Stories from Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The playground at Berryville's K-2 building should look a lot different when students return to school in August. After receiving a proposal from Dr. Paul Hines, director of facilities, to renovate the playground Thursday night, the Berryville School Board agreed to purchase new playground equipment and to update the mulch at the existing playground. The new playground, Hines said, will include a multiple-slide system, a bridge, a climbing system and a couple of basketball goals...

In Verdi's "La Traviata," a famed courtesan, Violetta, throws lavish parties all the while hiding a dark secret. She is dying of consumption. But Alfredo has fallen in love with her and the remainder of the opera is about their developing love for each other and the tragic end they face together...

Berryville's band program will continue with three directors next year. Superintendent Phil Clark announced at the Berryville School Board's meeting Thursday night that he decided to refill the open third band director position. Drew Morris, head director of the program, said Clark called him the day before the meeting to tell him to begin searching for a third director...

What are the schools like in Carroll County? According to U.S. News and World Report, the high schools are excellent. A recent report on the magazine's website lists Berryville High School, Green Forest High School and Eureka Springs High School among the top 25 high schools in Arkansas...

Last week, I fell apart in the seasonal aisle at Walmart. I was surrounded by Father's Day items -- balloons, power tools, oversize greeting cards, mustache-emblazoned party sets -- and realized all at once that I have never had a reason to purchase any of these items for my father...

"Cain killed Abel with a rock," says a popular Internet meme. "It's a heart problem, not a gun problem." A few weeks ago in my hometown, a 5-year-old boy died after being shot by a 2-year-old sibling. I'm not sure there's a meme for that. It's not the first time someone in my little town of about 1,200 residents has died because of an accidental shooting. ...

VELMA JEAN SMALLEY, a resident of Berryville, Arkansas, was born September 09, 1933 On Pension Mountain south of Berryville, Arkansas, a daughter of William Thomas and Mandy Jane (Smith) Jackson. She departed this life on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 in her home with family by her side in Berryville, at the age of 81 years...

There was a time when cars and horse-drawn wagons co-existed. This 1920s picture of the Berryville Square was made at that time. In it you see the old 1880 Courthouse and Gentry's Grocery, with a boarding house on the second floor -- what appears to read "Rileys Rooms." The stairway from where it was made is no longer affixed to the west side of what's now the Wilson TV building, but a close examination shows where the stairs ran up the side of its exterior. (Submitted photo)...

Jerry and Twilla Keeland of Oak Grove will celebrate their 50th anniversary on Friday. Jerry and Twilla were married on June 26, 1965. They have three children: Missy Shrum, who is married to Leroy Shrum; Michelle Souden, who is married to Tom Souden; and Mike Keeland...

Kenneth High will celebrate his 80th birthday on Wednesday, July 1. Honor him by sending birthday cards. His address is Kenneth High, 7073 Highway 21 North, Berryville, AR 72616.

Does it help to make faces while you play the blues? It must. At left, young up-and-coming blues singer Noah Wotherspoon gets into the music as he plays last Saturday at the Aud during Blues Weekend in Eureka Springs. (Photos by David Bell / Carroll County News)...