George,
Wherever possible we try and avoid the use of stickies. The problem with them is that they are like old notams, and either nobody reads the subject or the subject becomes so long that it loses the point. It is noteable that some of the forums have little other content than the sum of their "sticky" threads.
You are correct in that there are recurring themes on the forums, but it is usually the case that interest in them is promoted by the variety of the subject target. If a subject warrents enough replies it will naturally keep itself at the top of the forum. If it does not then it is torturing the point to force it there.