Bob Levey and Larry Fletcher came Friday and stayed overnight in the home of Billy Fletcher. Billy’s Aunt Jean Daugherty stopped for a visit Saturday. Monday, Edgar and Sharon Stewart, Sue Hartgraves, and Billy Fletcher drove to the Lake of the Ozarks for the day.
R.E. Helsley of Mansfield visited with Tom and Jewell Johnson one day last week.
Norma Stillings attended the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Missouri Retired Teachers’ Association and Public School Personnel, last week. She attended the Legislative Reception Tuesday evening and on Wednesday morning heard reports on the financial condition of the Public School Retirement System.
Chalmer Hendrix of Riverbank, California arrived in Ava for a week’s visit with friends in the area and attend the Stillings molasses making. Chalmer ate supper in the home of Norma Stillings, Thursday evening. Dan Stillings and Alan Stillings were there and Stanley Stillings came to visit with Chalmer. Wanda and Willard Short picked Chalmer up at the airport and brought him to Ava. J.G. Heinlein drove him around to lunch through the week and out to the Stillings farm. Chalmer is in his mid nineties and is a remarkable man.
Saturday, Tony and Linda Stillings had a molasses making festival at their farm on West Highway 76. The sun was shining, so a lot of people came. There may have been five hundred persons attending that day. Lots of local friends and neighbors, a lot of Stillings cousins from all over, and visitors from as far as California. There was a lot of visiting with people that had not seen each other for a year or more.
There were three different locations where you could hear some very good home grown music. There were guitars, mandolins, and banjos playing with a bass fiddle showing up in one of the locations. Musicians would move from group to group as did the audiences.
There was a big lunch set out at noon. Tony and Linda furnished pulled pork and there was table after table loaded with all sorts of good country cooking. There was plenty of help skimming the foam from the sorghum as it steamed and simmered. Those that remained to the end, enjoyed a taste of the warm molasses with fresh biscuits.
