Gillett Coon Supper time nears

Community, political event raises money for scholarships

Arkansas politicians munch on raccoon in January.

The tradition is carried on by the politicians who revel in the spectacle and the city that benefits from it.

For the 73rd time, Gillett, population 691, will host its Coon Supper. The event is Jan. 9.

It began as a way to support the high school, but that closed in 2009 to comply with state law as enrollment dropped.

Now, eating coon helps local students earn college scholarships and gives residents a reason to hunt and cook together, and congregate in the closed high school gymnasium -- complete with faded conference banners that hang from the ceiling.

This year, 600 tickets were put on sale for $20 each. Larry Bauer, head of the Gillett Farmers and Businessmen's Club, said he has sold only about half.

"That's kind of a sign of the times," he said.

Bauer would know. His first Coon Supper was in 1960 or maybe 1961. His father was involved. Bauer was in charge of tickets.

Now's he in charge of the entire event, plus he's the person to call to get a ticket. Credit cards are not accepted.

"In these small towns, if you get on a committee the only way to get off is to die," Bauer said.

Though the event's peak attendance was in the years before the high school closed, Bauer can see the scholarship's benefits all around him.

It helped Meg Trites become a dental hygienist in Stuttgart, said her mother.

"The scholarship meant everything," said Kathy Trites, who works at the elementary school in Gillett and lives near the closed high school.

Her daughters were going to go to college "come hell or high water," she said, but school isn't cheap and she and her husband already work several jobs.

The scholarship paid for books and then some. When Meg Trites transferred from the University of Arkansas at Monticello to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, the scholarship followed.

"We just can't thank them enough for selecting her," Kathy Trites said. "It's a relief the day they graduate from college. As a parent, it's kind of what you live for."

John Cover, the Coon Supper's unofficial historian, said the event's tone has changed over the years. In the 1940s, it started out as a fundraiser for the high school's athletics program. In the mid-1970s, it became a fixture for political hopefuls.

When the high school closed, the event kept its political status, but proceeds shifted to the scholarship fund. That event was monumental for the city.

"When you lose a school out of your community, you sort of lose the heart of it," Cover said. "I think back to when my kids were growing up. I knew everyone who went to that school. Now that the school isn't here, that communitywide knowledge has gone down."

When he goes to a restaurant for coffee, he doesn't know most of the people sitting around him.

Still, Cover said the city's children have adapted. And though the number of Coon Supper attendees are no longer in the thousands, the dinner is still the mechanism that ties the city together.

Gillett also isn't as big as it used to be, but the city's population isn't what made it an Arkansas favorite.

Ticket information is available from Bauer at (870) 830-4002. He takes cash and checks.

Upcoming Events