Reading is Fun!

Surrounded by a big group of enthusiastic readers, Dexter Mayor Joe Weber on Tuesday officially declared this week as Missouri Reading Week in Dexter. Weber gathered with the young students in the lobby at Central Elementary School and told one student that his favorite book was about flying and airplanes.  The students all have 200 percent of their Accelerated Reading goal for the first quarter. Reading Teachers April Aldridge of Central Elementary(back on left) and Katy Tarbutton of Southwest Elementary joined in the Proclamation Signing ceremony. Students at both Dexter elementary schools are observing the week with special guest readers who share their enthusiasm for reading with the students. On Friday, Roawdy the Redhawk from Southeast Missouri State University is scheduled to drum up reading enthusiasm at Southwest Elementary.

Link of Interest

BRANSON -  Doug Libla of Poplar Bluff received the Missouri Community College Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award at the association’s annual convention in Branson.

Libla is a business owner who got his start at Three Rivers College in 1971.  Born and raised in Greenville, Libla began his business career as the owner/operator of Doug’s Sinclair & Tire.  Since 1977, he and his brother David have been involved in many startup companies, including operations in manufacturing, transportation, telecommunications, heavy construction, automotive products, and industrial and commercial real estate.  Today, Libla is the co-owner of Mid Continent Nail, an industry leader with a national reputation.

Libla has used his business acumen and connections to support the college he attended over 40 years ago.  He was one of the first people to join the college’s new endowment trust in 2009, and he has used his business background and contacts to make the endowment’s first years a success.  He also used his connections to bring former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to speak at TRC’s 2011 commencement.  Huckabee’s appearance at the college brought considerable attention, and the proceeds of a reception with him provided seed money for a $16 million capital campaign.  Libla was a major sponsor of the reception, and he plans to remain actively engaged in the capital campaign throughout its duration.

In addition to Libla’s service to Three Rivers, he and his wife Elaine are involved in many community organizations, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Missouri Association of State Troopers Emergency Relief Society, Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, and Ozarks Foothills Regional Planning Commission, Haven House, Boys and Girls Club, the Baptist Children’s Home.  The Liblas have one daughter, Cassie; son-in-law Daniel; and two grandsons, Noah and Joseph.

The Missouri Community College Association is a statewide organization through which Missouri’s community colleges work together to advance common agendas. 

MCCA provides advocacy, education, information, and networking opportunities in service of the state’s 5,700 community college faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees.

Photo Above: Doug and Elaine Libla (center) at the Missouri Community College Association convention. With them are Dr. Devin Stephenson, president of Three Rivers College (left) and Zora Milligan (right), executive director of MCCA. (Three Rivers photo)

Patriotic Writers

Bearcats shined in recent All-District Band auditions! A number of DHS Band students were successful in All-District Band and All-District Jazz Band auditions recently. Students from throughout Southeast Missouri competed for the positions in the two All-District bands. Students who achieved All-District honors include (back row, from left) Nathan Elliot – 1st Chair Tuba, Bass Guitar; Joseph Greer 6th Chair Alto Sax, Jazz Piano; Alex Rybolt 4th Chair Trombone, Lead Trombone Jazz; Zane Olson, 2nd  Alternate Alto Saxophone; Brandon Moore – 1st Tenor Sax, Lead Alto Jazz and Lead Tenor Jazz; John Reeves, 5th Chair Trumpet, 4th Chair Jazz Trumpet; Chuy Lara 2nd Chair Euphonium, Bass Trombone Jazz; (front row, from left) Lauren Dudley – 2nd  Chair Bari Sax, 1st Contra Alto Clarinet, Bari Sax Jazz; Hannah Huls, 4th Chair Trumpet, 2nd Chair Jazz Trumpet; Leah Noyes 8th Chair Clarinet; Shelby Chappell 1st Chair Bassoon; Kendra Stevenson 2nd alt. Jazz Trombone; Linda Love 2nd Chair French Horn, 2nd Alternate Jazz Trumpet. Not present for the photo but earning All-District honors were Michaela Lesley 20th Chair Clarinet and Chandler Crowley 2nd Alternate Clarinet, Alternate Bass Guitar. (SMT Photo by Annabeth Miller)

CAPE GIRARDEAU – Dr. Duane King, the leading historian of the Cherokee Trail of Tears chapter of American History, will be in Cape Girardeau this week to deliver two presentations. Both presentations are free and open to the public.

At 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11, King will speak on “The John Benge Detachment: A Unique Route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears Through Southeast Missouri.” This presentation will focus on the movement of a detachment of the Cherokee from their crossing of the Mississippi at Columbus, Ky., north along the river to the Cape Girardeau area and then west and south into Arkansas, and eventually Oklahoma.

This presentation will be held in the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum on the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

In addition, at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, Nov. 12, King will speak in the Visitors’ Center of the Trail of Tears State Park north of Cape Girardeau. The topic of this presentation will be, “The Northern Route of the Forced Removal of the Cherokee Trail of Tears.” King will describe the Cherokee experiences on the Trail of Tears in the vicinity of Cape Girardeau.

King is the executive director of the Gilcrease Museum and vice president for museum affairs and Thomas Gilcrease Chair at the University of Tulsa. He previously served as executive director of the Southwest Museum of the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. Prior to joining the Southwest Museum in 1995, he served for five years as assistant director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian for the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City. King has taught at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Cleveland State College and Northeastern State University, and held the first endowed chair in Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University.

King earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee and his Master of Arts and doctoral degrees from the University of Georgia. His doctoral dissertation was “A Grammar and Dictionary of the Cherokee Language. He has written extensively on the Cherokee Removal and has authored more than 100 publications on various aspects of Museum Studies and Native American culture and history.

King’s presentations are sponsored by the Trail of Tears State Park and the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University.

For more information, contact Denise Dowling, Trail of Tears State Park, (573) 290-5268, or Dr. Frank Nickell, Center for Regional History, Southeast Missouri State University, (573) 651-2555.