Stories from Saturday, May 25, 2019

Ronald Eugene James, 75, of Exeter, died Sunday, May 19. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 26, at Living Word Mission Church in Simco. Cremation arrangements are under direction of McQueen Funeral Home in Wheaton.

Leo Hudson, 104, of Springdale, Ark., died at Wednesday, May 22. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 28, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at McCullough Cemetery in Viola.

Otis Lee Gatewood, 62, of Monett, died Thursday, May 23, at his home in Stotts City. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, May 28, from 12-2:00 p.m. at the Engage Church in Aurora. Funeral services will immediately follow visitation at 2 p.m. on Tuesday at the Engage Church in Aurora. Burial will be at the Sycamore Cemetery in Miller...

John Dixon, 65, of Shell Knob, died Sunday, May 19. Memorial services will be held Saturday, June 22, in Palm Desert, California. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Shell Knob.

Robert “Bob” Stanley Demski, 82, of Lampe, died Saturday, May 18. Memorial services will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 28, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Shell Knob. Burial with military honors will be at Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Springfield...

Larry “David” Brooks, 55, of Washburn, died Monday, May 20. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 25, at Washburn Prairie Cemetery in Washburn, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

The water is still flowing in Kelly Creek. Those of us who work beside Monett’s notorious stormwater channel are keenly aware of her moods and her dances. In case we forget, she raises her fist and swats at the disbelievers when she gets the chance. She did it again in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, leaving twisted pieces of branches tangled around street sign posts and electric boxes along Broadway...

A Memorial Day recognition ceremony will be held by Tom Wolfe Memorial Post No. 4207, Veterans of Foreign Wars, at noon on Monday, May 27, at the ceremonial gravesite of Tom Wolfe at the Monett IOOF Cemetery, in the rear section. The public is encouraged to attend...

The Aurora Chamber of Commerce will host a .01K Fun Run and Walk on June 1 beginning at The Strike Zone on 815 W. South St. The cost is $20 the day of the race. The tagline for the event is, “The .01K, Let’s Not Overdo It,” as the fun run is only 32.8 feet, roughly the length of The Strike Zone’s parking lot. ...

The 12th annual Tour de Monett bicycle race will be held June 22 in Monett and hosted by the Flat Tire Gang. This year’s race features four different ride distances: 18, 32, 62 and 75 miles, including the return of the popular Widow Maker Challenge, a locally famous out and back challenge added on to the 62-mile route. ...

The Aurora High School cheerleaders will perform a pre-game routine and during the seventh inning stretch of the Springfield Cardinals game on June 15. The pre-game routine will be at 5:45 p.m. Tickets are $15 and are available at Pizza Place in Aurora. For more information, people may call 417-229-2461...

The Mt. Vernon Veterans Home Assistance League will host its second annual golf tournament on June 15 at Honey Creek Golf Club, 15276 Highway K in Aurora. Cost for the four-person scramble is $60 per person.Proceeds will benefit the Veterans Home. Tee-off is 8 a.m. Sponsorship signs with a photo of a veteran are available for $50 each. Information is available by contacting David Kloppenborg, volunteer coordinator, at 417-466-7103 ext. 1185...

The Missouri Class 4 track meet will be held at Washington High School today (Saturday), west of St. Louis, after an EF-3 tornado hit a large swath of Jefferson City, including Adkins Stadium, where the event was to be held.

Monett was playing with house money on Thursday as they faced Helias Catholic in the Class 4 quarterfinal. The day began with a Herculean effort to turn a lake at North Park into a suitable playing surface for the playoff game, but just as that effort fell a bit short, the Cubs also came up short in the game, falling to the Crusaders, 7-0...

A flag retirement ceremony hosted by Irwin-Easley American Legion Post 118 in Cassville became a joint effort with local Boy Scouts, with participation by the troops in Barry County. Boy Scouts Troop 38 from Monett carried a flag to be retired. Dawn Annecharico, leader of Cub Scout Pack 76, the Cub Scouts conducting the ceremonous burning will receive a "flag ceremony badge." Irwin-Easley American Legion post 118 is one of the sponsors for Cub Scouts Pack 76...

The children and grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Danny Conner, of Monett, will host an open house in observation of the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, at the Monett Museum Event Center, located at Fifth and Broadway in Monett...

On May 14, several women in the Pierce City community joined First Baptist Church of Pierce City for their annual Mother’s Day Tea.

A total of 53 people donated at the recent American Red Cross blood drive at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Monett. Gallon awards went to Angelika Schrbrock, one gallon; Steve Osborn, three gallons; and Tina McGlothlin, eight gallons. Those donating included: Adriana Salas, Julius Abramovitz, Tracy Archer, Oralia Mazola, David Beckett, Donna Beckett, John Beckwith, Jana Bible, Gerald Bounds, Carol Brown, Mary Brubacker, Pauline Brubacker, Sarah Brubacker, Roy Cash, Cynthia Casper, Roger Cusick, Edith Garcia, Jeffery Gates, Rebecca Gilliam, Sara Gripka, Douglas Harris, Samuel Helmkamp, Karen Herkelman, Richard Hurt, Aaron Johnson, Angela Johnson, Alice Kiesov, Adam Kimberling, Judy Kitchen, Ramona Linder, Connie Lomas, Marlene Mareth, Jessica McSpadden, India Morrow, Vicki Norris, Arzola Oralia, Jeanie Osborn, Matt Pruente, Lana Reavis, Paul Renfro, Kenneth Saloga, Cheryl Schad, Jessica Smith, Doris Swank, Teri Valentine, Dennis Wake, Deanna Warren, Tammy Webb, Juli Wesolek.. ...

ceived scholarships and awards at the 23nd annual Recognition Night held May 2 at the Performing Arts Center. The event was a showcase of the committed students who attend Scott Tech and the community that supports them. A total of students received Passport portfolios. To meet the requirements for this honor a student must complete one of the fourteen programs and maintain a B average both years while missing no more than six days in attendance per school year during the course of the program...

The Army JROTC program at the Scott Regional Technology Center held its annual awards night ceremony on april 25, honoring cadets who excelled in the program throughout the year. Lt. Col. Brennan Cook and Command Sgt. Major Garret Spencer, program instructors, presented the awards...

The Aurora High School chapter of National Honor Society recently held induction ceremonies for new members.

Aurora High School National Honor Society scholars, veterans and inductees, were recognized during Honors Night activities held Thursday, May 16, Aurora High School.

ea United Fund recently awarded a $350 grant to Aurora Aurora 1 and Aurora 2 Head Start programs to support early childhood development programs at those facilities. Vonna Farris, lead teacher and director of the Aurora Head Start programs, offered through the Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation, said funds would be used to purchase materials to support early childhood development through upgrading classroom materials and equipment...

Legionnaires with Hobbs-Anderson Post No. 91 of the American Legion were joined by Cub Scouts from Pack No. 140 on Friday to distribute more than 1,000 flags to those who have served in the military who are buried in the Monett IOOF, Cox, McCormick-St. Johns, Mt. Calvary and Oakdale cemeteries in Monett for Memorial Day...

At the Monett Sportsmen’s League’s annual Wild Game Feed dinner, a drawing was held for a Savage .25-06 rifle, won by Karen Conrad on Hurley, who works for Edward Jones Investments office in Aurora.

rdy has announced that President Larry Moennig will retire after over 32 years of service, and Vice President Randy Henderson has been tapped as his successor, effective July 1. Moennig has served as bank president of First State Bank of Purdy since 2011, succeeding Ann Hall. ...

Members of the Barry-Lawrence County Ambulance District board of directors were pleased to receive an “unqualified” opinion on their 2018 audit from Dawnata Hopkins, certified public accountant and senior client manager with the CPA Group in Monett...

St. Mary’s 32nd Old Fashioned Picnic will kick off with a full day of activities on June 2 beginning with the 10 a.m. Mass at the church, located at 300 Front St. in Pierce City. Festivities will begin with a chicken or beef dinner served from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12. Children under the age of 6 eat free with an adult purchase...

Monett firefighters in 2018 had a fairly comparable year with 2017 in terms of assists and fire damage, but recorded the largest number of runs in a calendar year in the past decade. Firefighters made a total of 1,344 runs in 2918, up 88 or 7 percent from the previous year. Since 2015, runs have totaled well over 1,200, a high previously only reached in 2012. Prior to 2007, annual runs never topped 1,000...

Plans for a bigger and better network of sidewalks in Monett emerged from a major study of Monett’s more than 28 miles of sidewalks during a recent workshop by the Monett City Council. Megan Clark, senior council for the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments, presented a 44-page sidewalk inventory for the city, with additional help from intern Thomas Hughes, who spearheaded the project. ...

When there is an emergency, local citizens want to be reassured if they pick up the phone, someone on the other end will answer and help will be on the way, and that was the premise behind Lawrence County voters passing the recent 911 half-cent sales tax to fund the service...

People coming to work in downtown Monett on Tuesday found themselves greeted by a layer of mud on Broadway and piles of branches wrapped around sign poles, indications that once again, Kelly Creek breeched its banks during the night following waves of rain on both Sunday and Monday...