News For the Week of September 25, 2013

Fall has arrived and the chilly nights with it. Bob is enjoying the cooler weather for sure. My flowers actually look better in the fall than any other time. I guess they like the cooler weather too. The hummingbirds have increased in number also, guess they are tanking up for their long flight south.

Deanna and Vic Badovinatz really raised a bumper crop of Cushaw squash this year. Deanna said she got the seeds from her good friend, Mary Lou McKillip, who spends part of the year living in this area. I have never tried one but Bob said when he was young Wanda Maggard raised them and made wonderful pies from them. She always remembered Bob liked them and made him one. Carol (Sartin) Contreras said her mom used to always use them in place of pumpkin and they had a milder taste. I can't wait to make a pie or two out of one.

Sympathy goes out to the family of Harley Hughey who passed away last week. Family was the most important thing in Harley's life and we know his family will miss their PaPa sorely. His services were Tuesday at Whelchel Chapel at Forsyth.

I know several in the area went to Conway to the Starvy Creek Bluegrass Festival last weekend and I heard it was fantastic. Bob Hammons and Wildwood played there on Friday and Saturday. We were planning to go this year but Bob and I both came down with a little bug of some kind and just didn't feel like going. Got big plans for next year though.

Kay Whittaker, Melanie Whittaker, Fay Gerdes and Danita Frazier all got together last weekend and made a trip to Eureka Springs and attended the Great Passion Play.

Mike and Nancy Howie and their family went camping over the weekend and had a great time. It was a great time to camp and have a nice big fire to gather around.

The Bradleyville Jr. High girls basketball team won first place in the Taneyville Tournament last week. The boys will be playing in a tournament at Bradleyville this week. Volleyball will be at Chadwick on Thursday, September 26. I haven't been to a ballgame yet this year so I don't have a schedule of the games.

The Bradleyville Church of the Nazarene will be having the  Hunsaker Family come to sing for them next Sunday night, September 29. They are going to have dinner starting around 4:30 and singing from 6:00-7:00. Everybody is welcome.

I missed an anniversary that should have been in last week's paper. Ryan and Laura Melton celebrated seven years of marriage on September 23. Ryan surprised Laura with a beautiful cedar chest that he made himself.

Birthdays for the coming week include: September 26: Tyler Clemans, Lisa Rogers,Laverne Swadley; September 27: Randy Case, Sara Hauck; September 28: Jack Clemans, Lauren Gross, Pete Kallstrom, Levi Lux; September 29: Austin Koenig; October 1: Dylan Rogers; October 2: Connie Haes.

Anniversaries for the coming week include: September 27: Mike and Gayle Wright; September 29: Walt and Lisa Rogers; October 1: Jim and Debbie Burke.

News For the Week of September 18, 2013

I am looking out the window, enjoying the nice rain we are getting as I write this. Early morning we had thunder and lightning, or should I say lightning and thunder since the lightning must come first. I put off plugging the computer in until the last moment after looking on the TV radar and hoping there wasn't any more lightning close. I have had two computers fried by lightning so I am skittish about having it plugged in while it is stormy. Last time I heard the pop of the computer being blown out before I heard the thunder. Before you call me, I have heard of surge protectors, both computers were plugged into one when they got hit. We live at the end of a line and it seems like we get more than our share of lightning strikes. I guess it has to go out at the end. We have had countless phones fried by lightning and a couple blown completely off the wall. So I try to play it safe and unplug my computer every night before I go to bed, and any time I hear it thunder or think it might thunder.

Seems there has been an epidemic of dead batteries recently. Danielle Crouch was telling me about last week she was going to her car after college classes at Hollister and a friend of hers asked her if she had any jumper cables. Danielle told her she didn't have any and got in her car and her battery was dead also. Some of Danielle's dad's co-workers were nearby and came and jumped the batteries for Danielle and Cheyenne Winkle. I know they were grateful for the help. Then last Thursday I was at the church cleaning and I did leave my car turned on while I was cleaning out the flower beds so I could hear some music while working, then turned the car off and took my keys and went inside the church. After a couple of hours in the church I tried to leave and my battery was dead. After a few phone calls my daughter Alicia came and jumped my battery for me. I think both girls had left their lights on and run their batteries down. I thought listening to the radio had killed mine and it probably didn't do it any good, but Bob had it tested later and it was just old and dead, so a new battery took care of my problem.

James and Crystal Marsh had a table wedding shower at New Mansion Church last Sunday and received many nice and useful gifts. James and Crystal were married in July on the family vacation in Florida.

Not much going on, let me know if you have something for the paper. Everybody have a wonderful week.

Birthdays for the coming week include: September 19: Derek Blair, Larry Ross; September 20: Brooke McHaffie, Lorrinda Coulter; September 21: Ethel West; September 22: Kevin Grzybowski, Raymond Johnson; September 23: Bryan Boyd, Elizabeth Burns, Loretta Stiles; September 24: Gavin Lux; September 25: Lexy Matthews.

Anniversaries for the coming week include: September 22: Jim and Glenda Day.

News For the Week of September 11, 2013

The walnut trees are turning yellow and some of the sumac is turning also so it won't be long before the timber is coloring up nicely. I enjoy the hot weather and trips to the lake but the bugs and snakes have been so terrible around our house this year that I will be glad when it gets cold enough that they all go away for awhile. I know Bob and everyone that works outside is probably looking forward to cooler weather.

We still have a few hummingbirds buzzing around our feeders but no more or less than we've had all summer. The past few years I have counted up to twenty or more around each of my feeders but this year there have only been one or two at each spot. I don't know what the difference has been but I hope the numbers come up next year. I love to watch them zooming around and battling for a place.

Scott and Julie Lawson and their children spent last weekend camping. Garrett had a ball swimming and kept Scott and Julie busy taking turns swimming with him. We drove down and spent a few hours with them on Saturday afternoon and took our turns swimming with Garrett or staying with the twins. It was a very pleasant visit.

Kim Norwine had a birthday last week and I heard she was surprised with a birthday party with her family at her sister Beth House's home. Her girls ordered her a special cake from Sue Deroo and from the looks of it on facebook they all had a great time.

Congratulations to Dustin Gross and Whitney Sharp on the birth of their daughter, Madelyn Victoria. Madelyn was seven weeks premature and is having to spend some time in NICU. Dustin says she is doing very well so we hope and pray it won't be long before she gets to come home. Madelyn weighed 5.5 pounds and was 19 inches long, and is a beautiful baby that looks a lot like her daddy.

I ran into Carolyn Hunsaker while I was in town the other day and we had a good visit. I hadn't seen her in a while and we really had some catching up to do. We really need to get together more often because I think we could talk for hours once we start.

Volleyball and Jr. High Basketball is underway and I haven't been to any games but I've heard both the girls and boys basketball teams have won a few games. I heard the volleyball girls are doing a good job but don't know if they have won or lost any games.   I hope to get to see a few games before they end in October.

Birthdays for the coming week includes: September 12: Billy Beasley, David Burkhart, Hannah Cook, Justin Day, Lois Lux; September 13: Liz Dillard, Mike Smith; September 15: Irene Norton; September 16: Novella Knight, Joe Sartin, Melanie Whittaker; September 18: Cameron Clark, Avery Maggard, Angela Shockey.

Anniversaries for the coming week includes: September 12: James and Emily Reed;  September 17: John and Echo Combs, Noel and Cletis Shortt; September 18: Darrin and Myka Hurst.

News For the Week of August 21, 2013

I hope everyone has been enjoying the wonderful weather as much as I have the past couple of weeks. I finally got my jungle of a yard mowed and twelve jars of green beans canned. I've always liked hot weather better but am learning to appreciate all the seasons. Might as well, I don't plan on moving and have to take whatever the day brings.

While I was weed-eating I came across a little copperhead. It makes the sixth snake we've seen in the yard this year. The others were garden snakes, one black snake and a hog nosed snake but all of them made me move faster than I thought was possible.

Shirley and Jackie Hall had their grandsons, Dryden, Caleb and Seth with them for several weeks this summer. They all enjoyed being together and everyone enjoyed the stories Shirley put on facebook about what the boys had said or where they went. They spent a lot of time with their Aunt Taneesa also. The boys went home to St. Louis right before school started. Shirley has retired after 32 years of teaching at Bradleyville School. She is staying busy with projects that she says has accumulated for all that time. Shirley was everybody's favorite teacher and will be missed by everyone at school.

Tipton and Riley Scott have been spending time with their grandmas, Lois Lux and Sheila Braden this summer before they had to go back home to Texas and start school. Lois and Sheila took the boys halfway home and   met the boy's parents, Joe and Kim Scott in Oklahoma last weekend and had lunch before coming back.

Helen Maggard told me that her grandson, Isaac Henning and my grandson, Hayden Crouch spent three days together at her house before school started for the year. One day they took a live trap down to Ruth Hodges' house and trapped a possum that had been a nuisance and took it out of range of Ruth's house somewhere and turned it loose. I hope they didn't turn it loose close to my house because we have an overabundance of them already.

Helen also mentioned that Jerry and Sherry Henning spent two weeks on vacation out west this year also. They went to Seattle and while there rode the Seattle Great Wheel, saw Mt. Rainier and rode the  gondola to the top of Crystal Mt. and also spent some time in Selah,Washington seeing some of Jerry's relatives and attending a family reunion while there. I saw a picture on facebook where they were standing around a huge tree in the Grove of the Patriarchs which consist of massive hemlock trees, cedar trees and Douglas fir trees.

Scott and Julie Lawson celebrated their five year anniversary last Friday night by going out to eat and then they climbed on some kind of ride/thrower that pulled them back like a rubber band and then threw them into the air. I got to babysit Garrett, Emmett and Makenna while they were out. The next day on Saturday they took Garrett to Silver Dollar City and spent the day and I got to babysit the twins again. While they were at the City, they saw several friends that had the same idea, Cindy, Kambria and Arica Todd, and also Brooke and Dustin McHaffie with their kids, Taylor, Trent, Dawson and Sawyer. Arica told me at church Sunday that she really had a good time.

Birthdays for the coming week include: August 23: Emily Todd, Sissy Essary; August 24: Jeff Marsh; August 25: Heath Dalton, Janessa Hall, McKenna Hunsaker; August 26: Nancy Howie; August 28: Vicki Burkhart.

Anniversaries for the coming week include: August 26: Tom and Leah Schultz, Rodney and Gina Swift.

News For the Week of August 14, 2013

Hello from around Bradleyville. It has been so long since I have written anything for the paper. I may have forgotten how but I'll try to jump back into the habit.

Part of the reason I have been neglecting to write anything is the new twins in our family, of course. I guess they aren't so new anymore but they are only three months old and that is still pretty new in the scheme of things. The twins live almost next door to me so I get to see them a lot and when I am involved with Emmett and Makenna, every other thought I might have just leaves.

Emmett and Makenna are doing very well and growing like weeds. Both babies came home with apnea monitors that kept track of their breathing and heart rates. Emmett got to go off of his monitor last week and we expect that Makenna will be off of hers this week.  Most of the alerts the babies got were only for low battery or loose wires but they both had a few real alerts. We are thankful for the monitors that gives a certain peace of mind knowing that they will alert you should the baby have trouble breathing or have a heart rate drop.

Along with the twins I have a beautiful new great-granddaughter named Avery Lynne Laughlin that was born  to my oldest grandson and his wife, Kyle and Kassidi Laughlin. I'm hoping I get to do a little babysitting for her while Kassidi finishes up some schooling this year.

School will be starting this week and I want to remind everyone to watch out for the bus stops. They are hard to remember and I appreciate the bright orange flags that MoDot puts out to help catch our attention.

New Mansion Church recently gave out school supplies to the kids at church that Sunday morning. I know other churches and booster clubs in the area do the same thing. School clothes and supplies are so expensive I know the kids and parents really appreciate any help.

While I was going back and forth to Springfield this spring and early summer I was trying to garden also. I shouldn't have even bothered this year, I guess, with everything that was going on, but Bob plowed up my garden space and tilled it for me and I just couldn't resist trying. So in between going back and forth to Springfield, sometime in June I  threw some beans in the ground, actually six rows of bush beans and four short rows of pole beans, plus four short rows of corn. Thanks to all the rain we have had, I may be canning beans later this week. The pole beans have really grown, all the way to the top of the supports and are reaching for the sky. Makes me feel a little like Jack and his beanstalk. Now if I could just climb them and find a pot of gold at the top. The corn is short, but it is a super sweet variety and it grows short anyway. It is producing ears, so we might have some good homegrown corn yet.

Everybody has taken a vacation this summer it seems like. Most seems to have gone to the beach, mostly in Florida, but a few have traveled west for a different kind of vacation.

Teresa Stafford and her kids, Levi, Shiann and Axel traveled to Washington State and visited with Amber Duff, a friend Teresa went to high school with. They got to see the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach. Teresa said it was cold at the beach but was fun anyway. They traveled back through Montana and saw the sights through that part of the country.

David and Teresa Koenig and their family also went on vacation out west recently. They went to Seattle, Washington and  along the way there or back they saw the Badlands, Devils Tower, Crater Lake, and Rocky Mountain National Park just to name a few of the places. I saw pictures on facebook and it looked like they had a fantastic time. Corby Lux filled in for David at Lone Star Church while they were vacationing.

Corby and Lisa Lux along with their two boys Gavin and Levi took a vacation in eastern central Missouri close to Ironton and Farmington where they did a lot of hiking in the Elephant Rocks State Park, Taum Sauk Mountain State Park and the Johnson Shut-Ins.

Birthdays for the coming week include: August 14: Joyce Adams, Larry Clark, Sara Cook,

Roger Hodges, Bonnie Hurst, Danny Williams; August 15: Donna Blair, Ally Swift; August 16: Sue Birdsong, Teresa Koenig, Joe Sartin; August 17: Rachel Cook, Micah Dayne Howie; August 18: Weezie Butler; August 19: C.G. Paul; August 20: Glee Club, Karen Combs, Sara Nash; August 21: Marnie Rentfro.

Anniversaries for the coming week include: August 16: Scott and Julie Lawson; August 17: Gerald and Karla Yeary; August 18: Bill and Melba Austin.

News For the Week of May 29, 2013

May is my favorite month of the year and I always say it is because the temperature is just right, it is so lush and green and it smells so good from all the flowers blooming. My yard is full of fragrant flowers right now. Pink peonies, white peonies, old fashioned bright pink roses and old fashioned light pink roses and many different colors of iris. They all smell wonderful. I also have a couple of the multiflora rose bushes in my yard that is the bane of all farmers everywhere because they are so invasive, but my, they smell so good. The hummingbirds love the flowers too. They have been pretty much ignoring my feeders the last week or so. Once in a while I see a few but I think they must prefer the flower's nectar when it is available.

Hercules Church has added on to their church to enlarge the sanctuary and add classrooms and will have a Dedication and Celebration Service on Sunday, June 2. The special service will start that morning at 10:30 with a potluck dinner on the grounds following, and an open house. Everybody is welcome to come see all the changes and to celebrate with the church.

Bob and I made the rounds to decorate graves last Sunday afternoon and we always run into someone we know. We passed Exie and Jessie Case as we were going up the road to the Garrison Cemetery but didn't get to visit any with them. We did get to visit a while with Doug and Kay Morgan while at the Patterson Cemetery and then visited a little with Deanna Badovinatz and Ginny Clayton as we were leaving. Ginny was joining Deanna and her family for a bite to eat before they went to different cemeteries. The cemeteries really looked pretty with all the new flowers decorating the graves.

Birthdays for the coming week include: May 30: Ashton Judd, Kristen Maggard, Louis Letendre; May 31: Hildred Knight, Ginger Sloan; June 1: Bob Birdsong, Eddie Combs, Roy Combs, Kambria Todd; June 2: Devon Hankins, Caseigh Hodges, Ben Rogers; June 3: Tim Blair; June 4: Lynn Gott, Robyn Whittaker, Jeffrey Shockey.

Anniversaries for the coming week include: May 30: Jerry and Sherry Henning; June 2: Jerry and Pam Herd; June 3: Randy and Joyce Adams, Jack and Stacey Clemans; June 4: David and Teresa Koenig; June 5: Corby and Lisa Lux.

News For the Week of July 3, 2013

Beautiful weather for the last of June and first part of July. It is really nice for those that have to work outside. The birds were singing this morning like it was early spring so I think they must enjoy the cooler weather also.

The storms the past week caused some damage in different places. We had no damage here but the winds blew a couple of trees down at Robert and Dee Hammons place. One tree fell on the corner of their house where their bedroom is located and another tree fell on a shed behind the house, falling on their boat also.

Some good news for our family is that Emmett Lawson got to come out of the hospital where he has been in NICU since his birth seven weeks ago. Twin sister Makenna is expected to follow him home in a week or two. They are doing really well. Emmett weighs almost six pounds and Makenna weighs almost five and a half pounds.

David Case was visiting us this past week. He made the trip home to see the twins and to visit with family and friends. It was a short visit and he journeyed back home last Sunday morning.

New Mansion Church is having VBS this week, skipping the night of  July 4^th so everyone can spend the holiday with their family. They l;    will be finishing up with VBS this week with a program Sunday afternoon at 4:00 and then fireworks Sunday night. It is always a lot of fun.

The Bradleyville Church of the Nazarene recently made a trip to Eureka Springs to see the Passion Play. I heard everyone had a wonderful time.

Congratulations to James Marsh and Crystal White on their engagement.

Lone Star Church and Bryant Ridge Church came together for a baptizing last Sunday at the AA bridge down past Taneyville. Congratulations to all who followed this step of faith.

Birthdays for the coming week: July 4: Ethan Todd; July 5: Junior Hicks, Diane Roberts; July 6: Chris Bettis, Mike Blair, Janet Burns, Cody Combs, Jeff D. Marsh; July 7: Markie Boyd, Rhonda Cook, Jerry Hodges, Cody Rogers.

Anniversaries for the coming week: July 5: Steve and Carol Hunsaker, Nathan and Jessica Stafford; July 7: Danny and Rosa Williams.

News For the Week of May 26, 2013

May is my favorite month of the year and I always say it is because the temperature is just right, it is so lush and green and it smells so good from all the flowers blooming. My yard is full of fragrant flowers right now. Pink peonies, white peonies, old fashioned bright pink roses and old fashioned light pink roses and many different colors of iris. They all smell wonderful. I also have a couple of the multiflora rose bushes in my yard that is the bane of all farmers everywhere because they are so invasive, but my, they smell so good. The hummingbirds love the flowers too. They have been pretty much ignoring my feeders the last week or so. Once in a while I see a few but I think they must prefer the flower's nectar when it is available.

Hercules Church has added on to their church to enlarge the sanctuary and add classrooms and will have a Dedication and Celebration Service on Sunday, June 2. The special service will start that morning at 10:30 with a potluck dinner on the grounds following, and an open house. Everybody is welcome to come see all the changes and to celebrate with the church.

Bob and I made the rounds to decorate graves last Sunday afternoon and we always run into someone we know. We passed Exie and Jessie Case as we were going up the road to the Garrison Cemetery but didn't get to visit any with them. We did get to visit a while with Doug and Kay Morgan while at the Patterson Cemetery and then visited a little with Deanna Badovinatz and Ginny Clayton as we were leaving. Ginny was joining Deanna and her family for a bite to eat before they went to different cemeteries. The cemeteries really looked pretty with all the new flowers decorating the graves.

Birthdays for the coming week include: May 30: Ashton Judd, Kristen Maggard, Louis Letendre; May 31: Hildred Knight, Ginger Sloan; June 1: Bob Birdsong, Eddie Combs, Roy Combs, Kambria Todd; June 2: Devon Hankins, Caseigh Hodges, Ben Rogers; June 3: Tim Blair; June 4: Lynn Gott, Robyn Whittaker, Jeffrey Shockey.

Anniversaries for the coming week include: May 30: Jerry and Sherry Henning; June 2: Jerry and Pam Herd; June 3: Randy and Joyce Adams, Jack and Stacey Clemans; June 4: David and Teresa Koenig; June 5: Corby and Lisa Lux.