Archives of Community

Funny Women: SEMO improv group provides space for comedians to shine

By Lily Niebrugge In Southeast Missouri State University’s (SEMO) Dramatically Incorrect Comedy Club (DICC), students like freshman musical theater major Brea Johnson take center stage in their comedy. Johnson says she auditioned for DICC, an improv troupe on SEMO’s River Campus that produces shows often comparable to the early 2000s TV show “Whose Line Is […]
4 hours ago

Collecting: Jennifer Birk-Cook, Hats

As a child, Jennifer Birk-Cook says she always loved her family’s tradition of wearing Easter bonnets to church on Easter Sunday each year. And she remembers her first two hats: her cowboy hat, which she wore when her family rode their horses in the Sikeston Rodeo Parade, and an Easter bonnet she wore to church […]
4 hours ago

Collecting: Taylor Ebersohl, Seashells

The Bahamas; Tybee Island, Ga.; St. Augustine, Fla.; Gulf Shores, Ala.; Biloxi, Miss. Taylor Ebersohl, a recent graduate of Perryville High School who now attends Missouri State University to study entertainment management, has collected seashells from her family’s trips from all of these beaches. Some of her unique finds include a shark tooth, fish scales […]
5 hours ago

Collecting: Nancy Sims, Books

For Nancy Sims of Cape Girardeau, reading has always been an intergenerational endeavor. As a child, her grandfather often bought her comic books, which ignited her lifelong love of reading. When her children were younger, she bought a newspaper everyday and they read it together, especially enjoying the comics. Now, Sims has four grandchildren and […]
5 hours ago

meet along the way: Kristi Meyr

This story was first published as “Community Cookbook: Make a beef and broccoli bowl With Kristi Meyr from New Wells” in the January 2025 issue of The Best Years.   Kristi Meyr, born and raised in Jackson, moved to New Wells after marrying Brad Meyr in 2000. The couple, along with their four children, live […]
1 month ago

meet along the way: Charlotte Slinkard

By Alexis Engelhart This story was first published as “Book About Cape Girardeau Garners Attention of the French: Town in Moulins considers naming street after Cape Girardeau’s founder’s father” in the March 2025 issue of The Best Years.   A native of the city of Cape Girardeau and docent at the Cape River Heritage Museum, […]
1 month ago

meet along the way: Brenda Robinson-Echols

This story was first published as “Community Cookbook: Make Chicken Spaghetti with Brenda Robinson-Echols of Sikeston, Mo.” in the April 2025 issue of The Best Years. Brenda Robinson-Echols of Sikeston, Mo., has always had a love for her community. It’s where she was born — delivered in a house down the street by a midwife […]
1 month ago

meet along the way: Simmaly Mahathath

This story was first published as “Community Cookbook: Make spicy beef salad with Simmaly Mahathath of Perryville, Mo.” in the July 2025 issue of The Best Years.  Simmaly Mahathath, her husband Bounliem and their seven children came to Perryville, Mo., in September 1979, through local sponsorship from the Daughters of Charity in Perryville through St. […]
1 month ago

meet along the way: Deborah Drummond

This story was first published in the June 2025 issue of The Best Years as “Community Cookbook: Deborah Drummond of Jamaica makes curry chicken with potatoes and yellow lentil rice.”    Deborah Drummond grew up in Jamaica and learned to cook curry chicken from a young age. The oldest child of three in a single-parent […]
2 months ago

meet along the way: Brenda Newbern

This story was first published as “Faces of Southeast Missouri: Brenda Newbern” in the June 2025 issue of The Best Years. Brenda Newbern, manager of Parks and Recreation Tourism Division for the City of Cape Girardeau, was born and raised in Cape Girardeau. She worked her first job at Cape’s public library and then entered […]
2 months ago