Profile

For Dana Meyer, 

When she was 12, Dana Meyer thought she was on her way to becoming a all-sports star. She was doing well in five different sports in elementary school. 

But, her life turned upside down during the summer before she started seventh grade.

She went to the hospital for an operation to correct a hereditary disease called scoliosis. That illness causes the spine to curve into an S-shape rather than grow straight.

During the operation, she suffered permanent damage to her spine. It left her paralyzed from the waist down. 

Dana said, “I kept thinking I was going to get better. But, then, I realized I was stuck. What depressed me the most was that I couldn’t participate in sports.”

But, it turned out Dana was wrong. 

She’s now 18 years old and a senior at Lutheran South High School. She has won national and international titles in the junior wheelchair divisions in both tennis and basketball.

She even earned a spot on the regular girls tennis team at Lutheran South. She was the No. 4 singles player and on the No. 2 doubles team. 

In high school matches, she got only one rules concession. The ball remained in play for her even after a second bounce. Able-bodied players get only one bounce.

Now she’s considering scholarship opportunities to compete in wheelchair sports programs. She’ll be making trips to schools in Alabama and Arizona. 

She even has a sports equipment endorsement deal. 

The makers of Quickie athletic wheelchairs sponsor her in meets. “I get wheelchairs for free. And, in two months I’ll be the first to try out a newly designed chair,” she said.

The new chair has an extra wheel in the back to provide more protection against tipping. 

Dana admits it took a year and a half after the failed operation before she could see a place for her in athletic competition. 

When her mother, Kathy, first suggested wheelchair competition, Dana said, “That’s not real sports.” 

But, she finally gave wheelchair basketball a try. She’s been expanding her athletic efforts ever since. 

Last year, she was one of two girls on the St. Louis Junior Rolling Rams basketball team. The team won the national wheelchair tournament championship in San Francisco. 

But, some of her biggest thrills have been in tennis. That’s one of the sports she didn’t play before her paralysis. 

In February, she was one of two Americans invited to take part in the first wheelchair competition at the famous Les Petits As (The Little Aces) junior tennis tournament at the little town of Tarbes in France.

That was after she had earned a No. 2 national juniors ranking in the wheelchair division from the United State Tennis Assn. The USTA nominated her for the Les Petits As meet. 

That tournament draws hundreds of “able-bodied” junior players from around the world. Last year, tournament officials added wheelchair teams. Dana and her partner, Michael Weise of California, came out on top. They won their last match in straight sets. 

Dana has been invited back for this year’s tournament. 

Also, last July, Dana was on the winning American team in the first-ever Junior Team Cup wheelchair competition in Paris. Teams from the U.S., Netherlands, Britain and Germany competed. 

Concerning her future, Dana is considering a career in either journalism or pharmacy. 

But, she said she wants to plan a career which leaves room for sports. “I want to do something that would allow me the freedom to continue to compete in sports,” she said.

She noted that opportunities in wheelchair athletics are getting bigger all the time. “There are athletes who earn a living in pro wheelchair sports,” she said.

That’s quite a change of heart for a girl who thought her chances in sports ended on the operating table when she was 12 years old.

Lifestyle
 

Eagle Days, Jan. 17-21

Students from St. Louis city schools as well as others from Illinois will get a head start this month on the general public when it comes to eagle-watching on the Mississippi River. 

Eagle Days on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge for the general public will be Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 20-21. Special spotting scopes are set up on the bridge so people can get close-up views of birds in their natural nesting and hunting areas on the Mississippi River. 

Viewing times on both Saturday and Sunday are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

In addition, there are special eagle exhibits set up in warming tents on the bridge. The World Bird Sanctuary gives live eagle demonstrations and there is a special exhibit where spectators can help build an eagle’s nest. 

But, before the weekend program, kids from specially selected schools in the city of St. Louis and in Illinois get their own special viewings. 

On Wednesday, Jan. 17, students from schools on the Illinois side of the river will have the bridge to themselves for viewing the eagles. 

Then, on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 18 and 19, eight hundred fifth graders from 20 public and private schools in the city of St. Louis will have their special eagle-watching preview.

Both the school and general public viewings are sponsored by the Missouri Conservation Commission and Trailnet, Inc. The Trailnet organization is working to develop 40 miles of bicycle trails and parks in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area.

The improved Chain of Rocks Bridge is an important link between Missouri and Illinois in this biking and hiking trail system.

This is the fourth year for both the school and general public Eagle Days, according to Dennis Cooke. He is an outdoor skills educational specialist for the Missouri Conservation Commission. 

Eagle watching in the winter is a special activity for the St. Louis area. 

Liz Lyons is a conservation educational consultant for the Missouri commission. She said, “Eagles migrate south in the winter until they find open water and tall trees. There’s a lot of good habitat for eagles in the St. Louis area.”

She said the American bald eagle has made a comeback in recent years. For a time, the eagle was on the endangered species list in the U.S. 

However, Lyons said the elimination of DDT pesticides and a curtailing of poaching has enabled the eagle to increase in numbers. DDT caused eagles problems when it came to hatching their young. Use of DDT has been outlawed.

Also, laws were passed that made it illegal to possess even a part of an eagle. Lyons said, “If you find even a single eagle feather, you are supposed to turn it in. If not, you could be fined.”

Lyons and Cooke go out scouting for eagles early in January in order to anticipate how good the Eagle Days will be. 

“Last year, we were concerned because it was so warm. We didn’t think the eagles would have to migrate from the north. But, by Eagle Days, the weather turned very cold and there were plenty of eagles,” she said.

Lyons said she enjoys her work on Eagle Days because “the eagle is such a magnificent creature. It’s so beautiful and noble.” 

She added, “When you look at them, it’s as if they know something you don’t. I think it is the eyes.” 

Eagles usually return to the same areas year after year. When they come back, they usually go to the same trees and add to their old nest each year. 

Lyons said eagles nests can be very large. “They can get up to 10 feet in diameter. Also, the largest eagles nest weighed one ton,” she said.
 
 

For more information on events and parking for Eagle Days Jan. 20-21, you can call three different agencies. 

The agencies and their numbers are: 

 Trailnet, (314) 416-9930
 Missouri Department of Conservation, (314) 231-3803
 Illinois Department of Natural Resources, (618) 462-1181

Also, for more general information about outdoor activities, you can log onto the internet at: 

 www.conservation.state.mo.us
 www.trailnet.org

Schools participating in the special preview showings get a packet of information, which includes an outstanding book called “Eagles for Kids,” by Charlene Gieck and photography by Tom and Pat Leeson. 

It is part of the Wildlife for Kids series by Northword Press. For information, you can call 1-800-328-3895.

Entertainment
 

Too short to model

About 1 1/2 years ago, Cristina Kernan thought she wanted to be a fashion model. 

But, the O’Fallon, Mo., middle-schooler is only a little over 5-feet tall. She said, “They told me I was too short to be a model.” 

However, the John Robert Powers agency in St. Louis suggested she try acting. “I had been in some school plays before that, but nothing major,” she said. 

After a St. Louis audition, she was picked to take a trip to Los Angeles. There, she met  with managers and agents for various shows. 

That led to her first big break, a starring role in the NBC comedy, “Daddio.” 

In the show, Cristina played the oldest of four children. The father, actor Michael Chiklis, decides to stay home with the kids when the mother gets a better job as a lawyer. 

Next year, Cristina will make her movie debut in an independent film, “The Greatest Adventure of My Life.” 

At home, Cristina is the youngest child of Michael and Carmen Kernan. She has three brothers, B.J., Ray and Pat. 

She’s a student at Fort Zumwalt South Middle School.

But, while filming in California, she got her schoolwork from an independent school. A teacher would come to the set and help her with her lessons. When she was home, she was back in her regular classes at Fort Zumwalt Middle. 

She said her friends didn’t treat her any differently after she got the TV role. “Other kids, who didn’t know me as well, did treat me a little differently. But, most people were very nice about it,” she said. 

Many kids seeking acting careers have to work for years to get a break. For Cristina, once she started auditioning, it took three weeks. 

In California, Cristina impressed Diane Hardin, an agent who agreed to manage her. One of her first auditions was for the “Daddio” show. 

“By the fourth or fifth callback, I was the only one there. So, I started to get pretty excited. It was unexpected, but I got the job,” she said. 

She said the show’s cast would start rehearsals for one episode on a Monday. Then, they’d film it in front of a live audience on Friday. 

“I wasn’t nervous because we practiced it so many times,” Cristina said. 

The show began airing last spring. Five episodes were shown during the 1999-2000 season. Then, another four were shown this fall before the show was pulled. 

Cristina said a total of 18 episodes have been filmed. She said NBC might bring it back next season or another network could pick it up. 

In the meantime, Cristina has worked on her first movie role. She plays the girlfriend of a drummer boy who goes off to fight in the Civil War. 

“I’m in just a couple scenes so I was only there for a day of filming,” she said. “I got to talk with a Southern accent and wear a hoop skirt. 

“I had bones in my dress, which was painful. But, I had this long, curly black hair. That was neat.” (In dresses of the Civil War era, it was common to have heavy braces to make the waist as small as possible.)

Cristina hopes to make acting a career. But, she’s also looking at being an architect, a teacher or possibly a singer. She said she hasn’t totally given up on being a model either. 

“I do want to go to college. But, if my acting career is going well when I get out of high school, I may wait,” she said. 

Cristina said she’d study drama, computer science or business in college. 

Cristina’s mother, Carmen, lived with her when she was filming in California. “That is the biggest change. The family is kind of split for part of the year,” Carmen said. 

She said seeing Cristina on TV is “very strange.” She added, “None of us in the family can believe it. We’ve all known Cristina was an actor all along. We just didn’t suspect she could make a living at it.”

Books
 

Cats are really interesting animals.  Many of us have a cat around the house without knowing much about the history of cats.  According to this little book, cats haven’t been kept as pets nearly as long as dogs have been people’s pets.  Still, people have admired their beauty and their skill as mouse catchers for about 4,000 years. 

The people in Northern Africa kept the crops they grew in huge storage units called granaries.  Rats and mice came around and ate much of the stored food.  The people saw that the wild cats would hang around and kill the rats and mice.  People began to reward the cats with care and attention.  So, gradually, cats gave themselves over more and more to the care of people. 

Over the centuries, cats have been willing to live with humans, but they still don’t like to be bossed around.  Unlike dogs, cats do things because they want to, not because they want to please people. 

Mutations – sudden changes in hereditary makeup – are what caused many of the color and other differences in cats. Now there are many kinds of domesticated cats.  Some have long hair, some short hair.  Some are broad and heavy, while some are slender and light in weight.

This little book tells you how to understand your cat.  If you know more about cats in general and especially how to understand your cat’s behavior, you can enjoy your pet a lot more.  You will be happier and so will your cat. 

The 65 page paperback book’s title is “Cats” and it was written by Katrin Behrend, an animal book writer and editor who has owned cats for many years. The publisher is Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., published in 1999 and selling for $6.95 in paperback. If you love cats, the color pictures are worth the price of the book.
 
 

“Nancy Drew: The Secret in the Stars” has as its main character an 18 year-old girl who wears her hair in a ponytail and drives a Mustang convertible.  This paperback, published in 2000, relates the latest adventures of a very famous fictional heroine, who has now had more than 150 mystery books written about her over more than 50 years.

“The Secret in the Stars” starts out with Nancy Drew, along with a couple of her friends, driving her convertible to a “star watch” party at a nearby state park.  A famous radio personality, Dr. Stars, was bringing in his large telescope and going to give those in attendance a chance to see star formations that they probably hadn’t seen before.  The young people were excited to be meeting Dr. Stars, after having listened to him on their radios over the years. 

Unfortunately, Dr. Stars doesn’t appear to be around.  Nancy finds his telescope, but it had been knocked over in a mysterious manner.   His van and other equipment had been left in the park. 

Why had Dr. Stars disappeared?  Did it have anything to do with the fact that Will Ryder and Isabel Ramos-Garcia, famous entertainment celebrities, were preparing for their wedding at an estate just at the edge of the state park?  Did Derek Randall, the angry and jealous astronomy professor from a nearby college, have anything to do with Dr. Stars’ disappearance?  Why were the security people, hired to keep people away from the celebrities, so mean to Nancy and her friends?  Could Nancy find the real Dr. Stars before something really bad happened to him?

With some help from her father, who is a lawyer in town, and unexpected help from a woman Nancy thought was one of the bad guys, Nancy solves the mystery and everything turns out okay.  The happy ending comes, though, only after a lot of twists and turns in the plot.

If you like mystery and action stories with a smart and likable young heroine, Nancy Drew books are worth your looking into.  They are published by Pocket books and sell for $3.99.
 
 

“Replica” is part of the continuing name of a series of science fiction books for young readers. “Replica, the Beginning “ is number 14 in the series.  As the title suggests, this book explains how things got started in the first place. The main character is a seventh grader named Amy.  She is a member of her middle school’s student council.  The seventh grade class trip is being planned.  A special grant has provided extra money for the students’ trip.  They can go anyplace they want.

Amy is pleased because the group decides to go to Washington, D.C.  It just happens that Amy is a clone.  She knows it.  She knows the woman that she calls her mother brought her to California from Washington, D. C. Her scientist mother seems not to want to talk much about how she came to have Amy to raise as her daughter.  The class trip gives Amy the chance she has always wanted to find out more about her own origin. 

As you can probably guess, things get complicated in Washington, D.C.  There has to be a mystery.  There are bound to be good guys and bad guys.  Because she is a laboratory created clone, Amy is smarter and stronger than most girls her age.  Along with all her smartness and strength, luckily, Amy has the company of her closest friend.  Together, they solve the mystery and overcome the bad guys so they can return to their happy lives in California. 

Somehow you know at the end that there are still more evil villains who will come into Amy’s unusual life.  Otherwise, there would not be any volume 15 in the series. However, since we are told that number 15 will be called “Replica, the Transformation,” we know the story continues. 
 
 

The book begins with its main character being questioned by a judge in a courtroom. Rick Walker is a fourteen-year-old in trouble.  In his frustration and anger, he had thrown rock after rock at a stop sign while returning after school to the group home in which he had been placed.  Abandoned by his mother, Rick had lived with his grandmother until her death when he was ten.  After that he had lived in different foster homes and been moved from school to school. He didn’t know how to explain to the judge why he had acted as he did.  Because he had been before the judge once before, Rick was sentenced to six months at the Blue Canyon Youth Detention Center in Nevada.

While in Blue Canyon, Rick observed guards illegally selling the school’s new air conditioners and pocketing the money.  He quietly told his social worker what he had seen. Somehow the guards found out. With just six weeks to go before he was to be released, Rick had to escape in order to get away from severe beatings or, possibly, even worse. 

Rick managed to hitch hike across the state line.  He heard his description broadcast on the radio.  In his desperation, he hid in a camper shell on the back of a pickup truck.  Hours later, he found he was deep into the mountains and canyons of Utah. 

Rick had been driven into the remote camp of bird biologist, Lon Pelegrino.  Lon is trying to release young condors back into the wild.  His purpose is to bring these giant vulture-like birds back from near extinction.  While staying with Lon and helping him out with his work, Rick comes to respect him and share his love for trying to save the condors.  Rick is further attracted to Ron’s life-style when he is allowed to participate in Ron’s favorite pastime – hang gliding.  Rick feels like he is finally breaking out of the maze, which had been his life up to that time. 

It isn’t all fun and games while Rick and Ron come to respect each other and build a close friendship. There is a pair of men who, with the help of their vicious pit bull, are bent on getting rid of Rick and Ron and bringing the condor project to an end.  “The Maze” by Will Hobbs, published by Avon Books, and selling for $4.95 is about as exciting a book as a boy could find to read. 

News
 

“Core knowledge” teaching

Students at the Life Christian School learn their history lessons in some unusual ways, using their senses of hearing, sight, feel and even taste. 

Of course, they read and talk about history. They listen to lectures. But, they also may keep historical diaries, draw pictures and sometimes even eat their lessons. 

For example, before holiday vacation last month, third graders in teacher Louise Doiron’s class studied about the Lewis and Clark exploration of the Missouri River. This part of our history has a special local connection. 

Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lt. William Clark started their mapping trip at St. Charles, Mo. Their job was to explore upstream from where the Missouri flowed into the Mississippi River to where the river started in the far Northwest. 

President Thomas Jefferson had hoped their trip would open a water route all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It didn’t turn out that way. The river ended in the Rocky Mountains, a long ways from the Pacific. 

President Jefferson told Lewis and Clark to keep personal diaries on the trip and also to draw pictures of any new animals and fish they found. Doiron gave her students blank diaries so they could describe parts of the lesson in their own words and drawings. 

Remember, there were no cameras, typewriters or computers in those days. 

Eight-year-old Taylor Rohan decided to draw and describe a rabbit. One of her classmates, eight-year-old Candace Todd decided to draw a fox and then write a description of that animal. 

For eight-year-old Torie Bub, the day’s highlight was cooking. “We made soup from dry ingredients,” she said. Dried vegetables was one of the foods Lewis and Clark used. 

Back in the pioneer days, people often dried foods so they’d keep for a long time with no refrigeration. Doiron’s students also got to taste dried beef jerky. She told the kids, “I thought I’d be able to get buffalo jerky but the store didn’t have any.” 

Another part of the lesson involved a class painting a big map of the Louisiana Purchase. The U.S. purchased from the French a big part of what is now the middle of our country. This area included the Missouri River and the area that is now the state of Missouri.

The students also made copies of the French flag out of paper. 

Life Christian School is one of about 1,000 schools across the country that models its history lessons around a book by E.D. Hirsch entitled, “Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.” 

Hirsch is an English professor at the University of Virginia. He believes Americans will understand each other better if all have a similar “core of knowledge.” He feels, if all citizens share common learning experiences, the country will be more unified.

Superintendent Christi Checkett is in charge of turning Hirsch’s ideas into history lessons for all classes at Life Christian School. “We have isolated 100 activities from Hirsch’s book for each class so we could test to make sure students understand them,” she said.

She stresses teaching of history in different ways. She said the multi-experiences make it more likely the students will understand the lessons.

For instance, earlier in the year, Life Christian students learned about the election process. For Ms. Doiron’s class, that meant students took election messages to other classes. They also participated in a school-wide election for president, senator and governor. 

Eight-year-old David Meyer was one of the students who went to the first grade class to tell them about the election. Nine-year-old John Merz said the part he liked about the election lessons was “counting the votes.” 

Election totals were posted outside their classroom door so everyone could check them. 

Before Thanksgiving, the students also participated in Pioneer Week. Included in the lessons was the chance to earn “wampum,” which was a type of Indian money. They then could spend their “pretend” money at a country store set up at the school. 

This semester, the students will take part in a Caravan of Countries. This is part of the world history lessons. Checkett said, “Each class will pick a separate country. Then, they’ll transform their classroom into a display of that country,” she said. 

Students will study the food, music, artwork and history of each country. Then, the students will visit other classes to learn about other countries that were studied, she said. 

“We want the students to experience history with all their senses--sight, hearing, smell and sound,” she said.

Games
 

Why can you never play a joke on a snake?
     Because you can’t pull its leg!

What do you get if you cross a crocodile with a flower?
     I don’t know but I’m not going to smell it!

What do you call a short-legged tramp?
     A low down bum!

What runs but never walks?
     Water!

Why did the boy study in an airplane?
     He wanted a higher education!

Why did the clock get sick?
     Because it was run down!

What do you mean by telling everyone I’m stupid?
     Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t know it was supposed to be a secret!

What lies at the bottom of the ocean and shivers a lot?
     A nervous wreck!

Why is it difficult to open a piano?
     Because all the keys are on the inside!
 
 

Sports
 

Seek state title

Teenagers John Marshall, Danielle Metzger and Cameron Hall started hunting when they were 10 and 11 years of age. 

This year, they’ve entered a Missouri tournament that tests their all-around outdoor  skills and understanding. 

The goal is to win the Missouri Youth Hunter Education Challenge championship. The competition tests seven different outdoor skills. 

The categories include shooting light hunting rifles, shotguns, muzzle-loading rifles and bow and arrow. Also there are tests on orienteering, wildlife identification and hunter responsibility. 

Danielle is 14 and a 9th grader at Parkway South High School. This will be her second try in the state competition. She said, “Last year, I scored pretty high in the rifle competition and did pretty well in orienteering.” 

Orienteering involves finding your way in the woods with only a compass and a topographical map. That’s a map with hills and valleys marked but no street or highway signs. 

John is 13 and an 8th grader who is home schooled. He said, “My godfather took me to an outdoor camp where I heard about the state competition. I applied when I got back.” 

Cameron is 14 and a 9th grader at Parkway South High School. He said he’s had experience with most of the categories in the competition. “But, archery will be new for me,” he said. 

The three are members of the first junior Youth Hunter Education team sponsored by the Jay Henges Range and Training Center near High Ridge. This is a Missouri Conservation Commission shooting range located off 1-44. 

The range also will sponsor a senior team. The junior team is for youth under 15 as of Dec. 1, 2000. The senior team will be for those under age 20 as of Dec. 1, 2000. 

Hentges Range officials have scheduled two or three formal practices every month until the state meet in Jefferson City, June 22-24. The teams started their practice schedules in December. 

Ralph Redstone is a conservation volunteer working with the Henges team. “We’ve scheduled some of the best outdoor trainers in their fields to make sure our kids are prepared for the competition,” he said. 

He said over 100 teams from across Missouri are expected at the state meet. The winning team will represent Missouri in a national meet later in the year. 

Danielle said, “My dad, grandfather and uncle are all hunters. I’ve been going hunting with my dad since I was 11. I started with duck hunting and have been deer hunting for the last two years.” However, she admits she hasn’t bagged a deer as yet. 

Since she is a left-hander, Redstone has reserved a special left-handed muzzle-loading rifle for her from equipment at the Hentges range. Team members either can use their own equipment or will be able to borrow equipment from the range. 

John said he has a 20-gauge shotgun and has been hunting for quail in South Dakota. “I also went duck hunting last November,” he said. He did bag a duck on that trip. 

Cameron said, “I started hunting about four years ago with a family friend.” His first hunting trip was for quail at a private club. “The latest trip was hunting for game birds in Illinois,” he added. 

Jim Engel is the range officer for the Hentges range. He will give the kids instruction in their light rifle and shotgun events. He told the team members the 22.caliber rifle shooting will be on a “field course” and not on a range. 

They fire from standing, sitting, kneeling and prone positions at distances of 30-, 50- and 75-yards. Their accuracy is judged in hitting pictures of squirrels, rabbits and ground hogs. 

He urged the team members to practice on their own in addition to the regular practices. “You should ‘dry fire’ your (empty) rifle every day at home. Also, you should ‘live fire’ on a range at least once every weekend until the state meet,” he said. 

All of the junior and senior team members have to have parental permission before they can participate in the Youth Hunter competition.

Health
 

For Stephanie McNair

Twelve-year-old Stephanie McNair won an unusual prize in an Internet contest for telling how she keeps her diabetes under control. 

Stephanie is a 7th grader at Rockwood South Middle School. Last October, she decided to participate in the AllowanceNET website. The website helps kids learn about business.

On the website, the kids design a weekly schedule of home chores. Then, they negotiate with their parents on how much allowance these chores are worth if they do them every week. 

After doing a chore, the kid checks it off on their website chore list. The parents can monitor the work report before paying the allowance. The object is to have kids organize home chores as if they were running a small business.

Stephanie’s most important chore has to do with her health. She has to monitor her blood sugar five times a day to make sure she doesn’t have a diabetes attack.

She takes a blood sample before every meal. She carries equipment that allows her to take and test blood samples. She checks her blood sugar levels. Then, she figures out the amount of carbohydrates in the food she’s going to eat. “Sometime I have to guess because I don’t always have nutritional information for each food,” she said. 

After doing the “carbo” math, she can decide how much insulin she’ll need to take. She injects the right amount of insulin into her abdomen. 

“If my blood sugar goes too far down, I feel faint and my heart beats real fast,” she said.

AllowanceNET recently ran a contest that asked kid members to tell what home chores their parents were most thankful for. 

Stephanie wrote: “I believe the chore that makes my parents most happy that I do every day is managing my diabetes. I’ve had diabetes for four 4 1/2 years.”

That answer earned Stephanie the top prize. She got her hot, new Razor scooter last month. 

Stephanie said, “My friend knows a few tricks on the scooter and she’s been showing me how to do them.” 

With her diabetes under control, Stephanie can lead a very busy life. 

In addition to being an honor student in school, she has ice skating practice three or four times a week. Last month, she was in an 18-person team that competed at the Webster Ice Arena. 

The team danced to the theme music from the old-time TV detective show, “Dragnet.” The members wore costumes that looked like detective trench coats. 

Stephanie felt she could have designed a better costume. “I want to be a fashion designer when I grow up. Since I’m an ice-skater, I love to design skating costumes,” she said. 

Since her family is Catholic but she goes to a public school, she attends the Parish School of Religion at her church on Tuesdays. That’s one of her ice-skating nights. “I eat dinner in the car that day,” she said. 

She also plays the cello. 

Of course, there’s also her weekly household chores. She earns her $5 allowance by doing them. 

She said one of her most demanding chores is baby-sitting her five-year-old brother, James. She said, “He can be a sweetheart. But, sometimes he’s a chore.” 

But, until she won the Razor scooter, Stephanie was taking a backseat to James in contest winning department. Last fall, he won a train set from the Nickelodeon TV Channel.
 
 

The AllowanceNET website offers kids a chance to organize their weekly household chore list into a small business. The site also gives help in negotiating their allowance with their parents. 

Their parents can check their progress in doing the weekly chores. That helps the kids provide a record to show they’ve earned their allowance. 

But, AllowanceNET is more than just a place to keep records. 

For instance, the site give kids over 100 suggested activities that might go on their chore list. They also provide special “Diditz” gold stars for completing chores. These stars can be saved in their website account for credit needed to “buy” items from the site’s online store. 

Items for sale include books, jewelry, posters, clothes and electronics. 

If you’d like more information, Young Saint Louis.com has arranged for a hot link that connects to the AllowanceNET website (www.AllowanceNET.com).

History
 

Open house Jan. 27 

Youngsters who like to see how the pioneers traveled on the frontier before Missouri was even a state are in for a treat. 

An open house is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center.

The purpose is to show off the new one-half scale model of the keelboat used on the famous Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804. The original boat was their main transportation during the expedition to map the Missouri River into the Pacific Northwest.

If you don’t want to wait for the open house, the one-half scale replica is already in the lobby at the Nature center. 

The original boat measured 55 feet long and eight feet wide. The historically accurate replica measures 28 feet long and four feet wide. 

The boat has a cabin with an awning, an anchor, a 32-foot hinged mast with sail, a flag, lockers, oars and push poles. There was also a small cannon in the front of the boat. 

Jan Starke coordinates public programs at the Powder Valley Center. She said the open house will include an official “launching” of the keelboat along with public tours of the boat. There will be refreshments.

A special feature at the open house will be a flag design and coloring contest for three different age groups. Kids 7 to 12 are in one group. There is a 13-18 category and one for people 19 and over. 

The goal will be to design your version of the U.S. flag of 1804.

Stark said guidelines for design as well as all materials will be provided. Winners will earn prizes and winning entries will be displayed near the keelboat replica. 

During the time of the Lewis and Clark “Journey of Discovery,” there were only 15 states in the U.S. The white stars were scattered on a blue “canton” in one corner. The rest of the flag contained 15 alternating red and white stripes. 

“The drawing of the U.S. flag in Clark’s written journal looks nothing like the Stars and Stripes we know,” Starke said.

The keelboat and two smaller boats were home for 44 members of the Lewis and Clark expedition along with one Newfoundland dog. It also had to carry supplies, surveying equipment, clothing, medicine, a library and gifts for Indians they met on the way.

The biggest problem was that the trip up the Missouri River was against the current. Sometimes, if the wind was right, they could use the sail. But, most of the time, the men had to push or pull the 14-ton boat against that current. 

Despite the problems, the group averaged 15 to 20 miles a day during the first month on the Missouri River. This was obviously a job for young men. Clark was only 30 years of age when the expedition started. 

He died only a few years later, at age 35. 

This replica of the keelboat is a modern day look at a boat which played a vital part in the exploration of the large middle part of U.S. 

President Thomas Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to explore the Missouri River after Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase from Spain. The land purchased extended from New Orleans  up the Mississippi River to Minnesota, the Dakotas and Montana. 

What is now Missouri also was included. 

The visit to see the replica of the historic keelboat will be one of the chances to see a bit of history. 

There’ll be other chances to view this important stage of Missouri history as we near the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark trip. Young Saint Louis.com will tell you about some of these events in future issues. 

In last October’s website edition, we provided a review of a special Lewis and Clark book written especially for younger people. The 143-page paperback was entitled, “Lewis and Clark for Kids.” 

You can look at that review by clicking on archives and going to the October edition of this website. The author of the book is Janis Herbert. The publisher is Chicago Review Press. They earlier produced another good book of history for kids, “The Civil War for Kids.”
 
 

Butch Bouvier used to run an auto body shop. 

But now, the Onawa, Iowa, man has turned his wood-working hobby into his full-time job. 

Bouvier is the one who built the one-half scale model of the Lewis and Clark keelboat that is on display in the lobby of the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center in St. Louis. 

He will be one of the featured speakers for the grand opening of the keelboat exhibit on January 27. 

“Eighteen years ago, boat building was a hobby. Then, it became a paying hobby. Now, it’s a full-time occupation,” he said. 

Bouvier said the keelboat replica was made from “a set of drawings from the Lewis and Clark field notes.” 

But, he said the flat bottom on the keelboat is from his own mind. “The Clark drawings showed the top and sides of the boat but not the bottom,” Bouvier said. 

He said most designers of frontier boats are “all blue-water designers.” He said that means most of them think about the round-bottoms used for ships on large bodies of water.

“But, you’ve got to remember, the Missouri River was only 14-inches deep in some places when Lewis and Clark were traveling it,” he said. That meant the bottom couldn’t be round because it would go too far into the water, he said.

Bouvier doesn’t have to go too far from home to experience the Missouri River. Onawa is located near the river, about halfway between Council Bluffs and Sioux City in western Iowa. 

In addition to frontier boats, Bouvier restores log cabins and does other frontier wooden structures. “If it’s something from the 18th Century, it’s expected that I can build it,” he said.