Fall 2012 - Miller County Museum

Volume 4, Issue 3Fall, 2012Miller CountyHistorical Society2 0 0 5 H W Y . 5 2 , T U S C U M B I A , M O 6 5 0 8 2H O T C H I L I a n d C O O L C A R SPlan now to attend the final event of the 2012 museumseason scheduled for Saturday, October 20.The annual chili dinner and car show will takeplace from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm on that date. Musicwill be provided by the Joe Jeffries group and LarryFlaugher will be coordinating the classic car event.The show cars will be parked in the county courthouseparking lot which will allow visitors withspecial needs to park close to the museum building.A lunch of chili, dessert and drinks will be offeredfor $5.00/person and we’ll have tables set up forvisiting in both downstairs rooms. The drawing forthe beautiful quilt made by Elva Steen will be in theafternoon.Elva Steen and QuiltP i g ‘ N P i c k l e sTuscumbia celebrated its sesquicentennial (175 years) with a ‘Pig andPickle Fest’ at the Riverside Park Saturday, September 8. The MillerCounty Museum hosted an exhibit showcasing photos of that area,known as Goosebottom, from the late1800s and early 1900s featuring businessesand houses no longer in existence.Also included were pictures ofthe great floods that had caused theirdemise. Our featured exhibit was this year’s raffle quilt, but we alsodisplayed several older quilts from various community sewing circles.We had a lot of visitors and sold many raffle tickets

P a g e 2A l a n S u l l i v a n ’ sB a g n e l l D a m H i s t o r yAlan Sullivan, consulting engineer for Ameren at BagnellDam, presented a power point enhanced history of theconstruction of Bagnell Dam to our volunteers, boardmembers, visitors and guests Monday, September 24.Because Alan was raised in Tuscumbia, his appearancewas a true homecoming. He was uniquely qualified totell the Lake of the Ozarks story: he not only has beenemployed with the company for 37 years, but shared personalmemories of his Grandpa Elmer Slone and UncleLloyd Slone and their work on the original constructionof the dam. The lower level of our museum houses awonderful photo collage of that work which was acquiredby a former MCHS president, Wilma Link. Plan a visit tosee how Lake of the Ozarks was created!Alan Sullivan and Gary CarrenderM C H S F o u n d a t i o n G i f tG. R. Keeth of Iberia (pictured left) recently hand-delivered a $5,000.00check and asked that it be deposited in the MCHS Foundation account inmemory of his wife, Jean Pemberton Keeth, who passed away August28, 2010. We were thrilled that he chose to honor Jean with this sizeablecontribution. Jean won the ‘Best of Show’ prize for her entry into our2009 quilt show and she and G.R. were great supporters of the museum.Their son, Greg, currently serves on the museum’s board of directors andtheir son-in-law, Chad Rushing, is on the Foundation’s board. Thank you,G. R. and the Keeth family.S t u d e n t T o u r sC h u r c h L u n c h e o nWe have been happy to host schoolgroups at the museum again this fall.Tuscumbia’s 8 th and 9 th grade classestoured one morning in late August,with the 6 th , 7 th and 8 th graders comingin the afternoon. The teacherswere well-prepared to highlight theMiller County artifacts, taking timeto explain the various exhibits. Asusual, the cabins and the outhousewere a hit with the youngsters.Tuscumbia StudentsOne of our board members, Gary Carrender, is a teacher at Columbia College inOsage Beach. He brought his history class to the museum for in-depth researchopportunities as they prepared for one of their assignments spotlighting MillerCounty history.Members of Mt. Zion ChurchMembers of the Mt.Zion Church shareda ‘brown-bag lunch’at the museum afterchurch on Sunday,August 26, and thenenjoyed a tour of allthe exhibits. Jim andNancy Clark spearheadedthis event togive their fellowchurch members amore opportunetime to visit themuseum.The Miller County Historical Society is always eager to host members of clubs and organizationsat our museum. When given advance notice, we are very willing to provide special tours.

P a g e 4M i l l e r C o u n t y H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t yS u m m e r S e a s o nOur summer season is quickly drawing to a close and once again it has been quite successful. The Ice Cream Social in July was very well attendedand the Civil War Exhibit on loan from the Missouri State Archives was quite a hit. A quick count of our guest registry showed morethan 1000 visitors this summer. We are so grateful to the board members and others who serve as docents from Mid-May thru the close of themuseum each October. If any of our readers would like to participate in any of the museum activities, please contact us. We’d love to have you!C o n t r i b u t i o n s & M e m o r i a l sTo the Miller County Historical Society:To the MCHS Foundation, Inc.:John and Megan PryorGary Flaugher, Rebecca L. Poertner, Dr. Paul and MarjorieHoward, Philip Bear, Joe and Judy Pryor, Carl Jarrett, ThomasW. Albertson, Harold and Gail Strange, Cindy Hart, Alan T.Wright, William F. HarveyMemorial Designations:In Honor of Jean Pemberton KeethIn Honor of Mrs. Harrison (Althea) MaceG. R. KeethLois WebbDesignated Giving:In Honor of Joe PryorJudith James WydickAs always, we are grateful for your generosity and support. Thank you!Our dues for 2012 remain the same. You can show your support for our organization and museum by fillingout the application below and sending it, along with your payment , to: P.O. Box 57 Tuscumbia, MO 65082Miller County Historical SocietyMembership RegistrationPlease fill in the form and mark your membership choice belowName:__________________________________________________________Address_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Home Phone: _____________________ Work Phone: ___________________Email Address: _____________________________________________________________Individual membership—$10__________ Family membership—$15__________ Individual lifetime membership—$50__________ Institutional Sustaining Members—$15 per organizationVisit our web site:http://millercountymuseum.orgP.O. Box 57Tuscumbia, MO 65082Ph: (573) 369-3500Email: millercountymuseum@att.net