Features

The most exciting tourism news of 2022 was celebrated in September, when the KISS Rebreathers Dive Team was honored for making Roaring River Spring the deepest explored spring cave in the United States.

The Cassville area is well-known for its agriculture, and along with the successes of the FFA program last year, some regional ag leaders changed, and reports of wastewater residual use on county farms became an ongoing discussion.

A busy year in the education realm saw the Cassville school district begin a new program and float a bond issue for a performing arts center, Wheaton break ground on a tornado shelter, Crowder Cassville change its director, and more.

It could be called the year of retirements. Two county leaders and one community leader hung up their hats last year. Beyond that, the Barry County E9-1-1 Center was awarded for its excellence and a local organization continued working with Dress a Girl Around the World.

The year in health news focused largely on the mental side, with a new sensory room helping students at Cassville schools, life Change celebrating a year of its ministry and the Arc of the Ozarks acquiring TheraCare.

The KISS Rebreathers dive team has already made history at Roaring River State Park by diving 472 feet into the spring cave, and during their journeys into the abyss, they may have returned with a new type of crustacean.

What does it take to manage 4,294 acres of land? As Roaring River State Park’s natural resource ecologist, that is the question Taylor Steinfeldt, 27, is tasked with answering every day.

Stranded on Highway 76 with a broken-down vehicle, Kyle Campbell did not know what his life held next. An outcome he didn’t expect is his station now — tying fishing flies for a living live on TikTok.

The Roaring River Nature Center has seen change stream in over the last year, with a new naturalist at its helm, new displays in its building and some new events aiming to attract park-goers.

Hiking down an old logging road and following a creek, Tammy and Dan Hamm found an area where bluffs carved over countless years shadow the water and provide a place of serenity in a heavily wooded landscape.