By Taylor Eggimann,
ShowMe Times Contributing Writer
The first annual Rockin’ For Racks breast cancer benefit, hosted by Matt Harris and the Chris Welch Band, is scheduled for 2 to 11 p.m., Saturday, June 9. at the Boathouse Winery in Bloomfield.
Rebekah Northern will take the stage at 2 p.m., followed by Maggie Thorn at 3 p.m., with the group Salvation at 4 p.m. The evening will be rounded out by Crossed Timbers at 5:30 p.m., and the Chris Welsh Band will close the show at 8 p.m.
T-shirts will be available for $15, and Bernie resident Becky Dennington will be doing a signing of her book "Me and the Ugly C". Various items will also be raffled off throughout the day.
"Tell everyone you know; friends, family, and coworkers, and come on out to the Boathouse Winery to help give cancer a fight," said project organizers.
Exciting plans are being finalized for the 11th annual Tour de Corn bicycle ride on the 23rd of June in East Prairie Missouri. The event has continued to grow each year and has become very popular with many area riders.
The event is a fun bicycle ride for all ages and all levels of cyclists. Tour de Corn is known as a flat, easy ride and offers multiple choices of distance. So participants are able to pick from four routes: 15, 30, 65 and 100 miles. All routes are on state highways, in rural agricultural areas. The terrain is a little more challenging with some rolling hills on the 100-mile route.
The 10 rest stops are of particular interest to the cyclist as volunteers shuck over 1,200 ears of sweet corn and bake over 70 dozen cookies to be ready for the event. These all important rest stops are well-stocked to rejuvenate energy levels of the cyclist.
The event is also fun for the non-riders as well. Beginning on Friday night (June 22), the City of East Prairie welcomes visitors to the event opening Main Street Party. The evening will include live entertainment, plenty of food choices, fun for the kids and so much more.
Registration is available online at http://www.tourdecorn.com/?page_id=141. and is $25.00 for each rider. This is a rain or shine
The Tour de Corn began when a local cyclist, Mike Bryant, had the idea of starting a charity ride in East Prairie. Mike approached the East Prairie Tourism organization in 2001 and with the help of a friends, interested citizens and a committee of local cyclists gathered to form the Tour de Corn Committee.
With 10 years of successful rides complete, the event has continued to grow from 175 riders in 2002 to over 800 in 2011!
The Tour de Corn is marked as a ride and not a race. Participants are encouraged to ride at a rate appropriate to the individual cyclist training level.
You will also find a treat of a spaghetti lunch available after the ride at Family Life Center. The meal will begin at 10:30 a.m until 2:30 p.m.
Many ShowMe Times readers (and cyclist) will be involved with the Tour de Corn event. Make plans to join them on the ride or just show up to watch this great event in East Prairie.
By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor
It was a labor of love for Pat Starkl. She exactingly cut the squares, arranged and pieced them together, all to help folks in this area who might benefit fro 18 Fore Life.
Starkl is a resident at Central Gardens, and this spring she has worked, cut, pieced, and stitched a quilt that the residential care center will give tonight to the Silent Auction at the Ben Kruse 18 Fore Life Banquet.
Quilting is nothing new to Starkl, who said she has quilt “many, many” quilts. But she is especially proud of this quilt, knowing that its purchase will benefit a very good organization.
The quilt features a pink border and took about a month to complete.
“I made one two years ago,” she said. She said this quilt was a tad harder than quilts that feature patterns. ”You try to keep them from doubling up,nnot putting the same ones next to each other or across from one another. So you have to pay attention to that.”
She’s proud of the quilt, so much so she plans to take a photo of the finished product for the ladies at Weber’s Ben Franklin to see. She purchased the material for the quilt squares at the store in Downtown Dexter.
Pat’s pretty pink quilt will be featured in tonight’s Silent Aucion, part of the Ben Kruse 18 Fore Life festivities.
(Photo Above: Pat Starkl shows off her hndmade quilt that will be part of the Silent Auction at the Ben Kruse 18 Fore Life Banquet Friday night. ShowMe Times photo by Annabeth Miller)
