Joan Unterreiner and her husband Ron usually drive past the Shrine of St. Joseph on Sunday mornings. They could stop, but the opening hymns have already been sung, so they continue down the road to a later service at their own church.

After some nagging from her sister, Joan said she finally made the decision to leave home a bit earlier to attend mass at the St. Louis church, which has attracted attention from all over the world.

The service took place in a spacious, glittering sanctuary complete with a belting organ and melodic hallelujahs, but this is not atypical of Catholic churches. Joan soon discovered the distinguishing charm of this particular church lay hidden behind layers of paint covering more than 150 years of wear and tear.

After the mass, tour guide Vince LeBlaze told visitors that the Shrine is a standing miracle — the end-product of 26 years of renovations that began with five local businessmen and $1.

Its silhouette landmarked the St. Louis riverfront in 1846 as a Jesuit church that served the largely German population, but an influx of immigrants in the 1830s gradually changed the demographics in the neighborhood. The German congregation barred non-Germans from their services, so the Irish, Italian and Polish in the area built their own parishes.

As a result, congregation numbers at the church dwindled. Neglect and lack of funds brought the church to shambles by the 1970s, but they continued to hold weekly mass, LeBlaze said. When it became too rundown, the St. Louis Archdiocese elected to build a new parish across the street so that the congregation could relocate.

During the week, the Schlueters are pulling in the field. On the weekends, they’re pulling in the dirt.

The Schlueter family is part of The Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pulling Association. Most weekends during the summer, Clem Schlueter, along with his son Chuck and grandson Cory, can be seen making passes at the dirt tracks of the Midwest on souped-up John Deere tractors.

Clem began pulling in 1972, competing in the pro stock class. When his son, Chuck, was old enough, he pulled in the super stock class. Both used the same tractor, “Old Smokey.”

“It was a stock 4020 John Deere,” Clem said. “After a couple of years of pulling, we started souping it up.”

In 1981, Chuck won the Missouri State Points Championship in the super stock class. Clem won the Pro Stock Championship that same year with the same tractor.

“We probably had as many friends in the pulling area as we did in school,” Chuck said. “We spent all summer with them.”

Springfield, Missouri

Thirty minutes until the show begins and the backstage area is empty. Everyone hurries in while the lighting and sound technician, the box office clerks and friends flit in and out of the room to wish the comedians luck. As they prepare for the show, their preparation does not include memorizing a few well thought out punch lines, however. Instead, the performers talk about their day, tease each other and wait until it’s time to throw on their black shirts, take a glance in the mirror and run on stage yelling, “Welcome to The Skinny Improv!”

Founder and executive director Jeff Jenkins looks comfortable on stage speaking to an audience that can reach up to 140 people. He performed improvisational comedy professionally for more than 10 years after studying at the iO Theater, formerly known as ImprovOlympic Theater, in Chicago, Illinois, which claims alumni Andy Richter, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Chris Farley.

After further training and traveling with several other improv groups, Jenkins decided to settle down. He moved to Springfield, Missouri in 2002 to finish his education at Evangel University, but he said he missed the thrill of being on stage. He began to discuss forming his own improv group with a few friends.

“There were seven or eight people who kept bugging me about it saying, ‘Hey, when are we going to do this?’” he said. “So those were the ones I took first. We started performing whenever and wherever we could.”

Five comedians present shows each weekend, including MainStage Show, the Ten Spot, the Jeff show and the Mystery Hour.

Customers walk up to the counter at Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque in Kansas City, Missouri, expecting of a pile of smoked meat and a mound of fries.

The cook tosses two slices of white bread on the counter, grabs a bulging handful of meat, piles it five inches high on top of the bread and slathers the meat with the customer’s sauce of choice. To top it off, the cook adds a hunk of fries and throws them on a plate for eat-in orders or rolls everything up like a burrito for to-go orders.

“There’s a few things [that differentiate us] — the smoke, the service and the ‘Original Sauce’ is totally unlike anything you’ll taste,” Manager Willis Simpson said. “Most barbecue sauce in Kansas City is sweet, but the original is tart and tangy.”

For customers who aren’t fans of “Original Sauce,” Arthur Bryant’s also offers “Sweet Heat” and “Rich and Spicy” barbecue sauces.

Simpson said they prepare the meat by putting rub on the fat side of the brisket and smoking it in the pit at 225 degrees for approximately 10 hours. The slower the meat is cooked, the better, he said.

Arthur Bryant’s has had a reputation for great barbecue ever since author Calvin Trillin said, “The single best restaurant in the world is Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque at 18th and Brooklyn in Kansas City” in an article for Playboy magazine. Since Arthur Bryant’s death in 1982, the restaurant has aimed to maintain his standards.

The history of Arthur Bryant’s dates back to the 1920s when brothers Charlie and Arthur Bryant worked for Henry Perry, the “father of Kansas City barbecue.” When Perry died in 1940, Charlie Bryant took over the business, Simpson said.

In downtown Columbia, Missouri, a gust of wind catches a rainbow-striped flag, sending it into a swirling dance with a peace flag hanging a few feet away. A shopper looks up to watch the flags, then down to notice the small doorway below them, nearly hidden among the busy shops and trendy restaurants lining Broadway. Curious, she peers inside, then descends a set of creaky stairs, like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, to the Peace Nook.

The Peace Nook is a non-profit store and community resource center operated by Mid-Missouri Peaceworks. Peaceworks, which formed in 1982 to oppose nuclear weapons, works to promote public awareness about peace, diversity, energy and sustainability issues. The Peace Nook carries products that support the organization’s goals, such as fair trade imports and books, T-shirts and bumper stickers promoting Peaceworks’ ideology.

Mark Haim, Director of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, has been with the organization since shortly after it was founded, when he started as a volunteer. Haim, who studied social science as an undergraduate and did graduate work in economics, said he has spent most of his adult life working on the problems Peaceworks tries to solve.

Branson, Missouri

Fun house music plays, a water faucet floats in mid air and robots made of car parts compose a world of wonder at the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum in Branson, Missouri. Robert Leroy Ripley’s fabulous collection of oddities and artifacts from all over the world greets visitors who come to this out-of-the-ordinary museum.

Ripley began traveling at age 24, and one short trip turned into a lifelong passion of learning about other cultures. Ripley returned home from each trip with new artifacts for his massive collection.

At age 28, Ripley wrote his first collection of facts and feats in a column for the New York Globe and quickly became famous for asking the question, “Believe it or not?” The public became fascinated with Ripley’s treasures, prompting him to display his collection in Chicago at the 1933 World’s Fair. When Ripley died, his artifacts were left behind for the public to enjoy in museums and attractions that continue to show his oddities to the world. The franchise has grown from one exhibit in Chicago to 67 attractions worldwide, from Mexico to Thailand and from Kuwait to Malaysia.

Le Bourgeois Wine Garden, Rocheport, Missouri

        Storms threaten the Missouri river valley. Still, for Beverly and Larry Lamb, it is a perfect time to find a little relaxation with a glass of wine. It is Larry’s birthday, and the couple is enjoying one of the best views of the landscape in central Missouri.

Although weekends find a crowd of people at Les Bourgeois wine garden, they’ve got the place almost to themselves.

Les Bourgeois’ wine garden consists of an old-fashioned A-frame building with the roof stretching nearly to the ground and picnic tables on a scenic bluff overlooking the Missouri River and the Katy Trail. However, it is not the only reason to come to the countryside between Columbia, Mo., and tiny Rocheport, Mo. Les Bourgeois is more than the wine garden and the restaurant. It is also a winery, which is open for tours and wine tastings. It is the third-largest of the 56 wineries in the state, producing 90,000 gallons of wine each year.

As visitors walk through the winery door, the intoxicating aromas of wine fill the air, sweet and fruity. A cat that lives in the winery slinks between the tanks and laps up water from a puddle, a result of the heavy rains of the day. The sounds of the machines pumping and clicking are a slow background rhythm – but soon, harvest will be in full swing.

Chester Ray Stadium, Brookfield, Missouri

Nell White sits on the wooden bleachers at Chester Ray Stadium in the middle of the Brookfield faithful. Kickoff for the annual Bell Game rivalry between Brookfield High School and Marceline High School is still two hours away, but White is anxious. 

“I am sick to my stomach,” she said. “The Bell means a whole lot.”

She wears a blue T-shirt with “Brookfield High School” written in white letters. White also has two photo buttons pinned to her shirt. One is a picture of her daughter, Bulldogs cheerleader Tiffany White, and the other photo is of her son, Brookfield running back Dustin White.  

Dustin, a key contributor for the Bulldogs in their 14-13 Bell Game win in 2005, has looked forward to the contest since football camp started in the summer. 
Throughout the entire week, the White household has been preparing for the Bell Game – an annual maelstrom of football and tradition that feels like Homecoming and a state championship game all rolled into one.

Photos by Ashley Richards

   People searching for bargains and eclectic collectibles can probably find them at the Westport Flea Market and Bar and Grill. With more than 30 booths to search, treasure hunters can find anything from cowboy boots to glassware. But the most talked-about find is also the easiest: The restaurant sits right in the center of the Westport, Mo., establishment.
“They have the best burgers,” John Shaughnessy declared from his perch at the bar.
And he should know – his relationship with the Westport Flea Market extends back 15 years.                     “There’s a lot of regular clients,” he remarked. “Not just regulars who hang out at the bar, but [regulars] who come here for lunches, [and] businesses come here, plus it’s a neighborhood bar.”
Shaughnessy reflected on why the Flea, as many call it, is so successful at creating return customers.
“It’s not pretentious like some of the other bars in Westport,” he said after a pause. “Look at the people. You’ve got a family there, and there old people, young people,” he noted, pointing around him at the nearly full restaurant.