By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
A call for the return of family values and a restructuring of society was the key message delivered at the 13th annual POPS/MOMS (Pursuit of Peace and Security/Maximizing Our Mutual Strengths) banquet by the keynote speaker, former U.S. Senator David Pryor on Saturday night at the Forrest City Civic Center.
Pryor cited a book written by Robert Putman called "Bowling Alone."
"It is about the social restructuring of America and how we have changed in the last 100 years," said Pryor. "He maintains that about the year 1965, we probably reached the best year in that century because that was the year most of us voted and most joined organizations. That was the year most of us cared about our school systems, in our children's and our grandchildren's education. But in 1965 something began to happen. We started getting television sets and we moved that television set in the den and we closed the door to the rest of the family. Then we started getting a second television set and that was also about the time most of us were buying not their first car but their second car. And we began to see less and less of our families.
"Forty percent of picnics dropped off. They were too busy watching television. They were too busy riding around in their two automobiles. We saw that people didn't go to each others homes very much any more and visit with one another," said Pryor.
"Something happened about that time to our country and our society that damaged our social fabric."
He said the worst thing was that about that period the children in the eighth and ninth grade started to drop out of school. "That was also the time the moms and dads stopped going to the PTA's, stopped caring about the schools. They stopped caring about grades and basically gave up on a generation of young men and women. Today, we are paying for it."
"We have got to have a restructuring of our society," said Pryor. "We have got to have a reversal of a commitment and we have to come to the aid of not only our families, but our neighbors families. We are not doing that as well as we should."
Pryor commended Forrest City and the POPS/MOMS organization for trying to work with young people and bring back the values.
"Forrest City is a city that has something in my opinion called RMA. And that's Right Mental Attitude," he said.
"I was in the United States Senate when I first started visiting the citizens of this community and this area about locating a federal prison in this city. Of all of the communities that made presentations for the facility, there was no community that had a better voice that spoke with a united front, that had the message down pat that stuck with this message and made the proper appeals to federal officials like was made by the people of Forrest City, Arkansas."
With the political season starting to get under way, Pryor also told those attending the meeting to be proud of their politicians and political involvement by women that began in the state of Arkansas. "You should be proud of the leadership that you have here," he added.
"This is the start of the political season," Pryor said. "And I know a lot of people say they are tired of politics and politicians. But I tell you, Arkansas has a lot to be proud of when it comes to politics."
Pryor, a long time politician, noted that his mother, Suzy Newton, was the first woman to run for public office in 1922, right after women had just won the right to vote. "My mother when she was age 22 in 1922, when women had just won the right to vote, was the first woman in Arkansas to run for public office. It was the first time a woman had ever been on the ballot in Arkansas. She ran for county clerk and was soundly defeated. Most people didn't even know women could vote back then. A lot has changed since then," he added.
He emphasized further that Arkansas had been the first to vote a woman to the U.S. Senate in 1932. "People make a lot of fun of us in Arkansas, but we have done some things that not many other states have done. We were the first state in the union to elect a woman to the United States Senate --Miss Hattie Caraway."
"To be able to run for public office in our democracy is a great privilege and to be able to have the choice of voting for people whether it be on the county, city, state or national level is a great honor and a great privilege and we should all honor that privilege and that responsibility that we have," said Pryor.
The Forrest City Rotary Club will host its annual Carnival, beginning today and continuing through Saturday, at the old Wal-Mart parking lot, behind Waffle House.
This is an annual fund-raiser for the local club.
Two more candidates filed for county races Friday, and the day also brought the first contestant for the mayoral race in Hughes.
Leodis Williams, of Forrest City, filed for the position of Justice of the Peace for District 10. The position is currently held by St. Francis County Judge candidate Author Witherspoon, also of Forrest City. Another Forrest Citian, Johnny Ruffin, became the third candidate to enter the race for the spot of Constable of Madison Township.
In Hughes, Joe Meurrier entered the race for the mayor's position.
The filing deadline for county races ends Tuesday, April 2, at noon, for the Tuesday, May 21, primary election. Filing for city races in Wheatley, Forrest City and Hughes, ends on Monday, May 20, at noon.
One man was injured Sunday in a fire believed to have been caused by the operation of a methamphetamine lab.
The Forrest City Police Department received a call from the Fire Department that there was a fire at Stuart Springs trailer park lot 96. According to the police report, the fire department advised that the fire was the result of a meth lab. The Arkansas State Police was also informed.
A suspected methamphetamine laboratory was discovered, including several chemicals, drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine.
One occupant, David Like, 26, was treated and released at Baptist Memorial Hospital for burns received during the fire. No charges were filed at the time of the report, and the case is still under investigation.