Boy Scout Troop Helps Maintain Trails End Monument

Members of Boy Scout Troop 54 took on a community service project Friday morning at Trails End Monument, 16th and Limit, on the Missouri State Fairgrounds.

Their mission? To wax all the bronze statues at the site to help preserve them for years to come.

“This is one of the ways they get to do their community service to make rank,” explained Walter Doyle, Scoutmaster, Troop 54.

Doyle was joined by Brian Geary, Osage Trails Assistant Roundtable Commissioner, on Friday morning.

The smell of Johnson paste wax filled their air as eight scouts converged on the western-themed sculptures and applied copious amounts of wax to each one.

The scouts were not skipping class, as the 18th of October was designated as “certified work day” by Sedalia School District 200, according to their 2024 District Calendar.

And the scouts were definitely working Friday morning, starting sharply at 9 a.m.

The request for the scouts to volunteer their efforts came from Dr. Doug Kiburz, who was also on the scene to attach a new yellow Union Pacific sign on one of the rail cars, with the assistance of the scoutmasters.

Dr. Kiburz supplied the materials, while the scouts supplied the labor on a slightly chili morning.

It is believed that the bronze statues are vulnerable to the elements, hence the need for a protective coating of wax on a regular basis.

Troop 54’s big annual fund-raiser happens in February at the Celebration Center in the form of a chili supper, Doyle noted, adding that the Troop always welcome new members. They meet Monday nights at 7.

According to Dr. Kiburz, the bronze statues will be around for about 10,000 years, but they need a little polishing. “They patina a little bit and I think the rain has some effect. So I thought this would be a great project for the scouts. We’ll give them a tour of Trails End and really feel a part of Sedalia history, to work on the statues and part of the old trail and an important part of the Western Expansion,” Dr. Kiburz told KSIS.

The good doctor said he has personally applied wax to the statues two or three times before. “Probably every year and a half or so, they need it, and it bring back the look of when they were delivered almost 10 years ago.”

Dr. Kiburz was a member of the original Trails End Monument committee. “I am currently the maintenance man, which makes me the chairman, which means I get to mow the grass and repair the train,” he said.

Dr. Kiburz noted that one of his grandfathers ran cattle in western Nebraska. His other grandfather worked on the Burlington Northern Railroad, making him more than qualified for anything related to trains and cattle when the Trails End project was just an idea over a decade ago.

“I’m not the chairman at home, so this is my chairmanship, right here,” Kiburz smiled.

He added that he has to be careful mowing around the statues, noting that on more than one occasion, he almost got gored by a longhorn.

The most recent addition to Trails End was the "Indian Scout" by J. Michael Wilson of California, and is a bronze statue forged by the Adonis foundry and donated by the Hayden Family a year ago.

A new feature at Trails End is a virtual tour of the site on the Missouri State Fair Foundation’s page that shows excellent photos, audios voiced by Dr. Kiburz and a description of each element of the monument. There is also a QR code on display on the fence that will take your cell phone there as well.

And there is a "Guide By Cell" audio tour available by calling (660) 202-1156.