People Are Awesome: Salvation Army Week, KSMU turns 50 and a Special Olympics dance clinic

Mayoral proclamation for Salvation Army

Springfield Mayor Ken McClure is scheduled to deliver an official proclamation recognizing National Salvation Army Week on Monday, May 13.

The proclamation will take place at 3:30 p.m. at 1707 W. Chestnut Expressway. McClure, along with community leaders and stakeholders, will present a proclamation recognizing the invaluable contributions of The Salvation Army in Springfield, which has served the community for more than 134 years.

A reception will follow the ceremony, which is open to the public.

Music clubs convention May 17-18

Missouri Federated Music Clubs Annual convention will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church May 17-18, and two performances are open to the public at no charge.

The Women’s Voice Winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs’ Young Artist Competition, Krista Pape of Houston, Texas, will perform a variety of arias, art songs, show tunes, and selections from the Great American Songbook. She will be accompanied by local collaborative artist and composer Brian Christian. She received a $20,000 prize and two years of concert engagements. Pape has also received awards from the Metropolitan Opera Council, the Music Teachers National Association, and various other national competitions. She recently completed a residency with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Music Academy of the West. Her performance will be at 7:30 p.m. May 17.

At 10 a.m. May 18, Gary Ellison, named Missouri’s Official Ragtime Piano Player by the state senate, will give a 20-30 minute program on the history and sounds of ragtime. Missouri was instrumental in the emergence and popularity of ragtime music in the early 1900s. Ellison will draw on his vast background to play, sing, and tell stories about this unique style of music that had much of its origin here in Missouri.

Both of these programs will be in the sanctuary of Covenant Presbyterian Church at 2441 S. Lone Pine Ave.

Highway Patrol honors 29 employees

Four troopers from Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop D in Springfield were among the 29 employees recognized at the patrol's annual award ceremony April 27.

Sgt. Timothy A. Barrett was named the 2023 Benjamin Oliver Booth Officer Of The Year. In 2023, Barrett’s dedication to criminal patrol work resulted in seven noteworthy criminal interdiction stops, including one in January in which he discovered nearly 45 pounds of cocaine hidden in a car hauled by a tractor-trailer which led to the arrest of a high-ranking drug cartel associate. Another stop revealed a nationwide mail theft ring.

Three Troop D troopers received the Meritorious Service Award for exemplary service beyond the call of duty in unusual circumstances.

Trooper W. Sean Lashmet, answered a Feb. 23, 2023 call for service at the Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area, driving a woman with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest 26 miles to the hospital in Springfield. The woman survived emergency surgery but later succumbed to her injuries. (Trooper Lashmet has since been promoted to corporal.)

Trooper Austin L. Royster, Troop D rendered emergency first aid to multiple crash victims after a June 3, 2023 traffic crash in Lawrence County in which a vehicle had collided with several motorcycles. While providing care for the driver, Royster determined she was under the influence of a controlled substance and placed her under arrest.Trooper Jacob S. Schwartz, rescued an unresponsive driver from a burning vehicle after an Aug. 22, 2023 crash that occurred after the driver fled from an attempted traffic stop. The driver received medical assistance and was taken into custody.

Book sale sets new record

The Friends of the Library Annual Fall Book Sale wrapped up April 28, setting a record with $209,016.30 in six days. The sale was up 16% over the previous record set last spring.

The cumulative total for FOL book sales since the first sale in 1985 is in excess of $5.3 million, according to Friends of the Library Sale Chair Bill Kastler. Proceeds from the bi-annual sale fund special adult programs, the Summer Reading program, Wee-Read, which gives out books through the Parents as Teachers Program, and many other library necessities. The Friends of the Library recently made a $200,000 gift to the Library Center auditorium construction project.

The next sale will be Sept. 11-15 at the E*Plex at the Ozarks Empire Fairgrounds.

The public can donate used items at any of the 10 library branches during business hours. To learn more, call 417-616-0564 or email friends@thelibrary.org.

Art in Bloom awards People’s Choice

The Springfield Art Museum welcomed 1,900 visitors to Art In Bloom, which was held April 24-28 throughout the Museum’s galleries. Visitors cast 427 People's Choice Award ballots over the course of the week.

The People’s Choice $500 cash award for floral design went to Pam Carroll and Raleigh Jones with Wickman’s Garden Village, interpreting "Holi Dancing" Soup Tureen by Betty Woodman.

The $500 cash award for fashion design went to Katie Jankovitz, interpreting And Ice, Mast-High, Came Floating By, as Green as Emerald by Patrick Procktor on view in Breath, Light, and Distance.

In addition to the $4,000 in juried prizes already announced, Art In Bloom awarded $5,000 total to local designers.

Art In Bloom Lily Sponsors include the Southwest Missouri Museum Foundation and the Tal & Rosalie O’Reilly Wooten Family Foundation.

Coover grants help 14 nonprofits

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks, in partnership with the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation and Commerce Trust, granted a total of $220,000 to 14 nonprofits to address the epidemic of loneliness and social isolation by creating meaningful ways to connect people with their communities.

The recipients of the Coover Regional Vibrant Communities Grants are Aurora Youth Empowerment Project, Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, City of Cassville, Code 1 Wellness, The Community Betterment Foundation Inc., Community Senior Citizens Inc., Elkland Lions Club, Glenwood Elementary, Heart of the Ozarks United Way, Historical Association of Greater Cape Girardeau, It Takes a Village – SEMO, Ozarks Regional YMCA, Sarcoxie R-II School District, and SingerHill Music & Arts Inc.

Elevate Work graduation coming

Elevate Branson invites the public to attend the commencement ceremony for its 50th Elevate Work graduating class May 22 to celebrate the graduates and learn about the Elevate Work program.

Guest speakers will include Ashley Harness, co-owner of Harness Construction, and the past graduates.

The event will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Elevate Branson auditorium, 310 Gretna Road.

KHS Golden Girls host SOMO dance clinic

Special Olympics Missouri and the Kickapoo High School Golden Girls will host a dance clinic for SOMO members 3:30-5:30 p.m. May 19 at the school.

Thirty slots are available for the free clinic. Water and snacks will be provided.

Participants must be at least 8 years old, registered with SOMO and have a valid SOMO physical on file.

For more information or to register, contact Jesse Williams at jwilliams@somo.org or 417-306-9963.

CPO welcomes Shuck to team

Melody Shuck has joined the leadership team at Community Partnership of the Ozarks at vice president of communications.

Shuck, with almost 20 years of experience as a communications professional, comes to CPO after serving as the City of Branson’s Communications Manager. Before the City of Branson, Shuck had a career as a broadcast journalist, most recently working for KSPR and KY3 News in Springfield.

Applications open for Ball grants

The Stanley & Elaine Ball Foundation, managed by Central Trust Company, opened its 2024 grant season to local non-profit agencies on May 1.

Grants will be awarded exclusively for charitable uses and purposes, and will align with the Ball Foundation’s primary focus of enhancing educational opportunities and/or providing support for disadvantaged children. Grant applicants’ programs and services should be located in or serve Greene, Christian, Stone, and Taney Counties.

In November 2023, the Ball Foundation awarded $222,000 to 25 area non-profits. That brought the total community investment by the Stanley and Elaine Ball Foundation to $3.4 million since its formation in 2015.

The deadline to apply for the 2022 grant cycle is 5 p.m. July 31. Award recipients will be notified by early November.

Grant application and guidelines may be found at centraltrust.net/ballfoundation.

Travelogue features Honor Flight

The monthly travelogue series at Schweitzer Brentwood Library May 16 will showcase Honor Flight of the Ozarks.

Starting at 2 p.m., the one-hour slide show, presented by Honor Flight board members Ned Reynolds and Gary Ellison, will feature photos taken during the 2023 Honor Flights.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions, and applications for veterans, guardians and volunteers for future flights will be available at the presentation.

Honor Flight of the Ozarks will take three trips to Washington, D.C., this year, with the first flight on May 29. Any veteran who lives in Southeast Missouri or Northeast Arkansas who received an honorable discharge from the military is eligible to go on an Honor Flight at no cost. The veterans must have served during World War II, Korea, the Vietnam era or the Gulf War. They do not have to serve overseas.

Kiwanis breaks ground for inclusive playground

The Kiwanis Club of Springfield South broke ground May 3 for an inclusive playground in Miller Park at Fellows Lake.

The Kiwanis Club, City Utilities, community partners and donors have worked with Cunningham Recreation, to design and build an inclusive playground in accordance with Play Core’s 7 Principles of Inclusive Playground Design.

A July opening is tentatively being planned.

KSMU marks 50th anniversary

KSMU Ozarks Public Radio announced its golden jubilee celebration as it marks 50 years of broadcasting.

To commemorate its 50th anniversary, KSMU will host a series of special events and programming, including exclusive interviews, retrospectives and community outreach initiatives.

Follow the station on Facebook, Instagram and at ksmu.org for updates on anniversary events and programming.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: People Are Awesome: Ozarks area troopers recognized, KSMU turns 50