Stories from Wednesday, March 3, 2004

The Piggott High School gym was filled with the roar of the crowd for some very special athletes at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 27. Area I Special Olympics hosted the Individual Skills Basketball Competition in the gym last Friday. Area I Special Olympics is made up of schools and adult development programs from Clay, Sharp, Greene, Lawrene, Randolph and Fulton counties...

Piggott lost five senior players off last year's softball team. "The toughest positions to replace are the pitcher and catcher ," said Coach Tiffany Sands. "Last year we didn't play very many doubleheaders and this year each conference game is a doubleheader so we need two pitchers where last year we only had one and she graduated."...

The Piggott Fire Department hosted a volleyball tournament on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Piggott Community Center to raise money for Relay for Life. Six teams were involved in this double elimination tournament. Everyone involved had a fun and competitive morning and afternoon. ...

The Piggott Lady Mohawks were looking to extend their season into the state tournament Wednesday in the regional tournament at Searcy, but they were outmatched by Mountain View as their season came to an end, 57-44. Piggott was not able to establish their inside game early on and were not able to score off rebounds as they would trail 21-9 at the end of the first quarter...

Gladys L. Leslie, 90, of Greenway, passed away Monday, March 1, in the Rector Health Care. Visitation will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, 2004. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 4, in the Hoggard & Sons Chapel. Burial will be in Mitchell cemetery...

Imogene Gray, 81, of Sedalia, Mo., formerly of Piggott, died Monday, Feb. 23, 2004, in Sedalia, Mo. She was born April 16, 1922, in Van Buren, Ark., the daughter of the late Johnny Earl and Pearl Parrish Graddy. She was united in marriage to Marion Henry Gray on Oct. 11, 1941, to this union two sons were born...

Barbara Bell, 63, of Piggott died Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004, in the Piggott Community Hospital in Piggott. She was born Jan. 6, 1941, the daughter of the late Ross and Ida Watkins Bell. She was preceded in death by three brothers, L.C. Bell, Joe Bell and Leroy Bell...

Twelve Young Authors from Piggott Elementary School met on Wednesday afternoons in February at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center to create a book of original works. Each week was devoted to a different kind of story. The first week students wrote scary stories and the second week dealt with stories about pets. ...

The Keith Woolverton Farm recently won first place on the ridge-till irrigated division of the 2003 National Corn Growers'Association (NCGA) Corn Yield Contest in Arkansas. The farming operation won with Pioneer brand hybrid 32W86, which yielded 237.07 bushels per acre. ...

The Matilda and Karl Pfeiffer Museum and Study Center, located at 1071 Heritage Park Drive in Piggott, will hold a special Mother's Day open house for the Piggott community from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., Sunday, May 9. Admission will be free. It begins a week-long celebration to commemorate the new museum. ...

Larry Willis has been coaching the Marmaduke High School baseball team for 19 years. "Next Wednesday when we start the season against Paragould will kick off my 20th year as the head baseball coach here," Willis said. "I have had both up and down years. We have been down the last couple of years but we are on the upswing now."...

The 2004 high school baseball season is fast approaching. The Rector Cougars, having a larger contingent (23 are listed on the roster) of players than usual, are anxious to get underway. According to coach Nathan Henderson, a solid, deep pitching staff and overall team speed will be the strong points of the team this year...

Glory Faith Bateman Golden, 68, of Collierville, Tenn., a retired licensed practical nurse, died Monday, Feb. 23, 2004, at her son's home. She was preceded in death by her parents, Harrison and Zoe Hardin Bateman; her husband, Joel R. Golden; one brother, Hardin Bateman, and two sisters, Marie Bateman, who died in infancy, and Hope Matthews...

Rev. L.L. Bounds, 87, of Monette Manor Nursing Home, a former pastor of the First United Methodist Church at Marmaduke, died Monday, Feb. 23, 2004. He was born Dec. 15, 1916, in Corning to the late Levi and Mae Bounds. He was a retired Methodist minister of over 34 years. ...

Vernon Clark McKeel, 90, of Rector, died Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004, at National HealthCare in Kennett. He was born March 25, 1913, in the Ebenezer community near Rector, to the late William and Dora Utley McKeel. He was a retired truck driver for Complete Auto Transit, and a member of the Local Teamsters #604 in St. Louis...

Jasa Haney-Hollis, the former Jasa Bledsoe, has joined the staff of Rector Realty. Haney-Hollis received her real estate license in 1996. She has over eight years experience in the real estate industry. Five years of which were spent working for a real estate firm in Paragould. ...

A new face has been spotted by many Rector residents at the local Harps during the past two weeks as Travis Sexton has taken over as manager of the store. Sexton, a native of the area between Van Buren, Ark. and Alma, Ark., said he has about 12 years of management experience. Nine of those years have been with Harps. He graduated from Van Buren High School and earned an Associate's Degree in Business Management from WestArk in Fort Smith, which is now a branch of the University of Arkansas...

The Rector community is anticipating the opening of a new city museum located at 121 West Fourth Street that has been in production this past year. Retired librarian Deanie Wagster had a dream for this museum as well as many other people in Rector. In 2003, the Woman's Club, Library Board, and the City of Rector developed plans for the project in the building, formerly a car dealership and a grocery store, that is owned by the city. The city purchased the building from the late Vernon Dortch...

The deployment date for the Arkansas Army National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade (also referred to as the 39th Brigade Combat Team) has been delayed due to reception, staging, onward movement and integration (RSO) capabilities in the Central command theater of operations...

In an unanimous vote the Rector City Council passed Ordinance 494 to curb illegal dumping of trash in private receptacles and in the city park. City attorney Carla Powell informed the council that any piece of trash with a name on it can be used as evidence in a court of law. ...

The Marmaduke Lady Greyhounds' season came to an end Friday night as they were beaten 72-53 by the Turrell Lady Rockets in the semifinal round of the Class AA regional tournament held at Marked Tree. The current seniors on the Lady Hounds were about nine years old the last time Marmaduke didn't win the regional tournament. The eight regional tournament championships the Lady Hounds had won in succession included victories over Turrell the last two years...