ShowMe Times Editor
Sunday was National Grandparents Day - observed each year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.
Dexter's two elementary schools celebrated Grandparents Night on Monday, with overflowing crowds of students and grandparents (and even great-grandparents) at Southeast and Central schools.
At Central Elementary, fourth grade student Audrey Lutmer was one of the lucky students who had grandparents and a great-grandmother attend Grandparents night. Grandparents Randy and Shearon Harris and great-grandmother Rita Bader attended Grandparents Night.
This was not the first Grandparent Night for Mrs. Bader, who will turn 90 in October.
Mrs. Bader said she first attended Dexter schools following the consolidation of rural Oak Grove School. Mrs. Bader started attending Dexter school following the consolidation, and is a graduate of Dexter High School.
Audrey is a student in Connie Heil's fourth grade class.
Students were able to show grandparents their classrooms, special work, and introduce them to their teachers during the Grandparents Night event.
National Grandparents Day, according to its website at www.grandparents-day.com, originated with Marian McQuade of Fayette County, W.Va. With her 43 grandchildren, McQuade had a lot of experience.
Her primary motivation was to champion the cause of the lonely elderly in nursing homes. She also intended to encourage grandchildren to “tap the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide.”
The first Grandparents Day was proclaimed in 1973 in West Virginia by Governor Arch Moore. In the same year, Senator Jennings Randolph (D-WV) introduced a Grandparents Day resolution in the United States Senate. In 1978, US President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the celebration of Grandparents Day in September, signifying the autumn years of life.
Photo Above: Audrey Lutmer was hostess Monday evening, showing her grandparents Randy and Shearon Harris and great-grandother Rita Bader her classroom at Central Elementary School's Grandparent Night. (SMT Photo by Annabeth Miller)
“We are indebted to our crews from Campus Facilities who have been working very hard through the weekend to open the library as soon as possible,” said Jim Cogswell, director of MU Libraries. “It’s unfortunate that the actions of one individual had such a large impact, but we’re very happy that no one was injured and that the damage was contained to a small portion of the building.”
The library will resume normal operating hours, opening at 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 13. Inter-library loan, reserve and circulation offices will be temporarily moved until the damage is repaired. A small number of books from those offices were damaged and are being restored.
None of the books in the general stacks, offices or carrels were harmed. A damage estimate has not been completed.
The State Historical Society of Missouri, which sustained water damage, will reopen on Wednesday, Sept. 14.
The MU Student Center will remain open until 2 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 13 to provide a space for students to study.
There are so many different pieces that develop the pageantry of this Friday night spectacular. From the booster club volunteers on the field until late night on Thursday painting the Bearcat at mid-field, to the cheerleaders, to the players and the list goes on and on. But one can’t imagine a Friday night without the DHS Bearcat Marching Band taking the field. They bring a huge amount of spirit and fun to Charles “Seed” Bland Stadium!!!
The leadership of the band comes down to Scott Rybolt, the band director at Dexter High School. Scott’s passion for music is surrounded by built in fun and laughter. Scott is dedicated to the orchestration of “The Show”!
Dedication and passion begets dedication and passion. That is the result that Scott Rybolt is delivering to our young people in the DHS Band program. His work has delivered to the Dexter program a pride that makes the band an iatrical part of the “Friday Night Lights” experience. As a true Bearcats fan, the ShowMe Times is proud to lift them up for the contributions and help to promote the good works in our community.
Let’s make an ACTION PLAN!!! When you attend the Stoddard County Fair parade and the DHS Marching Band passes by, let them know how much we appreciate their contributions to our community.
The MVP Award is presented at Dexter’s T.S. Hill Middle School, and is just one way in which the school recognizes students for being good citizens or who contribute positively to the school.
Receiving the award for August were (photo from left) Will Brehmer, Jordan Chambliss, Landon Stites, Damon Grant and (not pictured) Trevor Link.
The first MVP Awards of the new school year were presented at a school pep rally assembly recently. Recipients of the MVP are young men and women who perform random acts of kindness to fellow students and/or faculty, take pride in caring for the school, exhibit good citizenship, are polite and mannerly to others, and/or contribute to a safe and orderly learning environment.
Each month, students are nominated and their names posted on the MVP Bulletin Board by the school cafeteria, and the honorees receive a Bearcat Buck.
By Joe Foster,
ShowMe Times Contributing Reporter
PORTAGEVILLE - Richland's Future Farmers of America organization went on an annual trip to visit the University of Missouri Extension’s Delta Center Field Day in Portageville.
First, all the students would go around and learn about various agricultural-related topics at six different stations; most dealing with renewable energy.
Among the several topics discussed some were biofuels, solar energy, wind turbines, GPS and their relations to farming, and of course why you should consider University of Missouri for your college education.
The first we discussed was solar power, and how the prices are estimated to steadily decrease to a competitive level with energy providers like Ameren U.E. in the next two or three years. We even learned that diesel motors can run solely on any alcohol you would buy for consumption.
When I spoke to instructor Van Arhes about the event, he said, “The biggest thing we try to get out is to the students is that agriculture is a broad subject. It’s not just farming or horses and cattle; it’s a summary of different things. We live in an area of the United States were there’s a tremendous amount of agricultural production and that there are a lot of job opportunities for the students.”
After the stations were completed, we went to eat. Gary Wyman, Richland FFA sponsor and Agriculture teacher, then took the students to show them some of the research equipment that the center experiments with. The trip concluded with a brief visit to the Mississippi River.
