Stories from Tuesday, June 22, 2010

McDonald anticipates homecoming (06/22/10)
As a gospel performer, bass singer Gene McDonald has been a part of many of the Gaither Homecoming videos and concerts. The Kennett native now is having a homecoming of his own as one of the talented artists who will be part of the Aug. 5 Rector concert to benefit the Rector High School Helping Hands Foundation...

Veterans memorial moving forward (06/22/10)
John Kinkade (center), executive director of the National Sculptors' Guild, visited the community last Thursday to help local officials make decisions on the placement of the bronze statue of a World War II soldier that will be the centerpiece of the Rector Veterans Memorial Park. ...

New band director hired at RHS (06/22/10)
The Rector School Board accepted band director Craig Wadley's resignation via a letter presented by superintendent Rob Louder in a brief meeting Tuesday night, June 15. Wadley was hired as the Rector band director in 2006. Last month, he was noticeably absent from classes, as well as graduation, and Louder, who previously was the district's band director, led the band during the traditional ceremony...

Donald Dillard Brown (06/22/10)
Donald Dillard Brown, 61, of Boydsville passed away at his home on June 19, 2010. He was born Oct. 3, 1948, to the late Cleveland and Gorgeanne (Morgan) Brown at Delaplaine, Ark. He was married Jan. 29, 1988, to Burla Sue (Burke) Brown. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, Kenneth...

Lester Burl Haley (06/22/10)
Lester Burl Haley, 79, of Piggott, passed away Monday, June 21, 2010, at the Piggott Community Hospital. He was born Feb. 2, 1931, in Greenway, and was the son of the late Sidney Burl and Millie Anna (Williams) Haley. He was united in marriage to Betty Joyce Mobley, Nov. 8, 1952, and to this union five children were born...

His name was Uncle Red (06/22/10)
It was only after his death the family learned that Uncle Red had been awarded two Bronze Stars for heroic achievement during World War 11. It was a period of his life he didn't talk about. We do know that when he entered the war, his hair was red and bushy, but when he returned home four years later, it was thin and prematurely gray...

Sweet June is a "Hottie" (06/22/10)
She tripped lightly during her introduction of hot and humid days we cannot blame on March or May. Generally, we have been accustomed to a rather more dignified attitude as she gently registers each of her days at sunset. Instead, she has, of late, turned the sweet farewell of May into the intolerable temperatures approaching the "100" mark even before the Equinox. ...

Moderation seems to be an ugly word (06/22/10)
"The best lack all conviction," the poet Yeats wrote in 1919, "while the worst are full of passionate intensity." That thought was shared almost 100 years ago, but the essential truth, of course, has not changed. We live in a world today in which the "true believers" are on the march, especially in the area of politics and social discourse...

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