Long-running gathering to honor veterans, history

HEBER SPRINGS — The Old Soldiers Reunion and Parade in Heber Springs, scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. Aug. 4, is the oldest such event west of the Mississippi, said Wally Rosier, adjutant of American Legion Saxon-Willis Post 64.

“It’s been going on for 129 years,” said Rosier, who is retired from the Air Force. “They’d bring their wagons back before they had cars.”

With the theme “Celebrate America,” the parade will start at Harps Food Store, 901 W. Main St., and travel down Main Street to Spring Park, the site of a three-day carnival.

Prizes will be given for first-, second- and third-place floats — $500, $300 and $200 respectively.

Gabriel Cothron of Heber Springs, an Army veteran, called the event family-oriented. He said the parade will include the American Legion Riders — a veterans motorcycle group — as well as firefighters, police officers and first responders, along with floats representing businesses and individuals.

“We have veterans from all over Arkansas,” Cothron said. “The soldiers come and walk.”

Rosier said the carnival, which will start after the parade and is held Friday and Saturday, has a different vendor this year.

“It’s supposed to be five major rides, five minor and five kiddie rides,” Cothron said.

Retired Army Maj. Keith Dover of Little Rock is a member of the Heber Springs American Legion post and public-relations chairman for the event. He has been involved in the reunion for several years, he said.

“People come from not just Arkansas; some people come from out of state as well. It’s a big deal,” Dover said. He said the parade typically includes vintage military vehicles.

The 65th Little Miss Cleburne County pageant is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 5, and the deadline to enter is July 31. The theme is “Celebrating America’s Beauties and Cuties,” and the colors are red, white and blue. The entry fee is $45 and $30 for each additional child in a family. Proceeds will go to the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Cleburne County.

Entry forms are available on the Little Miss Cleburne County Facebook page, and more information is available by calling Charlsie Stine at (501) 691-9409 or (877) 699-6924.

Rosier said veterans gather at different places during the weekend; they often sit on the rock wall at Spring Park and reminisce.

Dover wrote a history of the event, which explained that the Old Soldiers Reunion was held after the Civil War to reunite soldiers who were “torn apart by taking sides during the internal conflict.”

In its early years, the event was called Reunion of the Blue and Gray, Dover wrote, and it has been held every year in August, except when the polio epidemic in the 1930s forced the reunion to be postponed until September. After World War I, the event was renamed to honor veterans of that war — and it was a commemoration rather than a celebration during World War II.

American Legion Saxton-Willis Post No. 64 in Heber Springs has sponsored the event since 1921.

Cothron said one purpose of the event is to “tell the entire community thank you. So many people volunteer so much of their time for the community,” he said.

For more information, call American Legion Saxton-Willis Post No. 64 at (501) 362-9979.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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