News

Gary Blackwell, Sheriff Scott Childers and Geremy Pearce have tossed their hats in the ring in the bid for Ray County Sheriff. The three answered questions for the crowd attending the Richmond News Political Forum.

Three candidates for various township seats — Jennifer Houcek of Fishing River and Elizabeth Wenig and Gary Wenig, both of Richmond — addressed the crowd during the recent political forum. Two seats are to be filled for the Richmond Township, while Fishing River Township has one available spot.

Candidates for Eastern Commissioner, Max Hockemeier and Dave Powell, responded to questions at the recent Richmond News Political Forum. Candidates were given two minutes for an opening statement.

A former Excelsior Springs resident has been committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health after Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit (SVP) was successful in its efforts.

Winners of this year’s Harold Strobel Awards will soon be announced. The awards were started 10 years ago by Fraizer Letzig in honor of Strobel, who was active in 4-H, Chamber and Junior Chamber.

CAP hosts bubbles in park

Olde Tyme 4-H Club in Lawson meets the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7 pm at the VFW Building in Lawson. We have had a busy year of service projects. We received an FCS Grant in 2023 that we matched funds with to purchase materials to rebuild the Ray County Archery targets. This project was completed in December. We gathered toiletries, snacks, coloring books, journals, and small toys to pack in bags for youth at the Watkins Mill group home continuing our annual service project. We participated in the Feeding Missouri project as recipients of a Feeding Missouri Grant. We joined forces with the Lawson 4-H Club to collect canned goods and monetary donations for the Lawson Food Pantry. Our club pledged to match donations dollar for dollar. In May, we cleaned up around the War Memorials in the Lawson City Park and planted flowers. We helped the local VFW put out stakes and flags at the Lawson Cemetary in preparation for Memorial Day. We have also joined with several other clubs to apply for grant money to make electrical repairs at the Ray County Fairgrounds and we will match funds to make other improvements on the grounds later this year. Not only have we been busy with service projects, but members have been active with project meetings, attending State 4-H Congress, and attending camp at Bobwhite. We’re gearing up for fair season and the opportunity to share what we’ve learned this year.

The Richmond FFA achieved great success in the 2023-2024 school year. Our members earned top awards in the Missouri FFA Association and National FFA Organization. In 2023, recent graduate GraceAnn Skelton was an Agricultural Processing Proficiency Award state winner and competed at the national level. There were four American FFA Degree recipients this past year; Kody Caldwell, Jodi Robinson, Jacob Ruark and GraceAnn Skelton. In April 2024 at the Missouri FFA State Convention, four Richmond FFA members earned the State FFA Degree; Jayden Allnutt, Allison Coats, Noah Nichols and BreeAnna Travillion. Also at the state FFA convention, there were several Richomnd FFA members recognized as area proficiency award winners; Jayden Allnutt in Environmental Science and Natural Resources, BreeAnna Travillion in Vegetable Production, GraceAnn Skelton in Agricultural Processing and Allison Coats in Beef Production Entrepreneurship.

Orrick FFA Chapter consists of approximately fifty student members. Orrick FFA members participate in many activities throughout the year ranging from our Community FFA breakfast held during FFA week to attending National FFA convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our members most enjoy competing on the Orrick FFA trapshooting team, qualifying for contest teams at State FFA convention and attending FFA activities like a night at the K for a Royals Game. The 2024-2025 Orrick FFA chapter officer are Cash Honeycutt (President), Jeffrey Singleton (Vice President), Brecken Butler (2nd Vice President), Elana Boude (Secretary), Leo Bardezbain (Assistant Secretary), Tucker Greer (Treasurer), Zane Geenens (Assistant Treasurer), Addison Chapman (Reporter), Logan Dennis (Sentinel), Izzy Wheeler (Historian), Logan Smith (Parliamentarian).