Sustaining connections, seeking office-seekers, grid-iron happenings

While strolling, I wondered whatever happened to Julius La Rosa.

Happy birthday this week to Marilyn Lindy, Sara Stagoski, Carl Estes Jr., Victoria Viall, Sue Campbell, Karen Griffin, Mildred Chapman, Jean Moss, Debbie Cook, Jordan White, Christy Seyer, Tripp Dacus, Laura Halter, Becky Hahn, Michael Nation, Clifford Barlow, Irven Kidd, Dorothy Heuring, Ann Nordin, Dawn Dowd, Jack Wessel, JoAnn Stovall, Brenda Miller, Mindy Hendrix, Trenton Horman, Amy Obermann, Ruth Ann Sadler, Carolyn Crites, David Slinkard, Michael Welter, Sue Traw, Trish Little, Pam Cannon, Alice Uhrhan and Adella Frank.

Happy anniversary to Gary and Betty Proffer, Steve and Anita Montgomery and Darrell and Jeannie Chapman.

Several readers told us they are happy to see the birthdays and anniversaries back in Chatters. One out-of-state subscriber said seeing the names sustains his connection to his old hometown as he thinks about friends he has not seen in years.

Former pop singer Julius La Rosa turned 85 Jan. 2. He was a regular on Arthur Godfrey's variety shows in the early 1950s and a heartthrob for many young girls.

City Hall reminders

City Hall reminds those parties interested in running for City Council that the deadline for filing is Jan. 20. The filing fee is only $1, and there is an opening on each of the four wards. This would be a great opportunity for those of you who would like to be more active in our community.

The City also reminds those who got new puppies for Christmas to drop by City Hall and get them tagged and registered. Tags are only $2.50, and you will need to present documentation that they've had their rabies shots.

Larger cities have an issue with panhandlers, and St. Louis is trying to figure out how to deal with theirs. They are banned in Dallas, but you still see them on busy street corners holding their signs asking for money. It can be perplexing as to what to do; some say giving them money will just buy another bottle of liquor and others maintain that, some are professional panhandlers. We see more women than men giving them money. We were amused with one lady saying that having been to the grocery store, she stopped to give a street person her dinner fixins; spaghetti. She couldn't understand why the person was so ungrateful when she handed over her raw ground beef, dried pasta and cans of tomato sauce. Really?

Season's greetings

If you meant to send out Christmas cards but never got around to it, we have good news for you. New Year's cards are much the thing now as long as you get them in the mail by the end of January. Some people are busy sending out thank you notes, and my sister, Carolyn, had an interesting experience at her neighborhood card shop. A young college girl working during her holiday break was clueless when Carolyn asked her where the "Thank-You" notecards were. Maybe that explains the missing thank you notes from young relatives.

Robotic rally

Chaffee has many reasons to be proud of our young people -- especially CHS Industrial Arts under the direction of teacher Jaron McMurry. Congratulations to robotic teams Furious George, Semper Fi and Girls with Attitude on their success last weekend at the Sixth Annual FIRST Tech Challenge at the Show Me Center. All Chaffee's three teams are among nine advancing to the Rolla Robotics Qualifier March 7.

The celebrating continues in Dallas and for Dallas Cowboy fans everywhere (including Gov. Chris Christie) after last Sunday's win over the Detroit Lions. Although the NFL's one-game suspension of dirtiest player defensive tackle Suh was surprisingly overturned, it seemed to have little effect on the Boys. Their noon game today has them facing the Green Bay Packers in some very cold temperatures at Lambeau Field. Unlike the 1967 Ice Bowl when Dallas lost to the Packers, we're hoping the Boys can endure the cold and win!

Ever wonder about that church bell you hear during the Indianapolis Colt games? My sister, Carolyn, got the answer from her son-in-law in Indianapolis, who says every time the Colts' opponent gets a third down, the bell rings, hopefully dooming the opponent so the ball will be turned over to the Colts.

Special words

Remember to tell those special people in your life you love them -- those three words mean so very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with those missing loved ones and continue to be with our homebound, those in hospitals and nursing homes.

Email your news to darbuck2@airmail.net or leave a message at 573-887-6430 or 214-207-7839.

And then ...

Then there was the normally robotic bad-boy Detroit Lion who turned into a crybaby at his postgame interview.