Stories from Wednesday, August 22, 2001

Rector agricultural pilot J.C. Helms is back at work this week after narrowly escaping injury in an accident about 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 13, just south of town. Helms was able to land his single-engine 1996 Ayres Thrush turbo prop in a soybean field near Highway 49 after the plane's engine quit while he was spraying a field at the south edge of Rector as part of the boll weevil eradication program...

Aug. 30 vs. Walnut Ridge (Home) Sept. 6 at Rector (Away) Sept. 13 vs. Rivercrest (Home) Sept. 20 at Corning (Away) Sept. 27 vs. Jonesboro Westside (Home) Oct. 4 at Harrisburg (Away) Oct. 11 vs. Trumann (Home) Oct. 18 at Gosnell (Away) Oct. 25 at East Poinsett County (Away)...

To coach Jason Burkman, Monday night's preseason junior high scrimmage against the Paragould Rams was quite disappointing. The Rams scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game and held on for a 21-0 win over the junior Mohawks. "I was very disappointed with the agressiveness level we showed," he said. What went wrong can and will be corrected. Whether that means changing some personnel and positions around we'll have to see. We'll do what needs to be done."...

With the much anticipated 2001 high school football season just a mere nine days away, it's a good time to look back on the Piggott Mohawk 2000 gridiron season. Coach Jason Burkman's Mohawks battled to an 8-3 season last year that saw Piggott host their first-ever playoff game and their second consecutive post-season appearance. Although the Mohawks lost in the opening playoff round to Brinkley, the 2000 season was still quite a success...

Thomas Jefferson Ward, 87, of Piggott died Thursday, Aug. 16, 2001, in Piggott. He was born Dec. 30, 1915, in St. Francis, the son of the late James Albert and Littie Jane McCune Ward. He was a truck driver and was an Air Force veteran. He was preceded in death by one sister, Sylvia Ward...

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center received a unique hand-delivered gift last week. Norm Wright of San Diego, Calif., traveled to Piggott to deliver a miniature replica of the Pfeiffer-Janes House that he had constructed himself. Wright said the railroad model is "to scale," which means each three-quarters of an inch would equal 10 feet on an actual building. His creation is four and three-quarter inches wide and approximately two and one-half inches in height...

The Clay County Quorum Court voted Monday night in Corning to pay for a portion of the expense associated with drafting the county's master fire plan. The county agreed to paid $1,925, half of the plan's total cost of $3,850. Travis Boyd, project coordinator for the East Arkansas Resource and Conservation Development Council (RC&D), said the other half will be paid by the state RC&D...

The annual Clay County Fair is well underway at the county fairgrounds in Piggott and will continue through Saturday. The fair kitchen will be serving breakfast each day from 7 to 10 a.m. as well as lunch and dinner. Rachel Earls of Rector was crowned at Miss Clay County 2001 Monday evening. She is the daughter of Diane Freeman and Allen Earls...

Family, police officers and law enforcement supporters gathered to dedicate the Clay County Peace Officers Memorial on Wednesday, Aug. 25, in Piggott, Rector and Corning. Formal ceremonies were held in Piggott and Corning and an informal dedication in Rector. Monuments have been erected in each of the three cities at the courthouses in Piggott and Corning and at the Rector City Hall...

The Rector Cougar senior high football team will host a preseason benefit scrimmage game Friday night against the Corning Bobcats. Ticket prices for the event are $4 for adults and $3 for students and children. The scrimmage will not be a full-length game, but will be one full half of action. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m...

Fox Hills Country Club in Paragould will be the site for the Brookings Ducks Unlimited Three-Person Scramble golf tournament Saturday Sept. 8 through Sunday Sept. 9. Cost to enter the tournament is $225 per team with the fee covering two days of golf, dinner and dance Saturday night and a short benefit auction...

Relax, they are gaining on you. Conflicting advice, but advice Houston Nutt knows quarterback Zak Clark needs to heed. The Fayetteville sophomore letterman, the Razorbacks' only quarterback on campus who has attended a UA class, struggled more than did junior college transfer quarterback Ryan Sorahan and freshman quarterbacks Matt Jones and Tarvaris Jackson in Saturday night's scrimmage...

After losing a total of ten seniors from last year's playoff team, the 2001 Rector Cougars are regrouping and first-year head coach Wade Williams said he has some changes planned. "I'm not going to go into what all we've been working on, but let's just say we're going to try and open it up a bit," he said after a recent practice. "Rector has been running the same basic offense for several years now and I think it's time to change things up some."...

Richard D. Carter, 72, of Mountain Home, formerly of Rector, died Saturday, Aug. 18, 2001, at home with his family. Formerly of Sunnyvale, Texas, he had been a resident in Mountain Home since 1997. He was born Sept. 30, 1928, at St. Louis, the son of the late Henry and Faye Richardson Carter. He grew up and attended school in Rector...

Rector agricultural pilot J.C. Helms is back at work this week after narrowly escaping injury in an accident about 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 13, just south of town. Helms was able to land his single-engine 1996 Ayres Thrush turbo prop in a soybean field near Highway 49 after the plane's engine quit while he was spraying a field at the south edge of Rector as part of the boll weevil eradication program...

The Christian rock band Kanon will spread the Word through music next weekend, just in time for Rector's annual Labor Day celebration. The band hails from Ormond Beach, Fla., but some of its members have Rector ties. Two band members, Nathan Hargrave and Drew Hodge, are grandsons of Sue and Don Mosley of Rector. Drew's paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Hodge, reside in Halliday, and Nathan's paternal grandmother is Mamie Etta Hargrave of Rector...

Patricia and Bud Kenny make quite a sight as they travel down the road with their cart and their 1,600-pound draft mule, Della. The couple, from Hot Springs, is a long way from home, and they're going to go even farther before they get back. Bud and Patricia are wandering poets. ...

Excitement is building in Rector for the community's big Labor Day Picnic on Monday, Sept. 3. This year's picnic chairmen, Shayne and Teresa Roofe, have been hard at work trying to be sure every detail is taken care of before the big day arrives. The Roofes encourage local businesses, churches and organizations to build floats for the Labor Day Parade. ...

The Clay County Quorum Court voted Monday night in Corning to pay for a portion of the expense associated with drafting the county's master fire plan. The county agreed to paid $1,925, half of the plan's total cost of $3,850. Travis Boyd, project coordinator for the East Arkansas Resource and Conservation Development Council (RC&D), said the other half will be paid by the state RC&D...

An enthusiastic start for Rector's effort to earn ACE (Arkansas Community of Excellence) certification gained momentum Monday night, Aug. 13, when community volunteers taking part in the program joined project team leaders for a dinner meeting at the Rector Community Center...

The following is the 2001 Rector High School football schedule: Aug. 31 at Piggott (Away) Sept. 7 OPEN Sept. 14 at Thayer, Mo. (Away) Sept. 21 vs. Palestine-Wheatley (Home) Sept. 28 at Parkin (Away) Oct. 5 vs. Cross County (Home) (Homecoming) Oct. 12 at Marked Tree (Away)...