Stories from Saturday, February 2, 2019

Rev. Garry Martin Willoughby, 69, of Monett, died Saturday, Jan. 19, at Cox South Hospital in Springfield. Memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Purdy First Baptist Church with Rev. Bill Banks officiating. A private burial will be held at a later date in Oakdale Cemetery in Monett...

Jerry Floyd Smith, 79, of Mt. Vernon, died Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the Cox South Hospital in Springfield. A graveside service, under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, in Mt. Vernon will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at the Springfield National Cemetery, 1702 E. Seminole St, Springfield...

Tammy L. Robbins, 54, of Aurora, died Tuesday, January 29, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. The family will receive friends on Monday, Feb. 4, from 5-7 p.m. at the White Funeral Home and Crematory, Cassville, with cremation arrangements to follow...

Elizabeth Ann Martin, 82, of Aurora, died Monday, Jan. 28, at the Spring Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center in Springfield. A funeral service was held Friday, Feb. 1, at the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home chapel in Aurora. Burial was at the Maple Park Cemetery in Aurora...

Billy Long, 78, of Monett, died Sunday, Jan. 27, at Cox South Hospital in Springfield. Funeral services were held Thursday, Jan. 31, at the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Chapel in Monett.

Kelly Lynn Huse, 45, of Aurora, died Monday, Jan. 28, at the UPMC Pinnacle Hospital in Harrisburg, Penn. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora. Burial will be at the Clio Cemetery...

Connie Rose Hipkins, 80, of Shell Knob, died Monday, Jan. 28. A Celebration of Life will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 15, at Fohn Funeral Home in Shell Knob.

Sammy Dee (Buehler) Evans, 98, formely of Monett, died Monday, Jan. 28. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Buchanan Funeral Home in Monett. Interment will be in the Bethel Cemetery, south of Monett. The family will receive friends from 10:30 a.m. until service time on Saturday at the funeral home...

Jason Michael Cendroski, 38, of Monett, died Sunday, Jan. 27, from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident. A memorial visitation will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2, at Buchanan Funeral Home, Monett. Arrangements are under the personal care and direction of Buchanan Funeral Home, Monett...

George “Thomas” Beck, 90, of Mt. Vernon, died Monday, Jan. 28, at the Mt. Vernon Place Care Center. A funeral service was held Thursday, Jan. 31, at the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon.

Hazel Cleva Ideker was called home on Monday, Jan. 28. Hazel was born in Wentworth on July 4, 1947, to Oral and Lauretta Jarvis. She married Jerry Lynn Ideker on Aug. 11, 1963, at Peace Lutheran Church in Kansas City. They had one daughter, Lori Lynn Ideker Hilz, in 1969...

This week, the Monett area saw the face of winter. It wasn’t pretty. But cold didn’t spawn screams about the White Death descending from the sky. By today, with a total reversal of the weather pattern, residents may have a had time remembering we’re still in the middle of the winter season...

With a 31-point performance on Tuesday, Verona’s Twilah Carrasquillo eclipsed 2,000 career points.

It was Nov. 9, 1997, a game that haunts Missouri football fans still to this very day. No. 1 Nebraska rolled into Columbia and was on the verge of being upset by the upstart Tigers when a ball was kicked by Cornhusker receiver Shevin Wiggins and caught by receiver Mat Davidson to send the game into overtime...

In 2004, the Monett wrestling team finished the regular season a perfect 10-0 in dual matches. That year marked the only time in Coach Daryl Bradley’s career the team was perfect in dual meets. This season, the Cubs got as close to perfection as a team could be, finishing the regular reason dual slate 14-1 after a 60-21 win over Joplin on Wednesday...

Hailey Gripka, an eighth-grade student at St, Mary’s Catholic School in Pierce City, is the winner of the school level National Geography Bee.

Verona Elementary School held its spelling bee on Jan. 23 in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades.

Trinity Lutheran School in Freistatt honored students for high reading achievement in December.

Pre-school students at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Pierce City has the opportunity to relax and spend the day in their pajamas.

Ken Bandy, left, with the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Monett, in partnership with Jack Henry and Associates, church and community members, recently presented Leslie Henry, counselor at Monett Elementary School, a check in the amount of $5,500 to support the Food for Thought weekend food supply program for more than 100 students...

Two students from Trinity Lutheran School in Freistatt were selected to represent the school at the Mt. Vernon Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet.

The Monett Senior Center will host a dance at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 4 at the Monett City Park Casino featuring the Timberline country band. The Monett 911 Advisory Board will meet at 10 a.m. on Feb. 7 at the Monett Justice Center. The Lawrence County Senior Citizens Tax Board will meet at 10 a.m. on Feb. 4 at the Heritage Harmony House, 700 S. Hudson Ave. in Aurora...

As part of festivities for Purdy High School’s homecoming, students participated in Fake an Injury Day on Thursday.

More than 50 works of art by Monett High School artists were on display on Thursday at Bentonview Park Health and Rehabilitation for public viewing in a one-day show.

The Monett Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for its annual service awards, which will be presented at the Chamber’s annual banquet on March 7 at the Scott Regional Technology Center. The Community Service Award, which has been presented since 1972, recognizes long-term service and contributions having significant impact on the business community or the quality of life in Monett...

The Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District has issued a request for persons who may be interested in serving on its board from District 6 in Monett. Larry Eden, who was appointed to the District 6 position in January 2015, submitted his resignation at the board’s January meeting. According to his letter, Eden resigned “due to personal reasons,” effective immediately. Board Chairman Shane Anderson said work obligations had made it difficult for Eden to attend meetings...

In a move that may expand future program offerings in the district, Monett school board members approved a letter of support for CoxHealth Systems, which has offered to establish a partnership with the school district and Cox College. Under the arrangement, Cox College would utilize the district's health occupations facilities at the Scott Regional Technology Center to begin a nursing satellite program in Monett...

The Verona school board appears headed toward a second look at a four-day school week following a change in state rules on how to count school days. Superintendent Tony Simmons said a change in state rules will now count school years by the hour, rather than the days...

Monett school board members are moving closer to engaging patrons on plans for future construction. Superintendent Russ Moreland announced the first community meeting, on which way the district will proceed for its next building project, will take place at 6:30 p.m. ...

February brings the annual celebration of romance. Each year, Monett’s Bruner’s Hallmark store hauls out amazing and cuddly gifts, which twins Kristen, left, and Cassidy Abramovitz enjoyed as February’s calendar girls.

Almost no change was found in the Monett school district’s dealings with homeless students between the 2018-2019 school year and the previous year. The annual homeless education program evaluation, prepared by Assistant Superintendent Mike Evans, tallied 32 students who met the homeless criteria, down from 34 from the previous year. The number has fallen in each of the last four years, down from a 2014-2015 high of 53...

An online survey by the Monett Chamber of Commerce to gather ideas on Monett’s future prompted exchanges that reflected limitations and aspirations within the business community. Jeff Meredith, executive director for the Chamber, threw the question “What do you want to see in Monett in 2019?” out on Facebook as an open ended query, inviting responses from an audience the Chamber may not otherwise reach. The question had 170 comments, nine shares and was estimated to have reached 3,840...