Essex, Missouri - Baylee Taylor has been a Richland Rebel all of her life and has played many great volleyball games throughout her years on the Richland volleyball court. Taylor is one of many seniors in the graduating class of 2013 that plans on attending college. In fact, she has her sights set on playing collegiate volleyball and majoring in Sports Medicine.
Today, Taylor officially signed her Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Crowley’s Ridge College in her upcoming school years. She had numerous supporters that came to the signing that took place earlier this morning at Richland High School as she took the first step towards her new, bright future. At Taylor’s side were both of her parents, Lisa and John Taylor, along with the Head Coach of Taylor’s new volleyball team, Cindy Henry. The other members from the Lady Rebels Volleyball Team and the Junior High Volleyball Team also attended the signing as they wished their former teammate good luck. Richland’s Principal, Cindy Rhodes, and the Superintendent, Frank Killian, were also in attendance to show their support.
Taylor has played volleyball for a majority of her life and will continue playing in the future. She has played all four years of high school for the Lady Rebels and also played in junior high school. She has played on the Varsity Team since her first season during her freshman year and has continued to work hard and improve throughout the previous years. She has been under the direction of three different coaches and has learned and picked up on many different skills that each mentor had to offer.
Most of Taylor’s supporters and fans believed that all of her hard work, sweat, and tears had finally paid off when she was recently chosen for the 2012 All-District Team, but little did they know that she would continue to advance forward and would sign with Crowley’s Ridge College.
She will begin her first official volleyball season at Crowley’s Ridge College this summer with the rest of her new teammates in Paragould, Arkansas. She will be taught and mentored by the Head Coach, Cindy Henry, who focuses her coaching on fundamentals, attitude, and conditioning.
Aside from playing volleyball throughout the four years of her high school career, Taylor is a very active club member and is the current FFA President of the Richland Chapter. She is also involved in Beta Club, Student Council, FBLA, FCA, Pep Club, and Library Club. In previous years, she has also been a member of the cheerleading squad and was the catcher on the softball team, along with being a junior writer for Richland’s newspaper: The Rebel Yeller. She has also participated in the Richland Rebel Marching Band in previous seasons as a member of the flag corp.
Richland is showing Taylor just how proud of her they really are by having her banner hung in the gym. The banner was presented to her by her high school coach (her mother, Lisa Taylor) and her team members, who all signed it for her. There are also many pictures of Taylor on the volleyball court throughout the years that have been posted in the high school hallways.
The Richland students and faculty will be torn to watch Taylor go but are very proud of her and find peace in knowing that she is an amazing addition to her new volleyball team at Crowley’s Ridge College. The school and community will continue to cheer her on in the years to come and know that she will accomplish even greater things in her future as she attends college.
Congratulations, Baylee!
Article by Dee Loflin,
SMT Manger/Writer
Dexter, Missouri - A group of over 350 area men and women were on hand for the 2nd Annual Stoddard County Wild Game Dinner this past Friday night. David Hale of Knight and Hale Game Calls and the TV show “Knight and Hale Ultimate Hunting” was the featured speaker for the event.
Returning for a second year to deliver the “Wild Game” feast was former Dexter resident, Darrell “Big-Un” Hicks. Darrell got his start cooking at grocery stores, catering events and charity fundraisers during the late 70’s and early 80’s while living here in the Dexter community.
Darrell, his group of Cajun Cookers and volunteers from the First Baptist Church filled the plates of their guests with unique wild game dishes such as Squirrel Jambalaya, Smoked Quail, Deer Pot Roast, Wild Boar and Fried Duck.
Following the meal, the group was able to enjoy a large display of wildlife mounts that were on display on the main stage of the First Baptist fellowship hall. Attendees were asked to judge their favorite mount before being moved to the sanctuary for the main program featuring the bluegrass sounds of The Ringer Hill Band and the featured speaker, David Hale.
As the fast talking southern gentleman from Cadiz, Kentucky began to share the story of his business career in the game calling industry, Hale described and demonstrated the evolvement of the calls marketed by his company. With a dash of dry humor mixed in his presentation, he shared of the inventions, the marketing and successes of the different animal calls.
As the talk turned to Hale’s spiritual life, he spoke boldly of his personal relationship to Jesus Christ and shared with listeners that Americans have gotten used to living in the dark (sin).
“Tolerance has taken over our world,” noted Hale. “You can't be a part of the world and please God.”
Hale spoke vividly of both Heaven and hell, stating “our hope is in the Prince of Peace”.
He recounted scriptures in Revelations describing the “lake of fire” found in hell and warned of the torment of “a place without rest”. ”The descriptions of Heaven was not detailed in the Bible because it is so great you'll want to kill yourself to try to get there,” Hale said in a joking manner.
Ultimately, Hale delivered straight talk of the path to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He spoke of the certainty that we are all going to die someday and we have a decision to make.
“If you hunt, fish and are in the outdoors and you can't see God, said Hale. “You aren't looking.” Adding that “Can you take the chance to think that there is no God?”
Throughout his talk, Hale would state “and on this rock I stand” as a confirmation of the scriptures and beliefs that he deeply hoped would bring attendees to a point of praying the “Sinners Prayer” to God for their own salvation.
Pastor Steve Easterwood wrapped up the evening by encouraging anyone that had a desire to speak with someone about entering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that he and the staff of the Church would be happy to help.
“The event is held at First Baptist but this is the Stoddard County Wild Game Dinner,” stated Easterwood. “We have listed over 60 Churches in the area that may be closer to you. Our hope is that you make the decision to follow Christ.”
Many sponsors and contributors were involved to make this event a tremendous success. Drawings were held at the close of the event with prizes being awarded that ranged from shotguns to hunting equipment to hunting trips to Treager Grills.
The Sponsors Included:
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Writer
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - The weather forecast was grim and with dismissals, cancellations, and postponements throughout Southeast Missouri, the 10th Annual Business and Economic Conference was determined to continue.
The doors opened at the Black River Coliseum early Thursday to welcome area business leaders, customers, and attendees.
This event has created such a strong following that they were quite determined to beat the weather predictions and enjoy the strong lineup of business speakers slated for the conference.
Tucker Davis of First Midwest Bank stated, "It was our hope to bring a "big city conference" to our area so business owners and managers do not have to spend the time or money to go to places like St. Louis, Kansas City or Memphis to attend. We hope it's time well spent."
As the business community continues to face the pressures of a challenging economy, the conference has been designed to bring to the area quality speakers that are often only found by traveling to a specific industry conference or larger cities with much industry.
The idea of a Business and Economic Conference was spawned in 2003 as the First Midwest Bank President, Joey McLane, wanted to provide the bank customers with solid, current information relating to business.
Joe Calloway was the introductory speaker who delivered an inspiring common sense approach to business operations. At a very interactive session, Calloway explored the positive characteristics of successful businesses such as Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines, Federal Express, and others.
Offering five solid recommendations to attendees that would increase business performance, Joe shared that simplicity of process, a laser beam focus on the core business, sticking to the basics, continuous improvement, and creating relationships that are Win-Win were common traits of successful businesses.
By design, the second session focused on the overall economy. Dr. Lawrence Chimerine shared with the group a common sense, real world approach to understanding both the cause and effects of our Nation's present economic position. His optimistic approach pointed toward changes that have occurred in both the U.S. and world economies due to globalization, which offered awareness and opportunities to the business leaders.
“There is more competition in today’s marketplace than any other time in history,” stated Dr. Chimerine. “Today’s businesses must discover ways to be more productive using better cost effective methods.”
Examples related back twenty-five years ago to a time when 95% of autos sold in America were from “The Big 3” auto manufacturers. Today, sales from Ford, GM and Chrysler only amount to a little over 50% of the total sales of cars.
Chimerine went on to share that the governmental decisions in the past are creating huge deficit numbers that must be addressed. He pointed to three specific items that have created an annual deficit of approximately $600 billion from previous tax cuts, two “unfunded” wars abroad and the 2006 Medicare costs.
He shared the looming problems of social security have only begun as 10 million of the 75 million “Baby Boomers” have actually begun to draw from their retirements. A system that was developed from a basis of life expectancy of only 63 year of age and is now destined for problems if additional planning is not done.
Overall, Dr. Chimerine expressed an optimistic view of the future of the economy stating that “January 2013 provided the strongest economic indicators of any recent report”.
The keynote speaker was Frank Abagnale, one of the world’s most respected authorities on forgery, embezzlement and secure documents. Abagnale’s life was portrayed in the movie “Catch Me If You Can” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg.
Between the ages of 16 and 21, Abagnale posed as an airline pilot, an attorney, a college professor and a pediatrician, while cashing $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in every state and 25 foreign countries. Following his parents divorce at the age of 16, Abagnale recounted in sequence his life of lies, deceit and manipulation that brought him the spoils of life.
With a unique storytelling character, the message reached a very serious tone as he shared the true value of both a mother and a father to the life of a child. Abagnale shared the devastation of his parents' divorce had upon his life, noting the immoral, unethical and illegal activities of his childhood were forced upon a young man trying to survive.
“I always knew that I would get caught,” said Abagnale. “The law sleeps but never dies.”
Part of his sentencing was to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to catch other criminals and give insight on how to forge documents. He continued to work for the FBI for more than 26 years pasted his requirement and he shared his pride with the audience. Abagnale beamed as he spoke of God’s gift to him and of his wife and three children. He encouraged the audience to “hug your momma and father”.
In essence, the expectation of a keynote speech about the do’s and do not's of online security turned into a greater lesson on the value of family.
As attendees quickly enjoyed their wonderfully cooked and catered meal, they trudged out into the near freezing rain yesterday afternoon with a determined new focus on the basics of both their business, their life, and their family life. All three speakers fulfilled the hope that First Midwest Bank designed the event to accomplish – to simply make life at work and home better.
"The weather this year hurt our attendance a little, but I was still pleased with how many people came out. I think it says a lot about what they have seen from our past conferences." stated Davis.
A big thanks to First Midwest Bank for giving the community an opportunity to attend such a great conference in our area.
Written by
Jessica Snider, SMT Writer
Dexter, MO- Although the Kickin' Cats haven't been around as long as some of the other sports in Dexter, the Dance Team is sure to bring much entertainment to the high school basketball games.
Slowly but surely, many schools are starting to add a Dance Team to their list of extra-curricular activities for students to choose from. Although a few schools in the area may have Dance Teams, none have as a unique of a name as the Dexter Kickin' Cats.
The Dexter Dance Team originated not very many years ago, and the "Kickin' Cats" part of the name has just stuck from the very beginning. The Dexter Dance Team is very well-known for the amount of kicks they do in each routine that they perform. Whether it be a country or a hip-hop routine, fans always know they can count on seeing those kicks at halftime.
One of the first few years of the Dance Team's existence there were shirts made that said "Halftime-It isn't just for popcorn anymore." Ever since the Dance Team has come along, halftime isn't just an oppurtunity for people to get up and take a quick visit to the concession stand; halftime is full of entertainment.
The Dance Team gives the fans something to look forward to while the basketball players venture off into the locker rooms during the halftime break.
The Kickin' Cats take the floor during the varsity halftime of every home game. The Bearcat Event Center becomes consumed with the music for the routine, and the fans are on the edge of their seat watching every twist and turn of the routine.
From country, to pom, or even a hip-hop routine, the fans love it all. The smiles on the dancer's faces and the sparkle of their vests show that they all love being apart of the Kickin' Cats Dance Team.
This year, the Kickin' Cats are under new direction. High school teachers Mrs. Everett and Mrs. Pulliam are the two Dance Team coaches.
This past Friday in the game against Scott City, the Kickin' Cats provided great half-time entertainment as they performed a hip-hop routine which highlighted senior Bethany Christian. Each year on senior night, the seniors have the honor of being highlighted throughout the dance being performed.
The Dexter Kickin' Cats have provided many entertaining half-time shows, and all the Bearcat fans hope to see the support for the Dexter Dance Team only grow each year.
The above photo is a snapshot of the dance which was performed at Friday night's game.
Photo Courtesy of Dee Loflin
Jefferson City, Missouri - Wednesday of last week, our state capital was swarmed with artists, fans, and advocates that were all there to support the annual Missouri Citizens for the Arts Day. This is a special day of the year hosted by Missouri’s Citizens for the Arts that includes guest appearances by legislatives, performances, and an awards ceremony.
February 6th was such an important day in Jefferson City because Missouri Senator Doug Libla attended the special event. The members of Missouri’s Citizens for the Arts were thrilled to know he was coming and were even more thrilled to be able to show a member of the General Assembly how important the fine arts are in Missouri and their impact on both citizens and communities.
The funding behind the Missouri’s Citizens for the Arts is well taken care of due to supportive advocates, but the members needed more than funds, they needed artists with strong voices that would prove just how important fine arts are to the state and its wellbeing.
The Missouri’s Citizens for the Arts wanted around three hundred participants for this year’s lobby, where they displayed a variety of artwork from a variety of artists. One of these participants was third grader from Puxico Elementary School. Kyle Holden and his family travelled to the state capital from their home in southeast Missouri to show off his great painting of four small birds surrounding an American flag. His work was both patriotic and colorful, making it a great piece in the lobby this year.
Not many people can say that they have attended such a prestigious event, especially when they are only in the third grade. Holden had the opportunity to visit the Capital Building and meet the state legislatives like the other advocates and participants for the Missouri Citizens for the Arts Day. It was a great honor for his work to be shown at such a widespread and well known event and the Puxico School District is very proud of his achievements.
Holden’s work was a great success and his age and dedication to both his artwork and his fine arts classes at school spoke quite loudly. Holden was recognized by both Senator Doug Libla and the Missouri’s Citizens for the Arts. Holden’s family, school, and community are very proud of him and his hard work that enabled him to attend this year’s Missouri Citizens for the Arts Day.
