100 YEARS AGO, 1918
♦ Arkansas State Normal advertised TUITION FREE for the fall term to students wishing to prepare as teachers. “Necessary expenses for board, books and supplies will be $160 to $200 for nine months. Students will board at a splendid modern dormitory for $15 a month. All who are 16 years of age and have completed the common school course are eligible. For more information contact B.W. Torreyson, president at the school.”
♦ The large two-story C.H. Newbern residence at 917 Center Street, owned by Hendrix College and operated as an apartment and rooming house by Mrs. W.B. Gates, was destroyed by fire. Four sleeping children were rescued from the burning structure. The house was built more than 30 years earlier by the late Charles H. Newbern, former Conway merchant. The blaze was visible from all parts of the city and attracted a crowd of several hundred persons. Fire Chief K.W. Parker and Volunteer Firemen Sam Shumate and Jess Dempsey narrowly escaped injury by a falling chimney.
75 YEARS AGO, 1943
♦ After three years of active service in the US Army, Col. Heber L. McAlister and his wife arrived in Conway after taking a leisurely motor trip from Seattle. He had been released from military service on account of age regulations.
♦ What was said to be the first comprehensive digest of all the city ordinances ever passed by the Conway City Council was completed. Nearly 1,000 closely-spaced typewritten pages were required to transcribe the ordinances which were divided into 872 sections. Four copies were made and bound in cloth.
♦ Prohibition leaders of Faulkner County were asked to meet at the First Baptist Church in Conway to decide whether to circulate petitions calling for special elections to prohibit the sale of all forms of intoxicating liquors, including beer, in Faulkner County. The call was issued by Dr. H.B. Hardy of Centerville, chairman, and Dr. J.M. Williams of Conway, secretary, of a committee appointed to study the proposal. The committee was named in August at the annual meeting of the Faulkner County Sunday School convention.
50 YEARS AGO, 1968
♦ Opening day at the new Conway High School was unusually confused as students were introduced to the new modern seven-pod school on Highway 60. Since the building was in a circular complex around the instructional materials pod, everyone was going in circles looking for their classes.
♦ Herman Lasker, former physical education instructor at Pine Street School, became a trainer for the Conway High School football team. He was a physical education teacher at Conway Junior High and graduated from Philander Smith College.
♦ An additional first grade class at Sallie Cone Elementary School was organized to alleviate overcrowded conditions. Mrs. Janet Burks was assigned to teach the fourth class. All classrooms were full at the school. The sixth grade was moved to the junior high school building.
25 YEARS AGO, 1993
♦ Wampus Cat Stadium was renamed John McConnell Stadium during a special dedication ceremony held before the high school football game. The Conway School District Board of Education voted in May to change the name of the stadium in memory of McConnell, a longtime school board member and former board president who died in 1991.
♦ Conway High School head football coach Kenny Smith reported that he was stopped after the home game by El Dorado fans who were very complimentary of the first-class atmosphere and the facilities at the game. The home stands were full, and some Wampus Cat fans had to go sit on the visitors’ side. The visitors even said they had eaten in Conway and the people in town had been very friendly.
♦ Jason Covington, George E. Covington and George E. Covington, Jr. were pictured in front of a warehouse at Covington Roofing and Sheet Metal. They were celebrating 70 years in business. George E. Covington started the business in 1923 as Covington Roofing and Tin Shop.
10YEARS AGO, 2008
♦ Conway welcomed its first batch of refugees from Hurricane Gustav. More than 40 Louisiana residents came to the city in preparation for the hurricane. They were housed at Don Owen Conway Sports Complex.
♦ Debbie Plopper, special projects coordinator for the Conway Sanitation Department, was selected as the grand marshal for the Faulkner County Fair Parade. Plopper became involved in recycling drives in 1990. The city eventually established a recycling center and started curbside recycling.
♦ Centennial Bank was chosen as the new name for First State Bank. It was the name of a small bank in Little Rock which Home BancShares had purchased in 2007.
♦ The Log Cabin Democrat was celebrating its 100th anniversary of printing a daily newspaper. The first daily was published on September 14, 1908.