Missouri Life May 2016

M AY D AY !

Flower Power: Where to Buy Local A Mother Lode of May Events

52 Best

F I R S T ! )

THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY

T H E

Weekends

O U R

B E S T

M A Y

I S S U E

E V E R

( I T ' S

A Year's Worth of Getaways

Fun on a Bun: 10 Must-Try Burger Joints The Original Bad Boys of Baseball Inside Missouri's Oldest Nursery

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May 2016 | $4.50

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World Exclusive! See the $1.7 million dollar Titanic Violin Now through May 29, 2016 ✔ See the Only Bible Saved from Titanic ✔ Steer the Ship ✔ Touch an iceberg ✔ Receive a passenger/crew boarding pass ✔ Kid Friendly ✔ Interactive Experience

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Contents M AY 2 0 1 6

featured >

[20] SHOW-ME BOOKS The Electric Pencil explores the art of James Edward Deed, and six Missouri authors have new books.

[24] MISSOURI ARTIST [66] MAY FLOWERS

Artist Jessica Bremehr looks at gender issues and explores the taboo with her woman-focused art.

Taking cues from slow food, the floral industr is starting its own buy-local movement.

[27] MISSOURI MUSIC St. Louis native Muhammad Austin makes politically conscious hip hop under the name Mvstermind.

special features >

[77] MUSINGS ON MISSOURI

[29] 52 BEST WEEKENDS In an era when Missourians, and all Americans really, are working harder than ever, we cherish the weekends to spend time with family and friends. Find something to do every weekend of the year with this guide to making the most of your time off, from Chinese New Year celebrations to Missouri’s best New Year’s Eve party.

[60] 200 YEARS IN GROWING Celebrating its two-hundredth anniversary this year, the Stark Bro’s Nursery in Louisiana, Missouri, is almost as old and just as influen ial as Johnny Appleseed, except this nursery is not just limited to one fruit.

[70] BAD NEWS BROWNS Today, St. Louis is the capital of Cardinals Country, but there was a time when the Gateway City was home to two Major League ball clubs. One, however,

Reflecting on his seven years in the wild, Ron Ma r realizes that no matter how far you wander from home, you can never escape yourself.

[79] NO PLACE LIKE HOME Meet our new columnist Lorry Myers, and fin out what it feels like when a proud tiger walks into a room full of jayhawks.

[96] REMARKABLE MISSOURIANS Noted Mid-Missouri oncologist Tamara Hopkins goes above and beyond for her patients. Each year, she hosts a series of rummage sales to raise money for her patient expense fund.

was a motley crew of rabble-rousers that usually finished last in the American League. Meet the lovable losers that were the St. Louis Browns.

[80] HOME OF THE GOOD BURGERS Many claim the hamburger was invented at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 by a Missouri native who relocated to Texas. These claims may be dubious, but what’s certain is that Missouri is home to some of the best burgers around. From epicurean chefs crafting lamb burgers to old-fashioned drive-ins that serve up outstanding patty melts, these ten burger joints are the best of the best.

special section > [54] SUMMER TRAVEL Summer is just around the corner. Start planning your getaways and staycations in Missouri.

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Contents

CONTENT BY LOCATION 53

38, 41, 51, 80 51, 60 17, 24, 31 18, 35, 51 27, 37, 34, 38, 46 44 39, 50 ,8043 4646, 49, 31 45, 46, 36 70,80 35, 17 47, 52, 95 33 42, 49 45 18 40 33 80 33,35 96 51 66 80 30 40 42 30 20, 80 37, 41, 48 95 39 43 45 30, 80 17 53 49 14 80 80 37, 39, 20 44 53, 80

M AY 2 0 1 6

32

departments > [10] MEMO

[18] MADE IN MISSOURI

Editor in Chief Danita Allen Wood re-

Como Gopo uses local ingredients to

fle ts on weekend getaways in Missouri,

create off the-wall gourmet popcorn.

and Publisher Greg Wood shares why

The Uranus Fudge Factory’s candy is

May is such a special month for him.

out of this world, and Two Men and a Garden make screaming good salsas.

[12] LETTERS One reader shares his experience with

[88] RECIPES

the Central Missouri Honor Flight pro-

Try out three bold burger recipes, in-

[99] ALL AROUND MISSOURI

gram, others write in with compliments,

cluding one for a pork burger, and make

Last month, we featured 130 events for

and some share stories from their past.

a satisfying side for your next cookout.

just the month of April. This time, we

[14] MO MIX Jason Hoggett wants to set a world

[95] DINING WORTH THE DRIVE

[122] MISSOURIANA

record with his quilt. Thornhill is the old-

The Rocking Chair Cafe makes cinna-

Missouri’s baseball teams set some

est governor’s residence in the state. The

mon rolls the size of your head. Strange

interesting records, and Missouri just

Golden Games get seniors active, and the

Donuts crafts oddly delightful pastries.

might know burgers better than any

Weaver Inn refle ts Mansfi ld’s history.

And Heroes is pub food at its best.

other state in the Union.

have 121 events for May.

– THIS ISSUE –

On the Web

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

FLOWER POWER

MORE WEEKEND EVENTS

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM

Flower Hill Farm in Beaufort has more than an

If 52 weekend events and 121 events in May

Look at original content, beautiful photos we

acre of fl wer fi lds. See more photos of this

wasn’t enough to plan your whole year, we

couldn’t fit in o this issue, and more on our

gem with an exclusive online gallery.

have more events on our website.

Instagram: @MissouriLife.

Celebrate Mom & Dad!

The best Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day gifts come from the heart or the Missouri Life store. See all we have to offer t MissouriLife.com/store.

on the cover> WEEKEND GETAWAYS Creative Director Andrew Barton designed this cover to embody the spirit of our “52 Best Weekends” story. It inspires us to forget about work, get in the car, and start exploring the Show-Me State.

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GOOSEBUMPS. GET USED TO THEM.

S I LV E R D O L L A R C I T Y

Vacations in Branson become family traditions.

Cast a line, ride a classic wooden rollercoaster and take in an amazing show, all in the same day.

Then enjoy our hospitality as your family decides what to do the next day. And the days to come, together in Branson.

877- BR ANS O N [7] May 2016

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

Publisher Greg Wood Editor in Chief Danita Allen Wood EDITORIAL & ART Managing Editor Jonas Weir Creative Directors Andrew Barton & Sarah Herrera Contributing Editor Martin W. Schwartz Associate Art Director Thomas Sullivan Graphic Designer and Staff Photographer Harry Katz Calendar Editor Amy Stapleton Editorial Assistant Kelsey Walling Contributing Writers Kathy Gangwisch, Kelly Moffitt, Porcshe Moran, Eddie O'Neill, Debra Pamplin, Alex Stewart, Bonnie Stepenoff, Carolyn Tomlin Columnists Lorry Myers & Ron W. Marr Contributing Photographers George Denniston, Kathy Gangwisch, Andrea K. Grist, Esther Luna, Mark Neuenschwander, Bruce Stidham MARKETING • 800-492-2593 Eastern District Sales & Marketing Director Scott Eivins, 660-882-9898, ext. 102 Western District Sales & Marketing Director Joe Schmitter, 660-882-9898, ext. 104 Sales & Marketing Associate, New York Mike Edison, 646-588-5057 Sales & Marketing Associate Jim Negen, 855-484-7200 Advertising Coordinator Sue Burns, 660-882-9898, ext. 116 Circulation Manager Amy Stapleton Bookkeeping Jennifer Johnson DIGITAL MEDIA MissouriLife.com, Missouri eLife, Facebook, Twitter Director Jonas Weir Editor Sarah Herrera Missouri Lifelines Harry Katz TO SUBSCRIBE OR GIVE A GIFT AND MORE Use your credit card and visit MissouriLife.com or call 800-492-2593, ext. 101 or mail a check for $19.99 (for 7 issues) to: Missouri Life, 501 High Street, Ste. A, Boonville, MO 65233-1211 Change address Visit MissouriLife.com OTHER INFORMATION Custom Publishing For your special publications, call 800-492-2593, ext. 106 or email Greg.Wood@MissouriLife.com.

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

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MISSOURI

THE PROMISE OF MAY

emo WEEKENDS AWAY I READ

WELCOME to our first-ever May issue I can’t deny it, May has always been a special month for me and not just because I was born in May. Growing up in the far northwest corner of Missouri meant winters were long and could be fairly harsh. I remember many mornings waking up in the unheated upstairs bedroom I shared with my brother with my teeth chattering as I got dressed. Or, more likely I’d grab some clothes and head downstairs to sit in front of the Warm Morning stove—our only source of heat in the old farmhouse. Then we’d bundle up and head out the door in the early dawn GREG WOOD, PUBLISHER light to feed cows using a tractor and wagon.

So when spring came to our neck of the woods, I was one happy camper. That usually didn’t happen until May. The other reason I loved May back then was the fact that school was going to be out! Although I was a bit of a bookworm, I much preferred being outside on the farm than in a classroom. I loved the smell of fresh dirt turned over by the plow, freshly mown hayfields, and the chatter of meadowlarks and their winged friends. Soon, we were fishing and swimming in the farm’s ponds and creeks, riding horses all over the place, and even venturing to neighboring kid’s farms where we would ride all day in the wooded hills and pastures.

So, I had developed an affinity for the month of May early on. But there’s even more reason now that I love this month. I was married in May, and my wife’s birthday is in May. Interestingly, we share birthdays with two presidents: I was born on May 8, the same day as Harry Truman, and Danita was born on May 29, the same day as John F. Kennedy.

Our wedding anniversary is May 22, and what I like about that is all three of those dates always fall on the same day of the week. When my birthday rolls around, I know I have two weeks to get something for our anniversary and three weeks to get a birthday present.

And, finally there are the lyrics from the song that has become “our song” by Three Dog Night, “Pieces of April”: “We stood on the crest of summer, beneath an oak that blossomed green Feeling as I did in April, not really knowing what it means But it must be then that you stand beside me now to make me feel this way Just as I did in April, but it’s a morning in May.” Hard to believe we’ve had thirty-four Mays together… Happy Anniversary, Danita!

Greg’s column just before I began writing mine. How can I possibly measure up? We have had some incredibly happy years. (You don’t have to buy a gift or even a card this year—your column was so sweet!)

What I had originally planned to do was tell you a little about why we added a seventh issue. Long-time readers will know we’ve published only six issues a year since we started in 1999. We have always known there’s so much to do and see in the state, we could easily produce more issues. We finally decided to go for it, with the full support of our incredible staff to produce an extra issue for the first time. We hope you like the theme we chose, something to do every weekend of the year. Mark your calendar DANITA ALLEN WOOD, EDITOR with the ones that appeal to you. I am.

I have recently rediscovered the joys of these short weekend getaways. So many years were taken up with kids and school activities, it’s kind of fun to just decide at the last minute to pick up and go. That’s more or less what we did recently when we went on a weekend getaway to Hermann with three other couples. We reserved a cottage at Hermann Hill; visited several wineries, including Stone Hill, Hermanhoff, and Robller; had a fabulous meal at the Black Walnut Bistro; and then turned in at the luxurious cottage overlooking the Missouri River.

The next morning, the Hermann Hill kitchen staff delivered an astonishing breakfast to our door, and I definitely needed the bike ride on the Katy Trail to work off that German sausage and egg casserole. We followed our ride with a late lunch at Hermann Wurst Haus, where we sampled the “Best of the Wurst” with large mugs of cold lager. What a fun, relaxing weekend!

In addition to Hermann, you will also find Ste. Genevieve in our 52 Best Weekend Getaways guide, and I also recently stayed a weekend there with a couple of gal pals. We stayed at Chaumette Winery and Villas where we treated ourselves to spa therapies including massages, facials, and sauna.

I’m usually more of an outdoorsy type than a spa-goer, so I did manage to squeeze in a solo hike early one morning on their three-mile loop trail. But now I’m a spa fan, too. Who knew a facial was so relaxing? This was a special treat after a year of extra and intense editing on the new Missouri State Parks book we just completed. (See page 21 for more on that.) I might get spoiled with these adventures around the state!

The other thing I want to mention is our new columnist, Lorry Myers.

I’ve followed her writing for a couple of years now, and I’ve been totally charmed. A new May issue seemed like the perfect time to introduce a new columnist. I hope you like Lorry’s stories as much as I do. (See page 79.)

Happy May Day! And may the rest of your spring and summer be as full of joy as I am at the prospect of my golden years with the cowboy over there.

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MAY

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

SCHOOL REUNION I’d like to inform you of something that may be of interest to your readers.

Pleasant Hill School, a one-room school founded in 1891, will celebrate its 175th birthday on Sunday, September 11, 2016. Plans are to have an old-fashioned basket dinner at noon and a program featuring county and state officials I attended this school, located fi e miles northeast of Warrenton. I shall be happy to answer any questions you may have. Your magazine provides good reading!

—Martha North, St. Louis

—Jim Dischert, St. Louis

A DEVILISH SPILL I grew up in the wonderful state of Missouri, and still miss it. I live in Oklahoma and miss the beauty of Missouri. I grew up in Slater, which is near Marshall, home of Jim the Wonder Dog, which brings me to my letter.

My sister subscribes to the magazine for me, and I have really enjoyed every issue. I loved the photo issue (October 2013), since I love taking pictures.

I was reading the devilish locations (October 2014), and there is one in the Marshall area in Van Meter State Park. It is a climb up a ridge called Devil’s Backbone. I recall it vividly, since I fell down it on my thirteenth birthday.

Keep up the good work. Thanks for your wonderful magazine.

—Virginia Carstens, St. Charles

Received my first magazine today and love it.

Truly looking forward to the next issue. The layout and stories really catch our interest.

Thanks so much! God bless. Have a great day and the next and so on.

Peace, love, hope, —Ron and Barbara Sherman, St. Louis

—Janice Walker, Norman, Oklahoma

INTO THE MAN CAVE I asked my friends if they would like me to renew their subscriptions as a Christmas gift again this year.

I received an overwhelming “Yes, please!” I love this magazine. My friend Monica told me she can never find it at home because her husband takes it with him in the car if he knows he’ll have to wait some place, or he’ll just take it to his man cave.

What a great magazine. Thank you!

—Joyce Mclain, St. Charles.

SEND US A LETTER Email: Fax: Facebook: Address:

COURTESY OF SENATOR CLAIRE MCCASKILL

HONOR FLIGHTS I thought Missouri Life and the fine people of Missouri—especially Missouri’s veterans— would like to know that there are “honor flights that take veterans to Washington, D C, to view and experience the memorials. I am a veteran, and I experienced an honor flight on November 3, 2015. I traveled with the Central Missouri Honor Flight out of Columbia. It truly was a rewarding personal experience for me and about eighty veterans and staff. There are other honor flight programs in our state: the Franklin County, Greater St. Louis, and Central Missouri Honor Flights, to name a few. We were treated with such dignity and respect that I just wanted to let other vets know about the opportunity.

WE’RE FLATTERED This magazine is the best and the most interest, informative magazine I have ever subscribed to!

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Mo MIX

Clever weighs nearly two hundred pounds. His goal is to shape

“I had no idea it would grow into the size and

it into the state of Missouri and make it ten times larger.

shape it is now,” Joan says. “I thought he would get

“This keeps him occupied, and it makes him hap-

tired of it. I’m really happy for him that he’s worked

STANDING on the large, colorful quilt spread

py,” says Joan Hoggett, Jason’s mother. “He works on

out on the grass in his backyard, thirty-six-year-old Ja-

it every single day. It gives him a sense of purpose.”

so hard trying to reach his goal.”

He embraces his disability. It’s not something he’s

son Hoggett’s smile shows his pleasure in his creation.

Jason, who has a learning disability, started in 2012

“I started out with three-inch quilt blocks, and

without a goal. First, it was about learning a skill.

then I made them bigger and bigger,” Jason says. “I

Then, it became a therapeutic outlet. When Jason

“I believe in not keeping things secret just be-

shaped it like Missouri because I’m from Missouri.

discovered how much he enjoyed the process, the

cause he’s disabled,” says John Hoggett, Jason’s

I like Missouri. I get material from the thrift shop,

project evolved into something much larger.

father. “If a person is disabled, I think they shouldn’t

Goodwill, garage sales, and from friends and neighbors. Sometimes I buy a large piece and cut it up. I do quilting everyday.”

The quilt covers nearly all the space between the trees and fences. With about a thousand panels, it

“I’m proud of it,” Jason says. “It makes me happy. I want to reach that goal.”

embarrassed or shy about. He knows very well who he is, and he takes on his challenges full force.

worry about it and just go on living. Things like that are a part of life.”

He started making three-inch quilt blocks at the

Jason makes the best of life by sewing one panel

Southwest Center for Independent Living in Spring-

after another to his already larger-than-life quilt.

field, where he goes a couple times a eek.

—Alex Stewart

COURTESY OF JASON HOGGETT AND FAMILY

Quilt Therapy

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IT’S EASY TO START ENJOYING

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Call your local propane provider today to discuss which propane model is best for your family and learn how much you could save.

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Your next vacation is closer than you think!

Enjoy adventure, family fun or romance in Mark Twain’s Hometown.

Explore VisitHannibal.com or request a free visitors guide by calling 573.221.2477.

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Mo

MIX

Chesterfie d

The Oldest Governor’s Mansion THE THORNHILL ESTATE in St. Louis County’s Faust Park is a remnant from Missouri’s early days.

As the oldest surviving governor’s residence in the state, Thornhill was built in 1819 for Frederick Bates and his family. Beginning in 1806, Bates served in many territorial posts, including Governor of the Louisiana territory, until he was elected governor of the state of Missouri in November 1824. Unfortunately, on August 4, 1825, he died from pneumonia at age forty-eight, leaving his pregnant wife and three young children at Thornhill.

Today, Thornhill has been restored to its early nineteenth-century appearance as a two-story, Federalist mansion.

“It’s made of timber, and it has six fireplaces, one in each room,” says Micha Kornblum, a museum educator at the site.

In its time, the house was the centerpiece of a large farm that was also home to an ice house, a smokehouse, and a peach orchard. Boatmen from the nearby rivers would barter for the peach brandy made on the premises. At the time of Bates’s death,

St. Louis

Well-Aged Athletics

the farm also included several slaves. Ben

FOR SENIORS, a little exercise can go a long

was a blacksmith. He and his wife Winny

way. Physical activity for seniors can prevent disease,

had four little daughters.

help manage stress, and improve mood. This summer,

Now, it’s a quiet refuge in a busy park.

Educators offer tours of the house, farm, and the family cemetery. To learn more, call

Missouri’s older residents will have two opportunities to get out, get active, and compete against other seniors.

The St. Charles County Golden Games—a nonprofi

314-615-8328 or visit Faust Park at 15185

with the purpose of promoting healthy lifestyles for se-

Olive Boulevard.—Bonnie Stepenoff

niors fifty-five and older—is returning from May 2 until May 7. The second largest senior athletics program in the state, the games takes place over a six-day period with

Mansfie d

hundreds of participants.

“Monday through Saturday, there are two dozen

Little Inn on the Prairie

events including running, walking, biking, archery, horseshoes, and darts,” says Ted Watts, a Golden Games volun-

HISTORY walks up the worn stone steps at Weaver Inn Bed & Breakfast in Mansfield, population 1,2 6.

Formerly a drug store and florist shop that dates back to 1886, the storefront adjacent to the public square is known as

COURTESY OF SCC GOLDEN GAMES, WEAVER INN, AND BONNIE STEPENOFF

the oldest building in the city. As a drugstore, it served numerous Missouri communities. It reportedly served Laura Ingalls Wilder and her husband, Almanzo, who lived on nearby Rocky Ridge Farm and frequently rode into town for medicine.

teer and participant. “There are a plethora of fun things to do, and it’s so easy to do more than one.”

Ted helps his wife, Kay, organize rosters, and the two play pickleball every year.

Only four families have ever owned the structure. A few years ago, Connie and Mike Roberts purchased the building

“I think seniors are missing out if they don’t par-

and once again opened its doors to the public, this time as a bed-and-breakfast. Today, they provide a place where visi-

ticipate,” Ted says. “It’s such a great experience and I’ve

tors can enjoy the comforts of a first-rate inn. The six rooms bear the names of characters in Little House books and are

made many friends from the Golden Games.”

decorated to reflect the 1800s. Each features

Those who miss the Golden Games will have a chance

a private bath, television, and wifi. The spa-

to go for the gold with the Senior Olympics on Memorial

cious family suites overlook the town square.

Day weekend.

One unique feature is a coffee bar that

“The Senior Olympics give seniors a chance to revert

serves the public. There, Connie serves up

back to when they could do these athletic events every-

a delicious breakfast of homemade waffle

day,” says Mary Stodden, a volunteer and participant. “I

fresh fruit, and endless cups of hot java.

personally like being the cheerleader for everyone.”

Every thirty-minutes or so, a train goes

Both programs feature events for a variety of skill

by in the distance, and you’re lulled to sleep

levels. Some games require more physicality, like squash,

by the soothing sound from the rails. Visit

running, and tennis. Others are more skill based, like darts,

weaverinnbb.com or call 417-924-2600 to

horseshoes, and shuffleboard Visit sccgoldengames.org

learn more.—Carolyn Tomlin

and stlouisseniorolympics.org for more.—Kelsey Walling

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Made IN MISSOURI Columbia

Crazy Corn MICROWAVE POPCORN is for the lazy, and Como Gopo is for the lazy who also have good taste.

Como Gopo, which stands for Columbia Gourmet Popcorn, offers a monthly subscription service where customers can choose from a list of fl vors that range from the company’s line of Classic Twists—such as Ched, the company’s spin on cheese popcorn that uses real cheese, mustard, and butter—to experimental fl vors, such as Maple Bacon, Grasshopper Pie, or Green Bean Casserole.

Customers can, of course, also buy single bags of the available fl vors, a rotating cast of new and old varieties. Couple Nicholas and Brooke Bartlett started the company in 2013 to embody the spirit of the town they love, Columbia. Thus, Como Gopo incorporates a variety of local ingredients, including Logboat Brewery’s Snapper IPA in the Logboat Snapped Cheddar popcorn, Shotgun Pete’s house-made barbecue sauce in the Hellfire Caramel corn, and olive oil from Boone Olive Oil Company in various blends.

Visit thegopo.com or call 573-767-0083 for more information.—Jonas Weir

Fenton

Salsa Party THE SALSAS from Two Men and a Garden will make you scream—some with joy, others with pain.

Owners Joel Austin and John Sikorski started gardening together in 2006, and today, the two still use ingredients fresh from their garden to create a variety of different salsas and pickles. Today, they offer three lines: Classic Salsa, Fruit Fusion Salsa, and Pickles.

A highlight from the classic line, the Screaming Hot Salsa, features habaneros that will burn your taste buds.

On the other hand, the Peach Salsa is a sweet spin on the Mexican condiment. Similarly, in the pickle department, John and Joel offer sweet bread-and-butter pickles and spicy dill pickles. Whether you like spicy, sweet, or savory,

St. Robert

Two Men and a Garden has a salsa and a pickle for you.

Visit twomenandagarden.com for more informa-

Cosmic Confections

tion.—Jonas Weir

ROUTE 66 now leads to a different planet: Uranus In Pulaski County, Uranus is actually a quasi-town that doubles as shopping destination. Here, you can find one of the state’s best, if perhaps crudely named, candy shops—the Uranus Fudge Factory. Attached to a general store, the factory gives shoppers plenty of options from fresh, homemade fudge to “I Love Uranus” T-shirts.

The decadent fudge comes in half-pound slabs with eight fl vor choices, including vanilla, chocolate pecan, cookies and cream, Butterfinge , peanut butter, peanut butter-chocolate, toffee, and, of course, just plain chocolate. The thick fudge is the perfect treat after a long day of floating on the nearby Big Piney River. It also makes a great dessert after So if you want to make a pit stop along Highway 44, think about making a trip to this candy shop. Not only will you fin some cosmically good fudge, but you can tell your friends and family that you’ve been to Uranus.

Visit the fudge factory on Facebook or at 14400 Route Z. Call 573-336-8758 for more information.—Kelsey Walling

HARRY KATZ

eating right next door at the great American diner known as FunkYard Food Truck Park.

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Let’s Paint!

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

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

Register now at missourilife.com/pauljackson

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4/5/16 6:40 PM

SHOW-ME

Books

THE ENIGMATIC ELECTRIC PENCIL A new art book invites you into the mysterious and imaginative world of James Edward Deed r.

BY JONAS WEIR

THE ART OF James Edwards Deeds Jr. is haunting, beautiful, imaginative, and, if nothing else, fascinating.

Methodically drawn and numbered on stationery from State Hospital No. 3 in Nevada, Missouri, this album of 282 sketches, now faithfully re-created in a 272-page book, depicts people with large, hollow eyes, animals that look equal parts real and imagined, and vehicles and steamboats from the turn of the century. However, very little is known about the album. The little that is known has been pieced together for this new book.

In 1970, in Springfield, a fourteen-old-boy found this album in a garbage can. Something must have intrigued him because he kept it safe until 2006 when he turned it over to Missouri State University professor Lyndon Irwin, who posted some drawings online. From there, the word spread throughout an intrigued collector community, until the album ended up in the hands of New York City artist and collector Harris Diamant.

Under Harris’s direction, private investigators found the living relatives of James Edward Deeds Jr. and cobbled together what information they could to paint a portrait of the album’s creator. All that is known about James Edward Deeds Jr. comes from interviews with Deeds’s nieces, Julie and Juanita, and records from State Hospital No. 3.

Born in 1908 and raised on a farm in Ozark, James Edward Deeds, known by his family as Edward, was one of five children, including his younger brother and Julie and Juanita’s father Clay. From a young age, he had problems learning, and later records show he had an IQ under eighty. Edward’s father did not have patience for his son’s disability, and when he could not complete work around the farm, he beat Edward. In 1933, Edward’s father, fed up, sent Edward to the State School for the Feeble Minded in Marshall— more than 150 miles away from his family farm.

From age twenty-five until his death in 1987, Edward never again lived on his family farm. Three years after he arrived in Marshall, he was transferred to the State Hospital No. 3 in Nevada, where he spent the next thirty-seven years until he was transferred to the Christian County Nursing Home.

All of Edwards 282 sketches that exist today were made in his time at the state hospital. Nobody knows exactly when they were created. Only clues exist within the paintings. Julia and Juanita said that Edward’s mother, who would visit frequently, brought him crayons, and he gave the album to her when his arthritis prevented him from drawing more. But why were these numbered? What was he trying to say? Are there messages hidden within?

The Electric Pencil: Drawings from Inside State Hospital No .3 James Edward Deeds Jr., Princeton Architectural Press, Art, Paperback, 272 pages, $29.95 The Electric Pencil takes its name from drawing 197, which features the word ECTLECTRIC written boldly across the page and the word PENCIL neatly tucked way in the corner. Could the word ECTLECTRIC refer to the ECT—electroconvulsive therapy—the hospital began administering in the 1950s? No one can tell for sure.

The Electric Pencil leaves interpretation up to the reader. A foreword from Harris Diamant and an insightful introduction from author Richard Goodman shed some light onto the work, but nothing can replace each drawing’s intrinsic sense of mystery. Ultimately, The Electric Pencil can only serve as reminder that art can come from anywhere, and some of the most idiosyncratic, spirited works come from the places we least expect.

[20] MissouriLife

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

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

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SHOW-ME

Books

MORE GOOD READS

BY KELSEY WAILING

Denim & Diamonds Lori Robinett, 194 pages, paperback, fictio If you’re ever in the mood for a Western romance, Lori Robinett’s latest novel is for you.

Denim and Diamonds follows successful attorney Beth Jameson as she moves from the city to her late father’s horse ranch just south of Kansas City. Here’s the catch: she knows nothing about horses. With the help of a handsome ranch hand, Beth gets down to her country roots and learns more about her family. In the end, romance and the threat of losing her inheritance lead Beth to really work on her personal relationships and most importantly herself.

Hermann, Missouri: One of the Prettiest Towns in America William Fields and Tony Carosella, 142 pages, hard cover, nonfictio Take a tour of Hermann through the beautiful, photographic lens of photographers William Fields and Tony Carosella. From scenic Missouri River views to pictures of wine cellars and the widely popular wiener dog races, this book offers an insider’s look at the historic German community with more than 150 photographs and testimonies from the authors about their love of the quaint, little river town. If you’ve never visited Hermann, you’re definitely going to want to after perusing this gorgeous coffee table book.

Notes from Boomerang Creek

Show Me the Ashes

Cathy Salter, 369 pages, paperback, nonfictio A compendium of previously published essays, Notes from Boomerang Creek combines real experiences with compelling storytelling. Follow author Cathy Salter as she travels the world and writes from her home in Columbia. Her unique, Midwestern perspective paints the world with a hopeful, wondrous brush. If anything, this book will make you look at the world with the heart of a poet and the mind of a Midwestern philosopher.

Carolyn Mulford, 322 pages, paperback, fictio Another installment in Carolyn Mulford’s Show Me book series, Show Me Ashes follows Phoenix Smith, a former covert operative, as she tries to prove a mother’s innocence in a small Missouri town. But what happens when a detective becomes the victim? As Phoenix gets closer to the truth, she puts herself in more danger. It is up to her to save others and herself.

It Ends Here: Missouri’s Last Vigilante Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales That Inspired Stagolee, John Henry, and Other Traditional American Folk Songs Richard Polenberg, 262 pages, hard cover, nonfictio Have you ever wondered what the stories are behind classic American folk songs? Published by University of Missouri Press, Hear My Sad Story fills more than two hundred pages with rich context on songs that are sometimes less than five lines long. No knowledge of folk music is required, just an interest in American history. The book will fill you in with lyrics, photos, and research. The only thing missing is a companion soundtrack.

Joe Johnston, 256 pages, paperback, nonfictio It Ends Here brings to life the accounts of a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter to tell the story of vigilante Edward O’Kelley. At the turn of the century, O’Kelley killed Robert Ford to avenge his good friend who Ford assassinated; you might know him as Jesse James. O’Kelley was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. After his release, O’Kelley gets a rude awakening when he’s thrown into a new, progressive America, not the lawless West he knew. How will this Wild West outlaw adjust to a changing world?

[22] MissouriLife

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A HAUNTING, “A STORY YOU HARROWING WON’T SOON TESTAMENT TO FORGET” SURVIVAL” —PEOPLE MAGAZINE

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PEOPLE Book of the Week ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY One of the best books to read this month NEW YORK MAGAZINE Book to Read this Month ELLE February Readers’ Prize PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Starred Review COSTCO Pennie’s Pick INDIENEXT selection AMAZON.COM One of the best memoirs and biographies of the month APPLE iBookstore Best of the Month GOODREADS Best Book of the Month and Best Nonfiction of the Month

THE RIVETING, TRUE STORY OF ONE GIRL’S COMING-OF-AGE IN A POLYGAMIST FAMILY

ruthwariner.com

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MISSOURI

WHAT Wallpaper CAN SAY St. Louis artist Jessica Bremehr starts a conversation about women’s bodies with her ar

IT’S 1 PM on a Friday afternoon, and twenty-five-yea -old St. Louis artist Jessica Bremehr is trying to learn “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones on the guitar.

For the first time in her adult life, Jessica is a full time artist. While she does graphic design work on the side—including logos, advertisements, menus, and other promotional materials for noted St. Louis chef Ben Poremba’s restaurant group—Jessica’s primary focus is refining her work, showing at galleries around St. Louis, and selling prints on Society6.com.

“I think art should be accessible,” she says.

“It shouldn’t have this huge price tag.”

Her newfound freedom has not only afforded her the opportunity to learn the guitar, but it’s also allowed her to reflect on her past. She’s happy to be done working in the service industry. However, her art might not be the same without her experiences as a waitress.

“I just keep thinking about my restaurant job,” Jessica says. “I was told to smile or ‘You don’t look too happy today.’ And I was fine. I was ridiculed about my appearance everyday.”

Inspired by the pressures women face, Jessica’s art is increasingly focused on the female form. Her Ladies Who Lunch series took women’s bodies and worked them into meals, whether between two slice of bread or among a bed of salad greens. The Ladies in Boxes series very literally represented the concept that women are often pigeonholed based on appearances and preconceived notions about women’s roles in society. Her new Wallpaper series is taking a different approach to looking at what it’s like to be a woman.

Using delicate, pastel colors and floral patterns, the Wallpaper series is a nod to the 1950s, perhaps the last decade wallpaper was popular. Although she uses 1980s aerobics books to act as her models, Jessica says she very much wanted to invoke the archetypal American homemaker of the 1950s, if not just to shed the idea that a woman’s place is in the home.

“I also like the idea that the wallpaper is used to cover up something to make it pretty,” Jessica says.

Jessica was raised in Ballwin in west St. Louis County, and the idea of being a homemaker doesn’t fall far from her suburban upbringing, a world she desired to break out of.

After high school, she took a year off to pursue what she says are higher aspirations: working for the United Nations, saving the world, just generally getting involved in the social justice movement.

She became involved in Mercy Ships—an international, Christian charity that operated a fleet of hospital ships. She accompanied one of the organization’s ships to western Africa where she helped give care to under-served communities. However, she started to lose faith in charities like Mercy Ships.

“They provide free health care, but they are only in a country for six months,” she says.

“Then, they leave and leave people without rehabilitation.”

After her work with Mercy Ships, Jessica went on to work for a school and an environmental advocacy group in Belize, but the work there did little to change her views on how much charities could do.

“After that year, I just felt really small in the whole save-the-world movement,” Jessica says. “I kind of lost hope in organizations, and I always liked to draw.”

After her year of global service, Jessica attended the University of Missouri. In 2013, she graduated with a bachelor’s of fine art in 2014.

Throughout her college experience, she tried many styles and mediums to express herself. For a time, she was interested in realism. However, as she progressed in her craft, she found a narrower focus: intricate line work, like what you’ll see on Olio’s menu.

“I used to work only in black and white,” she says, “but I think color has a big contribution to the conversation.”

COURTESY OF JESSICA BREMEHR

BY JONAS WEIR

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COURTESY OF JESSICA BREMEHR

Left: Entitled Smile, this piece was a part of St. Louis artist Jessica Bremehr’s Home Improvement series. Above: A part of the Wallpaper series, Break the Mold’s message is in its title.

Right now, that conversation is focused on the roles of women in American society. Many of her pieces are obvious in nature. For instance, one piece shows a group of male architects directing how to build a woman. Others are subtler. However, the majority of her pieces are sparking a conversation Jessica did not expect, a conversation on what people find o fensive.

It’s a debate that started before Michelangelo carved David: What is nudity’s role in art? Why do some find it o fensive and others don’t?

“I think it’s their own interpretation,” Jessica says. “People are scared of nudity, and I don’t really understand why. It’s just a conservative society.”

Some of Jessica’s nude drawing is cartoonish in nature, yet other pieces are more realistic. It’s a tough line to walk, but Jessica doesn’t mind. She likes to see people’s reactions, good and bad. And though she doesn’t think her work is going to change what’s considered taboo, she is happy knowing that her audience is at least thinking about the topic.

And right now, that’s the most she can do.

“I’m just drawing about it because that’s what I know best,” she says.

“For a long time, I didn’t really know what I was doing or where I was going, but I feel like I know what I want to make now.”

Visit jbremehr.com or society6.com/jbremehr to see more of Jessica’s art.

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MISSOURI St. Louis rapper Mvstermind founded the rap collective MME in 2009. Earlier this year, hip-hop magazine Complex named him an artist to watch.

QUIT YOUR DAY JOB St. Louis hip hop artist Mvstermind goes all in on his music car

COURTESY OF MVSTERMIND

SPIRITUALITY. LOVE. POLITICS. All of these converge in the music of Mvstermind—the moniker of twenty-four-old, St. Louis hip-hop artist Muhammad Austin.

Over the past three years, Muhammad’s music has been met with accolades from the press, but he has often been pigeonholed as a conscious rapper.

“I don’t really like being labeled or boxed in,” Muhammad says. “They only have the liberty to call me a conscious rapper because I’m expressing what is on my mind and in my heart. I might talk about relationships; I might talk about how I feel about the election; I might talk about how I feel about God.” With a steady steam of new music, Muhammad has ample room to cover many topics. He’s addressed everything from mental health to police brutality. Last year’s single “2 Hour Test Run” finds Muhammad just speaking his mind about everything, loosely and occasionally rhyming. At times, it sounds more like stream of consciousness poetry than rap. Listening to the music of Mvstermind is like exploring the psyche of Muhammad Austin.

“My music is pretty much a reflection of whatever my brain likes,” Muhammad says. “Even subconsciously, I take little bits and pieces of whatever triggers an emotion in my brain. It’s almost like a database.”

BY JONAS WEIR

Along with penning his own lyrics, Muhammad writes, records, and produces the music. Similar to his lyrical approach, his backing tracks combine various ideas and styles, including everything from electronica to R&B. “Hip-hop is the base; it’s the mixing pot,” he says. “In my cabinet are a bunch of ingredients I’ve collected. In my eyes, it’s almost like cooking.”

Muhammad has been collecting ingredients for years. As a kid, he was drawn to music by his father, a musician who managed local reggae bands.

When his dad bought him recording software, he began experimenting with making his own music. By sixteen, he was rapping and making his own beats.

“From then on, I was completely hooked,” Muhammad says. “I spent all hours of my free time on the computer, making music.”

Now, Muhammad’s more prolific than ever. Music has, in fact, become so central to him that he quit Avis Car Rental to pursue it as a full-time career.

“I’m wholly self-sufficient off of musical endeavors,” Muhammad says. “I make music for commercials. I make music for tutorials. I’m trying to get into film and video game scoring. I’m just trying to put in some heavy work and leave my creative mark wherever I can.”

To learn more, go to mvstermind.com or mmettmldom.com.

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FI N D A PLACE TO RE T REAT TO FOR E VE RY WE E KE N D O F THE YEAR .

M I S S O U R IA N S A R E W O R K I N G H A R D E R T H A N E V E R .

According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American workweek is 42.4 hours for those with full-time employment. And that number rises to 45.4 for those who work in agriculture, Missouri’s largest industry by employment. So now more than ever, we cherish our time o˜ , which may or may not fall on the weekend.

It’s not uncommon for people to work weekends now; 35 percent of Americans do. However, since the first US company gave its employees Saturday and Sunday o˜ to accommodate both the Jewish and Christian sabbaths in 1908, the weekend has become the symbol for family time, freedom, fun, and everything we hold dear.

Despite the changes in labor trends, the best events, festivals, and other happenings still fall on

BY KELLY MOFFITT, PORSCHE MORAN, EDDIE O’NEILL, DEBRA PAMPLIN, AND JONAS WEIR

the traditional weekend. From Irish festivals along the banks of the Big Muddy to weekend retreats in Mark Twain’s hometown, we’ve compiled something for you to do every weekend of the year, each coinciding with a fun event. So get out your calendars, and start planning the rest of your year. These are the fifty-two best weekend getaways in Missouri.

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May

May 6-8

May 13-15

M a g i c D r agon Street M e e t N ationals LAKE OZARK

S p ringfield A n ti q u e F e sti va l SPRINGFIELD Antique enthusiasts may find themselves asking,

Picture a scene from American Graÿ ti. Everywhere

“Have I died and gone to heaven?”

Welcome to the Springfield Antique Festival.

For the twenty-eighth year, the Magic Dragon Street

For two days, more than fifty top antique dealers

Meet Nationals will bring a combination of vehicles, en-

will take over the sprawling 85,100-square-foot

tertainment, and family fun to the Lake of the Ozarks.

E*Plex at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds. The expo

From Model Ts and vintage muscle cars to modern

center is climate controlled, so the humidity of

pickups and customized choppers, more than one

a southern Missouri spring won’t affect the pre-

thousand show cars, trucks, and motorcycles of all

cious items on sale.

makes and models will be on display. Packed sidewalk-

The festival takes place from 10 ˝˛ to 5 °˛ on

to-sidewalk with people and cool cars, the historic

Saturday and 10 ˝˛ to 4 °˛ on Sunday. Parking

Bagnell Dam strip will be closed to normal traÿ c dur-

is free and plentiful, and admission costs $6 each

ing show hours, and only show vehicles will be allowed

day. However, on Friday, from 5 to 8 °˛ , there will

within the boundaries. Throughout the weekend, lo-

be a special sneak preview, and admission is $10

cal radio station Cool 102.7 will be broadcasting classic

at the door. Don’t worry about spending the whole

tunes, and vendors will be selling food and drink.

day there and going hungry because the Ozark Em-

The event is noon to 5 °˛ on Friday, 8 ˝˛ to 8 °˛

pire Concessions will be selling food and drink.

on Saturday, 8 ˝˛ to 1 °˛ on Sunday. To learn more,

For more information, visit ozarkempirefair.com or

visit magicdragoncarshow.com or call 573-964-1008.

call 417-833-2660.

COURTESY OF MAGIC DRAGON STREET MEET AND OZARK EMPIRE FAIR

you look, there’s a cool vintage car.

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May 20-22 A r c a dia V al ley M ountain M u sic F es tiv a l IRO N TO N Say goodbye to spring and hello to summer with the Arcadia Valley Mountain Music Festival.

About eighty miles south of St. Louis, Ironton is a convenient, rustic retreat for city-dwellers, and the Arcadia Valley Mountain Music Festival offers the

May 27-29

best times to visit the beautiful region. On Saturday at 9 am, a 5K kicks off the weekend. D on’t worry;

Missouri River Irish Fest ival, ST. CHARLES

walkers are welcome in the race. After that, around 1 pm, the music will begin. All sorts of Americana and bluegrass will take the stage, and the Ozark Spirit Cloggers dance group will be one of the highlights.

If you must miss this weekend, you’ll have

This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the Easter Rising, an armed rebellion in Ireland that is remembered as a watershed moment on the path to Irish independence from England.

another chance to experience Ironton when

The twelfth annual Missouri River Irish Festival, one of the largest free Irish festivals in the Mid-

it hosts the fall portion of the festival in Octo-

west, will also mark the anniversary during the three-day event at Frontier Park in St. Charles, which

ber. For a full line-up and more information, visit

falls right between downtown and the Big Muddy. The festival will include an exhibit on the Easter

mountainmusicfestival.net.

Rising, historians speaking on the subject, and a performance of the play Women of the 1916 Rising.

However, the Missouri River Irish Festival will not be solely educational. Festival-goers will also have the opportunity to see plenty of entertainment from Shamrock Irish Dancers, who specialize in modern and traditional dance, to Rusty Nail, a seven-piece St. Louis rock band that incorporates Celtic influences into its music. For Friday and Saturday night, the headliner will be The Elders, a Kansas City-based Americana and Celtic folk rock band known around the world.

Aside from entertainment, parents will find plenty to do with a variety of food and merchandise vendors selling everything from pints of beer to T-shirts. And while the parents are having fun, kids

COURTESY OF ARCADIA VALLEY MOUNTAIN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND ST. CHARLES CVB

will be thoroughly entertained at the Children’s Village, where they can find hands-on activities including crafts, bingo, and Irish jig dance lessons. For more information, visit moriveririshfest.com.

WH E R E TO STAY

Historic downtown St. Charles is one of the prettiest business districts in the state, so find a place close to the action. The Boone’s Colonial Inn is the heart of downtown. The stone building dates back to 1820, but the rooms at this bed-and-breakfast feature all of the modern touches. Space is limited, so book early. If the Boone’s Colonial Inn has no vacancy, the Boone’s Lick Trail Inn and Cottage is also in the heart of downtown, and it features the same warm hospitality.

WH AT E L SE TO DO

Downtown St. Charles has no shortage of things to do. If you’re a history buff, a pilgrimage to the first Missouri State Capitol is a must. If you’re into craft beer, check out the Trailhead Brewing Company.

And if you consider yourself a foodie, get into the Irish spirit of the weekend and try Llywelyn’s Pub, which serves up Celtic-American pub food. For more ideas on what to do, visit historicstcharles.com.

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June June 10 & 11 Coleman Hawkins Jazz Fest ival, ST. JOSEPH Named after the legendary jazz tenor saxophonist and Missouri native, Coleman Hawkins Park will play host to two nights of great jazz, good food, and

WH E R E TO STAY:

With a population of more than 75,000, St. Joseph has a number of places

Presented by the Coleman Hawkins Jazz Society, which formed in 1998,

to stay, including large hotels, like the Stoney Creek Hotel, and campgrounds.

the festival is celebrating its eighteenth year this summer. Half of the non-

The best way to get a taste of the city, though, is to stay at one of the town’s

profit jazz society’s mission is to preserve the history and music of Coleman

luxury bed-and-breakfasts. The Shakespeare Chateau at 809 Hall Street is a

Hawkins. Born in St. Joseph, Hakwins was a band leader during the Swing era.

gorgeous stone mansion built in 1895 that features forty-seven stained glass

In his time, he played with legendary artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Theloni-

windows. The chateau also has only four suites, so book early. Another great

ous Monk, John Coltrane, and Max Roach, and he is remembered for influenc-

option is the Whiskey Mansion Inn, built in 1885. Similar to the chateau, Whis-

ing musicians like Miles D avis. The society has commemorated Hawkins by

key Mansion also only has four suites available, and the rooms fill up fast.

erecting an eight-foot tall bronze sculpture of the musician at the very park that’s named after him.

The other half of Coleman Hawkins Jazz Society’s mission is to enhance

WH AT E L SE TO DO:

If you’ve already seen the sights in the city where the Pony Express started

the cultural development in the community and to promote an understand-

and Jesse James ended, the good news is there is plenty to do on this week-

ing and appreciation of jazz. The group hosts monthly meetings and occa-

end. The festival happens to overlap with this magazine’s own Big BAM (Bicycle

sional events, but the annual festival is definitely the nonprofit’s highlight

Across Missouri) festival, and the city of St. Joseph has plenty planned for the

of the year.

weekend. On Friday at noon, the Saint Joseph Bicycle Club is hosting a St. Jo-

Stop by the free event any time from 5 to 10 ˛˝ on Friday and noon to 10

seph History Mystery Tour that starts and ends at Coleman Hawkins Park. On

˛˝ on Saturday to enjoy hours of good, live jazz. The lineup includes: The

Friday at 5 °˛ and Saturday at 1 °˛ , the St. Joseph Allied Arts Council is hosting

Matt Cook Collection, Matt Hopper, St. Joseph High School All Star Jazz Band,

a downtown sculpture walk. And on Saturday at 5 °˛ , there will be a dinner

Max Groove, and The David Basse-Joe Cartwright Septet.

and wine tasting designed especially for cyclists, but that doesn’t mean non-

The food and drink vendors and art displays will be set up at least one

cyclists can’t join. However, if it’s your first time visiting St. Joseph, you should

hour before the music starts each day. The festival’s organizers encourage

probably try to visit as many historic sites and delicious restaurants as you can

attendees to bring their own blankets and chairs and come early to grab a

this weekend. Visit stjomo.com for more information and visiting tips.

good spot. Visit colemanhawkins.org for more information.

GEORGE DENNISTON

thirst-quenching drinks.

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June 1-4 S c o t t J o p l in Ragtim e F e s tiv al S E DA L IA More than six thousand people come out every year to celebrate the uniquely American music of ragtime.

A precursor to jazz, the genre was pioneered by Missourian Scott Joplin, who composed his most famous tune, the “Maple Leaf Rag,” in Sedalia. Now, you can enjoy the classic piano music played at its best in its proverbial hometown.

This year’s performers include composer Tom Brier, internationally renowned pianist Phillip Dyson, University of Rhode Island music professor Frank LiVolsi, and music veteran Sue Keller, among others.

Although music is the focus, other ragtime festivities surround the traditional tunes.

Ragtime dance lessons will teach you the coolest moves of a bygone era, covering everything from the Bunny Hug to the Turkey Trot. Attendees are also encouraged to dress in costumes that match ragtime’s heyday; think 1890 through 1919.

The festival has numerous concerts throughout the weekend, but there will be plenty to explore in downtown Sedalia, too. Tickets range from $10 to $32. For more information, visit scottjoplin.org or call 660-826-2271.

June 24 & 25

COURTESY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY TOURISM, SCOTT JOPLIN RAGTIME FESTIVAL, AND FESTUS

Firecracke r E x tr a va ga n z a FESTUS

June 17 & 18

The twenty-seventh annual Twin Cities Firecracker Extravaganza promises to be a country fair at its best.

F u l t on Str eet F air F U LTO N

Held in Festus’s City Park, the festival will include all the makings of a good time: food, rides, games, concerts, a classic car show, fishing derbies, and

The annual Fulton Street Fair hits the bricks of his-

much more.

toric downtown Fulton for the thirteenth time this year.

From 4 to 11 ˛˝ , Friday night sets the pace for

The 2016 fair marks the first appearances from

the weekend with a full carnival, live entertainment

two cosmically cool performance groups. The Astral

starting at 6 ˛˝ , and a fireworks show at 10 ˛˝ .

Gypsies puppet troupe will bring its giant puppets,

Then, a good old-fashioned parade, a classic car

which range in height from twelve to thirty-five feet,

show, and a kids’ fishing event start Saturday o° at

to entertain children of all ages. And the Hulagans—

8 ˙˝ . Throughout the day, there will be more fishing,

Mid-Missouri’s homegrown hula-hoop group—will

bingo, a pageant, live entertainment, and another

be showing o° their hooping skills.

fireworks show at 10 ˛˝ .

In addition to the fresh faces, the fair will feature

Tinsley’s Amusements will be providing carnival

all sorts of reliable entertainment from years past,

rides; tickets are one for $1.25 or 22 tickets for $20.

including a carnival, live music until 10:30 ˛˝ each

The festival is free, but parking costs $2 and other in-

night, an ice cream social, food vendors, a parade, a

dividual events, such as the car show, may have a fee.

mule auction, a 5K run, a car show, and more.

Visit cityo° estus.org or call 636-937-2140 for more

Visit fultonstreetfair.com for more information.

information.

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July

July 8 Let T hem Eat Art MAPLEWOOD Since 2005, the St. Louis suburb of Maplewood has hosted an eclectic evening of music and entertainment the event organizers describe as a whimsical tribute to Bastille Day, and this year the event kicks o˜ the weekend on Friday, July 8, from 6 to 11 °˛ . At Let Them Eat Art, you’ll find belly dancers, hulahoopers, live painting, pancake art, and performances by the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. More than sixty downtown businesses—including boutiques, antique shops, and restaurants—act as additional venues for the event, and local eateries provide food and cocktails for purchase on the street.

“A Maplewood resident came to me with the idea to do a progressive art show,” says Maplewood community development director Rachelle L’Ecuyer. “I looked on my calendar, and the best time to do it happened to fall on Bastille Day. The event doesn’t really have anything to do with the French holiday,

July 3 & 4 S a l u t e To Am eric a JEFFERSON CITY

but we try to nod to it.”

The 2016 theme is “Heads will Bowl,” a reference to the hundred-year anniversary of Saratoga Lanes, the oldest bowling alley west of the Mississippi River. A bowling shirt contest and a special exhibit on the art of bowling are part of the festivities.

“We try to mix it up and have a balance of grown-up entertainment and children’s entertainment,” Rachelle says. “It’s a good opportunity for people to explore a part of the St. Louis region that they might not be

You might call Je˜ erson City’s annual Salute to

familiar with. You can spend time with friends and family, eat great food, and enjoy all of the art in a relaxed

America Missouri’s best Fourth of July celebration.

environment. There is nothing traditional about this festival, and there is something for everyone.”

Each year, this patriotic festival draws in more

Visit cityofmaplewood.com for more information.

than seventy thousand visitors to listen to live music, the city’s historic and stately Capitol district.

For two days, the capital city will be abuzz with

WH E R E TO STAY

Although there are no hotels immediately in Maplewood, the small village is in the heart of the

events. You can catch a free tour of the Missouri State

sprawling west St. Louis County, and accommodations are never too far. The Chesire in nearby Clayton

Museum and Capitol, join the hot dog eating con-

gets you closest to the action of the weekend without sacrificing any style. This boutique hotel o˜ ers a

test, try your luck in the backyard games tournament,

variety of rooms and is AAA Four Diamond rated. Its sister hotel, the Seven Gables Inn, is close by, too.

cruise into the car show, see a real live eagle, wave as the parade passes, explore the carnival, and more. Last year, the festival partnered with sponsors to give away

WH AT E L SE TO DO

Extend your weekend in Maplewood with a free tour of the Schlafly Bottleworks microbrewery at the

eleven VIP experiences, so keep an eye out for details.

on-site pub. Maplewood is also home to the critically acclaimed restaurant Water Street, the destina-

Stay at the courtly Cli˜ Manor Inn at 722 Cli˜

tion bakery Pie Oh My, tapas hotspot Boogaloo, wood-fire pizzeria A Pizza Story, so there is no shortage

Street or the iconic Hilton Double Tree at 422 Monroe

of great dining options for a night on the town. If you’re in the gaming mood after celebrating Saratoga

Street to get accommodations close to the action.

Lanes hundredth anniversary, stop by the alley for a quick game or visit the Orbit Pinball Lounge for

Visit salutetoamerica.org or call 573-761-0704 for

pinball, skeeball, and other arcade games.

more information.

COURTESY OF JEFFERSON CITY CVB AND LET THEM EAT ART

enjoy food and drink, and watch giant fireworks in

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July 16 A q uapal ooza OSAGE BEACH The Lake of the Ozarks is where Missouri summers.

And the family-friendly Aquapalooza offers the perfect way to experience the area’s fun, laid-back vibe. This free gathering features games, prizes, and waterside concerts. On Saturday, July 16, boaters and floaters will fill the cove at the nineteen-mile marker, just west of the Grand Glaize Bridge, while land dwellers can take in the sights and sounds from the patios at Dog Days Bar & Grill. Visit funlake.com or call 573-348-1958 for more information.

July 22-24 S h o w -M e State Gam es C O LU M B IA COURTESY OF AQUAPALOOZA AND HERMANN WINE TRAIL; STEPHANIE SIDOLTI

If you can’t make it to Rio de Janeiro for the summer Olympics, the Show-Me-State Games might be the next best thing. Thousands of athletes of all ages

July 30 & 31 B erries & B arB Q Wine T rail HERMANN

and abilities go for the gold at locations across Columbia during this three-weekend event; competi-

The Berries and BarBQ Wine Trail is a weekend to sa-

tions will also take place June 10 through 12 and July

vor wine, gourmet food, and the scenic beauty of the

29 through 31. ESPN noted the games on its list of

Missouri River Valley. Seven wineries around the his-

“101 Things All Sports Fans Must Experience Before

toric German village of Hermann will showcase their

They Die.” With more than forty different team and

vino paired with savory dishes that are barbecued or

individual competitions on the schedule, this sports

grilled. Participants will receive a souvenir wine glass.

festival is the biggest of its kind in the nation. While

Park your car, and hop on the Hermann Trolley for

you’re in town, take a stroll through downtown Co-

worry-free transportation to each stop. Hermann’s

lumbia, which features a cornucopia of restaurants,

selection of bed and breakfasts, such as the Hermann

shops, hotels, entertainment venues, art galleries,

Hill Vineyard Inn and the Inn at Hermannhof, offer

and more within walking distance of the University of

a comfortable retreat after a day on the trail. Visit

Missouri, the main location for the games. Visit smsg

hermannwinetrail.com or call 573-486-2744 for

.org for more information.

more information.

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August August 5-7 T he Fest ival of B ut t erflies KINGSVILLE Just fifty miles southeast of Kansas City, hundreds of tropical butterflies, gorgeous blooms, and a host of activities abound at Powell Garden’s annual Festival of Butand outdoor spaces, including a 2,500 square-foot conservatory, where butterflies flutter freely among the spectators. Outdoors, event organizers set up two native

WH E R E TO STAY

There are no lodging options in Kingsville. However, Lake Paradise

butterfly breezeways. Representatives from butterfly conservation groups are on

Resort is about eight miles away and is a great place to literally set up

hand to answer questions. About 21,000 people attend the festival each year.

camp for the weekend. With more than fi e hundred campsites and

“At the Festival of Butterflies, we offer a really close encounter with butterflies,”

four cabins available to rent, this destination surrounds forty acres

says Alan Branhagen, director of horticulture at Powell Gardens. “Inside the mon-

of lakes and has a variety of activities on site. If you prefer the great

arch tent, guests can pet the caterpillars and, with expert guidance, learn how to

indoors, the Mulberry HIll Bed and Breakfast in Pleasant Hill is less

handle the butterflies themselves. Guests have an opportunity to see native but-

than twenty miles from the Powell Gardens.

terflies in both controlled and garden settings and to see tropical butterflies from around the world.”

While many people come to the festival to simply admire the beauty of these

WH AT E L SE TO DO

Powell Gardens offers more than enough to do all weekend. The 915-

popular insects, Alan says butterflies also provide a great life lesson about nature

acre botanical garden has 6,000 varieties of plants and 225,000 plants

and change.

in displays each season. The garden also has restaurants on site. Dur-

“Butterflies are magical creatures,” he says. “No other creature transforms so

ing the summer and the butterfly festival, you can grab lunch at Café

much from beginning to end. Butterflies are also good indicators of a healthy envi-

Thyme’s indoor cafe and outdoor grill, get a light snack at reFresh in

ronment. If you have a garden without butterflies, there’s something wrong.

the Missouri Barn, or have dessert at Tadley’s Homemade Ice Cream.

The festival lineup also includes a costume parade, children’s crafts, and story-

On Saturday, expert Paula Winchester will teach solar cooking classes,

telling. During the festival, the garden’s summer exhibit, Jurassic Garden: A Prehis-

and on Sunday, there will be a cooking demonstration with Jasper Mi-

toric Adventure, will be on display. Visit powellgardens.org/butterfly or call 816-

rabile Jr. of Jasper’s Restaurant in Kansas City.

697-2600 for more information.

COURTESY OF POWELL GARDEN

terflies. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the event as it spans indoor

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August 13 & 14 J our d e F e te STE. GENEVIEVE This festival pays homage to Ste. Genevieve’s French colonial roots. The Jour de Fete is known for its array of artisan vendors who sell items that range from wood carvings and handcrafted furniture to stained glass and leather crafts. Food and drink stands keep visitors satiated with fair favorites, such as barbecue, hot dogs, turkey legs, kettle corn, and lemonade. The event’s special exhibits showcase antique steam engines, a reenactment of a French Marine encampment, and demonstrations of traditional woodworking, blacksmithing, and soap making. Eagles, hawks, owls, and falcons from the World Bird Sanctuary will also make an appearance during the weekend event. Take a tour of Ste. Genevieve’s eighteenth and nineteenth century homes for a look at French colonial architecture. To learn more, go to saintegenevievejourdefete.com or email stegenjourdefete@gmail.com.

August 19-21 World’s Fare Herit age Fest ival ST. LOUIS In 1904, travelers from across the world came to St. Louis to marvel at the latest in technology, fine arts, science, pop culture, and entertainment. The legacy of the legendary event is celebrated at the St. Louis World’s Fare Heritage Festival in Forest Park, the site of the original fair. The three-day extravaganza of music, dance, art, and local cuisine puts a spotlight on the city’s diversity, rich history, and continuing creativity. Wander through the artist village, play some backyard games, enjoy craft brews in the beer garden, and check out artifacts and memorabilia

COURTESY MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM AND FRIENDS OF HISTORIC BOONVILLE

from the 1904 World’s Fair Society. Visit stlworldsfare.com or call 314-853-6257 for more information.

August 25-27 M is souri Riv e r F E s tiv al of th e Art s BOONVILLE For three days, the annual Missouri River Festival of the Arts turns Thespian Hall in downtown Boonville into an elegant venue for classical music.

Since the festival began in 1976, the organizers have brought outstanding national and regional musicians with backgrounds in classical music. Although this is the forty-first annual Missouri River Festival of the Arts, it has been under the direction of renowned concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, David Halen, since 2005. Under David’s artistic direction, the festival has hosted performances of everything from jazz piano to Spanish violin.

Tickets range from $27.50 for a single night to $70 for a three-day pass. Visit friendsofhistoricboo villemo.org or call 660-882-7977 for more information and a full lineup.

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September 3-5

September

Big Riv e r Steam pun k F es tival, HANNIBAL

The Hannibal History Museum transports visitors to a fantasy world of Victorian-era science fiction each Labor Day weekend with its Big River Steampunk Festival. The town’s historic architecture and Mississippi River location set the stage for steampunk—a sub-genre of science fiction involving technology and design aesthetics inspired by nineteenth-century, steam-powered machinery.

“The premise of steampunk is that it takes place in the Victorian-era,” says event organizer Lisa Marks. “In Hannibal, you don’t have to imagine it because the history is all around you. Hannibal was a wealthy, cosmopolitan town in the Gilded Age. With this festival, we are celebrating the height of Hannibal.”

In 2015, more than four thousand people came to Hannibal from across the country for the event, which featured tethered hot air balloon rides, costume and facial hair contests, Nerf gun dueling, historic home tours, and the Time Traveler’s Ball on the Mark Twain Riverboat, among other events. The 2016 event is shaping up to be just as promising. During the festival, Main Street will become pedestrian-only, and the downtown shops and restaurants get in on the fun. More than fifty vendors will supply fest-goers with food and Steampunk-related merchandise. Acts, such as bands and dancers, on two stages will provide continuous entertainment. And the city’s Nipper and Kiwanis Parks will also be hosting activities.

“The festival covers everything from art and science to technology and fashion,” Lisa says. “Even people who aren’t into the Steampunk aesthetic enjoy coming to the festival to see the costumes and to be part of the excitement of it all.

It’s family-friendly, and there is so much to do.”

Visit bigriversteampunkfestival.com or call 573-248-1819 for more information.

W HE RE TO S T A Y

September 9 & 10

Further your journey into the past with a stay at one of Hannibal’s inns. You can

S ant e Fe T rail Herit a g e Da y s MARSHALL

sleep in the same room as Mark Twain did at the Garth Woodside Mansion and Cottages, or stand where he made his final speech in Hannibal at the Rockcli˙ e Mansion B&B. However, book ahead, as both bed-and-breakfasts o˙ er a limited

The Santa Fe Trail passed north of Marshall, and you can get a taste of those days, literally, starting with a Chuck Wagon Dinner on Friday night. The next day, you can

W HAT ELS E T O D O

watch the South Fork Regulators, a bunch of cowboys and cowgirls that provide

If you haven’t already made a Mark Twain pilgrimage to see the Mark Twain mu-

Old West performances. You can also see cowboys and cowgirls at roping demon-

seum and boyhood home, you must do this during your time in Hannibal. For an-

strations as well as a rope-making demonstration. Watch the hilarious Little Red

other taste of history, indulge in the sweets at Becky’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream

Wagon “Freight Wagon” Race or form your own four-member team. Other reen-

Parlor & Emporium. If you can also fit it in, Sawyer’s Creek Fun Park has fun for

actors demonstrate life on the frontier and along the trail. Other events include 5K

the whole family with wine tasting for the adults and mini-golf, bumper boats,

and 10K runs, a craft show open from 9 ˜° until 3 ˛° , a parade, and puppet show.

games, and more for the kids. If that’s still not enough, make the trek outside

While in town for the festival, you can also take a Civil War driving tour, visit a

of town to the Mark Twain Cave complex for a tour of a few show caves. Go to

World War I doughboy statue, and learn about Jim the Wonder Dog. Try Claudia’s

visithannibal.com for more information.

Bed and Breakfast to stay close by, but there are other options, too.

Visit marshallculturalcouncil.com for more information.

COURTESY OF BARB SPENCER AND HANNIBAL CVB

amount of rooms.

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September 15-17 Fall S t arvy C reek Bl u e gr a ss F e sti va l C O N WAY In the northern part of Webster County near Conway, the twenty-fift annual Starvy Creek Bluegrass Festival will again take over the park at 1933 Bluegrass Road for three days of good old American music.

This year’s highlights include the Queen of Bluegrass, Rhonda Vincent, and Nashville six-piece The Grascals, among more than two dozen other performers.

If you’re from out of town, park an RV at the campgrounds. But if you want a place to stay that’s not on wheels, the Munger Moss hotel on historic Route 66 in nearby Lebanon, Missouri, less than twenty miles away, and Lebanon also offers a host of other attractions and lodging.

Visit starvycreek.com or call 417-589-2013.

September 23-25 Walk Back in Time MEXICO, MISSOURI This year marks the fifteenth annual Walk Back in Time event in Mexico, Missouri. Each year, the Audrain County Historical Society hosts this festival on its museum grounds, which include the Graceland Victorian mansion, the American Saddlebred Horse Museum, the Firebrick Museum, the Audrain County one-room schoolhouse, and a historic country church.

The festival always includes exhibits with authentic artifacts, reenactors, music, storytellers, food, and more.

Why not get into the spirit of the weekend with your lodg-

COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM, MEXICO CHAMBER, AND LEBANON TOURISM

ing, too? The La Paz Inn was completed in 1923 and is said to be a copy of the original American Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia.

Visit mexico-chamber.org for more information.

September 30-October 2 Root s N Bl u e s N BBQ C O LU M B IA For the last weekend in September, a first-class lineup of more than thirty musical artists descends on Stephens Lake Park in Columbia for this annual showcase of roots, blues, gospel, country, folk, bluegrass, rock, and soul. Past performers include Dwight Yoakam, Buddy Guy, Al Green, Mavis Staples, Taj Mahal, Jimmy Cliff, and Lucinda Williams. While the jams pulsate through the crowd, local and regional vendors serve up barbecue. Half-marathon and 10K races and a Sunday gospel celebration round out the weekend. Visit rootsnbluesnbbq.com or call 573-442-5862 for more information.

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October October 1 & 2

Ol d Ty m e Apple Fest VERSAILLES If you haven’t had your fill of fall apples by October,

October 15 & 16

you can join several thousand people in Versailles for the thirty-seventh annual Old Tyme Apple Fest.

Aut umn Hist oric Folklife F e sti va l HANNIBAL

The festival features an apple pie baking contest, an apple pie auction, the crowning of the apple queen and king, and the Baby D umpling, Apple D umpling, and Darling contests. And those are just the core at-

Mention the name Hannibal, and most people envision Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer,

tractions. The three-day event also features a good

Becky Thatcher, and perhaps even a white-washed, picket fence. However, this his-

old-fashioned hometown parade, a fiddle contest,

toric river town has plenty more to o˜ er than a lesson in great American literature;

a classic-car cruise-in, more than 250 vendors, and

just ask the good folks at the Hannibal Arts Council. October 15 and 16 will mark the

even a golf tournament. Visit versailleschamber.com

council’s fortieth annual Folklife Festival.

or call 573-378-4401 for more information.

“Marking forty years is a big deal for us,” says Executive Director Michael Gaines.

Michael says the festival began in 1976 as a fall event geared at celebrating the

October 8 & 9

community’s cultural heritage by showcasing historic crafts, food, performing arts, and culture of the past.

Ol d Ir on Work s D ay s S T. JA M E S

“It’s certainly evolved,” he says. “We still do the best to keep the focus on hosting a nineteenth-century-themed event, but it has come with some twenty-firstcentury updates.”

Maramec Spring Park, just outside of St. James, will be abuzz starting at noon on Sat-

Among the updates is the number of artists and vendors. More than one hundred

urday, October 8, when the thirty-eighth annual Old Iron Works Days kicks o° . As in

exhibitors now fill the streets of Hannibal’s historic downtown. The vendors include

years past, the event expects to see about ten thousand visitors who come to enjoy

craftsmen of traditional arts and fine crafts, strolling street performers, and a vari-

magnificent fall colors and a step back in time to the nineteenth century. According

ety of nonprofits selling tasty treats.

to Mark Benton, one of the event’s main organizers, Old Iron Works Days takes its name from when iron was made in the park located just outside of St. James.

nonprofit organizations,” Michael says. “These food booths collectively bring in

“People return each year to see their old favorites such as our two blacksmiths, quilters, cornhusk doll makers, and various wood carvers among other things,” Mark says.

$80,000 to $90,000 for local organizations—in just two days.”

The arts council continues to provide apple cider, root beer, co˜ ee, and hot chocolate, and the council added a beer and wine tasting area last year. The festival also showcases local talent for the weekend’s entertainment.

“We have a philosophy for utilizing local musicians and music groups for our festival,” Michael says. “We have a wealth of talent right here in the Hannibal area, so as an arts council, we support our local talent by giving them a place in our festival.”

What began as small celebration of local culture has now turned into a two-day celebration of Americana. Michael says that about twenty thousand people pack the downtown area taking in the sights, sounds, and smells.

“The atmosphere is what sets it apart,” Michael says. “Hannibal has gone through many infrastructure updates in the past few years, and business owners have invested in their properties. In short, downtown Hannibal looks beautiful.”

Visit hannibaarts.com or call 573-221-6545 for more information.

COURTESY OF OLD IRON WORKS DAYS AND HANNIBAL CVB

Visit maramecspringpark.com or call 573-265-7124 for more information.

“We now have twenty food booths, which are run by local civic, church, and

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October 22 & 23 Déjà vu S p irit Reunion STE. GENEVIEVE Beware of the spirits who come to life at Missouri’s oldest cemetery, Ste. Genevieve’s Old Memorial Cemetery, established in 1787. This annual event begins at 5:30 pm on October 22 and offers a lantern tour where visitors will meet twenty spirits who arise from their resting place donned in their traditional dress. The spirits portrayed include a Civil War colonel who died in the battle of Shiloh, Missouri’s first US representative, and other colorful, nineteenth-century characters from Ste. Genevieve. Visit historicstegen.org or call 573-883-9622 for more information.

W HERE T O S T A Y

If you took the prior suggestion of staying at the Rockcliffe Mansion and enjoyed it, try Dubach Inn or the The Belvedere Inn Bed and Breakfast. Both are also stately, Victorian-era mansions. If the bed-and-breakfast route is not for you, try one of the area’s many chain hotels or, if it’s nice in October, try camping at the nearby Mark Twain Cave campground. Go to visithannibal.com/stay-awhile for more ideas.

W HAT E LS E T O D O

So you’ve already explored Mark Twain Cave and visited all the Samuel Clemens sites in town. What else is there to do in Hannibal?

Plenty. The town sports a number of locally owned restaurants, shops, and art galleries downtown. Cave Hollow West Winery is a fun place to go wine tasting. If you’re more of a beer drinker than wine connoisseur, check out Mark Twain Brewing Company. And, perfect for an October weekend, the Hannibal History Mu-

COURTESY OF HANNIBAL CVB AND STE. GENEVIEVE

seum’s ghost tour is chillingly entertaining.

October 29 P ump kin P alooza WA S H I NGTO N Taking its name from the long-running music festival, Lollapalooza, Pumpkin Palooza takes over downtown Washington on the afternoon of October 29. This year marks the fifth year for this family-friendly Halloween event. Back again by popular demand is the pumpkin roll, where kids can try their luck at pushing pumpkins down a steep street. There are plenty of arts and crafts to go around, and kids can go trick-ortreating at nearby stores. Last but not least, the event hosts a traditional costume contest for all ages. Visit downtownwashmo.org or call 636-239-1743 for more information.

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November November 4 & 5

Ozark F iber F ling S T E E LV I L LE

Need some fiber in your diet? The 2016 Ozark Fiber Fling might not fulfill your dietary needs, but it will certainly satisfy any cravings you might have for knitting, crochet, weaving, or spinning. This weekend craft festival began in 2010 as an a° ordable, fun, close-tohome opportunity for those interested in the fiber arts. Held in the Missouri Baptist Association’s Conference Center in the beautiful small town of Steelville, the fling features classes with top-notch instructors, plenty of vendors selling yarn and other materials, and full dining service. Visit ozarkfiberfling.com or call 573-

COURTESY OF ARTS COUNCIL OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, OZARK FIBER FLING, AND ST. MARTIN’S

775-5145 for more information.

November 19 & 20 Christmas Arts and Crafts Extravaganza CAPE GIRARDEAU Get your holiday shopping done early during the forty-fifth annual Christmas Arts and Crafts Extravaganza at the Osage Centre and Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. On Saturday the craft fair will be open from 10 ˝˙ until 4 ˆ˙ , and on Sunday, it will open at 10 ˝˙ and close at 5 ˆ˙ . Both days will feature more than three hundred high quality craft booths that can sell only handmade items, which must pass an inspection beforehand.

Admission is $5. While in Cape, you can explore the city’s noted riverfront park and Missouri Wall of Fame, and then stay at Historic Downtown Guest House or Historic Kage House.

Visit capearts.org or call 573-334-9233 for more information.

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November 12 & 13 Chris tm as In the Ozark s HARTSVILLE When the calendar turns to November, the Christmas season begins in Hartsville with Rosewood Farms’ annual Christmas in the Ozarks celebration. This season marks the sixteenth year for this week-long event that starts on November 7 and runs until November 12. This open house at the gift shop—decked out in Christmas décor—is an eclectic shopping experience where you can find a variety of specialty gifts, including candles, jams, clothes, jewelry, and housewares. According to veteran shoppers, a visit isn’t complete without a stop at Grandpa Joe’s Old Fashioned Chocolate counter. Since the 1940s, this family chocolate business has grown from a handful of secret recipes to more than one hundred varieties of gourmet chocolates and fudge.

“Our Christmas week has become an annual tradition for hundreds of people,” says store owner Melody Boyster. “Its a homecoming of sorts with friends and family coming here year after year. We hope to see you this year as well.”

Visit grandpajoeschocolates.com or call 417-741-6915 for more information.

November 26 Sound s of Sta rkenb urg S TAR KE N B URG When the sights and smells of Thanksgiving mark the officia start of the holiday season, the sounds of the season cannot be ignored. Those sounds resonate profoundly at St. Martin’s Catholic Church in Starkenburg during the annual Sounds of Starkenburg concert. This concert series first began at St. Martin’s as a simple holiday music event for parishioners in 1994. In 1997, the concert moved to Church of the Risen Savior in Rhineland, but it came back to Starkenburg in 2004 and has grown ever since.

According to the administrative assistant at Church of the Risen Savior, Brenda Van Booven, the show has become a must-see and -hear for hundreds of people who come from far and wide.

Starkenburg is just a dot on the map, so there’s

“People tell us that it is a great way to kick off the season as it’s that Saturday after Thanksgiving,” she says

no place in the immediate vicinity of the church

The star of the show is the church’s pipe organ built more than 150 years ago. Organist Barry Bierwirth,

to stay overnight. That being said, St. Martin’s is

a Hermann native now living in St. Louis, is the man behind the organ keys. He started playing as a young-

just a stone’s throw away from Hermann, which

ster, and now he knows how to bring out the best in this treasured musical instrument. Set for Saturday,

has plenty of lodging options. The closest you

November 26, the St. Paul Handbell Choir, from Hermann, and mezzo-soprano vocalist Carrie Tilly will join

might get is Hermann Hill, which offers a variety

Bierwirth this year. The concert also includes sing-alongs of both sacred and secular music.

of quaint cottages and luxury suites.

“The professional artists who come here to St. Martin’s Church love the acoustics, “ Brenda says. “That combined with the spiritual setting of Starkenburg is sure to get everyone into the Christmas spirit.”

COURTESY OF ROSEWOOD FARMS

WH E R E TO S T AY

While at St. Martins, take in the historic structures that surround the 1873 church, which was placed on

WH AT E L SE TO DO

The Sounds of Starkenburg is a one-day event,

the National Historic Registry. Starkenburg is the home of the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows, which draws

which opens up your Sunday for a relaxing day

thousands of pilgrims each year seeking spiritual solace and answers to prayers.

in Missouri Wine Country. Peruse Hermann’s

Musical performances are at 1, 3:30, and 7 pm. There is no charge for the concert, however, donations will

variety of shopping and restaurant options, or

be accepted. Funds raised will benefit building maintenance for the church. From 2 to 6:30 pm, volunteers

just take a spa day at Hermann Hill or one of the

will serve a soup supper at Valentine Hall next to the church. For more information about the concert, call

area’s other resorts.

Brenda Van Booven at 573-236-4810 or Ruth Hulsey at 573-252-4653.

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December December 10 & 11 B lackwat er Merchant Op en House B LAC K WAT E R Tucked away in northwest Cooper County, the quaint, quiet town of Blackwater becomes a destination for good oldfashioned Christmas shopping from December 9 to 11, during the twentieth annual Blackwater Merchant Open House.

“Each window on Main Street is adorned with handcrafted holiday décor, and the street poles are wrapped with fresh garland,” says Crystal Casteel, owner of Blackwater Mercantile. “More than a dozen of the town’s businesses participate in this holiday tradition.”

P io n e e r Chris tm as & S a n t a D ay s WA R S AW

has avoided becoming a ghost town. During the first half of the twentieth century, Blackwater was a bustling railroad town of around seven hundred people. However, after World War II, highways replaced train tracks, and the big city became more attractive to locals. In the late 1980s, the local rocky quarry shut down along with most of the businesses. Things looked bleak.

Then came twenty-six-year-old, newly minted mayor and lifelong resident Bobby Danner. He rallied the community to take ownership of the town through beautification projects and infrastructure programs. Under his leadership, he was able to secure federal grant money, tax incentives, and lots of volunteer labor. Little by little, Blackwater began to look like its better

While it’s known as a summer destination, Warsaw is alive all year long, especially during the holiday season. Come out for an authentic nineteenth-century Christmas at Kaysinger Pioneer Village on Friday, and then stay Saturday for a Christmas parade downtown Warsaw, a visit from Santa, and thousands of lights illumi-

days. In 2005, the town’s main street was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“You will feel like you stepped back in time during our Christmas open house,” Crystal says. “It will remind you of Grandma’s house and bring back a holiday memory or two of days gone by.”

While you’re there, say hello to Mary Jo Watson, owner of Antiques and Interiors. Mary Jo and her shop have been a big part of the town’s revival.

“She will talk your ear o° on all things Blackwater,” Crystal says with a smile.

A December jaunt to Merchant Open House isn’t complete without a stop at the beautifully renovated Iron Horse Restaurant and Hotel, which was built in the 1880s and serves up the best dinner in town.

nating the harbor. Go to visitbentoncomo

“We won’t let you get out of town without trying a slice of homemade pie and hot cup of co° ee at Pauline’s,” Crystal says.

.com for more information.

Visit blackwatermissouri.weebly.com or call 660-846-4411 for more information.

COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION AND DOUG WERTMAN

December 2 & 3

With only 150 residents, Blackwater is no city, but with a creative mayor and a handful of dedicated residents, the town

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December 15 & 16 C hrist mas C oun tr y Ch u r ch To u r PERRY, BOLLINGER, AND CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTIES Although it’s technically just before the weekend, our pick for the third week in December is the twelfth annual Christmas Country Church Tour on Thursday and Friday, December 15 and 16. The Christmas spirit will come to life in southeastern Missouri as thirty churches located in Perry, Bollinger, and Cape Girardeau Counties will show off their holiday deco .

“It’s a free, self-guided tour of some of our area’s fi est churches, most of which are more than one hundred years old,” says Trish Erzfeld, director of Perry County Heritage Tourism. “From wooden, white, one-room churches to brick and mortar masterpieces, visitors will get a wide spectrum of structures and worship spaces.

All the churches have greeters, and most provide refreshments and music.”

Visit facebook.com/christmascountrychurchtour or call 573-547-6062 for more information.

W HERE T O S T A Y

As Crystal suggests, the Iron Horse Hotel is the best, and only, place to stay in town. It’s also the best place for a nice steak dinner. If the Iron is booked up for the weekend, nearby Arrow Rock and Boonville have lodging options, too.

COURTESY OF MAHN FUNERAL HOME AND KANSAS CITY CVB; JIM DIAZ

W HAT E LS E T O D O

If you max out on Blackwater, the tiny, historic town of Arrow Rock

December 24 & 25 Living Nat ivit y S cene DESOTO

is less than ten miles away, and it’s

December 31 P ower & Lig h t Di str i ct New Yea r ’s E ve KANSAS CITY

another great destination for small-

It’s Christmas; stay home and enjoy holiday cheer

town lovers. You can shop and dine

with family and friends. But if you must get out, head

on Saturday in Blackwater, and catch

to DeSoto for the annual living Nativity scene set up

a performance of A Christmas Carol

at Mahn’s Funeral Home. For more than sixty years,

at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre on

the local chapter of the Knights of Columbus has put

New Year’s Eve is traditionally a time to party, and there’s per-

Sunday. It’s the perfect combination

on the display featuring cows, donkeys, sheep, and

haps no place better to party harder in Missouri than Kansas

of two tiny towns from yesteryear.

goats. The display opens in early December and lasts

City’s Power & Light District. The 500,000-square-foot enter-

till New Year’s D ay. Additionally, local church choirs

tainment district goes all out to ring in the new year with DJs,

help the Bethlehem story come alive with singing and

confetti, a champagne toast, and more. All-inclusive packages

performance on the last few days before Christmas.

are available for this adult party that shows you why Kansas City

Visit mahnfuneralhome.com or call 636-586-2288

is called the Paris of the Plains. Visit powerandlightdistrict.com

for more information.

for more information.

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January January 7 & 8 A l t o n -A u du b on E agle F es tiv al W E S T A LTO N Every year, visitors anxiously wait to catch a glimpse of the American Bald Eagle as it comes to nest for the winter where the Missouri, Mississippi, and Illinois Rivers meet. The Audubon Center at Riverlands—an undervalued local treasure that stores a wealth of knowledge about every kind of bird you can imagine—kicks o˜ the season with a special festival in West Alton to celebrate the great birds. Combine an eagle-viewing walk with a live eagle meet-and-greet to kick o˜ the season of spotting eagles up and down the rivers. Visit riverlands.audubon.org or call 636-

January 14 & 15

January 21 & 22

U S F i g u r e S k a ting Ch am pion s h ips KANSAS CITY AND INDEPENDENCE

Loop Ice Ca r n i va l ST. LOUIS

From January 14 to 22, you’ll have the chance to see

Every year, come January, the creators of the Loop

the next Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Evan Ly-

Ice Carnival hope for things many others are pray-

sacek, Charlie White, and Meryl Davis make history on

ing don’t happen: snow, ice, and a blustery cold

ice on their way to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South

day with temperatures below thirty. After all, those

Korea. This will be the US Figure Skating Champion-

are the ingredients of a carnival based upon ice.

ship’s first time back in Kansas City since 1985, bring-

For the past several, however, attendees have

ing over 1,700 athletes, coaches, and oÿ cials to the

been blessed with fifty-plus degree days, which

area. The annual event, held since 1914, is the most

has added a sort of urgency to the festival that has

prestigious figure skating championship in the United

been missing in the past. Quick! Get to the festival,

States and plays an important role in who goes on to

before the statue of Tina Turner melts! Even if the

compete in the World Championships and, also, the

ice sculptures melt, there are plenty of other fun

Winter Olympics. More than one hundred thousand

things to do: a zip line, ice slides, mini-golf, a pub

spectators are expected at the two venues for the

crawl, frozen turkey bowling, human dog sled races,

competitions held over ten days at the Sprint Center

the chance to win $1,000, and more. What’s not to

in Kansas City and Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in

love about freezing when it is this much fun? Go to

Independence. Be there for the opening weekend on

visittheloop.com/icecarnival for more information.

January 14 and 15. Visit usfsa.org to learn more.

COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM AND QUEEN YUNA VIA FLICKR

899-0090 for more information

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January 28 & 29 Chines e New Y ear Fest ival KANSAS CITY Welcome to the year of the rooster: a confident and courageous sign in the Chinese calendar, which starts on January 28. Chinese New Year is one of the most colorful and energetic holidays in the world, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is offering plenty of ways to celebrate the holiday on January 28, topping off a month verfl wing with festive activities.

Kansas City offers plenty of accommodations for travelers. To stay close to the Nelson, look around the Country

Start the day with an exuberant lion dance, where the Shaolin Lohan Pai Lion Dancers of St.

Club Plaza, which features a number of hotels to suit

Louis—one of the top ten troupes in the nation—will show off the traditional celebratory dance

your needs. The Raphael Hotel on the Plaza is a mod-

that is believed to bring good fortune and happiness. There will be other dance performances

ern luxurious getaway. If you’re more of the downhome

throughout the day to observe. The Jasmine Chinese Dance Group and Lily Zhang Li Taylor Dance

type of traveler, check out Southmoreland on the Plaza

Academy will perform, and both Chinese acrobatics and Tai Chi demonstrations will highlight feats

for a quaint bed-and-breakfast experience. Both places

of strength, balance, and fortitude.

are about a mile away from the museum. Neither will

Find out if the year of the rooster is your time to shine with a scavenger hunt throughout the COURTESY OF THE NELSON-ATKINS

WH E R E TO STAY

museum and reading events throughout the day to learn more about the Chinese zodiac. Fuel for the rest of the afternoon is available with a plate of authentic food from Bo Ling’s Fine Chinese Cuisine and, for the parents, a glass of plum wine. For those looking for a calmer afternoon, sip

disappoint.

WH AT E L SE TO DO

Why not have the whole Kansas City experience? In fact,

tea from 11 am until 3 pm with a Chinese Tea Demonstration while listening to the Chinese Music

you can find plenty to do between your hotel and the muse-

Ensemble, which will feature traditional instruments and folk songs. Children and adults alike can

um. Check out the shops and restaurants on the Plaza, and

also try their hand at origami, calligraphy, painting, and traditional games, such as Chinese check-

get some real Kansas City barbecue at Jack Stack’s. Endless

ers and Wei Qi.

options abound. Go to visitkc.com for more ideas.

Visit nelson-atkins.org for more information.

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February February 4 & 5

If you like Mardi Gras, why not take part in another French tradition that has been alive and

WH E R E TO STAY

Ste. Genevieve has numerous lodging options, from hotels

well in historic Ste. Genevieve for more than three hundred years? The Ste. Genevieve King’s

and bed-and-breakfasts to RV and camping options. To get

Ball calls to mind the singing, dancing, and feasting of the fêtes that French settlers of the

a true feel for the historic French settlement, find a room

eighteenth century once hosted. Traditionally, the upper Louisiana settlers hosted what was

in the town’s historic district. There are a number of lodg-

then called “La fête des rois,” or King’s Ball, to celebrate Epiphany, which some may know as

ing options in historic buildings, but the Hubardeau Guest

the Twelfth Night—the end of the Christmas season. In Ste. Genevieve, French-Catholic set-

House was built in 1789, making it the oldest place to stay

tlers joined other Europeans, Native Americans, and slaves to throw the ball of the year in the

in town. The gorgeous limestone house is filled with period

last weekend before Lent began.

antiques and o° ers sleeping accommodations for up to six

The pièce de résistance of these jovial events involved a King Cake that was sliced and shared

guests and cooking facilities. You can rent by room or make

among the most eligible men at the ball. Whoever received the slice with a toy baby inside be-

the whole place your home for the weekend. Call 573-883-

came King for the night and selected a Queen to rule by his side for the remainder of the night.

5307 for more information.

Today, he who finds the special charm in a slice of the cake, alongside his queen, will rule over not only a night of festivities but over an entire year of historical festivities in the town. In a slightly more democratic bent, special attendants with titles like La Dame of Ste. Genevieve will be chosen based on contributions to stand beside the Queen and King.

WH AT E L SE TO DO

While the event is only Saturday evening, there is plenty to see and do in Ste. Genevieve. Walk around the historic vil-

Every person, no matter what age, is encouraged to come dressed in the finest colonial garb and

lage and see the old colonial buildings, including the Louis

bearing snacks to share with other attendees for the Saturday evening event. Traditional French

Bolduc House built in the eighteenth century. The commu-

songs, played by Les Petits Chanteurs, will welcome guests as they enter the local VFW chapter at 852

nity also has eleven wineries worth visiting in the beautiful

Memorial Drive at the hour of 7 °˛ . Music will continue throughout the night with special traditional

countryside. For more ideas, check out visitstegen.com or

dance instructions to recall the balls of old and show participants how partying has evolved over the

ask a local.

past three hundred years. Go to visitstegen.com or call 573-883-7097 for more information.

COURTESY OF STE. GENEVIEVE

Ste. Genev ie v e K in g’ s B all STE. GENEVIEVE

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February 11 & 12 Route 66: M a in S t r e e t Th rough St. Louis ST. LOUIS Winter driving in Missouri is chancy, so why not spend some time off the roads but still exploring them? The Missouri History Museum offers that chance with an interactive exhibit about the famous Route 66 and its role in St. Louis, the largest city the old highway passed through on its way from Chicago to Los Angeles. The stories of local historic favorites such as the Moolah Temple, Coral Courts, and the Parkmoor restaurant take rightful center stage in an era that seems far too fast for scenic byways. Visitors will also see modern history catalogued in gas pumps, signs, and photographs. The exhibit runs through July 16, 2017, but why not see it on a weekend that’s usually best spent in the warmth of the indoors? Visit mohistory .org or call 314-746-4599 for more information.

February 18 & 19 Ch oc olate W in e Trail HERMANN Frontier-style adventure may be strenuous, but there’s one kind of easy trailblazing anyone can get behind: the Chocolate Wine Trail that winds its way between Hermann’s most romantic wineries. Sample specialty wine, and fill up on chocolate delicacies and other sugary goodness while COURTESY OF MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM, HERMANN WINE TRAIL, AND WEST PLAINS BREW FEST

traversing from winery to winery in the warmth of your car. Adam Puchta Winery, for example, has in the past served a chocolate and raspberry tart paired with a lovely Vignoles. OakGlenn, pushing the envelope, has served a triple chocolate chili with a Red Muscadine Wine. Other participating wineries include Bias, Dierberg Star Lane, Hermannhof, Röbller, and Stone Hill. Tickets go on sale on October 1. Visit hermannwinetrail.com or call 573-486-2744 for more information.

February 25 & 26 West P lains B rew Fest WEST PLAINS Craft brewers will showcase their brews at the West Plains Civic Center during the town’s fifth annual festival celebrating Missouri’s independent brewers. All day on Saturday, sample brews from popular Missouri craft beer brands like Boulevard Brewing Company, while also introducing yourself to some suds from lesser-known breweries like Piney River in Bucyrus and Leaky Roof Meadery in Buffalo. More than seventy beers and hard ciders will be available, supplemented with more widely produced selections like O’Fallon Brewery, Anheuser-Busch, and Deschutes Brewing Co. For those first fi e hundred through the door, a souvenir tasting glass is also included.

Snacks from Bootleggers BBQ, Sole Café at the Shoe Factory Lofts, Ozark Pizza Company, and other restaurants are included in the admission. Visit westplainsbrewfest.webs.com for more information.

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March March 1-5 WH E R E TO ST AY

Tr ue/F al s e F ilm Fest C O LU M B IA

Although Columbia has many hotels all over town, the best place during True/False is in

Just when you thought the doldrums of Missouri winter couldn’t get any more unbearable, there’s a burst

downtown—the heart of the festival. Both the

of color and light that make the chapped lips and myriad layers worth it. The True/False Film Festival, now

Tiger Hotel and the Broadway are great op-

in its fourteenth year, will co-opt downtown Columbia theaters, concert venues, churches, and assembly

tions that are walking distance from all of the

centers for four days at the beginning of March to showcase groundbreaking documentary films in an inti-

weekend’s events. In fact, one of the theaters

mate setting. Often, directors, producers, and even the lovable subjects are part of the program, answer-

is connected to the lobby of the Tiger Hotel.

ing audience questions in a way few other festivals allow. This year’s lineup will surely include next year’s

Book early, though, because there is no doubt

crop of Academy Award nominees. Art installations, outdoor concerts, a fun run, and quirky nightly parties

that both hotels will have no vacancies that

also await festival attendees.

weekend.

While di° erent passes, which start at $99, guarantee festival-goers varying levels of access to theaters ranging in size from the 1,700-seat Jesse Hall to 65-seat “Willy Wilson” theater in Ragtag Cinema, it’s best for first-timers to jump in feet first with the “Q.” That means lining up an hour or earlier for films with hopes of getting a lottery number to get in the door.

WH AT E L SE T O DO

The festival is nonstop, action-packed from

“Q Queens” keep the spirit alive along the line with glittery costumes and festival know-how. With a

else you can do. However, make sure to make

hot cup of co° ee in hand, you’re guaranteed to meet some interesting and friendly people while waiting.

your way to one of Columbia’s heralded restau-

Fifteen minutes before the film begins, those with numbers return to see if their number is allowed admis-

rants. Grab a burger at Booches, try the pizza at

sion. Tickets cost $12 at the door, but are only $10 at the box oÿ ce. Of course, with a pass, you are able to

Shakespeare’s, and get brunch at Café Berlin. If

reserve tickets before the festival.

you’re into fine dining, look into Sycamore, and

Bring a friend or go solo. The documentaries, incorporating narrative wonders, awe-inspiring visuals, and unimaginable access will leave you thinking for days and years to come. For more information on the festival and its many events, visit truefalse.org.

for a great pub experience, go to Broadway Brewery.

HARRY KATZ

morning until late night, so there’s not much

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March 11 M a r d i G r a s & Iris h F es tiv al, EXCELSIOR SPRINGS From noon to 4 pm on March 11, channel the luck of the Irish and the joie de vivre of the French at this all-in-one festival favorite in downtown Excelsior Springs. Less a strict celebration of either St. Patrick’s D ay or Mardi Gras, this day welcomes spring into town with an exuberant, colorful parade featuring local bands, dancers, motorcyclists, and confetti rain. A beer garden with live country music will be rollicking all day long. For the family-oriented, a Highland D ance performance and activities for the kids abound. Be the first to spring into color, and wear your best purple, yellow and, of course, green. Go to visitexcelsior.com for more information.

March 18 Rac e to the Roc k e r CUBA, MISSOURI Missouri is full of bizarre oddities and hilarious roadside attractions, but none are quite so bold as the Big Red Rocker of Route 66. The forty-two-foot-tall steel rocking chair holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for largest rocking chair in the world. On March 18 at 9 am, Missourians are paying homage to the chair in a straight-shot, four-mile race to see who can get to the chair first. Although the race costs $25 to compete in, 100 percent of the earnings go back into the Cuba community to help kids get more active in schools, and kids run free with an adult registration. Go to racetotherocker

COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM AND EXCELSIOR SPRINGS

.com for more information.

March 25 & 26 50 Miles of Art H A N N I B A L , L O U I S IA NA , A N D C LAR K S V I L L E If you want to be equally inspired by the early budding natural beauty of northeastern Missouri as by the artists who call the region home, you can’t miss the semiannual 50 Miles of Art weekend. Follow scenic Highway 79 along bluffs that overlook the Mississippi River, and stop in more than forty artist studios, galleries, and antique shops along the way. Artists and gallery owners will be on hand all day to answer questions about the unique fl vor of their artistry. Need more sightseeing highlights? Stop at the Henry Lay Sculpture Park in Louisiana, and take in a two-mile tour of large-scale sculpture scattered along a trail that runs through a forest. Take a peek inside Nancy Lee Kauffman’s gallery in Hannibal to see the impressive artist weaving at her loom. The Blue Rose in Clarksville offers hearty lunches and spectacular river views for weary travelers. Visit 50milesofart.com for more information.

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April April 1 & 2 R e v ealing a Hid d en Tr eas ure KANSAS CITY Like the Disney advertisements say, this is your last chance to see a classic before it goes back into the vault.

In 1932, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City acquired a sixteenth

April 8 & 9

century Jain shrine from India. Made of wood, glass, polychrome paint, and gold leaf, this ornately beautiful eighty-by-seventy-one-inch shrine sat in storage for

Missouri T art an D a y s WA S H I NGTO N

more than seventy years. In the summer of 2016, it will see the light of day again.

And if you can’t make it any other weekend, plan for the first weekend of April, as the free, yearlong exhibit, Revealing a Hidden Treasure: A Jain Shrine from India, ends in the summer of 2017.

For more than a decade, Missouri Tartan Days have brought bagpipes and an-

There’s no better time to visit Kansas City than the spring, so pair your experience learning about the ancient Indian religion of Jainism with exploring the vibrant, modern place that is Kansas City. Visit nelsonatkins.org to learn more.

cient games from the Scottish highlands to the Show-Me State, and last year marked a new chapter in the festival’s history.

“After fifteen years in our previous location, we found the Washington Town and Country Fairgrounds to be a perfect future home for us,” says Jake MacGregor, president of the nonprofit, whose goal is promoting and showcasing Scottish-American culture.

In the spirit of the group’s core focus, the three-day festival features a parade, storytelling, old-fashioned crafts people teaching classes and giving presuch as the caber toss and Scottish hammer throw, and a variety of interactive activities.

The festivities kick o° each year with the posting of the colors, a customary Scottish flag raising ceremony. Additionally, the inaugural night’s festivities also includes the calling of the Scottish clans—a historical assembly that has opened the event since its very first year. After the oÿ cial beginning of the festival, craft and food vendors will open and sell everything from Scottish and American libations to tasty Missouri barbecue.

Each year, the festival’s highlight is a full line-up of traditional Scottish pipe and drum corps as well as Scottish dance groups. Past years have included the Saint Louis Caledonian Pipe Band, Celtic trio 3 Pints Gone, and the Saint Andrews Pipe Band, to name a few.

Tickets range from $10 to $20. Children 12 and under are free. Visit motartanday.com for more information.

COURTESY OF NELSON˜ATKINS AND MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM

sentations, sheep-herding demonstrations, a carnival, historic Scottish sports,

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April 15 T it anic Rememb rance Day BRANSON Saturday April 15, 2017, makes the 115th anniversary since the night the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank into the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Most people would commemorate the event by watching the famed 1997 James Cameron movie. However, we’re lucky enough to have the Titanic Museum in Branson. So take the opportunity to visit Missouri’s original vacation town and tour the museum that features hundred of original Titanic artifacts.

April 20-23 Dogwood-Azalea Fest ival CHARLESTON

WHERE T O ST AY

When fl wers bloom, it’s time for Charleston’s annual Dogwood-Azalea Festival.

The forty-ninth annual festival will bring arts and crafts display booths, food

Find a room in Washington’s downtown dis-

vendors, and live entertainment to the city’s Rowling Park. The highlight, though,

trict, and you won’t be disappointed. The Brick

will be the six-mile Dogwood-Azalea Trail, where you can see the beauty of these

Inn at 516 W. Third Street matches the charm

magnificent trees at peak bloom.

of Washington and serves up a hefty breakfast that’s included with your stay. The D eBourge House at 119 Johnson Street is also a quaint choice, and the innkeepers give you the option to rent the entire house. For more information,

Beginning at City Hall and ending at Rowling Park, the most crowd-pleasing event is the parade. To get the best view, arrive early and find a spot along Commercial Street A carnival will be on hand to keep the young and the young at heart entertained, and live music will have the parents tapping their toes.

For more information, visit charlestonmo.org or call 573-683-6509.

visit washmochamber.org.

W hat E ls e t o D o

In addition to the Scottish-American celebration, Washington has a lot to see, do, eat, and drink.

Just across the river from the heart of Washing-

April 29 Arb or Day MARYVILLE

COURTESY OF CHARLESTON AND THE TITANIC BRANSON

ton, you’ll find a number of vineyards along the Augusta Wine Trail. If you’re looking for a satisfying

On April 28, Arbor Day will be celebrated with tree planting ceremonies across the

meal, you can practically throw a rock in any direc-

United States. In Missouri, the Department of Conservation encourages Missouri-

tion and find a good place to eat. The Blue Duck

ans to celebrate by planting a tree where they can. If you really want to get in the

at 516 W. Front Street offers fine-dining twists on

spirit, you can plant a fl wering dogwood—Missouri’s officia state tree. After all,

American classics, and Wimpy’s Sandwich Shop

forests cover nearly one third of the state, and forested outdoor recreation areas

at 521 Jefferson Street is where you can fin

provide jobs for thousands of Missourians.

real down-home Missouri cooking. Try the pork

If you don’t a have a place to plant a tree of your own, go out and enjoy the

brain sandwich if you dare. No matter what your

trees our state has to offe . With so many forests, there are innumerable places to

tastes, Washington will have the restaurant for

appreciate trees, but the obvious choice might be the Missouri State Arboretum on

you. Finally, first time visitors must see the world’s

the Northwest Missouri State University campus in Maryville. This arboretum was

largest producer of corncob pipes—the Missouri

named the state’s officia arboretum in 1993, and it has been a sanctuary for trees

Meerschaum Company at 400 W. Front Street. For

ever since. Here you can see a lush variety of trees along four different walking

more ideas, visit downtownwashmo.org.

trails. For more information and a full list of trees and shrubs, visit nwmissouri.edu/ arboretum or call 660-562-1473.

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SUMMER Summer: we often wish it were endless.

In Missouri, summer means a lot. It’s a time for having fun in the sun on our many lakes, rivers, and streams just as much as it is an opportunity to round up the family for a road trip to one of our quaint small towns or fascinating big cities.

From the fi st Memorial Day parade to the last Labor Day backyard cook-out, take the time to fully enjoy your summer by exploring the ShowMe State. You’d be surprised how much fun you can have in just 101 days.

Travel

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Benton County FUN YOUR WAY! UPCOMING EVENTS: May 7 Kids Fishing Day Lost Valley Fish Hatchery May 21 Cole Camp Rockin’ Bikes and BBQ Cole Camp June 9-11 Jubilee Days Warsaw June 11 German Singing Festival (Saengerfest) Cole Camp June 12 Missouri State Championship Mountain Bike Race Truman Lake Mountain Bike Park Warsaw

www.visitbentoncomo.com

SPORTS & RECREATION FOR ALL AGES! HAVE FUN YOUR WAY IN BENTON COUNTY, MO. [55] May 2016

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SUMMER

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Kansas City’s Northland

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SUMMER

Travel

CHILLICOTHE, MO

SLICED BREAD JAM

PRESENTED BY

FESTIVAL

JUNE 17-18, 2016 Litton Agri Campus, 1 mi. west of Hwys. 65 & 190 Junction, Chillicothe, MO. Gates open 10 a.m. Friday.

Bands Friday Night and Saturday—June 17-18

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Friday Gate Charge Saturday Gate Charge Preschoolers — Free Camping Reservations: Per Day: $15 Electric / $10 Dry or Tent Call 660-646-1173.

Campground reservations must be paid in advance.

Deadline for reservations is June 1st .

Friday: 6p - KBA Treblemakers 7p - Petersen Family 8p - Lonesome Road Saturday: 10:00a - Workshops 11:30a - Lunch Break 12:45p - Welcome 1:00p - Rural Roots 1:55p - KBA Treblemakers 2:50p - Petersen Family 3:45p - Lonesome Road 4:30p - Dinner Break 5:25p - Rural Roots 6:10p - KBA Treblemakers 6:55p - Petersen Family 7:40p - Lonesome Road 8:30p - Russel Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out Sunday: 8:30a - Church Service

SPONSORED BY Chillicothe: 660-646-6590

JUNE 17-18, 2016 • www.chillicothearts.com

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Upcoming Events June 11: Mexico Young Farmers Truck & Tractor Pull Audrain 4-H Fairgrounds Audrain County 4-H Center 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org June 12-18: Miss Missouri Pageant Missouri Military Academy 573-581-2765 | www.missmissouri.com June 17: Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen Missouri Military Academy 573-581-2765 | www.missmissouri.com June 18: “Brick City Bad Boys” Car/Cruise Nights Downtown Mexico Square 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org June 25: “Aladdin” Presser Performing Arts Center 573-581-5592 | www.presserpac.com July 16: “Brick City Bad Boys” Car/Cruise Nights Downtown Mexico Square 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org

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

MEXICO AREA CHAMBER

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

573-581-2765

July 16-17: “Wizard of Oz” Presser Performing Arts Center 573-581-5592 | www.presserpac.com

PRESSER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Presser Performing Arts Center is centrally located in the state of Missouri, serving mid-America with quality cultural performing arts. We are dedicated to the promotion and appreciation of the arts. We serve a 30 mile radius with 21 zip codes as a multidisciplinary arts education facility. www.presserpac.com / 573-581-5592 [59] May 2016

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FAR FROM THE TREE

Inside Stark Bro’s Nurseries & Orchards Co. two-hundred-year history

BY ALEX STEWART

DOLLAR XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PHOTO CLUB XXXX

THE APPLE THAT FELL

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COURTESY OF STARK BRO’S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO.

IT MAY COME AS a surprise to learn that the man, the myth, the legend, Johnny Appleseed, only did about half the work. Although the legendary man is given most of the credit for the spread of apples we see in grocery stores today, the man truly responsible for some of America’s favorite varieties of apple was never immortalized in children’s fables and American lore.

His name, property, and legacy of innovation lives on in his nursery, though, now one of the oldest in the nation.

Whether you know it or not, Stark Bro’s Nurseries & Orchards Co. has made a significant impact on your fruit diet. If not for the Stark family, the Gala, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious apples would have never made it big, and if not for the latter two varieties, sixty percent of the apples currently available in grocery stores would have never come to fruition.

JIMMY APPLESEED Before there were railroads, and before there was a Wild West, even before there was a Missouri, there was Stark Bro’s. Its history goes back six generations of Starks, plus a new era of ownership under the current president, Cameron Brown. Now a purveyor of fruit trees, nut trees, landscape trees and shrubs,

berry plants and vines, garden plants, roses, and more, the company’s beginnings were not so widespread.

James Hart Stark was born in 1792, the second of nineteen children. An early adapter of the ideals of westward expansion, a young Stark left his hometown of Hutchinson, Kentucky, in 1816 in search of greener pastures.

He brought with him a bag full of Jeniton apple scions—a cutting or twig with buds used to graft onto a compatible rootstock—crossed the Mississippi, and settled in Missouri, which would become a state five years late .

At the time, no one believed it was possible to grow good apples in Missouri soil. However, Stark proved them wrong when he grafted the precious scions onto local crabapple trees.

In the early nineteenth century, people were not accustomed to good fruit. When you fail to graft apples from their parent tree, you could end up with junk trees, explains LeAnn Zotta, author of 200 Years and Growing: The Story of Stark Bro’s Nurseries & Orchards Co. Stark’s product, in contrast, was extraordinary. His expert knowledge of grafting, along with the fertile river silt, made the fruits of his labor legendary.

“What resulted was an orchard full of Jeniton trees, and people came from miles around, not only to get the fruit, but to get the trees,” she says.

Left: James Hart Stark founded Stark Bro’s Nursery, now celebrating its two-hundredth anniversary. Above: Workers take a break from working at Stark Bro’s in 1900.

With the dawn of the railroad, Stark’s goods were demanded nationwide.

Now in its two-hundredth year, Stark Bro’s consists of 677 growing acres in Missouri and Illinois, five acres of greenhouses, and two million cubic feet of warehouse space. In peak season, it employs 275 people, who ship one million trees a year.

PLANTING FAMILY ROOTS A painted portrait of James Hart Stark depicts a man with unkempt dark hair and a furrowed brow. The corners of his mouth are turned down, and his light brown eyes make you feel as though he’s scolding you. Stark was a Pike County judge for four years, and though he served only one term, he preferred to be called “Judge” until he died in 1873.

James Stark’s son, William, eventually took the reins at the tender age of fourteen. He studied his father and the enterprise closely, making him a widely respected and knowledgeable horticulturist in his day. It was he who moved the nursery from Buffalo Township to its current location due to the convenience of the railroad. The completion of the Illinois

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Left: Paul Stark Jr. is a fifth generation Stark. Above: The Stark family tree shows two hundred years of ancestry.

the company’s first logo, a silhouette of a bear and the phrase, “Stark Trees Bear Fruit,” an emblem that remains painted on the side of a barn on the Stark Bro’s property today. He also hosted the 1893 International New Fruit Fair, which is where things get interesting.

THE DELICIOUS DUO “In the 1800s, apples were what bananas are today—no variety,” says Ken Lane, Stark Bro’s Chief Marketing Office .

In pursuit of a new variety to replace the cold, hardy, but unappetizing Ben Davis apple, Clarence Stark invited apple growers near and far to submit their creations for consideration for Best New Apple Variety.

COURTESY OF STARK BRO’S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO.

Central Railroad to St. Louis in 1855 meant that the company could transport goods to both St. Louis and Chicago in less than twenty-four hours, creating a boom in the market for the next fifteen years.

William’s sons, Clarence, Edgar, and William Pharr, succeeded him in 1880. In 1889, the trio officially incorporated the nurseries using the name Stark Bro’s. Clarence, who was eventually president of the company, had less of a green thumb but more of a knack for marketing. He began advertising and distributed the company’s first catalog in 1894. He created

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COURTESY OF STARK BRO’S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO.

Meanwhile, Iowa farmer Jesse Hiatt was fighting a chance seedling—a new variety that sprouts from unintentional breeding—on his property. Despite chopping it down twice, it bloomed and eventually grew a fruit that looked like an apple, but not exactly. It was red, bumpy on the bottom with stripes of yellow and a narrow base. Imagine a funhouse mirror version of the typical apple.

Hiatt knew it looked strange, but it was undeniably tasty. He submitted the fruit to the fair and eagerly awaited a response. Unfortunately, his tasty apples, which Hiatt called “Hawkeye,” did win, but the samples had lost their name tag in transit. No one at the fair knew where this mystery fruit came from.

Persistence ruled the day, and Hiatt submitted the Hawkeye again in 1894. This time, the affixe name tag stayed put, and Clarence Stark and his brothers immediately rushed to Hiatt’s Iowa farm to buy the rights to the bizarre apple and build a fence around the “Mother of Millions,” as the original tree is referred to today. They named the

variety simply “Delicious.” The company has since sold tens of millions of these trees.

Until fall 1914, the Delicious apple didn’t have to share its name with another pomaceous fruit.

However, Anderson Mullins of Odessa, West Virginia, changed that when he discovered a tree on his farm dripping with golden fruit. He sent a sample to the Stark compound, where Clarence’s sons Paul Sr. and Lloyd tasted it. The apple variety was mellow and sweet, with a crisp skin.

They had to have it.

Paul Sr. made his way to West Virginia, and paid $5,000 for the rights and the land around the tree. He then promptly constructed a woven-steel cage, complete with burglar alarm, around the precious tree. Anderson Mullins’s nephew sent Stark Bro’s scions to clone the tree for the next thirty years. They named it “Golden Delicious” and rebranded the other “Red Delicious.” The yellow variety is one of the best-selling apples of all time, and today, sixty percent of all apples found in grocery stores are descendants of the Delicious duo.

Top: Workers fill barrels with apples at Stark Bro’s Nursery during the 1905 growing season. Bottom: The original Golden Delicious tree was fenced off in 1914.

WIZARD OF HORTICULTURE Around the time of the first Delicious discovery, horticultural wizard Luther Burbank entered into the Stark Bro’s fold. Burbank is responsible for creating more than eight hundred strains and varieties of plants; the Russet Burbank potato may ring a bell. Clarence Stark, seeing a genius where critics saw a

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madman, invited Burbank to work alongside his company and continue innovating. Prior to joining forces, Burbank was attempting to run his own seed and nursery shop to finance his research and living costs. Clarence saw this pitiful enterprise as a waste of time. “To demonstrate our sincere belief in your work, our company will give you $9,000 if you will let me pick three of these new fruits you have shown me,” he said to Burbank. It is because of this agreement that Burbank was able to create the Shasta daisy, July Elberta peach, spineless cactus, and Santa Rosa plum.

On his deathbed in 1926, Burbank declared Stark Bro’s the only ones worthy of continuing his work, and his wife sold all of Burbank’s ongoing research and plants to the Starks.

This innovative spirit extended beyond the nursery and into the law books in the early 1900s. Now the primary owners of Burbank’s great inventions and discoveries, the Starks intended to protect them. They, along with the rest of the agriculture industry, felt they deserved the same legal protections as inventors and songwriters. Burbank had written to

Paul Stark, Clarence’s youngest son, on the sore subject prior to his death. So Paul formed a committee and headed to Washington to champion the Plant Patent Act, which allowed fruit developers to patent their creations for seventeen years. Thomas Edison sent a telegram to Congress on the bill’s behalf, stating “This [bill] will, I feel sure, give us many Burbanks.” It became law in 1930.

“Paul Stark did a great job getting people to understand that you need to protect these discoveries, otherwise people can just take a scion, just like James Hart Stark did at the beginning, and start their own,” LeAnn says. “It’s like pirating CDs. Paul Stark saw the unfairness in that.”

Stark Bro’s received the first patent in 1932 for the Stark ®Hal-Berta Giant Peach™.

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES? The Stark legacy is overrun with superlatives and accolades. It is one of the oldest continuously running companies in America, alongside Remington fi earms and Jim Beam whiskey. It is the world’s oldest continuously operating nursery. It is the world’s largest on-

line direct-to-consumer seller of fruit trees, nut trees, and berry plants. It is responsible for the creation of more than three hundred varieties of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and flowers.

And while its beginnings could be attributed to marketing and invention, Stark Bro’s everrising star is powered by “the other Starks,” the diehard-loyal employees.

There are more than a few “other Starks” that have stayed over thirty, forty, and even fifty years at the company. A list of nearly 150 employees who have worked thirty years or more for the nursery is included in the back of LeAnn’s book.

“There are people in this company who have come to work every day longer than a lot of my staff have been alive,” says Ken Lane, chief marketing officer at Stark Bro’s. “It’s like looking at the ocean or standing alongside a redwood and looking up. It’s a humbling thing.”

LeAnn’s book, a detailed chronicle of the Stark Bro’s legacy, contains accounts from family members, the Missouri Historical Society, the Louisiana Area Historical Museum, and even the last two living Starks to run the

COURTESY OF STARK BRO’S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO.

Right: The Stark Bro’s logo is iconic.

Below: Left to right, the Stark Bro’s 1916 catalogue celebrates the company’s centennial. The 2015 catalogue still sports red apples. Stark Bro’s executives pose in 1950.

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COURTESY OF STARK BRO’S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO.

TWO HUNDRED YEARS IN BUSINESS is such an impressive feat that commemorating in more than one way is expected. Yes, Stark Bro’s is having a bicentennial sale, but another way the nursery is celebrating the milestone is a new book of recipes. Fabulous Fruits: Recipes for every season is full of recipes that incorporate many varieties of the nursery’s many fruits, from a fresh apple cake that will make the Golden Delicious shine to a peach French toast casserole that puts the Hal-Berta Giant Peach on display. The book is a collaboration between chef Karen Mitcham-Stoeckley and photographer Curt Dennison who teamed up before for the book A Culinary Legacy from Escoffier to Today. For more information, visit StarkBros.com.

company, Clay Stark Logan and Walter Logan.

But perhaps the most entertaining and telling anecdotes come from Elmer Kidd, who also serves as the poster child for Stark Bro’s employee loyalty.

Now the company’s chief production officer, Elmer started at Stark Bro’s in the spring of 1965, when he was thirteen years old. For fifty cents an hour, he carried drinking water to the field workers and has barely left the property since. He grew up with many of the Starks, stayed with the nursery when catastrophes hit, such as the fi e of ’74, the freeze of ’91, and the flood of ’93. He now works in the fields with his son, Bill , his assistant.

Elmer says what differentiates his employer from the rest of the industry, as you could probably guess, is the customer service.

“We follow the ball over the fence,” Elmer says. “You buy a tree, and our relationship doesn’t end there. Stark Bro’s is with you after the sale is done.”

Stark employees were put to that test back in 2001 when the company declared bankruptcy.

The bank required the company to hold on to a small staff to maintain the fields for a future buyer. With only a few jobs holding on, roughly 470 people were sent home. Five of Elmer’s cohorts, nicknamed “The Budders,” refused to sit idly at home. If there were any chance of resurrecting Stark Bro’s, they would need to return to the field and grow trees. So they did, for ten hours a day, six days a week, for free. This dedicated group is the reason Stark Bro’s is still flowering today. In September 2001, Stark Bro’s

was auctioned off to Cameron Brown and Tim Abair, the current owners.

In the spirit of new beginnings, Cameron and his son also started the company website, which began its e-commerce in 2003. It’s comprehensive, to say the least. Think of ninety-seven varieties of apples, instructions on how to grow them, each strain’s history, and a list of equipment and conditions required to grow them. Now, multiply that by 150 other varieties of fruits, nuts, ornamentals, berries, books, tools, and more.

A FRUITFUL FUTURE Much of Stark Bro’s success comes down to being in the right place at the right time.

Urbanization would make a regular farmer’s toes curl, but Stark Bro’s adapted: they invented spur-type semi-dwarf trees. At two-thirds the height of a standard tree and with branches that bear fruit along their entire length and not just the ends, they were more physically economical and required far less labor.

Currently, the company is riding the wave of the farm-to-table movement.

“People want to know where their food comes from,” Ken says. “It doesn’t get much easier than that when it’s in your backyard.”

The company is also finding its way into the homebrew beer craze. People come to the Stark Bro’s Garden Center in Louisiana, Missouri, looking to buy fruit to make wine and hops to make beer. The product details on the Stark Bro’s website are so specific that even the novice brewer can learn which plant will produce a good IPA, whether the plant will fare

Cameron Brown is one of the current owners of Stark Bro’s Nursery. Cameron, along with co-owner Tim Abair, have helped the company thrive since they bought it in 2001.

well in the buyer’s zip code, and even how the plant got its name.

Even the way they do their business is adapting to the future. Elmer now walks through the field with an iPad in hand to track the grafting and budding processes.

“We have to have our eyes open,” Ken says.

What’s surprising to find in this day of instant gratification—the “McDonald’s Age,” as Elmer refers to it—is that the pecan, which takes seventeen years to produce nuts, is Stark Bro’s top-selling nut tree.

“There’s an old expression,” Ken says. “‘The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.

The second best time is today.’”

Many of their customers purchase trees such as the pecan so that their children or grandchildren can enjoy it, a sentiment that echoes something James Hart Stark certainly cherished in 1816.

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Slow Flowers A burgeoning movement in the floral industry is locally focused.

Story By Jonas Weir | Photos By Andrea K. Grist

Nora Case with Flora By Nora, a floral designe and frequent visitor to Flower Hill Farm, collects fl wers and organic materials for her designs.

A

bout ten years ago, Vicki Lander started rent-

ing land at Mueller Farm in Ferguson. She had received her master gardener certification from the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1991 and had learned organic farming from mentor Paul Krautman at Bellows Creek Farm in Cedar Hill, thirty miles south of St. Louis. Vicki now wanted to continue on her own, but she was a city dweller.

“I lived in the city and didn’t have enough space, so I started renting land, about a half an acre,” Vicki says.

On her rented acreage at Mueller Farm, Vicki began harvesting organic vegetables and flowers. In 2007, a farming group moved into the plot next to Vicki and began organic farming. Eventually, the group became known as Earth Dance Farms—the well-respected nonprofit, organic farming school that offers season-long apprenticeship programs.

Vicki started helping out with Earth Dance, and eventually, she was asked to be the farm manager. During her ten-

ure as farm manager, Earth Dance was invited to the Terra Madre International Gathering in Turin, Italy. The biannual event gathers farming communities from across the world to share ideas and resources about sustainability and is tied to the roots of the slow food movement.

Founded in 1989 by Carlo Petrini, Slow Food is an Italian organization that pioneered the idea of farm-to-table. Carlo Petrini and Slow Food both helped establish the Terra Madre gatherings. The year Vicki attended, Carlo Petrini invited more than 150 elders and native farmers from Italy to speak.

Finally, Vicki found the encouragement to stop renting and become a full-time farmer and landowner.

“We always wanted to live in a country setting and do some farming,” Vicki says. “I was so inspired by this, I just thought we had to do it right then. After that, we got really serious about looking, and we found a really beautiful piece of property in Beaufort. We’ve been working on the soil ever since.”

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The land Vicki has been working on for the past five growing seasons is now known as Flower Hill Farm in Beaufort. Being a first-time landowner, Vicki was able to take advantage of the Missouri Beginning Farmer Entrepreneurship program for financial assistance. Accordingly, she had to write a business plan. That’s when she found a new focus in her sustainable farming efforts.

“At the time, there were no flower vendors at any of the farmers’ markets in St. Louis, so I thought it was a niche that we could fill,” she says. “I had also just finished training thirty organic vegetable growers, and I didn’t want to be competing with my students.”

Thus, Vicki started using the farm’s acreage and greenhouses to grow flowers, and coming from a slow food background, she found herself at the base of a blossoming movement.

FIELD-TO-VASE Slow flowers is a movement that, like Vicki, is rooted in the slow food movement. It’s taking the same ideas that helped propel slow food into the culinary world and applying them to the floral indust y. Instead of farm-to-table, it’s field-to-vase.

“All of it is about buying local,” Vicki says.

Right now, 80 percent of the cut flowers sold in the United States are imported, according to the California Cut Flower Commission. It’s an $8 billion industry, according to the Society of American Florists, but the USDA Floriculture Crops Summary shows that only about $500 million of that is going to US farms. On top that, of the 20 percent of cut flower that are grown in the United States, 76 percent come from California.

One reason to buy locally grown flowers is to support your local economy. Several studies show buying local directly benefits the community by keeping more of the money in the local economy. Another reason, which specifically relates to flowers, is because a majority of imported flowers

come from South American countries that do not have regulations on herbicides, pesticides, or working conditions.

Andrea Grist, owner of Andrea K. Grist Floral Designs in Kansas City, was shocked when she read a book that exposed the dirty truth.

Published in 2007, Flower Confidentia is author Amy Stewart’s investigative report on the global floral industry.

Among a wide range of topics, the book looks at the working conditions in places like Ecuador, where the average monthly wage for a worker is $150 and children work to dip cut flowers in harmful fungicides that can cause neurological issues. After learning these facts, Andrea started sourcing more of her flowers locall .

“As a consumer of those goods, I was contributing to that,” Andrea says. “I started self-educating. I wanted to understand where my floral p oduct came from.”

Andrea is an industry veteran of sorts. She’s been a floral designer for twenty-two years and owned her own business for the past sixteen years. Although she has no brick-andmortar store, Andrea gets a majority of her business catering to weddings and corporate events. Increasingly, she’s becoming involved in the slow flowers movement.

“This is a movement where floral designers and event planners are thinking about where they source their flowers from and how that can impact local farms,” she says.

Primarily, Andrea has been reaching out to farms around the state to find more places she can source from. However, she’s also worked with the MU Extension office to host events on the subject, and she recently spoke at the St. Louis Art Museum about the topic, along with others involved with the slow flowers movement. With the help of people like Andrea, a Missouri floral network is starting to take shape. Still, the fact is the slow flower movement simply doesn’t benefi from the same infrastructure the slow food movement has.

“The slow food movement is so advanced compared to slow flowers,” says Debra Prinzing, a Seattle-based writer

From left: Zinnias grow in a field at Fl wer Hill farm. This bouquet was made by a workshop student at Flower Hill.

Friend of Flower Hill Bobby Autry and his dog Emery seek some shade after time out in the fl wer fields

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Slow Flower Farms Lamar Dragonfly Dreams Flower Farm dragonflyd eamsff.webs.com 417-214-6494 Beaufort Flower Hill Farm flowe hillfarmmo.com 848 Laurel Lane 314-882-9642 Troy Mossy Creek Farm mossycreekfarm.com 689 Harmony Grove Road 314-374 4882 St. Louis Urban Buds: City Grown Flowers urbanbudscitygrownflowers.com 4736 Tennessee Avenue 573-999-6293

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and slow flower advocate. “Flowers are catching up. We have a long way to go. It’s exciting to see people start paying attention to this issue.”

THE NETWORK Debra Prinzing has emerged as one of the lead advocates for this movement. After working as a home and garden writer and reporter for years, she has steeped herself in field-to-vase ideas over the past ten years as she began paying more attention to how the product came to be rather than what the final p oduct was.

“I was interested in how things grew, and I started meeting flower growers” Debra says. “I found it fascinating that people were fighting this huge battle against big growers that had flooded the marketplace with impo ted flowers.

Debra’s interest stems from a story she was working on for the The Los Angeles Times in 2010. She wanted to put together a story on organically grown flowers that Los Angeles consumers could buy for Valentine’s Day. She found that there weren’t many organic farms growing flowers. In fact, there weren’t many local farms growing cut flowers at all. So, she had a new mission: to find as many local farms growing flowers sustainabl .

What does sustainable growing mean, though?

“Sustainability is such a moving target,” Debra says.

“There are measures and practices we can look at, though.”

In her book The 50 Mile Bouquet, Debra defines the concept: “A product can be considered sustainable if its production enables the resources from which it was made to continue to be available for future generations.”

However, the problem is finding a clear-cut definition of what that means. Debra points to a few key practices to help define sustainable growing, including implementing drip irrigation, taking advantage of cover crop techniques, and using organic fertilizer.

Debra also points to farms that use all organic farming methods but are not USDA-certified organic—such as Urban Buds: City Grown Flowers in the Dutchtown neighborhood of St. Louis—as the ideal farms to buy flowers f om.

Right now, on a consumer level, there is not a universal way to tell whether your flowers are grown in the United States. The majority of flower sales take place at the grocery store level, and the labelling in the produce department is much better than in the floral depa tment.

“Bottom line, we don’t eat these flowers,” Debra says “Made in the USA” stickers could mean the bouquet was only assembled and not grown in the country. There is an organization, the Certified American Grown Council, that has a red, white, and blue logo you can look for, but only about fifty farms currently are members and none are in Missouri.

However, you can do research before going out and buying.

“It just became clear that I needed to start a directory to help point consumers to those resources,” Debra says.

“That’s what slowflowers.com is right no .”

Celebrating its second anniversary this month, the slowflowers.com directory now includes forty-eight states and more than seven hundred listings, which include both flowe -producing farms like Flower Hill and floral designers like Andrea Grist. There are eight listings in Missouri for both farms, designers, and floral shops. However, in the end, it comes down to being a conscious consumer.

“You really have to ask,” Debra says. “If you indicate a preference that you want American-grown or Missourigrown, locally sourced flowers, you’re asserting your values with your pocket book.”

A NEW SPRING Over the past thirty years, imported products have increasingly become a part of the US floral industry. However, things are starting to change. The number of cut flower farms has increased from 5,085 to 5,903 from 2007 to 2012, according the USDA Census of Agriculture. And floral designers like Andrea are seeing a change.

More and more customers are asking for all locally sourced flowers, and Andrea has no problem satisfying their needs.

However, Andrea can’t source all of the flowers required to meet all her clients’ demands from Missouri growers, or even US growers for that matter.

“This is definitely an avenue where farmers need to do better,” Andrea says. “I want to purchase from you, but I can’t purchase from you if I don’t know you’re there.”

Right now, Andrea primarily works with Urban Buds and Flower Hill Farm. Mossy Creek Farm in Troy and Dragonfly Dreams Flower Farm in Lamar are two more growers that head the pack when it comes to slow flowers in Missouri. The movement is just beginning to take shape in Missouri, and, likewise, florists and producers are only now beginning to make an impact on the public, just as the slow food movement did twenty years ago.

“The slow flowers movement really depends on the customers,” Vicki Lander says. “We’re just finally starting to see people requesting locally grown things, and we’re very grateful. It’s a relationship between a producer and a consumer.”

The cut fl wer harvest at Flower Hill is done for the day and off the go to the cold room.

It’s time to prepare for tomorrow before the sun goes away for good.

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w o r B ns BAD NEWS

t was m tha st in a e t e d la of th story n booze, an i h f e i st i A br ue oes, fi rican Leag h s n i me fi st the A L SWEL O B T AUL

BY EV

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s COURTESY OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, LESLIE JONES COLLECTION

THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS, though the Show-Me State’s favorites, have been called the most hated team in baseball.

However, another St. Louis baseball club has been considered the most unlovable team in history.

In 1902, Major League Baseball had only sixteen teams, and of those, only two teams played west of the Mississippi: the beloved St. Louis Cardinals and the notorious St. Louis Browns.

The two teams of the Gateway City shared a stadium, Sportsman’s Park at 2911 N. Grand Boulevard. The dark green monster of a ballpark was constructed in 1920 when carriagemaker Robert Lee Hedges became owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, moved the franchise to St. Louis, and named them the Browns. Although they shared a home field and city, the two teams couldn’t be further apart.

In 1926, the Cardinals won the World Series and became hometown heroes. In fact, the Cardinals won three World Series and four National League Pennants in the 1940s and have won the most World Series championships out of any team in the National League.

Above, left to right: Catcher Paul Krichell played for the St. The hapless Browns, however, usually fi Louis Browns in 1911 and 1912. He went on to be a revered ished last in the American League and became scout for the New York Yankees. A Browns runner slides to firs in a 1935 game against the Boston Red Sox. From left, Coach known by locals as the team that was “first in Charlie O’Leary, Manager Rogers Hornsby, and Coach Grover shoes, first in booze, and last in the AmeriHartley lean on the dugout railing at Fenway Park in Boston. can League,” a reference to the city’s numerto catch a foul ball, the oxygen would cut off ous shoe factories and breweries. Brown Shoes to his brain, and he would pass out. and 150 other shoe factories were headquarOne of their most devious episodes octered there and breweries included Anheusercurred in 1910. It was October 9, and Detroit Busch, Falstaff, Griesedieck Bros., St. Vrain, Tiger Ty Cobb had a comfortable lead over NaCherokee, Lemp, Barvarian, and about forty poléon “Nap” Lajoie of the Cleveland Naps for others. the batting title, so Cobb took the last day of The Cardinals usually filled Sportsman’s the season off. However, Cleveland was facing Park to its capacity of about 30,500, while the off against the Browns in a double header, and Browns were lucky to draw a mere 2,000 fans Browns manager Jack O’Connor and coach to the stadium.

Harry Howell hated Ty Cobb because Ty was Most of the Browns were known as brawlsurly and slid into bases with his steel spikes ers, drunks, and jokers. They were a mess. held high.

Once in Boston, some of the players dropped So, the two had third baseman Red Corriden fi ecrackers from their hotel windows on peplay back on the grass, destrians below. The Once in Boston, players dropped which allowed Lajoie team’s catcher in their to beat out four bunts. only World Series apfirecrackers from their hotel When Lajoie bunted a pearance in 1944, windows on pedestrians below. fifth time, the official Frank Mancuso, had scorer ruled that he had reached on an error injured his neck in a parachute jump during

by Corriden. O’Connor and Howell pleaded his years in the army. When he would look up

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Browns LOGO HISTORY

The team logo for the St. Louis Browns changed a number of times from 1902 to 1953, From top, they are the 1902, 1906, 1909, 1911, and 1916 logos.

The Philip Ball Era Things changed for the Browns in 1916.

That year Hedges sold the team to Philip Ball, who ushered in a new era for the ragtag outfit. Ball had the money to buy star players, and under his leadership, the Browns were contenders throughout most of the 1920s.

In 1922, the Browns had an all-star roster that included George Sisler, Ken Williams, Baby Doll Jacobson, and Jack Tobin. That year, the team almost beat the Yankees in the pen-

nant race, losing on the last day of the season, and left fielder Ken Williams became the first player in MLB history to hit thirty home runs and steal thirty bases in a single season.

George Sisler went on be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Known as Gorgeous George, Gentleman George, and the Sizzler, Sisler joined the team in 1915 as a pitcher but quickly switched to first base. In the 1920 season, he had 257 hits and drove in 122 runs. Sisler hit in forty-one consecutive games—a record that was only broken when Joe Dimaggio hit in fifty-six consecutive games in 1941.

Sisler passed away in 1973, but he lived long enough to see the Browns win their only American League Pennant and his two sons, Dave and Dick, play in the major leagues during the 1950s. Even the rival St. Louis Cardinals honored Sisler by erecting a statue of him outside Busch Stadium in 2001.

Although Sisler was a star player in the Browns’ best years, he wasn’t the only hall-offamer to wear brown and white in St. Louis.

Bobby Wallace played for the team from 1902 to 1917, and Rogers Hornsby managed the

COURTESY OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, LESLIE JONES COLLECTION

with the official scorekeeper, a woman, to change it to a hit for the Lajoie, and when she refused, they tried to bribe her by promising to buy her a new wardrobe. She stood her ground, though, and Cobb beat Lajoie for the batting title by a few thousandths of a point.

The next day, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote: “All St. Louis is up in arms over the deplorable spectacle, conceived in stupidity and executed in jealousy.” When American League President Ban Johnson heard about the incident, he insisted the Browns fi e O’Connor and Howell, and both men were informally banned from baseball for life.

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low-attendance records, and they finished in last place, losing ninety-six games. That same year, Philip Ball died, and his estate was left to run the team.

The 1935 season was even worse as they The Depression competed for fans with the Cardinals’ GasAlthough he was the club’s best owner, Philip house Gang, a nickname shortstop Leo DuBall made a couple of mistakes in his time rocher gave them in 1934 because their uniin the MLB. First, he fi ed General Manager forms were filthy and smelled of the gas that Branch Rickey, who went to work for the Carwas used for lighting in St. Louis. The Browns dinals, building the team’s farm system that only had eighty-one thousand in attendance produced the winning teams of the 1940s. for the entire season. And just when it seemed Next, he made a cruelly incorrect prediction. it could not get darker, they only won fortyIn 1925, Ball remodeled Sportsman’s Park three games in 1939 and finished sixty-four and added twelve thousand seats. He predictgames out of first place. The pitching staff had ed there would be a World Series in St. Louis an earned run average of 6.01. in 1926, and his extra seats would be needed.

In 1941, Don His prediction came true, but it was the “All St. Louis is up in arms over the Barnes, who bought Cardinals and Yankees deplorable spectacle, conceived in the team from the Ball that filled the stadium, stupidity and executed in jealousy.” estate in 1936, decided he could not make not the Browns. a dime with the franchise as it was, so he After their Roaring Twenties glory, the planned to move the Browns from St. Louis to Browns hit a rough patch during the Great Los Angeles. Approval from the league seemed Depression and continually churned dismal certain, and a meeting of league members was record after dismal record throughout the planned for December 8, 1941. Then, the 1930s. In 1933, the Browns starting setting

COURTESY OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, LESLIE JONES COLLECTION

Browns from 1933 to 1937, though he was inducted to the hall of fame for being a standout player for the Cards.

Above, left to right: From left, Harlond Clift, Frank Gube, Ray Pepper, and manager Rogers Hornsby stand on the dugout steps at Fenway Park in Boston. Pitcher Lefty Mills poses with three female fans. A Browns base runner races toward home ahead of the throw to Boston Red Sox catcher Moe Berg.

attack on Pearl Harbor happened—just one day prior to the scheduled meeting. Questioning the problems of wartime travel, the league denied permission to move the team, and the St. Louis Browns would be in the Gateway City for at least a little while longer.

A Glimmer of Hope The years between 1927 and 1943 were abysmal; the team only turned out two winning records over those sixteen years. But in 1944, a miracle happened.

The Browns won the American League Pennant and would face their cotenants, the Cardinals, in an all-St. Louis World Series. It was the first and last time the Browns would be in a World Series, and the last time where both teams in the series shared a field However, getting to the World Series was not easy. Back then, there was no playoff system like there is today; the two most-winning

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teams just faced off against each other in the World Series. To be crowned American League champions, the Browns had to sweep the Yankees in a four-game series, the last of the season, in order to come out one game ahead of the Detroit Tigers.

Against the odds, however, they won the first three games and needed only a win the final day of the season to clinch the pennant.

However, the Browns could not start their star pitcher, Denny Galehouse, for game four.

Galehouse only pitched on Sundays because he worked at Goodyear Aircraft in Akron, Ohio, during the week and took a train on weekends to wherever the Browns were playing. The team usually played double-headers on Sunday, so he could pitch the first game and catch a train back to Akron.

The Browns instead had to start pitcher Sigmund “Jack” Jakucki—a notoriously heavy drinker.

“I wouldn’t say Jakucki was an alcoholic, but he drank a lot,” Galehouse once said.

On the night before the big game, the Brown’s starting pitcher entered the hotel lobby

with a brown bag in hand. But he assured his teammates that he would not drink that night.

The next morning one of the Browns’ trainers smelled whiskey on his breath and questioned Jakucki on his promise.

“I promised not to drink last night,” Jakucki reportedly answered, “but I didn’t say anything about this morning.”

Despite Jakucki’s morning libations, the Browns clinched the title on the last day of the season with the help of a home run by Chet Laab, who was best-known for striking out against pitcher Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians when Feller set the record for eighteen strikeouts in a row.

When the Browns faced the Cardinals in the World Series, it was a close one. The team split home field advantage but never changed stadiums, and despite a valiant effort, the Cardinals took home the title, one of their eleven World Series championships, in six games The Last Antics After losing the World Series to the Cardinals in 1944, Barnes sold the Browns to business-

man Richard Muckerman, and the team reverted back to its losing ways, ushering in an era when the team would become more wellknown for its antics than its ball-playing.

In 1945, they recruited one-armed Pete Gray who hit .218 and drove in thirteen runs.

Having lost an arm in a childhood accident, Gray learned to field the ball, stick his glove under his stub of a left arm, and extract the ball with his right hand. He played center field during the game, but before the game, he would practice in the infield and show the crowd how fast he could throw the ball. His inability to catch and return the ball quickly enough cost the Browns some games, and he only played one season with the team.

In 1947, the colorful ex-Cardinal Dizzy Dean became the announcer for the Browns games and his abuse of the English language brought down the fury of educators who said he was having an adverse influence on young people. He returned to the mound for the Browns once, too. During the final game of the 1947 season, he pitched four shut-out innings but retired with a pulled muscle.

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Ownership changed hands again in 1951 when Bill Veeck bought the club. Known as the former owner of the Cleveland Indians, Veeck had a reputation for outlandish antics and colorful showmanship that both entertained and outraged fans. In his inaugural year as owner, Veeck signed little person Eddie Gaedel to the team. Standing three feet, seven inches tall, and weighing about sixtyfive pounds, Gaedel stepped up to the plate on August 19, 1951 and was walked on four straight pitches, then replaced by a pinch runner. The next day, American League president Will Harridge banned Gaedel from playing.

However, these antics were just the last glimmers of an era that was quickly coming to an end. Veeck was eventually pushed out as the majority owner by part-owners whose first priority was to move the team. St. Louis could no longer sustain two ball teams.

The St. Louis Browns played their last game at Sportsman’s Park on September 27, 1953.

After that, they moved to Baltimore to become the Orioles, and the owners sold Sportsman’s Park to August “Gussie” Busch Jr., the presi-

Top left: The 1909 St. Louis Browns roster included pitcher Harry Howell, who currently ranks eighty-second on the MLB All-Time ERA List, and hall-of-famer Bobby Wallace. Bottom left: The 1911 St. Louis Browns finished last in the American Leagure, with a record of 45 wins and 107 losses. Above: Frank Crossin bats during spring training in 1914.

dent of Anheuser-Busch and owner of the Cardinals, who renamed the stadium after himself. It was truly the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

Despite the city’s die-hard enthusiasm for Cardinals baseball, the Browns have not been forgotten in St. Louis. Dedicated to the preservation of the history of the team, a St. Louis Browns fan club and historical society was organized in 1984, and it currently has more than three hundred members. Today, the St. Louis Browns Historical Society hosts an annual dinner and a blog where old-timers can share their allegiance to the team that never won a World Series. The society also produces a full color magazine and sells caps, uniforms, and other reproductions of Brownie memorabilia. Memberships start at $30 per year. Visit thestlbrowns.com.

Browns ALL-STAR STATS

In 1917, the Browns had back-to-back no-hitters with pitchers Ernie Koob and Bob Groom.

Browns Outfielder and St. Louis native Roy Sievers was the first American League Rookie of the Year in 1949.

Pitcher Ned Garver won twenty games in 1951 when the team lost one hundred games.

Pitcher Bobo Holloman pitched a nohitter in his Major League debut for the Browns on May 6, 1953.

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Musings ON MISSOURI

SEVEN YEARS IN THE Wilderness

BY RON MARR

HARRY KATZ

I’VE NEVER FELT the burning urge to travel the world. I’ve no desire to cruise Norwegian fio ds, visit the Sistine Chapel, or traverse the ancient paths of Machu Picchu. Even the idea of skirting off to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, or Miami evokes more dread than enthusiasm. Winging my way toward distant locales strikes me as a tremendous hassle.

I don’t concern myself with wayfaring adventures because such excursions are financially implausible for me. Even if they weren’t, I’d avoid them like the plague. To be honest, I can’t recall taking a fullfledged “vacation” during my adult life. I’ve occasionally flown or driven crosscountry to visit friends or family for a couple of days, but that’s about it. A weekend ramble to see people is far different than globetrotting for the sole reason of experiencing the sights and sounds of parts unknown.

I’m not a curious cat, at least not about geography and culture. I’m content to read about the history of a place; I don’t need to touch it. I find more mystery, joy, and wonder in the peaceful meanderings of a muddy, Ozark river than I would ever find in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Nothing could inspire a deeper awe in my heart than a certain, bowl-shaped mountain in Montana … not the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, or the Great Wall of China.

I’ve nothing against travel; if that’s what makes a body happy, then they should immerse themselves in movement. And I’m a firm believer that—if one wishes to retain a degree of sanity—they must occasionally take a break from their daily routine. With a couple of obvious exceptions (my present locale being one of them), I’ve spent a good deal of my life accomplishing this goal in a novel way.

Simply, I’ve tended to move to places that struck me as particularly pretty, amazing, or pretty amazing. I remained there until circumstances

or boredom dictated I move on. I’ve spent my life living in spots I never wanted to leave, places that made me feel I was on the most wondrous of vacations, places where waking up seemed a gorgeous dream.

Of course, my great escapes have not always worked out as planned. I arrived in Naples, Florida, a bit too late, just before rampant development stole its soul and altered its landscape.

Idaho was a total bust, a naturally beautiful state that seemed to attract large numbers of people with ugly ideas. Montana was fantastic, until the Hollywood set made it their playground. The goodhumored, plain-spoken locals of Big Sky country—ever fewer in number—now refer to Bozeman as Boz-Angeles.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in Missouri, but my greatest vacation of all was the seven years I spent in a tiny, six-hundred-squarefoot cabin on the banks of the Gasconade River. I would have been content to live out the rest of my days in that hidden treasure had not a family health crisis pulled me away. I reveled in paddling my canoe up and down that winding stream, anchoring under a tree and strumming guitar while waiting for catfish to bite. I constantly retreated into my own ten acres adjoining a seldom-roamed border of the Mark Twain Forest. I searched for arrowheads, watched squirrels turn somersaults in the thick, oak canopy, and submerged myself in silence.

“No matter where you go, there you are.”

That’s a bad line from an even worse Mad Max movie. Oddly enough, it happens to be true. You can never escape from yourself, no matter how far you roam.

But, if you’re very lucky, where you are can help you feel you need never escape at all RON MARR Ron Marr can be reached directly at ronmarr.com.

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JUNE 1 - 11

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NO PLACE LIKE

Home

BORDER Wars

HARRY KATZ

BY LORRY MYERS

I WALKED into the bar wearing my favorite hoodie, the one that spells “Missouri” when it’s zipped. My husband and I had toiled the day away helping our daughters move; now we were tired and ready to relax.

This was the place to be.

Much to my surprise, my daughters became roommates again when they both landed jobs in the Kansas City area. That meant someone had to move Hilary from St. Louis and Mariah from Springfield into a splitlevel house in an up-and-coming Kansas town. Of all the places in that area to live, these college-educated girls chose Kansas.

Apparently, they’re still searching for a brain.

We’d had a long day moving mattresses and bins of breakables, and now we were ready to have a burger before calling it a day. As our entourage stepped into the neighborhood bar, a hush spread through the dinner crowd, and it appeared like every head turned our way. I had no idea why all eyes were on us. I only knew one thing for sure: we were a long way from home.

It was an awkward few minutes waiting for the hostess to seat us. The bar sported big screen TVs, and most of the patrons sported blue shirts that proclaimed their allegiance to Kansas. Then, there was me.

I am a fifth generation Missourian and not afraid to flaunt. My ancestors plucked their roots out of Ireland and Germany looking for a sunnier place to grow. From Ellis Island, they wandered into Ohio or down to Kentucky, a restless bunch of vagabonds searching for their home.

They were equestrians and auctioneers, farmers and failures, stumbling into Missouri with nothing but their name. They stayed.

Missouri is my home. It says so on my sweatshirt.

The food finally arrived cold, which matched the stares from the blue shirts that filled the restaurant. We took the hint and didn’t linger long,

and when I paid our ticket, the cashier leaned in and gave me some free advice.

“You probably shouldn’t wear that in here.”

I know that Kansas and Missouri are rivals, but I wasn’t boasting a team logo or taunting with a tiger tail hanging out of my trunk. I was just wearing my black and gold, which apparently doesn’t coordinate well with Kansas blue.

I wasn’t in Missouri anymore.

The next day, my daughter called every person she knew in Kansas City and invited them to the neighborhood bar around the corner from her new house. It was pre-game when we started trickling in, and soon there were so many of us we had to drag tables and chairs from the other room. We were a rowdy pep squad of college and high school friends and family from every corner of the state, each wearing a piece of clothing that said it all. Go Missouri!

At first, it was the same old, cold shoulder, but then the cashier from the night before recognized me. We locked eyes, and she nodded her head acknowledging what she was seeing and why. That cashier knew without being told that her free advice had a price, and we were there to pay it.

I come from a long line of stubborn Missourians who didn’t raise me to leave Kansas with my tiger tail between my legs. Instead, my family took a bad night and turned it into a good day. We spent a lot of money, made new friends, and were even invited back. Most of all, our Show-Me shirts showed Kansas something they’d obviously forLORRY MYERS gotten: there’s no place like home.

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SHOW-ME

Flavor

THE BURGER

Explore the mysterious case of the hamburger origin race.

BY KELLY MOFFITT

9ART PHOTOGRAPHY

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COURTESY OF RACHEL BERNADETTE

ST. LOUISANS have a love affair with 1904. The 1904 World’s Fair, that is. While indulging in yearly viewings of Meet Me In St. Louis, it is not uncommon to hear things like “Did you know the ice cream cone was invented at the World’s Fair?” or “We wouldn’t have the X-ray if it had not been so well-received at the Fair.”

While there are kernels of truth in each of the inventions typically listed, from the baby incubator, to the telegraph, to the dishwasher and to the coffee maker, there are some that could be considered a little more of a stretch.

The submarine? The airplane? Iced tea? Although each had some relation to the World’s Fair, it is proven that none of these was actually invented during it.

And so we come to the hamburger—the most contentious “invention” of all at the 1904 World’s Fair. The hamburger’s origin story rivals those of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries, much like the Bermuda Triangle or Deflategate Facts about the hamburger’s rise are most often attributed to a 1904 report from the New York Tribune, which called a new hamburger sandwich “the innovation of a food vendor on the pike,” otherwise known as the World’s Fair Midway.

The late Frank X. Tolbert, noted columnist The Dallas Morning News, probably has the most trusted account of the World’s Fair hamburger origin story, which can be found in his humorous 1983 tome, Tolbert’s Texas.

In it, Tolbert describes a man, Fletcher Davis, who was known to most in the town of Athens, Texas, as “Old Dave.” Davis had come to Texas from Webster Groves to work as a potter. Later, in the 1880s, he would open up a corner lunch counter that served hamburgers, except they were served between two slices of bread.

The legend goes that the town raised money for him to take his creation back to his home state and peddle it at the 1904 World’s Fair.

There, for two weeks, he sold hamburgers across from an exhibit about the history of great Native Americans. There’s a photo that verifie this hamburger stand truly did exist under the name “Old Dave’s Hamburger Stand.” Likewise, the young nephew recalled being interviewed by the New York Tribune reporter.

Tolbert’s interview with James A. Cockrell, an editor of the now-defunct St. Louis GlobeDemocrat, also backed up this version of the hamburger’s origin story—though he credits St. Louisans for naming the culinary creation.

“There are many people of German descent in St. Louis,” Cockrell said. “I think these St. Louis Germans, or maybe only one of them, can be blamed for misnaming the magnificent Texas culinary creation. In St. Louis, I’ve heard from a person, whose parents or grandparents came from the southern regions of Germany, say that northern Germans in the city of Hamburg were much given to eating ground meat, even in the distant past. Other Germans disapproved of the Hamburg ground-meat freaks, especially the Hamburg types who liked raw ground meat. So the St. Louis Germans may have named the sandwich hamburger as a derisive gesture toward the barbaric, groundmeat gobblers in the city of Hamburg.”

Doesn’t that story sound nice? A nice, hardworking St. Louisan returns to his hometown and makes it big during the World’s Fair with a beloved creation from his little lunch counter.

Not so fast. Although this story has been claimed by McDonald’s own esteemed research center and Hamburger University, others have discounted it.

The Burger Mobile is almost always parked in front of the Westport Flea Market Bar and Grill and has become this burger joint’s mascot of sorts. It was even featured on the Food Network.

For one, the folks in Seymour, Wisconsin advocate that “Hamburger Charlie” Nagreen was the inventor of the hamburger, having sold meatball sandwiches at the Outagamie County Fair in 1885. That claim is backed up by a resolution from the none-too-impartial Wisconsin state legislature.

The village of Hamburg, New York, also stakes a claim on the hamburger origin story, stating that two brothers from Ohio ran out of pork sausage patties at the Erie County Fair in 1885 and temporarily substituted the pork with beef, making a hamburger.

In 1974, The New York Times ran a story claiming that Louis Lassen had invented the hamburger in a small café in New Haven, Connecticut. It appears, however, that this sandwich was actually a steak cut in thin slices.

In 2007, however, prolific food writer Josh Ozersky wrote an article for the Los Angeles Times, claiming he had scoured the archives of the New York Tribune and come up with nothing about a hamburger at the World’s Fair. He also was unable to find the name Fletcher Davis on the fair’s concessions list.

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A 2009 article in Texas Monthly also found holes in the Davis origin story. When a writer went to visit the remaining relatives, they said that Tolbert had dates, professions, and backstories wrong for many people in his hamburger tale. They asserted, however, that Davis had still invented the hamburger and showed the writer Davis’s World’s Fair entry stubs. Those stubs, however, claimed he came as a pottery vendor and had no mention of hamburgers.

Yet, the legend lives on in Athens, Texas.

Andy Smith, a food writer and author of Hamburger: A Global History, published in 2008, said that he has seen no primary evidence for the Davis origin story.

“Unless someone turns some up, I relegate it to the culinary fake-lore,” Andy says. “It is

clear that hamburger sandwiches were around well before 1904, and they were popular in many different locations in the 1890s. It’s also likely that Missourians were well aware of hamburger sandwiches before 1904.”

For example, in 1898 in a newspaper as remote as the Butte, Montana, Weekly Miner, there had already been mention of the dish with little explanation of what it was. A sign, Smith alluded, that people were already very familiar with the sandwich.

“Thomas asked if a nice ham sandwich wouldn’t do, and they finally compromised on hamburger,” the article reads. “When Thomas came back to the house with it, the meat bore a dainty dressing of chopped onions, and Thomas carefully scraped this from his sand-

wich. But not so Mary. She said she intended to eat her onions.”

Many other pieces of primary evidence show the hamburger existed on an ever-evolving continuum since the 1700s, when Germans brought Hamburg Steak—shredded low-grade beef flavo ed with regional spices—to America.

Soldiers during the Civil War are recorded to have consumed this kind of beef and even the Boston Cooking School Cook Book, published in 1844, includes a recipe for broiled meat cakes that sounds suspiciously close to the hamburger.

While none of these facts solve the mystery of who invented the hamburger, they do show a long-standing American affection for groundup, juicy meat. At this point, who is to say that Davis or Lassen or Nagreen didn’t create this most-beloved fast-food dish? It really could have been any of them or someone whose name we’ll never know, and the World’s Fair might have just been the stage on which it was set to skyrocket to popularity. All that really matters is that the hamburger is here to stay, and there are a plethora of places where it can be enjoyed.

Today, no restaurants in Missouri claim to have invented the burger. However, the following ten have almost perfected it.

Kansas City

WESTPORT FLEA MARKET

The Larry Burger at W.F. Cody’s in Springfield is named after the former owner. Topped with bacon and a fried egg, this burger, like all at W.F. Cody’s, comes with a side of fries.

BRUCE STIDHAM

If you can’t find your way to this thirty-yearold establishment in Westport, you’ll know it when you see the cheeseburger-shaped car bedecked with floppy lettuce and sesame seeds sitting out front. Although some may call it shabby, this iconic Kansas City burger joint is full of quirk, and the dinge is part of it.

Arcade games, TVs, a mighty beer selection on tap, and stalls of flea market vendors selling every kind of nostalgic kitsch beckon. The burgers are simple, and the meat is sourced from the legendary Kansas City butcher shop McGonigle’s Market, after which it is seasoned well.

Order the basics at the bar: ten-ounce beef patties, onions, bacon, and cheese. The rest is serve-yourself at a toppings station replete with

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Thousand Island dressing. For those who dare, there’s also the Super Flea challenge: If you eat five ten-ounce burger patties stacked with bacon, cheese, and two pounds of fries in thirty minutes or less, you’ll receive the meal for free and a commemorative T-shirt.

Patrons should note that this dive is a cashonly joint. Come with your wallet full should the ATM be empty; it likely will be. westportfleamarket.com • 817 Westport Road • 816931-1986

KELSEY WALLING

Springfie d

W.F. CODY’S Tanya Iverson never thought she’d be back in Springfield running the restaurant she had helped manage in the 1990s. However, after

her father died in a motorcycle accident, she returned from Arizona and began managing this forty-year-old establishment known as much for its burgers as it is for its staff that knows the cast of regulars by name.

“There are so many regulars who tell me that my dad would be proud, and it means a great deal because they knew him,” Tanya says. “ ‘Just don’t girly-ize it up,’ is all they’ll say to me now.”

True-to-form, she hasn’t overhauled this charming dive bar.

W.F. Cody’s retains its original allure, though several new coats of paint adorn the bathroom walls and new signs and lighting have added to its functionality. Here, the real draw is the food, not the decor, and burgers are king.

Half of the charm of Booches in Columbia is the atmosphere.

Mizzou memorabilia, Stag Beer signs, and funny sayings line the walls. The other half of the charm is the lively wait staff

A spicy favorite, the Southwest Burger comes with pepper jack cheese, salsa, and jalapeños.

The Mushroom Swiss Burger is also a staple on the menu. None, however, rival The Larry.

Named after Tanya’s father, The Larry comes with American cheese, a secret-saucetype mayo, bacon, and a fried egg on top.

Facebook: W.F. Cody’s • 3138 E. Sunsine • 417-887-8083

Columbia

BOOCHES BILLIARD HALL Booches Billiard Hall has been around since 1884, and for 90 of its 132 years, it was operated as a men’s-only establishment. Luckily for

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WHITE GRILL You don’t find many places like White Grill these days.

The thirty-five-seat diner is the kind of hole in-the-wall spot that only gets dressed up when parents come in with red, plastic tablecloths, candles, and flowers for their children’s preprom dinner in the spring. It’s also the kind of place that hand-cranks out six to seven buckets of Suzie Q curly fries—the burger joint’s most popular side dish—every single day.

Manager-turned-owner Mike Lile has been working at the seventy-eight-year-old restaurant since he was twelve years old. He describes it as unique, particularly because it hasn’t changed all that much since its first inception The burgers are simple, but it’s the freshnever-frozen beef that counts in this scenario. Served in quarter or half-pound portions, the crispy burgers are best enjoyed Whistleburger style—between two pieces of perfectly browned toast. But as chain burger joints come and go, does Mike ever worry that White Grill will succumb?

“It will be here as long as I will,” he says.

Facebook: White Grill • 200 N. Commercial Street • 417-667-9889

Branson

Top: D anna’s Barbecue & Burger is so popular it has three locations, including the West Branson location. Bottom: Gordon’s Spotlight Drive-In is a local favorite in Crystal City.

everyone from USA Today reporters, who have generously named it a top burger place in the United States, to hungry Mizzou students, professors, and alumni, the legendary eatery now welcomes everyone to enjoy these just-over-slider-sized burgers that are made-to-order.

Served on a square piece of wax paper, the juicy meat truly shines when the patty is

topped with a melted American-Swiss-cheese combination that hermetically seals cheese and burger to the flu fy-as-air bun. Patrons may have a hefty wait during peak consumption times, such as game day, but it’s worth it to observe the original, ornate wooden bar, marvel at the hefty amounts of Cardinals baseball and Stag beer paraphernalia, and take in a game of pool. A friendly warning to those who wish to partake on the weekend: A sign out front reads “Closed Sunday. See you in Church.”

It would be a disservice not to include a particularly delicious barbecue burger that brings patrons near and far to Danna’s Bar-B-Que & Burger Shop, which is so popular it has expanded to three different locations around the Branson area.

Lines often stretch around the restaurant and out the door, but the food here is worth the wait. The tender burgers, which are often overlooked for other more hardcore barbecue fare, are all available with BBQ sauce. The must-try, however, is the Danna cheeseburger, which is topped with pulled pork and the restaurant’s signature mild barbecue sauce. If you’re lucky, you can finish off your meal with a slice of delicious salted caramel pecan pie, served with homemade custard.

110 S. Ninth Street • 573-874-9519

dannasbbq.com • 963 Route 165 • 417-337-5527

COURTESY OF ROBERT OF FAIRFAX VIA FLICKR AND PAUL SABLEMAN

DANNA’S BAR-B-QUE & BURGER SHOP

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Above: The Ragin’ Cajun Burger at Mark Twain Brewery in Hannibal is topped with bleu cheese and bacon. Below: The White Grill in Nevada, Missouri, is an authentic old-time drive-in.

Crystal City

COURTESY OF THE DLC VIA FLICKR AND MARK TWAIN BREWERY

GORDON’S STOPLIGHT DRIVE-IN When I-55 came through Crystal City and the Dairy Queen that Curt Grass owned had to be torn down, he already had his eye on his next venture: Gordon’s Stoplight Drive-In at the crosssection of Bailey Road and Truman Boulevard.

“We knew the reputation of the place,” Curt says. “My wife and I had been frequenting the place since we were old enough to eat hamburgers.”

Twenty years later, this Jefferson County institution still holds true to the must-stop quality it has had since 1948. The most popular item on the menu is the gargantuan Quadzilla, which consists of four hamburger patties—seared, crispy edges—and any condiment the customer requests. Grass calls it the monster of all burgers.

Another favorite is the Jumbo Burger, which is made with one to three patties and is served with

raw, chopped Bermuda onion, oil and vinegarbased cole slaw, and a special barbeque sauce heated to the precise temperature of 175 degrees.

Curt says this process carmelizes the flavo .

The perfect side comes in the form of a bowl of chili; the homegrown recipe hasn’t changed since the day the diner opened.

Facebook: Gordon’s Stoplight D rive-In • 500 Bailey Road • 636-937-9678

St. Louis

STACKED BURGER BAR If you’re the kind of person who knows exactly what toppings you want, Stacked Burger Bar, located in the revitalizing Carondelet neighborhood, is the place for you.

With more than sixty-four options on a checklist that includes a sriracha-infused beef patty, a brioche bun, feta cheese, bourbon bacon maple jam, and more, this restaurant puts the fate of its hamburger in your hands.

Of course, Stacked also offers a list of preordained items, including customer favorite Big Fat Greek Burger, which is topped with roasted red pepper hummus, pickled cucumbers and red onions, spinach, Kalamata olive relish, and feta.

For those who would rather be eating pizza, you’re also in luck: the That’s Amore burger

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Stacked Burger Bar in St. Louis offers seven patty options, six bun options, eight cheese options, and dozens more topping options.

comes covered in what is essentially a full Italian meal—mushrooms, caramelized onions, and pizza sauce covered with gooey Fontina cheese.

If you’re in need of something to wash these things down, try the Mad Cow cocktail, a generous glass of milk stout topped with vanilla

bean ice cream. With live music many nights of the week, your best bet for the shortest wait at this up-and-coming St. Louis favorite is lunchtime. stackedstl.com • 7637 Ivory Avenue • 314-544-4900

Poplar Bluff

BLUFF BURGER AND BREW Many know Bluff Burger and Brew goes by the lovable, simple nickname Triple Bs, and what

the restaurant serves up can be considered triple threat: inventive burgers, cold beers, and chili for which customers wait all season.

The restaurant’s thirteen-burger menu only features three burger options that could be considered a typical order. Outside of that, customers are encouraged to feast on everything from the Taco Burger—made with taco seasoning, sour cream, salsa, and shredded cheese—to the Sticky Asian Burger, which is made with a sticky sweet-and-sour sauce and topped with a pineapple ring. Another favorite, the Stuft Burger is made with a veritable hunk of cheese stuffed between two patties and cooked for twenty minutes until the cheese seeps through both of them. The Big B, on the other hand, takes a more adventurous, yet just as gluttonous route: peppers, jack cheese, and fried jalapeños are slathered in roasted red pepper sauce and served atop fried onion twigs that are also covered in the sauce.

If you’re brave, take on the Fried Bologna burger, which is beastly enough for the heartiest American. bluffburgerandbre .com • 4806 West Boulevard • 573-686-9300

COURTESY OF PAUL SABELMAN; 9ART PHOTOGRAPHY

The burgers at the Eagle Drive-In in Joplin are almost always piled high with topping, like shredded cabbage, tomato, caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, and garlic aioli.

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Joplin

EAGLE DRIVE-IN Although owners Jason and Suzanne Miller got their start with Instant Karma Hot Dogs, the Eagle Drive-In is all about the burgers.

“People are just like ‘I have to do this,’” Suzanne says.

Why, you ask? The drive-in’s burger creations are a delightful kind of outlandish. For the regular menu, Head Chef Jeremy Canada serves highlights like the Eagle Burger—a beef patty topped with cheddar, Swiss, American cheese, mixed greens, tomato, onion, pickle, a fried quail egg, and eagle sauce—and the Number Six Burger—an elk patty topped with clover honey, caramelized onions, and Swiss cheese.

The restaurant also does one-off monthly and daily specials like the Cali Roll Burger—a tuna patty topped with cucumber guacamole, cream cheese, wasabi mayo—or the Salted Caramel and Bacon Burger, which needs no explanation.

Although the restaurant’s creative concoctions are all worth trying, those who like to choose their own destiny will delight in the build-your-own-burger option. First, pick your third-pound patty: beef, bison, elk, or lamb.

Next, pick the cheese: cheddar, Swiss, American, feta, or bleu. Finally, decide what else you want on there; lettuce, tomato, pickle, white onion, red onion, caramelized onions, jalapeños, bacon, and even quail eggs are all options.

Facebook: Eagle Drive-In • 4224 S. Main Street • 417623-2228

The Stuft burger at Bluff Burger and Brew in Poplar Bluff is a monster of a sandwich. With a giant hunk of cheese between two patties topped with bacon, it takes twenty minutes to cook.

Hannibal

ESTHER LUNA

MARK TWAIN BREWING COMPANY “Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like, and let the food fight it out inside.

At least that’s what Missouri’s gift to the literary world, Mark Twain, once wrote. Luckily for the residents of the author’s town, they can indulge in decadent delights without worrying about food fighting it out At Mark Twain Brewing Company, each of the restaurant’s eight burger options complements one of the many beers brewed on site. The restaurant even has some suggestions: the Burger Royale—a half-pound patty topped with bacon and a fried egg—goes well

with the Jumping Frog IPA, and the Missouri Smokehouse burger, which is covered in barbecue sauce and shoestring fried onions, is great with Coffee Chocolate Stout.

Owner Bill Martin takes pride in recommending the black bean burger, which is the restaurant’s only vegetarian burger option and one of its best sellers. He likes to pair it with the Scrapbook Pale Ale. Bill knows a lot about Twain and Missouri lore for that matter. In fact, he was a Missouri River tour guide until he opened the brewpub about two years ago as a place where travelers could

meet. That sort of hospitality makes Mark Twain Brewing Company stand out among Hannibal’s cornucopia of Samuel Clemens-themed businesses. However, what really makes it stand out is the fact that Bill and his team serve the best burgers and brews in town.

What makes the burgers so special? The buns are made from the brewery’s own craft beer, so they go down as smooth as the Clemens Kölsch.

“The bun doesn’t fill you up,” Bill says. “We let the burger do that.” marktwainbrewery.com • 422 N. Main Street • 573406-1300

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FIRECRACKER BURGER Courtesy of Missouri Beef Council

Ingredients >

1-1/2 pounds ground beef 1 tablespoon curry powder 1 tablespoon Caribbean jerk seasoning 1-1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise

1/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 2 teaspoons grated lime peel 6 sesame seed sandwich rolls, split, toasted 1 cup watercress or mixed spring greens

Directions >

1. Combine ground beef, curry powder, Caribbean jerk seasoning, and 1 teaspoon of salt in large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Shape into six 1/2-inch thick patties.

2. Place patties on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 8 to 10 minutes until instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into center registers 160째F, turning occasionally.

3. Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, mayonnaise, yogurt, lime juice, and lime peel in small bowl.

4. Spread sauce on cut sides of rolls. Place one burger on bottom half of each roll; top evenly with watercress. Close sandwiches.

Serves 6

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CARIBBEAN BEEF BURGER WITH MANGO SALSA

SOPHISTICATED BLUE BURGER Courtesy of Missouri Pork Association

Courtesy of Missouri Beef Counci

Ingredients >

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

Mango Salsa Ingredients >

1 large mango, peeled and coarsely chopped 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro 1 tablespoon chopped green onion

Directions >

Ingredients >

1 pound ground pork 4 tablespoons crumble blue cheese 1 dash garlic salt 1 dash black pepper

2 tablespoons Caribbean jerk seasoning 1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1. Combine ground beef and jerk seasoning in large bowl and mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape into four 3/4-inch thick patties.

2. Place patties on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, for 11 to 15 minutes until instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into center registers 160°F, turning occasionally.

3. Season with salt, as desired.

4. Combine salsa ingredients in medium bowl and mix lightly.

5. Serve burgers with salsa.

Serves 4

1/4 cup dry red wine 2 tablespoons water 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions >

1. Divide ground pork into eighths.

2. Place four portions between layers of waxed paper.

3. With a rolling pin, roll thin patties to 4-inch diameter.

4. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon blue cheese.

5. Roll remaining patties.

6. Place atop blue cheese, seal edges.

7. Brown burgers quickly on both sides; pour off a y accumulated drippings.

8. Reduce heat, sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and pepper.

9. Add wine, water, Worcestershire; cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Serves 4

APPLE COLESLAW Courtesy of Stark Bro’s Nurser

Ingredients >

1/2 cup canola oil 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups finely shredded green cabbag

2 cups finely shredded red cabbag 2 crisp apples, cored, halved, and sliced

Directions >

1. In a large salad bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, vinegar, and salt.

2. Add the shredded cabbage to the dressing.

3. Add the sliced apples to the cabbage and dressing.

4. Toss well to coat all with dressing, and cover.

5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

6. Toss again, and serve.

Serves 6 to 8

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Experience The u o r s i s i m s s o r c a e l Bicyc y goose island b d e t n e s e r p

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The Route

The Lineup

WILLIAM ELLIOTT WHITMORE • DAVID WAX MUSEUM • THE BLACK LILLIES KRIS LAGER BAND • OLD SALT UNION FINAL MIX SHOW BAND • CORY B. CLAY & THE OUTLAWS

For tickets & more information visit www.bigbamride.com

MO

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BROOKFIELD

Shelbina

Missouri

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Dining worth the drive.

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Conway

Dessert on a Dinner Plate THERE’S MORE THAN the traffi

that connects Exit 113 with I-44 at

Conway. The Rocking Chair restaurant is where people connect good food and lively conversation with family and friends.

Joe and Jeannine Bunch opened the buffet in 1997 with a goal of providing delicious home-cooked food in a friendly atmosphere. Today, they still blend Midwestern fl vors with old-fashioned Missouri recipes. Even the name is unique in the Show-Me State.

“When we were deciding on a name, my husband and I were driving down the road one day,” Jeannine says. “And he said, ‘The next thing we see—we’ll name our restaurant.’ About that time a rusty old pickup truck came by with a rocking chair in the back.

That’s been nineteen years ago, so it stuck.”

It’s a place where breakfast is served all day. Traditional ham, bacon, eggs, and mile high biscuits make up a favorite order. However, Rocking Chair is noted for its cinnamon rolls. Covering a dinner plate, the restaurant bakers make several dozen a day.

If you’re passing through, drop by for a delicious made-from-scratch meal. The parking lot will be filled with locals and other tr velers looking for a great meal.

Open daily, the buffet is served everyday from 6 am to 8 pmand until 9 pmon week-

Warrensburg

Heroes Among Heroes HEROES RESTAURANT AND PUB has been satisfying hungry

ends.—Carolyn Tomlin

students from the University of Central Missouri and pilots from the nearby Whitman Air

therockingchairrestaurant.com • 105 Martingale Drive • 417-589-6191

Force Base for thirty-fi e years now. People drive from as far away as Sedalia.

With reasonably priced American staples and a bar that stays open until 1 am, you will something you like at Heroes. Patrons tend to enjoy one of the restaurant’s legendary entrées, such as the filet mignon with brandy peppercorn sauce, and the all-star sandwich options make it a great lunch spot, too. The specialty is the Heroes Club— a combination of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on one layer and smoked turkey and thousandisland dressing on the other.

Heroes prides itself on the savory potato options. The spud options include everything from a fajita-stuffed potato to buffalo fries to Missouri potato skins—fresh-cut, deepfried potato skins topped with cheddar and monterey jack, scallions, and bacon bits.

Heroes has seen many changes over the years as the restaurant has expanded into four downtown storefronts. But with all the changes, the restaurant has kept the same theme: sports and movie memorabilia line the walls and pay tribute to the heroes of yesteryear.—Kelsey Walling

PAUL SABLEMAN, KELSEY WAILING, AND REBECCA SIEGEL

heroeswarrensburg.com • 107 W. Pine Street • 660-747-3162

Maplewood

One Strange Doughnut STRANGE DONUTS is a trip. In addition to its cast of $1 classics, the quirky doughnut shop offers a rota ing line-up of $2 creations and the weekend-only $5 “Stranger.”

The creations section are often decadent spins on classic desserts. The gooey butter cake doughnut and the Campfire a twist on s’mores, are both crowd-pleasers. The Stranger, though, is usually a doughnut spin on a savory dish. Think of crab Rangoon meets an airy, deep-fried doughnut or a sweet spin on Nashville hot chicken.

With an impressive menu, it’s no wonder the doughnut shop is slowly becoming an empire. It started three years ago with a Kickstarter campaign, and it now has two more locations in Kirkwood and Columbia.—Jonas Weir strangedonuts.com • 2709 Sutton Boulevard • 314-932-5851

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Remarkable MISSOURIANS

THE GOOD DOCTOR

Oncologist amara Hopkins hosts rummage sales to help raise funds for her patient’s medical osts STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATHY GANGWISCH

MOST PHYSICIANS probably didn’t start out as a wild child who dropped out of high school in the tenth grade, tended bar, and took a while to earn a general education degree.

Tamara Hopkins isn’t most doctors, though. She did all of the above, and now she’s a highly respected oncologist and hematologist in MidMissouri. Most physicians don’t hold rummage sales and bra auctions to benefit patients, but amara Hopkins does.

Born in Belleville, Illinois, and mostly reared in Jefferson City, Tamara attended Jefferson City High School before cutting out and living on her own at age sixteen.

She earned her GED at eighteen. By her early twenties, she decided to take a different path and enrolled in the nursing program at Lincoln University. To pay her way through school, Tamara tended bar at the American Legion Post No. 5. There, club members helped her out with a scholarship, which she now helps sponsor.

After graduation, she worked as a nurse at hospitals in Jefferson City and Columbia and found herself drawn to cancer patients. She figu ed that was her calling, so she applied to the University of Missouri School of Medicine. At the time, there were no female oncologists in central Missouri, so she racked up a first in that a ea.

Tamara paid her way through medical school by working weekends as a nurse.

“You could put in twenty-four hours at the hospitals, and they’d pay you for thirty-six—a really good deal,” she says.

After her residency and a fellowship in oncology, Tamara earned board certification in four specialties: internal medicine, family practice, oncology, and hematology. She began practice as a cancer specialist in 2006.

Four years later, she built her own building in Jefferson City where she offers chemotherapy and sees on average seventy patients per week.

“We treat patients like family here, good and bad,” Tamara says. “If they aren’t following the protocol and taking care of themselves, I’ll yell at them, and they aren’t afraid to yell back. They know I mean business.

At the same time, they know I care for them deeply.”

When some have trouble affording pricey cancer drugs, Tamara finds ways to lend a hand. She doesn’t broadcast the fact that she’s been known to personally call pharmacists to find out how much medications cost and put up some of her own money to cover costs.

Patient advocate funds also help with the high costs of medications.

In fact, Tamara hosts rummage sales at her building to help these funds.

“We raise about a couple thousand dollars at each one,” she says.

What doesn’t sell ends up in the doctor’s office suite that’s a cornucopia of unique old country things. One example is a stuffed albino raccoon, which the staff now dresses up for different holidays. Her five exam rooms are appointed with countryside antiques. In spare time, Tamara runs around central Missouri in her pickup truck buying interesting pieces at estate sales and auctions to place in the twice yearly rummage events.

“I especially love barn sales,” she says. “You can find some really neat stuff.”

Tamara isn’t the only who puts things up for sale. Other patients and her seventeen-member staff donate as well.

Tamara also organizes bra auctions to raise money for a local breast cancer charity. Staff and patients create elaborately adorned bras, then they’re put on display at places around town where people can bid on them.

Tamara’s caring goes beyond the rummage sales and typical patient care, too. She will hand out her cell phone number to patients and tell them to call her any time.

“I had a pretty important medical need one evening,” says Nancy Derboven, a patient from Rich Fountain. “I debated about calling during off hours, then went ahead. When Dr. Hopkins answered, I told her

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Left: Oncologist Tamara Hopkins meets with her patient Nancy D erboven. Above: Tamara organizes handbags at her semiannual rummage sale to raise money for her patient fund.

Right: From left, dog trainer Ginger Stratman and Hope meet with patient Tammy Luikart.

it sounded like she was washing dishes. She was, but she stopped and answered my question and insisted I wasn’t bothering her.”

Tamara’s office complex is not a gloomy place. Patients have decorated the ceiling tiles with uplifting messages, and she and her staff have fun with the patients.

“We’ve been known to have water fights with syringes on occasion,” she says.

Once, a chemo patient was marking his birthday when a group of staffers came out from a back room wearing layers of Mardi Gras beads.

They danced by the patient and hung every necklace on him. He wore them all day and got a kick out of it.

Fun is not all that makes Tamara and her staff stand out. She’s also tenacious.

“She’s a fighter who simply will not give up,” says Chris Shelton, a patient from Jefferson City.

Valerie Bante, one of the nurses on staff, first worked with Tamara when they were both nurses at Boone Hospital in Columbia, and she also has many stories to tell that show Tamara’s determined, hopeful personality.

“In a profession that many think would be depressing, we always try to remember that more people do better in cancer treatment than not,” Tamar says.

The next rummage sale will take place at Tamara’s office complex at 1704 Christy Drive in Jefferson City on June 10 from 9 am to 3 pm. For more information and event updates, find Tamara Hopkins MD LLC on Facebook.

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PRESENTS

JUNE

2016

5

STEPHENS LAKE PARK 10AM - 5PM SAT & 10AM TO 4PM SUN 573-443-8838 WWW.ARTINTHEPARKCOLUMBIA.ORG

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ALL AROUND

Missour M AY 2 0 1 6

BRICK CITY CRUISE NIGHT

Come out to Mexico, Missouri, on May 21 to see a variety of cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Grab a bite to eat from the food vendors. The event is held downtown from 5 to 9 pmand is free. For information call 573-581-2765 or visit mexico-chamber.org.

CENTRAL

COURTESY OF SANDY BENN

HIDDEN SPACES, SECRET PLACES May 1, Jefferson City > Take a tour to learn about architecturally appealing buildings and what city life is all about. D owntown. 1-4 pm. Call for costs.

573-291-3524, downtownjeffersoncity.com

THE BUZZ ABOUT BEES May 4, Jefferson City > Come learn about bees, their importance in our ecosystem, and how to protect them, and then take a tour of the galleries.

Missouri State Museum. 5-9 pm ( 7 pm program).

Free. 573-522-6949, mostateparks.com/park /missouri-state-museum

SHELBYFEST May 4-7, Jefferson City > Shelby Mustang car owners from across the nation gather to celebrate their cars. D owntown. Spectator events begin at 9 am on Fri.; Free. 573-632-2820, shelbyfest.net

KIDS’ NIGHT May 5, Columbia > Kids can sing and dance along with the beloved performer Babaloo as he celebrates summer. Stephens Lake Park. 6 pm. Free.

573-874-7460, gocolumbiamo.com

GARDEN MARKET AND BAZAAR May 7, Arrow Rock > Shop for hanging baskets, vegetables, annuals, perennials, outdoor decor, antiques, and vintage items. Old Schoolhouse.

10 am-4 pm. Free. 913-626-7482, arrowrock.org

CEDAR CROSS RACE May 7, Jefferson City > This endurance cycling event covers nearly 113 miles of back roads, cattle fields, and parts of Cedar Creek trail. Most of the riding will be on gravel. Start from the North Jefferson City commuter lot at 8 am (you can stage your bike any time after 6:30 am). Call for costs. 800769-4183, cedarcross.wordpress.com These listings are chosen by our editors and are not paid for by sponsors.

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MASTER GARDENERS SALE

TRANSIT OF MERCURY

May 7, Jefferson City > Fill your cart with perennials, annuals, herbs, vegetables, thirty varieties of tomatoes, and hanging baskets. Fairgrounds.

7 am-noon. Free admission. 573-295-6363, centralmissourimastergardeners.org

May 9, Jefferson City > Come and view this uncommon celestial event, when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Earth and the Sun. Mercury will appear as a small dot crossing the Sun. Special glasses, filters, and cameras will be used to view the transit safely. South lawn of the Missouri State Capitol. 9 am-1:30 pm(you can view this event any time during these hours). Free. 573-522-6949, mostateparks.com/park/missouri-state-museum

BOB JAMES JAZZ FESTIVAL May 7, Marshall > Jazz students of all ages can participate in a clinic coordinated by Clarence Smith and then end the evening watching multiple performances. Bueker Middle School. 9 am clinics; 6 pm concert. $25 clinics and $25 for concert. 660-2294845, marshallculturalcouncil.com

BLUEGRASS MUSIC JAM May 7, Mexico > See acoustic music at its best with a variety of stage performances and food vendors.

Presser Performing Arts. Noon-8 pm. Free. 573-5815592, mexicomissouri.net

STORYTIME SATURDAYS

AAA Best of the Midwest Destination

May 7, 14, 21, and 28, Jefferson City > These programs introduce children ages three to six to Missouri’s history and nature through stories and hands-on activities. The themes are Trains, Spiders, Prehistoric Pets, and Steamboats. Missouri State Museum. 11 am-noon. Free. 573-522-6949, mostateparks.com/park/missouri-state-museum

YOUTH FISHING DAY May 14, Columbia > Learn basic fishing skills, and win prizes for biggest fish, most fish, and first fis caught. Fishing poles and bait will be provided for the first twenty-fi e kids to sign up. Finger Lakes State Park. 10 am-noon. Free. 573-443-5315, mostateparks.com/park/finger-la es-state-park

THE TRAVELS OF WILLIAM CLARK

CRUISE-IN ON CAPITOL

May 12, Jefferson City > Author Jo Ann Trogdon speaks about her new book, which reveals William Clark’s highly questionable activities during the years before his famous journey west of the Mississippi. James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center.

7-8 pm.Free. 573-526-5296, visitjeffersoncity.com

May 14, Jefferson City > See classic and antique cars. D owntown. 5 pm. Free. 573-291-3524, downtownjeffersoncity.com

MOVIES IN THE PARK May 13, Columbia > Take part in a Frozen singalong with concessions provided. Cosmo Park near the Steinberg Playground. 8:30 pm. Free. 573-8747460, gocolumbiamo.com

SPRING FLING May 14, Marshall > Celebrate spring and Jim the Wonder Dog with vendors, a farmers’ market, Rotary Shoot-Out, bike rodeo, Shriners’ parade, best wonder dog contest, and an armed forces ceremony. Downtown Square. 9 am-4 pm. Free. 660-8863324, marshallmochamber.com

BIG TOP BEER FEST

CORVETTE CLASSIC May 13-14, Jefferson City > A variety of Corvettes will be on display. Missouri State Capitol grounds and downtown. Noon-4 pm. $10-$20

Getaway ay Vintage charm

entry for cars; free for spectators. 573-632-2820, capitalcitycorvetteclassic.wordpress.com

May 14, Mexico > Sample a variety of craft beers, and enjoy live band performances. Knights of Columbus Grounds. Noon-5 pm. $25-$30. 573-7210735. mexicokc.org

American Legion Tractor Pull LONE WOLF PARK, ST.PETERS

timeless beauty

TO MISSOURI WINE COUNTRY

Music by Johnny Chase

Wild Bacon Wine Trail May 7-8 Maifest May 21-22 Blue Oval Ford Rally May 26-28 Garden Tours June 4-5 Berries & BarBQ Wine Trail July 30-31 Wine & Jazz Festival August 20 Heritage Days September 17-18 Oktoberfest Every October Weekend

VisitHermann.com 800-932-8687 WINERIES • B&Bs • HISTORIC DISTRICT • DAILY AMTRAK STOPS

CONCESSIONS & BEER GARDEN FRIDAY JUNE 10 IPTA MSTPA X-Caliber Gate opens at 3 pm Pull starts at 7 pm

SATURDAY JUNE 11 Panther Pulling Gates open at 3 pm Pull starts at 6 pm

Limited Parking, Free Shuttle available from Mid Rivers Mall Admissions: Friday, $15, 12 & under free. Saturday, free admission www.americanlegionpost313.com [100] MissouriLife

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Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary

Plan your Summer Fun in Chillicothe!

Chilli Bay Water Park – open daily Memorial Day through Labor Day. Mudcat Baseball, Museums, Murals and More!

Carrying a complete line of Civil War Living History needs for Ladies, Gentlemen, Civilian, Military – featuring patterns, weapons, accessories, research. Our specialty: the Border Wars.

Custom orders at no additional cost!

Our clothing is American made 111 N. Main, Liberty, MO • 816-781-9473 www.jamescountry.com • jamescntry@aol.com

WWW.VISITCHILLICOTHE.COM • 1-877-224-4554

Join Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinese for a night of remembrance honoring our men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country.

May 29 at 7:00 p.m.

kmos.org In HD on channel 6.1 Check local listings

A Service of the University of Central Missouri

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FAMILY FUN FEST

NUNSENSE THE MUSICAL

A SALUTE TO VETERANS

May 18, Columbia > Learn how you can spread kindness and keep healthy with music, activities, dance, face painters, and crafts. Cosmo Park.

6-8 pm. Free. 573-874-7460, gocolumbiamo.com

May 26-28, Versailles > This hilarious spoof follows the misadventures of fi e nuns trying to manage a fundraiser. The Royal Theatre. 7 pm. $5-$10. 573378-6226, theroyaltheatre.com

May 30, Jefferson City > The Monticello Singers salute Mid-Missouri veterans with music . Missouri Capitol Rotunda. 2-4:30 pm. Free. 573-690-1001, visitjeffersoncity.com

CURSE OF THE COBRA’S KISS

CALLAWAY PLEIN AIR

May 20, Linn Creek > Join the fun in the audienceparticipation murder mystery dinner theater. Camden County Museum. 6 PM. $20. Reservations. 573346-7191, camdencountymuseum.com

May 26-June 30, Fulton > Artists from across the country fan out across the area’s countryside for four days to capture the county in oil, watercolor, pastels, ink, and pencil. Their works will be shown at a month-long exhibit. Exhibit will be at The Art House with an opening reception and awards ceremony on May 29 from 6-9 pm. Exhibit hours are 10 am-6 pmMon.-Fri.; 10 am-5 pmSat. Free. 573592-7733, arthousefultonmo.org

SCAVENGER HUNT IN THE PARK May 21, Camdenton > Stop by the park office get your hunt guide, and hike the designated trails to find the checkpoints to complete the hunt. Return to the offic and pick up your prize. Ha Ha Tonka State Park. 10 am-4 pm. Free. 573-346-2686, mostateparks.com/park/ha-ha-tonka-state-park

VIP PENITENTIARY TOUR May 21, Jefferson City > Experience what it is like to be locked in side a 180-year-old prison when you join Nick Groff, who was the host of the TV series Ghost Adventures, on a VIP tour of the Missouri State Penitentiary. VIP tours include an investigation of the site, meet-and-greet, and an autographed photo. Missouri State Penitentiary. Call for tour times. $225. 502-536-9090, nickgrofftou .com

CRUISIN’ AT THE CAPITAL MALL

SOUTHWEST MASTER GARDENER PLANT SALE May 7, Carthage > Shop for plants, trees, bushes, and vegetables, collectibles, and antiques. Proceeds go to the museum. Powers Museum. 8 am-2 pm. Free.

417-237-0456, powersmuseum.com

BISON HIKE

May 28, Jefferson City > Come out for the largest car show in town, and enjoy music. Capital Mall.

4-8 pm. Free. 573-680-7155, visitjeffersoncity.com

May 7, Mindenmines > Take a two-mile guided hike to see baby bison and wildfl wers. Prairie State Park. 10 am-noon. Free. 417-843-6711, mostateparks.com/park/prairie-state-park

PEDALER’S JAMBOREE

ARTFEST ON WALNUT STREET

May 28-29, Columbia to Boonville > Bicycle ride on the Katy Trail with live music at many stops along the way and a concert at Kemper Park on Saturday night. Camping and shuttle service are available.

Meet at Flat Branch Park. 8 am Sat. to 5 pmSun. $15$50. 573-234-4642, pedalersjamboree.com

May 7-8, Springfield > Festival features 130 artists, more than 80 performances, food, and a kids area with hands-on activities including Chalk-It-Up and Claymobile, a mobile ceramics arts workshop.

Historic Walnut Street. 10 am-6 pmSat.; 10 am-5 pm Sun. $5. 417-831-6200, springfieldartsfest.org

Step back in time.

Plan your trip back in time through more than 250 years of rich history with the Historic Weekend Itinerary at VisitCape.com/BackInTime or call 800·777·0068.

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Get down to business.

Subscribe today to receive the statewide business magazine— magazine—Missouri Missouri Business Business..

• In-depth industry profiles • Business news • Fascinating profiles • Tips for tech, HR, and legal issues

Honored nationally for excellence by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.

THE MAGAZINE OF THE MISSOURI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Visit MoBizMagazine.com to subscribe for free, compliments of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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ARTS IN THE PARK CONCERT

ARTS FESTIVAL

May 7, 14, 21, and 28, Republic > Enjoy a series of old-time music concerts. Lawn of the visitor center at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. 7 pm. Free.

417-732-2662, nps.gov/wicr

May 14, Pierce City > This festival features workshops, woodworking, jewelry, pottery, paintings, wine tastings, and root beer floats. South Park.

9 am-5 pm. Free ($7 for wine tasting).417-489-3041, piercecityartsfestival.webs.com

59TH ANNUAL SUCKER DAY

COURTESY OF MISSOURI STATE PARKS

TRUMAN DAYS

Celebrate the birthday of Missouri’s only president with cake, a barber shop quartet, and a Harry and Bess toddler show. The party will be at the Harry S. Truman State Historic Site near Lamar on May 7 from 9 am to 4 pm and is free. For more information call 417-6822279 or visit mostateparks.com/park/harry-s -truman-birthplace-state-historic-site

May 13-15, Nixa > Many bands and floats join the parade on Friday, and Saturday features a sucker fish meal; bluegrass, country, and gospel music; a kid’s area with pony rides; and one hundred artisans and exhibitors. Main Street. 6:30 pmFri.; 9 am-6 pm.

Sat.; 9 am-5 pm Sun. Free (except meal and special events). 417-725-5551, nixasuckerday.org

ALEX MEIXNER BAND CONCERT

THE TURTLES

BERRIES, BLUEGRASS, AND BBQ

May 14, Lebanon > The performers are some of the top martial artists in the country, and they bring comedy, action, and an anti-bullying message to the show. Cowan Civic Center. 3-4:20 pm. $10-$75. 417532-4642, xtremeforcelive.ticketleap.com

May 21, Anderson > This festival includes bluegrass bands, doughnut eating contest, Little Miss Strawberry pageant, homegrown strawberries, BBQ contest, duck race, and carnival games. Town Hall Park on the banks of Indian Creek. 8 am-7 pm.

Free. 417-214-3455, andersonbetterment.org

PERIL OF THE POLLINATORS May 14, Mindenmines > Learn what you can do to help butterflies, moths, and bees, and take home milkweed seeds and plants that help give pollinators a boost. Prairie State Park. 9:30-11 am. Free.

Preregistration. 417-843-6711, mostateparks.com /park/prairie-state-park

May 17, Lebanon > Led by one of the most spectacular accordionists in the world, Alex Meixner, this band performs polkas, “gypsy jazz,” folk, pop, classical, Latin, zydeco blues, Cajun, and more.

Cowan Civic Center. 7 pm. $20-$25. 417-532-2990, lebanonmoconcertassociation.com

BUILD A WREN HOUSE May 21, Hermitage > All the tools and supplies are provided for you to build a wren bird house to take home. Pomme de Terre State Park. 10 amnoon. Free. 417-745-6909, mostateparks.com/park /pomme-de-terre-state-park

@MissouriLife

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JUNKIN’ FOR TREASURES

WAGONS FOR WARRIORS

May 21, Lebanon > More than sixty booths inside and outside feature a variety of quality swapmeet vendors selling collectibles, antiques, silver, and household goods. Laclede County Fair Grounds AG Barn. 8 am-4 pm. Free. 573-280-5067, camdencountymuseum.org

May 28, Lebanon > Step back in time and enjoy an authentic home-cooked Chuckwagon meal prepared over an open fire. Proceeds benefit the local Wounded Warriors and their family members.

County Fair Grounds. 9 am-5 pm. $10. 417-5883256, wagonsforwarriors.com

WILDFLOWER WALK May 21, Mindenmines > Join a park naturalist for a 1.5 mile guided hike to see green grasses and colorful fl wers, and learn about the prairie ecosystem.

Prairie State Park. 10 am-noon. Free. 417-843-6711, mostateparks.com/park/prairie-state-park

CAJUN DAYS May 21, Reeds Spring > Enjoy food and craft vendors, a crawfish eating contest, a hula hoop contest, crawfish races, and a wide variety of live bands. Main Street. 9:30 am-7 pm. Free. 417-2394035, reedsspringcajundays.com

STREET ROD NATIONALS May 27-29, Springfield > See more than 2,200 cars that are thirty years old and older, and enjoy kids’ and adult games, arts and crafts, auto swap meet, and a church service on Sunday. Ozark Empire Fairgrounds and Event Center. Call for times and costs.

417-833-2660, nsra-usa.com

KANSAS CITY CROQUET TOURNAMENT May 14, Lee’s Summit > In this singles tournament, awards will be given to the top finishers in each division. Howard Park. 9 am-5 pm. $17-$27. 816-9691544, lsparks.net

BIJOU AT BOTHWELL LODGE May 14, Sedalia > Enjoy a night in front of the silver screen with the showing of the 1940 film His Girl Friday. Bothwell Lodge State Historic Site. 8:3010:30 pm. Free. 660-827-0510, mostateparks.com /park/bothwell-lodge-state-historic-site

KIDS KITE DAY May 14, Warsaw > Park staff will help you make and decorate a kite and have kites on hand to fl . Harry S. Truman State Park. 9 am-2 pm. Free.

660-438-7711, mostateparks.com/park/harry-s -truman-state-park

WINGS OVER WESTON May 14, Weston > Celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act with more than thirty activities about birds, migration, and habitat conservation. Weston Bend State Park at the Bee Creek Shelter. 9 am-4 pm. Free. 816-640-5443, mostateparks.com/park/weston-bend-state-park

BATES COUNTY’S 175TH May 19, Butler > Learn all about life in Bates County in the 1840s. Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site. 6 pm. 417-276-4259, mostateparks.com /park/battle-island-mound-state-historic-site

BLUES AND BREWS May 21, Excelsior Springs > Enjoy a day filled with blues music and craft beer tastings. Downtown on Broadway St. 10 am-6 pm. Call for costs. 816-6372811, visitexcelsior.com

KIDS DAY OUT May 21, Lexington > Take a bird hike, make a bird house, learn about butterflies, and decorate a cutout butterfl . Battle of Lexington State Historic Site.

9 am-3 pm. Free. 660-259-4654, mostateparks .com/park/battle-lexington-state-historic-site

Photo by Beth Watson

Montauk State Park Mark Twain National Forest Devils Well Ozark National Scenic Riverways Akers Ferry Current River Welch Cave-Spring Cedar Grove

Shawnee Mac Lake Bonebrake Center of Nature & History Ozark Natural & Cultural Resource Center

There’s more to do here.

Naturally.

573-729-6900 | www.salemmo.com | www.100aw.org

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COLUMBIA’S DESTINATION FOR HAND CRAFTED COCKTAILS

DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA•816 E BROADWAY, COLUMBIA, MO•WWW.BROADWAYBREWERY.COM [107] May 2016

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CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE May 21, Kansas City > Jaguar, Austin Healy, RollsRoyce, and Triumph owners from around the region display their cars and have them judged for awards in many classes. Crown Center Square. 9 am-3 pm.

Free. 816-274-8444, crowncenter.com

MOVIE NIGHT AT THE PARK May 28, Warsaw > This showing of Disney Pixar’s Up will have popcorn, tea, and lemonade. Bugs Bunny cartoons will be shown before the movie.

Harry S. Truman State Park amphitheater. 8 pm.

Free. 660-348-7711, mostateparks.com/park /harry-s-truman-state-park

May 29, Kansas City > Patriotic musical salute by the Kansas City Symphony features cannons, a fire orks grand finale, and pre-concert entertainment. Union Station. Site opens at 1 pm; concert at 8 pm. Free. 816-471-1100, kcsymphony.org

BACKYARD BIRDS AND FEEDERS May 29, Warsaw > Enjoy this naturalist program about all the cool birds you can see in your backyard, and take home a pre-cut wooden feeder to attract birds from your neighborhood. Harry S. Truman State Park. 6 pm. Free. 660-438-7711, mostateparks.com/park/harry-s-truman-state-park

SOUNDS OF SUMMER

This seasonal concert series will feature a variety of live music performances at the City Complex in downtown Warrensburg starting on May 20. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, and enjoy music from local and regional bands. The concert takes place from 7 to 9 pmand is free. For more information call 660429-3988, or visit warrensburgmainstreet.com to look for a full listing of all of the 2016 performers.

COURTESY OF WARRENSBURG MAIN STREET STAFF

CELEBRATION AT THE STATION

Centrally located just 30 miles North of Columbia at the junction of Highways 63 & 24

VISIT US ONLINE AT MOBERLY.COM.

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Travel with Fellow Missourians!

Costa Rica

Save 10%. Book your trip

now!

8 Days • January 14-22, 2017*

*Dates subject to change.

• Tortuguero National Park: take a guided cruise through the canals to view wildlife and a guided walk through the rainforest.

• Arenal: tour a pineapple plantation; sightsee in La Fortuna; visit Natura Park, Tabacón Hot Springs, and the Arenal volcano.

• Sarchi Village: see artists in their workshops making the famous oxcarts in the center of Costa Rican handcrafts.

• Monteverde: visit the Sky Walk hanging bridges, the Santa Elena Cloud Forest, Trapiche family-owned farm and enjoy a homemade lunch and farewell dinner.

Join Greg & Danita Wood, publisher & editor in chief of Missouri Life

For more information visit missourilife.com/travel/travel-with-fellow-missourians or travelerslane.com • 314-223-1224 • travelerslane@hotmail.com

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May 28-Aug. 14, Lawson > Costumed interpretive staff will present life in rural Missouri during the 1870s with demonstrations and tours of the woolen mill and Watkins House. Watkins Woolen Mill State Park. 10 am-4 pm (farm program Sat.-Sun.; tours daily). Free. 816-580-3387, mostateparks.com /park/watkins-mill-state-park

NORTHWEST

see artists-at-work demonstrations. Downtown.

7-10 pm. Call for ticket prices. 660-582-8643, maryvillechamber.com

DISCOVERY DAY May 21, Rushville > Explore the trails that lead to the oxbow lake that William Clark describes in one of his journals, see a two-thirds-size replica of a keelboat, and learn about some of the mammals found in Missouri. Lewis and Clark State Park.

3-5 pm. Free. 816-640-5443, mostateparks.com /park/lewis-and-clark-state-park

RESPECT

NATIONAL KIDS TO PARKS DAY

May 6-8 and 13-15, St. Joseph > This musical revue features classic women’s songs including “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “I Will Survive.”

Robidoux Landing Playhouse. 7:30 pmFri.-Sat.; 2 pmSun. $15-$35. 816-232-1778, rrtstjoe.org

May 21, Trenton > Get outside and get active with a family fun trail run/walk. Ages eighteen years and under can enter up to six photos in the photo contest that will be displayed until noon. Crowder State Park. 8 am-noon. Free. 660-359-6473, mostateparks.com/park/crowder-state-park

ABBEY TRAILS RUN/WALK May 7, Conception > Participate in a 5K run or 2-mile walk on a scenic paved road. Conception Abbey. 7:30 am-1 pm. $20-$25 to participate. 660944-2813, secure.conceptionabbey.org

ART, THYME, AND BREWS May 20, Maryville > Celebrate new sculptures; enjoy live music, food, and beer tastings; and

NORTHEAST LOAFERS CLUB CAR SHOW May 7, Hannibal > See the vintage and classic cars on display. Historic Main St. 8 am-4 pm. Free. 573221-2477, visithannibal.com

APPLE BLOSSOM PARADE AND BBQ

Civic Center Park and downtown St. Joseph will be celebrating Spring on May 6 and 7 with a grand parade, a sanctioned BBQ contest, live music, beer garden, and children’s activities.

The event is open from 6 to 11 pm Friday and noon to 4 pm Saturday. For more information call 816-233-6688 or visit stjomo.com.

COURTESY OF ST. JOSEPH VISITORS CENTER

LIVING HISTORY FARM

Beks, in historic downtown Fulton, features local seasonal fair for lunch or dinner, an extensive beer selection and hand-selected wine list.

511 Court Street, Fulton 573-592-7117 beksshop.com

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Read what you missed!

Purchase back issues of Missouri Life!

Step Back In Time.

OPEN Saturday 10-4

Each doorway provides a passage to the past.

OPEN Saturday 10-4

1903 Courthouse Museum

The 100+ year old interior is largely intact featuring original judge and jury boxes.

The Old Stagecoach Stop

Each room in the ten room building reflects a different use and era in the building’s history, including a display about the archaeology found beneath.

Take a look online, or order a FREE printed Visitors Guide.

$4.50 + tax, s/h

Visit MissouriLife.com or call 1-800-492-2593

OPEN BY APPT.

Frisco Depot Museum

The museum has many artifacts that illustrate life on the railroad; the very basis of American prosperity and expansion.

573.336.6355 877.858.8687

PulaskiCountyUSA.com Use history and science to uncover fascinating family stories, and link each person’s to a larger community history.

Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.

kmos.org In HD on channel 6.1 Check local listings

A Service of the University of Central Missouri

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DOWN BY THE RIVER May 13, Hannibal > This twenty-one-and-up event features a live band and food and drink vendors at a scenic river setting. Y Mens Pavilion. 5-7 pm. $5.

573-221-2477, visithannibal.com

GALLERY WALK May 14, Hannibal > Stroll the streets, and visit galleries with special guest artists, exhibits, and prize drawings. Historic Main St. 5-8 pm. Free. 573-2216545, visithannibal.com

May 15, Kirksville > See an exciting, fast-paced, 0.6-mile loop bicycle race around the square. Meet at Stokes Stadium. 9 am-5 pm. $25 to ride; free for spectators. 660-627-1485, visitkirksville.com

GOLF TOURNAMENT May 21-22, Kirksville > Three-man scramble tournament has cash prizes. Country Club. Tee times 7:30 am and 12:30 pmSat.; 7 am and 1 pmSun. $345 per team. 660-665-5335, visitkirksville.com

ART IN THE PARK May 31, Moberly > Children ages fifteen years and younger can create a craft to take home. Lake Pavilion Shelter at Rothwell Park. 10-11 am. $1. 660269-8705, ext. 2040, moberlymo.org

TWAIN ON MAIN

Celebrate Hannibal’s beloved author, Mark Twain, on May 28 and 29. There are three different areas based on Mark Twain’s books, one with gunfighters and a medicine show; one with performances by Jim Waddle, kids games, and bluegrass music; and one with jousting and Celtic music. The events are held in historic downtown and are free. Call 573-221-2477 or visit twainonmain.com for more information.

COURTESY OF HANNIBAL CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

CRITERIUM BIKE RIDE

raphael-mo-life-0516_raphael-mo-life-0516 3/15/16 6:34 AM Page 1

Experience the best of Kansas City Travel+Leisure 500 World’s Best Hotels KC Visitors’ Choice Award, Best Hotel TripExperts Best of Kansas City, Restaurant

Historic Hotels of America

325 Ward Parkway I Country Club Plaza I 816.756.3800

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State Capitol State Historic Site. 10 am-3 pm. Registration. $55-$75 (depending on if you make a lid). 636-940-3322, mostateparks.com/park/firs -missouri-state-capitol-state-historic-site

ST. LOUIS WILDFLOWER WALK

WILD BACON WINE TRAIL

April 30-May 1, D e Soto > Celebrate the peak of spring with a guided 1.5-mile hike along the Big River flood plain. Washington State Park.

1-2:30 pm. Free. 636-586-5768, mostateparks .com/park/washington-state-park

May 7-8, Hermann > Smoky and delicious bacon pairs with wine at the seven stops on the Hermann Wine Trail. Seven area wineries. Advanced tickets required. 10 am-5 pm Sat.; 11 am-5 pm Sun. $30.

800-932-8687, hermannwinetrail.com

COWBELL UNCORKED

THORNHILL OPEN HOUSE

May 7, Augusta > Gather a team and run the 5K or 10K off-road footrace through wine country. Start at Klondike Park. Call for times and costs. 636-9467776, cowbelluncorked.com

May 7-8 and 14-15, Chesterfield > Visit the home of Missouri’s second governor, Frederick Bates, and tour the 1820s and 1860s barns, the smokehouse, ice house, peach orchard, and family cemetery.

Thornhill at Faust Park. 1-5 pm. Free. 314-615-8328, stlouisco.com

HUMMINGBIRD BANDING May 7, Leasburg > Join researcher Lanny Chambers as he captures, bands, and studies Missouri’s smallest flying machine: the ruby-throated hummingbird. Onondaga Cave State Park. 10 am1 pm. Free. 573-245-6576, mostateparks.com/park /onondaga-cave-state-park

PARTIES IN THE PARK May 11, Clayton > Wind down after work with live music and refreshments. D owntown. 5-8:30 pm.

Free. 314-726-3033, partiesinthepark.org

BEAL STREET CONCERT SERIES

MAKE A BASKET CLASS May 7, St. Charles > Make a hand-crafted picnic basket. All materials are supplied. First Missouri

May 11, St. Charles > Enjoy vendors and a concert

by Dr. Zhivegas. Beal Street. 6-8 pm.Free. 636-9467776, thestreetsofstcharles.com

MAKIN’ BACON 101 May 14, Hermann > Learn the art of making bacon, enjoy a wurst lunch, take part in wine and beer tastings, enter a bacon taste-off, and take home bacon and a goody bag. Hermann Wurst Haus. 10 am and 2 pm. $69. 573-486-2266, hermannwursthaus.com

CONFLUENCE CLEAN-UP May 14, St. Louis > Come out and help clean up the banks of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and enjoy lunch with the other volunteers. Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area. 9 am-noon. Free.

573-443-0292. riverrelief.org

RAPTOR AWARENESS PROGRAM May 14, Troy > Program features birds of prey including falcons, hawks, owls, vultures, and a bald eagle. Bring a lawn chair and sit back and enjoy a close-up view. Cuivre River State Park. 2-3 pm.

Free. 636-528-7247, mostateparks.com/park /cuivre-river-state-park

PAUL JACKSON WORKSHOP May 19-20, St. Charles > Internationally renowned watercolorist Paul Jackson will teach this dramatic landscape workshop with informal lectures, discussions, and critiques. The Foundry Art Centre.

10 am-4 pm. $300. Registration. 636-255-0270, foundryartcentre.org

Events Ryan & Ryan Music by Mavericks

May 6

Color Me Cancer Free 5K Run

May 14

Route 66 Summerfest

June 3 & 4

Superhero 5K

June 11

Annie Get Your Gun

June 16-26

For more information on these and other events visit

www.VisitRolla.com

Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center

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

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ART FAIR AND WINEFEST May 20-22, Washington > Local artists and wineries display and sell their wares. There will also be live music and a food court. Downtown. 5-10 pmFri.; 11 am-10 pm Sat.; 11 am-4 pm Sun. Free. 636-2391743, downtownwashmo.org

LONGHORN THE COMEDIAN May 21, Hermann > See a cowboy comedian and an opening act, and enjoy happy hour and dinner.

Hermann Wurst Haus. 6-9:30 pm. $25-$30. 573486-2266, hermannwursthaus.com

May 21, Leasburg > Join an experienced wildfl wer gardener on a half-mile walk to look for and identify wildfl wers. Onondaga Cave State Park.

9 am-noon. Free. 573-522-3760, mostateparks .com/park/onondaga-cave-state-park

PLAY THE HISTORICAL WAY May 21, St. Charles > Live, learn, and play as children in the 1820s did. Try your hand at butter churning and quill pen writing; play games; enjoy craft demonstrations; and learn about bartering. First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site. 10 am4 pm. Free. 636-940-3322, mostateparks.com/park /first-mi souri-state-capitol-state-historic-site

ART FAIR

Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis hosts a huge art fair from May 6 to 8. There will be local food and beverage vendors, hands-on activities for children, wine and beer tasting, live music, and 150 juried artists who will have their works for sale. The fair is open from 6 to 10 pmFriday, 10 am to 8 pmon Saturday, and 10 am to 5 pmSunday. Tickets are $10. For more information, call 314-615-5278 or visit laumeir.org.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WENDI FITZGERALD

CAN WEEDS BE WILDFLOWERS?

Your Summer Fun Begins In Weston This 1837 historic town is a popular overnight destination and a favorite day trip. Enjoy quaint B&Bs, a historic hotel, a wide variety of restaurants, shops, galleries, wineries, an Irish pub and tour the oldest distillery west of the Mississippi still located on its original site.

Camp, hike and bike in the rolling hills of the state park. Festivals and fun all summer long.

Visit www.westonmo.com or call 816-640-2909 for all information on Weston...

The Best Small Town in Missouri (AAA Midwest Traveler)

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Coming back to civilian life brings new challenges, new opportunities, and compelling stories of courage and accomplishment.

What about ___________?

KCPT and public media stations across the country are telling those stories so community members can better understand the veteran experience.

Learn how Veterans Coming Home supports and engages veterans as they transition to civilian life at

veterans.kcpt.org

kcpt.org/curiouskc

Got a question about Kansas City, the region or the people who live here?

Anything you’ve always wondered about, found peculiar or downright confusing? Share your questions with KCPT’s curiousKC.

Veterans Coming Home is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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“° e beˆ way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up” —Mark Twain

Missouri Life magazine is the Mother’s and Father’s Day present that lasts all year long. Missouri Life will deliver recipes, day trips, fascinating features, and our shared Missouri heritage to your loved one’s door. We’ll even send a personalized gift card announcing your gift. Just $19.99 www.MissouriLife.com • 800-492-2593, ext. 101

Great for Mother’s & Father’s D ay!

MADE-IN-MISSOURI TREATS FOR YOUR LOVED ONES

$45 Gift

• Set of 3 grill seasonings from the Urban Farmgirl • Missouri Cookie Cutter • One-year subscription to Missouri Life (7 issues)

$65 Gift

• Set of 4 garlic and seasoning rubs from Ellbee’s • Blues Hog Barbeque Sauce • Gringo Goose Pepper Relish Spread • Set of 2 grill seasonings from The Olde Town Spice Shoppe • Missouri Cookie Cutter • One-year subscription to Missouri Life (7 issues)

Give the gift that keeps on giving. Each Missouri Life gift box includes a one-year subscription to Missouri Life.

$75 Gift • • • • • •

Set of 4 garlic and seasoning Rubs from Ellbee’s Honey Bear from Gibbons Honey Farm Blues Hog Barbecue Sauce Gringo Goose Pepper Relish Spread Soup mix from Thompson Farm Set of 3 grill seasonings from The Olde Town Spice Shoppe • Missouri Cookie Cutter • One-year subscription to Missouri Life (7 issues)

Visit MissouriLife.com/giftbaskets or call 800-492-2593 ext. 101 to order [116] MissouriLife (You will be redirected and charged by Olde Towne Spice Shoppe. Shipping and handling not included.)

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MAIFEST

AIR FESTIVAL

May 21-22, Hermann > An old-fashioned celebration of spring with German music, dancing, and food; parades; crafts people; Maypole dancers; children’s games; and beer gardens. Throughout town. 8 am-8 pmFree (except special events). 800932-8687, visithermann.com

SUNSET ON THE RIVERFRONT May 26, Washington > Local bands provide music, and local restaurants provide food and drink for a family-friendly evening on the banks of the Missouri River. Rennick Riverfront Park. 5-8 pm. Free.

636-239-1743, downtownwashmo.org

SPRING CEMETERY WALK May 7, Burfordville > Take a guided journey to the Bollinger family cemetery to learn more about the family and nineteenth century burial traditions.

Bollinger Mill State Historic Site (meet on the front porch of the mill). 9 am. Free. Registration. 573-2434591, mostateparks.com/park/bollinger-mill-state -historic-site

MUDLICK HOLLOW HIKE

RENAISSANCE FAIRE May 28-30 and June 4-5, Wentzille > Celebrate the Renaissance era with music, dancing, food, jousting, and entertainment of the time. Rotary Park. 10 am-6 pmSat.-Sun. Ticket prices vary. 636946-7776, stlrenfest.com

May 7, Patterson > Join a park naturalist on a fi emile hike to see historic hiking shelters, waterfalls, and bluffs. Sam A. Baker State Park. 9 am-3 pm.

Free. 573-856-4514, mostateparks.com/park/sambaker-state-park

SIKESTON IN BLOOM

GYPSY CARAVAN May 30, St. Charles > A fundraiser for the St. Louis Symphony and Education Concerts, this event is one of the largest antique, craft, and vintage markets. Family Arena. 9 am-5 pm. $10. 636-946-7776, stlouissymphony.org/gypsycaravan

May 7, Sikeston > This fest features music, a plant sale, pony rides, a farmers’ market, storytelling, carriage rides, crafts, a car cruise, an arts festival, and the Sprockets in Spring bike ride. Legion Square, Downtown, and the Depot Museum. 8 am3 pm. Free. 573-380-3801, downtownsikeston.org

Doubletree Hotel Westport

SPRING FEVER DAYS May 13-14, Ellington > This street festival has demonstrations, arts, live music, storytelling, crafts, vendors, a car and boat show, and 5K. Main Street.

3-10 pm Fri.; 10 am-9 pm Sat. Free. 573-996-1860, ellingtonmo.com

MIGRATORY BIRD DAY May 14, Patterson > Celebrate migratory birds on a guided stroll to observe and learn about the birds that are attracted to the park. Sam A. Baker State Park, 10-11 am. Free. 573-856-4515, mostatepark .com/park/sam-baker-state-park

LANDMARK DAY May 14, Ste. Genevieve > Visit with the current members of the National Society of the Colonial D ames, and enjoy living history craftspeople and merchants. Historic D owntown. 10 am-5 pm. $7.

800-373-7007, visitstegen.com

La Quinta Inn & Suites

Stay & Play

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndam

in Maryland Heights

Creve Coeur Park and Lake

Visit Creve Coeur Lake Rentals if you…

Enjoy being on the water? Rent kayaks, canoes or paddleboats. Life jackets provided. Prefer dry land?

Rent quadricycles or bicycles.

Visit www.more2do.org for a current calendar of events.

Maryland Heights Convention & Visitors Bureau 888.MORE2DO • www.more2do.org Hampton Inn Westport

Holiday Inn Express

Comfort Inn Westport

Days Inn

Homewood Suites

Motel 6

Red Roof Inn Westport

Hollywood Casino & Hotel

Visit Creve Coeur Park & Lake with a 6-mile walking/bike path adjoining to the Katy Trail, picnic shelters and sites, playgrounds, hiking, sand volleyball, athletic fields, modern restrooms & more.

Drury Hotels Westport

Sonesta ES Suites

May 11, Cape Girardeau > Come out and see the Canadian Forces Snowbirds jet team, F18 fighte jet demonstrations, US Army Golden Knights, and the Redline Airshow performance. Regional Airport. Call for times. Free. 573-334-6230, capegirardeauairfestival.com

Extended Stay America

Sheraton Westport Chalet & Tower Courtyard by Marriott

SOUTHEAST

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MASTER GARDENER’S WALK May 14-15, Ste. Genevieve > Tour private and public gardens; some date back to the eighteenth century. Visit the plant sale, too. Get your map and ticket at the Welcome Center. 10 am-4 pm.$7. 800373-7007, visitstegen.com

REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN May 16-21, New Madrid > See a photo exhibit of Missouri’s fallen heroes. Hart-Step House. 9 am5 pmMon.-Fri.; 9 am-2 pmSat. Free. 573-748-5300, rememberingourfallen.org

WESTERN SWING MUSIC SHOW

THE GREAT TREASURE HUNT May 21, Park Hills > A hidden treasure is buried somewhere in the park. Gather a team, and meet at the Blankshire trailhead parking lot. Using your own vehicle, drive the motor tour, and follow a string of clues with the help of a park interpreter to find the treasure. St. Joe State Park. 10 am2 pm. Free. 573-431-6226, mostateparks.com/park /st-joe-state-park, MO

COSMIC REUNION

French Village, Missouri, will host four nights of camping with music from more than twenty bands, interactive art installations, educational workshops, theatrical performances, culinary treats, drum circles, and contests. Held at Astral Valley, the festival opens at noon on May 26 and runs until May 30.

Tickets range from $65 to $80. Call 573-358-7077 or visit cosmicreunion.com for more information.

COURTESY OF JOHN MILLER AND JAMIE SEED

May 19-21, Cape Girardeau > Multiple bands perform swing music and jam. Door prizes will be given out. VFW Post. 2-10:30 pm Thurs.; 11 am-10:30 pm Fri.-Sat. $5-$10. 573-335-1631, visitcape.com

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merchants association

MARKETPLACE 7C’s Winery 502 E 560th Rd Walnut Grove MO 65770

417-788-2263

10am - 6pm www.7cswinery.com facebook.com/7cswinery Escape and Unwind

Special: Reserve two nights and take twenty dollars off!

816-640-9916 • www.westonbedbreakfast@kc.rr.com 908 Washington St, Weston Mo, 64098

Main Street Bar & Grill fayette , s new home for top notch dining, microbrews, and live music!

Home To • Unique Artisan & Antique Shops • Award-Winning Winery & Restaurants • Superb B&B and Lodging Options And much more...

Missouri’s Premier Katy Trail Destination

110 s. main street fayette, mo 660.728.5077

www.Rocheport-mo.com

Directory of our Advertisers 7Cs Winery, p. 120 American Legion Post 313 Tractor Pull, p. 100 Art in the Park, p. 98 ASL Pewter, p. 26 Beks Restaurant, p. 110 Bent Tree Gallery, p. 26 Big BAM, pgs. 90 & 91 Boonville Tourism, p. 118 Branson CVB, p. 7 Branson Visitor’s TV, p. 104 Broadway Brewery, p. 107 Cape Girardeau CVB, p. 102 Carthage CVB, p. 76 Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 107 Columbia Orthopeadic Group, p. 76 Crow Steals Fire, p. 26 Ellington Chamber of Commerce, p. 8 Goose Island Beer Company, p. 92 Greater Chillicothe Visitor’s Region, p. 101 Greers Ferry Lake & Little Red River, p. 2 Hannibal CVB, p. 16

Hermann Tourism, p. 100 Hermann Hill Vineyard & Inn, p. 124 Hermann Wurst Haus, p. 123 Holladay Distillery, p. 11 Isle of Capri, p. 3 James Country Mercantile, p. 101 KCPT, p. 115 KMOS, pgs. 101 & 111 Lexington, MO Tourism Bureau, p. 105 Lincoln NE CVB, p. 109 Lyceum Theatre, p. 78 Main Street Bar and Grill, p. 120 Maryland Heights CVB, p. 117 Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, p. 103 Missouri Choice Marketing Co-op, p. 28 Missouri Division of Tourism, pgs. 9 & 94 Missouri Life Back Issues, p. 111 Missouri Life Mother’s & Father’s Day Gift Baskets & Subscriptions, p. 116 Missouri Life Travel, p. 109

Missouri Life Instagram, p. 105 Missouri Propane, p. 15 Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, p. 21 Missouri Wildflowers Nursery, p. 21 Moberly Chamber of Commerce, p. 108 Old Trails Region, p. 110 Paul Jackson Workshop, p. 19 Pedaler’s Jamboree, p. 93 Pulaski County Tourism, p. 111 The Railyard Steakhouse, p. 112 The Raphael Hotel, p. 112 Rocheport Merchant’s Association, p. 120 Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 113 Saleigh Mountain, p. 26 Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 106 Sikeston CVB, p. 113 Socket, p. 119 The Sound of Gravel, p. 23 St. Charles CVB, p. 28 St. Joseph CVB, p. 114 Ste. Genevieve, p. 105

Stone Hill Winery, p. 26 Stone Hollow, p. 26 Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce, p. 13 Titanic Museum Attraction, p. 4 University of Missouri Press, p. 21 Weston Bed & Breakfast, p. 120 Weston, MO, p. 114 SUMMER TRAVEL Benton County Tourism, p. 55 Chillicothe Arts Council, p. 58 Clay County Tourism, p. 57 Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, p. 58 Mexico, MO Tourism, p. 59 Holladay Distillery, p. 56 Queen of the Prairie Festival of the Arts, p. 56 Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival, p. 56 Sedalia CVB, p. 58 Vintage Hill Farm, p. 56

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MINI TRIATHLON May 21, Ste. Genevieve > Take a 150-yard swim, a nine-mile bike ride, and a three-mile run. Community Center. 7:30 am. $45 to race; free for spectators.

573-883-5344, sgcc.com

LEADBELT HARESCRAMBLES May 22, Park Hills > This motorcycle-only event will determine who will be the first to finish the grueling, skill-testing cross country course. St. Joe State Park. 7 am-8 pm. $20-$35 participation fee; $5 entrance fee. 636-639-6373, momudders.com

ART WALK May 27, Ste. Genevieve > Get a map, stroll down the streets to see exhibits by local and regional artists, and enjoy a car show. Historic D owntown.

6-9 pm. Free. 800-373-7007, visitstegen.com

HISTORIC GAMES May 28, Burfordville > Step back in time and enjoy historic games such as checkers, cornhole, and graces. Bollinger Mill State Historic Site. 9-11 am. Free. 573-243-4591, mostateparks.com/park/ bollinger-mill-state-historic-site

FORT D DAYS May 28-30, Cape Girardeau > Celebrate Memorial D ay with re-enactors as they honor the memory of veterans past and present. Fort D Historic Site. 9 am-4 pm. Free. 573-335-1631, fortdhistoricsite.com

SOUTH CENTRAL PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS May 2, Waynesville > This supervised paranormal investigation tours one of the area’s oldest homes.

Meet at the Talbot House at dusk. $20 with reservations required. 573-528-2149, pulaskicountyusa.com

COURTESY OF MIDAMERICA FREEDOM RALLY

PIONEERS OF THE OZARKS

FREEDOM RALLY

Come out to Buckhorn May 27 through 30 for Mid-Missouri’s largest motorcycle rally. Enjoy tent camping, live music, bike events, vendors, and a Memorial Day ceremony to remember our heroes. Gates open at noon on May 27, and tickets are $25. Call 573-336-6355 or visit midamericafreedonrally.com for more information.

KIDS’ FISHING DAY May 7, Rolla > Learn and experience the joys of fishing, enter the contests, and make crafts. Each child that registers must be accompanied by an adult. Ber Juan Park. 9 am-noon. Free. 573-3412386, rollacity.org

RETROSPECT ART SHOW May 7-June 26, Poplar Bluff > See an exhibit by Charles Thies, a fine art painter and printmaker.

Margaret Harwell Art Museum. Noon-4 pmTues.-Fri.; 1-4 pmSat.-Sun. Free. 573-686-8002, mham.org

May 5, Winona > Learn how pioneers who settled in the Missouri Ozarks lived with activities including soap-making, quilting, rug-making, and spinning.

Twin Pines Conservation Education Center. 10 am2 pm. Free. Reservations. 573-325-1381, nature.mdc .mo.gov

CRUISE NIGHTS

MUSIC BY MAVERICKS

COLOR ME CANCER FREE

May 13, Poplar Bluff > Come out and enjoy classic vehicles with different themed nights, live entertainment, raffles and concessions. Black River Coliseum parking lot. 6-9 pm. Free. 573-785-4486, poplarbluffchamber.org

May 6, Rolla > Dynamic father and son piano duo blend classic and contemporary music into a delightful concert experience. Leach Theater. 7:30 pm. $25. 573-341-4219, leachtheatre.mst.edu

May 14, Rolla > Take part in this 5K Color Run to raise money for Relay for Life. Lion’s Club Park Pavilion #1.

8 am registration; 9 am run. $25 (free for spectators).

573-308-0805, split-secondtiming.com

MONTAUK MILL CELEBRATION

BLUES BASH FESTIVAL

May 6-7, Salem > Step back in time and experience lost skills, arts, and crafts of the Ozarks as well asmills tours, old-time music, and a quilting bee. Montauk State Park. 9 am-4 pm. Free. 573-548-2225, mostateparks.com/park/montauk-state-park

100 MILE YARD SALE May 26-30, Jackson to Kennet > Follow the highway to yard sales along a hundred-mile trail. Highway 25. All day each day. Free. 866-848-5828, kennettmo.com

BIRDS OF PREY May 28, Salem > Bring a lawn chair to see a bald eagle, owls, and hawks up close, and learn about the unique characteristics of each bird. Montauk State Park. 2-4 pm. Free. 573-548-2225, mostateparks.com/park/montauk-state-park

FREE LISTING & MORE EVENTS At MissouriLife.com PLEASE NOTE: TO SUBMIT AN EVENT:

May 21, West Plains > Enjoy live bands, motorcycles, vendors, beer tents, a BBQ cook-off, antique vendors, and hot rod cars. Enter to win a free custom Harley D avidson. Historic D owntown.

Noon-11 pm. Free. 888-256-8835, westplains.net

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Missourian Baseball, burgers, and fruit trees, we’ve got it all in Show-Me Stat

BY JONAS WEIR

This is baseball country ..

The St. Louis Browns set an ATTENDANCE RECORD at Sportsman’s Park. For a 1939 regular season game, only

386 FANS

showed up—one of the worst turnouts in MLB history.

ON MAY 13, 1958, WHILE PLAYING AGAINST THE CHICAGO CUBS, ST. LOUIS CARDINAL STAN MUSIAL GOT HIS THREE-THOUSANDTH HIT.

... where burgers are as important as hot dogs.

Stark Bro’s

ships more than

one million trees every year.

Missouri has about 3.5 fast food restaurants per 10,000 people.

THAT’S A LOT OF HAMBURGERS!

MISSOURI RANKS THIRD NATIONALLY FOR THE NUMBER OF BEEF COWS.

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

•

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

•

Indoor and outside deli seating

•

In-house craft beer and wurst sodas

•

German food and Amish-made food gifts

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

Download the Wurst Haus mobile app in the Apple store and receive 10% off in-store purchase [123] May 2016

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