Attending a reception to recognize a local individual or as we'll do this week, several individuals, has become quite the thing to do over the last month or so.

As was noted in this space last week, Bid Miles was feted by her family and friends on the occasion of her birthday .

Last Monday afternoon friends, family and colleagues of Deb Cook hosted a reception to recognize her being named National School Nurse of the Year. The community turned out nicely to at once congratulate her and also to thank her for the work she does.

Think about that, "National." There are 526 school districts in Missouri alone, I have no idea how many school districts there are in the U.S., but obviously it's in the thousands. And we have the top nurse in public schools right here in our little corner of the world. According to her husband, Steve, Deb wasn't even aware she had been nominated for the award until the call came that she was being awarded the honor. I'm betting she probably thought it was a joke at first.

This Monday afternoon a reception is being planned at one location for two events.

The Kennett Area Higher Education Center will soon become the former Kennett Area Higher Education Center. On a going-forward basis the higher education facility will become Southeast Missouri State University-Kennett. The name change reflects the facility's change in focus and alignment more with Southeast. It also represents the culmination of a lot of hard work, not the least of which is the work of Marsha Blanchard as director, Doyle Privett during his tenure as a regent of the university and a commitment from Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins to the center.

It will also be at that reception when the school officially breaks ground on a brand new program, the LPN to RN bridge program. Kennett Area Vocational-Techical School has a pretty good LPN program. The problem is that to become an RN, and there is a real need for registered nurses in our medical community, a student had to travel to get that additional training and certification. As anyone who has ever tried to hold down a full time job and go to school at the same time can tell you it is a pretty daunting task.

Thanks to program funding from the Missouri Foundation for Health and MFH board member, Dr. Steve Pu, Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center and its CEO John McClellan for scholarship funding, the university will now be in a position to provide registered nurses for the future. The LPN to RN bridge program is a huge step and fills a need which could have become critical, as a nursing shortage has become in other parts of the country.

Now we can start focusing on the next big things we want to see at our local university.

We need to begin looking at the athletic program there. How about a basketball team? Since Southeast is now known as the Redhawks, maybe Southeast-Kennett could become something like a smaller version like maybe the Chicken Hawks or Red Chicks.

Then we can begin working on the medical school. How about that, we're going to be growing our own nurses why can't we start growing our own medical staff as well?

* * *

Remembering 1955:

"I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy two weeks' groceries for $20."

"Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2,000 will only buy a used one."

"If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous."

"Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?"

"If they raise the minimum wage to 75 cents, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."

"When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 17 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage."

"Kids today are impossible. Those ducktail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls."

"I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying 'damn' in "Gone With the Wind," it seems every new movie has either 'hell' or 'damn' in it."

"I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas."

"Did you see where some baseball player signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president."

"I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now."

"It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet."

"It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work."

"Marriage doesn't mean a thing anymore; those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat."

"I'm afraid the Volkswagen is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business."

"Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to Congress."

"The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on."

"There is no sense going to a big city anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $4 a night to stay in a hotel."

"No one can afford to be sick anymore, because $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood."

"If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it." -- Web Talk

-Excerpted from Gary Rust's column in the Southeast Missourian.