It happened here, years ago

The derailment of a Cotton Belt freight train left 34 cars off the tracks in the Mary's Chapel community west of Greenway March 15. The crashing train cars also interrupted long distance service in Piggott and Rector as phone lines were destroyed. Also in the news, Luby Adams of Piggott sustained critical injuries in a two-vehicle crash in Paragould Friday, March 13 and was rushed to St. Bernard's in Jonesboro.

Trooper Danny Brown had a warning for local motorcycle riders, reminding everyone that the minimum age was 13 and that mini-bikes were not legal on the streets and highways. Re-elected to the local conservation district board of directors were Fred Ahrent, Charles Smart and Paul Moore. And Memphis Press Scimitar newspaper carrier DeWayne Metheny has won an all-expense paid trip to New Orleans in a sales contest put on by the now-defunct afternoon daily.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the features included "The Secret War of Harry Figg" and "Marlowe."

Visitors in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Rodery recently were 23 members of the Beta Psi Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon of ASU--friends of their son, the late Floyd A. "Sonny" Rodery. And winner of the recent parliamentary procedure contest at GCT was the Greenway FFA team, which included--Richard Benson, Dale Gardner, Ronnie Moore, George Niederkorn, Frank Niederkorn, Neal Watson, Jamie Reeves, Lee Fielder and Ricky Cooper.

1980

The quorum court discussed the problems with the aged Clay County jail at their meeting, and authorized Sheriff Cloyce Pierce to contact an architect for an update on regulations and possible costs. The JP's also discussed the 1979 budget shortfall, and how the matter could be handled. Piggott Softball Association new officers are, President Paul Garrison, Vice President Jerry Webster and Secretary Treasurer Janet Norris.

The overnight search for Angela Morrison, age eight, of Marmaduke had a happy ending in the past week as the little girl was found in good health. The girl had wandered away from her home and gotten lost in a corn field, spending the night with the family's Border Collie. After sunrise she could see the elementary school, and gained her bearings, and was walking home when found. Some 300 searchers had combed the area during the overnight hours.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature is Jan Michael Vincent in "Defiance."

The open house at the Home for the Golden Years drew a big crowd, and featured a performance by The Sounds of Joy, a trio that consisted of Jana Braden, Mark Book and Gayla Broadway. And local Girl Scout Christine Crafton will be taking part in the Wyoming Trail national event.

Career day was marked at PHS, pictured "job shadowing" were--Letitia Dudley and Roger Winchester with Dep. Darvin Stow at the sheriff's office; Vickie Winton at Roeder's Ben Franklin with Don Roeder and Donna Holt with Lynae Irby at the Merle Norman Studio.

1985

The Magee Company of Pocahontas announced that they would locate an expansion of their picture frame manufacturing effort to Piggott 25 years ago this week. The plant would be in the former Prier Brass building, and would employ 40 to 60 people. At the time the Pocahontas location employed 330. Also in the news, a meeting of the newly re-organized Clay County Genealogy Club will be held March 24. New members will be considered charter members, and the annual dues are $5.

This week's paper included a feature on Charlie Bill Smith, of Smith's Shoe Store, and the 47 years he had operated the local business. In the letter to the editor section, local teacher Sue Smith decried the implementation of the state's new teacher testing effort. Elsewhere, there was an ad wishing the local teachers good luck in their first test, which was set for the coming Saturday.

At the Carolyn Theater, Harrison Ford in "Witness."

Clay County Retired Teacher's hosted a visit from the organization's state president, Floyd Pearson, at their meeting. Officers elected were, President William Holifield of Piggott, Vice President Lola Gibson of Piggott and Secretary Treasurer Mrs. Artie French of Rector.

Former Piggott resident, and current minister of the First General Baptist Church of Bloomfield (Mo.), Rev. Kevin Eskew will preach a revival at the local FGBC in the coming week. And serving as pages for local lawmakers in Little Rock during the General Assembly were Jason Smith and Kyle Chasteen of Piggott.

And for the Mohawk page, future educators Candy Williams and Jon Wellman did a feature preview of the new Piggott Middle School building--giving the new campus a good review.

Baseball for the Mohawks will get underway against the Twin Rivers Royals, with Coach Ted Box returning six starters from last year's 4-7 season.

1990

Low bid on construction of the new jail will go to Ramson, Inc. of Jonesboro for a total of $576,000. The contract calls for the job to be complete in 270 calendar days. Also in the news, Rep. Jim Holland was pictured filing for re-election--meanwhile Gladys Watson had decided not to run for re-election to the seat she assumed following the death of her husband Tom.

Featured speaker for this year's Piggott Area Chamber of Commerce dinner will be Arkansas First Lady Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, the Piggott Lions Club will sponsor a circus in early May. This week also featured a story on the refurbishing of the antique kiddie cars from the St. Francis Picnic. The job was done by students at the Sear's Youth Center in Poplar Bluff.

Taking part in the Arkansas Power and Light leadership Arkansas program were Marhsall Wheeler and Paul Wayne Hoggard of Piggott along with Martha Ahrent of Corning and Stephen Crancer of Rector.

The Extension Homemaker Clubs held a soup and chili supper at Corning, with proceeds going to the county road sign project.

And in sports, the Arkansas Activities Association announced re-classification for the fall of 1991. The top 32 schools would be classified AAAA, the next 32 would be AAA, the next 64 would be AA and the approximately 64 remainder would be A schools. Each would have a total of eight conferences.