Stories from Friday, October 30, 2009

This Saturday, depending on your point of view, your children will dress up in costumes and collect candy from the neighbors, or go to church and pray for the souls of all of the kids out getting candy. I don't know exactly when Halloween became a form of devil worship, but I'll bet that that story came from the same people who claim there is a war on Christmas...

Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago...

U. S. News and World Report has recognized Marked Tree High School as one of it's "America's Best" high schools, for the third straight year. U.S. News analyzed over 21,000 high schools in 48 states, looking at reading and math results and then factoring in the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, who, according to the publication, tend to score lower to find which schools were performing better than "their statistical expectations.". ...

When I think of Halloween, I always think about my dad. I think he loved Halloween just as much as we did as kids, maybe even more. Halloween festivities always started around our house the first week of October. ...

Playing five seventh graders against a team which is made up of mostly ninth graders with an 8-0 record and who have allowed only one TD all year seems like an ominous task. That was the situation the EPC Junior Warriors found themselves in last Thursday when they traveled to Walnut Ridge to take on the Bobcats...

Harrisburg (5-3, 5-1) completed their fifth win in a row last Thursday when they hosted the Earle Bulldogs and sent them home on the short end of a 28-14 score. "We're on a roll I guess you could say," said coach Robert Garrison. "We finally put a good defensive and offensive game together. We held them to under 100 yards rushing."...

With only 15 men dressed out for the EPC McCrory game, Warrior coach Brian Weathers knew his team was going to have a difficult time competing with the undefeated Jaguars much less defeating them. He was right as EPC came back home on the short end of a 63-20 score...

One goal for a coach is to see his team get better with each week and each game. Coach Waylon Dunn said he could see some definite improvement in his junior Indians (3-4-1) following their 14-6 win over Cross County last Thursday at Marked Tree...

After a glitch at the end of Sept. called Rivercrest, the Harrisburg Hornets have been taking care of business on the way to a 4-1 conference record. They continued their march toward another possible 3A-3 conference championship Friday night with a dominating performance against previously undefeated Cave City, 26-7 at Harrisburg Friday night...

It was cold, muddy and miserable for the Wildcats ((2-3, 2-6) Friday night at Valley View. But as coach Greg White said after the game, "It was a bad field, but they had to play in it, too."...

Judy Fay Parsley Simpson 27, of Trumann, died Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, at the family residence. She was born in Jonesboro, and had lived most of her life in Trumann as a homemaker. Simpson was preceded in death by her grandmother, Illadean Pipes and grandfathers, Bennie Pipes and John Parsley...

Nellie Pearl Valentine 99, of Trumann, died Wednesday, October 21, 2009, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Valentine was born in Tuckerman, grew up and spent most of her younger years just south of Marked Tree, but had lived in the Trumann area most of her life. She was a member of the Central Missionary Baptist Church in Trumann...

As of the first of October, 529 families have been served by the Bread of Life Food Pantry of Harrisburg. Beth Hervey, the pantry program coordinator, spoke to members of the Trumann Rotary Club Thursday regarding the pantry...

Natalie Teague is the perfect example of why early detection is essential to fighting cancer. In October 2007, Teague was at her doctor's appointment when they began discussing whether or not to schedule a mammogram. ...

The 2009 Marked Tree High School Homecoming court was presented prior to Friday's football game against Clarendon. Rachel Young, center, was named Homecoming queen. The court included tenth graders, Elizabeth Prater and Paige Blansett; 11th graders, Ariel Moore and Shakendra Coleman; and 12th graders, Young, Jennifer Dexter and Amber Ford. ...