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Established in 2008, the SEMO Times reports the most important news of your week. In addition to our online archives, plus our popular iPhone and Droid apps, the free publication is available in print at over 60 distribution locations throughout Butler County.

With our primary coverage area center-ing in Poplar Bluff, our mission is to be the mouthpiece for our community. Our opinion section regularly features dozens of contributing columnists—voluntary writers that have included leaders of the business community and regional legisla-tors.

Made in Poplar Bluff, we are Butler County’s only 100 percent locally owned alternative newsweekly. We cover human interest stories, arts, entertainment, educa-tion and business, but our primary focus is bigger picture news. We report ‘The Why’ rather than ‘The What.’

Get with the Times!

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2. When do you begin your Christmas shopping?

1. My son was in the Air-force but is no longer serv-ing.

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Semotimes

11.18.11Volume 3 Issue 49

2725 N. Westwood BlvdSuite 17

Poplar Bluff, MO573-785-2200

Staff

PublisherScott R. Faughn

scottfaughn@semotimes.com

Managing EditorTim Krakowiak

tim@semotimes.com

ReporterLiz Ellis

lizellis@semotimes.com

It was a good week for Uncle Sam AKA Marion Tibbs, as Butler County has grown both commercially

and residentially since last year, ac-cording to the recent tax assessment.

It is a bad week for deer. Sorry Rudolph, firearm deer season is a national holiday

around these parts.

It was a good week for Mis-souri House Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller, who

announced his run for secretary of state. Anyone who rocks a part in his hair like Schoeller knows how to play

his part in state politics.

It was a bad week for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for

attempting to give House Speaker Steve Tilley a kick in the behind on his way out the door. That said, respect due to editorial writer Tony Messenger, who told us on Twitter it is refreshing to disagree without being disagreeable.

It was a good week for the St. Louis Cardinals, which hired its new manager

Mike Matheny. Tony La Genius is going to be a hard act to fol-low, but we welcome the Matheny era with open arms.

It was a bad week for SEMO

Times Managing

Editor Tim Krakowiak, who got hip tossed by MMA instructor P.J. Sisco for a new sports segment we are do-ing, as Sisco allegedly couldn’t find a student to demonstrate on.

It was a good week for TRC personnell Krista Albright, one of several

employees volunteering to help the community Saturday at the coliseum.

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Tim Krakowiak Managing Editor

Lance Cpl. David Ray Lack, 24, has hopes of coming back home

to Poplar Bluff soon, in many ways the same person he was prior to war, ex-cept now he has a Purple Heart and a prosthetic leg.

The young combat veteran stepped on an improvised explosive device while attempting to fight off Taliban guerilla insurgency on his platoon Oct. 17, 2010, in Marjah, Afghanistan’s southern poppy-producing hub.

Lack spent a full year recovering from his severe injuries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which, besides resulting in an ampu-tated right leg, included two collapsed lungs, blown eardrums, a torn cornea, a shattered hand and other shrapnel dam-age.

“I’m doing really good, actually,” said Lack in a telephone interview from Bethesda, Md. “No reason to get depressed. It’s not going to help.”

The modern day war hero estimated that 90 percent of the servicemen at the military hospital base received similar wounds f r o m IEDs.

“Our w h o l e bat ta l -ion was on the f r o n t -l i n e s . We were so spread out—just spread thin,” Lack stated. “We’d go out four or five times a week, my platoon, all by ourselves. And I don’t know, if we got half a mile from everybody, maybe

even 100 yards from the patrol base, we’d get ambushed.”

Lack’s platoon, the 2nd Bat-talion, 6th Marine Unit, was delivered a major compliment from Gen. James Amos, U.S. Marine Corps commandant, that they were “really paving the way in Afghanistan,” which ultimately helped lead to the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden.

Lack, who was deployed for just four months before his life was changed forever, described what had occurred on the tragic day last year when he absorbed the brunt of an explosion as point man.

“My squad was on foot pa-trol. We split up, eight to 10 people. Four guys, me and the rest, were about 100 meters away when we started getting shot at,” Lack recalled. “My team moved around to try to fight the enemy, and I pretty much just, I guess, stepped on [the IED] trying to hurry up and get around next to a compound.”

F o r t u -n a t e l y , Lack was r e s c u e d t h r o u g h the ensu-ing gun-fire and t r a n s -ported by helicopter

to nearby Camp Dwyer for emergency amputation.

He is currently still listed under ac-tive duty, but awaiting his medical

board evaluation to determine the ex-tent of his disability. “Pretty much just paperwork,” he explained, noting he might attempt to return to a welding career, which he had been doing before enlisting.

“That’s the problem is they don’t know what to do—what they are going to be able to do—once they get out,” said Lack’s mother Debbie, who re-sides in Poplar Bluff. “I don’t think at this point he plans on staying separated from his M.O.”

Lack was transferred to an outpa-tient facility sooner than expected to complete his lengthy physical thera-py, according to his 29-year-old sister Brooke Helling, who maintained a blog at www.caringbridge.com/visit/david-lack, updating her younger brother’s

progress for several months following his injury.

He went from crutches to a cane, and received his prosthetic leg Dec. 9 and was immediately able to walk forward, which typically takes patients several weeks to learn, wrote Helling of Texas.

Lack explained that he experiences phantom pain from time to time be-cause the nerves in the brain remain present, and he still can feel his lost knee and foot.

Even still, he recently returned from a deer-hunting trip. Last week he par-ticipated in the Veterans Day parade at Madison Square Park in New York City, which took on a new meaning for him and his family this year.

“At first you see your soldier come

Young combat veteran braces for Poplar Bluff return after loss of leg

“The first thing I said [after receiving the news about my son] was, ‘He’s still

alive.’ That’s all that mattered.”-Debbie Lack,

mother’s Purple Heart recipient

Submitted PhotoJust over two months after losing a leg in combat, Lance Cpl. David Lack [pictured with crutches] of Poplar Bluff welcomes the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines home Nov. 4 in North Carolina.

continued on pg 9

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Local press releases emailed to Managing Editor Tim Krakowiak at tim@semotimes.com also appear at www.semotimes.com, and are shared on the SEMO Times’ Facebook and Twitter pages.

Greenwood to perform Valen-tine’s Day concert for vets at

coliseumThe John J. Pershing VA Medical

Center is proud to announce it has been selected to host a “Valentines for Veterans” concert again in 2012, due to this year’s successes in partnering with volunteers, veterans affairs employees, veterans service organizations, busi-nesses and the community.

At 7 p.m. Feb. 17, the “Valentines for Veterans” concert will take place at the Black River Coliseum, featuring country music artist, Lee Greenwood.

Open access petition group launches campaign website

More than the 2,900 signatures were gathered to put open access to a vote of the people as promised by Poplar Bluff City Manager Doug Bagby, according to a semo.net press release. Now, the open access petition group turns its attention to protecting the voters who signed the petition.

The group’s new website, www.Let-PBDecide.com, is designed to keep the citizens updated on progress and encourage valuable input.

Dickens’ classic from Marley’s point of view Dec. 3 at TinninThe Patrons of the Arts Society of

Three Rivers College will present its holiday-themed show “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Tinnin Fine Arts Center.

Tickets are on sale now at www.trcc.edu/tinnin. Printed tickets can also be purchased at the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce, the Three Rivers College business/finan-cial services office, and at the door the night of the performance.

SEMO Food Bank awarded $100,000 media grant

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Tri-State Advertising & Marketing Pro-fessionals awarded the Southeast Missouri Food Bank the $100,000 ad-vertising for a cause grant established to provide advertising assistance, pro-duction and media placement for re-gional public service organizations.

Doug Libla honored by Missouri Community College Association

BRANSON, Mo. – Doug Libla re-ceived the Missouri Community Col-lege Association’s distinguished alum-ni award at the association’s annual convention held recently in Branson.

Harviell student receives scholarship to attend Three Rivers College

A local student has received a schol-arship to attend Three Rivers College.

Mark Drysdale of Harviell has re-ceived the Norman Gamblin Memo-rial Scholarship. Drysdale is the son of Charles and Carla Drysdale and is a 2010 high school graduate. He plans to earn an associate of arts degree in busi-ness administration from Three Rivers College.

Sikeston man receives state-wide honor for land dona-

tion to Three Rivers CollegeBRANSON, Mo. – R. Scott Mat-thews received the Missouri Commu-nity College Association’s award of distinction at the association’s annual convention Nov. 3 in Branson. The award was presented in recognition of Matthews’ support of Three Rivers College and of the mission of commu-nity colleges throughout the state.

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www.semotimes.com Business

Liz Ellis Reporter

For most people, jumping from work-ing at a hospital to doing professional catering based on personal and cook-book recipes would be quite a feat. But for Karon Campbell, owner of Tasteful Creations, it was simply natural.

“My absolute favorite book is a cookbook,” Campbell said.

Campbell’s business began with home cooked meals from her own kitchen, and started with two clients a month. Now, eight years later, Tasteful Creations caters to about four clients a day and works out of a catering build-ing built next to her house.

“People had asked me to make things on the side and [they] liked my cook-ing,” Campbell said. “I really wanted to do it for fun and make some extra money, but it turned into a full-time job.”

Not that she is complaining about that, of course. Campbell estimated that her business feeds 20,000-30,000 people a year. While the average client requires food for about 100, she has served 1,000 before. Tasteful Creations charges by the plate and most meals are between $12 - $17 per plate for some-thing like prime rib or steak. Campbell caters to a huge region in Southeast

Missouri, including Fredericktown, Sikeston, New Madrid, Kennett, Do-niphan and Poplar Bluff.

Campbell said that her business spe-cializes in home cooking and Southern style food such as chicken and dump-lings, homemade mashed potatoes,

roast and f r i e d chicken, to name a few items.

“We do a n y t h i n g a n y b o d y w a n t s , ” C a m p -bell said. R a t h e r than using a super-secret fam-ily cook-book as the key to her s u c c e s s , Campbell tends to use cook-books as g u i d e -lines for new reci-pe ideas,

more than anything.“I am not opposed to use a recipe

from anybody,” she said. “But, I don’t really follow the recipes very well. I’m not very good about measuring. My kids say I don’t even know what mea-suring cups are,” Campbell joked.

Campbell does most of the cooking herself, and everything is tasted before it is sent out to customers, just to en-sure that it is up to standards. Camp-bell’s daughters and five sisters occa-sionally help out with the cooking, and she hires some college students part time to help during Christmas parties.

However, unlike most catering ser-vices, Tasteful Creations does not do very many weddings. Campbell said that they do more businesses and board meetings than anything.

“We’ve had so much support from the community and my family. They’ve been wonderful to help me out, and the community has been so supportive,” Campbell said.

In fact, because of her successes, Campbell said that she is considering expanding Tasteful Creations some-time in the near future, and maybe even trying to market some of her home-made dressings. That, however, is still in the works. For now, Campbell said, she loves her job as it is.

“The thing I like the best about it is that if I want to be off with my family, I can say, ‘Sorry, I’m booked,’” Camp-bell said.

Liz Ellis can be reached by emailing lizellis@semotimes.com or by calling 573-785-2200.

Your Local Expert On: Catering

Submitted PhotoKaron Campbell, owner of Tasteful Creations, serves samples of her food during Taste of the Town.

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Liz Ellis Reporter

What would happen if there was a place where you could ask

whatever question you wanted and could challenge anything? Where the only rule was to be nice to others, and it would be OK to wear whatever you wanted? What if you could own up to your strange quirks and hobbies and not have to worry about being judged or mocked? What if you could share your beliefs and opinions and question the beliefs and opinions of others with-out fear?

Imagine that place exists. Imag-ine that it is welcoming and relaxed, a place where everyone is free to be themselves, to be imperfect and loved for it. Imagine that place is in Poplar Bluff.

Now, imagine that place is a church.If it is hard to believe, then you

probably have not heard of The Exiles Church, located at 411 Vine St. This nearly five-year-old emergent congre-gation was founded on the idea that no question would be taboo and the most important thing was to, “Be Nice.”

“The first few meetings were actu-ally at a restaurant,” said Bob McDon-ald, pastor of The Exiles Church. “We decided that it was time to do some-thing different, to try to create some-

thing where culture wasn’t always the enemy. There is a strong cultural line that runs through churches in this area, and a lot of people aren’t comfortable with it and kind of run counter to it.”

An example of that culture is the as-sumption some places have that if you

are Christian, you will also be a Repub-lican, Bob said. But not everyone fits that mold, and this church is a place for those who fall between the cracks. The idea, he continued, was to create a church where bikers and gamers and business people could all intermingle without worry, and where everyone fits in. The church has no particular denomination and often attracts people from all different sects of Christianity including Catholics, Baptists, Pente-costals and others.

“This whole thing is really relation-ally based,” Bob explained. “What does it mean to be a follower of Christ? What does it mean to be a Christian? Well it means to be part of this family, and to be a part of each other’s lives. That’s what it means. It means things like loyalty; like showing actual com-passion for the poor. It means we love people where they are, regardless of where they are, without preconception or judgment.”

With more than 50 different churches in Poplar Bluff, the McDonalds said they are not trying to compete with other churches; they merely are offer-ing a different kind of experience. And it is not for everyone.

“If you are a person who has got it all figured out, who has your theology lined out with how it ought to be, then we’re probably not going to be your

place,” Bob said. “We really like to appeal to people who aren’t afraid of questions. The questions are more im-portant than the answers for us a lot of the time, and nothing is off limits. You can ask whatever you want about what-ever you want.”

BeliefsThe belief system at The Exiles is

pretty simple: be nice and love one an-other.

“…Scripture teaches that God loves us with a pure and perfect love. He loves you right now as much as he ever will,” Bob said. “In our screwed up, fallen, horrible condition, he loves you. If you’re trying to do better, he loves you. If you have no intention of ever doing better in your life, he loves you. If you intend on getting worse, he still loves you.”

The Exiles Church is also about studying and discussing the Bible’s teachings to better understand them. And, Bob said, they often do not agree on anything. But disagreement and ar-gument is a method of teaching that the McDonalds embrace.

Bob sums the church’s stance up like this:

“You don’t have to act like you didn’t see that movie. You know how it is, when the new movie comes out,

Exiled on Vine Street

continued on pg 13

Submitted PhotoThe Exiles Church logo is as simple as their motto: Be Nice. However, it is, pastor Bob McDonald said, a bit harder to live by than it sounds.

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Down

1. Leaf tool2. Inter ___3. Fast fliers4. Postilion5. Brawl6. Tasteless7. Actor Chaney8. Ova9. Italian sausage10. Dainty restaurant11. Formerly, formerly12. Ascend13. Dodge model 21. Violinist Mischa23. Ditto25. Angers27. Imply28. Singer Cleo29. Academy award 31. Pond organism 32. Low point33. Playing marble34. Covered on the inside36. Indigo40. Regular course 41. Negates 44. Apprentice 47. Chats49. Put in50. Swiss city53. Like some gum54. Soprano Gluck 55. Mariners can sail on seven of these56. Drunkards57. Appear59. “Hard ___!” (sailor’s yell)60. Kind of cod61. Moon of Jupiter 64. Agency of the United Nations

Crossword of the Week

Solution on pg 16

Across

1. Coarse file5. Competent9. Severe14. “______ sprach Zarathustra”15. Beat with a whip16. Eagle’s home17. Sets of equipment18. Tooth19. Cow catcher20. Oriental22. Improve in ap-pearance24. Part of an ice skate

26. Comedian Philips27. Depressing30. Avis alternative35. Gut course36. He sang about Alice37. Biblical trio38. Involuntary muscular contraction39. Polygon having nine sides42. Rockers Steely ___43. Med school subj.45. Baltic capital46. Bring together48. Awful50. Stared fiercely

51. Black bird52. Refine metal54. Aids58. Place in position62. Sierra ___; 63. ___ kleine Nachtmusik65. “Night” author Wiesel66. Alma ___; 67. 1999 Ron Howard film68. Tear69. It’s a good thing 70. Poet Angelou71. Nintendo rival

The Book ShopPresented by

320 N. Main Street, Poplar Bluff 573-714-5642

Crossword puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com Used with permission www.bestcrosswords.com

back and think, ‘Oh Lord.’ But once you’ve gone through it, and see what all he’s ac-complished in a short period,” said Debbie Lack, pausing. “I’m truly in awe of David.”

His mother continued: “My son is alive. That’s what I said from the beginning when my husband [David Sr.] called me and told me the news. The first thing I said was, ‘He’s still alive.’ That’s all that mattered. It’s all I prayed for. I didn’t ask God to bring him back in one piece because that wasn’t fair. I asked him to bring David back, and he did that for me.”

On June 22, Pres. Barack Obama declared that the U.S. had largely achieved its goals in Afghanistan. Operation New Dawn cur-rently calls for withdrawing 10,000 Ameri-can troops by the end of the year, and 20,000 more next summer, with plans to hand over security to Middle Eastern authorities in 2014.

“Do I think [the war’s] winding down and we should pull out? No,” Debbie Lack said. “If we’re going to pull out, we need to bring all our boys home, not leave them so thin that it’s easy for them to get ambushed.”

Tim Krakowiak can be contacted by email-ing tim@semotimes.com, or follow him on Twitter @TimKrakowiak.

“My team moved around to try to fight the enemy, and I pretty much just, I guess, stepped on [the improvised explosive de-

vice] trying to hurry up and get around next to a compound.”

-Lance Cpl. David Lack,U.S. Marine Corps

from pg 4

Young combat vet braces for return after loss of leg

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like the ‘Harry Potter’ series, and you all aren’t supposed to see it. But you all snuck in and saw it. But you don’t want to say anything at church and get bust-ed? Here, you’ll be lucky if we don’t have a huge party and do a marathon on our big projector.”

The basic idea behind the church is to come as you are.

“Most churches I’ve been too are all crisp, clean. Here you can be yourself,” said Lindsay Porter of Poplar Bluff. “You don’t have to hide anything.”

“I believe, when it says He who loves the son is set free, I am actually free to be OK with being me, which frees me to actually work on me some,” Bob explained. “Because I’m not trying to hide me, I’m just trying to make me better. I want to be able to enjoy the things I enjoy and I want to be able to enjoy them with people I enjoy. I want to watch good movies and goofy sci-fi.”

And here, at The Exiles, that is per-fectly OK. You do not have to like anime or “Harry Potter” to join the church, though. In fact, Sherry Mc-Donald, secretary at the church and wife of pastor Bob, said that many of their members do not like either very much. They come for the love and the companionship and the nonjudgmental attitude.

“Some people only come some of the time, because they love us, but they can’t stand our disorganization,” Sherry said. “We are a bit disorganized at times.”

ServiceThat relaxed attitude is exactly what

draws some people, though. At The Exiles, church service often does not start at a specific time every week. The doors open at 11 a.m., and services usually start around 11:30, depending on when everyone finishes talking and settles down.

“It starts whenever we feel it ought to start,” Bob joked.

Unlike most church services, which preach on a different topic every Sun-

day, The Exiles goes line-by-line through a book of the Bible, breaking it down and discussing it in-depth. In fact, Bob said, they just finished the Book of Luke, an endeavor that took them about a year and a half.

Services are free-flowing, however, and the audience can interrupt at any point and ask whatever question they want, or challenge anything said.

“We openly challenge and discuss and debate. That’s why we can’t say what the format will be most of the time,” Bob went on. “I may get through a whole chapter, or I may get two lines in and it will descend into a three-hour debate on gay marriage. I don’t know. We just let it go where it’s going to go.”

However, the arguments do not get heated, and are not usually confronta-tional. Sherry said she could not think of a time when the arguments got out of hand.

“It’s like a healthy family group. We accept the individual’s dysfunction, and we try to get along,” Sherry said. Generally, the discussions are about relevant topics. But, they are not al-ways related to religion.

“I get off topic sometimes,” Bob ad-mitted. “And it may be about a politi-cal matter of the day, or it may be my disgust at George Lucas’ first three epi-sodes or how vampires don’t glitter…”

“It’s different, in a good way,” said Casey Allen of Poplar Bluff. “Most churches have their own ideas, but are based around the same things. This is basically more laid back and he tells it to you, rather than preaching it to you. It’s a very relaxed setting.”

Most services at The Exiles Church have 30-40 people in attendance, while some of their annual events—such as communion on Christmas Eve—draw as many as 100 people. Their congre-gation is generally college-aged and above, with a few teenagers and a few older members. The entire church is funded through donation, and none of the workers there are paid—it is solely voluntary.

Anime NightOne of the main events that the

church puts on is an anime night once a month, on the second Monday from 7-9 p.m. Anime movies are shown, and there are often Japanese snacks that the attendees can purchase. However, while the event is held inside of the church, the anime night is considered to be separate and draws a somewhat different crowd.

“Some shows have some religious themes, or raise religious questions. And we show others because they are just really, really good. There are no redeeming qualities in the fourth ‘Na-ruto’ movie or that ‘Bleach’ movie oth-er than it was just really, really good,” Bob said. “I do it simply because I like anime and I want to like it in a setting with other people who like it and enjoy it and appreciate it.”

And the night is exactly for that. It is not related to the church and is not meant to convert anybody to anything. It is just for relaxation and fun. They are, however, careful with what anime that they show.

“We don’t edit, we don’t cut or do anything like that,” Bob said. “And there are shows that I have opted not

to show because they were, maybe, a little too far over the edge than people would be comfortable with. Now, do we show things that other churches would be uncomfortable with? Abso-lutely. I fully expect that.”

“I come because I like anime and they show me new ones I might not watch otherwise,” said Jyssica Morris of Poplar Bluff.

“There are worse things out there,” Porter said. “They show a [good] va-riety.”

Anime nights often draw 40-50 people on an average night, and more on nights they show more popular an-ime—such as “Bleach” or “Naruto.”

“We’re careful. My pulse is enough on anime, that I am aware where the lines are,” Bob said. So, while they may show some anime that is more violent than most churches would be comfortable with, the movies won’t have gratuitous sex and other bad mes-sages in them.”

For more information on The Exiles, check out their Facebook page at The Exiles Church.

Liz Ellis can be reached by emailing lizellis@semotimes.com or by calling 573-785-2200.

Photo by liz EllisThe Exiles Church hosts an anime night on the second Monday of every month. While the church itself has no sign outside, these anime fans have no trouble finding their way there to hang out and watch their favorite shows.

The Exiles Church, from pg 8

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www.semotimes.comArts & Entertainment

Liz Ellis Reporter

Aspiring artists in the Poplar Bluff area are beginning to

flock to the art museum. But it is not to look at the ever-changing art that is cy-cled through the Victorian building—although many do come for that—it is to take art classes on various topics of-fered there.

Many of the classes are geared to-ward children, but there is no age limit and most of the classes have all the materials provided in the fee. Children under 4, however, must be accompa-nied by an adult to take a class. While these classes were once more oriented toward crafts, now they tend to have more of an art and educational leaning, thanks to assistant educational and ex-hibition manager for the museum, Lisa Tuttle.

“We have more traditional art offer-ings now—just some basics of partic-ular mediums… but we’re still doing things that are educational and they can take home with them,” Tuttle said. Tut-

tle teaches all of the children’s c l a s s e s and some a d u l t classes at the Mar-garet Har-well Art M u s e u m A n n e x , next door to the mu-seum.

In the past, the m u s e u m has of-fered a two-hour children’s

class once a month for ages 7-12. How-ever, Tuttle said, the need for children’s art activities is greater. As of this year, they have been offering a second class, where lunch, supplies and a break time for participants is offered as well. This add-on class is usually a couple hours long, or may be a secondary part to the normal two-hour session.

The fee for children’s classes is $30 for the full class, which includes all materials. Tuttle said she tries to have the classes be more than just art, and they often include multiple disciplines.

“When you start combining disci-plines, you bring in things like learning bug anatomy when you are doing bug sculptures or if we’re doing puppet-making, we might actually do some acting and theater,” Tuttle said. “So the kids are learning about literature and science and a variety of other things while they’re learning about art.”

Adult classes are three hours long, either spread out during a month or a

single class. They are often on topics like basic drawing or painting. Prices will vary, depending on the medium and whether or not a ma-terials fee is added.

“Paint costs more than charcoal. So [price is] pretty vari-able, but we try and keep the price as affordable as pos-sible,” Tuttle said. “For me, it’s about spreading knowl-edge, not about get-ting rich. I mean, if you’re an artist, you’re not getting rich.”

Tuttle also tutors students privately, teaching core artis-tic skills, such as

drawing from life and even painting skills. Her sessions generally last a few hours and each one can have up to two students. Requests for tutoring, Tuttle said, have increased as more people are becoming aware about the other classes that the art muse-um offers.

“ W h e n people think about where and how they can learn art, they call the museum first, which I think is fabulous,” Tuttle said. And, contrary to what some people might

think, art is a valuable craft for both students and adults to learn.

“I tell my art students that you have to be fearless to do art,” Tuttle said. “But you also learn problem solving. And that’s why I think art is impor-tant—not just art history, but hands-on art experience, because you can trans-fer that problem-solving ability into every aspect of your life.”

However, art classes are not for ev-eryone. For those who are more inter-ested in viewing than doing art, the Margaret Harwell Art Museum will display their new exhibit, ‘50 States Fired Up: An American Clay Invita-tional’ from Dec. 3- Jan. 29.

The open house for the exhibit will be held from 6 – 9 p.m. Dec. 3 at the museum and will feature refreshments, a demonstration of a local artist craft-ing clay pots, and live music.

“We tried to get pieces that are kind of descriptive of each state,” said Tina Magill, museum director. “We’ll have an array of different types of pottery. There will be sculptures there; not just vases and bowls. It’s a little bit of ev-erything.”

This exhibit has been a year in the making, and will feature 50 different

artists—one from each state. Forty-five of the 50 pieces will be for sale at the open house.

For more informa-tion on the Margaret Harwell Art Muse-um, check out their Facebook page or visit their website at www.mham.org.

Liz Ellis can be reached by emailing lizellis@semotimes.com.

Margaret Harwell Art Museum pumps up art classes

Submitted PhotoKailyn Dickson proudly displays her sock puppet made during an art class at the museum.

Submitted PhotoAnna Joseph shows off her Chinese dragon puppet made during the annual summer camp organized by the Margaret Harwell Art Museum.

Submitted PhotoThis vase is one of 50 pieces that will be part of the clay exhibit coming to the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in December.

Page 15

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Opinion and Editorial

Opinion and Editorial

It’s deer season here in Southeast Missouri. A huge event in our neck of the woods. Second only to Christmas. Businesses and schools close for the event and the excitement of filling your freezer with meat is a relief to many.

There are those who believe me to be a vegetarian because I teach yoga. I can assure you, I am not. I love meat as much as the next person. Though there are some good arguments for becom-ing vegetarian, it simply is not how I roll. I am, however, discriminate about the type of meat I choose, and wild game is a good choice for me.

Not only do we not have to worry about added hormones or additives, but wild game is leaner and has fewer calories than lean cuts of beef or pork. In fact, about one-third fewer calories, with game birds having about half the calories. They also have less saturated fat making it a good choice for those watching their cholesterol.

Game meat also has a significantly higher content of EPA (eico sapen-taenoic acid, a type of omega 3 fatty acid, which is a good type of oil, of-ten referred to as fish oil) than domes-tic meat. EPA is thought to reduce the risk of developing atherosclerosis, one of the major causes of heart attack and stroke.

Not only is wild game a healthy choice, but it is also becoming quite

fashionable as many people are trying to eat more locally grown foods. High dollar restaurants are also adding game meats to the menus.

Of course there are some things on the downside as well, and since I feel life is about balance, I have to give both sides. There are some arguments about whether or not wild game should be eaten by children under the age of six and pregnant women. That is certainly something you would want to talk to your doctor about. There are those that believe if the ammunition used is lead that the meat can be poisoned by the lead, making it particularly dangerous for those who are pregnant and very young. It is advised to remove the part of the meat where the bullet went in as soon as possible to prevent any lead contamination.

But for those of us who are healthy, not pregnant and over the age of six, I say pass the deer meat! Fewer calories, less fat, omega 3, no hormones or addi-tives. Enjoy!

Til next time, here’s to your health!

A yoga/healthy lifestyle instructor, Kat Robinson is the owner of Active Kat Yoga in Doniphan, which can be found online at www.activekatyoga.com. You can reach her by emailing, kat@activekatyoga.com.

Eating wild game

Yoga Instructor Kat Robinson

Healthy Lifestyle

Page 16

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Crossword Solution

from pg 9

The Book Shop320 N Main Poplar Bluff

573-714-5642 Presents

Opinion & Editorial Page 17

www.semotimes.com Opinion & Editorial

Rob Burson SEMO Times Review Team

“The Elder Scrolls

V: Skyrim” was released on Nov. 11 by Bethesda Softworks. It was labeled the “most anticipated game of the year” and has already been nomi-nated for “game of

the year” as well as multiple other awards. After a couple of hours of playing, I found it to be truly deserving of both titles.

In true Elder Scrolls tradition, you begin the game as a prisoner, and the action starts within minutes of character creation. The dragons are returning and no one knows why. Your character, armed with your newfound dragonborn powers, sets out to find the an-swer.

I am, without hesitation, going to give this game at least a 10/10, if not higher. As soon as I started playing the game, I was hooked, almost like reading a good book or watch-ing an engaging movie. And with the plot, characters and world to back the experience, I found myself not just playing, but actually experiencing Skyrim.

Graphics and Sound – While the graph-ics of Skyrim are smooth and crisp in HD, in standard definition the words are a bit hard to read. In HD, the game is beautiful and crisp, with realistic water and weather effects. The blood of enemies and allies pools around bodies and the details are astounding.

The soundtrack is mind blowing. In fact, I deeply regret not pre-ordering the game and getting the soundtrack with it. Even the menu music is rousing and it only gets better.

So, as far as graphics and sound go, I would give the game a solid 10/10.

Concept and Playability – The concept is very standard for Bethesda, being a first or third person roleplaying game. However,

skills have been reinvented, the menu redone, as well as the map and magic system. Every-thing is fresh, new and well done.

The playability is superb. While some con-trols are a bit confusing at first, after a lit-tle bit you really get the hang of it and then you’re off. And if you shut it off and come back to it, they become second nature.

This section also deserves a 10/10 because the plot is so twisted and in-depth that the game is, in my opinion, deserving of the game of the year title.

Entertainment and Replay Value – I’ll start this section by saying 10/10. The game is engaging and you can make whatever de-cision you want at any point in the game. If you want to climb a mountain, you can. The world is completely open to you.

There are multiple areas where you have two choices and either one can change a small aspect of the game. If you kill a chicken, you’ll be set upon by guards and townsfolk. If you help a beggar, then the Gods bless you.

The replay value is greatly influenced by the entertainment value. With 10 races, fully customizable appearances and a plethora of skills, no two experiences will be quite the same. There are also at least six factions that a player can join, including the thieves guild and the return of the assassin’s guild.

Another added aspect that deserves men-tion is the generation of random events. You may die and reload a saved game to find a completely different encounter waiting for you.

In closing, I highly recommend this game for anyone who enjoys the Elder Scrolls se-ries, roleplaying games in general and any-one interested in the genre. It’s fun, engaging and fascinating. Hard to put down and easy to pick up, “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” is a must try!

Rob Burson of Poplar Bluff is an avid gamer and a proud nerd. He reviews only Xbox 360 games, but will gladly take suggestions for new games to review. He can be contacted by emailing rob.burson07@gmail.com.

It seems like the topic of “what’s the strangest animal you’ve ever eaten?” comes up in conversation more often than you’d expect.

I was at my younger sister’s in Greene County last Saturday. My older sister and her husband were visiting from Nebraska. In the afternoon we went over to Joplin to see how things were progressing. Most of the de-bris has been cleared away and there’s a lot of construction go-ing on, but still it was a sobering sight.

My younger sister’s husband is facing some serious health is-sues and didn’t go with us, but by the time we got back he was feeling chipper enough to fix us an interesting dinner that in-cluded sweet potato fries, deep fried pickles, catfish and frog legs. Later, he brought out a product of a recent retirement project, rabbit sausage. So that’s how the question came up. Here’s the tally. One of us had eaten octopus; two, snake; tur-tle, nobody. Then my younger sister’s husband said the strang-est thing he’d had was muskrat stew. Rattlesnake noodle casse-role seemed tame after that.

On the way home I stopped to visit a friend, and he told me how he’d spent his day. His neighbor Dave’s wife was having a girl’s day out, so he invited his friend Butch over, and the three of them ended up spending the day in West Plains patronizing obscure pawn shops that specialize in guns and bad jewelry, eating at a bad buffet,

and taking in a mediocre action flick at the $4 theater.

At dinner, the subject of sea-food came up. Butch said he’d never had clams or oysters, or that “fish egg stuff.”

My friend said, “Caviar? Yeah, that stuff’s nasty.”

Butch said he’d probably nev-er eat an oyster. Then he asked Dave, “What’s the worst thing you ever ate?”

Dave said, “I like every-thing.” Then he remembered he’d eaten some beets one time that he didn’t care for.

“No, I mean what’s the worst meat you ever had?”

Dave said, “I like all kinds of meat. What’s the worst you’ve had?”

Butch said, in what I can only imagine (since I wasn’t there) was a solemn voice, “Bobcat.”

Dave exploded: “YOU AIN’T SUPPOSED TO EAT CAT!”

So there it is. People in vari-ous cultures eat or have eaten dog, even horse. Someone told me once that the Filipinos will crack open a live monkey’s skull and eat the brains raw. In our own region, many a table has been graced by a fat, baked possum, and I’ve been advised that there’s more interest in the culinary possibilities of arma-dillo than I care to contemplate. But I’m with Dave on this one. No civilized human eats cat.

Gordon Johnston is the direc-tor of library services at Three Rivers College. He can be reached by emailing gjohn-ston@trcc.edu.

Strange meat

The Ramblerwith Gordon Johnston

Game Review: 10/10Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

AdvicePage 18

www.semotimes.com Advice

Dear Joy,I have feelings that my boyfriend might be cheating on

me. He has started ignoring my calls and text messages when he goes out with friends, and he is always hiding his phone. He has also been looking at this girl’s Facebook page a lot lately. When I’ve questioned him about it, he becomes very defensive. He’s told me there is nothing to worry about but my gut tells me otherwise. I don’t know how to deal with this.

-Suspicious Mind,

Poplar Bluff

Suspicious Mind,First impression, he’s guilty!!! But… we can’t always go

on first impressions.OK, have you been suspicious of other boyfriends? Hon-

estly, do you have a pattern of being jealous? I’m just making sure you’re not being the paranoid one. If you are sure it’s not you, then let’s move on to him.Ignoring calls and texts is strange, if he previously an-

swered them, same with hiding the phone. In fact, it all smells to me. I would follow my gut above all. The fact is, if he wants to cheat on you, he will. There are no threats or nagging that will stop a man on the hunt.You have to decide what you want. Keep seeing someone

you don’t trust, living under constant suspicion? Trust is something a relationship must have to ever be fulfilling and bring forth happiness. You have to make that deci-sion for yourself. Remember, life is short. You can’t ever get back time. Don’t waste it.

Good luck to you.-Joy

A weekly advice column from a local romance expert, Ask Joy is our own ver-sion of Ask Abby. To ask Joy a relationship question, email her at askjoyinthe-times@hotmail.com, or friend her on Facebook at Ask Joy.

Event Calendar Page 19

www.semotimes.com Event Calendar

Community Calendar

To submit an event, go to www.semotimes.com and click on the +bluffee tab

SemoTimes

Upcoming community events from Nov. 18 - Dec. 3

Madrigal Dinner at TRC

Nov. 186 p.m.

Tinnin Fine Arts Center

Poplar Bluff

Matt Stell and the Crashers

Nov 187 p.m.

Whiskey DownPoplar Bluff

Benefit for Kimberly Adelson

Nov. 187:30 p.m.Dockside

Cape Girardeau

“Sculpting in Color” Art ClassNov 191-3 p.m.

Margaret Harwell Art Museum Annex

Poplar Bluff

“50 States Fired Up: An American Pottery Invitational Exhibit”

Open houseDec. 3

1-4 p.m.Margaret Harwell Art

MuseumPoplar Bluff

Festival of Lights Christmas Auto

TourNov. 26

Dusk to 9 p.m.Redman Creek East

CampgroundWappapello

Joe Berry Toy RunNov. 26

11 a.m. - 4 p.m.Jim and Jerry’s

Pub and RestaurantPoplar Bluff

John D. Hale Band

Nov 257 p.m.

Whiskey DownPoplar Bluff

Jacob Marley’s Christmas carol

Dec. 37 p.m.

Tinnin Fine Arts Center

Poplar Bluff

See it Live

Southern Skies

This Arkansas band has an old town

country/blues sound, with a good mix of classic rock. Their music is smooth,

with great lead guitar rifts and overall a

good sound. They will be

performing both original music as well

as various covers.

Where: Whiskey Down

When: Friday, Nov. 18 9 p.m. – 1 a.m.

Band members:Nathan Palmer lead vocals and

rhythm guitarAlbert Hall lead guitar

David Reed lead guitarLuke Reed

DrumsPaul Holt

Bass

“Fancy Folding Screens” Art Class

Nov. 1910 a.m. - noon

Margaret Harwell Art Museum Annex

Poplar Bluff

Flash Mob Zombie Final Shoot

Nov 1912:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.Check Facebook

for locationPoplar Bluff

Las Mas & SEMO Times party

Nov. 238:30-11:30 p.m.Las Margaritas

Poplar Bluff