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ISSN 87501899

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River HillsTravelerVOL. 41, NO. 6 DECEMBER 1, 2013 ST. CLAIR, MO 63077

Art ..................... 3, 10Books ................ 13Calendar ................ 14Classified .......... 17-18Editorial ................... 5Fishing..................... 8History............... 2, 16

Hunting ........... 4, 6, 7Indians ................... 16Nature .........11, 13, 19Outdoor news .......... 6Recipes .................. 15SunMoon ............... 14RV Show...........Insert

Fewer roads, lower boat hp, horse trails

By BARBARA GIBBS OSTMANN

This month’s cover subject, Al Agnew, one of the country’s most respected fish and wildlife artists, has supplied many cover illustrtions for Traveler over the past 30

years. Agnew is a man who is blessed to be able to earn a living doing what he loves to do. Agnew, who was born in Desloge and now lives near Ste. Genevieve, has been interested in the outdoors and art his entire life. He has successfully combined the two in his art career. His father and grandfather took him fishing or hunting almost every weekend when he was a boy. When he was nine, he rode his bike to the river to fish, and by the time he was 14, he floated the river in a small johnboat. He won some local bass fishing tournaments while in high school and used the winnings to buy a canoe and bass boat. By the time he enrolled in Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, he had already sold some paintings. He graduated with a teaching degree and

an art major. For seven years in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, Agnew taught art to elementary and high school students in Advance, which is southwest of Cape Girardeau. It was during this time that he became

friends and fishing buddies with Bob and Pat Todd, founders of River Hills Traveler. “I don’t remember exactly how we got to know each other, but Bob started writing about our fishing trips and I provided artwork to go with his stories. It was all black and white back then,” says Agnew. “Later I started writing some articles. I’ve heard Bob say that he’d have taken the articles no matter how bad they were just to get the artwork.” It was the beginning of a treasured friendship between Agnew, the Todds and the readers of

Continued on Page 11

Art of theOzarks

IN HIS ELEMENT — Al Agnew divides time between Montana, where he has a home and studio on the banks of the Yellowstone River, and Missouri, where he has a home on an acreage near Ste. Genevieve. Photos and paintings courtesy of Al Agnew.

Agnew’s passion for art, outdoors takes him far

DETAILS, DETAILS — Lifelike details, down to each glistening fish scale and water droplet, are hallmarks of the Agnew style.

Art of theOzarks

EDITION

By JO SCHAPER The long awaited Draft General Management Plan (DGMP) for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, in its preferred alternative, calls for reducing road access to the Current and Jacks Fork rivers, low-ering boat horsepower limits on some stretches, eliminating motorized boats on others and generally moving management of the Riverways to a more environmentally-protective position. A federally-protected Wilderness Area at Big Spring is also proposed. The DGMP was posted on the National Park Service planning website on Nov. 8. Due to the massive size of the document (534 pages) the NPS distributed only a few paper copies to local librar-ies and officials, leaving much of the non-digitally adept public wondering what it contains, even two weeks later as we go to press. The Plan consists of four alternatives; No Action, and Alternatives A, B and C. Here’s a brief sum-mary of each alternative, all of which are subject to a 60-day comment period and three public meet-ings. When a final plan is finally adopted, it will be used to guide management of the Riverways over the next 20 years.

Alternative B, the Park Service’s preferenceThe NPS Preferred Alternative (Plan B) would:• move park management to a more environmen-tally conservative position• restrict road access to the rivers

• lower horsepower limits• establish non-motorized stretches on both the Jacks Fork and Current Rivers• change protocols for backcountry camping• eliminate motorized access to certain gravel bars

and initiate designated vehicle camping only on others.• initiate a rule change to permit 60/40 motors• establish an education center at Powder Mill, and ramp up historic and cultural research and add more park programs to tell visitors about the natural and cultural Ozarks. Plan B would add 35 miles of new horse trail, re-

vise the 23 miles now existing, and remove 65 miles of unauthorized trail. Some river trail crossings and informal vehicle paths would be obliterated. The Upper Jacks Fork (Blue Spring) and Logyard campgrounds would be expanded and improved. Campers at backcountry campsites would incur a fee, with some continuing to have tables, restrooms, and other amenities. Primitive campgrounds would not incur a fee, but some roads to such camp-grounds would be closed.

Continued on Page 13

Riverways Draft GMP recommends

HEAVY READING — The Draft General Management Plan for the Ozark National Riverways is 534 pages long and when put in binders, as tall as a standard ink pen. District 3 U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer’s office was good enough to give Traveler a copy. The docu-ment is available online. Jo Schaper photo.

Division of State Parksscoops up Camp Zoe

Missouri state parks announced November 25 that the state has acquired the 330-acre Camp Zoe property. It is located near Current River State Park and downstream from Montauk State Park. It also abuts the 64,000-acre Roger Pryor Pioneer Back-country, a L-A-D Foundation property managed by

Continued on Page 13

December 2013-January 2014 RIVER HILLS TRAVELER -- PAGE 2

New! Revised! Expanded!A Paddler’s Guide to MissouriIt’s Oz Hawksley’s original book from 1965 plus a whole lot more:

• 9 x 11 inches, gorgeous color phots, lay-flat spiral binding. Put it inside a sealable, clear bag and read while you float without flipping pages.

• Maps & details of popular float streams plus lesser-known streams & tributaries.

• Along with updated, easy-to-read maps, de-scriptions of access points, camping, state parks and conservation areas.

ONLY $895 + plus tax & shipping

To order send $13.70 to River Hills Traveler, P.O. Box 245, St. Clair, MO 63077 or phone Jo at 800-874-8423, ext. 2 with your credit card in hand

By STEVE PARSONS Grace Virginia Bacon Ferrier passed away February 26, 2011, two days short of her 98th birthday. She taught for over 40 years in Missouri’s public school systems and authored two acclaimed books: “Teacher, Teacher, I Done It! I Done it! I Done Done It!,” in 1986, and “Post Oak Sprouts Along Belly Ache Creek,” in 2001. Grace was a mentor, an inspiration to all who knew her, and a dear friend. She held a wealth of knowledge and stories. Here is one she gave me.

Centuries ago, in early December, Germans—especially Bavarians and Rhinelanders—celebrated

the feast day of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of schoolboys, through their creation of Pelz Nichol, German for “Furry Nicholas,” as an alter-ego to kindly old St. Nick. These Teutons evidently wanted to remind villagers that God could be either harsh or loving. Think “Bad Santa” vs. “Good Santa.” In each village, the local Pelz Nichol (Americanized now, to “Belsnickle.”) a masked man dressed in furs, went from door to door, exhorting children to recite their grischtdachs schtick, the poems they had memorized for church services that evening. After each command performance, Belsnickle withdrew several handsful of nuts and sweets from his robes, scattering the goodies across the floors of the homes he visited. As the children scurried to pick up the treats, Furry Nicholas whipped them lightly about the legs with a peeled willow wand. Finished with his fun, Belsnickle snacked on freshly baked

cookies offered to him by the lady of the house, and imbibed hard cider or home-made wine from the flowing jug proffered by the children’s father. Following several such village stops, the old elf became jolly—very jolly. Over time, the traditions associated with the Feast of St. Nicholas merged with the celebration of the birth of Christ, and became part of American culture. Clement Clarke Moore, with his poetry, and Thomas Nast, with his imagery, pieced together, and cemented forever, in our collective mind, the Santa we know today. Christmas Eve 1920. Osage County, Missouri. The Bacon children eagerly await the arrival of Santa Claus at their isolated country home. A new Santa. A different Santa. (An unreconstructed Santa.) A rumble and a grumble, accompanied by loud footsteps, approaches their front door, then stops. Four young minds, on the other side, spin wildly with

anticipation. Santa Claus! No knock. The door bursts wide open. Santa Claus??!! Wonderment quickly changed to fear for six-year-old Grace. Who was this impostor? He was old and he kind of looked like an elf, alright, but he certainly wasn’t jolly! He growled and fumed and demanded that she recite the “piece” she had learned for church that night. In a language she could barely understand. And he looked like a bear! And he carried

a whip! Grace had just met Cooper Hill’s resident “Belsnickle,” the community physician, Doctor Leach, in disguise. Grace had grown up in a fully-Americanized French-Irish-Methodist enclave several miles to the west. Now she was surrounded by old-country German Evangelical Lutherans and the culture clash had just jumped up a notch. “Doc used to play Santa Claus

whether you wanted him to, or not,” Grace reminisced at the time. “He was a short, little man, almost as wide as he was tall. He had a bearskin coat and brought a whip and he would demand that we kids give a speech.” Although Grace’s early impression of Doc was not favorable, he was a big-hearted, gentle man, and eventually became part of the Bacon family when his son, Irvin, married Grace’s sister, Mae. Nevertheless, Doc’s desire to weld the community together at times, had unintended consequences. “When I was about 10 years old,” Grace recalled, “Doc fixed bags of candy with cotton netting (for the Christmas program at school). The weather turned warm by Christmas Eve and the candy got sticky. What a mess! We were all stuck together.” By the time the “Coca-Cola” version of Santa had become universal in the Cooper Hill area, Grace had graduated high school and had become the teacher at Osage County’s Horseshoe Bend School, high on a ridge over-looking the Gasconade River. The Friday before Christmas, 1932. The weather that year had been unseasonably warm for some time. During the last three weeks, Grace, and six of her 13 pupils, had planned and refined the “singing” they were to put on that afternoon. They rehearsed over and over again such favorites as “Silent Night, Holy Night,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Away in the Manger.” (This, of course, was before courts banned religious observances in schools.) Teachers, at the time, were expected to provide treats for their charges, so Grace ordered, by mail, a three-gallon galvanized bucket of candy from Sears for $1.49. She placed the candy into paper bags, adding oranges and peanuts for variety. For visiting families and friends, Grace bought a box of lemon and peppermint candy sticks, so that

everyone could have a choice. She also arranged recitals of the Christmas story by some of her younger pupils, a dialogue to be performed by the older students, and a solo vocalist to round out the

entertainment. To cap off the festivities, she had coaxed her 16-year-old brother, “Bud” (George, Jr.), to play Santa, disguised in a costume sister Mae had sewn together from material mail-ordered from Sears. Afternoon came, and all was going well. Too well. Then Bud pulled in an hour before schedule, chugging up unheralded into the schoolyard in the Bacon’s yellow Model “T” Ford in full view of the children—

as parents were still arriving. Bud, as Santa, was busted. Figuratively and literally. Grace’s mother had failed to provide Bud with enough rope to tie up his pillow-stuffed girth. As Bud departed the buggy, he looked less like Santa bearing gifts and more like Napoleon having fits as he desperately clutched at one sack of feathers (which had settled into a pants leg) with his left hand, while keeping his right hand thrust between the buttons of his jacket to hold up the other pillow. He lurched into school thoroughly embarrassed, miserably hot, and remained seated during the entire program. Bud later vowed to his mother that he would never play Santa again. Although Bud’s day as St. Nicholas was over, the costume carried on without him. It was passed around from school to school and from church to church, to anyone who wanted to use it. “The last time I saw that suit was about 25 years later,” Grace recalled. “It was in rags and tatters, but had served its purpose well.” By this time, Doc’s bearskin coat was also in rags and tatters. It, too, had served its purpose well.

Belsnickle scares kids set for gentle, jolly SantaOsage County culture clash, circa 1920

FURRY NICHOLAS — Pelz Nichol, Americanized to Belnickle, was a darker sort of St. Nick in the Teutonic tradition. Photo courtesy of The National Christmas Center.

COCA-COLA SANTA — Advertising illustrations by Coca-Cola, such as this one from 1947, depict the jol-lier Santa of American culture that emerged in the first half of the 1900s.

“Kenny”by Judy Ressell

2nd Place - People in NatureAdult Division

Mingo Swamp Friends Photo Contest 2013

See the exhibit of winning photosat the August A. Busch WildlifeNature Center, Weldon Springs,

in December, and Powder ValleyConservation Nature Center,

Kirkwood, in January.Sponsored by West Side Camera837 N. KingshighwayCape Girardeau, MO 63701

573-335-4334http://www.WSCamera.com

December 2013-Janary 2014 RIVER HILLS TRAVELER -- PAGE 3

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780 N. Commercial• P.O. Box 245 • St. Clair, MO 63077

By BARBARA GIBBS OSTMANN

Glen Broombaugh of Potosi wants to help you weave some memories. Weaving is a pastime

that combines soothing repetitive motions with artistic satisfaction, as the results of one’s efforts materialize in the final woven product, be it place mat, table runner, shawl or rug. Many people would like to learn to weave, but are stymied by the size and cost of traditional floor looms. To the rescue comes Glen and his Shannondale loom, an affordable, portable, four-harness loom. Glen, 81, is a tinkerer and weaver from way back. His first weaving project was for an art class in college. He taught high school industrial arts for nine years in Caledonia and 21 years

in Potosi. During this time, he combined his interest in weaving with his skill in building and made himself a loom,

using a set of plans he found in a book. He then became interested in spinning, built a spinning wheel, and taught himself to spin. In 1993, he began teaching four-harness weaving at the Christianson Native Craft Workshop, a week-long event held each summer at the Shannondale

Community Center near Salem in Shannon County. He taught there

Continued on Page 6

Potosi loom builderpromotes weavingas path to peace

“As the shuttles go back and forth, may your

thoughts be pleasant and the thread you weave from day to day be in harmony with God’s

plan.”— Glen Broombaugh

Glen Broombaugh crafts his Shannondale looms from red oak and finishes them with tung oil. The loom’s name is a tribute to the Christianson Native Craft Workshop held annually at Shannondale. He wants weavers who use the loom to experience the tranquility found at Shannondale. Barbara Gibbs Ostmann photo.

Art of theOzarks

December 2013- January 2014 RIVER HILLS TRAVELER -- PAGE 4

Trav’s Specially Selected

BOOKS & DVDS FOR HUNTERS

Meacham’s cast of recurring small-town characters resides in or around mythical Kickapoo County. Meet Ferguson “Two-By” Foreman and To-bias Oarknott of the Reddy-Oarknott Funeral Home and many others. The

Red Green Show doesn't have a thing on Meacham's brand of outdoors humor. 192 pages, paperback. $10

Basic guide covers turkey life cycle and habits, hunting calls, gear, scouting, outsmarting this wily bird and the differences in spring and fall hunting plus tales of the turkey woods. Over 50 photos. Softcover, 258 pgs. $24.95.

Ray Eye’s PracticalTurkey Hunting Strategies

"Honey, He ShrunkMy Head!"by John Meacham

For fishing, Missouri history and Ozarks

culture titles,shop online at

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the day, hunting positions, and how to outwit turkeys. Illustrated w/ 200 color photo-graphs,. 224 pages, softcover. $24.95.

Helgenberg thinks about deer hunting all the time - while fishing, while teaching his girls to build a fire - all the time. The total experi-ence is part of the hunt, especial-ly the camping, the friendships, coping with weather conditions. This broad outlook on deer hunt-ing is why Howard found space in the magazine I edited." - Bob Todd, former owner/ editor, River Hills Traveler. 140 pgs. Softcover.$20.95

Deer Hunting in the Missouri Ozarksby Howard Helgenberg

SHIPPING, HANDLING & SALES TAX

Please add thse charges for shipping and handling: $4 for 1 book plus $1.25 each per additional book or DVD. For DVDs only, $2 for 1 DVD plus $1.25 per add’l DVD. Missouri residents, include 8.975% sales tax and ship-ping charges with your payment. If you have questions figuring these amounts, please call Jo Schaper at 800-874-8423, ext. 2

To order, send list of items and payment to River Hills Traveler, P.O. Box 245, St. Clair, MO 63077 or phone Jo Schaper, 800-874-8423, ext. 2 with your credit card in hand

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Traveler has publichunting lands infoavailable online Fall is the time for hunting. Most Missouri hunting takes place on private land, simply because there is more of if, but what if you are

from the city, or you are a beginning hunter, and don't have a connection to good private hunting land? There are thousands of acres of public land available for hunting in Missouri. River Hills Traveler has put to-gether an online information center to tell what public hunting lands are available, and the rules and regula-

tions that apply. The short version is: most Missouri Department of Conservation land is open to hunting, as is most National Forest land. National park land and Army Corps of Engineers land is a mixed bag. National Wildlife Ref-uges are open for some seasons. Generally state parks and historic

sites are no-hunting lands, but there are exceptions. The devil is in the details. Please go to http://rhtrav.com/wordpress/where-to-hunt-public-land/Then, plan your first (or next) public lands hunting trip.

Wow! That was a quick trip. It’s hard to believe 2013 is all but gone. Believe it or not, but,

this is the last issue of the old year and the first of 2014.

••••• In keeping with our year-end tradi-tion, we spotlight three Ozarks artists in this issue who work in different media to interpret the natural beauty of our region. You no doubt have already noticed that our cover and Page 1 subject is Al Agnew of Ste. Genevieve, an artist well-known both to long-time Trav-eler readers and to a lot more people who never heard of us. Al has shared his talents with Trav-eler readers for many years and we’re happy for the opportunity to help you know him and his wife Mary a little better. Weaver and loom builder Glen Broombaugh of Potosi is a pillar of the Christianson Native Craft Work-shop at Shannondale, where Barbara Gibbs Ostmann met him and many another story subject. Barb’s portrait of Glen, starting on Page 3, makes me think that weaving might be good therapy for a stressed-out publisher. We often read that Native Ameri-cans let no part of the wild animals they killed go to waste. I was remind-ed of that when I read Jo Schaper’s piece on our third artist. John Hub-

bard of Houston, Mo., makes highly-artistic and functional objects from animal parts like turkey toes, deer jawbones and water buffalo horns. The photo on Page 10 of John and his antler-handled fishing rod made me want to heft that rod in my hand. For me, one mark of good art is whether it makes me want to touch it. That’s caused me problems in museums.

••••• Jo Schaper and Barbara Gibbs Ostmann, who wrote our artist stories, have become my go-to people on major Traveler projects like last sum-mer’s Float Trip Edition, this fall’s Route 66/Fall Festival section and this month’s St. Louis RV, Vacation & Travel Show Guide. I had a good idea, albeit late, to interview RV owners and put those stories in the show guide. It was one of those things so obvious that I didn’t think of it until the last possible min-ute. I put the word out to the RV dealers, got the names of some customers who do interesting things or just have an extra good time with their RVs. Then Jo and Barb went to work. I think you’ll enjoy their stories. Along with a St. Peters man who loves his fifth wheel camper but not too-small campsites, and a Kirkwood

man who combines RVing and kayaking, Jo interviewed a blind fellow who gets a lot of pleasure out of camping in his trailer. We sighted people could probably learn some-thing from him about listening to the sounds of nature. Barb’s subjects included a Chesterfield couple who use their motorhome to boost fundraising for Big Brothers Big Sisters, an Illinois hus-

band and wife who enjoy taking their golden retriever along in the motor-home and an O’Fallon pair who found an unexpected second career leading RV caravans to Mexico, Canada and Alaska and other fun places. When my wife reads these stories the pressure will mount for us to adopt an RV lifestyle. It does sound attrac-tive. The one RV story we admire but won’t emulate is the one I wrote about a Wildwood man who uses his RV to travel the country hang gliding — when he’s not using it for crime scene investigation. Don’t miss the RV Show Guide inside this issue. And come see us at the Let’s Go Fishing Show in Collins-ville, Ill., Jan. 3-5 and the St. Louis RV Vacation Travel Show, downtown St. Louis, Jan. 9-12.

••••• Veteran Traveler writer Charlie

Slovensky was seriously injured when his deer stand collapsed near New Florence. His family has requested thoughts and prayers. His wife, Ra-mona, says Charlie has a challenging journey ahead as he heals. Send cards to 46 Guylyn Place, Valley Park, MO 63088.

••••• The creaking bureaucracy of the National Park Service has issued its Draft General Management Plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The GMP, when finalized, will shape management of the Riverways over the next two decades. As always, the issues look much different to those who have deep roots in the river country, own property and earn their living there and to those who come from outside the area to en-joy the resource once or several times a year. These two groups often knock heads and it’s easy to forget how much they need each other. Absent the visitors and much of the jobs and tax revenue in the river country go too. Without local businesses, visitors would be hard-pressed to find canoe outfit-ters, motels, cabins, restaurants and other services. Consider, too, the Park Service, charged by Congress with preserving the resource. It’s fitting in this season of goodwill to remind ourselves that we’re all in this outdoor world together.

December 2013-January 2014 RIVER HILLS TRAVELER -- PAGE 5

MAKIN’TRACKSBy Emery Styron

Periodical Rate postage paid at St. Louis, MO (ISSN 87501899)Copyright, 2011. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced in any form or by electronic means

including information storage systems, without written permission of the publisher. However, reviewers may quote brief passages, freelance writers may remarket materials, advertisers may reuse

their ad layouts without permission.

River Hills Traveler

Email:Editorial & Advertising inquiries: estyron@rhtrav.com

Digital ad art, pdfs & technical questions: adv@rhtrav.comSubscriptions: circ@rhtrav.com

www.riverhillstraveler.comSubscription Prices: $19 per year (includes $1.40 MO sales tax); 2 years, $33 (includes $2.42 MO sales tax)

(Subscription rates vary outside U.S.A. Please call.)

Single copy price, $2.59 plus sales tax. Back issues available up to one year from publication, $5 including sales tax & shipping.

Postmaster: Send changeof address notices to:

River Hills TravelerP.O. Box 245

ST. CLAIR, MO 63077

Published monthly (except December and January are combined) by Traveler Publishing Co. Known Office of Publication is 780 N. Commercial Ave., St. Clair, MO 63077.

Editor & Publisher: Emery StyronAssistant Editor: Jo Schaper

Frequent Contributing Communicators: Charlie Slovensky, Al Agnew, Bill Cooper, Don Rathert, Kath-leen Brotherton, Donna Featherston, Howard Helgenberg, Jo Schaper, Greg Rudroff, Josephine Coz-ean Styron, Bob Todd, Pat Todd, Steve Parsons, Barbara Gibbs Ostmann

780 N. Commercial, St. Clair, MO 63077 TOLL-FREE PHONE OR FAX: 800-874-8423

Printed onRecycledNewsprint

Periodical Rate postage paid at St. Louis, MO (ISSN 87501899)Copyright, 2011. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced in any form or by electronic means

including information storage systems, without written permission of the publisher. However, reviewers may quote brief passages, freelance writers may remarket materials, advertisers may reuse

their ad layouts without permission.

River Hills Traveler

Email:Editorial & Advertising inquiries: estyron@rhtrav.com

Digital ad art, pdfs & technical questions: adv@rhtrav.comSubscriptions: circ@rhtrav.com

www.riverhillstraveler.comSubscription Prices: $19 per year (includes $1.40 MO sales tax); 2 years, $33 (includes $2.42 MO sales tax)

(Subscription rates vary outside U.S.A. Please call.)

Single copy price, $2.59 plus sales tax. Back issues available up to one year from publication, $5 including sales tax & shipping.

Postmaster: Send changeof address notices to:

River Hills TravelerP.O. Box 245

ST. CLAIR, MO 63077

780 N. Commercial, St. Clair, MO 63077 TOLL-FREE PHONE OR FAX: 800-874-8423

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Year-end issue spotlights artists, RV owners, Riverways future

There’s nothing Trav likes better than letters from our readers.

Send to P.O. Box 245, St. Clair, MO 63077 or email estyron@rhtrav.com

Please sign your name and include a phone number in case we have questions.

TRAV’SMAILBAG

On the cover...At work in his home studio near Ste. Genevieve, Al Agnew paints a scene from one of his other favorite places, the Mountain West. Al is one of three nature artists featured in this month’s issue. Photo by Mary Agnew.

Emery, I was saddened to learn that the Pucky Huddle store burned (http://rhtrav.com/wordpress/davisville-gen-eral-store-aka-pucky-huddle-burns/ )In all my wanderings, only Davisville, Red Bird, and Bay (the latter two in Gasconade County) encapsulated what life must have been like a hundred or more years ago. Here were three, intact, basicallyuntouched communities, far off trav-eled roads, that clung to theiridentities despite pressures from the outside world and the ever-pervasive encroachment of mass media. These three villages, at the times I

visited them, still had their general stores, and a sense of community you could experience as locals came in

to shop, gossip, mail letters, and just generally socialize. All existed with-out pretense. I know that the end of the store shouldn't mean the end of all the things that made Davisville different. But you never know. I was reared near Bessville. In an area so far out in the boonies that even the roosters had watches. When our store (which my grand-father owned from the mid-'20's to the late 40's) closed in the 1970's, Bess-ville ceased to exist. My uncle, and a few others, inaugurated a "BessvilleFestival" to try to keep the sense of belonging alive. We had games,horse rides, a sound system, snacks,

and drinks. My uncle died. Sodid "Bess Fest" just a few years later. Without the movtivator, the motiva-tion was gone. After I did a story on Pucky Huddle for Bob Todd, I just had to takemy mom, my sister, Sheila, and her husband, Delzie, to see this out-of-the-way place. We enjoyed the cool, sheltered, valley. Saw the rocked in course that once powered the mill. Marveled at the geodes encrusted in the old school house and roamed the creek below the spring branch to see what we might find on our own. While researching my story for the Traveler, the postmistress told me her family once managed an elder care center next door. One spring, the creeks started rising so fast that they decided to evacuate. An elderly female resident, I was told, was raring to go.She already had her essentials bound up in a kerchief attached to abindle and was ready for an adven-ture. Where will tomorrow's stories come from?

Steve ParsonsMarble Hill

A DYING BREED — The Davisville Store, centerpiece of Davisville, a.k.a. Pucky Huddle, in southern Crawford County, was destroyed by fire Oct. 24. Photo courtesy of Davisville General Store Facebook page.

Pucky Huddle Store was unpretentious heart of rural community

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