Looking Backward
25 years ago
The Douglas County Extension Council election results netted the local council eight new council members. The new members include: Dawn Thompson, Ralph Calhoun, Jim Pitts, Henry Weller, Carl Morris, Sandy Smith, Doug Hutchison and Ray Brame.
Ava Middle School vocal music students will represent Ava at the All-District Honor Choir in Springfield this Saturday at Evangel College. They are Clint Overstreet, Shelly Brummet, Timmery Clark, Brett Sterling, Buffy Brooks, Rebecca Moore and Heather Aborn. The students are under the direction of Laura McGill.
Allie Gentry and her great-grandson, Blake, shared a birthday party Sunday afternoon for February 13 and February 24 birthdays. Sesame Street and strawberry cake were served with ice cream in the family room decorated birthday streamers and balloons.
On Saturday, Feb. 19, a surprise birthday party was hosted by Carl and Mary Goos for Carl’s father, Ralph Goos, who was 80 years old on February 10.
Mary Gibson and Denise Mitchell, Ava affiliates for United National Real Estate, have earned the company’s Master Salesman Award for sales excellence during 1993.
FOIL & CLARK –– Those visiting Russell Turner this week were Cecil and Claudi Johnson, Lela and Earnest Johnston, Bill and Louise Chandler.
NORTH SIDE NEWS –– Mr. and Mrs. Walter Eyman visited a short while Saturday with Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wallace.
BUCKHART – March birthdays are Vivian Ridenour, Vera Smith, Joyce Souder and Elane Jones.
COUNTY LINE –– Mr. and Mrs. Benny Pool and Veda Bushong went to Springfield Tuesday. We visited with Mr. and Mrs. Buck Bushong at Rogersville.
HUNTER CREEK –– Little Megan Hampton on Hunter Hill will be five years old on Friday. Megan will be able to hold up every finger on one hand finally to show her age. She will be having a cake with a train for decoration. Megan and her older brother are admirers of trains.
50 years ago
Chosen for the All-District chorus from Ava High School were Debbie Farris, Ana Duran, JoEtta Harnden, Billy Hawkins, Ed Evans, Arliss Stillings, Jeanette Rein. LuAnn Hendrix, Estella Duran and Mark Musich, band. Kenneth Wagner is high school music director.
Four young men from Ava were named to the 1968 Eagle Class at the annual Eagle Recognition event Feb. 9 in Craig Hall on the SMS campus. Named to the rank of Eagle Scout were Doug Alderman, Steve Tallent, Randy and Reggie Victor.
Chosen for the All-SCA band from Ava High School were Jim Huffman, Mark Musich, Arliss Stillings, Ana Duran, and Larry Haynes.
Mrs. Lorene Heinlein was installed as Novle Grand of Marguerite Rebekah Lodge 255 of Ava.
David Combs, 6-foot, 5-inch freshman from Bradleyville has helped Arkansas Tech to a 13-7 basketball record this season. He is the team’s second leading scorer with 19.6 point average good for fifth place in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference.
Gone are the days when women got raw, red hands from washing clothes. They now get’em from wrestling with deep-frozen food packages.
ROBERTSON –– Mr. and Mrs. Ruell Sell visited Monday with Mr. and Mrs. Claude Brown.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Huffman and his mother, Mrs. Maryline Huffman of Route 3, Ava, were special guests Sunday at a birthday dinner given in the home of the couple’s son and his family, Mr. and Mrs. Harrybill Huffman and two daughters, Cindy and Sherry, of Springfield.
50 years of unmatched leadership 1919 – 1969 –– RCA. First in 1919, Radio Corporation of America was born. First in 1924, RCA produces first superhederadyne radio; first in 1925, RCA introduces first ratio-phonograph combination. First in 1930, RCA begins development of black & white and color television. First in 1939, RCA holds first public showing of TV at New York Worlds Fair. First in 1946, RCA produces first television sets for home use. First in 1950, RCA produces one millionth TV set. First in 1953, U.S. Government adopts RCA developed compatible color TV system as national standard.
McCLURG –– Mr. and Mrs. Earl Engelhardt and son, Rickey visited Friday night with Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Dollarhide, Marshall Mitchell and son, Bob.
LONGVIEW – Mrs. Lee Russell visited in the home of Mrs. Thelma Hale one day this week.
SWEDEN –– Sunday visitors of Mr. and Mrs. Burl Loftin and family were Mr. and Mrs. Howard Gott and Brad, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Loftin and Miss Janice Loftin of Springfield.
GOODHOPE –– Miss Rosemary Halstead was a Sunday guest of Miss Shirley Sagerser.
75 years ago
West Plains high school loped to the championship of Ava’s invitation basketball tournament Saturday night by defeating Stoutland by 20 points and putting the Stoutland squad in second place. The final score was 49 to 29.
A photograph of an Ava soldier recently made Yank magazine, and a clipping of it was received by the Herald this week. It was sent here by Donald H. Hazell, signal message center, Camp Hood, Texas, who said: “Enclosing this picutre taken from a recent “Yank” magazine of one of Ava’s fighting men. I was at one time a student at the public school there, and though I was not personally acquainted with this soldier I thought it might be of interest to you.” The picutre shows Private Clarence Hutchison, son of Hays Hutchison of Goodhope community, binding the foot of a mule. the caption says: “First Aid: In Italy the mule Purple Heart Mary cracked her hoof. Here she is being taken care of by veteran mule skinner, Private Clarence Hutchison of Ava, Mo.”
Ava and about all this section of the Ozarks received a blanket of snow seven inches deep Monday – the heaviest snowfall of the winter.
Mr. and Mrs. Granville Prock of Almartha were notified Tuesday that their son, Merl Prock, gunner in the Army Air Forces, was seriously injured in a plane crash at March Field, California, where he had been located. Mr. and Mrs. Prock left Tuesday for California to go to their son.
Mr. and Mrs. O.S. Twitty announce the marriage of their daughter, Marie, to Private Wilbur Scott, son of Mr. ad Mrs. Scott, of Marshall.
LOS ANGELES –– Film comedian Charlie Chaplin and six others were indicted by a federal grand jury charging that the civil rights of Joan Barry, Chaplin’s former protege were violated.
“Babe in Arms” is a name not terrifying to us, but Japanese in the south Pacific are learning to respect the Liberator bomber bearing that name. The “Babe in Arms” is piloted by Lieutnant Willard L. Pueppke of Ava and is credited with two probable Japanese Zero kills in a raid a week ago Monday on Rabaul, New Guinea, according to a report by the Associated Press. Pueppke’s plane participated with other bombers that dropped nearly 140 tons of bombs on Tobera and Vunakanau airdromes at Raboul. The American fliers shot down twelve enemy planes and probably 15 more and destroyed or damaged eight aircraft on the ground.
PETTIT”S THEATRES –– The Sky’s The Limit, Fred Astaire in one of his swell dancing numbers. It’s a comedy with music.
BAKERSFIELD –– Walter Anderson tells his father on a recent visit to the States that bombs burst on both sides of his fox hole without awakening him.
100 Years Ago
The homecoming of Douglas County soldiers from overseas is now becoming a pleasant reality for relatives, friends and sweethearts. Nearly every train brings one of more of the boys who have taken part in the struggle in Europe. Returning soldiers from the battlefront have some great stories to tell, not only of the hard experiences of war but funny things that happened in American camps and on the way Over There. Most of these stories are indeed great –– they are realistic character sketches of typical American Negroes and white doughboys.
A movement is on foot to give a complete history of all the brave soldiers and sailors that wore the uniform and followed the Stars and Stripes to Victory, whether on the field of battle or in the training camps, including all branches of service. Mrs. G. B. Wilson, chairman of the Woman’s Division of the Council of National Defense has undertaken this immense task and it is the duty of every relative of a soldier to sailor to render every assitance possible in making the history complete, it is you duty, friend or relative of these boys, to see that he is not overlooked.
The Curnutt and Jenkins farm at Hammond, Ozark county, was sold last week to J.O. Lytle of White Deer, Texas, formerly a resident of Ava, and son of Mrs. J.W. Lytle who lives on Maple Street. Consideration $12,000.
The 187th anniversary of George Washington’s birthday is being celebrated today.
The Ava man that can “drink or leave it alone” is going to have an awful lot of encouragement after July 1st that he never had before.
After a short cold spell last week following a five-inch snow on Saturday, Feb. 8th, we are again enjoying fine spring weather.
Miss Alta James is assisting with the work at the Circuit Clerk’s office this week.
Ezra Barker of Vanzant was in the city Monday of this week. Ezra was just recently discharged from the Army.
The A.H.S. boys basketball quintet met with defeat at Mtn. Grove on Saturday night of last week when the Mtn. Grove H.S. team won a contest by a score of 50 to 43.
The A.H.S. basketball teams were defeated by Mansfield High School on the latters court on Friday night of last week. The Ava girls were defeated by a score of 23 to 3; and the boys were defeated by a score of 36 to 11.
J.E. Swegart of Tigris has been troubled of late by a dog or dogs chasing and worrying his sheep, three of them having been killed, one during daytime. This dog is a menace to the sheep industry and as there are about twenty small flocks in this neighborhood, it is high time that dogs of the above type be controlled by their owners or they will be killed on sight.
BEAVER ITEMS –– We are proud of our young friend Miss Eva Haynes who has won the box of candy at two contests, one for the best looking young lady, and one for being the most popular lady in the neighborhood.
125 Years ago
Many new farms are being opened up in Douglas County and the number of home seekers coming in suggests the setting in of a boom.
The construction of McCullough Hall of Drury College has been let for $14,000. The structure will be two stories high and used as a dormitory for girls. Fairbanks Hall being used for the boys.
Missouri ships hay to Florida.
Neosho is full of amateur “mind readers.”
The mayor of St. Joseph receives a salary of $2,400 per annum.
Bolivar will be a waterworks town before the close of the year.
Johnnie Egan is a little St. Joseph boy who has achieved a big drunk at the tender age of eight years.
A Carterville wife got her husband to sell the cow and then took the proceeds to elope with an uglier man.
Quite an usual stir among the lovers of fast horses this week over the races on Friday and Saturday at the Huffman race tracks, four miles north of Ava. The race on Friday was between the Huffman and Alsup horses and was won by Huffman. On Saturday, the Alsup horse was matched against the horse owned by Joe Hailey of near Vida, and Alsup won. Horse racing is poor business especially for the fellow that loses. Long Tom and Chas. Spurlock have matched a horse race for $100 to be run at the Huffman race tracks, Findlay township, on Monday March 12.
Professor Kyle, county commissioner of Ozark County, has been engaged to teach school in his native town, Kylesford, Hancock County, Tenn.
The first bank organized in Missouri began business in 1816. This was the Bank of St. Louis, with a capital of $100,000. It was chartered August 21, 1813, by the territorial legislature of Missouri.
NEW YORK –– An insane printer, who gave his name as John McDonald, created a sensation in the Roman Catholic Church of the Epiphany this morning, while the services were being conducted, by walking down the center aisle and removing all his clothing.
In a raid on moonshiners in Pocahontas County, W. Va., two moonshiners and two deputy marshals were killed.
The Mississippi River near Memphis Tenn., is changing its current and much good land will be ruined.
James Robinson was fined $300 and sentenced to 60 days in jail, and Charles Williams $300 and 90 days in jail for selling beer in Emporia, Kan.
How To Kill Your Town –– If you are a farmer curse the town in which you trade. Talk this to your neighbors, make them think the businessmen are robbers and thieves. It will make your property much less valuable, but then you don’t care.
Four tramps burglarized the store of Reynolds Bros. of Mansfield on Saturday night. The thieves helped themselves to a lot of clothing and tobacco and cigars. The officers found them in a steep hollow southwest of Mansfield not far from the railroad track. They had thrown away their old clothes and donned the new goods.
