February 2011 Newsletter - Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce

Chambertalk
TOP FESTIVAL — Stephen Bell and Bethany Hodges of the Stuttgart Chamber of
Commerce, with Bill Free, chairman of the Wings Over the Prairie Festival.
Stuttgart wins Festival of the Year
Arkansas festival association honors local festival
Q Stuttgart was recently
honored with the Festival
of the Year award by the
Arkansas Festivals and
Events Association.
The award was given for
the 75th annual World's
Championship Duck Calling Contest & Wings Over
the Prairie Festival.
The award was presented
at the 27th annual AFEA
Conference and Trade
Show held in Little Rock at
the Statehouse Convention
Center.
"This is an honor for all
the volunteers who help
make the festival happen,"
said Festival Chairman Bill
Free. "It's great to be hon-
ored by the other festivals in
the state for all the hard work
our volunteers do for our
event."
The festival also won three
other awards in the Promotional Items Category.
The festival poster and festival t-shirt both won Gold
ALFie awards.
A Bronze ALFie award was
presented for the Sportsman's
Guide magazine.
Along with a plaque for the
Festival of the Year, the festival also received a banner to
be displayed during the 2011
festival proclaiming it the
AFEA Festival of the Year.
To win the Festival of the
Year, a festival must stand
out among all the festivals
in Arkansas, by its creative
approach, crowd appeal,
media coverage, and/or
enhancement of community pride, thus benefiting
the state’s quality of life.
Previous winners of the
award include MusicFest in
El Dorado; Toad Suck Daze
in Conway; Bradley
County Pink Tomato Festival in Warren; Smoke on
the Water in Pine Bluff;
and BPW Barn Sale in
Camden
CITIZEN OF THE YEAR — Former state Senator Bobby Glover was honored as the
2010 Citizen of the Year by the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce. He was also named an
honorary citizen of Stuttgart. Glover (center) is congratulated by his son, Keith Glover (right),
and daughter-in-law Mary Glover.
VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR — The Weed Whackers were honored by the Stuttgart
Chamber of Commerce as its "Volunteers of the Year." Some of the members include (from
left) Bruce Martin, Jack Coker, Jim Craig, Allen Homra and Henry Newby.
Community Calendar
lists all local events
X Planning an event and
want to see if there are any
conflicting events on that
date?
Check the Community Calendar online by visiting the
website of the Stuttgart
Chamber of Commerce:
www.stuttgartarkansas.com
The website also contains
BEST TEACHER — Jane Ferguson, counselor at Stuttgart
High School, visits with SHS student and Stuttgart Chamber
of Commerce Staff Assistant Morgan Gower. Ferguson was
honored at the annual chamber of commerce banquet as
the "Teacher of the Year" for the Stuttgart School District.
Local Economy
BANQUET SPEAKER — Matt Mosler of Beautiful Feet
Ministries, who was the keynote speaker at the Stuttgart
Chamber of Commerce banquet, visits with Chamber
Director of Programs Bethany Hodges.
Look for us
on Facebook
Q Are you a member of
Facebook, the online social
networking site?
You can become
a fan of the
Stuttgart Chamber
of Commerce and
follow us online. See
photos from all the Chamber
events
and
activities
throughout the year.
Or become a fan of the
World's Championship Duck
Calling Contest & Wings Over
the Prairie Festival.
We've already got more
than 2,700 fans for the
festival and almost 1,0o0 fans
for the Stuttgart Chamber of
Commerce.
Photo Albums of recent
events sponsored by the
Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce.
CHAMBER BANQUET — Those attending the annual Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce
banquet were (from left) Jennifer Coose, Cheryl Shook, Robin Burkett, Leah Williams and
Dr. Susan Luebke.
City sales tax revenues
Current Year
Previous Year
January
342,595
296,609
December
342,844
316,568
November
325,765
265,652
October
364,625
302,131
September
321,784
279,052
August
341,184
309,156
July
305,574
329,212
June
343,614
262,002
May
308,409
321,941
April
314,718
329,913
March
337,860
370,860
Chambertalk
Rice industry promoted at Capitol
Legislative Rice Luncheon has become a favorite with legislators
Q The Stuttgart Chamber
of Commerce promoted the
rice industry at the Capitol in
Little Rock with its Legilsative
Rice Luncheon.
The 100 House members
and 35 Senators who make up
the Arkansas General Assembly were invited to the luncheon.
The event is held every two
years to ensure that the state's
lawmakers realize the importance of rice to the Arkansas
economy.
It also gives local business
people a chance to visit with
the legislators.
The event was hosted by
local state lawmakers, Sena-
tor Eddie Joe Williams and
Rep. Tiffany Rogers.
Chamber President Jennifer Payton and the Governmental Affairs Committee of
the Stuttgart Chamber of
Commerce also hosted.
Sponsors of the event included:
• Arkansas Rice Federation
• Riceland Foods
• Producers Rice Mill
• Arkansas County Bank
• BancorpSouth
• AgHeritage Farm Credit
Services.
Rice is the official grain of
the State of Arkansas and
about 45 percent of the U.S.
rice crop is grown in Arkan-
sas.
Stuttgart is known as the
"Rice and Duck Capital of the
World."
Worldwide there are more
than 120,000 different varieties of rice, though only a
small number offer the quality acceptable for commercial
growth in the United States.
These varieties can be divided into long, medium and
short grain rice.
An increasing number of
sweet, aromatic and arborio
rice varieties are also produced in the United States.
The principal differences in
these varieties are their cooking characteristics, texture
RICE LUNCHEON — Those attending the Legislative Rice Luncheon in Little Rock
included (from left) Deborah Roark and Pam Davidson with the Arkansas State Police,
Sen. Mike Fletcher of Hot Springs, Mike Davidson with the Arkansas State Police, and
Sen. Eddie Joe Williams.
and some subtle flavor variation. From a nutritional
standpoint they are equal and
can be used interchangeably,
depending on the recipe.
Rice is the primary dietary
staple for more than half of
the world’s population.
More than 20 billion
pounds of rice is produced
each year by farmers in Arkansas, California, Louisiana,
Texas, Missouri and Mississippi.
New Chamber Members
These firms have joined the winning team of the Stuttgart
Chamber of Commerce. They're joining you, the businesses
and professionals, who have invested in the economic, agricultural, civic, cultural and educational progress in the Stuttgart
area.
X CROSSHEIRS RETREAT CENTER — Christian
retreat center and Big Jim's Lodge located in
Arkansas County and serves Beautiful Feet Ministries
3 Trent Jones Cove, Sherwood, AR
Telephone: (870) 674-6654
Contact: Matt Mosler
X DORSEY & COMPANY, CPA — Certified Public Accounting firm.
616 South Main St., Stuttgart, AR 72120
Telephone: (501) 352-3465
Contact: David Buck and Dennis Dorsey
LOCAL SUPPORT — Those attending the Legislative Rice Luncheon in Little Rock included (from left) Chamber President Jennifer Payton, Chamber Director of Programs
Bethany Hodges, Stuttgart Mayor Marianne Maynard, Arkansas County Judge Sonny Cox
and local rice farmer Robert Petter.
PROMOTING RICE — Chuck Wilson (left) and Ben Noble
of the Arkansas Rice Federaltion attended the Legislative
Rice Luncheon and promoted the rice industry to members
of the Arkansas House of Representatives and Senate.
RICE SUPPORT — Sen. Eddie Joe Williams (from left)
with Stuttgart Mayor Marianne Maynard and Sen. Gilbert
Baker of Conway at the Legislative Rice Luncheon held in
Little Rock at the state Capitol.
RICE LUNCH — Arkansas County Judge Sonny Cox (from
left) with Sen. David Wyatt of Batesville and Rep. Mary Lou
Slinkard of Gravette visit during the Legislative Rice Luncheon held in Little Rock.
RICE IS NICE — Jennifer Payton, president of the Stuttgart
Chamber of Commerce, visits with Rep. Marshall Wright of
Forrest City during the Legislative Rice Luncheon held to
promote the importance of the rice industry.
RICE INDUSTRY — Ben Noble (from left) of the Arkansas Rice Federation vistis with Rep. Tim Summers of
Bentonville and rice farmer Robert Petter during the Legislative Rice Luncheon.
STUTTGART RICE — RSVP Senior Corps volunteers
Norma Strabala (from left) and Wygonda Duke visit with Rep.
Tiffany Rogers of Stuttgart and fellow RSVP Senior Corps
volunteer Patsy Vose at the Legislative Rice Luncheon.