Museum reaching out for a helping hand

The Stars and Stripes Military Newspaper was established in Bloomfield in 1861.

Over the last decade or more, the Stars & Stripes Museum/Library has become an integral part of the community. With logos emblazoned on everything in town from police cars to the sign in front of the new City Hall, Bloomfield's proud heritage is never more than a corner away.

Through fundraisers and volunteer work the city has come forward to aid with many of the museum's needs and efforts. The time has come to reach out a little farther.

"For several years now, the local community has really stood up and supported us financially and they're doing the best they can," said Dr. Joe Baker, museum board president. "But, the overall operational costs on a continuing basis has simply exceeded what we can do locally."

This barn, south of the museum, is a long standing landmark in the county.

Several people have given countless hours and even cash to keep the operation running at its current capacity.

"We have people who have worked and foregone being paid from as far back as November 2007," Baker said last week, adding that there are currently no paid employees at the museum.

One common misconception regarding the museum is that there is some type of funding coming in on a regular basis, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The museum has been able to continue solely on donations, both of time and money.

Baker added that many people believe there is some connection between the Stars & Stripes Museum /Library and the Missouri Veterans Cemetery and that is not the case either. There are no endowments, no grants and at this time, no financial backing whatsoever for the museum.

While it has been decided that the time has come to reach out for help, Baker and museum director Deloris May said everyone involved is committed to the fact the doors will continue to be open.

Several upcoming projects are in the works including another brick memorial wall similar to the one on the north end of the museum. With construction slated to begin later this year, orders are still being taken for memorial bricks to be placed in the wall.

"We're still accepting artifacts and items and are still looking forward to the future," May said adding that the next plan is to begin reworking exhibits with a focus on the Pacific theater of World War II. "We've been pretty busy lately, too, with lots of groups and activities."

But traffic doesn't always translate into income the way it does with a business.

"The financial situation of the nation has made a large impact on people's finances, and in turn, their giving," Baker said adding that efforts to find corporate donors for the museum have also come up empty so far. "Even the awarding of grants has decreased significantly in the past year."

That doesn't mean they haven't been working on obtaining grants in the meantime.

"One thing we've had to do is restructure our mission statement to be more education oriented," Baker said, commenting that being a military museum can make finding available grants more difficult.

The impact of this small museum nestled in the hills of Stoddard County has been far-reaching and often under-appreciated.

To date, more than 50,000 people have toured the museum since moving to its current location in 1998 bringing countless dollars not only to Bloomfield, but across the area.

"People who come to visit the museum, eat in our restaurants, fill up at our stations and stay in our hotels," Baker said. "We would hope they [the community] will continue to support us and that anyone who has any ability or contacts with individuals, companies or organizations that would be willing to help us out one time or on a continual basis, would be a huge help with our operational costs."

While not everyone in the area has been aware of the severity of the problem, those who are have worked to organize events to aid the museum in its time of need.

From raffles to benefit dinners, people have not only shown up, but shown how much they care and want to keep the Stars & Stripes as an up front part of their history.

The biggest benefit of the year is also just on the horizon coming up Sunday, June 28 at 3 p.m. at the Bloomfield First General Baptist Church on Christian Drive.

Every year a special patriotic program is hosted by the church filled with patriotic songs and memories. All of the money raised by the event goes directly to the museum to help with their expenses.

Anyone interested in the museum should call 573-568-2055 to find out more information.