Justin Robey with the Dexter Fire Department tests a water hydrant at the corner of Bain and Catalpa on Wednesday afternoon. The test is a part of the annual testing of the more than 425 hydrants in the city. Dexter Fire Chief Al Banken said the department tests each hydrant every summer to ensure the city meets standards set by the ISO. (Insurance Services Organization). The city works to maintain standards as set ISO in reviewing the firefighting capabilities of communities. The major elements of a community’s fire-fighting system are graded on a scale of 1 – 10, Banken said. (SMT photo by Annabeth Miller)

A SMT News Report

Travelers on Route 25 in Stoddard County should be prepared for travel delays due to roadway repairs.

The Missouri Department of Transportation announced that Route 25 will be reduced to one lane while MoDOT crews perform pavement repairs. The section of the roadway being repaired will be from US 60 to Route E.

The roadwork is to continue this week through the end of the day on Thursday, July 7. The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area.

Special needs children in Tanya Reiker’s Southwest Elementary School classroom will soon receive the playground equipment they need to safely have fun during the school day.

“The grant is through the Pepsi Refresh Project; they have set aside millions of dollars for ideas with categories for art, education, etc.,” Reiker commented. “The way they set it up, they had May, June and July winners. We submitted the idea in the first part of may; then they tell you if you’re one of the roughly 1000 chosen to be able to be voted on.”


“In the $10,000 category, the top 15 vote getters get the grant,” Reiker added. “All we had to do was finish in the top 15. We haven’t received any official notification yet, but we should have that by July 23.”

Reiker and fellow teacher Peggy Potts‘ idea was simple: to have a playground built for the special needs children that they interact with on a daily basis. Traditional playground equipment is not designed - and therefore unsafe - for children with physical handicaps.


Reiker said part of the reason for the project is the enormous cost of playground equipment for children with special needs - federal, state and district funds would not cover the total cost of such a project. The Southwest program did receive a federal grant to help get the playground process started – first by removing pea gravel in the area and then resurfacing the playground.

“There’s an adaptive swing that we’ve always wanted that is $4,000,” she pointed out. “But all we could do with this federal grant money was resurface the area.”


Reiker noted that the outstanding support her ‘idea‘ received from the community was key in earning the grant.


“The big thing was that we found out that the ‘power voting’ was key. If you went in [to the website] and voted you got one vote,” Reiker explained. “If you had the ‘power voting’ code that came with Pepsi products, it would be anywhere from five to 100 votes, and that was the trick. Once we figured that out, we started doing whatever we could to find those lids!”

Reiker also pointed out support from Dexter Parks & Recreation and the Rib City Shootout basketball tournament.


“DPR let us put out displays at all their facilities - Amy Ellinghouse pestered people down at the little league games to get votes,” Reiker continued. “Chad Allen let us advertise at the Rib City Shootout. You could even text in votes - the high school cheerleading coaches made the girls line up at practice and text in their votes for us!”


After a long journey, with voting ending June 30, Reiker pointed out a few bumps in the road.


“Wednesday we were in seventh place,” Reiker said. “When we woke up Thursday, we were in twelfth. At one point yesterday, we were in 17th. It had just been back and forth like that, but we finished twelfth.”

“Thank you to everybody. To me, it was incredible to see people take this so seriously and get behind this,” Reiker said. “People throughout the community were great - so many people were so supportive, and this wouldn’t have been possible without them.”

A number of local piano and voice students were presented with trophies for accomplishment in music study. The private piano and voice students of MaryRuth Boone were presented in recital Sunday, June 26. Eight students were recognized for reaching milestones in the National Federation of Music Clubs music festival program. Students receiving trophies included (from left) Joe Foster, first cup in Music Theater; Claire Parker, first trophy in Piano Solo; Emily Johns, first trophies in Music Theater and Piano Solo; Lean Noyes, fourth cup in Piano Solo; Brooks Probst, first cups in Music Theater and Junior Concerto; and (in back) Malinda Mayo, third cup in Piano Solo. Not present due to participation in summer music programs were Jessica Lesley, first up in Vocal Solo, and Lauren White, first cup in Piano Solo. (SMT photo by Annabeth Miller)

By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

They traveled to Africa and China and Australia and all sorts of places in between, and they never left the floor in the Community Room at Keller Public Library.

Near 90 children participated this week in the library's summer reading program. With Rita LeBeau as the tour guide and a crew of young men and women and a team of guest readers as guides, the children traveled around the world with stories, songs and dances.

The summer reading program's theme is "One World, Many Stories" and the program was third in this summer's series.

"We have really had a great crowd each week," said Keller Library Director Pam Trammell. And Trammell said great adventures lie ahead for the youngsters.

This next Wednesday, July 6, is Craft Day for the children. There will be a number of different tables with crafts and projects. The most popular Trammell said will most like be the the Ice Cream Sundae table, where kids will work on a "craft project" and build their own ice cream treat.

On July 13 the crew will "travel" to Italy and hear stories, songs and dances from that nation. And to top it off, the children will celebrate with a pizza party!

The Story Hour programs on July 6 and 13 will be from 11 a.m. until 12 noon.

On the final week of the annual summer program, the youngster will get to meet first hand animals from six continents, Trammell said. A special animal program will highlight the final week. This special program will begin at 10 a.m.

The summer reading program for kids is an annual program for the Keller Public Library in Dexter. The Friends of the Library organization underwrites the cost, and all activities are free to all children.

: Photo Above: The Rev. Dr. Larry Colvin reads a story from Africa to the children at Keller Library's Story Hour. (SMT photo by Annabeth Miller)

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