.

Adding a little rhythm and music At some point, settlers began to make instruments out of what they had, combs, jugs, spoons, etc. Then, fiddles, dulcimers and rhythm instruments began to appear in the 1700s up until the Civil War. As the Jamestown settlers began to migrate into the hills of Appalachia, they took the basic framework of the songs they knew and recreated them to reflect their everyday lives, routines, priorities and ideas. This new strain of “mountain music” spread through the states of North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and even West Virginia, according to research provided by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. Eventually, with another wave of migration towards the west, that music landed here in the Ozarks.

The Civil War brought thousands of men out of the mountains. They were subjected to new instruments and new variations of music – where they heard new instrument sounds in the traveling minstrel shows – like the fiddle, the harmonica and even the guitar. They would often entertain each other with these new songs they heard and creative lyrical renditions of tunes from the past.

“One of the greatest influences on Appalachian music, as well as many popular American music styles, was that of the African-American. The slaves brought a distinct tradition of group-singing of community songs of work and worship, usually lined out by one person with a call and response action from a group. The percussion of the African music began to change the rhythms of Appalachian singing and dancing,” McClatchy wrote.

When technology brought the inventions of the phonograph and radio in the early 1900s, this mountain music trend turned into Bluegrass music – which provided the framework for old country music, classic country music and the more modern versions heard today.

“Tunes changed a lot, first with the introduction of the banjo after 1860, and then with the popularity of the guitar, starting in 1910. Early tunes tended to be more rhythmic as the fiddler was often playing alone. With the luxury of percussive rhythm from other instruments, tunes became more elaborate and melodic.

Having a chordal structure also evened out irregularities as the guitar produced the even backup of a measured beat.

The guitar also greatly redefined singing traditions in the same way. It evened out rhythms and gave singers a ‘floorboard’ to mount their songs,” McClatchy noted.

In fact, some might be interested in knowing that the father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, died in 1996 – just a few days short of his 85th birthday. Just a few short months later – in May of 1997 – he was

inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in recognition of his profound influence on popular music.

Whatever the case, music is a vital part of life as it helps people: communicate, share stories, give advice, fall in love, grieve, celebrate, commiserate, resonate, end a relationship or even a job as noted in the lyrics of Johnny Paycheck’s Take This Job and Shove It. I ain’t workin’ here no more tells us.

Local musical interpretations

Aurora, Missouri, Businessman Junior Haddock is known to hundreds of folks across the Ozarks region. He has a popular business called SignTec on the square in downtown Aurora. He and his wife, Jean, have a farm complete with a rustic cabin, the American flag and several goats on Highway 248 in Barry County.

A historian and philosopher of sorts in his own right, Haddock plays music in several bands and even helped create a documentary about the Ozarks for Drury University’s folklore classes some 12 years ago.

“Other than the enjoyment I get from performing on stage, music has afforded me the chance to meet and rub shoulders with lots of famous people and make friends with lots more not so famous musicians and fans,” he explains, adding “Music is a wonderful way to connect with folks, even complete strangers. It transports them away from their work-day lives and troubles.”

Haddock says music has always been a part of his life. He cannot imagine a world without music in it. It is also a big part of his relationship with his wife, Jean; the rest of his family and friends.

“When I was a youngster, I admired anyone who could play guitar – especially my uncle Hammer Haddock. He played a beautiful A. P. Carter style instrument.

I remember thinking; Man, I’ve got to learn how to do that. So at age 12 I bought my first guitar for 5 dollars. It was money I earned picking strawberries for John Sperandio,” he recalls.

“In high school we formed a rock band called D. Dudley and the DoRites. There are many more music stories I’m leaving out, but I soon realized that my music could entertain folks and even make them feel like dancing. It’s a special feeling to begin a song and see folks start moving to the rhythm – almost subconsciously,” Haddock states.

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“We perform occasionally in Timberline Bluegrass Band, which we started about 20 years ago. We perform with Frosty and The Roadhogs twice a month at Stella – playing old country dance music. We also play a monthly dance with Evelyn and The Outriders at the Monett Park Casino and also a special Saturday night dance occasionally at Stella and a few occasional outside gigs,” he explains, adding they also enjoy performing occasionally at the Emory Melton Lodge or even outside at Roaring River.

F

“Speedy always said if you stop a song in the middle and can’t whistle it, it’s not a good song,” Greer says. Everyone within earshot nods in agreement.

The next set starts up and the musicians take their place. All are comfortable with playing across the genres of classic rock, contemporary pop, classic country, Texas swing and a few hits from today. The floor starts rocking as everyone takes the floor for Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode. Then things slow down a little with Merle Haggard’s Almost Persuaded.

Junior and Jean Haddock at their home in Jenkins, Missouri.

The Haddocks, along with other band members, thoroughly enjoy playing music for dances all over the area.

A stage in the corner of Stella’s Senior Center rests underneath a twinkling sign that says “Stella’s Country Ballroom.” The corner finds area musicians: Phil Greer of Monett, Junior Haddock of Aurora, Jean Haddock of Aurora and Roy Prince of Nixa. Prince sets the beat to each tune with his drums, while the remaining trio play a variety of stringed instruments – including guitars, fiddles and bass. This night’s band is Evelyn and the Outriders. The band’s lead vocalist, Evelyn Lock from Shell Knob, is not present due to health reasons.

While visiting between sets, Greer sits down across the table and talks about music in general – then and now. He mentions Speedy Haworth, a wellknown musician from the past with tons of local ties. His mother’s brother was the famed Slim Wilson. Both were part of the golden age of country music broadcasting in the Ozarks and were often featured on local television, as well.

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Before the evening ends, a sing-along occurs in the key of D as all those on hand join in with Claude King’s Wolverton Mountain. The song is actually based on a real man named Clifton Clowers who lived near Morrilton, Arkansas. The real mountain was Woolverton.

Clifton Clowers’ daughter was the subject of the song – which spent nine weeks at the top of the Billboard Chart in 1962. Clowers, a deacon at the Baptist

Church, and was supposedly handy with a gun and a knife, according to the song lyrics, which issued a veiled warning to anyone interested in marrying the beautiful girl. Clowers lived to be 102 and was buried in the Woolverton Mountain Cemetery when he died in 1994.

As the music dies down and patrons prepare for a short break and the final set, it is clear that Haddock’s message about not being able to imagine a world without music rings true for those of all ages and walks of life in the Ozarks.

Blue Spanish Eyes is the last song played before the 9 p.m. break. A song made famous by the likes of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Engelbert Humperdink and even Willie Nelson sums it up best in the lyrics as it says: “This is just adios and not goodbye”… “Soon I will return…bringing you all the love your heart can hold.”

And for this group of experienced musicians, goodbye is not ever part of its repertoire. The band members are always gearing up for their next set.

If you want to catch Junior Haddock and his friends in action today, he performs regularly in Stella, Monett and other towns across the region. They work for cash, food, jokes, fellowship and applause. In fact, he will be performing in downtown Aurora for the local flea market association the first weekend in October as the 2016 AutoFest takes the local spotlight just a few blocks away. Friend him and Phil Greer on Facebook and they will keep you posted on their performances, philosophies and escapades.

FH

ROM the

OLLOW

BY WES FRANKLIN

There's an often overlooked Ozark berry that can be a real treat.

The tasty little treasure I refer to is the undistinguished hackberry. Never heard of it? I hadn’t either until a few years ago.

Or at least I didn’t know it was edible.

I was familiar with the parent tree that produces it. I just never paid any mind to its fruit. Supposedly, the hackberry is the oldest foraged berry known to history. The hackberry can be found on perhaps one of the ugliest trees we have growing in this part of the country, and one that shares the same name as its product – that is, the hackberry tree.

The tree, with its warty, rough bark and irregular limbs, prefers to grow in open spaces. So, in the Ozarks you find them in meadows and on the bit of prairie we can still claim, or on the edge of cow pastures, or near ponds and lakes, or on fencerows, or on knobs and other clearings. I’m probably being too harsh on the poor hackberry tree by referring to it as ugly. It does have a certain beauty to it, especially the bigger they are. And they do provide a good amount of shade.

Hackberries are small, and can actually be seen on the tree in the summer, though I wouldn’t recommend eating them then. They taste bitter when they’re green. The berries start to ripen in early fall, when they turn a deep red or purple. There may be some around still

if you hurry. Don’t waste your time and pick them off the tree, because they will eventually fall anyway. Most are on the ground right now, and easier to gather – if you can beat the birds. The feathered friends around my house used to love them, as evidenced by the brightly colored droppings all over my truck.

In the last few years it was determined that hackberries are a sort of cousin to cannabis and are now in the hemp family, but if there are any relaxational proprieties to hackberries I have yet to discover them.

Native Americans used hackberries to season meat and flavor corn cakes.

If you eat them raw, spit out the seeds. They’re harder than algebra. Most people boil them down, and then go from there. The most popular way hackberries are eaten today is in jam – though you’re also getting a lot of processed sugar with that. Another way to enjoy hackberries is by boiling them down and straining into a pulpy liquid, or “milk”, and pouring it on your pancakes. Or you can use the liquid as a naturally sweet base for a lot of compatible foods. You can also try to eat them raw (sans the seeds). Or dried and mixed with nuts and other wild berries.

I’ve heard about hackberry bars, made from the paste, and I suppose you could try to make it, though I never have.

Last fall I made hackberry jam for the first time. It turned out great, but was very rich. I tried it on toast but found that a liberal spread on a normal sized slice of bread or bagel was a little much for my taste. It is better on crackers, or smaller portions of toasted bread. Though the berries are purplish red, when mashed into pulp and cooked the result is an orangishbrown.

Alas, my lone hackberry tree fell in a summer storm a few months ago, so no hackberry jam this year – or at least not from berries native to my homestead. My parents have at least one hackberry tree on their farm in McDonald County.

Like a lot of folks, I’ve been getting more and more food cautious. I like to know where my food comes from, and I like to know that it wasn’t squirted with a chemical cocktail first. Most of us, no matter where we live, could probably survive on what nature provides all around us if we only knew what was edible and had the skill and know-how to claim it. I’m still learning. I always will be.

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Radium Springs

A Deadly Beauty The karst topography of the Ozarks produces many wonders – caverns, sinking streams, sinkholes, natural bridges and springs. These features have always attracted people for their beauty, wonder and potential for exploitation.

STORY AND PHOTOS

BY TOM KOOB

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Hidden deep in the Mark Twain National Forest near Eagle Rock, Missouri is the little known Radium Spring flowing from Radium Cave. Its story is one of discovery, mystery and chicanery. Here is how the story was first revealed in Technical World, Volume 18 in 1913.

“One red and gold November day, thirty-three years ago, three Missouri “hill billies” followed their yelping “hound-dog” up a deep mountain canyon in Barry County, Missouri. They were on the trail of a wildcat. When the canyon came to an end, blocked by the face of a rocky cliff, the cat disappeared in the black mouth of an unsuspected cave. The hound followed, the hunters waiting outside, their rifles ready.

Fifteen minutes later the bay of the dog was heard on the top of the cliff. Plainly the big hole ran clear through the mountain.

The hound was whistled down and sent through a second time. Then the four hunters prepared to explore the cavern on their own.

What followed would, in the days of mythology, have added half a dozen monsters to the ranks of the supernatural enemies of mankind. The story is told by old “Bill” Boyceyer, one of the hunters who, after more than thirty years, is now living at Chance, Oklahoma. The events of that November day made such an impression on his mind, that, in an affidavit made last March, he is able to recall them in vivid detail.

‘A little way from the mouth of the cave ‘Bill’ Henry, John Dempsey, and I found what looked to us like rich silver ore. It was growing dusk and we decided to go back to camp, get a good nights rest, and return the next day to make a more careful examination. In the morning we lit our pitch-pine torches and started in.

About two-hundred feet from the mouth, the cave was partially blocked by what looked like a big tree trunk of solid silver.

It was a light peacock blue in color and glittered like diamonds in the glare of our torches. We filled a small box with bits chipped off this pillar of ore, but it was so heavy we could hardly lift it. Finally we went on further into the cave. Nearly five hundred feet from the entrance we entered a big arched room, the walls of which shone like polished silver. Its roof was supported by three transparent, crystal pillars, each about the diameter of a salt-barrel. The floor and part of the walls were a light blue, shimmering mineral. We thought we had found our eternal fortunes. Presently we noticed that when we got on the other side of the crystal pillars, our torches died down and almost went out. We got scared

and hurried back to the mouth of the cave.

When we reached the open air I fell down in a heap and was not able to move my legs. Henry kneeled over in a sort of faint and Dempsey commenced to talk wild and raving. The boy we had left to wait for us at the cave’s mouth ran for help and finally we were all carried back to the camp.’

Henry’s condition grew so serious that he was taken to a hospital at Carthage, Mo., where he lay for weeks before recovery.

Dempsey collapsed and sores like burns broke out all over his body. Paralysis finally ended in his death. Henry went back, when he got well, to work his “silver mine” but a quarrel over the title to the land drove him away, after he had blocked up and hidden the mouth of the cave. The story of the strange adventures of the three hunters spread by word of mouth among the Arkansas and Missouri hills and finally became one of the grim traditions of the Ozarks.

When Professor and Madame Curie discovered, in Paris, the wonder-working element, radium, word of its marvels finally penetrated the wilds of the mountains and came to the ears of James L. Leib, a prospector and self-taught geologist who has grown up in the hills about Bentonville and Rogers. He had heard of the death-dealing cave and, at once, associated it with the terrible powers of the new element. Hunting up old “Bill” Boyceyer in his Oklahoma home, Leib procured from him directions for finding the lost cavern. Taking the necessary precautions to avoid personal injury he entered its mouth far enough to pick up some bits of the strange bluish ore.

From Madame Curie herself, he received directions for making a radiograph, the infallible proof of radioactivity in an ore.

With the help of a country photographer in Bentonville, he succeeded in making what appear to be perfectly successful and characteristic radio-photographs, several of which are reproduced herewith. The first were made four years ago and were displayed at the county fairs and apple shows in the Ozark country.

Samples of the ore were submitted to Prof. A.H. Perdue, State Geologist of Tennessee and former state chemist of Arkansas. By making independent experiments, he succeeded in convincing himself that the samples were highly radioactive and that the discovery of the cave promises great things for the world of science. In the spring of 1912 the section

of land in which the cave is located was bought by John P. Nagel of Chicago, who owns several fruit farms in the Ozarks and for some months development work has been under way. The final verdict on the richness of the find awaits returns from a large consignment of the ore which has been sent for analysis to Germany. The

tremendous possibilities involved may be judged by the fact that at present, the whole world’s supply of radium comes from a single group of mines in Austria, which is owned by the Austrian government and that a gram of pure radium is worth perhaps a hundred times its weight in diamonds.”

Radium Spring was discovered around 1879, but could not have been named until at least 1898 when Marie and Pierre Curie discovered and named the element radium.

Radium is found in uranium ores and is highly radioactive. It is luminescent, giving off a faint blue color. It decays into radon gas and eventually lead. Radon gas can accumulate in enclosed spaces and exposure can lead to serious, adverse health effects. Radium exposure is likely one of the contributors to the death of Marie Curie.

In the early 20th century, radium was thought to have positive health benefits. Springs that contained the element were sought out for their presumed curative powers. There is another Radium Spring north of Eureka Springs, Arkansas that was visited regularly by health-seeking visitors to the spa city.

Several attempts have been made to profit from Radium Spring. Sometime before 1920, a man named Douglas Cloe camped near the spring for its supposed health benefits. Cloe later purchased the property and bottled and sold the “radium water” from the spring.

In 1950, renowned Ozark historian Otto Rayburn reported: “The Rev. James Carter, walking preacher of the Eagle Rock community who is much interested in specimens of mineral and devotes much of his time to it, says there is some strange effect on people at Radium Spring. Prospectors who have gone back underground have had strange

feelings on returning to the outside. Rev. Carter says in some cases it was necessary to watch and care for the men for hours but that all eventually became all right. He says the trouble with them was definitely not damps, a trouble occasionally found in wells and other underground places.”

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In 1949, the Radium Springs Mineral Water Company was incorporated. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat printed the following story in 1951: “A seven man expedition from St. Louis is roaming a section of the Ozarks south of Springfield, Mo., in a search for valuable radium-ore first discovered in 1879. The group represents the Radium Springs Mineral Water Company, organized Apr. 7, 1949, under the laws of Missouri.

The company incorporated to sell bottled radioactive water from springs in the area, a 640-acre tract in Barry County, but soon found expenses too great. Realizing the importance of radioactive minerals in the nation’s atomic energy program, the company’s officers turned to the possibility of excavating on their leased land.

The St. Louis expedition is looking for the cave with the help of a device known as the electrical resistivity method. Tests are being supervised by Prof. H. LeRoy Scharon, associate professor of geology at Washington University. The device locates holes or caves in the earth and the group hopes to trace the cave’s direction to its original opening.”

A long-lost Ozarks cave, believed to contain valuable radioactive ore, has been located, and digging or blasting to reach it will begin soon, it was learned yesterday.

Nine days of hunting the cave with

electrical resistivity tests proved successful, H. LeRoy Scharon, associate professor of geology at Washington University, said yesterday. He will submit his final report, plotting the exact location of the cave underground, within a few days, completing his part of the work.

It is on land owned by the company near Seligman, Mo., and its exact location is about two miles south of Roaring Springs, Scharon stated. One entrance to the cave has long been known, from descriptions of descendants of those who first found it in 1879. That was when a dog chased a wildcat into the cave and came out some distance away.

Scharon said he crawled into the known opening as far as a man could go, about 200 feet. The other end, out of which the dog once came, is about a mile away, he said, and there’s no opening there now.

But his electrical resistivity tests- a method known for some 20 years but for which new uses are being found- made it possible to plot the cave’s extent from the surface.

Once an opening has been made into the end of the cave now closed up, tests with Geiger counters will be conducted to determine if there actually is radioactive ore there, Sandhoefer said.”

James L. Leib and a single month's output of radium ore. Photo from Technical World Magazine, 1913

In April, the Globe-Democrat reported: “A cave-in both physically and financially has temporarily ended the efforts of a St. Louis expedition to find a long-lost valuable radioactive ore deposit in the Ozarks. The group which sold 5750 shares of stock at a $1 a share for working capital has run out of it. And the roof of the cave south of Springfield, Mo., in Barry County fell in on some of the members of the expedition, making them conscious of the hazards of mine prospecting.

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Company, said yesterday the company will try to replenish its coffers through sale of more stock.

Special equipment supplied by a Washington University geology professor located the present cave which the expedition believes will lead to the larger major cave. Several members of the expedition, including two members of the company’s board of directors, were bruised and scratched by the unexpected cave-in about a week ago. None of the injuries was serious.”

William Boyceyer was the only survivor of the Expedition of 1879 into Radium Mine.

Photo from Technical World Magazine, 1913

In August of the same year the newspaper reported more troubling news: “The search for uranium in the Ozarks is on again, and actual drilling has begun, Louis Venturella, president of the Radium Springs Mineral Water Company, announced yesterday.

That company, first organized to sell bottled water from springs near Seligman, Mo., later concentrated on the radioactive ores believed to be there. But last spring it had to call a temporary halt because it had run out of money.

Now, however, Venturella said, his concern has signed a contract with a newly organized outfit, the Ozark Uranium Mining Company. The latter will do the actual drilling and pay all the expenses.

M.E. Richards, superintendent of the Missouri Iron Mining Company’s Christy mine, and former superintendent for Republic Iron and Steel Company in the Mesabi Range in Minnesota, is supervising the uranium hunt in the Ozarks. Test drilling is under way to determine the best location to sink a shaft.”

These attempts to extract profitable “radium water” from the spring or uranium from the cave ultimately failed. The positive health effects of radium water were debunked and the mining of uranium was unsuccessful.

It is doubtful that Radium Cave contained extractable uranium. It is more

likely that the source of the radioactivity, if it exists at all, is from shale which produces a natural radiation.

Radium Spring has been visited by speleologists and geologists of varying expertise. Reports of Geiger counter readings in the area run from minimal to highly radioactive. Despite the area’s interesting and disturbing history, there is no definitive evidence that extractable ore exists at all.

Deep in Butler Hollow, there are still signs of the attempts to exploit the cave and spring. A National Scenic Byway traverses the area from just south of Eagle Rock to Highway 112. This is a picturesque drive through climax forest with expansive views from the ridgetops.

The area is known as Sugar Camp. In years past, local people visited the rough forest to collect sap from the sugar maples. They would camp out for a few days while the sap buckets filled and then boil the product down to maple syrup.

At one time, the Missouri and North Arkansas Railway line ran through Butler Hollow from Seligman to Eureka Springs following Butler Creek through what is now Butler Hollow Glades National Area. In the 1930’s, the Federal government purchased large tracts of land in the Sugar Camp area for the Mark Twain National Forest.

The Civilian Conservation Corps developed some roads in the forest and erected the Sugar Camp fire tower.

In the spring, Sugar Camp’s hills are dappled with flowering serviceberry, redbud and dogwood. In the fall, the hardwood oaks, maples and hickories produce a spectacular display of autumn colors.

Offroad-accessible only fire roads lead down into Radium Hollow. Along these gutted trails are the signs of past exploration and mining operations.

There is a large concrete water tank, a building foundation and a rock bridge which bear testimony to the misguided attempts to extract “riches” from the land.

There are springs and caves throughout Radium Hollow. Changes in the karst topography and man’s interference at Radium Spring and Radium Cave make the exact identification of the landmarks difficult.

It is clear though that the deadly beauty of Radium Hollow continues to attract the inquisitive and adventurous.

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October • November 2016 | 67

The Park Jolly Mill

at

Jollification

wasn't just a state of mind

STORY BY KAYLA BRANSTETTER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JERRY DEAN WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO HOLLY ECKHARDT FOR HISTORICAL DETAILS

A

s I reflect over my childhood memories, many of them find me driving down dusty dirt roads to the tranquil and quaint Jolly Mill Park, an area nestled south of Pierce City, Missouri.

When I first visited Jolly Mill as a child, I immediately wanted to run around the mill and overlook the waterfalls cascading down into Capps Creek. Every visit afterwards, I remained transfixed on the park’s waterfalls, until now. As young girl who enjoyed history in school, I continue to be surprised and impressed with the amount of history involving our scenic area. Jolly Mill Park contains enough history for any person interested in American history to enjoy for hours.

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Prior to this location being established as the recreational and historical park people know and enjoy today, it had a very colorful past. In 1848, Thomas Isbell and his son John, with the use of slave labor, built the park’s most famous building,the three floor structure containing Isbell’s Distillery and Jolly Mill. As guests explore this time worn three-floor structure they can witness the workmanship of the original hand-hewn and pegged framing timbers and limestone slab foundation.

Capps Creek and the location contributed to the distillery and mill’s success during the 1840s and 1850s. The area’s first road connecting Springfield to Southwest Kansas, and the Indian Territory, passed the building’s front door. In the beginning, Isbell’s Distillery established itself as a source for spirits and grist milling; however, as a result of the road, a village, Jollification, quickly surrounded the distillery and mill to serve as a rest stop and resupply point for wagon trains and stagecoaches.

Despite the distillery and mill’s success during those early years, the village, Jollification, suffered devastating destruction during and after the Civil War. In 1862, military scouting parties clashed twice within the newly established village.

In 1872, the arrival of the railroad to the nearby town, Pierce City, to Indian Territory, drastically reduced the number of residence living in or near Jollification.

The other issue, the government sanctioning new taxes on whiskey, didn’t help either. George Isbell, a son 1983, a group of citizens applied and received a of John, and the new owner of state charter for the Jolly Mill Park Foundation. the distillery, refused to pay the taxes and closed operations to The same year, the park was added to the the distillery during the 1870s.

National Register of Historic Places.

Afterwards, Mr. Isbell shifted his attention from whiskey to the milling Frank and Jesse James) spared the of flour. distillery and mill. Unfortunately, In 1912, ownership and operation of Jollification never recovered and the the mill changed from the Isbell family to village faded into history. the Haskins family. The Haskins family Two regional decisions also lead to continued to operate the mill until 1973, the disappearance of Jollification: a new when the mill officially closed after 125 railroad and new taxes on whiskey.

Later, bushwhackers – Missourians who escaped to the backcountry and forest to hide and resist the Union occupation of border counties – destroyed the village of Jollification. However, these Confederate supporters (whose membership included

October • November 2016 | 69

years of operation. Today, the Haskins’ family remain active with the operation of the park and serve on the Jolly Mill Board of Directors.

For a decade, the mill stood in silence.

Until 1983, when a group of citizens applied and received a state charter for a non-profit corporation – a park completely supported by private contributions and receives no money from any county, state or federal sources – the Jolly Mill Park Foundation. Through donations and volunteers, the Jolly Mill Park Foundation purchased the 32-acre mill site and began the process of restoring and preserving the mill as the focal point of the newly established public recreational park.

Additionally in 1983, the park was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The restoration and preservation of the park took 15 years to complete.

Whenever the park completed this process in 1998, the grist mill returned to operation with public demonstrations with the help of John Lovett from Tennessee. Today, the Haskins family continue with mill demonstrations on the first Saturday of every month from May until October.

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Unfortunately, on December 27, 2015 Jolly Mill Park suffered extensive damage from the worst flood in generations.

The flood damaged several of the park’s historical buildings, the covered bridge, and littered the mill’s floor with mud and debris, coupled with extensive water

damage, resulting in the decision to shut down the mill for the 2016 season until full repairs and restoration could be made for the 2017 season.

Even though the park suffered mother nature’s fury, the park remains open, providing a peaceful location to visit this

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autumn. When I recently visited the park, I walked on the wooden bridge connecting guests to the mill, and as I strolled through the park, on my way to the mill and the waterfalls, I observed a daughter walking with her father, a family playing and laughing

in the distance, children laughing as they played on the park’s playground.

Outside of the restoration of the bridge, I witnessed little evidence of the damaging flood almost a year ago.

As I continued with my walk around the park, I saw the Shepherd Sawmill from 1915, along with Chapman School (previously named Hazel Hill School). The Chapman School possesses an interesting history as well. Hazel Hill School opened in 1885 as the first public school in Barry County, unlike present day school, the school year only lasted five months, and one teacher taught eight grades. The school’s name changed to Chapman School in 1940, after the individuals who lived nearby. During the 1980s, the Chapmans donated the school to the park, and the one-room schoolhouse moved from its previous location to its current location.

Jolly Mill Park, only a few miles from Pierce City, feels like an escape to the past. I recommend planning a picnic at the park, spread your sheet on the ground and indulge in the beauty and history that will surround you and your loved ones.

We love the Ozarks and we know you do too!

What defines Ozark living to you? Is it a Sunday drive through the rolling hills, or a 20-mile bike ride on the rural backroads?

It is camping by the river, jet-skiing across the lake, or catching crawdads in the creek? Maybe your favorite thing is just enjoying porch-sitting at sunset with a glass of ice-tea.

Send us photos that define our Ozark hills and hollows and we’ll share them with our readers.

ozarkhheditor@gmail.com Ozark

Hills Hollows www.ozarkhillsandhollows.com October • November 2016 | 71

The Lulu Rule

BY STAN FINE

The summer of 1962 found me in my most favorite place in the whole wide world, the southwest Missouri Ozark town of Noel.

My grandmother, Phoebe and her sister Rosalyn loved to have fun when they weren’t busy constructing flower arrangements in their greenhouse and my grandfather was the Noel City Marshall. Noel had everything a boy of twelve, going on thirteen, could want. On Friday and Saturday evenings the Ozark Movie Theatre showed almost new movies, the water in the Elk River was always great for swimming, the lady behind the counter at the Noel Pharmacy made the thickest chocolate malted drinks and the Main Street miniature golf course offered the promise of unbridled fun on the warm summer evenings.

I hadn’t been at my grandparent’s small North Kings Highway home for more than a few days when Phoebe asked if I wanted a summer job. She had just walked up the hill from the greenhouse to the house and upon hearing her question I assumed she wanted to know if I wanted to help her and Rosalyn in the greenhouse; but we all know what people say about making assumptions.

“Would you like to work for Russell Howerton,” she asked. “Russell is looking for summer help.” I vaguely recognized the name, Howerton but had no idea what a job working for him might entail.

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from the crawlspaces of the local homes.

Possibly he wanted an eager young man who was willing to climb atop steep barn roofs and attach or repair rooster themed weather vanes.

Before I found the words to ask about the duties of the job Phoebe, having grown impatient with the awkward silence said, “Russell needs someone to work evenings at the miniature golf course. The pay is fifty cents an hour.” Phoebe was a very direct and impatient person and before I could say a word she said, and as if completely exasperated, “Well, are you interested?” In response to her question I replied, although less than eloquently, “You bet I am.”

On the first day on the job as an employee of Noel’s miniature golf course Mr. Howerton, who most called Bud, gave me the rules; record all sales, sweep the carpets, pick up the leaves and trash and use a hand-held brush and an old cloth to clean the bird droppings from the carpet.

There were several large trees whose branches overhang the small lot and those trees seemed to be favorite resting places for all species of birds that seemed to relish the thought of leaving their calling cards on the green outdoor carpeting. I nodded my head as Mr. Howerton spoke and then he paused, “and then there’s the Lulu rule,” he said.

I waited for an explanation but none seemed to be forthcoming so I finally asked, “What’s the Lulu rule Mr. Howerton?” As he pointed to a small white house that sat next to the golf course he said “Do you see that house, well an old lady named Lulu Wylie lives there and she gets to play all the golf she wants free of charge.”

I started work the following evening and after only a brief orientation I found myself all alone in the small shack. As I stood behind the counter waiting for my first customer I tried to familiarize myself with all the intricacies of the miniature golf business.

An old cash register sat conspicuously atop the counter. Metal baskets filled with various colored golf balls were stored under that counter and putters of two different lengths leaned against the small building’s rear wall.

The music from Shadow Lake, a local after dusk gathering place, moved up Main Street and attracted the attention of everyone as they strolled past. As I leaned to get a glimpse of the movie’s title then playing at the theatre something seen in the corner of my caught my attention. A short elderly gray haired woman closed the door on that white house next to the golf course and began walking in my direction.

Scat-man Crothers, that’s who Lulu Wiley’s walk brought to mind when I watched her stroll from her house and down the short patch of sidewalk. Now

that I think of it, Lulu’s walk was very similar to that of the well-traveled character actor, Crothers.

Lulu walked to the counter and said, “Would you give me my putter and a green ball?” I looked for a special putter but without seeing one that appeared in any way unique I handed her one of the shorter ones. “Here you are ma’am,” I said. “Thanks.”

I saw Lulu, and at her request called her Lulu Belle, many times that summer as we became great friends.

We talked and played miniature golf together and just made an unlikely, but great, pair. Lulu was short, bow-legged and above all feisty. She always tried to win but something inside me wouldn’t allow me to let her best me. Phoebe once asked why I didn’t let Lulu win, if only just once. I was young then and my youthful ego just wouldn’t allow me to purposely loose to the old woman.

Knowing Lulu I don’t think she would have wanted to win if not by her own abilities.

I think Lulu must have lived her whole life believing everything had to be earned, including a victory in miniature golf.

I spent my last summer months as a child in Noel in the year 1963 but that was for only few brief weeks. My father had recently retired from the Marine Corps. and he had accepted a job with a St. Louis based company. My mother, father sister and I were staying with my grandparents in Noel while our new house was being readied.

I didn’t see Lulu that summer and the miniature golf course was no longer a Main Street fixture. I never knew why it closed or what became of Mr. Howerton. As my family drove through town, and on our way to St. Louis in August of that year, the only evidence that the golf course was ever there was an unkempt vacant lot.

Lulu Wylie’s small white house was still there just as I remembered it and I could only imagine that she found other ways to occupy her time. In later years I learned that an illness caused the amputation of one of her legs but I was told that the loss of that appendage didn’t slow the spry old woman down one little bit.

Lulu Belle Wylie died at the age of ninety-nine.

With a cup of coffee...

We invite you to sit for a spell and visit.

One workday a month, we are traveling to a coffee shop near you. You'll find us with our laptops open, a stack of magazines and notebooks, and a steaming cup of local brew while we work on our next issue of Ozark Hills and Hollows. If you are in the area, we would love for you grab a mug yourself, pull up a chair and visit. We love talking to our readers and gathering story ideas, and hearing about what's going on in your neck of the woods. Please stop and see us.

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10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Tuesday, November 8

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The Last Word

“

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OZARK

For man, Autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.

Hills&Hollows

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”

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October • November 2016 | 75

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