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ATKINS (POPE COUNTY) ARKANSAS 72823 ONE HUNDRED AND thirteenth YEAR

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fWelcomed each week into the home of Tommy Rudder

Calendar

We hope to helpThe Atkins Chronicle will act

as a repository for snapshots and photos found in the debris of the storm. If you find random pic-tures (or what seem to be impor-tant papers), please bring them to The Chronicle office so that those who lost them can come look for them. We understand these can possibly be found miles away from their homes.

inside The Chronicle

Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

sPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Legals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 10

Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1

See Hector on page 9

LOST & FOUNDNews you can Use on page 9

See Bailey on page 9

See Recovery on page 9Check out our online message board@

www.atkinschronicle.com

The Tornado Recovery Center in the Main Street Market on Highway 64 west will be open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Volunteers are still needed. The center also needs canned

grocery items. Visit the center or call 641-1442 for more informa-tion.

Hours cut back at Tornado Recovery Center

Wednesday, March 19 — Pope County Library Board, 4 p.m., Atkins Branch.

Thursday, March 20 — Atkins Lions Club, noon, First United Methodist Church, visi-tors welcome

Thursday, March 20 — Hector City Council, 7 p.m., city hall

Thursday, March 20 — Pottsville School Board, 7 p.m., middle school library

Monday, March 24 — Potts-ville City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall

Thursday, March 27 — Tri County Water Distribution Board, 10 a.m., Headquarters, SR7 north of Russellville

Ken Hodges has announced his candidacy for the Circuit Judge position for 5th Judicial District, which includes Frank-lin, Johnson, and Pope counties.

The position was previously held by John Patterson and cur-rently by James Kennedy, who was appointed to finish the term of Judge Patterson, December 31.

There will not be a run-off. The election on May 20 will determine who will be the next circuit judge. Early voting begins May 5th.

Hodges was born in 1953 in Russellville to Roy (deceased) and Melba Hodges, brother: Ernie Hodges and sister, Linda Oliver, both of Russellville.

He grew up in Dardanelle and graduated high school in 1971 and entered college at Arkansas Tech in 1971, but with Vietnam still going on, joined the United States Air Force in 1972. Ken served more than 4 years in the air force as an air traffic controller provid-ing services for all branches of the United States military as well as to civilian aircraft and airports. He was honorably discharged in 1976 as a sergeant and later was employed with the F.A.A. in air traffic control.

While serving in the Armed Services and F.AA, he contin-ued to purse his degree and

graduated from college in 1982. Ken entered law school at the University of Arkansas in 1983 and tried his first case in the fall of 1984 as a law student. He grad-uated and passed the Arkansas law bar exam in 1986 and began to serve as deputy prosecuting attorney and criminal investiga-tor in the 15th Judicial District.

For the last 20 years he has maintained a private law practice while serving as city attorney for two different cities and city judge for another city

for eight years. Additionally, he has served as special prosecutor and special municipal judge in five different cities in two judi-cial districts, and also served as in-house corporate counsel for a company in Washington, D.C.

Hodges has coached youth soccer for eight years in Rus-sellville. He has served on the Board of Directors for Commu-nity Services, as well as having provided free legal assistance to the elderly and those on “fixed income” for years through Arkansas Volunteer Lawyers for the Elderly (AVLE) and Arkan-sas Legal Services.

Hodges is a member of First United Methodist Church, Russellville. He and his wife, Ramona Hodges, have been married 32 years.They have two children: Taylor, 17, and Kris-ten, 12; both attend Russellville Public Schools.

“I believe that with my experi-ence as having served both sides of different types of cases in Divi-sion 1 makes me the most quali-fied to serve the communities, fairly and impartially, as their new circuit judge. With the crime rate increasing and the backlog of cases in all courts, my experience as judge in the municipal courts will enable me to immediately go to work for you.”

Hodges seeks Circuit Judge position

Ken Hodges

Pope County cutoff date for picking up storm related debris on road right-of-ways from the Feb. 5 storm will be March 28.

Deadline nears for road clearing

By Beckie Tyson and Van A. Tyson

The following was read by Beckie Tyson at the ceremony honoring George Bailey as 2007 Atkins PBA Citizen of the Year Thursday:

“If you know George Bailey, and, most of you probably do, you know he would probably prefer a roast instead of this toast. Not one to take things seriously, George would be the first to tell you he has no idea why he has been given this honor.

“But we are here to honor him anyway, despite his protesta-tions.

“Sherry Reel’s letter nominat-ing George for Citizen of the Year said, “This man is one of the best and friendliest persons I have ever met in my life. I admire him so much.” George is a habitual hugger and likes to bring a smile to anyone he talks to.

“Born in Atkins almost 90 years ago, a member of the Darr family, one of Atkins’ oldest families, George has been a well-known figure about town for most of those years. Stories about some of George’s exploits as a youth found their way into the folklore of the town but have faded away as those involved

have gotten older and passed away.

“In high school George was an outstanding athlete. He was a member of the legendary Red Devil “Great 1936 Backfield” and is a member of the Atkins Ath-letic Hall of Fame.

“After high school, George distinguished himself as a foot-ball player for Henderson State College (now Henderson Univer-sity).

“George is a combat veteran of World War II, having flown as a gunner and engineer on B-24 bombers in the Pacific. His dedication to the church is con-nected with that. Flying through the flack and Japanese fighters, he promised God that if he lived through it, he wouldn’t miss church the rest of his life. He has kept that promise, except when he is too ill or has to stay with Mary Anna because of her recent illness.

“He attends Memorial Pres-byterian Church and has contin-ued his dedication to the church for more than 60 years. In recent years, George was the one who opened the doors each Sunday and took care of candles and col-lection. He is an ordained Elder, has served on the session and the

board of trustees. For years, he and Mary Anna were sometimes the only students in Van Allen Tyson’s Sunday school class.

“George married Mary Anna Cheek over Mary Anna’s moth-er’s objections but soon became Mrs. Cheek’s favorite son-in-law, according to George. George and Mary Anna have been insepa-rable since their marriage in the 1940s. Although stormy at times, their relationship had stood the test of time and they are devoted to one another.

“They have one son, George Howard, one granddaughter, Lucinda, and two great-grand-daughters, Bailey Anne and Laurel. A great-grandson is on the way.

“George was a salesman for Cheek Wholesale Grocer Com-pany for most of his working life. His territories included Morril-ton, Fourche Valley, Ola, Boon-eville, Russellville, Gravely and most small towns in between. Because of his years selling, George never meets a stranger, literally. After retiring from Cheek’s, he kept busy as a cou-rier for First Arkansas Valley Bank for a while.

David Lindsey, left, presents George Bailey with a framed list of all the Citizens of the Year and an eagle trophy with his name engraved as 2007 Citizen of the Year at a ceremony and reception Tuesday night of last week in the W. J. Matthews Civic Center.

Bailey honored as PBA 2007 Citizen of the Year

By Beckie TysonA local committee to coordi-

nate long-term disaster needs formed Thursday at a meeting with FEMA representatives Cyndi Weakley and Jim O’Brien. O’Brien is the liaison between the commu-nity and volunteer agencies.

Chairman of the new com-mittee, to be called the Greater Atkins Disaster Recovery Com-mittee, will be Scott Tyler, pastor of the Atkins First Bap-tist Church; Roy Ames, pastor of the Faith Harvest Fellowship Church, will be vice-chairman; and Beckie Tyson, representing Memorial Presbyterian Church, will be secretary.

The mission of the group is to alleviate suffering in the greater Atkins area from the disaster cost needs caused by the Feb. 5 tornado. The committee hopes to have everyone on board who has resources to contribute to the long-term recovery effort. This would include churches, Salvation Army, Red Cross, PBA,

other civic clubs, other volunteer agencies designated by FEMA and volunteers at large.

The next meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 20, at the First United Method-ist Church in Atkins. Everyone interested in helping with con-tinuing recovery needs is encour-aged to attend.

An important subcommittee will be case managers, who meet with families who still need help after insurance, FEMA and SBA have completed their processes. David Lindsey, of PBA, and Tim Younger, of Faith Harvest Fel-lowship Church, volunteered Thursday to serve as case man-agers. More will be needed.

The case managers will bring their clients’ needs to the atten-tion of the committee.

Members of the commit-tee with financial resources will contribute what they can; other groups with labor and material

Committee formed for long-term efforts

The Atkins Fire Depart-ment has applied for a grant to purchase 20 SCBA units, the Atkins City Council was told at its monthly meeting Tuesday, March 11.

The grant would be for about $104,000, Fire Chief Tony Reel said, to be matched by $5,200 from the city. The self-contained breathing apparatuses would be complete with air tanks.

Reel also reported that the fire department has its first woman fire fighter, Shannon Smart. He said the department has replaced six firefighters, bringing the total force up to 29.

Mayor Jerry Don Barrett

reported that April Heflin has been hired to replace Ann Dillon as office manager for the Water and Sewer Department. Dillon is planning to retire and has been on medical leave after having stents inserted for a heart ail-ment that occurred when the Feb. 5 tornado hit her house on Old Wire Road. Heflin began work Monday.

All members were present for the meeting, including Alder-men Paul David Carpenter, JoAnn Spence, Raymond Staggs, Charles Cheek, Sean Rehm and Kenneth Ehemann, as well as City Attorney Bill Swain and City Clerk Brenda Graves.

AFD applies for grant

The Hector School Board approved contracts for certi-fied (teaching) employees and a revised 2007-08 calendar, extending the school year to allow for days missed because of bad weather (storms and snow).

The last day of school will be June 2 if there are no more snow days, and it will be June 6 with four more snow days.

Graduation will be May 24 and spring break will be March

24-28. The board approved certi-

fied contracts for the following faculty members: Jan Bartlett, Debbie Bell, Kathy Brunetti, Michele Carpenter, Lisa Char-ton, Judith Churchill, Paulette Clairday, Sara Coffman, Jea-nette Emerson, Melvin Emerson, Dean Felkins, Susan Freeman, Margaret Freyaldenhoven,

Hector board extends calendar, hires teachers

After honoring George Bailey as 2007 Citizen of the Year Tues-day night of last week, People for a Better Atkins met to discuss prog-ress in the planning for Picklefest (to be May 16 and 17). The commit-tees are in place and doing their work.

The treasurer’s report showed $10,548.65 in the bank on Feb. 1.

The group voted that it intends to change the name of the organi-zation to reflect that People for a Better Atkins will also be named chamber of commerce, with the two names together in the name of the group. But members will not concentrate on implementing the

change until after Picklefest.Doyle Cook, presiding, reported

that unbelievable numbers of vol-unteers have manned the store for storm victims on Hwy. 64 West and incredible numbers of people have brought donations of all kinds. He said the traffic at the store has diminished somewhat and that the hours have been cut back to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He said canned food continues to be needed.

Doyle and Peggy Cook have been available since the store opened to coordinate the dona-tions with those who need them.

PBA continues to plan for Picklefest May 16-17

Sharing a joke Thursday night are, from left, David Lindsey, George and Mary Anna Bailey and Quentin Murdoch.

WEDNESDAY, MArch 19, 2008 — NO. 18

The Atkins ChronicleThe Heart of the Arkansas River Valley for a Century

March 20 - First day of Spring

2008 Sunshine Week March 16-22

Winner of the arkansas press association general excellence award

National Agri DayMarch 20

(See next week’s paper)

Have a happy Easter!