Hometown Matters

By Pauline Masson –  After 73 years of alternating caretakers, Pacific’s Christmas tradition, the Nativity Scene in the Bluff face, is unveiled each December. The painted statues that make up a scene depicting Christ’s birth in a stable in Bethlehem are still the most familiar symbol of Christmas in the community. It was one of the city’s first tourist attractions, luring motorists out from St. Louis to see Christ’s birth re-enacted in a sand cave. It was also one of … Continue reading “Through 73 Years of Delight, Decay and Rotating Caretakers, a Community Tradition Lives On”

Ed Gass, Returns to City Government. ________________________________________ By Pauline Masson – There are only seven  board of aldermen (BOA) meetings between now and  the April 2026 municipal election. But ward one will have its mandated two representatives. The ward has had only one representative, Alderman Karla Stewart,  since alderman Rafael Madrigal resigned from his unexpired term in August 2025. After her two first appointments to fill the temporary post were rejected, she tapped Ed Gass, one of the longest serving … Continue reading “Mayor Picks a Winner: Ed Gass Unanimously Approved to Fill Ward One Vacancy”

Spat Over Mayor’s Appointments   By Pauline Masson –  Officials took action last Tuesday to step up punishment for speeders on neighborhood streets and laid the groundwork for tackling one of the city’s most visible eyesores, the overgrown commercial site known locally as the Lazy Larry property. And Mayor Heather Filley chastised aldermen for failing to approve her appointments without saying why. The announcement of taking a tougher stance on issues that have lingered for months, if not years, were … Continue reading “Aldermen Target Neighborhood Speeders and Overgrown Commercial Property”

By Pauline Masson – For two hundred years from the early 1800s the White Holland turkey was the favorite holiday dinner across the U.S. and by the mid 1900s Pacific had more of the beautiful historic birds than any city in Missouri. Pritchett Turkey Farm in Catawissa, the crown jewel of a series of local turkey growers, boasted a flock of 15,000 White Hollands in the 1950s, and shipped another 50,000 turkey chicks (poults) to growers across the U.S. each … Continue reading “Turkey Day: How a Catawissa Farmer Put Pacific On the Twentieth Century Industrial Map”

  By Pauline Masson –  Ward One Vacancy: In a 3-2 vote, aldermen said no to the mayor’s appointment of former alderman Rick Presley to fill the Ward One seat vacated by the resignation of  Rafael Madrigal. With no discussions on the merits of the appointment, Aldermen James Cleeve and Tyler Hoven voted to approve the appointment. Aldermen Debbie Kelley, Karla Stewart and Scott Lesh voted no.  The absence of one of the two Ward One seats has concerned Ward … Continue reading “BOA Rejects Presley Appointment, Balances Budget, Recognizes Historic First Baptist Restoration “

By Pauline Masson –  In the October 21 board of aldermen meeting  —  that was not posted on the city’s web site prior to the meeting and was not screened on YouTube  —  the board of aldermen (BOA) approved a request for proposal (RFP) to build the Jeffrey White Memorial Skatepark with the Noonan Pavilion attached as the entry to skatepark. The small pavilion at the entrance to Birk Circle, named for Park developer Ick Noonan, is frequented by children’s … Continue reading “Aldermen Approve Skatepark Attached to Children’s Pavilion / Kelley Says Public Should be Informed”

  By Pauline Masson – A mixed audience filled the pews in the restored Historic First Baptist Church last Sunday to celebrate reopening the church following a seven-year restoration, slowed by the Covid pandemic and funded by a widespread community effort. The long-awaited ceremony was held to celebrate the small frame church that has served the Black community for 140 years and was closed in 2017 after being flooded for the eighth time. As guest vocalists Virginia Welch and Timothy … Continue reading “Historic Frst Baptist Church Reopens to New Life and Tumultuous Welcome of Blended Community”

As the community celebrates a victory over the fickel Meramec River as Historic First Baptist Church reopens on Sunday, I came across an article  that local Geologist Jo Schaper wrote on the attempts totem the river, including a recap on the failure of a proposed Meramec River Dam at Sullivan.’ Meramec Lake Park, by Jo Schaper Oddly enough, the original impetus to control the Meramec River came from commerce, not from the effects of devastating floods. As early as the … Continue reading “The Meramec River, 200 Years of Contest With People and Cities Along its Bank”

By Pauline Masson – At 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, Historic First Baptist Church will welcome the community to celebrate the restoration that took seven years. The great flood of 1915 inundated the entire downtown area of Pacific, filling the sanctuary of Historic First Baptist. The area and the church would flood again in 1947, 1982, 1985, 1993, 2008, 2015 and 2017. After the 2017 flood, the small congregation — only recently completed restoration of the church from the … Continue reading “The Community Invited to Celebrate Reopening of Historic First Baptist”

By Pauline Masson –  During the board of aldermen meeting on Tuesday, officials are set to approve a new city administration. Charles “Lee” Litterell has accepted the position and has entered into an agreement with the city, which was included in the October 7 meeting packet posted on the city’s website. The agenda includes a resolution that authorizes the mayor to sign the agreement between the city and the new city administrator, already signed by  Mr. Litterell. The agenda also … Continue reading “Three-time Oklahoma City Official and Former Walmart Executive Accepts Role of Pacific City Administrator”