DEATHS more

Citizens Memorial Hospice is hosting bereavement support group classes starting Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 9 a.m. at CMH Douglas Medical Center, Classroom C, 1155 W. Parkview St., in Bolivar. Participants will use the North entrance, “Information Services” door. more

Jeffrey Allen Hunt more

Jesse Lee Welsh more

Bolivar High School Class of 1973 gathered at Curly Que’s to celebrate their 51st Homecoming on Friday, Sept 22. more

Front row left to right; Myrna Hite Walker, Carolyn Blankenship Short, Terri Kellner Haines, Susie Stewart Stephens, Ruth Jarman Lloyd, Paula Rice Davis, Stephanie Gutierrez Dodrill, Diane Besser, Patty Stottlemyre McCracken, Rev. Dennis Hudson. more

Friday, Oct. 6 more

Weather report more

Sherill Harrill happily poses with her gift card to Brenda’s Cafe after winning the I-Spy game, correctly guessing Bolivar City Hall. Sherrill is proof that reading the paper doesn’t just provide you with news and entertainment, it can pay off as well. more

Southwest Baptist University alumni and friends will celebrate Homecoming on Friday, Oct.6 and Saturday, Oct. 7 on the Bolivar campus. more

Thursday, Sept. 28 saw important people from Bolivar, surrounding areas, and throughout the state gather at the parking lot of CMH for the groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital’s 117 thousand square foot expansion building. The addition will add an operating room, nine ER rooms, two cardiac units, an expanded cafeteria, and labs. more

Bolivar Herald-Free Press announces the hire of new editor, Nicole Emmons. more

How well do you know Polk County? more

Bolivar’s Lady Liberator tennis hosted their District Championship on Saturday, bringing in teams from Clinton, Lamar, and Nevada. Tensions and emotions were high throughout the sunny and hot day. “Not only is it physically demanding on a hot day like today, tennis is 90% mental,” head coach Nathan Rothdiener said about his team’s preparation going into today’s contest, “You are out on an island, nowhere to hide when things go bad, and you have to battle your opponent, the conditions, crowd, and your own emotions. As a coach, we do our best to reiterate to the girls that success is not defined by wins and losses, it’s defined by how you approach the game.” more

Lady Liberators softball hosted three games in the second half of this week. As the team looked to turn their season around for a late postseason push, they fell short of their opponents. On Thursday, Sept. 28, Bolivar hosted the Kickapoo Chiefs. This has become a match-up known for being physical and filled with great play. However, by the end of the 4th inning, Bolivar was down 4-3. The Lady Liberators could not consistently get hits throughout the contest. Kickapoo put up nine runs in the next two innings as their offense outplayed Bolivar’s defense. After the poor defensive performance, the bats fell silent for the Liberators, failing to record a run and only having 3 hits in the final 4 innings. It was an unexpected outcome for a Bolivar team that has seen major improvements throughout the year. more

Boys more

Two of the best football teams in the Ozark Conference faced off on Friday, Sept. 29, in Bolivar. The Camdenton Lakers with a 4-1 season came to Plaster Stadium to meet the Bolivar Liberators also 4-1. more

Life really keeps us guessing. I began my professional career in Colorado Springs after I graduated college in 2014 with a Master's in History. I was offered a job at my alma mater, the University of Colorado, as a co-professor in a few history and humanity classes. I then began teaching history at a community college, then moved on to teaching middle school history for a couple of years. Initially, teaching college was not on my radar, but I loved it. Then teaching pre-teens about WWI and the Cold War was never a consideration, but I thrived doing it. I figured everything was set. I was going to be a historian, teach history, and grow old in Colorado. As is often the case, however, things do not always go to plan. more

Like many folks of my generation, I tend to see much as it once was, not as it is. more

It’s probably been close to 35 years ago, give or take a couple of years here and there, that a lady I deeply admired gave me a framed picture from right off of her wall! I was surprised to say the least, but it was and still is very special to me. It was a Native American saying, “We do not inherit the EArth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” As a relatively new mother at the time, I thought I was doing all I could to try to save the earth already, but her gift further inspired me to try even harder and has resonated with me all of these years. more

On Saturday, Sept. 23, 4-H’ers from across Missouri participated in one of Missouri 4-H’s oldest and most popular competitions, the 4-H State Public Speaking Contest. Held on MU’s campus, 45 youth from 27 counties participated. more

It’s time to consider what we need to do to get our pastures back into a sustainable grazing condition. The past two years of excessive heat and lack of rainfall along with over grazing has severely damaged our pastures and hayfields. The questions now are how we get them back into a grazable condition with the least number of inputs while retaining our current herd sizes. We will look at the options still yet available while beginning to look towards next year’s potential. How do we begin to better prepare for the next spring’s hay and pasture situations. more

The Polk County Extension will be hosting a Barn Quilt Painting Workshop Saturday, Oct. 14 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m at the Polk County Fairgrounds. more

The Bolivar School District has called for an election on Nov. 7, 2023, for the residents within their boundaries. Absentee voting started on Sept. 26. The Polk County Clerk’s office will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday and open through the lunch hour for absentee voting. The deadline for casting an absentee ballot in person at the County Clerk’s office is 5 p.m. the day before the election, Tuesday, Nov. 7. The County Clerk’s office will also be open on Saturday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m. to noon. more