IRONTON – During a special banquet, Oct. 27, The Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries (BHHM) celebrated 100 years of caring for the aging at its Arcadia Valley campus here.
Though the BHHM was founded on May 9, 1913, the Baptist Homes’ first permanent building – namely, the Riggs-Scott building, located on its Arcadia Valley campus – was opened to residents in October 1923.
Dan Stiles, administrator of the BHHM Arcadia Valley campus, said the 1923 opening of the Riggs-Scott building marked a key turning point in the ministries’ history. Before the building opened, the ministry was able to care for roughly 30 people in rented housing units, but after the building opened, it was able to care for up to 200 people in housing owned by The Baptist Home.
The 100-year anniversary celebration “was great,” Stiles added. It included not only the Oct. 27th banquet, but also an Oct. 28th Fall Festival that welcomed roughly 500 people to the Arcadia Valley campus. Though it rained that day, the rain proved to be a blessing in disguise.
“It was better being inside,” Stiles said, explaining that it gave people an opportunity to see what the campus has to offer. “We gave a lot of tours of the building that day.”
The Fall Festival also included a craft fair and concerts featuring two Southern Gospel groups, The Lesters and The Punches. During the celebration, the BHHM Arcadia Valley campus also received a resolution from the Missouri state Senate. It reads, “[W]e, the members of the Missouri Senate … join to applaud the history, goals, and accomplishments associated with Baptist Homes and Healthcare Ministries and the Baptist Home-Arcadia Valley and to convey to all of those involved this legislative body’s most heartfelt best wishes as they celebrate one hundred years of service.”