1956 fence-painting competition set stage for annual celebration

Dennis Reed, the 10-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Reed, of Jefferson City, formerly of Hannibal, won first-place in the fence painting contest at Hannibal on Aug. 18, 1956. The event was held in conjunction with the Mark Twain Day in Hannibal. Gov. Phil M. Donnelly proclaimed the week of Aug. 12-18, 1956, Tom Sawyer Week. Archive photo, Steve Chou collection.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

A simple fence-painting contest conducted on Saturday, Aug. 18, 1956, unwittingly served as the catalyst for today’s expansive National Tom Sawyer Days. The annual celebration of Mark Twain and his writings has grown during the course of 70 years, into an international attraction which annually draws thousands of people to the epicenter of Twain’s inspiration: his boyhood home at Hannibal, Missouri.

The fence painting contest’s beginnings seven decades ago were in fact very humble.

Dennis Raye Reed, born in Hannibal on July 12, 1946, was the winner of the 1956 fence painting contest, held on the sidewalk in front of the gardens of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum. A replica fence was set up in front of the antique fence that was in place at the time. Each contestant was challenged to paint an 18-square foot section of fence, and Dennis Reed accomplished this task in 1 minute, 18 seconds.

Dennis Reed’s daughter, Christine Demerest of Jefferson City, has fond memories of her father, who died in 2012 at the age of 65, and of her paternal grandmother, Dorothy H. Maple Reed, who died in 2005 at the age of 87. Christine briefly spoke of her family members during a telephone interview in January 2026.

She said she is certain that her grandmother was the driving force behind her father’s participation in the fence painting contest. She described her father (Dennis) as “a real goof ball,” and her grandmother as “a real character.”

Dennis, who lived in Jefferson City with his parents at the time, earned the right to compete in the inaugural Hannibal fence painting contest by winning the open whitewashing competition at the Jaycee fairgrounds in Jefferson City on Aug. 1, 1956.

The win afforded Dennis the opportunity to compete in mid August at Hannibal. He was quoted in the Jefferson City Sunday News and Tribune’s Aug. 5, 1956 edition, that he intended to “practice up” for the state competition. 

The 10-year-old, the only child of Bernard R. and Dorothy H. Maple Reed, competed in the Jefferson City contest against David Enloe, 11, and Larry Eberlin. At the time Dennis was a student at Trinity Lutheran School in Jefferson City.

Hannibal link

Dennis spent his early years in Hannibal, moving with his parents to Jefferson City while of grade-school age. Despite the geographic move to mid-state Missouri, his family remained very connected to Hannibal.

That’s because both of his parents were from large families with deep ties to Hannibal, and they returned to Hannibal frequently in order to visit relatives, according to Dennis Reed’s granddaughter.

“Truthfully, as a kid I had lots of family in the Hannibal area,” Christine Demerest said. “It would be like every holiday in Hannibal; everybody was tied to Hannibal. I had a great uncle who had a farm with cows.”

Family connections

Dennis’ father, Bernard M. Reed (1917-1985) was son of John Frederick Reed (1882-1954) and Essie Ilean Doran Reed (1902-1955), who lived in Hannibal. Bernard was among the 12 surviving children listed in his father’s obituary in 1954. The others were Mrs. Earl Happel, Palmyra; Eldred Reed, Jefferson City; Mrs. Anthony Moore of New London; Mrs. Roy Herring of Center; Clarence Reed, John Reed Jr., Melvin Leo Reed, Mrs. Mrs. Richard Harker, Elva, Virginia and Sheila Reed of Hannibal.

Dennis’ mother, Dorothy Helen Maple Reed (1917-2005), was the daughter of George T. (1888-1972) and Bessie M. Manker Maple (1890-1983) of Hannibal, who were parents of at least seven children.

Bernard and Dorothy were married in 1939. In December 1941 - five years before their son was born - Bernard M. Reed and his wife purchased 55 acres of land complete with a residence in the western part of Palmyra, previously owned by Mrs. L.I. Juette.

In June 1945, Bernard M. Reed was among 28 Marion County men to be sent to Jefferson Barracks for induction into the armed services.

In 1946, Bernard M. Reed was back in Hannibal, employed as an inspector for Durasteel Co., and he, his wife, Dorothy, and their young son, Dennis, made their home 401 Sunshine Terrace, at Hill near Grand. (The two-bedroom, one-bath house with a steep front yard remains standing in 2026.)

They relocated to Elkhart, Ind., in time for the 1950 census. There, Mr. Reed worked as a die setter in the lamp industry, and Mrs. Reed worked as a punch press operator.

In 1952, with intentions of returning to Missouri, they purchased the old West Ely Presbyterian Church parsonage property, consisting of five acres,  from Mr. and Mrs. Daniel B. (Laona Vee Shearman) Horton.

Jefferson City

The Bernard Reed family ultimately relocated to Jefferson City, where Dennis became involved in athletics.

According to newspaper snippets traced via Newspapers.com, Dennis Reed (the 1956 fence painting champ) was an athlete of some note while a student in Jefferson City.

1959: Reed pitched no-hit, no-run ball on Aug. 12, as the McDonald’s Hamburgers bested Optimists 5-0 in Intermediate League baseball play at Lions Field. He recorded seven strike-outs and maintained the shutout despite two fielding errors by his teammates.

1959: Jim Bauer and Dennis Reed, along with help from Peter Jones, Andy Opel and Chuck Weber, pushed the Trinity Lutheran red rag football squad to a decisive 47-0 victory over St. Peters on Nov. 5, 1959.

1962: Reed was afforded a berth on the 1962 Coaches’ All-CMC baseball team, representing the Jefferson City Jays.

A few painters

A comprehensive list of the other participants in the inaugural fence painting contest were not found via search for digital newspapers of the day, but two names were located in a state-wide newspaper search: Mike Ganaway of Fulton won second place in 1956, and Allan Thompson represented Chillicothe in the first contest at Hannibal.

As an adult

Dennis R. Reed earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Lincoln University in Jefferson City. Dennis worked for the Missouri Division of Employment Security and the Department of Labor/Workforce Development until his retirement. 

He was a U.S. Air Force veteran, serving from 1964-1968. He married Barbara E. Schimmer in Werzburg, Germany. They had four children together; the first of whom was born in Germany.

Dennis M. Reed, the winner of the 1956 fence painting contest in Hannibal, died July 9, 1912. Graveside services with Full Military Honors were conducted on July 14, 2012, at Grand View Burial Park in Hannibal.

Number 2

Dennis Reed demonstrated his white-washing technique for a Jefferson City News Tribune photographer in early August 1956. He won the Jefferson City Jaycees Tom Sawyer contest, which entitled him to participate in the Hannibal contest on Aug. 18. He subsequently won the Hannibal competition. This contest was a launch for today’s National Tom Sawyer Days. Newspapers.com