A&P funds four events for residents, area to enjoy

The Forrest City Advertising and Promotion Commission recently voted to fund four events– three returning and one new – in Forrest City this year. The requests for support included the annual Run for the Wall, the Delta Jubulaires Gospel Singing event and the July Fireworks Show. The new event is the F.C. Music and Art Fest. Commissioners Angela Towner and Louise Fields were absent. The Run For The Wall is scheduled to be held at Ridgewood Baptist Church on May 17. The church, which feeds and houses the group, requested $5,000 to feed the veterans who are expected to be in attendance. "Run For The Wall is a journey from California to Washington D.C., by motorcycle that began in 1989," wrote Larry Jones, a member of Ridgewood Baptist Church who presented the request for funding. "This is designated to bring awareness of prisoners of war and those killed in action and to help Vietnam Veterans with their welcome home. "These funds will be used to purchase and prepare the food to be served," continued Jones. Forrest City A&P Commission Chair Justin Reeves noted that after discussions about the budget the group needs to pay more attention to what projects should receive funding and what projects should see some cuts. "We are going to have to start looking at these requests a lot closer as we went a little over in our budget last year. We are trying to stay in the budget this year,” said Reeves. “This Run For The Wall event is an event that we have funded for many years and this year. These riders each eat at the church, but some will eat at our restaurants and stay in our hotels,” he said. The Run for the Wall event funding was unanimously approved. The group also received a request for funding from Nancy Butler for the 78th Anniversary Celebration of the Delta Jubulaires, set for July 26 at the Forrest City Civic Center. Butler requested $14,900. According to Reeves, the group received half of their requested $7,000 in 2025, however, this is an event that the A&P has funded for a long time. "This is another long-time event the A&P has helped to fund over the past several years," said Reeves. "They started getting A&P funds several years ago. The budget we have, it looks like their budget has doubled. I think last year, we gave her half of her requested amount of $7,000. It is up significantly. I do know that a large portion of our special event funding goes to gospel events. I think we are up to, I think, four or five a year. We have Mile's (Kimble) thing, this from Nancy Burton, the Chief of Police did one for Juneteenth last year. We had a couple more requests last year. Mrs. Judy (Sweet), did you say you were thinking half?" "We gave them half of their request last year and it will still go up, but not near as much," said Sweet. "I make that in the form of a motion. That would be $7,500." The group unanimously decided to give the organization $7,500 of the total $14,900 requested. Commissioners also received a request from the Forrest City Downtown Revitalization Project to bring back an event that hasn't been held in several years, in the form of a Music and Arts festival. According to the request for support, the scheduled date for the event is May 16. It will be held on Front Street, between the intersection of Rosser and Washington Streets, and east to the St. Francis County Museum. Reeves said the organization requested a total of $11,000, but he was not making a suggestion to the board as to what should be done. "It says on the request that it is not a new event, but we just haven't had it in several years. They are asking for $11,000 for this event. I would like to fund this event, but again, we have to cut on special funding. I don't have a suggestion." "I am saying cut it in half," said Sweet. "I am taking it seriously that we went over budget last year. If we are going to cut one in half, we don't need to fully fund another event like that." Reeves agreed that it is a good idea to stay fair across the board, profit or not, and that he would take the heat for cutting the requested amount. "In saying cutting in half, some of these are for-profit," said Reeves. "If we go back to the Delta Jubulaires, Nancy Burton is making $3,000. If they are making any profit, I don't feel as bad about saying no. You are right though. We have to be fair across the board. I'll take the heat on this one." The commission voted in favor of funding $6,000 of the requested $11,000. Reeves told commissioners that they also had a request from the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce to consider for the annual fireworks show held around Independence Day. "Last year we did not use all of our requested funds. This year, they are requesting $35,000 for the fireworks show. As these events get higher and higher, we have an offer for this that if we pre order, we will get a 20% discount,” he said. The group unanimously voted in favor of fully funding the fireworks show.

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