Elizabeth King, ABR,CRS

On November 6, 2010, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes will be hosting it's 3rd annual River Valley Run. This year a 5K, 10K,

half marathon, and a half marathon relay will be offered. The runs will begin at Fort Chaffee at 8:00am. It isn't too late to get registered.

ENTRY FEES:
5K - $25
($35.00 after October 15, 2010)

10K - $25.00
($35.00 after October 15, 2010)

Half Marathon - $40
($55.00 after October 15, 2010)

HM 2 person relay - $30 each ($60 per team)
($40 each after October 15, 2010)

PACKET INFORMATION:
This year the packet will include a shirt for the first 350 paid runners along with your goody bag. After 10-15-2010, sizes are not guaranteed.

Packets may be picked up at Gellco Outdoors, 4600 So. Zero, Fort Smith, Friday, November 5 from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m.

For more information contact Jane Plummer at jplummer@fca.org or call 479-649-8815.

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!

As you all know, Easter is quickly approaching once again and spring has sprung in the River Valley. In order to celebrate the Easter holiday and the arrival of spring, a variety of Easter activities will be available for the citizens of Fort Smith in the upcoming days.

Here is a list of some of the activities in this area:

•- Fianna Hills Nursing & Rehab Center Annual Community Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday, March 27 from 10 A.M. to 12 P.M.

Located at 8411 S. 28th in Ft. Smith

At 10 A.M. the Easter Bunny will arrive and be available for pictures with children. Boy Scouts from a local troop will be hiding over 500 eggs, and the hunt is scheduled to begin at 11 A.M. Everyone is invited to attend, children should bring their own baskets.

•- East Side Baptist Egg Hunt

Saturday, April 3^rd from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M.

Located at 2710 Massard in Ft. Smith

Lots of activities including carnival games, bounce around, pictures, refreshments, etc.

Easter Egg Hunt for different age groups beginning at 11 A.M.

•- KISR Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday, April 3^rd at 2 P.M.

Located at Creekmore Park in Fort Smith

Kids 0-9 can participate in the annual KISR 93 Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by Breathe Easier Together and Central Mall. Egg hunts by age group...more Easter eggs this year than ever before! Free to everyone!

Please enjoy and support these local activities this Easter! Happy Easter to Everyone!

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

The Fort Smith, Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, with the help Philip Merry and a host of volunteers from the community, successfully donned over 12,000 headstones at the Fort Smith National Cemetery with beautiful Christmas wreaths each featuring dark green leaves and a red bow. The idea was evidently a brain-child of the head of the Education and Quality of Place Committee for the Fort Smith Chamber of Comnmerce, Philip Merry. The understanding at the time of this writing is that Fort Smith is the only cemetery other than Arlington National Cemetery that is honoring its Veterans by putting the Christmas Wreaths on each of the headstones. There will be a candlelight vigil Monday, December 14, at 5:30 pm, for friends, family, and the community. Wreaths will remain until volunteers return January 10, 2010 to transport them to storage until the next holiday season. Many thanks to all those who made this event possible.