Another Bundy Venture: SHAE'S PLACE In Gallatin

[Ursus]

Well... I guess we can imagine where the money to buy the building came from.

I'm not entirely sure of the exact publication date. It's listed under "this week's stories" although the History page for The Caldwell County News indicates that Rural Living is a "bi-monthly lifestyle magazine." My guess is that it's from August/September 2009, but I could well be wrong.

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A guide to quality living in Northwest Missouri
Rural Living

Shae's Place In Gallatin
A Unique Blend Of Eclectic And Antique With Lots Of Homemade Goodies



It would be a given to walk into a restaurant like Shae’s Place in the River Market in Kansas City.

With its original hardwood floors, stamped tin ceilings and massive staircase with copper accents, the unique  restaurant located just off the square in Gallatin , MO wows its first-time patrons. They're usually amazed at the harmonious blend of antique surroundings with eclectic metal bistro tables. They feel pampered by the youthful but extremely attentive and courteous wait staff.

"This is rural Missouri?" they might even ask at the sight of an honest-to-goodness chef in a white hat in the kitchen.

They're less surprised by the good food that emanates from that kitchen, especially since the homemade breads that Shae’s is becoming famous for originated right here in Northwest Missouri, passed down through the generations of the owner's family.

John and Willa Bundy had originally planned to open just a bread and pastry shop for their daughter, Shae. After graduating from college with degrees in technical writing and web design and marrying Hamilton classmate Bryant Curtis, she planned to make the family bread recipes the cornerstone of the new business.

As father, John Bundy explains, the building they bought seemed to beg for a grander scheme that just a bakeshop. With Willa's vision and attention to decorator details, the business expanded into a restaurant that is quickly evolving into one of Northwest Missouri's premier gathering spots. It features a unique luncheon menu with items named after the Bundy children (Jesse Burgers, for example, are named after their youngest and come in a choice of three sizes with different toppings on a delicious homemade bun).

Customers can enjoy a full salad, soup and dessert bar full of homemade goodies and more family recipes. The noon meal has packed in the customers in this county seat town, even though the Bundys had a "soft opening" a few months ago. They plan a grand opening in September and will give tours of the second story banquet hall. The hall got its first major event when Gallatin High School held its prom there last spring. The massive room can accommodate a few hundred people and boasts a grand piano and a stage for live entertainment. Shae’s Place will even rent out their unique banquet furniture and linens as well as the entire hall for weddings, receptions and business meetings. The exposed brick walls are a perfect backdrop for commemorative photos and John stresses the family atmosphere that is smoke-free and alcohol-free.

The Bundys have a love of North Missouri that causes them to want to give back to the area. Willa grew up in the Jamesport area and John served a full time church mission here in 1976, growing lots of good memories and making many lifetime friends.

When they moved to the area to operate a school for troubled teens, John had a chance to dig into his family history and found that his great-great grandfather, Edmond Nelson, owned a ferry that crossed the Grand River into Adam Ondi-Ahman, so his roots are deeper than just the businesses the Bundys operate.

Restaurant namesake Shae Curtis uses most of her talents in one of the adjacent businesses but sometimes helps out as a substitute baker. She proudly notes that her parents are the owners of the restaurant and that each of the children in the family have made a contribution, even the daughter who is an avid reader, with a reading nook in her honor.

Papa John points just as proudly to Shae, noting, "She is an extraordinary person," with a recently completed musical album featuring her own compositions and selections she plays on the guitar.

The entire family is pleased with seeing people leave Shae's Place happy and full. "People are excited to have something like this," says Shae.


L&L publications Inc. © 2006

[Ursus]

Here is the website for Shae's Place: http://www.shaescatering.com/

[Anonymous]

It features a unique luncheon menu with items named after the Bundy children (Jesse Burgers, for example, are named after their youngest and come in a choice of three sizes with different toppings on a delicious homemade bun).

Wonder if they named anything after the kid they killed?

This is just gag making really. Guess you can't expect them to actually crawl in a hole and die, but it is always galling to see evil prosper.

[Ursus]

With Willa's vision and attention to decorator details...

I heard she did a Halloween theme for the basement of Thayer, where the boot camp kids stayed... complete with real live creepy crawlers to lend an air of authenticity to the surrounds...

[Anonymous]

Wow. That is ridiculous. You I mean. Is this really what you spend your time doing? Going around following the latest gossip? If you are so worried about troubled teens what have you done to help them in besides shut down programs dedicated to taking them in? I would like to see the statistic on how many kids die on the streets everyday or from drug overdoses. That number is staggering. And you choose to spend your days tearing apart people who are trying to break he vicious cycle of our governments so called juvenile "corrections" program. The success rate in juvi is actually negative. It creates criminals and wounds children. You don't know ANYTHING about the student who died at that school. It's all hearsay. We don't know if he was a drug lord from California that came so doped up his chances of living at TLC, on the streets, or in a cushy hospital room were slim to none anyway. Let's consider public schools. How many deaths a year do we see there? It's amazing that people like you, if you are so "concerned" aren't tackling the people in this country who are actually abusing children.

My suggestion to you would be to educate yourself on the matter because you look like an idiot.

[Ursus]

Wow. That is ridiculous. You I mean. Is this really what you spend your time doing? Going around following the latest gossip? If you are so worried about troubled teens what have you done to help them in besides shut down programs dedicated to taking them in? I would like to see the statistic on how many kids die on the streets everyday or from drug overdoses. That number is staggering. And you choose to spend your days tearing apart people who are trying to break he vicious cycle of our governments so called juvenile "corrections" program. The success rate in juvi is actually negative. It creates criminals and wounds children. You don't know ANYTHING about the student who died at that school. It's all hearsay. We don't know if he was a drug lord from California that came so doped up his chances of living at TLC, on the streets, or in a cushy hospital room were slim to none anyway. Let's consider public schools. How many deaths a year do we see there? It's amazing that people like you, if you are so "concerned" aren't tackling the people in this country who are actually abusing children.

My suggestion to you would be to educate yourself on the matter because you look like an idiot.

Thayer Learning Center has been closed down. However, here is some material that ISAC has on file:

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Complaints to Date

ISAC has received complaints from several former students, parents of former students, and employees of Thayer Learning Center as well as a family who toured the facility and decided not to enroll their child.

Former students, parents of former students, and employees have made the following allegations against Thayer Learning Center and its staff:

• A *Hindu child was forced to eat meat, then vomited.
  
  She was then forced to eat her own vomit.
  
  
  *
  Why Hindus do not eat meat

[/li][/list]

• One child currently in Thayer is suffering from some type of kidney disorder, and the "nurse" at Thayer is in fact a high-school dropout who also runs the kitchen.

• Boys are forced to share razors instead of being given the ones purchased by parents.

• Some children spend 30 days or more in solitary confinement.

• An emergency room physician prescribed bedrest and antibiotics for a child with an ear infection.
  
  Back at Thayer Learning Center, the child was forced to exercise and sleep on the concrete floor.
  
  Thayer staff members told the parents that there was "a little bit of drainage" coming from the child's ear, when in fact, the child's ear was bleeding.

• Two children were reportedly "restrained" with zip-ties around their ankles and wrists.
  
  One child was attached to a file cabinet.

• Male children have been stripped to their underwear, "hog-tied," and sprayed with a hose.

• Children are forced to "re-write" letters to parents, until the letters contain nothing negative about the program.

• Athlete's foot and other fungal infections are widespread and go untreated.

• Willa Bundy reportedly denied medical care for a child who had the flu and was constantly vomiting.
  
  According to former staff members, Willa Bundy diagnosed the vomiting as "a ploy to go home."

• When asbestos was found in an old building on the Thayer compound, the Bundys refused to hire trained asbestos removal contractors.
  
  Instead, students were forced to remove the hazardous removal and instructed to put the asbestos in a pile outside.
  
  Thayer was fined by the Department of Natural Resources for the improper disposal.

• A child reportedly arrived at Thayer in a nearly comatose condition. The teen transport personnel stated that they had administered prescription muscle relaxants to the child to prevent "problems" during transport.
  
  Willa Bundy was informed of the child's condition and denied requests for medical attention. She reportedly instructed staff members to put the child in bed until the medication wore off.

• After several children collapsed from heat exhaustion and dehydration, the "drill sergeants" at Thayer began forcing children to drink large quantities of water.

• Requests to use the bathroom are subsequently denied leaving teens with no option except to urinate on themselves.

• During a one year period, group therapy occurred just once - at 10 PM and was led by Willa Bundy.

• One child refused to exercise and was allegedly pulled around by the hair, arm and clothing by John Bundy.

• All calls from children to parents are monitored and children are punished for saying anything against the program.

• John Bundy allegedly forced female students to exercise outside in the snow without shoes.

• One child was allegedly roped to a 4 wheel all terrain vehicle (ATV) and instructed to "keep up."
  
  When the child could not keep pace with the vehicle and fell to the ground, he was dragged behind it.

• Willa and John Bundy are reportedly gone for extended periods of time and leave their 17 year old daughter in charge of the facility.

• A male staff member distributed illegal drugs to at least one female student.

• As punishment, two children were reportedly bound together with duct-tape and left that way overnight.

• Before announced visits by the Department of Social Services, Willa Bundy allegedly takes "problem" students out for ice cream or to Wal-Mart.

• In one building on the property, 26 female children share 1 bathroom and are given just 30 seconds to get ready for bed at night.

• There are frequent outbreaks of head lice.

• Part of the "fitness training" at Thayer reportedly involves students being forced to run while carrying 5-gallon buckets full of sand.

• Students are awakened in the middle of the night and forced to exercise.

• Children who are not physically fit are required to perform strenuous activities, including 6-mile runs.

• Students have suffered serious injuries and were denied medical attention.

• Parents were not notified of their child's condition.

• The facility reportedly has no certified teachers. Classes are "taught" via videotape.

• Level 1 boot camp students sleep on a concrete floor in a basement.

Since the death of Roberto Reyes, ISAC has received the following complaints against Thayer Learning Center:

• Students who were at the facility when Roberto died have reported that there is NO sick bay at Thayer and Roberto lay ill and dying in the isolation room.

• As punishment for saying 4-letter words, including the word "can't", children are made to brush their teeth for 4 hours, causing the gums to bleed and the enamel to be removed from the teeth.

• One parent who attempted to remove her child from Thayer was reportedly refused access to the property and told to "make an appointment" to tour the facility, at which time she could leave with her child.

• When the child was finally released 45 minutes later, she had 2 black eyes, a fever and was swollen from head to toe.

• Children are awakened at 2 am, forced to roll in the mud, excercise for 2 hours, then return to bed.

• Willa Bundy reportedly carries a gun.

• Children are told it is their "fault" when employees quit and are punished with extra exercise periods.

# # #

[Anonymous]

Wow. That is ridiculous. You I mean. Is this really what you spend your time doing? Going around following the latest gossip? If you are so worried about troubled teens what have you done to help them in besides shut down programs dedicated to taking them in? I would like to see the statistic on how many kids die on the streets everyday or from drug overdoses. That number is staggering. And you choose to spend your days tearing apart people who are trying to break he vicious cycle of our governments so called juvenile "corrections" program. The success rate in juvi is actually negative. It creates criminals and wounds children. You don't know ANYTHING about the student who died at that school. It's all hearsay. We don't know if he was a drug lord from California that came so doped up his chances of living at TLC, on the streets, or in a cushy hospital room were slim to none anyway. Let's consider public schools. How many deaths a year do we see there? It's amazing that people like you, if you are so "concerned" aren't tackling the people in this country who are actually abusing children.

My suggestion to you would be to educate yourself on the matter because you look like an idiot.

Educate your self - idiot.


The Death of Roberto Reyes
On November 3, 2004 15 year-old Roberto Reyes died at Thayer Learning Center. He had arrived at Thayer just 10 days earlier.

The investigation by the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) indicates that during his ten days at Thayer, Roberto Reyes was never seen or treated by a doctor, a registered nurse, or anyone with even a current EMT license.

The DSS report indicates that for several days, Roberto was unable to do the physical exercise that Thayer required.

Instead of even considering the possibility that a medical problem caused by the exhaustive exercise was creating Roberto's problems, Thayer's untrained staff concluded that he was "faking."

They dragged him when he could no longer walk.

They put a bag of sand around his neck in order to force compliance.

As Roberto's health deteriorated, he could no longer crawl to the toilet. Roberto defecated on himself, stopped eating and became increasingly lethargic and non responsive.

He died before any medical attention was even requested.

The investigation concluded that Thayer Learning Center's owners and employees contributed to Roberto's death by failing to recognize his medical distress and by failing to provide appropriate medical evaluation or treatment.

The investigator's interviews and evidence also suggested significant contradictions and possible deliberate falsification of written records.

Because of Thayer's lack of cooperation in their investigation, the investigators recommended that there be changes in the law to require the kind of access to Thayer by juvenile authorities, social services, and law enforcement that Thayer made difficult.

The preliminary investigation results were turned over to numerous local and state agencies and nothing happened. There was no further investigation. Nobody was charged with anything.

The unqualified "medical officer" remained employed at Thayer Learning Center. Roberto's parents settled a wrongful death lawsuit out of court and signed a confidentialty agreement.

Scores of new children arrived, and continue to arrive, at Thayer.

You do not have to take our word for any of this.

All of the following documents were made available to the public by the Missouri Department of Social Services.

Some files are large and may take a few minutes to download.

Autopsy of Roberto Reyes

Letter from the Department of Social Services to John and Willa Bundy

Child Fatality Review Panel Report

Child Abuse/Neglect Investigation Summary

Employee Notes - Willa Bundy has been accused of altering the notes before they were turned over to investigators.

to view:
http://www.closethayerlearningcenter.co ... oreyes.asp