OLD GREENVILLE –All roads will lead to Old Greenville in September for the annual Old Greenville Days, slated for Sept. 16 - 18.

The Old Greenville Recreation Area and National Historic Site will be transformed to the early 19th century for the three-day event as the Crowley’s Ridge Black Powder Club members and various Civil War groups (10th Missouri and Big River Volunteers) connect the past to the present.

"This free event will awaken your senses as you smell the aroma of gun powder and hear the great sounds of some good old fashioned bluegrass, country and gospel music." said Park Ranger Andrew Jefferson of the Wappapello Lake Project Office. "You will witness some extremely creative handy work of various crafters. You may also take a gingerly stroll down Memory Lane at your leisure."

If hunger hits, Jefferson said there will be a variety of traditional as well as non-traditional food (baked goods, funnel cakes, kettle corn, shaved ice, lemonade etc.) available to satisfy.

The event will start on Friday at 5 p.m. with music provided by The Otter Creek Band, Betty and Jane Bluegrass and Friends (including clogging), String Circle and Acoustic Crossroads. It will continue on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and conclude on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Other groups include Iron Mountain Station, Mikayla and the Davis Family Tradition, Buzzard Run, Level Ground Ministries, Drive Tyme, Chuck Bazzell, 3rd Degree and McAtees.

There will be a magic show featuring Cuzin Irene (Bo Bo the Clown), old time children’s games, candy cannon, Hat Fashion Show, watermelon eating contest and more.

Photo Above: Dexter resident Mike Clippard works on a carving at Old Greenville Days. (SMT file photo).

Central Elementary held its annual Open House Monday evening, and the Central PTO was on hand selling Bearcat t-shirts and distributing information about PTO to parents. On hand were (from left) PTO President Leigh Ann Kincy, Treasurer Jennifer Hampton and 3rd Grade Representative Peg Rogers. Parents attending the Open House were able to visit with their student's teachers and learn more about plans and expectations for the year. Upcoming plans at Central School call for the DARE program to begin this week for fifth grade students, and Grandparent Night is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 12. (SMT Photo by Annabeth Miller)

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