“The Battle of Lone Jack” coming to the Bates County Museum

On Saturday, May 19th at 10:00 am, the Museum will present another free program in Robertson Hall and invites the public to come hear about one of the bloodiest battles fought in Missouri during the Civil War. In August 1862, the Battle of Lone Jack was waged and many men from Bates County fought there. Alinda Miller, President of the Lone Jack Historical Society will discuss the battle and will share about the upcoming 150th Battle of Lone Jack Re-enactment scheduled for August 18th & 19th of this year.

Lone Jack is one of the few remaining battlefields where the soldiers who died are still buried in trenches on the grounds of the Lone Jack Museum. Efforts are currently underway to save a large portion of undeveloped battlefield and Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area has partnered with the Lone Jack Historical Society in securing a grant to aid in the preservation. Mrs. Miller will also tell the story of Lucinda Cave, the only woman to die from wounds suffered during the battle.

President Harry Truman was instrumental in securing a small portion of the battlefield and was present for the grand opening of the Lone Jack Museum in 1963. As a child, President Truman often accompanied his family to the annual commemoration picnics and Lone Jack always held a warm place in his heart.

The story of events that occurred at Lone Jack is compelling and the Bates County connection is strong. You are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity and learn about one more fascinating story of our Civil War history.

-our thanks to Peggy Buhr

Work continues at Adrian VFW Memorial

Tim Hummel, Chuck Sisk, Steve Hubbard and
Ronnie Koehn laying another row of bricks at
the memorial at the entrance to the Adrian city park

Work resumed this morning at the Adrian VFW Memorial located at the entrance to the city park, as a crew finished laying memorial bricks.

The bricks may be purchased for just $50 and can be named after anyone who has served in any branch and from anywhere in the United States. For more information contact Steve at 660-679-7619 or Larry at 660-424-3225.

Mark your calendar for the Memorial Service on May 26th, which will include a cannon salute.

Rain date for the service will be the following Monday, May 28th.

 Bricks may be purchased for $50 by any person or family of someone who has served in the armed forces from anywhere in the United States. The larger gray stones are also $50 and are dedicated to those who were killed or missing in action.

Youth fishing derby reels 'em in...

Madison Horton of Camdenton, Mo patiently waits for
a prize winner. Madison is in Adrian visiting relatives
and thought she'd try her hand in the derby held today.

The Adrian Elks fishing derby was held this morning and while the fish seemed somewhat elusive, everyone enjoyed themselves. After fishing, lunch was served at the #3 shelter house in the Adrian park.

A total of 7 children participated, all of which won a new rod with Zebco 202 reel.

Kadin and Jacob Stephanek of Adrian work together at the Adrian Elks fishing derby

Win a weather radio from Bates County Live!

We are giving away a Midland model 74-200 weather radio to one lucky Bates County Live reader! It has tons of features to keep you informed when the weather gets rough...

The weather radio comes with built in telescoping antenna, operating instructions and wall pack power supply. You will need to supply a 9V battery for backup operation.

To enter our contest, send an email with RADIO in the subject line to bateslivegiveaway@hotmail.com.

We will accept emails through midnight on Friday, May 18th. Winner will be chosen at random and announced after contacted for name by email.

More than one email from a single email address will be ignored by the system. You only need to enter once to win. Email addresses will not be sold or shared in any way.

Gun & Knife show competition winners announced

The Adrian Optimist Gun and Knife Show was held last weekend and several people walked away a winner, including Ernie Sherman of Louisburg, Kansas- the winner of the Ruger single 10-22 stainless steel revolver.

If you missed the 2 p.m. knife cutting competition held on Saturday, you missed an amazing event. The winner was Lyle Schow of Harrisonville. Schow completed the knife competition skill course in 49.1 seconds! The competition includes cutting a 2x4 in half, a drinking straw standing vertical in half, a tennis ball, 5 wooden golf tee’s, a gross of filled water bottles in half with one swipe of the blade, a 2 inch hanging rope (without tension) a ping pong ball, a golf ball, a cylinder cardboard tube, and 2 flex drinking straws standing diagonally …. And this was done with the use of only 1 hand. Lyle Schow amazed the crowd as he completed the cutting course in an amazing 49.1 seconds.

Lyle also had the fastest time in the cutting board competition. Lyle cut a 2x4 board in half in 3.1 seconds. 

Seven contestants competed in the knife cutting competition using a 10 inch long by 2 inch wide cutting knife.

-courtesy FM 92 the Bullet

Hoax on the Butler square; the murder that wasn't...

Last Wednesday a seemingly normal day on the Butler square was interrupted by sirens and fast acting law officers as a report that a murder had taken place, and a mad gunman was on the loose.

The Butler police department, along with the Bates County Sheriff's department responded expecting the worst, only to find it was a hoax. The initial report was that "a woman was shot dead and another was being held at gunpoint" at 21 N. Main street. However, all was normal at the address, a quilt shop.

To be sure, another quilt shop at 108 W. Dakota was checked out. Nothing out of the ordinary there either.

Thinking ahead, Butler Police Chief Terry Boyd and Sheriff Chad Anderson had suspicions that the false call might be a diversion, as another crime might be taking place elsewhere in town while officers were busy in downtown Butler. After a full sweep of the area, nothing was found.

The initial report of the murder was made over the internet. The investigation is ongoing at this time.

A noisy, but necessary upgrade for Amsterdam...

Bates County Live spoke at length with Garry Perrymann of the Amsterdam Fire Department this evening to find out more about the town's newly installed storm siren. The siren, typical of the very loud 'air raid' type has been mounted atop a 40 foot pole at the southwest corner of the fire station- a location believed to be the best spot to be heard throughout the town of about 280 people.

According to Perrymann, the siren will only be sounded in the event of a tornado warning, which is the most crucial time for people to react and take cover.

There will be monthly tests of the siren on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month, and tests will not be conducted if it is rainy or overcast to avoid any confusion.

The Amsterdam Fire Department has made many improvements over the last two years and Perrymann pointed out that the addition of the siren is a very necessary and important tool in helping to keep residents as safe as possible as we continue into storm season.

Miami Creek bridge closing in just over a week

On the heels of announcing that the Willow Branch bridge east of Merwin just reopened, we just received a little more news about the closing of the Miami Creek bridge on west 52 highway.

The bridge, four miles west of Butler, is scheduled to CLOSE Monday, May 21, to allow crews to begin replacement and will be closed until early August, barring weather delays.

Route 52 will be closed but drivers WILL have access to driveways and other entrances on either side of the project.

Drivers will have to find alternate routes around the closing including Route 71, Route F and Route J. No official detour will be signed, meaning you will be responsible for finding your way around the closure.

MoDOT and contractors have alerted law enforcement, fire and ambulance agencies so they can plan how to respond to emergency calls with the bridge closed.