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Looking Backward 11.3.2016

25 Years Ago

October 31, 1991

 

Hen egg-sized hail fell in Ava last Wednesday afternoon as a fall thunderstorm passed through the area, causing hundreds of thou-sands of dollars-worth of damage to buildings and automobiles.  The hail was not only extremely large, but the storm stalled out over the area, with hail falling for as long as 45 minutes or longer in some areas.

Dale Esther, Lebanon, was elected president of the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Associa-tion at the annual meeting of the association here last Saturday night.

Jarrett Dougherty, a former resident of Ava, who has made his home in Nashville, Tenn., for the past year, left Nashville, on Oct. 21 for Lincolnton, Ga., where he will be making his home.  Jarrett accepted an offer as a full time drummer for Jeff and Sheri Easter group, where he will be traveling full time, singing, playing bluegrass, country, and southern gospel music.

Fred and Lee Frye of Drury will celebrate their wedding anniversary November 1.

Owen Theatre, Seymour, is now showing the Big Comedy, Doc Hollywood, starring Michael J. Fox.

Mr. and Mrs. Otto Davis cele-brated their 65th wedding anniver-sary with a dinner in their home, October 21 with family.  Otto and Leola were married October 21, 1916 at Ava and have lived most of their married life in their present location.

RED BUD VILLAGE –– Earl Watson, Ruth Evans, Margaret Sparnicht, Evelyn Sell, Sam Evans, and Fern McClellan called in the Havens home the past week.

 

50 Years Ago

 October 27, 1966

 

Miss Linda Collins, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Collins of Ava, as crowned football homecoming queen in a ceremony Friday evening preceding the game between the Ava Bears and West Plains.  Crowing the queen was Harry Williams, president of the board of education, assisted by Miss Pat Hart, last year’s queen.

The new Care Center Nursing Home here faces foreclosure on Tuesday, Nov. 15, notice of which appears in this issue of the Herald.  Financial problems facing the Care Center have been aired on numerous occasions during the past few weeks by local citizens working on the problems.

Cleo Cooper, Ava lumber dealer was re-elected president of the Ava Country Club at a recent meeting.  Other officers are Cloine Pettit, vice president; Don Knight, secretary; and Olen Deckard, treasurer.

Mr. and Mrs. Weldon Sanders (Suzanne Reynolds) of Ava, announce the birth of a daughter at 4:11 o’clock Monday afternoon, Oct. 24, in Burge Hospital, in Springfield. The baby weighed 7 pounds and 3 ounces at the time of her birth and she has been named Susan Elizabeth.

Two students from Ava are members of the choir at Southwest Missouri State College.  They are Marjorie Robertson and James Shollenberger, a senior.

Russell W. Loftin, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Burrell Loftin, Route 5, Ava, Mo., was promoted to Army private first class, Oct. 7, near Bahenhausen, Germany where he is serving with the 14th Supply & Service Battalion.

Louis Gillespie of the Smallett community reported last week that a pack of coyotes ran his cattle last Thursday night forcing a prize Holstein heifer over a cliff and injuring the animal. He said a wolf has also been spotted in the area.

STAR –– Mertie McFarlin ate dinner with the O.K. Weltons Sunday.  Mertie and her son, Neil, drove to Moline, Ill., Tuesday for a visit with relatives. Neil will return to Ava today, but his mother will visit longer in the tri-cities.

  1. TABOR –– Attending the birthday party for Mrs. Harold Hodge Saturday afternoon were her Sunday school class, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Duckworth, Donna Sanders, Dianna Taber, Glen Dale Hartley, Danny Patty, and Mrs. V. E. Cox.

LONGRUN – A group from this community went to Pagosa, Colo., on a hunting trip.  They are Vern, Rex, Aude and Donald Wallace, Orven Graham, J.D. Delp and Harlan Clayton.

CHAMPION –– Mrs. Irene Dooms, Brenda and Kirkie visited Sunday with her father, Rufus Keller.

The Missouri State Department of Liquor Control will be in Ava Nov. 3, to issue state approved liquor identification cards.  Re-quirements for those receiving a card include being 21 years of age or older. The reason for issuing the cards is to establish positive proof of age for those buying liquor.

 

75 Years Ago

October 30, 1941

 

Ava’s Boy Scout Troop will resume its weekly meetings and Scouting activities Monday night with Lester Nichols, sixty grade school teacher as Scoutmaster.

Frank Ray Lawrence, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lawrence has enlisted for a period of three years in the U.S. Coast Guard, according to an announcement from Charles P. Ashe, CBM, officer in charge of the sub-recruiting office in Spring-field.

Harry Stafford, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.M. Stafford, left Friday for Jefferson Barracks where he enlisted in the U.S. Air Corps.

Drs. M. C. & J. L. Gentry announce a Tonsil Clinic at their offices Monday & Tuesday, November 17-18, please call or write for appointments.

Twenty-six friends and relatives gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Etzel E. Wood Sunday with well filled baskets honoring Mr. Wood’s 26th birthday. Those present were Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Posey, Mr. and Mrs. Everett Posey and family, Mr. and Mrs. Audie Posey and family, Mr. and Mrs. Mr. and Mrs. Orville Hale and family, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Epps and son Larry, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Hart and son, Norman, Mrs. Lucille Hart and daughters, Shirley and Betty, Mrs. E.A. Wood, Uncle Bill Crawford and Mary Lee Lawrence.

John Victor says a duck he got on the lake at Hartville cost him sixty dollars Sunday morning.  It was the incidental expense that was so high.  He was turning his pickup truck around and the back of his truck struck a car driven by a Hartville woman. Most of the damage was done to the woman’s car.  John had a lame back the next day. He was driving he said, “like we drive here in Ava, but it didn’t work up there.”

When people put results above principle the decline may be slow but it is nonetheless certain.

The man who puts money above everything else will find one day that money is above everything else.

BUCKHART – Br-r-r-r! Awoke this Monday morning and what a scramble hunting for long stockings, doctoring a lazy fire in the kitchen range and getting the children off to the bus.  If one should notice a farmer these days, looking upset, it’s probably not indigestion, only a case of not getting in that last field of wheat. No dependence to be put in the weather of 1941.

War and politics are no respecters of children.  Bombs and shells spare neither nursery nor school.

Miss Alice Price, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Price and Ivan Davis were married Saturday at Hartville.

ROY –– L. B. Barnes and son, Marvin, bought the Daily Feed Store in Ava last week.  Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Barnes moved to Ava last Friday to take charge.

 

100 Years Ago

November 2, 1916

 

Miss Eola Thomas and Clyde Hays were quietly married at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Boone who live  on Maple Street at 2:30 o’clock Tuesday afternoon, and departed on the afternoon train for Springfield where they will spend the week visiting before return to Mt. Zion where they will make their home. Rev. Howard Hitchcock performed the cere-mony.

According to a report from the Hartville Democrat, Luke Barnett, who was engaged in the livery and feed business at Norwood, was killed at that place on Thursday night of last week.  He was stabbed in the heart and died in Dr. Ryan’s office in about 20 minutes after the stabbing. It happened about the time the west bound passenger train came up from Mt. Grove which is about 6:20 p.m.  Tom Gasperson, a well driller, and Elisha Kelley, a blacksmith, are in jail charged with the crime.  Barnett was about 35 years of age and a son of John A. Barnett of Clarks Creek.  Too much whiskey is said to be the cause of the killing.

STONT POINT – Oliver Miller, a former resident of Shiloh District on Dry Creek, quietly dropped into our neighborhood a few days ago and captured one of our neighbor girls, Miss Ethel Hall, a charming daughter of H. P. Hall. They were married by Rev. McCall and returned Saturday to Oliver’s home in Kansas.

RIPPEE ITEMS –– Mr. Jason Gaskill got the contract to cover the Diamond Schoolhouse. His bid, which was the lowest one made, was $35.00.

Sam McCullough has all his feed taken care of and left Saturday for Tarkio where he will shuck corn on a ranch, Hobert Gentry of Ava accompanied him.  They were to make the trip in Vernie Ellison’s car.

We, the Board of Directors of the Ava High School desire to state to the public that Prof. G.H. Boehm, if elected to the Legislature Nov. 7th, will not be paid any salary as Superintendent of the Ava High School while he is away attending the session of the legislature. Prof. Boehm is not going to ask for his salary as superintendent, and the school board does not intend to pay.  Very truly, J.A.G. Reynolds, R. M. Norman, I. T. Curry, V. A. Dobyns.

Arrangements have been made in Ava to receive by wire all elections returns obtainable on the night of the election. A special operator will be on duty at Mansfield.

 

125 Years Ago

November 5, 1891

 

GUTHRIE, Ok. –– the prairie fires which have been sweeping over a large part of Oklahoma during the past four days have done a great amount of damage.

The Grant tomb, foundation and all, is being moved to its new site.

Feeling in Quebec is growing for annexation to the United States.

Negotiations with Indians, if successfully completed, will greatly enlarge Oklahoma Territory.

Inspector Byrnes of New York has captured two of the slickest green goods men in the country.  More “green-goods” men have been arrested in the war being carried on against them in New York.   [The green goods game was a fraud scheme in which people were duped into paying for worthless counterfeit money.]

Louisiana sugar men are objecting strongly to the appoint-ment of Negroes as inspectors under the bounty law.

A test of the capacity of the bicycle to carry messages in war will be made in a run from Hartford, Conn. to New York.

Several wagon loads of New owners passed through Ava during the present work, on their way to locate in different parts of the county.  There is still room for more.  No better chance for investment in farming lands can be found in the southwest than is offered in Douglas County.

Everything is free when it is given away, except a bride.

Real estate in Ava and vicinity is on a boom, with a big B.

WASHINGTON – The adjutant general has decided that every military college receiving arms and ammunitions from the national government for the purpose of instruction and is an affiliate of the United States Army, must display the national flag on all occasions when under Army regulations issue of a flag is called for.

The latest returns show the election of McKinley as Governor of Ohio by a handsome Republican majority. Great Republican gains in Kansas.  Massachusetts has elected Allen, a Republican, for Governor.

Chili is getting very chilly towards Uncle Sam.

It is reported that gold has been discovered near the new city of Chandler in Oklahoma Territory. This report may be true, but is probably made with a view of attracting settlers to the new town.

An English Estate which years ago sold for a hundred thousand dollars, has now been sold for sixty-five thousand.  This is a depression in price such as would dazzle the imagination of the calamity men now howling in the American ranks of Free Trade.