All-State College Chorus and Band Featuring Mike Miller and Dennis Dau 1969

Posted on May 7, 2026 by roger

This is an unusual 1969 photo that shows of two people who are something of Maryville High School music legends — singer Mike Mike (Class of 1965) and Dennis Dau (Spoofhound band director 1979-1999).

Caption: Northwest State College students chosen as members of the Missouri All-College Band and Chorus gathered for a picture before leaving for St. Louis. Seated left to right in the first row are the Misses Linda Strain, Peggy Clausen, Connie Clara, and Diane Bergren. Second row, left to right, are the Misses Vickie Gillispie, Melody Price, Sherry Cook, Paula Florea, and Dianne Mannasmith; third row, left to right, Rick Ashby, Hugh Campbell, Dennis Dau, Jack Briggs; and fourth row, left to right, Ralph Taylor, Roscoe Porch, Mike Miller, and Gail Christiansen.

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Explaining Difference Between Stop and Yield 1964

Posted on May 6, 2026 by roger

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Alvin Gray and the Plainview Station

Posted on May 6, 2026 by roger

Gray’s Service Station and Plainview Cafe are among the most iconic experiences in Maryville.  The station dates from 1936, when Alvin Gray opened a small station where he lived above it.  He also sold apples.   It is located on the highest point of 71 for hundreds of miles (at 1,168 feet by my measurement based on topo maps — higher than the reported highest point on the Wabash between Council Bluffs and St. Louis at the Wilcox curve).

It has been hit by at least two tornadoes and was featured in a recent tornado-chaser video.  There have been 10-foot-high snow drifts by standing motorists.  Being the only place out of the middle of nowhere, it has had its share of tragic accidents.

The cafe still has the vintage charm of an old trucker diner.

On a personal note, I didn’t realize until writing this that I had delivered his Forum back in the 1960s when he lived on Sunset.  He was the nicest guy.  I couldn’t find adult pictures but I posted a picture of him at the Harmony school by Clearmont (he thought enough f the school to buy it and move it to Maryville although I’m not sure where it was or if it’s still around).

Here are some items about the station.  This is just the tip of what’s out there.

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Harry Shinabargar’s Cabin Near Hopkins (photo by Ron Houston) 1963

Posted on May 5, 2026 by roger

Here’s a colorful account of a log cabin built by Harry Shinabargar in 1931 near the Iowa border by Hopkins.  The photo was taken in 1963 by Ron Houston.  Shinabarger, who was associated with the Shinabarger store, raised thousands of turkeys and was an amateur artist.

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Open Bit Barbecue for 800 at Atlasta Stables During Pickering Centennial 1971

Posted on May 5, 2026 by roger

There are lots of very cool photos of the Pickering Centennial in 1971. This open-pit BBQ really caught my eye. I don’t recall any other public open pit bbq’s in Nodaway in my day. I generated several colorized images of this. The GPT-2 generation, which is good at avoiding repeated facial distortion, distorted the tall man’s face. The Nano Banana generation (which usually makes much more pleasing images but changes lots of things) on the left removed the tall man’s beard as well as the beard on the man on the left (growing a beard was a nitfy component, almost a requirement for the Centennial — and was kind of controversial in the era because it was considered a bit hippieish).

Another thing that got messed up in the conversion is that the meat in the pit (and on the shovel) appears to be wrapped, and AI just converted it to coals.

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Noel Swaney on Faustiana Horse, 1952

Posted on May 4, 2026 by roger

Noel Swaney on Faustiana horse at age 4 in 1952
The Maryville Daily Forum, May 6, 1952, Page 3. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-lester-swaney/196860875/

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON–Leslie No’el Swaney, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Swaney, passes on Our Hostess, one of the horses trained by his father. 

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Every Horse Except One in 2026 Kentucky Derby was Related to Faustiana Farms Namesake Faustus

Posted on May 3, 2026 by roger

The winner of the Kentucky Derby this year, once again, is related to Faustus, the horse that was the namesake of the original James Prather Faustiana Farm.  Almost every horse since 1900 has been related to Faustus’ sire Domino

The fastest way now to check a pedigree is to find out if they descended from 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, and this year, all but one horse in the Derby descended from Secretariat.

Golden Tempo also shared another connection to Faustiana in that trainer Cherrie DeVaux was the first woman trainer to win the Derby.  The only horse from Faustiana to win was Elwood in 1904, and Emma Holt Prather, who bred Elwood, was the first woman to breed a winner (and Lasca Durnell, the owner, was the first woman to win).

Facebook Discussion 

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Notable Rally for the 1923 Game vs. Springfield with the game played north of the Admin Building

Posted on May 2, 2026 by roger

The November 1923 rally for the Bearcats-Bears football game, then described as the biggest in Maryville history, was notable for several reasons.  The rally, which was held at both the courthouse and the steps of the Elks Club on Main, where Congressman Charles L. Faust gave a speech.  Coach T.E. Lawrence, who in 1922 had coached the very first high school team formally named the Spoofhounds, was on hand as head coach of Northwest.  The marching Spoofhound band had met the Springfield team at the Burlington station and serenaded them in a parade through town and during supper.  There was drama involving a statue at the Admin building, which had been painted green for Halloween.  

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1923 Northwest Missouri May Day Fete

Posted on May 1, 2026 by roger

In the early 1900s, Northwest Missouri staged May Day celebrations each year. This AI animation of dance in 1923 (published in the 1924 Tower Yearbook). Below is a story about the 1923 event.  Costumes in this presentation were designed by Olive de Luce for whom the Fine Arts Building is named

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Nodaway County’s Complicated History with the Michigan-Wisconsin Natural Gas Pipeline (now TC Energy)

Posted on May 1, 2026 by roger

Nodaway County could not have anticipated the furor now occurring over the prospects of a $4 billion AI Data Center opening near US 71 in rural Barnard when the Michigan-Wisconsin Natural Gas Pipeline (now owned by TC Energy) opened in 1949.

The above image is an AI colorized/enhanced forum photo associated with a 1951 article in the Forum about the biggest and most visible pipeline infrastructure — Compressor Station No 6, four miles northeast of Graham

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