Dexter, Missouri - On Friday, January 11, 2013, Dexter native Tony Sandusky graduated from United States Marine Corps boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Calif.

While in boot camp, Sandusky faced and overcame many adversities; his younger brother, Joshua Sandusky - who was taking the initial steps to join the United States Marine Corps - tragically passed away in December of 2012.

In memory of his younger brother and in honor of his father (Charlie, a retired member of the United States Navy), Sandusky put forth extra effort in everything he did during his final weeks of boot camp.

Not only did Sandusky graduate on time, but he graduated with honors despite missing a week of training.  Out of nearly 500 other Marine Recruits, Sandusky was named Platoon Honor man. 

This position gave him command of 80 fellow recruits and granted him the prestigious honor of wearing his 'dress blues' during the graduation festivities - an honor bestowed on only six other Marine Recruits in his graduating class. 

Following a brief break after graduation, Sandusky will return to San Diego for further training at Camp Pendleton.  He will then transfer to Quantico, Va., for another training session before beginning his assignment as a member of the Presidential Guard in Washington D.C.

Congratulations Private First Class Sandusky - your friends and family could not be more proud of you!

Written by

Jessica Snider, SMT Writer

It might not be a holiday marked on your calendar, but for the residents at Central Gardens, they know that today is National Pie Day!

Some "National Days" are just plain silly, but some can give you a good reason to celebrate!

When Debbie Snider, the dietary manager at Central Gardens, saw that today was going to be National Pie Day, she figured this would be the perfect oppurtunity to have a pie-tasting.

She then approached Michelle Stearnes, Activity Director, with her pie-tasting idea. Michelle was quickly on board for the activities!

Some of the residents were then asked what kind of pies they would like to have at the pie-tasting. Pecan, chocolate, coconut-cream, and fried apple, were a few of the pies that the residents suggested.

The pie-tasting took place about 10:00 this morning at Central Gardens. About twenty-five residents were in attendance for today's fesitivites!

Not only were the pies strictly for the residents, the staff enjoyed them as well!

Dub and Eloise Connor are showing off coconut cream and chocolate pie in the photo above.

It would be difficult to be someone who lives in or around the community and not know of the great talent of the Lady Bearcat Basketball Team, or sometimes referred to as “LBB.”

With Coaches Chad Allen and Eric Sitze to look up to, Lady Bearcat Basketball has become something very exciting for this community. The young but dedicated team practices day after day to overcome their competitors.

Although the Lady Bearcat Team is full of talent and hard-working players, recently one of the senior athletes has been acknowledge for the breaking of an outstanding record.

This past Thursday night, senior Brittany Harris broke the all-time scoring record for the girl’s basketball program at Dexter High School as the Bearcats took on the Neelyville Tigers.

With twenty-seven points on the night against Neelyville, Brittany Harris destroyed the record held by Rachel Blunt which was set from 2002-2005. Throughout Blunt’s career, she collected 1,491 points, which took eight years for someone to surpass. After the game with Neelyville, Harris holds a new record of 1,511 points, which is sure to only increase as the season goes on and more games are played.

In her post game interview, Harris acknowledged Abby Warren as a mentor and friend to her during her freshman year at Dexter High School. As a sophomore, Harris said she was required to assume the role of the veteran player of the Lady Bearcats. At that point, she became the mentor to the team’s underclassmen. Just as Warren had done for her, she would take the younger team members under her wing and help lead the team to victory through hard work and determination.

One of the most amazing parts of Harris’ accomplishment was being able to break the scoring record while being surrounded by the other very talented young ladies who also contribute high point-totals for the Lady Bearcats.

It is easy to see when watching Harris on the court that she loves playing basketball. From the beginning of her freshman year at Dexter High School, many people knew that Harris would evolve to be a very big part of the Lady Bearcat Basketball program.

Brittany Harris continues to stay humble victory after victory, and even as she breaks a huge record she gives some of the glory to other people.

Harris noted having such good teammates removed the pressure of being the “go-to” person on the team.

What a wonderful accomplishment for Brittany Harris to make her senior year and how exciting to get to share it with other hard-working Bearcats!

Keep up the good work, Brittany and LBB!

American Wasteland Entertainment, LLC. is an online production company started by two local Missourians. There was recently an article written over the start of the production company, but since then, the two owners have received very exciting news for their company.

Jason Brasier of Willow Springs, Missouri, and Brittney Greer of Dexter, Missouri, have recently been told that their first two web series productions have been accepted into the LA Web Fest 2013.

The LA Web Fest is the biggest all web series festival in the world. It has even been called the Sundance of online entertainment. While in attendance at the Web Fest, Brasier and Greer will meet other web-based entertainers and professionals that will play a big part in helping them make connections and further their careers in the industry.

The LA Web Fest is held in March, where their two web series, Drifter: Broken Road and Stage Fright will screen for everyone in attendance to see.

This is a chance of a lifetime for American Wasteland Entertainment and also for Brasier and Greer. This could ultimately be what helps really launch their career in this competitive industry.  In order to get to LA Web Fest, they need your help!

Brasier and Greer need to raise money to cover their airline expenses, hotel costs, etc. If you’re interested in helping, here’s what you can do:

For anyone who contributes twenty-dollars or more, you will get your name and or company on the American Wasteland Takes LA official shirt that Brasier and Greer will wear while in LA and while at the festival.

If you wish to send a check, you may contact American Wasteland Entertainment, LLC. At 417-252-3050 or AmericanWastelandEntertainment@gmail.com. You may write the check to American Wasteland Entertainment, LLC.

All money contributed to helping the two get to LA Web Fest is considered you becoming a sponsor and buying advertising space on their shirt, unless you tell them that your contribution is a gift to them. (Example: You write a check to American Wasteland Entertainment, LLC. and put Gift in the memo space.)

If you’ve never had the chance to see one of their web series, now is the perfect opportunity to get to know what it is that they’re doing. Brasier and Greer are two very talented people who are hoping to make it far in the entertainment industry.

You can view their series at these two links: For Drifter: Broken Road (written by Brasier,) www.DrifterSeries.com. For Stage Fright (written by Greer,) AmericanWastelandEnt.com/StageFright.

This truly is a wonderful opportunity for these two as they continue to pursue their production dreams. Anyway you can help will be greatly appreciated by both of them!

Congratulations and Good Luck to Jason and Brittney as they take their talent to LA Web Fest 2013!

One of the most hardworking, determined athletes to ever walk the halls of Dexter High School is Alan Flannigan.  Alan is a sophomore at Lafayette University in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he plays forward for the Leopards men’s basketball team.

Few truly understand the number of hours Alan has spent preparing for this time in his life.  Flannigan was always one of the "go-to" players during the young traveling team stages.  However, that was not enough.

The opportunity to play college basketball for the Lafayette Leopards was not something that happened by chance.  Alan and his dad, Charlie Flannigan, sat down during his middle school years and established this specific goal to play division one basketball and committed to a path to give certainty to the realization of that goal.

Many of the commitments would not be considered fun.  A personal daily requirement of 500 made shots every single day.  Juggling daily teenage fun was always secondary to the regiment of training.  In addition, Alan could be found on many of the area AAU teams and other traveling organizations throughout the summer. 

Alan is proof that dreams can be realized when a well laid plan is combined with hard work.  There are many sacrifices that occur on the part of not only the athlete but parents and siblings as well.  The entire Flannigan family has been involved with the pursuit of this goal.  Both Charlie and Jana Flanigan along with brother, Adam and sister, Selana, have always been supportive of Alan in his endeavors.

Alan is getting solid playing time averaging 18 minutes per game, and making a contribution with an average of 3.8 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game.

As for the Leopards in all, Flannigan says the team is very young, with good leadership from senior, Tony Johnson. “I feel like the whole sophomore class is progressing really well, and we are getting some help from our freshman class as well. “

Lafayette who is 6-10 on the season has faced some tough competition this year during non-conference play. During the Barclays Classic, the Leopards faced a tough University of Kentucky team who at the time was ranked #3 in the nation.

Flannigan stated that even though they did not fare too well against the Wildcats, it was a good experience playing against future NBA players.

“I’ll be able to tell my kids that I played against Nerlens Noel, when he is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame,” noted Alan.

“Everyone knows Lehigh and Bucknell are really good this year and the top of the conference." Flannigan said about the rest of the season, "If we work hard and keep improving, I feel like we could knock them off.”

With all of his time wrapped up in basketball, it is very impressive that Alan is able to maintain a 3.0 GPA while majoring in Economics at a school ranking among the top 15 in the nation in Economics.  He is also pursuing a minor in Government Law with future hopes of working in the financial district of New York City.

Some might wonder how he manages his time between schoolwork and basketball, but for Alan that is something he learned from the sport. “Something we talk about in basketball, a ton, is transitioning quickly. Transitioning quickly between drills in practice, studies, and all other aspects of a day.”

Young Bearcats with a dream of college basketball can look to the path followed by Alan Flannigan.  He is proof that achieving one's goals starts with a dream and is followed by hard work and dedication to achieve that goal.

---