In 1945 while Americans celebrated victory in Europe and Japan, back home, the newly formed Rural Electric Administration had put the brakes on its goal of providing electricity to every farmer in Missouri. Rationing and shortages of materials had held the focus of the nation for four long years. Now the REA was poised to begin an electrical revolution on the farm. Towns and cities had access to electricity but the farming communities had such sparse populations that they did not produce as much revenue per mile of line, therefore they went mostly unserved. Around 10% of the farms in the area had electricity. Twelve men from the Bolivar area were faced with a daunting task. They had to build the Southwest Electric Cooperative from the ground up by becoming its charter members. Talking up the benefits to thrifty farmers who had just survived the Great Depression, they were able to convince them to pay a $5 membership fee and the new members also encouraged their neighbors to sign up as well. Three members per mile were required if the REA was going to fund fully. The project that WWII had halted the progress of. But with the end of the war, came a demand for change. At one time, four thousand customers were on the waiting list to get electrical lines leading to their farms.

It was only fitting that a team representing football would win a golf tournament honoring a football coach. With the low overall score of 53, that's exactly what the foursome of Robert Clardy, Logan Claborn, Neil Routh and Mason Dunn - representing Southwest Baptist University Football - accomplished at the annual Doug Potts BEAF Classic for Kids on July 15 at Silo Ridge Country Club in Bolivar.

MidMo Bank this week announced Gabe Magnuson as its new Community President for its Bolivar location.

The Bolivar Herald-Free Press invites residents to send their engagement, wedding, baby, and other milestone announcements.

Delmar “Del” Willis Carman

Bolivar Mayor Christopher D. Warwick is inviting local residents to an informational meeting about regional traffic projects at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, at Bolivar City Hall, 345 S. Main Ave.

Proposition 1 is the Use Tax Issue. The Use tax is a tax on the purchase of goods by Missouri residents from out-of-state vendors. It is a vital source of revenue that our county is currently missing out on. Collection and enforcement of Use Tax provides fair competition between out- of-state vendors and local businesses. Local businesses must charge and collect a local sales tax on all sales, but out-of-state online businesses are not required to. The out-of-state online vendors are benefiting from this and taking potential tax dollars away from our communities. As inflation and wages have risen, compensating measures must be taken to ensure our county services are protected from budget restraints. The Use Tax can compensate for money lost and help provide vital services to the county including public safety, emergency equipment and repairs and upkeep of county roads and bridges. If this measure passes, we estimate it to bring in around $600,000.00 to the county per year. These funds would help to offset the current transfer of funds from the General Revenue Fund to the Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund for the operations of the Sheriff’s Department, Jail, the Prosecuting Attorney’ office, the Juvenile Detention’s Office, and Coroner’s office.