Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Citizen, Teacher Of Year Named At Chamber Banquet

It was a night to rejoice as the Gurdon Citizen of the Year and Teacher of the Year were named at the annual Gurdon Chamber of Commerce Banquet.

Linda Bittle took over the duties of master of ceremonies as Chamber President Charles Shaver was under the weather and not in attendance.

Her first order of business, after welcoming the crowd to the banquet, was to bring Peggy Cox out of the kitchen. Cox has been preparing the meal for the banquet for years and will be retiring from the Gurdon School District at the end of this academic year.

Bittle presented Cox with a plaque to show the Chamber's appreciation for the fine meals she has created over the years.

Cox was surprised at the recognition and was unable to say anything.

Next on the list, after Gurdon Band Director Alan Wimberly performed, was the naming of the Teacher and Citizen of the year.

Gurdon Primary School Principal Rita Roe presented Sherry Carr with the honor of Teacher of the Year, saying Carr has been with the district more than 20 years and has been a mentor for other teachers along with being a positive role model for the students.

Betty Torgeson was bestowed with the honor of Citizen of the Year. Cabe said she was the former county health nurse and did much for the community.

Torgeson said it was a wonderful honor and was overwhelmed at being so named. "I've always said Gurdon has nothing to offer but its people, and they are wonderful."

Beth Thomas presented the Chamber Member of the Year honor to Mary Smith, manager of the Gurdon Sonic.

Smith, upon accepting the plaque, was unable to speak through her tears of joy.

After the presentation of the awards, Chuck Dovish with KTHV's Travelin' Arkansas, spoke to the audience.

He commented several times on how good the rolls were, saying they were reason enough to attend the banquet.

Gurdon, Dovish said, is a town where the people are a unique quality, having a lot to be proud of.

He praised the Gurdon High School facility, saying he wished he'd arrived earlier so he could see it during the day.

Dovish joked with Wimberly, saying he should make CDs and sell them at the door.

Originally from Maslin, Ohio, Dovish has been with KTHV for 23 years. He told the audience he's always loved the South and its people and wanted to move here after graduating from college.

After sending out 165 resumes, his only response was from the Little Rock station, where he started as a general assignment reporter.

When new management came in, he was asked what he would like to do and the concept of Travelin' Arkansas was created.

"There's something special about the South," he said. "The people know how to live here. It's only been since Bill Clinton has been in the White House word has gotten out about Arkansas."

Because of this, he said, people have been coming to visit the state in droves.

But Arkansas is unique as it is the only state in the nation with a public diamond mine where people are allowed to keep what they find.

The state, he said, has the largest state park system in the nation. Dovish informed the crowd his favorite places to visit are Petit Jean State Park near Morrilton, where he likes to hike to Cedar Falls. He said this looks like a Hawaiian waterfall with its spectacular beauty.

And Dovish is no stranger to Gurdon. He has reported on the Gurdon Light and the former Gurdon Grill restaurant.

Though in the television industry, he said there is too much garbage on TV for children to watch. Television, he continued, can do a better job in programming.

The Discovery Channel and PBS, he said, have good shows on for children, and others, but most of what's on TV is bad news and this gives people the wrong impression about what's going on in the world.

This is part of the reason he's done Travelin' Arkansas for so long. "I like sitting with real people," he said. "Letting them spin their yarns on what life is about."

Dovish's stories include topics such as blacksmithing, hang gliding and hot air ballooning. He's gotten into a bit of trouble with the latter issue though.

While floating in a balloon, it's pilot got into the interview and forgot to continue providing heat to the balloon, which began descending dangerously low.

However, everything turned out all right, but Dovish hasn't been in a hot air balloon since.

He also had a close call while repelling down a cliff at Greer's Ferry.

He was wearing shorts, repelling down the cliff and looking at the camera instead of the face of the cliff. His foot got jammed against a rock, resulting in a massive cut.

The ensuing ride to the hospital on dirt roads at 95 miles an hour was another story altogether.

But his favorite subjects are people who have lived more than 100 years.

Dovish said it's fun to pick their brains and get the secret to longevity. All he's interviewed have had four things in common they credit for living so long: pray daily, read the Bible, go to church and love all people.