It happened here, years ago

Members of the Piggott school board, local Chamber of Commerce and PTA hosted a meeting of parents from Piggott, Pollard and St. Francis 40 years ago last week. At issue were rumors that the outlying schools would be closed. The group suggested passage of a millage increase. If passed the money would be used to offset fees paid by parents for students to participate in band, FFA, FHA and several other courses.

In other news, the Arkansas State Police reminded motorists that the speed limit was 60 m.p.h. on two lane highways in Arkansas and 70 on the interstate highways..and noted that they would no longer be issuing warning tickets to speeders.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the features included--Elvis in "Live a Little, Love a Little" and "King Kong Escapes." The new motion picturing rating system of G, M, R and X was also explained in this week's paper.

In sports, the Mohawk junior and senior teams were swept by Rector and Corning in the past week, with Kent Greene leading the senior squad in scoring and Gary Wiley pacing the junior team. And in a related note, the Mohawk Majorettes will be performing Dec. 7 at halftime of the Three Rivers College Raiders basketball game in Poplar Bluff.

And, for holiday shopping, Western Auto had Husky tricycles for $8.88..while the Ben Franklin store offered Monopoly games for $3.77 or an Etch-A-Sketch for $2.44.

1978

An ice storm 30 years ago this week left the region without power for several days. In most areas the power went off early Friday morning, and in Pollard it wasn't restored until Sunday. This left that community without water, after the tower ran dry on Saturday and there was no power to operate the pumps.

In other news, Vaval Eskew is continuing to improve from his near-fatal accident of the past week, and is in Methodist Central Hospital in Memphis. GTE has announced that 0-plus dialing will go into operations locally on Dec. 16; and the City Council heard an update on Piggott Community Hospital at their recent meeting, and voted to retain Betty Reams as administrator. In a related story, the Lion's Club donated $1,500 from their recent auction to purchase furnishings for a room at the new hospital. Taking part in the check presentation were Cletis Barlow, Mearl Parrish and Ray Carr.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature was "The Great Smokey Roadblock" while the late show was "Flesh Gordon."

In sports, the Mohawks split at Hoxie, and the "B" team fell to Hayti in a tournament at Kennett. Meanwhile, the Greenway Tigers lost two of three to Lafe, and will host the Armorel Tigers for homecoming Dec. 15.

And the Arkansas Razorback football team is preparing for their appearance in the Fiesta Bowl on Christmas Day, as they'll take on the Bruins of UCLA in Phoenix, Ariz.

1983

The combined members of the Piggott, Greenway and Rector school boards voted 15-0 to support a consolidation plan at a meeting 25 years ago last week. The plan calls for elementary campuses in Piggott and Rector for K-8..and a central high school to be built at Greenway. Following the meeting the three boards appointed a fact-finding committee to continue to look into the effort.

The Piggott City Council also held their regular meeting recently, and formerly approved the bonds for the Darling Company expansion.

In other new, Erica Winberry and Craig Scott were chosen Christmas Belle and Beau for 1983..first alternates were Kyle Johnson and Autumn Dees and second alternates were Scott Hartwell and Leslie Morrisett. And at the Carolyn Theater this week the feature is "Krull" while the late show was "Rhinestone Cowgirls."

Piggott Community Hospital handed out employee awards at a banquet Dec. 8, and employee of the year went to Peggy Statler. Also honored were Robert Dement, Wilma Dover, Debby Haywood, Judy Mallard, Kathleen Cole, Virginia Carman and Helen Gatewood.

In sports, the Mohawks beat Rector behind Chuck Hope's 25 points, as the juniors lost in OT. Both squads fell to Gosnell, with Hope and Jeff Benbrook leading the way for the senior squad. Meanwhile Kim Stewart and Sabrina Tate led the Lady Mohawks in scoring in losses to Corning and Cave City..while the junior girls split their games, beating the Cavewomen and losing to the Bobcats.

1988

The Piggott School board has agreed to a joint meeting with the Clay County Central board during the month of January, at issue will be the possible future consolidation of the two districts. In other news, Lance Madison of Qulin was crowned Christmas Beau for 1988, while Jennifer Book of Piggott was named Belle.

The live nativity scene at Hitt's Chapel Church will be staged Dec. 16-18, and this year is being held in memory of Steve Crowson. Credited with suggesting the idea of the live nativity, Crowson passed away Dec. 12. In other seasonal news, winners of the Christmas lighting contest this year were Mr. and Mrs. Jim Poole of Dogwood Dr.; second went to Mr. and Mrs. Buckley Watson of Fourth Street and third to Mr. and Mrs. Clois Davis of West Clay Street.

Rehearsal is underway at PHS for the upcoming production of "Our Town" and the "Mega" students staged a production of "A Christmas Carol" recently. Also in school news, Leean Tanner's third grade class at PES made Christmas goodies for the birds in the past week, and hung them in the trees in front of their classroom.

In sports, the fall sports assembly was held at PHS as they honored outstanding performance by football and volleyball players. Meanwhile, the Mohawks were swept by Clay County Central, Pocahontas, Greene County Tech and Highland in the past week..while the junior boys split their games with wins over Tech and Highland. For the Lady Mohawks, they dropped games to Corning and Hoxie with Tory Smith leading the scoring for the seniors and Tammy Belote pacing the junior team.