For immediate release
For more information, contact
Bonnie Prigge
or
Caitlin Jones
ST. JAMES—Dashayla Bean of Waynesville was honored with an outstanding youth volunteer award and The Old Stagecoach Stop Foundation was honored with an outstanding service to the community award during the Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s (MRPC) Annual Dinner and Awards Banquet, held Oct. 24 at Osage View in Linn. Each year, MRPC honors residents, local agency representatives and organizations in the Meramec Region who contribute to their communities by volunteering their time, talents and support. This year’s event was hosted by Osage County, the City of Linn and State Technical College of Missouri.
Bean, daughter of Dash and Shantell Bean, is a junior at Waynesville High School, where she is in the top five percent of her class with a 4.2 GPA and has been a member of the National Honor Society for two years. Bean serves a member of the Student Government Association (SGA) and was elected the vice-president for her sophomore and junior years and has already been elected as the senior class SGA secretary. In her roles with the SGA, she has helped with the community-wide homecoming parade, egg hunt and 2022 Thanksgiving food drive. Bean is also a member of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competing on both the regional and state levels. Additionally, she is also a member of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), where she assisted with the planning and execution of a clothing and hygiene drive. Bean is an active participant in track and field and volunteers at elementary track meets and mentors new athletes. Outside of school, Bean has helped at the Waynesville/Saint Robert Animal Shelter, reads to the students at East Elementary School, volunteers at Phelps Health and Lake Regional hospitals and is an active member of the youth department at her church.
The Old Stagecoach Stop Foundation’s mission is “to preserve and restore the historical structure known as the Old Stagecoach Stop in Waynesville, MO, in order to preserve its educational value for future generations.” This building in Pulaski County was condemned as a “hazardous building” by the City of Waynesville in 1982 but was restored as a local attraction. In 2003, the Foundation negotiated the purchase of the rest of the historic property, extending from Lyn Street to Highway 17. In 2010, the Foundation successfully hosted the large traveling exhibition, titled “Journey Stories”, a part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street Program, attended by well over 1,000 area students and citizens during its six-week run. The Foundation has the Old Stagecoach Stop Museum open for tours on Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from April – October. The Old Stagecoach Stop is also open for the community’s annual Christmas on the Square celebration in December. The Foundation also publishes an annual heritage newspaper called the ‘Old Settlers Gazette.’ It is distributed in the area and is free to the readers.
Both, Bean and The Old Stagecoach Foundation were nominated by Waynesville Mayor Sean Wilson.
“It was so good to come together in-person and honor our volunteers,” said MRPC Executive Director Bonnie Prigge. “We are only able to honor a few volunteers each year, yet we extend our gratitude to the hundreds of volunteers in our region who truly make our region such an amazing place to live, work and visit. We are successful because of our volunteers. We hope that by recognizing a few volunteers, we can inspire others to volunteer their time and invest in their communities.”
The night included a reception that began at 5:30 sponsored by the City of Linn, Legends Bank – Linn, Darryl and Corliss Griffin and Archer-Elgin Engineering, Surveying and Architecture. A silent auction, held during the reception, raised $1,284 to offset the costs of the dinner. Approximately 150 people attended this year’s event. The dinner was catered by Annie’s Station in Loose Creek.
Other individuals and community organizations recognized for contributions to their communities are:
This year’s other youth award recipients were:
The Eugene E. Northern award, the highest honor given by MRPC for volunteers and community service, was presented to Stan Podorski of Salem for 2024.
Podorski, nominated by Dent County Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson, has owned KSMO Radio in Salem since 1984. He has volunteered for the Police Personnel Board, Handicapped Services of Dent County Board, Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and Healthy Dent County Prevention Coalition. Podorski has also served as the president of the Salem Area Business Association and City of Salem Park and Recreation board and is currently the president of the Dent County Salvation Army Unit.
While chair of the park board, Podorski worked to get a Transportation Alternatives Program grant for the city to create a new trail from the city park to the high school, had a splash pad installed at the city park and worked to get an all-inclusive playground at the city park called Billy’s Playground. He also had the municipal swimming pool and pool house renovated, improved walking areas around the field at the park and helped to secure property for the creation of soccer fields inside city limits.
Podorski created a free four-page news flyer called ‘Your World Today’ that included local news, sports, obituaries and other community events daily Monday through Friday. Today, this is still delivered in over 40 locations in Salem and Bunker.
Volunteering with the Dent County Fall Festival Board and Salem FFA Chapter, Podorski oversaw the systems and emceeing numerous Miss Dent County contests at the fall festival. He improved the sound system at the old festival grounds before designing and installing an all new outside speaker system at the Dent County Commons in the Livestock Barn, the rodeo arena, the grandstand and the youth building. Working with the school, Podorski was the driving force in raising over $9,000 to renovate the press boxes for football and baseball at no cost to the school. When the high school gym ran out of press box space, Podorski and KSMO paid for materials so maintenance staff could build two additional crow’s nests in the gym.
In his 40 years in Salem, it has been Podorski’s desire to make Salem a better place.
The Lender of the Year award was also presented during MRPC’s Annual Dinner. Working in partnership with the Meramec Regional Development Corporation (MRDC), MRPC recognizes lending institutions who partner with MRPC/MRDC on local business projects. For 2024, the Lender of the Year award was presented to Maries County Bank. Maries County Bank partnered with MRDC to collaborate financing for a new business in state. MRDC and Maries County Bank have had a longstanding partnership working to help businesses.
Staff members were recognized at the 2024 awards banquet for years of service included:
Each year, MRPC employees are asked to select one staff member who performs above the call of duty, exhibits exemplary work performance, voluntarily promotes the organization and exhibits a positive work ethic and attitude. MRPC’s 2024 employee of the year was Eva Voss, Senior Community Development Specialist.
Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. Mary Heywood, representing the unemployed, serves as chair of the board. A professional staff of 28 offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.
To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.
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