Final look back at 2009.

A cotton picker moves through a Rector field in mid-November.

[Click to enlarge]

The NEAITC is awarded a $10,000 grant from Entergy, with customer sales manager David Burnette personally presenting the check during a special ceremony...Longtime Rector businessman Doyne Webb dies at age 82...A large crowd gathers for the Rector High School Sports Hall of Fame luncheon as the 1992 Clay County Central state champion baseball team, Allan Pruett, Bill Cossey and Lavern "Mac" Manchester are inducted into Hall of Fame...Thousands gather in Rector for the annual Labor Day Picnic and its events including the parade, a special performance by the ASU Sound of the Natural State Marching Band, pageants, rides and reunions...Kristie Hardin is named Miss Rector 2009...Glen Sain GMC wins first place in the parade float contest...Hughey and Mary Linam are recognized as the Oldest Man and Oldest Woman attending the Labor Day Picnic, while Jack and Geneva Bearden are announced as the couple who have been married the longest...Kristie Hayes is named the Arkansas Army National Guard's Outstanding Volunteer of the Year...White Oak General Baptist Church celebrates its 70th anniversary...Colleen Osbourne is chosen as Mrs. Rector Healthcare...Flash Market in Rector begins selling scratch-off tickets, and eventually Powerball tickets, following the start of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery...Rector businessman and volunteer Billy Bert Bracken dies at age 72...Rector Lions Club members raise over $1,400 through the organization's mum sale...Rector native Rev. Jerry Jolly retires after pastoring Temple Baptist Church for 50 years...Stephanie DeMent is crowned 2009 RHS Football Homecoming Queen...The Cougars top Palestine-Wheatley, 22-20, to win the homecoming game.

October

Clay County Judge Gary Howell signs a proclamation naming October as 4-H Month throughout the county...Cub Scouts tour the RPD jail and courtroom as part of their "Go See It" community program...Junior high chess team members compete in the Fall Chess Tournament at Walnut Ridge, with Rector eighth grader Josh Hunt finishing the event with the number one overall ranking...Former sheriff and businessman Leon Beaton dies at 89...Marmaduke Elementary unveils its remodeled library made possible through a special program offered by People Magazine and Target...Eighth grader Kaylee Hartsfield and her Red Angus heifer, Sunny, earn the Reserve Grand Champion award at the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock...RES students share their creativity in the annual Design An Ad contest featuring local businesses...RHS German students take part in the school's final Oktoberfest celebration...Rector welcomes hundreds of visitors as the host site for the first round peewee football regional playoffs in which the Peewee Cougars post a win over Cross County in order to advance...RHS seniors Stephanie DeMent and Clinton Haley are announced as state finalists for the 2009 Wendy's High School Heisman awards...James W. Graves Head Start hosts a fall festival for its students and their parents...RES students celebrate drug free life choices with a Red Ribbon Rally...Clay County native and acclaimed singer and actor Craig Morris is the special guest for the Helping Hands Foundation's benefit presentation of the film "A River Within" in which Morris stars...Children off all ages take part in the annual Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating.

November

Virginia Reid retires from the Clay County Library Board after 10 years of service...A lineup featuring Mark Lowry, Jason Crabb and Dailey & Vincent is announced for the 2010 Rector High School Helping Hands Foundation benefit concert...The drama department presents "School house Rock" to the delight of local audiences...Cougar football players Seth Parsley, Joe Gore, Dustin Smith, Cody Hager, Richard Smith, Rodney Hall and Clinton Haley are honored during Senior Night...The community pays tribute to its soldiers during the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the RHS gym...Haven Cagle and Madalyn Crittenden win first and second place, respectively, in the Farm Bureau Essay Contest...Rector natives Dr. Paul Frets, Bill Carter, Mike Randleman and Sherland Hamilton are featured the Arkansas State University publication "100 Years, 100 Voices" commemorating the school's centennial celebration...Clyde Watkins is part of the Lighthouse Gospel Singers group invited to perform in the Sullivan Family 60th Anniversary event at the Ernest Tubbs Troubadour Theatre in Nashville...Rector teen Joseph Hargrave, 15, is the youngest participant in the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Education Center's Writer's Retreat...The City of Rector receives a grant in excess of $6,000 for the restoration of trees lost in Memorial Park during the ice storm...Residents gather at the community center for the annual Thanksgiving service featuring a performance by the RHS Choir.

December

The annual Christmas Parade features several colorful floats and the RHS Marching Band, while the following party at the community center is highlighted by the auction of an original painting by Joel Boyd for the Rector Woman's Club, as well as refreshments and a performance by the RES Band...Rector First Baptist Church's Youth Church Program takes part in Operation Christmas Child, sending gifts and supplies to children in less-developed countries...A performance by "The Usual Suspects," a holiday fashion show, dance routines by Harmony Cagle, Haven Cagle and Sophie Simmons, as well as several types of chocolate desserts, highlight the annual Clay County Arts Council's Night of Chocolate at the Rector Community Center...Democrat publisher Ron Kemp wins the annual college football "Pick-It Line" with an overall record of 88-32...The Rector Lion Club's annual Breakfast With Santa raises $1,600 for sight preservation and community projects...Several people turn out for the RES Gifted and Talented Christmas Talent and Project Show at the elementary multi-purpose room...The Terry and Bret Palmer families celebrate the 100th anniversary of the family's farm...Eighth grader Lindsey Ford wins the school spelling bee...Several school and community organizations work to help others during holiday food drives...The impact of heavy rains overshadow a few snow flurries on Christmas day...Friends and families gather throughout the community to celebrate the end of 2009 as a new decade is set to begin.