We are almost there - Thank You Pemiscot County

 It seems like the season is racing by with just about a month left for most teams.  Some teams may be lucky enough to play into the middle or end of March.  I wish all the boys and girls teams the best of luck down the stretch.

One of the benefits of rating 1100 teams from around the state is that I am learning a little Missouri geography at the same time.  I now know where Dora, Annapolis, Gallatin and Cooter Missouri are located in the state.  I have had a chance to drive through different towns and tell me wife, "Oh, Palmyra, they have a good basketball team."  Or maybe not.

It also seems like we are on the downside of the pandemic although I know we are not.... that they predict another 230,000 deaths and it might be another year before we get everyone vaccinated.   

On Friday, my wife and I did a road trip down to Caruthersville, MO for a covid vaccination clinic where we received our first vaccine.  We didn't want to wait for St. Louis County to get an allotment of vaccine for the countless seniors in the area.  The county was getting 5000 doses a week and with probably 750,000 seniors in St. Louis, we figured two three-hour drives three weeks apart was worth the opportunity to do it now rather than wait till ????

Pemiscot County had a 41% positivity rate in October.  They needed the vaccines.  And the Pemiscot County hospital is in dire straits because of a lack of Medicaid funding.  But the vaccination clinic was open to any Missourian and there were multiple clinics put on in every region around the state this past week.  They filled up fast, except for Caruthersville's clinic which still had a few openings even yesterday morning as we jumped in the car at 7am for the drive.  It was a wonderful experience!

The Caruthersville police had set up signage and had officers at every turn, directing cars to the vaccination site at the Casino.  Missouri National Guard directed traffic and parking at the drive-through clinic.  We waited about 15 minutes in a line of cars and then were directed to a second of 10 lines where our paperwork was checked.  Once checked, our car was directed to the vaccination lane (also 10 lanes) where the Pemiscot County Health department had several dozen or more nurses on staff with vials of vaccine.   Everyone was so, so friendly and we even received a gift bag with Ritz crackers, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and a digital thermometer.  I started to cry... not because I received a digital thermometer but from all the kindness of the staff and the RELIEF of getting our first shot.

The needle did not hurt and, although the arm is sore today, neither of us has had an adverse reaction or any kind of symptoms.

If you haven't checked it out, go to https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/events/ and look for the next round of vaccinations.  We signed up with five or six counties and local hospitals and heard nothing.  This clinic was great, beyond our wildest dreams or expectations.  

By getting our vaccination in Caruthersville, we can open up spots for people in St. Louis or other places we might have registered, and given that the clinic still had openings, I don't believe we took a vaccination away from anyone in Pemiscot County.

And along the way, we managed to see all the small basketball towns along I-55.  We didn't find North Pemiscot but we did find the nicest people in the entire state of Missouri.

I still don't know where North Pemiscot is, but I do know where they are rated below.  Can you find them?

  Can't wait for the next road trip in three weeks.

Thank you!  

Pemiscot County Health Center, Caruthersville police, Pemiscot County Sheriffs,

 and Missouri National Guard. 

You are the best.

Here are the Missouri High School Boys Ratings for all six classes.    545 boys teams