Voices of the Past. Photo courtesy St. Joseph Museum
The 2015 Voices of the Past program will tackle passion, love and heartbreak.
This year’s scheduled for the interpretive tours of Mount Mora Cemetery were announced earlier this week. They are set to take place on October 22 and 23.
Participants will stroll along the list Mausoleum Row while reconnecting with the past. They will get a chance to meet with legendary former citizens who step out of the shadows to share stories. This year’s characters will talk about their stories of love, passion and heartbreak.
The St. Joseph Museum said a tombstone ballad, with the original composition accompanied by guitar, will play for the audience. Among the stories include a long-time mystery – perhaps a love story known to only two – will be shared. A World War II era doctor will introduce royalty and share a tender story, as will a Civil War wife whose love for her husband is unmatched. A once prominent theologian will bring his little-known story to life and two love stories with shocking, tragic endings will be woven into the mix.
Participants will start their tour at the 1879 Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, 1100 Charles Street. Their visit to the Mansion will include traditional fall treats and the premier of the production Tombstones Tell Stories, which shows the way that tombstones give clues about the life of the deceased in some unusual and creative ways. Guests will then be swept away to Mount Mora Cemetery to meander along fire-lit Mausoleum Row, stopping at the cemetery’s most unique monuments. Visitors will hear from “residents” of the cemetery as well as “guests” as they take a walk along a lane in the “prettiest City of the Dead.”
Every year former St. Joseph, Mo. citizens come back to life during the Voices from the Past ghost tours. Vistors are guided down Mausoleum Row at Mount Mora Cemetery as they learn about the life and journey’s of the “residents”. (Photo courtesy St. Joseph Museum)
“The tours are meant to educate about the fascinating history of St. Joseph and the people who built the city and saw so much change in their lifetimes. What some of them experienced was so long ago, and yet is still so easy to relate to,” said Suzanne Lehr, Research Associate of the St. Joseph Museums. “Mount Mora Cemetery is truly a historical and architectural treasure everyone can appreciate.”
Proceeds from “Voices of the Past” benefit the Mount Mora Restoration and Preservation Association and the education programming at the St. Joseph Museum.
“Voices of the Past” will be held Thursday, October 22 and Friday, October 23. Participants must be 14 years of age or older. Tours begin at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, 1100 Charles Street, St. Joseph, Missouri, at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 ($18 for Members of the St. Joseph Museum and Mount Mora Cemetery Association.) Space is limited. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available at the St. Joseph Museum, 3406 Frederick Avenue, or by calling 800-530-8866.
The St. Joseph Public Library is starting a monthly Art Program at its Downtown Branch.
According to the library the program came about after the 2015 summer comic book program met with much success.
Starting in September a Creative Comics Club is opening to teens ages 12-18 at the Downtown Library, 927 Felix St. The club will meet at 4 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month.
The next meeting set for Sept. 10th will focus on what teens have drawn at home. There will also be a 3D drawing activity using aluminum wire.
Along with practicing the art of drawing comics participants will be introduced to other artistic expressions such as printmaking, clay modeling and found art.
The program is free and no registration is required.
For more information visit or call the Downtown Library at (816) 232-7729.
St. Joseph, MO – Thrivent Financial and St. Joseph Habitat for Humanity are taking on home upgrades in St. Joseph.
The partnership program Thrivent Builds Repairs will be at a home at 1101 S. 11th St. Saturday morning in St. Joseph to help replace siding and paint their front porch.
“This program provides us with more options to serve our community,” said Cody F. Vaughn, Financial Associate with Thrivent Financial. “Upgrading existing homes not only makes the homes safer and more efficient, it also cultivates community pride.”
The program repairs upgrades existing homes through projects like installing accessibility ramps, exterior painting, weatherization, porch repair or light landscaping. It’s part of an ongoing partnership between Thrivent Financial and Habitat for Humanity International, called Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity.
“The Thrivent Builds partnership is helping St. Joseph Habitat increase the number of families served in our community by helping home owners stay in their homes,” said St. Joseph Habitat for Humanity’s Executive Director, Melissa Koch. “We are so grateful for Thrivent’s support of our efforts to build homes and repair homes in partnership with families in need of decent and affordable housing.”
Weekend lineup for the 2015 Trails West!® Festival.
Trails West!® is held Aug. 21-23 at Civic Center Park in St. Joseph, Missouri. Entertainment on the City Stage and Family Stage ends before the Main Stage entertainment. Main Stage entertainment opens at 8 p.m. emerging country star Kelsea Ballerini followed by the legendary Charlie Daniels Band, on Saturday, Aug. 22; and a community worship service followed by Christian artists Sanctus Real at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23.
City Stage
Saturday, Aug. 22
10:30 a.m. –Dance Arts Center (dance): For thirty years the Dance Arts Center has taught students the art, discipline and joy of dance. The studio was founded in 1985 by Ms. Lynn Fankhauser. In 2005, former student and professional dancer Marla Heeler returned home from Chicago to carry on the tradition Ms. Lynn instilled in many students during her twenty-year career. The Dance Arts Center offers a wide variety of dance, including ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, musical theater, contemporary, hip-hop and tumbling. Students at the Dance Arts Center not only learn grace, poise and confidence, but they also gain a lifelong appreciation of dance, and develop skills such as team work, time management and problem solving.
11:30 a.m. – RiverSong (choral): RiverSong, of Sweet Adelines International, is a fellowship of women singers committed to personal and musical growth through ongoing education and performance. RiverSong (formerly the St. Joseph Show Chorus) has a long tradition of participating in competitions and winning top honors. As the chorus grew in numbers and knowledge, their success continued, including 13 regional championships. The chorus traveled to compete in such exciting cities as London, England; Portland, Oregon; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Honolulu, Hawaii, and placed as high as 2nd place at the international contest.
12:45 p.m. – Mary Beth Rosenauer (vocal/piano): Mary Beth Rosenauer is the winner of this year’s St. Joe’s Got Talent. She graduates from Missouri Western this spring with hopes of becoming a band director. Mary Beth enjoys singing, piano, clarinet, saxophone and trombone. She is also a member of the local band Foxlin and works at the recently opened Tiger’s Den in downtown St. Joseph.
1:30 p.m. – Dance Arts Center
2:30 p.m. – The Barbecutioners (rock)
4 p.m. – Grindstone Creek (country): Grindstone Creek is a good-time alternative/country rock band with pop sensibilities. They are a group of friends that like to have fun and play music together, performing original music as well as covering an assortment of today’s country music hits and a few classics that everybody really enjoys. They’ve branded themselves as “Redneck Bonfire Music,” best explained as good-time tunes you can sit around and enjoy listening to with your friends.
6 p.m. – One Headlight High (pop punk): Hailing from the small town of Tarkio, Missouri is a group of five early-twenties pop/punk friends: Tyler McIntosh, Danny Hogue, Tim Miller, Ethan Piveral, and Duston Noland, known collectively as One Headlight High. The band got their start in February 2010 when four high school friends decided to start creating music together. Ethan, Tyler and Duston are the current founding members of the band. One Headlight High is a pop/punk rock band with an alternative rock feel and very catchy melodies, influenced by bands such as All Time Low, Yellowcard, Blink 182, A Day To Remember and The Wonder Years.
Sunday, Aug. 22
11:30 a.m. – Maria the Mexican (soul/Mexicana): Influenced by traditional mariachi music, Maria the Mexican is a hybrid of Mexican folklore and rock. For ten years, Teresa and Maria Elena Cuevas performed with Marachi Estrella founded by their grandmother Teresa Cuevas in 1970. As one of the first all-female mariachi bands in the country, Maria Teresa Alonzo Cuevas is a pioneer in the Hispanic musical community. Her band flourished in the 80s but was struck by tragedy when four of the seven members were killed in the Hyatt Skywalk collapse in 1981. Once Teresa recovered she began teaching her grandchildren mariachi music. In 2000, Teresa and Maria began exploring other genres of music while simultaneously co-directing Mariachi Estrella. Today the fusion of Maria the Mexican is mixed with a touch of blues, soul, funk and rock n’ roll enhanced by the musical knowledge and sounds of Garrett Nordstrom. With a southwestern flair and melancholy motifs, Maria the Mexican rocks it out in Spanish and English with a host of emotion.
Family Stage
Saturday, Aug. 22
10:30 a.m. – Parasol Puppets: Peter Allen has performed as a puppeteer and actor for 50 years. Born in England, he began doing puppet shows at the tender age of eight. Peter has performed puppet shows in England, Scotland, Germany, Canada and the USA. Peter moved to Hawaii when he married puppeteer Debbie Lutzky in 1986. Debbie Lutzky Allen has a master’s degree in theatre and puppetry and has been a working puppeteer since 1979. She taught in numerous schools, conducting residencies to emphasize language arts through puppetry. As a company of solo puppeteers, Peter and Debbie successfully performed and taught puppetry from their Hawaii base for 10 years. In 1997, Peter, Debbie and Parasol Puppets moved to a farm outside of Jamesport, Missouri. From this central location, they continue to tour with their puppet performances to the East Coast, West Coast, Hawaii, Canada and many points in between.
11:30 a.m. – Inspirations Dance Interactive Dance: Bring your children Saturday morning for a children’s interactive dance session led by Inspirations Dance Studio. This is the perfect opportunity to let your kids run off energy, while learning some new dance moves.
12:15 p.m. – Inspirations Dance Center (dance): Inspirations Dance Center has taught technique and appreciation, inspiring students to love dancing for a lifetime, since it opened in Savannah, Missouri in 2008. With a move to a larger facility in 2014, Inspirations continues to share the art of dance. Inspirations dancers perform often at community events for the United Way, Special Olympics, Royal Family Kids Camp, Moila Shriners, St. Joe Mustangs and East Hills Mall.
1:15 p.m. – Tunes of Fun (children): Tunes of Fun Music Class involves music and movement for children. Children sing, dance, march, jump, skip, play instruments and have fun. Children at a very young age can learn early music skills such as keeping a steady beat, matching pitch and repeating rhythms.
2 p.m. – The Wires (cello and violin duo): The Wires are an alternative exploration in string sound. Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, the Wires compose and perform original music for violin and cello. Inspired by a myriad of genres and eclectic sounds, the Wires are not your typical strings group. The project encompasses a blend of wide-ranging styles, from tango to gypsy, jazz to rock and infused with the precision of classical form, created, composed and performed by Laurel Morgan (violin) and Sascha Groschang (cello).
3 p.m. – Mary Beth Rosenauer
4 p.m. – Zale Bledsoe singer/songwriter
6 p.m. – Foxlin (indie/pop/folk): Foxlin is an Indie/Folk band from Saint Joseph, Missouri. Starting as a solo passion project for songwriter Ryan Johnson, Foxlin is developing into a full band with catchy, throwback melodies and cautionary tales of love and loss.
7 p.m.- Best Family Dance Party: Bring your whole family with your dancing clothes on, because we are having a family dance party.
Saturday
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Heat index values as high as 95. Breezy, with a south southeast wind 8 to 13 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday Night
Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Low around 61. South wind 7 to 15 mph becoming west northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 75. North northwest wind 11 to 13 mph.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 51.
Monday
Sunny, with a high near 80.
Monday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 55.
Tuesday
Sunny, with a high near 79.
Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 58.
Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 82.
Wednesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 59.
Frazier Glenn Miller, aka Frazier Glenn Cross, Jr.A jury was seated Friday in the capital murder trial of a Missouri white supremacist who said he had a “moral obligation” to kill three people at a pair of Jewish sites in Kansas City. As it turns out the victims were all Christians.
Prosecutors and defendant Frazier Glenn Cross, also known as Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., have spent the week trying to cull 17 jurors from a pool of 200. The jury is made up of eight women and nine men including five alternates.
Opening statements are planned Monday.
The Aurora, Missouri,man has publicly admitted firing the shots that killed 69-year-old William Corporon, 14-year-old Reat Griffin Underwood and 53-year-old Terri LaManno on April 13th, 2014. The 74-year-old avowed white supremacist says he didn’t know none of the victims was Jewish.
Miller is representing himself in a case that could result in the death penalty. Johnson County Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan has warned him that any outbursts in front of jurors could result in a mistrial.
His courtroom behavior during the weeklong jury selection process has been more subdued than at earlier hearings.
The City of Trenton is warning residents of issues surrounding an upcoming sanitary sewer system testing needed to locate existing and potential sources of infiltration/inflow.
The city has hired TREKK Design Group to document flow measurement, manhole inspections and smoke testing activities.
The city says most of the project will take place with little to no impact on customer. However, when smoke testing is done it said customers could see smoke coming from the vent stacks on houses or holes in the ground but that it is non-toxic, harmless and has no order nor does it create a fire hazard.
“The smoke will not enter your house if the plumbing is installed properly and drain traps are not dry,” the city said in a news release. “If smoke does enter your residence or business it is recommended that you consult your plumber.”
It said if the smoke can enter there is also a potential for dangerous sewer gasses to enter.
48 hours prior to smoke testing door notifications will be distributed at each home in the area being tested.
For more information call City Hall at (660) 359-2281.
Shana Meyer will chair the festival next year. This year it’s all about pots and pansNext year she’s the chair of the Trails West! festival. This year she’s rattling pots and pans.
Shana Meyer was among a few dozen folks putting the finishing touches on Civic Center Park before this year’s opening on Friday.
Ms Meyer was clearly enjoying herself setting up, surrounded as she was by some old and battered kitchen utensils.
“This is going to be the percussion playground for the kiddos,” she said. “So, we will hang all these up, and they will be able to play the drums to their hearts content.”
We also spoke with Steve Groshong, the Director of Operations for Buchanan County EMS. We asked Steve if they learned anything new last year for the new ambulance service’s first Trails West!
“I’ve been in EMS for 30 years in St Joe, and I’ve been handling this festival as long as it’s been here as far as the EMS side of the house,” Groshong says, “and we learn something every year.”
“Last year we’ve learned how to use the Internet better, being able to watch the weather, and keep tabs on those sorts of things a little bit better than we have in the past. We have some new technology and we’ve got things working a little bit better than they used to.”
Groshong says people will start lining up to get in by about three o’clock, and, in his words, “we when they open the gates, the herd will come in.”
The gates open at five p.m. Friday at Civic Center Park, next to City Hall in downtown St Joseph.
Bankers Bridge Work Photo courtesy MoDOTST. JOSEPH, Mo. – For the past few weeks, the 5,000 motorists who use U.S. Route 59 south of St. Joseph each day, had to find a different route to reach their destination.
What was originally planned as a 30-day closure to tie the new, wider, safer Bankers Crossing Bridge into the existing roadway had to be extended due to weather. The road has been closed since Monday, July 13. Contractors plan to open the new Bankers Crossing Bridge to all traffic later this evening.
The bridge replacement project began earlier this year as contractors built a new, wider bridge alongside the old bridge, which was built in 1936, was only 24-feed wide with no shoulders, was structurally deficient, and had limited sight distance due to the curve of the roadway. The new bridge is wider, has added shoulders for safety, and realigns the roadway.
Health officials in Kansas have expanded their list of lakes affected by blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria
KDHE lists three lakes in our area on the warning list, including Sabetha City Lake, Nemaha State Fishing Lake, and Brown County State Fishing Lake.
Lakes under a warning are not closed. Marinas, lakeside businesses and park camping facilities are open for business. If swim beaches or lakes are closed, it will be specifically noted. Drinking water and showers at parks are safe and not affected by algae blooms.
Boating and fishing are safe on lakes under a Warning, but contact with the water should be avoided. It is safe to eat fish caught during a harmful blue-green algae outbreak, as long as the fish is rinsed with clean water; consume only the fillet portion and discard all other parts. Hands should also be washed with clean water after handling fish taken from an affected lake.
Kansans should be aware that blooms are unpredictable. They can develop rapidly and may float around the lake, requiring visitors to exercise their best judgment. If there is scum, a paint-like surface or the water is bright green, avoid contact and keep pets away. These are indications that a harmful bloom may be present. KDHE and KDWPT urge pet owners to be particularly mindful of the presence of blue-green algae. Pets that swim in or drink water affected by a harmful algal bloom or eat dried algae along the shore may become seriously ill or die.
Public Health Warning: High levels of toxic blue-green algae have been detected. A Public Health Warning indicates that activities like boating and fishing may be safe; however, direct contact with water (i.e., wading, skiing and swimming) is strongly discouraged for people, pets and livestock.
Kansas public waters currently under a Warning status:
BROWN COUNTY STATE FISHING LAKE, Brown County
CHISHOLM CREEK PARK LAKE, Sedgwick County
CRYSTAL LAKE, Anderson County
WILDLIFE, PARKS AND TOURISM KIDS POND, Pratt County
MCPHERSON COUNTY STATE FISHING LAKE, McPherson County
MELVERN RIVER POND (Not Melvern Lake), Osage County
MEMORIAL PARK LAKE, Barton County
MILFORD RESERVOIR (Zones B and C), Clay, Dickinson and Geary Counties
NEMAHA STATE FISHING LAKE, Nemaha County
PLAINVILLE TOWNSHIP LAKE, Rooks County
SABETHA CITY LAKE, Nemaha County
