Today's Feature

Peach Tree CID on Agenda.

Carthage City Council will meet this evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. Items on the agenda include the second reading of an ordinance establishing a community improvement district to be known as Peach Tree Village Community Improvement District under the Community Improvement District Act. This item is brought by the City Council and Staff.

Recycling Center Closed for Memorial Day.

News release.

Due to Monday, May 30 being a holiday observed by the City, the City of Carthage Recycling Drop-Off Center and Composting Lot will be closed Tuesday, May 31 in observance of Memorial Day. Regular operating days & times are Tuesday through Saturday, 8:30 to 4:30 p.m.

The recycling center appreciates participation in recycling and asks that persons take note and use the correct container for recyclables. Cardboard, Newspaper, Plastic/Aluminum and Tin, Office Paper and Mixed paper. (Junk mail should be placed in the Mixed Paper Bin.) For more information contact Rusty Melton at 417-237-7024.

It’s time to get out the fiddle and practice your licks. The Fourth Annual Carthage Acoustic Festival is scheduled for the second Saturday in June. That’s June 11 on the Historic Carthage Square.

The Festival is sponsored by the Powers Museum with funding assistance from the Helen S. Boylan Foundation.

The featured instrument will be the fiddle this year with seven of the nine groups carryin’ fiddle players. Well actually eight of the nine, but one guy says he won’t be up to any public fiddlin’ this year.

For those with a yearin’ to be heard there will again be an open stage for anyone with guts enough to get up and perform. No electronic instruments, no tapes, just pure acoustic music (you can wear your shower cap if it makes ya feel more comfortable).

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Overactive Thyroid Races Body’s Motor

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Last week my doctor told me I had hyperthyroidism. He wants to wait another six months before he prescribes anything for me. He did not tell me what or what not to do. I am 72. I would like to help myself now and not wait six months. How? — R.G.

ANSWER: Thyroid hormone keeps the body running at peak performance and at the proper speed. Too much of it — hyperthyroidism — races the body motor far past the legal speed limit. People become hyperactive. Their hearts beat fast. When they are in a room whose temperature is comfortable for everyone else, they feel hot. They sweat easily and profusely. Their hands often tremble. They are weak. They lose weight in the face of a hearty appetite. Frequently they have a swelling in the lower neck known as a goiter.

Many times, older people with hyperthyroidism do not have all of the above florid signs and symptoms. They often have what’s known as apathetic hyperthyroidism — too much thyroid hormone with only subtle symptoms of an excess. Fatigue and weight loss might be their only manifestations.

I am sorry to disappoint you, but there isn’t a whole lot people can do on their own to correct a runaway thyroid gland. Treatment options for such people include medicine, radioactive iodine and surgery.

Hyperthyroid symptoms usually get worse without treatment. Perhaps your symptoms are so mild and your degree of hyperthyroidism so minimal that your doctor is waiting to see if things will straighten out on their own. Mild hyperthyroidism sometimes does.

Collecting
By Larry Cox
Sponsored by Oldies & Oddities

Plates

Q: I am trying to find someone who can help me identify various plates in my father’s collection. They are several different kinds and types. — Stephanie, via e-mail

A: You have asked me a "How much is my car worth?" question. For example, if you have a Yugo, it’s probably not worth much. On the other hand, if you’re inquiring about a Stutz Bearcat, you’ve hit the mother lode. Put another way, some plates are collectible, others aren’t.

Two groups that might be helpful are the International Plate Collectors Guild, P.O. Box 487, Artesia, CA 90702; and Gifts and Collectibles Guild, 77 West Washington St., Suite 1716, Chicago, IL 60602. A good expert on marketing Bradford plates is Laura Kazimier, 9307 North Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714.

Q: I inherited a Buddy L. Baggage trunk from the 1920s. How much is it worth? — Brad, Longmont, Colo.

A: You might begin your search by investing in Antique Trunks: Identification and Price Guide, a new book by Linda Edelstein and Paul Pat Morse (Krause Publications, $24.99). This excellent reference has a complete price guide for some 100 trunks and features information about both restoration and refinishing of vintage trunks. It has hundreds of illustrations and should put you on the right track.