Local News


One of the most anticipated bands that will take the stage this Hootin an Hollarin is Sylamore Special, a group of teenagers and young adults who play traditional bluegrass and have racked up quite an impressive array of awards and accolades including their two-time performance at the Smithsonian Folklore Festival in Washington D.C. two years in a row, where the photo above was taken.
Hootin an Hollarin is just two weeks away on Sept. 21-23, and this year’s main stage live entertainment lineup is a good one, bringing in several new bands paired with some festival favorites. The Times is publishing its annual Hootin an Hollarin festival guide next week, giving readers a profile...

Times photo/Bruce Roberts For the first time since the covid pandemic began in 2020, Dora school has an enrollment of over 300 students in pre-k through twelfth grades. This year, Ozark County school enrollment is as follows: Thornfield (K-8) has 50 students, Lutie has 120 students, Dora has 318 students, Bakersfield has 421 students and Gainesville has 665 students. Combined, the county-wide student total at public schools is a little over 1,500 for the 2023-24 school year.
Year after year, Ozark County schools seem to be growing with increasing enrollment numbers over previous years. Even though it’s early in the school year, and numbers may actually go up with late registrations, local schools had strong beginning-of-the-year enrollment figures for the 2023-24...

This photo was taken during the 2019 Bakersfest. Times photo/Bruce Roberts
Bakersfest, the annual fall festival at Bakersfield, is this Saturday, Sept. 9. This year’s theme is “Walk the Streets of Bakersfield.” The festival will include live music, a car and motorcycle show, food, vendors, drawings, crafts, games and much more. The event will begin Saturday morning with...

H.K. Silvey won dozens of awards and contests for his fiddle playing. Before a health problem took away his musical ability a few years ago, he played in venues ranging from the Hootin an Hollarin stage to the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.
H. K. Silvey will celebrate his 90th birthday Saturday, Sept. 9, at The Center in Gainesville at a 3 p.m. party hosted by his family. Everyone is invited. His actual birthday is Sept. 10, but Saturday works better for scheduling. H.K. is a familiar face – and talent – for many Ozark Countians. He...

photo courtesy of Hootin an Hollarin committee Terry Wyatt, left, and wife Cathy Wyatt of Eminence are new additions to the demonstrator lineup at this year’s Hootin an Hollarin festival, scheduled for Sept. 21-23. Terry will be demonstrating the art of making moonshine in a real copper still that will be set up on the courthouse lawn near the historic log cabin. Cathy, located nearby just off the lawn on the asphalt, will also be at the festival with her wood-fired cast iron kettle making (and selling) traditional lye soap.
Hootin an Hollarin committee chairwoman Paula Rose told the Times that when the committee started planning this year’s event, they chose to really focus on increasing one of the most authentic pioneer-era elements of the whole festival, the old-fashioned demonstrations.  The suggestion to increase...
Ozark County Western District Commissioner Layne Nance said Monday that county road crews are still working on clearing debris from roads after two rounds of severe storms knocked down hundreds of trees across the county earlier this month. The hardest hit area was around Theodosia, where several...

Construction is underway at the Gainesville School new sports complex, which will be located across the street from the high school on a portion of the former Gainesville city airport property. The school acquired the land in 2022 in a land swap with the city. In exchange for the main portion of the former airport property, the city received ownership of the land where the Hoerman Memorial Park, a Gainesville city park, is located.
During a closed session portion of the regular Gainesville School Board meeting Aug. 14, board members decided that the school will drill a well to feed a planned irrigation system on the new baseball and softball fields that are being built on the school campus. The discussion occurred during...

Gainesville resident Ruby Winslow, center, is pictured here with Whataburger CEO Ed Nelson, left, and her husband Butch. Ruby was recently honored as a VIP of the company and was treated to an all-expenses paid trip to the company’s headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, where they celebrated the signing of a National Whataburger Day proclamation, naming Aug. 8 National Whataburger Day.
There is no denying the fact that Gainesville resident Ruby Winslow is a huge Whataburger fan - and the company apparently agrees.  Ruby told the Times she was shocked when she was recently contacted by a Whataburger official who asked her to be one of the company’s VIPs, a prestigious designation...

The 2023 Hootin an Hollarin committee members pictured from left to right are: back row: Chris Harlin, Lily Branco, Tammy Mitchell, Renee Hambelton, Janette McDaniel, Barbara Luna, Sherry Ginthum and Douglas Hawkins. Front row: Nancy Walker, Konnie Plumlee, Diana Premer, Karen Brantingham, Linda Harlin and Paula Rose. Not pictured: Becki Strong, Jerri Crawford, Kerrie Zubrod, Heather Bushner, Gary Maupin, Bill Talley, April Luna and Mollie Smart.
The 62nd annual Hootin an Hollarin festival, scheduled for Sept. 21-23 on the Gainesville square, is a month away, and members of the Hootin an Hollarin committee have been working behind the scenes to finalize details for the big event. This year’s festival theme is “The Best of Yesterday.” The...
Ozark County Commissioners met Monday morning and discussed several topics including plans to update 911 addressing for a mostly off-grid development area off Highway 5 south of Gainesville. Presiding Commissioner Terry Newton said commissioners discovered that several of the off-grid addresses in...

Pages

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423