50 years ago
July 18, 1973
Cassville Truss Co., owned by Richard Hackett, this week observes its first year of operation. Builders of construction roof trusses and walls, the plant is located on County Farm Road in Cassville. Items constructed here are marketed over a wide area.
— Mrs. Rosemary Curry of Eagle Rock has been named office supervisor for Dr. Mary Merideth of Cassville. Mrs. Curry replaces Mrs. Viva Pennel, whose family has moved to Oklahoma.
— Strother’s Upholstery of Cassville has moved from County Farm Road to the Able 2 Products building, formerly the Pet Milk building here. Ron Strothers, business owner, says further operations will be from the new location.
— Summer camp football practice for senior high CHS Wildcats will conclude next Tuesday according to Coach Ron Cole. The two-week season has attracted 50 hopefuls during recent hot weather. Junior high football program Wildcats started their summer camp Monday night with 30 enrolled according to Coaches J. D. House and Hen Head. Cole and his staff, Charles Pitts and Danny Lynch, assisted by a former wildcat, Greg Turner, will release their charges next week for a brief holiday that will end with the official start of the season on August 15. On this date, two-a-day sessions will be held with the first three consisting of wearing helmets only. Missouri rules prohibit other equipment during the first three days. All the workouts are in preparation for the Saturday night opening on September 15 with the Berryville, Arkansas Bobcats here on the CHS athletic field.
40 years ago
July 20, 1983
— Mr. and Mr. Thayne Wright, formerly of Loti, Kansas, are the new owners of Eagle Rock Cafe. They purchased the lake community business from Mr. and Mrs. George Jeffrey. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have assumed operation of the business. The Jeffreys will remain in this area. Sale of the property was handled by Ozarks Realty, Alrene Phippenny and Bill Maloney, sales representatives.
— Pair Road Projects Benefit State Park the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department has announced a pair of projects that will benefit Roaring River State Park. Work will be directed by Joseph Mickes, district highway engineer. Both are on Route F both in and to the east of the park. First of the planned programs is grading and placement of a 22-foot wide bituminous pavement On one-quarter of a mile located one mile east of Route 112. The project will include removal of an S-curve in the vicinity of Camp Smokey in the park. Mickes said District Seven personnel were also involved in a project on Route F in the Off-Davis Hollow area to replace a low-water crossing that is often closed to traffic during high water times. This project, expected to cost $635,000 for the rightof- way and construction of a box culvert, will make the area passable during all weather. The district engineer said this project would be scheduled for the spring of 1984 with appraisals and acquiring needed land underway at this time.
— Mr. and Mrs. Fred Arning of Plattsburg, Mo., and Mr. and Mrs. Gene D. Hughey of Tulsa, Okla., have purchased the property of Mrs. Deloris Hutchens at Hilltop. Future operations of the property will be under Arning-Hughey Industries, Inc. The property consists of four acres and a number of business buildings.
— Eagle Rock, Golden, Mano volunteer fire fighters have a new piece of equipment to add to their efforts to protect service area property. The pumper was purchased recently from the city of Shrewbury, Mo. Stationed at Golden, the second department pumper, was purchased with funds raised by the Golden Circle Shores Association. Looking over the newly acquired equipment are members of the lake community group during a recent open house and annual meeting last Sunday at Eagle Rock. The new equipment joins five other fire fighting vehicles the department has made available throughout the years.
30 years ago
July 14, 1993
It’s pretty easy for Fern and Loren Lowe to smile about their flood ordeal last week. Smiles are pretty frequent when they tell their story because the problem is over. But, about 5:30 a.m. July 6 the situation was different. That’s when the Lowes woke with about two feet of water in their home and the dwelling surrounded by swift current. They knew they couldn’t get out of the home and to dry ground by themselves. Fortunately, their telephone was still working and their called a son, Junior Lowe. He in turn contacted a friend, Jim Hilburn, who has access to a Flat Creek district road grader. Using an alternate route other than Route Y down Flat Creek, the two men reached the flooded home in the Merl’s Chapel community. They quickly accessed the area by a road that runs between the home and the Merl’s Chapel church. Driving up to the back door they loaded the couple on the machine and started to back out of the yard. The heavy grader stuck hard in the soft yard and there were four people on the machine, strand-ed. The Lowes recall all this time the water was rising and becoming swifter. They knew there would be no way two people of their seniority could make it through the swift water, even with help from their rescuers. As their exciting moments reached the level of others that were facing problems about this time, Johnny Berry of Cassville was in the area to check on a farm tractor he had been using to bale hay in the area. He discovered his equipment in a field where the water was about chest deep. Wading to the machine he got it started and headed down the side road to the area of the Lowe home. Managing to get the tractor alongside the grader, Berry loaded two at a time, takin Mr. and Mrs. Lowe first, in the front-end bucket of the machine and hoisting them above the water and driving to safety. He repeated the maneuver to get Lowe and Hilburn off the grader. When waters receded at the old Quaker school location, there were deep ruts in the back yard where the grader had stuck. The Lowe garden was gone. There was silt in their home. All their furniture and many other possessions were in a large over-the-road trailer they had been given to store the items. Large fans were at both ends of the unit in an attempt to dry some of the furniture. Lost in the flood were a car and a truck which had been totaled by insurance companies. One thing the Lowes hadn’t lost in the flood were their lives and their thankful attitude to God for their being saved and for the family and friends who came to their rescue. Now they can smile about some of the incidents involved in the ordeal.
— Three undergraduate degrees at the University of Missouri-Columbia went to Barry Countians during May. They were among 3,100 receiving degrees in the commencement. Graduating were the following: Keats A. Quinalty of Cassville, bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering; Robin L. Higgs, Wheaton, bachelor of science agricultural mechanization and De Anna England of Purdy, bachelor of science in hotel-restaurant management.
— General Charles A. Horner, Commander in Chief, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)/ United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) and Commander, Air Force Space Command (AFSPACECOM) honored Major Bruce Mitchell and Capt. Thomas DiSilverio, co-winners of the 1992 John L. Piotrowski Operational Art of Space Warfare Essay Contest, in a brief ceremony held recently at Peterson Air Force Base. The Piotrowski Essay contest was organized in 1990 to encourage officers, enlisted personnel, and government civil service professionals to study, analyze, and write about an aspect of space and the contribution of space forces to war at the operational level. The contest is open to all personnel assigned to United States Space Command, its subordinate commands Army, Naval and Air Force Space Commands), and all the Service Professional Military Schools. Major Mitchell’s and Capt. DiSilverio’s winning essay, “Challenge of Military Space Leadership: Bringing Space Magic to Battlefield”, was chosen from 60 entries. Mitchell and DiSilverio, personal friends, are reserve officers assigned to the Air Force Intelligence Command. The essay contest is sponsored by the local Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. Mitchell, a Cassville native is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Mitchell. He is a senior engineer with Loral Command Control Systems in Colorado Springs, Co. He is a CHS graduate and 1975 graduate with the U. S. Air Force Academy. He currently is program director for Loral’s involvements in a new ballistic missile defense system under development by the United States. The grandson of Mrs. Kathryn Mitchell of Cassville has been associated with space industries since resigning his regular Air Force commission in 1982. He joined Martin-Marietta for two years and has been with Ford Motor Co. Aerospace and Loral the past nine years.
— Cassville Chamber of Commerce will host ribbon cutting ceremonies for two new business members, according to Sonja Chasten, secretary. Friday, 10 a.m. the event will be at Hardee’s and July 20 at Eighth Street Deli. All members are encouraged to attend.
