Around Town

O’Fallon announces Heritage and Freedom Fest 2.0 to take place on Sept. 6

O’Fallon’s annual Independence Day celebration was cancelled this year due to COVID-19, but Mayor Bill Hennessy announced during the June 11 city council meeting that the city of O’Fallon will host Heritage and Freedom Fest 2.0 on Sept. 6. The one-day event on Labor Day weekend will take place at the Ozzie Smith Sports Complex at 900 T.R. Hughes Boulevard in O’Fallon, starting at 11 a.m. with free concerts and family-friendly activities throughout the day. The event will conclude with a fireworks display at 10:30 p.m. Headlining the concert stage are rock legends Styx and country star Dylan Scott. In addition, the celebration features local rocker Steve Ewing, rock bands Dazed and Confused and

The Family Arena in St. Charles will reopen for public events after closing for COVID-19, beginning with facility rentals for graduation ceremonies. The first ceremony scheduled is on July 10.

“Our top priority is to make certain our guests are safe, and that includes heavily sanitizing the facility and making changes that allow for social distancing,” says Tom O’Keefe, Manager of Booking and Marketing at The Family Arena. “While school districts may have their own set of restrictions for their ceremonies, after consultation with the districts, The Family Arena has procedures that will be followed for all ceremonies.”

O’Keefe stresses that the following procedures are in effect now but subject to change in the future.

Entering and screening:

• Health Screening Stations will be placed outside of each point of entry. The Family

Arena will perform a temperature check on each graduate and guest. Those passing the screening will be identified by a sticker that will allow them access to the building. The sticker must be worn while in the building. • Guests and graduates can enter through

Gates 1, 2, 3, or 4. Graduates will proceed That 80’s Band, and country music from Whiskey Morning and Wildfire. “We are very excited to offer this free event to our residents and neighbors,” said Hennessy. “We’ve all had a difficult and stressful year, and we are looking forward to providing a day of fun for this amazing community on Labor Day Weekend.” Entertainment does not stop with the concerts. Food and drink vendors will be on site and free activities for the entire family will be available, including the Corvette Club display, a gaming truck, Monster Mural, oversized yard games, a petting zoo and Circus Kaput. Extreme inflatables directly to the floor of the arena; there will be no graduate procession. • To eliminate the need to touch personal items during the screening procedure, bags, purses and backpacks will not be allowed inside the building. • Cameras and video recorders will be allowed in the building but can be the only things in a camera bag. Tripods are not allowed. • The arena concourse will flow in one direction; signs will be posted.

Cleaning and precautions:

• A professional cleaning service will thoroughly clean and sanitize all areas of the building after each event, including glass, carpets, doors and door handles, etc. The crew will be at each event to continuously sanitize the bathrooms and concourse area. • Additional hand sanitizing stations will be immediately available upon passing through the metal detectors; however, those attending are encouraged to bring their own as well. • Guests are strongly encouraged to wear a face mask.

Seating:

• Arena seating will utilize approximately 50

also are available for a fee ($10 in advance, $15 at the event). COVID-19 related guidelines for the event will be confirmed closer to the date. For the most up-to-date details, visit www.heritageand

The Family Arena reopening for graduation ceremonies

freedomfest.com.

percent of its 9,600-seat capacity. • No backdrop will be utilized. Seating will be in the round in order to maximize capacity while maintaining social distancing. • Graduates will be seated six feet apart. • Guests are prohibited from sitting in sections marked closed for social distancing. • In the event that programs are not provided to the graduates prior to the day of the ceremony, they will be placed on guests’ seats. • The audience will be released section-bysection to encourage social distancing as graduates and guests exit.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Concessions will offer a limited selection to expedite transactions. Cash or credit cards are accepted. • Each ceremony will be livestreamed for the benefit of those who cannot attend on The

Family Arena’s YouTube channel and at familyarena.com/graduations. • Suites are available for purchase for graduation ceremonies by calling The Family Arena at 636-896-4200. For more information, please contact the school district offices or O’Keefe at 636-896- 4289 or tokeefe@familyarena.com.

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE

Submitted photos

Photos on left: Much like many of their metropolitan colleagues, officers from the St. Charles County Police Department are asked to address a wide array of situations while on patrol in the community. Photo on right: St. Charles County Police Chief Kurt Frisz talks with a resident at the March for Equality on June 11 in Lake Saint Louis and Dardenne Prairie.

The St. Charles County Police Department has made reforms following recommendations of the Ferguson Commission Report

By Brett Auten

No occupation is under the microscope these days as that of a police officer. With civil unrest occurring in major cities in response to police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while in police custody, the actions – both fiscal and physical – of the nation’s police departments are under scrutiny. The St. Charles County Police Department has been working to address many of these issues long before policing practices fell into the national spotlight. St. Charles County has six cities, all large enough to support individual police departments. Smaller cities other than Foristell contract with the St. Charles County Police for service. The crime rate in the six cities and the area patrolled by the county police ranges from 12-to-28 per thousand. St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann recently released the county’s latest response to the Ferguson Commission Report. The Ferguson Commission is an independent group appointed by then-Missouri Governor Jay Nixon in 2014 to conduct a “thorough, wide-ranging and unflinching study of the social and economic conditions that impede progress, equality, and safety in the St. Louis region.” The need to address these conditions came after the unrest in the wake of the death of Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson on Aug. 9, 2014. The St. Charles County Police Department Use of Force Policy has been updated six times since it was first implemented on Jan. 1, 2015. The policies conform to “Eight That Can’t Wait,” a police reform movement that tracks eight policies that data supports to decrease violent encounters. These eight policies are policies that police departments themselves endorse, including: • Banning shooting at moving vehicles. • Banning chokeholds. • Requiring warnings before shooting. • All means are exhausted before the officer uses his/her firearm. • Police officers and civilians in the department have a duty to intervene if a fellow officer is using excessive force. • The department has comprehensive useof-force reporting system. In the latest response to the Ferguson Commission Report, it is reported that the St. Charles County Police Department trains its officers beyond the requirements of the Missouri Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission requirements. “Training is everything,” Ehlmann said. “It is a big part of it. You can’t just do standard. But (training) can be very costly because you have to pay for someone to be out on the street.” Some training opportunities provide a foundational basis for other training. St. Charles

County Police officers have received Racial Bias Training from Dr. Bryant T. Marks, an African-American professor at Morehouse University in Atlanta. That core training has been augmented by annual Racial Profiling Training. Along with the simulated firearms training program, in 2020 it was deemed that all patrol officers are to be randomly brought in and conduct scenario-based simulator training to sharpen their skills. The scenarios presented to officers test their abilities in shoot/don’t shoot situations and opportunities to deescalate a scenario into a non-lethal encounter. Situations involving force can also arise suddenly from encounters with people who have a mental illness or are impaired mentally. County police officers have been trained in crisis intervention techniques to help prepare them for contacts with mentally ill subjects. New officers complete an initial week-long course in crisis intervention during their first year on the job. Officers receive semi-annual refresher training to maintain their skills in dealing with mentally ill subjects. “There are a number of people in jail who are not criminals,” Ehlmann said. “They have mental health problems and are off their medication and end up in jail.” It is situations like these that have left many to wonder if we are asking too much of our police officers. “We are asking a lot of a lot of people,” EhlEugene “Gene” Clower was born June 12, 1918 and The St. Charles County Veterans Museum hosted a 102nd birthday party at the request of his family on June 12. Clower served in the Navy during World War II. He attended Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois. Upon entering the Navy, Clower attended basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. After basic, Clower attended officer training at Notre Dame University. He graduated as an Ensign. Clower served in the Pacific theater during World War II. He was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and served on LST-822 as the navigator. Clower recalls departing the states from San Francisco bound for Hawaii. He was seasick for a few days but got his sea legs and became acmann said. “It demands a lot and these young men and women understand it’s not the same department that their dad or grandpa was in.” In response that each major police force should create a task force of diverse and experienced investigators to investigate all cases of police use of force resulting in death, officer-involved shootings resulting in injury or death, or in-custody deaths, the St. Charles County Police Department substantially revised its policy in 2016, for the investigation of officer-involved shootings and serious uses of force. It has continued to revise its policy with the most recent revision being adopted on June 25, 2019. The policy sets forth a comprehensive, step-by-step procedure that ensures that all officer-involved shootings and serious uses of force are dealt with consistently. “One of the real questions you are hearing about nationwide is how to get rid of a bad cop,” Ehlmann said. “We can if we have to. For some others, it is more difficult.” In closing, the report also shed some information on diversity. Long labeled the landing place for “white flight,” St. Charles County has morphed into a more diverse region. The Ferguson Commission Report asked to create a system to rate diversity at institutions, organizations, and companies throughout the region to make them accountable to the public and help them set customed to the rolling ocean. USS Harris County LST-822 was laid down by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Company of Evansville, Indiana on Sept. 20, 1944. An LST is officially called a “Landing Ship Tank” although Clower says they called it, “large slow target.” An LST typically have about 100 crew and 13 officers. While at battle stations, only the captain, executive officer and navigator were on the “con” or conning tower. Soon, Clower would find himself at battle stations, often. After a month of training in Hawaiian waters, Clower sailed on March 15 with Army troops and equipment aboard. The ship arrived at Eniwetok on March 27, then Ulithi on April 7 to prepare for participation in the goals to improve. U.S. News and World Report recently rated ethnic diversity on university campuses. The publication’s formula produces a diversity index that ranges from 0 to 1. The closer a school’s number is to 1, the more diverse the student population. Lindenwood University’s ranking is .41, not as high as Washington University (.54), UMSL (.47), or Saint Louis University (.43), but higher than Webster University (.38) and Maryville University(.29). As for the largest employers in St. Charles County, MasterCard has ranked in Top 10 for diversity for the last two years. General Motors Employee Resource Group Council was one of 25 companies to receive a national award for its Diversity Council that leads the company’s diversity and inclusion process. Boeing, which probably employs the most St. Charles County residents, was also one of 25 companies to receive the award. The percentage of non-Caucasians in the St. Charles County Government workforce is larger than the percentage in the county workforce as a whole. In St. Charles County the six large cities have neighborhoods for families in every price range. As a result, our five school districts have students from every economic class and of every race. The percentage of AfricanAmerican students in the five districts varies from 5.8 to 13.9 percent, comparable to the

WWII veteran celebrates 102nd birthday

west and south St. Louis County districts. Battle of Okinawa. Clower was the ship’s navigator. The first action for LST-822 and Clower was landing troops and equipment at Okinawa. The initial invasion of Okinawa began on April 1, 1945. Clower’s ship, approached the shore of Okinawa on April 18, 1945. During bitter fighting ashore and frequent Japanese air attacks, LST-822 operated between Okinawa and islands to the west. On April 22 she discharged men and equipment at Ie Shima while protected by smoke cover. During her three weeks at Okinawa, Clower and his ship survived 18 enemy air raids and carried vitally needed supplies for ground

forces. The invasion of Okinawa was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater during World War II. The 82-day battle lasted from April 1 until June 22, 1945. Clower and LST-822 departed Okinawa on May 11. Clower would later make stops on Saipan, Leyte and Luzon ferrying troops and equipment. Following the surrender of Japan, she returned to the Philippines to transport occupation troops and equipment to Japan. Clower and LST-822 anchored off Japan but he was not part of the occupation forces. He did go into a nearby town sightseeing for a few hours. Departing Sasebo on March 3, 1946, LST-822 sailed for the United States where she arrived in San Diego on March 30. After operating along the West Coast from California to Washington, she entered drydock at Portland, Oregon on May 28, 1946. LST-822, Clowe’s only ship, was decommissioned on July 27 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet on August 10, 1945.

Wentzville School District teacher wins 2020 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Gold Star Grant

Kaci Lueking, a first grade teacher at Wabash Elementary in the Wentzville School District, has been named the recipient of the 2020 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Gold Star Grant in the amount of $7,500 for her stEMPOWER initiative, an after-school club that will encourage girls in grades 4-6 to explore STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) subjects while developing leadership skills and confidence as critical thinkers and problem solvers. Lueking is a 2019 recipient of the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award, which qualified her to apply for a competitive Gold Star Grant. Emerson started the Excellence in Teaching Gold Star Grant Program in 2006 to expand its support of the St. Louis educational community. “Mrs. Lueking is a dedicated and motivated educator who spends a tremendous amount of time and effort preparing and planning rigorous, relevant and fun lessons for her students,” said Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain. “Mrs. Lueking is widely known across the district for being positive and focused on growth for all students and her influence through the STEAM club for girls will undoubtedly be impactful and far reaching.” Lueking has taught in the Wentzville School District since 2015 and was named District Teacher of the Year for 2018-2019.

O.A.S.I.S. Food Pantry marks 30 years of service to St. Charles County

By Leslie Huenke

O.A.S.I.S. Food Pantry is proudly celebrating their 30th reunion this year. The O.A.S.I.S. Food Pantry, a food assistance program, was created in 1990 by a group of caring Christian individuals responding to one of the most basic needs for survival – food. O.A.S.I.S would not be where they are today without the help from their volunteers, as 12 different churches in the area volunteer with O.A.S.I.S. to ensure nobody goes without food. O.A.S.I.S. is open 17 times a month to ensure their diverse cliental can find a time to visit. “We have been very blessed,” said O.A.SI.S. Executive Director Mike Wraspir. “The St. Charles community is a very giving community, whether it be churches or food drives.” “O.A.S.I.S. is a symbol of hope and help in St Charles County for 30 years,” said Community Council Executive Director Todd Barnes. “Their compassion to help everyone who asks sets the standard for servant outreach to those in need. They are one of the largest pantries to run entirely on volunteer help in delivering hope to those who ask. I have been impressed with their willingness to be leading discussions on how not only OASIS can serve, but how we as a community can come together helping those in need.” O.A.S.I.S. also works with St. Louis area food banks. The food banks have a marketplace where items can be ordered at a discounted price. St. Louis area food banks have also teamed up with O.A.S.I.S for the USDA Temp Program, an emergency food assistance program. Once a month, the USDA provides food to distribute to families who qualify for the program. This food supplements meals for about seven to 10 days. At O.A.S.I.S., families will know exactly what food they are receiving and how much they will receive. The family will also receive standard toiletry items, which include toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste, bar soap, and deodorant. Families will also receive a container of liquid laundry detergent every other month. Bread is also available for families to take whatever they need. The food provided by O.A.S.I.S. consists of about 80 percent dry goods. The other portion comes from frozen meat, produce, and dairy items. O.A.S.I.S. does not turn down any family who lives in the county. “We have been blessed by O.A.S.I.S food pantry in many ways,” said Calvary Church Community Ministry Pastor Matt Miller. “First through all the hurting families we have written referrals for so they can access the pantry. They contributed a tremendous amount of food to Neighbor Helping Neighbor Service Coalition’s effort to feed families during the pandemic. They are always willing to fill needs that arise in the community.” O.A.S.I.S. served 5,220 families in 2019. This consisted of over 16,000 people. Although the overall number of families has declined since 2014 due to the growing economy, O.A.S.I.S understands the need is still there and they will continue to provide for the community. “Our mission is very important,” said Wraspir. “We take it very seriously. We accumulate about 10,000 volunteer hours a year to manage the pantry and thrift store. It takes a lot of people. We have our church members and volunteers who support us through financial contributions. The fact that we’ve been able to exist and grow in the last 30 years is a testimony to the organization and mission.” O.A.S.I.S. Food Pantry is located at 1814 Boone’s Lick Road in St. Charles. For more information on O.A.S.I.S Food Pantry and how you can help, please contact Mike Wraspir at 636-723-0037.

BRINGING history TO LIFE

Storyteller brings lesser-known aspects of African-American culture to audiences with vibrant performances

By Brett Auten

Intending to bring to light the lesserknown aspects of African-American culture, Angel da Silva has shocked, informed and entertained crowds for over 20 years. The St. Charles County Parks presents the opportunity to step back in time with a remarkable narrative, “The True, Incredible, Story of Clara Brown,” with the renowned storyteller. The performance on July 12 is already sold out. On Aug. 9, limited tickets are available for story times at 1:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. inside the Old Peace Chapel at The Historic Daniel Boone Home in Defiance. Through the voice, vision and insight of da Silva, the harrowing and inspiring

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