The Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce held their annual awards banquet on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at the Boathouse Wine Company.
Aslin Farms began in 1919 when Ernest and Eva Aslin, Robert's grandfather and grandmother and Nathan's great grandfather and great grandmother had 60 acres of land continuously. Through the years the amount of land added to the farm has greatly expanded.
Robert (Bob) Aslin and Nathan, his son, along with their wives, children, grandchildren, siblings, and extended family play a big part in the success of the Aslin Farm operation.
The Aslin family farm has approximately 2,300 acres. Their crops are made up of corn, soybeans and wheat. and they are also involved in the cattle business owning approximately 100 head. Of course, being smart farmers, they bale all the hay they feed to the cattle.
Some children graduated from school and wanted to move on to what they think are bigger and better thing, but not his family. When Robert was growing up he worked on the farm during the school year and once he graduated, he remained on the farm. Then his son, Nathan, worked on the farm during the school year and when he graduated, he remained on the arm and they have grown the operation to where it is today.
They have continued the heritage that Ernest and Eva Aslin began 104 years ago.
In 2019 the Aslin Family Farm was designated a "Century Farm" by Farm Bureau of Missouri.
It is an honor tonight to award the Bloomfield Chamber Farm Family of the Year to the Aslin Farms.
The Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce held their annual awards banquet on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at the Boathouse Wine Company.
Sonja Hobbs was named the Bloomfield Chamber Teacher of the Year.
She has been a valued member of the Bloomfield School staff for 25 years. For 23 years she was a teacher.
Hobbs graduated from the Bloomfield Class of 1992 and then earned an Education Degree at Southeast Missouri State University - Cape Girardeau.
She also obtained a Communication Disorders Degree as well.
The life an educator was a pick that came naturally coming from a family of educators. Her mom taught for thirty years and her dad taught for a brief stint as well. During her time as an educator at her alma mater she has taught kids ranging from Pre-K to the 6th grade. Spending time on 5th grade, Title I Reading, math and small group instruction. These were years where she had the chance to learn from some wonderful mentors.
She has also helped tutor and with the summer school program. her passion for teaching continued in 2018 when Hobbs became certified in a science-based reading program called connections OG in 3D. This program focused on a multisensory structured language approach which helped kids who showed signs of possible dyslexia. This was a life changing training for her, in which she was able to become a dyslexia interventionist.
In her down time though Sonja enjoys spending time with her family. her husband Michael and her son brant who followed in her footsteps to study at Southeast Missouri State University.
In the end Sonja has prepared and worked to perfect her craft to help students these last 25 years.
The Bloomfield Chamber was very excited to give Mrs. Sonja Hobbs the Teacher of the Year Award.
Madison Glaus of Dexter High School has been named to the 2023 MBCA Academic All-State girls basketball team.
She is the daughter of David and Kara Glaus and is a senior at Dexter High School.
Seniors who met the qualifying criteria and were nominated were eligible for this team.
1) Player in good standing with team.
2) Possesses outstanding moral character.
3) Has ONE OR MORE of the following verified minimum scores (a. b. or c.):
a. ACT score of 27 composite or above
b. SAT score of 1280 composite or above
c. PSAT score of 185 selection index or more
and qualify with a ….
4) Grade-Point Average of 3.25 out of possible 4.0 (or equivalent on alternate grade scale)
5) Athletes must be nominated by their high school coach and their high school coach must be a member to nominate.
In 2022 on March 12th while covering the Final Four Basketball Championship in Springfield, Missouri the community lost a great sports writer. Kyle Smith was the Sports Editor of the Dexter Statesman and a contributor to SEMOBALL.com. He had a heart attack and passed away. He was my friend and mentor when it came to sports writing.
He was doing what he loved and that was covering Stoddard County sports. Kyle was at most every sporting event in the county and I spent a tremendous amount of evenings with him on the field or on the courts.
Kyle and I had a love for Diet Mtn Dew, Skittles and Twix Bars. We also ate a lot of hotdogs during football, volleyball, and basketball seasons. Many times we "fussed" over who got the left Twix or the Right Twix Bar!
Together with the Dexter Statesman Editor, Josh Ayers, we decided to keep Kyle's memory alive by creating a Memorial Scholarship to a Stoddard County Athlete. The first scholarship went to John Nimmo, Bernie Mules, in 2022, just a couple of week's after Kyle's passing. The last feature story Kyle wrote was about John and their run to the State Championship in basketball. It was printed after his passing.
Kyle loved girls and boys basketball. He would sit on the floor taking photos and try to help them win. If he caught the ball out of bounds, he'd say, "I put some mojo on that ball, now it will get into the basket." If they were at the free throw line he'd whisper, "get in there! We need those points."
If one of them would make a mistake or get swatted down, he'd simply say, "Oopsies!" Kyle was a quiet man, but he also had a funny side too.
We know Kyle would have been so excited to see the Bearcats win the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, the SCAA Tournament, and most of all the first District Tournament in 19 years. He would have written some amazing feature articles on all of them.
And I can see him clearly rubbing his hands together and saying, "I smell a feature story!"
Kyle would have been proud to see, senior, Cole Nichols receive the 2023 Kyle Smith Memorial Scholarship! Along with this $500 scholarship, Nichols received a Diet Mt. Dew and a "sharing" bag of Skittles!!
Nichols broke the record for most career points and was instrumental in helping the basketball achieve their district win.
Photo taken by Truman Krapf, Dexter High School senior basketball player.
The Puxico School District Retired Employees group met on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 11 a.m. at the Puxico Nutrition Center with about a dozen people in attendance. Mr. Ira Tucker, who is spearheading the group, introduced Mrs. Renee Trout, Assistant Program Director for the Stoddard County Children's Home.
Tucker did open the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a prayer by Pam Parsley.
Trout, who has been employees with the Children's Home about a year and half is excited to see a new facility, that will look just a like a home, built in Dexter.
"This may be the only opportunity for a very long time to make such a change, and we hope it will last us a long time as well." commented Trout.
The home currently located in Bloomfield served over 150 children in Stoddard County in 2022.
"These children have been through the court system. as we are an emergency placement center," stated Trout. "Some children stay over night and others stay a few months just depends on their situation and placing them with a relative or possibly back home."
“The entire county is represented and we have a good relationship with our area schools,” commented Trout. “Keeping them in their school and their classroom may be the only familiar place or stability these students have. Even if a student lives in Puxico and is staying at the home in our care they will get them to their school.”
"We are licensed by the state to house 10 children at any one time. The facility is open 24/7/365 and we must have two staff 24 hours per day," continued Trout. "They do receive some funding from the state depending on the number of students."
There is a healthy child exam with 24 hours to make sure they aren’t suffering abuse or have any issues that need to be taken care of immediately. Some of these children only go to the doctor when they are really sick, but they may not be given good care at home.
A history on the Stoddard County Children's Home states that In 1970 Circuit Court Judge Flake McHaney commissioned a volunteer group to determine the needs of a temporary shelter to care for these children. The group, spearheaded by County Juvenile Officer Melvin “Churn” Williams and Verna Godwin, incorporated a not-for-profit agency for the purpose of establishing and operating a children’s home.
Many volunteered time, money, and materials, and the home opened for operation in October 1980.
“We are so thankful to be in this community and the support we receive is just wonderful,” stated Trout. “Currently our home is over 120 years, we honestly don’t know the age of the home. We currently have 15 part time and/or full time employees and there are always two on staff 24/7/365.”
With a gift of land from the Regional Healthcare Foundation and a substantial bequest from the Norman B. Harty Trust, they are expanding operations to further meet the needs of abused and neglected children in Stoddard County.
“We are trying to raise another $500,000 to continue what our vision is for the children,” continued Trout. “We want to put in a walking track in our fenced in area for the kids to walk and ride their bikes. That’s big thing, these young ones love to ride bikes.”
Mrs. Trout asked if there were any questions from the group.
Question? - When will this facility be up and running?
“September of 2023 the building should be built, but the transition of moving will be sometime after that.”
Question? - Can you keep the children more than 30 days?
“Yes, our licensure is for 30 days for an emergency placement. We can have children longer. Sometimes It’s just a matter of where they go next and waiting for them to get placed. Our goal is to serve the children of Stoddard County.”
Question? - How old can you take children?
“We can take from birth to 18 years old.”
Question? - So it’s my understanding that if the student is from Puxico and they are staying at Dexter, you will still get them to their school? They don’t have to change schools?
“They are with us and our staff and they will continue to go their school. We drop them off and pick them up. They do not ride a bus. They need that sense of comfort to have the same teacher and friends at their school and I think it makes a big difference in their well being.”
Everyone clapped and was very pleased with her presentation and explanation of the Stoddard County Children's Home.
