When asked: How did you meet? ‘It’s a great conversation starter’

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Billy Dexheimer, left, portraying Tom Sawyer, and Sara Lipp, as Becky Thatcher, circa 1997. They were married in 2002. Dexheimer family photo.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

In a time-honored tradition unique to Hannibal, five boys and five girls - each completing seventh grade - take the stage in Central Park at the hottest moment of the Fourth of July, in anticipation of the announcement of who will serve as Hannibal’s official Tom and Becky for the ensuing year.

The naming of the “official” Tom and Becky is the absolute pinnacle of the days-long festival, National Tom Sawyer Days.

But when the excitement of the day subsides, the reality is that there are 10 young people, primed and ready to begin their year-long roles as Hannibal ambassadors.

In Hannibal, it is “cool” for teens to walk along Hannibal’s historic streets and beyond, dressed in yards of custom sewn colorful cotton calico, and interacting among visitors with historic precision. And teens view this program as a right of passage, following the generations before them, assimilating social skills and knowledge into a pathway toward future civic leadership.

Two of these Hannibal ambassadors from the past, Billy and Sara Lipp Dexheimer of Columbia, formerly of Hannibal, have a unique “how we met” story to tell. It begins with their initial tryouts for the Tom and Becky program in 1997, and the ultimate advancement to the “happily ever after” phase of their lives: married with two daughters.

Sara, a talented musician in her own right, was among those trying out for “Becky” in 1997.

Billy, who also possessed a musical bent, was among those trying out for “Tom.”

The initial tryouts took place in the Middle School choir room. Each contestant was to present a short speech.

“Billy, who I’d never met before,” Sara said, “had a stuffed animal frog; he gave his speech with the frog in his hand.

“I remember going home and telling Dad” (James Lipp) about Billy, “and that I think I’m going to marry him some day.

“Dad loved to tell that story,” Sara said.

Those initial tryouts weren’t so memorable for Billy. “I honestly barely remember,” giving that speech, he said. “I knew I had to give a speech, and a friend had a Beanie Baby frog, and I just took it from her” to take to the speech. “It was something weird, I guess it worked,” he said.

They both were selected to vie for the chance to become the “official” Tom and Becky, but ultimately, neither was chosen as the “official.”

Throughout the year, however, they participated in parades and ribbon cuttings, sometimes traveling outside of Hannibal in order to spread good will.

While they both served as ambassadors during their eighth grade year, they were often paired with other ambassadors.

But they did spend one memorable day together. Sara said, “There was one entire week that they pulled the Toms and Beckys out of school. We went to the Visitors Center on U.S. 61.”

They were supposed to welcome visitors, “but there weren’t a lot,” she said. So Sara and Billy made a game of trying to get the semis on U.S. 61 to honk. “I remember Billy and I were there all day long, dressed as Tom and Becky.”

“I would steal Sara’s parasol, a lot. It was hot,” Billy said.

During their year as ambassadors, they accompanied the other Toms and Beckys to Chicago, where they got to watch the premier of a 3D IMAX movie, “Mark Twain’s America,” filmed in Hannibal.

The two did become a “couple” in eighth grade. (Billy added the air quotes).

“For the most part, we dated off and on,” Sara said. Even when dating other people, they still bought each other birthday and Christmas gifts.

“We got back together in our junior year,” she said.

They got engaged in 2002, on New Year’s Day.

They graduated high school in May, and got married June 29. They moved to Maryville that summer to start at Northwest Missouri State University together. They graduated in 2006, and Sara earned her master’s degree in 2007. Billy majored in computer science and Sara majored in music education.

Looking back, they each value the days they spent representing their home town as Tom and Becky.

“What I liked best was getting to go different places and meeting different people from around the world,” Billy said. “We would go to other towns, see different places and people. It was always a positive vibe, representing our town while” portraying “characters from Mark Twain’s books. Getting out there; getting to experience things with people from around the country.”

For Sara, the experience was life defining.

“I think for me it was my first moment in finding a love for the arts.” She described learning to think on her feet. “It really was just the time in my life I was really enjoying talking with people in the arts, the theater side of it. It sparked my love for music and acting. It was something I wanted to do with my life.”

After college, Billy worked as a computer programmer for 10 years, and is now broker/owner of North Star Real Estate in Columbia.

Sara has been teaching music at Fairview Elementary School in Columbia since 2007.

Billy and Sara were both involved in show choir in high school and college. “Music was always part of our life together,” Billy said.

Now, both of their daughters are involved in music as well.

“Maggie is the youngest, she is an excellent pianist, and sings really well. She was in the production of ‘Shrek’ a few years ago,” Sara said.

Elizabeth, who will be a senior this fall at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, is involved in both the Lady’s Show Choir and the Mixed Show Choir, and was also named to the All State Choir.

“During our senior year, “ in high school, Billy said, we did “Wizard of Oz"; Sara was Dorothy and I was the Cowardly Lion. This year, our oldest daughter did the Wizard of Oz at Rock Bridge.”

Looking back, there are no regrets.

We have Sam Clemens to thank for our marriage,” Billy said.

“How did you guys meet?” People ask.

“As Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. It’s a great conversation starter, for sure,” Billy said.