What’S Happening In Waynesville On Route 66 This Week

Waynesville doesn’t “just happen” on its own. It’s built week by week through strong schools, local events that bring people downtown, and residents who show up when decisions are being made. I’m Mayor Sean Wilson, and this weekly update for April 26, 2026 pulls together the biggest community highlights and the most useful dates so you can plan your week and stay connected.

We start with a big win for education in Waynesville, Missouri: Ozark Technical Community College at the Waynesville Center and Central Methodist University officially sign a partnership to expand elementary education opportunities right here in our region. That matters for students, families, and the future workforce across Missouri. From there, we celebrate the kind of weekend energy that makes a town feel alive, including the Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri downtown on the Route 66 City Square with Model T and Model A classics, plus live music and a great Sunday vibe.

Next, I share several ways to get involved and support the next generation of leaders: the 2026 National Civics Bee at the Parker Education Center, plus the Salute to Service program at Waynesville High School recognizing students who choose to serve in our nation’s military. We also highlight the Pulaski County Health Department Wellness Conference with sessions on stress, nutrition, mental health, and supportive recovery in the workplace.

Looking ahead, I preview City Hall committee week, including Utility, Economic Development, Roads and Grounds, Emergency Services and Police, and Human Resource and Finance meetings, all open to the public. We finish with Freedom Fest on May 9, a reminder to shop local for Mother’s Day, and a simple tool to help your event succeed: eventbucket.com/Missouri. Subscribe, share this update with a neighbor, and leave a review, then tell me what you want to see on the calendar next.

Transcript

Weekly Update And Partnerships

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Good morning, this is Sean Wilson, the mayor of Waynesville, with your weekly update for April 26, 2026. First, I want to say congratulations to the Ozark Technical Community College in Waynesville Center and the Central Methodist University who have officially signed a partnership in expanding their opportunities for elementary education right here in our region and specifically here in the city of Waynesville. The Ozark Technical Community College has always been a great partner with our city, and we're glad to see them expand their services to facilitate a great need, not only in our region, but across the entire state. So congratulations to you, and we're looking forward to seeing great things that you're going to continue to contribute to our community. Also, this past weekend we had the Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri. And they made their way downtown Waynesville and they was parked along Route 66 on the City Square. And they brought in Model T's, Model A's, and some V some cars from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. But we were great, we were really appreciative to have them in our um on our city square um at 2 p.m. And it was a great afternoon. And even as I passed through the area, I noticed that there was live music playing over at Gypsy Sam. So it was just a great vibe on Sunday. Make sure you check out the downtown square on the weekends and the evenings to see where you can make your next connection and experience what Waynesville has to offer. Just a few things that are going on this week. Um just saying some things that I will be at, and it's open to the public. We have the 2026 National Civics B that's going to happen right here in the city of Waynesville at the Parker Education Center on Route 66. Sixth, 7th, and 8th graders are going to go head to head on the constitution, civic engagement, and how to make our community better. So I'm I'm asking everyone to come out and cheer them on this on this evening, Tuesday, um at 6 p.m. Um, these are our future council members and our future leaders and mayors of our nation. And I'm I'm very happy to be a part of this process. There are going to be, like I said, it's going to be about 16 from all over the region that are coming to express their concerns and present their not only their concerns, but solutions to those problems. And this is a great way to learn of the process of change as a community in dealing with local government or state state-level government. On April 29th at the Waynesville High School, we will have the Salute to Service program. This is where our high school students who are choosing to serve our nation in any one of the branches of service will be recognized and um encouraged and supported in their decision. So we encourage everyone to come out if you desire to come out and come to the high school on Wednesday, April 29th at 6 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Hope to see you there. So this Friday, May 1st, is going to be the Pelasi County Health Department's Wellness Conference. Sessions on stress, on nutrition, mental health, and supportive recovery in the workplace are going to be presented. So I encourage everyone to go out. There are still tickets available. If you have any other further questions, please contact the Pelasi County Health Department for more information. This will take place at Waypoint Methodist Church, which is located in Waynesville off of T Highway. Just looking ahead a little bit, next week is our committee week. Of course, we will have our meetings that'll be held at the Waynesville City Hall at 100 Tremont Center. On Monday, May 4th, the utility committee meeting will meet at 4 p.m. Economic Development will meet at 5 p.m. And this is open to the citizens. On Tuesday, May 5th, we have roads and grounds. If you have questions or concerns about safety, potholes, intersections, things along that line, you can come to that meeting also. That'll be May 5th again at 4 p.m. Um, we also have our on Thursday we have our emergency services. That's March May 7th, emergency services and police committee meeting. And also starting at 5 o'clock will be our Human Resource and Finance Committee meeting. And again, these are all open to the public, and we encourage you to come to our committee meeting so you can see where the work is being done and also have questions answered if you have any citizens' comments. I want you to mark your calendars. May 9th is the Freedom Fest. It'll be on the square. It begins at 11 o'clock and it is over at 4 p.m. That'll be music, food, vendors, and a lot of small town spirit. This is where you can also wear your favorite red, white, and blue attire and participate in our Freedom Fest. So we want to encourage everyone to come on out to the city of Waynesville on the square on May 9th from 11 to 4. Also, be aware that their Mother's Day is on May 10th. We're just going to encourage you to shop local here in Waynesville. There's a lot of places you can go to get unique gifts throughout our city. We have a lot of boutiques in our city. I encourage you to hit up the square and ride down Route 66. You'll find a lot of unique places to get gifts if you want to celebrate Mother's Day with something unique this year. Also, I want to bring to everyone's attention again, we have the eventbucket.com forward slash Missouri. This is where you can go and put any event that you have going on, whether you're looking for volunteers, whether you have a yard sale, whether you have an event for your small business, you have a sale, you have a ribbon cutting, you have whatever you have going on. You have an event in the park, you have something that's just open to the to the public that you want to generate more foot traffic. We're asking you to go ahead and put your flyer on the eventbucket.com forward slash Missouri so that we can ensure that we can share your information so your event can be successful. This is free to everyone in the city and the surrounding areas. If you put it there, I don't care if you're in St. Robert, you can be in Dixon, you can be in Laquay, you can be anywhere around this area. And matter of fact, in the state of Missouri wide, you put your events there so we can make sure that we have people that are attending your event because I know that it takes a lot to put events together. And the last thing that we want is people not to know about it and not come. So we want to make sure we give the community um the lead that they need, and we're asking everyone to please utilize that platform so that we can help spread the word on what's going on in not only in Waynesville, but in our region. All of our citizens of Waynesville, thank you for continuing to help this community grow and thrive. I look forward to seeing you around the town.