150 and counting

1C

and counting...

2C Bolivar Herald-Free Press

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

‘Let’s meet at Brenda’s’ B

renda’s Café was born in April 1999 at 115 W. Broadway. Leading up to the opening, Brenda Berry was on her knees stirring some paint destined for the walls.

“Are you sure about that combination of colors?” I asked. “They could make it too dark in here.”

She straightened up on her knees, turned her shoulders and pointed toward the front window while looking me straight in the eye.

“I don’t see your name on that sign in the window,” she said quite frankly before resuming her task, having established whose opinion didn’t count.

Taken aback and trying to be undaunted, I returned serve with a truth of my own: “And I don’t remember seeing your signature on the check that paid for all of this.”

But my truth was only worth all the fun I’ve had sharing that exchange over the last 19 years.

T

he decorating looked great. And so did the food coming out of the window behind which she was cooking over the next 11 years. She saw nearly every plate passed through that window to ensure the portions were bountiful and the presentation was pleasing to her eye. It was all about consistency and giving people what they wanted, to keep them coming back for more.

H

er mother, Veta Steinshouer, was a trusted sidekick, bantering with the faithful at the ticket counter and baking pies in those early years. The loss of her husband in a 1953 farm tragedy, when Brenda and her twin, Danny, were five years old, made all the hard work necessary. But it also made her their greatest role model.

Brenda Berry

S T

adly, part of Brenda died along with her mother in 2004. She hasn’t been quite the same ever since. She retired in 2010, passing the torch to Trish (Rice) Berry, a forever daughter-in-law and another pro at knowing how to serve while juggling many responsibilities. win brother Danny, from whom we purchased the business, has managed the bookkeeping and payroll chores. Carolyn Kirklin is the original employee still on board. This is her 40th consecutive year as a Bolivar waitress, having started in 1978 at Danny’s Nifty Café. Trish’s mother, Susan Rice, stepped in as a longtime cook and still comes out of retirement to be of vital help at times.

Many others have come and gone as great patron pleasers over the years. Even a grandson to the name on the window pulls some shifts, having learned to count back customer change when he could barely reach the cash drawer in the original location.

S

ome might still doubt the wisdom of a change at the beginning of 2017, when we moved next door to 119 W. Broadway. A lot of memories were made at 115, making it a tough move emotionally. But with twice the space in a historic building (Pretty Boy Floyd and Adam Ricchetti kidnapped Sheriff Big Jack Killingsworth in 1933 from what was then a Chevy dealership), there is more room for all and no waiting in line for a restroom. Extending the great tradition, though, is still a work in progress and we appreciate all the patience.

T

his community is blessed with many other fine eating establishments, and we wish them all great success. The Med, located in our original location, is just one of those. You will love their menu and what they’ve done with the place. Give them a try if you haven’t already.

Trish Berry

N

o single establishment could possibly meet all of the demand, and we all know that variety in dining is one of the more important spices of life. So, we appreciate and respect our peers. But we have unending gratitude for our many daily faithful and for all others who make us part of their rotation for breakfast and lunch. Please keep contributing to our family business!

For those who haven’t yet experienced Brenda’s, it is our humble opinion that you owe it to yourselves to do so.

Many have told us that it is part of the overall can’t-miss Bolivar experience. “Let’s meet at Brenda’s,” is a common refrain we love to hear.

As for me, I’m still proud of that first signature in 1999 that made me a small part of the Brenda’s Café experience. And Brenda? She struggles to remember us these days, but we all still remember who she is — which is far more than just the name on the window.

Happy 19th Anniversary to Brenda’s Café, all of the crew past and present, and all of the great customers.

Carolyn Kirklin & Emma

And Happy 150th to the Bolivar Herald-Free Press!

I add my endless thanks to then-associate publisher Jim Sterling, first for bringing me to the Bolivar newspaper in 1977, and then for introducing me to the waitress who took our order for lunch at Danny’s Nifty Café. She was donating her lunch break from her real job to help out her brother. And the rest is history.

Sincerely,

(The name still not on the window but belonging to a man who wouldn’t trade the last 40 years for anything, especially the most recent 19.)

19 528798b

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

3C

1999 and counting forward

By Dave Berry

An era ended and another began Feb. 1, 1999, when Community Publishers Inc. purchased Sterling Media Ltd., which included the Bolivar Herald-Free Press, Missouri ColorWeb Printing, the Buffalo Reflex and the Cedar County Republican at Stockton.

It was the first step in newspaper ownership outside of Benton County, Arkansas, for CPI, which already owned a daily, a twice-weekly and some weeklies there.

It wouldn’t be where the growth in titles ended, either. The Marshfield Mail was added in June that year, followed in subsequent years by papers in Ozark, Nixa, Harrison and Jasper, Arkansas, Rogersville, Republic and eventually several cities surrounding Tulsa after the Benton County papers were sold.

The Missouri group of eight at its peak saw the end of local printing operations in Marshfield and Bolivar in favor of a new printing plant in an industrial park in Springfield. It offered higher quality, more color and larger page counts on new equipment. And it replaced two plants with presses and other equipment that were about at the end of their useful lives.

Higher tech processes were added throughout the organization, requiring substantial investment.

In Bolivar, an old building with a lot of history but also a lot of problems was torn down in favor of Free Press Plaza, which is large enough to house not only the smaller newspaper office footprint of today but plenty of space for other businesses.

The upgrade in printing equipment and office space exemplified the deeper pockets that came along just in time to help

DR. SHAY SECHLER

the businesses hold up under the pressures of a disrupted industry and The Great Recession.

Jim Sterling, majority owner of SML, left the company with the sale, moving into a newly endowed chair for community journalism at his alma mater, the University of Missouri, a position from which he retired one year ago. Dave Berry stayed with the new ownership, serving

as publisher of all of the Missouri titles.

Steve Trolinger was president of CPI, based in Bentonville. Chairman of the board and majority owner of CPI, but totally hands off in its operations, was Jim Walton, a banker by trade who didn’t care to know how to manage newspapers but wanted to do all he could do as an investor to help preserve what he considered vital institu-

tions in any community looking to progress. As an avid reader of newspapers but not an operator, he sought out the newspaper experience of Trolinger to lead the publishing company.

Both retired in 2015, setting the stage for the sale of the company.

The Missouri properties along with Harrison and Jasper, Arkansas, and a printing plant in Nowata, Oklahoma, were pur-

Helping Bolivar & Polk County “See” Better Since 1981!

chased by Rupert Phillips and organized under a new corporation, Phillips Media Group. Dailies at West Plains and Sedalia have since been added, all under the corporate guidance of Jim Holland, president, based in Harrison.

Berry has remained publisher of the five remaining titles in Missouri — Bolivar, Buffalo, Stockton, Marshfield and Ozark.

DR. LANE NUTT

Since 1981, Dr Lane Nutt has been a provider of quality vision care products and personalized optometric services to our patients in Bolivar and the surrounding areas.

Watch For Exciting Changes n!

Coming Soo

On June 1, 2017, Dr. Nutt and his staff welcomed a Pleasant Hope native, Dr. Shay Sechler, to their eye care team. Dr. Sechler has been a wonderful addition, taking us to a new level of services and care for our patients.

Thank you for trusting us with your sight!

529246b

417-326-6001 626 S. Springfield, Bolivar, MO www.visionsource-drnutt.com

Monday 7:30-5:00 • Tuesday 8:00-5:00 • Wednesday 7:30-5:00 Thursday 8:00-5:00 • Friday 7:30-5:00 • Saturday 8:00-12:00

4C Bolivar Herald-Free Press

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

A history intertwined BH-FP and Bolivar R-1 schools members, school support When Jessica Franklin staff and one lawyer with Maull asked if I would be questions regarding buses, interested in writing an ar- school openings and closticle for the newspaper’s ings, etc.

Then I went to the muse150th anniversary special um where the curator kindsection, I said I would be ly steered me in the delighted to do so. direction of a file After all, I had alcabinet wherein I ready been workdiscovered a folder ing on an article labeled “schools.” about the history I opened the folder of North Ward, and began reading that building the information which now houses therein. the Polk County Vincent The only way Museum.

I can describe what hapIt should be easy pened to the amount of inenough, I thought, to add to formation I had at that time that information and write is to remind you of the phoa history of Bolivar R-1 schools. I soon learned tos of the cloud produced that I needed a lot of help. by the atomic bomb that Subsequently I called for- exploded over Hiroshima. mer teachers, students, The amount of informabus owners, community tion simply mushroomed

528800b

By Jean Pufahl Vincent

into more than I could have imagined.

Most of that growth is due to a speech given at the

dedication of what was then the new high school building on March 18, 1927, by Judge J.M. Leavitt, who, interestingly enough, was my cousin’s grandfather.

Judge Leavitt was a lawyer with a lawyer’s love for detail. His speech, entitled “Bolivar Schools, A Historical Article Prepared by J.M. Leavitt for B.H.S. Dedication,” which consists of six typewritten pages, took the history of Bolivar’s schools back to the beginning.

Every bond issue and amount; every lot purchased or sold with the amount of each transaction; most of the board members who have served the school, the administrators and several teachers are named (including the salaries paid); details regarding new buildings and

additions to existing ones are also discussed, and other information, as well.

I arrived at home, the folder clutched in my hand like a bag of precious gems, and announced to my longsuffering spouse that I’d “hit the mother lode.”

Throughout Bolivar Schools’ history several newspapers have kept the community informed of the school’s progress and activities. Those newspapers have kept the community informed of the progress, events and activities of all schools in the area.

Bond issues and dates of election; sports events and awards; new teachers and administrators hired; school board meetings, folk running for and elected to serve on the school board; graduating classes and their pictures; and many other

activities too numerous to mention or remember have appeared in the news, which has been and still is a vital link between the community and the school.

The Herald-Free Press, the result of a merger, continues to feature the schools in many articles throughout the year.

This history goes back a bit further than the 150 years this newspaper has been publishing, and the historian inside my head forbade me to omit the early things. I have added the population of both Polk County and Bolivar from census records in order to give a better perspective of the environment of the times.

This was a most educational project; I’m glad I was asked to do it.

See History, Page 5C

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

5C

History From Page 4C Early Days: The first schools were Indian schools (workshops). Practical arts such as carpentry, zoology, botany, forestry and geology were among the subjects taught.

Population 1840: Bolivar-not found, Polk County-8,449 1841: The first school house is shown on a map of Bolivar. It was a log building which belonged to the Methodist church and stood southwest of the square.

Population 1850: Bolivarnot found Polk County-6,186 1851: A direct quote from Judge Leavitt’s speech: “On July 17, 1851, William Jameson, James B. Jameson and John W. Jameson leased the south half of Out Lot Eleven (11) of the Original Plot of Town of Bolivar, Missouri to William R. Devin, Benjamin M. Jewett, Moses P. Hart, Thomas R. Blake and Perry B. Laremore, in trust for the purpose of having erected thereon ‘A Male and Female Seminary of Learning,’ the same to perpetual existence, the size and dimensions of the building to be determined by a majority of said second parties, and when erected and the school thereon occupied to be under the control and management of the parties of the second part as trustees, and the trustees to be chosen by the majority of the donors, and the trustees.”

Construction of The Bolivar Academy was begun. Designated to be a “Male and Female Seminary of Learning” it was constructed near where the North Ward Museum now stands. Although there are no known records pertaining to that Academy, it was built and opened in the same year and operated as a private school, funded by tuition, until the Civil War began in 1861. There is no record of any school in Bolivar having been in operation for the duration of the Civil War. Population 1860: Bolivar-409, Polk County-9,995 1865: Rev. J.C. Nodurfth opened a private school in the academy building. The school continued in operation for several years.

1866: Bolivar’s Public School District was organized following the election of three directors — Judge T.H.B. Dunnegan and George W. Drake were two of those elected; the third is not named. The board had no money, no lot, no house nor money to build a school building. They joined with the academy with what funds could be obtained and school continued as before.

Population 1870: Bolivar-635, Polk County-12,445 March 21, 1870: The Missouri Legislature passed an act authorizing cities, towns and villages to organize the act and gave to those towns and cities special powers and privileges; included among the privileges listed was one creating a board of education consisting of six members.

June 22, 1871: An election was held for the purpose of organizing the District under the act and the proposition carried; soon after that the first Board of Education was elected. They were as follows: T.H.B. Dunnegan (who ultimately served 50 years on the board), John D. Abbe, John

F. Shipley, Charles L. Dalrymple, John H. Oldham and T.G. Rechow.

January 4, 1873: The Trustees of the Bolivar Academy, Washington Galland, W.L. Snodgrass, William R. Devin, Joseph McBroom and David Hendrickson executed a lease to the Board of Education for use of the Academy building. The lease was for 999 years and was to expire in the year 2872.

The Academy building was now inadequate for the needs of the school; the school board submitted a bond issue of $12,000 which was approved by the voters.

The new schoolhouse was constructed near where the academy building stood. It was built of brick, two stories high with four classrooms and was occupied in 1873 or 1874. This was the first building the district ever owned. (This building, in my grandmother Pufahl’s time of attendance, was also called the “Bolivar Academy.”)

The first teachers in the new school were W.E. Arnold, Principal and Instructor of High Department (salary $75.00/ month); Byron Lunceford, Intermediate ($40.00/month); and Miss Jennie Nodurfth, Primary ($25.00/month).

October, 1875: Three teachers were

employed at the Academy. John A. Cochran’s contract stated that he would teach the school for $140.00 per month and employ and pay out of that amount two other teachers for a term of 10 months. Seven and one-half of those months he was to be paid out of the public funds, and was to take subscriptions for the other two and one-half months.

The school was graded into three departments: Primary, Intermediate and High. Higher Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Natural Philosophy, Analysis, Rhetoric, Elocution, History, Civil Government, Bookkeeping, Physical Geography, Latin and Writing were to be taught in the High Department. Average daily attendance at this time was 120, but the record adds the number had been lessened by the prevalence of measles.

1875: A contract was let to build a colored school building for $500.00 and was in operation for as long as there was a sufficient number of children to attend. Before the school was built rooms had been rented to serve the purpose of a school.

Population 1880: Bolivar-516, Polk County-15,734 1885: A new course of study was adopted for the Academy, but it doesn’t ap-

pear to have been as extensive as that of 1875. The school was also graded at that time. S.A. Hoover, A.B., A.M., was Superintendent of Schools. Mr. Hoover had long been a professor at Warrensburg State Normal School prior to his employment in Bolivar.

1886: The first three graduates received their diplomas; William Raymond, Clara Chandler and Minnie Walts.

1889: Two classrooms on the ground floor and an auditorium on the second were added to the Academy Building.

Population 1890: Bolivar-1,485, Polk County-20,339 1898: The voters of the district approved the board’s proposal to purchase a lot south of the Town Branch and build a ward school thereon at a cost of $5,000.

The school was to be constructed of brick with four classrooms (two upstairs and two down) with large halls on the south and a full basement under all. (This building became known as South Ward School and stood in the location where Tres Amigos, Little Caesar’s, etc., are now located.)

Population 1900: Bolivar-1,869, Polk County-23,255 June 11, 1902: The district voted to issue bonds for $8,000 to build a new High School on the site of the Academy Building.

March 1903: Mr. Henry H. Hohenschild, who also designed several courthouses in Missouri, was hired as architect for the building. A contract was let to Killbuck Brothers for $7,927.00. They razed the Academy building to use the brick, lumber and windows in the new building. This became North Ward School, now North Ward Museum. The upstairs windows are different than the downstairs windows and came from the Academy.

Thirty-nine windows were recycled in this manner.

North Ward opened as a school on October 17, 1903. Four elementary classes were held on the ground floor; the high school students occupied the four rooms upstairs. (My dad told me that when he was an elementary student the children switched back and forth between North and South Ward as they progressed through the grades. Some years they would attend school at South Ward, and other years at North Ward.)

Population 1910: Bolivar-1,975, Polk County-21,561 1917: The board was authorized to sell bonds for $6,000 to build an addition on the south side of South Ward School. The addition added four more classrooms with a full basement under all.

Population 1920: Bolivar-1,980, Polk County-20,351 July 29, 1924: The voters approved the board’s proposal (594 for, 122 against) to issue bonds for $50,000 for the construction of a new high school. The building was completed in the fall of 1926 and school began there on Monday, January 3, 1927. The building was 126’ x 72’, three stories high with a full basement under all.

It was built of brick, steel and concrete.

The gymnasium occupied a space of 80 x 33 feet. The playing floor was in the basement. Bleachers on the north side

and with a balcony above were provided for spectators. The girls’ team played half court. Both David and I have heard many stories about basketball games as both of our mothers played on the team.

There were 18 classrooms, an office for the Superintendent, a library room, halls, two storage rooms with lockers, a coal room, boiler room and toilets — all modern and fully equipped. The grounds cover over half of Knox Addition to the City of Bolivar.

Mayor J.L. Heckenlively of Springfield, was the Architect and Superintendent of Construction. M.B. Gillioz was the contractor.

At some point a building was constructed to the south of the high school building, the purpose of which was to provide classes for Vocational Agriculture, but I have not located any records pertaining to that building.

A football field was donated to the district by Herman Pufahl.

North Ward then became North Ward Elementary and served all children, grades 1-7 who lived in town north of Broadway Street. South Ward served students in grades 1-7 who lived in town south of Broadway. Eighth grades for both North and South Ward were located in the high school building.

March 18, 1927: The Dedication The Dedication Ceremony for the newly constructed Bolivar High School occurred on Friday, March 18, 1927.

There were both afternoon and evening sessions. The afternoon session featured several speakers: For Faculty-John A Doak, Superintendent; For Students- Elvin Douglas; For S.W.B.C.- President J.C. Pike and Herman Pufahl, who spoke for the taxpayers of the district (basically assuring them that all was well financially).

The other afternoon speaker was, of course, Judge Leavitt, whose speech was described by the Free Press as “exhaustive”. The “Bolivar Herald” printed the speech in its entirety. I agree with the sentiment expressed in the Free Press. As I read through the treasure trove of historical information I cringed at the thought of all those who had to sit through the whole thing.

Sports: Both football and basketball were played at BHS. In the beginning the boys were called “The Bolivar Tigers” and the girls the “Jungle Janes”.

In the 1950s the team was renamed and became “The Bolivar Liberators”, named for that great South American Liberator, Simon Bolivar. Bolivar, Missouri was named for Bolivar, Tennessee from whence came many of the early settlers.

Bolivar Tennessee, as far as I know, was named for Simon Bolivar, but there were once more than 10 towns named Bolivar in the United States. Girls’ sports were forbidden in Bolivar Schools for many years. (I’m not sure just how long that ban lasted, but I can assure you that no girls’ sports were allowed in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, when I attended B.H.S. When girls were once again allowed to play sports their team became known as “Lady Liberators.”)

See History, Page 6C

108 Years Old & Still Going Strong!

We are proud to have been serving our communities since 1910!!

528879b

And very proud to have been serving Bolivar since 1997!!

1630 S. Killingsworth 111 W. Jackson St. Bolivar, Missouri 65613 Phone: 777-3322 | www.fsbmo.com

NEWS

6C Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

History From Page 5C Population 1950: Bolivar-3,482, Polk County-16,062 Reorganization: In the early 1950s Missouri law required districts to bring rural school children to schools in town and to provide transportation for those children.

Bolivar was the first district to reorganize in Polk County, thus the “R-1” designation.

Voters approved a bond for the building of new school buildings.

1953-54: Bolivar Schools were very different that year than they had been in the past. Mitchell Elementary (grades 1-8) was new, built just to the west of the high school building. A new elementary school (grades 1-6) was also constructed at Polk.

Polk area students were bussed to Bolivar for grades 7 & 8. Buildings were moved in from the O’Reilly Army Hospital in Springfield to house cafeterias at both North and South Ward. A new gymnasium was built to the southwest of the high school building; the old gymnasium became a cafeteria which served high school and Mitchell students. A library was added where the gymnasium balcony once was. Other O’Reilly buildings were moved in to provide classrooms for band, drum corps and industrial arts.

Population 1960: Bolivar-3,512, Polk County-13,753 1963: Leonard Elementary (now the location of the Primary School) was constructed to house grades 1-6. The Mitchell Building became a Junior High, housing grades 7-9. The buildings at North Ward and South Ward were retired from service as schools. The South Ward building was closed and later sold, but the North Ward Building was entangled in legalities. The trust that had been formed so many years ago for the Academy was still in effect. The property upon which North Ward sat was to be returned to the family when it was no longer used for educational purposes.

The family members couldn’t be found, so North Ward just sat…and maybe it waited.

(As nearly as anyone can remember, it was about this time that bus service was provided to students in town. However, nobody I’ve been able to ask is sure and I don’t remember.)

1966: North Ward was once again opened as a school, providing half-day Kindergarten classes. Both morning and afternoon sessions were held upstairs. In prior years there had been no public Kindergarten classes; private ones were available for the price of tuition. Mid-day transportation had to be provided by parents even if the children lived outside of town. At this time part of North Ward’s first floor was occupied by the Polk County Health Dept.

1969: Student population had outgrown existing space at Leonard. North Ward continued to house half-day Kindergartens as before, with the addition of first grade classes on the first floor.

Population 1970: Bolivar-4,769, Polk County-15,415 1973: Leonard was enlarged and North Ward ended its long history as a school building. About the same time the school at Polk was closed.

During all this time there were remodeling projects going on here and there, but are too numerous to list in this article.

Former staff reflections: Sue Roweton W

Population 1980: Bolivar-5,919, Polk County-18,822 Mid 1980s: Student population continued to grow. A Middle School was built north of Leonard Elementary to house grades 6 - 8. The Mitchell building became part of the high school.

Population 1990: Bolivar-6,845, Polk County-21,826 1995-96: A bond issue had been approved for the construction of a new high school building. The year 1995-96 was the first year classes were held in that building and was the first year there was air-conditioning in all buildings. Although I have been unable to acquire the monetary amount of the bond it certainly far exceeded the bonds passed in earlier years. The building was constructed north of the Middle School. It originally boasted an auditorium, cafeteria, a gymnasium, several classrooms and a Vo-Ag Building. Additions have since been made to the building. The Middle School became the Intermediate School. Mitchell, which had been greatly expanded throughout the years, became the Middle School.

The old gym became the Middle School Gymnasium.

New Names: The naming of all the buildings was a concern. After a great deal of deliberation the committee in charge determined the names are as follows: Bolivar Primary School, KindergartenGrade 2 Bolivar Intermediate School, Grades 3-5 Bolivar Middle School, Grades 6-8 Bolivar High School, Grades 9-12 Population 2010: Bolivar-10,325, All Polk County 31,137 Today, in 2018, Bolivar R-1 also boasts Little Liberators Daycare, Sun-

shine Preschool, Bolivar Center for the Developmentally Disabled, and the Alternative School. Programs and curriculum are provided to meet the needs of every student.

Bolivar’s student population is presently (March, 2018) 2,753; there are 209 teachers and 15 administrators, as well as 150 who serve as support staff.

The last bond issue passed was for $11,000.00+ and provided for the improvement of cafeterias and HVACS.

I have greatly enjoyed this assignment, probably much more than Jessica enjoyed the work I once assigned to her. It has been a lot of fun to find and learn, and then find more fascinating facts about the educational progress of Bolivar Schools.

Thank you, to each one of you who helped me gather the information and a very special thanks to my long-suffering spouse who is always willing to proof, edit and make suggestions to improve anything I put on paper.

Judge Leavitt’s introductory statement was: “The people of this community have always taken a great interest and pride in their schools, and in the education of their children.”

Obviously, that still holds true today.

hen asked to share a memory of my time at the BH-FP (where I worked as the ad manager/promotions director from 1988 to 1999), more than any single event or anecdote, I remembered the people. Those I worked with on the staff and the business owners I worked with in the community.

When you tell people you were in sales for 10 years, they often remark on how difficult that must be or how they could never do a sales job. But, I always had an easy answer. It makes all the difference in the world if you believe in what you’re selling.

And it wasn’t just the amazing people I worked with.

The business people I was working with knew the value of their community newspaper as well. To use a cliche the BH-FP “sold itself.”

I still read the paper from cover to cover every week and feel proud to tell people I worked in journalism.

Even though I wasn’t writing news stories, I sold the ads that made providing that service possible.

I believe with all my heart in the vital role that journalism plays in our world today, on both a small and large scale. Playing a part in that and the people I worked alongside to do it is my favorite memory of working at BH-FP. Also there was the time I got everyone to dress up as Dave Berry.

Our Family Working For Yours Since A Name Doesn’t Make You Local — A Lifetime Does

OUR STORY Garretson Trash Services LLC was founded in 1950 by Harold L. and Mary Garretson.

What started as a humble beginning running the business out of their home, quickly grew into the thriving service you see today. The business was bought by Harold and Mary’s son, Lyle (Buster) in 1970 and moved to its current location, 1117 South Lillian in Bolivar, MO. Buster’s daughter, Staci joined the team in 1997 and continues to manage the business today. Although Buster passed away in 2010, Garretson Trash Services LLC continues and operates on his basic principle of exceptional customer service and pride in a job well done!

Today, Garretson’s is made up up 12 local families with several long-time employees whose experience spans over the course of 10 to 45 years of experience. Garretson’s success over the years has thrived on the relationships built within the community. We look forward to providing a wide span of personal and accommodating service options to make lives easier.

1950

Customer Service is our priority!

We believe your choice of a waste removal service provider is an important one!

We aren’t as fancy as the corporate companies, but we work harder!

Transitioning service provider is EASY call 417-326-7507 and we do the rest! ~ Residential Service Polycarts Included

~ Referral & Advance Pay Discounts

~ Recycling Drop Off

~ Customer Appreciation Discounts

~ Commercial Set Out ~ Commercial Containers ~ Local Drop Off Site ~ Multi-Family Container Options ~ Temporary Containers ~ Local Office

~ Quick Response Dispatch Service ~ Residential Recycling Drop Off Service ~ Single Stream Commercial Options

~ Construction & Clean Up

~ Extended Office & Yard Drop Off Hours

~ 10 yd Roll Off Services

~ Specialty Clean Up Division

~ 1-Time Pick Ups & Call Basis ~ Auto Debit & Phone Payments

Garretson Trash Service, LLC 528875b

We still believe in business by a HANDSHAKE!

1117 S. Lillian • Bolivar, MO 65613 • 417.326.7507 • garretsontgrashservice.com

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Former staff reflections: Jackie Dunn Wiehe C

A cut worth keeping

By Rose Roweton Back in about 1969, our youngest son, Kelly, and I were at the store doing errands (after the other four kids had gone to school) for Western Auto on the Northeast Corner of the square.

We were copying statements, as we had no copier then.

We were at the Douglas and Douglas Law Firm, and the Bolivar Free Press was right next door. I could put two statements on a page, but then I had to cut them.

My dad, Elvin Douglas, at the law office had a wonderful pair of scissors that cut those statements in two swaths.

I said, “Dad, I need a pair of those scissors.” He said he had bought those scissors from Marshall Gravely who owned the Bolivar Free Press (which my dad called the Weekly Struggle) — and with a sly grin on his face, he said, “When I die, you can have them.”

Ten years later he passed away, too young, at age 69.

A couple of weeks passed, and I walked in the office and my brother, Kerry Douglas, who had joined the firm by then, without a word, handed me those scissors!

I still have them and used them to cut statements until we closed our store, Roweton’s Home Center, at the end of 2017.

ongratulations, BH-FP, on 150 years of publishing!

Jim Sterling hired me out of college in 1975 to follow Linda Engleman McBride as editor of the People & Living section.

Mark Wiehe was news editor during the first year I was on the staff, and in October 1978, I left Bolivar after he and I were married in a ceremony in Dunnegan Memorial Park. We made our home in Columbia, where he lived and worked. With our two sons, John and Michael, we have lived there ever since.

One of the “extra duties as assigned” with my job always felt like a weekly trip through local history. I compiled a weekly Remember When column of a few noteworthy news items from 25, 40 and 75 years earlier in Bolivar and Polk County, those being the early 1950s, mid 1930s and early 1900s. The items were gleaned from bound issues of both the Herald and the Free Press newspapers published independently during that time.

In those old yellowed albums of newspapers, it was striking to see longevity and continuity of people and places in the county throughout those 75 years. I recognized so many family names from earlier generations of local people. There were ads from businesses still in operation or ones that had endured but later bore names of different owners.

Southwest Baptist College was always mentioned in the issues 25 and 40 years old. Activities of University Extension and 4-H always were big news items.

Elections generated much interest and discussion.

There was abundant evidence of great pride in each of the communities of Polk County, their schools, churches, organizations and people.

The Bolivar Mark and I experienced was part of a different era. At that time, it had been less than a de-

cade since the old Herald and Free Press newspapers had been merged. The BH-FP offices and printing press were in a repurposed auto dealership building on South Springfield Avenue. Bloody Mo. 13 was still bloody but in the process of becoming four lanes to Springfield. The Dunnegan brothers still were in Polk County Bank on the northwest corner of the courthouse square, and Mr. T.H.B. enjoyed showing interested visitors his art collection on display at the bank.

Bolivar’s City Hall and municipal offices were in a little building south of the courthouse, and the county jail was nearby in the upstairs of the old brick house, the sheriff’s office located on the first floor.

Teters Floral and the garment factory were the mass employers.

There was no art museum or YMCA, and North Ward School building’s future was very uncertain. Southwest Baptist was still College. The month before I left Bolivar, a name was being chosen for the brand new hospital that would be built on the north side of town.

As much as things have changed, I feel sure the pride of place and heritage still exists within residents in all of Polk County.

It was a pleasure to write about and photograph so many interesting people of the area during the three years I was privileged to live among you and make lasting friendships. Mark and I both believe our lives and careers were shaped immeasurably by the freedom and opportunities offered in Bolivar on our first newspaper jobs with Jim Sterling and Jac and Rheba Zimmerman. We are forever grateful.

Jackie Dunn Wiehe was editor of what was then called the People & Living section from 1975 to 1978, and Mark Wiehe was the news editor from 1974 to 1976.

From Grandpa to Grandson...We Continue The Tradition Of Serving Our Community, The Lionel Lear Way. DaKotah, Tyten & Tyler Lear

529235b

Lionel Lear’s Pawn Shops Humansville & Bolivar Locations Established Early 1990’s

7C

607 W. Broadway Bolivar 417-777-2886

NEWS

8C Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

The Sterling years were laced in gold

By Dave Berry From late 1967 until Feb. 1, 1999, James C. Sterling was a principal architect of local news and marketing through the pages of local newspapers.

His name was Sterling and his hair color was appropriately silver beginning at an early age, perhaps due in part to the stress of the business, but his newspaper touch was golden when it came to recognition for quality.

The Bolivar HeraldFree Press under his ownership earned seven Gold Cups from the Missouri Press Association, recognizing it as Missouri’s best weekly newspaper. It also received many first-place awards for General Excellence and more than 480 total awards by the end of a 31-year era.

A sister paper, the Cedar County Republican at Stockton, also earned a Gold Cup, making a total of eight strikes of gold.

The Gold Cups for the Herald-Free Press came in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1993 and 1996.

In 1999, just after his era ended but still riding his momentum, the HeraldFree Press was recognized by the National Newspaper Association as “The Best of the States.”

Sterling, a member of the Bolivar High School Hall of Fame and 1960 graduate, returned in December 1967 to manage the local newspaper fresh after three publications had become one.

That was the beginning of a Bolivar newspaper ca-

reer that would earn him induction into the Missouri Newspaper Hall of Fame and receipt of the coveted Missouri Honor Medal from his alma mater, the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

The Stufflebam family owned the Bolivar Herald beginning in the early 1900s. It was in 1967 that Ralph Stufflebam held the reins in succession of his father, Frank. Ralph also was general manager of KYTV, now better known as KY3 in Springfield.

Stufflebam executed the purchases of the Free Press and the Polk County Times in late 1967 and quickly hired Sterling to become general manager of the new combined product.

The first week of combined publication actually involved the exact same content being published under two different original titles.

The next week it was one paper bearing the flag Bolivar Free Press-Herald, perhaps as an olive branch to the Republican half of the name even though the new owner came from the Democrat half.

Sterling’s first act after coming on board was to recommend a reversal of names, not based on politics but on so many other mergers of newspapers that involved “Herald” being the first of the combined names.

“It just sounded better,” he said.

And so it became on the third week.

Those two newspaper names were combined to become the new name but

the Polk County Times office, at 213 E. Broadway Ave., became home base.

The volume number of the Herald was adopted, hence this being only Vol. 146 while the Free Press part of the name just completed 150 years.

The Free Press had published in what is now the extreme west portion of the Douglas Haun & Heidemann law office on West Broadway Avenue. The Herald had been in what is now Solutions Salon but was the long-time office of attorney Ralph Gilchrist on East Jackson Street. In between it was a restaurant named Ralph’s in honor of attorney Ralph, not the Herald’s Ralph.

The newly merged paper printed in Clinton at the time.

Sterling was general manager, reporter, editor, photographer, ad salesman, page designer, delivery man and more.

The rest of the staff consisted of a part-time salesman, two ad composers and a receptionist who also composed news copy.

But the Stufflebam ownership was short-lived. He sold the paper to Jac and Rheba Zimmerman of Willow Springs, who took over in March 1968.

Fearing his job security after learning what was in the offing, Sterling acquired the Fair Play Advocate as a safety valve. But his concerns were allayed when the Zimmermans brought him in as a junior partner, along with his Fair Play flag that never gained new life.

528867b

Congratulations Bolivar HeraldFree Press on 150 Years!!

Early in the Zimmerman ownership, the former Gallivan auto dealership building, which more recently had been an early home for Teters Floral Products, was purchased and became the new home for the newspaper and a three-unit offset King Press. Printing of the paper was back in Bolivar.

That building was at the same South Springfield Avenue location where the office is still today, but in a new office complex, Free Press Plaza.

Dan Zimmerman soon arrived to become the first BH-FP editor who didn’t have other titles. He was followed in that job by Ed. Payton, then Mark Wiehe, Jim Hamilton, Dave Berry and finally Judy Kallenbach to finish out the Sterling era.

Sterling bought the newspaper, along with the Stockton flag, in late 1979, just prior to Jac Zimmerman’s death. He had already purchased the Buffalo Reflex and Dallas County Republican in January of that year.

He eventually broke out the printing operation to become Missouri ColorWeb Printing and organized that and the three newspapers under the combined ownership of Sterling Media Ltd. Sterling remained active in several aspects of the operation until beginning to mix in other interests in the mid-1980s. For example, he eventually became a newspaper broker, leaving day-to-day management of the Sterling Media Ltd. entities to others.

Berry became publisher of the Herald-Free Press Jan. 1, 1987 and executive vice president of Sterling Media in 1989, and began acquiring stock in the company. The company sold to Community Publishers Inc., effective Feb. 1, 1999.

Berry remained with the new ownership and Sterling soon thereafter occupied the endowed chair for community journalism at his alma mater, a job from which he retired last summer.

Sterling, despite his retirement, remains today one of the most recognized names and faces in community journalism throughout the United States, still making his home in Columbia with wife Nancy.

Family Owned & Operated Since 1987

Dressing You Like a Million...

Without Spending one for 22 Years!

Here at Bolivar Ready Mix & Materials, Inc., we’re committed to providing you with the highest level of service so you’ll always be happy that you chose us. We promise to never unfairly take advantage of someone who needs our services. We pride ourselves on our honesty and integrity and we firmly believe that you’ll see the difference when you choose our company.

We’ve also been family-owned and operated from the start.

We may not be related, but we’ll make you feel like family.

Quality Concrete & Professional, ON-TIME Delivery 528882b

Bolivar Ready Mix & Material Co. 102 E. Jackson Street • Bolivar, MO 65613 417-777-7109

529378b

Quality Concrete • Fair Prices

326-5532 or 326-5799 Bonded - State Approved • Bolivar, Missouri

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Reading my history

By Joan K. Cloyed Cox The Bolivar paper has been important in my family for generations.

I can picture in my mind watching both of my grandfathers, Bud Zumwalt and Earl Cloyed, reading the Bolivar paper. Both of my great-grandfathers would surely have read the paper as they were businessmen and might even have placed ads.

G.W. Cloyed was a blacksmith specializing in making and repairing the wheels of wagons (a wheelwright).

James Marion (J.M.) Zumwalt purchased land, laid out lots, leaving land for a church, school and cemetery. He opened a store.

Soon, the little town was named Polk. He would become the postmaster and also became a county judge, now called a commissioner. He would have needed to keep up on all news and might even have subscribed to both papers at the time.

Both families were Democrats, so it is most likely they would have subscribed to the Bolivar Herald.

J.M. was asked by the Bolivar Free Press to write about the experiences of his father, grandfather and himself as they settled what is now the northeast part of Polk County.

I have copies of eight articles he wrote. A notation on the copies indicates that the articles were published in 1908.

He tells stories about the first entry into the area by his father, Adam Zumwalt, and three other men.

He tells about the naming of creeks and land areas.

He tells about the first cabins and houses, clearing and plowing of the land, mills built, mail delivery, attending a school and preachers of various denominations holding camp meetings together. These men have descendants still living in Polk County.

I have many clippings from Bolivar papers over the decades that show a wide variety of news about descendants.

The clippings include birth and death notices, stories about athletes, leaders, a school board member, business owners, teachers, Bolivar High School Hall of Fame inductees, a postmistress, employees of a variety of Bolivar businesses and volunteers.

I definitely read both editions of the paper each week.

My daughter says that I read every word — not quite, but almost!

I know I am not the only descendant of these two families that reads the Bolivar Herald-Free Press each week.

It tells us about all types of events we could attend, how our taxes are used and what is happening in our schools and businesses.

Everyone needs to be an informed citizen.

NEWS

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Former staff reflections: Dan Zimmerman M y parents, Jac and Rheba Zimmerman bought the Herald-Free Press while I was still at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. They had previously owned the Willow Springs News and Mtn. View Standard, and prior to that in the late 1940s, the Miller County Autogram in Tuscumbia.

Jim Sterling was the Herald-Free Press general manager, and I joined the H-FP as editor upon graduation in 1969.

The newspaper was housed in a crowded spot just a few doors down from Roweton’s Western Auto. Early every Wednesday, I would take Dad’s Chevelle convertible, pulling a U-Haul trailer, to Marshfield where the H-FP was printed at the Mail plant.

After a year or so, Jac and Rheba bought the former auto dealership and then Teters Floral Products building next to the post office (since replaced with Free Press Plaza). The spacious front was remodeled, and in the building’s rear, a three-unit, 12-page News King press (made in Joplin) was installed. We now could print our own newspaper along with sister paper, the Cedar County Republican in Stockton.

Jim and I worked well together and the paper grew with the town, allowing Jac and Rheba to transition to well-de-

served semi-retirement.

Besides change and growth in the local news media, another positive

change came about in Bolivar in the late 1960s to early 1970s.

Jim and I were in

Will never forget this night.

The “youth group” in Bolivar was so close that we had a rotating dinner at someone’s house every month. This particular evening was going well until someone heard about a bad wreck where Mo. 32 toward Stockton crossed Mo. 13.

Jim S. and I got a camera and sped out to the scene. Sid Pitts and we arrived at the same time, before the sheriff and highway patrol. Both the man and woman in the car died

our 20s and many other young adults were moving to Bolivar to join the family business or start one on their own.

Years later, attorney Kerry Douglas told me he had mixed feelings about joining his father’s law firm in Bolivar but was soon thrilled to see other young professionals moving to town.

Among them were R.D. Vestal of Vestal Equipment, Charles Long of Bolivar Hardware, Bill Jones of Hacker’s, Danny Martin of Martin’s Furniture, Derald Isdell of Town and Country Lumber, Charlie Miller of Miller’s Jewelry, Jim and Paul Davolt with a florist shop, and Rex Blackwell with Braithwait’s.

An influx of young, professional people moving to a small town in the Midwest was unusual. In most cases, young adults couldn’t wait to “move out.” But I believe our “crowd” of young professionals helped make Bolivar the fine city it is today.

instantly. It was awful. All of us have (and will have) to cover such happenings and we’ll never forget them, but it’s part of the job.

The day Bob Hope came to Bolivar. His top administrative assistant was a Bolivar native and unfortunately, she passed away and Bob came to Bolivar in 1969 to deliver a eulogy at her funeral at Butler Funeral Home.

She was Joan Maas, his co-producer.

Hope’s nickname for her was “Bolivar Baby.”

Auto Mall 326-5858

South Bus. Rt. 13 • Bolivar

November 10, 1955….

Jim Rush & Amos Franklin purchased the Bridges Chevrolet Agency in Urbana, MO And that is where the story began. Jim would later open dealerships in Osceola & Bolivar.

529239b

Jim Rush

9C

People have come to respect & appreciate the down home, great service that Jim Rush started back in 1955.

SEE ALL OUR LISTINGS & PICTURES AT WWW.JIMRUSHCARS.COM 3111 S. Springfield Ave. • Bolivar • 417-326-5858

10C Bolivar Herald-Free Press

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Stufflebam a settling force for the

‘H’ in ‘BHFP’ He was also a driving force behind Bolivar’s greatest day in 1948 and the survival of Southwest Baptist

By Dave Berry

“advocate Jeffersonian democracy pure and simple, high standards for the county’s schools and teachers, and anything contributing to the upbuilding of town, state, or nation.” The latter point included “the use of all honorable means for suppressing the liquor traffic throughout the state.”

In that first issue, he offered a scholarship to Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar for the boy or girl soliciting the most “wholeyear, paid-in-advance subscriptions.” That was the first of many ways in which he would co-op with the local college. The original campus of the school would eventually be named for him, com-

529254b

528880b

Frank L. Stufflebam was days late telling his wife what he had done on a trip to Bolivar to conduct teachers’ summer school training as Polk County’s commissioner of schools.

It was the beginning of June 1904 when he took time from those duties to meet with two attorneys who had owned the Bolivar Herald for about five years.

The meeting ended with him becoming the sixth owner in the newspaper’s 33-year history.

How gutsy was that move? Consider that it wouldn’t be until he returned home to Humansville on June 7 that he would tell his wife, mother of their fourmonth-old son, about the unexpected purchase.

Oh, and that would be the same woman who 10 years earlier had refused to marry him if he followed through with a desire to buy a news-

paper in Osceola.

That’s how gutsy the move was.

And it wouldn’t be the last time he would be brave in the face of challenges in stopping the revolving door of Herald ownership.

Many newspapers had already come and gone in Polk County, but under his ownership the Herald would become one of only two with real staying power.

He would be involved with the paper’s ownership and management until his death 47 years later. And the paper, flying a Democrat banner, remained in the family until March 1957, for a total of 53 years, all of which were in serious competition with the Bolivar Free Press, a Republican brand, and a number of other flags that came and went over that time.

In his introduction to his new readership June 16, 1904, Frank promised to

memorating his involvement in bringing it back to life and helping it sustain.

It would be no mystery to which newspaper local attorney Elvin Douglas would refer as “The Baptist Bugle,” according to son Kerry Douglas. The Free Press, to the elder Douglas, was “The Weekly Struggle.”

A fire in 1910 destroyed the college campus, putting the school out of business for three years. Stufflebam was instrumental in the drive to get it rebuilt and back in operation. He was on its board of trustees for the last 45 years of his life.

That original campus was named for him in 1968, after a second fire became the driving force to buy 102 acres to the south and develop the more prominent campus of today.

He used his editorial page to advocate for Bolivar and Polk County betterment.

He listed as needs more hitch racks, a chamber of commerce, a good laundry, improved streets and sidewalks, a sanitarium and a foundry. He promoted shopping locally.

His paper would become the first in the state to enlist the agriculture college at the university to contribute articles to rural newspapers, a practice that became a regular part of the university’s extension work.

In 1921, he continued to press for road construction and repair, and he traveled about to see farmers, asking them to sell land for use as rights of way. This was while he was also serving as the appointed postmaster, limiting his newspaper work to only the editorial page.

In 1930, fortified at the paper by the presence of his son, Ralph, the elder Stufflebam sought a seat in the state legislature, advocating for an income tax to raise money for government and reducing its dependence on real and personal property taxes, which he thought were unfair. He lost 3,901 to 3,148 in an election where Republicans won all 13 offices on the ballot.

Perhaps his crowning achievement was his effort over many years to bring national recognition to Bolivar. He worked to get the nation of Venezuela to present a statue of Simon Bolivar, “The Liberator,” to Missouri’s city of Bolivar.

World War II interrupted those efforts, but, finally, on July 5, 1948, Romulo Gallegos, president of Venezuela, met in Bolivar with U.S. President Harry S Truman for the dedication of said statue.

It was estimated that more than 80,000 were in the tiny town to view the parade and witness the dedication.

Stufflebam worked 18-hour days for months in advance of the event to ensure that it would be all that he had envisioned.

That accomplishment, carried out from a minority political position in the county, culminated in what remains as perhaps Bolivar’s “greatest day.” The statue still stands in what is known as Neuhart Park, and the high school’s sports teams, previously known as the Tigers, became the Liberators four years after that dedication.

Competition between the town’s two surviving

newspapers was fierce but fair and civil from the time Stufflebam joined the cause in 1904. Prior to that, civility was a foreign concept to many of the folks who operated the Herald. The Herald’s sharp barbs were mostly ignored by the already stable ownership of the Free Press, which made it easy for a healthy respect to develop between the competitors when Stufflebam came along and acted accordingly.

That respect led to the Herald offering help to the Free Press to publish after the death of its long-time editor in 1934, a gesture returned years later by the Free Press upon Frank’s death.

That civility and Stufflebam’s tenacity resulted in the Herald living to become the first half of a newspaper flag celebrating a 150th anniversary overall and a 50th anniversary of the combined product.

It was the second generation Stufflebam, Ralph, a television executive at the time, who orchestrated the merger of three products into one in late 1967, and eventually settling on the new name being the Bolivar Herald-Free Press, after experimenting for one week with the name Bolivar Free Press-Herald.

Many thanks to Martin E. McCullen, whose term paper for his History and Principles of Journalism course at the Missouri School of Journalism in 1959, provided the bulk of this content. Much credit is also due to a Free Press heir, Ben Gravely, for his help in the archives of both papers.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

NEWS

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

11C

Former staff reflections: Linda Wieland Bunch

I

n the fall of my senior year at Bolivar Jim introduced me to the University of High School, I dropped out of band.

Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism; An injury left me unable to play my the No. 1 journalism school in the nation, clarinet and not knowing what do with my as well as the oldest. And, I credit him for first-hour class. Limited options included making it possible for me to attend. study hall, shop with freshman boys and a On my first visit to the J-School, I journalism class with Randy Jones. I opted stopped by the Columbia Missourian for the latter.

— the daily newspaper published by the It was standard the first-hour class pro- school. No planned interview, no appointduced the school newspaper and the last- ment — just introduced myself to the adhour class was in charge of the yearbook. vertising manager.

Already enrolled for the yearbook class, I When she heard I worked for Jim at the was now privileged to bookend my school Bolivar paper, she called the general manday with “Journalism by Jones.” ager to come meet me. We had a nice talk When about BoliRandy asked var, newspafor somepers and Jim. one to go to I menthe Heraldtioned I was Free Press headed next to typeset to a magacopy for the zine office a school pafew blocks per, I volunaway where teered. I had I heard there no idea what might be a typesetting job. entailed, The magabut I knew zine didn’t I could type even know I and I knew was coming. the assignYet, when I ment would arrived, they get me out had a mesof school. I sage for me took it. from the ad At the manager at Linda, in the Sterling era BH-FP, I the Missouwas parked in the tiniest of cubicles at the rian — would I please come back? keyboard of a gigantic blue Compugraphic In the short time it took me to walk a Junior typesetting computer nearly as large few blocks, the Missourian had called Jim as the room. When finished typing, you re- and whatever he said, it caused them to ofmoved the film canister from the machine fer me a job. and prayed on your way to the dark room A full-time job. With benefits, bonus that all would develop correctly. and the waiving of some classes based on I volunteered for and learned every job my experience at the Herald-Free Press.

Randy offered. Being at the newspaper ofThat reminded me again, I came from a fice so much, then-editor Jim Sterling pe- pretty special paper and people. riodically would ask me to help out on the I worked, studied, wrote and completed “real” paper. a couple survey projects for the BH-FP and I typed newspaper copy, pasted up ads, the Buffalo Reflex, also owned by Jim. answered the phones, proofed classified After graduation, I excitedly returned to ads, cleaned the office, learned to run oth- work for him and the rest of his weeklies er equipment, pulled tear sheets and tore as marketing and promotions manager undown pages once they went to print. til starting a family and my own business.

I worked in the pressroom, stuffing secI am so thankful that God put me in the tions and tying bundles of papers for deliv- paths of Randy Jones, Jim Sterling, BHeries. Later in my career, I would advance FP Publisher Jac Zimmerman and all the to “fly-girl,” catching the freshly printed rest of the BH-FP gang who raised me. and folded sections right off the press as Randy gave me an assignment in the quickly as they were printed. fall of 1975 that turned into my career.

The summer after graduation, when Jim Didn’t know it then. But forever grateneeded someone to fill in selling ads, he ful now. asked if I had an interest in advertising -30and would I want that job for a couple of Zimmermans and Libby I first got acquainted with Publisher Jac weeks.

Zimmerman when I was typesetting for I said yes.

I really didn’t know much about adver- the high school paper.

He was interested in knowing who I tising, but I knew I wanted to work — and I didn’t want to say no to anything that was, who were my parents and just what was I doing at the paper. would keep me a part of the paper.

I remember him saying, “OK. You can Armed with a list of ads to pick up and a yellow legal pad, I walked to the Bolivar stay.” And then flashing a fatherly grin and wink.

Square.

From then on, he would greet me with, Jester’s House of Glass wasn’t on my list, but I stopped anyway. I’m not sure “Are you still here?”

I loved hearing him peck out his colOby Jester had ever bought an ad since opening the store, but that summer, cel- umn. Manual typewriter. Yellow copy paper. ebrating an anniversary, he wanted one.

Jac also taught me to never take the I will never forget the shock and grin of disbelief on Jim’s face when I told him I top newspaper off a stack of papers. Real newspaper people always took the second had sold Oby an ad.

After pinch-hitting for those two weeks, from the stack, something I still do today Jim never moved me from the advertising and always think of Jac. Jac’s wife, Rheba, taught me much, as department. I learned all things advertising, from sales to layout to copywriting to well. She was business, golf and Republigraphics. I loved helping businesses share can politics.

If you worked hard and did your job their stories.

Linda’s lessons • I learned to count not only by inches and pages, but by column width, picas, leading and adding pages in multiples of fours. So, when in doubt — go sell more ads!

• I learned never to wear open-toed shoes or sandals when hurriedly working with sharp X-acto knives — just in case you lost your grip.

• I miss the forgone tools of the trade. Bluelined layout pages, finetipped turquoise blue Flair pens, the smell of hot wax and the odious scents of photo developing chemicals that lingered on your clothes prompting everyone outside the office to ask, “What’s that smell?”

• Always remember

to never scratch and/or touch anything or any body part you didn’t want to leave record of while working with ink-printed newsprint.

• Here, even 40-plus years later, just like Pavlov’s dog, I have an internal alarm that sounds when I talk about doing something on a Tuesday. That’s deadline day.

Don’t plan anything.

• There is not a longer space of time than that from a Wednesday publication day to the next Wednesday when you have omitted an ad or made a mistake on one which needs corrected.

• Never take a call from an advertiser on a Wednesday, especially a Wednesday morning.

right, you stayed in good standing with her. I made sure I did that. She was a jewel.

I answered a lot of phones at the BHFP early on and was trained very specifically by Rheba on the “ways and the ways not” to do that job.

Details. Always get the details. And the billing information.

On the September Tuesday evening after Labor Day 1983, when we were finishing the final pages for that week’s paper, I answered the phone.

The hurt I heard in the voice of our coworker Libby Elliott still affects me today.

Libby’s daughter and son-in-law, married the Saturday prior, had been killed in an auto accident while on their honeymoon. The family just received the news.

Several of us drove immediately to Libby’s house. We comforted. We cooked.

We cleaned.

That’s just what you did for family, and she was our newspaper mom.

And another story…

After returning from J-School, I helped with the first issues of the Bolivar Living Guide, Progress editions, and special

It’s too soon for them to be thinking about next week’s ad, but plenty of time for them to alert you to the mistake you made in their current one.

• Paula Clasby and I would get almost Christmas-morning giddy over the arrival of new clip art books.

• No one could smoke a cigarette longer without flipping the ashes than Gerry Keller while typing a Woods grocery ad.

• No one’s eyes could well-up with tears faster than Libby Elliott when talking about anything.

Anything.

• No one can sneeze as many times in a row as Jim Sterling.

editions for Southwest Baptist University and Citizens Memorial Hospital openings and anniversary.

I started the Bolivar H-FP Retail Club, initiated promotions and even published a Simon Bolivar coloring book complete with custom art by the illustrious Keith Robinson, featuring renderings of Simon Bolivar in the advertisers’ stores.

As a part of distributing that Simon Bolivar coloring book, a BHS senior dressed up and played the part of the Venezuelan general.

He traveled with me to area schools with a program on the history of Bolivar and Polk County, as well as talking about the importance of freedom and what freedom of the press meant.

Those were the early days of the Newspapers in Education program.

I still smile when I think about that truly funny, zealously industrious young man.

But I sure cried a lot that spring of 1984 when a tragic car accident claimed his too-short life.

I still miss Jimmy Shelenhamer.

Loved that boy.

Congratulations Bolivar HeraldFree Press on 150 years!

Celebrating 25 Years of Building Bolivar & Polk County!!

528866b

529252b

206 Killingsworth Ave. | Bolivar www.dgaltdonline.com

417-327-7465

NEWS

12C Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Congratulations

on being a part of the Bolivar and Polk County communities for over 150 years. We would like to thank all the families we have been privileged to help and serve in this our 110th year of business. May the Lord bless us to continue another 110 years of service to you and yours.

Front row: Shaelyn Jones, Dixie King, Earlene Pitts, Teresa Pitts, Dixie Barber, and Sonia Hosiner, Back row: Gary King, Greg Bird, Jake Diemer, Boston Diemer, Jason Diemer, Martin Hosiner, and Mike Pitts.

From the Owners and Staff of Pitts Chapel

of

528881b

Greenlawn Funeral

Homes

316 E. Broadway • Bolivar, MO Email: pittschapel1@yahoo.com | www.greenlawnfuneralhome.com (417) 326-5211

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

NEWS

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

13C

Newspaper crucial to family research

By Susan Sparks I volunteer at the Polk County Genealogical Society Research Facility on the square, and newspapers are a crucial part of historic and family research.

We use historical Polk County newspapers on microfilm at our facility on a daily basis, or, as I affectionately call them, “portals into the past.�

Newspapers of the 1800s and early 1900s carried mostly national news with just a small percentage of the paper being devoted to local news. I guess at that time, if you wanted local news you could go to the square or dry goods store and get an earful of the latest news being passed around. Think coffee shop or Facebook of the past!

As times changed and radios became available to the masses, the papers took a turn from national news, which was being covered on the radio to more local news.

The newspapers are a wealth of information on your ancestors. From obituaries to births to wedding anniversaries to local scandals and crimes, newspapers of the past can flesh out a family history or clear up the who, what, where or why of an event, just like they do today.

Many times, I load the microfilm newspaper looking for a particular incident and five hours later realize I have veered off my assigned task and have entered the Bolivar of 1895 where I learned about everything from local government concerns to who built a new house or who welcomed a new Republican into their home. The newspapers of the past, just like today, cover the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly. Newspapers add to our collective understanding of the world around us and, unlike TV, radio or the internet, they are memories that you can physically hang on to and pass to the next generation.

Thanks to our generous donors, we have Polk County newspapers on microfilm from the 1850s to current issues. We also have newspapers on microfilm from Cedar and Hickory counties and Springfield (Greene County).

Feel free to stop in at our facility on the southeast corner of the Bolivar square and take a trip into the past! We are totally volunteer-based and maintain the year-round hours of Mon., Wed., Fri. and Sat. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

529168b

529255b

528799b

Sample of the promotion mind of Sue Roweton.

NEWS

14C Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Former staff reflections: Stacey Hamby

W

hen I enrolled in the only journalism class offered at SBU in the early 1990s, I never imagined how that one decision to take a writing class — simply because I enjoyed writing — would set the course for a career in journalism and public relations.

It was my good fortune that the instructor of that class was Bolivar Herald-Free Press Editor Judy Kallenbach. In the years since, I’ve always liked to say that Judy spotted a natural talent in me and plucked me from the classroom and put me in the newsroom to teach me the skills needed to make it as a news writer.

She hired me as a part-time proofreader/editorial assistant and about a year later, I moved into the position of reporter — right out of college. That year — 1993 — I was excited to see my first-ever front page byline. It was the beginning of my realization that I love to tell stories. I love to hear the stories of people who lived events I’ve only read about in school; for example, I remember interviewing the late John Playter. He never before had talked about his time as part of the Bataan Death March during World War II until he wrote a book.

I was the one who had the privilege of meeting him and hearing his story firsthand. I was learning people’s stories matter. And I enjoyed writing those stories.

Not having grown up on a farm, I wasn’t quite sure how I would relate to being the agriculture section editor, but as the rookie at the BH-FP, that responsibility was mine, and I embraced it and enjoyed meet-

ing the people of Polk County and learning things that were new to me.

One of my most memorable assignments early on was to go take a photo of twin calves (or some other bovine anomaly … that’s not the part of the story I remember most).

Here I was dressed in my office slacks and black flats tippytoeing through some mud toting a camera to take a picture and get the scoop. I’m sure I made the farmer chuckle inwardly, but he was as gracious as Polk County folks are and never made me feel like I didn’t belong in that barnyard.

As a result of those responsibilities, such as being the ag editor, I learned that it is OK to ask questions about things I have no idea about — and listen to people describe what they are passionate about.

I carry that into every area of my life, asking questions and learning new things.

Also stuck with me to this day are Judy’s rules of editing; actually, I’m confident I don’t know any other way.

Thank you, Bolivar Herald-Free Press, for giving this 20-something college student a chance.

Because of you, I found what I loved doing and spent many more years writing.

Today, I remain in the communications field as a community relations specialist for Liberty Hospital in Kansas City’s northland area. I am blessed to have been a part of the BHFP family!

Stacey Hamby worked with the BH-FP from 1992 to 1996.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Former staff reflections:

Emily Pohlsander

W

hen I was a reporter for the Bolivar Herald-Free Press, I got to do something most journalists only dream could happen to them.

No, I didn’t accept a Pulitzer Prize.

I got to burst into the printer room of the paper and yell, “Stop the presses!”

Of course, I was the reason the presses had to be stopped to begin with.

I was in charge of putting together a special back-toschool section, filled with supply lists for all the Polk County elementary classrooms. I had written profiles about new administrators and included stories about making the transition from summer to fall easier on kids. And I had designed the page layout for the entire section myself.

After getting the final version approved, I sent

the file to be printed. But right before I saved the document, I accidentally dragged little thumbnail versions of the pages on the computer screen out of order.

What came hot off the presses was actually a hot mess of jumbled up pages, confusing to read because many of the supply lists jumped from one page to the next. The section read as if it had been shuffled like a deck of cards.

I don’t know how much it cost the newspaper to reprint the section. I do remember the mistake was caught early in the printing process. And I do remember I earned a $50 bonus that month for taking on that extra project. So maybe I didn’t do too much damage.

Or maybe my bonus was originally supposed to be a lot larger.

Former staff reflections: Charlotte Marsch

M

y fondest memories of working at the Bolivar Herald-Free Press are the people — from co-workers to you, the faithful readers.

Many of my co-workers at the BH-FP have moved on to other professions, but we still have a common bond of the press. I owe so much to former editor Judy Kallenbach and current publisher Dave Berry for their mentorship through the years.

Like many others who come to Bolivar to attend Southwest Baptist University, I stayed in Bolivar after graduation. Once I started working at the

newspaper during my senior year of college, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Bolivar.

I am grateful to the people of Bolivar and Polk County for welcoming me to the community and entrusting me to tell your stories. Working at the newspaper taught me the importance of community, especially a community working together for the betterment of all.

I will always consider it a privilege and an honor to be a small part of serving the people of Polk County through the pages of the BH-FP. Charlotte Marsch is a former editor of the BH-FP.

Our Family Has Been Proud To Serve Your Family For Over 42 Years!

Left to Right: Derek, Kenny, Molly, Bill & Zach Abel’s Hatchery and Turkey Farms/Feed Store opened in the 1940’s and added the feed mill in 1958. Bill started working for Abel’s Hatchery and Turkey Farms/Feed Store in 1964. He then purchased the feed business from Abel’s in 1976. His brother came to work for him several years later. Zach worked during summer time and became full time after graduating high school. Together, they bring several years of experience and knowledge. Bill’s Feed & Farm Supply appreciates all of our customers through the years.

529247b

528883b

BILL’S FEED & FARM SUPPLY 212 S. Market, Bolivar, MO • 326-2956

Stop By To Search For Your Treasure on the Historic Bolivar Square • Furniture • Home Decor

• Antiques • Vintage & More

Celebrating 20 Years!

529387b

117 S. Main • Bolivar, MO

417-777-1254 Call for appointment

529419b

4551 Fairway Dr. Bolivar 326-7456 siloridgecc.com

1D

and counting...

The Bolivar Free Press and the Gravely Family

By Bill Gravely with Ben Gravely As the Bolivar Herald-Free Press celebrates 150 years of service, we are pleased and honored that the Gravely family is a part of the history through ownership of the Bolivar Free Press for 75 years.

Our thoughts are also bittersweet as we consider it has been more than 50 years since we both were actively involved.

Our father, Marshall W. Gravely, managing editor of the Free Press, was killed in an auto accident between Bolivar and Springfield on October 15, 1965. Just prior to our dad’s death, the future of the Free Press Ben Gravely was at a crossroads — perhaps more likely near the end of the road.

The editor, Ralph Gravely, had developed serious health problems and retired in 1965. Marshall was left to be editor, manager, and printer working along with his wife, Ola, and several print shop employees.

Thirty-six years of working long hours had taken a toll Bill and Dad was Gravely looking for the finish line. He loved his 80-acre farm and encouraged his sons to raise dairy cattle and pursue farming. He longed to retire to the farm, enjoy his grandchildren, carpenter and milk cows. October 15, 1965, brought an end to those plans.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS/BEN GRAVELY

Seated at the keyboard of a Model 5 Linotype, Marshall W. Gravely (1911-1965) was the last Gravely managing editor of the Bolivar Free Press. The long run of the Gravely family at the helm of the paper ended after his death in a car wreck on Noble Hill. His older brother, Ralph, had already stepped away from involvement with the paper. They were sons of Joe W. Gravely, who started that family run in 1891.

Beginnings

The Bolivar Free Press came off the printing press for the first time on June 4, 1868. In the second edition of the paper, next to a re-print of the national Republican Party platform, an advertisement declared “the cheapest Radical newspaper in the state of Missouri. Prospectus of the Bolivar Free Press, a weekly paper devoted to general news, politics, local interests, agriculture, etc.”

The Free Press changed ownership several times until 1891 when Joseph W. Gravely assumed ownership with the assistance of T.H.B. Dunnegan, one of the founders, as well as J.B. Upton and C.H. Skinker. Gravely, known as Joe W., would remain the publisher and editor for 43 years until his death in 1934.

The Gravely family moved from Cedar County to Bolivar in 1875 after events involving the most famous member of the original settlers, Joseph Jackson Gravely.

Joseph, known as J.J., and his wife Martha had journeyed from Virginia to Cedar County in 1854. J.J. was a lawyer and school teacher when the Civil War began. He joined the Union Army, and eventually became a colonel in the Eighth Missouri State Militia.

After the war, he served as a member of the U.S. Congress, 1867-1869, and was elected Missouri Lieutenant Governor, in 1870. In April 1872, he adjourned the Senate and came home. He became extremely ill and died days later, on April 28.

Pictured are, from left, Ray Vickrey, Butch Wilson, Claude Blue and Joe McCracken.

J.J. was more a man of stature than of means, and his family struggled financially after his death. In November 1875, Martha moved to Bolivar to send her children to school. Leaving school at the age of 13 to earn a living, Joe W. learned the printing trade, first in the Free Press office, and later with a Springfield newspaper. He was engaged in newspaper work throughout his life except for the time he served as deputy county clerk from 1886 to 1890.

The first edition of the Bolivar Free Press under Joe W. Gravely ownership was March 5, 1891. The first editorial column was written by partner and noted lawyer, J.B. Upton. He stated that, in the case of the paper’s management, “in the discussion of political questions will be fearless as fair, and fair as fearless.” He also said that “Missouri, Polk County and Bolivar are the best and brightest state, county and city on the sphere terrestrial, and we are their apostle.”

Joe W. married Myrtle McDaniel and they had two sons, Francis Gravely (who died as an infant) and Ralph Gravely. After Joe W.’s first wife died, he married Bess Wolford

and they had three children: Ruthe, Jean and Marshall Gravely.

Ralph and Marshall were lifelong Bolivar residents.

Ralph graduated from Bolivar High School in 1915 and the University of Missouri in 1919. He returned to the Free Press as city editor and married Esther Hammontree.

Marshall graduated from Bolivar High School in 1929 and immediately began working in the print shop operations where he had helped since the age of 13. He married Ola Creed and they had three children; Martha, Ben and Bill.

Marshall was print shop manager for many years, eventually becoming managing editor. He was a self-taught Linotype operator, mechanic by necessity, press operator, typist (with 2-3 fingers) copy editor, advertisement salesman — whatever needed to be done.

Ralph Gravely devoted over 50 years as a journalist and was a fine editor. He was also eccentric and a hoarder. It was very difficult walking around his office area piled high with stacks. But Uncle Ralph was a country newspaperman devoted to the written word and he

contributed greatly to local news.

Ben recalls working on a school writing assignment while at the Free Press office. He asked Uncle Ralph how to spell a certain word.

With a beckoning finger, Ralph motioned Ben over to his desk, and, pointing to a large dictionary, said “look it up.” Ralph was the editor of the Free Press for 46 years, retiring in 1965 and dying in 1973.

Tour of the office

Somewhere within the confines of Douglas, Haun and Heideman law offices are the walls that surrounded the Bolivar Free Press.

The front office, which faced West Broadway, was a plain area with two desks, two safes and an address machine for managing subscription mailings. The next area was another office for the editor and bookkeeper containing roll top desks and classic manual typewriters. High on shelves were bound volumes of all the editions of the Free Press.

Further on, the room opened up to contain a Babcock Alliance flatbed printing press with folding machine. Newsprint was fed

onto the press drum and across the inked type on the flatbed to create the printed pages. Also in the print room were three hand-fed Chandler-Price job presses which were used for a variety of small printing jobs (funeral folders, auction sale bills, invitations, business forms, programs, election ballots, legal forms, etc.). An additional item was a huge paper cutter that looked like a guillotine.

Near the end of his life, Marshall bought a Little Giant which was a fully automated job press. He hated it. The press malfunctioned far more than anticipated and Dad decided he preferred the old hand-fed presses.

The next area to the back of the building was the composition room containing three Linotypes used for creating the bulk of the news lines for both the newspaper and other printed materials.

The first Linotype purchased in 1925 was described in the 60th birthday edition as a “marvel of mechanical perfection.” The Linotype consisted of a keyboard, letter matrix magazines, and pot of very hot metal. A plunger forced “the melted metal against the crevices of the matrices, forming the raised face on the line of type, which is ejected onto a galley, ready to print.”

Also in the composition room were file drawers filled with block letters of many different sizes for headlines and display advertisements. This room also included a melting pot to produce molten metal used in the Linotype machines for the print type.

There were also composition tables where type was locked in page-size forms to be placed on the press.

Along with being editors of the Free Press, both Ralph and Marshall could perform back shop duties as needed. Ben remembers seeing both brothers setting lines of type by hand at speeds that only came from years of experience.

See Gravely, Page 2D

NEWS

2DBolivar Herald-Free Press

Gravely From Page 1D The distinct sensory memories of the Free Press office were of ink, noise and dust! Ink was everywhere. One had to walk carefully through the shop to keep from getting smeared with ink, regardless of efforts to clean equipment.

The noise, especially on press night, was very loud, but there was a rhythm to the sound of the press as the drum revolved.

I’m not sure how the folks in the Douglas law office tolerated the noise if the press was running during the day. I guess they got used to it.

During the week there were different noises. The job presses had a rhythmic clackety clack and the Linotypes were complex machines that whirred, jingled and clicked. The newsprint created lots of dust from paper trimmings and it seemed like there was a coat of dust most of the time.

Marshall also hired high school and college students. On a few occasions, employment was provided for people who were between jobs and in need.

The “hot type” newspaper trade was not the easiest to learn, so Marshall provided the on-the-job training required. This was how he had learned the business from the age of 13.

In the later years, each family member got in on the work.

Marshall was primarily the mechanic keeping machinery running properly to avoid major breakdowns, but he also spent many nights feeding supplement sheets into the press as well. After Ben and I finished milking the cows, we would come to town to help.

Ben was the pressman for the final run over the last three years of the Free Press. This job required carrying newsprint sheets up to a feeding platform to be fanned out and then more than 3,000 sheets were fed one at a time onto the press drum. I would catch the papers as they came off the folder, help Mom

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Random reminiscence

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/BEN GRAVELY

A young Ralph Gravely, who was the older half of the second generation of the Gravely family at the helm of the Free Press from 1891 to 1966. Ralph was a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and a long-time editor of the paper, also serving as postmaster during the Eisenhower administration.

stamp addresses on each paper and then bundle stacks according to address for delivery to the post office.

Our sister Martha married Cecil Byrd in 1959 and both were school teachers. They eventually moved to Springfield and it was to there that Mom and Dad were

traveling on Oct. 15, 1965 to see their grandchildren, David and Becky.

While her main role was as wife and mother, Martha filled a vital role by helping with writing and editing in the days following the accident. She died in 2013 after a teaching career in reading.

Here are some moments from our memories of the Free Press Days: • Ben remembers going with Dad to Kansas City in 1953 for the purchase of a Linotype. While there, the two of them went to the semifinals of the NAIA basketball championship when SMS (now MSU) won an overtime game with only four players on the floor. Not a newspaper moment, but definitely a father-son moment.

• Ben also remembers spending the night with Dad at a tool shop in Springfield where a craftsman created a gear for the old Babcock press. Ben watched intently and marveled at the man’s ability to create the part using broken pieces as a guide.

• I remember going to the store to get juice for Dad when he got very sick and dehydrated on a press day. He ended up in the hospital with mononucleosis. It seems like the only time we ever saw him miss work for illness.

• Both Ben and I recall when office cash receipts were brought home with the intent of depositing the next day. Somehow the money ended up in a trash burn barrel and, upon realizing what had happened, Mom frantically stamped out the fire. Polk County Bank personnel helped sort through the remains, and the Federal Treasury reimbursed most of the money.

• When I was a student at South Ward Elementary, I remember a time when the music class was singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

I raised my hand and protested to the music teacher, “Why don’t we ever sing Hark the Free Press Angels Sing?” This became a favorite family story.

• One night when I was playing baseball for the Fraser Yankees, I got a hit but the base runner in front of me was thrown out at third. I was in tears thinking my hit wouldn’t count. My sister couldn’t persuade me otherwise and finally took me to the Free Press office. It was a press night, but my Dad stopped what he was doing and finally convinced me that my base hit would count in the box score. A father’s job didn’t stop, even on press night.

• Every week we would buy a Sunday morning St. Louis Post Dispatch at Mahaffey’s Drug Store so Dad could read how the big boys did journalism.

• During my senior year in high school, Dad let me do sports reporting. My story (with byline) of the Bolivar-Waynesville football game was across the page from his obituary in the October 21, 1965 edition of the Free Press.

• In 1952, after 20 years of Democrat presidents, the Free Press had a very large full-page headline, EISENHOWER ELECTED BY RECORD VOTE. I was four, so I only know what I read in the newspaper!

• Besides being good with his hands, our Dad was a musician and singer in his day. He was a coronet player for the Bolivar Boys Band that traveled to Chicago. Dad also could sing and I fondly remember bouncing along in the pickup truck harmonizing on a hymn. He had a great record collection that I still have. He loved music.

The Gravely family wasn’t perfect during the Free Press days. There are probably people who might tell a different story than ours. We only know that, through it all, the Gravely family was a Bolivar family. Our dad and uncle and grandfather were dedicated to providing journalism’s Who, What, When, Where and sometimes Why to the best of their ability.

They were devoted to “The Old Home Paper of Polk County.” Established in 1868 — Still on the Job. Happy Anniversary, Bolivar Herald-Free Press!

Kevin Krueger opened Capstone Insurors, Inc. in June of 1997. A one-man agency with only himself and a receptionist, Kevin’s dedication to hard work and community service saw the business grow quickly and it hasn’t stopped. In 2004 Kevin began a school consortium that has now grown to 45 Missouri School Districts.

He began in a small office behind Woods Express, and is now located at 1053 E. Broadway Street. In addition, the staff of 1 has now grown to 14 employees. Capstone Insurors prides themselves on being a full-service insurance agency, with a growing Property & Casualty team, as well as a Life & Health division. They recently added 2 agents, with one located in Rogersville and one located in Jefferson City. The agency is service minded and work hard to make sure the customers know they are the priority.

Capstone Insurors is dedicated to the Bolivar community. You will often see them serving at churches, watching their children compete in area sports teams, refereeing basketball games, serving on important boards and committees, coaching and going on mission trips. They enjoy living and working in the community that has given their families so much.

Capstone Insurors wants to congratulate the Bolivar Herald-Free Press on 150 years, thank you for your service and dedication to Bolivar!

528876b

417.777.7570 • 888.201.3249 1053 E. Broadway, Bolivar, MO www.capstoneins.com

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

NEWS

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

3D

Former staff reflections: Francis Skalicky

L

ike everyone else who grew up Press sports reporter. I was gaining in Polk County, making the Bo- confidence with each article I wrote, livar Herald-Free Press’ but when Judy asked if I’d be pages was always a big event interested in taking over her for our family, and I have column for a week to recount a collection of clippings to what farm life had been like prove it. while my parents vacationed, However, the article that my pride surged to an astrowill stand forever above my nomical level. other Herald-Free Press memIt was the equivalent of Stan ories is the time my words Skalicky Musial in his prime going to the filled the space of Judy Kallenteam’s newest rookie and saybach’s highly popular “Borgassmord” ing, “Why don’t you bat for me today?” column.

Newspaper editions come and go It was 1982, and I was spending the but this article — and the feeling of summer between my sophomore and pride and achievement that went with junior college years as a Herald-Free it — has stayed with me to this day.

T

Former staff reflections: Linda Roller

529233b

he four years I spent working at the Bolivar Herald-Free Press were among my happiest (and sometimes most harrowing). No two days were ever the same, and I learned many lessons that have continued to inform the way I live my life: • People hear (read) what they want to hear (read). As a reporter, it was my responsibility to relate both sides of an issue without bias, even if — or maybe I should say, especially if — I actually did feel a personal prejudice. One of my “beats” at BH-FP was covering education topics, which included reporting on all of the Bolivar R-1 school board meetings.

Raised in a family of educators, I hold very strong opinions about education, so sometimes that wasn’t always easy. One week I reported on an especially contentious board meeting, and I had to work very hard to present an unbiased view. For a few days after the story was published, I ducked around corners, my eyes cast

downward, fearing I might be in trouble with folks on one (or both) sides of the issue. What a relief when people from both contingencies called to thank me for writing the story showing their side in a favorable light!

• Deadlines are a necessary evil. The hours before a paper went to press were almost always “exciting.”

The staff would frequently proofread and lay out and re-proofread and re-lay out, only to spot an error in a story, an ad or even a headline, only minutes before the presses were due to roll. Without those deadlines, I might never have made a phone call or stopped sharpening my pencils and sat down to write.

• Measure twice, cut once. Randy Jones and I, both former English teachers at Bolivar High School, once misspelled the word “persistence” — we spelled it with an “a” — in a graphic that appeared on the front page of the paper. As a reminder of how important it is to proofread carefully (and not to play around with content),

there was a clipping of a photo of a huge snowstorm pinned to our bulletin board in the lay-out room. The cutline to that photo read something like, “A $@#&-load of snow fell on Chicago today.” Someone’s head rolled for that one, I bet. Fortunately, Randy and I were allowed to keep ours.

• A compliment might be disguised as an insult (or vice versa). I’m not really a photographer, but I was frequently sent to take pictures at area events if no one else was available. One year, I happened to be in the right place at the right time with my cheap-o camera poised at just the right angle — it was a miracle, I tell you — to take a photo of Cindy Hood milking a cow at Country Days, which won first place in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. When I received the award, Dave Berry told me, “You finally took a decent picture.” I decided to take that comment as high praise from Mr. Berry, if you know what I mean.

• No matter what anyone says, rural Missouri towns (like Bolivar, Pleasant Hope, Halfway, Fair Play, Humansville) are populated by the best people in the world. People on the outside can call Missouri a “fly-over state” or whatever they want, but I know for a fact that, whether or

not they agree on sports teams or religion or politics or whatever, the people who live in Polk County are among the kindest, most hard-working, most intelligent, most interesting people you’ll find anywhere.

The people in our community made my job as a journalist worthwhile. Writing the feature stories — about people in every occupation from farriers to entrepreneurs to apple growers to designers of Arabian horse costumes — was my favorite assignment.

• No matter what anyone says, the best people in the world are members of the media. Among my favorite memories of working at BH-FP was the (mostly) goodnatured banter among the inhabitants of the desks in the editorial office or at our weekly editorial meetings, as we scrambled to write articles for the week. It was always fun to share our “war” stories, especially those unsuitable for print.

Debbie, Sue, Linda B., Linda S., Linda F., Renee, Dave, Ashley, Judy, Bill, Clarice, Angie, Carrie, Jamie, Libby, Jim, Randy and many others at BH-FP made me look forward to going to “work” every day, and I mean that sincerely. I’m proud to have been a part of such a high-quality organization.

NEWS

4D Bolivar Herald-Free Press

The Printing Life

Back in 1952, fresh out of Mayo Clinic where he spent 100 days, 40-year-old Kenneth Sterling was looking for a way to help his young family survive. He was told he had a year to live.

He turned, as many of us would do, to his extended family. He had a dozen brothers and sisters who mostly all lived in or around Bolivar. His parents still lived in Bolivar.

He needed to find something to do because he could no longer go back to managing a vegetable packing plant, which he had done in Boston and Chicago.

The answer to what he could do came from Bob Pufahl, who lived in Bolivar.

He suggested the town needed a print shop. The two newspapers both did job printing, but they were far too busy with the labors of producing weekly newspapers to spend much time getting envelopes and other business printing done.

So, Dad found a place near our home in south Chicago, worked for free for about six weeks and learned the basics of a new kind of printing. Offset printing.

Meanwhile two of his brothers, Carl and Rodney, who ran a construction company in Bolivar, went to work building a small building

that would be his print shop. Kenneth bought a used press and a copy camera, loaded them onto a small trailer and headed out for the Ozarks.

Once here, Dad was fortunate to make money printing for the new Lucky 13 Drive-In Theatre, Southwest Electric and Southwest Baptist College. These were the days before copying machines, but he could print things quickly and offered overnight service with pickup and delivery.

He joined Kiwanis and was soon printing the Junior Livestock Show Catalog.

Kenneth had a wife, Mary, who was from Michigan. He had moved to Michigan when he was 13 to join some of his brothers and sisters who had gone north looking for jobs.

He carried water for the Wayne County road department, and he got on with Ford helping build the new Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village when he was 17.

Later, he worked in the soybean experimental labs, and he took classes in night school to make up ground from his eighth-grade education.

He was a pioneer in the plastics industry and worked on the development of the rear gun turrets on the big planes produced at the Willow Run Bomber Plant.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Jim and Ken Sterling

Bad legs and feet kept him out of the service in World War II, despite trying to sign up on more than one occasion. But when the war ended, and the other boys came home, he felt his chances were slim staying on any kind of fast track at Ford.

After seven years in the vegetable processing industry, where he not only ran the plants, but experimented with ready-made salads and pre-cut French fries (products that would not come to the market for another 25 years), he had to find something new to do and get his family set up for the future after he was gone.

1988 brought the first real estate closings at Shell Title and this service continues today. In the 1990s the Company began using a customized computer network program. The program enables us to do everything by computer. This program has made our work more efficient and as always, we will continue to stand behind our work. In August 2012 the day to day operation moved from the Bolivar square to 818 S. Springfield Avenue.

529380b

CENTURY 21 PETERSON REAL ESTATE

Throughout the years, Shell Title Company has made it our priority to produce quality work and make our customers #1.

Shell Title Co.

Each office independently owned & operated

See our listings at: century21peterson.net • Email: century21peterson@century21.com

417-326-4331 • 818 S. Springfield, Bolivar email: bpearson@shelltitle.com

1000 S. Springfield Ave. • Bolivar • 417-326-3900

Multiple Listing Service

529381b

ness into office supplies and sporting goods. He sold Johnson outboard motors and boats.

I could say I got into the newspaper business through the printing business, but it was actually an English teacher, Miss Margaret Chiles, who encouraged me to go to the Missouri School of Journalism. I owe a lot to that wonderful woman who put up with me for two years of high school classes. And to Bill Wasson, our principal and superintendent, who suggested I’d better learn to type if I wanted to be a journalist.

See Printing, Page 5D

Proud To Be Your Realtors Since 1992

We have come a long way since the 1800’s. In June of 1983 the owners of Shell Title Company took possession of the100 year old business. At that time the Company purchased the only two complete sets of tract books for Polk County, Missouri going back to the original entries from the government.

This move provided modern facilities and more convenient parking for our customers. Today using only a top of the line computer system, we are able to be compliant with rules and regulations of the banking and title industries. Shell Title Company writes with First American Title and Agents National Title of Missouri.

It was in his print shop, Ozark Offset, that he got his start. He took time away to go fishing when he could, and suddenly the one year he had to survive turned into more.

Within seven years he was president of Bolivar Kiwanis, Bolivar Economic Development and the Land of Lakes Association which was promoting the new lakes coming at Pomme de Terre, Stockton and Kaysinger Bluff, which became Truman Lake.

He fed, clothed and housed his wife and children (my sister Diane and me). He helped us get through college and he expanded his busi-

REALTOR

®

MLS

®

EQUAL HOUSING

OPPORTUNITY

528872b

By Jim Sterling, Publisher Emeritus

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

NEWS Bolivar Herald-Free Press 5D Former staff reflections: Linda Fuerst

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

I

was lurking between parked cars outside the Benton County Courthouse waiting to snap a photo of a convicted murderer being led across the street from jail to his sentencing hearing, and a thought popped into my mind: It would never in a million years have occurred to my mother that this was the sort of thing her daughter would be doing. She would probably not have approved.

Honestly, if I had known that a person without a journalism degree from MU could work at the newspaper, I would have been knocking on the office door a lot sooner. Writing for the BH-FP felt like the job I was born to do.

From 1997 to 2007, I covered city and county government, crime, law enforcement and the courts. I went to city hall or the courthouse, the sheriff’s office or the police department, and I pestered officials with questions on your behalf. Then I came back to the office and wrote about the answers. What could be a better job than that?

Sometimes at a criminal trial, I would be the only person in the courtroom not participating in the case. Instead of saying “All rise” when the judge entered, the bailiff once glanced around the empty room and said, “Hey, Linda, stand up.” I was there to see and hear what happened and relay the news to you. I felt the responsibility, and I pushed myself to do it right.

Not everyone appreciated total accuracy in news reporting. After the court news was published each week, there might be a phone call from someone who did not think it was necessary to print the names of people who had been arrested. I remember the call from a young single mother who said she was trying to raise three kids on her own, and it was hard enough without me making her life harder by putting her name in the paper. I told her she probably should have thought of that before she sold meth to an undercover cop.

My favorite news reporting tale involves a jury trial that was moved to California, Missouri, on a change of venue. Several people had been charged with murder in this case, but all the others had pleaded guilty without a trial. The last defendant refused to plead,

Printing From Page 4D A couple of years out of college, in late 1967, I got a chance to come back to Bolivar. Ralph and Clessa Stufflebam had just locked up ownership of the three newspapers operating in Bolivar. The Stufflebam family had owned the Herald most of the time going back to 1900 and had just bought out the owners of the Free Press and the Polk County Times.

I took over the management of the new Herald-Free Press and soon became a junior partner with Jac and Rheba Zimmerman when they bought the newspaper in 1968. I would buy the newspaper from the Zimmerman estate 11 years later.

We tended to the newspaper business and didn’t try to be in the job printing business. I had a job shop at Buffalo after buying the Reflex, but the only printing we did in Bolivar besides our own newspaper was other area papers or jobs that would naturally run on our newspaper web presses. We formed Missouri ColorWeb Printing as our printing division.

And it was a long way from the 11x14 sheet fed Multi-lith offset press that my dad brought to town. So, I never followed in his footsteps and became a printer. But I did know a little about putting ads and newspaper pages together. And I did understand how offset worked. But, for cer-

tain, I did not want to compete with my father or any other job printer in Bolivar.

And his company, Ozark Offset, still continues today in Bolivar under different ownership, the Coopers.

I got in 31 years in Bolivar running the newspaper, some of it absentee while engaged in other ventures. It was the best time ever to be in the newspaper business.

Since then, I’ve been in Columbia, back at the School of Journalism, teaching young people how to sell advertising and how to manage a community newspaper.

But I’m retired now and still learning the ropes of getting up and not going to work.

It all started because Bob Pufahl told my dad Bolivar needed a print shop — and because my father lived 40 more years instead of one.

We attribute the latter to drinking Bolivar water.

Jim Sterling lived in Bolivar for the better part of a pretty good life still in progress. He had the unique view of looking at the world from inside out of the printed page. He grew up in Bolivar, he was there as a young adult when the Bolivar newspapers were merged together, and now today, after being gone for nearly 20 years, he acknowledges that his heart is still in Polk County.

and I convinced Dave Berry and Judy Kallenbach that this trial was our only chance to hear what actually happened on the night of the murder. So they let me attend.

It was about 5 p.m. on a winter day when the jury retired to begin deliberations, and it had already started snowing heavily. I decided to head back to Bolivar and make a phone call the next day to learn the verdict. But the weather got worse by the minute, and traffic on the highway was barely crawling. I made it as far as Sedalia before I gave up and found a motel.

Those were the days before I had a cell phone or a laptop computer, and there was no internet at the motel. I spent half a day snowed in at the motel, writing my story in longhand on the back of scrap paper, motel stationery, anything I could find. I edited by crossing out words, drawing arrows, writing between the lines and renumbering pages.

When I was finished, I thoroughly confused the motel desk clerk by asking her to fax these raggedy-looking scribbles to the BH-FP office, where someone else had to decipher and type them.

But the story arrived before deadline, and it made the front page. We got the story to the readers.

That’s what I felt like we were doing the whole time I worked at the paper: We were getting the story to the people who needed to see it. No other job I ever had made that much difference in the world.

A murder victim’s mother showed me the scrapbook she had made with all the stories I had written about the death of her son and the trials and sentencing of the people who had participated in beating the life out of him. She said she planned to take the scrapbook with her when she attended their parole hearings 20 years in the future. Her goal was to keep her son’s killers in prison for as long as possible, and she planned to use my words to help her do it.

That’s just profoundly humbling to me; I can’t accurately express how that makes me feel. I’m glad Dave and Judy gave me the chance to see the things I saw and to write the things I wrote. I think accurate news makes a difference. That’s what working for the BH-FP taught me.

We Are Proud To Have Served Many Generations of Many Families in Polk County and the Surrounding Area Since 1992!!

We Couldn’t Ask For A Greater Community To Serve!

Congratulations to the Bolivar Herald-Free Press on 150 Years!

We’re all in this together.

State Farm® has a long tradition of being there. That’s one reason why I’m proud to support Bolivar Herald-Free Press.

Here to help life to right.®

Respected ~ Recognized ~ Recommended email: hooverre@windstream.net • www.hoover-realestate.com

Multiple Listing Service

Multiple Listing Service

®

MLS

529232b

REALTOR

®

®

MLS

®

3520 S. SPRINGFIELD AVE., BOLIVAR

417-326-4270 or Toll Free 888-420-5988

528873b

REALTOR

EQUAL HOUSING

OPPORTUNITY

NEWS

6D Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Former staff reflections: Jim Hamilton

I

began my community journalism career at the Bolivar Herald-Free Press at the onset of America’s bicentennial celebration in January 1976 — possibly one of the most exhilarating times in history to be a country newspaper editor.

Communities in every corner and township of Polk County were engaged in a year-long celebration of both their local and national heritages. Old Glory and Bicentennial flags were raised in ceremonies from Pleasant Hope to Humansville.

Exuberant high school bands led parades of antique cars, tractors and horse-drawn wagons down Main Streets. Orators elicited rousing applause from patriotic crowds.

Hometown fiddle players and banjo pickers in their best overalls offered their most reverent renditions of “America,“ while the tantalizing aroma of woodsmoke and barbecue hung in the Saturday evening air over Main Streets and town squares throughout the Ozarks.

It was, from January to December, a celebration of all that is great and good about our nation and the rich heritage shared by every citizen and community. It was a year of unabashed pride in simply being an American and recognizing the men and women who had brought us through our first 200 years.

It was a great time for a young community journalist to discover the heart and soul of the folk he was to write about for the next 42 years, and hopefully for many more to come.

Jim Hamilton was the BH-FP news editor from 1976 to 1977.

O

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Gravely family reflections:

By John Palen

ne autumn early in the last century, my grandmother Bess Gravely took her children from Bolivar to Springfield on the train to visit relatives. It was an extended visit, and while there they received a letter from my grandfather, Joe W. Gravely.

It was perhaps typical of letters written by devoted husbands and fathers to absent families: Humorous news of this and that around the neighborhood and wistful expressions of loneliness.

This letter was different, though, in that it was a meticulously laid out and hand-lettered miniature newspaper page, in ink. At the top was a nameplate well known at the time to Polk County residents: “The Bolivar Free Press/A Republican Party Paper and Chronicler of Local Events.”

It must have taken my grandfather hours to complete it. I don’t know where it is now, but I remember it included a story about the man who delivered coal to the Gravelys’ two-story brick home on Broadway, and a third-person account of how much Free Press Publisher Joe W. Gravely looked forward to seeing his wife and children again.

My grandfather died before I was born, so I knew him only through the memories of others — and by that single letter-size sheet of paper, brown with age.

My mother remembers him sitting in the dark for hours after supper, listening to her practice piano in the next room. She described him as a kind and loving father, and she adored him.

We moved from Bolivar to Lamar in 1948 when I was 6 years old, but I have early memories of the Free Press office a block west of the square. I was there often when my mother would stop to see her brothers, Ralph and Marshall “Pete.”

Uncle Ralph was the editor. His office at the front was a jumble of papers, pencils, heavy black typewriters and telephones, dog-eared dictionaries, phone books, maps and other tools needed to inform the people of Polk County about their community.

Farther back in the building, large bound copies of the Free Press and stacks of recent editions crowded a narrow passage from floor to ceiling. The passage opened out on a machine that seemed to me at the

time to be gigantic — the rotary press on which the paper was printed.

Even farther back, Uncle Pete would be at work in a noisy, cluttered room setting copy on a Linotype.

There was constant loud clatter as the brass matrices for individual letters fell from a magazine down a channel to be assembled into a “line of type.”

Then, they were lifted mechanically to a springloaded channel that carried them to the casting box.

Once the slug was cast, a mechanical arm lifted them to another channel that distributed them back into the magazine, ready to be used again.

Amazing, I thought.

My first work in a newspaper was carrying lead “pigs” in from the alley to be hung on a chain and fed into the pot of molten lead that my uncle would turn into words. My pay was a dime.

Putting out a local weekly was hard work. Once a week, the two of them would work all day, all night and into the next morning to get the paper out on time.

Uncle Ralph was also Bolivar’s postmaster. Uncle Pete and his family farmed dairy cattle in the country. There was a spring house on the farm where the milk was cooled, and there were wooded hills behind the neat single-story house. Somehow in such a busy life, Uncle Pete found the time and had the skill to refloor the house with hardwood.

There was also a collie named SHRDLU — the letters Linotype operators cast with a single quick finger-stroke down the left side. These stood out and alerted the compositor that the previous line contained a typo and should be pitched and replaced with a corrected line. Hence, “mistake.” Uncle Pete had a dry wit.

Years later, when I came to the point of choosing a way to make a living, I chose journalism. My time in the Free Press office with my uncles had made it a familiar pursuit. I saw that it was also one that helped the community. They devoted most of their lives to it, I thought, so it must be worth doing. They were right.

John Palen worked as a reporter, copy editor, city editor and editor at daily newspapers in Missouri, Illinois and Michigan. He earned a Ph.D. at Michigan State University and taught journalism for 26 years at Central Michigan University. Retired since 2009, he lives in Urbana, Illinois.

Honored To Be Serving You Since 1939 Southwest Electric Cooperative was founded in October 1939 by local folks who established it as a not-for-profit, private electric cooperative owned by those it serves - the members. Today, SWEC continues this same business model to provide an improved quality of life through electricity throughout eleven counties in southwest Missouri totaling more than 41,000 services.

Bolivar

Bluegrass

I

n 1970 we opened our doors to the community of Bolivar. Since then our family, our business, and our ties to the community have grown tremendously. We are so grateful to have spent the last 48 years serving the people in this area.

Preston

J7

SOUTHWEST ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

facebook.com/ccfarmandhome

529169b

528877b

C & C – Bolivar 3260 S. Springfield Ave. Bolivar, MO 65613 417-326-2436

“Owned By Those We Serve” 800-262-0326 ~ www.swec.coop

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

NEWS

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

7D

Gravely stopped the revolving door, made the Free Press sustainable Not bad for a school dropout at age 13 who saw what he wanted and went after it

By Dave Berry It was from humble beginnings in formal education that Joe W. Gravely stopped the revolving door ownership of what still stands today as the oldest continuous business in Polk County.

Gravely was the son of Col. J.J. Gravely, a former Missouri lieutenant governor.

In 1879, the family moved to Bolivar from Stockton, where Joe was born in 1866.

Joe would soon leave school at the age of 13 to learn the newspaper business.

He started with the Free Press, learning the mechanical side of the business, and eventually moved to Springfield to learn more about the trade.

The Free Press was established two years after his birth, at a time when Polk County had been without a newspaper for a couple of years. The Civil War had taken its toll on a lot of businesses in the preceding years, with newspapers not being immune to the carnage.

The need for the paper arose as a result of property foreclosures and the absence of a legal publication in the county. Lawyers, as one might imagine because of the legal notices, were among the first investors, and more lawyers would be involved in subsequent ownerships.

The original owners were out before the end of the same year it started. The next owner made it seven years, the next three years, the next just a few months and the next four years. It was during the latter ownership that Gravely joined the paper at age 13. But he soon moved on and that owner did as well, selling to an ownership that lasted eight years.

It was then, on March 5, 1891, that the still young Gravely, age 25, published the first edition under his ownership. He took on an attorney partner in the early going, but it would be Gravely remaining at the helm for the next 43 years, until his death

of a heart attack in his sleep Oct. 24, 1934.

Much credit is often given to one particular participant in the startup of the paper in 1868. T.H.B. Dunnegan was in law enforcement at the time and would hold other public offices later, before eventually becoming a banker.

Neither he nor his partners did much more than just start the Free Press before it was handed off to others to keep it alive, and it wasn’t until a man who had left school at age 13 to learn the business, in an era of handset type, took control that the paper finally experienced sustainable success.

However, Dunnegan did have a hand in helping get Gravely established.

Gravely faced immense competition every year he was in business. Only one other publication, the other half of the name still today, was continuous in opposition, but several others came and went along the way.

The Free Press carried the Republican brand, the majority position in Polk County from its origin through today. But nothing could be taken for granted up against the Democrat flag. There was much sniping between the two from the startup of the Herald three years after the Free Press began. The Herald’s editors picked most of those fights from the minority position, and the Free Press was credited with mostly ignoring the jabs.

But it was in 1899, during Joe Gravely’s early days at the Free Press, that the Herald’s feisty editor, C.D. Lyman, touched a nerve with a published comment about the Free Press. And it invoked this Free Press response: “The editor of the Free Press very much dislikes to be personal and is never guilty of saying harsh things of anyone who can lay claim to be a gentleman. But we have See Gravely, Page 8D

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/BEN GRAVELY

Joe W. Gravely, who quit school at age 13 to learn the printing trade during hard times. He started at the Bolivar Free Press and then worked for a Springfield newspaper. He purchased the Free Press in 1891, ending its revolving door of ownership. Followed by two sons, the Gravely family maintained ownership into 1966.

OUR HISTORY The Butler Funeral Home has been in Bolivar, serving the families of Polk and the surrounding counties since 1958. Formerly the White & Erwin and Erwin & Blue Funeral Home, Paul D. Butler and Mary Lou Butler opened their doors in August 1958. Joining the business in 1969 was their son R. Stephen Butler and later

by Stephen’s wife Jarolyn, in 1989. Mary Lou Butler passed away Nov. 6, 1988 & Paul D. Butler passed away on June 30, 2007.

We are just as committed in showing you that Butler Funeral Home is a name you can trust in the future as we have for the past 60 years.

IN MEMORY OF R. STEPHEN BUTLER 1947 - 2017 529236b

Bolivar, MO • 326-5233 Humansville, MO • 754-2215 www.butlerfuneralhome.com

528046b

NEWS

8D Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Gravely From Page 7D stood the virulent, bitter personal calumnies of the Herald for the past twenty-five years and can stand them for a century longer. The only answer we have ... is that Mr. C.D. Lyman ... is a dirty, malicious and senseless liar and lacks the courage to resent our calling him such.”

Yet, when Lyman was ousted from his position a mere six weeks later, presumably because of a number of controversial things he had published, the Free Press published kind remarks about him and the newspaper he had headed for 25 years.

The long Stufflebam era of the Herald would begin five years later, and the civility model already in place at the Free Press seemed to be more in style between the two publications thereafter, despite competition for subscriptions and advertising.

In fact, one of Joe Gravely’s grandsons, Ben Gravely, still of Bolivar, remembers firsthand that when Frank Stufflebam died in 1951, the Free Press staff assisted in getting that week’s edition of the Herald published.

Ben also witnessed the two papers, and other neighboring publishers, frequently relying on each other for spare parts for equipment. The suppliers were too far away to be as timely with delivery of new parts.

“There was a healthy respect between us,” Ben Gravely, a valuable volunteer at the Polk County Genealogical Society, says.

Indeed, it did go both ways. The Free Press acknowledged on its front page the offers of assistance from the Herald and other area papers upon the death of Joe in 1934.

It would be a Stufflebam heir who stepped forward to combine the two names with yet a third publication in late 1967. The name Bolivar Herald-Free Press carries on now as the oldest established business in the county.

But no one deserves more credit for the newspaper surviving for 150 years than Joe Gravely, the first publisher to stop the revolving door of ownership, the first to make the Free Press sustainable.

Much credit goes to Jim Sterling, one of three consecutive BH-FP inductees in the Missouri Newspaper Hall of Fame, for the research involved in this article. It was research conducted while he was a student in the University of Missouri School of Journalism for his term paper in the History and Principles of Journalism class in 1963. His focus was on the history of the Bolivar Free Press. Martin L. McCullen’s term paper for the same class four years earlier, focusing on the Herald, also was utilized for this summary.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Former staff reflections: Linda McBride M

y stint of 10 years at the Bolivar Herald-Free Press provided a time of change, growth and learning. It also was a time of fun.

It all began in 1972, when gas pumped for 55 cents per gallon. Wrangler jeans retailed at $10 a pair and hamburger sold for 98 cents per pound. The average price of a home listed at $7,374, while the average income paid $11,800. “The Godfather” played on the big screen, and Elton John, The Eagles and Michael Jackson sang pop songs.

That year, Jim Sterling, general manager, offered me a summer internship at the BHFP. I was thrilled!!

Change could be found everywhere.

The community was growing. Southwest Baptist was expanding. The newspaper was developing. I was entering the last year of my collegiate career.

That internship exposed me to a world of writing, reporting and producing an actual newspaper, just what I needed as preparation for my planned professional career. That summer provided a taste of the real world of newspapering. I loved it! It hooked me quickly, reeled me in, and steadfastly locked me into the profession. I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do. The career I wanted to pursue.

The People and Living Section was my responsibility. I loved tracking down and interviewing interesting people to feature each week. Everyone has a unique story, and I wanted to discover that story. I also reported general news, covered school board meetings and contacted the county schools.

Another major project for that summer entailed creating the articles for the Centennial issue for the 100th anniversary of Polk County Bank. I wrote features spotlighting the founders, the Dunnegan family. I conducted interviews with Bolivar’s iconic Dunnegan brothers, T.H.B. and Mr. John. Their influences and philanthropic generosity can be found throughout the city. Other articles highlighted Dunnegan Park, the historic Dunnegan home and the Polk County Bank.

What a privilege!

Pouring over the back issues of the newspapers from the previous 100 years revealed a life of long ago in Bolivar and the surrounding communities. I was reliving my history, too. Locating an article about my grandfather Engleman’s family surprised me. What a shock to suddenly discover news in my maiden name that took place in the late 1800s.

It was 1972 — a time before the digital and computer age hit. No internet. No cell phones. It was 1972 —

Family Owned Since 1947 Woods Supermarkets Inc, began in 1947 in Long Lane, MO when Don and Bertha Woods, purchased a small country general store. Their first employee was Bert Burton, whose job was to do whatever was needed, which is the mark of a true grocer. Since our company was established decades ago, Woods Supermarket has continued to offer true values throughout all locations and departments.

From those humble beginnings, Woods Supermarket has grown to twelve supermarkets in the state of Missouri. There are also five Woods Express locations that have convenient fuel stations where our customers can redeem their fuel rewards. We also serve as a reliable pharmacy at 8 locations so you can pick up your prescription refills at the same time you shop for groceries. Additionally, Woods offers an online grocery shopping/pickup service that makes grocery shopping even more convenient.

Whether you are looking for choice hand-cut meats, fresh produce, a great selection of your favorite grocery items, or freshly fried chicken, you can guarantee that Woods Supermarket will offer you true value with a big smile. Woods Supermarket strives to be more than just a grocery store, but a general location that serves as a source for quality goods and services for the community.

the year Atari introduced the world to the video game of PONG, spawning a new generation of video entertainment and video junkies.

Much of the newspaper publishing process was by hand. Stories were typed out on a manual typewriter.

After snapping the photograph, I hand developed the negatives. With a design of the People page layout in mind, I would then actually cut and paste the thin strips of justified copy onto the layout page.

Tuesdays required long hours of putting the week’s pages together. The presses started printing out the pages and finished up on Wednesdays. Then, the stream of customers would enter the front office to pick up their copies of the latest news hot off the press for a mere 15 cents. It was gratifying to see that final paper rolling off the press and to view the end product.

Upon graduating from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, I returned to BH-FP as the features editor. I continued where I left off the previous summer, developing features and photographs for the People section of the paper, authoring Borgassmord, a personal column and covering general news events.

On a regular basis, I visited the county public schools to gather stories and photographs of their students, instructors and current events. We worked with the county extension clubs, reported weddings, planned extra sections on special topics and sponsored a cooking seminar. New friends and contacts were made. We even won a few awards from the Missouri Press Association.

It was a joy and an adventure to come to work.

After a couple of years, I moved away when my husband, Dean, transferred to Kansas City with his job.

But I returned and then left again, a couple of times. In fact, they quit giving me going-away parties because I kept returning. Returning home to the BHFP. Working for the BH-FP provided much knowledge and insight. It stands as one of my most memorable experiences. I will be forever grateful to Jac and Rheba Zimmerman, Jim Sterling, Danny Zimmerman and Dave Berry for their guidance and wisdom, and I thank you all. However, it was more than just a work experience. The friendships and bonds formed then have grown and survived through all these years.

I hold dear the memories of the special people in the community and of those treasured relationships. These people make Bolivar a special community. It is a pleasure to have worked for the Bolivar Herald- Free Press.

49 YEARS

OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE As the oldest Real Estate office in the area, we are proud to continue the same honest and professional service that Bob Butler provided when the office first opened in 1969.

Our name has changed through the years from Bob Butler Real Estate to the current Ozarks Home Realty. As our office grew, we had to find larger facilities. Starting out on East Broadway, we are now in our third location at 530 S Albany.

And how things have changed! When the office first opened there were no computers, no multi list and, of course, no cell phones! Now we can locate property all over the United States, and other countries as well, with the push of a button. In 1969 you could write a listing or sales contract on 1 page, now we are up to a minimum of 8 pages each!

Our office proudly boasts that among our agents we have an accumulated 242 years of real estate experience.

WE ALL KNOW EXPERIENCE MATTERS! And it especially matters when buying or selling real estate.

Woods Supermarket is here to help you find what you need!

Where Home Is Our Middle Name 703 E. College • Bolivar, MO • 417.326.7601

528801b

528868b

530 S. Albany | Bolivar, MO

417-326-2411

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

9D

Former staff reflections: Judy Kallenbach

W

hen I picture the Bolivar I loved that office, even when the Herald-Free Press building, thunder roared and the rains came rollit’s at the same 335 South ing in and drove straight through the Springfield Avenue address as now, but caulking around those many panes. I in a different could take the building — a window seat rock structure cushion to a that sat right drier part of next to the the building, street and had but there was once been a car nothing much I dealership. The could do about current buildthe water pooling was coning on the floor structed after I until the rain left the newspaended except per in 2004. gather my ready During the 25 stash of towyears I worked els, take off my at the BH-FP, I shoes and mop occupied sevit up. eral different I loved that desks and cuoffice anyway. bicles within And I loved the building, working with but my last lothe more than cation was by 60 other emfar my favorite. ployees durIt was an actual ing that quarter office, with a century. And I Judy, in the early days of her 25-year cadoor, on the loved meeting reer at the BH-FP, plus time at the Herald. northeast corso many people ner of the building. It had newspaper- throughout the county and having the themed wallpaper, a big desk, built-in opportunity to tell their stories. file cabinets, a little refrigerator to Now, I love getting the BH-FP in my keep my Mountain Dew cool and a mailbox twice a week. small lavender couch where visitors ••• and interviewees could be comfortable.

When I started working at the BoliBest of all, it had a huge many-paned var Herald on East Jackson in 1967, the window on the north that afforded a political leanings were a thing of the view of the courthouse and the south past, but the two papers continued to side of the square. A window seat with operate separately. a red cushion spanned the width of the Ralph Stufflebam owned the Herwindow, and wooden printer boxes that ald, and it was managed by Merrill and used to contain the heavy lead type that June Pratt. was set by hand a letter at a time in preI worked there until the day before vious decades had been cut to make a our child was born, and then took a hiawaist-high boarder around a couple of tus for several years, beginning work at the walls. the BH-FP in 1979.

529253b

529250b

529237b

-

NEWS

10D Bolivar Herald-Free Press

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Former staff reflections: Paula Clasby

W

ell, I have so many great memories of working for the Bolivar Herald-Free Press that I don’t even know where to start!

I can say that during my seven years of working there, I felt like I belonged there. We had amazing teamwork and a camaraderie unlike any that I experienced before or after. I believe that each of us was proud to play a part in the creation of Polk County’s “pride and joy.”

I will always have fond memories of my time at the BH-FP and the people who made that time well spent.

Former staff reflections: Clarice Coker

E

ighteen years at the Bolivar Herald-Free Press produced many more memories than could be put in a single column.

I was there through four typesetting systems and a half dozen or so editors/publishers.

I got to be part of 50-year class reunions long before I had one of my own, saw Cub Scouts and 4-Hers grow up to start successful careers, walked under the dam at Pomme de Terre, met 100-year-old citizens and New Year’s babies. Got to live other people’s milestones and cover events large and small.

Learned that a “small” event was always important to someone and had better be reported correctly.

I met politicians early in their first campaigns and became adept at knowing which ones would hold an office. I learned to recognize fescue foot and army worms.

I’ve been gone from the BH-FP for 25 years and yet last week two people mentioned a particular article and what it meant to them. I was proud to be part of an organization that was the gold standard for weekly newspapers.

Congratulations on 150 years and here’s to the next 150.

Three Generations of Polk County family business and still going strong.

Expert Car Repair in Bolivar for over 40 Years!!

ROGER SHORT Owner & Manager

529382b

326-2451 326-2451 1114 W. Broadway Bolivar

SHO-ME MUFFLER & BRAKE

Paul V. Long

Charles N. Long

Paul W. Long

Congratulations to the

Bolivar Herald-Free Press on 150 years in business!

Stop by The Paul Long Agency today - We are in it with you for the Long Haul!

471 S. Springfield Ave., Bolivar, MO • 777.5664

529383b

Roger & Debra Short are proud to have served the Bolivar area for over 40 years & look forward to serving you in the future!

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

First 100...

dedicated.

1925 First Bolivar High School football team.

1926 Pike Auditorium opened at Southwest Baptist College.

1927 New High School opened in Bolivar. Northward became a grade school.

Smith Hospital opened on East Broadway where Butler Funeral Home is today.

1928 Hutcheson-Blue Furniture building opened on center of southside of the square.

1929 Bolivar tornado struck southside of town.

Last football game played by Southwest Baptist until reinstated in 1983.

1930 Highway 54 moved from Broadway to run through Hermitage, Wheatland, Weaubleau and Collins.

1933 Pretty Boy Floyd and sidekick Adam Richetti stopped by Chevy garage in Bolivar to see Adam’s brother and ended up kidnapping Sheriff Jack Killingsworth. He was released unharmed later in Kansas City.

1936 Mo. 13 paved from Bolivar to Springfield.

1948 President Harry S Truman and Venezuelan President Romulo Gallegoes dedicated Simon Bolivar statue before 10s of thousands of people in 100-plus degree temperatures.

Polk County was top turkey producer in the nation, delivering 2 million turkeys across America.

SWBC dorm, the former Cary Hotel, burned.

1949 Bolivar Coca Cola opened new plant just west of railroad viaduct on West Broadway.

1952 Polk County schools consolidated, closing country schools. Mitchell grade school and Liberator Fieldhouse are opened.

Lucky 13 Drive-in Theatre opened.

The Bolivar Tigers are renamed the Bolivar Liberators.

1954 Last passenger train rolled through Bolivar.

1956 Bolivar Golf Course opened next to Greenwood Cemetery.

1957 First stop light on the Bolivar square is installed.

Fire on west side of square destroys City Drug Store, other buildings.

1960 Bolivar won boys Class M state

Proud To Be Serving Bolivar for 35 Years!

529166b

Pictured from left are Katie Duncan, Diana Leslie, Nancy Erickson, Tim Erickson, Anne Rippeon

Congratulations to the Bolivar Herald-Free Press on 150 years of keeping our community informed!

Nancy Erickson

114 E. Jackson Bolivar, MO 417-326-4445 or Toll Free (800) 828-8504

MEMBER SIPC

11D

basketball championship.

1961 Mo. 13 bypassed Bolivar square, passes Fair Play, Dunnegan and Humansville, making it a virtual straight shot to Clinton.

Pomme de Terre Lake construction completed.

1962 Pike Auditorium burned.

Leonard Elementary School opened.

Teters Floral Products Co. moved into its new building.

Southwest Baptist acquired Shoffner Campus and began building campaign.

1965 Southwest Baptist became a four year college.

Roddie Hughs opened Bolivar Speedway.

1966 Polk County Times launched in Bolivar.

1967 Bolivar Herald and Bolivar Free Press are merged, along with Polk County Times.

Woods Shopping Center opened.

1969 Stockton Lake opened.

The next 50 years

money raised to build a facility. It’s next to a senior center.

School facilities were updated and retrofitted as new ones were constructed.

One of the earliest Walmart stores opened here and was later replaced with a supercenter, and eventually McDonald’s made news by showing up, with other national brands in tow.

Silo Ridge Country Club opened. A new airport is across the road.

A city water park was built adjoining the YMCA, and the old pool site became a youth park with a splash pad.

Bolivar’s population topped 10,000 for the first time.

State championships came for sports teams throughout the county, along with some national championships for FFA, and even at least one international championship.

Developers like David Cribbs stretched the business district and changed its face a few times.

All of that and much, much more that many will have no trouble noticing that we’ve failed to mention.

The newspaper is the oldest continuous business in Polk County, beginning in the post-Civil War era, and it’s still going 150 years later. Each issue is a living history of the community, far too much history to be reviewed in much detail in one issue.

There was much more that could have been mentioned from the first 100 years, including fires, hangings, school construction, crimes and politics.

And to cover the last 50 years in a time line would perhaps be even more difficult to squeeze into the confines of available space.

But, for the latter, here is just a snapshot of some talking points: Joe Rayl built a new bank, the first “high rise� building in Bolivar.

CMH opened its doors, and many more related buildings and services came later. The hospital concept came from the mind and research of T.H.B. Dunnegan, Jr. and was shared with Jac Zimmerman and Jim Sterling of the Herald-Free Press. They took his match and helped start the fire that became a hospital through the efforts of many volunteers such as Kerry Douglas, first board chairman, and eventually the paid expertise of its only CEO to date, Don Babb.

New fairgrounds were developed on county land where a poor farm had operated.

A sports complex was developed and later replaced with what exists today.

The Rayl Family Library opened, and the old library became the resourceful genealogical society location.

The YMCA was brought to town and

Serving Bolivar for 42 Years!!

Tim Erickson

2394 S. Springfield Ave. Commerce Terrace Bolivar, MO 417-777-5780 or Toll Free (877) 777-6608

The Bill Grant Ford family at our 25th anniversary in 2001.

BILL GRANT

3 "USINESS 2T s "OLIVAR s

529377b

1868 Bolivar Free Press established.

1870 Laclede, Fort Scott Railroad chartered. Construction of roadbed began. Work for ten years. Never completed.

1871 Bolivar Herald established.

1872 Origins of Polk County Bank began as Tolfree, Dunnegan & Company.

1873 First public school erected on Academy lot in Northward location.

1879 Southwest Baptist College moved from Lebanon to Bolivar with first classes on the northeast corner of square.

1880 New jail constructed south of square. Would serve for 99 years.

1884 Clara building built on south side of square.

Frisco “High Line� Railroad opened between Bolivar and Springfield.

1888 Fairgrounds property acquired in what is now northeast Bolivar.

1890 Brick Block burned northwest corner of square.

1892 Wilcox Building on southeast corner of square built.

1894 Standpipe built on north Main.

1895 Union Block burned on north Main.

1896 Cary Hotel built on lot east of present Stephens Studio.

1897 Polk County Bank buildt new building on west side of the square.

1898 RR Tracks extended north to Osceola, connect to Kansas City.

1903 Northward School built, replacing old public school.

1906 Reformed outlaw Cole Younger brought carnival to south side of the square.

Construction began on new courthouse.

1907 Courthouse dedicated.

First National Bank building constructed caddy-corner from Polk County Bank.

1910 Following fire, Southwest Baptist Academy is rebuilt.

1912 Bolivar square is paved.

Deep well built at Bolivar Power Plant.

1913 Administration Building built at Southwest Baptist.

1914 Carnegie Library building opened on square.

First airplane came to Bolivar.

1916 Bolivar had totally motorized fire department, six years before New York City.

1922 Dunnegan Memorial Park

Bolivar Herald-Free Press

528878b

12D Bolivar Herald-Free Press

NEWS

Wednesday, June 6, 2018