Stories from Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Please return to your seat and do not let the headlines shock you. What you read is true: Patricia Neal is indeed coming to Piggott sometime next year for a 50 year celebration of the release of A Face in the Crowd, and Mayor Gerald Morris is tickled pink that she's coming...

When Paul Seegraves came to the Piggott school district back in the early 90's there was no tennis program. Fielding a squad in 1993 his boy's team went 11-5-1 and took the district title. They then went on to place 6th in the state tennis tournament. That same first year the girls squad went 7-10 and placed third in the district. They have never finished lower since...

The Lady Mohawk volleyball squads had success both at home and on the road in the past week as they notched wins over Hoxie, Brookland and Walnut Ridge. Last Tuesday the Mohawks hosted Hoxie and took both the Junior and Senior matches. The Junior girls won 25-17, 19-25 and 25-15. Penny McCluskey was 14 of 14 from the service line with two aces, 16 digs and three kills. Sarah Cooper had eight kills and Kelsey Nagy had 22 digs and eight kills...

There was an air of nervous tension hanging over Parker Field in Piggott Friday night as the Mohawks prepared to take on an explosive Harrisburg Hornet squad in conference play. The Tribe was coming off both a short week and an emotional loss to the Corning Bobcats while the Hornets were riding a three game winning streak. The difficulties for Piggott continued, as the Mohawks fell to their guests, 52-16...

Perry Owen Porter, 74, of Black Rock, died Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center. He was born Nov. 6, 1931 in Nelsonville to Marion Ewen and Bessie Goff Porter. Mr. Porter was a retired Corporal for the Arkansas State Police, a veteran of the United States Air Force and a member of the Sutton Free Will Baptist Church...

Eula M. Brown, 89, of Kansas City, Mo. died Oct. 1, 2006, at the Kansas City Hospice House. She was born Oct. 29, 1916 in Damascus, Ark. She married Harold Albert Brown on April 16, 1938. They had four children. Billy C., Fairy Ann, Brenda J and Bruce Albert. ...

Several folks have asked me what I think about being in Piggott. That's a tough question for me to answer for several reasons. As I said a few weeks back, Piggott isn't really "new" to me. A few have folks have even asked me if I had culture shock coming here. ...

Rural communities, though steadily decreasing in size and population, continue to exist in large part due to a strong connection to the past. This type of bond is evident in the long-lasting fellowship present at the Mars Hill United Methodist Church located one mile south of Crockett...

Members of the Piggott School district board of education met in regular session Monday night at the new administration building with all members present. The meeting marked the first of the new term and first for new school board member Jeff Benbrook. ...

Spc. Joshua Spence Note: The following is a "letter home" from a member of the Arkansas Army National Guard's 875th Engineer Battalion, which is currently mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 500 man battalion initially departed northeast Arkansas for their initial mobilization training at Fort McCoy, Wis. The unit is currently deployed to Kuwait for a short training period prior to moving forward into northern Iraq...

The Piggott Elementary School held its annual Fall Festival on Friday, Oct. 6. Hundreds of kids, their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends filled the playground for good fun and food. Aside from the fun, the goal of the festival is to raise money. ...

A rough first half hindered the Cougars in their bid to pick up their first win of the season against the McCrory Jaguars last Friday in Rector. The Cougars were denied by their hungry opponents, also winless up to that point, falling 27-0. McCrory came out a house afire in the opening frame, driving 55 yards on seven plays before scoring on a run by Nathan Daniel from 18 yards out with 8:55 left in the first quarter...

Vera Demetra Burton, 96, of Brookland, formerly of Rector, died Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006, at her home. Born Dec. 26, 1909, in Boydsville to the late James Bateman and Fronia (Wallace) Bateman, she was a homemaker, of the General Baptist faith, was active in mission work and taught Sunday School for many years. She also was in daycare for many years...

Lawson Beacham Jr., 66, of Hot Springs, formerly of Rector, died Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, at St. Joseph's Mercy Health Center. Born Oct. 14, 1939, at Senath, Mo., he was a Christian. He was preceded in death by his wife, Laveda Ann Beacham, 16 months ago; one sister, Mary Louise Beacham; his father, L.S. Beacham Sr., and his mother, Mary Magdalene (Wise) Beacham, formerly of Rector...

Rector's junior high football team was praised Monday night by high school principal Wade Williams as he told school board members of its three-game winning streak. If the team wins its game tomorrow night, he said, it will play for the conference championship. Williams said that there will be three more football games left this season, and that basketball season will begin the first week of November...

Officers from the Marmaduke Police Department and the Greene County Sherrif's Office took part in a 12 hour standoff which bridged Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8. At around 11 p.m. on Saturday, the Marmaduke Police Department received an emergency call from Tali Armey. ...

Rural communities, though steadily decreasing in size and population, continue to exist in large part due to a strong connection to the past. This type of bond is evident in the long-lasting fellowship present at the Mars Hill United Methodist Church, located one mile south of the Crockett community...

The Junior Cougars continued their winning ways, outlasting scrappy Augusta on the road last Thursday, 28-20. John Smith got the young Cougars started in a hurry, as drove straight up the gut on the first play, shedding a few would-be tacklers en route to a 71 yard touchdown run. After Seth Parsley brought home the two-point conversion with a quarterback keeper up the middle, Rector held an 8-0 advantage...