HERITAGE DAY

Saturday, 5/20, was Heritage Day in Searcy, a day just chock full of events … and old friends.

For instance, our old friend and frequent contributor to this site, Anita Hart Fuller. Anita (who, in real life, is a Registered Nurse) portrayed Searcian Margarete Neel, and brought along Anita’s treasured copy of the 1945 Red Cross poster portraying the real Margarete at work.

According to Anita, the real Margarete was NOT a nurse, just a Red Cross volunteer. Also, that picture was not taken specifically for use as a poster. It had been taken two years earlier, and was in a huge slush pile of photos that a committee pored over before selecting it for the 1945 poster.

Surprise visitors were Don and Paula Windsor Thompson, in from another sightseeing tour of the American west.

One of the Heritage Day events was a Democratic Party fundraiser out at the airport. Besides all kinds of local and state candidates, another face out of the past: the Class of 55’s trombone-playing Roxie Brown Troillette.

And I even got my

picture took while getting ready to take one myself.

And, speaking of pictures, if you'll look to the left of that one, you'll see a little old lady in a white blouse getting ready to have her picture taken by a gal in a pink top. The lady in the white blouse is Fayetta Coleman Murray, who had three different bouts of teaching in the Searcy schools: 46-47, 59-63, and a third bout that ended in her retirement in 1979.

One of the notable things about the lady is that Paula Windsor Thompson has a big, long scar on her right arm. That's the memory of a day in grammar school when she accidentally put her arm through a window. It was Fayetta who, with her husband, rushed Paula to Rodger's Hospital to get patched up before she bled to death.

Thought you'd like to know.

It was a nice day, and always fun to see old friends.