-by Greg Hoots- The year 2020 has been historic by any measure. There were many firsts and worsts. At our home in Kansas City, Kansas, my wife, Cheryl and I were fortunate […]
A 2020 Kansas Butterfly Garden
Phelps Oil Company, West Plains, Mo.
-by Greg Hoots- I was born at Christa Hogan Hospital in West Plains, Missouri in the middle of the 1950s. I don’t remember any of the event, although my mother had a […]
A Kansas Butterfly Garden
-by Greg Hoots- When my wife, Cheryl and I moved into our present home, there were no flower beds established on the lot. There was a long, narrow flower bed along the […]
The Greatest Backyard Find in History: 1956 Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce Alleggerita
-by Greg Hoots- I’ve always loved cars. New ones, old ones, and everything in between, automobiles have always caught my eye. The first car which I drove to high school was a […]
A Profile of Courage: PFC Charles E. Barnhart
-by Mark Barnhart- Editor’s note: When I was in high school, college, and later, one of my closest friends was Chris Barnhart. The Barnhart family lived four or five blocks from my […]
Carl F. Hoots Arrowhead Collection
-by Greg Hoots- I once asked Daddy when he started collecting arrowheads, and he said that when he was about ten or eleven years old, he found his first arrowhead in his […]
Ozarka Village: Daddy’s Dream
-by Greg Hoots- Author’s note: This story is about my dad, Carl Hoots, and his dream to build a historic interpretative center and tourist park near West Plains, Missouri in 1970. Daddy […]
An Immigrant Story
-by Greg Hoots- Friedrich Meditz was born on May 24, 1929 in Buchel, a hamlet in the ethnic German enclave of Gottschee, located in the Lower Carniola region of Yugoslavia. Friedrich’s parents, […]
You Coast Downhill
-by Greg Hoots- As a child, I often heard stories from my folks of what they always called “the bicycle trip.” The bicycle trip took place three years before I was born, […]
Daddy’s War
A Veterans Day Tribute by Greg A. Hoots Chapter 1: Before the War I opened the lid of the big plastic storage container. The contents appeared in disarray; however, I soon realized that […]
Flint Hills Special 