Obituaries

Thursday, July 16, 2020 Vol. 156, No. 5 • $1.00 A Weekly Newspaper Serving the Dade County Area Since 1866

INSIDE

OBITUARIES

• Amy Lee Allison, 90,

Greenfield • Shirley Ann McIntyre, 87, Lockwood • Linda Mae Blunt, 71,

Mt. Vernon • Kenneth Huff, 87,

Aurora • Gary Patrick Mullinix

Sr., 72, Aurora • Peggy Lou Wills, 87,

Willard

Golden Harvest Days Events

Golden Harvest Days in Golden City continue festivities Thursday, July 16 to Saturday, July 18 for the main festival. See their Facebook page for the full calendar of events.

Dade County Board of Equalization to Meet, July 20

The Dade County Commission will hold the Board of Equalization meeting at 10 a.m. Monday, July 20, at the county courthouse.

Dade Co. Meet The Candidates, July 21

The Dade County Republican Women will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, in the Greenfield High School cafeteria. Meet the Candidates will follow at 6 p.m.

CONTENTS

Obituaries.............. Pg 2 Community............ Pg 3 Business Dir. ........ Pg 5 Commentary.......... Pg 6 Worship Dir. .......... Pg 7 Legals.................... Pg 8 Classifieds............. Pg 9

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FOR HOME DELIVERY, CALL 637-2712

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Simmons Bank Confirms Plans to Close Greenfield Branch

A busy parking lot at Simmons Bank branch in Greenfield on Thursday, July 9, just as the

news broke that it would be closing in October 2020. (Photo by Gina Langston)

By James McNary Articles Editor

It has been confirmed that Simmons Bank has decided to close its Greenfield branch in October.

The decision to close the Greenfield branch came as a shock to the community, as the Greenfield branch was chosen over Lockwood to have its drivethrough remain open during the shutdown of public spaces related to the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year. According to the latest summary of deposits information from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), dated June 30, 2019, the Greenfield branch has $36,785,000 in deposits, compared to $26,638,000 for the Lockwood branch.

“I don’t know exactly what their reasons are but growth is certainly happening [here]: almost all the buildings on the square have now been bought and [are] fixing to be remodeled, that is a great sign of growth,” said Kim Rhodes, president of the Greenfield Area Chamber of Commerce and a local business owner.

‘Simmons Bank’ Continued on page 11

Deadline Nearing to Request Mail-In, Absentee Ballots for August Election

By James McNary Articles Editor

Missouri citizens wishing to vote absentee, or in some cases by mail, have until July 22 to request ballots for the Aug. 4 election from their local election authority, if making such a request by mail or fax. Voters can still vote absentee, in person, until 5 p.m. on Aug. 3 at the office of the local election authority. Voting by mail is being permitted for the August and November 2020 elections after Gov. Mike Parson signed Senate bill 631 into law on June 4. The provisions allowing voting by mail are a response to concerns about COVID-19 preventing the elderly and other at-risk voters access to the polls. “Any Missourian affected by COVID-19 should still be able to vote,

‘Deadline Nearing’ Continued on page 11

Dade Co. Health Dept. Confirms 4 More Cases

By James McNary Articles Editor

The Dade County Health Department confirmed over the weekend, July 11-12, that 4 more cases of COVID-19 have been found in county residents.

This brings the total number of cases in Dade County to 6, of which at least once case is now considered to have recovered. Of the new confirmed cases, 2 individuals live in the same household and are isolating in their home.

“Following the guidance [that] when you are sick, to stay home, is exactly what they did,” said Pamela Allen, health department administrator. “Thanks to following the guidance given, they did not have any exposure to report.”

Allen said that the individuals have remained at home since the onset of feeling sick, and work outside Dade County, so there are no locations of potential exposure in the county to report.

‘Dade Co. Health’ Continued on page 5

Miller Aldermen, Rural Fire Board Met July 9

By James McNary Articles Editor

The Miller Board of Aldermen and the Miller Rural Fire District Board of Directors held a joint meeting on July 9 following the regular meeting of the Miller Board of Aldermen.

Earlier discussion between the two boards about the possibility of annexing the territory of the city into the district had been delayed until after a request was sent to voters by the fire district, requesting a tax increase. The request was rejected by voters in the municipal elections that were delayed until June 2 by the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Rural Fire Board President Milo Daniel said he felt the inability to have town hall meetings to educate the public on the reasoning for the tax increase was a big part of why the request failed; the Miller Rural Fire Protection District currently has one of the lowest tax levies among similar districts in the area.

The tax levy increase being rejected by voters potentially changes the economics of the city joining the fire district; at the lower levy, increased property tax revenues from bringing residents of the city into the fire district may not be enough to cover the increased cost of providing fire protection services to an additional 700 people.

‘Miller BOA’ Continued on page 10

Floyd ‘Goat’ Wooldridge Only Greenfield Athlete To Play Major League Baseball

By Bob Jackson Reporter

In May of 1955, Greenfield and Dade County residents listened on the radio to St. Louis radio station KMOX-AM and heard Harry Caray, the St. Louis Cardinal radio broadcaster, say the starting pitcher for the Red Birds is Floyd “Goat” Wooldridge of Greenfield, Missouri. How Goat got to the major league is a long story and old timers have lots of ties on Goat but new Vedette readers will enjoy a history lesson.

Floyd Lewis Wooldridge was born August 28, 1928, in northwest Dade County. His parents were Floyd and Beulah Wooldridge. There were nine children in the family. Besides Goat, there were Bernie, Rozwell, John “Chig”, Jimmy, Bertina, Judy, Sally and Ellen. Ellen is the lone remaining living member of the family and now resides in Stockton, Missouri.

Goat’s dad and mom moved to Greenfield and Floyd hauled coal in a big truck from the coal field in Sylvania to supply coal for coal boilers at the Greenfield Elementary School, the Dade County Courthouse and houses in Greenfield that had coal fired boilers for heat. Goat graduated from GHS in 1946 and there were 25 students in his class with only six being alive in 2020. He was a great basketball player.

‘Greenfield Goat’ Continued on page 10