Looking Backward 5.11.2017
25 Years Ago
May 7, 1992
The J.L. Gentry Roadside Park north of Ava was a beehive of activity Tuesday morning as about a dozen workers and that many more family members and spectators gathered to see the start of a beautification project there. Flat rocks will be used to form the walkways in the park.
Ava High School FFA members and their advisors John Wallace and Randy O’Dell planted some 22 redbud and dogwood trees on the corner of Business Route 5 and 14 near Pizza Hut Tuesday afternoon.
Helen’s Antiques and Diamond K Western Store both recently opened for business, and Vivian’s Beauty Shop has moved to the Barnes Shopping Center.
The Ava High School boys track team placed second in the SCA track meet at West Plains Tuesday. Coach Larry Silvey was very excited about the excellent times turned in by his thinclads at the Association meet.
Trial dates have been set for two Rogersville men charged with stealing cattle from a Douglas County stockman in 1989. Zane Lusader and Doyle Lipscomb are scheduled to go to trial in September for the theft of some 40 head of cattle from Zane Gray, of Ava. The cattle were stolen around the first of December 1989. Sheriff Roldan Turner said numerous attempts have been made to locate the cattle, but none have been recovered.
Jolene Tate, a graduating senior at Ava High School, has won a $1,000 MFA Foundation scholar-ship which was presented this week by Jim Sell, manager of the Ava MFA Agri-Services store.
A reception tea will be held Wednesday, May 13, in the Ava Middle School cafeteria in honor of retiring Middle School Principal Jim Holobaugh and Mrs. Bonnie Phipps, secretary of the middle school.
50 Years Ago
May 4, 1967
Student council officers at Ava High School for the 1967-68 school year were named this week. They are Glen Harvill, vice president; Connie Jenkins, treasurer; Carol Leeper, president; Connie Jones, secretary; and Boyd Strong, reporter.
A group of local persons have made application to the Federal Communications Commission for a radio station here. The proposed station – KAVA, 1430 kilocycles – is programmed for 600 watts. Filing the application last week were Orville Murray, Harlan House, Sybil Kerr and Quentin Haden. Several months delay is expected in securing the FCC’s approval.
The senior class of Ava High School announces the production of “Night of January 10th” scheduled for Thursday, May 11 at 8 p.m. Members of the cast include Janice Uhlmann, Roger Gipe, Dan Holt, Jim Thomas, Wanda Lathrop, Don Flattem, Vickie Hall, Jean Cox, Donnie Pinckney, Marilyn Kester, Howard Hale, Linda Thompson, Gary Nokes, Otis McFarlin, Jeanette Vinson, Lana Russell and Sue Smith.
Negotiations with members of the Assembly of God Church, Southern District, have ended with the membership rejecting a proposal to buy the Ava Community Nursing Home, it was reported this week by members of the Nursing Home Committee. Negotiations with the Assembly of God Churches had been under way since foreclosure of the home last year by the First National Bank of St. Louis, holder of the first Deed of Trust.
Donald Ousley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Ousley of Drury, has been named valedictorian of the class of 1966-67 at Dora High School. Steve Uhlman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Doin Uhlman of Drury, has been named salutatorian of the class of 1966-67 at Dora High School.
Two Ava high students, Wanda Lathrop and Betty Musich, were first and second place winners in the spelling relay at the Southwest Future Business Leaders Association district convention held at the student union on the SMS campus in Springfield, April 22.
It’s our first anniversary … free gold bond stamps with each purchase. Bill’s Super Market, located 4 blocks south of Ava public square.
Ernest Pierce, who is serving as an Army Mortarman with the First Cavalry in Vietnam, has recently been promoted to specialist Fourth Class.
STAR –– Hunter and Dickey Creeks were both too high to ford Saturday.
TAKE YOUR MEDICINE –– A friend of ours is a jack of all trades, and unemployed in all of them. … His daughter slept with wedding cake under her pillow. It worked, she married a crumb. … The trouble with sleep is the going to, and coming from. … There’s a street in San Francisco called “Wong Way.”
75 Years Ago
May 7, 1942
Corregidor Island, U.S. strong-hold in Manilla Bay, was surren-dered to the Japanese Tuesday. Other island forts in the bay also fell to the invaders. It was estimated that 7,000 American and Filipino soldiers, sailors and marines and 3,000 civilians were on the Manila Bay fortresses when they fell, including 68 Army nurses.
Fred Burk, Leslie Scribner, Bill Lawrence and Russell Klineline received word Tuesday to report May 18 to St. Louis for duty in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Navy Week will be observed here with special recognition on May 14, the first day of the Navy Week and a dance Saturday night, May 16. Arrangements for Navy Week observance and the relief fund drive are in charge of a committee of which John A. Putnam is chairman. Other members are Lyle Ross, Garber Wagemann, Mrs. M.C. Gentry, Rudy Kester, Miss Esther Trettin and Guy Wilson.
The storm Saturday night waited until the incendiary bomb demon-stration was completed, but halted the showing of motion pictures on incendiary bomb control and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
WASOLA –– Buford Henley and family have moved to the Johnny Lewis farm, near the Shull store.
BAKERSFIELD –– The Pleas-ant Home Church floor will be finished today if the workers are there.
BRYANT –– The senior class of Ava with their class sponsor, Miss Una Ellison, picnicked at Bryant Tuesday.
DENLOW – The Denlow school will be a one-teacher school next year for the reason that it failed to maintain an average attendance of 30. Since the law requires that the attendance must reach that figure in order to have two teachers, there is no way for the district to hire the second teacher.
BLACK OAK –– More than 100 people registered for sugar books at the Black Oak school house Monday.
SWEDEN –– Rev. Thomas Halford and daughters, Thelma and Eula, were guests Saturday night of Mr. and Mrs. Vernie Halford.
VANZANT –– Mildred Coats and John Parker were married April 28 and are residing at Burbank, California, where Mr. Parker has employment.
The recent daring air raids on the principal Japanese cities brought new hope, new resolve, to all the United Nations. For the first time, the war has been taken straight home to the heart of the enemy. The Japanese people have at last had a taste of what death and destruction from the skies is like. And, vitally important, these raids are the forerunners of great things to come.
ARNO –– The Arno Ladies Club purchased 100 posts last week to be used in the fence around the Arno cemetery.
100 Years Ago
May 10, 1917
WASHINGTON, May 3 – Under the initial draft to get 500,000 men to make up the first army for the war with Germany, New York will furnish the greatest number, 45,485, and Nevada the lowest, 500. This has been determined by the War Department, which has its machin-ery perfected to put the draft into effect shortly after the measure becomes law this week. Missouri’s quota is 18,500 men.
The new officers of the Citizens Bank are: Corbin Blair, cashier; John Malloy, president; A.J. Blair, vice president; and A.J. Blair, Corbin Blair, John Malloy, J.S. Clark, and J.L. Gentry, directors.
The May Day festival was given on the school campus Tuesday evening and was witnessed by perhaps 600 people.
Eleven students to graduate from Ava High School.
GRANADA –– War talk and planting corn is the order of the day.
Very cold weather here, more rain, more rest.
HEST ITEMS –– Uncle Dud McDaniel has been searching for mineral on his farm with a high grade mineral rod.
Jack Scott who has been demonstrating the Chevrolet auto-mobile for Jones & Martin, left Sunday for his home in West Plains.
Mr. and Mrs. Charley Conklin who live just south of town are the proud parents of a baby girl born Saturday evening of last week.
Earn Dougherty has bought a new Maxwell automobile and will run a service car.
The Ava Motor Car Co. received its 6th car load of Maxwell cars this week.
Col. T.A. Kay received a letter from his son, Dewey, this week, stating that he had been elected Superintendent of the Walnut Grove High School at a salary of $1000 a
year.
Did You Know That –– The infant mortality rate is the most sensitive index of community intelligence? … Dirty milk kills many babies? … One eighth of the children born in the United States die before they are a year old? … Removing a cause before it becomes a result is the best kind of public health work? … The board bill for last year’s babies was almost as great as the undertaker’s bill for last year’s babies?
Herbert James of Cold Springs was here Tuesday. Herbert has been elected to teach the St. James school next year.
125 Years Ago
May 12, 1892
If all the owners of town lots could find a street commissioner able to arrange the drainage of our city so it would wash only some other fellow’s premises everything would be lovely.
Large oil fields have been discovered at Sunbright, Tenn., near the Queen and Crescent railway.
The Supreme Court of Massa-chusetts has decided that bills for liquor sold to Maine dealers cannot be collected as the contracts are contrary to Maine law.
Orders have been issued to track immigrants to their destination to see whether they settle down to work or become additions to the criminal and pauper element.
A backwoods sheriff of Arkansas named Luna spent $2,000 of the people’s money in three days in Texarkana. He had never before been away from home.
It takes a fraction less than three seconds for a message to go from one end of the Atlantic cable to the other.
The Taney County Grand Jury is still in session at Forsyth, and will likely continue all next week. No indictments have been returned against any of the Williams murderers yet, but the Grand Jury is very busy examining witnesses. The people in Taney County all seem very anxious that the parties who were implicated in the murder should be punished, and it would be very hard to find a man now in Taney County who would speak in favor of mob law. Judge W.D. Hubbard’s instruction to the Grand Jury and the Interest that Governor Francis is taking in regard to the affair, and the Adjutant General and Attorney General both having been present, has given Taney County a scare, and even if no indictments are found by the Grand Jury, the effort that has been made will do wonders for Taney county in maintaining the law in the future.
CHILLICOTHE, Mo., May 9 – The flood since 1883 now prevails throughout this section. The entire Grand River Valley is flooded from the Iowa line to the Missouri River. The Wabash Railroad bridge on Grand River near this city is out of line and passenger trains do not cross it, and only a part of freights at a time. The Grand River is still rising.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. May 9 – For several days past the Missouri River has been slowly rising until it reached to 21 feet 1 ½ inches, the highest point for several years at this season of the year, and if it does not soon subside, the river will overflow.
The amount of lumber which has been delivered at Ava during the past three or four weeks proves conclusively that the building boom is not over.
ROY NEWS –– John Huff lost his dwelling house and kitchen by fire last Saturday. A.J. Bradley lost his barn by fire on the same night.
