RECOLLECTIONS

50 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic Vol. 3 No. 18 Thursday, May 2, 1968

Keith Escue, a young dairy farmer of Pea Ridge and a member of the Pea Ridge School Board, received recognition in the May 1968 issue of the “Lutheran Witness,” official publication for 2.5 million members of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church. The magazine cited Escue for receiving the “Outstanding Young Farmer” award presented recently by the Rogers Jaycees. Escue, the father of one elementary-aged son, was superintendent of the Sunday School at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Rogers.

Little League Baseball is coming back to Pea Ridge. This is the announcement this week from the sponsoring organization, Pea Ridge Jaycees. A total of 34 boys have signed up for the tryouts set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, at the Little League Ball park. Others are needed. Enough boys are needed to form four teams.

Is it possible for Pea Ridge —nlike some towns its size — to have a school band? This is the question that will apparently be decided at a meeting called by school superintendent Andrew Widener. The meeting resulted from a petition presented to the Pea Ridge School Board at its regular meeting. An unannounced number of names of school patrons (those eligible to vote in this school district) signed the petition requesting the School Board study the feasibility of adding a school band to the curriculum. In presenting the petition to the board, Widener prefaced the presentation with the comment that he had previously checked with “two persons” and had been told that it would cost $5,000 to purchase uniforms and equipment for a band. Two other members, Keith Escue and Jewell Pendergraft, expressed the viewpoint that the Pea Ridge school should “have a band if it can be financed.”

40 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic-Scene Vol. 13 No. 18 Wednesday, May 3, 1978

A day full of baseball and softball is planned for Saturday, May 6, following a special dedication ceremony at Pea Ridge Day Memorial Park. Following the short dedicatory ceremony,

Mrs. Lois Day, widow of famed baseball player Clyde “Pea Ridge” Day, in whose honor the park is named, will signal the start of the “play day” by throwing out the first ball.

This year, for the first time, Benton County taxpayers are informed on their tax statements of the portion of their bill that is assessed for voluntary taxes. Voluntary taxes are those that you are not required by law to pay. Most of the presently levied voluntary taxes are longstanding ones that were begun “way back there before I was in office,” as most government officials put it.

Rodgers Easton, who now lives in Pea Ridge, saw Day play several times in Kansas City. “You could really tell when the game was going good.” recalls Easton. It seems the better Day played, the noisier he got. Day’s sense of humor followed him off the baseball diamond and he delighted in telling tall tales whenever he could find an audience. An allround athlete, Day played golf with the best, enjoyed playing an occasional basketball game and loved to hunt and fish. A Pea Ridge native recalls when Day built his service station in downtown Pea Ridge. “You could compare it to the opening of a giant shopping center these days,” she said. “It was the most exciting thing to happen in Pea Ridge in a long time. You can’t imagine how modern and ‘big time’ that station was back then.”

30 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 23 No. 18 Thursday, May 4, 1988

Ealine Hardy, formerly of Pea Ridge, a student in the Department of Nursing, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, has been name a Helene Fuld Fellow. She is one of 100 nursing students in the nation selected to attend the fifth annual International Conference and Education on Cancer Nursing in London, England. The Fellowships are provided by the Helen Fuld Health Trust of New York.

If you haven’t already heard a test of the Civil Defense and storm warning siren on top of the Pea Ridge water tower, expect to once a month. A test of the siren was scheduled for today about noon, assuming there is no inclement weather. Fireman Bob Harmon said that the siren, which as been atop the tower for some years, has not been tested recently. He said that from now on firemen plan to test the siren on the same day — the first Wednesday — of every month about noon. “it’s been here a good number of years,” he said.

Six area residents will display and sell their crafts this weekend at the Quail Oaks’ third annual spring country fair on U.S. Highway 62 north of Avoca. The annual fair — the larger of two a year held in October — is the product of Steilow’s experience in crafts and exhibiting over the years. Steilow, who lives on land adjacent to the side of the fair, was born and raised in South Dakota. Steilow and his wife Laurie had not been here long before he produced the first Quail Oaks Country Fair.

20 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 33 No. 18 Thursday, May 7, 1998

The 1998 Pea Ridge Chamber of Commerce Spring Fling was a great success! Residents and visitors attended a pancake breakfast, shopped all the yard sales and found wonderful buys at local merchants. Many were firsttime visitors to town. Several comments were heard from people who said that they had seen the sign and the newspaper articles and decided to visit. Everyone said what a nice town and friendly atmosphere we have here in Pea Ridge.

Pea Ridge High School’s golf team ended the season this spring ranked seventh in the state in division 1-A, said coach Perry Mason. Mason said that the Pea Ridge golf program is two years old. The Blackhawks were able to reach the state tournament by earning runner-up position in the district, behind Shiloh, Mason said. There was a certain amount of satisfaction in the state tournament, Mason said.

Arkansas deer hunters will have to be more highly selective and observant next fall when they put their sights on a buck in the woods. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has ordered hunting of bucks anywhere in the state to be limited to animals with at least three points on one side of their antlers. Hunters and wildlife management workers commonly call this the threepoint rule.

10 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 43 No. 18 Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Tabled again, an ordinance providing issuance of a promissory note for financing of a power lift station was not approved as a consequence of a clause in the contract allowing coverage’s in the cost of installing the lift station to be charged to the city. The issue was tabled pending further investigation. Council members agreed to have a special meeting, if necessary, to adopt the ordinance to complete the project.

Elementary school students spent the first couple of hours Friday at the high school. It wasn’t advanced learning, but a power outage that precipitated the move. With power out at the school, Primary School principal Keith Martin sent the elementary school children to the gym at the high school. All businesses, the emergency services building, City Hall and the elementary school were without electricity until after 8 a.m. due to a tree falling into and snapping a utility pole and knocking down a transformer which supplied electricity to town. Storms with high winds, rain and lightning raged through town about 4:30 Friday morning leaving all SWEPCO customers without electricity and trees down across town. By mid-morning, residents around town were out with chain saws and trailers, cutting and loading trees and limbs and cleaning up their yards. SWEPCO service technicians arrived on the scene and restored service to most city customers.

School Board members will meet Wednesday this month instead of Monday. A correction to the administrative salary schedule is on the agenda for the May meeting. Also expected to be discussed are the athletic facilities and the new primary school. At last month’s meeting, board members discussed the cost of bleachers for the football stadium to meet the demands of increased attendance now that the school has been stepped up into a high athletic category.