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Beneath
The Message Tree
A letter from the
editor.
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If you
wou'd not be forgotten
As soon as you are rotten,
Either write things worth reading,
Or do things worth the writing.
Benjamin
Franklin 1738
The
quote above, attributed to Franklin,
implies that if you want to be remembered,
write material that your readers like or
perform works that others would write
about. I don't know if the writers on the
staff of The Message Tree have ever
performed works worthy of being wrote
about, but apparently judging from the
number of times that this electronic
magazine is viewed each month, we must be
writing material that you find worthy of
reading.
I
never ceased to be amazed and also humbled
when I review the statistics that report
just how many times that you have viewed
this electronic periodical, each
month.
We
haven't even been on this web site for a
year and already we have been "hit" or
read 149,625 times, and with almost each
passing month we set a new record for the
number of hits in a thirty day period.
When you total all the hits that we have
received on this site as well as the other
two sites that the Message Tree has been
on, we have been read 169,000 times. For
making this possible, we would like to
sincerely thank each and every one of
you.
Very
seldom is there a day that goes by, that
we don't receive one or more requests by
readers, via e-mail, asking that they be
added to our list of subscribers. In case
you don't know about this service, we
maintain a list of e-mail addresses of our
readers, and as a courtesy we send out one
and no more than two invitations by
e-mail, each month, notifying our
"subscribers" that the web site has been
updated and new articles are ready for
their reading pleasure.
Why Subscribe To
The Message Tree?
These
brief e-mail based invitations are the
best way to inform you that we have added
more material to the web site. Although
you can book mark or save the site's
address in your favorites folder, we so
often get so busy in this modern world
that we forget about the web sites that we
have come to enjoy and fail to return to
those sites to check out what is new. Our
invitations are a friendly reminder that
The Message Tree has been updated.
I
want to assure you that you need not worry
about giving your e-mail address to The
Message Tree as we will never send you any
unsolicited e-mails, or spam, and that
your e-mail address is kept in the
strictest of confidence on a secure server
(computer.) We also do our utmost to stay
abreast on all the latest security
measures to assure that your address will
never be stolen by unscrupulous e-mail
solicitors.
So
why not take a moment, click
here, and
enter your e-mail address in our
subscription form. It's free, and we only
ask for your e-mail, and not your name so
you remain completely anonymous.
The
only thing new in the world is the
history you don't know.
Harry
S. Truman
Truman's
words rang true for us as we discovered
the existence of a museum in Pierce City
dedicated to the preservation of the
memory and memorabilia of the great author
Harold Bell Wright, whose novel, The
Shepherd Of The Hills, helped to
start the tourism industry in the central
Ozarks.
Wright
was not only a highly popular author in
his time but also an artist and a
minister. For a time he preached at the
church in Pierce City where today we find
the museum bearing his name. (See;
Art
Signing Day At The Harold Bell Wright
Museum
in this issue!) The revelation of the
existence of this museum was certainly new
to your Message Tree staff and in the
words of Truman, history we didn't
know.
In
his article HISTORY OF HERE Part 184,
Lookin' At A Valuable Neighbor, Jim
Barrett takes a look at the Shepherd of
the Hills farm and the impact that
Wright's novel had on this region.
In
this issue we have a guest contributor
Gary Gray, whose reminiscent story of the
ubiquitous Out House, might not have taken
place in the Ozarks, but many Ozarkers and
everyone who remember the American rural
experience, have similar fond memories of
this important structure.
Elsewhere
in this months issue, we take a look at
one of the Ozarks most beautiful scenic
drives, The Glade Top Trail near Ava.
After driving this route that is perched
upon a high Ozarks Ridge, you realize why
the locals refer to it as "up on the Glade
Top" the ridge being higher than most of
the surrounding terrain allows outstanding
views of the Mark Twain National Forest.
We also have several interesting, even
heart warming stories we are sure that you
will enjoy.
One
last note, remember that we would love to
hear from you, your feedback is so very
important to us as your input will help us
to make The Message Tree even more
enjoyable for everyone to read.
THE
MESSAGE TREE
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