Five. Million. Hits. And counting.

In the early days of Bates County Live, we celebrated achieving 10,000 web page hits. Then 100,000; then 500,000; and when we hit a million, well, it was fine (Boones Farm) wine and caviar (little smokies) for the whole staff!

As time has gone by the counter has steadily ramped up and just today we topped 5 MILLION WEB PAGE HITS! Yeah!

While 5 million hits may seem pretty exciting, it's really another day for Doug Mager and Curtis Vail II who keep things going on the area's most popular web site Bates County Live, now known as Mid America Live.

So what could we do to make this day special? How about a look back:

Unfortunately, our first post was a car accident that claimed the life of an Archie youth, just before 7 pm on June 28, 2010. Since that day, we've had some 'high hit' stories which include:

Missouri fisherman lands record-breaking 130-pound blue catfish

Blue Mound woman dies in motorcycle accident

Two injured in accident near Drexel this morning

Arrest made in connection to deadly fire near Virginia (along with many other posts relating to the murder of Bailey and Brandee Bickleman on March 9, 2011.

Ugh. We don't like reporting the bad news any more than you really want to read it. But-NOW FOR SOME HAPPIER NEWS- Over the last four years, we've posted literally thousands of stories about huge accomplishments by our local students, 4-Her's, military personnel, grand openings, winners of championships, historical celebrations and much, much, much more!

And we couldn't have done it all without you, our advertisers, readers and supporters. We thank YOU for the continued success of Mid America Live.

And when we hit 10 million? We'll throw a real party. See you then!