Ragtime This Weekend.

news release

A Ragtime Festival will be held in Carthage on Labor Day weekend, 2003. Shows will begin Friday, August 29, 7:00-9:30 PM at the Carthage Good Neighbor, 110 E 4th Street. The 3rd Annual Junior Ragtime Contest will be held the following morning at 10:00 AM at the Powers Museum, 1617 W Oak Street. Saturday night, August 30th, the final concert will take place from 7:00-9:30 PM at the Woodshed in the Emporium on the Square, 1311 S Main Street. Tickets for the two evening performances will be $5.00 each at the door. The contest at the museum is free and open to the public.

The festival will include performances by The Turpin Tyme Ragsters from Kansas City, Sue Keller from Chicago, Steven Spracklen from Pensacola FL, 2+2=4 Harmony from Southwest Missouri and Susan Spracklen Cordell from Carthage. The Friday night show will feature a special guest appearance by Brian Hawkins from Kansas City, winner of the 15+ age category in last year’s junior ragtime contest. The musicians will pay tribute to Southwest Missouri’s ragtime composers, such as James Scott and Clarence Woods from Carthage, Percy Wenrich from Joplin, Theron Bennett from Pierce City and pay special tribute to "Ragtime Bob" Darch of Springfield, who passed away last year.

Plans were in the works for a Tri-City Ragtime Festival, including a full four-day weekend of ragtime events representing a collaborative effort in Springfield, Pierce City and Carthage. Springfield and Pierce City experienced technical difficulties and extreme weather damage, and were forced to postpone their participation this year. The festival in Carthage is a continued effort to preserve and promote the musical heritage of the city’s history.

NASCAR to the Max

If you are in the market for a good used NASCAR Winston Cup Stock Car, avoid one that was run at last Saturday’s Sharpie 500 in Bristol, TN. The .533-mile high-banked track is notorious for its close racing action and the bumping and banging that occur. The 20 cautions periods tied track and NASCAR records with 119 laps being run under caution and accounting for over 20% of all laps run in the race.

The wrecking started early with the first caution on lap seven and lasted late with the final green flag run starting on lap 464. Jeff Gordon dominated early from the pole (first starting) position. Mark Martin and Sterling Marlin also ran for extended session at the point. Marlin was leading in the late going when current NASCAR bad boy, Kurt Busch, tapped him from behind and took the lead which he never relinquished to claim his fourth victory of the season. Busch, who is currently on probation by the sanctioning body for over aggressive driving, asked his crew to apologize profusely to Marlin with Busch claiming the contact was inadvertent. Busch’s post-race comments were barely audible as the crowd booed him; making their displeasure with his driving style known.

Busch’s victory gave him a sweep of the two Bristol races this season and three of the last four at the track.

With 24 of the season’s 36 races now complete, Matt Kenseth holds a 351 point lead over his nearest rival Dale Earnhardt, Jr. NASCAR may as well start engraving the Winston Cup Trophy as Kenseth’s lead is likely insurmountable. NASCAR will break a 54 year tradition following Sunday’s running of the Southern 500 in Darlington, SC. The race has been run on Labor Day weekend since 1950 but will be moved to November in 2004. Many NASCAR traditionalists feel a bit disheartened that the sport is leaving is roots. Jeff Gordon will look to leave his mark on the track by winning his record sixth Southern 500 title; a title he currently shares with NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough.

Accordin’ to discussion at the Council meetin’ Tuesday evenin’, we’ve had our first reported fender bender out at the roundabout. Indications are that one of the participants was talkin’ on a cell phone and didn’t notice the other vehicle. Always watch out for that other guy.

The interior of the rab, as I call it (Round-A-Bout), is grass for the time bein’ and bein’ cut by the Parks Department. Since no water has yet to be hooked up, the Fire Department is usin’ it’s $180,000 sprinkler system (Tanker Truck) to keep the vegetation alive. A quick dump of 750 gallons seems to be adequate.

It appears that folks are takin’ to the new intersection pretty well. Lots a cars, seldom havin’ to wait for any noticeable time. Let’s be careful out there.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I’m looking for a vehicle to be my "vet-mobile." I’m a mobile veterinarian and am looking for a used SUV/minivan with four-wheel drive that’s durable for horrible, nasty roads, lots of snow and llama spit. I have a fiberglass vet box with drawers that I would need to fit in the back — probably with the seats out. What do you recommend in the $6,000 range? This would be my only vehicle, so I’d like something economical, with good gas mileage as well! Thanks a bunch — Heather.

TOM: Geez, Heather. You want lots of space, four-wheel drive, flexibility, durability and good gas mileage. And you want it for $6,000. Don’t you want it to massage your feet while you’re driving, too??

RAY: We were with you until you got to the $6K, Heather. The almost perfect vet-mobile out there is the Honda Element. It’ll be perfect once it gets side-impact air bags and improves its lousy side-impact-collision scores.

TOM: But it’s got everything you want. It’s got lots of flexible space in the back — the rear seats come out. It’s got optional all-wheel drive, it gets good gas mileage and it’s a Honda, so it’s totally reliable. And to top it off, it’s got a nice, flat, rubber-covered floor in the back, which is nice and low, so old dogs and arthritic llamas can step in the side door very easily. But the Element just came out, and it’s about $22 grand, brand new. It’ll be years before it’s available in your price range.

RAY: For $6,000, you’re going to have to make some compromises. I would say the closest thing you’ll get is an early- to mid-’90s Nissan Pathfinder or Toyota 4Runner. Those are the most reliable vehicles of that type from that era