Video

By Alex Giddings, Mallory Benedict, Nick Schnelle, Rachel Coward  ¦   Representatives from The Boone County Historical Society describe life in Missouri during the American Civil War. The museum currently has an exhibit featuring artifacts from that period.

By Austin Alonzo/Missourian  ¦   Jenifer Flink, executive director and curator at the Boone County Historical Society led a small group of curious history buffs through the Columbia Cemetery on April 8 in the first guided tour through the cemetery. Flink said the cemetery is populated by the men and women who built Columbia, including influential families like the Leniors, Guitars and Rollins as well as numerous presidents and important figures in the history of the city's universities.

By AUSTIN ALONZO/Missourian  ¦   Tina DeClue, a mother of a student at Shepard Elementary, is leading her second year of the school's Walking School Bus program. DeClue makes service a major part of her life. She works for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Missouri and said she is "heavily involved" with Shepard Elementary's PTA. She said she wants to show a good example for her son and teach him that service is the most important thing in life.

By Sara Johnson  ¦   Architects, students and community members use a little elbow grease to build unique and "green" doghouses. The American Institute of Architects is hosting its first Barkitecture event in which these one-of-a-kind doghouses will be auctioned off to benefit the Central Missouri Humane Society.

By Austin Alonzo  ¦   Lee Expressive Arts Elementary school auctioned off pieces of original artwork to raise funds for the school's artist-in-residence program that enriches the art-driven curriculum at the school on March 19, 2011. Organizers hoped to raise more than $6,000 on the art made by Lee Elementary students working with Columbia artists, paintings and sculptures donated to the fundraiser, and gift baskets donated by local businesses."

By Derek Klein  ¦   The annual fountain lighting ceremony at Shelter Insurance celebrates the beginning of spring. The festivities include bluegrass music, face painting, and balloon animals. Carol Mallory, Ann McCauley, and Ethan McCauley share their experiences at the festival and what they are looking forward to doing this spring on Friday, Mar. 18, 2011.

By Charesse James  ¦   The 34th annual train show took place Saturday. The show, featuring model trains and miniature towns, filled the Paquin Tower lobby with some of Columbia's oldest and youngest train enthusiasts.

By Catherine Newhouse, Kate Moritz  ¦   Art has the power to inspire. But for pottery students Kristin Nies and Jacque Pepper, it also has the power to heal. The women share their stories while practicing their craft at Access Arts, 1724 McAlester St.

By Katrina Ball, Kathryn Landis  ¦   City Council candidates Helen Anthony and Glen Ehrhardt talk about campaigning for the Fifth Ward City Council election. The election is April 5.

By Hojong Kim  ¦   MU professors Christopher Sorlien and Eric Sandvol and international student Anni Chen discuss the natural disaster in Japan. Sandvol said tectonic plates sliding beneath each other, buckling and breaking is what caused the earthquake.

By EVAN THOMAS/Missourian  ¦   The Columbia Entertainment Company community theater finished a two-week run for “Doubt” on Sunday. Minutes after the theater emptied, cast members and stagehands alike were tearing down the set to prepare the way for the theater’s next play. Director Shawna Mefferd Kelty discussed what went into clearing the stage.

By SIWEN LI  ¦   More than 500 dancers participated in the MU Dance Marathon held from noon to midnight Saturday. The student-led philanthropic event is held to raise money for MU Health Care’s Children’s Hospital. The 12-hour-long, no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon raised more than $30,000.

By Camille Phillips, Laura Orosemane  ¦   The Stephens College Dance Company prepared all semester for their Annual Spring Concert, held at Macklanburg Playhouse. After many hours of rehearsal, 23 dance majors performed choreography that faculty and guest artists created for them.

By RACHEL RICE/Missourian  ¦   On Feb. 25, Tawanda Chabikwa and some of his students from Stephens College performed contemporary African dance for the public. In this video, Chabikwa explains why he teaches his art and what he hopes it will give to his students.

By Alahandra Jones, Kacie Flynn  ¦   Josh Travis is not your ordinary MU student. At any moment he could be running to the scene of a fire, risking his life and sacrificing his time to fulfill his duty to Columbia as a volunteer firefighter.

By Kaikang Wang  ¦   March 9 was Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of the liturgical season of Lent. The season begins 40 days before Easter, not including Sundays. In some religious traditions, people fast or give something up in observance of the season. A few MU students and alumni talk about their plans for the Lent and their feelings after the service in St. Thomas More Parish & Newman Center.

By Alex Schupp  ¦   As the True/False Film Festival approaches, staff and volunteers are busy at work. Anticipating the 2011 festival to have the largest attendance yet, volunteers are playing an increasing role in the festival's operations.

By Jonathan Stephanoff  ¦   Hundreds of Columbia residents came out to the International House of Pancakes off of Broadway to celebrate National Pancake Day on Tuesday. IHOP provides a free short stack of pancakes, and patrons provide donations to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. This is the sixth year IHOP has hosted the fundraiser, which had a national goal of $2.3 million.

By EVAN THOMAS  ¦   The MU Symphonic Wind Ensemble returned to the Missouri Theatre on Sunday for its first concert of the semester. The 45-piece group played for a modest audience under the direction of Dr. Thomas O’Neal.

By Siwen Li  ¦   At the 2011 Mid-Missouri Home and Lifestyle Expo on Saturday, the "Ultimate Man Cave" allowed expo visitors to explore an ideal manly setting. The Man Cave included three TV screens, a shuffleboard table and a pool table, as well as a "Golden Girls" poster.