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TAVFD photo. These outbuildings were damaged after a brush fire broke out last Saturday afternoon.
The Theodosia Area Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fast-moving brush fire near Anglers Place on Highway 160 on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Firefighters were dispatched at approximately 1:22 p.m. after a large plume of smoke was reported about a quarter-mile west of HH Highway.
The first arriving...
Bakersfield School Superintendent Dr. Amy Padgett is pictured here showing a PowerPoint presentation about the effects that recent legislation has had on rural school districts including the five in Ozark County: Bakersfield, Dora, Gainesville, Lutie and Thornfield.
Bakersfield School District Superintendent Dr. Amy Padgett has had enough. Bakersfield had already cut more than $200,000 from its current-year budget in response to rising costs, changing state requirements and inadequate state support for rural public schools. Then, earlier this month, Padgett...
Staffers hold the six first place awards the Ozark County Times received in the 2026 Missouri Press Better Newspaper contest. Pictured from left: Ad Manager Jenny Yarger, Editor Jessi Dreckman, Feature Writer Sue Ann Jones and Graphic Designer/Circulation Manager Regina Mozingo. The Times received another 10 first through third place awards.
The Ozark County Times brought home a big honor this year, earning the 2026 Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest plaque for first place in best overall design in the state of Missouri, along with 15 other first, second or third place awards in various other categories.
The...
Jessica Leroy and her mother, Mary Collins, work to preserve Ozarks history through two social media entities. Leroy runs Headstone History, dedicated to stories in local cemeteries, and Collins runs Dora Historian Ozarks.
Jessica Leroy and her mother, Mary Collins, work to preserve Ozarks history through two social media entities. Leroy runs Headstone History, dedicated to stories in local cemeteries, and Collins runs Dora Historian Ozarks.
Sharing shared history means something special to Mary Collins and Jessica...
Terance the turkey stole the show Saturday morning, taking home the Best in Show trophy at the Hootin an Hollarin pet show. Owner Danny Drury couldn’t have been prouder of his feathered friend, who was all decked out in a red, white and blue bowtie in honor of this year’s Hootin an Hollarin theme, “Celebrating 250 years of the USA.”
There was a little bit of everything at this year's Hootin an Hollarin pet show. Dogs and cats were certainly represented, but they had plenty of unusual company Saturday morning, Sept. 19, as a water buffalo, lemur, duck, donkey, pig, turkey and even a hare sheep joined the lineup on the...
GHS FBLA juniors dressed as fave coaches win best dressed award These Gainesville High School FBLA juniors poked a little fun at their favorite high school coaches during the 2026 Hootin an Hollarin bed race and in the process won the best dressed award. Team members are Chase Luna as GHS boys baseball coach Blake Hobbs, Emma Donley as GHS girls basketball coach Nathan Houk, Mylie Frye as GHS assistant boys basketball coach Lance West, Twyla Parkison as GHS girls softball coach Joe Walrath and Avery Rodrigue as GHS assistant boys baseball coach Bryce Hambelton.
Despite the heat last Friday afternoon, 13 teams lined up for the Hootin an Hollarin bed race and another eight teams climbed into, onto or behind the racing outhouse for one of Hootin an Hollarin’s favorite events, which brings speed, costumes, comedy and good-natured chaos to the Gainesville...
All queen pageant photos by Karla Smith The 2026 Hootin an Hollarin queen and her court Ella Sue Barber, center, was crowned 2026 Hootin an Hollarin Queen during the pageant held Thursday night. Her court, pictured from left, includes Deputy Queen Khloe Simmons, who was also named Miss Sweetie Pie by her fellow competitors, Princess Cami Strain, Queen Ella Barber, Princess Rachyl McGinnis and Princess Zoie Moody.
This year’s Hootin an Hollarin queen pageant was held last Thursday night, Sept. 17, 2026, on the Gainesville square with 22 Ozark County contestants ages 14 to 18 entering the competition.
The girls entertain the crowd with a square dance and then take to the stage one by one where they answer...
This aerial photo, taken by Ed Doiron, shows about three quarters of the approximately 2,000 people who were at the free Hannah Harper concert, held Saturday night of the 2026 Hootin an Hollarin festival. Festival organizers said they had no idea how many people would show up, and they worried that it may be standing room only with the crowd wrapping around all sides of the square. But, likely thanks to the heat, there was just about the perfect number of people to comfortably sit in lawn chairs along the east side of the square where Harper performed on the Main stage.
The 65th annual Hootin an Hollarin festival came to a close Saturday night, Sept. 19, after three days of music, contests, food, vendors, quilts, square dancing, parades and plenty of good old-fashioned Ozark County fun on the Gainesville square.
This year’s festival, themed “Celebrating 250 Years...
If you enjoyed following along with the Ozark County Times’ coverage of this year’s Hootin an Hollarin festival, we’d love to invite you to subscribe to your hometown newspaper.
The Times’ small staff was on the Gainesville square from the moment the National Anthem was sung Thursday night until...
Dennis Gillan
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide was responsible for 48,824 deaths in 2024. The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher. That year, an estimated 14.3 million adults seriously thought about suicide, 4.6 million planned a suicide...