Monticello Live

11 family rummage sale
Saturday February 4 begins at 7:00 AM on parking lot of Merchants & Planters Insurance on Gaines Street
Many clothes, household items, etc.
All proceeds go to fund Monticello Blue Steel 8 year-old Baseball Team (Uniforms and tournament expenses)

Starting Feb 7, DBSA ( Depression/Bipolar Support Alliance) support group will meet at 6 pm at 2nd Baptist Church on Old Warren Rd. on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month.

We want to welcome anyone suffering from either disorder to attend, as well as care-takers/loved ones.

For more information, call 870-224-1127.

Winners at the Town and Gown Duplicate Bridge Club on Monday, January 23 were:

1st place: Joy Hudson and Lowell Lynde
2nd place: Roy Cabaniss and Gene Gulledge
3rd place: Charlotte McKiever and Kaye Koen 

The Club would like to welcome new players Susan Sharp-Smith and Guy Nelson.

Monticello’s Alcoholics Anonymous Winners Group meets every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 836 N. Hyatt Street.

For more information call 870-723-6568

Alanon is for friends and families of problem drinkers. Our meetings are confidential.

Alanon members find understanding, strength and support at meetings.

We meet from 6- 7 pm on Tuesday evenings at First Presbyterian Church, 821 N. Main.

For more information, call Jane at 870-723-2493.

Arkansans who own or want to own a business continue to call on the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center for assistance. Preliminary reports show that 106 startup businesses assisted by ASBTDC opened in 2011.

More 2011 Results
1,359 Total Consulting Cases
11,511 Total Consulting Hours
467 Total Training Seminars
4,629 Total Seminar Attendees
1,118 Total Research Requests
$34.4 Million in Total Client Capital

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of the 10th Judicial District, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing abused, neglected and dependent children a voice in the court process, was awarded a $3,500 grant from the Plum Creek Foundation. Funds will support increasing the number of volunteer advocates.

CASA of the 10th Judicial District strives to shorten a child’s time in foster care and help place the child in a secure, loving home. By researching each child’s situation and working with the court on their behalf, CASA volunteers serve as the court’s “eyes and ears” in child welfare cases. Children, who sometimes get caught up in complicated court and child welfare proceedings. These children can spend much of their childhoods moving from one temporary shelter to another. CASA helps them find a safe, loving environment through the agencies advocacy services. (more…)

Options Thrift Store, 112 North Main, Monticello, AR
Winter Clearance 1/2 OFF Sale
Some items .50 or less
Inventory Reduction
Come shop with us! All proceeds go to the shelter.

Southeast Arkansas Community Action Corporation will begin taking applications for the FY’2011 LI-HEAP Winter Regular Program on January 09, 2012 thru March 30, 2012 or until funds are depleted. The program is designed to assist low-income households with home energy related emergency situations. The following information is needed to determine eligibility: (more…)

Some left their cell phone in the tax assessor’s office.

Call 460-6240 to identify.

Several Drew County students have been named to the Fall semester Dean’s List at South Arkansas Community College. To be eligible, a student must have a grade-point average of at least 3.0 and be classified as full-time.

Included are:

From Monticello, Lisa Flemister, Ishshah Molina, Sandy Sanders, Ashley Thomas and Lillian Thompson.

From Wilmar, Cynthia Stanley, Melanie Williams and Chad Reynolds.

The Drew County Assessor’s office would like to remind the taxpayers of Drew County about all of its online resources available at no charge and accessible 24/7. Taxpayers of Drew County can access all public records online, including both real estate and personal property records, which can be found by going to www.actdatascout.com.

Also available is the online personal property assessment website, www.drewcountyassessor, for those who own personal property in Drew County. This tool was introduced in 2011 and allows the public to assess from the convenience of any location with internet access. It is very useful for the taxpayers of the county who cannot make arrangements for assessing between normal business hours – 8:00 am and 4:30 pm. Feel free to call the Drew County Assessor’s office at 870-460-6240 with any questions regarding all of its online services available to you.

Grant presented by Delta Kappa Gamma

FEED THE KIDS RECEIVES GRANT

Delta Kappa Gamma recently awarded a grant of $500 in support of Feed the Kids weekend snack bags. The Extension Homemakers also contributed the proceeds from their winter fundraiser and the Shepherd Center gave a portion of their fall session registration to support the project. Feed the Kids is funded strictly through donations with some assistance from Rice Depot and a few grants. The group is awaiting final determination from the IRS to become a 501c3 entity.

Bags prepared for students.

Feed the Kids is a snack pack weekend feeding program active in Monticello and Drew Central Schools. The mission originally started by the Presbyterian Women of First Presbyterian Church has grown in the past five years from an experiment with six children to more than 150 children in both school districts. Children in Pre-K through 8th grade are identified by counselors, teachers, other school personnel, and sometimes even the children themselves as needing additional food.

beanie weenies to be distributed

The cost of each snack bag is about $6.00 and contains enough food to supplement a hungry child over the weekend. Clean-up bags are sent home on a quarterly basis and contain soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and seasonal items like socks, hats, and gloves. The cost to provide the bags has grown to over $2,000 per month.

Volunteers from the Methodist Youth Group, Second Baptist Church ladies’ mission group, Vera Lloyd Achievement Club, and individual community members pack and deliver the bags. The bags are packed the first Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. during the school year at the Fellowship Hall of First Presbyterian Church. For more information, to volunteer, or to donate to Feed the Kids, contact Louisa Smith, Chair 367-7439 or Allison Collins, Vice Chair 367-2987

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We would like to send out a special “Thank You” to all that helped to make this Christmas season extra special for our residents this year. Many of you adopted a resident off of our resident Angel Tree, or brought presents for special residents in need. Many church and community groups gave to all of our residents through out the month. Schools and churches came to sing Christmas carols to our residents and gave out handmade cards. The hugs and smiles were not forgotten either by the residents or our staff. We know this time of year is so busy for all of us and we appreciate and acknowledge your gifts. Thank you, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving back to people in need.

 With Love,
The Woods of Monticello
Happy New Year

We would like to thank the Monticello Police Department, Game & Fish Commission, SEEMS, Drew Memorial Hospital ER & Nursing Staff and Dr. Sylvia Simon & Dr. Tim Simon for everything they did to help Tim Forrest when he had his deer hunting accident back on November 19th.

Tim received wonderful care from everyone involved from getting him out of the woods and to the Drew Memorial hospital to the ambulance ride to St. Vincent’s in Little Rock.

Words cannot express how much we appreciate everyone and everything that was done to help my husband and my girl’s father.

Best Wishes and Happy New Year!

Tim, Diane, Ashley, Kaitlyn and Megan Forrest

Kellie Moore, a sophomore at Drew Central High School, performed in the 2011 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, which aired on ABC nationwide. Kellie performedwith the National Cheerleading Association. She qualified for this by being chosen as an NCA All Star Cheerleader at cheer camp last summer.

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Jay Dyson, of Monticello, invited his girlfried to watch the Christmas Parade, Tuesday night, at the Monticello Town Square.

Meagan Wilson, of Longview, TX, a senior at UAMonticello, was surprised when Jay “won” the chance to introduce the 4 guest judges.

Meagan was even more surprised when Jay proposed to her in front of the hundreds of onlookers, there for the parade.

She said “yes.”

We think events like this only happen at big league baseball games and in jewelry commercial, but having it take place at the Monticello Square, and on MLive video, was truly a unique event.  

The video of them shairng that special event has been viewed over 1,600 times, and was featurede on FOX16 news, Wednesday night. 

PUBLIC NOTICE

Please be advised that effective January 3, 2012, Dr. John Tedesco will be closing his medical practice at Drew Professional Services, 750 H L Ross Drive, Monticello, Arkansas.

His medical records will be available at that address upon written request. However, if you wish to leave your medical records at Drew Professional Services, they will be happy to maintain them for you. If you have questions, please feel free to call (870) 367-3922.

BrookLynn White, a first-grader at Monticello Elementary and dance student at Monticello Dance Academy and daughter of Greg and Tandee White, recently performed in the Ballet Arkansas and Arkansas Symphony’s production of “The Nutcracker” at Robinson Center Auditorium.

BrookLynn was a little angel in Act II of the production. BrookLynn has been dancing since she was three and has always been fond of anything to do with the Nutcracker. Her mother says that she is already looking forward to performing next year.

The brothers of the Gamma Chapter of Phi Lambda Chi will be collecting donations of new toys for the children of the Arkansas Baptist Children’s Home located in Monticello.

The fraternity places boxes at several area churches each year, and just before Christmas they collect the donations, buy additional toys using fraternity money, and deliver the toys to the Children’s Home.

Many of these children arrive with absolutely nothing, and these gifts are used not only for Christmas, but they also use them to give to new children to the home who arrive with no toys of their own.

The fraternity will be accepting donations until Dec. 18. Anyone wishing to make a donation may contact Glenn Beer at (318) 533-7887, or any member of the fraternity to do so. Only new items may be used. In addition to new toys, items such as coloring books, crayons, play-dough and stuffed animals are also accepted. The fraternity also accepts cash donations which will be entirely used to buy toys.

Picture: Lt. to Rt. Joy Graham Gamma Beta President, Ashley Gonzalez Drew Central teacher, Eva Arrington grant chair(not pictured Katie Williams)

The Gamma Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma awarded two $400 grants to Ashley Gonzalez a Drew Central Middle School teacher and Katie Williams a Monticello Intermediate teacher. Delta Kappa Gamma is a professional organization of women educators. The grants are awarded each year to support teachers in buying materials for their classrooms.

Just in time for Christmas, there will be a book sale and signing of Images of America: Monticello by Mary Heady and Mark Spencer at the historic Allen House at 705 North Main Street on Saturday, December 17th, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The book features the history of Monticello, Arkansas, in 210 historical images and approximately 18,000 words. Part of the popular national series “Images of America,” it is published by Arcadia Publishing of Charleston, South Carolina. The book sells for $22.00, and all proceeds go to the Drew County Historical Society. Also on sale will be Mark Spencer’s new book A Haunted Love Story: The Ghosts of the Allen House, which concerns the historical facts, folklore, and ghost stories associated with the Allen House. It will be on sale for $16.00.

If he has his way, the Director of Bands for the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) will be beating a new drum in Little Rock beginning in 2013. Gary Meggs, UAM’s Director of Bands has declared his candidacy for the Arkansas State House of Representatives District 9.

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CASA of the 10th Judicial District would like to ask everyone to give the gift that keeps giving, by making a Tax deductible donation to CASA you will be insuring that the abused children of our district continue to have a powerful voice in the court process. Please Mail donations to :108 N main St Monticello 71655 or 205 E Jefferson St Hamburg, 71646

Joy Alexys Thomas and Matthew Russell Landess are pleased to announce their engagement.

The bride-to-be is the daughter of Joey Thomas of Hot Springs, Ar. The groom-to-be is the son of Bryan and Dian Landess of Greenville, MS.

The couple met at Monticello High School. Matt graduated from Riverside High School in 2011 and is now attending the University of Arkansas where he is in the Gladson-Ripley Hall Senate. Joy graduated from Homeschool in 2011 and is also attending the University of Arkansas.

The couple plan their wedding to be on October 31, 2012 at Fayetteville, AR.

There will be no Drew H.E.A.L.T.H. coalition meeting for December, the next meeting will be in January.

The Drew H.E.A.L.T.H. coalition would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday!

The District Court of Drew County is currently seeking applications for two positions.

The duties of the Chief Clerk require accounting skills and general office management.

The deputy clerk position requires computer skills, filing duties, and court scheduling responsibilities.

Resumes will be received at The Harper Law Office, PLLC, 426 West McCloy in Monticello or at the District Court Clerk’s office in The Old Post Office on Gaines Street in Monticello.

The Monticello-Drew County Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for 2011 Man of the Year and Woman of the Year.

The winners will be announced on December 13, at the annual Chamber/MEDC Awards Banquet.

Nomination forms are available at the Chamber or by calling 367-6741.

Ashley Simmons a 14 year old student of Chelle Danley’s Takewando received her First Degree Black Belt October 25, 2011.

Ashley is the daughter of Jeremy and Angela Simmons and the granddaughter of Curtis and Ann Donaldson and Joe and Pat Wheeler.

Sixteen year old, Tori Martin of Azel, TX ( formerly of Monticello) recently recorded her first CD in Nashville, TN.

The title of the CD is “Falling Straight Up” and contains five songs including “Love Came Looking”, “Love So Deep”, the title cut, “Let’s Just Go” and “Nobody’s Girl”. Tori has been blessed with a beautiful voice which serves her well in singing country and gospel music. The CD’s and 8X10 autographed photos are available through her website www.torimartinofficial.com Tori is the daughter of Tammy Smith Martin and Jack Martin. The granddaughter of Pam and Dennis Gladden, Nelda Smith and the late JB Smith, Jr and the great granddaughter of Dell Halsey all of Monticello.

 The Drew County branch of the NAACP is hosting its annual Freedom Fund Banquet on Saturday, November 12, 2011 at the Monticello High School cafeteria at 7:00 P.M. The banquet will recognize the achievements of several local authors.

Ms. Kymara Seals, Deputy State Director for Senator Mark Pryor’s office will be the keynote speaker and tickets are $20 per person. Tickets may be obtained from Ms. Peggy Orr at (870) 469-5647, Mr. James Ambrose at (870) 367-5277 or Mr. Tommy Daniels at (870) 723-7407.