Monticello Live

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The Drew Memorial Hospital emergency room now is treating over 1000 patients/monthly, for 7 consecutive months. They also have achieved an average service time of approximately 2 hours/patient in the emergency department.

Drew County’s Discalced Carmelite Monastery and the Man Who Built It (Part One)

By Sheilla Lampkin (more…)

I’ve had some interesting conversations the past couple of weeks about “rolling stores” and all of the favorite treats found therein – many of which survive today.  I thought you might be interested in some lists of “how far back” some of our favorite treats existed.

From The 1900s t0 the 1920s Baby Ruth, BB Bat Suckers, Beeman’s Gum, Bit-O-Honey, Butterfinger, Candy Cigarettes, Candy Corn, Caramel Creams, Charms, Charleston Chews, Cherry Mash, Chiclets, Clark bars, Cracker Jacks, Goo Goo Clusters, Heath bars, Dubble Bubble gum, Goobers, Lifesavers, Milk Duds, Milky Way, Mounds, Moon Pies, Mr. Goodbar, O. Henry, Reese Cups, Tootsie Rolls, PEZ, Zero, Hershey’s chocolate bars and many others.  Whew!  I’d imagine we thought in the ‘20s they only had candy canes and licorice like in the old westerns! (more…)

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an essay about my memories of the rolling store of my youth along the Mississippi River levee in Desha County.  I asked for other remembrances and received a reply from Mary Lasiter about her memories of the rolling store in the Green Hill area of Drew County.  Our memories were so similar I thought you might like to read Mary’s story, so it is reprinted here with Mary’s permission.

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A little acclaimed story from Drew County history was brought to mind last week while I was attending a recent meeting of the Public Health Committee of the Arkansas House of Representatives in Little Rock.  A most interesting and kind gentleman whom I had just met asked about the state of the “Bottoms Baptist Orphanage”.

I recall hearing this term when we first moved to Drew County and wondering if it meant that some person from “the bottoms”, a local term referring to the Delta, might have founded the Baptist home.  However, research proved this to be untrue.

Today I want to share briefly the story about the Bottoms Baptist Orphanage, more familiarly known in these times as the Arkansas Baptist Home for Children.  (more…)

Nearly every city has allegedly experienced a brush with a famous person whether he/she is “good or bad”.  Bonnie and Clyde reportedly once visited Monticello.  Tillar, a small farming community in eastern Drew County, also had a visit from legendary outlaws – the notorious James boys.
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I would be remiss lest I honor Arkansas Boys State this year with a column.  Like its sister organization, Boys State is open to high school students who have completed their junior year in high school.  It takes place in the summer before the senior year and is a week-long adventure in civic education.  Boys State offers a practical, hands-on look at politics and government as students seek election at the state, county, and city levels and then engage in the governing process. Participants learn about the responsibilities of a wide range of offices, as well as the interaction between the various offices and the various levels of government. (more…)

As the end of the traditional school year, and the beginning of summer nears, my thoughts always go back to my visit to Girls’ State in the summer before my senior year in high school.

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Welcome back to our look at early cooking techniques, preparation tips and storage ideas to avoid spoilage and recipes. (more…)

Since this Sunday, March 27, is the day we celebrate Easter this year, I thought I’d share some more unknown traditions of the holiday around the world. Easter, which celebrates Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection, is one of the two most important holidays in Christianity today. It has been called a move able feast because it doesn’t fall on a set date every year, as most holidays do. Instead, Christian churches in the West celebrate Easter on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox on March 21.

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On Monday, May 4th, at the regularly scheduled Drew County Museum Commission meeting, the commissioners were pleased to have Judge Robert Akin and Mayor Zach Tucker attend. Both men presented some ideas for the May 31 Grand Opening of the Country Store out back on the top floor of the carriage house. (more…)

Memorial Day is next Monday, May 26, 2014, and I want to thank each of the veteran servicemen, past and present, for your service to our great nation.  I also want to remind you of a little remembered symbol from WWI and WWII that few today likely can recall.  Yet it was a very significant and unique memento from our country’s history.

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Before we leave this office/front bedroom of the Drew County Museum there are a few more noteworthy items to discuss. One is a photograph of the wood-framed, original First Baptist Church built in 1860 and torn down in 1902. It stood where the newer one stands today. Actually I believe the fourth building is the church we see today. First Baptist Church has a long, illuminating history in Monticello.

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I hope you are enjoying our little tour of the Drew County Museum and will come take a look for yourself soon!! We’ll begin our journey this week in the room that now serves as the museum’s office. Along the north and east walls of that first-floor room four unique oil paintings are hanging. The first is an aesthetic rendition of the old Selma United Methodist Church. The church is one of the most recognized sites in Drew County, is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been lovingly restored in recent years. The soft, yet bright colors in the painting give the scene a pastoral quality. The painting is the work of Jerry Swope, an art teacher at Monticello High School in the 1970’s. Mr. Swope has since moved from Monticello, but left fond memories with his many friends, and this beautiful piece of art in the museum.

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On our museum tour this week we will again begin at the front door. As noted earlier, the door itself has beveled glass panes highlighted by a magnificent fanlight at the top and gorgeous sidelights. When Mr. Cavaness was building the house, he traveled to the Crescent City where he found the gorgeous door with its fanlight and sidelights, purchased them and brought the entire set to Monticello to serve as the main entry to his home.

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This March, 2013, offering will begin a series that will give you a room-by-room tour of our own Drew County Historical Museum. I hope you will enjoy these entries and will stop by the museum yourself to peruse its treasures face-to-face.

The museum itself was formerly known as the Cavaness house for those of you who never knew, or have forgotten, its beginnings. Newlyweds Garvin W. Cavaness and his wife, Pattie Phenton Wells, began construction of their home in 1906.

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While many younger folks mistakenly think of the Extension Homemakers Clubs as a group of “little old ladies who meet, eat, sew, swap recipes and make crafts”, they are sadly misinformed. EHC has an educational program that coves a gauntlet of topics from child care issues to healthy eating, to financial advice, to exercise programs and a myriad of other notable subjects to meet someone’s needs.

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DMH CEO Mike Layfield addressed the Quorum Court, Monday night, and emphasized “the misconception that proposed millage extension has been referred to as a new tax.” 

The Quorum Court last month approved the hospital board’s request to hold a special election on October 9 to ask county voter’s to approved the continuation of the existing hospital millage to be used to help fund the new Surgery Center, which is estimated to employ an additional 25 employees.  Layfield compared performing surgery in the current facility to “driving a 35 year old car.”Supporters of the millage extension will be visiting interested groups and organization to discuss the proposed extension. 

JP Jimmy Potter also criticized a local editorial calling the proposal “a new tax.”  It was also commented that the October 9 election will not be paid for by the county.

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This week’s column is the eighth in a series about the history of the present Extension Homemakers Clubs operating in Drew County. This week we’ll take a quick look at the Plantogo Club in northwestern Drew County.

In the early 1960s there were two separate EHC clubs in the northwestern part of Drew County. They were known as the Plantersville EHC Club and the Montongo EHC Club. During those years the two groups decided to merge and the new and larger club became the Plantogo Club. Their primary purpose was to educate housewives in new ways to do their jobs as wives and mothers.

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The Drew County Historical Society want to thank all the participants in the “Roast and Toast” of Dr. Jack Lassiter on August 3rd.

The fundraiser was a big success, and all of the proceeds will be used for the maintenance and operation of the Drew County Museum and Archives.

Those who helped in any way to make this a success are truly appreciated: the merchants and individuals who donated auction items, the attendees, the roasters and toasters, and our emcee and auctioneer, Desha County Judge Mark McElroy.

We especially want to thank Dr. Lassiter for being such a great sport. It was a wonderful evening, and we are grateful to everyone who worked and participated to make the night one of fun and an outcome for a better future for the Museum and Archives.

Judge Sam Bird Roasts Lassiter from MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

Richard Reinhart Reminises from MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

Mark McElroy Introduces Mike Layfield from MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

DMH CEO Layfield Diagnoses Dr. Lassiter from MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

Leigh Lassiter Counts, “My Dad” from MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

Mayor Maxwell Toasts Lassiter’s Accomplishments from MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

Dr. Jack Lassiter Responds to Roasters from MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

In this week’s contribution for the history of the Drew County Extension Homemakers Clubs, we will honor the history of the African-American EHC organization in Drew County. I want to give credit and honor to a very special lady and friend for this information. Thank you, Mrs. Inez Lindsey!

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This week we will continue our little historic look at the Extension Homemakers Clubs in Drew County to recognize the 100th anniversary of this wonderful service organization in Arkansas and Drew County. Chronological order is fuzzy in some cases, but the Southside Club is generally acknowledged as the oldest surviving club.

SOUTHSIDE EXTENSION HOMEMAKERS CLUB

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The Drew County Extension Homemakers Council is a dedicated service organization that began over 80 years ago in Drew County with local clubs who met in many communities throughout the county. Today there are 9 Extension Homemakers Clubs in the county, but in 1956 there were actually 23 active county clubs educating and serving the citizenry.

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The Drew County Museum and Archives have recently been offered an opportunity to gain some much-needed income from the proceeds of a book written by Dr. James William Willis, who was inducted into the Drew Central Hall of Fame, last week.

Willis is a native of Drew County, who grew up in the White Hall Community south of Monticello and graduated from Drew Central. He was the son of Earl and Lela McKinstry Willis, local educators, who were both native Drew County residents. Willis’ father was a long-time superintendent of the Drew Central schools, and his mother was an English teacher at both Drew Central and Arkansas A & M College. Later, they moved to Little Rock to work with the state department of education before they retired in Monticello.

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This display is an assortment of home made nails and is on display in the Taylor cabin along with a number of tools from a long gone era. Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays from 2pm till 5 pm and Sunday by appointment..

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

This week will be the last segment of our tour down Monticello’s historic Main Street. We’ll begin at the corner of East Bolling and South Main and proceed down the east side of the street to Midway Route. I must admit that I could not learn as much detail about this area as in earlier segments, yet I do have some interesting information.

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If you look all over Facebook these days you will see photos of peoples brooms standing up, Well check this broom out, It is made of corn shucks and is in the Taylor plantation Cabin on display at the museum.

Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays from 2pm till 5 pm and Sunday by appointment..

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

This week we will begin our look at the last block on west side of South Main Street. We will be traveling on the west side of the street from Bolling Avenue to Wood Creek. Looking down the block we see the stately two-story home that was built in the early 1900s by Ed Spencer. Terrell Spencer Sr. grew up there. Spencer was associated with the Monticello Cotton Mills. The grand plantation style home with its wraparound porches, columns, chimneys, dormers, accents and balcony sits on a slight elevation and adds strength and beauty to the corner lot.

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