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Choosing best finalist won1t be easy
Joplin chamber to present nonprofit award April 24
By Wally Kennedy and Andy Ostmeyer
news@joplinglobe.com It’s no surprise that Veda Boyd Jones is pulling for the library, but she’ll be the first to tell you it’s not an easy choice. The Joplin Public Library, the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts and the Ozark Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America are this year’s finalists in the not-for-profit category for the BKD Small Business of the Year award. There were 14 nominees, according to the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce. Jones thinks each candidate is worthy. She can say that because she’s a member of the Spiva Center for the Arts, is the mother of two former Cub Scouts and for the past nine years has served on the library’s board of trustees, including two terms as president. “This is pulling me,” she said. “That’s hard.” Jones gave tours at the library for years. She moved on a Saturday in 1982 to Joplin. The next day, she called to enroll her children in the library, but it was closed. She was there first thing the next morning. “I wanted them to grow up with books,” she said of her children. A library, she said, “is the most important building in any community I have ever been in. It is where I go for my entertainment. It is where I go for answers.” As board president, Jones helped push through an increase in the library levy that added $400,000 a year to a budget that had been $1.4 million, according to Susan Wray, library director. That money was used to buy computers, and expand programs and hours — including longer hours on Sundays. “We check in and out more items per hour on Sunday than any other day of the week,” Wray said. “Our circulation is very, very good. Our annual circulation is over 450,000 per year. That includes everything.” The library has 112,000 items, including books, and music and movie discs. Joplin resident Linette Johnson on Wednesday morning was at the library with her daughter, Grace, who is 4. “I just love coming here,” Johnson said. “I think it’s excellent. The employees do a great job. They’re like family. They keep the kids’ attention. They get them involved in songs and activities.” Joan Banks, former library director, praised the library for keeping up with the technological changes of the past two decades. “The changes at the library have just been phenomenal,” she said. “Libraries have had to move in the direction of technology. Joplin has done a wonderful job.” Art for art’s sake Toby Teeter grew up in Carl Junction. He would create technologies that were licensed by Google and Yahoo. He became a member of the Spiva art center’s board of directors last summer because he wanted to give something back to the art community. Art, to him, is as essential as the air he breathes. The Spiva Center for the Arts, he believes, plays an essential role in the success of Joplin’s business community. “I attribute my success as a business person to my art education as a child,” he said. “What I do is problem solving and critical thinking. Art exercises that part of your brain. “Communities that have a thriving art society typically have very dynamic business communities. But I think the cause and effect is the inverse. You need a thriving art scene to actually produce dynamic business communities. Spiva helps Joplin achieve that.” Spiva charges no admission fee, so it is difficult to determine how many visitors it has in the course of a year. “People can choose to sign the guest register,” said Jo Mueller, director of the center. “Based on that, we estimate we have about 8,000 a year. “We now have three art galleries, including a new rental gallery for local artists. We have expanded our gift shop, which brings in more artists. About 95 percent of that art is made by regional artists.” The schedule of classes for tots to senior citizens has been increased from 20 to 50 or 60 per year. “My whole deal is that this place belongs to this community,” Mueller said. “The only reason it exists is because of the community and the people who live here. We have had Harleys in the gallery and dogs that have modeled for kids in art classes. We are always thinking of things we can do that are outside the normal realm. “Every other six weeks, we have two or three different exhibits. You never know what you are going to see, and we take things out into the community as much as possible. The Spiva tent at Boomtown Days is a good example of that.” Sharon Beshore, a longtime member of the Spiva board, said a recent visitor to the center, who went there to view the PhotoSpiva exhibit, offered a telling remark. “There are lots of communities that have no Spiva Center for the Arts,” Beshore said. “Nashville is a city of more than 1 million, and this visitor said there is nothing there like Spiva. “Spiva has been here for 60 years, and sometimes we take it for granted. We forget how fortunate we are. It’s a nonprofit gallery and a venue for high-caliber artists. It provides rich educational experiences for children and adults. To have something like this that’s open six days a week to serve this community, well, that’s pretty amazing.” Scouting since 1913 Michael Seibert, of Joplin, became an Eagle Scout in 1973. His son, Jon Michael Seibert, became an Eagle Scout in 2005. “It was one of the greatest experiences of my life to see him achieve something so few achieve and know what he put into it to achieve that,” the father said. “I was honored to be a part of it as well.” The Ozark Trails Council of Boy Scouts of America has a membership of 10,716 in 31 counties in the region, said Brian Karch of the Boy Scout branch in Joplin. “We have about 2,000 Scouts in our five-county area,” he said. “That includes Carthage, Neosho, Joplin, Aurora, Monett and Cassville.” The council operates Childress Scout Camp southeast of Joplin, Camp Arrowhead near Marshfield, Cow Creek Camp on Table Rock Lake, and conservation and wilderness areas near Galena and Pittsburg in Kansas. The local program, founded in 1913, offers camping opportunities for boys and young men. The Cub Scout resident camp this year at Childress will attract about 1,300 boys. The Boy Scout resident camp at Camp Arrowhead will attract about 1,500 to 1,800 young men this year. Participation is on the upswing locally, Karch said. Childress has been upgraded. A new pool was constructed a few years ago, and campsites and shelters have been upgraded. A ranger station that was destroyed by fire has been rebuilt. Karch said the Scouts also offer a “Learning for Life” program in the community, a character-based program for children in kindergarten through age 12. The Explorer program, in which young people get experience in careers, has been operating in Joplin for decades. St. John’s Regional Medical Center, as an example, has offered a medical Explorer program for 30 years. “Countless people in the community who now have careers in law enforcement, firefighting and the medical profession have come up through those programs,” Karch said. Said Seibert: “Scouting is much more than the outdoors. It includes a respect for your community, the nation and the world. There is a religious component to it. To me, it’s just a great building block to being a young adult and a man. It had a profound effect on my life.” Annual banquet The winner of the small-business award and other honorees, including Citizen of the Year, will be named during the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet tonight at the John Q. Hammons Convention and Trade Center. A social starts at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6:15 p.m.
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