1950 FORD MEET ANGELA LANGE SEASONS CHANGE

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mation projects and five national
parks: Crater Lake in Washington,
Wind Cave in South Dakota,
Sullys Hill (now a national game
preserve) in North Dakota, Platt
(now Chickasaw Recreation Area)
in Oklahoma, and Mesa Verde in
Colorado.
Oh, and his life’s work so
inspired a man named James
Burritt McHose that McHose followed
Roosevelt’s example and
took matters into his own hands.
In July 1924 — 88 years ago this
month — McHose and his wife,
Ella, donated some 200 acres on
the southwest side of Boone to
be preserved for the enjoyment
of future generations of local residents.
“He was a real visionary,” says
Dr. John Murphy. “I can’t imagine
that he could have dreamed it
would turn out this well.”
The retired local physician is
a bit of a visionary himself. In
their own individual ways, both
McHose and Murphy have followed
in Roosevelt’s footsteps,
working in their own community
to preserve its very best features
for the good of future generations.
After all, not every county
can have a national park, but the
beauty of America has never been
limited to just a few geographic
areas, and every American, at
some point or another, needs a
6 Boone Living JULY | 2012 www.iowalivingmagazines.com/boone
Boone Park officials have worked hard to provide comfortable restrooms at local
parks, such as this across from the Herman Park Pavillion, but vandalism continues to
be a concern.
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Photo by Lori Berglund
place to walk barefoot in the grass
or rest under the shade of an old
oak tree.
Murphy, who is often better
known as “Boone’s Johnny
Appleseed,” is on a mission to
educate local residents about the
generosity of the McHose family
— as well as other local park
33
total years
of financial
service!
Jerry Ober
17 years of service
Jamie Sonksen
18 years of service
Ann Hefler
16 years of service
benefactors — and to inspire
future generations not only to
preserve what has been given to
us but to build on that legacy ourselves.
One of his primary goals was
met in the last few years when a
kiosk was added behind the large
statue of Roosevelt at McHose
Park. Murphy wanted to ensure
that people passing by the impressive
statue could learn why it’s
there.
“McHose was a devotee of
Teddy Roosevelt and to donate
the land, he required the city to
put up a statue to Roosevelt,”
Murphy explains.
McHose died in 1927, not long
after the park’s dedication, but
the statue was not erected until
decades later. Sicilian-born artist
Vincenzo Miserendino was commissioned
to create the statue,
which was then delayed when
bronze was diverted by the war
effort in the early 1940s. The
4,000 pound bronze statue was
finally cast in New York in 1946
Tonya Lundberg
15 years of service
Andrea Smiley
5 years of service
Patty Brittain
3 years of service