Stories from Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Imagine a movie script where a high school athlete who has never participated in track picks up the sport and does extremely well from the get-go. Improbable and not something unlike that recently occurred to a Rector High School athlete. Rector freshman Haley Harmon, who had never held a shop-put in her hand until a few weeks ago, won the shop-put event at the junior district meet in West Memphis on April 29. ...

Eva Elizabeth Mitchell, 89, of Kennett died Sunday May 18, 2003, in Kennett. She was born in Rector, the daughter of the late Mose and Ora Catherine Johnson. She was preceded in death by her husband, George Mitchell and two sons, Bobby and Otho Mitchell...

Alberta Phillips, 87, of Rector died Sunday, May 18, 2003, in Monticello, Ark. She was born July 31, 1915, in Kennett, the daughter of the late Monroe and Dora Cornelison. She was a housewife and a former employee of Mitchell Funeral Home in Rector. She was of General Baptist faith and had been a member of the Blue Cane Church for 57 years...

Bobby Jean Harber, 72, formerly of Rector, died Monday, May 12, 2003. He was born Feb. 1, 1931, in Clay County, the son of the late Louie and Grace Harber. At a young age of 24, he accepted the call to God's ministry and since that time had touched thousands of lives. He has pastored many churches during this tenure. In 1976 he made a commitment to serve the wonderful people who were refugees of the Vietnam War "H'Mong, Lao, Thai, Cambodian."...

Sue Bucy, 70, of Searcy died Saturday, May 10, 2003, after a long period of health problems. She was born Aug. 7, 1932, in Walnut Ridge, the daughter of the late Al and Audrey Long. She attended public schools in St. Louis, Walnut Ridge and Pocahontas before graduating from Rector High School in 1949. Prior to moving to Searcy, she was employed at Title I Coordinator for the Rector Public Schools...

Ruth Jane "Janie" Jones Worley, 52, formerly of Rector and mayor of the City of Carnesville, Ga., died early Friday morning, May 16, 2003, at the Grandview Nursing Center in Athens, Ga, after an extended illness. Born Nov. 9, 1950, in Kennett, she was the daughter of Maxine Beaver Jones and the late James Maurice Jones...

Brittani D'Shea Rudkin, five months, of Beech Grove died Friday, May 16, 2003, in Hot Springs. She was born Nov. 18, 2002, in Paragould. She was of the Pentecostal faith. She is survived by her parents, Robert Harold Rudkin and Jacquline Darlene Rogers; one brother, Christopher Derobaun of Branson, Mo; one sister, Breeanna Rogers of Beech Grove; paternal grandparents, Joyce Rogers and Tom McLaughlin of Marmaduke; maternal grandparents, Linda and Kenneth Smith of Beech Grove and Frankie and Louise Rogers of Henderson; paternal great-grandparent, Aline Adair of Hot Springs; maternal great-grandparents, George Gibson of Marion, Ky. ...

One of the best basketball players to come out of Marmaduke High School and one of the better players to grace the court in northeast Arkansas in the last few seasons signed a letter of intent with Arkansas Tech last Wednesday morning. With a stroke of his pen around 10:00 a.m., Josh Bateman, a two-time All-State player for the Greyhounds, became a Wonder Boy...

Beth and Brooke Grigsby, the dynamic duo that helped power the Lady Greyhounds to 121 wins over the past three years, recently signed letters of intent with Southern Arkansas University situated in Magnolia. This fall the talented sisters will be members of Coach Sam Biley's Lady Rider squad. Coach Biley witnessed the girls play in the March post-season tournaments and contacted them through Lady Greyhound Coach Matt Dean...

Laurel Michelle McBride, 23, of Rector, formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Monday, May 12, 2003, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Her death was sudden and unexpected. She was born Aug. 21, 1979, in Poplar Bluff and was of the Catholic faith. She graduated from Marmaduke High School, where she excelled in softball and basketball...

The Clay County Quorum Court reviewed the issue of Piggott and Corning not extending city pay raises to district court (municipal court) personnel. The quorum court met Monday night in Piggott. The Piggott City Council voted in January not to extend a requested four percent salary increase to district court personnel, saying city employees did not receive a pay raise due to cost-cutting measures...

The opportunity of a lifetime awaits the Rector High School Thespians next summer. The RHS Drama students have been selected to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August of 2004. The Fringe Festival is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest performing arts festival and last for three weeks. The school's participation will be through the American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF)...

Tickets are on sale for the annual Rector Area Chamber of Commerce banquet set for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at the Rector Community Center. Tickets are $12.50 each and are available from any of the chamber board members and officers or at the Clay County Democrat office...

Major Patrick Niederkorn of the Arkansas Army National Guard will be this year's guest speaker at the annual Memorial Day service at Woodland Heights Cemetery in Rector. The service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 25. Niederkorn is a native of Greenway and graduate of Greenway High School. He has been a Guard member for the past 13 years...

The Clay County Quorum Court reviewed the issue of Piggott and Corning not extending city pay raises to district court (municipal court) personnel. The quorum court met Monday night in Piggott. The Piggott City Council voted in January not to extend a requested four percent salary increase to district court personnel, saying city employees did not receive a pay raise due to cost-cutting measures...

Piggott Tractor and Equipment Company is under new ownership for the first time since 1947. Harry Bazzell and John Wilder of Bazzell and Wilder, a John Deere dealership in Kennett, assumed ownership of the Piggott store recently. "I don't plan any changes," Bazzell said...

Bobby Jean Harber, 72, formerly of Rector, died Monday, May 12, 2003. He was born Feb. 1, 1931, in Clay County, the son of the late Louie and Grace Harber. At a young age of 24, he accepted the call to God's ministry and since that time had touched thousands of lives. He has pastored many churches during this tenure. In 1976 he made a commitment to serve the wonderful people who were refugees of the Vietnam War "H'Mong, Lao, Thai, Cambodian."...

The Piggott Mohawk football team completed their first of two weeks of spring practices last Thursday leaving head coach Scott Morgan and the rest of the coaching staff with a good deal of optimism for the upcoming season. "I was overall very pleased with the first week," Morgan said. ...

Piggott head tennis coach Paul Seegraves honored the PHS tennis team last week for their achievements during the 2003 season. Receiving awards for the boys' team were Joe Blascoe, James Cox, Drew Galyean, Nick Corrales and Daniel Cooper. Blascoe qualified for the state tournament, was the district singles champion, was named All-District, finished the year with a 6-2 record and was the Paragould Invitational doubles champion...

The Piggott Lady Mohawk basketball and softball teams were recently awarded honors for their achievements over the past seasons. Receiving award for the 2002-2003 softball season were; Kelsey Stephens, Best Offensive Player and Best Defensive Player; Mandy Cale, Most Stolen Bases and All-Conference Honorable Mention and Jarrah Jackson, Lady Mohawk Award...

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, the old saying goes. When Saturday's rain threatened to put a damper on the fifth annual Heritage Park Rod Run and Super Cruise, organizers sprang into action. With Heritage Park saturated, cars and trucks were moved to the courtsquare where the show went on despite the downpour. Visitors were not deterred by the raindrops and donned raincoats and toted umbrellas as they enjoyed viewing the vehicles and chatted with the owners...