Two different forms of art.Don't these look good together?  The back one is an old half-way worn out "paint by number."  Some folks have said that some of these old "paint by number" pictures are a little valuable.  Personally, I never did one and don't know where this one came from.  It has just been hanging around my house for no telling how long.The front lighthouse has just moved in.  It was a garage sale item that caught my eye.  When the new lighthouse saw this old picture it was love at first sight.  They resemble each other.  It seems to be handmade and I can't find another anywhere else on the internet.  Should I keep it?  I am wondering if the picture was a copy of some old lighthouse and hope one of our sleuths can name it.  Trivia, but fun........  10/02/2024

Historic Quattlebuck.Who remembers Col. Ivan Quattlebaum from Searcy AR.  Better question, who does NOT remember Col. Ivan?  He was a very friendly and colorful character in town.  The small print on this ONE QUATTLEBUCK says, "This note legal tender for free love and advice."  Sweet Ivan's Stop and Swap.  Ivan was a bail bondsman and an auctioneer and possibly a musician if the guitar means music. Definitely music was popular in the family and Quattlebaum Music Store was a lovely store on the corner of Arch and Spring Streets downtown.  He was creative also as you can see by this bill! There he is smiling on the bill!Searcy AR misses you, Colonel Ivan Quattlebaum!! 09/25/2024

Readers and Greeters  This young couple will be waiting to greet you as you go into the main door of our new library!  They may be distracted, however, by this fascinating book that they are sharing.  The brand new Larry and Janett Crain library opened September 18, 2024 and a large crowd attended.  It is a magnificent building with something for everyone inside. You will need to stop at the front desk and pick up a map that shows all the locations.  This young couple was donated by Shirley Moon.  Thank you, Shirley Moon!Here's a picture of the beginning.  This picture that I gave to the library is hanging in the history section of the new library. We've come a long way, Baby!! 09/19/2024

Painted eggs from May 1998 EGGS'travaganzaWay back in 1998 many citizens and I attended a corporate fund-raising event at Harding representing the White County Medical Center.  Way back then lots of folks around Searcy were raising ostriches and other different birds or animals.  Ostrich eggs were plentiful.  Local artists were asked to contribute a hand painted egg for auctioning off.  Liz Howell, now a highly successfuly REALTOR with her own real estate office, planned and held the auction.  Eggs were displayed on tables and a silent auction was held!I bought two.  One by Lee Freppon and one by Phyllis Alexander. (see an old blog here  https://activerain.com/droplet/4Jst ) Now I have from 8 to 10!  Why?  Because when I have attended estate sales or flea markets I have found more.  See... 09/16/2024

Portrait of Cleo 1966This has been White County Fair Week in Arkansas.  Memories return.  Here is a strange one.  Yearly, there was an art contest along with pickles and sewing and all kinds of other things.  I entered this painting of a lady named Cleo.  She actually sat and posed for me.  It won first place at the fair and I have had it since.  I'd like to know where she is and perhaps she'd like this picture for her family.Children's art winner.My daughter, Valerie Smith, attended McRae Elementary back in the 60's.  She painted and entered this one.  She won!!  These are good memories of our White County Fair.  I need to visit it today before it closes!!We are now Barbara Smith Duncan and Valerie Smith Canepa. 09/14/2024

The beginning......The annual White County Fair Parade was Saturday morning, September 7 at 11:00 a.m. Crowded? YES!  Folks in White County love that parade that circles the courthouse and travels down East Race in Searcy AR.  I was there along with blog-buddy, Anita Hart Fuller and my daughter, Valerie Smith Canepa.  Anita's good buddy, named Buddy Phillips, was honored to be Grand Marshall of this year's parade. He retired in 2010 after serving 45 years on the board and is now an Emeritus Board Member.  Anita had made a special trip just to see him in the parade because they graduated together in 1954 and have been great buddies through the years. SO.....The parade comes happily and noisily along!  There's Buddy in his fancy vehicle when his admired fan ran into the parade to greet hi... 09/09/2024

WOW! Lots of legs!  And girls.  Are you present?  This is an old and somewhat fascinating picture of a huge group of girls who were selected to attend Girls State in 1953.  It was given to me by one of my most dedicated Searcy Sleuths, Anita Hart Fuller.  I had to put an arrow beside her head.  She and others (I don't know who they were or where they are in this picture.) represented Searcy AR.  It is fun to look back and notice styles at that time. Plaid shirts and caps and shorts were in. Notice one girl on the front row has on a skirt. And what's with the decorated legs on a few of the girls? Have fun with your search! Google info.Arkansas Girls State is a summer program of education that has been sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, Department of Arkansas since 1942. By 2014,... 09/02/2024

                     The picture above shows an old view of a house that still occupies 1310 W. Arch in Searcy AR.  Take time to hustle to     https://activerain.com/droplet/5Dbk  and read an old blog that I did in 2013.  Also read the many comments about it and check the pictures. Wonderful Searcy history.Now go forward and check this old blog from May 4 2024.                        https://activerain.com/droplet/J5mg  More interesting pictures and some repeats.  But it had just sold.  I went by and snapped a picture. And now!!!!  Brace yourself!!!  A changed look!!  Isn't history fun!!  I am surprised that they left the wrought iron!  Personally, I like the first picture best!!   08/31/2024

Look at this lovely old rock building that I discovered at a property.  It is called a smokehouse.  I have heard of smokehouses all my life but was never in one that I remember and I have never understood them.  So I asked for permission to snap a picture and here it is.  I once wrote a blog about a pole barn and lots of people responded to it.  Click  https://activerain.com/droplet/cglb if you'd like to review it.What I found interesting about this little house was windows. Or were they ever real windows?  On my google search I read that they didn't have windows.  I liked seeing the inside of the house as pictured below.  Wood.  So how'd they get the fire for the smoke?             And here is a close-up of one of the two windows.  Interesting?  Perhaps it is time to brush up on histor... 08/24/2024

I had the privilege of visiting Rick VanHook in his art studio!  He told me this picture is his latest finished artwork and the detail is amazing.  I love it!WOW!This second picture shows part of the studio. I found the studio stunning and so full of creativity!  I immedately thought of a famous artist, Jackson Pollock, whose studio looked a lot like this one. (Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock and check out Pollock.)  I have said many times that VanHook my be on his way to becoming famous!!His studio has so many items in it that I don't understand and I have an art background!  Look at the table!  I wish I had a better picture of the studio for you.  Perhaps he can supply one.  How 'bout that, Rick!! 08/16/2024

 Long time, no see!Celebrating the 150th birthday of the beautiful Historic Benjamin Clayton Black House at 300 E. Race, Searcy AR, look who was present.  Since 1932 Yarnell's Ice Cream has been a big part of Searcy.  And there was a Yarnell's truck pulling a Yarnell's Ice Cream trailer....giving away ice cream.....asking whether you wanted vanilla or chocolate!It was called an Ice Cream Social with old timey games and all kinds of fun activities. In the picture below you can see part of the tables outside and even a Yarnell's rug on the steps!  It was definitely a fun afternoon with lots of good memories of both Yarnell's and the historic Benjamin Clayton Black house which is now home to the Searcy Arts Council.Thanks for a fun Saturday afternoon on August 10, 2024! 08/11/2024

Traveling the back roadsI admit.  I like the old roads when I can take them.  Avoiding the heavy traffic and the crazy speeders on the main roads is relaxing. I have traveled through the tiny town of Garner several times lately and always notice this big building that was once a catfish paradise restaurant. Seems as if I did go there in the past but how far back was it?  Searcy Sleuths surely can fill in the blanks in my memory because we have a hard time forgetting great catfish places! (Remember the one just past Bald Knob when heading for Augusta?)  Fill us in if you can with a little history of Schroeders.  It has obviously not been used in a long time. 08/08/2024

Good Times!I dragged out my motorcycle jacket.  ( I only wear it for special occasions and this was a very special occasion).  My far-reaching blog had reached this lady from several states away.  She is the daughter of Judy Deener who grew up in Searcy AR and the grandchild of Richard Deener from Searcy.  Remember them?  They lived here a long time ago with Judy graduating in about 1954!Jennie, shown above, had such favorable memories of her visits to Searcy as a child that she longed to return for a visit and contacted me through the blog.  She has no relatives left in Searcy but she drove for hours to get here when my good friend and a best friend of Judy's, Anita Hart Fuller, and I agreed to give her a tour.  The tour was one week ago.  Here is one of the main places that we were fo... 08/07/2024

How long since you have seen one of these?Pineapple upside down cake!!  Isn't it beautiful!  And one of our Searcy AR Chicken Cookin' Queens from 1972 make it yesterday, July 20 2024, and brought it to me!  The mystery is whether they are still as popular as they were so many years ago!  I was absolutely amazed at the beauty!!Here's the queen back in 1972.And here's the blog that I did just a few days ago with her as a finalist.                      https://activerain.com/droplet/J9stShe still reigns supremely!  Thank you, Queen Betty!! 07/21/2024

Ladies from Searcy ARWay back in the 1970s Searcy had a lot of Chicken Cooking Queens.  I loved seeing their newspaper clippings and as I have complained about before, we were lovely ladies but had no names.  We were called by our husband's names in the clippings. In the one above, 1973, notice Mrs. Benson Robbins (Betty) who was a finalist.  This blog has come to my attention because she just gave me a gift.  She became the winner in 1978 and she just gave me a little copy of her recipe.  Here it is!Wonder if she still makes the dish!Congratulations, Betty, and thanks for the recipe!!  07/15/2024

There is a book about the history of McRae AR.  Inside I found the picture above from so many years ago and was fascinated to see the way it used to look.  Notice the businesses around it.  I wrote a blog about it.  Click                       https://activerain.com/droplet/5WWvto read the blog.  The blog  has more pictures and even mentions bank robbers!  Go check it and then come back. Wasn't that fun!!  Such interesting history. Sadly, the buildings keep declining as the present picture below shows. But thanks to First Security Bank, it remains open!!  07/12/2024

Who remembers Arni Anderson? He was a very good artist and was a Harding College (now University) graduate.  He attended and then taught Art at the school during the years of 1972 through 1976.  A very good memory for all of us left in Searcy is the coming of McDonald's restaurant to our town.  The restaurant manager commissioned Arni to do paintings of historic homes and buildings.  In this article     https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/oct/13/harding-alums-coloring-book-sparks-interest-searcy/    Arni says he did from 30 to 40 paintings of historic homes and buildings in Searcy that were to hang on their walls.  Here is a picture of Arnie.  Go to the article above to read about his coloring book that he is working on in the picture..Now continue this interesting story by clickin... 07/07/2024

Girl's Football Searcy ARHere's an old Searcy Citizen photo from 1973 that I saved and recently came across.  Why did I save it? Someone very close to me is in it and mama's always clipped pictures.But pictures get lost or mixed up so I just now discovered that I had done a blog about this a few years ago.  A good blog!  It even told about the program from the person who started the program, Harry Miller.  So click                       https://activerain.com/droplet/5pJnand read all about it!  If you have more to add about it, (looks as if the star was Ouida Fincher) tell us about it! 07/02/2024

Historic building Kensett ARKensett AR is a very close neighbor to Searcy AR.....almost like a subdivision in the town of Searcy.  But is is so peacful there with little traffic and some very historic places to see.  The pictures above show one.Every time I go to Kensett, I admire this building and wonder about its history.  This time I took a picture and one is a close-up of the name and there is a mural on one side of it.  So what is that picture of?  Looks like cactus to me and I had thought this was possibly a cotton gin?  Off I went to google to see more about the gin.  Such an interesting bit of information and photos about Kensett AR pulled up!  The article was done by Scott Akridge and the White County Historical Society.  Go tohttps://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/kensett-... 06/30/2024

Searcy Lions vs. Beebe BadgersMemories sometime just fall in your arms....so it seems.  This old program did that to me.  Hubby's name is in this football line up.  Way down at the extreme bottom it gives a possible date of 1955!  Who won?  Someone from the Searcy Sleuths may remember.  I was not in Searcy AR.  The front side advertised Dizzy's Drive Inn and The Beebe News so the game must have been in Beebe.Sure, it does seem pretty ragged but what wouldn't be after about 69 years and saved by a football star?  Check and see if you know any of the guys!Miss you, Rodger Duncan!! 06/23/2024