Looking Backward 2.23.2017
25 Years Ago
February 20, 1992
Ava Lions Club member Paul Pitts was presented a distinguished service plaque Monday night for his many years as a member of the Lions Eyeglass Project committee. The award was presented by Jim Voyles, Lions President.
Joanie Gray has purchased Designliner II Hair Salon from Janette Hulm and has assumed operation of the business. Janette’s final day in the shop will be this Friday.
Gerald W. Nall was honored with two 50th Birthday parties, one on Thursday evening, Feb. 13 at his home in Ava, by his wife, Pat. Then on Saturday evening, Feb. 15 the “surprise” party was given by Pat and their children at their Ava home.
Six Ava High School seniors will play their final home basketball games next Monday and Tuesday nights. Jolene Tate is the only senior on the Lady Bears squad which will host Ozark on Monday night. Senior members of the boys basket-ball team are Mike Barnes, Reggie Bray, Travis Harvill, Chris Wade and Monte Overcast.
Golda Dooms celebrated her 90th birthday with a dinner and party at the Ava Lions Club Sunday.
Two students from Ava were among 169 students who completed necessary requirements to graduate from Missouri Southern State College at the end of fall semester. Among those receiving degrees were Jason D. Norman, bachelor of science in business administration marketing; and Mark W. Sanders, bachelor of science in criminal justice administration.
Ava FFA Chapter officers are President June Gooden; Cliff Stonerock, Vice President; Reggie Bray, Secretary; Honia Nokes, Treasurer; Jeff Silvey, Sentinel; and Landon Johnson, Reporter.
50 Years Ago
February 16, 1967
Heading the Ava Chamber of Commerce for 1967 are E. L. Yeoman, president; and Don Victor, vice president and secretary. Elected to the Board of Directors for three-year terms were Mrs. Pauline Krider, Gladys B. Stewart and Melvin Porter. A part-time salaried secretary will be employed by the chamber of commerce in conjunction with the secretary for the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association office.
Two Ava students were among members of the Southwest Missouri State College Rifle Team which competed against 60 schools in the Invitational Rifle Tournament at Manhattan, Kan., recently. In the girls’ division, which Shirley Addey is a member, the SMS team placed fourth out of five teams. Miss Addey fired second high on the girls’ team. In the men’s division, the SMS team placed 23 in a field of 33 teams. Jim Roderick fired second high on the men’s team.
Ava Baptists remained undefeated in second-half church league basketball at the UMCA in Springfield last Friday night. Ava topped Macedonia 58-49. The Ava Baptists hold a 3-0 record.
Gene Mask and Rex Tackett of West Plains have leased the Gainesville theater building from Bill and Howard Pettit of Ava, and plan to reopen the theater Friday, according to the Ozark County Times.
Strout Realty, Inc., has opened a branch office in Ava at 1624 South Jefferson, it was announced this week. Local representatives of the firm are V.A. and Daisy Shull.
Army Private First Class Henry J. Tallent, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ora T. Tallent, Ava, participated in cold weather exercise “Frontier Assault” with other troops of the Alaskan Command and forces from the Royal Canadian Air Force Feb. 1-10. Pvt. Tallent is assigned to the U.S. Army, Alaska.
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry R. Mackey recently returned from a one week trip to Hawaii. The trip was sponsored by the Saladmaster Corporation which Mr. Mackey is a franchise dealer.
Mr. and Mrs. Elvia Moore, Rt. 5, Ava, announce the birth of their fourth son at Burge Hospital, Springfield, Thursday, Feb 2. The baby weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces at the time of his birth and he has been named Terry Lynn. His three brothers are Dwain, Keith and Bobby Joe.
RED BANK – Birthday offerings were given by Mrs. Zelma Hall and Mrs. Maxine Lirley.
Bradleyville’s once – beaten Eagles received seven of ten first-place votes and remained first in the weekly high school basketball ratings conducted by Springfield Newspaper, In., in cooperation with a board of coaches.
William A. Lucas, AN, son of Mary Lucas of Route 5, Ava, is serving aboard the carrier USS Enterprise off the coast of Viet Nam. Lucas is a graduate of Ava High School.
75 Years Ago
February 19, 1942
Japs Take Singapore; Press On Dutch Indies –– Prime Minister Winston Churchill in a radio address from London Sunday night announced the fall of Singapore. The Japs attempted to establish a foothold around Palembang, Sumatra with Japanese transports appearing at the mouth of the Musi River. German broadcast of a Tokyo dispatch said Japanese troops have landed in Java. Long range American bombers struck at enemy shipping near port of Macassar. The Dutch acknowledge Japanese occupation of the Anambas Islands.
Willard Hutchison, 23-year-old trucker, and Willard Coonts, his helper, sustained broken collar bones in an accident on Highway 14 at the Carnation Company plant east of town Friday morning. Hutchison said his truck was passing the other truck when the latter evidently started to turn in the southeast driveway to the Carnation plant. Both Hutchison and Coonts were thrown from their truck before it came to a standstill.
Lee Lachmund recently accepted a position as chief baker at the O’Reilly government hospital in Springfield. Mr. Lachmund receiv-ed this position through civil service and has been working for the past two weeks.
Arthur Viles was bound over to circuit court in a preliminary hearing before Justice of the Peace J.E. Reeves Friday on a charge of assault on Harold Rippee with a knife the night of January 31.
JEFFERSON CITY – Probation-ary appointment of two new wildlife conservation agents was announced this week by the Missouri Conser-vation Commission. The new agents are Bransford S. Rutherford of Sullivan, former range rider for the commission at Meramec State Forest, and O.H. Riggs., of Ava, former deputy circuit clerk of Douglas County. Rutherford is 28 years old, Riggs, 31.
Friday evening Robert Ellis, who was celebrating his eleventh birthday anniversary, entertained a group of friends at a “line party” at the Avalon Theatre. Those present at the birthday party were Larry Belt, Bobby Crain, Omer Walker, Jerry Garrison, Calvin Sutherland, Sam Wiggins and Eddie and John Robert Parker.
Ava high School’s basketeers won their eighteenth victory of the season Friday night when they defeated the Hartville five in an Altitude League game played on the local court. The one sided score of 65 to 14 made the game rather slow. Coach Stanfield played his second team men through much of the game. The Ava Bears and Mansfield are now tied for first place in the league. Each team has lost one game, Ava lost to Elkland and Mansfield suffered their only defeat at Ava.
DENLOW –– There will be a civilian defense meeting of some sort at the school house Friday.
100 Years Ago
February 22, 1917
Wm. A. Huff was the successful bidder for Superintendent of the County Farm at the Feb. term of County Court and will take charge of his work March 1. Tommy Robertson who has been in charge of the farm for the past year will move to town where he will be engaged in the blacksmith business with Carl Flemming.
Up to February 8, the Secretary of State’s office issued 53,560 auto licenses for which fees to the amount of $200,030 were received. This is about one-half the number issued last year. It is estimated that there will be 130,000 licenses issued during the current year.
Notice has been sent out by the state officials that the law which prohibits children under the age of 16 years from driving automobiles will be rigidly enforced. The state law permits boys and girls between the ages of 16 and 19 to drive automobiles when accompanied by their parents, guardian or some adult person.
High School – The new students who entered school this week are: Dewey Moody from Protem, Ozark Co., Harley Roper from Vera Cruz, and John Davis.
Through the plans of Sheriff Wm. Miller, Hiram Lewis who broke the custody of the sheriff of Ozark County several months ago, was captured at the home of his mother, 12 miles south of here last Thursday. Lewis was arrested in Ozark county for disturbance, and while spending the night at Foil in custody of Sheriff Amyx on the way to Gainesville, made his get a way. Sheriff Miller located him and had him arrested and put in jail in Ava last Thursday. C.F. Grisham, the present sheriff of Ozark County came after him Sunday.
TIGRIS –– As the frost leaves the ground many of our farmers are building woven wire fences in place of the expensive rail fences.
The trials of the Fox and Connor boys that was set for Friday last in Justice Hyde’s court were continued on changes of venue to Benton and Washington Twnshps. respectively, the boys giving bonds. The charges are guns and booze.
Henry McFarlin has moved into his new store at Lake Crystal.
BASHER –– The mumps are raging in this neighborhood at present. A number of families have them.
Collector and Mrs. Herbert Sell are the proud parents of girl twins who made their arrival last Monday.
Ben Evans has traded for the McHolland Bros livery barn and will continue the business at its present location just west of the square.
Carlotta Campus Girl, 192,375, a pure bred Holstein 4-year old cow of the herd of the College of Agri-culture of University of Missouri established the official record for the highest daily milk yield of cows in Missouri, and the second highest ever in the state, when she gave 99.9 pounds of milk February 7.
125 Years Ago
February 25, 1892
NEW YORK –– It was rumored in Wall Street yesterday that Thomas A. Edison, the celebrated electrician, is dissatisfied with the projected consolidation of the Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson Houston Co. and that he would retire if indeed he be not practically frozen out.
The new silver dimes, quarters and half dollars are causing no little inconvenience in several ways. It appears that in the milling, in order to subject the coins to as little wear on the face and back as possible, the edges were slightly raised so that they are in fact somewhat thicker than the old ones. They cause con-siderable trouble for bank tellers and others who handle considerable money, in that they are not yet used to them.
An English scientist, John Aitkin F. R.S. demolishes the popular notion that dew falls from the clouds. It is no such celestial visitor, but an exudation from growing vegetation itself. He has carried out a series of experiments which remorselessly exclude all doubt, for even the leaf enclosed in an air tight vessel has shed from its own veins the bright translucent drop. One statement which any inquirer may verify for himself is that these liquid crystals are always found poised at the extremity of a vein and in a position where they could not have remained under the laws of gravity if poured downward from the sky.
Every man’s ideal wife is the woman who believes everything her husband tells her, but no man’s ideal woman is a fool.
Most men seem to think since they have furnished passes for two, to every show on earth, their wives will have passes for two to take them into heaven.
Doctor – “My dear Madame, there is nothing the matter with you – you only need rest.” “But Doctor, just look at my tongue!” “It needs rest too, Madame.”
Liquor and tobacco habits are positively cured by “Magic Chloride of Gold.” All druggists, Blake, Bruce & Co., Omaha, Neb., whole-sale agents.
A medical statistician estimates that the citizens of the United States are carrying gold to the value of $100,000 in the recesses of what ought to be their teeth. There are no people on the face of the globe who have such bad teeth and who spend so much money upon them as the Americans. No doubt the habit of hurried feeding and the wholesale consumption of sweet dishes have assisted much toward this end. But it is not a mistake to suppose that false teeth set in gold are buried when their owner shuffles off this mortal coil. If this is so in America, it is not so in England, so why the numerous advertisements offering to buy old artificial teeth? The old teeth are not bought to use again, as some nervous people fancy, but simply for the sake of the gold.
There was a terrible boiler explo-sion at the saw mill of Harrison Souder, located one and a half miles from Rockbridge, Ozark County, on the 15th.
