Summer 2011

Summer is the traditional time for travel, with school closed and many families hitting the road. After a hard winter and a spring that saw floods and storms, we are ready for some quiet time with friends and family. To help you plan your summer trip, the internet provides a great way to explore from the comfort of your own living room. With gasoline prices keeping us closer to home, the cyber-highway allows us to do the proper research before filling the vehicle up. To get you started on your summer travel, I’ve searched out a few Missouri cyber destinations.

You have all summer to plan for the Missouri State Fair, which is an unofficial end to the summer travel season. Attendance at the fair is a tradition and high point for many Missouri travelers. Updates on planned activities, including concert headliners, are available throughout the summer at www.MoStateFair.com/.

Don’t hit the road until you visit
www.RoadTripRewards.com, a website partnership between the Missouri Division of Tourism and McDonald’s restaurants in Missouri. Receipts from the fast food chain are the keys that unlock the doors to hundreds of discounts at travel venues across Missouri.

The sesquicentennial of the Civil War is the focus of
www.MoCivilWar150.com, which includes and abundance of information about Civil War activities around the state. Here in Glasgow, we are planning a Battle of Glasgow reenactment for next year. This summer we will mark the 175th anniversary of the founding of Glasgow.

In the St. Louis area, visit
www.freedomsgateway.com to discover activities that commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

Even in the midst of local festivals and civil war reenactments, we still find time for some traditional Missouri travel opportunities. I love Branson, and while I am not a country music fan, I also love Patsy Cline. There are currently at least two Patsy Cline “Tribute Shows” playing in Branson. This page at
www.PatsyInBranson.net/content/about/index.html includes information on one of the shows. It contains a very nice video of Tracy Lynn DeMille, the featured performer, who is shown singing a number of Patsy’s greatest hits. Miss DeMille is a descendent of Cecil B. DeMille of Hollywood fame. I have not seen her in person, but I have that on my list for sometime this summer.

A free attraction offering a time and place for quiet prayer is located near Eureka. The Black Madonna Shrine is a result of an almost single-handed effort by a Franciscan Monk, Brother Bronislaus Luszcz, who, in 1927, created a series of shrines near his monastery. Information and some photos are available at
www.FranciscanCaring.org/blackmadonnashri.html. The page includes schedules of activities, history and some nice photos of the shrines. The grounds consist of more than 500 acres and contain a number of different grottos and shrines.

Here in Glasgow, I’m just a short drive away from my alma mater, Central Methodist University, located in Fayette. CMU offers numerous options for your entertainment. One of them is the Ashby-Hodge Gallery. The curator, Dr. Joseph E. Geist, always has special exhibitions, and I’m especially looking forward to an exhibition of the art of George C. Bingham, which will begin in August. You can visit the gallery online at
www.CentralMethodist.edu/ashbyhodge/visit.php. Click on Online Tours to see some highlights of the collection narrated by Professor Tom Yancy. The first painting that he discusses is a work by Glasgow artist Cornelia Kummel.

This summer, I hope you are able to travel both IRL and online and that you enjoy our beautiful state. Perhaps our paths will cross as we travel.