50 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic Vol. 3 No. 21 Thursday, May 23, 1968

A drive to obtain at least $3,000 with which to purchase necessary instruments and music for a proposed band for the Pea Ridge schools is now underway. The first pledge was received by school superintendent Andrew Widener Tuesday. It was for $25 from Earle Jines. Widener has agreed to receive any pledges or any cash donations for the fund. Pledges must state that the amount pledged will be paid in full by July 1. In the event that not enough money is received or pledged to reach the goal, then the money will be returned to the donor, Widener said. The Pea Ridge Graphic will check on the drive each Monday, and the names of all making pledges or donations during the previous week will be published in the paper.

A couple of University of Arkansas students who have been in Pea Ridge looking for Floyd McGinnis finally found him last week. The girls were from the U of A’s Folklore Class and having seen Floyd’s series of old songs in the Graphic, wanted to get him to sing some of the really old ones for them to record on tape. Floyd told them that Billy Sisco was better equipped to tape a long time on his recorder than the girls were, so the party moved to the Sisco’s. There the group, with Billy’s help, recorded about 20 old songs for posterity. The U of A has been doing a remarkable job for some years now of trying to save Ozarks folklore material, such as the old songs, superstitions, etc., while there are still those around who have them in their minds, since most of the material has not been recorded previously.