Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Festival Rapidly Approaching

Gurdon is two weeks away from the annual Forest Festival.

According to Freddie Horne, festival chairman, this year's event should be one of the best yet. He said some 90 arts and crafts booths have registered to be at the festival, while seven different food vendors will be on tap to help quell the most ferocious appetites.

All slots for entertainment have been filled, with plenty of local talent to be showcased once again, and the Mountain Dew Band to headline as the dance band.

And, a popular attraction across the state will be making its first appearance at the Forest Festival. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AG&FC) will be bringing its portable aquarium to Gurdon's Main Street so visitors can see the wide variety of fish in Arkansas' waters.

Horne said the festival committee has tried to get the aquarium for years, but its popularity has made this a difficult get. It should be a good draw for the festival, he said.

Another of the more popular events is the antique car show. This year, he said, 45-50 cars are expected to be entered in the contest and shown off behind the First State Bank of Gurdon Saturday.

International Paper and Jesse Runyan are in charge of this year's logging games. These are also popular contests as the loggers vie for bragging rights for the coming year.

Horne said T-shirts are being printed and will be sold for $12 and $14. Sizes small to extra large will be sold for $12, while the larger sizes will be $14 each.

Some of the entertainment scheduled for the festival includes local songbirds LeAndra Jester and Elizabeth Shepard, along with veteran vocalist Winnie Clark. A newcomer to the stage this year will be Cabe Middle School eighth grader Jeanice Jackson. Horne said this will be her first time to perform at the festival, but she's shown a great deal of promise and talent in other endeavors.

The fun will begin with a hearty pancake breakfast, sponsored by the Gurdon Rotary Club, at the Senior Adult Center from 7-10 a.m.

Once the visitors have been fed, the streets will open with the vendors taking charge. The annual parade will kick off at 10 a.m., Horne said, with several commercial entries expected and no charge to anyone wanting to enter a float or other vehicle.

Those planning to be in the parade need to meet at the old Gurdon High School between 9-9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31. Horne said the parade is not being judged this year.

At noon, the entertainment will kick off with Terry LeMay and Family operating the sound system as well as performing.

The stage will be open to any politicians who would like to give brief messages to the crowd as well.

But most people go to the Forest Festival to check out the wide variety of arts, crafts, eats and commercial displays. Horne said vendors from across the Ark-La-Tex as well as Oklahoma, Mississippi and Missouri will be on hand showing their wares.

Hopefully, he said, this year's weather will be better than last year, though the 1997 festival had its largest crowd yet.

As the day wears down toward its end, the Senior Adult Center will be preparing to feed everyone with a fish fry, starting at 5 p.m. Patrons will be served catfish filets with all the trimmings.

Before the fish fry, for those who need a little something to tide them over, there will be a different menu item this year shaved potatoes and meat pies. There will also be funnel cakes, hamburgers, hot dogs and the like available.

Piggly Wiggly, Horne said, is sponsoring several programs, including the costume contest, and donating a ham to be given away, while also paying for the programs to be printed.

Mercantile Bank is the sponsor of this year's street dance, while First State Bank is sponsoring the car show.

T-shirt sponsors this year include Cabe Land and Timber, Hoo Hoo International, Griffin Logging, Ledbetter Logging and International Paper.

Without these sponsors, Horne said, the festival couldn't be held and wouldn't be the same.