Webb City Sentinel

C-A-R-D-S. CARDS! The Webb City fight song was played with the usual vigor Wednesday morning to pep up – not the football team – but the entire district staff. Approximately 700 teachers, administrators, secretaries, cooks, janitors and bus drivers were in the Barton Performing Arts Center for their annual back-to-school meeting. The 4,500 students will be back starting Monday.

The Webb City R-7 School District welcomed 31 teachers new to the district with a luncheon Tuesday at the Cardinal Dome. The new teachers are: (FRONT) Kaleb Romero, high school JROTC; Patrick Bromley, aquatics director; Andrew Campbell, high school freshman world history; Wyatt Hensley, high school world history; Gavin Phillips, high school vocal music; Chandler Brower, junior high special education and seventh-grade writing.

The public is invited to take part in the annual City of Joplin auction, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19. Held every fall, the surplus auction takes place in the Street Maintenance Barn at the Public Works Center, located at 1301 W. Second St. The auction will begin at 9 a.m. Citizens are invited to attend and bid on any of the items. This year’s inventory includes hundreds of items such as computers, office equipment, and heavy machinery.

Dear Dave, My husband and I have been married for a couple of years. In that time, we’ve received several gifts of cash from our parents. Each time this happens, my husband and I talk about what to do with the money. I came into the marriage with some debt, and we still have about $8,000 in credit card bills and student loans to pay off. During our last discussion, I told him I felt like we should keep paying off debt with the money, but he said he wants to treat it like found money this time.

Oct. 5, 1986 – Aug. 13, 2026 Charles Howard Clark, affectionately known as Charlie, was born on Oct. 5, 1986, in Carthage. Possessing an adventurous spirit and an irresistible charisma, he never ceased to bring laughter and joy to every occasion. Creative and funny, Charlie had the knack for turning the ordinary into extraordinary, a trait he excelled at in his profession as a vinyl wrapper in the vehicle customization business. Charlie was a man of many passions.

Iam made entirely of habits. This is not an original observation. Annie Dillard wrote: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” I either love that quote or hate it, depending on how I spent my day. I am thinking about this because I was trying to break a habit of mine: sitting up late at my computer, mindlessly scrolling and snacking. I do this because I am tired – not hungry – and I feel too lazy to read a book or do anything useful, but it seems too early to go to bed.

Many of us remember their cousins as being our first friends in life. They would be at your grandparents’ house each week when we went to visit. Many were close in age, and since they were cousins, we just knew we were supposed to get along. And as we’ve become adults, those cousins still hold a special place in our hearts. But as with everything else in this busy world, there is never enough time to visit our adult cousins.

From the 3rd floor of the Webb City Public Library Webb City Area Genealogical Society School has suddenly beginning, and the many grade school children in our area will gather Monday at their respective buildings to start the new year. The accompanying three photos show another place and time in our county’s school system. Carolyn Sue (Redden) Smith, of Webb City, a former Alba resident, has donated the 1945-1946 Albamo yearbook to the Webb City Area Genealogical Society.

by Douglas Myers WCHS 1972 I recently read a news story about a bat that accidentally flew into a public building, triggering a bureaucratic rescue mission of apocalyptic proportions. Before anyone so much as looked at the flying mammal, Animal Control had to be summoned. A legal task force was convened to review the Animal Welfare Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Humane Slaughter Act, and the PACT Act.

Some of you read last week that I retired at the end of July. This new phase of my life has prompted me to ask what I want to do now and how I can make my remaining years count in a meaningful way. One way I am trying to do this is by learning from a couple who regularly record YouTube videos about retiring successfully. Mark and Jody Rollins retired in 2019, and in one of their recent videos, they caution against what they call, “retirement drift.” The reality is that anyone can drift.