2026 MPC Communications Honors

Yesterday morning (20 May), I came to Janice Denham's house in Kirkwood to pick up my Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) 2026 Communications Contest awards. Den ham is co-president of MPC. The awards were presented one week before, but I was unable to attend the awards luncheon due to a St. Louis CITY SC match early that afternoon.

All five items I submitted for the contest were winners. I earned two First Place awards, and one each of Second Place, Third Place, and Honorable Mention. One of the Firsts was for editing The Arch Scaler News, the monthly member newsletter of the Gateway Chapter of the International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS) in St. Louis. I submitted the October 2025 issue for consideration here.

One of the MPC judges commented on that submission: "One of the best organized newsletters I've seen/ The news is clear to read, and the array of model photos is easy to browse through. The meeting's minutes are long, but they are presented in an organized way." 

The other First Place award I received was for writing and distributing the press release for last September's Gateway Regional Model Contest and Vendor Fair in Affton. For this category, I submitted a statement of purpose for the release and some screenshots of websites where the release appeared along with the release itself. The judge wrote about my entry: "The writing is clear, concise and informative. There is nothing wrong with that!" The judge suggested leading with what this contest was about and perhaps showing the range of competitions to help readers envision the event. 

A build article I wrote for The Arch Scaler News earned Second Place in its category. "'Vengeance' of an Old Kit: Building Frog's 1:72 Vultee Vengeance Mk. II" ran late last year. The contest judge remarked: "Author narrated their experience of building this model wonderfully, and explained the kit very well. I found it interesting even though I'm not a model builder The photos complemented the narrative nicely, too."

Placing Third was another article I wrote: "Trumpeter's 1:72 F-8II 'Finback'-B." This ran in the Asian Air Arms Special Interest Group Newsletter. The judge wrote of this entry: "Well-written article with great background and detail. Photos also compliment the article well throughout." The judge did suggest that I could talk more about how I came across this model, why I built it, and how it was selected. The judge though that I might draw more readers in by adding this content to the article's lead.

Finally, the Honorable Mention was for my blog post "Trivia Night, Museum Tour, and Soccer Refereeing: My Weekend," which I posted here about a year ago. Of this entry, the judge wrote: "Writing is clear and photos help enliven the various scenes." The judge thought I should relate the day's events with what they mean to me or how they connect to the wider world.  That person thought that by digging deeper into my emotions that I will have a blog that can resonate with more readers.

Overall, the judges' comments were fair on all five entries. Having such constructive criticism to go with these awards has been a help to me in the years since I started entering this contest. Certainly, the awards look good on my wall and on the Awards section of my Linkedin profile.

Those two First Place awards are now eligible for honors from the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), ofn which MPC is an affiliate. The NFPW's Communications Contest awards will be announced at its National Workshop this September in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Missouri Professional Communicators: Missouri NFPW affiliate | Missouri Professional Communicators | Clayton

Gateway Chapter IPMS: IPMS Gateway Chapter

Asian Air Arms Special Interest Group: Home | asianairarms

National Federation of Press Women: Home

Memorial Day Weekend 2026

Last weekend was wonderful after a busy week prepping rental cars for the Memorial Day Weekend crowd. Late Saturday morning (23 May), I picked up Julie and we went to the St. Louis CITY SC match against Austin FC. After parking, we walked to the Schlafly Tap Room for the St. Louligans' Street Party. Julie and I got lunch from the Heaterz Hot Chicken food truck, and I got a can of Schlafly beer. 

About an hour before the 1:45 p.m. kickoff, the St. Louligans and Fleur de Noise were joined by STL Santos and St. Louis City Punks for the pre-match rally before marching into Energizer Park for the match. Julie and I found our placed in the supporter section and awaited the start of the match. St. Louis native, Saint Louis University alumnus, and former US international player Brad Davis brought out the match ball and hung out with the supporters prior to the match. A banner held at the center circle celebrated the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and a tifo at our section celebrated St. Louis' ethnic diversity.

It was quite a good day to be a St. Louis CITY supporter as the home side won 3-0. CITY had much of the possession and play during the match. A pressing attack led to an own goal against Austin in the 40th minute. CITY scored two second-half goals to secure the win and the three points. They are now unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions (four wins and a draw). the players and coaches acknowledged their supporters after the match.

CITY enters the World Cup break 12th in the MLS Western Conference table; four points shy of the final playoff spot. The season resumes on 16 July, when CITY hosts cross state rival Sporting Kansas City.

I took Julie to her home and then I drove home. I chilled out the rest of the day and night, mostly watching war films on TCM.

Sunday morning (24 July), I attended the service at Eliot Unitarian Universalist chapel. Then, I stopped by a gas station to fill up my car before driving home. I watched the Indianapolis 500 on TV, then more movies on TCM.

Julie came here Monday morning (25 July) to pick me up and take us to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. We paid our respects to my parents' niche in a columbarium. Their ashes were placed together, mom's coming last fall after her passing and now together with those of my father who passed in 2014.

After checking at the administration building, Julie and I went to the grave of James R. Crowe Jr. and his wife Madeleine. They were the parents of Ellen Crowe, my friend from college. Ellen told me her parents were interred at that cemetery. It was good to pay my respects to James and Madeleine, and having Julie alongside made it nicer.

Finally, we went to the gravesite of my maternal grandparents, Harold and Helen Koenig. All three men in question served in the US Armed Forces in World War II. James also served in the Korean War. The day before our visit, hundreds of Boy Scouts placed American flags on all the graves. I did this myself back in the day. Those flags sure added a great touch on these final resting places that day.

After our cemetery visit, Julie took me back home and I spent time at home watching TV before getting some sleep prior to a busy day at work.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC

Schlafly Tap Room: Schlafly

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer

Heaterz Hot Chicken: Heaterz Hot Chicken

Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel: Home

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery: Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery - National Cemetery Administration

Scale Models in Springfield; Flowers and Recognition at Church

Early Saturday morning (16 May), I drove to Marion Morris' house in Maplewood. There, I got into Morris' minivan with Jim Triola and David Thomas to begin traveling to Springfield, Missouri. We of IPMS Gateway were going to MOSS CON, the annual contest and vendor fair presented to IPMS Missouri Ozarks Scale Specialists. 

Along the way, we picked up Randy Kleeschulte and continued on our journey., stopping in St. James for breakfast at McDonald's. After about three and a half hours of travel, our party arrived at the Arc of the Ozarks facility in Springfield, where MOSS CON took place. Six other Gateway members traveled separately to the show.

After paying our admission and registration fees, we made our way to the contest area. I brought three models--two aircraft and a ship--to enter. After placing the models on the contest tables, I started to make my way around the room, talking with people I knew, purchasing some raffle tickets, and browsing among the contest models and vendors.

I had my camera with me to take pictures of the contest models and general show scenes for Gateway's Facebook page. I bought several kits and a paint brush holder from vendors and won two kits in the raffle.

Midday, I and several other attendees volunteered to judge contest entries. This contest used the Gold-Silver-Bronze system, in which each model in a category was judged by its own merits instead of in competition with other entries in the category. A model could receive either a Gold, Silver, Bronze, or no award, and there were no limits to the number of such awards that could be given out. I helped judge automotive models and it worked out well at my end. The judges placed comments with each entry of what was good and bad about it and what award, if any, it earned. Neither of my three contest entries received any awards.

Seven of my Gateway mates won awards in the contest, so I was proud of them. I made sure to highlight their winning models on the club's social media. Overall, the contest drew 313 entries from 82 modelers.

Late that afternoon, I joined with Morris' group to pack up our things and leave for home. We stopped in St. Robert for dinner at Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers before dropping off Kleeschulte and then returning to Maplewood. I got my items out of the minivan and put them in my car before driving home. It was quite a fine day.

The next morning had me at Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel for Sunday service. Julie Rodriguez and Joan Burke joined me for the service, which featured the annual Flower Communion--a tradition in Unitarian Universalism. Julie brought some flowers, so she gave Joan and I a flower each from the bouquet. At the appointed time, parishioners brought the flowers up to the front of the sanctuary and placed them in glass vases. There were several vases filled with flowers that day.

After this communion, the church recognized its new members from the past year. The 32 new members--including me, who joined in February--came to the front of the sanctuary to be recognized. Each of us received a copy of the book Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies. It was great to see this recognition given by the congregation to its newest members.

After the service, there was lunch in Adams Hall. This was followed by Eliot's annual Congregational Meeting in the sanctuary. The meeting approved three new members of the Board of Trustees and three new members of the Nominating Committee. We also discussed the proposed budget and other church matters.

Julie and Joan had to leave before the meeting ended, as Julie was seeing her son Dave and granddaughter that afternoon. I left church after the meeting to go home. After starting to post photos from MOSS CON onto IPMS Gateway's Instagram and Facebook, I bought groceries from Walmart.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

IPMS Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter

IPMS Missouri Ozarks Scale Specialists: Missouri Ozarks Scale Specialists scale modeling | Missouri Ozarks Scale Specialists

The Arc of the Ozarks: The Arc of the Ozarks: Serving People with Disabilities in Missouri

Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel: Home

Catching Up After Over Two Months Away from Here

After over two months since my last post here, I finally got myself to sit down and post up here for you all.

On 14 March, I attended the Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) meeting at the St. Lois Artists' Guild. Patty Prewitt, who had been freed and given clemency in 2024 for the murder of her husband 40 years before, spoke about keeping up hope while in prison through writing. I bought a copy of her 2025 book Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar: Letter from Prison, which she signed for me. It was quite an interesting program.

In March, I got in touch with a financial advisor from Thrivent, who had reached out to me via LinkedIn. We have met via Zoom and received some recommendations from her regarding my investments. She also set me up with a colleague who does Money Canvas, a three-week online program on budgeting. The second session is this coming week.

On 17 April, I joined Julie, Joan, and few others at a table for Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel's Trivia Night at the Crestwood Community Center. The questions had to do with water and what creatures live there. Out table ended up in the middle of the pack, it was all good fun.

Speaking of Eliot, I served as a greeter on consecutive Sundays (19 and 26 April) for the 11:15 am service. This involves passing out orders of service, getting questionnaires to first-time visitors, collecting and totaling offerings, and helping keep the sanctuary in good order. I really enjoy this volunteering and look forward to doing more in the coming months.

Work has been going well. We have the usual turnover of staff as they move up and on, but business has been good. Last month, I participated in a corporate focus group with other automotive detailers from the St. Louis area, which was most informative and helpful to the group staff.

CITY SC has stumbled through the start of the season. They aren't doing very well, but as a supporter, I must keep hope. Julie has usually gone with me to the home matches as Energizer Park, proceeded by the St. Louligans Street Party at Schlafly Tap Room. We've also gone to away match watch parties at 2nd Shift Brewing. (There's one tonight.) For the latter, Julie has lately been bringing her dog Molly along. 

Julie and I get together just about once a week for dinner, a CITY match, or something else. Our relationship is still going strong.

Matters with scale modeling in general and IPMS Gateway in particular have been fine. I have lately been splitting workbench time among three models: 1:200 scale Artemis I rocket (sister to Artemis II that recently flew four astronauts to the moon and back), a 1:350 heavy cruiser USS San Francisco (given to me by a fellow Gateway member for our club's "buddy build" this year), and a 1:48 F-111A I have rescued from my "shelf of doom."

One week ago (2 May), I worked a morning volunteer shift with the Greater St. Louis Book Fair, a charity used book sale held at the Greensfelder Recreation Complex. I started out straightening the stacks of books as they got moved around on the tables. Later, I helped collect books left in bins by each row of tables for them to be restacked on the appropriate tables.

The next day, I staffed a table for IPMS Gateway at the Midwest Model Vehicle Association Spring Model Car Show at Kirkwood Community Center. I gave out flyers for our club and answered questions visitors had about us.

Things around the house are going well. I have to do some slight repairs as necessary, but overall, the place is holding up well.

Later.

Links to Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Missouri Professional Communicators: Missouri NFPW affiliate | Missouri Professional Communicators | Clayton

Thrivent: Why Thrivent | Thrivent

Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel: Home

Crestwood Community Center: Crestwood Community Center | Crestwood, MO

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer

Greater St. Louis Book Fair: Greater St. Louis Book Fair

Greensfelder Recreation Complex: Greensfelder Recreation Complex Ice Rink - St. Louis County Website

IPMS Gateway Chapter: IPMS Gateway Chapter

Midwest Model Vehicle Association: IPMS Gateway Chapter - MMVA Page

Weekend of CITY Soccer and Church Greeting

Mid-afternoon yesterday (7 March), I was off to Julie's apartment to pick her up and bring her to Downtown West St. Louis for that night's St. Louis CITY SC match. I parked my car on a lot south of Enterprise Center (where the Missouri Valley Conference's men's basketball tournament was taking place) and then Julie and I walked 0.5 miles (0.8 km) towards Energizer Park. We browsed among the activities taking place there before going across the street to the Schlafly Tap Room for the St. Louligans Street Party.

Julie and I got dinner from the Cluck Oink Moo Sliders food truck--we each got two sliders with French fries--and took in the festivities of the party. I bought some Schlaffle raffle tickets but did not win the prize. However, the money is going to a good cause, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, that night's St. Louligans Charity du Jour.

Just over an hour before kickoff, the St. Louligans and Fleur de Noise rallied with STL Santos and St. Louis City Punks for a few minutes of chanting before setting off on our march to Energizer Park. After filing our CITY ramblers with soft drinks, Julie and I found places in the North End to await the match.

CITY (0-1-1 after losing 2-0 at San Diego FC the previous weekend) was hosting Seattle Sounders FC. Saint Louis University men's soccer head coach Kevin Kalish brought out the match ball, then walked over to the North End to wave a large flag and pound the big drum. Kalish's Billikens reached the NCAA semifinals last fall.

The match started off well for CITY, in that they had most of the possession and made some nice scoring attempts. However, the match was scoreless at half time. Seattle took the lead two minutes into the second half and held on run out 1-0 winners. A disappointment for sure to CITY and its supporters, though some positives came out of the match (including having 70 percent possession). CITY will regroup and play at Los Angeles FC this Saturday.

Julie and I walked back to the parking lot and I drove her home before I returned home. Overnight, our clocks moved ahead one hour to Daylight Savings Time/.

This morning, Julie messaged me to say she would not be able to come with me to church today, due to a sinus headache. Thus, I drove myself to Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel for the 11:15 am service, where I would serve as chief greeter. (This past week, I responded to an email appeal from Eliot for greeter help this Sunday.) This was my first service as a full greeter, having shadowed a greeter two weeks before. Today's stint went off without a hitch, and I helped to collect and count the offering money for the church. After the service, I finished shutdown procedures before relaxing at the coffee and fellowship time. After nearly an hour, I headed home.

Later.

Websites of Entries Mentioned in This Post:

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer

Schlafly Tap Room: Schlafly

Cluck Oink Moo Sliders: Cluck Oink Moo Sliders | Food Trucks In | St. Louis MO

Colorectal Cancer Alliance: Colorectal Cancer Alliance | Prevention, Support & Research for Colorectal Cancer

Energizer Park: Energizer Park | St. Louis CITY SC

Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel: Home