A GREAT WEEKEND

Last Friday, I attended a MOHELA Board meeting at MOHELA. I entered the meeting with a prepared statement regarding the proposed kindergarten program for "at-risk" children in the St. Louis Public School System. I have been upset by the continuing delay of getting the program off of the ground, so I called for an "Up or Down" vote for the pilot program. By the time the dust had cleared and the question called for, we now have a program called "Early Childhood College Funding Program of Missouri" by a vote of 5-2. We are now on the road to assisting children who need a bit of help in making them more productive. By the way, for what it is worth, I was re-elected chairman of the MOHELA Board.

After that meeting, I headed for St. Louis International Airport and a flight to Dallas where I would see not only my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, but also Sue. Friday was halloween and we went around Rick's neighborhood with Hudson and saw things I have never experienced with halloween. First, I have never seen so many children "trick or treating." They were all over streets, sidewalks, lawns, having a great time. It was a great time for me just to observe, besides the walking that is always good. After returning to Rick's home, we gave out a huge amount of candy (also had a lot leftover).

Saturday, Rick and I drove to Waco to see the Baylor-Mizzou football game. I have degrees from both institutions and he has a degree from Mizzou. It was a great game to see and Baylor gave Mizzou more than they wanted as the Bears lost to the Tigers by the score of 31-28. That evening, we saw the Texas-Texas Tech game on TV. What a great game that was with Tech winning in the last second of the game.

I came home Monday and prepared for a Kindergarten meeting on Tuesday. We will move this program rapidly and have it ready for the 2009-2010 school year. Also I voted on Tuesday and won some and lost some. That is the way elections go. The good thing is there will be a peaceful transition of power in January. That is always a good thing.