The Sentinel-Record - HER - Hot Springs
FROM THE EDITOR:
Hot Springs recently donned its winter coat, reminding us of seasonal changes that alter the resort area’s pace and perspective throughout the year.
While strains of Scotsman Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne” linger in the brisk January air and remind us of “times gone by,” we look ahead to the promises of each new day in 2013.
And Hot Springs has every reason to be optimistic about what is yet to come: Entrepreneurs and company leaders discovering new business opportunities in our town; families finding a host of new friends and neighbors, plus outstanding educational resources, for their children; annual visitors returning to enjoy a range of new activities and amusements; retirees learning about new ways to share their talents and professional experiences through community volunteerism.
When Shakespeare penned his play, “The Tempest,” which includes the oft-used metaphor, “What’s past is prologue,” he could not have imagined, perhaps, how a simple, four-word phrase perfectly describes how history sets the stage for the future.
Certainly that is the case here. I vividly remember taking Sunday afternoon rides with my paternal grandmother and step-grandfather in their silver Packard. On these weekly excursions, we traveled not so far as much as we traversed old ground to see what was new on the horizon. Both “grands” were delighted when they came across signs announcing the opening of an eatery, a commercial establishment, or a residential development. But, they also took great pleasure in giving me the history of certain locales, recalling in fascinating detail the people who helped settle this city and envisioned what it could become.
Today, I find myself saying to a newcomer, “That’s the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, but it used to be St. Joseph’s Hospital,” or “The Landmark Building is aptly named because it’s on the site of the former Como Hotel,” or “I and several friends took drama lessons from Cissy and Charles Beyers on the second floor of the Culinary District building” or “My parents and I once lived across the street (Woodbine) from the Garland County Library – but, my has it grown.”
Hot Springs’ landscape is a slideshow in progress. Hot Springs’ traditions – thoroughbred horse racing at Oaklawn Park, the annual Chocolate Festival to benefit the Christian Charitable Medical Clinic, Friday night Gallery Walks, intriguing interactive displays at Mid-America Science Museum, eclectic musical entertainment – give us verve and inspiration.
Whatever your dreams and aspirations, it’s time to renew them with passion.