Did Ya Know... Area thespians are reminded that open auditions for two upcoming productions at Stone's Throw Community Theatre are scheduled this month and next month. Henry Heckert will direct both presentations. For information, call 358-9665.
Did Ya Know... Carthage Board of Education has added nine new teachers to its staff.
Did Ya Know... The Carthage Chamber of Commerce is taking orders for the ever-popular souvenir afghans. The piece features momentos such as the historic Jasper County Courthouse as well as the original log cabin courthouse of the 1800's and more historic places in Carthage.
"My hair's falling out. What can I get to keep it in?" "A paper bag." "That's a hot band you have there." "They're going to be much cooler this summer. I'm adding three wind instruments." Customer: Why did you drop that hot towel on my face? Barber: You didn't think I was going to burn my fingers!
INTERESTING MELANGE.
A Chronological Record of Events as they have Transpired in the City and County since our last Issue.
To Organize a Berry Growers' Union.
A movement is on foot to organize a berry growers' union in Carthage, and the plan is meeting with much favor. A meeting of the Commercial Club will probably be called in the near future to consider the matter. The organization is to be a berry shipping and selling association, along the same lines as the Sarcoxie association.
Homeseekers, Take Notice.
Several choice suburban residence lots for sale at one-half original price, on South Garrison avenue, close to electric line. Lots worth $150 at $75; lots worth $250 at $130. One-third cash; balance on time. For sale by McFarland & Bailey, Real Estate Exchange, office in Regan block, west side square.
Mornin',
From what I’ve read, retirement ain’t what it used ta be. They say a lotta folks just keep on goin’, and goin’ and goin’.
By the year 2050, there are supposed ta be over twice as many over the age of 65 livin’ in the U.S. as there are now. That means that a large block of voters will be old enough ta know better I suppose.
They say that the big business types are tryin’ ta figure out what this enlarged mass of maturity will be buyin’ and what their eatin’ habits and such will be. I’d have ta guess that like most groups of consumers, they’ll know it when they see it.
‘Course there may be some adjustment in the size a print in newspapers and maybe the numbers on telephones, but more likely I’d reckon, there will be some new technology to obscure such ailments as poor eyesight and the like.
Women seem ta be noticeably outlivin’ the men folk and difference seems ta be increasin’. I won’t make any speculation on that statistic at all.
This is some fact, but mostly, Just Jake Talkin’.
An interview with Harold Neely
by Robin Cox in 1994
Carthage Journal
The City Council resolution commending Harold Neely for his 47 years of service to the City comes just days before his retirement at the end of this month.
The following is an informal overview that includes some of Neely's personal experiences, frustrations with his work and concerns for the City's future.
The interview was conducted in 1994 and reflects Neely as he began to prepare for his eventual retirement.
Readers may note that several of the problems and opportunities of 1994 mentioned have been attended, while others are still to be addressed.
Harold Neely has witnessed a unique portion of the Carthage experience.
Neely has worked with the Street and Engineering departments since 1950 and has seen a great number of changes take place in those years.
"When I went to work here in 1950, I was hired as temporary help as a rodman during the summer under then City Engineer and surveyor E. S. Glenn.
"At that time there were new houses being constructed on 15th street east of Clinton and there was a lot of surveying going on. My brother was a contractor out there building a house and the survey crew asked him if he knew of somebody that wanted to work. At that time all of the south end of Carthage from Fairview south to Fidelity had very sparse housing out there. They were putting in a big sewer out there at that time. That was the first staking I ever got into.
"At that time there were five people in the engineering department. Mr. Glenn was the County surveyor, County and City Engineer and Street Commissioner."
"That winter I went to work for the street department when it was in the big old frame sales barn on the corner of Second and Lincoln. I operated trucks, front end loaders and the sweeper.
"When we had ice or snow storms we would go out to the mines north west of town to the tailing piles that the City had bought and we would take the trucks and back up to these piles and load the truck and come back to town. One man would drive and the other would be on the back of the truck to spread gravel on the ice or snow with a shovel. We didn't have a salter or spreader.
"Now I would give anything to have had a camera back when I started and to have taken pictures of the equipment that the city had then. It was very antiquated.
"I've seen a lot of changes. I've seen lots of pasture land that a sewer was put into in the 1950's and 1960's that people made sly remarks to Mr. Glenn about running a sewer way out there in the pasture to serve the cows. Well, all those pastures are houses now."
The City presently contracts with Steve Lett of Tri-State Engineering as a part time City Engineer. With the annexation of Precious Moments and Carmar into the Carthage City limits the Carthage Water and Electric Plant and the City are presently looking at outlining a job description for a full time engineer to serve the needs of both the Plant and the city. In assisting with the job description, Neely explained that his office put together an outline of what an engineer does for the department. "He has to be a Jack of all trades," Neely says. "It's a very wide spectrum that a man is expected to be between being good with people and good with attending almost every meeting there is. I did recommend that it should be a civil engineer, because that is a more broad field in all aspects of City operations than a structural engineer or an electrical engineer. Even with a full time city Engineer, there are going to be times that he is going to call in specialists or consultants in the fields of electrical or wastewater treatment, for example, because each field is unique in itself and no man can be expected to have that much expertise."
Neely began working full time on city projects in 1974 under City Engineer Frank Hoblick. "Frank was supposed to be a part time engineer but it got to where he was full time because of all the meetings that he and I were attending and he was out looking at problems and trying to solve problems before they got started. So there is plenty to do for a full time engineer."
Neely explained his job in working with the city and the citizens of Carthage and what that entails on a day-to-day basis.
"It's really become the fact of using common sense on everyday occurrences and trying to work problems out and try to satisfy most of the people involved. You're never going to please everyone.
"To me there are no hard facts in solving something. It's got to be looked at, studied, and then you try to figure out what is best for the community as a whole."
With any city job such as Neely's there are usually a number of frustrations that come with the territory. Some can be solved over time and others are ongoing. Neely singled out storm water detention as one of his biggest frustrations. "You know the problems are there," said Neely. "There's not an easy way of solving it and it's been there for years. They are all over town and when you have a two to five inch downpour I realize that the one person who calls me here or at home and says, 'I want you to come here and see this and I know that's the biggest problem for them but I've seen it before and I know what the problem is.
"We have looked at the problems of constructing huge storm sewer systems, but it takes money. There have been projects presented in the past that might cost a half million dollars and the Council just couldn't see coming up with that much money to solve that problem and therefore we would just whittle away at it in small amounts. A lot of the problems in the 1970's and early 80's have been taken care of by the Street Department's ditch crew by working here and there. A number of projects that Mr. Hoblick started in the 1970's in conjunction with the Street Department and the Street Committee has alleviated a tremendous amount of water problems through the years. We've still got them, and as long as you have rain and as long as you construct building and parking lots you're going to continue to have them. But that's just part of progress.
"It's hard knowing of water problems and knowing it's going to happen when you have a huge downpour and not being able to run right out there and put a pipe in and do something about it. That causes heart problems.
"I've been here so many years and sat through so many Council meetings that it's almost like reruns. I've heard this before, and the City is limited to their finances. We've talked of bond issues for a storm water district. Those bond issues are hard to pass in a city because a person who is high and dry is not going to vote for a bond issue to fix somebody's back yard who's got water. It takes a lot of PR work. Because really that person's problem out there is not just their problem, it's the whole city's problem because it does have to come downstream somewhere.
"It's eventually going to take a joint sanitary sewer/storm water sewer bond issue because the city cannot come up with enough funds to do this. It's so easy now to spend a quarter of a million dollars on just one project."
Neely commented on what he feels to be some of the more immediate needs for the city to look at in terms of the city's continual development.
"One of the biggest needs in Carthage right now is housing. And I'm talking duplexes and family homes that people can afford. Right now there are so many plans being submitted for big homes to be constructed that the average worker cannot even afford. If we're going to have jobs in Carthage and people want to live here we've got to have housing. It's tough for contractors to come in and build small houses. There's not as much profit in that."
In being able to summarize a basic definition of what he does as Assistant City Engineer, Neely contemplated for a moment and stated, "I haven't found anybody yet that can come up with a job description for this position. Almost anybody would have a rude awakening when they come down here as to what comes through this office. It's not just engineering."
"Any person in town that's got a problem will call one of the City's offices and if they don't know what to do with it they send it here. If we don't have an answer for them we'll try to find one. There's no end as to what really comes through this office, and it has always been that way.
"There are so many things that come through here I don't know what would be unusual anymore.
"One time when Mr. Hoblick was Engineer a big rainstorm caused some flooding and a lady's cat drowned and was in her garage and she called Mr. Hoblick and asked him what he was going to do with that drowned cat. He said he'd take care of it' and he took care of it."
Over the years Neely has received a number of awards and commendations for his work with the City. The most recent one came last May when he was named "Man of the Year" by the Lions Club.
He has worked for the City under 13 different Mayors and numerous City Councils.
The City recently hired Joe Butler as a full time Engineer's Assistant/Inspector to work in the Engineering Department. He is in the process of learning the day-to-day operations of the department from Neely and may someday hold the reins himself.
from the American Podiatric Medical Association
Sponsored by Randall Kunze, D.P.M.
Toward Greater Comfort
If women wear high heels, there are ways to relieve some of the abusive effects; they can limit the time they wear them, for example, alternating with good-quality oxford-type shoes or flats for part of the day. High heels that are too tight compound the abuse; it's good advice to buy shoes in the afternoon, since feet tend to increase in size later in the day.
Women have other heel-size choices, fortunately. They don't have to endure pain at the expense of their foot health. The key is wearing the right shoe for the right activity - and that means varying heel height, determining what heel is most suitable.
For example, there are comfortable and attractive "walking" pumps (also called "comfort" or "performance" pumps) for women for work and social activities. The shoe manufacturers who have introduced them seek a marriage of fashion considerations and comfort, offering fashionable pumps with athletic shoe-derived construction, with reinforced heels and wider toe room. They are using space-age materials, like long-lasting memory cushioning that acts as a shock absorber. And the soles are more pliable. Three lines of walking pumps have the use of the American Podiatric Medical Association's Seal of Acceptance.