Rural Missouri - May 2012 - (Page 3)

C O N T E N T S Features 8 4 Departments Comments National and statewide news Columns Hart to heart Moonshine mystique The art of handcrafting whiskey is alive and well at Copper Run Distillery 5 11 Missouri snapshots contest Enter our second annual amateur photo contest, sponsored by Missouri State Parks 8 16 Outdoors Making themselves at home 18 Out of the Way Eats Avalon Café 26 Hearth and Home Cattle call 30 News Briefs News you can use 34 Around Missouri Missouri happenings 38 Marketplace Classified ads 40 Neighbors A legend on the line 42 Just4Kids Fun stuff from Buddy 14 Curbing copper theft Co-ops strike back against thieves who jeopardize safety and reliability 22 The mandolin man Paul Crouse builds one-of-a-kind mandolins at his home in Milan 22 24 Knight for hire Karl Kindt III shares his entertaining tales of character, values and chivalry 28 The kid with the electric car Don Gibson’s electric vehicle beats the price at the pumps 28 About our cover hile above-average spring temperatures have caused its namesake trees to bloom already, Dogwood Canyon Nature Park southwest of Branson in Stone County is awash in green and ready to welcome visitors for its 2012 season. Straddling the Missouri-Arkansas border, the park’s 10,000 acres offer an outdoor playground like few others. Last year, torrential spring rains led to flooding that damaged the park and kept it closed until summer. But repairs and renovations during the winter have Dogwood Canyon looking its best, says property manager Chad Phillips. Accessible to guests with disabilities, the park offers a plethora of activities. You can fly-fish for trout in Little Indian Creek, test your marksmanship on the 3-D archery range or saddle up for a horseback ride. Activity fees vary, beginning at $12.95 for adults and $8.95 for children age 3 to 11. Cover and photo at left by Jason Jenkins W Bring your bicycle or rent one and journey down the trail past several picturesque waterfalls like the one seen at left. Eat a picnic lunch beside the “Glory Hole,” a magnificent blue-green pool where some of the park’s largest trout reside. Guided Jeep and tram tours of the park always are popular, but one of the more unique ways to see Dogwood Canyon is aboard a Segway, seen on this month’s cover. While these two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transportation vehicles are more often found in urban settings, they are just as adept at negotiating the park’s trails. Located along Highway 86, about 16 miles west of Highway 65, Dogwood Canyon is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phillips says that from Memorial Day through Labor Day, the park will remain open until 6:30 p.m. To book an activity, call 417-335-2777. To learn more, call 417-779-5983 or visit www.dogwoodcanyon.org. To order prints of the photo at left, see page 35. MAY 2012 3 http://www.dogwoodcanyon.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - May 2012

Rural Missouri - May 2012
Table of Contents
Comments
Columns
Moonshine mystique
Missouri snapshots contest
Curbing copper theft
Outdoors
Out of the Way Eats
The mandolin man
Knight for hire
Hearth and Home
The kid with the electric car
News Briefs
Around Missouri
Marketplace
Neighbors
Just4Kids

Rural Missouri - May 2012