The Carthage VFW home is located 1 ½ miles west of Carthage, at the end of Oak street and Hwy 171 W.

A "Parking Lot Sale" will start at 9:00 a.m. and continue until 1:00 p.m. The cost to rent a space will be $10.00. Commercial space will be $20.00. Space is based on a first come, first served basis. Anyone interested should call Rusty Melton at 237-7024 or Dee Shanks at 358-2018 after 4:00 p.m. All space fees goes to Camp Quality.

Starting at 2:00 p.m. there will be Dancing, Horseshoes, Shuffle Board and other games. The bands that have donated their time to this good cause include: Country Express, and Prairie Wind and Songs of Remembrance with Jewell Wilkinson. Cost is $5.00 per person. All net proceeds will go to Camp Quality.

There will be Door Prizes and Raffled Prizes donated by Area Businesses. Hamburgers and Hot Dogs will be available. The benefit will continue until the bands wear out.

NASCAR to the Max

Sunday’s running of NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600, at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC was plagued by rain the entire weekend. First, qualifying was rained out on Thursday and rescheduled for Friday. When it came time for the race to begin, the track surface was still wet in spots and was wicking water up through the track in others. The race actually began with the green flag and caution flag waving simultaneously with the first few laps run under caution with the speeds gradually increasing to ensure the safety of the track.

Ryan Newman led the first 50 laps or so, capitalizing on his pole (first) starting position. Tony Stewart led a good portion of the next 50 laps and appeared to be in contention until a blown engine relegated him to the 40th finishing position. From about lap 130 on, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Bobby Labonte took extended turns at the point. From the early going, most teams had their eyes on the sky and the radar as rain again seemed eminent and teams began gambling on whether or not the race would be run to the full 400 lap distance. NASCAR considers a race official one it has reached the halfway point. Various strategies began unfolding with many teams adopting varying pit strategies leaving only eight cars on the lead lap. Just past the 270 lap mark, the skies opened up with the race being red flagged (stopped) on lap 276. As the rains subsided, NASCAR judged that with other showers moving in and a lengthy track drying process ahead they would be better served to call the race and allow the fans and teams to exit the track between showers. Johnson who was leading at the time of the red flag was declared the winner of what became the Coca-Cola 414.

The series’ next stop will be at the one-mile, moderately banked oval in Dover, Delaware. Jimmie Johnson won both races here last year and will be looking to continue his winning streak at the track and from last week.

Looks like the roundabout construction is movin’ ahead about on schedule. As much hassle as it is to get to certain’ businesses around the construction, I’ve got to admit that gettin’ through the intersection has been a lot easier without the lights.

‘Course there’s no cross traffic to worry about. I’m hopin’ traffic flows as well when the other half of the circle is completed.

The fireworks display scheduled for July 4 out at Muni Park will be downsized this year. The Budget Committee has recommended that the actual fireworks display take a 25% cut due to needin’ the money.

The plan is still for all day activities but vendors seem to be shyin’ away. May be ‘cause the 4th falls on Friday, other, bigger events are more lucrative. Be a good day for a picnic anyway.

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 have a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee and live in the hot, dry Southwest. Both my main seal and my transfer-case seal are slowly leaking. There are a number of additive products available at the auto-parts store that claim they will soften old seals and stop leaks. Do any of these additives really work, and can they do more harm than good? — Holt

TOM: No, they won’t do more harm than good. But there’s at least a 90 percent chance they’ll do nothing.

RAY: We consider these "products of last resort." If you’re facing a major engine or transmission repair, then why not try an $8 bottle of Miracle Whip or whatever they call it? On the off chance that it helps, you might buy yourself some more time. Sometimes, that’s all you want — just enough time to finish grad school, or get through your latest divorce or your youngest kid’s last seven years of college.

TOM: The products that soften seals certainly won’t do any harm to the gears or to any other internal components, so don’t worry about making anything worse. And once in a while, we’ve seen them work for weeks, months or even years.

RAY: So it’s worth a try in your case, Holt. After all, if you’re looking at spending $2,000 in repairs, what’s the harm in making it $2,008?