Boone Life

With 17 years in the pizza business, Rick and Betsy Lacy moved to Columbia more than year ago to set up a pizzeria. But with competition so stiff, the couple decided to start their own taxi company, Rick's Taxi.

Thomas has only driven a car about 20 times in the last year. He said he thinks it makes more sense to ride a bike or walk, especially for short distances.

After a life performing in New York City, Mario Manzini, 45, enjoys being in Columbia and using it as a home base for his shows.

Going along Highway H on the way to the Columbia Regional Airport, one may notice an enormous number 99 – two digits familiar to racing fans around the country especially those in Boone County.

After several days of heavy rain, Millersburg resident Darren Crites and his friend Kelley Neal were spotted testing their Jet Skis in what used to be a parking lot. The pair was accompanied by Crites' dog Chloe, who had to wait in the truck while the adults had their fun.

Rock and Raymond Palmer, father and son, are doing what they love together. They are Harley Davidson virtuosos and operate R & R Cycles in Centralia to prove it.

The Wat Angkor Cambodian Buddhist Temple near Hallsville on Old Highway 63 hosted celebrations for the Cambodian New Year festival over the weekend. Called Chol Chnam Thmey in the Khmer language, the Cambodian New Year usually falls on April 13.

People have been flocking to Centralia's Robin's Nest Café, the newly-realized dream of longtime friends Robin Potter and Linda Cunningham.

For all of Rocheport's charms, the best thing boils down to this simple act of love between a father and his son.

Rob Long raises 75 alpacas on a 20-acre ranch in Boone County. He says alpacas are a business and a way of life.

Retiree Fred West spends his free time line dancing at various locales in mid-Missouri. He is the lone male in a group of female senior citizen line dancers who call themselves "Wild Older Women."

The Worleys live in a small house filled with memories and collectibles.

The Hallsville junior varsity boys basketball team lost badly to its rival Southern Boone High of Ashland. Although the team was beaten by 33 points, the loss strengthened the team's morale.

Midway Travel Plaza embodies the spirit of the sublime American travel experience and the Back Door Lounge promises honky-tonk nights just west of town.

Coyote Hill is a professional home for abused and neglected children established 17 years ago by Larry McDaniel and his wife, who had a lifelong desire to help children. One way McDaniel and the other professionals at Coyote Hill work at relationship building is through a technique known as horse therapy where children learn to work and handle horses on their own with the guidance of a therapy professional.

A small Hallsville hair salon has provided a fun place for residents to change their look for around four years.

Justin Nabors, a music instructor for the Southern Boone School District, teaches his fifth-grade students through a combination of singing and dancing.

Two young men from Harrisburg aren't strangers to cold weather and a little hard work. The two do odd jobs such shoveling snowy driveways and mowing lawns in order to raise cash.

Alan Austene, a 32-year veteran postal worker in Hallsville, makes more stops on his route than he used to. Over the years, new subdivisions have grown where development was once sparser, punctuating his route with more and more mailboxes.