This Month in St. Louis History

Strassenfest, Moonlight Ramble
and more in August

Two events that are still celebrated in St. Louis had their beginnings during past Augusts. The two are Strassenfest German festival and the Moonlight Ramble bike ride.

The Dardenne Creek area's varied history ranged from farming to the TNT explosives plant and to an outdoor conservation/recreation area. Its local history began in August.

Saint Louis IX of France and the steamboat Arabia also had August anniversary dates.

The Missouri History Museum in Forest Park each month cooperates with Young Saint Louis.com to provide information about the state's rich history. Each item in this article has an August anniversary date.

If you'd like more information about Missouri history, visit www.mohistory.org.

Strassenfest

Strassenfest is a traditional German festival held in August. It has a history that dates back 300 years.

With its strong German heritage, St. Louis is a natural place to celebrate a Strassenfest. The name translates into "street party" and reflects the sensibility of "gemultlichkeit" which means "warmth and friendliness."

This would be a good time to visit two websites that tell of the German history in Missouri and of Strassenfest. They are www.serve.com/shea/germusa/mochild.htm and www.strassenfest.org.

Moonlight Ramble

The 2007 Moonlight Ramble bicycle ride will be held Aug. 25/26, 2007. It often draws up to 15,000 riders who begin riding through St. Louis at the stroke of midnight.

If 15,000 riders show up again this year, that will be 14,999 more than took part in the first one in 1964.

The idea for a nighttime bike ride was the brainstorm of Dick Leary. He was with the Ozark Area Council of American Youth Hostels and thought it would be good promotion for his program.

But, it turned out he was the only person who showed up to ride that first year. But, he persevered with his idea.

By the 1970s, the ride was drawing thousands. And since then it has become sort of a one-night festival with entertainment, a vendor village, food, souvenirs and a family-oriented after party.

For more about the ride's past and current status, visit www.moonlightramble.com.

Dardenne Creek

In August, 1750, a French trapper, Toussaint Dardenne, bought a house in a village along a beautiful freshwater creek in what is now St. Charles County.

The area had everything the Dardenne family and others living there wanted. It had large areas of grassland for farming, plenty of timber and wildlife along the creek and plenty of fish for food.

But, when the 1900s began, the assault on the creek area began. First, the Cottleville Drainage District dredged and channeled the stream. That meant more farming but less water and wildlife.

Then, in 1940, the federal government began buying out schools and homes to establish a huge TNT plant that produced explosives for World War II. That left the area polluted and the situation got worse.

A uranium-processing plant ran from 1957 to 1966. Water in Dardenne Creek was now an orange-pink color and the stream was basically a chemical sewer.

At least some of the area began a comeback when the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area was purchased by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Although the conservation area still has over 100 explosive storage bunkers, the primary use is now outdoor recreation.

For more, visit www.cares.missouri.edu/dardenne and/or http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/.

Saint Louis IX of France

Saint Louis IX, the king of France and namesake for our city, died on Aug. 25, 1270.

St. Louis, Mo., is just one of the places around the world named after the king. Saint-Louis du Senegal in Africa and Lake Saint-Louis in Quebec, Canada, are a couple others.

The fact he was the only canonized French king prompted his name to be used so often.

He was named king when he was just 11 years old. As son of King Louis VIII, he got the title when his father died on Nov. 8, 1226. His mother, Blanche of Castile, served as regent of France while Louis IX was a minor.

He was known for his religious fervor and participated in the Crusades. His death is said to have occurred in Tunis in North Africa in 1270 while fighting against Islam. A Tomb of Saint-Louis is still in the Algerian city.

However, in Islamic history, King Louis IX was said to have converted to Islam under the name Sidi Bou Said. He is said to have been an Islamic saint when he died.

For more, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France.

You can see a statue of Saint Louis on horseback in Forest Park. For more on that, visit http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/
history/statue.html.

Steamboat Arabia

The steamboat Arabia left St. Louis on Aug. 30, 1856, on what turned out to be its last journey up the Missouri River. The side-wheeler sank Sept. 5 when it hit a river snag.

Of course, the Missouri destroyed a number of steamboats in its day. A historian H.M Chittendon recorded almost 200 ships that sank between St. Louis and Kansas City in a 65-year period in the 1800s.

But, the Arabia got a place in Missouri history when it was one of just two boats found buried with its structure and cargo virtually intact.

The Arabia remained undiscovered until 1988. When found, it was buried 45 feet underground and more than a half-mile from the current Missouri River channel. (Rivers like the Missouri that move quickly often change channels during flood periods.)

The boat was located by use of a proton magnetometer that detected metal in the boat.

There is an Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City. For more on that, you can visit http://www.1856.com/story4.html.

For more on cargo from the Arabia, visit http://www.glswrk-auction.com/12.htm.

 

Eleventh in a series

Names that live on buildings, streets, etc.

(Editor's note: This is the 11th in a series about famous St. Louisans buried in local cemeteries. Information for this article is from St. Louisan Kevin Amsler's book, "Final Resting Place: The Lives and Deaths of Famous St. Louisans.")

St. Louis likes to keep the names of famous forbearers alive by putting them on current buildings, streets and schools. Thus, the names of Sappington, Duchesne, Shaw, De Smet and Kiel are familiar to current residents.

And, of course, sports figures are included.

Famous Missourians named in this article are buried in a variety of local cemeteries.

(You can read earlier articles by clicking on Past Stories on the YSL.com home page. The series started in October, 2006, and has continued each month. The series will end in September, 2007, with an article about famous St. Louisans buried elsewhere.

(To buy Mr. Amsler's book, visit a local bookstore or visit www.STL-Books.com.)

Joe Sappington
(?1750-September 10, 1815)

Joe Sappington was with Gen. George Washington from the time his beleaguered army camped at Valley Forge to the final victory in the Battle of Yorktown that ended the war.

After the war, Sappington moved his family to Kentucky where he was a farmer and active in state politics. He served in both the Kentucky House and Senate. After 20 years in Kentucky, he moved to St. Louis in 1805.

He purchased 1,920 acres along Gravois Creek for $800. The land is now the site of the Crestwood Plaza, the huge South County mall. He died in 1815 and is buried in Sappington Cemetery. That cemetery is the third oldest burial ground in St. Louis.

The Sappington name lives on various streets and public venues.

Sr. Rose Philippine Duchesne
(August 29, 1769-November 18, 1852)

Mother Duchesne was born to wealthy parents in Grenoble, France. Educated in a monastery, she decided to become a nun. She was active in the French Revolution, when religion increasingly became unacceptable and finally was outlawed.

She was allowed to come to America to work with the Indians. Bishop Louis DuBourg of New Orleans asked her order, the Society of the Sacred Heart, for assistance. She and four other nuns took at 73-day sea voyage to New Orleans, which included an attack by river pirates.

They came to St. Louis in 1818 and then moved west to the village of St. Charles. There, they began the first free school west of the Mississippi. A tuition-based academy opened just weeks later.

She was then moved to Florissant where she opened schools and a novitiate where girls could become nuns. She ultimately supervised six schools in Missouri and Louisiana.

At age 72, she lived with Potawatomi Indians in Sugar Creek, Kan.

She died at 83. Her burial is in the chapel at the Academy of Sacred Heart in St. Charles.

Henry Shaw
(July 24, 1800-August 25, 1889)

Henry Shaw worked for two years in the hardware business before, at 19, he left Europe to settle in St. Louis. He started a hardware store and, by age 40, had amassed a considerable fortune.

He sold the business and traveled through Europe for 10 years. He was impressed by botanical gardens throughout the continent. When he returned to St. Louis, he set aside property dedicated to cultivation of plants and flowers.

In addition to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, his name lives on with the Shaw Nature Preserve as well as Tower Grove Park.

After his death, Shaw was buried in a previously built mausoleum in front of his garden home. The Missouri Botanical Garden is a leading research center for botanists. Included in the Garden are the world's first geodesic dome greenhouse and the largest Japanese garden in North America.

Father Peter De Smet
(January 30, 1801-May 23, 1873)

Father De Smet migrated to the U.S. at age 20 from his native Belgium. He was in a Jesuit novitiate in Baltimore before being transferred to Florissant, then a village of 400.

He and fellow Jesuits established the Jesuit Province of Missouri. In 1827, De Smet and other Jesuits set out to establish a college in St. Louis. It became Saint Louis University. De Smet was treasurer and a professor of English there for years.

He also was a missionary for both whites and Indians. He earned the nickname of "Blackrobe." Others knew him as the "apostle of the Rocky Mountains."

When he died in 1873, he was buried in the Museum of Western Jesuit Missions at 700 Howdershell. That was the former St. Stanislaus Seminary.

Henry Kiel
(February 21, 1871-November 26, 1942)

Henry Kiel was a native of St. Louis and worked as a bricklayer in his father's construction business. After taking over the company, Henry was responsible for construction of Soldan High School, the Post-Dispatch building and the Ambassador Theater.

He entered ward politics and was elected mayor for the first time in 1913. He was the first one to serve as mayor for three 4-year terms. After retiring from office in 1931, he was named president of the St. Louis Police Board.

He was active in civic affairs and was the "father of the Municipal Opera." In fact, the Municipal Auditorium was renamed the Kiel Auditorium. He is buried on the second floor of the mausoleum at the Oak Grove Cemetery.

George Sisler
(March 24, 1893-March 26, 1973)

George Sisler is in baseball's Hall of Fame and undoubtedly was the best St. Louis Browns player ever. Of him, Ty Cobb said, "Sisler could do everything. He could hit, run and throw and he wasn't a bad pitcher either."

He studied engineering and played baseball at the University of Michigan. His coach was Branch Rickey. When Sisler graduated, Rickey was manager of the Browns and immediately signed Sisler.

Despite fighting in World War I, Sisler amassed 2,812 hits and a lifetime batting average of .340. His 41-game hitting streak in 1922 lasted until Joe DiMaggio set the new standard of 56 games in 1941.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in the first year the hall was established at Cooperstown, N.Y.

After he died in 1973, he was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Joe Medwick
(November 11, 1911-March 21, 1975)

Joe Medwick came to the major leagues in 1932 at the age of 20. He became one of the leaders of the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gas House Gang." By 1934, the Cardinals had won the World Series over the Detroit Tigers.

Medwick made some unwanted history in the 7th game of that series. He made a hard slide into 3rd base into Tiger Marv Owens. The two fought and, when Medwick went to his outfield position, Detroit fans pelted him with fruit.

Major League Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis was at the game. He ordered Medwick removed from the game. It was said the removal was to insure Medwick's safety. But, many people thought the game wouldn't continue until Medwick was gone.

In 1937, Medwick won the Triple Crown for home runs, RBI's and batting average. He also led in nine other categories and was named the Most Valuable Player that year.

After his playing days, Medwick was a minor league manager. He then opened his own insurance business. But, in 1966, he returned to coaching as the Cardinals' hitting instructor.

In 1975, while as a hitting instructor in the Cardinals' spring training, Medwick suffered a fatal heart attack. Medwick is buried in the churchyard of St. Lucas United Church of Christ. He had been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968.

Places to Go, Things to Do

St. Louis County Fair & Air Show and more

(Editor's note: For other fun opportunities in August, check the This Month in Missouri History feature for details on Strassenfest and the Moonlight Ramble bike ride.)

The St. Louis County Fair and Air Show is always a fun, end-of-summer destination for metro area families. This year's event starts on the last day of August.

There's also an abundance of free music concerts in this last month of summer. We will list some of them but be sure to check your local community for musical events near you.

And, the Cahokia Mounds Archeology Day is something different during August.

Or, if you like to make your own fun, check geocaching opportunities or urban fishing destinations. You can learn to make your own food and househood goods in the wild.

(Each month, Young Saint Louis.com compiles a list of activities that would make good places to go or things to do for you and your family. We provide you with links to get more information on the ones you like. For most, the admission is free or inexpensive.)

Here's YSL.com's listing for August:

St. Louis County Fair & Air Show

The St. Louis County Fair & Air Show is one of the premier events in the St. Louis County parks program. This year's fair will be held Friday, Aug. 31, through Sunday, September 2.

The activities are held at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield.

The event has a county-fair feel about it but with the added dimension of lots of airplanes and flying machines. And, of course, there are fireworks displays.

For more details, either call (636) 530-9386 or visit www.stlcofair.org.

End of summer music concerts

During the summer, St. Louis has lots of musical activities. And, some of the most fun comes with smaller concerts. Be sure to check your hometown to see if there won't be one just down the street from where you live.

The Compton Heights Concert Band will windup its Sunday Serenades and Musical Mondays concerts in early August. These two-hour concerts feature "Sousa-type" march music.

The final Sunday concert is August 5 and the last Monday concert is August 6. Both concerts start at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.

For information, either call (314) 776-2227 or visit www.chband.org.

The Music on Main concert series in downtown St. Charles also ends in early August. The final concert will be on its regular 3rd Wednesday slot, August 15, from 5-7 p.m. Admission is free.

For information, call (636) 946-7776 or visit www.historicstcharles.com.

Cahokia Mounds Archeology Day

Cahokia Mounds Archeology Day in Illinois will be Saturday, August 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There will be demonstrations of ancient crafts, artifact washing, tours and storytelling.

For directions and information, call (618) 346-5760 or visit www.cahokiamounds.com.

Geocaching opportunities

If you're going to do any geocaching, you'll need to get yourself a GPS device. But, once you get that, you'll be able to find all the other directions on the Internet.

And there are plenty of geocaching sites in the St. Louis area. For instance, there are more than 50 cache destinations along the Grant's Trail in South St. Louis alone.

The St. Louis Area Geocaching Assn. has a website, www.geostl.com. If you're going to be in other parts of the country, you can get more comprehensive information by using the official geocaching website, www.geocaching.com.

Urban Fishing destinations

You don't have to be a country kid to be able to find fishing opportunities near home.

The Missouri Department of Conservation has an Urban Fishing Program. St. Louis got its first urban fishing opportunities as far back as 1969. Some of the fishing sites are in community parks and others are in MDC conservation areas.

The state department stocks these lakes with fish ranging from trout in the winter to catfish, carp and bullheads in warmer months.

To find urban fishing opportunities, visit www.missouriconservation.org/2930. To find out about upcoming fishing clinics, visit www.missouriconservation.org/4163.

History Museum's honors Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American flyers who participated in World War II as an all-black flying group. The Missouri History Museum will present two programs in August highlighting their accomplishments.

A number of the flyers were from St. Louis. Joseph Robinson of St. Louis is the president of the Hugh J. White Chapter of the TAI. He will present a Short History of the Tuskegee Airman on Sunday, Aug. 12. The free program begins at 2 p.m. in Lee Auditorium.

Then, on Tuesday, Aug. 14, the museum will show a PBS documentary, Tuskegee Airman. The show starts at noon in the AT&T multipurpose room. Admission is free.

For information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

Homemade food and household goods

The MDC's Rockwood Reservation has three programs for kids that lets them make household goods and food from wild plants.

The first is Papermaking with Plants on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. With a minimum of equipment, a small harvest of backyard plants and guidance from papermaking expert Karen Kelly, to can make your own paper.

The second is Soap-Making for Kids on Wednesday, Aug. 8. There are two classes: one from 10:30 a.m. - noon and the other, 1:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. Learn how wildlife is critical to making kid-friendly soaps.

The third is "Wild Jams and Jellies" on Wednesday, Aug. 15, from 10 a.m. - noon. Learn how to turn wild berries into some favorite jams and jellies.

For information and registration for these three, call (636) 458-2236.

Trailnet August ride schedule

Trailnet has a couple Forest Park fun rides for kids in August.

The first is the Puffin Pedal on Friday, Aug. 3, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. This 5-mile ride starts from the St. Louis Zoo and then includes a chance to see new things at the Zoo. You'll also be able to take part in the Friday Night Jungle Boogie Concert Series.

The other ride is the Planetary Pedal on Friday, Aug. 10 from 6 to 7 p.m. This also is 5-mile ride beginning at the McDonnell Planetarium. After the ride, you see a special show from at the Orthwein StarBay at 8 p.m.

For information on other Trailnet rides, visit www.trailnet.org.

Free food at Butterfly House

The Sachs Butterfly House in Faust Park has a special free-food program during August. For every admission to the Butterfly House, a kid receives a free meal voucher for Qdoba Mexican Grill in Chesterfield.

The deal is good for an admission on any Sunday in August.

Or, if you buy a kid's meal at the restaurant, you get a free admission to the Butterfly House.

For Butterfly House information, call (636) 530-0076 or visit www.butterflyhouse.org.

For Qdoba restaurant information, call (636) 530-9595 or visit www.qdoba.com.

"Hogwarts Central" library party

Kids want Harry Potter series to continue

Tour of Missouri

First bike road race has stuff for kids

Professional bike road riders of the type seen in the Tour de France are coming to Missouri next month. And the event will include some special attractions for kids.

The first 600-mile Tour of Missouri road race will be held in the state Sept. 11-16. The race will start in Kansas City and then finished near the St. Louis Arch six days later.

Missouri is the third state to sponsor this level of bicycle racing. Only California and Georgia have held such statewide races.

The U.S.-based Discovery bicycle team is entered and state officials expect at least four more Tour de France-type teams to sign up. In addition, elite bike teams from around the world are expected to join them.

Stacey Blomberg is a special assistant for the Missouri Department of Tourism. She's been involved in planning the race for the last 1½ years.

She said race promoters have printed a Tour of Missouri Youth Activity Book for use by kids, both in schools and at home.

"This is a book filled with enrichment activities related to the Tour of Missouri," she said. The book will tie race activities to subjects such as health, safety, history, geography, math and science, she said.

She said budget restrictions limited the print run to just 40,000 copies. That's enough for only schools in the destination cities of Kansas City, St. Louis, Clinton, Springfield, Branson, Lebanon, Columbia, Jefferson City and St. Charles.

However, Stacey said the book's entire content will be displayed on the Internet through www.tourofmissouri.com. "All the content can be downloaded free of charge," she said.

Among the book activities will be a "Follow the Tour" lesson where kids do research on the history of various Missouri stops. There also are several pages of definitions of "cycling lingo" used by cycling enthusiasts.

Another part of the book will show the various biking trails throughout Missouri. For instance, Trailnet is an organization located in St. Louis that is involved in adding to the biking trail mileage in the metro area.

(Each month, Young Saint Louis.com includes the monthly schedule of kids' bike rides in its Places to Go, Things to Do section.)

Ms. Blomberg said, "We want the activity book to encourage kids to learn more about the outdoor fun of cycling."

Here is the Tour of Missouri schedule:

Day 1: Tuesday, Sept. 11, a circle route in the Kansas City area.
Day 2: Wednesday, Sept. 12, from Clinton, Mo., to Springfield.
Day 3: Thursday, Sept. 13, a circle route in the Springfield area.
Day 4: Friday, Sept. 14, from Lebanon to Columbia.
Day 5: Saturday, Sept. 15, from Jefferson City to St. Charles.
Day 6: Sunday, Sept. 16, a circle route in St. Louis area.

Mike Weiss is the operator of the Big Shark Bike Shop in University City. He is the venue manager for the city stops in Missouri.

He said the Tour of Missouri will end "within the shadow of the Arch" in downtown St. Louis. He said there will be a number of special events for kids near the finish line.

"We expect to have some shorter bike races for kids on that final day," he said.

He flew to France last month to work on details with bicycle executives who were there for the Tour de France.

Weiss said, "We want to have the final plan for the Tour of Missouri to announced by the end of the Tour de France."

One concern about Missouri is whether it is suitable for road racing because it lacks mountains. Some of the Tour de France racing comes when the bikers climb the Alps.

However, Ms. Blomberg said Missouri's terrain will be plenty challenging for the riders.

She said one of the people helping set up the Tour of Missouri is Kevin Livingston, a native of St. Louis. Livingston is a retired bike racer. He was on the U.S. Postal team with famed racer Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France.

Ms. Blomberg said, "Kevin said the Missouri terrain will be a challenge for the racers. The Lebanon-to-Columbia leg, for instance, goes uphill for the entire length."

For part of the Tour of Missouri, the riders will be on the Katy Trail. That is one of the most popular bike riding trails in the state. The eastern end of the trail is at St. Charles and it goes all the way to extreme southwest Missouri.

Gifted Resource Council

Flying adventure a little close for comfort

Thirteen-year-old Damonte Johnson had an unexpected summer camp adventure last month. That's what can happen when you're at the controls of a plane near the Gateway Arch.

The 8th grader from Crestview Middle School was on a field trip associated with the Gifted Resource Council's summer Advanced Space Academy. The campers were getting flights from St. Louis' Downtown Airport in Cahokia, Ill.

Some kids got a chance to ride in the co-pilot's seat of the single-engine plane. They actually got to take control of the plane once in awhile. Of course, the adult pilot was in the next seat ready to take over if necessary.

Damonte said, "I was at the controls of the plane flying over downtown St. Louis. Then the pilot said, 'Oops, we're too close to the Arch.' He then took back the controls.

"When we got on the ground, I told my mother about it. She said, 'You did what?'"

Most of the time during the two-week summer camp, the kids had their feet on the ground while studying flight and outer space. And their flight projects involved paper hot-air balloons, balsawood model airplanes and small rockets.

The camp ended with kids competing to see if they could launch a rocket and bring a raw-egg payload back to earth without breaking it.

Thirteen-year-old Adam Pfaff said this was his fifth GRC summer camp and all of them have been focused on flight and space. He said the content of the camps has been varied enough to keep his interest each year.

Adam will be a 9th grader at Lutheran South High School, although he lives in the City of St. Louis. Damonte is another city resident that goes to a suburban school, Crestview Middle School in the Rockwood District.

The GRC held three 2-week summer camp sessions for kids ranging in age from kindergarteners through 8th grade. Subjects ranged from math, science, business and ancient history.

(GRC runs summer camps and also has workshops during the school year. If you'd like to find out what's coming up, visit www.giftedresourcecouncil.org.)

Twelve-year-old Ian Harding is from Arnold, Mo. He will be an 8th grader who is being home-schooled. He said the various experiments and activities at the camp will be helpful during the school year.

He said, "There are a number things I can use for extra-curricular activities in the future."

Ian said he's looking forward to building hot-air balloons that will used "jellied fuel" to keep the balloons inflated longer during flight. Asked about where to get the fuel, he said, "You can buy it off the Internet but it will be expensive."

He said his hot-air balloon built at the summer camp did get about 20 feet off the ground. "But, then the air cooled, the balloon flipped over and fell to the ground," he said.

Thirteen-year-old John Ray Holiday of Hazelwood said the hot air balloon building was his favorite activity at the space camp.

"All the balloons looked alike when they were built. But, the test results were so much different. Some of them got only a few feet off the ground but others got way above the tree line," John Ray said.

Asked why he thought the flights varied so much, he said, "I think the thin paper of some balloons got little holes while being built. That meant the hot air leaked out quickly. But, others had no holes and held the air longer."

During the final days of the camp, the kids built two types of rockets. One was powered by a "rocket motor" that looked a lot like a July 4 firecracker. The other type of rocket was powered by water and compressed air.

Both carried a raw egg in the nosecone. The "eggs-prize" winners were kids whose rockets went up and the egg floated down by parachute and landed without breaking.

Thirteen-year-old Lynden Peoples will be an 8th grader at Brittany Woods Middle School in University City. He said making model planes was the activity he liked best at camp.

He said, "My plane flew part of the time and crashed part of the time."

But, he said his favorite space subject in "planets and the stars." He said his favorite planet is Jupiter, with its many moons that circle the planet.

Several of the kids like the idea that there were still plenty of things to learn about outer space. For the young kids, they thought outer space was still an "frontier" with a lot more room for learning new things.

Adam Pfaff said, "I'm looking forward to learning what's going to happen next in space."

TREND chapter fights county's problem

Youth-only hunts

Teen has had success, hopes for more

Fourteen-year-old Vanessa Orf of Marthasville, Mo., last year bagged her first deer on a managed youth-only hunt. She's already submitted her entry in a lottery to participate again this year.

The Missouri Department of Conservation schedules a number of youth-only hunting opportunities for kids 11 to 15. Now is the time to arrange to get your hunting license and to sign up for the 2007 hunts.

This year's youth-only hunting opportunities involve deer, doves, rabbits, upland game birds and waterfowl.

(To get detailed information about the youth-only hunts, visit www.mdc.mo.gov. Then, click on the "managed hunts" icon.

(The first thing to do is qualify for your state hunting license. To do that, you need to take a series of hunter education classes. For a schedule of classes near you, visit the state website or call the MDC regional office at (636) 441-4554.)

Joel Porath is the MDC wildlife regional supervisor for the St. Louis area. He said the managed youth-only hunts "provide Missouri kids with the chance to experience hunting with a trained mentor." MDC personnel conduct hunting clinics before each hunt.

The youth-only hunts are held in specific areas and MDC staff personnel are available to help them with any questions they have.

For instance, in the St. Louis area, youth-only deer hunting areas are at the Busch Conservation Area as well as the Weldon Springs and Columbia Bottoms areas. This year's youth-only deer season will be Oct. 27 and 28. A deer-hunting clinic will be offered in all three places on Oct. 13, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sign-up for youth deer-hunting lottery started July 1 and will continue to Aug. 15.

Mr. Porath said 60 hunting permits will be issued for both the Busch and Weldon Springs areas. Another 25 permits will be for Columbia Bottoms.

If you don't get permits for the youth-only areas, the state also has youth-only dates during the regular hunting seasons. Kids can do their hunting statewide on those dates. Check the state hunting seasons for details.

Other youth-only seasons in specific areas are:

Doves: There are three St. Louis territories. One is at Busch Conservation Area and others are in Lincoln County and Columbia Bottoms. The hunting clinic is Aug. 31 with the hunt on Sept. 1. The permit limit for Busch and Columbia Bottoms is 20 kids each but the Lincoln area has support from 30 to 40 hunters.

Rabbits: Both the Busch and Henges ranges will have rabbit hunting clinics early in 2008. The hunts will be in January and February, 2008.

Upland Game Birds: The Busch range will have a hunting clinic on Oct. 6, 1-5 p.m. with a hunt on Oct. 7, 7a.m. to l p.m. An additional clinic will be Dec. 1, from 1-5 p.m. with the hunt on Dec. 2, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Henges range will have a clinic on Dec. 5, 6-8 p m. with hunting on Dec. 8. The birds to be hunted are pheasants, which have been purchased from game farms specifically for these hunts.

Waterfowl: Busch range will offer waterfowl hunting clinics. Both the dates of the clinics and the hunting season will be established in September after the MDC checks with national bird migration schedules.

Mr. Porath said the hunting permits are awarded based on random drawings. He said in most cases applicants have an equal chance of being selected after the signup period.

However, among dove-hunting applicants, kids seeking a permit for the first time are given precedent, he said. That's because dove hunting is considered to be an excellent breaking-in hunt for first-time hunters.

He said dove-hunting applicants who got permits in previous years still may have a chance if first-time applicants don't get all this year's permits.

Vanessa Orf said her first hunting experience came when she was in 1st grade when she went hunting with her father. When she got her first deer in the youth-only hunt last year, she was using her dad's 30-30 rifle.

She said she has a 12-guage shotgun of her own and uses it for turkey hunting.

She said she's going to do all sorts of deer hunting this year. Besides the youth-only application, she plans to participate in both statewide archery and rifle deer seasons.

In addition, she plans to do rabbit and squirrel hunting this year. Vanessa said she hunts on private land near New Melle.

The teenager will be a 9th grader at Washington (Mo.) High School this fall. She said she'd like a career either as a deer biologist or an interior decorator.

Young Achiever profile

Community service helps Grace Dearing win

Community service work helped 12-year-old Grace Anne Dearing win one of 10 2007 Gateway Young Achiever awards. And she's been continuing that service work during her summer vacation.

This fall, Grace will be a 7th grader at McKinley CJA School in the City of St. Louis. The Young Achiever awards are given to 10 elementary, middle and high school students for outstanding academic, community and church accomplishments for the 2006-2007 year.

Young Achiever winners receive a $1,000 savings bond and a chance to compete in the national YA competition.

(Young Saint Louis.com included a listing of all 10 of the YA winners in the May edition. Then, in June, YSL.com started a series of individual profiles of elementary and middle school winners. We will continue monthly profiles through the end of 2007.

(For previous YA coverage, click on Past Stories and visit May, June and/or July editions. For more about Young Achievers, visit www.youngachievers.us.)

This summer, Grace Dearing has continued some service projects from the school year. But, she's also added a couple new ones.

She was a member of Grace United Methodist Church's mission team that went to Kennett, Mo., to remodel homes for the poor. She helped put up drywall, lay floor tile, nail sub-flooring and paint. Her father, James, also was on the team.

"I was about the youngest one on the mission team," she said.

Later in the summer, she was an aide at a Girl Scout day camp held in Wilmore Park near her home.

Other service projects that extended into the summer from the school year were work in the Grace Church's Food pantry and the church's giant Junkique garage sale. Proceeds from these projects go to charity.

At Junkique, Grace works in the Baked Goods department. That's where homemade baked products are offered for sale. Grace and her family supplied brownies and Rice Krispie treats and then she helped with sales.

At the Food Pantry, Grace is one of the people who break down big packages of food donated by food stores. "Also, because most people don't like to do them, I help with double-bagging paper sacks used by people who come to the pantry," she said.

In the past, she has worked on different events to benefit Kingdom House, a religious-based organization that helps St. Louis inner city families.

One of the Kingdom House projects was a baby shower by Girl Scouts that collected gifts for newborns. "I helped take presents down to Kingdom House and our car was totally full of toys," she said.

Another Kingdom House project was Eat N Run. That combined breakfast and a variety of runs and walks for charity. "I ran in the kids' l-mile run. There were also 5K and 10K walks," she said.

The Girl Scouts have been a big part of Grace's life since she because a Daisy as a kindergartener. She's had three years in Brownies and Junior Scouts. She becomes a Cadet this year.

The Girl Scouts sponsor an April Showers drive to collect toiletries for charity. The drive involves passing out plastic bags to neighbors and coming back to collect their donations. Grace said this is similar to the Boy Scouts' food drive.

Grace and her younger sister, 9-year-old Hope, also have donated their hair to Locks of Love. That involves people cutting their hair and donating it for use in wigs for cancer patients.

"I have a routine of getting my hair cut once a year so Hope and I donated when the hair got long enough," she said. People donate when the cut-off portion to be at least 11 inches long. She said she has a little more hair growing to do before she can donate again.

As a 5th grader at Kennard CJA School, Grace served on the Student Council. But, she didn't run for the council in her first year at McKinley.

"My Megsss math club at McKinley met at the same time as the Student Council so I couldn't run," she said.

Both Kennard and McKinley schools are for gifted students. Grace chose the math club because it provided advanced math instruction. Math is her favorite subject.

Grace has been active in both music and plays at both her church and her schools.

"I got to play Yum Yum in the Mikado at school. That was a good part and the play was lots of fun," she said. "Then, my grandmother took me to a professional showing of the Mikado at the Opera Theater of St. Louis. That was even more fun."

This month's book reviews

A book about the Vietnam War and a boy's dog
that becomes a war hero

Wolfie was Mark Cantrell's dog. Wolfie was part malamute and part German shepherd, so he was a big dog. Mark's dad was a high school band director and his favorite composer was Mozart - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. That's where the name "Wolfie" came from; it was short for Wolfgang. Within a short time, Mark and Wolfie are inseparable. Although he's not supposed to, Wolfie even sleeps in Mark's bed.

Mark is in middle school. The year is 1969. The Vietnam War has begun. Mark's brother, Dannie, has just gone into the army, and is trained to fight in the War. Mark hears about how dogs are needed to help the soldiers, and he decides to "volunteer" Wolfie for duty in Vietnam.

Right away, after volunteering Wolfie for the army, Mark starts to have regrets. He thinks that the army might not value Wolfie's laid-back personality and playful disposition. He also is concerned that, unlike in World War II, dogs in this war might not be returned to their original owners. The army is not clear either about how long it will keep the dog at the front. However, after Wolfie is assigned a trainer who goes to Vietnam with him, letters start coming regularly telling Mark how Wolfie is doing. In fact, the trainer begins signing Wolfie's names to the letters. So Mark is kept in touch with how useful his dog is to the troops in this jungle warfare.

While all this is going on with the dog, Danny, Mark's brother, is also fighting in Vietnam. His letters that he sends home are bitter and increasingly critical of the War and the way it is going. Within a few months, Danny is wounded, loses