Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Youth Center Hosts Program

Young people in the Gurdon and Malvern area were treated to a good time Wednesday, July 1.

Meeting at the Clark County Youth Development Center, the former Gurdon Middle School, some 100 children enjoyed a barbecue with brisket, hot dogs and hamburgers. In addition, they played dominos, horseshoes and basketball.

As the afternoon rolled around, they were given a demonstration in the martial arts, which thrilled them all.

Julie Dickerson, assistant counselor with the Community Counseling Center out of Hot Springs, said the program was sponsored by the center.

The children in the program, she said, are taken to different activities to help them with their social skills and other issues they need to work on.

The program is currently housed in the old Arkla Gas Co. building in Gurdon, with the participants going on field trips pretty much each week.

The children work on arts and crafts, splitting up into small groups for the different activities.

On Thursday's, Dickerson said, they try to go on field trips.

Delton Simpson, who runs a youth oriented program at the CCYC gymnasium, invited the CCC group to visit.

The idea, she said, is to keep the children off the street during the summer and give them something productive to do.

This is the first year for the program in Gurdon, she said. There are two such programs going on in Hot Springs. Children from Gurdon, Arkadelphia and Malvern are participating in the Gurdon program.

Henry Marks was the martial artist on hand to provide the Taekwondo demonstration. He gives classes in the art on a regular basis at the gym.

Marks began studying Taekwondo in 1974. His studies and the martial art have taken him across the nation as he competed in various contests, winning some and losing some.

He also had a studio in Gurdon at one time.

Marks tells his students to avoid fighting and violence whenever possible. The martial arts, he said, are not to be used in the street.

"It's better to walk away from a situation or try and talk your way out," he told the students before the demonstration.

Much to the young people's delight, he pulled "volunteers" out of the audience to show some of the moves used in Taekwondo.

Throughout the performance, Marks was continually giving the children positive messages and feedback, but letting them know the difference between right and wrong.

The CCYDC is operated by Delores Hodges, who obtained a grant from the Horace C. Cabe Foundation to purchase the old GMS facility for the programs offered.

These programs include HIPPY Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngster - - which trains mothers to prepare their children for school;

Tutorial Program assisting at-risk children primarily with math and reading deficiencies;

The Gurdon Rural Family Friends Program which focuses on at-risk children and their families, matching older adult volunteers (55 and up) with young children as family friends. This program was specifically developed to alleviate some of the most pressing problems and issues facing young people from low income rural families who are being headed by single mothers;

The Family Success Recreation Program serving as a summer and after school daycare program for working parents, or parents enrolled in school with children ages 6-12. This program provides games, arts and crafts, resource personnel, health and nutrition, exercise activities, 4-H Clubs, Neighborhood Environmental Science Activities (NESA), tutoring in reading and math, along with music and field trips; and

Sponsorship providing recreational activities for children age 0-17. They participate in seasonal activities and work on project and programs to assist the senior citizens and the community