Article by SMT
Writer Jessica Snider
Dexter, Missouri - Recently it was announced that the nation’s largest 4G network would be getting larger for customers in Dexter, Missouri.
AT&T activated a new 4G mobile Internet cell site in Dexter that will enhance the coverage for all area residents and businesses. 4G provide speeds up to four times faster than 3G. 4G speeds can be enjoyed by customers in the southern part of Dexter, along State Highway 25 and Worley Road, including the Dexter Municipal Airport.
The ribbon cutting for the new tower was held this morning around 9:30 A.M. immediately following the Industrial Appreciation Week Proclamation signing in the Chamber Building.
The 4G tower has been named the Mayer-Wright Tower in honor or Senator Rob Mayor and Representative Billy Pat Wright in appreciation for all their hard work in making Missouri a better place for people to live and work.
Senator Rob Mayer and Representative Billy Pat Wright are shown in the photo being presented picture of the new 4G Tower by Marsha Haskell. Marsha is the regional Director for External Affairs for AT&T.
Saturday, July 21st in Orlando, Florida, dreams came true as three young women were crowned Princess America Pageants’ National Miss, National Teen, and National Jr. Teen 2012. The Princess America Pageants were held at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. The pageant was a week-long national event. Contestants all across the country gathered in Florida to compete for over $25,000 in cash, prizes, scholarships, and awards.
Among those three young women who had their dreams come true that Saturday night was our very own Lauren Thrower. Lauren is the fourteen-year old daughter of Lori Hawkins and Bob Thrower. Lauren lives in Dexter, and recently started her freshman year of high school.
The Princess America Pageants crown titleholders in three divisions. The divisions include the National Junior Teen, which is for ages thirteen-fifteen, National Teen ages sixteen-eighteen, and National Miss ages nineteen-twenty-eight. Lauren took the crown of the National Junior Teen division.
There were four different phases of the competition, and each phase being worth twenty-five percent of the total score. The phases included: physical fitness, personal expression, private interview, and evening wear.
Soon after arriving in Florida, the contestants along with their families enjoyed a welcome luncheon. The luncheon was themed as a summer garden party. Some contestants wore floral prints and hats as they prepared for orientation and their first rehearsal in the hotel’s Martinique Ballroom.
Wednesday of Pageant week, the contestants all boarded on a bus to enjoy a full day of activities planned for them. One of the activities included the Give Kids the World Village. An emotional video was watched, and the contestants got a personal tour of the village. They got to see the presentation of a check for $10,588 that this year’s participants raised to donate to Give Kids the World.
On Thursday morning the contestants participated in a professional swimwear shoot with Deanna Meredith. Contestants received call times in which they shot in physical fitness, evening wear, and Deanna Meredith fashions.
Friday morning began with a rehearsal for the Miss contestants while the Teens met with judges for their seven minute and thirty second interview. The evening began as the Teen and Miss contestants competed in physical fitness, personal expression, and evening wear. Afterwards, the Junior Teens had evening interviews.
All contestants met for their final rehearsal on Saturday morning. The Junior Teen competition began in the afternoon, and the Teen and Miss began promptly at 7:30.
Saturday afternoon at the end of the Junior Teen competition, Dexter, MO, had a queen. Miss Lauren Thrower was representing Missouri, and was crowned National Junior Teen.
When asked about the pageant Lauren said, “I loved meeting all the girls from different states and making new friends. I also liked being able to raise money for the Give Kids the World and to visit the village.”
Lauren’s future plans include the upcoming Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen (MMOT) competition, which will be held in Springfield on October 6th. Her platform for competing in the Miss America system is D.A.R.E, which Lauren spends plenty of time working with. Her talent in the pageant will be singing.
If Lauren wins the title in Springfield, she will then move onto the state competition in Mexico, MO to compete for the state title. If she wins state, she will compete in the National Miss America Outstanding Teen pageant to be held in Orlando next summer.
Many different things occupy Lauren’s time as she engages in many activities, but she handles it all like a professional. Some of her engagements include: pageants, JV volleyball, keeping her grades up, working with the D.A.R.E. program, Honors Choir, Student Council, emceeing pageants, speaking engagements, music projects, and pulling as many shifts as she can at the business owned by her mother, Dexter Queen. Lauren cares deeply about all the things she engages in and does them all with a smile!
Lauren concludes by saying, “I liked being able to challenge myself to be a better person by competing with all these sweet and pretty girls who I know had a great chance of winning. When I won it was a great honor to be chosen, and it gave me a lot of self-confidence. I now know that if I set my mind to something I can accomplish it.”
We wish Lauren the best of luck in all her future endeavors, and congratulations on her accomplishments thus far!
Advance, MO - The Labor Day celebration holds many different meanings to people these days. The City of Advance continues the traditions of the past by celebrating Labor Day with a community parade. Local business, civic groups, and political figures all make an effort to be involved in the community event.
Labor Day is an American federal holiday that is observed on the first Monday in September to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers.
Initially, the Labor Day street parade was designed to exhibit to the public the strength and spirit of local businesses and organizations. Many times, festivals would follow the community parades to celebrate the contributions of the workers and their families.
The involvement of the holiday has changed over the years. The awareness of the celebration is often diluted in the political speeches, especially during an election year such as 2012. Labor Day celebrations often become the center point for speeches by prominent men and women.
Area civic service and local fire rescue groups always bring a lot of excitement to the parades. Having the equipment in "Top Shine" condition takes a lot of preparation, but those at the event enjoy the sounds and sites of the emergency vehicles. The Stoddard County Ambulance District can be seen on hand in the above photo.
Advance, as well as many other area small communities, continues the original traditions of celebrating the vitality and economic success of their local small- town businesses. The economic challenges have been many, but the American spirit is alive and well in the city of Advance.
That spirit is easily recognized as one passes on Highway 25 around “the curve” in Advance. Local business leaders and community organizers have planned well and increased the business trade of the community. Selfless contributors often deliver this investment into the future of a small town with a recognizable passion for the overall good of the community.
Congratulations to Advance and those instrumental in the community’s success.
(Picture Provided by Tonya Winchester prior to the Advance Parade. Tonya's granddaughter, Lily and step-son, Brison, were excited to take part in the event as she drove through the parade handing out candy to attendees.)
By Jessica Snider, ShowMe Times Writer
Fall is just around the corner and it may be hard to believe, but it’s almost time for the annual Stoddard County Parade followed by the fair to finish out the week.Many young kids and even adults are anticipating this year’s parade and Stoddard County fair that will be returning for the year in just a few short weeks.
Pageant winners, fire trucks, policeman, churches, and political organizations are just a few things we can expect to see going down the street that fall afternoon.
The parade and fair week is a busy time for the whole county, but especially the town of Dexter as we host the events every year.
It takes a lot of time and organization to make everything run as smoothly as it always does.
As the weather begins to change in a few weeks, there is an excitement in a lot of younger children as they start to realize the fair is approaching. So many rides, friends, and great food they get to enjoy.
For the adults and older children, there is surely a ride everyone can enjoy, great food, live music every night, contests, and the pageant, which is always directly following the parade.
No matter the age of a person, there is something we can all enjoy at the fair. The weather is usually just right this time of year. Little kids get to enjoy the rides with other children their age. Parents, while waiting on the rides to finish, are bound to run into someone they know at the Stoddard County fair.
Many people come out to the fair on Thursday and take advantage of bracelet night. Bracelet night is there a bracelet can be purchased instead of tickets if one desires, and that bracelet can get them onto the rides for the rest of the night instead of using tickets every time. This appeals to many, as we know Thursday night the fairgrounds are usually packed with people.
Many people like to get a head start on buying tickets for their children, or even for themselves during the fair. Often times one can find a better deal on tickets if they decide to purchase them before arriving at the fair.
Starting tomorrow, September 1st, tickets will be on sale at Gary’s Quick Stop located on the corner of Highway 25 and Stoddard Street. Tickets can be purchased at the price of twenty-dollars for twenty-five tickets.
There is a limited amount of tickets, so hurry and get yours! Wishing everyone a happy fall, and a wonderful time at the upcoming festivities!
Jake McGuire is a 2009 graduate from Dexter High School. Shortly after graduation McGuire made the decision to enlist in the army. He could never prepare for what would happen shortly after enlisting.
“I went to basic training in Benning, Georgia from January 24th to May 5th of 2011,” McGuire recalls.
McGuire was then stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas where he would stay for about a month until then leaving for Fort Irwin, Calofirnia for pre-deployment training.
“The pre-deployment training was fun, but you had to depend on the guys with you.”
Four months later McGuire was deployed to Afghanistan. “It’s a whole different world over there. You don’t know who’s friendly and who’s not sometimes. You have to look after your brothers on the right and left of you because you know they’d do the same for you,” states McGuire.
McGuire got used to the living conditions as time progressed. “We lived in tents, and got one hot meal a day. Sometimes the showers wouldn’t work, so we took a shower every four days if we weren’t doing missions.”
He remembers the day of his accident starting like any other day would. “We had a last-minute mission we had to go on.” McGuire was driving the lead truck and stopped at the first village and did their checks at a point where there was a culvert. Still, everything seemed fine.
McGuire recalls, “We drove closer to the next village. I saw two blast holes, but I went in-between the two. Up ahead a little further there was a hole on the right side of the road, and a little dip in the road. As soon as we hit that little dip our truck shot up in the air.”
“I blacked out and I remember waking up and seeing a lot of dirt in the cab and just saw the sky.”
“I felt like I was falling, so I braced myself and hoped for the best. I then felt the truck crash and I blacked out again.”
McGuire woke up to the guys in the back yelling at him. He was stuck in the fetal position. “I cut my seatbelt off me, and then got pulled to the back by the two guys in my truck. We tried opening all four doors but we were stuck. We were trapped in the truck for probably ten to fifteen minutes.’
Luckily, an Afghan soldier convoy was coming down the road. “They had a wrecker and they flipped our truck onto its side while we were still in it. Finally they broke open the top hatch.”
“My squad leader picked me up and sat me on the ground. All I could think about was how I just knew I was going to be paralyzed.”
They took McGuire to the nearest camp where he was then taken to Germany, then flown back into the states. “I ended up having a concussion, vertigo, broken nose, stitches in my top lip, gash on my jaw line, fractures, and two messed up discs. Besides the two discs, everything else has healed.”
McGuire closes by saying, “I thank God that I’m alive and I was able to make it through this. I am trying to reenlist, but if I can’t because of the medical reasons then I am going to go to college for criminal justice.”
McGuire also said even if he had the chance to do it all over again, he would still enlist in the army because he loves it.
McGuire, deservingly, was awarded the Purple heart in March of 2012.
