LOWELL — Whether you're looking for good food and tunes, a new fiddle-playing contest, an old car show or just a chance to mingle, the 10th Annual Archey Fork Fest in Clinton is the place to be Friday, June 26, through Saturday, June 27.
Jason Hayes, president of the Clinton Association for Revitalization and Excellence, which has organized the festival since its inception, said Archey Fork Fest is the second largest influx of people into Clinton each year after the Chuckwagon Races, traditionally held Labor Day Weekend.
Hayes said Archey Fork Fest continues to be a place for community camaraderie for the residents of Clinton.
"People get to see people that they don't get to see but once a year at the festival," he said.
Archey Fork Fest will start at 7 p.m. Friday, June 26, in Archey Fork Park with a benefit concert for cancer patient Devon Wooten. Musical acts will include Conway's Rhinestone Incident, which Hayes said will play originals as well as rock 'n' roll covers, and country group The Culpepper Mountain Boys.
"You can come and listen for free, but the whole point is to raise money for Devon, so periodically we'll get on stage and encourage the crowd to give,"Hayes said.
Carnival rides and food vendors will be available until the concert ends at 10:30 p.m.
Things will pick up again at 8 a.m. Saturday, June 27, with a fishing derby for kids.
"In the past, we've dammed up the local creek, but this year, we've built a pond to have the derby in," Hayes explained.
Kids ages 8-12 will get a chance to catch one of 300 catfish the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is bringing for the occasion.
A new event this year at Archey Fork Fest will be a fiddle-playing contest. Hayes said there are only a few competitions around the state - Leslie, Clarksville and Mountain View among the better-known - and he hopes that it will gain recognition in years to come.
"We're just trying to do something different," Hayes said. "We're all the time thinking about different ways to improve the festival. A lot of people in this area would enjoy it."
But this year's Archey Fork Fest will include old favorites, too. The Archey Fork Car Show, which has been in existence for eight years, will begin registration at 8 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 27.
"We just started it up, just a few of us, just to promote interest in old cars," said Paul Rhoda, owner of Paul's Body Shop in Clinton. "It's a dying deal. They're not making new oldcars. If we don't preserve them and display them, then they're going to be extinct."
Rhoda, who owns a yellow '67 Pontiac Firebird convertible, said the Archey Fork Fest Car Show will draw in as many as 250 or 300 cars this year from as far as Nebraska, Missouri and Texas. Events will include a commode race, a fan-belt toss, a kids' model car Make and Take.
"We supply 50 model cars, and we just announce all throughout the day that we're going to give them away to the first 50 kids that get in line and make them," Rhoda said.
The festival's events culminate with a musical performance by Gwendlyn Bradley and Friends from 7-9 p.m. June 27 and fireworks shortly thereafter.
As chairman of the festival, Hayes said, "My day's pretty busy - I don't really get to sit back and enjoy it too much." But he said seeing the town rally together is worth all the work.
"I enjoy it because I get to see the community come together, and at least one day a year everybody gets a chance to see everybody else," he said.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 67, 70 on 06/18/2009