Cycling for a cause, poems, a new dinosaur exhibit

Type 1 diabetes is a potentially devastating condition for people whose pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin to metabolize sugar. T1 means continual blood sugar testing, and if left untreated or mismanaged, side effects can include loss of kidney function, eyesight issues, numbness and tingling in the extremities, even loss of limbs.

That's why Jackson native Tyler Myers is working to raise funds and awareness of the condition.

Myers was diagnosed when he was 7 years old, and is in his 20th year of fighting it.

"Last year, I got into cycling," he said. "I grew up athletic, but last year was my first time doing anything athletic for several years."

As he rekindled his love of being active, Myers came back into contact with another lost childhood connection: The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, at www.jdrf.org.

Myers said the foundation provides resources for families, educational materials and support for families with a member recently diagnosed. The foundation also advocates for lower insulin costs, for example, he said.

He got back in touch with them at a conference, and, he said, "I just got the bug."

"You hear a lot about Type 2 diabetes, but not as much about Type 1," he said. Type 2 is tough, he said, but with Type 1, "the day to day life is much more dangerous. Everything you eat requires a calculation. If you miscalculate, you could die."

Myers said it bothered him that there wasn't much support in Cape Girardeau for Type 1 diabetics and their families, and it bothered him that he'd let himself be defeated by it.

"My doctor told me that with my numbers, I would experience kidney failure by the time I was 35 or 40 years old," Myers said.

That threw him into a deep depression, he said, and after he accepted the diagnosis, "I decided to live comfortably for now, and get by. That's where I was until I started biking."

It forced him to get back to caring for himself, Myers said.

And, just before the conference where he reconnected with JDRF, he found a fundraiser that he called the perfect thing.

It included a trek through Death Valley in California, and people could sign up with pledges, myers said. "They have several through the fall. I chose Death Valley because it was the toughest," he said.

But then COVID-19 happened. "So I figured I'd do it by myself," Myers said.

Every dollar he raises will go straight to JDRF's research and advocacy, Myers said.

He will ride October 1, with his wife and two friends. In the meantime, he's training, and working to raise money through a pledging system.

He's aiming to raise $7,563 -- that's how many days he's been diabetic.

"I think it's achievable," he said. "It's a huge goal but let's go for it."

More info: www.pledgeit.org/beanridge

Hamblin work included

Courtesy of amazon.com

Robert Hamblin, retired professor of literature at Southeast Missouri State University, is one of 47 poets whose work is showcased in "Mississippi Poets: A Literary Guide," compiled and edited by Catharine Savage Brosman, professor emerita of French at Tulane University, and forthcoming from University Press of Mississippi.

Release date is Aug. 25, and it is available for preorder on Amazon.

USO Show acts wanted

Stars and Stripes Museum in Bloomfield, Missouri, is looking for local talent acts to be featured in an upcoming USO-style variety show Oct. 3.

Singers, bands, comedians, ensembles, etc. are welcome.

More info: (573) 568-2055 or contact event coordinator Morgan Wilkinson at morganwilkinson18@outlook.com.

New exhibit

Part of the new exhibit on dinosaur nesting at the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History is shown in this undated photograph.Retrieved from Facebook

The Bollinger County Museum of Natural History at 209 Mayfield Drive in Marble Hill, Missouri, has a new exhibit: dinosaur nesting.

Museum hours: noon to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for those age 17 and under.

More info: www.bcmnh.org, (573) 238-1174