Stories from Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Over 50 students gathered in Marmaduke last week to attend the Lady Greyhound Basketball Camp hosted by coach Spencer Hoffman. In just its third year, the camp once more had a strong showing, prompting excitement from those involved. "I'm absolutely tickled with the turnout we've had," Hoffman said. "It's a good sign not just for our program here, but for basketball in this area...

Lenora Geraldean (Gordon) Rowlett, 83, of Rector died Sunday, May 20, 2007, in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. Mrs. Rowlett was born March 14, 1924, in Rector. She married Carl Edward Rowlett, also of Rector, on Jan. 10, 1945. He preceded her in death Nov. 1, 1993...

Wilma Frances Stokes, 74, of Mountain View, a native of Rector, died Thursday, May 24, 2007, in Mountain View. She was born Jan. 11, 1933, in Rector to the late Alonzo Orbin and and Wilma Bertie (Ratledge) Stahl. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by five brothers, George, Gerald, Olan, Orville and Irvin "Doc" Stahl...

Laura (Leach) Wilburn joined the staff of Evergreen Health and Rehabilitation May 15 in the role of social director. In her new role, Wilburn handles many of the facility's admissions. She's also on hand to meet with residents and their family members on any concerns they may have...

Numerous Rector Elementary students have been participating in the drama club's annual Stageworks program. The program gives kids the opportunity to be involved in nearly every aspect involved in putting on a theatrical production. The students will put their learned skills to use for a public performance at 2 p.m. this Friday at the high school cafeteria...

State Sen. Robert Thompson of Paragould has been named chairman of the Litigation Reports Oversight Subcommittee. State government is involved in hundreds of lawsuits. In most cases the state attorney general represents the state, although some state agencies have their own legal staff...

Ardell Polk was unanimously elected Monday to serve again as president of the Rector Lions Club. Polk served two years as the club's first president following the organization of the local group in 2002. Other presidents have been Russ Gamblin (twice) and Ron Kemp...

As a teacher in the Rector School District, Linda Waldron has been a part of the lives of many students and future leaders. After 45 years as an educator, Waldron retired in May at the completion of the 2006-07 school year. She began her career in education as a sixth grade teacher at Rector in 1963. In 1965, she married Jim Waldron and moved to Rhode Island, where Jim was stationed with the United States Navy...

The past week was a bit of a slow one for nominations to our PHS Gym Dream Team. Though, I think my email was down for awhile this weekend. So if you emailed a nomination prior to Tuesday, June '05, send it to me again if you would. I did get a nice email from nominee Eric Fuller, as he toils for the Lord somewhere in Kansas. ...

The boys of summer will live again this July 4, as the second annual Piggott alumni-oldtimers baseball game will be held at Independence Park. The activities will kickoff with a homerun derby at 4, with the game to follow a short time later. The contest will feature PHS alumni, and other oldtimers, competing based on the year they graduated. Under the format, members of the odd-numbered classes take on the members of the even number classes...

The PHS gym was the site of a basketball camp last week, for students entering the third through seventh grades. The camp was hosted by the two head basketball coaches at Piggott High, Paul Seegraves and Jeff Priest, with help from some of their players...

Irene Janes, 86, died May 24, 2007, at Columbia Manor Care Center in Columbia, Mo. Irene was born September 3, 1920, in Lafe, Ark., to James M. and Cleora Hill Arnold. She married Ernest Janes on April 27, 1941. For a good part of their married life, they lived and farmed near Pollard...

In April, Gay Johnson, the Piggott Public Library's director, announced a call for funds and applied for a Books for Children Grant from the Libri Foundation. In late May, that grant was awarded. The grant is a 2-to-1 matching grant, and the library is still nearly $40 away from the total of $350. That total must be reached before the Libri Foundation will fully award the books, a total of $1,050...

The "everyday heroes" that visited Piggott Elementary School Monday, May 14, all have one thing in common. When they get called out to do their jobs, they're probably going to find something bad when they get there. That wasn't the case recently, when the five kindergarten classes at PES hosted the group of "everyday heroes" to find out more about how they help people...

Now that school has been dismissed for the year, the construction effort has stepped-up at Piggott High School. The next phase, along with completion of the gym-classroom project, is the demolition of the old cafeteria. Once that's been accomplished, the construction of the new science lab will get underway...

Motorists who frequent the Castleberry rail crossing in Piggott may have noticed that only one of the stop signs was removed following the installation of crossing guards by the railroad. Following action by the Piggott City Council at their most recent meeting, that sign will remain at the request of the Piggott Police Department...

My brain doesn't have a pause, but man do I wish it did. I'm sure that I only echo what most other creators will tell you: my hands/fingers can't keep up with my brain. And I'm not a slow typist. I can pound out the keys on a keyboard when I really get in a groove, and while it doesn't quite sound like Beethoven, it often sounds like music to my ears. Strange, I know...

1967 News out of St. Louis, forty years ago this week, reported that Brown Shoe Company had an excellent first quarter. Chairman of the Board, and President, Monte Shoemaker (no kidding) indicated that the company recorded net sales of $157-million in the period ending April 30. That was a six percent increase over the same period in 1966...

Charlton Francis Brady, 95, died Sunday, May 27, 2007 after a brief illness. He was born to Curtis Thomas and Mary Elizabeth Brady, along with identical twin brother John Frederick, on September 26, 1911 in Piggott. He was united in marriage to Mary Ardath Hogard on Dec. ...

Delmar Grissom, 86, of Hardin, Ky, formerly of Piggott, died May 15, 2007, at his home. He was a retired police officer from Wayne County, Mich., a veteran of World War II, and was a member of the Unity Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He was preceded in death by his parents, Luther and Mary Alice (Verbie) Grissom; a brother J.T. Grissom; and a sister Flora Whaley...

Noah Edward "Paul" Hargrove, 81, of South Beloit Ill., formerly of Piggott, died Tuesday, May 29, 2007 in Illinois. He was born November 17, 1926 in Hornersville, the son of the late Thomas and Georgia Russell Hargrove, and preceded in death by his parents and by brothers Thomas Loren and James Ernest Hargrove...

The Dragonfly Antiques is now open for business on Main Street in the Piggott City Square. Nancy Fithian, the store's owner, plans to make Piggott her home when she retires. Raised in Senath, Fithian is a National Accounts Manager for Armstrong Relocation based in Memphis, the largest agency family representing United Van Lines. "We are the number one company for United," said Fithian of the company she's been with for the last 23 years...