Monroe City School District

Middle School Basketball Final Scores! #MCPRIDE

58-59 girls Not only did MHS' oldest living male player, Jack Jones, play for the MHS Panthers, he also coached the Holy Rosary Lady Trojans. Among the teams he coached were the 1958-1959 Trojanettes: Back row left to right: Delores Davis, Roseanne Quinn, Gloria Whiston, Judith Greening, Coach Jack Jones, Dorothy Engle, Cynthia Saunders, Regina Lindhorst, Marilyn Whiston, Peggy Tuley; bottom row left to right: Cecelia Kendrick, Jean Marie Utterback , Judy Whiston, Sue Ann Simmons, Mary Ann Hays, Cecelia Kendrick and Martha Elliott/ Some of the players are pictured in this photo of the 8th and 9th grade girls in 1957-1958: Bottom row left to right: Sue Ann Simmons (Thomas), Marilyn Whiston (Lawler), Annette Tuley (Carmean), Cecelia Kendrick (Shuck), Judith Whiston (Quinn); Middle row left to right, Coach Jack Jones, Mary Ann Hays (Hagan), Judith Greening, Carole Shively (Hays) and Msgr. Edward Connolly; Back row left to right: Edward Charlson, Assistant Manager Judy Osbourn (Hagan), Frances Couch (Long), Kay Roland and Hope Gander (Goodwin).

One of the oldest living female MHS players is Janann Roland Hedberg, a 1950 graduate . She makes her home in Cottleville near her daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She played basketball one year at Rensselaer High School and the remaining three years at Monroe City. She was on the varsity team all four years. Janann recalls that the players’ uniforms had short shorts and high-top tennis shoes. Janann said she learned the importance of teamwork and good sportsmanship by playing basketball. She recalls that the team was very disciplined and they worked well together. She remembered that the coaching was “outstanding” and that they won most of their games. In fact, she believes they only lost one game her senior year. Her late husband, Charles A. Hedberg was a junior when Janann was a senior. He played basketball for the Panthers from 1947-1951. After graduation, they attended the University of Missouri and had two children, Jeff Hedberg and Jan Hedberg Schneider. The high school sweethearts owned and published the Monroe City News for 7 ½ years and went on to own the Centralia Fireside Guard for 33 years. Janann recalls that the team could have six players on the court at a time, but only four could be on half of the court at one time. Janann was born in February of 1933.

Yesterday, 12 members of the Monroe City High School Band participated in Truman Honor Band at Truman State University, rehearsing all day and performing a concert in the evening with 100 are area band students. Congrats to these students and thank you for representing our school and community well!

MS Basketball Final Score Panthers Split #MCPRIDE

The Middle School was in the Christmas spirit today! Thank you to Mrs. Baymillers Panther Hour for helping decorate the lobby!

Margaret Tipton Raetz, who now makes her home in Columbia, is one of the oldest living basketball players to hit the hardwood in Monroe City. Born in March of 1933, she is a 1951 graduate of MHS. Margaret worked as secretary to the superintendent of schools until her marriage. After raising her children, she worked at the Monroe City Bank (now Macon-Atlanta) from 1970 until her retirement in 1995. Her husband, Jack, owned Jack’s Hy-Klas Market until 1970 and then Sears Catalog Store. Jack, a 1945 MHS graduate, also was a long-time school board member. Photos are from the 1950 and 1951 yearbooks. The couple had four children: Jan, Jackie, Jeff and Joe.

Do you know who the second oldest living female MHS basketball player is? We think it is Billie Romig McClintic. Billie, a 1949 graduate of MHS, has lived in St. Joseph, Mo for more than 70 years. She continues to live on her own and has a phenomenal memory. Billie, now 91, graduated in 1949, the same year as her slightly older sister, Pauline Romig Perrine, because their mother wanted them in the same class. Billie attended grade school at Woodlawn and came to MHS in her freshman year. Billie and Pauline both played guard and Pauline was the captain. Billie remains active, playing cards four times a week and bingo on Thursday nights. She bowled on the same Wednesday morning league for 58 years until the Covid era. She also waterskiied until she was 73. She and her family lived across the Imperial station (now Campbell’s) on U.S. 36 when she was growing up. Prom and the senior play ,“The Atomic Bomb,” were highlights of her senior year. She played a maid in the play. After high school, she worked at Spalding Pharmacy for several years and then Bastian Truck Service. Both businesses are now closed. Billie and Pauline played on the team that had a perfect season in tournament play. The girls won three tournaments with teams entered from as far south as Sturgeon, and as far north as LaPlata, and won them all. At that time, the Monroe City girls team was the only team in the state with a perfect tournament record. C.L. Gottman played dual roles as girls’ coach and superintendent.

Game Day! MS Girls/Boys host Marion County 5pm Tip Off #MCPRIDE

Congratulations to Audri Youngblood on her selection to the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association All-State Team! #MCPRIDE

Athletic Office Weekly Activities #MCPRIDE

Are you a descendent of the 1925 graduating class - seniors when the first Monroe City basketball tournament began? Comment on here if so, please. Can you imagine the excitement that filled MHS halls in anticipation of the first basketball tournament? 1925 Graduates were Thelma Benson, Mary Berry, Thomas S. Burditt, Mary Elizabeth Conway, Ruth Elizabeth Corder, Irene Dinwiddie, Adelbert Ely, Donna Fern George, Harold Glenn, Elizabeth Gibbons, Joseph M. Hampton, Alice Virginia Hatton, Dorothy Jackson, Bessie Margaret Kaden, Paul A. Kimea, Paul E. Jones, Joseph M. Longmire, Mary Mayes, Oza Dean Matthews, Bernarnened Meeker, Forrest Miller, Alfred H. Morthland, Raymond Noel, Anna Abilgail Owen , Perry Phillips, Naomi O’Bryan, Roy Poore, Lenora Quick, Elizabeth Ragland, Mary Leona Schmidt, Blanche Scobee, Paul Kenneth Smith, Vada Teed, Lillian Thurman, Ida Mae Turner, Alice Lee Waddill, Frances E. Williard, J. Nelson Fitzgerald and Marvin C. Poore. The 1925 yearbook, the fourth published by MHS, was called the Zizzer. Photos courtesy of Jack Jones

1925 MHS boys’ team was coached by W. A. Swearengen with members: Captain Longacre, Conway, T. Randell, Hoover, Sharp, Graham, H. Ransdell and Abbott. The girls’ team, coached by Mrs. James H. Stokes included Mildred and Jean Wade, crane, Alexnder, McFarland, Young, Hawkins, Nash, Jackson, Ballard, Walker and Karr. The tournament book included advertisements from H.E. Stream Tonsorial Parlor and Levy’s Department Store. An ad for the Monroe City Bank (now Macon-Atlanta Bank) listed capital assets of $50,000 with surplus and profits of $60,000

Keep in mind that in 1925-the first year of the tournament - the road system was entirely different making travel to and from ball games challenging. Neither Highway 24 or Highway 36 were built at the time. According to the late Monroe County historian Nancy Stone, by the spring of 1927, Monroe City had 22 miles of paved and hard-surfaced streets. State Route 10, now U.S. Highway 24, was being built from Monroe City through Moberly to Kansas City, making Monroe an integral link in the new cross-country road. Highway 24 roughly paralleled the Wabash Railroad, which had given Monroe a second railroad a half century before. The Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, State Highway 8 (now U.S. Highway 36), was completed in 1930.

Final Score! MC Football falls in a hard fought game tonight to finish the season 8-4. #MCPRIDE

The Monroe City Music Booster is having a Carol-Gram fundraiser on December 21st! This year it is open to the public within walkable Monroe City limits. Send your loved ones some holiday cheer in the form of a beautiful, high quality music performance from Monroe City band and choir students! Each Carol-Gram is $5. Fill out the Google form below and give the money owed to the High School Front office labeled Music Booster: Carol Grams! Carols will be delivered on December 21st from approximately 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM. We can't wait to spread some Christmas cheer for you this year! https://forms.gle/AP1PivGek1bCUgBF6

The Monroe City Semi-Weekly News reported that the Monroe City Business Men’s Association made it possible for admission to the first tournament to be priced at $1 for all 20 games. Student admission was 75 cents for the entire tournament. Head referee was Dr. Sermon, coach of the Osteopaths of Kirksville.

Today, we celebrate the first teams of the oldest basketball tournament in the great State of Missouri.

Game Day! District Championship @ South Shelby #MCPRIDE

During the tournament, the 35-piece Paris High School band, directed by the Paris vo ag teacher, gave a street concert here to celebrate the first tournament. “The Monroe City school loyalty song, “Old Monroe High,” played frequently during the tournament. Mary Elizabeth Conway Swearengen wrote the song to the tune of “Maryland.” She was the "yell leader."