APRIL 2005

COOPER'S LANDING

NEWSLETTER

Jerome Wheeler

Jerome Wheeler, legendary local songwriter, musician, playwright, director and humorist, died Sunday, Feb. 20, 2005, at his home in south Columbia. Jerome Wheeler enjoyed regional acclaim in the Columbia area during the 1970s and '80s through his musical and theatrical stage productions and achieved a top 40 placement for one of his songs, "Vibration 2.2," in the late 1960s. Mr. Wheeler was born June 14, 1946, in Columbia to Fred E. and Trella Mae Sachsenheimer Wheeler. He attended high school in Versailles but returned to Columbia and graduated from Hickman High School in 1964. He studied theater at the University of Missouri. Jerome's contributions to the musical, cultural and environmental quality of the Columbia community were significant. He was integral in the foundation of a number of local and community organizations including KOPN Community Radio, BoCoMo Musicians Guild and MO River Cultural Conservancy. In 1988, a handful of citizen activists stepped forward asking that Columbia reject an environmentally unsound proposal for the handling of waste water and in doing so proposed the wetlands, which resulted in the creation of Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area. Jerome's song "The Pipeline Blues" was instrumental in creating the mind shift which enabled this to come about. He appeared weekly on Lee Mace's Ozark Opry television show during the early 1960s, and he was a member of many bands, including New Morning Singers, Celebrated Renaissance Band, Finkelstein and Katz, Cesspool Baker, Jerome Wheeler and the Catnip Mouse Band, The River Cowboys, The dot.commies, The Deli Llama Orchestra and others. He was best known for having created and directed five plays, "Heaven's Bright Babies," "King of Fools," "Ernwhazalot," "Gomez and the Catnip Mouse" and "B-Movies from Outer Space," which inspired the local artistic and musical community. Survivors include his companion, Doireann O'Brien of Columbia; three children, Ruby Wheeler of Columbia, Tim Wheeler of Camdenton and Keenan O'Brien of Columbia; and a sister, Susan Lasher of St. Louis.

Jerome's Epitaph

I met Jerome when a friend asked me to play trombone in the house band (The Easley High Band) for the Gomez and the Catnip Mouse productions in Columbia. He was able to share his vision for the play to all the performers in a way that everyone felt like a partner. The love we all felt for each other was typical of the kind of productions put on by Jerome till his death. During his last few months, Jerome and I collaborated on ways to pay back the community, especially the musicians, for the support I received during the liquor license problem last summer. Our idea was to establish a community-based organization that would be able to record live events, which would showcase the artistry of our local music scene. Jerome's previous success with his other endeavors gave credibility to the concept. We were able to get the support necessary to start the Missouri River Cultural Conservancy (MoRivCC). Following is Jerome's vision for this group.

Monday, December 13th, Cooper's Landing meeting

Dear Participants,

Just a few brief words as way of an introduction to an idea that has been hopping around these parts for nigh on 20 years or so. It should come as no surprise that it involves the music of this area (mid-Missouri for lack of a better definition) and the musicians who play it. Tonight's meeting will be about an idea, just the bare idea at this point -- it will be your job to help us expand it-- and ways we could go about implementing that idea. Mike Cooper and I share the same conviction that the cultural identity of this area is closely tied to, and in some cases defined, by the music that is composed and played here. Songwriters have had their share of successes on the national front but many, many more have chosen to remain close to home and continue writing about what they know and care about, mainly the people of this area, the River and Missouri. Even then, you can't keep good songs down and several musicians among them, Bob Dyer, Dave and Kathy Para, Ken Shepard, Lee Ruth, and myself have all achieved a level of national and regional prominence and yet are still closely identified within that prominence as being Missouri musicians. What Mike and I would like to do is to take the songwriters in this area, unknowns as well as knowns, and use them in a project that would put that identity in a video-tape/DVD archive for historical and cultural purposes. The clock is running out on many of our local treasures, and we are afraid that if we don't act quickly that several songwriters will be beyond our reach. There are several possible ways we can go about this, but neither Mike nor myself know for sure if they are viable or realistic. Some may involve private funding, some may involve grants for public monies, some may involve a combination of both. We need to assemble people with the knowledge of what we can do and what we can't do and how to go about what we can and how to get around what we can't. Let's find some way to do this.

Jerome Wheeler

It is ironic that Jerome died before this project could be completed. Now we have lost another of our local treasures: Forrest Rose.

Photo: Forrest Rose at Cooper's Landing

Missouri River Cultural Conservancy

The mission of the Missouri River Cultural Conservancy is to document, record, archive and foster awareness of the unique history and culture of the Central Missouri River Region. MoRivCC is proceeding despite the untimely death of its inspiration, Jerome Wheeler, and local artist Forrest Rose. MoRivCC is currently in the process of applying for nonprofit status and raising funds for its initial endeavors. If you think you would be interested in helping to make this project successful, please contact Mike Cooper at 573-657-2544, or e-mail cooperslanding2004@yahoo.com for more information.

Please contribute any newsworthy current events about the Missouri River or Katy Trail and we will post them on this page. And we would love to add you to our e-mailing list!

Send your email to: cooperslanding2004@yahoo.com

ARCHIVES

Missouri River Relief to host fifth annual mid-Missouri River Cleanup

Cooper's Trash Bash '05 at Cooper's Landing on May 14

The River Road - Spiraling clouds of turkey buzzards, nature's cleanup crew, have returned en force to the Missouri River Valley this spring. For those of us in Missouri River Relief (MRR), it's a signal -- Missouri River cleanup season has begun. This year, MRR will be returning to Cooper's Landing (actually, many of us have never left) for our fifth annual mid-Missouri Big Muddy Cleanup on 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., May 14. The cleanup will be followed by an evening of music on the riverbanks. Over the years, many local river rats and nature-lovers have joined us for this unique opportunity to put a bunch of muscle into cleaning up the river that we love. We're hoping for another big, energized crowd this year. The cleanup starts at 10 a.m., with MRR, Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services boat-drivers shuttling volunteers out onto the river with bags, gloves and water. Crews will be dropped off along the river to spend an hour or two scouring the banks for trash. Other groups elect to clean up area roadsides, which get filled each year with the trash of careless drivers, and Katy Trail-users. It's a proactive way to help beautify the river that we all love. Rather than coming down to the river and getting bummed out by all the trash, volunteers can visit again and feel good about how great the area looks, and what they did to help.

Trash Contest While exploring their section of the river, volunteers often find some pretty interesting stuff. There's always at least one message-in-a-bottle that turns up, from as far away as Nebraska. Toys of all kinds, dozens of balls (even bowling balls), old farm equipment, countless tires and appliances, and even old jewelry find their way to the riverbanks. It's a sobering education on the impacts of our disposable society. When boats pick up volunteer crews and return them to Cooper's Landing, they can enter their most interesting finds in the Trash Contest, with the chance to win prizes from local merchants.

What we provide, what you need Lunch will be provided for all volunteers at our cleanup headquarters at Cooper's Landing. When you check in at our registration booth, you'll be given work gloves and a t-shirt and asked whether you'd like to clean up on the river or on land. We ask that you wear long pants and sturdy boots or shoes. If you want to take children on the river, we ask that you bring a child's lifejacket. Our supply is limited. For youth groups, we request that there is one adult for every five children. We recommend that groups and individuals pre-register for the event at www.riverrelief.org or at our headquarters the day of the cleanup. This year, we are working to reduce the amount of plastic trash that we generate. We are asking volunteers to bring a reusable beverage container that can be filled up at headquarters or in the boats. Thank you very much. Plastic bottles are one of the most common items we find in these cleanups.

Relax at Cooper's for Post-Cleanup Party As the last trash gets sorted, we'll be throwing our post-cleanup party at Cooper's Landing. With a full slate of local musicians playing all night, volunteers can kick back, enjoy the sunset over Providence Bend, and enjoy the good feeling after a day of giving back to the river. Cooper's will have plenty of food and drinks available for an evening of fun on the river. Check back on the Cooper's Landing events calendar for updates on who's playing that night.

Submitted by Steve Schnarr

River organizations to host benefit concert on the banks of Big Muddy

The River Road - To raise funds for their May 14 Missouri River cleanup, Missouri River Relief (MRR) will be teaming up with Missouri River Communities Network (MRCN) to host a benefit concert from noon to 11:00 p.m., May 7, 2005, at Cooper's Landing at the Port of Nashville, Mo., near Easley. The daylong event will feature a diverse lineup of local musicians committed to the cause of greater public awareness of the river they love. The event is being coordinated by river valley music luminary "Naked" Dave Bandy of MRR (657-0000) and MRCN Americorps member Jessica Suter (256-2602). Check out the Cooper's Landing Web site for updates on band listings, www.cooperslanding.net. Food and beverages will be available at Cooper's Landing, including fresh BBQ and the famous Chim's Thai Kitchen, located on the banks of the river. During the concert, MRR boat crews will be scouting the banks of the river, and mapping trash sites to be cleaned the following weekend. Members of the media are welcome to the event or accompany the trash-scouting crews.

Musical Line-up for May 7 River Fest

noon to 1 pm ----- Pippa Letsky

1 to 2 pm ----------Jesse James and Patty Nash

2 to 3 pm-----------Big Medicine Band

3 to 4 pm-----------Bob Runyon

4 to 5 pm-----------Keith Fletcher

5 to 6 pm-----------Noah Earle

6 to7:30 pm---------Naked Dave & the Blue Cats

7:30 to 9 pm---------Primitive Soul

9 pm to 10:30--------SRE

Missouri River Relief is a Columbia-based nonprofit organization that has been organizing river cleanups and educational events throughout the Missouri River valley since 2000, from St. Joseph to St. Louis. Last year, MRR hosted eight river cleanups in river towns as diverse as Kansas City and Glasgow, Missouri. This year, we have scheduled five cleanups and three education events.

Missouri River Communities Network

200 Old 63 South

Columbia, MO 65201-6081

(573) 256-2602

www.moriver.org

The Missouri River Communities Network (MRCN) AmeriCorps Program is heading into a busy spring! AmeriCorps is a national network of service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service through local nonprofits, such as MRCN, and other public service organizations. In accordance with MRCN's goals to preserve, restore and protect the natural and historic resources of the Missouri River and its surrounding communities, here are some of the activities we're working on:

Earth Day - Sunday, April 24 MRCN is participating in Earth Day this year as a member of the Columbia Earth Day Coalition, and will be providing: traffic direction, help for setting up for the street fair, help for cleanup after the event, a booth with merchandise and informational displays on our current projects, kids' activities in Peace Park and help for setting up and staffing the City of Columbia's Community Storm Water Project Booth. Look for fun facts and games in Peace Park for kids of all ages! We'll make jumping frog origami, investigate living stream critters, and race to sort recyclables. You can even stop by our street fair booth to taste test our new River Roast coffee, courtesy of Lakota. Be sure to visit our street fair neighbors, Missouri River Relief (MRR) and Friends of Rock Bridge State Park. MRR will also be assisting MRCN with kids' activities. Both notable organizations are worth a visit. For more information on Columbia Earth Day, please visit http://columbiaearthday.org/.

Cooper's Landing Benefit Show and Cleanup - Saturday, May 7 and Saturday, May 14 Join MRCN and MRR for a joint fundraiser on May 7 to benefit both groups and their efforts to improve the health of the Missouri River. The lineup is amazing, so come down anytime from noon to 10 p.m. and enjoy great tunes and tasty food with a kickin' view! Check out the acts on Cooper's events page. Don't stray too far from Columbia the next Saturday. MRR will hold its fifth annual mid-Missouri River Cleanup at Cooper's Landing, starting at 10 a.m.

Columbia Public Library (CPL) Education Sessions MRCN has extended its agreement to provide educational presentations at CPL until August 2005. The first two sessions, covering Missouri Women's History and Journal Writing, have gone wonderfully, and we're expecting the next spring session, Wetland Wonders, to be equally incredible! Look for the Wetlands session at 6:30 p.m., May 12. Check out the Library's online calendar of events here for updates on the "Dragon, Dreams and Daring Deeds" summer series.

City of Columbia Community Storm Water Project (CSWP) AmeriCorps members have been hard at work with Mona Menezes, program coordinator, to clean up and otherwise improve the health of local streams. Our members will also help decal local storm drains and flier surrounding areas to let the public know to which stream their storm water drains. Next on the agenda -- organizing a June 30 Flat Branch Watershed Festival to provide fun and educational opportunities to learn more about your watershed!

Upcoming! Ideas and events: MRCN Public Missouri River Float Trip, September 10-11, Web site updates including a new heritage tourism site and information on participating in our Initiative to encourage river-based tourism, Missouri River Folk History Project interviews and online cuts, ongoing Stream Team support, and educational presentations at local schools and for the public (including MRR's April 29 Columbia Bottoms Environmental Education Fair).

For more information on any of these activities; to request a fun, activity-oriented educational presentation; or for media inquiries, please contact our office, (573) 256-2602. You may also contact any of the members listed below regarding the specific area of service. Contact our local AmeriCorps members:

Shannon Shanely, Education, shanelymrcn@centurytel.net

Jessica Suter, Watershed Education, sutermrcn@centurytel.net

Sue Bartelette, Watershed Education, bartelettemrcn@centurytel.net

Bryon Rochon, Heritage Tourism, rochonmrcn@centurytel.net

Carol Blaney, Heritage Tourism, cblaney@socket.net

Dayna Hudson, Boonville Tourism/Heritage Tourism, hudsonmrcn@centurytel.net

Kate Gorman, Missouri River Folk History, namrogetak@yahoo.com

Stephanie Williams, Publicity/Outreach, williamsmrcn@centurytel.net

Submitted by Stephanie Williams