Newman Week Musical Flyer

Finally, I get to post a design on here! It’s been a while. I designed this flyer for the musical, Signs from God, which will be a benefit show for the Youth Empowerment Zone in Columbia. The musical is part of a week-long event called Newman Week sponsored by the Catholic Students Association at the University of Missouri. I took the name of the musical “Signs from God,” and then created this flyer using Photoshop CS4. I downloaded several brushes from Brusheezy, mainly tree, mountain and grass brushes. Also, full disclosure, I did not take the pictures and the Signs from God logo was designed by the music director. 

Winter Photography Slideshow

This winter I took a lot of photos. I got a monopod fro Christmas, so I was anxious to try it out. It’s very useful. I used it to take pictures of when I went sledding with friends in Omaha, two different times. It works so well, because it’s easy to adjust on the fly, and carry up and down the steep sledding hill. I also included a few photos from my trip to visit Erica in Naperville, IL for New Years.

Hope Chest for Kids helps foster families during hard times

Tres McCullon cleans the chocolate-chip cookie dough out of the beaters of his aunt, Lori Stoll’s, electric mixer, on Monday. McCullon stayed with Lori and Barry Stoll for a summer. The Stolls frequently take in children in need, adding to their family of five. They currently are fostering five Vietnamese-American children.   ¦  ELISA DAY

COLUMBIA — The Stoll family has a full table for Christmas, with four biological children and six foster children home for the holidays.

The faces at their table have shifted a lot over the years. Since 2002, Lori and Barry Stoll have taken in at least 15 foster children. Currently, they have a biological son and five foster children, all siblings, living at home. 

“It’s a honor and a privilege to serve these kids and to help them be a family,” Lori Stoll said. “That’s the reason we took in these five. They’re all siblings, and they need to be together.”

She is a board member of Hope Chest for Kids, a mid-Missouri organization dedicated to helping foster families. During tough economic times, Hope Chest and the Boone County foster care system have their work cut out for them.

They are dealing with an increase in children, a decrease in foster families and almost the lowest reimbursement rates for foster parents in the nation. Missouri ranks 49 among the 50 states in what is paid for foster care.

The Stolls’ five foster children are among 9,388 in Children’s Division’s custody across the state, up from 9,244 a year ago. These children are either in foster care or live in the home of a relative. 

Missouri has 2,183 foster homes, excluding relatives’ homes, down from 2,345 homes last year. Foster children are living in 1,481 of those homes.

Boone County has 166 children in foster care and 57 foster homes, compared to 72 last year.

To read the rest of the story click here.

Columbia NFL fans dedicated despite down years for Chiefs and Rams

Rams running back Steven Jackson (39) is tackled by a swarm of Seahawks defenders in a 27-17 loss Sunday in St. Louis.   ¦  L.G. PATTERSON/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBIA — The Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams NFL football teams are struggling. The Chiefs are 5-31 in their past 36 games, and the Rams are 1-10 after finishing last season 2-14. In 2007 they were 3-13. And yet, two die-hard fans in Columbia won’t be selling their season tickets anytime soon.

St. Louis Rams fan Jacob Glazer and Kansas City Chiefs fan Theresa Musket have a loyalty that runs deep. They have endured traffic, rain and freezing temperatures to see their teams. Every home game, they make the four-hour round-trip to the stadium, often leaving in disappointment.

They hear the jokes, and they dismiss them.

“Not many people support the Rams here or in St. Louis now,” Glazer said. “We’ve got a bunch of fair-weather fans. But I try to promote the team as much as possible.”

Attendance for both teams has been in free fall — more than 5,000 for the Rams and 8,000 for the Chiefs.

Like many diehard fans, Glazer and Musket don’t care. They got hooked on their teams at an early age.

Glazer, 21, a junior at MU originally from St. Louis, began attending Rams games after the franchise moved from Los Angeles in 1995. His dad started buying season tickets, and Glazer attends at least seven home games every year.

“It’s really easy to get tickets now,” he said.

The Rams won the Super Bowl in 1999, and Glazer traveled to Atlanta to watch them defeat the Tennessee Titans. He was in fifth grade and remembers skipping school to catch the parade on Market Street in downtown St. Louis. 

Musket also finds herself in thinning company. She grew up a Chiefs fan in Independence, making the short trip with her parents to Arrowhead for home games until she was 12.

To read the rest of the story click here.

The Love Seat ministry provides furniture for those in need

Nancy and Chris Cady move a donated table into the Furniture Ministry warehouse Saturday, Oct. 24. The couple started the non-profit in Columbia after Hurricane Katrina. PHOTO BY MATT CLOUD

COLUMBIA — Earlier this year, Karen Robinson was trying to cobble together enough money to rent an apartment.

The 51-year-old school bus driver and single mother had sold her home in Columbia so she could move to New Mexico to be with her mother. When the situation abruptly changed and Robinson ended up staying in Columbia, she was short of funds. 

That’s when Love in the Name of Christ (Love INC) and The Love Seat furniture ministry stepped in to help. They not only covered a deposit, but also provided a dresser and a bed for Robinson’s 9-year-old daughter, Sarah, as well as a futon.

“It’s like in the old days,” Robinson said. “When I was brought up, churches and people would get together and help somebody that had a need. It didn’t matter who you were, what your race was or your income. They would help.”

Love INC is a national organization with a Columbia affiliate that provides churches with an opportunity to work together to help those in need though a variety of ministries.

It began in Columbia 18 months ago, and since then, the organization has been able to serve more than 1,000 people and had more than 7,000 volunteer hours logged. In October, The Love Seat was launched to provide basic furniture — tables, chairs, mattresses and sofas.

To read the rest of this story click here.

MU students’ YouTube channel hits 10,000 subscribers

COLUMBIA — A group of sophomores living in a residence hall on the MU campus have been generating thousands of hits on YouTube with their video parodies.

They call themselves DaveAndDaves and post to the site a mix of comedic original songs, lampoons of other videos and rock remixes of popular songs.

The site recently hit the 10,000 subscribers mark, and several of the Dave videos have more than 100,000 views.

One of the most popular songs on the DaveAndDaves channel is their rock cover of “Live Your Life,” originally by rapper T.I. It has been viewed more than 470,000 times.

To read the rest of this story click here.

Missouri Tigers take on Twitter

COLUMBIA — Late this summer, Kim English, a guard on the Missouri basketball team, lost a bet to linebacker Sean Weatherspoon.

This weekend English pays for it.

He and Weatherspoon had a friendly wager about who would hit 2,000 followers first on their Twitter sites.

The loser agreed to paint up for a winner’s game — which means English will have black and gold on his face at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night when the Tigers play the Longhorns.

It took less than three weeks from the time the competition started in August for Weatherspoon (SeanWSpoon12 on Twitter) to snag 2,000 followers. He now leads all Missouri football players with 3,284.

Weatherspoon started the race with a lead of 200 followers, but the two ended up in a dead heat at 1,420.

In order to finally beat English, Weatherspoon called on a grassroots movement of fans, asking them to help spread the word and recruit more followers.

“Racing my boy Kimmie English the 3pt king @englishscope to 2,000 followers!!! Got a slight lead on him now come on tweeps help me out!!!” Weatherspoon posted to his Twitter page.

To read the rest of the story, click here. 

This was one of the most fun stories I’ve gotten to do. I’m a huge sports fan so going to media day and interviewing Sean Weatherspoon and Danario Alexander about Twitter was really fun for me. 

Big MO rises to celebrity status at Tigers football games

Photo by Erica Zucco

COLUMBIA — When Big MO lets loose in the end zone at Memorial Stadium during a football game, everyone in the stands knows what it means — a touchdown for the Missouri Tigers.

 

Big MO is the 6-foot, 150-pound bass drum that sounds like rolling thunder when it’s pounded in the end zone. The drum, with a rich history that includes a role in Chicago theatrical productions, has been a presence at Missouri home games since 1981. 

The drum and its crew have even gained celebrity-like status.

“One time a random girl in the stands proposed marriage to me,” said David Champlin, a member of the team that handles Big MO. “That was kind of weird.”  

“It comes with the territory,” added John Shetley, another crew member.  

To read the rest of this story click here. You can also check out an audio slideshow Erica Zucco and I worked on! 

Audio Slideshow: Heart transplant allows longtime fan to give back

As part of a multi-media weekend class, Lenny Goldman and I did an audio slideshow about a woman named Nellie Dodd who has been attending University of Missouri volleyball games for 30 years, even after a heart transplant. All of the game photos and natural sound came from the Tigers game against UMKC. The audio and other photos were gathered from an interview with Nellie at her office in the Hearnes Center where she volunteers as the coordinator of the Golden Tigers, a senior citizen spirit group. 

Check out the audio slideshow here as well as a great article written by Lenny.

Special Olympics’ Stegeman goes ‘Over the Edge’

 

Susan Stegeman, the longest standing employee of Special Olympics Missouri, hangs several stories above eighth street during her rappel off The Tiger Hotel for the Over The Edge event on Saturday. Participants who raised money for the Special Olympics got the chance to harness up, clip in, and rappel down from the top floor. ¦ JASON LENHART

COLUMBIA — Susan Stegeman is terrified of heights.

Yet, because of her dedication to the organization she works for, she’s standing on a ledge at the top of The Tiger Hotel — ten stories high — with a tangle of ropes and harnesses on, about to go over the edge.

“I need you to step off the building,” her instructor says to her as Stegeman leans over the edge.

Stegeman has been working for Special Olympics Missouri for 18 years, making her their longest-serving employee. As the chief development officer, she helps raise funds and organize events.

This year, for the first time, the group teamed up with Over the Edge, a company that helps nonprofits raise money by offering participants a chance to rappel down a local building in exchange for pledges. Despite Stegeman’s fear, she was the one who came up with the idea, and no one had to talk her into participating.

“I chose to do this,” Stegeman said. “My dad is telling me ‘You’re not doing it. I’m not going to let you do it.’ OK, dad. I’m 47 years old. I don’t think you really have a choice. I’m not really asking for your permission.”

To read the rest of this story, click here.