Antique tractor collectors who appreciate true craftsmanship may well plan a visit to Silver Dollar City. At the park they can see a blacksmith, a potter, a furniture maker, a leather worker, a woodcarver, glass cutter, glass blower and more. Besides this, the park is also decorated with antique farm equipment throughout. Silver Dollar City isn’t just an amusement park; it’s based on the heritage and tradition of the Ozarks. When the Herschend family came to the Branson, Mo., area in the mid-20th century, they fell in love with the beauty of the area and wanted to celebrate the traditions of the Ozarks. When they arrived from the Chicago suburbs, the only entertainment and recreation in the area was Marvel Cave and a dam that captured the White River, turning it into Table Rock Lake. Thinking to expand on the natural beauty with talents of the locals, the Herschends sought out talented craftsmen and women and brought them together to open Silver Dollar City in 1960. The craft tradition has become a huge part of SDC and, in some cases, second and third generations are working on traditional artisanship passed from parent to child. One woman, June Ward – who can be found making peanut brittle and candy at SDC – is a local celebrity. She came to the park in 1968 when the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies” aired, and she served as an Elly May stand-in for actress Donna Douglas during a 1969 filming. When asked why she had not pursued a career in acting, she answered, “Why would I want to do that, when I could do this?” Today, June works with her daughter and granddaughter doing the craft she loves using candy recipes from 50 years ago. “I have the sweetest job on Earth,” she has been quoted as saying. “It doesn’t get any better.” Baker Andrew Duncan works at Sullivan’s Mill and was raised in the kitchen. Today he is still serving fresh bread and baked goods to visitors who are drawn in by smell alone. Al Cyr works a series of belts and pulleys that run a duplicating lathe creating baseball bats. The lathe uses a model and repeats the pattern time and again; Al held up a wooden rifle model to show me, which was another item the duplicating machine can create. Woodcarver Pam Gresham had just completed some fireplace mantels and finally moved a carousel horse that took over a year to sell. She started carving after seeing the geometric patterns in her husband’s carving book. She has been at SDC for three decades and is a renowned chip carver and author of carving books. Although visiting day was rainy, the shops and craftspeople were hard at work on their trades. In one cabin built in the late 1800s that originally belonged to a friend of Mrs. Herschend, a group gathered to listen to musicians play some country/bluegrass. One of the musicians played on a hand-built century-old instrument called a hammered dulcimer, which was the basis of some early folk music. You can learn more about visiting SDC at www.silverdollarcity.com/theme-park Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication. Learn more of Cindy’s finds and travel in her blog, “Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl,” at http://travelingadventuresofafarmgirl.com |
