Stories from Thursday, January 7, 2010

ASU band highlights parade (01/07/10)
This is the second part of the Democrat's year in review recap of the stories from 2009. April The Clay County Democrat releases a special magazine-style publication reflecting on the community's response to the late January ice storm...Abie Petty receives the Arkansas Activities Association Interscholastic Star award for her involvement in both the Rector school and community...The Rector High School Helping Hands Foundation sponsors an art show for RHS art students, resulting in $436 raised for the organization by the sale of students' works...Gifted and Talented students Kristie Hardin, Abie Petty, Chelsea Benson and Amanda Layer represent Rector in the Arkansas Finance Challenge competition, earning third place at the state level...The Rector School District announces classes will end May 28 following several days of closure due to the weather...Hillary Calhoun signs to play basketball with Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill...Rector native Mike Randleman serves as the Distinguished Alumni speaker for the ASU College of Fine Arts Honors Luncheon...Sarah Hester receives the first Moses Knight Scholarship awarded through the Helping Hands Foundation...Bethany Sisneros and Joabou Mitchell receive $5,000 scholarships from the Helping Hands Foundation...Plans for a proposed veterans memorial in Rector move forward following the organization of a committee to oversee the project and several generous donations...Blake McCarroll, Justin Duke and Hillary Calhoun represent Rector in the annual Sun Senior Classic at Jonesboro...Softball players Amanda Bradford, Hillary Calhoun, Stephanie DeMent and Bethany Sisneros are named to the All-Conference team, with Bradford and Calhoun also garnering All-State honors...Baseball players James Bradshaw, Justin Duke, Logan Buck and Dalton Shaw are selected to the All-Conference team...A crowd of 150 people gather for the fourth annual FFA Lawnmower Races at Boydsville...Delta Asphalt of Paragould resurfaces the Rector Municipal Airport runway...Clay County raises over $35,000 for cancer research as part of the annual Relay For Life event, with the Rector team, WRECK, raising $4,846...Logan Buck signs to play baseball with Crowley's Ridge College...Bethany Sisneros and Matt Williams are announced as queen and king, respectively, during the 2009 RHS Prom...The annual Rector Area Chamber of Commerce banquet honors the local members of the community who offered their help during the ice storm.. ...

Best Friends (01/07/10)
Rector Preschool buddies Caleb Manning (left) and Trey Green sit close to stay warm on a recent cold day on the preschool playground. The two four-year-olds, bundled up against chilly winds, chose to watch and talk as several others played on the slide and jungle gym, seemingly oblivious to the cold. ...

Council studies mosquito spraying (01/07/10)
Democrat News Staff With temperatures dropping to single digits at night, one might think that mosquitoes would not be a hot topic at this time of year. But an effort to find ways to eradicate the flying pests was the primary item for discussion for members of the Rector City Council at Monday night's meeting...

Lady Cougars drop game at Marmaduke (01/07/10)
Democrat Sports Staff The Rector Lady Cougars started the New Year with a visit to Marmaduke Monday night, and despite taking an eight point lead into the fourth quarter, dropped a four point loss to the Lady Hounds...

Moderation the key to successful society (01/07/10)
What has set America apart from the rest of the community of nations? Of course, one could say right up front that, despite the fact we are a relatively young nation, we are the world's oldest continuous democracy...

Memorable moments (01/07/10)
Another year has whizzed by. That's kind of scary. Seems like only yesterday it was 2009. All day I've tried to think of memorable moments in the past year. The first memory was the un-forgettable ice storm that paralyzed our region. ...

Versie Odessa Speer (01/07/10)
Versie Odessa Speer, 90, of Rector passed away Monday, January 4, 2010. She was born August 26, 1919, to the late Johnny and Kate (Hyde) Jetton in Paragould. She was a homemaker and a member of Simmons Chapel...