Vic Quinn of Conway loved basketball, making people laugh and his family — a big part of which was his wife, Cathy.
“We lived a dream for 42 years,” Cathy said, referring to their marriage.
Vic, 65, died Nov. 22, 2014, after a year-long battle with a malignant brain tumor.
Cathy said Vic enjoyed performing in Conway Community Arts Association plays, as well as in Torreyson Library mystery dinners, which benefited the University of Central Arkansas’ library. She said he was most known for one of his repeat characters in the murder mysteries, Jimmy Faye Pompadour, a Southern preacher.
Vic’s contributions to the arts association will be recognized April 17 when the group dedicates The Vic Quinn Memorial Garden at The Lantern Theatre, 1021 Van Ronkle St. in downtown Conway, said Liz Parker, board member.
“It’s such a sweet and wonderful thing they thought to do,” Cathy said.
Those who donate $25 or more toward the garden will have their names included on a plaque to hang in the lobby, Parker said. The deadline to donate is May 1. A brief dedication ceremony will take place April 17 during intermission of The Hammerstone. Reservations for that performance are underway, and more information is available at www.conwayarts.org. Reservation requests may be emailed to conwaylanterntheatre@gmail.com.
The Lantern opened in June 2011 and is the first permanent venue in the organization’s more than 40-year history.
The association rents the 2,000-square-foot building from Carmen Thompson, who also owns an antique store in downtown Conway. The small greenspace west of The Lantern belongs to Brad Lacy, president of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and Conway Development Corp., who owns an adjacent building.
Parker, treasurer of the Conway Community Arts Association board and longtime friend of the Quinns, said Lacy gave his blessing for the garden shortly after the theater opened.
“Vic and I went to Brad and talked to him and said, ‘This is what we’re doing.’ He said, “You just do whatever you want to with that space,’ which was really kind of him,” Parker said.
She said the Quinns, who were longtime supporters of the Conway Community Arts Association, embraced the garden project from the beginning.
“Vic and Cathy immediately took it over,” Parker said. “They bought timber, mulch, plants.”
Cathy loves gardening, so that meant Vic did, too.
“I’m the gardener in the family, but when they moved in there and had that space, it was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, what can we do?’” she said. “He just jumped right in. He did all the muscle stuff — every railroad tie, every shovel of dirt, digging holes.”
Cathy said she did the “fun part.” She picked the plants — lots and lots of roses — and she watered and cared for them. She also sketched out a landscape plan. “We called it, jokingly, our five-year plan,” she said.
Cathy said she and Vic were best friends, and the garden was a project they enjoyed working on together.
Vic’s insurance office was also downtown. “He could just walk down from his office and check on it. I’d go every Monday and water and weed. Then we had a couple of workdays with volunteers,” Cathy said. “Saturday mornings, that was our errand day, and that would always be our last errand, in case we had to get dirty. It was just a fun thing. Vic loved downtown, and he loved the community arts group.”
One of Cathy’s dreams was to have an arbor to go over the fountain in the garden, Parker said, so the Conway Community Arts Association purchased an arbor.
“We were thinking about doing something for him, and they’d always wanted to put an arbor out there,” Parker said of the couple. “We decided the best thing would be to name that garden after him and put that arbor up in his memory.” She said she found the perfect arbor — one with lanterns hanging on it.
Cathy said she picked Carolina jasmine, which is hardy, to be planted to grow over the arbor.
Shua Miller, president of the Conway Community Arts Association Board of Directors, said naming the garden in Vic’s memory is a fitting move.
“We’re really glad that we could do it; we’re more than happy to do that. The Quinns are great supporters of us; they took care of that garden. Pretty much the way it looks, we owe to them.”
Donations to The Vic Quinn Memorial Garden may be made to The Lantern Theatre, Conway Community Arts Association, P.O. Box 603, Conway, AR 72033.
Parker, who directed Vic in 2006 in the comedy Marvin’s Room, said that the day Vic died, she was directing a show at The Lantern.
“Every time before a show, I go out and look in the garden to see if it’s OK. We put up a fence. … It’s got a gate, and it’s never open. It’s just never open,” she said. “About 5 o’clock when I got there and walked out there, because I wanted to light a candle out there that night, that gate was open. It’s never open. And I told Cathy, ‘I know, I know in my heart that was Vic telling me the gate to his earthly home is open, and he’s gone.’ That was Vic telling me goodbye,” Parker said.
Cathy said she has not been back to the garden since Vic died, because of the memories it brings back.
“Firsts are hard,” Cathy said, tearfully. However, she said she will attend the dedication of the garden and the arbor. “It’s during the intermission of a comedy, which I think is appropriate,” she said.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.