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August 2014Vol 1, Issue 3

Celebrating the Coolest Stuff in Northwest Missouri

Mindi L. Phillips, Editor

As the summer passes by, I have found myself busier and busier. I keep meaning to visit friends and attend special events. But as the days go by, I am still too busy to get there and missing yet another cool event. All but one, that is...

On July 5th, I drove to Albany, the town where I began Kinder-garten and eventually graduated from high school. The town square was my destination, and live music was what I sought.

Two years ago I made the trip to soak in the sounds of Asleep at the Wheel, a band which I came to love back in the day when Hee Haw was the biggest event of my Saturday evenings growing up on the farm. I was impressed with the concert that came together in the middle of the street, right there in the town square.

Last year, I showed up again, more for the 20-year class reunion than for the band that headlined. I saw a few folks I knew, and as I had the year before, left a little more glad I returned to Albany, even if for only one evening under the stars.

This year, I traveled yet again to see what the Chamber of Com-merce had accomplished, this time a bit more excited, to see my old favorite. They had somehow rustled up Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and I was eager to get there for the big show. Now, it was not the exact same set-up. I believe the stage was angled a bit to keep the sun from the performers’ eyes. And the seating had been changed to ac-commodate this. Despite the ample seating, I found myself dangling on the edge of the courtyard wall, enjoying every minute of opener Whiskey Jim. I relished old favorites “Mr. Bojangles” and “Fishin’ in the Dark” from NGDB. And I even hung around to hear a few from Samantha Fish as she closed out the evening.

As much as I thought I had gone there to see my beloved Dirt Band, I realized that the crowd was the real treat. Not the people I knew, or - well, not completely, anyway. I mean, I enjoy bumping into old classmates and seeing my art teacher, and math teacher - and hey, my second and sixth grade teacher, well she was there, too! And that guy from...But no, that’s not it! It was the children dancing near the cannon on the courthouse lawn. It was the young couples mixing it up with the old. It was all generations grooving to the same music. It was seeing faces from nearby and a few towns away and even a hundred miles or more. They all came together to enjoy a hot summer night in a small town. And it was a beautiful thing.

Mindi

From the Desk of Joe Northwest2

Registered Representative, Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC30801 Agoura Road, Bldg 1, Agoura Hills, CA 91301-2054, Tel 818.584.0200

Member FINRA & SIPC

Sandra J. YoungsInsurance and Financial Services Agent

Sandra J. Youngs Agency, LLC700 E. US Hwy 136 • Albany, MO 64402Ph.: 660-726-3007 • Fax: 660-726-3027

Cell: 660-726-8100syoungs@farmersagent.com

History of Chocolate Program at Andrew County Museum on August 30th

On Saturday, August 30, at 2pm at the Andrew County Museum, cu-rator Melissa Swindell will present a program on Chocolate Before the Candy Bar. Long before Americans delighted in enjoying a variety of con-fections, they consumed chocolate in other ways. Swindell’s interest in foodways in colonial America and the Early Republic grew out of her work while on a fellowship at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution. The Andrew County Museum is located at 202 East Duncan Drive in Savannah. For more information, call (816) 324-4720. Both the chocolate program and mu-seum admission are free to the public on that Saturday.

3Calling All Chocoholics

Contact Regular Joe Northwest816-596-0701

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Union Star, MO 64494

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BETHANY8/30 Chris Cagle w/Madd Hoss Jackson 7:30pm (NWMO Fairgrounds) (see pg 12)CLARKSDALESundays 2pm Clarksdale Opry

KING CITYSat 8/16 Rock N Country Variety Show (Tri County Visitors Center)

MARYVILLE8/23 The Boulevard, 7pm (Palms)

Live Music Across NWMO4

Your band or venue not listed? Contact us to get on the live music schedule! Too late for print? We’ll get it on our online calendar! Email submissions to

northwest@regularjoepaper.com

Devyn Porter

As we are growing up, there are things we don’t know, things we thought we knew, and things we didn’t even come close to wondering. We all wanted to grow up, and we wanted it now. But a part of growing up and getting older that I don’t think any of us really thought through, was the fact that most of us would end up having children. Children not only change us for the better, they show us a lot of the things “we didn’t even come close to wondering.”

When I was growing up, I wanted to be an artist. Little did I know, on the inside, I was a regular Picasso. I wanted to be a nurse, and I never thought I’d be an astronaut. I never expected to also become a lawyer, a chef, a banker, or even a chauffer. I didn’t ever believe that there would be anyone I could care for more than myself, and I cer-tainly did not plan on sharing my macaroni and cheese. Kids do weird things to us as people, and all the while we are telling them to not talk to strangers when we are becoming strangers ourselves.

Do not get me wrong, this is most definitely not a bad thing. Most of the time, it is actually exactly what we need. Before we create our fam-ily, we usually settle into a routine doing things for ourselves, and pos-sibly for our family or for a significant other, and promise ourselves that we will make it to yoga next week because whatever that was Grandma needed from the grocery store is way more important! Next week rolls around and guess what, you’re not there, and something else came up.

Fast forward five years; you have a toddler! Who would have thought? Congratulations. By the way, I missed you at yoga five years ago, and you haven’t came back since. This is the part where we need to remember that while we are running on field trips and taking last minute trips to Wal-Mart for that science fair project that is due tomor-row, relieving some stress from our lives is also important. All too of-ten, parents overwhelm themselves, letting the stress build up and then wear themselves out. Unable to finish that project without you or get the correct answer to that last math problem, children will begin to feel second best. This happens to everyone. Simple solutions and schedul-ing time once a week or so for yourself to make that yoga class or to take a nice jog are great ways to help loosen the tension.

Children create in us this will to do everything we possibly can to help them succeed. They show us how caring we actually are, how great we are at baking (Thanks, Grandma!), how we are able to solve playground scuffles, and make their boo-boos better with a kiss. But they are also good at making us forget who we really are.

I like to relax by taking walks with my kids and letting my old-est pick flowers along the walkway. Sometimes we take bike rides, and sometimes we just chase each other around and play tag. There are ways to incorporate them into your relaxing period and make it a

healthy bonding and growth time for the both of you. If you’re a fam-ily person, things to incorporate family time into this are going on trips together to places such as the zoo, a theme park, or just taking a family weekend camping trip at Soggy Bottom Camp grounds in Cameron, MO. Camping seems like a great way to relax and share time with the family since it’s outdoors! If there are teens going on the trip, make them leave the cell phones at home and vow to only use yours in case of an emergency. Electronics are working their way in between simple family tasks and deteriorating our communication skills. In just a few short years, they will look back on this trip with fondness and be thank-ful that the cell phone was banned.

Scheduling events ahead of time will also reduce the stress and ten-sion once that date or big event arrives. This weekend set a goal to do something simple with your family or to do some soul searching on your own!

5The Strange-rs

Rich Piper

That there is change is the only thing that does not change. Or so it would seem as we look about during our daily life, or reflect upon the days past of our life, we often notice a change or two.

With August, many of us will think ahead to changes that are coming; Labor Day weekend, “real” football to soon appear on a nearby TV, crops being harvested, the last of the garden’s summer produce to be enjoyed, school starting for the kids, eventual cooler weather with win-dows up and AC-based electric bills down, the colorful array of fall leaves, more political ads on TV (I didn’t say they were all good changes we would be thinking of), to suggest only a few changes on the near horizon.

Having just recently gone through a total knee replacement, I have, in the midst of the temporary (they keep telling me, over and over again, that it is just temporary), pain, along with the moderately useful pain medicine and the knowingly useful physical therapy and exercise, just how personally I am experiencing change.

Now, by this I do not simply mean change in that eventually I will have a far more functional knee, with less daily pain and greater use than ar-thritis and other causes had come to cause limita-tions within my life. Instead, it is a lifetime view of change that has captured my attention.

When I was a child, and even in my teenage years, those people who were old – you know, those folks who were over thirty – had a lot of health issues. This included problems, as I re-call often hearing about, with those “bad knees.” And the most ancient, at least from the perspec-tive of that young, naïve mindset when in my childhood, those folks in their late fifties and ear-ly sixties, were walking around bent up, stooped over, and leaning on canes.

Now, I, being hopefully optimistic, presume that I have gained some wisdom, understand-ing, compassion, and sensitivity along the years that I have lived. In short, to put it in honest yet

modernly inappropriate fashion by using the “S” word, I truly do hope that I have changed and that I am not as stupid as I was when I was a kid.

Yet, despite whatever wisdom and thinking ability I might have developed through the stag-es of life I have moved through to be now what I once thought of as one of the really ancient, it simply did not dawn on me what a big change is really involved in connection with my total knee replacement.

This type of surgical procedure, which is likely to provide me with a right knee better than I have had for the past twenty years, and which is likely to last for at least the next thirty years, simply was not available to folks until about the time I graduated from high school. Prior to the early 1970’s, this was not an available option for folks.

Even within that time period, things have changed dramatically. Being more serious now, I honestly do remember folks in the 80’s that faced long periods of rehabilitation after knee replacement. Only, unlike me, it isn’t getting out of the hospital the second day after surgery, doing three sets of exercises a day at home, and within two weeks driving (myself) to the physi-cal therapist three times a week. Back then, even for folks in very good health, it often meant a longer period in the hospital followed by an even longer period in the rehabilitation unit or a nursing home setting to get enough physical therapy to be able gain the physical ability to go home, in which physical thera-py would continue.

What a significant, both personal and beyond, change. And just how fortunate am I to be a beneficiary of that change? Very fortunate, as I have now come to more robustly realize!

Yes, change happens. But do we take time to appreciate that some of that change hap-pens because of us. Because of our intentional, creative, often

compassionate, actions we take to utilize our abilities.

I often remark that humans are the only spe-cies on Earth that actively, intentionally interfere with Natural Selection – the survival of the fit-test. There are no other living creatures present on Earth that make pieces of metal and plastic to put into a knee to enable it to function better. Or provide for blood transfusions, CPR, pacemak-ers, bi-pass surgery, and organ transplants… Not that I am looking forward to being the recipient of any of those, but, well you get the idea.

Change is not just something that happens. Sometimes we, individually and collectively, make the changes happen. And often, it is a good thing. Something that benefits us individu-ally; or benefits someone we love or care about.

Perhaps you’ll join me; but I for one, am go-ing to try better to notice, and appreciate, those types of changes. At least it will give me some-thing to think about as I now go exercise this wonderful new knee I have.

Rich has spent most of his adult life living and/or working in small, rural communities in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri, including sev-eral long stretches in Northwest Missouri. Rich chooses to spend most of his weekday, daytime hours teaching students science, and other things, in Union Star. He also chooses to spend his Sundays, and some other occasional time, with the good folks in Cainsville. You can reach Rich at RichPiper@LifePraise.org with com-ments.

6 Do You Notice the Change?

The Worth County Fire Auxiliary is hosting its 6th Annual Worth County Smoke Off on August 8 and 9 in Grant City, MO. The week-end long BBQ event is the Auxiliary’s main fundraiser of the year. All proceeds that are raised at the Smoke Off go back into Worth County. The Auxiliary is able to maintain a fire victim’s fund, in which funds are released to residents of Worth County who fall vic-tim to structure or farm related fires. The Worth County Fire Auxil-iary is able to provide hydration to the Worth County Fire Protection District during the time of fire response and also donate back to the fire department for equipment purchases. The Worth County Smoke Off is celebrating its 6th year, and the Auxiliary is in hopes that this year will bring its biggest turn out.

Events begin Friday evening on the square in Grant City. The Fire Auxiliary’s hickory smoked pulled pork dinner kicks of the weekend at 6:00pm. On the main stage at 6:30pm will begin the baby show and Little Mr. and Miss Smoke Off. The Auxiliary’s an-nual ‘Treasure Auction’ is scheduled to start after the little ones at 7:00pm. A street dance will wrap up the evening with music and karaoke provided by Club Dub DJ.

The Auxiliary will be up bright and early Saturday morning pre-paring breakfast for the community. On the menu are biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage, juice and coffee. Breakfast will start at 7:00am and when it’s gone, it’s gone! The volunteer firemen of the Worth County Fire Protection District will again be hosting Fire Department Waterfights in which any area departments can come to compete against each other and show off their skills. This live action gets started at 10:30am on the south side of the square.

New this year and something that the Auxiliary is very excited about is the KIDS ZONE. This area is made possible by Grant City’s Great Western Bank. The KIDS ZONE will have two inflatables for jumping, tattoos, face painting, a tug of war tournament, frog jump, chuck a duck, and more! Photos by Stevie will have a ‘Smokin’ Hot’ photo booth and will have photo packages available for purchase. Fire Safety goodie bags and free hot dogs will be given out for the kiddos at noon.

If inflatables and tattoos don’t interest you, a Shine & Show Car Display will be starting up on the north side of the square at noon. The Auxiliary has sent an open invitation to any motorcycle, car, or truck enthusiast to get their new or classic rigs shined up and show them off. While making your way around the courtyard, check out the booths at the vendor fair. There will be everything from bait and tackle to crafts, chocolates, Thirty-one, Scentsy, and more.

While everyone is having fun throughout the day, the BBQ teams

are working hard getting their meat ready for judging (see cover pho-to). The Auxiliary invites everyone to Grant City to come make their way through the team sites, taste the BBQ, and vote for their favor-ite. The People’s Choice tasting begins at 4pm. Tickets for adults are $10, and for kids 10 and under are $5. Trophies, ribbons, prizes, and bragging rights will be awarded at 5pm.

The Worth County Smoke Off has something for everyone to en-joy, while at the same time giving back to a very important cause. The Auxiliary invites everyone to come out and enjoy the weekend.

76th Annual Worth County Smoke Off

ALBANYSat 8/2 Hundley-Whaley Sweet Corn Tasting 6pmSat 8/9 Northwest Medical Center Golf TourneyFri 8/15 Albany Tractor Pull 6:30pm (Tractor Pull Arena)

BETHANY8/28-9/1 98th Annual Northwest Missouri State FairFri 8/29 Bethany Tractor Pull 6:30pm (Fairgrounds)

CLYDE/CONCEPTION/CONCEPTION JCT8/8-8/9 Community Garage Sales 5-8pm, 8-noon

FAIRFAX8/15-8/17 Fairfax Fair

GRANT CITYFri 8/1 Grant City Tractor Pull 6:30pm (Fairgrounds)Sun 8/3 American Legion Fundraiser 11-2 (The Eatery)8/8-8/9 Worth County Smoke Off (see pg 7)

KING CITY8/1-8/2 Coed Softball TourneySat 8/9 Back to KC Night - vendors, bounce house 5-10pmSat 8/9 Community Betterment 2k/5k Walk/Run

MARYVILLESat 8/2 MAC 8th Annual Mini Triathlon (Aquatic Center)

ROCK PORT8/1-8/2 Atchison County Fair (Fairgrounds)Sat 8/9 NWMO Sportsman Club Triathlon (Country Club)Fri 8/15 Night Golf (Country Club)Sat 8/23 FFA Fish Fry (Rock Port School)

SAVANNAH8/1-8/2 UMC Annual Garage Sale & Bake SaleSat 8/30 History of Chocolate 2pm (Andrew Co Museum)

STANBERRYSun 8/3 St Peter’s Church Carnival 5-10pmSat 8/9 Northwest Medical Center Benefit Golf Tourney

TARKIOSat 8/16 Dave Palmeiro Benefit (Golf Course)8/22-8/23 CH-F Benefit (Golf Course)

UNION STARFri 8/15 FFA BBQ 4:30pm (Union Star School)

ONGOING EVENTSKing City Farmer’s Market - Wed 3-7pm, Sat 8-12noon King City Senior Center: Potluck Dinner 3rd Wednesday Pitch Tournament Last Monday Cards Daily

Events & Festivals across NWMO8

Danny R. PhillipsRegular Joe Music Guy

Bethany, Missouri is not what you would call a traditional hotbed for musical activity. The rock band Generation of the Forgotten is out to change that.

Formed in the summer of 2013, Genera-tion of the Forgotten (Patrick McGuire, Au-gust Pittsenbarger, Wade Oliver, and Richard Cosky) had all been in other bands before, but as singer McGuire told the Regular Joe Northwest Edition, “Nothing really gelled before now. It’s tough around here to find people that are on the same page musical-ly, to form a band with and that you can be friends with. We have that with our band, it just works.” Drawing from influences that include a love of 1990’s Alternative (Nirvana, Tool, Stone Temple Pilots), post grunge (Seether, Shinedown, Staind), metal (Mastodon, Slipknot, Shadows Fall), and the late Randy “Macho Man” Savage, G.O.T.F. have built a sound that is heavy yet melodic, rough around the edges, in-your-face rock ‘n roll. You will have your chance to see it first hand on August 16th when the band takes the stage at St. Joseph’s Café Acoustic with area band Until the World Ends.

Regular Joe Northwest Edition spoke with lead vocalist Patrick McGuire about the band, his first concert (Stone Temple Pilots with cowpunk legends The Meat Puppets), and how Shawn Morgan of Seether has let him down. “Seether used to be one of my favorite bands. I really like Shawn Morgan ,but the new record is horrible. Everything’s gotta be “Hollywood’ed up; everything’s gotta have that sparkle. It becomes this big, fake spectacle. You can’t even tell what’s going on half the time. Is that a piano? Is it a guitar? What’s going on? What happened to bands just playing their songs?” With Gen-eration of the Forgotten’s ep Skin’N Needles, it’s clear what’s going on: a band that isn’t

afraid to give it all they have, a band unafraid to show their influences yet be their own ani-mal, a band who knows 100% who they are and are proud of it.

With McGuire’s affinity for bands like Seether, Shinedown, and Five Finger Death Punch, each considered “bro metal” or worse yet “butt rock,” how does he keep his band from falling into the same category, the same trap? “We’re definitely not a butt rock band in any way, shape, or form. I think bands that get popular are accused of ‘selling out’ or ‘cashing in.’ It’s just people hating.” Nir-

vana was and is a big part of McGuire’s life as well, though he never experienced the full impact of the band’s original explosion onto the scene. “I swear I only got to listen to the guy (Kurt Cobain) for a year before he died. It’s weird what some people consider great. Really, if Bleach came out today would peo-ple like it? Would it be considered great? Some people think Miley Cyrus is good, some think Nickel-back are great. Good or great is subjective. Who determines what is good or great?”

Well, the listener

decides what is good or great. The critic, whose job it is to literally tell you if a work is good or not, to cast their opinion upon some-thing, decides if it is good or not. Ultimately, you decide what is good, you decide to press play on a cd or not, you decide by making an effort to leave your house, driving to the venue, and seeing the band.

Go to the Café Acoustic in St. Joseph, Missouri, on August 16th and decide if Gen-eration of the Forgotten is good or not, go experience them, and form an opinion for yourself. Go to their ReverbNation page and give them a listen. Show bands of the re-gion that there is a place for the ones playing original music. That St. Joseph, Maryville, and all the little towns in between love and support music. Show Generation of the For-gotten and all other bands brave enough to walk out onstage to bare their souls that they will not be forgotten.

Generation of the Forgotten w/ Until the World Ends, August 16th, 9pm, Café Acous-tic, 2605 Fredrick Avenue, St. Joseph, MO

Listen to Danny Phillips’ free form pod-cast “Don’t Have a Clue” the second Satur-day of every month at 4pm on www.stjoseph-musicfoundation.org radio.

Joe Music -9Generation of the Forgotten

10 Joe Classifieds

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816-596-0701 or northwest@regularjoepaper.com

WANTED: Aspiring writers to submit articles of general interest or Northwest Missouri content. Please contact us at northwest@regularjoepaper.com for more details. Photos are also welcome.

From page 13: Pete Townsend

A mysterious animal reported to appear in Missouri is Momo, short for “Missouri

monster.” Also known as swamp ape, it has a large, pumpkin-shaped

head, furry body, & hair covering the eyes

& is alleged to eat dead dogs (maybe chupacabras, too?)

and emit a foul odor.

Jay KernerRegular Joe Founder

You have to pity poor John Crapper. Here he goes and gives the world the first flush toi-let and both his first and last names become forever linked with scatological humor.

As unfair as this seems, I’d like to suggest a similar fate for Robert Noyce, the inventor of the micro-chip. You know, those tiny wa-fer-thin electronic components that operate everything around us. Complex functions that used to require transformers, transis-tors, resistors and who knows what-all, are now carried out by a little deal smaller than a postage stamp.

Technology, originally created to enable space exploration, has now so de-valued it-self, that disposable versions are embedded in greeting cards. A cute picture and a heart-felt message are no longer enough. Now you’re not sending the very best unless your card opens to eight seconds of “Bad to the Bone,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” or some other rock ditty.

But if you really want an example of the proliferation of these insidious devices, spend some time with small children and their toys.

Take stuffed animals. From teddy bears to gingham dogs and calico cats, a little cloth, some stuffing, and a couple of button-eyes used to be the standard. Not any more, boy! Today, everything talks!

The stick horse whinnies. The rub-ber duck quacks. Even a simple rattle isn’t simple anymore. Instead of a hollow handle filled with beads, we’re now talking about a fully integrated shaking system, with multi-colored LED lights, 16 different voice op-tions, and 99 assorted rhythms programmed in.

Child care providers from earlier genera-

tions were forced to read story books. Now the books read themselves to you. A coloring book and a box of crayons provided hours of activity and promoted artistic expression. Today’s digital versions color themselves when you pass the light wand over them. No mess, and heck, you can’t go outside the lines, even if you want to. Hit send and au-tomatically distribute the finished product to the refrigerator art app on grandma and grandpa’s smart phones.

The toybox speaks several languages. There has to be a switch somewhere, but ap-parently only the baby knows where it is. “Hola,” it says when you turn on the light. Or sometimes, “Bonjour!”

The baby laptop senses my presence and starts it’s loop of classical (no royalties to pay) tunes. “Frere Jacques” seems to be a popular choice. Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping, brother John, brother John?

Heck no! Nobody’s sleeping with all this racket!

The sensor in the plastic snail picks up the light and sound from the activity and learning desk. Which sets off the Little Prin-cess keyboard. Pretty soon they’re all going at once, egging each other on.

“Camptown Races” overlaid with “Jim-my Crack Corn” and a generous helping of “She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mount’in!” It’s an aural onslaught.

And it’s not just the toys. Kids’ tooth-brushes talk and play music. So do their potty chairs.

I’m sorry, but I guess I’m just an old fo-gey. I worry about this trend. Why do you need a musical potty? I fear for future gener-ations who won’t be able to perform without it. I picture a row of dudes at the urinal, all humming variations of Polly Wolly Doodle before they can do their business.

Noyce Pollution 11

Bethany, MissouriAugust 28th- September 1st

It is fair time again! For nearly a cen-tury, the Northwest Missouri State Fair has been a summer rite of passage for adults and kids alike. Families load up the car and head to Bethany, Missouri, to ride rides, eat too much cotton candy, and win prizes at the

fair’s midway. Kids run with their friends, burn off energy, and best one another in ev-erything from horseshoes to hot dog eating.

However, the Northwest Missouri State Fair is not only for the kids. It is also a time for adults to decompress from the work-week, for parents to talk with their friends, compare notes on the hijinks of their kids, eat great food, and be part of their commu-nity.

The Northwest Missouri State Fair or-ganizers are known for bringing quality en-tertainment to Bethany for all to enjoy. In the past, such names as Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Gary Allan, Night Ranger, Hank Williams Jr., Dustin Lynch, and many others have graced the grandstand.

This year’s entertainment will be Madd Hoss Jackson and country star Chris Cagle. Cagle is best known for the hits “Laredo,” “I

Breathe In, I Breathe Out,” “Country by the Grace of God,” “My Love Goes On and On,” “What Kinda Gone,” and “What a Beautiful Day.”

Now, if music is not your thing, there is plenty to do at the Fair. Aside from rides and games, there are great food, a tractor pull, the FMX Dirtbike Daredevils motor-cycle stunt show, a demolition derby, live-stock shows, car races, magician Keith Leff, a gospel music concert, a Little Miss and Mr. Contest, boys and girls baby shows, a “Super Farmer” show, youth rodeo, and much more to fill your days and nights with enjoyment.

So, starting on Thursday August 28th, bring your family and friends to Bethany for the Northwest Missouri State Fair, have great fun, and keep the tradition alive.

For more information on events and tick-ets visit www.nwmostatefair.com.

12 98th Annual NW Missouri State Fair

Danny R. PhillipsRegular Joe Music Guy

It is truly the end of an era. The last surviving original member of punk rock archetypes The Ramones has died. Tommy Ramone (born Tommy Erdelyi) died on July 11 at the age of 65 after battling bile duct cancer.

I first heard The Ramones the same way I would hear many of the bands that would, in one way or another, shape my life and view of the world: a friend in history class gave me a dubbed TDK cassette of the Ramones debut. Many say greatness lies within that record but for me it took a couple more. Rocket to Rus-sia, in the first few notes of “Cretin Hop,” is the one that hooked me for life. Driven like a stolen hot rod, The Ramones were a modern wonder: primal sound, lack of “technical musicianship,” geeky atypical singer, speed of light guitar. As a band, they contradicted everything that 1970’s rock embodied. No synthesizer solos, no overly long drum parts, no bloated, self-indulgent, cocaine-fueled records (see Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk or anything from Yes or The Alan Parsons Project for a tor-turous example). In my opinion, the 70’s are mostly a boring musical wasteland until the “bruddahs from Queens” came along to slap the world back to reality.

Taking their love of 1960’s girl group pop like that of The Shangri-Las, The Crystals and The Ronettes (most notably on “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”), comic books, horror movies, and all things schlock, Rocket to Russia, on the surface, is an album for glue sniffing teenage burnouts. However, therein lies the genius. They are all catchy tunes, furious and contagious, deeper than what is on the surface, and refusing to leave your head for days. The Ra-mones were kings of taking the everyday, normal person on the street and giving him or her voice in a time and society that far too often overlooked or blatantly ignored the common man.

Blowing out of the gate with “Cretin Hop” and going into my personal favorite “Rockaway Beach,” Rocket to Russia is nothing less than The Beach Boys brand pop on industrial grade metham-phetamines; fast yet melodic, fierce with a hidden beauty. “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” is the story of a girl going to do her own thing, “We’re a Happy Family” documents the collapse of the nuclear family, and covers of Bobby Freeman’s “Do You Wanna Dance?” and The Trashmen’s garage classic “Surfin’ Bird” further show the band’s love of 50’s and 60’s pop music.

The enduring greatness and legacy of The Ramones was their ability to create a music that sounded like anyone could play it, but

no one could play as well as they did. They created the game, were the grand masters, and anyone that stepped up to the challenge of taking them on was only ever playing for second.

I’m not old enough to have seen the original lineup in all their nerd king glory ,but I did catch them on an oppressively hot Midwestern summer day in 1996 at Lollapalooza. It is something I will never forget. Standing on a hill away from the crowd, I saw 50,000-plus people bounc-ing in unison, the crowd inhaling and ex-haling as one, all in awe of the four guys on stage wearing black leather jackets, heat be damned.

Rest in Peace, Tommy, Joey, Dee Dee, and Johnny. Go have a beer at Heaven’s Gate Canteen and catch up at the reunion. Now, I do believe it is time to play a re-

cord. “1,2,3,4!”

Danny Phillips’ music and pop culture musings regularly appear in online and print publications including Missouri Life Magazine, Blurt Magazine, Deli Magazine, Popshifter, and The Regular Joe. Listen to his free form podcast “Don’t Have a Clue” the second Sat-urday of every month at 4pm on www.stjosephmusicfoundation.org radio.

From The Shelf: The Ramones’ Rocket to Russia 13

TRIVIA: Which rock legend sings with the Ramones on “Acid Eaters”?See page 10 for the answer!

Upward Bound Celebrates 10 Graduates, Achievements

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Upward Bound pro-

gram at Northwest Missouri State University has helped hundreds of students realize their goals of attending college and achieving success during the last 28 years. Last week, 10 more students celebrated their graduation from the program.

The resources students gain through their par-ticipation in Upward Bound allows them to be ahead of their peers in planning for their postsecondary futures. They also work ahead on their high school academics and further their leadership abilities.

Jackie Cochenour, assistant director and learn-ing services coordinator for Upward Bound, looks at the graduation as a proud moment to reflect on how the high school seniors developed as students and individuals throughout their participation in the program.

“They have worked hard to get to where they are today, and I look forward to hearing about even more successes in the coming years as they transition into their higher education careers,” Cochenour said.

Additionally, Upward Bound graduate Madison Driskell received the TRiO Achievement Scholar-ship. Financial support of the scholarship is given by the Owens Family Scholarship through the North-west’s Office of Financial Assistance.

Upward Bound, a federally funded education program created by the Higher Education Act of 1965, got its start at Northwest in 1987. The pro-gram annually serves 70 high school students from eight high schools in northwest Missouri: King City, Maryville, Nodaway-Holt, Northeast Nodaway, Rock Port, Stanberry, Tarkio and West Nodaway. Upward Bound is open to students who have com-

pleted their freshman year of high school up to re-cent high school graduates.

This year’s Upward Bound graduates have made plans to begin their higher education in the fall at four different colleges. Six of the 10 graduates will continue their college education at Northwest.

For more information about the Upward Bound program at Northwest, click here. The graduating members of Upward Bound and their college plans are as listed below.

· Nicole Blea, from Tarkio High School, plans to major in Liberal Arts and Sciences at Northwest.

· Ethan Calfee, from Maryville High School, plans to major in pre-engineering at Northwest.

· Madison Driskell, from Maryville High School, plans to major in elementary education at Northwest.

· Shelby Gilliland, from Tarkio High School, plans to major in pre-nursing at Northwest.

· Kabrina McClellan, from West Nodaway High School, plans to major in precision agriculture at North Central Missouri College.

· Maggie Schmidt, from Maryville High School, plans to major in broadcasting at North Central Mis-souri College.

· Lydia Rauch, from Maryville High School, plans to major in cinema at Missouri Western State Uni-versity.

· Kimberly Sternberg, from the Missouri Academy

of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, plans to double major in American sign language with an emphasis on English interpretation and international and global studies with a field specialization in Eu-ropean studies at Rochester Institute of Technology.

· Devin Vinzant, from Maryville High School, plans to major in computer science at Northwest.

· Shea Zion, from Maryville High School, plans to major in computer science at Northwest.

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Wesley Center sponsoring annual Shot in the Dark Golf Tournament

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Wesley Student Cen-ter at Northwest Missouri State University will host its 12th Annual Shot in the Dark Golf Tournament to benefit the Wesley Foundation Friday, Aug. 15.

The tournament at Mozingo Lake Golf Course tees off with a shotgun start at 6 p.m. The first nine holes are a two-person scramble; the second nine holes are a two-person alternate “shot in the dark.” The tournament also will feature a $10,000 hole-in-one prize and a 50/50 putting challenge.

Registration and a light dinner are 5 to 5:45 p.m. A dessert buffet is available after the first nine holes of golf.

Entry fee is $75 per player, which includes green fees, a cart, food, prizes and a glow-in-the-dark golf ball for each team.

The deadline to register is Sunday, Aug. 10. Registration is limited to 36 teams.

To register or become a sponsor, contact Don Ehlers, Wesley Foundation co-director, at wesley@nwmissouri.edu or 816.341.2248, or Dr. Jenni Wall, Wesley Foundation board member, at 660.853.9659.

The Wesley Student Center serves the campus community through its midweek worship, small group studies and support opportunities for any stu-dent who seeks involvement. Proceeds from the golf tournament are used to fund programming, including an internship that is designed to help students de-velop leadership qualities in collaboration with rural churches.

14-Joe Northwest

MUGSHOTS

We caught these folks out and about in Northwest Missouri. If you recognize any of these people, let ‘em know you saw their mugs in The Regular Joe.

Here’s to the healthiest county in Missouri! St. Francis Hospital & Health Services

would like to congratulate our own Nodaway County for being named the healthiest county

of all 115 Missouri counties in the recent annual County Health Rankings.The rankings were

released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin

Population Health Institute. These rankings measure the overall health of a county, as well

as how well they are doing on 29 factors that influence health, including

smoking, diet, and access to care.

This achievement powerfully demonstrates our community’s

commitment to healthcare excellence and St. Francis Hospital & Health

Services is proud to play a strategic role in the delivery of quality

healthcare to the people of Nodaway County.

If your team fInIshed In 1st Place,you’d be Proud, too.

2014

Co

unty HealtH Ranking

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660-562-2600 • www.stfrancismaryville.com • 2016 South Main Street • Maryville, MO 64468