ARKANSAS FAMILY REUNIION

ARKANSAS FAMILY REUNION BLOG
JUNE 19 2010
Dottie’s birthday place, Camden, Arkansas is an interesting and typical small Arkansas town. The county seat for Ouachita County with a population of 13,000, it is conveniently located 100 miles south of Little Rock and a few hours drive from Shreveport, Memphis and Dallas. About 75,000 people populate a 50 mile radius trade area surrounding Camden. The town is situated on the banks of the Ouachita River and once was a steam boat landing where cotton was loaded and shipped to New Orleans. It became one of the leading cotton shipping terminals in the mid 19th century. A cotton gin was built in 1841 launching Camden’s industrial history.
The abundance of timber combined with the development of the railroads created the timber industry in the early 1900’s. Oil was discovered in Arkansas in Oachita County in the 1920’s and, along with timber, played a major role in the development of the area’s economics. In the 1940’s the Shumaker Naval Ordinance Plant was established near Camden. After the site was abandoned by the government, the Highland Industrial Park was developed and now provides a home for a number of high tech companies that provide employment for about 4000 local residents. Arkansas’ only publicly supported technical/junior college (SAU Tech) provides a continuous supply of skilled workers.
Although Camden is a basically rural area, it provides lovely residential areas with low tax rates and a surprising array of library, museum and cultural amenities. Over 50 churches serve the area many of which are over 100 years old. Many historical buildings, monuments, cemeteries and civil war battlefields around Camden link the town to its rich and colorful past. Over twenty active service clubs serve the area.
Camden’s past includes some interesting history that locals are quick to relate. Davy Crockett’s sister, Matilda, lived in Camden and is buried nearby. The Spanish explorer Fernando DeSoto camped in the vicinity of what is now downtown Camden in 1541. Edgar Allen Poe worked as a printer for the local newspaper, The Herald, in 1845. Sam Walton owned the Ben Franklin Five and Dime located at the present day site of Stinson’s Jewelry Store. Three Arkansas governors and two US Senators were from Camden. Wild Bill Hickock served in Camden for the Union Army as a scout and spy during the Civil War. Grapette, an internationally known soft drink, was invented by B.T.Foks in Camden. The Drink was marketed in 38 states and over 20 countries. Porter Clay, brother of famous U.S. senator Henry Clay , established the first Camden church. He is buried in the Confederate Cemetery of Maul Road. Movies featuring such names as Kirstie Alley, Patrick Swayze, Barbara Hershey, David Carradine and others were made in Camden. And names such as Carrie Nations, Huey P. Long, Will Rogers (who was paid $1500 for his performance in 1928), Elvis Presley, oil fire expert Red Adair and a host of others have had significant roles in Camden life in the past.
Come on now! You mean to say you’ve never heard of Camden, Arkansas
Dottie’s cousin Wanda’s side of the family has traditionally held a reunion at Camden on Father’s Day every even numbered year. Although family members have moved from Camden, mostly to Texas, they enjoy returning to Camden every other year to renew acquaintances and catch up on one another’s lives. This year the family returned for the weekend with a catered lunch arranged to be served at the White Oak Lake State Park about ten miles northwest of Camden.
Our trip to Arkansas was hugely successful in that we met a whole bunch of kissin' cousins and such and renewed Dottie's memories of where she grew up. On the other hand, we experienced usual Arkansas weather at 94-99 degrees with 85-90 % humidity. Not exactly what we Californios are accustomed to. And then, the highly touted southern cooking that Dottie and I looked forward to didn't materialize. We did have one wonderful home cooked dinner that cousin Dean, 84, prepared and served at his house. We watched carefully as he prepared the meal and asked lots of questions about techniques involved in southern cooking. The catered lunch on reunion day couldn't be expected to be much and it wasn't; deep fried catfish, deep fried chicken and deep fried hush puppies were filling but nothing to write home about. And then we went to the local’s most popular fish fry house and more deep fried catfish, deep fried chicken and deep fried hush puppies apparently from the same kitchen.
Our Arkansas relatives got together two additional times; once for pizza and coke and again for luncheon left overs (make that "leave overs"). We skipped the latter and had dinner at a local café where Dottie’s chicken fried steak appeared to have been left in the micro wave too long and the gravy was served in a bowl on the side sans mashed potatoes. So much for southern cooking.
Cousin Dean spent an afternoon driving us around Camden where Dottie lived until she was nine. The town of 13,000 is spread around an area big enough for 50,000 + with a downtown area of small shops and county government offices. The economy seems to be thriving with auto dealer lots full instead of boarded up California style. As Dean drove us around we were surprised that he simply stopped in the middle of the street when he wanted to point to something and no one was ever behind us. Cousin Dean told us that in Camden two cars at a stop sign at the same time is referred to as a “traffic jam”.
It was fun stopping in the neighborhood, across the street from the now closed Paper Factory, where Dottie's grandmother operated a boarding house. It was at this boarding house where Dottie's mother met her father and lived for the first year or so after she was born. Later we visited the neighborhood where her parents built their first house and she lived until she was nine. Her father purchased land at the top of "Hecker Hill", on Fairview Road, and subdivided and sold lots apparently to finance his own house. The house still stands with the same tree in the back yard that once provided a limb for Dottie's swing. We drove to the school, Fairview School, that Dottie attended about a mile away. Her school had been torn down with a beautiful brick set of buildings in its place. Dottie recalled walking to the school and then later riding her bike. Dottie's father had worked his way up at the Paper Mill which led to a number of management promotions and transfers that took the Family to Savanna, Georgia and several other locations before arriving in Seattle and then Oakland in 1948.
We planned our week so that we could spend a couple of days in Hot Springs. Here we found lots of people and modest traffic. Hot Springs features the nation's smallest National Park which includes the final half dozen "baths" that featured opportunities to soak in the hot water with the presumption that cures for all of life's ills could be found. So certain was the curative effect of the waters that the government build a huge veteran's hospital close by. The hospital claimed the highest cure rate of any hospital in the nation as it provided hydro therapy for everything from the gout to syphilis (no kidding). The baths did land office business until the advent of some of our current drugs in the fifties and the baths drifted into oblivion. One bath house continues operation today where for $18 you can sit in the hot water and dream of getting better. Actually, in the hey day of the baths, a cure visit lasted a minimum of three weeks. Not too many poor folk got the cure from the waters.
We toured the buildings, walked through the souvenir shops and rode the elevator at the nearby “Tower” that takes visitors to a height of 650 feet above the baths for a 180 degree view of the countryside. Interestingly, you can't see the baths but you can see 150 miles of Arkansas in every direction. Arkansas has a lot of trees. Before leaving Hot Springs we spent a leisurely several hours on a steamboat touring the man made lakes just west of town. Our luncheon “cruise” took us by what must be the Finest collection of contemporary mansions in Arkansas. We passed by literally hundreds of lake front mansions including some that were quite remarkable. The home of the CEO of Tyson Foods included a separate connected island with marvelous landscaping and a prominent gazebo for entertaining guests while watching the sunset. Dottie’s continuing interest in real estate led to examining a local real estate sales magazine that listed several 4 and 5 bedroom lakeside mansions, with docking facilities, for $500,000. Small wonder that AARP lists Arkansas as one of the best places to retire on a small income.
Our flights each way, via collected air miles, were pleasant enough and gave us both time to catch up on our Sudoku in between cat naps. When we turned in our rented car we found that we had driven almost 1000 miles. Given that we estimated that we passed at least 500 Baptist churches along the way, we figured that everyone in Arkansas can walk to church on Sundays. Our rented served us well but we don't think we'll run out and buy a Toyota Camry right away. They put the gear shift in the wrong place and we kept turning on the windshield wipers.
Love to all,
Dottie and Dad, Mom and Bill, Gram and Grampa Bill, The Somersett/Bercks