RECOLLECTIONS

50 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic Vol. 4 No. 26 Thursday, June 26, 1969

A Pea Ridge High School teacher, Charles Phillips, was appointed to the Pea Ridge City Council at last Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting. The council made the appointment to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of C.R. Putnam. Phillips is a native of Bentonville and teaches shop and science here. He and his wife, the former Marvine Coonfield of Rogers, have five children.

In March, the council voted to have city books (general fund) audited. The decision met heated resistance at the April meeting with the mayor insisting that the audit was a waste of money. City Recorder Alva Johnson reported that he had followed the Council’s instructions to check the cost, and had been told by the city’s auditor that it would cost “considerably less than $300.” Again, the council insisted on the audit, but at the May meeting, a letter from the auditor was read which the council said seemed to discourage continuation of the idea. At that meeting, the council voted to replace the auditor. During the month, a new auditor from Fayetteville was hired. It was learned at the meeting Thursday that the Fayetteville auditor will begin the audit in July.

At the March meeting, the City Council agreed to raise the amount charged the Pea Ridge Telephone Co. for collection phone payments at Pea Ridge City Hall. The mayor agreed to inform the telephone company. The council checked the books at Thursday night’s meeting and found that the telephone company had raised the amount it is paying the city — but not to the amount voted on by the Council. Mayor Jack Musteen was absent, and not available to explain the instructions he had given the utility company. The council noted, to notify the telephone company that the fee paid the city for the service would need to be raised to the amount voted within 30 days, or the company would have to remove the account elsewhere.

40 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic Scene Vol. 14 No. 26 Wednesday, June 27, 1979

Don Kendall, who opened a law office in Rogers in 1971, looked at Pea Ridge and decided it is a growing community and has a good, sound economic base. Result was that Monday he and his associates opened an office at 109 Leetown Rd., in the quarters formerly occupied by Dwight Taylor. A general law practice is in the plans for the new Pea Ridge lawyers according to Kendall. “Our staff,” he said, “is talented in many facets of the law and we’ll hope to make use of all of our talents for the benefit of Pea Ridge area residents.”

The newly formed Pea Ridge chapter of American Field Service International Intercultural Programs met Sunday to set in motion the process which will bring a foreign student to Pea Ridge for the coming school year. Mr. and Mrs. Andy Buck will serve as co-chairmen for the new chapter. Pea Ridge High School English teacher, Sandra Hart, has agreed to serve as advisor for the AFS student, and will assist in school-student-chapter matters. If a student is available for placement here, he or she will probably arrive in August, and will attend Pea Ridge High School while living for the year with a local family.

30 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 24 No. 26

Thursday, June 29, 1989 The president of the Pea Ridge Chamber of Commerce believes the community needs a United Way and wants the chamber to be the catalyst for the organization. Chamber president Joyce Hale received the endorsement of the membership, which voted to spend up to $200 toward forming a United Way. She said that there are several local groups that would benefit from a Pea Ridge United Way. Among them, she said, would be the Little League, which previously received financial assistance from the Bentonville United Way. Tax exempt status and United Way policy prevented the Little League from getting the money this year.

Five girls will vie for the Miss Pea Ridge title at the 40th annual Pea Ridge Fair. Karen Light is the reigning Miss Pea Ridge. This is the first year the Chamber of Commerce has taken responsibility for putting the pageant together, Chamber president Joyce Hale said. Hale said that the chamber fully intends to use the winner in events throughout the year as a representative of the city. The winner of the contest will automatically go to the Miss Benton County Pageant to be held later in the year. The five contestants are Angie Paulsen, 16; Mary Sisco, 17; Stephanie Phillips, 17; Michelle Johnson, 16; and Gina Blevins, 16.

Pea Ridge Mayor Mary Rogers said Tuesday that Deputy City Marshal Jovey Marshall turned in his resignation effective June 30. Marshal has been with the Police Department since April. Rogers said that advertisements for a replacement will be put in several area newspapers. She said that the city hopes to fill the position as soon as possible. Sam Holcomb, who was recently hired for the city marshal position will start July 3. Holcomb replaces Billy Joe Musgrove.

20 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 34 No. 26 Wednesday, June 30, 1999

The Benton County Radio Operators (BCRO) literally had a “field day” at the home of Shirley and Roger Harris on Chapman Road in Pea Ridge last Saturday and Sunday. June 26 and 27 were designated as Worldwide Emergency Preparedness weekend. During the event, which is held every year, ham radio operators go on-line across the continent and the world to test their ability to help in an emergency. Using generators and batteries, the group set up seven stations at the Harris home and started broadcasting at 1 p.m. Saturday. By 4 p.m. Sunday they had contacted 48 states, Canada and a maritime ship in the Atlantic Ocean. A Field Day contest recognizes those

groups that make the most contacts.

Larry Goins, owner and operator of Oak Ridge Retirement Community for 10 years, says than you to the town of Pea Ridge for its support, “We had a rocky beginning but I’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity and help we have received.” Goins has sold Oak Ridge Retirement community to Brad Carson, who owns three retirement homes in Joplin and Columbus and Baxter Springs, Kan. “He has more expertise in this business than I do and will do a lot of good for Oak Ridge.” Goins said. Carson takes over July 1. “Pea Ridge has a special place in our heart,” he added, including his wife. “If I had it to do over, I would still build in Pea Ridge.”

“We are really going to retire this time,” Vivian Snow insists as she sits among the Going Out of Business Signs at Snow’s Ozark Craft and Flea Market and Bill ’n Dub’s Furniture on Curtis Avenue in Pea Ridge. Vivian and her husband Bill retired from the furniture business in 1983, selling out in Bentonville, Joplin, Rogers and moving to Pea Ridge. Here they opened Bill ’n Dub’s Furniture operated by Bill and his brother, Dub Snow. “We are really going to miss it,” Vivian insists. “We are not leaving because we don’t like it.” She said they just want to be free to run around some and not be tied down.

10 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 44 No. 26 Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Sharon Collins and her family are in the 16th season of owning and operating Collins Blueberry Farm. Come the first of April, Collins is flooded with calls from returning customers to pre-order before the season even begins. She will often sell 20 gallons before the farm is open. Collins’ farm attracts people from all around for fresh berries. One family comes every year from Wichita, picks their berries, spends the night at the Collin’s home and then leaves the next day. “We fix blueberry cobbler for them and ice cream,” Collins said. “Blueberries are pretty easy, we don’t use any sprays or insecticides,” she said. The growing season is usually only three weeks. The farm is a family operation, and all five members do their share. Everyone has to pick at lease one gallon a day. Collins, however, picks for five or more house each day.

Fireworks lit the night sky over Pea Ridge Sunday night. It was a permitted, organized event. But local citizens may not legally discharge fireworks in the city limits. No fireworks may be discharged in town, according to the city’s ordinances. There are exceptions, such as the Freedom Fest event. Organizers of such events applied to the Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department fire chief for a permit and it was only for public display. He said unauthorized fireworks discharging in the city has presented a problem in the years past.

A contingent of Pea Ridge Elementary School artists and their teacher were in Tulsa Sunday for the opening of the Pea Ridge Young Artists Exhibition that will be on display until July 19 at the Gilcrease Museum of American Art. Work done by 42 Pea Ridge young artists from kindergarten through the fifth grade were included in the exhibit which involved tempera paintings, acrylic paintings, charcoal drawings, pencil drawings, watercolors, pen and ink and crayon drawings. All work was done during the past school year among the classroom projects directed by Pea Ridge art teacher John McGee.