Forum Flashbacks: Dec. 8-14
FORUM FILE PHOTO
25 YEARS AGO: Cookie Decorating – Brownie Troop 305 from St. Gregory’s, led by Kathaleen Lipiec, continued a tradition recently in the making and decorating of sugar cookies for the Community Recreation and Resocialization Program’s Christmas party. The CRRP group was organized to help former mental patients readjust to community life. The Troop also handcrafted the cookie containers to be sent. Shown working on the cookies are (left to right) Emily Howell, Megan Stransky, Megan Deptuch, Tara Barmann, Jennifer Seipel, Emily Lipiec and Mollie Deptuch. Assisting the girls were mothers, Donna Barmann and Mary Frances Stransky and Cadette Scout Erika Lipiec.
5 years ago
During his report to the Maryville City Council Monday night, City Manager Greg McDanel gave an update on the city’s ongoing efforts to neutralize what has been a longer and more substantial than usual “turnover” effect at Mozingo Lake, the city’s primary water source.
McDanel noted complaints he has been hearing about the taste and odor of the water.
“Mozingo has experienced significant lake turnover this year, which deals with the algae blooms near the intakes,” McDanel said.
He explained that warmer than normal temperatures during the day combined with drastically colder temperatures at night essentially churn the algae blooms in the water creating a compound that alters the taste and the odor of the water.
“This does not impact the quality of the water,” McDanel emphasized. “We test our water daily at various locations … we still far exceed minimum standards for drinking water.
“It’s an inconvenience and the staff is working the problem every day.”
McDanel said that PeopleService, the city’s water services provider is updating him every day on the efforts.
“It’s something that historically can last three to five weeks,” McDanel said. “We’re hoping we can take care of it any day now.”
15 years ago
While thousands of residents in Maryville and the surrounding communities were preparing to go another day without power after northwest Missouri was hard hit by a vicious ice storm, utility workers were out in full force, addressing the damage to get the power back online.
But even though linemen were working throughout Tuesday night and putting in even longer hours on Wednesday, Aquila Representative Al Butkus said due to the severity of the storm and the sheer amount of lines that are down or damaged by accumulating ice, it may take a few days before everyone has their electricity back up and running.
“Right now we are showing, out of 15,000 customers in the Maryville and Mound City areas, 14,500 are out” of power, Butkus said Wednesday afternoon. As of press time, Aquila reported that there were still 4,300 customers with a Maryville address who did not have power.
Gene Dorrel, the general manager of United Electric Cooperative, said more than 6,000 of the company’s customers were without power on Wednesday, nearly 67 percent of United Electric’s total system of 9,500 customers. There were more than 7,000 customers without power Tuesday evening, but linemen and work crews managed to restore power to about 1,000 additional residents throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.
25 years ago
The Dec. 10 meeting may have been the final nail in the coffin for the Skidmore branch of the Nodaway-Holt School District.
The board took no action during their regular Dec. 10 meeting to overturn a previous motion to follow the recommendation of the Building Committee to eliminate the Skidmore elementary school while adding on to the Graham and Maitland sites.
District Superintendent Bruce Skoglund said he realized the importance and impact of the decision.
“We’ve gotten a lot of feedback on the plan, some positive, some negative,” he said. “We realize that whenever you take a school away from a small town like Skidmore, it is going to be a very emotional issue.”
The reasoning behind the decision came down to finances.
“We had six different options on the surveys we sent out,” Skoglund said, “and this plan was supported by 42.5 percent of the respondents. The next highest supported plan brought in 24 percent, and that was for the plan of building on a neutral site. The cost of that plan would have been much higher. The plan we chose is a lot more cost effective.”
The plan chosen by the board will call for the demolition of an addition at the Maitland school and the Skidmore building.
Taking their place will be a new addition at the Maitland building and the Graham building.
100 years ago
DISEASE HAS NOT CLOSED SCHOOLS
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Only One Nodaway County School Has Been Closed This Year Because of Contagious Disease Epidemic
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Loss of work by Nodaway County rural school pupils this year on account of the schools being closed because of contagious disease has been practically nil this year, according to Leslie G. Somerville, county superintendent of schools. Only one school in the county has been closed since the schools opened this fall, he says.
Eudora school, near Elmo, was shut down for three days on account of an epidemic of whooping cough, but it is the only school in the county in which any time has been lost.
The splendid work of the Nodaway County Health Department, coupled with the cooperation of the teachers and the county superintendent, has been responsible for this splendid record, which no other county in the state can equal, it is thought here.
The 100-year flashback is courtesy of the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project from the State Historical Society of Missouri, viewable at shsmo.newspapers.com. The original article ran in the Dec. 8, 1922, edition of The Maryville Tribune, a predecessor of The Maryville Forum.
