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From the desk of the Executive Director, Emily Stuart

Potted daisies and hanging ferns decorate a porch. Rich stone of a Greek Revival shines from a recent rain. A couple of neighbors trade conversation about cars as a cat lounges between them on a red brick walkway. This is the kind of community where people look after one another.

Directly behind our Pet Resource Center is Mount Olive Baptist Church, proudly serving East St. Louis since 1889.

Gateway Pet Guardians sits at the crossroads of 15th and St. Clair. On one side, there are three homes with manicured rose bushes and freshly cut lawns. Directly behind us is Mount Olive Baptist Church, proudly serving East St. Louis since 1889. The triangular Sunken Gardens Park comes to a point right at our Southwest corner. If you stand in our front parking lot, you can see a vibrant mural peeking across the highway from the Emerson Park Station. Without fail, if a car drives by along 15th, folks will slow down to read our sign and then give a friendly wave. It’s just another beautiful day in East St. Louis.

The city vibrates with joy and energy. The community calendar is packed. Youth classes return to the Katherine Dunham Center on September 7th. The Taste of East St. Louis was earlier this month, featuring food vendors from around the region. Last Saturday, Citizens for Modern Transit “cut the ribbon” on the revamped Emerson Station – a colorful ode to the city’s musical history. Any day of the week you can find the Regular Everyday Citizens (REC) Team and BuildN The Foundation (BTF) leading beautification efforts and promoting volunteerism. On September 11th, the gorgeous Preston Community Garden will host its “Phase II Building Party.” If music is your passion, book a tour of House of Miles East St. Louis or catch a performance of the Inner Ear Youth Orchestra. Have a sweet tooth? Stop by Billies Pastries or Mello Freeze Ice Cream. Look out for the neon green shirts of the Touchette Bicycle Food Mission, preparing and delivering food to the community every Thursday night. And no matter where you go, I am ESTL, the Magazine is there to document the activity, and the people, that makes this town so special.

It is beautiful here, any direction you look. We are proud to be just one of a hundred reasons to visit and live in East St. Louis.

Please contact Emily Stuart | emily@gatewaypets.org