News For the Week of February 28, 2018

Nothing so exciting as moutain lions or bears, oh my, not this week. This week it's skunks...yes, skunks. In case you didn't know, it's skunk mating season in these parts. We were just thinking the other day that we hadn't seen many skunks on the roads this year. Sometimes I think it is dangerous to think too much, because the next three or four trips to town we dodged skunks all the way there and back. We thought surely we were going to hit one of the little stinky striped critters last Thursday night going to the ballgame at Dora because it was in the middle of the road going in circles. After we dodged it we had the overpowering aroma of skunk in our vehicle. I think it had already been hit, or scared badly. The unlucky car behind us did hit it. Was that car unlucky or was the skunk? I wonder if that car still smells like skunk because I still get a whiff when I first get in our car. Saying all that, I think I'd rather see the skunks as the bears and lions.

There was a large gathering last Sunday at the Bradleyville School Cafeteria to celebrate the 90^th birthday of Edna Mae Johnson. Edna's birthday was actually on the 16^th of February. Her son, Delbert and wife, Lorri, and Edna's daughter, Kathleen and husband Roger Chaney hosted the event, along with several grandchildren. There was a table loaded down with good things to eat and drink while visiting with lots of family and friends. Elsie Combs and Emogene Schmidt, both of Edna Mae's sisters and Joyce Davidson, her sister in law were able to be there with her for her special day. I saw several of my old classmates while we were there. I don't mean to stress the word “old” but it is what it is.

Joe Combs also celebrated a birthday last week on the 22^nd. They say seventy is the new fifty so ask Joe if he feels that is true. That used to be George Washington's birthday too until they moved it around and added all the other presidents in with his. I guess it is still George Washington's birthday, they only moved the holiday so some people could have a three day weekend. Wish they could move mine around..in time, maybe ten or twenty years backwards. I don't mind being the age I am but sure would like rid of the aches and pains that come with getting older.

We had two new babies make their first appearances at New Mansion Church last Sunday. Three week old Miss Ellison Ervin arrived with her parents, Serena and Derrick Ervin. Ellison was such a cutie, dressed in something flowery that looked so fresh and springtime. Josh Marsh came with his little boy, four year old Noah and brought his new little foster baby girl, only eight days old. Josh was on his own as Mommy was gone to a conference and said he was exhausted but doing very well.

Our other New Mansion baby is Sammi Jo and Mike Gaileys baby boy, Rhett, who was born a bit prematurely on February 3. Rhett hasn't been to church yet but was diagnosed with RSV last weekend and was admitted to the hospital for observation. Prayers on his behalf would be much appreciated. RSV is very dangerous for young children and babies and especially preemies. In an adult it is just a bad cold but for these young kids and babies it can be life threatening. Wash, wash, wash your hands and please don't be around little ones if you feel unwell.

I forgot to mention last week that at the ballgame when they honored the 1968 state basketball team members, Kourtney Shipley made the 2000^th point of her career. Kourtney is a senior this year and an outstanding ball player.

The Lady Eagles won first place in district play last week against Dora and will be moving on this week. By the time the paper comes out they will have played South Iron High School and will know if they are playing in the state tournament or their season is over. The boys ended their season with a second place at districts but played an amazing game against a very tough Dora team. Several of the ball players, both boys and girls got district team awards but I am not going to try to name them all because I'm afraid I will leave somebody out.

If you have any news please contact me. Until next week, be happy.

News For the Week of February 21, 2018

Hello again from Bradleyville.

We enjoyed going to the ballgame last Thursday night when the Bradleyville State Championship team from 1968 was honored for the 50^th anniversary of their winning the title of State Champions. Coach of the state team, Argil Ellison and KY3's Ned Reynolds were there to MC the activities. Ned had very nice words to say about the team and how well he remembered them and that exciting time. Argil Ellison talked about his time as a coach for Bradleyville and how much he appreciated our school and community. Then he recognized each player and called them to the floor and presented them with a certificate.

Garlin Pellham, Craig Southards and Wade Turner were presented certificates. Other team members were represented by family or friends. Representing the late Lonnie Combs was his wife, Linda and son, Justin. Representing the late Duane Maggard was his sister, Margaret Dalton. Representing the late Howard Wilson was his brother, Dwight Wilson. Also representing the other team members were Don Horner representing David Combs who couldn't be there, Cathy Newton representing her brother Ken Newton who lives in Florida and couldn't be there, and Ben Roberts representing his father, Buddy Roberts.

Bradleyville had big wins for all three games we played. The little cheerleaders did their cheers again and the pep band was rocking and did an outstanding job.

I saw my aunt, Betty Swadley at the ballgame and sure did enjoy getting to visit with her for a few minutes. She was there with daughter Judy Whitaker and granddaughter Sheila to watch great grandson, Trenton Massey who was on the Chadwick team.

All the 1A schools are in districts this week. Bradleyville boys and girls have both won the first round of districts as of this writing. Girls played Bakersfield on Monday night, February 19 and if they won will play again on February 22 at 7pm, while the boys played Couch last Tuesday night and if they won will play again on Friday night the 23^rd at 7:00. If either team loses, their season is over.

Kathleen Johnson stopped by the other day with an invitation to her mother's birthday celebration get-together. It will be on Sunday, February 25 at the Bradleyville School cafeteria, weather permitting, from 2-4pm. The invitation said that cards were welcome, no gifts please, and if you are feeling sick, please just call to wish her Happy Birthday. You cannot be too careful with all the flu and other sickness going around right now.

Our family had a good weekend when our granddaughter Danielle and husband Jared dedicated their 15 month old son Eli at church last Sunday morning. Most of our family was there to witness this blessing and we were so thankful. I also got to spend a few minutes with my other greats, Avery and LJ Laughlin while they were down to spend the weekend with their daddy.

We are getting some much needed rain this week and I hear it starting to thunder while I am sitting here writing the news, so need to send this in and get off the computer. I have had lightning run in on two computers and ruin them so I unplug them at the first sound of thunder now.

Stay warm and happy.

News for the week of February 14, 2018

Glad the ice is all gone, for a while at least. I hope it is gone for the rest of the year. That would suit me just fine. A big thank you to all the road workers that kept our roads passable during the wintry mess. New Mansion Church and most of the other churches around cancelled services.

Just a note that the Bradleyville Church of Christ is having services again in the same building it has been in for years and years. There had been no services there for years and the building had fallen into disrepair, but Duffy and Susan (Combs) Mooney decided that it would be good to bring services back. They and many volunteers put in many hours cleaning and repairing floors and walls and installing heat and air conditioning and now are holding services there again. Sunday morning services start at 10:00am and Sunday afternoon at 4:00pm and Wednesday evening at 7:00pm.

I have it on good authority that it is time to go camping at Buck Creek. Every time the sky gets blue and the weather warms up a bit my little grandkids think it is time to go camping! Sounds really good but I think I will wait a few more weeks at least!

The bridge at Kentucky Hollow is finally finished. It opened up just in time for them to close down the bridge over Beaver Creek at Brownbranch for replacement. It will be closed at least until June, that is the word I have heard. There is a drive around beside the bridge over Caney Creek for those coming from the Bradleyville side, or west side, that live or have to drive up the area of State Highway W. If you are planning to go on up 76 highway or are coming from the east, or Ava side towards Brownbranch or beyond, you will have to make some detours.

If you are a person who loves to have bluebirds around, now is the time to start building bluebird nesting boxes. Bluebirds start scouting out nesting places in March so it would be good to have them out by then. I love bluebirds and have several around every year, but don't have very many birdhouses for them. Every year I plan to make some more but always get busy and forget until it's past time. One year I kept hearing noises above my kitchen stove in the stove fan that didn't work, so I started watching and sure enough, a bluebird had built a nest in the exhaust from the stove fan. I let them stay until the babies flew the nest before I closed off the hole they used. I don't know how they stayed there with the heat from the stove right below the nest. What a good excuse I had not to use the stove much that spring!

I talked to Paulette Combs a few minutes the other day and she said that Leon and Dot Combs were still in Florida. They spend the winter there and it sounds wonderful. Dot has not been feeling well and I am sure they would appreciate prayers for her health.

I missed it last week but congratulations to Brenten and Kimberly (Easley) Blake on the birth of their son, Coleman Easley Blake on February 5. Coleman weighed in at 7lbs 10oz. I know Grandpa David and Grandma Joy will be getting in some good snuggle times.

Condolences to the family of Nola Kallstrom who passed away last week. I got a little bit acquainted with Nola when my grandson, Jessi was in class with her granddaughter, Christian. She was always very involved and at the kid's school activities. She was such a sweet lady and I know her family and friends will miss her greatly.

The last home game for the Bradleyville Eagles will be Thursday night, February 15 with Chadwick. The little cheerleaders will be cheering again at that game also. I haven't heard for sure but traditionally Senior Night is on the last home game also. Don't miss out on the wonderful season the ball teams are having. We have only been to one or two games this year but it was so great watching them play.

The PeeWee teams are in a tournament at Plainview this week. It's always fun to watch some PeeWee ball, they put their all into it.

I didn't get to go down to Robyn Whittaker's “Treasure Barn” last week, and I missed finding my treasures. I always find something there that I need or just want. If you haven't been out there you need to go, I just imagine you will find something you want too!

Until next week, stay warm and happy!

News for the week of February 7, 2018

Hello everyone. Hope everyone stayed safe in the recent snow. It wasn't much but sure did cause a lot of bad accidents. Church was cancelled for the evening because of the snow coming down so hard and fast.

There was a big crowd at Bradleyville's Homecoming last Friday night. The JV girls and the Varsity girls both had big wins against tough Forsyth teams, and the boy's Varsity lost by only two points in a hard fought game against Everton. We ended up sitting right beside the band instead of our usual spot across the gym and I can tell you the band sounds just as good up really close as across the gym, only louder. I like the music loud, so that was good.

In between two of the games, the music teacher, Mrs. Sprague, was called down to the floor where Gina Norwine, Bradleyville's principal and Scott Ewing, Bradleyville's superintendent, presented her with a statue of a musical note and a beautiful bouquet of flowers in recognition of her being elected President Elect of the MMEA for the next six years.

We sat on the bleachers instead of the blue seats that night so we could get a better view of 4 year old granddaughter Makenna while she was doing cheers. The little cheerleading girls from preschool through 6^th grade did a great job with cheers and a dance, led by the high school cheerleaders.

Sophia Meltke was crowned this year's Homecoming Queen and was escorted by Brady Rogers. It was nice to see all the girls dressed up in their beautiful dresses.

Congratualtions to Mike and Sammi Jo Gailey on the birth of their second child, a son, Rhett Glendon. Rhett was born Saturday, February 3 and weighed 5lbs 13oz and was 20 inches long. Rhett was a few weeks early but is doing great. I know they will be happy to get Rhett home with big brother Reed. I saw pictures of him on facebook and in our church announcement and he is beautiful, just like big brother.

Congratualtions also to Derrick and Serena Ervin on the birth of their first child, a daughter, Ellison Elizabeth on January 31. Ellison weighed 7lbs 9oz and was 20 inches long. A nice picture of her in our church announcement shows that she is a beautiful baby girl.

Well, the grandkids have arrived and want to play on the computer and I don't have any more news I can think of so if you have news for me, please contact me.

Stay warm and happy.

News for the week of January 31, 2018

I hope everybody was able to enjoy the beautiful weekend. We sure did. The temps were fantastic for late January, we recorded a low 60 something here and it was much better than the single digits of a few weeks ago. This coming Friday we will find out from the groundhog if we are going to have an early spring or not. Hope the little whistlepig doesn't see his shadow and stays out of his burrow. If it were only that simple. If it were that simple, I'd chain the little feller outside.

Last year at this time we were in Maui, visiting our son and meeting our new grandson. We sure did enjoy getting to go there and visit. A year makes a big difference. I got a video from my daughter in law of Gideon throwing rocks and another one of him calling their dog by his name. One picture of him at the beach playing in the sand and riding a board on the sand pulled by his daddy. I am very thankful for the technology that we use to keep in touch now. I can see him pretty much when I want to. Call them when I want without an astronomical phone bill. Not the same as getting my hands on him but way better than a letter or as in the long gone days past when I might or might not have ever heard from them again.

Kathy Tilley and her brother, Bill Lawrence made a trip to Benson, Arizona to see their brother, Dolis. They flew out there a couple of weeks ago and said they had a wonderful visit with him. Dolis has some severe health problems and I am sure would appreciate your prayers on his behalf.

Josh and Melissa Isaacs' ten year old son, Riley, had a great day of fishing last week. He caught a 4.17 pound, 19 inch long meanmouth bass and was certified by the Department of Conservation. Dad said he just missed the state record but crushed the Missouri Master Angler record. The original Master Angler award was 3 pounds and 18 inches long. Dad said it was for sure going on the wall in their house. Congratulations Riley!

Well, the mountain lion has been spotted at least three different times in this area again in between our road and our neighbors, Delbert and Lorri Johnson's. One time it had a cat in it's mouth. We have several feral cats around our place and I am pretty sure the cat was one of those and had already been run over but the big cat had it in it's mouth. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't discriminate between the feral cats and our pets, or calves for that matter, so everybody needs to keep a lookout for that kind of activity from the lion.

Just a reminder, Bradleyville Homecoming is Friday, February 2^nd. The games will start at 4:30 with the Lady Eagles Junior Varsity playing Forsyth, the next game will be Varsity Lady Eagles playing Forsyth also, and after those games will be a Varsity Eagles game with Everton. Pre-school through 6^th grade girls will be doing a few group cheers during the games and a cheer dance. Other activities are planned as well I am sure. Come out and support the Bradleyville Eagles. I'm pretty sure the pep band will be playing at the game also and that is always a good time to get to hear them play. They are fantastic!

Speaking of our band, great news about our own Chris Sprague. She has been our music teacher at Bradleyville School for the last 24 years and has done a fabulous job with music for grades K-12 and also band, choir, and plays, just to name a few of her accomplishments. She has been elected to the position of president elect for Missouri Music Educators Association. She was elected band vice president two years ago but this is the presidency of the entire association. All the music teachers in Missouri vote on this so it is a huge honor to be chosen. It is a 6 year commitment. No one from a small school has ever been president and since 1938 there has only been one female president. She will still continue to be our music teacher along with this great position so no worries. Congratulations, Chris, this is a very well deserved honor! You have been so good for our school and I think everybody agrees what a jewel you are!

Let me know your news! Stay warm and happy.

News for the week of January 24, 2018

Hello everybody! What a rollercoaster of weather we have been on the past week. Nothing new for this part of the country though. Cold and snow, then warm enough to wear shorts if you want, now cold again for a while. All the time though we are moving swiftly towards spring. And summer. And fall. It does go faster and faster the older you get I do believe.

We had such a beautiful weekend with the warmer weather. I sat on my porch swing several times just to enjoy the feeling of being warm. I didn't get out in the yard too much because everybody knows when the snow melts the mud is knee deep. I have had a cold also which made me a little lazy so I just sat and enjoyed. Late Sunday evening right before the rain started I was on the back porch grilling and heard one of my most favorite sounds in the world, a little peeper.

The weather turned nasty Sunday night with high winds and lots of rain. I appreciate the rain but could have done without the winds. I hate to admit it but I still had three Christmas trees sitting on my front porch. I enjoy them so much I hadn't put them away yet, but the storm decided it was time. We heard a crash and looked out on the porch and all three trees had blown over and several snowmen I had crafted out of lengths of wood. Time to put them away. Our electricity was out for several hours and many thanks to the linemen who were out in the wind, rain and lightning for restoring power. I am very thankful for them all.

Four year old grandson, Emmett, came home from the hospital and is feeling much better. He still has to finish some medicine and take some breathing treaments but the worst seems to be over. Of course he was so happy to get to come home. Brothers Garrett and Caiden and sister Makenna were also very happy he came home and were doing their best to get him back in the groove of things. Their Grandpa Ivan Lawson came to visit them on Sunday and brought them all a mini-basketball apiece so they were all practicing shooting and dribbling those balls.

Condolences to the family of Bert Smith who passed away on the 14^th of January. Bert was a good, kind and quiet man that everyone liked. He served in the Army when he was younger and then spent the rest of his life doing what he loved, farming, logging and raising cattle on his family farm on Beaver Creek. He was always ready to lend a hand to those in need and loved to visit. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Congratulations to the Bradleyville Lady Eagles for taking home first place in the Mark Twain Conference Tournament held at Bradleyville last week. Congratulations also to the Bradleyville boys for earning a 3^rd place trophy in the same tournament.

Bradleyville Homecoming will be on February 2^nd. The games start 4:30 with the Lady Eagles Junior Varsity playing Forsyth, next game will be the Varsity Lady Eagles playing Forsyth also, then a Varsity Eagles game with Everton. The little girls, pre-school through 6^th grade will be doing a group cheer sometime between games. I'm sure there are other activities planned as well. Come out and support the ball team, they are doing very well and are such fun to watch. Also the pep band will be playing and that is always a good time to get to hear them play. You might even get to catch up with old friends you haven't seen in a while.

Call or text me if you have news. My number is 796-2651 and you can also call or text me at 294-3280 or e-mail me at karencase.55@gmail.com or just message me through facebook. So many ways to communicate nowadays.

Stay warm and happy.

News for the week of January 17, 2018

Hi everybody! Enjoying the snow? My grandkids sure are. They have all been sick with a virus that turned into pneumonia so five minutes outside was all they were allowed, but they made the most of the time and threw snow at each other and tried to make a little snowman, but it didn't stick together well enough for that.

Grandson Emmett had to be taken to the ER last Thursday night and was admitted. As of Monday he was still in the hospital. His oxygen level won't stay up where it's supposed to be so he is on oxygen and antibiotics. He is not a good patient. His mom said she could see his Grandpa Bob and Grandpa Willie coming out. He just wants to come home. Bless his heart, we all want him to come home too.

I had a nice visit with Charlotte Roberts on the phone the other day. she said she also had spent a few days in the hospital right after Christmas because of pneumonia. This stuff is really bad this year and not anything to mess around with.

Camille Dautrich, art teacher at Bradleyville School, and husband Barry made a trip, a cruise, to Antartica during the Christmas break. She and her husband are world travelers, they go on several trips each year and I love to look at the pictures and hear about her adventures.

So glad the boys that had a wreck in front of Kenton and Linda Wiggins house last week are okay. It could have been so much worse than it was, but the truck they were in was pretty much demolished, along with a couple of Kenton's cars that were parked in front of his house.

Haven't heard much news this week. Let me know if youhave any news for the paper. Stay warm and safe.

News for the week of January 10, 2018

Hello everyone!

Hope you all are managing to stay warm and toasty in this frigid weather. Throw another log on the fire, push that furnace button up a notch, get your blanket and wrap up in it, drink another cup of hot chocolate, and thank the Lord you have the wood, the furnace, the blanket, and the hot chocolate!

I sure was wishing that I had a fire to throw a log on because our furnace decided that the frigid weather was too much to deal with and quit working. It took a couple of days to get it fixed, but we did okay without it. We had a couple of heaters to plug in and piled lots of quilts on the bed. We have a fireplace but I had put a board covering over it a few years ago when grandson Emmett was overly interested in it. Now I'm not sure about building another fire in it until it is checked out for safety.

We decided it brought back lots of memories of the first few years we were married. The first several years we lived in a couple of different houses that didn't have insulation or running water. When the wind blew you could see the curtains move just a little bit, and sometimes when you got up in the morning the water bucket might be frozen. We got running water after a couple of years but heated with wood for twenty years, and I still prefer wood heat over any other kind. Now that is nothing new to people my age or older I am sure, but I sure appreciate our warm house we live in now. And I have good memories of living in those houses also, and wouldn't change a thing about those times even if I could.

We also have some fantastic neighbors. When they found out our furnace was not working we had offers from several of our neighbors to come stay with them or even use their house while they weren't there until our furnace was fixed. I appreciate and love the people of this community so much. We live in one of the best places in the world if I do say so myself.

Our neighbor, Sam Day, who owns a house over the Union Flat direction is tearing his old log barn down. Helen Maggard told me a little about the history of the barn. She said it was built during a barn raising when some homesteaders lived there around 1903. She said that neighbors and people from all over the area came to work on it. When they were taking the barn apart they found a log with several names on it. Most were brothers and sisters of Burl's dad. Willard, Emily, Cindy, and also the name Troy, who was Melba Austin and Tommy Johnson's dad. Those names were added many years after the barn was built of course but it is so fun to find memories of the past like that and imagine what they did in past times.

Ed and Leona Hunsaker's son, Ron and wife Sheila and their daughter Trinity left this week to move to Nicaragua where they will be missionaries. Ron and Sheila have lived in Ava for many years. It sounds so exciting and a little scary also to leave everything and everyone that is familiar and embrace a new and different culture. It takes special people to do that, I believe. Our best wishes and prayers go with them as they obey this call on their lives.

New Mansion Church was called off last Sunday because of the forecast of bad weather coming in right about the time church would start. It proved to be the right decision as it started raining and freezing right at church time. It really got slick on the roads around here for awhile.

Susan Mooney messaged me and told me they had pictures at the gift shop of my grandkids sitting on Santa's lap. I am looking forward to seeing them and seeing if they caught one of Makenna when she gave Santa a big wink after she told him what she wanted for Christmas.

Call, text, facebook message or e-mail me with news if you have any. My landline number is 796-2651. My cell phone is 294-3280. I am Karen Case on facebook, message me or add me as a friend, and my e-mail is karencase.55@gmail.com.

Stay warm and happy!

News For the Week of January 3, 2018

Hello again from the Bradleyville area. I will be writing the news from our area again so if anyone has any news, please call me or e-mail me. My phone number is 796-2651 and my e-mail address is karencase.55@gmail.com so give me a holler with any news you have.

Winter and cold weather is officially upon us now for the next three months or so. This past fall has been so warm and mild that the severe cold might take some serious adjustment on my part. There are usually some pretty nice days scattered among the cold, wet and nasty days of winter to break up the weather. Of course by pretty nice, I mean warm. That is what I am hoping for, at least. I will admit snow can be pretty too. I love to watch snowflakes falling, especially the big kind that float slowly to the ground. Just as long as it doesn't stay long. That's just my opinion. Lots of people love the snow. I know the kids love to play in it and are hoping for it to stay around so school will be cancelled and I suspect some of the teachers are hoping for a few snow days also.

In case anybody was wondering, the little bridge near Bradleyville on Kentucky Creek that is being replaced is still not done, although they are making good progress on it. At least there is a drive around right at the bridge so it's not that unhandy. I am glad I know where I am going if I did have to take the detour though, because I am awful at reading detour signs. I don't quite make sense out of the directions on the signs. They rate right up there with algebra for me. I don't think I am alone either, I have heard a couple of stories of people and delivery trucks going through the detour, then coming to another detour sign on the other side and going back to where they started.

Old news but we had a very nice Christmas with most of our family at our house on Christmas Day for visiting, food and presents. Our son David and wife Amy and grandson Gideon didn't get to be here but were here the week after Thanksgiving and we shared meals and visiting every night for almost a full week. We also made a trip to Silver Dollar City one evening to enjoy the lights, a few rides, and of course, the hot chocolate, so we all had a wonderful time together.

Lois Lux traveled to Toledo, Ohio to spend Christmas with her son Tucker and his family. Her other two sons, Corby and wife Lisa and Tanner and wife Amelia and their families joined them also. Their Aunt Jo also got to enjoy a visit with them. Lois was really looking forward to spending time with most of her family. They were missing daughter Kim and husband Joe and their family who didn't get to be with them this year.

We stayed up to see the New Year in, and heard all the noise from fireworks that our neighbors the Todds were shooting off. I was yawning for several hours before midnight but decided I was going to wait it out this year. Bob took a little nap or two before he woke up right before midnight, said Happy New Year and went to bed. We are so exciting.

Please let me know if you have any news. Until next time, stay warm and happy!