Stories from Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Bryce Cameron Ash, age 24, son of Stephen and Karen Ash was born Jan. 8, 1994, in Joplin, Mo. He passed away Aug. 15, 2018, at Texas County Memorial Hospital, Houston, Mo. He passed along with the love of his life and mother of their child Kalena Marie Freitas of Houston, Mo...

Eugene J. “Gene” Atkison, 86, of Cassville, passed away Monday, Aug. 13, 2018, at Roaring River Health and Rehabilitation in Cassville. He was born Oct. 19, 1931, in Fayetteville, Ark., the son of Bert Virgil and Emily Frances (Henderson) Atkison. On June 26, 1954, he was united in marriage to Delores Hoosier, who survives...

Cody Randall Blankenship, 34, of Shell Knob, passed away Saturday, Aug, 11, 2018, east of Cassville. He was born May 26, 1984, in Aurora, the son of Freddie and Dayeanne (Priest) Blankenship. On Sept. 11, 2010, he was united in marriage to Kristina Boyd, who survives...

Terry Sue Darneal, 60, of Purdy, died Monday, Aug. 6, 2018, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. She was born May 25, 1958, in Pacific, the daughter of Wayne and Shirley (Albertson) Moeller. She was united in marriage to Jay Darneal who preceded her in death. Also preceding her in death were her parents...

Gloria Fay (Lesmeister) Hanrahan, 84, of Calumet City, Ill., passed away August 18, 2018, in Golden. She was born on Oct. 30, 1933, in Hammond, Ind., to the late Alice and the late Walter Lesmeister. She was the Owner and Proprietor for 25 years at Reeds Spring Laundromat until retiring in 2008. She was the wife of John Hanrahan, Sr...

Brian Arthur Spencer, of Farmington, Ark., passed away from an apparent heart attack on August 18, 2018. Brian was born at the U.S. Army Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, on April 2, 1957, to Edward E. and Donna Lou Smith Spencer. He grew up in Mt. Vernon, Missouri, and graduated from Missouri State University in 1979 with a degree in marketing and a minor in religion...

The Cassville Women’s Golf Association held its annual two-person scramble on Thursday with a “Follow Us Along the Yellow Brick Road” theme.

The Exeter school district welcomed six new teachers this year.

Q: Explain in your words what an SAE project is and what this means to you. A: An SAE project is a responsibility you have that prepares you for future careers. To me, an SAE means working hard.  Q: What is your SAE? A: My SAE is taking care of rabbits and equipment at Mr. Epperly’s farm...

New teachers and administrators at the Cassville school district recently received welcome bags from the Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce.

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

A group from the Cassville Methodist church serenaded Ruth Vollenweider on her 105th Birthday on Sunday.

The community is invited to attend a free concert by the award-winning bluegrass gospel band “The Farm Hands Quartet” on Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. at Bethlehem Free Will Baptist Church. “The Farm Hands” is an award-winning band based out of Nashville, Tenn., consisting of industry veterans Tim Graves, Daryl Mosley, Keith Tew and Don Hill. ...

The Purdy High School Student Council welcomed back students on Tuesday with a kick-off assembly.

The Cassville School Board had two cakes made for its August meeting to celebrate the district’s 150-year anniversary.

A total of 1,127 children’s tags were given away and about 2,500 to 3,000 total people visited Roaring River State Park on Saturday to participate in Kids’ Fishing Day activities.

The playground by the Cassville Aquatic Center will soon have a new look, as the city of Cassville has received a $30,000 grant to install a softer, more durable surface made of recycled tires. David Brock, Cassville public works director, said the city applied for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Solid Waste Management Program grant in February, recently receiving notice from DNR that $30,000 will be awarded for the $40,000 project...

Cassville school district welcomed students back to campus on Wednesday morning for the 2018-19 school year. The total count was 1,928 students, including the preschool classes, and 1,847 total count in K-12. Last year ended with 1,815 total, including preschool, showing a rise of 115 students for the 2018-19 school year...

The city of Cassville held its property tax hearing last week, receiving no public comment and setting the rate at zero for the 19th consecutive year. Cassville, the city of Monett and Barry County have all done away with property taxes, and in Cassville’s case, the change occurred in 1999, when the 36-cent-for-every-$100-per-valuation property tax was eliminated in favor of a half-cent stormwater and parks sales tax by a vote of 222-106 (68 percent in favor)...

Zit, heir, spoor, track, zoek, volg liggen, braff. These are Dutch commands you may hear Cassville Police Chief Dana Kammerlohr, use while working with the new drug detection and tracking dog, Kiya, who has been on duty with the Cassville Police Department since Aug. 27...

The Purdy City Council adopted three new ordinances in August, two in response to issues that came before aldermen as complaints. A revision to the ordinance on the regulation of dogs followed a complaint between Mayor Bo Prock and his neighbor earlier this year about the neighbor’s dogs getting into Prock’s yard. ...

After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting on Friday, the Exeter City Council voted to terminate the employment of Exeter Police Chief Kenen Martinez. At 3:30 p.m. Friday, 22 people were inside Exeter City Hall, most in support of Martinez and some others against. ...

Logan- Springfield Monett at Mt. Vernon Cassville at Aurora Lamar at Logan-Rogersville McDonald County at Marshfield Nevada at Reeds Spring Seneca at Springfield Catholic East Newton at Hollister Lockwood at Pierce City 1. Lamar, 7-0 2. Seneca, 6-1 3. Cassville, 4-3...

This season, the Southwest volleyball team hopes to push the reset button and get back on the winning track. Last year’s team was 9-18-3 in a year that was marked as a rebuilding effort. This year, as members of the SouthWest Central League (SWCL), the Lady Trojans hope to turn the corner and climb high into the conference standings...

The first game of the football season always presents its own set of unique challenges. Coaches make roster decisions based on few practices and a jamboree where varsity players get a few snaps at full speed. Besides contemplating their game plan, coaches must also consider what the opponent plans to do...

A dream job opening has left the Purdy school district searching for a boys basketball coach. On Monday, the school board voted to let Jeremy Dresslaer out of his teaching and coaching contract with the district with no penalty. Dresslaer led the Eagles to a 24-8 record and fourth place finish in Class 2...

Another season of watching tomato plants grow has virtually been just exactly that! Production on 10 plants in my “garden” has been next to nothing. The mystery part of this situation lies in the fact that the healthy, five-foot-plus plants initially had plenty of blooms with green, pink and a few red results that were ready for picking. Hopes were high for a bumper crop, with thoughts of furnishing payback to some folks who had shared their results with us in the past...