Community Profile: John Overstreet

Editor’s Note:

In our completely biased opinion, John Overstreet is a gem. We are grateful he shares his wonderful photos with us, and we have seen first hand his impact on the student athletes he photographs. We are pleased to feature Mr. Overstreet in this week’s Community Profile.

We welcome your nominations for our Community Profile section at news@grainvalleynews.com.

How long have you lived in Grain Valley?

We moved from Lincoln, Illinois to Blue Springs in April of 1994. We purchased land north of Grain Valley that summer and started building our house in late 1995. We moved into the house in May of 1996 and have been here since.

What do you enjoy most about living in our community?

Strangely enough, we moved to the Grain Valley because at the time it was one of the smallest communities in the area. I was raised in a small town, and my wife on a farm. We both attended schools with graduating classes (well under 100) where you knew everyone in the building for most of your life. Today, we laugh at our concern back then that we couldn’t fathom living in a “city” as big as Blue Springs, or having our children attend such a large school, so Grain Valley seemed a good alternative. Little did we know what lay in store.

While it has grown some threefold since then, Grain Valley still seems to have a small community atmosphere to us, perhaps because we’ve been here to see so much of that growth. It’s been exciting to see the changes, from getting our own Sonic (yes, that was a BIG deal back then), to watching the community build and fill additions at the High School (which was brand new when we moved here) and Matthews, to adding two new elementary schools and two new middle schools. With the addition of another high school on the horizon, Grain Valley is headed to a population of over 5,000 students.

From a City Hall that shook as trains went by, to the current facilities on Main Street, and now, with plans to build a new complex that includes an aquatic center on the Sni-a-Bar Farms property on the south end of Buckner Tarsney, Grain Valley continues to grow, bringing new residents, new businesses, and new opportunities to our community. I think what I enjoy most about living in the Grain Valley area is that the growth of the last 20 plus years has supplied my wife and I with countless new friendships, while providing my children with a place they can call home, and a community they feel connected to.

Why are you passionate about photographing high school athletics/ activities?

Great question, and I wish I had a great answer. I’m not really sure why I do it. I kind of just stumbled into it and have been hooked since. I believe we all should find a way to give something back to our community, and if I’m lucky enough to have something I enjoy doing, like sharing a few pictures of the kids in our community to count for that, then who am I to argue?

I started snapping pictures at school events way back when my son Joshua was still playing football, mostly just to capture memories for our family, and the families of his teammates. Digital photography was just starting to become affordable for everyone, so we purchased equipment to capture both still shots and video. At the end of the season, we shared a slideshow of highlights with the team at their banquet, and before I knew it, I had promised the returning players that I would do the same next season. With few exceptions, I have continued that practice for the football program at GVHS since, along with a few other activities here and there, particularly those my daughter Lauren participated in. They seem to be a hit, and I enjoy watching the kids react to their pictures on a big screen.

During that second season, Mike Tarrants, who was the activities director at the time, asked if I would be willing to share my photos with him (to use at school), to which I happily agreed. I was also approached by a local newspaper that year, The Pointe, about providing photo coverage to them, and again I agreed to do so. They paid a few bucks for my photos, which helped to fund some upgrades to my equipment. Combined with items that are gifts from my wife, I now have a pretty good assortment of equipment that meets most of my needs (Coincidentally, I just sent my camera in for inspection and repair. According to Canon, I have taken over 350,000 pictures since I purchased it, and without question most of those were of kids at Grain Valley). I still rent large lenses for special occasions like homecoming, but for the most part, I have enough equipment to get the shots I want.

Over the years, I’ve chased Grain Valley softball from Trenton to Springfield, boys soccer from Smithville to St. Louis, spent a weekend in the Jones Dome getting pictures of the band, and have attended games for nearly every other sporting activity offered at Grain Valley. I prefer “catching the moment” of live shots over “staged” photos like group pictures and portraits. I’ve caught kids at some of the happiest moments in their lives, like cutting down the nets from a basketball Conference championship, to winning the game over a rival school, to those filled with tears and sorrow, realizing when they walk off the field that night, it’s for the last time in their life. Although we may not think so as adults, those can be monumental moments in a young person’s life, and I take great pleasure in capturing them, both the happy and the sad, for kids to look back at in life.

While I didn’t give it much thought when I started, I have come to realize how much those moments mean to parents as well. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have taken the time to share how much they appreciate my photos. I don’t consider myself to be a good photographer, I miss as many shots as I get, but I find great satisfaction in capturing photos that share their personalities and the little quirks that embarrass them today, knowing those moments will help to bring back fond memories as the kids turn to adults, and as moms and dads grow old and miss those special times. So perhaps I do it as a service to our community, or maybe simply because I enjoy creating memories for others. I don’t know, and don’t really care. As long as the kids enjoy it, I would like to continue.

What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?

I have a lot of hobbies, many of which I don’t get to spend time doing right now, but none that I would consider a favorite. I seem to recall enjoying hunting and fishing with Joshua, although I can’t remember the last time we went. We have a ski boat that my children fear is dry rotting in storage, but I don’t think it is, fiberglass doesn’t dry rot. I have a shop full of woodworking tools that catch my eye from time to time, and our dining room is affectionately referred to as the music room because of the number of musical instruments displayed there (including the three guitars I plunk on).

I enjoy following the GV Eagles, Mizzou sports, the Chiefs, and am a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. I have been involved in scouting, our high school football boosters, and more recently, what’s referred to as our high school super booster club, the Grain Valley Eagles Booster Club. Do me a favor and check them (GVEBC) out at gvebc.com. If you’re looking for a place to get involved that benefits the kids in the Grain Valley School District, they will put you work (shameless plug, I know).

As most parents can attest, during your children’s active years, you put your hobbies on the back burner for a while, so they can enjoy being a kid, and you can have the memories to look back on in your golden years. With Lauren now attending college, I am slowly reintroducing myself to many of those off time activities, and obviously still consider photography a hobby as well.

Tell us about your family.

I married my high school sweetheart 38 years ago. We started our life together in Farber, which is near Mexico, Missouri. I worked as a meat cutter in local grocery stores and processing plants, along with working part-time for the City of Farber as a water and wastewater plant operator, and briefly at the Fire Brick Plant in Farber. My bride worked in a garment factory in Vandalia sewing women’s clothing, an industry long since gone in our country. In 1997, we moved just outside of Jefferson City, where I went to work for the water company, and she at a local hospital. Our son Joshua was born there in 1990, and the water company transferred us to Lincoln, Illinois in 1992.

My mother passed away in 1993 and we decided to look for employment back in Missouri to be closer to my dad, who had been seriously injured in a fall at work. Tri-County Water Authority was looking to hire a General Manager at the time, and I was fortunate enough to be offered the job. We packed up and headed to Blue Springs in 1994.

We moved into our new home in May 1996 and Joshua started school in Grain Valley that fall. He played football and ran track in school. He was also very involved in outdoor activities like hunting and fishing, hobbies he continues to enjoy today. He graduated from Grain Valley High School in May of 2009, and began attending the University of Missouri, Columbia for the fall semester. He worked for the Tiger Football Program for a while as a student assistant while attending classes. He graduated with a degree in biology in 2014 and currently works as a Plant Operator for Tri-County Water Authority.

My wife Beth currently works for the City of Blue Springs as the supervisor in the Utility Billing Department where she has been employed for over 20 years. She enjoys watching Eagles sports, working in the yard and garden, sitting by the pool in summer, boating, and of course keeping track of me.

Our daughter Lauren is the only member of the family who is not a transplant to this area. Born and raised here, she graduated from Grain Valley High School in May of 2018. She played basketball and tennis throughout her years at Grain Valley High School. She also attended the CTC at Fort Osage High School her senior year in the Health Sciences Program, which helped prep her to pursue a degree in nursing at UCM in Warrensburg.

John Overstreet with his wife Beth, his daughter Lauren, and son Joshua.

Photo courtesy of John Overstreet.