From Staff Reports
A community's memories of Chris Sifford are helping Puxico residents continue their education after they graduate high school.
Chris Sifford Memorial Fishing Tournament organizers gave away four $500 scholarships Saturday. According to his cousin, Anthony Sifford, this is part of the roughly $36,000 raised since Chris Sifford died 18 years ago in a plane crash which also killed Gov. Mel Carnahan and Carnahan's son, Roger "Randy," in October, 2000.
Friends and family in his home community wanted to honor Chris Sifford, who was Carnahan's senior aide. They decided to annually hold a fishing tournament to raise money for seniors graduating from Puxico High School.
This year's recipients are Kaitlyn Haynes, Shelby Richmond, Madison Caldwell and Colton Reinert.
The tournament is presented by the Wappapello Crappie Club each year to raise funds to give a Puxico graduating senior a scholarship in his memory.
The first place tournament winners were the Musgraves team. They won a total of $882. The second place winning team was Fowler and Fisher. They won a total of $686. The third place team was Denson and Buckley. They walked away with a total of $392. The winner of the Biggest Fish competition was the Hill and Green team. The fish weighted 2.31 pounds and they won a total of $270.
Chris Sifford is the son of Dale Sifford and the late Margaret Ann Sifford.