Trout Capital News, Cotter, Arkansas, July 2006

After just a little labor and some TLC, the Cotter garden plots are bearing their first fruits. In the spring, the city crew plowed up the unused lots near the over flow parking area across from the Spring House. They divided it into 17 seven-foot wide allotments and installed a water spigot. Of the 17 allotments, Cotter gardeners only signed-up to use 5 sections this year. Wayne Morris, Quinn and Tina Berry, Cathy Wilhelm and I have been working diligently to make the city garden a success.

My garden plot, number 3, looks a little puny next to my neighbors’, yet it is the best garden I’ve ever had. Even though I had a late start planting, I am already harvesting yellow squash, zucchini, okra, and jalepeño and banana peppers. My family and neighbors are starting to run and hide when they see me carrying my basket of squash. Just wait until the tomatoes ripen! With the long Arkansas growing season, it is not too late to start a garden of your own - just sign up at City Hall. Those who work a plot this year will have dibs on their same plot for next year.

On a moonless night in Cotter, sitting in a corner of my yard, shaded from direct street lighting, I see a darker sky and more stars than I have experienced since I was a teenager growing up in Batesville. With the exception of the Wal-Mart, there are no strong sources of light in Flippin and the combined light from Flippin, Cotter and Gassville isn’t enough to create much backscatter from the atmospheric haze above us.

Trees block forty percent of my back yard sky, but I have access to most of the meridian, the north-south line that goes overhead. I have built a small astronomical observatory behind the house - nothing more than a cubical weather enclosure on wheels that roll on a metal track. It is only for protecting the clock driven mounting which has to stay outdoors. There are three different telescopes that fit on this aligned and locked down mounting. They are kept indoors until needed. To use the observatory, the enclosure doors are opened and the cube is rolled away on its track. After an appropriate counterweight is fastened to the declination shaft, one of the three telescopes is then attached using two bolts, washers and wing nuts. The process takes less than five minutes. I want to call this thing “Cotter Observatory,” but my wife and several neighbors have already named it “Rick’s Doghouse” (and I don’t even have a dog!).

For 31 years I was a chemistry professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University also teaching astronomy. The recent spring 2006 semester was offered as an internet-based course. I provided the students with a set of labs and reading assignments from Michael Seeds textbook, “Horizons.” They submitted reports by e-mail and were tested periodically. Here I was, 400 miles from Durant, OK with a class of 41 students. Most of them were in the Oklahoma and Dallas/Fort Worth Texas areas, but there was also a GI in

Iraq

and a student in Sydney Australia. I prefer to teach in regular classrooms taking students out under the stars to do the labs. I’ve asked ASUMH to consider adding such a course to their offerings - it is a good way to teach critical thinking and basic physical science concepts.

So lacking local students, what will I be doing with this little observatory? I plan to use the ten inch Newtonian to patrol for meteoroid impacts on the moon. Meteors make luminous streaks across Earth’s skies, but as there is no air on the moon; you just get a flash of light where the meteoroid strikes the surface. The moon’s dark side (best seen between a new moon and first quarter) is recorded on videotape using a special CCD video camera. The recorder accommodates audio time signals from short wave radio station WWV (National Bureau of Standards and Technology). Particular attention will be focused on periods when the Earth-moon system is in a meteor shower (like the August Perseids). My instruments can detect strikes of space debris in the one-pound range. A meteoroid with kinetic energy comparable to the Hiroshima bomb hits the moon every 20-30 years. What a catch that would be!

Check out the new antique shop located across the street from the Post Office. Though the Grand Opening date is not yet set, Nettie Tipton, owner, opened Linger Longer Cottage – Antiques and More on June 15.

The Tiptons are “locals”. Nettie was born and raised in Buffalo (before it was named Buffalo City) and her husband, Dale was born in Mountain Home. Most of their lives they have lived in the area. Nettie has always been attracted to the special look of a small old town and to the antique furniture that makes one feel part of the history. Over the past 35 years, Nettie has collected antique furnishings for her own use. She loves the surprises she finds when she cleans an old piece bringing out its hidden beauty. Occasionally she would have to sell a piece to make room for a new acquisition.

For years she has been urging Dale to move to Cotter because it has “quite a history” of its own. Finally, just over two years ago, her dream came true when they moved into the house on the bluff which once belonged to Bessie Daffron. Dale’s mother was born right here in Cotter so they have now come full circle.

The location Nettie chose for her antique store has been recognized for its own historical significance. The building, once owned by the Missouri-Pacific, was the Barber Shop in 1904 as noted by the plaque provided by the Saturday Club.

Dale and Nettie have two sons. Nettie says for some unexplained reason her son, Steve, started calling his own infant son his “linger longer boy”. That has such a sweet ring to it, she decided to adopt it for the name of her store. Linger Longer Cottage is Nettie’s first experience owing and running a store. Nettie focuses on furniture and original art work. Like stepping into someone’s home, you will find Linger Longer Cottage is warm and inviting. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm (or by appointment).

Congratulations to Cotter students and art teachers for their successful participation in the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Arkansas (GFWCA) art contest. Saturday Club of Cotter, a member of GFWCA, annually sponsors a local contest. First place winners of the Grade School art contest and the Ten Penny art contests are then entered into the Harrison District GFWCA competition. Schools in Cotter, Harrison and Mountain Home participate in the district contests. First place winners of the Ten Penny contests advance to state competition.

Cotter Elementary School art students are shown with their winning entries. Winners in the competitions grade K-6 are (first row from l.) Klayton Killian (6^thgr), Cameron Ross (4^th gr), Blade Harris (K), Trinton Shumaker (1^st), Karissa Adams (2^nd); (second row) Lisa Crews, art teacher, Tanisha Daniel (5^th), Brandee Cantrell (6^th), and Aaran Allen (6^th). Not pictured is Catherine Hammond (3^rd).

Cotter Junior and Senior High School art students are pictured showing their winning entries in the Saturday Club of Cotter and the GFWCA district art competitions. Winners are (l. to r.) Brianna Reed 1^st for paint in 9^th and 10^th, Lacey Rhoads 1^st in paint in 11^th and 12^th, Kyle Farmer 2^nd in Saturday Club drawing, Alyssa Killian 2^nd in 8^th grade district, Jessamyn Reed 1^st in 8^th grade district, Niki Tudor 2^nd in 7^th district, and Devin Glueck, art teacher. Not shown is Jacklyn Kasinger 2^nd in district drawing.

We of the Saturday Club are proud of our students and appreciate the school’s cooperation in encouraging student creativity.

We hope you enjoy another article in our series celebrating life times and memories of growing up in Cotter.

On a recent summer afternoon the Monument to the Hopkins Family at Hopkins Overlook was dedicated. The family was represented by several family members and there was a gathering of local citizens as well.

C.E. Hopkins came to Cotter in 1902 by stagecoach. He began working in the hardware store which he later purchased along with the lumberyard. When he had his finances secured he returned to Thayer Missouri, where he married his wife Laura. They moved to Cotter by train in 1905.

C.E. was active in the community all his life and owned several businesses…The Happy Home Builder, Cotter Courier, Cotter Realty, Hopkins Theater, and the Bank of Cotter. He prided himself in the fact that during the depression all his customers recovered all of the money they had in his bank. A lot of that money was covered by C.E. himself by selling stocks and other investments. Marilyn Morris still has a few checks from the old bank.

C.E. and Laura had daughters Edith Fay and Katherine, Edith Fay died in childbirth in 1925. Katherine was born in 1908 and was a pillar of the Cotter Community and all of Baxter County for many years. Among the many achievements in her life, Katherine was the first “Miss Baxter County” in 1933 and a graduate of Columbia University. She lived her entire life at Hopkinswoode, which is now a Bed and Breakfast owned by Jerry and Marilyn.

She married Herbert Pitman in 1933. Their youngest daughter, Marilyn, married Jerry Morris. Katherine was interested in what was going on and was always eager to meet new people.

I first met Katherine at a Pancake Breakfast put on by the Cotter Care Crew. We had not moved here yet, but had bought the house we live in now. We were seated next to Mrs. Pitman. Before breakfast was done we knew her and she us. She told us who built our house, and when, and who had lived in it prior to us.

This family is a center post in the founding and continuance of this Beautiful Town on the White River.

Please Note

We will continue to enforce City Ordinances that are on the books. If there is an Ordinance that you believe is unjust or unnecessary, please come talk to the Mayor at City Hall or mention it to your Councilman. If you find neither of these options satisfactory, come to City Hall and request time on the Agenda for the next City Council Meeting so that you can express your views directly to the Council and the city.

As we put together this edition of the Trout Capital News on July 4^th, we note that we do it on another historical date. Last month we finished the paper on Memorial Day weekend. A lot of American history and tradition has been celebrated in a little over a month.

On the Fourth of July, we pause to remember and celebrate the values of liberty and justice that make our country great, and to be thankful for the remarkable freedoms that we enjoy in the

United States of America

The significance of this day has inspired speeches, literary works, and musical compositions. It is also an opportunity for each of us to ponder the meaning of our nation's heritage and to celebrate it in our own unique way.

Let’s take time to think of and thank all those who have served our country when called. Of course those who paid the ultimate price are at the top of the list. Let’s not forget the person who may live next door, who went, did what he was called to do, returned and fit back into society as a productive citizen in this great country. He or she deserves a lot of your thanks and respect. We should also remain grateful to those who went, did the job but have not been able to return to a life as a productive citizen. These warriors, who can not cope because of physical or mental crippling, need and deserve our support for as long as it takes.

We are also reminded that these freedoms we hold dear are also protected by our Law Enforcement Officers here at home. State Troopers, Sheriff’s Officers and the Local Law Enforcement officers are all on the side of “Protect and Serve.” Let’s take the opportunity to say Thank You when you see an officer on the street.

This is also a time to reminisce about 4th of July celebrations from our life time. From when you were a kid and Uncle Bob won the watermelon seed spitting contest and then followed it up with a shot to Aunt Frieda’s hat. Or the time that the adult men were cooking the dogs and hamburgers, and by the time they got the fire out you were thankful that your Mom had put some peanut butter and jelly in the basket. It was your first time to discover buns were good with PB&J. Or the time you took your first girl friend to a family 4^th celebration, only to find out what jerks all the adult men were and how the adult women all hover over pretty young girls. Remember also the times that it all went just right and love was evident everywhere.

The Cotter Volunteer Fire Department hosted a weekend Rough Terrain Rescue training class on Saturday and Sunday, June 24th and 25th. On Saturday the participants repelled down the bluff off Harding Boulevard, and on Sunday they practiced ascending in front of the fire station. This was the second of four weekend training sessions in which approximately 30 area fire fighters are receiving training in repelling, ascending, descending and all of the basic rope use for rough terrain rescue. Seven members of the Cotter Volunteer Fire Department are receiving the training. They are: Assistant Chief John Bell, Bob Ashlock, Leslie Kunefke, Dan Mouritsen, Roger Olney, Geirl Rowe, and Scott Staton.

The fire department recently purchased all necessary equipment to do rough terrain rescue. The third weekend of training will be at Calico Rock on July 8th and 9th and will include night time descending and rescue techniques.

We are lucky to have such dedicated volunteers on our local department. Our thanks go out to them for taking so many of their weekends recently to receive this training.

Sponsor of the Month

Nettie Tipton

Linger Longer Cottage –

Antiques and More

Coming Events

Jul 15             Saturday Club                         2:00 pm Spring House   (workshop – casual clothes)
Jul 17             Book Club                                2:00 pm Gassville Library
                                                                            (July’s selection: Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell)
Jul 18             Chamber of Commerce        8:00 am   White Sands
Jul 27             City Council Mtg                     6:00 pm   City Hall

We thank all our sponsors, commercial and private, who make this paper possible and we thank all those who provide articles and other information of interest.

We ask all Cotter businesses and organizations to please help support the
Trout Capital News by contacting Tina Berry, 435-5577
or mail sponsorship form to Tina at 102 Combs, Cotter AR 72626

Trout Capital News Sponsor

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Sponsorship: r $100 for a year (12 issues) r $60 for 6 months (6 issues)
r$10 for 1 month (1 issue) r Check if attaching a Business Card or Picture

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