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by Michael Smith
Grain Valley assistant coach girls soccer coach Blake Desselle said he knew the path to making a deep playoff run would be more difficult this season. That’s because the Eagles were playing in Class 4 for the first time beginning with Blue Springs in the first round of the Class 4 District 6 Tournament. Grain Valley easily defeated Blue Springs earlier in the season 6-0 and were the favorites as it came into a game 14-4-1 record and the Wildcats were 1-18 coming in. The game on Monday turned out to be a tough one for the Eagles. Blue Springs Junior Cadence Cowick broke a 2-2 deadlock in overtime on a counterattack and put a perfect shot from 30 yards under the crossbar and into the upper 90. of the net to stun Grain Valley in a 3-2 loss at Larry Stewart Memorial Stadium at Blue Springs South High School. “Props to their girls, those were three great finishes,” Desselle said of Blue Springs’ goals. “Sometimes you have to tip your cap and say good job. When they scored early, that put us on our back foot a little bit. They were very organized defensively, so it was hard for us to break them down and play how we like to. “When you move up to Class 4, you’re going to have to bring it every day. These are the kind of teams Grain Valley is going to have to play. We’re not playing Oak Grove or any of those teams anymore. We’re with the big dogs now.” The Wildcats appeared to change their strategy from the matchup earlier in the season and it worked. “They figured out a way to stop us,” Grain Valley sophomore Emma Thiessen said. “They were trying to control me and Annabelle Totta and tried to make sure we didn’t go anywhere with the ball. They were playing really defensive and that was a big part (in the loss).” Blue Springs fared much better this time against Grain Valley as it had equal possession with the Eagles and created a good amount of chances. Earlier in the first half, Blue Springs took a 1-0 lead when freshman Samantha Davis scored against Grain Valley goalkeeper Camhile Williams. Thiessen got the equalizer with 7:50 remaining in the first half when she punched in a penalty kick inside the right post. However, Blue Springs came right back to make a PK of their own in the 37th minute when sophomore Gracyn Austin put one into the upper 90 to make it 2-1 going into halftime. Grain Valley created multiple chances to score against a Wildcat team that was committing most of its players to the defensive third of the field. Despite that the Eagles had multiple chances to score but couldn’t bury one. Sophomore Meghan Knust had a shot that appeared it would sneak under the crossbar but goalkeeper Mikayla Dolby made a leaping save. Dolby also stopped a close-range rebound attempt from sophomore Annabelle Totta. However, the sophomore finally broke through in the 74th minute when a long free kick from Knust ricocheted off a Blue Springs player and Totta was able to put in the rebound to tie the game at 2-2 and send it to overtime. In overtime, the Wildcats controlled possession and Cowick ended a stellar Grain Valley season that saw the Eagles finish undefeated in the Suburban White Conference. “I am proud of this team and how they played,” Thiessen said. “Our two seniors Rian Handy and Lexi Arreguin are just unbelievable players, people and leaders. We are going to miss them. We are going to have to figure out how to work around losing them but I think we are going to come back stronger next season.” by Michael Smith For the first time in the history of the program, the Grain Valley boys golf team will compete in the Class 2 Missouri State High School Boys Golf Championships. The event will begin Monday and will be at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club in New Bloomfield. While Grain Valley has sent one or two golfers to state during some seasons, this is the first time the Eagles have qualified for the state tournament as a team. That’s because the team is well balanced. Its No. 1 through 4 golfers can be the team’s leading scorer on any given day, head coach Andy Herbert said. “We have taken a lot of individuals before but now we have a chance to have a team score at state,” Herbert said. “To be able to compete for a state title is pretty exciting.” “It doesn’t matter if you’re (No. 1 or No. 5), your score adds the same. It doesn’t matter what number you are, on any given day, any of these guys are capable of shooting a good score. Those guys have taken turns to be the guy that carried us.” That was the role Owen Herbert and Connor Nadeau played for the Eagles last Monday in the Class 2 District 4 Tournament at Drumm Farm Golf Club. Both shot an 82 to lead the team to a second place finish with a team score of 348, just two strokes behind first-place Sedalia Smith-Cotton. Jaiden Wilson shot a 91 and Charles Aldred had a 93 to help the Eagles advance. “It was something we set as a goal to start the year was to go to state as a team,” Owen Herbert said. “It’s pretty cool we did it all together. And this guy (Nadeau) stepped up in a big moment. It’s just pretty cool.” Nadeau gets to make his first trip to state after missing the state cut by one stroke last season. “I was confident because we have been playing well all season,” Nadeau said. “I knew my team was doing well so I knew I needed to step up and I ended up doing well on the back nine.” “I am having more fun this year and not worrying about the score. I care a lot less about each hole and go out there and have fun.” Andy Herbert also noted that his golfers putting in the work in the offseason was a big reason for the breakthrough year. “We’ve built a culture of working hard and being in tournaments over the summer,” Andy Herbert said. “They bought into it. They have gotten better every year.” Grain Valley will practice on the course before the tournament starts on Monday and finishes on Tuesday. The golfers will play 18 holes on each day on the challenging course. “The greens are fair, but they are tough,” Herbert said. “Getting yourself in the right position on the green to give yourself a chance to make birdie putts is key on any course, but especially there. If you get it in the wrong place, you might have to three-put on a hole.” For the Eagles, the goal is clear. “I think the top four earn a trophy,” Owen Herbert said of the top four teams earning a state plaque. “That is a goal for us. But the pressure is all off. We already made it.” “We will have to shoot two of our best scores of the year. I think we have it in us if we all go out there and focus and play. We have the talent for sure.” From left: Connor Nadeau, Jaiden Wilson, Owen Herbert, and Charles Aldred will represent the Grain Valley boys golf team at the Missouri State High School Boys Golf Championships beginning Monday at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club in New Bloomfield.
Photo credit: Michael Smith The Board of Aldermen met May 9th, approving a series of resolutions and ordinances, including the first reading of an ordinance to sell the former Nichols building.
The first order of business was to administer the oath of office for Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) K9 Officer Dozier. Dozier's duties include interacting with those in crisis and providing a calm presence for law enforcement officers. The Board approved a resolution to continue its agreement with the Grain Valley Partnership for another three-year term. The agreement outlines the relationship between the City and the organization and their partnership in economic development efforts. The Board also approved a resolution to continue an agreement with Utility Service Company, Inc. to provide maintenance for City owned water tanks and towers. The Board approved the first reading of an ordinance which would authorize the sale of the former Nichols building to Scottish Investments at a sales price of $222,225. In their RFP, the development team of Nilesh Patel of The Patel Group Real Estate Services LLC and Jason Fenstermaker of Iron Kettle Brewing, outline a plan which they state has a goal of fostering "a spirit of community while giving back to organizations that are vital to Grain Valley". The plan allows the Grain Valley Assistance Council to maintain their current space at 513 Gregg for the next 15 years, and mentions the possibility of partnering with the school district on a retail outlet owned and operated by Grain Valley High School in the remainder of the building. Additional uses for the space could include space for nonprofit organizations or office space to be used as an incubator for small business start-ups. The space at 517 Gregg Street would be transformed into a facility for craft beer production and entertainment space, with an outdoor patio area to the east of the building. The next meeting of the Board of Aldermen will be Monday, May 23rd at 7:00pm at City Hall. by Michael Smith The Class 2 District 8 championship was hanging in the balance. With the match tied at 4-4, the winner was going to be decided in the game between Grain Valley’s Kade Compton and Platte County’s Jack Forrest at No. 2 singles. Eagles head coach Randy Draper said he was perfectly OK with that. The coach’s confidence in his No. 2 singles player was justified as Compton overcame Forrest scoring four consecutive points in the tiebreaker and came up clutch late to win 6-6 (7-4 tiebreaker), 2-6, (10-6 tiebreaker) to propel his team to a 5-4 victory, earning the program’s first district title ever. The Eagles advance to the state tournament quarterfinals were they will play undefeated Branson Monday at Branson High School. “I trusted him to come through,” Draper said, “and he showed you why. He wobbled a little when Jack went up 6-5, and he was tremendous.” After Forrest hit the ball over the back line to give Compton the winning points, Kade’s teammates rushed the court to mob the senior with high fives and pats on the back. His brother, Carter, poured a bottle of water on him on a 90 degree day. It was a feel-good moment for the senior, who lost to Forrest earlier in the season. “I knew the pressure was on me,” Kade Compton said. “I have been in situations like this in my life. My goal was to get my team another match to play and we deserved that this whole season. We said at the beginning of the season we would win districts and we did that. It was on me to bring the district title home to us.” During the match, there were a handful of times in which Compton hit the net, giving Forrest points. He said he just had to focus. “I was frustrating myself and I just needed to calm down and get back to the basics of what tennis is,” he said. “You have to get that forehand in. You have to get that backhand in. You have to get that serve in and keep the ball in play. Once I started thinking about that, I succeeded.” Kade also teamed with his brother Carter in the No. 1 doubles match to defeat Nicholas Gavin and Forrest 8-5. No. 4 singles player Ben Drinkwater also came up huge as he won his singles match with Nathan Vanek 6-4, 6-3 and joined Ethan Miller to win the No. 2 doubles match 8-6 against Shane Duggan and Jack Bralley. “I tried to do everything Draper had told me throughout the year, which is get the ball in,” Drinkwater said, “and use my best weapon which is my forehand. It just paid off today.” “(The hot weather) wasn’t as bad for me because I play soccer, and I think I was able to outlast my opponent in doubles as well as singles.” No. 5 singles player Micah Siems also won his singles match as he topped Bralley 6-4, 6-2. “Ethan (Miller) and Ben were disappointed in the close matches at individual districts and they came up big at (No. 2) doubles today,” Draper said, “and Siems has been almost automatic. Him and Drink, we count on them.” From left, Ethan Miller, Ben Drinkwater, Micah Siems, Kade Compton, Carter Compton and Isaac Burd pose for a photo after winning the Class 2 District 8 championship following a 5-4 win over Platte County. Photo credit: Michael Smith
Giangrosso transitions coaching passion to become assistant principal at Grain Valley High School5/12/2022
by Michael Smith Dom Giangrasso always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps since he was child. His father, Charlie, was a longtime college football coach, making stops at multiple NCAA Division II and Division III teams around the nation as an assistant and head coach. That was always Giangrosso’s dream to be a coach. His path to that goal was through becoming an educator. “Watching my dad be around players and watching him interact with the kids and seeing the relationships he was able to build made me want to become a coach,” Giangrosso said. “I never really branched out to anything else. Coaching is always what I wanted to do.” “My dad was a huge influence on me. He was coaching me up without knowing that he was coaching me up.” After spending 11 years as a football and baseball coach and a social studies teacher, he’s going in a different direction as he’s stepping away from coaching to become the assistant principal at Grain Valley High School, replacing the retiring Mike Tarrants. Giangrosso graduated from Winfield, Kansas, but did a lot of moving around during his childhood as his father got new coaching jobs periodically. He played baseball and studied at a community college in Kansas for two years before going to West Virginia University for a semester and getting his degree at Missouri Valley College. He started out as a baseball and football coach for two years at Marshall High School before coming to Grain Valley High School in 2012. He said he had three interviews with the school before he was hired. Giangrosso met his wife, Marissa, in Chillicothe and she ended up moving to Blue Springs. Once they got married, they decided they wanted to be in the Eastern Jackson County area. “It didn’t take me long to figure out that this was home for me,” Giangrosso said of the city. “I heard a lot of good things about Grain Valley.” Giangrosso was a special teams coordinator and an assistant for the baseball team for nine years, and he said he’s built special relationships with the players. Now, he’ll be helping students in a different way as an assistant principal and he noted that he has some big shoes to fill. “Following Mike is going to be hard because he’s such a presence,” Giangrosso said. “He’s had a huge influence on me as a coach and a teacher. Him and Coach (David) Allie are the ones who opened my eyes and they told me, ‘You need to be a school leader. You need to be one not only coaching wide, but academically and instructionally.” “Being able to follow Mike has been great. There are a lot of aspects in which I want to be a lot like him. I will take it as a big honor to be in his place.” In recent years, Tarrants has given Giangrosso more opportunities to take on administration-type tasks, and the 11-year educator thrived at it. “I always saw myself more as a coach,” Giangrosso said. “Mike started giving me more responsibilities and opportunities to be in front of people, and I realized, ‘Hey, I am pretty good at coaching teachers, too and developing a culture with the student body.’ “I was a little hesitant because I always identified myself with sports and now I get to coach 1,400 kids instead of just a small number of kids at your position. My No. 1 goal is to build relationships with the student body. But part of my responsibility is discipline and there will be times I will have to be a hard-nosed, Mike Tarrants type.” He said he will definitely miss coaching but is looking forward to a new opportunity. That doesn’t mean he still won’t be involved with sports, though. “The part I love the most about coaching is building relationships with the kids,” Giangrosso said. “I will still be there, and I will see them in the hallways and I will be at every game. “I will probably be in Coach Allie’s office a couple of times a week and we will talk about football. I will find a way to make it work.” Dom Giangrasso has been named Assistant Principal at Grain Valley High School, transitioning his passion for coaching to school leadership. Photo credit: Grain Valley Schools
by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society In the July 22, 2020 edition of the Valley News, I wrote about the Williams’ Building. Constructed in 1912, the spacious garage was equipped for handling the work of the machines of the community and of tourist parties. Today, 110 years later, the build still stands. It is a part of the “historical” downtown area of Grain Valley. West Side of Main Street Historic Downtown Grain Valley In 1919, the following article appeared on the “Grain Valley News” page in the Oak Grove Banner. Building Being Repaired “The Williams Building, formerly occupied by Huff and Baumgardner Garage is being renovated. New shelves are being put up and arrangements are being made to use the building for a store. As to what line of business will occupy this store has not been published. But rumors have established butcher shops, dry goods stores, furniture stores and grocery stores, but so far no one has moved in.” (If the wording or grammar seems strange, please know if it is copied as written in 1919.) Today, the Williams Building is occupied by an annex to The Bank of Grain Valley and The Pottery Palace. But over the last century, this building has housed many businesses. When it was renovated in 1919, the left half of the building became Storms’ Drug Store. Edward Storms and later his son George “Ellis” Storms were the pharmacists. In those times, the fundamental role of pharmacists as a healthcare practitioner was to check and distribute drugs to doctors for medication that had been prescribed to patients. A college degree was not required for this occupation. In the 1950s Jim Casey bought the drug store. Casey’s had no “prescription” drugs, only band-aids, gauze and ointments, aspirin, cough syrups, and ex-lax, personal grooming products, miscellaneous items, beer and a soda fountain (literally all of life’s little necessities)! I remember on other owner for a year or so. Shortly after the last drug store closed, it was bought by the Bank of Grain Valley. At some point the post office was moved to the right side of the building. It was there that I bought 3-cent stamps! The U. S. Post Office occupied a very small area at the front. Patrons entered the door into a short hall way. On the left, you could go into the post office. At the end of the hall, the door led to Grace Mickel’s restaurant. Those were the days when coffee was a nickel, vegetable beef soup or ham and beans soup were 50-cents and a piece of homemade pie was a quarter! Those were the “good ole’ days,” for sure! Photo credit: Grain Valley Historical Society
by Cathy Allie I picked up a drive through meal for my daughter the other night as we rushed from one event to another in a very busy week, and while not tempted to have a full meal, I decided to treat myself to a kid’s portion. With the meal came a little bottle of chocolate milk, which I downed quickly, and the cutest book entitled, “Bear Wants More.”
My daughter had a great time reading it aloud to me between her hurried bites. She sounded just like me reading a kid’s book to her little girl self, and we both decided she would have been thrilled to get that paperback in a kid’s meal. Besides really pretty illustrations, the book had lovely predictable rhymes, just enough figurative language not to be sappy, and a hint for me. Not sure how to tell you all this, but I may, just may, be a bear. In the story Bear wakes up after his long winter hibernation, and he is hungry. I don’t know if the six or so hours I sometimes sleep at night counts as a hibernation, but I do wake up hungry. In fairness, I also text hungry, drive hungry, work hungry, and shower hungry. Basically I am hungry. Bear tries a little “salad”, in fact nibbling on his lawn down to the last blade. And the book’s refrain then comes into play, when the next line reads, “But Bear wants more!” I also eat salad, maybe not first thing after a nap, but I try. I love a good romaine lettuce, maybe a little fresh spinach, or even iceberg if forced, well-rinsed and chilled from the refrigerator. And like Bear, I want more. I want a little more dressing than the two tablespoons I am supposed to have, maybe a sprinkle of cheese, and few sunflower seed kernels, something to make it crunchy like won ton strips, and maybe even some ham or turkey or a hard-boiled egg. Suddenly, it’s not a salad, but more like a three course meal. Bear has a mouse friend, one who can eat all he wants, and he leads him to get some strawberries. Bear eats a bunch, but as you might already guess, he wants more. I have mouse friends whom I both love and despise at the same time because of their well-functioning metabolisms, and I also eat fruit. And I always want more. Two or three strawberries are not enough. I can slice a whole pineapple for my family to share, but what should last a couple of days usually doesn’t, because I want more. Bear’s adventures also include eating too much clover (which I have not tried but am seriously thinking about), some fish, and some honey cakes. Honey cakes? Is it possible there is a dessert I have not heard about? Bear gets pretty full, and his tummy aches, so he stretches out, and a nap ensues. Much to the delight of his animal friends, he snores through his nap, only to wake up to find he still wants more. With this additional evidence, I am now almost 100% sure I am a bear. I had a pre-Mother’s Day dinner, came home and slept, undoubtedly snored, and still wanting more, had a great Mother’s Day brunch the next day to boot. Then, like a rinse and repeat shampoo commercial, I took a nap (not in a den, but in a fully darkened room with threats to my family to keep noise levels down), woke up and had dinner. Basically I slept and ate for two whole days, so very, very bear like. On the last page of the book are upcoming episodes to look for, like Bear Feels Sick (so did I, after all that food), and Bear Can’t Sleep, surely a mirroring tale of my insomnia episodes. The only clues I have that I might not be the bear’s twin sister are that he has some really fine fur, and my hair no longer grows like I would like it to; he has some pretty fierce claws, and I at least try to keep my nails manicured; and he is content in the woods, whereas my idea of roughing it is a hotel without room service. As my daughter finished reading about Bear to me, I smiled and said, “ I myself might be a bear, huh?” and she contemplated it for a minute. “Maybe,” she said, “But I have always thought of you more as a lioness or maybe a penguin.” Too tired to explore her reasoning behind equating me with a voracious meat-eater or a wobbly iceberg dweller, I am going with lioness. At least there would likely be a steak involved, just a little light snack before my nap. by Denise Sullivan, Nutrition & Health Education Specialist, MU Extension-Jackson County Cabbage is a common spring vegetable that is enjoyed by many. I’ve always liked it in just about any form - cooked, fresh, and fermented, but have typically chosen standard head cabbage. Recently I’ve been trying other varieties and I have discovered that I really like bok choy.
Bok choy (sometimes spelled bok choi, pak choy or pak choi) is a variety of Chinese cabbage and a member of the Brassicaceae family, within the sub-variety chinensis. This variety of cabbage does not form heads as other cabbages do, rather they have long, green leaves, with a lighter colored bulbous base that looks somewhat similar to celery. Bok choy originated in China, with records of cultivation going back to the 5th century and moved throughout Asia until the 15th century. It was introduced in Europe in the 18th century and eventually to North America in the 19th century. Bok choy is grown year-round in California and Hawaii and seasonally in a handful of states across the United States. It is a cool season crop and will be one of the vegetables that shows up in Midwest growing seasons in the early spring and fall. Most of the world’s crop is still grown throughout Asia, where limited farmland has led to sustainable practices of vertical farming. Bok choy is the crop of choice for vertical farming in Singapore, growing in towers up to 30 feet tall and producing nearly 1000 pounds annually for local consumption! Like most leafy greens, bok choy is low in calories but rich in nutrients. One cup of chopped bok choy has only 9 calories, 1 gram of fiber and is rich in vitamins A, C, K, and folate and calcium. Like other members of the Brassicaceae family, bok choy is also rich in glucosinolates, and selenium, both of which are shown to be effective in cancer prevention and management of blood sugar. Bok choy has flavor that is spinach-like in the leafy portion, while the crunchy stem end is similar to water chestnuts, with a slightly peppery undertone. For most preparations, leaves and stems are either chopped or julienned. Bok choy is the main ingredient in traditional kim chi, a spicy fermented side dish common in Korean cuisine. Smaller varieties of this vegetable, known as baby bok choy are often cut in half lengthwise and roasted or grilled. An easy way to start enjoying bok choy is to add to a fresh green salad or to your favorite stir fry. The recipe below is a simple and tasty dish that you can customize with your favorite protein add-in if you desire. Bok Choy and Mushroom Stir-Fry (makes 4 servings) 1 pound bok choy 1 large carrot 8 dried shitake mushrooms 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon minced ginger ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 6 scallions, chopped 2 cups cooked brown rice
Nutrition information: Calories: 293, Total Fat: 7.5g, Saturated Fat: .8g, Sodium: 565mg, Carbohydrates: 52g, Fiber: 8g, Protein: 9g Recipe adapted from The Spruce Eats, analyzed by verywellfit.com The Grain Valley Partnership celebrated three years of honorees at its Annual Banquet on April 30th. The following businesses and community leaders were honored:
2020: Business of the Year: Cosentino's Price Chopper Business Person of the Year: John and Cory Unrein Non Profit of the Year: Purple Peace Foundation Mary Strack Community Advocate: Jerry Vaughan Retailer of the Year: Funtastic Balloons 2021: Business of the Year: State Line Door & Lift Business Person of the Year: Lorne Meinershagen Non Profit of the Year: Wild Souls Wildlife and Rescue Mary Strack Community Advocate: Marcia Napier Retailer of the Year: KC Classic Gourmet Foods 2022: Business of the Year: Moxie Pest Control Business Person of the Year: Melissa Winston Non Profit of the Year: Grain Valley Education Foundation Mary Strack Community Advocate: Dr. Cathy Dowd Retailer of the Year: Crosetti Health & Wellness Photos by Steve Brashears On Saturday, May 7th, hundreds of hopeful young anglers gathered at Butterfly Trail for the Blue Springs Elks Lodge 2509 Roger Deterding Memorial Youth Fishing Derby. |
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