Archives of Community

meet along the way: Georganne Syler

By Jasmine Jones  This story was first published in the May 2022 issue of “The Best Years.” Georganne Syler has attended the First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau her entire life and currently serves as an elder. Decades ago, her mother, Dorothy Penzel, was one of the first female deacons and elders at the church.  […]
3 years ago

meet along the way: Mary Koeberl Rechenberg

By Mary Koeberl Rechenberg This story was first published in the January 2021 issue of “The Best Years (TBY).” Reading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder at the age of nine gave me reason to believe my life was pretty special. After all, she wrote about many things I could relate to from my own […]
3 years ago

meet along the way: Mildred Wilson

By Kristin Thomas This story was first published in the March 2021 issue of “The Best Years (TBY).” Mildred Wilson of Sikeston, Mo., has always enjoyed physical challenges and competitions. Throughout the past three years, she has competed in a Tough Mudder and a Conquer the Gauntlet race. She knows what it takes to train, […]
3 years ago

meet along the way: Autumn Abernathy

This story first appeared in the May 2021 issue of “The Best Years (TBY).” Autumn Abernathy of Jackson was experiencing abnormal headaches, numbness and tingling, and none of the doctors she saw about it could tell her why. Her counselor  suggested she take up an activity she loved to do as a child. Abernathy liked […]
3 years ago

meet along the way: Melissa Scholes Young

This story was first published as “Examining Roots: Novel ‘The Hive’ set in Cape Girardeau” in the March 2022 issue of “TBY.” How did the recession in 2008 lead to the events and effects of the 2016 and 2020 elections? That’s the question Melissa Scholes Young set out to explore while writing “The Hive,” a […]
3 years ago

Spring 2022, “femininity:” from the editor

A four-year-old girl was running in circles, and her younger brother was following her. She was laughing, delighted, having so much fun; he was having fun, too, but kept falling down. “Slow down, you’re making your brother fall,” a nearby adult said to the girl. It’s an event I witnessed a few months ago. The […]
3 years ago

Cooking on Belief: Freelance chef Pat Buck, Jr. pursues passion for food

By Jasmine Jones Freelance chef Pat Buck, Jr.’s first step to cooking is “getting really hungry.” His second step is to gather the ingredients. Buck hates wasting food, so he makes an effort to avoid frequent runs to the grocery store. By keeping his “staples” on hand — onion, garlic, meat, potatoes, beans, Asian noodles, […]
3 years ago

meet the model: Parker Bond

Tell us about …   something you love to do: I love to play music. It’s the first thing I can remember truly loving. your favorite place in the world: My favorite place is a tough one, but I think it’s somewhere like my Pawpaw’s shop growing up. Really, any place I can spend quality […]
3 years ago

meet the model: Kara Filbeck

Tell us about …   something you love to do: I love to dip dark chocolate Oreos into hot Vietnamese coffee. your favorite place in the world: My favorite place in the world is lying on the bed of a truck, driving through the mountains near Chiang Mai where I grew up. one of your […]
3 years ago

meet along the way: Marilyn Morgan

By Lauren Evans This story was first published in the January 2022 issue of “The Best Years (TBY)” as “Stepping Out in Faith: Local writing workshop series to help people tell their story.” When Marilyn Morgan saw the impact the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent isolation had on her community in 2020, she knew she […]
3 years ago