Articles Feed

A spin of the globe

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:54:11 GMT

Callao, Missouri’s, long history began with a finger, a globe, and chance. The story goes that the name of the town was chosen by a blindfolded man who placed his finger on a spinning globe, says Callao resident Melanie Thurnau. The finger landed on Callao, Peru, and the small Missouri town was named after the South American city.

About three thousand people are expected to arrive in the 320-person town to celebrate the fifty-fourth annual Harvest Fiesta and the town’s sesquicentennial. The event, held June 12-14, will feature barbecue, carnival rides, parades, antiques, and live music.

Agriculture and livestock have been the main ways of life in Callao since its beginning. Today the town boasts antique shops, feed stores, a post-office, a bank, two churches, an elementary school, a small manufacturing plant, and some of the best hunting and fishing in the state, Melanie says.

The reasons to attend the Fiesta are numerous but the main reason is to keep the spirit of the town alive, Melanie says. “We’re a small little community with lots of friendly people. We’d like to see our town stay on the map,” Melanie says.

The main event of the Fiesta will be the opening of a fifty-year-old time capsule. Other events include a baby show, the musical groups Black Diamond Jubilee and Ike Jonson and The Roadhouse Rangers, an auction, and an antique tractor collection. New Fun Time Shows will also feature carnival rides.

Call 660-676-7437 for more information.

—Becky Layne

MissouriLifeLines June 2008

A spin of the globe

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:54:10 GMT

Call 660-676-7437 for more information.

—Becky Layne

MissouriLifeLines June 2008

Waking Dragons

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:51:10 GMT

Once a year dragons roam Kansas City’s Brush Creek. The fourth Kansas City Dragon Boat Festival is a celebration of ancient Chinese tradition and modern Chinese-American life. The June 14 celebration is orchestrated by The Society for Friendship with China, Inc.

Dragon boat races are traditionally held in China on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. They honor Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet who died more than fifteen hundred years ago. Chinese dance and music performed by the local Chinese-American community and activities for children lead up to a ceremonial waking of the dragons.

Once the dragons are awake teams place the boats, which are carved and painted in fanciful dragon forms, in the water to prepare to race. People of all ages rise to the challenge. “It’s more about working as a team in unison than it is about brawn,” says Kile Morrison, a former racer who chairs the event this year.

The teams of ten include eight people who row, one who steers, and one who beats a drum. Round-robin races lead to elimination rounds, and the winning team receives a golden dragon boat model as their prize.

Chinese cultural performances will be held June 14 at J.C. Nichols Ward parkway on the Plaza from 11 am to 12:15 pm, the Wake the Dragon Ceremony will start at 1 pm, and Dragon Boat Races start at 1:15 pm. Visit www.chinagardensociety-kc.org for more information.

—Sara Shahriari

MissouriLifeLines June 2008

Nature of Art

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:05:42 GMT

The Barbizon School and Nature of Landscape exhibit opens at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum of Washington University from May 2 to July 21. Free and open to the public, the show celebrates a natural form of art, popular in Barbizon France between 1830-1880.

In response to what was perceived as highly superficial city life in the nineteenth century, this form used rustic and pure scenes from nature in which man interacted more holistically with nature.

The exhibition features almost forty works including drawings, paintings, and prints by prominent contemporary artists of the era and later American and French artists who had been inspired by the school.

Derived mainly from the permanent collection at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, many of the works were acquired as early as 1881, directly following their creations. Some include Julien Dupre’s In Pasture, created in 1882 and purchased by the museum in 1886, and Dwight William Tryon’s Before Sunrise (Morning Twilight, at Daybreak), created in 1906 and purchased in 1910.

From peasants and flocks of animals standing amidst expanding fields to eerie forests, many of the works embrace simplicity and emphasize light and environment.

“It’s beautiful,” Kimberly Singer, museum marketing manager says. “We have a great space for this kind of work, and it’s great to see some of the works from our collection that we haven’t been able to bring out in a long time that have been restored specifically for this show, and they look fantastic.”

Call 314-935-4523 or visit kemperartmuseum@wustl.edu for more information.

--Lauren Foreman

MissouriLifeLines May 2008

Pairing the possibilities

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:28:17 GMT

6 Missouri wine trails blend wine, food, and fun

By Barbara Gibbs Ostmann

One of the most popular ways to visit wine country is via a wine trail, and Missouri has several. The trails offer a user-friendly way to explore wine areas, with tips on top sights and attractions in each area. Most wine trails sponsor special themed events throughout the year.

Patty Held-Uthlaut of Stone Hill Winery at Hermann is the state’s wine trail diva. After hearing a presentation about wine trails at a national marketing conference several years ago, she came back charged up and ready to roll. She spearheaded the Hermann Wine Trail, and her presentations on the topic at industry conferences have helped launch several wine trails in Missouri and other states.

“What’s really nice about the state’s wine trails,” Patty says, “is that they expose visitors to the wineries in our wine regions. We show them how versatile Missouri wines are by pairing the wines with foods. The wine trails have resulted in increased visits to the wineries throughout the year because people have such a good time during the trail events that they come back on their own.”

Most of the trails have some sort of passport program, by which visitors get their passports stamped at each winery and can enter prize drawings.

HERMANN WINE TRAIL

One of the best-organized Missouri wine trails is the Hermann Wine Trail (www.hermannwinetrail.com), which encompasses seven family-owned wineries in Hermann, Berger, and New Haven. The web site boasts that these wineries are the heart and soul of Missouri Wine Country, producing about one-third of the state’s total wine production. They are situated along the Missouri River, in what is called Missouri’s Rhineland. The German influence is strong, and the history is deep.

The trail organizes four main events each year, plus a bike ride. The next event will be the second annual Seven Hills of Hermann Bike Ride on June 29. This ride started last year in conjunction with the first Tour of Missouri cycling race; this year it is being held separately from the Tour. On the Very Berry Wine Trail, July 26-27, each winery will pair one of its wines with a special berry dish. Participants go from winery to winery, tasting and experimenting. The twenty-five-dollar ticket price per person includes a souvenir wineglass.

Other events include the Holiday Fare Wine Trail in November, the Chocolate Wine Trail in February, and the Hermann Norton Wine Trail in May.
For the holiday trail, each winery pairs a festive dish with a wine, creating a memorable way to usher in the holiday season. The chocolate trail ties in with Valentine’s Day; the wineries pair their wines with chocolate dishes. The Norton trail offers participants a chance to taste Norton (also called Cynthiana) wine from each winery and to talk with the various winemakers.

Detailed information about each event can be found on the web site closer to the time. The trails tend to sell out, so be sure to book early.

Participating Wineries:

Adam Puchta Winery, Hermann
573-486-5596; www.adampuchtawine.com

Bias Vineyards & Winery, Berger
573-834-5475; www.biaswinery.com

Bommarito Estate Almond Tree Winery, New Haven
573-237-5158; www.bommaritoestatewinery.com

Hermannhof Winery, Hermann
573-486-5959; www.hermannhof.com

OakGlenn Vineyards & Winery, Hermann
573-486-5057; www.oakglenn.com

Röbller Vineyard, New Haven
573-237-3986; www.robllerwines.com

Stone Hill Winery, Hermann
573-486-2221; www.stonehillwinery.com

ROUTE DU VIN

French heritage flavors the Route du Vin, or wine route, which meanders through the rolling hills of Ste. Genevieve County. This wine area features a bevy of new wineries and focuses on local foods and purveyors.

The wine route sponsors special events, including a progressive dinner paired with wines from each winery in June; the Wine Diva Weekend in November, which offers a girlfriend getaway while the guys are deer hunting; the Jour d’Amour weekend for Valentine’s Day in February; and the Jour de la Terre weekend in April, which focuses on cooking with herbs.

Prices vary but are generally twenty-five dollars per person, including a complimentary wineglass, plus a discount on wine purchases that day.

There is no Route du Vin web site, but each winery has brochures and trail maps. Most of the participating wineries have a Ste. Genevieve address, although many are outside the city limits.

Participating Wineries:

Cave Vineyard, Ste. Genevieve
573-543-5284; www.cavevineyard.com

Charleville Vineyard, Ste. Genevieve
573-756-4537; www.charlevillevineyard.com

Chaumette Winery, Ste. Genevieve
573-747-1000; www.chaumette.com

Ste. Genevieve Winery, Ste. Genevieve
573-883-2800; www.saintegenevievewinery.com

Twin Oaks Vineyard & Winery, Farmington
573-756-6500; www.twinoaksvineyard.com

Crown Valley Winery no longer participates in the Route du Vin but has developed its own wine trail, linking its outposts. There’s the main winery at Coffman, the Champagne House at nearby Farmington, and the Port House up north at Clarksville.

Crown Valley Winery
573-756-9463; www.crownvalleywinery.com

MISSOURI WEINSTRASSE

The Weinstrasse, which roams along the Missouri River in the Augusta area, was the state’s first wine road, long before the wine trail concept blossomed nationwide. Originally more a sense of place than an organized trail, the Weinstrasse has been reorganized and is up and running again as an official wine trail, with two special events each year in May and September. The purpose of the Weinstrasse is to educate visitors about wine and how to pair it with foods—as well as to offer a pleasant day’s outing with visits to some or all of the wineries along the route.

The scenic Weinstrasse runs through the heart of the country’s first designated American Viticultural Area. Augusta received that distinction in 1980—ahead of Napa Valley, California.

For the latest information, visit www.moweinstrasse.com.

Participating Wineries:

Augusta Winery, Augusta
636-228-4301; www.augustawinery.com

Balducci Vineyards, Augusta
636-482-8466; www.balduccivineyards.com

Montelle Winery, Augusta
636-228-4464; www.montelle.com

Sugar Creek Winery & Vineyards, Defiance
636-987-2400; www.sugarcreekwines.com

MISSOURI RIVER WINE TRAIL

The central part of the state boasts the scenic Missouri River Wine Trail (www.missouririverwinetrail.com), which runs from Rocheport to Jefferson City, with stops in Hartsburg and Holts Summit along the way.

This trail started last year and is still developing its annual events. Check the trail’s web site or any of the wineries for more information.

Participating wineries:

Les Bourgeois Winery, Rocheport
573-698-2133; www.missouriwine.com

Native Stone Winery & Bull Rock Brewery, Jefferson City
573-584-8600; www.nativestonewinery.com

Summit Lake Winery, Hartsburg and Holts Summit
573-657-0467 or 573-896-9966; www.summitlakewinery.com

OZARK MOUNTAIN REGION WINE TRAIL

Inaugurated in August 2007, the Ozark Mountain Region Trail is Missouri’s newest—and most of its wineries are new, too. At present, six wineries participate in the trail, which roams from Joplin to Seymour in the southwest corner of the state, with one or two more wineries expected to join soon. Although the wineries are fairly spread out, it’s possible to do the entire trail in a day, depending on how long you want to spend at each winery. Fairly close to Branson, the trail offers a fun side trip during a Branson vacation.

The wineries offer tastings, tours, and special events, including an Octoberfest. There is no trail web site yet, although one is in the works.

For events information, call Beth White at Le Cave Vineyards.

Participating wineries:

Keltoi Vineyard, Oronogo
417-642-6190; www.keltoivineyard.com

Le Cave Vineyards, Billings
417-744-4122; www.lecavevineyards.com

OOVVDA Winery, Springfield
417-833-4896; www.oovvda.com

Whispering Oaks Vineyard &Winery, Seymour
417-935-4103; www.whisperingoakswinery.com

White Rose Winery, Carthage
417-359-9253; www.whiterosebed-breakfast.com

Williams Creek Winery, Mt. Vernon
417-466-4076; www.williamscreekwinery.com

MARAMEC TRAIL

Not a wine trail per se, the Maramec Trail (www.maramectrail.com) includes wineries along with bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants, shops, recreation, and entertainment. Centered in and around St. James, the Ozark Highlands viticultural area reflects the early Italian heritage in the state’s wine-making industry. Today, the area celebrates its proximity to the Ozarks, with its rivers, springs, fishing, floating, hiking, and other recreational opportunities.

The spelling of the trail’s name comes from the spelling of Maramec Spring Park, which is often confused with the spelling of the Meramec River and Meramec State Park.

The Maramec Trail sponsors a bicycle ride in May and September.

Participating wineries:

Heinrichshaus Vineyards and Winery, St. James
573-265-5000; www.heinrichshaus.com

Meramec Vineyards, St. James
573-265-7847; www.meramecvineyards.com

Peaceful Bend Vineyard, Steelville
573-775-3000; www.peacefulbend.com

St. James Winery, St. James
573-265-7912; www.stjameswinery.com

Show-Me Wines

For the most up-to-date information about wine trails, visit the Missouri Wine and Grape Board's official web site, www.missouriwine.org, and click on "wine trails," or call 800-392-WINE and ask for a copy of the new Missouri Wines brochure. There are more than seventy wineries in Missouri.

June 2008

Twain's Ammunition

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:13:57 GMT

By Roberta Moores

Missouri boasts movers and shakers in American political, literary, and cultural history. However, only one figure represents all three: Samuel Clemens, whose pen name, Mark Twain, has taken on mythical proportions. Columbia will be fortunate on April 29 to receive a return visit, of sorts, from Twain, in actor Hal Holbrook’s one-man show at a performance in the University Concert Series at Jesse Hall.

In a 2005 interview, Holbrook talked enthusiastically of the show’s more than fifty-year run and pulled no punches in relating how Twain’s work gives him ammunition to take on the world.

RM: Did you ever imagine that your show would go so far?

HH: No! I had no idea! In 1953, my wife and I were putting on a morning show, playing historical characters in New Jersey high schools in an effort to make thirty-five to fifty dollars a week. She had to quit when she was expecting our child. I knew I could get booked doing the Twain “lecture” (that’s what we called them back then), by the same people who’d booked the two-person show. In January of ’54, I auditioned for a soap opera, and after five auditions, I got offered a job for two hundred dollars a week. I started crying. This was at a time when we didn’t have two hundred dollars in the bank! But an interesting instinct, probably born of my native New England instinct to be careful, caused me to ask if I could keep one of my dates doing the Mark Twain show,

The first time, I was so surprised by the laughter. I didn’t know it was funny – I was scared to death! Then I got to thinking, a person could actually do this. Nine or ten months later, when my story in the soap dimmed down, I got a call asking me to play him in a nightclub act. Ed Sullivan saw me, and Steve Allen, and put me on their shows. In 1957, we’d saved up nine thousand dollars to produce the show off-Broadway. The critical fraternity of the U.S. went nuts. They wrote astounding reviews. It was absolutely frightening. It was awesome; it could have grabbed ahold of my whole life, but the cautious side said, “Don’t let this take over your whole life. Keep it on the side.” Since then, I’ve done at least twelve shows every year.

RM: Performing that number of shows can take its toll. How do you stay fresh and excited about the show?

HH: Two things help. As I get older, I get more — what is the word — angry, angry or frustrated, about the world I live in, in many, many ways. I see a change in ideals, behavior, standards—an apparent weakening of the moral plane according to what I was raised to believe in. In politics, which everyone is concerned about now, the press has taken over the job of thinking for us. So second, this material becomes my “machine gun,” my opportunity to shoot down all the deceitful, crummy things I want to knock out, fired out of this material written by someone who was also fired up. He questioned our thinking.

RM: Do you add to the show?

HH: I do add to the show all the time, anywhere from ten minutes to a half-hour. This year I’ve added quite a bit. But what is very important — and this is very important to me — I do not update, modernize, or rewrite. I select the material; if I edit, I edit by selection. The point is: I don’t want to change what he wrote, because the original is much more powerful. That way, the audience gets a “double whammy”; they hear the words, and they laugh because it’s funny, and it’s true, but then they’re also thinking, “My God, this guy wrote that over a hundred years ago!” I do occasionally simplify some words to take the “literariness” out. Clemens did the same thing in preparing his lectures to make it seem more extemporaneous…but what I don’t do is edit a political position.

RM: For example?

HH: [Twain] hated war, but we don’t know what he’d think about the war in Iraq. He’s not here, so we don’t know. But I found a piece last spring to make people think — to question — and that, I think, I can honestly do with Twain. I create a piece on a topic to pry our mind open and put a little fresh air in there.

RM: On the topic of political positions, you perform excerpts of Huckleberry Finn in your show. The book is often banned in schools for being racist. What do you think about that?

HH: It’s obvious that Twain uses Huck Finn to attack violence and racism by its continuous and widespread popularity in countries such as India, Japan, and China…On a panel at an American Literature conference, I talked about re-reading [Huckleberry Finn] recently, and I kept hitting up against the word “nigger.” I put the book down and asked myself, “Hold on, Hal, let’s use our common sense. Was Mark Twain a good writer? Did he know what he was up to? Why did he use the word when he knew it was unpleasant. Because if he didn’t know, he was stupid. Well, he’s not stupid, so if he used the word to the point it felt like you had bugs crawling all over you, he was doing it on purpose—he wanted you to feel disgusted.” Like other things—a ringing bell, or a sledgehammer—that word acquired such a distasteful sound for blacks and ninety-nine percent of whites, that it helped Twain’s purpose. We know he hated slavery; I don’t know if he knew the effect Huck Finn would have. I like to think so.

RM: Have you ever performed in Hannibal?

HH: I played in Hannibal in 1956 or ’57, before the show was well known. It was in the Star Theatre; they had to cancel the Saturday movie. Fifty-eight people showed up. I’ve been a few times since then.

Sometimes I think Missouri lets “Show Me” get out of hand. I wonder if they know what they produced in Mark Twain. Hannibal has to keep working Tom Sawyer, and it pays off, but they need to get beyond Tom Sawyer, and get all of [Twain] in; shake themselves loose.

RM: What influences do you think Missouri had on Mark Twain?

HH: When Mark Twain said, “I am not an American; I am The American,” he picked his words carefully. He reflected both the good and bad in our national character. He came from this little place, and like anyone who comes from a small place, you get spots on you, and those spots are mostly wrong. But he left there and absorbed this panorama with his extraordinary memory and literary view, and it altered him.

RM: While there are many imitators, no one gives us Twain quite the way you do. Do you worry that your legacy will live on?

HH: Mark Twain is an endless fountain of reason and truth … no one is indispensable. All we can do is begin to stand in his light. We reflect and absorb great power from certain human beings. Mark Twain belongs to that platoon of great Americans.

April 2008 MissouriLifeLines

50 Miles of Art

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:40:31 GMT

By Lauren Foreman

Missouri’s 50 Miles of Art festival and semi-annual Studio and Gallery Tour decorate the cities of Hannibal, Louisiana, and Clarksville the weekend of April 27. For the last six years, this celebration has grown to include fifty-three artists and artisans and more than forty studios and galleries. Art aficionados can watch skilled local artists create a work of art and can later purchase those very pieces.

Clarksville artist Robert Rothland’s designs, which will be available at the festival, include winding hand-blown glass works that attach to the walls, artistically lit with backlighting to cast shadows for a unique flare. One of his pieces involves a pool table made completely of wire.

Hannibal artist Marshall Tripp of the Hannibal Alliance Art Gallery describes his cast bronze sculptures and paintings of Midwestern scenes as colorful, traditionally realistic pieces and modern forms of art.

Hannibal also features 350 acres of land with large-scale outdoor sculptures from all over the world that visitors can view along a two-mile walking trail.

Jewelers, furniture makers, painters, and photographers alike use the sparkle of the Mississippi River and the richness of the historic cities as backdrops for their works, while clay, glass, handmade drums, handmade pewter, and more provide variety and uniqueness on the fifty-mile stretch between Hannibal and Clarksville.

April 2008 MissouriLifeLines

At the Pump

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:47:28 GMT

MISSOURI'S NEW ETHANOL-BLENDED GASOLINE REQUIREMENT

By Scott Spilky

Missouri recently joined Hawaii and Minnesota to become the third state requiring all gasoline sold within its borders to be blended with ethanol, but many Missourians probably haven't noticed any changes at the pump.

In anticipation of the Missouri Renewable Fuel Standard, oil refineries started blending the so-called E-10 mixture months before the January 1 requirement, and so, most filling stations were already selling gas with 10 percent ethanol. The additive is made from corn distilled into alcohol that burns cleaner than gas but also leads to less fuel efficiency in higher concentrations such as E-85, which is a blend containing 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. E-85 is used in a growing number of flexible-fuel vehicles. The Missouri Corn Growers Association reports there is a fuel economy loss of between 10 to 20 percent per gallon with E-85; however, the cost of E-85 is forty to sixty cents less per gallon than regular unleaded. The association also predicts there isn't likely to be a fuel economy loss with E-10, and the blend can be used safely with nearly all cars currently on the road.

A fifty-one-cent federal tax credit per gallon to the petroleum industry is an incentive to blend E-10. "This ensures there is a market accessibility for a renewable product in a world that increasingly needs every bit of energy it can get," says Ashley McCarty, director of public policy for the Missouri Corn Growers Association.

She says that the benefits of E-10 include a cleaner environment, lower fuel costs, and an opportunity to invest in Missouri farms and the five refineries in the state that produce ethanol, and she adds that Missouri is ahead of federal requirements stating that roughly 10 percent of the nation's gas be blended with ethanol by 2015.

But Sen. Chuck Purgason, who was one of a handful of state legislators to oppose the standard, questions the environmental benefits of ethanol and says livestock farmers in his rural district in south central Missouri frequently complain about higher grain costs they associate with more corn diverted into ethanol production. Grain farmers in his district also complain about higher fertilizer costs they see as a result of more fertilizer going into the production of corn to make ethanol.

Rep. Martin Rucker of St. Joseph, one of the sponsors of the ethanol bill, says the mandate received strong bipartisan support for good reason. "I think the legislation is sending a message that we are serious about continuing to spend our money in the Midwest rather than the Middle East," he says. "And we also are sending a message that we are serious about making farmers in Missouri competitive as well."

Missouri Senate legislation is also being considered that would require all diesel fuel sold in the state to be blended with a 5 percent blend of biodiesel, which is made from soybean oil and methanol. Like those who pushed the ethanol standard, proponents of the B-5 blend contend biodiesel burns cleaner, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, and supports Missouri farmers.

Adam Buckallew of the Missouri Soybean Association says studies have shown that more net energy is gained from the use of biodiesel than from ethanol, although he is careful to point out that both products can be helpful in meeting growing fuel needs. He says biodiesel production at ten plants in Missouri is expected to reach 125 million gallons in 2008, which easily surpasses the 60-million-gallon market that would be created by a B-5 standard, if the legislation passes.

A February 8 story in The New York Times reports that two studies, published in the journal Science, raise doubts about the environmental benefits of biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. The studies concluded the production of biofuels contributes to the growth of greenhouse gases as lands, primarily in developing nations, are cleared to grow biofuels and to meet the increasing demand for alternative fuels in developed countries. The destruction of rain forest or grassland not only releases greenhouse gases. but the cropland left also absorbs far less of these gases, the studies found.

For more information, visit www.mocorn.org, www.mosoy.org, or www.sciencemag.org.

Tom and Huck

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:13:20 GMT

“Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swears they will keep mum about this and they wish they may drop down dead in their tracks if they ever tell and rot,” agree Tom and Huck in the Mark Twain classic The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Tom and Huck had more than a few secrets, and the Springfield Little Theatre will reveal all in its annual Literature to Life presentation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer from March 27 through April 6.

Sixth grader Colton Kastrup, as Tom, and seventh grader Weston Rist, as Huck—along with a cast of forty-nine who bring Mark Twain’s endearing characters to life—will race bugs, impress Becky Thatcher, and play pirates on the Mississippi River. Both Colton and Weston are returning Little Theatre actors.

The Literature to Life Presentations began eight years ago, says Rachel Peacock-Young, director of marketing at the Springfield Little Theatre. “We wanted to bring something that people are studying in school to life so that they can see it in another form, not just a book,” she says.

Visit www.springfieldlittletheatre.org or call 417-869-1334, ext. 4 for more information, times, and ticket prices.

--Rebecca French Smith

March 2008 MissouriLifeLines

Don't Blink

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:18:29 GMT

At the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17, Blue Springs residents will carry their St. Patrick’s Day floats in their hands.

In 1978, Pat Mayers commenced what is dubbed the world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade. Officially sixty-six feet in length, the parade grew from Mayer’s simple wish of town pride. He felt Blue Springs should have its own St. Patrick’s Day parade, so he grabbed two fellow Blue Springs residents and marched from the historic Lowe’s Drugstore across the street to the Gridiron Lounge. The parade route has not changed in more than thirty years, and plaques on each side of the street mark the beginning point and the ending point.

“People just kind of followed,” Donna Swope, owner of the soda fountain, says, and they still do. An explosion in green fireworks, green floats, and green soda, the parade takes off at 9 am, as residents gather for this long-lived tradition.

Everyone has an amazing time “for about thirty minutes,” Swope jokes.

--Lauren Foreman

March 2008 MissouriLifeLines

Giddy Up!

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:08:52 GMT

Rodeo Fans Celebrate 20^th Anniversary

By Stefani Kronk

Garth Brooks sang about it. Hollywood heartthrobs have acted out the drama and glory of it, and spectators are enthralled by its energy. The rodeo is more than an event which mimics the requisite roping and riding skills used by cowboys on the range. For many, it is a passionate past time and a way of life for many rodeo converts.

Dedicated fans and those curious about the zealous following can mosey down to the 20^th Annual Show Me Center Championship Rodeo at Cape Girardeau. Modern day cowboys and cowgirls have their speed and abilities tested as spectators watch these Wrangler-wearing athletes compete. This two day event held on February 8 and 9 will feature roping and riding events including steer wrestling, barrel racing, bareback riding, calf roping, saddle bronco riding, team roping, and the infamous 8 seconds in the saddle—bull riding.

Cowboys and cowgirls, including Great Lakes Circuit ranked riders of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association will strut their stuff in the ring. And captivated fans will be brought back to the days of campfires, open prairies, and a trusty horse.

For more information, visit www.showmecenter.biz or call 573-651-5000.

February 2008 MissouriLifeLines

Lead-Foot Race

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:01:50 GMT

By Stefani Kronk

For motor sports enthusiasts, performance rallying is a far cry from the asphalt track. Forget the pristine raceway and the monotonous laps. Rallying is a motorized adventure in back-road racing. Full throttle speeds combine with the hazards of winding country roads, creating a thrilling and unpredictable race where anything can happen.

Rally in the 100 Acre Wood at Salem is a nationally sanctioned race by Rally America. Held on February 22 and 23, the race is the second of nine national chapter events across the country and is noted by the organization as being one of the most scenic. This is the third year as a national champion race, bringing approximately fifty entries from around the world. The course consists of stages—closed sections of county road where vehicles are pushed to their limit, reaching speeds of 130 miles per hour on straight stretches. These no-holds barred sections are linked together with transit sections, where local laws must be obeyed. Rally in the 100 Acre Wood consists of approximately 110 pedal-to-the-metal stage miles.

Rally teams consist of a driver and a navigator. At the start of the race, the navigator is given a route book with exact mileages and simple directions. Rally cars are specially equipped for the gravel roads and rough racing surfaces, making them well-suited for the road less traveled.

Rallying favorite Travis Pastrana will be a popular driver to watch as he speeds along the tight and twisty roads that make Rally in the 100 Acre Wood one of the best in the nation for this sport.

Visit www.100aw.org for spectator spots or more information.

February 2008 MissouriLifeLines

Traveling in Bingham’s Footsteps

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:50:42 GMT

The King of the Road traces the trail of Missouri's fighting artist

By John Robinson

The fire consumed almost everything, including Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and the Father of our Country.
     Jefferson City was basking in an unusually warm 76-degree temperature on February 5, 1911, when an evening thunderstorm churned across town, sending lightning bolts into the capitol dome, the city’s centerpiece. Fire spread quickly, granting occupants only a few moments to grab treasures and escape the conflagration.
George Caleb Bingham’s portrait of Thomas Jefferson survived the firestorm that consumed Missouri’s capitol building. His portraits of Clay, Jackson, and George Washington perished. That may reflect the love for Jefferson in his namesake city. Or maybe it was the only painting Senator Michael Casey could reach on his way out the door.
      Regardless, the story of the rescue of that Jefferson portrait kindled my interest in tracing Bingham’s steps, leading me on a lengthy journey with surprises around every corner.
      It’s hard to keep up with George Caleb Bingham, even though I have a car and much better highways. You could start in a dozen cities to trace the trails of Bingham. My journey began in Columbia, where Bingham’s good friend Richard Henry Jesse named George the University of Missouri’s first art professor. Fitting, then, that on this campus, The State Historical Society of Missouri houses an extensive Bingham collection, with thirty-three paintings, including the surviving Thomas Jefferson, and one of two versions of his most lasting political statement, Order No. 11, depicting a Union move to banish Missourians from their homes in western Missouri during the Civil War.
      From Columbia, I drove west, into the land where Bingham formed his first impressions. Unlike young George, who ferried across the Missouri River from his home at Franklin to a bustling Boonville, I drove across a modern span, complete with a walking and biking lane. The bridge may be modern, but downtown Boonville broadcasts its past like a living history channel. Here, Bingham got his start as a cabinetmaker, evolved into sign painting, then started painting portraits.
      Retracing one of Bingham’s early trips to St. Louis, I was surprised to learn George would thumb a ride. Either unwilling or unable to pay for a stagecoach, he hitchhiked toward St. Louis along a trail that eventually would become Highway 40. He never made it to St. Louis, laid low somewhere along the way by a severe case of measles. For weeks, he barely survived in a rural shack, fed by a good Samaritan farmer. Measles made his hair fall out, and he wore a rug the rest of his life. When his fever subsided, he limped back to recuperate in Franklin.
      I turned around, too, stopping in historic Rocheport. I heard there was a big party there, when the Tyler party Whigs convened their state political convention in June 1840. According to Bingham biographer Lew Larkin, Rocheport was the spot where “A tall, Ichabod-like, thirty-one-year-old named Abraham Lincoln gave a stirring speech that shaped Bingham’s political focus.” Bingham sketched many characters in the crowd, in various stages of speechifying and drunkenness over many days. He would use many of these characters in later genre paintings on politics.
      There are at least three ways to access Rocheport: by river, by auto, or by cycle on the Katy Trail. Trail traffic has helped launch a resurgence at Rocheport, anchored by the School House Bed & Breakfast for the sleeper set and the Rocheport General Store for revelers. The general store purveys fun and food and some of the best blues on the river.
     Back in Boonville, it’s a short drive—even shorter by river—to Arrow Rock, Bingham’s home after the 1829 flood washed Franklin away. From atop his house in Arrow Rock, Bingham could look across the river to the Boone brothers’ burgeoning salt business. The name of that business became the appellation for the whole region: Boonslick. Prevailing winds from the other direction may soon carry the unwelcome scent of manure from a barn containing thousands of hogs crammed together ham to ham. Folks in Arrow Rock—seventy-nine strong—are adamant that this tiny town, often called the “Williamsburg of the Midwest,” be spared the indignity of becoming known for stench.
      The Arrow Rock Cemetery is where George Bingham buried his first wife and then his mother. A little further down Route TT, just around the corner from the beautifully restored Prairie Park plantation house (call 660-837-3231 for a tour), the Sappington Cemetery is the eternal resting ground for several of Bingham’s contemporaries. Buried there is physician John Sappington, a rare “outside-the-box” thinker who popularized quinine as a treatment for malaria. Nearby are the graves of his daughters and two sons-in-law, who became governors: the rotund Meredith Miles Marmaduke, who married one Sappington daughter; and wily Claiborne Fox Jackson, who married the other three. After Jackson outlived the first two and married the third, Sappington advised Jackson, “I’m all out of daughters.” Bingham didn’t care much for the Sappingtons, Marmadukes, and Jacksons, all political nemeses. Their faces appear in some of his political paintings, usually in unflattering poses.
     Well then, like Bingham, I hit the road again. The route Bingham took to St. Louis—the Boonslick Road—loosely follows through Columbia and Fulton, angles up to Jonesburg, and sits under Routes M and N through Warren County to Cottleville and St. Charles. In 1850, a unique road-building phenomenon swept Missouri. With names like the Hannibal, Ralls County, Paris Plank Road Company, and the Columbia and Missouri River Plank Road Company, roadbeds made of hewn timbers and secured together like long, bumpy, cellulose carpets began to sprawl over the mud and brush of the trail. The Western Plank Road from St. Charles to Cottleville began to warp and rot soon after it was laid. Recently, St. Charles built a short replica of that plank road. The history of Boone County includes the clattering sound, heard miles away, of Union troops marching up the Providence Plank Road that connected Columbia to the Missouri River. All told, forty-nine companies combined to build seventeen wooden toll roads during the 1850s.
      As I neared St. Louis, the pavement was rough. I shrugged it off. Riding rubber tires on rough asphalt is a cakewalk compared to iron wheels on wood planks. Once at the Gateway City, I steered straight for the St. Louis Art Museum. You should too. Until March 9, you can see one of Bingham’s most vibrant paintings in an exhibit entitled George Caleb Bingham: The Making of The County Election. The exhibit features nearly thirty drawings, prints, engraving plates, and a centerpiece painting, which depicts a lively voting day scene believed to be on the courthouse steps at Boonville or Marshall.
      Unless you delve deeper into Bingham’s history, you wouldn’t suspect he had occasion to dip down into Doniphan, way down in Ripley County. Even today, it’s a day’s journey to get there from just about anywhere in the Boonslick. But in 1875, Bingham had been appointed Missouri’s Adjutant General by Governor Hardin. No idle general, Bingham ordered the Ripley County sheriff to quell Ku Klux Klan activities in the area. The sheriff balked, and Bingham swept down to Doniphan, staying several weeks until he oversaw the dispersal of the Klan. That’s not an easy task in rugged terrain where, with few exceptions, the back roads are the only roads.
      Residents love Ripley’s remoteness. Especially the deer. Traveling along Route M, my car missed a twelve-point buck by the hair on his bobtail when he jumped across the road. I hit the brakes and skidded. He dug as fast as he could go and polished my bumper. We both lived to remember the experience. Down the road, Route N thumbs its nose at wilderness with the loneliest four-way stop in Missouri. There, the highway bends sharply where two gravel roads intersect. Indeed, the road couldn’t have changed much since Bingham’s visit. It’s still in the middle of nowhere, but from four directions, cars must stop.
      Anyway, the Ripley County sheriff probably knew he could count on Bingham to eradicate the bad guys. Just the year before, General Bingham traveled to Stone County to take on the Sons of Honor, a bunch of unbridled vigilantes. He brought those bald-knob terrorists to justice, with the help of death and taxes. One key ringleader, Jasper McKinney, died suddenly. And Bingham threatened to restore order by bringing in the state militia at taxpayer expense. Scared by higher taxes, the group disbanded.
      Stone County’s history—and its roads—take travelers back in time. Route 413 undulates through ruggedness, along Railey Creek between Galena and Elsey. Ancient guardrails use wood from trees planted by Bingham, I suspect. A heavy wire threads through rounded wooden posts, squatty and silver. The guardrails guide the old roads through knobby beauty, cliffs, and precipices, punctuated by intriguing names like Secret Valley, Hooten Town, and my favorite school, Blue Eye High.
Following Bingham’s footsteps back through Jefferson City, I took the old Boonville Road, Bingham’s best route from the capitol back to his Boonslick home. It’s a delightful drive that sidles up to the Missouri River at Sandy Hook and Marion.
      On the day before he succumbed to pneumonia, Bingham traveled from Arrow Rock back to Kansas City, where he had lived much of his life. He took the old Santa Fe Trail. Today that route goes through Marshall, to Grand Pass and Lexington, through the thematic villages of Napoleon, Waterloo, and Wellington. He passed for the last time through the territory of nemesis George Graham Vest, the author of “man’s best friend.” Even though they both loved dogs, Bingham disliked Vest for political reasons.
      Dogs? Bingham put a dog in every genre painting but one, The Jolly Flatboatmen. Asked why there’s no dog in that painting, Bingham replied, “He’s in the hold.”
      Clever guy, that General Bingham. And whew, did he get around.

February 2008

Journey

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:08:15 GMT

The Great River Road Delivers Scenic Byways, Eagles, City Lights, River Heritage, & Adventure

By James Bondank

For nearly four hundred miles, the Missouri portion of the Great River Road meanders along the west bank of the Mississippi River. It visits charming small towns, a big city, locks and dams, fine architecture, well-known restaurants, and more on its path from the Iowa border to the Arkansas state line, and while it could be driven in a day, part of the attraction is a slow journey along the Mighty Mississippi.
In its entirety, the Great River Road stretches 2,340 miles and was developed by the governors of the ten states adjacent to the river in 1938 as a national river parkway to promote commerce in those ten states, according to the Mississippi River Parkway Commission; however, the road itself is not a single byway but a collection of routes.
     At the Iowa border, two-lane Route 81 launches the first leg of the journey to Canton, where Lock and Dam No. 20 is the northernmost lock and dam on the Mississippi River in Missouri. Opened in 1935, the dam is 2,369 feet long. Passing ships are raised and lowered through the locks by gravity. Only the gates are mechanically powered. Canton also boasts the longest continually operating ferry on the Mississippi, which links Canton to Meyer, Illinois.
     While there are several good spots along the road to bird-watch, South Riverfront Park is a perfect place to watch for eagles, which can be seen along the river in winter months. They can often be spied snatching a fish from the water below the dams on the Mississippi.
     Highway 61 supports the next leg of the journey as it heads toward LaGrange. There, riverboat gambling at the Mark Twain Casino at the south end of town harkens back to the days when showboats and gamblers aboard them used to ply the river. Those banks at LaGrange are also a hot spot to stick your toes in the sand at the beach at Riverfront Park and watch the summer powerboat races.
     A few minutes further south, fishing for bass, bluegill, and catfish along with swimming and boating at Wakonda State Park could occupy more than a few hours.
     Highway 61 then leads into Hannibal, home of the newspaper reporter, writer, and riverboat pilot Mark Twain, known locally as Samuel Clemens. His presence can be felt throughout Hannibal—from the statues of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn on Cardiff Hill to the statue of Twain himself, overlooking his beloved Mississippi River in Riverview Park. Samuel Clemens was born in 1835 in Florida, Missouri, and moved to Hannibal in 1839.
Twain can still be visited at his boyhood home downtown or at the Mark Twain Museum. Although physically, of course, he’s not there, a collection of exhibits and artifacts details his life and the era in which he lived. The truly serious Twain enthusiasts will get out of the car at Mark Twain Cave and tiptoe into the past where Twain played as a boy and where he set several of his story lines involving Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher.
     Unique shops, restaurants, and river cruises on the Mark Twain Riverboat beckon from downtown, as well.
     From Hannibal south to St. Peters, Route 79 takes up the Great River Road and is an especially scenic stretch. Often cresting the many hills along the river, a section of the road from the northern Pike County line to Clarksville is a designated Missouri Scenic Byway. In addition, it is also a National Scenic Byway known as The Little Dixie Highway of the Great River Road, so named because of Southern-style architecture and Deep South ambience of charming riverfront towns. Bicyclists know this as one of the completed sections of the Missouri River Trail. Both on- and off-road paths are available in varying lengths.
     An abundance of Victorian-style architecture awaits visitors on their arrival at Louisiana. As part of the region’s 50 Miles of Art corridor, sightseers need to take time to view the many murals on display throughout the town. Arts, crafts, pottery, and pewter can be found in downtown shops, and artisans can often be viewed at work.
     Along the road on Route 79, scenic overlooks provide inspiring views of the river valley, not unlike those that Mark Twain enjoyed in the 1880s.
     At Clarksville, “Made in Missouri” takes on a special meaning. Missouri’s art heritage is alive and kicking in this small burg of 490 people. Artisans from across the country relocated here several years ago in response to a call from the state. Potters, glass blowers, painters, and more live, work, and sell their trade here in a city where all of the downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places. Architecture buffs can find Queen Anne, Italianate, and Greek Revival examples all over town. Two particular gems are the Northern Methodist Episcopal Church and the Turner-Pharr House.
     The town is also home to Lock and Dam No. 24, which is 1,340 feet long and opened in March 1940.
     Next, Route 79 takes us from the small town to our biggest city, St. Louis, with its own inimitable style.
     The Gateway Arch, adjacent to the Mississippi River, rises 630 feet into the sky—an impressive sight by day or night. A tram carries passengers to an enclosed area at the top. Designed by architect Eero Saarinen, the Arch was completed in 1965 at a cost of thirteen million dollars. An integral part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Arch was built to commemorate the westward pioneers.
     The old Chain of Rocks Bridge, formerly U.S. Route 66 across the Mississippi, is now a biking and hiking path.
     Just outside of the metro area in West Alton lies the Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones - Confluence Point State Park. This day-use park is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Visitors can enjoy the passing parade of ships and birds, as this area is part of the Mississippi Flyway, a spring and fall migration route for thousands of birds and waterfowl on their journey between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that about 60 percent of the nation’s migrating waterfowl use this route.
     Heading south out of St. Louis, the Great River Road joins Highway 61 and barrels off toward Ste. Genevieve. Settled by the French in the late 1740s, Ste. Genevieve’s National Historic Landmark District is filled with French Colonial and Federal architecture. The Felix Vallé House is a centerpiece to Ste. Genevieve. Open for tours, this Federal-style limestone building was built in 1848 for the Vallé family and is a Missouri State Historic Site. Also on site is the 1792 Bauvais-Amoureux House, one of five poteaux en terre, or vertical-log construction, homes in the country—three of which are in Ste. Genevieve.
Ste. Genevieve also claims to be home to the oldest cemetery in Missouri. Memorial Cemetery, off of Fifth Street, is the final resting place to French and Spanish area pioneers. Currently, restoration work is being done to locate overgrown graves, but no new graves have been added since the 1800s.
     Just thirty miles further south on Highway 61, chimes and bells ring out at Perryville. The town features a classic town square, courthouse with chiming clock tower, and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, complete with its own bell tower, which welcomes visitors of all faiths. Featuring late nineteenth and early twentieth century Revival-style architecture, the buildings and grounds of the shrine are part of St. Mary’s of the Barrens Historic District.
     Still a guest of Highway 61, seekers will find Missouri’s Wall of Fame, which is a mural depicting the likenesses of famous Missourians, such as Stan Musial, Vincent Price, Walter Cronkite, Yogi Berra, and talk show host Rush Limbaugh, at Cape Girardeau. A map of the Great Murals Tour is available at the visitor’s center on Broadway.
     Civil War aficionados can also explore Fort D at Cape Girardeau. Constructed in 1861 and open for tours, the fort protected the city from Confederate forces during the Civil War. John Wesley Powell, who led the first expedition through America’s Grand Canyon along the Colorado River, designed the fort.
     After visiting the fort, the “Home of Throwed Rolls” is just a short trip down Highway 61 toward the Bootheel. Earl Lambert originally opened Lambert’s Cafe at Sikeston on Main Street, but today’s version is on East Malone. Here, Norm Lambert made road-food history when a customer asked a busy Norm to “throw” him a roll rather than wait for table delivery. Rolls have been sailing aloft ever since.
     Before Highway 61 delivers the Great River Road to Arkansas, New Madrid, known chiefly for the New Madrid Fault and a series of earthquakes in 1811-12, is the final stop. The 1811-12 earthquakes were felt all over the country, and the New Madrid Historical Museum on Main Street details the history and future of the fault. There is a seismograph on the premises as the fault is still active.
     Missouri’s Great River Road is one of the Midwest’s finest road trips. History, architecture, state parks, bicycling, fishing, St. Louis, and more await. Adventurers are sure to enjoy the journey.

February 2008

Holiday Drive-Thru

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:56:16 GMT

Super-sizing the traditional holiday pageant

By Stefani Kronk

The Annual Living Nativity presented by the Hallsville Baptist Church at Hallsville gives a whole new meaning to the term “drive-though.” Instead of value meals, this event serves visitors a hearty helping of the true meaning of Christmas. Guests enjoy a detailed re-creation of the birth and life of Jesus Christ from the comfort of their car.

Visitors listen to a brief welcome and tutorial on a CD provided by event staff. The narration guides visitors as they stop at each display and listen to the story unfolding in the scene. Vehicles proceed to the next scene when signaled by the CD. Viewing the displays will take approximately twelve minutes; however, there could be a wait to enter the vehicle line. CD players will be loaned to vehicles without that them.

For eighteen years, the members of the church have been producing a drive-through multi-scene nativity in the church parking lot. The living display has evolved to feature nine different scenes and includes more than one hundred cast members reenacting important events in the life of Jesus.

Special touches make the scenes authentic replications of life in first-century Jerusalem. Important details include the use of real animals such as sheep, goats, horses, and chickens. Intricate period Jewish and Roman costumes also give the scenes a realistic feel. More than forty members work behind-the-scenes in support roles, such as set design and construction, costume creation, and traffic direction.

“This is our church’s gift to central Missouri,” says Hallsville Baptist Church interim pastor Robert Cook. “The Living Nativity sets a good tone for the Christmas season and people appreciate that.” Last year, more than one thousand guests viewed the Living Nativity.

The Living Nativity will be presented on December 15-16, 2007, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the Hallsville Baptist Church at 115 Elizabeth Street at Hallsville. The event is free. Call 573-696-3621 for more information.