Massive effort on to locate Towny's grill

Towny Sparks, affectionately known as "Little Towny" to distinguish him from his dad known just as affectionately as "Big Towny" has made quite a name for himself over the years with his cooking prowess. Specifically, cooking on his grill.

Having had the opportunity to sample what he produces, I can personally attest to his abilities. Towny's tenderloin ranks right there with the best I've ever had.

We're not talking any ordinary, run-of-the-mill grill here either. Towny has (had?) one of Ed Morrow's finest. These grills are mounted on a trailer and come complete with the high-priced, fancy, thermometer to let the cook know just the right time to put the meat on, turn it, add more charcoal, whatever.

And Towny puts his grill to good use. Annually he cooks for the Kennett Swim Team's fundraiser. He has cooked for cheerleaders, class projects, and charitable causes when a need arrives and he has the time.

Unfortunately, all of that may be over.

Towny stores his grill at Baker Farm and Hardware out on the North Bypass. Last Wednesday morning Towny drove out to Baker Farm to where he left the grill. It was gone. No trace. Someone had hauled his grill off. As the tracks indicated, someone had just backed up to the trailer, hooked up and drove away.

Towny was devastated. He called his friend, Charley Hilburn, who let him store the grill at a building Charley owns here in town.

"Man, someone stole my grill," was how Towny reported it to Charley. Understandably upset Towny enlisted Charley in his effort to find the grill as part of the massive effort to; one, find the grill and two, prosecute, at least, the individual(s) responsible for the disappearance of the grill.

Towny just could not believe anyone had stolen his grill. After all the good work he has done with it, the people he has helped and some lowlife has the audacity to steal his grill. Towny has vowed to just quit cooking if that's the way things are going to be. If his efforts aren't appreciated any more than that, then to heck with it, is how Towny responded when he discovered the grill was gone.

Towny sent out an email blast to everyone on his contact list. He contacted local law enforcement to let them know and get them involved in the search. I don't think he asked them to activate the Major Case Squad but he didn't rule that option out either.

Towny and his mother, Janice, jumped into their vehicles and they began to cruise the town looking for the grill. Towny had removed that high-priced, fancy thermometer from his grill so he asked Charley to call Ed Morrow and ask if anyone had come by or inquired about buying a thermometer. No luck there.

When Towny received a call from Mark Moore as a result of the email blast, it looked like there was a break in the case.

Mark recalled seeing a grill similar to Towny's, big, black with a little rust showing headed east out of town on Highway 412 in front of McDonald's at about 9 a.m. that morning. Mark recalled seeing a pickup truck pulling the grill, but had not paid it any mind. Honestly, seeing a pickup hauling one of those grills, while not an everyday sight in this part of the country, is not uncommon either.

Towny had a lead now. Last report I got Wednesday evening, after he had spent most of the day looking around here was that Towny was headed to Pemiscot County to look for the grill. As this column is written no report was available on the amount of time Towny spent cruising around Pemiscot County searching for the grill.

Nor has there been any information shared on the amount of gas Towny and his mother have spent on trying to locate the grill. The grill will run somewhere around $3,000, give or take. Best estimates are that it's about a break even deal after two-plus days of intense searching on the part of Towny and his mother.

Friday afternoon the Chief Barry Tate got a lead in the case. He picked up Towny and took him to the location where the suspected grill was sitting. When he first saw the grill Towny wasn't sure it was his. This grill was all clean and shiny, almost brand new. The last time Towny had seen his it was not quite as shiny and needed a tune-up of sorts.

Well as it turns out the chief, who was on the inside, had found Towny's grill. Further, Mark Moore had indeed seen it heading out of town east on Hwy 412. The grill was going to Morrow's for a little R&R. Charley Hilburn had decided to spruce up the grill for Towny and I don't think, intended for things to occur as they did. When Towny popped up and said, "Someone stole my grill," Charley decided to run with it.

The Case of the Missing Grill was payback for another little incident that took place last month.

The Ellis family, Mark and Tracy, (Towny's sister and brother-in-law) was all set to get their photo taken for the annual Christmas card. Uncle Towny offered to help and picked up his nephew, Ty, and took him for a haircut.

Ty decided he wanted a buzz cut. Slick as a cue ball. Not everyone thought that was funny. Ok, Towny was the only one who thought it was funny.

So when the opportunity for a little payback via the missing grill Mark and Tracy jumped at the idea.

Everything is all square between them now, but one has to wonder how long it will stay that way.

* * *

New club?

The weekly meeting of the Kennett Surgical Recovery Club was held last Thursday at McCormick's. Most of us know this group by another name, but given the report published in a weekly publication and circulated over the Internet I think they might consider a name change to better reflect the membership.

"Randy (Morgan) has pretty well recovered from his shoulder surgery. Don (Wall) is recuperating from heart surgery and will probably be back soon. Emily (Modlin) is still wearing her boot (to protect her injured foot) and will return to meetings soon, we hope."

The club, formerly known as the Kennett Rotary Club, is apparently doing its part when it comes to fixing healthcare by taking advantage of all the services currently available.

Bud Hunt is publisher of the

Daily Dunklin Democrat, Daily Statesman, Delta News-Citizen, Missourian-News and

North Stoddard Countian.