It happened here, years ago

Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller will be among the dignitaries at the annual Fourth of July Picnic, and Ernest Webster was pictured showing off the new Ford Galaxie 500 to be given away. Meanwhile, a big crowd is expected for the third annual Saddle Club rodeo, featuring rodeo clown and bullfighter Eugene "Tex" Roberts.

Also in the news, a thunderstorm caused an extended outage of phone service in the area, and the design for the proposed Veteran's monument has been approved.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the features included "The Devil's Brigade" "Elvis 69" "The Queen" and "Hammer Head." Piggott cheerleaders attending the annual clinic at ASU included--Dianne Hughes, Jo Nell Crowson, Holly Litz, Mona Conley, Mary Jane Rogers, Karen Woolverton, Donajo Cluck, Rhonda Wiley, Donetta Hughes, Sandra Tanner, Yvonne Cate and Barbara Hughes.

Janes Department Store featured a sale on Bell Bottom slacks, just in time for the picnic, with boy's styles for $5.50 and men's sizes at $6. Meanwhile, an ad for Dr. Pepper noted they now offer "Dietetic" Dr. Pepper.

In sports, the Piggott Connie Mack team lost to Corning 9-12 with Rick Batey and Teddy Bellers pitching for the home team. The duo gave up just three hits, and struck out six..but walked 13 of their cross-county rivals.

1979

Entertainment at the 54th annual Piggott Fourth of July Picnic will include both the Piggott and Rector High School marching bands along with--"Night Fever" from Jonesboro, The Clay County Bluegrass Boys, The Countrymen and the local Senior Citizens Band.

With the new hospital set to open by July 1, hours were set for the Piggott Clinic as 9-5 daily Monday through Friday as residents were reminded to go to the new E.R. after hours. Meanwhile, Kathy (Reams) Hoggard has joined the staff of Holcomb Pharmacy after passing her national board exam in early June.

At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature was Brooke Shields and Peter Fonda in "Wanda Nevada" while the late show was "Fairy Tales." And it was reported that Coach and Mrs. Joe Black were moving to Marshall, Ark. where he will be the new head football coach and she'll teach in nearby Leslie.

Alma Mae Blake was the winner of the refrigerator given away at Davis Brothers Furniture by new owners Jim and Linda Watson, and an ad for Coca-Cola offered t-shirts with their famous logo for $1.89 plus 24 bottle caps or $2.29 plus 12 caps. Meanwhile, Hardcastle Chevrolet offered a 1979 Chevrolet Scottsdale Bonanza pickup on sale for $6,728 (regularly $7,968).

And Crowley's Ridge State Park, which was built on a former Quapaw Indian camp site, was scheduled for a facelift. Most of the facilities were built by the Works Projects Administration (WPA) in 1933.

1984

Plans for the annual Fourth of July Picnic were set 25 years ago this week, and in her last act as Miss Piggott 1983 Cynthia Duncan cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the new Missouri Research Laboratories factory June 19. The city also held an Industrial Appreciation Day and banquet, with keynote speaker David Harrington of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission.

In other news, bids on building the new Piggott Middle School will be open July 19 and Fred Ort and Scot Sale have taken over the Farmers Insurance Group agency office in town. At the Carolyn Theater this week the feature was "Star Trek III, The Search for Spock" while the late show was "Oriental Baby Sitters."

In the Little Mr. and Miss Independence Pageant (two to four years old) the winners were Matthew Stewart and Jennifer Jackson. Winners in the five to seven year old division were, Melissa Harrell, Leslie Morrisett and Erica Winberry. Rob Johnson of KWOC radio was the MC.

New Lions Club officers included--Bobby Hoskins, Larry Seay, John Lingle, Fred Ort, Dorris Cox and Jim Walker. And top riders at the recent Cystic Fibrosis Bike-A-Thon were--Dale Williams and Gary Swift with 30 miles, Brian Allman and Lisa Swift with 25 and little Billy Qualls (who suffers from the disease) logged a total of ten miles on his bike.

1989

Cong. Bill Alexander will be the Grand Marshall of the annual Fourth of July parade, and as preparations were underway Burl Haley and his roofing crew repaired the ridge row on the kitchen and Ed Howard was pictured repairing one of the stands.

This week also included a feature on "Stormy" a 38-inch tall Shetland pony belonging to the Charles Hinkle family who had retired and been put out to pasture. Since the early 1960's Stormy had pulled a cart, or been ridden by a member of the Hinkle family, in 15-18 of the annual parades. He was pictured with the latest generation, young Seth and Chase Hinkle.

New Chamber of Commerce board members included--Marshall Wheeler, Ron Kemp, Stan Morris, Inga Eubanks and Bob Martin. Meanwhile, a special section noted the 10th anniversary of Piggott Community Hospital. The story noted that in 1988 the facility had a payroll of $1,157,503, had 70 fulltime and 14 part time employees, and showed a profit of $19,000.

Sheriff Darvin Stow and Deputy Don Poole, along with Dunklin County Deputy William Hill of Malden, seized and destroyed over 1,100 marijuana plants along the St. Francis River near Chalk Bluff recently. Stow reported that over 300 of the illegal weeds were 8-9 feet tall, and estimated the value of the crop at over $1.12 million.

Young golfers recognized among Take Fore golf students at Sugar Creek Country Club were--Chad Speer and Jeremy Gearhart for 10-11 year old and Daniel Gossett, Kevin Young of Rector and John Clements among 12-13 year olds.

And an ad for the Fourth of July Picnic announced that "The Undertaker" monster hearse from West Helena would be at the event, noting that it was "a first for Piggott." (It may have been the first visit from the Undertaker, but KTEI radio brought the "King Krunch" monster truck to Piggott in Sept. 1985)