Stories from Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Maxine Ruth Crider, 96, of Exeter, passed away Saturday, June 17, 2017, at her home. She was born July 29, 1920, in Gravette, Ark., the daughter of John and Effie (Rawley) Slagle. In 1939, she was united in marriage to James Arthur “Art” Crider who preceded her in death. Also preceding her in death were her parents; one son, James Crider; two brothers; and five sisters...

Herman D. Crotwell, 80, of Cassville, passed away on Thursday, June 22, 2017, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. He was born on June 4, 1937, in England, Ark., son of Noah and Eunice (Whittington) Crotwell. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran; after leaving the military he lived in California and became a truck driver for 40 years. He united in marriage to Sharon Burris on March 1, 2003. He was a member of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Cassville...

Mary “LaVeta” Sherwood, 60, of Viola, passed away Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at her home. She was born Aug. 22, 1956, in Aurora, the daughter of Clay and Clara Fern (Moore) McCullough. On May 21, 1976, she was united in marriage to James William Sherwood, who survives...

Clare L. “Doots” VanDerhoef, 76, of Cassville, passed away Tuesday, June 20, 2017, in Cox Medical Center South in Springfield. She was born May 11, 1941, in Mississippi County, Mo., the daughter of Herman Lee and Nell (Brantley) McClain. On Feb. 3, 1984, in Mt. Vernon, she was united in marriage to Michael “Mike” VanDerhoef, who survives...

Independence Day will be upon us before the next column is published. Therefore, it would be a good idea to encourage referring to United States of America Independence Day, instead of the usual July 4th to which we have become accustomed. Without going through what our forefathers accomplished and then suffered 241 years ago, we would do well to acknowledge the sacrifices some made to make this country a freedom loving and, mostly, law abiding civilization that it is today...

Crowder College, Neosho, announced 644 students that earned recognition on the Spring 2017 Dean’s List. To achieve this honor, students must have completed 12 or more college credit hours courses and earn a 3.5 or higher grade point average. Among those named to the list were the following Barry County graduates:...

Approximately 600 elementary, middle and high school teachers from around the U.S. are visiting Missouri University of Science and Technology to learn how to better teach engineering, computer science and biomedical science. The teachers, one of whom is Cassville teacher Jake Forste, are involved in Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a national effort to get more youth interested in and prepared to study engineering and science related fields in college. ...

The Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation has been awarded federal funds made available through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program. Barry County has been chosen to receive $12,505 to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the county.The selection was made by a National Board that is chaired by the agency and consists of representatives from American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; The Jewish Federations of North America; The Salvation Army; and United Way Worldwide.. ...

Meet Ivan, the Haven of the Ozarks Pet of the Week.

The Knights of Columbus Ladies’ Auxiliary presented a donation to the Central Crossing Senior Center in Shell Knob.

Barry-Lawrence Area United Fund was honored with the 2017 Head Start Hero Award at a recent Missouri Head Start Association awards luncheon held in Jefferson City. On behalf of the organization, Ken Dudzik, president of BLAUF, accepted the award, presented by Kimberly Shinn-Brown, Head Start director at Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation, and Vonna Farris, Head Start staff...

The office of Barry County Collector Janice Varner is preparing for the annual Barry County real estate delinquent tax sale. Missouri law requires that land with three years of delinquent taxes sell on the fourth Monday of August each year. The first publication of this sale will appear in the Cassville Democrat the week of July 19, 2017, at which time copies will be available in the collector’s office. ...

To celebrate Nursing Home Week, staff at Roaring River Health and Rehab dressed the part each day of the week.

While staff, residents and guests wait anxiously, Roaring River Health and Rehab resident council president Jeff Jones reaches in the barrel to draw one lucky number to win a large loot of outdoor prizes at Roaring River Health and Rehab Friday morning...

A group of boys are fascinated by an automation project at the Cassville Summer Science Fair.

To help all high school graduates be prepared for future success, the State Board of Education announced in June that it was approving requirements for a new Career and Technical Education certificate (CTE) that students can earn in addition to their high school diploma...

Generation X'ers are the generation of the latchkey kids. The 'latchkey kid' refers to a child who returns from school to an empty home because their parent(s) are away at work or because they are living in a single parent home. Latchkey kids surged from the 1970s to the early 1990s due to economic changes that required two incomes to get by and societal changes where an increased divorce rate created more single parent homes...

Jason Navarro, history teacher at Wheaton High School, is proud of his students, who will soon be receiving medals for achieving a great victory in a national contest. “A special year for Wheaton National History Day students came to a spectacular conclusion on June 15 at the national contest in College Park, Md.,” Navarro said...

The Purdy City Council approved job descriptions introduced in May with modifications discussed at that monthly meeting. Additions for the job descriptions included adding duties for police officers stemming from bailiff duties for municipal court. Transportation of prisoners back and forth from the county jail to face the municipal judge were added. ...

A Purdy man is charged with a class B felony after allegedly turning himself in for having sexual contact with a victim less than 17 years of age. Zachary Whiteley, 38, of Purdy, is charged with second-degree child molestation. According to a probable cause report filed by Chief Deputy Leonard Collins, with the Barry County Sheriff's Office, Whiteley came into the sheriff's office on Saturday and stated he wanted to turn himself in for having sexual contact with the victim on June 1 at his home in rural Purdy.. ...

The Purdy City Council has appointed a new alderman and a team to lead the emergency management program. Bobby Baker has been named to succeed Brad Bunnell representing the East Ward, following Bunnell’s resignation in April. Baker is a four-year employee of the City of Monett in the cemetery department. He will serve until the election in April 2018, which would have been the conclusion of Bunnell’s term...

A former paraprofessional at the Monett school district was arrested on Sunday for alleged sexual contact with a student. Loryn Barclay, 24, of Monett, is charged with four counts of sexual contact with a student by a teacher, two in Lawrence County and two in Barry County. According to a probable cause report filed by Jay Jastal, officer with the Monett police department who serves as school resource officer, on April 27, he received a tip from an anonymous source about a possible sexual relationship between Barclay and a student...

Sales tax income to the Barry County area continues to deliver erratically to local cities and counties. The seven Barry County cities collecting sales tax received $564,093.32. Comparing the same taxes collected a year ago, revenues dropped by 13 percent...

These days, 90-year-old Seligman resident Wayne Walden enjoys his recliner time and attending senior dances across southwest Missouri and Arkansas, but on Thursday, Walden was recognized for his past accomplishments in the U.S. Army — recognitions that were long overdue...

It was one of the toughest meetings Eli Ernst ever endured. The Purdy girls coach summoned his players to his room near the end of the school year and blindsided them with the news that he would not be their coach for the 2017-2018 season. “They thought they were coming in to get their summer workout schedule,” Ernst said. “It was heartbreaking for me to look them in the eye and tell them I was moving on from the program.”...

Communities across the county will be lit up and fired up for Independence Day celebrations in July. Many events in will be held in communities across the county for families to enjoy in observance of the fiercely patriotic holiday celebrating the day in which Americans won their freedom...

For 48 game minutes, dozens of Cassville football alumni, some with gray hair and others with no hair, turned back the clock as if they were in high school again. On Saturday, the Alumni Wildcat football team fell to Monett, 6-0, in the inaugural Barry County Brawl: Alumni Edition...