Volume II Number 8
Published by the City of Cotter,
Arkansas
Good things are happening in Cotter -- it's a great time to
be here!
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Storm Rips Through Cotter
March came roaring in not like a lion but more like the Big Bad Wolf huffing and puffing and blowing our houses down! Strong winds March 9th downed large trees and damaged many buildings. Most noticeably was the damage to the old Mason building, Ray Riley’s home, breaking out the picture windows and tearing the roof off. Many of the trees lost must have been over 100 yrs old like the Elm downed at the Hammocks on Melba St.
The Cotter Volunteer Fire Department’s
Chili Supper was as a
great success.
Thank you to all who helped, all who donated
items for auction and all who participated.
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Several years ago, the City Council approved an allocation of $7000 to develop a park on the corner of the McLean and Second Street. This property was donated to the City with that stipulation. Besides many hours of volunteer efforts, $2500 was spent on the landscaping bricks. Unfortunately, for various reasons, the project was halted and the property was returned to the donor. We needed to find a way to utilize these bricks and Mayor Mosley challenged the 2025 Committee to come up with a proposal. With input from citizens and landscape professionals, they recommended the utilization you now see taking shape in front of City Hall. In addition to the project, further improvements will be made on the McLean Avenue frontage. Since this was a carry-over of the original funding, the City Council approved $2200 to this project. We want this to be a community effort and we solicit volunteers and donations to complete the landscaping, planting of flowers and bushes, etc. Several folks from the garden clubs have come forward already! Won’t you please help? First impressions are so important as we attract visitors and new-comers to our city. A more attractive look to our City Hall is one step we can take. To volunteer, please call Sharon Peters at 435-5555 at any time. |
Literacy Council Volunteers The Twin Lakes Literacy Council is a group of volunteers who provide free tutoring in reading, writing and math to people in Baxter County. The council is working to expand services beyond Mountain Home--- so that tutors from Cotter can tutor people in the Cotter area. Can you help? As a Cotter Area Literacy Council volunteer, you might: § Provide
one-on-one tutoring in math or reading at the The Twin Lakes Literacy Council provides free training and materials for tutoring. Please call if you would like to help someone else or if you know of someone who needs a little help.
Twin Lakes Literacy Council
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Cotter Easter all ages will be held at the North Arkansas Youth Center in Cotter on Saturday, April 15 at 2:00 P.M.. Refreshments will be served after the hunt and there will be prizes for everyone. Donations and adult volunteers are needed. Please contact Tina Cooke at 435-2587 for details. |
The Raymond Sisters around 1935: |
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City-Wide Yard Sale Sign up to register at Riverbend Trading in Cotter. Maps will be available at Riverbend and on the steps of City Hall the morning of the sales. Only registered yard sales will be included on the map. The city –wide yard sale will be advertised in the Baxter Bulletin. Large Item Trash Pick-up Don't forget that the large item trash pick-up will be Monday, May 8th. IESI will not pick up your yard clippings, tires or hazardous waste items. Paint cans must be empty and the lids off. Any item that contained freon must have the gas removed and a tag showing it's removal. |
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Chamber Chatter By John Berry The March Chamber of Commerce meeting was very interesting with a good turnout and a lot of information presented. Peter Peitz, Chairman of the Marketing Committee, suggests we develop Cotter as a brand. He said that there are oranges and there is Sunkist. He suggests a two tiered approach. First, concentrate on our core business - fishing. All of the various fishing related businesses should band together and market under the Cotter name. One suggestion would be to develop an Anglers Guide to The Cotter Area, a brochure featuring a map of the White River with all of the accesses and fishing hot spots indicated and a listing of Guides, Outfitters, Lodging, Restaurants, Shopping, Fly Shops, etc. The second tier would be to market to artists and musicians to relocate to the Cotter area by creating an environment where they could make a living here. This could be done by organizing art shows and concerts in our town, both promoting the area and creating a venue where they could sell their art. We have already drawn several artists and musicians to the area and we would like to draw more. The artists and musicians could fix up some of the vacant properties and establish shops, galleries and homes. Cotter would benefit through economic growth and commercial development without changing the small town character of our city. Next, Iva Duggins presented the plans for the Cotter Area Chamber’s next big event, The Cotter Trash or Treasure Appraisal Fair. If you have something around your house you think may be valuable, this is your chance to find out for sure. Eight experts from various fields will be on hand to appraise your treasures. The cost of admission is five dollars and that allows you to have one item appraised. The appraisal fair will be held on April 29, 2006 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Cotter High School (pending approval from the school). Iva has also scheduled several seminars on various types of antiques you may attend while waiting for your appraisal. Our guest speaker was Denis Dunderdale, Chairman of the Cotter Zoning and Planning Commission. He explained how the Planning and Zoning Commission worked and invited the public to attend their meetings. Denis told us that the Zoning and Planning Commission has territorial jurisdiction on an area five miles upstream on the White river and two miles inland. People living in this area are required to have their projects reviewed. Next month’s meeting will be just as informative and important to the development of Cotter. Our speaker will be Peter Peitz. He will talk to us about the 2025 Committee.
Clothing Room The First Baptist Church of Cotter clothing room is open from 8:30 – 4:00 on Wednesdays. Your clothing donations are greatly appreciated. For information, call 435-6422. |
Mark your
calendar now and make your plans to attend! The Cotter Area
Chamber Of Commerce is proud to announce that it will hold
its premier event, the Fourth Annual Great Cotter Trout
Festival, on Saturday May 13, 2006. The event will take
place in Big Spring Park in Cotter Arkansas, Trout Capital
USA, in the shadow of Cotter’s recently restored historic
Ruthven Bridge. It all begins at 9:00AM.
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4th
Annual 
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Glad Garden
Club Members Win at The Glad Garden
Club was represented at the recent Arkansas State Flower
Show in Little Rock by three members who displayed designs
and horticulture.
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4th
Annual Rummage Sale! The Cotter/Gassville Rural FPD Auxiliary needs items for it’s 4th annual rummage sale to be held on Saturday, May 6, 2006. Household items, tools, furniture, etc., etc., etc., must be delivered by Monday, May 1, 2006 to the firehouse off Denton Ferry Road and the Wildcat Shoals river access. If unable to deliver, contact Dale at 430-5462 for pick-up. Please NO clothing and NO electronics. A special area with new crafted items donated by talented auxiliary members will also be available for sale. Monies raised will go toward a much needed brush truck for the district. For more information call Mickey at 430-5799 or Diane at 430-5816.
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Mayor’s
Corner
By Mo Mosley
Friend and former Council Member Peggy Dunn paid a visit to Cotter last week. She seems to be doing well and even though a lot of us tried she wasn’t talked in to moving back, but it may be on her mind.
At the last City Council meeting one of the Council Representatives from Ward Two brought a petition that has been at the Snappy Mart for awhile and ask that it be read at the meeting. It was read. There is nothing addressed in the “petition” that does not have a valid answer that could have been answered at any time. Any thing in the “petition” can still get an answer by stopping by City Hall and seeing me. Petitions are a legal right of all US Citizens and should be used at any time, be they verified legal or just off the cuff.
Supreme Boat Manufactures held their annual Trout Tournament last Saturday and had a good turn out. I was under the weather and did not get down there and still have not talked to Al to see who won the tournament and the boat. The event always brings a lot of fisherman to town and they always have a good time. I was living in Michigan when Al had his first tournament. I came down with a friend, it snowed and we nearly froze. It was colder here than it was in Michigan.
Early spring flowers are in bloom and hopefully warm weather is upon us. The City Crew is in the process of preparing the area in front of City Hall and the city shop for a project that will use up the cement blocks that were brought to use in the defunct park at the corner of 2nd and Mc Clean. The plans look good and it will improve the looks of the area.
The developers of the Denton Ferry Park were at the last Planning and Zoning Commission meeting and received permission to start with construction of two model homes before all the infrastructure is complete. This will allow them to have models to show as soon as streets, water, sewer, and electricity work has been completed. We welcome this addition to Cotter.
In the very near future the city garden plot will be plowed and the plots will be divided so gardens can be planted. The location of plots will be made available as soon as the plowing has been done. They will be available for planting by the 15th of April. Stop by City Hall to sign up.
In next months TCN we will have a feature story of the employee’s of the City of Cotter. They are a great group of people and we are fortunate to have them serving the City.
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Sponsor of the Month
George Lanning is licensed to keep any water system within state and federal safety requirements. He is contracted to state parks and available to provide service for your water system needs from private well to mobile home park systems to commercial needs.
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Coming Events
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This newsletter is published monthly by the City of Cotter and focuses on organized activities. It is edited by Mo & Theresa Mosley and Tina Berry. It is printed by Good Impressions Printing. It is also published electronically at www.troutcapitalnews.com. If you have information to contribute, please e‑mail it to Tina Berry at smberry13@hotmail.com, drop it by City Hall, or mail it to PO Box 9, Cotter, AR 72626.