RECOLLECTIONS
50 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic Vol. 1 No. 10 March 10, 1966
The fire and Civil Defense warning siren has arrived last Friday, according to a city official. The 475-pound siren will be mounted on the city water tower with the electrical controls located at the Sisco Funeral Home.
Saturday afternoon’s winds were biting cold as some 200 persons gathered at the Pea Ridge High School Auditorium; but the one-hour ceremony they went to attend was warm with affection, respect and admiration for the man being honored. He is W.T. Patterson, known locally as “Mr. Pea Ridge.” The ceremony, for which city businesses closed, is the first ever held in the state of Arkansas to take note of a Master Mason’s 75th anniversary as a member of the lodge. Patterson is believed to be one of only about a dozen in the world to have reached such a milestone.
40 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic-Scene Vol. 10 No. 10 March 10, 1976
Dr. Ginger Turley, a general practitioner who is presently operating an outpatient day-clinic in Lincoln, is to be in Pea Ridge Monday, March 15, for an informal public meeting to discuss the prospect of setting up an outpatient clinic here.
A small bit of history was reenacted at Elk Horn Tavern at the Pea Ridge National Military Park Saturday and Sunday as some 40 students of the Civil War gathered to form a replica of a Union Army company. One of the soldiers, Robert Serio of Pea Ridge, said the men are part of a loosely-organized group from throughout the country who share a common interest in the Civil War.
The owners of Harp’s Pharmacy, Ralph Harp, and his brother, Bob Harp, were presented their “first dollar of clear profit” last week by Chamber of Commerce president Sam Spivey. The new pharmacy officially opened for business Monday.
30 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 20 No. 10 March 5, 1986
Business leaders and interested citizens will hear Arkansas Secretary W.J. “Bill” McCuen discuss industrial and economic growth for small communities at the first annual Pea Ridge Chamber of Commerce dinner.
Mary-Lou Beisner, owner and publisher of The TIMES, announced the appointment of E. Calvin Beisner as editor.
Very Important People this week at Pea Ridge Elementary School were Harry Beitzel, David Keene, Lacie Renfro, Cori David, Jamie Townsend, Tommy Miller, Connie Baker, Nathan Musteen, Josh Odell, Cindy Partain, Jennifer Kelley, Jennifer Ford, Barbara Nestrud, Sarah Berry, Mark Burkett and Jennifer Jones.
20 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 30 No. 10 March 7, 1996
The chances are that if you have picked up a copy of the Ozark Mountaineer during the last 25 years or 30 years, you have read a piece written by Irene Keesee of Elkins. Mrs. Keesee, who is often found in the home of her daughter, Pat Worley of Pea Ridge, said, “I started writing when I was in eighth grade, just short stories.”
Pea Ridge High School head basketball coach Larry Walker will begin the 1996-97 school year as athletic director. Walker will replace head football coach Kevin Miller who resigned to become the football coach at Mountain Home.
For many years, baseball has been an activity that many Pea Ridge area youth have looked forward to but this year, major steps must be taken in order to guarantee that all children who want to play will get the chance. Pea Ridge Little League sponsored more than 300 children last year and with that came a practice and game-scheduling crunch for fields. Sharing the fields with the high school baseball team and the Babe Ruth League, which is for 13- to 18-yearolds, became difficult. The board is in the process of purchasing about nine acres west of Pea Ridge. Board members include Patty Villines, Wayne Anderson, Lori Moyer, Doug Huston, John Bray, Randy Easterling, Margaret Anderson, Jim Trammell, Rosemary Goins, Denny Davis and John King.
10 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 40 No. 10 March 8, 2006
Americans from across the nation gathered this past weekend to remember another day, nearly 144 years ago, when Americans from across the national gathered here for a far different reason. On March 7-8, 1862, soldiers from the Union and Confederate armies met on these fields and hills and clashed in a battle that would determine the control of the state of Missouri and thereby, the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. U.S. Congressman John Boozman, National Park Service director Fran Manilla, Pea Ridge National Military Park superintendent John C. Scott and many others joined in commemorating the men who fought, died, survived on these fields.
Shattered glass doors and windows were discovered in the morning by church workers at First Baptist Church; other windows were also broken at Marvin’s grocery store, the old First Baptist Church building and the florist shop as well as in more than a dozen vehicles around town.
A footpath across the rocky hills of Northwest Arkansas broadened with use as thousands of Cherokees trod the path will all they owned heading for the new government-given land in now Oklahoma. This past weekend, principal Chief Chad Smith of the Cherokee Nation led a commemorative walk along the trail across the Pea Ridge National Military Park.