It happened, years ago

The 1969 Clay County Fair was termed a "financial success" with good crowds enjoying mild weather. This year's fair boasted a total of 1,317 exhibits and 17 educational booths. Also in the news, 57 people were on hand for the annual Pollard reunion Oct. 5 and 12 members of Girl Scout Troop 32 enjoyed a hike and cookout in the Dehl's gravel pit. Their leaders were Mrs. Carl Pollard and Mrs. Vernon Willie.

Since the Mohawks have a bye week golf tops the sports headlines, as Sugar Creek Country Club hosted its second annual club tournament. Championship flight went to C. W. Knauts with a 143; Jamie Wallis won "A" flight with a 164; Terry Cargill took "B" flight with a 165; Bob Hampton took "C" with a 166 and Dr. Hillard Duckworth won "D" flight with a 210. Tommy Porterfield won the junior division with a 165 while Robbie Duckworth took the junior "A" division with a 182.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the features were "Popi", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Corruption."

National Lunchroom week is at hand, and the cooks at Piggott schools were pictured. Cooks at the high school were Neva Bradford, Lorene Parker, Dorothy Graddy, Rita Mowery, Mary Roberts, Lois Bradford and Exelene Throgmorton. At PES they were Virginia Book, Olive Piland, Zelma Mayo, Dovie Champ and Emma Muse.

Clay County Implement Company (Haywood Motors) advertised the new Plymouths for sale, including the Fury Sport Brougham and the re-designed 1970 Hemi-Cuda.

1979

A rash of traffic accidents was reported 30 years ago this week, though only one resulted in serious injuries. Meanwhile, Betty Russell will chair the annual Walk-A-Thon for Arthritis set for Oct. 28. Also in the news, the Larry Sanders family of Caraway was named as the Northeast Arkansas Farm Family of the Year.

In sports, the Mohawks traveled to Lepanto and beat the Panthers 28-0 Friday, Oct. 5. Kerry Vannada had two touchdowns, Brent Simpson added another and Greg Bomar also had a TD on a fumble recovery and run. Brad Wright added one two point conversion. Singled out for play on defense were Ray Stow, Todd Fry and Scot Gower. Up next will be a visit to Highland. Meanwhile, the volleyball girls lost to Caruthersville and split with Paragould.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature is "Alien" while the late show was "Swinging Swappers."

Paul Garrison of the Piggott Baseball and Softball Association reported that the annual work day at the ball diamonds has been set for Saturday, Oct. 13. And a party was held Oct. 7 as Timothy Fair celebrated his fifth birthday.

Carryville Co-Op had a sale on anti-freeze with SF/A brand at $3.29 a gallon or Prestone at $3.69. Wheat farmers were also encouraged to see Gayle Garver or Aldion Turner for their seeds (no payments until April 1, 1980 with approved credit).

1984

Don Roeder of Piggott was given the "Trustee of the Year" award by the Arkansas Library Association at their meeting. Roeder is chairman of the Clay County Library Board and a member of both Piggott Library and the Northeast Arkansas Library boards. Also in the news, many of the big name politicians were unable to attend the recent Democratic rally due to bad weather.

The Piggott school board reviewed plans for the new middle school building at their meeting, going over color samples and discussing whether to sprig or sod the dirt berms around the semi-underground building. This week's paper also included an article re-printed from the Kansas City Star about Hemingway's time in Piggott , submitted by KC resident Shirley (Wright) Schoettlin.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature is "Ghostbusters" and coming soon "Revenge of the Nerds."

Members of the First United Methodist Church of Piggott, and Simmon's Chapel United Methodist, marked the bicentennial of Methodism in the past week. And new channels on Piggott Video Cable included--MTV, The Nashville Network, USA Network, WGN, Nickelodeon, WPTY24 from Memphis and Country Music Television.

In sports, the Mohawks fell to Paragould 6-27 with Michael Lewis scoring the Tribe's only touchdown. Thad Hinkle had six and a half tackles to lead the defense, and was singled-out along with lineman Damon Cluck. Greg Mallard also had an interception to end a Bulldog drive on a pass tipped by Randy Lowe. Up next will be Highland. Meanwhile, the junior Mohawks fell to Clay County Central 0-14.

1989

The old Clay County jail was torn down Wednesday, Oct. 4 and removal of the debris pile began the following day. Sheriff Darvin Stow brought down the structure by pulling away one corner with a bulldozer under the guidance of road crew supervisor Carroll Poole. Also in the news, new officers of the Piggott School board are--president Charles Morrisett, vice president Scot Sale and secretary treasurer Barbara Harmon. Other members are Darrell McCrillis and Howard Winberry. During their meeting the board voted to hire Chlodean Mayo as new head cook at PMS, replacing Mary Bradford on her retirement. They then voted to replace Mayo with Patsy Poole.

The annual Piggott Chamber of Commerce banquet will be held Tuesday, Oct. 17 in the Piggott Middle School Cafeteria. And a grand opening was held at the Taylor Food Mart on U.S. 62 West (near the clinic) on Oct. 7. Bonnie Risener is store supervisor and Jan Jones is manager.

City employees Becky Hillman, Lisa Howell and Sandy Scheffler donned hardhats to help move their offices in the past week. The staff members were moving from the utility office in city hall into the MLWS operations building on North Thornton.

The senior football Mohawks had a bye week, while the juniors played Clay County Central to a 6-6 tie. Chad Taylor had the lone Piggott touchdown, and was praised for his play along with running back Michael Harrell (who started the season at center). Jason Lance and Matthew Self also were singled-out for their defensive play. And the Lady Mohawk volleyball teams beat Westside and Walnut Ridge in the past week.