It happened here, years ago

Forty years ago this past week Piggott school superintendent J. B. Swift told patrons that classes would dismiss on Sat. May 25. The date was backed-up from May 16 because of cancellations due to snow and ice. Students were to return to school that Saturday morning just to pick up their report cards. Meanwhile, the district is seeking a six-mill increase to fund improvements in the March 12 school election.

In other news, Piggott Federal Savings and Loan held its annual shareholder's meeting Jan. 17 and got an update from treasurer Ella Mowery. During 1967 the company channeled $1,174,634.00 in mortgage loans into the local economy.

The Piggott Jaycees hosted a district rally at the PHS cafeteria recently, which featured several rousing basketball games in the gym. Meanwhile, the Jaycettes have started a toy shelf at the Piggott Hospital for hospitalized children.

The Piggott Chamber of Commerce has scheduled their monthly meeting for Jan. 25, and it will be held in the War Memorial Building.

In sports, the Piggott Mohawk football schedule for 1968 has been released with games against Manila, Pocahontas, Gosnell, Malden, Gideon, Lepanto, Osceola, Walnut Ridge, Hayti, Paragould, Portageville and Corning. The schedule features an open date Oct 21 with the season ending at Corning on Oct. 28. (still no Thanksgiving Day game this year)

And finally, Oaklawn Park at Hot Springs will begin a 50-day schedule of horse racing on Feb. 9.

1978

Heavy snowfall, 30 years ago this past week, forced the re-scheduling of placing the cornerstone for the new Piggott Lodge #545 on North Second Street. The ceremony has now been set for Feb. 2.

Political announcements in the past week included Cloyce Pierce announcing that he will run for re-election as sheriff and collector, while Troy Graddy and E. W. Cochran are running for county judge. Meanwhile, Bill Dickerson is the only candidate for an open seat on the Piggott School board while three candidates have filed for two seats in Greenway. Those seeking that position include Paul Bond, Jerry Clayton and Roy Rogers.

The first baby of the new year, at Piggott Community Hospital, was Aron Renee Warren of Rector, born to Dwight and Shirley Warren.

The annual Clay County Tournament at Greenway suffered from the recent bad weather, but the Piggott junior and senior boys won their first round games to advance to the finals.

At the Carolyn Theater this week, "Another Man, Another Chance" was the feature while the late show was "Jailbait Babysitter". Meanwhile, the annual Girl Scout cookie sale is underway with boxes of cookies available for $1.25 each.

Finally, due to an increase in postage rates, The Times announced a price increase for out-of-area subscribers. The annual rate was set to climb from $8.00 to $10.00.

1983

The Clay County Quorum Court discussed the county landfill at their meeting 25 years ago last week. The JP's discussed operations of the facility, the road leading to the landfill and equipment maintenance among other things.

In sports, the Piggott junior Mohawks won the Clay County Tournament for the second year in a row by beating Knobel. The Tribe was paced by Ricky Wheat with 20 points on the game.

The most recent newspaper also featured Katie Latimer in the weekly feature "The Neighbor's Kids". Katie talked about her puppy Reuben and playing with Justin, Nisie and Brooke.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature is "The Toy" with Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason, the late show feature was "Centerfold Fever".

Congratulations to Beth Brandon of Piggott, the senior occupational therapy major was named to the Dean's List at UCA in Conway. Meanwhile, Piggott Elementary School hosted an award assembly for those recognized for good behavior.

The Piggott Sonic Drive-In was featuring a special on mini-burger this week in time, and had them on sale for just .39 each. Meanwhile, from the want ads, firewood was on sale for $18 a rank.

1988

Twenty years ago this past week it was reported that two 14 year old Piggott residents had found a live mortar shell in Sugar Creek. Chris Crawford and Glenn Morgan found the shell just north of the Darling Plant and showed it to neighbor Clifton Hill who alerted authorities. Demolition experts from the Pine Bluff arsenal arrived early the next morning and transported the shell back to the facility to be destroyed.

Heart transplant patient Paul Harrell is back home in Piggott. Harrell got a replacement heart back in mid-November at a Memphis hospital, and is doing well.

New census figures show that only 2.2% of Americans now live on farms. According to the USDA there were 5,226,000 people living on farms in the U.S. in 1986, down about 129,000 from 1985. The report also indicated that about half of those counted live in the Midwest.

A new arrival to report is Casey Quentin Banning, born Jan. 15 at Arkansas Methodist Hospital to Quentin and Kelly Banning of Rector. Casey Quentin weighed-in at seven-pounds even and was 20-and-a-half inches long.

Two local men completed Air Force basic training in Texas recently including Deron Pollard of Pollard and Benjamin Keith Bond of Greenway. Both graduated in 1986, Deron from PHS and Keith from Clay County Central.

In sports, the junior Mohawks fell to the Cougars in the finals of the county tournament. David Sutton led the Tribe in scoring while Nevada Smith was top scorer for CCC. The senior Mohawks also dropped a game to the Cougars, despite 14 points from Lance Holcomb.