Bob Delaney At Large: Soldiers Memorial Military Museum

27 April 2025

Trivia Night, Museum Tour, and Soccer Refereeing: My Weekend

After a busy Friday at work (25 April), I drove to the Crestwood Community Center for the Eliot Chapel Trivia Night. Julie had reserved a table at this fund raiser for her church. Julie's roommate Joan and some others joined us at our table, one of 22 tables of trivia players.

The night's theme was "It's a Jungle Out There," and Julie had plastic sun helmets for our party to wear that night. The night's questions had animal themes. We did fair, finishing in the middle of the pack among the tables. I did have good luck in the raffle, winning a book lover's basket of books, snacks, a mug, and a candle. Overall, a fun night with friends.

Yesterday morning (26 April), I made my way to downtown St. Louis, going around the course for the St. Louis Marathon, to get to Soldiers Memorial Military Museum. There, I joined with several other Missouri Professional Communicators members to get a guided tour of the Museum's current display: "Ghost Soldiers: The Combat Con Artists of WWII." This exhibit, on loan from the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, has been at Soldiers Memorial since last January and will run there until this Memorial Day (26 May).

I had toured "Ghost Soldiers" last January and found it most interesting to see the efforts of a group of US soldiers in Europe who used inflated vehicles, fake radio traffic, sound effects, and phony generals to confuse the Germans and help the Allies in World War II. (I took these photos during my January visit.)

After the museum tour, I got lunch at QuikTrip, gas for the car at Circle K, and groceries at Walmart.

Early this morning, I drove to the Lou Fusz Athletic Training Center in Earth City, Missouri to referee three matches in the Midwest Invitational Tournament. (This facility was formerly Rams Park, where the National Football League's St. Louis Rams had their practice facility and office before the team returned to Los Angeles.) After checking in at the referee table in the lobby, I made my way to the field where I worked three seven-a-side matches involving boys' teams in the under 8/9 and under 10 age groups. Each match had 25-minute halves, with about 10 minutes between matches, and I was working them alone. Fortunately, the matches went well and there were no serious issues with them.

After my games, I went to a MotoMart convenience store to add air to one of my car's tires, then had lunch at the attached McDonald's. Today, it was the Quarter Pounder with Cheese combo. A satisfying end to my morning.

Relaxing at home after lunch, I was watching the Blues on TV in Gane 4 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Winnipeg Jets. The Blues won 5-1 to even the best of seven series at two games each. (Yes!)

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Eliot Unitarian Chapel: Home

Crestwood Community Center: Community Center | Crestwood, MO

Soldiers Memorial Military Museum: Soldiers Memorial Military Museum | Find Yourself Here.

Missouri Professional Communicators: Missouri NFPW affiliate | Missouri Professional Communicators | Clayton

Lou Fusz Athletic Training Center: LFA Training Center - Lou Fusz Athletic

MotoMart: Home - MotoMart

McDonald's: McDonald's: Burgers, Fries & More. Quality Ingredients.

25 October 2023

Getting a Flu Shot; Visiting Soldiers Memorial and St. Louis Public Library

On my day off from work today, I went to CVS in Mehlville to get my annual flu shot at its MinuteClinic. I first thought I would have to wait until mid-afternoon to get the shot; however, they were able to get me in that morning. After the usual questions from the nurse practitioner, I got the shot and should be safe for another year.

Late this morning, I drove to downtown St. Louis to visit two exhibits. First stop was Soldiers Memorial Military Museum, which I had last visited about six years ago. In addition to the regular items on display, the museum is hosting a special exhibit, "Vietnam: At War & At Home." It told the story of the Vietnam War both on the battlefield (highlighting St. Louis connections) and at home. The latter section particularly interested me as it included two F-4 Phantom II models loaned by my IPMS/Gateway colleague and friend Jim Triola. They were included in a section on the Phantom II's manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing). The exhibit runs until 24 May 2024.

After spending time at Soldiers Memorial, I went just two blocks north to the Central Library of the St. Louis Public Library. The great hall there was hosting "PROM: Where Did You Go to High School?" It told of the local high school experience told through the pages of PROM, a monthly local high school magazine published from 1947 to 1973. The exhibit tells of the St. Louis area high school experience, how PROM covered these events through student reporters at the schools and had photos and ads that ran in the publication. Additionally, there were typical prom fashions and lists of the top selling songs from the 1950s through the 1990s. A list of St. Louis area high schools, past and present, were placed next to maps showing the locations of these schools from the 1950s through the 1990s. The St. Louis Public Library has a database of nearly all issues of PROM that can be accessed through the library's website. Visitors could write their high school memories on sticky notes and post them on a wall. (I did just that.) Although I was too young to remember PROM when it was around, I had read about it and found this exhibit a fascinating time capsule. The exhibit runs through 7 January 2024.