Forum Flashbacks: March 18 – March 24

FORUM FILE PHOTO
A group of students at Horace Mann Laboratory School spent their Wednesday afternoon learning about horses at the Little Britches Rodeo put on by members of the Northwest Missouri State Equestrian Club. Club members combined fun and learning by teaching students about different aspects of the equine world such as breeds, tack, and grooming. Activities included a roping dummy, barrel racing, and a game of “pin the tail on the horse.”

25 years ago

• What better way is there to understand the body than to jump inside? The concept may sound impossible, but area elementary students are doing just that during the Show-Me Body Walk held at St. Gregory’s which began March 19.
  During the Body Walk, which will continue through March 29, students entered the mouth of the model as a food particle where they talked about foods which were both good and harmful to the teeth, proper brushing and flossing. Next, they travelled down the esophagus into the stomach where each student stood on a portion of the food triangle representing the food card they were wearing.
  From the stomach, students moved into the small intestines where digestion was addressed. Students then had a visual aid as they held a rope which stretched 20 feet — the length of the small intestines.
  On the “food particles” passed to the heart, lungs, muscles, bones, skin and brain.
  At each station, students heard a five-minute presentation about that particular part of the body and how foods and exercise affected it.
• In honor of Women in History Month, Opal Eckert was recognized for her many contributions toward the making of history in Northwest Missouri and Maryville, at a special reception in her honor Saturday afternoon at the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum.
  Saturday was “Opal Eckert Day” as proclaimed by the City of Maryville and Mayor Jerry Riggs, many friends, neighbors and family. …
  Five organizations, to which she has given many years of service, were involved in the reception in her honor. …
  In appreciation of the five organizations’ recognition, Mrs. Eckert donated a display case to the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum in the organization’s honor, to be used by the group for an individual display each month. …
  An honored educator, author and dynamic participant in community affairs, she has often been called “someone who volunteers for everything — and does it so well.”

15 years ago

• When the Nodaway County Health Center board enacted a public health ordinance last week, it left members of a specialized task force wondering what they should do next.
  “We don’t know where we’re at right now,” said Kevin Barmann, one of eight members of the task force established by the Nodaway County Commission to look into Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations. …
  “The board has notified the Nodaway County Commissioners that the ordinance has been passed,” stated a news release issued through the health center’s spokeswoman, Dawn Moore. “The commissioners have been informed of the board’s willingness to amend or revise the health ordinance.” …
  The health board made the request of the three-member county commission on Feb. 6 to establish a health ordinance. After five weeks with no activity from the county, the health board — under laws that grant the board permission to pass ordinances in order to maintain the quality of health for Nodaway County — established its own ordinance.
• Tim Jermain was the man that taught the Jefferson basketball team how to play as a team.
  He’s the one who molded one of the most talented Class 1 boys basketball teams in Missouri’s history. He’s the one who led that team to a perfect 32-0 record and a state title. He’s the one not accepting any credit for his Coach of the Year award.
  “As far as the Coach of the Year thing, that’s just a result of all the things the players did,” Jermain said. “They’re the ones that put a lot of hard work and made us successful.”
  Any coach that finishes the season with a perfect record is almost certainly a shoe-in for Coach of the Year. Still, it’s not something Jermain was worried about.
  “It’s not something I even thought about to be very honest,” Jermain said.
  What the Eagles were doing on the floor got things done as they defeated Bell City 74-61 in Columbia for the Class 1 state title. It also earned All-State honors for seniors Kody Schieber and Matt Jenkins.

5 years ago

• Something stinks at the Nodaway County Courthouse, but the situation has nothing to do with insider politics, cover-ups, or corruption.
  Which is to say the inside of the landmark Victorian structure, built in 1881 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, just plain smells bad sometimes.
  The odor, which carries an unmistakable hint of raw sewage, has been an intermittent problem at the courthouse for about two years, according to North District County Commissioner Robert Westfall, who takes the lead on most county issues having to do with facilities and maintenance.
  Westfall and his colleagues on the governing board, Presiding Commissioner Bill Walker and South District Commissioner Robert Stiens, acknowledge that the smell makes the courthouse less than a pleasant place to be, and the panel has made a number of attempts to trace the source of the stink and get rid of it.
  But so far, no soap.