At first glance the Arkansas delta doesn't seem to share much with the Arkansas hills. With a little digging, though, Sharon Pierce has found some common ground between the two vastly different landscapes.
"From The Delta To The Hills: Finding Common Heritage In Different Landscapes," a book edited by Pierce, will be available for free Saturday at the second annual Mount Judea Heritage Day Festival. The 80-page paperback book was paid for by a grant from the Arkansas Heritage Foundation. May is Arkansas Heritage Month.
FAQ
Mount Judea Heritage Day Festival
WHEN — 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday
WHERE — Mount Judea school grounds on Arkansas 123 in Newton County
COST — Free
INFO — Sharon Pierce, 870-434-5508
Pierce and Bertie Wells collected stories from students from Mount Judea, Deer, Marvell and Elaine schools. The students wrote about dating practices, playing basketball and working on the farm, among other things. Pierce's son-in-law is from Marvell.
"Reading through the stories, I could see where those could have been stories from people up here," Pierce says. "And listening to my son-in-law, our stories could have been written by people down there."
The festival will include a Dutch oven cooking contest, arts and crafts fair, horseshoe tournament and live music.
Admission to the event is free, but participation in some events cost money. Mount Judea Area Alliance will use any proceeds from the event to finance community projects, most of which center around the school.
"Our goal is to save our community," says Pierce, who is president of the alliance. "We feel like saving our school will save our community."
-- Kelly Barnett
NAN What's Up on 05/01/2015