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Below are a few
photos here for folks who couldn't make it to the events in person.
If you want to see LOTS of first-week photos, check
HERE.
Click photo
"thumbnails" to enlarge.
Then use your browser's BACK button to return to this page.
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September 21 |
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Opening Parade
& Opening Ceremonies
Parade started at the Pocahontas High School area and followed
Thomasville Ave.
to downtown, ending at the courthouse. All agreed it was one of
the county's
best and largest parades ever. After the parade, a crowd of
about 300 enjoyed
the opening ceremonies at the New Courthouse. |
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Waiting for the parade to start.
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Waiting for the parade to start.
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Waiting for the parade to start.
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Though we were spared rainfall, this beautiful rainbow appeared briefly over the Old Courthouse during the parade! We hope it's a good omen!
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Ann Carroll, editor emeritus of the county's oldest continuous business, the Pocahontas Star Herald.
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First United Methodist Church float, the city's oldest church.
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The Laurel was the first steamboat to come up Black River to Pocahontas.
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Opening ceremonies.
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Opening ceremonies.
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September 22 |
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Founders' Ceremony at Masonic
Cemetery |
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Founders of Pocahontas Ranson Bettis, his son-in-law Thomas Drew, and family are buried here. Drew went on to become 3rd Governor of Arkansas.
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Judge Phil Smith speaks about the history of the founders of Pocahontas.
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Among those in attendence was the great-great-great granddaughter of Ranson Bettis, founder of Pocahontas, who spoke to the crowd.
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Grand Opening:
Randolph County Heritage Museum |
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A crowd of
about 200 enjoyed the beard contest, barbershop quartet and the
Pocahontas play, "No History Happened Here", all held at
Randolph County Development Center since strong thunderstorms
forced
the move from downtown. Sorry, no photos yet. |
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September 23 |
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Rain and wind
are part of Pocahontas' history too. Heavy rains, lightening,
and a couple
of tornados have dampened our first-weekend festivities, but
hope is high for better
weather tomorrow. We're worried about a tribe of native
Americans camped out on the
banks of Black River as the water begins to rise. In our
thoughts too are the Civil War
enactors and 19th Century law enforcement enactors camped out in
over a dozen tents
at Overlook Park and Baltz Field. They're no doubt making the
best of it, though, and some
are probably even enjoying it! Events will continue as planned,
and as weather permits. |
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Only Pocahontas photo so far today is rain dripping from a hanging basket. Indoor events are coming up, though, and photos will follow.
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Dorothy Bates, Pocahontas author of many crossword puzzle lexicons, receives recognition sent by Will Shortz, crossword editor of the New York Times.
The audience watched a 90-minute screening of the documentary "Word Play", which was one of only a dozen documentaries selected, out of over 700 entries, for showing at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. |
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September 24 |
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The sun finally
popped out Sunday morning, but most Sesquicentennial events for
this
weekend had been canceled due to the heavy rains and flooding.
All the native Americans,
Civil War and law enforcement enactors had pulled up stakes
Saturday and were gone
by noon. Even some indoor events were canceled since
participants had to go make sure
their homes hadn't washed away as the Eleven Point River turned
into a raging torrent.
A couple of crafts booths were set up in Overlook Park, and
tourists who came to town
hoping for a wonderful weekend were trying to make the best of
it all. Meanwhile, the
wonderful new Randolph County Heritage Museum and
Sesquicentennial Gift Shop have seen
good crowds as people learn more about our local heritage. |
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A group of tourists take one of the city walking tours Sunday afternoon.
This is Tour #2, which starts at the Old Imperial Theater, moves up Marr Street to the court square, and circles the old courthouse as history of the downtown area is discussed. This history includes fires, capture of Confederates by Union troops in the Civil War, and many interesting facts most local folks know nothing about. |
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Music was playing on the court square as teenagers in antebellum attire posed for photos and walked about the town.
It looked like these cool, modern kids actually enjoyed dressing up in some very elegant clothing and spending time enjoying their very fine hometown. |
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