Groups are listed chronologically,
based on date they were organized.
Extension Homemakers Council
The first Greene County home economist took office in 1914, but the
first county extension homemakers council wasn't established until 1929.
The first home demonstration agent was Elizabeth Dearing, who spent only
one week in the county. She was succeeded by Grace Evans, who came March
1, 1916, and stayed until November of that year. Her work was done
through personal visitation and many times she had a door closed in her
face, or was asked to leave.
In December, Kate Clarida be-came the agent and organ-ized 4-H
clubs in the county. In 1918, she bought a Model T Ford for $585 and
became the county's first woman driver. She still lives in Hornersville,
Mo.
There was no home agent from 1918 to 1928, when Effie Rogers became
the agent. In 1928 and 1929, she organized 12 clubs and the first county
council of home demonstration clubs was organized. In 1936, a home
demonstration hall of fame was organized under Geraldine Orrell. Two
years later, electricity reached rural Greene County, changing the lives
of rural women.
By 1941, the council had 1,263 members, the largest membership in
the state. Orrell resigned that Nov-ember, and Harriet Patterson became
agent. In 1942, World War II resulted in the council expand-ing its
interests from farming and home-making to include national war time
goals.In 1946, Patterson resigned and Dora Stubblefield became agent.
After a decade of successful money making projects, Stub-blefield
resigned and Mary Manis took over. In 1966, the Home Demonstration Club
name was changed toExtension Homemakers Clubs. The agent's title was
changed to extension home economist. Manis, who came to the county in
1956, changed her name to Mary K. Rhodes in February 1973.
From 1965 to 1975, there was a steady decline of membership, which
the EH clubs attribute to the fact that many women went to work. Entire
clubs were lost. In the past two years, strong efforts have been made to
increase membership through news-letters, educational programs and the
mass media.
Home economists had another name change in 1974, to county
extension agent -- home economics. Clara J. Garrett accepted that job in
July 1981. Now there are 17 clubs with a county membership of 217.
Chamber of Commerce
The Paragould Area Chamber of Commerce was established in 1915 by
mem-bers of the Greene County Commercial Club. The earlier organization
was formed when a few prom-inent citizens and leading business people
decided they should work together to foster a few essential projects for
Paragould and the surrounding communities.
Members of the original Greene County Commercial Club formed the
nucleus for the chamber of com-merce,which now has about 300 members.
Chamber activities are man-aged and directed by elected officers with
help from a hired staff. Everett Rogers is the current president, and
King O'Neal is executive director.
Committees are appointed and maintained to carry on the functions
of the chamber's community development program.
Adams and Jackson Post 17
The Adams and Jackson Post 17 of the American Legion began in 1919 as a
World War I veteran organization, and now has 348 members.
Some members of a company that organized from Paragould and went to
France are still living. The organization supports child welfare, Ameri-can
Legion baseball, Boys State, Girls State and the oratorial contest.
Business and Professional Women
The Business and Professional Women's Club was established Oct. 1,
1919, to elevate and promote the standards of working women.
It currently has 49 members.
In July 1919, 14 women invited every business woman in Paragould to
a picnic at the old country club to organize a club. The picnic was such
a success that they had to send back to town several times for more
food.
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Photo Caption:
Kate Clarida Remby about 1917,
wearing her 4-H uniform
Photo courtesy: R.
O. Clarida
==========================
The club rented a house on the corner of Second and Emerson
streets, which it shared with the YWCA. Four local women attended the
first meeting of the National Federation of Business and Professional
Women's Club in St. Louis that same month. The first state meeting
was held in Little Rock in Oct-ober and the local club received its
charter.
In 1925, Paragould hosted the state
federation convention at the Vander-
voort Hotel with 13 of the 17 clubs in
Arkansas participating. Among the
activities was a public meeting with
the theme "A High School Education
for every Girl and Women Helping
Women."
In 1936, the club sponsored the
opening of the city's first public library in what was called the
Reynolds build-ing, which sat on what is now the Security Bank parking
lot. The library moved to the second story of city hall in 1950,
eliminating rent and other club expenses.
Also in 1936, the first women were
selected to serve on a local jury as a
result of a legislative program sponsor-
ed by the club. BPW members also
organized Girl Scouts in the city and
founded Harmon Playfield.
Rotary Club
The Paragould Rotary Club obtain-
ed its charter in April 1921. Its purpose
is to encourage and foster service through the club, community,
vocations
and international avenues. It has 60 members.
William F. Kirsch was elected as
the first president and since that time
62 men with various professional and
business backgrounds have served as
leaders of the club.
From 1954 to 1955, Verlyn Heath
served as district governor for Rotary.
The district consists of 22 counties and
33 Rotary Clubs. Through the years, the club has donated more than $50,
000 to the community for development
of recreational facilities, including the tennis complex next to
Paragould
High School.
The group's only fund-raising project
is the Rotary Radio Auction, originated by the late Ted Rand. The idea
has been copied and Rotary Clubs all over the United States now conduct
radio auctions. This fall, the club will conduct its 34th annual
auction.
Kiwanis Club
The Paragould Kiwanis Club began
March 2, 1939, to assist underprivileg-
ed children and to serve other com-
minity needs. There are now 53
members.
The club erected the community
Christmas tree on the courthouse square and collected and distributed
toys and food to needy families. These acts were the forerunners of
today's Goodfellows. The club also provided leadership for the hot lunch
program in the Paragould school system and back-ed a city law to
eliminate outdoor toi-lets, hog lots and horse lots in the city
limits.
It also sponsored construction of
public toilets in the Paragould business
district and free lights at Harmon play-field, provided funds to furnish
the children's ward at Arkansas Methodist Hospital and sponsored
organization of the county community fund to provide a united fund drive
for charitable organizations.
Lions Club
The Paragould Lions Club is one of
36,000 Lions clubs in 150 nations or
geographic regions. The local club was
organized on April 29, 1947, with the Jonesboro club as sponsor. Early
presidents were Horace Whitsett, 1947-48, Lee Ward, 1948-49, and
J. H. Grooms, 1949-50.
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Photo Caption Top:
In early days, people had to work together. It took group-power to
perform what had to be done whether it was thrashing wheat,
making sorghum or rolling logs.
It was neighbor helping neighbor because that was the only way to
survive. But
today, with machines to do much of our back-breaking work, we
still band together
for the common good.
The Daily Press solicited short histories from each of the local
organizations we
were able to contact. They are represented here in edited form
and collectively
paint an impressive picture of the dedication and good works
these groups and their
individual members have showered on their home town and county.
Photo courtesy: Sadie CoxPhoto Caption Bottom:
Members of the Paragould Lions Club help install the city's
first street markers. Kneeling, Jimmy Grooms. Standing, from
left, Horace Whittsett, Tom Watson, Ike Willcockson, Cecil
Gould, Bob Childs and Bill Driskell.
Photo courtesy: Jimmy Grooms |
========================================================
The club's
weekly meetings were
held at the Vandervoort Hotel and the
cost was $1 per meal. The group's
first community service project was
the installation of the city's first street
markers, concrete posts made by club
members at the city barn.
After eight years of existence, the
local club ranked seventh in the district
with 55 members. At that time, the club spent $600 to $1,000
annually on sight conservation work, maintained and operated
Paragould Country Club and golf course, had placed permanent
street markers on every street corner in the city and sent
representatives to Boys and Girls State. The club
also helped with the county
fair and the Goodfellows drive, sent
three children to the school for the
blind in Little Rock, conducted an an-
nual safety project and sponsored a
little league baseball team and a Boy
Scout troop.
Today the club has a budget of
$9,758. Member Mike Todd is deputy
district governor, Gary Washington is
zone chairman and club president Roy
Whitten is on the board of directors of
Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind,
the Arkansas Eye and Kidney Bank
and is treasurer of the Arkansas Sight
Conservation Committee.
Trellis Garden Club
The Trellis Garden Club, which now
has 19 members, was organized by the
Paragould Garden Club in 1948. One of its main projects each
year is the Christmas holiday homes tour.
In 1979, the Garden Gate Garden Club and the Trellis Garden Club
bought the sign and had the planter built at the Greene County
Community Center. The Trellis club keeps the flowers at the
courthouse and supplied the planter at the Home for the Golden
Years. It also won the state petroleum award in 1971 for its red
tulip bed.
The group's biggest project is the
flower bed at the American Legion in
the shape of the state of Arkansas,
maintained in cooperation with other
organizations. In 1975, members
started the garden book shelf at the
library and give books each year on
gardening and flower arranging. They
also sponsor a lawn of the month
award and arrange a flower show
each year.
Hospital Auxiliary
The Community Methodist Hospital
Auxiliary was formed in October 1949,
soon after the hospital opened its doors for patient care. Its
primary function in the early days was to help pay bills for the
hospital and the bills of needy patients.
Another purpose is to help Arkansas
Methodist Hospital promote the wel-fare of the community in
accordance with objectives set by the hospital.
The auxiliary worked vigorously during its first three years and
donated $9,310 to pay old accounts, as well as $2,500 toward
payment of hospital bills of 47 patients. Since that time, the
auxiliary has continued to give financial aid and gifts to the
hospital.
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Three major fund-raising projects
were a 10-year theater production of
Belles and Beaux, the gift shop, which
is operated by volunteers from the
auxiliary, and selling four editions of
the hospital cookbook.
Other small projects have added funds
which were used n the purchasing of equipment and other assets.
Purchases have included a flag placed
at the entrance of the hospital, drapes for the new additions to
the hospital, tele-visions for patient rooms and ICU
units, rockers for the nursery and recliners for the ICU waiting
rooms, equipment to transport critically ill infants to other
hospitals and car seats for children of families who cannot
afford to comply with a new state law requiring safety seats.
The
auxiliary also maintains a nursing scholar-
ship fund awarded to a county woman.
The auxiliary has 102 members and
Joyce Harig is president for the com-
ing year.
Goodfellows
The Greene County Goodfellows Inc., established about 1953, aids
the less fortunate in the county. Anyone can be a member.
The biggest yearly project for Good-
fellows is the Christmas adoption office,
which begins two weeks before Christmas
to "adopt" needy families for the holidays. In the early years,
there as a "lights on" campaign in which people turned on their
porch lights and set out canned goods,
clothes and toys to be picked up and
distributed at Christmas.
Additional aid is furnished throughout
the year for other needs. The group is assisted by donations and
the Greene County United Way.
Exchange Club
The Paragould Exchange Club was
established locally on June 26, 1961, to
exchange ideas for promoting the com-
munity and patriotism. It now has 28
members.
The national slogan for the club is
"Unity for Service." Some of those
services are installing freedom shrines in schools and the
library, crime prevention programs for all county schools,
selecting a youth of the month and youth of the year, sending a
boy and girl to Boys and Girls State, sponsoring a Goodfellow
family at Christmas, sponsoring a senior citizens day at the
fair and being involved
with Suspected Child Abuse and Neg-
lect programs.
United Way
The united Way of Greene County Inc.
began Sept. 12, 1962, to organize a
fund-raising campaign each year for
several agencies in order to reduce
expenses and voluntary manpower.
There are now 13 member agencies.
Since 1962, thousands of county resi-
dents have learned life saving skills
and to swim through the Red Cross pro-
gram. Mentally retarded citizens are aided by the Association
for Retarded Children and Step Ahead program.
Continued of Page 14 |
Photo Caption Above:
Paragould Chamber of Commerce, year unknown: Front row, Mr. and
Mrs. Saul Bertig, Hester Hickson, Belle Wall, Ruth Camp, Blonnie
Hale McDonald. Back row, Arvin (Red) Reynolds, Henry Sellmeyer,
Preston Ritter, Winston Mack, Agnes Graves, Al Wrape, Orrris
Collins, Mr. Blackburn.
Photo courtesy: Orris Collins |
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