By Annabeth Miller,
ShowME Times Editor

BLOOMFIELD - April 3, 2011 - When voters go to the polls this Tuesday to cast ballots for city and school board races, Joe Watson will be busy preparing to receive and count those ballots Tuesday evening.

The counting machine has been tested and is ready, the staff experienced and prepared, and Watson is ready for his first election as Stoddard County’s chief elections officer.

Watson was elected as Stoddard County Clerk last November and assumed his new office in January. He said the transition from businessman in the private sector to public official has been a smooth one, and he is looking forward to Tuesday’s election.

“We’re ready for Tuesday,” Watson said. While this will be Watson’s first election as county clerk, it’s not his staff's first. Watson kept an experienced clerk’s office staff with more than 3 decades combined experience in managing the business of elections in the county. “It’s a good staff; we work well together.”

Voters in Dexter will have two contested aldermanic races on the ballot. In Ward I, incumbent Jerry Jenkins faces Jerry Jenkins and Ward II Alderman Rick Hux faces a challenge from newcomer Bill McClain. Ward III Alderman Kirby John Taylor has no opponent on the ballot.

Four candidates are vying for three positions on the Dexter Board of Education. Incumbents Betty Keirsey and Mark Nea are joined by Kevin Bishop and Annette Hux. Voters can vote for three on Tuesday’s ballot.

One of the biggest issues on Tuesday’s ballot involves voters in Rural Water District No. 4. Voters in that rural Dexter will have the chance to decide on whether or not to approve issues $2.6 million on bonds to replace equipment.

Rural Water District 4 encompasses about 500 customers in a region north and east of Dexter.

Other races in the county include:

• Advance School District voters will be asked to decide on a 25-cent includes to the district’s operating levy, currently set at $2.75 per $100 assessed valuation. District officials report approval of the issues would generate approximately $72,000 annually.

• Bernie voters have races in two wards Incumbent Ivan Mekan faces Randy Jennings and John Atkinson in Ward 3; Dennis Jackson faces Tim Gage in Ward2. Ward I alderman Todd Young is running unopposed.

• Voters in the Richland will see three familiar names on the school district ballot: Incumbent Terry Blair, Loyd Odum and Kevin Evans.

Polls open throughout Stoddard County and the state at 6 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5.

Watson clarified that voters in Advance Rural will vote in the same place they did last time - the old Advance high school gym.

The ShowMe Times will be on hand Tuesday evening at the County Clerk’s Office in Bloomfield and will report the results as they are posted on Facebook and Twitter. And a complete report of all election results in Stoddard County will be published on the SMT website,

Photo above: Stoddard County Clerk Joe Watson and his staff are ready for the school board and municpial elections this Tuesday. Watson's staff includes (from left) Debbie Smith, Virginia DeGroot and Ginger Goodman.

“Putting the “U” Back Into CommUnity News” is what The ShowMe Times is all about. That is the great part about living is a small community is that everyone knows everyone. And it has been said that the bad part of living in a small community is that everyone knows your business.

At The ShowMe Times, we are very excited about offering you an opportunity to share the GOOD NEWS!!! that is happening in and around the Dexter area. But keeping up with this can be a problem so we are asking for your help.

With the help of modern technologies from a local business (Battles Extreme), we are able to create a call in SMT NEWS LINE SERVICE – 614.7733. Different than many news tip lines, we ask that you call this number to simply tell us the story that you feel is positive and needs to be shared with our areas readers.

Here are the simple steps you should take:

• Call THE SMT NEWS LINE SERVICE – 573.614.7733
• A Short Introduction Will Remind You of the Information to Share.
• When Prompted, Leave a Full Detailed Message Including:
o WHO was Involved In The News Item:
o WHAT took place.
o WHERE the event took place.
o WHEN the event happened.
o WHY the event occurred.
o DETAILS: Any and all details of the event.
o CONTACT INFORMATION: Name, Email, Cell and Home Number.
o FACEBOOK or EMAIL: We’d love to get pictures in the article.

Our hope is to be able to share with our reader community all the great things going on in the Dexter area. We realize that we will be unable to be everywhere all the time but can use our venuewith a little help from our readers.

A SMT report and photos by
Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

The Dexter High School Choirs continued a tradition stretching back 30 years recently as it brought home top rankings from contest.

Both the DHS Chamber Choir and the Honors Choir receive top Missouri State Music Contest rankings of I at contest on March 15. The contest was held on the campus of Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff.

On Saturday, March 26 the choral students competed in small ensembles and solos at District Contest. More than 30 choral students received ratings and now qualify to compete at the Missouri State Music Contest to beheld April 29 & 30 on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Soloists receiving I ratings include: Malinda Mayo and Leah Noyes, piano solos; Kaycee Dukes, Shelbie Hessling, Taylor Jarrell, Jessica Lesley, Malinda Mayo, Daniel McCoy, Lauren Powers, Riley Rickman, and Luke Robinson.

Ensembles receiving I ratings at district include:

•Madrigal #1: Morgan Cliff, Kaycee Dukes, Shelbie Hessling, Shelle Killian, Daniel McCoy, Dalton Putnam, Luke Robinson and Sam Ward.

•Madrigal #2: Taylor Jarrell, Jessica Lesley, Malinda Mayo, Lauren Powers, Maygan Roberts, Ben Rodgers, Brandon Sindle. Nate Watkins.

•Sextet #1: Shelle Killian, Darcie Lane, Jessica Lesley, Michaela Lesley, Lauren Powers and Riley Rickman.

•Sextet #2: Bethany Christian, Kelsey Frederick, Stephanie Gee, Sydney Graves, Riley Rickman, and Kaitlin Viers.

•Sextet #3: Peyton Baran, Chelsey Berry, Ashley Long, Emily Long, Sarah Richardson, and Christin Sitzes.

The DHS Choirs are under the direction of MaryRuth Boone.

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By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

A dig in volleyball is when a player gets under the ball to get a “save’. A group of Dexter middle school girls are digging in tonight to help save women from breast cancer.

A group of lively middle school young ladies are going to “Dig Pink” tonight as they play volleyball and raise awareness and funds for a most worthy cause.

“We are raising money for 18 Fore Life and it’s to help people around our community with breast cancer. And we’re having this and we’re raising a lot of money,” said team member Miranda Rogers. The girls in unison said they hope to help someone in need.

The game is the first of its kind in Dexter. Other athletic teams throughout the region and nation host “pink” games in an effort to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer. This is the first such game in Dexter.

The girls, coaches and moms gathered Wednesday evening to help prepare for tonight’s big event. Pink ribbons were prepared to hand out to those attending, signs were made, and t-shirts were folded.

The girls have generated a swell of excitement over tonight’s game. Each girl in working Wednesday night on fashioning pink ribbons knew at least one member of their family or family friend who has been touched by breast cancer. There’s a real sense of comradery among the young ladies and feeling of accomplishing something important.

The eighth grade team has not lost a game this year … and they are hoping to take that victorious spirit to the court and in helping raise awareness about breast cancer.

“People need to know that breast cancer is out there and it affects people,” Miranda said. Through the work on this unique game, the girls have also been made aware of the necessity for women – no matter the age – to have regular exams, and for women to take care of their bodies. “It’s not just old age.”

The girls say they decided to raise money for 18 Fore Life because it is a local organization that helps people and families in the region. All funds generated by the Dig Pink game will go to 18 Fore Life and will be directed to women and their families who are fighting breast cancer.

“It’s going to help people in our community that we could know personally,” said Madison Christian.

Tonight’s Dig Pink volleyball games will begin at 6 p.m. at the T. S. Hill Middle School. The match will feature two undefeated teams – Dexter and Poplar Bluff.

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., March 30, 2011 – Southeast Missouri’s public radio station is preparing to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with a three-part series on the war.

KRCU at Southeast Missouri State University announces plans to air a three-part series from “Backstory with the American History Guys” on the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter that began America’s civil war. The series will air Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. beginning April 3.

April 3: The Road to Civil War

In hindsight, it’s easy to see the Civil War as a conflict just waiting to happen. But to Americans in the spring of 1861, disunion was anything but inevitable. In the days leading up to the firing on Fort Sumter, in fact, Virginia officials rejected secession by a two-to-one margin. Even among those who expected war, few imagined the scale of devastation that was just around the corner.

Taking as a starting point this uncertainty about what was to come, this episode focuses on the dramatic six months between Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 and the outbreak of war in April 1861.

April 10: Why They Fought

One hundred 50 years ago, the Union went to war with the Confederacy. Ever since, Americans have been debating the causes of that war. Most historians today agree that it was fundamentally about slavery. And so what are we to make of the fact that most Southerners didn’t own any slaves, and most Northerners were not abolitionists?

Historian-hosts Brian Balogh, Peter Onuf, and Ed Ayers turn the question of the Civil War’s causes on its side, asking instead why Northerners and Southerners took up arms to fight one another. What causes, in other words, were they willing to die for?

April 17: The Civil War at 150: Questions Remain

As a companion to the two Civil War episodes, BackStory will offer a special listener Q&A edition of the program. For the duration of the hour, historian-hosts Peter Onuf (“18th Century Guy”), Ed Ayers (“19th Century Guy”), and Brian Balogh (20th Century Guy”) will draw on their trans-century expertise to answer questions from listeners on all aspects of the Civil War.

Photo Above: The 150th anniversary of the Firing on Fort Sumter that began the War Between The States will be observed in April. KRCU, the public radio station at Southeast Missouri State University, will feature a three-part series on the war in April. Southeast Missouri was central to the war effort in Missouri. Three unknown Union soldiers are buried at Sadler's Chapel Cemetery northwest of Dexter. (SMT file photo by Annabeth Miller)