If you are looking for a place to move that would offer your family a steady stream of family friendly activities you should consider Nixa, Missouri. Nixa is located just eight miles below Springfield, Missouri, off highways 44 and 65 and is only about 35 miles from Branson.

I have lived in many different locales in my 50+ years but I have Nixa to be the most outstanding place of place. Having an eight-year-old grandson who is in the third grade we were anxious to find an area of the country that shone in the education department. We definitely found it here in Nixa. Not only have the teachers proven to be exceptionally talented I was amazed at the additional opportunities that existed in this area. The school, in addition, to the normal top notch curriculum, offers music, art, sports, computers, community oriented club involvement, and a parent interface that is far superior to what we had found in California.

Then we discovered that if that isn’t enough the school district offers free summer school geared not towards remedial students only but one geared towards making learning fun and preparing students for the next grade that they will be entering. Add that to a city that offers an exceptional parks department and a community center geared towards all ages and you could keep your family on the go seven days a week. For those of you who are boating enthusiasts you only have a short trip to enjoy either Lake of the Ozarks or Table Rock Lake facilities.

For the older among us Nixa is close enough to Springfield to provide you with the best in medical care in southern Missouri. The two hospitals available are Cox and St. John’s both of which have all of the most up-to-date facilities available and are staffed with caring doctors and staff. Each of these hospitals are divided into individual care centers that will address your needs be they bone and joint health, cancer, or heart issues.

So, have I sold you on the family values yet? Oh wait, I forgot to mention that in a town of 21,000, 5700 of them youths, we also boast somewhere near 20 active churches that aim to offer unbelievable services to the community. These services range from offering a food and clothing closet to anyone in need to offering a food coop to make all of our money stretch further.

Of course, the next question would be: Can you afford to live there? The answer is a resounding yes. Houses are affordable and I mean nice houses. We were able to purchase a 2600 square foot house, made of solid brick, in a great neighborhood and on a huge lot for $160,000 just two years ago and the best part is that the value has not decreased despite the current housing dilemma. In Springfield proper with just a little patience you can still find nice, smaller homes for under $90,000. Then to top that off both areas offer the least expensive energy and utilites bills to be found anywhere,. As of May 1 our cost for a gallon of gas was $3.29. our combined electric, water, sewer, and garbage bill was $87. Our natural gas bill has never been higher than $180 and that was for a terrible January. In the summer it runs as low as $20.

In general, Nixa provides a wonderful not too small town atmosphere in close proximity to a large town where you can find nearly anything your heart could want while still being close enough to resort areas like Table Rock Lake and entertainment areas like Branson. When you look at the map you will also discover that you close to several states including Arkansas, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Oklahoma. So if you want to travel Nixa would provide you with a secure home base while sitting pretty much right in the middle of the US. So, go ahead and check us out. If you are looking to be enriched and contribute to a community that will richly reward your efforts we would love to have you join us.

Sadly, if you live in southwest Missouri it was inevitable to hear racist remarks regarding the ability of Barack Obama to lead this nation but fortunately there are enough open-minded, intelligent people that listened to Obama’s message and helped him gain the majority of the state’s popular vote. To me, the opportunity that Obama offers to change the good boy policy of Washington politics is long past due and his statement that “I’m asking you to believe not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington — I’m asking you to believe yours” is strongly reminiscent of JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather ask what you can do for your country.”

Like Reagan, Obama appears to have the charisma needed to restore our faith in ourselves and in our country something that the other candidates seem to be sadly lacking in. Admittedly, my opinion has changed over the last several months since I first threw my support to John Edwards and then Ron Paul.

Now, however, having carefully listened to and reviewed Obama’s stand on the issues I can’t help but believe that he is what our country needs. First and foremost he promises change in Washington and I can’t believe that, unless you are a part of the rich and powerful families, that have unsuccessfully ruled this country for generations, you are not ready for this change. Secondly, and equally important is the fact that Obama has raised his money through grass roots donations, often of just $10 or $20 at a time. He has not sold himself to special lobbyists, nor is he owned by corporate America.

One thing that must be noted are the lies that are constantly being spread among the church people that Obama is Muslim, funded by Al Qaeda, and set on taking over America from within and returning us to the dark ages. First of all, his religious beliefs should not even enter into his bid for office but even if they did he adamantly denies that he is Muslim stating instead that he has actively worshipped Jesus for the last 20 years. Even though his father was a Muslim who I am sure wanted his son to follow in his footsteps this is not hard for me to believe since I was raised in a non-religious background during my earliest years, educated in a parochial school, and then raised in an assortment of churches during my teen years. Today, I have made my choice to be open-minded to all religions though I choose to affiliate myself with the Methodist denomination.

If I can do that why can’t Obama? Then, Obama has to deal with the racist remarks, even on the news stations, about him being black. Who cares? I certainly don’t. I just want to know that the man is capable of getting us out of the mess that Bush has gotten us into. We need our troops sanely withdrawn from Iraq. We don’t need to go to war against any other country. We need our infrastructure fixed. We need our economy fixed. We need jobs returned to America. We need affordable healthcare and affordable energy. We need our schools restored to a place where all children are offered a safe and affordable opportunity to be all they can be so that they can be competitive in a global economy.

Can Obama accomplish all of this? I don’t know. All I know is that if anyone can, I believe he can especially if pressure is put on the tenured senators and House representatives that would force them to work with him.

To reiterate, Barack Obama is funded entirely funded by grassroots supporters and unlike Clinton he does not accept money from special interest groups and Washington lobbyists. Therefore, Obama owes nothing to the health care insurance industry, to the oil industry, or to the weapons industry. This means that his only obligation is to the American people and doing what is best for America.

Like me, there are many citizens out there who believe in Obama which was obvious with his wins in thirteen of the 22 states in Super Tuesday’s primaries with some of his wins coming from such unlikely states as Alabama, Utah, and Missouri. There is no way that Clinton can claim that his win in these states were the result of purely black vote since I am white and many of those in Missouri that I know who voted for him are also white.

Given this win and his strong showing in the other states I think that Obama has shown that he can win the support of Americans of every race, gender, and political persuasion in every region of the country. With that in mind one must give him serious consideration as the one Democratic candidate who actually has a chance to defeat John McCain in November.