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Registration deadline for the gardening summer day program at Butler County University of Missouri Extension is coming up soon! Summer programs provide a safe environment for youth ages 5-18 to spend summer learning about the world. Through gardening youth learn through hands-on activities. Youth will learn the basic concepts of gardening and will be able to garden their own plant, vegetable, or flower. This course will be held on June 8 from 1:00 pm– 4:00 pm. To register contact the University of Missouri Extension Butler County office at 573-686-8064 or stop by at 222 N Broadway in Poplar Bluff. Cost is $5 for the program.

During the funeral service for my brother Richard last Saturday, I had a lot of memories flash back through my mind about hunting, fishing, and even canoe racing. This time I will write about a rabbit hunt that Richard always talked about with a big grin on his face. He and Jerry Leach, one of his buddies that he grew up with on the East side of Poplar Bluff, took off for a hunt, walking out the Frisco Railroad tracks. After a while, they had reached the levee east of town and were hunting down the levee toward the old "Cat Tracks" of the Mo-Pac Railroad. The dogs were hunting along the ditch beside the levee and after a while,

More than 60 community members attended the groundbreaking for the Poplar Bluff Middle School on Tuesday, June 2, at the current Senior High campus. Supporters in attendance included the Board of Education, R-I administration, the Greater Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce, project officials, state and municipal representatives, business leaders, parents and a very special guest, student Sophie Starnes of O’Neal Elementary, who will be a fifth grader when the new Middle School opens for the 2016/17 school year. “This milestone marks the culmination of more than three years of input from several dozen community leaders, school officials and professional planners to determine the best plan to improve the safety of students for generations to come and get ahead of

  Outgoing fourth grader Toby Robertson of Lake Road Elementary School was recently awarded a new acoustic guitar with accessories and a free guitar lesson courtesy of Hays The Music Store and the Dr. Williams School of Music. Lake Road parent Danny Williams, who works at Hays and teaches the guitar lessons, initiated the giveaway, and music teacher Craig Hamilton and Guitar Club leader Ashley Pryor selected the aspiring musician.

Everyone of us has dreams. Sometimes, we live with dreams deferred because life seems to get in the way. When Chris Batrano was diagnosed with ALS, he could have been one of those people to give up on his dreams because life, or more specifically, a very serious illness got in the way. But Chris Batrano is not the type to give upon a dream. He’s more like a bull who pushes through every obstacle with sheer stubbornness. That’s the way Toren Anderson describes her friend. “It’s rare that a person gets to be a part of something that is truly unique and inspiring,” explained Anderson. “But I feel privileged to be part of Chris’ life, and this amazing quest