Thursday, October 16, 2014 DeWitt Era-Enterprise • dewitt-ee.com
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COMMUNITY NEWS
Mildred Manis Turns 100 Years Old
5 Generations: Mildred Manis (center), (left to right): Crystal Gosa, (great -granddaughter) Mark Manis, (grandson) C.W. Manis (son) Kenadee Gosa and Corbin Gosa (great-great-grandchildren).
Mildred Manis with her children (left to right): C.W. Manis of DeWitt, Marion Manis of Searcy, Charlotte Murphy of DeWitt, and not pictured Betty Neukam of Maumelle.
By Terrye Seamon A human life is often measured by milestones and a list of “firsts”- first birthday, first tooth, first day of school, first job, marriage, children, and retirement, just to name a few. Although many people never get the chance to reach the milestone of turning 100, Mildred Ruth Venable Manis is one of the proud few who can say she has. Manis was born the third of nine children on October 6, 1914, in England, Arkansas. After her mother died at an early age, she helped her father, who was a maintenance man on a plantation, raise her siblings, which included a set of twin brothers. As for her father, Manis said, “He kept us all going.” When Manis was 15, she went to visit an uncle in Reydell, and it resulted in a permanent change in
her living arrangements. “My mother had a brother who lived out here [Reydell], and I came out here to spend a few days with him, and I stayed.” And she has resided in Southeast Arkansas ever since. In 1932, when she was 17, Mildred married Fred Manis on April 25. “[We met] at a card party,” Manis said. Eventually the couple moved to DeWitt, but before they did, they lived in Forks LaGrue and were blessed with four children between the years of 1933 and 1939: Betty, C.W., Marion and Charlotte. Manis’ youngest daughter, Charlotte Murphy, remembers when mom picked and chopped cotton. “When I was a little kid, my brother and I would ride on the cotton sack while she picked cotton,” Murphy said. Although husband Fred
passed away approximately 30 years ago, the couple
Mildred Manis
What she remembers the most though is the increase in taxes. “We didn’t have to pay much then. And no one had washing machines, or electricity in the country or telephones, and there were very few cars around,” Manis said. One of Manis’ favorite all-time hobbies was fishing. “She could tell you some tales about her fishing trips,” Daughter Charlotte said. When asked if the stories would be about the “big one that got away,” Mom Mildred replied, “The big one we didn’t catch!” Manis and Murphy recounted the story of a fishing trip that went awry when the boat that she, Fred, her sister and brother-in-law were in sank.
has numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. Throughout their life together, Fred was an automobile mechanic and worked at DeWitt’s iconic Ferguson’s Grocery Store, and Mildred worked at the shoe factory for 21 years. Manis has seen a lot of changes over the last 100 years from all five of her brothers serving in various wars to all the modern advances in farming. “People didn’t have modern things to farm with, just a turning plow and a hire.”
The waves from another boat that came by were high enough to cause their boat to sink, and it seemed to be every man for himself. She was close enough to the boat after it tipped over to crawl on top of it. Her sister, who owned a grocery store in Alexander, Arkansas, had brought along a pocketbook full of money from the previous day’s sales at the store. “She kept on holding that pocketbook and swimming with one hand,” Manis laughed. Concerning the day’s catch, she replied, “We didn’t get them. They just floated on off.” At this momentous milestone of her life, Manis says her advice to others is, “Work hard and love one another.” As far as what has meant the most to her over the last century, Manis said that is has to be family and friends. “I never was a person who wanted something better all the time. I was always pretty well satisfied with what I had,” she replied. Manis’ family honored her with a birthday party October 4 at the community center at DeWitt City Park.
The 6th Annual R.A.V.E.
Revitalize, Aspire, Visualize, Educate
Benefit Dinner & Auction 2014 Theme: “Camo & Cocktails” Mark your calendars for the 1st Saturday in November as we bring in Fall with this year’s theme “Camo & Cocktails”. Ladies let’s show our gentlemen how stunning we can be in that perfect little cocktail dress! Gentlemen let’s look “Camo Classy” for our ladies! Please join us for an entertaining evening to benefit the Gillett Civic Group Scholarship Fund as well as other community projects! This year’s R.A.V.E. is going to be a real QUACK with lots of unique auction items for bid.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Old Post Duck Lodge 176 Gentry West Lane Gillett, AR
$30.00 Ticket Price (Includes Dinner, Open Bar & Entertainment) 6:00 pm Social Hour & Photo Op 7:00 pm Dinner 7:30 pm Live Auction 9:00 pm DJ Our Photographer will photograph the event & will be taking orders if you would like to order prints.
For tickets call Jennifer Menard 870-830-5410 Or Jennifer Lowe at Gillett City Hall 548-2541
Dragon of the Week Name: Clay Dollar
Position: 8th Grade History Hometown: DeWitt, AR Family: Husband - Wife Brandi, daughter Riley, 1 year old Interests and Hobbies: Photography, Hunting., Travel
Go Dragons!
Chop Down the Warren Lumberjacks Proud sponsor of the Dragon of the Week
Why did you go in to the education field? I thougth that in order to make a change in the world it would be best to start with kids in school. How many years have you been teaching? 11 years Where have you taught previously? Blytheville School District, Arkansas Dept. of Corrections School District
Beginning Our Second Century of Community Investment