The Hit Musical GODSPELL is coming to Carthage, Mo.

Stone’s Throw Theatre, Carthage, Mo. is proud to announce they will be presenting GODSPELL conceived by John Michael Tubelak with music by Steven Swartz. GODSPELL is produced by special permission from Theatre Maximus. Additional Funding is provided by Missouri Arts Council and Schmidt and Associates.

Performances will be at Stone’s Throw Theatre, 796 South Stone Lane, Carthage, Mo. on Oct. 16-18 and 21-25, 2009. On weekdays the doors will open at 6:00 P.M., Dinner at 6:30 and the show starts at 7:30. On Sunday, the doors open at 12:30 P.M. Lunch at 1:00 and the show at 2:00. Price is $22.00 for adults, $19.00 for Seniors over 55 , $10.00 for youth under 17, and children under 5 are free. Groups of 10 and over are $18.00.

Large groups should reserve early. Reservations can be made by calling Betty Bell at 417-358-7268 , the theatre at 417-358-9665 or on line at bbell23@ecarthage.com. or stonesthrow@ecarthage.com

NASCAR THIS WEEK

By Monte Dutton

Sponsored by Curry Automotive

A Difficult Year for Harvick, RCR

For Kevin Harvick, it’s been a rough year. For Harvick’s team, Richard Childress Racing, it’s been a rough year.

Harvick and his teammates -- Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Casey Mears -- are all trapped outside the Chase for the Sprint Cup, hoping that a victory will earn some attention in a setting where the 12 contenders make everyone else seem irrelevant by comparison.

Notwithstanding a recent runner-up finish at Atlanta, Harvick and his No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet have been significantly off their game. A 32nd-place finish in New Hampshire left Harvick 22nd in the Sprint Cup point standings. He’s finished in the top five only three times all year, and his top-10 finishes number only five.

A year ago, all three RCR Chevys (a fourth was added before this season) made the Chase. Harvick, who is from Bakersfield, Calif., finished fourth in the final point standings, but he hasn’t actually won since the 2007 Daytona 500.

"Well, our cars have run fairly well for the last seven, eight weeks," said Harvick, 33. "We just wind up wrecked or something stupid happening for the last little while. Seems like everything that’s been happening has just kind of piled on.

"You know, any momentum is in a good ... in a good direction is a positive thing for us. It lets us know that we do remember how to race, just overcome a lot of things and hopefully keep it going."

Harvick made those remarks after the second-place finish on Sept. 6 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Since then, he’s finished ninth at Richmond and 32nd at New Hampshire.

Childress, a former driver who enjoyed his greatest success while the late Dale Earnhardt was winning six of his seven championships in his cars, has had to face a cutback in support from General Motors. He said recently that he expects to field four Chevrolets again next year.

"Who knows what will happen? There are a lot of things moving forward, you know. I look around the garage, and there’s some of the press and some of the other companies that were in here that have made cutbacks, too," said Childress. "We’ve all just got to adjust for these times, and racing is no different.

"Were in the greatest country in the world, and we will survive this."

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Monte Dutton has covered motorsports for The Gaston (N.C.) Gazette since 1993. He was named writer of the year by the National Motorsports Press Association in 2008.

I’ve never actually seen a woodshed. I say that with qualification ‘cause I guess I wouldn’t know one if I saw it.

I grew up hearin’ that’s where kids were taken when they were bad and needed a little discipline.

In this day and age, I don’t want ta get into a discussion ‘bout whether gittin’ a lickin’ is a proper activity, I’m just curious as to the origination of "take ya out to the woodshed."

I suppose that rather than a buildin’ ta store firewood, it was the storage of lumber. That would be a handy spot for a paddle to be procured. This makes a lot more sense now, I have been troubled with the thought of the usin’ of tree limbs as implements of corporal punishment.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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CLICK and CLACK

TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a 2001 Toyota 4Runner with 160,000 miles. I also have a pop-up camper that I pull on occasion with the 4Runner. I just made a trip from Colorado up to Minnesota pulling the camper. The last 20 percent of the trip, when traveling on the interstate, the 4Runner started bouncing pretty good - so much that my daughter thought she was riding the horsey ride at the grocery store. I jumped up and down on the hitch and it continued to bounce a couple of times before stopping. Do I need new shocks?

Ray: Well, let’s assume you’ve already checked the tires, Keith, to make sure they’re not overinflated.

Tom: Wait! Let’s not assume! Keith, check the tires, including the trailer tires, to make sure they’re not overinflated, because that’s a very common cause of bouncing and poor ride quality.

Ray: But if the tires are inflated correctly, here’s the test. Unhook the trailer. Then put a foot on the rear bumper and stand up on it, holding on to the roof rack for support.

Tom: Then start bouncing up and down on the bumper. Get it really rocking - up and down, up and down, as far down as you can make it go. Then, when it’s at the bottom of the cycle, hop off.

Ray: The bumper should come back up to its normal position and stop dead in its tracks.

Tom: If the truck continues to go up and down at all, you need shocks. Bad shocks can certainly cause the kind of bouncing you describe.