Monthly Archives: October 2016

Community, Police Join Forces

Posted on by

by Kirsten May
Courtesy of A-State Department of Media

Across the nation, tensions continue to rise between law enforcement and community members. Officers in Jonesboro hope to avoid those situations by strengthening relationships with citizens. ASUTV News’ Kirsten May attended an event to bring them together and has more details about what people thought of it.

JONESBORO, Ark. — The event at City Water and Light Park on Cherry Street was just one of four National Night Out events held Oct. 4 in Jonesboro.

Several West End community members attended with their children and families to enjoy some time with local police officers.

Patrolman David Stout has been with the Jonesboro Police Department for nine years and says social events help residents see the person behind the badge.

“It brings people out and we get to interact with the community and they get to see us as human beings and not necessarily just in the cars that, you know, pull them over and have to go on calls and stuff like that and deal with them,” he said.

Sometimes it is hard to break that barrier with residents, Stout said, but it’s something the department pushes officers and new recruits to do.

“That’s one thing I try to impress upon the new guys. Get to know the people in your communities, get to know the people you deal with on a daily basis. Once you do you’ll be accepted more in the community and they’ll tell you stuff if they need to,” Stout said.

In 2015, 16,752 crimes were reported in Jonesboro, which is a 2 percent decrease from 2014. Officers and community members, like Jonathan Adams, both expressed hope that outreach events can help the number continue to decrease.

“I think they really do need to have something like this everywhere because it just brings everybody together. I mean, with all the violence that’s going on in the world, I think something like this once or twice, once or twice a month. I think it would be a good thing for everybody,” Adams said.

***

Another outreach program the department offers is the citizen police academy, where community members can learn about procedures and different areas of law enforcement. They are currently in their fourth session of the program. Applications for the next session can be found at Jonesboropolice.com.

Crowd Enjoys BBQ Festival

Posted on by

by Myful Al Sarah
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO, Ark. – The sharp smell of barbecue, the clouds of charcoal smoke, a big crowd eating meat and cheering up with concert music  – the 8th annual Downtown Jonesboro BBQ Festival proved a success.

People from all over the region traveled to Northeast Arkansas to participate in the contest and enjoy what Jonesboro has to offer. The Kansas City Barbeque Society sanctioned the event. 

Alderman Tim McCall said 44 teams signed up to participate in the contest. He said the contest, which started early Saturday morning, included sections for pork ribs, pork shoulder/butt, beef brisket and chicken.

The contestants could not sell their foods from the grill, which would have been deemed a health code violation. Still, they could provide free samples of their food.

“Last year, we had nearly 18,000 people coming to the festival and this year we were expecting more. Though I didn’t have the chance to get on the street, I heard it was a record-breaking crowd. We even had visitors from Nashville,” McCall said. “I believe the festival is a great chance for the local vendors to earn a good amount of money and also make a good marketing of their business. I would say, with the limited electricity in downtown, we had a great response this year.”

Visitors line up to purchase barbecue. They could also get free samples from contestants.

Visitors line up to purchase barbecue. They could also get free samples from contestants. (Photo by Myful Al Sarah)

A number of food stalls sold pork ribs, barbecue pork sandwich, barbecue chicken sandwich, nachos, popcorn, funnel cakes. Arts and craft vendors also participated to showcase and sell their work. Hijinx sponsored a children’s play area. Festival organizers also arranged a car show and a wrestling event. People from all age groups found things to enjoy.

Michael Sullivan, owner at the Sully’s in downtown, sold his popular Chicago-style food on the street in front his restaurant. He said he participated in the festival for the second time after a good experience in 2015.

“The festival is a great opportunity for us to make some money. It’s difficult to do business in the downtown most of the year,” Sullivan said. “We have already had a good start from this morning. By the time of the evening, it’s going to be crazy busy here, you will see a huge crowd.”

Poison’s former lead singer Bret Michaels performed on the NEA Baptist stage, which contributed to the crowd. The audience also enjoyed Brothers Osborne, The Greasy Tri and Flatland Funk.

Neither the events nor the concert cost anything due to sponsors including St. Bernards Healthcare, The Sun, Bartel’s, Ritter and The Fox 104.9.

Fans get early seats for Brett Michaels.

Fans get early seats in front of the NEA Baptist stage. Brett Michaels, former lead singer of Poison, headlined the evening’s festivities. (Photo by Myful Al Sarah)

Juke Joint Piano Finds New Home

Posted on by

by Marie Mitchell
Delta Digital News Service

NEWPORT, Ark. — An old photo led to a new key to the past during this year’s Depot Days’ celebration.

More than 50 years ago, along an area of road now known as Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway 67 in Jackson County, a juke joint called Porky’s Barbeque attracted performers and audiences alike. At the time, Porky’s was merely a rooftop with an open air stage.

Henry Boyce of Newport said between 1955 and 1962, people came from Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri and even as far as Chicago to hear the music coming from Porky’s rooftop. He said musicians also clamored to perform at Porky’s and other roadside dives along U.S. Highway 67.

Boyce said several factors made the juke joint special during the “rockabilly” days.

“We were a wet county surrounded by dry ones,” he said. “We also had about 2,000 soldiers in the area with nothing to do with their paychecks.”

These influences — along with several area clubs allowing illegal gambling — created the perfect storm for a large fan base and overnight musician sensations.

“Local law enforcement turned a blind eye, which encouraged high rollers to come in for the poker games as well as the music,” Boyce said.

Herschel

Herschel “Porky” Sellers sits on an amplifier during the ’50s surrounded by his house band, The Playboys. The piano can be seen at left.

Porky’s owner Herschel Sellers provided his guest entertainers with a second-hand “house” piano that sat on the honky-tonk’s flat roof.

“Back then musicians didn’t carry around 4,000-pound pianos,” Boyce said.

Porky’s rooftop held around 100 people, Boyce said, adding that it didn’t stop crowds of people from gathering on the stairs and areas below to dance and listen to the music. “Rockabilly” artists who performed included Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Sonny Burgess, Ace Cannon, Billy Lee Riley … and the King.

“Elvis performed in March of 1955,” Boyce said. Elvis Presley had just released his single, “That’s Alright,” about nine months before.

Eventually, Porky’s built a cover over the rooftop and remained a popular hot spot well into the ’60s. Some years later when Porky’s closed, a local church obtained the piano. Wilma Evans, an organist at the church, managed to acquire the piano to display in her gift shop. When she closed her business five years ago, she sold the piano to a local doctor.

Dr. Nicole Lawson knew the piano had historical value and donated it to the Jackson County Historical Society. Boyce said the historical society put the piano in storage until they could figure out the best way to showcase it.

Rock ‘n Roll Highway 67 runs a little more than 100 miles through Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph, Clay and Miller counties. Its name derived from original “rockabilly” artists that performed in establishments along the route has created many venues and commemorations in its honor, including Depot Days at Newport. Held each September since 1997, the festival features two days of entertainment from local, regional and national musicians.

Boyce said over the years, entertainers and visitors to the festival often share stories and history of the past. Boyce and performer Sonny Burgess decided to preserve that history. So they created a map and pinpointed the areas that contained the venues most popular with artists in the 1955 era.

“We drove up and down searching for memorabilia,” Boyce said. 

Ace Cannon, Henry Boyce and Sonny Burgess stand beside Porky’s piano.

Ace Cannon, Henry Boyce and Sonny Burgess stand beside Porky’s piano during the dedication at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Museum in Newport.

Boyce found an original road sign and a few more items he was able to restore. The sign came from a popular establishment known as the King of Clubs. Owner Bob King had thrown away the sign after the building had burned. A few photos were also salvaged from the burned structure.

“We restored what we could, including the sign,” Boyce said.

Around this time, Boyce decided he needed somewhere to display the memorabilia. The Newport Chamber of Commerce gave him a room in their building to display the items. As the visitor’s list grew, donations from the “rockabilly” days began pouring in from performers and others, Boyce said. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Museum, still housed in the chamber building, has grown and expanded to a much larger area since then.

“We have acquired exhibits from all over,” Boyce said. “We recently acquired a drum kit used by a Memphis band.”

The most recent donation created a lot of interest. After finding an old photo that had Porky’s piano in it, Boyce knew the piano had found its home. A dedication ceremony was held during Depot Days as Porky’s piano now sits in Newport’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Museum.