Roosevelt High School - Bwana Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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EWENH It is only in the last few years that we have begun really to appreciate our own Ozarks. We may well be ashamed that for many years we traveled east and west in our search of beautiful recreation grounds, but ignored the lovely one at our very door. ln many instances, it required vacationists from other states to point out to us the value of our own Ozarks. Today, however, one may observe a different attitude on the part of the people of this city. With the completion, during the last few years, of many splendid new roads leading to the southern part of the state, more and more of us are becoming acquainted with this region. Already many city workers are spending their vacations there, and many St. Louisans are now the proud owners of cottages in its beautiful, wooded hills or on the shores of its lakes and rivers. We believe that the citizens of St. Louis have only just begun to make use of this play- ground, and that in the years to come the Ozarks will become increasingly dear to each of us. OTTO VON DER AU THE OZARKS FLAMING FALL REVIEW HAT could be more beautiful than a hike through the Ozarks on a crisp October morning! On all sides the beautifully blended color, the gay red-orange of the hard maples, the bright yellow of the hickories, the flashing red of the sumac, melt into the more subdued gold, red, and green of the majestic oaks. Down into the valleys you tramp, and then up you climb through woods, pastures, and cornfields. On a high hill, you pause and look about you. To the left is a cornfield with the russet corn-shocks standing in order and huge, orange pumpkins lying all around them, while beyond, stretches the restful green of a pasture, in which cows are grazing. Close by, to the right, lies a white farm house with the smoke curling lazily from its chimney. Peace and calm reign supreme. As you resume your hiking, you enter the colorful woods. Here squirrels run chattering through the trees, busy with their fall job of storing away nuts for the winter: occasionally a nervous rabbit jumps out and scampers off through the heaps of fallen leaves. Overhead a flock of flying geese add to the beauty. When the sun is high in the heavens, you turn to go back. A song bird calls as you linger along the deserted wagon road winding downwards. The river comes into view finally, and before long, you are loafing along its banks. A bass breaks the surface of the rippling water as it jumps in pursuit of insects, a turtle, late in hibernating, pokes up its lazy head and floats along till out of sight. Once again, and all too soon, you find yourself back at the starting place. How tired but happy you feel! You have witnessed the beautiful, yearly spectacle, The Ozarks' Flaming Fall Review. ROBERT BLOEMKE Sixteen

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EUJENH EDITCJRIALS THE REAL OZARKS OMEONE. has said that the Ozarks are Gods Country. Doubt- less the same claims have been made for other sections of the United States. Railroads and various companies advertise and exploit the Ozarks as an ideal playground, but to me it seems that the sordid touch of commercialized attractions rob those blue hills of something indefinable and yet tangible. Perhaps it is the numerous filling stations on the highways, or perhaps it is the highways them- selves. But something is spoiled, something lacking, and l find the real Ozarks off the beaten paths, on comparatively untraveled regions. l may sound idealistic and I probably am, but to encounter a hot dog stand when l want to find nature at its best, pure, unspoiled, is to me like a rock thrown through a church window. l find the unspoiled Ozarks, the real Ozarks, where there are quiet, tree- bordered lanesg where there are fields and stretches of solemn forestg where the black and white oak trees are companions to the walnut, the sturdy hickory, and the cedar, where little pools of water collect in dry washes and creek bottoms, where the solitude is such that the trees seem in hushed conversationg where the lizard scuttles at one's approach and the rustle seems loud: where the rabbit sits and stares in curiosity before bounding awayg where one can actually listen to the complete silenceg and where there are not the ravaged flower patches, the torn tree branches, the honk of an automobile, the idiotic chatter of vacationists. There, and there only, can l find the real Ozarks. ROBERT BAUM THE OZARKS-THE PLAYGROUND OF STQ LOUIS ENNSYLVANIA has its Alleghanies: Colorado, its Rocky Moun- tains: and Missouri, its Ozarks. St. Louisians may Well be proud of the Ozarks, not only because they constitute the only region between the Rockies and the Alleghanies that can be called mountains, but because they are fascinatingly beautiful. Where is there more picturesque scenery than that which the Ozarks afford us? The Ozarks offer enjoyment during each season of the year. It is only in the summer, however, one may enjoy this vacation land to the full. Riding or hiking along the scenic highways, camping in the state parks, and fishing, swimming, or canoeing in the many beautiful streams of the state-these are some of the many pleasures which may be indulged in during the summer months. Surely this is an enviable playground for the people of St. Louis! Fifteen

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