Hometown Matters

  By Pauline Masson – Aldermen heard last week that SGR, the search firm hired to aid in attracting a new city administrator, had submitted 30 candidates for the position to Alderman James Cleeve along with instructions that prompted Mr. Cleeve to tell his fellow aldermen that they were going to have to change the way they have been conducting the search. Some Hometown Matters readers stress that finding a new city administrator is the single most important thing the … Continue reading “City Administrator Search Moves Forward, Aldermen Quiet as One Man Runs the Show”

  By Pauline Masson – Public Works Commissioner Robert Brueggemann says the long promised First and Osage streets right turn lane will be built in May 2026. The promise of this improvements dates to 2018 as part of a plan to ease snarls in  truck traffic headed for the city’s industrial parks on South Denton Road. After eight years of traffic studies, plans, engineering, grant application and right-of -way acquisition, the project can now move forward Mr. Brueggemann reported at … Continue reading “Spring 2026 Construction Date Set for Long Promised First and Osage Right Turn Lane, Brueggemann Says”

By Pauline Masson – Over time, the bluff at the north edge of town that acquired the descriptive name Sand Mountain, had guided pilots to the erstwhile Pacific Airport that sat the south edge of town, attracted the first tourists to this city to see the Nativity Scene in the bluff, featured in news articles across the region and – under the hand of  local artist Joe McHugh – was depicted on dinner napkins, velum drawing paper, canvas oil paintings, … Continue reading “Nick Olmstead: The Man Who Lit Up Sand Mountain”

  By Pauline Masson –  I think we should declare Benton Kelley Day in Pacific. After seven years the flood damaged Historic First Baptist Church on South First Street is elevated above the flood plain and completely restored. Pardon my language but Mr. Kelley is going to be mad as  He^^ about this. He would not want  to see any inclination that he thought he did this large community project by himself. He did not do it by himself. But … Continue reading “Benton Kelley: Every Man Should Have His Day”

By Pauline Masson –  Ninety-nine years ago German scientists and engineering experts came to Pacific to test the silica sand deposits here. It is unclear how they first heard of this place. A year earlier, in 1925 the Hardstone Brick and Tile Company of Missouri, headquartered in St. Louis, bought land on East Osage that included a large outcropping of silica sand, with plans to build a brick factory here. But it appears they did not yet know what they … Continue reading “1926 Discovery that Pacific Silica Sand was 98 Percent Pure Was a High Point in History”

By Pauline Masson –  Among milestones in Pacific’s emergence as a progressive city was the city’s role in an early 1900s  program to prepare young Colored men and women to teach elementary school to Colored children. We use the word Colored to represent Blacks in this article because of the vast body of news coverage on the teacher training program that – at that time – was the common description of African American people. When the Emancipation Proclamation freed more … Continue reading “The Progressive 1900 National Program That Placed Pacific at the Front of Educating Black Teachers”

By Pauline Masson –  Josephine “Josie” Oberfeld was working in the food industry in her family’s eatery at South First and Orleans streets at age fourteen. She actually started food preparation there when she was ten but couldn’t be hired as an employee because of child labor laws. Eugene and Joann Hoffman opened Hoffmans walk-up/carryout restaurant in 1965.  They had five children: Josie, Amelia, Clay, Steve and Tony, who spent much of their childhood in the take-out restaurant.  Joann, the … Continue reading “Child Cook who Morphed Into a Computer Geek Returns to Her Roots to Manage the Senior Center”

By Pauline Masson – Aldermen voted 3 to 2 on May 20 to set the range of starting pay for a new city administrator at $120,000 to $150,000. The city had previously advertised the salary range from $90,000 to $120,000. Aldermen James Cleeve, Tyler Hoven and Karla Stewart voted for the higher pay. Debbie Kelley and Scott Lesh voted no. Rafael Madrigal was absent. The city has been without a city administrator since May 2 when interim administrator Harold Selby … Continue reading “BOA Vote to Increase New City Administrator Pay Squeaks By with 3-2 Vote – Up to $150,000 “

By Pauline Masson –  Sometimes things are as famous as the people who treasure them. St. Patrick’s Old Rock Church in Catawissa is known regionally for its annual August homecoming picnic, and, at the Catholic Archdiocese in St Louis, for its legendary blending of Catholic and Protestant followers. But to a group of musicians across a wide swath of the country, a national treasure is housed in this remote former church – now a community landmark – its 1890 J … Continue reading “Rare Hand Pumped J G Pfeffer Organ at St. Patrick’s Old Rock Church / A National Treasure”