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Karen Goellner holding a wriggling endangered Hellbender. All photos by Jeffrey T. Briggler.

by Don Corrigan

Missourians have cheered the St. Louis Zoo’s work to save the endangered Ozark hellbender. Now the amphibians’ fans can make a toast to the zoo scientists’ efforts with a glass of Hellbender wine from Stone Hill Winery in Hermann.

“I fell in love with Ozark hellbenders a few years ago when I ran across them at the Saint Louis Zoo,” explained Nathan Held of Stone Hill Winery. “I’ve always loved animals and conservation, so making a new wine to hellbenders seemed to make sense.”

Held, director of strategy for Stone Hill, said the winery wanted a vino with  a style that had personality to live up to the native animal’s name, while also being approachable and intriguing for wine lovers.

“We went for a dry red blend of three grapes which hold a unique importance to our region’s wine industry, and which are widely grown across the Ozark Mountain American Viticultural Area,” said Held. “The wine includes Norton and Chambourcin grapes as well as a third heritage grape variety.”

“To keep a little intrigue surrounding the wine – similar to the intrigue of the elusive hellbender – we keep the last grape of the blend a secret,” said Held. “But we knew we needed to make a wine that had a similar connection to our region as the Ozark hellbender itself.”

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Native plant enthusiasts, home gardeners, landowners, stormwater engineers, and landscape, land care, and wildlife professionals are invited to the virtual Grow Native! Professional Member Conference on Wednesday, November 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to learn about the benefits of using native plants to create functional, eco-friendly landscapes. The in-person conference will be held at the MU campus and is exclusive to Grow Native! professional members, but a virtual, Zoom option is open to all.

This Grow Native! professional member conference will focus on both the commercial and residential side of native landscaping. Following an introduction from Grow Native! Committee Chair Ronda Burnett, Elliott Deumler of Taylor Creek Restoration Nurseries will present his keynote: “Forces of Nature: How Environmental Changes Impact Demand for Native Plants and Seed.”

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Don Corrigan ready to autograph his book collection, including his newest penned sensation, “I fart in your general direction!”

By Holly Shanks

It was a warm and humid evening at Blumenhof Winery in Dutzow, MO, as Don Corrigan sat at his little table signing copies of his latest book, “I fart in your general direction! Flatulence in Popular Culture.”

The newest edition in Corrigan’s book collection was recently released by McFarland Publishing. “This exhaustive work breaks new wind on every aspect of abdominal gas in popular culture, from slang expressions to the medical science on flatulence. Philosophical positions on colonic expression are examined, from Confucius, Hume, Voltaire and the existentialists.”

However, Corrigan was not only signing his new book that evening. He came to entertain and was prepared to let one loose as he made his way down the tree lined brick path to the stage.

If you were not in attendance that evening, you missed a unique stage show rarely seen by many audiences – Corrigan’s flatulence themed trivia. He warmed up the crowd by making sure the wine enthusiasts knew they were in it together.

“Political season has started, and the debates are in full swing, but take heart, one thing that’s not partisan and can bring us together is flatulence,” Corrigan said. “Farts are not political. They don’t come from the left cheek or the right cheek, they come from right down the middle!”

Corrigan held the audience captive as the microphone broadcast fart trivia, fart banter, fart jokes, and fart alarms.  Looks of confusion quickly turned to screams of laughter as trivia answers were shouted toward the stage.

After the trivia game ended and the band re-took the stage, Corrigan once again returned to his little table of books. The Bad Company song “Shooting Star” drifted through the air as Corrigan was suddenly swarmed with new and instant fans.

“Don’t you, don’t you know, that you are a shooting star…”

Corrigan will have a special signing for flatulence at the Knox College TKE House in Galesburg, Illinois on the afternoon of Saturday, October 28. This will mark the start of his fraternity house book tour nationally for “I fart in your general direction” at the Knox homecoming weekend.

Don will sign books at the Webster Groves Bookshop from 12:30 to 2:30 on Saturday, November 4. He will be available to discuss souvenirs relay to flatulence.

On November 26, 27, Don will be available at Blumenhof Winery in Dutzow. In addition to signing flatulence books, he will be selling and raffling off unique and festive Christmas flatulence relief gift baskets.

More events will be listed as they materialize. Don’s books can always be ordered by emailing him at: corrigan@timesnewspapers.com.