Stories from Friday, May 6, 2016

Michael E. "Mike" Finney, 64, of Shell Knob, died at 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, May 4. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, May 9, at First Baptist Church in Shell Knob. Burial will be at Mikeman Cemetery in Shell Knob. Visitation will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. Monday, at First Baptist Church in Shell Knob...

George William Benjamin Wielichowski, 23, of Mt. Vernon, died at 10:01 a.m. Tuesday, May 3, at this home. A private memorial service is planned. Arrangements are under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon.

Sarah Spohn, 86, of Monett, went to be with the Lord in Heaven Friday, May 6, while staying at the James River Care Center in Springfield. She was born June 3, 1929, in Beloit, Wisc., the daughter of the late Jessepe (Joe) and Angelina (Cannistrano) Cammilleri. She was united in marriage on Oct. 16, 1948, to John Spohn in Beloit, Wisc. He preceded her in death July 17, 2006...

Purdy's softball team took advantage of nearly every Southwest mistake to win the Class 1, District 10 softball title, 6-1, on Wednesday in Pierce City. The win propelled Purdy in to a sectional tilt with Mt. Vernon on Monday at 6 p.m. "We knew Maggie [Robbins, Southwest pitcher], was going to throw the ball outside for strikes," said Lori Videmschek, Purdy coach. "Our mentality coming in was middle-in, we are going to pull it hard, and middle-out, slap it the other way."...

The Monett school board has approved contracts for construction of the new storm safe room at Central Park Elementary School, anticipating work will begin this summer. Board members waded through 12 separate bid packages to approve contractors for each phase of the project. Total cost came to $1,338,426. Superintendent Brad Hanson had hoped bids would fall on the lower end of the $1 million to $1.5 million range...

Verona High School will hold commencement exercises at 7 p.m. today in the Verona High School gymnasium. There are 37 students in the Class of 2016, the largest in decades. In addition to speeches by the two top graduates, Shelly Gatton, the district's special services director, has been asked by the student body to offer the faculty address...

Area chocoholics had the opportunity to indulge in some gourmet chocolates from South Bend Chocolate Company, as members of the Cox Monett Hospital Auxiliary hosted a fundraising effort offering 50 kinds of decadently delicious candy.

The first Barry County Youth Camp Trivia Night fundraiser saw more than 75 people competing for championship honors while raising money to benefit the Barry County Youth Camp. The trivia contest and silent auction netted nearly $2,500, which will be used to support programs and activities at this year's camp, slated to take place from May 23-26. The theme of this year's camp is "Creative Minds at Work."...

The Monett High School Chapter of Family, Community and Career Leaders of America (FCCLA) have received a $200 grant from the Missouri Sheep Merchandising Council to promote American lamb meat. As part of the activity, students were required to make fliers promoting American lamb meat and research recipes for lamb...

Verona Tillers 'n' Toilers Garden Club and Verona FFA are having a sale at Verona High School from noon to 4 p.m. on May 6 and started at 10 a.m. on May 7. Bedding plants, flowers, perennials, house plants and goodies will be available. Trinity Lutheran School in Freistatt will host graduation ceremonies for its eighth graders at 7 p.m. on May 11 in the school gym...

Dallas Kleiboeker and Tate Henderson recently took first place honors in FFA state competition.

Purdy Elementary School character education medal winners for the month of March have been announced.

Virtually everyone suffers from stress. What's yours? Maybe it's too much to do in too little time. Sick cow. Relationship problems. Family demands. Financial issues. Whatever the sources of stress, the University of Missouri Extension delivers a nationally recognized stress-relief program to help meet participants live a healthier life...

Choosing to look at the glass as half full, Monett Golf Coach Dan Janssen praised the efforts of Clayton Kaiser and Lane Witt as they advanced to the Class 3 Sectional Marshfield on Monday. However, Janssen knows that his team has some work to do before next season...