Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Four Attend Boys State

American Legion Boys State delegates attending the 59th annual encampment May 30- June 4 at the University of Central Arkansas completed their study of self-government by electing state officers, visiting the state Capitol in Little Rock and choosing their representatives to Boys Nation.

They also heard from several of the state's elected officials, including Senators Blanche Lincoln and Tim Hutchinson, Congressman Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Asa Hutchinson, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Lt. Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, Attorney General Mark Pryor and Secretary of State Sharon Priest, as well as members of the state legislature serving on the Boys State legislative program.

Boys State is sponsored by the Arkansas Department of the American Legion.

The first Boys State was held in 1940 and has been held continuously since except for a one-year suspension in 1945 because of World War II.

Attending from Prescott were Carlos Diaz Franklin and Quentin Jack Nelson.

Franklin was elected JP of Hanner County and to the City Council of Presson.

Nelson was elected representative from the city of Diamond in Huckabee County.

Also attending from Prescott were Matt Brannan and Russell Niemeyer.

Boys attending formed mythical political parties, counties and cities. They conducted their own elections as part of their hands-on experience in government.