Early Thanksgiving

It is supposed to be a beautiful day today, sunny and a high around 52 degrees F. It would be great fishing weather according to one of my co-workers. Mo gave me the approval to purchase 2 kegs for my home brewing, so I'll be able to start kegging early next year. Woot!

It's an early Thanksgiving dinner tonight. We're having our first Thanksgiving dinner tonight at my lodge (Polar Star Rose Hill). We will also have the DDGM and DDGL in attendance, so the meeting will actually be short.

If you are out and about on Wednesday (Nov 26, 2008) a friend of mine has a band that is playing at Rich's Place in St. Charles. The band is Who's Drivin', which is a classic rock and dance band. They'll be at Rich's Place from 9pm - 1am. Rich's place is at 4149 S Old Highway 94, St. Charles, MO 63304. It is in the Plaza 94 strip mall, the same one with the Post Office, License Bureau, and is just southwest of Kohls.

We'll be having a long Thanksgiving day on Thursday as we'll be spending time with my side of the family at Grandpa's nursing home (they're letting us have one of their big rooms) in the morning and then off to Maureen's side of the family for Thanksgiving dinner. And Sunday we'll be having Thanksgiving dinner for our families. Making home-made cranberry salad, home-made mashed potatoes and candied yams, and home-made pumpkin pie. Yeah, I imagine I'll be putting on weight.

News just came out this afternoon from the Orchard Farm School Board pertaining to the new elementary school to be built. Well, it is not in New Town. And it is only going to serve grades Pre-K through 1st grade starting with the 2010-2011 school year at first. Since the first part of the message is about the size of the lot that has been acquired (19.8 acres), I am assuming that this was done to accommodate future growth of the school. Especially since the housing growth has tremendously slowed, there is a little more breathing room for the OFSD to grow at a reasonable rate that won't incur too much debt. Here is the info from the Orchard Farm School District newsletter:

SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE

I am very proud to begin this newsletter announcing the purchase of 19.8 acres just off of Highway 94 and the end of Mercantile Drive in St. Charles for the construction of a new elementary school. In April of 2007 the voters approved construction improvements on the main campus and the construction of a new elementary school in the southern portion of the district. The improvements on the main campus are in full use providing valuable resources for the students and staff. The new land purchase will provide a valuable resource to the district initially serving the primary grades PK – 1 beginning in 2010. I am currently working with our architect to design a master plan of the site with the intention of starting construction in May of 2009. More information will follow and be posted on the district website for your review at www.ofsd.k12.mo.us.

Another thing that came out of the OFSD newsletter was that beginning December 16, 2008 people interested in running for the school boards 2 positions that are coming up may start registering at the district's main office. The 2 board positions are for a 3-year term and the election is scheduled for April 7, 2009. Anybody in the area planning on running? I don't know if the two people whose terms are coming up are planning on running.

In the news this morning was a report showing that St. Louis metro area housing sales dropped 63 percent since October last year, for the biggest drop in the nation. And home sale prices dropped 9% from last year. The Associated Press-Re/Max Monthly Housing Report found that sales fell in 10 out of 12 midwestern metro areas. The two exceptions were in Minneapolis and Detroit because of the wide spread foreclosures and buyers that are taking advantage of the deep discounts that are being offered.

For a positive bit of news, the employment picture in Missouri and Kansas was statistically brighter than the national labor market. The nationwide numbers for job losses was 240,000 in October, whereas the number for Missouri had a net gain of 5,300 jobs in October (3,800 in September). Unemployment numbers are 1.1% higher (6.5%) than the same period in October 2007.

Also, gas prices continue to decline. Missouri has some of the lowest prices per gallon of gas in the nation. I actually saw $1.48 yesterday at the Quicktrip at St. Charles Rock Road and Highway 170 (I think that is in St. John). The most expensive gas is in Alaska, where the average price is $2.866.