TIMES PAST (June 12, 2024) compiled by Sue Ann Jones
Bug’s Cafe, Gainesville, 1950s This photo, taken around 1950, shows Bug’s Cafe on the former High Street (now Third Street) in Gainesville, mentioned in the 1954 Times Past item below, which reports that the cafe had reopened after remodeling. The cafe’s 1949 menu is shown, at right. Gainesville resident Barbara Rackley Luna, granddaughter of cafe owners John Lonzo "Bug" Farel and his wife, Grace, said in a February 2017 story in the Old Mill Run that both Bug and Grace cooked at the cafe. Their daughter, Dorcas Rackley, "waited tables until two days before I was born on May 23, 1948," Barbara wrote in the story. Soon after she was born, Barbara said, "Dorcas went back to work, taking me with her where I slept in hideaways such as the bread storage cabinet in the kitchen."
Ozark County News
June 7, 1883
A pigeon roost has been formed on the west side of the county near G. W. Webster's place. A party of men arrived here Thursday with nets, etc., to catch them.
Some of the merchants of this place have commenced freighting from West Plains.
Several applications to make final proof of homestead entries have been made at the Clerk's office lately.
June 2, 1904
John and Lee Wood and Tom Witt have all replaced their yard fences with the latest new-fangled net wire fencing, which greatly improves the looks of their property.
Memorial Day Services were held at the Souders' burying ground on May 30. This beautiful cemetery is located in the Northern part of the county on Bryant Spring Creek. . . . At one o'clock the M.W.A. [Modern Woodmen of America] Camp of Rockbridge, Mo., marched to the cemetery within which they had erected a monument in honor of the deceased members of the order. . . . The M.W. A. Camp of Rockbridge is composed of intelligent, energetic and patriotic young men, and they deserve much credit for what they did to promote the success of the meeting.
Ozark County Times
June 6, 1924
Earnest Megee, 12 year old son of Co. Supt. Sam Megee, was fatally [and accidentally] shot with a .38 calibre revolver by Vance Blizzard, 12 year old son of Lonnie Blizzard a few minutes after 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon at the Blizzard home at this place. . . . After examination of the injured boy [at West Plains hospital] physicians pronounced his wound fatal and beyond the skill of man. The [family] then returned to Gainesville with the boy. He died at 12 o'clock on the ferry boat as the party were crossing North Fork.
June 3, 1954
Mr. and Mrs. "Bug" Farel are back in business in Gainesville after reopening their cafe here last week. They have completely remodeled the interior of their cafe by repainting and re-covering the booths. The kitchen has been moved to one corner of the rear entrance, which makes the kitchen and dining room much closer. They invite their old friends in to see them.
June 1, 1989
Landowners and taxpayers in Ozark County, under attack from all sides right now, have formed an organization to battle the specters of government interference, mountain trash problems and erosion of private property rights. Last Thursday the Ozark County Landowners and Taxpayers Association was formed by a crowd that gathered in the Ozark County Courthouse under the invitation of county Farm Bureau President Estel Robirds.
Lightning hit the steeple of the old First Christian Church in Gainesville during a massive electrical storm last Thursday about midnight. Gainesville Volunteer Fire Department, assisted by other area departments, quickly put out the blaze and prevented major damage. The Church is slated to become the new county library. The transfer will take place after repairs are made.