YOUTH SPRING TURKEY SEASON IS THIS WEEKEND SEE PAGE 14 TimesOzark County 75¢ GAINESVILLE, Mo. www.ozarkcountytimes.coM Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Gainesville school Morel mushroom hunting season has begun in Ozark County board hires Aaron Hosman as district superintendent MUSHROOM Dr. Aaron Hosman Hosman, 60, of Mountain Home, Arkansas, was hired last week by the Gainesville RV Board MADNESS of Education as the district’s new super- intendent. Hosman signed a contract Friday and will begin his duties in the Gainesville Schools Photo courtesy of in July. Harrison Daily Times He will replace cur- rent superintendent Joe Donley, who resigned Feb. 20 after the school board voted 4-3 at its January meet- ing not to extend his two-year contract, which ran through the 2017-2018 school year. A week later, Donley was hired as the superintendent of the Mark Twain School District, where superintendent Don Yarger is retiring July 1. The board’s vote to hire Hosman was unanimous, board president Corey Hillhouse told the Times. Other applicants who were invited to come for interviews were: Allen Woods of Thayer, Kent Sherrow of Herman, Dr. Jeff Hyatt of Sparta, Dr. Sherry McMasters of Hardy, Arkansas, and Joseph Dunlap of Vienna. Others who applied but were not inter- viewed were Dr. Eric Findley of Warsaw, Dr. Regina Mize of Grinnell, Kansas, Andy Adams of Ava, Janet Clark Brewer of Myrtle and Jeff Davis of Greenfield. Hillhouse said one other application came in after the posted deadline, and two others applied but then withdrew. A cover letter accompanying Hosman’s resume says he has 29 years experience in public education and has served 11 years in superintendent positions. Currently, he is Photo, left: Myriah Wallace and her son Reeve, 3, show off the 226 morels they found Sunday in Ozark County with the serving as interim superintendent for the help of Myriah’s husband Cody and the Wallaces’ youngest son, Rolen, 1 1/2. Myriah said it was probably the family’s spring semester in the Harrison, Arkansas, best morel-hunting trip ever. “We came upon a couple of honey holes right at the beginning and got most of them there,” schools. she said, adding that the boys stepped on a few while helping their parents. “Otherwise we might have had a few more.” From 2004 to 2011, he was superinten- Photo, top right: Peyton Smith, who turns 5 on April 11, helped his parents, Chuck and Mercedes Smith, find morels dent of the Paragould, Arkansas, school over the weekend. district, which has 2,800 students, a $22 mil- lion budget and 45 employees. From 1999 to 2004, Hosman was assistant superintendent by Jessi Dreckman, [email protected] at the Green County Tech School District, also in Paragould. Before 1999 he was prin- The dogwoods and redbuds are blooming in showy gold – the morel mushroom – and many were well rewarded for cipal at Boonville Junior High, Walnut splendor, the white bass are starting to tug on fishing their efforts. Lucky residents were eager to share their stories of Ridge Middle School and Strawberry High lines across the county and morels are popping up finding the elusive fungi on social media, but, as with any treasure, School, all in Arkansas. He also worked as a here, there and everywhere. It must be spring in most were tight-lipped about the locations where they hunted. teacher at Cross County High School in Ozark County! Thornfield resident Rachel Donley told the Times she found 210 Cherry Valley, Arkansas. Several local residents took to the woods and morels over the weekend near Thornfield. Donley said she found In his cover letter, Hosman said that, roamed along creeks, streams and river banks 136 morels on Saturday and 74 on Sunday. after retiring as Paragould superintendent in last weekend searching for Missouri’s spring “I’ve never found this many,” Donley said, laughing. “Last year 2004, he trained as a school improvement See Page 16 specialist in the scholastic audit process, Morel hunting, which he said is “the model used by the Arkansas Department of Educatio