Stories from Wednesday, October 5, 2005

The mystery of how the Mohawks got their name has been solved and, as is often this writer's luck, it was right under her nose. Calls, e-mails and even a few people who remembered how the mascot was selected have led to The Times' sharing of this knowledge...

Evelyn Schooley Belote, 77, a long-time resident of Piggott died Saturday, Oct. 1, 2005, in Poplar Bluff after a long illness. She was born April 24, 1928, in Flint, Mich., the daughter of the late Murt and Annabell Dennis Schooley. She graduated from Kersley High School. She married Floyd Belote on March 18, 1947. They had six children...

The Lady Mohawks volleyball teams were on the road for the past two games. On Monday, Sept. 26, the Lady Mohawks traveled to Valley View to face the Lady Blazers. The Junior Lady Mohawks split a trio of games, eventually coming out victorious, with scores of 25-21, 12-25 and 25-23. Kelsey Nagy went 11 for 11 in serving. Nagy added two assists and two kills for the Junior Lady Mohawks. Kenna Dennis went 12 for 13 in serving for the night. She also added six kills...

The Seventh Grade Mohawks have pushed their overall record to 8-0, with the win over EPC on Thursday, Sept. 29, at Parker Field. With Zach Trammel and Luke Yount scoring the two touchdowns of the night and a safety at the end of the final seconds, the victorious final score was 16-0. The Seventh Grade Mohawks have yet to be scored on and as of this date have scored 136 points against all their opponents...

The PHS Tennis team hosted a tough Crowley's Ridge Academy team on Tuesday, Sept. 27. In the boys' division, CRA blanked the PHS team. In singles' action, Alec Watson was defeated by Aaron Hudson, 0-6, while Zac Smart was outscored by Jeremy Smith, 1-6. Josh Small was bested by Tyler Killough, 3-6...

The Piggott Mohawks' Homecoming was spoiled by the Salem Greyhounds on Friday, Sept. 30, at Parker Field, with a Greyhound victory and a final score of 48-0. Despite not having won a game all season, the Greyhounds came prepared to do battle with the Mohawks and came away with a runaway victory...

The Junior Mohawks football team advanced their record to 5-0 with their victory over the East Poinsett County Junior Warriors at Parker Field on Thursday, Sept. 29, with a final score of 14-0. The Junior Mohawks opened the scoring with 19 seconds left on the clock in the first quarter, with a two-yard run by Daniel Baldwin. The two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, leaving the score at 6-0 for the Junior Mohawks...

Billy Wayne White, 76, of Rector died Monday, Sept. 26, 2005, at Jonesboro. Born June 23, 1929, in Cardwell to the late Sherman and Dora White, he was a farmer and a member of the Rector General Baptist Church. Also preceding him in death was one son, Gary White; and five brothers...

Lestel "Slim" Davis, 79, of Campbell died on died Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005, at Piggott Community Hospital. He was born on May 9, 1926, in Jonesboro. Mr. Davis was of the Church of God faith and was a retired farmer. He enjoyed hunting and fishing...

"Diamonds and Denim" is the theme for the annual Piggott Area Chamber of Commerce's Fall Banquet, which is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 18, at the Piggott Community Center. This year's entertainment will be Larry Norred's band. The band will be joined by a "cowgirl vocalist", whose identity has not been revealed until now...

Duane and Annette Dutka of Piggott have been lending a helping hand during the after-effects of Hurricane Rita. The Dutkas opened their home to long-time friends John and Bonnie Manning; their son, Jonathan; daughter, Brooke Soileau, and her family; and John's supervisor at a Conoco refinery, Anu Deval, a native of India. The Dutkas have been friends with the Mannings for 25 years. In total, 10 evacuees stayed with the Dutkas from Friday, Sept. 23, until this past Thursday...

Piggott Elementary School will have its annual Fall Festival Thursday, Oct. 6, on the school playground. The festival, now in its eighth year, will be from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are being sold at the school library through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. until 7:55 a.m. and also will be available at the festival. Tickets are 25 cents each or $5 for a bag of 20...

The Matilda and Karl Pfeiffer Museum and Study Center will present a program on the history of Native Americans who lived in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri at the museum, located at 1071 Heritage Park Drive in Piggott, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15. Admission is free...

James Morgan, 79, of Piggott died Monday, Sept. 26, 2005, in the Piggott Community Hospital. He was born Sept. 1, 1926, in Leonard, the son of the late Robert Wesley and Nancy Emmaline Grogan Morgan. He was united in marriage to Maxine Evans on May 2, 1946. They had seven daughters...

Junell Johnson, 74, of Piggott died Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005, in St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. She was born June 15, 1931, in Piggott, the daughter of the late Nathan Zelmer and Luda Bell Brandon Smith. She was united in marriage to Bobby G. Johnson on Sept. 28, 1951. They had four children...

It was a tough trial for the Junior Cougars this past Thursday as they played host to the Junior Indians of Marked Tree at Rector. The good guys fell to the visitors 28-6 in the contest. Marked Tree led throughout; going up 6-0 in the first quarter and 20-0 after the second and third quarters...

James Morgan, 79, of Piggott died Monday, Sept. 26, 2005, in the Piggott Community Hospital. He was born Sept. 1, 1926, in Leonard, the son of the late Robert Wesley and Nancy Emmaline Grogan Morgan. He was united in marriage to Maxine Evans on May 2, 1946. They had seven daughters...

Eloia Adeline McDonald, 96, of Arnold, Mo., formerly of Rector, died Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Woodland Manor in Arnold. She was born Nov. 23, 1908, in Rector, the daughter of Ike and Either (Sides) McCluney. She was united in marriage to Clyde Preston McDonald, Jan. 3, 1929, at Piggott. He preceded her in death July 8, 1993...

Billy Wayne White, 76, of Rector died Monday, Sept. 26, 2005, at Jonesboro. Born June 23, 1929, in Cardwell to the late Sherman and Dora White, he was a farmer and a member of the Rector General Baptist Church. Also preceding him in death was one son, Gary White; and five brothers...

Gail Burns heads up the Rector High School Drama Troupe at RHS. While the RHS theater troupe is not usually large in numbers and resources, Burns consistently fields one of the finest drama departments in the state year after year. "I don't think small," Burns said. "We have as talented students here as anyone in the state. We don't have as many as other schools like Greene County Tech and we're limited with our facilities, but we're not limited with talent."...

The youth group at First General Baptist Church in Rector has been very busy with a variety of missionary activities. Youth leader and "Grace Alone" ministry director Gina Carpenter said the churches youth group recently traveled to a Bentonville church plant. The nine-day missionary event included vacation Bible school and door-to-door visitations. The group also performed minor construction on the parsonage there...

Clay County residents have a reason to be proud. At Arkansas' Relay University in Little Rock, which was held Sept. 23-24, Clay County's Relay for Life and its teams collected several awards - including being named in the "Top 12 Per Capita" in the state...

The Rector City-wide Yard Sale will be held on Saturday, Oct. 8. The sale will begin at 7 a.m. Yard sale permit fees will be waived for Saturday only. Residents may use Rector Memorial Park during the sale as long as nothing is destroyed and everything is cleaned up afterwards. Space will be first come first served. The use of the family pavillion is prohibited due to family reunions...

It was a hard-luck Homecoming for the Peewee Cougars this past Saturday as they faced the little Warriors of East Poinsett County. The festivities surrounding the day were hampered slightly by the outcomes on the field, as both home peewee teams were downed...