Mainly Park Business.

The Ducks Are Coming Home.

Parks and Recreation Director Alan Bull told the Service Committee on Monday night that thanks to the local National Guard, the Fair Acres Project is proceeding on schedule. The only expense is gasoline which is within budget limits. He recently purchased 33,000 gallons of fuel at 72.9 per gallon for the project. Bull stated that the Guard initially expended 1800 gallons of their own fuel on the project.

The Committee moved to accept the offer from Tri-State Engineering for a reduced fee rate regarding the concession stand at Fair Acres. This prompted a brief exchange between Council Member Trisha Burgi-Brewer who was in the audience and Committee Member Jackie Boyer.

Brewer insisted that services have to be bid out. Boyer said professional services do not have to be bid.

"Let’s keep the forum on this table," Chair JD Whitledge directed. The Committee agreed to view a similar structure at MSSC before adopting or recommending any plans for a concession building.

Boyer said that regardless of what plan was approved they needed to establish a chain of command and have definite procedures in place. She indicated that projects have a way of getting out of hand and wanted to make sure it didn’t happen in this instance.

Bull reported an accident involving a park mower that slipped partially off a trailer. An attempt to engage the mower prompted a fire that required the services of the Carthage Fire Department.

"The insurance deductible is $5000. I’m going to relook at the insurance real close," said Alan Bull.

More about the ducks...

"We had so many calls about the ducks last week our answering machine blew up. Mr. Bull had to replace it," Park Secretary Pam Irwin told the Mornin’Mail.

Now the fowl issue is being revisited. The ducks are back. Apparently they return to their place of birth which in this case is Kellogg Lake. This inevitably leads to the question of how many eggs were hatched at the lake and how many of the hatchlings survived. Three ducks and 6 geese have reappeared on the Kellogg Lake. Bull said he had a list of names of people who want the birds and would call them. The dead-duck decoys have been ordered also Bull reported.

According to Bull a person who wished to remain anonymous volunteered to help clean up Kellogg Lake. He said he gave the person 25 trash bags which were filled when they were picked up the following day. Bull said he has two full time employees that are charged with various tasks at and around at the lake area.

Services Chairman JD Whitledge told Bull to convey "thanks and appreciation on behalf of the Committee and the people of Carthage" to the unnamed citizen for his efforts to beautify the lake.

A bid on the installation of Carter Park playground equipment from Playground Plus for $4,250 was approved. Bull said after the site work was completed there would be a balance of $2-300 in the budget. He said he would like to install a unilateral ADA approved drinking fountain. The motion was approved.

Committee Member Jackie Boyer reported on ideas for July 4, 2000. As it falls on Tuesday she suggested a weekend of events that would lead into an old-fashioned Fourth with contests, trophy’s, etc.. She said she hoped Main Street Carthage and other entities would participate in the festivities.

"It’s a community event," said Boyer. We want everyone to participate. We need to start planning now."

City Administrator Tom Short had three bids for tables and chairs for Memorial Hall. The winning bid from Adirondak Chair of New York for $6,076.30 includes 40 tables, 100 chairs, 4 table trucks and 2 chair caddies. The request was approved 4-0.

Jim Curley to Perform at Main Street Mercantile.

news release

Jim Curley is an Appalachian Folk Musician who plays mountain dulcimer, saw, spoons, mouthbow, fiddle, bass fiddle, fretless mountain banjo and guitar. He holds titles in several State Championships as well as Southern Regional, Mid-West Regional, and National Championships on the mountain dulcimer, and holds titles in America's Musical Saw Championships and is the first place winner of the World's Spoon Playing Championships.

Curley will be performing at Main Street Mercantile, 211 S. Main on the Square in Carthage, Missouri, Friday, August 6 at 7 p.m.

The performance is free of charge. You may want to show up early to catch a good seat. For more information persons may call Main Street Mercantile at 417-358-1800.

Curley's newly released album, "THE GREAT SHUNGA RIVER," which revolves around the mountain dulcimer, features John Hartford, David Schnaufer, Kim Forehand, and many other outstanding musicians. His previous popular album, "BORN HILLBILLY," also features the mountain dulcimer and a variety of other instruments.

Curley also appears on the albums of several other artists. He has appeared in various shows in Nashville, Tennessee; Branson, Missouri and the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas; and locally at the Northtown, Ottawa and Osage Oprys. He is a regular performer at area churches and schools. He also performs at concerts and historical events throughout the United States.

Curley teaches a variety of instruments at the University of Missouri's Communiversity, folk and dulcimer festivals and private lessons.

Curley is available through 5th Gear Productions, P.O. Box 3406, Shawnee, Kansas 66203, Phone (913) 268-1156.

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

There is nothin’ much worse than havin’ to deal with a problem that shouldn’t a been a problem in the first place.

I goes back ta one a Murphy’s observation: "Why is there always to fix somethin’ when there wasn’t time ta do it right the first time?"

I learned as a youngster to always close the gate. Nothin’ worse than tryin’ to round up a stray cow that wandered out of a gate ya left open. Ya not only waste the time, typically ya fall in a ditch and skin your shin while endin’ up in a pile a fresh manure. More problems. Then ya forget and climb in the farmers truck and have to smell your mistake all the way home ‘fore ya end up cleanin’ up the mess ya made tryin’ to solve the original problem. Don’t take many times like that ‘fore ya understand the importance of gate closin’.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click and Clack Talk Cars

Dear Tom and Ray:

After I was involved in an accident, a good friend lent me his "stealth car," a 1979 Honda Accord hatchback with "50,000 miles on this engine." I drove it for a week and may have killed it. He warned me that it had a rough idle, especially in warm weather, and I found this to be true. Then the car started to ping under load, as though it had a bad tank of gas. Then it stalled while idling.

When I finally did get it running, it produced lots of white smoke and ran roughly, as though on three cylinders. I talked with a local mechanic, who speculated that the head gasket is blown. "Many hundreds of dollars" if so - about what the car is worth.

Here's the question. Since it's not my car, what do I do? Should I fix the car? Did I somehow bring on this demise? How do I explain the situation to my friend? Will he ever speak to me again? - Glenn.

RAY: Gee, Glenn. You're in a tough situation. The car was sort of a heap to begin with, but the pinging makes it sound like you overheated it and put it over the edge. On the other hand, if the "hot" light wasn't working, you wouldn't even have known you were overheating the engine. So it's not easy to assign blame here.

TOM: This is one of those cases where you just have to decide which is more important, Glenn, friendship or money.

RAY: Go ahead, we'll wait.

TOM: You need a little more time?

RAY: All right, we can't wait anymore. We'll assume that, eventually you're going to decide that this friendship is more important to you. In which case you should just fess up, and tell your friend what happened. Then offer to pay half of the cost to repair it.