Bourbon Community Foundation Holds First-Ever Heritage Day
The city park in Sullivan is named for Major League Baseball Hall of Famer “Sunny” Jim Bottomley, but Bourbon can also claim ties to the 1928 National League MVP and two-time World Series champion.
In 1958, Bottomley, long retired to farming in this area, coached a little league team in Bourbon. His coaching gig is captured in a team photo on display Aug. 12 during the Bourbon Community Foundation’s first-ever Heritage Day, a day remembering the town’s 165-year history.
The keepers of the town’s history displayed photos, maps, newspapers and more. Attendees pored over the brittled newspapers and photocopied documents that have preserved Bourbon’s lineage for generations to come.
The displays showed everything from the anodyne to the tragic.
BHS Newsletter
A Bourbon Warhawks newsletter from October 1969 documented some of the happenings on campus. Forty-seven members of the BHS band participated in the Columbia University band day. The newsletter reported that some of the students were surprised to find former BHS band teacher Terrence Runcinski present at the band day. Runcinski was reportedly instructing another band.
Magazine Subscriptions
The BHS Class of 1970 was on fire.
After originally setting a goal of selling $1,800 worth of magazine subscriptions, the situation was looking grim as the deadline approached. However, the seniors pulled it out on the final night and sold $1,931.40 “or somewhere in that general area.”
Kudos went out to Larry Bouse, who was the top salesman, bringing in a haul of $230. Clarence Cartwright, David Harrison and Randy Bremer were the other top salesman. Connie Voss, Sylvia Maes and Gay Pratt were the girls’ top sellers.
The Class of 1971 was encouraged to top that year’s seniors.
New Cheerleaders
Bourbon Junior High elected a new group of cheerleaders, led by Kathy Byrd (captain) and Janice Shelton (co-captain). Sheila Ransom, Viola Mathews, Debbie Shelton and Debbie Peterson were the other selections. Teresa Pryor and Clara Cartwright were chosen as alternates.
The girls opted to keep the same skirts, but decided to go with v-neck vests.
Beta Club
The Bourbon Beta Club held its first meeting of the year that September and elected Ann Kruse as president; Linnea Bremer as vice-president; Cindy Schaefer as secretary; Gary Burnett as treasurer and Susan King as student council representative. Eleven students were invited to join.
Capehart Murders
On another table, a Dec. 12, 1974 issue of the Bourbon Beacon reported on the grisly murders of Melvin Capehart and Jackie May Capehart, who were bludgeoned to death by Rolan Ross Stoer, also known as Kim Capehart. Jackie May Capehart, Stoer’s mother, and Melvin Capehart, his stepfather, were murdered in the basement of their Ballwin, Mo. home. Stoer then loaded their bodies into his trunk and drove out to Bourbon where he dumped their bodies six miles south of the city limits.
Stoer’s crime was tipped off by Cecil Conway, owner of Cecil’s OK Service Station in Bourbon. Conaway reportedly observed blood dripping from the trunk of the car.
Camp River Cliff
A display was set up with pictures of the former Camp River Cliff, the first YMCA in Missouri operated by African-Americans. The camp existed until 1955.
Bourbon Herald
An issue of the former Bourbon Herald was on display from 1925, documenting squabbles between the town council and a committee trying to build a park; whether the city should vote for a sewer bond and an update on the defending Ozark Central League champion Warhawks. Bourbon finished 12-0 in the league the previous season and were 26-4 overall. Belle, Cherryville, Bland, Steelville, Cuba and St. James were all vying for the OCL championship as well.