Kenneth “Sandy” Sandifer is keeping his dream alive. It was just about this time last year that he woke up in the middle of the night, thinking about the unrest that continued to sweep the country regarding the August 2014 events in Ferguson, Missouri.
“I was walking downtown one early morning to see the [Clark County] sheriff and tell him how much I appreciate them and what they do for us,” said Sandifer, who retired in 1994 as head of the biology department after 35 years at Ouachita Baptist University. “As I was walking, I met Raouf [Halaby, also a retired OBU professor], who stopped and asked me if I wanted a ride.
“I told him that I wanted to do something to recognize our law enforcement officials and was on my way to see the sheriff and police chief to see what we could do to say ‘thank you.’”
Halaby said Sandifer was “fully enthusiastic when I stopped him.”
“I have never seen anyone as enthusiastic about a project as he was,” Halaby said with a laugh. “When we first started talking about it, we only thought about law enforcement personnel. Then we decided we needed to include everyone concerned with public safety.
“These men and women leave their homes every day at all hours of the day to report to duty, to serve the public,” Halaby said. “I told him, ‘Let’s go ahead and invite all of them,’ and that is what we did.”
From that meeting came the idea of providing an appreciation meal to those who work in public safety organizations.
“After I left the meeting, I got on the phone,” Sandifer said. “The first six people I called said ‘sure,’ they would help in any way they could.”
Sandifer and others planned that first appreciation dinner for February 2015. They will host an appreciation dinner once again this year and have invited all the police officers [including Arkansas State Police], firefighters, sheriff’s department personnel, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, foresters and wildlife enforcement officers working or living in Clark County.
The Clark County Public Safety and Emergency Personnel Appreciation Dinner will be held at 5 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Arkadelphia Recreation Center.
“We’ve invited their spouses, or significant others, this year,” Sandifer said. “We expect to feed between 300 and 400 people.”
Allen’s Bar-B-Que Co. will provide the meal. Edsel Danner, owner of the local Subway, will provide cookies for dessert.
“We also have more than 70 gifts that we will give away during a drawing,” Sandifer said.
“We have everything from a 14-foot aluminum johnboat, to a 9 mm pistol, handmade knives, turkey and duck calls, gift cards, meals from local businesses, jewelry and original artwork.”
Sandifer said tickets for the drawing will be given out to the certified personnel when they enter the door.
“Everyone who donates a gift will draw the ticket for his or her gift,” he said.
Sandifer said he “felt moved to do it,” as he talked about organizing the recognition event last year.
“Call it the Holy Spirit or whatever you want to,” he said. “Nobody has an agenda whatsoever. We just want to say thank you to these people.
“Out of all the people I have called and asked them for something, only one said no, that he didn’t have the money. I told him that was fine.
“Every day, I wake up in a new world and start again. It’s been fun.
“I hope we can get this going so it will be an annual event.”
Members of the Arkadelphia High School Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps will post the colors at the appreciation dinner. Jody Evans, the Arkadelphia policeman and rock-a-billy singer who was a finalist on Nashville Star in 2005, will sing “God Bless America.”
Sandifer said the program will include several testimonies from community members, including Kim King of Gurdon, whose daughter, Cassandra “Cassie” Carter, was kidnapped and killed in 2013.
“[King] will give testimony to Sheriff Jason Watson, who made four trips to an Indian reservation to find her daughter’s body and bring some closure to the family,” Sandifer said, adding that the perpetrator of the crime was recently sentenced to life in prison without parole
Others on the program include Taylor King, an attorney, who will give the welcome and make introductions; Clark County Judge Bob Sanders, who will give the invocation; and Watson, who will give the response.
Other committee members planning the appreciation dinner are Eddie Arnold, Estella Forte, King, Wesley Kluck, Lewis Shepherd, Mike Votz and Bud Welch.
“We also have about 60 or 70 volunteers helping us,” Sandifer said. “It’s entirely a different group of volunteers this year. Among them are members of the Henderson State University football team, who will help with parking.
“Our volunteers have just snowballed this year. That’s a good thing. Many of them will act as greeters.”