Article Archives

DAR celebrates Flag Day and presents Nancy Stone with Service Award

The James Monroe Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in cooperation with American Legion Post 221 held their first annual Flag Day ceremony on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn, near the World War II Veterans’ Memorial, on Friday, June 12, at 4 p.m. The group also presented their first annual Community Service Award to DAR member and County Historical Society President Nancy Stone. On hand representing the DAR were Regent Jan Smiley Carter and members Libby Williams, Juanitta Turnbough, Annette Azdell, Nancy Stone, Lola Worley, Dorothy Walser, Mary Beth Mitchell and Sarah Crow. Representing Post 221 were Edwin Sims, Harold Wilson, Tuck Carter, Lloyd Miller, Don Purdy, Jim Lovelady and Bob Mitchell.
   DAR Regent Carter welcomed the assembled to the ceremony celebrating the history of the American Flag.
   “We are glad you all can be with us here today,” said Regent Carter. “I bring you welcome from the mayor, Bob Crabtree; City Superintendent Phillip Shatzer and American Legion Commander Tom Conboy who were unable to attend today.”
   Nancy Stone and Annette Azdell read a history of Flag Day.
    “The flag is a badge of honor to all,” said Azdell.
   Dorothy Walser led the assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance.
   Lola Worley and Juanitta Turnbough continued the program with a poetry reading.
   Libby Williams led the group in the singing of the National Anthem and Mary Beth Mitchell was the song leader for God Bless America.
   Worley and Mitchell explained to the large group of assembled residents the criteria for the service award.
   “The winner of the annual Community Service Award not only writes a weekly newspaper column but also orchestrates the writing and publication of both a history of Monroe County and Monroe City in the last five years,” said Mitchell. “She is not only active in the City of Paris but active in state and even national issues.”
   “She loves and knows this community as much as anyone does even though she came from another county,” added Mitchell. “We honor Nancy White Stone with the first annual Community Service Award.”
   “This was a surprise,” said Stone. “I am very pleased to receive this honor.”
   “There are a lot of people that put in a lot of effort to make sure that the research center is a viable organization,” added Stone. “We have a group of volunteers that are totally dedicated to making sure we are able to continue preserving Monroe County history. The more we know the more we are able to serve the public.”
   “This has been an enjoyable journey and I appreciate this award from the DAR,” said Stone.
   To conclude the moving ceremony the American Legion Post fired a volley of salvos in tribute.
   DAR History: The DAR, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education for children.
   DAR members volunteer more than 60,000 hours annually to veteran patients, award over $150,000 in scholarships and financial aid each year to students, and support schools for the underprivileged with annual donations exceeding one million dollars.
   As one of the most inclusive genealogical societies in the country, DAR boasts 165,000 members in 3,000 chapters across the United States and internationally. Any woman 18 years or older-regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background-who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution, is eligible for membership.
   Flag Day: In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.
   In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.
   Flag Day is not an official federal holiday, though on June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first (and only) U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday. Title 36 of the United States Code, Subtitle I, Part A, Chapter 1, § 110[2] is the official statute on Flag Day; however, it is at the President’s discretion to proclaim officially the observance.
   Sources: Daughter of American Revolution home page, U.S. Flag History
   Cutline: (Top) Members of the James Monroe Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held their first annual Flag Day ceremony. Left to right, Regent Jan Smiley Carter, Libby Williams, Juanitta Turnbough, Annette Azdell, Nancy Stone, Lola Worley, Dorothy Walser, Mary Beth Mitchell and Sarah Crow. (Bottom) DAR Community Service Award recipient Nancy Stone.
      1874 0925 6/18/2009 hdl

Payton Ness, left, and Alexis Garbulski

Several students, from Janet’s Dance Studio, were selected to attend the “Beginnings Workshop”in New York, June 23 – 29, 2009. The workshop will be held at the Friar Tuck Resort, Spa and Convention Center located in scenic Catskill, New York. Those attending from the Paris area Payton Ness and Alexis Garbulski. Students from the Mexico are Jessica Houston, Angela Houston, Merrill Kaye Arens, and Nicole Brenneman. Also selected was Erica Arens from Centralia and Alexis Neale and Katrina Guittar from the Fulton studio.
   Peter Sklar, a talent scout from New York and producer of a new musical, “The Kid Who Played the Palace,” presented a seminar at the Mexico dance studio where he talked of the importance of healthy lifestyles including eating habits, positive attitude, physical fitness, and proper sleep. A personal interview was held at the end of the session where he selected the seven dancers.
   Daily classes will be held in dance, vocal, drama, performing arts careers, communication, nutrition, and others that compliment performing arts. They will be learning music, scores, choreography and scenes from Broadway cast members who are from shows like “Grease,” “Hairspray,” “Beauty & The Beast,” “Wicked,” and “Billy Elliot.” Also instructing classes will be acting coaches, casting directors, producers, and other professionals.
   The “Beginnings Workshop” is the only performing arts program in the United States to present each of its students as soloists in a featured showcase presentation at a major, established Off Broadway theater in New York City, before an audience of several major talent representatives and casting directors. These industry-attended showcases have resulted in hundreds of bookings including principle roles in Fox’ TV’s O.C., TNT Charmed, Broadway’s Les Miserables, Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Grease, Billy Elliot, Law & Order, Nickelodeon and many commercial products.
   Peter Sklar, the founder of Beginnings Workshop,” has helped develop many well-known celebrities such as Rick Schroer, Sara Jessica Parker, Reese Witherspoon, Zachary Ty Bryan and Mischa Barton. Sklar began the workshop in 1984 in upstate New York. He studied concert piano at New York’s Juilliard School of Music and was a career musician. He hold a Masters Degree in Education from Harvard University with a concentration in counseling and child/adolescent development.
   Janet Graham is the owner of Janet’s Dance Studio in Mexico, Fulton, Moberly & Centralia. She has been offering a wide range of dance classes since 1980 so that her dancers will be well rounded in the dance field allowing them more opportunities to be a more employable dancer in the field of the arts.   1875 0925 6/18/2009 hdl

Austin Wilkerson

Austin Wilkerson, 14, of rural Paris, has recently been notified that he is one of sixteen young people selected to participate in the 2009 Ag-Discovery Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, from July 12 through July 24.
   Ag-Discovery is an outreach program to help students learn about careers in animal science, veterinary medicine, agri-business, plant pathology and the challenges of managing and resolving wildlife conflicts. The two week program allows participants, ages 14 - 17, to live on a college campus and learn about agriculture science from university professors, practicing veterinarians, and professionals working for the U.S. government. Students chosen to participate in Ag-Discovery will gain experience through hands-on labs, workshops, field trips and other group and team building activities. The Ag-Discovery Program was initiated by USDA-APHIS/Veterinary Services as a pilot program in 2002. A panel of APHIS employees was assembled to evaluate the 96 applications received and select participants based on the proper completion of the application package, composition and content of a two page essay, and three letters of recommendation. Providing reference letters for Austin was Charles Rosenkrans, Mac Wilt DVM, and Trisa Reddington, Counselor/Teacher at Holliday C-2 School. Several APHIS offices will fund the Ag-Discovery Program at the University of Maryland this year. Students chosen to participate are financially responsible only for transportation to and from the campus.
   University of Maryland is a land-grant institution founded in 1856 and located in College Park, Md., just outside Washington, D.C. The 1,250-acre campus is home to just over 25,000 undergraduate students, 32 percent of whom are minorities.
   The university’s own mission statement emphasizes its continuing commitment to engaging “in outreach and collaborative partnerships with the greater community by extending the scholarly reach of (its) campus.” UM’s participation as a host for the summer 2009 Ag-Discovery Program demonstrates this commitment in action.   1876 0925 6/18/2009 hdl

Answer Plot

As many of you may have noticed the recent activity at the junction of Route M and Highway 15, this is the newest site for Croplan Genetics’ Answer Plot. The Answer Plots are a national campaign of 120+ plots across the United States to showcase products in local conditions. Theses site are also used to educate both producers and agronomist so each can make better agronomic decisions. The Answer Plot houses studies that include: seed treatment, population variations, drift studies, herbicide effectiveness, seed emergence, and much more. It also showcases the newest genetics from Croplan Genetics, NK Syngenta Seeds, and Asgrow/Dekalb. The first session of the Answer Plot will be held Wednesday, June 24, beginning at 5 p.m., with all producers invited to attend. For more information regarding the Answer Plot, stop by and talk to your local agronomist at Monroe County Service Company or visit answerplot.com   1880 0925 6/18/2009 hdl

Courthouse Fountain

What looks like a harmless prank as soap was placed in the courthouse fountain is still considered vandalism or property damage by the Sheriff’s Department and the perpetrators behind the incident can still be prosecuted.   1877 0925 6/18/2009 hdl