Shanna Parker of Salt Lake City, Utah went to be with her best friend, her
Lord and Savior, on Wednesday, June 5, 2019. She was born on April 5, 1947 in
Salt Lake City to her parents, Clarence Gage and Neola Wilkerson. She was 72
years old.
Shanna was preceded in death by her parents Clarence Gage and Neola
Wilkerson and two brothers, Dale Gage and Elvin Gage.
Shanna leaves behind two sisters and one brother: Rita Branca and husband
Dick, Joy Black and husband Clay, Richard Gage and one daughter and two sons:
Robyn Rose, Jud Parker and wife Sonia, Jay Parker and wife Deidra. She has five
grandchildren: Colden Tyrel Parker and wife Jodi, Steel Clemons, Zachary Rose,
Emily Bailey and husband Landon, Autumn Parker, and six great grandchildren:
Tylnn Parker, Brice Isom, Brooklyn Parker, Chance Parker, Hudson Parker and
Lane Parker, as well as many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of her life will be held in her honor at the Bates Assembly of
God Church on June 22, 2019 at 2:00. A pot luck and fellowship will follow the
service in the reception hall.
Brenda
Rhea (Barker) Taylor of Boles, Arkansas went to be with her Lord and Savior,
June 16, 2019 in Ft. Smith with her family by her side. Brenda was born
February 28, 1944 in El Paso, Texas to William Park Barker and Jean (Sims)
Barker. She was 75 years old.
Brenda met and married the love of her life, Joe at a young age
of 18. Together they lived, loved and was each others’ best friend, companion.
They loved raising their daughters and even more so being grandparents and then
great grandparents. Brenda enjoyed reading, flowers and doing jewelry and
crafts. She was the oldest of 7 children so it was natural for her to be loving
and caring about everyone she knew. She was a sweet spirited lady and loved by
everyone.
Brenda leaves behind to cherish her memory, her loving husband
of 57 years, Joe of the home, two daughters, Brenda (Dennie) Crim of
Trenton,Texas and Connie Shores of Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Nanny will forever
remain in the hearts of her grandchildren: David W. Crim, Jr., Krista
Barrientos, Kasey Rutledge, JT Rutledge, Chaynee Malone and Justin Shores, as
well as.her great grandchildren: Presslie Barrientos, Lucas Barrientos, Colt
Rutledge, Matty Chandler, Kimberlynn Rutledge, Rhylee Rutledge, Bentley
Rutledge, Emma Rutledge, Ayden Shores, Kaitlynn Shores and Haley Shores. Brenda
is also survived by her siblings: Park Barker Jr. and wife Diane, John Barker
Sr. and wife Judy, Becky Parks and husband Ronald, Joe Barker, Paula Helton and
husband Brian and one sister in law, Velma Barker. Brenda will be missed by all
that knew her and the many whose lives she impacted, including a host of
nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and neighbors.
Brenda was preceded in death by her parents, William and Jean
Barker and one brother, Jimmy Neal Barker.
Brenda’s life celebration will be at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June
20, 2019 at the Boles Freewill Baptist Church in Boles, Arkansas with Rev. Pat
Ray Biggs officiating. Interment will follow in the Dooley Cemetery in Boles,
Arkansas. Arrangements are being entrusted to the Heritage Memorial Funeral
Home in Waldron, Arkansas.
Brenda’s pallbearers will be David Crim Jr., Kasey Rutledge,
Jacob Parks, Justin Parks, Dagian Barker and Matt Barrientos.
Brenda’s visitation will be Wednesday, June 19, 2019 from 5:00
p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home in Waldron,
Arkansas.
You
may leave words of remembrance for Brenda’s family by visiting: www.heritagememorialfh.com.
Doyce McDaniel, also belovedly known as GeGe, 78 of Mountain Home, Arkansas passed away Sunday, June 16, 2019. She was born August 14, 1940 at Parks Arkansas to G.E. “Gete” and Beaulah (Hickerson) McCraw.
Doyce was owner and principal broker of McDaniel Real Estate in Mountain
Home for many years. She retired in 2003. She was an avid reader. She enjoyed
history, biographies and politics. Her greatest joy was in her role as Mother,
Grandmother and Great-Grandmother. Doyce was a Christian and had a deep abiding
faith in God.
Ms. McDaniel is survived by two daughters, Cindy (Ron) McCraw of
Fayetteville Arkansas, Kathy (Lewis) Bishop of Mountain Home, Arkansas, Four
grandaughters, Shannon (Garrett) Rucker of Mountain Home, Arkansas, Anna (Chad)
Hudson of Mountain Home, Arkansas, Courtney (Brandon) Pickett of Mountain Home,
Arkansas, Candace (Richard) King of Mountain Home, Arkansas, one
step-grandaughter Katy (Zach) DuBois, six great-grandchildren, Amelia Rucker,
Strat Rucker, Jackson Criner, Dell Pickett, Sydney King and Myles King all of
Mountain Home, Arkansas. She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers
Eugene McCraw and Arnold McCraw: and by one grandaughter, Kaylan Lawrence.
A graveside service will be 2:00p.m. Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at Parks
Cemetary, Parks Arkansas. Arrangements are being entrusted to the Heritage
Memorial Funeral Home in Waldron, Arkansas.
You may leave words of remembrance for Doyce’s family by visiting: www.heritagememorialfh.com.
Dustin Dunn of DD Rodeo is a rodeo promoter in this area and has been around horses for a long time. He plans and promotes rodeos in Greenwood, Mena, Lavaca, even Oklahoma and wherever there is a fairground.
Dustin said he started about five years ago promoting rodeos as he enjoys them and seeing all of the smiles. He has the bucking horses and a friend has the bucking bulls.
The Greenwood Rodeo is June 28-29 at the fairgrounds and is partnered with the Greenwood Round-up Club ( CRRA, ARA, ACRA). There will be events starting at 6:30 each evening with live music and cash prizes for winners in each category, which will include kids.
According to Dustin, “I put on a rodeo almost every weekend somewhere between Arkansas and Oklahoma. The rodeos in Oklahoma have always been going, but Arkansas rodeos have not been as popular the last 30 or so years. I organize and promote 8-10 rodeos each year.”
Dustin and his team look for small towns that have a fairground, which make it an ideal location for a rodeo. Lavaca will be having a rodeo August 16-17 this year; they also had a rodeo in March and had over 30 bull riders, 20 bronc riders and more. In addition, the rodeo royalty sold over 5500 tickets, which brings in alot of revenue for small towns. Recently, there was also one in Waldron and Mena.
DD Rodeo is always looking for advertisers, promoters and sponsors to bring a family-fun rodeo to town.
For those performing in the rodeos, the rodeo “buckle” is a proud part of rodeo where they can proudly display on their belt. They must have a membership, obtain their own sponsors and participate in half of the rodeos to receive a buckle.
A lot of people who wouldn’t normally wouldn’t get out in the community will come to a rodeo. Dustin says, “If the sponsors are in the town where we’re having the rodeo, we will promote it so that the crowd will support those businesses. It’s a win-win.”
“We are like a big family, that’s what the rodeo used to be and we’re bringing it back. Everyone helps everyone, nobody is alone.”
It appears that goat tail undecorating is fun for the smaller kids. Now don’t go getting that visual because it’s not that! It is merely removing a ribbon previously placed on the tail.
Before a rodeo, there’s a lot of work involved in getting the animals ready. For the horses, not all will buck. Dustin says, “A horse is either born to buck or not. I’ve had horses that wouldn’t buck at all, it wasn’t in them. And, I’ve had others that will buck every time. For the bulls and calves, they love to buck, so it’s not a problem.”
With the ability to obtain a semi and cattle trailer, it is much easier to haul all of the animals and equipment needed to put on the rodeo.
Dustin and his team invite everyone to make plans to attend a rodeo in their area. “There’s no income for this, just pure enjoyment of seeing kids and adults get excited about these events, a return to simpler times. It’s a great place to bring the family and enjoy each other’s company. Contact me on my social media to sponsor a rodeo in your area or to participate.”
The Scott-Sebastian County Regional Library has been around
for a long time in the same building at 18 N Adair in Greenwood. It is open
Monday from 9am-7:30pm; Tuesday-Friday from 9am-5pm and Saturday from 9am-12pm.
Many people see a library as just having books. However, they
also have computers that can be used, places to sit and read, summer activities,
events for adults and children and much more.
According to the Library’s assistant, the library’s summer reading program A Universe of Stories began May 28th and is continuing through July26th.
Kindergarten through 6th grade, meet every Tuesday and Thursday through July 26th at the Westwood Elementary Library from 10am to11am
Tweens and teens, meet every Wednesday through July 26th at the Scott-Sebastian County Regional Library from 2pm to 3pm
Toddlers and preschool kids, meet every Friday through July 26th at the Scott-Sebastian County Regional Library from 10am to 10:30am
For kids who love to read, there is a Reading Log where kids ages 8-18 can have their name entered into a weekly prize drawing. For ages 8-12, they get one entry for every 5 books read. For ages 13-18, they get one entry for every 5 hours of reading.
There is also an event called Family Story Night with Princess Leia and Storm Trooper from 6:30pm
to 7:30pm on Monday, July 22nd at the Scott-Sebastian County Regional
Library in Greenwood.
Adults are not forgotten at the library, for there are crafts in June and July.
Thursday, June 20 at 10am, making star earrings
Thursday, July 11 at 10am, making celestial bangle
bracelets
Thursday, July 25 at 10am, Bingo for Books
On Monday, July 1st there is a free PBS film preview of Chasing the Moon at 7pm at the Greenwood Performing Arts Center at 515 E. Gary, provided by American Experience. This film will air on AETN in its entirety each night of July 8-10. This film recreates the journey that defined that generation.
The Scott-Sebastian County Regional Library invites everyone
to bring their kids to the summer reading program and for the adults to take
part in the events just for them.
A Book Sale will be held on July 4th at the library from 9am-12pm with opportunities for children to get a free book.
On June 7, Shannon Foster, attorney for defendant James Bynum, made a motion for consideration of recusal. Foster alleges that sitting Judge Jerry Don Ramey has shown bias against Bynum and that he should recuse himself from the case.
Based on that motion, Foster claims “his (Bynum’s) health needs are causing considerable expense and manpower issues at the jail…yet the court refuses to reduce his bond or allow him to be released on a restricted electronic monitoring where he could be restricted to his home, court or his doctors. The defendant’s attorney requested a continuance from the July trial, as she was just allowed to substitute in on his case May 15, 2019. The prosecutor had no objection to the continuance, but the judge refused to allow it. Keeping the defendant in jail limits his attorney’s access to the defendant in trying to prepare for this complex case at the end of July, which is a very short time to prepare. Also, the defendant’s attorney is a solo practitioner, and this puts the burden on her to travel to the jail (one hour round trip) for all preparatory meetings rather than allowing the defendant to come to her office. The judge stated that the defendant “looked pretty good, and is able to stand and move around” and thus disregarded his health issues based on his subjective observations that he looked better now than he had in the past. This is not proper, as the judge is not a medical expert and his dismissal of the defendant’s health issues is reckless based on the defendant’s recent hospitalizations…It is unlikely that the judge can be unbiased in the second trial of this matter, having heard all the evidence in the first trial, and his rulings on the bond and continuance motions seem to indicate bias against the defendant. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty, and the judge is acting as if he were guilty before the new trial and treating him accordingly even though it is jeopardizing his health and his attorney’s ability to defend him.”
Foster stated because of these reasons, the judge should disqualify himself in the proceeding. The trial in this case is set for July 29, 30 and 31.
Bynum, who was convicted in 2015, was found guilty of 10 counts of sexual assault in the fourth degree, a class D Felony and two counts of sexual assault in the second degree, a class B felony. After finding Bynum guilty, the jury handed down a 100 year sentence. The State Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case back to the circuit court. –See related story
Randy Cole, 71, of Fort Smith, Arkansas passed away Thursday, June 13, 2019 in a Fort Smith hospital. He was retired from Halliburton.
Memorial service will be 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 18 at McConnell Funeral Home Chapel in Greenwood.
He is survived by two daughters, Georgia Alexander and husband, Brent of Greenwood and Jessica Treme and husband, Chad of Fort Smith; two brothers, Ron Cole of California and Phillip Cole of Fort Smith; two sisters, Diane Parker of Fort Smith and Suzie Garcia of Michigan; seven grandchildren, Hannah, Hunter, Maddie, Jackson, Makayla, Riley and Sophia. He was preceded in death by his brothers, Larry, Brandon, Rick and Darrell Cole.
To sign an online guestbook, please visit www.mcconnellfh.com.
It was very enjoyable to be around the horses, whispering to
them, interacting with them, petting them. R.E.D. Gate Rescue horses are very
gentle and came right up to me.
Just the smell of horses and seeing them, brings memories
flooding back in of pure joy. Horses are powerful animals, but their desire is
to please and interact peacefully.
R.E.D (Recapturing Equine Dignity) Gate Rescue is a non-profit equine rescue organization near Hackett that uses a technique called “Equine assisted learning” (EAL) for kids to come and learn more about interacting with others, how their body language speaks to others, how their voice tone matters and how that translates to interacting with each other.
Utilizing the horses, this teaching is very effective in
promoting the development of life skills for educational and personal purposes.
Children that have difficulty with behavior and/or being in social settings greatly
benefit from the assisted learning techniques.
There are always volunteers on-site with each student. The students are not riding the horses very much, most of their interaction is direct face-to-face, brushing them, talking to them, petting them.
Through these interactions, kids learn trust, respect, honesty and communication. According to Path International, these equines, which include horses, are very in-tune with human behavior. Because of their non-verbal influence, they silently ask people to always be aware of their surroundings and learn to have a heightened self-awareness that helps reveal patterns of behavior and the opportunity to think a new way.
This girl is learning how to be calm and respectful to the horse so she can put on the bridle.
Suzanne and BJ talk about a young girl and said “Despite
circumstances going on in life, horses see people for who they are. They make great teachers, listeners and friends. Despite little frustrations on her part on not being able to
accomplish each activity, sometimes we must step back and be reminded that it’s
not about the destination, but the journey. We must look at the situation in a
different way to accomplish something. We have a few more sessions to go and we
hope to continue to make more progress in learning.”
Suzanne and BJ head up this organization and are hands-on with the children in learning how to interact with the horses, which helps them to interact more respectfully to people. Suzanne and BJ have seen some come that are very timid and do not speak all and every child left with a big smile on their face. Most all of these kids have never been around a horse.
Suzanne says, “One young boy came, and he was so afraid, but
after interacting with the horse and learning about how he reacts and says
things and the horse responding, he found he had done a difficult thing and was
very happy he did.”
Of course, caring for horses with proper feed, farriers and
veterinarians is not a small undertaking financially.
R.E.D. Gate Rescue is looking for good, caring horse trainers
to break a couple of the horses to saddle as well as donations to help care for
them properly.
Kids set up a lemonade stand to give donations.
BJ says, “We really need an experienced and caring horse
trainer to train the horses to ride as we don’t have the necessary knowledge to
provide that.”
While talking with them and seeing them interact with the
horses, it is very clear there is a deep connection and respect between the
organizers and the horses.
R.E.D. Gate Rescue would like to rescue more horses but are
needing the help of the community to help with offsetting costs.
If you need more information, would like to help or donate,
contact them on their Facebook page R.E.D. Gate
Rescue.
The Mansfield Tigers football team recently held their donation telethon and as hoped for, it was another success. The community rallied BIG TIME behind the Red Tigers in support by raising $2200 so far for much-needed practice and game equipment. The donation window is open until next week.
Mansfield Head Coach Craig Bentley had this to say about the event, “Fundraising is so vital to our program. We use the fundraiser funds for equipment, player gear, and multiple other needs for our program and players. We try to provide our players with the very best of everything from gear to equipment and it’s our goal that our players never have to pay for anything within our program. Fundraisers go a long way in making all that possible and we are so thankful to our community for the support they constantly show to our kids and program.”
The town of Mansfield and the community surrounding it are showing the Tigers that they have their back. When a community backs its sports programs, the success is seen on and off the field of play. It builds confidence in players on the field and lets them know that they are an important piece to the community.
Lidth
Pearl Cheesman, better know as Judy, went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 in Waldron, Arkansas with her loving family by
her side. Judy was born July 13, 1941 to John W. Demorest and Lillie Ann Mae
(Rorie) Demorest. in Perryville, Arkansas. She was 77 years old. Judy was a
long time member of Evening Shade Baptist Church.
Judy was a lady of many talents. She enjoyed fishing, camping
with family, and she was an avid gardener. She enjoyed working in the woods
with her husband Vernon. They married at a young age and raised a family of 5
daughters and played a vital role in many others young lives. They loved being
surrounded by family and friends and making forever memories.
Judy leaves behind to cherish her memory, her daughters: Karen
Holbrook and Angie Brothers and Gordan Franklin all of Waldron, Arkansas and
Pat Corbin and husband Robert of Bonifay, Florida, two daughters at heart,
Kimberly Crumpton of Napa, California and Vickie Shores of Waldron, Arkansas as
well as two sisters, Lacel Thurber of Little Rock, Arkansas and Ruth Champagne
of Bandon, Oregon. Maw Chee will forever remain in the hearts of her eleven
grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren. Judy will be missed by all that
knew her and the many whose lives she impacted including a host of extended
family, friends and neighbors dear to her heart.
Judy was preceded in death by her husband Vernon, her parents,
John and Lillie Ann, two daughters, Pam Barham and Kathy Brown, as well as
three sisters, Johnnie sue Greer, Joni Demorest and Jean Demorest.
Judy’s life celebration will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday, June 15,
2019 at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home Chapel in Waldron, Arkanss with Rev.
Konnor McKay and Rev. Rickey Hunt officiaiting. Interment will follow in the Pilot
Prairie Cemetery near Waldron, Arkansas.
Pallbearers will be Jeremy Barham, Shawn Crump, AJ Jaramillo,
Blake Warren, Zack Bowden and Cody Holbrook. Honorary pallbearers will be Dusty
Lockert, Howard Himes and Stephen Franklin.
Judy’s visitation will be Saturday, June 15, 2019 from 10:00
a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home.
You may leave words of remembrance for Judy’s family by
visiting: www.heritagememorialfh.com.
