StreetScape Magazine Fall 2008

LOCAL STREET HAPPENINGS

Education 2008 St. Charles County High Schools

Farmer Wants a Wife Finds “Real” Love in Prime Time

Keeping Animals in Line Animal Chiropractor

Dave Pelzer Resilience of the Child Called “It”

FALL

2008 A Complimentary Publication Celebrating Local People and Events

CONTENTS

F E A T U R E S

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Fall 2008 26 42 48 58 62

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| KEEPING ANIMALS IN LINE— Animal Chiropractor | EDUCATION— St. Charles County High Schools

| PAIRING CELLARS WITH VINEYARDS— Missouri’s Wine Country | DAVE PELZER— Resilience of the Child Called “It” | TOP BANANA— Speed Racer’s Chim Chim is Native Missourian | FARMER WANTS A WIFE— Finds “Real” Love in Prime Time | ABC’S 20/20 FILMS EPISODE AT BRIDGEWAY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

D E P A R T M E N T S

58

4 6 10 14 20 25 32

| COMMENTARY | FEATURED ARTIST | DYNAMIC DUO | HEALTH WATCH | NEIGHBORHOODS | YOU CAUGHT OUR EYE

35 36 46 55 56 63

| FEATURED MUSIC ARTIST | BEST SHOPPING FINDS | SEASONAL HUNT | YOU CAUGHT OUR EYE | HEALTH AND FITNESS | CALENDAR

| A LA CARTE

ON THE COVER | Brittany Brown, Fort Zumwalt East High School, Class of 2010 Photography: Michael Schlueter

Please Note: The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. This disclosure is required by rule of the Supreme Court of Missouri.

STREET SCAPE MAGAZINE |3

BEHIND THE SCENES

C O M M E N TA RY

Fabulous Fall!

Welcome to the ninth edition of Streetscape Magazine! As always, we invite you to come as our reader and stay as our friend. It’s hard to believe that three years have come and gone since we introduced St. Charles County to the newest and best news on the street.

The second annual Urban Expressions: A Vine Affair Fashion Show and Wine Tasting is upon us. Streetscape is again proud to sponsor this event for women’s charities in St. Charles County. Last year, Streetscape supported the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign. For 2008, we’ll put on the show on September 18 for Our Lady’s Inn and Connections to Success—both amazing organizations that benefit women locally.

As always, the event will include a wine tasting and urban fashions from local boutiques modeled by local celebrities and professionals. Urban Expressions will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., September 18 at the chapel at New Town St. Charles. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased on line at www.streetscapemag.com.

In this issue, we thought it only fair to give equal billing to our primate friends, since we covered the National Tiger Sanctuary in our Summer edition. This edition will showcase the home of beloved Kenzy, the three-year-old chimpanzee from Festus, MO who plays Chim Chim in the new blockbuster Speedracer.

Also, in this edition, we are featuring David Pelzer, renowned author of “A Child Called It” in hopes of inspiring personal triumph. Though tortured and nearly starved to death by his own mother, Pelzer has shown the world what the human spirit can overcome. He has used his own tragedy to promote awareness of child abuse and to show what good can come from adversity.

St. Charles County has come center stage on primetime television of late with its own Bridgeway Counseling Services being featured on ABC’s “20/20” and earlier this year when CW’s “Farmer Wants a Wife” rolled into West Alton.

Individuals and business owners alike were utilized for the latest reality show portraying a West Alton native farmer who seeks out a city girl to learn his country boy ways. Read in this issue, how the show impacted county businesses who were beckoned to teach the would-be brides how to bake pies and make quilts.

So what’s new at New Town? For one thing, T. Alderson’s City Services Diner—a memorial of sorts to the man who operated one of St. Charles’ most beloved diners for decades.

Ameristar is again making headlines with the opening of its new $265 million, 7,000square-foot full-service casino resort spa. Ameristar has also opened 400 over-sized suites and an indoor-outdoor pool enveloped by fountains, landscaped grounds and cabanas.

“Art the Vote” debuted in St. Louis this summer. The endeavor—which will include 70 billboards across Missouri done by national artists--seeks to educate the general public on the importance of exercising their right to vote.

Come journey with us for some of Missouri’s best wine and winemakers and where to find them.

Streetscape has started a new department focusing on healthcare and the latest technologies available in St. Charles County. Our first installment in this edition features the Turbo Elite Excimer Laser by Spectranetics for the treatment of peripheral artery disease.

PUBLISHER & FOUNDER TOM HANNEGAN Tom, Co-Owner of Hannegan Real Estate & Construction, LLC holds a master’s degree from Lindenwood University. Hannegan shares his passion for real estate, community volunteering, and his appreciation of St. Charles in Street Scape magazine.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ROBIN SEATON JEFFERSON Robin has been a writer/journalist for more than 15 years working in print and electronic media. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from UM–St. Louis, with minors in writing and criminal justice.

ANN HAZELWOOD Ann is the owner of Patches, Etc. on Historic Main Street in St. Charles, Missouri. Hazelwood is an accomplished quilt author, historian, and appraiser with several titles to her credit.

MONICA ADAMS Monica is a certified personal trainer and hosts a health and fitness show Sunday afternoons on KMOX Radio, and is the traffic reporter for FOX 2 News in the Morning. Monica is a St. Louis native who enjoys entertaining family and friends, and doing charitable work.

NATALIE WOODS Natalie Woods is the owner of Daisy Clover Boutique in Webster Groves. Her goal at the store is to help make women look better and feel better in clothes. She is also obsessed with getting women in the right pair of jeans.

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS MICHAEL SCHLUETER Michael photographs people and places for advertising and corporate accounts locally and nationally.

“The exploration and discovery process is what keeps photography so exciting for me.”

And last but certainly not least, meet the 20 Xtreme 20 Youth Award recipients for 2008.

Streetscape is growing! We welcome Chris Koch to our graphics department; and Amy Armour to our editorial department.

As always, you can view Streetscape Magazine at www.streetscapemag.com. To be added to our mailing list for Streetscape’s online newsletter, please send an email to tom@streetscapemag.com with the word “subscribe” in the subject line.

Be Thankful, Be Passionate, Life is not only good it is GREAT!

4|STREET SCAPE MAGAZINE

Street Scape Magazine would like to thank the First Student bus company for supplying the bus for the cover photo.

BEHIND THE SCENES ADVISORY BOARD Deborah Alessi Mary Banmiller Susan Berthold Nadine Boon Diane Burkemper Erica Butler Jody Cox Ann Dempsey Barbara Drant Cindy Eisenbeis Sally Faith Lorna Frahm Bill Goellner Sheryl Guffey Mary Lou Hannegan Grace Harmon Ann Hazelwood Chris Hoffman Jason Hughes Jan Kast Mike Klinghammer Martha Kooyumjian Caryn Lloyd Jeremy Malensky Nancy Matheny

Denice McKeown Bob Millstone Sandy Mohrmann Suzanne Matyiko Maurice Newberry Craig Norden Grace Nichols Toekie Purler Sue Riddler Kathy Robertson Marc Rousseau Rocco Russo Richard Sacks Keith Schneider Bob Schuette Teri Seiler Joyce Shaw Kelley Scheidegger-Barbee Scott Tate Karen Vehlewald Aleece Vogt Brian Watkins Brian Wies Mary West Gail Zumwalt

ADVERTISING JUDY PETERS Judy has been a PR and marketing professional for many years and now joins the Streetscape Sales staff as an Account Manager. Contact Judy by email at judy@streetscapemag.com or 636-448-2074.

DISTRIBUTION Call Tom Hannegan at 636-916-4386 or via email at tom@streetscapemag.com Distributed to: Chesterfield, Cottleville, Dardenne Prairie, Maryland Heights, Lake St. Louis, St. Charles, St. Peters, New Town, O’Fallon, Weldon Spring, Wentzville, Wright City and Warrenton.

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Volume 3, Issue 3 • Fall 2008 TPH Media 223 North Main Street, St. Charles, Missouri 63301 PHONE 636-916-4386, FAX 1-866-231-6159 WWW.STREETSCAPEMAG.COM Any reproduction of Street Scape magazine or its contents requires publisher’s prior written consent. Street Scape magazine aims to ensure that information is accurate and correct at all times but cannot accept responsibility for mistakes. Street Scape magazine reserves the right to refuse any advertisement and assumes no responsibility for submitted materials. Unsolicited material must include a self-addressed stamped envelope. © 2006 TPH Media. All Rights Reserved.

STREET SCAPE MAGAZINE |5

FEATURED ARTIST

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

Fraser Leonard Freedom of expression

He describes himself as the “Picasso, the Bruce Lee and the Mozart of the art world.”

His mother was an artist. His father could “make anything out of nothing.” So it's no surprise Abstract Expressionist Fraser Leonard excelled in the arts. “Daddy was a tax collector, a court reporter. He worked in the Iowa State Employment Office. He could make anything out of nothing.”

Leonard was born in Atlanta, GA just 13 days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He lived all over Georgia. He taught art for over three decades in the Ferguson/Florissant School District.

Leonard has a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the University of the Ozarks and continued his graduate studies at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and Lindenwood University. He has the equivalent of a master's degree in fine arts in hours, he said.

“A formal education helped, but experience is the key for advancement in creativity and in my career,” he said. “And it also helps to have a voice inside letting you know that what is about to happen is going to be good.”

Leonard's mother trained to be an illustrator at the Florida School of Art and Design. She worked for Macy's Yonker Davis and various department stores. “But daddy wanted her barefoot and pregnant,” Leonard said.

“It's something that God gave me, the freedom of expression,” Leonard said. Both the talent and the freedom sparked early in him. As a child, his mother's gifts of paint by number sets were never done to instruction. “I never stayed inside the lines.

If it said to paint it blue, I painted it green,” he said. “I was going against the grain when I was five years old. I wanted to do it my way. As a child, you're uninhibited and I'm trying to still today be uninhibited as a child and not be controlled by all the other garbage going on around us.”

6|STREET SCAPE MAGAZINE

Leonard has sold over 4,000 paintings all over the world to date. He is an award winning artist dating back to the early sixties. He has had gallery openings from Kansas City to Palm Beach. He now has several galleries throughout the area and showcases his art at the Kodner Gallery and Brewington's Gallery in St. Louis, and The Snap Gallery, Remington's and the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles.

Leonard has enjoyed many one-man shows in several locations in the Midwest. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles and supports the arts in many venues, while making donations to charities that benefit children and families.

Leonard said he is influenced by “things I've seen on television, places that I have been. My work is nature, it's human, it's a conglomerate of our total environment.”

His art is expressed in wood, steel, copper, brass, on stretched canvas with acrylic paints, inks, watercolors and copper enamels. Whether he's “painting in water color or acrylic, welding steel, copper or brass, using wood, plaster or stone, most materials can be used to create intuitive design and compositing when you ask the Lord above for help,” he said.

“My God above, my Jesus above is the one who gives me my sources by repetitions of expressions that I feel very secure in. The mystery of it all is that the canvas is blank or the piece of metal is rusty. It has no purpose except to be manipulated. There's always that excitement waiting to see what is going to happen. It's all intuitive. I never know what's going to happen.”

Leonard said when someone purchases his work, they in affect take his emotions frozen in time, whether dark or light, and “mix their emotions with mine and the beat goes on.”

To view Leonard's work, www.fraserleonard.com. ■

visit

STREET SCAPE MAGAZINE |7

8|STREET SCAPE MAGAZINE

YOU CAUGHT OUR EYE

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Michael Schlueter

It's a common denominator among people who are successful in love, marriage and work. It's faith, and many of the longest running marriages in St. Charles County have it.

Case in Point, Hal and Julie Bartch of St. Charles. “Hal and I both have a deep faith and a commitment,” Julie Bartch said. “It's compromise. It is never easy, but you compromise and count your blessings every day.”

owned the Bogey Hills Golf Course and the Whitmoor Golf Course, introduced the two.

“The first time I met him, I didn't like him, but my girlfriend was going so many places and having so much fun. I was single and working and not having much fun. We just decided to stay together until we didn't want to be together anymore. That was 1976. I was very wrong. It's been a wonderful life. I married a very wonderful man.”

Dynamic Duo Hal and Julie Bartch The Bartch's will have been married three decades in November. They have two sons, Micheal, 26, and Matthew, 21. Micheal is in the teaching assistant program at the University of Montana. He is teaching English and working on his master's degree.

He wants to become an English professor.

Matthew attends the University of South Carolina and is working on an international business and finance degree. He wants to work on Wall Street.

Julie has served as the director of administration and financial management for Duckett Creek Sanitary District for 11 years. She holds a degree in business administration from Lindenwood University. Before coming to Duckett Creek, she was the assistant finance director for the city of Kirkwood.

Hal, a civil engineer, is the president of Pickett, Ray and Silver, a civil engineering and planning firm. He started out as the assistant engineer for St. Charles County.

Later, he served as the city engineer for St. Charles. “I met Ray Pickett when we were having dinner in St. Charles County and he offered me a job. I showed up here in March of 1985 and have been here ever since.”

The Bartch's met while they were both single and living in St. Charles, through mutual friends. Denny Walters, who 10 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

Hal remembers meeting a confident, yet conservative Julie, at a restaurant once famous to the area—Rubin’s and Coco’s. “We went there to watch Monday night football. We were all in our late twenties trying to keep out of trouble,” Hal said.

He said one by one he and his buddies, “all fell by the wayside,” getting married and starting families.

The two were engaged when Hal said Julie called him one afternoon in the Spring of 1978. “She said, ‘What are you doing the Saturday after Thanksgiving? I have the church booked and a band. That’s when we’re getting married’. I think she thought I was getting cold feet.”

president of the St. Charles Community College Foundation Board.

Julie said she credits her sons' successes from a “strong religious upbringing and education.” The two attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart and St. Louis University.

The Bartch's also had a lot of family close by, she said, including aunts, uncles and grandparents. All four of the Bartch’s parents are still living and have been a tremendous influence on their children.

“We had extended support in raising our boys.”

Hal also credits the community in which he and Julie chose to raise their family. “St. Charles County has been a wonderful place to raise a family,” he said. “No matter what is going on—whether you’re having an auction or whatever—there is a great group of people ready to give and get behind it and make things happen. I really think it’s all about family and being in the right place at the right time.” ■

Part of what sold Julie on Hal is his compassion for others, she said. “It is amazing to me how compassionate Hal is for people,” Julie said. “I've always tried to emulate that, being compassionate and understanding to people you work with and who work for you. I think it comes back to you--the Golden Rule. Of course there's a whole lot of luck involved too.”

Hal has served on the Boys and Girls Club of St. Charles County Board of Directors, as well as the Heart Walk . “He really is a behind-the-scenes guy,” Julie said.

Julie is vice president of the Boone Center Board of Directors and

Hal and Julie Bartch

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 11

Keeping Animals in Line Animal Chiropractor Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

Would it surprise you to know that Dachshunds have more spinal problems than Canine breeds because of their longer bodies? Or that hip dysplasia, a congenital hip defect, affects larger dogs because of the improper range of motion in their bodies?

Or that cats sometimes need chiropractic too, although less frequently because they are more flexible and have a better suspensory system?

All these attributes of our lovable friends contribute to problems that a local chiropractor is now attempting to relieve in St. Charles County.

People have been using chiropractors for over a century. A natural healing art and science based on the fact that the human body has recuperative self-healing capabilities, chiropractic offers up the notion that there is a correlation between skeletal structure and optimum bodily function.

The inter-dependence of structure and function and the relationship between the nervous system, particularly 12 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

the spinal nerves and the rest of the body, is the core element of chiropractic's approach to healing and wellness.

People have for years been swearing to their medical doctors that the purveyors of the second largest health care profession in the world do in fact alleviate their pain. Now Dr. Terry Surtin, of St. Peters, is making chiropractic available to animals as well.

Dr. Surtin said although a pet can't tell you how he or she is feeling, they can show you in other ways that they are hurting. “Because you and your pet share a bond, you can easily recognize the signs that they would benefit from a visit to a chiropractor,� he said.

Animals are part of the family and when they hurt, their owners hurt too. Just as in humans, the goal of chiropractic care for animals is to locate and give treatment to the part of the spine and skeletal system that is causing the inflexibility and pain.

Spinal nerve and musculo-skeletal problems can cause pain, crying, whining, lack of interaction, limping, immobility, appetite

loss, lethargy and hiding in animals, Dr. Surtin said. Animals, like humans, can have headaches, jaw pain, mid and lower back pain, constipation and problems with their limbs.

Chiropractic can resolve disc problems in the neck, lower and mid back of animals.

Headaches and pain in the wrists, elbows, shoulders and toes can also be helped by chiropractic.

Dr. Surtin has been practicing chiropractic for 34 years. He's a graduate of Logan College of Chiropractic. Through the years, he said he has witnessed the positive changes that his service brings to his human patients. A few years ago he decided to try to help his animal companions as well. So he pursued his board certification in animal chiropractic.

Many of Dr. Surtin's clients are horses, specifically competitive horses—Barrell Racing, Jumping, Dressage and Racing.

The training & competition is tough on them, especially their spines.

Dr. Surtin's interest in animal chiropractic

began when his own dog, Indie, had a neck problem. He took her to five different veterinarians, including the veterinary school at the University of Missouri at Columbia. None of them was able to solve her problems. “Her front left leg was knuckling under. Out of desperation, I started adjusting her neck,” Dr. Surtin said. “She actually started getting better.”

After that, he completed the 18-month curriculum in 6 months, becoming board certified in Animal Chiropractic through IVCA. Dr. Surtin has been practicing chiropractic on animals ever since. He was even asked once to adjust an alligator from an animal rescue sanctuary. The alligator's head was stuck in an upward position. “I thought, 'Great, I just got board certified and I'm going to get my hands chopped off by this alligator',” Surtin joked. The animal did get better on its own and the adjustment wasn't necessary, but Surtin said he was ready to go.

Dr. Surtin said Dachshunds, Corgis and Bassett Hounds have many disk problems in their necks and backs because of the length of their bodies and the distance between their legs. “Their spines suffer a sheering force,” he said.

Dr. Terry Surtin

Larger dogs may suffer from congenital hip problems call Hip Dysplasia.

Although chiropractic can not cure this problem, it can alleviate some of the pain they experience from the improper range of motion in everyday activities.

To adjust an animal, like a human, Dr. Surtin will determine the cause and push down from the back to the front along the vertebral column and off to each side adjusting the vertebrae at specific angles along the spine.

Dr. Surtin adjusts animals at the Fischer Animal Hospital at 117 Birdie Hills Rd. in St. Peters. For more information or appointments, call 636-240-7646.

Humans needing adjustments may call his office at 4127 Mexico Rd. in St. Peters, at 636-441-5700. Dr. Surtin sees horses at their stables, and regularly at Indian Creek in Wright City and at Great Griffin Farms and Caitlyn Farms, both in Wentzville. Call 636-441-5700 to schedule a visit. ■ S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 13

HEALTH WATCH

SSM Introduces High Tech Turbo Elite Excimer Laser Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Michael Schlueter

Vascular surgeons at the SSM St. Joseph Vascular Institute at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles are helping pioneer the use of a new minimally invasive laser therapy for critical cases of peripheral artery disease (PAD). The treatment, began in January, is offered at only two other institutions in the St. Louis area.

The device comes in different sizes, said Todd Neuberger, a vascular surgeon at St. Joseph. “It helps get into smaller arteries farther down in the leg to improve blood flow and to get rid of circulation-related leg pain or to help heal wounds.”

Neuberger said some patient's circulation is so poor that they develop sores or ulcers on

14 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

their feet due to the poor blood supply. By using the new laser, “we can avoid surgery, cuts and incisions,” he said.

Peripheral artery disease is a condition similar to coronary artery disease and carotid artery disease, except that the restriction of blood supply is most commonly found in the arteries of the pelvis and legs, rather than in the arteries which supply blood to the heart. The new laser— the Turbo Elite Excimer by Spectranetics— has been successful in treating patients with critical limb ischemia (restriction of blood supply) and claudication (pain or tired feeling).

Before the laser treatment was available, people with severe PAD were treated with surgical bypass. Those with less severe PAD are treated with minimally invasive

procedures such as angioplasty or stent replacement. An angioplasty procedure uses a small balloon that is inflated into the blocked artery; a stent is a tiny wire mesh cylinder that is implanted to keep the artery open.

Neuberger said the new laser procedure involves a small fiber optic catheter that is plugged into the Excimer Laser unit and moved to the top or cap of the blockage in the artery. When the catheter reaches the blockage site, it transmits short bursts of cool ultraviolet energy through the flexible fibers of the catheter.

The ultraviolet energy penetrates the top of the lesion, vaporizing a small portion of the blockage and then is moved slowly through the rest of the blockage, vaporizing it an one millimeter per second, Neuberger said.

Once the blockage is cleared, the catheter is withdrawn and X-ray contrast dye is injected into the blood vessel, allowing the physician to assess the results of the procedure, he said.

Procedures for PAD, including the Excimer Laser procedure, are performed in the Vascular Institute's Endovascular Suite in the hospital's operating room. Completed in 2005, the suite houses the latest technology that enables exceptional visualization of arteries and veins. The equipment allows surgeons to perform complex vascular procedures.

“This all centers around making things more endovascular as opposed to open surgical bypass. The recovery time is shorter. The hospital stays are shorter. And the patient has a much faster return to normal activity,” Neuberger said. “When we are successful with an endovascular procedure, people can return to normal activity a day later as opposed to weeks later with normal surgery.”

Some 75 percent of the St. Joseph Vascular Institute's work is endovascular, Neuberger said. “It's fixing problems from inside the artery or vessel versus making an incision.”

With so many procedures being done endovascularly, surgery becomes the treatment of last resort, but it does give physicians an “ace in the hole,” Neuberger said.

Like all new technology, the new FDAapproved laser treatment is not cheap, Neuberger said. It is however covered by Medicare and most insurances, he said.

For more information about the Vascular Institute, call 636-949-7225. ■

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 15

Education 2008 St. Charles County High Schools

Story by Amy N. Armour Photo by Michael Schlueter

Ready or not--it’s time for students to turn in their pool pass for a student ID. School is just around the corner, and local high schools are ready to kick start the fall session with some new programs, curriculum and athletics to stimulate its incoming students.

Fort Zumwalt East High School Fort Zumwalt East High School opened in 2007 to accommodate the explosive growth in St. Charles County and relieve the overcrowded classrooms at Fort Zumwalt South and Fort Zumwalt West high schools.

“It went wonderfully well to open this building in August 2007,” said Henry St. Pierre, principal at Fort Zumwalt East High School. “We had full access to virtually the whole building, which was a luxury we didn’t have when West opened…It made the transition a lot easier coming into a ‘whole’ high school…it made everyone excited about their school.”

The 230,000-square-foot East High School sits on 44.5 acres of land, formerly known as Koenig’s Farm, on the corner of First Executive Drive and Mexico Road in St. Peters.

Bill Weber, assistant superintendent, facilities and construction, said “the building really works with the hillside.” The main entrance to the building is actually on the third floor. The third floor houses the administrative offices, the principal’s office, 16 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

the school resource officer, the auditorium and the commons area, which includes the cafeteria. Students will attend classes, in the 85 traditional classrooms located on the fourth and fifth floors. The first floor basement includes locker rooms, and industrial and video technology labs. And it was designed specifically on the ground floor so that the exit leads from the locker rooms directly outside to the stadium facilities.

The high school will eventually be the daytime home to up to 1,500 students. The school opened last year with a total of 600 freshmen and sophomore students and will add 300 incoming freshmen for the 200809 school year. Reaching capacity in 20092010 as its charter sophomore class become seniors.

West High School felt the most relief from the construction of East High. The high school had around 2,500 students who were crammed into overcrowded classrooms and outdoor ‘temporary’ trailer classrooms, while the school was really only equipped to accommodate about 1,800 students. St. Pierre said about 300 students from West High, along with another 300 from South High, were relocated to East High when it opened last year. The district shifted the attendance boundary lines to create a district for East High. Some students were relocated from South or West High school, but were given the option to remain at the school at which they started.

“The greatest benefit has been to get enrollment numbers down to a more manageable number,” said St. Pierre.

When the school was opened last year, all of the activities began as well. The band started the first year, along with all of the sports and

club activities, orchestra and choir.

“We fully believe the students at East High have the same opportunities that the students at West High have,” said St. Pierre.

“I look forward to another great year and many more to come.”

Duchesne High School Duchesne High School will welcome 600 students back to school this fall, as well as a brand new girls’ swimming team. This will be the first year for the girls’ swimming team, who will practice at the Boys & Girls Club. Nancy Repking, principal at Duchesne, said there was a lot of interest in the new sport for the girls.

Duchesne has also added an Asian Studies course in its social studies program that will begin this year. “In today’s world it’s important to know about what’s happening in Asia,” said Repking. “China is such a huge force in the economy.”

A new capital campaign will kick off this fall, to bring air conditioning and additional technology to the school. The school sent out a multitude of surveys to parents, faculty and students to determine the most important needs for the school and technology and air conditioning in the school were the top two priorities.

“We’re looking to get more smart boards, along with more computers available to students,” said Repking. “Eventually we’d like to have interactive computer labs in more than just the science department.”

Repking said eventually the school would like the capability of checking out computers to students at a computer lab.

St. Charles West High School St. Charles West will open its classroom doors to 955 students this fall. Most of the classes will remain the same, but Principal Kim Fitterling is hoping the grades will continue to go up this year.

Last year, the school implemented a program called Tribe Time to specifically help students who were failing a class. Tribe Time required students to return to the class they were failing for a class period once a week to get extra help or assistance from the teacher. Students were required to meet every week until the grade was brought above failing.

Fitterling said in the one year since implementing Tribe Time, the school reduced the failure rate—number of students getting an ‘F’ grade—by 40 percent. St. Charles West will continue the program on a periodic basis and compliment it with a new program called ‘Plus Time.’

Barat Academy Nearly everything will be brand new at Barat Academy this fall.

The private, independent Catholic high school opened its doors just last year to its charter class of 85 freshmen.

Debby Watson, president of Barat Academy, is hoping to bring the student body count up to 150 for the next school year when it adds its new freshmen class.

“Next year, we will bring even more of our philosophy to life,” said Watson.

Barat Academy is unique in that the campus is co-ed, but the classrooms are single-gender.

“Educational research shows that boys and girls learn differently,” said Watson. There are different techniques that can be used to teach boys and girls, she said.

At Barat Academy the class sizes

are limited to 18 students or less. “We work with our kids to make the educational experience personalized instead of kids fitting into a common denominator,” said Watson.

Watson said the academy holds its students to very high educational standards. “We follow a very rigorous and demanding educational model,” said Watson. “Barat Academy is a college preparatory school and 100 percent of the students will go to college.”

Lutheran High School Lutheran High School will be home to 330 students for the upcoming school year.

Lutheran High School will also continue a unique and popular program that has been a staple for the last 10 years. The Jeremiah Program was started at Lutheran High in 1998 to give special students the opportunity to attend a college preparatory high school. Each year six students with Down Syndrome or other mental disabilities are accepted into the program.

Students take one-half or onethird of the number of classes an average student takes with help from a special education teacher who is provided by the Lutheran Association of Special Education. “We are the only high school level with the education to address these special needs,” said Larry Marty, Lutheran High School Principal.

With all of the new programs and curriculum, students in St. Charles should prepare themselves for some serious studying.

The 2008-2009 school year begins! ■

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 17

Jake’s on Main:

Street Scape Magazine’s Xtreme 20 Awards April 13 | Street Scape Magazine honored 20 outstanding youth in St. Charles County at the Foundry Art Centre with its second annual Xtreme 20 Awards.

By recognizing these young people, we hope to encourage others to step out and go to the Xtreme to accomplish their goals.

Jake's on Main is your greater St. Charles area “Life is good” Genuine Neighborhood Shoppe. Jake’s on Main is dedicated to spreading optimism and good vibes through top quality fun and casual lifestyle merchandise.

Visit Jake’s on Main at www.jakesonmainstcharles.com.

636-714-9992

Special thanks goes to keynote speaker and founder of The Newberry Group, Brenda Newberry who encouraged winners to set priorities and reach for the stars. Also, thanks to Travena’s for catering the brunch buffet.

Special thanks to the following companies for their support of the 2008 Xtreme 20 Youth Awards:

Community Living: Community Living, Inc. is a nonprofit agency that has been providing life-enriching services to people with disabilities in St. Charles, Missouri, since 1978. The agency offers programs and resources that assist people in becoming active, contributing members of their community while leading lives filled with dignity and purpose. www.cliservices.org - 636-970-2800

Santo Lubes: SantoLubes LLC, manufacturers of Santovac, Santotrac and Santolubes products offer unique and innovative synthetic lubricants and greases that provide solutions for difficult applications. These lubricants and greases are used where extreme high temperature, chemical inertness, radiation resistance and difficult lubrication problems are encountered. Santovac, Santotrac and Santolubes line of lubricants and greases are designed to protect critical components in a large number of applications.

Contact Santo Lubes at 636-723-0240 or www.santolubes.com, for your most difficult lubrication problems. Their engineers and chemists would be delighted to talk to you.

Thank you also to sponsors Sonny and Toekie Purler for their generous support of St. Charles County youth.

Also, thanks to Susan Berthold, Remington’s; Kelly Brewer, stylist; Debbie Hudelsn, Mary Kay Sales Director; St. Charles City Government; St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau; The Foundry Art Center; Blue Sky Apparel; Garvey Team Orthodontics; First State Bank; US Bank; River City Rascals; Denny & Associates; Main Street Books; Red Robin; and Nurses & Company.

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Congratulations to the Xtreme 20 Winners: Paul Amiri, Erin Bekebrede, Danny Brougham, Ben Chambers, Matt Eastman, Whitney Eufinger, Danielle Fuchs, Taylor Geisman, Andrew Grafeman, Caleb Krenning, Jane Krienke, Holly Lammert, Shannon Lampkin, Elaina O'Connell, Brandon Otto, Eric Peters, Megan Preuss, Kathleen Riddler, Megan Schmidt and Angie Schneider.

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 19

NEIGHBORHOODS

New Town’s Newest Experiences

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

The New Town Boulevard, with its row houses, general store, a mail center, a market and a town center, promotes walking and riding bicycles. The community feel engages neighbors to become friends.

Residents here shop, live, party and worship all upon the 746-acre site called The New Town at St. Charles.

Modeled after Europe's most charming waterfront cities, The New Town is situated between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers about 25 miles northwest of downtown St. Louis and 3.5 miles north of historic downtown St. Charles.

Traditional neighborhood streets are comprised of a continuous mix of varying architecture.

Waterfalls adorn the lakes in the development and a line of row houses with rear balconies abut a man-made canal giving the perception of seaside living.

Cobblestone bridges bring the small town classical experience together.

The architecture consists of 1,000-to2,000-square-foot single family homes and cottages on 3,000 to 4,000 square foot lots.

National styles including condo/townhome mansions, cottages, row houses, singlefamily homes, detached townhomes, custom homes, live work units, and senior courtyards in all shapes and sizes are available at New Town.

In 15 years, the projected $1.5 billion development will include at least 5,700 homes with over 100 acres of lakes and canals and 70 acres in 26 parks in 10 phases.

So what more could the newest experience in community living have to offer its residents and those surrounding the development? More than you think.

Imagine an urban oasis in the midst of a thriving town. The Shire Lane Pool Club at The New Town at St. Charles is such a place. With a 700-foot winding lazy river, 20 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

New Town Chapel hosts weddings and events including the 2008 ‘Urban Expressions: A Vine Affair.’

junior Olympic lap pool, relaxing leisure pool, children's area and splash pad, scenic waterfall and sunbathing slope, this urban get-a-way was designed by Corban & Goode, a worldrenowned landscape architectural firm out of Toronto, Ontario in Canada and built by Westport Pools.

The New Town at St. Charles is home to one of the best sand volleyball courts in St. Charles County. Located within the first neighborhood center in front of Ruskin O'Brien's Irish Pub at 3244 Rue Royale, the new state-of-the-art $1 million facility features quality Florida white sand which is cool to the touch and does not stick as much as other sands. The 100-by-100-foot-square facility is split into two courts. The dual purpose venue is planned to be an ice skating rink during the winter months.

“New Town is becoming another great destination place in St. Charles with a wine bar, diner, Irish Pub and endless entertainment throughout the spring, summer and fall,” said New Town Developer Greg Whittaker. “The state-ofthe-art volleyball courts are yet another attraction that draws people of the city of St. Charles and more specifically New Town. It's great to see so much activity as nearly 40 leagues have signed up.”

Saint Louis Volleyball, Inc., the Midwest's largest organizer of volleyball tournaments and leagues, has been commissioned to run the spring, summer and fall sand volleyball leagues in New Town. The company offers recreational and intermediate leagues Tuesday through Friday evenings. Cost is

$270 per team for a nine-week session.

The sand volleyball courts are available for rent when not in use by the leagues and tournaments. For more information, email bnorton@whittakerhomes.com.

The Domain Street Wine Bar opened in November 2007 at 3301 Domain Street.

The wine bar offers over 100 varieties of wine, including approximately 15 wines by the glass, light food fare, Shakespeare's pizza, beer, specialty coffee drinks and more.

Live music is featured every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.domainstreetwinebar.com.

New Simeon Bunker Condo floor plans have just been released at The New Town that start in the $80,000's. Residents who want to experience The New Town living at a very affordable price can take advantage of these garden condos that will have nine and 10-foot ceilings and quality standard features all while being in walking distance of all The New Town has to offer.

Whittaker Builders Inc. has arranged for transport of the original Presidents Conference Committee streetcars, produced in 1936, from the hillsides of Lake Tahoe in California to St. Charles.

The streetcars, many built by the St. Louis Car Company, will be used throughout The New Town.

Whittaker will incorporate an educational component with plaques and informational handouts, allowing residents and visitors to appreciate the local heritage.

Streetcars used to be as common a mode of transportation as the automobile today. At its peak in the 1920's, ridership grew to 14.8 billion nationwide and St. Louis was no exception. The original PCC cars provided transportation service in St. Louis on routes along Grand, Jefferson, Broadway, Delmar, Manchester, Olive and Forest Park.

Declining passengers allowed St. Louis Public Service to sell the 1700 series to the San Francisco Municipal railway in 1957.

They renumbered these cars into the 1100 series numbers they wear today. The cars continued to provide service until 1982 when they were retired. The cars are 46 feet long and nine feet wide. They seat 53 passengers and can handle more standing.

The city of St. Charles and Whittaker Homes have formed a Trolley Committee and are having initial talks about the possibility of bringing a streetcar system to the city.

T. Alderson's Cities Service Diner is now open at The New Town. The diner is independently owned by brothers Richard and Dan (Jake) Jacobs and is a truly authentic 1940's-style diner with a jukebox featuring songs true to the era. The walls are adorned with WWII memorabilia including a “Salute to Heroes” wall which includes friends and family of The New Town residents and customers who served in the war. The old-fashioned coutertops and chrome stools add a spice of the midtwentieth century style.

(See accompanying story for more details).

The New Town offers Movie Night at the Amphitheater as well as live music night at Ruskin O'Brien's each Friday. Friday night is also Karaoke night at T. Alderson's and the Domain Street Wine Bar. ■

The Shire Lane Pool Club

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 21

A RT T H E V O T E

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Michael Schlueter

Artists are coming together in the first of what organizers hope will be an ongoing art-related endeavor to encourage people to vote. The Missouri Billboard Project is an unprecedented arts-driven, Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort to engage, register and mobilize young voters and the creative community in the 2008 election.

With more than 70 billboards across Missouri, nationally recognized contemporary artists will use their images to highlight the important issues facing the state, the nation and the planet.

The effort will include a website, voter registration events and extensive public awareness and publicity efforts.

Six artists, from Missouri and across the county have created original artwork for billboards that will be leased from September 1 through the 2008 election across the state of Missouri. An additional artist will be selected through an online competition.

Missouri artists are Tom Huck, Peregrine Honig and May Tviet. Martha Rosler of

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Get Out the Vote Artists engage young voters New York, Willie Cole of New Jersey and Mark Newport of Michigan will also contribute.

The artists' images will address contemporary political issues including the environment, the war, the economy, climate change and immigration. All of the billboards will feature the same message: “Vote: Your Future Depends on It” as well as the website, www.arthevote.com.

“We're hoping that other states take this on as well—a national phenomenon if not this year then in the years to come,” said organizer Bunny Burson. “So often artists are asked to donate a piece for a fundraiser and they're never involved or engaged. This way the artist sees that the piece speaks out.”

Burson said getting artists involved in the issues of the day is nothing new. From political cartoonists to painters, artists have always expressed themselves through their work. “Coupling art and politics has happened for centuries with artists getting

involved in the issues of their day,” she said.

Using the billboard campaign and artists as the focal point to promote Art The Vote, an extensive publicity and special events campaign will be launched in the fall to attract local and national media coverage and to energize Missouri's arts community in voter registration and mobilization efforts. There will also be an exhibition and distribution of posters of the billboard images and from the Art of Democracy project at that time.

Throughout the campaign, Art The Vote will work with galleries, arts organizations and arts educators to engage, register and mobilize young voters. ■

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YOU CAUGHT OUR EYE

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Michael Schlueter

He was just a little boy looking for something to do. But the former Boys and Girls Club regular has made a name for himself at Lindenwood University. The Jack Sago Endowed Scholarship Program honors the 22-year-old 2008 graduate of Lindenwood's Biology Department.

“Jack personifies the old adage, 'If you want something done, ask a busy person',” said Marilyn Abbott, dean of Sciences at Lindenwood University.

“Already, Jack has had a more interesting life than most people twice his age.”

Abbott and several other Biology faculty members contributed money to create the $25,000 scholarship. A pledge was also made from Sago's fraternity.

The scholarship, created to provide educational opportunities in the sciences for young women and men and to honor Sago, will yield a $2,000 student scholarship annually and is renewable for up to four years.

Sago started going to the Boys and Girls Club of St. Charles County when he was seven years old. “My parents worked and I just liked that there were always people around and anything that you wanted to do, they made it possible for you to do. I was there almost every day from after school till it closed.”

Sago hopes to earn a graduate degree in biology at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and then pursue a career path that will let him work on issues of global climate change and its human impacts. “I

Lindenwood Endowment Scholarship Boys and Girls Club favorite son named would love to get a job with the EPA, mixing politics with environmental biology and conservation,” he said.

The biology faculty called Sago into the office the day he learned of the scholarship named for him. “They called me into the office and all my faculty were there. I had to fight back the tears. I thought you had to be dead to get something like this. I never thought that at the age of 22, I would have an endowment fund in my name.”

Joe Perisi, dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Lindenwood, said he's proud to have been the one to recruit Sago to the school. “You constantly see other schools awarding grants and scholarships for academics and or athletics, but at Lindenwood we also look at the character, community service or youth leadership participation. We value that just as much as we value academics and athletics.”

Perisi said Sago came to Lindenwood on a full paid tuition scholarship through the school's Million Dollar Scholarship Award Program. The program awards scholarships to youth who have participated in youth leadership and community service programs such as the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, and Girl Scouts and Boys Scouts of America.

“He's an outstanding student leader. This young man has been instrumental in spearheading environmental activism on campus and in the community has supported science activities for the Boys and Girls Club in St. Charles. For me it's inspiring,” Perisi said. “A scholarship from the Million Dollar Scholarship Program at Lindenwood has changed this young man's life.” ■

Sago later became president of the Youth Leadership Program at the Boys and Girls Club.

He said biology was not an easy subject for him. “I always made decent grades. But it wasn't easy. I really had to work,” he said.

Abbott taught General Biology I and Senior Synthesis to Sago. “Jack was a good but not a great student. Jack's main strength is his compassion for others. Since he was a child, he and his family have been involved in helping others in the St. Charles community, particularly through a local soup kitchen and the St. Charles Boys and Girls Club,” she said. “As he learned about the biological world in his college studies, he has incorporated that compassion in developing his career goals.”

Jack Sago

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Pairing Cellars with Vineyards M i s s o u r i ’s W i n e C o u n t r y Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

Wine country. Missouri is prime territory for wine lovers. It's not just about enjoying a basket of cheese and crackers along the rolling hills of Augusta these days. Wine connoisseurs are driving a plentiful market throughout the state, where wine makers and sellers are more than happy to accommodate their needs.

town from the 1780's, said owner Hank Johnson. Ste. Genevieve is known for having the largest collection of French architecture in the western hemisphere, he said.

Replicated houses with wide front porches facing the spectacular views, street lamps, benches and public furniture reflecting the period, sit in the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks not far from historic Ste. Genevieve

When visiting Chaumette Winery be sure to check out the mural to try and find the various birds located throughout the artwork.

270.

The building was actually deconstructed to be replicated in frame at Chaumette. Three tractor trailer loads of material were moved from the site to Chaumette.

“The building was solid masonry on slab,” Johnson said. “It was not movable. We took it all apart except for the brick walls.

The idea was to replicate the building. How could we make a modern building look like it is from the 1780's?

The homes making up The Villages at Chaumette start at $210,000 for 1,270 square feet. They may be used as seasonal homes or residences. The owner may rent out their seasonal home with Chaumette handling the cleaning and maintenance for 50 percent of the rent.

xxx

The Villages at Chaumette in Ste. Genevieve County, MO hearkens potential buyers to “Experience Wine Country Living” in the latest and greatest idea in weekend retreats and quality rural living.

When completed, The Villages will boast a group of twenty-six residential units in fourteen separate buildings surrounded by carefully landscaped and expertly maintained ground—and the vineyards of Chaumette Winery.

Following the architectural style of the earliest French settlers in Ste. Genevieve, the Villages will seem like a French Colonial

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on the Mississippi.

“This is really in response to the demands of our patrons here,” Johnson said. “Almost from the beginning, people were asking when are we going to build a place for them to stay.”

Johnson answered the call. Chaumette has a wine tasting bar, art gallery, gift shop, banquet room and restaurant which opened in the summer of 2003. St. Vincent's-inthe-Vineyard Chapel sits on a hill just a short walk from the tasting room. The little white chapel, which handles nearly 50 weddings per year, was fashioned after The Thompson Center at Ladue Rd. and Hwy.

Johnson said the seasonal homes can be used as retreat space for corporate clients or business events; as an elder hostel, or as a convalescent center for those recuperating from plastic surgery.

Chaumette offers a swimming pool and a fitness facility as well as world-class skin and body treatments normally available at spas that cater to the rich and famous. Belle Haven, The Spa at Chaumette offers Swedish, deep tissue, prenatal, oncology and hot stone massages and reflexology.

Villagers can make special arrangements with Chaumette Vineyards and Winery to

rent a row or more of grapes in the vineyard near their unit and may tend the grapes personally or Chaumette employees will care for and harvest the grapes, and at the end of the season, the winery will produce and bottle the wine for them with their own customdesigned label.

Vintner's Cellar Lee and Regina Ruppert know all about making wine. The husband and wife team and co-owners of Vintner's Cellar of O'Fallon, MO specialize in helping wine lovers make their own wine. Under the guidance of Lee Ruppert, amateur wine makers can use Vintner's international juices to make their own wine, then fill and cork their creations. They can then top it all off with unique custom labels.

Vintner's offers private parties, dinners and team building Hank Johnson of Chaumette Winery exercises.

Degreed in home economics, Regina said she loves said. “People can come in with their to entertain and “most of what we do is company and do team building exercises in entertaining.” wine making. We get a lot of financial planners and bank employees. It's a great “We're really into team building,” Regina activity that sure beats bowling.”

Lee has 15 years of experience as a winemaker and has won a bronze medal in an international wine competition using Barolo juice.

He is most experienced with local Missouri grapes and juice fruits such as plums and cherries and cherry mead.

Lee started his education on wine making through numerous books he received as Christmas presents.

“He joined the Missouri Winemakers Association and learned from old school winemakers,” Regina said.

The Ruppert's use grapes and juices from around the world in their wines—Australia, Italy and Germany. Regina said Vintner's wines are full-bodied with a little more Oak that can be manipulated or made more fruit forward and light in sulphites.

“A lot of people say red wine gives them headaches. That won't happen here. Our wines are more fruit forward with less Oak and tannin,” Regina said. “We don't do fermentation on the skins of the grapes. We use glass and stainless steel tanks.”

Regina said light, medium and heavy toasts are available with American and French Oaks. “The oak is toasted to give it different characteristics. We use chips to put in the wine as it is fermenting. This way, we can control the type and amount of Oak flavor. There is a multitude of tannins and yeast that can be used. Being flexible with those two items gives wine different characteristics as well.”

Vintner's also sells Anheuser Busch products and some German beers as well as O'Fallon Gold Brewery products. Cheese and cracker trays and soda are also available.

Or patrons can bring in their own picnic baskets.

Custom wine with custom labels is Vintner's specialty, Regina said. For $5 gift S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 27

Mary Ann Denninghoff and Mike Plackemeier

buyers can have a photo scanned and added to a custom label on the bottle of their choice.

Growing Grapes Mary Ann Denninghoff was looking for something to do with a tract of land she owned in Columbia, MO when some friends suggested she grow grapes. The friends were winemakers from Montelle Winery. Before she knew it, she was a farmer—a grape farmer that is.

Denninghoff grows grapes for area wineries on 10 acres she owns near Columbia. She's learned a lot about the craft since beginning her vineyard.

First she sought out nurseries in Park Hill, MO that specialize in vines. Bare root stock or plants are available and growers can hand-dig or machine dig the holes. But none of this can take place until the grower has charted her layout for the best wind and sun exposure on a a grid. The vine rows must be planned with eight-foot spacing on 10-foot rows, Denninghoff said.

Denninghoff planted her vines with an auger, cutting a line in the ground and drilling the holes. Vines must be planted before Easter with buds breaking around April 15, she said.

Denninghoff uses Chambourcin, St. Vincent and Cayuga white, all French hybrid plants. But the choice of plants and grapes is all in the personal preference of the wine maker, she said.

Denninghoff said she doesn't think the grapes in other parts of the world are superior to those grown in Missouri. “It's all about matching the grapes to the climate. I think if you have a finicky grape, and the grower works at it, it's as good as

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anywhere,” she said.

Cottleville Wine Sellers

Her grapes are harvested using a shaker machine with beater bars that effectively shake the fruit from the vine.

The grapes are then put on a conveyor belt and sent straight into ½-ton bins.

A local mayor turned wine seller, Don Yarber opened Cottleville Wine Seller in April. The Cottleville mayor, along with business partner Gary Grafeman, bought and rehabbed a 1,200-square-foot house in their city circa 1849. In it, they built a red wine room and a white whine room.

Although the work is hard and the hours long, Denninghoff said she got into the right business. “As a little kid, I always wanted to be a farmer,” she said.

Cottleville Wine Seller offers 140 different labels from Riesling to Cabernet Sauvignon.

The establishment also offers sandwiches named for the founder of Cottleville, Lorenzo Cottle, or the Lorenza sandwich and the Plank Road Sandwich, named for an old road in the city. The winery also

Denninghoff harvests between 30 and 60 tons of grapes per year at about $600 to $1,000 per ton.

offers Anheuser Busch products.

Cottleville Wine Seller features local talent such as Ivan Smith, Terry Beck, Pennsylvania Slim and Gary Sluhan Thursday through Saturday as well as a backyard 20-by-40 heated pavilion with a waterfall and a cozy fireplace.

“I've brought the wine county closer in,” Yarber said. “I think with the price of gas, people are a little more considerable on trying to stay closer to home.”

A former barber from Belleville, referred to as “Yarber the Barber,” Yarber was also a train engineer for 34 years on the Union Pacific Railroad. He was an alderman in Cottleville for three years before becoming mayor. He's been married to Sylvia Yarber for 31 years. “She treats me like a king,” he said. Together, the two have seven children.

Lauren Bowman is Yarber's wine specialist. She said the newest trend in wine making and drinking is the countries from which the grapes are coming.

“These other countries are taking the wine world by storm and they're reasonably priced,” she said. “Most people are used to the California wines. Italian and French wines have been popular for years, but now countries like Chili, Argentina and Australia are getting very popular. The climate in Chili and Argentina, with the humidity and the soil that holds and grows grapes just as well is being recognized. You can grow anything in the

soil in Australia. grapes.”

It really enriches the

Bowman said with the colder, “gray climates” of Europe, Romania, France and Italy, “it takes a lot to get the flavors out of the grapes, to get a great wine from there.”

Bowman said Cottleville Wine Seller offers Vinecol, with 100 percent certified organic wine and corks with recycled paper labels from Argentina.

Screw tops instead of corks are also becoming popular, Bowman said. “So the cork doesn't contaminate the wine and it's easier to transport. You can also store it like you want. If the cork dries out it will often flake or shred and contaminate the wine. The screw tops don't do that.”

Blends of grapes are the latest rage, she said, like the reds, Willy Bend, Shiraz and Grenache blends or the whites, Chardonnay Sauvignon, Tocai and Zuani blends. One has seven different grapes, she said.

“Blends often appeal to everyone,” she said.

Whatever the wine lover fancies, Missouri winemakers and sellers are stepping up to the plate to provide it. Whether it's a weekend getaway or a completely new lifestyle, wineries in the state are educating the noviced to the expert pallet on pairing wines with food, creating one's own vintage and tasting different and various kinds of wine from all over the world. ■

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 29

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2005 that the average age of bicyclists killed in crashes with motor vehicles was 38.5 years, up from 29.5 years in 1995. Eighty-seven percent of those killed were male. Fifty-seven percent of those killed were between the ages of five and 44; 18 percent were under the age of 16.

The administration reported that fatalities had actually dropped between 1995 and 2006. Are cyclists getting the helmet message? Dr. David McCollister, medical trauma director at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, certainly hopes so. But he's not giving up his call to have every man, woman and child in a helmet while riding a bicycle, any time soon.

He remembers working the trauma department 12 years ago when a teenager who had collided with an automobile on Hwy. 94 was brought in. “It was the first day of summer and this kid was on a bike on 94 going to apply for a summer job. He didn't have a helmet on.”

The young man didn't survive the crash.

The traumatic injury to his brain was too severe, McCollister said. “When you put the combination of bikes and cars together with no helmet, you're at high risk. We started looking around the community and found out we were way below the national Just average on wearing helmets.”

workers—to make an informational campaign such as HIP work.

The program must be an ongoing, continuous movement on the part of everyone to get children and adults alike to wear their helmets, he said.

Of 83 million cyclists in the U.S., there are some 750 deaths each year.

“That's two a day from traumatic brain injury,” McCollister said. “A lot of those are bikes versus cars.

Bike injuries account for 580,000 visits to emergency rooms all over the country every day.”

McCollister said people shouldn't forget that other activities such a skating, skateboarding and even skiing, also require helmets. He said when more people are wearing helmets than not, the problem will be a lot closer to a solution. “Remember Sonny Bono hit a tree and was killed,” he said. “A huge peer pressure goes away when more wear them

Drs. McCollister & Penkoske

Another watchdog for helmets is SNELL, McCollister said. “Pete Snell died in a race car accident in the 1950's,” he said. “His family started this foundation that still is the most rigorous quality standard of helmets.”

McCollister said the brain is “pretty well protected” inside the skull and surrounded by a small amount of fluid. “But an impact w h a t t h e d o c t o r o r d e r e d from a fall more than three times your height overcomes that protection of your skull. As you than don't. Helmets now have gotten so hit the ground, your brain keeps moving cool.” just a little bit. It's enough to cause a McCollister said bicycles should come with sheering force. The polystyrene in helmets bike purchases like a seatbelt comes with a absorbs that impact and will prevent 85 car.

Parents should help children percent of traumatic brain injury.”

Helmet Safety

Health workers found a successful program in Seattle, WA and fashioned St. Charles County's program from that. And the Head Injury Prevention (HIP) and “Hey, Where's Your Helmet” programs were born. He said HIP has been very helpful in educating the public to wear helmets, but people forget too easily. “It sort of waxes and wanes and right now we're waning a little bit.”

McCollister said it takes everyone—parents, grandparents, neighbors, teachers, school administrators, police and health care

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individualize their helmets with stickers and such to encourage kids to wear them. And everyone should check the inside of their helmets to see that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has certified the helmet for safety—that the commission has tested the helmet and found it to hold up and do what it's supposed to do, he said.

The rest of the body is “a little more forgiving,” McCollister said. “Spleen injury, broken arms, broken clavicles--all of these for the most part we can fix. The brain we can't. The brain is such an incredibly complex system with all of those pathways and cells. To be as complex as it is, by

BICYCLE SAFETY

tighten the back strap. Make sure the chin strap is snug. Also, adjust the padding thickness and/or position, especially in the front.

3.

Put a hand on each side of the helmet and rock from side to side. Shake your head no as hard as possible. If the helmet slips from side to side, check the padding on sides and make sure straps are evenly adjusted.

4.

Open your mouth (lower jaw) as wide as possible, without moving your head. The top of your helmet should pull down. If it doesn't, tighten the chin strap.

Make sure the front and back strap junction is under each ear.

definition, it has to be fragile. It doesn't always heal exactly right. It's like hitting a computer with a sledge hammer.”

McCollister said that it's interesting that parents wouldn't think of sending their kids off to bat or play football without a helmet, so wearing a helmet during biking and other activities should be a given. But he cautions parents and kids to remember that helmets come off on playgrounds or in trees. The straps can get caught up in the equipment or branches and cause other problems.

Also, once a helmet has been through a major fall it should be replaced, he said.

McCollister said proper fitting is critical to protecting one's brain with a helmet. “The thing has to be fitted so that it covers the frontal and occipital lobes. The front is responsible for our motor skills, personality and memory. The back for our vision.

Make sure it covers all of those parts.”

St. Joseph Hospitals always have a supply of helmets on hand for those who can not afford them or simply didn't have one on when they were involved in an accident.

Thanks to the St. Joseph's Auxiliary, the hospitals have distributed over 11,000 helmets since the HIP program came about.

For more information on obtaining a helmet, call 947-5000.

HOW TO FIT A HELMET PROPERLY: Don't rush a helmet fitting when the child is ready to go out and play. Do it when they are relaxed and you have plenty of time.

Put foam pads inside the helmet so it feels comfortable but really snug. Usually the helmet includes more than one size of foam pads that can be velcroed inside the helmet for a better fit.

5.

Check to see of the front edge of the helmet covers your forehead. The front edge of the helmet should not be more than one to two fingerwidths from your eyebrows. If the helmet does not cover the forehead, position the helmet no more than one to two finger-widths above the eyebrows. Tighten any loose straps. Make adjustments so the helmet stays over the forehead. ■

Tighten the chin strap as snugly as possible. Adjust the junction of front and back straps just under the ears and secure the back strap without putting pressure on the front strap.

Five-Step Helmet Fit Test: 1.

With one hand, gently life the front of the helmet up and back. If the helmet moves back to uncover the forehead, tighten the front strap to junction. Also adjust padding thickness and/or position, especially in the back. Make sure the chin strap is snug. If this doesn't work, the helmet may be too big.

2.

With one hand, gently lift the back of the helmet up and forward. If the helmet moves forward to cover the eyes,

Experience pro cycling in St. Charles on Saturday, September 13, 2008.

TOURofMISSOURI.COM

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A LA CARTE

T. Alderson's Cities Service Diner T h e O l d C o m e s A l i v e a t N e w To w n Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

The only modern aspect of T. Alderson's Cities Service Diner is that it just happens to be located in a wireless hot spot. It's ironic, given the fact that visitors would swear World War II was still going on instead of the conflict in Iraq.

To step into T. Alderson's Cities Service Diner in The New Town in St. Charles is to take a step back in time, or a cruise back is more like it, about 60 years. It's still famous for its chili, meatloaf and chicken pot pie.

Located in New Town in St. Charles, the diner is independently owned by brothers Richard and Dan (Jake) Jacobs and is a truly authentic 1940's-style diner with a jukebox featuring songs true to the era. The walls are adorned with WWII memorabilia including a “Salute to Heroes” wall which includes friends and family of The New Town residents and customers who served in the war. The old-fashioned countertops and chrome stools add a spice of the midtwentieth century style.

The diner is a memoriam of sorts to the Jacobs' grandfather, Thorley Alderson who owned the first 24-hour restaurant in St. Charles for more than two decades. “I can remember stories of the chili because come dove or hunting season, the guys would be lined up outside the door with their lunch pails to take the chili with them,” said Jake Jacobs.

Jake and his brother and sister spent a lot of time in their grandfather's establishment.

“I grew up in that diner. Some of my first memories are of getting my hand smacked for reaching into the pickle jar. I could tell you every song on the jukebox. Number B109 was Wildfire, by John Michael Montgomery. This place is a re-creation of my grandfather's diner,” he said. “It's more expanded. But it's essentially the same.”

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fountain, where real draft soda, mixed soda and phosphates are still made. Some 35 sodas are offered from days gone by in a bottle, such as Cherriewine, Grape Nehi, Nesbitt's Orange, Green River and BubbleUp are just beyond the counter. Alderson's Best Root Beer, the diner's own privately labeled root beer, is offered on draft. And kids can enjoy their favorite malts or floats at the counter or at their tables. To the right, there's Ruby's Candy Counter, named for the Jacobs' Grandma Ruby, showcasing all the candies popular in the mid 20th century.

Jake's sister, Vickie Struckmann, said her brothers chose New Town in St. Charles to house T. Alderson's because of its similarity to the small-town simple life they new as children. “When we drove in here, it was like we drove into old time St. Charles. Just like our slogan says, 'Relive old memories and create new ones along the way.' The reason that is our slogan—call it selfish if you want—is that there were certain things about our childhood that we thoroughly enjoyed and being around our grandparents was one of them.”

The phrase, “See ya later alligator” is still a staple of the restaurant, as Grandpa Alderson would want it. They call the kid's menu the “Little Scufflers Menu” because grandpa used to call them little scufflers.

With a warm and inviting environment, T. Alderson's is draped in period pale greens and creams as well as overhead lighting from days gone by.

The décor is completely 1940's-authentic from the hardwood floors, the Boomerang Formica countertop and tables, to the equipment, stools and chairs.

The staff's uniforms are also period.

During warm weather, the diner offers delivery in the New Town area via a uniform-clad delivery youngster on their custom made 1940's delivery tricycle complete with hot and cold boxes to keep the meal fresh.

Jack Benny welcomes customers over the loud speakers as they listen to his old comedy routines. Other vintage 1940's era comedy shows entertain them as well including Amos and Andy and The Colgate Hour as they enjoy good old fashioned fried chicken and fresh made triple-decker club sandwiches. T. Alderson's breakfast menu includes eggs and omelets, cold cereal, bacon and sausage, waffles and pancakes, biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak as well as the St. Louis original “Slinger”; and lunch and dinner menus offer hot and cold

sandwiches, frankfurters and Hamburg sandwiches and soups and salads. T. Alderson's offers an array of desserts, shakes, malts, floats and phosphates.

An open-air style kitchen reminds visitors of the diners of old where pies could be seen in the mirrors above. The Americanstyle diner seats 52 including 12 counter seats and 10 seats on the floor. The four season patio seats 30.

Customers at T. Anderson's Cities Service Diner won't soon forget their experience at the place when as they head for the door, employees holler, as did Grandpa Alderson before them, “See ya later, alligator.” ■

Featured Burger T. A l d e r s o n ' s C i t i e s Service Diner Triple Cheeseburger

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F E AT U R E D M U S I C A RT I S T

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Carmen Troesser

Mark Arbogast went to 28 different schools in 10 states before he was 10 years old. It's what now keeps him grounded in St. Charles. It's what keeps The Arbogast Band here too.

“Once I had a family, I wasn't going to throw it away to tour the country in a bus with strangers,” he said.

play soulful blues and straight-up rock and roll. Hailed as the “Best in Classic Rock in St. Louis,” Arbogast said the band has established a large fan base and will stop at nothing to deliver a high-energy performance at every show.

to medium concert settings such as Strassenfest, Music on Main, Riverfest, Concerts in the Park and others. The guys also play private events and at nightclubs throughout the St. Charles and St. Louis areas.

Joining Arbogast is lead and backing vocals,

Mark stressed that the band uses 100 percent live music. “We don't use pre-recorded vocals, music or sequenced tracks,” he said. “All of our music and singing is done on-the-spot-for-real for the true, live band experience.”

The Arbogast Band Best in Classic Rock

And although the accomplished lead guitarist and vocalist had several opportunities (he was asked to audition for the Allman Brothers and Wishbone Ash), he said he's happy here in his hometown making the music he loves with the band he loves.

He said the name for his band wasn't a “vanity thing.” At the time, it was a threeman blues band. “All the members were members of other bands. We would loan them out,” Arbogast said. “The only consistent member was me, so I made it simple. This band evolved one member at a time.

Today The Arbogast Band is a collaborative effort of five seasoned professionals who

sax, flute, harmonica, percussion and more, Jim Gentemann; bass guitar and lead and backing vocals, Chris Black; keyboards and vocals, Harold Draper; drums and percussion, Joe Donahue; and soundman Arbogast's son, Jake Arbogast.

Arbogast plays primarily classic rock, from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Cream, SRV, Jethro Tull, Eric Clapton, Deep Purple, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin and others, but they also play hits from the 1980's by artists such as Men at Work, as well as newer bands, such as 3 Doors Down, Dada and the Gin Blossoms.

The band plays at public events from small

Mark said being in a band was “something I always wanted to do ever since I can remember.” In grade school Mark and a couple of his friends put a band together.

The name was Bezeda. He was 15. It was 1968.

“My step brother had just come back from California. He had long hair and Beetle Boots. We thought he was so hip,” Mark said.

His dad was not so open minded. “He was a country western truck driving man. He thought communists and homosexuals were out to destroy the American way of life. If my hair touched my ears, he would shovel me off to the barber. He told me if I would only play country western, he would buy me a new Cadillac on my 16th birthday.

Needless to say, Mark never got the Cadillac. He played Wishbone Ash, Allman Brothers and Grand Funk Railroad.

Chris Black said Arbogast is chucked full of talent rarely found in bands these days. “If a record company wants a certain type of band, they manufacture it. They have a group they want in a certain genre. They use marketing to make them a hit. It's not so much about talent as a need to fill a niche. It's been said that Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles, if they came out today, would never get a shot. Fortunately for us, it wasn't like that back then.”

For more information about The Arbogast Band visit www.arbogastband.com. ■

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FALL 2008 FASHION FINDS Make your own rules

Story by Natalie Woods Photos by Michael Schlueter

One of the great things about fashion is that things are always changing and all rules will eventually be broken, not to mention that you can make your own rules and not get into any trouble. I love that in the last few years, seasons have become less important as layering has taken a huge role in all season

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dressing. It is great for those of us who love shopping as we can buy lots of layering pieces and lots of statement pieces and mix and match them to our little heart’s content.

For 1 others, it means less shopping in the long run as you can wear some of those spring/summer items into the fall and winter. A lot of you are already experts in the world of layering so you can just skip ahead and read the fashion finds and the boutique profile, but I get enough questions about how to do it in my store that I figured I should include it in this issue, which will be hitting the stands as the weather is turning cooler (hopefully).

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The first tip and probably the most important – try NOT to over think the process. There aren’t any rules anymore – long sleeves under short, short cardigans over long dresses, long sweaters over short tops – anything goes. Also, fabrics are now seasonless too …. For the last couple winters, I have seen designers using silk, chiffon, and cotton voile in their designs, when these fabrics were typically reserved for warmer weather only. My two favorite layering items are the turtleneck and the cardigan. But if you aren’t a fan of the turtle, use a long sleeve crew neck tee shirt.

So pull out your silk or chiffon dresses and tops (see tip 2 for a note about colors) and wear them in the winter too.

The second tip is to make sure to think about your colors before layering up your favorite summer dress. You want to make sure the colors are dark enough to work in all seasons. A light pink and yellow dress although great for summer will be a little harder to pull off (not impossible but definitely harder) in the dead of winter.

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Finally – these tips go for guys too. The pictures won’t help as much but guys grab a shirt, tie, sweater and jacket and layer it up. Throw a long sleeve tee under your favorite short sleeve summer tee and look cool and stay warm at the same time.

BEST SHOPPING FINDS

great pair of black boots.

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5 Enough with all the words – layering is better explained through pictures.

1). Here is a perfect little black silk dress that will work for you all year round. It looks great here with just a belt for your nights out in the spring.

2). And to transform it into a cozy warm weather dress, just add a fantastic cotton Lilla P turtleneck, some black tights and a

3). I absolutely love this stunning Aubrey Mini Dress by Tricia Fix. On those hot summer nights, just grab a great bag and some smokin’ high

heels and you are set.

4). But wait, don’t put this gorgeous number away when it starts to get cold – pull out some nice straight leg Citizens of Humanity jeans and another Lilla P Turtleneck and you are good for those nice fall days. And if you don’t like the turtleneck – throw a classic brown or black cardigan over the top for another great option.

5). Local girl, Lesley Timpe is going to put St Louis fashion on the map. This ruffle dress from Spring 2008 fits like a glove and is so versatile.

6). This color combination is to die for!!

The pop of pink will brighten up any dreary winter day, and the sweater will keep you warm to boot. Throw on some tights and boots and you can survive any weather.

And this is just the beginning of all the great combos you could make with these items and your favorite clothes from spring and summer!! Before you pack them away for the season, pick up some layering pieces and try some new combinations.

P.S. I really like all of Lilla P’s layering pieces – www.lillap.com – her tees and cardigans wash and dry for years without shrinking, fading or twisting ■ Natalie Woods is the owner of Daisy-Clover Boutique in Webster Groves, MO.

BOUTIQUE PROFILE

Margo Kopman - owner Byrd 8117 Maryland Ave., Clayton MO 63105, 314.721.0766 When did the store open? July 15, 2002 What made you decide to go into the wonderful world of retail? An obsession with fashion. I wanted to create a shopping environment where women feel as though they are in their best friends closet. I love making women feel fabulous in what they wear.

Why should people shop with you vs. other retail (department stores etc)? Amazing customer service, fabulous designers that aren’t found in other botiques/department stores around town.

What are some of your best sellers? Velvet dresses, Splendid tees, Jbrand jeans, Seaton crop sweaters, Rachel Pally anything!!!

Plans/hopes for the future? Create a retail empire!!! Just Kidding!!!

She says she is just kidding but knowing Margo, she has the energy and creativity to start that empire. And what a fashionable one it will be!!

Margo was one of the original pioneers of the St Louis Boutique scene. Now, she is working on her own Retail Empire and trying to help other smaller retailers in the process. She just started another new business by becoming an affiliate of Management One. So, if you are a small retailer and need some expert guidance – Margo can be your cheerleader. Or, if you just love to shop and want to pick from some amazing things you can’t find anywhere else – head over to Byrd.

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Fall Finds

1 Stay warm on those first chilly nights in this gorgeous cashmere wrap by Seaton. $370 Byrd 8117 Maryland Ave., Clayton | 314.721.0766 2 This ring is from Lee Angel is AMAZING!! This vintage inspired resin ring will elevate any of your everyday outfits from drab to fab!! $100 Laurie Solet 8228 N Forsyth Blvd., Clayton | 314.727.7467 3 Glitz and Glamour you can wear everyday. Pair this great mini dress with jeans or leggings and make people think you are a rock star. Touch Luxe Mesh Dress $350 Byrd 8117 Maryland Ave., Clayton | 314.721.0766 4 At home on the red carpet or in the opera box, this Char clutch from Lauren Merkin adds grace and vintage chic to any evening. $220 Laurie Solet 8228 N Forsyth Blvd., Clayton | 314.727.7467

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5 Who doesn’t love a little animal print?? Especially when it’s a perfect specimen like this Seaton Silk Tunic. Stunning year round!! $308 Byrd 8117 Maryland Ave., Clayton | 314.721.0766 6 Check out all your favorite paparazzi photos for glimpses of Alexis Bittar’s fantastic jewelry!! Then pick up your own pieces like these perfect earrings right here in St. Louis. $195 Laurie Solet 8228 N Forsyth Blvd., Clayton | 314.727.7467

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RENAISSANCE PROGRAM Applauds Students’

St. Charles High School provides awards for kids achieving Renaissance such as T-Shirts, academic letters, hooded sweatshirts, gym bags and the coveted “Evening With the Stars” banquet and medallion.

Success

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

Ever feel like no news is good news when it comes to kids? Well, the good news is there's a program that recognizes young people for the good things they do. And they actually want to be a part of it.

It's the Renaissance program, and middle and high schoolers throughout the county are working harder all the time to be a part of it. St. Charles High School was Missouri's first Renaissance school. Now numerous schools throughout the county and state have taken the program to heart as have their students.

The Renaissance program is designed to recognize and reward students' academic, behavioral and attendance achievements. It began 16 years ago in Conway, South Carolina. Today there are more than 10,000 schools across the nation implementing its concepts.

Each semester, Renaissance encourages scholastic achievement by recognizing students who have maintained at least a 3.0 GPA with no grades lower than a C, only 1's and 2's in citizenship, no unexcused absences or any major discipline, said Terri Bekebrede, a math teacher at St. Charles High and the school's sponsor for the Renaissance program.

“These are not always the straight-A kids.

Students who work hard are recognized for their achievements. And they get a fresh start each semester,” Bekebrede said.

“Teachers recognize them for student of the month, improvement of grades, etc. It reaches out to all students.”

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The “Evening With the Stars” banquet is the culmination of recognition for all seniors who have been Renaissance students for all seven semesters at St. Charles High School. These seniors, along with their families, teachers and business partners are invited to a catered banquet to celebrate the students' achievements. Portraits are taken of the students and their families. Students are also presented medallions to be worn at graduation and plaques are presented to contributing business partners. Three randomly drawn $500 scholarships are also presented on that evening.

Bekebrede said Renaissance programs are entirely self-supporting and funded through donations, school organizations, parents, staff and local and corporate businesses.

Bekebrede said teachers and school staff are a critical component of a successful Renaissance program. “The Renaissance program seeks to motivate not only students to perform to their full potential but also teachers and staff members,” Bekebrede said. “All year long the Renaissance Student Steering Committee recognizes its dedicated faculty and staff members for their many contributions to academic life at St. Charles High.”

Bekebrede said the students of Renaissance give back to their school and community in many ways throughout the year, from recycling programs to organizing special events for special needs kids. “ T h e s e students have been blessed with good

grades so they give back to others,” she said.

Renaissance students organize a Halloween dance and a prom for special needs kids.

“The kids organize and decorate for the event for disabled students throughout St. Charles County,” Bekebrede said. “Every student signs up and they always show up.

A lot of it is work ethic.” Students of Renaissance also show up as cheerleaders or the “loud crowd” for the Special Olympics.

Bekebrede said Renaissance is more than grades. It's more than attendance. It's about doing the right thing. “We want kids to be able to see they are leaders, they are special because they display themselves well by being well-mannered and scholarly and they're just nice people,” she said ■

2008 ATHENA AWARDS

Keynote speaker, Victoria Babu

Photos by Michael Schlueter

The Athena Leadership Foundation of St. Charles County has named Michele Berra as the 2008 Athena Award Winner. The celebration of women's achievements in the St. Charles County was held May 9 at the St. Charles Convention Center. The event was underwritten by Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital and Bommarito CadillacMazda-Volkswagon. It was also sponsored

by National City Banks, Botz Deal and Company, Baue Funeral Home, Streetscape Magazine, Main Street Gym, SSM St. Joseph Hospital West, and The Sachs Group. â– S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 41

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

mother never gave him any answers.

Refusing to live with the resentment he had for her or to inflict the same pain on his own son, Pelzer forgave her. That act of forgiveness, without forgetting, cleansed his soul, he said.

He overcame one of the most gruesome and extreme cases of child abuse in America's history. Anyone who has read any of Dave Pelzer's six inspirational books has experienced sadness, empathy and horror.

“At an early age I made a commitment that I would do whatever it took to survive. It wasn't easy and it certainly wasn't pretty; I just did what I had to do,” Pelzer said as he revealed ways he had to steal food to eat, since his mother enjoyed starving him, how he had to clean his own wounds when he was brutalized, and how he had to, at any cost, outwit her when she made trying to kill him a game.

Pelzer was born in 1960 and grew up in a middle-class suburb of San Fransisco with his firefighter and largely absent father, and his alcoholic and abusive mother. His mother cared for the rest of the family, but Pelzer was starved, beaten, burned and referred to as “it.” His mother made him eat his brother's feces, breath and drink ammonia and would hold his arm over a gas stove until it burned.

Pelzer said he realizes that people are curious about his story. But he said they can get that through his books.

He's off to tell a different story. “I'm not about abuse.

I'm about resilience.”

Today, Pelzer said he revels in the courage of single moms or single dads working to raise their children or “those brave souls who battle cancer, or those who are dealing with the death of a loved one. You do what you have to do.”

As he muddles through the myriad of books and photos to autograph, endless lists of important calls to return, mounds of contracts and paperwork to review, urgent radio and television interviews to approve, critical final proofs for his latest book, as well as bewildering travel logistics to map out, Pelzer continues to work. But now, he said he's working to encourage others to overcome their own challenges.

“I know some folks want to hear all the gory details about what happened to me as a child. But I refer to specific childhood situations to qualify my message. I want them to realize the person standing in front of them is there because of persistence, personal responsibility and by the grace of God,” he said adding that he wants to encourage others to realize their strength and inspire them to make life better for themselves and others rather than dwelling on how he didn't get a fair shake.

He said he acknowledges that everyone has crisis they are dealing with from the milk that's three times the price it was a few years ago to the rising gas prices to the person fighting cancer. “At the end of the day, you get up. You do what you have to do.

Everyday you have food is a great day. You cowboy up and have an adapt mentality.”

Even after his teachers intervened, when he was 12 years old, his challenges continued. He was placed in several foster homes before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force at age 18.

R e s i l i e n c e o f t h e C h i l d C a l l e d “ I t ” Pelzer encourages listeners He worked over 40 hours a at his speeches and seminars week while in junior high, to “ban together and help lying about his age. And in high school, he Pelzer said his mother, who died in January their fellow man.” worked over 80 hours a week, until he 1991, was never prosecuted or punished for dropped out work even more. He said that the abuse she inflicted upon him. She He uses examples of famous people who was the biggest mistake of his life. “I would denied it, as did his father and some of his came from nothing. “Look at Oprah and have stayed, taken all the classes, cut back family members. He said she practiced how she was raised. Colin Powell; he lived on work and prepped myself for college,” he what he later learned was “target child in a rat-infested ghetto.

Arnold said. “Back then as a foster kid, things were selection” where a parent, for unknown Schwarzenegger came to America with different. Back then, once you were 18 you reasons, chooses one of their children at nothing. Lance Armstrong fought against were booted from the system. After all I random to abuse. so many odds. McKayla Hanson, a teenage had went through I was scared to death of girl who has one leg, competes as a shot He confronted her twice before her death, being homeless and starving in the streets. putter and runs the broad jump as well as once at his father's funeral where he told her So, my mentality was to work hard to get track. That's one gutsy lady.” he was a good person and again after the paid, get paid to buy food, buy food and birth of his own son, Steven. He said his He said he spends each day spreading a live.”

Dave Pelzer

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message of hope and resilience. “We make Jack Bauer look like he's in a coma. You have to live life as an adventure. The single moms out there inspire me to do better.”

But he doesn't group himself with any of the greats. “Trust me, I'm nothing special. The only special thing I had going for me was my determination to never cave in.”

He also finds strength from the people affected by the September 11 attacks and “their bravery to carry on,” he said. “And don't get me started on the valor of veterans, past and present, who sacrificed for the freedom of America.”

Some of Pelzer's accomplishments have been recognized through a number of prestigious awards, as well as personal commendations from Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. In 1993, Pelzer was honored as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans. He joins a distinguished group including: President John F. Kennedy, Anne Bancroft and Christopher Reeves. In 1994, he was the only American to be honored as one of The Outstanding Young Persons of the World.

In 1996, Pelzer carried the coveted centennial flame for the Olympic Games. He still has the torch. He was also the recipient of the 2005 National Jefferson Award. Other alumni of this award include Colin Powell, Sandra Day O'Connor and Bob Hope.

Pelzer is the author of six inspirational books, two of which were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His first book, “A Child Called It” has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for years.

Barbara Griffith, Director of Community Living with Dave Pelzer

Pelzer's wife, Marsha Pelzer writes on his website, “Dave is a living testament of the self-made man, who as an optimist, strongly exudes resilience, service to mankind, personal responsibility and faith in humanity.”

He calls it “The Greatness of America,” she writes, and he carries the banner throughout the nation as he attempts to help others help themselves. ■

(l to r) Cindy Eisenbeis, MSW, LCSW - Main Street Counseling, LLC, Maggie Menefee, MSW - Executive Director, The Child Center, Inc and Dave Pelzer

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E N T E RTA I N M E N T

AMERISTAR Where luxury meets fun

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

Making upscale approachable and rising 25 stories above the oldest city on the Missouri River, the new all-suite hotel at the $265 million Ameristar Casino Resort Spa in St. Charles is a unique blend of contemporary style and traditional elegance. But where other high-end hotels are staid and stern, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa is a destination where luxury meets fun.

The casually chic hotel overlooks the point from which Louis and Clark embarked in 1804 to explore the Northwest Territory.

Guests can discover their own wonders as they luxuriate among the 400 over-sized suites, a 7,000-square-foot full-service spa and an indoor-outdoor pool enveloped by fountains, landscaped grounds and cabanas.

A short elevator ride from their suites, guests can experience the region’s largest casino, most dynamic nightclub, a live music venue and seven diverse restaurants to round out their stay.

For those mixing business with pleasure, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa offers a $14 million, state-of-the-art conference and meeting center that blends contemporary imported fixtures and hand-finished exotic woods to create an exquisite executive environment. The facility marries more than 22,000 square feet of upscale meeting

and reception space with a high-tech infrastructure to ensure guests are as productive as they are comfortable.

“The new Ameristar Casino Resort Spa in St. Charles is the region’s premier gaming resort destination,” said Ameristar Casino Resort Spa Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Franke. “It features the finest modern finishes and most luxurious amenities so our guests always enjoy a truly exceptional experience, whether they are attending a business event or visiting strictly for pleasure.”

As guests enter the sweeping, two-story hotel lobby, they are greeted by two doublesided fireplaces and floor-to-ceiling windows boasting expansive views of the Missouri River. Standing amid the chocolate and burgundy-toned décor, plush draperies and premium leather furnishings, guests can peer through the glass at the historic surroundings that were founded before the American Revolution.

Once upstairs, the hotel’s oversized suites offer guests some of the St. Louis metropolitan area’s most upscale accommodations. Each suite features a sunken living room and is dressed in a warm palette of espresso, caramel, ivory and gold accented with emprador marble and satin nickel details.

(l to r) Jarah Mariano, Jessica Gomes and Quiana are currently featured in this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition (Feb. 2008).

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Custom furnishings in each suite include full-height leather headboards and geometrically patterned stone floor entries.

Every suite is outfitted with high-speed wireless Internet access and dual 37-inch plasma televisions in the living room and bedroom. The five-fixture bathrooms include a whirlpool tub, separate glass shower, matching vanities and an enclosed water closet as well as a LCD television screen.

Ten King Spa suites feature a whirlpool bathtub situated within a window bay to take advantage of the dramatic views, a wet bar and two 42-inch plasma televisions. The hotel’s two Presidential suites include premium surround sound entertainment systems, DVD players, three large windows overlooking the Missouri River, gas-log fireplaces, a wet bar, a custom pool table and

four 42-inch plasma televisions.

From the moment guests enter the 7,000square-foot Ara spa, they are surrounded by a sweeping décor of light blues and greens with a relaxed yet sophisticated “beach” feel.

Asked to arrive 30 to 60 minutes before their scheduled treatments, guests are escorted to their respective locker rooms where they are free to indulge in a variety of hydro-therapy amenities, including a hydro-pool, steam room, eucalyptus sauna and Swiss shower, all of which are available prior to or after spa treatments.

Aside from offering a full-range of spa services – from customized massage experiences, to transformative skin care treatments and tantalizing aroma therapy – the centerpiece of the Ara spa is its “Splash at Ara” hydro-experiences, featuring a Vichy Shower with six shower heads that pour water over the body while guests lie on a cushioned wet table. The Vichy Shower can be enjoyed with a variety of body scrubs, such as bamboo gingergrass or lemon coffee olive stone. Additionally, Ara features three exclusive rituals to be enjoyed along with the Vichy shower: “Pure Bliss,” a five-part treatment inspired by Japanese bathing rituals that will utilize minerals, flowers and fruit essences to stimulate the body’s energy centers and leave skin fragrant and radiant; “Turkish Delight,” a detoxifying body ritual based on skin care practices in Turkish bathhouses; and “The Big Muddy,” a marine mud treatment that will restore the body with rich marine minerals, sea algae and purified seawater.

In addition to the Vichy Shower, Ara offers five other treatment rooms, one for facial treatments and the other four dedicated to massage therapy. The spa’s massage treatments also are unique in that guests are

able to consult their massage therapists and then choose a variety of tailored massage techniques to address different areas of the body, rather than choosing just one technique for the duration of the massage experience. Ara also offers hair removal services as well as manicures and pedicures, with the pedicures given on two custombuilt pedicure thrones. All treatments are exclusive to Ameristar Casino Resort Spa in St. Charles and feature B.Kamins signature spa products. Individual treatment prices will range from $10 to $130. For those wishing to indulge in longer treatments, Ara offers three combination experiences with prices starting at $125. And, for a $30 daily usage fee, guests are able to use the spa’s locker room area, including the “Splash at Ara” hydro-experience.

All Ara spa guests are free to use the adjacent pool and Ara fitness center, featuring a variety of Precor Cardio equipment, Advantage Fitness Strength Training Equipment and free weights. Amenities include water, headphones and towel.

Spa and hotel guests can enjoy the custom designed indoor-outdoor pool. The expansive facility features fountains, a fire pit, hot tubs and eight private cabanas, each containing a 19-inch television and comfortable outdoor lounge seating. The pool deck also features a spacious event lawn area providing a premier outdoor location for your reception or gathering.

A new, 2,350-space parking garage adjacent to the hotel ensures guests always have convenient access to Ameristar Casino Resort Spa. “Ameristar Casino Resort Spa in St. Charles is designed to combine a premier hotel experience with outstanding spa offerings, dynamic casino action, high-energy live performances, fine dining, and a worldclass meeting venue,” Franke said. “The new luxury hotel and fullservice spa broaden our appeal among existing guests and anyone considering a premier Midwest casino resort experience.”

About Ameristar Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ-GS: ASCA) is a leading Las Vegas-based gaming and entertainment company known for its premier properties characterized by innovative architecture, state-of-the-art casino floors and superior dining, lodging and entertainment offerings. Ameristar’s focus on the total entertainment experience and the highest quality guest service has earned it a leading market share position in each of the markets in which it operates.

Founded in 1954 in Jackpot, Nevada, Ameristar has been a public company since November 1993. The Company has a portfolio of eight casinos in seven markets: Ameristar Casino Resort Spa in St. Charles (greater St. Louis); Ameristar Kansas City; Ameristar Council Bluffs (Omaha, Nebraska and southwestern Iowa); Ameristar Vicksburg (Jackson, Mississippi and Monroe, Louisiana); Ameristar Black Hawk (Denver metropolitan area); Cactus Petes and The Horseshu in Jackpot, Nevada (Idaho and the Pacific Northwest); and Resorts East Chicago (Chicagoland area), which was acquired on Sept. 18, 2007.

For more information, visit Ameristar Casinos’ web site at www.ameristar.com ■ S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 45

SEASONAL HUNT

The Mallard Club Lives On with confidence in the confluence of the rivers

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Michael Schlueter

pheasants and turkey, grew up in Old Monroe, MO on the Lincoln County side of Cuivre River. His mother still owns the original piece of land, now part of 220 acres owned by Kelly.

acres in the flood plain then. “We flooded the whole 90 acres when it came time for duck hunting,” Kelly said. “We moved in 1979 to high ground. The farm is now used for agriculture, corn and soy beans.”

Kelly is married to Janette Kelly. The two have one daughter, Jo Miles and two grandchildren, 10 and seven years old. Jerry said his daughter hunted with him until she was 13 years old.

Kelly, the owner of Jerry Kelly Heating and Air Conditioning in St. Charles, said he doesn't remember his first hunt. “I was probably nine or 10 when I actually started hunting with him.”

Kelly's father, a farmer and a commercial fisherman on the Mississippi, started a duck club on the original property in 1957. “I was 13 years old,” Kelly said. The senior Kelly called the it the Mallard Club. Today, over fifty years later, Kelly still runs the club, now called Mallard Club II. Kelly said the original club of 10 members stuck together for at least 40 years before dissolving. Kelly renamed it and kept it going, though.

Kelly, a waterfowl hunter, as well as

The first club hunted on a small farm of 90

Jerry Kelly's father was a hunter. In fact it was the last thing he did with his son in December 2001. He passed away in March of this year at 89 years of age.

“He remembered hunting for food,” Kelly said. “He was born on Cuivre Island in the Mississippi.”

Kelly said St. Charles and Lincoln Counties boast a long history of duck hunting within their borders, “dating back to the 1860's.”

“It's the confluence of the three rivers, the Illinois, Missouri and Mississippi,” Jerry

Jerry Kelly

46 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

said. “It was all swamp before the turn of the 20th century. That was all natural, nothing artificial. Now you can make dikes and levees and duck lakes anywhere with bulldozers.”

Jerry said the prime hunting land and the remaining river bottoms still draw duck hunters to the confluence of rivers.

“There are approximately 250 duck clubs between St. Charles and Hannibal all along the Mississippi. It's a natural spot.

It goes back to the natural habitat that's been here forever. It's a very unique spot in the United States for duck hunting.”

Jerry said there just isn't any wrong time for hunting, “My favorite time is everyday and all day,” he said. “Just being there.”

Although things do change. Jerry said when he was growing up he hunted from daylight to 10 a.m. “Fifty years later, we hunt from 2 p.m. to sun down.”

Jerry has been to Canada and South Dakota as well on his pursuit for hunting ducks, pheasant and geese. His favorite way to eat duck is with prunes and raisins.

“It's all good,” he said. ■

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 47

Top Banana S p e e d R a c e r ’s C h i m C h i m is native Missourian Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

He is arguably the most famous non-human movie star right now. Kenzy, a three-yearold chimpanzee from Festus, MO, is starring alongside Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Affton, IL native John Goodman in the live action remake of the popular 1960s Japanese cartoon “Speed Racer.”

Kenzy plays “Chim Chim,” in the film--the candy-crazed primate companion of Spritle, Speed Racer's younger brother. But Speed Racer wasn't Kenzy's first break in show business. In 2006, the then nine-month old chimpanzee played a dying baby monkey in an episode of ER. He has also appeared in “Hogan Knows Best” and numerous television commercials and greeting cards.

Connie Casey, owner of Chimparty Chimps and Chimps of America in Festus, MO,

raised Kenzy. He was the first born of two of her other chimpanzees. Kenzy's mom, Kimmy, is a retired circus performer. His dad, Coco, was Casey's first chimp purchased from a pet supplier in Florida in 1972.

“Back then it was still legal to get animals imported,” Casey said. “We got him from a quarantine station.

In 1975, they banned importing a lot of exotic animals. They're only allowed now by licensed breeders or if they are born in captivity.” Zoos and research facilities are exempt, she said.

Casey operates her animal compound from her home in Festus, where she keeps ducks, roosters, llamas, miniature donkeys, emus, iguanas, hedgehogs, geckos, tortoises, pigeons, doves, turkeys, geese, swans, a zebra, a corn snake and of course chimpanzees, “I've been doing this for over 40 years,” she said.

Casey and her first husband had a pet shop, Brauns Aqua Barn, in the late 1960's and early 1970's in the same location.

They closed the shop in 1979, but kept the monkeys and the other animals.

After closing the pet shop, Casey turned her facility into a sort of retirement home for unwanted pets and animal performers. She said in captivity, chimps can live to be 60 years old—a long time to care for an animal that isn't working for its keep anymore.

So Casey takes them in. The oldest chimpanzee on record is Cheetah, who played himself

48 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

with Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan in the 1940's. Cheetah is 77 and living in Palm Springs, CA with a friend of Casey's, Dan Westfall.

Casey's 20 chimpanzees range in age from three to 50. Many of them work for a living in commercials, movies and as models for greeting cards, she said.

Kenzy was paid $5,000 for his stint on the set of ER. The company that made the animatronic doll that played the dead Kenzy was paid four times that much, Casey said. The show was filmed in California.

Kenzy spent three months in Germany last year during the filming of Speed Racer. All of the money made from the chimps goes back into the rescue mission, Casey said.

It takes nearly $700 for a three-week supply of Monkey Chow from Purina. Another $500 in produce every two weeks. “And then of course you have the heating and cooling and water,” Casey said.

Casey went to see Speed Racer when it opened, here in Missouri. She bought her own ticket. “It made me so proud when I saw him on the big screen like any mom would be, proud of this kid.”

Kenzy isn't the only famous chimp living with Casey. Kirby, now 17 years old, used to do 30-minute movies. When he was five,

he did “Kirby's Tooth Fairy.”

“It showed him brushing and flossing his teeth and putting his tooth under his pillow. When he comes back it's a banana.”

Connor, another chimp of Casey's, played in the move Spymate Chimparty chimps books tours by appointment only for $200 per one-hour visit at the facility. Casey takes the chimps to nursing homes and retirement centers, preschools and birthday parties.

For more information visit www.chimpsofamerica.com, or call 636931-8411. ■

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 49

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

As the population ages and a larger number of senior adults require more and more services, many businesses in St. Charles County are coming up with creative ideas to help out.

Social Worker Katie MacLean, along with Althea West, chairman of the Senior Services Task Force in St. Charles County, have helped to form an Executive Planning Committee to implement the Independent Transportation Network (ITN) in St. Charles County.

“With safe transportation, older adults remain vital to the economic and social health of their community,” MacLean said.

“Mobility empowers them. They stay connected to family, friends and community. Businesses retain their valuable customers and more importantly, adult children find relief from a daunting and complex problem.”

Few people plan for the day when they have to turn over their car keys, but it is a very real eventuality that more than one million Americans aged 70 and older face every year. They become dependent upon family members and others to meet their transportation needs. And the numbers are increasing as the population is aging.

National statistics offered by ITN America contend that by 2030, the number of licensed drivers aged 65 and older is expected to nearly double to about 57 million. Roughly 90 percent of personal trips by people 65 and older are taken in an automobile either as drivers or passengers.

More than half of non-drivers 65 and older stay home on any given day partially because they lack transportation options.

The problems resulting from these statistics can be solved through ITN, MacLean said.

For instance an older diabetic who may not 50 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

Steve McCollum and Lea Vordtriede of Senior Helpers

Senior Service

Fullfilling the needs of senior adults be getting their required dialysis because they just can't get to the health care provider three times a week would be well served by ITN, as would an older adult needing a ride to pick up prescriptions or groceries.

The transportation program was started three years ago when Katherine Freund's three-year-old son was seriously injured when a car driven by an 84-year-old individual hit him. Instead of lashing out at the driver, she became angry at the system.

Crashes weren't the fault of the older drivers, but rather a transportation system that was not meeting the needs of an aging population. While working toward her master's degree in public policy, she analyzed the transportation system for older adults from every angle and came up with a sustainable solution that is ITN.The idea is that ITN preserves the independence of seniors while ensuring their safety and that of the surrounding community.

ITN provides rides with door-to-door, armthrough-arm service to thousands of seniors nationwide. It's a truly innovative solution with unique programs that allow older people to trade their own cars to pay for rides and enable volunteer drivers to store transportation credits for their own future transportation needs.

For a yearly or per-ride fee, the service is available 24 hours a day seven days a week for any type of ride within the service area with no limitations on ride purpose. Rides are provided in private automobiles by

trained volunteer and paid drivers. People 60 years and older and visually impaired adults are eligible to join. Rides may be booked at any time; and discounts are applied for shared rides and advance notice.

ITN's Road Scholarship Program converts volunteer credits into a fund for low-income riders, and the gift certificate program helps adult children support their parents' transportation needs from across the street or across the nation.

West, of Senior and Special Needs Solutions, wrote a grant and the Senior Services Task Force and other groups pledged funds to get the program off the ground. The East West Gateway Council of Governments will decide whether to approve the $225,000-grant which would be spread out over three years and would pay the fees associated with starting an affiliate of the Maine-based ITN program in St. Charles County. MacLean said she is working on raising the rest of the cost. The closest program to date is in the Quad cities and Chicago.

The St. Charles County Transportation Authority is the fiscal agent for all funding and the Community Council of St. Charles County is the parent organization.

MacLean hopes that if the grant is approved, the affiliate contract would be signed in the Fall of 2008. Rides would be offered by June 2009.

She said everyone needs to look at

transportation in a new way, the way individuals do retirement planning.

“Transportation is not a luxury, it's a necessity,” she said. “This is cheaper than owning a car.”

Senior Helpers Senior Helpers of St. Charles and St. Louis provides caring and experienced caregivers for companion and personal care services from three to 24 hours per day. President Steve McCollum said his services “allow your loved ones to maintain their privacy, independence and dignity by remaining in their homes for as long as possible.”

Services include companionship, bathing, dressing and hygiene assistance, meal preparation, medication reminders, Alzheimer's and dementia care, housekeeping, laundry, transportation, running errands and more.

All employees of Senior Helpers are employees of the company and are licensed, bonded and insured. The staff RN completes full nursing assessments and periodic follow-up assessments for all personal care clients. Each client is provided a Care Plan so that caregivers know exactly what they need. “We can usually provide a caregiver shorty after the initial assessment,” McCollum said. “We want to select the perfect caregiver for your loved one.”

McCollum said some 80 percent of middleNurses & Company

aged couples have at least one living parent and more than seven million women are unpaid caregivers to the elderly. “Many people are learning to adjust to the reversing roles of child and parent by confronting the demands of caring for those who once took care of them,” he said.

Adult daughters typically assume the major responsibilities for parent care giving, McCollum said. “For most women, these duties are added to an already full roster, at home, at the office, or both. Elder care has become a top problem in our society today as it replaces child care as the number one issue for men and women in today's work force. Already, people are spending more time caring for or providing for the care of their elderly parents than they did caring for their own children. The problem will only magnify with the aging of the population.”

With women frequently reporting that they sacrifice their personal time, privacy, peace of mind, freedom and personal plans to assist their elderly parents, they struggle to cope with the exhaustion, loneliness, mental and physical demands and heartbreak of watching a loved one grow weaker. “They need help desperately,” McCollum said.

Senior Helpers was founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 2001 in response to a growing need for professional home care. “Our focus is to utilize our resources, systems and knowledge to provide comprehensive and professional care to our clients,” McCollum said.

The U.S. Department of Census estimates there are currently more than 36 million seniors in the United States. By 2020, nearly 14 million people in the U.S. will be over the age of 85, and 84 percent of them will want to continue living at home. To do that, statistics show more than half will need assistance with daily living activities.

“Traditionally, family members would help mom or dad remain independent,” McCollum said. “However, with people now living over long distances, working more and managing their own families, it is becoming more difficult to help mom or dad.”

For more information on Senior Helpers, call 636-925-0008.

Faithful Friends The Faithful Friends Program at Cardinal Ritter Senior Services provides services to improve the quality of life for senior adults by promoting and providing social, health, and housing programs and services in St. Louis City and County, as well as in St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin and Warren Counties.

Faithful Friends is an outreach program that provides free in-home assessment and referral as well as free in-home occupational therapy services to senior adults who are homebound in the city of St. Louis.

Volunteers perform comprehensive in-home needs assessment and refer clients to health and social service agencies in the community.

Occupational therapists identify clients at risk for falls or decline in functional status, and provide strategies, tools and techniques to help the seniors achieve optimum safety and independence.

Fore more information on Faithful Friends, call 314-383-0800.

Nurses & Company One of the largest free-standing independent home health care agencies in the St. Louis area, Nurses & Company was voted in the top three home health care businesses by respondents to the Suburban Journals' “Best of the Best” survey; was named in the top 25 percent Elite of home health agencies in the U.S. by “Success in Home Care Magazine” based on their patient outcomes; and was named by S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 51

Primaris this year as a finalist from Missouri for its quality award.

The medical staff at Nurses & Company care for adult individuals who require skilled nursing care or rehabilitation within their home environment.

Services of Nurses & Company include skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, medical social workers, and home health aides.

Founder and president Ann Ritter, RN, started Nurses & Company in December 1991. “I felt there was a need for quality, loving care in the home,” Ritter said. Her management team has 45 combined years of home health care experience.

Ritter built a facility to house her home health care company and opened an adult day care center in 1997 called Seniors & Company Adult Day Services, a state licensed, Medicaid certified facility that offers care for the physically and mentally impaired adult who is in need of socialization and who wants to stay active in a safe and loving environment. A registered nurse is on staff daily for nursing care, personal care, health monitoring and diabetes education. Rehabilitation services are also offered through the center.

A Medicare Certified and state licensed home health care provider, Nurses & Company is a team of professional caregivers who provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary health care to residents in 15 counties in Missouri and Illinois.

Services are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and several managed care and indemnity insurance plans.

Medicare Part B covers therapy visits for patients in their homes. The company's rehab department also provides home safety evaluations and preoperative home visits prior to total joint replacement surgery.

“Bringing a loved one to our adult day care center allows the caregiver to experience true respite in the comfort of their home without having to leave to have a break from the situation,” Ritter said.

Seniors & Company offers transportation services, meals, activities, personal care, and individualized care planning for each client.

52 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

(l to r) Stephen DiFatta, Dan McLaughlin, Peggy Langdon, Billie-Jo Edwards, Jerry Grossman, Marie Audrey, Donna Willman, Nickie Griggs, Kris Stark and Jim Schuchmann

With a staff of 55 in home care and hospice service workers, as well as nine staff members in adult day care and several volunteers, Nurses & Company also provides a certified hospice program which includes skilled nursing, home health aides, social services, chaplain services and bereavement services. For patients who need assistance with activities of daily living, Nurses & Company has a division of private services as well. This is usually private pay or can be covered by a long term care policy.

For more information on Nurses & Company, call 636-357-2840.

SR Alliance A group of professionals in St. Charles wants to offer older adults dependable and ethical solutions to the issues that face them—a centralized source for a wide variety of senor-specific services. The group includes local experts in financial, medical and non-medical home care, legal, accounting and housing-related services.

Director Jerry Grossman, a retirement investment planner, said those who are planning for their future, those faced with a current financial, health or social need and those who have a loved one, friend or associate who are faced with such a need should contact SR Alliance.

“Our mission is to be a complete source of ethical and competent solutions for seniors with a respected reputation in the community for senior services” Grossman said. “Senior Americans face serious issues that are growing in complexity—insurance, financial security, housing, health, legal and social. The problem is most professionals are qualified to help in only one or two

areas. We are professionals focused on finding options to solve problems in the many areas that impact senior life.”

Grossman said the issues facing seniors and their adult children hit home several years ago when his own mother suffered a stroke.

His sister was in Boston. “I thought, 'Where do I go? Who do I call?'”

Following the crisis, Grossman became a member of the society of Certified Senior Advisors.

He purchased the rights to start SR Alliance here in St. Charles County and started to compile a group of ethical professional people that own companies that can provide a broad band of resources, services and products to seniors and their families.

But before he could get his new business off the ground, Grossman was a victim of a near-fatal auto accident, a head-on collision that left him with two screws in his right ankle, a plate in his femur, two plates in his arm, a permanent limp and a reason for going on.

He was in the surgical unit at St. Joseph Health Center for four days and in the Rehab Department for the next 16. “They are the most caring and compassionate people God has ever had the blessing to create. There's no place like St. Joseph Hospital,” Grossman said.

Grossman is convinced he was spared in the accident to help others. “He's got me here for a reason, to help people. All you have to do is say, 'I need help.' We're your neighbors.”

For more information on SR Alliance call 636-978-6620 ext.

115. ■

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 53

with

Ann Hazelwood Missouri's new tourism slogan is CLOSE TO HOME, BUT FAR FROM ORDINARY. So, where is your favorite place to visit in our state of Missouri?

Ellen Gordon | Administrative Aid to the Director of Administration to the City of St. Charles I love the "wine Country of our county. I like spending time at Montelle Winery, looking at the great view.

Chelsea Floyd | Director of Community Relations for Lindenwood University I love to go to Truman Library in Independance, Missouri. I think he is one of the best Presidents we ever had.

Mike Tuerck | Mike Tuerck Insurance Agency We like to tour all the state parks, because they are very clean, have springs and mills, plus historic information.

Curt Koesterer | Director of Planning Administrator for SSM I like the Lake of the Ozarks because of the boating, finshing and water sking.

Jeff Campbell | Vice President of Operations for Show Me Aquatics I like Table Rock Lake. We meet our friends and enjoy the boating and all the water has to offer.

Ruth Intlelofer | Postmaster of St. Charles I like Historic Main Street in St. Charles. this is where I take everyone when they come to visit.

54 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

YOU CAUGHT OUR EYE

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Michael Schlueter

system. We have thousands of bridges in Missouri.”

Grace Nichols has begun yet another journey on a long list of careers and community service ventures. The 70-yearold former St. Charles city mayor, judge, lawyer and president of the chamber of commerce, was appointed to the Missouri Department of Transportation's (MoDOT) Highway and Transportation Commission in the Spring.

Her term expires in 2013.

Nichols said MoDOT is responsible for some 10,224 bridges, 1,181 miles of

The second stand on the Blanchette Bridge, as well as Hwy. 370 and the Page Extension were all projects developed during her term.

“We worked unsuccessfully to bring Metrolink to St. Charles in 1995,” she said.

Hittin’ the Roads

“I can't even think about 2013,” she said.

Nichols was appointed by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and confirmed by the Missouri Senate.

A six-member commission, the HTC is made up of three democrats and three republicans. Nichols is a democrat.

Grace Nichols interstates, 3,615 miles of U.S. routes, 8,249 miles of state roads and 19,063 lettered routes within Missouri's borders.

“We are responsible for 114 public use airports and 4,400 miles of mainline railroad tracks, including Amtrak,” she said.

The director of the MoDOT and a secretary answer to the commission.

And these numbers don't even include ports, pedestrian paths, safety and seatbelt information, commercial motor vehicles, rest stops and commuter lots. “We're not only about roads, but maintaining snow removal and litter removal,” Nichols said.

Nichols said, although transportation issues have been high on her agenda for years, she didn't realize just how many hats the department wears. “The Department of Transportation is not just about roads. It truly is about the whole transportation

Nichols represents the entire St. Louis Metropolitan area on the commission, a position that she was well prepared for during her eight-year run as St. Charles mayor.

“I've been involved in transportation issues all along,” she said.

Nichols also at one time chaired the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce's Transportation Committee.

“Transportation issues have been an important focus of my life for 35 years.”

Nichols brings a good deal of life experience to the table for the state of Missouri, and yet she said she is amazed at the work done by MoDOT employees. “I've been acquainted with the Department of Transportation for a lot of years and have not had a very positive outlook. I've turned around. I'm excited about what can happen in Missouri.

There is good leadership and management at MoDOT and the commission, and a lot of excitement with the employees of MoDOT. These people are truly motivated to do everything they can to cut costs and satisfy their customers--the people of Missouri.”

The commission itself is on track as well as it hammers out projects across the state and here at home, including the Hwy. 40 corridor, the Missouri and Illinois bridge and the completion of the Page Ave. Extension, she said. “I've been very impressed with the work of the commission so far. The rest of the members are from outstate, and yet they are very interested in all parts of the state. There is no partisan stuff going on. I don't even know who the democrats and republicans are.”

In her new role, Nichols attends commission meetings, workshops and gatherings of transportation-minded officials and individuals. She's not paid well—some $25 per meeting and mileage.

Nichols won't say whether her new role is the last leg of her four-decade career working for people. “Who knows? I might go to medical school,” she said. ■

Grace Nichols

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 55

Childhood Obesity Levels Out Are we moving in the right direction?

Story by Monica Adams

Moving is the key word in that phrase.

Physicians all across the country have been stressing the need to get our children exercising and eating properly. Several recent studies are showing that the skyrocketing levels of childhood obesity are starting to level out. While this is very positive news on the health front and for parents and educators; some say we still have a long way to go. Recent news came out that if exercise and nutrition aren't put in to place and there is a family risk of high blood cholesterol levels, the nation's pediatricians are recommending wider cholesterol screening for children and more aggressive use of cholesterol lowering drugs.

This influential group of doctors is recommending that some as young as 8 years of age be given the drugs to ward off future heart problems. This proactive approach is being accepted by many but it also set off alarms with parents who finally realized the severity of the obesity problem.

This is the strongest guidance ever given on the issue by the American Academy of Pediatrics, who by the way also recommends low-fat milk for 1-year-olds for whom overweight or obesity is a concern.

The academy has long recommended against reduced-fat milk for children up to age 2 because saturated fats are needed for brain development.

While many are apprehensive to see their child be put on drugs, the academy said recent studies show that cholesterol lowering drugs are generally safe for children. Those studies also showed the damage leading to heart disease, which is the nation's number one killer, starts early in life.

The education system has been improving the nutritional menus in the schools; high sugar sodas and fruit drinks are being taken 56 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

out of the vending machines and healthier choices are being made available to children. Although P.E. classes are being cut in many school districts, at least one class involving physical activity is being required to keep the children involved in either sports or something active to help aid in the fight against childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Summertime is typically the season where children are gaining their weight. Although many would think it would be the other way around, studies show that when children are not enrolled in an after school activity or involved in those during class that they have a tendency to be inactive while parents are at work. The video gaming industry, television, the internet and the lack of structure is blamed for the childhood weight gain.

Parents seem to be getting the message though, now more than ever, and the recent findings showing the obesity levels dropping is proof of that. With regards to drug treatment, it would generally be targeted for kids at least 8 years old who have too much LDL, the "bad" cholesterol, along with other risky conditions, including obesity and high blood pressure. Many pediatricians and nutritionists believe that if treated more aggressively early on in life, this may help prevent heart disease and strokes later in adulthood. For overweight children with too little HDL, the "good" cholesterol, the first course of action should be weight loss, more physical activity and nutritional counseling, the academy says.

Dr. Mark Eddy, pediatric endocrinologist with SluCare told me on a recent KMOX broadcast that pediatricians should routinely check the cholesterol of children with a family history of inherited cholesterol disease or those with parents or grandparents who developed heart disease at an early age.

One third of U.S. children are overweight and 17 percent obese. Dr. Zach Stacy of the St Louis College of Pharmacy stressed that parents needs to understand not all children are automatically being put on these drugs, a number of factors are weighed and then when adminstered physicians will be routinely testing the LDL and HDL levels. Both physicians agreed we need to do something to stifle the childhood obesity levels but first and foremost it should come in the form of movement, exercise at any level and proper nutrition. â–

S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 57

Farmer Wants a Wife Finds “Real” Love in Prime Time

relationship off camera,” he said.

Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photos by Michael Schlueter

m e a n t airfare back to the city, so willingly, albeit poorly, the girls drove tractors, took care of large farm animals, made pies, sewed quilts and attended bingo night.

The show leased land from Phil Willbrand, of Portage Des Sioux, for its offices. The crew used his sons Wes, 20, and Jack, 17, for side jobs. His daughter, Paige, 14, got to meet the girls on the show.

Produced by FremantleMedia North America, “Farmer Wants a Wife” took place mainly on Neustadt's farm. He is a third generation farmer on the land that has been owned by his family since the late 1940's.

Willbrand described Neustadt as an “educated farmer.” He said one of Matt's goals is to get rid of the “stereotypes that exist about farmers. It's not true at all. You really have to be on the ball today to be a farmer,” he said.

Hi ho the dairy-o...St. Charles makes primetime.

When the CW's cast of “Farmer Wants a Wife” rolled into West Alton, MO, St. Charles residents and businesses were put on notice. The crew needed them. They needed places to shoot the show. They needed extras. And they needed locals to train the contestants in the various challenges that were presented to them.

Ann Hazelwood, local author and owner of Patches, Etc. in St. Charles, was one of the business owners who received a phone call.

They wanted her employees to teach the girls to quilt. The Mother-In-Law House restaurant was signed on the teach the girls how to make pies.

“It is so hokey you just can't wait to see what will happen next,” she said. “We met with them many times. They were focused on staying local. I was the quilt shop. I don't think there was anything too magical about it. We set up the old-fashioned quilting frame in the upstairs quilting room.”

The show, which premiered this year on CW, featured a real red-blooded American farm boy from West Alton, MO—29-yearold Matt Neustadt—who's charge was to rescue a city girl from the concrete jungle to share his life with on his corn, wheat and soybean farm in Portage Des Sioux, MO.

Neustadt said he and some friends, four years earlier, had jokingly applied to be on another reality romance show, ABC’s The Bachelor. “Somebody kept my information and got in touch with me,” Neustadt said.

“I got a call from a casting agent.”

A religious man, Neustadt said he went to the top producer for his answer. “I prayed about whether or not to be on the show for two months. I really feel that God led me and I found a wonderful woman on the show. I really just want to be man enough to follow what God wants me to do.”

Willbrand said that although “catching chickens, milking goats and washing pigs was a big part of the show,” that's all it was, was show. “Most farmers today don't raise farm animals,” he said. “It's not the way it is in everyday life. Everybody kind of got a kick out of that.”

Neustadt said that most people, especially the city folks, “have no idea what a farmer Brooke Ward and Matt Neustadt give a shout out to Street Scape.

The woman God found for Neustadt was the show’s winner, Texas sweetheart, Brooke Ward. And although Ward has since moved to St. Charles, Neustadt said the two are taking their time building a relationship in “reality.”

“We are taking this time to have a

The show's producers searched the country to find 10 city women who had had it with bad dates and unscrupulous men in the big city. The girls were subjected to the seemingly wholesome world of the modernday farmer. (Neustadt has a bachelor's degree in agricultural technology from the University of Central Missouri). The uptown girls had to impress down home Neustadt with their new-found love of the country life through a series of typical farming activities and challenges. Failure Wuelling Farm 58 | S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E

Sharon Brader

Terry David

Dellene Oldendorff Donna Hafer

does. They come up with this stereotype and no farmer fits that. They think cows, plows and sows and it’s nothing like that.

It’s not 1930 anymore. A farmer is a businessman. A farmer today is much more educated and sophisticated than most people think.”

Photos: Greg Gayne/The CW ©2008 The CW Network

St. Charles’ own Donna Hafer was charged with teaching five of the show's contestants how to make pies. The task suited the 27year owner of The Mother-in-Law House in St. Charles, as she's famous for her coconut and cherry cream pies. She said the ladies came to her home in St. Charles, where they were treated to dinner and a quick lesson in making an apple pie from scratch. “They did alright. It was fun,” she said. “We had a good time.”

Sharon Brader, or “Miss Sharon” as she was called on the show, was in episode three.

The assistant city clerk for St. Charles helped teach the girls how to quilt at Patches where she works part time. “They didn't do a real good job, but they tried and that was the main thing,” she said, adding that of the four hours they taped in the store, only three minutes made it into the actual show. Everyone involved had to sign releases that they wouldn't talk about the show before it aired. Brader said she knew three of the girls were going home before the episode even aired on May 14. Like Willbrand, Brader spoke well of Neustadt.

“Matt's a sweetheart,” she said. ■

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Droste Longevity B u i l d i n g S t . C h a r l e s — 7 5 Ye a r s S t r o n g Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Michael Schlueter

company's tradition since their grandfather started Droste in 1933.

With the building boom that has consumed St. Charles County over the last two decades, its easy to forget who in affect started it all.

“He was pretty well known for being a good custom home builder,” Jim said of his grandfather. “Most of the stories I ever heard about him was from carpenters who were apprentices under him, how good he was and how hard he made them work. He was a pretty particular old German. He made sure everything was right.”

Al Droste and Sons Construction is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

Touted as the most stable and reliable— most certainly the oldest—construction firm in St. Charles County, Droste is still going strong.

“Our company brings piece of mind to its customers with a reputation for trying their hardest to do a good job for their clients, and with proven longevity,” said Jim Droste.

Personal service and availability from owners Jim and Steve Droste during all phases of the job is what has continued the

After working as a journeyman carpenter for many years, Alvin Droste started the company, establishing himself as a quality contractor and craftsman. Al Droste and Sons Construction continued through WWII working on maintenance construction, with the help of Alvin's oldest son Robert Droste. After serving in the war, Alvin's youngest son, Raymond Droste returned and joined the company. After that, the Alvin and his sons concentrated

their business mostly on new custom homes.

Jim said Alvin did build the Willie Harris school though and a few Lutheran schools in St. Charles county. He also built the First National Bank building on the corner of Third and First Capitol Dr. just up the street from Pio's.

Raymond was named president in 1959 when the company incorporated. The custom home building continued but the company began building more commercial buildings throughout the 1970's.

The company built the Indian Hills, Runny Meade and Huntington Park subdivisions in the mid 1960's, Jim said. “And dad did all the Texaco filling stations in town.”

In 1974, Jim and Steve started working as journeymen carpenters for their father Raymond and their Uncle Robert. This was

(l to r) Debbie, Jim and Steve Droste

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the official beginning of what would become the third generation of Al Droste and Sons Construction.

Ray, Jim and Steve bought out Robert and became equal partners with Raymond in 1982 while Raymond maintained his role as president. The company was just on the recovery from the recession of the late 1970's and early 1980's. By 1983, things had started back very well in commercial construction and in 1986 new housing took off.

Raymond retired in 1989 and Jim became president. Steve became vice-president.

Some of Droste's most notable projects include the commercial construction of the Baue Funeral Home at Cave Springs which houses St. Charles County first crematorium; Rx Systems, an 80,000-square-foot facility that utilizes a HVAC system that is another of St. Charles County's firsts. A chilled water system is coupled with an air cooled chiller and an ice storage tank that provides the cooling for the building by producing ice at night, while allowing utility rates to be lower.

Historic renovations have also been a part of Droste's construction repertoire over the years. The company fully remodeled the First Capitol Trading Post, raising ceilings, historically reproducing the parade balcony and producing a completely new store front. Other restoration projects include the Canoe Restaurant, Boone's Lick Trail Inn, the Winery of the Little Hills and four buildings for the Quilogy Campus.

Today Droste employees 10 people. Jim's wife works in the office. Jim, who originally wanted to be an architect, said he doesn't know where the company will be in ten years. He has two sons and one daughter. “She's interested in shopping,”Jim said. (She's also majoring in apparel management at the University of Missouri at Columbia) His two sons want to become an architectural and mechanical engineer.

“We do have a good chance of having a couple of sons in laws come along. Nothing's out of the question,” Jim said.

“I don't see myself retiring at 65 anyway.”

Jim said each generation of his family has “upscaled the lasts's buildings. We build buildings much bigger than my father and grandfather ever did.”

Jim said he isn't sure how they would survive in today's building environment. “The paperwork most of all slows down the construction and doesn't do o much for the quality of the project. That would drive them nuts.” ■ S T R E E T S C A P E M A G A Z I N E | 61

ABC’s 20/20 Films Episode at Bridgeway Behavior Health Story by Robin Seaton Jefferson Photo by Michael Schlueter

One of television's most popular news series visited St. Charles recently, when ABC's 20/20 filmed an episode at Bridgeway Behavioral Health.

The producers and crew of 20/20 spent an afternoon at Bridgeway's Women's Center in March. The domestic violence center— in an undisclosed location for the safety of women and their children—is a safe house for battered women and their children.

Pat Kulik, director of Women and Children's Domestic Violence Services, said 20/20 producers picked up on the story of a woman who was once a client at Bridgeway's Women's Center shelter while covering another story about a young woman arrested for shooting her abusive husband. During the trial, the woman used the Battered Women's Syndrome as a defense. “She wasn't given as stiff a sentence as most women are because of the defense,” Kulik said. “Her husband was a preacher and she had three daughters. She killed him.”

“The producer told us that when she covered this story she started thinking about other battered women,” Kulik said.

“Whatever research she did, she located a former client of ours that had been in the women's center over 20 years ago. She has been incarcerated for over 20 years for killing her abusive husband.”

Shortly after, 20/20 producers called Ava Bothe, a 20-year veteran domestic violence counselor at Bridgeway.

The crew interviewed Bothe and filmed a batterer's group in the shelter. “In our conversations with the producers of the show, we talked about everything we do,” Kulik said. The conversation included several of

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Bridgeway's many programs for victims of domestic abuse, including the Alternatives to Violence and Abuse program which is designed for the Bridgeway Behavioral Health’s annual gala helps fund perpetrators of abuse. It was its many programs and services. Please contact them for one of these groups that 20/20 information on next year’s event. filmed in St. Charles, she said.

They returned the following day to film the having total power and control in a relationship. She was beaten extensively the interior of the domestic violence shelter. night the shooting happened. My hope is Kulik said the 20/20 episode will focus on that if this story can help other battered victimization of battered women and how women or any one that's living this in their that victimization in their personal lives home, it will be worth it. We are just trying continues and often leads to the penal to make a difference.” system and the legal system.

Bridgeway Counseling Services is The Bridgeway has eight sites that focus on headquartered in St. Charles. addictive and co-occurring disorders and nonprofit organization specializes in three domestic violence programs in the St. treatment and services for addictive Louis region, which serves St. Charles, disorders, domestic violence and sexual Lincoln, Warren and St. Louis City and assault and has been serving clients in Counties. Sexual assault programs are also eastern Missouri since 1978. Bridgeway offered in St. Charles and Lincoln Counties. offers medical detoxification, residential Bridgeway has even expanded with a site in care, day treatment, intensive outpatient services, relapse prevention tracks, trauma North Carolina. informed treatment, adolescent programs, Kulik has been with Bridgeway since 1992, family education programs and family but the experience with 20/20 was her “first therapy, S.A.T.O.P., and dual diagnosis. interaction with national television. We can offer this circle of services that can truly aid For more information about Bridgeway's in a person's healing in every way. We truly, services, call 636-757-2300 or visit all of us, work together to achieve that. The www.bridgewaybh.com. ■ producers at 20/20 said they wanted to make sure they didn't use our programs to sensationalize anything. They truly were trying to show the victimization of battered women and that it's not their fault that they're being victimized. I was very impressed with the way they “It really shows how devastating domestic violence is and how it can lead to these terrible things. It all boils down to one partner

Fall

Calendar of Events

New Town New Town Movie Night | Every Friday in August and September, a different movie is shown at the New Town Amphitheater. Fridays, 8/1/2008-9/26/2008 at 8:30 p.m. www.newtownstcharles.com Jazz Festival | New Town Amphitheater, free admission, 8/16/2008 at 6 p.m.

Bluegrass Festival | New Town Amphitheater, free admission, 9/13/2008 at 6 p.m.

Charity Fashion Show | Urban Expressions—A Vine Affair, 9/18/2008 from 6 to 8 p.m.

New Town Chapel, tickets must be purchased in advance online at www.streetscapemag.com, $35 per person. Show will benefit Our Lady’s Inn and Connections to Success. Celebrity models, wine and auction.

Flea Market | New Town Amphitheater, free admission, 10/11/2008 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Halloween Spectacular | This event includes pumpkin carving, face painting, and trick-or-treating at participating businesses and residences on 10/25/2008 from 2 to 4 p.m.

O’Fallon O’Fallon Jammin’ | Free outdoor concerts held every Tuesday throughout August, Civic Park, O’Fallon 8/5/2008-8/19/2008 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Fall Festival and Crafts Bazaar | Festival featuring artists and crafters selling holiday decorations and gifts, home and garden décor, jewelry, candles, toys,

→ www.historicstcharles.com → www.mainstreetstcharles.com → www.historicfrenchtown.com → www.newtownatstcharles.com → www.augusta-chamber.org → www.stpetersmo.com

Celebration of Lights | A dazzling holiday display of over one million lights and a one-mile display of holiday scenes. Special walk-through, carriage or train rides at Fort Zumwalt Park, O’Fallon, 11/28/2008-12/30/2008 cars $9, vans $15, buses $1 per person. Closed on Mondays and Dec. 24 and 25.

event is meant to encourage awareness of crime and drug prevention methods while bringing communities together. Different neighborhoods are sponsoring different events, such as cookouts, block parties, etc. throughout St. Charles County, 8/25/2008.

Chesterfield Movies on the Plaza | Movies will be shown at sunset on the plaza in front of Chesterfield City Hall. Free

Wentzville

admission and free popcorn, 8/22/2008 at sunset.

Civil War Reenactment | The reenactment of the Battle of Wentzville presented by the Missouri Turner Brigade at Rotary Park, Wentzville 9/6/2008 to 9/7/2008.

Maryland Heights

St. Louis Pirate Festival | Saturdays and Sundays, Sept. 13 through 28, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Rotary Park, Wentzville.

Wabash Days | Downtown Wentzville, Oct. 3 through 5.

Sunset Concert | Enjoy the Rough Ryder Band in beautiful, wooded Rotary Park. This event is free and concessions are available at reasonable prices. The event will be held on 8/16/2008 from 7 to 10 p.m. at Rotary Park, Wentzville.

Cottleville National Night Out | Neighborhoods across Cottleville and across the county are asked to lock their doors, turn on outside lights and spend the evening outside with friends and neighbors. The

We love books about the local area and the state at MSB and this fits the bill. The book covers 125 famous Missourians in a fun, yet entertaining manner. Brown writes about each "legend" from childhood to success and includes interesting trivia. For example, I didn't know Steve McQueen, the rugged bad boy movie star, grew up in Slater, MO. But even more interesting, McQueen was expelled from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon) for riding his motorcycle through the College of Fine Arts Building.

Summer Concert Series: Brian Curran and FolkNBluesGrass | A free concert featuring an acoustic blend of folk, blues and bluegrass at Sailboat Cove, 8/10/2008 at 7 p.m. at Creve Coeur Park, Maryland Heights.

Summer Concert Series: Los Amancay | Los Amancay closes out this summer’s series with a free spirited performance of Argentine folk music on 9/12/2008 at 7 p.m. at Vago Park, Maryland Heights.

St. Charles Please visit thte Greater Saint Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau’s ad on page 1 for St. Charles events.

MISSOURI LEGENDS Famous People from the Show-Me State

by John W Brown Available at Main Street Books 307 South Main | 636-949-0105

BOOK CLUB

For more information on events in our area, visit these helpful websites:

food, entertainment and much more, at Civic Park, O’Fallon, 10/11/2008 at 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 636379-5614 or visit www.ofallon.mo.us for details.

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