Nev issue #3

NEVADA T H E

M A G A Z I N E

Featuring Vernon County’s People and Towns

SMALL TOWN BASEBALL Nevada Griffons THROUGH the

Kitchen Door

See The World Army Style

Vol. #3 ISSUE 3

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2015

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From Nevada to LA and back again A performer’s tale

Jones enjoying movie roles, voice acting

By Doug Harper Shawn Jones of Nevada took a big chance when he moved to Los Angeles after having some success modeling for Abercrombie and Fitch.

That story took off in 2003, when Jones landed a national agent in Kansas City.

Shawn had been developing his art, getting work early in his career with various types of modeling, working for Abercrombie and Fitch, Under Armor, and Sportsman.

The big move came in 2005, heading to L.A. During his time there Shawn said he worked hard to catch as many opportunities, one of which was landing a part as the bartender in a Rolling Stones’ music video titled “Rain Fall Down.”

“The shoot was from midnight until 6 a.m. and I had to wear tight pants the whole time, so it was a bit uncomfortable,” he said with a laugh about the filming in a recent phone interview.

“I wore a tiger shirt with bright red pants.”

He was originally cast to be an extra in the bar scene but the director liked him so he was asked to be the bartender. The wardrobe was picked by the director.

“It’s kind of ironic, I guess it was meant to be,” Jones said, referring to his roots as a Nevada High Tiger.

For two years, Shawn was a finalist for the MTV reality show “Real World.” Looking back, he said he was happy that he did not get picked as it had the potential to damage his reputation in the industry.

“Those shows can get kind of crazy.”

Later, Shawn auditioned for the “Pawnography” reality TV show on the History Channel, but was not selected, even though he said he felt the producers really liked him.

Jones has now moved back to Nevada, yet still commutes to Kansas City to do voice-over work. He has written a book, and has two video blogs.

“I love living in a small town,” Shawn said, adding that he does miss the opportunities of a big city. “I wish there were more opportunities in small towns.”

Shawn has been adding to his acting resume.

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He played in a movie called “Adria” about the Holocaust.

Shawn currently has been cast for two upcoming movies from Shawn Hunt, a filmmaker who makes mostly Christian films.

“White Rider” is Jones’ current movie project. It is set in the Civil War era. Shawn has also just been cast in a movie that will film in New Jersey in July titled “Banshee.” He was also offered a role in a movie titled “Slasher 3.”

“Some of the most beautiful and most talented people in the world have never been discovered because they live in small towns and were never given the opportunity or the ability to put themselves in the right spot to be discovered,” he said.

“Even though someone comes from a small town, as long as they have a big heart and put their everything into their passion, anything is possible.”

Shawn’s video blog link is: www.youtube.com/shawnjuan02

Read all about it — A Garden of Possibilities

Garden

by Tami Morgan Landis Nevada Public Library

At 91 years of age, she still loved every detail of her vegetable gardening and her flowers. She simply referred to the hours of toiling as“a labor of love,”season after season. And thus, not one person in the family, nor the many neighbors and friends, was a bit surprised when the seed catalogs started arriving the week after the funeral.

She anticipated those catalogs with the same child-like wonder every year, and studied each one for hours. She had already been talking about starting her cherry tomatoes in the egg cartons a little earlier than usual, some“new-fangled” mulch she was going to try in the smallest flower bed, an extravagant zinnia color that has “such pizzazz,” and the possibility of not planting peas.

Her labors had produced countless gifts of beauty and bounty, shared with open hands.

As many of us participate in the abundant growing season of the Mid-West, there are veggies, and flowers, and lawns to tend. If your green-thumb curiosity is looking for some new ideas, or you’re in the midst of dealing with a troublesome soil condition, let’s look at some books available at the Library.

“Straw Bale Gardens: The Breakthrough Method for Growing Vegetables Anywhere, Earlier, and with No Weeding.” Author Joel Karsten grew up gardening as a farm kid in Minnesota, and is the pioneer of how to grow a garden in straw bales. He emphasizes 24 benefits of straw bale gardening, i.e. it requires 75 percent less labor, provides a raised planting and harvesting height, holds moisture well yet it’s impossible to overwater, extends the growing season, and prevents most issues of disease, insects, and poor soil.

The inside of a straw bale provides warmth for early germination, plentiful airspaces to allow roots to develop, lots of freshly developing compost to nourish the growing plant, and early harvesting. It really does work to plant your vegetables and flowers directly in bales of straw, and enjoy no tilling and no weeding!

America’s Master Gardener Jerry Baker provides 1,954 Natural Remedies To Handle Your Toughest Garden Problems in his “Giant Book of Garden Solutions.”

Jerry combines good old-fashioned grow-how and common household products to solve even the most confounding lawn, vegetable, and flower problems. He reveals nearly 600 simple tips and recipes to help keep critters away from your plants, a garlic spray to halt an aphid invasion, Compost Tea that provides a nutrient-rich drink for your plants, a Vinegar Fungus Fighter, and a Seed-Starter Tonic, just to name a few.

“The Everything Lawn Care Book: From Seed to Soil, Mowing to Fertilizing – Hundreds of Tips for Growing a Beautiful Lawn” is a resource filled with easy-to-follow pointers. Author Douglas Green helps you discover how to grow, nurture, and maintain a beautiful lawn – based upon your property’s needs and your lifestyle.

One tip emphasizes that mowing high in the spring reduces weeds later in the summer because they’re less likely to receive enough light to germinate. Mr. Green also encourages his readers to enjoy their lawn by adding a bench and using it -- to simply sit and relax.

Audrey Hepburn once said, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” Many gardening books are available at the Library to inspire, challenge, guide, and encourage you as the growing season lingers before us. After all, Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”

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NEVADA T H E

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We hope you enjoy this issue of Nevada the Magazine.

Please let us know what you think.

~Since 1959~

FEATURES A PERFORMANCE TALE Shawn Jones....................................................... 2

READ ALL ABOUT IT Garden of Possibilities...................................... 3

SEE THE WORLD – ARMY STYLE Don Stockstill...................................................... 6

THROUGH THE KITCHEN DOOR with Janet Wray................................................. 8

SMALL TOWN BASEBALL Nevada Griffons............................................... 10

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DANCE MAINTAINS LOCAL POPULARITY Mokan Square Dancers.................................. 12

NEVADA SCENE Facetime in Nevada ....................................... 14

THE COVER

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NEVADA T H E

M A G A Z I N E

Featuring Vernon County’s People and Towns

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SMALL TOWN BASEBALL Nevada Griffons THROUGH the

Kitchen Door

See The World Army Style

Vol. #3 ISSUE 3

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2015

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$3.99

Jayden Anthony of Nevada gets painted by Lori Fast during this year’s ninth annual Schowe n Shine car show and barbecue contest that benefits the Nevada Area Habitat for Humanity.

Photo by Lexi Miles.

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See the world – Army style Walker’s Don Stockstill served time as medic in Germany

By Neoma Foreman

While serving in the Army in 1953-55, Don Stockstill of Walker found there is more to being a medic than giving shots.

“I learned to give shots by sitting at a card table — four to the table. You filled a syringe from a bottle of sterile water and gave a shot to the person to your right. You learned fast who to sit next to as we did this for a month.”

Stockstill and one other man were the only ones from west of the Mississippi in medic training. All the rest were from West Boston and New York. He was also the only one who knew how to drive as none of the guys from the East Coast had a car.

One soldier, Francis Xavier Dugan’s father, was stage manager for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Stockstill said he “was a real 8-ball who made cartoon soldiers credible!”

After basic training as a medic at Camp Picket Virginia, Stockstill was transferred to two more camps where he learned specific procedures — one in steam fireman assistance and the other on how to work on equipment at the hospital.

He was shipped from Staten Island in New York on the USNS General J. H. McRae to Bremerhaven Port, Germany and received the papers of where he was supposed to go, and sent to a train depot.

There were 18 different tracks that came into the train station and two trains sitting on the tracks with the name of the place they were being sent. One headed one way and the other another. It was midnight and they couldn’t speak, or read the language.

“Five or six redcaps came by, but they spoke Webster Dictionary English — and we couldn’t understand them. We tried to figure out which train to get on. Finally a girl about 17 came along who could speak the language better and she guided us.

“Good thing, too, as the train we thought we should get on was going over to the Russian zone. If we’d gotten on the wrong one — well, we’d probably still be there.”

The soldiers finally reached their destination, even though the covered domes over the tracks and some of the rails were twisted as they had been blown out. It was at the edge of Germany near Salzburg, Austria, near Munich, in an old German calvary barracks. He was assigned to 374 Convalescent.

“You could see the spires of three churches and there were still horse stalls in the building. It wasn’t too far from Eagle’s Nest where Hitler’s Bucharest Gardens were located.”

Stockstill didn’t have any job when he arrived but he said it didn’t matter how you were trained — the Army could find something for you to do. They didn’t keep him busy enough for his satisfaction in the medical corps so he went to the motor pool and checked out a truck and drove it on the side.

He had been there two weeks and didn’t know one word of German or how to read the road signs when a superior officer approached Stockstill and asked if he could take some things to Munich.

Stockstill said he thought he could get there, but wasn’t sure about getting through the big town. However, he decided to try.

He got to the city and found three roads fanning out from what we could call a city hall or courthouse. He chose the middle one and 6 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE 6 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE

Don Stockstill in Army uniform 1953-54.

Don Stockstill

went about eight miles and found where he was supposed to go, but when he came back, he took the wrong turn at the courthouse and found himself lost.

He crossed one street about four times and wondered why there were no cars on it since it was four-lane. So he decided to take the big truck and go as he could see the courthouse and knew he could get back from there.

When he got back to camp he asked about a sign on the road he had been on which said “Ratwig.” He was told it meant, “For bicycles only!”

At the medic job, Stockstill was put in charge of all expendable hospital products — everything from disinfectants to typing paper — all it took to run a hospital. Once a month, he issued out supplies to three different units and received supplies.

“All the doctors coming from anywhere had to learn how to run an Army hospital. They were told there are three ways to run a hospital — the right way, the wrong way, and the Army way, and you will learn the Army way. They did.”

Every morning at 8 a.m. when he didn’t have something specific to do, Stockstill was at the motor pool and checked out a truck. He went to Munich twice a week, where he picked up laundry and whatever supplies were needed.

“Once, I took a couple of truckloads of soldiers through the Moselle Valley. It’s kind of like the hills in west Colorado, steep and no trees.

The people worked the ground and planted one row of grape vines, then they’d move down the hill and make another row.

“There were grape vines elevated all over the mountain. We saw big 100-gallon vats sitting in the vineyards. This is where they aged the wine. It was pretty country, but I drove the guys right through.”

He spent three days giving medicine at Baumholder. “It was a small bottle about the size of your thumb, but I don’t know what it was. I just did as I was told.”

Stockstill said they had atomic cannons that shot bullets about the size of a small car. The cannon was about a hundred feet long and it took two soldiers to drive it. There was a tractor on both ends and it could go 60-miles-per-hour wide open. If they got in trouble one direction, they simply reversed and took off the other way.

“There were 400 ambulances in the motor pool and two tank retrievers, but those were never used as long as I was there. I heard they had an auction after I left and sold about four acres of bombs. There were 500 bombs filled with 500 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer. The Germans bought them for $1.50 each.”

Stockstill and six other guys rented a 1948 Buick and toured the area for two weeks. “Gas was $6 a quart so we burned a lot of marks in it. Switzerland was spotlessly clean even in building sites. They also marked products in American and Swiss so you knew what you were paying for something.

“The Germans were marks. We really had trouble with the German language as it sounded like hogs eating slop to us. We also toured France and Italy.

“We saw the furnaces where they cremated the Jews. It was only about the size of the Walker Bank, and where they dumped the ashes looked like the strip pits around Walker. We also went to the tiny Baptist church where Martin Luther preached his first sermon.”

“One Sunday, our interpreter took a bunch of us guys up the Wetterstein Mountains and left us, but he forgot to tell us when the last train left. We went into this pretty little church. On the east side were windows and you could look two miles down! People came there to get married.

“We enjoyed looking at the sights, but discovered the last train left at 4:30 — and we had missed it. We had to walk 10 miles down a very steep road to camp, getting back at 1 a.m. We were sore and stiff the next day.”

One of Stockstill’s driving trips took him to the Frankfort airport, where he had to ship some stuff for the Army back to the states. He got the delivery done and headed back to camp, only to get stuck on a round-a-bout with about 400 cars and bicyclists.

“After going around in a circle for at least four times, I began to get tired of it, but there was no way legally to get over. Anyway, I started crossing over lanes with that big truck. Some of the bicyclists had to bail

off and get out of the way, but I didn’t kill any of them.”

Once he was sent to Wiesbaden to take some medicine. He could see the village 40 miles across the valley, but it took him three days to get the medicine there.

Another time he was sent to Heidelberg to the Allied Army headquarters. “There were seven big arch bridges going over the main part of town over what I think is the Rhine River. The directions I had sent me to a bridge that was a footbridge. I had to back that big truck up and down four blocks as I couldn’t go over that.”

In spite of all the challenges, Stockstill has a lot of good memories of his time of service to his country. He was discharged at Fort Knox, Ky. Born Jan. 22, 1929 on a farm in Cedar County, he grew up there, but spent some time in Canada working the wheat harvest and traveled to all but two of the provinces. He married Edith Hickman on Nov. 26, 1952 in Harrison, Ark. When Don came back from the service, he and Edith spent the next year taking care of his parents’ farm so they could have a vacation with relatives in Washington and Oregon.

In later years, he worked for Harvey Prough at the Cresup Ranch near Schell City, and Jack Edwards at the flour mill in Schell City, after which he got on at the State Hospital in Nevada. He worked three years in the infirmary, 17 years in rehabilitation, and 10 years in maintenance.

Here he used some of the knowledge he learned those years ago in basic training and Germany.

He and his wife have one daughter, Martha, married to Rich Patton.

The Stockstills have three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

They took their daughter to every one of the 48 contiguous states before she graduated from high school. After Don retired, the family went on camping and hiking trips and he hunted deer and turkey.

For 36 years, he made hunting trips out west to locations in Colorado, Idaho, and Jackson Hole, Wyo. Now his hobbies are mainly woodworking and old cars.

Don and Edith Stockstill celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2002.

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Through the

KITCHEN DOOR . . .

...and into the kitchen of

Janet Wray

Janet’s dog, Winston Janet Wray

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Comfort foods – soup, sandwiches — infuse Wray’s creative tastes

by Martha Meinsen Scott

Janet Wray grew up in Nevada. Her dad was Dr. Wray, a beloved Nevada physician.

However, she left Nevada to get her BSN at KU and then went to New York City where she worked at Bellview. Her career path led her to Washington state and Canada before she came back to Nevada to accept the job of director of nursing at Nevada Regional Medical Center.

And then, Janet bought a building in the historic East End of Nevada and the rest, they say, is history.

Janet opened the Cherry Street Market and Coffee House in March 1994. She said she had a lot of fun with the restaurant. Louise Torontow did the desserts at first and then, when she left, Janet did them.

During the time of the restaurant, Janet and Louise did special dinners and catered events. But the mainstay of the Cherry Street Market and Coffee House were soups, sandwiches, desserts and coffee.

Janet made all her own bread and diners often ordered a half of sandwich and a cup of soup. Everything was homemade — before that was commonplace.

She closed the restaurant in 1999 and moved to 117 E. Cherry, where she had yarns and gifts and after she closed that shop, she continued selling her yarn.

You have a lot of stories to tell when you own a business and one of Janet’s favorites is that one Sunday when she was pulling weeds in the Courtyard of the Coffee House, a guy asked her where would be a good place for lunch.

She said she started to tell him about the fast food restaurants available and then thought “well, I’ve got sandwich fixings and some dessert,” so she invited him to lunch at the coffee house. He, was, it turned out, a reporter for the “New York Times.” They had a lovely visit but, alas, she didn’t get written up in its restaurant review section.

She said she was always adventuresome in the soups that she prepared but most days there were the old favorites: the tomato soup, the sherried mushroom soup, the cheesy vegetable soup, the Bavarian cabbage soup or the taco soup.

Sandwiches, always served on her homemade bread, included egg salad, chicken salad, toasted sandwiches (cheese and turkey, ham and cheese or the Dagwood — cheese, ham and roast beef).

She also turned out desserts — to be eaten after a soup and sandwich meal or for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. Favorites included sugar free chocolate pie, lemon pie and pumpkin pie. And she also made big oatmeal cookies.

Janet’s style is mix and match. The decor of the coffee house reflected that. Tables, chairs and china were not bought in sets but in ones and twos and threes. She said she believed in good coffee then and now and her favorite brand for flavored coffee was Distant Lands.

Her helper at the Coffee House was “Emma,” her beautiful white dog. The dog lazing around the “Market Place” reminded one of a European venue rather than a Midwestern one.

Janet said she has always liked to cook. She “sort of” collects cookbooks. She favors Julia Child, the “New York Times Cookbook” which came out in 1961 or 1962, and used the “Sunset Magazine Cookbooks” for the Coffee House. She used to collect magazines for recipes but now she just goes to the Internet.

Janet said she doesn’t watch a lot of television and so she doesn’t see a lot of Food Network shows. She’d rather be in the kitchen . . . or knitting!

Janet has a daughter, Tina, who with her husband, lives in Bolivar, with Janet’s two grandchildren, Jadyn , age 11 and Brooklyn, age 6.

Although Janet loves to cook, she also likes to eat out with friends and a favorite place is Gobbler’s Roost.

Janet said she loves to knit, spin and weave and for many years had a yarn shop, where she sold yarn, which she dyed with natural dyes.

Her constant companion now is “Winston.” When asked what kind of dog he might be, Janet laughs and said “God knows.” When she asked the vet what his heritage might be, the vet said he is “just Winston.”

Good food and good friends are always found at Janet’s, where the smell of homemade bread and freshly brewed coffee reminds one that there is nothing like a visit to Janet’s.

Janet is sharing a recipe that was her mother’s, Avis Wray, who cut it out of the “Kansas City Star” years ago. It’s a favorite at salad suppers. Janet advised that she usually doubles the recipe.

SPRINGTIME ASPIC 13-ounce can crushed pineapple 3-ounce package lemon flavor gelatin 8-ounce can tomato sauce 1/2 t. ginger 1/2 c. chopped celery or green pepper Drain pineapple. Add water to make one cup. Heat pineapple liquid and water to boiling; stir in gelatin until dissolved. Add tomato sauce and ginger.

Chill till almost firm and add pineapple and chopped celery or green pepper.

Pour in 1-quart mold and chill till firm. May use 5 to 6 individual molds if desired. Serve on lettuce leaf with mayonnaise (optional).

The bright aspic molded in a ring and served with ham salad in the center surrounded with deviled eggs for a supper on the patio. (From the original KC Star recipe).

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Nevada Griffons Continue Proud Tradition of Small-Town Baseball

By Will Tollerton Bushwhacker Museum Coordinator

America’s traditional pastime is still alive and well Nevada. In 2015, the Nevada Griffons, a summer collegiate team, are celebrating 30 years since throwing out their first pitch.

The Griffons played their inaugural season in 1985 as members of the Jayhawk League, which included such teams as the Red Oak, Iowa Red Sox and the Wichita, Kan., Broncos. The team’s operations are similar to that of a minor league baseball team.

The effort to organize a collegiate summer baseball team was spearheaded by Darry Miller in the early 1980s. Miller, who became the first general manager of the Griffons, started recruiting a core group to serve on the board and incorporate as a not-for-profit. The Nevada Baseball Club Inc. was formed in 1984 with the goal of promoting baseball in Nevada. We wanted the “highest level of amateur ball,” said Bob Hawks, one of the original board members and the only one who is currently serving.

The team name “Griffons” was proposed by Nevada Daily Mail sportswriter Kelly Bradham and combines the names of the two Major League players who lived in Vernon County, Clark Griffith and George Lyons.

Lyons pitched for the St. Louis Browns (now known as the Baltimore Orioles) and the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1920s. He bought a farm in Vernon County about that time and lived here after retiring from the major leagues. Lyons spent the rest of his life in Vernon County until his death in 1981.

Clark Griffith was born in Vernon County but left as a youngster following the death of his father in a hunting accident. Though he never came back to live in the county, Griffith was fond of telling a story how in his youth, he once saddled a horse for Jesse James. He later helped co-found the American League and was the owner of the Washington Senators before his death in 1955.

The home of the Griffons is Lyons Stadium, named in honor of George Lyons. The ballpark was established in 1947 on land owned by the Barton family on the south side of Highland Avenue just

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across the street from Marmaduke Park.

The field was designed by George Lyons, who was the manager of the Nevada Red Sox at the time.

Lyons modeled the field after the former Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.

The stadium is shared by the Griffons and the Nevada High School Tigers baseball team and is owned by the Nevada R-V School District. The Finis Moss press box was added in 2002 and is operated by the Griffons.

Although they started out in the Jayhawk League, the Griffons have been members of the M.I.N.K. (Missouri-Iowa-Nebraska-Kansas) League since 2009. The change was precipitated by a need to reduce costs associated with overnight stays and distant travel in the far-flung Jayhawk League.

Other changes over the years include switching from aluminum to wood bats. This was done at the request of Major League baseball, which wanted a consistent format upon which to gauge a young player’s performance. The major leagues subsidized the smaller leagues so they could afford wood bats.

At $40 per bat, the subsidy is needed said Bob Hawks. “We also go through about 50 dozen baseballs in a season.”

The Griffons have hosted more than 850 young athletes in the past 30 years, of whom 215 were drafted by the major leagues, with 34 going on to play.

The list of alumni includes current Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler (Griffons 2003). By far the most notable former Griffon is Trevor Hoffman, who played for the team in 1987 and went on to pitch 18 seasons with the Marlins, Padres, and Brewers.

A seven-time All Star and two-time runner up for the National League Cy Young Award with a finished career record of 601 saves; Hoffman will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.

The Griffons’ program wouldn’t exist without the enthusiastic support from members of the local community. Nevada residents Bruce and Colleen Haberkorn were one of the first host families to take

in a Griffons’player in 1985.

“We are still friends and keep in contact with some of them,” Bruce said about the boys who came through over the years. “Our own kids grew up with baseball players in the house.”

Colleen Haberkorn was the first woman to serve on the Griffons’ board, starting in the early 1990s.

She recalls that hosting the ballplayers with four young boys of their own in the house was wonderful.

“My boys just idolized them…they really became a part of our lives.” Currently the treasurer of the Griffons’ board, Colleen wonders at how much the young men, who came from all over the country, learned about each other and life in a small town.

With an annual budget of under $60,000, the Griffons’ board runs the club on a tight budget.

Monday night Bingo at the Nevada Elks Bingo Hall is the primary source of revenue for the team, with other profits coming from concessions, sponsorships, and advertisements for the games.

The first game of the 2015 season is against the Midwest Nationals at Home, May 28. Head Coach Ryan Mansfield starts his eighth season with the Griffons and his seventh as head coach, which is the longest tenure in that position in the Griffons’ history.

Mansfield is currently at Longview Community College in Lee’s Summit and previously coached at Central Methodist University and Fort Scott Community College.

Griffons’ board members are seeking to invite all alumni to return to Nevada sometime during the 2015 season. There are a number of special events planned this summer, including a 30th Birthday Bash on June 30th.

Continuing a proud sporting tradition that extends back to the storied Nevada Lunatics of 1902, the Nevada Red Sox of the 1940s and 50s, and countless other clubs in between, the Griffons look forward to another 30 years of entertaining the crowds of Vernon County with a good ‘ole fashioned day at the ballpark.

Katy Ball Team, ca. 1912—This photo of the Katy (Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad) Ball Team was taken in front of the center building at the former Nevada State Hospital No. 3 about 1912. Many different teams played on the lawn in front of the old State Hospital over the years, for the entertainment of patients, staff, and local citizens alike.

MO Pacific Baseball Team, ca. 1930—This photo of the Missouri Pacific Railroad baseball team was taken in the late 1920’s or early 30’s. Team members, front row from left: Earl Morgan, Wess Soward, Clarence Brewer, Bucky Harris, mascot Elmer Lee Harris, Hammet Potter, Eddie Wilson, Crabtree, Bill Wilson, and Ennis Cole. Back row: Manager Frank Bice, Clyde Woodard, Bob Cowdrey, J.H. McFadden, Bill Stout, Roger Fine, Johnny Bumgardner, Eddie Rice.

State Hospital No. 3 Ball Team, ca. 1936—Photo taken in front of the center building at the former State Hospital facility about 1936. Pictured are, front row from left: Jeff Lindley, Bucky Harris, Claude Pyle, Jim Pyle, Herb Pyle, Gene Dennison, Pop Brown (team manager) Back Row: Del Beck, Earl Lee Harmon, Ennis Cole, Boots Bain, Crabtree, Bill Young, and Ott Bishop.

Nevada Red Sox, ca. 1950—This photo shows the Nevada Red Sox of 19491950. The Red Sox were a semi-professional team that played in Nevada starting in 1948 and lasted into the 1950s. The team manager was former major league pitcher George Lyons. Front Row, from left: Gene Rimmons, Tom Pyle, Joe Rayburn, Runt Thomas, Bill Perry, Don Capps, Don Dahmer, Bill Hamblin, George Lyons (Manager). Back Row, from left: Jack Stiles, Kenny Swan, Bob Gast, Burl Reed, Bill Brown, Herb Pyle, Duane Gast, and Buck Divine.

Front row from left: Sherman Collins, Mark Hess, Marv Rickman, Nick Rallo, Greg Brewer, Bill Argo, Reggie Rhodes. Middle row: Tim Peters Bill Wenrick, Jim Kremers, John McNeley, Steve Meyer, Charlie Stilwell, Mike Eberle, Mike Hufhand. Back row: Asst. Coach Bob Lord, Fritz Polka, Jay Eddings, Keith Helton, Larry Frakes, Pete Valenzuela, Ron Johnson, Paul Quinzer, Coach Dave Jorn.

2014 Griffons

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Mo-Kan square dance circle maintains local popularity

By Michelle Workman

Twice a month, residents of Nevada and surrounding cities gather to participate in an activity that has dwindled in recent decades, but continues to draw a crowd locally.

The Mo-Kan Squares, a local square dancing club, officially formed in the early 1980s, with between 30-50 single adults interested in gathering to dance a couple times a month. Over the years, the membership has fluctuated, but today, about the same number of people gather at the Fairgrounds the first and third Friday of the month for a few hours of dancing.

In its nearly 35 years of existence, the club has faced several changes including the location—starting in Nevada but then moving to Sheldon for a time before returning to Nevada, the name of the club— changing from the Mo-Kan Swingles to Squares, as well as in participants as members came and went.

The club began as a square dance club for singles, but later transitioned to accept singles and couples.

“When you get single people together, soon, some of them get to going together and some of them start getting married,” said Tom Harold, who has served as co-president of the club with his wife since 2004.

“But they still wanted to dance with the club so they

had to go back and change the by-laws to let married people in.”

Harold was single when he joined, and said there are currently about five couples in the club who joined as single adults.

Current member Jerry Quackenbush is the remaining charter member of the club and recalled when he and others first started dancing together in the old Missouri Public Service building, which led to the decision to become a club.

“I was single at the time and some people just wanted to get together to start a club,” Quackenbush said.

Karol Quackenbush moved to the area in 1983.

Having taken square dancing lessons previously, she also joined the club after meeting Quackenbush, who would become her husband.

Members of the Mo-Kan Squares club take part in a dance during one of their square dancing events, held every first and third Friday of the month.

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The 2014 graduating class celebrates their completion of the square dancing classes offered each fall. Left to right: Leanna Taylor, Karen McCoy, Rachel Hansen, May Viles, Diane Finnigan, instructor and caller Jay Wright, Raymond Rowland, Wilda Key, Sherrie Meeker and Amanda Meeker.

“I got involved when I met him,” Karol says. “I used to come down and dance once in a while. And then we got married in 1988 and we’ve been dancing ever since.”

With other club members getting married as well, the club changed its name from the Swingles to the Squares and accepted couples as members and later allowed them to be officers of the club.

The Quackenbushes participated not only in the Mo-Kan Squares, but also travel to other clubs to dance as well, such as in a club in Fort Scott, which Quackenbush said often had more than 100 dancers and would attract national callers such as one from California.

“When we got there in the evening, we’d start dancing and we’d never sit down,” Quackenbush said of their evenings at the Nevada and Fort Scott clubs. “We would dance all evening. But we’ve slowed down a little.”

After a time, that Fort Scott square dance club decided not to offer lessons each year, which the Mo-Kan Squares continue to offer every September. Quackenbush said he believes that decision likely led to the club’s eventual end as they failed to attract new members.

“There’s so many other activities going on now... it’s hard to get members now to be committed to it,” Quackenbush said. “But it’s still the cheapest fun you can have anywhere.”

To go with the dancing twice a month, the Mo-Kan Squares also hold a potluck meeting the first Sunday of each month to discuss the schedule. They also go on camping, canoe and fishing trips together. When invited, they give dancing exhibitions at different events such as the Relay for Life or at area nursing homes.

“My favorite part is meeting all the other people and making so many friends,” Quackenbush said of the club.

Harold said the club includes members from Fort Scott, Rich Hill, Sheldon, Lamar, Walker, Butler and El Dorado Springs.

The Mo-Kan Squares is part of the Southwest Missouri square dance district, which has between 10 and 15 clubs. Herold said about eight or nine years ago the district had 26 clubs, but those numbers have dropped over the past decade.

“It’s hard to get new students,” Karol said. “Back years ago, anybody would take lessons... but the clubs have really dwindled away and the membership has dropped off.”

Quackenbush said the Mo-Kan Squares club at its peak during the 1980s and ‘90s would have as many as 18 squares, which has eight dancers in each square. It has tapered off in the last decade,

but Harold said there are still 108 members, with the youngest at 13 years old and the senior members in their early 70s.

“Square dancing is an activity that has suffered over the years,” said Mo-Kan Squares’ caller Jay Wright, who began calling for the club in its first year of existence while he was still a new caller.

But Wright said he believes the Mo-Kan club is likely one of the strongest groups remaining in their district.

“We’re trying to encourage the younger generation to come,” Quackenbush said, adding they even provide discounts to members under 18 years of age.

“We have trouble keeping the young ones, there’s just too many activities they have going,” Harold said, noting they especially have a hard time getting single men involved.

“But if you can ever get them out there, a lot of the time they find out it’s more exercise and more fun than they think.”

Along with other events held locally, the Mo-Kan Squares also participates in a friendly competition with other clubs in what is known as the Banner Raid. Each club is in possession of small banners with their club name on it. If six members of one club attend another club’s dance, they are rewarded with one of that club’s banners. That club can get their banner back only by sending six of their members to that club.

“It’s not a competition, per se, but it’s a way to make the clubs interact and visit each other,” Harold said.

Harold noted that right now the Mo-Kan Squares has seven banners from neighboring clubs. During the summer of 2009, the club managed to go to each of the other clubs and take their banner, despite having to travel as long as four hours to other clubs.

Harold said they believe that is the only time it has been done.

Currently, Harold said the club includes not just couples but also mother-daughter and father-daughter teams.

“It’s family entertainment,” Harold said, adding there is no smoking or drinking allowed. “We have a great bunch of people.”

The club meets the first and third Friday of the month at the Fairgrounds, from 7:30-10 p.m., with the featured square dancing as well as other dances in between.

Wright calls for Mo-Kan usually the first Friday of the month and then a guest caller will be the caller for the third Friday.

Wright said he has had the opportunity to call for other clubs as well, from Arkansas north towards Iowa, and from St. Louis to Wichita.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment of it,” Wright said of his time as caller for the Mo-Kan Squares. “It’s a very good club.”

NEVADA the MAGAZINE

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13

THE

Nevada SCENE

MEMBERS OF THE NEVADA MIDDLE SCHOOL eighth-grade band perform during the Music Festival at NHS, which drew students from around the region.

NEVADA MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS Kaylin Evans and Chloe Arduser perform.

STUDENTS TAKE PART IN SOME FUN crafts as their parents look on during Bryan Elementary’s annual school carnival.

MEMBERS OF THE ELIZABETH CAREY CHAPTER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION PRESENTED A U.S. FLAG THAT HAS FLOWN OVER THE U.S. CAPITOL BUILDING TO THE NEVADA POLICE DEPARTMENT DURING THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW POLICE DEPARTMENT AND COUNCIL CHAMBERS. From left are Rosemary Noel, Donna Logan, Shirley Ann Bastow, Jenise Burch, Betty Garton, Carol Hackney, Nancy Thompson, and Pat Arnold.

CITIZENS VIEW THE NEW larger bays during the dedication and tour of the Nevada Fire Department.

14 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE

STATE REP. PATRICIA PIKE VISITS with Donna Logan during a tour of the new Nevada Police Department.

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