Clay County Times-Democrat: Stories from Wednesday, April 1, 2009

RHS art students to showcase talents (04/01/09)
Rector High School art students will share their talents with the community in coming weeks in a number of shows and competitions about to take place. "It's a busy time," said RHS art teacher Carolyn Caldwell. "We have a lot of shows coming up that we're preparing for."...

Randleman will speak at ASU honors banquet (04/01/09)
Rector native Mike Randleman of Los Angeles will be the Distinguished Alumni speaker Friday, April 17, for an honor banquet hosted by Arkansas State University's Art, Music and Theatre Departments...

Petty wins state recognition (04/01/09)
It's no secret that RHS junior Abie Petty is a talented student. During her 12 years as a part of the Rector School District's student body, she has consistently been among the brightest and most heralded of her class. When teachers send notes home to her parents, they are always filled with praise...

Piggott native stars in The River Within (04/01/09)
When filmmaker Zac Heath thought about a filming location for his first movie, his native home of Paragould seemed like a perfect fit. From filming at First United Methodist Church in Paragould, which he attended as a child, to a small grocery store in Rector, Heath found inspiration in the natural beauty of Northeast Arkansas and its people...

PHS SADD club holds assembly (04/01/09)
The PHS SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) Club hosted an assembly last Friday to help inform students about the dangers of driving under the influence. Students Elise Watson, Tanner Murray, Conner Rodery and Paige Lockard play the part of teens out for the evening, and under the scrutiny of a traffic stop. ...

Piggott airport receives grant (04/01/09)
Piggott received a $250,830 grant for runway overlay at the Piggott Municipal Airport in a meeting of the Arkansas Aeronautics Commission held Thursday, March 19, at the IMAX Theater in Little Rock. The 90/10 matching grant was one of 41 awarded in a total distribution of $3,500,920...

Car show nears, T-shirts now on sale (04/01/09)
Visitors to the 11th annual Piggott Heritage Park Car Show will notice very little difference from the 2008 event, although the show has new organizers and a new name this year. The car show, which draws hundreds of entries from across the Southeastern United States, will be held May 16 and is presented by the Piggott Area Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Clay County Relay For Life teams.. ...

Piggott native stars in The River Within (04/01/09)
When filmmaker Zac Heath thought about a filming location for his first movie, his native home of Paragould seemed like a perfect fit. From filming at First United Methodist Church in Paragould, the church he attended as a child, to filming at a small grocery store in Rector, Heath found inspiration in the natural beauty of Northeast Arkansas and its people...

Swift, Jinks share birthday celebration (04/01/09)
Marguerite Swift (front --left) and Wilma Jinks are surrounded by friends at their shared birthday celebration last Friday at the Sugar Creek Country Club in Piggott. (Times photo/Tim Blair)

Cougars keeping busy (04/01/09)
The random spring weather has played havoc with the Cougars' time on the mound, limiting the team to just practice over the past week. "We've had some bad breaks as far as the weather goes," Cougar skipper Nate Henderson said. "We've not been able to play as much recently as we would like, but that's just how it goes sometimes."...

Mohawks notch conference win (04/01/09)
After having several games rained-out in the past week, the Piggott Mohawks were able to get a conference contest in Monday afternoon at Harrisburg and posted an extra-inning win by a final of 15-12. ...

Queen's of the Hardwood to honor Rickman (04/01/09)
Piggott volleyball coach Melissa Williams has been chosen to serve as assistant coach for the east team in the upcoming third annual "Queens of the Hardwood" volleyball game at Westside High School. ...

Bathing a blue jay (04/01/09)
A long time ago when I would comment on the accomplishment of someone who had done something noteworthy, my husband would retort, ''Yeah, but I bet he never refueled an airplane in midair." That was my husband's job in the Air Force. He was a boom operator on a Boeing KC-135 Strato-tanker.The plane was equipped with a flying boom to provide fuel transfer to other planes...

Negativity infects our small towns (04/01/09)
We all know the many challenges faced in our smaller communities as economic and social trends work against them in so many ways. Job opportunities abound in larger cities and suburbs and, over time, there has been a migration to those locales. There simply are fewer economic, educational, recreational and cultural opportunities in rural communities when compared to our urban areas...

Bathing a blue jay (04/01/09)
A long time ago when I would comment on the accomplishment of someone who had done something noteworthy, my husband would retort, ''Yeah, but I bet he never refueled an airplane in midair." That was my husband's job in the Air Force. He was a boom operator on a Boeing KC-135 Strato-tanker.The plane was equipped with a flying boom to provide fuel transfer to other planes...

It happened here, years ago (04/01/09)
1969 The Piggott school board approved the plan to bus elementary students to various campuses for the coming year. The board voted to send first through fourth grade students to Central Elementary in Piggott, with fifth and sixth graders going to Pollard and St. ...

Fred Baty (04/01/09)
Fredie Leo "Fred" Baty, 66, of Hillsboro, Mo., formerly of St. Charles, Mo., died Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at Hillsboro. He was born May 26, 1942, at Greenway and was the son of the late Leo and Ova (Wilkes) Baty...

Jimmy Charles Webb (04/01/09)
Jimmy Charles Webb, 73, of Kennett, Mo., formerly of Rector, died Sunday, March 29, 2009, at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett. He was born Feb. 25, 1936, in Rector to the late Earl and Erma (Ramage) Webb...

Douglas Parker (04/01/09)
Douglas Parker, 65, of Greenway died Saturday, March 28, 2009, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Feb. 15, 1944, in Piggott to the late Claude and Lois (Cowgill) Parker...

Jean Bowden (04/01/09)
Jean Bowden, 81, of Rector died Tuesday, March 31, 2009, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. Arrangements are incomplete. A full obituary will appear in next week's edition.

Ruby Dale Crowson (04/01/09)
Ruby Dale Crowson, 95, of Piggott died Thursday, March 26, 2009, at Piggott Community Hospital. She was born March 24, 1914, in Letona, Ark., and was the daughter of the late Thomas Allen and Maudie Bell (Graddy) Duncan...

Douglas Parker (04/01/09)
Douglas Parker, 65, of Greenway died Saturday, March 28, 2009, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Feb. 15, 1944, in Piggott to the late Claude and Lois (Cowgill) Parker...

Fred Baty (04/01/09)
Fredie Leo "Fred" Baty, 66, of Hillsboro, Mo., formerly of St. Charles, Mo., died Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at Hillsboro. He was born May 26, 1942, at Greenway and was the son of the late Leo and Ova (Wilkes) Baty...