Former President Bill Clinton will return to a place called Hope on April 6 as the keynote speaker for the Hope/Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and banquet, an official said.
Also accompanying Clinton and returning to their roots on that day will be Clinton friends Mack McLarty and Joe Purvis, both originally from Hope, said Beckie Moore, chamber director.
McLarty, a businessman, was Clinton's first White House chief of staff, serving in that role from Jan. 20, 1993, to July 17, 1994. Purvis, a Little Rock attorney, once worked as a staff attorney when Clinton was Arkansas attorney general.
The event in April will be held at Hempstead Hall on the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope campus, which is on Arkansas 29 at the southern city limits of Hope. Hope is 30 miles east of Texarkana and 110 miles southwest of Little Rock.
Tickets will range from $30 each to $240 for a table of eight. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. with a silent auction. Those interested in attending can call or email the chamber to reserve a seat or table. Requests can be emailed to hopemelonfest@yahoo.com or calling (870) 777-3640.
State Desk on 01/20/2019