Once a river, now a region's life blood

Shimmering and clear, Beaver Lake was born of a ribbon of water that grew and changed when a new reservoir began to form behind massive Beaver Dam 50 years ago.

What once was a river became a sprawling lake, shaped like a dragon, that blew fire into the economic engine that drives Northwest Arkansas to this day.

Yet, too few people know how the lake was made or why, say four area conservation groups and one musical duo, Still on the Hill. Donna and Kelly Mulhollan of Fayetteville make up the band.

The goal of their new CD, "Once A River: Story Songs About The Beaver Lake Watershed" is to promote awareness of Beaver Lake and its vast watershed. And to celebrate the lake, Still on the Hill will perform at free concerts in communities around it.

Eleven original Still on the Hill songs are on the CD. Lyrics explore the history of Beaver Lake, telling of its people and events. Verses delve into times when Beaver Lake once was the White River. Songs also explore modern times on the reservoir that is the primary drinking water source for more than 300,000 people, from eastern Oklahoma to Harrison.

The series of free concerts strive to reach an ultimate goal. That is, to promote good stewardship of the lake and watershed and to encourage people to visit and enjoy the 31,000-acre lake.

The first 100 people who come to a concert get a free "Once A River" CD, with a limit of one per family. Each CD comes with a booklet that explains more about each song.

A partnership

Still on the Hill makes the music. Four Northwest Arkansas water conservation groups are behind the project. They helped secure a matching grant from the Arkansas Arts Council to fund the endeavor. Partners are the Association for Beaver Lake Environment, Beaver Watershed Alliance, Beaver Water District and Ozarks Water Watch.

Kelly Mulhollan credits Tony Miltich, a lake resident and longtime member of the Association For Beaver Lake Environment, for coming up with the idea. Still on the Hill jumped on it.

For one thing, Kelly grew up on Beaver Lake. His family has a cabin on the lake in the Larue community east of Rogers. He remembers his family built the cabin a year before the waters began to rise in the mid-1960s.

Donna Mulhollan enjoys the tranquility of Beaver Lake whenever the couple visits the cabin. And songs about regional history have become a Still on the Hill specialty.

"Our favorite thing in recent years is to write songs about the Ozarks," Donna said. The couple also strives to work closer to home. Producing the CD, and the free concerts to come, accomplishes both.

The last thing Still on the Hill wanted to do was to sound preachy, as if lecturing listeners about water quality, Kelly said. Far from it. The tunes are stories put to music. Nary a song has a finger-pointing tone.

Some are about legendary characters, such as White River Red. Her real name was Forestina Campbell, who was a local historian and storyteller. There's a song about the Jennings Ferry that carried people and animals across the river. The lyrics spell out the prices: "Five cents for a man, 10 cents for a man and a horse, same for a man and his mule, of course."

A modern-day song is about a kayaking adventure that Jay Schneider of the Rogers area is tackling. He's on a quest to paddle all 450 miles of the Beaver Lake shoreline. The lyrics mention every cove, every inlet and landmark on the lake, from Friendship Creek to Hogscald Hollow.

Schneider, assistant superintendent at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area, has covered about one-third of the miles.

Songs get toes tapping, but the idea is to get people thinking about the lake in their daily lives. Miltich, who proposed the idea for the project, hopes everyone who hears the CD or attends a concert will take the message home.

"Songs and stories are what people remember. So the next time they see the lake or take a drink of tap water, they'll remember these songs and that it's up to us as individuals to take care of the lake," he said.

The project turned out better than Miltich ever dreamed. Still on the Hill is excited about it too. When the CDs were pressed, the duo gave Miltich the very first one.

The Mulhollans, who recently married, look forward to hitting the short highway for the concerts around the lake region this summer. Miltich plans to be in the audience.