Dexter City Clerk Crystal Bishop administered the oath of office to newly reelected city officials at Monday evening’s meeting of the Dexter Board of Aldermen.

Taking the oath of office for new terms were aldermen Jerry Corder (Ward I), Kent Essner (Ward II), Tim Aslin (Ward II), and Ray Pixley (Ward III), and City Collector Crystal Allstun. The newly sworn-in officials then signed the “Book of the Oath of Office” and resumed their seats at the aldermanic table.

The swearing-in ceremony was the high point in an otherwise rather uneventful meeting Monday night. Mayor Joe Weber was out of town, and Ward II Alderman Kent Essner presided in his role as aldermanic president.

City Developer Janet Coleman reported to the board that a “couple of inquiries” have been received concerning potential new small businesses in town. Coleman called the prospects “promising.”

Pam Trammell, director of the Keller Public Library, reported the Genealogy Society would be hosting a workshop at the library on Saturday, June 5. Additional information can be received by contacting the library.

After conducting ‘old business,’ the board adjourned Sine Die, and reassembled and reorganized.  Bishop administered the oath the office, and the ‘new’ board began its duties.

On a nomination by Alderman Taylor, Ward II Alderman Tim Aslin was unanimously elected as president of the board; Bishop was unanimously appointed as clerk.  In addition, the board gave its approval to the reappointment of standing city committees.

The next aldermanic meeting is set for 7 p.m., Monday, May 21

Photo Above: City Clerk Crystal Bishop administers the oath of office to city officials reelected in municipal elections in Apri. Taking the oath of office are (from left) Crystal Allstun, Ray Pixley, Tim Aslin, Kent Essner, and Jerry Corder. (ShowMe Time photo by Annabeth Miller) 

By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

It was about fun and friendship, and community and caring; it was a night of celebrating life and youth and rock ‘n roll!

The Dexter High School Student Council rallied the student body and the community on Saturday to help a peer, friend, and classmate - a fellow Bearcat. On Saturday evening they filed into the DHS Gym for Lyrics for Luke – a fun fundraiser to help sophomore Luke Lewis.

Luke is the son of Michelle and Stephen Quinton, and the family moved to Dexter from Indiana just before the start of the 2011-2012 academic year. Since early this year he has battled stage 3 non-Hodgkins lymphoma and has been receiving medical treatment for 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.

But Luke, his family and the community were all on hand Saturday for a great night of music. Students JT Putnam and band, Brandon Moore and Joseph Greer all joined The Buzz for a fantastic night of fun.  Folks in the bleachers and in chairs on the gym floor taped toes, clapped and sang along with the music. Younger kids danced on the gym floor and enjoyed the reverie.

The DHS STUCO sponsored the evening, one of several projects the group has planned this semester to help Lewis. STUCO members took admission at the door, sold t-shirts, candy, helped set up the chairs and equipment, gave out lime green ribbons (the "color" for on-Hodgkins lymphoma) and helped organize the signing of a large banner for Lewis. 

“It was a success,” declared DHS counselor and STUCO Advisor Jennifer Miller. “We had room for about 250 people and it looked pretty well looked full.”

Miller said the Dexter community and the students and school system have been very supportive of the STUCO efforts and of Luke and his family.

“The comunity’s been awesome,” Miller said. “I can’t get over how much they’ve done. The whole community has come out. Tonight was a great time for a great cause. Everybody had a good time.”

Luke and his family were on hand - sitting front-and-center in the front row and enjoying every minute of the evening.

The local band The Buzz, led by Scott Kruse, helped organize the event and showcase their rock ‘n roll music during the night.

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," he said. "It’s a respectable thing that these kids are doing to come together for Luke."

The t-shirts sold by STUCO said it all –

“When there’s a cure for cancer
We will SING for joy.
Until then we’ll sing for LIFE!”

Photo Above: Austin Richardson (right) gives Luke Lewis a big hug at the end of Lyrics for Luke on Saturday night. (ShowMe Times photo by Annabeth Miller)

ShowMe Times Photo Gallery

By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

Ministers from the Dexter area expressed their faith in our nation and asked for wisdom and guidance on our nation’s leader in the local observance of the National Day of Prayer.

The Dexter Ministerial Alliance sponsored the event and more than 75 attended the event on the lawn in front of the Dexter City Administration Building on Stoddard Street.

Rev. Kenneth Biggs of the First General Baptist Church opened the prayer service with a verse from the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles:  ”If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

The gathering then united and faced the American Flag flying in front of the city building, and joined voices in singing “The Star Spangled Banner.”

“I know we all live in some very troubled times and many of use are disappointed in some things in our nation, and yet we are all still proud to be Americans and very thankful for the land we live in,” said Pastor Micheal Kohlbaker. He asked those gathered Thursday to consider “where we are as a nation” and then he led the first prayer of the service, a Prayer of Confession and Repentance, asking God to “forgive us as a nation where we have gone astray.”

As the birds sang, the breeze blew the leaves in the trees, trains travelled through town and traffic zipped by on Stoddard Street, those gathered for the service quietly stood casually about the front lawn. In the gathering were a number of local officials, including County Commission Carol Jarrell, Mayor Joe Weber, Sheriff Carl Hefner, and City Administrator Mark Stidham.

“Speaker of the House Tip O’Neal in the Reagan years said that ‘all politics is local’,” said Pastor Steve Tippen. He then led a prayer for the local officials in the community.

A number of pastors from the community led prayers during the noontime service:

• Pastor Micheal Kohlbaker: Prayer of Confession and Repentence
• Father David Dohong: Prayer for Federal Officials
• Pastor Josh Carpenter: Prayer for State Officials
• Pastor Steve Tippen: Prayer For Local Officials
• Pastor Roy Sherfield: Prayer for the Educational System
• Pastor Roger Wooten: Prayer for Those who Serve and Protect (Militry, Police, Fire)
• Pastor Steve Easterwood: Prayer for the Judicial System
• Pastor Lonny Mittag: Prayer for the upcoming election

The National Day of Prayer is organized each year by the NDP Task Force. The first call to prayer was done by the Continental Congress in 1775. It didn’t have an official annual observance until 1952 when President Harry Truman signed a joint resolution made by the U.S. Congress. 

The idea of an annual day of prayer was enshrined in law under President Truman in 1952, and President Reagan signed a 1988 law calling for the event to be held on the first Thursday of each May.

Where President George W. Bush welcomed National Day of Prayer leaders to the White House, President Obama has taken a more aloof approach to the task force and to the Day of Prayer itself. 

The White House listed the president's schedule for May 3 as including a lunch with the vice president, a meeting with senior aides, and some remarks at a Cinco de Mayo Reception in the Rose Garden. The president's proclamation included an exhortation to pray for members of America's armed forces, and for "those who are sick, mourning, or without hope," and to "ask God for the sustenance to meet the challenges we face as a Nation."

Mitt Romney, poised to become the Republican nominee for president, released his own statement of prayer. “Today I join with people of all faiths to express devotion and gratitude to the Lord, who has so richly blessed us," he said. His concluding phrase appeared to be a nod to the task force evangelicals, calling on "the Lord [to] keep us strong and free and we will remain one nation under God."

Photo Above: Pastor Michael Kohlbaker was one of the pastors who lead prayer at the National Day of Prayer service in Dexter Thursday. The annual service was sponsored by the Dexter Ministerial Alliance. (ShowMe Times photo by Annabeth Miller)