April 02, 2020

Show of hands. Who needs a smile right now?

The news has been rough, but there are still great stories out there. Here’s what we do when we need to smile.

Discovery Center helping the helpers

The Discovery Center has played a vital role in the lives of so many Springfield kids. I mean, we all shopped at the grocery store as a kid, right? The center had to close its doors due to COVID-19, but they reopened those same doors after transforming into a childcare facility to help out healthcare workers at places like CoxHealth, Mercy and more!

The community has rallied behind Discovery (Childcare) Center, with donations including a new washing machine from a group of anonymous donors at CoxHealth. Sarah, a sixth-grader at St. Agnes School, also donated $500 to say thank you and let the Discovery Center know St. Agnes students appreciate them. 

Nightly episodes of The Mystery Hour

The Mystery Hour, Springfield’s own late-night talk show, taped live inside the historic Gillioz Theatre, has been entertaining fans for years. Now host Jeff Houghton has moved to Desperation Studios (aka his garage) and is hosting nightly shows. His guests have included local musicians, comedians, newsmakers and more. Have a few laughs before you go to bed! The show airs live on Facebook at 9 p.m.

Making history with the History Museum on the Square

The History Museum on the Square — America’s top new attraction according to the readers of USA Today — is in the storytelling business. They tell stories about Springfield’s history every day. But now they want you to help create history.

Executive Director John Sellars and his team want your letters about life these days to add to their archives for future Springfieldians to read.

“Most of the stories we tell are made possible because someone documented them. Before texting, email, video chat and phone calls, people primarily communicated by writing letters,” the Museum said in a social media post. “Letter writing has now become a bit of a lost art over the years. We are hoping to change that.

Send pictures of your letters to krista@historymuseumonthesquare.org. The Museum will randomly select a letter and give the writer two free admission passes to visit when they reopen.

5 Pound Apparel creates new shirt to give back, sells out in hours

Our neighbors at 5 Pound Apparel are great at a lot of things, including making awesome T-shirts and giving back to the community. They combined those with their Support SGF shirt, launched Monday morning — and sold out mere hours later. Don’t worry, they’ve restocked.

The process is simple. Order a shirt and choose a local business to donate to. 5 Pound Apparel will send you the shirt and donate $15 to the business. They’re sure to sell out, so get yours soon!

Springfield Improv

The crew at Springfield Improv has been cracking the Queen City up for years. Their theatre is currently closed, but they still want to make you laugh. Check out their website and YouTube channel for hilarious videos of recent performances!

Want to try it on your own? Springfield Improv has added exercises for individuals and groups under the Classes section of their website. Log on and Yes, And, Because everyone you see!