Trick or Treat on Main Street will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Local businesses will be open and providing treats for the young ghosts and gobblins along Gentry’s Main Street.
More than a thousand youngsters participated last year.
The event is sponsored by the Gentry Chamber of Commerce.
The Gentry High School Marching Band led off the homecoming parade on Friday.
The first annual Pioneer Pride Party is a community event presented by the Gentry Band Boosters and is set for 4:30 until 9:30 p.m. on Halloween, Oct. 31, at the new Chicken Coop Pavilion in Gentry.
The Band Booster Club would like to invite the local and surrounding community to share in an evening of entertainment and fun for all ages. The fall-themed event will include a chili cook-off, pumpkin decorating contest, games, activities, food, beverages and music.
The chili cook-off will allow folks to show off their skills in one of three categories: Hottest, best overall and best vegetarian. The pumpkin decorating contest will have divisions for youth and adults, with the winning works of art being selected by the school band members. Pumpkins may be decorated, painted or carved. Prizes will be awarded for both contests.
Sponsors for the event are being sought. Both monetary and in-kind donations will be gratefully received. Benefits of sponsorship include signs posted and mention made at the party, as well as recognition in further advance announcements. Of particular need are square hay bales, items for door prizes and game sponsors. The Band Boosters are also interested in information requests by acoustic musicians who wish to be involved and showcase their Pioneer pride. Requests were to be made by Oct. 21.
Initial sponsors are Broadway Screen Printing, Copies, Graphics & More, Meldon Current and his children’s favorite, “The Gospel Train,” Inuendos Sign Co., and Dr. Pepper/Snapple.
The Gentry High School Band, under the leadership of band director Michelle Slayton, has had several years of success in regional contests. Many of band members have qualified for Arkansas All-star and All-region Bands. The band works hard to support sports teams and participates in community events throughout the year. The Pioneer Pride Party is not only a way to recognize the band’s efforts, but also a way for the community to show their appreciation through support.
Money raised through the event will be used for equipment, contest fees, music, band trips and scholarships. For further information about sponsorship, donations or to receive contest entry forms, please contact Shawn Hunter, fundraising chairperson, at 238-3195.
Scott Sloan shows a lawn ornament at the arts and crafts fair in Gentry. Sloan's business, My Father's Garden, is a new design business in Gentry, he said. The fair continues in the big barn at the Chicken Coop Flea Market (just west of Arkansas Highway 59, on Main Street) through Sunday.
While arts and crafts fairs are being held across the region, a new fair is being held right here in Gentry. Numerous crafters and vendors are showing and selling their work in the large barn-shaped pavilion next door to the Chicken Coop Flea Market in Gentry.
The local fair, which will continue through Sunday, was started by the Chicken Coop to give local residents more options and a place to go close to home. Store owner Melissa Graef said this is the first of many to come. Plans are already underway for a spring arts and crafts fair.
Graef recently completed the large pavilion, and it is now filled with vendors. Inside her shop, more vendors display and sell their wares – everything from crafts, antiques, coins, vintage lighting, dishware, and the list goes on.
Graef is hoping that the arts and crafts fair will draw people from the immediate area but also from the surrounding region. Many already come to Gentry just to visit her shop and see all the new old things she has for sale.
More information on the arts and crafts fair is available by calling the Chicken Coop Flea Market at 736-2255. The store also has a Web site at www.chickencoopgentry.com.
Charlene Smith, Kay Taylor and Link Taylor gathered around a stove to keep warm during the cool afternoon hours at the arts and crafts fair in Gentry today.
Gentry High School seniors prepare for homecoming next week. Queen candidates Marly Pierce, Sarah Earley and Ashley Beach are pictured with escorts Brannon Poole, Cameron Smith, Justin Wilks, Mario Orozco, Thomas Helt and Kolby Rankin.
Susan Garner, Kay Buckminster and Bobbie Wright read this week's issue of the Courier-Journal in their booth at the arts and crafts fair in Gentry on Thursday. The fair will run through Sunday. It is being held in the big barn at the Chicken Coop Flea Market.
Gentry Mayor Wes Hogue, surrounded by members of the Bloomfield 4-H Club, signed a proclamation this afternoon, declaring it 4-H week in Gentry.
Gentry Mayor Wes Hogue recognized the hard work and dedication of the Bloomfield 4-H Club this afternoon by signing a proclamation declaring the week of Oct. 12 through Oct. 16 be designated 4-H week in the city.
Members of the Bloomfield 4-H Club watched as Hogue signed the proclamation.
The Bloomfield 4-H Club has more than 62 members and more than 14 adult volunteers, according to the proclamation.
The club recently showed projects at the Benton County Fair and some members have been showing at the Arkansas State Fair.
Emergency personnel from numerous area departments in Benton and Washington Counties will be training at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Saturday morning, and what could appear to passers-by as a major emergency because of all the people and equipment is only a training exercise to handle such an emergency should it occur. The training will begin about 9 a.m.
A green heron catches a minnow in the shallows of SWEPCO Lake near the Eagle Watch Viewing platform. The trail and viewing area provided by SWEPCO are a popular spot for watching birds and other native wildlife. Photo by Terry Stanfill.
A women’s self-defense class will be held from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, Saturday, Oct. 17, at the family activity center of the First Baptist Church in Gentry.
The classes are for women of any age and will not require strenuous physical activity. Basic and easy skills will be taught and demonstrated. Women attending should wear sweats or casual clothing.
Classes will be taught by Sterling Pollard and Becky Glass — both experienced in Taekwondo.
A $20 fee will be charged, but all proceeds will go to support Gentry’s junior high cheerleaders.
The Highfill Fire Department is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a special catered dinner on Saturday, Dec. 5.
All Highfill fire department personnel, past and present, along with their families, are invited to the event. Those planning to attend are asked to R.S.V.P. by Nov. 25 so that arrangements for the dinner can be made.
For more information, call Gary Holland at 601-3329 or Heather Holland at 619-8020.
The Courier-Journal is asking fire fighters to share any stories and photos of historical significance for an upcoming article on the department and its 30-year history. Stories and photos may be shared directly with the newspaper or by giving them to Gary Holland.