The Boone County Historical Society’s Endowment Trust Board has named its 2026 History Makers Hall of Fame class, and it’s a mix that says a lot about what the board considers worth honoring: a NASCAR champion, a public servant who spent 35 years modernizing county government, and a 50-year-old charitable trust, according to the Boone County History & Culture Center’s announcement.
Carl Edwards, the Columbia native and retired NASCAR driver, goes in for excellence in athletics — 72 career victories across NASCAR’s three national series, 28 of them in the Cup Series, the 2007 Xfinity Series championship, induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2025, and a spot among NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers. Since retiring in 2016 he’s stayed involved in philanthropy back home in Columbia.
Wendy Noren is honored posthumously for excellence in public service — 35 years as Boone County Clerk after starting as deputy clerk in 1978, and credited with developing the software that folded Boone County into Missouri’s statewide voter registration system. She died in 2018.
The Boone County Community Trust is honored for 50 years of community philanthropy: founded in 1974 with an initial $650,000 investment, the Trust has grown to more than $4 million in assets and has distributed over $4 million to more than 250 local organizations since.
The induction gala is Saturday, October 24, at the Country Club of Missouri; tickets go on sale in July.