Mustangs find help at mid-Missouri facility. PAGE 14
TAKE ROMANCE TO HEART PAGE 5
MUSIC STUDIO SCHOOLING PAGE 9 DEFENDING DOUGLASS PARK PAGE 22
COLUMBIA’S TURKISH DELIGHT PAGE 31
Save a life. Don’t D rive H oMe buzze D. BUZZED DRIVING IS DRUNK DRIVING.
Before I moved to Columbia for college, I thought of Missouri as part of the South. It was an eighthour drive from Wisconsin, where I grew up — more than 10 if you were carless and had to take the train, like I did. Missouri has certain Southern characteristics, like its individualism and geography.
After moving here, I discovered more about those distinctive traits. I found Columbia had beautiful trails like the Eagle Bluffs Overlook, where one time I saw a bobcat chase a deer like it was a live Animal Planet show. I found there was a vibrant arts and culture scene, with live music every weekend and festivals that knit the community together. I found that this city preserved itself by taking care of its neighbors, like passing a safe haven ordinance (p. 35) to offer some protections for the LGBTQ+ community. I found that Culver’s existed beyond my home state — still a little disappointed I couldn’t gatekeep this one.
Residents of Columbia undeniably walk the line of creating and protecting history. Autumn Cuddy, the archivist for the State
Historical Society of Missouri’s CoMo Music Project (p. 8), is currently gathering relics from the city’s music scene. Meanwhile, at Douglass Park, the community that was touched by the Moonlight Hoops basketball league is fighting to be remembered as the city renovates the courts (p. 22).
All three of the restaurants featured in this issue rely on a welcoming community that’s open to all kinds of cuisine — including the Indian of Curry-osity (p. 29), the Turkish of Dada Döner (p. 31) and the vegetarian of Main Squeeze (p. 27). We, in turn, get to benefit from the cultural essence of these chefs.
Columbia was supposed to be the small city surrounding the place I attend college, but it became so much more. In a few weeks, I will move to the West — Arizona, to be exact — but Columbia will always hold a piece of my heart. For a little while longer, you can find me haunting the outdoor concert area of Rose Music Hall, the alley next to Pizza Tree or the caves of Devil’s Icebox. I’m lucky to have lived in such a remarkable place.
OLIVIA MAILLET Editor-in-Chief
I have been a horse girl since I could walk, talk and get a leg up on a stirrup. Horses have regulated my nervous system, healed my relationship with my body and grown my confidence throughout my life. I met Lori Anne Gaddy two years ago while working as a riding instructor at Mid-Mo Riding Center in Boone County. Our relationship quickly blossomed into a friendship. When she introduced me to Sumee Chang, Henry Merrill and the American Mustang Project last year, I knew their work needed more attention. I couldn’t think of a better organization to share with our readers as it welcomed its first rescue horse in April (p. 14). The American Mustang Project stands for everything I love — horses, strong women and the freedom to start anew. —Haven Dager
Sumee Chang (left) and Lori Anne Gaddy founded the American Mustang Project, a wild horse training facility in Murry.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OLIVIA MAILLET
MANAGING EDITORS GRACE BURWELL, CAYLI YANAGIDA
DEPUTY EDITOR ABIGAIL RAMIREZ
DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR MJ MONTGOMERY
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT EDITOR ALEX XU
ART DIRECTORS VALERIE TISCARENO, LAUREN GREEN
PHOTO DIRECTOR ASHLEE KLOTZBUECHER MULTIMEDIA EDITOR KATE RAMSEYER
SENIOR DIGITAL PRODUCER SARAH GASSEL
ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR EMMA RAE GERWEN CONTENT STRATEGIST KALYN LAIRE
ASSOCIATE EDITORS LEVI CASE, HAVEN DAGER, KIANA FERNANDES, SARAH GOODSON, NAOMI
M. KLEIN, DINA MURRAY, AVERI NORRIS, AVA ORR, ASHLYNN PEREZ, NATALIE-ELIZABETH TAN, YINAN WU
STAFF WRITERS MERCY AUSTIN, ALEX DAGGETT, AUSTIN GARZA, KATIE GRAWITCH, SYD MINOR, ALLY SCHNIEPP, EMMA ZAWACKI, SOPHIE AYERS, ALLI BEALMER, LAURYN RHODES, NEALY SIMMS, RAPHAEL STERNADORI, TYLER WHITE
SOCIAL & AUDIENCE ZOE SALEEM, CLAIRE WILLIAMS
DIGITAL PRODUCERS CHARLIE DAHLGREN, ABIGAIL LANDWEHR, CHARLIE WARNER
DESIGN ASSISTANTS LILY CARROLL, RACHEL GOODBEE
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS BRIANNA DAVIS, MAYA DAWSON, AUDREY ELLIS, JASMINE JACKSON, SOPHIA KOCH, OLIVIA MAHL, DAVIS WILSON
CONTRIBUTING PRODUCERS ARABELLA COSGROVE, ETHAN DAVIS
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR HEATHER ISHERWOOD
DIGITAL DIRECTOR LAURA HECK
WRITING COACHES CARY LITTLEJOHN, JENNIFER ROWE
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ADVERTISING 882-5714 | CIRCULATION 882-5700 | EDITORIAL 884-6432 Vox Magazine @VoxMag @VoxMagazine @VoxMagazine
JUNE 2025
VOLUME 27, ISSUE 5
PUBLISHED BY THE COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN LEE HILLS HALL, COLUMBIA MO 65211
Cover design: Lauren Green
Cover photography: Audrey Pinson and Alex Buchanan
Why read romance?
Romance reading is on the rise. Vox busts some myths surrounding the genre. 07
Vox Picks
Summer is in full swing. Kick off the season with concerts, drag and more. 08
After the last note fades
Autumn Cuddy preserves Columbia’s history as a hotbed for music.
Rooms where it happens
Young music makers push into the limelight with Darkroom Records.
Strutting her stuff
Maude Vintage’s owner breaks down six clothing items she can’t live without.
Hit your high note
Looking to show off your pipes? Here are five of Columbia’s favorite karaoke spots.
Out of the wild
Amid overpopulation issues, wild mustangs find sanctuary in mid-Missouri.
Gone, and forgotten?
The Douglass Park basketball courts have a rich history. The community now fights to have it recognized.
Something old and new New ownership brings Main Squeeze back to its beginnings.
Feeding our Curry-osity
Mayank Vankawala’s fine-dining Indian restaurant sets up shop in Columbia.
Döner’t miss out
Dada Döner brings you a taste of Turkey.
These shops look sharp Tiowana Warrick uplifts entrepreneurs with The Shops at Sharp End.
‘A beacon of hope’ Vox digs into Columbia’s ordinance covering gender-affirming health care.
No, it’s not due to loneliness. The genre has long been a place of shared human experience.
BY ALLY SCHNIEPP
Ah, the weekend. Work, life and other responsibilities are on pause as I sit in my favorite coffee shop in downtown Columbia. Through its bay windows, I see trees swaying in the breeze, and I’m thankful for the scent of coffee beans and a new book in my hands. I break the binding, turning to page one. Problems seem to disappear as the feather-light pages transport me to another world. A better one. A fictional one.
From the fairytales we read as children to the romance novels by Emily Henry or Abby Jimenez on our bedside tables now, women have been taught that
reading about love and relationships is a lesser form of consumption. Historically, women’s interests have been treated as less important, less scholarly and less valuable compared to men’s.
But times have changed — today, romance novels make up two-thirds of the sales gains in adult fiction, according to 2022 data from the marketing research firm Circana Bookscan. And romance consistently ranks as the most popular genre, based on Book Riot’s analysis of The New York Times and Amazon bestseller lists — with fantasy, which includes blended subgenre romantasy, coming in second. Authors, readers and business own-
New Romantics
Book Club holds its monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. every third Wednesday of the month at Skylark Bookshop. The club’s book of the month for June is Emily Henry’s Great Big Beautiful Life
ers in Missouri are paying attention, creating outlets dedicated to this genre.
“We wanted St. Louis to have that space where it was dedicated to the romance genre, which is something that so many people love,” says Kassie King, director of social media and marketing for The Novel Neighbor bookstore and its sister bookstore, Open Door Romance.
But why have romance novels become so popular? What has changed?
The rise of the love story
To answer this question, first we must step into the past. In the early 1800s, Jane Austen was creating fictional worlds
in books like Emma and Pride and Prejudice. Her writing reflected her time, but the books’ enduring themes helped establish her as one of the bestselling romance authors of all time.
“She looks at it as a kind of microcosm of human behavior, and that’s what’s so interesting about her,” says Nancy West, professor of classical studies at the University of Missouri. “We read them and we say: ‘Oh my God, I know somebody just like that gossipy old bitty. She lives right down the street from me.’ Or, ‘This pig of a boyfriend, oh my god, I dated a guy just like that!’ She’s just so spot on with those because human behavior essentially doesn’t change.”
Much of the recent resurgence in romance reading can be traced to isolation during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We really get to lay credit to 2020,” King says. “In the time where so many people felt isolated in their houses, they re-found their love of reading. Specifically, romance sales numbers went
Here’s where to find romance-only bookstores in the Midwest.
Open Door
Romance
7905 Big Bend Blvd., St. Louis Under the Covers
607 E. 31st St., Kansas City Blush Bookstore
2721 E. Central Ave., Wichita, Kansas
Love’s Sweet Arrow
17200 Oak Park Ave., Tinley Park, Illinois
The Last Chapter 2013 W. Roscoe St., Chicago A Novel Romance 10512 Watterson Trail, Louisville, Kentucky Tropes & Trifles
2709 E. 38th St., Minneapolis
through the roof.”
Kara Cheslock, bookseller at Skylark Bookshop and founder of the New Romantics Book Club, shared a similar experience. In 2020, she rediscovered her love of the romance genre and even convinced Skylark’s owners to add a romance-only section in the shop. “There was this kind of Renaissance happening within the romance genre before my eyes,” Cheslock says.
Despite the popularity (including many who say romance and romantasy are keeping the publishing industry afloat) the genre continues to be denied the respect it deserves. Let’s sort the fact from the fiction.
In the romance genre, themes of love (obviously), friendship, gender roles, societal expectations and many deeper struggles are embedded in the pages. Romance authors write stories and characters that people can relate to, and it goes far beyond “boy meets girl or girl meets girl or boy meets boy, and then
it’s happily ever after,” Cheslock says.
Lonely and unhappy readers? Hardly!
Romance book lovers have really sprung into action and found community over the last few years. Cheslock says the New Romantics Book Club continues to expand, taking up nearly all the space Skylark has to offer. “It’s a great way for people to connect,” she says. “I think it creates a big sense of belonging.”
Romance reading serves as a way to spend time with yourself and escape the pressures of daily life.
“It goes back to my original point of (reading) being a safe space to explore your emotions and explore heavy concepts,” Cheslock says. “It’s an escape, and it’s a comfort.”
So, when the world is feeling too heavy and life feels like it’s running you down, consider picking up a book, slowing down and stepping into a fictional world for a little while. And if it’s a romance book, you know there’s potential for a happily ever after.
Each month, Vox curates a list of can’t-miss shops, eats, reads and experiences. We find the new, trending or underrated to help you enjoy the best our city has to offer.
BY EMMA ZAWACKI
DISCUSS the book Resist: How a Century of Young Black Activists Shaped America on this Juneteenth with its author, Rita Omokha. The book explores Black activism from the 1920s to present and Omokha’s experience as a Nigerian immigrant. In this author-led discussion at Skylark Bookshop, attendees will contemplate how the struggles of the past can teach us about today’s challenges. 6:30 p.m. June 19, Skylark Bookshop, 22 S. Ninth St., free, skylarkbookshop.com, 573-777-6990
VISIT the City of Refuge Summer Market, an annual event returning for its second year, and support more than 50 local and refugee artisans. Soak up the sun, enjoy the outdoor space and come see what the market has to offer. This event, complete with food and drink vendors, live entertainment and a new playground, has something for everyone to enjoy. p.m., June 20, City of Refuge, 10 N. Garth Ave., free,
to The Missouri Symphony’s annual Firefly Music Festival, which will host seven shows at venues around Columbia. Soundtrack your summer with pieces from film scores such as Encanto in addition to compositions addressing climate issues and a performance by Xavier Foley, a double bass virtuoso. The festival existed as the Hot Summer Nights Music Festival since 2004 but rebranded to Firefly in 2022. June 13-28, venues around Columbia, basic festival passes are $175; individual shows are $25-$59, themosy.org, 573 875-0600
WELCOME screen queen Andrea Luque Káram, who stepped into the role of Ragtag Film Society executive director April 21. Pre-Ragtag, she was the managing director for the Mizzou New Music Initiative. She joins the nonprofit film society — which operates Ragtag Cinema and the True/ False Film Fest — at a tumultuous time. On May 5, the group announced its grant from the National Endowment for the Arts had been terminated. It amounts to about $30,000 in lost funding for fiscal year 2026, according to Columbia Missourian reporting, and could affect the organization as soon as September. Want to support Ragtag? There are a lot of ways to help. “I would love for the community to consider not just donating, but coming in and buying a ticket, maybe getting a membership,” Káram . “Because that will really be what gets us through, feeling that social experience that it is to watch a film together at Ragtag Ragtag Cinema, 10 Hitt St., ragtagcinema. org, 573-441-8504
KICK OFF Pride Month with a fabulously extravagant brunch — The Tiger Hotel’s Big Gay Brunch is a celebration complete with drinks and drag. The event is hosted by drag queens Artemis Gray and Penelope Breeze (the winners of Miss Gay St. Louis USA 2025 and Miss Gay Missouri America 2025, respectively), and Mr. Gay America 2021, KC Sunshine. Make sure the fun never ends with the bottomless brunch option — the only right way to do brunch — upgrade your ticket for unlimited bloody marys and mimosas. Shows are at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. June 1, The Tiger Hotel, 23 S. Eighth St., tickets start at $45, thetigerhotel.com, 573-875-8888
Autumn Cuddy is the archivist behind the CoMo Music Project, preserving Columbia’s music history.
BY ALEX DAGGETT
Columbia’s music scene is rich with history — from its contributions to the indie scene to its iconic venues like The Blue Note. Archivist Autumn Cuddy is heading the State Historical Society of Missouri’s CoMo Music Project to help preserve and celebrate local music. Their journey to Columbia has been long and winding, but a love for public history has been at the center of it all.
“I think that we both feel that it’s really important to actually name the names and places where things before us have happened,” says Kevin Walsh, a donor to the CoMo Music Project.
After receiving their master’s degree in Tallahassee, Florida, Cuddy started a career as an archivist. At the same time, they volunteered as a carpenter, blacksmith and historical weapons range instructor at a living history museum in Tallahassee. Cuddy also did archival work for a regional theater in Massachusetts.
Cuddy moved to Columbia in 2023. That same year, they began an apprenticeship at Centro Cellar Studio, got certified in audio engineering and music production and started working at SHSMO. This dual-specialty is what prompted their boss to assign them to the poster collection that would become the CoMo Music Project. Walsh says Cuddy’s expertise in history and music makes them well-suited for the task.
Vox talked to Cuddy about the project and why preserving local music history matters.
What is SHSMO’s CoMo
It’s an archival collecting initiative that centers on the Columbia area — but sort of greater Boone County at
this point — to collect music records for the various music scenes.
We have some records, but they’re very limited in scope, so I’m just trying to expand it — get more bands involved, more types of records, that kind of thing. The collection it’s based on is called the Columbia Concerts and Events Collection, and it’s mostly posters.
Which types of materials will the collection include?
Things like cover art for albums or zines, magazines, newspaper clippings, reviews people did. Photos is a big one. If people have recordings of concerts in any way — little video clips or photos, Polaroids, all that stuff — just so that if someone’s looking at this collection to do any kind of research, you can get a fuller picture of what the scene was actually like.
How is Columbia’s music scene special?
I think what’s really cool about Columbia is that even though it’s a college town, people don’t all leave. I mean, there is a point at which there was the Columbia diaspora in the early ’00s where all these people finished college or high school — they left and went somewhere else. But a lot of people either came back or actually didn’t leave. And they’re basically everybody who runs
Autumn Cuddy logged more than 300 studio hours as an assistant audio engineer at Centro Cellar Studio. This expertise and passion for music bleeds into their work as head of the CoMo Music Project. To contribute to the collection, contact Cuddy at cuddyau@ shsmo.org or 573882-3671.
a business downtown. They’re teachers; they’re professors. Now, there’s some of them still on the radio. They were here.
Why is it important to preserve Columbia’s music history?
I’m trying to capture the stories of people who we’ve already lost or people who we will lose. I want to capture all of those stories now and then really show Columbia is also a place that has a music scene still. And it’s not just Kansas City and St. Louis.
History is not lost until you stop looking for it. The music community really welcomed me when I got here. And so that sort of feels like I’m giving back also, to be like, “Thank you for everything you’ve done.” And now I know you all, and you’re still here. I want to preserve that for other people.
How a darkroom became a rockin’ music space for students.
BY TYLER WHITE
Darkroom Records is more than just a recording studio. About a decade ago, the aptly named space opened in Hickman High School in an old photography darkroom as a free extracurricular recording studio for any student in the Columbia Public Schools system. Today, high school teachers Jordan Smith and Jared Smith have expanded the program to offer more opportunities for students to have hands-on experience with music recording, performance and production.
Jordan Smith, an English teacher at Battle High School, worked with former Gentry Middle School history teacher David Aulgur to open Darkroom Records in 2014. In 2014, Darkroom Records spread to Battle with a new studio. An additional studio was added at Rock Bridge High School soon after, though it is currently not in use. Aulgur has since moved on, replaced by Jared Smith, a music teacher at Douglass and Hickman high schools, but the mission of the studio remains the same. “Our mission was to provide a space for student musicians, not just to play at live shows but to also be able to record their music and learn the trade of recording,” Jordan Smith says.
Over the years, Darkroom Records has expanded beyond a free opportunity for student musicians by becoming more interactive and intentional for students who desire to go deeper into music. A
few years after the program’s debut, internship opportunities were introduced to give students a behind-the-scenes look at music and recording.
Practice makes perfect
Aleena Simmons, a senior at Hickman High School, was an intern during her junior year. She has been involved with Darkroom Records since middle school and says it has been an opportunity for her to see both sides of live music, from the planning to the actual performance. “It’s definitely taught me that there’s a lot of chaos behind the scenes, but when you’re in the audience, and you have nothing to do with the event, it all looks perfect,” Simmons says.
As an intern, she assisted in planning showcases, ran the social media accounts and helped students get scheduled for recording. This experience helped her understand that there is more to music careers than writing and performing. She says this is why Darkroom Records is beneficial to students who may want to go into music.
“It’s just another outlet for students who maybe don’t know if they should invest in these kinds of equipment or just kind of want to experiment with audio recording,” Simmons says. “It’s this opportunity in this creative space
where they can kind of just play around and see what they can create.”
These internships gave students the chance to learn more about music recording and gain high school course credit. And Jordan Smith says they wanted to continue to expand beyond the studio. In 2022, he began a music production and engineering class for students to learn more about recording software and practices. Jared Smith was brought on to teach variations of the class at other schools.
Because of this class, Darkroom Records is no longer just an extracurricular program. It is now an opportunity for students to practice what they learned from the class. Keriana Kyle, a recent graduate from Battle High School, says she learned about Darkroom Records through a class taught by Jordan Smith. She says the class helps students discover a greater appreciation for the music you listen to.
“You find out how everything works with the music that you already listened to. It gives you a whole new ear and how you listen to music,” Kyle says. “It just makes the experience of listening to music even more fantastic.”
Kyle says Darkroom Records, combined with the class, gives students an outlet to approach music in a different
way. The opportunities she had with Darkroom Records allowed her to engage with music through production and learn how to help others find the sound they want while recording.
“I would edit and help people put together their own ideas,” Kyle says. “I don’t have a whole lot of time to do my ideas, but I liked it better fulfilling other people’s ideas and other people’s projects.”
Jordan Smith preps the audio settings on an audio channel, one of many music production skills he teaches students in the studio.
Many local student musicians and bands have worked with Darkroom Records over the years.
Drona released EP blisterpack in January.
Dusk N Dawn released singles “Icarus” and “Circus”last November.
Kyren Penrose released a single last January.
Monsterya released debut single “Sounds Like Fun” in March. The Sweaters released Not Again in 2022.
Although the studio has continued to expand and grow with possibilities for student musicians to flourish, Darkroom Records still remains true to its original intention. While the internships and classes provide students with a detailed learning experience, Jared Smith says they continue to keep the studio open to all students who want to learn more about music. “I just try to give (the students who come in) some tips, or coach them through it, and hopefully give them some confidence (in their music),” he says.
Even if a student isn’t involved with an internship with the studio or a part of the classes, Darkroom Records still makes an impact on these young musicians. Max Angle, the guitarist and vocalist of band New Moon and a senior at Hickman High School, says Darkroom Records has been an opportunity to learn what it’s like to perform live and network with other student bands.
Although his band has only performed at a couple showcases with Darkroom Records, Angle says the studio is important for Columbia Public Schools because it provides students the chance to gain exposure and experience with music performance. “It is pushing young musicians out into the limelight, and they’re getting that experience that you can only get when you’re actually performing,” Angle says.
While the studio has found new ways to bring students into the depth of the music recording world through internships and classes, Darkroom Records has stuck to its roots. As the program continues to expand its reach with student musicians in Columbia, the mission still remains: making music recording accessible, interesting and educational for everyone involved.
The owner of Maude Vintage could never trash these six upcycled treasures from her wardrobe trove.
BY NEALY SIMMS
For Sabrina Garcia-Rubio, the owner of Maude Vintage, clothing is an extension of identity; it’s a stylistic language she uses to communicate her authentic self.
That philosophy emerged during her college days when thrifting was a financial necessity. However, it soon flourished into her passionate admiration for the unique narratives sewn into every garment’s stitch and seam.
While working at a local vintage store called Crazy I’s, Garcia-Rubio breathed new life into forgotten pieces, catching the attention of owner Ilene Vanabbema. Vanabbema was so impressed by Garcia-Rubio’s dedication that she handed over the keys to the business, ultimately leading to the creation of Maude Vintage in 2000.
“She’s always wanting to give (clothing) a second or third life,” says Dahlia Bray, an employee at Maude Vintage. “She will give that garment life until it is literally unsellable.”
Vox spoke with Garcia-Rubio about the six essential pieces within her personal wardrobe that tell the story of how she transforms vintage clothes into vessels of history, identity and self-expression.
1996 Star Trek graphic T-shirt
“I love Star Trek because it began in the ’60s, and it was one of the first shows that featured a Black woman in a leadership role as a main character. The Star Trek universe’s whole premise is to meet all cultures and races of people throughout the galaxy and support that union of everyone. Even now, in some of the latest series that have come out, they have featured trans and nonbinary people, and there are just not many shows doing that.
So, to me, there is still a forefront that society should be heading towards in terms of loving one another and being open to who someone is, no matter what that is. When I wear it, it is truly me, and it just
truly makes me feel good. I feel like it’s saying what my beliefs are.”
1970s Leo’s Vintage bomber jacket
“Leo’s has been around since 1972. Jack (Cummings) started this vintage shop before I was born. And of course, every vintage shop owner is going to have a different style of what they offer, how they offer it and what their vibe is in their store.
I have such an admiration for other vintage shop owners, and (he) lives in this town and started something that long ago and is still there, regardless of how he handles his business. I just love thinking about some time in his first 15 years of business, because that’s where I would date this jacket. He made it with his industrial sewing machine there. It’s the sweetest jacket, and it’s pastel quilted.”
1980s leather midi skirt
“The shape of the skirt is a really high-fitted, structured waist with a tie back and
While Sabrina Garcia-Rubio owns and operates a store full of buried treasures, these six items are the ones she could never part with. Pictured from left to right on the mannequins are a silk clown costume from the late 1930s, a leather midi skirt and a kaftan. Garcia-Rubio dons a Star Trek graphic T-shirt and vintage men’s jeans.
While this quilted jacket looks similar to casual fashion now, Garcia-Rubio says the maker in the 1970s was well ahead of their time.
lots of fabric, and it balloons out. The silhouette just says full-on feminine, but the chains and black leather against most of my inventory are a full-on juxtaposition. (Maude Vintage) is totally the backdrop, and wearing this piece makes me the edgiest thing in the store. With my red hair, curls and freckles, I feel like I always look cute, and I just love signaling that I’m edgy, too.”
Late-1930s silk clown costume
“I wish I were a little bit more psychic because I want to glean so much out of some of these pieces. Since it is obviously and evidently handmade, I just automatically imagine who that person was. Was she making it for herself? It’s an adult size. Was she a clown? Was that something
Maude Vintage is located at 9 N. Tenth St. and is open Tues.-Fri., noon to 5 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.
nate dark-mustard embroidery all over it. It’s a maxi. I think I’m always going to keep that too, because I’ve — believe it or not — worn it in so many different ways. I’ve worn it very casual with slidein shoes or mules. I’ve dressed it up with higher shoes and a belt and a cute bolero over top. Gosh, just thinking about it makes me want to wear it.”
1980s men’s denim jeans
she endeavored to do? Was she making it for her small-sized husband?
There are just those simple first questions when I see a piece that’s really interesting because factory pieces don’t really do this to me. Factory pieces make me sad because I think about the lowpaid struggle that person went through.
On the other hand, when I see vintage pieces, I think of these things, but if I was a little bit more psychic, I could get a bigger picture of this person. And I think when you learn about other people or other people’s intentions for things or for themselves, it gives you inspiration.”
1960s kaftan
“I don’t know if it’s possibly from India. It seems Moroccan, with this really or-
The silk clown costume is covered in patterned patches, and Garcia-Rubio says the pants are likely from the 1930s or ‘40s.
“These jeans are the first pair that I have owned in a very long time. I am usually a slacks, trousers or skirts type of person, but these jeans turned me on to the world of denim in a different way. I felt like for the first time, and not for very long now, I’ve gotten to join the rest of the world in the denim basics — a very basic fashion. It’s one of the most historic things that there is, and I would say denim is my longing to connect with others.”
Your next night out just got musical! Here’s where to steal the spotlight.
BY LILY CARROLL
Since the invention of the first karaoke machine in the 1970s, karaoke has been a popular form of interactive entertainment. Singing loudly and potentially offkey breaks the ice and brings people together. As a result, it has been used to attract customers to bars and pubs around the world.
In Columbia, there are plenty of places to show off your vocal skills (or lack thereof) on a night out. Or, if you don’t want to be in the spotlight, you can scope out the local talent over dinner and drinks. Either way, Vox has you covered with a list of local bars and restaurants that offer karaoke throughout the week.
Eastside Tavern
Eastside Tavern started its tradition of weekly karaoke 17 years ago. Since then, it has become a beloved spot for a night on the town. Students and locals flock to Eastside toward the end of the week to sing their favorite songs and enjoy drinks in the eccentric atmosphere.
“Between the singing and the dancing, it seems like there’s a group feeling,” says owner Sal Nuccio. “Complete strangers feel really comfortable around each other, and they’re all enjoying the same thing even if they don’t know each other. It brings people together. It’s a cool scene.”
When: Thursday, Friday and Saturday; doors open at 8 p.m., karaoke 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Where: 1016 E. Broadway
Cost: free (but cover varies), 21+
Contact: call 573-256-1500 for private parties
Shiloh Bar & Grill
At Shiloh Bar & Grill, choose from a
selection of over 10,000 songs and take the stage with your friends or try it solo. You can grab a bite to eat inside or enjoy its outdoor seating, but be sure to get your order in before the kitchen closes at 10 p.m. Drink prices decrease by the hour starting at $6 at 8 and save some cash.
When: Thursday, 9
Where: 402 E. Broadway
Cost: free, 21+
Contact: 573-875-1800; for private parties, see its website
This iconic nightclub offers karaoke on Wednesday nights for a midweek refresh. Try one of The Social Room’s famous smash burgers, and enjoy happy hour from 4-7 p.m. before you belt it out.
When: Wednesday, doors and kitchen open at 8 p.m., karaoke starts at 9 p.m.
Where: 220 N. Eighth St. Cost: free, 21+
Contact: 573-397-6442; for private parties, see its website
Try one of McGinty’s 24 beers on tap or the extensive whiskey collection. As you wait for your turn to step up to the mic, play some billiards or darts while you take in the live music.
When: Saturday, opens at 3 p.m., karaoke 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Where: 1312 S. Old 63
Cost: free, 21+
Contact: 573-443-0274
This Ashland breakfast and lunch cafe by day becomes a karaoke joint by night
two Fridays a month. The kitchen of The Dandy Lion Cafe opens for the events so you won’t go hungry — whether you get up the nerve to sing or just come to enjoy the community.
There are no rules in karaoke. Belt out some classic hits or croon a sentimental love song at familiar locales like Eastside Tavern (below).
When: first and fourth Friday of the month; doors open at 7 p.m., kitchen open until 9:30 p.m.
Where: 102 S. Main St., Ashland
Cost: free
Contact: 573-557-9222
The American Mustang Project brings
WRITTEN BY Ally Schniepp
EDITED BY Haven Dager
DESIGN BY Lauren Green
the spirit of the West to mid-Missouri.
Gravel crunches under the Ford F-350 tires as Henry Merrill pulls up to the stables. Horses neigh in the background, unaware of the gravity of the moment as he puts the truck in park.
Merrill, a horse trainer for the American Mustang Project, steps out into the warm embrace of collaborators Sumee Chang and Lori Anne Gaddy. They smile among themselves before turning to the real star of the show: a mustang named Rex, the precious cargo in the trailer that traveled over 1,500 miles before arriving at his new home in Murry, Missouri. It’s a home built from the ground up by Chang, founder of the American Mustang Project, and Gaddy, head of operations.
The nearby barn holds Merrill’s working ranch horses, Sage, Red and Blue, that assist him in his training process. Chang’s personal horse, Nacho, is also kept here. The burned wood of the barn, black due to a Japanese wood charring technique called shou sugi ban, contrasts with the lush green of the pastures and the vibrant blue sky. Merrill leads another one of his personal horses, Whitey, in one hand and Rex in the other. Rex is the first wild mustang to step onto the training grounds and his arrival has been long awaited. One of the four resident horses lets out a bellowing neigh from the barn, excited to see an old friend and welcome a new one.
This is the home of the American Mustang Project training center. It provides temporary sanctuary for wild mustangs that have been rounded up from states where they are in danger due to overpopulation. The mustang is a breed of horse that originated from Spanish horses — and were brought to America by European settlers, moving westward as they did. Located less than 15 miles northeast of Columbia, the facility was almost complete as it welcomed Rex in April.
Understanding the importance of this milestone means backing up to why Chang formed the American Mustang Project in the first place. Saddle up, it’s a long ride.
Mustang overpopulation
Let’s go back to a different time: the 1970s. Across many western states, horses were running wild, and people were hunting them for dog food, chicken feed and to be ground up for fertilizer. Activist Velma Johnston, better known as “Wild Horse Annie,” was advocating for the
rights of the mustangs to roam free on public lands without fear of being captured — or worse.
In 1971, Johnston’s work paid off as former President Richard Nixon signed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, protecting the horses from public disturbance. This act handed authority over to the Bureau of Land Management, which has held that responsibility for the last 54 years.
The BLM designated land across numerous western states as protected areas for these mustangs. Then it determined how many horses could live on these lands. Shortly after 1971, the bureau set a cap of 27,000 horses in hopes of stabilizing the population. At that time, there were about 20,000 wild horses on that land.
Fast forward to 2025 and there are 53,797 wild horses on range, more than double the target number, according to the BLM. This massive overpopulation leads to issues like habitat degradation and competition with other wildlife for valuable resources like grazing lands and water sources. The bureau’s solution to this problem is to perform roundups, which is a dangerous removal process usually with a helicopter and trucks to separate horses from the land. Sadly, it’s common for horses to die during the process. The horses run and run until they have no fight left in them before being loaded into a trailer and rehomed to government holding facilities off range. There are currently 62,534 horses stuck in government holding pens — another place overpopulation is a huge problem.
“These removals haven’t changed much since the first helicopter roundup in the late 1970s,” says Laura Leigh, founder of the nonprofit Wild Horse Education. “They’re absolutely brutal. I’ve watched a helicopter hit a horse (and seen) babies shot in the face.”
On all of this, there’s an excess of voices and opinions. Advocates, scientists, politicians, conservationists, ranchers, miners all have something to say. They’re fighting over the use of public land, how to handle the wild horses, how to address overpopulation and how to preserve the environment. So, what’s the solution?
“We have activists on one side, cowboys and ranchers on the other, politicians, environmentalists,” Merrill says. “We have all these voices, just like every problem, so what can we do about it? I’ll tell you what you can do. You can roll up your sleeves and put together a Walt Disney executive from Los Angeles, a lady that owned a successful dry cleaning business in Missouri and a cowboy from eastern Oregon, and we can do something about this damn problem.”
Henry Merrill (right) trains with Rex, a 3-year-old wild mustang at the American Mustang Project. His “reserve champion” belt buckle (below) shows his success in horse training. “I always ask, ‘are we forcing the body, or influencing the soul?,’” Merrill says to explain his training techniques.
The people behind the project
While the American Mustang Project started last September, the roots behind this operation go back much further.
Chang and Gaddy have known each other for nearly three decades, connecting through a mutual best friend. They were brought closer when Chang found out Gaddy also had the horse bug. Gaddy had recently sold The French Laundry, her business in Columbia, and was trading horse information about the wild horse overpopulation problem with Chang. “The next thing I know is my son and I are driving to pick up Sumee in Boise, Idaho,” Gaddy says. “We all road tripped throughout the West — throughout Idaho, throughout the Dakotas, through Wyoming — visiting mustang facilities, holding pens, driving by where roundups were happening. Then we came back to Missouri and started building a barn, started building a facility.”
During this road trip through the West, Chang and Gaddy met up with Merrill, a third-generation horse trainer. After meeting Chang and Gaddy, Merrill was 100% on board. “Sumee was just one of those people that you could feel was a visionary person and just has this deep well of emotional intelligence,” Mer-
Sumee Chang (far left) and Lori Anne Gaddy admire the view from the hay loft. The first horse to arrive at their facility was Rex (below left). When they select horses to bring to the sanctuary, one of the things they look for is kind eyes. Their facility includes two barns and a round pen for training (below).
rill says. “I just knew I wanted to work for her, and I knew what she was going to do was good.”
Merrill relocated from Oregon to Columbia to help with American Mustang Project’s mission. “(Henry’s) a healer of horses, and he’s such a gift to this program and to the wild horse and to me,” Chang says. “Lori Anne, Henry and I are planning to launch cowboy clinics, camps, roping workshops and all of these things to help raise money for the organization and the horses.”
Bringing something new to the (s)table Picture this (no really, do it): You’re sitting on a hay bale on the second floor of a handbuilt barn where the wall is open and grass fields as far as the eye can see. You feel the bits of hay poking into you, but you don’t mind. Laughter fills your ears as Chang and Gaddy sit side by side chatting, and the horses make crunching noises while eating in their stalls below. Outside is one of the first true spring days in mid-Missouri — the afternoon sun beams down over the pastures, and the sky is bright blue with the hint of a cloud stretched diagonally across it. The peepers croak from
time to time, announcing spring has arrived. This place is the host site for the American Mustang Project’s training center. Here, the wild mustangs will be gentled and trained until they find a purpose in the equine world. Merrill’s training style differs from traditional desensitization or “breaking” techniques. Rather than breaking down a horse’s spirit and forcing it to submit, he aims to help the horses recover from traumatic experiences, such as a government roundup. For some horses, this might take a few months, for others it could take much longer. They will then be adopted out as sport horse competitors, as rehabilitation or therapeutic horses or stay at the American Mustang Project facility. Some could simply be adopted by others who love mustangs.
Kim Harrison, co-owner of Harrison Valley Farms, caught the mustang bug in 2012 when she adopted two from a sanctuary in South Dakota. She now has five on her farm in Fulton. Chang was the first person Harrison met in mid-Missouri who’s also in the mustang community, and she soon met Gaddy and Merrill as well. “I think it will be exciting to have (Henry) share how he does what he does and why, and for people to come and watch that,” Harrison says. “To see how the horses are positively reacting to that environment and that kind of relationship building.”
Harrison traveled to Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary to get her mustangs and then had to look out of state, then out of country, to find a capable trainer. Now, with the American Mustang Project starting up in mid-Missouri, the community could start to grow and new rescue organizations might find their way to the area. “A lot of adoptions (and) a lot of access to mustangs is just limited geographically because all of the mustangs are out West,” Chang says. “Access is difficult, but we’d like to create a model where we can partner more with the BLM to have more satellite operations across the country so that communities have access to mustang centers, experts, trainers and support and feel like this is something they can participate in and they’re not excluded because of their geography.”
To find mustangs to rescue, the trio scans listing sites of the adoptable wild horses in BLM holding corrals and selects horses to bring to the American Mustang Project. They don’t have specific criteria — they look for horses with kind eyes and find ones that pull on their heartstrings. The BLM holding corrals full of horses for adoption can be found
The nation’s largest governmentappointed land manager supervises over 245 million acres of public lands. This organization enforces legislation regarding wild horses and sets the target population level for these horses. It is responsible for performing roundups and removals and placing the removed horses into government holding facilities.
THE AMERICAN MUSTANG
This breed of horse that lives throughout the American West originated from Spanish horses brought to America by European settlers.
Mustang rescues across the country work to find these mustangs jobs, homes and a brighter future. The American Mustang Project, the Wild Horse Inmate Program and the Return to Freedom Horse Conservation Land Trust are just a few organizations of the many that are fighting for the future of wild horses.
This internationally recognized nonprofit organization was founded by Laura Leigh to educate the public about the issues in the West while advocating for wild horses and the land they occupy.
all across the country. There also are rescue organizations like theirs all across the country.
Built from the ground up
Chang and Gaddy have been working nonstop since late September 2024, building the structures and fences necessary to do the training to gentle an untamed horse.
The facility is equipped to harbor 10 wild horses at the sanctuary and have four to six in training at any one time.
“We want to bring them here,” Chang says. “We know we can’t give them back what they’ve had taken from them, but we can give them a life that’s going to soften those life experiences. And we want to give them a really solid foundation that will enable them to have a really rich life with a future adopter.”
They put blood, sweat and tears into every part of this process — Gaddy conquered her fear of heights to build the second-floor loft of the barn and Chang risked injury to install the slippery roof in the dead of winter through rain, sleet and snow. “I think we had our hands on every stick, piece of wood, tin, screws, drills, hammers,” Chang says. “We learned how to drive tractors. We learned how to drive skid loaders, excavators, hay machines. It has been the most fun hands-on education.”
Now, the facility is about 80% done after six months of work. There is a big barn, a quarantine pen for the new arrivals and a gentling pen that will be connected to the quarantine pen by a chute when the horses
are ready for the hands-on training. “Their life is in our hands,” Gaddy says. “We have this responsibility to them, to not let them down. Because in my mind, they’ve already been let down.”
Their first success story
While Rex was the first wild horse on facility grounds, the American Mustang Project has already sent its first horse into the working world. Before relocating to Missouri, Merrill trained Reata, a wild mustang mare in Oregon, gentling her from an untamed horse into a horse that kids can ride. Reata was separated from her family and herd in a government roundup as a yearling before being relocated to a government holding pen. The American Mustang Project picked her up in Idaho, gentled her and formed a connection with her over the six months of training.
While Merrill drove Reata to her new home in San Diego, California, to be an equine therapy horse for veterans with Saddles in Service, they passed through Sand Springs, Oregon, Reata’s original home. “Her head just jerked up, and her nostrils were flaring. She was stamping her feet, and she was looking around wildly,” Chang says. “She knew exactly where she was, and every fiber of her being knew she was home.”
Merrill and Chang had to choose: Should they release Reata back to the home she was taken from or stay the course and bring her to a new life in San Diego? “There was a huge part
How they ended up in the state is unclear, but wild horses can be found along the Current and Jackson Fort river valleys in southeastern Missouri. Founded in 1992, the Missouri Wild Horse League was formed to actively protect and manage the wild herds after the Ozark National Scenic Riverways threatened to remove them in 1990. A historical part of Missouri’s natural history, these horses frequent the grassy, open fields around Eminence, Missouri. Most sightings have been recorded near Shawnee Creek, Broadfoot, Roundspring and Echo Bluff State Park. To visit these horses safely, stay over 100 feet away from the herds. Approaching and feeding the wild horses is prohibited.
When Rex arrived at the sanctuary, he had matted hair (above) from his time in BLM holding corrals. Sage and Red (right) are two of Merrill’s working ranch horses. Gaddy, Chang and Merrill all share a deep passion for thoughtfully training wild horses. “Once you connect with a mustang, you form an unbreakable bond,” Lori Anne Gaddy says.
of me that just wanted to open the trailer door to take the halter off and set her loose. Just let her go home,” Merrill says. “It was also a fitting conclusion to the trip. She got to see her home one last time and smell it, and now she’s actually going to a new home. To her forever home.”
Reata was the first of many mustangs that Chang, Merrill and Gaddy plan to adopt, train and find those forever homes for. “We need this message to grow beyond just Columbia, Missouri,” Chang says. “The big vision will be that this becomes something that can be done all over the country.”
The American Mustang Project team has dedicated their lives and resources to the mission of saving the wild horses that represent the spirit of the American West. It’s a spirit that deserves to be preserved.
The American Mustang Project will host its inaugural open house 2:305:30 p.m. June 28. There will be live music, food and a chance to meet the mustangs. RSVP by email to adopt@ americanmustangproject.org or visit its website, americanmustangproject.org. No pets are allowed at the facility.
Written by Sophie Ayers
Design by Valerie Tiscareno
Edited by Averi Norris
Scotty “Doc” Williams Sr. and Rufus Broadus sit in William’s office at Douglass High School, where he’s a homeschool administrator, showing each other footage of old basketball games. The two reminisce about evenings with the Moonlight Hoops league they started in the summer of 1989. Kids would line up on the Douglass Park basket ball courts blowing bubblegum and standing with friends, basketballs in hand. Late at night, a DJ would sometimes come play while onlookers drank soda and ate snacks on the sidelines.
Construction at the Douglass Park basketball courts has reignited talk about the Moonlight Hoops program and how to best recognize its legacy.
Younger kids played on Tuesday nights, and Wednesdays and Thursdays were for adults. As the games grew, so did the volunteers, who were happy to watch kids grow up in the park they knew so well.
The summer games were an initiative of the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department. It was meant to keep kids out of trouble by engaging them in youth sports and connecting them with community members and the police officers who would show up to volunteer at games. Williams and Broadus worked for the Parks and Recreation Department when they started the league along with Tracy Edwards. The league continued until 2020, when it was shut down during the pandemic.
In February, the Parks and Recreation Department unveiled a renovation plan for the two courts at Douglass Park. It included improvements such as new custom court surfaces, LED lighting and new backboards and hoops. It also featured prominent University of Missouri branding: the courts would be black and gold and one of them would be named after Willie Cox, a former MU women’s basketball
Within a week, the project was on hold. There was community outcry that naming the court after an MU coach with no ties to the area erased the impact of organizations like Moonlight Hoops. Williams, Broadus and others say they feel the neighborhood’s history has been forgotten.
The basketball courts at Douglass Park are in need of the repairs planned by the Parks and Recreation Department. But many community members are less excited about the proposed name of one of the courts.
One thing everyone can agree on is that improvements are desperately needed. In the early 2000s, the city resurfaced the courts, but that work left them dangerous to use. “It made the courts look really good, but the courts were really slick,” says Anthony Johnson, who played in the Moonlight Hoops league. “That’s when things started — the usage of the park started being reduced.” The courts are currently uneven and cracked from water damage, he says. The hoops and backboards have been removed, leaving just the barren poles extending starkly into the air.
The renovations are funded through the Park Sales Tax, as well as contributions from Veterans United, the University of Missouri Athletics De-
partment and a community revitalization grant from the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The construc tion of the courts started in February and was expected to be completed in June before it was paused.
“The next step in the process for Parks and Rec is to have some addition al public input meetings related to the layout and features of the court,” says Parks and Recreation Director Gabe Huffington. “Then, ultimately, we’ve talked about the possibility of additional naming and colors.”
The department will consider nam ing one court for Willie Cox and the other for another potential candidate, Huffington says. Three public meetings will be held on the topic: May 27 at the Activity & Recreation Center and May 28 and 31 at Columbia City Hall.
Players come from all over Before Moonlight Hoops ended abruptly in 2020, Douglass Park was an epicenter for late-night hoops. “We were mandat ed in our role with Parks and Recreation to work with at-risk kids,” Broadus says. “I learned that meant any child from 4 to p.m. is labeled ‘at-risk.’ It doesn’t matter what neighborhood you live in. We would have kids come from everywhere.”
High school kids and adults from all over mid-Missouri would show up to play. Driving in from Moberly, Mexico, Centralia and Jefferson City, they were encouraged by the friendly competition and the draw of “playground legends.”
Broadus says it wasn’t hard to get kids involved as the competition ramped up. “We had kids at the local high schools that weren’t even supposed to be down here, but you can’t consider yourself the best of the best unless you play against the best,” he says. “We always had one or two playground leg-
(From left) Scotty “Doc” Williams Sr., Anthony Johnson and Rufus Broadus all have memories from the latenight games that took place at the Douglass Park basketball courts.
“(Moonlight Hoops) was one of the things that brought everybody together,” Johnson says.
in our community and make a plan to honor everyone who should receive recognition,” says Parks and Recreation Director Gabe Huffington. The three meeting dates are:
6–8 p.m. May 27 at the Activity & Recreation Center, 701 W. Ash St.; 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. May 28 in meeting rooms 1A/1B at Columbia City Hall, 701 E. Broadway; and 10 a.m. to noon May 31 in meeting rooms 1A/1B at Columbia City Hall.
for the games.
“He started this group called a Dream Team, where he took kids from this area and put them in the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) circuit,” Williams says. “And that’s when I started coaching with him.” Edwards, Williams and Broadus would take the Dream Team kids to college tryouts and let them know when a recruiter might be looking their way — reminding them of the potential careers beyond Douglass Park.
Without Edwards, the Dream Team couldn’t have happened. “I think his name should be somewhere, because he was the spearhead of all this,” Williams says. Edwards died from diabetes-related complications in 2022. “When he got sick, he would still show up,” Williams
shut down in 2020. In 2018, player Deshaunte Horsley (above right) removes the chains of a basketball goal before a Moonlights Hoops game.
soft-serve ice cream and laughing on the benches beside the courts. “It was also the place to hang out,” Johnson says.
“The girls would be dressed up cute and they’d come watch their boyfriend. Whether they played or not, everybody came to watch.”
Johnson still lives in Columbia and started a nonprofit organization called Columbia Supreme in 2018. The nonprofit includes girls basketball, boys football and girls and boys track and field. Johnson was inspired by his time on Edwards’ Dream Team and Moonlight Hoops. “The things that they did to help me and the kids that need a little bit more in Columbia — I kind of took that same model and I’m doing the same thing right now,” Johnson says.
After the renovation and naming plans were announced, Demetria Stephens spoke at a Feb. 17 City Council meeting about her concerns. It would be a “slap in the face” to the community if they put Cox’s name on the courts, she says.
From 1998 to 2006, Stephens volunteered at the Moonlight Hoops games and saw the bad condition of the courts even back then. “My son played for one year, but whenever he got to high school I told him no, you can’t play on those courts,” Stephens says. “I realized how bad those courts were.”
Moonlight Hoops is not the only club that has operated out of Douglass Park. At the same time she was volunteering for Moonlight Hoops, Stephens worked for the STARS and Sunset programs through the Parks and Recreation Department, where she took kids to Douglass Park to play and read them books about Black inventors.
The STARS and Sunset programs no longer exist, like many of other Parks and Recreation programs that uplifted the local Black community, she says. “I was personally disgusted at how things changed. There were all types of kids that were in those programs. No kids were excluded,” Stephens says. “I have no idea why those programs went away. They were working, engaging kids in the community.”
Williams, Broadus and Stephens are disappointed by how quickly their community has been forgotten. The city’s plan felt like yet more evidence of that.
For now, the spirit of Moonlight Hoops lies dormant in Douglass Park, with the basketball courts vacant, under construction and awaiting names.
Construction at the courts is set to resume in June after the Parks and Recreation Department hears public comments. Players in Moonlight Hoops (top) used to play on the courts three nights a week where a beam that once held scoreboards now stands empty (right).
Photography by India Garrish/Archive
Main Squeeze’s new identity and menu throws it back to its roots.
BY EMMA ZAWACKI
John Gilbreth’s care for Main Squeeze radiates throughout the building he and Amanda Rainey reopened in March.
It’s in his dedication to preserving the character and feel of the space while innovating what it has to offer. It’s in the new wall colors that are just a step below neon. It’s in the way Gilbreth has sought out ways to include former owner Leigh Lockhart in this new iteration.
Glimpses of the old Main Squeeze shine through — the juice options that honor Lakota Coffee Company, the carrot above the kitchen window from
the original Ninth Street storefront, the mural on the north wall. The mural calls back to Main Squeeze’s transition into an eco-market, which happened because of the pandemic. The retail store is the iteration Gilbreth and Rainey took over.
Here are some of the things you can expect at the new Main Squeeze and old favorites that will greet you at the door.
New owners — duh!
Gilbreth and Rainey are veterans in the Columbia restaurant scene, owning Goldie’s and Pizza Tree. Pizza Tree
Main Squeeze reopened with new owners John Gilbreth and Amanda Rainey in March. You can check out old favorites like (above) the Buddha Bowl, Good Fortune Wrap, Thunderkiss and Bi Curious George smoothies, as well as new additions like lattes.
opened in 2014; six years later, Goldie’s opened. Now, five years after Goldie’s, the couple took over Main Squeeze. In embarking on this new challenge, they honor Lockhart in little ways, one being keeping the menu the same.
“We’re going to get everybody’s trust,” Gilbreth says. “We’re going to do what Leigh used to do. It may look slightly different, but the names of the dishes are the same.” So don’t be surprised if there are changes like purple cabbage instead of green or finding uniquely shaped carrots in your bowl.
Yes, the Buddha Bowl is back
Speaking of the menu, the beloved Buddha Bowl is making a comeback.
The bowl of rice, tofu, purple cabbage, sesame ginger, scallions and sesame seeds has a lot of fans, including mayor Barbara Buffaloe. “It is so good,” Buffaloe says. “That ginger sesame dressing is chef’s kiss. I’ve been eating at Main Squeeze since I was in college.”
Get excited for returning menu items like the Good Fortune wrap, the Thunderkiss smoothie and the Works Bowl, which is the go-to for Cafe Berlin’s marketing and events director, Adrienne Luther Johnson.
“My husband and I believe that there should be way more vegetarian and vegan options in town,” Luther Johnson says. “We try to provide that over here at the cafe, but we can’t be the only place that has vegan and vegetarian (options).”
Get your caffeine fix
Local names you know and love, like Fretboard and Lakota, will make debuts at Main Squeeze.
“A big gap in my knowledge is barista work,” Gilbreth says. “I do love to drink lattes, and I’m really excited to learn how to make them and how to make them really nice.”
Some examples of new drinks on the menu include drip coffees, lattes,
Americanos and affogatos. If you aren’t a coffee person, they also offer teas, hot or iced, and Arnold Palmers.
Did someone say ice cream?
Don’t think Lockhart’s completely MIA. Her new brand, Oso Cremoso, is gracing Main Squeeze’s shelves — or should we say freezers? Columbia-made, plantbased ice cream is complemented by the new milkshakes on the menu, allowing customers to try a recommended flavor or DIY a creation of their own.
“I’m not trying to build an ice cream empire,” Lockhart says. “I’m trying to do something that I think is fun, that I can manage pretty much by myself and also put out a really good product into the world where I think there’s a gap.”
Same commitment to being plant-based Despite not being vegetarian themselves, Gilbreth and Rainey will continue Lockhart’s mission of finding unique, delicious ways to serve up vegetarian food.
“What I’m most excited about is that (Gilbreth is) 20 years younger than me,” Lockhart says. “He has the interest and enthusiasm for pursuing plant-based recipes and food that weren’t really available when I was doing it.”
There’s no need to feel like you’re
Main Squeeze is located at 28 S. Ninth St. Hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week.
being disloyal to the old Main Squeeze if you stopped by for a Bi Curious George smoothie. Lockhart’s purpose lives on, and she supports Gilbreth with her whole heart.
“Leigh is all about it,” Gilbreth says. “I think that we really stand for a lot of the same things that Leigh stood for, but we’re bringing it on and reinterpreting it for a new generation.”
The combination of old and new, and the homage to Lockhart’s legacy and space, come together to make Main Squeeze a place where old fans can enjoy their favorites and new customers can discover a place that serves vegetarian and vegan dishes they’ll love.
Hank and Jackie Schneider (below) enjoy the Buddha and Don’t Be Gruel bowls.
“We’re happy that we’re back at Main Squeeze,” Jackie Schneider says. “The food is fabulous.” The vegetarian cafe is known for its bowls, like the Buddha (top left) and has added espresso drinks (right) to its menu.
by
Mayank Vankawala’s passion project brings Indian culture, cuisine and entertainment to Columbia.
BY AUSTIN GARZA
Mayank Vankawala’s father just wanted some tea. A 10-yearold Vankawala overheard his dad’s request and thought about how often he watched his parents prepare it. He knew he could do the same. So, he climbed onto a step stool and made tea for his parents. Looking back, he says it was probably the worst tea he ever made, but his parents drank and enjoyed it.
That kitchen spark became a fullblown passion in 2007 when Vankawala moved from Surat, India, to Los Angeles to work in the IT field. He didn’t have his family’s cooking, so he learned recipes via Skype from his mother. He started cooking and stopped getting takeout; cooking became more than a simple necessity for life — it became a stress reliever.
By 2017, Vankawala’s love of cooking and culinary skills were moving him toward opening an Indian restaurant. But living in Los Angeles at the time,
Photography by Michael Baniewicz
the market was too saturated. In April 2024, Vankawala and his wife, Shannon Loos-Vankawala, moved to Columbia for family reasons. Vankawala noticed there were few Indian restaurants in the area, which inspired him to open a restaurant of his own. “When I moved here, that old dream got triggered,” Vankawala says. “I thought this was the time I needed to do it.”
Vankawala’s ambition to open a restaurant became a reality when Curry-osity, his fine-dining Indian establishment, opened April 23. The opening marked the culmination of four months of meticulous preparation.
To open Curry-osity, Vankawala partnered with his best friend, Rahul Damor, whom he’s known since they were 10 years old and living in India. The duo wanted everything to be per-
Mayank Vankawala put effort into every part of his restaurant — including the tables that he made out of Missouri black walnut. He says that his recipes are a mix of traditional Indian cusine with dishes he created himself or inherited from his mother.
fectly aligned with their vision for the establishment, so they renovated Bamboo Terrace’s former West Broadway location as much as they could — down to every table.
Damor says 70% of the work was done by the two business partners and their families. Vankawala is also an experienced woodworker, and he sourced Missouri black walnut to craft deep brown and gold epoxy tables for the restaurant. “These are real wood tables I made with my own hands,” Vankawala says. “There’s a lot of blood and sweat that went into this place.”
After Vankawala signed the space’s lease in November 2024, he spent every day working on the renovation. He only gave himself three days off: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Damor regularly travels from Dallas to Columbia to help with the project.
Mornings during the renovation typically began with a trip to the hardware store at 7:30 a.m. The Curry-osity crew installed new chandeliers, constructed a stage for live entertainment and, most importantly for Vankawala, renovated the restrooms. “When I was doing my MBA, one of my professors said that if you want to judge a restaurant’s cleanliness, go check out the bathrooms,” Vankawala says. “So we gutted the bathrooms.”
Vankawala’s attention to detail permeates every decision made in the kitchen. He emphasizes the importance of having a separate fryer for vegetarian dishes, basing this decision on his experience cooking for his wife and mother, who are both vegetarians. Additionally, the restaurant squad — including his father-in-law, who is a finish carpenter, and family friends — spent days deep-cleaning the kitchen.
The construction brought physical, mental and financial challenges. As the April 23 opening date drew closer, pressure began to mount. Vankawala saw
news of a local restaurant’s closing and worried he was getting in over his head, but his wife brought him back down to earth. “It’s amazing the stuff he can make out of nothing,” Loos-Vankawala says. “He’s braver than I am because he gets an idea and he goes for it, even if it’s scary.”
Loos-Vankawala, who works as an art therapist, helped out with logistical elements, such as floor plans and the establishment’s color scheme.
In terms of food, Vankawala is most excited to share his take on butter chicken, which he says features a secret recipe, as well as a lesser-known dish called pani puri. The latter consists of hollow semolina puffs stuffed with potatoes or chickpeas, which are then dipped into a mix of spiced water.
Vankawala cut Curry-osity’s maximum capacity of 140 people in half to cultivate a relaxed, elevated dining experience. Its layout features a booth at every table to make customers feel comfortable. “We don’t want people
Dine in style at 3101 W. Broadway #101 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Tues.–Thurs. and Sunday; Fri.–Sat. are the same hours but with a 10:30 p.m. closing time to get your entertainment fix. Visit curryositycomo. com for more.
feeling like customers,” Damor says. “We want them to feel like they came to a familial place.”
Vankawala tethers Curry-osity to his family by sourcing spices such as cumin, coriander and turmeric from his relatives’ spice processing factory in India. Customers might never know that the restaurant’s spices come from his family, but that’s not the point. It allows Vankawala’s family to play a role at the restaurant while still living in India.
Beyond just serving food, Vankawala and Damor both hope Curry-osity can be a place for people to gather and share memories. “I don’t want to put a hole in people’s pockets,” Vankawala says. “A good hour of experience doesn’t have to be expensive.”
They want to use the restaurant’s stage for local musicians, belly dancers and stand-up comedians. They also plan to host karaoke and Bollywood movie nights. Vankawala wants to include these elements to show people that a fine-dining and entertaining experience is something anyone can enjoy.
Learn more about the cooking, community and vision that inspired Columbia’s döner spot.
BY AUSTIN GARZA
In 2016, Vahap Ulker had a vision to create a meaningful dining experience, one that would bring authentic Turkish culture and community to mid-Missouri. Despite having no professional kitchen experience, he held on to that dream.
It paid off — in 2023, after the culmination of eight years of planning, Ulker and his wife, Elçin, opened their food truck, Dada Döner, in the sweltering summer heat, shaving meats from a vertical spit to make döner for eager customers. Just a year later, in May 2024, they transitioned from a weekend-only mobile food truck to a full-time brickand-mortar space beneath Nourish Cafe & Market.
“Dada,” a sound commonly made by infants calling for their fathers, is an ode to the couple’s son, who was born three months before the truck opened. “Döner” is the restaurant’s signature dish — a street food staple in Turkey, where it originated in the 19th century. Döner, pronounced “doh-nair,” means “turning” in Turkish, referring to cooking meat on a vertical spit rotisserie similar to Mexican al pastor and Greek gyros. Dada Döner sells beef, chicken and lamb döner served in a wrap or bowl alongside a medley of savory yogurt and tomato-based sauces.
When Vahap Ulker left Turkey for the United States in 2006, he first moved to Louisville, Kentucky. He always had an interest in cooking and a love for döner. In his childhood, he ate it with his family at bazaars — large open-air markets — in Turkey. However, what really made him set his mind on opening a restaurant
Photography by Ren Ohlmeier
was a lack of Turkish culture in Louisville and eventually, in Columbia.
“I am not a professional chef,” Ulker says, “but I said (to myself), ‘I’m gonna work on one or two items and get really good at it.’ In 2016, I started to cook, especially döner.”
While studying in Louisville, Ulker visited Turkey and worked in restaurants for free to sharpen his culinary abilities and learn the ropes of running a business. He even purchased a spit cooker to practice from the comfort — and, at times, discomfort — of his home.
“I remember cooking at home in the middle of my living room for myself with that machine,” Ulker says. “And it was getting so hot. It was summertime, I was insane at that time.”
Ulker’s initial motivation for learning to cook at restaurants and at home was to pick up a new skill, but this evolved into aspirations of a business and providing for his family.
From lab to kitchen
Ulker splits his time between Dada Döner and his role as a manager at the University of Missouri’s cancer and diabetes research labs.
Customers browse Dada Döner’s menu as Natasha Sharmeen collects their orders. Check out Dada Döner on Instagram @ dadadonercom.
Check out Dada Döner at 1201 E. Broadway. The Turkish eatery serves up spit-roasted meats and more Tues.Sat., from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
When the couple put almost all their savings into purchasing the truck in 2023, it was no small feat, especially since their son had just been born.
The food truck became Ulker’s weekend passion project, his “second son.” On Fridays, after a full day of work, he would start cooking and marinating in the evenings to prepare food for the truck on Saturday, which the couple ran together. Despite his hectic schedule, both jobs matter to Ulker because they provide meaningful work. And never mind all the sweat and exhaustion — he was living his dream.
“It’s my project,” Ulker says. “I want to be successful. You find a way. Once you love it, you find a way.”
The Ulkers originally planned to expand into a full-time eatery after three or four years of operation. However, just a year into operating the truck, an opportunity arose that they couldn’t pass up. A basement space, formerly home to The Quarry restaurant, became available for leasing. They jumped on it.
The initial transition to a storefront was difficult. Going from one day of
business to five was a significant change, and because Ulker couldn’t always be there, his wife often had to manage the restaurant on her own. Its location in the basement and sparse finishings did not help either. However, everything came together eventually, filling a gap in Columbia’s dining scene.
On Andrea Hopper’s first visit to Dada Döner in March, she was warmly welcomed by the staff and appreciated the restaurant’s atmosphere. “It’s an undiscovered gem,” Hopper says. “It’s fun, quaint. They found a niche for sure.”
Less than a year since its opening, Dada Döner has become a hub for
Elçin Ulker cuts off the cooked top layer of meat on the spit cooker that Dada Döner has in the back of the kitchen. She co-owns and runs the restaurant while her husband works in a cancer research lab at MU.
turned friend turned employee. Natasha Sharmeen first visited the eatery as a customer in August. She quickly became a regular customer, and then became a friend of the Ulkers. Now, she assists in the kitchen and with the restaurant’s social media.
She says Dada Döner adds a new dimension of flavor to downtown’s food scene. “People in normal life are getting bored of having the same food every day,” Sharmeen says. “They need some changes, different flavors and experiences.”
In the near future, Dada Döner will be introducing new menu items, such as Turkish lemonade (which has a minty punch), to expand its street food offerings. Vahap Ulker says he understands how hectic everyday life can get and hopes his restaurant provides a space for people to enjoy their food, even if they’re just getting a quick bite.
“People don’t pay much attention to the food they’re really eating,” Ulker says. “Food plays an important role in our lives physically and emotionally. Taste brings back memories. That’s why I think good eating is really important.”
Evil eyes surround the cashier desk. The evil eye is used in many cultures and religions, but primarily in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures, such as Turkish and Greek. Although its menu is mostly comprised of meat items, Dada Döner also has a vegetarian wrap (below).
Turkish culture in Columbia, hosting celebratory events such as Turkish Independence Day this past October.
Elçin Ulker has been the one keeping the restaurant afloat and adding flair as her husband’s research job takes up most of his time. He’s taken on more of a supportive role as she curates the interior design of the restaurant and prepares ingredients in the morning. “I like preparing something for the customers,” Elçin Ulker says. “If customers are smiling after they eat, that’s good.”
She usually managed the store herself when Dada Döner first opened, but the staff expanded with a customer
At The Shops at Sharp End, Tiowana Warrick bolsters a historic area with its retail incubator program.
BY LAURYN RHODES
Tiowana Warrick did not plan to plant roots in Columbia when she moved from Chicago two decades ago. Today, as the program manager for The Shops at Sharp End, a storefront where artists and entrepreneurs can start new retail enterprises, Warrick is grateful for the years of local networking and leadership that have led her to the position.
“I think it was destined for me to be here because I have a purpose,” Warrick says. She fulfills this by passing on her knowledge of retail while preserving what she calls “the spirit of Sharp End.”
The Shops at Sharp End, which opened in January 2024, sits at the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets and has a robust history. Sharp End was a lively hub for Black entertainment, beauty, dining and recreation until the late 1960s.
As program manager at The Shops at Sharp End, Tiowana Warrick (right) prepares small business owners with skills such as inventory control, product marketing and brand promotion. She works with Amanda Oniyama, assistant manager at the shops.
Though Sharp End was lost to gentrification and urban renewal projects, the shops are a tribute to the spirit of the Black business district that lined the same block about 60 years ago. While the district is physically gone, Warrick says that its essence of entrepreneurship and community remain.
Both are kept alive through the retail incubator program at The Shops at Sharp End, led by Warrick and managing partners at Missouri Women’s Business Center, The District and the Regional Economic Development Inc.
“The memories will never go away,” Warrick says. “It’s just like a human being; if someone transitions and moves on, do you not keep their spirit alive? Same thing. You’re gone, but you’re not forgotten.”
The program’s goal is to help local entrepreneurs start their own brick-and-
mortar businesses, says Nickie Davis, executive director of the Downtown Community Improvement District and one of the founding partners for The Shops at Sharp End. As Warrick offers the foundational skills needed to run independent stores, she cultivates a village of support and success that stays true to the original Sharp End’s mission.
Uplifting those in the present Warrick’s experience with supervising and service didn’t begin when she touched down in Columbia. For years prior, she worked in customer service and with nonprofits before shifting to retail. There, she developed a fondness for making connections and problem-solving, both of which inform her job as program manager.
“I’m client-driven,” Warrick says. “(Participants of the program) guide me. I allow them to tell me what to do, and I just give them the resources and the direction to do it. And that makes me feel good.”
Warrick teaches participants every-
thing they need to know about running a successful sales floor. She works handson to train them on inventory control, brand promotion and product marketing along with making and tracking sales. Additionally, she helps connect them with scholarship opportunities that aid in launching a startup.
“My thing is just encouraging them to do it,” Warrick says. “How are you going to learn anything if you don’t go for it, right?”
Ja’Licia Gainer’s oil paintings have decorated the shop’s walls since July. She says the program gives her space to exhibit her artwork. With each piece she sells, Gainer can feel her talents as an artist and entrepreneur sharpen.
“Before I started with this gallery, I knew some things about the professional art world and how things go,” Gainer says. “But Tiowana and the mission of Sharp End really helped me understand the business side. I felt more confident to make the work that I wanted to make.”
Warrick frequently hosts events at The Shops at Sharp End; she also invites
The Shops at Sharp End hosts 11 vendors.
There are eight businesses, including Cleana by Alena, Aaron Fox Writes, Raw Roots Turmeric, Black Tea Bookshop, Franky Karmen, Designs by Neisha, City of Refuge’s City Boutique and FudgeBrand. The Shops also features three artists: Ja’Licia Gainer, Ni Kang and Ginger Cawley.
locals to host events of their own. The outreach draws attention to the retail incubator and connects community members who support the shops. Within a year of the program’s founding, Warrick helped participants earn a combined total of nearly $25,000 in revenue.
“It’s an amazing community space,” Davis says. “And every day we’re in awe at what the community is able to do for each other.”
Warrick continues to bring new events and startups to the space. Touched by those she teaches, she hopes to have her own space someday where she can help others. “(The participants) inspire me so much that I too am thinking about maybe being a small business owner,” Warrick says. “I want to do something in the realm of mental health for Black women.”
In the meantime, Warrick will continue doing what she loves most: inspiring Fifth Street’s next wave of business owners and memorializing a vibrant legacy in the process.
What protections does the city’s safe haven ordinance — approved over a year ago — actually offer?
BY KATIE GRAWITCH
Columbia is often called a “blue dot in a red sea.” This is especially true as Missouri has shifted into a Republican stronghold over the past two decades. Home to a rich culture of drag performance and a volunteer-run pride festival organized by LGBTQ+ leaders and allies, this blue-dot city has become Missouri’s (quite literal) central haven for the LGBTQ+ community.
In February 2024, the Columbia City Council passed its safe haven ordinance “expressing support for the LGBTQ community” and protecting those “providing, seeking, receiving, or assisting another individual who is seeking or receiving gender-affirming healthcare.” About a year earlier, Missouri had passed a law banning gender-affirming care for minors.
But what does this ordinance do? Vox explores some frequently asked questions about the safe haven status.
What’s the power of an ordinance?
Columbia’s safe haven status is an ordinance, an enforceable law approved by the City Council. This makes it stronger than a resolution, which is a symbolic statement that is not a law. As an ordinance, it offers some legal protections for LGBTQ+ in-
dividuals at the local level.
Ordinances “cover matters within the local government’s jurisdiction, such as zoning, public health and safety,” with the power to be enforced by local authorities, says Sydney Olsen, the city’s engagement and public communications manager, in an email to Vox. Resolutions, on the other hand, “express the opinion or will of a legislative body, but are not laws,” Olsen says.
What does Columbia’s safe haven ordinance do?
This particular ordinance means the city of Columbia will not pursue legal punishment or prosecution for people providing, seeking or helping someone find gender-affirming care “except as otherwise required by law.” However, state and federal law supersede municipal law.
Despite this, the ordinance states that the enforcement of any legal action regarding gender-affirming care as required by state or federal law would be declined by the city. And if that’s not possible, it would be enforced at “the lowest priority.” This means the city would meet the minimum requirements of enforcement without undue urgency, Olsen says in an email to Vox
In addition to these protections,
Are you ready to take the stage? MidMissouri PrideFest is hosting its Mid-Mo Pride Pageant at 7 p.m. on June 27 at The Blue Note. This year, PrideFest is celebrating its 25year anniversary. Tickets for the pageant are $12 and are available for purchase at thebluenote.com.
according to the ordinance, Columbia will not gather information about the assigned birth gender of city residents and employees beyond “legitimate inquiry” into assigned sex by, for example, the Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services Department. It does, however, prevent the city from creating a larger paper trail that could provide incriminating evidence to law enforcement.
Are there penalties for violating this law?
Since the ordinance is primarily focused on the actions of city government, not of city residents, it does not include any penalties. Instead, this ordinance acts as an agenda-setting tool, particularly for Columbia’s law enforcement. In the book Queering Law and Order, police studies scholar Brian F. Kingshott describes this approach to law enforcement as police accepting that their role requires “a duty of care” in addition to crime-fighting. It allows the city to remain in compliance with any discriminatory state or federal laws while minimizing harm to those being policed.
Why does a “safe haven” matter?
Fourth Ward Councilperson Nick Foster
says his conversations with LGBTQ+ individuals in Columbia helped him understand the need to codify the city as a safe haven. “The thing that stood out to me the most was how they described how much they love this community here and that they feel safe in this community,” Foster says. “They feel like they can be who they are, more than any other place in the state of Missouri.” At the time the ordinance was passed, it was amended to apply the same protections within the city to drag performers and restroom use that doesn’t align with gender assigned at birth.
How does Columbia compare to other cities?
Municipal LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination laws have been overturned by state governments elsewhere. North Carolina’s infamous “bathroom bill” in 2015 overturned a municipal ordinance in Charlotte less than a month after it was passed, undermining the existence of safe haven laws across the state by defining sex as male or female as stated on a person’s birth certificate. And in 2017, the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down a Fayetteville law extending the state’s anti-discrimination policy to LGBTQ+ people within the city. The court said it violated a state law prohibiting municipal or county anti-discrimination laws for classes of
Cass Donish hugs Ryan Pale during a City Council meeting before the safe haven ordinance was approved in February 2024.
“This is a very charged and emotional issue for me,” Donish says.
“I have lost people in my life to suicide because (they) have not been accepted and affirmed in a trans identity.”
In 2021, contestants competed in the Mid-Missouri Pride Pageant at the Bur Oak Brewing Company. It was the first Pride pageant since 2019.
people not already protected by state anti-discrimination law.
What are potential threats to these protections?
According to the Movement Advancement Project, Missouri ranks among the lowest-scoring states for LGBTQ+ legislative equality. This is largely due to antagonistic policies enacted by the state legislature and gaps in the laws that promote the safety of LGBTQ+ residents. The scoring noted that Missouri’s LGBTQ+ protections are particularly deficient regarding the rights of queer and transgender youth and protections for gender-affirming care.
As a whole, Missourians face a larger volume of state-level legislative threats to LGBTQ+ rights than most other states. Two weeks before the end of the current legislative session May 16, the American Civil Liberties Union was tracking 39 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in Missouri, the second-highest number behind Texas. The bills range from restrictions on students and educators to health care restrictions and attempts to weaken existing civil rights legislation.
As for threats to the safe haven ordinance itself, Foster says it rests in a gray area.
“We don’t really have the answer to that completely at this point,” Foster says. “When I was sworn in, I swore to
uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Missouri. I still hold to that, and I believe in the rule of law. However, there are times when there are unjust laws that are passed and unjust laws which are enforced. And on those occasions, we need to consider what our response will be. For right now, I think a lot of that is still up in the air.”
At the time of the ordinance’s approval, Joe Jefferies, Mid-Missouri PrideFest’s fundraising chair, said it provided a “beacon of hope” for many queer Missourians, according to a February 2024 Columbia Missourian article. “This ordinance is not merely a political statement, a gesture of performative tokenism, but it is a vital step towards safeguarding the human rights of queer Columbians, enabling them to thrive safely within Columbia city limits,” Jefferies says.
Your curated guide of what to do in Columbia this month.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Run away to an enchanted forest at Maplewood Barn Theatre’s outdoor performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as part of its Shakespearean season. Expect an evening of fairies, follies and falling in love, all under the stars. May 22-25 and May 29-June 1, 8-11 p.m., Maplewood Barn Theatre, $13; $10 for groups of 10+; $5, children under 10, 573227-2276
Dance Through the Pages
Follow along as professional dancers from Mareck Center for Dance lead a dance tutorial inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The group will also perform a sneak peek of the upcoming show. The event is meant for ages 5 and up. May 29, 2–2:45 p.m., Columbia Public Library, free, 573-4433161
Missing the Scholastic Book Fair glory days? Relive it at the Grown-Up Book Fair. Peruse selections from local and independent booksellers, order food and literary-themed drinks and wander through the vintage market. This is more than your childhood Scholastic Book Fair — it’s a reinvention of it. June 15, 12:30 p.m., Rose Park, $15 in advance; $25 early entry, 18+, 573-874-1944
Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
Investigate the murders of the Baskerville family’s sons with Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in this mystery comedy put on by the University of Missouri’s Summer Repertory Theatre. Five actors play over 40 roles, and the duo must navigate deceptions and disguises before it is too late. June 18 and 20-21, 7:30 p.m.; June 21-22, 2 p.m., McKee Gymnasium, Studio 4, $20; $17 for groups of 8+, 573-882-7529
American Red Cross Blood Drive
Roll up your sleeve and head to the Columbia Public Library to make a difference — one blood donation can save up to three lives. In order to donate, participants should eat and drink beforehand and be at least 17 years old and 110 pounds. Participants must also show a valid photo ID. May 23, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Columbia Public Library, free, 16 with parental consent; 17+, 573-443-3161
Bags ‘n Wags Festival
Meet cute pups and give a dog a forever home while supporting various nonprofits around mid-Missouri. Bring your own furry friends as well and participate in the costume contest, pet show, movie night and more. Proceeds go toward the Central Missouri Humane Society, Second Chance Columbia and the Spay Neuter Project. June 14, 4-10:30 p.m., Cherry Hill Village Square, free, 573-567-0811
Explore art in all its forms, from displays to craft vendors and even hands-on activities at Columbia Art League’s Art in the Park 2025. Last year, artists Cameron Smith and Jan Thomas displayed glass flowers (above). It’s open to all ages with live music and entertainment, as well as tie-dying and face-painting at the Kid’s Art Spot. June 7, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; June 8, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Stephens Lake Park, free, 573-443-8838
Farm Your Yard Field Day
Learn how to grow a thriving vegetable garden in your backyard. This free event includes hands-on informational workshops, refreshments and panels by professional gardeners from the Columbia Center of Urban Agriculture, who will give you tips on how to spruce up and manage your own plot. June 14, 2-5:30 p.m., Columbia’s Agriculture Park, free, 573-514-4174
If you’re into speakers cranked to 11 and impressive guitar improvisation, check out TAKAAT (pronounced “Tuh-Cot”) at Cafe Berlin. The group will be playing with local sweetheart Telepathy Club and Static Paisley. May 24, 8-11 p.m., Cafe Berlin, $10 in advance, $15 day of, 573-441-0400
Pittsburgh legends Wiz Khalifa and special guest Chevy Woods are coming to Columbia. Rep the black and yellow (or MU gold) as they rap their hearts out. They’re joined by Fedd the God and DJ Bonics. May 28, 8 p.m., Rose Music Hall, $61.95+, 573-874-1944
Don your ’90s apparel and turn on the throwback machine because Sister Hazel is coming to The Blue Note to play the classics. Tune in for a night of alternative folk rock that’s sure to bring back Y2K memories. May 30, 8 p.m., The Blue Note, $29.50-$45, 573-874-1944
DJ Requiem will be playing the biggest hits from both the ’80s and the ’90s — but you’ve got to pick a side. Show up with your baggy jeans and grungy attitude or your blown out hair and neon windbreakers. June 15, 9 p.m., The Blue Note, $10-$20+, 573-874-1944
Experience the sounds of smooth Cuban jazz with the Hilario Durán Quartet’s performance at the Missouri Theatre, part of the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series. The jazz series celebrated its 30th anniversary in May. June 22, 7 p.m., Missouri Theatre, $40, 573-449-3009
In this 5K that honors Global Running Day, runners of all levels and abilities are invited to help raise money for Girls on the Run, connect with the local running community and have fun heading toward the finish line. June 4, 6 p.m., Fleet Feet, 10 W. Nifong Blvd. Suite 113, free, 573356-5657
Coast over to this event to celebrate Go Skateboarding Day alongside boarders and beholders of all kinds at Cosmo Skate Park. Bring a helmet just in case you want to join in on the skateboarding fun. June 14, 1-4 p.m., Columbia Skate Park at Cosmo Park, free, 573-874-2489
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELIZABETH PRUITT/ARCHIVE
Pilot Ben Humphreys ignites the propane burners of a hot air balloon during Ashland’s Light Up Missouri event in 2022. Fire is an integral part of the process — the balloons fly due to the temperature difference between the hot air inside the balloon and the cooler air surrounding it. Humphreys came to the balloon event with his wife, Hannah, and mother, Annette, who helped set up the balloon. Humphreys, who has been piloting balloons since he was a teen, founded the business Skyview Balloons in 2019. Hot air balloons are a familiar sight in mid-Missouri’s summer skies, and Columbia hosted the U.S. National Air Balloon Championship from 1995 to 1997.
