At the age of seven, Glenn Cunningham suffered severe burns to his legs in a schoolhouse explosion in Kansas. His older brother, Floyd, was killed in the explosion that was caused by someone putting gasoline instead of kerosene in the can of fuel used to light the stove.
The doctors wanted to amputate his legs, but he was so upset, his parents told the doctors no. They predicted that he would never walk Continue reading
When franchise eating establishments finally came to Conway in the early 1970s, residents began to have quite a selection of places to go “out to eat” instead of the usual “drive-up.” Many of those first restaurants were located on Oak Street.
One of the first that I remember was McDonald’s. The first location in Conway was on Oak Street in front of the new Faulkner Plaza Shopping Center. It was soon joined by a Continue reading
In the days before the widespread use of the automobile, Conway had a number of neighborhood groceries that were within walking distance of most homes. Numerous children were sent by parents with a handful of money and a shopping list to gather up a few things. Still others, with allowance in hand, made their way down the street for a coke or some candy.
Even after automobiles became more common and Kroger, Safeway, the Mad Butcher and Simon’s became weekly grocery destinations, many still depended on these “corner stores” Continue reading
Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.
Fifty years ago, Conway High School students returned to a new school. Built on Highway 60 on the outskirts of the city, the high school would have a unique design as well as a unique new curriculum.
The groundbreaking for this new $800,000 hexagonal pod-type high school complex was held Continue reading
Today’s column is for Conway residents and newcomers who have often wondered, but were afraid to ask, “What is a Wampus Cat exactly?”
One of my first assignments as a feature writer for the Wampus Cat student newspaper years ago was to write about Wampas Cats in other places. Mind you, this assignment was done in the late 1970s before Google or Wikipedia. But somehow, I found Continue reading