Sullivan Brothers and Grout Museum

Sullivan Brothers and Grout Museum
The temps have risen to the uncomfortable "dog days" (sorry, Buddy) again and the tomatoes are finally ripening. The heat has about whipped the broccoli to past the point of "bolt" and I am about to pull it out. The hail a few weeks ago really played havoc on so many gardens and farm crops in the Greeley and surrounding areas. My heart goes out to all of these folks.
Hey, what would Saturday be without the Farmer's Market in Manchester. It is a great place to pick up some of Irene's glycerin soap, bread by Eva Henderson, some of the best sweet corn in Iowa and catch up on the news around town with friends. I will hate to see the season end and will anxiously await next years Farmer's Market.

But let's take a drive west on Hwy 20. In Waterloo there is what is called the Grout District. It includes such places as the Grout Museum, Sullivan Brother's Iowa Veterans Museum, the Rensselaer Russell House and the Snowden House. Each of these have quite a story in their own right and I will just give you a thumb nail picture of each and you can plan your time according to your interests. I know that we haven't seen all of it yet but let me tell you about the Sullivan Brothers and then just a bit on the others.
The Sullivan brothers were five brothers who went off to fight for this great country during World War II. To take care of each other, they actually talked the Navy into allowing them all to serve on the same ship. Tom and Alleta Sullivan of Waterloo watched with both pride and concern as all five of their sons enlisted on January 3, 1942. George, Joe, Frank, Al and Matt convinced the Navy to break it's hard and fast rule about family members serving on the same ship for this family. Somehow these Irishmen used their Irish wit and charm to turn the rule around for just this once. All five were assigned to the USS Juneau, a light cruiser. Long story short, during the battle for Guadalcanal, the Juneau was lost and all five of the brothers died. When the ship went down there were about 100 of her crew in the water for eight days. All but ten were lost to their wounds, hunger, thirst or repeated shark attacks. There is much written about these fine young men and even a movie was made, back when they made good movies. (Margie, I know, I am feeling kind of old today and showing it.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_brothers This website is a good place to start if you are interested. Perhaps you have wondered what the scoop was on the Sullivan Brother's Convention Center in Waterloo and the Sullivan Brother's Veterans Museum. This will help clear that up for you.
If you or a loved one has ever served our country in war, this museum has a very wonderfully handled presentation as a salute to our veterans of all our conflicts and wars. It doesn't matter what branch of service, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, they are all represented here. They also have a computer system to list all Iowa veterans. If you or a loved one enlisted or were drafted in Iowa and aren't on this system they would like to know so they can make sure that these veterans are among those Iowa Veterans honored.
Of special interest to me was the tribute to the men and women that served in Vietnam. Many of my friends growing up were involved in this "conflict", why can't they say that it was a war, we lost so many.
One of them was a friend from the Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, area. He was a good looking guy and just a bit cocky with a heart as big as the world. He was raised on a farm between Mt. Pleasant and Trenton, Iowa. His sister Karen Ross Epp compiled the letters he wrote home and with the help of men that he served with, officers that he served under and friends that lived to tell the stories, she has written a book, "With Love Stan, A Soldier's Letters From Vietnam to The World".
Stan died just short of returning home from his tour in Vietnam. Through these letters and the accounts that Karen has gathered, you watch a sweet young Iowa farm boy become a soldier, warrior and a man. It isn't an easy read but if any one would like to give it a try, I will lend the book to you.
Pictures, movies and letters from Stan are the corner stone to the Vietnam War portion of the exhibits in the Sullivan Museum. I really think that you will be impressed.
But wait the Sullivan Museum is just one of the things to see and do here.

Henry Grout was a man whose family lived in Waterloo for many years. Mr. Grout was interested in everything and anything. His sense of wonder fueled his life and in the process he also became a great collector. At his passing Mr. Grout had over 2000 items in his collection that for years was displayed at what was the YMCA on 4th Street and is now the River Plaza Bldg. The collection is now housed at 503 South Street. The wonders of science and industry are all there for you to touch and learn from. Young people especially enjoy this facility.
There are two Italianate Victorian homes that are apart of this district as well. One is open for meeting and gatherings and the other is open for tours.
The Rensselaer Russell House was built in 1861 by the son of immigrants that moved to Waterloo from New York with his wife and daughter for about $6000. He worked in banking and real estate and at the age of 33 paid $750 for the block where the house is located at 520 South Street. http://www.groutmuseumdistrict.org/russell/about.cfm.
Not far from this house is the Snowden House, built in 1881 by William Snowden a local druggist. During the winters the house proved so difficult to heat that the family retreated to the apartment above the Snowden Pharmacy. This house is open for events and meetings.
Wherever you choose to start, the Grout Museum, Sullivan Brother's Veteran's Museum or one of the houses, I think that the Grout District of Waterloo will have you coming back more than once.
I hope to hear that you are out there exploring "Across Iowa and Maybe a Bit Beyond".
God Bless,
Linda

Branson, Missouri

We had a spot of rain here at home while we were traveling, I see, and the tomatoes are actually beginning to get ripe. I hope that each of you have enjoyed the warm weather and are seeing your share of ripening veggies from the garden patch.
Buddy thought for about 20 minutes that he was going on this road trip with us but instead was heart broken when I handed him over to Kathy at Dr. Miller's office on Friday afternoon. I know that they are good to him, however Buddy is a "Mama's Boy" to the core and started shivering when we walked in the door at the office. I just tears me up to leave him but some places are more "Buddy friendly" than others.
We were headed to Branson, Missouri and then later to a wedding in the Chicago area. This piece will not have pictures, I'm sorry.
Per Wikipedia:
"Branson, Missouri is a city (area) located in Stone and Taney counties in the southern portion of Missouri. It was named for Rueben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s. I remember going there back in the late 60's or early 70's and it sure has changed from the "hard scrabble" landscape that I saw then. In 1882, Rueben Branson opened a general store and post office in the area. Branson was formally incorporated in 1912 and construction of the Powersite Dam nearby on the White River which would form Lake Taneycomo was completed.
In 1894 William Henry Lynch had bought Marvel Cave and had begun charging visitors to see it. Hugo and Mary Herschend bought the cave in 1950 and began hosting square dances in it. The Herschend Family modernized the cave with electricity and cement staircases, and in 1960, the Herschends opened Silver Dollar City which was a recreated frontier town of five shops and a church, and it featured a log cabin with actors playing out the feud between Hatfields and McCoys. (Boy has that one changed)
Harold Bell Wright had published his novel about The Ozarks, The Shepherd of the Hills, in 1907. The Old Mill Theater began its first outdoor production based on the novel in 1960. The show still runs today. His museum, Harold Bell Wight Museumis presented as world's largest toy museum.
1958 saw the completion of Table Rock Dam on the White River, which created Table Rock Lake.
The Presley family became the first to move their show to Highway 76 in 1967 (which would become known as the "strip"), followed a year later by the Baldknobbers. This area would eventually grow to more than 50 theaters – most of them located on Highway 76.
In the early 1980s the Starlite Theater (not to be confused with the current theater by the same name) was one of the first to introduce stage sets, horn section, elaborate costume changes, and music outside of the traditional country music normally played. It helped to launch the careers of Shoji Tabuchi, Doug Gabriel, and many others.[6]
In 1983 Branson began its transformation into a major tourist attraction when the 7,500 seat Swiss Villa Amphitheatre opened in Lampe, Missouri. The theatre, which was later renamed the Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre before ultimately closing in the early 2000s, proved there was a market for large music gatherings. Ironically, it started out as a venue for rock bands Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Steppenwolf, and Ozzy Osbourne.[7]
Also in 1983, Roy Clark opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre, becoming the first famous country music star to have his own venue in Branson. Many of the performers who have played in Branson got their start at that theatre."
Things kind of got going from there. Now it still remains a city of a few more year-round residence that Manchester but hosts millions of visitors each year as well as many big name country music and comedy stars as well.
Den and I have been to Branson twice and I am sure that we will visit again. Things are always changing and re-inventing themselves. There were a couple of things that I would like to suggest that you see should you visit Branson but allow me to preface what I am saying with this wee bit of understanding. Branson, like Las Vegas has tons of entertainers and shows to see but unlike Vegas it is more family oriented and generally has a Christian flavor. Myself, I like Branson WAY better than Vegas. For one thing, you don't constantly smell like an "ashtray" and I am not a gambler so that sore of thing just gets in the way of everything else for me.
During our visit Den and I took my great niece, Tori Lane (9 years old and going on 30) to see Noah the Musical at the Sight and Sound Theater. It is a wonderful production and I am thinking that the Miracle of Christ at Christmas time will be as well done and lovely. For more information check out this site: http://www.bransonworld.com/branson-shows/detail/noah-the-musical.html
The message of the production is wonderfully delivered in music and dialog. The children that attend make up about 50% of the crowd and love the live animals that pass in the aisle as they load on to the ark. Horses, sheep, goats, lamas, alpaca, camels and more. No, Margie, those elephants and hippos you saw on the loaded ark were animatronics ,not real, OK. But the burros, and other animals coming down the isle were.
We have seen Yakof Schmirnof and others in the past. My brother and his wife were taking Tori to see Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan the day that we left. They had it set up so that they were seated in an area of the theater where Tori would be sprinkled with "fairy dust". I wonder if she flew afterwards as well.
There are several websites that are available for setting up a trip to Branson as well as purchasing your tickets ahead of time. I suggest that you look at some of the special offers that are out there. Den and I enjoyed our time there, staying with my brother and Gwen in their "time share" It made meal planning easier and we still over ate. Oh, over eating is really easy to do in Branson. There are many buffet's offering tasty down home treats like blackberry cobbler and such. It is a great and tasty way to extend you waist size.
One more place that you might find interesting is the P. Graham Dunn Gallery. http://www.pgrahamdunn.com/ There is beautiful furniture as well as home decor items to inspire.
That is all for this time and I hope to see you out and exploring "Across Iowa and Maybe a Bit Beyond".
God Bless,
Linda