By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

Driving down the highway with April Isbell can be quiet an experience.

It's not her driving skills, mind you. They're first rate. It. just that in the middle of a conversation she is likely to interrupt briefly by pointing out the location of something that cannot be seen!

It doesn't matter if you're on Highway 25 headed north, on a road going around Lake Wappapello, or driving down a street in a nearby town. She's enthusiastic about it!

• ”There’s one on those woods!”
• ”There’s a cache in that gazebo!”
• ”A cache is under that bridge!”
• ”There’s one attached to that sign!”

What she is pointing out are spots where she has found geocaches – the objects of discovery in a worldwide treasure-hunt game that is literally taking the globe by storm.

Isbell, of Dexter, has caught the “Geocaching” bug – learning about the game and starting the play earlier this year. As of 12 midnight Saturday, she has found 340 caches – and average of almost 2 per day since she started the real world, treasure hunting game. .

So, what is GEOCACHING? .

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunting game – using new technology, old-fashioned logic, and incorporating discovery and outdoor fun. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online.

It’s a little like the old compass games Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts would play, but the compass has been kicked up a notch - using GPS units or cell phone technology. .


“It’s a scavenger hunt, in a way,’ Isbell said. “It’s like a combination of a scavenger hunt and ‘hide and seek’ all played with high tech toys.” .

For a novice just starting out with the activity, the first place to go would be the Geocaching website – Geocaching.com. The site spells out the activity well – step-by-step.But basically, -

• A geocacher gets coordinates where a cache has been hidden by a fellow cacher.
• Using a GPS device to assist you in finding the cache.
• When you find the cache, you open it and find a log sheet – sign in!
• Return to the cache to its original position.
• Log in and share your find online.

“I like puzzling things out and finding things. I like logic problems and puzzles, and Geocaching fits right into that,” she explained while going down a wooded road in search of another cache.

It was a perfect summer afternoon at a beautiful state park in the region.

“It’s a mind game, if you will. You’ve got to think and to search – they are camouflaged so well many times. You often have to use hints as well as the GPS.”

Isbell says she especially likes the ones that are along nature trails and outdoors – ones that may take her somewhere new and different. She works for the Girl Scouts of Missouri Heartland – the Council that serves almost two-thirds of the counties in Missouri. So Isbell gets the chance to see a lot of territory in the ShowMe State.

“It might be a place I might not have ever stopped at, and so I get to see someplace neat. Urban ones can be fun, but I like the rural.”

Many caches are associated with historical spots; she is learning more about the history of the region and state as she geocaches.

“A lot of times, people who have hidden the cache give you information along with the clues,” she added. “Things you might never have known. You learn a little neat history as you go.”

Caches, it seems, can be hidden with great creatively. In the crook of a tree, in artificial flowers or yard ornaments, under a deck, on a sign, simply in a stack of logs, on a superstore parking lot light. Caches can be hidden in rural areas and in towns and cities; you may have to hike a ways or they can be right under your nose.

“Sometimes the coordinates have taken me right to a tree and I reach up and there it is,” she said. And others have stumped her – often. There’s one spot in Cape Girardeau that she has explored several times and cannot find the cache. Another in a recreational area she finally found on our outing after trying to find on other trips.

“Cashes can be in almost anything,” she explained. Almost any type of waterproof container. “That’s part of what makes them hard to find, because you don’t know exactly what it is.”

Photos Above: Top Photo - April Isbell signs the log sheet from inside a cache she just found. Middle Photo - The snall log sheet found inside a small cache. Each geocacher signs the log sheet they find inside a cache. Bottom Photo - The goodies found inside a "Travel Bug" cache - a special type of geocache. This one was all about The Arkansas Razorbacks!

LinkS Of Interest

Geocaching

What Is Geocaching? Video

Xi Lambda Psi is once again sponsoring the Stoddard County Pageants. The pageants will be held Sunday, Sept. 18 at the Dexter High School Auditorium beginning at 2 p.m.

The following categories will be included:

• Little Miss and Little Mr. (ages 3 to 6)
• Petite Miss (ages 7- 11)
• Junior Miss (ages 11-14)
• Miss (age 14 and over)

All contestants must be residents of a Stoddard County School District, or attend a Stoddard County School. They must also be a reigning Queen or King, or attendant in their respective age category.

An optional rehearsal will be held on Friday, September 16, with the following time schedule: 4 to 5 p.m. for Junior Miss and Miss contestants, 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. for Petite Miss contestants, and 5:30 to 6 p.m. for Little Mister and Little Miss contestants.

Entry forms and contest rules may be obtained at the following places: all Stoddard County High Schools, The Bunny Patch in Dexter, and on the Show Me Times Website.

The deadline for entry is Sept. 15, unless prior arrangements are made.

For more information concerning the pageants or entry forms please contact Susan Hill at 624-5295 or Melanie Stoelting at 573-222-3983.

2011 Miss Stoddard County Forms

2011 Miss Stoddard County Entry Form
2011 Miss Stoddard County Rules

By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

A celebration preceded the business at the Monday’s meeting of the Dexter Board of Aldermen.

Mayor Joe Weber and the aldermen recognized Cletus Pruett on his retirement from the Street Department at Monday’s meeting. A reception was held prior to the start of Monday’s meeting, and Weber presented Pruett with a plaque commemorating his 29 years of faithful service to the city. The aldermen had some basic annual “housekeeping” duties to perform at Monday’s meeting:

• Unanimously passed an ordinance setting the city’s sales tax rate for 2011, which will be the same as 2010.
• Unanimously approved an ordinance so that the city compolies with state conflict of interest and ethics regulations.
• Unanimously approved an ordinance concerning city bank accounts.

In addition, aldermen approved two annexations of private property in the city. The adjacent properties in Ward I are owned by Robin Hopkins and W. A. Stogaugh on McCormick Street, who have both requested to be annexed into the city. Public hearings were held on the annexation at the board’s meeting earlier this month. Aldermen unanimously approved the annexation of the property. In other business Monday evening, the board:

• Learned that the City Parks and Recreation Department is preparing to line the banks at the City Fishing Lake with rip rap to discourage muskrats at the lake. City Streets and Sanitation crews are assisting with moving the rock to the lake.
• Approved the liquor application for the business He’s Not Here at 23 N. Locust Street for 5% beer/14% wine by the drink.
• Ratified Mayor Weber’s appointment of Ward II Alderman Tim Aslin to the Police Committee.

Photo Above: Cletus Pruett (right)is honored by Mayor Joe Weber on 29 years of faithful service to the city as a member of the City Street Department at Monday's meeting of the board of aldermen.

Living up to their slogan "More Than Just A Golf Tournament", another great event is being planned by 18 Fore Life team. The group has added a new twist to their lineup of charity events with THE BEN KRUSE Charity Crappie Tournament.

The tournament will be held on Saturday, September 10th, from 7:00 A.M. until 2:00 P.M. at Wappapello Lake. Teams are encouraged to get entered early to join in the fun. Weigh-ins will be held at Redman Creek and all participants must be in line by 3:00 P.M. to qualify.

Entry fee for the tournament will be $100 per boat, which includes a $10 entry for the "Big Fish" contest. Your entry will provide a 50% donation to the 18 Fore Life charity and the remaining fees will be divided 70/30 between the winner of the two largest crappie of the day.

"It will be a fun-filled day," said Beth Fowler of Allen Christian Inc. "So even if you don't fish, you can come to Redman's & hang out with us."

Dane Bess is one of the key organizers of the event and simply had a desire to get involved with the 18 Fore Life charity. He has followed his passion to add fishing to the charities' sponsored events, along with bowling and golf tournaments.

The group also will be selling raffle tickets for the opportunity to win one of two prizes: a Cajun Fryer and a Smokin' Cajun Grill will be offered. Raffle tickets can be purchased for $5.00 each, or 3 tickets for $10.00. The drawing will be held Sept 10th at the tournament; you need not be present to win.

There will also be T-shirts available for purchase for $15 for the event, as well as pork loins. All proceeds from the event go to the 18 FORE Life charity.
[br> All members of the community are encouraged to join in the fishing contest, purchase raffle tickets, and get involved with helping event organizers.

For your convenience, the entry form for the THE BEN KRUSE Charity Crappie Tournament can be printed from the link below. Simply click, print and complete. You can then inclose your entry fee of $100 per team and:

MAIL TO: Dane Bess, 11522 Northview Drive, Dexter, MO 63841

-OR-

DROP BY: Allen Christian Inc on Business Hwy 60 in Dexter

-OR-

DROP BY: Sundowner Marine with Charlie Brotherton.

Please make checks payable to THE BEN KRUSE 18 FORE LIFE.

If you have questions regarding this event, contact Dain Bess at 573.421.1491 or Bruce Christian at 573.820.6111.

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SIGN-UP FORM:

THE BEN KRUSE Charity Crappie Tournament Entry Form

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By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

In its heyday, the railroad depot in Dexter was a center of activity. Folks boarded the train, headed for visits or business on up the rail line; salesmen and family arrived at the busiest and fastest-growing town in the county. Goods made in Dexter were shipped out of the depot; new goods arrived for the growing community right at the depot.

Dexter - the city - was actually created by the railroad. In a history of the community written for Dexter’s Centennial in 1973, it was noted that the Cairo, Arkansas and Texas Railroad Company (CAT) planned to build a depot along what would be Main Street … and thus the depot had a home in Dexter.

It was around this depot that Dexter grew.

“The railroad company laid out the town, and the sale of lots began on the 4th of July,” wrote the late Wilson Jarrell in a history published in the Dexter Centennial Cookbook in 1973. Jarrell wrote that on the day of the sale – July 4, 1873 - “the largest crowd ever assembled in Stoddard County gathered in Dexter to witness and participate in this sale. Even though much of the land was covered with water, a good deal of the land was sold.”

Dexter was born, and the hub of the city was established – at the depot.

Now, after years of being overlooked and in disrepair, the Dexter depot has come alive again as the Dexter Welcome Center – complete with displays of Dexter’s past and the people who helped make the community a special place.

“I just love this building,” said Angie Williamson, Tourism/Marketing Director for the Welcome Center. Williamson is enthusiastic about the center and about the history that is now showcased in the 'new' depot.

Through years of careful work, the depot has been restored – the hardwood floors are now brilliant, the walls painted in subtle tones, windows replaced and now gleam, and displays showcase Dexter’s heritage.

“This is my favorite photo,” Williamson said as she proudly stood by a photograph of the first Miss Dexter and her court. It’s a striking photo of five young Dexter women – the queen and her court from the first contest held in 1934 at the old Weeks Theater. Featured is the first Miss Dexter - Veda Pruit and her court, lsa Sharon Smith, Pauline Burton, Irene Gaines, and Mary Irons.

Displays are currently featured that highlight the sacrifices of Dexter’s veterans, as well as displays on local businesses and institutions.

“Now, this receives a lot of comments,” Williamson said as she led the way to on old-fashioned machine used for giving women permanents in their hair. Actually, the gizmo looks a little creepy – almost something out of an old black & white horror movie.

“They say the smell was horrendous. Women who’ve come in here say if you ever smelled a permanent from one of these machines you won’t ever forget it,” she said.

Williamson has big plans for the Welcome Center and wants to highlight not only Dexter’s heritage, but be a hub of activity – just as the depot was in the heyday of rail traffic.

“I want the Depot to be busy – full of people,’” she said. Plans are on the drawing board for activities this fall to open the doors of the depot and invite the community in for events, open houses, and meetings. In addition, plans are in the works for local model railroad enthusiast Pete Parysek to install a model railroad in the facility.

The Dexter Welcome Center and Depot is open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., and on Saturday fro 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. The Depot is located at 10 S. W. Main Street in the Downtown Dexter district.