Shannon County - Winona - Information

[fadingfleur]

I wonder how things are going for aircooledbusnut. I hope things went as planned for him and his family. I am new to the area also. My husband was raised in St Louis but his paternal grandparents and lots more family are from the area. Every vacation and long weekend we would pack up and head down. We dreamed of retiring in Shannon Co. Then several things happened that made the move possible alot faster than we planned. We bought 9 acres of woods and placed a doublewide on it in June of 09. What I have learned living here is 1) If storms scare you don't buy a mobile home. I hate storms and had no idea that they made the ones back home in Southwestern Illinois look like a breeze on a summer day. 2) Make sure you have everything you need when you go to the bigger towns for shopping. The nearest Super Walmart is aprox. 55 miles away in West Plains. If you like shopping the bix box stores such as Lowe's or Best Buy, the closest is about 120 miles to Springfield. Ive learned to do a lot of shopping online. 3) There seems to be alot of drama amongst the town folk. I came from a small town too but the drama here is 3x what we had. I logged on to [domain blocked due to spam] hoping to find some info about good restaurants, that was a mistake, I was shocked at the way some of the people talked to each other. And I agree with sdonley, best we have found is Anita's Dinner House west of Mountain View 4) I was told that it takes 10 years to be accepted into the community. We find that to be true so far, except for the other tranplants in the area, but in all fairness, we don't attend the local churches or other organizations. Other than that, I love our property and the seclusion, AND the best part is the cost of living here. Our taxes and electric service are wonderfully affordable!

[Dundee1989]

Originally Posted by aircooledbusnut

Hello to all,

I am currently in Afghanistan for possibly the next three years. I spent a great deal of my youth in the Waynesville/St. Robert area, I have also lived in Hartville, Niangua, Marshfield, and Springfield. I needed to be home so I bought 12 acres site unseen near Winona. The question I would pose, is about the local area around Winona, it's people and just stories of the area. I visited Alley Springs about eight years ago. I have not lived in Missouri since 2001. I had read several articles that there were issues with drugs/meth and such. I am still going to move there, but need to know if I will be building walls and moats or just a simple cabin to retire too.

I am also a black powder enthusiast. Can anyone tell me the local statutes regarding Openly Carrying a sidearm. Not a glock or barretta but an 1858 Remmington. Thank you.

Having lived in Winona for three years, I think you've made a very bad mistake. Winona is a very poor town, perhaps the most impoverished in southern Missouri. With poverty comes criminality. I impulsively bought a new home in Winona back in Nov. 2009.
I arrived back in the US after living in Asia for many years. I thought Mark Twain National Park would be a great place to retire. Wrong!
There are families in Winona that would look very natural in the film "Deliverance", dueling banjoes and all. The house I bought was a
brand new build with all brick exterior, hardwood floors throughout, two bathrooms, two car garage, 30-year roofing, etc, energy efficient ($120 per month utility bill in summer for everything, about $200 per month in winter). Loved that house, had a view of the
woods from my deck and lot's of wildlife always coming up to the bird feeder, mostly birds. However, my love for the house faded when it was repeatedly broken into!!! My home must have been invaded at least a dozen times. The hillbilly folks around there are real clannish and watch out for each other. So no one was going to let me know the identity of the criminal or criminals who were breaking into my house everytime I drove over to West Plains or somewhere. I decided to sell the house when they broke some furniture in the living room. The violence was obviously going to escalate. I one point I feared arson. I was obviously being watched.
The lady across the street, Mary Martin, might have some knowledge of the criminals. Her grandson built a house next door to mine there on Weaver St. and he seems to have taken a real dislike to me. He knew all the local redneck crowd. His name is Kyle Martin.
Folks in Winona will make your life a living hell if they decide they don't like you! Clannish did I say, more like the Ozarks Mafia.
Did I call the local police? Ha, ha, ha. They are good buddies with guys like Martin.
If you are living out in the woods you might be safer, but who knows? If someone decides to raid your house they will do so. You
have to leave your home to go shopping or travel, they'll be watching.
Oh yeah, my other neighbor was the retired Sheriff of Shannon County, Vic Weaver. He was useless as teats on a boar. His 32-year-old son died of a drug overdose in Feb. 2010. Drugs are big business in Shannon County. I suspect Weaver just looked the other way most of the time, "live and let live" approach to law enforcement and keeping the peace. The previous sheriff of Carter County, Tommy Adams, is doing ten years in state prison now for trafficking in meth and receiving stolen property.

Winona has a dark side, a criminal element that decides who gets to stay and who had better move on. They'll claim to be good Christians too and very patriotic. The local supermarket "Nu Way", it's infested with mice or rats. I wouldn't buy any produce from them. Winona was three years of living hell. Now I'm living in Chicago and will never again live in a small town. R. McKinney