Stories from Wednesday, November 7, 2007

A special ceremony to honor local veterans and the celebration of Veterans Day will be held Friday morning at the Trumann High School auditorium. The program, presented by the THS JROTC Wildcat Battalion, will begin at 10 a.m. Mayor Sheila Walters will be the featured speaker at the program. The THS Band and Varsity Choir will perform also. The program is open to the public and will salute Trumann's soldiers who died in battle as well as all local veterans...

My husband James and I recently took a short trip to Branson with our nephew, Garner. The trip was to get a head start on my Christmas and to just take a break for a couple days. My hands down favorite store in Branson is Kringle's. It is stocked full of Christmas items only. ...

Second Judicial District Circuit Judge Ralph Wilson recently received the Community Service Award from the Arkansas Judicial Council at their annual fall meeting. The Judicial Council is comprised of current and retired circuit and appellate judges in the State. The award is presented each year to a judge that is chosen by his/her peers for off the bench activities in service to the community...

Some might think it is impossible a Confederate widow is still alive. However, it was recently discovered that a Confederate widow was residing in an assisted living facility in West Helena. Maude Hopkins of Lexa, is very much alive. Mrs. Hopkins married her first husband, Confederate William M. Cantrell, an aging widower, in 1934...

Recently members of the Jefferson Davis Chapter #2191, United Daughters of the Confederacy, visited with a real daughter, Estella Raiteri, and real granddaughter, Pam Knowles in Olive Branch, Miss. Mrs. Raiteri is the daughter of C.B. Lowe who enlisted in the Confederate Army in March 1864, when he was sixteen years old. He was later taken prisoner of war and was paroled in Grenada, Miss. in May 1865. Many years later he married a much younger woman and had two sons and a daughter, Estella...

Tina Middleton, owner of Checkerboard, is experiencing something most small business owners in rural areas never do, the 11th anniversary of her store being open. She is celebrating this monumental occasion with a large storewide sale. Middleton is getting a jump start on the holiday season and has several decorated trees in the store already. ...

Air Force Airman Jeremy D. Grant has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. During the six weeks of training, the airman studied the Air Force mission, organization, and military customs and courtesies; performed drill and ceremony marches, and received physical training, rifle marksmanship, field training exercises, and special training in human relations...

When Richard Albert Walker graduated from Trumann High School in 1947, he did what most young Trumann students did at the time. He went to work for Poinsett Lumber and Manufacturing Company which later became known as the Singer Company. He worked at PL&M and also attended Arkansas State College (now ASU) in Jonesboro...

Jimmie Lou Fisher, consumer education instructor for Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, recently spoke to the Trumann Lions Club regarding consumer issues. During her political career she has served as Greene County treasurer, state auditor and state treasurer. She was also the 2002 democratic nominee for governor...

Raoul Simpson, Jr. was arrested Oct. 30 by Det. Jonathan Skaggs of the Trumann Police Department and charged with residential burglary and battery in the third degree. Simpson was arrested in conjunction with a case involving his father Raoul Simpson, Sr., who was arrested Oct. 28...

The Crossroads Coalition will celebrate a year of accomplishments and announce some significant new initiatives at its third annual banquet, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the Technology Center for the Delta in Wynne. Tickets are $35 and include a 2008 membership to the Crossroads Coalition. Corporate tables of eight are $250 and include eight memberships. Tickets at the door will be $50...

The THS senior high basketball program now has 16 players on its roster, Coach Skip Dulaney told the Trumann Rotary Club last Thursday. Dulaney added that he expected four to six additional players to join the squad at the end of football season. Dulaney said he was excited about the upcoming season. ...

The Alzheimer's Support Group will met at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 13 in the East Arkansas Area Agency on Aging small conference room on the south side of 2005 East Highland, Fountain Square Complex in Jonesboro. For more information contact Glenda Ford at 870-930-2236 or 1-800-680-6950...

A day of gospel singing, which has been dubbed "A Day of Thanksgiving," has been set to begin at noon Saturday, Nov. 17 at the East Side Baptist Church in Trumann. Everyone is invited to come praise and worship and hear old songs of Zion with Christian praise and worship songs. All performers are from local churches and include Ronnie Dye from Maple Grove Baptist and members of the Assembly of God and Cornerstone Baptist in Harrisburg, among others...

The weather was beautiful and the people were smiling as they poured into the Cedar Park Elementary cafeteria. The annual tradition of the Trumann Lions Club BBQ was again a successful fundraiser for the club. We fed approximately 2150 plates of delicious BBQ...

As I write this the temperature is warming to 70 degrees. However, with the onset of frost, cattle producers should be careful to monitor their herd for prussic acid poisoning. Prussic acid is generally found in stressed plants and is produced when growth is adversely affected. When growth is checked by moisture stress or frost, enzymatic action may take place, producing prussic acid...

Browsing through old volumes this week, I came upon the following information: Most everyone in town remembers what a big party Singer threw at its annual barbeque. In 1960, Singer was still known as Poinsett Lumber and Manufacturing Company. The July 21 issue of the Trumann Democrat reported that PL&M barbecued 5,225 pounds of meat for employees and their guests at the annual picnic that year. The 1960 picnic was the largest in the company's history at that time...

This upcoming Monday is Veterans Day. To me, understanding the meaning behind Veterans makes it more than just a day the banks are closed and some of the lucky few are off work. It's a time to celebrate and remember the heroism of those who have fought for our freedom...

Injuries and a lack of depth finally took their toll on Trumann as the Wildcats' season came to a screeching halt Thursday night at Gosnell. The home standing Pirates jumped to a 34-0 first half lead and went on to demolish the Wildcats 41-8, assuring the hosts of a state tournament berth...