Stories from Friday, December 26, 2008

By MARK RANDALL Tribune Sports Staff Marked Tree Coach Barbara Wilburn didn't recognize the team which showed up to play Maynard at the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament on Friday. It certainly wasn't the normally scrappy, hard charging team she coached the night before in a losing effort against Riverside...

Betty Jo Burress, 68, of Tyronza died Friday, Dec. 19, 2008, at Jonesboro. She was born Tuesday, Aug. 27, 1940, in Newellton, La. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, two sisters, two brothers, one grandson and nine nieces and nephews...

Roy Chapple, 92, of Lepanto died Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008, at Willow Bend Nursing Home in Marion. He was a member of Lepanto Church of Christ and was preceded in death by his wife, Jewel Chapple. He is survived by his sons, Jerry Chapple of Marion and Roy Chapple Jr. of Southaven, Miss.; daughter, Betty Hill of Southaven; nine grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren...

Richard Lee Freeman Sr., 35, of Osceola died Sunday, Dec. 14 at St. Bernards Medical Center. Survivors include wife, Misty Freeman of Osceola; sons, Richard Lee Jr. and Robert Carl Freeman, both of Cooter, Mo.; parents, Linda and Wayne Freeman of Osceola; sister, Sherri Ann Edwards of Cherokee Village; and brothers, Wayne Jr. and Douglas Freeman, both of Osceola...

Florence Yvionne Owens, 68, died Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008, at the family residence. Born in Lepanto, she had lived in Trumann for the past 33 years and was formerly of England. Mrs. Owens was a homemaker and a member of the First Assembly of God in Trumann...

William L. Pilgrim, 81, of Osceola died Dec. 21, in South Mississippi County Regional in Osceola. He was born June 24, 1927 in Caraway and was a retired Southwire factory worker of 31 years. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charlie and Viola Pilgrim; one sister, Guin Rainey; and one brother, Eldred Pilgrim...

James Michael Smith, 34, of Trumann died Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008, at his residence. He was a graduate of EPC High School in Lepanto. He attended Arkansas State College and was of the Baptist faith. He is survived by his wife Kary Gibson Smith of the home; step-sons Seth and Tyler Mullins of...

Charles Homer Garrison, Sr.,77, of Marked Tree, died December 22, 2008, at VA Medical Hospital in Memphis. He was a member of Trinity Baptist Church and a member of Lepanto American Legion. He was an army veteran of the Korean War. He was preceded in death by his parents Joseph and...

Why are people making such a fuss about Caroline Kennedy wanting to be appointed to the Senate? Gee, a Kennedy wanting a political office, what a shock. People seem truly upset because she will probably get the job just because of her name. So what? She won't be the first person to do that...

Christmas as we know it today has changed a great deal over the century. A lot of our modern traditions have strong roots in commercial marketing, from the red-suited Santa Claus (popularized by an illustrator named Haddon Sundblom in a series of Coca Cola ads in the 1930s) to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (who first appeared in a Montgomery Ward promotional book by a staff copy writer named Robert May). ...

Today was a sad day at the Tri-City Tribune. I get obituaries daily through my e-mail at work, but I can't tell you in words what a shock it was to see one of my best friend's names come across my e-mail in the form of an obituary. Charles Homer Garrision, 77, died early Monday morning at the VA Hospital in Memphis...

The Valley View Junior Lady Blazers outscored the Junior Lady Warriors 7-2 in the fourth quarter of their game which opened the 2008 Junior Raider Classic at Nettleton Saturday morning. Of course, that was about the only positive thing for the Lady Blazers as the Lady Warriors had outscored them in the first three periods, 43-14 for a 45-21 win...

"After the first quarter I thought we were going to need to refund everyone's money who came to the game." said coach Josh Hill following the Junior Warriors' second round 40-36 win over the BIC Mustangs in the Junior Raider Tournament at Nettleton Monday...

"We played hard again and came back and closed the gap at one point," said coach Luke Lovins of his Lady Indians opening round 63-47 loss to 13th seeded Black Rock Saturday in the NEA Tournament in Jonesboro. "We had some breaks that didn't go our way, but we competed."...

Jack and Pauline Noel were surprised to learn that one of their television heroes had Arkansas roots. The couple was driving through Colorado on vacation in 1986 and decided to stop in Cripple Creek when they noticed that actor Ken Curtis from "Gunsmoke" was appearing that day in town...

"I can say me being named Citizen of the Year came completely unexpected," Tony Turner, said Tyronza Chief of Police. Turner was awarded the title earlier this month and was grand marshal of the Tyronza Christmas parade...

Producers of 'Carol' happy with turnout By MARK RANDALL Democrat News Staff Donnie Walters and Jared Weston were thrilled with the turnout for their production of the popular Charles Dickens tale of'A Christmas Carol."...

For three periods it seemed as if the Wildkittens had found the Nettleton Junior Raiders Achilles heel as played them toe-to-toe for three quarters. But in the end Nettleton's abilities proved too much as Trumann fell 45-26 in the second round of the Raider Tournament at Nettleton...

Baker family says thank you to customers By MARK RANDALL Democrat News Staff Brad Baker and his family always looks forward the annual drop-in at Baker Lumber and Hardware Co. Their father, L.B. Baker, started the tradition of serving lunch about 15 years ago as a way of saying thank you to the customers and his Trumann neighbors who have supported the business over the years...

A-State alum recalls long association with Elvis By MARK RANDALL Democrat News Staff The Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Arkansas State College was riding high on a wave of publicity in the fall of 1960...