Stories from Thursday, February 19, 2009

Mary Margaret Willis, 78, of Trumann died Friday, Feb. 13 at St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. She was born Oct. 17, 1930 to James F. and Connie (Cole) Orr in Burdette. She was married to Garland Eugene Willis on Nov. ...

Thomas Snell, 78, of Harrisburg died Tuesday, Feb. 10 at the NEA Baptist Medical Hospital in Jonesboro. He was born June 29, 1930 at Manila, the son of Jessie and Annie Mae (McDonald) Snell. Snell married Velma Baker on June 27, 1980...

Terry Wayne Pyland, 49, died Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, at St. Bernards Medical Center. He was born Feb. 26, 1959, at Jonesboro. A lifetime resident of Caraway, he was a carpenter and member of Community of Christ Church...

When I look back on my childhood, my granny was a big part of it! She was a real "firecracker." She always kept it in line. She kept papa in line too. I can hear her telling him "Now Bud, don't let her drive." Or don't buy her another Barbie. ...

Minnie Moore, 68, of Marked Tree died Thursday, Feb. 5, at home. She was a member of Anderson Chapel Missionary Baptist Church and had been employed as a restaurant cook. Minnie was devoted to her family and will be lovingly remembered by her sons, Charles Woodson of Crawfordsville and Harold Moore of Jonesboro; daughter, Ressie Whitfield of Marked Tree; brothers, John Moore of Marked Tree and Thomas Moore of Boydton Beach, Fla.; sisters, Bennie Faye Lanear of Detroit, Richard Mae Moore of Chicago and Scottie Moore of Phoenix; five grandchildren; an uncle; nieces; nephews; cousins; and many friends.. ...

Johnny "Jack" Van Maness, 73, of Marked Tree died Feb. 12 in Marked Tree. He was born on May 29, 1935 in Booneville, Miss. He was a welder. Maness is preceded in death by his parents, Hubert Maness and Lillie Ruth Pace, one daughter, two sons, two sisters and three brothers...

Irene Goad Hardwick, 85, of Cordova, formerly of Marked Tree died Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009, at Grace Health Care of Cordova, Tenn. She was of the Church of God faith and was preceded in death by her parents, four sisters and one brother...

Christopher W. Gaskill, 48, of Earle died Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at his residence. He was preceded in death by his mother Helen Gaskill. Survivors include his daughter, Sierra Gaskill of West Memphis; father, Dr. Billy W. Gaskill of Paragould; brother, Mike Gaskill of St. Louis, Mo. and a sister Patricia Lynn Gaskill of Paragould...

Dorthy Abbott Castro, 66, of Lepanto died Thursday, Feb. 12 in NEA Baptist Hospital in Jonesboro. She was a retired Nursing Home Administrator at Three Rivers Nursing Home where she was instrumental in the building of the new facility...

Hazel Alexander, 81, of Marked Tree died Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, at NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital at Jonesboro. She was preceded in death by her husband, Avon Alexander; three brothers; and two sisters...

Inez Pittman Anderson, age 96, of Tumbling Shoals, died Feb. 8, 2009, at her home. Born at Argenta on Sept. 15, 1912, she was the daughter of the late Parker Henry and Dona (Hazel) O'Roark of Marked Tree...

If you ever wondered why I voted to have the Legislature meet annually, all you had to do was read a small article in Thursday's paper. By a vote of 57-42 the state House passed a bill allowing persons with a concealed weapon permit to bring them to church. The Senate will consider the bill this week, and may even have acted before you read this...

Did you know that there is a holiday for everyday? They even have a website to confirm it. http://www.holidaysforeveryday.com. Who makes this stuff up? My guess is greeting card companies in order to sell more cards and gifts. Some of these are pretty good while others are just downright silly...

It's easy to get lost in our day to day routine and become self-focused people. We worry mainly about ourselves and what's in it for me a lot of times. But it's in some sort of hardship that people's true character is revealed...

Between a successful football season and a devastating ice storm, the Marked Tree basketball Indians were scrambling much of the season to make up games to get in all the required conference games. Add to that the fact that, according to coach Barbara Wilburn, the Indians, while a scrappy bunch which played their heart out every game, were simply "not very good."...

The Lady Indians season came to an Monday night in the first round of the 2A-3 district Tournament at Riverside in Caraway. They fell at the hand of Turrell 50-28, but not before attempting a comeback which fell short...

The Marked Tree Junior Lady Indians had little problem with the host Riverside Lady Rebels in the first round of the 2A-3 district tournament Saturday, winning 39-27 after building up a 21-7 halftime lead...

The EPC Junior Lady Warriors gained a place in the 2A-3 district tournament final Monday afternoon at Riverside with a 41-30 win over Rector. The second round win followed a first round 49-29 victory over Turrell Saturday afternoon...

Only the second period proved to be a contest Saturday when EPC played Rector in the first round of the 2A-3 district tournament at Riverside. Except for that quarter the Junior Warriors had little problem dispatching the Junior Cougars 44-28 to move on to the second round today (Wednesday)...

The Marked Tree Lions Club has always had a mission of helping local children and adults have healthy eyes. They have provided eye exams, glasses and eye surgeries for years for local residents. But the past few years the Lions Club has also expanded their mission to other countries through their partnership with the Student Volunteers Optometric Service to Humanity (SVOSH)...

The Marked Tree Rotary Club will host its fourth annual banquet and live auction at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Marked Tree Elementary School Cafeteria. "This year's theme is a Mardi Gras theme," said club president Donna Henry. "It's going to be a lot of fun, and we want everyone in the community to come out and enjoy a great meal for a good cause."...

Miraculously no one was critically injured Thursday, Feb. 12 when a tanker truck, fully loaded with gasoline and diesel fuel, collided with a 2005 Ford SUV at an intersection six miles south of Lepanto. Spilled fuel from the wreck also caused a fiery explosion during cleanup efforts early the next morning...

As the nation celebrates the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln it seems only fitting that the Great Emancipator should come out on top as the best president ever in a recent poll which ranked the greatness of our presidents...

Did you know that there is a holiday for everyday? They even have a website to confirm it. http://www.holidaysforeveryday.com. Who makes this stuff up? My guess is greeting card companies in order to sell more cards and gifts. Some of these are pretty good while others are just downright silly...

It's easy to get lost in our day to day routine and become self-focused people. We worry mainly about ourselves and what's in it for me a lot of times. But it's in some sort of hardship that people's true character is revealed...

Vera Dell Barker was born on June 27, 1935 daughter of the late Albert and Ina Ann Quattlebaum Jenkins. Mrs. Barker died Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 at Trumann Health and Rehabilitation in Trumann, at the age of 73 years, 7 months and 15 days. ...

Betty Jo Crouch, 70, of Trumann died Monday, Feb. 9, 2009 at St. Bernard's Medical Center in Jonesboro. She was born in Harrisburg, and had lived most of her lifetime in Trumann. She was a retired employee of the Sanyo Manufacturing Company, member of the Eastern Star and a member of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church. ...

Irma Dean Smith was born on March 7, 1932, the daughter of the late Sherman and Bertha Nora Ross Wilkins. Smith died Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at the family residence at the age of 76 years 11 months and 3 days. ...

Mary Margaret Willis, 78, of Trumann died Friday, Feb. 13 at St. Bernards Medical Center at Jonesboro. She was born to James F. and Connie Cole Orr at Burdette. She was married to Garland Eugene Willis on Nov. 7, 1947, at Dyess. He preceded her in death on Feb. 24, 1984. She was a homemaker, a member of the Trumann Housing Authority Resident Advisory Board and of the Baptist faith...

Nana Lou Smullins Seay, 71, of Cherry Valley died Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. She is survived by her four children Melissa Seay Ekman of Nashville, Judy Seay Propes of Jonesboro, Brian and Brad Seay of Trumann; and her husband of 50 years, Odas Seay of Cherry Valley; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; two sisters, Marie Terrell and Ella Sue Weaver; two brothers Carles and Gary Smullin; and many nieces, nephews and in-laws.. ...

OSCEOLA - Skip Dulaney got a little worried when Newport cut the Wildcats lead down to five with about two minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. But he knew he had a specialist in Richie Tharp on the corner waiting to sink a three if they needed him...

The Wildcats kept it close in the first and third quarters against conference powerhouse Osceola, but were outscored 32-11 in the final quarter in a 91-62 loss in a home make-up game last Thursday. "Osceola is known for having good basketball teams," coach Skip Dulaney said. "They are the most talented team in the conference. They have athletes who are 6'6 and 6'7. They wear you down."...

Lacey Staten hit a basket at the buzzer to lift the Lady Wildcats over Gosnell 56-54 in the first round of the 4A-3 Conference Tournament in Osceola Monday. With the score tied at 54 and four seconds left on the clock in regulation, Morgan McKenzie passed the ball to Staten to set up the winning bucket...

The city has hired a part time dog catcher to assist with animal control after hours but may be open to having volunteers help with pet adoptions. City councilman Don Cole said he has had a few people approach him offering to assist the city in rounding up stray dogs and cats...

The city is planning to honor Chief Larry Blagg with a monument at the Trumann Sports Complex. Mayor Sheila Walters said the city has contracted to erect a stone memorial to show the citizen's appreciation of Blagg's work as chief and volunteer efforts...

Gary Stephenson remembers taking the family car, a 1960 three speed six cylinder Chevrolet Biscayne, and recklessly running the barrels with it at the rodeo arena in his hometown when he first got his drivers license...

The Trumann city council told the chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee to put aside their differences and move forward, or else. The committee, a volunteer body, has been divided over the decision of whether to stick with USSSA (UTRIP) or Little League baseball for the upcoming year. ...

The Trumann Fire Department had set a goal this year of raising $10,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in order to grant two wishes. After the goal had been set, however, assistant fire chief, Earnie Link became worried that a bad economy and job losses coupled with the recent devastation from the ice storm would dampen their fundraising efforts...