United Way Campaign Successful.

The Carthage Area United Way announced the completion of their most successful campaign ever at their annual meeting and awards luncheon held at the Cornell Conference Center, Leggett & Platt, Inc., on January 24, 2002.

Bob Copeland, campaign chairman, said the drive raised over $300,000 which was 114% of their $270,000 goal. The money raised will help support seventeen health and human service agencies, which include the American Red Cross of Southwest Missouri, Ozark Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Carthage Development Center, Carthage Crisis Center, Carthage Crosslines Ministry, Children’s Mercy Hospital, Citizen’s Advisory Board, Family Literacy Council, Girl Scouts of the Ozark Area, Jasper County 4-H, Lafayette House, Medi-Aid, Inc., Ozark Camp Quality, The Salvation Army, SW MO Arthritis Assoc., MO Special Olympics, and Sunshine Home.

Neel Baucom, owner of Knell Mortuary, received the prestigious annual Spirit of Giving Award for his many years of supporting Carthage Area United Way.

Companies receiving Gold awards included AmeriCold Logistics, Inc., Beimdiek Insurance Agency, Hometown Bank and Southwest Missouri Bank.

Silver awards went to Arvest Bank, Bank of America, Charles Burt Home Folks, Duffy Distributors, Inc., JCT Title Services, Knell Mortuary, Schreiber Foods, Inc., Schmidt Associates PC, Tapjac Offices, UMB Bank and Williams Energy Group.

Bronze awards went to Carthage Police Department, Carthage Street Department, City of Carthage, Firstar Bank, Flex-O-Lators, Inc., and Infinity Lighting, Inc.

Companies receiving the Award of Excellence were Butterball Turkey Company, Carthage R-9 Schools, Carthage Water and Electric Plant, Dyno Nobel, Inc., Fairview Greenhouse, H. E. Williams, Inc., Innovative Industries, Jasper County Courthouse Offices, Leggett & Platt, Inc., McCune-Brooks Hospital, Precious Moments, Specialty Brands, Inc., and Wal-Mart, Inc.

School receiving special awards for largest contributions and participation were Fairview Elementary, Mark Twain Elementary, Pleasant Valley Elementary and Carthage R-9 Administration.

Chairman’s Awards went to Americold Logistics, Inc., Duffy Distributors, Inc., Innovative Industries and Schreiber Foods, Inc., for their donation increases, and the 110% awards went to Dyno Nobel, Inc., Leggett & Platt, Inc., and McCune-Brooks Hospital for extra efforts made during the campaign.

Chief Dennis Veach, Carthage Police Department, will lead the 2002 campaign as chairman, along with Dr. Glenn Coltharp, Carthage R-9 School Assistant Superintendent, as vice-chairman.

NASCAR to the Max

Last Sunday’s Daytona 500 in Daytona, Florida was very exciting more for the unexpected than the strategy. Two of the pre-race favorites, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., were out of the running early. Stewart blew a motor on lap two, placing him last among the 43 starters, and Earnhardt was the victim of a blown tire on lap 29, which resulted in significant body damage, much time in the pits, and a poor 29th place finish. The race was slowed by 9 caution periods for 38 of the 200 laps.

The most significant being a wreck with about 50 laps remaining which involved 18 cars and took out many of the front runners. Several noteworthy victims included the race’s pole sitter Jimmie Johnson, last year’s Rookie-of-the-Year Kevin Harvick, and 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte. As the race was being restarted after another late race caution, a multi-car pile-up resulted in the race being red flagged, or stopped, to allow debris to be cleaned up and for the race to be finished under racing conditions.

While the cars were stopped, race leader Sterling Marlin exited his car and attempted to repair sheet metal damage from an earlier skirmish with Jeff Gordon. NASCAR does not allow repairs, maintenance, or service to any car under red flag conditions. Marlin was penalized and required to go to the rear of the field handing the lead to Ward Burton when the race was resumed. The field took the final green flag with three laps remaining. Burton was able to hold his pursuers at bay the final laps and claim his first Daytona 500 victory.

This week’s race will find the teams in the sand hills of Rockingham, North Carolina. Because the track is in Rockingham and is paved with crushed granite native to the area, the track is known as "The Rock." The abrasive nature of the track surface puts tire maintenance at a premium and will favor the more experienced drivers. Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Bobby Labonte are typical front runners at The Rock.

As the number of political signs increase for the Mayoral race, rumors of some bickerin’ over space now and then are beginnin’ to surface.

In at least one instance I’m familiar with a couple a three phone calls were made to try and influence who’s sign was put where.

Now I suppose that isn’t so unusual to wonder why a person would allow one sign over another, I’ve just figured if a person shows support for one side, the other side would accept it and move on to more friendly territory.

If anyone out there feels they have been treated in less than a friendly manner when a political sign is involved, I’d be glad to hear about it. I’m not interested in puttin’ out any names, just curious as to the extent of the battle.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing Services

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I own a 1988 Isuzu Trooper II that has 74,000 miles on it. A few months ago, we noticed that it was leaking antifreeze. No one can pinpoint where the leak is coming from. There is always coolant in the reserve tank. The hoses are fine and the head passed a stress test.

We can smell the antifreeze near the front of the car after we’ve driven it and parked it. And a mechanic did find some antifreeze in the number three cylinder. Is it dangerous to drive? And will it be expensive to fix? - Beverly

Tom: No, and yes.

Ray: I think you have several leaks. The "internal" leak in your number three cylinder is by far the more serious of the two.

Tom: That’s not the leak that you’re smelling. But it’s the one that’s going to cost you many hundreds of dollars to fix. So you want to address that one first.

Ray: The coolant probably got into the cylinder through a blown head gasket or a crack in the cylinder head. I don’t know what kind of stress test your engine passed, but it couldn’t have passed a bonafide head gasket test and still end up with coolant in a cylinder.

Tom: It’s not dangerous to drive.

Ray: However, if you want to keep this truck, you’re going to have to fix the internal leak, and that’s big bucks.