Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

All ready for banquet set for Feb. 25

Gurdon's Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for it's annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet.

Last month's Chamber meeting was spent discussing plans for the event.

Anita Cabe, banquet chairman, announced the annual banquet would be held on Tuesday, February 25 at the school cafetorium starting at 7p.m. Channel 7 has been contacted for a speaker at the banquet.

However, no one has been scheduled as of this meeting and several different contacts have been made.

Chamber President Laurie Pilgreen is in charge of the decorations with Cabe being in charge of the speaker and ticket sales.

Tickets are available at First State Bank of Gurdon, US Bank in Gurdon, the Cabe Office and the Arkadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Tickets will also be available at the door, however, it is encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of time.

Last year's banquet was a huge success with First Lady of Arkansas, Janet Huckabee being the guest speaker.

New board members have been elected to the Chamber of Commerce for the year.

Chamber secretary Theresa Hayes announced she would be leaving soon and the Chamber would need to appoint a new secretary.

Pilgreen told Hayes she would be greatly missed. "You help so much with the Chamber. It is going to be hard to find someone who will do all of the things that you take on. You have really played a big role in assisting whoever is the chamber president."

Hayes said, "I would not be able to help as much as I do if it wasn't for the Cabe's. They are excellent boss' and have allowed me to work on Chamber events from their office."

Chamber member Tommy Potter, of Hair It Is, encouraged members to call the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to help refurbish the Big Timber Lake located on the outskirts of Gurdon.

"Back when I was younger we had two lakes. The one located on 67 Highway and the one out by the railroad tracks. Not many younger people or people new to this area even know about this lake. In my book it was a better lake than the one we have now," said Potter.

Potter said there is $250,000 to be used on the lake by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

However, Potter said the money was used to purchase wetlands through Ducks Unlimited in order to save natural wetlands for waterfowl. If this is the case the money should still be somewhere to restock the old lake in Gurdon since it has already been in the works.

According to Potter, there is a 90 acre plot of land and a 55 acre watershed for the lake. He would like to see the lake's levy extended at least 50 more feet and possible add a camping area to the site.

"We have a picnic and recreational area at the other site, so maybe it would be nice to have an area just for camping and fishing. We could really advertise that and bring interested campers to the Gurdon area," said Potter.

Potter said the project was publically promised by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to be restored. It is part of a Capitol Improvement project.

Anyone interested in contacting the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to find out more information about the lake, you may call (800)364-4263.