Dessert Auction

Soup Lunch Fund Raiser

The Society is hosting a Soup Lunch to raise funds to further the Restoration Project! Come join us February 24 between 11 and 2.

Work Day: 29 October 2011

We didn't have anyone show up this morning except for Jerry & Virginia and Fred & Raylene, but we did get quite a bit accomplished. We're ready to order in some drywall. Come by next Saturday and join in. We need tons of help to make this work! This is a Community museum so come be a part of the project.

UPDATE: July 4

HAPPY FOURTH AMERICA!!!!

Wanted to post an update for those faithful followers of our blog. The Joplin Tornado in May impacted so many of our lives in ways that no one could even imagine. All of our volunteers for the Courthouse Project diverted attention to disaster relief. We can't even begin to name those fellow McDonald Countians who were physically, emotionally, and mentally impacted by the disaster. But.... as we all celebrate our Country's Independance Day and as Joplin continues to rebuild, it is time to re-group and move forward!

We will be holding a meeting at the Museum this Saturday, July 9, at 11:00 a.m. to discuss future plans and to get our project back on track. Watch for future posts with a new set of plans for our Project.

Work Day - April 30

It was a good day, although not many showed up! Virginia and I (Raylene) have blisters on our hands from working so hard. . . and we won't even talk about poor Fred's and Jerry's backs. The four of us concluded we are too old for this! Sure would welcome some help next Saturday..... Thank you Jen for the sandwiches!

I SEE WE HAVE HAD A LOT OF FOLKS LOOKING AT THE CAR SHOW FLYER!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE COME JOIN IN THE FUN! WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU BRING YOUR CAR AND SHARE OUR ACTIVITIES. WE'RE WORKING HARD!

Work Day April 9

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!!!! April 9 we will be piling trash on a trailer, and cleaning! We need all of the help we can get. The electrician will be coming in after this phase and we have to complete the wiring before we can begin the drywall phase. Please, PLEASE, P-U-L-E-E-E-Z schedule in some time, even for a few hours on Saturday to stop by, sweep a little, load a little, or just give a GREAT BIG cheer to the volunteers!

Fund Raiser Meeting - April 1

We are scheduling a meeting on Friday, April 1, to actively kick off fund raising efforts in a serious way. Anyone interested in attending this meeting, we will be at the Museum (by the Post Office) at 10:00 a.m. to get started. Come on in and join us!

Business Expo - 2011

We had a great day at the Expo March 26! The booth space was terrific - in the hall area as people walked into the main room! Dorothy and Virginia were both there by 8:00 a.m. getting set up for the public! Virginia brought along information about the Powell Bridge (you can check out their blog from our links page) while Dorothy prepared the Society's portion. How great it is to have such hard workers for the Society! A couple of memberships were collected, some folks were able to pick up their 2011 calendars, and a lot of publicity was obtained about the Secession event scheduled for May 21! Dorothy was excited to recite all of the facts she has compiled about the Secession while Carol canvassed the public for volunteers to protect our Territory!! Bill Lant was available at the County's booth and I overheard him talking to a few folks about the funder on the May 21 event as well. Our Fund Raiser to save the Old Courthouse is shaping up to be a great success and how exciting to have so much fun celebrating our 50 year anniversary of being the ONLY COUNTY IN THE NATION to ever seceed from their home state! That would be McDonald County. What moxie!

Heating and Air Estimates

Well, we have good news and bad news.... The good news is that Mike's Heating and Air has told us the project to install central heat/air is doable! We were concerned because of the heavy brick walls and our desire to leave the rooms as original as possible. The bad news is the cost. It will run us somewhere in the area of $15 to $20 thousand..... Boy, do we need some donations!

Work Day - March 26

Well, I forgot to post again about the work day! It was a great day though! We have sparked the interest of several young people. Woo hooo!!!! Thank you Brent! We enjoy having you, and it will be a great story to tell your grandchildren some day. There are only bits and peices of the paneling left around those hard to get to areas. All of the false ceilings are down. It sure looks different. We will be working again next week.... cleaning up and getting ready for the heating and air to be installed.

Secession Presentation - Sunday, March 20

COME JOIN US, 2:00 P.M., AT THE "NEW" COURTHOUSE TO LEARN ABOUT THE FACTS OF THE SECESSION EVENT FROM 1961! MORE DETAILS WILL BE REVEALED BY DOROTHY, AND A SPECIAL GUEST WILL READ HER PARENTS' ACCOUNT OF THE PERIOD WHEN HER FATHER WAS THE LEADER OF THE TERRITORIAL MILITIA

Questions to Ponder ????

Did you ever wonder how folks got to the second floor of the courthouse in 1875? There is no trace of the stairway. We have uncovered the original headers around the door.

Did you ever wonder why there is a cut place in the flooring of the old courtroom all the way across? Some speculate to install electric while others propose the original railing was there. Hmmm.... Come give us your opinion.

When do you think those beautiful hardwood beams were placed in the majestic courtroom, only to have been hidden at a later date by a lowered false ceiling? Hmmm. Some might believe it was during the 1870s, but then how would that "green" paint get underneath the ceiling that we know was in the courthouse in 1938. Just curious....

Wonder why a ceiling fan would have been hung with electrical wire? Well.... so do we! Hmmmm.

It's really fun working with young folks... The story of the civil war and Jesse James was relived over lunch break. Do you ever think about how important it is to preserve our county heritage? Well.... I, for one, think about it often and was reminded how important this is today! -- raylene

If you have a "Do you wonder?" comment, please post it here so others can see it, ponder a while, and smile.