Hartville Fall Festival honors

A few distinguished honors were presented during the 47th Annual Fall Festival in Hartville.
Bill Nelson chosen as Grand Marshal
Bill Nelson was the Grand Marshal for this year’s Fall Festival Parade.
Nelson moved to Hartville from Colorado a little more than 40 years ago with his wife, Maxine, and their two daughters, Crystal and Tiffany.
They became big Eagles fans when their daughters played sports and danced at Hartville.
Bill and his family also opened up their home to fostering kids for many years. He worked as a recreational therapist and coached at risk and under privileged youth in Springfield. Some of the sports included basketball, volleyball softball and track and field. One of his runners took the gold medal in the Special Olympics Summer Games held in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Nelson volunteers with Ozark Food Harvest in the distribution of food boxes. As of Aug. 2024, he is now running the Hartville Senior Center, where he cooks, creates fundraisers and tries to promote the center whenever he can.
Wayne and Helen Dixon receive Darrell J. Hunter Award
Both Wayne and Helen Dixon were recipients of the Darrell J. Hunter Award at this year’s Fall Festival in Hartville.
The Dixons have lived in the community for 63 years.
Helen grew up at Owens in a family with nine siblings. She attended Owens School from first through eighth grades in the one room school house.
Wayne was raised in the Mansfield area with his three sisters. He attended Shiloh School for grade school and graduated from Mansfield High School in 1949.
He was drafted in 1952 and eventually served in Korea and Japan. He continued to serve in the Army Reserves for 29.5 more years, giving him 31.5 total years of service to his country.
The two met and the couple was married on Dec. 30, 1956.
Wayne later sold furniture for Rogers Furniture in Mansfield.
The couple bought the Dixon Café in 1957 and eventually spent time living in Mansfield, Springfield, Mountain Grove and Hartville.
Wayne later opened his TV repair business in Hartville in 1964.
After later working in the shoe factory, the couple, along with Leo and Jean Coy, purchased a hardware store and Helen kept its books for 25 years. The couple have been members of the Hartville Free Will Baptist Church for 61 years. Wayne has also served as president of the Hartville Senior Citizens for 25 years.
Proclamation presented to Hartville Lions Club
State Rep. Melissa Schmidt (District 141) presented a proclamation to the Hartville Lions Club as part of the dedication for the new City Park gazebo.
Due to the weather at this past summer’s Celebration of Unity event, the official presentation was not able to be made at the time.