university city: Carl Wimar is now underfoot on the sidewalk in U. City, along with more than 140 other stars and plaques on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in the Loop. Not a name as familiar as Charles Lindbergh? Wimar was a 19th-century artist, a painter of life here in the 1800s. Arriving in St. Louis in 1843, the young immigrant 
was enthralled by the Native Americans who camped near the city to trade furs. Wimar returned to his native Germany in 1852 to study painting, and his work often portrayed Native Americans in conflict with pioneers, as in The Captive Charger or The Abduction of Daniel Boone’s Daughter (pictured above). Wimar returned to St. Louis in 1856. Influenced by his travels up the Missouri River, he painted prairie landscapes and scenes of Native American life and ritual, such as The Buffalo Dance. Though languishing of tuberculosis and needing to be carried up to his worksite, Wimar finished his final masterpiece in 1862, the four murals adorning the rotunda dome of the Old Courthouse. Many of his works are at Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington U., and at least one is at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Wimar’s star is at 6227 Delmar Blvd.
webster groves: Each of the dozen or so giant apples on the ground in the Old Orchard section of Webster Groves looks like it’s already had a healthy bite taken out of it. They’re still red, but they’ve lost nearly all the luster they had when hometown artist, the late, great Bob Cassilly, installed the whimsical chairs more than two decades ago. And the city has recently discussed how to polish ’em up. The elements have taken their toll, and the chairs have dulled—and unless they’re wearing much-used painter’s pants, nobody would dare sit in one. Because, like they do with all public art, birds poop on them. The only thing that sits in them, for days upon days, is rainwater. It gets almost nasty enough to breed mosquitoes. Anyhow, they need to be freshened up … again. Five years ago, with the artist’s blessing, Auto Beauty Specialists buffed them out. However, this needs to be done periodically, but how? We’re thinking the city should find a core (sic) of volunteers who polished an apple or two for a teacher back in the day …
st. louis: Operation Food Search (OFS) has embarked on a capital campaign to raise $7 million to help end childhood hunger in St. Louis, and it’s three-quarters of the way to the finish line. The nonprofit already has raised 73 percent of its goal, and key to that is a $1 million gift from the Crawford Taylor Foundation. This ‘leadership’ gift will greatly help propel the campaign, a goal of which is a new, state-of-the-art food bank and community education center. The foundation’s contribution was instrumental in leveraging a $350,000 matching challenge gift from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation. OFS’ new facility, which will triple its current distribution and program capacity, includes a community demonstration and prep kitchen to expand nutrition education classes; a volunteer center with larger accommodations for individuals, corporations and organizations; and flexible, multipurpose spaces to convene OFS member agencies and stakeholders for the purpose of creating long-term, innovative solutions to end childhood hunger. OFS plans to open its new facility at 1644 Lotsie Blvd. in Overland in early fall. If you were wondering about the second surname in Crawford Taylor, it belongs to one of the metro’s most magnanimous men: Jack Taylor, who founded Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 1957.
st. charles: “Dan’l Boone was a man / Yes a big man …” starts out the song known by many a Boy Scout and 1960s TV watcher. In April, the historic Daniel Boone home and nearly 300 acres of surrounding property in Defiance were gifted to the people of St. Charles County by previous owner Lindenwood University. Following the donation, county officials announced the property would be named Lindenwood Park. The site includes the rugged limestone home, adjoining 66-acre Boonesfield Village historic site, and more than 200 acres of surrounding countryside. The county will continue to operate the village complex, including the home, as a tourist site. A 5,100-square-foot pavilion was built last year, also using native limestone for the exterior walls. The complex is a fun afternoon drive any time of year … well, unless we’re having some stretch of hot-and-humid like we’ve had of late. Still, imagine how rough the going would have been in the late 1700s without air conditioning, refrigeration or smartphones. If you’re anything like me … or my son Henry, who’s a distant relative of Boone … you are definitely at risk of suffering from problems such as these. The threestory stone building, nestled in the rolling hills of wine country and overlooking the Femme Osage Valley, brings to life the legacy of Boone through stories of a daring pioneer, while also offering a glimpse into family matters. We didn’t hear tell of ghosts, although Boone died here in 1820 at 86. In his sleep. But not in a coonskin cap. Word in the wilderness was he preferred beaver hats.
ladue: Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church is celebrating 10 years of partnering with Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis—a decade’s worth of volunteers building homes for the disadvantaged. In May, the congregation presented a $100,000 gift to the nonprofit to celebrate the 10th house it helped build, this one by more than 50 church members. On May 21, members of the church began building a new Habitat house in Lookaway Summit in north St. Louis City. The Rev. Dr. Mark Thomas, pastor of Ladue Chapel, founded a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Port Huron, Michigan, 25 years ago. Habitat—a not-for-profit, ecumenical housing ministry—works in partnership with individuals and communities of all faiths to improve housing conditions and provide safe, decent and affordable housing in St. Louis City and County. With nearly 400 homes already built, Habitat is one of the leading housing developers in St. Louis. In addition to making a down payment and assuming a mortgage, each homebuyer invests 350 sweat-equity volunteer hours into building or rehabbing a home and attending life-skills classes.
