Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 5-18-22
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Vol. 19 No. 10 • May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
midriversnewsmagazine.com<br />
Melissa Liang named<br />
Teacher of the Year<br />
PLUS: Riverpointe Update ■ Your Guide to Summer Concerts ■ St. Peters Road Improvements
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STAR PARKER<br />
Students must take<br />
responsibility for their debt<br />
Lending money is not, as they say, rocket<br />
science.<br />
According to the Federal Reserve Bank<br />
of St. Louis, in the last quarter of 2021, of<br />
the total of all outstanding business loans<br />
from all commercial banks, 1.08% were<br />
delinquent.<br />
Per the Federal Reserve Bank of New<br />
York, as of second quarter 2021, a little<br />
over 2% of the $1.4 trillion outstanding in<br />
auto loans were delinquent.<br />
Yet in the student loan market, totaling<br />
around $1.6 trillion, not that different from<br />
the total size of the auto loan market, an<br />
average of 15% are in default at any given<br />
time, per the Education Data Initiative.<br />
It should be clear what the problem is.<br />
Auto lenders make sure that those to<br />
whom they lend can and will pay back the<br />
loan. They are careful because if the borrower<br />
defaults, the lender loses.<br />
But if, tomorrow, President Joe Biden<br />
or Sens. Elizabeth Warren or Bernie<br />
Sanders decide that it is not fair that<br />
there are Americans without new cars<br />
and managed to get government guarantees<br />
for auto loans, is there any doubt<br />
that there would be a dramatic rise in<br />
defaults on car loans?<br />
Those lending wouldn’t care who they<br />
lend to because they wouldn’t take the<br />
loss on a default. You and I, we taxpayers,<br />
would, as we will if Biden and his party<br />
have their way to wipe out student loans.<br />
Of course, “wipe out” is not the right terminology.<br />
Debts don’t get wiped out. They<br />
just get transferred to someone else. In the<br />
case of government guarantees, that someone<br />
else is taxpayers.<br />
The concept of student loans backed<br />
by the government is another child of the<br />
allegedly compassionate 1960s.<br />
Doesn’t it make sense to help the less<br />
fortunate obtain funds to pay for college?<br />
But as many theologians and philosophers<br />
have noted, the greatest charitable<br />
act is to help another individual take control<br />
of their own life. Teaching personal<br />
responsibility is the most valuable gift that<br />
one can provide another.<br />
Our American compassion, our moral<br />
compass, has gone awry.<br />
A child growing up in America today<br />
looks around and finds himself or herself in<br />
a nation where debt is larger than the entire<br />
economy, and still growing.<br />
But just as inflation shows that the costs<br />
of fiscal irresponsibility cannot be hidden,<br />
so the costs of teaching our youth that personal<br />
responsibility is irrelevant cannot<br />
be hidden. It manifests in the destructive<br />
behavior we see now.<br />
The Wall Street Journal reported that one<br />
student loan adviser told them, “I’m seeing<br />
them say, ‘I’m going to take out more loans<br />
now and go buy GameStop stock with it<br />
because it’s going to get forgiven anyway.’”<br />
A new Gallup survey reports “32% of<br />
currently enrolled students pursuing a<br />
bachelor’s degree report they have considered<br />
withdrawing from their program for a<br />
semester or more in the past six months.”<br />
Thirty-six percent attribute this to financial<br />
reasons. But 76% attribute to “emotional<br />
stress.”<br />
Of course, the universities love this.<br />
What business wouldn’t think the government<br />
subsidizing purchase of its product is<br />
a great idea?<br />
Per the American Enterprise Institute,<br />
from January 2000 to December 2021, college<br />
tuition costs increased 175% and college<br />
textbook costs increased 150%. Over<br />
the same period, the consumer price index<br />
for all items increased 65.5%; prices of<br />
cars, household furnishings and clothing<br />
remained relatively unchanged; and cellphone<br />
services were down 40%, computer<br />
software down 71% and television sets<br />
down 97%.<br />
Per Education Data Initiative, highest<br />
default rate – 26.33% – is among arts and<br />
humanities majors attending nonselective<br />
schools. Can anyone really think such<br />
loans make sense?<br />
We need to help our youth who want<br />
education to get it. But it must be done<br />
prudently.<br />
Teaching our youth that they don’t need<br />
to pay back debts is not a good start.<br />
Misguided efforts by Biden and his party<br />
to cancel obligations on student loans<br />
should be vigorously opposed.<br />
• • •<br />
Star Parker is president of the Center<br />
for Urban Renewal and Education and<br />
host of the weekly television show “Cure<br />
America with Star Parker.”<br />
© 20<strong>22</strong> Creators.com<br />
Read more on midriversnewsmagazine.com<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
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6 I OPINION I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
We need to talk about Kim Gardner<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
We generally stay away from discussing<br />
St. Louis City. O’Fallon, Wentzville and<br />
Weldon Spring are all a good way from<br />
downtown. That said, when we travel to<br />
Chicago, or Nashville, or Indianapolis, and<br />
people ask where we are from, we generally<br />
respond with “St. Louis.”<br />
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner<br />
is doing as much as anybody to make that<br />
answer embarrassing.<br />
Gardner took office in January 2017.<br />
She campaigned on a progressive, reformoriented<br />
platform. That is perfectly fine,<br />
the criminal justice system could benefit<br />
from some fresh ideas. Reform, however,<br />
is not enough for Kim Gardner. She joined<br />
four other female, Black prosecutors in<br />
penning a 2020 opinion piece for Politico.<br />
In the essay, Gardner and her colleagues<br />
stated, “Unless we stop trying to reform<br />
the system and instead work to transform<br />
it, we will never achieve the kind of<br />
change needed to upend a system rooted<br />
in slavery.”<br />
Gardner has indeed transformed her<br />
office. She has overseen a 100% staff<br />
turnover. Prior to Gardner, the circuit<br />
attorney’s office included a staff of 60<br />
attorneys with an average tenure of around<br />
eight years. Today, the office has just 30<br />
attorneys with an average tenure of around<br />
four years.<br />
With fewer attorneys comes fewer cases.<br />
In 2019, Gardner’s office prosecuted just<br />
1,641 of the 7,045 felony charges sought<br />
by the St. Louis Police Department. Last<br />
summer, Gardner’s office had to dismiss<br />
three murder cases in a single week due<br />
largely to unprepared prosecutors. That is<br />
not reformation or transformation; that is<br />
an abomination. These were murder cases,<br />
not parking tickets.<br />
Gardner did find the time to sue the city<br />
of St. Louis, a.k.a. her employer, in federal<br />
court. In 2020, Gardner alleged a “racist<br />
conspiracy” among “entrenched interests”<br />
that was impeding her ability to reform her<br />
office. Her suit alleged violations of the<br />
Ku Klux Klan act of <strong>18</strong>71. A federal judge<br />
quickly dismissed the case. U.S. District<br />
Judge John Ross described her suit as “a<br />
conglomeration of unrelated claims and<br />
conclusory statements supported by very<br />
few facts, which do not plead any recognizable<br />
cause of action.”<br />
Then, there is the recent reprimand that<br />
Gardner received for her office’s handling<br />
of the Eric Greitens case. She admitted to<br />
withholding documents from the defense<br />
in the case. The public reprimand feels<br />
like a slap on the wrist. Seven members<br />
of a grand jury that indicted an investigator<br />
from Gardner’s office in relation to the<br />
Greitens case clearly hoped for stronger<br />
punishment. They sent the disciplinary<br />
panel looking into Gardner a letter that<br />
described her actions as “calculated deceit<br />
and/or outright incompetence; neither of<br />
which is acceptable behavior for a person<br />
holding this public office.”<br />
Kim Gardner is the city of St. Louis’ first<br />
Black circuit attorney. She is an intelligent,<br />
ambitious woman with innovative ideas<br />
around criminal justice reform. She is also<br />
a terrible prosecutor, who has brought disgrace<br />
to the office.<br />
Does this or should this matter to residents<br />
of St. Peters, St. Charles and Lake<br />
Saint Louis? Yes, it should and yes, it<br />
does. We are all residents of the St. Louis<br />
metro area just as we are residents of the<br />
state of Missouri and the United States<br />
of America. A recent City Journal article<br />
listed Gardner as one of the five worst<br />
prosecutors in the country. Jeff Roorda,<br />
business manager from the St. Louis<br />
Police Officer’s Association, described<br />
Gardner as “the worst prosecutor in the<br />
United States.” That brings shame down<br />
on all of us.<br />
The virtue of progress must be weighed<br />
against the costs, and Gardner’s receipts<br />
are way too high.<br />
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR<br />
Bethany Coad<br />
Suzanne Corbett<br />
Robin S. Jefferson<br />
DeAnne LeBlanc<br />
John Tremmel<br />
Responding to ‘You’re<br />
debt to me’<br />
To the editor:<br />
The writer of the editorial “You’re debt<br />
to me” probably has never incurred a student<br />
loan, if the writer can only see a debt<br />
cancellation as a bribe. That is both cynical<br />
and insensitive.<br />
“Debt cancellation is an interesting<br />
phrase. Our parents called it bribery.” Yes<br />
it could be bribery if the person receiving<br />
the $10,000 was not in debt at all, but just<br />
added it as a surplus to his or her bank<br />
account. But debt cancellation means that<br />
the student already has a loan debt to the<br />
university of $10,000 or more, and the<br />
money is merely lightening a debt load<br />
that could be $100,000 or $200,000. It is<br />
merely a gesture to cover a few months of<br />
payments.<br />
The writer already admits that the cost<br />
of a college eduction is exorbitant and<br />
claims to solve the problem of student<br />
debt by lowering college budgets. That is<br />
a completely different problem than owing<br />
$100,000.<br />
Graduating students often do not find<br />
entry level jobs with a lot of discretionary<br />
funds in their salaries. They struggle to find<br />
the funds to pay their loans and may carry<br />
them for a decade or more. Meanwhile<br />
their parents are warning them to save for<br />
their retirement. The writer clearly has not<br />
experienced this kind of financial pressure.<br />
It is highly cynical to call a college debt<br />
cancellation “a bribe.” Walk a mile in the<br />
shoes of the indebted college student and<br />
experience the pressure of college loans,<br />
and you will understand the need for debt<br />
cancellation of $10,000, or even $50,000.<br />
William Tucker<br />
In favor of Star Parker<br />
To the editor:<br />
First and foremost I thoroughly enjoy<br />
Ms. Parker’s columns. Great work.<br />
And, like always, she was spot on with<br />
her comments on the mischief that the<br />
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has<br />
been involved with since its inception. It’s<br />
a tool that Washington players will use to<br />
no good whenever they can. The Massachusetts<br />
Mob headed by Barney Frank and<br />
now Elizabeth Warren know that controlling<br />
the banking system is the quickest<br />
way to control the money and control the<br />
donors.<br />
But bankers put themselves in this<br />
position by not working together to keep<br />
government out of their businesses. Pushing<br />
up the FDIC minimum to $250,000<br />
from $100,000 during the crisis benefitted<br />
the banks – and did they really think<br />
that Washington wasn’t going to use that<br />
against them? While Frank was using his<br />
leverage to ratchet down lending standards<br />
it was George Bush that greased the skids<br />
with his near-sighted policies designed to<br />
get everyone into a home of their own.<br />
I agree with Ms. Parker that progressive<br />
politics are disastrous to a well functioning<br />
banking system, but it takes mixing them<br />
with fuzzy brained Republicans and gladhanded<br />
bankers to really screw things up.<br />
Joe Gallagher<br />
754 Spirit 40 Park Drive<br />
Chesterfield, MO 63005<br />
(636) 591-0010<br />
midriversnewsmagazine.com<br />
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MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
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8 I NEWS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
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The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) continues to experience<br />
delays in its ability to complete epoxy deck sealing scheduled as part<br />
of the rehabilitation of the eastbound lanes of the Blanchette Bridge. Delays<br />
to date have been attributed to nationwide supply shortages and local<br />
weather. Motorists affected by the lane closures can follow MoDOT on Twitter<br />
for project updates.<br />
(Source: MoDOT)<br />
news<br />
briefs<br />
O’FALLON<br />
Tickets on sale soon for<br />
St. Jude Dream Home<br />
The 13th St. Jude Dream Home in St.<br />
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The home’s construction and sale will<br />
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is being built by Fischer Homes with<br />
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Association.<br />
Located at the intersection of Dalriada<br />
Boulevard and Long Haven Drive, the<br />
home features a morning room adjacent<br />
to the kitchen, flexible space for a living<br />
room, dining room or study, a first-floor<br />
owner’s suite, a two-story family room,<br />
three bedrooms, two and a half baths and a<br />
two-car garage.<br />
“The purpose of the home is truly special,”<br />
said Frank Jacobs, IBEW business<br />
manager. “St. Jude’s critical research and<br />
treatment of childhood cancer and other<br />
life-threatening diseases inspires and compels<br />
our IBEW/NECA partnership to help<br />
with this worthy cause.”<br />
The home is built with the generosity<br />
and support of sponsors, trade partners,<br />
and the local community. Every dollar<br />
raised goes straight to St. Jude for funding<br />
research and providing care.<br />
Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.<br />
org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (facebook.<br />
com/stjude) and following us on Twitter (@<br />
stjude).<br />
Tickets will be available in June at a cost<br />
of $100 each for a chance to win the home.<br />
A total of 16,000 tickets will be offered.<br />
Last year, tickets to win the home sold out<br />
in 10 days. For more information on the<br />
home or to purchase tickets, visit stjude.<br />
org/give/dream-home/st-louis.html.<br />
Summer pool hours restricted<br />
In response to unprecedented part-time<br />
staff shortages in St. Charles County, the<br />
city of O’Fallon is announcing new pool<br />
hours for aquatics facilities during the<br />
summer months. Both Alligator’s Creek<br />
Aquatic Center and the Renaud Center will<br />
be impacted by these restricted hours.<br />
Alligator’s Creek Aquatic Center<br />
Beginning Memorial Day weekend,<br />
Alligator’s Creek Aquatic Center will open<br />
for the season as originally scheduled. Following<br />
the opening, Alligator’s Creek will<br />
be open noon-6 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays,<br />
Saturdays and Sundays.<br />
These hours may be subject to change<br />
depending on pool rentals, Torpedoes Swim<br />
Team meets and special events. Pool concessions<br />
will remain available during pool hours.<br />
Birthday parties at Alligator’s Creek have<br />
been suspended and will not be available.<br />
Promotional days and scheduled special<br />
events, like the Duckie Dive and the<br />
Cardboard Boat Races, will continue as<br />
scheduled.<br />
Renaud Center<br />
Also beginning Memorial Day weekend,<br />
the Renaud Center natatorium will transition<br />
to restricted summer hours. The pool<br />
will be open daily for regularly-scheduled<br />
lap swimming and Aqua Aerobics programming.<br />
The pool additionally will be<br />
open on Mondays (excluding Memorial<br />
Day), Tuesdays and Wednesdays for recreational<br />
swimming, which will be offered<br />
on Monday and Wednesday from noon to<br />
6:30 p.m., and on Tuesday from noon-4<br />
p.m. Birthday parties at the Renaud Center<br />
have been suspended and will not be available<br />
during the summer months.<br />
O’Fallon Swim Academy<br />
O’Fallon Swim Academy swim lessons<br />
and private swim lessons will continue to<br />
be offered as scheduled at both facilities.<br />
“Communities are facing staffing challenges<br />
all across the country, and O’Fallon<br />
is no exception” said Craig Feldt, recreation<br />
director. “Providing a safe environment<br />
for our guests is our foremost priority,<br />
and these hours allow our current staffing<br />
levels to maintain the high degree of professionalism<br />
and service Alligator’s Creek<br />
patrons and Renaud Center members have<br />
come to expect from our facilities. We<br />
appreciate our residents’ understanding<br />
and their continued support of our Parks<br />
and Recreation activities, and we look forward<br />
to continuing to offer the best possible<br />
service to our residents.”<br />
City retains ‘most livable<br />
small city’ moniker<br />
For the second year in a row, financial<br />
website SmartAsset.com has named the<br />
City of O’Fallon, Missouri, as the “Most<br />
Livable Small City in the United States.”<br />
SmartAsset compared nearly 300 cities<br />
with populations between 65,000 and<br />
100,000 to identify and rank 20<strong>22</strong>’s most<br />
livable small cities. O’Fallon was joined<br />
on the SmartAsset “Top 10” by neighboring<br />
Saint Charles, which ranked number<br />
nine on the list.<br />
SmartAsset analyzed data across the<br />
following metrics: concentration of entertainment<br />
establishments, restaurants, bars<br />
and healthcare establishments, income<br />
inequality, home affordability, housing<br />
costs as a percentage of median income,<br />
percentage of residents below the poverty<br />
line, unemployment rate, percentage<br />
of residents without health insurance and<br />
average commute time.<br />
O’Fallon landed at the top of the list<br />
primarily due to its relatively low proportion<br />
of residents living below the poverty<br />
line, at 4.6%; low median housing costs,<br />
equaling just <strong>18</strong>.01% of median household<br />
income in O’Fallon; and its close proximity<br />
to jobs and entertainment both within<br />
the city limits and throughout the St. Louis<br />
Metro Area.<br />
“Being named America’s ‘most livable’<br />
city is already an incredible honor,” said<br />
Mayor Bill Hennessy. “To take home the<br />
top spot two years in a row is a testament<br />
to our residents, businesses, police and first<br />
responders, educators, faith leaders and<br />
elected officials who all play a key part in<br />
making O’Fallon a great place to live, work<br />
and play. This listing is yet another indicator<br />
that O’Fallon is a city with momentum,<br />
with wonderful recreational opportunities,<br />
a thriving economy and a wonderful, safe<br />
environment for families.”<br />
Storage facility fails<br />
to secure CUP<br />
The O’Fallon City Council considered a<br />
bill (No. 7427) that would grant a conditional<br />
use permit (CUP) for a self-storage<br />
facility in a C3/commercial highway dis-
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May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I NEWS I 9<br />
trict, on property located at the southeast<br />
corner of Veterans Memorial Parkway at<br />
West O’Fallon Drive. The business would<br />
be known as “Chuck It In Storage.”<br />
After receiving a first reading at the<br />
council meeting on April 14, the bill was<br />
given a second reading and vote for passage<br />
at the meeting on April 28. The council<br />
voted 4 yes and 6 no, defeating the bill.<br />
Voting no were council members Deana<br />
Smith (Ward 1), Nathan Bibb (Ward 3),<br />
Jeff Kuehn and Dr. Jim Ottomeyer (both of<br />
Ward 4), and Debbie Cook and Ron Connell<br />
(both of Ward 5). Voting yes were council<br />
members Dave Hinman (Ward 1), Tom<br />
“Duke” Herweck and Lisa Thompson (both<br />
of Ward 2), and Steve Koskela (Ward 3).<br />
Population Health Institute. Those institutions<br />
have ranked the county as among the<br />
state’s best for both Health Outcomes and<br />
Health Factors.<br />
Numbers released by the county help to<br />
explain why:<br />
• 14% of St. Charles County residents<br />
reported being in poor or fair health – a<br />
percentage that placed among the top 10th<br />
percentile for all counties studied. Missouri’s<br />
average is <strong>18</strong>%.<br />
• 7% of St. Charles County babies were<br />
born with low birthweight (less than 5<br />
pounds, 8 ounces). Missouri’s average is 9%.<br />
• The county has a lower rate for premature<br />
death than the Missouri average.<br />
• The county has a lower rate for injury<br />
deaths per 100,000 residents than the Missouri<br />
average.<br />
• 16% of St. Charles County residents<br />
report themselves as current smokers. Missouri’s<br />
average is 20%.<br />
• 32% of St. Charles County residents<br />
have a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater. Missouri’s<br />
average is 35%.<br />
• 57% of St. Charles County residents<br />
received a flu vaccination in 20<strong>18</strong> and<br />
2019 – an increase over the previously<br />
studied periods and placing among the top<br />
10th percentile in the U.S. Missouri’s average<br />
is 47%.<br />
• Documented recent improvements in<br />
the air quality within the county, focusing<br />
on a decrease in air pollutants.<br />
“This recognition is something the entire<br />
community can be proud of,” Sara Evers,<br />
acting director of the county’s department<br />
of public health said. “It means the vast<br />
majority of our population is focused on<br />
being healthy through exercise and good<br />
eating habits and are practicing prevention,<br />
such as hand-washing and vaccination.<br />
Consistently receiving high rankings as a<br />
See NEWS BRIEFS, page 11<br />
ST. CHARLES COUNTY<br />
Squirrels urgently seek<br />
warehouse space<br />
Each year, thanks to the dedicated<br />
efforts of members of The Loyal Order of<br />
the Squirrels, hundreds of children receive<br />
bicycles for Christmas through the Sts.<br />
Joachim and Ann Care Service Adopt-A-<br />
Family Program.<br />
However, in order for this program to continue<br />
in 20<strong>22</strong>, the Squirrels must find new<br />
warehouse space by June 1. The civic organization<br />
needs a location with 7,000 square<br />
feet available for the clean up, repair, and<br />
refurbishing of donated bicycles. The space<br />
is needed from June 1 through Jan. 1. A location<br />
within St. Charles County is preferred.<br />
Companies or individuals that can help<br />
meet this need are urged to email the Care<br />
Service at info@jacares.org.<br />
County relocates document<br />
drop box<br />
St. Charles County Government has<br />
relocated its drive-up drop boxes from the<br />
island on Second Street and has placed one<br />
drive-up box on the north side of Monroe<br />
Street near the corner of Second Street<br />
in St. Charles. The secure box is a safe,<br />
convenient alternative to entering the St.<br />
Charles County Administration building;<br />
however, payments still can be made in the<br />
lobby of the building at 201 N. Second St.<br />
The box is for Real Estate and Personal<br />
Property Tax payments, Personal Property<br />
Assessment forms and original permit<br />
bonds. It is checked and emptied by county<br />
staff every weekday, excluding holidays.<br />
For questions, call (636) 949-7900.<br />
County receives high health marks<br />
For the 13th consecutive year, St.<br />
Charles County has been named as one<br />
of Missouri’s healthiest counties as recognized<br />
by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation<br />
and the University of Wisconsin’s<br />
NUMBER ONE<br />
Garden View Care Center – number one in the state of<br />
Missouri for having its health care staff fully vaccinated<br />
- Center for Disease Control<br />
EXPERTS IN DEMENTIA CARE<br />
gardenviewcarecenter.com<br />
636-240-2840 | O’FALLON<br />
636-537-3333 | CHESTERFIELD<br />
636-861-0500 | DOUGHERTY FERRY
10 I NEWS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
Riverpointe continues to move forward with new lead developer<br />
By JOHN TREMMEL<br />
The Riverpointe, Bangert Island and<br />
Katy Trail areas just south of Interstate 70<br />
in the city of Saint Charles, along the western<br />
bank of the Missouri River, have visibly<br />
and significantly changed during the past<br />
six months – and changes will continue<br />
over the next 12 to <strong>18</strong> months. Another<br />
aspect of Riverpointe that has changed<br />
significantly is that CRG has taken over<br />
the lead for development of Phase I and<br />
Phase III. A nationwide large developer<br />
headquartered in St. Louis, with a total of<br />
seven offices across North America, CRG<br />
is Clayco’s development company.<br />
The overall Riverpointe development<br />
starts at the south lot line of the Drury<br />
Plaza Hotel at the Streets of St. Charles,<br />
where the two-story parking structure<br />
ends and continues south to the Family<br />
Arena. As originally envisioned, it is to be<br />
a mixed-use development that, according<br />
to the city, “will entail building parking,<br />
retail, restaurants, office space, entertainment<br />
and multifamily dwellings.” It predicts<br />
that once development is completed it<br />
will “provide roughly 4,000 jobs, increase<br />
the annual visitors by a million people, and<br />
produce an annual revenue of an estimated<br />
$1.5 billion.”<br />
But progress on the development has<br />
been slow.<br />
While it wasn’t until 20<strong>18</strong> that Saint<br />
Charles first sought funding for the Riverpointe<br />
project, the city had begun its efforts<br />
to reinvigorate the 1.6 miles of riverfront<br />
located south of I-70 to the Family Arena<br />
in 2008. In that early effort, the city partnered<br />
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers<br />
to do “extensive river modeling and<br />
hydraulic design to ensure that the project<br />
will improve both the economic activity of<br />
the region and the environmental resources<br />
along the Missouri River.”<br />
Originally, the river restoration plan<br />
called for creating a water-quality basin at<br />
the outflow of Crystal Springs Creek and<br />
elevating over 100 acres above the 500-<br />
year floodplain. Additionally, the Corps of<br />
Engineers had planned to remove decades<br />
of sediment deposits from a side chute of<br />
the Missouri River that had essentially tied<br />
the 160-acre Bangert Island, currently a<br />
St. Charles County park, to the St. Charles<br />
riverfront. As a result, Bangert Island<br />
would become an island once more. Those<br />
measures were expected to prevent the<br />
catastrophic flooding experienced by the<br />
area in recent years. However, that plan<br />
changed over time to one that would raise<br />
the entire Riverpointe project above the<br />
floodplain, enhancing the area’s existing<br />
habitat and foregoing the creation of the<br />
water-quality basin.<br />
Pilings are being poured for future development at Riverpointe<br />
Early on the city also sought to reconstruct<br />
what it referred to as an “existing<br />
inadequate roadway infrastructure<br />
located along Arena Parkway which runs<br />
the perimeter of the project, [and] create<br />
stormwater control and protection from<br />
the Missouri River.”<br />
To do so, the city proposed the creation<br />
of:<br />
• 4 miles of new roadway, including an<br />
extension of Lombard Street from South<br />
Main Street, which borders the Streets of<br />
St. Charles, to a roundabout to be built<br />
along the edge of the water quality basin,<br />
and the construction of a new loop road<br />
connecting Old South River Road to the<br />
Lombard Street roundabout.<br />
• 5.8 miles of reconstructed roadway,<br />
including improvements to the existing<br />
Old South River Road.<br />
• 14 miles of new ADA accessible sidewalks.<br />
• 1.6 miles of new or improved trails,<br />
including raising the Katy Trail to an elevation<br />
above the 500-year floodplain.<br />
• 1.6 miles of new transit facilities,<br />
including a trolley connection from the<br />
development to the St. Charles Area Transit<br />
[SCAT] hub, located at Clark Street and<br />
<strong>Rivers</strong>ide Drive in historic St. Charles.<br />
• 100 acres of high-value development<br />
area elevated above the floodplain, creating<br />
6.7 million square feet of usable space.<br />
Some of those improvements have happened<br />
and some continue to be under construction<br />
and the water basin, which was<br />
taken off the drawing board by the city in<br />
2020, is back on.<br />
CRG Director of Development Natasha<br />
Das, who handles the day-to-day requirements<br />
of CRG’s real estate developments<br />
from site selection to stabilization,<br />
explained that the company is “working<br />
on the initial phase of infrastructure during<br />
this time, including filling, grading and<br />
(John Tremmel photo)<br />
paving the Lombard Street and Old South<br />
River Road extensions, and extending<br />
utilities.”<br />
“We anticipate that Chicken N Pickle<br />
will be open by fourth quarter ‘<strong>22</strong> or early<br />
2023,” she added.<br />
Chicken N Pickle is the first brick and<br />
mortar to be confirmed for Riverpointe.<br />
The Kansas City-based company currently<br />
has six locations in Missouri, Kansas and<br />
Texas and anticipates opening three more<br />
venues in late 20<strong>22</strong>, including the Riverpointe<br />
facility.<br />
According to its website, “Chicken N<br />
Pickle Saint Charles will be equipped with<br />
bars, pavilions, multiple dining areas on<br />
the main floor and a rooftop dining experience,<br />
along with outdoor tables for guests<br />
to enjoy. The venue will feature numerous<br />
indoor and outdoor pickleball courts,<br />
shuffleboard and Bocce ball courts, and a<br />
variety of lawn games.”<br />
Asked what else might be completed by<br />
the first and second quarter of 2023, Das<br />
responded that CRG is currently in discussions<br />
with various other potential users;<br />
however, at this time they are focusing<br />
Rendering of the projected development of Riverpointe<br />
on the project’s extensive infrastructure<br />
updates.<br />
While mostly seen as positive, those<br />
updates have caused concern for users<br />
of the Katy Trail, which runs through<br />
the development area along the Missouri<br />
River. Relocation of the trail and changes<br />
to the habitat which surround it have been<br />
a hot button for many residents and environmental<br />
groups. Currently, the trail has<br />
detours around sections near the Blanchette<br />
(I-70) Bridge to the south and past<br />
Bangert Island to near Friedens Road.<br />
“The Katy Trail is still open,” Das said,<br />
“but we anticipate being complete with<br />
the Katy Trail relocations approximately<br />
24 months after receipt of the remaining<br />
approvals.”<br />
Regarding the lake feature, Das<br />
explained that it provides essential benefits<br />
to the area, such as:<br />
• Improving water quality by removing<br />
pollutants that would eventually reach the<br />
Missouri River.<br />
• Providing flood relief along Crystal<br />
Springs Creek.<br />
• Achieving environmental restoration<br />
that creates biodiversity and habitat lift.<br />
• Providing an aquatic recreational feature<br />
for Bangert Island Park.<br />
With the future development of Riverpointe<br />
transferred to CRG, the city of Saint<br />
Charles is in the process of updating its<br />
website in regard to the project and deferring<br />
all inquiries to the company.<br />
According to its website, CRG has developed<br />
$13 billion in assets, 10,000 acres of<br />
land, and 210 million square feet in projects<br />
during the 29 years since its founding.<br />
The company is privately held, with<br />
reported $755 million revenue in 2021. In<br />
addition to Riverpointe, CRG is developing<br />
or has developed Wildhorse Village in<br />
Chesterfield, Chapter at the Streets in the<br />
Streets of St. Charles, Everly on the Loop<br />
(Delmar) in St. Louis and Delmar DiVine<br />
in St. Louis.<br />
(Source: CRG)
FACEBOOK.COM/MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I NEWS I 11<br />
NEWS BRIEFS, from page 9<br />
community for 13 consecutive years further<br />
demonstrates why St. Charles County<br />
is a great place to raise a family and to start,<br />
or grow, a business.”<br />
The 20<strong>22</strong> County Health Rankings are<br />
based upon public data collected from vital<br />
statistics and government surveys from<br />
2007-2020. The complete nationwide and<br />
Missouri-specific rankings may be viewed<br />
at countyhealthrankings.org.<br />
MISSOURI<br />
Applicants sought for state<br />
fellowship program<br />
The State Historical Society of Missouri<br />
is seeking proposals for two Center<br />
for Missouri Studies fellowships to begin<br />
to Jan. 1, 2023. Each fellowship carries a<br />
stipend of $5,000 for a project that results<br />
in the completion of a 6,000 to 8,000-word<br />
scholarly essay on one of the two topics<br />
listed below. The deadline for submitting<br />
proposals is Sept. 6. The competition is<br />
open to both academic and independent<br />
scholars.<br />
Topics for the 2023 Center for Missouri<br />
Studies Fellowships are:<br />
• Rural-urban conflicts in Missouri. Proposed<br />
projects should examine a conflict,<br />
or perhaps two or more related conflicts,<br />
that have divided the state’s rural and urban<br />
populations. Any time period in Missouri’s<br />
history may be considered. Proposals will<br />
be judged on their potential to increase<br />
understanding of how and why rural-urban<br />
divisions persist within Missouri.<br />
• Missouri and the arts. Proposals should<br />
consider the history of some aspect of aesthetic<br />
sensibility and explore how it has<br />
shaped Missouri’s cultural or artistic identity.<br />
This fellowship opportunity invites a<br />
broad range of potential topics: art/artists,<br />
music/musicians, literature/authors, architecture/architects,<br />
etc. Other possibilities<br />
might include Missouri’s association with<br />
foodways, industrial design, dress, fashion,<br />
pageants, theater, concerts, gardens or park<br />
design, or any other subject that illuminates<br />
how Missouri and Missourians have<br />
perceived, defined, and created beauty,<br />
style, and taste.<br />
The fellowship awards will be announced<br />
in December. The chosen projects will be<br />
considered for publication in the Missouri<br />
Historical Review, the only quarterly journal<br />
devoted to scholarship on Missouri’s<br />
history. Fellowship recipients will also<br />
have an opportunity to make a public presentation<br />
of their work.<br />
For further information regarding the<br />
fellowships and how to apply, visit shsmo.<br />
org/awards/center-fellowship.<br />
Contact us today to schedule a tour!<br />
314-576-5545 • www.brookingpark.org<br />
307 S Woods Mill Road<br />
Chesterfield, MO 63017<br />
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12 I NEWS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
St. Peters looks toward improving roads,<br />
bridges using federal funding<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
By ROBIN SEATON JEFFERSON<br />
The St. Peters Board of Aldermen in<br />
April approved $4.3 million in federal<br />
funding agreements for road and bridge<br />
work in the city.<br />
The Missouri Highway and Transportation<br />
Commission agreements will provide<br />
some $3.8 million in reimbursement funding<br />
to the city for design, property acquisition<br />
and construction costs through the<br />
East-West Gateway Council of Governments.<br />
Funded as part of the Transportation<br />
Trust Fund, the projects include the reconstruction<br />
of Barkwood Trails Drive and<br />
Jungs Station Road, and improvements to<br />
Mexico Road at Dardenne Creek Bridge.<br />
The projects are part of St. Peters’ fiveyear<br />
Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for<br />
fiscal years 2021 through 2026 – a tool<br />
city staff uses to assess and fund the<br />
long term capital needs of the city such<br />
as replacing and repairing deteriorating<br />
infrastructure.<br />
According to Burt Benesek, the city’s<br />
transportation and development services<br />
manager, these funding agreements<br />
allow St. Peters to be reimbursed through<br />
the federal Surface Transportation Program<br />
(STP). The funds are administered<br />
through the East-West Gateway and the<br />
Missouri Department of Transportation<br />
(MoDOT).<br />
“We have a transportation sales tax,”<br />
Benesek said. “So, along with funds<br />
from the federal government and the St.<br />
Charles County Road Board, St. Peters is<br />
able to stretch that dollar (from the sales<br />
tax) and make the best use of the taxpayer’s<br />
dollar. We try to be good stewards of<br />
taxpayer money.”<br />
Benesek said the CIP lists and outlines<br />
the projects, estimates their costs<br />
and describes how they will be funded.<br />
Projects in the plan are identified by city<br />
departments and reviewed by city staff<br />
and elected officials. Cost estimates are<br />
also provided by city departments.<br />
“There are roughly 547 lane miles of<br />
pavement in the city,” Benesek said. “We<br />
have a pavement management program to<br />
identify our priorities.”<br />
St. Peters adopted the Pavement Surface<br />
Evaluation and Rating<br />
(PASER) system several<br />
years ago. Developed by<br />
the University of Wisconsin,<br />
PASER is a visual<br />
inspection rating system<br />
wherein staff examines<br />
roadways and rates them<br />
on a scale ranging from 1<br />
to 10. For example, a designation<br />
of 1 may point to<br />
failed concrete or asphalt,<br />
while 10 may indicate a<br />
new freshly paved roadway.<br />
The city then uses<br />
that rating to correlate<br />
what kind of maintenance<br />
activity should take place.<br />
Often, upon annual<br />
review, roads may get the<br />
same ratings. However,<br />
certain considerations for how funds are<br />
directed to road and bridge projects can<br />
“break those ties,” Benesek said. They<br />
might include whether the road is part<br />
of a school route or whether it is a major<br />
thoroughfare as well as concerns lodged<br />
Jungs Station Road Resurfacing Project<br />
(Source: City of St. Peters)<br />
by citizens.<br />
St. Peters’ transportation and development<br />
services is responsible for the<br />
maintenance of approximately 195 lane<br />
miles of asphalt and 353 lane miles of<br />
concrete. As the city’s pavement con-<br />
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MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I NEWS I 13<br />
tinues to age, that team is continually<br />
assessing the quality of those miles. The<br />
American Concrete Pavement Association<br />
estimates the average useful life of<br />
properly installed concrete pavement is<br />
35 years, and for asphalt pavements is<br />
17 years. Both organizations recommend<br />
periodic crack sealing and miscellaneous<br />
spot repairs before full replacement or<br />
resurfacing is required.<br />
Benesek said it has been the city’s experience<br />
that major maintenance is generally<br />
required for asphalt streets, between<br />
the ages of 10 to 12 years, and for concrete<br />
streets, between the ages of 15 to 20<br />
years. The majority of the city’s roadways<br />
are concrete.<br />
It is this maintenance that East-West<br />
Gateway considers when giving out the<br />
money, Benesek said. As a federal grant<br />
recipient, the council’s local funds are<br />
provided from the member jurisdictions<br />
and are generally used as matching funds<br />
for its state and federal grants.<br />
“East-West Gateway wants communities<br />
to reinvest in their roadways before<br />
they become replacement projects,” Benesek<br />
explained.<br />
Jungs Station Road Resurfacing Project<br />
Estimated at about $1.2 million, the<br />
Jungs Station Road resurfacing project is<br />
planned to be completed in 2025. Benesek<br />
said concrete pavement would be replaced<br />
and diamond grinding will be used to<br />
smooth the surface of Jungs Station Road,<br />
and the sidewalk from Kings Crossing<br />
to Country Mill Road would be replaced<br />
on both sides. The traffic signal at Plum<br />
Creek Drive would also be replaced, and<br />
a sidewalk would be installed on the east<br />
side of the road, from Roberts Automotive<br />
to Windwood Trail. Additional ADA<br />
improvements will be made throughout<br />
the project including curb ramps at intersections,<br />
and accessible sidewalks and<br />
crosswalks.<br />
Mexico Road at Dardenne Creek<br />
Bridge Rehabilitation Project<br />
The rehabilitation project for Mexico<br />
Road at Dardenne Creek Bridge is slated<br />
to be completed in September 2024 at an<br />
estimated cost of $447,036. City officials<br />
hope the project will extend the life of<br />
the Mexico Road bridge over Dardenne<br />
Creek by addressing maintenance needs<br />
identified by the bi-annual 2020 MoDOT<br />
Bridge Inspection. According to the city’s<br />
website, the project will include updating<br />
the existing guardrail, an epoxy polymer<br />
bridge deck overlay to preserve the deck,<br />
and replacement of the concrete bridge<br />
approach slabs. The existing concrete<br />
sidewalk will be replaced with an ADA<br />
compliant sidewalk, and the pedestrian<br />
fence will be upgraded.<br />
If all goes well, the city will adopt its<br />
CIP at the end of June or early July.<br />
“These are all maintenance projects that<br />
will up the safety of roadways and bridges<br />
in the city that have reached the end of<br />
their useful life,” Benesek said. “We want<br />
folks to know we do have a plan.”<br />
“There are roughly<br />
547 lane miles of<br />
pavement in the city.”<br />
– Burt Benesek,<br />
St. Peters’ transportation manager<br />
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St. Peters officials hope to complete<br />
the Barkwood Trails Drive reconstruction<br />
project, east of Jungermann Road<br />
to Maple Tree Drive, by 2025. At an<br />
estimated cost of about $2.2 million, this<br />
project will replace all pavement and<br />
sidewalks along Barkwood Trails Drive.<br />
Benesek said traffic-calming measures<br />
may be included, with mini-roundabouts<br />
replacing stop signs. Four pedestrian<br />
refugee islands may also be constructed.<br />
Barkwood Trails Drive, a residential<br />
road, was constructed in segments in<br />
the 1970s and the 1980s, and was not<br />
designed to support the volume of traffic<br />
it experiences today. According to<br />
the Transportation Improvement Projects<br />
section of the city’s website, “the project<br />
will provide pavement designed to handle<br />
larger traffic volumes and incorporate<br />
intersection and roadway design concepts<br />
to control speed and improve safety while<br />
limiting stops and traffic congestion.” The<br />
project will also include the replacement<br />
of the existing 4-foot-wide sidewalk with<br />
a 6-foot-wide ADA compliant sidewalk.<br />
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May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
History at Home: Kicking off a summer of exploration this Memorial Day<br />
By KATE UPTERGROVE<br />
with TRACEY BRUCE<br />
The monuments of the National Mall in<br />
Washington, D.C., are definitely sights to<br />
see. Lofty and grand, they remind us of the<br />
sacrifices made to preserve our collective<br />
freedoms. They pay homage to the men<br />
and women who gave their all in both the<br />
creation and defense of these United States.<br />
But looking closer to home reveals<br />
equally impressive memorials, including<br />
the Soldiers Memorial Military Museum in<br />
downtown St. Louis at 1315 Chestnut St.,<br />
and Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial<br />
(Vietnam Veterans Memorial) in Perryville,<br />
Missouri.<br />
At the Soldiers Memorial Military<br />
Museum, there are over 5,000 names<br />
engraved on the walls of the museum’s<br />
Cenotaph (a monument to someone buried<br />
elsewhere) and its Court of Honor. Those<br />
names represent St. Louis men and women<br />
from every branch of service who gave<br />
their lives for their country.<br />
Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial<br />
(about a 1.5-hour drive down I-55) features<br />
an exact replica of the Vietnam Veterans<br />
Memorial in Washington, D.C., bearing all<br />
58,272 names engraved there. Impressive in<br />
their size and scope, these memorials also<br />
are rich in history – and are great places at<br />
which to begin a “history at home” tour.<br />
So, too, is Jefferson Barracks National<br />
Cemetery, especially with Memorial Day<br />
fast approaching.<br />
Did you know that the first Memorial<br />
Day (then known as Decoration Day)<br />
was held on May 30, <strong>18</strong>68, at Arlington<br />
National Cemetery?<br />
Arlington is known for many things,<br />
including being home to the Tomb of the<br />
Unknown Soldier, which celebrated its<br />
100th anniversary last November. Watching<br />
the silent march of the Sentinels as they<br />
guard the tomb in which three unknown<br />
American service members are interned, is<br />
both humbling and mesmerizing.<br />
The Sentinels are members of the 3rd<br />
U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old<br />
Guard,” who volunteer for this duty. To qualify<br />
as a Tomb Guard, they must undergo a<br />
strict selection process and intensive training.<br />
According to the commemorative guide published<br />
by the U.S. Army Center of Military<br />
History: “Sentinels guard the Tomb 24 hours<br />
a day, 365 days a year, regardless of weather.<br />
The military’s highest ceremonial honor – the<br />
21-gun salute – is the basis of the Sentinel’s<br />
ritual walk. The Sentinel takes 21 steps, and<br />
Jefferson Barrack National Cemetery<br />
pauses for 21 seconds between movements.<br />
After executing a facing movement and<br />
before walking to the next point, the Sentinel<br />
executes “shoulder-arms” to place the rifle<br />
on the shoulder farthest from the Tomb.”<br />
While there is no changing of the guard<br />
ceremony for visitors to witness at Jefferson<br />
Barracks National Cemetery, the<br />
experience of viewing all those precisely<br />
aligned headstones and journeying among<br />
them as the history of our nation unfolds<br />
from the American Revolution through<br />
(Source: Tracey Bruce)<br />
present day is no less awe-inspiring.<br />
Located on rolling hills that overlook the<br />
Mississippi River, row upon row of white<br />
marble and granite headstones stretch for as<br />
far as your eyes can see. Established and dedicated<br />
as a national military cemetery in <strong>18</strong>66,<br />
its first recorded burial actually occurred not<br />
long after the establishment of Jefferson Barracks,<br />
which has served as a military post<br />
since <strong>18</strong>26. Ironically, that first burial was<br />
See HISTORY AT HOME, page 30<br />
Obstetrical Associates of St. Luke’s Open House<br />
Meet and Greet with Matthew Bialko, MD, and Osman Chaudhry, MD, obstetrics and gynecology specialists.<br />
Wednesday, May 25 • 4-6 p.m.<br />
Obstetrical Associates of St. Luke’s<br />
5551 WingHaven Blvd.• O’Fallon, MO 63368<br />
You are invited to an open house to meet the physicians, their team and<br />
visit the office. Enjoy light refreshments, giveaways and sign up for<br />
a register to win drawing!<br />
For over 40 years, Obstetrical Associates of St. Luke’s has provided quality<br />
healthcare for women in the Greater St. Louis Area. In addition to wellness<br />
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We are accepting new patients. If you would like to schedule an<br />
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5/9/<strong>22</strong> 1:04 PM
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Lutheran’s Roboteers win Engineering Inspiration<br />
Award, participate in World Championships<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I SCHOOLS I 15<br />
The Lutheran Roboteers prepare to head to World’s<br />
(Source: LHS/Facebook)<br />
By BETHANY COAD<br />
“More Than Robots.” That’s the tagline<br />
Lutheran High St. Charles Roboteers have<br />
taken to heart to help their community and<br />
ultimately earn an invitation to the FIRST<br />
World Championship in Houston, Texas,<br />
last month.<br />
“The FIRST World Championship is like<br />
‘The World Series’ for FIRST Robotics<br />
teams,” said David Zilz, team mentor and<br />
Stem2U program director at Lutheran. “It<br />
is a huge honor to be at this capstone event<br />
with thousands of students from around<br />
the world participating in all levels of the<br />
FIRST Robotics progression of programs.”<br />
An invitation to the World Championships<br />
comes from robot performance on<br />
the field and overall program impact and<br />
performance as assessed by judges through<br />
student interviews. Students are required<br />
to fully explain the program and provide<br />
evidence of its impact to the school and<br />
community outside the team.<br />
“Our robot performed well at both regional<br />
events we attended in 20<strong>22</strong> and allowed<br />
the team to advance to the quarterfinal and<br />
semifinal rounds of those events,” Zilz said.<br />
“However, the highlight was the off-field<br />
judged portion of the competition.”<br />
The team received the Regional Engineering<br />
Inspiration Award, and an invitation<br />
to Worlds, in part for its “Help From<br />
Home” initiative, which created over<br />
7,000 face shields donated to over 40 area<br />
organizations during the first COVID-19<br />
shutdowns and quarantines in the spring of<br />
2020. Students began to work from home<br />
with Zoom meets and emails, and scheduled<br />
weekly “parking lot” sessions to hand<br />
off materials and make job assignments for<br />
the next week (following proper social distancing<br />
protocols, of course).<br />
The World’s event is for any level student<br />
involved in FIRST robotics, from<br />
grade schoolers to world-class high school<br />
teams fielding machines comparable to<br />
some of NASA’s finest Mars rovers. The<br />
Champs Event includes a diverse array<br />
of educational conference sessions and<br />
STEM Expo exhibits from industry leaders<br />
and STEM influencers.<br />
“Our team set the goal to experience the<br />
entire event and compete on the field to<br />
the best of our ability,” Zilz said. “All our<br />
goals were met or exceeded with the robot<br />
performing well and finishing in the top<br />
one-third of the pack, and we successfully<br />
told our ‘More Than Robots’ story, which<br />
ultimately garnered the Championship<br />
Engineering Inspiration Award.”<br />
Sophomore Tegan Hay, design lead and<br />
chairman’s award presenter, said her experience<br />
taught her how to be a leader and<br />
plan for the future.<br />
“I lead a group of eight peers in the<br />
design crew to prototype, manufacture<br />
parts and 3D model the robot. My ambition<br />
for the crew to improve grew as the<br />
build season went on, so during my time at<br />
the World’s Championship I was inspired<br />
to see how other teams design their robots<br />
and go through the build season,” Hay said.<br />
“This opportunity allowed me to come out<br />
of my shell and pursue new ways to help<br />
the team grow through the things learned<br />
at championships and through my time as<br />
design lead.”<br />
In 2012, Lutheran created a STEM Pipeline<br />
for kindergarten-grade 12 students in<br />
the county, using the progression of robotics<br />
programs in the FIRST robotics organization<br />
to attract and engage students across the<br />
area. The Roboteers became the cornerstone<br />
in the primary execution of various STEM<br />
related opportunities.<br />
The team’s highest achievement this<br />
season was beginning its second decade as<br />
a team with the largest student roster that<br />
effectively produced a respectable robot<br />
while sharing their story of being “More<br />
Than Robots.”<br />
“We came away with loads of new ideas<br />
to work on this summer and next build<br />
season,” said junior Matt Zilz, team first<br />
officer and robot driver. “This season has<br />
allowed me to develop closer relationships<br />
with underclassmen and become better<br />
equipped to support the needs of others,<br />
not just my own. Above all, this experience<br />
taught me the importance of balancing<br />
confidence with humility.”<br />
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16 I SCHOOLS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
<strong>Mid</strong> <strong>Rivers</strong> <strong>Newsmagazine</strong> names Melissa Liang as Teacher of the Year<br />
Melissa Liang and her Progress South Elementary students<br />
BY TRACEY BRUCE<br />
Third-grade teacher Melissa Liang is<br />
<strong>Mid</strong> <strong>Rivers</strong> <strong>Newsmagazine</strong>’s Teacher of the<br />
Year for 20<strong>22</strong>.<br />
In a surprise visit to her classroom at<br />
Progress South Elementary in the Fort<br />
Zumwalt School District on May 4, Liang<br />
was presented with an iPad, flowers and<br />
cake for her students. The children cheered<br />
and hugged her.<br />
“She is the best teacher!” declared Eli<br />
Schreiber.<br />
Liang was nominated by former student<br />
Hayden Davis, who expressed her gratitude<br />
for Liang’s patience and guidance<br />
during a difficult year.<br />
“My favorite teacher I have ever had is<br />
Mrs. Liang,” Hayden wrote. “Third grade<br />
was a very tough year for me. It started out<br />
well, but I later found out that I wasn’t doing<br />
too well. My bad temper didn’t help either. I<br />
often found myself getting frustrated about<br />
topics I couldn’t understand in school, and<br />
instead of expressing it in a mature way and<br />
asking for assistance, I lashed out a lot …<br />
But Mrs. Liang helped me through it all.<br />
After school, she would take time out of<br />
her evening just to help me understand the<br />
material. She also set up a journal for me to<br />
write in so I didn’t have to express my feelings<br />
verbally. It helped out a lot. She truly<br />
understood what I was going through ... I<br />
will never forget her or her efforts to make<br />
me the person I am today.”<br />
A Fort Zumwalt North High graduate,<br />
Liang has been teaching third grade at<br />
Progress South for the past eight years. Her<br />
passion for teaching, however, has been a<br />
part of her identity for as long as she can<br />
(Source: Tracey Bruce)<br />
remember.<br />
“I wanted to be a teacher my whole life,”<br />
Liang said. “I always want to help people,<br />
and I had some really great teachers growing<br />
up.”<br />
Liang said she remembered her thirdgrade<br />
teacher well. “I always felt safe there.<br />
I always felt loved,” Liang said.<br />
Another call to education was Liang’s<br />
own fascination for learning.<br />
“If I can instill life-long learning into the<br />
children, they will always be open to new<br />
things,” she said.<br />
However, there are challenges that come<br />
with teaching.<br />
“Sometimes there are some behaviors<br />
and some disrespect,” Liang said. “It’s<br />
important to just get the kids to understand<br />
what’s expected and what the definition of<br />
respect is. We throw that word around a lot,<br />
and I don’t know that we really take the<br />
time to really tell what it means, so we talk<br />
a lot about ‘What does respect look like?<br />
What does respect sound like? What does<br />
respect feel like?’<br />
“They are all different. They are all<br />
people. And the hardest thing to remember<br />
is probably that they are only 8 or 9 years<br />
old because some of the kids know more<br />
than what we would have known at 8 or 9<br />
years old and have to deal with things we<br />
never had to deal with. They are coming<br />
from a different place every day.<br />
“They are going to remember who was<br />
there for them. Hopefully, they are going<br />
to learn. They will love learning and continue<br />
to question and be curious, but they’ll<br />
also know there is someone in their corner<br />
and if they need something, they can come<br />
back. I always tell them once you’re in this<br />
classroom, you are mine forever. If you<br />
need something when you are in college<br />
you can come back and visit and see what I<br />
can do to help you.”<br />
Principal Amy Neill praises Liang’s<br />
ability to make strong connections with<br />
students and their families.<br />
“She does a good job of taking care of all<br />
students. She takes time out at the end of<br />
the day for students who need academic or<br />
emotional support,” Neill said. “She’s willing<br />
to do whatever it takes.”<br />
Liang said the highest honor was being<br />
nominated by her student.<br />
“When I heard ‘Teacher of the Year’ I<br />
kept thinking, ‘Me?’ I’m sure there are so<br />
many teachers who are more deserving,<br />
that have done more. But then I thought<br />
maybe I have done something. At least to<br />
Hayden, I was that person,” Liang said.<br />
Liang and her husband Eric live in<br />
St. Charles and have two children, a boy<br />
and a girl. She was chosen as <strong>Mid</strong> <strong>Rivers</strong><br />
<strong>Newsmagazine</strong>’s Teacher of the Year by<br />
the program’s sponsors: Dream Play, True<br />
Value–Schneider Hardware and Ruiz<br />
McDonald’s.<br />
Fort Zumwalt West robotics team dominates in KC, heads to nationals<br />
By JOHN TREMMEL<br />
At the April 28 O’Fallon City Council<br />
meeting, Ward 4 council members Jeff<br />
Kuehn and Dr. Jim Ottomeyer ceded their<br />
ward report time to the Fort Zumwalt West<br />
high robotics team.<br />
The team, dubbed Jaguar Robotics, was<br />
formed in 2016 by the school’s industrial<br />
technology teacher, Bill Fitzpatrick. On<br />
April 23, the current team of <strong>18</strong> students<br />
won first place at the KCBots regional<br />
battlebot competition in Kansas City. Their<br />
next stop will be the National Robotics<br />
League championship competition May<br />
20-21 at the Robert Morris University<br />
UPMC Events Center in the northwest<br />
Pittsburgh metro area.<br />
At the council meeting, Heather Mudd<br />
acknowledged the key role and tremendous<br />
support provided by Fitzpatrick. Mudd is<br />
one of four adult mentors to the robotics<br />
team and a parent of a team member. She<br />
clarified that all of the work on the robots<br />
is done by the students on their own personal<br />
time. Each bot used in the competition<br />
took hundreds of hours to build, she<br />
said.<br />
“No one touches the bots, ever, except the<br />
students,” Mudd said. “At the Kansas City<br />
competition, the team did not just win, they<br />
dominated. The two Fort Zumwalt West<br />
bots were undefeated, except their senior<br />
bot defeated their own junior bot.”<br />
Mudd also played a short video showing<br />
snippets of the team’s battlebots in action<br />
in Kansas City. The council and the audience<br />
loudly applauded the team for their<br />
regional championship win.<br />
Information about the school’s robotics<br />
team can be found at jaguar-robotics.<br />
com/20<strong>22</strong>-2. Videos of their recent competitions<br />
can be viewed at jaguar-robotics.<br />
com/competition.<br />
Individuals or businesses interested in<br />
sponsoring the team are asked to email<br />
fzwroboticsteam@gmail.com or bfitzpatrick@fz.k12.mo.us.
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board<br />
By BETHANY COAD<br />
Fort Zumwalt seniors top in state<br />
Eight Fort Zumwalt seniors were named<br />
among the top 100 scholars in the state for<br />
their outstanding academic accomplishments.<br />
East High’s Thomas Bambrick and Noah<br />
Myers; North High’s Caroline Corr and<br />
Isaac Thorn; South High’s Twisha Nadella<br />
and Nicholas Stovall, and West High’s Ella<br />
Baetje and Surya Sompalli made the list<br />
of the Missouri Association of Secondary<br />
School Principals Missouri Scholars 100.<br />
The selection is based primarily on a<br />
formula using the student’s GPA and ACT<br />
or SAT score. Each student nominated<br />
met criteria of an “Academic Decathlon,”<br />
which included 10 “events” designed to<br />
assure the academic strength of the student.<br />
To meet the requirements, the student must<br />
have a minimum GPA of 3.75, a minimum<br />
ACT score of 29 or a minimum SAT score<br />
of 1,600, be ranked in the upper 10% of the<br />
class, and have taken upper level courses<br />
in mathematics, science, English and<br />
foreign language. The student must also<br />
have excellent attendance, be an exemplary<br />
school citizen and be involved in the<br />
school activity program.<br />
Biliteracy students<br />
earn state honor<br />
Almost 70 members of the Fort Zumwalt<br />
Class of 20<strong>22</strong> earned The Missouri Seal of<br />
Biliteracy (SoBL) and Distinguished Missouri<br />
Seal of Biliteracy. (Editor’s note: For<br />
the list of students, visit this story on midriversnewsmagazine.com.)<br />
The SoBL and Distinguished Missouri<br />
Seal of Biliteracy are awarded to graduating<br />
high school students in districts with a program<br />
approved by the Department of Elementary<br />
and Secondary Education. These<br />
students have demonstrated achievement in<br />
English (as measured through coursework<br />
and standardized test scores), a language<br />
other than English (as measured through the<br />
STAMP4s or ACCESS tests) and sociocultural<br />
competence (as measured through an<br />
essay response to a prompt). All Missouri<br />
students studying any of the world’s languages<br />
are potential SoBL candidates.<br />
Wentzville students win<br />
Youth Tour Competition<br />
Four students from the Wentzville<br />
School District were selected as winners in<br />
First grade author<br />
Finn, a first grader at Francis Howell Central<br />
Elementary, wrote his own book called<br />
“Sonic #1.” The aspiring graphic artist<br />
spent his free time at home creating his<br />
masterpiece, and was overjoyed to share<br />
and read the fruits of his labors with his<br />
class on Friday, April 29. (Source: Provided)<br />
the Cuivre River Electric Cooperative’s 54<br />
Annual Youth Tour Competition.<br />
Ella Murphy, Arthi Kondapaneni, Reese<br />
Ramler and Kaitlyn Benesek from Liberty<br />
High School were selected as four of 12<br />
winners from schools in St. Charles, Lincoln,<br />
Pike and Warren counties in the<br />
annual contest that begins with an essay<br />
submission. The essays, all entitled, “My<br />
Favorite Cooperative Principle,” were<br />
judged based on the student’s cooperative<br />
knowledge, composition, originality,<br />
grammar and neatness.<br />
As Youth Tour delegates, they are invited<br />
to the annual Youth Tour Conference<br />
scheduled for June 13-19, where they will<br />
learn more about government, leadership<br />
and cooperatives. Two of those days will<br />
be spent at the Cuivre River office and one<br />
day will be spent in Jefferson City with<br />
delegates from across the state of Missouri.<br />
Liberty students Alexa Graham and Sam<br />
Flynn were named finalists in the competition<br />
and will each receive a $500 scholarship.<br />
Future healthcare pros head<br />
to international competition<br />
Students in Holt, Liberty and Timberland<br />
school district’s Health Occupations<br />
Students of America (HOSA) chapters<br />
competed in the Missouri HOSA State<br />
Leadership Conference in Rolla, Missouri<br />
on March 28 and March 29.<br />
Sixteen students brought home an award<br />
and qualified to move on to the International<br />
Leadership Conference held in<br />
Nashville, Tennessee this coming June. In<br />
addition, Timberland student Oyin Ganiyu<br />
See BULLETIN BOARD, page 31<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
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<strong>18</strong> I SUMMER CONCERTS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
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Your guide to summer concerts<br />
From Rock ‘n Roll to Blues and Country<br />
to tunes that make you want to get up and<br />
dance, community summer concerts offer<br />
a little something for everyone.<br />
Do you have a favorite band? Maybe it’s<br />
Butchwax and the Hollywoods, who have<br />
been entertaining local audiences with<br />
favorites from the ’50s, ‘60s and ‘70s for<br />
35 years. Or perhaps you’re into the ‘80s<br />
and ‘90s. If so, you’ll want to seek out<br />
Queens Blvd. Their high-energy covers<br />
will undoubtedly have you singing in your<br />
seats or dancing in front of the stage. The<br />
same can be said for perennial favorites Dr.<br />
Zhivegas, Fanfare, Big Love, Trilogy and<br />
Rockin’ Chair.<br />
If you don’t have a favorite yet, by the<br />
end of the summer. Plus, since many of<br />
the bands perform in two or more concert<br />
series, you’ll have the chance to catch<br />
them multiple times this summer. That is if<br />
you plan right. Thankfully, this guide can<br />
help you do just that.<br />
Here’s what you need to know before<br />
you go and the schedules of who’s playing<br />
where.<br />
Except where noted, concert-goers are<br />
allowed to bring small to medium coolers<br />
and food into the concert venues; however,<br />
glass containers are prohibited. Most concerts<br />
also offer some type of concessions<br />
for purchase.<br />
The use of personal-sized chairs and<br />
blankets is encouraged.<br />
It is wise to arrive early to ensure a good<br />
parking spot. Accessible parking is available<br />
at all venues but may be limited.<br />
Collapsible, personal-sized umbrellas<br />
are allowed to shield concert-goers from<br />
sun and rain, but some venues prohibit<br />
those with metal tips.<br />
Most venues prefer you leave your fourlegged<br />
family members at home.<br />
COTTLEVILLE<br />
Twilight Tuesdays<br />
This free concert series takes place from<br />
6-8:30 p.m. in Legacy Park, 5490 Fifth St.,<br />
at the Rotary Amphitheater.<br />
Limited parking is available on lots at<br />
Legacy Park; however, additional parking<br />
is available in the rear of the park at the<br />
Kochanski Sports Field. Local concertgoers<br />
are encouraged to walk, bike, or golf<br />
cart in and enjoy the music. However, golf<br />
carts will not be allowed on the amphitheater<br />
hill or grass. Patrons are asked to use<br />
the designated vehicle parking spaces only<br />
for their golf carts.<br />
Any cancellations due to weather will be<br />
posted on the city’s website and or social<br />
media.<br />
June 14: Trixie Delight (‘70s, ‘80s,<br />
‘90s hits)<br />
June 28: That 80’s Band (‘80s pop,<br />
rock and new-wave)<br />
July 12: Serapis (Americana)<br />
July 26: Breakdown Shakedown (Top<br />
40s rock ‘n roll)<br />
Aug. 9: The RetroNerds (‘80s tribute<br />
band)<br />
Aug. 23: Queens Blvd. (‘70s-‘90s hits)<br />
DARDENNE PRAIRIE<br />
Summer Concerts &<br />
Food Truck Rally<br />
These free concerts take place on Fridays<br />
from 7-10 p.m. at City Hall Park,<br />
2032 Hanley Road. Residents and visitors<br />
are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and<br />
blankets. Concessions will be available for<br />
purchase.<br />
See SUMMER CONCERTS, page 20
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20 I SUMMER CONCERTS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
SUMMER CONCERTS, from page <strong>18</strong><br />
May 20: Queens Blvd. (‘70s-‘90s hits)<br />
June 17: Plastic Kings (High-energy<br />
rock)<br />
July 15: Trixie Delight (‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s<br />
hits)<br />
Aug. 19: Well Hungarians (Country<br />
and rock)<br />
O’FALLON<br />
Jammin’ Concert Series<br />
These concerts take place on Tuesdays<br />
from 6:30–9 p.m. at the Civic Park Bandstand,<br />
400 Civic Park Drive. Admission<br />
and parking are free. Food trucks and concessions<br />
are available at nominal prices.<br />
Planned food trucks and concessions<br />
include Angie Burger, Doughboys Wood<br />
Fired Pizza, Kona Ice, Moving Munchies,<br />
Ramblin’ Rounds, Rendezvous Cafe &<br />
Wine Bar, Wayno’s Mobile International<br />
Cuisine, SNS Goodies, Sugarfire Smokehouse,<br />
Taste of Mayberry, Truck-O-Soup,<br />
Tuk Tuk Thai, Waffle Nerds and Yogi<br />
Donuts. Food trucks vary from concert to<br />
concert and are subject to change. Guests<br />
are encouraged to follow “Visit O’Fallon”<br />
on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for<br />
food truck and concert updates.<br />
May 31: Dr. Zhivegas (Dance rock hits)<br />
June 7: Silver Bullet (A tribute to Bob<br />
Seger)<br />
June 14: Fine To Drive (Original country<br />
jams)<br />
June 21: FEEL (Original rock and alternative)<br />
June 28: High Velocity (Party charttoppers)<br />
July 12: Trixie Delight (‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s<br />
hits)<br />
July 19: The Big Rigs (Country and<br />
Americana)<br />
July 26: Brushville (High-energy country)<br />
Aug. 2: Fat Pocket (‘60s, ‘70s, ’80s<br />
hits)<br />
Aug. 9: Butch Wax & The Hollywoods<br />
(‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s rock)<br />
SAINT CHARLES<br />
Beale Street Concert Series<br />
The Streets of St. Charles hosts this free<br />
concert series on the second Wednesday<br />
of each month through October. Food and<br />
beverages are available for purchase from<br />
nearby restaurants. Guests should bring<br />
their own lawn chairs.<br />
June 8: McLovin (Dance/rock band)<br />
July 13: John Hughes Experience<br />
(‘80s pop and rock)<br />
Aug. 10: No Diggity (Hip hop and R&B)<br />
Sunset Fridays<br />
Sept. 14: Hollywood 5 (Dance band)<br />
Oct. 12: Trixie Delight (‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s<br />
hits)<br />
(Source: City of St. Peters)<br />
History in Harmony<br />
A rotating line-up of guest musicians<br />
will provide the perfect soundtrack for a<br />
stroll through Saint Charles’ Historic District.<br />
Nestled throughout the area’s quaint<br />
scenery, these miniature concerts will set<br />
the mood as guests enjoy the area’s shopping,<br />
dining and more than 250 years of<br />
river history.<br />
Performances take place from 1-4 p.m.<br />
on Sundays: May <strong>22</strong>, May 29, June 19 and<br />
June 26.<br />
Music on Main<br />
Music lovers are invited to head to Historic<br />
Main Street on the third Wednesday<br />
of each month between May and September<br />
for Music on Main. This free outdoor<br />
SUNSET<br />
CONCERTS<br />
Sunset Concerts<br />
are back!<br />
www.stpetersmo.net/sunset<br />
Sponsored by:<br />
NOTE: Bands and food options are subject to change.<br />
Sunset Fridays Concerts<br />
370 Lakeside Park<br />
Corporate Pavilion<br />
• 6:30 p.m. Concerts<br />
• 6 p.m. Food Trucks/<br />
Beverage Sales<br />
Plan date night along the lake in a<br />
winery-style setting with great music!<br />
May 27 - Joe Metzka Band<br />
June 3 - Acoustic Music Jam<br />
June 10 - Melissa Neels Band<br />
June 17 - Paul Bonn &<br />
The Bluesmen<br />
NEW! Sunset with the Symphony<br />
370 Lakeside Park • Corporate Pavilion<br />
Tuesday, June 7 at 7 p.m.<br />
String quartet from world-famous St. Louis<br />
Symphony Orchestra performs music by celebrated<br />
Italian composers!<br />
The concert is presented in community partnership with the St. Charles<br />
City-County Library and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.<br />
SUNSET<br />
SATURDAY<br />
June 25, 4:30 p.m.<br />
• Wildhorse Creek Band<br />
• Soul Cracker<br />
• Butch Wax<br />
and The Hollywoods<br />
Sunset Fridays “On The Road”<br />
at SPTVnow.net!<br />
How’d you like to see great local favorites<br />
like Garden Party, Cole Blue Steel, Serapis<br />
or Wade Trent anytime, anywhere? SCAN<br />
THE QR CODE for the only local concerts<br />
you can take with you!<br />
SUNSET<br />
TS
FACEBOOK.COM/MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
concert series, produced by the Historic<br />
Downtown Association, takes place from<br />
5-7:30 p.m. in the 100 and 200 blocks of<br />
North Main Street. Guests should bring<br />
their own lawn chairs. Food and drink are<br />
available for purchase.<br />
May <strong>18</strong>: Sometimes a Fantasy (A Billy<br />
Joel tribute)<br />
June 15: Serapis (Rock - 40th Anniversary<br />
concert)<br />
July 20: Whiskey Morning (Country)<br />
Aug. 17: Butch Wax & the Hollywoods<br />
(‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s rock)<br />
Sept. 21: Joe Dirt (Classic rock)<br />
New Town Concert Series<br />
Held at the Amphitheatre in New Town<br />
St. Charles, 3312 Rue Royale, from June<br />
through September, these free public<br />
concerts take place from 7-10 p.m. Local<br />
businesses will be open for food, drinks,<br />
ice cream, snow cones, pizza and sweets,<br />
or guests can bring their own along with a<br />
lawn chair or blanket.<br />
June 11: Bump Band (Rock)<br />
June <strong>18</strong>: The Big Rigs (Original roots<br />
country)<br />
June 25: Music Around the World<br />
with Ubercool (German Rock), Celtic Rain<br />
(Irish), and Mariachi Nuevo Azteca Band<br />
(Mexican Mariachi) • Concert time: 2 p.m.<br />
June 25: Queens Blvd. (‘70s-‘90s hits)<br />
July 2: The Stars Go Out (Indie, punk<br />
rock)<br />
July 3: Velvet Goldmine (‘70s glam<br />
rock)<br />
July 4: Dan Kuse & Double D (Classic<br />
rock) • Concert time: 6 p.m.-dusk<br />
July 10: The RetroNerds (‘80s tribute<br />
band) • Concert time: 6-9 p.m.<br />
July 16: Plastic Kings (High-energy<br />
rock)<br />
Aug. 6: Larry Gerst & Friends (Christian)<br />
Aug. 13: Pyromaniacs (Def Leppard<br />
tribute band)<br />
Aug. 28: Run Forest Run (‘90s cover<br />
band) • Concert time: 1:30-4:30 p.m.<br />
ST. PETERS<br />
Sunset Fridays<br />
The popular concert series returns with<br />
live concerts at 370 Lakeside Park plus<br />
“On The Road” shows in person at the Cultural<br />
Arts Centre and virtually from Sunset<br />
Studios on SPTVnow.net.<br />
All Sunset Friday concerts are from<br />
6:30-8:30 p.m. at the 370 Lakeside Park<br />
Corporate Pavilion. Food and drinks,<br />
including wine and beer, will be available<br />
for purchase. Limited seating is available<br />
under the pavilion, so concert-goers are<br />
urged to bring their own chairs or blankets.<br />
Outside alcohol must remain outside the<br />
pavilion and in the lawn area only. Pets are<br />
not allowed.<br />
May 27: Joe Metzka Band (Blues)<br />
June 3: Acoustic Music Jam (Acoustic<br />
hits)<br />
June 10: Melissa Neels Band (Rock<br />
and blues)<br />
June 17: Paul Bonn & The Bluesmen<br />
(Blues)<br />
Aug. 19: Whiskey Raccoons (Pop and<br />
rock)<br />
Aug. 26: Serapis (Rock) - 40th Anniversary<br />
concert, also available to watch on<br />
SPTVnow.net.<br />
Sept. 2: BagLunch Blues & The Salamander<br />
Slide (Blues)<br />
Sept. 9: Zydeco Crawdaddys (Zydeco<br />
and cajun)<br />
Oct. 14: On the Road concert; artist to<br />
be determined<br />
Sunset Saturdays<br />
New for 20<strong>22</strong>, Sunset Saturdays features<br />
two multiple-band concerts at 370<br />
Lakeside Park, the first of which (June 25)<br />
begins at 4:30 p.m. and features a fireworks<br />
show over the lake beginning at dusk. The<br />
Sept. 17 concert begins at 4 p.m.<br />
June 25: Wildhorse Creek Band, Soul<br />
Cracker and Butch Wax & The Hollywoods<br />
See SUMMER CONCERTS, page <strong>22</strong><br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I SUMMER CONCERTS I 21<br />
Discover<br />
summer concerts in stc<br />
beale Street Concert Series AT<br />
the streets of st. charles<br />
Music on Main ON north main street<br />
history in harmony ALONG historic main street<br />
St. Charles municipal band concerts IN frontier park<br />
hot summer nights IN frenchtown<br />
new town concerts IN new town at st. charles<br />
don’t miss a concert! discoverstcharles.com<br />
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<strong>22</strong> I SUMMER CONCERTS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
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SUMMER CONCERTS, from page 21<br />
Sept. 17: Fabulous Motown Revue and<br />
That 80s Band<br />
Sunset with the Symphony<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
For the first time, the St. Louis Symphony<br />
Orchestra string quartet will perform<br />
at 370 Lakeside Park from 7-8 p.m.<br />
on Tuesday, June 7. This free concert will<br />
feature works by celebrated Italian composers<br />
including Luigi Boccherini, Niccolo<br />
Paganini and Antonio Vivaldi.<br />
The concert is being presented through<br />
a community partnership with the St.<br />
Charles City-County Library and the St.<br />
Louis Symphony Orchestra.<br />
No tickets or reservations are required<br />
for the hour-long outdoor event, but guests<br />
are encouraged to bring their own lawn<br />
chairs. Food trucks will be available for<br />
concert refreshments.<br />
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Just across the river are other concerts to enjoy<br />
CHESTERFIELD<br />
Sounds of Summer<br />
This free concert series is sponsored by<br />
the city of Chesterfield. These concerts<br />
are held at 6 p.m. on Saturdays at Chesterfield<br />
Amphitheater in the city’s Central<br />
Park, 631 Veterans Place Drive. Small to<br />
medium coolers and food are welcome,<br />
glass containers are prohibited. (The<br />
amphitheater also hosts a variety of paid<br />
events, the details of which can be found at<br />
chesterfieldamphitheater.com.)<br />
June <strong>18</strong>: Queens Blvd. (‘70s-‘90s hits)<br />
June 25: Summer Breeze (A tribute to<br />
“YACHT Rock”)<br />
July 9: The Fortunate Sons + Desperado<br />
(A tribute to CCR and The Eagles)<br />
July 23: Disco Inferno (A tribute to<br />
Abba and The Bee Gees)<br />
Aug. 13: Big Love (A tribute to Fleetwood<br />
Mac)<br />
Aug. 27: Silver Bullet Stl at Backstoppalooza<br />
(A tribute to Bob Seger)<br />
The annual Ed Nestor Memorial Backstoppalooza<br />
serves as a fundraiser for<br />
BackStoppers, Inc. with 100% of profits<br />
from food and beverage sales going to<br />
support the families of first responders<br />
who have suffered a catastrophic<br />
injury or lost their lives in the line of<br />
duty. While the Aug. 27 concert is free<br />
to attend, donations to BackStoppers will<br />
be encouraged and collected at the event.<br />
Since 2013, Backstoppalooza has raised<br />
over $400,000 for BackStoppers, Inc.<br />
thanks to the generosity of concert-goers<br />
and friends.<br />
Chesterfield Regional Chamber’s<br />
Summer Concerts<br />
For 34 years, the Chesterfield Regional<br />
Chamber of Commerce has hosted<br />
summer concerts on Tuesdays in Faust<br />
Park, located off of Olive Boulevard,<br />
north of Interstate 64.<br />
Designed to be enjoyed by all ages, this<br />
concert series combines the talents of local<br />
musicians with the Commerce Bank Kids’<br />
Zone for the younger set, food trucks and<br />
on-site concessions, theme nights and fireworks.<br />
The Kids’ Zone is expected to feature<br />
the ever-popular Bubble Bus as well as a<br />
rock-climbing wall, face painting, balloon<br />
twisting and laser tag. Occasionally, some<br />
features may not be available, such as the<br />
rock-climbing wall in the case of forecasted<br />
weather concerns.<br />
In keeping with tradition, the kick-off<br />
concert (June 7) will culminate with fireworks<br />
sponsored by J & M Display. Free<br />
cake will also be served to all who wish to<br />
partake that evening.<br />
The concerts begin at 7 p.m. but the gates<br />
open at 5:30 p.m., giving patrons plenty of<br />
time to visit with Chamber members and<br />
have dinner on-site.<br />
To help offset the cost of the concerts,<br />
a nominal ticket fee of $5 per person, per<br />
concert is charged. Season passes are<br />
available for $45 per person. All tickets are<br />
non-refundable.<br />
Guests are encouraged to get into the<br />
spirit of the evening by dressing to fit the<br />
theme of the night.<br />
June 7: Butchwax & the Hollywoods<br />
(Rock and pop/Summer Fun)<br />
June 14: Scott Laytham and Karl<br />
Holmes (American songbook/Superhero)<br />
June 21: Boogie Chyld (Dance band/<br />
Jungle Party)<br />
June 28: Spectrum (Popular music<br />
from many genres/Tie-Dye)<br />
July 5: Hulapoppers (Party band/Patriotic)<br />
July 12: John Henry (Rock ‘n roll/Wild<br />
Wild West)<br />
July 19: Volcanic Ash (Classic rock/<br />
Harry Potter)<br />
July 26: The Lone Rangers (‘90s party<br />
band/Sports Night)<br />
Aug. 2: The RetroNerds (‘80s tribute<br />
band/Dancin’ Thru the Decades)<br />
Aug. 9: Rock Opera (Rock ‘n roll/Carnival<br />
Time)<br />
Aug. 16: Billy Peek (Rock and blues/<br />
Rock n’ Roll)
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE I BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT I 23<br />
Fred L. Vilbig: ‘Good estate planning means a happy ending’<br />
FACEBOOK.COM/MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
BY TRACEY BRUCE<br />
Attorney Fred Vilbig is a storyteller.<br />
He knows the ins and outs of estate<br />
planning, wills and trusts and corporate<br />
law, but in his heart he wants to tell a<br />
tale, share a common experience and<br />
leave the listener with a lesson.<br />
“My mother used to tell me, ‘Remember<br />
Fred, blood is thicker than money.’<br />
What that means is when somebody dies,<br />
people should remember the family,<br />
don’t just go for the money,” Fred said<br />
while telling – and educating – about<br />
wills and trusts and estate planning.<br />
In his law practice over the past 40<br />
years, he has seen a few families that<br />
haven’t learned that lesson.<br />
“I’ve seen all kinds of fights that<br />
develop over the money. It’s really<br />
kind of sad,” he said. “They should<br />
remember the good times with family.<br />
They shouldn’t have to remember the<br />
fights they had over money.”<br />
Fred has a great deal of knowledge<br />
about the importance of planning<br />
ahead, navigating the issues of the legal<br />
system and preserving relationships.<br />
So much so that he created and shares<br />
true-to-life examples – stories – in his<br />
“Law Matters” ads that run in West and<br />
Fred Vilbig<br />
<strong>Mid</strong> <strong>Rivers</strong> <strong>Newsmagazine</strong>s.<br />
“At first I thought, advertising<br />
wouldn’t work for<br />
estate planning and corporate<br />
law, but the idea of telling<br />
people about what I do and who I am,<br />
kind of appealed to me. I thought, ‘Well, I<br />
tell stories all the time. I’ll try it and see if<br />
it works,’” he said.<br />
The concept has resulted in success for<br />
Fred and the individuals who read them.<br />
There’s a lot of good information in them.<br />
So, in 2017, he gathered his articles and<br />
published them in a book called “You Can’t<br />
Take It With You.” It’s the story of Jack and<br />
Judy, a fictional couple, and the issues their<br />
family faced because they did not plan<br />
ahead. His target audience includes those<br />
people who haven’t thought about writing<br />
a will or getting a trust, those who haven’t<br />
followed through, and those who need to<br />
update their plans.<br />
“I use the stories to encourage people to<br />
think about these issues,”<br />
Fred said. He noted that<br />
anyone with kids and older<br />
people should be thinking<br />
about estate planning.<br />
“What happens if someone<br />
dies? They want to<br />
name guardians for the<br />
kids,” Fred said. “They<br />
want to make sure there is<br />
a trust set up so they don’t<br />
have to go to court and<br />
also set up a conservatorship<br />
to make sure the kids are taken care of.<br />
“And when people get older they need<br />
to plan for things they don’t want to have<br />
happen. What if someone has a stroke?<br />
What if there is a car accident? What if a<br />
loved one dies? On a person’s death, you<br />
don’t want to be asking, ‘How should the<br />
assets be distributed?’”<br />
Planning ahead can make sure minor<br />
children are protected and grown children<br />
receive their inheritance and avoid probate<br />
court which can cost tens of thousands of<br />
dollars, potentially freeze the assets and<br />
jeopardize a family’s privacy.<br />
“Without a plan, there could be a train<br />
wreck, as in people filing lawsuits, making<br />
claims of all kinds and ending up in court.<br />
Take the time to plan and it’s possible to<br />
avoid that to a certain extent,” Fred advised.<br />
“We’ve had estates that while mom and<br />
dad are alive everyone seems to be getting<br />
along. After they’re dead, the kids break<br />
out into fighting over the estate; and then,<br />
never talk to each other again.<br />
“The loss of a parent is devastating<br />
enough. Parents should plan so that five<br />
years after mom and dad die, the kids are<br />
still celebrating holidays together. That’s<br />
kind of a goal I have.”<br />
For more information about estate planning,<br />
Fred suggests you pick up his book<br />
on Amazon. Then, to make a plan for your<br />
family, call him directly.<br />
Fred L. Vilbig, Attorney at Law<br />
Shands, Elbert, Gianoulakis & Giljum, LLP<br />
By appointment • (636) 537-7884<br />
fvilbig@shandselbert.com<br />
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24 I BUSINESS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
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Lynn Morris, owner of Bin There Dump That (center), with (from left) Katherine Flett,<br />
of Danna McKitrick, P.C. (Gold Sponsor), and Sarah Botts, of Renaissance Plastic<br />
Surgery (20<strong>22</strong> Board Chairman)<br />
(Source: Provided)<br />
business<br />
briefs<br />
PLACES<br />
St. Charles company Bin There Dump<br />
That was recognized as the 20<strong>22</strong> Small Business<br />
of the Year by the St. Charles Regional<br />
Chamber. The award was presented during<br />
the annual Small Business of the Year awards<br />
on Wednesday, May 4. Bin There Dump That<br />
offers dumpster rental service for residential<br />
and commercial properties, as well as sameday<br />
delivery or pick up, driveway protection<br />
and uniformed drivers that sweep the area for<br />
any debris left on a driveway with a magnetic<br />
broom (which removes any nails or other<br />
metal fragments) that may be left following<br />
removal. Other businesses recognized during<br />
the awards ceremony include owner Vernon<br />
Prinster with VSP Construction Services, Inc.<br />
and owner Jessica Cooke of Yuppy Puppy.<br />
• • •<br />
The Child Advocacy Center of Northeast<br />
Missouri hosted its 9th Annual One<br />
with Courage Gala on Saturday, April 30.<br />
The gala raises funds for services to help<br />
children and families healing from abuse,<br />
such as forensic interviews, family advocacy,<br />
mental health therapy and child sexual<br />
abuse prevention programs. This year’s gala<br />
raised more than $173,000. The 20<strong>22</strong> award<br />
winners were Dan and Anna Alt, Honorary<br />
Chairpersons; Jade Paden, Volunteer of the<br />
Year; Matt and Jamie Riegert, Philanthropist<br />
Leadership Award; the Community and<br />
Children’s Resource Board of St. Charles<br />
County (CCRB), Outstanding Foundation<br />
Award; and Flat World Global Solutions,<br />
Outstanding Corporate Supporter Award.<br />
• • •<br />
VSM Abrasives hosted a groundbreaking<br />
ceremony for a 50,000 square-foot<br />
expansion of its manufacturing plant<br />
at 1012 East Wabash St. in O’Fallon on<br />
Thursday, April 28. The expansion will<br />
increase the company’s overall production<br />
capabilities by providing more space for<br />
shipping, materials and finished goods. In<br />
attendance were Brent Barton, president of<br />
VSM Abrasives and Greg Fields, VSM’s<br />
plant manager, as well as O’Fallon Mayor<br />
Bill Hennessy and representatives with the<br />
City of O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce.<br />
This is the second expansion VSM Abrasives<br />
has made within three years, including<br />
a previous extension of office space in<br />
2019. The project is expected to be completed<br />
by the end of the year.<br />
PEOPLE<br />
Stewart Wrozier<br />
is retiring from AAA<br />
Home Services after<br />
40 years of dedicated<br />
service to the St.<br />
Charles community. In<br />
1982, Stewart began<br />
delivering appliances<br />
for AAA. As a licensed Wrozier<br />
HVAC and water<br />
heater technician, he also installed gas and<br />
electrical appliances. AAA Homes Services<br />
has met the appliance needs of local<br />
homeowners since 1970.<br />
EVENTS<br />
The St. Charles Regional Chamber hosts<br />
a Morning Brew event from 7:30-9 a.m. on<br />
Tuesday, May 24 at Old Town Donut Shop,<br />
3941 <strong>Mid</strong> <strong>Rivers</strong> Mall Drive in St. Peters.<br />
This networking event is free for chamber<br />
members. Members are asked to RSVP.<br />
Visit stcharlesregionalchamber.com.
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE I BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT I 25<br />
<strong>Mid</strong> America Audiology helps people hear more, do more, live more<br />
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MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
BY TRACEY BRUCE<br />
Hearing loss isn’t always easy to talk<br />
about. In fact, data from a John Hopkins<br />
School of Medicine study shows<br />
that most people who notice they have<br />
hearing loss put off making a phone<br />
call to a hearing specialist for 10 years.<br />
Time, however, is of the essence,<br />
because hearing well is an important<br />
part of living your best life, said Lauren<br />
Kraft, regional operations manager at<br />
<strong>Mid</strong> America Audiology. Taking that<br />
first step to pick up the phone sooner<br />
rather than later can make a world of<br />
difference.<br />
“When someone is frequently asking<br />
people to repeat themselves; if it’s hard<br />
to have a one-to-one conversation in a<br />
loud environment; if family members<br />
or friends start telling the person ‘you<br />
should have your hearing checked,’ it<br />
may be time to make that phone call,”<br />
Lauren said.<br />
According to the National Institute<br />
on Deafness and Other Communication<br />
Disorders, “Hearing loss is one of<br />
the most common conditions affecting<br />
older adults …. Approximately one<br />
in three people between the ages of<br />
65 and 74 has hearing loss and nearly<br />
Audiologist at the St. Charles location<br />
Michelle Smith, M.S., CCC-A<br />
half of those older than 75 have difficulty<br />
hearing.”<br />
<strong>Mid</strong> America Audiology has offices<br />
throughout the St. Louis area, including in<br />
St. Charles and Ellisville. Lauren’s mother,<br />
Carol Bergmann, actually opened the Ellisville<br />
office about 20 years ago, Lauren said.<br />
“When someone calls to schedule an<br />
appointment, we can get that person in,<br />
generally within a week,” she said. “Once<br />
the patients come in, we spend quite a bit<br />
of time with them. We make them feel<br />
comfortable. After the test, the audiologist<br />
will go over their options based on the<br />
hearing test results.”<br />
Lauren said she understands the hesitation<br />
people have about setting up that first<br />
appointment for a hearing test.<br />
“They are nervous to hear the results.<br />
They don’t want to address the problem<br />
yet. They have an idea about hearing aids<br />
that comes from another time. They think<br />
of them as large devices that will make<br />
them look old.”<br />
Nothing could be further from the truth,<br />
she said. Today’s hearing aids are smaller<br />
and come in colors that blend with their<br />
hair.<br />
“They are hardly noticeable,” Lauren<br />
said.<br />
The reality is that without the assistance<br />
hearing aids can bring, a person might drop<br />
out of social activities that can keep them<br />
young and engaged with the world.<br />
“It’s a lot of work to keep asking ‘What<br />
did you say? What did you say?’ Hearing is<br />
very important,” Lauren said.<br />
Getting a trained professional to test,<br />
give advice and customize a client’s hearing<br />
aids is another essential aspect of helping<br />
someone to hear better. <strong>Mid</strong> America<br />
audiologists have the proper training and<br />
education to enable them to properly give<br />
hearing tests and program hearing aids to<br />
fit a client’s personal hearing loss, Lauren<br />
said.<br />
“Educating patients on their hearing loss<br />
that’s our big thing,” she said.<br />
<strong>Mid</strong> America also has a wide range of<br />
choices in hearing aid brands, styles, and<br />
technology to fit each person’s needs and<br />
budget.<br />
Laura noted that nothing gives the audiologists<br />
more joy than watching the pleasure<br />
and excitement of a client who can<br />
hear clearly again.<br />
“They can hear the birds again, the rustle<br />
of leaves, the voices of their grandchildren.<br />
This can drastically change their lives,” she<br />
said. “Those are the best days when you<br />
know that you’ve changed someone’s life<br />
for the better.<br />
“We are going to do everything we can<br />
do to make sure our client’s hearing experience<br />
is as good as it can be.”<br />
<strong>Mid</strong> America Audiology<br />
1475 Kisker Road Suite 270 • St. Charles<br />
(636) 242-6616<br />
15825 Manchester Road, #209<br />
Ellisville • (636) 484-9735<br />
midamerica.alpacaaudiology.com<br />
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26 I HEALTH I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
health<br />
capsules<br />
By LISA RUSSELL<br />
Genetic cause of lupus identified<br />
The Lupus Foundation of America estimates<br />
that 1.5 million Americans have been<br />
diagnosed with a form of the autoimmune<br />
disease lupus, and 90% of them are women<br />
between the ages of 15 and 45. This May,<br />
which also happens to be Lupus Awareness<br />
Month, the recently announced discovery<br />
of a primary genetic cause of lupus offers<br />
hope for potential new treatments for this<br />
life-limiting disease.<br />
In a new study, scientists conducted<br />
whole genome sequencing on the DNA of<br />
a young girl from Spain named Gabriela,<br />
who was diagnosed with a severe form<br />
of lupus when she was just 7 years old.<br />
Her young age at diagnosis and advanced<br />
symptoms are very rare, pointing to a<br />
single genetic cause for her disease.<br />
In Gabriela’s case, the researchers were<br />
able to identify a single mutation in a gene<br />
called TLR7. To confirm that this mutation<br />
causes lupus, the team then used gene editing<br />
to introduce it into mice, which also developed<br />
the disease and showed similar symptoms.<br />
This provided more evidence that the<br />
TLR7 mutation was indeed the cause.<br />
By identifying this direct link between<br />
the TLR7 gene mutation and lupus, scientists<br />
can start to search for more effective<br />
treatments based on its activity in the body,<br />
they explained. While existing drugs which<br />
suppress the immune system can help with<br />
symptoms, they can also have serious side<br />
effects and leave patients susceptible to<br />
infections. Progress toward new treatments<br />
for lupus also has been extremely slow,<br />
with only two new drugs approved by the<br />
FDA over the past 60 years.<br />
Dr. Carmen de Lucas Collantes, a coauthor<br />
of the study, said, “Identification<br />
of TLR7 as the cause of lupus in this unusually<br />
severe case ended a diagnostic odyssey<br />
and brings hope for more targeted therapies<br />
A newly published study found that reducing smartphone use by an hour every<br />
day may improve overall well-being.<br />
(Source: Adobe Stock)<br />
for Gabriela and other lupus patients likely<br />
to benefit from this discovery.”<br />
Gabriela herself, who is now a teenager,<br />
added, “I hope this finding will give hope to<br />
people with lupus and make them feel they<br />
are not alone in fighting this battle. Hopefully<br />
the research can continue and end up in a specific<br />
treatment that can benefit so many lupus<br />
warriors who suffer from this disease.”<br />
Turn off your phone an hour<br />
a day for better health<br />
Surveys have shown that many people<br />
now spend more than five hours every<br />
single day texting, watching videos, scrolling<br />
social media, and otherwise interacting<br />
with their smartphones, although estimates<br />
vary by age group. That staggering statistic<br />
recently led a team of German researchers<br />
to investigate what amount of time could be<br />
the “sweet spot” for daily smartphone usage.<br />
They recruited a group of about 600 volunteers,<br />
dividing them into three groups for<br />
a one-week experiment. The first group put<br />
away their phones completely for the entire<br />
week; the second group reduced their daily<br />
use by one hour, and the third group made<br />
no changes to their current smartphone use.<br />
The results showed that even several<br />
months after the experiment ended, those<br />
who reduced their phone use by an hour a<br />
day reported the most positive and longlasting<br />
effects.<br />
Participants in all three groups were<br />
interviewed immediately after the intervention,<br />
as well as one month and four<br />
months afterward. They were asked about<br />
their levels of physical activity, anxiety and<br />
depression, and overall life satisfaction.<br />
“We found that both completely giving up<br />
the smartphone and reducing its daily use by<br />
one hour had positive effects on the lifestyle<br />
and well-being of the participants,” said<br />
Julia Brailovskaia, Ph.D., the study’s leader.<br />
“In the group who reduced use, these effects<br />
even lasted longer and were thus more<br />
stable than in the abstinence group.”<br />
Even four months after the end of the<br />
experiment, members of the group who<br />
had given up their smartphones completely<br />
still used them on average 38 minutes less<br />
per day than before. However, the group<br />
who had spent one hour less per day using<br />
their phones during the experiment were<br />
still averaging as much as 45 minutes less<br />
per day after a four-month period. At the<br />
same time, their reported life satisfaction<br />
and time spent being physically active<br />
increased, while their symptoms of depression<br />
and anxiety decreased.<br />
“It’s not necessary to completely give up<br />
the smartphone to feel better,” Brailovskaia<br />
said. “There may be an optimal daily<br />
usage time.”<br />
Less sleep leads to more<br />
belly fat, study shows<br />
Even in young people of normal weight,<br />
not getting enough sleep contributes to<br />
eating more calories and subsequently to<br />
accumulating fat … especially unhealthy<br />
belly fat, according to scientists from the<br />
Mayo Clinic.<br />
They recently recruited two groups of<br />
young, healthy volunteers who were not<br />
obese, all of whom agreed to live in a monitored<br />
setting for two 21-day experiments.<br />
After an acclimation period where everyone<br />
was allowed to sleep for nine hours<br />
at night, the groups took turns at having<br />
their sleep restricted to just four hours per<br />
night for two weeks, while the “normal”<br />
sleep group maintained nine hours of sleep.<br />
Finally, both groups returned to normal<br />
sleep for a few days.<br />
While their sleep was restricted, participants<br />
consumed more than 300 extra calories<br />
per day, including 17% more calories from<br />
fat. Although their weight gain averaged only<br />
about a pound, their abdominal visceral fat –<br />
a type of fat deposited around internal organs<br />
which is strongly linked to cardiac and metabolic<br />
disease – increased by 11%.<br />
Importantly, even when their sleep normalized<br />
again in the “catch-up” phase and<br />
their calorie intake and weight decreased,<br />
their visceral fat continued to increase, at<br />
least in the short term.<br />
Because more than a third of American<br />
adults routinely don’t get enough sleep,<br />
these results should be cause for concern,<br />
said Naima Covassin, Ph.D., a cardiovascular<br />
medicine researcher at Mayo Clinic.<br />
“Measures of weight alone would be<br />
falsely reassuring in terms of the health consequences<br />
of inadequate sleep. Also concerning<br />
are the potential effects of repeated<br />
periods of inadequate sleep in terms of<br />
progressive and cumulative increases in visceral<br />
fat over several years,” Covassin said.<br />
Menthol cigarette ban would<br />
make many kick the habit<br />
In late April, the U.S. Food and Drug<br />
Administration formally announced proposed<br />
rules banning all menthol cigarettes,<br />
which could potentially take effect as early<br />
as mid-2023. The FDA estimates that<br />
approximately <strong>18</strong>.5 million Americans use<br />
menthol cigarettes, including three out of<br />
four Black smokers and more than a third<br />
of young people under <strong>18</strong> who smoke.<br />
The proposed ban would have a major
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May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I HEALTH I 27<br />
impact on the behavior of U.S. smokers if<br />
enacted, causing more than 1.3 million of<br />
them to quit, according to a new international<br />
study.<br />
Researchers from the U.S. and Canada<br />
collaborated on the research, which was<br />
based on data collected after a Canadian<br />
ban on menthol cigarettes was imposed<br />
in 2017. In that country, just over <strong>22</strong>% of<br />
menthol cigarette smokers quit following<br />
its ban, compared to 15% of non-menthol<br />
smokers.<br />
A proposed FDA ban on menthol cigarettes<br />
would lead more than 1.3 million Americans<br />
to quit, according to a recent study.<br />
(Source: Adobe Stock)<br />
To estimate the effects of a U.S. ban, the<br />
researchers applied the impact of the Canadian<br />
ban to statistics on American menthol<br />
smokers. Of approximately 1,338,000<br />
people they projected to quit as a result<br />
of the ban, they found its effects would<br />
be proportionately greater among Black<br />
American smokers, causing more than<br />
381,000 of them to kick the habit.<br />
“Our study confirms that Canada’s menthol<br />
cigarette ban led to substantial public health<br />
benefits,” said Geoffrey T. Fong, the study’s<br />
lead author. “Smoking is the number one<br />
preventable cause of death and disease in<br />
Canada, the United States, and globally.”<br />
In addition to Canada, more than 30<br />
other countries have already banned menthol<br />
cigarettes, including all member states<br />
of the European Union.<br />
Menthol gained widespread use in the<br />
1950s and 1960s as a cigarette additive in<br />
the U.S. Health experts say the cooling<br />
sensation it creates when inhaling cigarette<br />
smoke makes it easier for young people to<br />
start smoking and facilitates their addiction.<br />
On the calendar<br />
BJC St. Louis Children’s Hospital offers<br />
online Head to Toe One-Hour Orientation<br />
sessions on Wednesday, June 1 and Monday,<br />
June 6 from 6-7 p.m. During these free<br />
online sessions, families will learn about St.<br />
Louis Children’s Hospital’s family-focused<br />
weight management program for kids ages<br />
8-17 called Head to Toe. The program helps<br />
children and their parents learn to make<br />
healthier lifestyle choices, set goals and get<br />
regular exercise. The Head to Toe program<br />
begins on Tuesday, July 26. Register at<br />
classes-events.bjc.org.<br />
• • •<br />
St. Luke’s Hospital presents Clearing the<br />
Air: Facts About Lung Cancer on Thursday,<br />
June 2 from 6-7 p.m. at the Desloge<br />
Outpatient Center, 121 St. Luke’s Center<br />
Drive in Chesterfield (Building A, Conference<br />
Room 3). Lung cancer is the second<br />
most common cancer diagnosed in both<br />
men and women; early signs and symptoms<br />
may not be evident, but early detection can<br />
mean a better chance of successful treatment.<br />
Join St. Luke’s and the American Lung<br />
Association for a free and in-person education<br />
session and live Q&A with St. Luke’s<br />
physicians. Low-dose CT lung screening<br />
and referrals will also be available. Register<br />
online at stlukes-stl.com.<br />
• • •<br />
Staying Home Alone, sponsored by BJC<br />
St. Louis Children’s Hospital, is on Tuesday,<br />
June 7 from 6:30-8 p.m. This virtual class,<br />
presented via Teams Meeting, will help<br />
prepare the parent(s), child and family for<br />
times when children will be home alone. A<br />
family workbook, emergency cards, family<br />
fire escape plan, parent checklist for assessing<br />
readiness, and a first-aid kit are included.<br />
Materials will be delivered to class participants’<br />
homes prior to class. The cost is $25<br />
per family. To register, call (314) 454-5437.<br />
• • •<br />
BJC St. Louis Children’s Hospital sponsors<br />
a Babysitting 101 virtual class on<br />
Wednesday, June 8 from 6-8:30 p.m. This<br />
interactive class, offered virtually through<br />
Teams Meeting, is a great introduction to<br />
the basics of babysitting and is recommended<br />
for ages 10 and above. Topics<br />
include the business of babysitting, child<br />
development and behavior, basic child<br />
care, expecting the unexpected, and choosing<br />
age-appropriate games and activities.<br />
A workbook, first-aid kit, babysitter skills<br />
assessment and backpack will be delivered<br />
to each participant’s home prior to class. A<br />
list of needed supplies and the online link<br />
will be provided in the confirmation email.<br />
The cost is $25 per child. Register online at<br />
classes-events.bjc.org.<br />
• • •<br />
BJC HealthCare sponsors a Family and<br />
Friends CPR course on Tuesday, June<br />
14 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This virtual class,<br />
offered via Teams Meeting, uses the American<br />
Heart Association curriculum to teach<br />
hands-on CPR skills including adult handsonly<br />
CPR; infant/child CPR with breaths;<br />
introduction to adult/child AED use; and<br />
relief of choking in an adult, child or infant.<br />
Each participating household will receive a<br />
CPR kit prior to the course date with infant<br />
and adult-size mannequins, class materials<br />
and a DVD for ongoing reference and practice<br />
(course does not include certification<br />
upon completion). The cost is $50. Register<br />
online by visiting classes-events.bjc.org.
28 I EVENTS I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
Celebrate Memorial Day at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 30 at Veterans Tribute Park, 1031 Kisker Road in Weldon Spring.<br />
local<br />
events<br />
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT<br />
First Fridays are from 5-8 p.m. on the<br />
first Friday of every month at the Foundry<br />
Art Centre, 520 N. Main Center in Saint<br />
Charles. Visitors can spend time in the galleries,<br />
meet resident studio artists and more.<br />
Free activities and paid workshops hosted<br />
by local business owners. For details, visit<br />
foundryartcentre.org/first-fridays.<br />
• • •<br />
Historic Heald Home and Zumwalt’s<br />
Fort Tours are open from noon-3 p.m. on<br />
the 2nd and 4th Sundays of every month<br />
beginning Sunday, May <strong>22</strong> at Fort Zumwalt<br />
Park, 1000 Jessup Drive W. in O’Fallon.<br />
Admission is $5 per person to see both<br />
attractions; children 10 and under are free.<br />
For more information, call (636) 379-5502<br />
or visit ofallon.mo.us/fort-zumwalt-park.<br />
• • •<br />
The Foundry Block Party is from 11<br />
a.m.-5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11 at the<br />
Foundry Art Centre, 520 N. Main Center<br />
in Saint Charles. Interactive art projects for<br />
all ages, food and drinks, live music, heavy<br />
machinery, vendor booths, and the main<br />
event - steamroller printing. Free. For more<br />
information, visit foundryartcentre.org.<br />
BENEFITS<br />
St. John’s United Church of Christ<br />
BBQ is from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday,<br />
May 21 at St. John’s United Church<br />
of Christ, 945 Wolfrum Road in Weldon<br />
Spring. Dine in or carry out. Prices subject<br />
to change. Cash or check only. Orders of 10<br />
or more can be delivered within a 10 mile<br />
radius. Call in orders to (636) 926-8995.<br />
For details, visit stjohnsweldonspring.org.<br />
• • •<br />
Sweaty Pig 5K or 1-Mile Fun Run is<br />
at 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 4 at Zachary’s<br />
Playground, 8392 Orf Road in Lake Saint<br />
Louis. Featuring both in-person and virtual<br />
races. After the race, enjoy BBQ and brews,<br />
music and fun. For the virtual run, choose<br />
your course and start time between Friday,<br />
June 3 and Sunday, June 5. Upload your<br />
time for recognition. Tickets start at $30<br />
with proceeds benefitting to Unlimited Play,<br />
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. To register<br />
and for more details, visit unlimitedplay.<br />
org/sweatypigrace.<br />
CONCERTS/FESTIVALS<br />
The Country Fair is from 6-10:30<br />
p.m. on Thursday, May 19; from 5-10:30<br />
p.m. on Friday, May 20 and from 4-10:30<br />
p.m. on Saturday, May 21 at Chesterfield<br />
Amphitheater, 631 Veterans Place Drive<br />
in Chesterfield. Zach Bryan, Jon Pardi<br />
and Chris Young to perform. All ages welcome.<br />
12 and under are free. Ticket prices<br />
range from $20-$250; prices are subject<br />
to change. Ticket includes carnival access,<br />
rides, games and more. Rain or shine. For<br />
more information or to purchase tickets,<br />
visit chesterfieldcountryfair.com.<br />
• • •<br />
Missouri River Irish Fest is at 5 p.m.<br />
on Friday, May 27 through 5 p.m. on<br />
Sunday, May 29 on the Missouri Riverfront<br />
along Main Street in Saint Charles.<br />
Free event. Live music, Irish dancing,<br />
food vendors and more. For details, visit<br />
discoverstcharles.com.<br />
• • •<br />
Food Truck Frenzy is from 5:30-8:30<br />
p.m. on Friday, June 3 at Sports Park, 3589<br />
Hwy K in O’Fallon. Featuring a wide variety<br />
of popular local food trucks in a familyfriendly<br />
park setting. Bring a blanket or<br />
chair. Admission and parking is free. For<br />
details, visit ofallon.mo.us.<br />
• • •<br />
636 Festival is at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 3<br />
between Good News Brewing and La Belle<br />
Vie Cafe in Historic Frenchtown in Saint<br />
Charles. For a full list of businesses offering<br />
$6 deals for June 3, visit Instagram and<br />
search, Local.636. Call (636)734-7613 or<br />
email, hello@local636.com for information.<br />
FAMILY & KIDS<br />
Family Story Time is at 9:30 and 10:30<br />
a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays weekly<br />
at the Spencer Road Branch Library, 427<br />
Spencer Road in St. Peters. Stories, songs,<br />
and activities for ages 0-6 enhance early<br />
literacy skills. Register each child attending.<br />
Each week all the story times feature<br />
the same story. Masks are required for ages<br />
5 and up. Free. To register, visit attend.<br />
mylibrary.org/events.<br />
• • •<br />
Teens Volunteering to Make History<br />
is from 1-4 p.m. on the third Sunday<br />
of each month and from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.<br />
on the third Saturday of each month at<br />
various parks in St. Charles County. Join<br />
Rangers for a two-day history interpretation<br />
class with hands-on activities. Cost<br />
is $20 for new participants; cost waived<br />
for existing volunteers. Teens need a<br />
permission slip and letter of recommendation<br />
from someone outside of their<br />
household to participate. Ages 13-<strong>18</strong>.<br />
To register, visit sccmo.org/232/Parks-<br />
Recreation.<br />
• • •<br />
Spring Ice Show, Let it Snow! is from<br />
7-9 p.m. on Friday, May 20; 5-7 p.m. on<br />
Saturday, May 21 and from 2-4 p.m. on<br />
Sunday, May <strong>22</strong> at the St. Peters Rec-Plex,<br />
5200 Mexico Road in St. Peters. Tickets<br />
are on sale at the front desk for $9.50 per<br />
adult, and $7.50 for children 12 and under<br />
and seniors 55 and older. Rec-Plex passholders<br />
receive a $1 discount on admission.<br />
For more information, visit stpetersmo.net<br />
or call (636) 939-2386.<br />
• • •<br />
St. Charles Children’s Business Fair<br />
is from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday, May 21<br />
at the Lake Saint Louis Farmer’s Market,<br />
Meadows Circle Drive. This is a one-day<br />
pop-up market for kidpreneurs. Free and<br />
open to the public.<br />
SPECIAL INTEREST<br />
St. Charles Trolley Season is from 11<br />
a.m.-7 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sundays<br />
in downtown Saint Charles. Hop on<br />
and off at any of the eleven stops during a<br />
30 minute loop through old downtown St.<br />
Charles. Rides are free. For details, visit<br />
discoverstcharles.com.<br />
• • •<br />
Seasonal Nature Walks are from 10-11<br />
a.m. on the first Friday of the month at<br />
Veterans Tribute Park, 1031 Kisker Road<br />
in Weldon Spring. This interpretive program<br />
is led by park horticulture specialists.<br />
Hour-long guided walk focuses on different<br />
aspects of nature each month. Free for<br />
all ages. Registration is encouraged. For<br />
inclement weather, call the rainout line at<br />
(636) 707-0011. The next walk is June 3.<br />
For details, visit stccparks.org.<br />
• • •<br />
The St. Charles County Pachyderm<br />
Club hosts Janet Martin, presenting on<br />
leadership and communication at noon<br />
on Friday, May 20; U.S. Congressman<br />
Blaine Luetkemeyer at noon on Friday,<br />
June 3 and Carla Klaskin, candidate for<br />
State Representative in District 63 at<br />
noon on Friday, June 10 at Mattingly’s,<br />
6245 Ronald Reagan Drive in Lake<br />
Saint Louis. For more information visit<br />
sccpachyderms.org.<br />
• • •<br />
Paws in the Park Dog Festival is from<br />
10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 21 at<br />
Broemmelsiek Park, 1795 Hwy. DD in<br />
Defiance. Features contests, prizes, K9<br />
demonstrations, and more. Free admission.<br />
Bring a donation of dog food and receive<br />
a goodie bag while supplies last. Proceeds<br />
benefit the St. Charles County Pet Adoption<br />
Center and Five Acres Animal Shelter.<br />
For details, visit stccparks.org.<br />
• • •<br />
Memorial Day Program is at 1 p.m.<br />
on Monday, May 30 at Veterans Tribute<br />
Park, 1031 Kisker Road in Weldon Spring.<br />
The free program is open to the public<br />
and includes a welcome by St. Charles<br />
County Executive Steve Ehlmann, music<br />
provided by Frank’s Heroes Band, roll call<br />
of departed veterans and presentation of<br />
colors and wreath-laying ceremonies. For<br />
details, visit sccmo.org.<br />
• • •<br />
National Boone Day is from 10 a.m.-4<br />
p.m. on Saturday, June 4 at The Historic<br />
Daniel Boone Home, <strong>18</strong>68 Hwy. F in<br />
Defiance. Celebrate the life and times<br />
of one of Missouri’s greatest frontiersmen.<br />
Featuring Boone scholar presentations<br />
and frontier-related demonstrations.<br />
Admission is free. For more information,<br />
visit sccmo.org.<br />
• • •<br />
Horse Races are at 7 p.m. on Saturday,<br />
June 11 at Dardenne Prairie Hall, 2199<br />
Post Road in O’Fallon. Doors open at 6<br />
p.m. Admission is $15 per person and<br />
includes beer, wine, setups and snacks. To<br />
purchase tickets, call (636) 497-5480.
FACEBOOK.COM/MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I 29<br />
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30 I<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
@MIDRIVERSNEWS<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
HISTORY AT HOME, from page 14<br />
not of a soldier but rather the infant daughter<br />
of an officer. Elizabeth (Eliza) Ann Lash was<br />
laid to rest on Aug. 5, <strong>18</strong>27. Today, more than<br />
237,000 people are buried there.<br />
Of those are Revolutionary War veterans<br />
Private Richard Gentry, Major Russell Bissell<br />
and Colonel Thomas Hunt. Hunt and<br />
Bissell were originally buried at Fort Bellefontaine,<br />
and Gentry was buried near Richmond,<br />
Kentucky. All three men’s remains<br />
were moved to Jefferson Barracks in the<br />
20th century. Also buried there are about<br />
14,000 Civil War soldiers, including 1,140<br />
Confederate soldiers, most of whom were<br />
prisoners of war. Many of the graves of both<br />
Union and Confederate soldiers that are<br />
marked “unknown” are the graves of those<br />
who died of smallpox. They were originally<br />
buried on Arsenal Island also known as<br />
Smallpox Island on the western side of the<br />
Mississippi River across from Alton, Illinois.<br />
Flooding, however, had washed away<br />
their original markers and so the remains<br />
were unidentifiable when they were moved<br />
to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.<br />
Within the cemetery, there are many<br />
memorials, including The Fort Bellefontaine<br />
Monument, a red granite boulder<br />
that was donated in 1904 by the Daughters<br />
of the American Revolution in honor of<br />
the officers and soldiers who died at Fort<br />
WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO<br />
• Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is located at<br />
2900 Sheridan Road in south St. Louis (63125). It is open to<br />
visitors every day of the year from dawn until dusk. Memorial<br />
Day observations will be taking place throughout the cemetery<br />
on Sunday, May 29 (when Boy Scouts will be placing flags at<br />
every grave) and Monday, May 30.<br />
• Soldiers Memorial Military Museum is located at 1315<br />
Chestnut St. in St. Louis (63103). It is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.<br />
Wednesday through Sunday with a special Memorial Day Commemoration<br />
taking place from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Court of<br />
Honor on Monday, May 30.<br />
• Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial is located at 1172<br />
Veterans Memorial Pkwy. in Perryville, (63775). The Wall and<br />
Welcome Center/Museum are open from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. daily.<br />
• Jefferson Barracks County Park is located at 345 North<br />
Bellefontaine (Belle Fontaine), which was<br />
located about 20 miles north of St. Louis<br />
and is today a county park.<br />
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans<br />
Affairs, the remains of 175 officers<br />
and soldiers of the 56th U.S. Colored Troops<br />
Infantry were removed from a cemetery at<br />
the former Koch Quarantine Hospital in St.<br />
Louis in 1939, and re-interred at Jefferson<br />
Barracks National Cemetery. The men died<br />
of cholera in August <strong>18</strong>66. The monument<br />
to the 56th USCT also was moved from its<br />
original location at Koch hospital and reerected<br />
at Jefferson Barracks.<br />
A water fountain designed by award-winning<br />
architect Eugene J. Mackey Jr. also<br />
serves as a memorial within the cemetery.<br />
Dedicated on Memorial Day 1952, it pays<br />
homage to the 35th Division, an infantry<br />
formation of the U.S. Army National Guard<br />
that dates to 19<strong>18</strong>. Mackey may be best<br />
known locally for designing the Climatron<br />
at the Missouri Botanical Garden, but his<br />
mid-century structure monument made of<br />
polished pink granite is likewise unique as<br />
the only memorial water fountain found in<br />
a National Cemetery Association cemetery.<br />
Many of the memorials have been erected<br />
in the last 25 years, including a carillon<br />
bell tower that was erected as part of the<br />
Road in St. Louis (63125). It is open daily 8 a.m. until 30 minutes<br />
past sunset and features seven museums, including the Old<br />
Ordnance Room, the Powder Magazine Museum, the Visitors<br />
Center, the Laborers House and Ordnance Stable, which are<br />
operated by the county and are free and open to the public from<br />
noon-4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. The Jefferson Barracks<br />
POW-MIA Museum (jbpow-mia.org), the Missouri Civil<br />
War Museum (mcwm.org) and the Jefferson Barracks Telephone<br />
Museum (jbtelmuseum.org) are privately operated and<br />
have unique hours and fees. Visit each one’s website for details.<br />
[Editor’s note: Read “The historic legacy of Jefferson Barracks”<br />
on midriversnewsmagazine.com.]<br />
• Fort Belle Fontaine County Park is located at 13002<br />
Bellefontaine Road in north St. Louis (63138). It is open daily 8<br />
a.m. until 30 minutes past sunset.<br />
AMVETS international carillon program to<br />
provide living memorials in honor of American<br />
veterans. According to the U.S. Department<br />
of Veterans Affairs, the bell tower, at<br />
the time of its installation, was described<br />
as “a very fine instrument [whose] beautiful<br />
tones can be heard throughout the entire<br />
cemetery and beyond.”<br />
Every monument and gravesite within<br />
the cemetery has a story to tell. The same<br />
can be said of the Soldiers Memorial<br />
Military Museum and the Vietnam Veterans<br />
Memorial. All are exceptional places<br />
to begin exploring history at home this<br />
Memorial Day weekend.<br />
• 1 Room Or Entire Basement<br />
• FREE Design Service<br />
• Finish What You Started<br />
• As Low As $15 sq. ft.<br />
• Professional Painters, Drywall<br />
Hangers & Tapers<br />
Call Rich on cell 314.713.1388<br />
We Fix Leaky Chimneys Guaranteed!<br />
• Crown Repairs<br />
• Tuck Point & Brick Work<br />
• Flashing & Water Diversion Solutions<br />
• Replace Rusted Chimney Tops<br />
• Flue Liners<br />
• Complete Chimney Maintenance<br />
Call for a Free Estimate!<br />
THE FAN MAN<br />
INSTAllATIoN ProFESSIoNAlS<br />
Ceiling Fans • Wholehouse Fans<br />
Gable Vent Fans • Recessed Lighting<br />
Specializing in installation for two story homes<br />
with no wiring on first floor.<br />
When Handyman Quality Just Won't Do.<br />
(314) 510-6400<br />
MID RIVERS HOME PAGES<br />
Springtime<br />
4.9 AAAAA<br />
Google Review Rating<br />
March Winds,<br />
April Showers ...<br />
Enjoy The May<br />
Flowers Because<br />
We Will Be<br />
www.englishsweep.com<br />
636.<strong>22</strong>5.3340<br />
DECK STAINING<br />
BY BRUSH ONLY<br />
BY<br />
BY BRUSH ONLY<br />
314-852-5467<br />
NO Down Payment Required<br />
• FULLY INSURED • REFERENCES •<br />
www.deckstainingbybrushonly.com<br />
40+<br />
Years!<br />
BRUSH ONLY<br />
(Because neatness counts)<br />
SCHEDULE EARLY FOR SPRING RUSH!<br />
... Doin’ your homework!<br />
30+ YEARS<br />
EXPERIENCE<br />
1972-20<strong>22</strong> YEARS<br />
A+<br />
RATED<br />
County House Washing<br />
& Painting<br />
Power Washing • Painting • Staining<br />
INTERIORS • EXTERIORS • CONCRETE<br />
CEDAR HOMES • DECKS & FENCES<br />
Tim Trog 636.394.0013<br />
WWW.COUNTYHOUSEWASHING.COM<br />
636.591.0010<br />
TOP GUNN<br />
FAMILY CONSTRUCTION<br />
Now Scheduling For<br />
Summer Projects!<br />
Custom Decks • Int/Ext Paint • Powerwashing<br />
Staining • Sealing • Fences<br />
Windows • Sun Rooms • Pole Barns<br />
Kitchens & Baths • Carpentry • Drywall<br />
“WE DO IT ALL”<br />
20 Years Experience<br />
Senior, Military, &<br />
First Responder Discounts<br />
Free Estimates<br />
636.466.3956<br />
gunnfamilyconstruction@gmail.com<br />
When you want it done right<br />
the first time...<br />
We’re the place to check out first.<br />
MID RIVERS<br />
H O M E P A G E S
FACEBOOK.COM/MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE<br />
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
May <strong>18</strong>, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I 31<br />
BULLETIN BOARD, from page 17<br />
and Liberty students Saiya Ameen, Sanjana<br />
Anand, Emma Thomas and Jaden<br />
Zelidon received the Barbara James Service<br />
Award for completing over 100 hours<br />
of community service. Liberty’s HOSA<br />
also received the HOSA Service Project<br />
Recognition Award for the members’ contribution<br />
to Be the Match. Students must<br />
be enrolled in one of the district’s Project<br />
Lead the Way Biomedical classes in order<br />
to be a member of the chapter.<br />
Winners are as follows:<br />
Holt High: Kinsey Henrichsen, second<br />
place - Nursing Assisting; Mia Curic and<br />
Jordan West, third place - CPR - First Aid.<br />
Liberty High: Fiona Do, Sophia Fiorino,<br />
Amelia Huebbe, Anna Morrison and Julia<br />
Wiley, first place – Parliamentary Procedure<br />
Event; Lauren McCain and Laney Torbit,<br />
second place – Health Education Event;<br />
Saiya Ameen, Sanjana Anand, Emma<br />
Thomas and Jaden Zelidon - qualified to<br />
compete at the International Conference.<br />
Timberland High: Hannah<br />
Kirkendoll, second place<br />
– Researched Persuasive<br />
Writing and Speaking; Oyin<br />
Ganiyu, third place – Cultural<br />
Diversity and Disparities in<br />
Healthcare.<br />
The power of art<br />
Immanuel Lutheran St.<br />
Charles art instructor Christine<br />
Nixon and her seventh and<br />
eighth grade students recently<br />
welcomed the opportunity<br />
to contribute to the Art of<br />
Healing wall located near the<br />
main lobby of SSM Health St.<br />
Joseph Hospital - St. Charles.<br />
“We are always looking for<br />
opportunities to make connections<br />
in our community, and I just loved<br />
the mission statement that we were asked<br />
to reflect on as the designs were created for<br />
St. Joe’s,” Nixon said.<br />
Students at Immanuel Lutheran St. Charles created artwork for the Art of Healing wall at SSM Health St.<br />
Joseph Hospital - St. Charles<br />
Source: Provided)<br />
The Art of Healing wall creates an environment<br />
to engage the youth in the community<br />
and find out what the ‘art of healing’<br />
and, more specifically, ‘God’s healing presence’<br />
means to them. The artwork adds<br />
aesthetic value to the hospital hallways<br />
and allows patients and visitors to view the<br />
SSM Health Mission through the lens of a<br />
student. Be sure to visit the installation to be<br />
immersed in the gift of creativity.<br />
MID RIVERS CLASSIFIEDS • 636.591.0010 • CLASSIFIEDS@NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM<br />
COLLECTIBLES<br />
WANTED TO BUY<br />
• SPORTS MEMORABILIA •<br />
Baseball Cards, Sports Cards,<br />
Cardinals Souvenirs and<br />
Memorabilia. Pre-1975 Only.<br />
Private Collector:<br />
314-302-1785<br />
ELECTRICAL<br />
ERIC'S ELECTRIC<br />
Licensed, Bonded and Insured:<br />
Service upgrades, fans, can lights,<br />
switches, outlets, basements,<br />
code violations fixed, we do it<br />
all. Emergency calls & back-up<br />
generators. No job too small.<br />
Competitively priced.<br />
Free Estimates. Just call<br />
636-262-5840<br />
GARAGE DOORS<br />
DSI/Door Solutions, Inc.<br />
Garage Doors, Electric Openers.<br />
Fast Repairs. All makes & models.<br />
Same day service. Free Estimates.<br />
Custom Wood and Steel Doors.<br />
BBB Member • Angie's List<br />
Call 314-550-4071<br />
www.dsi-stl.com<br />
HAULING<br />
J & J HAULING<br />
WE HAUL IT ALL<br />
Service 7 days. Debris, furniture,<br />
appliances, household trash,<br />
yard debris, railroad ties, fencing,<br />
decks. Garage & Basement Clean-up<br />
Neat, courteous, affordable rates.<br />
Call: 636-379-8062 or<br />
email: jandjhaul@aol.com<br />
HELP WANTED<br />
-PART TIME COOK-<br />
Multi Faceted Position.<br />
In Private Home.<br />
This position<br />
requires, cooking, serving<br />
& light house work.<br />
Monday - Thursday<br />
2PM-8:30PM<br />
and every other weekend.<br />
For more info call<br />
(314) 349-1457<br />
Ask for Sherlyn Whiteside<br />
Rockwood School District<br />
Hiring For Position of:<br />
Mowing & Landscaping<br />
Technician in Grounds<br />
Department<br />
- 40 hrs/week<br />
- 12 months/year<br />
- Competitive Salary<br />
Full Benefit Package includes:<br />
- Retirement through the Public<br />
Educational Employee Retirement<br />
System (PEERS) of Missouri<br />
- Paid Medical, Dental<br />
& Vision Insurance<br />
- Flexible Spending Accounts<br />
- Life Insurance<br />
- Long-Term Disability<br />
- Employee Assistance Program<br />
- Sick Leave Compensation<br />
- Vacation Compensation<br />
- 11 Paid Holidays<br />
Apply at:<br />
https://rockwood.ted.<br />
peopleadmin.com/hire/index<br />
or call (636) 733-3270<br />
EEOC<br />
Rockwood School District<br />
Hiring For Position of:<br />
CUSTODIAN<br />
- 40 hrs/week<br />
- 12 months/year<br />
- Competitive Salary<br />
Full Benefit Package includes:<br />
- Retirement through the Public<br />
Educational Employee Retirement<br />
System (PEERS) of Missouri<br />
- Paid Medical, Dental<br />
& Vision Insurance<br />
- Flexible Spending Accounts<br />
- Life Insurance<br />
- Long-Term Disability<br />
- Employee Assistance Program<br />
- Sick Leave Compensation<br />
- Vacation Compensation<br />
- 11 Paid Holidays<br />
Apply at:<br />
https://rockwood.ted.<br />
peopleadmin.com/hire/index<br />
or call (636) 733-3270<br />
EEOC<br />
HELP WANTED<br />
Rockwood School District<br />
Hiring For Position of:<br />
Summer Painter/Maintenance<br />
Monday- Friday<br />
7am - 3:30pm<br />
40 hour/week<br />
Will train<br />
16+ years old and relaiable<br />
transportation is necessary.<br />
Apply at:<br />
https://rockwood.ted.peopleadmin.<br />
com/hire/ViewJob.aspx?<br />
JobID=2486<br />
or call (636) 733-3270<br />
EEOC<br />
Caregiver For Private Home<br />
3 Days Per Week<br />
Wed, Sat & Sun<br />
8am - 7pm<br />
Call (636) 441-5890<br />
or (636) 387-<strong>22</strong>27<br />
Reliable Person for Part-Time<br />
Multi Faceted Position in<br />
Private Home!<br />
Tuesdays & Thursdays<br />
with flexibility.<br />
For more info call<br />
314-349-1457<br />
Ask for Sherlyn Whiteside<br />
HOME IMPROVEMENT<br />
HAPPY HANDYMAN SERVICE<br />
"Don't Worry Get Happy"<br />
Complete home remodel/<br />
repair kitchen & bath,<br />
plumbing, electrical,<br />
carpentry. 24HR Emergency<br />
Service. Commercial and<br />
Residential. Discount for<br />
Seniors/Veterans.<br />
636-541-9432<br />
SBA Contracting LLC<br />
Home Improvement and Repairs<br />
Interior Painting, Flooring,<br />
Drywall & Wood Repair.<br />
FREE Estimates<br />
Insured<br />
Call 314-910-7458<br />
or email us at<br />
sbacontractingllc@gmail.com<br />
HOME IMPROVEMENT<br />
AFFORDABLE CARPENTRY<br />
Kitchen Remodeling, Wainscoting,<br />
Cabinets, Crown Molding, Trim,<br />
Framing, Basement Finishing,<br />
Custom Decks, Doors, Windows.<br />
Free estimates!<br />
Anything inside & out!<br />
Call Joe 636-699-8316<br />
LANDSCAPING<br />
LANDSCAPE<br />
REHAB +<br />
IN-HOME CARE<br />
Don't overpay for Home Care<br />
• Our caregivers are carefully screened, insured and very competent<br />
• Will be matched to your individual needs & preferences<br />
• We require no contract & can offer care at affordable rates<br />
SENIOR SERVICES,<br />
UNLTD.<br />
150 Jungermann Road<br />
(Next to Barnes St. Peters Hospital)<br />
636-441-4944<br />
35 Years Serving Area Seniors<br />
PAINTING<br />
+ PLUMBING<br />
• ANYTHING IN PLUMBING •<br />
SPECIALIZING<br />
Good Prices! Basement<br />
IN ALL YOUR<br />
bathrooms, small repairs & code<br />
violations repaired. Fast Service.<br />
HARDSCAPING<br />
Certified, licensed plumber - MBC<br />
NEEDS!<br />
Plumbing - Call or text anytime:<br />
314-409-5051<br />
POWERWASHING<br />
REPAIR•REDO<br />
ALL NEW<br />
RETAINING WALLS<br />
PAVER PATIOS<br />
FIRE PITS • WALKWAYS<br />
BOBCAT WORK<br />
• FREE ESTIMATES •<br />
636-775-5992<br />
POWERWASHING<br />
MAY SPECIAL<br />
1 Story House<br />
Starting at $239<br />
2 Story House<br />
Starting at $279<br />
All Smiles Pressure Washing, LLC<br />
636-279-0056<br />
REAL ESTATE<br />
WATERPROOFING<br />
TOP NOTCH<br />
WATERPROOFING &<br />
FOUNDATION REPAIR LLC<br />
Cracks, sub-pump systems, structural<br />
& concrete repairs. Exterior<br />
drainage correction. Serving<br />
Missouri for 15 years.<br />
Finally, a contractor<br />
who is honest &<br />
leaves the job site clean.<br />
Lifetime Warranties.<br />
Free Estimate 636-281-6982<br />
WEDDING SERVICES<br />
ANYTIME ANYWHERE<br />
- CEREMONIES -<br />
• Marriage Ceremonies<br />
• Vow Renewals<br />
• Baptisms<br />
• Pastoral Visits<br />
• Graveside Visits<br />
Full Service Ministry<br />
(314) 703-7456
Save BIG on your<br />
home loan closing costs.<br />
Apply online, by phone,<br />
or in-person by May 31, 20<strong>22</strong><br />
$500<br />
on loans up<br />
to $300,000<br />
$1,000<br />
on loans between<br />
$300,000 & $500,000<br />
$1,500<br />
on loans over<br />
$500,000<br />
*Must qualify for membership. $1 share deposit required. Loan subject to credit approval. Rates, terms and conditions subject to change without notice. Escrow account required. Private Mortgage Insurance<br />
(PMI) may be required. Homeowners insurance, real estate taxes and interim interest must be pre-paid at closing. Offer does not include refinances on First Community loans. Not valid with any other offer<br />
or First Time Home Buyer program. Must apply between March 1, 20<strong>22</strong> and May 31, 20<strong>22</strong>. Only available in Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama<br />
and Florida. Required LTV may vary by state. $500 will be credited toward closing costs for loans up to but not including $300,000, $1,000 for loans at least $300,000 and up to<br />
but not including $500,000 and $1,500 for loans over $500,000. Your savings federally insured by NCUA. Equal Housing Lender. First Community Credit Union NMLS ID # 684198.