It's Autumn and Ham and Bean Supper time

The Pea Ridge High School Alumni Association has decided to move its annual Ham and Bean Dinner and Pie Auction to the beginning of the autumn season.

The upcoming Ham and Bean Dinner and Pie Auction is set for 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, in the Pea Ridge Middle School cafeteria. Meal serving will begin at 5 p.m., and the Pie Auction will start at 6 p.m. Everyone is invited to come and enjoy a tasty, southern country meal and an opportunity to take home some delicious homemade pies from the Pie Auction. The Pea Ridge Middle School is located on Weston Street, just south of the High School.

All proceeds from the meal and pie auction benefit the Alumni Association's Scholarship Fund. Alumni scholarships focus on helping PRHS graduates who need a financial boost in beginning their college careers. Adults eat for $7, children 5- to 12-years of age for $4, and children 4-years old and under eat free.

The Pie Auction will be conducted by Auctioneer Jerry Fitzner. Mr. Fitzner has helped the Alumni with quite a number of pie auctions, and always makes the auction a fun experience, as well as an opportunity to benefit a worthy cause. PRHS Alumni Association Scholarships in 2019 are helping 12 of our 2019 high school graduates begin a college education. Although money paying for meals or for pies are not tax deductible, the PRHS Alumni Association is a tax-exempt organization under the IRS code's Section 501.c.3, and direct donations to the Scholarship Program are tax deductible.

One very helpful way to contribute to the pie auction is to volunteer to bake and donate homemade pies. The Alumni Association members are very grateful for those who have regularly provided delicious pies, cakes, cookies and other baked goods for the sale. If you can bake and donate a pie for the pie auction you can simply bring it to the alumni event on Saturday, Sept 21. Or, if you need to have your pie picked up, contact Linda Schooley at 479-451-8574 or 479-640-7928. All help is greatly appreciated. For information about this event, or about the PRHS Alumni Association, call 479-621-1621, or call Robin Hudson at 479-451-0383. Please direct scholarship inquiries to Penny Schwitters at 479-451-1537.

Friends of the PRHS Alumni Association are invited to come to the monthly meetings of the Alumni Board. The Alumni meetings are held in most months at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday in the School Heritage Building on the Intermediate School campus in downtown Pea Ridge. Everyone is welcome to participate in alumni activities, especially if they graduated from Pea Ridge schools, attended Pea Ridge schools, taught in Pea Ridge schools, or otherwise worked for the Pea Ridge schools. Upcoming Alumni Board meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 10, and for Tuesday, Oct. 8.

As fundraisers for the Alumni Scholarship Program, the Alumni Association also sells Blackhawk chairs. These are strong Kijaro folding chairs, with Pea Ridge Blackhawk logos, suitable for seating at sporting events, picnics, soccer matches or the family backyard. Also available are Photo Books of the Pea Ridge High School graduating classes from 1946 through 2012. A very limited number of Blackhawk stadium seat cushions are still available.

The 2019 recipients of Alumni scholarships were: Cailey Bowie, Carson Rhine, Devin Mathis, Hollyn Davis, Justin Koon, Katelyn Swope, Landon Allison, MacGwire Smith, MacKenzie France, Makalya James, Meredith Mitchell and Nathan Wood.

The Alumni Association especially invites the PRHS students who have graduated from Pea Ridge High School in recent years to join in the alumni activities, attend the monthly alumni meetings, and attend the annual Alumni Day All-Years Reunion held at the High School each year on the second Saturday of July.

If not receiving Alumni mailings and would like to be added to the mailing list, please send mailing address to PRHS Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1111, Pea Ridge, AR 72751-1111.

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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge and an award-winning columnist, is vice president of Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.

Editorial on 09/11/2019