25 Years Ago
April 30, 1987
Foreign language students from Ava High School took first place in the Culture Bowl last Saturday at Missouri Southern State College, Joplin. Ava students shut out teams from Springfield high schools including Glendale, Hillcrest, Kickapoo and Parkview, then won the championship match against Bolivar. Ava team members are Bill Goss, Lane Lakey, Carrie Sleep and Jennifer Williams. Mrs. Liz Waldrip is foreign language teacher at the Ava High School.
Delegates to Boys State this summer from Ava High School are Justin Herrell, Chris Calmer, Michael Morgan, Gary Moore and Gary Jenkins. Alternates are John Beason and Joe Spurlock.
Daisy Ellis received the American Association of Retired Persons Community Service Award from the AARP Volunteer and Field Services office in Washington D.C. at the April meeting of the Retired Teachers’ Association.
Dan Rees and Tina Plake, students at Ava High School and Lonnie Spivey and Heather Dodge of Norwood High school have been selected to received the U.S. Army Reserve National Scholar / Athlete Award for school year 1986-87.
Army Pvt. Dean Wright, son of Linda and Roger Wright of Thornfield, has arrived for duty with the 35th Field Artillery, Fort Stewart, Ga.
STAR –– Mr. and Mrs. Roy Walker of Springfield are the proud parents of a baby girl, Jessica Nicole.
WAGNER –– Herman Wilson and daughters, Ruth and husband Buddy Diendue and Doyne Huffman visited with Lee and Thelma Wilson one day.
CLEVER CREEK –– Mr. and Mrs. Bill Mathews, Uncle Boyd Hicks, and Imogene Hardy of Reno, Nev. Visited with Mr. and Mrs. Archie Lambert Sunday.
COUNTY LINE –– Mrs. Donna Dodson and Brittany Reed and Veda Bushong visited Sunday evening with Irene Strong.
50 Years Ago
April 26, 1962
Heavy damage to units of the Ava Motel, located in north Ava at the junction of Highway 14 and old 4, was narrowly averted early Monday morning when a neighbor, Mrs. George Pledger, noticed a reflection of the flames in a window and called the fire department.
Mrs. Barbara Searle, elementary music instructor in the Ava R-1 schools did not accept renewal of her contract to teach during the 1962-63 term, according to Supt. Ora T. Tallent. Mrs. Searle will conclude her first year’s work here next month.
Heavy rainfall late Sunday afternoon brought to an end extremely damaging forest and grass fires which were raging throughout the Ozarks, as well as bringing needed moisture for spring crops and gardens.
The annual Lions Club Easter egg hunt lasted only a few minutes for each group of children as the tiny tots rushed over the football field last Thursday to gather up the hundreds of candy eggs distributed by club members.
In an afternoon ceremony performed at 2:30 o’clock Easter Sunday, April 22, at the First Baptist Church in Ava, Miss Patsy Ann Pickens, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Pickens of Route 5, Ava, became the bride of Jackie Wayne Hutchison, son of Mr. and Mrs. Willard Hutchison of Ava. The Rev. Max Morris read the double ring ceremony.
The Rev. and Mrs. Will Havens, Wasola, announce the engagement of their daughter, Ann, to Dale Clayton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Willis Clayton, Wasola.
Talk about some fishing stories! We’ve heard some doozies this week, and believe every one we’ve heard! Paul Williams, who lives on Rt. O near Ava, got his limit using creek minnows. Earnest Cantwell and Cecil Davis had a nice string of white bass and lineside. They were fishing near Kissee Mills. A party made up of Mr. and Mrs. Rondo Prock, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Prock, John Pointer and Mrs. Mable Prock had quite a catch of white bass –– 60 good ones; they used minnows and doll flys. Andy Campbell said his son, who is a fishing guide on weekends, caught his limit of white bass at the mouth of Beaver Creek. Leonard Owens and Jess Irwin netted 29 white bass, above Beaver Creek dock.
Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Moore of Ava announce the birth of their third son at 2:54 Monday afternoon, April 23, in Burge-Protestant Hospital in Springfield. The baby weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces at the time of his birth and he has been named Jeffry Glenn. His two brothers are Kenny Wayne, age 9 and Terry Lynn, who is 5 years old.
SMALLETT –– Mr. and Mrs. Mike Atwood are building onto their house. William Bristol is helping them with the carpenter work.
Plants, vegetables, ready now, flowering plants, a good selection in variety and color, shrubs and evergreens, Waters Greenhouse
75 Years Ago
April 29, 1937
Announcement of the sale of the grocery store established by Roy Silvey five months ago is made by Mr. Silvey this week. In a deal made here Thursday of last week, Mr. Silvey contracted with Opal M. Anderson of Kingston, Mo., in the north part of the state, for the sale of the business. The store is to change hands between May 1 and May 5. The store, located on the north side of the square, was started by Mr. Silvey in November.
The attendance at the Union Singing at the courthouse Sunday afternoon far exceeded any previous meeting. A door check was made as the crowd was leaving and it was found that one thousand persons had attended.
Aspirants for positions on Ava’s baseball team will have their first practice session at the city park Sunday.
Workmen started this week lifting the face of the square in Ava. Trees in the old courthouse square have been cut down, dirt is being removed and curbing is being taken out preparatory to widening the streets.
Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Robertson announce the birth of a daughter, Shilah Ann, Saturday morning, April 24.
Construction of a filling station was started this week by Dr. R.B. Stanton on the corner lot just across the street west of the Farmers Exchange. The building will be built of tile, brick and stone.
Early this morning Marshfield officers, Sheriff Condo Evans and Nightwatchman H.P. Highfill were notified of a wreck at the intersection of Jackson street and Highway 66, which involved a Ford Model T Coupe, 8 gallons of bootleg corn liquor, two inebriated occupants of the coupe and the blameless truck driver. The two men of the coupe are being held in jail by Sheriff Evans and will be turned over to federal officers.
A newspaper clipping from the Nevada State Journal, of Reno, Nev., brought news to Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Garrison of their son, Loren, who is employed at Boca, Colorado, where the construction of the Little Truckee dam is under way. Charley Ousley, a former Douglas countian, is superintendent of this construction project, and is being assisted by Garrison. Willis Holt, also a former Douglas county citizen, is employed at this work and he and Mr. Garrison drilled and shot the first round for the Boca tunnel.
RIPPEE –– The “cold, cold blast” again keeps us close to the fire.
CROSS ROADS –– Cross Roads School will come to a close Friday. Mrs. Grace Curnutt is our teacher and we are sorry she won’t be with us next year. Miss Dorothy Miller will be our next teacher.
School teachers employed for the coming year in this and nearby district include: Uva Sanders and Wilma Spurlock, Mt. Tabor; Mrs. Lulu Shrumm, Lakey; Miss Nadine Stafford, Freeport; Lyle Brown, Silver Shade; Etcyl Taber, Arno; Clifford Robertson and Miss Lulu Spurlock at Black Oak.
100 Years Ago
May 2, 1912
Thursday, April 18, was the thirty-second anniversary of a tornado, which destroyed the city of Marshfield, Webster County. The cyclone left marks which are yet in evidence.
Next Saturday will be the anniversary of the birth of U.S. Grant. He would be in his 90s had he lived to the present time.
The new catalogue just issued by the University of Missouri shows that the enrollment of students in the College of Agriculture has increased from 211 four years ago, to 794 during the present session.
There will be a class of six graduates from the Douglas County Normal this year, three young ladies and three young gentlemen. Those who will receive diplomas are John Robertson, Elmer Curry and Ershel Campbell, and Amanda Mitchell, Laura Riggs and Augusta Bradshaw.
Destructive streams on all sides of us, but none in the Ozarks, though we are having plenty of rain.
Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Harnden are the happy parents of a fine baby girl which arrived at their home west of town last Saturday, April 27, 1912. Grandpa Harnden has named it Rosavelt.
T.L. Plummer says they have just repaired the Seymour telephone line so that patrons can get through for the first time since they heavy ice of last winter. Those with Seymour privileges can talk to Seymour to their heart’s content.
Death of War Veteran –– Hugh Shaffer was born July 17, 1832, in Ohio. At the age of thirty he enlisted in Private Company J. 116 Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he received a honorable discharge in 1865 at Richmond, Virginia. In 1868 he moved to Missouri and lived near Little Beaver from 1905 until last fall since that time he lived in Springfield, where he died April 25 at the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. Howard Russell. He was laid to rest in the National Cemetery.
R.F. Jenkins has bought the stock of general merchandise of Lawson & Lawson and will continue the business at the stand. R.P. Justice will have charge of the business. E.E. Lawson will devote his entire time to the cream business which will remain at its present location.
Bakersfield Milling Company which operates a large flouring mill, cotton gin and lumberyard at Bakersfield, was destroyed by fire shortly after midnight Sunday night. The entire plant, which was owned by W.R. Jump and son, J. Emory Jump, was completely destroyed. Loss about $10,000.
125 Years Ago
April 7, 1887
It would be supposed by those who have not visited Douglas, that on account of being off from a railroad, that we are cut off from the civilized world, and live deep in the woods and mountain gorges like barbarians and the myth hermits of days of yore. It is a mistake. Save being excluded from the screeching whistle of the iron horse and the swaggering grace of the railroad man, we have all the facilities of any in-land town. Our state, drawn by a team of fine rat-tailed Missouri mules, comes rolling along each morning as regularly as the hands move around the dial of a clock, bringing us intelligence and late news from all parts of the United States. The stage runs from Mansfield to Arno and returns the same day, a trip close to crowding fifty miles.
Worcestershire sauce is composed of vinegar, allspice, cloves, black pepper, mustard, ginger, salt, shallots, sugar, tamarinds, sherry, curry powder and cayenne pepper. “The design of a man who invented this compound was to furnish a universal disinfectant by the use of which objectionable food might be rendered tolerable. It extinguishes the native flavor of everything upon which it is used, and makes all taste alike. Only the ignorant mistake it for a true sauce; it should rank with carbolic acid and chloride of lime as a powerful disinfectant.” Dr. Foote’s Health Monthly
Capt. Pennington and Collector Mallonee left Tuesday on the hack for Mansfield where they will take the train for Tennessee. Capt. Pennington goes to Pine Forks, Mr. Mallonee to Johnson City. Both of these gentlemen have been away from Tennessee nearly twenty years and now propose to visit their old homes. We wish them a pleasant trip. Capt. Pennington will upon returning from Tennessee commence the erection of his proposed new business building to be on the South side of the public square. As the lumber is now on the ground the building will go up rapidly.
Missouri is characteristic for secret or private organizations aside from the “Slickers” and Baldknobbers. There has been, we understand, a new organization started. So far, we have not been able to learn the name of the new enterprise: but Barney says the obligation is a hard one. The party, which is usually small, has peculiar methods, instead of using the switch, they administer cold water. One night last week Jim was visited by the party and had his feet thoroughly washed. Another man, we failed to learn his name, got a glorious bath in the creek. Last, but not least, was Barney, they gave him a severe administration of the water cure; we think, however, he will recover.
GIRDNER –– G.A. Peffley will in the near future have a general store at or near Girdner. Hope he will be successful.
Douglas County is settling up fast. Two families settled here last week from Ohio. They have commenced improvements.
ARNO –– Pleasant spring weather and the farmers are busy preparing to plant crops. It is said John Malloy has planted fifteen acres of corn.
