Stories from Wednesday, February 13, 2002

Piggott resident Max Mayberry addressed the Piggott City Council Monday night over high natural gas rates. "As you all know, there's high gas bills," he said, adding he knows of some people who are unable to afford a gas connection. Mayberry said his last month's bill was a total of $214 with $69 being the actual gas cost...

Monday Senior Girls M'duke 48 Sloan-Hendrix 30 Marmaduke Brooke Grigsby 18, Beth Grigsby 9, Heather Johnson 9, Lindsay Bell 4, Sarah Rogers 6, Lindsay Graham 2 Sloan-Hendrix Brittany Foley 6, Chelsea Tate 2, Gretchen Smith 4, Shelby Jines 5, Lindsay Thomison 10, Wilkins 3...

Hogs fall to Ole Miss Arkansas cut an 18-point halftime deficit to six but Justin Reed scored seven straight points to help Ole Miss post a 79-67 victory over the Razorbacks on Saturday. The loss drops Arkansas to 12-10 overall and 4-6 in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division. Ole Miss, which has now won 10 of the last 12 meetings with Arkansas, improves to 18-6 and 7-4...

When the Piggott Mohawks and Rector Cougars face off, fans of both teams can be guaranteed a full night of excitement and Friday evening's regular season finale matchup of the two Clay County rivals was no exception. After jumping out to an 8-1 lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, the Mohawks fought off the Cougars the rest of the way for a 72-59 win...

Elmer Clark Heath, 81, of Black Oak, Ark., formerly of Piggott, died Monday, Feb. 11, 2002, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Nov. 20, 1920, in Gleason, Tenn., the son of the late Elmer A. and Louise Clark Heath. He married Melissa Graves on Dec. 22, 1956...

Mary Etta Lee, 99, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002, in Poplar Bluff. She was born Dec. 23, 1902, in Puxico, Mo., the daughter of the late James and Jane Hill Stallings. She married Albert Hardin Lee in 1920. He preceded her in death...

Rev. Cecil G. Keller, 75, of Malden, Mo., died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002, at the VA Medical Center in Memphis. He was born Aug. 18, 1926, in Bernie, Mo., the son of the late Sam and Myrtie Embry Keller. He married Elsie L. Ray on July 28, 1946, in Piggott...

Maudie Elizabeth Brawner, 91, died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002, at Baylor Medical Center in Texas. She was born March 1, 1910, in Piggott, the daughter of the late Rolla and Janie Brandon Throgmorton. She was a member of the Venus Church of Christ. She was preceded in death by her husband, Orville, in 1976; one son, Lynn Brawner, in 1949; and one daughter, Rita Brawner, in 1936...

Charles Elle "Pete" Crawford, 66, of Pahrump, Nev., died Monday, Jan. 28, 2002, in a hospital in Nevada. He was born Aug. 22, 1935, in Nimmons, the son of the late Earl and Ruby Harmon Crawford. He married Anna Nichols on Oct. 31, 1953. To this union four children were born...

Paul Haley, 68, of Piggott died Saturday, Feb. 9, 2002, at Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Dec. 23, 1933, in Rector, the son of the late Stanley Clifton and Maude Agnes Thurman Haley. He married Maxine Scales on Jan. 27, 1951. To this union four children were born...

"Salute to America" is the theme of the Miss Crowley's Ridge Byway Scholarship Pageant. Eighteen ladies will be seeking the two titles (see photos elsewhere in this issue). The show promises to be a night of entertainment. The pageants will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Piggott Community Center...

Gerald Morris of Piggott, a longtime businessman and former owner of Morris Farm Center, announces he will seek the office of mayor in the November General Election. "I appreciate your support and encouragement," he said. A formal announcement will be made at a later date...

After reading submitted bids, the Piggott School District voted Monday night to purchase a new 71-passenger bus for $48,520 from Ward Transportation. In addition, the board also accepted the low bid of $11,764 from Gray Professional Service Equipment for a bus lift for the district's bus garage...

Furmen Estle Parrish, 93, of Corning died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002, in Corning. He was born Nov. 5, 1908, in Boydsville, the son of the late Andrew and Millie Phillips Parrish. He married Elsie Morrow on April 3, 1926, in Boydsville. He was a farmer and in real estate and was a member of Mars Hill Methodist Church...

Kimberly Grazer of California, daughter of Piggott native Mary Kaye Underwood Kirkpatrick and niece of Byron Underwood of Rector, died Saturday, Jan .19, 2002, at Queen of the Valley Hospital after a 7 1/2 year battle with breast cancer. She was born in Doyleston, Pa., and moved to Los Angeles at age 3. She was a legal assistant at a Los Angeles law firm when she met and married Rohn Grazer in 1985. They moved to Napa in 1993...

Earlene Neeley, 66, of Piggott died Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. She was born March 19, 1935, in Crockett, the daughter of the late Oscar and Erma Elizabeth Fry Green. She married Lester Neeley on Nov. 26, 1963...

Monday Senior Girls M'duke 48 Sloan-Hendrix 30 Marmaduke Brooke Grigsby 18, Beth Grigsby 9, Heather Johnson 9, Lindsay Bell 4, Sarah Rogers 6, Lindsay Graham 2 Sloan-Hendrix Brittany Foley 6, Chelsea Tate 2, Gretchen Smith 4, Shelby Jines 5, Lindsay Thomison 10, Wilkins 3...

It was one of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time. And it clearly was the most security-conscious of them all. A Rector couple was on hand Feb. 3 to witness it all and to cheer for a team they have been following for several years - the St. Louis Rams...

When the Piggott Mohawks and Rector Cougars face off, fans of both teams can be guaranteed a full night of excitement and Friday evening's regular season finale matchup of the two Clay County rivals was no exception. After jumping out to an 8-1 lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, the Mohawks fought off the Cougars the rest of the way for a 72-59 win...

Furmen Estle Parrish, 93, of Corning died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002, in Corning. He was born Nov. 5, 1908, in Boydsville, the son of the late Andrew and Millie Phillips Parrish. He married Elsie Morrow on April 3, 1926, in Boydsville. He was a farmer and in real estate and was a member of Mars Hill Methodist Church...

Paul Haley, 68, of Piggott died Saturday, Feb. 9, 2002, at Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Dec. 23, 1933, in Rector, the son of the late Stanley Clifton and Maude Agnes Thurman Haley. He married Maxine Scales on Jan. 27, 1951. To this union four children were born...

Ruby Clee (Parrott) Janes, 88, of Searcy, formerly of Rector, died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002, in Searcy. The daughter of the late Jessee Lee and Mary May Mathis Parrott, she was born Jan. 12, 1914. in Tuckerman. She attended Freed-Hardeman College in Jackson, Tenn., Harding College when it was located in Morrilton, Ark., and graduated from Arkansas State University in 1936 with a degree in education...

Kimberly Grazer of California, daughter of Piggott native Mary Kaye Underwood Kirkpatrick and niece of Byron Underwood of Rector, died Saturday, Jan .19, 2002, at Queen of the Valley Hospital after a 7 1/2 year battle with breast cancer. She was born in Doyleston, Pa., and moved to Los Angeles at age 3. She was a legal assistant at a Los Angeles law firm when she met and married Rohn Grazer in 1985. They moved to Napa in 1993...

Samuel Huron "Sam" Robbins, 74, of Rector, formerly of Effingham, Ill., died Friday, Feb. 8, 2002, at his home. A retired fireman and truck driver, he was born Aug. 5, 1927, in St. Louis, Mo., to the late George Clifford Robbins and Leta Viola Hemingway Robbins. He was a member of the East Side Holly Island Baptist Church...

Joey Austin knows the opportunities available to students in the field of agriculture. He just wishes lots of other people realized the value of agricultural knowledge. "People just don't get it," said Austin, who has led the Marmaduke High School agriculture program for eight years. "They just don't realize how much agriculture is so much a part of all we do."...

In his first year as a teacher, Rector High School FFA advisor Jason Murray is full of ideas and very enthusiastic about his work. "We are hard at work right now getting ready for our annual FFA auction on Saturday, Feb. 23," Murray said. "The money we raise will be used to help us get a school farm, finance trips and help pay for our annual spring banquet."...

Southern agriculture has been dealt a severe blow, Congressman Marion Berry said, but there is still hope the picture will get brighter. He was referring to last Thursday's U.S. Senate approval of the Grassley Amendment to the federal Farm Bill. "It is the greatest single blow to southern agriculture since this country was founded," Berry said, who spoke to Greene County-area farmers at the Marmaduke High School auditorum Friday afternoon...

Former Rector alderman Wesley Gordon Bynum died Saturday, Feb. 9, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould at age 86. Bynum served four years as Rector Little League commissioner, was a past president of the Rector Lions Club, a member of the Farm Bureau and an honorary deacon at the Rector First General Baptist Church...

Rector teacher Gail Burns, who serves in a double role as elementary gifted and talented teacher and high school drama instructor, was honored during Monday night's Rector School Board meeting as a Polly M. Jackson Master Economics Teacher (MET). Burns received from Geanie Davis, of the Arkansas Council on Economic Education at Little Rock, a beautiful MET pin. ...

Hogs fall to Ole Miss Arkansas cut an 18-point halftime deficit to six but Justin Reed scored seven straight points to help Ole Miss post a 79-67 victory over the Razorbacks on Saturday. The loss drops Arkansas to 12-10 overall and 4-6 in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division. Ole Miss, which has now won 10 of the last 12 meetings with Arkansas, improves to 18-6 and 7-4...