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What’s Inside

AFT Local 420 teacher who died saving her students honored by Congressional Medal of Honor Society Page 3

Michigan repeals phony ‘RTW’ law

By ED FINKELSTEIN

Publisher Emeritus

Following in the footsteps of Missouri voters twice rejecting efforts to foist the phony so-called “rightto-work” law on the state, Michigan just made history by being the first state in 60 years to actually repeal its RTW law passed by a Republican legislature in 2012.

And then, the new Democratic majority in the Michigan legislature passed two new pro-worker laws:

• Allowing Project Labor Agreements (PLA) that set up both deadlines and worker protections on construction projects. Banning them has been the top goal of the anti-worker Associated Builders and Contractors, an ersatz “grass-roots” association of cut-rate non-union contractors.

• Instituting a prevailing wage law

Electrical Connection donates services, materials for 2023 St Jude Dream Home Page 3

that the Republicans threw out in 2018 which requires contractors

hired for state projects to pay unionlevel wages.

The effort is the result of Democrats taking a majority in the Michigan legislature which had been controlled by Republicans for the past 40 years. It was signed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on March 24. It will take effect in April 2024.

“Today, we are coming together to restore workers’ rights, protect Michiganders on the job, and grow Michigan’s middle class,” the governor said in signing the repeal.

“After decades of anti-worker attacks, Michigan has restored the balance of power for working people by passing laws to protect their freedom to bargain for the good wages,

See MICHIGAN RTW page 22

Insulators, Bricklayers and Tile Setters unions endorse Kunce for Senate Page 4

Unions join Trans Rights Rally in Jefferson City Page 9

Madison County Federation of Labor names Machinists District 9 Organizing Coordinator Bob Beloit Labor Leader of the Year

By CARL GREEN Correspondent

East Alton, IL – The Greater Madison County Federation of Labor put its COVID past behind it on Thursday, March 23, with its wellattended annual awards banquet. Machinists District 9 Organizing Coordinator Bob Beloit was named Labor Leader of the Year, and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski was named the Friend of Labor.

The dinner’s host at Julia’s Banquet Center in East Alton was longtime Federation President B. Dean Webb, who encouraged everyone in attendance to support

the Labor Tribune following its sale to a group of unions by longtime publisher Ed Finkelstein.

“We as Labor now own the Labor Tribune ,” he said. “I think that’s a great thing. Please encourage your members and your locals to take out subscriptions, and please buy ads so we can keep this going. A lot of different unions and organizations put in money to purchase it, and it’s all getting paid back.”

Webb also noted that the Federa-

tion’s Labor Day softball tournament made a successful return last fall after a two-year break because

of COVID. It was won by the team from Sprinkler Fitters Local 268 in St. Louis – the same bunch who won it the last time it was held. The tournament also raised $1,000 for Labor causes.

The United Way sponsored two of the awards. Labor Liaison Nick Dodson, who also serves on the Federation board, said Labor’s partnership with the AFL-CIO goes back 80 years.

“We’re a force to be reckoned with when we all work together,” he said. “If any of your members ever fall into hardship and need assistance, See FED AWARDS page 18

Webster Groves loses major legal battle with Fire Fighters Local 2665 over

Pay up arbitrator rules; chastises city for making illegal changes in union’s contract

The City of Webster Groves has lost a major legal battle against the Webster Groves Fire Fighters Local 2665.

Union Sisters visit Missouri legislators as part of Working Women’s Lobby Day Page 14

As if a prelude the city’s unilaterally and illegally cancelling the fire fighters’ contract on March 7, an arbitrator ruled in the fire fighters favor that Webster Groves:

• Cannot refuse to pay performance pay and step pay for 2022.

• Must reinstate the sick leave policy

Periodicals Publication

that was in effect under the terms of the contract.

• Cannot refuse to pay fire fighters retiring in 2022 for their unused accrued sick time.

PAY UP

“The City is ordered to compensate any fire fighters who were entitled to vacation days as a result of unused sick leave from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2022,” the arbitrator’s award concluded. That is expected to be $50,000 for overtime, $5,000 in the arbitrator’s fee and the city attorney’s legal fees.

He strongly reprimanded the

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performance pay

City by noting that the “City cannot amend, modify or change any City policies… in conflict with…” the union’s bargained contract.

MORE EMBARRASSMENTS FOR WEBSTER GROVES

OUTDOOR GUIDE SAMPLE

• The city also tried to argue that Fire Fighters Local 2665 could not arbitrate any of these issues. They lost that issue as well.

• The city tried to argue that because of “budgetary constraints” they had the right to “temporarily suspend” contract provisions for performance pay. WRONG AGAIN, the arbitrator ruled.

• In its counter arguments, the City claimed that it provided advance notice to the union of their intention to modify the contract’s sick leave policy. “There is no evidence corroborating these claims,” ruled the arbitrator.

VOLUME 86 No. 36

MICHIGAN GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER signed a bill repealing the state’s socalled ‘right-to-work’ law on March 24. – Press@mich.gov photo

BOB BELOIT (center) accepts the Labor Leader of the Year award from Roy Collins (left), and Madison County Federation of Labor President B. Dean Webb. – Labor Tribune photo

WEBB

Why the repeal of phony ‘RTW’ in Michigan boosts workers nationwide

By TOM CONWAY President United Steelworkers

The United Steelworkers (USW) mounted tireless battles for fair trade and other lifelines that helped to keep McLouth Steel open during the 1980s, enabling Jay McMurran and thousands of other Michigan workers to raise families and build pensions amid one of the nation’s worst economic crises.

Recognizing that other workers need the same kind of strength behind them, McMurran resolved to fight back when Republicans rammed union-gutting (phony) “right-to-work” (RTW) legislation through the state legislature in 2012.

He and other union supporters and their allies worked relentlessly for years to oust the corporate toadies and elect pro-worker lawmakers instead. Their long struggle culminated in victory on March 21, 2023, when new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate voted to repeal the deceptively named RTW laws, restoring workers’ full power to bargain fair contracts and safe working conditions.

Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has since signed the legislation, which represents the latest in a string of victories for workers mobilizing to build strength across the country.

NO ONE IS FORCED TO JOIN A UNION

No one in America is ever forced to join a union, and no union wants workers to join against their will. Yet a union is legally obligated to serve all workers in its bargaining unit.

Many states allow unions to charge nonmembers a small fee to help cover the costs of representation. But in some states, RTW laws pushed by corporations and anti-worker groups enable nonmembers to receive union services for free.

These laws intentionally divide workers, erode the solidarity that’s the foundation of union strength, and starve unions of the resources needed for effective bargaining, training, and other essential purposes—all to the boss’s benefit.

“‘Right-to-work’ is simply a unionbusting scam that the Republicans dress up as ‘choice,’” observed McMurran, a longtime USW member who worked at McLouth Steel for 27 years.

“It weakens the local union,” he said. “It weakens every worker’s position when you get into collective bargaining, when you get into grievance hearings, when you get into arbitrations. The boss knows your

weaknesses, and he exploits them.”

RTW = LOWER WAGES, HIGHER RISK

It’s no surprise that workers burdened by RTW laws make significantly lower wages than their counterparts in other states. They’re also less likely to have employerprovided health insurance and retirement plans than other workers.

At the same time, workers in RTW states face a higher risk of dying on the job because they lack the strong, unified voice needed to fight for workplace safety.

“Everything I have is because I was a Steelworker,” said McMurran, who recalled that unshakable solidarity among his coworkers not only ensured good contracts and safe working conditions but also kept their employer in business.

“The steel mill that I came out of was in financial trouble for 13 years, and the Steelworkers fought to keep the place open nearly every day of those 13 years,” said McMurran, citing the busloads of USW members who converged on Washington, D.C., in the 1980s to demand support for the company. “We actually kept the place going so more people qualified for pensions and employer-sponsored health care. We did some good things there.”

Sadly, despite successes like that, Michigan’s GOP legislators conspired with corporations and other anti-union interests to undermine worker power.

McMurran was among the 10,000 protesters who packed the statehouse in a last-ditch effort to stop Republicans from pushing RTW through a lame-duck session during the 2012 holiday season.

Union members lost that skirmish but won the war.

THE LONG GAME

After Republicans passed the legislation over the protesters’ objections, McMurran said, workers and their allies launched a “long-game” plan to reverse it.

Workers helped pass a 2018 referendum that took redistricting out of the hands of partisan political hacks and put fairminded citizens in charge of the process. New, equitably drawn legislative districts enabled voters to elect pro-worker lawmakers willing to represent them rather than corporations.

And those pro-worker majorities, in turn, speedily acted to end RTW. For McMurran, the victory highlighted both the power of collective action and the importance of electing the right people to office.

Workers in other states also are beating back

By WILLIAM ENYART

Returning veterans were easy to spot on college campuses in the early ‘70s. Shoulder length hair, beards, OD green field jackets with no rank insignia, no service label, but sometimes a name tag still sewn over the right breast pocket. We left the name tags on to prove we weren’t posers. (OD green for you civilians means olive drab green in color.)

Military issue field jackets and blue jeans were the de rigueur uniform and why not. They were comfortable. They had lots of pockets. They were durable and could take a beating, whether you were in class or under your old beater car changing the oil. Because the military had issued it to you they were cheap…unless you count the value of the time you’d spent on active duty.

Long hair showed the world you didn’t have to cut your hair anymore. Long hair had started becoming popular in the mid 1960’s with the Beatles and other rock and roll bands furnishing the fashion. As teenage enlistees or draftees we all hated the short-cropped hair requirements enforced by lifer NCOs. Lifer was the ubiquitous term all junior enlisted used for anyone who had re-enlisted.

THEN THE BEARDS

For most guys leaving active duty during the Viet Nam years, the beard began sprouting the minute we walked out the main gate with discharge papers in hand. Like the long hair, it symbolized that we weren’t in the military anymore and didn’t have to obey the stupid regulations. It only took me about four years to get over that little phase of my life.

The beard came off the summer after my first year of law school when I realized the 60-something year old judge in the country courthouse where I interned probably wouldn’t appreciate my buffalo hunter look. Not to mention I’d gotten tired of grooming bits of lunch out of it. Oh yeah, and the John Lennon, rose-tinted wire rim glasses got swapped out for dark horn-rimmed studious looking nerd glasses.

Although the beard came off and the hair got cut, I kept on wearing that basic training issue field jacket with its liner. It was the only thing that kept me warm during the winter, driving the 10-year-old Volkswagen with its plastic bag and duct tape for a rear window to law school classes. Even with the two part-time jobs, it was the coat I could afford.

Much like the vets in law school, the vets in undergraduate school didn’t join fraternities. Nor did they bother to paint the rock in front of the student center. And we sure as hell didn’t join ROTC. We did drink beer. Lots of beer. We hung out in a corner of the

student union. Some of us were just there to use up our GI bill educational benefits to avoid going to work.

Others of us were there to get that union card, a college degree, as soon as possible, so we could escape the working-class existence most of us grew up in and continued in through that first military hitch.

GONE NOW

The ones using the GI education benefits to avoid working were in that special corner of the student union my first day in school and were still there a year and a half later when I graduated. They’re gone now. Gone back to the steel mills, gone back to the chemical plants along the Mississippi River and gone back to the coal mines of Southern Illinois. Gone back to the places their dads worked. They’re gone from there now too. Gone from the shuttered steel mills. Gone from the coal mines now worked by machines that have replaced thousands of laid off union miners. Gone from the chemical plants bankrupted by executives who got their bonuses before heading to bankruptcy court.

WHAT’S OK?

Some things don’t change much.

The headlines for the last few weeks are all about failing banks getting rescued and executives selling their company stock and taking payout bonuses on their way to failure while the workers get laid off. How many times have we heard that story?

Let me get this straight. It’s ok to bailout banks. It’s ok for executives to take bonuses knowing their company is headed to a bankruptcy filing, but canceling student loans is socialism and God forbid we provide medical care for poor people. Federal and state governments closed mental institutions and fail to provide services for mentally ill people or drug addicts or alcoholics while our parks and downtowns fill up with them. Yet this country’s largest corporations and wealthiest billionaires pay no taxes.  God forbid we have socialism here, but it’s perfectly ok to have corporate socialism and coddle the wealthy while criminalizing the poor.

Where is Woody Guthrie when we need him?

(William Enyart is a former U.S. congressman for Illinois’ 12th District and after 35 years in the military, retired as two-star general in the U.S. Army. His final tour was serving as Adjutant General of Illinois commanding both the Illinois Army and Air National Guard. He started his working life as a member of UAW Local 145, Montgomery, Ill, where he and his father both worked for Caterpillar Tractor Co. The Enyart’s live in Belleville, Ill. You can listen to his blog posts atbillenyart.com; Email him at bill@billenyart.com )

Where is Woody Guthrie when you need him?

Views from Near and Far

ENYART

AFT Local 420 teacher who died saving her students honored by Congressional Medal of Honor Society

Health teacher Jean Kuczka, who died saving her students from a shooter at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis last October, was honored March 25 by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Kuczka was posthumously granted a Citizen Honors Award, which is earned for acts of bravery, service and self-sacrifice. Only five United States citizens receive the award annually, and Kuczka’s fell under the Single Act of Heroism classification. She was honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Kuczka, 61, died on Oct. 24, 2022 confronting the gunman who entered her classroom at CVPA. She was a member of AFT Local 420, which represents St. Louis Public Schools teachers.

“We join in honoring a dedicated educator, a fine humanitarian, wonderful family member and an everyday hero,” said Byron Clemens, spokesman for Local 420. “She demonstrated extraordinary courage on Oct. 24, 2022, but she was, and remains, an everyday hero. We mourn our union Sister but will never forget.”

Students, friends, family and her union remember her as a fun, energetic, happy and caring person. Kuczka was also a longtime volunteer for

Electrical Connection donates services, materials for 2023 St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway

O’Fallon, MO – The 2023 St. Jude Dream Home here is quickly emerging, and once again, the IBEW/NECA Electrical Connection is donating resources to build it.

The Electrical Connection is a partnership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1 and the St. Louis Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association.

JDRF, a nonprofit organization that funds type 1 diabetes research. She became involved after her son was diagnosed with the disease at age 10.

On its website, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society stated: “Kuczka placed herself between her students and danger, in order to save innocent lives Kuczka’s courage reflects great credit upon herself, her family, and the state of Missouri.”

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is a nonprofit organization chartered in 1958. In addition to the citizen awardees, the organization’s members include recipients of the Medal of Honor, the highest military award.

(Some information from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Specifically, it is donating all electrical services to build the 2,711-square-foot, two-story home, which carries an estimated value of $711,000. The home is being built by Fischer Homes. NECA contractor Grasser Electric and IBEW Local 1 are performing the electrical work.

This June, a total of 16,000 tickets will be available for a chance to win the home and other prizes at $100 each. Last year, tickets to win the home sold out in 10 days. The drawing to give away the home will be carried live on FOX 2 on Aug. 17, 2023. For more information, visit stjude.org/give/dream-home/ st-louis.html

Located at 209 Kerry Downs Drive, the groundbreaking for this year’s St. Jude Dream Home was held on Feb. 10, 2023. The Grasser Electric/IBEW 1 team are currently roughing in electrical infrastructure.

‘GRATEFUL FOR THEIR SUPPORT’

ing manager at Fischer Homes. “We are grateful for their support of the lifesaving research being done at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.”

The home, located next to the Lake Forest County Club features four bedrooms and two and a half baths; a spacious owner’s suite and bathroom; 17-foot ceilings in the family room with open concept living; a gourmet kitchen with an expansive island; a private study with French doors; flexible main-floor space for a casual living room, dining room, recreation room or an extra study space; a convenient second-floor laundry room; and a three-car garage.

WORTHY CAUSE

end. For more information, visit https://seiuhcilin.org.

THE WORKERS MEMORIAL PROGRAM hosted by the Madison County Federation of Labor April 28 will honor workers killed or injured on the job since April 28, 2020.

– Labor Tribune file photo

Alton, IL – The annual Workers Memorial Program of the Greater Madison County Federation of Labor to honor workers who died on the job or from work-related injuries or illness will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 28.

The Federation hosts speakers and ceremonies on April 28 each year to honor workers who have suffered fatal or permanently disabling injuries. The annual program is held at the Workers Memorial Site in Gordon Moore Park, off of Illinois 140 in Alton. In the event of inclement weather, the program will be held indoors at the Muensterman Building.

Any union that has had a member suffer a fatal or permanent disabling injury since April 28, 2020, should alert the Federation by contacting Mike Fultz at 618-4094314 or mpfultz@att.net or calling Federation President B. Dean Webb at 618-259-8558 so they can be honored during the program.

Similar programs will take place in multiple Illinois cities that week-

“This year’s St. Louis Dream Home would not be possible without our incredible trade partners and vendors like IBEW Local 1/Grasser Electric,” saidCarrie Rogiers, market-

“Our membership is inspired to serve this very worthy cause,” said Frank Jacobs, Local 1 business manager. “Countless families have relied on St. Jude’s critical research and treatment of childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.”

The home is built with the generosity and support of sponsors, trade

ALL ELECTRICAL SERVICES at the 2023 St. Jude Dream Home in O’Fallon, Mo. are being donated by the Electrical Connection, a partnership of IBEW Local 1 and the St. Louis Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). NECA contractor Grasser Electric is currently performing the rough-in. Lending a hand on the project are (from left) Grasser Electric’s Phil Bax, Matt Romanko and Kevin Sondergard, and Local 1 Business Representative Chris Clermont. – Electrical Connection photo

partners and the local community. Every dollar raised goes straight to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for funding research and providing care.

“Our NECA contractors, like Grasser, excel at proficiently installing home electrical infrastructure and fixtures while ensuring everything is built to code,” said Kyle McKenna, St. Louis NECA executive vice president.

ABOUT ST. JUDE’S

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institutedesignated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago.

For more information, visit stjude.org

JEAN KUCZKA

Madison County Federation of Labor’s Workers Memorial Program April 28 will honor Illinois workers killed or injured on the job

Three unions endorse ‘warrior for working people’ Lucas Kunce for U.S. Senate

Insulators Local 1, Bricklayers Local 1, Tile Setters Local 18 first to step up for Kunce campaign

Calling him a “warrior for working people,” Asbestos Workers Local 1 and the Bricklayers Administrative Council ( Bricklayers Local 1 and Tile Setters Local 18) last week announced their endorsements of Lucas Kunce (D) in the 2024 race to unseat Republican Senator Josh Hawley.

Insulators Local 1 was the first to announce its endorsement. Business Manager Gary Payeur said, “Working families in Missouri deserve a U.S. Senator who understands their struggles, knows what it means to serve, and is committed to investing in their future — that’s why we’re endorsing Lucas Kunce.”

Bricklayer ADC Director Brian Jennewein said their unanimous endorsement was based on two common-sense facts: “Kunce is a fighter for working and middle

MARINE VETERAN LUCAS KUNCE has received the first Labor endorsements in the 2024 U.S. Senate race from Insulators and Allied Trades Local 1 and the Bricklayers Administrative Council, which is Bricklayers Local 1 and Tile Setters Local 18.

class Missourians and he will bring a common sense approach to politics, something we greatly need in Washington and frankly, Missouri. His background, his experience with hard times, his military training and his business smarts have prepared him for this critical position. He has capabilities of understanding workers’ issues and needs that elite-class Hawley could not begin to comprehend.”

‘WARRIOR’

Payeur said Kunce understands the working class:

“Growing up, his family counted on the help of their working-class neighbors to get by when they were bankrupted by medical bills. He served 13 years of active duty in the Marine Corps, then used his experience to be an advocate against corporate corruption. And in Washington, he’ll fight for the

Labor offers total support for Senator Doug Beck’s re-election

right to organize, workplace safety, and the historic investments in infrastructure and next-generation energy we need to rebuild Missouri.

“We’re proud to back Lucas Kunce for U.S. Senate because he’s the warrior for working people that Missouri desperately needs.”

LABOR TRIBUNE STAFF

Donald Illinois Correspondent Tim Rowden Editor-in-Chief (314)

Sheri Gassaway Missouri Correspondent sheri@labortribune.com

‘I’LL

FIGHT LIKE HELL FOR WORKERS’

“I’m honored to have the support of Insulators Local 1 and the Bricklayers Administrative District Council and their two affiliates, Bricklayers Local 1 and Tile Setters Local 18,” said Kunce.

“This is what it means to build a coalition of working class voters across this state. I’m committed to fighting like hell for workers in the U.S. Senate.”

The Missouri AFL-CIO, which makes the official Labor COPE endorsements for federal and state offices, has not yet made an endorsement in this race, nor has the St. Louis Labor Council, which makes recommendations for federal and state offices to the Missouri AFLCIO for consideration in making an official Labor endorsement.

“Our unions are certainly free to do as they wish,” said Jake Hummel, Missouri AFL-CIO president, “but there won’t be an official AFL-CIO endorsement until it is done by our body.”

UNQUALIFIED SUPPORT FOR THE MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE: Senator Doug Beck, (second from left) is offered a thumbs up by Labor leadership (from left) Missouri AFL-CIO President Jake Hummel, (Beck), St. Louis Building Trades Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Stiffler and St. Louis

Veteran Missouri Senator Doug Beck (D-Afton) received a standing ovation at his recent fundraiser as he begins his quest for re-election in 2024 as state senator from Missouri’s First District.

Beck, a 34-year veteran member of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562, has received the unanimous endorsement of all the area’s Labor Movement.

In welcoming the turnout crowd at his March 16 gathering at Operating Engineers Local 148’s hall, Beck, the Democrat’s assistant minority floor leader, pledged to continue his fight for working families in the state legislature. And given the overwhelming control of Republicans in the Missouri legislature, a fighter is what’s needed, said one guest.

And his experience to continue

to be that fighter is clear: his election a state representative in 2016, was followed by his election to the Missouri Senate 2020.

“There is no question that he is a fighter for the working people of Missouri and especially our union families,” said St. Louis Labor Council President Pat White. “If anyone deserves to have the backing of our working families, it’s Doug Beck.”

Senator Beck makes it clear that his platform as a legislator is to defend workers and their rights, promote public education, encourage job creation and fight for affordable health care for all.

If you want to support Senator Beck’s reelection bid, go to https:// secure.actblue.com/donate/beckformissouri.

Labor Council President Pat White. – Labor Tribune photo

ILLINOIS CENTRAL BODIES

Southwestern Illinois Central Labor Council

Third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Laborers’ Local 459 Hall, 100 N. 17th St., Belleville, Ill.

Greater Madison County Federation of Labor

Fourth Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Machinists

LOCAL UNIONS

Dr., East Alton, IL 62024.

Official IAM District 9 Notices

IAM District 9

Meetings at Machinists’ Building, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., Bridgeton, Mo., unless otherwise stated.

DISTRICT 9 LODGE — Second Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

DISTRICT 9 EXECUTIVE BOARD — Second Wednesday, 7:15 p.m., Conference Room.

DISTRICT 9 M.N.P.L. Legislative meeting immediately after each month’s regular District Lodge meeting.

IAM Lodge 41

The regular monthly meeting will be held on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Machinists Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044. Members, take note. Shop stewards, please post this notice in your shop.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Monthly Dues increase as of Jan. 1, 2023, all members at the current rate of $80 will go up to $85.50; members at the current rate of $85 will go up to $90.50; members at the current of $90.00 will go up to $95.50. Unemployment dues are $4 per month. All dues should be paid no later than the 10th of the following month or your membership will lapse and reinstatement (four times the dues rate ) will be owed.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Members should contact the Lodge 41 office when retiring, going out on sick leave, workers comp and any change of address.

IAM Lodge 313

Regular meeting and Shop Stewards’ meeting will be held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m., Sheet Metal Workers Local 268 Hall, 2701 North 89th St., Caseyville, Ill. 62232. See website at autolocal313.com.

OFFICE HOURS: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Telephone 618-3976336. When mailing dues be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of your book. Make your check payable to Metro East Automotive Lodge 313.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Initiation of new members will be held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 268 Hall, 2701 North 89th St., Caseyville, Ill. 62232.

SPECIAL NOTICE: As of January 1 2023, the monthly dues will be $93.00 per month for Journeymen, Service Writers, Dispatchers, Body Men, Apprentice & Specialist and $80.50 per month for, Greeter, Helper, Lube Tech, Production Worker. Unemployment Stamps will be $4.00 per month.

IAM Lodge 660

The regular meeting date of Lodge 660 is the third Tuesday of each month. It will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Machinists Center, 161 N. Shamrock, East Alton, Ill.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Effective January 1, 2023 for Bluff City Lodge #660, IAMA W the unemployment dues will be $4.00 per month and the union dues will be based on the member’s hourly rate as follows:

Hourly Pay Rate Dues Rate

$12.50 or Less $86.00 per Month

$12.51 to $14.50 $90.00 per Month

$14.51 to $16.50 $94.00 per Month

$16.51 or More $98.00 per Month

This notice is in accordance with the I.AM. & A.W. Constitution.

IAM Lodge 688

The regular meetings are on the second Thursday at 7 p.m., Machinists Building, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., Bridgeton, MO

SPECIAL NOTICE: Please mail dues to IAM District 9 c/o Lodge 688, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Lodge 688’s mailing address is 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044. The phone number is (314) 702-2210.

IAM Lodge 777 Regular meetings at 7 p.m. on second Thursdays at Machinists Building, 12635 St. Charles Rock Rd., Bridgeton, Mo. Members should contact the Lodge 777 office when changing shops, retiring, going out on sick leave,

As of Jan. 1, 2023 the monthly dues will be: $93 per month for Journeymen, Service Writers,

Dispatchers, Body Men & Specialist and $80.50 per month for Apprentice, Greeter, Helper and Production Worker. Unemployment Stamps will be $4.00 per month.

IAM Lodge 822

Regular meetings at 6 p.m. first Tuesday each month at the IAM Lodge 822 Hall 2929 N. Fifth St., Quincy, Ill.

PLEASE NOTE: New Office Hours: Monday-Friday 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

IAM Lodge 1345

The regular meetings will be held at the Machinist Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., Bridgeton, on the second Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. and the night steward meeting is held at noon. If there is a cancellation of any meeting, it will appear under a special notice.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Effective Jan. 1, 2023, IAM Local Lodge 1345 dues rates are as follows: For members making $10.50 or less, their dues will be $82.50 per month. For members making $10.50 and above, their dues rate will be 89.50 per month. The initiation fee is $358.00, which is twice the monthly dues, and $334 for reinstatement, which is four times the monthly dues. The out-of-work dues remains at $4. Dues are due no later then the 10th of the following month they are due.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Members should contact the Local 1345 office 314-739-8301 when retiring,going out on sick leave,workers comp and with any change of address or phone numbers.

IAM Lodge 1745

Membership meetings will be held for the first shift at 4 p.m. the second Monday each month at Ron’s Catering, 113 E. Main St., Warrenton. Quarterly meetings will be held for the second shift at 2 p.m. the second Monday of these months: March, June, September and December.

SPECIAL NOTICE: When approaching retirement, it’s a member’s responsibility to contact the financial secretary or local lodge officer to get an application for a retirement card.

IAM Lodge 1815 Meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday each month at AFL-CIO meeting hall, 534 S. Second Street, Springfield , IL 62701.

IAM Lodge 2782

The regular monthly meetings will be held at 5 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the IAM Lodge 2782 office, 408 Washington Ave. Suite 134, West Plains, MO.

SPECIAL NOTICE: The meeting for second-shift workers will be held at 2 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the IAM Lodge 2782 office, 408 Washington Ave. Suite134, West Plains, MO.

RETIREE CLUBS

IAM District 9 Retirees Club Meets fourth Wednesday, 10:30 a.m., Machinists’ Building, 12365 St. Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton, Mo. David Meinell, Pres.; Steve Branson, Recording Secretary.

All retired members and spouses are cordially invited to join the Retirees’ Club.

IAM Lodge 660 Retirees’ Club

Retired members, wife or husband, father and mother of members in good standing, the retired members club’s regular meeting will be held at the Machinists’ Center, 161 Shamrock Street, East Alton, Ill., on the first Wednesday of each month. Social hour at 10 a.m. Covered dish dinner at noon and games and entertainment at 1 p.m. Barbara Hayes, Recording Secretary.

IAM Lodge 822 Retirees’ Club Meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. Call L. 822 at 217-222-0394 for information.

Sheet Metal Workers Local 268 Caseyville Meetings: Fourth Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the Sheet Metal Workers’ Hall, 2701 N. 89th Street, Caseyville, Ill. 62232. Southern counties: Meetings will be held at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at the training center, 13963 Route 37, Johnston City, Ill.

Steamfitters Local 439 Meets first Wednesday of each month, 7:30 p.m. in the Donald Bailey Building, 1220 Donald Bailey Dr., Caseyville, Ill. 62232-2061.

RETIREE CLUBS

Boilermakers Local 363 Retirees

IBEW Local 309 Retirees SPECIAL NOTICE: Meeting, April 12, 11:30 a.m. at McGraw’s Irish Pub in Belleville, IL, 5500 N. Belt W, Belleville, Ill. IBEW Local 649 Retired Members Club Sheet Metal Workers Local 268 Retirees’ Club Meets on the second Wednesday of the month at Sheet Metal Workers Local 268 Hall, 2701 N. 89th St., Caseyville, Ill. at 1 p.m. All Retirees Welcome.

MISSOURI CENTRAL BODIES

Greater St. Louis Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Third Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., IBEW Local 1 Hall, 5850 Elizabeth Ave., St. Louis. St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council

First Wednesday, 10 a.m., Electricians’ Industry Training Center Auditorium, 2300 Hampton.

St. Louis Union Label & Service Trades Council

Third Monday at 6 p.m., Sheet Metal Workers Local 36, 2319 Chouteau. Craig Darrah, president.

LOCAL UNIONS

Boilermakers Local 27

The monthly membership meetings are at 8 p.m. the first Monday at the Boilermakers Hall, 1547 S. Broadway. Applications for Construction Boilermakers Apprentice will be accepted by the Boilermakers Joint Apprenticeship Committee on the second Monday of each month at the Local 27 hall, 1547 South Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri 63104, from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. The recruitment, selection, employment and training of apprentices during their apprenticeship shall be without discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, age or sex. Every applicant must supply a copy of their BIRTH CERTIFICATE and High School DIPLOMA/G.E.D. that the Committee can keep at the time of filing application for apprenticeship.

WELDING QUALIFICATION: Applicants that have a welding certification or welding training qualifications will have priority selection over applicants with no welding qualifications. Applicants must provide a copy and proof of welding certification or welding training qualifications at the time of application.

Bricklayers Local 1

Meets at 5:30 p.m. the first Thursday at Bricklayers’ Local No. 1 Union Hall, 1670 Fenpark, Fenton, MO 63026.

To register for a course, contact Dale Jennewein at the Bricklayers Local 1 MO JATC at 314-770-1066.

Cement Masons Local 527 3341 Hollenberg Dr, Bridgeton, MO 63044 Elevator Constructors Local 3 5916 Wilson Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110

Glaziers Local 513 5916 Wilson Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110

IBEW Local 1 OFFICIAL NOTICE –NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS IBEW, LOCAL #1

Melania Trump seen wearing ‘I Don’t Care’ jacket

Palm Beach — Melania Trump, who made headlines in 2018 by wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?,” was spotted wearing the garment again last week the evening after her husband was indicted in New York. Mrs. Trump, who was seen in the controversial jacket while taking a stroll around the grounds of Mar-a-Lago, offered no explanation for donning it other than that she “was really in the mood to wear it tonight.”

The former President’s wife projected an air of calm that was in sharp contrast with the tense scenes unfolding inside the residence, according to reports.

Sources said that an emergency cleaning crew had to be summoned to Mar-a-Lago to mop up what was described as a “river of ketchup.”

Examining Board

To be nominated, a member must have a minimum of two (2) years of continuous good standing in Local 1. Good standing means the member is current in their payment of dues and has been for the two (2) years preceding the nominations.

The election judge that was appointed on February 1, 2023, (eighty (80) days prior to the nomination meeting), and the tellers that will be appointed at the close of nominations, may not be a candidate for any office.

The election of officers shall take place between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on June 3, 2023, at the local union meeting hall located at 5850 Elizabeth Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63110. The ballots will be counted, and the results certified and announced immediately following the closing of the polls. A complete listing of the election results shall be posted by the close of the next business day, following the election. Absentee ballots shall be available to any member upon written request to the election judge. Such requests will be accepted up to five (5) days prior to the date of the election. No one receiving an absentee ballot will be entitled to vote at the polls without first presenting the election judge with the unused ballot. Absentee ballots received at the post office box after 12:00 Noon on June 3, 2023, will not be counted.

Each candidate shall be entitled to an observer at the polling place and during the counting of the ballots. Observers may not interfere with the orderly procedure of the election. There shall be no campaigning within fifty (50) feet from the entrance to the polling place. No postings, except for instructions, shall be permitted at the polling place.

In the event a runoff election is required, the same shall be held on June 24, 2023. The rules applicable to the regular election shall also apply to the runoff election. Members who requested an absentee ballot for the regular election will automatically receive the same for the runoff.

All officers shall be installed and begin their three (3) year terms at the regular meeting of the local union on July 21, 2023.

Any member who believes a protest of the election is warranted is urged to contact the election judge. Protests filed after the election should be filed in writing with the International Vice President of the district within thirty (30) days following the election. The decision of the International Vice President shall conclude the processing of a protest within the IBEW. In the event the protesting member is not satisfied with the decision of the International Vice President, the member may submit his or her protest to the U.S. Department of Labor.

IBEW Local 4 5850 Elizabeth Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110

IBEW Local 1 Apprentices Meeting on the first and third Friday of each month, 7 p.m. at the Training Center, 2300 Hampton.

Insulators and Asbestos Workers Local 1

First Friday, 7 p.m. at the Hoisting Engineers Hall, 3449 Hollenberg. Executive Board meets at 3325 Hollenberg on first Friday at 10 a.m. Ironworkers Local 396 Union meetings on the last Friday of each month at 8 p.m. at the Union Hall, 2500 59th St., St. Louis, MO 63110.

Laborers Local 42 Union meetings are the fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at Local 42’s Union Hall at 301 South Ewing Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103.

Laborers Local 42 offers a recurring payment option for dues payments. Find out more and sign-up by calling the Union Hall at 314-531-1187 or coming to the hall in person at 301 S. Ewing Ave., St. Louis, MO 63103.

Laborers Local 110 4532 S Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63127

Operating Engineers Local 513 St. Louis meetings: 7 p.m. second Friday monthly at 3449 Hollenberg Drive, Bridgeton, MO 63044. Louisiana meetings: 7 p.m. first Thursday in even months at the American Legion Hall, 420 Kelly Lane, Louisiana, MO.

Jefferson City meetings: 7 p.m. third Monday in even months at The Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE), 1411 Missouri Blvd., Jefferson City, MO.

Cape Girardeau meetings: 7 p.m. fourth Thursday in even months at 777 Enterprise Street, Cape Girardeau, MO.

Painters District Council 58

Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562

Second Wednesday of each month, 6 p.m., Pipefitters’ Auditorium, 12385 Larimore Rd.

Your Health

Mind, Body, Spirit

Know the facts: Your hearing depends on it

with Miracle-Ear, answered a few questions to help individuals explore hearing solutions.

WHAT SHOULD I KNOW?

OTC hearing devices are only recommended for those with mild hearing losses. They are not a healthy option for higher levels of hearing loss.

Every person’s hearing loss is unique – like a fingerprint. There is no hearing device that offers a one size fits all solution. Hearing aids should protect healthy hearing levels and correct a hearing loss. Choosing the wrong device can cause a person’s hearing to further deteriorate.

A good turn of phrase to remember, “clarity in hearing is not always just turning up the volume.” Protecting the hearing a person has left is important. A hearing device that is an amplifier and not a true hearing aid does nothing more than turn up the volume – like turning your car radio or tv volume up.

ly. Hearing devices are normally worn many hours a day, they need to be well fitted to alleviate rubbing or pressures. Professional practices can provide custom molds and a prescriptive fit to ensure comfort and clarity.

MAINTENANCE AND CLEANING

An important element to consider is aftercare service. The care, cleaning, and maintenance is important for the sound clarity and longevity of any hearing device. At a professional hearing aid practice the aftercare should be included with your purchase for the life of the devices. In most cases, OTC hearing devices do not have service or maintenance included because you are doing that yourself.

A warranty should be included. Professional outlets should also provide loaner hearing aids while yours are out for repair. Be sure to ask about what type of warranty OTC devices provide.

WHY THE PRICE DIFFERENCE?

Deceptive advertising narrative OTC products utilize is the cost difference.

Medical-grade hearing aids vary in price range based upon your specific needs. Most professional practices have options for every budget, including flexible financing. In fact, entry level hearing aids are similar in price to the current group of OTC products being offered.

Hearing loss is the third most common chronic physical condition in the U.S. and is twice as prevalent as diabetes or cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, nearly 25 million individuals have experienced tinnitus, which is a ringing or buzzing in the ears.

study also suggests hearing loss increases the chance of cognitive decline, including dementia.

It is important to see a licensed hearing care professional to rule out any serious medical condition as a cause of hearing loss or tinnitus symptoms.

Considerations such as one’s living environment, the causes of hearing loss, and the different levels of sounds and pitch that are missing are important factors in finding the correct device.

ARE OTC DEVICES EASY TO USE?

Hearing loss can change over time. Yearly evaluations are important to ensure your hearing health and device prescription stays up to date. OTC devices do not come with professional hearing evaluations and have manual settings for the owner to adjust.

The cost of professional practice hearing aids isn’t just for the devices – it also includes follow-up visits, adjustments, yearly examinations, maintenance and counseling. Unfortunately, insurance companies rarely reimburse those services and OTC purchases rarely provide them.

Untreated hearing loss is detrimental to a person’s wellbeing on multiple levels. It can cause concerns, such as communication and relationship issues, social isolation, withdrawal, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and more.

Many over the counter (OTC), online and mail order hearing devices are hitting the market at record pace, and many have deceiving advertisements. Knowing the facts will help someone navigate their choices.

If a person has difficulty using an app on a smartphone or needs help from others to navigate smartphone settings, they might do best seeing a licensed professional who can provide personalized services.

A Johns Hopkins

Nikki

RoseRoyce, a board-certified hearing instrument specialist

A person should ask themselves how comfortable they are with fitting their own devices independent-

Why you should have an estate plan

Estate planning is more than designating who will receive your remaining assets. It is a disaster preparedness plan that allows your chosen family members and trusted individuals to assist you during your incapacity and for your family to have a clear map of your intentions during times when you are unable to manage your own affairs and after you have passed.

Your complete estate plans allow you to designate individuals to make healthcare decisions for your care, to exercise a charitable intent, to provide for your loved ones (even your pets), and to provide a road map for the administration of the things you have worked so hard to build. It is one of the best gifts you can give your family.

If you already have an existing estate plan, it is just as important to regularly review your plan. As you take an annual inventory of your health, your finances, and your family situations, take the opportunity to make sure that your estate plan is also current.

The following changes in your life are good reasons to review your plan:

• A change in marital status.

• The birth of a child.

• A change in your state of residence.

• A significant change in the value or character of your assets.

• A change in intended beneficiaries.

• The death of a beneficiary or change in their status with respect to a disability

• The death of a guardian, trustee, or personal representative named in your will.

An outdated or inadequate plan can be worse than no plan at all. Although the circumstances that are making estate planning top of mind are sad, having your affairs in order is important whether there is a pandemic or not, according to St.

Louis law firm TuckerAllen.

“We can complete an estate plan in as little as two sessions – the initial consultation and the signing conference, explained an estate planning attorney at TuckerAllen,

WHAT AN ESTATE PLAN DOES

According to TuckerAllen, a proper estate plan will provide for a person’s sickness and incapacity, as well as death.

• A health care power of attorney nominates someone to make health care decisions when you are sick. This includes hiring and firing doctors, moving hospitals and authorizing or withdrawing medical procedures.

• A general power of attorney nominates someone to make personal and financial decisions when you are incapacitated. This includes paying your bills when you are in the hospital, moving you into or out of a nursing home and opening your mail.

• A health care directive (also called a “living will”) tells your family and medical professionals whether you want to “pull the plug” or continue to receive life-prolonging treatment if you enter a vegetative state and are unlikely to ever recover.

• A HIPAA waiver tells health care facilities who they may share your protected health care information with. For example, a family member may want to call in and get an update on your health since in person visits are forbidden. These are especially important if a patient

has a significant other, a blended family or family strife.

AVOIDING PROBATE

By setting up an estate plan, people get to choose where their money should go upon their passing instead of letting the state government decide according to its intestacy (inheritance) laws.

A little bit of money now to set up an estate plan will save clients’ families thousands of dollars in the future by avoiding probate. Probate is the process where the county circuit court oversees the distribution of a deceased person’s assets. For more information, contact the TuckerAllen estate and elder law firm at 314-335-1100.

Your Health

Mind, Body, Spirit

Is it time for your colorectal cancer screening?

Experts now recommend routine screening for colorectal cancer beginning at age 45. The screening age

was lowered in 2021, as the number of young adults being diagnosed with colorectal cancer continued to

rise, with many cases diagnosed at more advanced stages than in older adults eligible for screening.

Earlier screening can help identify and remove growths in the colon or rectum called polyps before they develop into cancer — or catch cancer when it’s easier to treat.

Even if you’re younger than 45, you should see your doctor and ask about screening if you have a family history of colorectal cancer or are experiencing symptoms.

Patient Brian Coyne had his first colonoscopy at 38 after he noticed

rectal bleeding and the procedure uncovered a tumor.

Brian’s diagnosis was stage 3 rectal cancer, for which he underwent multiple treatments and surgeries. Three years later, Brian is living cancer-free and grateful that he went in when he did.

OPTIONS FOR SCREENING

Though colonoscopy is the gold standard, there are several options for colorectal cancer screening. At-home tests are noninvasive and indicate whether further screening is necessary. Talk to your doctor about the best option for you.

Chanthel Kokoy-Mondragon, M.D., a gastroenterologist at UCLA Health’s Santa Clarita Digestive Diseases, said low-risk people can choose among a range of options, from an at-home stool test to a colonoscopy.

“What I recommend is for people to discuss with their physician the options that are available and choose the test that best suits them,” Dr. Kokoy-Mondragon said. An earlier start to routine screening is expected to find cancer sooner, when it’s easier to treat.

“That’s the goal of lowering the age to 45, to see if we can find these patients earlier, when they are asymptomatic,” she said. “Once patients present with concerning signs or symptoms that could mean that an advanced polyp or cancer is already present.”

Notices From page 5

Earlier colonoscopies can also prevent colorectal cancer by removing polyps, which are growths in the colon or rectum that can develop into cancer over time.

“Colonoscopy is a great preventative and therapeutic tool, which can remove precancerous polyps before they have a chance to grow into cancer,” Dr. Kokoy-Mondragon said.

THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH

Colorectal cancer is the thirdleading cause of cancer death in men and women. A family history of colon cancer as well as obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, smoking and heavy alcohol use are risk factors.

“Definitely genetics is a huge component, which is why people with a family history of colon cancer should get screened at an earlier age, either at age 40 or 10 years before their first-degree family member was diagnosed, whichever is earlier,” Dr. KokoyMondragon said. “As an example, if they have a family member diagnosed at 45, then they should start screening at 35 and be evaluated for a genetic predisposition for colon cancer.”

People who are Black, Latino or Native American are at greater risk of developing colorectal cancer. Symptoms that are concerning and should prompt medical evaluation include rectal bleeding, which is one of the most common symptoms seen in younger patients, Dr. Kokoy-Mondragon said. Other symptoms include abdominal pain, changes in stool habits or shape of stools, unintentional weight loss, decreased appetite, worsening constipation and ongoing diarrhea.

(UCLA Health)

IBEW

AUXILIARIES

Barb Moonier at 831-4961.

RETIREE CLUBS

Eastern Missouri Teamsters Retiree Council, IBT Joint Council 13 Retirees All meetings are held at the IBT Local 682 Union Hall, 5730 Elizabeth, St. Louis, MO.

I.A.T.S.E. Regular monthly meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at 1611 S. Broadway.

Teamsters Joint Council 13

Teamsters Local 688 4349 Woodson Rd, St. Louis, MO 63134

Tile-Marble Setters & Finishers, Mosaic & Terrazzo Workers & Finishers Local 18 MO

Meets at 5:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at ADC

Union Hall, 1670 Fenpark, Fenton, MO 63026.

United Food & Commercial Workers Local 655

Office Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. — Monday through Friday.

Closed Saturdays and Sundays. 300 Weidman Rd., Ballwin, MO.

Retirees’ Club: The UFCW Local 655 Retirees’ Club meets at the Local 655 Union Hall, 300 Weidman Rd., Ballwin, on the second Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. Regular Quarterly Business Meetings of the Local: Effective January 1, 2020, The Regular Quarterly Business Meetings of UFCW Local 655 will be on the third Monday of February, May, August, and November at 7 p.m. The meetings are held at the Local 655 Union Hall. You can also view a live stream of

Greater St. Louis CWA Retirees Club

Retirees Club meetings held on second Monday at CWA Local 6300 Hall, 2258 Grissom Dr., Maryland Heights. Meeting is at 11:30 a.m. and lunch at noon.

Greater St. Louis Labor Council Retirees Club

The Greater St. Louis Labor Council Retirees Club is comprised of delegates from union retiree clubs and union locals. For more information, call Club Executive Board officers: President Ronald M. Gushleff, Sr. 314-962-4128; Vice President Dave Meinell 314-291-8666 or 314-604-1316; Secretary Patricia Laughlin 314-781-8382; Treasurer Calvin Davis 314-488-0339.

SPECIAL NOTICE: All luncheon meetings to be held at 10 a.m. the third Tuesday of every other month at Machinists District 9 Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044. Please RSVP to Christine Brame at 314-291-8666 or cbrame@stlclc. org

IBEW Local 1 Retirees

IBEW Local 1439 Retirees’ Club

Third Thursday of even numbers months, 10 a.m., Local 1439 Hall.

Operating Engineers Local 513

First Wednesday of the month at 10 a.m. at the union hall, 3449 Hollenberg Dr., Bridgeton.

Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 Retirees

Meets the first Monday of the month at 11:30 a.m.

Local unions, Missouri Jobs with Justice join Trans Rights Rally at State Capitol

Jefferson City – LGBTQ+ Missourians have traveled to the State Capitol in Jefferson City week after week of this legislative session to testify at the Missouri State Capitol against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

A total of 34 bills that specifically attack the community are being tracked by both PROMO and the ACLU of Missouri. Fifteen, almost half of those, directly target transgender Missourians either by revoking access to medically necessary, lifesaving gender-affirming healthcare or banning kids as young

as kindergartners from playing team sports.

On Thursday, March 30, they were joined by union members, Missouri Jobs with Justice activists and community allies in a rally on the Capitol steps.

The Missouri Legislature has sent a clear and pointed message to all trans Missourians — you are not valued and your very existence can and should be questioned.

Politicians are perfectly content using trans bodies and children as political pawns to drive their

St. Louis Workers Education Society hosting 28th Annual Hershel Walker

‘Peace & Justice’ Awards Breakfast May 13

own agendas in both the House and Senate.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s recent “emergency regulation on gender transition interventions” and announcement of a “tip line” to report “questionable” gender transition interventions also signifies the state’s willingness to not only remain ignorant of the actual needs of trans Missourians but also its callous attempts to spread misinformation and politicize healthcare for an already at-risk population. – Philip Deitch photos

The St. Louis Workers Education Society (WES) will host the 28th Annual Hershel Walker ‘Peace & Justice’ Awards Breakfast May 13 at Painters District Council 58 union hall, 2501 59th St., St. Louis, Mo. 63110.

This year’s award recipients are:

• Keith Linderer, retired business manager, Operating Engineers Local 148.

• The Change the Name Coalition

• The Missouri Workers’ Center/ Amazon Workers

Keith Linderer spent the past 12 years as business manager of IUOE 148, and 39 years as a fulltime union representative. He has been a IUOE 148 member since 1972.

The Change the Name Coalition is challenging billionaire propertydeveloper Paul McKee and his cynical co-opting of the legacy of Homer G. Phillips Hospital.

The Missouri Workers Center /

Amazon Workers are valiantly leading the charge to compel Amazon to recognize workers’ collective bargaining rights. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. The Program will start around 10 a.m.

TICKETS AND PROGRAM BOOKLET

Breakfast tickets are $25 per person, or $200 for a table of 10 are $200. Program booklet ads are $1,000 (full-page back), $500 (full-page interior), $300 (half-page), and $150 (quarter-page). The ad program booklet deadline is Monday, May 8. Email ad copy to tony@workerseducationsociety.org

Make checks payable to: WES, 3862 Tahquitz Dr., St. Louis, MO 63125. Email ad copy to tony@workerseducationsociety.org

For more information, contact Tony Pecinovsky at 314-583-9152.

$5 Fight

To help out-of-work union members, families

forthe Please BuckUp what

Every dollar counts to help union families in need.

Three ways to give:

Mail: Check/money order payable to “$5 for the Fight.”

Mail to: $5 for the Fight, c/o St. Louis Labor Council, 3301 Hollenberg Drive, Bridgeton, MO 63044; Please include union affiliation. On line: labortribune.com, click “$5 for the Fight.”

Reoccurring credit card donation: labortribune.com, “$5 for the Fight.” Select “Automatic monthly deduction,” amount and number of months donation. NOTE: Credit card billing statement will read “505 Publications.”

Remember, 100% of your donation goes into the“Fight Fund.”

This Week In

Labor History

APRIL 3

1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. returns to Memphis to stand with striking AFSCME sanitation workers. This evening, he delivers his famous “I’ve Been to the

Mountaintop” speech in a church packed with union members and others. He is assassinated the following day.

APRIL 4

1989 – Some 1,700 United Mine Workers members in Virginia and West Virginia beat back concessions demanded by Pittston Coal Co.

2016 – The Democratic governors of New York and California sign legislation enacting phased-in $15-per-hour minimum wages for workers in their states. Since 2009, the federal minimum had been stagnating at $7.25.

APRIL 5

2010 – A huge underground explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, W. Va., kills 29 miners. It was the worst U.S. mine disaster in 40 years. The Massey Energy Co. mine had been cited for two safety infractions the day before the blast; 57 the month before, and 1,342 in the previous five years. Six years later Massey’s CEO at the time of the disaster, Don Blankenship, was sentenced to one year in jail.

APRIL 6

1905 – A sympathy strike by Chicago Teamsters in support of clothing workers leads to daily clashes between strikebreakers and armed police against hundreds and sometimes thousands of striking workers and their supporters. By the time the fight ended after 103 days, 21 people had been killed and 416 injured.

APRIL 7

1947 – National Labor Relations Board attorney tells ILWU members to “lie down like good dogs,” Juneau, Alaska.

1947 – Some 300,000 members of the National Federation of Telephone Workers, soon to become CWA, strike AT&T and the Bell System. Within five weeks all but two of the 39 federation unions had won new contracts.

2000 – Fifteen thousand union janitors strike, Los Angeles.

APRIL 8

1911 – A total of 128 convict miners, leased to a coal company under the state’s shameful convict lease

system, are killed in an explosion at the Banner coal mine outside Birmingham, Ala. The miners were mostly African-Americans jailed for minor offenses.

1935 – The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approved by Congress. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed the WPA during the Great Depression of the 1930s when almost 25 percent of Americans were unemployed. It created low-paying federal jobs providing immediate relief, putting 8.5 million jobless to work on projects ranging from construction of bridges, highways and public buildings to arts programs like the Federal Writers’ Project.

APRIL 9

1930 – IWW organizes the 1,700-member crew of the Leviathan, then the world’s largest vessel. (Compiled by David Prosten, founder Union Communication Services)

Russel HVAC LLC

Metropolis IL 618-524-9406

Supplied Industrial Solutions 618-452-8151

T.M. Weir Heating & Cooling

Cahokia, IL 618-632-6382

W.S.M. Inc., S.I.

E. St. Louis, IL 618-271-2410

Walters Metal Fabrication Inc.

Granite City, IL 618-931-5551

Williams Heating & A/C Steelville, IL 618-965-2040

PLUMBING

A & H Mechanical

Collinsville, IL 618-874-5588

Bel-O Sales & Service

Belleville, IL 618-234-3310

Benchmark Plumbing

O'Fallon, IL 618-410-1914

Bergmann-Roscow Plumbing

Belleville, IL 618-233-1325

Commercial Landscape Service

Fairrview Heights, IL 618-397-6913

Crafton Plumbing

Collinsville, IL 618-346-8806

D & K Backhoe Co.

Collinsville, IL 618-344-7779

Systems Techology Group Swansea, IL 618-616-0877

Bickle Electric Contracting

Edwardsville, IL 618-259-4499

Camp Electric Alton, IL 618-462-9287

Electrico, Inc.

Millstadt, IL 618-538-9500

Gilbert Electric Fults, IL 618-458-7235

Glaenzer Electric Co.

Belleville, IL 618-277-2500

Guarantee Electric Co. Granite City, IL 618-452-6122

Jarvis Electric, Inc.

Belleville, IL 618-806-0217

J.F. Electric, Inc.

Edwardsville, IL 618-797-5353

Laughlin Electric, Inc.

Walshville, IL 217-246-4113

Lowry Electric Company Collinsville, IL 618-313-2100

M.A.C. Electric Company

O'Fallon, IL 618-632-6672

MC Electric, Inc.

Red Bud, IL 618-282-7788

MEI Electric, Inc.

Columbia, IL 618-789-2381

North County Electric

Red Bud, IL 618-282-2749

O'Fallon Electric Co.

O'Fallon, IL 618-632-3577

Pfeffer Electric New Baden, IL 618-588-4593

IL. 618-224-7344

Bel-O Cooling & Heating O’Fallon, IL

618-632-5700

Bel-O Sales and Service Belleville, IL 618-234-3310

Booher Tin Shop, Inc. Salem, IL 618-548-1295

Bryan Lewis Heating & Cooling Madison, IL 618-501-1853

C & K Heating & Cooling Lebanon IL 618-537-9528

Clinton Seamless Guttering, Inc.

Breese, IL 618-526-7016

Culbertson Heating &

Laux HVAC & Sheet Metal Inc. New Baden, IL 618-248-1220

McFarland Heating & Cooling Granite City, IL 618-451-1512

Merz Heating & A/C

Effingham, IL 217-342-2323

Mideastern Plbg. Htg. & AC Carlyle, IL 618-594-3299

Midwest Mechanical & Life Safety Services Waterloo, IL. 62298 618-401-3807

Neal’s Heating & Cooling, Inc. Marissa, IL 618-295-3402

PSI Mechanical Contractors

Marion IL 618-922-0974

Quality Sheet Metals LLC

Carbondale, IL 618-549-7371

Rebel, Inc. (guttering)

Belleville, IL 618-235-0582

Rend Lake Plb. & Htg. Co.

Bonnie, IL 618-242-3606

DMI Plumbing

Swansea, IL 618-233-7896

Dale Hendricks Plumbing

Collinsville, IL 618-344-2198

Ehret Plumbing & Heating

Belleville, IL 618-233-1018

Essenprels Plumbing

Highland, IL 618-654-5588

Excel Plumbing, Inc.

Caseyville, IL 618-667-0033

G.R.P. Mechanical Co.

Bethalto, IL 618-258-9000

George Grove Plumbing & Heating

Granite City, IL 618-877-1956

Gerstner Plumbing

Breese, IL 618-526-7846

Haier Plumbing & Heating

Okawville, IL 618-243-5908

Hammbone's Plumbing

Belleville, IL 618-335-9948

Hirsch Plumbing, Inc.

Fults, IL 618-977-7821

Houseman Supply, Inc.

Highland, IL 648-654-2193

Hubert Plumbing & Heating

Belleville, IL 618-233-7531

Kane Mechanical, Inc.

Wood River, IL 618-254-0681

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L.W. Contractors Collinsville, IL 618-344-6353

Belleville, IL 618-233-2424

Lakeside Roofing

Collinsville, IL 618-344-2800

Shay Roofing. Millstadt, IL 618-476-3360

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Updated 2-24-23

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel the day before his assassination. (Rev. Jesse Jackson is at left)

Catching spring smallmouth bass

By TERRY WILSON

Spring thaws and rainy weather cause smallmouth streams to rise and become dingy or downright muddy. Despite these discouraging conditions, when water temperatures rise toward the 50-degree mark, bronzebacks move toward suitable spawning habitats.

Modern research indicates that these wandering smallies move a few hundred yards to several miles in either direction. Some move downstream, but the highest percentage favor upstream migration.

Shallows with a gravel bottom and nearby weedbeds are the preferred spawning sites. The gravel can be easily excavated to build the smallmouth’s crude nests, allowing the adhesive eggs to incubate in the warming water. Adjacent weedbeds serve as a nursery for tiny bass fingerlings. They can find minute insect larva to promote growth while providing a hiding place from their numerous predators.

Areas with deeper structures, like undercut banks or downed timber, provide prospective spawners a safe retreat when disturbed. It’s these holding areas that should be the targets of pre-spawn fishing.

Anglers that fish the same water that provided a bountiful catch last summer or fall will be sorely disappointed by a lack of success there during pre-spawn. Fishing these areas requires a different approach, presentation and fly selection.

SHALLOW WATER EDDIES

Shallow water adjacent to the stream’s main flow often harbors eddies that sweep back upstream in a slowed circular motion. Eddies are also commonly found downstream from significant current breaks near the edge of the stream’s flow, such as bridge abutments or deadfalls. These areas offer good resting lies for fish out of the force of the strongest currents and provide food concentrations that sweep past their positions. Nymphs, leeches, minnows, crayfish and other prey

are on the menu.

The most aggressive feeders often locate at the initial current break, where the flow begins to decrease. This is the first area to explore. A cautious approach from the downstream end of the eddy enables the angler to face and cast upstream. Short, accurate casts allow the fly to sweep naturally into the eddy. Less aggressive smallies will move to the slowest part of the eddy near its back edge. Reposition near enough to the upstream end of the eddy so casts made toward the downstream side allow a deaddrifted fly to sweep toward the casting position.

The best success is often the result of imparting intermittent action. One method of providing action is lifting the rod tip, then lowering it a few inches, followed by a line strip to remove slack.

Experiment with the vigor of the imparted movement until a successful trigger has been established. The simple, ever-productive Woolly Bugger is often a good pattern for exploring eddies.

ADJUSTING BARBELL EYES

Clousers are another viable fly choice as a searching pattern. The weight of the barbell eyes can be adjusted from extra-small, small or medium to allow the angler to change the depth of the presentation and control the fly’s drift. Color combinations that include black, brown, olive and fluorescent chartreuse are successful in stained water.

A second productive area for spring smallmouth bass is the mouths of tributaries. While these smaller waterways might also be affected by high, stained water, they will rise, settle and fall much more rapidly than the rivers they feed. River-dwelling smallmouths, some of surprising size, enter the mouths of tributaries and even travel some distance upstream to forage while avoiding the rigors of battling strong currents and coping with muddied water.

Smaller, clearer water requires stealthy approaches, gentle casts and perhaps even more realistic fly patterns. Fishing upstream, using short casts or simply reaching the rod forward to drop the fly on the water, all spook fewer fish.

DEAD DRIFTING

Dead drifting the mouths of tributaries can be the best tactic and should be tried first. If action is needed, very subtle movements are often best. Flies should generally be downsized from the river offerings depending, of course, on

the comparative size of the stream. Upstream presentations in tiny streams make a lot of sense, but you must avoid casting shadows over potential fish lies and hooking over-hanging brush. Mayfly and damselfly nymphs work well in tributaries. Flies tied “in the round” allow the current to tumble the fly without causing it to appear unnatural when it’s upside down. Sparsely tied, lightly weighted streamers on sizes 10 and 12 nymph hooks such as TMC 200R can entice hungry smallmouths.

White marabou streamers produce well in clear water, as do sparsely tied hair-wing patterns.

Switching both tactics and locations can put fly fishers in smallmouth bass action in early spring. Choose dark-colored flies for darkened water and progressively lighter colors as the water clears. Remember always to release these magnificent game fish.

(Terry and Roxanne Wilson can be found at thebluegillpond.com and on Facebook at warmwaterflyfishing

FISH THE EDDYS near the edges of the stream’s flow for resting smallmouth that are waiting for food to sweep past them. – Photo by Roxanne Wilson

THE MOUTHS OF TRIBUTARIES fished using downsized flies can yield some tail-walking smallies. – Photo by Roxanne Wilson

Outdoor Guide

By BRIAN WRIGHT

The natural beauty of southern Missouri is stunning. Rugged hills covered with oak and hickory and deep hollows teaming with flora and fauna meld seamlessly with the clear, spring-fed waters found throughout the region.

Near Branson, Table Rock Lake’s scenic setting is the perfect base camp for families looking to experience the great outdoors.

CAMPING

• The Port of Kimberling Marina and Resort, in Kimberling City, is centrally located and adjacent to the Highway 13 bridge, which bisects the lake. This 177-acre waterfront facility can accommodate the largest of modern RVs, yet still maintains secluded sites for tent campers. The resort also offers comfortable cabins complete with linens, dishes, television and air conditioning – perfect for a turnkey family getaway.

• Bar-M Resort and Campground, located off DD Highway in one of Table Rock’s popular resort areas,

Table Rock –Natural for Vacations

is also a great option. Visitors can choose from cabins or RV and tent sites. The resort has boat rentals, a picnic pavilion and a large playground for the youngsters.

HIKE & BIKE

• Dogwood Canyon Nature Park sprawls across the Missouri-Arkansas border, just south of Table Rock Lake. This 2,200-acre slice of Ozarks paradise is incredible. Created by Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, visitors can choose from self-guided walking or biking trails, guided tram tours, trout fishing or horseback riding.

• Table Rock State Park is located near the lake’s dam and offers some great options for outdoors recreation, too. If you’re looking for an easy lakeside stroll, try the Table Rock Lakeshore Trail. The trail is 2.25 miles in length and runs along the shoreline, between the Dewey Short Visitor Center and State Park Marina. It’s easy to navigate and wheelchair accessible.

• The White River Valley Trail System, a part of Table Rock State Park, has

four loops and covers 11.75 miles of very scenic and rugged terrain. The loops are best suited for those seeking a challenging hike or mountain bike ride, and will definitely get your blood pumping. Elevations range from 700 to 1,200 feet.

NATURE

With more than 45,000 acres of water and 800 miles of shoreline, Table Rock is surrounded by a stunning landscape with diverse opportunities for nature-loving families. Deer, wild turkey, raccoons and even an occasional black bear roam the hills.

For birders, eagles, turkey vultures, hawks and various waterfowl can also be seen soaring above the landscape. Other critters you are likely to encounter include woodchucks, roadrunners and red fox. Probably the best way to explore the natural wonder of Table Rock Lake is by water. In addition to traditional boating, the lake is very popular with stand-up paddleboarders, kayakers and canoe enthusiasts. The hundreds of coves and secluded stretches of water provide serenity and a great appreciation for the area’s natural beauty.

By vehicle, the adventurous lake roads lead to some of the best sightings of wildlife and best views of expansive landscapes. Lake maps are available at the Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce visitor center, which come in handy when looking for out-of-the-way areas.

MUST-SEE

• The Dewey Short Visitor Center interpretive area hosts a wealth of knowledge to help visitors gain a greater understanding of the

Today 8:45 AM

region’s complex ecosystem, and how the natural resources are maintained, from exhibits about the White River Watershed and local habitats. Be sure to step out on the viewing deck overlooking Table Rock Lake, the dam and Lake Taneycomo (formed by the tail water of Table Rock Lake).

• The Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery, below Table Rock dam, is one of the best family activities you’ll encounter. Run by the Missouri Department of Conservation, take a guided or self-guided tour of the state’s largest fish hatchery, producing nearly 400,000 pounds of rainbow and brown trout each year. The hatchery features a visitor center with exhibits and displays, a pavilion and picnic tables, nearly three miles of hiking trails, and a wildlife-viewing blind and tower.

• Ziplines – For a real bird’s-eye view

of the Ozarks, consider a zipline canopy tour. The lush and scenic topography is perfect for this activity and there are several locations around the lake, such as Branson Zipline and Canopy Tours, seven miles north of the lake. The tour features a series of ziplines, walkways, and bridges. It’s a thrilling family experience and the knowledgeable guides provide detailed information on local plants and animals.

If you’re seeking a destination that will check all the boxes for a nature-loving family adventure, Table Rock Lake should be on your short list, because it checks off everything and encompasses so many great activities that go beyond the usual list.

For additional information, request the latest visitors guide or explore the attractions at visittablerocklake.com.

CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULE. GET TO PULASKI COUNTY, MO!

Gentle rivers full of twists and turns, spectacular Ozark scenery, and phenomenal fishing make for an adventurous getaway! But that only scratches the surface of all Pulaski County offers. Plan your trip through the heart of the Ozarks and fill up on tales as old as time at our historic military and Route 66 stops. Test your skills in archery, golf, indoor shooting, and more. Grab delicious eats and treats at our unique diners. en do it all again as you work your way through our day-a er-day adventures.

Plan your adventure through the heart of the Ozarks at pulaskicountyusa.com.

“Out all day. Got a lead on a big one.”

WAYNESVILLE, MO

Photos and Text

DOGWOOD CANYON NATURE PARK covers 2,200 acres in two states.

TABLE ROCK LAKE is a place for nature.

Outdoor Guide

Photo and Text

By BRANDON BUTLER

Clay shooting is fun. Even if you are not a hunter, shooting clay targets out of the sky with a shotgun is a blast. If you are a hunter, then ethical hunters must hone their shooting skills before entering the field in pursuit of game.

Summer is a perfect time to do this, and nothing is better practice for wing shooting than skeet, trap and sporting clays.

SPORTING CLAYS

Sporting Clays is often compared to golf, because you follow a course and shoot from multiple stations, like holes. No two sporting clay courses are the same, so you have to adjust your shooting to each individual station on the course.

Targets come from all directions. They come from the sides, over the top of your head, right underneath you and straight at you.

Having to adjust to the differing shots is what makes shooting sporting clays so much fun. It’s also what makes it so much like hunting. You never know where a quail may flush or from what direction a duck may approach.

Learning how to make quick and accurate shots on a sporting clays course will prepare you for the same sort of experiences in the field.

TRAP

Trap is pretty easy, so it is a great

For Skills, Shoot Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays

Once you get the hang of it, the targets are fairly easy to hit. This helps build confidence that will carry over into the field.

A round of trap includes 25 targets. A shooter moves through five shooting stations. Five targets are thrown from each. You can shoot trap with as few as one person or as many as five, so it’s a great way to practice shooting while having fun with family and friends.

SKEET

Skeet is similar to trap but with added difficulty. There are eight shooting stations and two trap houses. Seven of the stations are arranged in a half-moon shape between the two trap houses, and one station is directly between them. There is a high trap house and a low trap house.

The high trap house is on the left side of the field. It throws targets 10 feet above the ground that rise to a height of 15 feet in the center of the field.

The low trap house target is on

the right side of the field. It throws targets 31/2 feet above the ground. These also rise to 15 feet in the center of the field. A round of skeet consists of 25 targets. A shooter takes 17 shot as singles and eight as doubles.

Sporting clay, trap and skeet shooting are all great ways to hone your wing shooting skills while having a great time with family and friends. A simple online search should direct you to a shooting location near you.

If you can’t find a course or club near you, then there are many models of personal clay throwers you can purchase to throw targets yourself. These range from as simple as personal hand thrower, to automatic machines.

You can set up your own shooting opportunities with a minimal investment in a thrower and a box of clay targets.

Brandon Butler is execu tive director of the Missouri Conservation Federation

Outdoor Guide

Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

Branson Convention & Visitors Bureau

Families can enjoy the great outdoors on camping trips to the Branson area. From campsites to hiking trails, here is everything you need to know to plan an unforgettable family excursion.

Fresh air, a cozy campfire, the sweet taste of s’mores – there’s no better way to enjoy a weekend getaway than camping in Branson. Add to those attributes the beautiful natural surroundings of the Ozarks and you’ve got yourself one awesome outdoor adventure.

Branson’s for Families, Even in Winter

CAMPING BRANSON

One of Branson’s most popular camping destinations is Table Rock Lake, which features two campgrounds – Viney Creek Recreation Area and Table Rock Lake Campground.

Trails around Table Rock State Park provide a great environment to explore the outdoors. Trails of varying lengths are open to hiking and biking, while the popular Table Rock Lake is one of Missouri’s top fishing destinations. The marina also has plenty of options for boat and equipment rentals and nearly 800 miles of shoreline to enjoy.

Families can pack up and plan a getaway any time of the year in one of Branson’s family oriented RV parks and campgrounds. The convenience of Wi-Fi is offered at most facilities, and most are pet-friendly too. Several are Good Sam awardwinners and are often featured in Trailer Life magazine.

Branson is the place to spend quality time together with the comforts of a full-service 20/30/50-amp RV site or to unplug and reconnect with the family near one of its beautiful lakes. Of course, there’s more to camping than just pitching a tent and stoking the fire. A great camping trip includes exploring hiking trails, a little fishing, and did we already mention s’mores?

ON THE TRAILS

The Branson/Lakes Area features more than 200 miles of hiking, biking and horseback riding trails. Also, the high-tech sport of geocaching is alive and well in the Ozarks, with dozens of caches hidden throughout the terrain.

Dogwood Canyon Nature Park provides a perfect setting for activities including fishing, hiking, biking or taking a historical tram tour. Covering 10,000 acres of pristine Ozark

Mountain landscape, the park has miles of crystal-clear trout streams, cascading waterfalls, ancient burial caves, unique hand-built bridges and bottomless, blue-green pools.

THRILL RIDES

Branson Zipline Tours at Wolfe Mountain offers authentic eco-adventures in the Ozarks. The thrilling options include a variety of guided canopy tours with treks across ziplines, sky bridges, and platforms.

The Shepherd of the Hills Vigilante ZipRider is an exciting thrill ride launching from the open-air deck of the 230-foot Inspiration Tower. This ride whisks guests on an adrenaline-pumping downhill adventure over The Shepherd of the Hills’ 160-acre homestead. Coasting along at speeds of up to 50 mph, it’s a ride that you’ll remember for years to come.

ON THE WATER

The Branson/Lakes Area has three pristine lakes – Table Rock, Taneycomo and Bull Shoals – with hundreds of miles of natural shoreline. The lakes’ waters never freeze, welcoming activities year-round. Water sports enthusiasts can swim, water ski, wakeboard, tube, boat, sail, scuba dive, Jet Ski, parasail, kayak and fish.

Kayaking, hydro-biking and stand-up paddleboarding are amazing ways to get out on the water. Options can be found with Kayak Branson, White River Kayaking, 38 Paddle Co. and Main Street Marina on Lake Taneycomo.

Table Rock Lake is accessible from multiple public and privately owned locations just west of Branson. Many enjoy this lake through activity options including boat rentals, wave runner rentals, the Spirit of America

catamaran cruise for up to 50 people, as well as lunch and dinner cruises aboard the Showboat Branson Belle. Lake Taneycomo’s water comes from the bottom of Table Rock Lake, making it a cold-water lake. The pristine, clear water is stocked annually with approximately 750,000 rainbow trout, making it a world-class trout fishery. This lake is also perfect for kayaking.

ULTIMATE RV PARKING

Whether you’re on a crosscountry road trip or headed for the Ozarks, Branson and its surrounding area are the perfect place to park your tent or RV.

Enjoy the waterfront beauty and water activities at  Bull Shoals Lake and  Table Rock Lake. Or stay in the quiet woodlands of nearby state parks. With 50-amp service and campfire rings, along with the proximity of so many great shows and attractions, there is little wonder Branson is one of America’s favorite camping destinations.

A BIG RIG at Viney Creek Recreation Area. – Travels.Blogspot.com photo

TROUT FISHING is a special treat at Dogwood Canyon Nature Park – Dogwood Canyon photo

WATERFALLS are a common sight at Dogwood Canyon. – Outdoor Guide photo

BRANSON ZIPLINE at Wolfe Mountain uses ziplines, sky bridges and platforms. – Branson Zipline photo

Outdoor Guide

Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel ON THE NORFORK

By BRANDON BUTLER

The White River in Northwest Arkansas is where my love of trout fishing was born. This world-class fishery flows from the base of Bull Shoals Dam southeast to its confluence with the Mississippi. The upper 30 miles of the White is one of the greatest trout fishing destinations in the country. Anglers descend on this mecca for both numbers and the chance at a trout of a lifetime.

For nearly 30 years, I’ve been returning to the White River and Gaston’s Resort because I’ve yet to find a place more suited for refreshing my soul. The fishing, the food and the cozy riverside cabins combine to create the perfect place to escape the hustle of everyday life.

The entire region is an outdoor masterpiece. Bull Shoals Reservoir is outstanding for bass, crappie, walleye and more. For pleasure boating and water sports, few places compare. As an Army Corp impoundment, the shoreline remains pristine. It is easy to escape the crowd on this massive body of water. The region is inviting.

There is a freedom in these Ozark Mountains. It’s a mild wilderness. Where you breathe clean air, fish and swim in clean water, wander bountiful forests, watch eagles fly, know bears roam, hear elk bugle and let your spirits soar. This is a destination where special memories are made. Where families gather and old friends find time to reconnect.

LIVING HIS DREAM

I met Jeremy Hunt over a decade ago when he was guiding on Lake Taneycomo in Branson. I immediately was drawn to his depth of fly fishing knowledge and his gregarious nature. Now he’s living his dream on the White River as the owner of Flies and Guides, where he and his partner Lisa Bellue run a first class fly-shop and guide service.

Jeremy is an expert fly tier. He sells his flies from the shop and online. Together with Lisa and a crew of tiers, they sell wholesale to other shops as well. No one ever said living your dream is easy work. But Jeremy proves it each day – it’s gratifying.

As a master of his craft, Jeremy takes pride in each fly he turns out, knowing it could be the one that connects an angler to a fish and moment they’ll never forget. The Miracle Fly is an egg pattern tied on a jig head. Traditional? No. Effective? Oh yeah.

Customers keep the shop hopping. Seeking knowledge and equipment, Jeremy provides both. He’s not short on stories. Take this man’s advice on what to use and where to use it.

Streamers are a prize on the White. Flies and Guides offers the ones you need. Don’t know which color to use under which conditions? Jeremy does. Let him set you up. Strip streamers for giant browns. Hook one and you’ll be changed for life.

Just to the east of Mountain Home is the Norfork River. The short gem of a tailwater is loaded with trout. Flowing into it at the dam is Dry Run Creek, a special water set aside to offer youth anglers a real chance at the trout of the lifetime, just as the Norfork River offers the same to us all.

Norfork is one of those rivers you can’t get enough of. When it’s on, it’s on like nowhere else. It doesn’t matter if you’re a traditionalist fly angler or spinning rod aficionado, the Norfork has it all. Swift runs, long riffles, sharp drops, deep pools and lots and lots of trout.

The Norfork is more intimate than the White River. It’s smaller, but like dynamite, is explosive. Catch the Norfork when the con-

Bull Shoals area a gem –especially for fishing

ditions are right, and I don’t know what river can compare. Rainbows, browns, brookies and cutthroat can all end up on your line at any time. Rare tiger trout and golden trout offer the occasional surprise. Accidental walleyes and bass please trout fishermen from time to time. One does not have to be a fly fisherman to enjoy trout fishing. Too often anglers are at odds over methods. These waters invite all. Regardless of preference, fisherman of all ilks come to wet a line, bend a rod and beam with pride and joy as they bring another trout to net.

Waters this perfect deserve the utmost respect. If you want trout for the frying pan, there is a supply of stockers for that purpose. Please release the trophies. Handle them with care so they survive to fight another day. A replica mount is a superior option to killing a magnificent fish.

To experience the Bull Shoals Region is to experience a fishing destination like few others in America. With the 50,000 acre reservoir, the

White River, Norfork Reservoir, the Norfork River, Dry Run Creek, and two additional must-fish destinations in the Buffalo River and Crooked Creek, one simply has to make the trip to this region or their bucket list will never be complete.

Once you do – once you leave with memories of this special place –you’ll be back to make more. For more Driftwood Outdoors, check out the podcast at www.driftwoodoutdoors.com or anywhere podcasts are streamed.

Photo and Text

NATHAN ‘SHAGS’ MCLEOD shows why the Bull Shoals region of Arkansas is a special fishing destination.

JEREMY HUNT is living his dream.

Outdoor Guide

Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

Missouri Department of Conservation

Spring and early summer is the time when bears are most likely to be on the move in St. Louis and surrounding regions, the Missouri Department of Conservation reports.

It’s common for MDC to receive reports of bears in counties like Jefferson, Franklin, Washington and Crawford. However, it was just over a year ago when a male black bear wandered through St. Louis County and into Richmond Heights, where MDC biologists immobilized and safely relocated it to an area of suitable bear habitat outside the urban corridor.

Incidents like this remind us that black bears are becoming a growing part of the St. Louis regional landscape, even at times in highly populated areas.

The department’s ongoing bear research indicates that the Show-MeState is currently home to around 800 black bears, and that population is growing by about 8 percent each year.

Only one species can be found in this state – the American black bear – though multiple color phases can be found in Missouri other than black; a bear’s fur can be brown, red, or cinnamon in color.

Most of our bears are found in the southern part of Missouri, which is where the largest tracts of forested habitat are.

POPULATION GROWING

However, research also shows the population is expanding, both in total numbers and range, which might explain the uptick in sightings in recent years. As the population grows and expands, bears are showing up in areas further north.

Additionally, late spring and early summer is prime time for bears to be on the move. Young bears begin to wander seeking food and new areas to settle, and adult males begin moving large distances in search of females.

These creatures are part of our state’s natural history, and many people enjoy the thought of seeing one of these impressive animals. With an expanding population of bears, however, comes an increased potential for human-bear interactions.

While generally not aggressive, black bears, like any wild animals, are driven to find food. It takes a lot of calories to fuel an animal that typically weighs several hundred pounds, and they can be attracted to a variety of food sources this time of year.

Bears on the move this time of summer

AVOIDING CONFLICTS

As bears emerge from hibernation in spring, they’re especially hungry.  Food, or rather the lack of it, is key to avoiding conflicts with bears. The last thing homeowners should do is tempt them with any sort of food source, whether intentionally or not. Feeding bears can be dangerous, as it makes the bears comfortable around people. It can also lead bears to cause significant damage to property.

A bear that becomes accustomed to obtaining food from humans can become a problem, resulting in increased encounters, property damage, bold behavior and ultimately the euthanizing of the bear. These types of situations can be prevented by ensuring bears don’t have access to easy foods.

Despite their primary concentration in the Ozarks, sightings and potential encounters with bears are likely to increase in the St. Louis region.

SOME GOOD IDEAS

MDC suggests the following tips to avoid issues if a bear has been sighted in the area.

• Store garbage, recyclables, and compost inside a secure building or in a bear-proof container or location.

• Regularly clean and disinfect trash containers to minimize smells that could attract bears.

• Keep grills and smokers clean and store them inside.

• Don’t leave pet food outside. Feed pets a portion at each meal and remove the empty containers.

• Refrain from using bird feeders in bear country from April through November. When in use, hang them at least 10 feet high and 4 feet away from any structure. Keep in mind that even if a bear cannot get to the birdseed, the scent could still attract it to the area.

• Use electric fencing to keep bears away from beehives, chicken coops, vegetable gardens, orchards, and other potential food sources. These measures will also reduce problems with more common critters like raccoons and coyotes. While black bears are generally a shy, non-aggressive species, and bear attacks are rare throughout their range in North America, MDC offers these tips to stay safe when hiking and camping in bear country:

• Never deliberately offer a bear

food!

• Keep campsites clean and store all food, toiletries, and trash in a secure vehicle or strung high between two trees.

• Do not keep food or toiletries in a tent, and do not burn or bury garbage or food waste.

• Make noise, such as clapping, singing or talking loudly, while hiking to prevent surprising a bear.

• Travel in a group if possible.

• Keep dogs leashed

• If hiking or camping in bear country, consider carrying bear spray Read the instructions carefully and keep bear spray immediately available on your belt or your pack’s waist strap, not buried inside your pack.

• Be aware of surroundings. If there are signs of a bear, such as tracks or scat, avoid the area.

• Leave bears alone! Do not approach them, and make sure they have an escape route.

To learn more about black bears in Missouri, go to mdc.mo.gov/ bearaware.  To report bear sightings and submit photos online, go to mdc. mo.gov/reportbears.

Minnesota parks add all-terrain chairs

Here’s something different. Visitors with mobility disabilities can now use all-terrain track chairs or an adaptive beach chair at six Minnesota state parks.

The track chairs enable visitors to explore non-accessible trails and other areas within the parks. They are off-road, electric powered chairs that can be used on designated trails within the parks that are not suitable for wheelchairs.

Users should call ahead to reserve a chair, and they will need to sign waivers. There is no charge, but all vehicles entering a park must have a state park vehicle permit, which is discounted for cars with disability hanging tags.

The chairs are located at:

• Camden State Park

(507) 872-7031

• Crow Wing State Park

(218) 825-3075

• Lake Bemidji State Park

(218) 308-2300

• McCarthy Beach State Park

(218) 274-7299

• Maplewood State Park starting this fall

(218) 863-8383

• Myre-Big Island State Park

(507) 668-7060

The adaptive beach chair is also located at McCarthy Beach State Park.

COME PREPARED

Riders who will need help getting into and out of the chairs will need to bring someone to do that; park staff will not be available. Transfer boards will be available. Riders should also remember a water bottle, bug spray, sunscreen, snacks, a sun hat, rain gear or extra layers depending on the weather.

“Minnesota state parks are for everyone to enjoy, regardless of age or ability,” Department of Natural Resources Assistant Commissioner Shannon Lotthammer said. “Adaptive equipment like these all-terrain track chairs allows visitors to explore the great outdoors. Along with other parks and trails providers across the state – like our partners in Olmsted County and the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center – we hope to provide a system of adaptive-supported recreation opportunities from backyard to backcountry.”

BIOLOGISTS say bears are on the move. Don’t feed them, and do take precautions when camping. – MDC photo

Missouri Department of Conservation

Pet owners in the city of Wildwood have reported encounters with coyotes recently, and the Missouri Department of Conservation reminds residents that while coyote encounters are rare, it’s still a good idea to be vigilant of pets during this time in all areas where coyotes are known to live.

“Coyotes are teaching their pups how to hunt and travel right now, and that can lead to conflicts with pets and people – especially in an urban setting,” Wildlife Damage Biologist Patrice Pyatt said.

Pyatt said pets – especially dogs – can provoke territorial responses from coyotes. They may attack family pets not as a food source, but instead because they see them as competition for their territory. Pet owners should take extra care when walking dogs or letting them out in the yard, especially around dusk. Residents should always keep a close eye on pets while they are in the yard, and keep them on a leash when walking them outside the yard.  Coyotes adapt particularly well around human development, and co-exist with people in many places. These areas can include municipal parks and other urban green space, golf courses, cemeteries, suburban wooded common areas, and even within subdivisions themselves.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Three things are key to minimizing potential conflicts with coyotes – food, scare tactics and vigilance.

First, ensure that your yard or property has no food sources readily available to coyotes.  If food is deliberately or inadvertently provided by people, adult coyotes and their pups quickly learn not to fear humans and will develop a dependency on these easy food sources.

MDC urges dog and cat owners not to leave pet food outside, to securely cover all trash containers, and consider waiting to put trash containers out as close to pick-up time as possible.

Consider bringing in bird feeders too. While coyotes are usually not interested in bird food, bird feeders attract rodents, especially squirrels, which in turn attract coyotes.  There are plenty of food sources for birds this time of year.

MDC recommends the use of scare tactics to instill fear of humans into coyotes.  If a coyote should approach

Guide

or be seen in the yard, homeowners should do everything possible to make it feel unwelcome. This could include yelling or making other loud, threatening noises, throwing rocks, spraying garden hoses, or blowing air horns. It’s a matter of conditioning. If its encounter with humans is unpleasant, a coyote will be less likely to come back.

Finally, vigilance regarding pets is extremely important. MDC cautions that pet owners should not leave their pets outside unattended, especially during the hours of dusk, nighttime, and dawn. These are the periods coy-

Coyotes become a presence in St. Louis

otes are most active. Owners should be with their pets and have them in constant view during these times. Installing a fence around yards may also help. Fences should be at least six feet high and dug into the ground six inches deep, so the agile and resourceful canines cannot jump or dig under them. More information on dealing with nuisance coyotes can be found at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zaa or write to “Controlling Conflicts with Urban Coyotes in Missouri,” at P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102. Or send e-mail to pubstaff@ mdc.mo.gov

St. Louis’ Most Family-Owned Dealers

WATCH OUT, pet owners, coyotes can be territorial – MDC photo

Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

After two years of consumer research and planning, the state of Illinois has unveiled “Copi,” the new name for Asian carp.

Copi is a freshwater, top-feeding, wild-caught fish that is mild with a clean, light taste. The new name and brand are designed to address public misconceptions about this top-feeding fish which has been overrunning Midwest waterways.

Copi are mild, clean-tasting fish with heart-healthy omega-3s and very low levels of mercury. Increased consumption will help to stop them from decimating other fish populations in the Great Lakes and restore an ecological balance to waterways down stream.

A ‘COPIOUS’ TREAT

“Enjoying Copi in a restaurant or at home is one of the easiest things people can do to help protect our waterways and Lake Michigan,” said John Goss, former White House invasive carp adviser.

The new name is a play on “copious” – as that’s exactly what these

Illinois declares Asian carp is ‘Copi’

fish are. By one estimate, 20 million to 50 million pounds of Copi could be harvested from the Illinois River alone each year, with hundreds of millions more in waterways from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast.

“Copi is a great name: Short, crisp and easy to say. What diner won’t be intrigued when they read Copi tacos or Copi burgers on a menu?” said Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Colleen Callahan. “It’s a tasty fish that’s easy to work with in the kitchen and it plates beautifully. Every time we’ve offered samples during the Illinois State Fair, people have walked away floored by how delicious it is.”

BEATS TILAPIA

As part of the launch, 21 chefs and retailers committed to putting Copi on their menus or in their stores, and 14 processors, manufacturers and distributors are making Copi products available.

“Copi is more savory than tilapia, cleaner tasting than catfish,

and firmer than cod,” said chef Brian Jupiter, who revealed the new name and will serve Copi at his Ina Mae Tavern in Chicago.

“It’s the perfect canvas for creativity – pan fried, steamed, broiled, baked, roasted or grilled. Copi can be ground for burgers, fish cakes, dumplings and tacos,” he said.

A list of recommended recipes using Copi can be viewed at ChooseCopi.com.

Illinois officials will apply to formally change the name with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year. “Among the requirements to win federal approval for a name change is widespread use of the name, which is another reason why this event is so important,” said Kevin Irons, the assistant fisheries chief for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, who specializes in invasive species. “So there is one thing that everyone can do to help save the Great Lakes: Call the fish Copi.”

DON’T CALL it Asian carp, it’s now ‘Copi’

‘CARP AND COPI’ AT THE STORE

When sold in grocery stores, the packaging will describe the fish as carp and Copi until federal regulators approve the name change. The state also has applied to register the trademark so that industry groups will be able to develop standards and ensure quality control.

Copi were originally imported from Southeast Asia to the United States to help keep clean fish-farm

retention ponds in southern states. But flooding and accidental releases in the 1970s allowed them to escape, multiply and migrate up the Mississippi River system.

Ever since, a collaboration of local, state, and federal government entities have worked to prevent the invasive species from entering Lake Michigan, which would threaten a $7 billion-a-year commercial fishing industry and a $16 billion-a-year tourism industry in the Great Lakes.

Boaters prepare

BOAT US

Record-high gas prices had many boaters throughout the country saving and waiting for Independence Day to get out on the water, which could result in one of the busiest on-water holidays in decades.

Boat Owners Association of the United States (BoatUS), the nation’s largest boating advocacy, services and safety group with more than 800,000 dues-paying members, is advising boaters to be prepared and boat safely.

“While trends showed a steep decline in our service calls for assistance since Memorial Day, our members are telling us that they’re waiting until the July Fourth holiday weekend to take their boats out,” Condon said recently.

BOAT BAROMETER

The number of requests the on-water towing service receives from boaters can be a barometer of boating traffic, indicating peak boating periods.

Boaters waiting until key holidays to get out on the water because of gas prices is a trend this year. As gas prices started to rapidly increase during the second quarter of 2022, TowBoatUS’s 24-hour call centers experienced a 22 percent increase in calls for on-water assistance during Memorial Day weekend, but then dropped 30 percent.

The most common requests for on-water assistance from recreational boaters included engine breakdowns, running aground in a shallow area, needing a jumpstart, and running out of fuel. TowBoatUS 24/7 call centers typically receive more than 80,000 calls annually for routine assistance.

“We have decades of experience and statistics that point to things being different this year, and we’re contributing that to high gas prices, which are now above $5 a gallon.

for July 4 ‘tsunami’ on the water

Outdoor Guide

Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel Getting to know great fishing holes

Photos and Text

By BRENT FRAZEE

I’ll never forget my first spring in Missouri.

It was a glorious late-April day and I was exploring my new surroundings after being hired by The Kansas City Star as outdoors editor.

Just a week earlier, I was in the throes of a gloomy, dreary winter in Wisconsin. That made my introduction to Missouri all the more welcoming.

The further south I drove, the more spring reached out to greet me. The forests were dotted with the blooms of redbuds and dogwoods. Little creeks along the backroads gurgled with a steady flow, providing a peaceful interlude when I stopped.

MAKING A MOOD

Bright-colored wildflowers announced spring’s arrival at the edge of one patch of forest. I even heard

Nothing beats a Missouri springtime

the booming gobble of a wild turkey in the distance.

Instant mood adjustment. Yeah, I was going to like this place called Missouri.

When I got to Warsaw and Truman Lake, that enthusiasm only intensified. Fishermen in beat-up johnboats were pulling into the harbor and straining to lift their catch for the day, giant paddlefish.

In a nearby tackle shop, hunters dressed in camouflage brought their turkeys to a check station. And fishermen stood in line at the bait tanks to fill their minnow buckets.

A guy in bib overalls asked me if I had found any morels lately and he laughed at my confused look.

“I guess you’re new to these parts,” he said.

BELOW THE DAM

Below Truman Dam, I found an opening in a chain of fishermen stretching along the riprap and tried to act like I knew what I was doing. I cast my newly purchased hair jig into the swirling water and

immediately felt the tap of a big white bass.

Ten casts later, I had four fish on my stringer. I was feeling pretty good about myself until I glanced to the left and saw a fellow angler almost get a hernia lifting his stringer.

I thought, “What is this place?” It was like I had discovered some strange but wonderful new planet.

The further south I drove, the more I realized that the Truman Lake area was far from unique. I visited Roaring River State Park, set in a steep, rugged valley. I floated the Current River with a guide and fished for hard-fighting smallmouth bass. And I fished for a half-day at beautiful Table Rock Lake.

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Some 33 years later, I still remember that eye-opening trip. I got over a lot of my Northwoods snobbery that week and discovered a whole new world.

Yes, Wisconsin is beautiful and the picture of wild adventure. But Missouri is too, in a different way. At no time is that more apparent than in spring, when the woods and waters come alive. Winter can be a drab time in the Ozarks. And the heat of summer can cast an unappealing pall over the landscape. But spring is special.

I never take for granted the first pull of a big largemouth bass, the first live well full of crappies, the first float trip of the year down an Ozarks river.

A flood of memories always washes over me. I remember the day I fished for white bass with my favorite guide, ol’ J.D. Fletcher, on Table Rock Lake. We caught a stringer-full of fish that day, all on light line and ultralight equipment.

I was after a master-angler fish that day, and I thought several of my fish might qualify (4 pounds or bigger).

J.D. weighed them and shook his head when they came in at 3¾ pounds. We posed for pictures then put the fillet knife to them.

ONE LAST SURPRISE

J.D. called when I got home and told me, “Hey, I tested out that scale on a bag of flour that I had. That scale was reading about a halfpound light. We ate some masterangler fish.”

Then there was the time I fished with guides Buster Loving and Bill Babler on Bull Shoals Lake below Powersite Dam. It was a gray, dreary day, and the walleyes we were after

came out to play. We ended up with a three-man limit of big fish, far better than I had ever experienced in Wisconsin.

I also have memories of big bass caught in Missouri strip pits, a 2-pound crappie taken in a farm pond, a 13-pound hybrid striper landed with guide Steve Blake at Truman, and days when I collected a basketful of morels, only to give them away to my hunting partners (What can I say, I am a picky eater).

So you’ll have to excuse me if I get excited at this time of the year. Though I am in my 70s now, I get as enthusiastic as a kid when spring arrives.

Brent Frazee is an award-winning writer and photographer from Parkville, Mo. He was outdoors editor for The Kansas City Star for 36 years before retiring in 2015. He continues to freelance for magazines, website and newspapers. He lives with his wife Jana and his yellow Lab, Millie.

Record setter gets twin winners

Tyler Goodale of Doniphan caught two record-worthy fliers on March 26 at Duck Creek Conservation Area using his pole and line. They both were 11 ounces, and the old state record was 10 ounces, caught on a private pond in 1991.

Fliers are a species of conservation concern in Missouri. The largest populations are found at Duck Creek, which consists of 6,000 acres in southeastern Missouri, and in nearby Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, where extensive areas of standing-water habitat remain.

Fliers prefer quiet, clear bodies of water with little current, considerable aquatic vegetation and a mud bottom.

Missouri Department of Conservation staff verified the fishes’ weight using a certified scale in Wappapello. It was Goodale’s second state record at Duck Creek Conservation Area. His 5-pound, 4-ounce spotted sucker, taken in 2020, is also the current world record. Learn more about fliers from MDC’s online Field Guide at https://mdc.mo.gov/discovernature/ield-guide/flirt

Missouri state record fish are recognized in two categories, pole-andline and alternative methods. Alternatives include trotline, throwline,

limb line, bank line, jug line, gig, bow, crossbow, underwater spearfishing, snagging, snaring, grabbing and atlatl. For more information on state record fish, go to http://bit. ly/2efqllvl

THE AUTHOR got a bucket of crappies at Table Rock Lake.

A CURRENT RIVER float says something great about Missouri.

TYLER GOODALE took both of these record-worthy fliers at Duck Creek Conservation Area.

Outdoor Guide

Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

By JOHN WINKELMAN Guide Associate Editor

Bill Dance, Virgil Ward, Ernest Hemingway, Teddy Roosevelt – the names engraved at the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame are impressive, and they got a boost this year when Mark Van Patten became Missouri’s most recent inductee.

“It’s amazing to me to have my name associated with those,” Van Patten said in an interview. “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it. I’m elated, shocked, excited, humbled, and extremely honored. I feel there are many people who are more deserving than I am.”

To the contrary, his resume says he belongs.

STREAM TEAM

Retired and living along his beloved Current River, Van Patten is most widely acknowledged as the founder of the Missouri Stream Team

program. As a private citizen in 1989, along with his Roubidoux Creek Fly Fishers organization, they began the effort that has evolved into a statewide sensation and a national model.

He was hired by the Missouri Department of Conservation to coordinate Stream Team volunteers. Since its establishment, the river cleanup and volunteer service organization has grown to more than 5,000 groups all over the state.

That accomplishment may have been enough to earn national recognition, but it is only a portion of Van Patten’s story. For 13 years, he hosted the national PBS television program, “The Tying Bench” offering weekly instruction for fly-fishermen.

He wrote a book of short stories called “Moonshine and Watermelons,” and has served as a seasonal interpretive ranger for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways since his retirement.

He teaches fly casting classes once a month in that national park, and this summer he will introduce the new Junior Ranger fly-fishing pro-

Hall of Famer inspires future fishermen

gram for anglers ages 12 to 16 looking to learn the sport, using a grant from the National Parks Foundation and Park Service in Washington, DC.

“When this grant came up, it was an opportunity to get more youth involved,” he said. “The grant will allow me to purchase some equipment and accessories for the class.

“One of the requirements is that they have to attend with a family member. You can get a kid excited about fishing, but if Mom or Dad or Grandpa is not on board, it will not go far.”

BACK TO AKERS FERRY

The classes will be taught at the Akers Ferry Visitor Center along the Current River. Dates for the new program this summer are July 27, Aug. 20, and Sept. 24. Classroom work will take place in the center, and then go into the front yard for casting, and eventually to the river.

Van Patten said he is hopeful about getting kids involved. “The adult classes are always full, but they are mostly retirees. They say, ‘I think my grandson or granddaughter would

really enjoy this’,” he said. He has experience teaching the younger set. His wife, Regina, is a retired middle school teacher, and when they lived in the Jefferson City area, they started a youth fly fishing club for seventh- and eighth-grade students. The younger students each year would have a mentor from the older class.

“Many of those kids are still involved with fly fishing,” he said. “They are parents now, and I see them introducing their kids to the sport.”

AWARD PRESENTATION

The Hall of Fame induction and the museum in Heyward, WI, acknowledges accomplishments of the past, but obviously Van Patten, who will celebrate his 70th birthday this summer, is looking toward the future. He is working on his second book, a fictional murder mystery set in the national park, and he still finds time to fish whenever he can.

“My favorite time on the river is in the fall and winter,” he said. “I believe in Newton’s Law – An object in motion stays in motion.”

Inductees get to choose the venue for their plaque presentation and enshrinement. Van Patten is vice president of the Ozarks Riverways Foundation, and the organization is holding a fund-raiser music festival the evening of May 13 at Big Chill Bar and Grill at Big Rock Candy Mountain, admission $15. Fellow Missouri Hall of Fame member Bill Cooper will present the award to Van Patten during the show. See the Foundation’s Facebook page for more information.

For more information about the Hall of Fame, go online to freshwater-fishing.org, and when you are in the Ozark National Scenic River park, ask for Ranger Mark.

John Winkelman is Associate Editor for Outdoor Guide Magazine. If you have story ideas to share, e-mail ogmjohnw@aol.com, and you can find more outdoor news and updates at johnjwink.com

Kids’ fishing day May 6 at Bennett

Clearwater Lake & Webb Creek Park – Hwy H

–Bring the family to camp, boat, fish, and unwind on crystal clear Clearwater Lake. This area of the lake is formed where Webb Creek and Logan Creek empty into Clearwater Lake. The lake is known for its crappie, catfish and bass fishing. Camping is available at Webb Creek Recreation Park; plus a full service marina with boat/wave runner rentals on site. Webb Creek Park features over 40 campsites, swim beach, playground, showers, picnic pavilions, boat launch, and more. Services are limited after mid-September but camping is still permitted. Call Webb Creek Marina at 573-461-2344 for marina, boat rental and campsite information or visit www.recreation.gov to make reservations.

Black River and K Bridge Recreation Area – K

Hwy – Float, canoe, fish and explore the beautiful Black River. Enjoy swimming, camping and picnicking right on the banks of the Black River. K Bridge Recreation Area and Campground offers playground, showers, electric and comfort station, visit www.recreation.gov to make reservations. Floats (raft or canoe) can be arranged on site by calling Jeff’s Canoe Rental at 573-598-4555. A small general store is also available on site.

Current River & Log Yard

Gravel Bar – Hwy 106 to HH Highway- Fish, swim, camp and relax on majestic Current River. Great place to explore Current River. This area is often referred to as Cardareva by locals and is a favorite summer hangout. Primitive camping is available right on the river bank, camping is also available at the nearby School Yard with picnic tables, lantern hooks and fire pits. These sites are available on a first come basis. Bring your canoes, rafts and kayaks; a perfect day float….Powder Mill to Log Yard. Boat launch available.

Current River, Blue Spring & Powder Mill Recreation Area – Hwy 106 near Current River bridge Powder Mill reopened summer 2020. Camping is available with views of the river, picnic tables, fire pit and lantern hook. Reservations are not available. Powder Mill is a perfect camp base for day trips to area attractions like Blue Spring, Rocky Falls, Peck Ranch, Johnson Shut-Ins, Elephant Rocks and more. Wild horses are often seen in the fields near the bridge. The Ozarks offers countless options for family adventure.

Rocky Falls- NN Hwy- A cascading crystal Rocky Creek drops from the Ozark Mountains into a lazy pool which eventually winds through the Ozarks to Current River. A must see if you are in the area and fun for all ages. Wear non-slip shoes and use caution when climbing on the falls. Picnic tables provided.

Current River Conservation Area –Consists of 28,000 acres of state land. Deer, turkey, eagles, elk and a multitude of wildlife can be seen. UTV’s, ATV’s and vehicle traffic are welcome on miles of gravel roads and trails that wind through some 60+ food plots. Buford Pond, Missouri’s first fire tower, a 1926 log cabin and an earthen Fort Barnesville can all be found here. Buford Pond provides fishing and picnicking and is a favorite location of all. For hunting enthusiasts an unstaffed rifle and archery range are provided.

Current River Conservation Area is home to the Missouri Ozark Ecosystem Project, the world’s most comprehensive forest management study. This 100 year project spans over 9,000 acres.

Main park entrance located on South Road in Ellington, other entrances located off Hwy 106 and HH highway. Primitive camping is available. Elk viewing and maps of the area are available at the main park entrance.

Local Flavor – While in town you won’t want to miss the Reynolds County Museum. This Museum is filled with relicts from days gone by and the rich history of the Ozarks. Volunteers staff the establishment and are happy to answer questions; Open March-November, Tues-Fri, 10-4 or by appointment. Call 573-663-3233 for more information.

Want some nostalgia from a couple decades back; how about a drive in movie?

One of only a few drive-ins left in the Midwest is located just south of Ellington on highway 21. 21

Drive-In opens in May with summer family favorites and offers movie events into the fall including Halloween and Christmas.

Scenic Highway 106 - This 26 mile drive between Ellington and Eminence is known state wide for its scenic views and beauty, and is especially a favorite in the fall. This section of highway is also home to the Trans-America Trail and sees many bicycle travelers from April-October. Bicycle enthusiasts say it’s one of the “toughest sections on the trail” and known for the steep hills & hollers.

Blair Creek- Hwy 106 – This area is a favorite of the local’s spring, summer and fall. For the person who is looking for the unknown, adventure into the wild Ozark hills for the beautiful views, caves, swimming, picnicking. Here riding the back roads in ATV’s, UTV’s and 4-wheel drives is exciting and fun. Entrance located North of Hwy 106 across from Blue Spring entrance.

Ozark Trail- Hwy 106- Blair Creek & Current River section; Hwy 106 – Whether you are looking for a one day hike or want to make a few days of it; hiking these sections of the Ozark Trail is rewarding and adventurous. Such splendid locations as Rocky Falls, Klepzig Mill and Buzzard Mountain Shut-Ins are located right on the trail. For the adventurous visitor this is a must!

Peck Ranch- H Highway, Shannon County- Plan a trip for the fall to ‘Listen for the Bugle’! Elk are roaming the hills of the Ozarks and can be seen in Peck Ranch, Current River Conservation Area and the surrounding region. Thanks to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Elk Restoration Program the herd has expanded to over 200 bulls, cows and calves. Peck Ranch and Current River Conservation Area is open from sunrise/sunset daily and offers a driving tour. Bugling occurs Sept-Nov. Check the MDC website for park closing details. Maps are available at the park entrance.

While in the area be sure to visit Black River in Lesterville, Johnson Shut-In State Park and Elephant Rocks State Park.

Young anglers can experience the fun of catching fish and learn about the outdoors at Bennett Spring State Park’s Kids’ Fishing Day from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on May 6, sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Bennett Spring Park Store.

Kids 15 and under can pick up free trout tags at the park store from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 5 or at the registration tent across from the park store on the day of the event. A section of Zone 2 and Zone 3 at the park will be reserved for the youth anglers, and volunteers will be on hand to help.

KIDS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BRING THEIR OWN FISHING EQUIPMENT

Parents are welcome to help kids, but adults are also asked to let children fish by themselves as much as possible. Only one pole may be used between the helper and the child. Adults are not allowed to fish in the designated kids’ fishing zone. Lunch will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Educational events will also take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Volunteers are needed to help with this event. Individuals wishing to volunteer do not need to be experienced anglers. To help or for more information, call the Bennett Spring Hatchery at (417) 532-4418 or e-mail Hatchery Manager Ben Havens at Ben.Havens@mdc,mo,gov

Bennett Spring State Park is located 12 miles west of Lebanon on Missouri Highway 64.

MARK VAN PATTEN

WINKELMAN

Outdoor Guide

Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

Photo and Text

By BRANDON BUTLER

Every once in a while, a plan comes together. Such was the case of my opening morning of spring turkey season in Missouri.

Experience on the property I was hunting, along with an understanding of how the turkeys typically react to certain weather patterns, allowed me to draft a plan that put me exactly where I needed to be.

The turkeys gave the whole show, and I ended up with one of the nicest Easterns I’ve ever taken.

There are numerous reasons why this hunt was special. First of all, it took place on land owned by an older couple who are very dear to me. We meet a lot of people in this world, but few of them have real meaningful impact on the direction of your life.

Another reason I so enjoyed this particular opening morning hunt had to do with a turkey vest and a box of shells. You see, last fall I attended an auction flush with all the things I like – tools and books and fishing and hunting equipment. You can tell a lot about a person when all their possessions are laid out for sale. Based on what this gentleman left behind, I could tell I would have liked him a lot.

HIGH-QUALITY GEAR

By the time the auctioneer had worked his way to a rack of hunting clothes and a couple of tables of gear, hours had passed and the crowd had thinned out. The highquality clothing and equipment was selling for far less than it was worth, so I was buying.

When the auctioneer came to

The old man’s vest didn’t go to waste

a turkey vest, and it was selling for only a few dollars, I thought I didn’t really want another turkey vest, because I’ve logged so many miles in so many states wearing the vest I’ve had for two decades. But its zippers are mostly broken, and barbwire has left enough scars to make my old vest quite ragged.

I thought this was something I could actually use. So I bought it.

A HUMBLING LESSON

To my surprise, the vest was loaded with some bonuses. A few calls, chalk, gloves and even a full box of Remington 3½” turkey loads. All those finds were exciting. What saddened me – and what hit hard with a humbling lesson – was a half-empty bottle of water and a bag of half-eaten snacks. When this man hung up his turkey vest after the last time he wore it, he clearly did not think it was his last hunt. He planned to hunt again, wearing this vest, but it never happened.

This recognition spun me into deep reflection. It hit me how one day, I too would take my turkey vest off for the last time. Few of us have the knowledge of the last time we’ll do anything, participating in our passions included. It made me wonder if anyone close to me would care enough to want to hold onto my turkey vest when I’m gone – hopefully a grandchild. But maybe not. Nobody did in this man’s life, so I chose to take on the role.

On opening day, I wore this man’s turkey vest and loaded my shotgun with his shells. As I settled into my spot against the base of a tree next to a blown-down log along a creek

bank, I said to the wind, “OK old man, let’s have a good hunt.”

As the eastern sky started to turn orange, the whippoorwills began to sing. Other birds soon joined in, and then came the first gobble. For 20 minutes gobblers sounded off in every direction.

THE FIRST TURKEY

Then I saw the first turkey pitch down on a hillside about 500 yards away. The entire flock soon followed. The boss gobbler went into strut as soon as his feet hit the dirt. At this point, I had no idea where these birds were going to head. It was windy, so I thought they might head into the forest, but in the past, on windy days, I’ve watched them

huddle in a protected corner of a picked cornfield. So that’s where I was waiting.

When a single hen led the group down the hill, over a levee and into the corn stubble, I knew I’d made a good plan. For the next 30 minutes, I wondered if they would see my decoys and react to them. They did.

The hens were working past me about 100 yards out. There were a couple of jakes in the flock, and the gobbler was staying busy keeping them away from his hens. He showed no interest in the hen calls I was making. He had plenty of them to deal with right in front of him.

I had three hard-body decoys set out, a feeding hen, an alert hen, and a jake. When I took out my gobble

call and gave it a shake, the boss gobbler took notice. He stopped dead in his tracks. I shook it again, and the jakes started running to my decoys, with the gobbler now waddling right behind them.

‘THANKS, OLD MAN’

Just before the gobbler jumped on my jake, I fired one of the old man’s shells. The flock scattered and the gobbler lay dead a foot from my decoy. I unloaded my shotgun, pulled off my facemask and exhaled the breath I’d been holding. I whispered to the old man, “What a hunt. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.” Then I stuffed the bird in his vest and headed to the farmhouse for breakfast.

BRANDON BUTLER wears the old man’s vest.