GRAVETTE -- Robert "Dodie" Evans, who has worked in the newspaper industry for more than 60 years, retired effective May 31, 2014.
Dodie retired as editor emeritus of the Westside Eagle Observer, the paper created in 2012 with the combination of the Gentry Courier-Journal, the Decatur Herald and his newspaper, the Gravette News-Herald. The News-Herald was his because he owned it for many years.
A drop-in reception marking his retirement will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, at the Bank of Gravett Community Room, 211 Main St., S.E., in Gravette. Cake and punch will be served.
Dodie was honored for 60 years in the newspaper industry during the Arkansas Press Association convention last summer. The award was given at an honors banquet in Eureka Springs.
Ten years before, Dodie received the Golden 50 Service Award. He is only the second person in the history of the Golden 50 Awards to receive an award for 60 years of service in the industry. The Arkansas Press Association started presenting the awards in 1983.
The following is an excerpt from the program at the APA convention:
"In the spring of 1953, at age 17, Dodie -- who rode his bicycle from Sulphur Springs to Gravette -- walked into the office of the Gravette News Herald looking for a job. He may have been looking for a job, but a career found him.
"Our honoree grew up in Sulphur Springs and while in high school wrote an essay about his pet cat for English class. It must have been good because his teacher suggested he send it to the Fort Smith newspaper and they published it. Dodie was 15 at the time and he was hooked.
"When he started work at the Gravette newspaper, he signed on for five eight-hour days for $15 a week. He cut his teeth on city council news, feature stories and columns.
"In the spring of 1955, he accepted a reporting job at the Southwest American in Fort Smith, but he didn't like the daily grind much and returned to the Gravette newspaper in 1956. He's been there pretty much ever since, working at the newspaper but also providing instruction, inspiration and assistance to countless editors, writers and photographers who have held employment at the newspaper over the years.
"Over the past six decades -- nearly 22,000 days -- Dodie has served this industry and Gravette with unwavering dedication. He practices his craft with honor and integrity, with a deep and passionate understanding that people matter, that community matters, that progress is not measured in hours or days, [but] by the people you affect and places you influence."
Dodie has served on the Gravette City Council and the Benton County Quorum Court. He is a member of the Gravette United Methodist Church, the Masonic Lodge and the Eastern Star. He is a past president of the Gravette Chamber of Commerce and a past president of the Jaycees. He has won the State Highway Safety Award and, in 1998, he was named Man of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce. He has won a number of awards from the Arkansas Press Association.
General News on 06/11/2014