Not quite a native Ripley Countian - she attended only her last year of high school in Doniphan though she taught in the R-1 system for 32 years - Teresa (Pearson) Lee delights in surprising readers and herself with anecdotal observations of life in general. Maybe you can blame her St.Louis roots for a quirky humor and some slightly-askewed opinions, but never doubt she writes from the heart.

Difference Makers 2022

Posted Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 7:45 AM

For August 24, 2022

Back in 1969 when I perched precariously on my special rock down by the creek and lamented my lot in life, a forlorn perspective dominated my thoughts and behavior. To make it worse, my little brother and sister didn’t mirror my state; they had the audacity to adjust well to life in the boonies.They even LIKED it.

Having been plopped down in Ripley County at the end of my junior year of high school, my condescending, judgmental attitude focused on how backward folks and their ways seemed. After all, I came from the metropolitan hub of the Midwest where I had attended school districts more populated than the whole county.

Ignoring the fact that, in my circumstances, heredity trumped environment - my folks hailed from the Bootheel, Gobler and Braggadocio, to be exact - I felt extremely sophisticated because of my St. Louis roots. After college I still felt basically the same way, but I returned to the area to teach.

In my opinion, the addition (in the 1980's?) of MTV to our local cable television schedule catapulted our county into modern times. Global interaction is the norm these 21st century days. With the seeming majority of eyes and ears focusing on screens, oblivious to the humanity around them, we in Ripley County seem far ahead in matters that count the most.

The list of 2022 Difference Makers finalists is proof. The DAR acknowledges that narrowing the list is difficult. A lot of folks in the region give selflessly for others with no expectation of acknowledgement. That’s the nature of volunteering.

Ripley County had four spots on the roster of ten finalists: Jessica Billings, Linda Martin, Gary and Liesa Pennington and Stacy Ritter. As I listened to the particulars at the ceremony honoring them, many more Ripley Countians came to mind. We could easily have our own roster of a dozen plus.

Congratulations to our own on the list, and to Jessica Billings for her selection as Difference Maker of the Year. Having many who work to meet the needs of others for the sake of service puts Ripley County front and center in making a difference in 2022. I'm proud to call it home.