From a Resident of Grey Summit, MO:
"Another fun day in Osage County. Enjoyed our visit to Koeltztown and all the other great stops.
Dinner was great. Thank all the ladies at the parish. Job well done.
You do such a great job arranging the trips. Look forward to our fall trip."
From another visitor to the county:
"Osage County and it's people must be one of Missouri's best kept secrets. I'm looking forward to October 12. I enjoy each tour more and more. I'm just sorry I missed the first one."
Letter to Lucas Farms, last tour stop of the day, from resident of Hartsburg, MO:
"Here's a big 'Thank You' for all your work, planning and effort yesterday for our Osage County tour. And thanks to Connie and Shannon for their help, too. Your presentation, wagon rides and safety measures were well thought through and impressive. The different aspects of the farming operation were interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing your work and heart with me."
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Summary of County Council meeting June 15, 2010
Following guests were introduced: Andrew Muenkes and family Keith, Vickie and Alex Schwinke.
Alex described the Boy Scout Troop project to place 100-mile markers on the Gasconade River in celebration of 100th Anniversary of Scouting in America, 1910 to 2010. Materials for the project were donated by the Siengfield Foundation.
Alex said his Troop 8, of Jefferson City, set markers 0 to 25. Andrew’s Troop 17, Osage County, placed 26 to 42 and Zach Boeckmann of Loose Creek’s Troop 76 placed 15 more markers to the southern edge of Osage County. The zero marker is at Gasconade Access near Hermann.
The markers will allow people more awareness of their location on the river, especially for efficient emergency response, according to Alex. He said Hermann first responders have already loaded locations into their database.
Each horizontal mile-marker sign commemorates the Boy Scout Anniversary with a large number graphic for mile reference. Markers were placed on metal poles, using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, on either bank, depending on terrain and land ownership agreements.
The Welcome to Osage County Agritourism Council will make a map available on the website showing location of each mile in Osage County (about 0 to 60) and south.
About 100 Missouri Boy Scouts will go on a 100-mile float on the Gasconade between July 11 and 17 to celebrate completion of the marker project.
Membership Report:
Kathy Dothage reported 2 new memberships, one from a St. Louis resident who participated in the “Be a Tourist…” event.
Cultural Heritage Seminar Feedback: Larry Dickerson presented summary of comment in aftermath of the seminar, saying full Final Report with statistics will be available soon. He provided an outline that cited planning required for a “Churches of Osage County Tour,” an updated website for the Community in Action organization and group networking in Chamois. Charlotte Schaperclause added that Stacy Buskin presented a plan to network Chamois organizations through a community garden project. The council further discussed the need to do general project planning and agreed to a facilitated planning and prioritization session for the next council meeting in July. Kay Schwinke will consolidate council projects so far for the planning session and Kathy will provide minutes over the last 2 years to Larry for outline of ideas that were and were not executed.
The Chamois Community Center is on track with help from 4-H and Woodsmen cleaning up the building Charlotte added.
Kathy also said filming done at the seminar is on U-Tube
Grant Proposals Summary:
1. Larry’s Heritage Tourism grant proposal resulted in $2,000 to resubmit for $20,000.
2. Larry’s SET (Training for Regional Development) grant proposal development has been tabled because guidelines have gone to national level for disposition.
3. Kathy and Joan Strong minimally researched USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Project grants to explore a certified kitchen facility. The grant specifies that owner of the facility cannot be a for-profit entity, so council members suggested proposing funds to renovate a county school kitchen for dual use or proposing dual use for an established restaurant kitchen. Kathy will follow up with USDA authorities for guidelines.
4. Mobile Kitchen proposal submitted in March will not be resolved until September/October.
C.
Tours: Kay reported plan for “Mystery Tour” in the fall is in the works. Require some special surprise to compare with Brandt family operation on the June tour. Open to suggestions, including rerun of dramatic presentation from Cultural Heritage Seminar. Minimal Mystery Tour information will be put on website for preview. Kay also provided the tour ad from Bank of Lee Summit’s tour scheduled for September. The 2-day Osage County tour gets front page billing in the club newsletter. Members discussed effort to capture economic impact of such bank/outside tours through post-event survey.
Three Rivers Membership Meeting event Aug. 6: Require booth content (Kay Scwinke). Council will look for pictures from Cultural Heritage Seminar. No pictures available from “Be a Tourist…” Can re-use same images from previous displays. Provide map-brochure for giveaway and have drawings for 2 sets of WTOC wine glasses and Westphalia Winery product. People must be present to win drawing.
Manituo Osage Bluffs Regional Association, MOBRA, report from Charlotte: The group is planning a bus trip for members about July 20, cost still to be decided. The general meeting will be July 6. Larry said he has suggested the Executive Board not push name and logo yet because he has an intern researching better representation of history and commerce that would tie both sides of the River together. Paid memberships are between 30 and 40, still dragging.
C.
Missouri Rhine Valley regional association is planning a self-guided tour second week of September. (www.missourirhinevalley.com). Connie Cunningham’s Goose farm, Sassafras Valley Farm, will be included on the tour.
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