John Stanard and ‘trombone journalism’

The Poplar Bluff Museum has tales about us, our family and our history. I want to tell you some of those tales found within the museum walls.

John Stanard is a fifth-generation Butler Countian. He graduated from Poplar Bluff High School in 1958. John played the trombone in both high school and college.

His grandfather was John Henry Wolpers, founder, editor, publisher and owner of the Daily American Republic newspaper.

His other grandfather, Sidney Roberts Stanard, was an editor for the St. Louis Post Dispatch for over 40 years.

John’s parents, Grace Wolpers Stanard and Roberts V. “Bob” Stanard, both were journalists.

Journalism is in John’s blood. Friends often joke that he has “ink in his veins.”

When John graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, the faculty voted him “Outstanding Male Graduate.”

John’s first job was as a reporter for the Beaumont Enterprise in Texas, but that was short-lived. He was drafted into the Army. Armed with a degree in journalism, John expected to be assigned to the Army Public Affairs Office as a journalist. When those orders didn’t appear, an audition showed the Army he was a good trombone player. He was assigned to the Army bandsmen program after basic training.

After rudimentary military band training, John spent the remainder of his two-year tour as a trombone instructor and lead trombonist for both the concert and jazz band sections of the 423rd Army Band at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

When he left the Army, John returned to journalism. After a year as an editor at the old Minneapolis Star, he began working for the Daily American Republic in 1965 as a photojournalist and editor.

John became an eyewitness to the history of Butler County and Poplar Bluff. He documented all the achievements, awards and victories of the community as well as all the crimes, tragedies and scandals.

“If I ever wrote a book about all the goings-on in Poplar Bluff over the last half-century, I’d have to leave town,” John says jokingly. “So I won’t do that. I love Poplar Bluff and never want to leave.”

His first-person reporting and photography have won multiple awards. John’s photographs appeared in major publications. He followed in his family footsteps becoming editor and co-owner of the newspaper. John left the DAR in 1990 but continued working as a free lance writer, editor, consultant and lecturer.

John authored several books. His decades as a journalist and local knowledge made him the perfect person to write “A Pictorial History of Butler County.” This two-volume set became the touchstone document for the Poplar Bluff Museum. The $50,000 in proceeds from the two volumes went to the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce and the local Municipal Library.

These were the original “Tall Tales.”

John also wrote “Caring for America: The Story of Family Practice,” a year-long effort in 1996 that chronicled in words and photos the history of family medicine in America.

He also edited Matt Chaney’s book “My Name is Mr. Ryan,” and Mike Shane’s book “Tall Tales: Stories of the Poplar Bluff Museum.”

John has remained active as an outdoorsman. He has made a lifetime commitment to conservation programs.

“It was a close call as a young man whether to pursue a career in journalism or conservation,” stated John.

In 2014, a group of wetland biologists produced a “coffee table” book titled “Waterfowl Hunting and Wetland Conservation in Missouri.” John did extensive editing and rewrites, all gratis, on that major project.

In his spare time, John owns and manages his own “80 acres of heaven,” a wetland natural area in south Butler County near the Arkansas state line.

He will complete 24 years as a Poplar Bluff Municipal Library trustee this year and currently chairs the Poplar Bluff Housing Authority Commission.

But there was always the trombone! The next time you attend a band concert at Three Rivers College, look closely in the brass section. You just might see a white-haired former newspaper editor playing the trombone again after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. He’s been doing that most of the time since the band was organized in the early years of Three Rivers.

And, he’s blowing the same trombone his parents bought him in 1956!

There isn’t a room in the Poplar Bluff Museum that doesn’t have a John Stanard story or photo in it. His biography and books are on display in the Poplar Bluff Peoples room.

The museum is open every Sunday, free of charge, from 1-4 p.m. at 1010 Main St., Poplar Bluff (Formerly the Old Mark Twain School). The museum is now handicap accessible. Tell them Mike sent you!

Mike Shane is a veteran, Poplar Bluff resident and board member for the Poplar Bluff Museum.