Stories from Friday, June 2, 2017

For seven Monett football players, tonight will signal the last time they get to play at the high school level. The 16th annual Grin Iron Classic serves a two-fold purpose in raising money for the Tooth Truck and also giving the best 90 senior players in southwest Missouri one more chance to play under the Friday night lights...

Lost in the shuffle of a high school spring season full of playoff games and district title runs was the outstanding performances of the Monett Middle School track team. The eighth grade boys took home the title of Big 8 champion with a 144 point performance. Mt. Vernon was second with 55...

Monett Elementary School Principal Susie Gasser leaves her career as a Monett educator at the end of the month, and looking back on her career, she said she has seen many changes and celebrated successes. In a nearly 30-year run as an educator, nothing described the changes Gasser has experienced quite like the few days earlier this spring when the district-wide the school system lost its wireless internet for a day and a half. Gasser found the experience more insightful than she expected...

A program on changing public perceptions about vehicular crashes was presented to city and business leaders in Monett during a special program at the Monett City Park Casino last week. Bill Whitfield, highway safety director with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), described the hOUR Project, a public awareness initiative aimed at reducing traffic fatalities. ...

Several hummingbirds have completed their migration from South or Central America or Mexico and setting up their nests locally.

The annual year-end recital for the Mary Beck School of Dance will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Taylor Auditorium on the Missouri Southern State University campus in Joplin. The concert will include 34 numbers, with 13 solos, three duets, four small ensemble and 16 large ensembles. ...

Dana Dutton Hesington is seeking to be the first person from Monett to win the "10 Most Beautiful Women" contest sponsored by 417 Magazine in Springfield. Hesington is already the first Monettan to win nomination in the magazine's Top 20 portion of its annual contest. While recognizing the contest offers an edge to Springfield residents, Hesington, a 52-year-old registered nurse with Mercy Hospice, sees this as an opportunity to promote a little known charity in the area...

The SilverTeens seniors singles group will meet at 6 p.m. for supper on June 8 at the Angus Branch Steakhouse on Chapell Drive, next to Walmart in Monett. For additional information, people may call B.J. McCaulley at 417-393-9212. The Monett Senior Center will host a dance from 7 to 10 p.m. on June 5 at the Monett City Park Casino. Evelyn Lock and the Outriders Band will play. Participants are encouraged to bring a snack to share...

Ethel Caruthers Burton, a long-time Rolla resident, was born on June 21, 1931, in Alton, Missouri, and passed away on May 29, 2017, after a lengthy battle with Lewy Body Disease. She was surrounded by family. She is survived by her husband, Dr. A. Sam Burton, to whom she was married for sixty-two years. ...

William “Billy” Etter, 65, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., formerly of Monett, passed away May 24, in Sierra Vista, Ariz. Surviving are two sisters, Connie Carr, of Aurora, and Robbie Donaldson, of Joplin; and one son, Jason Etter Guilfoyle, state of Minnestoa...

Pastor Rocky Coy Mills, 60, went to be with the Lord on May 30, 2017. United in marriage to Donna K. Wierman on Valentine’s Day 1976, they prayed for 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls). Their prayers were answered over the next 11 years with the arrival of Rocky Nathaniel, Jonathan Wilbur, Mary Elizabeth, and Sarah Kaye. The Mills brood grew to include 10 grandchildren. Rocky was happiest when surrounded by this lively bunch that called him Pa-pa...

Dannee “Spidey” Buck, 65, of Exeter, died Sunday, May 28 at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of the White Funeral Home and Crematory, Cassville.

Marvin D. Davenport, 81, of Mt. Vernon, died May 30, at his home. A funeral service, under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, in Mt. Vernon, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 3 at the Ozark Prairie Presbyterian Church with burial to follow at the Ozark Prairie Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, June 2 in the funeral home chapel...

Stanley Dale McWilliams, 57, of Aurora, died Monday, May 22, at the Mercy Hospital in Springfield. A graveside service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, at the OSA Cemetery southeast of Aurora. Local arrangements are under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora...