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3 May 2013

Mt. Vernon has been called the Art and Festival City — and now more art is

moving into downtown.The Upstart Art Mart will be open for local artists to showcase their work, starting weekends in May, and sponsored by the Downtown Mt. Vernon Development Corpora-tion. “It started with a group of people from the Branding Leadership Team making a trip to Nashville, Tenn.,” said DMDC President Laura Thacker. “They were going to study ideas of public markets and went to look at a wonderful, big, farmer’s market. While there, someone sug-gested they go around the corner to East Nashville, which has a large arts community in a residential area.” What they found was a large an-tique house and outbuildings, where local artists could sell and show their work. “An artist had bought the home and leased the buildings to other artists for boutiques,” Thacker said. “The group thought ‘wouldn’t that be a cool idea in Mt. Vernon since we have such a big art community here.’” The group brought the idea back home in December, “Rex Cusumanowas on the trip

and he’s been the driving force for the entire project,” Thacker said. “He knew of the building, at 805 E. Broadway, that looked like a good fit. It has several small office spaces that can be made into boutiques.”But the project didn’t just stop there. “Then, amazingly, we found a person who offered to volunteer to manage and help run the shop,” Thacker continued. “Jessica McDer-mott, is so qualified. She is an artist, with a degree in art, also teaches art at Rend Lake College, and is at a perfect place in life to take it on.”McDermott also knows 90 percent of the artist in the area, Thacker said. “This project has come together so quickly,” Thacker said. “We would like it as a place for artists to devel-op their work into the market and create an art business. We see it like an art business incubator. We want to help artists grow their idea, find out what people are interested in, what sells and what people out there hang in their homes, or what type of jewelry people wear. We want art-ists to do what they love with their art, and still be able to market their work, and what they love.” The DMDC has taken on the project not only to develop artists, but as a “magnet.” “We want to use it as a magnet to

attract more foot traffic downtown,” Thacker said. “We support busi-nesses downtown, and help make it a destination by bringing more of the target market to them. We want downtown to be a destination for people visiting Mt. Vernon and take home a souvenir, then come back again and again.” The gallery will be opened with some consign-ment work. “There will be some op-portunities for artists to rent booths and set up min-bou-tiques,” Thack-er said. “We’re looking for artists now that we can work with to sell items, across all price ranges.” The UpStart Art Mart will be open for the Taste of Mt. Vernon event on April 18, then will have a grand opening on April 26. “After that, it will be open Friday, Saturday and Sundays for weekends through the summer,” Thacker said. “This fall, we will be checking to see if we need to change the hours for fall and winter.”

ShowcasingLocal Art

Story and photos by TESA GLASS

4 May 2013

Three months into being in their new home, parishioners of St. Mary Catholic Church

in Mt. Vernon are settling into their expanded facility.Construction began in December 2011 for the new church and office building on South 16th Street, and a dedication service was held on Jan. 13. “Some things continued after that, and we’re finishing up the punch list and drawing to a close on the construction cycle,” according to the church’s pastor, the Rev. John Iffert. “We would like to be witnesses to the Christian life in the community. I think we are very involved, and are people are involved both personally and professionally in the commu-

nity,” Iffert said. “We’ve been a part of the coalition that has brought Lifeboat Alliance into existence, and we are supporters of the Women’s Hope Clinic, the pregnancy care center, and we help support them. I’m very involved in the Jefferson County Ministerial Association and I value those ecumenical relation-ships that we’ve had, and I know our parish really cherishes that. Mostly we would like to love our neighbor and set a good example that way,” he added. Church leaders began discussing the need for a larger sanctuary sev-eral years ago, and those discussions led to a $5 million facility that can safely seat 600. “The process has been going on for at least a dozen years. The first

conversations started in the 1980’s about whether to add on to the old church or to build a new church,” said Iffert. “We began the process for this church in August 2010. I arrived here in 2008 and took a year where we didn’t talk about the building to let me get my feet on the ground, and then we did a master planning process for the whole campus in 2009. In 2010, we started design development for the new building.” Glenn York, a member of the Building Committee and a church trustee, said the project was more than a decade in the making.“We needed a bigger space and the condition of the older church was deteriorating,” York said. “We had three masses, added a fourth, and

St. Mary’sNewHome

Story and photos by RICK HAYES

5 May 2013

we still had standing room only. The need to build was necessary for additional space.” York said building projects always bring challenges and the St. Mary’s project is no different. “There’s always challenges as far as making sure everything is done correctly and with the fundraising for a project this size. You have to make sure you have the necessary funds pledged. All of our parishio-ners stepped up to make it happen,” he said. While the new sanctuary certain-ly has a new-look feeling, members can reminisce about the past due to several artifacts being salvaged

from the older facility, including stations of the cross, four statues, the tabernacle, collection bowls made from wood out of the former church, and an old com-munion rail being converted into tables used for the presentation of gifts. “We did a lot of little things with those artifacts,” Iffert ex-plained. “We’re still looking — the glass is not a huge feature of our church — but we’re looking now at the possibility of doing some stain glass work. We’ve already had con-tributions for the two major win-dows of the church to be completed. We’re working with Stephen Fry out

of St. Louis on that. Those will both be new windows from the artist that did the stain glass window at Good Samaritan Hospital. And we’re also looking at the possibility of reusing some of the stain glass from the 1921 church,” he said. Lisa Young, a member of the Building Committee worked with

6 May 2013

the the architects from Nebraska, and in-terior design consultant. Young is pleased with the final product. “Some of the comments that I’ve had is that it feels warm and welcoming, and that was goal we had,” she said. “Another comment is that we have a large gathering space that people can come early and visit or stay after the service and visit. In our old church we had no gather-ing space. If you wanted to visit or social-ize you had to do it outside, which was very depended on weather,” she added.Another advantage to the new building is making it accessible for all who attend. “Last week we had a couple here from Radom and they said they like our church because it has no steps,” Rev. Iffert said. “We also have nice rest rooms and our lobby is a lovely place to sit and visit before mass. There’s a lot of reconnecting going on since we got into the new building.”The new building has also allowed the church to consolidate its mass schedule. “Part of what this building has allowed us to do is to consolidate our Sunday mass schedule. We have just the two weekend masses at 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday. We do the mass on Sunday and then we have hospitality with coffee and snacks, and we have been doing a little bit of adult faith formation on Sun-day morning — Bible studies and those types of things — and we’re looking to have a lot more of our faith formations Sunday morning. The kids can go to theirs, the adults to theirs, and still get home by 11:30,” Iffert said. Another important aspect of the church is giving financial support to the attached parochial school. “We have a big impact through our school that serves parishioners and non-Catholic students,” Rev. Iffert said. “Students receive a good, quality education and we’re proud of our students. Forty percent of what we collect goes into the school and almost all of our fundraising is directed to the school.” With some 700 households and 1,700 individuals representing the church, and

7 May 2013

even though the Catholic faith is in the minority in Jefferson County, it can still have a major presence. “The way we can represent our corner of the Christian com-munity has an impact because we’re one church,” Rev. Iffert said. “The Bishop just issued a draft of a pastoral plan that would eventually see the two parishes in Jefferson County (St. Barbara is in Scheller) being served by the same priest and be a much-more closely coordinated ministry. Eventually, we would think of those two parishes as the Catholic community in Jefferson County,” he said. “Our church is able to have a presence in the community because of that unity.”

8 May 2013

Sports teams are often a re-flection of their most experi-enced players.

The Rams baseball team pos-sesses 10 seniors on its 16-player roster. The group of veteran ath-letes has led Mt. Vernon to a 12-5 start midway through April. “They expected to be suc-cessful before the season, and I think they’re off to a good start,” Mt. Vernon coach Tim Holloway said. “These guys grew up playing together, and that’s not something you’re always going to have any-

more because kids play all over the place.” The group consists of Hayden Poninski, Landon Thomas, Mat-thew Williams, Clayton Reeves, Tyler Ellis, Trevor Flota, Collin Young, Colten Meador, Swayer Harrison and Pat Bradford. Each has found a way to contribute to the team this season. “We’ve had a lot of different lineups this year so far, and that will probably continue,” Holloway said. “Each one of those guys has positive attributes that they bring

to the team, and (we) try to put them in situations where they can be successful.” Collin Young and Colten Meador are middle of the order sluggers. Young leads the team with a hefty .525 on-base percent-age. Meador paces the squad with 15 RBI. Landon Thomas bats behind Matthew Williams at the top of the Rams lineup. The two pesky hitters create run-scoring oppor-tunities for Young and Meador. Both Thomas (center field) and

SeniorS leAdStory and photos by

PAUL HINES

9 May 2013

Williams (shortstop) play critical roles in the Rams defense.Clayton Reeves, one of the fast-est players on the team, has eight stolen bases in 10 attempts to lead the club. Tyler Ellis entered the season as the team’s top pitcher. After a solid start to the season, an injury keep him out of the lineup lately.Trevor Flota is one of the team’s more versatile players with his abilities to play second base and pitch. He currently leads the squad with a .071 earned run average

over 19 and two thirds innings.Sawyer Harrison locks down third base defensively. He’s one of the reasons the Rams defense com-mitted multiple errors in a game just twice this season. “As a defender, you’re comfort-able with the ball being hit any-where, knowing anybody is going to make the play,” Harrison said. “Everybody is going to make the routine play.” Harrison adds a patient ap-proach at the plate that has seen him draw nine walks.

Both Hayden Poninski and Pat Bradford have started for the Rams as well. Poninski also brings versatility to the lineup with the capability to play several places. Bradford plays in the outfield and brings a thun-derous bat to the offense. The depth of the senior-lad-en ballclub has been tested with the recent absence of Ellis and Williams due to injury. Under-classmen Ryan Campbell at short and pitcher Tyler Morgan have stepped into the positions to fill

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the void of their senior teammates. “To continue on, you have to have good depth and plug guys in different situations and maintain,” Holloway said. “We’ve been fortu-nate to have that depth this year.”Five of the Rams 16-player roster will play a sport in college. “It’s a mindset for us that we want to be the best,” Young said. “We want to win. We want to go as far as we can and push ourselves to be the best that we can be.” Ellis and Thomas committed to Rend Lake College. Young will play his college baseball in Bel-leville. The middle of the Rams infield – Williams and Trevor Flota – will pursue golf at the next

level. “To play college athletics you have to be talented, you have to be a very competitive person and you have to have a very good work ethic or you won’t make it,” Holloway said. “It’s very demand-ing with the school work and the practice.” The impact of the seniors on the field has led to a lot of winning for the Rams. Mt. Vernon opened the season with a trio of blowout victories before a loss to Water-loo. The Rams won their last two games before a pair of weather cancelations scuttled the Harris-burg and Cahokia matchups. A portion of the team’s funda-

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mental approach and success on the field is tied to the coaching staff. Holloway along with assis-tants Quinn McClure and Tom Fulkerson look for any weakness in their opponents or within the Rams effort and approach no mat-ter the size. “The little things can prevent or even give up runs and cost you a game in the end,” Young said.The Rams have won two of their three South Seven Conference matches. The loss to Carbondale snapped a stretch of nearly two calendar years of not losing a con-ference matchup. The Rams continue their schedule through April with key conference matchups against Centralia and Althoff along with Marion. “I’m happy at the end of the season if I can walk away from here knowing I gave it my best and have no regrets looking back,” Harrison said.

12 May 2013

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” — Mark 16:15

For one local musican and his band, spreading the word of God to other nations started earlier this year when they were invited on a concert tour in Brazil. “It was really neat,” said Jon Heninger, creative arts pastor at Central Christian Church. “We were at places from the smallest with a couple hundred people to well over 1,000 people. We were at seven events in five days. There was a lot of late nights and a lot of travel.” Heninger and his praise band visited five cities in the largest South American country. The band that went with Heninger included Randy Poston on electric guitar, Eric Lyday on drums, Chris Dono-

ho on bass and Chris Chamness, who does audio and equipment as well as scheduling and managing.But, it was a long time in planning and coming. “It started a couple years ago,” Heninger explained. “Central Chris-tian Church supports the Central Brazil Mission, doing a lot of work on the Amazon with medical mis-sion trips and trips to help people in that area. One of the missionar-ies with them was a Central a few years ago.” The missionary mentioned he thought bringing the message of Jesus to Brazil through song was something he would like to happen.“A year later, I got an e-mail,” Heninger said. “They asked if I wanted to come down and lead worship at churches.” Heninger was then asked back

and invited to bring the band.“They wanted me to come down, set up a Brazil tour at different churches,” Heninger said. “That’s what we did.” Although the trip went well, there were challenges. “They have really small cars, and you have to pile everything in them,” Heninger said with a laugh. “But, there are a lot of very kind people. Once, we were late for our flight, and they held the airplane on the tarmac, people waiting on us, giving us time to get there and get loaded.” During a convention appear-ance, which started at midnight, Heninger said the band played the opening time slot. “They gave us the best time slot and they were so kind and helpful,” Heninger said. “The energy was

thAt the world MAy knowStory and photos by TESA GLASS

13 May 2013

great, and everyone was ready to worship.” Heninger said one of the most energizing moments of the tour came when the band started his worship song, “That the World May Know.” “It starts with everyone singing, ‘oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh,’” Heninger said as he sang the begin-ning of the song. “Everyone in this large crowd was singing it. I just got goosebumps. It was great to see people connecting with the songs, through the language barrier. ... The highlight of the whole trip would be hearing people sing the songs God allowed me to write in a differ-ent language, 6,000 miles away.”Heninger said the people of Brazil speak a lot of English, however, the group had an interpreter to help with the communication. “Everyone there strives to know English and wants you to speak to them in English,” Heninger said. “Going into it, that was something I was sweating, that language barrier. A big part of leading worship is being able to communicate with the congregation. It was amazing. There was no problems. It was a testament to God’s faithfulness. All the right people were in the right places to get the message out, to communi-cate and get us where we needed to go when we needed to get there.”Heninger said Chamness, who was in charge of all the equipment and made travel arrangements, was also concerned about the logistics of a tour in a foreign country. “We had so much stuff, guitars, electronics, equipment and it all had to be checked before we went down there,” Heninger said. “He was conned, but amazingly, nothing was damaged and nothing was lost.”Heninger said the connection with the people in Brazil was something

he would not forget. “It’s how people connected in worship, and it shows the power of God. He doesn’t speak any one language,” Heninger said. “It was very cool to see that first-hand. I was able to see God’s church alive in a far-away land.” Heninger also was concerned with how his songs would translate in another country. “There are so many variables,”

Heninger said. “Language, sound systems, worship styles. Would the songs be too slow, or lyrically com-plicated to get in real time? But it worked. God was working to make it possible.” Each of the cities the group visited were larger than Mt. Vernon, and urban. “We didn’t have a lot of time for sightseeing, even though we travelled a lot,” Heninger said. “It

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was different, a differ-ent country, but there were parts of home. We were traveling during the day one time, and there was lots and lots of farm land. Right along the edge of the fields were Pioneer Seed signs, just like you see here. It was a reminder of home.”Heninger said he would do another tour, if the opportunity presented itself. “I loved it,” Heninger said. “I was a great experience for me and all the guys. Once, when we got where we were playing, they already had a CD from Central playing. It was a surreal thing, knowing the ministry of this church is extending so far.”

Heninger and the band also got to participate in a television inter-view. “That was fun,” Heninger said. “What was really fun was after our midnight set, we went out and was signing autographs, selling CDs,

and a group of teenagers started talking to us. We ended up going out on the sidewalk with them, and held an impromptu worship, sing-ing with them on the street. ... We got to meet a lot of new people and make a lot of new friends.”

16 May 2013

Now with over 400 tributes in place, the Jefferson County Hall of Honor at the Mt. Vernon Airport has become a

permanent home to honor all veterans. The idea for the veterans memorial was the brainchild of the late R.D. White of Woodlawn, who was a decorated Army veterans. The idea started at the 2009 Fly-In,” said Airport Manager Chris Collins. “R.D. White came to me and asked about putting up a remembrance of our military men and women. After the Fly-In was over we would take it down and put it back up each each for the Fly-In, with something added each year. There were several us milling around wondering why it couldn’t be a permanent remembrance. R.D. and I took it before the (airport) board and they wanted to see a committee organized with a formal plan.” The committee was formed, including Collins, Duckworth, Don Davis, Karen Spieth, Joyce

Poorman, Nancy Germann, Wayne Jackson, Ernie Collins, Blue Trout, and Lyle Endicott. “Clarence, Karen and I all had data process experience and we used a software program called Print Shop, and boom, the light switch clicked to make tributes. We were off and running. What really put us off and running was when we found the couple in Woodlawn — Bob and Brenda Laughlin — to make the panels that we put the actual tributes inside,” Collins said.The tributes include the name of the soldier, their highest rank, and a list of locations where they served. There are currently about 20 panels with approximately 430 tributes. “We had no idea when it started it would grow that large,” said Duckworth. “The museum — accurately named the Col. R.D. White Veterans Musueum — came about as a result of that. Most of the items are scale models of military equipment, such as trucks, cars, tanks

Wall of HonorStory and photos by RICK HAYES

17 May 2013

and half-trucks.” He added, “The exhibits change from time to time. We have a lot of uniforms on display, and the museum has kind of spilled into the restaurant, where there is remote control aircraft hanging down from the ceiling.”Collins said the Hall of Honor has been a conversation piece for travelers and visitors at the various events the airport hosts throughout the year. “It’s neat to pull that registry log and see what people are writing,” Collins said. “People are saying, ‘what a great tribute, ‘we haven’t seen anything like this anywhere,’ ‘very proud to be here, keep up the good work,’ and things like that.” “Most of it has been very positive,” Duckworth added. No veteran is refused admittance to the Hall of Honor. “It just gives us another draw, another bullet point on the resume,” Collins said. “It’s something for people to see when they fly in here.” The museum is staffed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Wednesday and shown by appointment as needed. “We do encourage schools, clubs and such to come out. We’ve had 4-H, Young Marines and some civic organizations out here. We are open for anyone wanting to do take a tour. We’ve very receptive of that,” Duckworth said. “We’re always looking for more committee members,” Collins added. “If we had more

18 May 2013

committee members we could have additional hours.” The airport is also home to the Jefferson County Heroes Memorial, now in its third location in recent years. The memorial lists the names of Jefferson County soldiers killed in action. The memorial was first established on the courthouse lawn, then AMVETS Post 4 until the post moved from Broadway to the former Bobo’s Pizza location behind Hardee’s. After being restored, the memorial was relocated to the airport.

19 May 2013

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