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Around Town
AroundTown Everyday people say, “I would like to be a part of helping someone” and just don’t know where to start…you can start here. Perhaps you cannot help others financially but you can give of your time and self which is priceless.
Hospice is a special kind of care designed to provide sensitivity and support for people in the final phase of a terminal illness. Heartland Hospice’s goal is to provide palliative and supportive services to meet physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of patients and their families in a health care facility or other residential settings. Volunteers can provide one-onone attention to residents who are lonely or cut off from their families, thereby reducing feelings of isolation and contributing to their sense of belonging. Veterans dedicated to visiting with other veterans are also needed in hospice care. The benefits are endless when one can make a difference.
Heartland Hospice depends on hospice volunteers to help provide the extra love and care clients and their families need at this time in their life. Heartland volunteers offer support, companionship and practical, caring help to this special group of people. Staying with the patient so family members can take a break, reading scripture to patients, or holding their hand.
All assignments are in close proximity to your home, work or school. You can donate as little or as much of your time as you desire. Contact Virginia at 314-453-0990 if you would like to bring something special into someone’s life. Be sure to inquire about the next training class. A helping hand Heartland Hospice would like you to volunteer with your heart in 2020
Wear your green The 51st Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and St. Patrick’s Day Run will take place March 14
The Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in St. Louis will take place on March 14, starting at noon. Leading the 51st annual parade will be parade founder and St. Louis Irish Consul Joseph McGlynn, Jr., Parade Committee Chairperson Maureen McGlynn, a Guest of Honor from Ireland; a Military Guest of Honor; an Honorary Parade Marshal St.; St. Louis City Mayor Lyda Krewson; Parade Director Kevin Udina; and other dignitaries. This year’s parade will also be a Salute to St. Louis Irish Heritage.
The parade steps off at noon from 20th and Market Streets and proceeds east on Market to Broadway and then south on Broadway where it will disband at Clark Street. Market Street will be closed at 7:30 a.m. from Compton to Broadway. Parade
units will stage starting at 7:30 a.m. from Compton to 18th Street.
The parade, also known as St. Louis’ “Rite of Spring,” will feature over 130 units, including floats, bands, marching units, large helium-filled balloons, and over 5,000 marchers.
The 42nd Annual Michelob ULTRA St. Patrick’s Day Parade Run will precede the parade at 9 a.m. McGlynn noted the support the run has received over the years from Anheuser-Busch,
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade Run is St. Louis’ largest locally organized run. It covers a five mile course which will begin on Broadway just south of the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark hotel in front of the Ballpark Village (Broadway between Walnut and Clark Streets) and conclude at 8th and Market Streets. In addition this year will also feature a three kilometer run which will be part of the five mile course. Runners will then be directed to the Michelob ULTRA Runners Village at The Ballpark Village at 7th and Walnut Streets. Ballpark Village will also be the site of this year’s Irish Village featuring a live band, food and beverage which will be open prior to, during and after the parade.
Over 8,000 runners, walkers and wheelchair racers of all ages participated in the 2019 St. Patrick’s Day Run. There are 13 different age categories for both male and female competitive runners, ranging in age from under 14 to 70-plus years. Prizes will be awarded in age categories for both men and women, including “14 and under” and “70 and over.”
This year’s run will bring back the popular “Best Costume” award competition. Individuals and teams can show off their best Irish-themed outfits. In the past there have been Irish potatoes as well as St. Patrick driving out the snakes. The runners’ creativity is their only limit.
Runners may register online at: wwwstpatsrun.org. The cost is $36 with the entry fee going up in March. Past top finishers will be issued special bib numbers so they will be allowed into the corral at the front of the pack.
Starting at 9 a.m. some of the unique inflatable balloons that will be in the parade will begin inflating at Leprechaun Village located on the east side of Aloe Plaza as part of the pre-parade activities. Children will be able to enjoy bounce houses and there will be a caricature artist and other fun activities.
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Michelob Ultra St. Patrick’s Day Parade Run celebration kicks off Friday night, March 13 at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark, 1 South Broadway, with cocktails and dinner which will be followed by a faux Casino featuring Horse Races and betting booths. For cost and further information visit our website at www.irishparade.org.
Operation Food Search receives $100,000 grant
Operation Food Search (OFS), a nonprofit hunger relief organization, recently received a $100,000 grant from the Dana Brown Charitable Trust to fund its Fresh Rx: Prescribing Healthy Futures. SUBMITTTED PHOTO
Operation Food Search (OFS), a nonprofit hunger relief organization, recently received a $100,000 grant from the Dana Brown Charitable Trust to fund its Fresh Rx: Prescribing Healthy Futures. The trust provides for the health, education, and welfare of disadvantaged children, as well as the health and welfare of animals in the St. Louis Metro area.
Fresh Rx, in partnership with the Normandy Schools Collaborative (NSC), is a program designed to create a healthy and hunger-free school district. OFS provides programs, practices and policies necessary to ensure the entire NSC—including students and their families, district administrators, faculty and staff, community partners, and school neighborhood residents—has the food and nutrition needed to thrive.
The grant will be used to accomplish four goals: make the most of the USDA Child Nutrition programs (includes school breakfast, lunch, after-school meals, and summer meals) at all NSC schools; develop the 1.6 acre Normandy High School Teaching Farm and agricultural career pathway; create a food oasis in a food desert by building the Normandy High School Community Market and Learning Kitchen, and; provide nutritional support to students with additional health and academic needs.
“We are so very grateful to the Dana Brown Charitable Trust for its support of our Fresh Rx program,” said OFS’s Executive Director Kristen Wild. “This grant enables Operation Food Search to address a cyclical problem—the lack of nutritious food access—with a holistic and sustainable approach.”
“Our work with OFS has been an exciting partnership because our students are at the heart of the partnership. OFS has been intentional about including student voice in addressing the local food desert challenges,” said Normandy Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles J. Pearson. “Plans for the NHS teaching farm, the planned market, and the learning kitchen are all the result of our students wanting to learn more – not just for themselves, but for the improvement of our community. In their words, they want to be ‘part of the solution and leave a legacy.’”
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Third Annual Saint Louis Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Film Festival to take place
Cinema St. Louis (CSL) and the Saint Louis Science Center will host the third edition of their science-fiction and fantasy short film contest – an opportunity for regional filmmakers to let their imaginations shine. This year’s edition has a Mega Monster Movie focus.
This juried competition will award cash prizes to the top three entries: $500 for Best of Fest and $200 each for Best Sci Fi and Best Fantasy selections. The winning shorts will then be featured at the Science Center’s First Friday program on May 1 and will screen in the Science Center’s OMNIMAX Theater. In addition to the three cash-prize winners, additional works will be chosen to screen throughout the First Friday program. This year’s First Friday theme is Mega Monster Movies. Filmmakers are encouraged to incorporate a mega monster into their films, along the lines of “Godzilla,” “King Kong,” or “Pacific Rim.”
A four-person jury of film professionals (filmmakers, film scholars, film critics) and a scientist will select the finalists, including both the three cash-prize winners and the additional films. Jury members will be announced on CSL’s website.
Cinema St. Louis will then screen the winning film as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase (SLFS). CSL will also consider other submissions for inclusion in SLFS, held annually each July at Washington University’s Brown Hall.
The cash-prize winners and additional works in the program will be announced on Friday, May 1, 2020, at the Science Center’s First Friday: Mega Monster Movies.
CONTEST
Rules & Terms Filmmakers interested in participating must submit shorts that meet the following criteria: • Films must be easily categorized as science fiction or fantasy. • Run a maximum of five minutes, including credits (no minimum running time). • Contain no profane language or offensive imagery; if CSL and the Saint Louis Science Center deem a work inappropriate for viewing by audiences of all ages, it will be eliminated from consideration. • Include sound (e.g., dialogue, ambient sound, effects, and/or music). • All conceivable approaches – including experimental, narrative, and animated– are acceptable. The shorts can be shot in any film or video format, in either color or blackand-white. • Films must have a production date no earlier than 2014. • Films with a monster-film theme are encouraged but not required.
In addition, the following conditions apply: • Filmmakers must have secured rights to any music, words, or images used in the work. • Filmmakers will retain ownership rights to submitted works, but by submitting a short to the competition, a filmmaker grants the Saint Louis Science Center the right to screen the work in its exhibition spaces. Submission of a short does not guarantee its use. • Filmmakers must live within a specified geographical location, which includes the states Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. • All films must be submitted using FilmFreeway with a secure online screener link. No entry fee is required. Submission deadline is March 15.
AroundTown Port of call St. Louis region’s inland port system climbs to number two spot for total tonnage
The latest data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reveals the St. Louis regional ports moved from the third position into the second position for inland port total tonnage in the 2018 rankings. The port system handled 37.4 million tons of commodities over the course of the year, a 13.2 percent increase over the prior the year.
Just 1.1 million tons separated it from the top position, which the Port of Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky held onto, despite a drop in its total tonnage for the year. The rise in the rankings adds to the accolades for the St. Louis region, which continues to rank as the most efficient inland port district in the nation in terms of tons moved per river mile. During 2018, the St. Louis region’s barge industry handled more than 534,000 tons per mile along the 70 miles that make up the port system. The system also has the second highest concentration of port facilities per mile of all inland ports, contributing to growing awareness of a 15-mile stretch of the Mississippi River that flows through southwestern Illinois and eastern Missouri at St. Louis known as the Ag Coast of America.
“For you as a region to come up to number two for total tonnage is a real accomplishment, but it’s not surprising as St. Louis has been gaining for a while,” said Ken Eriksen, Senior Vice President with IHS Markit, a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide.
Eriksen notes there are several things contributing to the positive trends for the St. Louis region’s port system, among them the fact that there is only one set of locks between St. Louis and Asia, and that is the Panama Canal. He also highlighted the deeper draughts that allow for barges to be loaded heavy, rail access in the region from both sides of Mississippi River and the presence of six Class I railroads, the surplus supply of grain available and the available supply of corn that can come to the river all the way from Minneapolis. He adds that there is also growing demand from Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand that want to source from the Mississippi River system, which is recognized for better soybeans with higher protein and better oil quality. “The St. Louis region has become a vital spot on the map from the grain perspective,” Eriksen said.
Corn, soybeans and unclassified oilseeds were certainly among the commodities that contributed to the increased tonnage moving through the St. Louis area ports, but crude oil was also up significantly over 2017 as the United States became a net exporter of oil, and iron ore more than doubled, likely tied to the resumption of operations at U.S. Steel’s facility in Granite City, Illinois.
The region’s commitment to investing in its freight network is key to accommodating continued growth in tonnage.
“We know when we do not invest in infrastructure, nothing moves. When we do, it creates the opportunity for optionality,” said Eriksen. “Infrastructure is everything. It supports rolling and floating assets alike. We see more coming into the St. Louis area to take full advantage of the optionality here and get the most favorable price.” The latest data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reveals the St. Louis regional ports moved from the third position into the second position for inland port total tonnage in the 2018 rankings. SUBMITTED PHOTO
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Blazing their own path Teenage entrepreneurs look to inspire more young girls into starting their own businesses
BY CHARLOTTE BEARD
In these latter years, more youth are coming on the scenes as entrepreneurs. Unlike school guidance counselors 20 to 30 years ago who were still only encouraging students to focus on obtain- ing a job in Corporate America, Aunya McElroy, Jury Elementary School counselor in the Hazelwood School District encourages youth to consider entrepreneurship early in life.
McElroy invited 18-year-old entrepreneur, Kaniya Slusher, a Ferguson-Florissant McCluer High School graduate and clothing design business owner, to facilitate her workshop for girls, “De- sign Me a Donut: An Entrepreneur Workshop.” The workshop took place at Jury on Jan. 30.
Slusher, who hopes to facilitate the workshop at other schools, states that the workshop allows attendees to explore their passion and “niche.” In addition, she incorporates some of her fashion design sketches into the workshop which allows the girls to have some hands-on training in that arena.
“Also, they get to design a donut,” stated Slusher. “It is a sublimi- nal message with the plain donut being them now and the topping (is) what I am installing into them (during the workshop) to be the best version of themselves.”
In addition to an actual donut pastry that attendees are design- ing, Slusher shares her background and business knowledge with attendees which includes a Q and A.
“Their parents got to sit in as well,” Slusher stated of the work- shop at Jury Elementary. “After the workshop I did an evaluation sheet so I could get some data on how beneficial it is to young girls. The girls loved it. They wanted it to be for more days. It was a little sad seeing the girls ask me to come back the next day and know- ing that it was a one-day event, it kind of urged me to want to get this out as much as possible so I can do more days at these schools with these girls. Some girls come from homes where no one ever asks them what they want to do in their future, they’ve never heard of the things that I speak of with them, or the importance of entre- preneurship, or (how to) figure out their passion.”
When asked about her first venture or what motivated her to become an entrepreneur, Slusher stated, “I never said, ‘I want to be an entrepreneur,’ because I saw other people doing it – I hon- estly didn’t see anyone doing it. I just always wanted to make my own money. I used to work at flea markets selling CDs; I used to do a (variety of things). My first experience as an entrepreneur was doing my first fashion show. It was very successful, and it was an amazing event, so I just continued it. I continued to educate myself with sewing. Now I don’t have to sew and can have someone do it for me and (I) make my designs. Starting off, I had to educate myself in the industry I was wanting to partake in.”
Slusher shared that her first fashion show was at the age of 13, where she modeled clothes. Following her first show she began to design clothes. Though she doesn’t include the experiments of her preteen years as part of her entrepreneurial track where she was
selling “slushy” jars and doing bake sales, she states that those beginnings gave her knowledge for what she is doing now.
Slusher’s inspiration for fashion comes from a family member. “I had a cousin that modeled; I always saw her in shows,” stated Slusher. “So, I always wanted to model. When I was trying to make some money for the summer, I was just brainstorming ideas. In my mind it just popped up – a fashion event. When I did it, I found out that was something I couldn’t live without doing. I researched all night and educated myself within the industry. I kept planning more shows and kept doing more fashion events. I went out and networked young and early and independently. And it led me to better opportunities along the years.”
In addition to creating logos as residual income, Slusher uses her other passion for sculpting and enhancing eyebrows to fund her Varamel online fashion store (@varamelofficial on Instagram). She shared that her hate for the job she once had at McDonald’s and finding it to not be enough to fund her fashion venture, led her to an opportunity to use her natural skill in a salon whose owner also taught her additional skills. Eventually she began to branch out from the salon to provide services independently, as well.
Slusher, who was recently interviewed on STL TV’s City Corner, shared that long-term she would like to be involved in more speaking events, facilitate more ‘Design Me a Donut’ workshops, and collaborate with a global organization. In addition, she has hopes to obtain her own brow shop in her present community and incorporate her personal brand into luxury fashion shows.
The workshop at Jury also showcased 13-year-old Tamia Coleman-Hawkins, founder and CEO of Mia’s Treats Delight. Coleman-Hawkins, seventh-grader at Hazelwood Northwest Middle School, has been operating her business since she was eight years old.
At the workshop she spoke to the attendees about being a young entrepreneur and girl boss.
“I started baking with my grandma when I was four,” shared Coleman-Hawkins. “All my life my mom’s been telling me to be my own boss when I (become) an adult. When I was in the third grade I took an economics class at a gifted school. After that class I told my mom that I didn’t want to wait until I became an adult to start my business; I wanted to start it then.”
Coleman-Hawkins’ treats can be found featured on her Facebook and Instagram pages (@miastreatsdelight).
Coleman-Hawkins has the support of her mom to do the business from their home. The only stipulations for her running the business from home is that she cannot ship products and there is a limit on how much money she earns.
As a young entrepreneur, Coleman-Hawkins juggles school and management of her business.
“I usually only take orders over the weekend because of school,” stated Coleman-Hawkins, “unless I’m out of school or on a break. I make extra batter if I have an event, or if I have a lot of orders, I make a lot of batter (on the weekend) so that I have it during the week in case someone does (place an) order. Then we can just put it in the oven and deliver it. During the week my mom puts a lot of cookies in the oven so that I can do my homework.”
In addition to being her own boss, Coleman-Hawkins expressed that charitable causes are important to her. Currently she serves on the 2019-2020 Kid Board of Directors for KIDBOX (www.kidbox.com), a kid board that was also served by Naomi Wadler, the D.C. elementary student who became known for her speech at the March for Our Lives in 2018. KIDBOX is an online subscription clothing box of name brand apparel and accessories, hand selected by the KIDBOX team. For every $98 KIDBOX that a patron keeps, the organization donates new clothing to children in need. It is stated that Coleman-Hawkins shared items to take home from KIDBOX with workshop attendees.
As Coleman-Hawkins grows Mia’s Treats Delights, she would like to use the business to help end the fight on homelessness, as well as other charitable causes.
“Eventually I do want to get a brick-and-mortar (for Mia’s Treats Delights). I want to have my cookies in stores.”
In addition to Coleman-Hawkins’ Facebook and Instagram pages, she can be followed on Twitter at @MiaTheKidBaker or reached by email at miatreatsdelights@gmail.com. In addition to Slusher’s Instagram page, she can be followed on Twitter at @KaniyaSlusher. (Left) Tamia Coleman-Hawkins presents at the “Design Me a Donut: An Entrepreneur Workshop” at Jury Elementary School. (Right) (From left) Tamia Coleman-Hawkins stands next to Aunya McElroy, Jury Elementary School counselor and Kaniya Slusher
