Jared Flinn connects the truckers and shippers that keep America’s commodities moving STORY by Sara Schafer Jared Flinn’s desk phone rarely stopped ringing. Fresh out of college and working in truck logistics for Bartlett Grain Co. in Kansas City, the farm boy from...
Mid-Missouri child has packed thousands of Christmas gifts STORY AND PHOTOS by Paul Newton By the time most children start making a Christmas list, Abigail Porter has already spent months thinking about what someone else needs. Inside a 40-by-40-foot pole barn in...
Doris McGowan paints a legacy inspired by life out West STORY AND PHOTOS by Ricki Spargo In a quiet home down lettered highways in central Missouri, Doris McGowan is surrounded by her life’s work. The walls she built now serve as a gallery, holding a lifetime of...
Butler man cheers up community STORY AND PHOTOS by Paul Newton Most days in Butler, if the weather’s right, you’ll find Alonzo Smith sitting along West Mill Street. He’s not selling anything. Not waiting on anyone. He’s waving. And nearly everyone waves back. Alonzo...
Fourth-generation farmers grow grain, distill whiskey and serve it — right on the family farm STORY by Sara Schafer | PHOTOS by Sara Schafer and Jim McCarty On a warm fall afternoon, Cole Rosier wasn’t thinking about barrels or bottling lines. The head distiller at...
The Kiehls focus on profitability and long-term stewardship STORY AND PHOTOS by Sara Schafer One day, Mason and Hannah Kiehl may have lazy evenings. But for now, after dinner is when the real work begins. With spreadsheets open, receipts spread across the table and...
Kurt Jordan breathes new life into broken headstones STORY AND PHOTOS by Paul Newton Just after sunrise, the few hundred headstones at Greenwick Cemetery caught the early morning sunlight in a way that grabbed Kurt Jordan’s attention. He was behind the wheel of his...
Rediscover the treasures you wish you had at the Remember When Toy Museum by Sara Schafer | sschafer@ruralmissouri.coop The museum is a life-size game of “I Spy.” On one shelf you see rows of colorful train cars. Then you see the beautiful doll your best friend had...
Dandelion Creek offers artisanal soaps made with milk from their goat herd by Sara Schafer | sschafer@ruralmissouri.coop About 10 years ago, Mathias Nelson carefully wrapped a bar of goat milk soap to present to his sweetheart, Lori, for Christmas. She loved it so...
Meet the 2025 Missouri State Fair queen who will champion agriculture by Sara Schafer | sschafer@ruralmissouri.coop Bailey Schneider couldn’t stop shaking. Cheers echoed across Sedalia’s Mathewson Exhibition Center as retiring queen, Claire Walker, placed a...