Lee and Grant Exhibit Now Open.

Until October 20, 2010 at the Powers Museum.

The exhibit Lee and Grant provides a major reassessment of the lives, careers, and historical impact of Civil War generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. The Powers Museum, 1617 West Oak Street in Carthage, Missouri, is proud to host this exhibit, the only showing in Missouri or elsewhere in the four-state area in 2010-11. The event marks the start of Carthage’s commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial which will continue into next year with additional events. Special Lee and Grant exhibit programs scheduled include a Civil War Chautauqua will be held Sept. 17-19 at Stone’s Throw Theater in Carthage (796 S. Stone Lane) featuring Gen. Grant (Sept 18 at 7:30 pm), Gen. Lee (Sept. 17 at 7:30 pm) and Mary Chestnut (Sept. 19 at 2 pm). Advance reservations for tickets is suggested for the Chautauqua performances since seating is limited at 90. Tickets can be reserved in person at the Powers Museum during regular business hours (Tuesday-Saturday 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday noon to 5:00 pm) or by phone or email.

Other activities during the run of the exhibit include several free lectures, a Civil War Authors Book Fair (Oct. 2), Civil War ancester genealogy workshops (Oct. 9), craft make and take sessions, storyhour in a Civil War tent, hands-on activities, and several gallery talks and lectures by area historians. The entire schedule can be seen at the www.powersmuseum.com under the Schedule page then click link for Special Programs. Readers may also request an event brochure by calling 417-237-0456 or emailing powersmuseum@att.net. All programs are free. Admission to the exhibit is free.

It also encourages audiences to move beyond the traditional mythology of both men and rediscover them within the context of their own time—based on their own words and those of their contemporaries. Lee and Grant presents photographs, paintings, prints, coins, reproduction clothing, accoutrements owned by the two men, documents written in their own hands, and biographical and historical records to reveal each man in his historical and cultural context, allowing audiences to compare the ways each has been remembered for almost 150 years.

"Visitors will enjoy discovering similarities and differences between Lee and Grant that are rarely pointed out," said Dr. William M. S. Rasmussen, exhibition co-curator and the Lora M. Robins Curator of Art at the Virginia Historical Society. "These generals have been explored by historians for decades, but Lee and Grant is the first exhibition to present the two men together so that visitors can make decisions about them, side by side, based on facts. We hope that after they view Lee and Grant, visitors will give more thought to the legacies of both generals."

Lee and Grant has been made possible by NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

NASCAR THIS WEEK

By Monte Dutton

Sponsored by Chad's Garage

Smoke Rising

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Is Tony Stewart making the kind of late emergence that could win him a third Sprint Cup championship?

Stewart, 39, won the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His average finish in the past 11 races is 9.18. He finally broke into the winner’s column.

After winning for the first time this year, Stewart actually said he felt better about this season -- fourth in points, one win, two poles -- than last season, where at this point he had 3,694 points (109 more than Kevin Harvick’s total now) and three wins. Stewart led the points by 237 then. He trails Harvick by 283 now.

Yet Stewart said after winning the Emory Healthcare 500 that a year ago, he was leading the points and headed downhill, while, this year, he’s trailing but reeling in other contenders by leaps and bounds.

"I don’t know if we have peaked," said Stewart. "How do you know when you’ve peaked? I guess if you’re winning every week, you feel like you’re peaking to a certain degree. ... It’s been a lot of little steps in the last 10 to 12 races.

"At this stage (in 2009), we were pointing downhill, and this year, I feel like we are pointing uphill."

Statistics do] show that the first two finishers in Sunday night’s race are the most consistent in the Sprint Cup Series ... recently. Carl Edwards’ average finish over the past eight races is 5.0, but Edwards hasn’t yet won.

Now Stewart has won. And he is hot.

"Nobody’s really noticed it, but we have noticed it internally," he said. "It’s a much better feeling right now this time of year than it was a year ago."

Really?

"We were on such a high, leading the points, and had won races already," Stewart insisted.

Both Stewart and his team are flushed with success at the moment, and with the Chase for the Sprint Cup about to commence, it’s not a bad place to be.

It’s like the old Don Williams song, if it was easy, ever’one would be doin’ it.

Seems folks are always frustrated with the amount of time it takes to get things done when it comes to the City. The fact is, things the government does are supposed ta be hard ta get accomplished. It’s built into the system so ever’one gets plenty of time ta say their piece. ‘Course havin’ that bit of knowledge doesn’t make it any less frustratin’ when ya want to see some changes.

If ya want ta be efficient, ya put one person in charge and let ‘em have at it. Bein’ efficient and gettin’ some kind of beneficial results may not always be compatible from time ta time, but ya takes your chances. The turtle does occasionally win I’m told.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

---

Weekly Columns

CLICK and CLACK

TALK CARS

Dear Tom and Ray:

I may be dreaming, hallucination or even suffering from dementia. I seem to remember something from my childhood that other people my age do not. When I was but a tadpole, I seem to remember my dad checking the water level in the car battery. The top of the battery was covered with a thick, tarlike substance, into which he woul push copper pennies next to each battery terminal. The reasoning behind this was to draw the potenital corrosion away from the terminal and toward the penny. Did I dream this, or did people used to do this? Please tell me if I’m demented or not. - Art

Ray: We don’t have enough information to answer your last question, Art. And the fact that you’re writing to us for advice definitely is a strike against you. But you’re not dreaming about the pennies and the batteries.

Tom: It’s based on the theory of sacrificial anodes, in which you "sacrifice" a more reactive metal -- copper, in the case of pre-1983 pennies - to protect a second, less reactive metal - the lead battery terminal and connector.

Ray: And in the old days, when batteries were covered with tar on top, you could warm up a penny with a match or a cigarette lighter, and then slide it into the tar half an inch away from the battery terminal. The penny always would corrode first.

Tom: Nowadays, most batteries are sealed in plastic, so the acid - which is what causes the corrosion - rarely escapes the inside of the battery. That makes the sacrificial anode far less necessary. And besides, these days, we all have to save our pennies.