By Jacki Wood The third stop on our Christmas Tour 2016 takes us to several tree farms within driving distance of Nodaway County. It’s not too late if you haven’t picked up a tree yet. Or if you have, these tree farms offer other fun activities, seasonal food items and unique Christmas gifts. Fulk Farms

Blue Willow Boutique opened in Maryville’s downtown area at 220 North Main Street. Stephanie Campbell, originally from Kansas City, moved to Maryville in May of 2016. While shopping for a gift, she found herself wishing that Maryville had more shopping options and so decided to open a store. “I wanted to invest in my community,

Northeast Nodaway seniors Amanda Standiford and Alicia Smith weave reed baskets during Katie Jenkins’s advanced art class.  The reed baskets are round stemming from their historical use as egg gathering containers. Jenkin’s class will explore other art techniques such as fabric dying and cross stitch.

North Nodaway students recently organized and cleaned their school in a building-wide project. Two sixth grade students, Kelsey Barcus and Danielle Riedel, were instrumental in creating and organizing the school cleanup project. Both are student council representatives and members of the character education committee. They said they wanted to show good citizenship to their school

Students at Jefferson school have been learning computer programing including coding this year. Charlea Lewis, computer instructor, teaches students with hands-on computer coding lessons. In past years, during the National Computer Science and Hour of Code week in December, she let students experiment with coding lessons on code.org, a website with activities geared toward students.

Members of the St. Joseph American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri presented the Pillowcase Buddy program to Nodaway-Holt students in this fall. The program is tailored to students in grades 3-6. It began after Hurricane Katrina when first responders noticed college students carrying their possessions out of their homes in pillowcases. Disney partnered with the

By Jacki Wood The Jefferson boys basketball team will reload and make another postseason run after losing a strong senior class last year. Head Coach Tim Jermain, now in his 17th year at Jefferson and 27th overall, said he’s looking forward to watching his team grow. “This year’s team has a lot of inexperience,” he

By Jacki Wood After another deep postseason run last year, which ended at sectionals with a loss to Mound City, the Jefferson girls basketball team returns mostly intact. The Eagles lost two seniors to graduation, Jessie Henry, leading scorer and rebounder, and Vanessa Holtman. “We will need some players to step up to make up

By Jacki Wood If you’re looking for exciting, fast, high-energy basketball, you’ll want to watch the Maryville boys this year. That’s what Head Coach Matt Stoecklein is expecting from his players, many of whom went directly from the state championship football game to basketball practice the next day. Stoecklein has several top-returning players this year