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OATS RELOCATES REGIONAL OFFICE TO MACON Page 6A
The
USPS-299800 Vol.137, No. 4 La Plata, MO, 63549 • 12 Pages • 1 Section • 50 Cents
Serving Macon County Since 1876 Subscribers to the Home Press are the nicest people! This week we salute
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
City Council Cuts Police Force
Dot Knoebel O’Fallon, Missouri LHS PREPARING FOR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL School is here! The La Plata R-II District would like to remind students of some important dates coming up for entering the ‘Dawg House. If you are going to be a new student to the district, please stop by the school on August 9th to enroll in classes. Seventh grade students should attend the orientation to pick up their schedules and to become acquainted with the high school. All students (elementary and high school) are encouraged to attend the Open House on August 20th to meet and greet your teachers for the new school year. New Student Orientation - August 9th, 8:00 a.m. to Noon Seniors - August 14th, 8:00 a.m. to Noon Juniors - August 14th, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sophomores, August 15th, 8:00 a.m. to Noon Freshman, August 15th, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. 8th Grade Orientation, August 16th, 8:00 a.m. to Noon 7th Grade Orientation, August 16th, 1:00 p.m. and August 20th, 5:00 p.m. Open House - (Elementary and High School) August 20th, 5:00 p.m. First Day of School, August 22nd, 8:05 a.m.
Residents of La Plata attended the city council meeting on July 24 to voice their concerns regarding cutting police staff. No one spoke in favor of cutting the police officers hours.
City of La Plata Regular Session 07/24/2012 Present: Mayor Charles Thompson, Alderman Bill Adams, Alderman Dennis Jones, Alderman Sean Herron, Alderman Trent Perry, City Administrator Dickie Brown and City Clerk Bobbie Jacques. Also Present: Robert Johnson, Beverly Billings, Sara Beth Fouch, Darrell Fouch, Linda Mansfield, Charles Allen, Jerry Thomas, Grant Roberts, Larry
Leibundguth, Gail Brown, April Franke, Kathy East, Stan East Jr., Dustin Sawyer, Lois Bragg, David Christy, Lou Berrey, Tabitha Sawyer, Ginger Henley, Karen Phipps, Ray Phipps, Greg Williams, Abbie Lene, Randy Lene and Randy Bunch. Mayor Thompson declared a quorum present and called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. at the Silver Rails Event Center. Charles Allen gave
called for a motion to approve the original budget submitted or the revised budget that was submitted July 24, 2012. Alderman Adams made a motion and seconded by Alderman Herron to approve the revised budget submitted July 24, 2012 with a review in 5 months. The vote as follows: Alderman Perry – nay, Alderman Adams – aye, Alderman Jones – aye, Alderman Herron – aye. The motion carried.
BARTON DAVISON REMEMBERS THE 1936 DROUGHT
WIGGANS AND ERWIN GRADUATE FROM MU The University of Missouri recently announced their Spring Semester 2012 Graduation list. Those graduating were: Katelyn Paige Wiggans, Atlanta, Bachelor of Health Science, Health ScienceBHS, Minor, Psychology-MI, Minor, Sociology-MI, Certificate, Multicultural Studies-CRT, Magna Cum Laude and; Stacy Diane Erwin, Brashear, Bachelor of Arts, Art-BA.
the invocation. Veolia Contract: The Veolia Contract item was postponed until August 14, 2012. Visitors Comments: Mayor Charles Thompson recognized several citizens in attendance. The consensus of those in attendance was not to cut the police officers hours. No one in attendance spoke in favor of cutting the police officers hours. Mayor Charles Thompson
by Barton Davison It was 1936 and I was eight years old. We lived on a farm about five miles north of La Plata, up off the Bear Creek bottom. My father was a farmer and our family depended on our crops and livestock for our livelihood. My mother raised a lot of chickens and we ate a lot of eggs. We raised cattle, which provided meat for our family.
We would sell cream from our milk cows in town to buy groceries. We also had a large vegetable garden. That summer was very hot and dry. The temperatures were running 105 degrees on average, but some days were up to 110 degrees. My family kept track of the temperatures by using a thermometer from a chicken incubator. There were no fans and no air conditioning. We didn’t
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even get electricity until 1949. I remember sleeping outside on a blanket because of the heat. If I got scared in the night, I would grab on to my mother’s nightgown. There was not much to do because of the heat and dry conditions, and I can remember my father would lay out in the yard under a tree on a cot to keep cool. We did not cook much because you had to use wood in the stove, and it made the house so miserable hot. Everything was drying up and the pastures had no grass, so every morning my father and I would go out and cut oak trees down so the cows could eat the leaves. We later read in an agricultural article that oak leaves would kill cows, but it didn’t kill our cows! We had a shallow pond and one day I went to check on it. There was only about a foot of water in the bottom of the pond with dead fish cov-
ering the dry banks. My father hired two neighbor boys to help him dig a well at Bear Creek. We had enough water for our family from the well at the house, but we needed water for the livestock. I remember watching my Dad standing up on top of the hay wagon, pushing a long pipe down into the ground. They worked most of the day, using a three quarter auger pipe to dig the large hole. As they got down deeper, they used one-by-twelve’s and tree limbs to hold out the sides. I don’t think they ever got down to water, but about dark it started to rain and that was the end of the drought. The next day the creeks were flooded! 1934 had been a drought year and 1935 was a very wet year. Pretty well everyone lost their crops to the drought of 1936. Fortunately for us, we had crops on Bear Creek bottom that were not lost.
n Trust” a C u o Y rvative “A Conse
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