PEA RIDGE — 40 Years Ago

The Rev. Carroll Renfro assumed his duties as new pastor of the Pea Ridge United Methodist Church. He was a native of the Lamar area and came to Pea Ridge from Van Buren.

Thanks to former Pea Ridger Joe Pitts, the Pea Ridge little leaguers were playing with baseballs actually used by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pitts was a mail carrier in Corvina, Calif., and mailed the baseballs to Pea Ridge.

Cathy Green Morrison, a 1969 Pea Ridge High School graduate, was pictured shaking the hand of Governor Rockefeller.

Morrison was on the staff of the Rogers Daily News.

30 Years Ago

Floyd McGinnis, otherwise known as Pea Ridge’s own Santa Claus, informed The Times the building holding items used for the needy would be closed until the firstof September. He said he had been doing this for 12 years and never closed and it was time to take a rest.

The Pea Ridge Country Times informed readers they would no longer need to place two calls to reach the office, the number 451-8420 was being replaced with a rotary system. The system enabled callers to reach the office even when one line was busy by automatically reverting the call to the next line. The new number was 451-1196.

Cleva Roller and Ben Stark of Garfield celebrated 50 years of marriage at a reception hosted by nieces and nephews, whileMr. and Mrs. Cliff Beehler of Lost Bridge Village announced the engagement of their daughter, Nancy, to Douglas Bumsted of Wichita, Kan.

20 Years Ago

The 911 emergency telephone service went into effect in Benton County.

The service was authorized by state Legislature in 1985 and approved in the county in 1988. A surcharge was placed on telephone service to pay for the cost of the 911 service.

The Pea Ridge United Fund set a goal of $10,000 for the fall campaign and named Pat Patterson as head of the campaign.

Lori Parker of Seligman, Mo., was selected asa state finalist in the 1990 Miss Missouri American Pre-teen pageant, held in Kansas City, Mo.

10 Years Ago

Wanda Mahurin, Garfield mayor since 1989, resigned her post at the regular City Council meeting, citing health reasons.

Area school boards declared the positions coming available for the 2000 school board elections, including Sandy Easley’s five-year term on the Pea Ridge board.

Pea Ridge tracksters Dustin Baker, Nina Pinto, Haley Bone and Jade Erwin were all double-gold medalists at the Arkansas AAU State Track Championships in Little Rock.

Church, Pages 2 on 06/09/2010