Forum Flashbacks: Dec. 5-12

FORUM FILE PHOTO
An Orr Wyatt Streetscapes construction crew works to install a metal archway Tuesday at Fourth and Buchanan streets. The archway is to become the signature architectural feature of a rehabilitated automobile and pedestrian corridor linking Northwest Missouri State University to the downtown square.

25 years ago

• Soon the Maryville R-II Board of Education will decide if the district is going to become a part of the A+ Schools Program.The program was designed to help both schools and the state by providing financial incentives to schools which make a commitment to preparing students for the future.
  “It’s a state-focus program that is being encouraged all over the state,” Northwest Technical School Director Paul Coffman said. “We talked a little about it last year, but decided to wait a year and look at it again.”
  At that time, the district was in the midst of a change in the administration as new Superintendent Dr. Gary Bell replaced Roland Tulberg in the school district’s top position.
• Letters to Santa 1994
  Dear Santa,
  Please bring me a My Size Barbie and a cheerleading outfit and a Pink Power Ranger. Mom and dad have been pretty good, but nobody is perfect.
  Bethany Lager
  6 years old

15 years ago

• Former Maryville High School teacher Vicki L. Auxier will serve 90 days in jail and five years’ probation for the statutory rape of a former student, plus she will be required to register as a sex offender and keep her distance from children.Auxier could also face financial penalties later on from a civil suit pending from the victim’s family.
  Auxier pleaded guilty to the class C felony in October and was sentenced before Circuit Judge Roger Prokes on Monday.
  After discussions with the attorneys from both sides, Prokes had agreed to keep Auxier out of the state penitentiary in exchange for her guilty plea. The maximum sentence for the felony charge is seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Prokes did not order a fine; he said monetary issues will be worked out through the civil suit.
• Eight-year-old Mitchell Worthington looked anxiously around the Maryville HyVee deli yesterday. Gently tossing a baseball from hand to hand, the Kansas City Royals fan had been waiting for nearly 40 minutes for the arrival of the Royals Caravan, bringing past and present players to town.
  Mitchell and his older brother Taylor were able to take advantage of a short school day and come with their mother Lori to get the autographs of players David DeJesus and Mike Wood, Royals Hall of Fame pitcher Jeff Montgomery and announcer Denny Matthews, also in the Royals Hall of Fame.
  For the Worthington boys, it’s a chance to add to their growing collection of Royals memorabilia. Mitchell, who reluctantly admits to being more of a Cardinals fan, has more than 10 autographs from Royals players. Taylor is unabashedly a Royals fan.

5 years ago

• Cody Severe, the 2014 junior division World Duck Calling Contest champion, started calling when he was just 3 years old. His mother Georgia Wiederholt, Maryville, joked that it may have started sooner.“
  He got rid of the pacifier and had a duck call in his mouth,” she said.
  His passion — and preparation — for waterfowl calling landed him in competition by the time he was 6.
  Now, seven years after his first contest, Severe can call himself a world titleholder.
  Severe, 13, of St. Joseph, took first place in the junior division of the 79th annual World Duck Calling Contest, which took place Nov. 29 in Stuttgart, Arkansas.