Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Chamber Hands Out Honors
PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove Chamber of Commerce held its annual banquet on Feb. 24 at Prairie Grove High School. The annual banquet featured a meal catered by K-Mac Catering of Rogers, a speech by Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder, door prizes for many audience members and the Citizen of the Year and Business of the Year awards.
Chamber President Dale Reed was the emcee and members of the Arvest Junior Bank Board served the guests and passed out door prizes throughout the night. Vice president Sharron Stearman announced winners of the door prizes.
Awards Presented
State Rep. Charlene Fite (R-District 80) presented Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services and public works for Prairie Grove, with a citation from the Arkansas House of Representatives.
Oelrich, who is retiring in August after 40 years, also received the Chamber’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Oelrich is the sixth person to receive this award over the years. Murph Pair won the award at last year’s chamber banquet.
“Making hard decisions has been part of his career for 40 years,” Reed said “While some of you might not like those decisions, when you look around this great city we live in today, you can see that those decisions mattered.”
Along with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Reed presented Taryn Golden with a service award for her years as chamber president. Reed said the chamber was going to award it to Golden last year, but Golden missed the banquet because she was home with her newborn son.
“So, being in charge of a nonprofit with a full-time job and a family is a big deal,” Reed said. “We appreciate the time she spent.”
Reed also presented the Citizen of the Year award and Business of the Year award.
“Our citizen of the year is someone who has spent a lifetime giving back to the community of Prairie Grove,” Reed said.
Carolyn Carney is a graduate of the University of Arkansas, and began teaching at 22 years of age. Carney taught in the Prairie Grove School District for 40 years. She was part of the Junior Civic League in the 1970s and has helped with the Miss Clothespin Pageant for as long as anyone can remember, Reed said
Carney is also a member of the chamber of commerce; has helped with the Clothesline Fair parade for years; volunteered at the political polls; tutored students after retiring; and volunteers for the fall and spring book fairs, Reed said.
“Every year we have a list of great businesses,” Reed said. “Businesses that not only thrive and keep business here in Prairie Grove, but also give back in so many ways.”
The Business of the Year award went to Magnolia Coffee, located in downtown Prairie Grove.
Magnolia Coffee House opened its doors in November of 2017 when Richard and Deirdre Mays saw an ad for space for rent at the old Magnolia gas station, owned by Rick and Kara Ault. When Reed asked Rick Ault about the couple, Ault said he was proud of this young couple and they not only have entrepreneurial spirit but also a heart for this city.
Magnolia Coffee House has participated in numerous fundraisers for the chamber and the school district.
“They’ve helped both local workers and commuters get a start to their day with a smile and boost of energy,” Reed said.
Helder Featured Speaker
Helder spoke to a crowd of 210 people about the history of his family’s time in law enforcement, his personal history with the city of Prairie Grove and Washington County and about historical figures in Prairie Grove itself.
Helder said he has been the sheriff for Washington County since 2005, and gave a brief rundown on his time with the Fayetteville Police Department where he retired as deputy chief.
Helder spoke about the fact he is a third-generation law enforcement officer. Helder’s grandparents moved to Los Angeles and his grandfather eventually went to work for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Helder said.
When Helder’s father was dating his mother, he thought it would be a good idea if he joined the police department, Helder said. Helder’s father and grandfather both retired from the LAPD, but each took different career paths, Helder said.
“My grandfather was a foot patrol guy, a mounted patrol guy,” Helder said. “He liked working the street. My dad on the other hand, worked for 25 years and he was more into the investigative side of things.”
Helder said his father worked famous cases like the Tate-Labianca murders and the assassination of Robert Kennedy before the Secret Service took it over. The sheriff spoke about how he had arrived in West Fork in 1971 and experienced the culture shock of moving to a small community from a large city.
“I’m entering junior high coming from a school of 3,000 ended up in West Fork,” Helder said. “If you can remember back then we didn’t even have the dome. It was that little rock building along Ninth Street that had all the classes from seventh grade through senior high (school).”
Helder’s memories about Prairie Grove center on his time playing them in basketball and football when he was in school, as well as working for the Bartholomew family at the Washington County Sale Barn (now the Washington County Livestock Center) in Fayetteville.
“I was exposed to salt-ofthe-earth people, by virtue of the Bartholomews having the Sale Barn,” Helder said.
Lastly, Helder spoke about Prairie Grove history. He mentioned notable figures like Delford Rieff an area banker. Rieff was a clerk at the Farmers and Merchants Bank (now Arvest), when the bank was robbed in the early ’30s, Helder said. Rieff and one customer were locked in the vault by the thieves after they stole the money in the vault and the gun which was stored there.
The incident took place on April 1, so when the robbery was called in, the local police thought it was a prank and didn’t show up for hours, Helder said. The sheriff also made a comment about the size of Prairie Grove’s jail saying he could house maybe four prisoners there and reduce the overcrowding in the county jail.
Helder finished his speech by praising Prairie Grove for still embodying small town values.
“One thing that has not changed is the heart of Prairie Grove,” Helder said. “It’s the idea that people buy into community.”
Main Street Prairie Grove
Helder’s speech was followed by a presentation by Rick Ault, the committee chair of Main Street Prairie Grove. He spoke about what the organization has done in the year and a half it has been active. Ault spoke about Main Street Prairie Grove’s role in the installation of the new fountain in Mock Park and other improvements to downtown.
Main Street Prairie Grove also donated $1,000 to the United Way in Fort Smith to help flood victims in that area, Ault said. He attributed the success of Prairie Grove to three key factors: the merchants who work hard to be successful; the community who understands the necessity of shopping local and the critical relationship between Main Street Prairie Grove, the Prairie Grove Chamber and the city of Prairie Grove.
“We have a lot to be proud of living here in Prairie Grove, Arkansas,” Ault said.