We just wanted to drop Santa a line to thank him for the wonderful early Christmas present he gave to many people in the Rogers School District this past Tuesday evening.
Thanks to the leadership of Board President Jerry Carmichael, Board Member Lisa Anderson, Superintendent Janie Darr, and the unanimous support of all school board members, Rogers Public Schools have taken a longoverdue step in recognizing Whitey Smith and his chicken-cooking crew as well as his wife, Janice, by naming Mountie Stadium in honor of Whitey’s many, many years of support of area children and citizens.
As was noted by Lisa in her motion to name the stadium in his honor, not only have Whitey and his crew cooked chicken on most Saturday mornings, but Whitey also formed the Quarterback Club and has given countless scholarships to deservingstudents over past years.
Additionally, he ran the chains at football games, kept the scoreboard at both basketball and football games, cooked “Whiteyburgers” at home football games, coached pee-wee football and baseball, as well as countless other ways he has supported not only the kids of our community, but also many individuals and service organizations. As always, he did these quietly and it has always been “about the kids.”
So, thank you, Santa. A lot of us were wondering when you were going to get around to delivering this past-due present. And to Whitey, Janice and all of the people who have helped Whitey over the 50-plus years make our community the outstanding place it is, a heartfelt thank you for what you’ve done for our community, our fellow citizens, and our children.
JERRY AND HARRIET
PITTMAN
Rogers
Opinion, Pages 5 on 12/29/2012