Really enjoyed your site. Brought back many fond memories of my Air Force time
I also was stationed at Lowry AFB. Had a wonderful time while stationed there
Again, thanks for the memories. S/SGT Barry K. Grimm, AFSC 46250, Weapons Release
Hi!, One of your pics was posted on facebook of the main gate at Scott AFB
I was there about 15 years after you and it had not changed much. ;-)
Then I visited your site and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the other photos
Thanks for sharing! Jerry
I now live in Sarasota FL mostly in retirement, although I still own a business in Charlotte NC
Anyway, gosh so many memories from looking over the pictures
I recall the fabulous baseball team that you and your brother played for in about 1952 or 53
So many good players on that team and I seem to recall, one of those teams was in the State finals and lost to Silver Lake
Gerald Woody did an awful lot for Vesper as an educator and his interest in developing good baseball teams
I can still remember the starting line up for the most part... Catcher: Charles/Dale Sheldon after Charles graduated
First Base - Dean Dohe, Second Base - you (Harold); Third Base - Paul Sheldon and Dale Dohe; Short Stop - Bennie Sheldon
Left Field-- not sure, maybe Dale Dohe? ; Center Field and Right Field - memory fading on those positions
I applaud you for undertaking the project and seeing it to completion. That, as well as the monetary contributions you made
Gerry Cromwell, Class of 1961
Dear Donald, Thank you again for your invaluable help with our current website feature
Sculptural Fountain: Art That’s Meant to Get Wet. I used your beautiful photo of the Sea Horse Fountain in the “Bonus Ending” section
and linked to your video of the Children’s Fountain in action in the section describing that fountain
The article went live via our website’s homepage www.missouriartscouncil.org in early June and will be up through Sunday, July 1
After July 1, I hope to have the article permanently archived on our website in a new section on which I am working
I will send you the link once that section is up. Sincerely yours, Barbara
Dear Mr. Smith: What a great section of your website with the beautiful Kansas City fountains.
I found your website this week while researching information for a feature article
I am creating for our own website, www.missouriartscouncil.org.
Every month, as the State agency supporting the arts in Missouri,
we create a new article focusing on some aspect of the arts in our state.
For June, we are taking a look at some of the fountains in the state that include sculpture as an integral part of their design.
I’m planning to include a link to your Fountains pages and your video of the Children’s Fountain on Vimeo.
I am also wondering if I could use your close-up photo of the seahorses in the Meyer Circle fountain in the context of the article.
It’s gorgeous! If this is okay with you, I would love to have a high-res jpg. I will of course credit you as the photographer.
The article currently highlighted via the link on our website’s home page is about Storm Country:
The Anthology, a new book created by the Missouri Writers Guild to benefit the school libraries of Joplin.
The PDF that pops up when you click “more” will give you a good idea of how we use photos in our features.
Sincerely yours, Barbara MacRobie
Hello, I saw the pictures and information on McCormick Distilling from the internet, very cool.
Do you have any additional pictures of McCormick Distilling?
I would like to link these pictures to our McCormick Distilling website.
Please give me a call, xxx-xxx-xxxx, Have a great day,
Stephanie Parsons, Marketing Manager, McCormick Distilling
Donald, what a beautiful tribute you have made to Vesper, and what appropriate music you chose. I especially like the Evening Song.
I am forwarding a link to this to my children and nieces and nephews.
I knew practically nothing of this area until I started scanning the diary's, and reading them as I do.
What has impressed me the most is how everyone worked together, sharing their farm implements, visited in each others homes,
and had meals together.
Also impressive is how hard they had to work just to provide shelter, warmth in winter, and food.
Eventually the Stine's moved away. John L. and my grandfather, Louis Philip moved to Holton north of Topeka, and Samuel to Palmer, Kansas.
I don't know the date Louis moved. Louis moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1899. He died in 1908, twenty years before I was born.
I'm not sure how I will distribute the CD's. I have no thought of making money with them.
I would think that historical societies and museums would be interested--those that are in the general areas where he lived and recorded his activities.
Perhaps local newspapers might have an interest. I have been video taped for my memories for the Muskogee Historical Society.
I live in Norman, Oklahoma. Nancy and I have a little museum in near by Noble devoted to the rose rock, the State Rock of Oklahoma.
Harold and you are to be commended for your work in preserving the memory of a small, but not insignificant community.
I for one appreciate what you have done, and I know many more will feel the same way.
Thank you. You and Harold will be among the first to get a copy of my CD. I will send Harold an email now.
(Email about the latest Web Site revision)
Thank you very much, Donald. I will check it out today! I sure appreciate the great job you do keeping the web site up to date.
This is our best way of communicating with those interested in the nature sanctuary and everyone is proud of how good the site looks. Bob.
Gil wrote:
"Cheers mate! I love your web site! You are the man. I'm looking forward to your Thanksgiving posts to your site. Have a great holiday."
Starting in 1965 I bought 10 Honda motorcycles from Hatfield Sporting Goods in St Joseph, Missouri. owned by Harold and Newt Hatfield... Seemed most of the family worked there... And yes, I think there was some relation to the famous Hatfield and McCoy feud... Here is a nice Email I got from a relative:
Love your website! My name is Chris Bauman and my family is the Hatfield's. I have been searching for information about Hatfield's Honda so I can create a website about the history. When I was a young I used to walk to the store and my great uncle Harold would give me free soda. I thought that place was so cool. Tim and Lucy Hatfield still run the place and sell guns. I love your pictures and what you had to say. Your registration was signed by my grandfather Newt. I hadn't been born yet when you bought this bike but I know it was a good one cause my father bought one too.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane and God bless. Sincerely, Chris Bauman, Largo FL
Don Smith - Hey feller, figure you are still kicking.
My daughter found your Vesper site on the net and sent me a link. Appreciate the picture novel of Vesper memories.
As a kid, my sister and I visited Vesper with our parents for about a week in the summer of 1950 or 1951 to see our grandad, Edwin Burke Ives. We stayed in his house (saw picture on net which is now gone) across the tracks from Grandad's general store (Stone Building).
At the age of 14, I traveled alone by train from San Antonio, TX to Vesper to be with my grandad for several weeks. In fact I celebrated my 15th birthday in Vesper on August 15, 1953. Grandad had moved to a room on the second floor of the store, where he fixed me up in an adjacent room.
Leona worked for my grandad and lived in a house back to the southeast of the store (last street/1st or 2nd house on left going south.) She fixed meals for us at her house. Leona had a son close to my age (maybe 1 or 2 yrs older) at the time, who was a very talented young artist/painter. Can't recall name, but would recognize it. Do you have any idea of his full name and about where and what he is these days????
I can remember that we hiked straight south of town for a ways and went swimming in a cow pond on the left not too far from the road. I can remember the large upstairs meeting hall in the Stone Building that had a stage with a classic vintage canvass type curtain with advertisements and sponsorships painted on it. It was in full color, but slightly drab and worn. There was a classic two holer out back that was a necessity. The basement was full of damp mud and glass bottles.
My dad sold the building after Grandad passed away to avoid liabilities. I think it was torn down for the stone in the building. We were dismayed that lots of rubble was left on the site with the vault still standing in tact.
My sister and I still have several inherited property lots located behind and south of the store and a couple of small tracts across the now gone railroad tracks. Some of the property is currently being free-shared by Richard/?Dee Ann? Ansell. At one time a nearby resident's son put some old cars on a couple of lots just north of the tracks and it took the Lincoln Sheriff to get them removed.
Thanks so much for your time and effort to salvage some history of what once was a thriving little rural community.
Dr. Dan Ives, Retired School Superintendent, msdives@sbcglobal.net
Don, I discovered your website a few years back, and I liked your pictures of English Landing Park and the Missouri River so much that I created a
shortcut to your site on my desktop. I check in now and then to see what's new and interesting.
Thanks for the positive things you are doing for Parkville through your website!
Jim Brooks, Ward 1 Alderman, City of Parkville


Hey Duck, I just read your blogs and now I remember why I loved them so much when you were on 360 ..keep up the good work..Lem
Hi Don-
Great website, I really enjoyed the photos of your time at Luke. It is very interesting to see images of Luke back in 1952. The wooden buildings are long gone, replaced with newer brick ones, and of course, all the great old planes have been replaced with F-16's. In fact, Luke today hardly looks anything like it did back then.
I enjoy researching Arizona's military airbases and aircraft from WWII- 1950's. In particular, I enjoy hiking out into the desert and locating some of the older military aircraft wrecks. It is quite enjoyable to get a copy of the old crash report (declassified about 15 years ago) and see if I can locate what is left of one of the great military aircraft. So of course I was interested in the footage you mentioned where a student had shot off the tail of the tow plane. Do you recall the date? I am guessing it must have happened by the Gila Bend Gunnery Range.
As a base photographer, did you ever photograph crash sites? Just yesterday I spoke to a fellow who was a P-51 tow pilot involved in a midair collision. Not too much was left of his crash that I found a few weeks ago, but part of the tail was there that still had "Luke" painted on one side.
Best, Trey
My name is Doug Cramer of Air-O-Lator Corporation, www.airolator.com right here in the south side of Kansas City.
This web site is very well done and quite relaxing while listening to the Missouri Waltz.
For your information, the fountain that is shown at Loose Park Lake was manufactured by my company and donated to the City in perpetuity in the name of my father Roy A. Cramer Jr. founder of Air-O-Lator Corporation.
Thank you for your efforts,
Doug Cramer
Hi Don Stumbled into your website ! FANTASTIC pictures and stories from "back in the day." I'd really appreciate hearing from you to learn more about stories you have buying, owning and selling your CB750. As you know, that bike is what CB750 enthusiasts call a "sandcast." Your bike was an early sandcast, you must have bought it in Spring or early Summer 1969.
Sincerely, Steve Swan - www.cb750sandcastonly.com Ft. Collins, Colorado
I just looked at your pictures they are very impressive and bring back a lot of good memories. I also got to Randolph in 1953.
I had just finished mechanics school at Sheppard AFB. I worked at Transit Alert over by the East Runway.
I also remember a minor truck accident on the Flight line. A truck ran under a wing of a plane and knocked the plane sideways
stricking an Officer who had just got off the plane. He wasn't hurt to bad but was very mad as I remember.
They had the truck driver thinking he was going to have to buy the Plane. We had a lot of B-29's b-25's over in that area and several T-33's.
I saw my first F-86 over there also. I saw you pictures and just wanted to respond. Randolph was a heck of a base.
Take Care.. Chuck Conner
~ From Price Chopper Corporation ~
Don, my name is Sam Archer. I am the Deli/Bakery Director for McKeever’s Price Choppers. I have a cool story to share with you.
This morning in a marketing meeting, the folks from Healthy Ones Deli Meats, formerly Healthy Choice, came in to go over a marketing plan
for the upcoming year. They brought in some of their “Big Gun” marketing guys. Partly thru their PowerPoint presentation, a slide comes up
that I recognize. It’s the Parkville Deli. Well, they didn’t realize it yet, but they had stopped by the Parkville Chopper on their way in
from the airport and commented on how cool our stores were.. So I asked them where they got the image that they used. The main guy told us
that he had Google’d Price Chopper Deli and came across a site from a Customer. So I did the same when I got home today. WOW! I’m your biggest fan!
You did a super job of representing our store and what we try to do in our business. We are currently remodeling some of our other locations for the “Parkville” theme,
as well as building a new location. It’s really cool to see your site, and to see how “you” see us. If there is anything we can ever do for you, please do not hesitate to call.
Sam Archer
Thanx again for being a customer!
~Email Me!~