Stories from Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Progress is continuing on facilities projects in the Monett school district, especially on the FEMA shelter at Central Park Elementary. Superintendent Brad Hanson reported the four FEMA windows went into place on the new storm shelter before Thanksgiving. Work on the building shifted from the exterior to the interior...

A cold, overcast Saturday morning that look foreboding for a Christmas parade turned out to be quite accommodating, as 85 groups processed through downtown Monett before an above average sized crowd. "It went great," said Jeff Meredith, executive director of the Monett Chamber of Commerce, the event organizer. ...

The Ozark Festival Orchestra will continue its 37th season with a Christmas concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18 at the Monett High School Performing Arts Center. Director Todd Borgmann announced this will be a concert of seasonal favorites, featuring two vocal soloists from last year's "Messiah" concert, soprano Robin Braun and tenor Andrew Jones...

At the Monett Branch of the Barry-Lawrence Library, Sixth and Bond, knitting and crochet classes for all levels will be offered at 1 p.m. today, and on Dec. 20 and 27. Adult coloring get-togethers are offered at 2 p.m. on Dec. 15. Letters to Santa are a service again being offered for the 29th year by the Gamma Gamma Master Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi in Aurora. ...

The Army Junior Reserve Officer Training (JROTC) at Scott Regional Technology Center received a visit Friday from headquarters in Chicago, Ill. Barry S. Vandenberg, the chief of the Third Brigade JROTC, conducted a staff assistance visit with the 69 cadets who make up the battalion at Scott Tech. ...

Members of the Mt. Vernon Community Theater will be performing "A Christmas Songbook," starting at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, at Monett Community Church.

There is a huge youth movement in the bi-county area this season with multiple basketball team rosters featuring several underclassmen taking the floor. On Friday, two teams, Verona (3-2) and Miller (2-3), hit the hardwood and served as the standard bearer of this movement...

A 64-47 setback to Miller on Friday gave Brenton Hyde, Verona girls basketball coach, the opportunity to discuss the need to put the pieces of his squad together and play as a team. "We aren't doing a great job of playing five-on-five," Hyde said. "We have too many three-on-five or four-on-five possessions where we don't play as a team or we expect someone else to pick up the slack."...

Betty McCracken, 87, of Wheaton, died Wednesday, Dec. 7. Funeral services were held at Monday, Dec. 12 at First Baptist Church in Wheaton, under direction of McQueen Funeral Home in Wheaton. Burial was at Muncie Chapel Cemetery in Wheaton.

Mary Margaret Gwin, 85, of La Russell, died Thursday, Dec. 08 at the Mt. Vernon Place Care Center. A funeral service was held Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon. Burial was at the Miller Memorial Gardens Cemetery.