See you in the comic strips

Dogpatch USA continues to fascinate

TNWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE ruth be told, Dogpatch USA was never the grandest amusement park to ever open its gates. Its developers had big visions when the park near Harrison, themed after the satirical “Lil’ Abner” comic strip, opened to the public in 1968. The Al Capp comic strip in its heyday circulated in something like 900 newspapers.

When a group of Arkansas investors wanted to tap into the national popularity of the hillbilly genre (The Beverly Hillbillies sitcom started its popular nine-season run in 1962), Capp’s comical characters of Lil’ Abner Yokum, his mammy and pappy, his love interest Daisy Mae and a host of other silly residents of a town called Dogpatch seemed a perfect fit for an Ozarks-based theme park.

It was never intended to be a Disneyland or Six Flags. The developers thought part of its charm was an institutionalized backwoods feel. No world’s biggest roller coaster or such nonsense, but you could sure get your picture made with buxom Daisy Mae.

The place closed in 1993, having struggled through a lot of its history. Consultants who probably collected their fee up front projected huge crowds pouring into the Ozarks for a chance to hang out with the Yokums and get their photos made in front of the statue of town hero Jubilation T. Cornpone. Plenty of Arkansans and others who lived nearby gave it a try, but Dogpatch, like the hillbilly folk it portrayed, always seemed to be just scraping by.

It’s funny, though, how the park somehow found a home in the hearts of many of its visitors, a fondness that continues into our 21st century. Maybe it’s because the park is no longer open for business, its remains along Arkansas 7 a nostalgic reminder of a generation’s formative years. Maybe that lack of sophistication — the kind that today would make some erudite Arkansans cringe — resonated with people looking for even a superficial, day-long visit to a simpler time, even one conjured up in a cartoonist’s mind.

This newspaper’s front-page carried a story last week telling the experience of a Kansas family’s recent visit to Arkansas, having reserved rooms at the Heritage USA Ozarks Resort. That’s a hotel next to the former Dogpatch, operated in recent months by a man named David Hare. The conservative organization promoting patriotic themes leased the hotel and theme park earlier this year, announcing grand plans for family-oriented theme park, hotel, theater and RV park. The flashy YouTube announcement of the group’s plan last October seemed too good to be true. It looks now like it was.

Hare reportedly abandoned the hotel property shortly before its owner filed an eviction lawsuit on Aug. 20. Heritage was behind on payments for the hotel and the Dogpatch property.

The Kansas family showed up to a darkened hotel, learning from a passer-by that Hare was gone and nobody was running the place. The family all wore custom T-shirts with the slogan “Have a heckuva day at Dogpatch USA” and featuring 1980s photos of family members at Dogpatch. They had bought season passes to Dogpatch from 1983-1986.

Credit Bud Pelsor, co-owner of the old Dogpatch property, for going above and beyond to accommodate the disappointed travelers. He gave them a tour then turned them loose to reminisce as they walked the property. That’s some Dogpatch-style hospitality.

Their visit could be seen as a metaphor for the troubled life of Dogpatch USA, which never fulfilled the expectations of those early years. Their journey was a grand plan gone awry, but they made the best of it. In their case, it turned out to be an adventure. It sounds like the story of Dogpatch continues to be one, too.

Arkansans have a soft spot for the old theme park, and it’s hard to fully explain why the sentiment lingers. Maybe it’s just that it was an attraction we could call our own. Maybe we just liked pulling for an underdog like the Yokums and the park they populated. Maybe during its relatively brief life, Dogpatch was just a place of joy in the Ozarks, one more destination for people looking to head into the hills.

What’s next now that the Heritage USA plan has apparently fallen apart? Who knows, but the adventurous life of Dogpatch continues, adding to the lore of the Ozark Mountains.