JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville residents are seeing red.
To celebrate the creation of the Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District and its first school year, the city will host a Paint the Town Red event to encourage area businesses to decorate their interiors and exteriors in honor of the Titan logo and colors.
“It’s an exciting time for Jacksonville and the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District,” said Amy Mattison, director of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.
Mattison began planning Paint the Town Red about a year ago after being inspired by Jonesboro’s Paint the Town Red, which celebrates school spirit for Arkansas State University. She also studied the Paint the Town Red event for Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas.
“I thought, ‘We could do that here, and it could be for the high school and show support for our new district,’” Mattison said. “When I spoke to [Superintendent Tony Wood], he wanted a citywide celebration because [the district is] new, so I was like, ‘Let’s do Paint the Town Red to show support.’ So that’s where it came out of.”
Three spirit sticks will be awarded to businesses in the categories of exterior decorating, interior decorating and spirit. The five members of the chamber’s education committee will begin judging the decorations Wednesday, and awards will be presented at Jacksonville-North Pulaski High School’s Red/White game Aug. 20.
“You can decorate the inside, do your windows, have a display outside, do a skit, do a spirit skit,” Mattison said. “It was just one of those things for businesses to show the administration, the teachers, the students that we all support you and that we’re here for you.”
At Double R Florist & Gifts in Jacksonville, two spirit-filled displays can be seen from the street. Displays include a black-and-red spirit stick, red fringe curtains and a sign that reads, “Go Titans Go.”
“We’re very excited,” said Lauren Martin, a Jacksonville native who is over sales and marketing at the store. “We have been on board since day 1, done everything we could, collected signatures, went above and beyond. So we’re Team Titans for sure.”
Martin said the display took a couple of months to plan and a week to build.
“We had to get arts and crafts, and we’re building some stuff to go outside — pretty much buying all the red we can at Party City,” she said.
Mattison said some businesses have kept their display ideas secretive, but she looks forward to seeing them post their progress on social media before the judging takes place. Other businesses such as Bond Engineering and Americas Best Value Inn have also participated in Paint the Town Red so far.
“I want them to go ahead and put it out on social media — their prepping and working on it — and using the hashtag #Jvilletitans so I can go ahead and see the prepping of this,” she said. “Our committee wants to see the progression and the outcome from the beginning to the end. For me, it’s exciting to see what people will come up with in the displays and what their windows will look like.”
On Aug. 18, the district’s high school will host a balloon release and a free showing of Remember the Titans at sundown on the high school’s football field in Jacksonville, movies-in-the-park style, Mattison said.
“That’s two schools coming together and learning how to live as one and be one mascot,” she said of the movie.
A citywide prep rally will take place Aug. 30.
Mattison said residents of the Jacksonville community are also encouraged to wear red each Friday, whether an away or home game is taking place. Celebrating school spirit is important because it can have a lasting economic impact on a community, she noted.
“Education and economic development go hand in hand,” she said. “When you’re trying to recruit a new business to come to town, education is really important. Where are they going to get their workforce from? Whether it’s entry level or advanced education, it’s really important that they see that we are working on trying to better our community, better our kids, better our education and opportunities for our students to progress. And whether they go to a trade school or a four-year institution, they can always come back here and find a job.”
Paint the Town Red is planned to be an annual event, and residents — not just businesses — are also encouraged to decorate in support of its mission, Mattison said.
“I do have ideas for next year,” she said. “I want to incorporate yard signs, T-shirts, banners, just have more businesses participate [each year], and maybe add more categories or something to show our students and our teachers and administration that this town cares, and we care about you. We all work together to better our community.”
Martin said she hopes the decorating contest unites locals.
“We just hope it brings people together and gets everybody on board,” Martin said. “That’s all we’re wanting to do — to unify.”
For more information, visit www.jacksonville-arkansas.com.
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.