Looking Backward 5.31.2012
25 Years Ago
May 28, 1987
The Ava Police Department is investigating vandalism that occurred at the Bethany Baptist church last Wednesday night, and Police Chief Jerry Huffman said authorities have some leads into solving the case.
Little Richard Lee Porter, 6-year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Herval Porter of Ava, will be one of several children featured on television this Sunday during a telethon originating at Cox South Medical Center.
The Rev. Phil Appling will conclude his pastoral ministry in the Ava United Methodist Church this Sunday, May 31. Rev. Ken McGill will assume the pastorate of the Ava UMC on June 4.
Dr. and Mrs. C.E. Harlan will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary June 6 with a reception at the Ava Community Center. Clifton E. Harlan and Jacqueline Workman were married in 1937 at Ottumwa, Iowa.
Mr. and Mrs. Gary Emrick of Ava wish to announce the arrival of a new baby girl, Kimberly Dawn, born May 9 at 12:18 p.m. at Mercy Hospital in Mansfield, Mo.
Two veteran teachers of the Ava R-1 School District retired at the end of the 1986-87 school year. Mrs. Anna Halford, who has taught mat in the Ava Junior High for a number of years, is retiring after 43 years in the profession. Jim Norman, band director at Ava R-1 for the past six years, is a 31-year veteran in education. Both teachers are natives of the Ava area.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a shooting that took place on the night of May 11 at the Pine Ridge Package Store, about 14 miles east of Ava on Highway 14. Lyle Lakey, owner of the store, was shot in the upper leg following a disturbance. Lakey told the sheriff someone shot into the store, and a bullet struck him in the leg.
50 Years Ago
May 24, 1962
A 33-year-old medical doctor, Phillip Leighton Shepherd, will begin practice here about June 1, and remodeling work is under way at the G.E. Dye building west of the square to prepare office space.
A business building three blocks south of the Ava Square, originally constructed in 1948 by Herman and Cecil Davis as a Buick agency, was sold by the brothers last week to Dick Potts and Lavern Barnum, who are establishing an automobile repair service. The new firm will be known as B & D Auto Service, and the owners said they probably would expand into the entire building at a later date.
Concrete footings for the Squires lookout tower of the Forestry Division, Missouri Conservation Commission, were poured last Friday, and steel work is expected to start June 11, according to local agent Bob Cook.
Three students from Douglas County received degrees at Southwest Missouri State College May 23. They were Laurah Frances Comer, Ava, who received a Bachelor of Science in Education degree; Jerry Ray Pitts, Ava, Bachelor of Science in education degree; and Kirby Paul Mackey, Smallett, Bachelor of Science degree.
The 50th annual May singing will get underway at 10 o’clock Sunday morning with devotional services conducted by Oscar Cunningham, local missionary for the American Sunday School Union.
Seventh District Representative Durward G. Hall ate breakfast aboard the USS Enterprise, the atomic nuclear powered aircraft carrier, with an Ava seaman, Cecil Linder, and other unidentified Navy personnel. Cecil, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Linder of Route 2, Ava, enlisted in the Navy in March 1960, after attending Ava High School.
Miss Nola Beavan and Jerry Pool were married in an 8 o’clock ceremony solemnized Saturday evening, May 19,at the First Baptist Church in Ava. The Rev. Max Morris performed the double ring ceremony.
Mr. and Mrs. Jimmie Posey (Janice Adams) of Route 4 announce the birth of a son at 2:48 a.m. Monday, May 21, at their suburban home. The little one weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and has been named Dennis Ray.
Avalon Theater, John Wayne, Ina Balin, Lee Marvin. Tough Texas Rangers Break Up Gun Smugglers! Terrific. Color.
Three Ava ladies, Mrs. Max Valentine, Mrs. Verness Shull and Mrs. John Lewis spent Sunday afternoon in the country home of their aunt, Mrs. Minnie Davis, in the Girdner community.
New on the square . . . a pay telephone booth located on the inside portion of the northwest corner . . . . a large name sign, with electric clock and temperature indicator on the Citizens Bank building. The clock installers had hardly left when the electricity was off for a short time, throwing the clock out of time, and the revolving clock and temperature gauge was moving a bit too fast for accurate reading . . . . Both of the additions are convenient features for the public.
75 Years Ago
May 27, 1937
Ava is the second largest milk receiving station in the United States, declared George Bulkley of Fort Lupton, Colo., district superintendent of Carnation Company, at a banquet in the high school gymnasium here Tuesday evening. With milk receipts to the Carnation Company here running 125,000 pounds per day, this receiving point is exceeded in volume only by Hillsboro, Ohio, where receipts are approximately 160,000 pounds daily, he said.
Uncle Prov Anderson, patriarch of eastern Douglas County, now living in his ninety-ninth year, related incidents of an eventful life in conversation with Deputy Collector Lem Northrup and a Herald reporter in the Douglas County Collector’s office Saturday afternoon. It was one of the aged Civil War veteran’s infrequent visits in Ava. He came with his son, T.J. Anderson, making the trip from their home at Blanche by automobile.
Mearle and Dale Burk purchased the Ava DeLuxe service station from Wilborn (Bob) Dewhirst Saturday. The two brothers, and a third brother, Don Burk, all have been employed at the station at different times during the past year.
Several Ava persons were in Galena early Friday morning and saw Roscoe “Red” Jackson pay with his life for the killing of Pearl Bozarth, middle-aged salesman and owner of an Evansville, Indiana, poultry medicine manufacturing company. Members of the local group included Sheriff Lincoln M. Barnes, Dr. J.L. Gentry, Harold Hutchison, J.W. Stout, Fred Livingston, Lz Banta, Burnam Cummins, Clarence Clinkingbeard, Tan Edmonds, Charles Spurlock, Orville Haskins and Oscar Sanders. More than 500 passes were issued to witness the hanging.
With a haunting sense of sadness, the Lindbergs rejoice over the arrival of another baby boy.
MTN. SIDE –– Mrs. Bert Bailey and Mrs. Harry Samuel spent Sunday afternoon with Mr. Paul Harris.
Many states are revising and revamping their driver’s laws in an effort to curb the mounting toll of traffic accidents. Some of the states require an examination of drivers from time to time.
A fishing party of eleven persons, all directly connected with the Ava schools, has been spending the past three days at Hollingsworth mill on little North Fork in Arkansas. In the group are L.H. Pettit, president of the board of education, and two sons, Howard and Billy; superintendent Ray Hailey and son, Junior; C.E. Browning, vocational agriculture teacher, and son, Rex; E.R. Norman, high school principal; Floyd Curnutt, sixth grade teacher; Roy Tharp, music supervisor, and J.F. Coday, study supervisor.
A new kind of deodorant, Yodora, is “as gentle as your face cream”. It only takes 2 dabs after which it vanishes instantly. In tubes and jars, each 25¢
100 Years Ago
May 30, 1912
According to the United States Government Report issued May 7th, 6,469,000 acres of soft wheat in the United States has been abandoned this spring due to winter killing. This is over 20 percent of the total acreage.
Madame Navratil of Nice, France, and her two little boys, who were saved from the Titanic, the other day they all sailed for their home in France, and little Lolo and Monon – or Michel and Edmond, as they were christened – wept at leaving the kind friends who had cared for them in New York. M. Navratil was lost in the disaster and his widow came over to reclaim her children.
A petition has been circulated this week for the purpose of raising funds to build a cement walk around the Methodist Church property. Almost enough money has been subscribed.
E.E. Simmons traded his place south of town this week for the R.H. Cooper farm, and traded the farm for the Robt. F. Jenkins residence in town. Mr. Cooper will move to the Simmons place, and Simmons will move to town.
The association creamery station at Ava has been moved from the Barnes store to Holestine & Burdett’s place of business, for the benefit of the cool basement under the latter mentioned store building. Mr. Burdett informs us that they are going to cement their basement, after which all cream delivered to the station will be handled in the basement, where it will be cool.
BRUSHY KNOB ITEMS – Born to Mr. and Mrs. Kale Brooks a new baby boy, May 19, all parties doing nicely.
The towers and pyramids built by the Mayas, the ancient civilized inhabitants of Mexico, who flourished before the Aztecs, are the greatest wonders of antiquity in America.
DENLOW –– Pearl Cox, who has been employed to teach first place at Glendale has gone to Springfield to attend summer school.
In the decade from 1901 to 1910, the death rate from tuberculosis in the United States declined from 196.9 for each 100,000 persons living to 160.3, a decrease of 18.7 percent.
J.A. Reineke and F.B. Longfield of Chicago have been in Ava the past few days looking over the town and country. They say the Ozark mountain country “looks good” to them.
125 Years Ago
May 10, 1887
Another big strike of blue mineral has been made near Aurora.
Senator Stanford has had very hard luck of late. Last Sunday night his $10,000 horse, Harcourt, died of pneumonia. Tuesday a large royal-blooded mastiff owned by the Senator died of the same disease at a dog hospital in Washington. On Wednesday the Stanford stables at Paola were burned.
NEW YORK –– The Evening Sun has a cablegram from London saying that the Sun’s Berlin correspondent, Blakely Hall, is unable to send telegrams and letters from Berlin describing the real situation there, on account of the rigid censorship maintained by the government.
VERA CRUZ CHRONICLES – Wm. Miller has been very unfortunate. His wife, a most estimable Christian woman, died recently, and now he is down sick with the same disease – measles. His children also have been quite sick.
The sale of oleomargarine is stopped in Maryland.
It is twenty-one years ago this Spring that Alaska was ceded by Russia to the United States.
It is reported that Smith Hatfield was arrested at Mansfield yesterday on a charge of bigamy, and his companion for adultery.
Last Thursday night some sneak-thief broke into the courthouse and stole 37 indictments from the Circuit Clerk’s office. We learn that 33 of them were for selling liquor. We are glad to state that this move will do them no good, as Prosecuting Attorney Waters has all the names of those indicted and also of the witnesses, and will file information against them. We hope they may get their just desserts.
Robt. Ellis, who was arrested Thursday by Deputy Sheriff Sloan upon a telegram from Deputy U.S. Marshall Andy Johnson, was, by Mr. Sloan, placed in charge of James Hitchcock to be taken to Norwood to be delivered to Andy Johnson. While enroute to Norwood, Mr. Hitchcock states, “that they had got some six miles from town when Bob complained of being tired and the handcuffs he wore hurt his wrists, and begged to ride a while”. Mr. Hitchcock, not thinking that Bob would play off on him, dismounted and let him ride to rest himself. They had gone but a little way when Ellis, being some distance ahead, gave rein to the spirited mare and bid Mr. H. goodbye, telling him after he had reached the top of a hill, that he would send his horse back. Ellis went from there to Noah O’Connell’s on Dickey Creek, nine miles east of town, and got a Winchester rifle belonging to him and made mad for his mill on North Fork, some thirty-five miles east. Mr. Hitchcock and a small posse started in pursuit the next morning and it is thought they will overtake him in a few days as he is very determined to secure Ellis. Ellis has kept the marshals busy for the past year or two, but manages to give them the slip in one way or another, and seems to have more influence in the district court than all of the attorneys, as he can secure an audience with Judge Krekel to the exclusion of all of them.
