News from the
Saline County
Extension Center

September-October 2004

In this issue

Mo-River.net Community Information Network

The Lesson of the
Daffodil Lady

Take this six
question quiz!

The Home Front

Thriving in
Saline County
Newsletter Index

Human Environmental
Sciences Extension
Newsletters
 

Thriving in
Saline County
is written by:
Dr. Cynthia Crawford
Family and Consumer Economics Specialist, Saline County
Extension Office
660-886-6908
crawfordc@missouri.edu
153 S. Odell,
Marshall MO 65340
 

University of Missouri Extension is all about helping people deal more successfully with change by providing high-quality, research based information.

www.mo-river.net

The Internet is a great way to find information out about distant places and products. The information that it puts at our fingertips is exciting.

What information interests us the most, though? It is the information about our hometown and our county.

Thanks to the vision of Human Development Specialist Art Schneider and a dedicated volunteer board that directs the Mo-River.net Community Information Network, you can learn a great deal about Saline, Cooper and Howard Counties.

Take a look at the website!

If you see website links or information about Saline County that should be on the site, but aren’t, please contact me at crawfordc@missouri.edu  or the Saline County Extension Center at 886-6908

We receive a number of interesting requests for information each week. Of course all work with us is confidential. Many of the questions that come in are of general interest, though. Here are some examples of recent requests:

“I’ve heard that Saline County has the most miles of Missouri River of any county in the state. Just how many miles of the Missouri River do we have on our north and east borders?” According to the Geographic Resource Center at the University of Missouri the answer is...drum roll please...75.19 miles!

“I’m working on writing a grant for my agency and I need some very specific statistics about Saline County. Where can I find quality statistics about the county?”

Glad you asked! I can recommend the Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA) at the University of Missouri-Columbia without reservation. Their website is the best place to start www.oseda.missouri.edu 

I think you’ll be astonished at the wealth of data available!

Cynthia
Consumer and Family Economics Specialist
County Program Director

The Lesson of the Daffodil Lady

A lady’s daughter telephoned several times last spring to say, "Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a long two-hour drive. "I will come next Tuesday,” I promised.

Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. When I walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!"

Her daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother. I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car. It’s just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!" "We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils." "Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around." "No, sorry,” she said.

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road. I saw a hand lettered sign that read, "Daffodil Garden."

Before me lay the most glorious sight. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns - great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

“Who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. "It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster.
Answers to your Questions:
50,000 bulbs
One at a time, by one woman.
Began in 1958.

I thought of this woman that had worked for years planting one bulb at a time to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world.

The lesson her daffodil garden taught is one of goal setting. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time with dogged determination. It is the journey as much as the celebration at the end that can give great satisfaction.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

Her daughter summed up the main point. "Start today," she said. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration is to ask, "How can I get started today?"

So, stop waiting until …

your car or home is paid off
you get a new car or home
your new job comes along
your kids leave the house
you go back to school
you finish school
you get a divorce
you lose 10 lbs.
you get married
you have kids
you retire
summer
spring
winter
fall
you die...

Take this six question quiz!

1. The guard members associated with the Marshall and Boonville Armories are_____

1. Men and women
2. All women
3. All men

2. There are _______ people based in the Marshall and Boonville National Guard Units.

3. How many of these people are currently deployed?

1. None
2. Half
3. The vast majority

4. Where are they deployed? ______________________________________________

5. The National Guard is part of the ___________

1. Army
2. Navy
3. Air Force
4. Marines

6. As a citizen of Saline County, what can you do to support your community’s soldiers?

Answers

1. The correct answer is C. Because the Marshall and Boonville Guard Units are front line, combat artillery units, the soldiers are all men.
2. Approximately 125 men.
3. The vast majority are deployed.
4. Currently, the soldiers are deployed all across the United States serving primarily as military police in the roles of other soldiers that are deployed overseas. Soldiers from these National Guard units have served overseas this year and are always subject to serving there.
5. The correct answer is A. Army
6. Let our soldiers know our community cares by caring for their families. Don’t just think about it. Don’t just offer. Do something!

• Keep these families and soldiers in your thoughts.
• Express your appreciation over and over
• Take their kids to the park and then out for ice cream and give mom a two-hour break
• Take the family to a high school football game
• Mow the family’s yard
• Volunteer to change the oil in the car (or take it to have the oil changed)
• Take them a casserole for dinner
• Do child care for a morning while mom goes grocery shopping and gets a hair cut
• Send a thank you card
• Stop by the Marshall Armory and buy a $7 t-shirt designed specifically for the Charlie Battery. It helps raise some funds for family support efforts and you can proudly wear it in support of our National Guard Unit when you are out and about in the community.

The Home Front

Today’s Army (which includes the Army National Guard) leadership recognizes that family readiness is inseparable from unit readiness. More soldiers have families than ever before. The Army emphasizes that soldiers who know that their family’s needs are being met perform better in the stress of deployment. Families whose needs are met during deployment are in a better position to be supportive of their deployed family member and will be in a better position to welcome and support their returning soldier.

Saline County University of Missouri Extension has always been about the business of providing quality information to individuals and families when they need information most. It is our professional honor, as HES Extension Specialists, to draw from our knowledge and research base in such areas as family financial management, human development, single parenting, community resources, networking and more to deliver user friendly, critical information to military personnel and their families.

Starting in the spring of 2004 we have been working closely with National Guard family support personnel to generate a newsletter for the National Guard soldiers and their families.

The newsletters are mailed by the Guard to every family associated with the Marshall National Guard unit. You may want to take a look at the newsletters, as well. They are posted on the Internet at:

http://missourifamilies.org/homefront

As a community of caring people, the newsletter will let you learn more about the concerns of our National Guard families.