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Andoe’s Society Page: Touring Bellefontaine Cemetery with Joe Shields | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

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click to enlarge COUTESY BELLEFONTAINE CEMETERY An actor with the Hawthorne Players portraying a Swedish bell ringer in Bellefontaine Cemetery.

It was a crisp fall day when the affable Joe Shields, development officer for Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum, enthusiastically greeted me near the property’s stone and iron gates. My interest had been piqued after seeing the cemetery’s fresh and modern social media advertisements for its numerous events, including one called Death Positive Festival. “Fresh and modern” aren’t terms I would expect to assign to a historic cemetery, much less “social,” and I wanted to learn more about the people behind the programming. That led me to Shields.

“You’re in the region’s most underutilized cultural institution,” Shields proudly says as we begin our tour of the 314-acre north St. Louis property with its gothic tombstones and architecturally significant mausoleums — from the circa 1892 Wainwright Tomb, designed by Louis Sullivan to be “The Taj Mahal of St. Louis,” to the new and mysterious Cascade Mausoleum, the striking $5.3 million modern structure whose anonymous owners have everyone speculating.

“In addition to being a resting place… we’re a Level III arboretum — the first in Missouri to achieve that accreditation… We have 9,000 trees, five species of which are rare,” Shields says.

Bellefontaine is where the beer barons, captains of industry and those with major roles in the nation’s western expansion are laid to rest. The staff and team of volunteers study their 89,000 residents, even reviewing their last will and testaments and probate records. Shields has endless anecdotes about the residents as we wind our way through the grounds.

“Were you aware the first recorded cocktail party in the U.S. was held in the Central West End?” Shields asks. “The venue was the current Archbishop’s Mansion… The home was built for St. Louis beer baron William Nolker, and it was sold to Julius S. Walsh Jr. after Nolker’s death in 1906. “The Walsh Family hosted the first cocktail party. William Nolker is a Bellefontaine resident, and his large family mausoleum is located on Prospect Street, loosely referred to as Millionaires Row. His neighbor to the left is the Eberhard Anheuser Mausoleum, and seven addresses up on the same side of the street is the Lemp Mausoleum. I tell people on my tours that Bellefontaine is a ‘collision of coincidence’ because of the way local, regional and national history intersect here. I’ve researched and visited numerous cemeteries all around the country, and Bellefontaine is a bona fide treasure of the rural cemetery movement of the 19th century.”

Such detailed knowledge can come in handy for more than anecdotes. For instance, a dozen years ago when it seemed the entire city was charmed by an apparent fraudster with a key to the Lemp Mausoleum, claiming to be an heir and charging for tours, Bellefontaine staff weren’t fooled. They padlocked the doors.

The legitimate Lemp heirs do allow tours, and the Greek Revival tomb was a highlight of my visit. “It was completed in 1902 with heat and electricity,” Shields tells me.

Born right across the street, Shields has a family connection to the cemetery that goes back five generations to 1875, with the opening of the family floral business which overlooked the property. He felt such a connection to Bellefontaine that when not at his high-pressure job handling logistics for Bunge North America, Shields was serving as a volunteer tour guide.

When COVID-19 hit and he lost his mother, he re-prioritized his life. “I developed and presented a business proposal to justify a full-time position. I still can’t believe I get to do this every day.”

Shields has planned over 100 events for 2023, including bird watching, themed tours, 5K and 10K runs, and theatrical performances from the Hawthorne Players about notables interred at Bellefontaine. “Nothing could have prepared us for the experience they provided by bringing our residents’ stories to life,” Shields says about the show Voices of Bellefontaine.

When looking at our city, it’s easy to write off cemeteries as, no pun intended, dead space. But at Bellefontaine, you will find an urban oasis filled with over 300 species of migrating birds. You’ll enjoy world-renowned gardens, explore incredible architecture and meet fascinating people working to keep our stories alive.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword. 

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate. 

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault. 

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade. 

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection. 

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery. 

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.” 

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings. 

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said. 

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release. 

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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