Springing forward, citywide cleanup and memories of Easters past

Hello, daylight saving time!

Happy birthday to Bernadean Kerley, Emily Siebert, Maxine Pepple, Connie Spane, Michael McIntosh, Erin Glueck, Kathie Razer, Pauline Strubberg, Donnie Kiefer, Kelly Spies, Tammie Harmon, Roger Reece, Lawrence Vaughn, Pat Zimmerman, Adam Beard, Tonya Lynn, Rick Cobb, Sharon Gibbons, David Owens, Kathy Blevins, Margie Lee, Judy Hargrove, Jon Kessler, Irene Heflin, Aggie Abernathy, Easton Pobst, Megan Kerber, Puggy Kerber, Ray Dowd, Cliff Evans, Wayne Reeves, Charles Ditto and Betty Montgomery.

Happy anniversary to David and Sue Slinkard, Mark and Brenda Freed, Gerald and Sandra Whitmore and Mike and Emily Eichhorn.

Next Sunday is the first day of spring. Hallelujah! The Chaffee Drive-in is open, the birds are singing and the flowers are blooming -- we are well on our way to this loveliest time of year.

Spring cleaning

The Citywide Spring Cleanup is scheduled for April 12 and 14, depending on whether your trash day is Tuesday or Thursday. Please call city hall to check items they will not pick up.

Also, city hall has these reminders: those who have a key to the compost site, please deposit your trash inside the gated area as far back as possible, and burning of leaves or yard debris in the street is not allowed.

Catfish Frydays continue throughout the area. The senior center will hold its yard sale on Good Friday weekend from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, 7 a.m. until evening on Good Friday and 7 a.m. to noon Saturday. They are accepting sellable items, which can be dropped off at the center.

Girls' robotics team to regionals

Congratulations to the Chaffee High School Robotics Teams, all of which received awards in Rolla, Missouri. The girls' team, Girls with Attitude, is headed to the regionals in Iowa.

A pleasant surprise

About 40 of Joyce Loucks' family and friends were able to surprise her with a birthday party at El Sol in Cape Girardeau. There was lots of fun, good food and a great time had by all.

Easter Sunday memories

Many schools are heading out for spring break this week, but Chaffee schools will enjoy their spring break over the Easter holiday.

Back in the days when everyone, adults and children, wore their Sunday best to church, Easter was an especially delightful time of year to see all the colorful Easter outfits. In most families, the children, especially, were wearing their new Easter shoes. Women wore hats to church back in the day and especially on Easter Sunday. Our sister Ruth Ann always managed to find the biggest and, oftentimes, the most unique hat.

A windy March for all

March came in like a lion and we are hoping it will go out like a lamb. Last Sunday's wind was obvious not only here and in Texas, but also at the auto race in Las Vegas and as far east as the WGC-Cadillac Tournament in Florida.

We got to see the Thunderbirds flyover the previous weekend at NASCAR, and watching them again at the auto race in Vegas was especially thrilling! We love it when the cameras stay on the jets rather than the spectators.

Champion to retire

The wait is over now that Super Bowl champion Denver Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning has announced his retirement.

Meanwhile, general manager and owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, who puzzled sports reporters with the word "unequivocablely," is sticking with Tony Romo, who is undergoing collar bone surgery, as quarterback.

As one sport columnist said, Jerry thinks Tony is like ace pilot Tom Cruise in the movie "Top Gun."

Final thoughts

Remember to tell those special people in your life that you love them -- those three words mean so very much.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are missing loved ones, our homebound, those in hospitals and nursing homes and those undergoing cancer treatments.

Please email your news and comments to darbuck2@airmail.net or leave a message at (573) 887-6430 or (214) 207-7839.

And then ...

Then there was the No. 18 NFL quarterback who retired after 18 years.