Billy Long

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the wonderful life of Ned Reynolds, a resident of Springfield, Missouri, legendary broadcaster and a great friend to many including myself. For each of the 22 years I conducted the Missouri State all Sports Auction Ned was one of my two set up men that would introduce each item being auctioned along with another area Sportscasting Legend Art Hains.

St. Louis loved Jack Buck. Kansas City embraced Len Dawson. Springfield and the Ozarks proudly claim Ned Reynolds.

People in the Ozarks have been watching and listening to Ned Reynolds on KY3 and on the radio for more than 50 years. They have heard the phrases ``get that off the screen'' when one of the local favorites lost a game and ``bon jour and good sports'' at the end of many newscasts. Anyone who has met Ned will say sports is in his blood.

While many people in the Ozarks consider Ned a Missouri native, he grew up in Haddonfield, N.J. Ned is the middle child of three boys. His older brother is a retired professor at Rutgers University and his younger brother is retired from the U.S. Steel Corporation and heads the fundraising efforts for Theo's Work, an orphanage for underprivileged children in Haiti. Ned has a daughter, Stephanie, who is married to Darrell Hasse. He also has two grandchildren and one great grandchild.

His father was a high school principal and provided educational direction. His mother, a concert pianist, developed his love of Classical music. After graduating from Haddonfield Memorial High School, Ned attended Temple University in Philadelphia. With the strong suggestion from his father, Ned studied English rather than journalism. His father felt that a basic overall education would be more beneficial to career enhancement than journalism.

Ned has been doing sports since he was a kid. He was an announcer for little league games, high school sports reporting for local newspapers and emceed many local sporting events. In high school, he worked part- time at WKDN in Camden, NJ. Ned made his first television appearance on NBC's Today show when he was only 15. He won a special guest appearance by sending a demo tape of his sports commentary of course,

After graduation from Temple University, Ned joined the Navy. He applied to get into the armed forces radio, but was placed into the medical corps as a land-based surgical technician. After 4 years serving our country, and with his father's blessing to go into broadcasting, Ned came to KY3 in 1967. He has said that he drove into the parking lot at KY3 and never left. With his very early start in radio during high school, college, and in the service, Ned assumed his broadcasting career would be in radio. However, as is the nature of the broadcasting profession, a change was on the horizon. Working at KY3 is the only TV job that Ned has ever had. When asked why he switched from radio to television, he said: ``KY3 had an opening and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.'' Ned officially retired from KY3 in 2014.

Ned's retirement didn't last long. He currently hosts a daily morning sports talk show on Springfield's Jock 96.9 and you can still see his sports commentary every Monday night on KY3 Sports. Ned continues to be the play-by-play announcer for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals games on KY3 and The Ozarks CW.

If Ned isn't on the radio or television, he is doing philanthropy work in the community. He gives endless hours to numerous organizations. Ned has served on the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame board; spokesman for the United Way of the Ozarks and the boards of Springfield Symphony, Springfield Ballet, ARC of the Ozarks and he MC's the annual Honor Flight of the Ozarks banquets. He can still be frequently seen on public service announcements airing on KY3 promoting several local charities and their events.

His sports reporting and dedication to the community have not gone unnoticed. Ned was honored to be selected as a Torch Barrier for the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri for the Atlanta Games. At the end of his leg of the race, he handed the torch to Ozzie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2001 Ned was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and received the Champion Award in 2002 from the Ambassadors of Community Health Award. In 2014 he was inducted into the Mid-America Emmy's Silver Circle and in 2019 he was inducted into The Missouri Broadcaster's Hall of Fame. He was even the first person with their own bobbIe head in the inaugural season of the Springfield Cardinals.

Much has happened since his Today Show appearance--and in Ned's own words . . . ``it has been a wonderful ride.''

Madam Speaker, I am honored to have Ned Reynolds as a friend and I join his family, friends and the entire broadcasting community in honoring his lifetime of accomplishments and service to the Missouri Ozarks.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Barbara Long in recognition of her lifelong passion for and dedication to the arts.

Barbara first developed her love of the arts in her hometown of Cheyenne, WY. During high school and college she taught ballet at the E. Tolerton School of Dance. Barbara earned numerous accolades in Stars of Tomorrow competitions and was selected Miss Cheyenne under the mentorship of Elizabeth Tolerton. She also performed with the University of Wyoming Dance Troupe, Cheyenne Little Theater and the Denver Civic Ballet in the Nutcracker. She performed piano recitals at the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Governor's mansion.

Barbara attended the University of Wyoming for 2 years on an honor scholarship. When we began dating she transferred to Missouri State University where she received her B.S. in Secondary Education. After we married, Barbara turned her artistic interest to home remodeling and design. She designed or remodeled dozens of projects as diverse as historic homes to log cabins.

What is truly remarkable about Barbara is her sustained passion for community building through the arts. She has dedicated her time, energy and talents to many local organizations, including Springfield Junior League, Girl Scouts, Greenwood Laboratory School PTA, Ozarks Counseling Center, Springfield Little Theatre, Ronald McDonald House, Family Violence Center: Hearts in Harmony and ``Go Red purse-onalities'' benefiting American Heart Association.

During her time in D.C., she has worked with the Congressional Club on Joint Base children's daycare project, and building a charter school playground. She has also worked with the USO, packaging Mother's Day gifts for mothers and wives of servicemen and servicewomen. Barbara has participated for several years in the March of Dimes Gourmet Gala. She is a member of Congressional Club, Republican Spouses Club, Congressional Families Cancer Prevention Advisory Committee and the Congressional Spouses for Suicide Prevention and Education.

Madam Speaker, although Barbara never seeks the spotlight, her understated but undeniable passion shines brightly from within and reflects on all those around her. I am proud to bring recognition to her today.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Fredna Mahaffey.

Fredna Barton Mahaffey was born on July 18, 1929, in Highland Park (Dallas), Texas. After graduating from Highland Park High School, she attended SMU where she became a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin in Madison she graduated with a BA in Spanish while also becoming President of the local Pi Beta Phi chapter.

In 1953, Fredna was very blessed to have gone on an afternoon blind date where she met her future husband John B. Mahaffey of Springfield, Missouri. Their date was to a football game between two arch rivals, the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. `Freddie' as John called her had another date with another suitor scheduled for that evening but she was so taken with John she cancelled the later date. John and Fredna got married October 29, 1954, in Dallas. After their nuptials Fredna moved to Springfield in southwest Missouri. Their children, Robert and Beth, grew up with the political commitment of their parents.

Fredna campaigned for Richard Nixon in 1960 and took her daughter to a Nixon rally at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds. Throughout the 1964 presidential campaign, her children remember that she wore a gold elephant pin with black horn-rimmed glasses in support of Barry Goldwater. I didn't wear an elephant pin but 1964 was the first campaign I worked on as a nine year old in Springfield. I would ride my bicycle all over the neighborhood nailing `Goldwater For President' placards to telephone poles. Fredna's father was a physician who had the first EKG machine in Dallas, and after he read ``A Texan Looks at Lyndon'' published in March 1964 he shared it with Fredna.

In the mid-1960's, she worked tirelessly for then-State Senator Jack Curtis' re-election, whose district lines had changed to include the whole of Greene County. Their phone bank was 3 rotary-dial telephones in the basement of Jack and Helen Curtis' home in Springfield with volunteers fueled by Helen's delicious brownies.

Fredna was a Greene County, Missouri, GOP Committeewoman and local political organizer for many years, back in the day when all her voter records were on handwritten index cards.

Fredna and John were instrumental in Southwest Missouri in the Republicans rise in Missouri including the election of Jack Danforth to Attorney General in 1968, Kit Bond as State Auditor in 1970, and Kit Bond for Governor in 1972. Over the past 50 years, Fredna supported numerous Federal, state and local candidates and GOP party committees' fundraising campaigns. In 2000 and 2004, Fredna supported John's efforts as a major national fundraiser for former President George W. Bush. She and John opened their homes on Catalpa and in Highland Springs and hosted or sponsored gatherings for former President George H.W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former President George W. Bush, Lynne Cheney, Senator Roy Blunt, Senator Josh Hawley, Governor Mike Parson, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Congresswomen Ann Wagner and Vicky Hartzler, former Senators Jack Danforth, Kit Bond and Jim Talent, and former Lt. Governor Peter Kinder.

In our recently completed election cycle, Fredna, at 93 years old continued to support Republican candidates including myself for Senate along with Eric Schmitt for Senate, Eric Burleson for Congress in Missouri-07 and Erik Aadlund in Colorado-07 (whose father is the former Commanding General at Fort Leonard Wood). Her heart and head has not wavered from the mission of liberty, smaller government and free enterprise instilled in her many years before.

Fredna had 58 years together with John, including in the political arena, until his passing in August 2013. She supported his more than 3 decades of service as a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army under 5 U.S. Presidents, traveling the world in support of the U.S. Army. The John Mahaffey Museum Complex at Fort Leonard Wood is a testimony to their joint faithfulness to our soldiers, as is their establishing the Operation Promises scholarship at Missouri State University for veterans who were injured in combat after September 11, 2001.

Fredna is most importantly a lifelong Christian, a strong believer in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and a faithful member and supporter of First and Calvary Presbyterian Church in Springfield.

Madam Speaker, Fredna has dedicated her life to so many great causes near to her heart, and I am proud to honor her today.