Community spirit

W E A T H E RToday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 90s.Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s.

Vol. 157, No. 159©2011 The Daily Citizen Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Judsonia celebrates nation’s freedom

Area vet defended freedom

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Disc Golf GaininG local popularity

Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854

A Searcy disc golf course is attracting athletes from across the state to play 18 holes. — paGe 1B

Hu alumni proDuce superHeroic artTwo Harding University graduates are living out their dream of drawing for Marvel Comics. — paGe 2a

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W E A T H E RToday: Mostly sunny. Highs in lower 90s. South winds 5-10 mph.Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in upper 60s. Southeast winds 5-10 mph.

Vol. 156, No. 159©2010 The Daily Citizen

“ ”Do you want to know who you are?

Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

Thomas jeffersonAmerican President, 1743-1826

Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277

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Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854 www.thedailycitizen.com

Marker often overlooked

Veterans recount 1954 boot camp

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

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U.s. army national Guard members, from left, sgt.jerry smith, Cpl. Kenneth Britton and sgt. johnCorbett present the colors saturday morning at the beginning of the Pangburn 4th of july Celebration parade. View more photos from saturday'sIndependence Day festivities in White County on Page 3a. jacob Brower/[email protected]

By Luke [email protected]

Even after over half a century, former congress-man Ed Bethune can remember boot camp like it was yesterday.

Bethune had already begun college at the University of Arkansas when he realized he was financially unable to con-tinue. Around that time a friend from his hometown of Pocahontas told him about an all-Arkansas Marine Corps. platoon that was still looking for members. After some deliberation, Bethune decided to go.

Bethune remembers fly-ing to California in a huge four-motor airplane.

“We were excited and scared,” he said. “Nobody flew back in those days.”

The platoon was made up of about 70 Arkansans, all of whom Bethune would get to know very well over the coming weeks. One was Joe Gibbins.

Gibbins had been work-ing at a Des Arc service sta-tion when a recruiter came

through. But Gibbins turned him down.

He claimed, however, that if the recruiter could per-suade his friend J.D. Putts to go, he would too. A few days later, the recruiter returned with Putt’s paperwork. He had joined.

“Pop always told me to stick to my word,” Gibbins said, and got ready to ship off.

The two have vivid memories of their drill instructors. Gibbins recalls one from the Midwest who claimed to be “205 pounds of blue twisted steel,” he said. “He ran the daylights out of us.”

Gibbins recalled once when the instructor forced them to rear march for an

Old friends reunite after 56 years

LocaL veterans n Ed Bethune, Marine Corpsn Joe Gibbins, Air Force

Bethune GiBBins

CoNTiNuED oN PAGE 2A

Electric rates decrease 22 percent

By Warren [email protected]

Entergy customers will notice a decrease in their elec-tric bills for July as a rate decrease began Thursday.

Local company spokesman Paul Ford said the announce-ment would be good news for those who have been using their air conditioners as sum-mertime temperatures climb.

“This is good news, espe-cially during a hot time of the year,” Ford said. “It really helps in terms of your budget. It’s a good time to be imple-menting it.”

A 22-percent decrease in electricity rates as compared to July 2009 kicked in Thursday, according to a press release. The lower rates will result in a $24 savings on a bill for 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The rate decrease is a result of lower fuel costs, both current and as projected through the end of 2010.

A residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours will pay $85.39 starting July 1, about what customers were paying in July of 1986. Last

July, residential customers were paying $110.03.

“This is good news for our customers as we move into the hot summer months,” said Oscar Washington, customer service director of Entergy Arkansas, Inc. “The reduction in rates comes at the time of year when electricity bills are normally their highest. The lower rates will bring wel-come relief during the coming months.”

The reduction in electricity rates is the result of a combina-tion of lower fuel costs in 2009, continued efficient operation of power plants, and a siz-able reduction in the amount collected in the line item on customer bills described as “FERC-Imposed Payment (System Agreement).”

The 22 percent rate decrease includes the $63.7 million base rate increase the Arkansas Public Service Commission approved in a settlement on May 28.

For more information, persons may visit Entergy-Arkansas.com.

Entergy announces decrease as

summer heat begins

eLectric rate decrease amount: 22 percentWhen: July 1By Warren Watkins

[email protected] shaded spot in east Searcy stands

as an example of our tendency to forget veterans who have fought for our free-dom, some say.

Under a stand of pine trees just a few hundred yards from the coun-ty’s busiest commercial district is the marker, often overlooked by pass-ersby.

White County Veterans Officer Larry Robinson visited the marker Friday with a reporter from The Daily Citizen and was surprised.

“I’ve passed by here all my life and did not know this was here,” Robinson said.

Built of fieldstone and wrought iron, the marker supports a metal plaque designating Hwy. 367 as a Blue Star Memorial Highway. The marker was installed by the Arkansas Federation of Garden Clubs and the Arkansas State Highway Department and bears the seal of the National Council of State Garden Clubs.

“Blue Star Memorial Highway” the marker states. “A tribute to the nation’s Armed Forces who served in World War II.”

The marker was installed “long ago” by the Searcy Garden Club, a now-defunct chapter of the Arkansas Federation of Garden Clubs, according to Joyce Moore.

An unknown person or persons is apparently doing the upkeep of the marker — putting shrubs around its base — but no one in the current gar-den club seems to know whom.

“It’s probably just a good citizen who values the contribution of veter-ans,” said Liz Howell, a member of the Greenkeepers Garden Club, also affiliated with the Arkansas Federation of Garden Clubs.

Robinson, grateful for the help of the “mystery gardener,” said the marker could use even more attention. Although a water supply is not avail-

able, flowers could be added along with a flagpole. If the five-acre site, which sits on land owned by the Arkansas Highway Transportation Department, is developed into a “veterans park,” an entrance marker could be added as well.

Entrance to the area by vehicle is easy by following the curve toward Judsonia, then turning right on a short access road, then right again into the park.

“We just need to let the community know about this and they’ll step up,” Robinson predicted.

Site could be spruced up, official says

White County Veterans Officer Larry Robinson looks at a marker desig-nating Highway 367 as a Blue Star Memorial Highway. The marker was installed by the Arkansas Federation of Garden Clubs. Warren Watkins/[email protected]

White County celebrates Independence Day — Page 3a

Our view

The spirit of our

community remains strong

It's still hard for us to believe that a company that has become woven into the fabric of our com-munity for nearly 80 years could just disappear so suddenly, without any warning whatsoever.

A hit TV show goes off the air with a fare-well episode. Sports seasons end with a championship game. Yarnell's — a company that was as much a part of Arkansas as the Razorbacks, hot summers and sweet tea — left with no notice, no farewell tour. No Gatorade showers or confetti, only unceremonious pink slips and a press release.

Certainly, the 200 workers who lost their jobs three days ago could have used a bit of a heads up. A little notice would have also been nice for customers whose loyalty to the Yarnell's brand dates back to childhood — many of whom are now well into retirement age.

Ideally, employees would have had a few months to find a good spot to land, and customers would have been able to give their favorite ice cream company a proper farewell. But this situation was obviously far from ideal. The company's finances had been in dire straits for a while. Perhaps officials felt they could make their dollars stretch one more quarter in hopes that sum-mer sales would be strong enough to reverse the com-pany’s fortunes. Perhaps the lack of notice was for far less noble reasons. We will learn the answers to those questions in the days and weeks ahead.

But what we do know for now is this: About 200 jobs and a huge part of our community identity are now gone.

So, where do we go from here?As we stated in Friday's paper, nothing will replace

Yarnell's as a local icon — at least not in most of our lifetimes. But some are taking it a step further by saying that nothing will replace the 200 jobs lost, either. That part of the Searcy and White County economy is gone, never to return again, the argument goes.

Hogwash. From the outside looking in, it is easy to view this

closure as a harbinger of doom for the local economy. But the view from a distance can be deceiving. As William W. Watt once said, "Do not put your faith in what statistics say until you have carefully considered what they do not say."

In this case, the one thing that no statistic can mea-sure is the spirit and resilience of the people who make this community great.

Before we even went to press with our first edition after the Yarnell's closure, businesses were calling our office to place classified ads in hopes of snatching up the plant's former employees. This was not surprising. These companies were just doing what any good busi-ness would do. Make no mistake — Yarnell's produced a great product, and great products don't just make themselves. They have to be produced by great work-ers. We hope that every local business sees this closure as the golden opportunity that it is to instantly improve their workforces.

And, to those businesses who have in recent years eyed Searcy as a place to possibly open a new plant, what are you waiting for? There are many hard workers who are committed to excellence now at your disposal.

We will bounce back from this economic hurdle. It may take some time, but we will come back stronger than we were before.

The spirit and resolve of our community is too strong to accept anything less.

— The Daily Citizen


When Bobby Holland arrived at a pris-oner of war camp in North Vietnam, he was part of an elite group of highly-trained sol-diers with one objective in mind: Find and set free one high-priority, well-known prisoner, Lieutenant Commander John McCain.

That mission didn’t turn out as planned, but things worked out in the end.

an arkansas boyBorn in Wynne on July 21, 1942, Holland

was drafted in December 1967, only months after winning the state championship in cut-ting horses.

He went through basic training at Ft. Polk, La., before being sent to Washington, D.C. to learn how to handle classified information. Arriving in the country in 1968, Holland served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army’s First Infantry Brigade, Fifth Infantry Division Mechanized, using his training to process communications to General Creighton

freeinG mccain Bobby Holland, left, helped free now-U.S. Sen. John McCain during the Vietnam War.

HollAnd McCAin

Searcian helped liberate McCain from POW camp

CoNTiNUeD oN Page 3a

Task force available

for Yarnell’s workers


A state website says help is available for former Yarnell’s employees who lost their job when the ice cream factory shut down Thursday.

According to state.ar.us, the Governor’s Dislocated Worker Task Force assists workers who lose their jobs because of business closures or workforce reductions due to the economic climate or because of natural or man-made disasters.

State law forbids the pub-lic announcement of when workshops will be held for Yarnell’s employees in order to protect their privacy.

A part of the task force, the Business Retention and Workforce Transition Team helps employees during busi-ness closures or workforce reductions by providing information about retrain-ing, job opportunities, filing for unemployment insurance benefits and other local, state and federal services.

Law forbids public announcement of workshop

Help for joBless From: The governor’s Dislocated Worker Task ForceResources: Retraining, job opportunities, filing for unemployment insurance benefits, other government servicesInformation: state.ar.us

Above: Billy Sanders grills up some burgers at Judsonia’s Independence Day celebra-tion at Friendly Acres Park Saturday evening.

Right: Kaelyn Pettiet, 11 months, explores the play-ground area at Friendly Acres Park. Pettiet is the daughter of Jacob and Sarah Pettiet of Judsonia.

Turn to page 3A for more photos from Saturday's event.

Jacob Brower/[email protected]

HiGGinson festival Log onto TheDailyCitizen.com tonight for photos from Higginson's independence Day celebration.

Arkansas hospital to work with federal monitors The Assocaited Press

LITTLE ROCK — State Hospital officials are pledging to work with feder-al monitors in an effort to keep Medicare funding for Arkansas' only public hos-pital for the mentally ill, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Saturday.

Amy Webb, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, which oversees the hospital's

operations, said the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will work with the hospital to carry out a "System Improvement Agreement."

Millions of dollars in federal fund-ing for patient care could expire July 18 if the parties cannot agree on how to resolve problems at the hospital.

"We are ready to make changes," Webb said. "We feel like there are chang-

es that need to be made and we are going to move forward and do that."

During a June 13 visit, site review-ers from the federal agency found the hospital violated standards for Medicare providers in the areas of patient rights and recordkeeping. The hospital also had received months of unfavorable findings by Medicare site reviewers, putting the federal funding in jeopardy.

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