Carthage, Jasper County
Jo Ellis: Saddle club may be one of oldest
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Members of the Carthage Saddle Club challenge anyone to look around and come up with another saddle club that has been in continuous existence for more than 50 years.
Organized in 1953 by Melvin Abbiatti, the group’s goal was to promote horsemanship, and especially to encourage youths in the arenas of fair play and caring for an animal.
“It’s huge,” said Steve Hency, president of the club. “People really ought to come out and see what’s going on.”
The Saddle Club Arena was built inside Municipal Park in 1955, and improvements have been ongoing since.
Beginning in April and throughout the spring and summer, the club puts on a “Show-de-O” the second Saturday of the month. Admission is free, and a concession stand is on the grounds. Participation is open to anybody from the pee-wee class up to super seniors, Hency said.
“We’ve had them as young as 2 and up to some in their 70s,” he said.
Events include poles, barrels, ring-around-pole, flag, Texas barrel and keyhole timed events.
The Carthage Saddle Club is a not-for-profit organization that is funded through events and donations.
This past weekend, the club’s annual Youth Rodeo was held with CTEC, the Central Timed Events Circuit. Youth groups have to hold events a certain number of times a year to qualify as a rodeo organization, Hency said.
The next Show-de-O is scheduled for this Saturday, and another Youth Rodeo is coming up May 15-16.
The club has claimed another unique accomplishment for a city this size, putting Carthage on the professional rodeo circuit. On June 5-6, the group will host its second annual Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo in conjunction with Wild Card Rodeo (supplier of bucking horses and bulls) and Downstream Casino Resort. Events will begin at 8 p.m.
“That will be the big deal,” Hency said.
Reminders
A special event opening Thursday at Powers Museum features National History Day projects. Brother and sister Eric and Nicole Peer will present their projects. Nicole’s project is on Maria Tallchief, America’s premier ballerina of the 20th century. Eric’s project, which will be a contender in the national contest, features Julia Lathrop, America’s first woman to head a federal bureau, the U.S. Children’s Bureau.
Admission is free; the programs begin at 7 p.m.
There’s still time to make reservations for Carthage Historic Preservation’s savory supper and dessert buffet at the 1870 Spencer House, 1163 Grand Ave. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday (take your pick), an award-winning preservation documentary will be shown to mark National Preservation Week. Details: Judy Hill, (417) 358-9688.
- Carthage, Jasper County
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State budget cuts reduce county funds
County officials are bracing for more state budget cuts to translate into a loss of county revenues.
In an effort to balance Missouri’s budget, the state earlier this year cut the amount it reimburses county assessors for work to determine property values. The budget approved by lawmakers for fiscal 2011 calls for cutting the amount the state reimburses counties to house prisoners bound for state lockup. -
Open house to celebrate projects at courthouse
Projects completed last year at the Jasper County Courthouse will be celebrated in ceremonies Thursday in the courthouse lobby.
County officials will join representatives of local chambers of commerce and others for a ribbon-cutting and open house to mark the opening of a Route 66 display in the lobby and a new “peace star” atop the building. -
Jo Ellis: County home to rare yellowwood tree
In late spring, drifts as white as snow fill the gutters and curbs on the east side of the Jasper County Courthouse. It isn’t snow, of course; it’s the fallen petals of the yellowwood tree that grows squarely in front of the door to the Jasper County Extension office.
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Jasper County Commission gets building project update
Plans to close out one building project and start another were reviewed by the Jasper County Commission last week.
Darieus Adams, Western District associate commissioner, met Thursday with officials of the firm who designed a $292,400 project to upgrade the lighting and make other changes to make four county-owned buildings more energy efficient. -
Two men running for associate judge in 39th Circuit take case to court
Two men running for associate judge in Missouri’s 39th Circuit began battling it out in a Jasper County courtroom this week.
Jasper County Circuit Judge Gayle Crane heard arguments Wednesday concerning the disclosure of documents sought by Robert “Bobby” George, Aurora, the current Lawrence County prosecutor. -
Unveiling ceremony celebrates CHS tiger
Kandy Frazier, Carthage High School principal, summed it up once the new addition to the CHS campus was unveiled Thursday.
The bronze tiger sculpture created by Carthage artist and sculptor Bob Tommey, she said, is the kind of work that would be found at a big university. -
Carthage sheltered workshop employees protest manager
Workers at Innovative Industries in Carthage ended a walkout Tuesday after protesting the hiring of a new general manager to oversee the sheltered workshop.
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Carthage hot rod bound for Australia
Don and Rosemary Going’s 79-year-old Chevy pickup has enough life left in it for one more journey. It will be a doozy of a trip, though. The 1931 truck, modified as a hot rod, will begin this week traveling halfway around the world, to the land Down Under.
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Historic homes offer challenges, but most owners have no regrets
When Marty Ann and Ron Petersen Jr. still lived in Ron’s boyhood home, they would walk through the historic neighborhoods for which Carthage is famous.
“We kept saying, ‘One day, we’re going to live in one of these big houses,’” Marty Ann recalled. -
Unveiling ceremony to bring sculpture to Carthage High
When it is unveiled Thursday at its Carthage High School home, it will be the end of a long journey for the Carthage tiger crafted by artist and sculptor Bob Tommey.
Tommey envisioned the sculpture and built support for it at football games, Maple Leaf parades and other events. - More Carthage, Jasper County Headlines
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