Yesterday's blog showed the class of 1952, Mrs. Knox's kindergarten class in Searcy AR.  There were lots of beautiful children and one of my readers sent me this photo! This photo shows the very first class that Mrs. Knox had. The White Country Historical Society says in one of their newsletters that at the end of the school year, the Child's Haven Kindergarten presented a program at the American Legion Hut on the Court Square in Searcy Arkansas.  This photo was so early, however, that the program was held in the front room of her house. Girls wore crepe paper dresses and bonnets made by Mrs. Knox!! Look at the intricacies of the dresses! One of the kids said that they were instructed not to get their fingers wet or do anything to wet the paper dresses or they'd have dye all over thems... 04/22/2009

I borrowed this picture from the White County Historical Society News, March 2009.  It shows so many cute children on the porch of Mrs. Klyster Knox's home on North Main in Searcy Arkansas.  The article stated that she started her kindergarten in 1949 with 12 children.  It grew until it had 60 children and she had to add a building behind her house for the school.  She operated the school for 25 years so lots of kids posed on this front porch for their class pictures.  The little boy with cowboy boots on the front row is my husband's brother.  The article names most of the children and lots of them are still in Searcy Arkansas. The house still stands and is just as stately as it was when she began the school.  It has a new owner but is still loved.  Here's the way it looks now. Just lo... 04/21/2009

In another life I must have been from England because I've always loved English Tudor styled houses.  They always attract me, fascinate me, and make me dream. This is the best, in my opinion, English Tudor in Searcy Arkansas.  It is located very near downtown Searcy and has been there since 1945 with only two families having owned it up until 1995 when the house was sold and turned into a law office, Schmidt Law Firm PLC. It has 3698 sq. ft. and was built with a one car carport.  Not many families were lucky enough to have more than one car at the time!!  Additional car storage was added over the years but none marred the front view of the house.  And do you know what I like best of all?  The playful use of brick over the little carport on the left.  I wish I'd taken a close-up!  Drat!... 04/20/2009

I thought I was safe in my Z71 Tahoe.  It is big and roomy for many customers or family and friends.  I don't like that it only gets about 15 miles to the gallon but I like the room when I have people riding with me.  Also, I do feel more safe in it than a small to midsize car. I was driving down Moore Street (a city street) today and meet up with this vehicle.  Those tires were nearly as big as my vehicle and he could drive right over the top of me.  I hope you enjoy the pics.  My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! ... 04/17/2009

Looking back a few days I found this blog by Charles Buell, home inspector extreme  supreme, with a warning about a tree that might just fall and damage the house it was shading.  I thought it was a very good blog with his going above-and-beyond the call of duty in inspecting. Two days ago I did a double-take as I drove by this scene in Searcy Arkansas.  Guess who I thought of immediately?  The tree looks as it if might have had a little decay.  It did not sell recently so I'm sure there had never been a home inspection but if there had been, inspectors would have caught it or not? Inspectors, do you write up trees that may fall over in a high wind as this one did?  04/17/2009

                    How sad to drive by a house that I sold in 1991 when it was in pristine condition with a lovely seller who was moving on to new areas.  I found these old pictures (no digital photos then!) and drove by to see how it has fared. Deferred maintenance seems to have prevailed.  And it was such a charming old home in Searcy Arkansas. Perhaps it will get restored soon.  I'm hoping so. 04/16/2009

Here she is.  Stark, lovely, unhurried, dirt street, in downtown Searcy Arkansas in approximately 1910.  This is the Cumberland Presbyterian Church that is across the street from our historic Rialto Theater  on Race Street.  You could toss a rock from this church and hit our Courthouse.  It almost looks like a couple of people on the right?  Now here she is today.  She's still lovely but you have to fight through the traffic and the power lines and the concrete to get to her.  We're proud of her and looks as if the congregation is taking care of a few problems with the aged steeple.  04/10/2009

This picture of the location of Harding University in Searcy Arkansas is fascinating.  Trees are small, the space between houses is large and there is this huge building that was Godden Hall, according to Raymond Muncy's History of Searcy published in 1975. Godden Hall was reportedly torn down in 1951 to make way for Harding University's new Administration Building.  Ones who grew up in Searcy can probably name lots of the houses seen in this photograph and possibly still standing.  It's a great view of the past. 04/08/2009

I found this old newspaper clipping with the title of "The Way We Were."  It should say the way some people were.....what a house!  Notice the kids in the windows upstairs and more on the front steps.  One thing about blogging is the way it makes you more conscious of your surroundings, your town, the past, and the things that are here today and will probably be gone tomorrow. This house is not one that I remember.  It was replaced by the West Side Church of Christ.  Now I wish I knew what it looked like when it was torn down.  Was it dilapidated?  Was it just a coveted location?  If anyone has a better picture of it, let's see it. 04/05/2009

Clients have been internet shopping and planning a trip to buy in Searcy Arkansas.  I've emailed them what I think is the very best out there.  They are here.....ready to buy. "Okay, Barbara, we'd like to see the one you sent us on Jonathan Street. When I tried to pull it up on the MLS search, it didn't pull up." Sorry but that one went under contract yesterday and that's why it won't pull up. "Okay, what about the foreclosure that came back on the market and you think it's a good deal?" Sorry but that one went under contract yesterday. "Okay, we really like this one on Daniel Street.  In fact, it looked better than any of the rest and has only been on the market 2 days." Sorry but that one also went under contract yesterday. That has been the story of our real-estate life lately.  Thin... 04/04/2009

The guys are all sitting around in the break room on a freezing day in January. One guy is bragging about his motorcycle which is out in the parking lot. The guys retort that if he is so crazy about that cycle, they double-dog dare him to ride around the parking lot buck-naked! Being an all-American he-man he takes them up on that dare, sheds his clothes and jumps on the cycle for the spin! OOPS!  A cop just happens to be driving by and sees this cool (in more than one way) man riding the cycle and tries to pull him over. PANIC!  The cool cat tries to get away and drives off as fast as he can.  The cop follows and finally gets him to pull over.  I don't know how many men tried to cover "Ethel's" eyes and say, "Ethel, don't look.  Here's the streak!"  (I hope you've heard that song.) We ... 04/03/2009

I must admit I'm not real crazy about Wordless Wednesday or Speechless Sunday or Meddlesome Monday or Trecherous Tuesday or any of the others that I've missed. BUT! This picture needs no words.  My husband comes from a family of cattle lovers.  They have cows right in the city limits and are god-fathered in because they've been there for so long.  We've witnessed two burning barns that quickly became burned barns. These cows are wordlessly expressive! 04/01/2009

The weather hasn't been to good as far as planning a trip to the Zoo and Wednesday showed to be the best day based on the what the weather man said.  Actually, mostly everyday this week would have worked because it did all the raining in the evening. Wednesday morning was her.  I packed up my three girls, Jana (wife), Brooke and Bailey and drove to Memphis.  The weather was great and we had a great time.  Here are some pictures.                 My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell numbe... 03/27/2009

I signed up for texting after a few friends said that I had to or I was grossly behind the times.  I paid for about 200 texts a month for about $5 added to my cell phone bill.  I discovered pretty quickly that my cell phone was not up-to-snuff because I had put in only 7 digits leaving off the prefix because you don't need the prefix to dial in our 501 area.  To text I had to have all 10 digits.  That was a nuisance to have to go back and change the cell phone numbers.  But I did a few. To call someone now on their cell-phone I'm too often greeted with this type message. "Hi, this is Susie with RE/MAX Glorious Realty.  I am either with a client or away from my phone at the moment but your call is very important to me so if you would please leave your name and number and a brief (sometim... 03/26/2009

Looking through an old Historical Society book I found this house and just knew where it was located.  The nice curved porch support was unique.  So I decided to do a before and after shot.I drove by the house here just knowing I'd located the right house.  I snapped my photo and hurried back to the office.  This is a finely maintained older home located near Harding University and I drive by it all the time. WRONG! The houses are not at all alike.           So while in a little surrounding town I saw that unique curved porch support again and snapped another picture thinking it could be it.  WRONG!    Yep, wrong again.  So I'm asking whether my Searcy readers can tell me if this Green Booth house is still in existence or was it perhaps torn down for a parking lot. The search is on!   ... 03/25/2009

Those of you who live in big towns have the opportunity to see big bands!  Big shows! In our town of 20,000, Searcy Arkansas, we don't get a lot of big-name folks.  I can remember, however, back when The Judds, Ricky Skaggs, The Carpenters and several other famous singers visited Harding University and put on great shows. Last night we were visited by Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers.  The band dates back to the days of Elvis Presley when he played small night clubs in Arkansas.  All of the guys in the band are over 70 years old and they do a great job of playing the old-time-rock-and-roll songs.  They still travel all over the world doing shows.  It is almost exhausting to think of their schedule.  Hear them below. Red Headed Woman is one of their favorite songs. 03/22/2009

I was talking to my friend Dick Betts the other day and we got talking about technology.  Dick is a National Real Estate Speaker and has a wealth of knowledge.  You can go to his website at www.DickBetts.com and see what all he teaches. While talking the other night, I told him that I did a complete transaction online.  That's correct, a COMPLETE real estate transaction online.  It started with an e-mail several months earlier requesting some information about land sales in my market place.  I e-mailed the seller back and forth many times.  I didn't hear back from them for several months and then I received an e-mail stating that they wanted me to sell it for them.  We agreed on a price and I scanned the listing agreement, property disclosure forms and e-mailed them everything.  They pr... 03/16/2009

        Downtown Searcy ARKANSAS, corner of Arch and Spring Streets on the Square.   This is an old picture of Searcy Arkansas's Security Bank.  It is now called First Security Bank and is one of the strongest banks in the state. My next picture will show how it has been restored. Throughout the years it has had different facades as the fashions changed. Subject today, however, is the building across the street that shows in the background of this photograph.  It has recently sold and my understanding is that the upstairs has been made into a very fashionable downtown apartment. Funny how old photos had a lack of distance.  There is really a pretty decent width street between these two buildings but in the old picture here it appears to be an alley at the most. I drove through this stre... 03/16/2009

We usually hate getting mail that is trying to get us to buy something, don't we?  Not as much as we hate telemarketers but we usually glance at it and then throw it in the trash. Mail a few days ago, however, caught my eye.  There was this fantastic photo of an old truck with Sowell's Home Supply, PHONE 499, Searcy ARK on a large card. One the back the owners of Sowell's was inviting us to Sowell's Furniture to celebrate their 64th year in business.  On March 19,20, and 21 they want us to stop by at 207 West Arch Avenue and wish them all a Happy Birthday. They'll give us a discount on lots of furniture items.  I need a new LazyBoy chair so I plan to visit. The girl in the truck is reportedly Betty Lynn Sowell Mote who still operates the store along with her sister Nancy.  Nancy says t... 03/14/2009

We are very happy that you chose Searcy for your location!  If you are not familiar with Schulze Burge Biscuit Company,  they make Toast'em and Pop-Ups Toaster Pastries and Snackin Fruits Pastry Bars.  They are moving into the 500,000 sq. ft. building previously occupied by Maytag. They are going to employ around 250 people, this will be a great asset to our community.  Searcy has been so fortunate to have the gas exploration and now a new plant.  This will be a big boom to our economy and to real estate. WELCOME, SCHULZE BURGE BISCUIT COMPANY, WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE HERE!                                              http://www.maryjpaul.com   03/13/2009