Kasey Griffin has lived in Heber Springs her whole life.
“I want to see it grow,” she said. “I want to see our community grow and prosper, and I want young people to stay in the community.”
Griffin, who was recently named Citizen of the Year by the Heber Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, has served on the Heber Springs City Council for six years and is the current president for the Cleburne County Kiwanis Club. She is also the owner of Cuts & Colors Salon, which is downtown.
“My plate is full, and at times, I do feel overwhelmed,” she said. “[But this award] means people are actually noticing the things that I have done for this community.”
Three years ago, Griffin started Cuts for Kids, which provides free haircuts to kids before they go back to school. Last year, she donated all the proceeds from sponsors to the counselors at Heber Springs Schools for their emergency fund and gave almost 100 free haircuts.
Last year, Griffin founded Makers Market on the Square on the courthouse lawn. Artisans, crafters and farmers set up booths every month, on the second and fourth Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day, to sell products.
“Its really for anybody who makes anything,” she said. “We have woodcrafts, bakers, and a couple of people who have farms have brought farm-raised beef, pork and chicken to sell.
“Sometimes the humane society will have nonprofits come out and help set up. There are a wide variety of items for sale that are made locally.”
Griffin said that because of this event, one vendor was able to open a brick-and-mortar business downtown.
“It makes me feel good; it is exciting,” Griffin said. “I want good things for everybody. I want to see businesses grow.”
She also created After Dark in the Park and the Zombie Walk for Halloween. She coordinates the parade and costume contest and recruits local businesses for a trunk-or-treat that is safe for kids. She said she has arranged the event for five years now.
Ali Sugg, who also serves on the City Council, said the Halloween event has become one of the biggest activities in Heber Springs because it created a safe environment for kids and has “continued to grow every year.”
Griffin said this past year, she worked with the parents of members of the Heber Springs football team to create decorations around the courthouse square that highlighted the senior football players. She said the group made footballs and decorated them with the players’ numbers.
Griffin also volunteers to help put on Springfest and the Adventure Outdoor Expo. This year’s Springfest is scheduled for May 15 and 16.
Jason Robitaille, fire chief for the city of Heber Springs, said Griffin is a “go-getter” and is very community-minded. The two serve on the City Council together and work on a couple of the committees as well.
“She puts a lot of energy into the quality of life of Heber Springs,” Robitaille said. “She wants to make sure the city reaches its full potential. … I don’t know how she does it, quite frankly.
“She and Ali Sugg make a really good team and initiate a lot of projects. They have a good vision of where we need to go as a city.”
Sugg, who was one of the people who nominated Griffin for the award, said she does so much for the community.
“She goes above and beyond what it means to be a City Council person,” Sugg said of Griffin. “She is always thinking of different ways and events through which she can help. She needed to be recognized for the job she has done.”
Griffin said Heber Springs is the perfect place for people who enjoy the outdoors.
“We have hiking, fishing, walking trails and waterfalls,” she said. “You can canoe or kayak the lake or the river, and we have disc golf.”
Griffin and Robitaille have also been taking community-development classes together at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain for close to two years. Griffin said it has really inspired her to do more for the city of Heber Springs.
“Some of that was the reason or push for me to do the Makers Market and wanting to get some other things done,” she said. “The classes helped me get inspired to be more involved.”
“I think she recognizes the potential of Heber Springs,” Robitaille said. “She wants to leave things better than she found them and is committed to leaving her mark.
“She feels responsible toward those who voted for her and wants her to produce results. She takes it personally.”
Last summer, the City Council voted to switch ambulance services from NorthStar EMS to Survival Flight. Griffin said the decision caused major division in the city.
“We voted to go with a new company to offer better service for our citizens,” she said. “[Survival Flight] offers twice the service than what we had, going with four trucks instead of two.
“But people wanted to keep the old service because they had friends or family who worked for [NorthStar].”
NorthStar had been serving Heber Springs for 20 years.
Griffin, who also serves as president of Revive Heber Springs, a group trying to get things moving forward in Heber Springs, said the group raised money to do another mural, planned for the outside wall of a local pharmacy.
The group is partnering with ARCare for the project. Sugg said the money raised from Springfest and the Makers Market goes into the Revive Heber Springs account and will help pay for the mural and “some other things that we want to try to do to help the community.”
“After the ambulance business, we wanted to bring in something that is going to radiate positivity,” Griffin said. “The mural is going to have a positive message.”
“We have also put up new banners around the courthouse with the funds. It gives us a visual that things are happening in downtown Heber Springs.”
She said she has received some pushback from the community and the improvements she is trying to instill.
“People don’t like change,” she said. “We are somewhat of a retirement community, and I don’t think they like to see change.
“People make it difficult to get things done, and there is no follow-through, or they get frustrated. They try to do things that it takes so long to get done that they get frustrated.”
Robitaille has been the fire chief for about a year and a half, and he said Griffin has been a key factor in communicating the vision for Heber Springs.
“We are getting addicted to positive outcomes, and I think the role she has been playing is invaluable,” he said. “She just blends with everybody in the community — doesn’t matter what walk or life or status.
“She can relate to everybody, and everyone really respects her.”
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.