GRAVETTE — With Jay Mitchael, membership on the Gravette historical museum commission is a family affair. Jay remembers that his father, John, was recruited to help Gravette barber, Johnny Varner, build a model of the town in 1993. Because Jay and older brother Steve were model train enthusiasts as youngsters, John enlisted his boys to help with the project.
The Mitchaels, Louise Evans and Dean Fladager, Gravette's mayor at the time, all worked on the diorama. Someone built a model of the Main Street buildings, another worked on the Holiness school campus, others recreated the city's two parks. Jay recalls that he and Steve worked on building models of the depot and vinegar plant.
"We built it in sections," he said. "We'd take sections home and work on them, then take them back and put them together."
The model was displayed at the town's centennial celebration in 1993. After Varner's death, when citizens decided the model needed a home and a museum should be established to house it, Evans and all three of the Mitchaels were named to the original museum commission. The museum is celebrating its 20th birthday this year and these four charter members still remain on the commission.
The Mitchaels are pioneers in the area and several generations of the family have lived here but, with employment opportunities scarce, John Mitchael moved to Wichita, Kan., just after high school and took a job with Boeing Aircraft. He later moved to Derby, Kan. Jay was born and grew up in Derby and graduated from high school there.
Many members of the Mitchael family still lived in the Gravette area and, being a close-knit family, they got together often for Gravette Day, holiday and birthday gatherings. Jay and his family returned to join the group, so they maintained close ties to the area. After graduating from high school, Jay came to Arkansas and attended college at John Brown University in Siloam Springs. He received a degree in electrical engineering from there in the early 1980s.
Jay met his wife, Jennifer, at JBU. She was from Houston, Texas, and they were married in Corpus Christi in 1985. They moved to Lake Charles, La., because Jay's sister and brother-in-law, Jan and Clay Thurman, were moving there and Jay started working for Boeing Aircraft.
He didn't like living in Louisiana though. "It was just a different culture," he says. They had lived there about a year when his paternal grandfather died in 1988. Jay and his wife came back for the funeral and realized how much they liked it in northwest Arkansas. They soon made plans and moved back to the area. They lived in Gravette until they moved east of town, midway between Gravette and Hiwasse, in 2014.
Jay worked a few temporary jobs upon his return until Jennifer, who was working in recruiting at Walmart, signed him up as a Walmart employee. He has worked in space planning there for 28 years, designing store layouts, deciding how large each store should be, where each department should be located and how much room it should occupy. He says he hasn't grown tired of the job yet.
"One big advantage of my job is that I got to travel extensively," he says. "I've seen a lot and experienced a lot," he relates. He has made many trips, several overseas. Some trips are only day trips. Others last up to two weeks. He says he has enjoyed his exposure to other cultures.
Jennifer has had several jobs but has not worked outside the home for several years. Jay says he handles their work life and she handles everything else. "She has by far the biggest job," he admits.
The Mitchaels are parents of two children. Their son, Josh, 27, and his wife, Andrea, live in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Their daughter, Jayne, 19, lives in Siloam Springs and is in her first year of college at JBU. They have two grandchildren. Marshall is 4 and Ember is 1 1/2.
Jay has no particular area of interest on the museum commission but says he just tries to help with whatever project the commission is undertaking. He is working now with fellow commission member Al Blair to refurbish the model of Gravette and its train tracks. He says he works mainly on layout and scenery and Blair specializes in buildings and train cars.
Jay Mitchael has proved to be a valuable member of the Gravette historical museum commission. He stays busy with his work, his museum commission and family activities and attends Fellowship Bible Church in Rogers. He says his only hobby is raising koi fish.
Community on 11/02/2016