We Are The Eagles: Jan. 31th Edition

Mark 2:16-17 "¹⁶And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? ¹⁷When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. "

Prayer list for this week includes: Theresa Thompson-Brown and the family of Jim Hopson.

Birthdays this week include: Sue Bratton (Jan. 30), Hanna Moring (Feb. 3).

With several great days behind us, we're moving back into some winter weather according to the weather man.  It's time to get early garden vegetables out.

The New Edinburg Fire Department held a fire drill last Saturday which included a short class on operating the truck pumps and building interior safety.

A local woman who wishes to remain anonymous received a scary telephone call one morning last week when an unknown caller posing as a federal law officer contacted her.  The caller told her there was a federal warrant out for her arrest for drug trafficking, but paying the $15,000 fine up front could "make it all go away."  The woman in question didn't fall for the scam, and contacted the Sheriff's office and the FBI.  If you receive the same call, note the Washington DC phone number it will come from, hang up, and contact the nearest FBI field office.

David Pipes and his wife Quin visited the New Edinburg Museum last Saturday afternoon.  David has since been sharing some old photos with me in which many people cannot be identified.  I'll be inquiring with others in this area to see if I can't get the photo subjects figured out.

Macedonia Free Will Baptist Church hosted the Fifth Sunday event last Sunday night.  Several FWB churches get together for fellowship every month that has a fifth Sunday.  This event's schedule included singing and a teen puppet skit followed by a felowship meal.  The teens in the puppet skit were Chrissy Dyer, Brianna and Tiffany Hamilton, Wesley Kleiser, Casey Jones, and Jeff Brown also participated with the youth.

If you have items of interest for this column, feel free to share them before Monday night in order to get them into that week's edition.  Contact me by phone (870-308-4608), email (jamescboney@gmail.com), by mail, or in person.  Go Eagles.

We Are The Eagles: Jan. 24th Edition

Hebrews 1:1-4 "¹God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, ²Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; ³Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: ⁴Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

Prayer list for this week includes: Laverne Grice, Theresa Thompson Brown, and the family of Fabron Gullett.

Birthdays this week include: Stacey Thompson (Jan. 23), Jessie Noble (Jan. 24), Suzanne Wagnon (Jan. 26), Sue Bratton (Jan. 30). A happy belated birthday to Matt Shaw (Jan. 21).

The weather continues to go up and down with some slight snow predicted for this week.  Personally, I think we've been pretty fortunate this winter.

Patricia Huddleston loaned me a picture of her father, Henry Crawford, so that I could make a copy of it for the New Edinburg Museum.  The picture is part of a small 1980 article concerning Mr. Henry's 30 years of safe bus driving for the New Edinburg School district and shows him by his bus and holding a plaque given to him by the Arkansas Bus & Truck Convention.  I rode Mr. Henry's bus for six years and remember him well.

As to the museum, it will be open this coming Saturday from noon to four o'clock.  For those who don't know where it is, it's in the old First Grade room in the West Saline Community Center (the old school building).  Drop by and see what's on display and let's shoot the breeze.

If you have items for this column, please get them to me by Monday afternoon for inclusion in that week's edition.  I have a new phone number: 870-308-4608.  I can also be contacted by email (jamescboney@gmail.com), or in person.  Go Eagles.

New Edinburg Column For This Week: Jan. 17

Philippians 2:5-8 “5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. “

Prayer list for this week includes: Renee Estes who fell a couple of weeks ago and broke her leg, her mother Joyce Noble who is sick, Liz Linzy who is battling a bad virus, Patricia McClellan Love's grand daughter Faith Makenzie (“ZZ”) who suffered serious burns a few days ago and had to spend time in the Children's Hospital Burn Unit.

Anniversaries: January 15^th was the 29^th anniversary of Randy and Liz Linzy.

Birthdays this week include: Laverne Thompson (Jan. 17), Dylan Cathey (Jan. 18), Marvin King (Jan. 19), Rick St. John (Jan. 19), Drew Talley (Jan. 20), Angie Clements (Jan. 21), Martha Cook (Jan. 21).

If there's any snow left anywhere, I can't find it. There are predictions of some more coming in later this week. I sincerely hope not.

Norma McCoy, Sally Wolfgang, Norma Hensley and Mildred Naquin visited with Martha Cook in Kingsland last Thursday.

The Kingsland Missionary Baptist Church held a wedding shower this past Sunday for Matthew Gill and his fiance Meredith Steelman.

I forgot to mention last week that the New Edinburg Museum was visited January 8 by Marie Brown Wilson, her husband Billy Wilson, and her mother Martha Lephiew. We had a good time talking about past days and passed people.

In regards to the museum, people are certainly answering my call for donations! Mr. Willie Livingston gave me two pictures of the NEHS Senior Boys basketball teams... one from 1948-1949 and one from 1949-1950, Ms. Clara Parkman donated the following that she rescued from the hotel renovation project: Bruce Upton's Air Force ROTC Drill and Ceremony Handbook, two class registers from Mrs. Hazel Word ('53-'54 and '54-'55), a class register book from Mrs. R. W. Hooten ('54-'54), a high school History work book used by Helen Stewart (year unknown), Composition books from Helen Stewart, a 1949 edition of the Eagle Democrat with many articles about the aftermath of the tornado that struck Warren, and a 1957 edition of the Herald. Mr. Frank McClellan graciously donated his NEHS Senior Boys jacket from his team's District victory in 1952. My heartfelt thanks goes to these generous donors.

If you have items of interest concerning town history that you would like to loan or donate for display in the museum, please let me know. Money to pay for picture frames, more tables (because I'm running out of flat space), and a possible tile floor would be nice too, but I'm mostly looking to acquire anything related to our area's history, be it school, church and community related. If you have pictures that you'd rather not part with, I can scan copies of them and return them within a hour or two.

Lastly, regarding town history, here's a subject that will fascinate some and repel others (I'm in the first camp). I had an interesting round of correspondence with Mr. Wayne Beck this weekend over the internet. Many of you have probably heard of the Texarkana Phantom Murders of 1946. A movie was made on the subject in 1976 titled The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The only real suspect in the murders was a Cleveland County native named Youell Swinney who was never tried for the crimes.

I've always suspected Mr. Swinney came from the New Edinburg area, but couldn't prove it. It turns out Mr. Beck is quite the historian on the subject and showed me the 1920 US Census record for Redland listing Youell Swinney as a 3 year old child living here in town with his family. His father was a Baptist minister here at the time. Was Youell born here? We'll certainly try and find out and keep you apprised as to whether or not this soil grows strange crops. Mr. Beck has promised me a print version of that census record, and I'll have a small display devoted to the Phantom Killer in the museum before long.

This column will appear Monday night on the internet at http://WeAreTheEagles.blogspot.com. If you would like items of interest to appear in this column, please get them to me before Monday afternoon. Go Eagles.

New Edinburg Column For This Week

Luke 9:22-24 "22Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.  23And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.  24For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. "

Prayer list for this week includes: Frank and Agnes McClellan, Sue McClellan, Leonard Huddleston, Max and Lorene Dyer, Tyler Parker.

Birthdays this week include: Jennifer Mercy (Jan. 11), Wayne Beck (Jan. 12), Coy Ray Martin (Jan. 13), Debbie Briant (Jan. 14), Dustin Briant (Jan. 15).  A belated happy birthday to Bro. Billy Wilson (Jan. 9) and to Alexis Whitlock (granddaughter of Patricia Huddleston) who spent her 13th birthday at the movies with her boyfriend and boyfriend's mother.

A few weeks ago, I reported that Chris Wilson, who was cleaning out the Stewart Store, was from Pansy.  My mistake... he's actually from Herbine.  Sorry about that, Chris.

In case you missed it, we received a heavy snow Sunday afternoon.  I measured 3.5 inches in my yard; others reported as much as 4 and 5 inches.  Thankfully, snow is all it was and we didn't lose electricity and we certainly didn't lose anyone to fatalities. As of tonight (Monday), there's a serious danger of a freeze with all the slush still around; here's praying nothing bad comes from that.

The snow certainly didn't keep people away from Macedonia Free Will Baptist Church last Sunday.  I attended on invitation and the sanctuary was full.  The church service consisted of a short sermon and then many songs by the visiting Gospel group In Him, who reminded me of older Gospel groups from the past such as The Florida Boys and Porter Waggoner.  Afterward, there was a birthday dinner for Pastor Billy Wilson in the fellowship hall laden with a lot of excellent homecooked food.  My thanks to the members of Macedonia FWB for making me feel so welcome.

Mrs. Ollie Moring identified some of my ancestors in a photograph I showed her Sunday, specifically Frank and Margurite Thompson who were the grandparents of my grandmother Cara Thompson Boney.

If you have items of interest for this column, feel free to share with me before Monday night in order to get it in that week's edition of this paper.  I also put this column on the internet at http://WeAreTheEagles.blogspot.com.  Go Eagles.

First Column of the Year!!!

1 John 2:15-17 “15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. “

Prayer list this week: the families of Mary Katherine Miller, Thelma Grice and Minnie Ruth Morgan.

Birthdays over the past few weeks include: Renee Smith (Dec. 28), Karlee Castle (Dec. 29), Norma McCoy (Dec. 30), Betty Grace (Dec. 30), James Gill (Dec. 30), Markayla Jackson (Jan. 1), Dixie Martindale (Jan. 5), Delbert Moring (Jan. 5), Doris Kee (Jan. 8) and Ricky Sanders (Jan. 9).

It's 2011... I hope every one of you had a pleasant Christmas and New Year's Day.

Avery Skelton spent a few days last week in Bradley Medical Center with a nasty virus. As of this writing, he's back up and bouncing around.

The manhunt conducted near Pansy last December 22 included the following volunteers from this area: Major McClellan, Stephen McClellan, Randy Linzy, James Gill, Toby Johnson, Brent Huddleston, Dustin Cearley, and myself.

Amy Pilkington and daughter Joy had a car wreck outside of Fordyce on Dec. 23. Despite flipping the car (which is often fatal), Amy and Joy escaped with their lives. It could have been a lot worse.

The town lost three of our own since you last read this column: Thelma Grice passed away on Christmas morning. Mary Katherine Miller passed away Dec. 23, and Minnie Ruth Morgan, the mother of Wanda McClellan, passed away Jan. 2. Many thanks to our friends at County Line Fire Department who assisted.

The New Edinburg Volunteer Fire Department responded to a trailer fire on Broughton Rd. at the property of J. R. Avery on Christmas Day. The trailer was roughly 50 feet from a trailer fire that occurred about three weeks earlier.

Visitors for Jim Granderson over the Christmas season were stepchildren Mary Jane Attwood and Tyler Attwood. I ate Christmas dinner with them and it was most excellent.

Family visiting Henry and Rachel Jones during the Christmas week-end were Greg, Allison, and Josh Dallen of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Luke Dallen of Seoul, South Korea, Zach Dallen of RIT, Rochester, New York, Deborah Jones, Meridith Armstrong of Arkadelphia, Rhett, Holly, and Cole Hanry and Rick and Peg Cole of El Dorado.

Visitors for Jean Parrott this week included Ron, Jan and Joe Parrott from Arizona. Ron is the nephew of Victor Parrott.

Meleah Castle held a birthday party for her daughter Karlee at the home of grandparents Belinda and Harold Langford. Those attending were Harold and Belinda, Nita Beth Hall, Joann Hall, Frankie Hall, Tate Hall and Linda Knight.

Tyler Attwood made a generous donation to the New Edinburg Museum during the holidays. The museum stands as an archive of town history... school, church, commercial and personal history is what the place is about. Many have given in both money and material items; let's hope the trend continues because we need to preserve what we're all about. If you have material items you'd like to donate or loan, please contact me at home or in person. If you'd like to donate funds to improve the place (for a tile floor, shelves, cleaning supplies, picture frames, etc.) again please contact me at home, by mail, or in person. Every little bit helps!

As we ring in 2011, many people have been very generous in sharing items for this column since I started over two years ago. An excellent example is Mrs. Ollie Moring who takes the time to write down the birthdays and anniversaries of your relatives each month and mails the list to me. Let me start this new year right by thanking each of them and also every person (somewhere in the hundreds now) who has approached me face to face and expressed his or her gratitude for the revival of this column. You are much appreciated. Go Eagles.