Fort Smith, AR

Dec. 9th 2011, 9am-3pm Fort Smith, AR convention Center to prepare 13,000 wreaths for National Cemetery. Everyone is welcome, Dec 10th, 2011 9am Families Only, 10 am Public to lay wreaths on gravesites at Fort Smith, Arkansas National Cemetery..A small way to honor Our Heros.. never Forgotten..

http://gis.fortsmithar.gov/maps.html

Forty Three local eatery's participated in the 23rd annual Taste of Fort Smith. For a nominal $15 entrancee fee, attendees could eat themselves silly at any and all of the restaurants, bakeries, and caterers. The selection of purveyors ranged from long time Fort Smith favorites like Rolondo's, Harps, and Sweet Bay, to relative newcomers Cara's, Imajerk Barbeque, and Sweet Boutique.

Sponsored by Fort Smith's Altrusa International chapter, the $15 entrance fee went to several local charitable organizations such as Literacy Council of Western Arkansas, Crawford County Volunteers for Literacy, Fort Smith Public Library, Next Step Day Room, CASA of Crawford County and Community Dental Clinic. Hoping to raise $20,000 this year, Altrusa has given back to local community organizations over $277,000 since 1987.

Make sure that you check out Taste of Fort Smith next year. You, and your stomach, will be glad that you did!

Thorough discussion is currently underway among the city directors, other city officials, and the citizens of Fort Smith regarding the possible future development of the riverfront area along the bank of the Arkansas River in Downtown Fort Smith. No other city of our size in the country has as much undeveloped riverfront area as Fort Smith, and some key city players think that should change.

Perhaps the most notable item included in the riverfront development plan that was pitched and pushed by consultants last December is a $20 million baseball stadium that would host independent league games as well as some local high school and college games. In addition to the baseball stadium, the development would also include other attractions such as a "boutique" hotel , condos, and a retirement community. Retail and office space would also be available to businesses.

On the other side of town, ideas and plans have been researched that couple potentially result in the construction of a water park within the boundaries of Ben Geren Regional Park on the east side of Fort Smith. Two design plans were proposed to the city directors, the cheaper of which is a $4.75 million project, and the more ambitious of the two plans involves a $7.5 million project. Either of the proposed plans would be a great addition to Fort Smith and would draw many patrons from the surrounding communities.

Both of these proposed projects will create many new jobs, most of which would be at the riverfront which can create as many as 350 if completed. These projects, even in the early stages of planning, should be very exciting to all citizens of Fort Smith.

For more information on these projects, check out the following links:

http://www.thecitywire.com/index.php?q=node/7991

http://www.thecitywire.com/?q=node/7410