The Spunky JunkerI walked in, sunglasses on, and heard a nice "Hello" but couldn't tell where it came from.  There were so many lovely things in this newly-opened The Spunky Junker antique store that I had to have my sunglasses revert to inside vision.  Then I could see Terre McCord behind her desk with a welcoming smile.This location at 511 W. Pleasure has had many stores since I got to Searcy.  My favorite was Two Sisters owned by Norma Burgin and Mary Hudson.  Times were different.  At that time I needed stuff for my house.  Now I need to get rid of some stuff from my house!  But I came out with that picture that is in the background hanging on the wall......Terre is open on Thursday and Friday from 9:30 - 5:30 and on Saturday from 9:30 to 1:30 or by appointment. The store is full of... 05/27/2023

 A Jug Full of MemoriesThe Historic Benjamin Clayton Black House is having an exhibit called Artisans and Collectors of Searcy.  Here is an item displayed by one artist named Irene Crouch.  In my long art loving background I have never seen one of these and she has three of them in her display.   I love them.  Imagine having all those trinkets and treasures that are displayed on the jug!Terry Williams, another Searcy artist, has a wonderful display.  Others include Jim Carr, Falyn Waggoner, Gary Shelton and Barbara S Duncan.Plan to go!  You'll be impressed!The address is 300 E. Race.  Hours are Tuesday through Friday  from 12:00 - 4:00 and Saturday from 10:00 -2:00. 05/24/2023

Old, old picture of the Methodist Church.While digging through my treasures, I found this picture of the Searcy Methodist Church.  Look at the mud in the road in front and the long fence in front of it.  I have forgotten wheather that was a house or another church in the background. Perhaps someone will remember and be able to tell us.  There was also no date but Google says it dates back to 1877 and is located at 304 N. Main St.  05/21/2023

Happy 100th Birthday.....We don't know the exact day of birth.  We do know that it takes a good while for a house to be completely born.  So therefore we go to the courthouse records and see what has been recorded.  This house was born in 1922 says the courthouse.  It is located at 2496 Gum Springs Rd in Searcy AR  And it has that wonderful look of a plantation style house with porches, a porch swing, columns, and a metal fence in front.It is on the market for sale right now.  Four bedrooms, four baths, 3152 sq. ft. of living space and 10 acres for your kids and animals to play on.  We need Searcy Sleuths help!  What history do you remember?  Just looking at it gives us a good memory but possibly our memories could be more specific!!Scott Akridge  has added this!!  Be sure to go there. ... 05/17/2023

Searcy AR Art Gallery, 300 E. Race, is the location of the Benjamin Clayton Black historic home that is on the Historic Register.  They are having an interesting exhibit that begins May 19 through July 19, 2023. Debbie Higgs, Director, is presenting the very first Artisans and Collectors of Searcy exhibit!  Debbie is on the left above and I am on the right. She has invited folks who are or were artists and ones who have interesting collections of art.  GUESS WHAT!!I WAS INVITED!! Take a minute and look at the new look of the gallery.  It has been given a wonderful updating on the outside.  The inside was already perfect.  It is not just an art gallery but also a museum.  You will be delighted.SO.....she asked me to bring from 4 to 6 of my favorite works.  In the picture above you see po... 05/12/2023

1951 American Legion Post Searcy AR Team.Perhaps you can provide names.  The article does not supply the names.This article was published in the Three Rivers Edition of the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette newspaper on July 31, 2005.  It was saved and loaned to me by Super Sleuth Anita Fuller when she saw what I had discovered at an estate sale.  This uniform was saved by some family.......dirty!  It was well-worn and needed washing, which I did although I wondered if it would survive!   It did!  It is a good historic find.Here you see the front saying Armstrong Caldwell Post 106.  The 1951 photo in the newspaper had no names.  The back said Berryhill's Sptg. Goods.  I remember the store which is now the location of a restaurant downtown on Center Street.  The first team and lots of others we... 05/06/2023

Never before have I seen one of these and every person that I ask says the same.  Found at an estate sale, borrowed for this blog!  It appears to be an oil painting of a soldier done on a very thin scarf.  Size is about 14" x 14".Here's the overview.  It has lots of folds because it has been folded and stored since 1951!Here is the back side of the painting.And here is a close-up of the person in the painting.Handsome, wasn't he!Here is the signature.  Yokosuka Japan 1951 K.Takano  Was that the name of the artist?  The posed person?  The location?  Now you see why it would be nice to have Searcy Sleuths help me solve this mystery.  It really is lovely!  04/11/2023

We have shown several pictures in the last few weeks that were taken by REALTOR  M. D. Faith in Searcy AR.  The pictures were taken around 1979 or 1980.  Here are four more, pretty close neighbors.  For greater detail, enlarge them. Here is our court house again but one thing is strange in this picture.  In the distance on the right is a sign saying Shaklee Center.  Is that what was being sold many years ago to help your health?  And there was a store downtown?  Also note parking meters!  Young people today have probably never seen one. And now we see the Rialto again.  Beside it is U. S. Army building and then!  And then!  Merle Norman Cosmetics!!  I had forgotten it was there years ago.  Next is a great picture of the Presbyterian Church and the old abstract office.Last, our beloved A... 04/10/2023

Sowell's Furniture is celebrating their 85th year of business in Searcy AR.  I visited it today and came away SO impressed.  The furniture is lovely and the art work is especially lovely and the cookie was delicious.  But the things that were so interesting were historic items as I show a little of here. Their location is 207 W Arch in downtown Searcy.  First and second pictures show the antique elevator.....still in use!  Absolutely amazing and unchanged!Third picture is upstairs and shows the antique flooring!You can go upstairs and see the ceiling decor that is still there!All the furniture is fantastic......so different from the furniture that I bought 50 years or so ago!  I wish I had more time to show some but I need to quickly urge you to go and visit!!  You will be glad you did. 03/31/2023

Isn't this thing as pretty as a new toy!!  It is new....but not a toy.  In July 2021 we wrote a blog about a new subdivision starting in Searcy AR on Country Club Road. Here is what the blog said.  Go here if you want to see the sign.  https://activerain.com/droplet/FHl5Welcome to a new subdivision coming to Searcy AR.  This sign has just gone up at the Corner of Sawmill Road and Country Club Road on the West side of Searcy AR.  The land has been in the Phillips family for many years and is now to be turned into a subdivision by Clay Hite, a popular builder in this area.  Hite has already completed several subdivisions in our town but this one may be the grandest yet.The sign says it is to be Belmont Estates, a grand sounding name.  We'll have to find out more from him about the name, t... 03/28/2023

Methodist Episcopal Church!  Was there a split?I think we have run this picture before but the card appeared on ebay for sale and I took the picture again.  I could read, this time, the fine print where it says Methodist Episcopal Church.  I had never noticed that before.  So, Searcy Methodist Sleuths, did the church go separate directions?  Did the beautiful Episcopal church in Searcy break away from the Methodist?  Go here https://activerain.com/droplet/dBqb to the older blog that has a much larger picture of the church!  I do love the larger picture!  Could some of the lines across it be electric lines?   03/27/2023

Remember when fancy belts for women were popular?The lovely Searcy lady who wore these belts died in 1999. I obtained them from an estate sale that was held at her home near downtown Searcy AR.  They are not very big around (remember when ideal waist size was 25") so she was a slim and graceful lady.  This fashion was popular in  1970's or 1980's If I remember correctly.She had an important friend, the mother of Cher! Click for blog.  https://activerain.com/droplet/8GDg.  Cher's mother lived in Searcy for awhile.  She called herself by the name Georgia Holt..  Georgia was born Jackie Jean Crouch near Searcy Arkansas. She came to live with her Aunt Zela Croom during the late 1930's when her parents separated.  She worked in the Croom Cafe, reportedly the only restaurant in Searcy at the ... 03/22/2023

Too-tight mom refuses to pay for a birthday card and just makes one herself. My kids had grown up and were living in California.  I was an art teacher and had been to caricature classes in Georgia and felt I could just make a card myself.  This was in approximately 1985 and it was saved by Paul. (Bet he would not have saved a bought one.) It recently resurfaced and I thought it was pretty funny.  Note the length of the telephone line!  There were no cell phones then.  Here's another caricature that I did and it will tell you how to do them.  Click https://activerain.com/droplet/4GxW  and you will see a blog with a lot of the Duncan family.  Keep in mind it was done many years ago so some are no longer members.  It is one of my favorite framed pictures.   03/14/2023

 I had lunch at Searcy Arkansas's Chit, Chat and Chew restaurant.  Is is on Race Street on the street with the historic Rialto Theater.  There are two separate entry doors.  I sat myself down and looked around and was amazed to see this large brick wall with a Coco Cola sign painted on it.  It was once an outside wall, I am guessing.  The person who served my food was extremely nice and said that folks had said he should just get rid of it, paint over it, and it was not worth keeping.  I agreed with him that it was a wonderful piece of Searcy history.He said he thinks it dates back to about 1940.   Here is a picture that I took of the outside as it is now.  Now here is a picture of the outside taken a long time ago.  Note the obvious two entries to two different businesses.  Very much a... 03/06/2023

Taking a picture of a picture is not ideal. So I am sorry the picture is not quite straight.  But......While visiting a historic location on Spruce Street in downtown Searcy AR I found this picture of "how things used to be" at the location. It "used to be" a pool hall so I took this picture of the picture.  It was called Pastime Pool Hall.  In the picture are 4 men that some may remember.  One is Tom Killough (owner of the business), another is Tom Head, another is Lloyd Welch, and last Elvin Hilger.  The pool and snooker tables are neatly lined up in the long slender hall.  The court house information says it was built in 1900 and the width is only 25 feet and depth is 101 feet, perfect to line up tables.Lined against the left wall are boxes of beer.  WHAT!! Boxes of beer?  In Searcy ... 02/28/2023

 This is a curved pencil that shows a good sense of humor.  Evidently Carder Buick (Automobile dealers in Searcy AR and I wish I knew the date it was done!) gave them away for advertising.  This side reads  "The Only Curve You Will Receive At Carder Buick - Olds- Opel Kadett Co."  Now read the back side.See Straight Talking PAUL A.  CROOK  Cook. That seems pretty funny to me today.  Mr. Cook has passed away and I'll bet he gave them permission to put these pencils out.  Can't you just see him laughing as he gave his friend a pencil!!  Since he is gone and we can't ask him, perhaps a Searcy Sleuth will remember and share the memory with us.  Carder Buick has also gone away so perhaps the Sleuth can tell us what Opel Kadett Co. means.  02/23/2023

Boy Scout Card!Just found.  My husband's Boy Scout card from December 1949 to December 1950.  They spelled his name wrong.  Rodger had a "d" in it but they spelled it Roger.  So it went for his whole life.Someone tell me......do they still have these?  This one was very small and came in the little envelope as shown in the first picture.  I imagine it made the young guys feel important to get such a pretty card.  He definitely saved it and throughout our long marriage, I had never seen it!!  Now it's an antique!  02/09/2023

We have shown several pictures in the last few weeks that were taken by REALTOR  M. D. Faith in Searcy AR.  The pictures were taken around 1979 or 1980.  Here are two more, pretty close neighbors.  Top is one to be loved and cherished, the Legion Hut, that is very historic.  Second is (look closely) First National Bank.  It is still there.....lovely.....but with a new name.  The Legion Hut was built in 1934 and has a long history.  Go here https://www.whitecountyhistory.net/legion-hut and read more about its history. It is a treasure that we hope to uphold.  The First National Bank building has recently changed hands for the second time so drive by and check it out.  It is still lovely and is an asset to downtown Searcy AR!! I love the old pictures and hope you to too! Both buildings ar... 02/06/2023

Lovely Happy Anniversary Card.I am calling it a card but it is really about 20" x 28".  The photographs date back to around  1945 when he was fresh out of service and they were married.  In 1995 they had their 50th anniversary and that is probably when this gift card was made.  It is very attractive with the photos surrounded with the black lines that make them really stand out and then glued to the poster board.There is no date on the card and no formal signatures so we will not call names.  The card was left in a house and given to my daughter and me, both REALTORS.  The handsome couple has passed on and we think we know who the folks who gave it were.  But we are not sure.One thing we can't deny.  It is absolutely beautiful and a wonderful gift. 01/29/2023

 Another M. D. Faith real estate photo from around 1979. Searcy AR As I began two other blogs,  M. D. Faith was one of the early real estate brokers in Searcy AR.  He and his wife have both passed and their home on Pleasure Street has just sold.  An estate sale was held and I dropped by.  There was an envelop with negatives in it from pictures made by him for his real estate sales or for his pleasure.  I have a friend who was able to print the pictures from the negatives (I returned the negatives to the heirs) and this is another one of the delightful pictures.This one is still standing and is located at the corner of Beebe-Capps Expressway and Country Club Road.  It houses a business that is still successfully operating and still looks about the same.  AND!  The info at the court house... 01/24/2023