GOVERNOR
IN TOWN
Governor Bob Holden was a guest at a cocktail
reception held Saturday night in conjunction with the Missouri Preservation Conference,
held in Ste. Genevieve last weekend. Here Holden chats with Ste. Genevieve Mayor Kathy
Waltz and conference organizer Tim Conley. The reception was held at Conley's Old Academy
home. It was sponsored by Holnam Inc. That company's CEO Paul Yhouse and other Holnam
officials were also present.
Conference
Drew Raves From Visitors, Including Gov. Holden
Ste. Genevieve put its best foot forward over the weekend. About 150
registered attendees and many more visitors attended the Missouri Preservation Annual
Statewide Preservation Conference, including Missouri Governor Bob Holden. The event was
hosted by Ste. Genevieve for the first time in 25 years. Participants, organizers and
guests seemed to be unanimous in their praise for the conference. "It was absolutely
fabulous," said Debbie Sheals, Missouri Preservation president. "It was a
complete success. Not only were the sessions informative, but everyone had so much fun in
the process." Debbie Baker, a Department of Natural Resources employee from Festus,
agreed. "The speakers were tremendous," she said. "They were very
knowledgeable and very well organized." Tim Conley, a member of the Missouri
Preservation Board of Directors and the organizer of the conference said he believes the
weekend event was the most successful ever mounted by the group. "There is no
question it was the most successful conference we've ever given," Conley said.
"Both educationally, and from the standpoint of it being a good time, it was just a
huge success." That may, in part, have been due to a decision to make the conference
one that ordinary people, interested in restoring or preserving historic buildings, could
make a connection with. One of the most popular sessions featured local contractors Jim
Beckerman, Dallen Rhymer and Dale Propst demonstrating techniques for repairing historic
windows and bricks. "When I watched Jim in action, I realized he should really be on
television, he has such an entertaining way of getting information across and obviously
really knows his stuff," Conley said. "People just loved it; it was probably the
most talked about class that we gave. As a board, we realized we needed more real hands-on
classes like that." "I think we had a great cross section," Sheals said.
"We had a little of everybody--a great mixture of members." The downtown
historic district began to fill up on Friday, as conference guests rolled into town.
Throughout the weekend, they were visible at local historic sites and businesses, as well
as at conference events. The benefits to the City of Ste. Genevieve were obvious, and
recognized by Mayor Kathy Waltz, who welcomed visitors at the opening session by saying,
"We're delighted to open our city to you. We're delighted to share our town with
you." Participants, who got to tour several historic homes not generally open to the
public, seemed to enjoy their time in the city. "Everyone has always been so cordial
here," DNR's Baker said. "It was really a spe-cial privilege to tour some of
these houses." "The people here are so friendly," said Renae Farris of
Columbia and a member of Southeast Missouri State University's first archeology field
school here in 1997. "It was a real treat to go into the private homes. The owners
were so gracious." Historic home owners who allowed conference attendees to tour
their houses included Bill Lemir and Yvonne Tomich (Vital St. Gemme Beauvais House), Dr.
Hilliard Goldman (Green Tree Tavern), Donna Charron (Bequette-Ribault House) and the
Brooks family (William Brooks House, hosted by Beckerman). The National Society of
Colonial Dames in the State of Missouri, meanwhile, offered free tours of the Linden House
and Bolduc House Museum, while Jim Baker and the DNR staff gave free tours of the Felix
Valle State Historic Site and the Amoureux House. The Bequette-Ribault House was also open
to visitors. "It's a pleasure showing the house to this type of people," Lemir
said. "They always make good comments and ask the right questions. They force you to
think about significant stuff. As a result, we learn as much from them as they do from
us." Missouri Governor Bob Holden also seemed to enjoy his visit, which included a
dinner theater performance of George M. Cohen's "Yankee Doodle Dandy" by Cheryl
Cooper's R-2 Gifted Class. The spirited rendition, with choreography and music direction
by Jon Buffington, featured a cast of Amanda Coffman, Katie Ragan, Steven Johnson, Sean
Phagan, Joe Bohnert, Long Huck, Emilie Kern, Mickey Stever, Marissa LaRose, Jason Picou,
Derek Wehner, Courntey Golteman, Melissa Grimwood, Katie Carron, Marisa Vineyard, Chad
Okenfuss, Abby Kern, Andy Vollersten and Dane Korenak in speaking rolls and dozens of
others in various capacities. "The children from the R-2 musical were just an immense
success," Conley said. "The governor insisted on shaking hands with very single
child that had anything to do with the musical. He's going to invite them to perform in
Jefferson City. He was very, very impressed. He said several times that of all the towns,
his favorite one to come and visit is Ste. Genevieve. He's really into preservation in a
big way. I've never known a public official so interested in history and houses and
historic neighborhoods." Conley noted that Holden stayed "twice as long as
planned," making him late for another speaking engagement and that he "clearly
had a fantastic time." Visitors were treated all weekend to carefully selected hors
d'oeuvres (by Chris Rottler of Colonial Thymes Restaurant), wines and beverages during the
conference and the evening get-togethers. Conley noted that visitors were "blown
away" by the food. "Everyone left here saying wonderful things about Ste.
Genevieve. They didn' t dream we had stuff like this going for us," Conley said.
"The key thing is it took a year of hard work to pull together a function like this
and have it work. It took a year of careful planning and making sure every single item was
of the best quality. The end result was enormously successful." Conley stressed that
for a town of Ste. Genevieve's size not to look like "a bunch of country
bumpkins" to a sophisticated statewide audience, this kind of planning and
forethought is absolutely essential. So is local participation. "The Colonial Dames,
city hall and most of the businesses in town worked together and what we pulled off was of
such high quality that it left an incredible impression on visitors, who are some of the
top ranking politicians and some of the leading people in the business community and
society in Kansas City, St. Louis and other cities," he said. "This was a major,
major breakthrough for the city of Ste. Genevieve. We made a lot of friends this weekend.
I think we made people take a second look at who we are."
Plus, in this week's Herald...
Build Up's Hope Meadows Sold To Prevent Foreclosure
Rumors Prompt Parents To Keep Kids Home From School
SGI Wants To Be Annexed Into City
