By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor
A special day is planned at one of Southeast Missouri’s favorite natural gems – a day that will widen horizons and show the beauty of the park and special wildlife.
Discover the world of birds will be featured at the Birds over Baker event Saturday, April 28 at Sam A. Baker State Park near Patterson. Sponsored by Missouri State Parks, the event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
This birding festival will feature demonstrations and activities for the whole family. Throughout the day, there will be activities and crafts, guided bird hikes and information on topics such as migration and hunting game birds.
The World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis will present a Raptor Awareness program at 2 p.m. in the park’s amphitheater. The presentation will include information about birds of prey and will include a live bird presentation featuring Missouri raptors such as hawks, owls and falcons. Visitors will get a close-up look at the raptors as they soar right overhead during this interactive show.
Food and bird merchandise will be available for purchase throughout the day.
Sam A. Baker State Park is located on Highway 143 about four miles north of Patterson. For more information, contact the park naturalist at 573-856-4514. For more information about Missouri state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
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ShowMe Times Editor
88 keys.
12 hands.
6 students.
4 high schools.
1 teacher.
They are six piano students, and all have reached the highest of heights for high school students in the ShowMe State – they will each compete at the Missouri State Music Contest later this month.
And while they are different ages, different high schools, and will perform different musical selections for the judge at contest, they all have the at least one thing in common.
Coulton, Joe, Leah, Malinda, Brooks, and Lauren. These six young musicians are the senior private piano students of Dexter music educator MaryRuth Boone. And each received a top I rating at District Music Contest recently and all moving up the ladder to compete in statewide competition.
“These young people are fine musicians who take their music very seriously and practice piano in the same manner,” Boone said. “I am proud to be their teacher!”
There’s a camaraderie among them when they gathered recently at Boone’s home. They banter back and forth, and are all good friends in addition to being fine musicians. They may come from different communities and different high schools, but they all share a love of music - and the discipline, talent, and dedication necessary to reach this premiere level.
Coulton Becker of Williamsville comes from a very musically talented family. He is the son of Pam and Bob Becker of Willimsville. Pam is the director of music at Polar Bluff’s United Methodist Church and she teaches music at Three Rivers College. Coulton is a freshman at Williamsville and has taken piano lessons for ten years. He also received a I rating at District Contest on his vocal solo. At State Contest he will perform Rustles of Springby Christian Striding.
Joe Foster of Essex is a freshman at Richland High School. Joe has taken lessons for eight years and is the son of Donnie and Tish Foster of Essex. At district contest, Joe also received a I rating on his vocal solo. He will perform Melodious Study by Steven Heller for the judge at State Music Contest.
Leah Noyes is a senior at Dexter High School and is the daughter of David and Vicky Noyes of Dexter. Leah has taken piano lessons for nine years. At District Contest, Leah and her Clarinet Sextet received a I Rating. Leah will perform #2 of 4 Impromptus, Op. 90 by Franz Schubert at State Contest.
Malinda Mayo is also a senior at Dexter High School. She taken piano lessons for 13 years and is the daughter of Roger and Malisa Mayo of Dexter. At District Contest Malinda received I ratings on her vocal solo, mixed ensemble and mixed madrigal. She will perform the First Movement of Sonata #283 by Mozart for the judge at State Music Contest.
Brooks Probst is a freshman at Dexter High School and has taken piano lessons for 10 years. Brooks is the son of Molly and Darin Probst of Dexter. At District Contest Brooks also received a I rating on his vocal solo and with his trombone quartet. Brooks will perform the2nd Impromptus, No. 142, by Franz Schubert at State Music Contest.
Lauren White is a junior at Poplar Bluff High School and she, too, comes from a musical family. Her mother and father, Cindy and Buddy White, both teach music at Three Rivers College and Boone is her aunt. Lauren has taken piano lessons for 11 years, and at District Contest she received top I ratings in her vocal solo, mixed double quartet, English horn solo, and her oboe solo. Lauren will perform Movement 1, Prelude from Por Le Piano by Debussy at State Music Contest.
The Missouri State Music Contest will be held April 26-28 on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Photo Above: The senior piano students of MaryRuth Boone all have earned the opportunity to compete in the Missouri State Music Contest this month. Performing will be (seat in front) Malinda Mayo and Leah Noyes, both from Dexter; and (left to right behind the piano) Coulton Becker of Williamsville, Brooks Probst of Dexter, Lauren White of Poplar Bluff, and Joe Foster of Essex. (ShowMe Times photo by Annabeth Miller)
Dreams came true in Shreveport on Saturday, March 31st when two Dexter young women were crowned Princess America Pageants’ Missouri Teen and Missouri Junior Teen 2012. The Huntington Auditorium in Shreveport, La., played host to the weekend long, multi-state event. Contestants from Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama and Missouri came together to compete for their respective State Titles and a bid to compete at Nationals, July 16-22 in Orlando, Florida.
After a full weekend, Lauren Thrower, 13, was crowned Missouri Junior Teen and McKenzie Mitchell, 18, was crowned Missouri Teen. Janelle Graf of Forsythe, was crowned their “sister queen” as Missouri Miss. Along with competing for their National Title, comes a new passion for their organization’s charity, Give Kids The World (www.gktw.org). Give Kids The World Village is a 70-acre nonprofit “storybook” resort, located near Central Florida’s most beloved attractions, where children with life threatening illnesses and their families are treated to a week long, cost free fantasy vacation. The girls will be having a unique fundraiser and a pageant to raise money that they will personally deliver to GKTW to help send a child and their family to this amazing place.
Perspective Productions is different than most pageant systems in that their titleholders are encouraged to compete in other systems. Many USA and America titleholders are alumni to this pageant system including Katie Stam, Miss America 2009, Amber Seyer, of Oran, who went on to win Missouri Teen USA and Miss Missouri USA and Top Ten at Miss USA, as well as 26 Miss Teen USA System Winners, 10 Miss USA System Winners, and 3 America Systems Winners. Currently, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma are all sending former Princess America state titleholders to Teen USA. Lauren and McKenzie both have dreams to earn their state title and head to Teen USA in the future. McKenzie placed 2ndrunner up in November out of 55 girls at Missouri Teen USA this year and plans to re-compete this year and attempt to capture that crown.
The Missouri State Pageant is no stranger to Dexter. Lindsay Orr Woods was the very first National Titleholder from the Show-Me-State in 2001 and the State Pageant was held in Dexter for 3 years following and involved many area girls.
Lauren is the reigning Junior Miss Dexter, Junior Miss Heartland and Junior Miss Stoddard County. She is an 8th grade student at T.S. Hill Middle School and the daughter of Lori Hawkins and Bob Thrower.
McKenzie is the reigning Miss DHS, Miss Dexter 2011, and Miss Stoddard County in 2009. She is a senior at Dexter High School and the daughter of Dr. Kevin and Ann Marie Mitchell.
These young ladies have represented our school, our town, our county and now our STATE! Look for exciting things from these “sister queens” in the future. They have big dreams and plan on living them!
Produced by Perspective Productions, Princess America Pageants launched its annual multi-state event by crowning titleholders in three divisions. These include, Junior Teen (13-15 years of age), Teen (16-18 years of age) and Miss (19-28 years of age). Phases of competition, each worth 25% of the total score, included Physical Fitness, Personal Expression, Private Interview and Evening Gown.
By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor
It was a celebration - a celebration of children, of spring, of community!
The first-ever Strollerthon and 5K to benefit the Dexter Parents As Teacher (PAT) program was a rousing success in so many ways. The event was held on a beautiful spring Saturday morning at he Dexter West City Park with hundreds of youngsters, parents, grandparents and friends participating in the activities – all to promote and assist the PAT program.
From kids in costumes and decorated stroller, folks lined up for the 5K through the streets of town, to the Easter Bunny and an Easter Egg Hunt – it was a joyous celebration.
Over 100 folks registered for the 5K and the Strollerthon, according o event organizer Willa Fees, and many more spectators. Fees report the grand total for the day will top $3,500 from 5K, Strollerthon, SStrollerthon decorating votes, quilt raffles and t-shirt sales.
“We absolutely live in the best community,” Fees said. She said Liberty Hill Church came out with balloons and bubbles for the kids and many local businesses donated prizes, water, snacks, an s ‘swag bog’ goodies. “The response to this event utterly exceeded our expectations.”
Fees reported people could still purchase t-shirts from the event for a $5 donation at the P.A.T. office at Southwest Elemenary School on Grant Street in Dexter.
Winners in the Strollerthon decorating contest include:
- 1st place: Clint and Hannah LeBeau with 10-month-old son Grayson
- 2nd place: Randa Robertson with 1-month-old Riley Cannady
- 3re place: Brandon and Brandy Barnes with 11-month-old Newt
ShowMe Times Photo Gallery
Strollerthon 2012
By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor
OLD GREENVILLE - Spring is here and soon the smell of gunpowder will be in the air as the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wappapello Lake and the Crowley’s Ridge Black Powder Club host the 34th Annual Black Powder Rendezvous on April 14 and 15 at the Greenville Recreation Area.
The annual rendezvous is an opportunity to take a step back into time Re-enactors and craftspeople are on hand, spending the weekend as would the fur traders and pioneers in early America.
The Fur Trade Era began after the first European explorers, Louis Joliet and Father Marquette, canoed up the Des Plaines River and passed through the Chicago Portage in 1673. It lasted until local Indian tribes left northeastern Illinois after 1833.
The Rendezvous was the high point of the year for the traders who bartered supplies for furs with local tribes. "Brigades" or "outfits" of voyageurs would bring supplies from the headquarters of the fur companies and collect the cured skins and pelts. For sometimes as long as two weeks, the men would meet to trade and socialize, dance and sing, eat, drink, fight and race canoes.
Afterwards, the brigades would return with their cargoes to Canada and the East and the traders would return to their posts for a long winter in the "Illinois Country"
Bring your family and enjoy this pre-1840 era fur trapper rendezvous which is currently the longest consecutive running rendezvous in Missouri. It will take you back in time as you walk among the lodges, browse through the traders’ goods and talk with the trappers. There will be mountain skills competitions both days among the campfires, freshly shot gunpowder, and whistling tomahawks as well as old time games. Crafters and vendors will be on hand to make the event complete.
The primitive camp will open around 10 a.m. Saturday morning and close around 3 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free to the public. Shuttles in horse-drawn wagons will be available from the parking area to the campground.
While at the Rendezvous take an moment to see Old Greenville. In 1941, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the flood control project for the St. Francis River known that created Lake Wappapello. The resulting lake level necessitated the relocation of the town of Greenville to its present site, two miles northeast of its original position.
Because of its archaeological and historic significance, the old town of Greenville has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March of 1990. Today this site is commonly referred to as Old Greenville. For a journey through the past, tour the sidewalks of Old Greenville on a self guided historic walk known as "Memory Lane" and learn about a town and its people.
For more information, please contact Park Ranger John Daves at the Wappapello Lake Project Office at (573) 222-8562, or Crowley’s Ridge Black Powder Club members Dale Kemp at (573) 624-9769 and Devin Scott at (573) 776-8746.
As a reminder, the new access to the Old Greenville Recreation Area is now located on the east side of U. S. Highway 67, approximately two miles south of Greenville, Missouri.
