clayton
Some folks love to soak up the sun, giving little thought to what damage the rays may be causing. Hey … they wear hats and sunglasses and maybe slather on the ‘suntan’ lotion with nary a care about its SPF. But is that enough? Well … no. Just ask Lynly Brennan, a Nerinx Hall junior. In an effort to reduce the risk of skin cancer, she got three municipal pools to provide free sunscreen as part of a trial program. The Shaw Park Aquatic Center in Clayton, the Heman Park Pool in U. City and the Maplewood Family Aquatic Center have been offering complimentary, waterproof sport 30 SPF to bathers, and will through the end of the summer. Lynly’s research showed that one person in this country dies every hour of melanoma, a skin cancer attributed to the sun. Lynly, who raised funds for the project, had written a paper for sophomore English that raised her concern—melanoma is such a preventable cancer, she notes. To raise awareness and interest, she wrote to metro dermatologists in June to solicit private donations. If people take advantage of the free sunscreen, Lynly hopes to expand it to other pools. If they don’t, she plans to survey swimmers and find out why. Pool-goers have access to the complimentary sunscreen from touch-free dispensers made by BrightGuard Inc. of Irvine, California. A week from Saturday, on Aug. 5, an event to raise awareness is slated at the Shaw pool, 111 S. Brentwood Blvd., at 11 a.m. Lynly hopes donors—and, perhaps, a dermatologist—will be on hand for questions. A Clayton resident herself, Lynly swims to keep in shape and is a member of the Nerinx swim team, but her athletic focus is field hockey. And, of course, she wears sunscreen.
st. louis
Food for thought: A novel St. Louis Public Library partnership with Operation Food Search will continue to offer free lunches to children 18 or younger through Aug. 11. Complimentary meals are provided for kids during the lunch hour, every weekday, at five SLPL branches:
Carondelet, 6800 Michigan Ave.
Carpenter, 3309 S. Grand Blvd.
Central, 1301 Olive St.
Divoll, 4234 N. Grand Blvd.
Walnut Park, 5760 W. Florissant Ave.
manchester
‘Sneakers with Soul’—a ‘soleful’ (hey, they started it) effort to collect brand-new sneakers—has stepped out, again, at Manchester United Methodist Church. The program helps local kids in need go back to school in a new pair of sneaks. This, the program’s eighth annual iteration, runs through Aug. 6. Since the mission began in 2010, more than 12,000 pairs of new sneakers and athletic footwear have been donated to disadvantaged kids throughout the metro. The 2017 goal is to raise enough cash and secure the level of new sneaker donations adequate to place new pairs on the feet of 2,500 children in the city of St. Louis. This has been made possible for Manchester UMC through Kingdom House and Guardian Angel Settlement Association, as well as Operation Food Search. Congregation member Maurice Parisien came up with the Sneakers with Soul idea in 2010. One in four people in the city of St. Louis are just scraping by below the national poverty line, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the national average—24.9 percent vs. 14.7 percent—according to national census data. One location to which interested donors could head to for sneaks is the Adidas store at St. Louis Premium Outlets in Chesterfield Valley; Adidas is providing special discounts to shoppers purchasing for Sneakers with Soul. In addition to new sneakers, the church is accepting financial donations at manchesterumc.org/sneakers. Donations of new sneakers and/or athletic shoes can be dropped off at the church (129 Woods Mill Road) between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, or at any service. You can’t miss this house of worship—the steeple is visible from Manchester Road for miles in either direction.
chesterfield
Six Flags? Waaay overrated, IMHO. There’s a place for amusements not quite so far west, where the parking is free and the lines are short. It’s air-conditioned, so no one sweats profusely during a 45-minute wait for the next ride. There’s a carousel, and all manner of food and drink … except maybe not funnel cakes. A tooting choo-choo conveys patrons from one fun thing to the next. Perhaps they’d like to try their skill and luck at the ‘claw’ machine, attempting to grab a container with a chance to win $100? Maybe it’s time to really screw up some courage and bungee jump off a trampoline—or take four photos with your date in the booth nearby, get your nails done, enjoy a deep neck massage or see a movie. But then … when Chesterfield Mall closes soon, all that will disappear—plus, where will mall walkers walk? Things have been going downhill for some time. You couldn’t buy gifts last Christmas at Dillard’s, or a prom dress there in the spring, seeing as the department store has been closed ‘temporarily’ for ages. Yet signs on the doors have teased shoppers since that water main burst in September that flooded the store. Catastrophe is none too strong a word to describe the emptying mall’s fortunes since two outlet centers opened in the Valley in 2013. The mall has changed hands numerous times since its 1976 debut, and today’s teens don’t hang out in droves there over the summer like they used to. They’re looking down at Instagram, Snapchat or whatever—not trying to evade parents at the mall anymore! Current owner Madison Marquette Retail Services, receiver for U.S. Bank, is trying to shed the property within 90 days. What could possibly be a ‘mixed use’ alternative for a 40-year-old retail mall? We might offer up a roller-derby facility, with themed discos operating in the three former two-floor anchor spaces. You know, just for the short term.
university city
Little Feat … minus at least one standout player from the 1970s … is coming to town next month. The benefit concert, created to celebrate the life of Avery Reine Cantor, 17, a teen who died by her own hand (pictured at right with her dad), is slated for The Pageant on Saturday, Aug. 26. It will be presented at the U. City venue by A.R.C. Angels Foundation (AAF), a nonprofit established to help save lives by preventing suicide through education and awareness. Avery, who took her own life in May 2014, was a student at Lafayette High School suffering from severe depression. Her pain may have been under the radar for friends and teachers. This was a very accomplished young woman: honors student (NHS), two-sport varsity athlete (field hockey/soccer), features editor for the school newspaper, junior class treasurer and a peer leader/mentor. In Avery’s honor, AAF presents members of Little Feat, the 1970s boogie-rock band still popular on rock radio and among aficionados of tasty slide guitar. ‘Willin,’ perhaps the band’s most famous tune, has been covered by artists ranging from Linda Ronstadt to Phish. And if you’ve never experienced The Pageant, well, you’ve been spending too much time chillaxin’ on the couch, listening through headphones. The Pageant is ranked one of the premier mid-size concert venues in the country by Pollstar, an influential U.K. trade magazine and website, so why not take this opportunity, a few weeks after the 12th annual ‘Show Me You Care About Suicide Prevention’ conference, to recognize the importance of the problem? A study conducted by the Missouri Institute of Mental Health found that suicide was the third leading cause of death for young adults ages 15 to 24 in Missouri. Plus, overall, the suicide rate in Missouri is higher than the national rate.
