Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Writer
Stoddard County, Missouri - The National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky has issued a FLOOD WATCH to remain in effect through Friday evening.
The FLOOD WATCH continues for:
* Portions of Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Southeast Missouri, including Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Mississippi, New Madrid, Perry Ripley, Scott Stoddard and Wayne Counties.
* Widespread heavy rainfall is expected tonight through Friday and into Friday evening in areas along and west of the Mississippi River. Storm totals in the 3 to 4 inch range are probable...with locally higher amounts close to 5 inches in areas that experience repeated thunderstorm activity. Right now...it appears the highest rain totals will occur along and west of a Perryville to Dexter Missouri line.
* Given the river flooding of the past few weeks and the high soil moisture content...additional flooding appears likely along area rivers and streams. localized flash flooding will also be possible.
precautionary/preparedness actions...
A flood watch means there is a potential for flooding based on current forecasts.
You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible flood warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Writer
Dexter, Missouri - With spring in the air and the flowers beginning to bloom, days are getting a bit longer and people are beginning to enjoy the outdoors. May can be a very busy month with high school proms and graduations. Everyone is ready for fun in the sun and a vacation.
Throughout May, Miss Mollie Ann Whitehead will be featured as this month's Show Me Calendar Girl.
She was given the congeniality award in the 2012 Miss Dexter Pageant. The Dexter High School Choral Department sponsors the annual pageant, and the top twelve are rewarded as “Calendar Girls" throughout the year.
Mollie is the daughter of Jonathan and Kristi Whitehead and is a Junior at Dexter Senior High School.
She is an avid basketball player for the DHS Lady Bearcats Basketball team and is also a member of FCA, and FTA.
Throughout the month of May, Mollie will be occupied with the last month of her Junior year and begins planning for her last year at Dexter Senior High.
Congratulations to Mollie Ann Whitehead who is the Show Me Calendar Girl for May 2013.
Photo provided by Shannon Putnam. Thank you.
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Writer
He is the President and founder of Five For Water Foundation, Inc. located at 920 Broadway, Suite 110 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Gene Weeks, Dexter Rotarian, introduced the guest speaker as Bill is currently a member of the Cape Girardeau Rotary and has been since 2005. He began his commitment to the Rotary International many years ago when he was selected to receive the Rotary Ambassador Scholarship to England in 1979 as a teenager. He most recently received the 2010 Rush H. Limbaugh Rotarian of the Year Award for his outstanding service to the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club.
Bill did tell a short story of his earlier days of the Rotary. When he traveled to England, Bill learned two very important things. One was to love Rotary and the other was to drink Scotch whiskey. What a year Bill had over in England!
In 2005, Bill read an article in his monthly Rotarian Magazine that was written by Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park and many other well-known books. It stated that 30,000 people die each day from not having clean water, 90% of them being children under the age of 5. Bill could not believe the statistic. It seemed impossible! He began to investigate and research those numbers and later learned it was true.
He had to do something to fix this situation. With his background in marketing research and he loved coffee, he discovered that over 70% of adults in America drink coffee and along with that so did Rotarians.He chose to join forces with Todd Lindley, past Rotary 6060 District Governor and then partnered with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to produce a special packaging with the Rotary logo. As a longtime Rotarian, it was an easy decision to partner with the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau. Together they started selling gourmet coffee and applying for grants through the Rotary.
"We keep it simple," stated Mr. Prost. "We started in 2008 and created a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization."
Today they have funded 12 projects through the Rotary and have added clean water to more than 77,000 people. They have funded projects ranging from construction of new wells and water towers to installing water pipelines to carry existing clean water to villages throughout the world.
"The Five For Water Foundation was created to help people get clean water to children all over the world," stated Prost. "Sanitation and clean water go hand in hand. We try to focus on clean water getting to children in orphanages and schools."
Bill went on to quote the World Health Organization on some unbelievable statistics, but they are facts. Over 1 billion people in the world do not have access to clean water. In Africa a women and children walk 40 billion miles per year to get clean water. As Americans we can't fathom having to walk 4 miles to get a gallon of water every day.
"My goal was to cherry-pick locations to have a 4 mile walk to become perhaps a 1 mile walk for a child," according to Prost. His first project was in Tanzania and people had to not only walk to get water, but to fight off animals. "They had good water, but needed a maze of concrete steps and a walkway to get to the water so they would not be eaten by crocs."
Through his efforts, the Dexter Rotary Club, is one of 28 clubs in Missouri that sell the Green Mountain Coffee. Each bag costs $10. He explained the fair trade organic coffee runs $9.40 per bag plus shipping costs out of the catalog and that it is actually cheaper to purchase it from a Rotarian. The quality and taste of the coffee is awesome!
Learn how you can make a difference at fiveforwater.org or check them out on their Facebook page Five For Water. You can also make donations directly to his foundation by mailing a donation to Five For Water, P.O. Box 1207, Cape Girardeau, Missouri 63702.
"I commend you for what you are doing in those countries and helping children. We live in areas where the water table is very high and was not always healthy like back in the 30's and 40's when water wasn't so clean, especially on cattle and hog farms," commented Morris Gregg, fellow Rotarian.
"Water and sanitation go hand in hand. 80% of all diseases stem from unsafe water according to the World Health Organization," stated Prost.Bill ended his speaking engagement with, "I appreciate your help with the coffee and all that your rotary Club does to promote our Program."
If you would like more information about Five For Water go to info@fiveforwater.org or check out their Facebook page, Five For Water Foundation.
If you are interested in purchases great gourmet coffee, Green Mountain Coffee contact Gene Weeks at gwweeks43@gmail.com. He would be more than happy to sell you some wonderful tasting coffee.
Submitted by
Beth Farrah, SMT Writer
Dutchtown, Missouri - About 100 Missouri National Guardsmen from units in St. Louis, Hannibal and Cape Girardeau joined community volunteers to work in support of flood relief operations in affected areas.
After more than five inches of rain fell in parts of Missouri last week, Gov, Jay Nixon mobilized the National Guard on Friday to help protect lives and property from rising flood waters, especially along the Mississippi.
In addition to the weekend Guard response in Clarksville, about fifty soldiers were also called Monday to help with sandbagging operations in Dutchtown, about 150 miles down river, near Cape Girardeau.
"Missouri's Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen have proven themselves as true leaders during times of need, and they again are meeting the challenges of this year's floods," said Nixon, who toured Clarksville on Saturday with Maj. Gen. Steve Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard.
"Winning these fights to protect lives and property takes close cooperation and coordination between state and local officials, Missouri Guardsmen and volunteers from across the region, and that is what is taking place right now on the Mississippi," Nixon added.
"We are always happy to come to the aid of our fellow Missourians," said Danner. "We will work directly with the Department of Public Safety, other state agencies and local authorities to answer this call. We are going to ensure that we strengthen that levee wall and do anything else we can to assist."
Within one hour of being mobilized Airmen from the St. Louis-based 121st Air Control Squadron, the 131st Civil Engineer Squadron and Soldiers from the 70th Troop Command were on their way to Clarksville. There, Guardsmen immediately began to assist with construction of a 1,500 foot sandbag levee protecting the historic city of 442 people.
Soldiers from the Hannibal-based 2175th Military Police Company were also called up to help with the effort.
"Our primary mission is to fill a lot of sandbags," explained Capt. Wesley Dickman, of Columbia, commander of the 2175th. "My troops have been working throughout the night to build up the main levee and the side levees protecting some of the buildings. The effort here is really impressive."
In addition to National Guardsmen, city officials, area residents, Boy Scouts and even prison inmates worked around the clock to build-up the levee wall.
The Guard's arrival in Clarksville was a welcome site to volunteers who had been working on the sandbag levee since Wednesday.
"With this kind of manpower we can really get things done," said Ray Wagner, of St. Louis, one of numerous AmeriCorps volunteers working on the wall. "We really appreciate the Guard's help because we have several projects that we have not started yet."
"When AmeriCorps arrived on the scene we breathed a huge sigh of relief and when the National Guard arrived we breathed a bigger sigh of relief," added Clarksville Mayor, Jo Anne Smiley. "Their arrival has relieved us in so many ways I can't even describe it. This effort would not be successful without them."
Founded in 1817, Clarksville is no stranger to flooding and has adapted an impressive flood management plan that clearly impressed everyone who saw it implemented.
"This town has been here a long time and I expect that when the waters recede, Clarksville, Missouri will be open for business as usual," said Nixon.
Soldiers of the Cape Girardeau-based 1140th Engineer Battalion and the Perryville-based 880th Engineer Team - both part of the 35th Engineer Brigade, based at Fort Leonard Wood -were called to fight floodwaters in Dutchtown.
"This is one of the reasons we put the uniform on; it's our way of giving back and protecting our community, and we are ready and prepared to help the community and people of Dutchtown," said 1st Sgt. Haskel Rooker, of the 1140th Forward Support Company.
A Secret Keeper Girl values modesty, she surrounds herself with wise friends and she embraces Godly beauty. So, she keeps the deepest secrets of her beauty for just one man. But she also knows that she can share all of her heart secrets with her mom at any time. The coolest thing for you to know is that a Secret Keeper Girl is a masterpiece created by God.
What does the Secret Keeper Girl Live: Pajama Party Tourevent look like?
It's full of great biblical truth about true beauty and modesty but with a ton of pajama party fun! The event lasts two and a half hours. Girls will love the stage decorated with balloon sculptures, the up-beat worship times and the crazy mother-daughter showdowns as the "slumber numbers" clock clicks towards "midnight." Moms will laugh at the hilarious look at fashion during the "Totally Tubular TV Moms Show" ... which shows off the fashion of famous moms.
Everyone will embrace the fabulous fashion show featuring girls in today's hottest looks hidden under their fuzzy robes. These outfits also reflect modesty and pass the Secret Keeper Girl "Truth or Bare" Fashion Tests. Between the two fashion shows, Dannah Gresh's talented team of teachers will take the audience deeply into God's word to talk about peer pressure and internal beauty. The girls will love learning about modesty and it will stick!
Tickets Information
Advance Ticket (until 5p.m. today)
$15.00
624-7436
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets at the door $20.00
