Yesterdays

75 years ago

(1934)

Ordination services were held at the First Baptist Church for the Rev. J. Benton Wofford, who was at his home in Conway this summer following his completion of studies for the Th.M. degree at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., in May. Members of the ordaining council were: ministers Dr. E.P.J. Garrott, Dr. W.M. Garrott, the Rev. G.E. Owen, the Rev. E. F. Simmons; deacons, Paul Clayton, Leslie Crafton, W. Paul Clayton, W.N. Deaton, S.F. Dorrill, J.R. Edwards, Dr. N.E. Fraser, J. Frank Jones, George Joseph, Lawton Lowery, A.J. Meadors, Edgar B. Parker, R. Julius Parker, Gail S. Robbins, A.J. Sims, Grover C. Turner and Allen Webb.

50 years ago

(1959)

Edward E. Pearson of Glendale, Calif., arrived for a visit with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E.J. Pearson. He was employed as an engineering administrator with Librascope Electronics Inc., at Glendale.

J.C. "Bud" Dawson Jr., a 20-year veteran of the business world with a brief fling with politics, shifted a portion of his time to the ministry, and hoped to devote as much time as possible to preaching in the future. Mr. Dawson, operator and half-owner of Dawson Tire Co., was 55 years old but thought age was of no particular significance. Mr. Dawson's father, the late J.C. Dawson Sr., was a minister for more than half a century. "I get a lot of contentment out of preaching and getting the chance to guide people along spiritual lines," he said.

25 years ago

(1984)

Conway High School principal James Clark learned that American schools in West Germany were well financed and provided their students cultural enrichment opportunities which students here did not have. Clark made the observations during his trip in April and May to West Germany as a member of a North Central Association evaluation team that inspected Department of Defense Dependents Schools in that nation. A few of the advantages Clark observed are as follows: They are better financed and hire more teachers for both basic and special instruction. Frankfurt American High School, which was about the same size as Conway High School, had 80 faculty members compared to CHS' 60. Students were surrounded by cultural enrichment opportunities and often traveled throughout Germany and other European nations visiting museums and famous cities. Our students can go to the state capitol or to Cummins Prison Farm, but that's not the same as traveling across Europe. Clark also discovered that discipline was good in the schools. He thought this was due to the fact that most students lived in predominantly German communities, and their main contact with other Americans was at school. The students wanted to attend school. Despite the differences, Clark said West German and American school systems were similarly structured. Both countries sent their students to class about the same time, paid their teachers and administrators about the same, and taught roughly the same courses.

10 years ago

(1999)

"What a great idea," said the Rev. Terry Simpson as he contemplated a non-threatening location for the "unchurched." Simpson was pastor of the Conway Celebration Church, a fledgling group of Christians who had been meeting in various places in the city and who now looked forward to life in an historical old dairy barn built in 1939 along an area on South Donaghey Avenue. Through the benevolence of Gale and Marge Wasson Jones, the church was given nearly $100,000 worth of real estate at the site of the old University of Central Arkansas barn to develop into a new Celebration Church. The history of the barn was traced back to Col. H.L. McAlister, president of Arkansas State Teachers College in 1938. He was interested in meeting needs, which centered on providing home, education and food for those who had been placed under his care at the college. He dreamed of a dairy, truck and stock farm to grow vegetables and raise sheep, cattle, hogs and turkeys, not only for college use but for community consumption as well. Conway Corp. gave the college a cash grant of $4,250 to purchase 240 acres of land on South Donaghey in 1937. By 1940 the farm was in operation and rendering a service not only to students, but also to the farmers living in Faulkner and surrounding counties. Several barns had been built with funds from a Public Works Administration grant and money allocated by the college. Sixty years had passed and the barn was once again being used to fulfill dreams. This time it hoped to provide spiritual nourishment to a hungry people, spiritual education and guidance for those who had lost their way on the path of life and provide a place for people to call home. Renovation was the key word of the members of the congregation as they worked to get the barn in shape to be transformed into a church. A target date for the first home service had been set for New Year's Eve 1999.