RECOLLECTIONS

50 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic Vol. 4 No. 32 Thursday, Aug. 7, 1969

Two men were found guilty of violating the Arkansas Pest Control Law by performing termite work without a license from the State Plant board. They were charged with illegally treating a hour for control of termites in Pea Ridge for which they received $135. Information on the “termite job” was furnished to the Plant Board by the homeowner who became suspicious about the men after reading of one of the men’s conviction in another case, in a local newspaper. Plant Board Specialist J.W. Goree followed through with documenting the case and in obtaining warrants for the arrests.

Russell Jennings, Bart Green and David Patterson work at the job of making tomato crates. They construct a wide wall of crates that nearly obscures the Pea Ridge Canning Company from the south. The three men stood by the some 4,000 crates as they took an afternoon break from their pliers and screwdrivers. The crates they construct will be sent away and returned full of tomatoes to be processed in the local cannery during the tomato canning season that has started in the area.

Five Pea Ridge High School cheerleaders are attending a cheerleading clinic this week at the University of Arkansas. While the parents of the girls financed the expenses of the trip, the girls, themselves, earned the money for their uniforms through car washes, rummage sales and through donations by some local citizens.

40 Years Ago Pea Ridge Graphic Scene Vol. 14 No. 32 Wednesday, Aug. 8, 1979

With 28 prospects reporting for football practice this week, including 18 veterans from last year’s team, Pea Ridge High School football coach Ray Hoback is anticipating a better year in the conference standings than last year. “If we can avoid all the injuries we had last season and can get a lot of playing time from sophomores, we could have a very respectable season,” he observed. From this point, Hoback speculated that the two strongest teams in the conference are likely to be Gentry and Mountainburg. However, he noted that Pea Ridge, Farmington and Elkins could all give the favorites a strong fight and one of them might turn out to be the dark horse that wins the conference.

Engineer Carl Yates told the Graphic Scene Tuesday that action towards the construction of the Pea Ridge sewer plant has been delayed for an indefinite period by the EPA. Step one was the preliminary engineering report and has been completed. Step two, also completed, is the preparation of detailed plans and specifications. Step three is the actual construction. In June, EPA sent an informal letter of approval to Pea Ridge following a visit to Dallas by Mayor Lester Hall, Public Works director Charles Hardy and councilman Lee Otis Hall early in May. The letter dated June 28 from EPA was not a firm commitment according to the EPA Dallas office, but that he, Yates, is optimistic about the inspection tour and expects that “it won’t be too long before we can get started” after receiving the EPA approval of the step 3 grant.

A Pea Ridge youth has been charged with two felonies as a result of his being arrested in connection with the recent robbery of the Pea Ridge Building and Farm Supply. Benton County Prosecuting Attorney David Clinger filed charges of burglary and theft of property on July 7. The robbery involved property valued in excess of $100. Pea Ridge Police Chief Loyd Pifer confirmed that three youths have been arrested in the robbery. The two others have been referred to Juvenile Court. The stolen property has not yet been recovered.

30 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 24 No. 32 Thursday, Aug. 10, 1989

The Pea Ridge Police Department has been in desperate need of newer police vehicles for some time, said Marshal Sam Holcomb. No longer. In a special session last Friday, the Council approved the purchase of two new vehicles. The two new vehicles, both 1989 Chevrolet Caprices were originally purchased by the Dallas, Texas, Police Department. The vehicles were flooded up to the seats of the cars during heavy rains. Holcomb said that the police department refused the vehicles and they were salvaged. The vehicles had, together, less than 250 miles on them when Holcomb picked them up last Friday in Springdale, he said. The city paid $8,000 for each vehicle after extensive inspections. The vehicles were built for police work and had a police package with them.

One Pea Ridge merchant expressed the opinion that if the September property tax and bond issue referendum fails, you can just as well kiss Pea Ridge goodbye. Failure of the referendum, most everyone agrees, would mean the consolidation of the Pea Ridge School District in a few years with either Rogers or Bentonville. Loss of the school district would remove a community focus that would be most difficult to overcome. It would be better for all concerned if we approved the questions on the September ballot for all of the right reasons. A favorable vote will demonstrate that when it comes to an education for our children, we will not accept mediocrity.

Pea Ridge City Marshal Sam Holcomb expressed his appreciation for the cooperation with the no loitering rules that have recently been enacted. Holcomb said that no loitering in the parking lots of businesses after closing time will continue to be enforced. Holcomb said that if the vandalism of mail boxes does not stop, he will be forced to contact the postmaster general to have postal inspectors brought in to help with the problem. It is a federal offense to disfigure, destroy or remove mail from a mailbox. The offense can carry five to 25 years in prison, Holcomb said.

20 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 34 No. 32 Wednesday, Aug. 11, 1999

The Pea Ridge Planning Commission approved a request by TFJ Nominee Trust, owners of Montgomery’s IGA building, to rezone two lots on Smith Street from residential to commercial at its meeting Aug. 3. The rezoning, if voted into law by the City Council at its next meeting, will clear the way for a new, larger IGA store to be built next to the current store. Dave Constien, representing TFJ, fielded questions from Smith Street residents about drainage problems and noise from the larger store. In answer to a question from Arlis Moore about the purpose of the rezoning, Constien explained the new store will sit farther back on the lots and a wooden privacy

fence will be built on the Smith Street side. The city will gain economically with more employees and $1 million dollars in sales, meaning sales tax for the city, answered Constien. In addition, another store will be going in at the old store site needing employees and generating revenue.

At City Hall, a group of interested citizens met to begin plans for next year’s Sesquicentennial Celebration. The group discussed many facets, including fund raising, events, souvenirs, guest speakers, contests, etc. It soon became clear the the first items to be taken care of were the theme and the logo for the Sesquicentennial. Several people presented ideas for the theme, but the group decided to give it some more thought and decide on one at next week’s meeting. As for the logo, the group decided to hold a city-wide contest to design the Sesquicentennial logo.

Monday night, members of the United Fund/Friends for Pea Ridge met at the Bank of Pea Ridge to work on details for the upcoming Mule Jump to be held Oct. 9. The group decided that a flyer needed to be created as soon as possible in order to start a public awareness program. Diana Smith and Shelley Calico were chosen to work on the flyers and hope to have a sample to show at the next meeting. Advertising has been going well. Area merchants (in Arkansas and Missouri) have been very receptive to supporting the mule jump. Russ Bonacker, a Bella Vista resident, read the article in the newspaper about efforts to continue with the mule jump tradition and very graciously offered his services in any capacity because he believes it would be a shame to let the mule jump die.

10 Years Ago The TIMES of Northeast Benton County Vol. 44 No. 32 Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009

“Everybody’s got an opinion on this thing,” Rick Webb, board member, said regarding the flood of calls coming in with questions on the naming of the new Pea Ridge Primary School. “The board, according to the policy, will ultimately name this building, but this committee is going to have a tough deal — there has been more than one phone call (about the naming process).For every person somebody thinks of, there’s a different person someone else thinks of,” Webb said. The signage on the new school needs to be in place before the school district can close out with the contractors. After the name is chosen, it will take six weeks to get the sign ready. Following that, a dedication ceremony will be arranged. School superintendent Mike Van Dyke assured board members there is no hurry on choosing a name, and the board set the deadline for submitting ideas for the October School Board meeting to give the community ample time to decide. The naming committee will set the submission guidelines.

The Hall Pass System is approved. The Pea Ridge School Board met Monday night and approved a oneyear contract with CompuData for the safety of the students. Upon entrance to the school, visitors will be required to scan identification. An initial scan through the National Sex Offender Registry will be made, and, if passed, a badge will be printed with a time stamp, photo and destination of the visitor. After the allotted period of time, an ink stop sign will appear on the badge to prohibit further use.

Some Pea Ridge students will be screened for drug use. After reviewing a proposed drug policy for several months and hearing presentations from two different companies, Pea Ridge School Board members approved a policy at their regular meeting Monday. The new program implemented is very similar to that at Fayetteville High School. On a quarterly basis, 15 to 20 students will be chosen at random by an outside entity. Any drugs taken with a prescription will be sealed in an envelope and sent to a medical review officer. Students will not be tested for specific drugs, but rather for one or more positives.