Shakin’ in the Shell features one of the most popular car shows around with dozens of entries ranging from antique automobiles to some of the hottest modern cars on the market.
Each year thousands of people flock to Shell Knob to get a glimpse of the fun, family activities scheduled throughout the year. When the weather is warm, the water stays cool, and the area is never short on things to keep locals and tourists entertained.
Fun at the annual Shell Knob Chamber of Commerce banquet and Hootenanny in 2021.
May 16: Shankin’ in the Shell
This is the fourth year the Shell Knob Chamber of Commerce is hosting the annual golf tournament.
This four-person scramble is hosted at the Cassville Golf Course, and it costs $250 per group.
“This is my first year experiencing it,” said Kellie Davis, Shell Knob Chamber of Commerce director. “It is all for raising money for the fireworks show, which is going to be epic.”
June 11: Poker Run
This is the fifth annual event which falls the week before Father’s Day.
“It is always pirate-themed,” Kellie said. “This year it is called, ‘Bouncy for the Boom-Boom.”
There are five stops along the tour, and it costs $25 per hand.
“We are hoping to keep those the same this year,” she said. “But, we will start at the Pizza Hut dock this year.”
People can contact the Chamber for a possible August Poker Run, as well.
Fire and Thunder Fireworks Display 2021
July 3: Pre-Boom
Since July 4 falls on a Monday this year, the Shell Knob Chamber of Commerce has decided to host a pre-boom party at the Community Park.
“We will have a band, beer garden, and BBQ,” Kellie said. “We will sell beer and food, but there is no gate-cost. It will run from 5 to 10 p.m.
“This is a celebration.”
July 4: Fire and Thunder Fireworks Display and Let Freedom Ring Boat Parade
“The boat parade is hosted the morning of the 4th,” Kellie said. “It starts at 10 a.m., and fireworks follow at sundown.”
There are no gate-costs to attend the events. People who wish to enter the boat parade are encouraged to sign up at the Chamber office before the event. The Chamber will be using the same fireworks vendor as last year.
Daisy Mae applies face paint to Athena Shoemaker, 9, who traveled from Nebraska for the 2021 Shakin’ in the Shell event in Shell Knob.
September 16-17: Shakin’ in the Shell and Custom Classic Car Show
Renovations at the park were completed last year, including trees planted at the entrance. The Custom Classic Car Show will take place on the 17th. The band will be the same as last year, Morgan Squared. The event will be open on Friday from 4 to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“I would like to get some of the carnival rides back this year,” Kellie said. “I want more commissions and more for the kids.”
October 1: Homer Sloan Buddy Bass Tournament
For the 43rd year, the Homer Sloan Buddy Bass Tournament will come to Shell Knob. It is one of the biggest on the lake.
“People can go to the Chamber website to register for the event,” Kellie said. “It costs $100 to register and $20 for the big bass.”
The steak at the end of the tournament is provided by Harter House and Central Crossing Marina.
“The first 50 boats receive hats,” Kellie said.
October 22: Annual Chamber Banquet and Hootenanny
“Last year, we started the Hootenanny,” Kellie said. “It was a huge hit. It is always a good show.”
The event is open to the public and seats cost $30, which includes a meal, plus there is a bar.
The event will be hosted at the Barn at Bear Ridge, as well as catered by them. There will also be a bluegrass-style band.
“I want to fill the whole place this year,” Kellie said. “Also, we need people to buy seats and tables before the event, so we have a headcount for the meal.”
The Tree Lighting Ceremony and Jingle Bell Jamboree hosted by the Shell Knob Chamber of Commerce was a hit in 2021.
December 10: Tree Lighting Ceremony and Jingle Bell Jamboree
The Tree Lighting Ceremony was a new event that the Chamber started last year to go alongside the Jingle Bell Jamboree.
“We had decided to get a tree to honor Twila, and we used that tree for the lighting ceremony,” Kellie said. “We will do that again this year. We handed out s'mores, hot chocolate, and Santa was there.”
“People thought it was great, but I don’t think a lot of people knew about it, so I hope it will be bigger this year.”
The event will be held at the community park. For the Jingle Bell Jamboree, local people and businesses can buy a tree and have it decorated.
“A great way to ring in the holiday season,” Kellie said.
The VFW’s motto is “To honor the dead by helping the living,” and, in short, Buddy Poppies are one way to do just that.
Concerned that World War I veterans who had made the ultimate sacrifice were being forgotten too soon, Madame E. Guerin, of France, took inspiration from Colonel John McCrae's poem, "In Flanders Fields,” which spoke of poppies growing in an Allied graveyard "between the crosses, row on row," and began a push to have veterans’ organization sport red silk poppies in memory of World War I veterans.
The Buddy Poppy idea caught on in the U.S. in May 1922, when the VFW conducted the first nationwide distribution of poppies in the United States.
Later that year, at its National Encampment in Seattle in August 1922, the VFW adopted the poppy as its official memorial flower.
However, Guerin’s American and French Children's League, which supplied the poppies, had been dissolved shortly before the VFW's 1922 poppy sale, making the silk flowers hard to come by for the upcoming 1923 sale.
From adversity blooms inspiration, and the VFW formed an elegant solution that would simultaneously keep the flowers circulating as a reminder of the sacrifices so many veterans made in the name of freedom, and help living veterans who were in need, a tradition that continues to this day.
During its1923 encampment, the VFW decided that its Buddy Poppies would be assembled by disabled veterans and veterans in need, who would, in turn, be paid for their work to provide them with financial assistance. The next year, disabled veterans at the Buddy Poppy factory in Pittsburgh, Penn., assembled VFW Buddy Poppies. The designation "Buddy Poppy" was adopted at that time.
In February 1924, the VFW registered the name Buddy Poppy with the U.S. Patent Office that allows it to guarantee that all poppies bearing that name and the VFW label are genuine products of the work of disabled and needy veterans. No other organization, firm, or individual can legally use the name Buddy Poppy.
Today, Buddy Poppies are still assembled by disabled and needy veterans in VA Hospitals.
VFW posts throughout the country order Buddy Poppies from the national VFW organization, then distribute them throughout their individual communities leading up to Memorial Day in exchange for donations. Those donations are used by individual VFW posts to take care of local veterans in need.
With that business model, the VFW is able to raise money for various veteran programs on a local and a national level.
The Buddy Poppy program provides compensation to the veterans who assemble the poppies, provides financial assistance in maintaining state and national veterans' rehabilitation and service programs, partially supports the VFW National Home for Children and allows the local posts to support veterans at the local level.
Over the years, Tom Wolfe VFW Post 4207 has continued the tradition, selecting “Poppy Girls” to represent the post and its poppy sales for many years.
VFW Post No. 4207 Auxiliary Buddy Poppy Coordinator Linda Adams and VFW Post No. 4207 Quartermaster Randall Adams said the local post celebrated Memorial Day and the Buddy Poppy distribution by selecting a Poppy Girl each May for decades. That tradition ended several years ago, when the local auxiliary disbanded.
However, the auxiliary has been reformed and the post and auxiliary are hoping to bring the tradition back.
But that’s not all that’s changed. Linda said the post traditionally collected donations and distributed poppies at the intersection of U.S. 60 and Highway 37 until a few years ago, when safety concerns changed the location.
Since then, with the exception of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the post has distributed at Walmart.
As long as COVID-19 restrictions allow, Randall said the plan this year is to distribute poppies at Walmart, Price Cutter and Lowe's.
Randall said the post hopes to raise about $1,000 each year through poppy donations to support local veterans.
While the use of poppy funds are strictly regulated, Randall said the Monett Post typically has a single use for the money – to support local veterans in need.
“We use it to help the people who need it,” Randall said. “The vets come to us and tell us what they need, and we try to help them out however we can.”
He added that veterans who are in need do not need to be members of the VFW to seek help. He said the organization is there to help any veteran in need, any way it can.
