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Retired School Personnel Still Taking Field Trips

Published 8:17 pm Tuesday, November 3, 2026

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Posing in front of a World War I era truck used to transport Cola products, from left to right; Mandy Wilson Wallendar, Becky Wilson, Lori Henderson, Sherry Roberts, Robin Campbell, Janet Neill, Cindy Francka, Jodie Young, Kim Stanek, Elaine Skinner and John Walles. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
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The Polk Co Retired School Personnel unit toured the Ozark’s Coca Cola plant in Springfield, Missouri on Oct. 20, 2026. Wren Hall of Bolivar gave the group a brief history of the company that included how the Bolivar Coca Cola distribution center has evolved over the years, and how it fits into the Springfield based company.

Hall explained that William Lamb started a bottling company in the basement of what is the current CMH administration building on the Bolivar square in 1911 where they created their own syrups and distributed cola products in a 20 mile radius of Bolivar. The Rice family who has owned Ozark’s Coca Cola for five generations now, moved the operation to the current building in Bolivar on West Broadway.

Hall then gave the group the tour of the facility in Springfield, including the sanitation, filtering, bottling, labeling, and shipping details. The field trip was made even more special with Tom Wilson‘s wife Becky and daughter Mandy joining the tour. Wilson, who passed away in 2024, retired from the Bolivar Coca Cola plant after 41 years. Their antidotes from his experiences enhanced the tour. It was a fascinating field trip for these lifelong learners.

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