Mildred Morrison honored as Lord’s Acre Day Parade Grand Marshal

Mildred Morrison was the Lord’s Acre Day Parade Grand Marshal Saturday, October 12, 2024, in Westboro, Missouri.

By Beverly Clinkingbeard

This year’s Grand Marshal of Westboro’s Lord’s Acre Day Parade was Mildred Morrison.

It was April 2, 1928, that David and Irene (Bain) Tomes of Ridgeway in Harrison County, Missouri, welcomed a baby girl they named Mildred. All together there were seven more siblings to share the home, though one infant passed away.

Mildred’s parents were farmers and she was an outdoor girl. As she grew to a young lady, she “had to earn her bread and butter.” There were chickens, hogs and fat cattle to feed and water. The water was what took real effort. They had to fill large tanks and that took lots of pumping, especially on a hot day. There was time to play, too, and a favorite was to “lie in the grass and watch the clouds go by.”

With her siblings Mildred attended White Oak School #62. Mildred and her family lived a mile and a half from the school and Mildred’s father let the kids ride the mule, Jin. After arriving at school, they gave Jin a slap on the rump, and she would make her way back to the farm. This worked well until Jin realized she could graze her way home or loiter otherwise.

Mildred attended Ridgeway High School and they made it to school with “Whatever they [bus driver] could keep running during WWII.” There was a wooden school bus, a cargo van, and during junior/senior year a car, and on muddy days a four mile walk to meet the bus. Sometimes they missed the first morning classes, but nothing was said as they were all doing the best they could.

After high school graduation, Mildred attended a summer session at what was then the State Teacher’s College in Maryville, Missouri. She received a teaching certificate and got a job at Star School, two miles south of Burlington Junction, Missouri. She remembers a very bright student said, “Miss Tomes, you ain’t learned me a thing.” She laughs about that today and said, “I had to up my game.”

Meanwhile, her sister, Barbara, had married Roy Miller. He was recently home from WWII and they lived in Westboro, Missouri, in the upstairs apartment of Todd and Mary Macrander (the home was located across the street south of the Methodist Church, where the parking lot is today). They introduced Mildred to Jim Morrison (who passed away in December of 2023), who had also recently been discharged from the service. Their first date was to a show, but Mildred doesn’t remember where or what the movie was about. They were married December 1946 and lived in Westboro. To this union were born three children, Nina Moore (deceased), Rose Deering, and Larry. There are six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

Mildred has worked at several jobs. She was seasonal help at Interstate Nurseries, a Star route mail carrier, and tax preparer for H&R Block. She’s always felt a part of the Westboro community and remembers the first Lord’s Acre festival they attended was in November and Nina was a tiny baby. It began to snow and Jim said, “We better get this baby home!” “We missed the church dinner that day,” Mildred laughed. Other years she has been a part of the crew that made and served the dinner that never disappoints.

Jim and Mildred had a happy 77 years together. When asked what advice Mildred has, she thought and said, “Be honest and truthful. Everything is God’s timing. Yes, everything is in God’s timing.”

Congratulations, Mildred!

Westboro Methodist Church hosts 84th annual Lord’s Acre Day Festival