Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Log-A-Load Saturday at Nevada County Fairgrounds

On June 14, 2003, loggers from the surrounding areas will gather at the Nevada County Fairgrounds for the annual Log-A-Load for Kids Campaign.

This year Arkansas Log-A-Load celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Since the program began in 1993, loggers and members of the forestry community have demonstrated their commitment to Arkansas' most precious resource  its children  by raising more than $2.3 million for Arkansas Children's Hospital.

The program is sponsored by the Arkansas Forestry Association in cooperation with the Arkansas Timber Producers Association.

Festivities in Prescott will begin at 1 p.m. with a softball game between loggers and Potlatch and International Paper personnel. A dunking booth, a turtle race for children and a Wood Splittin' Contest are some of the scheduled activities.

The Fish Fry, beginning at 4:30 p.m., is one in a series of events scheduled throughout the state as part of the annual event.

Loggers and members of the forestry community are invited to participate, as well as others in the area who wish to make a donation.

Tickets for the fish fry will be sold at the event for $10.

Each year businesses and individuals from the southwest Arkansas area donate items for the auction held after the fish fry. Along with the items, a load of logs will be auctioned off and the money will be donated to the ACH.

"Log-A-Load For Kids is a multi-million-dollar sponsor of hospitals participating in the Children's Miracle Network," said Duane Leamons with Potlatch Corporation in Prescott. Leamons works with area companies and individuals to coordinate a local Log-A-Load event.

The money raised in Arkansas goes into an endowment set up through the ACH Foundation specifically for Log-A-Load. Funds this year will go into the helicopter transportation system for the hospital.

Because Arkansas's Log-A-Load is dedicated to the long-term growth of the hospital, the committee agreed to use the Log-A-Load endowment to fund a $1.5 million Arkansas Log-A-Load For Kids Endowed Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery.

By funding an endowed chair, Log-A-Load can help the hospital recruit and retain top-quality physicians in this specialty field.

The Arkansas Log-A-Load For Kids Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery is the largest endowed chair at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb became the first holder of this chair in June 2001.

In August 2001, the Log-A-Load committee pledged another $1.5 million to support the hospital's Angel One helicopter program.

During the fundraising period, event coordinators in different communities throughout the state host special events and other fundraising activities as part of local campaigns.

The program raised the following approximate amounts: $42,000 in 1993; $53,000 in 1994; $96,000 in 1995; $109,000 in 1996; $150,000 in 1997; $305,000 in 1998; $370,000 in 1999; $450,000 in 2000; $400,000 in 2001; and $350,000 in 2002.

The program began in South Carolina in 1988 when two loggers were discussing ways in which they could make a positive contribution to their local communities. This idea spread to other states (29 states currently participate) and began in Arkansas in 1993.

Loggers from Clark, Nevada, Hempstead and Pike County and other areas in South Arkansas have come together to make the event the "South Central Arkansas Log-A-Load For Kids".

"We do this year after year because we believe that our efforts will help make miracles happen for the kids at Arkansas Children's Hospital," said Leamons.

"It's amazing how many of us either know the families of these children, or have had on of our own children there."

The loggers, foresters, mill workers, mill workers and others who voluntarily work to raise money through the Log-A-Load program do so based on one belief: "In Arkansas, trees are our most important renewable resource, but our children are by far our most precious resource."

For more information on the events taking place June 14, or to make a donation to the Log-A-Load program, contact Duane Leamons, Mike Guercio, Greg Wahl, Event Chairman, or Jim Cornelius at (870) 887-2746.