Local News – Monday, November 27th, 2017
The Salvation Army Dent County Service Unit has announced they have partnered with Healthy Dent County to ensure that the annual Angel Tree program will be available this year. The Angel Tree will be located at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. Sherry Lea, the Welfare Secretary for the Dent County Service Unit, hopes that the community will rally together to help make a local child’s Christmas brighter this year. The Salvation Army Dent County Service Unit would like to thank the citizens of Salem and Dent County for their overwhelming response to the report that Wal-Mart would not be allowing an Angel Tree this year. Local residents have always enjoyed adopting a child, shopping for clothing, coats, hats, and toys. Some families use this time of year to teach their children the importance of giving during the holiday season. Because of the different location, citizens will have to come to the Salem Community Center@ the Armory to adopt a child, purchase the gifts, and then bring the gifts back to the Community Center. In recent years, there have been over 200 children’s names on the tree and all were adopted by the very generous citizens in our community. The Angel Tree will be available starting this Wednesday, November 29th with access to the tree Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory, located at 1200 W. Rolla Road in the front lobby. Sign-ups for families wanting to participate in the Angel Tree will be held Monday through Friday at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory starting TODAY and running through Tuesday, December 5th. For several years, Wal-Mart has partnered with the Salvation Army for its Angel Tree program. Recently the Salem Wal-Mart informed the local service unit that due to a directive from their corporate offices, Wal-Mart will not participate by allowing the tree and angels to be displayed at their Salem store. It was not the local manager’s decision but a corporate mandate. The familiar red kettle will still be located outside Wal-Mart as well as at Country Mart and Dollar General. For information about the Angel Tree program, please call 729-8163.
The Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees met Monday evening, November 20th. Health Center Director Kendra Mobray reported that building renovations were being completed. Improvements included new guttering on the south side of the office building, interior painting, and new flooring in the reception area. New privacy fencing will be installed on the west side of the Health Center parking lot during the next few weeks. These improvements were made possible through a grant obtained by the Health Center. Mobray reported that High Dose and Quadrivalent influenza vaccines are still available and that the Health Center bills Medicare, Private Insurance and children’s Medicaid. A Memorandum of Understanding with Oak Hill R-1 to provide school nurse services had been previously approved by the Board and had been signed. Health Center nurses have been in the school several times providing consultation and updating equipment. Mobray provided contract updates and noted that the Rabies Alert for Dent County was lifted November 15th. The Health Center still encourages pet owners to keep Rabies vaccinations up to date and avoid contact with stray and wild animals. Mobray reported that influenza activity in Missouri has been sporadic with two cases reported in Dent County in September and none in October. The updated administrative manual was reviewed and approved by the Board. A staff Christmas dinner on December 14th was approved and the Health Center offices will close at noon on that date. The next regular meeting of the Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees was set for December 18th at the Health Center and the meeting is open to the public.
Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 191,368 deer during the November portion of fall firearms deer season, November 11th through the 21st. Of the 191,368 deer harvested, 99,431 were antlered bucks, 20,148 were button bucks, and 71,789 were does. Top harvest counties were Howell with 4,564 deer checked, Texas with 4,374, and Franklin with 4,095. In Dent County, a total of 3,072 deer were harvested while Crawford County checked 2,767 deer, Shannon County had 2,395 deer taken, Phelps County harvested 2,226 deer and Reynolds County hunters took 1,529 deer. Last year hunters checked 185,062 deer during the 2016 November portion of firearms deer season with 95,381 being antlered bucks, 18,888 being button bucks, and 70,793 being does. Deer hunting in Missouri continues with archery deer hunting from November 22nd through January 15th, 2018.