On April 27th while most of us were going about our lives in 2021, Daltons Place Residents took a trip back in time to a world of cowboys and gunslingers. The residents and workers alike enjoyed games and reenactment actors visiting them to show them how the West really was!
Ms. Frances Hunt with her prize for the pin the mustache on the cow contest.
Sheriff Randy Shores was in attendance to make sure no outlaws were out of hand, as the Indian Territory Pistoleers put on a show for the eager crowd. The reenactment depicted a shootout between the actors.
Sheriff Randy Shores took time to pose with the Indian Territory Pistoleers.
Photo props abounded around the residence and the cowboys and cowgirls had a hog killin’ time, you might say, taking photos and enjoying their day.
Having secured the number one seed in the 3A-4 North division, the Paris Eagles added an additional non-conference game with West Fork as a late add to their regular season schedule. West Fork, from the 3A-1 conference, are in first place in their conference, and the game with Paris was beneficial for both teams who are sharpening their games before they begin their respective conference tournaments. So on a beautiful day in Paris and on the last day of the regular season, the Eagles came away with a 7-3 come from behind victory over the Tigers.
Resident Press Photo
The Eagles trailed early in the game after the Tigers took a 3-0 lead into the Paris half of the fourth inning. Then, as it does sometimes in high school baseball, the wheels fell off of the Tiger pitching, and the result was three unearned runs and Paris scoring six in the bottom of the fourth. The Eagles would eventually add another run, and the once again solid relief pitching of Eagles freshman Konnor Edwards, would shut the Tigers down for the rest of the game, and the Eagles would go on to a four run victory.
Resident Press Photo
Paris coach Josh Hart commented after game, “The win against the 3A-1 top seed West Fork marks the sixth game in a row the boys have won. We faced some adversity early in the game, but showed heart and came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 7-4. Our pitching staff had another solid outing, combining for seven strikeouts and only allowing three hits. Konnor Edwards continues to be a clutch closer for us coming in during the fifth to close the game out. He had six strikeouts only allowing one hit and no runs in the three innings he pitched. Our defense played great behind our pitching staff making several outstanding plays that were key plays in the win. Aiden Neumeier showed some range, catching four balls in shallow outfield to save base hits. Blake Martines and Nate Henderson connected for a 8-2 throw out after Blake dove for a shallow fly ball to end the game. Super proud of the boys and the way they continue to play with heart.”
Resident Press Photo
Meanwhile, in Sebastian County, the Lady Eagles softball team was also playing a non-conference game that was added late to their schedules in advance of the district softball tournament on Thursday. The Lady Eagles visited Mansfield to play the top seeded Lady Tigers in Class 2A. Paris came away with a decisive 9-0 win, allowing just one hit on the day.
After the game, Lady Eagles softball coach Donald Hart said, “A quality win over a very good 2A Mansfield team that I expect to make a deep run in the state tournament. We got our best performance to date in the circle by senior pitcher Jadyn Hart. Hart allowed only one infield hit while striking out 12 hitters. Offensively, we keep finding ways to score runs against quality pitching. We’ve played five solid games in a row to carry us into our first game in the district tournament.”
Both Paris teams will play in the semi-finals of the district baseball and softball tournaments on Thursday at Booneville. Both games will begin at 6:30 p.m. The semi-final winners in both tournaments will advance to their respective finals that will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Semi-final losers will play in the third place games that will be played on Friday at 4 p.m. Teams around the state are competing in conference tournaments to determine which teams will advance to next week’s regional tournaments.
Weather is always a factor this time of year, and baseball and softball have to dodge tournament days where rain is threatening the postponement or the rescheduling of game times. The key word is flexibility; both for the teams and for their fans. Rain is forecasted at the end of this week, so, there is a possibility that district tournament games could be pushed to the weekend or beyond. So stay with Resident Press for updates on any possible weather-related schedule changes that affect tournament play.
Resident Press Photo
But for now, Resident Press will see you at the ballparks in Booneville on Thursday! Good luck to both Paris teams this week in their quest for conference championships!
When the Paris school board accepted the resignation of former head football coach Tyler Clark on April 7, Paris fans were taken a little by surprise and instantly became anxious to know who would lead their beloved Eagles into the next football season and beyond. Clark, who accepted an offer to become the Russellville Cyclones’ offensive coordinator, led the Eagles to their most successful season in program history. The 2020 Eagles went 9-1 on the regular season and were conference runner-ups to Booneville. Booneville narrowly escaped Paris in week nine, surviving a frantic come-back by the Eagles late in the game. The loss to Booneville was the only loss of the regular season for the Eagles.
As a number two seed in the state playoffs, Paris won first and second round state playoff games versus Salem and Greenland. The home victories in the playoffs sent the Eagles to northeast Arkansas where they ran into a very good Hoxie Mustangs team that eventually lost in the state semi-finals.
Paris has several key players returning in 2021 from last year’s state playoffs team, although they have lost key interior linemen on both sides of the ball to graduation. But the nucleus for a very good team will be back having acquired valuable experience on the field and in the playoffs. Having tasted a good run in the state playoffs, the 2021 senior class of players is hungry to taste more this November.
So the stage was set with Coach Clark’s announcement and the anxiety of fans and supporters of the program that it was imperative to find the right coach, and find him quickly, to give this class of players a legitimate chance next season to realize their dreams of a state playoff run.
The Paris school district quickly set about finding a replacement for Clark. And that search came to an end last Thursday, April 22, 2021. In just two weeks from the resignation of Coach Clark, the district announced the hiring of former Russellville High School head football coach, Jeff Weaver. From start to finish, this was a “lightning fast” search compared to most situations, and the district sat out to find their guy…and Coach Weaver was their guy. Time frames can be misleading to those of us on the outside and who are not privy to the day-to-day events and internal discussions that lead to eventual recommendations and approvals or rejections by the school board. Most commonly known, many college athletic directors have a list of successors for head coaches in their respective sports should a vacancy occur in any given year. The lists may not produce the eventual candidate that is recommended, but the list serves as a starting point for coaching searches.
Paris athletic director, Casey Mainer, may be like many high school athletic directors, and there may not be an actual list of candidates for each sport to begin searches. But no doubt, past coaching and administrative relationships that are formed play a key role, and most high school athletic directors have an informal network of coaching and administrative contacts that they go to search for candidates when vacancies occur. I say this to suggest that the two week time frame from the resignation of Coach Clark to the eventual recommendation of Jeff Weaver was substantially more than two weeks. Most athletic directors have their ears to the ground, and in Mainer’s mind, the wheels were probably already turning with the “what if” scenarios. It is just a fact of life of Class 3A athletics. Many coaches that are hired seldomly stay for twenty years in a small school district. So a wise administration, although hard to think about losing good people, have to be ready to move quickly since vacancies occur fairly frequently at this classification. Class 3A schools simply cannot compete with money and other perks associated with larger school positions.
But the one thing that small schools and their communities can offer is a sense of belongingness and a feeling of being wanted. And as I say this, I am going to go on the record to say this extends to teachers as well as every employee in a district. All of us want to feel wanted, appreciated, respected, and recognized for the work we do. Sadly, this principle is lost sometimes, and when it is lost, it usually results in loss of personnel.
With all of that said, Jeff Weaver is thrilled to be coming to Paris where he feels wanted. This may be a good lesson for all of us. We need everyone in our district and community to feel wanted and appreciated.
The district issued an announcement on Coach Weaver’s hire on Thursday night in a letter from assistant athletic director, Trey Prieur. The letter below, is the official announcement from the district, in its entirety.
Image Credit: Paris Public Schools
Eagles athletic director, Casey Mainer shared with me, “We are excited to have Jeff Weaver here as our head coach. In my estimation, he is one of the top coaches in the state. He has proven that he is a program builder and he is a community builder. He has made a commitment to come here to Paris to build a program that will not only put Paris on the map every few years, but be in the conversation every year as a solid team. Coach Weaver’s coaching pedigree; you can trace it all the way back to his days at Greenwood and experiences he has had with Ronnie Peacock and Coach Jones. He was not comparable to any of our other applicants. The fact that he has gone to other programs that had struggled in years past and how he was able to come into the community and get some buy-in with the community and the players, and he has proven that at Mena and at Little Rock Christian. We are so excited to have him at Paris. We had some quality applicants from local coaches in the River Valley and we were very impressed with that. That’s a credit to Tyler Clark and the current staff in Paris and what they were able to do in Clark’s three years in Paris. It was a much more attractive job than it was when Tyler took it over. But at the end of the day, Coach Weaver’s pedigree and his success at different locations made us feel like this was a “no brainer” decision for us.
Image Credit: Paris Public Schools
So, for Paris football fans, the “white elephant” in the room is the question that some fans have…What happened at Russellville, and why did Paris hire a Russellville coach that had the record he had in his final years leading the program? The answer to this question is not simple, and I will attempt to sort through all of the variables of this decision.
After doing some research that included talking to area coaches, Paris athletic director, Casey Mainer, and a Sunday interview with Coach Weaver, these are the facts that I believe shaped the recommendation for his hire. But before I go into detail, I want to go on record by saying that I believe Coach Weaver’s hire is a good thing for Paris: the community, the character of leadership he will employ with his players, and for the competitive football program that he will build in Paris that will sustain long-term success. Success that will not only be enjoyed this football season, but in years to follow.
With respect to Weaver’s tenure in Russellville, and with all due respect to the Russellville school district and athletic program, Russellville can be a very tough job for any head coach. In fact, most recently, the Russellville school board announced the termination of its superintendent, Dr. Mark Gotcher.
On April 21, 2021, the Russellville school district released a public statement regarding the termination of their superintendent. The statement reads, in part, “On January 20, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Russellville School District evaluated the job performance of its former superintendent…the employment contract between Dr. Gotcher and the district provided that the Board of Directors may extend the contract by one or more years if the Board of Directors , in its evaluation, determined that Dr. Gotcher achieved satisfactory progress toward realizing the goals set forth by the Board of Directors….The Board of Directors declined its option to extend Dr. Gotcher’s contract as part of the January 20, 2021 evaluation.”
The public statement from the Russellville Board of Directors went on to say, “Since that time, a range of issues persisted related to Dr. Gotcher’s relationship with the Board of Directors…Therefore, failing to resolve those issues and reach an agreeable end to his employment relationship with the Russellville School District….on April 20, 2021, the Russellville School District Board of Directors placed Dr. Mark Gotcher on paid administrative leave effective immediately and terminated his employment contract effective June 30, 2021.
It is always a traumatic event for a district to terminate its superintendent. Add to this, the loss of other key personnel, and it all adds up to uncertainty for any district. Russellville is certainly not alone, and this is not intended to be of any disrespect for a very good school district.
The “word on the street” from several coaches I have spoken with all seems to point to coaching jobs at Russellville to be very challenging due to a very tough conference in which the Cyclones are a member, and, most recently, the turnover in administration in the district. It appears to me, and this is just my opinion from the research I have conducted over the past few days, that Coach Weaver may have gotten caught up in the turnover that appears to be taking place at all levels of administration and operation in the district. So, my opinion as of this moment is, although Russellville has many positive aspects to their district, it may be a very tough place to work at this time. I could be wrong, but that is my impression.
So the whole point of this is to suggest, for Paris fans, we should look past Jeff Weaver’s years at Russellville and look to the many years of his career in other districts. Russellville hired Weaver in 2017 to succeed Billy Dawson who left to take the head coaching job at Fayetteville High School. Dawson resigned at Fayetteville in 2019. Russellville hired Weaver because of his coaching roots in Greenwood and his demonstrated ability to build programs as he previously had accomplished in Mena and Little Rock Christian.
As I mentioned earlier, I had the opportunity to visit with Jeff Weaver on the phone Sunday. The two of us spoke for approximately one hour, and I recorded his information for this story. I hope his interview will provide Eagles fans with an insight into the man, the coach, and the next leader and mentor for the current as well as future student athletes who participate in the Paris football program.
Our conversation opened with Coach Weaver expressing his excitement of moving to Paris and getting started in his new position. The new Paris coached began by saying, “We’re excited to be Paris Eagles and looking forward to getting to know everybody.”
I went directly to his experience at Russellville, and much to his credit, Coach Weaver addressed my questions head on. When I asked him simply, “What happened at Russellville?”, Coach began to tell the story. “Our talent…we did really well our first two years with the talent that we had. In 2019, we struggled. And in 2020, we were extremely young, extremely undersized, and we were actually very competitive. We lost five games by a touchdown or less. One of those losses was in overtime where we went for two to try to win the game against Lake Hamilton who finished runner-up in the state in 6A. We did a lot of things well, but we just came up short with the loss total over the last two years. Our talent dropped at the same time there were several other issues in the district and its leadership. We were very competitive, but we just came up short.”
To my earlier point in this story, I am putting it out there for Paris fans to consider Coach Weaver’s coaching record before his appointment at Russellville. When I made this point with Coach Weaver, he remarked, “All the years prior to that (Russellville tenure) have been extremely positive. We went over to Mena and took over a program that had won four games in three years, and our last three years there we were in the playoffs and practicing on Thanksgiving Day. So, we were able to turn that program around. Went to Little Rock Christian where they had fallen on some hard times, and the same thing…was there four years and the last three we were in the playoffs and made it to the state semi-finals. We were 13-1; 5A Coach of the Year, West All-Star coaching staff (offensive coordinator) and had great success there. And again, the first two years at Russellville, considering the talent we had, was very successful. We won games at El Dorado, Texarkana, and we beat Jonesboro in the playoffs. All of those teams had much better talent that we did. We actually gave Greenwood their best game, losing 20-19. So, I am proud of the work we have done, and I think we are really a good fit for Paris, and Paris is a really good fit for us.”
Jeff Weaver was hired by the Paris board of education last Thursday evening. In fact, he is now on contract with the district and began officially working for Paris on Monday of this week. But less than 24 hours after his hire on Thursday evening, Weaver was back in Paris, visiting with players in the program from the sixth grade up through his current returning senior high team. He has spoken with them, watched them work out, and has spent time developing new relationships with the players. Weaver, speaking to sixth grade students who are in or interested in playing football for the Eagles, told them that he would be their coach all the way through their years in high school. Coach Weaver plans to meet with Pee Wee coaches and all other levels of football coaches in between to teach his terminology and philosophy. So, every child who plays football in the Paris community will be practicing and playing with the same fundamentals and system that will be used on the senior high varsity team. In my opinion, that is how you build a program, and that is how winning is sustained every year by developing players and not changing systems every four years, or, neglecting the base talent of the program in Boys Club and middle school.
And it doesn’t end there. Coach Weaver plans to have many bonding and team-building functions with players, parents, and fans to bring all of them on-board and to invest fully in the community’s and schools’ football programs. Perhaps this is what Coach Weaver meant by not being a fit in Russellville. Perhaps, in larger cities and communities, certain philosophies do not fit well for program building. But in a community of the size and demographics of Paris, Weaver’s philosophies will fit like a glove. I have seen it work in many other communities similar to Paris.
The biggest compliment I can extend to the new Eagles coach is that of being of high character and being the type of coach I would want my own son to play for. Coach Weaver told me in our conversation that if he were only preparing boys to be good football players, he would be failing at his job. It is not enough to just be a good football player. He expects them to be good students, good citizens, and grow into good men who will later on become good husbands and fathers. That is his priority, and much like the philosophy of Tyler Clark, I have tremendous respect for both men. Our players in Paris are very fortunate to have had the opportunity to play for Tyler Clark, and now, I believe that are equally as fortunate that Jeff Weaver will be their new coach and will carry these core values forward in the program.
In future stories in Resident Press, I will bring our fans more about the Eagles new coach. Paris returns excellent player personnel in the “skilled” positions of quarterback, running backs, and wide receivers. Weaver will run a four wide offensive set that will be balanced and can run quickly or can slow the tempo as needed. I expect returning senior quarterback Chase Watts to have an outstanding year. I expect Watts to flourish as a passer in Weaver’s up-tempo, passing offense. I expect Duke Walker to have an even bigger year, if that is possible, in the wide-open offensive philosophy that Weaver will bring. It is evident to me from our conversation that Coach Weaver is cognizant of the nature of Class 3A football and the fact that many players play both offense and defense. I expect him to adjust the install of his offense accordingly, not to move too quickly and keep his defense from getting adequate rest in cases of going three and out on offense. I also expect him to protect players from accumulating an undue amount of physical punishment during the season so that they are as injury-free as possible going into the playoffs.
Defensively, the Eagles return players such as Mequell Ellingburg who will lead the defense in 2021. I don’t expect to see Paris look too different on the defensive side of the ball than they did in 2020. But I will have more on these topics this summer as the calendar approaches preseason practice and the preseason scrimmage that signals the start of the upcoming football season.
So Paris fans…I have taken the long way around the corner in this story. But I have attempted to paint the picture for you on several aspects regarding the new football coach. My bottom line? Forget about Russellville, and look at Coach Weaver’s record previous to his stint for the Cyclones. I think this could turn out to be a huge hire for Paris, and one that could finally provide the Paris fans with a reason to be excited EVERY year, and not just every few years. But there is one thing for sure: Coach Weaver has already hit the ground running and is hard at work preparing for the upcoming season, and I bet he will find a way, despite the loss of valuable interior linemen, to move the ball and put points on the scoreboard. It should all be very exciting!
I get excited just thinking about it! And by the way…there are only 120 days (give or take a few!) until football season! Wow! It can’t get here soon enough!
So Coach Weaver, on behalf of Resident Press and the Paris community, welcome! Congratulations on your new position, and I hope you and your family are very happy and successful in our great community!
Scientists searching to answer the question, “How smart are bees?” have, time and again, uncovered breakthroughs that imply there’s a great deal more to this animal than meets the eye. Though their brains are the size of a grass seed, and their commitment to their hives simply a lack of individuality, bees are actually highly intelligent in areas relating to mathematics, communication, and emotion.
Math Skills
We know bees are smart enough to make honey, but did you know they also have a gift for mathematics? In studies, bees have demonstrated strong skills in numeracy, which is the ability to perceive numbers. It’s a behavior we usually associate with higher developed mammals such as chimps, bears, and dogs, and it’s rare to find this perception in insects.
A study showed that bees can count. Researchers accomplished this by rewarding bees for stopping at a particular landmark in a series. The bees could do this even when the length or type of the landmark was altered. Even more impressive, bees understand the concept of zero.
Though zero seems like a simple idea to humans, the ability to perceive the absence of everything is actually quite abstract. Bees proved they understood the idea when researchers presented them some white pages with black dots. Bees were rewarded for picking the option with the fewest dots. Miraculously, when they were shown a page with no dots, the bees could recognize that as the matching option in the pattern.
Communication
Bees are widely known as social animals, but the extent to which they are able to communicate with each other has astounded people the world over and has made scientists seriously wonder just how smart bees are. When a bee makes a discovery, like an area rich in pollen or a new place to gather water, they’ll communicate these findings to other bees through dance.
Bees perform a distinct waggle dance to communicate to their sisters the approximate distance and direction of their new find. During the waggle dance, bees flap their wings and move in a figure-8. Experienced bees can tell by the angle of their bodies relative to their ceiling what their friend is trying to communicate.
Emotional Life
When you look at bees from a distance, there is nothing about their behavior that implies any amount of emotion. But there may be a great deal of feelings going on underneath. We have not yet been able to prove that bees have emotions, but some experiments have made scientists wonder if some we will someday.
To study bee pessimism, researchers analyzed how bees approached chemical mixtures with different gradients of either appealing or unappealing smells. Half of the bees studied were shaken in a chemical mixing device for a minute. This was meant to agitate the bees, to see if it would alter their approach to the chemicals. Sure enough, the shaken bees were more hesitant to approach the good-smelling chemicals than the non-shaken bees. From this, we can scientifically say that bees have a persistent state of negative affect that’s triggered by agitation.
After six innings in Monday night’s game between the Mansfield Lady Tigers and the Paris Lady Eagles, the Lady Tigers were fruitless in producing any runs and struggled to restrain the Lady Eagles resulting in a 9-0 loss. Harlie Fuller was the only Lady Tiger to generate a hit. Mansfield now holds a 10-4 total play record and remains undefeated in conference 10-0. For the 2A-4 District Tournament, the #1 seeded Lady Tigers will take on the winner of the Lavaca/Mountainburg game on Thursday, April 29. Although Mansfield didn’t walk away with the victory, all was not lost for the girls who before the match, celebrated their two seniors, Hailey Walker and Chloe Creekmore, for Senior Night. So far this season, Hailey Walker holds a total of 2 PO, 14 hits, 9 RBI, and 11 runs while Chloe Creekmore possesses 18 hits, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 19 runs, and 76 PO.
Mansfield Lady Tiger seniors, Hailey Walker and Chloe Creekmore
In their final scheduled battle before Districts, the Hackett Lady Hornets took on the Prairie Grove Lady Tigers. And although the Lady Hornets didn’t get the win, they did everything in their power to make sure that the Lady Tigers would have to work for the victory. With both teams equally matched with an amped-up offense and defense, the first two innings stood evenly still. Finally, at the top of the third inning, the Lady Hornets found their footing when Kayla Richardson and Madeline Freeman each scored a trip home. With the Lady Tigers still unable to make the scoreboard move, the game was back in the hands of Hackett to start the fourth inning.
Kayla Richardson
This time it was Madi Taylor who bagged a run when Emma Infalt singled on a fly ball to center field. With the score set at 3-0 Hackett, the game again fell silent until the bottom of the seventh inning when the Lady Tigers evened the score and the game was tied 3-3 going into the eight. For the majority of coaches and players, this final heart-stopping teeth-gritting moment is what it’s all about. The Lady Hornets took a one-point lead when Freeman scored during their showing and now it was down to the final bottom of the game. Prairie Grove tied things back up at 4-4 but then stole the show on the last play earning the 5-4 win.
Shayla Foster
With a total of 10 hits, Madeline Freeman, Madi Taylor (who also collected 1 stolen base), Shayla Foster, and MacKenzie Mendenhall each took two hits while Kayla Richardson and Emma Infalt netted one apiece. Pitcher, Kayla Richardson, went for 7.2 innings earning 7 strikeouts and catapulting 103 pitches to 33 batters. With zero fielding errors, the Lady Hornets walked away with 23 putouts thanks to the sure-handed abilities of Jamye Durham who made 13, Sarah White who got 6, Mendenhall who logged 3, and Taylor who attained 1.
Catcher, Sarah White
The Hackett Lady Hornets now hold a 13-8 total record and are flying into the 3A-4 District Tournament as the #2 seed. The Lady Hornets will face the winner of the #3 Waldron and #4 Cedarville game on Wednesday, April 28 at 4 pm in Booneville.
Last Thursday’s softball game against Lavaca was of the utmost importance for the Magazine Lady Rattlers. This match was going to determine who of the two would be taking the third and fourth seeding for this week’s District Tournament. It was the third seed that the Lady Rattlers wanted and thanks to fireballer, Liz Greek, it was the third seed that they got. Due to Elizabeth’s patience, power, and speed throughout all aspects of the game, the Lady Rattlers came out on top with the win 19-14. “This game was very important to us and our coach,” explained Greek. “We needed this game to make three seed for District.”
Paving the way to victory was Greek’s 5 hits, including an epic homer in the seventh inning, as well as her 4 RBI, 2 runs, and her 6.2 innings on the pitcher’s mound which saw 126 pitches to 42 batters and 9 strikeouts. “It was a good win,” exclaimed Coach Buck Chappell. “Liz sealed the deal with a three-run shot in the top of the 7th. Hats off to the Lady Arrows for not giving up and keeping it close. It was a good battle. Every batter got a base hit and very good defense. Good time of the year to be peaking!”
But Liz isn’t a one man team. Behind her is a strong cast of Lady Rattlers who step up in every game to get the job done. With a fired-up offense who tallied 19 runs, Emily Reed led the lineup with 3 followed by Kylie Robinson, Joslyn Corley, Kiara Vasquez, Gracen Thompson, Raymie Davis, and Jazzman Corley with 2 each, and Destiny Corley with 1. When it came to their field presence, Magazine surrendered zero errors and accumulated 20 putouts with Vasquez snagging 10 of those, Davis earning 5, and Thompson, Destiny, and Jazzman combining for 5.
“What I love about softball, are the moments and bonds you get to create with your team and the adrenaline feeling you get from moments like when you hit a homerun and your whole team is there supporting you,” continued Greek. The Magazine Lady Rattlers now hold a 7-8-1 record and will be going into the 2A-4 District Tournament as the #3 seed. The Lady Rattlers will take on the #6 seeded JC Westside Lady Rebels on Wednesday, April 28 at 6:30 pm. The winner will advance to take on Acorn. “At our game tomorrow,” Greek concluded. “We need to give all we’ve got and stay concentrated. We all need extreme dedication and determination to take home that win!”
One detail that may take United States Army enlistees by surprise is that, while the Army is quite particular about apparel, they do not issue the necessary uniforms and footwear themselves. This is your responsibility. AR-670-1, the official communication regarding apparel and grooming standards, lays out the specifications for footwear. To save you the time of paging through that document, here’s an idea of what to look for in military boots as you enter service.
Comfort: Even in the Military, It Matters
Donning a pair of military boots isn’t much like slipping on a pair of Crocs. Nonetheless, don’t deceive yourself into believing that just because these boots are made for military service, they need to be as rigid as a soldier standing at attention or as unforgiving as your first drill instructor. Even hard-working footwear needs to be comfortable—how else will you be able to stand doing the work? The right pair of boots—lightweight, the correct size, and with the right support in the right places—will enable you to be quick on your feet while handling tough terrain.
Any Color You Like (as Long as It’s Tan or Coyote Brown)
Henry Ford is said to have marketed his Model T automobile in “any color you like, as long as it’s black.” While the Army isn’t quite as limiting in its boot selection, AR-670-1 is very particular about boot color. You can purchase additional pairs of boots in other colors, such as that Model T black, but you must maintain at least one pair in compliance with AR-670-1’s color regulation: either tan or coyote brown boots. This is a narrow specification, but the Army is not the place for individual fashion statements, after all.
Leather Tops, Rubber Soles
The narrow regulations of AR-670-1 certainly do help you know what to look for in military boots. When it comes to construction, the Army requires full leather, non-mesh upper material with a rubber or polyurethane sole that doesn’t exceed two inches in height. The height of the entire boot should fall between eight and ten inches. Anything lower doesn’t provide adequate support, while anything higher could impede your range of motion.
An election to fill position three on the Mansfield School District will be held on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Three candidates will be on the ballot, Trent Hayslip, Jan Carlton and Adam Hecox, who has since withdrawn his intent.
The following is a profile for candidacy from Trent Hayslip:
My name is Trent Hayslip and I am running for Mansfield School Board.
I am a 1993 graduate of Mansfield High School.I moved to Mansfield when I was in 5th grade and have considered Mansfield my home ever since.
I have been married to my wonderful wife Wendy for over 18 years and we have three awesome boys together Trent, Ryan and Zach.Trent is also a graduate of Mansfield High School, Ryan will be a senior, and Zach a sophomore next school year.
I have served on the Mansfield School Board for four and a half years. I have learned so much about our school district and our community from being on the board. I feel that we have made some great decisions in the past four and a half years that have made our district better.
I feel that wanting what is best not only for my kids but all the kids, our school district, and our community is what makes me qualified for being on the Mansfield School Board.
I am running for Mansfield School Board once again to help continue to make Mansfield be the best school district around.
This isn’t something that takes only five men and women to accomplish, this is something that takes a whole district and the community.
Walter E. Holloway of Waldron, Arkansas passed from this life, Thursday, April 22, 2021 in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Walter was born July 27, 1956 to Glen and Florence Holloway in Enid, Oklahoma. He was 64 years old.
Walter was a hard working guy who loved to take care of his family. He was even known for taking care of things that weren’t his responsibility to take care. When he wasn’t working, he enjoying wood working, building big model airplanes, fishing, fishing and more fishing.
Walter leaves behind to cherish his memory, his loving wife of 42 years, Teresa Holloway of the home, two sons: Frank Holloway and David Holloway (Katie Duris) as well as one grandchild, Oliver. Walter is also survived by his siblings: Wayne Holloway, Nancy Sharp, Patty Poindexter, and Kathryn Boese all of Oklahoma and Mary Beth Burns of Colorado. Walter will be missed by all that knew him and the many whose lives he impacted including a host of nieces, nephews, friends and loved ones dear to his heart.
Walter was preceded in death by his parents, and one sister, Roberta Landers.
Arrangements and cremation are being entrusted to the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home & Crematory in Waldron, Arkansas .
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Walter Eugene Holloway, please visit our floral store.
