Author: paulinemasson

By Pauline Masson Eight months after being elected to the board of aldermen – and as the December 27 deadline for candidates to file to get their names on the April 2023 ballot looms – the two first term aldermen, who ran largely on a call for citizen participation, are still struggling to penetrate the closed ranks of the old guard. The two first termers, who go out of their way to be polite on all issues, were shut down … Continue reading “Opinion – Citizens’ Voice in City Government Took a Hit at the Dec. 6 Board of Aldermen Meeting”

By Pauline Masson – Whether your idea of Christmas is giving to others, family get-togethers, Christmas decorations or a visit with Santa, there is something for everyone each holiday season in Pacific. Adopt a Family, a free Community Meal, Cookie Walk, a forest of Christmas trees, Lighted Parade, Open House, Memorial Ornament Ceremony, and Santa on the Plaza are all in the works this Christmas season in Pacific Adopt a Family – Still Time to Donate Volunteers at Pacific Heights … Continue reading “Hometown Christmas – Community is Invited to Join a Host of Celebrations”

By Pauline Masson – The lights in downtown Pacific create a glow of the vintage buildings that harkens back to the years when Christmas in downtown Pacific was a magic time with shoppers streaming into the mom and pop shops that lined St. Louis Street where they could buy just about anything they needed. My friend, the late Carl Zitzman once told me a story of one of those storybook Christmases at his house. He thought the year might have … Continue reading “Holiday Lights in Old Town Bring Back Childhood Memories of Long Ago Christmas”

By Pauline Masson – On Route 94, seven miles west of Marthasville stands a town of fewer than 200 permanent residents that thrives as a welcoming Mecca with a modern day twist on tourism. Trelor, Missouri is a favored place of local farmers, visiting cyclists, Missouri conservationists, history buffs, school field trips and hometown folks. On any Saturday afternoon at the Trelor Bar and Grill, where friendly farmers offer a welcoming handshake to KATY Trail cyclists, visitors are welcomed by … Continue reading “Trelor and Peers, Missouri, Tiny Historic Places that Thrive on Tourism, History and Hometown Love”

By Pauline Masson – There are 36 dots on the Route 66 Diving Map between Chicago, Illinois and Santa Monica, California where trekkers can stop for fuel, food, fun, rest, collectibles or car trouble. So how would we get them to stop in Pacific – which can boast one of the best preserved stretches of the original road in six states? This is the burning question as we prepare for the upcoming 2026 centennial birthday of the Mother Road when … Continue reading “Rt 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, with a Stop in Pacific, Missouri”

By Pauline Masson –  For every area resident who has ever uttered the words, “There is nothing for young people to do in Pacific,” along comes an opportunity for absolutely everyone to pitch in and change that. A group of organizers has already gained wide community support in its effort to build a skateboard park on the slope adjacent to the children’s pavilion just inside the entrance to City Park. Many readers will remember that the community came together in … Continue reading “Campaign Underway to Build a Skate Park to Memorialize Fallen Soldier Jeff White”

By Pauline Masson – Developer Mike Gallagher found himself in the middle of a bureaucratic head scratcher Tuesday Oct 24, when he asked the Planning and Zoning Commission to waive his responsibility to construct curbs, gutters and sidewalks at his new development on Indian Trails Road. P&Z commissioners said the improvements were set by ordinance when the Board of Aldermen approved the Nottingham Ridge subdivision and street improvements with no waivers in 2016 and the Planning and Zoning Commission could … Continue reading “P&Z Says Request to Waive Sidewalks In Development Already Approved by Ordinance Is Out of Their Hands“

By Pauline Masson – Here’s a hometown story to warm hearts and minds. Veteran animal rescuer Mary Galati has adopted a litter of eight abandoned Husky Labrador mix pups, two male and six female, and she is hoping to find permanent homes for them before winter sets in. They are eight months old, spayed, well fed and healthy. They are mostly golden to light tan in color. They live outside and Mary is worried that they need homes soon. She … Continue reading “Local Dog Rescuer Worries that Winter is Looming and Threatens Her Most Recent Orphans”

By Pauline Masson –  When it comes to Halloween in Pacific, forget spooky stories and scary stalkers. For the past twenty years, one man – who more closely resembles Santa Claus than a ghost or goblin – has reinvented the best memories of his childhood into an ever-growing phantasmagoria of Halloween that staggers the imagination. This year, 2022 there are 100 lighted, waving creatures, from an international diaspora of Halloween ideas, in Dan McClain’s yard at the corner of South … Continue reading “Fantastic Monsters and Friends Welcome Trick or Treaters to Annual Halloween Party at Dan McClain’s House on Payne Street”

By Pauline Masson – If you would like see how a sleepy little river town can be reinvented as a modern high tech, high toned, tourist Mecca, go to Augusta. When my husband Bob and I decided to spend Sunday afternoon there I was just looking for a ride in the sunshine after a six-month bout of long COVID. I certainly had no thought of writing a travel blurb. But when what has transpired in Augusta, I couldn’t resist. I had … Continue reading “Augusta MO and its Wineries Reinvented Like a Setting for an Epic Movie”