It happened here, years ago

The Greenway City Council approved the 1970 budget at their recent meeting. In political announcements, L.D. "Doug" Batey announced that he was running for sheriff and collector after serving two terms as the county's circuit clerk and recorder.

Local Girl Scouts held their annual banquet according to leader Mrs. Bill Irby, Jr. Among those receiving badges in Troop #31 were Denise Watson, Ruby Cells, Cindy Camp, Hattie Mae Richardson and Cindy Brandon. Meanwhile, Mrs. James (Juanita) McKenzie recently graduated nursing school at Poplar Bluff.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the features included "Bullitt" and "Bonnie and Clyde" along with "The First Time."

Honor students at Pollard included--Eddie Littrell, Karen Johnson, Blake Richardson, Billy Tate, Neal Smith, Melda Blake, Rebecca Cargill, Chris Jackson, Michael Haley, Margaret Foster, Phil Akers, Lisa Norred and Kathy McCormick. Meanwhile, Who's Who at Piggott have been named--Miss and Mr. PHS this year are Sheila Jewell and Jimmy Johnson--while Mr. and Miss PJHS were Barry Johnson and Deborah Rouse.

Also in the news, Dr. Jerry Muse was pictured with the six babies that had been delivered at Piggott Hospital in the past several days.

And in sports, the Mohawk basketball team dropped a set to the Rosenwald High School team from Osceola and later split with Naylor. (Rosenwald schools were all-black districts across the south named for Julius Rosenwald, former part-owner of Sears Roebuck and Co. His donation of some $70-million toward the Rosenwald Fund was used to build school buildings, teacher's homes and shops across the south mainly during the 1930's.)

1980

Winners in the Piggott Spelling Bee this year were Randy Hinkle, Marianne Campbell and Karen Cook as they advance to the county bee later this winter. Also in the news, the annual Piggott FFA open farm equipment auction will be held March 15 at the Clay County Fairgrounds. This week's paper also included a variety of snow scenes from the recent frozen precipitation.

Diana Goodman is the new administrator at the Home for the Golden Years in Piggott. Meanwhile, members of the St. Francis City Council discussed finances at their recent meeting. They also voted to increase the salary of Patrolman Kenneth Parker to bring his pay into line with the recent increase in the federal minimum wage.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature is "The Godsend."

The youth group of the First Baptist Church held a Valentine's Party this week in time, crowned as the Queen of Hearts was Michelle Oakley while Gary Gookin was crowned King of Hearts. And the Greenway Cub Scouts held their annual Pinewood Derby recently and the winners were--Britton Hardin, Richard Hardin and Blaine Cooper.

Due to the cancellation of school classes due to bad weather a new calendar has been approved. Graduation will be May 12, with the last day for students May 16 to complete the 175 day school year.

In sports, the junior girls wrapped up their district championship and will play in their district tournament at Hoxie. Meanwhile, the senior girls are seeded sixth in their district tournament and will take on fourth-seeded Walnut Ridge in the first round.

1985

Over 1,200 people turned out for a Farm Crisis Rally at Jonesboro, hosted by the American Agriculture Movement. Lawmakers, producers and others were on hand for the rally, which lasted about eight hours. On a sad note, longtime local newspaperman Laud Payne, publisher of the Piggott Banner, died Feb. 9 in Metropolis, Ill. at the age of 78. The Piggott native was involved with the local paper from 1930 until it was sold in 1967, along with his wife Mary Frances who had died the previous August. Payne's death was eulogized on the editorial page by Times Editor Ron Kemp, who noted that his death came almost exactly a year after the death of noted Rector newspaperman Russell Crow.

At the Carolyn Theater this week, Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds star in "City Heat" while the late show feature was "Wet Lips."

Also in the news, Piggott Community Hospital is planning another "Slimathon" and GTE reports that over $58,234 has been invested for improvements to the local phone system.

In sports, despite bad weather the Mohawks got in games at Westside and Walnut Ridge in the past week and were swept. Dane Coomer led the Tribe in scoring in both games, while Shawn Parker paced the junior boys as they were also swept by the Warriors and Bobcats.

1990

The Piggott School Board voted to extend the contracts of all three campus principals at their recent meeting. Don Taylor would continue at PHS, Lendell Vannada at PMS and Betty Payne at PES. The board also voted to apply for a grant to build a computer lab for fifth and sixth grade students. Meanwhile, a single vehicle crash south of Piggott recently claimed the life of Leah Dawn Midkiff, 22, of Piggott. The 1985 Clay County Central grad was an LPN and x-ray tech. at Piggott Community Hospital.

Three members of the Marching Mohawk band auditioned for the All-State band Feb. 2 as Tanya Simpson, Elizabeth Sale and Heather Sneed all performed. Sneed was chosen as first chair, second band, on the clarinet and will perform with the All-State band at UCA.

Births to report include a son to Mr. and Mrs. Delane Burns of Piggott. The new arrival was named Christopher Lane and arrived Jan. 29 at Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff.

The old Piggott State Bank building is getting a facelift, and is now occupied by The Treasure Chest. During some outside renovation work Raymond Wright found the old Bank of Piggott sign etched in the building's façade.

Members of Rebecca Speer's second grade class recently held career day, and dressed according to their future profession. David Collins was a painter, Miranda Dalton was a teacher, Shannon Grant was a carpenter, Marshall Householder was a farmer, Shad Galyean was a lawyer and Andy Parrish was dressed as a cowboy.

In sports, the Mohawks lost two games by two points each, as they fell to both Walnut Ridge and CRA in the past week. The junior boys were also swept in their games against the Bobcats and Falcons.