Forum Flashbacks Dec. 22-28
FORUM FILE PHOTO
25 YEARS AGO: Head First – Chris Pierson slides down a hill at St. Gregory’s School Saturday afternoon. Pierson, who was enjoying the nice weather Saturday with his dad, Gary, and their friends Lloyd and Lloyd Michael Owens, was one of just many sliders at the hill Saturday.
5 years ago
A unanimous vote of approval by the Maryville R-II school board at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, Dec. 20 has given the go-ahead to a new early childhood education center, likely to be located at Eugene Field Elementary School.
Superintendent Becky Albrecht proposed the center at the November board meeting, noting the percentage of students who arrive to kindergarten with no preschool experience and evidence showing the human brain undergoes its most rapid development during a child’s early years.
“We hope to see many positive outcomes, including better preparation for and more seamless transition into kindergarten …” Albrecht said. “… reduced behaviors that negatively impact learning, earlier identification of students needing additional services, increased parental resources and a more unified and inclusive early childhood community.”
According to Albrecht, a key goal of the program will be to identify children who aren’t currently being served in this capacity and therefore are not acquiring the associated “pre-kindergarten skills.”
“We have found that the last few years … about 20 of our kindergarteners do not have a preschool experience. Even more don’t have what we might consider a quality experience. We are hoping our added preschool classroom, which will be free to qualifying students, will eliminate this non- or under-served population, making their entry into school (and journey through life) more successful,” Albrecht said.
15 years ago
…But one group of friends on Northwest Missouri State University’s campus has found a unique way to take out their stress. Oh, they don’t go out partying or go to the gym to work out, or anything as traditional as that.
They sword fight. To the death.
They go out to the one of the city’s many parks or they simply take advantage of the large open grassland area next to the Memorial Bell Tower on campus. They arm themselves from a motley assortment of medieval weaponry. …
Of course, their method of combat is more of a reenactment than a bloody duel. Northwest would not, under any circumstances, allow a group of students to run around on campus with five-foot long swords or a collection of daggers. (Not to mention, if they really fought to the death, the group would quickly lose most of its members.)
Their weapons are homemade and covered with a durable type of foam. For example, the group has one long sword that consists of a solid handle that is wrapped in foam and then covered with a stretchy cloth that has a psychedelic design reminiscent of a tie-dye shirt. They affectionately refer to it as “the hippie stick.”
25 years ago
According to the “KIDS COUNT in Missouri 1997 Data Book,” Nodaway County is the seventh best county in Missouri for children. The report, which is compiled by Citizens for Missouri’s Children and was released Dec. 15, takes into account a number of factors in ranking each of the 115 Missouri counties.
Nodaway County was ranked number one in the state in the category for births to teens ages 15 to 19. In Nodaway County there were 16 births to teens ages 15 to 19 for every 1,000 births. That decrease also reflects a decrease in the teen birth rate across the state.
“The ranking of the counties in the book suggests that some counties are able to provide more resources and safety nets for children than others,” Citizens for Missouri’s Children Executive Director Elizabeth Griffin said. “We know that poverty is the real issue for Missouri’s children. Those kids who are born into families with steady incomes and high wage jobs, and those who have stable support systems in their community from families, and other community organizations, are better able to grow and develop into self-sufficient and productive adults. It’s important that everyone in the state see that although one county may rank higher than another, any child who is not thriving is of concern to all of us.”
100 years ago
MERCURY HITS 60 BREAKING RECORD FOR CHRISTMAS
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Christmas Day this year was the warmest in the twenty-nine years during which J. R. Brink has been keeping the official government records, the maximum temperature yesterday being 60 degrees. The air was balmy and spring-like all day, and many remarked it seemed more like Easter than Christmas.
The next warmest Christmas day on the records of Mr. Brink was in 1905 when the thermometer registered 49 degrees. The lowest minimum Christmas Day temperature records was in 1920 when it was 7 degrees below, and the lowest maximum in 1902 when the official mercury got to 9 degrees above.
While it wasn’t a white Christmas the day was just as nearly perfect for the greatest day of the year for the children, and although there wasn’t much use yesterday for the new sled, the weather man is promising snow this week. …
The perfect spring weather which prevailed both Sunday and yesterday brought many to the golf course at the Maryville Country Club and the links were crowded both days. Many families took long motor trips, some being guests of friends and relatives in other towns of this and nearby counties.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The 100-year flashback is courtesy of the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project from the State Historical Society of Missouri, viewable at shsmo.newspapers.com. The original article ran in the Dec. 26, 1922, edition of The Maryville Tribune, a predecessor of The Maryville Forum.
