Hall of Fame Day, SFC Fair receive funding from A&P
Commissioners extend contract for Mightymite for two more years
Several community projects were awarded funding during a meeting this morning of the Forrest City Advertising and Promotion Commission.
Commissioners unanimously approved requests for the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame, the St. Francis County Fair and Delta Byways advertising. They also agreed to extend the Mightymite contract for two more years.
Commissioners also approved spending of about $3,000 on maintenance for the Chamber of Commerce building on Izard Street.
Commissioner Rodney Franklin did not attend the meeting.
According to Commission Chairman Justin Reeves, the Hall of Fame Day, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 16, is an event that has been sponsored by the A&P for years.
"This is an event we have done for several years now,” said Reeves of the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame induction. “It brings a good number of people to town who use our hotels and eat at our restaurants or use our local catering services. Last year, if you look at their financial reports, they had to do two years worth of inductions due to Covid-19. They are asking for $10,000 to fund the banquet, luncheon, inductee shirts, plaques and picture framing expenses."
Reeves told commissioners that this year’s St. Francis County Fair would be held the last week in August.
“Let’s look at the St. Francis County Fair," said Reeves. "Their total request is $12,000. This is for their annual fair tabloid that would be printed in the newspaper and for their petting zoo. According to the request, the fair is scheduled for the week of August 28 through September 3."
Reeves also shared information regarding an Arkansas Outdoor Adventure Guide.
"This is for the annual advertising that we do with Delta Byways," said Reeves. "We usually do the Arkansas Travel Guide, Arkansas Cycling Guide and the Arkansas Motorcycling Guide. Something new we have here is the Arkansas Outdoor Adventure Guide. We have not done that in the past, but it is a really neat looking book that shows outdoor activities throughout the state. I assume we would probably feature Village Creek and possibly the pickleball area."
"What about the Bryant Center?” asked commissioner Larry Freeman.
"I know the Bryant Center is in the other three guides for sure," said Reeves. "With this being Outdoor Adventure, I don't know if they have any outdoor adventures there at the complex. They have the walking trail, I guess."
"Well, they have the walking trail, but we do have three baseball and softball fields out there that haven't been used. They are there and available, and they are neat and clean,” said Freeman.
Reeves told commissioners the Mightymite contract needs to be renewed to keep the group coming to Forrest City.
"The Mightymite is this coming
weekend," said Reeves. "Their contract is where we need to look at renewing it if we want them to continue coming."
"It has been good, productive and positive publicity in Forrest City," said Freeman.
"I think so," said Reeves. "I think it is probably the best event that Forrest City hosts from an outside vendor. It has been going a long time. Participation has been down just a touch due to Covid-19. They do seem to think there will be some renewed interest as things go back to normal. The contract is the same as it has been, which is $10,000 per year for 2023 and 2024."
All requests for funding were approved unanimously by commissioners.
According to Reeves, the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce is in need of maintenance and other upgrades to its building.
"We need to be able to spend a little bit of money here for some maintenance and other items," he said. "We would like to get a camera system for the ladies so they can see who is coming and going. The building needs to be pressure washed and cleaned up. They have been having a lot of air-conditioning problems. We have done a lot of patching, but eventually it will need to be replaced. I recommend that we allow for $3,000 to be spent on maintenance and other things here at the Chamber without a request for funding."
Commissioners agreed to spend the money on the building.