October 31, 2017 • Page 2 By Daris Howard shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com A Halloween Cat Attack Need people to find your business? Lenny and his uncle always tried to get the best of each other on Halloween. Most of the time Lenny’s uncle won, but Lenny never gave up. This year he decided that he had a perfect plan. The way he came up with the idea was purely by accident. He decided to take a shortcut through Old Mrs. Beaton’s yard. Mrs. Beaton always played the part of the fragile widow woman. But anyone who had ever been chased by her swinging her broom knew better. And to add to that, she had an old black cat that Lenny was sure was possessed with something, perhaps it was the same stuff Mrs. Beaton drank. Whatever it was, on the night Lenny cut through the yard, the cat was waiting for him. It had climbed the gatepost, and when Lenny went through in the dark, the cat launched out at him like a panther coming out of a jungle canopy. Lenny barely knew what hit him as he was knocked to the ground with the hissing, snarling little beast on him. He was still trying to fend it off and make a break for it when Mrs. Beaton came flying out of her house, swinging her broom like a cavewoman taking down a mammoth. That was motivation for Lenny, and he ran nearly a quarter mile down the road with little black hitchhiker still clawed onto his back. But what annoyed Lenny the most was if anyone ever mentioned how mean her cat was, Mrs. Beaton always said, “O poppycock. Phantom is as gentle as a lamb.” So it was after the latest run-in with Phantom, whom Lenny called “Devil Cat,” that Lenny got the idea of how he could get his uncle and the cat, too. Of course, no Halloween prank would be complete without enlisting Butch and Buster, his two neighbor friends. “You want us to help you do what?” Buster said. “I need you to help me catch Devil Cat,” Lenny said. “Are you crazy?” Butch said. “That cat thinks it’s a lion and we’re gazelles.” Lenny nodded. “I know. That’s why it will be that much more fun.” With a little bribery, Butch and Buster agreed to help. On Halloween morning, they snuck behind Mrs. Beaton’s barn. Lenny was carrying his dad’s raccoon trap, and Buster was carrying meat. “Butch,” Lenny said, “go where Devil Cat can see you, but don’t let Mrs. Beaton catch you.” “Why me?” Butch complained. “Because you’re not doing anything else.” Butch grudgingly went to act as the trespasser and soon came running back with Phantom close behind. Lenny and Buster had barely gotten the trap set and baited. All three ran until Phantom quit chasing them. When Phantom headed home, the boys followed at a distance. The trap worked just like Lenny had hoped. Phantom smelled the meat and was soon locked inside. Lenny carried the trapped cat with Butch and Buster following. They circled wide around Mrs. Beaton’s house. Lenny was glad that she had a long road back into her house so she wouldn’t see them at her mailbox. They snuck up to the mailbox and released the snarling cat into it. The mailbox had vents so the cat would be fine, but it hissed and fumed. Finally, in the dim light inside the mailbox, it went silent. It was none too soon. The boys had barely hidden when Lenny’s uncle, the new maildelivery person, came driving into view. The boys waited in the willows and watched. Finally came the moment Lenny had dreamed of. With the car window down, Lenny’s uncle opened the little mailbox door to stick in the mail. The cat, seeing a chance to escape, jumped into the car. Finding itself caged, it flew around the car, ripping everything it could get its claws on. Lenny’s uncle panicked, let off the brake, then hit it, then let off. The car lurched in zigzags across the road as Lenny’s uncle tried to fight off the cat and get away from it. Finally, the cat, seeing the open window, left Lenny’s uncle a few tattoos of her affection for him and jumped to her freedom. The next Sunday at church, Lenny’s uncle was still sporting some bandages. “Hey, Uncle, what happened to you?” Lenny asked with a smirk. “A no-good nephew is what happened,” he replied. “But just you wait! Halloween will come around again next year.” When it’s time to deliver... The Classifieds Rock! Shopper MV MV Shopper M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y Get your display ad here! 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The public is invited to attend. “Our challenge as a public higher education system is to produce a competitive workforce and build a more robust economy for our state and nation,” said Regents President Bob Sutton. “While charting our future course, it is very important that we hear from interested citizens and community leaders across South Dakota.” At the Sioux Falls meeting, regents will discuss efforts to achieve a statewide attainment goal of 65 percent of South Dakota citizens, ages 25 to 34, holding some type of post- The food’s awfully good down at the Gates of Heaven Chinese Restaurant. The valley’s other Delbert, Delbert Chin, has been putting on a decent feed there since he came to this country many years ago. We like that lunch buffet. All you can eat, of course, and he makes this pink sauce that’s out of this world. You can put it on everything. And you want to. 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But they don’t really need to go in there, and they know it. They’ll never red tag the Gates of Heaven. At any rate, Delbert knows customers have their own ways of red tagging a place that’s less than spotless, too. In Print & Online! • 665-5884 M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y Early Deadlines finding the right job is easier than you think Dining & Entertainment Save $30 on a Summer AC Tune-Up! Missouri Valley Shopper Just give us a call and we’ll Deadline for the send out a qualified Service Technician like November 21st issue will be Tyler, to make sure yourThursday, November 16th at Noon AC unit is ready for those for all display and classified ads. hot summer South Dakota Tyler Reiser days and save $30!* offices will beServiceThursday, November 23rd Our closed Technician to observe the Thanksgiving holiday. 13 years experience when you’ve got the right direction SOUP KITCHEN St. John’s Lutheran Church 1009 Jackson, St., Yankton, SD Stop searching. 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"The increasing sales of local foods provides a bright spot for agriculture and a way to bring young farmers into agricultural production," said Kari O'Neill, SDSU Extension Community Vitality Field Specialist. O'Neill referenced a U.S. Department of Agriculture statistic which found more than 160,000 U.S. farmers sold $8.7 billion of local food directly to consumers, retailers, institutions, and local distributors in 2015. Of those producers 81 percent sold all their food within 100 miles of their farm. "In rural communities, boosting local and regional markets can have a great impact on local economies and help keep rural families on the farm," O'Neill said. "New farmers can produce more food products on fewer acres and add value to operations that may have been in the family for years, or on new land where creativity in growing products for sale can provide a good income." 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