Stories from Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Ralph LeGale Wofford, 92, of Cassville, died Sunday, Dec. 6. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford, Okla. Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. Wednesday, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville...

Wayne Eugene “Gene” Williams, died Thursday, Dec. 10. A funeral service, under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora, will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 19, at the Aurora Church of Christ. A private family burial will follow at the Maple Park Cemetery in Aurora. Viewing will be held from 9-5:00 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18, in the funeral home chapel...

Ronda Kay Pippin, 62, of Seligman, died at 2:23 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Antioch Cemetery in Cassville.

Ronald Eugene Misener, Sr., 72, of Monett, died Wednesday, Dec. 9, at the Cox South Hospital in Springfield. No services are planned at this time. Arrangements are under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home, in Aurora.

Robert D. Mills, 88, of Monett, died on Sunday, Dec. 13. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18, at Maplewood Cemetery, Exeter. Rev. Tony Martin will be officiating. Arrangements are under the personal care and direction of Buchanan Funeral Home...

Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Miller, 96, of Cassville, died Sunday, Dec. 13. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Corinth Cemetery in Cassville. Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. Thursday, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville...

Jerry Dwayne Kleeman, 68, of Mt. Vernon, died Saturday, Dec.12, at his home. No services are planned at this time. Arrangements are under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon.

Gary Lee Gunter, 61, of Pierce City, died Dec. 9 at Washington Regional Medical center in Fayetteville, Ark. Graveside services will be held at 1 p.m., Friday, Dec. 18, at Pierce City Cemetery in Pierce City. No visitation is planned. Arrangements are under the direction of Lakin Funeral Home in Pierce City...

Peggy Dean Edie, 76, of Exeter, died Friday, Dec. 11. Funeral services were held Tuesday, Dec. 15, at First Baptist Church in Exeter, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Maplewood Cemetery in Exeter.

Jerald Wayne Collier, 78, of Mt. Vernon, died at 11:41 a.m. Friday, Dec. 11, at the Aurora Nursing Center in Aurora. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 18, at Summit Cemetery, northeast of Mt. Vernon. Viewing will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, at Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home chapel in Mt. Vernon...

Frank Lozano Morin, of Monett, Missouri, passed Friday, December 4, 2020. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, August 13, 1942. He had many gifts from God, the greatest was his salvation. Frank’s woodwind music was dedicated to Jesus Christ’s glory, honor, and fame...

Tutti Vogel-Howard went home to be with the Lord on Dec. 10, 2020. She was greeted by her grandpa “Pamper” Ralph Howard, her Grandma “Mammer” Ada May Howard, her mother Mary Nell Conner, her brother Samuel Lehman, her grandson Alec Haith, and her nephew Ryan Schultz...

Keith Brown, age 64, of Wheaton, Missouri, passed away Thursday, December 10, 2020 at 5:30 a.m. at Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Missouri, after a short illness with COVID. He was born July 8, 1956, in Orlando, Florida, to Ray and Edna (Hazelwood) Brown, she survives...

Joe Benthall, of Mt. Vernon, harvested this 2.5-year-old 5x5 bull elk Saturday afternoon on National Park Service property near Log Yard by Ellington.

The final state football rankings were released on Monday, with Cassville, Lamar and Marionville making the lists. Full rankings follow, with first-place votes in parenthesis.  1. Raymore-Peculiar (10), 12-2 2. DeSmet, 6-1  3. Liberty North, 9-3  4. CBC, 4-2...

The Monett football team had four athletes secure five spots on the All-District football team. Honorees include: Cole Davis, Dylan Lynch, Harrison Merriman and Tanner Wright. The full list includes: Alex Baker, Quarterback, Carl Junction Reese BonJour, Offensive line, Carl Junction...

A Seneca tournament championship on Saturday propelled the Cubs hoops team to a 3-1 record and continued the season’s hot start. Monett entered the basketball campaign with several unknowns. The Cubs lost their top three scorers from last season and decided to transition from a slow and deliberate offense that relied on a suffocating defense to a more up-tempo style...

The season is starting up for area wrestling programs, and Monett completed a bust week recently with a double dual at Dimond and then the Carl Junction tournaments. The Cubs split duals with Diamond and Webb City and took fourth at Carl Junction. Result for the double dual are as follows:...

Members of the Joplin Elk’s Lodge were at the Monett Alternative Education Academy on the campus of Monett High School on Friday morning to donate $2,500 to help students continue their academic goals.

Pierce City Senior Center will be closed in January and February due to COVID. The Senior Center will evaluate the situation at the end of February to consider opening for March. The Freedom Dream Center, 17044 Hwy. 39, north of Aurora, offers a support group for persons or families struggling with addiction. The support group meets at 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. every first and third Wednesday of the month. Additional information is available by calling 417-678-6909...

The Ozark Festival Orchestra, led by Music Director Todd Borgmann, played its Christmas concert to approximately 100 people on Sunday at the Monett High School Performing Arts Center.

Following Saturday’s Monett Christmas Parade, Veronica Kuschel, Les Schroeder of L&N Mowing, Sam Wilkinson and Darlene Jenkins gathered outside of Monett City Hall on 5th Street to protest the local mask ordinance passed by the Monett City Council on Dec. 3...

With temperatures in the mid-30s, Monett's traditional Christmas parade on Saturday braved the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic with spirited music, pageantry and a touch of holiday cheer to set the Christmas season into full gear. The annual procession from start to finish lasted approximately 40 minutes. More than 60 units participated, thinner than most years, as expected. A number of floats took shape on Front Street in the hour before the event started at 11 a.m...

Monett High School is be celebrating a Classic Christmas this week, through Dec. 18, when Miss Merry Christmas activities are slated to take place. Classic Christmas Spirit Week kicked off Monday with “T’was the Night Before Christmas,” when students were encouraged to wear comfy, warm pajamas to classes, followed by “Frosty the Snowman” on Tuesday, where “white-out” conditions were observed. ...

Freistatt firefighters, with aid from the Monett and Monett Rural fire departments, extinguished a small blaze at a commercial poultry building at 7367 Lawrence 2190. Freistatt Fire Chief Art Mattlage said the call came in at 7:15 a.m. Monday morning...

The Seligman Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad are teaming up again this year to bring the Santa Train to Monett on Dec. 20. The hour-long journey starts at the soccer fields on Waldensian, just off Dairy Street and meanders through the countryside to Exeter and back. Guests will have the opportunity to visit with Santa Claus, eat sugar cookies and drink hot chocolate following the sojourn. Kids 12-and-under will also receive goodie bags...

About one year after its discovery and nine months of widespread infection rates across the United States, a vaccine for COVID-19 is expected to be available soon. David Compton, Barry County Emergency Management director, said the Barry County Health Department is expecting to receive Moderna vaccinations within coming weeks...

The winter sports playoff and classification structure will look much different this year due to COVID-19. The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) recently announced multiple changes, district assignments for basketball and wrestling and class assignments for swimming, along with different playoff formats...