Tornado-spawned winds tore through the region 40 years ago this past week, destroying two barns on the Tennie Johnson farm southeast of Greenway. The past week also brought with it a meeting of the National Farm Organization at the Pollard school. The featured speaker for the meeting was Charles Sisson of Viola, who spoke to the group about farmers needing more control over prices and costs.

Political announcements included Burrell Thompson for the 23rd district state senate seat held by Cecil McNeil of Rector, Carl Ermert for Clay County judge and state rep. F.B. Manatt of Corning for re-election.

Meanwhile there are six candidates for the first district congressional seat being vacated by E.C. "Took" Gathing including Lee Ward, Bill Alexander, Jack Files, Dr. Ralph Ratton, Clyde Andrews and Carroll "Bull" Durham.

In other news, community Easter sunrise services were set for 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 14, at the First Methodist Church of Piggott. This year's speaker will be C. Chandler Burton of the First Presbyterian Church. Also, F&F fishing lake, located three miles west of Crockett, opened on March 31.

This week's edition of The Banner also included a feature on square dance calls by Walter R. Harrell, including; "Honor your partner..and lady on your side. All join hands and circle out wide".

Finally, Hamra's Department Store had a three day sale on Easter dresses, regularly $11.99-$15.99 for just $6.99 each.

1978

Political announcements 30 years ago this week included Rue C. "Cupie" Mack for county judge. He joins independent Oral Moore of Corning, and democrats Sid Haley, Troy Graddy and E.W. Cochran in the race. Meanwhile, the AARP has scheduled a meet the candidate's forum featuring State Rep. Jim Holland and his challenger Gary Janes.

Construction continues on the new Piggott hospital, and the city council handled several related matters at their recent meeting. Aldermen voted to let bids on a phone system, fire alarms and cable TV for the new building. Council also met with members of the Mohawk Booster club concerning work at the new football field.

The ongoing efforts of the American Agriculture Movement took an ugly turn Thursday, April 16, 1978 when authorities discovered a mock bomb at the door of the Farmer's Home Administration office in Piggott. The fake explosive, which did include a stick of dynamite, was wrapped in a sign that stated " "we support farmers". The FBI was called-in to help with the investigation, and officials in Kennett reported a similar incident at the NSCS office in that city.

In other news, General Telephone has announced that they're spending over $350-thousand to upgrade phone lines in the area. The plan calls for new feeder lines for McDougal and Knobel, and a new main line between Piggott and Rector.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature was "Pete's Dragon" while the late show was "Teenagers for Sale".

1983

The Piggott School board voted to re-employ all certified staff for the coming year at a special meeting March 31, then met again April 4 for their regular gathering. Then, on April 11, they met and voted to retain all non-certified staff. In a related story, Piggott State Bank has donated several "Slow-Children Playing" signs which are being put up around the city by the street crew.

The Clay County Social Services department was recognized for excellence. The local office got a plaque for having no errors in quality control for the food stamp program for the period of Oct. 1981 to Oct. 1982. Meanwhile, Brown Shoe handed out safety awards for January to Mark Book, Gene Jones, Vickie Risinger, Eric Haywood and Virginia Cate.

There's a new addition at Six Flags near St. Louis, as the new "Thunder River" water ride is set to open April 23. In other entertainment news, this week's feature at the Carolyn Theater was "The Entity" while the late show was "Hot Summer in the City". Finally, Piggott Video Cable advertised features on HBO for the month of April, including Sheena Easton in concert and Paul Newman and Sally Field in "Absence of Malice".

1988

Strong thunderstorms swept across the region 20 years ago this past week, damaging a grain elevator at Greenway. The winds broke a leg off the elevator, which then fell across the railroad tracks blocking them for most of a day.

In other news, the Piggott Hospital Board has balked at a plan by the city council to borrow $400,000 from the hospital to help pay for the new wastewater treatment plant. The money in question has been set-aside to purchase equipment for the hospital. Meanwhile, the annual Piggott Lion's Club pancake breakfast is set for Saturday, April 15, at the community center.

Local Cub Scouts had a birdhouse building contest recently as a community service activity. First place went to Matt Dewitt, second to Justin Hooten, third was Eric Scott, fourth was Jamie Owens and fifth place was Brock Russell.

In sports, the Mohawk baseball squad now stands at 1-5 after losses to Clay County Central, Greene County Tech, Senath and BIC. The lone win was over Pocahontas. In the 3-2 loss to GCT, Todd Self worked nine innings and struck out 16, while giving up three hits and five walks but the Tribe stranded runners in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. In the 8-4 win over Pocahontas Bryan Allman went the distance for the Mohawks.

Finally, an ad for Lakewood Development offered beautiful lakeside lots on "Lake Blumenauer" for sale. The lots were priced at $4,000 to $6,500 and several were available. The area now is, of course, known as Lakewood Estates.