75¢
Hazen community holds yard sale (See pictures on p. 8.)
Volume 120 Number 23 - USPS 225-680
Serving all of Prairie County and the Grand Prairie
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Community Calendar of Events Wednesday June 9 Grand Prairie Quilt Society meeting First Christian Church 10th and Main Stuttgart 10:00 a.m. Thursday June 10 DeValls Bluff City Council meeting DVB City Hall 6:00 p.m. Creation Station Kits Available all day at the Carlisle Public Library Friday June 11 Family Film Friday 2:00 p.m. “Barnyard” Carlisle Public Library Saturday June 12 PC Republican “Party on the Prairie” Hazen Community Center Tuesday June 15 Bounce House at Des Arc Public Library 6th grade and under 11:00 a.m. Thursday June 17 UnBirthday Party DeValls Bluff Public Libary Making ice cream, eating cake, & playing toss games 11:00 a.m. Saturday June 26 18th Annual Mammoth Pond Fishing Derby 15 years and under Refreshments are provided 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Community events brought to you by Hazen Chamber of
Commerce and the
Please call F&M Bank (255-3042) or The Grand Prairie Herald (255-4538) to list events.
Des Arc High School graduated 36 seniors in a commencement ceremony held on Friday, May 21, in The Eagles’ Nest gymnasium. Among the honorees were twelve Honor Graduates.
studioDRIFT opens operations in downtown DeValls Bluff When studioDRIFT needed a new base of operation, Martin Smith and his team began to look for a location to begin building their vision. So, when a couple of buildings in downtown DeValls Bluff became available and were in danger of being torn down, he saw an opportunity. Working with the owner of the buildings, they have now taken possession of two of the anchor buildings on DeValls Bluff’s historic Main Street district that sits cater-cornered from the White River access area. “We want to bring these buildings back to a point where they can become a center of and for the community once again - a place for gathering, for events, and as a base for travelers to visit. Whether they are enjoying activities on the river, biking trails, or just passing through and stopping for a visit and sampling local food and taking in the town’s historic attributes and landmarks, we want to help
provide a place to do it.” The focus of studioDRIFT (Developing Rural Infrastructure for Tomorrow) is to harness the natural resources of communities, combined with cultural/historic assets, to reanimate these communities, highlight what makes them unique, and create connectivity. Smith and his partner, Tanner Weeks, are the principals of Ecological Design Group (EDG), a design firm that has been instrumental in the creation and design many of the now iconic outdoor spaces around the state. From the William E. Clark Wetlands in downtown Little Rock and the Hendrix Creek Preserve in Conway, to the Walton Arts Center and Coler Valley Park in Northwest AR, EDG been commissioned to design the grandest parks, trails, outdoor features, and experiences in the state. While their projects run the gamut from park and trail design to urban placemaking and water
Former Des Arc graduate announces publication
of his latest book R. Lloyd Black, former Des Arc High School graduate and English teacher, announces the publication and release of his newest book entitled God’s Directed Paths. The book is being offered by Amazon and is published by Trilogy Christian Publishers Inc. which is subsidiary of TBN. Rev. Black states that the book depicts the four common paths that many Christian workers travel during the course of their lives; namely the paths of Suffering, Searching, Serving, and Sifting. He further states that he made his discovery of these strategic paths while doing a fiveyear ancestry search. “It was sobering”, he said, “to view the pathway’s my ancestors had traveled before me. But what was more delightful”, he continued, “I discovered that I walked along similar paths during my six decades of church work.” The former Des Arc High School English and business teacher received his Masters of Education from Arkansas State University and an
R. Lloyd Black accredited Doctrate Degree from Luther Rice Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Black later taught college and seminary in Tennessee for several years. He is presently pastoring in Danville, Arkansas. Pastor Black stated that his teenage years were joyfully spent in a little brick-sided tarpaper house by the levy and beneath the old Des Arc swinging bridge. “It was during those formative and youthful days in Prairie County”, he recalled. “that I was able to develop my philosophy of life and to shape my theology of service for others”.
Martin management, their passion for design, community, and outdoor experiences, has brought about the creation of studioDRIFT, a nonprofit to bring their expertise and network of partners to work on projects in parts of the state that would otherwise be unable to afford their services. Martin and EDG's background working with the outdoors and outdoor recreation inspired a vision to re-imagine Arkansas’ greater-Delta and the connectivity of mostly untrafficked county roads, levees, etc. as an adventure tourist paradise, with miles of unspoiled landscape and cultural extras, like local food, and authentic Delta/Prairie experiences. Martin, Tanner, and the EDG team were instrumental in the effort to try to save the Clarendon Bridge for what would've been one of the world’s longest pedestrian and biking bridges in the country. The plan they developed around this idea, known as the Big Woods Project, was a vision for transforming a small town in the Delta into a destination for outdoor enthusiasts and eco-/adventure tourist that included an
Smith immersion in local culture. Unfortunately, this particular plan was illfated, after the battle to save the bridge was unsuccessful. But the idea has continued to bloom and pester the imagination of Martin and his allies. Martin Smith moved back to the family home in Birdeye, AR several years ago, after establishing his landscape architecture career in Austin, TX. Smith’s family were among the first families who moved to the Delta and took advantage of the Swamp Land Act of 1850 who cleared the land and began farming the seemingly impossible landscape. Naturally, place is very important and the ribbons of land and water that paint the landscape from Crowley’s Ridge south coarse through his
veins. Like many southerners who roam to begin their livelihoods elsewhere, the pull of the land brings them back home. As his ancestors who settled the land and built the home where Smith and his family now reside were the early architects of the Delta, Martin aspires to help design its future. “Building a future often starts with connecting to the past. The historic and cultural assets, combined with the natural resources in our communities, are what create the value of place and tells the story of who we are. That story is a magnet for others in search of story of their own. You can build a fantastic cluster of buildings and businesses in the middle of a field, but it’s the story telling and storymaking that creates a place people are drawn to. There are so many small rural communities in Arkansas that have so much to offer. But, too often, they lose focus of their own rare qualities and instead choose to tear down or ignore what makes them special.” studioDRIFT is just beginning and more information will be forthcoming through their w e b s i t e (www.deltadrift.org) and social media.
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