Comments on: Border State

By: jennifer

jennifer — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 10:33:21 +0000

Louesa, here’s info on the Kingdom of Callaway. I like the part where the locals painted logs black and leaned wagon wheels against them to make fake cannons. Best of all, the ruse worked! http://www.kchsoc.org/legend.html
Elizabeth, you probably crossed paths with my dad on the Katy Trail many a time.

By: Elizabeth @ Life in Pencil

Elizabeth @ Life in Pencil — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 03:05:04 +0000

Like Anne, a fun walk down memory lane for me, too, having spent two years in CoMo. I lived in the Katy Place Apartments, and walked the Katy Trail nearly every day for those two years.

By: Louesa

Louesa — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:10:38 +0000

Do you know the origin of the Kingdom of Callaway? I don’t. And I don’t believe Mexico was ever part of the Kingdom…

By: jennifer

jennifer — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 01:10:44 +0000

Louesa, the guy in the red hat is a stock character? I thought I discovered him! Apparently he is a plant for anyone seeking “local color,” including bloggers driving around with their dads.
Did not remember that your HS band was the Dixie Grays. Were you part of the Kindgom of Callaway back during the Civil War?

By: Louesa

Louesa — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:59:08 +0000

Wonderful photos, and love your reflections about a place I also think is very special. The guy in the red hat and overalls seems to always be interviewed when some sort of crisis occurs in central MO and hits the national news (believe he was missing front teeth during the 1993 flood…).

All the time I’ve lived here and I never thought about Grant AND Lee Elementary schools!

My hometown is near Columbia, and many were boastful about having been south of the Mason-Dixon line. And oddly enough, the name of the high school band was – and still is, to the best of my knowledge – the Dixie Grays. We wore a horrible (Confederate) gray military-looking uniform, at least in the 1970s. The uniform may have changed, but believe the name has been retained. Not real PC.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:07:45 +0000

Larousse, interesting how much your village has changed. I wonder why? It’s sad to hear of any such decline.
Linda, yes, I will take you to Columbia one day! You will be very exotic in the land of WASPs.
Reid, very true, a pleasant surprise every time I go back is how little Columbia has changed. The 1970s Biscayne Mall has been updated and other malls have surrounded it but they certainly have not consumed or ruined the place – mostly contained along Stadium. Downtown is still full of independently owned shops and restaurants.
I saw the Quonset huts you gave the history of when my dad and I were tooling around, but the one in my photo is near West Junior High…I wonder if it has more of a Gomer Pyle backstory. The fabulous house on Thilly has a BMW in the garage so I will be intrigued to hear if the owner is indeed wearing bib overalls. Now that would be a whole new post.

By: reidstella

reidstella — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:14:31 +0000

Jennifer,

We can both be grateful that Columbia, Missouri hasn’t suffered the fate of Chrissie Hynde’s hometown in Ohio or lots of other little towns across America that’ve been swallowed up by the Barnes & Noble/Old Navy/Bed, Bath & Beyond strip malls. Columbia has grown, but it’s still pretty much the same as it was when we were kids growing up there.

By the way, when I was a kid I was always curious about the Quonset huts on College Ave, and I think I even fantasized about living in one (from watching too many episodes of “Gomer Pyle” no doubt.) Years later, I discovered they were a leftover from an Epple Construction Co. project. My father-in-law told me they brought them up from Ft. Leonard Wood on flat-bed trailers as temporary housing for some dorm-building project at Stephens College, I believe. Useless Columbia trivia, but for those who care… there you go.

Next time I’m in Columbia, I will try to find that Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired house on Thilly. I never knew it existed. I might even go up and ring the doorbell. If the person who comes to the door is wearing bib overalls, I’ll let you know.

By: lindacopy

lindacopy — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:00:46 +0000

This is just wonderful to read; I still want to make that trip with you someday!
The ducky-topped cupcakes are over-the-top adorable! Love the spread you put out.

By: Larousse

Larousse — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:49:22 +0000

My hometown is no longer the friendly place it was when I was growing up, and I have especially noticed the change in the village around our house. Lots more litter in the streets, cars driving faster, more crime… When my mum died, my sister suggested that we buy the house I grew up in, and come back “home” to live! Quite apart from the logistics of jobs etc, I realised quickly that I would absolutely NOT want my boys growing up there. I have deliberately avoided going past my mum’s old house since it was sold in 2008. It is really weird to walk down a street and remember the exact spot where you fell off your roller skates…

By: M0therAdm1n

M0therAdm1n — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:15:36 +0000

The town I grew up in is not across the country — just two exits down the Blue Route but when I am in my old neighborhood I am immediately transported back to age 9. I tend to want to walk the same paths and visit the same places – -many which are still there – some which are not. But it is grounding and soothing — and regenerating — to be there.