Repeating what I just said to another Missourian new member:
Hey from central North Carolina. I have some strong Missouri connections. My wife grew up in rural Missouri up near the Iowa line not far from the Mississippi River, and we met at U. Mo. where we were both in school, although I grew up near Chicago. We married after I'd been a widower for ten years. A college buddy from journalism school recently retired back to St. Louis where he'd grown up, from Lexington, Ky. In school, I did a newspaper internship in Neosho, Mo., down south of Joplin in the Ozarks. Don't say anything bad about Jesse James or Ma Barker, I was instructed on the first day, since the families are still in the area. Welcome aboard.
It's cool about you're living near the Missouri Meerschaum factory. I have a number of MM pipes, older ones retrofitted with Forever acrylic stems, and lately have ordered special editions with acrylic stems. I like their hardwoods, most recently acquired the Zenon.