Heard On The Street

MORE THAN A CAR WASH. Barclay Enterprises Inc., owner of Auto-Magic and Jiffy Lube stores in Springfield and Little Rock, will build a $1.7 million ride-through express car wash at 4115 S. Campbell, behind the company's Jiffy Lube location at that address. It will have a 140-foot conveyor for cleaning and drying cars, as well as another building with a moving sidewalk for vacuuming, window cleaning and interior dusting of cars. Jana Funk, at Hood-Rich Inc., Architects & Engineers, is the architect. Masonry Structures Inc. is the general contractor. Great Southern Bank is financing the project. Construction is to begin in February, with a July completion date.

BEHIND THE TIMES. Perhaps the business attraction folks for Springfield should use this quip offered by a certain local mother, taking a Dennis Rodman-like break from the practice of law: Locate your company in Springfield we're so far behind the times we won't have Y2K problems until 2001. (Insert rim shot here.)

BEHIND THE TIMES II. We are remiss in not mentioning this item sooner. The Commonwealth, Ash Grove's 117-year-old newspaper, was sold in November to Sumner Media Group, according to the Missouri Press Association. Oneta Mason sold the paper she and her husband, Dal Mason, owned since 1959. Dal Mason died in 1997, and his daughter, Annette Albert, served as editor since then. Under the new ownership, Valerie Wagner, editor of the Willard paper in the newspaper group, will edit The Commonwealth. Sumner Media Group owns papers in Ozark, Nixa, Republic, Aurora and Willard.

OPPORTUNITY LOST. The moment has undoubtedly passed to take advantage of this idea, but a sure-fire big seller in Springfield in the last month could have been a bumper sticker reading: Don't follow me, I'm in a psychogenic fugue. Yet another chance for untold riches and early retirement down the tubes.

BIG GUNS. The Midtown Neighborhood Association elected Chuck Wooten as president of the 10-year-old organization. Wooten, a former City Council member and former state representative, will serve with fellow officers Paula Ringer, vice president; Abbe Ehlers, secretary; Ken Williams, assistant secretary; and Nancy Hackett, treasurer.

ROAST GARLIC. Chris Torrisi, owner of National Home Products, was the subject of the Home Builders Association's first member roast at its regular meeting Jan. 19. Torissi, known for his, um, forthright manner and, well, unique sense of decorum, was the target for the barbs of his fellow HBA members. Word was that attendance was up significantly to watch the St. Louis native and SMSU grad twist slowly in the wind. Torissi spoiled some fun by being far too gracious a roastee.

GUARANTY. Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. announced Jan. 20 quarterly performance of 14 cents earnings per diluted share for the period that ended Dec. 31. Net income for the holding company of Guaranty Federal Savings Bank was $820,429 for the quarter and $1.62 million for the six months that ended Dec. 31. Those numbers compare to $594,788 for the quarter and $1.11 million for the six months of the comparable periods in 1997.

VETERINARY HISTORY. The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County is displaying a temporary special exhibit, Veterinary Medicine in the Ozarks. The exhibit will be up through March 5 and features antique veterinary instruments and photographs of local veterinarians from Springfield and Greene County. The museum, on the third floor of City Hall, 830 Boonville Ave., has visiting hours from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Perhaps now the fine folks at the History Museum can get some rest from the insistent demands of Dr. Tedd Hamaker to put on the show.

SLICE OF NICE. Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Ozarks needs volunteers for its Big Brother/Big Sister and After School Mentoring Program. To be a big brother or big sister requires three to five hours quality time with a child on a one-to-one basis. Being an after-school mentor requires one hour a week with a child in a school setting. For more information, contact Colin at 889-9136.

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