Stories from Monday, October 7, 2002

Special to the Tribune Whit Herndon was named as Grand Marshal for the 72nd Annual Terrapin Derby parade, which will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Greenwood Ave. on Sat. Oct. 4. Whit Franklin Herndon was born July 14, 1924 in Houston, Perry County, Ark. the son of Whit P. and Octavia Truelove Herndon. In 1929, the Herndons sold all their property in Perry County and came to live and farm in the Lepanto area...

The family and friends of missing Tyronza girl Jennifer Gill announced last week that a cash reward is now being offered to anyone with information leading to the location and/or safe return of Jennifer Ann Gill, or any information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons responsible for her disappearance. Any donations to the reward fund may be deposited at the Marked Tree Bank...

Two individuals were taken to Memphis hospitals Friday afternoon, as a result of a three-vehicle accident at the intersection of Ark. 135 and 118, near Tyronza. According to Trooper Keat Cohn of the Arkansas State Police, at around 3:40 p.m. Friday, a yellow 1983 Ford LTD, driven by Pauline Yarbrough of Tyronza was traveling south on Ark. ...

Mayor Lawrence Ashlock announced the winners of the Antique Car Show: Best of Show -- John McCord/'64 Corvette; first place -- Bobby Kirby/'70 Ford; second place -- Bobby Kirby/'73 Ford; third place -- Jan Beeson/'33 Plymouth. Andrea Jennings won first place in the Rubber Ducky Race sponsored by the Marked Tree Rotary Club. Second place went to Gary Woods, and third place went to Heath Cavitt...

The 72nd Annual Terrapin Derby, sponsored by the Lepanto Volunteer Fire Department, will be held this Saturday in Lepanto. The Terrapin Derby was originated in 1930 by the American Legion Post 26. Legionnaires would go to the banks of the Lepanto River and collect turtles to be raced down Main Street. ...

Crowley's Ridge State Park, in partnership with the Northeast District Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the CRC, will present a one-day program in which each participant can earn the Heritage Award, an award developed in cooperation with and sanctioned by both organizations. The program will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Sat., Oct. 5, 2002. Please meet at Pavilion #2 on the park grounds...

Aileen Knapp Wheeler, 70, of Dyess died Monday, Sept. 23, 2002 at Methodist Hospital Central in Memphis. A member of the Etowah Pentecostal Church of God, Wheeler was preceded in death by four sisters and two brothers. Wheeler is survived by five daughters, Vicki Janice Long of Dyess, Donetta Virginia Cooksey of Marked Tree, Patricia Ann Foster of Wilson, Keshi Carol Atkinson of Dyess, Diana Jackson of Blytheville; one son, Joseph Anthony Wheeler of Dyess; three brothers, Donald Knapp of Marked Tree, Nolan Knapp of Marked Tree, Joe Knapp of Byhalia, Miss; two sisters, Juanita Whittingham of Trumann and Eloise Miller of Blytheville. ...

Alphas Earl Anderson, 86, of Lepanto died Oct. 1, 2002, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Osceola. He was of the Baptist faith and a Deacon of the First Baptist Church. He was an Army veteran of World War II having served in the Engineer Corps No. 236. ...