News

The Friends of the Marion County Library recently celebrated the staff of the Marion County Library. These women continued to work diligently during the recent flood, keeping the library open, during the difficult time.

Sunday, January 1, following the swearing in ceremony, the new Marion County Judge, Jason Stumph and new Marion County Sheriff gathered to ask for blessing on the offices and administrations. Stumph and approximately 30 family and friends gathered outside the MC Judge’s office to pray and ask God to bless the office, the county, judge and peace for Marion County.

Newly Elected Officials and supporters gathered at the Marion County Courthouse Sunday, January 1, 2023, to swear to an oath to serve the city, county, state and United States to preserve and improve the way of life for Marion County residents.

The new Marion County Sheriff exited the Marion County Courthouse and immediately went to his new office at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, MCSO, to receive a blessing from Dave Wallace of George’s Creek.

The City Council of Gassville met Tuesday, December 20, in the Gassville Community Center. At the December 20, Gassville City Council meeting, State Representative Jack Fortner was present to recognize Sergeant Ron Weaver for his actions during a March 2021 battery case.

Christmas has come and gone for another year. Up next is New Year’s, but I don’t have any memories about how we spent New Year’s when I was growing up in the Flippin of the 1960s. So, instead, I’m sharing a memory that encompassed Christmas and many days afterwards in one particular year. It was one of the biggest snowfalls of my childhood...the one that hit the Twin Lakes area in December 1966. I had just turned 10 years old.

Stephanie was born in the Air Force, on Beale AFB, in California, as her father was a career Air Force. Some of her fondest memories growing up, as what we lovingly call a military brat, was when her father was stationed in Germany, at Hahn AFB, near Lautzenhausen, from the time she was age 10 till 17. Field trips to a castle sound cool to me.

The earliest recorded festivities in honor of a new year’s arrival date back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon. For the Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal equinox—the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness—heralded the start of a new year. They marked the occasion with a massive religious festival called Akitu (derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which was cut in the spring) that involved a different ritual on each of its 11 days. In addition to the new year, Atiku celebrated the mythical victory of the Babylonian sky god Marduk over the evil sea goddess Tiamat and served an important political purpose: It was during this time that a new king was crowned or that the current ruler’s divine mandate was symbolically renewed.