PEA RIDGE — 40 Years Ago

The March 5, 1970, issue of the Pea Ridge graphic was dedicated to the 108th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge. On the front page was a picture of a man standing on what was a trench of the fighting men, the earthworks that were the first order of business in order to get artillery into place for the attack.

James Wade Sikes, a veteran of the Battle of Pea Ridge and the first mayor of Rogers, was pictured with his hunting hounds.

He was pictured only a few years before his death at the age of 100.

In a letter of greetings to readers of the Battle of Pea Ridge edition of the Graphic, Senator J.

W. Fulbright said he was “happy to have played a part in bringing about the creation of Pea Ridge National Military Park, which is one of 11 such parks in the nation. The Battle of Pea Ridge was a significant event in our nation’s history.”

30 Years Ago

In an editorial, the Pea Ridge Country Times requested state legislatures Senator Kim Hendren and Representatives Dick Barclay and Clayton Little explain why that month Pea Ridge had run out of money and had to borrow and why Pea Ridge School District was shorted on state funds and forced tocut salaries.

Pea Ridge Blackhawk Brently Wilkerson was named to the All-Regional Tournament Team during a trophy presentation period at Marshall.

Betty Stover of Seligman stopped to check a tire on Missouri Highway 37 north of Seligman. According to Barry County Sheriff’s Office, a man in a tan van pulled up behind her and took her money at gunpoint, about $200.

20 Years Ago

The general chairman of the 1990 Pea Ridge Lions Club Mule Jump said that year’s event would be bigger and better, as planning for the event was under way in early March. The club ran out of sweatshirts the year before and planned to order more.

Chamber coupons for the 1990 Eva Patterson Pioneer Spirit award and the 1990 Fred McKinney Community Leadership award were to be cut out, filled out and mailed in to nominate individuals.

The City of Pea Ridge was dismissed from a condemnation lawsuit filed the previous year by three Pea Ridge residents who contended that they suffered damage to their land from the paving of Arkansas Highway 265.

10 Years Ago

This year marked the 138th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge. Several stories illustrated the history of the battle, includinga photo of the late Dr. Lee Olen Greene, whose office occupied the upstairs of the building where City Hall is now.

Homemade chili, bluegrass music and an old fashioned pie auction raised money for the Pea Ridge sesquicentennial celebration, as more than 100 people from Pea Ridge and other parts of the county, and even people from Oklahoma and Missouri, gathered at the Emergency Services Building at Brightwater Junction.

Construction was progressing quickly on Pea Ridge’s new high school.

Superintendent Roy Norvell said all roofing was finished, with the exception of the gym.

Church, Pages 2 on 03/03/2010