Stories from Saturday, May 4, 2019

Graduates, the time has arrived when the whirlpool of time and circumstances will pull you away from us. While we knew this time was coming, as it does for every graduating class, now is a time fraught with more uncertainty than we’ve seen since the economic downturn 10 years ago...

Coaches always look for way to fire up their teams in order to keep an edge. Purdy grabbed the No. 1 seed in the Class 2 District 6 tournament but were denied a chance to host the tournament when the Eagles lost a coin flip. Host sights are determined by a vote of the district member schools...

A wet and wild week rearranged the Class 1, District 10 tournament in Purdy this week, but the Lady Eagles advanced to the championship game. Purdy will play Crane tonight at 5:30 p.m. for the right to be called district champion. Lauren Schallert allowed just one hit and one earned run while striking out nine in a 7-1 semifinal victory over Clever on Thursday...

A gut-wrenching feeling of falling short in last year’s district title game is one win which all of the returning Cubs baseball players have worked hard to forget. Now, the team will have its chance to avenge the loss since the Class 4, District 12 tournament seeds and bracket have been released...

A pair of local weightlifting professional will put their skills to the ultimate test next week at the head to Mooresville, N.C., for the 365 STRONG 2019 World Games. For Joe Abramovitz and Ryno (Ryan) Johnson, the chance to etch their names into weightlifting lore is a powerful driving force...

Officials at Verona School District have chosen Students of the Week for April 29 through May 3.

The concert choir at Berean Christian Academy in Monett earned an exemplary 1 rating at the Nevada Music Festival on April 6.

Officials at Monett Elementary School have chosen students demonstrating the characteristic of being safe as Students of the Week for April 22.

Central Elementary School Honor Choir, in Pierce City, under the direction of Lori Beasley, recently competed at the Stafford Choir Festival, where they earned a I rating for their performance.

The Pierce City Arts Festival runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, May 4, at Jolly Mill Park. The Fun Run starts at 8:30 a.m. Live music starts at 10- a.m. The duck race is at noon. May 4 will be the last night of the season for the McDowell Gold Jubilee. ...

Kaitie Long and Meg Young accompanied by Long’s aunt, Anna Long, and Young’s aides, Connie Vandergrift and Carlye Withnell spent Wednesday afternoon spreading springtime cheer at Oak Pointe Assisted Living and Memory Care in Monett, anonymously hanging handcrafted May Day baskets of flowers on the handles of each resident’s door...

The team taking home top honors from Central Park Elementary in the ELL soccer tournament, a fundraiser for a scholarship for a graduating English language learner at Monett High School, are pictured. Front row, from left, are: Keiley Potts, Cale Flynt, Aldo Valdez and Jesse Jack Jr. Back row: Coach Lacey Berry, Noah Rodriguez, Coach Sylvia Guerra and Christopher Cuevas. Contributed photo...

A group of Wheaton FFA students and high school staff move a large, cross-shaped piece of debris left in the aftermath of Tuesday’s EF-1 tornado.

Wilma Seufert wore a beautiful smile as she was escorted around the dance floor by Paul Seufert at the 20th annual Senior Citizen Dance, held Sunday evening at the Pierce City High School cafeteria.

Churches and people of faith from around the Monett area gathered on Thursday at the Monett City Park Casino for the Monett Chamber of Commerce's annual Prayer Breakfast, held in conjunction with the World Day of Prayer. Chaplain Curt McLaughlin from Cox Health Systems served as speaker. He spoke about a body builder who used his muscles to pose for pictures. One day a young child challenged him that posing was a waste of time because those muscles served no important function...

Students are constantly pushed to read at the grade level that they should be, rather than to just enjoy reading. Julie Dalton, Purdy pre-k through sixth-grade principal, said she aims to keep her students interested in reading by challenging them with the Million Words Club...

Newly built, the Purdy schools district’s FEMA building has the potential to offer more than a storm shelter. Steven Chancellor, Purdy superintendent, said the Purdy FEMA building was used for a concert open to the public. “This was the first non-school group that has leased the building,” he said. “When they first asked us if they could rent it, they said they didn’t need much, just the building to play in.”...

Honor graduates for the Class of 2019 at Monett High School have been announced by Principal David Williams as the final week of classes and special events is slated to begin. Graduation will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday in the school gym. This week, the senior class voted to determine who from the top 10 percent of the class will speak from those volunteering for the spotlight. Delivering addresses during commencement will be Brittain Cooper and Kelli McCallister...

As the graduating class of 2019 at Monett High School heads toward commencement next week, observations were made on their experience in Monett. Counselor Beth Nation characterized the group as “a good mix of goal driven and happy-go-lucky.” She said it was difficult to place an overall description, as with any group of individuals, “Everybody’s going in their own direction.”...

A human skeleton was found in Aurora Wednesday, and there is extremely little to go on for identifying the bones, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Sgt. John Lueckenhoff, public information and education officer for the Patrol, said a mushroom hunter found the skeleton in the area of North Elliot Avenue and Delta Street, with bones scattered on the ground...

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Cox Monett Hospital were held on Wednesday morning under a tent on the construction site, north of Highway 60 on the east end of town. Several hundred people gathered in the sheltered location to hear speakers and witness the historic event...

In McDowell on Tuesday evening, a man pulled into the flood waters on the Flatcreek low-water bridge.