School Honor Surprises Underwood Family

Owning a grocery store just two blocks from Pineville School gave Don Underwood and his family plenty of opportunity to contribute to all the fundraisers the school ever had -- and the family never passed on the opportunity to join in.

For all those contributions, plus many others of time and labor, the Underwood family will be honored at the upcoming Heart of Education Banquet hosted by the McDonald County School Foundation. The banquet will be held on March 11 at McDonald County High School.

"I wasn't expecting it," Don Underwood said of the honor. Don is the patriarch of the family, which includes three children, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

All three of the Underwood children graduated from McDonald County schools, as did Don.

"I have never lived anyplace else," Don said. "I have been here all my life. I was born between here and Jane. I lived in Anderson a few years when I first got married, but then we moved back to Pineville and have been here every since. I just hope McDonald County is a better place because we all stayed here and worked."

Few, if any, would doubt that McDonald County is a better place because of the Underwood family. The kids have followed in their dad's footsteps in contributing to the fundraisers of all the various student organizations.

"It is certainly an honor for them to recognize us," said Donna Underwood, one of Don's three children. "I am like Dad; I wasn't expecting it. We don't do it to be recognized. We just love our community enough to do the stuff we do."

You won't find a silent auction that doesn't have plates of peanut butter fudge made by Donna and cinnamon rolls made by son, Kenny and daughter-in-law, Kathy.

"I got started making cinnamon rolls when I realized people were looking for things that people would give that would bring money at the auctions," Kenny said. "To our surprise, they would bring lots of money. We helped our niece and nephew when they graduated high school with a dinner for Project Graduation in about 1999. We did that every year for several years even when we didn't have kids in school."

Also, Kenny has held several lunch specials for various organizations of which his kids belonged.

"Those things are just part of being involved in the school system and the community," Kenny said. "If you have kids in school, you try to do what you can to make things easier on the instructor and the school system itself."

Donna's peanut butter fudge always brings a premium price at the auctions, but it was when it was sold by the plate for the volleyball team one year when it was the biggest project for her.

"I started doing that because I hate just asking people for money and I was trying to raise money for MDA," Donna said. "The biggest one was for the volleyball. Kacha (coach Kacha Kuhn) said the volleyball team only gets one fundraiser a year. I had already committed and I asked how much was that. She said they need to raise about $3,500 and I went 'Whew' and said 'OK.' We made fudge until the world looked level. I think it was about 150 pounds of peanut butter. It was amazing. It is something I enjoy doing."

Dalana Fuller is the youngest of Don's children. She has worked for the school system as a Parent As Teacher educator for 20 years.

"I do all the screenings for McDonald County schools for kids going into preschool and kindergarten," Dalana said. "I also do home visits with anybody under the age of five who wants me to. I make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing as far as developmental and find avenues for help if they need it. I love my job."

Dalana's husband, Dan Fuller, is the driving force behind Young Outdoorsmen United, a youth group focusing on nature and the outdoors.

"I have been doing this for about 12 years," Dalana Fuller said. "We do something with kids in the outdoors every month. We just love to see their smiles when they catch a fish for the first time."

In addition to the contributions of materials and money, Don donated his time by serving on the board of education for nine years (1970-79).

"We had some tremendous men on the board at that time," Underwood said. "They are men many people will recognize like Gayle Brock, Bill Wilson and Jim Stauber -- lots of good men, but there's three good ones right there."

Underwood said the changes to the county and the school system since he graduated in 1947 are remarkable.

"I tell everyone that I was in the top 10 in my graduating class and they are impressed until they find out there were just 13 in the class," Underwood said. "We have gone from that in '47 to what we have today as a school system."

Don also volunteered to serve on the Highway 71 board when the state Highway Department was working on getting right of way for a four-lane road from Canada to New Orleans.

"Years ago to take a load of cattle from Pineville or Jane, you had to go to Lanagan and then through Anderson, Goodman and Neosho and all the way down Range Line in Joplin," Underwood said. "You were a nervous wreck by the time you got there. Now you don't have a stoplight from here to the sale barn."

The banquet will include a student showcase from a wide variety of K-12 programs. ProStart, a student culinary program, will decorate tables and cater the three-course meal.

Individual tickets and sponsor tables are available. Individual tickets are $25 and a table sponsorship is $250. Tickets are available at Poppy's Doughnuts and Mustang Drug in Anderson, Waco Title in Pineville and the Cornerstone Bank in Southwest City.

The McDonald County Schools Foundation has raised $200,000 for scholarships and teacher initiatives since 2008.