Stories from Saturday, November 17, 2018

Larry Dale Holloway, 72, of Purdy, died Tuesday, Nov. 13. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at Log Church Memorial Gardens in Butterfield, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. Saturday, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville...

Harvey J. Davis, 86, of Springfield, died Thursday, Nov. 8, at his home. A memorial visitation will be held at The Cafe, 3521 W. Kearney Street, Springfield, Saturday, Nov. 24 from noon until 3 p.m. Arrangements have been entrusted to Buchanan Funeral Home, Monett...

James D. Nelson, 79, of Monett, Mo., passed away on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, while at Cox Monett Hospital following a sudden illness. Jim, as he was known by most, was born on December 11, 1938, in Salt Lake City, Utah, son of the late Marcus D. ...

This time of year, many community activities help bind our towns together in rituals of the season. So many have their own traditions that at times seem to tie events into routines rather that open doors to new experiences. The Festival of Lights, which opens on Wednesday, is a wonderful example of making a holiday tradition out of whole cloth, literally nothing into something that can be recreated year by year...

For the last two years, the Monett boys basketball team has endured growing pains on the floor. There have been flashes of brilliant play, but the consistency needed for four quarters has been an issue. Monett has gotten leaner losing Garrett Tharp, Cameron Johnson, Zach Blevins, Jedd Anderson and Jake Bouchard to graduation. The team returns two all-conference guards in Gavin Carr and Jackson Spencer, and they will look to up the tempo this season...

Ever since she was a little girl, Monett’s Alyssa Williams had a singular goal that motivated her. With every minute of practice, every drill, every game, she honed her skills in the hopes that one day she would sign a letter of intent to play college basketball...

For the last three years, words like bits, pieces, parts, process and youth have been thrown around when describing the Monett girls basketball program. Zero- and single-win seasons have occurred since the team last won 20 games in a single campaign eight years ago. The team has dwelt in the valley of the Big 8 Conference...

The Verona School District presented a Friend of Education Award to Lynn “Rooster” and Shelly Youngberg following the Southwest Center for Educational Excellence’s 21st annual Celebration of Schools, where the award was announced.

A community Thanksgiving worship service, sponsored by the Monett Ministerial Association, will be held at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Pierce City. The Celebration Community Choir in Mt. Vernon will present a concert “A Night with the Psalms” at 7 p.m. today, Nov. 17, at the Mt. Vernon Arts and Recreation Center (the MARC), 822 W. Mt. Vernon Blvd...

One of the annual events for the Small Wonders preschool in Monett is the luncheon held for dads and grandpas, which took place on Nov. 9.

Amara Hall and her grandpa, Gary Craig, looked over the patriotic artwork on display by students at the Berean Christian Academy last Saturday as part of the school’s first “Tribute to the 40’s” dinner theater and USO Show, held in conjunction with Veterans Day...

Monett-based Jack Henry and Associates (JHA) has reported a strong start for its new fiscal year. The technology solutions and processing services provider for the financial services industry reported revenues for the quarter ending on Sept. 30 rose by 9 percent...

The Monett City Council will adopt new rates for the Windmill Ridge Golf Course for 2019 and hear public comment on reducing the number of inspections for taxicabs operating in the city during the monthly council meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Passing new golf course rates is one of several resolutions slated for action. ...

Wyatt Howerton has joined the Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District's board of directors, filling the board after a vacancy left from no one running in April. Howerton fills the District 1 seat representing rural Monett in Barry County. Attempts to offer to post to a write-in candidate had not proven successful...

Darren Bass, president of Cox Monett Hospital has been recognized with the Missouri Hospital Association’s Visionary Leadership Award for 2018. Bass, who also serves as system vice president of Community Hospital Group for CoxHealth in Springfield, was honored for his commitment to quality improvement, as well as patient and workforce satisfaction. The award was presented on Nov. 8, during MHA’s 96th annual Convention and Trade Show at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach...

Verona school leaders recently reviewed district improvement plans and the district’s financial picture. Superintendent Tony Simmons walked board members through the evaluation of achievement data for the district’s 425 students, including preschool. In the reading program, he showed numbers for beginning of the year performance for tests through the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA)...

After five years of hard work and dedication, the effort has paid off for Austin Burrell, a Pierce City High School senior. He is one of 240 students from across the nation to be named to the National Association for Music Educator's 2018 All-National Honor Choir...

As the start of the busy Christmas shopping season begins, area merchants and all cashiers should be aware that a variety of bogus bills are starting to make their way around the bi-county area. At Thursday’s monthly Crime Stoppers meeting, both Jay Jastal, of the Monett Police Department, and Jackie Lowe, of the Purdy Police Department, reported counterfeit money being passed by students who purchased the bogus bills off of the Internet...

Monett High School leaders are so optimistic that the ACT boot camp strategy employed last school year will pay off for students that they have started training this fall, though the true results will not become clear until next spring. Principal David Williams and Counselor Kara Tinklepaugh reported to the Monett school board that raw scores on last spring’s ACT tests showed, on average, students saw a 1-point to 9-point improvement in their scores...

A banner for the gym at Central Park Elementary School in Monett has been unveiled to proclaim the school’s bronze award as one of “America’s Healthiest Schools” from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The recognition resulted from the school district’s five-year grant funded participation in the Missouri Foundation for Health’s Healthy Schools/Health Communities initiative. ...