Lilly returns home after extended stay at Children’s Hospital
Lilly Reef Thacker and her mother Lauren returned home to Mena last Friday evening after a 58-day stay in Arkansas Children’s Hospital while Lilly recovered from the injuries she experienced during a hit-and-run accident back on March 13. Just shy of two months, Lilly and Lauren were able to leave Little Rock behind and return to the comforts of home for the first time since the incident.
Lilly reached a point early last week when it was determined there was nothing else that was keeping her at Children’s Hospital, and that she could return home, but still faces months of therapies.
“When the doctor told us last Tuesday that we would be going home, I was really excited at first, then I got really scared for a little while at the thought of leaving the hospital and coming home,” Lauren said. “The doctor offered for us to stay a few more days, but we left Friday. On the way home, it was super exciting, and it was so great to get home. Once we got home, we were up late playing, and Lilly was happy to be back home with her toys.”
For the Full Article, please pick up the May 17th issue of The Mena Star
Remains of Master Sergeant Green located, returned home for service and burial
Sergeant Master Elwood Green finally got to home to rest. Sixty years after going MIA in the Korean Conflict and officially reported deceased, Green was sent home for a proper service and burial.
Born and raised in Norman, Arkansas, Green returned home to Norman for good this past Saturday for burial following a memorial service in Mena.
While in the midst of the Korean Conflict, Green went officially missing on December 8, 1950, and officially remained MIA until the end of the war. In 1951, it had been reported that Green had been captured and taken prisoner, and at the war’s end, it was reported that he had died on February 18, 1951, at the age of 32 years old. At the time, his body or remains had not been located.
At the time of Green’s MIA, he left behind a wife and an infant daughter.
Search efforts in Korea in 2005, located the remains of Americans, and in February of this year, Green’s family was informed that remains of him had been found. Full coverage of Green in next week’s issue of The Mena Star.
Relay For Life raises $46,000 for research
Mena - 17 teams made up of cancer survivors, families, caregivers, local businesses and students walked in the American Cancer Society ‘s Relay For Life of Polk County on May 11 and raised more than $46,000.
390 total participants came together for the 2012 Relay for the common goal of defeating cancer and one day eliminating the words “You have cancer”.
Of the $46,000 raised this year, the top fundraising teams were: Lenora’s Heroes/USEM Federal Credit Union with $11,583; Mena Regional Health System with $5,548; and Strike Construction with $3,040.
For the Full Article, please pick up the May 17th issue of The Mena Star
Gathright retirement celebration Tuesday
The members of the Mena School Board have announced a retirement celebration for Superintendent Dr. Diann Gathright, and are inviting the entire public to join in for the special occasion. With Gathright retiring June 30, this celebration will be a formal celebration of her career as the school year comes to an end. The retirement celebration will be Tuesday, May 22, at the Mena High School Cafeteria, from 3:30 until 5:30 p.m.
Included in the celebration, there will be a program that will begin at 4:00 p.m., and at the conclusion of the celebration, Gathright will be leading tours through the high school for anyone who has not had a chance to see the new facility, or just wishes to tour through again.
For the Full Article, please pick up the May 17th issue of The Mena Star
OLT hosts live circus sideshow Saturday
The Ouachita little Theatre (OLT) at 610 Mena Street, will host a show called The Odditorium, a one-man show featuring Little Rock’s Paul Prater this Saturday night, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. Prater is a nationally-known entertainer and performer, in addition to being a lawyer on the staff of the Arkansas Bar Association, who has taken his shows as far from Arkansas as Las Vegas, at the Palace Station Casino and Hotel.
Some of us will remember the sideshows we saw as kids when we went to the circus. The Odditorium is a tribute to those shows. It is an audience-interactive show that contains magic, mind reading, storytelling and other mystifying feats that one might find when they come to a circus and visit the sideshow before they go inside the “big top” to see the animal, acrobatic and high wire acts.
Water Dept reimbursed for thefted funds
Mena Water Utilities has received reimbursement for the funds that were thefted by former employee Debbie Webb. According to Mena Water Utilities Manager Mary Timmons, the utility received the reimbursement last Thursday, May 10.
Timmons stated that the reimbursement was in the amount of $148,914, which is $1,000 less than the total amount determined stolen by Webb. The $1,000 difference was for the required deductible.
Mena Water Utilities is bonded for employee theft with the Arkansas State Insurance Board, which made this reimbursement possible, even before Webb begins paying restitution for the thefted funds.
For the Full Article, please pick up the May 17th issue of The Mena Star
Texaco Country Showdown set for next Saturday
Some of the best country music talent in the area will be taking the stage next Saturday night in Hatfield for the annual Texaco Country Showdown. Sponsored by Ouachita Broadcasting Company, and produced by the Jubilee in June Committee in Hatfield, this year’s event will once again bring 12 contestants to the stage, which in turn draws an audience, to see which talent will advance in the competition.
The Texaco Country Showdown will be Saturday, May 26, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Hatfield Auditorium. Ticket prices will be $6.00 for adults, $4.00 for children ages 4-12, and children ages 3 and under will be admitted free.
For the Full Article, please pick up the May 17th issue of The Mena Star
So here it is mid-May, and as I’m attending graduations to take photos, interviewing graduating seniors, and designing the layout for this graduation section, I can’t help but think back to my personal graduations. Come back with me....all the way back to 1997. Yes, it’s been 15 years since I graduated high school, and while I really don’t feel that far removed from my high school days, I am reminded that there are kids in high school now that were born the year I graduated from Mena High School. Okay, that makes me feel just a tee-tinsey bit older now.
It’s been 13 years since I graduated from RMCC with my associates degree, and it’s been 11 years since I graduated from UCA with my bachelors degree in Journalism. Looking back, each graduation signified an accomplishment in my life, it put me at a certainly level of qualifications, and it also gave me new opportunities.
