Last month, the "Remembering Rogers" column looked at memorable people who greatly influenced the development of our city. There was a lot of interest, and because Rogers was blessed with so many noteworthy citizens, I will continue with their stories.
C. Jimmy Carter
Rogers has had many prominent and outstanding citizens in all walks of life, but one of the most colorful and adventurous was C. Jimmie Carter. Carter came to Rogers in the 1930s from Kansas City and during his lifetime was a bronco buster, wrestler, judo instructor, writer, owner of several businesses, airline pilot, an early leader in Rogers' poultry industry and instrumental in establishing Rogers' airport in 1945.
Even with all of these accomplishments, the memory that first comes to mind when the name C. Jimmy Carter is mentioned is the great car skate on Lake Atalanta in 1940. Carter lived to be an old man, but late in life he told a friend that a day did not pass that someone didn't mention the event. Here are excerpts from a story on Jan. 21, 1940, by the late Everett Pate, publisher of the Rogers Daily News:
"The day was cloudy and cold, the high temperature for the day was 21, and the low registered 2 degrees above zero. That was the day that C. Jimmie Carter, known then as C(razy) Jimmie decided that it would be a nice drive to enjoy by heading out onto the ice at the lake. It was so much fun spinning and sliding until the new Buick crashed through the ice. It was great fun for the hundreds who gathered along the lake shore Sunday afternoon to watch the work of recovering the automobile from the icy water ..."
Benton County was the apple capital of the nation in the 1920s, but by the 1940s, it had switched to being the nation's largest producer of poultry. Not enough chickens could be hatched locally, and in 1948 Carter brought in 40,000 baby chicks to the Frisco Depot in Rogers. It was the largest shipment ever of live chicks. Trucks and trains could not handle the need, so Carter started flying them in. In the next four years, 12 million baby chicks were flown into Rogers. Carter was instrumental in creating the Rogers airport and managed it from its creation until 1977.
J.D. 'Cactus' Clark
J.D. "Cactus" Clark, and his wife, Lavonne, opened their first restaurant, the Horseshoe Grill, about 1938 in Rogers.
Around this time, Lake Atalanta was just being completed. It was a joint project with the city of Rogers and the Works Progress Administration. At the time, Lake Atalanta was the largest body of water in Northwest Arkansas, and it was new and undeveloped. During World War II, Cactus Clark, while serving in the military, formed an idea to build a resort at Lake Atalanta. Cactus came home after the war, pitched his idea to the Rogers city officials and received their approval. In 1947, the city granted a 25-year lease to Cactus Clark and Ed M. Bautts to build the Lakeside Resort. Clark and Bautts proposed building a swimming pool, restaurant, skating rink and miniature golf course.
Clark and Bautts opened their famous Lakeside Resort on July 4, 1948, with a huge extravaganza including competitive diving, synchronized swimming, comedy acts, the Miss Lake Atalanta Beauty Contest and massive fireworks displays. Even the governor of Arkansas attended the event.
Cactus Clark's dream was instantly a great success and changed the lives of local residents forever. The pool was a big attraction and featured activities such as water ballet, competitive diving and Red Cross swimming lessons. Cactus Clark was the owner of the restaurant, swimming pool and boat house, and Ed Bautts owned and ran the skating rink and golf course.
In the 1950s and '60s, the Lake Atalanta area was the center of outdoor activity in Rogers. Everybody went to Lake Atalanta to enjoy the restaurant, pool, golf, picnicking, fishing, boating and just to hang out. It was a mandatory destination for young people to drive through to see and be seen. There was an overlook above the lake on the west side that was a favorite place to park (a lovers' lane) at night.
The Clarks sold their Lakeside Restaurant and pool on June 4, 1979, and retired. In 1987, the city of Rogers dedicated the Clark Pavilion at Lake Atalanta as a tribute to Lavonne and Cactus Clark for their vision and positive influence on the community.
G. Don Thompson
G. Don Thompson began his business career in Tulsa, Okla., after his military service in World War II. He was the first engineer hired at a new Tulsa television station and won the National Broadcasting Pioneer Award in 1954. He became the personal manager for Leon McAuliffe, the famous steel guitarist for the Texas Playboys. Foregoing offers of a TV career with CBS in New York City, he and Leon applied for a license for a radio station. Station KAMO (Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma) had its first broadcast on Sept. 16, 1954. The first radio station in Rogers was a tremendous success, and two years later, Thompson built the first television cable system in the area and one of the first five in the nation. He obtained cable franchises for most of the towns in Northwest Arkansas and several in Oklahoma.
About 1960, G. Don Thompson acquired the Victory Theater and outfitted it with a larger stage and new sound system for live acts. He also bought the Rogers Theater and turned it into the Record Ranch, a music store. He was the business manager for top live musical talents such as Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jim Reeves, Willie Nelson, Ronnie Hawkins, Conway Twitty, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Roger Miller, Ray Price and others. He brought to Rogers many of the major stars that he managed to perform at the Victory. Thompson was also one of the founding members of the Country Music Association in the late 1950s.
Thompson was most famous for his music career, but he was a visionary and started many other successful businesses in Rogers -- the Rocky Branch Marina, the Music Shop, Thompson Co. Realtors, Thompson AMC Jeep dealership, and developed many residential and retail subdivisions. He served as president of the Rogers Chamber of Commerce, president of the Rogers Industrial Development Corp., president of the Beaver Lake Association, chairman of the Tourism and Trade Development, and secretary of the Arkansas Broadcasters Association.
G. Don Thompson died on March 1, 2000, at the age of 75.
Tracy Lockhart
One of the most colorful and loved figures in downtown Rogers from the 1940s until 1967 was a street peddler named Tracy Lockhart. Tracy and his brother, Bill, were injured in a woodcutting accident when they were youngsters and were disabled for life. With Bill unable to work, Tracy had to find a way to earn their keep. He started out selling wood for $1 a rick and progressed to selling rabbits for 10¢ each -- along with anything else that would earn a little money. He was fiercely proud and refused to accept any kind of welfare or assistance for himself or Bill.
Tracy lived out in the county east of Avoca and walked the seven miles to town to peddle his wares. Finally this daily walk became too difficult, and he and Bill moved to Rogers in the early 1940s. Tracy and Bill lived in a one room shack south of Rogers (near the later location of the Daisy plant). Tracy would move about Rogers carrying a basket and singing his song, "Chewing gum, candy, right here handy." He would make his lunchtime rounds of the chicken plant and canning factory, and later in front of the theaters in Rogers.
Although eking out a meager living for himself and his brother Bill, Tracy Lockhart was one of the first donors to the new Rogers Memorial Hospital built in 1950, donating $500. Tracy cared for his brother Bill all of his adult life, and when Bill died in 1964, Tracy grieved profoundly. Tracy died in 1967, and according to longtime Rogers businesswoman Opal Beck, downtown shopkeepers and professional people closed their doors to attend the funeral, a mark of honor and respect.
NAN Our Town on 03/21/2019