On the Street

Teacher welcome

Springfield Public Schools is asking the local business community to help give a warm welcome to the district's 100 new teachers. To help get the teachers off to a great start, and to show them that the local business community strongly supports education, the district is hoping to once again present each new teacher with a Welcome Bag. Each bag will be filled with business promotional items donated by local companies. Several types of items are used to fill the Welcome Bags, including pens, pencils, fast-food coupons, office supplies, magnets, coffee mugs, portfolios, jar grippers and snacks. Companies that wish to donate promotional items either 100 of a single item, or a mix of 100 different types of items, will need to deliver the items to the Tefft Center, 1418 E. Pythian, by Aug. 6. For more information, call Randy Russell, director of community development and grants for Springfield Public Schools, at 417-864-3865.

Dog park

The Springfield-Greene County Park Department is seeking citizen input regarding the development of an off-leash dog park in the Springfield area. Anyone who would like to be on a committee to pursue the creation of a local dog park should contact Kate Plank at 417-891-1621. Information about the possibility of a dog park and fund-raising efforts also will be available Sept. 27 at the American Kennel Club's Responsible Pet Ownership Day. The event will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Chesterfield Park, 2511 W. Republic Road.

Contests and games for pets and their owners will be offered, and dog trainers also will be on hand.

Fund-raising safety

The city of Springfield is reminding community organizations to use caution when holding fund-raising activities such as car washes, so that events are safe for all participants. City ordinance prohibits solicitation on public rights of way, so participants should stay off streets and rights of way when trying to attract customers to their fund raisers.

Doing so will reduce the potential for distracting motorists and creating hazardous situations. According to the city, motorists have observed several rear-end crashes in which fund-raising activities have played a contributing factor.

Slice of Nice

The Habitat For Humanity ReStore is in critical need of deconstruction volunteers to help with the reverse construction of structures slated for demolition. According to Kimberly White, recycling coordinator, volunteers will go into properties and take them down top to bottom, processing items that will be taken to the ReStore and sold to customers, raising money for Habitat Homes. For more information, or to volunteer services, call the ReStore at 829-4001.