It's a Hall of Famer

Patricia Presti of Sunset Hills loves to take her Pug, Charlie to the nearby Tree Court Unleashed Dog Adventure Park.

"It's a park just for dogs, with a fence, water bowls, and plenty of doggy bags with trash cans," said Presti, "There is a swimming pool for puppies, and the dog park even has lights for nighttime."

A trip to the park confirmed it is a great place for dogs to run free and socialize with other dogs. 

The sounds of cicadas was blaring through the air.

"My son Joe's puppy is my best friend right now. He can snatch a cicada out of the air when they get too close," Presti said.

Park owner Wayne Hubb is protective of who uses the dog park and requires proof of vaccines and paper work. For information call 314-960-4741...

Speaking of dogs, Sunset Hills resident Susan Ryan's dog Oreo starts her third year as the "mascot" for a summer baseball team for children with serious illnesses. Oreo welcomes the children each week for their baseball practice...

Ryan and her neighbors attended last Thursday night's Sunset Hills Planning and Zoning Committee hearing where residents were able to voice their opinions on whether to re-zone the tornado ravaged area to commercial or keep it residential.

She spoke at the hearing. "I just said I hope they consider what the residents want. I said, 'I ask tonight that you do the right thing. Please do the job you are here to do and listen to your residents and do what they want." After she spoke, there was applause.

"There were some who lived in the tornado affected areas who pleaded 'save our neighborhood,’” said Ryan.  "One person said 'We’ve looked all over  for a place to live but honestly here’s no place I’d like to raise our family than Court Drive.’ It was so touching."
In the end, the vote was to keep it residential.

“Our community is good about supporting each other,” Ryan said…

The Cardinals number one draft pick Kolten Wong has a South County connection. As soon as former LHS basketball coach Ken Libby heard the Cardinals took Wong from the University of Hawaii, he realized he knew Wong's college coach. Mike Trapasso is a St. Louis native and his parents still live in South County. He was a student at Mehlville High School when Libby coached there before going to Lindbergh High School.

Kolten Wong attended King Kamehameha High School—the same high school that members of the LHS Band visited when they were in Honolulu to march in the King Kamehmeha Parade in June 2001...

Nancy Pool, who was general manager of KSHE Radio when it was in Crestwood, was honored with 15 others at the St. Louis Media History Halls of Fame Wednesday night. She received the loudest ovation of all 16 recipients, because on a night that was running long with speeches, she said “thank you” and took her award and sat down.

Here’s an interesting bit of Crestwood trivia: Pool's mother was Ruth Hutchinson, who gained fame and popularity as the "World's Oldest Rock & Roll Disc Jockey" at KSHE radio.

Other 2011 inductees there were: John Auble, Howard DeMere, Linda Eardley, Doug Eason, Gentleman Jim Gates, Columbus Gregory, Ray Hoffstetter and Sharon Stevens.