1938 newspaper shines among Ballwin Historical Commission donations

 On Nov. 9, current Planning & Zoning Commission member Gary Carr (Ward 1) carried several items into the Old Ballwin School House. He was there to donate pieces of Ballwin’s history. 

“Some of the stuff I’m donating today is from Ballwin Days. But the one that really struck me was the 1938 newspaper from the Community Press when they dedicated the brick building,” Carr said, referring to the school house. “My wife (Janet) had an anniversary party here for the building’s 50th year, back in 1988. We had the same chicken dinner that they had when they built the place. My wife’s uncle, Walter Bush, built that building.”

The paper, which Carr recently enclosed in a shadow box, features a large boxed section and the words “School Dedication Program.”  Just underneath that title are program details, including American flag ceremonies and addresses to be given by educational dignitaries. Near the bottom of the blurb, it mentions live performances of “Old Folks at Home,” “Heigh Ho” and “That Old Apple Tree” by the Ballwin Banjo Class. Underneath that was a note about the chicken supper Carr mentioned.

Gary Carr  and Ballwin Historical Commission Chairman Marie Clark (Source: City of Ballwin/Facebook)

“We’re thinking about moving in a couple years, but we want to stay in Ballwin,” Carr said.  “I’m just going through stuff the family has accumulated over the years, and we’re just trying to move stuff out. I didn’t want to throw any of this away, so I asked (the Historical Commission) if they wanted it. We were going to do this in the past. The plaque says 7/2019, but due to COVID, it was put off.”

According to the Historical Commission’s Facebook page: “The Old Ballwin Schoolhouse ended its role as a schoolhouse after the 1938 school year. It was then sold, ultimately becoming a private residence. For the next 50 years, it continued to be located at its original location: 110 Elm Street.  In 2001, it was moved to make way for the construction of the Old Towne Plaza.”

Carr said it took four years to complete Towne Plaza. 

“The reason it took so long,” he said, “(is) if you look at all these rocks back here, it was 70 feet down so they had to bring the grade up for the shopping center. They brought these rocks down here on 18-wheelers.  They had to have engineers here to tell them where to place them.”

One of the items donated by Carr was a Ballwin Days poster dated June 27, 28  and 29. While no one on the commission was certain which year the poster represented, it did mention that the carnival rides were by Tinsley’s Amusements, Inc, which began operation  in 1964.

In speaking with the Historical Commission, Carr mentioned one more item in his donations. 

Vintage Ballwin Days poster (Photo: Jeffry Greenberg)

“I was the treasurer at The Pointe, and this has all the paperwork of who donated money for the bond issue, built in 1995-96.”

Carr noted that his wife was responsible for acquiring some of the donated  items since her family has been in the area much longer than his own. Her great, great grandfather started (JJ) Kokesh (and Sons) Plumbing (currently at 408 Kehrs Mill Road) back in 1894. The fourth generation is running it now, and it’s believed to be the oldest continuous plumbing company in St. Louis County.

After being a plumber himself for 42 years, Carr retired in 2015. He’s been volunteering and working at the Christian Brothers home (La Salle Retreat Center)  in Wildwood, which has been there since 1886. However, he is most proud and moved by a far more recent historic event.

“I had the honor to work with the Gary Sinise Foundation at Officer (Mike) Flamion’s house as a volunteer,” Carr said.  Flamion, a former Ballwin Police officer,  was ambushed, shot in the back and paralyzed on July 8, 2016.

 “It was amazing to me the amount of people who stepped up to the plate and donated time or material. This went on and on and on,” he said.