&
HEART
SOUL
WE INVITE YOU to begin your journey through these pages by first thinking of mid-20th century America, before there even was a Silver Dollar City. All around the country, there was so much change: inventions that would replace the old ways, new contraptions, loud music and fast cars—so much hustle and bustle. There was one family, who lived in Chicago, yearning for the quiet and colorful call of the Ozark Mountains. With their teenage boys in tow, the parents came to the Ozarks and traveled the dusty mountain roads, exploring the hills and valleys. They found wildflowers, a massive cave, and colorful mountain folk, genuine settlers who were self-sufficient and eking out life in the Ozarks. As many were heard to say, “We make pert near everything. If we can’t make it, we probably don’t need it.”