By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

There’s a well-known little song that proclaims:

I’ve something in my pocket,
It belongs across my face.[brI keep it very close to me[br[In a most convenient place.
I’m sure you could not guess it
If you guessed a long, long while.
So I’ll take it out and put it on
It’s a great big Brownie smile!

For eight little girls this weekend there were smiles galore as their moved from Daisy to Brownie Girl Scouts. The Bridging Ceremony was held Saturday at the Church of Christ activity building in Dexter.           

Daisy Girl Scouts are the youngest girls in the Girl Scout family - traditionally girls in kindergarten and first grade. They “Bridge” – or graduate into Brownie Girl Scouts and learned all about those “Brownie smiles” in grades 2 an 3.  The wear the Brownie Girl Scout pin and the World Association pin – which shows they - like all Girl Scouts in America - are part of the worldwide movement of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides.

Welcome to the world of Brownie Girl Scouts, Grcaie, Marie, Destiny, Elizabeth, Callie, Jayci, Madison, and Riley!!

Photo Above: New Brownie Girl Scouts celebrate their bridging recently. Celebrating are Gracie Jones Marie Fees, Destiny Gifford, Elizabeth Arnold, Callie Whitaker, Jayci Holcomb, Madison Glaus, and Riley Christians. 

BAGRAM AIRBASE, Afghanistan - An Essex man in the Missouri Army National Guard was awarded the Bronze Star Medal during ceremonies last month at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan.

Sgt. 1st Class Robert E. Myers, Jr.  of Essex is assigned to the St. Louis-based 1138th Transportation Company, which is about to conclude a 10-month convoy operations mission throughout Afghanistan.

In the award certificate from Army Secretary John M. McHugh, Myers is cited for his exceptional meritorious service in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and his outstanding performance and dedication to duty and to the success of the unit's mission. 

"The distinct accomplishments of Sgt. 1st Class Myers reflect great credit upon himself, the 1138th Transportation Company, Task Force 142, the 10th Sustainment Brigade, Joint Sustainment Command-Afghanistan and the United States Army," the certificate read.

As part of Task Force 142, the 1138th conducted more than 90 convoy missions covering an individual combined total of 847,000 miles, delivering critical supplies valued at $2.7 billion to forward operating bases across austere and treacherous terrain. In addition, the unit escorted more than 4,900 Afghan national trucks carrying critical vehicles and equipment in support of units throughout eastern Afghanistan and helped dispose of unused ammunition.

Prior to the unit's deployment, soldiers of the 1138th underwent two months of intensive convoy operations and combat training in Missouri, Kansas and Texas.

The 1138th Transportation Company is headquartered at historic Jefferson Barracks in south St. Louis County and is a subordinate unit of the 311th Brigade Support Battalion, based in Lexington.

The unit is now in Texas and is scheduled to return to St. Louis on Saturday. 

By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

He’s a kid who is fighting quite a battle. But Luke Lewis has a whole army of schoolmates who are behind him all the way – a whole army that’s pulling for him, and working hard and pulling for Lewis to have a victory in his battle against cancer.

Lewis is a sophomore at Dexter High School, and since early this year he has battled stage 3 non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He’s missed out on a lot – school dances, classes, kidding around in the halls between classes, after-school activities, and the daily camaraderie between friends.

But Lewis has not been far from the minds of his classmates. They have sold lollypops, lime green ribbons and more – all to raise funds and awareness for him. Students huddle in school counselor Jennifer Miller’s office in between classes to work on projects and fundraisers – and the students use the Internet and social media to keep in touch with Lewis.

Luke is the son of Michelle and Stephen Quinton, and the family moved to Dexter from Indiana just before the tart of the 2011-2012 academic year. Since February he has been receiving medical treatment at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. He has gone through some tough treatments – chemotherapy, blood thinners and more. And because of the treatments he has lost his hair, is weak and is susceptible to flu-like symptoms and coughs. There have been trips back-and-forth to St. Louis and long stays in the hospital.

So this Saturday evening, Luke’s classmates and friends are going to “raise the roof” of the DHS gym in a unique and fun fundraising event – Lyrics for Luke.

The event will feature The BUZZ rock-n-roll band and other bands and musicians – all to raise funds for Luke and his family.

The BUZZ includes T.S. Hill Middle School principal Scott Kruse on drums as well as DHS alums John Stewart, Kip Musgrave, and Bobbi Kay Wooley Parker. They still play that “good ‘ol rock and roll,” still have a good time, and still can chase the cows out of the ‘back 40’’.

Some other folks will join the BUZZ Saturday night – they might be called the “younger young generation.

“We’re going to set up in the gym,” Kruse explained and Stewart will do his magic with the band’s equipment. “The (high school) kids will bring their guitars and (drum) sticks and plug into our equipment. We’ve got J.T. Putnam and his band, and we’ve got other kids who are going to sing with us.”

Kruse said The BUZZ has given its song list to a number of high school musicians, and they will sing with his band. High school musical “phenom” Joseph Greer will also join the show.

“The BUZZ has played a lot of fun shows, but nothing is more fun than the feeling of helping out a family in need and having a good time doing it,” he said.  “So proud of the High School STUCO for organizing this event. Let’s celebrate life and show Luke that no one in this community fights alone.”

Kruse also gives the credit for this event and others the students have sponsored to Miller.

“She’s been great – she’s gotten this all together,” he comments.

“It’s going to be a ‘come hang out’ event for a good cause and have a great night,” Kruse said. “They’ll have t-shirts, too. All the money is going to go to this kid’s family. It should be a lot of fun.”

A community effort such as this is, Kruse said, typical of our wonderful community and school system.

“This is typical of our community and schools. The support is there,” he said. Kruse calls Lewis a “hero.” “There are students who have challenges, but not many of them are taking chemo, loosing their hair and fighting like this. It’s a respectable thing that these kids are doing to come together for Luke.”

What’s Happening

• What: Lyrics For Luke
• When: Saturday, May 5, 2012
• Time: 7 p.m.
• Place: Dexter High School Gym
• Cost: $5 minimum donation

ROLLA – Athletes at Missouri S&T offered a helping hand to those in need in the Rolla community, and a Dexter student was part of the effort.

Dexter’s Katelyn Heil was a part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee that challenged Missouri S&T's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee  and held a canned food drive this spring. The effort was a  challenge competition among the university's athletic teams – which resulted in the collection of 1,100 food items which will be donated locally.



Heil is a senior at Missouri S&T and the daughter of Dan and Connie Heil of Dexter. Katelyn and her sister Katherine were standout athletes at Dexter High School and have played basketball at the Rolla university.

The donated items will be donated to GRACE, a local agency in Phelps County, who in turn will make them available for those who need them.

The food drive conducted by the S&T SAAC was part of the Great Lakes Valley Conference's challenge, an annual contest encouraging student-athletes from the league's 16 institutions to be active in their local communities.
Missouri S&T's swimming team collected the most items with over 300 non-perishable food items brought in for donation.  The teams were compared by the ratio of food items to the number of team members.



Photo Above: Pictured above are some of the members of Missouri S&T's SAAC that assisted with the food drive. From the left are Clint Wobbe (baseball), Kim Ekholm (women's soccer), Kassie Osborne (women's track & field), Hayley Wright (volleyball), Filmore Bouldes (men's basketball), Lindsey DeForest (softball), Drew Pyles (baseball), Courtney Kemp (women's basketball), Spencer Brinkmeyer (men's soccer), Jennifer Costello (volleyball), Aaron Viets (men's track/cross country), Katelyn Heil (women's basketball), Andrew Simek (swimming), Mindy Lake (women's track/cross country) and Hayden Price (swimming).