Around eleven this morning we all piled into our truck for our day’s adventure. First off, we had to find a “hubcap” for Don. We stopped at several RV dealerships so he could look through their parts departments for the hubcap this is missing on their 5th wheel. We didn’t have any luck in that department.
Next on our agenda was touring Precious Moments Chapel and Museum. Now I’m going to be honest here. When Don and LaVon first brought this up as something to do I thought to myself, “Oh No!” My first immediate thought was Bob is NOT going to enjoy this and I wasn’t crazy about the idea myself. Well! Am I ever glad we went! Bob really enjoyed it too. Who woulda thought!
As we walked in from the parking lot one can’t help but noticed how nicely the grounds are kept and the flowers.
When we entered the first thing we saw was a Christmas display.
Oh no, its only September, this is much too soon! As it turns out this display is up all year round as right behind it is the Precious Moments Christmas shop. Whew, I felt better.
We are only four of the 400,000 that will visit this year. It all started more than thirty years ago, when Precious Moments creator Sam Butcher began drawing the adorable doe-eyed children he called "Precious Moments" as gifts for family and friends.
What started out as posters, note cards, greeting cards and other paper goods soon turned into the ceramic empire that it is today. In 1978 the first twenty-one figurines was introduced and the response was overwhelming and there was no looking back. Today there are thousands and thousands of collectors and clubs all over the world.
Passing through the lobby we walked into a large room where Precious Moments, doll sized and bigger than life sized were displayed.
This one is honor of the children lost in the Oklahoma City bombing.
We finished up in this first building and then walked back to the Chapel. As i said above, the grounds are just beautiful.
We could hear Christian music playing all around us.
We finally found ourselves at the Chapel just in time for the tour.
What we found inside was just beautiful. And amazing.
Sam Butcher, Precious Moments founder, painted this mural on the back wall of the Chapel over a 20 year period, just signing his name to it last year.
Every one of the figures in this mural is there for a reason or because of someone. There are none just for the sake of filling up space. Our guide said that just last year Mr. Butcher took notice of what had he painted dead center in the middle of the painting. The only figure in human form, Jesus with the children.
Just as each one of the figures in the mural above have meaning to the artist, so does each and every one of the Precious Moments figurines. For instance this one…..
…depicts a young person in a car and the sign the other one is holding says Going Home. This Precious Moment was created in honor of Mr. Butcher’s son, Philip, who died at an young age in an automobile accident.
This is the ceiling, painted while laying on scaffolding over a period of years.
At one point Mr. Butcher thought he just couldn’t paint anymore, he was discouraged and decided to quit. Of course he did go back to it and finish the job. Sometime later he realized that he hadn’t finished one of the figures and decided to leave it just as it was rather than go back and finish. Look in the center of the picture and you can see just the beginnings of a face.
There is a hallway just off the main room of the Chapel building that holds these beautiful stained glass windows.
Mr. Butcher drew the pictures and had a friend of his on one of the coasts, I forget which one, bring them to life in stained glass. When they were completed it was found that no company would take responsibility for shipping them for fear of breakage. There was no choice except for the window maker and his wife to bring them to Carthage, Missouri. They built special cases for them and delivered them many miles away to Carthage without so much as a chip in the glass. The window maker and his wife? Their marriage arrived intact too!
Done in this building, we walked back outside and found the playhouse for the Butcher children when they lived here on the grounds. Complete with moat!
On the grounds there was a natural cave. Today a Precious Moments angel sits in front of it. This cave represents the empty tomb of Jesus.
Two friends, happy to be together again.
We next went into the Museum on the grounds.
There we saw Debbie’s Dollhouse. Can you imagine????
So much detail that even the bricks or stones in the walkway around the house are heart shaped.
This is some dollhouse!
Here is a one of a kind Precious Moment. (I believe) It is in honor of 9-11 and it is inscribed beneath the fireman with the words
You are the wind beneath my wings.
As i mentioned earlier all the of the figurines are made for a reason. Mr. Butcher enjoyed the tales of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, soooo…..
A one of a kind Precious Moments clock. It was never produced after this one was made.
There is one special room in the Museum building that is dedicated to a special collector of these figurines.
Esther Everly of Illinois had lost her husband and only son (a Navy man) and started collecting Precious Moments as it seemed to fill a void within her. Now Esther, for some reason, always bought two of the figurines that she bought. When she heard that Sam Butcher was going to build this Chapel and Museum she wrote to him and offered him one half of her collection. Mr. Butcher was so moved that one of the collectors of his Precious Moments would so unselfishly make this offer that he invited her to the Chapel/Museum. A great friendship formed and one of the Precious Moments was made in honor of her son. A Navy sailor in his uniform with duffel bag and a heart with the name Jimmy on it.
The Esther Everly room….
I understand collecting something, but WHERE does one put all these things? Especially, if you have TWO of each one?
The early years when Precious Moments was paper products.
Today, there is Precious Moments,,,,,everything!
The gift shop is H U M O N G O U S! Ginormous! Really, really BIG! In addition to the Christmas shop is a baby shop, a wedding shop, a gardening shop and the main room selling the figurines, the many hundreds of different figurines and books, and keepsake cases and everything else you can imagine.
Were we glad we toured the Precious Moments Chapel and Museum? Oh, yes we are! If ever in the area, do stop and spend some time here, even if you aren’t a collector, its still worth your time.
Leaving Carthage, we headed to Joplin for dinner.
We had planned on eating at Olive Garden but on the way Don and LaVon saw Cheddars and raved about it. We quickly changed plans and turned in there.
We sat in front of the large aquarium. (LaVon and I thought there was just way too many fish in this space)
Don and I ordered steaks, LaVon had shrimp and Bob had salmon. Not one of us left a single morsel of food on our plates. We had never heard of Cheddars before but you can be assured that if we see one again, we’ll be going for lunch or dinner.
While the restaurant was nice, the food delicious, there just isn’t anything that could top the company. Bob and I so treasure our friendship with these two.
What a great day!
3 comments:
And that, dear friends, is just exactly how our day went.
Great post, Snookie.
That is a fantastic trip. Simple and yet fun and I am sure you all enjoyed it. I always bring my kids in a simple outing, walking in the mall and all makes us very happy together already. Sometimes we go biking in the park. What is important is that we spend time together.
This was one of Bill's & mine favorite stop in 2000. Did you see the show at the end of your visit? If not, you missed a beautiful presentation. Bill was so moved he had to walk to the back of the room!
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