Joplin Metro Magazine, Great Parenting 101, March 2014 by Joplin Metro Magazine

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volume 4

issue 11

march 2014

12 34

ON THE COVER:

38 Profile: Cowboy churches

6 THE SCENE

10 THE 10-Spot

• Parenting 101

42 Profile: MSHSAA referee

• Parents as Teachers

44 Profile: Marilyn Monroe collection

• Kids eating healthy

46 PARENTING: Tender moments

• Blogging family

50 Health: Acupuncture

• MSSU family friendly

54 LIVING: Quilt making

• Sarah Coyne

58 Music to the Ears: JoMo Jazz

• Happy children

60 Mind your business: Circle E Country Market

30 History: Glossary of History and Architecture

65 THE J List 66 THE Parting Shot

62 Taste: Pizza on the rise

34 Profile: Dr. Simpson retiring The J Team EDITOR Kevin McClintock Phone: 417.627.7279 Fax: 417.623.8598 E-Mail: kmcclintock@joplinglobe.com Magazine Writer Ryan Richardson

Contributing Writers Michael Coonrod Kathleen Schrader Bobbie Pottorff David O’Neill Brad Belk Sarah Coyne

The Joplin Globe Contributing Photographers T. Rob Brown Laurie Sisk B.W. Shepherd Drew Kimble Ryan Richardson Curtis Almeter Cover Photo Drew Kimble Cover design/graphic design Publications Press, Inc.

President and Publisher Mike Beatty Phone: 417.627.7291 Fax: 417.623.8450 E-Mail: mbeatty@joplinglobe.com

Sales Manager Janette Cooper Phone: 417.627.7236 Fax: 417.623.8550 E-Mail: jcooper@joplinglobe.com

EDITOR Carol Stark Phone: 417.627.7278 Fax: 417.623.8598 E-Mail: cstark@joplinglobe.com

Circulation Director Jack Kaminsky Phone: 417.627.7341 Fax: 417.623.8450 E-Mail: jkaminsky@joplinglobe.com

Director of Advertising Brent Powers Phone: 417.627.7233 E-Mail: bpowers@joplinglobe.com

Director of Magazines Julie Damer Phone: 417.627.7323 Fax: 417.623.8450 E-Mail: jdamer@joplinglobe.com

Joplin Metro Magazine is a publication of Newspaper Holdings Inc. and is published monthly. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising matter. The publisher assumes no responsibilty for return of unsolicited materials.

from the editor

arenting is a tough racket. There’s no field manual for parenting. Sure, there are thousands of books out there with helpful hints, but mostly, good parenting comes from instincts and common sense. When I married my wife, Katy, 10 years ago, she was the mother of two beautiful little girls. Both were very young — you know, the “binky and sippy cup” kind of young. So, not only did I have to learn how to be a great husband to Katy, I also had to learn how to be a great stepfather to the girls. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes with both, but who hasn’t? Concerning the girls, I’ll share a single “incident.”

See, I’m a video game nut. I’m a child of the 80s, after all, having grown up spending untold hours inside the dank confines of Aladdin’s Castle, so I’ll probably die with a video game joystick in my hands. I wanted to pass on my love for gaming to the girls. We started out with a Barbie horse-riding game on the X-Box, but the girls quickly grew tired of that. It wasn’t a very good game. So I decided to introduce them to a game called “Sims.” The concept seemed G-rated enough:

you control people called “Sims,” as they go about their every day life. I chose it because the girls loved creating characters, and the game also said players could deck out their homes with furniture and accessories – something I thought the girls would love. So, fast forward a week or so, and the three of us are hunkered down in front of the X-box. Susannah is playing her Sim, a young woman, who is fixing dinner on the stove. And though I had helped guide them along in the game, I forgot to have them buy one crucial household appliance. A fire alarm. Well, things happened rather quickly. A fire brewed up on the stove. Susannah’s Sim began to run around, screaming. The fire spread to the walls. With dawning horror, I watched the flames consume Susannah’s character. Soon, the body had turned into a pile of ash and, moments later, the Grim Reaper arrived to send her soul to Heaven. Gulping, I turned to peek at the girls, praying what had happened on the screen hadn’t scarred them for life. My prayers went unanswered. Both of the girls’ faces had crumpled into masks of terror and sadness, and both were bawling at the top of their lungs. Good one, Kev. So yeah, parenting is tough. Probably the toughest job in the world, which is why this month’s J MAG tackles the rather broad subject of “parenting” with six stories and a column by respected writer Sarah Coyne. Bobbie Pottorff’s story about a family who blogs their lives is especially fascinating. Also a part of this month’s cover package is a picture page by T. Rob Brown

showing cute interactions between parents and their children taken recently at the Joplin Public Library. You’ll also read about upcoming movies and plays for 2014 in the 10-Spot, a profile on a Carthage man’s extensive Marilyn Monroe collection, a story about the retirement of respected Missouri Southern State University professor Dr. Dale Simpson as well as a story about the comforts of a hand-made quilt. I’m also proud to announce the launch of a new historical-based series written by Joplin Museum Complex Director Brad Belk, titled the “Glossary of History and Architecture.” Each column will center around a letter of the alphabet. I think you’ll enjoy it. I also want to thank David and little Uriah, who graces our front cover, snapped by the talented Drew Kimble. Gotta love that look of pure joy on the little guy’s face. As always, you can reach us here at kmcclintock@joplinglobe.com, by mail at J MAG, 117 E. Fourth St., Joplin, Mo., 64801, call us at 417.627.7279 or find us on Facebook.

Kevin McClintock Editor, J MAG 5

the scene

M cAu l e y ba s k e t ba l l Photography by LAURIE SISK

Senior Megan Price shows determination as she drives for a basket during a recent McAuley Lady Warriors varsity match-up against the visiting Wheaton Bulldogs.

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Katie Carr, junior, gets hands-on during a fight for the ball on a rebound.

Senior center Kathryn Wiseman and freshman Emily Freitas try to rip the ball from a Wheaton defenderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands.

Kansas City

Joplin

Proud to serve both. How far would you travel to make sure your child gets the best care? Luckily, Children’s Kansas City is right around the corner, so the only road you’ll be hitting is the road to recovery. Located right here in Joplin, with the full support of 600 pediatric specialists, we’re bringing world-class care closer to home.

So the next time you consider a pediatric specialist, consider the pediatric specialists of Children’s Kansas City. Freeman Health System Campus 3333 McIntosh Circle Dr., Suite 6 ChildrensKansasCity.org

Children’s Kansas City JOPLIN • FREEMAN HEALTH SYSTEM

the scene Hypnotist

Photography by T. Rob Brown

Freshman Jocqui Davis, a Missouri Southern State University international business major, searches for his chosen card, the Queen of Clubs, from the shuffled deck as professional hypnotist Michael C. Anthony flips a card out of the deck during a recent performance.

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Michael C. Anthony holds his hand up as a focus point as he hypnotizes a group of MSSU students inside MSSU’s Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall.

The same group of students, now hypnotized, use their own shoes as “gas masks.” The event was sponsored by CAB, the Campus Activities Board.

the scene

Aaron Lewis Photography by Ryan Richardson

Country music singer Aaron Lewis played to a recent sold-out crowd at the Downstream Casino Pavilion. For the nearly two-hour set, Lewis pulled out tracks from his latest album “The Road,” deep cuts from his band’s catalog and a few unexpected covers including The Eagles tune, “Desperado.”

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Steel guitarist Ben Kitterman has supported Lewis on this tour, and several past tours, as a dobro and pedal steel guitarist.

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While Lewis’ country act marks a departure from his hard rock roots from his band Staind, his crossover work has made him an upcoming artist in the country music scene.

10-SPOT

THEATER PRODUCTIONS By Kevin McClintock

Upcoming Theater Productions 1

A Tale of Two Cities • Location: Irving Elementary School, 2901 S. McClelland Blvd. • Theater: Stained Glass Theatre of Joplin • Opening: Feb. 27 • Closing: March 9 • Times: Thursday-Saturday at 7 p.m.; Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. • Director: Jeremy Wolfe • Synopsis: While rehearsals and auditions are now taking place at the new Stained Glass Theatre at 21st Street and Annie Baxter, the building is not yet performance ready. The play is a tale of ultimate sacrifice.

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Murder at the Howard Johnson’s • Location: Joplin Little Theatre, 3008 W. 1st St. • Opening: March 26 • Closing: March 30 • Times: Wednesday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. • Director: Jade Leggott • Synopsis: A contemporary, suspense comedy about a love triangle involving a woman, her lover and her husband, all taking place in a room at a Howard Johnson’s Motor Inn. In the first scene, the wife and her lover plot to murder the husband. In the second scene, the wife and her husband plot to murder the lover. The third scene has the husband and the lover plotting to murder the wife. How will this end?

Redeeming Love • Location: Irving Elementary School, 2901 S. McClelland Blvd. • Theater: Stained Glass Theatre of Joplin • Opening: April 3 • Closing: April 13 • Times: Thursday-Saturday at 7 p.m.; Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. • Synopsis: The setting is California’s gold country in 1850, a time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep. Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. Then she meets Michael Hosea, a man who seeks his father’s heart in everything. Michael obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s bitter expectations, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw. A powerful retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea.

The Andrews Brothers • Location: Joplin Little Theatre, 3008 W. 1st St. • Opening: May 28 • Closing: June 1 • Times: Wednesday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. • Director: Carolyn McGowan • Synopsis: Mistaken identities, madcap humor and some of the greatest songs of the 1940s fill this hilarious musical comedy. It’s 1945 in the South Pacific and the famous Andrews Sisters are scheduled to headline the big USO show. When they are unable to appear, three soldiers find themselves giving the show of a lifetime. Complete with slapstick comedy, old-fashioned romance and nostalgic music.

Horszowski Trio • Location: Corley Auditorium, Webster Hall, MSSU campus • Theater: Pro Musica • Performance Date: March 27 • Time: 7 p.m. • Synopsis: Hailed by The New Yorker as “destined for great things” when they played together for the first time, Jesse Mills (violin), Raman Ramakrishnan (cello) and Reiko Aizawa (piano) immediately felt the spark of a unique connection. In 2011, they formed the Horszowski Trio. All have appeared in Joplin in the past in different ensembles (Daedalus, Duo Prism, Ariel Trio). Based in New York City, the members of the Trio teach at Columbia University and the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

The Bear Prince • Location: Taylor Performing Arts Center, MSSU campus • Opening: April 26 • Closing: April 27 • Time: 2:30 p.m. • Director: Dan Williams • Synopsis: The Bear Prince, an original play based on the Mexican folk tale “El Principe Oso” is the story of a young girl named Rosa who marries a bear to save her poor father. The bear makes her promise not to reveal his secret, and warns that doing so could bring dire consequences. But, this proves to be too much for Rosa, who reveals the bear’s secret to her sisters. She must embark on a journey to the homes of the Sun, the Moon and the Wind in order to right the wrong she has caused. In turn, they aid her in battling the treacherous Witch to free the bear from his twisted fate.

2014 Hollywood Theater movies Hollywood 14, 201 Northpark Lane • Captain America: The Winter Soldier • Divergent • The Amazing Spider-Man 2 • Planes: Fire & Rescue • Noah • Gone Girl • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 • Godzilla • The Expendables 3 • Son of God • Interstellar • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • The Hobbit: There and Back Again

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The Drowsy Chaperone • Location: Taylor Performing Arts Center, MSSU campus • Opening: March 5 • Closing: March 8 • Time: 7:30 p.m. • Director: Ann G. Lile • Synopsis: A rare combination of unprecedented originality and blinding talent, The Drowsy Chaperone boldly addresses a great unspoken desire in all of our hearts: to be entertained. It all begins when a die-hard musical-theater fan plays his favorite cast album on his turntable, and the musical literally bursts to life in his living room, telling the rambunctious tale of a brazen Broadway starlet trying to find, and keep, her true love.

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My Three Angels • Location: Stone’s Throw Dinner Theatre, S. Stone Lane, Carthage • Opening: May 9-11 • Closing: June 16-18 • Times: Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. • Director: Karl and Shannon Wendt • Synopsis: Set in French Guiana, a region where on Christmas Eve the temperature has graciously dropped to 104 degrees, three amiable convicts are employed as roofers above the Ducotel’s general store. The roof winds up being the least of the family’s troubles: two evil family members show up at the store. The three warm-hearted convicts are passionate believers in true justice and decide it’s their job to take the visitors on as they plot to set matters right. A captivating and comedic treasure.

Greater Tuna • Location: Stone’s Throw Dinner Theatre, S. Stone Lane, Carthage • Opening: March 21-23 • Closing: March 28-30 • Times: Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. • Director: Kendra Goepfert • Synopsis: What do Arles Struvie, Thurston Wheelis, Aunt Pearl, Petey Fisk, Phineas Blye and Rev. Spikes have in common? In this hilarious send-up of small town morals and mores, they are all among the upstanding citizens of Tuna, Texas’ third smallest town.

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On the Cover pa r e n t i n g 101 By Bobbie Pottorff

Parenting 101

If only there was a “catch-all” handbook for parents

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t is a true statement that most people want to be good parents. This is evident with the large number of selfhelp books and web sites devoted to the subject of raising children. Truly, the Internet can provide an answer to any question a young parent may want to know about parenting; from dedicated Web sites via trusty Google to whipping out the smart phone and asking Siri for help. Or, if you really want to go old school, you can pick up the phone and call mom or grandma. While local parenting classes are a bit

limited, most new moms and dads will tell you that the best resource is still, most likely, someone you already know who has years of experience.

calmed some fears early on, and my mom passed on many tips that she was given by my aunt when she had my oldest sister, Emily. She is a wealth of knowledge.”

Sarah Corcoran, a former Joplin school teacher, is a stay-at-home mom with three daughters and a fourth child, a boy, on the way. She says some of the best advice she’s received is from Aunt Bethie.

She’s also received some great parenting advice from her church friends, and the church itself. Their church, A Church Called Mystery, has a popular program called “Meals for New Moms.” After giving birth to her twins, food was the last thing on her mind.

“She has watched children in her home since before I was born. You can call her the baby whisperer,” Corcoran says of her aunt. “I’ve never met anyone who knows babies better than her. A quick call to her

“When you come home you can’t even think about food,” Corcoran recalls. “Usually they do it for a month, and I

“They are taught by registered nurses in both Joplin and Carthage,” says Clark Clayton, director of extensive services for LifeChoices. “A lot of the increase

Focusing on the male partner gives them the opportunity to participate in the process, she says. It equips them to be empowered and gives them a sense of stability, which in turn takes the tension out of what could be a stressful time, making for a much healthier relationship. LifeChoices also offers advanced parenting classes throughout the year. The Basic Parenting 201 classes teaches all types of parenting skills, from communication to discipline. “We also take referrals from the Division of Family Services to help families in

crisis,” says Clayton. The hospitals are also required to show videos to the new parents before discharge. Their goal is to prevent parents from getting into situations that lead to frustration and abuse of a child. One of the videos is about eight minutes and it discusses how babies do push people to their limits sometimes, but it offers some good alternatives to help new parents relieve that stress. Corcoran says it’s important to remember one very important thing. “Each child is different and you have to do what works.

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LifeChoices Medical Clinic officials say their Basic Parenting 101 classes are booming. The basic classes are always the same topic for new or soon-to-be parents.

“We are treating men just like we treat their partner. We have a men’s advocate that gives the male perspective on the situation. We help them make really healthy decisions for themselves, their relationship and for that of the baby.”

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“We are seeing an interest in breastfeeding and birthing plans with parents who tend to really want to research and study labor and delivery,” says Kathleen Cowley. She serves as the nurse manager of labor and delivery at Mercy Hospital. “They are very diligent about giving their baby everything possible to keep them healthy.”

At one time, services usually centered around the woman and her needs. Today, they are dedicating services to the other half of the parenting equation: the husband.

Aside from churches and their various programs, the two Joplin hospitals offer prenatal classes and other resources for expectant couples.

has to do with our new men’s initiative, Project Blueprint.”

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think they did it for us for two months and when the third month rolled around I was like… ‘oh, where’s the food?’ They were great with helping us out from the first day. They would come over and help with bathing and getting the girls to bed and with family far away they were always here.”

On the Cover

PA R E N T S A S T E AC H E R S BY KATHLEEN SCHRADER

Parents as Teachers, Teachers as Parents Guiding kids through childhood

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hildren will have many different teachers throughout life, but their most important teachers are the parents who raise them. That is the foundational belief of the Parents as Teachers program, and the one idea that all of its services encompass. PAT is a free and voluntary program that follows children from the pre-natal period until they enter kindergarten. The program is found in all 50 states as well as six other countries. The concept for the program began in the 1970s after Missouri educators observed that children entering kindergarten displayed different degrees of readiness.

Based on that information, educators decided to form a parent and child support program with a three-pronged approach: to help detect developmental or health issues in early childhood, to prepare a child for school, and to provide parental education and support to families of all socioeconomic levels. The PAT pilot program began in Missouri in 1981, and in 1985, Missouriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s state legislature provided funding to make it available in all Missouri school districts. The program adheres to the philosophy

that parental involvement is a critical link to a child’s educational success, and that the early years are crucial to helping them develop optimally. “If you buy a toaster, it comes with an instruction manual, but they send you home with the most important thing you’re ever going to do in your life — and no instructions,” says Jane Goade, PAT coordinator for the Carthage R-9 School District. “What we’re doing is just helping the parents become involved and help them be their child’s first and best teacher.”

“Huge (numbers) of learning delays can be ision-related. We catch lots of that. A lot

While children have always been at the heart of the program, PAT broadened its focus in 2011 to include the whole family,

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“Not only do they have the curriculum with developmental information but they have information all parents are interested in, like potty training and bed times,” says Cathy Hall, early childhood coordinator for Webb City R-7 Schools. “They’re just there by their sides to answer any questions they may have and to offer support.”

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PAT coordinators say that if a problem is detected in a child’s development or health, early intervention is the key. And, of those problems PAT does detect, many are easily remedied.

Besides developmental screenings and referrals, PAT offers home visits from a trained parent educator, who provides hands-on, developmentally appropriate activities for children and helpful information for mom and dad. For instance, many parents are unaware of developmental targets, such as babies being ready to learn colors by 27 months. Other parents worry about troublesome child behaviors such as biting or throwing tantrums. Parent educators who visit

homes give parents the most up-to-date developmental information and provide a semblance of reassurance, something most any new parent needs.

“Parents As Teachers is a resource and referral network, linking families to hundreds of local services and agencies in the community: pediatricians, Children’s Haven, WIC – whatever they need on an individual basis,” says Goade.

of speech problems are hearing-related due to ear infections that kids have all the time,” says Goade. “The earlier you tackle a problem – no matter what it is – it is so much easier to correct it.”

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One of the most important services PAT offers families is developmental screenings. Children participating in the program receive screenings yearly at three-months of age, continuing until they are three years old. If a developmental delay or health issue is spotted, the program provides parents with referrals to the appropriate agencies or health care providers to help correct the problem. PAT also provides referrals to families for any other services they may need, depending on their situation.

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support, or are you kind of isolated in Joplin for whatever reason because your family just moved here?” says Wheeler. “(Before) we were so focused just on child development, thinking the community or world would take care of everything else, but you can’t do it in a vacuum. I’ve been very excited about the change and focus.”

according to Patty Wheeler, coordinator for the Joplin R-8 School District. That means the parent educator acts more as a partner to the whole family rather than focusing solely on the child. “We’re talking to parents about what their family strengths are. What kind of goals do you have for your child – not just the short term goals, but (we’re) talking about education. Do you see your child graduating from high school? We want every child to graduate from high school and go to college. Do you have good family

Jamie Crandell, Joplin, has been involved in PAT since her four-year-old daughter, Ava, was two months old. Ava has since aged out of the program, but Crandell has two other children enrolled: two-year-old Jailey, and Axten, who is six months old. Wheeler is Crandell’s parent educator, and Crandell says both she and her children enjoy her twice-a-month visits. Wheeler meets with them to offer information, make sure the children are meeting developmental targets, and just to play and socialize with them. “My kids look forward to her coming,” says Crandell. “They’re really attached to her.” Another benefit of the PAT program is the social events offered. Known as “Parent-Child Connections,” these events vary by school district, but they generally provide parenting seminars and some fun socialization activities for both children and parents.

Parents may enroll their child in the PAT program anytime, but coordinators say the earlier, the better. “Our goal is to enroll kids when a mom finds out she is pregnant, and follow them through to kindergarten,” says Goade. For more information about Parents As Teachers or to enroll your child in the program, contact your local school district.

• We make preplanning in advance easy and convenient.

It’s Something To Do For Your Family

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Overall, Crandell says the social events are a great way to connect with other families and allow her children to meet other children.

• Advance planning also gives you peace of mind and saves your family from the pressure of making emotional decisions at a difficult time. If you have ever had to arrange a funeral under emotional stress, then you understand how helpful preplanning can be.

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“You get involved and you become kind of like a family,” she says. “We go to the Flip Shop and have Christmas parties and Valentine’s parties.”

• Making some simple decisions in advance ensures all of the details of a funeral will be carried out exactly as intended. Family members won’t be left wondering or making guesses as to what was wanted.

Crandell says she and her children attend group PAT meetings twice a month, and she even brings along her older children who are not enrolled in PAT.

“A Well Planned service warms the soul and illuminates the memory.”

The area’s most preferred cremation provider

3701 East 7th Street, Joplin, MO 417.781.1711 www.masonwoodard.com

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“If (a child) is not old enough for preschool, they may not go to any other groups, so this is a good time for them to socialize with kids their ages,” says Wheeler.

On the Cover

K I D S E AT I N G H E A LT H Y BY KATHLEEN SCHRADER

or parents, trying to get kids the right nutrition can sometimes feel like a battle. Slick marketing appeals are enticing children to eat tasty but nutritionally empty meals, candy and soda machines that make themselves only too convenient for a quick sugar pick-meup, and busy family schedules that make home-cooked, sit down meals a challenge all work against parents who have the best of intentions. But before parents give up, they should know that there are effective and relatively simple strategies available to help them get their kids the nutrition they need, and it’s all doable with just a little planning, a few tips, and a new nutrition guide to follow. FRUITS AND VEGGIES As children pass from childhood into

n o i t i r ut t u o h t wi going

adulthood, their nutritional needs change to support the growth of their bodies. No matter what a child or teen’s age, however, one of the biggest struggles for parents is getting kids to eat enough fruits and vegetables. According to Helpguide.org International, a non-profit information resource group for parents, there are numerous ways to do this with kids of all ages. When it comes to young children who love games, fun is often the key to persuading them to eat their fruits and vegetables. For example, topping a bowl of whole grain cereal with a smiley face made of fruit (bananas for eyes, a raisin for a nose, and an apple slice for a mouth) will often entice picky eaters to partake of nutritious fare. Other strategies include making frozen kabobs out of fruits such as frozen pineapple chunks, bananas, grapes and berries, or even creating a veggie food collage. Broccoli florets can serve as trees, small

pieces of celery and carrots can be flowers, cauliflower can stand in for clouds, and yellow squash can serve as the sun. After the masterpiece is created, it can then be consumed. “Adding healthy ingredients to common foods at home is also helpful,” says Amalee Cummings, clinical dietician for Freeman Health System. “Add fruit to oatmeal at breakfast or chopped veggies to pasta sauce.” Others examples of this strategy are adding blueberries to pancakes, zucchini to bread, or carrots to muffins. By shredding or dicing vegetables into tiny portions, they can also be blended into favorite soups and stews. For older children and teens who are often eating on the run, though, convenience is the key to making sure they get adequate fruits and vegetables. Taking time to stock the refrigerator

each day. However, many nutrition experts, as well as parents, found the pyramid overly complicated and hard to follow. In 2011, nutrition education got simpler when the government scrapped the pyramid and replaced it with the MyPlate guide. The MyPlate guide is an icon displaying how the food plate should be divided at meal times.

Drinks are often one of the biggest sugar offenders that tend to get overlooked. “It is difficult to pinpoint one specific “worst food,” but there are definitely foods that should be enjoyed sparingly,” says Cummings. “Sugar-sweetened beverages are an example of a treat with no nutritional value. Drinks like soda,

Parents can also reduce the amount of sugar used in recipes (many taste just fine with less), and Cummings says they can cut down on pre-packaged pasty products, such as snack cakes or pies. “These products are full of fat and sugar to maintain shelf life and offer little to no vitamins, minerals, or whole grains,” she says. According to Healthguide.org International, the desire for ice-cream, a universal treat that almost everyone loves, can often be satisfied in kids with something as simple as low-fat frozen yogurt, sorbet, or fresh fruit smoothies. Parents can also create other healthy frozen treats, such as popsicles made from 100-percent fruit juice in an ice-cube tray. EATING FROM THE MYPLATE PLAN For approximately 20 years, nutrition education in America largely revolved around the food guide pyramid that the government used to promote a healthy diet. The pyramid displayed the different food groups and number of servings a person should consume

“Eggs are a great lean protein source to begin the morning or to add to meals, such as stir-fry,” says Cummings. “Another great source of lean protein are legumes, such as black beans, pinto beans, red beans, and black-eyed peas. Legumes are a great option because not only are they packed with lean protein, they are also high in fiber.” Cumming says that because it eliminated the number of servings per day, the MyPlate nutrition guide has generally been easier to follow. “The MyPlate campaign is very helpful for parents who need assistance planning a healthy meal for their child. MyPlate is a simple, visual reminder of what kinds of foods need to be filling up the plate,” she says.

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Experts say parents also need to be savvy about sugar in both the obvious sources — cakes and cookies, for example — and the less obvious sources, such as canned soups, frozen dinners, or ketchup.

Kool-Aid, Sunny-D, and Hi-C should be enjoyed rarely. A way to promote fluid intake in children and decrease sugar intake is fill their cups with water and just add a splash of fruit juice to increase palatability.”

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SUGARS, SALTS AND FATS In addition to getting kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, another battle parents fight is the sugar-fat-salt battle. When dealing with this challenge, experts say the best bet is to limit junk food as much as possible, but not to entirely ban all treats because such tactics usually backfire. Instead, they advise parents to allow the occasional treat while replacing them with similar but healthier options the rest of the time. For the kid who loves French fries, for example, peeling and cutting a potato into thin slices, baking it in the oven, and salting it lightly is a much healthier option than the fast-food version. The child who craves salty potato chips often does just as well with pretzels, unbuttered popcorn, baked potato chips or soy crisps.

The main message of MyPlate is that half of the plate should be devoted to fruits and vegetables. Slightly more than a quarter of the plate should be devoted to whole grains (foods like whole wheat breads, whole wheat pastas and brown rice), and slightly less than a quarter of the plate should be devoted to protein in the forms of foods such as lean chicken, beef or fish.

“If children see their parents eating fruits and vegetables, they are more likely to eat them,” says Cummings. “Children can get more excited about eating fruits and vegetables if they get to pick out which ones they want to try at the grocery store.”

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ahead of time with pre-washed apple slices, carrot sticks or stuffed celery, or loading up the freezer with snack bags of frozen grapes or berries is a good way to provide fruits and vegetables in a time crunch. Experts agree, though, that parental modeling is a powerful factor that influences healthy eating.

On the Cover

b l o g g i n g fa m i ly By Bobbie Pottorff

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ay goodbye to the traditional photo album.

Thanks to online tools such as blogs, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, documenting those precious, once-in-alifetime moments of a growing son or daughter is much less time-consuming and so much more user-friendly. “I look back at my parents’ photo albums and I like doing that, but I don’t know what the emotions were or the circumstances,” says Mike Corcoran. “I try to remember, but I really don’t.” Mike and Sarah are young Joplin parents who record a child’s “ah, how cute!” moments in life on their private blog. The blog is a much more immediate way for

loved ones living out-of-state to keep track of the Corcoran children. As for Mike and Sarah, the blog was an easy way to link emotions to a captured circumstance, giving that particular moment life that a frozen picture inside a photo album could never duplicate. And the blog was needed. Within the first four months of their marriage, they discovered they were going to have a baby. MaKenna was their first child.

were having with MaKenna. “The best parenting advice I ever got was before I was even a parent and it was that it all takes a lot of prayer,” Sarah says. “At every single stage.” About a year after MaKenna was born, Mike and Sarah were told they would be having twins.

Through their blog and also Facebook, Sarah was able to post pictures of how she looked when she was pregnant with MaKenna, comparing them with the way she looked at the same stage with the twins. Along with the pictures, Sarah discussed how different the two pregnancies were. It seems she had a premonition of sorts,

As a teacher, Sarah just knew exactly how things were going to be once she became a parent.

On one of Sarah’s blog posts, she discusses parenting advice. In fact, it was advice from another blogger that helped her solve the sleeping problems they

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But in reality, “you do what works. I understand now why parents let their kids sleep with them, because they wouldn’t sleep otherwise and that’s what works for them. Each child is different.”

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“I was one of those people who said my child is never going to do that,” she says sternly, “or, I’m never going to do that with my child. And I would say that parent needs to spank their child.”

or she jinxed herself, in one of her blog posts as she wrote about her hopes of having an easy time with her new twins. She hoped a difficult pregnancy didn’t mean they would have difficult children. Sarah would lament about how the nausea and sleepless nights kept her mind racing, thinking about things like the way the twins might eat compared to MaKenna or if they would be able to sleep through the night. When the twins, Rosie and Susie, came along, life got crazy for the Corcorans. The twins both had infant acid reflux. For the parents out there who know what it’s like to have a baby with colic, multiply that feeling times two and then multiply it again by 20, Sarah says. “If they were awake they were crying,” Mike remembers. “Those first three months were rough.” “I really don’t feel like we got to know our babies,” adds Sarah. “Because they would just cry and then I’d call in to the doctor’s office crying. There was this really sweet nurse who would say, ‘it’s okay mom, we’re going to figure this out.’ It was literally three straight months.

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“And I think I did a blog post…meet Rosie and meet Susie,” she continues. “This one’s the hard one; this one’s the easy one and then once they got on their (medications), it was just like all smiles.”

“We’ve actually thought about those three months and we remember it was a dark time and it was so hard because they cried all the time,” Mike adds. “But we really can’t put ourselves back in the situation now because they’re so good. It’s hard to remember what they were like because now this time outweighs it so much…” “So much so that we thought, “let’s just have another baby,’” Sarah jokes. “‘Let’s just get the crazy over with.’”

Only she’s not joking because they are now expecting their fourth child. This time, it’s a boy. And because they are savvy bloggers, they did a special reveal to their out-of-town friends and families by posting a video. The video was taken during the twin’s first birthday party. It showed the girls digging into their cakes and if the cake was pink, that meant it would be a girl. In this case, the big reveal was a blue cake.

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“The blog and social media are fantastic because we’re able to look back and see, week by week, month by month, how our girls have progressed,” says Mike. “Normally, it’s so hard to remember weeks and days and occasions. With the blog, we get to see how everybody is progressing and just what the little things were each and every single week and it means a lot. It’s been fantastic.”

On the Cover

M S S U Fa m i ly F r i e n d ly By Bobbie Pottorff Photography by Curtis Almeter

Here are scenes from last year’s Easter Egg Hunt, held for the university’s Child Development Center’s children on campus grounds.

Lion & Cub Pride I

t’s one thing for a company to keep its employees busy. It’s another thing entirely to keep them happy and satisfied while they work. Particularly when many of those employees are parents with children.

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Missouri Southern State University, one of the area’s largest employers, falls into the latter category.

“We are at the top echelon of employee-focused businesses in Joplin,” says Debbie Dutch Kelley, MSSU’s director of Human Resources. “We have a generous leave accrual system and give a very generous tuition reduction to employees and some of their immediate family members.”

parent’s mind at ease.” University staff and students taking advantage of such services, says CDC Director Nikki Tappana, enjoy the security of having their children close at hand. “This security allows our parents to focus, worry free, on their careers/education.” The CDC is populated on a first-come, first-serve basis and the cost is not only comparable with other venues, in some cases it’s even cheaper, Tappana says. All clients have the same tuition fee — $33/day for infants/toddlers and $27/day for preschool-aged students. They also accept state assistance from Missouri and Kansas, Military Child Care Assistance and Tribal Child Care Assistance. Students have the option to use their financial aid for their child’s CDC tuition, as well.

Those are just a few of the perks for MSSU employees, and it places them at the top of a very important list of employers in the area, the Family-Friendly Employer list. Actually, while there isn’t an official list by that name, there are a number of attributes that sets MSSU apart from other local employers. One such attribute is the on-site daycare known as the Child Development Center.

“One unique feature of the MSSU-CDC is that each semester parents decide if they need two-, three-, four- or five-days-a-week child care and will pay for those chosen days,” Tappana says. “This allows a university parent a savings when they arrange their school schedule.”

“The services that the CDC offers are phenomenal,” says Sherry Noller, a research associate for the university’s Small Business Development Center. “And I am very appreciative of the benefit of the program on campus. Having this service available puts a

Noller didn’t realize the benefit of the CDC before accepting her position on staff. However, right after she began working for MSSU, she and her husband had a safety concern with their oldest son’s daycare facility.

Here are scenes from last year’s CDC graduation.

“We were able to make arrangements for him to begin going to the CDC at MSSU the very next week.,” Noller says. Now, “If the staff has a question about my child, they just dial my extension.” Other perks found at MSSU include paid days even when the campus is closed, a long, paid Christmas vacation, as well as spring breaks that coincides with the Joplin R-8 School District. “We are a very responsible community partner,” says Dutch Kelley. Yet another benefit for MSSU employees (and students) is the education given to the children who attend the University’s CDC. There’s even a graduation at the end of the year. “Each classroom is staffed with student employees, the majority of which are education majors or psychology majors,” says Tappana. Those students receive invaluable, practical experience, particularly in classroom management, hands-on child development skills. Early childhood majors are able to conduct observations and practicums while nursing students have the freedom to do observations. “By having MSSU students in the classrooms and having an education focus at the CDC, my oldest son went into kindergarten far ahead of many of his classmates,” says Noller. “I feel that my children are giving the students a real world glimpse into the career path they have chosen. Both of my children have or are being observed by students for projects and I am glad the MSSU students are given the opportunity to work with (them) and apply what they are learning in school under supervision by the director and teachers. “I would not take my children anywhere else,” she continues. “This is a phenomenal benefit for us.”

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On the Cover sarah coyne

Sarah Coyne: Loving to write about parenting

t was our third stop of the day, and with three kids in tow, all of our patience was wearing onion-skin thin. Two-thirds of my children trailed behind the shopping cart in an ambivalent ramble. The toddler was occupied with trying to hurl himself from the cart, seatbelt or not. Just as I reached the checkout counter, I looked back to find my two daughters shoving each other and arguing loudly beside an ice cream display. “GIRLS!” I shouted. “Stop being crazy RIGHT NOW!” Any calm efficiency I could ever claim to employ had flown the coop as my voice carried across the small store like a foghorn. I couldn’t take one more minute of errands with bored kids, and I was sure they felt the same way about their barking mother. I was frazzled and harried as I unloaded my purchases onto the conveyor belt. The cashier smiled with benign welcome and tilted her head to one side, considering.

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“You know, I read your newspaper column every week,” she said, “and I always see you in here, but today is the first time I’ve put two and two together. I just love your stories.”

Of course, I thought. At the very moment I’d released some of my most awful parenting behavior – yelling, name-calling, impatience, and a pretty obvious desire to hide from my kids for the rest of the day – I was caught. See, I tend to forget that my placid headshot accompanies my weekly parenting advice column. There’s a certain degree of anonymity that can be claimed when sharing stories and advice each week in a local newspaper. It’s not as if I’m sitting across from my readers in the morning as they drink their coffee and explore the paper. I can hide in my home and

forget all about the fact that as far as my readers know, I’m fully qualified to give parenting advice. But that’s just the thing: I have no idea what I’m doing. Most days, I try my hardest to keep the kids from causing each other bodily harm, and only dare to count my successes when they’re all tucked safely away in bed. I’m no expert, by any means. In fact, I’d say I’m about as capable of giving parenting advice as my kids are of getting through the day without spilling a drink. When I meet strangers in public who suddenly recognize me from the newspaper, it always catches me off guard. I feel sure they’ll demand to see my Official Parenting Card so they can check my credentials, or worse, tell me how faulty my advice actually is. So it never fails to surprise me when I’m offered thanks and encouragement instead. There was a young mother in a big-box store telling me how much she appreciated my honesty. There was a grandmother downtown who said that although her kids were grown, she enjoyed reading my stories each week. There’ve been acquaintances in the halls of the elementary school laughing with me over some shared bit of parenting ridiculousness. And there have even been hand-written notes of thanks and encouragement sent in the mail.

To be sure, my opinions have probably run aground on someone else’s views now and then, but if I trust my readers, I have to believe that my tales of imperfect parenting are making a difference. After all, isn’t it the advice of those we feel a kinship with that we often look to the most? And I’m nothing if not just like you. I’m normal and real, right down to my lost tempers and messy home. I’m so very ordinary in my abilities and my failures that I hope the message comes across loud and clear when I write: we are all in this together. We may have different circumstances, but we all face parallel difficulties and realities when it comes down to the brass tacks of child-raising. If I have any advice to offer, it’s not because I claim a right to share it, but because I think we need to encourage one another in this tricky business of parenthood. So there, in the store, surrounded by my moody children and a kind-hearted reader, I took a deep breath. I smiled in thanks. I made what was probably a lame joke about my inferiority as an advice columnist. I gave and received encouragement. And I went on about my day. Which was probably a lot like yours.

Lifetime Nutrition

1505 W. 10th St. Joplin, MO 1714 S. Range Line Joplin, MO

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420 N. Rangeline Suite 3 Joplin, MO 620-717-1967

On the Cover

Happy Children Photography by T. Rob Brown

Robbie Cornett, 2, of Joplin, uses a pair of binoculars during the Explore & Play event at the Joplin Public Library.

Samuel Dunson, 2, of Joplin, digs through a sandbox to â&#x20AC;&#x153;unearthâ&#x20AC;? various toy animals.

A Day in the o f a Happy

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Aedan Larson, 3, of Joplin, swings drumsticks in the air as he wears a safari hat.

Leah Plank, 1, of Baxter Springs, Kan., daughter of Hannah Plank, plays a drum.

Hadley Gatewood, 2, of Carl Junction, paints leaves on a tree during the Explore & Play event.

Nolan Burns, 4, of Carl Junction, is a study in concentration as he colors during the Explore & Play event at the Joplin Public Library.

Lisa Miller of Duenweg holds her son Noah Miller, 18 months, upside down.

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Marus Sha, 3, of Carl Junction, plays with LEGO bricks with his father, Wei Sha.

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history

THE JOPLIN MUSEUM COMPLEX E x p l o r i n g t h e p a s t s i n c e 19 31 Written By BRAD BELK Photography by KEVIN MCCLINTOCK

GLOSSARY of History & Architecture

phy Spotlight Biograon May 20, 1878.

in as born in Jopl ercer Arnold w l in the early as instrumenta w p, ili Ph , er em and served His fath plin school syst Jo e th of t en one of developm Mercer became s. ol ho sc of nt e ntende Joplin streets. H as county superi newspapers on k w ha s. to s ew oy N sb in the first new rter for the Jopl ining news repo m a in News e pl m Jo ca e be th r late ged to form er m s ew N in pl achelor’s of (In time the Jo d received his B ol rn A us io ud er-st niversity of Herald). The ev ees from the U gr de s w La of helor’s returned Letters and Bac . Louis, Arnold St in fly ie br working Missouri. After to practice law. n ow to his homet as a sergeant War, Arnold w an ic er m A his Volunteer During the Span i United States ur so is M th ur G, Fo lonel serving on with Company to the rank of co ed at ev inued el as w e H Hadley and cont Infantry. rt be er H r no er f of Gov In 1925, he was the military staf enry Caulfield. H r d no er ov G d of curators an his service with of Missouri boar ity rs ve . ni ee U itt e m appointed to th s executive com an of the board’ rm ai ch e th as served the Jasper as president of ed rv se d ol rn in ader, A ident of the Jopl A noted civic le a two-term pres n, is tio an ia iw oc K ss in A e Jopl County Bar president of th d an ce d er an m t om en Chamber of C r of the Benevol he was a membe n, tio n Woodmen di ad In Club. dge 501, Moder Lo in pl Jo s lk E er of No. 335, A. Protective Ord Honor, Lodge of es di La d an ghts Masons. of America, Kni of Scottish Rite ry to is ns co in d of Jopl . They had two F. & A. M., an ederick in 1906 Fr . rs C a er V ed ily were membe Mercer marri The Arnold fam n. to on ur ed B ss d pa an old children, Julia rch. Mercer Arn hu C al op sc pi E s of the St. Philip’ orth Byers. home at 616 N s hi at , 38 19 , June 29

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Art Deco

n 1925, the Art Deco style bega n to take flight at the Paris Exp osition Internat ionale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels M odernes. The International E xposition of M odern Decorat and Industrial ive Arts was organi zed to showcase innovative idea s in applied arts . The fresh look complimented the machine ag e and the moder world it represen n ted. The Art D ec o style engaged an array of pass ionate profession als representing a variety of field s like jewelers, furniture maker fashion and inte s, rior designers, architects, grap artists, painters hi c and sculptors. From 1930s pu works projects bl ic to poster art, th e cultural movem designs were ev ent en incorporated into the shapes trains, planes an of d automobiles.

Continued On Pa

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ape embraced the style The New York City landsc e ing (1928-30), the Empir with the Chrysler Build and the Rockefeller State Building (1929-1931) r to home, the Kansas Center (1932-1939). Close ilding (1931) accentuated City Power and Light Bu uri. Locally, during the movement in Misso Southwestern Bell this same time frame, the BT) at Eighth and Pearl Telephone Company (SW l Ar t Deco decorative streets incorporated severa details. 1, the telephone Completed in February 193 distance exchange for building housed the long ental radio broadcasts SWBT. Many transcontin one exchange during passed through the teleph ition to the building this time. A substantial add occurred in 1949. re nearly 15,000 During that year, there we lin commercial, telephones ser ving the Jop community. Today’s industrial and residential would be surprised that younger cell phone users rd of all Joplin telephone in 1949, more than a thi line. customers shared a party

Leaves for Decoration

Acanthus Leaves

canthus Leaves are part of a small genus of herbaceous prickly plants nativ e to the Mediterranean regio n. The large, segmented, th istlelike leaves are used as architectural embe llishments found especially on the capitals of Corinth ian columns. Acanthus leaves can be found attach ed to the fluted columns at the Wall Avenue entra nce of the former Memor ial High School. The 1918 sc hool, located at Eighth an d Wall Streets, was designe d by Joplin architect Au stin Allen. Unfortunately, Allen never toured the finished building. He passed away seve ral months earlier. Allen is one of Joplin’s most estee med architects. His outst anding building resume in cludes the Newman/Joplin Ci ty Hall, Olivia, St. Peter’s Ca tholic Church, United H ebrew Temple and the fo rmer Elks Lodge at Fourth an d Pearl.

Aviation Class course an offering a civil aviation oplin Junior College beg the first in ty students participated in December 1939. Twen e flying r Harrison G. Harper gav class. Local flight instructo trainer wer motorized Piper Cub lessons using a 50-horsepo leb used Ca Mc eth e graduate Kenn plane. Joplin Junior Colleg World in ss cla ned from his aviation this college experience gai rce in Fo Air r. Stationed with the 8th War II as a B-17 navigato missions over Germany. England, McCaleb flew 19

t down over th trip, his plane was sho Unfortunately, on his 20 prisoner of prisoner and remained a Germany. He was taken his countr y, g vin ition to valiantly ser war for 18 months. In add e’s leg ed for renaming the col McCaleb will be remember s titled The school’s first newspaper wa student newspaper. The art. Today, ed another name, The Ch Challenge. McCaleb select l charts University’s newspaper stil Missouri Southern State rnalism jou of d to excel in the fiel student lives and continues er has pap the the numerous awards which is demonstrated by rs. received through the yea 31

S POWDshovERel played a ATLApick and

lthough the major role in developing the Tri-State tool Mining District, the most important were y The es. to the miner was the use of explosiv embedded needed to extract the lead and zinc ore limestone, underground. The massively bedded etrated by pen be to had s chert and dolomite wall blasting them apart. nds of In 1944, more than four million pou goal of the explosives were used in the district. The on who powder monkey (mining term for a pers ting) blas for s hole drill d loads the undergroun that ee degr a such was to blow the walls up to ained. only little boulders or large rocks rem full ore This resulted in easier to scoop shovels, side was the buckets and less milling. The negative Atlas Powder horrendous dust following each blast. ware. Company was organized in 1912 in Dela turing ufac man n On January 1, 1913, they bega with n bega industrial explosives. The company wing follo 500 employees. Sales topped $5 million freshness the conclusion of their first year. For ucts were prod s Atla ons, as well as safety precauti es. min ict’s delivered weekly to the distr

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Mining the Past Armstrong Hoist

er k c o n K e l p p A rom a seasoned

sa oming f cker wa ple kno p a , r n e min r y sla g limenta p m o -c from non r just in e m o c w nd r a ne e zinc a term fo rk in th o w o t the farm s. ing field lead min

uring the early pioneer day s, two-men mining opera tions were common. The tools of the trade were simple and str aightforward. The Armstrong hoist, als o referred to as the windla ss, consisted mainly of a rope and bucke t. It was propelled by a set of strong arms pulling the bucket filled with ore to the surface. Th e ho isting mechanism consisted of a five-foot-lon g cylinder, eight inches in diameter, fitted with a hand crank. The cyl inder rested and turned on two-by-eight inch notched uprights, standing four feet high. Suspended directly over the mine opening, the worker above ground tur ned the crank one way to lower the empty bucket and turned it the opposite direction to raise a full bucket. A fine examp le of this procedure can be vie wed in Thomas Hart Bento n’s city mural titled “Joplin At Th e Turn Of The Century, 189 61906.” Posing in the far rig ht hand corner of the mu ral, with his two hands on the Ar mstrong hoist’s handle, is John Callison. He was Benton’s Kansas City suburb neigh bor and customary five o’cloc k-cocktail-hour drinking bu ddy. Prior to the completion of the mural, Benton, metic ulous to details, had to redraw the hoist because he had the rope on the cylinder thread ed incorrectly.

profile

Dr. Simpson Retires By Kevin McClintock Photography by Laurie Sisk

Dr. Dale Simpson has much to be proud of. He has done just about everything possible at Missouri Southern, from introducing freshmen to the college experience to teaching his beloved J.R.R. Tolkien to more advanced English students. Having been at Southern since 1979, Simpson will be retiring on June 1.

Dr. Simpson retiring from MSSU on June 1

or more than 35 years, Dr. Dale Simpson has been the prestigious voice and face of Missouri Southern State University’s English Department. In that span of time, he has moved through the ranks from instructor to full professor to department head.

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But in 2014, Simpson will be swapping Chaucer, Malory, Shakespeare and Tolkien for popular dances such as the foxtrot, waltz, the cha-cha and the two-step.

When he retires from MSSU on June 1, he plans to focus on a beloved hobby he and his wife, Leslie Simpson, both adore: Round dancing. The two are dedicated members of the Joplin-based Tanglefooters Round Dance Club (1801 West 2nd Street). They began taking lessons together in 1993. “I’ve actually written and published 32 dances — cha-cha, twostep, ramba, foxtrot,” Dale said. “We’d been (dancing) after 17 years, dancing all the time, and some of the dances we were dancing to, if I had (written) them, I would have done them differently. So I tried my hand at them.”

His dances have been published online with the International Round Dance Community. “I got an inquiry twice from a couple in Japan wanting cue sheets and music to a couple of dances I’ve written,” says Simpson. “I also got an inquiry from Australia, and a person from Washington State wrote me an e-mail about one of my dances. “There are some big, big names in the round dance world, and any time they publish their dances, everybody is attracted to them — and they teach them. These people go around and teach their own dances. They’re popular. I’m kind of in the shadows. But I got to thinking I want everybody the next week to start dancing my dances, but it will take a while. I need to be patient. “I want everybody to dance to my dances, of course. I think they’re wonderful!” Coming to Missouri When Dr. Simpson was teaching at the University of North Texas, he was hoping to get back to his home state of Missouri. He had his eye on Springfield until he found himself sitting next

One Professor to Rule Them All to George Greenlee, who was in Texas for a one-year residency in 1978. Greenlee, of course, had already been teaching at MSSU in Joplin since 1970. “We were chatting and he notified me about an (open position) at Southern, and I was looking at the time,” Simpson said. Intrigued by Joplin, he applied for the open Southern position Greenlee had told him about, though someone was hired over him. However, the position soon opened up again. “I came back, I interviewed and on the second attempt I was hired. And it was all because I sat next to Professor Greenlee. “I don’t know where I would be if that hadn’t happened.” Simpson has always paraphrased Chaucer to describe to others what he does: “Gladly will I learn, and gladly teach!” As an English professor, his subjects are wide and varied. Over the course of his career, he has taught linguistics, general education literature and medieval literature. He has also taught English education courses such as Methods and Teaching Writing, as well as his favorite subject — the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. He also served as the head of Southern’s English Department for 13 years. Based on all this, Simpson jokes that Southern officials may be forced to hire two professors to fill his lone spot on the English Department roster.

This red canvas lunch bag was made by Dr. Simpson’s wife, Leslie, when he first began teaching English at Southern in 1979. It has held innumerable sandwiches, chips, pickles and desserts. “Although the inside is stained with reminders of lunches over 34 years old,” Simpson says, “and although I mainly have microwavable meals these days, I still use it. It has cheese slices in it now. I should have it bronzed.” think I got a C on it,” says Simpson.

“I read this, and I thought to myself, ‘This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read.’ Little people with furry feet living underground, and I’m supposed to write an essay about this? I

Tolkien’s books played such a pivotal role in Simpson’s life that he used the trilogy to form the basis of his thesis. He received his master’s degree in 1974 based on the “The Lord of the Rings.” In fact, that thesis, published in a hardbound cover, is now shelved in his Kuhn Hall office on the Missouri Southern State University campus.

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“So I did, and I ended up staying up until 2 in the morning because I couldn’t put the book down,” he says. “There was adventure. Evil was absolute. There were characters faced with decisions that had effect on life. All of this was overwhelming to me, and I just got lost in Middle Earth.”

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It was 1967, the words “Frodo Lives” were being spray painted across college campuses, and Simpson was taking a freshman composition course at Harding University when he read about the origins of the wee Hobbits.

It was 1972, and Simpson decided to take another stab at reading the trilogy.

One Professor to Rule Them All Simpson calls J.R.R. Tolkien’s sprawling fantasy classic an unbridled passion of his. But during the 1960s, when millions of paperback copies of “The Lord of the Rings” were being consumed by an entire generation of enthusiastic readers, Simpson would have nothing to do with it.

While obtaining his master’s at the University of North Texas, he once again crossed paths with the 1,137-page book highlighting Frodo’s fateful journey to Mount Doom.

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“I’m kind of an odd duck,” Simpson admits with a chuckle. “I’m neither fish nor flesh nor fowl — I’m a jack of all trades and a master of none. If they can find someone or two people to do what I do or have done, so much the better.”

Dr. Simpson still owns the very first office stapler he received in the fall of 1973, while at North Texas University. “It is still missing one plastic chip, but otherwise it’s in perfect shape,” he says. “It is over 40 years old. It is a better stapler than the ones issued here at Southern.” the late 60s, at Berkley or UCLA or Harvard or MIT, but I haven’t found it on record.” In all, Simpson has read the book a dozen times. He calls Tolkien’s book a masterpiece and Tolkien himself a genius.

In the fall of 1975, English department heads with the University of North Texas wanted to create some special topic freshman composition courses. Simpson proposed a course based on his thesis, consisting of eight written essays as well as reading all three “Lord of the Rings” books. “The kids were beating down the door to get in,” Simpson said. “We had to turn students away that semester. By the time I got the jobs here (at Southern, in the fall of 1979), I’d taught four sections of “Lord of the Rings” to freshmen while I’d been in grad school.” In 1981, Simpson taught his first LOTR-based course at Southern. He taught it again in 1983. All told, he’s taught a Tolkien-related course 11 times. “I was surprised the other day that I was able to recite the complete ‘Rings’ poem,” Simpson says, chuckling.

Tolkien “invented Middle Earth. And it’s not set on another planet or another solar system or somewhere across the universe; it’s set in our own world, maybe 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. So in this invented history, he populated with dwarves and men and elves and black riders and Ents, and they each have their own language and culture, and I was just overwhelmed by all this — that one person could do all that. “You asked me what attracted me to these books and it’s everything. It was everything that he invented.” The Road Ahead Simpson has always been attracted to teaching. He’s often said, “My goal is to convert at least one student to enjoyment of whatever course of study they are learning. “My career has been very rewarding.”

NEOSHO CIVIC CENTER

Recently, Simpson wanted to research how far back Tolkienrelated courses had been taught across American university campuses. He found one Tolkien-related course at a Midwestbased university began in 1979.

Seats 1,000 auditorium style. Upper level seating available. Perfect space for conventions! Tables and chairs provided at no extra cost. Theatrical stage and lighting for concerts. Classy art deco look for wedding receptions. Competitive rental rates.

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“That’s the furthest back that I can find on record of anyone teaching Tolkien, and I’d been doing it three years before that,” Simpson says. “There were probably people teaching it back in

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COWBOY CHURCHES Written By RYAN RICHARDSON AND KEVIN MCcLINTOCK Photography by KEVIN MCCLINTOCK AND RYAN RICHARDSON

The popularity of Cowboy Churches has exploded throughout the Midwest and the South over the past two decades and Risen Ranch Cowboy Church is no exception. Boasting nearly 200 members, the church now has a permanent home near the Joplin Regional Stockyards. Photo by Ryan Richardson

Cowboy Churches “It was just four men that were out for a ride and we met under a shade tree for a bible study,” Stafford says. “We didn’t know God was starting a church with just us four.” Stafford looks the part of a weathered, sage-like cowboy straight out of a classic western when he is at the pulpit delivering a sermon for a Sunday church service. His wide-brimmed cowboy hat is on for the sermon, only coming off during prayer. Sitting on metal chairs instead of wooden pews, his parishioners are clad in boots and jeans, with tucked in plaid shirts and rodeo-style belt buckles. When they welcome each other to church, they great each other with a heart-felt howdy and a firm handshake. Stafford wouldn’t have it any other way. “We are just a bunch of good folks walking on a precious journey with God.”

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“...and let us consider how to spur one another to love and good deeds.”

teve Stafford loves to tell the story of how he ended up in front of nearly 200 parishioners at the Risen Ranch Cowboy Church near Carthage.

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Add New Options to Local Christians

Hebrews 10:24

During a recent Sunday sermon, Stafford gives out a list of

church events which are rather unorthodox, including plans for an open mic show and a rodeo-like roping contest. Originally meeting at the Civil War Ranch near Carthage, the church moved to the Joplin Regional Stockyards before settling a half-mile west of the stockyards. Stafford and his congregation are part of a new type of church which has become popular throughout the South. Known as cowboy churches, these Christian churches cater to a distinctly country and western theme. These types of churches sprang up during the 1980s in Texas with just a handful of locations. Today, the Lone Star State boasts more than 200 cowboy churches. Outside Texas, there are another 800 churches nationwide. The Bar-None Cowboy Church, located between Afton and Grove in Oklahoma inside the Flying Cow Arena, is another example of this growing phenomenon.

ch, isen Ran , with R ichardson rd o ff ta S R ve by Ryan boots, Ste ans and day service. Photo je t, a h y a cowbo cent Sun Donning rmon during a re se a delivers

Long ago, Dean Bridges’ grandfather was the pastor of two churches in southern Illinois, one in town and one located in the rural countryside. On Sunday mornings, his granddad would preach at the city church before motoring out to the second church to preach there, “and there were people there who actually rode their horses in to church,” Bridges says. Afterwards, “they would have a picnic, sit around and play games, and then he would preach the evening service before heading back into town to preach one last time.” Church services on sacred Sundays back then, he continues, “were a wholesome, family time.” That’s the type of atmosphere Bridges has been able to create with the Bar-None Cowboy Church.

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“We’re ridin’ on faith (and) branded by God,” he says with a chuckle. For example, because the church fronts a portion of the Flying Cow Arena, sometimes rodeo events such as bull riding, team roping and equestrian events are held during the worship services. “Cowboys get to wear their hats here,” Bridges says of the church. “It’s just more of a relaxed atmosphere than your more traditional church.” Everything inside the church is focused on the cowboy way. Churchgoers wear cowboy hats, boots and jeans. Hymns are sung accompanied by country-western music. Young and old alike are baptized inside a horse tub. “I’ve got (patrons) who may feed cows that (Sunday) morning and put on their spurs and come into church and then head right back out” to the fields, Bridges says. “We’re a very ‘come-as-you-are’ type

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of church. You’re not judged based on how you’re dressed, how you talk, how you look. You come as you are; we will not judge. “We’re not asking somebody to be something they’re not. And you never see a suit and tie here.” Bridges chuckles as he relates a story about a church patron who was attending the Bar-None for the first time. He’d done so on a whim. During Bridges’ sermon, the man watched as a cow dog sauntered through the sanctuary. Amazed, looking around, he noted not a single head was turned or eyebrow raised. “He told me later, ‘I knew that was the place I had to be, because no one there threw a fit about that dog.’” The church also conducts chuck wagon cookouts, trail rides, a youth rodeo series of 10 rodeos beginning in October and wrapping up the following April, as well as a free team-roping competition (first-place winner receives cash), where there the only entry fee is a special promise. “The only criteria,” Bridges says, “is they have to come to church that Sunday.”

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Part of the unique décor found inside the Bar-None Cowboy Church is this unique bone chandelier. Photo by Kevin McClintock

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MSHSAA Referee By Kevin McClintock Photography by B.W. Shepherd

Inside the White Lines Carterville man enjoys officiating local games

Dennis Ervin makes a call during a recent basketball game held at South Middle School in Joplin.

Whistle in mouth, Dennis Ervin is ready to make a call as a player attempts a basket during a recent game.

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“I enjoy it,” says Ervin, who is wrapping up his fifth year on the basketball court with a whistle in his mouth. Ervin, in spare time, also referee’s baseball and softball games, as

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No, Dennis Ervin of Carterville isn’t a traveling salesman. Rather, he’s a professional referee.

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e was in Sarcoxie on Feb. 6. A day later, he found himself in Jasper. On Feb. 10, he spent his evening in Seneca. It was Lockwood four days later. After that, he spent a good chunk of a Saturday morning in Carl Junction.

well as American Legion games, during the dog days of summer. In an average year, for example, Ervin will ref 60 basketball games, 25 high school baseball games, between 18 to 30 American Legion summer games, and roughly 20 softball games. “I guess you could say it’s a passion of mine,” he says. The notion of Ervin regularly reffing games kind of came out of left field, he says. “I was working a Legion baseball game

with Mickey Heatherly (who currently serves as executive director for the Joplin Basketball Officials Association) and he’d been reffing basketball for more years than you and I could count, and I casually mentioned to him that I was thinking about doing it, too. Next thing I knew, I started getting contracts to ref basketball games,” he says with a chuckle. He took the test to become an official, which consisted of 100 questions, all multiple choice, all with an open book. Sounds easy, eh? It’s not, Ervin says. “Have you ever read an official’s manual?” he asks. “They read like a textbook.” Each year, he takes a 50-question test, same format, to keep updated with the ever-changing game rules churned out by the Missouri State High School Activities Association. The one good benefit about being a ref, particularly for the game of basketball, is the amount of running that’s required up and down the hardwood floor.

“I mainly do it for the exercise,” the 49-year-old says with a grin. Actually, he adds, the reasons go much deeper than that, though he can’t deny the exercise is an added bonus. And the pay’s not bad, either. He receives $35 for a junior high game, $45 for a junior-varsity game, and $55 for a varsity game. Two games a night, threeto-four games a week, provides a nice couple of hundred extra in the pocket for doing something he naturally loves. But of the various sports, baseball is his true love. “My passion has always been baseball,” says Ervin, who follows the St. Louis Cardinals, and whose son, Nathan, was a stand-out baseball player for Webb City. “I grew up in Carterville and I think I lived at the old rock-wall baseball field.” The field no longer exists today, though at one time it hosted numerous afternoon and evening baseball and softball games on S. Pine Street. “Baseball is the most grueling of the three sports, since it can be in the 30s when the season starts and can be 100 degrees when it ends,” Ervin says. He also enjoys reffing softball games because they can be quick affairs, usually averaging a bit over an hour in length. But it’s on the basketball court where Ervin is most visible wearing the pinstripes. When asked if he’s ever been forced to throw out a parent for rude behavior during a basketball game, he says he hasn’t — though once he was followed out to his car after a baseball game by an irate mother. “I’ve told people I could probably write a book about some of the things that have happened over the years,” he says with a chuckle. Team coaches, however, are a different matter.

“Had to throw a coach out last Wednesday night,” Ervin says without hesitation. It was during a championship game, he says, and the coach felt like Ervin had missed an obvious foul. The coach simply couldn’t let his anger go. “I didn’t say anything to the coach at the time. But when I came down the court, he did it again (shouting). I just turned and threw the T (technical foul).” When that happens, a coach essentially becomes “seat-belted,” meaning he has to stay on the bench unless there’s an injured player or a time-out called, Ervin says. But the coach refused to sit, so he got a second technical. A second one means the coach has to immediately vacate the premises. “I couldn’t get him to sit. We have a universal sign for coaches. It’s a stop sign (a held-up hand, palm out, telling them to pipe down). When coaches see that, they know then to back off. I didn’t have time to use that. I just reminded (the coach) where the locker room was.” But Ervin isn’t the type of referee who showboats. He doesn’t like to get into heated shouting matches with coaches, for example, or make dramatic gestures with his hands when a foul occurs, be it on the basketball court or behind the plate on the baseball diamond. “The best ref,” he says, “are the ones you don’t know are out there and who blow their whistles as little as possible. That’s what I try to be like. I don’t want to become a part of the game.”

Dennis Ervin’s tool of the trade, the simple whistle, which makes him and his fellow referees the ultimate authority, whether it’s on the basketball court, baseball diamond or football field.

DID YOU KNOW? • Referees aren’t cold to coaches. Not at all. But there has to be a level of respect shown by the coaches to the men in black for them to respond in kind. Ervin says they will answer questions from coaches, if it’s given to them in a professional manner. They will not, however, answer “statements” from coaches. • Before the referees come out onto a basketball court or a baseball/softball diamond, or during half-time festivities, they won’t be found lounging around, sipping Cokes and chatting on their phones. Nope — the refs will be studying their rule books. “We do that quite a bit, or we’ll be talking out various situations that might happen in the game, what would we do if this happened or if that happened, or we talk about certain players, that sort of thing.” • When the referees are out on the court during a basketball game, often times they’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder, watching the two teams warm up. They aren’t relaxing. There is a purpose to this. According to Ervin, they are watching to see if a player tries to dunk the ball or hang on to the rim. Should a player be caught doing either of these pre-game, that team will receive a technical when the game starts. “It’s happened a time or two,” Ervin says. • Ervin says many times during a game, particularly basketball, referees will do a bit of “preventative officiating” to the players. For example, they will tell a player, quietly, sometimes around the whistles clenched in their teeth, if he or she is shoving a bit too much, or if he or she is in danger of a lane violation, or if several players are too freely swinging elbows during rebounding scrums. This is done in part to keep the game flowing, of course, but it also helps the players, in the heat of the moment, to learn from their mistakes.

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m a r i ly n m o n ro e c o l l e c t i o n Written By MICHAEL COONROD Photography by B.W. SHEPHERD

The

Blonde

Bombshell Carthage Man Owns Large Marilyn Monroe Collection

David Hoover of Carthage holds a working phone in the likeness of Marilyn Monroe.

“She was a girl who knew how to be happy even when she was sad. And that’s important.” — Marilyn Monroe (about herself)

f you could go back and save something from the past, what would it be? Maybe your favorite records, some action figures or your first car? It’s not too late. That’s what collecting is all about.

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“Growing up I collected sports cards,” says David Hoover. “Actually, I still, every now and again, purchase a pack of baseball cards or something I’ll see somewhere. So it kind of started with that.”

A life-size cut-out of Marilyn Monroe looks as if the sexy starlet has just burst into Hoover’s home.

Hoover, who does graphic design for newspapers across the Midwest, lives in Carthage with his wife, Sarah, and their daughters Ambree and Braeli. He’s still collecting, but his tastes now are less baseball diamonds and more “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” As you can imagine, Hoover collects Marilyn Monroe memorabilia. But how did he get from the seventh inning stretch to “The Seven Year Itch?”

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“I think it started out with a couple of posters that I used when I moved out on my own to decorate my living room. It just kind of started with that,” says Hoover. “When I first started with the Marilyn collection, I also got some James Dean stuff, as well. So I guess it was just kind of the oldstyle Hollywood people. I thought that this stuff will be worth something. Now that I’m into it, I want any little thing I see that has her on it.”

“They got to pick an item to build in their carpentry class and she got with us, and I was like, ‘I’d love to have a display case for my Marilyn stuff,’” Hoover says. “So she figured up the cost of stuff and actually built one of the display cases. It’s hand-carved on the side. It’s got a glass front and doors on it; [it’s] really nice.” While Hoover says his wife and parents always know what to get him for Christmas, one other relative has been instrumental in expanding his collection. Anna May Turner, Hoover’s 90-year-old aunt, is making sure there’s no shortage of Norma Jean inside his home.

Does he have a favorite piece? “I picked this up recently at a flea market up on the square here in Carthage,” Hoover says, holding up an old matchbook. “The matches are not in it. I was flipping through a catalog they had up there, and the image that is on it is Marilyn Monroe. “It’s not credited to her or anything,” he continues, “but it’s basically an old pin-up that they did way back in the day. It’s actually a really neat piece and actually worth probably $40 dollars — I think I paid a quarter for it. It’s one of the oldest pieces I have.”

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The collection currently resides in three display cases inside the Hoover home. One of the cases is also special, his sister-in-law built it for him in her high school shop class.

A collection of photographs and commemorative items, while aesthetically pleasing, wouldn’t mean much without context: “When I look at this Zippo lighter, I can remember that a really good friend of mine gave that to me for being in his wedding party,” he says, looking at it in his hands. “When I look at it, I just relate the times in my life.”

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“You name it and there’s a million of her pieces out there,” says Hoover. “If you were to say, ‘Hey, so you have a bookmark with Marilyn?’ I would say, ‘yes I do.’”

“Ever since she found out, I think in about 2002, that I was collecting Marilyn, she’s been gradually adding to my collection,” says Hoover. “She’ll say, ‘Hey, I got some pictures of your girlfriend, swing by the house whenever you want.’ I’ll go over there and she’ll have a poster, or a book, or something that she’s bought through mail-order for me. She’s actually helped a lot with the collection.”

Other items include Marilyn cookie jars, a vintage record from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and a set of three special edition Marilyn Barbie dolls.

Figurines of the iconic lady sit inside one of several display cases.

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He estimates his collection at around 500 pieces, running the gamut from air fresheners to stamps to three bottles of “Marilyn Merlot” wine, each featuring an image of the iconic actress. “Those are still sealed. I’d probably hurt anybody if they cracked one open,” Hoover jokes.

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tender moments

Photography by 12Eighty-One

Leah Cameron spends a tender moment with her daughter, Emma.

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Erin Paxton kisses the top of baby Aslingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s head.

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John and Jenny Trupp admire their son, Gabe, who rides high in the sky.

Ancient Chinese Secret—

health

ac u p u nc t u r e

By Kevin McClintock and David O’Neill

For Real

ack in the 1970s, there was a string of commercials funded by Calgon Detergent tagged with the popular tag-line, “Ancient Chinese Secret.” The line was used as a punch line, meant to induce humor.

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But there’s nothing humorous about a real Chinese secret, one that has helped right physical wrongs for more than 4,000 years: Acupuncture. The practice is a collection of procedures involving the penetration of the skin with needles stimulating certain points on the body. Categorized as a “complementary health approach,” this traditional Chinese medicine “corrects imbalances in the flow of qi through channels known as meridians.”

Acupuncture is a practice that is growing in popularity. During the 1990s, less than 1 percent of the total American population used acupuncture. In 2002, 2.1 million adults used it on an annual basis. By 2011, more than 14 million Americans used it as part of their personal health care, according to a study by the Langone Medical Center. And that overall number continues to grow. J MAG writer David O’Neill recently contacted three healthcare professionals about this “ancient Chinese secret” — Aiming Shang, M.D., of Aiming’s Acupuncture & Herbs of Joplin; Dr. Tom Dunlap, a Joplin Chiropractor; and Dr. Jeff Johnson, an orthopedic surgeon.

J — Tell us about the history of acupuncture. Dr. Shang — Acupuncture has been practiced in China for some 4,000 years. The first book on acupuncture

was published about 2,500 years ago. The Chinese believe the practice began during the Stone Age, when stone knives or sharp-edged tools were used to treat certain illness. Stone and bamboo were utilized as needles in ancient China.

J — What are the benefits of the procedure? Dr. Shang — Acupuncture is very effective for chronic pain conditions. It also greatly benefits patients with functional and psychological disorders. Moreover, it improves general well-being and boosts energy.

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Dr. Johnson — Acupuncture is getting more accepted in mainstream medicine. One of the first introductions to acupuncture in the U.S. was in 1971 when a reporter who was in China had appendicitis surgery and was given acupuncture for the pain after his surgery instead of pain medicine. This reporter told Dr. Kissinger, who told President Nixon. The President was impressed by what he heard and started a program that brought Chinese doctors to the U.S. share their knowledge and doctors from the U.S. to China. This is the “official” start to the interest in Chinese Medicine. Throughout the years, the World

Dr. Johnson — Meridian Therapy is more of the term that is used today, because there are several different ways to treat the points on the Meridians. There is acupuncture (needles); acupressure (pressure, laser, electric stimulation), etc.

Dr. Dunlap — For many people, acupuncture is not an alternative to any form of treatment, rather it is their sole and only method of treatment. Many of these people find that acupuncture is the only form of treatment which helps with their condition. On the other hand, many Americans leery of the results of traditional medicine and surgery opt

J — When did modern society begin to embrace this practice? Dr. Dunlap — There are reports that American medical doctors first began utilizing acupuncture close to 200 years ago. The American Association of Medical Acupuncture was formed in 1987. It is my understanding that acupuncture is taught in various degrees at approximately 80 percent of the accredited medical and chiropractic schools in the United States. Not all doctors utilize acupuncture however, because in order to do so it does require additional years of post-graduate training.

Dr. Dunlap — The benefits of the procedure for many people is that they are able to remedy an abnormal or unhealthy condition in a natural manner without the use of drugs or surgery.

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Nowadays sterile disposable stainless steel needles are used.

J — How many types of acupuncture are there? What are they? Dr. Dunlap — There are numerous different styles and methods of acupuncture. These different styles of acupuncture can range from the actual insertion of needles at specific locations on the surface of the skin, to the use of acupressure by an appropriately trained healthcare provider, to these exact locations on the skin. Some of the more common alternative methods of acupuncture delivered in the United States by trained physicians and acupuncturists would include, but in no way be limited to, treatment with heated rocks, treatment with suction cups and electro acupuncture or laser acupuncture, in which no actual needles are inserted into the skin. There are also forms of acupuncture in which the treatment is limited to only the ear, the surface of the scalp, or the bottom of the feet.

J — As a treatment, what is acupuncture an alternative to? What does it replace? Dr. Shang — In China, it is an independent and an important branch of Chinese medicine. It treats a wide variety of conditions. In western countries, however, patients typically seek help from modern western medical professionals and come to acupuncturists when western medicine does not provide satisfactory results. For certain conditions, such as chronic pain, fatigue, Bell’s palsy, PMS, anxiety, depression and insomnia, acupuncture may do a better job and therefore can be the first choice. The one thing that makes acupuncture superior to other treatment modalities is that it essentially has no significant side effects or complications commonly seen with western medicine.

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Health Organization has come to accept acupuncture, as well as the FDA in 1997, reclassifying acupuncture needles from experimental to a medical device. The VA has recently been referring veterans for acupuncture.

for acupuncture as a low-cost, highly effective, and safe method of treatment. Dr. Johnson — It is not really an alternative to any other form of treatment.

J — What are the most common conditions we’re seeing acupuncture used for these days? Dr. Shang — Acupuncture works very well for these common conditions: Joint/muscular/nerve pain, arthritic pain, back pain, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, sciatica, headache, migraine, abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, allergy, asthma, PMS, menopausal syndrome, dysmenorrhea, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety/depression and obesity. Dr. Dunlap — Acupuncture has been proven to be effective in treating almost any ailment or illness known to man. Especially in Asia, where acupuncture is not viewed as a method of alternative

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treatment, but is considered to be the main form of traditional treatment. In our country, acupuncture is most commonly associated with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. At our clinic, we find that acupuncture is highly effective in treating low back pain, sciatic leg pain, neck pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, headaches and especially migraine headaches. The American Cancer Society recognizes the value of acupuncture in not treating the cancer, but rather in helping patients cope with the side effects of treatment, particularly from chemotherapy. Dr. Johnson — Pain control due to different problems is probably what most people want to use acupuncture for. The Veterans Administration is referring more people for it for pain control for different conditions. Stress/anxiety would be another one that is common.

J — Please describe how the procedure works. Dr. Shang — Each treatment session takes 45 minutes to one hour. Usually, acute conditions may only require a few treatments. However, chronic conditions usually need more treatments to get sustained results. People respond differently; some respond better and quicker than others. Sterilized disposable stainless steel needles are used. Depending on conditions, one may require from a few to more than dozens of needles. Side effects are minimal. These may include insertion site discomfort, small bruise, and bleeding. Dr. Dunlap — With traditional acupuncture, needles are strategically placed at specific locations on the surface of the skin. Unlike receiving an injection, here the needles are inserted into the surface of the skin just deep enough so that they will not fall out. Patients are amazed there is virtually no pain with this. With electro-acupuncture, typically patients do not feel anything at all, other than feeling better after their treatment.

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Area Hearing & Speech Clinic

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Dr. Johnson — There are different types of needles that can be used varying in thickness and length depending on where the needle is going to be used. The needles that are available now are one-time-use needles and come sealed in single, 5-pack or 10-packs. The number of needles used varies with what the person needs at that time. There are not a lot of side effects that I have seen. I have had some bruising where the needle was inserted, some bleeding but it is usually just one drop. Some patients have noticed some nausea or mild headache, usually if they don’t drink water after the treatment. Some people feel immediate relief while they are still in the office while the treatment is being performed while others may take several treatments before the benefits are seen or felt. Most feel more relaxed after a treatment.

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Treatments typically last 20 to 30 minutes; when using electro-acupuncture, treatments take only minutes. No two patients or conditions are the same. Just like in physical therapy or in other forms of medical treatment, typically it takes more than just one or two treatments to appreciate any significant results. What’s really neat about acupuncture however, if it’s going to work, most likely you will begin to see some results after a handful of treatments. Patients love this, because this way they can sample the treatments without laying out huge amounts of time or money.

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Q u i lt M a k i n g Written and Photographed By kevin mcclintock

All the Comforts of a Quilt

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Quilt making and decorating becoming madly popular

One of Lois Campbellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unfurled quilts atop an antique chair. Many area residents are using quilts as prime dĂŠcor attractions for their homes.

“Our lives are like quilts — bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love.”

ith its artistic roots dating back to ancient Egypt and China, quilting has again become a passionate hobby across the United States.

Forget the fact that quilts can provide warmth and comfort. They can do much more than that. They provide clues to the past, an individual or family’s heritage as well as enjoyment through the use of color, texture and pattern, says Joplin resident Lera Dill. On display near the back of Joplin’s Magnolia House Gifts & Antiques are a number of beautiful quilts pieced together by Joplin resident Lois Campbell, who is Dill’s sister. Campbell, who has made hundreds of quilts — some hand-made, some machine-made — learned the intricate technique from their mother, Veva Lawson. Originally, Dill opened her store 17 years ago with the sole intention of displaying the quilts made by her mother and sister. She’s pleased that her family’s work can still be purchased there today. “There’s nothing more comforting than a quilt,” says Dill, whose bedroom is home to several of her mother’s most cherished masterpieces. “Quilts have always been important to me. I grew up with handworked quilts everywhere” in the house. “They also make wonderful family heirlooms,” she continues,

This is an award-winning quilt made by Jane Anderson. “I attempted to achieve the look of an antique quilt by using fabrics that were reminiscent of those popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These are small prints in navy, reds and a bit of green and lots of shirtlings.”

since these beautiful works of art can be made from any sort of material. Jane Anderson, who hails from Vinita, Okla., is probably one of the area’s most treasured quilters. Her pieces have been bringing in top prizes from numerous quilt contests. A self-taught artist, Anderson hand pieced her first quilt top at the age of 10 and her first quilt in 1986.

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| Quilting is a unique American tradition because it has been developed as a union of different ethnic and cultural traditions. Developed as a so-called “house ware” and “art form” during the development of the United States, quilting has been preserved as a symbol of America’s diversity, strength and tradition.

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Layers and layers of hand-made and machine-made quilts inside the Magnolia House Gifts & Antiques. Here’s a tip — try to lie “beneath” a hand-made quilt and lie “atop” a machine-made quilt.

Anderson cuts her pieces out using scissors and then hand stitches them together. If that isn’t enough, she also hand quilts them. “I’m a traditional quilter,” Anderson said at a quilt contest, “and I do everything by hand. I can barely operate a sewing machine.”

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One quilt in particular, “Timeless Beauty,” has won prizes at contests based in both Oklahoma and Missouri. That piece alone took her two years to complete. She also won The Robert S. Cohan Master Award for traditional artistry sponsored by RJR Fabrics. Another one of her pieces won first place at the 2013 Grand Lake of the Cherokee Quilt Show in Grove, Okla.

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt, is an enormous quilt made as a memorial to and celebration of the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world as of 2014.

Today, quilts are used as decorations throughout the house, from the traditional bedroom to the living room and walls of the foyer. The following are some ways to use a favorite quilt to decorate an equally favorite room. • Secure curtain-rod brackets above your bed at headboard height and add a curtain rod. Fold your favorite quilt to fit and drape it over the rod for a one-of-akind, custom headboard. When you’re ready for a change, swap the quilt with another one. • Ladders or pieces of fencing are great ways to display a quilt, particularly if your home’s interior theme has a rustic, country feel to it. Stand a section of an antique picket fence on its end and drape each picket with a specific quilt (or rung if you are using a shortened ladder).

“It’s all about the amount of stitches in an inch,” says Lera Dill.

• Many quilters have an assortment of individual blocks that, for one reason or another, never made it into a completed, full-sized quilt. Instead of hiding those blocks in the scrap heap, use them as a decoration by mounting them on to a contrasting mat board covered by non-glare glass for a unique wall grouping. • Use a striking quilt, with vertical rows, to direct your eye from the ceiling down to the bed.

• Stacking quilts one on top of another is an idea that’s been around for quite some time, but rolling them up and standing them on end like books on a bookshelf may be something that perfectly fits the décor of your living room.

A close look at the details stitched into a quilt by Joplin resident Lois Campbell.

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music to the ears JoMo Jazz

Written and photographed by Ryan Richardson

ormance iece perf

three-p a special g n ri u d solo s down a sy. bbitt run r Dark Speakea a B le y K e t ft is A n o ’s h e xop ldon Tenor sa tly at Ca up recen ro g e th of

the g one of eat durin Mo Jazz has b e th n dow er, Jo nd holds st summ att Holla eir inception la state area. M t is n Percussio y shows. Since th across the four an ues band’s m e variety of ven id w a d e play

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Jazz music is infinite, with its permutations and nuances and the pursuit of new frontiers.

For five Joplin-based enthusiasts, jazz is the bond that brings them together and helps them keep pushing each other’s boundaries as musicians.

sts like mes, gue Many ti Joe Sellers will ist keyboard up for full sets. gro e th join

J: So that wasn’t your normal guy? KB: No. He’s been a friend of mine for a long time and he joins

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J: So how are you guys developing as songwriters? KB: We’re slowly incorporating our own music and arrangements. We want to bring our own compositions while keeping the standards there too. Our long-term goal is to really perform on our own music. The improv aspect is very much our own and that’s the joy of jazz. We have this set music we know and it allows us to express ourselves together. Songwriting with each other makes our music grow. We start writing for each other’s techniques and sometimes it doesn’t work, and that’s where you start over. But when it works, you know. It clicks with everyone. That’s how you build music together.

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J: When I caught your show last week at Caldone’s, you guys were set up as a three piece. I know that you guys had four booked that weekend, but do you guys change out members like that often? It was just a keyboard, drum and tenor sax for that set. KB: Part of it depends on the venue where we play. Sometimes, we’re limited to the size of the room and we tend to scale it back and consolidate our music to offer the same sound. We don’t really stick to one specific style. Jazz is very, very broad and can encompass so much. That show was actually with a friend of mine on keyboard, Joe Sellers.

J: So how much of that plays into your style? How much of each song is structured and how much of it is playing off one another? KB: Most of what we do is improv-based with an underlying structure that we are all familiar with. We have a song book of standards that we all know as jazz musicians that we could speak in this universal jazz language that we could have other people join in and they would fit right in. But based on those chords, that basis, that’s where the freedom comes in. None of our music is ever the same because we improv on it so much and hear it different every time.

J: The name JoMo Jazz is an obvious name for people here in the city, but it strikes me as a strange choice. Historically, Joplin isn’t really known as a hotbed of jazz music. KB: (Laughing) That is so true. We threw names around and we went from the obscure to the obvious. We tried out just standard, nondescript names and then we just came into focus together. We wanted to stick to something we are proud of, our city, and we still have a universal name that we can build on. We all voted on it together and it just flowed out right. We kept it. JoMo Jazz, as a name, is a statement about what we are.

us sometimes, depending on the show. That’s kind of how our group is. We have a long history of performing through MSSU. Each member of the group, and even members that join us from time to time, have always had some connection to each other. We all took our talents from being in school, being under the direction of our professors and put those talents all together as kind of an all-star group. Even the people who aren’t in the group have a long experience with each other.

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JoMo Jazz is a quintet that formed out of Missouri Southern State University’s music department during the summer of 2013. Drummer Matt Holland, woodwind players Levi Randolph and Kyle Babbitt, bassist Matt Clark and pianist Tyler Graves have built an impressive, cohesive unit playing a wide variety of shows throughout the area since their formation.

minding your business Circle E Country Market Written and Photographed by Ryan Richardson

Circle

Country Market Look at all those layers of meat on that sandwich — yummy!

Offering an Amish dining experience

For nearly four years, Circle E Country Market, located at 7692 State Highway 96 outside Carthage, has grown into a popular deli that attracts travelers throughout southwest Missouri. And while a person can get arguably one of the best handmade sandwiches around, stacked high with meats and cheeses and fresh bread, Eicher believes his family-run store is the ultimate example of hard work, dedication and family values. “We have been here long enough that people make the effort to drive out here for lunch and we also get the people who are traveling on the highway here,” Eicher says. “There isn’t a lot out here to compete with, so we do have that working for us.”

Eicher and his family are Mennonites, and his store mostly carries Amish-made products and edible goods.

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t is fitting that during one of the first warm days of the new year, the front porch of Erwin Eicher’s country store is filled with people.

Many of the store’s employees are members of Eicher’s family. His son, Willis, assists his father in the deli, preparing meals that will go out to hungry patrons.

Erwin Eicher weighs out fresh-cut thin salami for a customer’s sandwich. For example, his meats come from Ohiobased Troyer Meat and Cheese, an Amishrooted producer. Fresh baking ingredients have been packaged into smaller, consumerfriendly amounts. During the harvest season, produce from Lamar-based farmers will be found in every corner of the store. The shelves are lined with Amish Wedding brand canned goods. His family members make the fresh baked pies and bread for the deli right in the back of the store in their own bakery. “We focus on fresh in everything we do,” Eicher says. “Fresh meats, fresh produce, fresh cheese — that’s what brings everyone in to us. We give people a taste of real food.” When Eicher took over the property, he built the store right on the popular twolane highway, which connects Carthage with Springfield. The farmland in the back, complete with old tractors and farming machinery, pay homage to the cattle-raising heritage Eicher was raised in. The store, he says, was always his dream. “When the opportunity to buy this land opened up, I stepped in. I wanted to keep this as a specialty-line store and keep clear of just being another grocery store. There is an opportunity here to truly be unique with what we offer the people in our area.” When summer gets into gear and temperatures climb into the triple-digits, the line at the deli counter will easily reach the back of the store, Eicher says. Hungry patrons will take over the outdoor seats to enjoy their meals. While it seems that the

Mary Eicher bags a fresh loaf of bread, straight from the store’s ovens. customers can’t get enough of the unique dining experience, Eicher doesn’t see himself opening another location. “We’re busy enough as it is here and I really want to keep this in the family,” Eicher says. “We all work together to make this a success and I just can’t see myself putting the effort into another store that my family won’t work at.” That busy lifestyle also finds Eicher selling new and used farm equipment, mini-barns

and lawn furniture made from recycled bottles. He also dabbles in auctioneering. While he does consider himself a jack-of-alltrades, his family’s deli and its support of local produce growers of the region will be his legacy. “I’m happy that we found something here that is truly enjoyable and has found a home with the people that stop in,” Eicher says.

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taste

Pizza on the Rise

e s i R e h t n o a z z i P

By J Mag Staff Photography by Curtis Almeter

ck to Joplin a b g in m o c pizza places , e in l c e d g ince the May 2011 tornado, Joplin has Followin

lost four of its pizza establishments: two destroyed by the storm, and two more that closed for good. In only a few minutes, the EF-5 tornado collapsed the buildings holding CiCi’s Pizza at the Bel-Aire Shopping Center as well as the popular local Joplin favorite, Pizza by Stout. And in recent months, Pizza Inn on South Main St. as well as Mazzio’s Italian Eatery at 320 N. Range Line Road both closed their doors for good. That’s four pizza lunch buffet establishments located within a two-mile radius gone in less than three years. Luckily, pizza is once again on the rise in Joplin. Several new pizza places have opened in the last six months, most of them concentrated in the downtown area. The openings make sense, considering Americans eat three billion pies each year, according to the National Restaurant Association. Here are some quick looks at several new and established pizza parlors in the Joplin downtown area, including several new ones prepping to open.

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Rocco’s Palace Pizza 122 S. Main 417.627.9226

Just like an italian eatery in Rome or Venice, the employees at Rocco’s Palace Pizza like to mix their food with a little song and dance. Two of the four regular employees sing, and the manager plays guitar. Between pizzas, those staff members will break out into song spontaneously. “At least once or twice a night we’ll sing,” says Luke Sheafer, manager of the restaurant. “It’s our way of throwing a wrench in, and giving dinner a different vibe.”

The recipe makes for a pizza that goes beyond what chain restaurants prepare, says Jessica Currier, of Joplin, who ate at the restaurant last week.

Eric Dicharry and Jamey Smith have a thing for local. The Joplin men who own and operate the Mohaska Farmhouse, 1821 S. Main St., place a great deal of weight on buying local food products to stock their restaurant’s shelves. The restaurant is located inside the old Green Yates building.

“It definitely separates itself from fast food pizza,” Currier says.

The hillbilly bacon, served on many of their savory sandwiches and wood-fired pizzas, comes from Hatfield Meats near Neosho, and their Italian sausage comes from the Ozark Heritage Farm, south of Joplin. Much of their produce comes from local growers like Fredrickson’s in Carl Junction or from growers at the Webb City Farmers Market. “We know where it (their food supplies) come from and we know that it’s not being injected with steroids,” Dicharry said.

A pizza up for order

The cornerstone of the Mohaska Farmhouse kitchen is probably the red brick wood-fired oven where the restaurant cooks turn out hand-crafted pizzas. Dicharry said it took three tries to get the exact oven he and Smith were looking for.

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Sold in pies or by the slice, the pizza is

Mohaska Farmhouse 1821 S. Main St. 417.206.3473

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Sheafer knows a bit about performance: He is the lead singer of Me Like Bees, a band that tours throughout the region and recently released a full-length album.

made with a unique blend of cheese, and almost a pound is placed on each pie. The sauce is a homemade creation.

Opened last July, the restaurant has added music to its list of pizza toppings. The method of performing music is part of the restaurant’s efforts to create a sporadic, fun environment.

Luke Sheafer, who is also involved with the local band, “Me Like Bees,” will often serenade for customers while they dine inside the restaurant in downtown Joplin.

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Luke Sheafer, manager of Rocco’s Palace Pizza, speaks to customers.

The pizza dough, as well as all of the breads served at the Mohaska Farmhouse, are handmade daily with organic flours, sea salt and water. But don’t let the emphasis on healthy ingredients fool you. “The Sicilian,” for example, is a sandwich that can easily feed two hungry adults. Served on toasted wheat bread, the sandwich has caramelized onions, provolone, tomato, lettuce, a creamy garlic sauce, Italian sausage and hillbilly bacon. The 12-inch pizzas range in price from $9.95 to $17.95, depending on the toppings, and build-your-own pizzas are available. Cooper’s 66 Eatery 124 S. Main St. 417.781.8766 Cooper’s 66 Eatery is now serving seveninch sized pizzas. A pie goes for $6.49, extra for toppings. Sauces include red, pesto and Alfredo. Meats range from barbecue chicken to pulled pork, Italian sausage, pepperoni, smoked ham and bacon. Toppings include bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, black olives and pineapples.

Ye Olde King Pizza Earlier this year, Brian and Tracy Myers, of Joplin, told The Joplin Globe they were hoping to bring a Ye Olde King Pizza to Joplin. They were narrowing their search in the fall of last year to a location on 32nd Street. “The business is on its way. The big question

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CiCi’s Pizza This has made a lot of people happy. Cici’s Pizza, a favorite for both young and old, is up and running again at 1602

Range Line Road, suite E. The folks with this national pizza chain vowed they would rebuild in Joplin following the devastation of the tornado, and that promise has come true. The store opened to fanfare on Feb. 24.

A pizza being freshly prepared is about to go into the oven. Despite the economy and the 2011 tornado, pizza places are once again finding a home in Joplin.

is: Where?’’ Brian says. “Ye Olde King Pizza in Fayetteville (Ark.) is not big. It’s not small, either. It’s kind of simple, and they do great business.’’ Plans for this new restaurant are still in the making. Joe Hadsall, Wally Kennedy and Kevin McClintock contributed to this story.

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Astronauts onboard the International Space Station have celebrated this holiday in different ways. Irish-American Catherine Coleman played a White House 100-year-old flute belonging Fountain to Matt Molloy and a tin whistle belonging to Paddy Maloney, both member of the Irish music group The Chieftains, while floating weightless in the space station on St. Patrick’s Day in 2011. Fellow astronaut Chris Hadfield took photographs of Ireland from Earth orbit, and a picture of himself wearing green clothing in the space station, and posted them online. He also posted online a recording of himself singing Danny Boy in space.

COOL FACTS ABOUT ST. PATRICK’S DAY

here’s the famous line – “On March 17, everybody’s Irish.” It’s not a national holiday, but heck, it’s a fun holiday. Who doesn’t like green, pinching and alcohol? Here are five cool facts about St. Patrick’s Day.

1912 Souvenir

The tiny island of Montserrat is known as the “Emerald Isle of the Caribbean” because of its founding by Irish refugees from Saint Kitts and Nevis. Along with Ireland and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday here. The holiday also commemorates a failed slave uprising that occurred on March 17, 1768.

4 Civil War Steeple Chase

Christian leaders in Ireland have expressed concern about the secularization of St. Patrick’s Day. In The Word magazine’s March 2007 issue, Vincent Twomey wrote, “It is time to reclaim St. Patrick’s Day as a church festival.” He questioned the need for “mindless alcohol-fueled revelry” and concluded that “it is time to bring the piety and the fun together.”

Chicago River Dyed Green

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Two Missouri-based towns have the longest-running St. Patrick’s Day parades in the country. The Kansas City parade began in 1873. In 1909, Rolla initiated its green-splashed parade. St. Louis launched its own parade in 1968. No surprise, Boston has the longest-running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1737.

New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade 1909

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Saint Patrick’s Day is only a legal holiday in Suffolk County, Mass. (where it is recognized alongside Evacuation Day) and Chatham County, Ga.

parting shot

Peeking Through Clouds

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Photography by T. Rob Brown

The full moon cuts through the clouds in the night sky over east Joplin just after sunset.