Well, howdy! I see y'all are just cooking right along, and I'm glad...sorry, I've not had a lot to contribute. I think you're doing fine, though. Gots lots of news. The plans for Outlaw Roundup are cooking right along. For newbies, and for those of you who've forgotten, Outlaw Roundup is an event to be held 19 May 2001 at the old Taney County Jail in Shadow Rock Park, in Forsyth, MO. There's gonna be music and storytelling, kids' activities, book and magazine publishers and vendors, and--ta da!--a Bald Knobber Re-enactment. If you can't come, I'll forgive you, just this once...<BG> and I'll be sure to let you know where you can get a copy of the play book. You all know by now--I can get into trouble when I go out "gallivantin'." Well, I wasn't gallivantin' today--Ingrid, Greg and I went and did that down by Protem and Cedar Creek on Saturday, got the Blazer so muddy that even Greg couldn't stand it and washed it Sunday--but I had a good day anyway. First of all, people keep asking where the idea for Outlaw Roundup came from. Well, it's because folks like yourselves asked the right kind of questions and because there wasn't anything around here but maybe once a year I could wear my tear dress to. And since I'm very proud of it--my mother did an awesome job--I like to wear it, and people look at you funny when you wear those kinds of dresses without working at Silver Dollar City or something. (Besides, it's prettier than the dresses they wear out there, anyway) So...things have been leading into other things, which are leading into still more things, and it's a wonder I haven't lost track of where I live on some days. Yes, there are times y'all should feel right sorry for Greg. Take today. Ingrid and I were in Forsyth to get on the agenda for the Forsyth City Council meeting on 23 Jan, so's we can get permission for having horses in the park for Outlaw Roundup. We have to ask for a couple other things as well, but that's the main thing. I've never done this kind of event before, so I ask all kinds of questions, and when it comes to donations of time or material, I usually ask for the moon. Occasionally, I get it. Gerry Grummons, who is involved with the Lions Club in Forsyth, called me as we were leaving Forsyth City Hall. The Lions Club is gonna be doing the food for Outlaw Roundup. But that wasn't what he called about. He called because the building his office is in is going to be turned over to the county next week--the county needs the space--and there are 4 piles, if I remember right--of newspapers in this building. All of these piles are as tall as me, and I'm about 5' 7". We rushed right over there, and he showed us the piles of old "Leaders" and "Republicans" and we were rather "goo-shie" about that. Gerry seemed to think the owner of the building would be interested in giving them to the White River Valley Historical Society. So, okay... We start looking around...there's a couple of old desks. Over there are printing presses and tables and those little lead blocks with letters on them. A safe. We realize we are in the old Freeland building...the Freelands being publishers of a couple of early Taney County papers...and the owner is one of their descendants. The owner is also an Ingenthron descendant. We start going nuts. Much of that stuff would fit right into the old jail, for the sheriff's office. The rest, by George, I'll find a place to put it, if I gotta go cut the trees down and build it myself (but I don't think that'll happen). So we've put in calls to the owner. Because we are nervous, because we are antsy and excited, we are worrying that this lady is out of town. And we've got until Sunday night to get this stuff out of that building. So if we don't hear from her by tomorrow morning, we are going to call her cousins and any other people we think know her, FIND her, and ask her if she'll donate or at least lend that stuff to the historical society on a perpetual kind of basis. I'll even get a plaque engraved stating who donated it. Y'all? Put in a couple of prayers. This does not happen everyday, despite that it seems that way. I don't think the lady will care, because she apparently has made no provision for the stuff before the county takes it over....but y'all do what you gotta. BTW, those papers are on microfilm at the Forsyth Library. Still not as cool as actually holding them in your hands. Oh, man... If that wasn't awesome enough, I went poking around the courthouse after Ingrid left. We have new county commissioners--Taney county just went 1st class last week--and they are doing a lot of work. I really didn't mean to interrupt their meeting...<BG> but I did. I was advised by a friend in the courthouse to get an appointment with one of the commissioners to talk about an idea I got for the new parks department the county can now establish (with 1st class status). The upshot of the idea is that "Why doesn't the county's new parks department become actively involved in historical and cultural preservation?" So I went looking for the secretary to the commissioners, and after a few minutes, managed to corral her. After she found out that I wanted to discuss the parks department, she went and pulled Mr. Herschend out of the meeting, and we got to chat for a few minutes. It won't happen in this fiscal year, but he'll call me for some ideas after this first business they're dealing with is done. Ingrid is starting to think I do this stuff on purpose. But I honestly don't. Greg just starts laughing at me now when I come home, higher than a kite. And no...that's NOT all. Hee hee. Linda Morgan is the editor of the Taney County Times. Ingrid and I were in that office today, just missing her by a few minutes, both ways. We were there to get an article done about Outlaw Roundup, and our need for volunteers, and a meeting (More about that in a minute). We left a flyer about Outlaw Roundup, and I jotted down a few notes on the meeting, on the back, along with my number. The call came on my cell, just as I was near home, and I ended up sitting in my driveway talking for quite a while. Linda is very excited about what the things I've discussed on these lists, and what we're doing, and what we need. She basically told me anything the paper can do to help...it will. She's a native, and she, like me, is pretty disgusted that our grandkids won't be able to find Mutton Hollow if we don't do something now. She asked me where the idea for Outlaw Roundup came from, and I told her there just weren't enough events in this area for me to wear my tear dress to. I hope she doesn't print that, but then again, it's rather typical for me. No wonder I just jumped when Greg popped his head in my door to ask me a question. Who needs caffeine? LOL The meeting, for anyone and everyone, is to be held 30 Jan at Una's Cafe. I know, I previously said the 23rd, but Ingrid and I can't be 2 places at once, and we have a council meeting that night. So we moved the meeting up a week. Write me for more info. Now. I wonder if I have anything in this house to calm me down? Don't forget to say your prayers tonight. Vonda ListMom for MOTaney and MO-AR-WRV http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gregvonda/