August -- the month of Leo -- rolled around early this year. I know you're thinking to yourself, or maybe even lip-syncing aloud, "He's lost it again; August rolls around the same time every year. Early must be mixed up in his brain."
There -- How's that for a start as I slip a sheet of paper into the old Underwood this morning, the first day of August. Early? Maybe it's because the month is arriving with a cool breeze and a refreshing spring-like shower. Lawns are greener than they usually look this time of year. Since you're reading this several days later, I hope you made it to Decatur's annual barbecue last Saturday and enjoyed all the activities on a pleasant, cool day, not like some of the summer scorchers that hit with a vengeance during the Dog Days month.
"Early?" I've written this before, but here goes again: I remember some words told me many times years ago, "Take your time, Dodie. Just remember the older you get, the faster time flies." Do you remember some old-timers saying about those same words to you? I didn't believe them but, boy, it is true. They knew what they were warning me about!
Now it's on to what this 'cuff is about: Frankly, I'm not sure which or what direction it will take but here goes: This year marks Gravette's 124th birthday. Gravette joins other area smaller towns in celebrating its birthday this Saturday, Aug. 12. Such celebrations are a tribute to smaller towns which have survived the changes and growth patterns that in many places have evolved into an almost ghost-town appearance. So often Main Streets have disappeared. Yes, there are a few vacant business buildings in area towns but, because of the forward looking attitudes that prevail, there is still a prosperity here envied in many sections of our great country. Locally, area-wide plans for the future certainly guarantee that even better, greater times are ahead in Eagle Observer country.
To help celebrate this Saturday, Aug. 12, Gravette will hold a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of its almost million dollar Main Street improvement project with a ceremony at noon at the intersection of Main and Second Avenue. It is hoped the day will be pleasant for that and all the other Gravette Day activities will not be hampered with blistering hot breezes or rare but ditch-filling downpours.
Some of the activities during the birthday party include a pancake breakfast, a Dutch oven cook-off at the Gravette museum, a car show, fun events for kids, arts and crafts, many activity booths, various-age pageants including the crowning of Miss Gravette, a kiddo fireman's muster and other surprises ... and don't forget one of the best small-town parades that will begin just as the Main Street ceremony concludes.
This 'Cuff is not just about Gravette. All the smaller towns along Arkansas Highway 59 in western Benton County have various celebrations during the year. Gentry has several great activities, Decatur's barbecue is now history and Sulphur Springs recently held a great Independence Day celebration. Maysville, not an incorporated town, also celebrated recently; and Hiwasse, though now a part of Gravette, will preserve its community feeling with a Hiwasse Day later this year. It is a real friendly hometown celebration.
To get right to the point, western Benton County is here to stay and blossom and grow and prosper and continue to be an escape area from the bustle that has engulfed so much of the Benton-Washington County complex. Putting us all together speaks well of how an area can grow to provide enjoyable living for its citizens, bond together with a common purpose and spirit of friendship and freedom. We are a lucky half million group of people. But it's not all luck.
In Gravette there are numerous projects and upgrades underway, including sewer system expansion. New homes are being built, there are new or upgraded businesses, park improvements will include a splash park to be completed for next summer, paving is being added to city and area streets and roads, the plane in Kindley Park has undergone a needed refurbishing, the school is expanding, and in Hiwasse more than a quarter-million dollars will finance several community projects as outlined in last week's Eagle Observer.
Just as important, Decatur and Gentry have completed numerous projects or have others in the process. Growth is evident all over the region, not just in the communities but also in rural areas. Sulphur Springs is primed for good and greater days ahead, particularly with current improvements and a looked-forward-to use of the many historic stone structures that have played such a great part of the town's historic past. Sulphur Springs is the town I grew up in and it holds many memories. I hope to see a return to the thriving activities of the past. It will happen -- the spirit is emerging to make it so.
This 'Cuff evolved into a mish-mash of comments which, though mixed up, hopefully provide a look at how our areas are growing. In the next 'Cuff you may find comments about a "club book" recently published by a man who is well known in Gravette. Among the secrets the book reveals are those which will be similar to those you may have experienced, such as the club and even the clubhouse door on which was posted a sign, "No girls allowed." There are other items and ideas spinning around in the old what's-left-of-it brain.
Dodie evans is the former owner and editor of the gravette news herald. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 08/09/2017