Stories from Saturday, November 17, 2007

Hi neighbors. Do you have your turkey-day plans all made? All the guests invited? Turkey already bought? Maybe you plan on buying or renting a huge television for the big afternoon football game. Better dig out the cots and air mattresses and crack open the futons for the over-nighters. Locate the big coffee pot. Go to the basement and collect the crock pots, pie pans and big kettles for making noodles...

Our daughter Jessica sent me word of an article on CCN.com. "Ten dogs that changed the world," which at first glance I mistook for the title of John Reed's famous 1920's reporting classic, "Ten Days that Shook the World," and thus interesting to me, turned out to be, instead, a listing of famous dogs in world history, by Canadian professor of Psychology Dr. Stanley Coren. Part 1, or those who ranked 10-6, in reverse order appeared last week. Here's the rest of the list:...

Dr. Carol Penny Holman (ne. O'Lear), of Nevada, died Monday, Nov. 12.  Born in Passaic, N.J., Penny lived in Mahwah, N.J., before beginning graduate studies at Syracuse University where she met and married her husband Dr. Loyd Bruce Holman. She is survived by her husband, and their son Dr. Alexander Holman, his wife Emily, and their son Liam.  Penny was sister to Linda and Bill Dator, and aunt of Lisa, Rebecca and Will...

Vicky A. Smith, 42, Nevada, died suddenly on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007. She was born July 9, 1965, in. Nevada, to Floyd Dwayne Fahnestock and Betty A. Buckner Fahnestock. Vicky grew up in Nevada and graduated from high school here. She worked for Key Work Clothes for 20 years and had worked for Vain Merchandisers in Fort Scott, Kan., this past year. She attended Crowder College in Nevada for two years. Vicky was a member of the First Baptist Church in Pineville, Mo...

Frances "Maxine" Klewien, 92, Nevada, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007, at Freeman Health System West Joplin, Mo., following a brief illness. She was born Oct. 10, 1915, in Fort Scott, Kan., to Ezekial John Boring and Allie Viola Ricketts Boring. She married Wilford Edwin Streich on Oct. 9, 1943, in Fort Scott. and he preceded her in death on Nov. 9, 1963. She later married Fancy Klewien on Feb. 26, 1965, and he also preceded her in death...

Lawrence F. "Jr." Groves, 79, Grandview, Mo., passed away Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, at Research Medical Center, Kansas City, Mo. He was born March 20, 1928, in Kansas City Kan., to Lawrence and Josephine Johnston Groves. "Jr." was a school bus driver in Nevada, for six years prior to moving to the Kansas City area in 1983. He was a security officer for Unity Village until his retirement in 1991. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and especially dancing...

Announcement is made of the engagement of Misty Rae Voigt to Travis Keith Anderson. The couple plans to be married Feb. 22, 2008, at the Cornerstone Baptist Church, Nevada. Parents of the couple are David and Ethel Voigt, of Nevada, Keith Anderson, of Nevada, and the late Lisa Tyler...

Roy Lee Dawson and Bettie Jean Streich were married on Nov. 29, 1947, at the home of the Rev. Pliney Elliott, in Nevada, Mo. The Rev. Elliott was the minister of the First Christian Church. Roy and Bettie Dawson were both born and reared in Vernon County and have lived in the county all their lives. They are lifelong farmers in the Rinehart area and belong to the Rinehart Christian Church...

Nevada, Mo. -- A lot of family, big dinner and turkey -- these are the things American Thanksgiving is known for to foreigners. This is the image of the holiday created nowadays by media news, Hollywood movies and English textbooks all around the world...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- To help improve recent lower-than-normal passing rates on certification exams and to lessen the burden on students in the Fort Scott Community College Nursing Program, the FSCC Board of Trustees plans to consider revising the existing program...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- As she has for years, a Fort Scott woman is giving up the comforts of a cozy Thanksgiving dinner at home with her family to host a heartwarming event that includes community members from all walks of life. Local resident Marjorie Schwalm will host a Community Thanksgiving Dinner free of charge to the public beginning at 11:30 a.m. and concluding at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 22, at the Elks Lodge, 111 W. 19, in Fort Scott...

The snow falls lightly on the streets. Christmas tree lights twinkle through frosted windows. Everyone is snug in their warm homes with their families, awaiting the morning light. Almost everyone. While the holidays are a time for family togetherness, many families across southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri will experience a holiday season away from a family member serving overseas...

Once upon a time, there was a boy in Lamar who dreamt of great and lofty things. He was forever putting himself in different costumes and acting as the hero of whatever scene he was playing. Then one day, his folks took him to Washington, D.C. where they visited the U.S. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- New Supreme Court of Missouri Judge Patricia Breckenridge took her oath of office during a 2:30 p.m. ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 14. Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith presided over the formal ceremony in the Supreme Court's en banc courtroom in Jefferson City...

Nevada, Mo. -- Tom and Tricia Peelen have been contracted Butterball turkey farmers for more than 10 years. Butterball, headquartered in Mount Olive, N.C. has several plants including one in Carthage, Mo., which holds about 120 contracted farmers in Missouri alone...

The 2007 firearm deer season that opened on Nov. 10 marked the 60th year that Missourians had the opportunity to hunt deer. Prior to that time, the state deer herd was in poor shape. In 1944, the first modern day season opened and from that two-day-bucks only season we now have an 11-day November firearm season plus a youth portion, Urban counties portion, muzzleloader portion, antlerless portion and then there is the long archery season that runs through Jan. 15, 2008...

ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The Kansas Jayhawk Community College conference named 15 members of Fort Scott Community College's football team to its All-Conference Team earlier this week. Fort Scott, currently 9-2 with a trip to the Valley of the Sun Bowl in Phoenix, Ariz., coming up Dec. 1, finished as the runner-up in both conference play and in the Region VI Playoffs. Butler, of El Dorado, Kan., won both titles and gave the Greyhounds their only two losses on the field this season...

NEVADA, Mo. -- Nevada and Vernon County high school-aged baseball players will have an opportunity to play for a local team again next summer. Nevada plans to field two American Legion teams -- one for players 19-and-under and another for 17-and-under...

When my colleague at Fort Scott made the suggestion that Nevada explore the possibility of joining up with the SEK conference, it is something Nevada athletic director Kevin McKinley had already thought about. One important reason Missouri and Kansas schools can't join hands is that both practice and games open at an earlier date in Missouri...