By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
This Saturday is shaping up to be an exciting one for the area children, courtesy of the March of Dimes and the Forrest City Police Department.
Two events will be held, the first of which is a Bike-A-Thon beginning at 9 a.m., and Sgt. Debra Ford of the FCPD discussed the event, which will benefit the March of Dimes.
"It will begin at the Forrest City Police Department building on Rosser Street and continue north to the Civic Center parking lot," said Ford. The top money raiser will win a new bicycle, and second place will receive a trophy. Everyone who comes out and turns in $35 for the cause will get a T-shirt." Early registration for the Bike-A-Thon will be held on Friday, April 18, at the FCPD from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Registration on Saturday will be from 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Ford said the bicycle event is not the only activity available for children to participate in that morning. "We will also have a baseball tournament at 9 a.m., and speed pitch, a horseshoe tournament and a three-on-three basketball tournament at 10 a.m. All of the money raised from these events will go to the March of Dimes."
The second sponsored activity is an Easter Egg Treasure Hunt to be held at the Forrest City Sports Complex on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. Sharon Johnson and Jennifer King, both with the FCPD, said the event has several purposes.
"The hunt is also a Drugs Destroy Dreams project," said Johnson. "The project's goal is to reach children at a young age to warn them of the dangers of drugs. We want to keep it simple for the children so that they can understand and learn about the dangers of drugs. We felt that it was a good theme for the event given the problems we have had recently with drugs in the city."
King commented on another goal of the event. "We want to show children that police are their friends. Many times children are afraid of police officers, and we want them to feel comfortable around them and let them know if they have a problem, they are here to help."
Prizes will be hidden in some of the eggs, and four new bicycles will be won by children participating in the event. An inflatable tent for bouncing, and a concession tent will also be available. All proceeds from this event will go toward the FCPD Benefit Fund. Egg hunting will be divided into two groups. Ages two to five will hunt eggs from 2 to 3 p.m., and ages six to 10 will hunt from 3 to 4 p.m.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Water Commission on Tuesday accepted a bid of $83,922 for a new well to replace a well that had been in service for about 30 years.
The firm of Layne-Arkansas, a division of Layne Christensen Co. of Stuttgart, was the only bidder for the job.
A time frame of several months is expected while the engineering is done and a test well is drilled. The new well will have a capacity of 800 gallons per minute.
On another matter, commission members heard a presentation by Joe Luzzi of Echotech Enterprises, Inc. of Little Rock.
Luzzi told the commission about a possible water treatment, which while not actually "softening" the water, will keep calcium in a dissolved state longer. In other words, it will slow down or possibly even prevent the calcium buildup which now occurs in hot water heaters.
The commission decided to test it.
"We're going to run a test on it and see if it does anything," said Jim Beazley, head of the Water Utility. "We're going to set up some hot water heaters and treat the water in some and not treat it in others, and see if there's any difference. It's worth a try."
Beazley said he hoped that within six months, a decision can be made.
"Basically, the real problem with water heaters is temperature," he said. "If people will hold their temperature down to around 120 degrees, it would reduce the buildup considerably. It wouldn't stop it, but it would reduce it. It's when water gets up into about the 140-degree range, it causes the stuff to start precipitating out."
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
Discussion continued this week on several issues that were presented for consideration last month to the St. Francis County Museum Board.
The possible formation of a fundraising committee to decide when, where and what type of fundraisers the museum will hold was presented by Museum Director Laura Mazzanti who offered board members her take on the situation.
"I would recommend the committee be made up of seven people," said Mazzanti. "I would break it down to four members of this board and three members of the community at large." The issued was tabled until next month so that a meeting schedule for the new committee could be set up and suggestions on the at-large members could be collected.
Along the same lines, board member Craig Jones talked about seeking volunteer help for the museum. "I think the main focus right now should be on getting volunteers. We need to get more community involvement in the museum. That is the key to longevity for this museum. The more community involvement we can get, the better. It gives us more of a tread into the community.
"I feel it would also help the staff if we had volunteers who could run things," continued Jones. "That way, if one of you has to leave for business, there would be coverage and the doors could stay open." Jones introduced a new topic concerning the hours of operation of the facility.
"I think that maybe we should change the hours and days that the museum is open. Maybe we could be open on Saturdays and close on Sundays and Mondays. Then we could be closed on Tuesdays to the public so that the staff could get paperwork done. It's just a suggestion, but I feel we would get a lot of visitors on Saturdays instead of Mondays."
The issue was tabled.
In other business, Mazzanti told the board that about 4,000 people attended the Circle of Friends Pow Wow in March and that there has been no change in the status of the U.S. Department of Transportation grant, and that they are still are waiting for Congress to reappropriate funds.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Free mammograms will be one of the attractions during Widener Day, which will be held May 3 at the Widener City Hall.
A van from Lee County will be at the location to give the mammograms, members of the Widener City Council were told Monday.
"And we're still planning on the other activities for Widener Day," said Mayor Dot Halford. "I'm trying to get a pageant lined up, that's another little thing. And we've got like, six or seven games for the kids to play. We've got our music."
Along with the mammogram van from Lee County, the St. Francis County Health Unit will also be doing health screenings, for blood sugar and blood pressure.
There will also be hot dogs, egg rolls, fried pies and other treats. The senior citizens BINGO, a big hit last year, will be back. There may also be a dunking booth.
On another matter, Halford told the council the city had received a letter from the Highway Department, saying the city needed to move some water lines along Highway 50 so the Burnt Cane bridge can be widened.
"Well, we couldn't afford to move those water lines," she said. "So I contacted Sen. Steve Higginbotham, and he talked to the Highway Department. They are going to move their widening of the bridge to the south side instead of the north side. We're still going to have to change where it's bored under the highway, and I think we're going to have to change out two meters."
She said she would have more information at the next meeting.
Also, city attorney Marshall Wright passed out copies of a proposed rental agreement for the new community center. Included were proposed rules and costs. The council members were asked to look over the proposals and discuss possible changes at the next meeting.
On a final matter, it was announced that beginning April 25, and continuing through the summer, there will be a special limb and trash pickup schedule in place for Widener. It will be on the second and fourth Friday of each month.
Area school districts and government offices will be closing in honor of the Easter holiday on Sunday.
The Forrest City School District will be closed on Friday, but will reopen at the regular time on Monday. The Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute and the Palestine-Wheatley School District will be closed Friday and Monday, April 18 and 21.
Both East Arkansas Community College and the Hughes School District will not be closed for the holiday.
The St. Francis County Courthouse will be closed on Friday only.
All city offices, including city hall, will be open during regular operating hours on both Friday and Monday.
The 2003-04 Miss St. Francis County Rice will be crowned on Monday, April 21, at 6 p.m. at the St. Francis County Farm Bureau office in Forrest City.
The contest, sponsored by the St. Francis County Farm Bureau Women's Committee, is to promote interest in rice cookery and rice promotion among youth. Also, it is to focus the attention of the general public on the importance of the rice industry to the economy of the country.
The winner will promote rice at various functions involving a number of civic, social, school and church groups.
For more information, contact Judy Jayroe at 581-2459 or Denelda Michaelis at 581-2277.
The Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute's Board of Directors are scheduled to meet at 6 tonight at the school's campus in Forrest City.
The Forrest City Housing Authority's board is scheduled to meet at 5:30 this evening at the facility's headquarters in the Rice and Mann Street housing area.