Stories from Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Officials with the Barry County Sheriff's Office are seeking information on the person or persons responsible for two recent car thefts in the Purdy area. Barry County Chief Deputy Leonard Collins reported a 2008 Ford pickup had been stolen from the Purdy area at about 11 p.m. on Sunday, July 28...

Norma Sickles, 81, of Seligman, passed away in her home on Wednes- day, July 24, 2013. She was born on Jan. 12, 1932, in Washington, Penn., daugh- ter of George and Louise (Baysinger) Barnett. She was united in marriage to Charles Sickles on Sept. 7, 1952, in Canton, Ohio. ...

Jeffrey Gaches, 44, of Cassville, passed away on Friday, July 26, 2013, in Belton. He was born on Feb. 3, 1969, in Shawnee Mission, Kan., to John and Dathel (Munsell) Gaches. He worked in the construction business. Survivors include: one son, Cameron, of Cassville; six daughters, Brooke, Megan, Trista, Ashley and Bree Gaches, all of Monett, and Chloe Gaches, of Cassville; two brothers, John, of Pierce City, and Daniel, of Wichita, Kan.; and four sisters, Teria Smilie, of Golden, Ellen Stanfield, of Lodi, Calif., Diann Morrow, of Pierce City, and Brenda Pruitt, of Twin Falls, Idaho.. ...

Ray E. Porter, 81, of Washburn, passed away Friday, July 26, 2013, in his home. He was born Nov. 11, 1931, in Washburn, the son of Sam and Bea (Johnson) Porter. On May 31, 1952, he was united in marriage to Dorothy Hargus, who survives. Additional survivors include: two sons, Larry Porter and his wife, Kathy, of Exeter, and Harold Porter and his wife, Sandy, of Washburn; eight brothers and sisters, Chloe Weathers and her husband, Charles, of Cassville, Dorothy Webb, of Wichita, Kan., Jack Porter and his wife, Carol, of Denver, Colo., Carl "Nig" Porter, of Washburn, Marilyn Lawrence and her husband, Hugh, of Seligman, Margaret Hendrix and her husband, Jim, of Cassville, Charles Porter and his wife, Kaye, of Exeter, and Vickie Holland and her husband, Dewayne, of Rogers, Ark.; four granddaughters; and 14 great-grandchildren.. ...

Donald R. "Don" Cullers, 77, (formerly of Barry County) passed away on Friday, July 26, 2013. He was born April 6, 1936. He had resided at Mt. Vernon Veterans' Home for the past two years. Services and a celebration of his life were held today (Wednesday) in the Greenlawn Funeral Home East, Springfield. Burial followed at Missouri Veterans' Cemetery...

Hazel Myers Doll, 85, of Hutchinson, Kan., formerly of Cassville, died July 27, 2013, at the Good Samaritan Center in Hutchinson, Kan. She was born May 31, 1928, in Cassville, the daughter of Hoover M. and Grace P. Wollenbarger Hicks. She was a 1946 graduate of Cassville High School and later moved to Ulysses, Kan., where she met her husband, Ray Myers. They were married Aug. 3, 1950. He preceded her in death...

Emil Burnetti, 77, of Monett, passed away on July 22, 2013. He was born on Feb. 23, 1936, in Joliet, Ill. He married Annabelle James on Feb. 29, 1964. They moved to Monett in 1971. He was a member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Monett. He was employed by Jack Henry and Associates, where he worked in maintenance. He had also worked for the Monett R-l School District and for Grande Tire Co. in Cassville...

Dorothy Sue Crabtree, 77, of Branson West, formerly of Shell Knob, passed away Sunday, July 21, 2013, in her home. She was born July 13, 1936, in Star City, Ark., the daughter of James Henry and Zuma (Beeson) Nix. On Dec. 28, 1954, in Star City, Ark., she was united in marriage to Clay Dewain Crabtree, who preceded her in death on March 7, 2003. Also preceding her in death were her parents...

Francis "Gale" Linville, 75, of Jenkins, passed away at his home on July 24, 2013. He was born Sept. 3, 1937, in Polo, Mo., to Horace Galen Linville and Viola Hilt. He grew up in Hamilton and attended the J.C. Penny High School in Hamilton. On Dec. 22, 1965, he was united in marriage to Georgia "Louise" Woodman, and she survives...

Thirty-seven area runners gathered at the Cassville Aquatic Park on Saturday, July 27 to compete in the inaugural Run For The Wildcats 5K, a fundraiser for the Cassville High School and Middle School cross country teams. Chris Shore, the only coach in the history of the Cassville program and an army of volunteers hosted the event...

Twenty-four members of the Southwest High School trap team traveled to the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, Ill. ,to compete in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) National Championships on July 18 through July 20. SCTP is an organization designed for youth athletes to compete in a variety of shooting sports that include the disciplines of American Trap, Olympic Trap, American Skeet, Olympic, Skeet, Sporting Clays, Rifle and Pistol...

The Hospice Compassus Tri-Lakes programs, including the Branson and Monett locations, were recognized as top performers at the recent Pillars of Excellence awards ceremony. The local programs outperformed more than 50 other Hospice Compassus programs throughout the U.S. in the areas of superior quality, outstanding service, and expanding access to hospice care...

Nominations are currently being accepted for Missouri's 23rd annual Outstanding Older Worker of the Year contest. Nominees must be Missouri residents age 65 or older, employed at least 20 hours per week at a Missouri job site, while being dependable and dedicated. The nominee must also have successfully demonstrated success in learning new skills and job training...

Thursday, Aug. 1 SUPPORT GROUP: The Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group of Cassville meets at 8 p.m. at 1308 Harold St. in Cassville. For more information, call 846-4044. SUPPORT GROUP: Anyone who is concerned about a friend's or loved one's drinking is invited to attend the Cassville Al-Anon Family Group, which meets at 8 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Cassville...

Jeremy Huse, a Cassville photographer, will be the featured speaker at the Aug. 15 Cassville Chamber of Commerce quarterly luncheon, which will be held at the Barry County Museum on Aug. 15 at noon. "I am looking forward to the opportunity to provide chamber members with some basic photography and technology tips that will, hopefully, be useful to their business," Huse said. ...

The public is invited to attend an informational meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 8 at Table Rock State Park, near Branson, at the shelter house. The meeting is part of an ongoing effort by Missouri State Parks to ensure the public has input on facilities and services offered in state parks and at historic...

Through The Years 50 Years Ago Aug. 7, 1963 Participating in the deeding of an industrial tract in Cassville to the Vaisey-Bristol Shoe Company, Inc., were members of the Cassville Industrial Development Company board of directors. Signing for the IDC were Lloyd Per- ry, president, and Irene Horner, secretary. Attending were board members, Herschel Stehlik, Bill Wiley, Glen Truhitte and John Seely. Construction on the new plant is expected to begin within two weeks...

Pets of the week The Haven of the Ozarks' pets of the week are Victor and Victoria. This playful pair hopes to find a family with plenty of play time to spare. The Haven also has lots of other cats and kittens for adoption. Animals available for adoption at the animal sanctuary are spayed or neutered and up to date on vaccinations. ...

Austin and Lacey Johnson, of Cassville, announce the birth of a son, Liam Axl Johnson. He was born on June 20, 2013, in Mercy Hospital, Springfield, and weighed seven pounds, nine ounces at birth. Maternal grandparents are Jim and Becky Haynes, of Wheaton, and the paternal grandparents are Dale Johnson, of Minneapolis, Minn., and Helen Welch, of Sioux Falls, S.D. ...

By Melonie Roberts There's a new gang in town, and they're likely to tickle the funnybones of area residents. SKITS (Shell Knob in the Spotlight), is a neighborhood theater group effort spearheaded by Jim Robinson, who has plans to have some short monologues and talent solos premiered at this year's Shakin' in the Shell Festival, slated for Saturday, Sept. 21...

Two northern Missouri men were recently diagnosed with a new type of tick-borne illness, the Heartland virus. Although the men lived 60 miles apart from each other, both presented at area hospitals with high fevers, diarrhea, fatigue and a severe drop in the number of their white blood cells, which are immune cells that fight infection...

Stomp dancers Going along with the Barry County Sheriff's Posse in promoting Rotary's annual rodeo in Cassville in past years was a very talented group of young men known as the Boy Scout Troop 76 Indian Stomp Dancers. They were associated with a number of activities in this area and especially prominent in the rodeo caravans that once traveled a wide area in promoting the rodeo event here...

A Shell Knob man was injured in a two-vehicle crash at 5:26 p.m. on Monday, July 22, on Highway 13 just south of Kimberling City. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, the crash occurred when the driver of a 2002 Toyota 4Runner, Carol L. ...

Annual BC land tax sale to be held The annual Barry County Land Tax Sale is scheduled to be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 26 at the Barry County Courthouse in Cassville, according to County Collector Janice Varner. The land sale will be advertised in the Cassville Democrat for three consecutive weeks, which started on July 17. After publication, copies of the properties for sale will be available in the collector's office...

Members of the Cassville Chamber of Commerce gathered for Eggs and Issues Breakfast on the morning of July 30. The event, held at Mercy Hospital, was hosted and sponsored by CenturyLink. The event offers chamber members the chance to hear what State Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick and State Sen. David Sater have been working on this last term while being treated to breakfast...

According to a recent news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 255 suspects were arrested as part of five-week operation between May 28 and June 30. Operation iGuardian was a joint cooperation that involved Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) and ICE...