Stories from Saturday, October 31, 2015

Talk to longtime Monettans, and they will tell stories of their favorite moments. Eyes light up when older adults describe the annual Christmas parties that M.E. Gillioz hosted at his theater in town. The coins he passed out to those children meant more than gold to them...

The Pierce City volleyball team secured three spots on the Spring River Valley All-Conference volleyball teams. Christine Stellwagen and Maddie Yonker were named to the First Team and Kenzie Drollinger gathered Second Team honors. Stellwagen and Yonker also earned Class 2, District 12 first team accolades as well...

The football season for Monett ended Friday with a 25-11 loss to rival Aurora in the Class 3, District 4 semifinal. The Houn' Dawgs were fired up to start the game and made the Cubs punt after three plays for negative-5 yards. However, Aurora muffed the punt, allowing the Cubs to take a 3-0 lead, three plays later on a Caleb Hilton 32-yard field goal...

Officials at Monett Elementary School have chosen students demonstrating the characteristics of being polite and respectful as Students of the Week for Oct. 19.

Students whose academic achievements earned them a place on the first quarter honor roll at Purdy Elementary School have been announced by Principal Janet Boys. Students names to the A honor roll follow: Third Grade: Kyle Bowman, Jarely Rodriguez, Samuel Salas, Eryn Schlessman, Mylee Stumph, Marlene Villa, Keele Allen, Alondra Canales, Levi Deditius, Ansley Gower, Hadassah Harris, Brandon Lee, Teagan Manwarren, Aidan Martinez, Gracie Patton, Zoey Webb, Dayten Farris, Miranda Garcia, Clayton Grant, Will Henderson, Kelsee Merritt, Waylon Morgan, Ruby Ramirez Salas, Levi Taylor and Ludi Venegas.. ...

On Oct. 14, the Regional Officers of Missouri Region 11 FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America) hosted the annual Regional Meeting in Taylor Auditorium at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.

IRVING, TEXAS -- Zeina Masri of Monett has the lead role of Mary Stuart in the University of Dallas' fall main-stage production of Friedrich Schiller's play "Mary Stuart" in a new version by Peter Oswald. "Mary Stuart" is performed this weekend and Nov. 3-7 at 8 p.m...

The family of Betty Conn is organizing a birthday Card party for her 90th birthday on November 18. Betty was born in Kansas City in 1925. Her family moved to a farm South of Verona in 1935. She married Eugene Conn in 1947 and he passed away in 2007...

Canopy Lodge No. 284, AF&AM, in Verona recently held its installation of officers for the 2015-2016 year at the Lodge Hall in Verona. Serving for the coming year are: Darold Farless, master; Alan Estes, senior warden; Andrew Schiller, junior warden; Don La Rue, treasurer; Josh Blades, secretary; Vern Miller, senior deacon; Dwayne Crouch, junior deacon; Darrell Frieze, senior steward; Darrin Barton, junior steward; George Ramsey, chaplain; and Jon Smith, tyler...

Gary and Mary Shrum, of Monett, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a private family celebration held Sunday, Oct. 25, at Briarbrook Country Club in Carl Junction.

The Monett Times and Monett Lions Club will host a Halloween costume contest at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31 in the Monett City Hall Auditorium, Candy will be provided for participants. The top three winners in each age group will have their photo in The Monett Times...

Students at Monett Elementary School continued the age-old tradition of fall parties on Thursday with fun activities in each classroom.

Treyson Roller, 3 months, found himself in hot water as a lobster, while mom and chef, Jamie Roller, stirred the pot. Treyson took first place honors in the 0-1 age category at the Little Pumpkins contest held at Scott Regional Technology Center in Monett Thursday evening...

Monett school officials have received authorization to experiment with the times that Ninth Street will remain closed to vehicle traffic to enhance the safety of students. In a letter read by the council at its Oct. 20 meeting, School Superintendent Brad Hanson thanked the city for closing Ninth Street, between Cleveland and Scott, since the beginning of the school year in August. ...

Cox Monett Hospital has developed its volunteer chaplaincy program over the past year, and now seeks to expand what has become a valuable resource in what the hospital offers. The program restarted at the hospital in Feburary 2014. The hospital had an on-call chaplaincy program in the early years of Cox owning the Monett hospital, but it was not formalized. Dr. Elizabeth Lucore saw a way to enhance healing by addressing spiritual needs and made overtures to broaden what was available...

November offers the fruits of the harvest and a full area of seasonal colors.

The Barry-Lawrence Area United Fund has started its annual fundraising drive to support youth and adult programs in the Monett area. This year marks the 49th anniversary that the United Fund has helped expand opportunities for area residents. "We thank the companies and employees who contribute through payroll deduction and the many individual donors," said Ken Dudzik, United Fund president. ...

On Tuesday, one week before polls open, Purdy city officials held a public meeting and hammered on the dire consequences of voters not approving the bond issue for sewer improvements. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has pushed the city into seeking a $4.6 million revenue bond issue to eliminate the city's chronically under-achieving sewer treatment facility. Instead, city officials have proposed sending the effluent to Monett on a seven-mile pipeline...

The Monett soccer season ended Saturday with a 4-0 loss to Southern Boone in the Class 2 quarterfinal at Burl Fowler Stadium. Monett, playing in its first quarterfinal in school history, controlled the pace of play for the game's first five minutes. However, Jason Puente's shot on goal 30 seconds into the contest proved to be the only look for the Cubs in the first half...