Stories from Sunday, November 27, 2011

Well, it's not exactly New Orleans, but it's close. That's where the eyes of the nation's football fans will turn this Friday as the Arkansas Razorbacks play their biggest game since, well, The Big Shootout. Every Hog fan (at least those old enough to remember) can think back to where he or she was on that cold December day in 1969 when President Richard Nixon visited Fayetteville for the classic battle between the top two teams in college football...

Times are bad, but all around are reasons to give thanks. If there is peace in your heart, give thanks. If your home is warm this winter, give thanks. If you have Thanksgiving ham or turkey, give thanks. If your health is good, give thanks. If you have a best friend who shares your good times and bad, give thanks...

The whole matter of expressing gratitude comes perilously close to cliché-ridden parody this Thanksgiving Day. Of course we admit and try to audit our debt to the Almighty. We were advised by Shakespeare who observed, accurately "what fools these mortals be!" (NOT to observe and acknowledge our great debt to our very Creator!)...

The Mighty Razorback 4-H Club collected over 500 cans of food Saturday, Nov. 19, for donation to a local food bank. 4-H club members and parents were stationed outside County Mart grocery store in Piggott to accept donations of canned food. 4-Hers passed out "coupons" to shoppers, asking them to buy extra canned goods to help feed hungry families in the community...

Nancy Shanklin started her first day as secretary of the Piggott First Baptist Church on Thursday, Nov. 10, 1983. Twenty-eight years later to the exact day, Thursday, Nov. 10, was her last day to serve in the church office. Nancy had been a stay-at-home mom prior to joining the church staff...

Through the instruction of teacher Seth Miller, students of all ages now are taking advantage of martial arts classes now being offered at the Northeast Arkansas Innovative Training Center (NEAITC) in Rector. Miller, a 2006 graduate of Rector High School, has transformed his own personal interest and mastery of the martial arts into a program designed to benefit others...

"What benefits this area is good for Clay County," said Clay County Judge Gary Howell, who also serves as chairman for the East Arkansas Planning and Development District. Howell's remarks came Monday following the announcement the EAPDD was awarded a $2.6 million grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development...

Paul Edward Ritter, 77, of Jonesboro, Ark., died Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, at St. Bernards Medical Center. Born July 28, 1934 in Jonesboro, he was the son of the late Henry and Sophia Rueswald Ritter and had been a long-time area resident. Mr. Ritter had been a member of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church since he was a child where he taught Sunday school, was a communion minister and an usher. ...

Gladys Mae Droke, daughter of the late Lawrence Highfill and Sally (Nelson) Highfill, was born Oct. 12, 1915, in Senath, Mo., and departed this life on Nov. 17, 2011, at the age of 96 years, one month and five days. Gladys married Ovit C. Droke on Nov. 13, 1932. Ovit preceded her in death on Nov. 23, 1996...

Catherine Fisk (McMahan) Cochran of Jonesboro, formerly of Rector, entered into eternity on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, at the age of 89 years. Ms. Cochran was born on Dec. 8, 1921, to Riley and Bertha (Morris) McMahan in Rector. Catherine was preceded in death by her parents and two husbands, J.D. Fisk and William Ralph Cochran...

Billy Ray Kowens of Cahokia, Ill., was born Nov. 6, 1946, in Gideon, Mo., to Charles Kowens and Anna Bell Ruby Kowens. On Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, at Bellville Memorial Hospital, Bill slipped from this life into the next. Billy was 64 years, 11 months and 27 days. Sunday, Nov. 6, was his 65th birthday...

William "Bill" Jackson Lewis, 83, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, at the Mark Twain Care Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born on Feb. 18, 1928, in Nimmons, Ark., and was the son of the late Nicholas and Maudie Lewis. He was united in marriage to Wilma Kisner on April 27, 1992...

Martha Erin Woolf Madison of Piggott, Ark., formerly of Greenway, left her pain behind at the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro, Ark., and went to her heavenly home Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. She was born on March 6, 1928, the ninth of 10 children of James Edgar and Anna Erin (Mack) Woolf at Greenway, Ark...