Heard on the Street

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WHAT'S THE BUZZ?|ret||ret||tab|

Coffee-flavored beer, hmm. Now where have we heard that before? Oh yes! Drew Carey and his goofy friends offered coffee-flavored beer Buzz Beer from their garage-brewery way before Springfield Brewing Company and the Mudhouse got together to offer their own exciting drink, Mudhouse Stout. Carey's gang's brew's hilarious claim to fame was that it kept the imbiber awake so he could drink longer. The local brew's secret recipe uses an espresso blend of four different coffee beans from around the world to flavor the stout, a darker, heavier, sweeter beer, similar to porter. Salud! |ret||ret||tab|

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TOMORROW'S DREAM|ret||ret||tab|

New buildings, renovations and new services are the happy result of a successful Building Dreams For Tomorrow Capital Campaign benefiting the Developmental Center of the Ozarks, 1545 E. Pythian. A Dec. 6 ribbon cutting was the result of three-plus years of hard work by community volunteers who raised $1,515,134, according to Marci Bowling, the center's director of public relations. Renovations allowed the opening of two new adult programs, Technology Learning Center and Adult Day Care. An addition to the Family Center, the Mildred H. Lewis Infant & Toddler Wing, will provide room for 48 additional infants and toddlers ages 6 weeks to 2 years in the integrated Early Child Care and Education Program which serves 72 children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. A new administration building has allowed the expansion of the early childhood program and the Children's Therapy Program, as well. The architect for the project was Jennifer Wilson of Butler, Rosenbury & Partners and the contract manager was MoDoCo. DCO was founded in 1954 by a small group of parents whose children needed a special place to learn and prepare for school. It serves more than 450 infants, children and adults in 11 counties.|ret||ret||tab|

OUR OWN URBAN STREAM|ret||ret||tab|

How do history and ecology go together? Just ask Loring Bullard, executive director of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks Inc. He's put together a dandy booklet named "Jordan Creek: Story of an Urban Stream." The quick read explains what has happened to the creek and its nearby "natural well" that inspired founding father John Polk Campbell to settle here. The office of the Watershed Committee is, probably by no accident, at the corner of Water and Main, right on the banks of Jordan Creek. The helpful people there offers tours of the two-thirds of a mile underground storm drain that captured the errant creek, highlighting the natural and cultural features of the water supply. On the flip side of maps of the area is a pictorial representation of how urbanization affects streams. Plans are going forward to revitalize and restore the creek's valley.|ret||ret||tab|

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FLAG WAVING|ret||ret||tab|

City Utilities does such interesting things with the advertising space on the sides of its buses. The newest one that catches the eye is one that sports a beautiful portrait of the unfurled and waving stars and stripes. |ret||ret||tab|

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SLICE OF NICE|ret||ret||tab|

Everyone seems to be jingling all the way this season. Now it's the Arthritis Foundation that's getting into the act with its "Jingle Bell Run/Walk" at two sites in southwest Missouri. At 8 a.m. Dec. 15, folks will gather at the Springfield Brewing Company to start a 5-K run or walk, or if they want a shorter trip, a one-mile stroll is available, all to raise money for the foundation's research efforts. Maybe afterwards they'll try some Mudhouse Stout! But not to be outdone, Joplin area residents will gather Dec. 16 at the Schifferdecker Park golf course for a similar event. The cost is $15 for each event which in-cludes a healthful breakfast and a bag of goodies. Considering that no one knows the cause of most of the 100 types of arthritis out there and it afflicts lots of people with stiffness and swell-ing joints, you might want to get out and run/walk while you can! Participants can register on-line at www.arthritis.org or call 888-719-5670. [[In-content Ad]]