Forum Flashbacks: Sept. 25-Oct. 1
MARYVILLE DAILY FORUM, OCT. 1, 2000
25 YEARS AGO: Homecoming Madness – The Maryville High School Homecoming Assembly brought out the “madness” of fun school activities. Pictured center is Alexis Townsend, sophomore, who took part in the activities held Friday afternoon.
25 years ago
Maryville Daily Forum, Oct. 1, 2000
Christian, DeVers hit ‘home run’ with their wedding ceremony
Beth Christian and Paul DeVers first met on the ballfield at South Beal Park in Maryville and they decided to have a wedding with a little different twist.
“That’s the first place we ever met, on South Beal Ballpark,” Beth said.
They got married Saturday, on the ballfield, after Beth “broke through a hoop,” along with her father, Forrest Christian (the catcher), who escorted her to “Home Plate,” where the ceremony took place, with the minister Franklin Hardy of Maitland officiating. The minister wore a baseball jersey.
The hoop was made in the fashion of one football players run through when their team is being announced.
“They met on a ballfield — Beth got the diamond,” are the words on the front of their wedding invitations. …
“The ceremony began with the playing of the National Anthem, because that’s what they do at a real ballgame,” Beth said.
“Take Me Out To The Ballgame” was played as the bride “walked down the aisle” (onto the ballfield) instead of the regular wedding march.
The wedding colors were red, white and blue, Red for the Chiefs, blue for the Royals and white for marriage, according to the bride.
Dress attire for the occasion was “casual baseball.”
The bride wore a white wedding dress with red baseball stitching on it.
“I made my veil from a baseball cap,” Beth said. “And I made my bouquet out of a ball glove.”
75 years ago
Maryville Daily Forum, Sept. 27, 1950
Catch 2 of Trio Who Break County Jail
Floyd Sargent, age 29, and Gene Matson, age 25, of Maryville were back in the Nodaway county jail today after staging a jail break about 9 o’clock last night and remaining at liberty for about four hours. A third man, Lester Jones, age 43, of Maryville is still at large.
Seek Ride With Patrol
Trooper Herbert Walker of the state highway patrol turned Sargent and Matson over to Independence police about 2:30 o’clock this morning after apprehending them on highway 71 bypass near Independence. They had hitch-hiked from Maryville to Kansas City earlier in the evening and attempted to hitch a ride with the patrol car. Trooper Walker had received a description of the men by police radio a short time before and took them into custody. …
Saw Through Four Bars
The three men escaped from the jail by sawing through four bars in a window in the west side of the county jail.
Evidently the break-out was engineered by Sargent and Matson, and after they had left, Jones decided to take advantage of the ready-made exit. Sargent and Matson said this morning that they were unaware that Jones had escaped and that he must have left after they did. Sargent expressed the opinion that he did not think that Jones “had guts enough” to make a break. …
Discuss Jail Break
Sargent and Matson were extremely willing to discuss details of the jail break on their trip back from Independence this morning. They said that they had used two hack saw blades which they “found in a corner of one of the back cells” to cut the bars in the jail window. The job took about four nights, they said, including one night that they “didn’t get much work done” because workmen were working on an adjacent building and they were afraid of being seen. …
Stopped for Beer
Both speculated on the ride back to Maryville on incidents which may have led to their early capture. “If we hadn’t stopped in Kansas City for a bottle of beer, we would probably be going yet,” Matson said. The men said that they were headed for highway 66 and then to California.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The 75-year flashback is courtesy of the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project from the State Historical Society of Missouri, accessible at shsmo.newspapers.com.
