Forum Flashbacks: June 18-June 24

FORUM FILE PHOTO
Nikole Walker (from left) and Jeane Walker, from Shambaugh, Iowa, and Dennis Monticue, from Burlington Junction, Mo., conducted a dedication ceremony on Thursday, June 16, for an archway and monument at the entrance of the Workman Chapel cemetery. John Workman built the church and cemetery 104 years ago, and the Walkers and Monticue had worked for months to honor the local history of the site.

25 years ago

• Residents of Maryville may have been a little shocked to find that “Batman Forever” was playing in Maryville on the day that it was opening around the nation.
  The decision to get the movie in Maryville is more critical than some would think. Gerald Jennings, owner of the theater, said this movie has the power to either make or break their business.
  “If we can hold on to this movie for three weeks and keep attendance strong, then we will have first-run, first-rate movies here just like any other theater,” Jennings said. “Getting this movie will be a turning point for this theater.”
  Friday was the first night for the movie. Although attendance figures are not out nationwide yet, judging by Maryville, the movie was a major success.
• Fighting rising temperatures outside as well as inside and forced to contend with so much smoke they could not see their hands in front of them, authorities battled a fire yesterday morning in downtown Maryville.
  Smoke bellowed from A & G Pizza and Steakhouse as four fire units responded to the blaze.
  Maryville Public Safety was called to the fire, which caused an estimated $150,000 in damage, at 10:07 a.m. …
  Keith Wood, director of MPS, said the fire was caused by “some kind of malfunction in the kitchen under the ventilation system to the grease vat area.”
  No major injuries were suffered due to the fire.

15 years ago

• Two people are dead and two others were injured after a shooting and a construction accident in Bethany in the past days.
  On Friday, June 17, plumbing contractor Kenneth Taylor was killed when a trench he was working in collapsed, burying him alive. A rescue worker received moderate injuries after the trench collapsed again.
  Then on Sunday, June 19, Nancy Wade was shot and killed at her Bethany home, and her husband Keith Wade was shot in the chest and is in serious condition. Keith Wade’s wound appears to be self-inflicted.
  The community of Bethany was shocked by the two incidents so close together.
  “The town’s pretty shaken up by both events,” said Phil Conger, editor and publisher of the Bethany Republican-Clipper. “Both families are well-known. It was a pretty tough weekend here.”

5 years ago

• For several months, the Maryville Downtown Improvement Organization prepared for Bicycle Across Missouri, a cross-state event created and overseen by Missouri Life magazine.
  Maryville was pegged as the first of several overnight stops along the route.
  MDIO officials went to painstaking lengths to prepare local vendors for the bicyclists and their supporters, who were anticipated to be staying overnight at Donaldson-Westside Park.
  However, the festivities, at least in Maryville, didn’t get off to the kind of start that was expected.
  According to information received by MDIO from BAM, participants were expected to arrive in Maryville around 3 p.m. after making stops in Tarkio and Burlington Junction earlier Monday. But riders began showing up before 11 a.m. at the park on the west side of town.
• Representatives from most of Maryville’s half-dozen trash-hauling companies met with the Maryville City Council this week in an attempt to find the least painful alternative with regard to the city’s solid waste transfer station, which has been operating at a deficit since a privately operated station opened three years ago several miles east of town.
  As the discussion proceeded during a special session prior to Monday’s regular council meeting, the city’s governing board appeared to drift away from what would likely be a poison pill for local family-owned hauling companies — municipalized trash service for local residents and businesses.
  Instead, the debate centered on a couple of other options: closing the transfer station altogether or leasing it to a private concern, possibly a consortium made up of the haulers themselves. Under municipalization, the city would either carry out trash collection itself, excluding private haulers, or, more likely, contract with a single private hauler following the submission of competitive bids.