Monthly Meeting – Saturday, October 3, 2015 - Panel of Professionals for Character Ideas

Fire Marshal - Ben Basham has been with the Springfield Fire Marshal’s office for 9 years and the Fire Department for 17 years. He is an arson investigator, bomb technician, commissioned law enforcement officer and all around good guy (as long as you keep him well-fed). He pretends to be shy but secretly loves the spotlight. His favorite movie is Backdraft and his favorite TV show is Chicago Fire.
Doctor - Chuck Sheppard Born many many years ago in Springfield, Graduated from Greenwood, got a degree in Engineering Physics from Cornell then Medical School at the University of Missouri Columbia. Did internship at Presbyterian hospital in San Francisco. Served as Medical Director Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic in San Francisco Drug Treatment/Rock medicine section for 4 years. Residency at Presbyterian. Moved to Massachusetts practiced Internal Medicine for 6 years the became ER director. Did that for several years then moved to Ohio for a year then Upstate NY and then back to Mercy (then St. Johns) in Springfield in 1992. Currently working in the Emergency Department and serving as the medical director for Mercy Life Line and Mercy Kids Transport. In Springfield. Lecture around the country on all things prehospital/emergency medicine. Also have a miniature horse farm (7S Miniatures) see web site www.7sminiatures.com. Love to read all kinds of books and magazines.
Attorney - Jonathan Barker received the Prosecutor of the Year Award in 2008 and 2009. He has spent 5+ years in the Greene County Prosecutor’s office, working in different units (Major Crimes, Crimes Against Persons, and General Crime). He has attended jury trials, bench trials, evidentiary hearings, and motion hearings. He has worked on a variety of cases for crimes committed against people (involving children, kidnapping, sexual offenses, domestic violence offenses, assault, assault on law enforcement) , drugs (drug possession, drug distributing, drug manufacturing) , arson, and robbery (robbery, burglary, stealing and other property crimes).

Please note that in October, ORA will be meeting at the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library, 397 E. Central St., Springfield, MO. The speaker panel begins at 1:00.

Join our critique group from 10 a.m. to Noon. Want your work reviewed by talented writers and published authors? Bring twenty copies of up to five pages of your work to share for critique or just listen and offer advice.