Stories from Saturday, December 10, 2016

Gertrude Pauline Lee, 93, of Miller, died Sunday, Dec. 4, at the Barnes Jewish Extended Care in Clayton. No services are planned at this time. Burial will be held at a later date at the Miller Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home in Miller...

Edward "Lance" Indovina Jr., 33, of Monett, died Thursday Dec. 8 at his home in Monett. Visitation for Lance is being held on Tuesday Dec. 13 from 5-8 p.m. at the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett...

Theodore Lee Francisco, 89, of Mt. Vernon, died Tuesday, Dec. 6 at his home. A graveside service, under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon, was held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9 at the Southwest City Cemetery in Southwest City, south of Joplin...

Marjorie Ellen Thomas, 89, of Monett, Mo., passed away on Wednesday, December 7, 2016, in the comfort of her home with her family at her side. Marjorie was born on August 21, 1927, in rural Barry County, Mo., daughter of the late Wendell R. Williams and Fern (Mullen) Williams. Marjorie graduated from Verona High School and furthered her education at SMS before graduating with an English Degree from the University of Tulsa. She taught First Grade for many years in Tulsa, Okla...

Glen Eldon Mulkey, age 78, passed away November 24, 2016, at the Green Acres Lodge assisted living in Holiday Island, Ark. Glen was born April 10, 1938, raised in Monett, Mo., and graduated from high school in 1956. He was in the Army Reserves and graduated from Southwest Missouri State in 1962 with a B.S. in Mathematics. He had an interesting career with the Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center in St. Louis and the Washington, D.C., area...

Christmas is such an amazing time of the year. Some of the traditions that surface are unlike anything else all year long. The children at the Purdy Elementary School Christmas program on Dec. 1 sang with amazing diction and clarity, a great tribute to new vocal music teacher Christina Harmon. ...

Cubs of the Month have been named at Monett Intermediate School for November.

Students of the Month of November have been announced at Monett High School.

The Purdy Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter recently sponsored a drive to collect toys and personal hygiene items to benefit the Children's Advocacy Center of Monett.

The Monett Ministerial Association has donated $500 to the Scott Regional Technology Center.

Scott Regional Technology Center had 6 students attend the SkillsUSA State Leadership Conference on Oct. 27 to 29 in Jefferson City. This year, the National SkillsUSA Theme is "Preparing America's Skilled Workforce" which the conference was centered around. The purpose of this conference was to train the local officers in methods of organizing and managing a chapter while also effectively preparing students for the workforce through personal and professional development workshops and trainings...

Character awards for November have been announced at Monett Intermediate School. Principal Cherie Adams identified several students of exemplary character.

The Knights of Columbus Council No. 1075 in Monett has donated $500 to help the work of the Tri-County Pregnancy Resource Center.

The Knights of Columbus from Council No. 1075 in Monett have donated $1,440 to the Arc of the Ozarks in Monett.

Rosella "Babe" Renkoski of Purdy will reach her 90th birthday on Dec. 17. She will celebrate the milestone with friends and family on Sunday, Dec. 18.

Monett's Christmas parade will be at 11 a.m. today, assembling at Eighth and Broadway and heading west. Santa Claus will meet with children from 1 to 4 p.m. today at Artopia, 106 W. Commercial in downtown Pierce City. The town's parade will be at 5:30 p.m. A community dinner will follow the Pierce City Christmas parade at the First Baptist Church, on Highway 97 north of Pierce City...

The Berean Christian Academy east of Monett held its first Christmas program in the new school gym on Thursday.

Pierce City Elementary kindergarten students demonstrated a Phonics Dance, in which they learn sounds and letters set to music.

Cox Monett employees teamed up with CoxHealth Home Support to collect healthy food and toiletry items to help local families and senior citizens. This is the fifth year "Pack the Pantries" has helped individuals and families relying on food pantries across the Ozarks meet their daily food needs. ...

Officials at Crosslines in Monett are struggling to make the holidays happy ones for approximately 90 families still waiting to be adopted for the Christmas toy drive. MaLinda King, administrator for the charitable organization, said food donations were down this year, as well...

More than 75 students from St. Mary's Catholic School and their teachers recently toured the Harold Bell Wright/Pierce City Museum to learn a bit about local history. "The item that got the most interest and that I received the most questions about was the corset in the clothing display," said Kristin Nama, a museum volunteer who was on hand to answer students' questions. ...

In looking for ways to improve services in the Verona school district, Superintendent Tony Simmons reported he has investigated several potential innovations, finding some have promise. Simmons reported that with the implementation of the Fair Labor Act, a new standard established by the federal Department of Labor, staff would begin using a time clock to track their hours and potential overtime. ...

Strategies are expanding for teaching students who do not speak English as their primary language, as teachers introduce new approaches in line with recent research. Daphne Hensley, English Language Learners (ELL) director, said Monett's approach is rooted in its Lau plan. Each year, the district updates its federally mandated policy and actions showing it provides instruction in a way that is understandable and helps students learn both content and vocabulary...

The Monett Middle School wrestling team ended the season with an undefeated 10-0-1 record after a pair of dual victories. On Monday, the Cubs traveled to Republic, prevailing 24-4. Leading the way was eight-grader Luis Rodriguez, who notched four victories on the evening. Two wins came by way of fall, one major and a 2-point thriller highlighted by a late takedown...

Jack Henry and Associates soon will be honored by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. The Fortune 400 company based in Monett will be presented the John Q. Hammons Founder's Award during the Hall of Fame's Enshrinement in January 2017, presented by Killian Construction...

Pretty is not a word that Daryl Bradley, Monett wrestling coach, would use to describe the Cubs season opening wins over Diamond and Webb City on Thursday. With just a week of practice under the team's belt, due to the extended football season and the fact almost none of the football players have reached their prime wrestling weight, Bradley and the Cubs took a gut-it-out approach...