Skidmore

Now this is the kind of art that I would love to create some day:

Skidmore is in the news again. I decided to extend Terra's morning road trip and see what a media circus looks like. There were five huge news trucks with satellite dishes pointed to locations thousands of miles above the equator.

Man, what is it with Skidmore? For such a small town, it sure has its share of problems.

I remember the first time I drove through Skidmore. We were on our way to the Squaw Creek wildlife refuge (near Mound City). I have never heard of the book or movie of the events of 1981. It just seemed to be a small town 12 miles SE of Maryville. But as we drove through the streets, I got the creepiest feeling. People were in their yards, raking leaves or doing other fall yard work. They would stop what they were doing and stare into the car. Usually when you watch a car pass by, you glance at the vehicle, and maybe the people inside. But this was different. These people were were actually making eye contact with me, making me feel very uncomfortable. I know that some small towns distrust outsiders, but I have never felt this creeped out driving through a town on a state highway with a population of a couple of hundred people.

A few weeks ago, while driving around at night with my daughter, I told her a brief rendition of what I knew about McElroy and Skidmore. Apparently, I was telling this story too much like a ghost story, and it really freaked her out. She did not want to drive around the country that evening.

So, as this amber alert and media circus focus on Skidmore, I am waiting to see when the major news networks will casually bring up the decades-old story. Skidmore needs to produce the first astronaut to Mars or something to exorcise these media demons.

I should mention that as I drove through the small town this morning (feeling like a creep for media hunting), I got the weirdest feeling again. Of the 70-80 homes in this town, I only saw three that were decorated with lights for Christmas. (One was unusually decorated, as if making up for the rest of the town.)

The good news is that CNN and FoxNews describe Skidmore as being 45 miles from St. Joseph, rather than 12 miles from Maryville.

I hold no contempt for Skidmore. I don't blame them for being so tight-lipped and suspicious of any outsiders.

--gh