What else is there to do on a hot summer day? Lexi Dominguez spent her Tuesday at the Pocahontas Aquatic Center cooling off from the high temperatures. Lexi joined her siblings, Hannah, Rhett, and Chloe for a fun-filled day at the park. Sarah Dunlap, park director, said the park has seen a huge increase of visitors in the last couple of weeks.
The Pocahontas Star Herald recently won several awards from the Arkansas Associated Press Association (APA) including a first-place win for John Allen French in the Feature Photo Category at the annual APA Conference and Awards held this year in Memphis, Tennessee.
My dad was a big fan of the singer/ songwriter Harry Chapin. Back in 1972, Harry wrote a song named “Circle”. It is a great song and some of the lyrics have always stuck with me. “All my life’s a circle; but I can’t tell you why; season’s spinning round again; the years keep rollin’ by.” These lyrics are certainly true, as I look out my window this morning and see the sun rising again on another hot summer day. In a few months, it will cool down and the leaves will change colors. Fall will come and go, then winter. Wash, rinse, repeat. The cycles of life will show up in everything we do. From the seasons to trading, “all my life’s a circle.” Last week, a nice lady called to discuss some of her investments. She is an older lady, so she remembered the 1980’s markets, including high inflation, Paul Volker, and the crash on Black Monday. My mind immediately went the some of the similarities between those times and today. Inflation is back on the rise. The current inflation rate is 8.6%, this number is up greatly from the sub-2% levels we saw from 2008 until last year. Paul Volker was the chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1975 to 1979. He is credited with raising interest rates to combat inflation successfully. While interest rates under Volker’s term rose to over 20%, which we hope does not happen this time around, Volker’s strategy is about the same as the current Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell. The stock market crash on October 19, 1987, is warmly referred to as “Black Monday”. In one day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6%. If that same percentage dropped happened today, it would equate to a 7,205-point crash. Scary to think about, but the reality is that in a world of cycles, its bound to happen again, sooner, or later. I hope much later.
Ron’s Body Shop takes T-Ball honors...The Ron’s Body Shop T-Ball team took top honors in regular season play recently and placed second in tournament action. Team members first row from left include: Christopher Dollins, Gary Riney, Rusty Farrin, Jeremy Thielemier, Shawn Hatch and Jeffrey Thielemier. Second row, from left Patricia Templeton, Wayne Sims, Justin Camp, Nathan Camp, Jason Clark and Timothy Gregory. Back row are Coaches Stanley Camp, Randy Farrin, Scott Thielemier and Jimmy Eversmeyer.
Maybe some of you watch Magnolia Network and are familiar with Ashely and Michael Cordray’s show Restoring Galveston? It is my very favorite show, they restore the old historic homes which are slated to be taken out and destroyed. A while back I was watching an episode and they bought a tiny old shotgun house in an alley, which is where some but not all shotgun houses are to be found. In New Orleans, they are pretty much anywhere and everywhere! But this shotgun they believed to have been built using salvaged materials from houses destroyed by a hurricane back in the twenties or thirties. Though it was bought for a song it had to be moved to another lot, which had proved to be quite the task. Where once more it had been given new life.
I am at heart, a constitutionalist. Oh, I vote according to my conscience, but I always do my best to hold our politicians to the constitution our forefathers handed to us. Many of us might agree on that. However, I often wonder how many are somewhat fuzzy on the original formation of our government, what type it is and why it was chosen for us. It is no surprise this is the case, when even our own politicians and journalists get it wrong sometimes.
Randolph County has numerous Arkansas firsts–sites and events that were the first occurrence of their type in what is or would become Arkansas. What are the reasons that this county was so important in the settlement and development of our state? What did we have that other counties didn’t?
The Barré Family’s Annual Hal & Bootsie Barré Family Trout Classic was held on June 10 at Stetson’s On-The- White Resort in Flippin, Arkansas. The family enjoyed a fun-filled weekend of games, fishing, eating, and making memories.
This week’s Five Rivers Master Gardener’s Yard of the Week Winner is Mary Sharp and James Razer. Their yard is filled with beautiful plants and flowers. In the last two weeks, Mary has spread the beauty of her yard’s produce with others by delivering beautiful hydrangea bouquets to friends and loved ones.