STE. GENEVIEVE – Senator Roy Blunt was back in his home state of Missouri last week and made several stops, including one off the beaten path. He contacted the Sainte Genevieve Museum Learning Center (SGMLC) and asked to visit the site where the Missouri dinosaur was first discovered in the early 1940s.
Pictured (l-r) are Robert Wolk president of SGMLC and MODP treasurer; Ron Lutes, MODP president; Fred Darrough, SGMLC General Manger; Doris Darrough, MODP board member; Senator Roy Blunt; Guy Darrough, MODP executive board member and curator of the SGMLC; Vern Bauman, SGMLC and MODP board member; and Kerry Bauman, excavator operator.
The dig site, located in Bollinger County, is overseen by The Missouri Ozark Dinosaur Project (MODP). Guy Darrough, MODP executive board member and curator of the SGMLC was pleased to accommodate the senator’s visit.
“We were excited to learn that our Missouri dinosaur caught the senator’s interest and he wanted to learn more by seeing the site in person,” said Darrough. “He asked numerous questions, and it was obvious that he had been following the project since we released the story last fall, and it garnered world-wide interest.”
Darrough and Blunt
Darrough explained that the study of the Missouri dinosaur, its environment and geological setting will be ongoing for some time in collaboration with paleontologists from the Field Museum in Chicago and the University of Minnesota.
“I like to say that Missouri is now Dinosaur Country, and it will capture the interest of the scientific world and dinosaur enthusiasts as the story continues to unfold,” said Darrough.
Field Representative to Senator Blunt, Lesley Rone, said the Senator enjoyed his visit and thought it was extremely interesting.
Blunt receives a commemorative gift
To commemorate the visit, Darrough, on behalf of the Missouri Ozark Dinosaur Project, presented to the senator a replica tail vertebra that belongs to Parrosaurus missouriensis, the official dinosaur of the State of Missouri.
The Sainte Genevieve Museum Learning Center is the Official Missouri Dinosaur Visitor Site and chronicles the dinosaur’s discovery and also allows visitors to view specimens taken from the site in the museum’s laboratory.
The SGMLC is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can accommodate large and small groups. To learn more, call 573-883-DINO or visit stegenmuseum.org