Making Missouri: A Bicentennial Project
Making Missouri is a new online educational resource developed for teachers and families by the Missouri Historical Society. The website brings together historic primary sources, engaging video content, community experts, and custom lesson plans with interactive activities. Placing the statehood story into a broader context, Making Missouri explores the region’s Indigenous history, the lives of everyday people, and the impact of the Missouri Compromise, and unpacks the details behind famous figures, legal documents, and history-making moments. Teaching early Missouri history through the experiences of real people gives students a unique entry point and expands this formative period of history beyond the textbook page.
Missouri State Parks Bicentennial Quilt
The Missouri State Parks Bicentennial Quilt will be at the following parks and sites during May. Please call the park or site for more information and details on how to view the quilt.
Arrow Rock State Historic Site: May 4-5
Montauk State Park: May 7-8
Current River State Park/Echo Bluff State Park: May 10-12
Robertsville State Park/Don Robinson State Park: May 14-16
Trail of Tears State Park/ Big Oak Tree State Park: May 29-31
Missouri Attorney General Honors Award
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office presents the Attorney General Honors Award to officially recognize outstanding public achievements by the people who live in our state. The award is presented to Missourians who have given back to their communities, set an example for other citizens, or other meritorious achievements. The Attorney General Honors Award is an effort to recognize Missourians who are making a difference in our communities each and every day.
Missouri Prairie Foundation Missouri Bicentennial Project
In a salute to Missouri’s Bicentennial, this year the Missouri Prairie Foundation begins prairie restoration on 400 acres in Pettis County, MO.
The Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) is a 55-year-old nationally accredited land trust and member of the Missouri Bicentennial Alliance. In a salute to Missouri’s Bicentennial, MPF will begin restoration and stewardship of 400 acres in Pettis County.
In late December 2020, MPF closed on the 400-acre tract, named Lordi Marker Prairie, thanks to an extraordinary $1 million lead gift from Susan Lordi Marker and her husband Dennis Marker, gifts from other supporters, and financial backing from MPF.
Lordi Marker Prairie links two MPF properties—the 40-acre Friendly Prairie, the organization’s first acquisition in 1969; and the 80-acre Drovers’ Prairie, purchased in 1981—creating 520 acres of prairie and grassland habitat just 14 miles south of Sedalia, MO and 100 miles southeast of Kansas City, MO. Lordi Marker Prairie is within a Missouri Conservation Opportunity Area and an Audubon Important Bird Area—a key region for landscape-scale prairie and native grassland conservation.
Until the time of Missouri statehood in 1821, 73% of Pettis County—or more than 317,400 acres—was prairie. Nearly all the original, unplowed prairie in Pettis County and throughout Missouri is gone today, with the land broken by sprawl, row crops, and other development. Lordi Marker Prairie is a wonderful opportunity in historic Osage Plains prairie country to protect and restore 400 hundred acres of land for present and future generations to enjoy. This prairie, like all MPF properties, is open to the public.
MPF’s planned, multi-year restoration work at this property includes removal of encroaching trees from approximately 100 acres of unplowed, remnant prairie, conversion of tall fescue to native prairie plantings, restoration of a riparian corridor, and creation of ephemeral wetland habitat to support grassland amphibians and migrating shorebirds. MPF is also planning to establish wildflower plots on a portion of the property to serve as a seed source to support restoration efforts throughout the Conservation Opportunity Area. MPF may also establish native pastures to demonstrate conservation grazing.
“This historic project will provide habitat for grassland birds, pollinators, and other grassland-dependent species,” said Missouri Prairie Foundation President David Young. “It will also contribute to healthy streams, provide carbon storage, and pay tribute to Missouri’s historic prairie landscapes to benefit present and future Missourians.”
The Missouri Prairie Foundation is a 55-year-old nationally accredited land trust that owns and manages original prairies, reconstructs prairie habitat, runs the 21-year-old Grow Native! program, and administers the Missouri Invasive Plant Task Force. To learn more about its conservation work and educational programming, including the Lordi Marker Prairie project, visit www.moprairie.org or www.grownative.org, or call 888-843-6739.
Family Heirloom Recipes at the Missouri State Fair
Since 2011, Greater Midwest Foodways has sponsored a Family Heirloom Recipe contest at the Missouri State Fair.
Our Family Heirloom Recipe competition seeks your best made from scratch heirloom recipe suitable for a family or community dinner or a family favorite nobody has written down yet. To encourage delving deep into your family’s culinary history, please submit family recipes at least 50 years old. We look forward to learning about and tasting your treasured foods.
PRIZE MONEY
1st place: $150, 2nd place: $100, 3rd place: $50
JUDGING CRITERIA
History: 50%, Prepared Recipe: 40%, Appearance, Display & Recipe: 10%
Contestants may apply to the Competitions Department by July 20, 2021: https://www.mostatefair.com/how-to-enter-premium-guide/
Live judging is scheduled for Saturday August 14, 2021 at 2:30 PM. All competitors histories will be read to the public.
Should this inspire people to document a family favorite recipe to share with loved ones, we have accomplished our mission.
The Bicentennial of the Missouri Judiciary: A Celebration of Your Courts’ 200th Anniversary 1820 – 2020
Have gavel, will travel – or go virtual! Join us in celebrating our state’s third branch of government by inviting a local judge to speak with your school class or civic or community group about the history and development of Missouri’s courts. Two new presentations – one for younger students and one for older students and adults – celebrating the bicentennial of our state’s third branch of government can be presented virtually or in person. #MOCourts200 #Missouri2021
Teachers and others can find more information about presentation topics from the committee’s Discover Missouri Courts website. To schedule a judicial speaker and presentation, select a presentation from https://www.courts.mo.gov/CivicEducation/presentations/ and click on the “Request this Presentation” link.
Bicentennial Community Service Challenge
The Missouri Community Service Commission challenges all Missourians to volunteer 200 hours in their community in honor of the state’s 200 years. Each year, volunteers give back over $3.2 billion in service to their communities, and we want to recognize those who are making a positive impact. Those who complete the 200 hours will be recognized for their service with a certificate of appreciation.