Citizen Forum

Editor:

The Eureka Springs Volunteer Fire Department would like to thank the local businesses and citizens for their donations and support during our recent fundraiser at Shawbee's Big Dawg Saloon.

We would like to extend a special "thank you" to the Ariels for organizing the event and providing the wonderful music. We would also like to thank Stan Shaw and his staff for donating the food and providing such great service.

Thanks to your help, we will be able to purchase much needed equipment for our new volunteers.

We will be holding another fundraiser on Halloween night, Saturday, Oct. 31 at the Gazebo Restaurant in the Best Western Eureka Inn. There will be live music, hors d'oeuvres, a silent auction, door prizes and a cash bar.

Please join us for a night of music, fun and food.

Chief Rhys Williams

RunEureka runs well

Editor:

On Saturday, Oct. 24, Clear Spring School hosted its first RunEureka, a scavenger hunt fun run. Participants followed clues (some easy, some not so much) to historic district destinations, and once there, completed silly challenges before being given their next clue.

Runners came from as far away as Little Rock and Tulsa, Okla., to spend their perfect fall day breaking a sweat, increasing their lung capacity and having a great time.

The routes were set at about three miles, but some teams reported running what they believed to be well over twice that distance due to their mistakes in clue-solving. After-run comments were a resounding, "Can't wait until next year!"

There were teams of two as well as group and family teams of three and four. The winners of the two-member teams are as follows: "Si Te Gusta Pina Coladas," aka Abbey Foster and Kristen Cuypers, came in first place in under an hour! 2nd place went to "The Skywalkers," aka Loren Bernstein and Nicholas Walker, and 3rd place went to "The Red Ravens," aka Bob Wilson and Anna Lux. The 1st Place Group Team was "Three Men and a Baby" aka Daren Guillory, Wilson Guillory, Elliott Morgan and Dax Wood.

Teams returned to the musical styling of The Ariels, who played until about 1 p.m.

Clear Spring School would like to thank its wonderful sponsors for this event, including: Local Flavor; Bubba's Barbecue; Ermilio's; Nexxcom; McNeal Chiropractic; The Crescent Hotel; Cornerstone Bank; Synergy Fitness; Mud Street Café; Sparky's Roadhouse; and Hart's Family Center. We look forward to hearing about the 2nd annual RunEureka next October!

Steven White

Marketing & Development Coordinator

Clear Spring School

Don't destroy Beaver

Editor:

Our home borders the Beaver Park and we have lived here for 20 years. Last year, when the flood waters came, I was dying of an undiagnosed water-bourne parasite. As the flood waters crept ever closer to my neighbors' homes and mine, I began to tell my husband all I wanted him to tell our son in case I didn't make it. That near-death experience changed my life forever.

The water not only covered the bridge and the park but our entire meadow and road. My neighbors helped each other as the water inched within feet of our homes. How can I describe to you the utter aloneness and quiet that lasted for months? No more childrens' laughter in the Park, no campfires, no swimmers. Just the smell of dead fish and silence.

As I began to heal, I would walk through the empty park and each trip yielded more and more trash left behind by non-thinking people. As the water slowly began to recede, the grass began to grow. No one asked my husband to mow it -- he did it because that's who he is. Countless others cut-up fallen trees, replanted flowers and worked hours and hours to bring back our City. I have seen a year of no Beaver Park and I hope it's something I never see again.

It took months of work and large equipment as well as volunteers to bring our Park back. When Ms. Simler stopped by to ask me to sign her petition I responded absolutely "No!" It's because we are a City that we were given FEMA monies to restore our Park. This spring when the first little child yelled "Hello" at the bluffs and they echoed back "Hello" followed by ringing laughter ... I wept.

Ms. Simler told me FEMA would help if there was another disaster. She said the county would help. She's wrong! Ask all the people whose homes were destroyed up-river in 2008. The people of Beaver can get disaster insurance and FEMA, but the only reason we can is because we are an incorporated city. There was no help for those poor people up-river. I know because my family was one of them and they attended every meeting in Berryville. How many meetings of the Quorum Court and FEMA have the petitioners attended?

And as far as the Army Corps helping the Park, they let go of Beaver Park decades ago. They also were in charge of Beaver Lake's flood pool and floodgates which nearly destroyed our bridge. Don't get me wrong -- engineers are our future -- but at present, the Army Corps is short on funds and personnel.

As far as the information on local elections, are the un-happy people aware of how much money was saved by not holding special elections? The Beaver Council people ran un-opposed so they were simply appointed.

There are 12 people on my block alone who want Beaver to remain a city. We live here all year round; and just what legal difference does it make how many months a year you live here as long as you're registered to vote here?

What about our city well that provides water for three households and the Post Office? What would my neighbors do without that water?

Please be careful what you wish for. If Ms. Simler is unhappy with our building codes, I think she and others could be removed from Beaver City boundaries rather than take away or Park and City. Some people love it here and hope that the generations to follow will cherish it as much as we do.

Jay Torgerson

P.S.

Great love to those who saved my life: Dr Milam, Dr McNeal & St John's Hospital