I love this old card that shows the dirt streets of Searcy AR.  It shows the First Methodist Church at the end of the street. The courthouse would be on the left of the solitary wagon and man on the street. I have already posted one with the street looking West.  I have several people contributing to our history of Searcy series (not intended but it has just happened).  I hope we can upload lots of great photos of our White County, Searcy AR area in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned if you like old pictures.  I personally am nuts about the black and white ones.  07/24/2008

While looking through my old junk, I found this self-promotion advertisement that I mailed out in 1993.  That is the year that I went to work for RE/MAX Advantage.  Well, the truth is my friends found it and showed it me.  They'd saved it because they liked it. It really is irrelevant that when I began, curly hair styles were "in".  I wore a curly wig until I was sure I liked it and then had the frizzy perm.  I must say it was the easiest hairstyle that I ever had.  Interest rates did shoot up to 18% or above.  I loved the double knit suits!  What was relevant was the way creative financing had to be used to sell a house.  Heck!  I was new.  I didn't know any better and I just rolled with the flow. Then in 1993 interest rates were SO low.  We thought they'd never be lower.  We certainl... 07/23/2008

I have been in Natchitoches, Louisiana, for a week of baseball world series play offs!  I have missed active rain, but my grandson, Adrian, plays baseball and I can't miss those games!!  His team, the White County Title Tigers placed third  and he placed third in the home run derby!  We are proud!! If you have never been to Natchitoches, put it on your list!  It is the oldest town in Louisiana, the first settled after the Louisiana Purchase.  The Cane River runs through the town and some of the streets are brick.  Really a pretty town with lots of historical sites.  The food was wonderful, and the servings are huge!  When I go out of town I have one of my Realtor friends take care of my real estate clients, and my cell phone is always on!  My treo 680 is my home office!! This week Adria... 07/23/2008

  This old hotel is still in Searcy AR and still being lived in.  I don't believe it is a hotel anymore but more of a permanent home for people and office space for businesses.  It is within walking distance to our Spring Park, where people used to go for herbal water treatments.  We had a delightful "Yankee" who came in and bought it many years ago. He made himself a very fancy living area in the hotel.  He became loved by everyone in the town despite his accent.  When he sold it to someone else he had quite a few collectibles from it which he passed on to people who would appreciate them.  My favorite comment from him was this, "Baabrra (he couldn't say Barbara), your house is about the only one that is so full of junk that I think you'd appreciate this teapot from the Mayfair because... 07/20/2008

  This building was a familiar sight in Searcy Arkansas for many years.  It was torn down just about a year or two ago in order to make room for a Walgreen's Store on the old Truman Baker Cheverolet corner at Race and Main Streets.  It had changed over the years but not a whole lot.  It was made into offices for the car dealership and used that way for many years.  In fact, some of you will have to tell me what was there when it was the Armory.  Anita, are you out there?  This is a post card. 07/18/2008

   My broker often brings his 9 year old son to work with him because he lives in an area with no playmates for the child.  Rainey is a character and all of us sorta pamper him and sometimes cater to him.  He asks to do chores for us for a few cents pay.He came into my office the other day and said he had 20 cents and needed to borrow 35 cents to go with it to buy himself a coke.  He asked if he could borrow that from me.  I had two quarters and he figured the math and left with his 35 cents.  Before he left, however, he confessed that he'd borrowed the other 20 cents from Jeff, another agent.I figured he'd forget all about owing me any money.BUT, when I got to work today and opened my door I found this note.  He had repaid my 35 cents!  I thought it was wonderful that he remembered and... 07/17/2008

  This is another picture of Searcy Arkansas and is reportedly the West side of North Spruce Street.  I put up one about three days ago that showed this same area or a part of the area but it appeared to be posed with gentlemen dressed in finery.  This appears to be a more likely scene with people in their wagons and trying to maneuver the dirt streets.   The picture was given to me by a friend whose family used to own the daily newspaper.  If some of you are experts on this area and need to correct me on what it was, just make comments below. 07/16/2008

  This is another picture of Searcy Arkansas White County taken so many years ago.  I love the guy on the light pole who may have climbed up there for the photo.  I would assume photos were a big deal then.  Do you think there were people on the streets for the photo or were there that many loiterers?  This view is of Spruce Street going North or the West side of the court square.  The photo was given to me by a friend whose family owned the daily newspaper.  He remarked that he'd thrown dozens of great photos like this in the trash! 07/13/2008

BUY LAND How many times have you heard this?  Perhaps with a little more class but the saying means the same.  It's smart to buy land because no more is being produced.  I've never met a man who didn't want to have land, ranging from a big yard to acres and acres. I'm here to give a personal testimonial about land.  My first husband and I had been married just a few years.  He was from Searcy Arkansas and even though we were a military family he hoped someday to return to Searcy.  But even if he didn't he thought land would be a good investment for the future.  He picked out a little 39 acre parcel of land, called a farm, that seemed a long way from town. It had a little old farm house on it and a dairy barn and a couple of ponds and an old barn.  The price was $22,000 and that was in ... 07/03/2008

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!  I have finally reached the age of early  retirement, if a person could retire!  I will probally be 100 before I retire!!!  I will have to continue working to buy gas and food!! lol I have been in real estate since 1994, it is so amazing how time flies!  It seems like yesterday when I took the real estate test.  I was so nervous, afraid I wouldn't pass.  But, I did. Then I took my brokers test, passed that too!  The cost of living has changed so much in the past years.  I can remember gas being eighteen cents a gallon!  Bread was nineteen cents, hamburger meat was five pounds for a dollar!  When my husband and I got married, 1964, we ate on $12.00 a week, and that was good eating!  My, how times have changed! Birthdays don't bother me, the only other alternative is... 07/02/2008

Judsonia Arkansas was a thriving little town in 1952.  This shows a picture of the streets much earlier than 1952 when they were dirt.  I love seeing the old town photos.  Judsonia is just about 5 miles from Searcy, our city of 20,000. The saddest thing about Judsonia is that in 1952 a tornado came through and wiped the town out almost.  About 50+ people were killed.  The reports say that you couldn't tell where streets were because the damage was so bad.  It was a terrible thing. Now if you are selling property in Judsonia you'll find a storm cellar at almost every house.  People who lived through the tornado are ghastly afraid of storms and watch the TV for news.  One of my friends who as a child was blown a distance in the tornado and remembers it still has her cell phone set up to ... 07/01/2008

    Everyone was there!  His friends, his relatives, his associates from the Historical Society where he has served on the Board as Treasurer for so many years.  He is now an honorary Lifetime Member of the White County Historical Society. He stood in the entry of his daughter's house and greeted everyone as they came in, a gentleman dressed in suit and tie and being gracious to us all.  The family and the Historical Society served punch and cookies. And what a great selection for a birthday picture to put on the invitation.  This little boy sitting on the top of an old car with a dirty face!  When it came across as email, I couldn't help but study it.  It needs to be sent out to all my friends on ActiveRain!  06/29/2008

We have this condo under contract now!  This Saturday will be a big day for the sellers because they'll be getting rid of a lot of family treasures.  No family member has room to hold everything so most of the household items, antiques, furniture, etc., will be sold.  If you want to see some of the sale items go to this website and view the items.  Sale is at 9:00 Saturday June 28.   We don't have a lot of condos in Searcy Arkansas, a small 20,000 population city approximately 50 miles from Little Rock  Arkansas.  The first ones built were exciting for our city but the builder made a mistake.  He had an "outsider architect" plan them and though they were beautiful they had a problem. They were expensive and the bedrooms were all upstairs with a very steep staircase to get to them.  Youn... 06/26/2008

Did you watch America's Got Talent  last night?  I did, and the Elvis impersonator was terrific!!!  He was very handsome, just like Elvis!  He  had the crooked smile, the Elvis hair do, and was dressed in black leather.  He was fantastic, like Elvis is back!  He sang "Hound Dog" and sounded just like Elvis.  He also had the Elvis moves, the girls were going wild! I think Joseph Hall, the handsome young man, was from Lincoln, Nebraska.  Anyway, the judges loved him!  So, he is on his way to Las Vegas to compete again.  Elvis is my all time favorite performer!  When I was young I had all the Elvis stuff, dog tag, skirt, bracelet, anything with Elvis on it.  I have always been an Elvis fan!  Elvis could sing anyone's song and make it his.  But no one, absolutely no one could sing an Elvis ... 06/25/2008

    Another picture of the old days in Searcy, White County Arkansas.  I really love this one.  The ladies all have on hats and are dresssed just as alike as the girls dress today.  I can assure you everyone had on some sort of hose.  And they had on sensible shoes, no needle pointed spikes that would ruin their feet before they got old. (Well, maybe some were already old in this picture.) Skirts would have all been the same length.  I can remember my mother wondering what skirt length would be in fashion that year.  The experts dictated and the ladies followed their orders.  No pants were worn by the ladies.  Here's what my friend Don says about the picture.  He let me borrow it for this blog. Searcy Garden Club Breakfast & Hat Show.  This fashionable gathering took place in Spring Par... 06/25/2008

My friends have given me permission to use this old photo of a young boy and his tractor.  It has to be a very unique one and if any of you guys can identify it let us know.  I just asked my husband what he thought it was and he said he thinks it was an old garden type tractor, small so you could do the garden. My friends Don or Anita may also be able to tell us what kind it was. What I love is the fiendish expression on his face.  Can't you just see him bearing down on any cat, dog, squirrel, or pretty little girl who got in front of him. The boy is now grown up and is a citizen of Searcy Arkansas.  He still has a mischievous nature!   06/24/2008

TIRED OF HIGH GAS PRICES?  Don't sit on your fanny and do nothing!  Contact your state senate and house, let them know you want to drill in USA!  DON'T WAIT!  We have plenty of oil in America, we need to stop being dependant on foreign oil!  Making gas from corn and soy beans will only make our food supply shrink and cost more!  Ethanol is expensive, if we can't afford $4.00 gas, we sure can't afford Ethanol!  We can turn this economy around by starting to drill!  COME ON AMERICA, THIS IS ABOUT SURVIVAL!   You may have plenty of money, and maybe high gas prices are not hurting you.  But, consider the person making mininum wage, they can't afford to drive to work!  We are all in this together, let's do something! I CHALLENGE YOU TO CONTACT  YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND WOMEN, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFE... 06/23/2008

I'm fortunate to have a friend who has supplied me with lots of photos of Searcy Arkansas's history.  This, I believe, is her dad standing beside his Esso truck.  Note the lettering on the side of the truck.  Searcy Arkansas is a progressive city of approximately 20,000 people and serves as the county seat of White County which serves about 60,000 people.  Anita, give us more of this history in your comments and correct me where I'm wrong. 06/21/2008

My ten year old grandson, Adrian, is a great baseball player.  He plays on the White County Title Tigers traveling team and we are ranked #3 in the state.  We are playing in Jonesboro this weekend for the state title, and we play in the world series in July in Louisiana.  I love to watch the boys play, we have a good little team.  Adrian plays  first base, pitches some and is an excellent outfielder.  He can get under the ball and he moves fast! He lives and breathes baseball and he is a smart player.   He has played first base for years, but his coach wants him to try other positions.  He is doing great!  His goal is to play for the St. Louis Cardinals and I hope his dream comes true. When he was around six years old,  he told his pa-paw when he plays for St. Louis he would give him a ... 06/20/2008

Look at these eager children!  This is a photo made in front of Searcy High School, the old one that burned down.  Once again, correct me in comments if I am wrong.  This photo was provided by my friend Anita.  Searcy AR is a progressive city of approximately 20,000 residents.  I don't know any of the children and don't know the year but I love looking at the clothing worn by the kids.  I can almost assure you that none of the jeans were bought with a "worn" look built in.  They were probably worn by brothers or sisters and handed down.  Fascinating look at the past, isn't it? 06/19/2008