By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

A favorite spot in Southeast Missouri for many girls and generations of women will open its gates once again this summer.

Activities at the Latonka Program Center (known to many as Girl Scout Camp Latonka) will resume on Aug. 1. The Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland announced Monday that while events were “temporarily suspended” due to the aftermath of this spring’s historic flood, the camp will open its gates next month.

“Activities had been suspended during the restoration process from the historic flooding that affected the Lake Wappapello area in May. All facilities at the program center – including the waterfront, challenge course and camping units - will be available to Girl Scout groups and community groups,” the statement said.

To help get the facility “back into shape,” a special clean-up day is planned for Saturday, Aug. 13. Among the “chores” that need to be completed include raking leaves, clearing trails, cleaning cabins and shower houses and other tasks around the property. Volunteers, girl and adults members who would like to participate are invited to become involved in the effort.

The Latonka Program Center Clean-Up Day will begin at 9 a.m. Aug. 13.

Volunteers may want to bring work gloves and tools such as rakes and pruning shears if they have them.

Volunteers may bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after the clean up is finished and Girl Scouts of Missouri Heartland will provide beverages, watermelon and ice cream for dessert. It is stressed registration is required for the clean-up day so that the council can anticipate the number of people participating.

In addition, adults will need to attend with girls in order to provide adult supervision.

To register for the event, please contact Sandy Vaughn, Property/Risk Manager, at svaughn@girlscoutsmoheartland.org or call 1-877-312-4764 ext. 1514 no later than Wednesday August 10.

Girl Scout Camp Latonka is celebrating its 60th anniversary this summer. The gates at the camp were opened for the first time to greet girls in July 1951.

Girl Scouts of Missouri Heartland was created in through the merger of Cotton Boll and four other Missouri Girl Scout Councils. The new council includes all of the former Cotton Boll area, and stretches to the Oklahoma and Kansas borders and north past Columbia and Fulton. Its headquarters is in Springfield, with service centers in Dexter, Joplin, Jefferson City and Cape Girardeau.

Photos Above: Top Photo – The campfire circle near the shore of Lake Wappapello at the Latonka Program Center; Bottom Photo – the Dining Hall at Latonka. (File photos by Annabeth Miller)

Local Agent Featured in State Association Magazine

The Missouri Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) hosted the 2011 Young Agents Conference in Van Buren this month. Jason Comfort of County Wide Insurance Agency of Dexter was part of the leadership team that coordinated the event as the Committee Chairperson for the Young Agents group.

The event was marked by the high level of insurance education, sales training, life motivation and just plain old fun on the Current River. Dallas Buchanan and Doug Cox of Dexter were also on hand to help with the Monday evening dinner on the river, serving a great BBQ meal with all the trimmings.

John Mabry, former member of the St. Louis Cardinals, was the featured speaker for the event. John shared with the group his life experiences in the major leagues and those significant decisions in life that have brought him the most satisfaction.

Sam Bennett of Columbia and Steve Anderson of Nashville, Tenn., were on hand for the education and technology seminars for the weekend. Sam is no stranger to the area, as East Prairie is his hometown.

The group included 100 agents and their family members from across Missouri. The Monday afternoon float trip was a fun and exciting time of building relationships and learning from one another.

Jason Comfort has served on the Young Agents Committee (YAC) for the past five years and assumed his leadership roles in 2009. Normally having to travel to further destinations, Jason was instrumental in getting the event a little closer to Southeast Missouri in Van Buren.

The event was held at The Landing, a Van Buren tradition which has been newly renovated and expanded to accommodate groups of this size.

“The YAC is an important committee for our industry,” states Comfort. “This allows younger agents the opportunity to participate in the coordination and leadership of our industry. ”

County Wide Insurance Agency has a long heritage of serving the insurance industry through the MAIA. Previous board members include the late Jim Tate and Alan Hedrick. Hedrick served as President of the Association during 2005-2006. Jason continues that tradition as he continues to work in several committee capacities.

NewWave Offices Offer Convenience For Dexter Area Customers

By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

A large crowd gathered Thursday morning at the new location of NewWave Communications for the Dexter Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting Celebration. On hand was NewWave Communications President Jim Gleason and Mike Burns, General Manager.

NewWave recently remodeled the Pruitt Glass & Paint building at the corner of Nina Street and One Mile Road. As customers enter the sleek new building they walk into a large service area where they may speak one-on-one with a representative. The area also features NewWave’s products and services, including NewWave Home Security, which creates a "digital home," including interactive home security, home monitoring, home management and control, energy management and home health care.

The new headquarters also features expanded offices, conference rooms and service areas.

NewWave is hosting an Open House for the public from 3 – 6 p.m., Thursday, July 21. The public is invited to visit the new offices and see the new features NewWave is offering customers in the Dexter area.

Photo Above: A large crowd was on hand Thursday for the Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting Celebration at NewWave Communications. Helping with the ribbon cutting were (front row with ribbon, from left) Alderman Jerry Corder, Chamber Director Mendy Bell, Dexter Mayer Joe Weber, building owner Steve Holden, NewWave Customer Service Manager Kim Stokes, NewWave General Manager Mike Burns, NewWave President Jim Gleason, Chamber President Ed Gargas and Chamber Executive Director Janet Coleman. This was the 14th ribbon cutting celebration sponsored by the Dexter Chamber in 2011.(SMT photo by Annabeth Miller)

By - Joseph Schneider,
ShowMe Times Contributing Writer

For most Americans, September eleventh of 2001 was our first encounter with the fear and anxiety associated with a terrorist attack. Dexter native Leila Kandalaft (DHS '84), however, unfortunately learned just how appalling acts of terrorism are as a fifth grader.

Although Leila was born and raised in Dexter, her father, Dr. Fuad Kandalaft (deceased) immigrated to the United States from Jerusalem, Palestine in 1948. After being drafted into military service, he went on to become an American citizen and studied medicine in Kirksville, Missouri. After completing his education, he moved to Dexter and began working at the Poe Clinic on South Walnut Street.

Having never met her father's family, Leila was taken by her father to Amman, Jordan in November of 1976. On the first day of their visit (November 17th), Fuad took his daughter on a walking tour of his home. After a spell, they stopped for rest in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel. While Fuad left in search of a newspaper, four terrorists burst into the lobby, opened fire with automatic weapons and began lobbing hand grenades--the attack was coordinated with car bombs that went off outside of the hotel at the same time. Fortunately, Leila stayed out of sight under a table and remained safe during the attack. Fuad did not share the same fate. Hearing commotion, he returned to the lobby in search of Leila only to wind up in a physical altercation with a terrorist. The attacker attempted to take Fuad hostage. Fighting back, he suffered a bullet wound in his foot and shard of shrapnel in his forehead. Leila recalls him using his belt as a tourniquet on his leg, attributing this to his survival of the ordeal.

Dexter's Dr. Fuad Kandalaft carried his wounds with him for the rest of his life; despite numerous procedures to repair damage suffered by his foot, he walked with a limp. Limp or no, Fuad and his daughter were lucky to be alive, as the terrorists had killed seven in total that day.

Leila suffered no physical wounds, but she did experience nightmares in the weeks after the attack. Soon enough they too had disappeared, only to return exactly twenty-two years later, after the birth of her daughter on November 17th, 1998, 22 years to the day of the attack. Leila says that the recurrence of her nightmares motivated her to research the attack she was forced to witness.

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A group of Global Survivors Network at the media training conference in July, 2011.

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And during research of the attack, she found the Global Survivors Network. GSN is an international organization of survivors of terrorist attacks who are dedicated to sharing the message that violent acts of terror must stop. Recently, GSN has produced the Oscar-nominated 2010 short documentary "Killing in the Name," which depicts the actions of a lone Al-Qaeda suicide bomber who murdered twenty-seven people at a wedding. The film brings attention to the enormous quantity of terrorist acts that bring death to innocents in order to confront global terrorism. “Killing in the Name” will air on HBO this fall.

Ms. Kandalaft's involvement in GSN includes organizing a screening of the aforementioned documentary, attending seminars, and publicly speaking out against terrorism. She is bothered by how our Western culture tends to associate Islam with terrorists and is attempting to "break down western fears about Islam" through a children's book she has committed herself to writing.

Leila is the daughter of Kitty Kandalaft of Dexter. She lives in Ludwigsburg, Germany with her two children, Helena, 12 and Alexander, 10. Leila’s sisters, Catherine & Victoria recently joined her in New York City, the site of the GSN conference. Her third sister, Patty, lives in Seattle, with her daughter who is named Leila Serene.

Leila says that she is thankful to share her story to honor those who are lost daily to acts of terror and spread GSN's message of peace.

Photos Above:

Top Photo: Leila Kandalaft pictured with her childen, Helena, 12 and Alexander, 10..

Bottom Photo: A group of Global Survivors Network at the media training conference in July, 2011.

By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

The clock will strike midnight tonight, and 60 seconds later fans will sit back in their theater chairs, hold on to the bucket of popcorn and bask in the opening of the eighth and final movie in the Harry Potter series.

The final film in the series of blockbusters based on J.K. Rowling's hugely popular novels telling of battles between good and evil in a fantasy world of witchcraft hits theaters July 15. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – will begin right after midnight, July 15, in hundreds of theaters across the country - including in Dexter.

Dexter Twin Cinema will be having a midnight showing for local Harry Potter fans, and Jake Durham and the crew at the local cinema are ready for the big night. Durham is the assistant manager at Dexter Twin Cinema.

“We are selling advance tickets for tonight,” Durham said Thursday afternoon. Durham and Emily Ray were selling the advance tickets and keeping an eye on a afternoon matinee. Bothvsaid Potter tickets were not as fast for the opening as previous Harry Potter films.

“We weren’t at first going to have a midnight show. It was just decided recently that we were,” Durham said. But they are ready for Pottermania!

The popcorn and concessions will be ready late Thursday night, but the star attraction will be the clash between Harry, his friends and extended family and the evil Lord Voldemort (“He who shall not be named”) and his weird and bizarre followers of just downright wicked people.

Harry Potter is really a long tale of the triumph of good and right over evil and its darkness. It’s the victory of friendship and love over hate and evil in the world. And the amazing thing is that the characters have touched readers on an unprecedented scale.

Since Harry Potter’s introduction to the world, he and his friends have become a global phenomenon. Over the past 15 years, we’ve read about his life in seven brick-thick books, watched him in seven films (soon to be eight). His books have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 67 languages.