An open letter from Dr. Alan Stauffacher

School Partnerships

A common theme in small Midwestern towns is the commitment that people have to support their schools. I think that many communities gain their identity from their local school and go to unprecedented lengths to support it. At a previous district where I was employed, it was common to have people come to me and tell me that “if there was ever anything the school needs, just let them know.” In that town the school was the “hub,” the identity, and the central gathering place. Butler is no different in the way people give when the school is concerned.

So we take a few moments to thank those that support the school through “thick and thin.” We have the parents, the boosters, civic organizations, churches, banks, businesses, restaurants, radio station, and the newspaper that go beyond normal expectations. It must seem that we always have our hand out with fundraisers and the many activities that extend from the school. In response, we would like to become a partner with the same community that supports us.

The movement that I would like to promote is for the school to give back. Our students will learn many life-lessons by attending school and one of those we hope to foster is the idea of community service. We want to reach out to those individuals, businesses, civic organizations, that help us and ask a simple question, “how can we help you?”

In the next few months, I hope to see many of our school groups and organizations begin outreach activities that touch the lives of the members of our community. This may mean clean-up or beautification projects. We would like to support organizations in need like the Food Pantry, nursing homes, or activities like blood drives. There may be individuals that need help with yard clean up. In order to meet the needs of the community we need to hear from the community. So in the next few months, there will be articles written in the paper, pictures taken of projects completed, and students learning that the school can support its community. If you have a project that comes to mind, or a person in need, feel free to contact any of the school offices. We have groups that need a project to adopt so that we can support the community that supports us.

For the kids,
Dr. Alan Stauffacher
Superintendent, Butler R-V Schools

Butler Police Department Activity Report

Aug. 27
Disturbance 400 block of E Jefferson
Leave without pay The Filling Station
Theft 200 block of W Park
Property Damage
Disturbance Super 8
Noise complaint S Park

Aug. 28
Attempt to contact
Theft Main and Harrison
Theft 200 block of S High
Accident High and Pine
Theft report Wal Mart

Obituary - Dennis Forst

Mass of Christian Burial for Dennis Forst will be 10 a.m. Thursday, September 6, 2012 at St. Patrick Catholic Church with Father John Bolderson officiating. Visitation will be Wednesday evening from 5-7 p.m. followed by Rosary services at 7 p.m. at Schowengerdt Funeral Chapel (660-679-6555) Butler, Missouri. Burial in Garden City Cemetery, Garden City, Missouri. Contributions to St. Patrick Catholic Church.

Dennis Francis Forst, age 59 of Archie, Missouri died Saturday, September 1, 2012 at Cass Regional Medical Center in Harrisonville, Missouri. He was born January 29, 1953 to Urban Frederick and Clara Frances Palkowitsh Forst in Lamar, Missouri.

Dennis is survived by his wife, Ann Forst of Archie, Missouri; three daughters, Jeanette Marie Opat and husband Pat of Harrisonville, Missouri, Rhonda Renee Garrett and husband Donny and Amanda Marie Swigart and husband Tim, all of Garden City, Missouri; three sons, Richard Allen Forst of Garden City, Missouri, Shawn Morgan and wife Tousha of Adrian, Missouri and Eric Morgan and wife Danielle of Adrian, Missouri; two brothers, Norbert Lee Forst and wife Pam of St. Paul, Kansas and Steven Forst and wife Linda of Rockville, Tennessee; two sisters, Patricia Burrows and husband Clyde of Columbus, Ohio and Christine Emerson and husband Jeff of Owasso, Oklahoma; and 17 grandchildren and nephews, nieces and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; and Janice Forst

Get your ironhorse ready for the Posse Poker Run on Saturday...

The Bates County Sheriff's Posse's 2nd Annual Poker Run will be held next Saturday, September 8th. Registration starts at 1:00 at the Bates County Courthouse Lawn. The Poker Run will leave the square at 2:00 and head to the Hume Park for the first stop. From there, the motorcycles will stop at the Drexel City Park. They will then head to the Adrian Elks Lodge and then on to the Ballard School. The last stop will be at the Bates County Law Enforcement Museum. The route is approximately 120 miles. The best poker hand will win $100.00 cash. The cost to ride in the Poker Run is $15.00 for the driver and $5.00 for the passenger. 

All proceeds from the event will go to the restoration fund of the Bates County Law Enforcement Museum.

- our thanks to Jami Page

Rich Hill police department weekly report

Rich Hill Police Department Activity Report

August 27, 2012 to September 02, 2012

08-27-2012

 

08-28-2012

 

08-29-2012

SPEAK TO OFFICER

AGENCY ASSIST

ANIMAL AT LARGE

 

08-30-2012

CARELESS & IMPRUDENT DRIVING

CHECK WELL BEING

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY / VEHICLE / PERSON

 

08-31-2012

VANDALISM

 

09-01-2012

MVA HIT & RUN

 

09-02-2012

STRANDED MOTORIST

Bates County Sheriff's Department weekly report

Bates County Sheriff’s Office Activity Report

August 27, 2012 to September 02, 2012

08-27-2012

TRESPASSING-Foster

CARELESS & IMPRUDENT DRIVING-Butler

SPEAK TO OFFICER-Adrian

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY / VEHICLE / PERSON-Butler

AGENCY ASSIST-Butler

DOMESTIC-Adrian

 

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

WWII aircraft factory workers. Many were trained on
the spot and worked tirelessly to build the much needed
equipment during a time of war.

Labor Day is much more than a 'last blast' at the lake weekend or family barbecues. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

A Nationwide Holiday

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

Rosie: By Any Other Name - The Riveting True Story of the Labor Icon

Labor Day 2012 is upon us and one of the best known laborer icons in history is "Rosie the Riveter". But was she a real person?

Certainly, one of the more readily recognizable icons of labor is "Rosie the Riveter," the indefatigable World War II-era woman who rolled up her sleeves, flexed her arm muscles and said, "We Can Do It!" But, this isn't the original Rosie.

In 1942, as World War II raged in Europe and the Pacific and the song "Rosie the Riveter" filled radio waves across the home front, manufacturing giant Westinghouse commissioned artist J. Howard Miller to make a series of posters to promote the war effort. One such poster featured the image of a woman with her hair wrapped up in a red polka-dot scarf, rolling up her sleeve and flexing her bicep. At the top of the poster, the words ‘We Can Do It!' are printed in a blue caption bubble. To many people, this image is "the" Rosie the Riveter. But it was never the intention to make this image "Rosie," nor did many Americans think of her as "Rosie." The connection of Miller's image and "Rosie" is a recent phenomenon.

The "Rosie" image popular during the war was created by illustrator Norman Rockwell (who had most certainly heard the "Rosie the Riveter" song) for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on May 29, 1943 — the Memorial Day issue. The image depicts a muscular woman wearing overalls, goggles and pins of honor on her lapel. She sports a leather wrist band and rolled-up sleeves. She sits with a riveting tool in her lap, eating a sandwich, and "Rosie" is inscribed on her lunch pail. And, she's stepping on a copy of Adolph Hitler's book "Mein Kampf."

The magazine cover exemplified the American can-do spirit and illustrated the notion of women working in previously male-dominated manufacturing jobs, an ever-growing reality, to help the United States fight the war while the men fought over seas.

The cover was an enormous success and soon stories about real life "Rosies" began appearing in newspapers across the country. The government took advantage of the popularity of Rosie the Riveter and embarked on a recruiting campaign of the same name. The campaign brought millions of women out of the home and into the workforce. To this day, Rosie the Riveter is still considered the most successful government advertising campaign in history.

After the war, numerous requests were made for the Saturday Evening Post image of Rosie the Riveter, but Curtis Publishing, the owner of the Post, refused all requests. The publishing company was possibly concerned that the composers of the song "Rosie the Riveter" would hold them liable for copyright infringement.

Since then, the J. Howard Miller "We Can Do It!" image has replaced Norman Rockwell's illustration as "Rosie the Riveter" in the minds of many people. Miller's Rosie has been imprinted on coffee mugs, mouse pads, and countless other items, making her and not the original "Rosie" the most famous of all labor icons.