Speakers Circuit: Richard and Vertis Mason to talk about book
Richard and Vertis Mason of El Dorado, will talk about their recently published book titled, “From a Dead Downtown to America’s Best Downtown,” when the Rotary Club meets at noon on Monday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.
In 1975, the Masons moved from South Texas back home to El Dorado. He opened an office in an old bank building located in the middle of downtown El Dorado. Over a span of more than 40 years, the Masons have “turned a dead downtown into an award winning National Main Street town,” according to the book.
“In creating a top Main Street town, they were innovative in reuse of an old 1929 (the Rialto) theater, creating significant income streams for upstairs empty spaces and developing innovative ways to use large former old department store spaces. Their story contains a wealth of information on how to recreate a great downtown.” In 2009, downtown El Dorado was awarded the top national Main Street award, beating out over 1,000 Main Street cities with populations under 50,000, according to the book.
Richard Mason is an oil and gas entrepreneur with an advanced degree in geology. The Masons’ properties include 17 buildings housing 25 retail tenants and an executive inn with 36 rentable rooms. Their lodging establishment, called Union Square Guest Quarters, was recently voted The Best Hotel in the City, according to the book.
He was born in El Dorado but spent his early years in Norphlet. When he was 8 years old, the family moved to a farm on the edge of Flat Creek Swamp. He has previously authored two books – “The Red Scarf” and “Lyin’ Like a Dog” – that are based on incidents that occurred while he was growing up.
He graduated from Norphlet High School, enrolled at the University of Arkansas and graduated with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in geology. He then spent six years working at Exxon, before working for independent oilmen and then starting his own business, Gibraltar Energy. He has received numerous awards for his environmental work and for historic preservation. Richard Mason was president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation for three years and was named Conservationist of the
Year in 1989, in addition to numerous other awards and commendations.
Amanda Cooley, public relations manager for SHARE Foundation, will be the guest speaker when the Kiwanis Club meets at noon Wednesday. This week, club members will meet at Simmons Bank in their second floor conference room.
Cooley began working for SHARE in 2008. She is a 1998 graduate of El Dorado High school and earned a bachelor of arts in graphic design from Southern Arkansas University in 2001.
In 2012, she was promoted to public relations manager. As the public relations manager, Cooley is responsible for planning, organizing, implementing and directing SHARE’s annual benefit golf tournament, internal/external public relations and resource development. She is married to Scott Cooley and has two daughters, Rebekah and Rachael.
Organizations interested in listing a speaker in Speakers Circuit should send information about the speaker to editorial@eldoradonews.com. A club member should provide background information on their speakers in writing or by e-mail to the NewsTimes. The deadline for submitting background information is 5 p.m. on Thursday for the following Sunday’s newspaper.