Stories from Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Charles “Scott” Williams, 80, of Golden, died Monday, Aug. 27. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at Holiday Island Community Church in Holiday Island, Ark. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville...

Howard L. Tilford, 77, of Cassville, died Sunday, Sept. 2, at Mercy Hospital in Cassville. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of the White Funeral Home and Crematory, Cassville.

Guadalupe Leyva, 87, of Monett, died Thursday, Aug. 30. Services were held from 5-8:00 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 2, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial was at Panteon Municipal Cemetery in Vicente Guerrero, Durango in Mexico.

Morris Wayne Henderson, 90, of Monett, died Monday, Sept. 3, at Lacoba Homes in Monett. Visitation for Morris is being held on Thursday Sept. 6, from 6-8 p.m. at the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett. Funeral services will be held on Friday, Sept. 7, at 10 a.m. at the Arnhart Baptist Church in East Purdy. Burial will follow services at the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Butterfield...

Carolyn Robbins Henson, age 81, of Verona, Missouri, passed away at 2:20 p.m. on Friday, August 31, 2018, at the Good Samaritan Home Care in Verona. She was born April 9, 1937, in Barry County, Missouri, the daughter of the late Orville and Helen (Vincent) Robbins...

The Purdy FFA Chapter hosted the 12th annual FFA and Alumni Truck and Tractor Pull on Saturday, Aug. 25, on Eagle Logistics grounds, south of Purdy. FFA members partnered with FFA Alumni members in organizing the event, parking cars and hosting the concessions stand. All proceeds from the pulls benefit the Purdy FFA and Alumni and their programs...

The town of Sarcoxie, west of Pierce City, will host its annual Chief Sarcoxie Days celebration Sept. 6 though Sept. 8 downtown. Opening ceremonies will be held at 6 p.m. on Sept. 6, followed by introduction of royalty, the "chief" and "squaw" for the festival. A home show will be offered on Sept. 7 and 8 at the Cutbirth Building, on the north side of the square. Live music on Sept. 7 will begin at 5:30 p.m. with DeWayne Bowman and Sassafras...

Chief Sarcoxie Days will be held Sept. 6-8 in downtown Sarcoxie. Live music will include DeWayne Bowman and Sassafras on Sept. 7 and Liz Moriando and Eddie Valen on Sept. 8. A livestock show will be held at 8 p.m. on Sept. 8 and a parade at 2 p.m. The Purdy City Council has cancelled its monthly meeting in September...

A little help? Jace Gusset might have lost some steam coming down the slides at the 68th annual Miller Fall Festival, but he finally reached the bottom of the ride.

Cox Monett Hospital offered its third annual luncheon for area first responders on Friday, part of a regular outreach by CoxHealth Systems. "A barbecue can't adequately thank our local first responders for everything they do to support us, and their great commitment to keeping our communities safe," said Eric Clay, CoxHealth’s public safety director. "However, we hope they come out, enjoy the event and know we truly appreciate all they do every day."...

The Fill the Boot drive has kicked off in Exeter and Wheaton. The Exeter Fire Protection District set up in front of its station in town on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and raised $2,210. Last year, the department raised $2,225, and it has been participating in the drive for 23 years...

Anyone looking for a corn maze this fall does not have to look outside of Barry County, as the Exeter Corn Maze was listed as No. 6 in the country on Country Living magazine’s ranking of top 25 corn mazes in the U.S. On 140 acres in Exeter, Robyn and Artie Cole are getting ready to open up all the fall filled activities at the local corn maze...

Verona school board members discussed the opening of school and related financial action during the board’s August meeting. The board approved its annual tax levy at $3.95 per $100 of assessed property. Projected revenues of $1.2 million reflected an increase of nearly $19,000, and almost $17,000 of that came from new construction. Residential valuations increased by $59,000, while both agriculture and commercial valuations marked a drop...

Fall decor and other handmade goods will be available at the Gathering Place in Purdy on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Julie Terry, event coordinator, said this will be the 4th annual Fall Craft and Vendor Show, and the number of vendors and attendees continues to grow. There will be about 40 booths, and an array of different products available...

Purdy school board members looked over construction progress and the start of the new school year recently. Superintendent Steven Chancellor reported the first part of the storm shelter/performing arts center construction project had been completed. Next steps included more concrete work, painting and “the important stuff.” Crews had turned to the exterior heading into September to finish sealing the structure and shaping up the grounds against the building...

At the end of June, Arc of the Ozarks closed its group home in Cassville, the last group home in Barry and Lawrence counties, reflecting an evolution in the care of developmentally disabled residents and services available to them. Sarah Meredith, director for Arc of the Ozarks in Monett, said all of the residents once served in group homes now live in assisted living apartments. ...

West East Cassville at Monett Lamar at Aurora McDonald County at East Newton Springfield Catholic at Hollister Logan- Rogersville at Reeds Spring Marshfield at Mt. Vernon Nevada at Seneca Pierce City at Sarcoxie Aurora at East Newton, 33-0 Springfield Catholic at Cassville, 7-34...

Rest assured that the football game between Pierce City and Sarcoxie was circled on both teams’ calendars when the schedule was released. The two are separated by 12 miles, and the small community of Wentworth serves as the dividing line. Last year, Pierce City invaded Sarcoxie and with a 35-26 win, ruining the Bears’ perfect record and took home the conference title...

The football rivalry between Cassville and Monett plays second fiddle to no other gridiron matchup. It is as intense a rivalry as can be found in not only southwest Missouri, but in the entire state. “The thing that really heats up the rivalry is the fact that the parents from both schools work together at many of the area factories,” said David Large, former Cassville coach. “One set of those parents is going to have bragging rights for an entire year.”...

The challenge was not to just one or two players, but to the entire Cassville defense before the start of Friday’s game against Springfield Catholic. Cassville Head Coach Lance Parnell challenged his players to be the aggressors, to step up and show the fans the toughness that they had demonstrated to him in practice...

In today’s world of on-demand programming, fast food and instant satisfaction, it is easy to forget that lasting things often take time and patience to build. For the Monett football team (0-2), building a young program is proof that a bit more patience is needed...

Members of the Lawrence County Tax Board for the Developmentally Disabled met in August to set the 2018-2019 tax levy. The board approved leaving the tax levy the same at the same rate as that in 2017 at 0.0867...

A Purdy man has been arrested and charged with drug trafficking after a drug bust allegedly caught him with more than one pound of methamphetamine. The Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team and Barry County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant Friday afternoon at a home on Farm Road 1095 in Purdy. ...