Excelsior Springs Standard Archive

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July 1, 2008

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Waterfest a big hit all weekend

By ERIC COPELAND
Managing Editor

Though the "water" didn't stay out of Waterfest entirely -- a strong storm rolled through after dark Friday and there were a few sprinkles during Saturday morning's parade -- none of it kept the crowds away from downtown as Waterfest returned for a second year of new and improved celebration. Attendance at virtually every part of this year's festival was up from last year, and far beyond what was seen in 2004, the last year the festival was held before being revamped into its current version.

On Friday afternoon, when crowds would normally be a little on the sparse side, the combination of kids' games and a live remote by Radio Disney brought in dozens of families and hundreds of youngsters. The Radio Disney event was paired with a fundraiser for the Excelsior Springs High School Theatre Department, which is sending a group to the Fringe Festival in Scotland later this summer.

In addition, the Calico Quilters opened their annual quilt show at the Elms Resort & Spa; that exhibit remained open throughout the rest of the weekend as well.

And as the evening hours rolled around, more people began showing up. At 5 p.m. Friday, 11 youngsters earned trophies during the Little Miss and Mr. Waterfest Contest (watch in an upcoming edition for the winners' names). And before the Krazy Kats took the stage for an evening of oldies, Ray and Jerry Parker honored Police Chief John McGovern and School Resource Officer Paul White for their service to families in Excelsior Springs. Additionally, Vicky Bates recognized Wanda Dusek, Nanci Kincaid, Ron Prewitt and Ron's daughter, Tasha, for their work in raising money for the fireworks display.

Saturday started off with the Waterfest Parade, a lengthy procession that drew plenty of spectators for the more than 40 entries. Afterward, hundreds stuck around for the craft booths, food, activities and kids' games. The main stage was the site of a dog show and a musical performance by Miss Major and her Minor Mood Swings, plus an evening show by Allied Saints.

At dusk, the aforementioned fireworks display wowed crowds downtown and everywhere within sight of the sky above Siloam Mountain.

Sunday was a little more subdued. Some of the vendors' booths remained, but many festival-goers turned out to listen to musical performances by The 2nd Verse and St. John's CME Choir, to see the motorcycle and car shows or to watch or participate in water dodgeball.

To post a story, go to www.elmsresort.com and click on the 120th Anniversary link.

Elms to celebrate 120th anniversary

By KRISTIN RULON
Community News Reporter

It was burned to the ground -- twice.

It was where Harry S. Truman stayed the night he thought he lost the presidential election.

It survived the Great Depression and several other chances for its doors to officially close.

Those and others are some of the memories the Elms Resort and Spa has captured over the past 120 years.

This Friday, July 4, marks the Elms' 120th anniversary, and with it a year-long celebration begins.

After the mineral springs were discovered in the 1880s, the building of the Elms soon followed with its official opening on July 4, 1888.

According to the Elms web site, the first hotel burned in 1898, with the new one built in 1909. The Elms once again caught on fire and burned down again a year later.

The third and current Elms was complete in 1912, said Keith Winge, director of marketing and sales at the Elms.

As the years passed, the Elms began to grow in popularity until the Great Depression hit, which caused the hotel to file for bankruptcy in 1931, according to the Elms' web site.

New ownership in the 1930s brought in prominent figures such as Al Capone, Jack Dempsey and the New York Giants as well as the Elms' most famous guest: Harry S. Truman.

Nov. 4, 1948, Truman signed in at the hotel, no media knowing his whereabouts. That night, he retired early but was woken by the Secret Service, who told him to turn on the radio. It turned out he was winning the presidential race, though he thought he was going to lose, Winge said. The next day Truman went to the Democratic headquarters in downtown Kansas City to speak about his win and returned to the Elms to lodge one more evening.

Harry and Bess Truman (impersonators) plan to attend the Elm's 120th celebration, starting at 4 p.m. Friday on the back lawn of the Elms.

"The event is free and open the community," Winge said, "We want to stress that this is a community event."

Along with lawn games, artists, crafts and entertainment, proclamations by the city and state will be at 6 p.m.

Memorabilia will be on display with concessions and barbecue for sale.

Fireworks, shot from Siloam Mountain, conclude the evening's festivities.

The second annual Missouri Wine and Arts Festival, which is a Downtown Excelsior Partnership event, follows Saturday, also on the back lawn of the Elms.

Six Missouri wineries will be on hand, along with music and entertainment, beginning at noon. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

Preparation for this year's event began last year and brainstorming for the Elms' 125th anniversary has already begun, Winge said.

For the next year, the Elms is collecting stories of the Elms from the public. Three good stories have been posted on the web site so far, Winge said.

Tiger tourney roster is filled

There are no spaces left available in next week's Gregg Williams Tiger Golf Classic.

A waiting list has been set up for the tournament, which takes place July 11. Other events associated with the tourney are still open.

Absentee ballots now available

Clay County voters who will be away from their polling places for the Aug. 5 primary may cast an absentee ballot from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays through Aug. 4 at the Clay County Election Board Office, 100 W. Mississippi St., Liberty.

The Clay County Annex, 1901 NE 48th St., will be available for absentee voting from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays from July 21-Aug. 1, and both locations will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2.

July 9 is the last day to register for the August election, and requests for absentee ballots to be mailed must be received by 5 p.m. July 30. Voters may stop by either office for a sample ballot. For more info, call (816) 415-VOTE (8683).

Ray County voters should contact the Ray County Clerk for absentee ballot info.

Office closed for July 4 holiday

Due to the Independence Day holiday this Friday, the Friday issue of The Excelsior Springs Standard will instead be published Thursday, July 3.

The Town & Country Leader won't be affected, but the Standard and T&CL office will be closed Friday in observance of the holiday.

Ferril-Means hold 87th reunion

The Ferril-Means family held their 87th reunion at the Kemp M. Woods Hall at the Earnest Shepherd Youth Center near Liberty on Sunday, June 8.

Twenty-three members were in attendance, representing eight towns in Missouri and one in Kansas.

A 1937 reunion piece was one of the items displayed for the auction along with notebooks filled with pictures and family history.

Lee Moran from Liberty gave the blessing before the luncheon followed by the white elephant auction led by Virginia Walker.

The regular business meeting was conducted after the auction. The new officers elected were: Rockey Pence of Kearney, President; Roger Walker from Kearney, Vice-President; Debi Ferril from Kansas City, Kan., Secretary; and Marge Morgan from Liberty, Treasurer.

Prizes were awarded to Howard and Dorothy Ferril of Liberty for being married the longest, for 64 years.

Lloyd and Virginia Walker, of Orrick, were awarded for having the most family members in attendance.

Ed and Evelyn Kinkade of Columbia received recognition for traveling the farthest.

Aurora Elizabeth Gordon of Liberty was awarded for being the youngest in attendance.

John Means gave the report on the Means Cemetery. Betty Shannon reported on the donations she has received in memory of her late husband Alan.

Marge Morgan reported on the Shady Grove Cemetary, where a number of Ferrils are buried.

The reunion will be on the second Sunday of June next year at the same location.

Woodstove workshop set for July 12

Watkins Woolen Mill State Park and Historic Site are hosting a woodstove cooking workshop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 12.

The workshop will explore the basics of cooking on a woodstove as well as safety tips and cooking techniques.

Participants will get an opportunity to prepare and eat the meal they prepare in the summer kitchen.

The class only has a limited number of spaces available.

For more information and to register, contact Amanda Vansel at (816) 580 3387 or visit watkins.woolen.mill.state.historic.site@dnr.gov.

For more information about the park itself, located at 2600 Park Rd. in Lawson, go to www.mostateparks.com

Lang named new head coach for Tiger basketball program

By KIM SIMMONS
Standard Sports Editor

ESSD Activity Director Jesse Hall is happy to announce that Chad Lang has signed-on as the new ESHS Tiger head basketball coach for the upcoming school year. Lang comes to Excelsior from Kirksville, Mo.

"This will be Chad's first varsity basketball position," said Hall. "I think he will bring a lot of excitement to the program."

Lang is originally from northwest Iowa, is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and coached freshman basketball while teaching Social Studies in a large high school in Dubuque, Iowa.

"What drew me to Excelsior was all the good things I had heard about the community," said Lang. "I really enjoyed meeting with Jesse Hall. I think he is one of the better administrators around, and that always makes things easier."

Lang realizes that the Tiger basketball program lacks any kind of recent winning tradition, but he's excited about the kids who want to shoot hoops next season.

"I want to bring us back to the basics," said Lang. "We're building a foundation. We can't get caught up in the 'razzle-dazzle' of basketball. It's the fundamentals first."

Lang wants his team to be defensive-minded and fundamentally solid, and he is already working with Tiger athletes toward reaching that goal.

"I've worked with the kids for several weeks now," he said. "I will be asking them to do some things the opposite way of how they've done them in the past, but I want to build confidence in them. I want them to understand that the game is the ultimate team sport and that they can lean on each other. Our season will definitely be an open audition. Although things are going to change, I want the boys to enjoy the experience. I can promise that we won't ever lose a game due to lack of effort."

Lang will be teaching Social Studies at the high school, and his wife, Ericka, will be teaching third grade at Elkorn Elementary School.

"We hope to be moved into a house in Excelsior by the time school begins," Lang said. "I'm very thankful for this opportunity."

Waterfest '08 was a resounding success

If you missed Waterfest 2008 this weekend, we can guarantee that you lost out on something important.

Not only was there something for every taste, every age and every walk of life, but you missed a great opportunity to support your community and get to know it better.

Of course, there were hitches. Some miscommunication resulted in incorrect information publicized about the Little Mr. and Miss Waterfest Contest, and that led to a few unhappy families. But everyone who was at the competition seemed to be having a pretty good time, so overall the mix-up was only a little hiccup in the entire process.

Other than that, we think we're safe in saying that Waterfest 2008 was a good weekend for festival-goers, for the community and downtown businesses and for the vendors. That's vital, because last year's successful revival of the defunct festival ran a risk of a sophomore slump this year.

Happily, that wasn't the case. Instead, each part of Waterfest attracted its target audience, and everyone had a great time.

From the pandemonium of the Radio Disney live remote, through the huge parade, and all the way to the gleaming chrome of the motorcycle and car shows Sunday, each event and attraction was well attended. Other events, like the quilt show and the several musical performances, were also popular and helped to draw even more people to the festival.

Plus, we'd guess that a lot of people who rarely venture downtown were impressed by what they saw this weekend.

The Waterfest Committee and volunteers who put it all together deserve special recognition for their hard work.

Some assembly required

ERIC COPELAND
Managing Editor

There it was, on the shelf at the grocery store. At first glance, it looked remarkably like the package for Oreos, everyone's favorite cream-filled sandwich cookie.

Personally, I've never like Oreos all that much. The filling is a little too sugary and waxy for me, and the cookies are a little too chalky. But the kids love 'em.

But look again. These are made by the Oreo folks, but consist of cookies designed to be dipped into a tiny tub of the cream filling.

In other words, they're Oreos, but with some assembly required. And now there's a package of them in my own kitchen -- it wasn't me, but my wife, who relented and bought them. And I couldn't bear to look at the receipt, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that the things cost more than regular Oreos.

You see, marketing experts, ever alert for the next shopping trend, have noticed that while most Americans don't have the temerity and ingenuity of past generations, they like to think that, if it came right down to it, they could do what was necessary to survive.

They might be right. If the grid collapsed and electricity stopped flowing tomorrow, they might be able to put food on their tables without the convenience of a big supermarket to help them out.

But until then, they'll content themselves with the idea that they can fend for themselves. And if that means assembling their pre-packaged food after they get it home, that's what they'll do.

And they'll even happily pay extra for it.

Don't believe me? The next time you stop in at a Mexican restaurant, check out the menu. Look in particular for the fajitas.

These items are ubiquitous -- they appear on every Mexican menu from coast to coast, from border to border. And what are they? Basically, it's a burrito that you put together yourself. Peppers, onions, a meat (or not) of your choice, a little sauce, some guacamole or sour cream, all scooped into a smallish flour tortilla and shoved as well as possible into the mouths of people who just paid a couple of bucks extra to put together their own meal.

And if you check out the history of the fajita, it dates to no earlier than the 1930s, and didn't appear in print until sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. That coincides very nicely with the emergence of the modern age of marketing. It looks suspiciously like someone took Mexican food, disassembled it, gave it a name, bumped up the price and somehow convinced the public that this was not just a great thing, but something they needed to eat.

In most walks of life, "some assembly required" is a legal advisory, practically a warning. If you purchase a shelf or table from Wal-Mart or Ikea, you know you're paying less because you'll spend the next 12 to 14 hours cursing the thing as you try to put it together.

If you buy a toy that says "some assembly required," you know that the 32-piece screwdriver set you got last Father's Day will be getting a workout before the kids ever get to play.

There was a time when people changed their own oil, fixed their own lawn mowers and farmed or hunted their own food. And while they were proud to do it, they often did it because it was more economical and life-affirming to be self-sufficient.

Some people still do those things. I don't, but I admire people who do. What I won't do is play the game. If I'm handed a toy, a table or a meal that requires assembly, I'll do what I need to do to make it work. But I refuse to pay extra to assemble my own fajita, or to put my own cream filling on a cookie.