We've posted the June newsletter.
An Excellent Lunch & Lewis and Clark Program,  12 noon, Saturday, January 28, 2012, at Piropos in Briarcliff West
Speaker Paul Post, Topeka lawyer, presenting Canoeing Montana's Wild and Scenic Missouri River: Following the Path of Lewis and Clark
with Powerpoint photos and talk
Program:
-
Chapter Award to Clarence Stessman for his work with Sacagawea at Fort Osage for Service to the April 23, 2011 Bicentennial Program!
- Terry Hobbs Chapter t-shirts
- 12 Noon Review of personal photos and events from 2004 through 2011
- Lunch, $17.50, see choices below. You must mail in by January 23.
- Paul Post presentation, 1:00 p.m.
Please mail your $17.50 per person check payable to: Mo-Ks River Bend Chapter of L and C.
Your check is your reservation; we need to have a head count by Tuesday, January 24. Please mail your check and food selection in the amount and to the address noted below.
Send the check and your lunch choices to:
Lewis and Clark Riverbend Chapter, 1220 Washington #301, Kansas City, MO 64105.
Contact Dan Sturdevant at dan@sturdevantlawoffice.com
You may bring a spouse or friend(s) who is not a member of the chapter. We hope to recruit new members who you may wish to invite. Please reserve the time now and send your check!
We’ll be meeting in the private dining room at Piropos Restaurant, in the Briarcliff Shops at 4141 N. Mulberry Dr., Kansas City North, west of intersection of 169 Highway and Briarcliff Pkwy.
Driving directions:
- Take 9 Highway north from downtown to the 169 North exit,
or Broadway Extension/169 North from downtown.
- Exit at the Briarcliff Parkway exit.
- Turn left onto Briarcliff Parkway, under the overpass,
- then right up the hill at Mulberry to the Briarcliff Shops.
Lunch includes a small salad, one of 3 options shown below, drink, tax and tip:
- First Course
House Salad with romaine lettuce, apples, avocado, walnuts, tomatoes & red onions with a red wine vinaigrette.
- Second Course (choice of)
- Sandwich de Milanesa, breaded beef tenderloin on a toasted baguette with chipotle aioli, lettuce, tomato, red onion and avocado, served with french fries, or
- Linguini Carbonara linguini tossed with green peas, light reggianito cheese, aji molido cream and topped with crispy pancetta, or
- Pollo al Oreganato Rosso, 8 oz. grilled chicken breast with sautéed french green beans and mashed potatoes
Lewis and Clark 2011, Commemorating the 205th year of the return journey, September 15
“Capt. Lewis and my Self assended a hill . . . a Commanding Situation”
Thursday , September 15, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Lewis and Clark Point, 8th and Jefferson Streets, Kansas City, Missouri 
6:00 pm
Introduction: Dan Sturdevant Chapter President
Chapter Member Re-Enactors Walking the Hill
Opening 4 directions prayer:
Dee “Singing Bird” White Eye from the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of Michigan. Dee was involved in the 200th anniversary re-enactment at Atchison and White Cloud, Kansas. As a traditional dancer and singer, Dee is active in American Indian events internationally. Dee received her master’s in Social Work from the University of Kansas. Currently, she works in Kansas City area. CDs will be available of Dee’s original contemporary Native music.
Journal Readers and Interpreters for September 1806,
Elizabeth Castillo and Open Mic
June 26 Chapter meeting at Lewis and Clark Park at Kaw Point
And a few days later as the river rises:
On July 10, the marker is partly submerged:
National Lewis and Clark Convention in Omaha, July 31 to August 3
Please consider the Omaha Lewis and Clark national convention, Sunday July 31 through Wednesday, August 3.
- I-29 is closed north of St. Joseph, making the trip to Omaha about four hours, using these directions:
- I-29 North past St. Joseph
- I-29 exit at Craig, Missouri and head north on highway 59
- 59 highway north across the Iowa state line to the intersection of 59 and highway 34; Highway 34 west to I-29
- I-29 north to Omaha.
The national Lewis and Clark Convention in Omaha, begins Sunday, July 31 through Wednesday, August 3. The convention also offers pre- and post-convention sessions. It’s a great time, with about 300+ Lewis and Clarkers attending. June 15 is the deadline for early registration, and discounted admission. As of this date, about 11 members of our chapter will be going. It’s possible to stay a day or two and not the whole time.
For information on this national convention, please visit the Mouth of the Platte chapter's site. No online registration is available; you can download a pdf of the schedule and a registration form.
Sacagawea Bicentennial Event at Fort Osage April 23, 2011
Left to right, Dan Sturdevant; Lewis and Clark Elementary School Students Allison Swearingin and Erin Stevens; Sacagawea bronze plaque sculptor Sabra Tull Meyer; Norm Besheer, President of Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City.
John Hess, chair of the Ft. Osage committee for the Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City, on the left. John helped this event by proposing that the Native Sons and Daughters help fund the plaque; on the right is Steve Wilson, site administrator for Ft. Osage National Historic Monument.
The highlight of the event was the unveiling of a plaque with a bas-relief sculpture of Sacagawea by noted artist Sabra Tull Meyer. The plaque will commemorate the night of April 1811, when Sacagawea, as a member of a Missouri River traveling party led by Manuel Lisa, spent the night at Fort Osage.
The local Lewis and Clark Chapter presented this program. The Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City also made substantial contributions to the funding for the production of the plaque. The Native Sons are largely responsible for the re-construction of Ft. Osage, as a replica fort, in the 1940s.
An overflow crowd of about 120 people attended the program! Thanks to Chick Stessman for an uplifting program “Sacagawea at Fort Osage 2011”! It was a fitting program to commemorate Sacagawea’s 1811 stay at Fort Osage.
Chick Stessman initiated this program and has worked on it for at least two years and the program exceeded expectations! Chick and his family also provided funds for the plaque installation.
Thanks to the Girl Scout Troop 1874 and Lewis and Clark Elementary School in Liberty Missouri for their attendance and flag ceremony. Fort Osage’s Gordon Julich and Steve Wilson worked with Mr. Stessman and were present for the program, Gordon and Steve each giving a fine talk at the program. Sculptor Sabra Tull Meyer spoke about her fine creation and the process. The Education Center looks great and so does the Fort and the Missouri River!
Thanks to Terry Hobbs for obtaining the terrific Big Soldier Creek Dancers, who danced before and after the program.
The program was a product of the partnership of the Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City, Ft. Osage Committee Chair John Hess, the Missouri Kansas Riverbend Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, www. lewis-and-clark-kansas-city.org. Sacagawea at Fort Osage committee chair Chick Stessman, and Fort Osage National Historical Monument, Gordon Julich and Steve Wilson.
The program began with the colorful, energetic and informative (about dances, costumes and customs) “Big Soldier Creek Dancers” of Mayetta, Kansas. The half hour program led to the unveiling by sculptor Sabra Tull Meyer of the Sacagawea plaque on the downstairs wall of the Ft. Osage Education Center.
Sacagawea dollar coins were presented to the Girl Scout Troop 1874 and the Lewis and Clark Elementary School girls and boys from Liberty, Missouri. After the half hour program, attendees were treated to additional dancing by the Big Soldier Creek Dancers.
Chapter members present: Chick Stessman, Steve Kaub, Yvonne Kean, Kay and Fred Schaefer, Ross Marshall, Paul Post, Roger and Sandy Slusher, Elizabeth Castillo, Mary Conrad, Susie Taylor, Diane Pepper, Hugh and Sally Sprague, Karin Winn, Joyce Cox, Steve Sturdevant and Jeannie Murray, Chuck Scott, Shirley Christian, Deanna and Beverly Delladio, Jerry Garrett, Gordon Julich, K.B. Winterowd, Dan and Mary Lee Sturdevant; and new member Dr. Anthony Kovac and his son (and others who I apologize I have not written down here).
--Dan Sturdevant
Fort Osage is located in Sibley, Missouri, approximately ten miles east of Independence, Missouri off Hwy 24.
Ft.Osage: 105 Osage St. Sibley, MO 64088 816-650-3278
http://www.fortosagenhs.com
For additional information contact: Clarence Stessman, Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation at: cstessman@kc.rr.com
Clarence Stessman and Sabra Tull Meyer, artist and designer of the Sacagawea plaque.
Artist Sabra Tull Meyer with the plaque.
One of the Big Soldier Creek dancers performing at the dedication.
Clarence Stessman addresses the audience at the dedication.
Big Soldier Creek Dancers performing at the dedication.
Gordon Julich addresses the audience.
Steve Wilson addresses the audience at the dedication.
Lewis and Clark National Trail Superintendent Visits Kansas City
Mark Weekly, superintendent of the National Park Service's Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail; Dan Sturdevant, president of the Riverbend Chapter; Pat Traffis, board member of the Riverbend Chapter, and Ross Marshall, board member of the Riverbend Chapter, at the National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence, Missouri.
Dan Sturdevant To
Foundation Board
Dan Sturdevant has recently been appointed to the national Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation national board. The next event for the
board will be a private board meeting in Omaha, Nebraska in the middle of October. There are four in-person meetings per year, with one meeting in Great Falls, Montana, the headquarters for the Foundation. Please see http://www.lewisandclark.org for more Foundation information.
From our chapter, we have two members who served on the board, eventually becoming President, Gordon Julich and Karen Seaberg.
Joint luncheon and meeting with the Columbia and St. Louis Chapters
Attendance was about 30, about 18 from our chapter and the remainder from the Columbia-Jefferson City area and some from St. Louis. The talk was by Charlie Palmer, talking about the Louisiana Purchase.
Charlie’s premise was that the Louisiana Purchase enabled the United States Government to negotiate, and then purchase from the Indian nations the Louisiana Purchase land, an interesting twist on the standard line of outright purchase. Rain prevented the planned Rocheport tour and bike ride.
Joint meeting group at the Rocheport event
Luncheon group at the joint meeting in Rocheport, Missouri
New Lewis and Clark Observation Tower at Fort Dubois
By Jim Suhr at the AP; spotted and forwarded by Kyle Carroll
HARTFORD, Ill. - The harrowing trek of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across uncharted America two centuries ago took perseverance - as did construction of an observation tower that overlooks the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and will bear their names.
Opened in May, a decade after the landmark was conceived, the 180-foot-tall building with twin towers gives visitors a panoramic gander at the spot where the rivers meet and, to the south, a view of the St. Louis skyline and its glistening Gateway Arch.
The observation tower complements the nearby Lewis and Clark State Historic Site commemorating Camp Dubois, where explorers who accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were trained and equipped before sojourning west at President Thomas Jefferson's behest.
Construction of the tower proved almost as difficult as the exploration it commemorates: Work stuttered as organizers struggled to cobble together the $5 million needed from local and state sources. Frequently stormy, wet weather didn't help with the largely outdoor project.
"It was a long time coming," said Bob Schwandner, the project's superintendent for general contractor Jun Construction. "The interest is pretty high, and I think it'll be received well. It'll be something I hope a lot of people enjoy."
The tower includes entry-level murals that resemble a giant jigsaw puzzle with more than 2,200 tile pieces. The interior has a visitors' center, and landscaping includes a fountain that shoots water from the middle of a huge, concrete compass.
An elevator in one tower takes visitors to the highest of three railed viewing decks. The other tower has stairs. The whole thing sits on a 4.5-acre stretch bisected by a bike trail and skirted by heavily traveled Illinois Route 3.
Hartford officials broke ground on the project in late 2002 and expected it to be completed by Dec. 12, 2003 - the bicentennial of the explorers' arrival at Camp Dubois (they later traveled along the Missouri River, across the Rocky Mountains and to the Pacific Ocean).
Delays forced planners to adjust their sights on christening it by late 2006, when a group of re-enactors retracing the original expedition's two-year path were to complete their trip and return to southern Illinois. That opening didn't happen, either.
But now, at long last, the tower is ready for business.
http://host.madison.com/travel/regional
Photos from the National Convention, August 1—4, 2010, Lewiston, Idaho
Overlooking Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Oregon, with the Spiral Highway in the background. From left, Mary Lee Sturdevant, Ross Marshall, and
National Convention participants
Members attend the arrival of
the Corps of Discovery Keelboat for the Bicentennial at Kaw Point,
June 2004. Photo by Steve Kaub. |
