The Hi-Pointe Theatre's vibrant marquee has been a landmark at the intersection of Clayton Avenue and McCausland since 1922.  Located between St. Louis and Clayton, Mo., the theater is the longest running single-screen theater in the city.

The Hi-Pointe's interior mimics the classic feel of old-time theaters. The clean mint green lobby is adorned with movie posters and signed photographs of movie stars. Art deco light fixtures in red, blue and yellow — lit from behind by a neon green sign — hang from the theater's low ceilings.

Owner and operator Brian Ross said the theater's historic feel is one of its main attractions.

"To me, it's kind of a landmark," Ross said. "It's a throwback to the old way theaters used to be."

Ross ran the theater in the mid-1990s before it was taken over by the St. Louis movie theater chain Landmark Theaters.  However, in 2008, Landmark Theaters decided not to continue its affiliation with Hi-Pointe.  Ross, who was working in Chicago at the time, returned because he said he felt he "needed to keep [the Hi-Pointe] alive."

"I decided to come back [and] give up my good job," he said. "And it's been a struggle.  But the goal is this is the last single screen, independent, continuously operating ... theater in St. Louis."

Since Ross's return, he has upgraded the theater in several ways, such as adding digital projection, 3D capabilities, and a new curtain and screen. Ross said despite these changes, the theater has largely remained the same, including the original, circa 1963, 460 turquoise seats and art deco lighting.

Located in the heart of West St. Louis County resides ringmaster and dreamer Harry Freund, at least, according to his personal business card, that is.

Freund, who gladly plays the role of Mr. Harry, said he dreamed about owning a carnival-themed restaurant for years. However, it wasn’t until May 2010 that he was able to establish the family-owned, albeit unusual, Mr. Harry’s Carnival Foods.

“I had a vision of this place that the Lord sent me, and I’ve been pretty focused on it for years,” Freund said. “I just felt that this was my purpose in life that I was supposed to be here.”

Located in Ballwin, Mo., the restaurant offers the best of two relatively distinct worlds, combining Freund’s desire of a carnivalesque atmosphere with Jim and Mary Randalls’ championship barbeque.

The partnership between the two businesses wasn’t a part of Freund’s original plan, he said. When Harry’s first opened, Freund said he created the restaurant to be strictly carnival-themed, with food ranging from treats like nachos and chili cheese dogs to ice cream and shaved ice for dessert.

Your senses are on overload as you walk around absorbing the massive amounts of colors and aromas of the hundreds of plants that help create a St. Louis landmark, the Missouri Botanical Garden.

The garden's rich history is displayed in founder Henry Shaw's original country home, the Tower Grove House. The majority of the furniture and decorations within the house are original pieces, while others have been designed to replicate the style of the time.

Interpretation Assistant Priscilla Smith, who has worked in the house for three years, said the house compliments the garden in many aspects, especially in relation to its history and development.

It’s a hot July day in Brookside, Mo., as people walk the historic downtown streets lined with old brick buildings. While Foo’s Fabulous Frozen Custard looks much like the other buildings with its red and blue canopy, the welcoming ambience and intimate setup distinguish it from the rest.

A tinkle of bells greets customers as they walk into the small shop, containing only a few metal tables and chairs. Whirs from the custard machine can be heard constantly as customers glance at the bright blue and yellow counter and colorful chalkboard menu. Within minutes of arriving, customers seem at ease in this eclectic, friendly environment.

Foo’s began its business in June of 1988 when Joe “Foo” Bremser and his wife, RoseAnn, were in-between jobs. RoseAnn, who is from St. Louis, knew frozen custard was something popular there during her childhood. Since there were only a few frozen custard stores in the Kansas City area at the time, Joe and RoseAnn decided to open a shop.

The inspiration for the name Foo’s came from a 1940s cartoon strip called “Smokey Stover” in the Chicago Tribune. He was a fireman, and after he spoke, he would always say, “Foo.” Betty Bremser, current owner of Foo’s and Joe’s sister, said the name eventually stuck.

The smell of homemade doughnuts, icing and freshly baked bread wafts through the air as customers select cinnamon rolls and cookies from glass cases. Several tables full of people can be heard talking and laughing. It’s 9 a.m., and Hoeckele’s Bakery and Deli has already been open for six hours.

Employees at Hoeckele’s Bakery in Perryville, Mo., have been waking up before the sun for almost 75 years. Founded in 1937 by brothers Paul and Joe Hoeckele, it has remained a family business through the Great Depression, the Atkins Diet craze and commodity price increases. Today, the third generation of Hoeckeles — Paul Hoeckele III, Joe Hoeckele and their wives, Angie and Yvette — own the bakery, and their children are employed there, too.

The bakery, locally referred to as “Hoeckele’s,” is known for its wide selection of melt-in-your-mouth doughnuts, breads, birthday and wedding cakes, and coffee cakes.

The enchantment of Cherokee Street has little to do with its ability to stir a grandma’s memory or an old Hollywood lover’s infatuation with the past. Rather, it has everything to do with the way in which history permeates every object, right down to the very bricks on each building. One must only step out onto the tree-lined, iron-fenced six blocks that constitute Cherokee Antique Row to understand this is much more than a typical shopping district.

Located in the historic Cherokee-Lemp area about 10 minutes from downtown St. Louis, Cherokee Street showcases an interesting array of old homes, antique shops, novelty stores and restaurants. There are more than 20 venues, including vintage clothing boutiques, home décor shops and a bookstore boasting a stock of more than 80,000 books.

The Riverfront Times named one of the venues, Retro 101, the “Best Place to Buy Used Clothing” in 2010. It offers a mixture of furniture, lighting and accessories from the ’50s and ’60s, in addition to its vast clothing selection from the ’20s through the ’80s. Racks upon racks of vintage shoes, hats, purses, dresses, nightgowns and lingerie, as well as a number of knickknacks and novelty items, pervade every inch of the small shop. Shoppers might browse numerous websites looking for mere replicas of some of these items, but on Cherokee Street, they’re sure to find the original.

Outside of Laumeier Sculpture Park’s indoor gallery, a lizard scuttles beneath a giant fiberglass eyeball. Yards away, while trekking along the park’s forest trail, visitors might spot a hawk alighting on a piece of conceptual architecture or a family of deer roaming behind a series of steel poets.

The natural elements surrounding the sculptures at Laumeier Sculpture Park, located in St. Louis County, are what separate it from other art showcases in the area. Laumeier sprawls across open lawns, hills and woodland areas in its 105-acre span, so each piece of art has a gallery of its own — walled by trees, flowers, rolling grass and sky.

The park is home to more than 70 installations in a city that boasts three other major outdoor sculpture parks, the newest being Citygarden in downtown St. Louis. While Citygarden highlights the compact space and energy of a metropolitan setting, Laumeier offers its visitors a different experience, Communications Director Mike Venso said.

“We’re more of a suburban park environment, more naturalistic,” Venso said. “We have topography that they can’t provide. ... Ours is a little more open air, a little more engaging of the natural environment.”

Imagine going back to see what Missouri looked like more than 200 years ago, to a time before the vast expanses of cities, highways and suburban development. Instead of roads and concrete structures, tallgrass prairie full of flowers and green grass would stretch for miles and miles. Although most of the original prairie land now is developed, Prairie State Park in Mindenmines, Mo., offers tourists an opportunity to explore the historic tallgrass prairie.

Upon entering the state park, it’s difficult for visitors to miss the large yellow sign reading “Caution: Bison and Elk roam beyond this point…” after driving along a tall barbwire fence. Past the sign, tourists can observe the bright green landscape as they drive through Missouri’s largest stretch of tallgrass prairie remaining in existence. At first, there only are grasses and wild flowers covering the prairie’s hills. As visitors make their way down the narrow gravel road, however, they are likely to see a large herd of bison grazing and wandering through the prairie.

The park staff run regular “Bison Hikes,” allowing visitors to learn about the history of the park, the bison and the prairie that used to cover a large portion of Missouri and the western United States.

I had shpilkes (pins and needles) as I pulled up to the Crown Center in St. Louis. It was my first day interning at the National Council for Jewish Women-St. Louis Section. Since I grew up with friends who went to temple every Saturday and got to celebrate Hanukkah, I always have been interested in Jewish customs, so I was excited to be involved with the organization. Also, in high school, I wrote an essay about Jewish culture and was able to travel to Washington, D.C., to spend the week with the Anti-Defamation League, an organization focused on securing equal treatment and civil rights of all.

When I walked into the NCJW, I was greeted by June Thomas, the office manager with whom I immediately connected. She is one of those women who takes you under her wing and is genuinely concerned about your well-being. Luckily, my desk was next to hers, so I always heard about the community news. June took me to Ellen Alper’s office, the executive director of the St. Louis section of the NCJW. Ellen was not only my supervisor but also a wonderful mentor during the summer.

I fell in love with the organization during my first day. I learned about the history and mission of the NCJW as well as about all of the projects they do. It is “a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children, and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms,” according to the NCJW mission statement.

Baker overcomes obstacles, follows dream

In the corner of SweetArt bakeshop sits a vintage green and white stove — a symbol of Reine Bayoc’s past. Bayoc, owner of SweetArt saved it for years dreaming that one day she would be able to place it in her own bakeshop.

“I knew I was going to do it no matter what,” she said. “There is a stove out in there which holds the coffee. I bought that stove years before we opened, and I put it in my dining room saying that when I have my own bakeshop one day I am going to put it there.”

SweetArt, an art gallery and bakeshop in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis is the product of Reine’s passion for all things sweet and savory. She shares the space with her husband, Cbabi Bayoc, an artist who covers the walls with his original works of art.