GRAVETTE -- Members and guests of the Greater Gravette Chamber of Commerce heard three speakers at their regular meeting Wednesday, March 15. Speakers were Beth Johnson, curator of the Gravette Historical Museum, and business owners Larry Jones, owner of Peace, Love and Coffee, and Danny Falk, owner of Soles Saved and Heels Too.
Johnson is a Gravette native and a 1991 graduate of Gravette High School. She is the published author of 11 historical Christian romance novels and is working with her son-in-law, a filmmaker, to produce a movie based on one of her novels. Filming started last fall, with the first scene shot at an old barn near Colcord, Okla. Plans are to film future scenes at various locations in this area.
Johnson said she is excited about her new job as museum curator. She spoke of her deep love of history and expressed her gratitude for the "dreamers who built my hometown with their bare hands and a vision." She said history is "the essence of today strengthened by the thousands of yesterdays." She hopes to kindle a love of history in the hearts of every area resident. "It is up to each of us to teach and encourage the love of history," she concluded.
Beth also reminded her listeners of the museum's upcoming "My Collections" exhibit, scheduled for Sunday, April 23. She encouraged all who have any type of collection to come and display them at the event and to tell others about it.
Larry Jones, owner of Peace, Love and Coffee, is a native of Yukon, Okla., "the best place to grow up in the 1950s," he said. He moved to Gravette in 1952. Jones said when his daughter Rachel graduated from high school, she urged him to go into business of some kind. After exploring several options, he got the idea to build a coffee shop. He consulted with Tom Kennedy of Kennedy Coffee Company, whom he called "the coffee guru" of this area, and established his business in 2011.
Jones expressed his gratitude for the support of the community during his 12 years in business and for the assistance of Michelle Strausser, who has worked for him since the shop's opening. "I couldn't have done this without her," he said. Jones said Peace, Love and Coffee serves 80 to 100 customers a day and "we're having a good time doing it."
Danny Falk, owner of Soles Saved and Heels Too, is a native of northern Illinois and grew up in Byron, Ill., 90 miles north of Chicago. He said his father was a baker, and a shoe repair shop occupied the other side of the building. He began to hang out in the shop and worked there during high school, learning boot and shoe repair and general leatherwork. He liked it so well, he said, "it wasn't a job; it was a hobby."
Falk also has a great interest in music and attended the University of Iowa, working his way through school repairing shoes. After graduation, he bought a leather shop from its retiring owner and operated it until 1993 when he moved to Arkansas. Falk and his family had been coming to an Arkansas fishing resort for vacations, and they liked the area. He said that on Feb. 1, he had been in Arkansas for 30 years.
The Falks first moved to Rogers and, after becoming Arkansas residents, Danny worked as a route driver for Saied Music Company. He had customers in Gravette and was impressed with the town, noting it was much like his hometown in Illinois.
"It has a hometown feel," he said, "people helping people," so his family soon decided to move here.
After the move to Gravette, Falk's son Kaiser suggested Danny use his leather working equipment and set up a shop in the downtown area. He leased a building and the two worked together in the shop for a time.
"The business has taken off and done well," Danny said and stated Gravette was a good location because he was drawing in customers from throughout the area as well as nearby Oklahoma and Missouri towns. When Kaiser started his own successful handyman business and Danny was left to run the shop alone, they decided to move the business to a building on Kaiser's property where he now does his work. He uses Austin Drug on Main Street as a drop-off and pickup point for his customers, and it is working out well, he said.
During the short business meeting, Chamber treasurer Sundee Hendren announced Karen Furlow, owner of NWA Outlet/Hidden Falls, is a new Chamber member, and Granny's Simple Blessings and R&R Solutions had renewed memberships. She introduced Sunny Martinez, owner of Job Guide, an employment magazine serving northwest Arkansas, southwest Missouri and the greater Tulsa area; Kent Slinkard, with Liberty Utilities; and Susan Rupp, owner of Enviroscapes, an ecological consulting firm that is working for the sustainable development of biomass energy. Rupp said she is trying to find renewable waste, including poultry litter, so it can be kept off the land and help improve water quality.
Jim Singleton, president of Arvest Bank, announced that a representative of the merchant services division at Arvest will present the program at the April 12 Chamber meeting, and it will be held in the meeting room at Ozarks Community Hospital to accommodate a larger crowd.
Mayor Kurt Maddox gave an update on upcoming highway projects in Gravette, including widening the intersection of highways 59 and 72 and the installation of a passing lane at the intersection of Highway 59 and Mount Olive Road. He said the Arkansas Department of Transportation would also be fixing the exit at Highway 102 to make it safer.
Hendren reminded Chamber members of the upcoming Chamber gala, scheduled for Thursday, April 27, at Ozarks Community Hospital. She said tickets would be available soon at $350 a table (eight seats) or $50 a seat. She also announced that the first third Thursday event would be held Thursday, April 19.