​     If you have lived in Grain Valley very long, you must know that our cheerleaders are among the best in the State of Missouri. The trophy cases in the Senior High Commons are filled with the many state championship trophies they have won over the past several years.
     Originally called yell leaders, cheerleaders have been a part of sports since the turn of the last century. The first intercollegiate football game was played in 1869, between Princeton University and Rutgers University in New Jersey, and by the 1880s, Princeton had formed an all-male pep club. On 2 November 1898, standing in front of a crowd of sport fans, Johnny Campbell, a medical student at the University of Minnesota began the chant,” Minn-e-So-Tah!” He was so effective that the team won and he made history as the first cheerleader.
     Some high schools began having yell leaders in the 1920s. A search of yearbooks did not reveal any cheerleaders in Grain Valley prior to 1945. Three girls appeared in the yearbooks wearing uniforms which were probably blue slacks with blue and white tops. Unless they had something on the back of their sweaters there is nothing to indicate they are Eagles. Does anyone besides me question their pose?
     In the 1952 Treasurer Chest there were four girls who cheered for football, but I found this picture of the basketball cheerleaders, two girls and two guys!
     Eventually our cheerleaders began to be identified by the “G” on their uniform. And, by the way, in the 1950s cheerleaders only had ONE uniform. It was always worn with saddle oxfords or saddle shoes, as they were sometimes called. Megaphones were also used by cheer squads.
     In 1948 Lawrence Herkimer founded NCA (National Cheerleaders Association) and turned school spirit into a multimillion-dollar business. NCA began summer cheerleading camps which were held on colleges campus across the nation.  Crepe paper pom poms were around in the 1930s but they didn’t hold up to the demands of dedicated cheerleaders that performed on the sidelines no matter what the weather. So, Herkimer introduced better pom pons. He founded Cheerleader Supply company in 1953. The old megaphones were replaced by spirit sticks, vinyl pom poms, and hair bows!
     See the evolution of cheerleading in Grain Valley.  The Historical Society invites you to join us for Coffee with Classmates –the Rock ‘n Roll Years (1950-1970) on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 beginning at 10:00 AM. We will reconnect, reminiscence, and share memorabilia from our days at Grain Valley!  I hope you will join us. 
 

​     Sock hops were held as early as the 1940s to raise money for war relief efforts, but the dances grew in popularity and became known as a type of informal school dance throughout the 1950s and 60s. It was called a "sock hop" because we were required to remove our shoes so we wouldn't scratch the school gymnasium floor.
     Music was the other defining characteristic of a sock hop. “Rock-and-roll” became popular in 1951 when a Cleveland disc jockey, Alan Freed, first used the term. At the same time televisions were becoming common place in American homes and teens, including those in Grain Valley, were beginning to watch shows like American Bandstand.
    Like "American Idol" today, "American Bandstand" became popular among TV viewers. The show began broadcasting from Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. Dick Clark became the host in 1956 and the show went national in 1957.
     At that time Lottie Gibler ran a café in the building which is now known as The Iron Kettle. Carol (Perry) Gorley was a classmate of her daughter, Kay Gibler (Class of 1961). She remembers going to the café on most days after school to listen to rock and roll tunes and dance with her friends. Later, Lottie’s son, Malcomb owned the restaurant and ran a “Teen Town” there on Saturday nights.   
     In the spring of Carol’s senior year, her classmates had a Pizza Party and Sock Hop to raise funds for their senior trip. Senior parents helped with the project by cooking pizzas in the home economics room. Remember Chef Boyardee  Pizza Mixes? As a freshman and younger sister of a senior, I remember helping to make and serve the pizza. I also remember my mother and Earlene (Tate) Mueller going into the gym and dancing with their sons!
     By 1961 Grain Valley did not have a teen town but there were lots of school dances including three of four sock hops each year. This photograph appeared in the 1961 Treasure Chest Yearbook and was captioned, “Dancing or acrobats at the Pep Club Sock Hop???” If you are a Grain Valley graduate before 1965 you will remember basketball games in the gym and the second-floor balcony.
 
     What are your special memories of GVHS?
     The Historical Society invites you to join us for Coffee with Classmates –the Rock ‘n Roll Years (1950-1970) on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 beginning at 10:00 AM. We will reconnect, reminiscence, and share memorabilia from our days at Grain Valley!  I hope you will join us. 
 

     If you attended first grade in the Grain Valley Elementary School between 1954 and 1978, you will no doubt remember the tile floor in your classroom. If you started first grade after 1978, you may have attended Matthews Elementary. By the fall of 2000, the old first grade room was a middle school science room, but the old tile floor had not changed!
     After the reorganization of the schools in Jackson County in 1949, most of the rural, one-room , country schools were closed. Round Grove, Oak Hill, Stony Point and Oakland School had already consolidated with the old School District No. 3.  With reorganization and the closing of Murphy School on Murphy School Road and Elm Grove School on Stillhouse Road, it became apparent that a new elementary school would be needed to house the increasing enrollment in the Grain Valley Reorganized School District #5.
     I began second grade in the fall of 1953. Mrs. Fern Church was our teacher. Before Christmas we knew we would soon be moving into the new elementary school, built just north of our current school. We had been told that one or two classes would move each week beginning with first grade, then second, and so on, until all six grades and the principal had been moved. At that point, the cafeteria would open and feed all students, 1st through 12th grade.
     As the greatly anticipated day approached, the floor tile for the first-grade classroom had not arrived. It was a “special order” for the “special”  floor installed in the first-grade room. While  the first and second-grade rooms both had their own doors leading to the playground, only the first-grade had an attached bathroom and a special floor. Do any of you remember the floor?  It had a Hop-Scotch game in the center with the ABCs and numbers around the game. And around the outside, there were names –Dick, Jane, Sally (baby sister), Spot (the dog)  and Puff (the cat); the beloved characters in our first-grade reading books! So, the second-grade got to be the first class in the new building. We were elated! We were there for at least two or three days before the third-grade joined us.  As I recall, the first-grade may have been the last class to move.
     If anyone has a picture of the old floor, I would love to get a copy for the Historical Society. I’m relatively sure none of the old tiles were saved. After all, they were probably full of asbestos!
     I wasn’t in the special class with the special floor. However, my class, the Class of 1964, did have two distinctions. We were the first class to move into the 1954 Grain Valley Elementary School. And, we were the last class to play basketball in the gymnasium and graduate on the stage of the brick school built in 1926.
 
     What was special about your class? The Historical Society invites you to join us for Coffee with Classmates –the Rock ‘n Roll Years (1950-1970) on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 beginning at 10:00 AM. We will reconnect, reminiscence, and share memorabilia from our days at Grain Valley!  I hope you will join us. 
 

​     Homecoming at Grain Valley High School was this past weekend.  After visiting the alumni tent, attending the game, and enjoying a great breakfast at the high school on Saturday, I could not help but think about previous homecomings.
     The University of Missouri claims to have invented homecoming in 1911, when Director of Athletics Chester L. Brewer had the bright idea to invite alumni back to the annual game against the University of Kansas—he further sauced things up with a spirit rally and parade.
     I don’t know when Grain Valley celebrated their first homecoming, but I did find photographs in some yearbooks from the 1940s.
     The first homecoming I recall was in the fall of 1952 when I got to ride in the parade. I don’t remember which group sponsored the float but the slogan on the top read, “It’s in the cards!” (Victory).  We wore the white uniforms from the first grade Rhythm Band.  I was the Queen of Diamonds.
     Of course, the marching band lead the homecoming parade right down Main Street. Virginia Ruth Tate (senior) was the drum major and Patsy Edie, a third grader, was the mascot.
     There were only 31 members in the band including Virginia, Patsy and the three majorettes, Janice (Thompson) Butler, junior and Florene (Brown ) Wiggins and Sandra (Temple) Elliott, both  8th graders. In those days the 26 members of the band that played instrument included student from 7th grade through seniors.
     The 1953 yearbook showed 91 students in the high school and 6 faculty members which included G. E. Temple, the superintendent and history teacher, and William Evans, the principal, history teacher and football coach.
     I can recall many homecomings during my school years. Some of the most fun of homecoming was designing and building our floats during the week preceding the game. We would work in someone's garage or barn every day (and night) after school throughout the week before the parade.
     We always had some boys from our class “on guard” so no one saw our float or stole our ideas before the floats were judged at the parade.
     There were snake dances and bonfires when we burned a dummy representing a football player from the opposing team. Students would begin at the high school and dance and cheer their way down Main Street to the pep rally held at the city park in front of the old train station on Front Street. There were spirit weeks and pep rallies, there were ivy chains, and Homecoming Queens, and let us not forget, there were football games. And after the game, there was a homecoming dance.
     I’ve always been amazed to talk to the football players years after their high school days were over.  They always remember every game, every great tackle they made, and every pass they caught (or threw) that resulted in the winning touchdown. And they can tell you the team they played for homecoming their senior year and if they won (or lost)!
     For most of us, high school homecomings will forever be a fond memory of our school days!
     The Historical Society invites you to join us for Coffee with Classmates –the Rock ‘n Roll Years (1950-1970) on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 beginning at 10:00 AM.
     We will reconnect, reminiscence, and share memorabilia from our days at GVHS, including the big Homecoming Game!  I hope you will join us. 
 
​

     A big thank you to Valley News for selecting The Grain Valley Historical Society as the Honorary Grand Marshall for the 2021 Fall Festival Parade. I believe Grain Valley was ready for a parade after it was cancelled last year due to COVID. 
     People had already staked out their spots along Eagles Parkway when I went to line up for the parade 90 minutes before the start time! And there were people all along the route down Main Street and along Walnut.
    As we wove our way back to high school, there were still lots of folks waving and cheering all along Kirby Road.
     Two years ago I did some research on our community fair for The Voice, an on-line newsletter I write each month. Here is an excerpt from the August, 2019 newsletter.
     From the 1983 Guide to Grain Valley, published by The Examiner.

“Community fair will be a first-time event for town “
By Alyson Fortney
     After two years of planning, Grain Valley will have its first annual fair this fall.
     Dennis Bundren, chairperson of the Grain Valley Fair Association, explained the idea originated as a brainstorm of his two years ago. Burden chose representatives from various organizations in town to serve in the 10-member association.
     The Grain Valley Fair Days, scheduled for Sept. 29, 30 and October 1, promises to be full of thrills, food, contest and exhibits.
 
     The article went on to discuss the rides and games of chance, crafts and baked goods from local 4-H clubs, a hot-air balloon race, a demolition derby, a ’66 Mustang display by the Mustang Club of Kansas City and a beer garden. There was no mention of a parade.
     In 1993, the fair was held at the 94-acre Grain Valley Memorial Fairground on Old U.S. 40 east of Main Street. In 1995, the board purchased Gannon-Thomas Hall, formerly owned by the VFW, on Old 40 just west of the fairgrounds. In addition to the fair, the facilities were used for community and private functions, sand drag races and the Kansas City Indian Club Pow-Wow.
     In the 1997 Guide to Grain Valley, Bill Bushey, president of the Grain Valley Fair Association boasted the fair was “one of the biggest activities in the city this year”. The fair must have been held in June for a few years, because in 1997 the association changed the date to July 24-27 to have a lesser chance of rain. 
     The parade that year was the biggest in history as some 300 Shriners were there with motorcycles and trick cars, bands and flashy outfits!
     After the Grain Valley Community Center was completed in 2001 and the fair moved to the present location. It was obvious from the traffic in town on Saturday before, during and after the parade that the citizens of Grain Valley continue to support and enjoy this nearly 40 year-old tradition.
    Note: If you would like to receive The Voice contact us at gvhistory1878@gmail.com
 
 

​     Last week I introduced you to Cora and Logan Storms and their descendants. This week I will tell you about Edward E. Storms. Like his older brother Logan, Edward was born in Cass County on March 15, 1871. He was the son of Asa Storms, Sr. and his second wife, Mary E. Stillwell.
     As teenagers, Logan and Edward Storms came to Grain Valley. Edward was only 18 years old when he married Altha Parr on August 18, 1889. They had six children:: Myrtle (Mrs. Everett Snodgrass), 1890-1969; Charles Elmer, 1892-1960; Thomas, 1894-1970; George Ellis, 1898-1962; Marie (Mrs. David Shrout), 1901-1995 and Edith (Mrs. William Tucker), 1904-1996.
     The 1900 U. S. Census listed farming as his occupation. However, by 1910 Edward owned a drugstore and his occupation was that of druggist. He and his family lived in Grain Valley. He must have been fairly successful, because by 1920 the family had moved to the big house on Walnut Street. Edward and Altha were still living there in 1930. Altha passed away in 1940 and while I did not find him listed in the 1940 census, he died in Kansas City at age 81 on June 10, 1952.
     Charles (“Elmer”) worked briefly at the Bank of Grain Valley before moving to Colorado and later Enid, Oklahoma. The remaining children stayed in Missouri. Myrtle married into the Snodgrass  family and her children and grandchild grew up in Grain Valley. Tommy worked in his father’s store and for a time. During the 1930s he ran a restaurant in Harrisonville before returning to Grain Valley. Marie was the mother of Keith Shrout who was the superintendent at Lone Jack in the 1960s.
     Edith married Bill Tucker, a teacher in Grain Valley in the late 1920s. They moved to Freeman, Missouri where Bill eventually became Superintendent of Schools at Midway until his death in 1959. Edith was his school secretary and served the district until her retirement in 1978.
     Finally, George Ellis Storms (1898-1962) followed in his father’s foot steps. After high school he worked at the Bank of Grain Valley before becoming the druggist at Storms Pharmacy. The 1940 US Census listed Ellis as a drug store owner (located on Main Street, north of the Bank of Grain Valley).  He married Grace Johnson on April 12, 1922 and they lived with their daughter, Carol Jean, on Walnut Street.
     I remember Grace and Ellis living in their “new” home on Truman Road. They had purchased a farm and planted lots and lots of peach trees. I had many bowls of peaches and ice cream and several peach pies from Storms Orchard. People came from all over to buy their delicious peaches!
     After Edward’s death his estate was sold. If you live on the south side of Walnut Street stretching to the railroad and between Charlotte Street and Kirby Road, you are living in the Storms Addition. What was once farmland became Storms Addition in 1956. The original houses along Walnut Street were built in 1957 and 58.
 
 
 

     A couple of weeks ago Janice Butler brought to the Historical Society Museum a wonderful old family photo album along with a framed photo of her grandparents.
     New “old stuff” always motivates me to learn more about the people in the photos. Over the years, the Storms family and their descendants had an influence on our community. Logan’s father, his first wife and their 11 children came from Garrand County, Kentucky, to Missouri in the 1860s.
     After Elizabeth died, he married Mary E. Stillwell and they had two sons, Logan Isaac in 1870 and Edward E. in 1871. Logan and Edward grew up in the Strasburg/Pleasant Hill area of Cass County. The 1900 U. S. Census shows both were living in Sni-A-Bar Township, Jackson County, Missouri.  I believe the rest of the family stayed behind in Cass County.
     Logan Storms married Cora R. Scott on February 5, 1891. From my research I learned they had 7 children; Lottie, 1892; Luther, 1895; Laurette, 1898; Gilbert “Asa”, 1900; Herbert, 1903; Mildred, 1909 and Ama, 1915.
     Asa, named for his grandfather, work on Sni-A-Bar Farms until it was sold in 1945. Mildred married Felix Thompson and she lived in Grain Valley until her death in 1995. They had three children; all graduates of Grain Valley High School.
     Betty Joan (Thompson) Turner (1930-2010) served as the Postmaster in Grain Valley for many years. James “Jimmy” Thompson (1942-2011) graduated in 1960. I remember him as a three-sport athlete who played a trumpet in the high school band. I remember Janice (Thompson) Butler as one of the pretty cheerleaders I admired and looked up to when I was in elementary school.  And, by the way, all of their children are GVHS graduates as well!
     Thanks to Janice Butler who donated these family treasurers to the Historical Society.
 
Next week: I will tell you more about Edward E. Storms and his family.
 
Pictured:
Logan and Cora (Scott) Storms
on the occasion of their 50th Wedding Anniversary February 5, 1941.
 

     Some weeks I know exactly what I want to write about in this column. This week, I had no clue. When that happens, I get in my car, drive to the Historical Society Museum and start looking.
     Upon entering the building, I first remembered the group of 20 or more people gathered around the old Grain Valley School yearbooks on display. They came for the ice cream social but ended up staying to look at the yearbooks, laugh at the old pictures with crazy clothes and even crazier hair, and reminisce about “the good old days!”  
     I also thought about how COVID-19 had prevented the Grain Valley Alumni Banquet from being held the past two years; another opportunity for graduates to reminisce. Next, I saw the stack of yearbooks that were recently donated to the society by Vickie Officer’s sister. And that is how I arrived at this week’s column.
     From the 1971 Treasure Chest, I share the following bits of history. 
    In the first three pages I learned Sandie (Brown) Doty was editor and Melinda (Murry) Henson was assistant editor   of the yearbook. It was dedicated to Don Kalthoff, “friend, teacher, and coach” of the I-70 Conference Championship Football Team. In the fall of 1970 students began their first full year in the new high school building.
     Turning the pages, I further learned Marvin Headley was superintendent and Harvey Wright was the principal. The high school had only 14 teachers. There were 6 school bus drivers, 5 cafeteria workers, and 4 custodians.
     Forty-two graduates were led by Valerie Beecher, class president; Paul Willard, vice-president; Debbie Rogers, secretary and Terri Tracy, treasurer. Ron Affolter was the Student Council President.
     The trip to Lake View Beach capped off the year for the Class of 1971.
Fifty years ago, GVHS had only three competitive sports; football, boys’ basketball, and track. The yearbook also has two girls’ volleyball photographs; the junior-senior team and the freshman-sophomore team.
     Since neither team has numbers, they must have been league teams. There was also a concert and marching band, varsity and JV cheerleaders and queens, lots of queens!
     Up the Down Staircase was the theatrical production for 1970-71. Mary Harper (drama teacher) and Barbara Murry (music teacher ) co-directed G.V. Hee Haw. It was a variety show presented to showcase the talents of their students.
     Near the end of the yearbook there are 12 pages of advertisements. Of the nearly 75 ads, only 7 were for businesses in Grain Valley. Looking back fifty years the town did not offer much in the way of commerce. We had the Bank of Grain Valley, 4 gas stations, a convenience grocery, a beauty shop, a barber shop,  a couple of restaurants, car repair shops and some light manufacturing.
     We did not have a supermarket, a laundry, a pharmacy, a library, a movie theater, etc., etc., etc.
     But what Grain Valley has had since 1909 is a school system dedicated to the education of our children. That tradition has not changed.
     Visit the Historical Society any Wednesday, check out our yearbook collection, and reminisce about “the good old days!” 
We have over 50 yearbooks for your perusal.
 

​     Several months ago the historical society signed up to place a packet in the Bicentennial Time Capsule which will be stored at the State Historical Society of Missouri. Organizations and institutions, businesses, as well as local and state government agencies were invited to participate by contributing three items: one to represent our past, one to represent our present, and a note to future Missourians.
     Once the items are received and sent to the State Historical Society in Columbia, MO., we will be sent a certificate of contribution. The time capsule contents will be housed there until August 10, 2046, when they will be made available to the public.
     We are sending three photographs to represent our past: Main Street, circa 1912; the original Grain Valley Depot and a photo representing Sni-A-Bar Farms. To represent the present, three photo collages have been prepared, one of city buildings, one of our schools, and one with business logos.
     The following letter will be included as a note to future Missourians.
 

     Nearly thirty-two years ago, August 14, 1989, was Winona Burgess Day in Grain Valley. Winona was named Citizen of the Year by then mayor, Kurt Hanneman.
     In his speech he noted that Winona had been a member of our community for more than fifty years. He shared a few of her community activities with those present; owner of two businesses, membership in ABWA (American Business Women’s Association), Regent of the Fort Osage Chapter of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), member and past president of WSCS (Women’s Society of Christian Service), Worthy Matron of the Order of Eastern Star and vice-president of PTA. She was also on the Grain Valley Police Board, the Planning and Zoning Board and an Alderwoman in Ward I from 1981 to 1991. 
     For 18 years, from 1971 to 1989, she was head librarian at the Grain Valley Branch of Mid-Continent Library. You may recognize her name even if you are “new” to Grain Valley. On August 7, 2002 at the Senior Citizens luncheon the conference room at the Community Center was dedicated to Winona Burgess.
     Born and raised in Oak Grove, Winona married Floyd Sharp in August 1935, and they made their home in Grain Valley, where Floyd owned the Grain Valley Grain Company. They had one son, David who graduated from Grain Valley High School in 1959. Winona went to beauty school and opened Winona’s Salon of Beauty from 1957-1967. In 1962 she married Charles Burgess.
     I knew all about her community involvement, but I knew other things about Winona. I knew her as my intermediate (grades 3-6) Sunday School teacher at the Methodist Church. We had to memorize and repeat a Bible Verse each week at the beginning of our class. If we were successful, we got a gold star to place by our name on the poster in our classroom. Ten gold stars earned us a reward, usually one of her home baked cupcakes!
     I also knew her as one of my aunt’s good friends. On some of the days when I would stay with my aunt while mom was at the hardware store, we would walk the block and a half to Winona’s house for coffee or a glass of iced tea. Her living room and dining room were filled with flowers from her garden behind the house. Aunt Opal would always tell me to be careful when we went to her house. Everything was “breakable!”
     Today, a few of those fancy vases are on display at the Historical Society Museum. You see, at age 72, Winona was not ready to retire and knit or read books; although she loved to do both of those things.
     Winona was the force behind starting the Historical Society and she served as the first president from 1991 to 1993.  And when it was time to furnish the inside of our museum, Winona Burgess purchased one of our display cases.
     Mrs. Burgess remained active until her death in 2013.  She was 95 years-old. When you visit the Historical Society Museum don’t forget to look for one of Winona’s vases.
     For more information on the Historical Society, visit www.grainvalleyhistory.com.