Menu
Off to the races!
The Children’s Center hosted their fifth annual mouse race fundraiser this past Saturday at the Nevada Elk’s Lodge No. 564.
“It was a record-setting night all the way around,” Cindy Wyant, forensic interviewer, said. “I am speechless to the way this community rallied around this. It was amazing.”
A capacity crowd in the hundreds turned out Saturday night for an evening of mouse racing, mouse roulette, dinner along with a silent and live auction.
The crowd cheered on mice with names like Julius Cheeser, Kit. E. Bait, Snowflake and Nacho Mouse. The grand champion race at the end of the night came down to Last Resort, Granite Guru, Cat Bait, Go Big Red, Mark and Ricky Bobby.
In between mouse races, the crowd could play mouse roulette. Pick and a number and if the mouse exited the slowly spinning wheel on your number, you won.
Halfway through the evening, Adam Ashby conducted the live auction with items ranging from cosmetics to Yeti coolers. A crisp $100 bill was auctioned off for a mere $250.
Perhaps the most touching moment of the evening came when Chad Spangler donated back the Yeti cooler he had won earlier in the evening so that it could be auctioned off. Michelle Ast won the bidding war against Melanie Boyd with a winning bid of $3,100.
In total, the live auction alone raised an estimated $20,000.
The races themselves were organized and ran by John Dold and Wheeling n’ Dealing Casino Parties from Kansas City.
Jeani and Kent Longstreth and friends cooked a barbecue dinner, and a cookie bar and hors-d’oeuvres were featured later in the evening.
Event sponsors included Ferry Funeral Home, Jason Bond Channel Seed, Dusty’s Air Service, Nevada Regional Medical Center, Brian and Sonya Haller, Nu-Way Construction, Bob and Cindy Thompson, Rob and Susan Barrett, White Grill, Heritage State Bank, Hughes Family Farms, Curtis and Sons Realty, Deanna Francis Tax Service, Kelly Ast Trucking, Tom Hissink and Claire Hooe - Edward Jones, Designs by Dunk, Nevada Family Dentistry, Murphy Family Ventures, Countryside Animal Hospital, Runyan and Blessent, 54 Feed and Seed, David Diggins, Deerfield Cattle Company, Thompson-Moore Insurance Agency, Farmers AG, First National Bank, Aaron Arlington Gateway Mortgage Group, KNEM/KNMO, Foster Insurance Agency, Reed Farms, Missouri Eagle LLC, Precision Machined Parts Inc. and Terrance Gilmore and Breanna Jenkins
Mouse sponsors included 4T Rentals, Fugate Motors, Jessica Bland - Farmers Insurance, Neal and Norma Quitno, Ed and Connie Oyer, Heritage State Bank, Cash’s Quality Electric, Kitchen Center, MMR Recycling, Curtis and Sons Inc., Chipper and Janet Cullison, Rob and Susan Barrett, Bob and Cindy Thompson, Will and Amy Downing, A&B Cattle Company, No Fear Jack Spangler Memorial, White Grill, Deanna Francis Tax Service, Ering and Hoberock Law Firm, Brandon Fisher, Judith Pope, Jarod and Jill Walrod, Missouri Eagle, Murphy Family Ventures, McFadden Land and Title, Ron and Judy Herstein, Doug and Chris Stiles, Griggs Trucking, James Lyen, Great Southern Bank, Runyan and Blessent, David and Joni Klump, Morrison-Post Insurance, 54 Vet Clinic, Dusty’s Air Service, Jason Bond Channel Seed, Hughes Family Farms, Vernon County Ready Mix, Kevin and Sue Bond, Emery’s Truckstop, Missouri Eagle, Countryside Animal Hospital, Doug and Rene Oyer, Helms Permit Agency, Chiggers Convenience Store, Nevada Auto Mall, Nu-Way Construction, Tom Hissink and Claire Hooe – Edward Jones, Rex Kutina, Conner’s Auto Repair, Joe and Kelly Hardin, Nick Swischer, HM and Terry Logan, Smithfield Hog Production, Bob and Leona Walrod, Sue and Pat Renwick, Jay and Jessica Slonicker, Mr. D’s Smokeshop, Vernon County Movers, Selsor Construction and Roofing, The Tillmans, Tom Bousfield, Renwick Insurance Agency, Griggs Trucking, Dr. Steve and Barbara Long, Nevada Family Dentistry, Erwin Construction, Jamo Bond, Midwest Fertilizer – Deerfield, Loretta Rapp-Percy, Martin and Jenet Hill, Kelly Ast Trucking LLC, Santa Paula Awning Co. LLC.
Children’s Center offered special thanks to Mike and Ann Kelley, JJ Curtis, Nevada Elks, Henry Kraft, Missouri Eagle LLC, Kent and Jeani Longstreth, Chris and Kevin Pettibon, Thane and Sandie Ricketts, Ron and Mel Smith, Sonic, Walmart, Mark Mendenhall, LCN Graphics LLC, Jill Hartgrave, Sue Renwick, Helen Dahmer, Mike Wyant, Jody Norcross and Dale Leisure, Vernon County Child Advocacy Council, Ray’s Trophies and Awards and all of their volunteers.
The not-for-profit Children’s Center in Nevada serves the four-county 28th circuit and provided services to more than 130 children in 2017. They interview and examine children that have been the victims of alleged physical or sexual abuse, neglect, or who have witnessed a crime. Rather than being re-traumatized by having to go to multiple places — the hospital, children’s division, the juvenile office, police station — a multi-disciplinary team conducts a forensic interview of each child, collects relevant physical evidence and administers a wellness exam all in a quiet, child-friendly environment.
According to the Children’s Center website at http://www.childrens-center.org/, they have served more than 11,000 children in 12 counties in southwest Missouri since opening in 1997. They have locations in Joplin, Nevada, Butler and Monett.