OPINION

Hope's big watermelons

I walked into the Fair Park Coliseum at Hope early that Saturday afternoon, and immediately someone began calling my name from the other side of the crowded room.

It was Lloyd Bright, who was my high school biology teacher decades ago. Even when he was a teacher and public school administrator, Bright continued a family tradition of growing huge watermelons. And where best to show them off than the annual Hope Watermelon Festival, which draws thousands of people each August from south Arkansas, east Texas and north Louisiana?

"See that melon over there," Bright said, pointing at a watermelon weighing more than 125 pounds. "It's yours if you can get it to your vehicle."

The crowds were large last weekend, and we had parked a long distance from the coliseum. We couldn't figure out how to get the watermelon to our car, but it's comforting to know that Bright is still growing watermelons at age 74 on the family farm. He even has a website (www.giantwatermelons.com) and sells melon seeds across the country. The website features photos of world-record watermelons raised by the Bright family in 1979, 1985 and 2005.

"My dad and I grew lots of giant watermelons together during the 1970s, '80s and '90s to sell on the Hope big watermelon market," Bright writes on the website. "We used the same growing techniques the community watermelon growers used earlier when they were establishing the big melon market in Hope. Big melons were grown during those years to sell. Now big watermelons are grown nationwide, and most are grown for contest entries. With the current wide interest of gardeners in growing big watermelons, it's logical for me to collect the seeds of the largest watermelons each year and sell them in small lots to contest growers. A few large watermelons in the 125- to 185-pound range are still sold at Hope, but all of the extra large ones go for seeds."

I had been asked to emcee the contest in which politicians see how fast they can eat a slice of watermelon. That event is part of Arkansas' political culture, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson was there to participate. But there was no beating Hempstead County Sheriff James Singleton, who won the contest for an eighth time.

"I have so many trophies that my wife will no longer allow me to bring them home," Singleton said. "I keep them at the office."

Before it was known for producing politicians such as former President Bill Clinton and former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Hope was known for watermelons. The water tank, visible from Interstate 30, had a painting of a watermelon slice with the slogan "A Slice of the Good Life." When I worked in the governor's office for Huckabee, he kept a large Bowie knife in a glass case in his office. On Jan. 17, 2001, Clinton made his final out-of-state trip as president. He came home to address a joint session of the Arkansas Legislature. Prior to the speech, he dropped by the governor's office.

I had never seen anyone open the case and pull out the Bowie knife until that day, but a president of the United States can do what he wants. The sight of Clinton holding such a large knife seemed to startle the Secret Service agents in the room. Clinton looked at the governor, smiled and then said: "It doesn't matter what Huckabee and I accomplish in life, we'll always rate third at best in Hope behind watermelons and Bowie knives."

The first Hope Watermelon Festival took place in 1926. John Gibson of Hope had begun offering small prizes in 1916 for the largest watermelons. Two Hempstead County farmers, Hugh and Edgar Laseter, developed a seed line in an attempt to win the money. On Aug. 12, 1925, they brought in a 136-pound watermelon that was the largest to have been grown in the area to that point. The excitement surrounding the big melon led to the first festival.

"The first five festivals drew large crowds," according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. "For example, the crowd numbered 30,000 in 1928. Many visitors traveled on the Missouri Pacific, Frisco and Louisiana & Arkansas special trains."

The ravages of drought and the Great Depression brought an end to the festival in the 1930s. In 1976, C.M. "Pod" Rogers Jr., the colorful circulation director for the Hope Star, convinced the Hope Chamber of Commerce to revive the festival beginning in August 1977. His son, Brad Rogers, is still involved with the event.

I was in Dallas for the Republican National Convention in the summer of 1984 when the telephone in my hotel room rang at about 3 a.m. It was "Pod" Rogers. "Nelson!" he commanded. "This is Rogers. I've got one of those big Hope watermelons down here in the lobby. I need you to come down and help me load it so we can take it over to Willard Scott."

NBC was originating the Today show that week from the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dallas. Rogers didn't have an invitation to appear, but he figured that if he showed up in the lobby with the watermelon and screamed out as Scott walked to the set, NBC would put him on national television.

Charmed by Rogers, members of the hotel staff helped us take the watermelon inside the hotel. As the NBC weatherman headed to the set, Rogers called out his name. Scott came over and admired the melon. And, yes, in the final hour of that morning's program, Rogers found himself promoting Hope on NBC.

"Dad worked so hard getting the Hope Watermelon Festival off to a good start," Brad Rogers said. "I'm happy to see it four decades later still bringing thousands of people to Hope."

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Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.

Editorial on 08/19/2017

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