Which Thanksgiving items cost more this year?

JOPLIN, Mo. — If you haven’t bought your turkey and fixings yet for Thanksgiving, you might be in for a surprise at the checkout line.

“Everything is more,” said Carole Goff, Family Meal Maker.

Carole Goff is cooking for nine this Thanksgiving.

And she knows the cost of most of the items that will make up her holiday feast has skyrocketed.

The Farm Bureau has been monitoring the cost of items that make up a traditional Thanksgiving meal for nearly four decades.

This year’s feast will have the largest percentage increase ever, up 20% from last year, and 37% since 2020.

Managers at stores like this often have to order their turkeys months in advance, and usually, there are enough left over from Thanksgiving to tie over till Christmas.

But that may not be the case this holiday season.

Supply chain issues are still a concern.

While some reports indicate there will be plenty of turkeys, some stores are worried they could still not meet the demand.

Carole Goff is a good example of a shopper who’s not willing to take that risk.

“Last Saturday I came in here talked to the butcher asked him to hold one for me, and he said he’d put it in the freezer here, which is a blessing because I don’t have to clear out my freezer to keep it,” said Goff.

Has she ever had to do that before?

“No,” added Goff.

Last year’s average cost of just over $53 has jumped to an average of over $64.

“I noticed one, one thing today, green onions, $2.36 a package, I need two green onions, but I’ll use them,” said Goff.

Turkey prices are up 21% from last year, frozen dinner rolls are up 22%, and sweet potatoes are up 16%.

Meanwhile, a 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries is down 14% in cost this year.

How you can be "Santa to a Senior"

JOPLIN, Mo. — An area business needs your help so they can be a “Santa to a Senior”.

This year marks the 12th year for the Home Instead “Be a Santa to a Senior” program.

Here’s how it works, just come into the Region Ten Area Agency on Aging office in Joplin, pick out a paper ornament, buy that product, and bring it back to the same office.

Hillary Bokker says most of the items are everyday things many of us have and take for granted.

“So this year it’s our biggest number we’ve had, we’re supporting 130 home-bound seniors this year so we’re thrilled to support them, but it’s with basic items this year that our seniors desperately need, some of those items are toilet paper, laundry detergent, toothpaste, body wash,” said Hillary Bokker, Co-Owner, Home Instead.

The deadline to purchase items and bring them back to the Area Agency on Aging is December 9th.

It’s located at 531 East 15th Street.

The center is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Joplin City offices holiday hours and residential trash change

JOPLIN, MO. — This Thanksgiving, multiple Joplin City offices and will be closed during the holiday week along with a revised trash pick-up schedule.

City of Joplin offices are closed Thursday, Nov. 24th & Friday, Nov. 25th. During this time, the following services and offices are also closed:

  • Joplin Recycling Center
  • MAPS – Reopens Nov. 28th
  • Sunshine Trolley services – Suspended due to lack of drivers

The Recycling Center’s hours will also be altered: Closing on Saturday, Nov. 26th and opening back up the following Monday, Nov. 28th. Hours that Monday will be from 9 AM – 3 PM.

City hall and services will reopen at 8 AM, Nov. 28th.

Trash will not be picked up on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24th). Residents with Thursday trash pick-ups will have theirs picked up on Friday, Nov. 25th. Friday pick-ups will instead happen on Saturday, Nov. 26th.

Teachers in Carthage receive "Tiger Pride Kindness Awards"

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Any award is a big deal for local teachers. They mean even more when an educational icon personally hands it to you. That’s what happened in one Southwest Missouri school district.

Before her retirement last year, Laurel Rosenthal had been at Mark Twain Elementary School as a teacher and principal for more than a half-century.

She returned to that building on Tuesday, much to the surprise of one of her former students, Jennifer Simpson, who now teaches at Mark Twain Elementary.

Simpson received one of the inaugural “Tiger Pride Kindness Awards”.

“It just means everything to me, it’s very emotional, Mrs. Rosenthal is a big part of my life, and I was just so glad to see her, I thought maybe she just came in to say hi, I didn’t know all of this was going to happen, it’s quite an honor,” said Jennifer Simpson, Award Recipient.

“So excited to come to Mark Twain because of having her in Kindergarten, having her sister and her brother, her sister Holly and her brother Jeff, knowing her dad Carl so well, and her mother was such a wonderful wonderful help to me through the years,” said Laurel Rosenthal, Retired Teacher, Principal.

The award, which will be given to three teachers each year from now on, is in recognition of Rosenthal’s service to the district, although she didn’t have any say in selecting the winners.

“They’ll get 250 dollars to do their project in their classroom, and then 250 dollars for them, and for me, it’s very important that they spend it on themselves, as a former teacher and principal, I know you spend an awful lot of your own money on the children of your school,” said Rosenthal.

The other two winners both teach fourth grade at Carthage Intermediate.

“I’m planning on purchasing a program called “Thrively”, it’s a web-based program that allows students to do a survey about their interests, it can be interests in future careers, colleges, or just other things that they might enjoy,” said Christina Landburg, Award Winner.

“Trauma is pretty rampant in my class, and we have lots of times where I wish I had a safe place just for the students to go take a minute to take a deep breath and relax and re-regulate themselves,” said Evelyn Odum, Award Winner.

The Tiger Pride Kindness Endowment honors not just Rosenthal, but her longtime friend, Helen-Louise Ellif, who has since passed away.

“I know she’s looking down today and smiling, super happy about our two teachers she didn’t know, especially about Jennifer because she was our daughter’s second-grade teacher,” said Lee Ellif Pound, Helen-Louise Ellif’s Daughter.

Webb City Police Department accepts grant funding

WEBB CITY, Mo. — The “Webb City Police Department” is on its way to getting some much-needed equipment upgrades.

City council members accepted grant funding from both the “Arvest Foundation” and the “State Homeland Security Program.”

$9,000 from Arvest will purchase eight new computers.

$15,000 from Homeland Security will fund a brand new portable electronic street message board.

“We’ve been trying to keep up some type of rotation to update our technology. With the cost of gasoline last year, it zapped our budget. We’re able to replace 8 of our 13 computers this year with this funding from Arvest Foundation,” said Don Melton, Chief of Police, Webb City.

Council members have also approved budgeted purchases of three new patrol SUVs.

All of the new equipment is now in the process of being ordered.

Ronald McDonald House Family Room's 5th anniversary

JOPLIN, Mo. — The Ronald McDonald Family Room at “Mercy Hospital Joplin” is celebrating a bit of a milestone.

Five years ago today, it welcomed its first guest.

The room offers families of pediatric patients up through the age of 21, a place to rest and relax, and still be just minutes away from their loved ones.

Officials say the original intent was to make visitors feel like they’ve left the hospital, even though they really haven’t.

“Since opening up the Family Room program here at Mercy, we’ve had the opportunity to serve over 200 families for almost 1,500 visits while their children were in the hospital,” said Tara Horinek, Assoc. Dir., Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Four States.

Tara Horinek also wants volunteers and donors through the years to know how much they’re appreciated.

Those interested in learning more about the room, and ways they can help, can find a link here.

Focusing on improvement in Joplin

JOPLIN, Mo. — An assessment of development operations have Joplin City Council members focused on improvement.

It was all presented at tonight’s work session.

“Bakertilly” works with municipalities to identify community needs.

A study was done by the company, focusing on all services the city provides to determine areas requiring more attention.

The assessment prioritized the city’s land development services, like the conditions of neighborhoods, as well as permits, inspections, and code enforcement of buildings and homes.

The study stems from a decision made in last year’s budget to survey local contractors and community members to hear what they’d like to see upgraded.

“There was a phenomenal amount of feedback about people being frustrated with the condition of the community, the appearance of the community. Maybe it’s a specific building. This report will help us be proactive in addressing those into the future,” said Nick Edwards, City Manager Of Joplin.

Council members say more time is needed to decide areas of top priorities.

Those concerns will be discussed specifically at a later work session.

Supporting Veterans with service dogs

JOPLIN, Mo. — An area group that pairs service dogs with veterans who are dealing with PTSD have a new leader, and he has some ambitious plans for the organization.

“Heartland Canines for Veterans” has been providing service dogs for veterans for the past eight years, and they’re now under new management.

“The partnership between veterans and canines, you can’t put a price on that,” said Jimmy Burgess, Executive Director, Heartland Canines For Veterans.

Jimmy Burgess has been selected to take over the organization from interim director Ted Donaldson.

Burgess is a veteran himself and has helped get several veteran-owned and operated ventures off the ground in Southwest Missouri.

He says Heartland has already provided 30 area veterans with service dogs, but with his contacts in the community, he wants that number to increase substantially.

“Obviously we’re looking to double and triple that over the next couple of years with the different programs we’re looking to put in place, um we’re looking at training more veterans to actually be trainers for service dogs, which again is just an unbelievable process to know that there is room for growth there,” said Burgess.

The organization also now has a physical location.

They share space with a business called “All Dogs Dream,” which is north of Neosho on Gateway Drive.

Burgess says the training between the animal and the veteran takes place on-site.

“Generally a veteran will reach out to us saying he could really use a service dog, uh so we do our vetting process with the veteran uh then we do the same thing with the dogs, it’s a vetting process making sure it’s going to be the right fit for the right veteran, and that door swings both ways, making sure that dog is going to have the right veteran as well,” said Burgess.

But Burgess says donations of money are needed to expand the program.

For more information, you can visit their website here.

"Dog Pack" motorcycle group donates to Lafayette House

JOPLIN, Mo. — Some of Santa’s helpers made a special stop Sunday in Joplin.

Nearly 100 bikers with the “Dog Pack” motorcycle group rode to the “Lafayette House” carrying presents for kids.

Each biker had at least one gift with them, totaling more than 100 presents.

It’s something the group has done for 17 years in a row.

The “Lafayette House” will set up a Christmas shop for their clients to come to pick out gifts for their children.

And it’s all to ensure every family enjoys Christmas.

“It’s huge for our organization, huge for our community for them to think of Lafayette House and our clients and be able to serve them in a way this holiday season,” said Chelsea Conley, Development Director, Lafayette House.

“With us, it’s kind of hard to sleep at night knowing that we got warm beds and gifts for our children and not, you know, for other kids. So, we try to chip in where we can this way everybody else could have a great Christmas… whatever we can to help out,” said Roy Moore, Dog Pack Motorcycle Group Member.

The “Dog Pack” doesn’t stop there though, throughout the season, they’ll make seven deliveries to area organizations in need of Christmas gifts.

And if you are interested in donating gifts or wish list items, you can visit their website here.

Turkey shoot fundraiser held at the VFW Post 534

JOPLIN, Mo. — Some local families are now set to have a great Christmas.

The “Joplin VFW Post 534” and the “Joplin Fraternal Order of Eagles 2410” are making it happen.

Every year, the two groups partner together to raise money for Christmas baskets.

Sunday’s turkey shoot fundraiser was held at the “VFW Post 534.”

Participants shoot at paper targets, and whoever shoots closest to the target’s crosshairs, wins that round.

Each year, the two groups raise about $3,500 each. They’ve already started putting together Christmas baskets of food and gifts for local families in need.

“This actually is a large impact because we have several families and we only do them with children so we make sure they have children that we can at least give 3 or 4 gifts to a year, make sure they have at least two meals and create a better home for the holidays,” said Nick Strick, President, Fraternal Order of Eagles 2410.

Strick also says that if you are interested in sponsoring a Christmas basket, you can sign up at the Joplin Fraternal Order of Eagles at 13th and Main.

They are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.