| The heat wave had begun. It hampered attendance, but it didn't hamper festivities at the the Carver Day Celebration that this year commemorated the 63rd anniversary of the George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond.
A featured event was the unveiling of a road sign designating a portion of Highway V in Newton County from U.S. Highway 71 to U.S. Highway 59 as Carver Prairie Road. Representative Marilyn Ruestman (R-131), at left, and Brian Nieves (R-98) sponsored the legislation early in 2005 as a way to make the approach to the George Washington Carver National Monument more friendly and less confusing.
Ruestman also announced that she was sponsoring a bill that would designate the state office building for the Department of Agriculture located at 1616 Missouri Blvd. in Jefferson City as the "George Washington Carver Building." However, although the bill was voted out of committee, it currently is not on a calendar.
As actor, playwright and Chautauqua scholar, Paxton Williams, at left, is a man who enjoys assuming the role of Carver at various events including Newton County's recent Thomas Hart Benton celebration. "From the lowlands of sorrow to the highlands of hope" was the way Paxton described Carver's influence on Southern farmers and their benefit from his study of agriculture. A graduate of Carver's alma mater, Iowa State and holding a master's degree in public policy at the University of Michigan, Paxton when not Carver is the Executive Director of the George W. Carver Birthplace Association.
The Association's long history with the Carver park began in 1943 when the net worth of the group was $34,000. Today with a net worth of $225,000 the association overseas the many acres of parkland and the Lincoln School in Neosho.
Discovery Center under construction
October 2006 will see the completion of the expansion of the Discovery Center that began with a groundbreaking ceremony last August 2005. The project which has been funded through the efforts of Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt will contain a new theatre, greenhouse, re-designed exhibits and sales area, storm shelter, library, and observation deck. The expansion will allow enjoyment of the beauty and tranquility of the area, was an observation made by acting superintendent Raoul Lufbery.
The George Washington Carver National Monument was established by an act of Congress in July 1943. The National Park Service maintains 210 acres of the original 240 acre Moses Carver Farm.
Activities and exhibitors
Volunteer Linda O'Donnell of Diamond, at left, checks the equipment used at a children's simulated archaeological workshop: a compass, ruler, paintbrush and trowel. Although other artifacts were hidden in the sand for children to discover, the object of the dig was to use the tools to locate an arrowhead placed there symbolically to show the interaction between the Osage tribe and the Carver family.
Rob Wood at Missouri Southern State University is carrying on the tradition started by the late Dennis Weaver. Manning a booth for The Institute of Ecolonomics, Wood hopes that its mission--to demonstrate that creating a symbiotic relationship between a strong economy and a healthy ecology is the only formula for a sustainable future--will become interNational in scope. He also hopes that cellulose-based ethanol instead of a corn-based product will be the fuel of choice.
"Corn is no means the answer," Wood explained calling attention to the large corn lobby that pushed their product. "It is a step in the right direction, but we should look at prairie grass that is less chemical-dependent and does not require intensive farming that would overwork the soil."
Passing by the booth was Curtis McClinton, a member of the Carver board. Although he went into the record books as making the first touchdown in Super Bowl history while a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, he is more interested in his current role as professor of economics at the University of Missouri Kansas City and owner of Central Energy and Rail. McClinton called attention to the problems Carver ran into with John D. Rockefeller, who opened his first oil refinery in 1863. Carver had favored ethanol, McClinton said.
Two young visitors are shown having stopped at a display organized by Student Conservation Association intern Charissa Eichman, pictured at right. As a member of SCA, Eichman helps to protect necessary habitats, threatened wildlife and other resources that are at risk in a park such as Carver.
Nearby two lovingly-made quilts were on display. Also displayed was the book, Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad by Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard. The authors present the theory that slaves created quilts coded with patterns to help one another flee to freedom.
Standing next to a chart depicting the plans for upgrading the Fish Hatchery in Neosho is Jaime Pachaco. Highlights of the project, he told those who passed by, were a new pond to protect and propagate endangered sturgeon and a visitor's center that would simulate the architecture of the original building from the late 1880s. The Neosho National Fish Hatchery, located on East Park St., is the oldest federal Fish Hatchery in operation.
In defense of the Hatchery's use of water now that it is viewed as a precious commodity, Pachaco explained that water for use at the Hatchery is recycled three times, that it is checked by in-house personnel as well as the EPA and that the new well dug for the sturgeon pond has a variable speed shaft to control the water's flow.
Everything anyone wanted to know about gardening was offered by Dale Mermoud and his group at the Ozark Gateway Master Gardener booth. Working with the Jasper County University of Missouri Extension Center, local master gardeners volunteer their time to help communities with various projects. For those that couldn't think of a question while passing the booth, send an email here.
The Tri-State Carvers Guild was on hand to give advice to those interested in what can be made from wood. Bill J. Lentz, at right, a teacher at Franklin Tech in Joplin calls himself a custom character carver. He has a reputation for creating carvings from photographs of people. Rather than saying his carvings were "nice," Lentz says the greatest compliment he has gotten from his clients is, "It looks just like him." For more information about his work, send an email here.
Education grant awarded
A Share the African American Experience grant made possible through a generous donation from the UPS Foundation will allow George Washington Carver National Monument to create a new educational program entitled George Washington Carver – The Artist. Geared to 4th graders, it will consist of three components: lesson plans for use in school classrooms, an Art & Essay Contest for students to display their artwork, and “Art in the Park” days for students to practice artwork.
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