Inez likes Ridgeview just fine, thank you

EUREKA SPRINGS -- Inez Goforth is a Ridgeview Residential and Assisted Living Center resident, and likes it just fine, thank you.

"I don't think I would have lived to be 92 if it wasn't for the good care that I get at Ridgeview," she said.

Nearly blind, the spritely woman of small stature has lived in the Eureka Springs area since infancy, with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Rice. She is the daughter of Britt Brewer and Belle Miller.

Inez, at 92, was born in 1917 in Akins, Okla., and recalls many of the historic events of Eureka Springs, but she doesn't share all she knows, "because they would run me out of town," she said, grinning.

She started school at the Old Red Brick, and also took dance lessons, traveling around to performances in Green Forest and Harrison at age 7 and 8. She has a special love for Hawaiian dance.

She was married to Joe Parkhill, and together they owned Basin Park Hotel in 1944 and the Ozark Village Restaurant. And she recalls a fire that destroyed many buildings on Spring Street.

Also in her memory is when "the Price boys from Sallisaw, Okla.," robbed the bank. "A bunch of citizens and Ernie Jordan got them," she said, "but the Price boys were shot."

She recalls Dr. Van Pelt, and working at the Basin Park Hotel, where there was dancing in the roof garden, and "a lot to do -- a lot of work."

After divorcing from Parkhill, she bought the Wagon Wheel Tavern, which was located across Spring Street from Cornerstone Bank. Around that time she also recalls a lot of killings, including, she thinks, a sheriff and a friend at Green Forest.

Inez resided at 16 Pine Street until nine years ago when she moved to Ridgeview.