Stories from Saturday, April 18, 2015

Over the years, I have spent many memorable evenings with the Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District. The ambulance district is a microcosm of what can be done right, and what can go wrong, with a local organization. By the time I came on the scene in 1988, the ambulance district had endured more than one upheaval. ...

What started out as a simple invitation grew into a hobby and now an obsession for one Monettan. Micah Miller, a 2010 graduate of Monett High School, left Springfield Regional Airport this morning destined for the most famous marathon in the United States, the 119th running of the Boston Marathon...

As the Cubs baseball players broke from their postgame huddle, they in unison all said the same word -- family. Monett Coach Michael Calhoun had stressed the idea of family to his players of late, drawing upon the idea that if a family does not quit and sticks together, they will eventually succeed...

Officials at Monett Elementary School celebrated Students of the Week.

Three Monett High School alumni have been initiated into Gamma Sigma Alpha, a national Greek academic honor society at Drury University in Springfield. They are Jackson Burnside, Ryan Saunders and Isaac Weber. Eligible students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above at the start of their junior year...

Andrew Rausch, a senior at Monett High School, has been selected for the 2015 Missouri Scholars 100, a statewide program that honors 100 of Missouri's top academic students in the graduating class of 2015. Rausch will be one of the students honored at a luncheon at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia in April. Rausch was selected for the honor based on an average of his high school grade point average and his ACT score...

Valerie Jean Bennett, a graduate of Purdy High School, graduated with honors from University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, with a master of science in nursing and a nurse practitioner. She is employed at Cox Monett as an emergency room nurse for 27 years. She has also worked for Cox Hospital South and Mercy Hospital in Springfield...

Anna Arnaud, of Monett, a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, has received a fellowship that will fully cover her expenses at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Licenses issued at the Lawrence County Courthouse Sean Jeffrey Hilton, 44, Monett, to Shannon Denae Freeman, 39, Pierce City, April 4. Christien Antonie Brown-Barkley, 22, Wayne, Pa., to Katelyne Elaine Cartwright, 19, Mt. Vernon, April 8. Joshua Alan Daniel, 23, Aurora, to Hayley Diana Ward, 20, Aurora, April 13...

Students in Mariann Carrier's piano studio have been very active in events and competitions during the school year. Haley Gaines, Kaytlynn Sanders and Gabriela Zengotita entered the Monett Junior High Cub Fest on March 21. Haley received a 1 rating, while Kaytlynn and Gabriela received a 2...

The Monett Junior Chamber, also known as the Monett Jaycees, have elected its 2015 
Board of Directors. Kristen Johnson will serve as Chairman of the Board. Amanda Harbaugh has undertaken the duties of president. Abigail Crockett is the secretary and Ryan Nestleroad is the treasurer...

Edward and Waunita Witt celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary April 18 with a celebration Mass in their honor, followed by a dinner reception hosted by their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The grand opening of the Monett Community Garden has been moved to 10 a.m. on April 25. The garden will be located south of the Monett Community Church. The Southern Missouri Beekeepers of Monett will meet at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 21, at First United Methodist Church, 1600 N. Central in Monett. Those interested in beekeeping or wanting to learn more are invited to attend. For more information, call John Schmidt at 235-7726...

A crew from Elite National Tank and Tower out of Evansville, Ind., was working last weekend on well No. 3 tower, painting and sandblasting the outside, and cleaning and painting the interior.

The Monett City Council will accept public comment on a proposal about home delivery of alcoholic beverages at the monthly meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. Mauricio Fernandez, owner of The Beer Cave, asked for permission to make deliveries to keep impaired drivers 
off the road...

Tonight will be a night for music in Pierce City, as the Mark Chapman Band will perform in a fundraiser to restore the 1889 Felgemaker pipe organ at St. Mary's Catholic Church, located at 200 Front St. in Pierce City. The concert will take place at 8 p.m. in the St. Mary's school gym. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and $200 for a table of eight...

Curtis Dinan, Monett High School Class of 1985, will be the featured speaker at noon on Monday at the Breech School of Business Administration at Drury University in Springfield. Dinan's talk will begin a week-long showcase of Drury's business program. Breech Business Week, now in its second year, serves as another way of ensuring students are job ready by connecting them with the professional world outside of campus...

Students from Monett High School's team sports and lifetime activities class traveled to the Monett Sportsmen's League's facility southeast of Monett at the former weather station to try their hands at trap shooting. Close to 90 students took turns firing shotguns at clay pigeons, each receiving two chances if interested...

The second annual Walk to School Week, a project of the Monett Healthy Schools/Health Communities initiative, will begin on Monday. Students from four Monett school campuses are encouraged to walk to school on specific days. Students and their families, along with teachers and community leaders, will be joining in on the celebration. Last year, a total of 127 students participated...

Aldermen at Pierce City have tossed a hot potato to the city's planning and zoning committee that may end up seeing the city in court. Ken Madison, owner of a trailer park in the 400 block of Golubski, has hired Mt. Vernon attorney John Cowherd to represent him in a quest to have his property re-zoned from residential to a mobile home district...