Up Front with Sara Parker Pauley

Sunday dinner was special in my home growing up. Before the week took us different directions, our family would gather together to enjoy a delicious meal of fried chicken or a lovely pot roast with potatoes and carrots. And then there was dessert — perhaps it was a homemade cherry pie thanks to Granny’s cherry tree or an apple crisp courtesy of our backyard apple tree. With a little extra time — and a touch of Crisco — my sweet mother, who was a teacher during the week, shared her love in part through her Sunday meals that are now precious memories.

Recently on a glorious late February day, I delighted in assisting MDC staff place huge cedars into key spots on Table Rock Lake to enhance fish habitat. Barge load after barge load was offered to the lake’s dark waters and I wondered how long it would take before bass, crappie, and bluegill would accept our offerings as their home. I smiled knowing many anglers would delight in these new hot spots and create their own treasured memories in the process (see Page 22). And as I anxiously await my favorite hunting season of all, spring turkey season, I think of MDC land managers and their offerings of turkey habitat creation and our MDC private land’s crew offering assistance to Missouri private landowners doing the same. 

This month I share gratitude for the caretakers, the homemakers, and all who offer up time, talent, and a touch of love to set the stage for memories made.

Sara Parker Pauley, Director

SARA.PAULEY@MDC.MO.GOV