Spring 2013
Everyone who is ready for spring, raise your hand! After some bitter cold days in our winter season, many of us are ready for the green of spring and the warm breezes that take away those cold memories. OK, you can put your hands down now and continue reading.
Spring is a great season to travel in our beautiful Missouri. To help you with destination planning, and to give you a chance to travel from home through your computer, I’ve searched out some web pages that I hope you will find interesting.
As usual the Missouri Department of Conservation offers a glimpse of nature at http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/outdoor-recreation/driving-tours/flowering-spring-trees. Missouri’s native spring flowering trees, such as the serviceberry, hawthorn, wild plum and others, are featured on this page. Each includes a nice description and beautiful photos. You can almost smell the dogwood as you watch the video. Can anyone identify the bird that sings along with it?
The Missouri Botanical Garden’s website at www.MissouriBotanicalGarden.org is filled with great flower and butterfly photos. Teachers will be interested in the school tours that are offered. In early spring, the garden sponsors a spectacular orchid show. The garden opened to the public in 1859 and houses more than 4,800 trees. The 79-acre site is a National Historic Landmark and would be a treat to visit in any season. There is a charge for tickets, but information prior to your visit is available free online.
Do you like parades? St. Joseph hosts the third oldest Apple Blossom Festival in the United States. Photos from past festival parades can be found at www.AppleBlossomParade.com. This year’s parade will be May 4. Organizers request that each parade entry display at least one American Flag.
The St. Louis Storytelling Festival takes place in early May each year and has been a tradition for 33 years. I can’t believe that I only learned of it a few moments ago. Their webpage at http://StLStorytellingFestival.org/ provides details about the four-day festival, which will feature more than 40 storytellers at four different locations around St. Louis. A high point of the web site is the videos of storytellers casting their often humorous yarns. The stories in the festival are suitable for both children and adults, and school groups are welcomed. This festival is coordinated by the University of Missouri—St. Louis.
Even in the spring, we like to get inside from time to time. A wonderful art exhibit will run in early spring at the Ashby-Hodge Gallery on the Fayette campus of Central Methodist University, my Alma Mater. The show; “A Dream Denied” will feature more than 40 works of Glasgow’s painter, Cornelia Kuemmel. Miss Kuemmel gave up her opportunity to study art in Europe to stay in Glasgow and care for her mother. She continued to paint until her death in 1938 and is now recognized as a true talent. The curator of the gallery is Dr. Joe Geist and the co-curator for this show is my friend from Glasgow, Fr. Jerry Stockman. Learn more at the gallery webpage located at www.CentralMethodist.edu/ashbyhodge/current.php.
Enjoy your spring as you travel and see the sights of our beautiful Missouri. You may travel IRL or in Cyber-space. Whether you choose to travel IRL or on the information superhighway, use caution. We may cross paths while watching a parade, listening to a storyteller or admiring a painting.
Spring is a great season to travel in our beautiful Missouri. To help you with destination planning, and to give you a chance to travel from home through your computer, I’ve searched out some web pages that I hope you will find interesting.
As usual the Missouri Department of Conservation offers a glimpse of nature at http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/outdoor-recreation/driving-tours/flowering-spring-trees. Missouri’s native spring flowering trees, such as the serviceberry, hawthorn, wild plum and others, are featured on this page. Each includes a nice description and beautiful photos. You can almost smell the dogwood as you watch the video. Can anyone identify the bird that sings along with it?
The Missouri Botanical Garden’s website at www.MissouriBotanicalGarden.org is filled with great flower and butterfly photos. Teachers will be interested in the school tours that are offered. In early spring, the garden sponsors a spectacular orchid show. The garden opened to the public in 1859 and houses more than 4,800 trees. The 79-acre site is a National Historic Landmark and would be a treat to visit in any season. There is a charge for tickets, but information prior to your visit is available free online.
Do you like parades? St. Joseph hosts the third oldest Apple Blossom Festival in the United States. Photos from past festival parades can be found at www.AppleBlossomParade.com. This year’s parade will be May 4. Organizers request that each parade entry display at least one American Flag.
The St. Louis Storytelling Festival takes place in early May each year and has been a tradition for 33 years. I can’t believe that I only learned of it a few moments ago. Their webpage at http://StLStorytellingFestival.org/ provides details about the four-day festival, which will feature more than 40 storytellers at four different locations around St. Louis. A high point of the web site is the videos of storytellers casting their often humorous yarns. The stories in the festival are suitable for both children and adults, and school groups are welcomed. This festival is coordinated by the University of Missouri—St. Louis.
Even in the spring, we like to get inside from time to time. A wonderful art exhibit will run in early spring at the Ashby-Hodge Gallery on the Fayette campus of Central Methodist University, my Alma Mater. The show; “A Dream Denied” will feature more than 40 works of Glasgow’s painter, Cornelia Kuemmel. Miss Kuemmel gave up her opportunity to study art in Europe to stay in Glasgow and care for her mother. She continued to paint until her death in 1938 and is now recognized as a true talent. The curator of the gallery is Dr. Joe Geist and the co-curator for this show is my friend from Glasgow, Fr. Jerry Stockman. Learn more at the gallery webpage located at www.CentralMethodist.edu/ashbyhodge/current.php.
Enjoy your spring as you travel and see the sights of our beautiful Missouri. You may travel IRL or in Cyber-space. Whether you choose to travel IRL or on the information superhighway, use caution. We may cross paths while watching a parade, listening to a storyteller or admiring a painting.