DON’T MISS!: 58th Annual Clothesline Fair at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park

Posted on September 5th, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Holly Houser; holly.houser@arkansas.gov

The, Prairie Grove Lions Club, the Arts Center of the Ozarks and Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park invite everyone to attend the 58th Clothesline Fair on September 5th through the 7th. This Labor Day weekend event features over 200 booths with artisans selling, displaying, and demonstrating their handmade crafts. In addition, there will be musical entertainment, square dancing, displays of antique farming equipment, and the park historic houses will be open for viewing. The Prairie Grove Lions Club and other non-profit organizations will operate food and drink concessions in the park throughout the three-day festival with proceeds benefiting Prairie Grove non-profit organizations including the Lions Club, Band Boosters, PTA, and Boy Scouts. Again this year, we are going to have a Ham radio broadcast tent with broadcasting from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday through Monday, sponsored by Joe Dunn, who can be contacted at 479-267-3070, or by e-mail at bjoedunn@hotmail.com.

Starting at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, there is a one-mile Yankee dash fun run, followed by the 5K Battlefield Run, all on Battlefield park grounds. There will be awards for overall male and female runners and different age divisions. For more information, contact the sponsor at Century 21, Stinchcomb Realty, Battlefield Run, Attn: Ron Stinchcomb, 975 E. Douglas, Suite 1, Prairie Grove, AR 72753-1004; phone (479) 267-5000; fax (479) 846-5628; e-mail: battlefieldrun@pgtc.com.

A parade through downtown Prairie Grove sponsored by the Prairie Grove Chamber of Commerce starts at Prairie Grove Public Schools on Saturday at 9:00 a.m., ending at the Battlefield State Park. After the parade on Saturday, there will be a Grandmaster Han’s Martial Arts Demonstration at the playground area from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

One of the oldest arts and craft shows in Arkansas, the Clothesline Fair has something for everyone. The arts and crafts show, sponsored by the Arts Center of the Ozarks, gets underway at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and on Labor Day Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Booths will include unique gifts made by hand, including: Rod Hannaman makes ceramics with intricate, tiny villages attached; check out his website at www.REH-art.com. Kari Ahlum, from Rogers, Arkansas, makes children’s’ paintings, tutus, and more. Tessa Foster with Magpie Designs out of Bella Vista offers fiber arts and more. Dan and Charlotte Hayer out of Choctaw, Oklahoma, run the Laughing Rabbit Soap Company and make finely crafted handmade soaps and various products using fragrant herbs. Jerry and Judy Lovenstein are the owners of Grassy Creek Brooms from Mountain Home, AR, and make beautiful brooms, hand carved walking staffs, and copper dustpans. Marc Meng from Hungry Holler, out of Eucha, OK, creates beautiful hand carved wooden spoons and utensils made from woods that are a variety of colors.

There will be free entertainment at the bandstand with a variety of performers from country, pop, and gospel music on Saturday from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Monday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Any group or individual interested in singing on Saturday or Monday may call John Carethers at 479-846-1718 or 479-409-3552 and leave a message or e-mail john.carethers@edwardjones.com. Gospel music is the featured program on Sunday starting at 1 p.m., featuring Born Again and several other groups from the surrounding communities singing country / southern gospel music; any group or individual interested in singing on Sunday may call Marion Cowan at 479-846-3968 or e-mail omhealth@pgtc.com. Activities move to the amphitheater at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday as an evening of square dancing exhibitions with children ages 4 and older, showing their skills followed by the older children at 7 p.m. Everyone will dance again on Monday starting at 3:30 p.m., with the competition beginning at 7 p.m. Bring a lawn chair and enjoy the music and square dancing. Members of the Rustic Relics Club will display a variety of antique tractors and other farming equipment throughout the Fair with special demonstrations.

Hindman Hall museum will be open daily from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., free of charge throughout the festival. The museum features a diorama of the battlefield, and historical artifacts from the battle. There is a $5.00 fee for parking in the State Park each day, with a portion of the fee supporting the Big House Youth Outreach organization located in Prairie Grove. Everyone is welcome to come participate in this great event.

For more information: Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, 506 E. Douglas Street, Prairie Grove, AR 72753; or call (479) 846-2990; e-mail prairiegrove@arkansas.com. Check us out on the web at http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/prairiegrovebattlefield for information about the Battlefield Park and other Arkansas State Park locations and a full list of park events.

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