Today's Feature

Maple Leaf Pageant Applications.

News release

The 40th Annual Maple Leaf Little Miss & Mister, Junior Miss and Maple Leaf Queen Pageants, sponsored by Hometown Bank, will all be held on Saturday, October 14th at the Carthage High School Auditorium, 714 South Main. Applications for pageant contestants are currently being accepted.

Applications for the Little Miss & Mister and Junior Miss Pageants will be accepted until Friday, October 6. All participants will be evaluated on their stage presence and overall appearance, while Junior Miss contestants will also participate in an interview session with judges prior to the pageant.

Maple Leaf Queen applications will be accepted until Wednesday, September 27. The pageant is a scholarship program with a $1,000 first-place prize. The pageant’s contestants will each be evaluated on their talent selection, individual stage presence, and overall appearance. They will also each participate in an interview session with judges prior to the pageant.

All pageant applications are available at all Carthage Hometown Bank Location, the Chamber office or downloadable from the Chamber’s website, www.carthagechamber.com. Junior Miss applications can also be picked-up at the Carthage Junior High, while junior Miss and Maple Leaf Queen applications are available at the Carthage Senior High School.

For more information contact the Chamber office at 358-2373.

Stench Report:

Thursday,
9/21/06

No Stench Detected on Carthage Square

What I want to see is a gizmo that attaches to the vacuum cleaner to clean bugs outa those chandeliers. You know the ones, they look like big bowls suspended down from chains. They always have a handful a dead bugs in the bottom of ‘em and are usually hangin’ from a twenty foot ceilin’.

I’ve often wondered what bugs did at night before street lights were invented. Maybe lightin’ bugs were the big attraction back then, givin’ a brief glimpse of the future social activity of bug kind. Then, ever’one knows bugs are for the birds.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

I am concerned for the future and the quality of herbal products which are now bombarding the shelves of any retail outlet from lumber stores to gas stations and even to a laundromat. Why? We all know the answer and that is $$$. Believe me, this industry was nothing like it is now. When I started out over 20 years ago, we were oddballs. Persistent and stubborn with our message as the Missouri mule! Quality was an issue then as now, but as we struggled along we knew that it was only those who believed in the usage of herbs and food supplements who were willing to bite the financial bullet and continue along the path, educating as we went along. NOW, I am bombarded daily with companies who have the newest and the best with no history and lots of attitude.

In 1994 when we were working hard to help with the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act which would allow us to keep access to herbs and supplements without prescriptions, we did not see this coming. The influx of inferior products and mass marketed products with some misinformation or lots of hype has diluted the integrity of the message.

Let me make it clear. I am in favor of people making a good living. I am in favor of quality herbal products and an informed public and ones right to choose, but I have never been as close to a situation where I see potential for a huge fall of a way of life. I compare it to the buy-out of small farmers by huge corporate farmers who have presented us with some major health challenges through the desire to produce bigger, better for less, and eliminate US from the picture except as consumers.

Maybe it is just my personality type, but I certainly like to know who I deal with and that we have common goals (if possible). I know that is what drives me to live in a small town with an environment of individual expressions. I am for personal involvement based on knowledge. I do know when making our choices we must stay awake, not letting mass media be the driving force in our decision making processes.

artCentral
Art Notes from Hyde House
by Sally Armstrong, Director of artCentral

We prepare to end the wonderful sculpture show of Larry Oliver at the Hyde House gallery, the last day being Saturday the 23rd. Because we also have a ladies event here that day, I might suggest to those who desire to visit us before the sow is over, come either Friday or later in the day Saturday when the ladies are gone.

Technically, when we rent the Hyde House for an event the gallery remains open to the public if a show is displayed, but may folks turn back if they pull up and see a lot of cars and activity, so don’t be discouraged, and come back later.

I will be spending Sunday packing away Larry’s sculptures and also preparing to move Mike Shelton’s watercolors over to the satellite gallery for showing there next week. We thank Cheryl Church for the long show of her drawings at the satellite gallery currently in the Atrium at Sirloin Stockade. The display has gotten a lot of good comments and we now look forward to showing Mike Shelton’s work there. If you missed seeing Mike’s things here, please don’t neglect having a meal at sirloin and seeing this show.

My good news is that I now have an official "art student intern" here at the gallery.

She is Missouri Southern student Alyson Deboutez, a 23 year old studio art major from Nevada. Alyson has interviewed with me and is interested in helping when she can, especially weekends, which will be much appreciated.

She was already on duty last Sunday when I had to be out of town.

Welcome Alyson, and I hope she will be available at our next art opening for everyone to meet.

Much appreciation too, to the art professors over at Southern who alerted Alyson to this opportunity- I thank them for their help.

The gallery will be closed after this weekend as we prepare for the next show on October 6. I will be in the office however during most regular hours. Next week I will devote the column to Betsy Pauly and the work she will bring to our next show.