Family, friends and co-workers of Darrell Spells, Hackett’s Police Chief, gathered on Friday evening to show their love and appreciation for his years of service to the city.
Spells announced his resignation on Thursday, June 20, and stated his tenure would end on June 29, 2019.
“I have been blessed with an opportunity to achieve a career goal I set for myself long ago and, through much prayer and discussion, my wife and I made the decision to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Spells will be transitioning to the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy as a training instructor.
“They’ve treated me like a king,” stated Spells. “I have nothing but good things to say about the City of Hackett.” He admitted that he has mixed emotions about the move, adding that, “I’m sad to be leaving, but I’m excited for the opportunity.”
We wish Spells all the best in his future endeavors, and join others in thanking him for his dedication to the community.
The Mansfield Mayor’s 5K Race is in its second year of existence. For the second consecutive year, one of Mansfield’s most decorated long distance runners was again the winner.
Southeastern Oklahoma State University sophomore to be, Megan Rose, ran the city streets of her hometown in 22:34 for the victory on Saturday, June 29. The cross country and track runner previously won last summer’s event about a month and a half after her 2018 graduation from Mansfield HIgh School.
And, they’re off!
“My training is fairly light right now,” stated Rose after the race. “I’m only going about 25 miles per week this month. I just used this race as one of my training days. I’ll do a long run of seven miles tomorrow. In July, the training schedule intensifies.”
Megan Rose, 1st Place
Rose was one of several Mansfield products entered in the race. In fact, the majority of the runners had Mansfield roots. Booneville and Russellville had registered runners along with one female racer that hailed from Malibu, California.
Adam Sanderson, 2nd Place
The second place overall finisher was 2009 MHS graduate Adam Sanderson. Sanderson was a decorated football and track star for the Tigers while in high school. He also was a competitive cheerleader in college. Most recently the 29 year old enlisted into the Army and used the Mayor’s race as a workout for his upcoming basic training.
Hope Rainwater, 3rd Place
Current Mansfield students Hope Rainwater and McKenzie Griffin finished third and fourth respectively in the overall standings. The soon to be high school sophomores are members of the MHS Lady Tiger cross country and track teams.
Sponsors for the event awarded top runners with plaques and medals. A pancake breakfast cooked by Mansfield school board member Trent Hayslip was provided for runners and workers after the race.
As the morning festivities wound down, Rose was caught for one more conversation before heading off to do a cool down run.
“Glad to run a race in my hometown,” spoke Rose of her experience being back running among friends. “This community has always supported me and my sports.”
A group of runners were all smiles at the Mayors 5K.Harold & Janet Musgrove cheered on the runners with their Grandson, Hudson Mask
Betty Musgrove encourages her Great Granddaughter, Natalie Bates as she runs by.Debra Bailey of Today’s Bank supported the runners with cold bottled water and words of encouragement.
The Mansfield baseball, softball, and t-ball little league teams enjoyed a very successful season this year. Sitting in a league with other teams from Charleston, Booneville, Hackett, Lavaca, Magazine, Paris, County Line, and JC Westside, Mansfield proved that they could hold their own against anyone they faced.
“Our numbers were up in all age groups this year and every group was competitive. We had some great coaches and we appreciate them for volunteering their time and knowledge to the kids,” expressed league president, Clay Elmore. “We had some teams that were hitting big and ended finishing at the top in the league standings and tournament play.” Those teams were:
The Lil Tigers T-Ball crew coached by Steven and Brittany Moore and David and Brittany Moore. The Lil Tigers scored first place in league and tournament play.
The Tigers 10u Baseball team coached by David Moore and Jeremy Whittaker. They took second place in the league and first place in the postseason tournament. The Tigers 10u Baseball group coached by Chris Williams and Eric Newman. They placed second in league and tournament play.
The Tigers 12u Baseball bunch coached by Clay Elmore and Derick Allison. They placed first in the league and second in the postseason tournament.
The Tigers 12u Softball squad coached by James Whittaker and Rudy Triska. They took second place in league & tournament play.
The Greenwood School District has provided the following schedule for registrations of new and returning students in the District:
New Student Registration If you are registering a student who is new to Greenwood Public Schools for the 2019-20 school year, click here to begin the online registration process now.
Returning Student Registration UPDATES begin July 5th! If you have a student who is currently attending Greenwood Public Schools for the 2019-2020 school year, you will be able to start the student update process on July 5th .
All returning students must update their student information by Tuesday, August 13th, which is the first day of school.
Please contact the school office at 479-996-4142 if you have any questions or need assistance.
On Tuesday, June 25, the members of the Mansfield School Board voted to offer a contract to Joe Staton. In a meeting on Wednesday, June 26, Staton accepted that offer to serve as the district’s next superintendent.
Staton has five years experience serving as Superintendent at Western Yell County School district. Additionally, Staton served as a principal at that same district for a year before taking the superintendent’s position. He holds additional experience in the classroom as an agriculture educator for the Magazine School District.
A gradute of J.D. Leftwich High School, Staton attended both Harding University and Arkansas Tech University.
Staton and his wife, Carrie, currently reside in Magazine. The couple have three children.
The school board worked tirelessly, pouring over many qualified candidates for the position. Ultimately, however, Staton was the candidate who stood out. “We ‘the school board’ were very pleased with the quantity and quality of applicants for the superintendent opening,” said Mansfield School Board President Rick Nicodemus. “We narrowed our search down to five from 24 candidates. We chose Mr. Staton, who we believe will be a great leader for our district. We had some very good final candidates to choose from, and we felt Mr. Staton’s past experience as a superintendent will allow for a smooth transition into our district. He is very excited to get going.”
“I am excited to be a part of the Mansfield School District and look forward to getting started,” said Staton. “I also look forward to meeting the staff, students and kicking off the 19-20 school year.”
The temperature on the bank clock in downtown Lavaca said it
was 98 degrees. The humidity was above
52%, the kind of humidity where you can breathe water. But, thankfully, there’s a new snow cone
stand in town!
Arrow Ice Snow Cones opened this week in the crossroads of
Highways 96 and 255 in Lavaca. It is in
the parking lot of Elaine’s Café and Rub ‘em Tender Barbeque and owned by
Lavaca native Dustin Balance. The
little wood hut may be small but they have a powerfully large menu of items to
order for the customers of our little village!
More that twenty-eight flavors were available, not counting five
sugar-free options and different specialty drinks. One of those is specialty drinks is the Dill
Pickle Snow Cone! They sell quite a few of these, according to the young lady
who was helping out today. Sydney
Crabtree is a cousin to the owner. She
bragged that they were the best snow cone stand for miles! (Okay, they may be the only snow cone stand
around except for the occasional nomadic ice shavers.)
I interviewed Sydney between the patrons coming for their
relief from the muggy weather brought by the sun and recent flooding. Car after car came in my few minutes there so
I decided to give them a try for myself.
Did you think I might recommend them and not try them out? Come now!
I purchase a mixture of Silver Fox and Vanilla Cream. It was like vanilla ice cream from the churn!
Yeah. Two thumbs up. One customer, Mary
Carroll said, “Sure, there are other snow cone places around but Arrow Ice is
really the best and besides, I want to give my business to local people.” Wise woman, that Mary Carroll. Wise thoughts too!
Arrow Ice is open until 9PM weekdays and Saturday.
The firework stands have been here for almost two weeks and many are itching to get ahold of some.
If you’re inside the city limits of Greenwood, you’ll have to find someone outside of the city limits to enjoy setting off the fireworks for a night light show of your own. At this time, there is no listed burn ban, but please check before starting the fun.
Or, better yet, join the Freedom Fest that will be going on during the day and into the night on July 4th, with the fireworks show to begin at 9pm. Don’t forget all of the food and vendors that will be there as well as the fun things for kids.
According to the Greenwood Police Department, they want to make sure everyone stays safe this year around July 4th. Therefore, they have issued this caution:
Shooting of fireworks within the city limits of Greenwood, Arkansas is hereby prohibited and declared unlawful, except from 12 noon until 12am on July 3, 4, 5 & from 12 noon December 31 through 1am on January 1st of each year, providing a burn ban is not in effect at the time. Any person found in violation hereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined an amount not less than $100.00 and no more than $1000.00 .
This Ordinance shall not apply to City of Greenwood sponsored events that may from time to time sponsor its own fireworks display.
In the event the county judge issues a burn ban, it shall be a violation of this ordinance to shoot off any fireworks within the city limits of Greenwood Arkansas, during such burn ban.
Pets cannot be forgotten during this time. Many are very afraid of the sounds of fireworks and they could possibly escape from your home, so keep them safe by following the suggestions from the Greenwood Animal Control officer, Daryl Thomas.
Rene´ Myers, Director of the Scott-Sebastian County Regional Library, has been a part of the library system for 11 years and served for 5 years as the Library Clerk for the different libraries in this region.
She says, “I remember we would get phone calls from the
public wanting to know if we had e-resources, but with the limited space and
funding, it was not possible.”
Beginning in April 2019, the Scott-Sebastian County Regional Library and others decided to pay a small membership fee to be part of the Arkansas Library system. This allows them to be part of a consortium group where each library has access to any book within that group. This has opened a lot more opportunities for books for the county residents that have not been seen before.
In addition, because of the fundraising efforts by Friends of
the Sebastian County Library, new books have been purchased, updates have been
made and more to be made. There have been adult crafts added in addition to the
continuing of the summer reading program, family night and more.
Rene´, her assistants and the Friends of the Sebastian County
Library are very excited to finally offer to the public online e-books and
audio books, called Libby.
“This has been a process and we are very excited for all
locations to be able to offer these services at Greenwood, Hartford, Lavaca,
Waldron and Mansfield.”
Rene´ goes on to say, “We have fun events for the adults,
Bingo for Books and various crafts, and they are enjoyed by all. We have many
who come. The summer reading program for the kids is even more enjoyable than
before. There are also crafting times for the children as well as the adults.
We have updated our services so that faxing, copies and printing can be done
downstairs. Computers are available to anyone to use because there are still
some people who do not have access to this type of equipment in their home. We
are very happy to provide these to the communities.”
The libraries of today are not just about books, as you can
see, they are about reading for pleasure, learning, having fun, relaxing in a
quiet environment and so much more.
Rene´ and her assistants as well as the Friends of the Sebastian County Library invite everyone to come and get a fresh view of your local library at 18 North Adair in Greenwood.
Potato chips are a major staple in American foods. You can find almost any flavor or variety you could think of and even some name-brand products have contests to encourage customers to create new flavors. Northern Plains Potatoes tells us that it takes 10,000 pounds of potatoes to make 2,500 pounds of potato chips, and the average American eats over 4 pounds potato chips each year! In 2011, Americans ate 1.5 billion pounds of potato chips. According to Statista based on the U.S. Census data and Simmons National Consumer Survey (NHCS), 34.84 million Americans consumed 16 bags or more in 2018. The average person consumes approximately 110 pounds of potatoes per year! Imagine how high those numbers are for the average person living in the south would be with as many BBQs we have and side dishes of fried potatoes? So by these simple statistics, we can clearly see that potato chips are a growing snack food in America!
However, in the “diet world,” potato chips are viewed as the enemy! MayoClinic.com reports that too much salt in your diet can lead to several negative health problems, including high blood pressure and kidney disease. Most servings listed on the back of the bag of potato chips is only about 1 ounce, but as said above, most people consume far more than just 1 ounce when they sit down to eat! I have to say of all snack foods, potato chips are probably my downfall as well. I could sit and snack all day on a bag of Doritos, Lays, or Ruffles.
In recent times, the new found substitute for dieters has been “Kale Chips.” At first, it sounds odd. Why would a green vegetable become a chip? However, baking the kale actually makes it become a crispy crunch that many people miss when getting to eat potato chips with their sandwich or needing something salty to snack on. Kale is actually an excellent source of B vitamins as well as being high in vitamins A and C, folate, calcium, iron, potassium and bioflavonoids. It also helps with fiber intake! Kale is actually a dieters’ dream food because it is low in carbohydrates as well as calories; therefore, it is ok to indulge in! With all of these facts and research, I decided to give it a try! The recipe below is a kind of toss and dash recipe! It’s simple and easy! I’ll let you be the judge and decide if this will be your new replacement for your bag of chips! Check out the recipe below!
Ingredients:
Approximately 8 oz. of Kale (washed and completely dried)
Garlic Salt
Onion Powder
Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning
Chives
Olive Oil
Parchment Paper
Directions:
First, remove all stems and hard parts from the kale leaves. Then, wash and dry kale. Make sure your kale has no moisture or it can make your chips soggy after baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Next, place kale in a large bowl and toss with a dash of olive oil. You just need enough oil to slightly coat the leaves so the spices will stick to the kale.
Kale- washed, dried, and ready for tossing!
Once the kale is lightly coated in the olive oil, add your spices. You only need a dash of each one (Garlic Salt, Onion Powder, Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning). Then, add a tablespoon and a half of chives. Stir and toss lightly so that seasonings and chives are evenly distributed.
All the spices you will need! Remember, just use a dash! If you use too much, the chips will be too salty!
Line two baking pans with parchment paper and evenly spread out the kale on the pans. Try to not overlap the kale. Bake for 13 minutes, and then remove from oven and allow kale chips to sit for two minutes to cool.
Spread the kale evenly on the baking pans to avoid uncooked kale or soggy chips!
Now, make your favorite sandwich and enjoy the kale chips as your side!
