Hubert and Eloise Routzong

On May 20^th members of the Routzong, Coffee families and friends gathered on the bluff above the Big Spring in Cotter to dedicate a “retreat bench” in memory of Colonel Hubert Joseph Routzong and his wife, Eloise Coffee Routzong. The bench was given to benefit the hometown of Hubert and Eloise, who lived in Cotter from early childhood until graduation from Cotter High School in 1936. 

Childhood sweethearts, Eloise was the valedictorian of Cotter High in 1936 and Hubert was the captain of the football, track and baseball teams. Eloise spent the war years as the executive secretary to the Corps of Engineers at the Norfork Dam.  Hubert graduated from Arkansas Tech and entered the U. S. Army Air Corps, where he became an officer and combat pilot. They married in 1946 and raised 3 children, Rita Routzong Wood, Michael Joseph Routzong.  and James Gregory Routzong.  Smith’s Beach on

Virginia’s Eastern Shore was their retirement home, but every summer contained a much loved trip to Cotter and visit to Eloise’s mother Mrs. Minnie Coffee and sister, Mrs. Leola Coffee Gilliland.

The Coffee and Routzong families share rich traditions in the Cotter and Gassville areas.  The Coffee Family, lead by Colonel James Calton Coffee and his son, Lt. James Alexander Coffee, settled in Gassville in 1869, arriving in two wagon trains. Colonel Coffee owned the first cotton gin in the county.  He was also Justice of the Peace, and helped establish the route for the road from Gassville to Mountain Home. 

The Routzong Family arrived by boat from Missouri in 1906.  Hubert D (no period) Routzong bought the Cotter Courier and renamed it the Cotter Record in 1906-1907.  H. D was the owner and editor of the Cotter Record until his death in October 1932.

Among the attendees of the ceremony were four generations of family. These included a sister, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces.  Multiple long time friends of both Hubert and Eloise also helped mark the occasion. Attendees traveled from as far away as Houston, Texas and the Eastern Shore of Virginia.  

It is the wish of the Routzong Family that the bench become a place of comfort and rest to all who are fortunate enough to live or visit the place beloved by all generations of the family.

Cotter Flippin –
one would think the town was named after him.

Cotter Flippin Visit

     On May 10, 2006 a young man named Cotter Flippin visited Cotter, Arkansas. He was given a full scale tour of our town. He drove a caboose at the Railroad Memorial, had a little fun in the White River and finished with a tour of City Hall. Here is a picture of him departing City Hall, where he was in charge for awhile. Cotter is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Jamie Flippin.
 

Saturday Club of Cotter
Elects New Officers

     Wanda Fielding (left) served as Master of Ceremonies for the installation on new officers (from left to right): Sharon Peters, President; Marilyn Morris, Vice President; Margaret Stammer, Secretary; and Helen Lacefield, Treasurer.

Cotter students with work in “Kids to Space: A Space Traveler’s Guide” are: (back row l. to r.) Caitlin Dewey, Victoria Hyde, Nikki Tudor, Joshua Boyd, Kaleigh Hammack and teacher Janet Towery;  (front row) Haley Stinnett, Brenna Grayham, Shannon Thorne, Trevor Rhoads and John Shelton. Not available for picture: Travis Greenwald, Dusty Rosiere, Bradley Toth.

Cotter Students Work Selected to be Part of Book

Thirteen Cotter 7^th grade students are published space illustrators.  Last year, the students were asked to contribute to author Lonnie Jones Schorer’s book “kids to Space: A Space Traveler’s Guide.” The book is based on an imaginary trip to space and is a collection of children’s questions about traveling in space.

Students ages 3 to 19 submitted items for the book, which went on sale May 12 in bookstores. Six thousand entries were received from 99 schools across the country, and many entries from Cotter were selected to be part of the space project.

Two illustrations by Cotter students Kaleigh Hammack and Victoria Hyde were chosen to be in the book. The remaining 11 students’ work is on a CD that accompanies the book. Each illustration is identified with the student’s name, age and state.

Word Search… Cotter Style!

     The hidden word found by rearranging the 8 unused letters in last month’s word search puzzle was “Festival”.  We hope you had fun searching it out!

Full solution
 

CVFD  Auxiliary Presents Check

 Sue Whittington of the Cotter Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary presents a $10,000.00 check to Fire Chief Jim Whittington (center) and Police Chief Joe Robison. The money was raised at the Chili Supper/Auction along with other money the Auxiliary had accumulated. The check was deposited to a new account designated to finance a new Fire/Police Building in the future.