Yearly Archives: 2020

9 12, 2020

Accessible Equipment Installed at Pomme Creek

2020-12-09T09:47:43-06:00December 9th, 2020|Latest News|

Accessible fitness equipment was recently installed along the Pomme Creek Park walking trail.

Funding for the new equipment was provided through a grant awarded to the City of Arnold by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The $15,000 grant was awarded to help make Arnold City Parks more accessible for seniors and those with disabilities.

The AARP awards grants to “age-friendly communities” for initiatives in their communities. In 2019, Arnold was named an age-friendly city. Arnold is the first city in the state of Missouri to be designated an “Age-Friendly Community” by the AARP.

The AARP grant supports the City’s efforts to fulfill the “Age-Friendly Community Network’s” mission for safe, interactive, and accessible venues that foster physical, mental, and social wellness. The equipment provides additional fitness options along with the park’s roughly 5 miles of walking trails, ponds, and natural environment.

Each station provides unique elements of a physical fitness routine, including:

  • Hand Bike, Accessible
    Function: Strengthens arm and shoulder muscles.
  • Pendulum Machine
    Function: Strengthens lower back, abdominals and waist muscles.
  • Stair Climber
    Function: Strengthens quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, abdominals, and forearms.
  • Rowing Machine
    Function: Strengthens upper back, lower back, shoulders, biceps, and forearms.
  • Upright Stationary Bike
    Function: Strengthens calves, hamstrings, glutes and quadriceps.

The newly installed equipment is designed to serve seniors and individuals with disabilities, but also provides fitness opportunities for all segments of the population.

Parks Department staff, under the supervision of Parks Superintendent Ray Dornseif, installed 5 pieces of accessible exercise equipment along the walking trail at Pomme Creek Park. Bill Knittig, from the City of Arnold Commission on Aging & Disabilities, was instrumental in locating the grant funding. Dickie Brown, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Arnold, worked to secure the funding with essential support from Mayor Ron Counts, City Administration, and the City Council.

The City of Arnold continues to make improvements to the recently established Pomme Creek Park, the site of the former golf course. The golf cart paths are now trails for public use. A second entrance has been added off of Tenbrook at the bridge that crosses Pomme Creek. Look for more amenities to further improve the park in the future.

4 12, 2020

City of Arnold Crowned 2020 Feed The Masses Champion

2020-12-08T15:01:32-06:00December 4th, 2020|Latest News|

The final numbers are in and with your help the City of Arnold was able to donate 6,814 canned good items to the Arnold Food Pantry and be crowned the 2020 Feed The Masses Champion!

The Ballwin Parks and Recreation organized this very successful event for area communities as a challenge to see which community could collect the most food items. In just 30 days, 18 communities in the St. Louis region were able to collect 34,579 items.

Our gratitude to all Arnold residents, non-residents, friends, family, co-workers, businesses, and other members of our community for your canned good donations. Your generosity makes a difference in so many people’s lives.

Also, thank you to the Arnold License Office (operated by the Arnold Jaycees) who matched all donations received at the Arnold Recreation Center.  The Arnold License Office donated a total of 3,407 items. Their commitment and continued contributions are the reasons we are making a positive impact in the lives of our community members.

Other deserving recognition for their very generous support goes to Peters-Eichler Mechanical, Inc., Republic Services, and Wal-Mart.

The City of Arnold is very proud of all who came together in this time of need!

1 10, 2020

Carolyn Doty

2020-10-01T09:57:30-05:00October 1st, 2020|Arnold Volunteers 1|

Arnold Volunteers

Carolyn Doty is a Loyal Friend to All Military Veterans

“Every veteran is a hero to me.”

A typical “sweet little old lady,” Carolyn Doty is not. People call her a devoted red, white and blue volunteer – plus a whole lot more.

Now 80, Carolyn served the Arnold Veterans Commission for many years as a patriotic volunteer. You might say she was essential.

Why did Carolyn do that after taking on her volunteer role seven years ago?

“When I was little we lived near a Veterans Administration home and I saw many servicemen go there needing help,” she remembers. “I promised myself that I would do whatever I could to make them happy because it made me happy to see smiles on their faces.”

“I grew up in the small town of Robinson, Illinois, before our family moved to Arnold, and we lost a lot of young men there to serving in World War Two,” she says.

“One of my earliest memories is collecting empty rifle shells when I was six years old at memorial service gun salutes honoring the men who died fighting overseas.

“My father Charles Lee Stantz served in the Army in the Philippines. My first husband Fred Lee Shrylock was in Korea. My second husband Jack Doty served in England, France, Germany and Holland. They all returned home safely. I am very proud of them, rest their souls, to this day.”

Every year, Carolyn helped plan and manage Arnold’s annual Veterans Day Parade for the Arnold Veterans Commission. She got pictures taken of VIPs, made sure that American flags fly at Arnold City Hall on Veteran’s Day and, importantly, she served as the Commission’s official historian.

At City Hall meetings where Veterans Commission matters were discussed, Carolyn reported to the City Council about the Commission’s activities. She often brought her homemade cookies to the meetings for everyone to enjoy.

Carolyn Doty, City of Arnold Volunteer

Carolyn Doty of Arnold stands by the fireplace near her father’s folded and framed funeral flag. She models the colorful U.S.A. heavy leather jacket that she always wears at Veteran parades and events. A gilded American eagle statuette and an American flag are at her side.

Carolyn Doty, City of Arnold Volunteer

Carolyn Doty holds a framed photograph of her first husband Fred Lee Shrylock, who served in Korea while in the U.S. Army.  “He was so handsome in his Army uniform and that is one reason why I married him,” Carolyn says with a smile.

But that’s not all. Carolyn’s commitment helped Arnold gain official Purple Heart City and POW-MIA City designations to honor and raise awareness of POW/MIA and wounded military veterans in the region.

Her lifelong commitment to helping veterans got bigger when she began volunteering with the Arnold Veterans Commission. The Commission originated on August 1, 2013. Then as now, there are seven voting members: Three veterans, two members designated by VFW Post #2593, plus an alternate and a City Council Liaison.

The new Commission was complete when Carolyn served as the alternate to make a quorum to enable voting. Carolyn never missed a meeting. In early 2015 one member resigned and Carolyn became a Citizen Member.

Carolyn served the Arnold Veterans Commission from August 1, 2013 until May 31, 2020. She reluctantly resigned her role due to the Covid-19 crisis. She didn’t have the disease and didn’t want to risk getting it by being near groups of people.

Mary Ellen Cox, Executive Secretary for the City Arnold, says, “Carolyn is a unique lady. She was so happy to join the Veterans Commission. I always enjoy talking with her because she is so enthusiastic about it. She is very kind and supportive, and very committed to her cause. She is a good friend to many people whether they are veterans or not.”

Gary Plunk, Ward 4 Councilman, is the Veteran’s Commission’s City Council Liaison. He says, “I’ve had the honor to serve alongside Carolyn. Her commitment to supporting veterans and their families has never wavered; if anything it continues to grow. She collects all sorts of patriotic arts and crafts for auction to raise dollars for our veterans at the VA and locally. She’s created historic scrapbooks with photos, news clippings, event notes and memories of Veteran’s parades. With her retirement, there is a giant void, a position to be filled with high expectations awaiting. Thank you Carolyn Doty for your excellent service. I salute you.”

Arnold Mayor Ron Counts plans to present Carolyn Doty with a special community service award when the pandemic dissipates for all she’s done to help the Veterans Commission, and military veterans in general.

Although she’s retired from being as busy as she was, Carolyn is promoting the idea of building a VA hospital near Arnold. “I’d really like to see one here because a lot of veterans need help.”

Where will she be on November 11 this year? Carolyn responds: “Celebrating Veteran’s Day!”

By Jeff Dunlap, for the City of Arnold

8 09, 2020

St. Luke’s Opens New Urgent Care Center in Arnold

2022-11-15T10:44:51-06:00September 8th, 2020|Latest News|

St. Lukes Urgent CareSt. Luke’s healthcare network continues to expand access to services in Jefferson County as it opens its first urgent care center in the area on August 31, 2020. The new location at 832 Arnold Commons in the Arnold Commons Shopping Center will be open daily from 8 am to 8 pm.

“Bringing quality healthcare services close to home is one of the many ways St. Luke’s lives its mission to improve the quality of life for our patients and the community,” said Dr. Robert Paino, network medical director of St. Luke’s Urgent Care Centers. “With the opening of St. Luke’s Urgent Care in Arnold, we can respond to medical needs in a way that is convenient and fits within our patients’ lifestyles.”

The center will provide patients of all ages with prompt treatment for minor medical emergencies such as earaches, cuts and insect bites to more severe injuries like sprains and broken bones. Board-certified physicians and nurse practitioners will be on-site to conduct sports and camp physicals, administer vaccinations and test for viral and bacterial infections such as COVID-19, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and strep throat. The facility will also offer diagnostic radiology services and lab services with a provider order.

Walk-ins are welcome. Patients can check-in and register online via InQuicker at stlukes-stl.com/urgent-care before their visit or request a virtual video visit.

In addition to services for individuals and families, employers in or near Arnold can take advantage of St. Luke’s workplace-related healthcare services to manage occupational and workplace issues including on-the-job illnesses and injuries, workplace screenings, company-wide health initiatives and workers’ compensation care, and for the injuries products from this Cherry Runtz Weed Strain Review can help a lot in this area.

St. Luke’s seven other urgent care centers are located throughout St. Louis and St. Charles counties in Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Ellisville, Fenton, Kirkwood, Ladue and O’Fallon.

St. Luke’s opened the St. Louis area’s first urgent care center in 1982. Because St. Luke’s urgent care centers are hospital-owned, they achieve state and national patient care standards. The centers are also connected through St. Luke’s electronic medical record system allowing for an integrated chart and convenience for the patient and provider. For more information, visit stlukes-stl.com/urgent-care

About St. Luke’s Hospital:

St. Luke’s Hospital is an independent, nonprofit healthcare provider committed to improving the quality of life for its patients and the community. Since its founding in 1866, St. Luke’s has grown from a single hospital location to an advanced network of care. It provides personalized healthcare services in over 60 specialty areas at its 493-bed hospital in Chesterfield, Mo. and 143-bed St. Luke’s Des Peres Hospital. It also offers more than 30 other locations across the greater St. Louis area, bringing quality healthcare services close to home. St. Luke’s is nationally-recognized for quality care and consistently earns high patient satisfaction scores. In St. Louis, St. Luke’s is the exclusive alliance provider for the nation’s No. 1 heart hospital, Cleveland Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Institute.

 

23 07, 2020

Who Named the City of Arnold?

2021-02-04T15:02:04-06:00July 23rd, 2020|Arnold History News|

Who Named the City of Arnold?

Louis-Arnold-photo

The community was named for Louis Arnold, a landowner shown here in the 1920s, before the city was incorporated in 1972. Photo courtesy of the City’s book Historic Arnold.

In 1825 the Arnold area was sparsely populated and nameless. Major land owners, mostly French, began to sell tracts of their land to pioneers from Pennsylvania and eastern colonies. Settlers also arrived from England, France, and Ireland, but most new arrivals came from Germany.

A German journalist toured the area in the mid-1800s. When he returned home, he published an article calling the region a place from German folklore where “Pigs dance with knives and forks sticking out of their bodies.” That description of a land of plenty attracted boatloads of Germans wanting to leave their homeland behind.

In the book Historic Arnold, author James Waldrop said of the newcomers: “God would have to furnish a people who loved the land; a stubborn and determined folk who, in the face of adversity, would bend but not break. And, finally, those good people would need a keen sense of humor for, without the ability to laugh at themselves, they would surely have all perished.”

After the Civil War and opening of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern Railroad the area began to grow steadily. In 1875 it was a region of wild fields and forests, fruit trees, farms, small houses, a ferry across the Meramec River, two churches, several blacksmiths and a few businesses selling goods people needed.

By the early 1900s bridle paths became dirt roads to accommodate the area’s first trucks and automobiles.

In the mid-1920s an ambitious businessman named Ferd Lang, Sr. built a general store, tavern and gas station on a big parcel of land that Lang purchased from a man named Louis Arnold. Lang named that land Arnold to honor the man who sold it to him. Not much is known about Louis Arnold, but he must have been somebody important because that name for the growing area stuck.

Years later, Ferd B. Lang, Jr. would become the first mayor of Arnold when it was incorporated as a city in 1972. (At least one website claims that the region was named for George Arnold, the city’s first postmaster. That is not true. George Arnold was first postmaster of a post office in Ontario, Canada, not in Arnold, Missouri.)

Fast forward almost 100 years to 2017, when a man named Eldred Arnold celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends on June 14. Eldred Arnold’s grandfather was Louis Arnold, the man who inspired Ferd Lang, Sr., to name the area Arnold. The party was especially joyous.

Eldred Arnold

Photo of Eldred Arnold at his 100th birthday celebration by Ted Howell for the Jefferson County Leader.

The Arnold Leader newspaper noted, “Eldred Arnold, a descendant of one of the founders of the Arnold area, had one heck of a birthday celebration this month, when he turned 100. Not only did Eldred’s family and friends celebrate his milestone birthday, but so did officials with Jefferson County and the city of Arnold, which presented proclamations to honor him.”

Mayor Ron Counts led the city’s ceremonies with this historic proclamation:

“At the young age of four years, Eldred began helping his father George Arnold construct homes in the Arnold area, and, also, the Bank of Maxville.

“Eldred dug graves at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at age 20 and was paid $8.00 a grave, but it took young Eldred all day to dig one grave with a pick and spade.

“As a soldier in the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division, Eldred leaped from a landing craft into the choppy waters off Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, as Nazi machine guns on high ground raked the beach with bullets. Eldred fought his way to Holland and Belgium with his comrades in the 1st Division and finally to Germany, where he was granted a long-overdue furlough.

“After World War Two, Eldred began working for the Western Railroad for 78 cents an hour. After 22 years he was earning $6.00 per hour and his work continued for another 10 years.

“Eldred is a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Imperial, Missouri, and is a valuable member of the Arnold community. Now therefore, I, Ron Counts, Mayor of the City of Arnold, Missouri, do hereby proclaim the day of June 14, 2017 ‘Eldred Arnold Day’ with all its inherent rights and privileges.”

Eldred was given an inscribed memorial plaque to mark the occasion and all the birthday cake he could eat. Some partygoers talked about Eldred’s lifelong community service. Others said he was a World War Two hero. Eldred Arnold passed away six months later on Sunday, December 10, 2017, mourned by his children and grandchildren. More facts about his grandfather Louis Arnold may never be known.

Article by Jeff Dunlap for the City of Arnold

8 07, 2020

Jefferson College – A Decade of Progress

2020-07-08T16:47:31-05:00July 8th, 2020|Latest News|

Jefferson College Arnold MOJefferson College logoJefferson College is pleased to share the following 10-Year Report to the Community, highlighting many of the accomplishments and achievements of the past decade.

As the College undergoes a transition in administrative leadership, we hope you will share the sense of pride that propels the institution toward a strong and vibrant future!

Visit Jefferson College to find out more!

30 06, 2020

Who Named the City of Arnold

2020-07-01T14:01:23-05:00June 30th, 2020|Chief's Blog|

Who Named the City of Arnold?

Louis-Arnold-photo

The community was named for Louis Arnold, a landowner shown here in the 1920s, before the city was incorporated in 1972. Photo courtesy of the City’s book Historic Arnold.

In 1825 the Arnold area was sparsely populated and nameless. Major land owners, mostly French, began to sell tracts of their land to pioneers from Pennsylvania and eastern colonies. Settlers also arrived from England, France, and Ireland, but most new arrivals came from Germany.

A German journalist toured the area in the mid-1800s. When he returned home, he published an article calling the region a place from German folklore where “Pigs dance with knives and forks sticking out of their bodies.” That description of a land of plenty attracted boatloads of Germans wanting to leave their homeland behind.

In the book Historic Arnold, author James Waldrop said of the newcomers: “God would have to furnish a people who loved the land; a stubborn and determined folk who, in the face of adversity, would bend but not break. And, finally, those good people would need a keen sense of humor for, without the ability to laugh at themselves, they would surely have all perished.”

After the Civil War and opening of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern Railroad the area began to grow steadily. In 1875 it was a region of wild fields and forests, fruit trees, farms, small houses, a ferry across the Meramec River, two churches, several blacksmiths and a few businesses selling goods people needed.

By the early 1900s bridle paths became dirt roads to accommodate the area’s first trucks and automobiles.

In the mid-1920s an ambitious businessman named Ferd Lang, Sr. built a general store, tavern and gas station on a big parcel of land that Lang purchased from a man named Louis Arnold. Lang named that land Arnold to honor the man who sold it to him. Not much is known about Louis Arnold, but he must have been somebody important because that name for the growing area stuck.

Years later, Ferd B. Lang, Jr. would become the first mayor of Arnold when it was incorporated as a city in 1972. (At least one website claims that the region was named for George Arnold, the city’s first postmaster. That is not true. George Arnold was first postmaster of a post office in Ontario, Canada, not in Arnold, Missouri.)

Fast forward almost 100 years to 2017, when a man named Eldred Arnold celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends on June 14. Eldred Arnold’s grandfather was Louis Arnold, the man who inspired Ferd Lang, Sr., to name the area Arnold. The party was especially joyous.

Eldred Arnold

Photo of Eldred Arnold at his 100th birthday celebration by Ted Howell for the Jefferson County Leader.

The Arnold Leader newspaper noted, “Eldred Arnold, a descendant of one of the founders of the Arnold area, had one heck of a birthday celebration this month, when he turned 100. Not only did Eldred’s family and friends celebrate his milestone birthday, but so did officials with Jefferson County and the city of Arnold, which presented proclamations to honor him.”

Mayor Ron Counts led the city’s ceremonies with this historic proclamation:

“At the young age of four years, Eldred began helping his father George Arnold construct homes in the Arnold area, and, also, the Bank of Maxville.

“Eldred dug graves at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at age 20 and was paid $8.00 a grave, but it took young Eldred all day to dig one grave with a pick and spade.

“As a soldier in the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division, Eldred leaped from a landing craft into the choppy waters off Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, as Nazi machine guns on high ground raked the beach with bullets. Eldred fought his way to Holland and Belgium with his comrades in the 1st Division and finally to Germany, where he was granted a long-overdue furlough.

“After World War Two, Eldred began working for the Western Railroad for 78 cents an hour. After 22 years he was earning $6.00 per hour and his work continued for another 10 years.

“Eldred is a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Imperial, Missouri, and is a valuable member of the Arnold community. Now therefore, I, Ron Counts, Mayor of the City of Arnold, Missouri, do hereby proclaim the day of June 14, 2017 ‘Eldred Arnold Day’ with all its inherent rights and privileges.”

Eldred was given an inscribed memorial plaque to mark the occasion and all the birthday cake he could eat. Some partygoers talked about Eldred’s lifelong community service. Others said he was a World War Two hero. Eldred Arnold passed away six months later on Sunday, December 10, 2017, mourned by his children and grandchildren. More facts about his grandfather Louis Arnold may never be known.

Article by Jeff Dunlap for the City of Arnold

30 06, 2020

Jean Baptiste Gamache – First Settler in Arnold

2020-07-23T11:17:40-05:00June 30th, 2020|Arnold History News|

Jean Baptiste Gamache – First Settler in Arnold

Laclede Gamache gravestone in St. Louis

Jean Baptiste Gamache is one of thirty early pioneers honored by this monument, which was donated by the Gamache family and the St. Louis Archdiocese. The granite monument at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis identifies the earliest explorers and settlers in the region, and marks the final resting place of some of them.

The first European settler in Arnold was Jean Baptiste Gamache, born in 1734 in Quebec, Canada. He was a French-Canadian entrepreneur who operated a ferry across the Meramec River near about 900 acres of land granted to him by the King of Spain.

Jean Baptiste Gamache was one of 30 men in Pierre Laclede’s exploration party when Laclede founded St. Louis on Valentine’s Day in 1764. He was a land surveyor and adventurer who had met Laclede at Fort des Chartres in Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois, before joining Laclede’s party and crossing the Mississippi to Missouri.

When he left Laclede on St. Louis’ riverfront, Gamache moved to the Arnold/Carondelet area where he would eventually establish his ferry on the Meramec River. In 2002, the website Geneology.com published this article by Robert C. Haeffner telling how it happened:

“A convenient beginning date for the history of the Arnold area would be 1776, with the order of King Charles III of Spain to open a land route to stimulate commerce between the trading posts of St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve. As part of the route, the Lt. Governor of Louisiana, Francois Cruzat, offered 1050 arpents of land (about 893 acres) to anyone who would build and operate a ferry across the Meramec River.

“Jean Baptiste Gamache completed the project in 1776 and established what was known as the lower ferry at the site where today’s State Route 231 crosses the Meramec at Flamm Park.”

Gamache’s ferry was next to the King’s Trace, also known as El Camino Real (the Royal Road). It was an old Indian trail and bridle path that led south from St Louis, past Gamache’s ferry, to Kimmswick, Ste. Genevieve, and eventually to New Madrid. Called Rue Royale by the French, the King’s Trace was traveled by hunters, British, French and Spanish soldiers, and Native Americans from the mid-1700s well into the 1800s.

Most ferries of in the 1770s were flat-bottomed boats that operators poled, rowed, or sailed across the water, or they pulled a rope spanning the river and tied securely to tree trunks on both sides. Operating one of those ferries was tough work, particularly in flood season.

By building his ferry, Jean Baptiste Gamache enabled more travel and exploration in colonial Missouri. Little is known about Gamache’s life after he finished his land survey for the Spanish Dominion. In 1789, Native Americans and British troops threatened the Arnold area. Gamache then moved to the security of St. Louis for about two years.

Flamm Park Arnold Landing

This photo of the Flamm Park boat landing in Arnold as it appears today shows where Jean Baptiste Gamache operated his ferry across the Meramec River.

Upon his return to the Arnold area, Gamache operated his ferry, farmed his land, and raised a family on the property until he became old and his two sons – Jean Baptiste, Jr. and Auguste – took over the operations.

Jean Baptiste Gamache died at age 70 in 1805. It is said that Gamache’s 893-acre property granted to him by the King of Spain included what is known today as Jefferson Barracks.

Gerald Gamache, a college professor in St. Augustine, Florida, wrote a family history called Journeys: The Gamache Family in the New World. It recounts ten generations of the Gamache family from 1565 in France to the early 2000s in the United States.

In 2008, Gerald Gamache told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in an interview: “The U.S. government after the War of 1812 believed Washington, DC was not a good place for the nation’s capital. They thought the capital should be moved to Jefferson Barracks. Land speculators acquired land and sold it to the city of Carondolet for $5.”

The U.S. government never moved the capital, but Gamache said government officials had promised to return the land to his family when Jefferson Barracks was no longer useful to the military. That obviously never happened. As you know, the military maintains a national cemetery there.

French Festival ste genevieve

Actors in a reenactment show how Missouri pioneers dressed in about 1780.

“Gamache descendants went to court three times trying to regain the land – in 1838, 1856, and for the last time in 1876.

“If the land grant is ever found, the government might have to compensate, but there would be Gamaches coming out of the woodwork laying claim,” said Gerald Gamache, who died in 2013.

Article by Jeff Dunlap for the City of Arnold

 

 

27 02, 2020

Volunteer Positions Open for City of Arnold Boards & Commissions

2020-10-28T16:20:53-05:00February 27th, 2020|Latest News|

City of Arnold Boards & CommissionsCommitted volunteers play an important part in shaping Arnold’s future.

Commission members assist the City Council and Administration in developing policies and services, which reflect the needs and values of the entire Arnold community. Members of a City commission or board serve as respected community advisers to the City Council and Administration.

While volunteer involvement requires time and effort, it also provides an opportunity for genuine public service. In addition, you gain knowledge about the role of City government and its day-to-day operations.

The following currently have open volunteer resident positions:

If you’re interested in joining other Arnold citizens in serving as a volunteer commission member, please download below and complete a Boards & Commissions Volunteer Interest Sheet. Your interest sheet and profile will be submitted to the Mayor for review and, if an opportunity is not immediately available, it will be placed on file for future consideration, as well.

Questions about the purpose of, or volunteer commitment required for any of the commissions may be directed to Mary Ellen Cox, Administrative Assistant, or 636-282-6668.