Okay, I should be working on schoolwork or packing for the likely trip to the hospital - or at the very least brainstorming Missy's brand new NANO with her - but I did this instead 
. Where do you live? City/State/country? Republic, Missouri – just outside Springfield
Prominent language spoken? Other languages/dialects? English
Is this rural or urban? Rough size? We live in a fairly rural area [there's a farm not 300 yards from us and another smaller one that our subdivision has grown around]. Republic has about 12,000 people but Springfield where we work and go to church, etc. is about 150,000.
What do you like most/least about where you live? Most: Our street in particular – it's safe for the kids to play on and we have .5 acre so room to run here too. Our area – it's smallish, community oriented, not big city… Least: Lack of good public transportation, but that's a side effect of living in a small community...
Most historically significant points about your town/country? There was a Civil War battle less than a mile from where I live [Wilson's Creek]. My alma mater [Drury University] still has berms soldiers hid behind during the Battle of Springfield.
Climate? Overall, pretty moderate. It doesn't get TOO hot in the summer [mostly upper 90s is the high with a few 100 days but not very many]. Winter is also fairly mild. Snow doesn't stick around too long. Today it's going to be 70* which is unusual for November. We also live in Tornado Alley. Every 2-3 years, Republic or Battlefield [about 3 miles away with 600-1000 people, half the town goes to school in Republic, half in Springfield] get hit by a tornado. Wilson's Creek Battlefield got hit a few years ago and it tore up the church with all the really old Bibles in it
. Some were found miles away...
Type of government? Name of current leader? I'm going to go with local/state since I'm sure you know who the president is
. Our governor is Matt Blunt – his dad, Roy Blunt, is our local US Representative. From the Republic website [
http://www.republicmo.com/local/index.php ]: The City of Republic is a first class chartered city under Missouri law with a Mayor-City Council form of government. The City Council consists of ten members, two Councilmen from each of five wards. The Mayor and Councilmen serve two year terms, with five Councilmen being elected each year.
The City Administrator is the chief administrative officer of the City and is responsible to the Mayor and Council for the administration of all city affairs placed in the City Administrator's charge under the City Charter.
The mayor is Jim Collins. The City Councilmen are: Ron Oswalt, Wes Carfourek, Gerry Pool, Garry E. Wilson, Steve Ward, Brian Buckner, Jim Huntsinger, Shane Grooms, Dennis Robbins and Keith Roberts.
I'm ashamed to say I have no idea what Ward we're in…
What are the major industries? Here in Republic I'd have to say the farming industry is probably the biggest. There's no plants or anything but a few service type places [a few restaurants, stores, auto repair shops, stuff like that]. Springfield does have a few manufacturing plants, but I'd say it's also mostly service industry.
Major religion? Assemblies of God and Baptists have their world headquarters in Springfield. The vast majority of people in the region at least claim to be some Protestant denomination.
Diversity of education? Do most people graduate high school? College? I think most people graduate high school. There are... 3 universities in Springfield [one major state uni, one Assemblies of God, one small liberal arts where I and Bob Barker both graduated from], at least 2 Bible colleges, one major community college [where DH and I both went and now teach]. There's also at least two more semi-major colleges within 30 minutes or so.
Most popular sport? Baseball – the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals have many loyal fans, but probably more STL fans. We also have the AA team for the STL Cardinals locally. Kansas City Chiefs football is also very popular.
Most popular trend at the moment? Um… not a clue.
Most popular food? Springfield Chinese. This is not to be confused with actual Chinese. It's slightly different [don't ask me how, I don't eat Oriental food as a rule] but I do know that in Chicago, cashew chicken is known as Springfield Cashew Chicken because it was invented here *shrug*. We also have more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the country [or at least we did 10 years ago].
What do you feel is the most interesting/exciting thing about where you live? Most people want to go to Bass Pro Shops when they're here – a hunting and fishing store. Not quite as big a deal as it used to be since they've opened franchises around the country, but still a pretty big deal. As for me... I don't know. I live here
.
Are there any urban legends associated with your town/state/country? (My son's enquiring mind wants to know!) I know there is something about a woman wandering around a bridge... but that's the extent of my knowledge about it... I didn't grow up here so I didn't learn all those things as kids...
