May/June 2015

ssmdrs.com

3 Our TOwn

4 AROUND TOWN Greater north County Chamber awards 2015 Scholarships and more

7 MOORE ON LIFE Spring Clinging

8 AUTOMOBILE ALLEY Locally-built Chevrolet Colorado makes a strong impression

9 FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD Mentor knows best

6 ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE The general store

10 FEATURE A garden grows in North County Homeplate garden at St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley a model for growing sustainable, organic food By Sara Hardin

13 ADVERTISER PROFILE Forrest Keeling nursery a regional institution

14 ENTERTAINMENT Looking back at the career of director Cameron Crowe

15 THE MEDICAL MEMO Timing critical in early heart attack care

COnTenTS

May/June 2015

Our Town is a Community news publication. It is published every other month and direct- mailed to 7,150 business executives in north and northwest St. Louis county, plus online circulation. Online subscriptions are Free and available at www.mycnews.comFor advertising information please contact: Community News 2139 Bryan Valley Commercial Drive | O’Fallon, MO 63366 | 636.379.1775 | www.mycnews.comPublisher - robert HunekeEditor - Mathew DeKinderStaff Writer - Sara HardinContributing Writers -russ Patton Photographer - ray rockwellArt Director - Chris OthCover Photo - Big StockCopyright 2014 Huneke Publications, Inc. No part of the publication may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.

VOL 6 / NO 3

17 TRAVEL There is no excuse not to ride

18 NONPROFIT PROFILE The Averi Budde Foundation looks to support little hearts

19 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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4 Our TOwn

around town

The Greater north County Chamber of Commerce recently se-lected the recipients of six $1,000 scholarships.

The scholarships are awarded to high school seniors who re-side in the Greater north County Chamber service area, which includes Bellefontaine neighbors, Black Jack, Ferguson, Floris-sant, Hazelwood, Jennings, Spanish Lake, Old Jamestown and sur-rounding unincorporated St. Louis County.

The 2015 scholarship recipients are Craig Biernbaum, north Coun-ty Christian School; Amanda Blanton, Duchesne High School; Christine Marie Bollinger, north County Christian School; Joyce Hau, McCluer High School; Sharne McGill, McCluer High School; and Courtney Spink, McCluer High School.

The students received their scholarships at the Chamber’s Mem-bership Luncheon on April 15 at Catering To You Banquet Cen-ter in Florissant.

The scholarship fund was established with donations from cham-ber members and an annual bowl-a-thon. This year’s Scholarship Bowl will be on Aug. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m., at Crest Bowl in Florissant.

For more information on the Scholarship Bowl, contact the Chamber office at 314-831-3500.

Greater North County Chamberawards 2015 Scholarships

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Photo courtesy Debbie WrightSix area high school students receive scholarships from the Greater North County Chamber of Com-merce. Pictured are, from left to right, Jon Vogt, GNC Chamber Chair; Craig Biernbaum; Christine Marie Bollinger; Amanda Blanton; Sharne McGill; Courtney Spink; and Melissa Rakers, Board member and chair of the Partners in Education Committee. Not pictured is Joyce Hau.

The city of St. Louis just added another notable player to its music scene with the arrival of internationally renowned and classically-trained countertenor, Terry Barber. Countertenors, men who can easily sing in the classical or “bel canto” style in the range of a wom-an, are the rarest voice type, putting Barber in the elite ranks of the 50 or so high level professional countertenors in the world. Barber has performed as a soloist at some of the world’s greatest venues from Carnegie Hall in new York City, to Svetlanov Hall in Moscow, to Queen elizabeth Hall in London.

Barber proudly traces his roots back to St. Louis, where his parents met at St. Louis university, and has more than twenty family mem-bers in the area. Having toured all over the world, he is excited to live in St. Louis for the first time, and cultivate opportunities in the

area. Barber has already connected with several esteemed musi-cians in the St. Louis area including Charles Metz- a performer with the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Louis Chamber Society and a board member of early Music America- who loaned Barber a harpsichord for his most recent recording of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd web-ber.” Barber and Metz plan to collaborate on a local performance next season. Barber is also planning performances of Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” with the Kingsbury ensemble, artistically directed by Maryse Carlin, in St. Louis next season.

Barber earned a master’s degree in music performance from Trini-ty College in London and a bachelor’s degree and musical theatre certificate from northwestern university where he began his stud-ies as an engineering and music double major.

north County Incorporated (nCI) is pleased to announce its annual Business Development, Community Development, elmer Belsha Leadership, excellence in Partnership, Public Service, Special rec-ognition, Sustaining Our Community and award recipients has been chosen. The 2015 award recipients will be honored at nCI’s 38th Annual Breakfast on May 29 at 7:30-9:30 a.m. at the renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. This year’s presenting spon-sors are HDr engineering, SSM DePaul Health Center and St. Louis County and St. Louis economic Development Partner-ship. The public is encouraged to attend and tickets are only $45 per person. Gen-erous sponsorship packages are still avail-able. reservations are required; please call nCI at 314-895-6241 or go to www.northSt-LouisCounty.com.

nCI’s Business Development Awards will be presented to those whose efforts pos-itively affect the economic development and business climate of the north Coun-ty area. On May 29 nCI will honor raven Development for The Crossings at north-west, and watlow electric with a Business Development Award.

nCI’s Community Development Awards will be presented to those whose efforts positively benefit youth, residents, civic organizations, or others through selfless acts. rosemary whitehead, Founder of Love In Action Community Outreach Cen-ter, Jack Olson, Board member of Spanish Lake Community Association and univer-sity of Missouri-St. Louis will be honored with Community Development Awards this year.

Carolyn Marty, President of the Great-er north County Chamber of Commerce and nCI executive Board member will re-ceive the prestigious elmer Belsha Lead-ership Award, which is presented annually to an individual whose long-term commit-ment to nCI and the north County region has had a positive impact on the commu-nity and/or public body that they serve.

excellence in Partnership Awards will be given to organizations or companies that have partnered with nCI to make a signifi-cant impact on the north County commu-nity for the betterment of the area’s quali-ty of life through special initiatives and/or projects. The partners being recognized

are St. Louis regional Chamber, regional Business Council and St. Louis economic Development Partnership.

Public Service Awards will be presented to outstanding individuals, elected, appoint-ed, or employed by a public body whose long-time service has had a positive impact on the community and/or public body they serve. Chief robert S. Pruett, City of Bellefontaine neighbors, Denny Coleman, CeCD, HLM, FM, St. Louis economic De-velopment Partnership’s CeO and Mayor Viola Murphy, City of Cool Valley

Special recognition Awards will be present-ed to individuals or organizations that have made a significant impact on the commu-nities and citizens of north County. Those receiving this award are Scott Bonner and the I Ferguson Committee.

Sustaining Our Community Awards will be presented to individuals, organizations or companies that went above and beyond their usual roles to impact north Coun-ty with programs and resources that sus-tain or improve quality of life. The urban League, St. Louis Crisis nursery and emer-son will all be honored with this award.

5 Our TOwn

around town

International countertenor Terry Barber moves to St. Louis

NCI names 2015’s award recipients to be honored at 38th Annual Breakfast celebration

6 Our TOwn

aLWaYS an ADVEntURE“If we don’t have it, you don’t need it” reads the sign in the local gen-eral store. A staple of rural living, the local general store is the place to get groceries, beer, cigarettes, first-aid supplies, ice cream, camp-ing supplies, fishing tackle and in some cases, mail, hardware, guns and ammo, gasoline and the latest gossip. Once away from urban areas and off the interstates, these institutions serve as local cultur-al hubs, enabling a very scattered and remote population to pick up necessities without going to “town,” as well as interact with each oth-er. without such institutions, many rural dwellers would have little to no contact with their neighbors. For most denizens of the hin-terboonies, solitude and privacy are desirable features of remote living, but even a hermit needs to say “hi” to another human once in a while.

For travelers and tourists passing through, a short stop in such an establishment can provide more information than any map, guide-book or social media posting. where to go, what to see, where to stay and where and whom to stay away from can all be learned with a short stop and a few questions. The information and conversa-tion flow a bit more freely when the questioning party makes some purchases. Yes, the locally owned and operated establishment will charge a bit more than the generic urban-mart. That’s because the remote purveyor of goods likely has to pay more wholesale for an item than the big box store can sell it for retail. However, you prob-ably won’t find out what the road conditions are or where the best places to fish are located by asking questions at the nearest Big-Box located 40 miles away. (Actually, you won’t find the best plac-es to fish at the local store either, but you will probably be direct-ed to places where you can catch fish. Only morons give up their best fishing holes.)

Beyond obtaining goods and travel information, one can learn a lot about the flavor of a locale simply by meeting some of the resi-dents. Farming and ranching topics dominate much of the conver-sation in the Midwest stores. Small shops near lake and river resort areas are well represented by fishermen and boaters. Here in the remote rockies, a motley assortment of mountaineers, cowboys, movie stars, active-duty and retired enforcers (on both sides of the law), pastors, avalanche forecasters, lawyers, realtors, construction workers and a few with no visible means of support are the peo-ple you will find at the local general store. Some mornings dur-ing the off-season, it is a full-fledged hermits’ convention, with the more reclusive folks pushing the boundaries of their social pho-bias. Once more than a half-dozen or so humans are within con-versation distance, the less sociable individuals make a hasty retreat away from the madding crowds. when the summer season arrives and the owners and employees are dealing with throngs of hungry and thirsty customers, the local customer base dwindles a bit; we’ll come back when it’s not so busy and there’s time to visit.

nationwide, such establishments have declined in number over the last few years. The negative effects of the economic meltdown of a few years ago have not subsided much outside of those areas gift-ed by the central banks’ digitally-conjured bailouts. And the ePA, in a quest to protect aquifers, has been enforcing onerous and expen-sive regulations on gas stations. The current requirements for fuel storage and dispensing are simply too costly for a small volume gas station to cover. So, the owner faces a difficult choice of spending more money on fuel-dispensing equipment than will be returned in the hopes of boosting other sales; pulling the tanks out of the ground and losing the traffic; or simply walking away from the build-ing and giving the keys to the bank. A drive through any sparsely-populated area reveals a lot of empty buildings with old gas pumps out front, standing on broken concrete pads overgrown with weeds, monuments to the passing of a simpler time.

Difficulties aside, the local general store is alive and well. Most res-idents of those out-of-the-way places understand that if they don’t support their local business, it will go away and they’ll have to go to “town,” which is much worse than paying a few extra bucks for their goods. And visitors know they can get more local knowledge from the mom and pop establishment than anywhere else. If you stop by, grab an ice cream cone and visit a while, the locals are friendly. Just don’t expect us to give up our favorite fishing holes.

The general store

By AvAlAncheAvalanche is a functional illiterate who left the St. Louis area three decades ago in search of adventure. He enjoys motorcycling and all things outdoors. He lives with his wife and dogs.

Photo by Avalanche

7 Our TOwn

Moore on lifE

Spring has sprung and with it the daffodils, tulips and hiacythinths…hiathinmints? Oh, you know what I mean. Those really colorful flow-ers no one can pronounth let alone thpell!

Things inside are starting to spring open as well – like cupboards and closets.

naturally, the reason they start to spring open is because of all our stuff – that major component which separates us from the rest of the animal species. And since we accumulate so much stuff those places that we do stuff our stuff tend to get overstuffed and spring open.

Thus, the time for spring-cleaning rolls around.

This opportunity creates the perfect occasion for one of those cheery, husband-wife projects, which if done properly can cause bonding and teamwork and strangulation.

The reason…no one wants to part with their stuff.

My husband begins by rummaging through my spice cabinet and says, “Let’s unload this tin can collection. They serve no purpose.”

He reaches back into the cabinet and snaps off a container of cream of tartar cemented to the bottom of the cupboard.

“It appears you’re tartar has turned to mortar!” he says tossing it like a basketball into the garbage can.

I rush in.

“Stop! Do you realize that stuff costs three dollars an ounce? That’s 48 bucks a pound…$96,000 per ton. It’s not garbage; it’s gold!”

“It’s mold! Canned botulism! And what exactly is this one?” He takes a cautious sniff. “Dill weed? Sweet mother of condiments! If you’re pay-ing that kind of money for weed, it had darn well better be the illegal kind.”

It joins the growing heap of cans.

“now, what about this thyme?” he says dipping a finger in it. “Is it sup-posed to be a solid or particle?”

“Particle.”

“It’s now particle board. Appears your thyme is up. And dare I ask about these cans marked, Ginger, Marjoram and rosemary? what are you storing here, the cremated remains of the Spice Girls? Although, it would explain why the group broke up so suddenly.”

He thinks he’s got me. I retaliate.

“well, Mr. Hoarder-pants, while we’re on the subject of clearing out, what about your mass collection of bolts and nuts?” I rattle a Mason jar filled with some of his stash.

A cold sweat appears on his brow while his left eye develops a visible twitch.

“release the nut jar!”

“why? They serve no purpose.”

“They most certainly do,” he bristles. “Let me give you a typical scenario. It’s mid-May. A freak winter storm has shut

down the entire state. winds are howling 95 miles per hour; trees are being flipped from the ground like Pop Tarts from a toaster. Suddenly, from the bowels of the basement, there’s a distinct ping from the fur-nace. The problem: a quarter-inch Phillips-head screw has loosened it-self from the thermostat setting off a chain reaction, causing the tem-perature to plunge 60 degrees. The next thing you know, I’m forced outdoors to battle sub-zero conditions and dodge flying roof tops to get the right component and save your extremities from frostbite.”

He drops to the floor for visual effect and continues.

“Then, after crawling through the blinding blizzard, I find the hardware store encased in a thick sheet of ice. Only by smashing through it with a shopping cart do I discover that all furnace parts have been winter-ized, warehoused and replaced by isles of weed wackers and garden mulch. So much for your extremities! But no, I merely head out to the garage and pick out a replacement screw, which I rescued from an old snow blower engine, and ta-da, we’re toasty warm while you could have been forced to ignite your furniture to stay alive.”

“Listen, sweetie, if you expect me to hang onto 17 bottles of nails and screws in preparation for the return of the Ice Age, you’re nuttier than a jar of Skippy,” I say.

“Yes, and if you think you’re suddenly going to take up cooking to use those toxic seasonings then I’ll eat that entire jar of Skippy.”

“So-o-o, maybe we shouldn’t act too hastily,” I say, retrieving my rust-ed spice cans.

“You’ve got a point there,” he says hugging the nut jar to his chest. “This cleaning can wait. It’s a nice spring day. Let’s go for a walk. The hiawathas are in full bloom.”

Spring clinging

By cindy MooreCindy Moore is the mother of three superlative kids, servant of two self-indulgent felines and wife to one nifty husband. Her ficticious occupation? Archeological Humorist: someone who unearths absurdity and hilarity in strange and unusual places including public restrooms, the lint filter, and church meetings. Most recently, she excavated a find in her neighbor’s bird feeder.

8 Our TOwn

auToMoBILe AllEY

Built exclusively at GM’s wentzville assembly facility, the 2015 Chev-rolet Colorado is now being featured and showcased throughout the u.S. with the help of their 3,200 dealer network footprint.

It’s the “sister product” of the GMC Canyon, which of course is built on the same manufacturing line. Colorado is positioned in the mid-size pickup truck category. Ford and Chrysler (Dodge) previous-ly were players in this arena stateside but elected to pull out some years ago due to declining sales and other factors.

Import nameplates such as Toyota and nissan remained as a viable choice in this specialty truck market as well.

“Many people like the ‘can-do’ spirit of a truck, but they want a ve-hicle that is easier to maneuver in traffic and easier to park at work or at home,” said Tony Johnson, Colorado marketing manager. “For them, bigger is not necessarily better. Also, they don’t want to give up the latest in convenience and safety features, which aren’t avail-able on current midsize pickups. For those customers, the new Chevrolet Colorado is the perfect choice.”

This truck is designed to meet many of the “wants and needs” of truck customers in north America. Colorado has distinctive out-er design cues coupled with a quiet and comfortable interior that offers car like amenities. It also has innovative extras such as the Chevy MyLink system with text messaging and app-based conve-niences, plus built-in/available wi-Fi (with a three-month compli-mentary data trial period).

MyLink is standard on LT and Z71 models. It combines with On-Star to bring connectivity technology to the driver and passengers. Lane Departure warning and Forward Collision Alert are also of-fered on this new truck.

A built-in rear camera is standard across the model line up. Getting down to specifics, it’s available in a four-door extended or crew-cab body configuration. More precisely, the choices include the ex-tended cab model with a 6’ 2” rear bed, a crew cab with a 5’ 2” cargo bed and a crew cab configuration with a 6’ 2” bed.

Standard with the rear cargo carrying bed is their lock-able tail-gate and two-tier loading that allows a platform to effectively split the bed into upper and lower sections. This makes it easier to haul, store and conceal items such as tools. Furthermore, 13 cargo tie down rings are included with the bed rail plus tailgate protectors as well as their standard CornerStep rear bumper design for easy height access.

The truck’s unique design telegraphs a confident stance overall with a sporty demeanor. The raised/taller rear cargo box nicely match-es the aggressively raked belt line of the truck’s cab. The vehicles distinctive proportion’s help reinforces the truck’s athleticism. un-der Colorado’s hood, there is a choice of a 2.5-liter four-cylinder rated at 200-horsepower or a 305-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 engine. with the heading of fuel efficiency, the latest ePA estimated num-bers come out to be 27 mpg highway with the four-cylinder and 26 mpg with the V-6 (2-wD models). under the umbrella of towing, its trailer rated at 7,000 pounds with the optional V-6 engine and with their heavy-duty “factory installed” towing package. As expect-ed, it’s also offered with a four-wheel-drive underside set-up as well.

with a test drive you’ll notice the quiet interior, due in part to their triple-sealed doors. A boldly designed instrument panel has large controls and a center console with a floor-mounted shifter. Atten-tion is evident to detail and premium appointments. Colorado’s seats are designed for long-haul comfort and wear. The vehicle also has active automatic hidden aero front grille shutters, designed to enhance aerodynamics seamlessly while at highway speeds. Mod-els and trim levels include their work truck model plus their LT and Z71 versions from General Motors.

The four-wheel drive system employs an electronically controlled transfer case that allows the driver to shift from 2wD to 4wD. The driver can select from three modes, 2wD, 4wD HI or 4wD Lo. All models are matched with a six-speed automatic transmission; how-ever, the extended cab 2wD models equipped with the 2.5L engine are also available with a six-speed manual gear box.

Colorado is designed to help keep occupants safe on the road, em-ploying a number of active and passive safety features. At road test, the Z71 4wD, Crew Short Box V-6 version I drove had an MSrP of $36,710. That also included the factories $875 shipping charges.

Locally-built Chevrolet Colorado makes a strong impression

By dAvid FinKelSTeinDavid Finkelstein is a Master/Skill Automotive Service Techni-cian, maintaining that role for over 45 years, coupled with being a shop owner in that time frame as well. He’s also invented a number of garage service tools for mechanics and has served on both National as well as local Automotive Trade Industry Boards. Additionally, he pioneered “Car Talk Radio” over 40 years ago, starting out with KMOX/CBS Radio as well as hosted “Auto Talk” on KFTK/FOX News Radio for some

15-years. David tests and evaluates new vehicles weekly and also does some consulting with various auto manufactures, both import as well as with domestic nameplates.

9 Our TOwn

for The loVE of fooD

whether she’s your mom or a “like-a-

mother” mentor, chances are you’ve got a

lot to thank her for this Mother’s Day. It’s a

time for celebrating your biggest support-

ers, number one fans and best friends.

In life, we’re lucky to form relationships

with women we can learn from and grow

with. Beth Somers and elizabeth nelson

from the wilton Test Kitchen consider

themselves lucky.

Beth Somers, Director of Creative Content

Development, owes her start to her for-

mer boss Milette raz. raz is trained in the

wilton Method of Cake DecoratingTM

and taught Somers how to decorate. But

Somers thinks of raz as so much more —

calling her a mentor, her second mother

and her friend. Years after working togeth-

er, the duo teamed up for Cupcake wars

on the Food network, returning home as

champions of season six with winning reci-

pes like Tropical Getaway Cupcakes.

elizabeth nelson, Assistant Culinary Spe-

cialist, attributes her love of baking to her

grandma Ann, learning the basics with

her and picking up passed down recipes

that she brought with her to college. She

looks up to her mother, her grandmoth-

er and her great-grandmother, whom she’s

told she also gets her competitive nature

from. nelson and her grandmother went

through a lot of trial and error together to

come up with what they believe is the per-

fect cinnamon roll recipe, very similar to

this recipe for Cinnamon rolls with Cara-

mel Glaze.

Mentor knows best

Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel GlazeServings: 1 dozen rolls

Ingredients:Rolls:1 1/3 cups warm milk (105°F)2 packages (1/4-ounce each) active dry yeast1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened2 egg yolks1 teaspoon Wilton Pure vanilla extract3/4 teaspoon salt4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting

Filling:1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened1/3 cup granulated sugar2 tablespoons bread flour2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Glaze:1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter1/2 cup lightly-packed light brown sugar1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 1 teaspoon Wilton Pure vanilla extract1/4 teaspoon salt1 cup confectioners’ sugar (about 1/4 pound)

Directions:1. For rolls, stir together warm milk, yeast and 1 table-spoon sugar in large bowl. let stand 5–10 minutes or until foamy. Add butter, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and salt. Mix with electric mixer using dough hook on medium speed until combined. Gradually add flour, 1 cup at a time, and mix on medium speed until smooth, elastic dough forms, about 5 minutes. 2. Spray large bowl with vegetable pan spray. Form dough into ball, place into bowl and cover with plastic wrap. let stand in warm place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size. 3. For filling, stir together butter, sugar, flour and cinna-mon in medium bowl until well-combined. 4. Prepare 13-by-9-inch pan with vegetable pan spray.5. Punch dough down and roll out to 18-by-14-inch rect-angle on floured surface. Spread filling onto dough and roll up from long end, like a jelly roll. Pinch seam to seal, trim ends and cut into 12 equally-sized pieces. 6. Place rolls into prepared pan; cover with plastic wrap and let rise 25–30 minutes or until doubled in size. 7. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F. remove plastic wrap from rolls and bake 25–29 minutes or until golden brown. cool in pan on wire rack while preparing glaze. 8. For glaze, melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and cream. cook over medium-high heat until mixture reaches a simmer; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt. Whisk in confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Pour glaze over warm rolls. Serve warm.

A garden grows in North County

Homeplate garden at St. Louis Community College –Florissant Valley a model for growing sustainable, organic foodBy Sara Hardin

11 Our TOwn

The evidence of spring is finally mak-ing its annual debut, and as the flowers bloom and the birds start to sing, there are a group of people earning their green thumbs on the campus of St. Louis Com-munity College – Florissant Valley at the Homeplate garden.

Homeplate is an education-centered eco-garden that grows sustainable, healthy organic food made available to the campus and distributed to local food banks. Mark Manteuffel, Ph.D., Home-plate creator and professor of biology at Florissant Valley, hopes above all that the impact of the lessons that the gar-den provides will extend far beyond the reach of his students and the campus.

“The way I look at it, if I can do it, any-body can do it, because I don’t have any special talent in growing things, and I try to keep it extremely simple and extreme-ly low-budget,” explained Manteuffel. “The goal is to transport this type of idea to our urban food deserts in areas where people don’t have access to healthy, or-ganic food. we also raise food in a social-ly just way, which means that we provide it for free to local food pantries.”

The garden resides on a plot of land that was originally a baseball field, which served as inspiration for its name and by-line – ‘Strike out hunger. Healthy, organ-ic food for all.’

Homeplate’s biggest surprises lie in the way in which the food is raised. Sustain-

ability is the biggest concern at Home-plate and a lot of effort is put into rais-ing the crops in ways that mimics nature. Because of this, the garden avoids using harsh chemicals or fertilizers that could contaminate the garden’s crops and soil.

“The mission of the garden is to both cre-ate and model how to go about breeding sustainable and just food systems,” said Manteuffel. “we work with nature and the natural processes, and the soil naturally will form itself. we also use native plant species. we have a native tall grass prairie grassland that we’ve created within the

garden area, and that attracts the natural predator/prey systems that keep out any type of pests that would overcome our plant area. This way we don’t have to use any artificial means of pest control; we’re featuring native plants and native natural ecosystems.”

Stephen white, Dean of Mathematics, Science, engineering and Technology at Florissant Valley, believes that the educa-tional benefits that the garden provides to students are unique, and that the gar-den should be utilized in a way that ed-ucates the campus and the community.

“Any time you can get students out of the classroom and applying the things that they’ve learned and getting their hands dirty, it’s a benefit to the students and increases learning. we’re moving in a direction where community gardens will be growing vegetables to feed food pantries and provide stock to people in need – that’s on the horizon. There’s this connection to bringing the communi-ty in and work, and then there’s the edu-cational end. I think the garden is a nice use of space that a lot of colleges don’t have.”

Homeplate hosted a Food Summit fo-cused around the theme of food justice on April 22. The event was open to the general public free of charge, and fea-tured student presentations on issues such as food deserts in the St. Louis area, H

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12 Our TOwn

food availability, and climate change. Man-teuffel also provided a tour of the garden, and invited other food-sustainability-re-lated groups to share their own experi-ences and information. The Missouri Co-alition of the environment also made an appearance, with whom Manteuffel will be partnering with to create a sustainable food system in St. Louis. Manteuffel said that he hopes to have Food Summits on an annual basis, and to use the events as a hub for anybody who is interested in cre-ating a local, home-grown food system in the Greater St. Louis area. However, he invites and encourages the general pub-lic to share ideas and visions in order to strengthen the garden’s mission.

“even though we currently don’t sell al-lotments or access to plots for the gen-eral public to plant, I always encourage the general public to come in a partici-pate or share ideas and help create proj-ects to fruition. eventually we may con-sider opening it up as a partial community garden. At this time, it’s an educational garden with a surplus of food donated to people in need. There’s just so much po-tential for all ages to come out and learn about the Missouri native ecosystems and

eat the organic food. I continue to reach out and invite groups to get involved.”

Manteuffel continues to be surprised by the impact the garden has had on the nat-ural ecosystem of the area of land it takes up on the college campus. His efforts have virtually transformed the space into something completely different and awe-inspiring after a short four years.

“I’ve been working with treating Home-plate and building it for four years now, said Manteuffel. “It’s very exciting to be part of designing something that is a con-crete demonstration of what a few peo-ple can do to transform – in a sustainable, ecologically-sound way – an area that was

initially designated as a baseball field. And now, it’s attracting native wildlife like box turtles, hawks, songbirds, and monarch butterflies. It’s literally an ecological oasis for wildlife in a semi-urban area.”

Certainly, the product of Manteuffel’s ef-forts and the success seen at Homeplate thus far serve as a sure sign that changing the ways in which we grow and raise our food is something that should be consid-ered on a much larger scale. Manteuffel warns that if things don’t change, our in-dustrial food-raising could be detrimental to the planet and our civilizations.

“I would say it’s imperative for the 21st Century to see the people of the world raise food in a way that sustains the soil that sustains the food that sustains the civilization,” said Manteuffel. “Many civili-zations in the past have collapsed based on not taking care of their soil and their ecosystems. we looked at the history: if you don’t take care of your ecological processes and systems, and do things like artificial industrialized food production, you aren’t going to be able to contin-ue to do that. The soil will just be deplet-ed of nutrients, the water won’t naturally be sustained in the area and will run off, and there will be all kinds of pollutants. we’re seeing that at large on the planet, and we’re working on a very local scale to reverse all of those trends and create food production that continues sustain-ably into the future and actually enriches the area. we want to mimic nature and en-hance the biodiversity and the nutrients in the food.”

Anyone interested in volunteering or shar-ing ideas with Homeplate should contact Manteuffel at mmanteuffel@stlcc.edu.

Submitted photoThe Homplate garden resides on a plot of land on the campus of St. Louis Community Collge – Florissant Valley that was originally a baseball field.

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Promotion

Photo courtesy Byerly RVKim Lovelace Young is the owner of Forrest Keeling Nursery, located at 88 Forrest Keeling Ln in Elsberry.

Forrest Keeling nursery, located at 88 Forrest Keeling Ln in els-berry, grows over 97 varieties of seedlings, 122 varieties of rPM (root production method) potted liners, 22 species of oaks and 27 varieties of nut trees. It specializes in native plant material. Finished stock includes ornamental shrubs, evergreens, and cali-per trees up to 3” in diameter.

Forrest Keeling was founded 60 years ago by Hugh A. Steavenson. Steavenson, then manager of the u.S. Soil Conservation nursery in elsberry, began to grow a variety of species in the backyard of his father-in-law, Dr. Forrest Keeling. Because of Dr. Keeling’s love of gardening, the nursery was named for the elsberry physi-cian. Steavenson’s fledgling operation became a full-time oper-ation on a 22-acre tract north of elsberry and has grown to em-brace 1,000 acres of prime agricultural ground south of elsberry.

Although Forrest Keeling’s rural location dictated its beginning as a retail mail-order nursery, rapid growth shifted emphasis to wholesale business and retail trade in the garden center only.

Forrest Keeling greatly expanded its rPM propagation program to ten acres of greenhouses in the early 1990s. Production of a wide range of trees, shrubs, and evergreens is executed in a pro-prietary multi-step system.

Today Forrest Keeling specializes in the production of native plant materials of unique quality: deciduous tree and shrub seed-lings and rPM potted tree liners, as well as a full line of garden market and landscape-sized evergreens, trees, shrubs, ground covers and specimen trees.

Forrest Keeling has an annual production of over four million seedlings, liner and transplant in more than 200 species. This production is efficiently and economically shipped from its cen-tral u.S. location to 49 states and across borders to Canada and countries of europe and Asia.

FORREST KEELING NURSERYA REGIONAL INSTITUTION

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EntERtAinmEntLOOKING BACK AT THE CAREER OF DIRECTOR CAMERON CROWE

his movies are rare and can take as long as half a decade to get made. As a filmmaker, his sure-handed direction is to simply pro-tect his writing - which is the glory of his films. Actors love to work with him and the amount of freedom of expression they have through their characters on the big screen can easily suggest that. his stories (usually ranging between lighthearted dramas to down-to-earth comedies) often consist the antagonists as misfits, outcasts or even un-derdogs. What makes his films stand out are the little things in life that most movies don’t focus on. From the choice of words he gives his characters to say and when it comes to romance, nobody delivers like crowe does. if there was a rule as to how people are sup-posed to fall in love in the movies, Mr. crowe is one of the very few who have mastered it. it’s the human interaction that really sells his work, guided by awesome soundtracks that feature music specifically chosen by the film-maker himself. like (Jerry Maguire’s mentor) dicky Fox

said, “The key to this business is personal re-lationships.” crowe has been a writer since the age of

15, beginning as a journalist. he submit-ted articles about music to the San diego Union and even rolling Stone magazine. (if this sounds similar to William Miller’s back-ground in “Almost Famous”, you’re not crazy. it is partially an autobiographical account of crowe’s life). years later, he posed as a stu-dent in a high school to write a book – be-fore writing his first screenplay based on it. Those efforts lead to the making of an 80’s

cult classic, “Fast Times at ridgemont high” (1982) directed by Amy heckerling. The comedy became one of the biggest breeding grounds of future stars - including Sean Penn

(in a legendary performance), Jennifer Jason leigh, Judge reinhold, eric Stoltz, Phoebe cates, Forest Whitaker, Anthony edwards, and even nicolas coppola (before he be-came nicolas cage the following year).Producer James l. Brooks (of “Terms of

endearment” fame) got in touch with him and offered him to be the writer for his next production. it was “Say Anything…” (1989); and, as it turned out, he also earned his shot at making this comedy his directorial debut. As years passed, it’s now regarded as one of the best movies about modern romance thanks to its sheer authenticity. Who knew that a young man holding a boom box over his head would become an iconic symbol of romance on film? “Jerry Maguire” was a bit out of crowe’s

comfort zone and took him five years to complete the screenplay before it became

his biggest success to date. it was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Pic-ture, Best Screenplay for crowe, Best Actor for Tom cruise and a win for cuba Gooding Jr. in the Supporting Actor category. A movie with three famous quotes is something of a rare hollywood gem.cameron crowe finally got his due and

won his oscar for Best Screenplay for “Al-most Famous” (2000). it was another slow building success that became a classic over time and another breeding ground of future stars-like Patrick Fugit, Kate hudson, Billy crudup, Jason lee, Zooey deschanel, Philip Seymour hoffman and Jimmy Fallon-before their fame.rounding up the rest of his movies are

“Singles” (1992), “vanilla Sky” (2001), “eliza-bethtown” (2005) and “We Bought A Zoo” (2011).When a film features Bradley cooper, ra-

chel McAdams, emma Stone, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinsky, danny McBride and Bill Murray, you know something’s up. Since it happens to be written and directed by cam-eron crowe, i don’t care what the plot is. i’m already going to buy my ticket-giving the man the “kwan” he deserves. “Aloha” wel-comes everyone in theaters May 29.

By BriAn GUerreroBrian Guerrero is a former resident of Los Angeles and a current resident of New York City with extensive experi-ence in front of and behind the camera for film and television.

Sports agent, Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) confesses his love to Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger) with the words “You complete me” followed by her responding words “You had me at ‘hello.’” This was long after his client, Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), forced him to scream the words “Show me the money!” as a

bargaining chip to maintain their business relationship in “Jerry Maguire.”

These iconic movie moments have one thing in common: Cameron Crowe.

William Miller, a journalist - still in high school - rides a tour bus with an up-and-coming rock band as they sing along to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” in “Almost Famous.”

Lloyd Dobbler (John Cusack) holds a boom box over his head while playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” to win back the love of his life (Ione Skye) in “Say Anything…”

Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

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TIMING CRITICAL INEARLY HEART ATTACK CARE

Elie Azrak, MD

Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans, accounting for more deaths in the united States each year than all cancers combined. Heart attacks don’t discriminate. They can strike anyone at any time.

“when it comes to treating heart disease – and heart attacks specifically – timing is crit-ical there are things you can do to up your chances of survival in the event of a heart attack and one of them is making sure you don’t waste time in getting medical atten-tion,” said elie Azrak, MD, SSM Heart Institute at DePaul Health Center cardiologist.

“Time is muscle! The longer you wait, the more heart muscle injury occurs,” said Azrak.

It is important to work with your primary care physician to find out what your heart disease risk factors are and what you can do to re-duce them. while some risk factors can’t be changed – things like your age, gender and race – there are risk factors you can control. Many risk factors can be reduced by making lifestyle changes either before a heart attack happens or as part of a treatment plan fol-lowing a heart attack.

risk factors for heart attack include:

• Smoking

• Having a high LDL (“bad” cholesterol)

and a low HDL (“good” cholesterol) levels

• Physical inactivity

• Obesity

• Uncontrolled diabetes

• Uncontrolled stress and anger

Another key to surviving a heart attack: know-ing the symptoms so you can seek immediate medical care. The most common symptoms that both men and women report include:

• Chest discomfort – a feeling of pressure, fullness or squeezing pain in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back.

• Pain and discomfort extending beyond your chest to other parts of your upper body like one or both arms, back, neck, stomach, teeth and jaw.

• An unexplained shortness of breath that comes on with or without chest pain.

• Other symptoms like cold sweats, nausea or vomiting, lightheadedness, anxiety, indi-gestion and unexplained fatigue.

In addition to these symptoms, women are more likely than men to experience symp-toms not typically associated with heart at-tack. These can include:

• Unexplained shortness of breath

• Unexplained sweating

• Unexplained extreme fatigue

• Dizziness

• Jaw, neck, shoulder, upper back or abdom-inal pain

• Nausea, vomiting or indigestion

• Feeling of doom

So, when you start feeling any of these symp-toms what should you do?

“Take two baby aspirin and seek immedi-ate medical attention by calling 911,” said Az-rak. “It’s important to call 911 within five min-utes of experiencing heart attack symptoms. Don’t wait to see if the symptoms go away or try to drive yourself to the emergency room.

By getting to the er as quickly as possible with the help and care of a paramedic team, you will receive care quickly to minimize the damage to your heart muscle. Once a di-agnosis of heart attack is made, doctors will typically choose from two main treat-ment types: medication designed to dissolve blood clots and a coronary angioplasty.

while it sounds scary, a coronary angioplas-ty is actually a non-surgical treatment where flexible tubing fitted with a balloon or other device is inserted through a blood vessel – usually in the groin or upper thigh – to the narrowed or blocked artery. Once in place, the balloon is inflated and blood flow is re-stored to the blocked artery.

Sometimes, additional medication is used to help your heart work better during or imme-diately following a heart attack. These medi-cations can include:

• Beta-blockers to decrease your heart’s workload, relieve chest pain, help prevent re-peat heart attacks or to treat arrhythmias.

• ACE inhibitors may be used to lower blood

pressure and reduce the strain on your heart.

• Anticoagulants or blood thinners are used to prevent blood clots from forming in your arteries and help keep existing clots from getting bigger.

• Anticlotting medications can also be used to stop blood platelets from clumping to-gether and forming clots.

• Other medications could be used to relieve pain, relieve anxiety, treat arrhythmias that can happen during a heart attack or statins that lower your cholesterol.

“Lifestyle changes can reduce your risk of heart attack significantly,” said Azrak. “Also, make sure you seek early medical care if you experience heart attack symptoms. early medical interventions have resulted in many lives saved and a marked improvement in the quality of life after a heart attack.”

Elie Azrak, MD, SSM Heart Institute at DePaul Health Center cardiologist.

www.rickniblettphotography.com

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THERE IS NO ExCUSEBy Jim Huneke

when the motorcycle gods have everything in alignment, there is no excuse to not ride. Such was the case last October when a fam-ily reunion in Missouri was on for the middle of that month. even though it would be a long airplane ride for all of us from San Diego to St. Louis, my wife and our daughters’ families were all excited to attend the reunion and represent the California clan.

Personally, the thought of being crammed in to an aluminum tube with a couple of hundred other people for several hours just did not appeal to me. I’m retired now, but over the years I’ve earned enough frequent flier miles visiting customers to know that the saddle on my Gold wing is a heck of a lot more comfortable

than the economy seats on any air-line. Also, my son-in-law, Cory, was due home just one week before the reunion for his month off from his job in Iraq as a re-mote paramed-ic. He became part of the family just a few years ago and we have ridden to-gether on the back

roads in the San Diego area. Best of all, the weather in mid-Octo-ber can be delightfully “in-between”: too late for the summer mon-soon-like rain coming up from the Gulf of Mexico and too soon for the massive winter storms cycling in from the Pacific Ocean. There was no excuse and the choice was obvious: let’s ride our motorcycles there!

My wife, daughters and five-year-old grandson all got air tickets for themselves. Cory’s usual ride is a sport bike, and this would be his first attempt at long distance. He decided to reserve a 2015 Harley Street Glide from the rental department at Bigg’s HD in San Mar-cos, CA. Their rental department manager, Brian, set everything up efficiently, including a tour pack and backrest. Cory’s flight from Iraq landed in California on Saturday. we picked up the Street Glide on Sunday and did a practice ride. we left for St. Louis on Monday morning.

The ride on I-8 out of San Diego took us through mountains with very scenic, but windy sections before descending onto the des-ert floor. In Arizona we jumped on Hwy 60 and stayed on it all the way into new Mexico. we rode through canyons and vast open, flatlands on this two-lane road that goes through the heart of the Southwest. The ride down into and up out of the deep gorge where the Salt river separates the San Carlos and Fort Apache res-ervation lands was spectacular. while refueling in Quemado, nM

we met hunters whose recently-shot elk were sprawled in the back of their pickup trucks. The antlers were so big that they overhung the sides of the truck beds.

we stayed the first night in Globe, AZ and the second night in San-ta rosa, nM. we were on the road before 8 a.m. and off before sunset, riding 471 miles each day. The weather was perfect with no clouds over all three states we traversed. we preferred adventure dining, which means we avoided fast food chains and sought out old-time diners or cafes. The Space Age in Gila Bend, AZ, Irene’s in Globe, AZ and Joseph’s in Santa rosa, nM are great examples where good food is served with friendly service. Our favorite was breakfast at the Sweetheart Café in Show Low, AZ where the cli-entele included a cowboy complete with a ten-gallon hat and an eight-inch wide mustache.

Before the ride, I had reviewed with Cory the various safety sig-nals and we used them frequently while on the road. we waived, of course, to other motorcyclists. It amazes me how a small ges-ture of sticking the left arm out and down with a slight twist of the opened hand produces such a great feeling of connection and ca-maraderie. we waived to the railroad operators, too. where the terrain was flat and straight, the rails and the road usually ran par-

tRAVEl

www.byerlyrv.com

Jim and Cory at the Rt 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma

17 Our TOwn

allel for a long way; often, the tracks were very close to the two-lane highway. we saw many magnificent trains with three, some-times four, massive locomotives pulling roll-ing stock of more than a hundred. when-ever we encountered one of these trains, we would raise our arm and give the engi-neer a double pump with our fist. He would respond with several wonderful notes from his high-pressure horn. It was really a blast, no pun intended.

Day three we were back on the interstate under another cloudless, blue sky and rid-ing 557 miles to Tulsa, OK for the night. This section of I-40 parallels Historic rt. 66 mak-ing for very interesting stops during the day. The rt. 66 Museum in Clinton, OK was a real treat. This redesigned museum neatly displays the history of the iconic road us-ing old road signs, vehicles, photos and mu-sic. Plus it has a replica of a 1950’s diner. rt. 66 museums can be found in many of the states along the route, but this one in Clin-ton is well worth the stop. rt. 66 was de-commissioned in 1985 and, sadly, many sec-tions we rode were deserted and derelict. Other places were functioning, but poor-ly maintained, for example, the claimed “CLeAn reSTrOOMS” in Bushland, TX. It is a matter of preference to stay on the old route or to jump on the interstate, but one spot to avoid, especially at rush hour, is the eastbound transition ramp from I-40 to I-44 in Oklahoma City.

There were many big, long haul trucks on both of these interstate highways. In Cal-ifornia, highway speed limits for trucks are usually 10 to 15 mph lower than for the rest of the traffic. This is not the case across the Midwest, where the posted limit for all vehi-cles is 75 mph. we found ourselves boxed in several times by multiple big-rigs doing 80 mph. Lane positioning skills were critical to maintaining visibility and avoiding wind blasts. Once, a truck passed us while we had our cruise control set to 85 mph, mak-ing it very clear that we weren’t in Califor-nia anymore.

The next day, after having breakfast at a great place called Clancy’s in Vinita, OK, we rumbled down the interstate and into Mis-

souri. we jumped on twisty, two-lane Hwy 8 to enjoy the last leg of the trip through Ozark foothills under a fabulous canopy of fall colors. we arrived in St. Louis having ridden a total 1,947 miles in four days. The family reunion turned out to be a great suc-cess. reconnecting face-to-face with rela-tives when we live so far away is very spe-cial. There was even time to do 158 miles of riding on the back roads of beautiful St. Genevieve County during our extended weekend in Missouri. The roads there are

traffic free with smooth pavement, rolling hills and gentle sweeping curves. riding these roads put me “in the zone” and, at moments, the only perception of my for-ward motion was the red and gold leaves swirling behind me in my rear view mirrors.

Opportunities like this adventure are out there waiting for us to grab them. The chance to spend quality time and share my touring experience with my son-in-law was priceless. Seeing all the family members in Missouri was made even more special in that many of them got to meet Cory and our young grandson for the first time. Trav-eling by motorcycle made for an epic road trip. Is there ever an excuse not to ride?

Jim Huneke is a 15-year

member of the AMA.

He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and has been retired since 2013.

His current ride is a 2008 GL1800 Gold Wing.

tRAVEl

Painted Desert, Arizona

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nonprofIT pRofilE

The Averi Budde Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2007 in support of pediatric heart pro-grams in and around the St. Louis area and community, and to help support heart families and research programs.

The foundation was founded after the birth of twin girls Adison and Averi Budde. Averi was born with several congenital heart defects requiring her to have open heart sur-gery at five days old. Averi has had five open heart surgeries to date and four cardiac cather-tizations. During Averi’s stay in the hospital, Averi’s Grandma Vicki Isom and parents, ryan and Staci Budde wanted to give back for the amazing care they received. They held a fundraiser at Blue Springs ranch in Bourbon, Mis-souri to raise awareness and funding for the St. Louis-area pa-tients and CICu. This year will be the eighth year for the fundraiser which is now held annually at Blue Springs ranch on September 12. we encourage all to attend for an amazing fun day for a great cause!

To date, the Averi Budde Foundation has raised $175,000 that has been donated to St. Louis Children’s CICu, SSM Cardinal Glennon Dallas Heart Center, Camp rhythm (a camp for children that have had open heart surgery), AeD/Defibrillators for Sullivan and Bourbon Ambu-lance districts and schools and Pulse Oximetry machine for Missouri Baptist Hospital Obstetrics department. The foundation has held a Pediatric Congenital Heart conference where five top surgeons and cardiologists came to educate St. Louis Children’s CICu staff. Sever-al heart families have been assisted financially and with lodging while their child was in the hospital.

Several events coming up to ben-efit the foundation include the

Annual Averi Budde Family Fun Day at Blue Springs ranch, Bourbon

Missouri on September 12, which includes a silent auction, carni-val rides, bounce house, carriage rides and a dinner all included.

May 31 is our second Food Truck event to be held in Cottleville

at Legacy Park from 4 - 8 p.m. with bounce houses and a washers tourna-

ment.

There are approximately one-in-110-babies born with congenital heart disease and most will

die before they see their first birthday. Our mission is to educate and help local institutions and families dur-

ing their child’s hospital stay and help fund equipment, edu-cation tools and scholarships to the CICu staff.

Please find us on FB at the Averi Budde Foundation or our website at

averisjourney.com

or email at

Staciisom@aol.com

The Averi Budde FoundATion looks to support little hearts

www.stcharlesconventioncenter.com

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CaLendar of EventsMay:1 - fund raising opportunityThe Knights of Columbus are providing mid-way booth rentals for this year’s Valley of Flow-ers from May 1 – May 3. For more details, con-tact Bob Belaska at 314-837-4393.

1 - pursue Your purpose 2015 Celebration of Entre-preneurs Awards Gala First Bank (Florissant Dierbergs) will serve as a co-spon-sor for the Pursue Your Purpose 2015 Celebration of En-trepreneurs Awards Gala, an event that will kick off National Small Business Month by celebrating local en-trepreneurs at the Renaissance Hotel, Airport and host-ed by Pursue Your Purpose CEO and Founder Tamiko Cuellar, the awards gala will honor entrepreneurs in the St. Louis area for their outstanding contributions to humanity, innovation, and service to their customers, employees and community. To purchase tickets, nom-inate entrepreneurs or for sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.PursueYourPurpose.com/2015Gala.

2 - Blood driveWomen’s Missionary Society of Christ Our Redeem-er AME Church is sponsoring a Red Cross Charles Drew Blood Drive from 10a.m. – 2 p.m. We are lo-cated at 13820 Old Jamestown Rd. in Black Jack. Call 314-741-4222 to make your appointment.

3 - flea market Flea market at Florissant Valley VFW Post 4105, located at 410 St. Francois from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Contact Richard at 314-837-7057.

7 - prayer breakfastThe Kiwanis Club of Bridgeton will hold its 33rd Annu-al Prayer Breakfast at 7 a.m. at Syberg’s Restaurant at 2430 Old Dorsett Road in Maryland Heights. Our spe-cial guest will be Lauri Tanner, President and CEO of Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital. Also minis-ters from various local churches will attend to share prayers and inspirational messages. Tickets for the breakfast are $14/per person or $130 for a table of ten. All tickets are sold in advance. For ticket infor-mation, please contact Mary Vaughan at mvaughan@marylandheights.com or call 314-581-0497.

7 - Summer Camp open HouseASAP Summer Camp is now enrolling 3rd-8th grade! We are a nine-week program that incorporates a wide variety of activities, lessons, and programs to pro-mote personal development, ministry, extended edu-cation, and physical activity though out the summer. Volunteering opportunities are available for stu-

dents entering 9th- 12th grades. North County Chris-tian School also offers a summer camp for Preschool through 2nd grade. To learn more about both camps, please attend our Summer Camp Open House at 7 p.m. in the NCCS Library at 845 Dunn Rd., Florissant or con-tact us by phone at 314-972-6227 or visit our website.

9 - City of overland petinoculation DayPet Inoculation Day in Overland welcomes all dogs and cats, whether they are spayed or not altered. This event will take place from 9 - 11 a.m. behind the Over-land City Hall at 9119 Lackland Road. Overland Res-idents may also purchase and/or renew their pet li-censes at this event, or at Overland City Hall. For more information, please call city hall at 314-428-4321.

15 - School fundraiserHoly Trinity School will host a fundraiser from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the school cafeteria at 10901 St. Henry Lane in Saint Ann. Event will include shopping (40 vendors), card party (optional), luncheon, fashion show, Bunco, trivia, games, basket and restaurant raf-fle and attendance prizes. Cost is $15 for adult and $5 for children (12 and under). For more information con-tact Karen at 314-539-1962 or holytrinity@live.com

16 - Book signingMarilyn D. Brown will be signing copies of her books from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at 6 North Café at 14438 Clay-ton Road in Ballwin. For more information call 636-527-0400 or visit www.6northcafe.com

18 - free financial workshopYou are invited to join us here at DeSmet Retire-ment Community at 1425 N. New Florissant in Floris-sant at 6 p.m. for a free financial workshop. Please join us for this informational workshop it is the best way to prepare yourself and your loved ones for the future. For more information or to RSVP please call 314-838-3811. Please RSVP by May 11.

22 - 2015 mU Extensionin St. louis night

Please join us for another evening to benefit MU Exten-sion in St. Louis at Schon. Hors d’oeuvres, fine wines, desserts and fun; while enjoying all of the above you will be supporting local artists and MU Extension pro-gramming in the St. Louis area. Cost is $10 (You will pay at the door) (All proceeds benefit Extension Pro-gramming) Please visit our website at http://exten-sion.missouri.edu/stlouis for more information.

30 - Book signingJackie Polys will be signing copies of her book “Ralston the Rally Squirrel” from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at 6 North Café at 14438 Clayton Road in Ballwin. For more informa-tion call 636-527-0400 or visit www.6northcafe.com.

June:6 – D-Day

14 – flag Day

20 - Golf tournamentThe Jennings Do-Dads are excited to announce our 22nd annual Juvenile Justice Scholarship Golf Tour-nament. This year’s tournament will begin with a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start at Eagle Springs Golf Course at 2575 Redman Rd in St. Louis. The tournament will raise funds for a scholarship for those who are plan-ning a career in juvenile justice. Team entry (four play-ers) costs $340 and includes greens fees, cart, lim-ited beverages at course, attendance prizes and the post-tournament food and refreshments. Limit-ed to the first 36 teams, entry forms and fees are pre-ferred by May 31, 2015, although you may regis-ter and pay up to the day of the tournament. You can also pay online with a major credit card via PayPal at www.jenningsdodads.org. Register and pay by May 31, 2015 and the cost per foursome will be reduced to $320. For more information contact Jim Christian at 314-341-8417 or Jack Duepner at 314-608-0551.

21 – first Day of Summer

21 – father’s Day

Presorted Std US Postage

PAIDSt. Louis, MO Permit 2828

2139 Bryan Valley Commercial Drive O’Fallon, MO 63366

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