Stories from Wednesday, July 31, 2002

The team members of Mosley's Auto Parts 14 and under girls fastpitch softball, their coaches and several other people met Sunday, July 21 under the pavilion at the Rector City Park for an awards ceremony and also for a chance to sum up their season...

When Coach Mike Taylor's Marmaduke All-Stars finally came through, they came through in a big, big way. His team shocked the Jonesboro All-Stars at the Rector invitational Little League Tournament by coming up out of the loser's bracket to defeat them twice Saturday evening - taking the final game 2-1 - to win their first tournament of the year...

The Marmaduke Lady Greyhound basketball team are back from their summer basketball sojourn to North Carolina. According to Lady Hound Coach Matt Dean the Sr. Lady Hounds went 7-2 and won the Best Team Shooting Award. Coach Dean said, "All the girls played pretty well. We only had one bad game in the tournament...

MARMADUKE -- The many plaques that are affixed to the wall opposite the entrance to the gymnasium of the Marmaduke Greyhounds attest to how successful Greyhound basketball has been over the years. Nine times a junior or senior Greyhound team has won state or been runner-up. ...

Freeda Etta Earline Gregory, 82, of Rector died Wednesday, July 24, 2002, at the Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Born Sept. 8, 1919, in Greene County to the late James R. Parish and Hattie (Wofford) Parish, she was a lifelong resident of this area, a homemaker and a member of the White Oak General Baptist Church...

In a brief meeting Monday night, the Rector Zoning Commission voted on a recommendation for large livestock within the Rector city limits. Although there is an ordinance regulating other animals, questions about the number of horses and cattle allowed on residential property had not been regulated...

After walking 14 miles a day, five days a week, Roger Gregory won't be delivering the mail anymore in Rector. Friday, July 26, was his last day. He is now retired. "I haven't regretted it," he said. "It's been good." Gregory was born in Boydsville, the son of Dimple Gregory and the late Henry Gregory. He is one of six children James Gregory, Byron Gregory, Nila Holman, Nita Sain and Pam Foster...

The 73rd annual Greenway Picnic will be held this Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Greenway Picnic grounds. This is a schedule of the day's events: 9 a.m. - Opening ceremony, State Representative Travis Boyd. 9:30 a.m. - Baby contest, birth to 12 months, boys and girls...

Joshua Cale Robinson, 26, of Rector died Thursday, July 25, 2002, in an automobile accident on state Highway 141 near McDougal. He was born Sept. 17, 1975, in Paragould to Gary Don Robinson and Deborah Ann (Davis) Robinson and was married Dec. 21, 1996, in Rector to Heidi Doyleena Jones...

Melvina Rogers, 81, of Paragould, formerly of Marmaduke, died Wednesday, July 24, 2002, at the Paragould Nursing Home in Paragould. She was born Dec. 2, 1920, in Greene County to the late James Brewer and Lula (Butler) Brewer. She was a lifelong member of the community, a homemaker and of the Baptist faith...

Joshua Cale Robinson, 26, of Rector died in a one-vehicle accident Thursday, July 25, on state Highway 141 two miles north of McDougal. Investigating officer Cpl. Gerald McClung of the Arkansas State Police said Robinson was traveling south in a 1993 GMC Sonoma pickup when the vehicle went off the west side of the highway and out of control. ...

Arkansas National Guard soldiers returning from the Sinai Peninsula arrived home Saturday to thousands of cheering family members and friends at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Among members of the Guard's 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infantry was Joel Hayes of Rector, who was tearfully reunited with his wife, Kristie, 14-month-old son, Jacob, and many other family members on hand for a special homecoming ceremony...

A 1999 Piggott High School graduate drowned Saturday, July 20, following a jet ski accident on Greers Ferry Lake. According to news reports, Adam Brown, 21, of Paragould, formerly of Piggott, was riding a jet ski behind Jeremy Bivens, 19, of Lonoke. A wave toppled both men from their jet skis. While Bivens swam towards his watercraft, he said he noticed Brown swimming toward shore but was later unable to locate him...

"Going home, the more it's done, the more it can't be undone." Those words resonated in the small room, the audience held spellbound by the sound of the author's voice as she read her written work aloud. Here, in the "back room" of That Bookstore in Blytheville on a Friday evening, Lorian Hemingway read Chapter 14 of A World Turned Over, her third book published. It is a story especially close to her heart, this granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway and second wife Pauline Pfeiffer...

Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church has begun expansion of their building. The addition, which will double the size of the church, is being partially constructed by Universal Builders of Corning. After the shell is completed by the end of August, the church members will do the rest of the work. ...

Loyd Joe Bellers, 74, died Thursday, July 25, 2002, at his home in Piggott. He was born on a farm at Carryville on April 12, 1928, the son of the late Dewey and Blanche Simpson Bellers. He was a member and Trustee of First General Baptist Church of Piggott; a member of the Masonic Lodge #545; a Veteran of U.S. Navy and served two years aboard the USS Norris; and a farmer around the Carryville area for forty years...

Ronal F. Petty, 52, of Dearborn Heights, Mich., died Sunday, July 28, 2002, in Wayne, Mich. He was born Aug. 31, 1949, in Piggott, the son of Ruby Ort Petty and the late Charles Petty. He was a Veteran of the U.S. Army. He worked as a utility man for General Motors...

Flossie Johnson, 98, of St. Francis passed away Sunday, July 28, 2002 in the Piggott Community Hospital. She was united in marriage to Samuel Johnson in 1921. To this union four childern were born. She was preceded in death by her husband, one son, J.D. Johnson; and one daughter, Maddlin Tate...

Virgle L. Davis, 90, of Forrest City, died Friday, July 19, 2002, at the Baptist Hospital in Forrest City. She had been in poor health in the past several years. She was born Sept. 20, 1911, in Tuckerman, the daughter of the late Raymond and Sadie Templeton Williams. She married Gibson Fisher Davis in 1930, and he preceded her in death in 1997. She had made her home in Forrest City most of her life, was a homemaker, and was a member of the Lindauer Road Church of Christ...

The annual Piggott Lions Club benefit golf tournament has been scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 7, at Sugar Creek Country Club in Piggott. The event raises funds for the club's various sight conservation projects, including the purchase of glasses for the needy...

Preseason practice for the Piggott Lady Mohawk volleyball teams will begin on Monday, Aug. 5. Senior high practice will be from 8-10 a.m.. Junior high practice begins at 10 a.m. and will run un til noon. For more information, persons may contact coach Melissa Williams at 598-5638...

The 73rd annual Greenway Picnic will be held this Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Greenway Picnic grounds. This is a schedule of the day's events: 9 a.m. - Opening ceremony, State Representative Travis Boyd. 9:30 a.m. - Baby contest, birth to 12 months, boys and girls...