Author: paulinemasson

By Pauline Masson –  At about 2:30 a.m., one rainy morning, Keith Wilson, St. Clair was jolted awake by a phone call, often a signal of bad news at that time of night. A family friend, watching TV news of a severe storm, was checking to see if Wilson and his family were okay. “There’s an awful lot of rain out there,” the friend said.  A ham radio operator, who served as the radio amateur civilian emergency service (RACES) officer … Continue reading “Old School Becomes Communication Hub as East Central MO Hams Hold Joint Practice Session”

Blackburn Park and Jensen Point Preserve 470-million-year-old Dune Story and Photos by Jo Schaper When I moved to The Cedars 30 years ago, I knew we were buying beachfront property. The center park is a sandy high point on the Tippecanoe Sea beach. The white St. Peter Sandstone is one of the Four Rs that define our town: rocks, river, railroad, and Route 66. Everyone sees our big white cliffs. On old U.S. 66, (Osage Blvd.) it’s Adam’s Garden and … Continue reading “Is it time for a trip to the beach?”

By Pauline Masson –  Pacific High School’s JROTC cadets have become a staple of Pacific public life, trooping the colors for public events, leading parades, collecting Toys for Tots and Coats for Kosovo, and honoring area veterans at an annual PHS assembly. The Marine Corps Junior Officers Training Corps program was intended as an additional direction for PHS students when inaugurted in 1999. But inside the classrooms the students entered a unique world of routine, discipline, training and training and … Continue reading “Pacific High School JROTC Marksmanship Team’s Five Year Wining Streak”

By Pauline Masson Aldermen are wrestling with whether sidewalks should be required in front of new buildings in the flood prone area of the city, which are adjacent to flood buyout lots, as called for in city codes. The sidewalk requirement for new construction was borne of necessity. Originally a town of dirt or gravel roads and no sidewalks, Pacific added sidewalks on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis, when it had the money for such luxuries. There were no zoning … Continue reading “To Require Sidewalks or Not Require Sidewalks: That is the Question  “

By Pauline Masson –  It is easy to say the 2023 Iron Horse Rodeo was the most successful since Outlaw Rodeo Productions brought its rodeo to Pacific in 2013. Since then Pacific has capped off Outlaw Rodeo’s annual season of approximately 15 rodeos a year in late September or early October. The key claim that this year’s rodeo was the best was that total revenue of $81,000 was the largest ever. But it should have been the most successful. The weather … Continue reading “Iron Horse Rodeo Rides and Ropes into History $81,000 in 2023 Revenue”

By Pauline Masson – Civil War historians have been reluctant to call it a battle, preferring instead to refer to it as a raid. But to Pacific residents, fleeing refugees and visiting journalists, it looked like war. In the early morning hours of Oct.1, 1864, Confederate Cavalry thundered into downtown Pacific, set fire to the Pacific Railroad passenger depot and 16 other railroad buildings, pillaged stores, and took prisoners. After Union troops arrived and battle lines were drawn and redrawn, … Continue reading “Civil War Battle of Pacific, October 1, 1864 Still Surfaces in Local Memory”

By Pauline Masson –  Pacific reisdents may see a new approach to upgrading or building a new city swimming pool as City Administrator Harold Selby turns his personal strategy of networking and fact finding to the project. Selby stepped into the new swimming pool issue two weeks ago when he mingled with municipal leaders from across the state as he and other Pacific officials attended a three-day Missouri Municipal League (MML) conference for local officials in Kansas City. Mayor Heather … Continue reading “Selby Strategy Could Change the Scope and Cost of a New City Swimming Pool”

By Pauline Masson – In the early 1930s, a group of far thinking St. Louis civic leaders, who called themselves the Henry Shaw Gardenway Association, got a lot of credit for beautifying our stretch of Route 66, including the building of Jensen’s Point Lookout, which placed Pacific at the center. And they should have. After all, it was their project.  But a review of history shows that they may not have been able to pull it off without the energetic … Continue reading “What is the Henry Shaw Gardenway? / Or, Here is Another Pacific Lions Tale”

By Pauline Masson –  For Alderman Debbie Kelley it was a simple change in city government to place code enforcement procedures under the city administrator and staff. After losing her first bid to make the change to a 3-3 tie and a ‘no’ vote from Mayor Heather Filley Sept. 5, Alderman Kelley repeated her motion to bring the code enforcement department to its former place as part of the building deparment in the administration offices on the upper level of … Continue reading “Kelley Victory: Code Enforcement Heads Upstairs / Selby Sites Proactive Ways to Correct Violations”

By Pauline Masson –  The question of whether to send a code enforcement inspector or a police officer to deal with weeds and grass or other nuisance will be discussed – for the nth time – at Tuesday’s board of adlermen (BOA) meeting.  A decision on effective code enforcement is long overdue according former aldermen Rick Layton, who has been trying for months to get a blocked sidewalk and uncontrolled weeds on one block in his neighborhood corrected. A company … Continue reading “Where Is the Code Enforcement Department When You Need It? Former Alderman Questions”