It happened here, years ago

The program was set for the annual Fourth of July Picnic this week in time, with keynote speakers Gov. Win Rockefeller and former governor Orval Faubus. Meanwhile, the annual Crockett Picnic to benefit the Mars Hill Cemetery is scheduled for July 8. The Chamber of Commerce discussed obtaining federal funding to build a new community center at their recent meeting. Also discussed was the need for qualified laborers for the proposed Gossard factory.

Government officials also reported that Clay County is one of 85 areas in the country that will be getting the federal food stamp program. And, Gus Camp has announced his candidacy for re-election as municipal judge, joining Guy Brinkley, Jr. and Ed. E. Ashbaugh in the race.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the features included "The April Fools" along with "Oliver" and "John and Mary."

Births to report include a son to Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Permenter on June 10 at Piggott Hospital. They've named the new arrival David Terrel and he joins older sister Lana Renee. And Mr. and Mrs. Doyle Jones of Rector have a new baby girl, born June 16 at Paragould. They've named their new baby Heather Lynanne.

Local Boy Scouts held their annual court of honor recently, and camped at Camp Cedar Valley. Scouts taking part in the Order of the Arrow ceremony at camp included Jeff Howell, Lane Hinkle and Lewis Sells.

And, thanks to new laws it's now illegal to hunt deer in Arkansas with rim-fire bullets, full-metal casings and military rifle ammo. Also outlawed were .410 slugs, unless they're rifled.

1980

The annual Piggott Picnic and homecoming was set 30 years ago this week, with Gov. Bill Clinton, Senator Dale Bumpers and Congressman Bill Alexander on the schedule. And the 1980 census numbers are in, indicating that the population of Piggott was 3,732--up from the 3,087 counted in 1970. The county also showed an increase in population in the past 10 years, climbing 1,456 from a 18,771 in 1970 to 20,227 in the recent count.

The annual Clay County Fair will be held August 19 to 23 at the fairgrounds. And the Coca-Cola hot air balloon was scheduled to touch down on the Piggott square on July 5, sponsored by the cemetery association and several downtown merchants.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the run of "Coal Miner's Daughter" was ending and coming soon was "The Black Stallion."

Mr. and Mrs. Olen Payne celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary June 29 at the First Baptist Church. And Piggott Video Cable announced new channels in the lineup, including WTBS Channel 17 out of Atlanta, WOR-TV from New York and Cable News Network (CNN).

There were a couple of big fish pictures, with Xelene Throgmorton and Ethel Wilkes showing off a 28 pound flathead catfish that W. L. Throgmorton had caught. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Russell showed off a 25 pound catfish landed near St. Francis.

From the ads: Thursday, July 3 at Mabel's Club 25 at Holcomb--see Jasmine, Middle East exotic dancer featured with Joe Keene and the band.

1985

The annual Fourth of July Picnic, and Hemingway Days, were scheduled for July 3 to 6 of 1985 with activities at the picnic grounds, fairgrounds and court square. This week also brought the news that Clay County teachers had fared well in the first round of state-mandated testing. The teachers of Clay County had a failure rate of 4.7 percent on the basic skills test, compared to the state average of 10 percent. Greene County teachers had a failure rate of 5 percent, while Randolph County had a 5.3 percent rate and Lawrence County had 6.7 percent of their teachers fail. The state's best was in Carroll County, in the northwest part of the state, at 2.6 percent and the worst scores came from Lee County, in the southeast part of the state, at 34.5 percent.

At the Carolyn Theater this week "Rambo, First Blood, Part II" was held over.

Joe Cole was pictured with artist Vernon Lyons and his print of the old Clay County Courthouse, the first in a series to be offered. Lyons, who was a senior art student at the University of Arkansas after completing a 25 year military career, was also commissioned to do prints of the old jail, depot, Palace Hotel, bandstand and original grandstand at the picnic grounds.

Also featured was a story on Orval Mowery and his 53 years of working to put on the annual picnic. Mowery had been involved with the cemetery since 1933 and was elected secretary-treasurer of the board in 1948--serving in that capacity for 23 years. At the time he operated Mowery Monument in Piggott with his grandson Wayne, a business that he had owned since 1962.

And, Bea Hollis Gilbert was honored upon her retirement from the Clay County Social Services office after 36 years of service.

1990

The annual Piggott Picnic is at hand, and city electric department worker Eddie Low was pictured putting up American flags. Meanwhile, the annual Pollard Picnic will be held July 7 in that community. Also in the news, the city council turned down suggestions to raise electric rates to finance repairs to the power plant. Alderman Jim Poole noted the effort was important, but added that other means of financing should be found. At the time it was estimated that it would cost some $5 million to replace the city's power plant. In a related note, Leonard Bell announced his candidacy for mayor.

Lt. Gene Bomar of the Piggott Police Department was pictured receiving his GED from Black River Vo-Tech at Pocahontas. Bomar had been with the department since 1973, before high school diplomas were required to be an officer.

Joe Don Schulte won the demolition derby held in the past week, driving Sam Williams' car after his gave out in a heat race. Second was Gary Dunlap of Pollard and third went to Joe Don's dad, Chuck. Three Piggott area students took part in the AAU National volleyball competition in Illinois. The group included Liz Sale of Piggott and Julie Davis and Nikki Pounds of Pollard. And, the Tri-County League team is hosting the Junior Babe Ruth District tournament. Piggott players on the squad included Chad Taylor, Darrin Johnson and Jason Beck.