A successful event

Dear editor:

The Holiday in the Park event at the Hot Springs Convention Center this past Tuesday night was superb!

A special thank you to Arvest Bank for sponsoring the event and to Don Gooch for doing a great job as emcee. Don added his wonderful singing talent and was joined on stage by the masterful piano playing of Sandy O’Bier. Sylvia Stems added a very nice special touch to the evening.

A special thank you to Corey Baldwin for providing his sound board and mixing expertise. I was extremely proud of the school groups that performed — they were all excellent. Lake Hamilton Middle School choirs, directed by Paul Graves, Mountain Pine High School choir, directed by Christopher Johns, Jessieville High School choir, directed by Lydia DeSambourg, Hot Springs High School choir, directed by Shannon Nash and Lake Hamilton High School choir, directed by Jacob Richardson, all performed magnificently.

There was a crowd of almost 900 in attendance and over 1,200 pounds of food and over $100 in cash were collected for Project HOPE Food Bank. The support staff at the convention center were very gracious in their efforts to make sure the facilities were in perfect shape for our event and were very good to work with. Thanks to all who made this a very successful and special evening. Steve Spakes, director Fun City Chorus