The Houston Herald from Houston, Missouri • Page 3

20, 2012, HOUSTON HERALD Houston, www.houstonherald.com A3 Upcoming events You can submit community events using the calendar at the bottom of our website at www.houstonherald.com Friday, Dec. 21 Lions Club meeting is noon at the Lions Den, North U.S. 63, Houston. Sunday, Dec. 23 Fleet Reserve Association Branch 364 unit meeting is 2:30 p.m.

at the American Legion Hall. Thursday, Dec. 27 SMTS medical van to West Plains is taking appointments from 10 a.m. 2 p.m. Call for more information, 800-392-0754.

Houston Area Chamber of Commerce board meeting is 6 p.m. at the Center. Thursday, Jan. 3 Due to the holiday, the Piney Township meeting is 7 p.m. at the township maintenance building on Forest Street in Houston.

4 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013 Class runs for nine weeks. Cornerstone Christian Church, 116 E.

Main, Houston Pre-registration required, contact Judy Pounds at 417-217-0512 or Miss Merrie Christmas contestants volunteer for charity Volunteers continue to man Salvation Army kettles in the area, including this trio at a local business. From left: Alexis Fuwell, 2011 Junior Miss Merrie Christmas; 2012 Junior Miss Merrie Christmas, Elayna Sisk; and Laken Neal, a Miss Merrie Christmas contestant. Funds bene needy people. Rosemary Reiners, 81, was born Jan. 18, 1931, in Graymont, the second daughter of Donald and Alice (Mae) Eisele.

She passed away Dec. 13, 2012, at Texas County Memorial Hospital, Houston, following a short illness. She was raised on their family farm near Graymont, where she attended school and graduated High School. Rosemary married Eldon Reiners on July 24, 1949, in Graymont, and to this union four children were born, James, Timothy, Gary and Kimberly. Life as a couple began the day they took their marriage vows, where they spent every day working side by side, together building their dream.

Where you saw one, there you saw the other, whether it was building fence, cutting wood or attending tractor shows. She and Eldon even made a few trips to retrieve tractors they had purchased, making enjoyable memories and stories to share with their family. Eldon and dream was to own a farm and they achieved that dream. They wanted a place to raise their children and their families. greatest joy was her family, she was always a fun loving and sometimes mischievous lady, that was never too proud to play with her children and grandchildren.

She also loved owers of all kinds. Rosemary had many special dogs that she loved greatly through the years. Rosemary Reiners Rosemary Reiners In 1978, Rosemary and Eldon began square dancing. They loved to do old time and western square dancing. They danced together for 18 years and made many wonderful friends.

Music was also a big part of the family activities where Rosemary would play the organ for the family. Rosemary and Eldon loved going to tractor shows. They attended the big one in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, at least three times. They attended farm fests in Spring eld and Cabool, where she never missed one, going since they began 20 years ago.

They also went to John Deere Days as many times as they could, where she won many nice door prizes. She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Eldon of their home in Bucyrus, her children, Jim Reiners and wife, Marjorie, of Mountain View, Tim Reiners and wife. Judy, of Mountain Grove, Gary Reiners and his wife, Kandy, of Success, and Kim Armstrong and husband. Luie. of Neosho, grandchildren, Frank Harris and wife, Shelly, Brandi Olson and husband, Ross, Chris Reiners and wife, Malori, Melissa Aldridge and husband, Mark, Anna Reiners, Becky Cunningham and husband, Daniel, Scott Dobson and wife, Sabrina, and Kevin Dobson and wife, Angie; great-grandchildren, Maddox and Morgan Aldridge, Dakota and Austin Olson, Austin, Ryan, Schylar, Sydney, Seth and Shane Dobson; and one sister, Donna Meeker of West Palm Beach, Fla.

Rosemary was a wonderful and giving, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and friend. She greatly enjoyed people and life and will be greatly missed by her family, friends and community. Services were 10:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 17, at Hickory Ridge Baptist Church with Pastor Dewayne Weber of ciating.

Burial was in Jackson Cemetery. Pallbearers were Murray Volk, Bobby Dailing, Mark Aldridge, Lonnie Warner, Snapper Harris and Cheyenne Revelle. Family requests donations be made to the Jackson Cemetery. Services were under the direction of Evans Funeral Home. Online condolences may be sent to www.evansfh.com.

June M. Fansler, 80, of Columbia, and formerly of Houston, passed away Dec. 14, 2012, after a long illness. She was born in Texas County, on Jan. 27, 1932, the daughter of Gale and Arletha Kiser.

She was preceded in death by Harmon Fansler, her husband of more than 60 years. June graduated from Houston High School in 1950 and spent much of her adult life in Colorado and Idaho. In 1996, the Ozarks called Harmon and June back home, and they returned to Missouri to be near family members. June is survived by three sisters in the area, Shirley Ramsey of Licking, Nadine Ballard of Houston and Doris Wright of Houston; along with numerous nieces and nephews. June enjoyed singing and playing her Hawaiian guitar and was active in the First Free Will Baptist Church in Houston.

All who knew her were drawn to her quiet smile and dauntless spirit. Above all, she believed in her family and in a loving God. Together, Harmon and June had six children, Debbie (Bill) McWhirter of Ingleside, Texas, Arletha (Ken) Albright of Chico, Pam Fansler June M. Fansler June Fansler of Pueblo, Kathy Fansler of Columbia, Harmon (Keiko) Fansler of Long Beach, and Kevin (Rich Isaac) Fansler of Seattle, Wash. They also are survived by ve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of owers, donations may be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.parker- funeralservice.com. Alvin Smith Alvin W. Smith, 87, died Monday, Dec.

17, 2012. He was born Jan. 6, 1925, in Greenville. He served in the South Paci with the Navy during WWII. He retired from Marley Cooling Tower as a machinist.

He and his wife enjoyed traveling during his retirement, settling in Eureka Springs, for a period of time before eventually returning to the Gardner-Edgerton area in Kansas. He was preceded in death by his wife, Oma; and a daughter, Patricia Ann Smith. Survivors include a daughter, Cindy Dunford of Olathe, two sons, Alvin Smith, Jr. of Bonner Springs, and Tony Forbes of Olathe, ve grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a toy poodle, Cass. Services are 11 a.m.

Friday, Dec. 21, at Alden-Harrington Funeral Home in Bonner Springs, Kan. Burial will be in Gardner Cemetery. Walter Gann Walter Preston Gann, 74, died Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, at his home in Marsh eld.

He was born Aug. 6, 1938, in Bloodland, son of Sam and Jessie Christenson Gann. He and Sharon Holets were married Jan. 12, 1981. He grew up in the Rocky Branch community and attended a one-room school there.

He graduated from Houston High School in 1957. He was run over by a school bus in high school, but recovered after multiple surgeries and many months in the hospital. He was an avid hunter and sh- erman. He loved the outdoors. He made many hunting trips to the west, mostly in Colorado.

He and his wife enjoyed traveling and visited most of the 50 states, including cruises to Alaska and Hawaii. He operated two gun stores out of his home in Houston and Strafford. He was a musician and recorded a studio record of his favorite gospel songs. He was a member of the Marsh- eld Masonic Lodge and about Ben Ad hem Shrine. He was an active member of Son-Rise Christian Church.

He worked 30 years for the Producers Creamery that later became Mid-America Dairy. He was preceded in death by his parents; an infant son; three sisters, Connie, Dale and Orville Gann; and a sister, Hazel Thompson. Survivors include his wife, Sharon of the home; two daughters, Lesia May eld of Houston and Teresa Gaston of the home; a son, Douglas Gann of Marsh eld; two stepdaughters, Lori Bailey of Marsh eld and Tami Smithee of Wisconsin; 12 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren. A celebration of life service was Saturday, Dec. 15, at Son-Rise Christian Church in Mans eld with Brother Greg Strickland of ciating.

Patsy Henderson Services for Patsy Henderson, 60, of Houston, are 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 21, at Evans Funeral Home. Visitation is 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec.

20, at the funeral home. Burial will be in Rock Springs Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the TCMH Healthcare Foundation. Carolyn Cantrell Services are pending for Carolyn Cantrell through Evans Funeral Home. She died Tuesday, Dec.

28, 2012. School years might soon be measured in hours, not days By Alex Mallin, Missouri Digital News, Missouri School of Journalism Rep. Lyle Rowland, R-Cedar- creek, pre- led legislation that would give school districts ex- ibility in deciding what days students should attend school. feel like it would help every district in the Rowland said. have to adhere to that rule if they want to.

For some schools it would work better than Current state law requires students to be in class for eight hours per day if their district has a four- day-a-week schedule. Students have to be in school for six hours a day if they are on a ve-day-a- week schedule. bill would shift those requirements to be measured in total hours, rather than in days per week. Rowland said some schools would save on utility and operational costs by cutting down the number of days students are in school per week. Mike Lodewegen, a lobbyist for the Missouri Association of School Administrators, said the group worked with Rowland to craft the bill.

district has different Lodewegen said. know some districts are now moving to a four-day school week. I know of some schools that are talking about the possibility of year-round MU expert says number of state wineries has tripled A University of Missouri researcher says the number of wineries in the state more than tripled over the past decade. Fabio Chaddad is an assistant professor of agricultural economics. Chaddad research on behalf of the U.S.

Department of Agriculture shows Missouri had 108, mostly small wineries last year, compared with just 31 wineries in 2000. The national growth rate is even greater. Chaddad says there are more than 8,000 wineries in the U.S., compared to 1,000 in 1940. He presented his research at the recent Grape and Wine Symposium. Mo.

state senator wants tougher safety belt law Santa visits Texas County Library Aaron McCarthy, 4, of Houston, visits Saturday with Santa at the Texas County Library in Houston. Several Christmas activities were held. A Missouri state senator wants a tougher law for safety belt violators. Democratic Sen. Joseph Keaveny of St.

Louis plans to introduce legislation in the upcoming session raising the ne for failure to buckle up. The current ne is $10. Keaveny notes that the ne for littering is $79.50. Keaveny says many traf deaths in Missouri result not from the initial impact, but from people being thrown from vehicles. And many of those who are ejected are children..