Fulton.

I thought you ought to know a little bit about Fulton- voted The 4th best place to live in rural America by Progressive Farmer Magazine, and one of the 10 great places to discover Midwest charm according to USA Today.
Fulton calls itself a city, but it is really a small town of 12,000 people. It is bang in the middle of Missouri, just north of the capital- Jefferson City.
 The centre of Fulton has 158 listed 'historic' houses and the streets are brick. This has the slightly disconcerting effect of making all cars sound as if they have flat tyres. It is known for it's antique shops, which is not quite how I would describe them. The historic centre is very quiet. Half the shops are vacant. There is however a reasonable restaurant which does fairly simple, but good american food. A vintage and original drugstore with soda fountain, no food shops of any description but banks, lawyers and the like.
It has two world class museums, according to tourist brochures- The Auto World Museum, set up by a potato chip magnate, a collection of vintage cars and the National Winston Churchill Memorial Museum and Library, which is why we are here.
Churchill came here in 1946 as the guest of Truman, a Missouri man, to give his famous 'Iron Curtain' speech at Westminster College. Building on this, the college set up a library and museum dedicated to Churchill. This has been a good move on their part as it distinguishes the college from the thousands of other small private colleges in America and they specifically teach British history. It has attracted visitors such as Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa, John Major, Gorbachev and Reagan all getting in on the freedom and democracy ticket, which is very saleable. The guest speaker this fall is James Baker, former Secretary of State, who will speak during the two day Symposium for Democracy, which is compulsory for all students.
The museum is situated in a church from the city of London- St Mary the Virgin Aldermanberry, designed by Christopher Wren. It was badly damaged in the war and due for demolition when it was bought by rich admirers of Churchill, including JFK, taken down and rebuilt and restored here. It does look spectacular and completely out of place, complete with church bells that ring out across the campus.
 The rest of the college buildings are classical. Big on columns.
The college only has a thousand students and is only undergraduate.
There is another college in town- William Woods. This is famed for its equestrian programme and degree in sign language. There is also an old and famous school for the deaf.
There is a nuclear power station on the edge of town. Didn't know about that when we agreed to come here. Roland pleased though, it makes for cheap electricity.
Fulton is set in pretty, farming country, just on the edge of the Ozarks, which form a large part of the south of the state. This is the scenically more interesting area of lakes and wooded hills.

Beginning of term ceremony

Wren church with the sculpture by Churchill's granddaughter made from a chunk of the Berlin wall

This is a poor state. Statistics on the radio stated that 77% of blacks, 66% asians and over 50% of the whites in Missouri are classified as living in poverty. I think there is quite a difference between the college side of life, kids whose parents can afford to send them to college with cars etc. and the rest of the town.
That is Fulton in a nutshell.
I will leave you with a quote from Churchill, a slightly unfortunate choice I feel for the Fulton tourist brochure:-
'There is no purpose in living where there is nothing to do'