South Mountain Expeditions Samples Trial & Tribulations

A national tour group of 20 people on the Lincoln Country tour hosted by South Mountain Expeditions visited Oakland on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 for a sampling of Trial & Tribulations.  Their guide was Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service, Ed Bearss. Frank Crawford, a Rutherford descendant and a member of the tour, arranged to have the group stop in Oakland after getting a positive impression of Trial & Tribulations last September.

Oakland was included in the tour between their visits to Charleston and Springfield.  The group met Mary Corbin Matson played by Marylee McGee at Independence Pioneer Village and toured some of the cabins with Traci Montgomery, Rob and April Lee.  Then they moved downtown and met Dr. Hiram Rutherford (played by Kim McGee) and Gideon "Matt" Ashmore (Roger Ashmore in real life) in the Meeting House where the air conditioning kept everyone fairly comfortable. Following that conversation they toured the Rutherford Home and Doctor's Office with Caroline Coon, Hap, and one of their young tour guides.  Each participant was given a copy of the Souvenir Booklet produced and donated by Greg Baker.

As you can tell from the photos the event was a big success.  The group felt it was well worth the extra miles to stop in Oakland to learn about this lesser known Lincoln event.  They were all invited back to the September 17 event.

Independence Pioneer Village Gets Refreshed by Tennessee Group

Mt. Gilead Baptist Builders / Disaster Relief and their youth group, Example 13:15, from Tennessee were at Independence Pioneer Village this weekend to do some heavy cleaning and sprucing up. Thanks to them the village looks great! And they got to learn and practice skills they use in their mission trips while dipping into some history.

Keith Coffman, their leader notes, "We are looking for ways to teach our youth about missions and teach them some skills along the way.  I feel we accomplished that this weekend.  Most of our youth met new friends, learned a little about History, took part in something they haven't done before, got to take part in a Great Drama Presentation and had fun doing it.  Thanks again for the opportunity and for the hospitality."

The Lee Family that owns the Village is also very appreciative to have had the groups' assistance.  They were able to accomplish things like repairing a chimney and flooring in one of the cabins, cut down a large dead tree, and clean out overgrown brush.  In the family's words, "The Village looks awesome!"  It is a beautiful setting in which to meet Mary Corbin, Lucy Dupee, Jane and Anthony Bryant to hear their stories.  We will have four cabins, the general store, and the church/school open for visitors to tour during Trial & Tribulations.