(UPDATE Saturday 2:36 p.m.) – AFL-CIO Community Services Executive Director Penny Adams said, with the program concluding Saturday, there are 688 families that have applied and of those, 412 have been adopted.
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The application period for the Adopt-A-Family program ends this weekend.
The program matches families and individuals in need in the area with families, groups or organizations that are willing to help so everyone can enjoy Christmas.
The last day to apply is Saturday by appointment only from 9 a.m. to noon.
Applications should be submitted at the AFL-CIO Community Services building at 1203 N 6th in St Joseph. For more information on the application process or to adopt a family, contact AFL-CIO at (816) 364-1131.
(UPDATE Friday) A teenager was transported to the hospital for minor injuries after the crash at the intersection of Woodbine Rd and Gene Field Rd Thursday afternoon.
Police say the teen was a passenger in the car involved in the crash and traffic violation tickets were issued to the driver of the car.
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(UPDATE 5:04 p.m.) According to police, the Woodbine Rd and Gene Field Rd intersection is open to normal traffic.
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St. Joseph Police are asking motorists to avoid the area of Woodbine Rd and Gene Field Rd due to a traffic crash Thursday afternoon.
According to a witness in the area, the crash at the intersection shortly before 4:30 p.m. was between a school bus and a car. It’s unknown yet if there are any injuries.
This post will be updated as we learn more information.
One person is in custody after a shooting in the parking lot of East Hills Mall Friday evening.
According to Sgt. Brad Kerns with the St. Joseph Police Department, several calls came in at 7:15 p.m. reporting shots fired in the parking lot outside of Gordmans at the mall.
Officers located a suspect in his 40s and took him into custody without incident.
No one was injured. Kerns said at least two vehicles were hit by gunshots.
Police say there are possibly two suspects at large and they are still investigating the incident.
Sgt. Jake Angle ties a red ribbon on a Missouri State Highway Patrol vehicle.
MADD Heartland Chapter kicks off the Tie One On For Safety campaign on Nov. 21, 2018.
By SARAH THOMACK St. Joseph Post
When Mothers Against Drunk Driving Heartland Chapter Volunteer Leader Leann Lewis ties a red ribbon on her vehicle, it’s in memory of her dad.
“On September the 11th of 2008, my dad was traveling to his house and just a few miles before he reached his home, a drunk driver crossed the centerline and hit his vehicle head-on and killed him,” said Lewis. “After that, I just really became involved with MADD because I never wanted any daughter to ever experience getting that phone call in the middle of the night, driving to the hospital and learning that their dad was no longer with them.”
MADD Heartland kicked off the “Tie One On For Safety” campaign Wednesday morning.
Lewis said they distribute red ribbons throughout the community and ask community members to pledge not to drink and drive. Lewis said some of the most dangerous days on the road are between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
“In 2016, from Thanksgiving Day to New Year’s, there were 891 drunk driving fatalities across the country, accounting for 26 percent of all traffic fatalities,” Lewis said “That is why, every holiday season, MADD asks the community to ‘Tie One On For Safety.’ We invite everyone to display a MADD red ribbon in or on their vehicle as a pledge to never drink and drive and always designate a non-drinking driver.”
Sgt. Larry R. Stobbs with the St. Joseph Police Department said as part of the campaign kickoff Wednesday morning, Heartland MADD brought the “Choose Your Ride” vehicle (pictured above).
“The front half of it’s painted like a police car, the back half is painted like a taxicab and it’s a good visual… If you get a drunk driver arrest, it literally costs you thousands of dollars between fines, court costs, attorney fees, where a taxicab right here in St. Joseph, you can probably get anywhere in town for less than $10,” Stobbs said. “So do you want to pay the $10 and not have to worry about going to court or do you want to have to do without being able to drive for three months to a year and pay all those fines because you drank a few too many beers at a bar and then made the bad choice to drive.”
Lewis, along with Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jake Angle and Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins spoke at the kickoff event Wednesday morning.
Contact the MADD Heartland office at (816) 318-4515 for more information or to pick up a MADD red ribbon.
Several upcoming holiday events in the area will offer Christmas decorating inspiration, gift ideas and more.
In Atchison, the Christmas Homes Tour and a Holiday Boutique will be this weekend.
“There are five homes decorated for Christmas and two of the museums in town that are also decorated for Christmas,” said Jacque Pregont, president of the Atchison Chamber of Commerce. “It’s always fun to look at other people’s houses decorated for Christmas. While you’re here, you can not only do the Christmas Homes tour, but you can also stop by the Holiday Boutique which we’re having at the Atchison Events Center… over 50 vendors (are) going to be up there with all kinds of holiday ideas.”
The Homes Tour takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and proceeds benefit St. Benedict Catholic School. The Holiday Boutique will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information about these and other upcoming events in Atchison go to visitatchison.com.
Other holiday events coming up in the area include the lighting of Holiday Park at Krug Park at 6 p.m. and South Pole at Hyde Park at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 23.
The Holiday Homes Tour in St. Joseph takes place next weekend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. For more information or tickets, visit saintjosephsymphony.org. Tickets are also available at Hy-Vee and Jamie’s Secret Garden.
Coming up next month in St. Joseph will be a taste of European architecture and holiday décor during a Holiday Tea at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion. That takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 13th. For more information, or to make a reservation, go to stjosephmuseum.org.
The Remington Nature Center will be celebrating its 10 year anniversary this weekend.
Nature Center Naturalist Shelly Cox said 10 years ago, the city and a group of individuals wanted to bring something unique to St. Joseph and collaborated with donors and individuals to create the Nature Center in 2008. Cox said, over the years, they have added more events for children.
“Thousands of children come through the door every year, not only for school field trips but for monthly scavenger hunts that we have, monthly craft days,” Cox said. “We also see a lot more conference room rentals, birthday parties, special celebrations happening here at the Nature Center, so that’s all evolved over the years and grown exponentially.”
Cox said staff are looking forward to seeing how plans to develop the Riverfront will affect the Nature Center.
“We know a lot of things are being talked about and in the works for developing the Riverfront down here,” Cox said. “So we’re looking forward to seeing what takes shape along the river and how we’re going to be incorporated into that and… really continuing what we’re doing and seeing it grow and continue to do well.”
The public is invited to the Nature Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday to celebrate the 10 year anniversary. There will be several activities going on including facepainting and the opportunity to see live animals including rabbits, lizards, farm animals, tarantulas, snakes, hissing cockroaches and more.
Preparation for Holiday Park is well underway in St. Joseph with a little over a week left until opening day.
Work starts about eight weeks before opening day with crews checking wires and lights to see what needs replaced or fixed.
This will be the 37th year of Holiday Park. St. Joseph Parks, Recreation & Civic Facilities Assistant Director Jeff Atkins said the East Hills Optimist Club came to the Director of Parks at the time and asked if the club and volunteers could turn Krug Park into a holiday display.
“The community had been used to having the Candy Cane Lane area on Gene Field decorated and, the families there, it had just gotten too big for them to do and they had to quit doing their display. So for quite a few years, St. Joseph didn’t have an organized Christmas display and their goal was to bring that back,” Atkins said. “So they started this 37 years ago and now here we are, each year we get a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger. Our crowds keep growing a little bit, we’re up to right around 90,000 people a year will drive through the park during the month and look at our lights.”
Because of the growing number of people visiting Holiday Park each year, Atkins said they have set up another line at the park’s exit.
“Everybody has to stop, of course, get their free Cherry Mash and we do take collections. The local Optimist Clubs volunteer their time and… the money they collect is what funds the next year’s park,” Atkins said. “The last three or four years, the City has been contributing because we’ve had to make a change over from our incandescent lighting to the new LED lighting. They are a little bit more expensive, so the City is contributing money while we’re making this transition… but pretty much it’s the pennies, the nickels, the dimes, the dollars that people drop in at the end is what funds the park for years to come.”
Atkins said over the years they have always tried to add something new to Holiday Park whether it be big or small. This year, Atkins said they have added to the Holiday Express train next to Santa and the reindeer and are making some changes to the 12 Days of Christmas display.
Holiday Park file photo by Sarah Thomack.
“We still want to keep the Christmas feel, but we’re trying to design our displays now so they’re just a little bit more durable and a little bit easier to maintain,” Atkins said. “The Christmas lights at times are so fragile and… we’re just trying to come up with more durable designs and the 12 Days of Christmas will be our first attempt at that for this year.”
Atkins said with the increasing number of people visiting each year, the popularity of Holiday Park is growing across the state.
“We were just recently mentioned in an article in a Jefferson City magazine. They publish a monthly magazine for their city, and we were picked as the number two destination to come and view holiday lights this year,” Atkins said. “They’re suggesting that their people drive from Jeff City to come up and enjoy our light display, so that made us feel real good, made us proud of that.”
Holiday Park will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. starting Friday, Nov. 23rd, and each night through January 1st.
The Adopt-A-Family Christmas program application period is underway.
The program in St. Joseph which works to help families who need assistance during the holidays is in its 36th year.
AFL-CIO Community Services Executive Director Penny Adams said she was not there for the start of the program, but the story is that it started the year the Cabbage Patch doll craze was in full force.
“I remember that because my kids were little at the time and I did exactly what everybody was doing – you go to a store, you drew numbers and if you were lucky enough to get a good number, you could run in and purchase a Cabbage Patch doll for $100,” Adams said.
When the DJs on KKJO 105.5 heard about that, Adams said they put an idea out to listeners.
“The disc jockey on the radio said it was a shame that people were spending a hundred dollars to adopt a doll when we had people right here in St. Joseph that needed adopted for real for the holidays,” Adams said. “They said, why don’t you call United Way and see if you can help adopt a real family. That year, our office used to be part of United Way, the phone started ringing… And because we work with people throughout the year, at that time, we had about 25 families they were working with for a variety of needs that they knew were low income and could use the help.”
That first year 25 families were adopted and Adams said the program has continued to grow.
AFL-CIO staff will be accepting applications from families and individuals through Saturday, Dec. 8th. Available times are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 1 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Nov. 17th and Dec. 8th by appointment only.
For more information about the program and what applicants need to bring to apply, call (816) 364-1131 or click here.
Anyone wanting to adopt a family for Christmas can begin viewing profiles on Wednesday, Nov. 14th.
Shop St. Joseph kicked off Wednesday and other holiday shopping programs around the area begin soon.
Kristi Bailey with the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce said they are encouraging retailers who would like to be a part of the program this year to sign up soon at the Chamber so they can begin handing out tickets.
Bailey said the benefit of Shop St. Joseph for businesses is getting new people in the doors as the program encourages residents to buy local during the holidays.
“Residents are doing their shopping and they want to help support the local economy, support local business,” Bailey said. “They go to the list of participating merchants and they get a ticket just for entering the door, but then another ticket for every $10 they spend. At the end of the shopping season, this year it’s December 19th, will be the grand prize drawing and one lucky shopper will win a $10,000 grand prize.”
Any retailer can participate, whether they are a Chamber member or not. Bailey said retailers can sign up now until the week of Thanksgiving, but the earlier they sign up, the more ads they will be included in before then.
For more information and a list of participating businesses, go to saintjoseph.com.
Shop Merryville will be starting Nov. 19th, and Chamber of Commerce Director Lily White said businesses will begin giving out tickets to shoppers that day for a chance to win gift cards.
“Every dollar that you spend in businesses that are participating in Shop Merryville, you get entered to win gift cards,” White said. “Every business that is involved in Shop Merryville gives a certain number of gift cards, there are several levels they can be involved in. For example, some businesses give seven gift cards, so over four weeks, we will give away their seven gift cards and all the other gift cards. Last year, we gave away over 170 gift cards just in the month of December.”
In Atchison, Libby Llama’s Holiday Hunt takes place Thursday through Friday.
Libby Llama will be at 25 different Atchison businesses during store hours and shoppers are encouraged to find Libby, take a selfie with her and post it to social media using the hashtag #visitatchison and the store’s personal hashtag. Posts serve as entries for prizes. Each store will hold a drawing for a gift on Nov. 12th.
(UPDATE Saturday 2:36 p.m.) – AFL-CIO Community Services Executive Director Penny Adams said, with the program concluding Saturday, there are 688 families that have applied and of those, 412 have been adopted.
