Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Jones Center celebrates big plans
Golfers gather so kids can play
Pagnozzi Parker Charities champions teed off for the youth sports assistance organization at its 30th annual charity golf tournament Oct. 28 at Paradise Valley Athletic Club. The charity’s mission is to “open the door of athletic experience to disadvantaged youth. Our goal is to advance the well-being of these youth by giving them the same opportunity as their peers and introducing them to positive life experiences.”
Those on the course to keep kids in sports included Tom Pagnozzi, Jordan and Blake Parker, Vikki and Richard Parker, Brooke and Damon McDonald, Dominic Fletcher, Barrett Loseke, Jared Gates, Chad Spanberger, Wallace Spearman, Hayley and Ty Mormon, Kholtan Nanney, Brittany Lipsmeyer, Mary Bassett and Hank Broyles, David Lipsmeyer, Norm Wilcoxson, John Beebe and Ryan Wilcoxson.
Friends of the Jones Center showed up for the nonprofit organization in a big way at the Big Night Gala: A Big Night with Big Plans on Nov. 5 at the center in Springdale. The more than 450 guests helped the group raise $400,000.
Gala guests were treated to a sneak peak of the center’s campus master plan that “will re-imagine the Jones 52-acre campus to modernize and remain relevant in the ever-changing region.”
Plans include “the introduction of new native gardens/open green spaces, fitness activities, a plaza lawn for community gatherings and art markets, public art installations, a network of hard- and soft-surface trails, and an expanded adventure bike park — all tying the campus to the downtown Springdale revitalization efforts
and the spine of the Razorback Regional Greenway trail system.”
Big changes are also afoot at the leadership level of the center as Celia Swanson, board chairwoman of the Jones Trust and the Jones Center, recently announced the passing of the torch from President and CEO Ed Clifford to Terri Trotter, currently the president and CEO of the Midland Center for the Arts in Midland, Mich. Many of you will remember her from her roles at the Walton Arts Center that included chief operating officer.
Clifford will “transition from the staff and into a new role on the Board as it develops financing to implement the Jones Campus Vision project at the Springdale campus.”
Those joining the center for the Big Night Gala included Charlotte and Donnie King, Vicki and Michael Pearson, Carlos Orta, Cathy and Sen. John Boozman, Joanie and Jon Dyer, Melody and John Richard, Alicia Schultheis, Christine Howart, Mary and John George, Mary Jane and Greg Heger, Ebony Wyatt, Azizi Wilborn, Jaclyn House, Charles Mary Phillippy, Paula Brown, Jason Nichol and Laura Rush and Ian McQuade. Nichol and Rush served as honorary event chairmen.