When Missouri Governor Mike Parson arrived at the Jonesburg Community Center at 6:50 p.m. on April 29 for the annual Lincoln Day Dinner, he got a big round of applause.

Over 200 people were in attendance at the event that also included appearances from U.S. Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, State Senator Jeanie Riddle, State Rep. Jeff Porter and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.

“What a great crowd,” Parson said.

The event started with a one-hour dinner. Then, Riddle, Parson, Luetkemeyer, Mark McCloskey, Ashcroft and Porter made their speeches.

Parson was elected to a full-term as governor in November. He took office in 2018 following the resignation of Eric Greitens.

Riddle said Parson has been valuable to the state since he became governor three years ago.

“Under his leadership, our state has experienced a booming economy with record low unemployment with high wage growth and billions of dollars in business and infrastructure investments,” Riddle said. “Through conservative common sense principles, our governor is committed to doing everything possible to move our state forward, making Missouri a great place to live, work and raise a family.”

During his 18-minute speech, Parson talked about his early life, his accomplishments since he became governor and the challenges he went through during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Parson grew up in Wheatland, an hour north of Springfield. He was raised on a farm in Hickory County.

“I don’t ever want to forget where I came from,” Parson said. “That’s why it’s important to me to come here tonight to speak to you because I believe the heart and soul of Missouri lives in rural Missouri. I know as governor, I’ve got to cover everyone in the state. But I never want to forget how it got all started for me and why we’re here today.”

When the COVID-19 outbreak hit the country in March 2020, Parson issued a temporary stay-at-home order for Missouri residents the following month.

“Last year was the most difficult time in my life to be able to deal with the crisis, the pandemic that none of us knew how to deal with,” Parson said. “There were no experts in this country.”

Parson said despite the pandemic, Missouri has created 10,000 new jobs, has billions of dollars worth of business and expansion and is ranked first in the country in the lowest positivity rate of COVID-19.

“Don’t ever tell me faith and common sense don’t work because we’re seeing it every day in the state of Missouri,” Parson said.

The governor said he’s thrilled that a majority of students in the state are in school.

“Our kids belonged in school and they should always be in school,” Parson said. “There was no data or no science saying you wouldn’t go to school. By keeping that message and pushing that message, 85 percent of our kids in the state of Missouri were in the classrooms by August of last year.”

During his 15-minute speech, Luetkemeyer thanked the residents from both Warren and Montgomery counties for their support in the general election in November. He received over 4,000 votes.

“You guys have been strong for us with huge margins in these two counties,” Luetkemeyer said. “I sincerely appreciate it. We were excited to be able to go back to D.C. and represent you. It is challenging. The pandemic has thrown another curve to all of the things that are going on.”

Porter, who represents all of Montgomery County and the western and southern portions of Warren County, was the last person to speak at the event. He said one of his major concerns is caller ID spoofing.

“You got someone who calls you up all of the time,” Porter said. “It may be a number of somebody you recognize. You pick up the phone and someone tries to scam your personal ID and your financial information. I think of my friends, my faith and family when there’s something wrong. Actually, this past summer, my father got hit with this, so it hit home even more.”