Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Old Hospital Sold

Gurdon's old hospital has been sold.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said the hospital, formerly leased to a group renovating it and calling it Ami Village briefly, has been purchased by a group led by Clifford Coleman.

The city, on April 11, 1994, entered into a lease agreement with Elton Stewart, M&S Healthcare. The terms of the lease began June 1, 1994 and gave Stewart the option to outright buy the building and grounds.

However, Ami Village was about the only venture to take a shot at making use of the old hospital, but collapsed before getting off the ground well.

Smith has been working with Stewart and Coleman on the sale of the hospital. He worked to help Coleman get the funding needed to purchase the building from Stewart and the city.

Under the lease agreement Stewart had with Gurdon, by paying the Dec. 1999 lease he will owe $155,883.77. This amounts to a 55-month lease at $2,000 per month, plus the 155,883.77 for a total the city will receive in the amount of $265,833.77.

"This is a wonderful way to start the new year," Smith said. "The city will no longer have the liability of keeping it maintained. This makes it possible for a group to put in a business to benefit Gurdon, provide residential care and jobs."

Gurdon Teams Have Short Stay In Saratoga Tournament

BY JOHN MILLER

Gurdon's trip to the Southwest Arkansas Invitational Tournament resulted in brief stays for both teams.

Both senior squads won their first outings, but fell in game two.

The Lady Devils opened the tournament Saturday, Jan. 2, with a 69-47 win over Mineral Springs.

They opened the contest by taking a 15-11 lead at the end of one, and stretching their lead to 10 at the half with the score 34-24.

From there on out, it was an uphill battle for the Lady Hornets, as Gurdon pulled further away in the third at 47-32.

The Lady Devils were 12 of 23 from the charity stripe, while Mineral Springs converted 12 of 39 free throws.

LaVonda Young led Gurdon's attack with 14, while Angela Walker added 10.

Christy Williams was the game's leading scorer with 15. Kim Esters added 12, with Candice Marks scoring 10 for Mineral Springs.

The senior boys took to the court against Blevins to open their part of the tourney.

From the outset the game was more of a track meet as the Devils sprinted up and down the court enroute to an 83-65 win.

Gurdon took the tipoff and scored first, following this by stealing the inbound pass and pushing the score to 4-0 quickly.

Gurdon's all out man-to-man defensive full court press was more than Blevins was ready for.

The Hornets had fits trying to dribble down court and ran into more problems when they attempted to pass the ball over Gurdon's defense.

By the end of one, the Devils were in control 23-11, though Blevins didn't just rollover and die.

The Hornets, with a short bench, fought as hard as they could, but had little to fight with.

Both teams were called for fouls in the first period, which ended with both teams in the bonus situation.

The sparse crowd on hand for the game, played Wednesday, Jan. 6, saw Blevins unable to keep pace with Gurdon's thoroughbreds on the fast track.

Each team went for quick strikes on fast breaks, with Gurdon picking off Blevins passes and converting the interceptions into points. With 6:07 left in the half, it was 30-16 Gurdon.

The pace of the contest was slowed considerably by the foul situation. At times it was questionable if either team would have enough players to finish the game as the fouls mounted.

Between the fouls and free throws, though, the pace was blistering. There was little finesse on either side as both wanted lightning strikes for scores.

Gurdon called off its press late in the second, but it was obvious the Hornets were no match.

Still, halftime arrived with the score 43-33 as the Hornets fought back somewhat.

The Devils picked up where they left off in the first half by pushing the ball downcourt at every opportunity.

The quarter ended with Gurdon in command 66-48 and Blevins hanging on the ropes awaiting the knockout blow.

It came in the final period as the Hornets showed no ability to cut the gap or slow the Devils in any way, shape or form.

Several times during the game, members of the Gurdon crew got open shots which were slammed home, much to the delight of the crowd.

Keevin Beasley led the Gurdon attack with 21 points. Rashun Hopson was next with 18, while Terry Cornish and Demond Beasley added 10 each.

Marcel Johnson paced Blevins with 14, while De Page added 12 and Calvin Watson had 11.

Gurdon was five of 11 at the line, while Blevins swished 14 of 24.

The Lady Devils followed immediately thereafter tangling with an old foe Prescott.

The Wolverettes had already beaten Gurdon's senior girls twice during the season and made it three in a row as they posted a 60-48 win to end the Lady Devils' hopes of a tourney title.

No matter what Gurdon did, Prescott had the answer for.

The Wolverettes took an early 5-2 lead, building it to an 11-4 advantage before ending the first quarter up 23-10.

Gurdon's physical style of play resulted in a plethora of fouls being called and a ton of free throws for Prescott.

The second quarter was much the same as the Lady Devils, try as they might, were unable to stop Prescott's offensive machine.

With 5:40 left in the half, Prescott led 27-10, with Wolverette Coach Bill Cossey substituting freely for the rest of the period.

Gurdon Coach Sandra Hatley made wholesale substitutions throughout the game, trying to find a combination that could stop or slow Prescott.

Halftime came with Gurdon on the short end of a 36-14 score.

The situation didn't improve for the Lady Devils in the third quarter as the Wolverettes fired away, usually with deadly accuracy and pushed the lead to 43-18 with 5:15 to go.

When the period ended, Prescott held a 52-25 lead.

Gurdon's girls were able to cut into the lead somewhat in the final eight minutes as Prescott substituted heavily, and the subs were unable to handle Gurdon's pressure.

LaVonda Young led Gurdon with 16 points as the only member of the team in double figures.

Prescott had three scoring more than 10 points. Stacy Stockton led the way with 16, with Andrea Cossey adding 12 and Amanda Hodges stroking the cords for 11.

Prescott was 16 of 19 at the line, while Gurdon was six of 12 in free throw attempts.

Gurdon's boys were ousted at the hands of Bradley, 48-37, in a low-scoring affair.

The Devils, playing without Hopson, got off to an 11-9 lead at the end of one, but found themselves on the short end of a 22-16 halftime score.