Stories from Wednesday, August 29, 2001

Deanna Webster is enjoying her new job as the educational coordinator at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott. "I love meeting the people who come up for tours," she said. "I enjoy the interaction with the people." Webster comes to the educational center after 21 years as a sixth grade math teacher in the Piggott School District...

The following is the Piggott Lady Mohawk volleyball schedule for 2001: Aug. 30 vs. Walnut Ridge (Home) 7-12th 5:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at Brookland (Away) 7-12th 5 p.m. Sept. 6 vs. Pocahontas (Home) 7-12th 5:30 p.m. Sept. 7-8 Bartlett Tournament at Bartlett, Tenn. senior high only...

The Piggott Lady Mohawks will begin their quest for a return to the state tournament this Thursday evening as they host the Walnut Ridge Lady Bobcats. The match will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the seventh grade team opening the night's action followed by a junior high contest. The senior high team will play following the junior event...

The Piggott Mohawks open their 2001 gridiron campaign Friday night against the visiting Rector Cougars. The Mohawks are hope to reach the postseason for the third consecutive season. Coach Jason Burkman and the rest of the Mohawks got a glimpse of their Week 1 foes last Friday night as they traveled to Rector to see the Cougars scrimmage against the Corning Bobcats...

Piggott head football coach Jason Burkman was quite pleased with the play of the Mohawks in last Tuesday night's preseason scrimmage against the Paragould Rams. Although the AAAA East Rams were victorious 31-19 in the overall game, Piggott was triumphant by a score of 19-18 in the first half as both teams played their A squads. Both teams substituted heavily in the second half, keeping the probable starters on the sidelines...

Lucille Magee, 85, of Irving, Texas, formerly of Piggott, died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2001, in Bedford, Texas. She was born Aug. 21, 1916, in Ravenden Springs, Ark., the daughter of the late Leonard and Ida Allison Binkley. She married Dale Magee on Oct. 7, 1932, in Piggott. He preceded her in death...

Mary Christine Price Nanney Newsom, 83, of Greenway died Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001, in Pittsfield, Ill. Visitation will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31, at Hoggard and Sons Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, in Hoggard and Sons Chapel with David D. Landwehr officiating...

James Eugene (Gene) Ward, 74, of Piggott died Monday, Aug. 27, 2001, at the Veterans Hospital in Memphis. He was born April 27, 1927, in Boydsville, the son of the late General Jackson and Mary Elizabeth Bolton Ward. He married Joyce McComb on July 31, 1947. To this union six children were born...

Geneva Marie Cates, 81, of Campbell died Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001, at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell. She was born Oct. 29, 1919, in Pollard, the daughter of the late Thomas William and Sylvia Alice Adami Maples. She was first married to Horace Allen Arnold on June 6, 1940, in Kenneett. He preceded her in death on Aug. 8, 1964...

State District 84 Representative Travis Boyd of Piggott gave the keynote address as the Delta Studies Center unveiled the first presentation of the Oral History Project "Arkansas Delta Agriculture and Community in Transitition, 1920-1980" Sunday afternoon, Aug. 26, at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro...

State Senator Tim Wooldridge of Paragould has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Arkansas Municipal League. The Municipal League honored Wooldridge because of his effectiveness throughout his legislative career on issues of concern to cities and towns...

What is it about an old tractor that takes one back to his childhood? Is it the memories of working in the field or better times in an era when day-to-day life was easier and had a slower pace? For collectors of antique and classic model John Deere tractors, "it's the sound" the machines make when they are cranked up, according to Leroy Brawner of Piggott...

A Piggott Church of Christ minister is continuing the Ukranian mission work he began a few years ago and has seen the wonderful results of his endeavors. C.O. Evans was in Donetsk, Ukraine, June 13-27, and a main highlight was seeing an ever-increasing congregation...

John Reid Hitchcock, 95, of Paragould died Wednesday, Aug. 22, at Arkansas Methodist Hospital in Paragould. A retired bookkeeper and thread artist, he was born May 9, 1906, in Paragould. He was of the Baptist faith. Survivors include one sister, Alice Warriner of Pine Bluff, and one niece, Mary Warriner McBee of Pine Bluff...

Randy Wayne Mangrum, 44, of Paragould died Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2001, at Hughes. An auto body repairman, he was born Oct. 20, 1956, in Fort Wayne, Ind. He was a member of the Paragould Christian Church. Survivors include his mother, Marian Mangrum of Paragould; two daughters, Kristie Price of Paragould and Kari McGhee of Little Rock; his grandmother, Lois Carrier of Paragould; two sisters, Robin McFarland of Paragould and Rhonda Lamb of Festus, Mo.; two grandchildren, Kaitlyn and Jacob Price of Paragould, three nephews, one niece and one great-nephew.. ...

The 2001 Rector Cougars got their first taste of real action last Friday night as they hosted a scrimmage against the Corning Bobcats. In the short, two quarter contest, the Bobcats held the senior Cougars scoreless in a 14-0 win. "We made a lot of mistakes," Rector head coach Wade Williams said following the game. "At least now we know what we have to do get things fixed."...

The Associated Press released their preseason high school football poll in Little Rock over the weekend. The top three picks in the AAAAA conference were Cabot, Little Rock Central and Fort Smith Southside. Taking the top three slots in AAAA action were Morrilton, Alma and Wynne...

The Cougars kick off their 2001 campaign Friday night against the Piggott Mohawks and coach Wade Williams says there will be two completely different teams competing on the field. "Two different types of football will be seen Friday night," the coach said. "I'm sure Piggott is going to play their usual smashmouth, right-at-you kind of game. We're more of a quicker team that relies on our speed, so it should be pretty interesting."...

It was a very, very short summer, at least to me. I had planned on taking a couple of days off at some point this summer, but time has just slipped away. High school baseball and softball seasons segued into little league tournaments and the weekend-long events continued at a nonstop pace. Now, believe it or not, it's football season...

Dennis William Blount, 73, of Paragould, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2001, at Arkansas Methodist Hospital in Paragould. He was born Nov. 2, 1927, in Greene County to the late William Guy and Katie Wilson Blount. He was owner of Blount Auto Sales in Paragould, was a veteran of the Army, having served during the Korean conflict, and was of Baptist belief...

Major Ray Price, 58, of Paragould died Monday, Aug. 20, 2001, at Arkansas Methodist Hospital in Paragould. A retired captain of the Paragould Fire Department, he was born June 15, 1943, in Stanford. He was an Army veteran and a member of East Side Baptist Church...

Daisy Nell Wycoff, 85, of 207 South Fourth Street, Marmaduke, died Monday, Aug. 27, 2001, at Arkansas Methodist Hospital in Paragould. Mrs. Wycoff was born April 30, 1916, in Greene County to the late Sylvester and Eva (Fagan) Golden and was married Dec. 29, 1933, to Lester M. Wycoff, who died in 1976...

Donna Faye Ford, 62, of 207 North Fairview, Rector, died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2001, at Baptist East in Memphis. Born Oct. 5, 1938, in Rector, she was a homemaker and a member of the Fifth and Pine Church of Christ. She was the daughter of Cecil Scott, who died in January 1983, and Mary McKeel Scott, who died in December 2000...

The Christian rock band Kanon, of Ormond Beach, Fla., will play at a number of venues this weekend in Rector. Arriving Thursday night, Aug. 30, the band will perform Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Two of the band members, Nathan Hargrave and Drew Hodge, are grandsons of Sue and Don Mosley of Rector. Drew's paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Hodge, are from Halliday, and Nathan's paternal grandmother is Mamie Etta Hargrave of Rector...

The Rector High School Student Council will host a Rock-A-Thon Friday, Sept. 7, to raise money for the purchase of books for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at Memphis. Rocking will begin at 7 p.m. and continue through 5 a.m. "By doing this, we hope that more people will get involved and donate money to St. Jude," said Student Council president Nicole Beacham. "It costs $650,000 a day to run St. Jude, and it is mainly run through charitable and individual donations."...

Rector Realty, formerly Rector Real Estate, will have been open one year in September. "We want people to know that we are still in business," said Bonnie Beal, principal broker of the company. "We changed ownership, changed names and remodeled, but we're still here. New signs will go up in town soon," she said...

Glenna Bookout "My most memorable Labor Day was also my birthday," recalled Glenna Bookout. "I think I was turning eight. It was the first time I was allowed to stay all day, but that was probably because my mother was selling tickets for the carnival rides...

It's now 60 years since the Labor Day Picnic got its start in Rector, and according to organizers of this year's big event, the 2001 version is shaping up to be one of the best ever. With four straight days of activities, the lineup promises fun for all. All proceeds of the Labor Day weekend activities will go to the Woodland Heights Cemetery Association for upkeep of the cemetery...

Let's face this "what-if" before it could happen. What what-if? You know what what-if. You know if you've followed the Razorbacks just since last December. What if Nevada-Las Vegas beats Arkansas again? Too many have an answer. Fire the coach. Always a popular home remedy even before this era of Internet boards and talk radio...