The Dexter Board of Alderman appointed Kerry Jarrell to Administrative Assistant, Sierra Luttrull to City Treasurer and Melissa Wright to City Collector!
Pictured left to right are Jarrell, Luttrull, and Wright.
The 31st Annual Fourth of July Patriotic Parade for Kids will be held on Tuesday, July 4th at 10:00 a.m.
This annual parade will begin at the corner of Elm and Vine streets in downtown Dexter, across from the License Bureau.
The youngsters guided by Uncle Sam (aka Mayor Banken) will gather on the steps of the U.S. Post Office on Stoddard Street to salute the American Flag with the Pledge of Allegiance. They will sing a few patriotic songs and pose for those everlasting photos and videos. (ShowMe Times will be there!)
The parade will follow its traditional route down Elm Street to Stoddard Street with kids on bicycles, tricycles, wagons, scooters, golf carts, on foot or in strollers. You may even see a few patriotic dogs in the parade.
The parade will get moving again, east down Stoddard Street to Poplar Street, where it will turn south at the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) back to Vine Street and turn west returning to the Bankens' front yard where they will be treated to lemonade and a small snack.
The "just for kids" parade was started by Janice Barney, Lisa Greer and Jean Rahm. The parade leadership has passed to a new generation, as Kristina and Jason Banken, now host the holiday parade each year. The Banken family began hosting the parade 16 years ago, and have continued to build upon the Independence Day tradition.
Children are invited to participate. They may walk or bring their bikes and other means of transportation for the parade. Parking will be available for grown-ups in the city parking lot on Vine Street across from the Dexter Municipal Building
Dexter Fire Chief Don Seymore honored Crystal Bracken with the Fire Chief's Signature Coin.
Seymore awarded the win for her actions following a piece of equipment fire at BA Promotions recently.
"Her quick reaction and utilizing a fire extinguisher was excellent," stated Seymore. "Her actions saved the building from significant damage and possibly saved the business."
Seymore further said had everyone left the building and waited on the fire department the fire would have spread by 16 percent per minute. Because of Bracken's actions the building suffered no damage and the business only lost the piece of equipment. Seymore said this is the first such coin he has awarded since 2012.
The coin bears the same wording as the Dexter fire trucks, Honor, Integrity, Pride and Strength. On the opposite side it says Dexter Fire Department.
Madison Glaus of Dexter High School has been named to the 2023 MBCA Academic All-State girls basketball team.
She is the daughter of David and Kara Glaus and is a senior at Dexter High School.
Seniors who met the qualifying criteria and were nominated were eligible for this team.
1) Player in good standing with team.
2) Possesses outstanding moral character.
3) Has ONE OR MORE of the following verified minimum scores (a. b. or c.):
a. ACT score of 27 composite or above
b. SAT score of 1280 composite or above
c. PSAT score of 185 selection index or more
and qualify with a ….
4) Grade-Point Average of 3.25 out of possible 4.0 (or equivalent on alternate grade scale)
5) Athletes must be nominated by their high school coach and their high school coach must be a member to nominate.
In 2022 on March 12th while covering the Final Four Basketball Championship in Springfield, Missouri the community lost a great sports writer. Kyle Smith was the Sports Editor of the Dexter Statesman and a contributor to SEMOBALL.com. He had a heart attack and passed away. He was my friend and mentor when it came to sports writing.
He was doing what he loved and that was covering Stoddard County sports. Kyle was at most every sporting event in the county and I spent a tremendous amount of evenings with him on the field or on the courts.
Kyle and I had a love for Diet Mtn Dew, Skittles and Twix Bars. We also ate a lot of hotdogs during football, volleyball, and basketball seasons. Many times we "fussed" over who got the left Twix or the Right Twix Bar!
Together with the Dexter Statesman Editor, Josh Ayers, we decided to keep Kyle's memory alive by creating a Memorial Scholarship to a Stoddard County Athlete. The first scholarship went to John Nimmo, Bernie Mules, in 2022, just a couple of week's after Kyle's passing. The last feature story Kyle wrote was about John and their run to the State Championship in basketball. It was printed after his passing.
Kyle loved girls and boys basketball. He would sit on the floor taking photos and try to help them win. If he caught the ball out of bounds, he'd say, "I put some mojo on that ball, now it will get into the basket." If they were at the free throw line he'd whisper, "get in there! We need those points."
If one of them would make a mistake or get swatted down, he'd simply say, "Oopsies!" Kyle was a quiet man, but he also had a funny side too.
We know Kyle would have been so excited to see the Bearcats win the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, the SCAA Tournament, and most of all the first District Tournament in 19 years. He would have written some amazing feature articles on all of them.
And I can see him clearly rubbing his hands together and saying, "I smell a feature story!"
Kyle would have been proud to see, senior, Cole Nichols receive the 2023 Kyle Smith Memorial Scholarship! Along with this $500 scholarship, Nichols received a Diet Mt. Dew and a "sharing" bag of Skittles!!
Nichols broke the record for most career points and was instrumental in helping the basketball achieve their district win.
Photo taken by Truman Krapf, Dexter High School senior basketball player.
