|
 Volume
2 Issue 14
|
Published
monthly by the Arkansas River Valley Tri - Region
Association
|
August
2004
|
|
Are
You Ready to Rock on the River?
Join Us for the 15th Anniversary
of ValleyFest!
|
Rockin'
On The River
|
By
Shannon Sheppard
This
year's Valley Fest is going to be bigger and better then
ever. We welcome back the Little River Band to sing "Happy
Anniversary, Baby" to us on Saturday, the 21st of August! We
will walk through the park just "Reminiscing". The fun kicks
off on Friday, August 20th. Don't forget about all the
games, midway rides, and competitive events including a
chance at a $10,000 Hole-in-one! This year the midway will
feature a water slide for a "Cool Change". Please join us at
Old Post Park for fun, food, and entertainment! Friday night
Johnny Lee and his band will be "Looking for Love" at Valley
Fest! Don't be a "Lonesome Loser". Join us for the fun. And
if you think you have what it takes to be our "River Valley
Idol" please call 479.967.1762 or log on to our website at
Valleyfest2004.org
for more details. If you have any questions or are
interested in volunteering to help support the Boys &
Girls Clubs of the Arkansas River Valley at this great
family fun weekend, please call 479.968.7819.
Arkansas'
beauty thrives on
Mount Magazine
(Governor
Mike Huckabee Capitol News July 2004
www.Arkansas.gov/governor)
|
It
was a beautiful spring morning, and I couldn't
think of a better place to be than atop Mount
Magazine, the highest point in Arkansas at 2,753
feet. The occasion was the groundbreaking ceremony
for the Mount Magazine State Park lodge and cabins.
I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I
predict that this facility will quickly become one
of the top tourist attractions in Arkansas. I've
long stated that we need to do more to enhance and
promote the various peaks near the Arkansas
River-Mount Magazine, Mount Nebo and Petit Jean
Mountain. Thanks to the revenues produced by
Amendment 75, which was approved by Arkansas voters
in November 1996, we're able to do just that. This
is the special conservation tax of one-eighth of a
cent with 45 percent of the money going to Arkansas
state parks, 45 percent going to the state Game and
Fish Commission, 9 percent going to the Department
of Arkansas Heritage and 1 percent going to the
Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission.
The
first hotel on Mount Magazine was the Skycrest Inn.
It was built on the western end of the mountain in
about 1900. During the 1920s, the Buckman Inn was
constructed on the mountain. Recreational travel
almost came to a halt during the Depression,
however, and all of the tourist attractions on
Mount Magazine were closed. In 1934, the federal
government purchased the private land on the
mountain. By 1938, the Roosevelt administration had
transferred that land to the U.S. Forest Service.
The federal Works Progress Administration
constructed a 27-room lodge and restaurant in 1939
and 1940 that remained in operation until being
destroyed by fire in 1971. For the past three
decades, a lot of Arkansans have dreamed about
replacing that beloved Forest Service lodge. But I
really doubt they believed we would build something
as grand as what Amendment 75 will allow us to
do.
|
The
three-wing complex will cover more than 126,000
square feet and feature guest lodging, a
restaurant, a conference center, a grand lobby,
park administrative offices, an indoor swimming
pool, a fitness center and a gift shop. The
restaurant will seat 175 people with spectacular
views. The conference facility will be able to
accommodate banquet seating for up to 192 people.
The rustic-style design will feature heavy timbers,
wood and stone. The main features of the lobby will
be a two-story fireplace and large windows offering
a view of the Petit Jean River Valley. Fourty-four
of the lodge's 60 rooms will have outside
balconies, and 17 rooms will have Jacuzzi-style
whirlpool tubs. All rooms will offer views of the
valley below. There also will be 13 cabins atop the
mountain that are separate from the lodge. We
expect to complete all of the work by February
2006.
Mount
Magazine State Park already offers a variety of
hiking opportunities. The trails in the state park
connect with a Forest Service trail to Cove Lake.
There also is a multiuse trail for bikers,
horseback riders, and ATV users. In addition to
hikers, the park attracts those who hang glide,
rock climb and rappel. Hang gliding is also a
feature of Mount Nebo Park. Mount Magazine is
renowned for its rare species of plants. Visitors
can walk through one of the state's last remaining
virgin forests. Ancient bogs are home to delicate
orchids and 24 species of ferns. Bird watchers love
the mountain for its many species. The park is the
site of the International Butterfly Festival, which
draws thousands of visitors each summer. I'm proud
of how we're investing the funds Amendment 75
brings in. We're keeping the Natural State natural
and improving the quality of life for all
Arkansans.
|
|
July
16, 2004
Arkansas's
National Park Sites
Preserve Nature and
History
By Jim Taylor, travel writer
Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
HOT SPRINGS -- Eight architecturally stylish
buildings dating from 1911 to 1939 stand in a row
beside Central Avenue in downtown Hot Springs,
quietly testifying to the city's days as America's
foremost spa. The bathhouses and the array of
thermal springs that made them famous are
nationally significant slices of Arkansas's
landscape and history, a part of America's story as
well as the state's.
A variety of other Arkansas places share that
distinction, among them a free-flowing and
remarkably clean river in the Ozark Mountains, the
site of a frontier fort and federal court, a high
school that became a symbol of the struggle for
civil rights in America, the most important Civil
War battlefield west of the Mississippi River, and
one location (among several) of the first permanent
European community in the Mississippi's lower
valley.
The hot springs and the bathhouses are now
preserved within Hot Springs National Park, but the
Buffalo National River, the Fort Smith and Central
High School national historic sites, the Pea Ridge
National Military Park, and the Arkansas Post
National Memorial are also units of the National
Park Service (NPS). Scattered across the state, the
six units protect outstanding natural features and
preserve historically important locations,
informing visitors about pivotal happenings in the
nation's past at the places those events
occurred.
Hot
Springs National Park
In
a misty Ouachita Mountains valley in 1804, two
explorers commissioned by President Thomas
Jefferson found steaming waters issuing from a lush
hillside. To protect the rare thermal springs,
Congress in 1832 declared the area around them a
federal reservation. In 1921, the reservation was
renamed Hot Springs National Park, the 18th site to
receive such a designation. Among America's
national parks, however, Hot Springs was the
earliest site set aside for federal
protection.
Bathhouse
Row is the park's most celebrated feature. The 1915
Fordyce Bathhouse serves as the park's visitors
center, where a 17-minute orientation film, "Valley
of the Vapors," details the history of the springs,
the city and the era of medicinal bathing.
Self-guided tours of the building allow visitors to
see first-hand the opulence associated with the
bathing industry.
Forty-five
of the 47 hot springs have been capped and their
water is delivered to nearby locations offering
thermal baths to the public. On the row, only the
Buckstaff Bathhouse continues to offer bathing, as
it has since 1912. Fascinated onlookers are common
at an open display spring north of the row, where
naturally heated waters cascade steamily down the
lower slopes of Hot Springs Mountain.
Other
park features include an observation tower
providing a birds-eye view of Hot Springs and the
surrounding Ouachitas; some 30 miles of hiking
trails; scenic mountain drives with overlooks; the
brick-paved Grand Promenade, a National Recreation
Trail behind Bathhouse Row; and a campground along
Gulpha Creek.
For
more park information, visit www.nps.gov/hosp/ or
phone (501) 624-2701.
Arkansas
Post National Memorial
In
1686, the explorer Henri de Tonti founded Arkansas
Post near the junction of the Arkansas and
Mississippi rivers. The first permanent European
settlement along the lower Mississippi, the Post
predated New Orleans and remained Arkansas's lone
European community at the Louisiana Purchase in
1803.
The
settlement became the site of Arkansas's only armed
encounter of the Revolutionary War, the first
capital of Arkansas Territory, the birthplace of
the Arkansas Gazette newspaper (for many years the
oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi) and an
1863 Civil War battlefield for 30,000 Union and
5,000 Confederate troops.
The
749-acre Arkansas Post National Memorial preserves
the settlement's 1819 site (it had moved several
times to avoid flooding) and commemorates the
people who lived its history. The visitors center
offers a 22-minute film on the Post's history and
exhibits on such topics as the Native Americans who
once occupied the area, the fur trade conducted by
the region's French, Spanish and Americans, the
Post's flora and fauna and the steamboats that
plied the two rivers. The town site is now an open
field dotted with large oaks and a wooded area
along the Arkansas, but the area features
informational panels describing the Revolutionary
and Civil war battles and the structures once
located at the Post, including a tavern where the
first meetings of Arkansas's territorial government
were held.
The
memorial is located in southeast Arkansas at the
end of Ark. 169 about two miles east of its
junction with U.S. 165 six miles south of Gillett.
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/arpo or
phone (870) 548-2207.
Arkansas
Department of Parks & Tourism
CORPS
TO ISSUE FIVE PERMITS TO MOBILITY-IMPAIRED DEER
HUNTERS
OZARK,
Ark., July 26-The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is
taking applications from mobility-impaired hunters
who would like to participate in a special deer
hunt Oct. 30 and 31 on the Dardanelle Wildlife
Management Area at Clarksville. Five permits will
be issued to people whose mobility is permanently
and severely impaired by paralysis or
amputation.
Applicants
must submit a completed application form,
identification and a doctor's letter verifying
their disability to the Corps by Sept. 3. A
random drawing will be held Sept. 17 to select
the five hunters.
This hunt will provide proper access and hunting
blinds to individuals who are capable of using a
firearm, but whose ability to access most
hunting areas is restricted. It is a joint
effort between the Corps, the city of
Clarksville, area businesses and industry, the
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Arkansas
Disabled Sportsmen Association and the Central
Arkansas Buckmasters.
Surveys have been conducted to ensure resources
are properly conserved and public safety is
properly considered. Hunters will be limited to
muzzleloaders or shotguns with rifled slugs
only. No center fire cartridge firearms will be
allowed.Application forms may be obtained at the
Corps' Ozark office at 6042 Lock and Dam Road or
by calling (501) 667-2129.
The
Tourism Industry
Hotline
Arkansas Hospitality Association July 2004
In the United States, the tourism industry is
currently the third largest retail industry, behind
automotive and food stores. Travel and tourism is
the nation's largest service export industry, third
largest retail sales industry, and one of America's
largest employer in 30 states. The tourism industry
includes more than 15 interrelated businesses, from
lodging establishments, airlines, and restaurants
to cruise lines, car rental firms, travel agents,
and tour operators.
|
Travelin'
Arkansas:
Events Taking Place in
August - September
July
21 - August 13,
2004
Nuts About Nature Daycare Daze
Lake
Dardanelle State
Park
Mammals,
reptiles, and birds, oh my! Area daycares will
visit the park at the same time during a 4 week
period to learn about our natural world through
activities and art projects. We'll be playing,
pasting, singing, and jumping our way to learning
all we can about nature! Call to reserve a space
for your day camp. Admission: Free
lakedardanelle@arkansas.com
August
21, 2004
Civil
War Days Encampment
Mt.
Nebo State Park; Sunset
Point
Experience
a Civil War encampment and see living history
presentations. Visit with re-enactors and learn
about their uniforms, weapons, equipment, and
hardships of everyday life. A hayride will begin at
7 p.m. in the campground and travel around the
mountain to the Civil War camp. Take a few steps
into our history in this living history event.
Admission:Free
mountnebo@arkansas.com
August
28 - August 29, 2004
11th
Annual Mt. Nebo End of Summer Fly In
Join
the Central Arkansas Mountain Pilots (C.A.M.P.) at
Sunrise Point as they hang glide throughout the
weekend. Due to the sport's high dependence on
weather and wind, no times will be announced for
the flying however, weather and wind permitting,
the pilots fly throughout Saturday and Sunday
beginning in the afternoon. Admission: Free
mountnebo@arkansas.com
September
4, 2004
9 am - 12 pm
Great Arkansas Cleanup and Cookout
Mount
Nebo State
Park
Mount Nebo State Park Pavilion
Enjoy
the cool breezes of the mountain as you help to
keep it beautiful. The morning's activities will
include a cleanup of the mountain's overlooks from
9 a.m. until noon. Afterwards, volunteers are
invited to take part in a cookout lunch provided by
park staff.
September
4, 2004
Dr. T.W. Hardison Day
Petit
Jean State
Park
Petit
Jean is proud to be Arkansas's first state park.
Join us for this special day of activities and
programs including the famous riddle hunt, homemade
ice cream and evening activities. Bring your family
to celebrate the father of Arkansas's state park
system.
http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com
petitjean@arkansas.com
September
11, 2004
Great
Arkansas Clean Up
Petit
Jean State
Park
Help
keep the state park clean and litter free! Join us
for a few hours of litter pickup and be rewarded
with a free cookout lunch and prize drawings. Call
for start time. Admission: Free
http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com
petitjean@arkansas.com
September
18, 2004
National Public Lands Day
Lake
Dardanelle State
Park
You
are invited to a great day on the lake to join
volunteers and natural resource agencies in
celebrating National Public Lands Day and The Great
Arkansas Cleanup. We'll begin with a community wide
cleanup and continue with activities at Lake
Dardanelle State Park including a fishing derby,
archery demonstration and community resource
projects. If your group would like to participate
call the park or the Corps of Engineers at (479)
968-5008. Admission: Free
lakedardanelle@arkansas.com
September
18, 2004
56th Annual Mt. Nebo Chicken Fry
Mount
Nebo State
Park
Mt. Nebo State Park Campground
Looking
for some good chicken, pickin', and politickin'?
Craft booths, children's activities, music, beauty
pageants, chicken calling contests, basketball
tournament and races are just a few of the exciting
events. Of course the highlight of the day will be
the famous fried chicken dinner served all
afternoon. For more information or to register for
the pageants, contact the Dardanelle Chamber of
Commerce at (479) 229-3328. Admission: Free
mountnebo@arkansas.com
September
18, 2004
10 am - 4 pm
Hawk Watch
Mount
Magazine State
Park
Stand
on top of Arkansas and watch magnificent birds of
prey soar overhead during their migration
southward. Bring lawn chairs, binoculars, water,
and lunch. Admission: Free
mountmagazine@arkansas.com
September
25, 2004
September Star Party
Mount
Nebo State Park
Mount
Nebo State Park Ball Field (left at mountain top)
Mount
Nebo is the place to be to view the wonders of the
night sky. Tonight, Dr. Jeff Robertson returns to
point out many of the sky's amazing sights.
Telescopes will be provided, or you may bring your
own. Bring your blankets and meet at the ball
field. Admission: Free
mountnebo@arkansas.com
Other
Events Taking Place
Around the State
Johnson
County Fair Pageant 2004-Join in the fun as the
Johnson County Fair Pageant comes back home to the
Fair Grounds. This year's pageant will be held
under out new covered stage at the fair grounds on
September 11, 2004 at 5:00 p.m. Young ladies from
the ages of 8-21 may pick up an entry form at the
Johnson County Chamber of Commerce or from any Fair
Pageant Committee Member. This years Queen will
represent Johnson County at the State Fair Pageant.
Deadline for entries- August 7, 2004
Committee
Members
Herman
Houston, Director & Jane Houston 754-8124
Rusty & Kellly Hardgrave 497-2160
Terry & Carol Williams 754-6425
James & Karen Tate 885-3153
|
Calendar
of Events
August-September
Clarksville
August
12-14th Bargains Galore on 64- 130 miles of
yard sales, antique & collectibles- Ft. Smith
to Conway
August 18th Chamber of Commerce Luncheon
University of the Ozarks noon
August 11th Johnson County 4-H's Clubs Barbecue
Dinner 754-2240
August 22nd Horse Show (Speed Show)- Lamar
Arena 6 p.m.
August 23rd Horse Show (Halter Show &
Performance) - Lamar Arena 6 p.m.
September 11th Johnson County Fair Pageant
2004 at 5:00 p.m. Deadline for entries- August 7,
2004
Lake
Dardanelle State Park
July
21-August 13 Nuts About Nature Daycare
Daze
Morrilton
Aug.
6-7 16th Annual Great Arkansas Pig
Out
Mount
Nebo
August
21, 2004 Civil War Days Encampment
August
28 - August 29, 2004 11th Annual Mt. Nebo End of
Summer Fly In
Petit
Jean State Park-Morrilton
August
1st
8:30
a.m. Nondenominational Worship Service: Meet at
the amphitheater for a nondenominational worship
service.
9:30
a.m. Cedar Creek Trail: Join Lori at the
Pioneer Cabin to hike the Cedar Creek trail. This
trail does NOT go to the waterfall. Along the way,
enjoy the beautiful scenery of Cedar Creek. This
hike is 1 ¼ miles long and will take about 2
hours. Please wear sturdy shoes and bring
water.
11:00
a.m. "Fire and Famine" The Story of Seven
Hollows: Meet Chuck at the Seven Hollows parking
lot for a short walk into the once charred forest
that is now experiencing a rebirth.
2:00
p.m. A Rotten Place to Live: Join Lori at the
Demonstration area to discover the creepy, crawly
critters that make their homes in rotten
logs!
3:00
p.m. You Can Move Mountains: Join Chuck at the
demonstration area where you will design the
strongest mountain to withstand the most horrible
floods. Find out how vegetation and the consistency
of our mountain have changed through
time.
4:00
p.m. Tree Identification: Come join our Caleb
at the Demonstration Area, while we identify that
unknown tree in your own backyard. So if you have a
question about a particular tree, come learn how to
identify it. This will be a nice short walk as we
search out a few of your favorite trees.
8:45
p.m. Shhh! Be Very, Very Quiet We're Huntin'
for Deer: Come enjoy this wonderful PowerPoint
presentation about Whitetail Deer. Find out some of
their typical behaviors in the wild. Meet Caleb at
the Amphitheater.
Lori
Anderson
Park Interpreter
Petit Jean State Park
1285 Petit Jean Mountain Road
Morrilton, AR 72110
(501) 727-6512
lori.anderson@arkansas.gov
Russellville
Aug.
12th-14 5th Annual Bargains Galore on 64 - 130
miles from fort smith to Conway yard sales, flea
market, etc. call Linda Hiles @
888-568-3552
Aug.
20 - 21 Valley Fest 2004 - held at Old Post
Road Park - Boys and Girls Club
Other
Activities Taking Place
Throughout the State
There
will be "Bargains Galore on 64" Aug. 12-14
during the Arkansas River Valley's annual shopping
marathon. Communities along U.S. 64 from Conway to
Fort Smith will participate in the 130-mile-long
treasure hunt. There will be everything from
professional dealers in antiques, sidewalk sales
and flea market items to local yard sales. For
information on the communities taking part and a
map, e-mail bargainson64@ar-digit.net.
Arkansas
Department of Parks and
Tourism
|
|
