Usually I read old issues of the Eureka Springs Times-Echo to get a glimpse of our town’s past and generally I write about events from before my birth. This week is different, as March 5, 1985, doesn’t seem all that long ago.
And it isn’t the Times-Echo I have spread before me, but the inaugural issue of the Eureka & North Arkansas Journal, published and edited by Mary Stockslager. It says a group of spectators applauded when Jim Abbott hung the Journal sign above the door to the newspaper’s offices at the junction of Spring and Main. Other newspaper staff listed are Business Manager Bob Holley and Office Manager Jolene Dunn.
The first letters to the editor are all of a congratulatory nature. Those wishing the Eureka & North Arkansas Journal the best of luck are Mayor Don Thurman, John F. Cross, Thomas H. Dees, Rex A. Gustin, Dave Drennon and Bob Purvis. Wheeler Printing has a big ad in the newspaper giving congratulations, also.
In political news, Jerry Ferguson, Ken Smith, Jack Tuttle and Pat Thurman were running for positions on the Eureka Springs School Board.
At the city council meeting, Louise Mesa presented a proposal on how to “combat the city-wide problem of trash” to Aldermen Chris Bonewitz, Bill Featherstone, Sam Reeves, Al Westphal, Randy Wolfinbarger and David Zimmermann.
Nearby in the town of Beaver, the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology was investigating possible gasoline in five wells and in the Beaver Spring. According to long-time resident Dewey French, it had been a problem since 1973.
More than anything else, it is the advertisements in the Eureka & North Arkansas Journal that transport me back to my youth. Tastee Freeze was taking applications and the Eureka Flower Shop was located back at 67 Kingshighway. Builders Supply, Greenlee Pearson Funeral Home and E & E Steakhouse were all still in business.
I remember reading the Eureka & North Arkansas Journal while in high school, but it must have ceased publication while I was away. If you know what happened, please tell me at steve@steveweems.com or P.O. Box 43 in Eureka Springs.