Friends of Arrow Rock to celebrate 50th anniversary

Thursday, June 11, 2009
By SYDNEY STONNER/Staff writer

Kathy Borgman first worked for Friends of Arrow Rock in 1982 as a seasonal tour guide. Two years later, when the Friends was celebrating its 25th anniversary, Borgman became the executive director, as well as the organization's first year-round employee.

Today, she remains in that position as the Friends observes its golden anniversary. On Sunday, June 14, the Friends will gather at the J. Huston Tavern to celebrate 50 years of promoting the preservation of Arrow Rock and its history.

Borgman said it will be "a day to pause and mark a wonderful milestone."

At the event, current Friends President Thomas B. Hall III will present the organization's first distinguished service award to Whitney and Day Kerr for their important contributions. Day is a past chairman of the Friends of Arrow Rock.

"Our vision is to make Arrow Rock into one of the premier historic destinations in the country," Hall said in a press release. "It is a microcosm of the Missouri frontier experience, and we want to share that so the important lessons of our past will not be forgotten."

The keynote speaker of the celebration will be Gary Kremer, Executive Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri.

According to a press release, the Friends of Arrow Rock was founded on June 14, 1959, at a meeting of the Old Tavern Board of Managers of the Missouri State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Borgman said there is no complete record of the founding members, who were from towns around mid-Missouri, not just Arrow Rock. But the original officers of the Friends of Arrow Rock were Mrs. David Eads of Columbia, president; Hugh Stephens of Jefferson City, vice president; Mrs. Julian D. Pyatt of Trenton, secretary; Leonard Van Dyke of Marshall, treasurer; and Mrs. C.W. Elsea of Marshall, recorder.

"Even from the very beginning, the Friends were more than just local people," she said.

The Friends began as a volunteer organization, a small group of people dedicated to preserving and restoring the historic town.

"They ran the organization from their dining room table," Borgman said of some of the board members.

But the Friends grew in number and responsibility -- currently there are more than 1,000 members, and the group owns 13 historic buildings in Arrow Rock -- and a shift in staffing was necessary. The Friends established an office and paid employees, as well as a board of trustees.

In this anniversary year, the Friends is conducting a capital campaign with a goal of $1 million to be reached by December 2010. So far, $640,000 has been raised.

But, Borgman said, the central tenets of the organization remain the same.

"Education is the core mission of the Friends of Arrow Rock, and always has been," she said.

"Education is actually our strongest focus as we go into the future."

Every year, approximately 135,000 people visit Arrow Rock, which is a National Historic Landmark, including hundreds of school children participating in educational programs.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Arrow Rock one of its 2006 Dozen Distinctive Destinations, and in 2008, First Lady Laura Bush designated Arrow Rock as a Preserve America community.

Contact Sydney Stonner at marshallbusiness@socket.net

On the Web: