Forum Flashbacks: May 26 – June 1
FORUM FILE PHOTO
25 YEARS AGO: A hero among us – Tashia Pates (wheelchair) leaves St. Francis Hospital & Health Center with her family and registered nurse Joy Stroburg. Doctors said if it wasn’t for Tashia’s cousin, Zach Bottiger … she could have died from the injuries sustained when a 600-pound grill fell on her.
5 years ago
Sgt. 1st Class Dustin Wells spends a lot of time traveling northwest Missouri to reach out to high school students as part of his job as a recruiter for the Missouri Army National Guard.
Wells served as the keynote speaker Monday morning at the Maryville’s James Edward Gray American Legion Post 100’s Memorial Day ceremony, and he brought up some of those interactions in his job.
“I ask them what Memorial Day is and some of the answers are impressive,” Wells said. “Some look at me like I asked them the distance of the moon in centimeters. I don’t know if they get told what Memorial Day is all about. It’s just not a day off to barbecue. It’s a chance to honor and appreciate why we are a free world.”
Wells, a South Nodaway graduate, joined the Missouri Army National Guard shortly after graduation in 1998. He has served in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He has been awarded the Bronze Star, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation Medals, one with valor. He has been a full-time recruiter since 2007.
Wells noted he always extends his hands to a veteran when he sees one in public, thanking them for their service.
“They are why we do this and they paved the road, and it is my job to keep it going,” Wells said.
15 years ago
In 1996 the Maryville Treatment Center opened up as a facility for male inmates who were in the last year of their sentence and who were getting ready to be released back into society.
With drastic budget cuts stemming from a large deficit for the fiscal year 2006, Gov. Matt Blunt had to make a few changes when he came into office.
The original idea and vision of the community was to have the facility a treatment center only. In 2006, the 525 available beds for those needing substance abuse treatment was cut to 225. The remaining 300 beds, provided room for the transfer of 300 general population inmates into the Maryville Treatment Center.
Those 225 offenders were all reduced from a one year to a six month treatment program.
“I think it was a very difficult decision to reduce the number of beds at the Maryville Treatment Center,” Brian Hauswirth, Chief Public Information Officer of the Missouri Department of Corrections said. “The governor inherited a very tough budget situation, with a billion dollar deficit. We understand the tough decisions and supported the governor’s actions. We also know that we always wanted the facility to be a treatment only facility.”
25 years ago
… Northwest Missouri can add one more name to it’s(sic) list of heroes this week. That name is Zach Bottiger.
Zach is not a sports star or an(sic) well-known celebrity. On the contrary, he is an average, everyday 13-year-old growing up in Hopkins, Mo. …
On May 24, Zach was playing in the back yard of his mother’s house with his cousins. One of those cousins is nine-year-old Tashia Pates.
Tashia and her family had come to Hopkins from Colorado for the marriage of Zach’s mom, Leann, and Keith Grinder on May 25.
While they were playing hide-and-go seek, Tashia crawled up on top of a 600-pound grill made out of an old fuel tank. The tank was the type that can be pulled behind a truck.
As Tashia played on the grill, she lost her balance. As she fell, the grill tipped over, falling on top of the young girl.
The girl, who Leann described as “just a little squirt,” was pinned under the weight of the tank.
It was at that moment that a hero was born.
“I thought ‘Oh crap!’,” Zach said. “The first thing I did was look around for my cousin Jeremy, because I didn’t think I could ever lift it myself. When I saw he was running for the house to get help, I knew I had to do something. She was trapped and couldn’t breath(sic).”
Leann described what Zach did next.
“Zach heard her scream, ran over, picked the grill up and pulled it off of her,” she said. “It kept rolling back over, so he had to prop the wheels up and get it to stay.”
From there, the girl’s uncle rushed the girl to the hospital.
“The grill cut her stomach open, bruised her spleen and broke her left arm in two places,” Leann said. “She had emergency surgery that night for her stomach, and the doctor thought the spleen might start bleeding. The doctor said if Tashia didn’t get to the hospital when she did, it could have killed her.” …
Thanks to Zach, Tashia was released from the St. Francis Hospital & Health Center Friday afternoon. Tashia should be fine, and Zach hopes he doesn’t have to repeat his feat.
100 years ago
WILL HONOR HERO
American Legion Decorates Grave of James Edward Gray, for Whom Post Is Named — Fire the Military Salute
James Edward Gray Post of the American Legion will observe a special ceremony tomorrow morning at 9:30 o’clock, when the post will march to Miriam cemetery where the grave of James Edward Gray for whom the post was named, will be decorated with flowers and a salute fired over the grave of Maryville’s gold star hero.
The firing squad with Henderson Aley in charge will be composed of June Blagg, Edward Wright Gray, Leon Cannon, Floyd Pope, John Mutz, Marvin Crawford, Henry Buhler and Kyle Phares. The color-bearers and guard will be Clun Price, Mitchell Welling, Fern Crull and Walter Todd, with Lawrence Shanks as bugler.
The 100-year flashback is courtesy of the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project from the State Historical Society of Missouri, viewable at shsmo.org/collections/newspapers/mdnp. The original article ran in the May 29, 1922, edition of The Maryville Tribune, a predecessor of The Maryville Forum.
