Stories from Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Two Rector Lady Cougar high school standouts signed letters of intent last Thursday to play softball at Williams Baptist College (WBC). Lindsey Bell and Sara Parmenter, who were both key performers on Rector's fast-pitch district championship team this past season, signed the letters of intent at WBC...

The Summer Reading Program is in full swing at the Rector Public Library. This year's theme is "Laugh It Up @ Your Library", and that's exactly what local children have been doing at the library for the past two Tuesdays. The opening date of the program was Tuesday, June 3. Special guests were Emergency Personnel Houston Bowden and Lance Sullinger. There were 104 children attending the first program...

After 35 years of spending her days in a classroom at Rector Elementary School, Rheba Scobey enters retirement with many special memories. When Scobey started her career, she taught Elementary Special Education. During the last few years of her career, she taught Title I Math. ...

Ordinance 90 was discussed at length Monday night during the Marmaduke City Council meeting. Ordinance 90, which has been in the city books for sometime, requires all Marmaduke property owners to keep their premises free from unsightly and unsanitary conditions, such as uncut grass, accumulated garbage or stagnant pooled water that might become a breeding place for mosquitoes, flies or germs...

Marion Ebert Carpenter, 69, of Rector died Sunday June 8, 2003, at Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock. He was born Nov. 6, 1933, in Rector, the son of the late Henry Carpenter and Myrtle (Holifleld) Carpenter. He was a television technician for Radio Shack and was a veteran of the Air Force. He was a member of the VFW and was of the Southern Baptist faith...

Carrie D. Damron, 65, of Lafe died Sunday, June 8, 2003, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Jan. 1, 1938, in Rector, the son of Frank Damron and Eloise McClure Damron. In February 1999 he was united in marriage to Josephine Suga Damron...

Long before the Rector High School basketball teams were known as Cougars, they were called Blackcats. This was an apt nickname because teams that played Rector High School in those by-gone days found out what bad luck was like. During the 1976-77 senior boys basketball season, the bad luck that Blackcat foes experienced was intensified. ...

Betty Russell of Piggott and Pat McCarroll of Cherokee Village fired a 70 Thursday afternoon to take first place in the Championship Flight of the annual Sugar Creek Country Club Two-Lady Scramble. Barbara Cuff and Paula Calhoun of Kennett placed second with a 71 with Ellen Rogers of Paragould and Mary Dement of Blytheville finishing third with a 73. Shooting a 74 for fourth place was Barbara Hamilton of Rector and Jo Billings of Kennett...

Piggott Mohawk head tennis coach Paul Seegraves will once again this year conduct tennis lessons throughpout the summer for area youths. Lessons will begin June 16 and will run through August 6. The price for the lessons are $50 for eight 50-minute sessions...

2003 Piggott High School graduate Mandy Cale has been named to this year's state East All-Star volleyball squad.The team is scheduled to play an all-star game this weekend against the West all-stars this weekend in Fayetteville. Cale, a standout for the Piggott Lady Mohawk volleyball team throughtout her career at PHS recently signed a national letter-of-intent to play volleyball at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff...

The Piggott junior Lady Mohawk basketball team finished up a very successful week of basketball camp last Friday, ending the four-day event with an impressive 7-1 record. The camp, held at Annie Camp, included two teams from Corning and two from Annie camp. The Piggott team was split into A and B squads...

The Piggott Mohawk football team has several experienced seniors returning to the gridiron this season to provide leadership and hopefully lead the team to their first victory since the 2001 season. Josh Hicks, who has been playing football in Piggott since the fifth grade, is moving this year from center to offensive guard and will play defensive end on the opposite side of the ball...

Melvin Barton Harker, 84, of Piggott died Thursday, June 5, 2003, in the Piggott Community Hospital. He was born March 4, 1919, in Boone, Ind., the son of the late Fred and Bessie Nelson Harker. He was preceded in death by one brother. He is survived by one sister, Wanda Lawrence of Illinois; a very special friend, Maxine Hudson; and other relatives and friends...

Alma Anita Warmath, 75, of Waldron, Ark., died Saturday, June 7, 2003, at her home. She was a nurse and of the Presbyterian faith. She attended Waldron First Baptist Church and was a member of the Rocketts Club. She is survived by one daughter, Paige Bethel of Waldron; two sons, Gary Warmath of Anchorage, Ak., and Marris Warmath of Pheonix, Az.; three sisters, Demetra Gummershire of Cape Girardeau, Suzie Goldsmith of Mountain Home, Ark., and Ollie Weeks of Piggott; two brothers, Elvis Gilbert of Tacoma, Wa., and William C. ...

Howard Martin Pike, 83, of Pollard died Wednesday, June 4, 2003, in St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was preceded in death by his parents, Edgar Lee Pike and Jessie Graddy Pike; and one daughter, Julie Pike. He is survived by his wife, Olive, of the home; one son and daughter-in-law, Gordon and Becky Pike of Piggott; one daughter and son-in-law, Georgette and Jerry Howell of Piggott; one brother and his wife, Wayne and Mary Pike of Monroe, La.; seven grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.. ...

The Summer Reading Program is in full swing at the Piggott Public Library. This year's theme is "Laugh It Up @ Your Library", and that's exactly what local children have been doing from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. the past two Tuesdays. The opening date of the program was June 3. ...

It is the end of a law enforcement era in Clay County. Sgt. Danny Brown of the Arkansas State Police officially ended duty on May 31 after a career spanning 36 years. Brown became a policeman in 1967, going to work for the Blytheville Police Department as a uniformed patrol officer. Two years later, he joined the Arkansas State Police and was assigned to Piggott on July 1, 1969. He had maintained his Piggott since that time...

Piggott's annual Fourth of July celebration is drawing near. Friday, July 4, will mark the Piggott Cemetery Association's 76th picnic. This year's theme is "America the Beautiful." The day will begin at 9 a.m. with a parade on Main Street, beginning downtown and traveling to the picnic grounds. It will be followed by the presentation of colors and welcoming address at the picnic grounds stage...

Current Piggott school board president, Shawn Parker, has announced that he will seek re-election in September. Official filing can be done 90 days prior to the Sept. 17 election. In the election of 2000, Parker was elected to fill the remainder of a five-year term after then board member Ted Hackworth resigned...

Wilma Earline Straugh, 78, of Piggott died Wednesday, May 21, 2003, at Piggott Nursing Center. Mrs. Straugh was born on March 11, 1925, in Carryville, the daughter of William and Ida (nee Parks) Mulherin. She was united in marriage to Jay Straugh. Mrs. Straugh was a waitress, a cook, a homemaker and a member of the Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Piggott. She was a member of the First Baptist Temple Church in Flint, Mich., prior to her move to the Piggott area...

James (Jimmy) Allen Bradshaw, 50, of Indianola, Miss., died Monday, June 2, 2003, at his home. He was a farmer and a member of the Indianola Church of Christ. He is survived by his wife, Diana Lynn Skelton Bradshaw; his parents, James Darrell and Willodean (Deanie) Dowdy Bradshaw of Indianola; one daughter, Tamara Lynn Billingsley of Clarksdale, Miss.; and two brothers, Darrell Bradshaw and Jamie Bradshaw, both of Sunflower, Miss...

Roger D. Watson, 70, of North Little Rock, formerly of Piggott, died Thursday, May 29, 2003. He was born Sept. 19, 1952, in Piggott, the son of the late Russell Dale (R.D.) Watson and Lou Haywood Watson. He was united in marriage to Glenda Sue Blocker on Nov. 23, 1956. To this union two sons were born...

Carrie D. Damron, 65, of Lafe, Ark., died Sunday, June 8, 2003, in St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Jan. 1, 1938, in Rector to the Frank Damron and Eloise McClure Damron. In February of 1999 he was united in marriage to Josephine Suga Damron...

After a lengthy discussion regarding a proposed amended Sunday activities policy in the Piggott School District, by a vote of 4-1 the Piggott school board passed a revised policy allowing certain district extracurricular activities to take place with certain and specific guidelines. Board president Shawn Parker cast the lone nay vote...