TUESDAY >>> MAY 22, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 40

SERVING PERRY COUNTY SINCE 1889

PHS GRADUATIONThere was a lot of action in circuit court last week. 3A

Amid tears and shouts of joy, PHS seniors say ‘so long’ to friends, teachers and high school. 1B-2B

© 2012, Perryville Newspapers, Inc. www.perryparkcenter.com

PPC will close at 5 p.m. onFriday, May 18 for PHS Graduation

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A BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY

Photo by AmAndA LAyton

Morgan Baer said a tearful goodbye to the class of 2012 on Friday as the 176 seniors from Perryville High School crossed the stage to receive their diplomas. (See more graduation coverage on Pages 1B-2B.)

By Amanda Laytonalayton@perryvillenews.com

With pomp and circumstance, as well as tears and tissues, the senior class of 2012 bid their goodbyes to Perryville High School at commencement Friday night at the Perry Park Center.

The gymnasium was full to capacity, and well wishers were crowded onto the track above the audience as seniors walked across the stage to receive their diplomas from the District 32 Board of Education President Tina Litgge, who was accompa-nied on stage by fellow board members, vice president Kevin Bachmann, secretary Barb Hagan, Scoot Cooper, Mark Grem-aud, Scott Hotop, Nancy Voelker and Jeff Weibrecht. Also on stage were treasurer Betty Berkbigler, high school principal Lee Gattis, assistant principal Joel Roth and athletic director Jeff Steffens, along with school superintendent Kevin Dunn and as-sistant superintendent Russell Leek.

Members from the Perryville High School Band, under the direction of music directors Jay Peters and Michael Harrer, along with the PHS Chamber Choir con-ducted by Terry Edwards, provided music

for the event. Leading the Class of 2012 were saluta-

torian Abigail Buchheit and valedictorian Ashley Meinhardt, who got the attention of the graduates and faculty members in at-tendance by rewarding them with a cookie she had strategically taped under their seats prior to commencement.

“Thanks to Hoeckele’s Bakery and Matt Bush for getting these ready on such short notice,” Meihardt said. “You each have a

With smiles, tears, seniors graduateMore graduation stories and photos can be found on Pages 1B-2B.

From Page 1B

StAFF Photo by AmAndA LAyton

Thomas-Michael Yates gets a final ad-justment to his collar from his mother Kelly before the commencement.

Photo Submitted

Hope Hudson of Perryville spends some quality time with horse train-er Doug O’Neil before his pony I’ll Have Another won the Preakness in Maryland on Saturday. The duo met at the Kentucky Derby this year thanks to a trip funded by the Make A Wish Foundation.

Hudson’s horse wins Preakness

Water line cut

Hope is I’ll Have Another’s good luck charm as the horse goes for the Triple Crown.

By Amanda Laytonalayton@perryvillenews.com

And in a story fit for a Hollywood script, local lucky charm Hope Hud-son did it again as she brought a little of her magic to team O’Neil and his horse I’ll Have Another, who won the Preakness Stakes Saturday, bringing them a race away from the fabled Triple Crown.

Hudson, the 12-year-old daughter of Jennifer and Nathan Hudson, of Perryville, took the trip of a lifetime earlier this month when the Make A Wish Foundation sent the youngster, along with her family, to Louiville’s Churchill Downs for a behind-the-scenes look at the time-honored Ken-tucky Derby.

It was there that the family first crossed paths with trainer Doug O’ Neil, who immediately took a shine to the ailing youth. Hope sat astride O’Neil’s horse Lava Boy, a stable pony for I’ll Have Another, who as a grade one racing pony earned a career $5.2 million.

O’Neil said the Hudsons are “part of the family now.”

Jennifer said the trip to Maryland for the 137th Preakness was amazing. “We had free reign. Whatever Hope wanted, she got. It was incredible,” Jennifer said.

The trip to the Preakness was funded by trainer Doug O’Neil, Three Chimney’s Farm and I’ll have An-other’s owner Joe Them, and Three Chimney’s J. P. Reddam.

Jennifer is overcome with the hos-pitality showered on the family.

“It was very special,” she said. “They pulled us into the winners circle when the race was won, and after the photos were taken with the blanket of daisy’s on I’ll Have An-other’s back, they took them off and draped them across Hope’s wheel-chair. They’re shipping the flowers back home to us.”

Hope has spent her entire life in and out of hospitals, facing surgeries

See HOPe/PAge 4B

Amanda Keefealkeefe8388@gmail.com

Thursday, a water main break in Brewer caused Public Water Supply District No. 1 — which includes the northern city limits of Perryville all the way to St. Mary city limits — to issue a water boil alert until today, if not later.

Residents within the water district are advised to boil any tap water for drinking, and Public Water Supply District No. 1 Superintendent Allen Weisler said it’s OK to shower, as long as a person has no stitches or open skin abrasions.

The break occurred around 4 p.m., Thursday, after contracting group Sullivan Excavation, of Silex, was attempting to lay pipe ducts for the installation of fiber optic cables and accidentally struck what Sullivan Contracting owner Bill Sullivan calls an “unlocatable water main.”

“When the main was installed in the late 70s/early 80s, they didn’t put a tracer wire with it,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said that presently, any time a main is installed now, a tracer wire is placed along with it so others are aware that the water main exists.

“There was no way for anyone to know where it was,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said there was already a break, or stress point, in the water main, and when the contractors exca-vated near it, “it basically cracked.”

By 5:30 p.m., Thursday, the main

During installation of fiber optic cables, line disrupted, causing a boil water order to be issued.

See WaTeR/PAge 4B

Mud festival help neededAmanda Keefealkeefe8388@gmail.com

The city’s first-ever mud festival is getting closer, and volunteers are needed to help.

The mud festival, organized by 573 magazine in Farmington, is a free community event that literally deals entirely with mud — mud volleyball, a mud fashion show, a mud obstacle course, a mud pit and several other “mud” festivities will be offered free of charge.

But, the city is asking for local not-for-profit organizations, vendors and volunteers to help make the July 14 event possible.

“It’s an opportunity for local orga-nizations to make a little money, and it’s also a good way to give back to the community,” said Perryville City Administrator Brent Buerck.

So far, the Perryville High School cheerleading squad has hopped on board with volunteering, and will act as “pit bosses,” helping to man the mud pit. Also, the Perryville Fire Department will be helping maintain the mud by keeping it wet with fire hoses.

Others are needed to act as medi-cal aid, as well as safety and security staff.

The festival is also looking for

See MUD/PAge 4B

cookie to snack on during my speech. But they come with one stipulation — don’t get crumbs on your gowns. I don’t want any moms upset with me for ru-ining their child’s grad-uation pic-tures.”

She went on to tell grad-uates she had few words of wisdom to offer them since she was in the same boat of inexperience as them.

“I decided to leave you with some of the advice I’ve been given,” she said. “A well-known writer once said, ‘The lamp of the body is the eye. If, then, your eye is simple, your whole body will be bright.’ In essence, no matter where you go or what you do, always remem-ber that there are no material possessions or pursuits that are worth more than your relationships with people. How you treat others and the love you show means more than the amount you gain. Never take others, your-selves, or your own abilities for granted.”

The keynote speaker for the evening was beloved PHS communication arts and yearbook design teach-er Tim Baskin, who stressed to the graduates that good choices are an important component in life.

“All of us are afforded hundreds of choices a day, from small to large,” he said. “Most of you are already making these far-reaching decisions. What college to attend? What job do I want? Where am I going to work? Who do I want to spend my time with, now that I’m not forced to hang out with the same group of people every day? All of those choices matter for your future. Life has a way of giving us more opportunities than we might deserve, but don’t take that for granted. You won’t al-ways get another chance to make the right choice.”

After the graduation cer-emony, seniors remained at the Perry Park Center for the all-night lock-in known as Project Graduation, where classmates played games and won prizes.

The Republic-Monitor | perryvillenews.com 1B

GRADUATIONTuesday,

May 22, 2012

The places they will go...

Although the seniors say farewell to one another, the future looks bright for many of them as they set

off on their separate journeys to start their lives.

Travis Bowen, son of Ronnie and Theresa Bowen, will be putting the skills he learned in Calvin Ehler’s auto mechanics to use when he becomes a student at Linn Technical college this fall.

Alexia Koenig, who recent-ly designed a logo to be used by

the City of Perryville that represent the many boards and organizations in the community, will further her graphic design education at Mineral Area College. She is the daughter of Crystal Koenig and Doug Koenig.

Marissa Erwin, daugh-ter of Damon and Robin Erwin, who helped lead the Peryville Lady Pirates to their highest volleyball finish in the school’s his-tory will continue playing at Greenville College in Greenville, Ill., where she was offered a scholarship.

— AmAndA LAyton

Salutatorian wishes class a life full of successful failures...

“A few years ago, a college professor gave his students a rather odd assignment: to achieve at least eight large failures by the end of the semes-ter. The logic was that if a person is trying to fail, he may attempt things that he would otherwise assume impossible.

I decided to put this theory to the test. There was an idea that I had considered back in middle school, an idea so ridicu-lous that I had dismissed it soon after thinking of it. I decided to try to become the valedictorian of the Class of 2012. When I accepted that this would be my goal to fail, I was ranked eighth or ninth in the class, meaning I would have to climb several spots to get to the top.

When the Profiles in Excellence banquet rolled around last week, I learned that I was in fact salutato-rian. While it was not my original goal, I had shot for the moon and landed among the stars. As I leave high school, I look forward to many more of those pre-cious failing moments and the ensuring lessons they hold.

Through our lives, we find many occasions where we won’t think success possible. We will have two options. The first will be to ignore the opportunity.

Koenig

Abigail Buchheit

Bowen

Tim Baskin

Erwin

Farewell, goodbye, adieuBaskin reminds graduates that it is all about choices.

Photo by AmAndA LAyton

Savannah Slacer and Cody Broussard fall in line before the Perryville High School graduation on Friday night at the Perry Park Center.

(Top) Graduates, along with their family members mill around outside the Perry Park Center, posing for last minute photo-graphs, before the commencement ceremony. Above, friends Colby Brown, Jared Thieret, Ross Moldenhhauer and Kirk Hadler group together for a photo. And left, the 2012 valedicto-rian Ashley Meinhardt stands confident and ready for the future before addressing the class of 176 graduates.

— Photos by AmAndA LAyton

Proud par-ents posed with their c h i l d r e n before they w a t c h e d them take a walk 13 years in the making across the stage to re-ceive their high school d i p l o -mas. Pic-tured are (from left) T a m m y Lukefahr, along with her daugh-ter Katlyn and Alex R o b i n s o n with his mom Tina. — Photos by AmAndA LAyton

From Page 1a

See Buccheit/Page 2B

GRADUATIONPage 2B • Tuesday, May 22, 2012 The Republic-Monitor • www.perryvillenews.com

In October, they were crowned the homecoming king and queen, and on Friday, Bryce Weibrecht and Ashley Meyer strolled arm in arm in the gymnasium to receive their diplomas. At right, the Class of 2012 did not for-get about fallen classmate Derrick Orman who died in 2009. They filled an empty seat with his photograph, and paid tribute with flowers.

— AmAndA LAyton

An aerial shot of the 176 graduates as they marched across stage row by row to receive their diplomas from the Perry County District 32 Board of Education president Tina Littge who recognized the graduates along with other school board members.

— AmAndA LAyton

The Orf family (above) poses with their senior, Bryce who happily received his diploma. Under the direction of Terry Edwards 2012 graduates who were members of the PHS Chamber Choir joined with their underclassmen for a final perfor-mance, singing two selections.

— AmAndA LAyton

As is tradition at Perryville High School, the boys work green and the girls wore white cap and gowns for the commencement ceremony. Here, the first row of girls rise to receive their diplomas.

— AmAndA LAyton

Cody Mor-rison proudly displays the cookie he found taped under his seat at graduation, compliments of the 2012 valedictorian Ashley Mein-hardt who asked that the graduates eat them during her speech and not get crumbs on their gowns. M e i n h a r d t said the cookie would help the grads focus on the speech.

— AmAndA LAyton

Graduate Daniel Wilkes poses for a photo with his older sister Tabbitha Blessing.

— AmAndA LAyton

To go on with our day and forget about it. The second option will be to try - to take a little bit of effort and try to make the impossible possible. Even if it doesn’t work out, we can learn from our mistakes and use that knowledge for the next opportunity.

Goodbye Class of 2012 and good luck on many successful failures.”

— AbigAiL buchheit

A final look at what the future holds for grads ...

Shea Leible will con-tinue to play the sport she fell in love with in middle school as she attends Jef-ferson College this fall on

scholarship where she will play volleyball and earn a degree in the medical field. She is the daugh-ter of Rod and Dawn Leible.

Cody Call, son of David and Janette, will attend Mis-souri S and T in Rolla where he will major in chemical engineering and minor in business.

Her father is in politics, but she will follow in her mother’s footsteps as Kourtney Tilley joins ranks at the College of Pharmacy where she

hopes to become a pharma-cist. She is the daughter of Steven Tilley and Kelley Tilley.

Tyler Blessing, son of Davis and Lavern Blessing will attend Southeast Mis-souri State University this fall where he will major in exercise science.

Courtnea Plunket, daughter of Kelly and Micheal Plunkett is taking a completely different path. In August, she will

marry Air-man Cody Duvall, and the couple will be im-mediately moving to Ramstein Airforce Base in Germany.

Hannah Hoehn, daughter of Kenny and Judy Hoehn, will attend Mineral Area Col-lege before transferring to Southeast Missouri State where she will go into nurs-ing.

Standout athlete and student Jake Dobbelare will attend Southwestern College in Bellville, Ill., where he re-ceived a scholarship to play baseball. He is the son of Shane and Judy Dobbelare.

— AmAndA LAyton

From Page 1B

Leible

Blessing

Hoehn

Call

Plunkett

Dobbelare

Tilley