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Looking Backward 2.19.2015

25 Years Ago

February 15, 1990

 

The Ken Melton home, located northwest of Ava on Airport Road, was destroyed y fire last Friday morning. The fire was reported just after 7 a.m., and Sheriff Roldan Turner said witnesses reported that the flames were coming through the windows when they first saw the fire.

The Ava City Council met in special session last Thursday after­noon and approved the purchase of a quick-response, 4-wheel drive fire truck. The cost of the previously-owned truck was purchased at a price, which is not to exceed $28,500.

Most appliances are in and the new Ava R-1 School cafeteria is nearing completion. If all goes well, the cafeteria could be put into use next Wednesday.

Ava High School senior Dee Dee Gray has already established one scoring record this season and is pushing for another as the 1989-90 season heads into the final week. Last week Gray surpassed the career record of 1,209 points set by Debbie Potts who played for Ava High School from 1979 through 1983. After Monday’s game at West Plains, Gray has scored 1,288 points during her four-year career at AHS.   Gray is also closing in on the single season record of 503 points scored by B.J. Harvill in the 1980-81 season.

Bonnie Reid began her birthday celebration Thursday, Feb. 8 at the Highway House Café when she had dinner with Beulah Gentry and Erma Welton. She was presented a bouquet of balloons and roses.

U.S. Army Private Warren Sleep has recently graduated from Basic and Advanced Individual Training. He is now serving his country as a portable bridge crewmember in Germany with the 3rd Armored Division.

Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hart cele­brated their 47th wedding anniver­sary Feb. 6.

 

50 Years Ago

February 11, 1965

 

The Bradleyville Eagles – one of the top teams in the district – emerged as victors Saturday night in the Ava Invitational Tournament by defeating Mansfield by a score of 64-54.

Ava telephone users will be introduced to a new numbering system as they receive new directories and new stickers for their telephones in late July. The new system “All-Number-Calling” (ANC), features seven digit phone numbers instead of two letter exchange name prefixes. The letters MU of the Ava, “Murdock 3” number, would change to “683.” A typical Ava number then would be 683-1194.

County Agent Marcus Holman has been appointed area extension director for a three county area, including Ozark, Douglas and Wright counties. Ray Parsley of the local extension office is balanced farming agent for the three counties. Other area agents include Fred Oehring, Ellen Gulick, area home economist, and O.L. Claxton, community development agent.

Mr. and Mrs. Ted Sallee have purchased a new home in the Sunrise Hill addition in west Ava from Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Sivils. Also included in the purchase was 12 ½ acres of land which lies north, west and south of their home, and a barn located on the southern part of the land facing Route Y.

Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Givans of Arnold, announce the birth of a daughter Mary Ann, Thursday, Feb. 4, at a St. Louis hospital. The baby has a three-year-old sister, Julie Ann.

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Hicks of Rt. 4, Ava, announce the birth of a son, Hersel Scott, born at the Ava Medical Clinic, Feb. 4, at 12:20.

Ava and Douglas County received some valuable publicity last Tuesday when Mrs. Dwight Emerson of Crystal Lake Fisheries appeared on the Jean Glann Radio Show on WDAF Radio Station in Kansas City. Mrs. Emerson was interviewed from 1-2 p.m. on the program about Crystal Lake Trout production, and answered questions via telephone from Kansas City residents concerning the trout farm and many questions about Ava and Douglas County.

Ava will be featured in a fourth-coming column in the Springfield Newspapers. Hank Billings, who is on staff of Springfield Newspapers, spent Tuesday here interviewing several of the city leaders and industrial officials. Mr. Billing’s column, Just Visitin’ will feature current activities and programmed construction, and will include comments from many of the city’s citizens.

BASHER –– Bernie Deatherage is reported improving. He is in Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. Hr. and Mrs. Hugh Morris of Leeton, Mo., and Mr. and Mrs. Glen Deatherage of Warrensburg visited him Sunday.

Congratulations…Jim Hicks on winning the 3-month-old Holstein heifer, given away Feb. 1, by Douglas County Mill.

75 Years Ago

February 15, 1940

 

The Bank of Gainesville was broken into on Monday night by robbers who used an acetylene torch with which they cut a hole in the vault door, through which a man could crawl, and then cut a plug out of the top of the safe large enough for a person to reach with his hand down into the safe and extract the bank’s money, $2,575.26. To prevent the acetylene torch from setting fire to the paper money, the burglars apparently kept pouring water into the safe as the safe was about on-third full of water when the burglary was discovered.

A temperance rally will be held Friday evening at 7:30 o’clock at the General Baptist Church.

Funds to be used by the Ava volunteer fire department to buy furniture and equipment for the proposed new firehouse will be raised tonight when the Firemen’s Ball, a dance sponsored by the department, will be held in the Roscoe Spurlock skating rink.

The junior class play, “The Tangled Yarn,” will be presented at the high school auditorium on Thursday evening. “The Tangled Yarn” is a three-act comedy, and will be presented by the following cast: Betty Norman, Lucille Haskins, Helen Jean Daily, Paul Barker, Fern Bench, Howard Alderson, Mary Nancy Berry, Robert Taylor, Veryl Case, Georgia Frye, Norris Johnson, and Maxine Kester.

Workmen are at work this week at the Methodist church remodeling the auditorium and placing three new stained glass windows in the front of the church. Two of the new windows are memorials, one to the late Lz Banta, Ava attorney and an active member of the church, and the other to Mrs. Julia Johnson, who donated to the church trustees the parsonage and ground on which the parsonage and church are situated.

Mr. and Mrs. Roy Edmonds are making plans to move to Springfield in the near future. Mr. Edmonds, who has been manager of the Independent Oil Station, will operate a filling station in Springfield. R. R. Copenhagen of Thayer arrived in Ava on January 28 and is managing the station here. He is being assisted by Edwin Judd who has been an employee of the station for several months.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Fletcher of Neosho, formerly of Ava, announce the birth of a daughter, Andrey Louise, on Feb. 8.

Mrs. J.D. McClure entertained a number of children in her home Saturday evening in compliment to her don, David, who was celebrating his twelfth birthday anniversary. The invited list included Lucy Elliott, Susan Fawcett, Helen Wiggins, Getty Jane Tillman, Virginia Jordan, Sammy Lee Royce, Iwana Leneave, Lois Parker, Ruth Jackson, Otis Taylor, Buddy Norman, Billy Leneave, Billy Ellis, Joe Lee Banta, Leonard Kropp, Harold Harlan and the honoree.

 

100 Years Ago

February 25, 1915

 

Col. Bill Nelson of the Kansas City Star says that Kansas City has not had an honest election in that city for years. Now, there is no news value to this. The fact that it remains Democratic to such an enormous extent tells this to all thinking people. We can remember when St. Louis was in the same shape, until a Republican governor gave it an honest election.

Mrs. A.N. Brooks has a letter from Washington, D.C. stating she has been made a member in the National Society of the “Daughters of the American Revolution”.

Mr. Timberlake of the Yellow Front Store writes the Herald Editor he has “raised” the age limit from 18 to 21 years for the boy or girl who writes the best article “How to build and run a modern town”.

Earl McCullough and Blanche Weimer surprised their many friends by being quietly married at the home of Elder Benj. Pearson Sunday morning about 9 o’clock. They left Monday for Tarkio where they will make their future home.

There is never a time when a hat, moderately broad of brim and with a crown, which is conservative as to escape attention, is out of style.

The panic is over. The loan companies are wanting our farm loans. Come see us or write, Hailey & Spurlock.

Marriage License –– Jerry Prine to Ponie Emry, both of McClurg; Charley Silvey of Elwood to Leona P. Williams of Arden; James Johnson to Emma Miller, both of Roy.

School Notes –– Mr. Arthur Parrott of near Mansfield enrolled Tuesday and is taking Teacher’s Course. … Miss Grace Sullivan of Bryant is a new student. … The 10th and 11th grade English classes are studying Shakespeare’s works. The first play to be studied is “Julius Caesar”.

Pros. Atty. and Mrs. Cannifax are the proud parents of a fine baby girl. Mr. Cannifax evidently expects that the women will be voting about 21 years from now.

I will exchange dental work for wood, rock, sand, labor; also I would exchange dental work for washing, some woman who needs a nice set of teeth and is a nice washer, call and see me, Dr. Mefford, Ava, Mo., phone 6.

The old hitch rack around the courthouse square in Ava was torn down and moved away last week and the new one is now being used in its stead. It is a great improvement and as citizens of Ava, we should be proud of it. The enterprise of the city demanded it and so it was done.

 

125 Years Ago

February 20, 1890

 

SAN ANTONIO –– Feb. 16 –– Reliable information has reached San Antonio of a terrible scourge of smallpox along the Rio Grand and particularly among the inhabitants in the region of country between Laredo and Brownsville.

The cattle kings of the Cherokee strip must go. The latest advise from Washington indicates that an order for the vacation of the strip by the first of June next will be soon made.

Documents sent to the Senate by the Attorney General with regard to election frauds in Florida show very plainly that there has been a considerable deterioration of political morality in the state since the time when a great a man as Samuel Tilden found it impossible to buy her electoral vote.

Europe is increasing its national indebtedness to the extent of about $5000,000,000 a year, while the debt of the United States is decreasing at the rate of about $100,000,000 a year. Europe’s tax burdens are far heavier than ours, and are growing, while ours are shrinking.

  1. O. Hailey’s new house on south side of town is nearly completed.

The discovery of silver ore in paying quantities in the southern part of the county is causing considerable excitement. If the deposits of ore prove lasting in quantity we may reasonable expect railroads through our county within a short time.

Harrison Souder has purchased the saw mill formerly owned by Miles M. Peas and will locate it in the northwest corner of Jackson township.

Hiram Decker and Miss Jula A. Beldin, both of Vera Cruz, were united in marriage on the 13th inst., by Squire Bowdre, of Boone Township.

Marriage licenses have been issued since our last issue, as follows: Chas. D. Dewhirst to Lillie Brawley; A.L. Curry to Laura McCulock; Hiram Decker to Jula Beldin; William Manning to Ollie Lamb; Samuel F. Sullivan to Nancy Webster; Bennett Scott to Margaret Crow.

AROUND VERA CRUZ – La grippe has not made its appearance among us. We stick to old styles and have the measles.

The receipts of the state treasury of Missouri for the year 1889 aggregated $3,572,031.92.

Here is a new swindling scheme against which the self-sufficient city man as well as the guileless agriculturist should be on his guard. The sharper has a double fountain pen, with two kinds of ink, one of which will fade. He writes an agreement with the ink that fades and the victim signs with the ink that does not fade. An entirely different agreement is afterwards substituted and the dope finds himself confronted with a promise to pay.