Stories from Sunday, May 25, 2003

Is Vernon County going organic? The Missouri Northern Pecan Growers are certainly trying to get pecan producers interested in the realm of organic foods. In a press release, Drew Kimmell, member of the Missouri Northern Pecan Growers, said that he is ready to help pecan growers get their paperwork completed to become a organic producer this year. ...

The Vernon County Ambulance District has made an annual event of recognizing outstanding effort by local law enforcement, fire and ambulance personnel during Emergency Medical Services Week. This year's awards were presented during a lunch in the VCAD garage. ...

Plans for summer school are underway at the various grade levels in the Nevada R-5 School District. The summer school program is scheduled to begin Monday, June 2 and will end June 27. Sessions will be held from 8 a.m. to noon each day. Summer school begins with the youngest students: children who will be entering kindergarten in the fall of 2003 are invited to take part in one of the two-week sessions -- from 8 a.m. ...

I don't know anybody who was prepared for retirement when the time came for it. But neither do I know anybody who would give it up, once they'd tasted it. I taught English at Cottey College for 30 years -- until this past month. Why am I so unprepared for retirement? I guess because, until my very recent health problems, I loved teaching there so much. ...

Hi neighbors. Memorial Day weekend is upon us. I hope you have lots of coffee, steaks, hot dogs and barbecue sauce on hand for all the friends and relatives that drop in. Schools out, the weather is nice, time for some outdoor fun. There is lots of yard work to do, gardens to tend, flowers to re-pot, home repairs or remodeling to do. ...

Over the weekend, I saw something that I hadn't seen in several years…quail running across the road. Today it's more common to see or hear a wild turkey. What used to be a common sight across the state on country roads was seeing a quail or two running across the road or hearing them call along open fields. ...