Boone Life

After 32 years in the automotive business, Michael Gamble said this is the worst he has seen the economy trickle down to affect buyers.

A retired equestrian teacher volunteers to drive food to people at least once a week with Meals on Wheels. She sees the volunteer work as a way to pay back a community that has helped her.

The historic shotgun house is moving from the corner of Garth Avenue and Worley Street to Boone Junction History Village. It will be renovated to be a display of the past African-American community in Columbia.

On Oct. 4, the Thompson family of Centralia celebrated their son Caleb's third birthday. Caleb puttered around the house, breaking in his birthday gift — a minitature red car. It's a tiny vehicle, dwarfed by his dad's semi-truck parked in the driveway.

During the barbecue, church members sell fudge and mutton to raise money to sustain the congregation.

The 17th annual Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival starts Saturday with a 9 a.m. parade.

Sturgeon middle schoolers learned to project their voices, stand in formation and cheer in preparation for their upcoming tryouts.

The echoing voices and clapping of Sturgeon Middle School students fill the gymnasium as they chant cheers while practicing for upcoming cheerleading auditions.

Kim Sorensen of Centralia, owner of The Hair Wrangler, balances her life between riding her horses and keeping up with her dog grooming business.

Dale White, a dance instructor for 32 years, began holding classes for people who, like herself, hate to exercise. She rents out a room behind the Copper Kettle Restaurant to hold the 40-minute classes at 11 a.m. every Monday and at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

There are more than a few opportunities to volunteer within the community, with openings that will fit your time commitment.

Zeb Charlton, 12, and his family have become regulars at the Central Missouri Humane Society. Zeb, known as the "dog whisperer," has a way of working with dogs who need extra love and special care.

Volunteers train to run in races and raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"I love the sound of pingpong in the background,” Erik Morse said. “It was a welcome to find a pingpong table outside at the bar.” Doctor Pong night at Mojo’s in downtown Columbia offered Morse and a couple dozen others the opportunity to play pingpong inside or on the patio while enjoying the electronic music played by disc jockeys Nick Newlin and Chris Bahn.

We met the first April day of sun and pleasant temperatures. An appointment had been made with April’s glorious potential. Spring had undeniably arrived.

In Boone County, we are blessed with a climate that provides the opportunity to experience all four seasons.

Chester and Marian Hilgedick navigate a two-step on the gym floor at the Ashland Senior Citizen Prom in perfect time with a grace acquired through 59 years as partners.

The story goes that Marian tagged along with a girlfriend who was going to a dance in Jefferson City. Chester spotted Marian in the room and quickly walked over and asked her to dance with him.

On a drizzly Friday evening, 6-year-old Duke Newsted was all smiles as he learned how to bowl on a Wii at Jayden Roberts’ Wii Bowling Tournament at Friendship Place Youth Center in Centralia. Nicole Henry and Jordan Roberts, Jayden’s brother, helped teach Duke how to use his hand to control, swing and release the virtual bowling ball. After a few practice swings, Duke was giggling and clapping as he knocked over virtual pins.

The most elaborate item on the bandstand stage at CAT 3 television studios on the Stephens College campus was a simple black lectern — the kind one finds in high school music rooms and cheap hotel conference areas. Often overlooked, a lectern will typically lead an anonymous life lest it find itself bestowed with a national seal or a religious emblem.

Families lined up around the block for the second Guitar Hero Tournament on March 15 at the Blue Note.