Dott Webb was honored as a "Community Hero" award Friday at the Naturals game in Arvest Ball Park. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Elbert Clardy, started the Benton County Sunshine School in 1958, according to Webb's daughter Kellie Webb.
"Mother has taught there for over 50 years," Kerrie Webb Smith, another daughter, said. "She has touched MANY lives over the years. She has a huge heart and is loved by so many. This award says it -- she is a "Hero" to so many people.
In honor of Webb and representing Pea Ridge, Rick Neal, school superintendent, threw out the first pitch.
"She was so humbled by it all," Neal said of Webb, praising her.
"She is still there, only three days a week now; she's getting close to 52 or so years there," Kellie Webb said. "We had a uncle (Ronnie Clardy) with special needs, but back then, there were no schools for children with special needs, they started the school in a church basement in Rogers."
Referring to Benton County Sunshine School, Kellie Webb said: "That school is really an amazing place, once you go visit the school, an actually meet the special children and see how the staff cares for them, it will change your life."
She said the people in Pea Ridge play a big part of the school.
"Granny Quilts of Love make sure each child has a blanket for nap time," she said.
"It's not just doing for the children at the school, it's going to their homes to help teach their parents how to help care for the kids, and if they need shoes or a jacket, or in one case where my Dad and Mom helped put up plastic to cover holes in the walls, and on windows to keep the cold out," she said. "It's just an amazing place."
General News on 05/14/2014