SOUTHSIDE — It is not cheap to create a new city, but the people of the newly formed city of Southside have decided to have fun while raising money tofurther the process.
Last summer, the city of Batesville made steps to annex the community of Southside, and the people of Southside voiced their opposition to this measure by petitioning to incorporate as their own city. In October, County Judge Robert Griffin granted Southside’s request to incorporate. The issue of annexation had already been placed on the November ballot, and it was voted down, allowing Southside to continue with incorporation. Batesville officials brought a lawsuit against Southside concerning the borders of the new city — specifically near the municipal airport — but the action was dropped earlier this year.
Now that the city of Southside has been incorporated, citizens are ready to move forward. Elections will be held Aug. 11 to select the city’s first mayor and city council. In the meantime, citizens are raising money to cover legal fees and the cost of an election with a Fun Fest this Saturday. Amelia Bowman, a member of the fundraising committee for the new city, said event organizers hope to raise $11,000 to cover all of the legal and election fees.
“The plan is to raise enough money so that once everyone is elected, we’d be debt-free,” Bowman said. “The Fun Fest will be free to attend. The only thing that will cost anything will be the food, and then we will have an auction.”
The food — which includes hot dogs, chili dogs and nachos — has been donated by Scott and Vicki Kallsnick of Kallsnick Inc., and Bowman said volunteers will be cooking the food.
The Kallsnicks are not the only ones who are pitching in to make the Fun Fest successful. Shelia Smithee, who is also on the fundraising committee, said she has spent a lot of time visiting area businesses to see if they wanted to contribute to the auction that will occur at Fun Fest.
“I have had most of the businesses make a donation for our auction,” she said. “I think everything’s coming into place.”
Activities at Fun Fest will include a bounce house,
courtesy of Keller Bounce Houses; face painting; buggy rides, courtesy of the Anderson brothers; and the live auction.
There will also be a public forum where citizens will have a chance to get to know the candidates running for city offices in the Aug. 11 election. After the election, the city will be able to move on to other business.
On that subject, Smithee said, “I’m excited about it going forward. You can’t move along until you at least get your elected officials in place. We have got to get everyone in place before we move on.”
Bowman said that while this year’s Fun Fest is a fundraiser for the city, the plan is for it to become a yearly community event without the intent of raising money.
“In the future, it probably won’t be a fundraiser, but hopefully this will set the tone for future [Fun Fests],” she said. “We plan on
making it an annual event.”
There has always been a lot of pride in the community of Southside, Bowman said, noting that she has seen firsthand how that pride has translated into enthusiasm for the newly incorporated city.
“I’m really proud to be a part of it,” she said of the new city. “I’m excited to be able to help get it up and running.”
The Southside Fun Fest will be held from 4-8 p.m. Saturday on the Southside Middle School grounds and at the physical education building. The auction will take place at 5:30 p.m. and will be immediately followed by the public forum.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.