A SMT Report By
Reader Malisa Mayo

A Boy Scout's motto is "Do a Good Turn Daily", and a group of local Boy Scouts recently worked hard to complete a good turn for the community.

Four young scouts in Dexter's Troop 200 are working on the Camping Merit Badge, which includes a requirement to complete a conservation project.

"We decided to work on cleaning up the Outdoor Education Center at Centra," said Scout Ryan Mayo. Joining Mayor were fellow Boy Scouts Weston Avery, Cody McFaddin, and Matthew Geary.

With the assistance of and watchful eye of parent helpers, the four boys put in an energetic morning working at the site near the school. The area had grown up considerably, and so lots of limbs had to be cut and stacked and trees and vines trimmed.

The Camping Merit Badge is a requirement for Scouts working toward attainment of the Eagle Rank in Boy Scouting. Scouts learn about personal health and safety, survival, public health, conservation, and good citizenship while in the outdoors, and relate these lessons to Scout Spirit and the Scout Oath and Law.

Dexter's Boy Scout Troop 200 is sponsored by the Dexter United Methodist Men and the Dexter Kiwanis Club.
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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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