About Us
Since 1876, continuing a tradition of supporting, informing and entertaining the people of Ozark County
The Ozark County Times staff members pictured here include, from left: Feature Writer - Sue Ann Jones; Office/Circulation Manager and Graphic Designer - Regina Mozingo; Editor - Jessi Dreckman; Owner - Norene Prososki; Delivery Driver - Lorene Loftis; Advertising Manager - Jenny Yarger.
About the Ozark County Times
Ozark County's newspaper is the oldest business on the Gainesville square. It can be traced back to 1876 through a succession of names, editors and publishers back to J. W. “Jesse” Matthews and his Gazette Tribune. The name was changed to the Ozark County Times in 1905. To this day, we continue the tradition those early journalists started, providing a small-town, community-minded weekly newspaper to locals, former residents and vacationers in our beautiful corner of southwest Missouri. Although times have changed since ink was put to paper in the 1800s, the staff here at the Times remains committed to telling the many stories of Ozark County and its residents. Through good years and hard ones, the Ozark County Times has been the place where the story of our home is written down and saved for generations to come.
In a world where so many small-town papers have been scooped up by big-city corporations, the Times is still right here on the Gainesville square, owned and run by people who live, work and raise there families in these same hills.
The Times has three full-time employess who work in the office and a handful of others who work part-time or contribute in other ways.
The full-time staff includes Editor Jessi Dreckman, Advertising Manager Jenny Yarger and Office/Circulation Manager and Graphic Designer Regina Mozingo. Other staff members include: Owner Norene Prososki, Former Editor and now Feature Writer Sue Ann Jones and Delivery Driver Lorene Loftis. Combined, the staff has been in newspapers more than 150 years - with most of that spent employed at the Ozark County Times - and has developed a deep love for the paper, the people in the county and each other. The Times office has always been run with a "family first" spirit, fitting for such a small, close-knit staff that feels like family itself.
About Ozark County
Ozark County, is a remote and rugged haven where nature outshines neon and “heavy traffic” is something you’re more likely to encounter on the rivers than on the roads. There's something magical about the mornings when the mist hugs the hollows as the sun creeps over the hills. And what can compare with a night sky so clear and dark the stars seem close enough to reach out and touch?
The rush of the rivers’ see-through water, the rhythm of the lakes lapping against their rocky shores, the sounds of the woods, the blooming trees in springtime that seem to float through the forest. Our hills offer thousands of acres of beautiful conservation areas and national forest that are webbed by hiking trails and scenic drives and are dotted with campgrounds. The abundant wildlife, especially deer and turkey, make Ozark County a prime area for hunting. And our waterways – lakes and rivers – are famous for trophy-winning fish and canoe and kayak adventures.
Although many places in the midwest are Ozarkian, there is only one true Ozark County.