Joell put his skills to the test as the first Canadian to enter the Missouri Mule Makeover, a five-month challenge that ends in a competition to see who trained the best mule.
West Plains, MO. - The West Plains Council on the Arts and the Ozarks Studies Institute will be hosting a program within the Old Time Music - Ozark Heritage Festival at 1p.m. on June 4th. The event consists of a storytelling session and conversations devoted to mules and their impact on the Ozarks. Richie Dement of Centerville, Missouri, a coordinator of the Hirsch Feed & Farm Supply mule jump, will lead the "Mules of the Ozarks" discussion by sharing his vast mule-related knowledge and experiences. He will be joined by Les Clancy, a mule trainer and frequent mule jump participant from Ozark, Missouri. Matt Meacham, an Old-Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival volunteer and mule jump emcee, will moderate the event. The Hirsch Feed & Farm Supply mule jump, in which mules compete to leap over a barrier, has been a popular Old-Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival event since 2008.