Cass County Star-Gazette

Frank Utter, 90, of Browning, passed away at 9:55 p.m., Sunday, July 27, at Snyder’s Vaughn-Haven Nursing Home in Rushville.
Worthington Funeral Home in Rushville is in charge of arrangements.

Vera A. Abbott, 94, of Rushville, passed away at 9:58 p.m., Thursday, July 24, at Snyder’s Vaughn-Haven Nursing Home in Rushville.
Wood Funeral Home in Rushville is in charge of arrangements.

Ansel Ross Bartlett, 91, of Rushville, passed away at 12:10 a.m. Sunday, July 27, at Snyder’s Vaughn Haven Nursing Home in Rushville.
Worthington Funeral Home in Rushville is in charge of arrangements.

By Don Chipman
Staff Writer
The DOD has recently announced that it is cutting back (downsizing) the US Army from 520,000 to 350,000 personnel.
The in my opinion the cruelest cutback of all is the “firing” or giving “pink slips” to US Army Officers presently stationed in combat zones.
How do you think you would feel when you are putting your life on the line and then find out you’re not wanted anymore?
Will the downsizing of our army have a lasting effect on the nation’s readiness to defend itself?

By Leigh Morris
Our Place in History
It has been hailed as the greatest single invention of the 20th century – a device that revolutionized the way we work, where we live and the way we spend our leisure time.
One of the first modern attempts to create a machine that would cool indoor air was made in the 1830s by John Gorrie, M.D., in Apalachicola, Fla. Looking for a way to bring relief to patients suffering from yellow fever and malaria, Gorrie devised a machine that blew air over a bucket of ice. Known as an evaporative cooler (or swamp cooler), the device did cool, but it also increased the humidity level.

By Roy Roberts
Trivia Too
There was a card game called Whist that was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, so popular that it was mentioned in Jules Verne’s, Edgar Allen Poe’s and Jane Austen’s novels and short stories. In the 1890’s that game was changed a little and called Bridge Whist. A little later it became the game of Contract Bridge, and thousands of bridge clubs sprung up all across the country and also through Europe.
Eighty years ago Christine’s Mother was in a bridge club with seven other farm ladies. They would take turns having their card game in their homes, except for our neighbor Archie Dunn. Archie would let his wife Bessie go to play bridge, but when it was Bessie’s turn to entertain the group, Archie would not allow card playing in his house. The ladies would all bring their mending when they came to the Dunn house. That is the time that they darned socks so there was plenty of that to be done.
Bridge in Beardstown became more interesting during the 1960’s with four or five bridge clubs and also a Duplicate Bridge Club with fourteen couples, a two table ladies duplicate bridge club and another with ten men. They had ten members because there were three doctors in the club and it was the time when the doctors made calls to homes or to the hospital at any time. When they answered a call there was someone to take their place, and there would still be enough to play.

By Freida Marie Crump
Coonridge Digest
Greetings from the Ridge.
The Midwest has been known for its fertility since the beginning of time, but in the last few months we seem to be getting carried away. It seems like everywhere I turn I’m confronted with someone’s new baby. Maybe it can be blamed on the terribly cold nights we had last winter.
I’m always in a quandary on what to say when a newly-mothered lady holds her baby out to me. It helps if I know it’s coming and I can rehearse a few lines in the car before I get there. I’ve tried several with varying success:
“Oh how cute.” Yes, that’s about as trite as you can get and the mothers hear it so often that it probably rolls right off their ears. Besides, aren’t all babies cute? I mean, even if the child has three heads chances are that at least two of them are cute.

By Kay Brown
Behind the Garden Gate
We had a fairly good week with enough rain. I didn’t have to water anything except put the drip system on the Blackberries. There is a fair amount of berries but they’re not ripening. That's just like the tomatoes, lots of them, just not turning very fast.
I heard from some report on T.V. that the ground down a few inches is not as warm as it should be. It must have to do with the weather change we’re having. I’ve chosen a ground cover to put on the garden before too long.

Once again the Saddle-Up for St. Jude's Benefit has hit a record high. The 14th annual event, held June 13-14, raised $53,500 for the children’s research hospital in Memphis.
"It just keeps growing," said Roger Landon of Chandlerville who with his wife, Jeannie, coordinate the event held at the Jim Edgar Panther Creek horse park. Last year the benefit raised $46,000 and the previous year it was $42,000.
This year's event had 150 riders and an attendance of approximately 400 people.
The event started Friday, June 13, with sales of raffle tickets, Saddle-Up t-shirts, and sponsorship tickets. Dinner was prepared by Don Dorsey and David Eyrse and music was provided by Burr Smith, Rusty Barr and the Good Ole Boys.

The Beardstown Police Department and the Cass County 4-H Shooting Sports Club announced on July 12, its involvement in the Own It? Respect It. Secure It. (ORS) Initiative to help raise the public’s consciousness on the issue of firearm safety and responsibility through the core message: “Store Your Firearms Responsibly.”
To generate awareness around this important message, the club enlisted the help of the Beardstown Police Department to acquire firearm safety kits from the National Shooting Sports Foundation through the ORS Initiative. The kits were distributed to the club members and their parents and are also available at the Beardstown Police Department for anyone that is interested.
“Through the ORS Initiative, we want to reach as many people as possible with this message to encourage safe and responsible firearm storage,” said Chief Roy Hurst.