By: Shwetha Sundarrajan

With the turn of a screw, Alvin Fry can bring an instrument alive. Rockwood custodian and local luthier Alvin Fry has been fixing up violins and guitars since 1980 after his own 1959 Martin guitar was stolen. Instead of buying a new guitar, Fry decided to build his own. 

“I just bought some wood and started building guitars. And so it progressed on and I basically tried to understand different instruments and how they work, how they were different from each other. And that kind of led me to violins because they’re a natural progression [from guitars],” Fry said. 

By day, Fry works as a custodian at Rockwood School District’s Administrative Annex in Eureka. He spends the rest of his free time figuring out how to make instruments really sing. His recent restoration work was for someone closer to home–repairing a thrift shop violin that belonged to Rockwood Director of Educational Equity and Access Dr. Cassandra Suggs. 

Suggs had bought the broken violin from Goodwill several years ago as decor, and had planned to hang it up in her office. She told West Newsmagazine that Fry was instantly drawn to the violin, offering several times to repair the violin. 

“Whenever he came to the room, he kept looking at it and touching it. And he was just drawn to it. And he said, I can fix it. And I was like, No, I'm good. I'm just gonna put some glue on it, put back up there. I don't play. So it doesn't matter that it's working,” Suggs said. “And I kind of liked it was broken looking, because it's kind of been through a lot, and this kind of signifies what most people are in life. They go through a lot of stuff that they can still have a purpose so they have a purpose of just being in our own.”

After seeing Fry’s passion for repairing instruments, Suggs agreed to let Fry work his magic. The challenge was to preserve the unique design on the sides and back of the violin. However, that didn’t stop Fry from returning to Suggs office four weeks later with Dr. Suggs’ newly repaired violin. 

“When you play it, it should surprise you. It should give you more than you dreamed was possible. That's what I want in an instrument. And that's what I wanted [for] her and when we got done, I wanted to go 'Oh this is amazing,” Fry said. 

Fry’s 40 year crusade has been to transform any violin, even the cheapest iterations and turn them into an instrument that could rival legends like a Stradivarius or Guarneri instruments. 

“So that was my goal and what I've been working on what Dr Suggs, one of the things that did was gave me another chance to look at a test to see if I was assessing the things correctly. To not just to glue it back together or to change the bridge or set the pegs. But to make it a sound that we can play it and go, Well, that's a superior violin, this is not average,” Fry said. 

Fry’s instruments have received praise from artists, orchestras, quartets, and musical institutions worldwide. In April, the SLCG Guitar Quartet members played Fry’s guitars at an hourlong concert at the St. Louis Artists’ Guild in Clayton. His instrument restoration work has also made its way to places like the Juilliard School in New York and the Smithsonian, where Fry’s repaired violins were put to the test alongside a Stradivarious–a rare, yet highly sought after style of violin. 

In Suggs office, Fry pitted Dr. Suggs violin against the one he brought to the Smithsonian.  

“We tested it to play the one that I tested. She looked at it. It was pure, beautiful, surprising to me. Stunning, more beautiful than most of the instruments I've worked on,” Fry said. “So I played the violin that I've done with Smithsonian and then I played hers. I can't believe that it's that good. But that's what I wanted was a surprised expression that someone plays and goes, Hey, I've never had this good a sound. Hey, this I do works. Hey, I could never get this to work. How's it doing now? Those are the things that have to be in the instrument before the musician plays so the musician can do what he needs to do.”

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As part of a bill passed by the Missouri Legislature, the city of Manchester is now offering first responders mental wellness checks. 

Senate Bill 551 was passed in 2021 and aims to provide first responders with a way to deal with the stress of a critical incident or emotionally difficult event. 

“With police work, there's a lot of stress that comes with it,” Manchester Deputy Chief of Police Craig Smith said. “Too long hours, the calls that would go on, the time away from our families. Just how you're treated by the public, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's horrible. It just takes a toll on a police officer's mental health. So that was the whole idea behind passing this law is to kind of help the officers, give them an opportunity to check in with a mental health professional every so often, just to see if there's anything that they can help [with].”

SB551 requires first responders to meet with a program service provider once every three to five years for a mental health check-in. Justin Klocke, Manchester city administrator, explained that the annual wellness checks are only for police officers, and the option is extended to officer’s families.

“The legislation gave us a few years to get these enacted, it went into effect, but the legislation actually reads that wellness checks only need to be performed every 3 to 5 years, so we’re within that time frame to provide wellness checks,” Klocke said. “But now that we’re implementing this, the board of aldermen and the mayor chose to go above and beyond and decided to do annual wellness checks.”

Before SB551, Manchester offered all of its employees voluntary wellness checks provided through H&H Health Services. Now, the only difference is that SB551 and its statute require officers to have annual mental wellness checks within that set time period, Klocke explained.

With 27 years on the police force, Smith understands the stressful nature of the job and emphasized that all sessions would be strictly confidential.

“The average person sees a handful of traumatic events in their life,” Smith said. “A police officer could see upwards of 300-plus tragic accidents during the career which takes a toll on your body and mind. So I think it's really important and it’s going to do a lot of good for us.”

By: Shwetha Sundarrajan

The term “gifted children” may conjure images of inquisitive and academically talented kids. Still, a group of educators are trying to find gifted kids who may not fit into the traditional archetype of a gifted child. 

That’s where Dennis Rhodes, Director of Gifted Education at Rockwood School District comes in.

“One of the things that I found [while working on my dissertation] was that districts were able to help find students in nontraditional ways often relied on talent development, so they use that to actually find students who weren't picked up through traditional measures of giftedness,” Rhodes said. 

The Explore Program was born with the help of fellow gifted educators like Kathy Poole. In an interview with West Newsmagazine, Poole explained that she derived methods utilized in other states to create a new way to find “missing” gifted kids. 

“Across the United States, every state has different guidelines for giftedness, and I had to think about how their programs would work in the state of Missouri,” Poole said. “And so I looked at that and what I came up with was creating a program that supported students in developing what I call the thinking strategies.” 

Schools across Missouri will utilize the Department of Secondary and Elementary (DESE) guidelines for conducting gifted child assessments. These areas of assessment include evaluating a child’s cognitive ability, academic achievement, creativity, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities, as well as any documented evidence of exceptional student performance. 

“Because ultimately, when we realized that we were missing students, we wanted to figure out how to be more flexible and how we actually looked at students because looking at the traditional approach, so whether it's [an] academic achievement as a screener or using the creativity, reasoning, and problem solving screener, we know we were missing students across the board,” Rhodes said. “And so we were trying to figure out ways to help find students to be able to offer services to.”

Now in its 2nd year, the Explore program is currently implemented in 4 of Rockwood’s Title 1 elementary schools–Kellison Elementary, Bowles Elementary, Ballwin Elementary, and Westridge Elementary. When the Explore program was launched, 25 students were initially selected to participate. Out of the 25 students, 12 were identified as gifted. Now, the program has grown to accommodate a cohort of second graders, with plans to expand to other grade levels in the coming years, Rhodes explained. 

For an hour every week, Poole works with first and second-graders to determine their giftedness. 

Rhodes explained that if the students in the Explore program are determined to be gifted, they’d be offered the opportunity to attend the Center of Creative Learning (CCL). 

“And so I do communicate quite often with the families and send activities home and I have what's called a lending library. So providing resources for the families as well and I work as a resource for the teachers and supporting their children also, because we want them to be able to have like these thinking strategies, not just one hour with me, but we want them to feel that they can take that toolbox of strategies wherever they go.” Poole said. 

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The Monarch Fire Protection District recently turned to the community for answers after facing increasing demand for services and rising operational costs.

On April 29, 30 and May 4, the fire district hosted community workshops for residents to attend and learn about problems the district is experiencing. 

Monarch Fire Chief Russ Adams said that the fire district has been stretched thin to accommodate the increased number of EMS calls. 

“So a lot of these happen, but the big thing is 72% of our calls in 2023 were EMS (related) so that means they needed an ambulance, the paramedics and transport to an emergency facility in St. Louis County,” Adams said.

Adams added that the fire district has been looking to replace outdated firefighting gear that contains PFAS, a synthetic chemical compound found in clothing that can be carcinogenic. 

“We're needing to replace that gear, and that's one big issue because our guys are running around on calls, basically sucking up cancer,” Adams said. “We've had three people die (over the course of a decade) in our department from cancer related from firefighting.”

To address these issues, Monarch has asked the community to weigh in on three potential options that would equip the fire district with the appropriate means to replace gear and purchase additional ambulances.

Option 1 involves raising the residential tax rate by 19 cents, which means that homes valued at $400,000 will see a $12 per month increase. The 19-cent tax increase would allow the fire district to add two ambulances to its fleet and hire the staff necessary to man the vehicles.

Option 2 involves raising the residential tax rate by 15 cents, which means that homes valued at $400,000 will see a $10 per month increase. A 15-cent tax increase would allow the fire district to purchase a single ambulance and hire additional staff to get it in service.

The third option means keeping the status quo. At the three workshops, residents were asked to select the option that they’d prefer. 

With the community workshops concluded Adams explained that a citizen committee would review residents' opinions before presenting their findings at the upcoming Board of Directors meeting on May 23. The board will then decide whether to move forward with placing an item on the August ballot, Adams said. 

Monarch currently serves residents in Chesterfield, Wildwood, Maryland Heights, Clarkson Valley, St. Louis County, Creve Coeur and Ballwin. Adams said that the fire district currently has five engine houses, but only four ambulances, which makes it difficult to serve the 80,000-plus residents who live in the district.

Deputy Chief of EMS Nick Smith pointed out that establishments like Top Golf, the Saint Louis Premium Outlet Mall, Chesterfield Sports Complex and the multitude of senior care facilities put additional stress on the fire district.

“Also (it) creates increased call volume, which takes away from the critical resources that are close to your home,” Smith said. “ So I think that is a really important point to understand that we'll see further here. For us as first responders, timing is everything. Minutes literally make the difference between life and death.”

On average, Monarch receives more than 6,300 EMS calls, 2,700 fire rescue and other calls according to Smith. 

“Right now we only have four ambulances to serve our entire population of residents and visitors,” Smith said. “So that's one ambulance for roughly every 20,000 residents which does not include the huge influx of visitors during the day and weekend hours.”

Nearly 10% of Monarch’s calls have a wait time of 10 minutes or more for an ambulance, Smith said. 

“A common phrase in EMS is that ‘time equals muscle’ right? For someone having a heart attack, those minutes matter and survival rates drop about seven to 10 percent. For somebody in cardiac arrest, for every minute that goes by that they don't receive defibrillation, brain death occurs in as little as six minutes,” Smith said.

Newly elected Wildwood City Council member Bob Mabry (Ward 2) attended Saturday’s workshop and said that he was surprised at the district’s lengthy response times.

“I deserve a higher quality of staffing with support as Ladue, Clayton or Huntleigh, or any other snooty municipalities,” Mabry said. “When I saw that their response times averaged this (time) and the winners were this (time), I go, ‘Well, that’s going to be my family that it took 25 minutes to get to. And if I lived in Sappington, it would’ve taken 11 minutes. And I only had to pay $12 a month to be a contender and win that race?”

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After multiple meetings and discussions regarding the construction of a new rehabilitation hospital, the doors to the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis–West County opened on May 16. 

Located at 998 and 1002 Woods Mill Road, the 40-bed inpatient hospital will be jointly operated by BJC Health System and Encompass Health and is expected to start serving patients later this month. 

“This new, conveniently located facility will expand BJC and Encompass Health’s presence in West County, which will provide enhanced and specialized care for our patients,” said Joan Magruder, group president of BJC HealthCare. “We are thrilled to make these services available beyond the hospital setting so even more members of our community can access extraordinary care.”

The project had previously met with pushback from neighboring Ballwin residents, who had concerns regarding traffic flow, limited setbacks, parking, increased noise and light pollution. Residents argued that the influx of additional hospital staff, therapy students and visitors would further overcrowd a commercial area. 

While those residents’ concerns were listened to by the Town & Country Board of Aldermen, the board voted to approve the project on June 27, 2022. 

With the facility now open, on May 21 inpatient rehabilitation services at Missouri Baptist Medical Center will be transferred to the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis–West County. The Missouri Baptist Medical Center facility will be converted to a Med-Surge unit, which provides general hospital patient services. 

The West County location is the fourth rehabilitation center in the region, including one in St. Peters. The West County location will provide rehabilitative services that help patients recovering from strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopedic conditions to regain function and independence. 

“We are excited to celebrate the opening of our hospital where we will provide high-quality patient care to future patients of the West County community,” said Troy DeDecker, vice president of Encompass Health’s Central region. “Our patients remain at the forefront of our minds, and we have designed the hospital to accommodate all of their needs as they regain strength, function, hope and independence.” 

Amenities at the West County center include a therapy gym,  therapy courtyard, dining room, in-house pharmacy and dayroom area. 

“The hospital’s one-story building design provides patients with greater accessibility as transferred to different treatment and non-treatment areas of the hospital and more convenient access for families and visitors,” DeDecker said.

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The city of Manchester’s Lyceum building is officially back in business.

On March 29th, the historic Lyceum building held an open house event where the public could check out what the refurbished space offers. 

“We know there are a lot of people that are looking for a place to connect and make community art or learn more about the arts,” Parks & Recreations Director Kathryn Schien said. “And so we're so excited to bring those together and to see everyone come out and support that was so cool.”

Summer class schedules have already been posted. While the Lyceum is open to all, Manchester residents are eligible for a discount, Schien said.

To reserve a spot, those interested can check out the Manchester Parks & Recreation website for more class details or call (636) 391-6326.

Currently, the parks department offers a variety of classes, including crochet, tapestry making, summer punch needling, youth photography, printmaking, and more. 

“And we also wanted to leave room (in the schedule) because we think there’s going to be a lot of artists in the community that reach out and say, ‘oh, I want to teach a class, or I'm interested in this,” Schien said.

As community interest in the Lyceum grows, Schien hopes that the Lyceum can grow to include things like a stage for performances, artist studios and more. 

“So we're really excited about this, and it is just the first step, but there are so many cool artists in the county that deserve a space to come and be, and sometimes it is worth driving into the city, but sometimes you want something closer to home too,” Schien said. 

It’s hard to miss the city of Manchester’s iconic and historic blue- and white-trim Lyceum building, sitting at 14317 Manchester Road. 

But the building has sat empty since the city shifted its city hall location to 14317 Manchester Road last October.

It may find a new use soon, however. 

With the nearest arts opportunities miles away from Manchester residents, Parks & Recreation Director Kat Schien has proposed transforming the Lyceum into a community arts center. 

“Our families are having to travel quite a distance, and the park staff have created a three-phase vision for the immediate usage of the Lyceum that's going to allow for some immediate cash flow, a plan for expansion as time and grant funding allows to use the existing space kind of as it is,” Schien said. 

Art camps, classes and maker spaces could come to the Lyceum as early as spring 2025. With more community feedback, Schien hopes to expand the Lyceum as a space for artists and the creative-minded, complete with educational workshops, retail space and more. 

“Using the Lyceum would not only support the aging historic building but provide a much-needed space in our community,” Schien said. 

Although the Board of Aldermen hasn’t officially decided the Lyceum’s future, Mayor Mike Clement said the proposal would be looked at during a future meeting.

“I think it's going to be popular, and I think it's going to be a good, good, good win for a variety of needs,” Clement said. “But I feel it will move forward. Right now, it's kind of a dream, kind of a vision, but I think we'll have clarity pretty quick.”

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As progress continues towards development of a proposed early childhood center between Wren Hollow Elementary and Southwest Middle in the Parkway School District, nearby residents have repeatedly expressed concern about traffic safety. 

The early childhood center is part of a $265 million bond issue that voters passed in November 2022. Expected to cost around $30-$35 million, Parkway’s second early childhood center will serve 300 students and house Parkway’s Teaching Learning and Accountability department employees. 

The residents’ concerns regarding the project were addressed at the March 18 Manchester’s Board of Aldermen meeting, where the board passed an ordinance that would double fines for certain traffic violations. Increased fines will be applied to the intersection of Wren Avenue and Sulphur Springs Road to the Parkway School District Southwest Middle School property line. Fines will also be increased from Canary Drive from Wren Avenue, including the intersection at Cardinal Lane and Big Bend Woods Drive. Violations subject to the ordinance include speeding, following too closely, careless and imprudent driving and failure to yield for stop signs or pedestrians. 

“This is great news to be able to pass the legislation that you just passed, and the city's commitment to safety and addressing some of the traffic problems around in new developments are happening,” said Manchester resident Dan Miller. “And although this helps with existing traffic and safety issues, that does not necessarily address capacity issues.”

In addition to traffic concerns, residents have raised concerns about flooding, school safety, and the use of green space. 

“And I have raised responsible and capable children who I trust to walk to school,” said Manchester resident Kayla Nenenswander. “But I do not trust the people that cut through 2:30 p.m. Every day we have to move to the backyard because the high school gets let out. And those kids are wild. And I can only imagine what that will do with the early childhood center how much more traffic that will be in our backyard. And my job is among us to protect my children. And that is to be so difficult when there are people that don't understand the value of the children passing through.”

Parkway is conducting a traffic study of the area and is expected to submit its official site development proposal to the city of Manchester when the study is finished. Although the district's initial goal is to start the permitting process this spring and start construction by late summer or early autumn, with an October 2026 opening, residents will still have a chance to hear about Parkway’s plans for its early childhood center at a public meeting on March 26 at 6 p.m. at Southwest Middle.

Likewise, the city of Manchester will also hold a public meeting with the police department and the public works department present on April 3 to hear from the residents.

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Though in their infancy, plans for a second early childhood center in Parkway are drawing the ire of residents living in the vicinity of the project site. 

Residents of Canary Estates Drive in Manchester say their primary concerns with the project involve the risk of flooding, a reduction of green space and a decrease in privacy. 

The new early childhood center would be located adjacent to Parkway Southwest Middle School and Wren Hollow Elementary School, off of Sulphur Spring Road. The project is part of the $265 million bond issue that voters passed in November 2022. It is expected cost is around $30 to $35 million.

The neighborhood and site area are located in the Fishpot Creek watershed. The site is in a natural state that residents say aids with stormwater absorption. However, they worry that adding a large parking lot will result in runoff that will increase the chance of flooding. 

Rita Fitzjarrell said she had taken her flooding concerns to the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District [MSD] but wasn’t taken seriously. 

“Two times we've had flooding,” Fitzjarrell said. “We're not going to be able to sell any of our houses once the word gets out that it floods here.”

Canary Estates resident Amanda Kennedy advocated for a smaller parking lot size, citing greenspace size and flooding concerns. 

“This is all grass and woods right now. So as it stands, (stormwater) gets absorbed, and so yeah, our neighborhood can handle that (right now), but then you're gonna put concrete on it, so what kind of neighborhood could handle that?” Kennedy asked. 

Parkway School District officials, project planners and Manchester city officials met with residents on Dec. 4 at Parkway Southwest Middle to answer questions and alleviate concerns.

However, Paul Boyer, principal at Civil Engineering Design Consultants, noted that the site plans are still in development and have a ways to go before anything goes into effect. 

“This is in the Fishpot Creek watershed, and I believe we'll design by the MSD’s criteria,” Boyer said in a post-meeting interview. “I told the residents I did want to make sure every one of them knew to make sure that they filed those complaints because when the engineer from MSD is assigned to the project, they will typically tell me (how) they want a property designed,” Boyer said. 

Echoing Boyer’s timeline, Elisa Tomich, Parkway’s chief communication officer, said the district plans to begin the permitting process in spring 2024 before submitting a site development plan to the city of Manchester. The district hopes to start construction by August 2024, following city approval. An anticipated completion date for the project would be winter 2026. 

According to Tomich, there is a significant need for an additional early childhood center in the district. 

“We have hundreds of children on waitlists for our early childhood program, which has been a trend for years,” Tomich said. “We have more demand than space to serve young children in Parkway. We want to better meet that need. This new early childhood center will help with that.

“Our market analysis shows that the greatest need for early childhood is in the 63021 zip code, where there is also a shortage of early childhood providers.”

Tomich added, "No trees will be cleared between the early childhood center building and the homes, and we'll plant some additional trees."

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Officials want to hear what residents envision for St. Louis County in the next 25 years. 

The county recently held a series of community workshops to gauge residents’ opinions on a variety of issues, including housing, infrastructure, transportation, sustainability and employment opportunities and growth. 

The workshops are part of the county’s goal to create what’s being called “STLCO 2050: a Sustainable and Equitable Comprehensive Plan.” 

“These are sort of the first flush of high-level, high-impact priority draft recommendations that the plan could include,” said Jacob Trimble, county director of planning.

Residents could attend any of the three workshops in West County, South County and North County, where attendees could comment on various policy recommendations.

“Yeah, the policies up on these boards are already ones that we think are high-level,” said Sean Tapia, a project manager with EACOM, a firm St Louis County has brought in to assist with the process. “What we'll be doing is collecting that feedback from folks, consolidating it and then using that to expand on the list of policies that we have to write more and to tie to those direct outcomes.”

Nearly 40 years have passed since the county last adopted a new comprehensive plan. 

According to Trimble, the response from residents has been overwhelmingly positive, with shared concerns surrounding community safety, public transportation options and more. 

“We're not done with the process. This is all part of a bigger scenario-planning process,” Trimble said. “So we are doing a lot of technical work about creating forecasts for what the county could be like over the next 25 years.”

The draft STLCO 2050 Plan is expected to be ready for consideration during the winter of 2024/2025. In accordance with the County's adoption procedure, the STLCO 2050 is projected to be formally adopted in Fall 2025. More information is available on the St. Louis County website.

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Framing the measure as a move to “restore oversight and accountability,” the St. Louis County Council has added Prop B to the April 8 General Municipal ballot. 

If approved by a simple majority of voters, this bill would give the county council the authority to remove the county counselor and/or the head or director of any department by a vote of two-thirds. 

St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page criticized the measure at the Feb. 11 county council meeting, referring to it as “Prop Bad.” Page said the county had better ways to spend taxpayer money than on lawsuits surrounding the bill.

Introduced by Council Chair Rita Heard Days (D-District 1), the first iteration of the bill would’ve granted the council powers to remove the county executive, but that language was removed from the final draft of the bill. Days said she proposed the legislation after witnessing what council members call a lack of accountability and transparency.

“This is not about political payback or personality conflicts,” Days said. “It's about making certain that anyone entrusted with authority, be it a department head or our top elected official, answers to the taxpayers of St. Louis County.”

After the bill was passed to add Prop B to the ballot, department heads filed a lawsuit against the council and county Board of Elections to get the item removed from the ballot, arguing that the amendment would give sweeping new powers to the council and that the ballot language is misleading to voters. 

A circuit court judge ruled in favor of the county employees. An attorney appealed that decision on behalf of the council and an appellate judge ruled that the time to challenge the proposition is after the election. 

“As it stands, voters will have to vote on this absurd ballot language,” Page said. “I met with five of the seven council members over the course of today and there was a lot of talk on how to save money. One answer is not spending almost $600,000 in unbudgeted taxpayer funds on a flawed ballot question.”

However, council member Shalonda Webb (D-District 4) pushed back against Page’s characterization of the proposition, arguing that labeling it “Prop Bad” in the council chambers was inappropriate.

“I think that’s already you persuading the voters on how you feel about the proposition and it does not give this council an opportunity to have accurate, complete, accountable information provided to them by the directors of this county,” Webb said. “It’s about having checks and balances. And it’s about when a director is asked for specific information that they don’t give us partial information, or wrong information, whether deliberately or not deliberately.”

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It was all hustle and bustle at the Hindu Temple Community Center on Jan. 28 as students, parents and Balvihar faculty gathered to celebrate India’s Republic Day. India celebrated the adoption of the country’s constitution on Jan. 26. Balvihar is a nonprofit educational organization aimed at promoting and fostering Indian culture in youth. 

“This is an opportunity to celebrate (India), by making our children understand various parts of the country and even though we look different, even within our own country and speak so many different languages,” Tejaswini Nayak, Balvihar teacher said. “At the end of the day, we celebrate everything in a similar fashion, maybe with small nuances here [and there]. But at the end of the day, we’re all working towards the country as Indians and [we’re all] Indian at heart.”

Every year, the theme of the Republic Day celebration changes, according to Balvihar administrator Shanthi Krishnan. In previous years, each class was assigned an Indian state to create a presentation on. However, Krishnan and other faculty decided to switch up this year’s theme, focusing on the various festivals in India’s different regions and creating a competition between classes. 

Dressed in traditional garb, Balvihar students presented their displays to six judges. Some classes choreographed dances, some acted out skits, but all were hoping to make a lasting impression on the judges.

“The experience is fun because you get to, like, make poster boards, you get to do dances, you get to listen to people playing the national anthem in an orchestra, so it’s just a really fun experience,” Namita Rai, a third-grade student said.

Prominent community leaders, such as Carol Commerford and Linda Lee, of the Bach Society of Saint Louis, were selected as judges. 

Krishnan explained that the judges come from inside and outside the Indian community. 

Both Commerford and Lee focused on judging presentations from the fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade classes. 

“The fifth graders, they were so detailed and they had such beautiful displays, and they were very special. And the sixth graders have a lot of the same types of things and they had some demonstrations so that they kind of brought it to life for us with what they did. The seventh graders were a whole other walk. It was like walking into a whole other world,” Commerford said. 

After the judging was complete, it was time for the general audience performances. Several students kicked off the show with an instrumental rendition of the American and Indian national anthems. That was followed up by a fashion show presented by the kindergarten and first-grade classes. 

“My favorite part about Balvihar is that if you’re in America, you can still learn about the Indian cultures like different Indian people, the Ramayana, like everything about that. It’s also good because you can celebrate Indian festivals, even in America,” said third-grade student Yathvik Shridhar.

The festivities continued as kindergartners dressed up as characters from Jataka Tales, a collection of stories depicting the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. First graders dressed up as mythological characters from various Hindu epics. 

As the festivities wrapped up, students eagerly waited to hear who were the winners of the day’s competition. Raucous cheers came from the second and seventh graders as they were announced as the winners. 

“When I came last night, here [Hindu Temple Community Center], it was full. All the kids were here performing so that means that participation level was very high because it was different and they really enjoyed it,” Balvihar founder Sudhir Brahmbhatt said. 

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Walk onto a basketball court at the Chesterfield Sports Complex from June 10-20, and you’d have seen a summer camp like no other.

At MasterMindz Sports & Wellness Summer Camp, 64 at-risk middle school students from the Ferguson-Florissant R-II School District and St. Louis Public School District attended a two-week program that provides basketball, volleyball and social-emotional learning. The program’s cost, including transportation, program staff, meals, and more was fully subsidized by the Chesterfield Sports Association (CSA). 

“I'm a firm believer that there's a lot of kids that could be great athletes, but never have the opportunity because they don't have the finances or the means of transportation to get to a club practice or join a club to play a sport they could love. So we're helping with that,” said Stuart Duncan, executive director of the CSA.

The camp is in collaboration with Street GeeKz, a St. Louis-based non-profit organization committed to motivating youth and revitalizing unhealthy communities by way of math, literacy, mental health, sports and finance. Led by educator Santana Barnes, the camp is now in its second year. 

“These kids come from a lot of drugs, a lot of murders, a lot of killings,” Barnes said.  “A lot of conflict and they don't know what to do with the trauma so it just stacks up and what it ends up doing is showing yourself in the way of negative behaviors in the classroom. And so a lot of teachers a lot of educators, they want to solve it with ready-made pills.”

“They think that one answer will cater to one child, but the problem is, this child isn't going through the same thing that (another) child is going through. And so that's what this camp does. It deals with personal one-on-one.”

After students finish their meals, they head over to the basketball courts, where everyone is separated into groups with the camp counselors. Known as “Ya” (young adult) time, this is where social-emotional learning happens, Barnes said. 

For example, one question posed to the campers is, “How did a bad decision of yours create an unwanted consequence?” 

As students ponder the question posed, camp counselors walk around to ensure the discussions stay on track. All camp counselors are either graduated high schoolers or college students from the North County community.

“I like to use the community to kind of revitalize the community,” Barnes said. 

Once Ya time is over, campers are allowed to play basketball, volleyball or just socialize. 

At the camp, the environment is downright casual. Barnes watches the students play basketball, occasionally yelling out encouragement.

Students like Durrell Cornell, an 8th grader at Hazelwood Middle School, are encouraged to try new things like volleyball.

“And I learned to work with people because I never could have learned it (before),” Cornell said.

For Zoey Adams, a 7th grader at Carr Lane VPA Middle School, being at camp helps with building confidence.

“A lot of the times we don't feel confident, especially when teachers be telling us to speak up,” Adams said. “Most of us wasn’t confident. None of the girls won't say nothing and the boys were just looking cause they don’t know too. A lot of us have hard lives, now that I think about it.”

As the program continues to flourish, Barnes says he plans to expand this to the Riverview Gardens community and partner with the 4H program to accommodate high schoolers. 

The Chesterfield Sports Complex also has plans to give back to the community, Duncan said.

“So any additional money that we get, we're looking to give back. We're looking to, you know, do some scholarships to males and females, volleyball players, basketball players that you know are in the community. So that's something we plan on doing in the near future,” Duncan said. 

Murugan Temple of Saint Louis holds consecration ceremony of idols ahead of construction 

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Right behind the Wildwood YMCA recreational fields lies the site of the upcoming Murugan Temple of St. Louis, a project spearheaded by the devotees of the Hindu deity Lord Murugan. 

On Sept. 14-15, a consecration ceremony of smaller deities – Utsava Vighra – was held for the temple. 

Priest Shri Bharadwaj of the Hindu Temple of St. Louis conducted the ceremony and explained the significance of a Utsava Vighra. Unlike the moolavar, or stone idols, traditionally found in Hindu temples, metal idols are used when the idols need to be transported for religious ceremonies or other purposes.

“Since we don't have a proper structure of a temple, Murugan temple of St. Louis has decided to at least bring the Utsava Vigrahas (to St. Louis) so that they can function the temple for the next couple of years (until construction is complete),” Bharadwaj said. 

(Photo courtesy of Murugan Temple of St. Louis)

Devotees started a 501(c)(3) organization and purchased the land located off Turkey Track Lane in 2021. Last August, they installed two idols made out of stone. Weekly rituals will continue at the temple site where stone idols of Lord Ganesha and Lord Murugan’s trident reside. 

At the moment, the Murugan Temple continues to fundraise as they await city approval to start construction, Puja committee co-chair Alamelu Lakshmanan explained.

“And then we have to still do some fundraising, and then hopefully, in maybe two, three years, have the building [finished],” Lakshmanan said. 

Until construction concludes, the metal idols will be housed temporarily at the Wildwood Village Plaza Shopping Center. Hours of operation for visiting the temporary display will be announced at a later date via social media, Dr. Shanmugam Lakshmanan, President of the Murugan Temple of St. Louis told West Newsmagazine. 

(Photo courtesy of Murugan Temple of St. Louis)

Plans for the temple were conceptualized after devotees wanted a separate temple that reflected the traditional style of Murugan temples in India. Primarily worshipped in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the temple would reflect the six abodes of Lord Murugan. Each abode represents one of the six Murugan temples in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. 

“When we do pilgrimage for Murugan, we try to go to all these six temples,” Alamelu Lakshmanan said. “And we all grew up going to all these temples (in India), so we want to showcase that to the next generation (in America).”

The Murugan temple would not only serve as a place of worship but also as a community center. 

“It's a kind of twofold,” Shanmugam Lakshmanan said. “One is spirituality, and the other is addressing the needs of the people, regardless of age, at various age groups, young, middle and old. And then keep expanding as and when the need arises.

In addition to the main temple, the plan is to include classrooms, a playground, a community center and a kitchen facility, with plans to grow produce in a garden to donate to the homeless, and more. 

“I feel like our goal is to do be something more than just a religious group, more just something that is for the community as a whole,” Yashu Senthilkumar, Murugan Temple youth group member said. 

At the consecration on Sept. 14, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami of the Kauai Hindu Monastery served as guest speaker and explained why temples are important. 

“Well, for Hindus, the temple is a way of experiencing God,” Veylanswami said. “You can go there and understand the worship. So it's a place where, as your understanding and maturity develop, you can approach it in a different way, once you learn how to worship a way of feeling God's blessing that Hindus are able to.”

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Once a year, Walter Le Pere American Legion Post #208 holds a flag retirement ceremony for donated flags ready to be relieved of duty.

At 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 14, the Legion members gathered at Post #208 to observe what Manchester Mayor Mike Clement described as a “respectful” and “dedicated” ceremony. He said it was “an expression of how beautiful the flag truly is.” 

“It has so much meaning,” Clement said. “And in my proclamation, I commented that this flag, through the generations, has flown over battlefields, over city halls, over government buildings, schools and churches. I called it the most powerful symbol of America.”

With the retired flag in arms, American Legion members marched by drumbeat as they carried the flag over to a charcoal grill, where it was set ablaze. As the flag was consumed in flames, fellow veterans, residents and a local troop of Boy Scouts watched in a respectful silence.

“They're learning the importance and the meaning of the flag and how to treat it, and they themselves were a part of that ceremony,” Clement said. “These are really important life lessons for the scouts.”

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, in 1937 the American Legion passed a resolution about flag retirement ceremonies, which states, "The approved method of disposing of unserviceable flags has long been that they be destroyed by burning."

While the recent ceremony only retired one flag, Post #208 accepts old American flags and will dispose of them properly. Drop off old flags at retirement box locations such as the one in Post #208 (225 Old Sulphur Spring Road) or at the Manchester Justice Center.

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The local South Indian community was sent into a tizzy after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned the export of non-basmati white rice in an effort to alleviate rising prices and ensure availability for the Indian market. 

The announcement came last month, catching local business owners like Santhosh Radhakrishnan, owner of Bharath Baazar, by surprise. 

“[We had] no hint at all. Because usually, the vendor will not give us any kind of information so we didn’t have a single hint about it [the ban]. But we were lucky to have a pallet before the ban, and after the ban, nothing has been happening,” Radhakrishnan said. 

The ban prohibits the exports of certain varieties of rice, such as the Sona Masoori and Ponni rice varieties. These rice varieties are integral to South Indian cooking, serving as a healthy alternative to basmati rice. According to Kishore Janga, who serves as the Saint Louis Hindu Temple Kitchen Committee Chair, the type of rice used in specific dishes such as tamarind rice can drastically affect the taste. 

“For example, jasmine rice is sticky. whereas most Indians go with the Sona Masoori, or Ponni rice. it is the refined rice. in case you switch rice types, it’s gonna make a difference, in terms of taste,” Janga said. 

Panicked by the new ban, West County residents flocked to local Indian grocery stores to stock up. West County resident Nalini Narayanan told West Newsmagazine that she had bought four bags of rice for a whopping $38. Prices were initially around $15 to $18 per bag, Janga said. But after the ban, prices nearly tripled, with bags of rice selling for $31 at Costco, Janga told West Newsmagazine. 

Radhakrishnan said that his stocks of rice completely sold out the day the ban was announced, leading him to enact policies that limited the bags of rice consumers could buy. 

Other stores, like Bombay Bazar, have also followed suit, putting up signs limiting one bag of rice per customer. Jay Patel, manager of Bombay Bazaar, said that orders placed prior to the ban have yet to arrive, putting a strain on stores to maintain existing stock. 

“I order 15 masters, which is 30 bags, and other places, we order 30 masters, which is 60 bags. That was Deccan Sona Masoori, very popular [brand],” Patel said. “But instead of 30 masters, I only received five masters, that sold out within 2 to 3 hours.”

West County resident Mahitha Naghichetty said that it was already too late by the time she learned about the ban going into effect. 

“So my niece who lives in Greensville, South Carolina had come to visit. She told us that her state still had rice, and brought some for us from South Carolina,” Naghichetty said.

However, small business owners like Radhakrishnan say that vendors have been favoring bigger stores and states with bigger Indian diaspora communities, like Texas, California, and New Jersey. 

“Even in St. Louis, the big shops might be getting a pallet, but we will not have a situation where we will be adding a pallet and all, because we don’t have space. It’s a big city and the bigger shops will get preference.”

It is unclear at the moment when India will lift it’s ban on rice exports, but in the meantime, business owners and vendors are urging people not to panic.

“It’s a temporary ban, so we don’t have to panic. We’ll get it. The Indian government will not let Indians living outside India starve, they will find some way,” Radhakrishnan said.