Local News
One side effect of the “Pearl Rush” of the early 20th century was that pearl buttons become popular nationwide. The first shell-button factory was established in 1900 in Black Rock, Arkansas, not far south of the Missouri line. These undated photos of button factory workers are from the Arkansas Fish and Game Department.
In our constant forays online searching for tidbits of historical information, we recently came across a reference to the “Arkansas Pearl Rush.” That casual encounter led to a revelation that few today would ever have expected. Our first inclination was to assume that this was just an “Arkansas”...
With more than half of Americans now vaccinated with at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine and many restrictions lifted, it’s starting to feel like the country is easing back into normalcy. But a county-by-county risk assessment updated Monday by the New York Times shows that the virus danger...
A group with a dream and a plot of land Ozark Outdoor Adventures board members, from left, Sandy and David Morgan, David Bushner and Kelly Forrest, joined by volunteer Robert Clark, far right, recently met at the 4-acre property that will serve as their organization’s home base. The property was donated to the group by the family of the late Bob Goodwyn. Another original founder of the group, Doris Sayles, has since stepped down from the organization.
A small group of dedicated volunteers has been working tirelessly behind the scenes on an exciting new project aimed at helping pre-teens and teenagers disconnect with their phones and instead connect with the restorative powers of nature and a Christian faith, all while learning life and survival...
After the fixed bleachers were removed, the existing locker rooms, which were housed underneath the bleachers, shown as the white wall toward the bottom left of this photo, had to be filled in. The new flooring will be installed over the area, making the floor even with the rest of the space.
Gainesville High School’s gym is currently under construction, and crews are working to remove the former red fixed bleachers and replace them with ADA-compliant “roll-back” bleachers.
The locker rooms, which were located under the fixed-bleachers are being removed, and a 54-inch space will be...
The new Gainesville City Park logo was designed by local artist Abby Britt.
The Ozark County Wellness Committee, a group of community members whose mission is to help make Ozark County healthier through physical activity and other means, has been making progress on the Hoerman Memorial Park renovations and additions. The project, announced last fall, is being funded...
Gainesville resident Carole Fife Long was reunited with her high school ring, worn on her pinky finger in this photo, last fall after it’d been missing for 33 years.
High School ring found 1,000 miles away, returned to Gainesville woman after being lost for 33 years
It’s the time of year when students around the county are taking their last steps as high school seniors, walking across a stage or stadium platform to claim their diplomas and begin adulthood. With dozens of friends and family snapping photo of smiling teens donning graduation caps, gowns and...
Times photos / Jessi Dreckman Rob Collins, owner of Chaney Monument in Gainesville, uses the same type of stencil knife to cut images on a headstone stencil that’s been used since the company’s beginning in 1936. But nearly every other part of the process involves computers, lasers or modern equipment that would have amazed company founder Leonard Chaney. Following the same steps of the process Chaney would have used, but with modern equipment, Collins can complete a headstone in two hours when the same monument might have taken Chaney two days.
The months leading up to Memorial Day have traditionally been the busiest time of year for Chaney Monument, one of Ozark County’s oldest businesses. But lately that’s changed a bit.
“It usually started in January-February,” said owner Rob Collins. “People started coming in at that time so they had...
After Randy Fish joined SHOCK as keyboard player and lead singer, the band sometimes rehearsed in the chapel of Clinkingbeard Funeral home, which was managed at the time by his parents Wilma and the late Charles Fish.
Editor’s note: This is the second part in a three-part series to be included in the personal memoir now being assembled by Ozark County native Sid Pierce, a Navy veteran, retired teacher and Branson sound technician who for many years traveled the world with country music recording artist Roy Clark...
Navy Lt. Joshua R. Lamb, shown here with his parents, Larry and Tammy Lamb of Gainesville, and grandmother Donnie Neely of Zanoni, took command of the Center for Seabees and Facilities Engineering (CSFE) Detachment on May 11 at Fort Leonard Wood. Lamb accepted the command from Navy Lt. Nicholas...
Jan and Gary Garcia have created a Wall of Honor that displays the men and women in their family who have served in the military, beginning with Gary and his four brothers, displayed on the top row of the frame.
Isabella-area resident Gary Garcia feels honored to be part of a red-white-and-blue family that includes at least 26 members – children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and in-laws – who have served in the military. In the home he and wife Jan built last year on County Road 829, pictures of the...