Forum Flashbacks: June 4-June 10

FORUM FILE PHOTO
Having waited as long as they can to begin planting, and with no signs the rain is about to let up, farmers are beginning to look for alternative ways to plant their crops. Above, an aircraft that was modified to allow it to distribute soybean seeds over 75 acres of hill ground owned by Lawrence Meyers is converted to a crop duster after the job is complete. … The plane was made to hold 15,000 pounds of soybeans; that is enough to cover about 12 acres of land. It took approximately three hours to complete the seeding.

25 years ago

• In preparation for the soon-to-be Maryville prison, a newly-appointed committee has become the new liaison between the state and the community.
  The committee held its first organizational meeting and elected officers Tuesday. John Fraze will assume the duties of chairperson and Dr. Cheryl Meyer will take on the responsibility of secretary for the group.
  The only plan the group made was to have a meeting at 7 p.m. on July 11 at the Maryville City Hall.
  “Right now we are feeling our way around,” Norbert Schmitz, member of the committee, said. “We are hoping people will contact us with their concerns before the meeting.”

15 years ago

• With hair combed neatly in place and nails manicured to perfection, they took the stage with grace and elegance.
  They were beautiful. They were stunning. And they were somewhere between the age of 73 and 98.
  These were the women participating in the Missouri Health Care Association’s District 2 Ms. Nursing Home Pageant for 2005.
  Mary Weir, representing Beverly Healthcare Center in Maryville, was crowned the 2005 Ms. Nursing Home Pageant Queen. As Weir approached the stage, wearing her Red Hat Society hat, she glanced into the audience where her twin sister and her daughter were watching.
  “I found my golden years at Beverly Healthcare,” Weir said, recounting experiences she has had through her life with humor and sincerity.
• ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Six months after abandoning a proposal to merge Northwest Missouri State University into the University of Missouri system, the system’s president says a union is still conceivable.
  System President Elston Floyd, in St. Joseph on Wednesday for the Coordinating Board of Higher Education meeting at Missouri Western State College, told the St. Joseph News-Press editorial board that the merger with the Maryville university is “still a good idea” but must have the support of all local lawmakers.
  The proposed merger was presented to the Legislature during the 2004 session, but Floyd and Northwest Missouri State announced in December that they would not pursue the merger in 2005, citing scant legislative support.

5 years ago

• As the population in rural northwest Missouri continues to dwindle, nothing, with the exception of a school closing or consolidation, punches buttons in a small town quite like the possibility of losing a U.S. Post Office.
  A few years ago, the Postal Service, whose annual deficit runs into the billions, announced that it was closing hundreds of small-town offices, including six in Nodaway County, and the reaction was swift, sharp and angry.
  So it was a little surprising when, with almost no fanfare, the Graham post office locked its doors just before Memorial Day, possibly for the last time.
  Maryville Postmaster Paul Eschbacher, whose authority encompasses several small postal operations in Nodaway County, closed the office because of concerns about the structural integrity of the building, a two-story brick affair built as an Independent Order of Odd Fellows hall in 1891.
  “The floor was giving way, and the facade of the building was beginning to lean toward the street,” Eschbacher said Friday. “The building just had a lot of structural issues.”
• Since 1967, Rogers Pharmacy has served northwest Missouri and has expanded into five different locations.
  Rogers Home Medical has been located on the north side of Maryville’s downtown square since 2008.
  Now, the family-owned and operated company is expanding its pharmacy operation into Maryville.
  “We have been looking at a Maryville branch for the past 20 years,” retired pharmacist and founder Mel Rogers said.