Sunshine Tucker To Attend People to People Program

Don Sharp
Receives Award

People to People Press Release

Sunshine Tucker of Cotter has been accepted into the People to People World Leadership program. She will join a select group of students in Washington, D.C., September 8-14, 2008 to earn high school credit while studying leadership and exploring some of the United States’ most prominent monuments and institutions.

From Capitol Hill to the Smithsonian, and from Colonial Williamsburg to the National Museum of American History, Tucker will examine the characteristics of American leadership during times of national challenge and prosperity.

Forum delegates will also participate in small-group discussions and exercises to experience first-hand how successful leaders develop strategies, make decisions, build consensus, and foster change.

Sunshine Tucker volunteering in the Teen Section at Baxter County Library

Tucker was nominated and accepted for the honor based on outstanding scholastic merit, civic involvement, and leadership potential.

The program is coordinated by People to People Student Leader Programs to fulfill the vision President Dwight D. Eisenhower had for fostering world citizenship when he founded People to People during his presidency in 1956. For additional information, please visit www.wlfleaders.org.

From the August 7, 2008 edition of the Baxter Bulletin

LITTLE ROCK — Cotter School Superintendent Don Sharp received an award from the Arkansas Activities Association for support of high school athletics and activities this week during the annual Arkansas Association of Education Administrators annual conference in Little Rock.

In addition, Sharp was elected to serve on the board of directors, representing District 3. The state is divided into four districts.

Last month, Sharp was elected vice president of the Arkansas Rural Education Association, which is made up of approximately 125 school districts. After his two-year stint as vice president, Sharp said he will serve as president of the association.

 Cotter Observatory

Have you missed news of the Cotter Observatory? Rick Wright, our local astronomer, advised the TCN that unreliable weather has made it difficult for him to publish a calendar.

If you are interested in viewing the night sky with Rick, visit his website (www.
cotterobservatory.learn.ac/calendar.html), and follow the directions there for contacting him. He will let you know when he anticipates setting up his telescopes.

Read about the pencil factory on page 4.

Cotter People: Peter Peitz

by Jerry Morris

Editor’s note: This is the first in a new series of Cotter citizen profiles. Send profile suggestions to P.O. Box 238, Cotter, AR  72626.

The path to Cotter for Peter Peitz began in 1937 in Munich, Germany, but meandered through some of the most interesting places on the globe. Born into a sophisticated, industrial family, Peter was educated in gymnasium (Germany’s name for schools) and in a Benedictine Monastery, a most thorough, strict, and demanding regimen for educating youth.

Peter was the third of six children. His father, he relates, was the most influential person in his life, but he was blessed by having a very strong mother who also had a significant impact on him.

The conditions in the world at the time led Peter’s father to believe that, in addition to an academic education (which all six children achieved), each should also have a trade on which to rely if the need arose. When Peter was seventeen, he found a letter from his father on his night stand establishing a plan for him. He was to go to Genève, learn the French language, and a trade.

The trade Peter chose was tailoring because his family had been in the textile and apparel business for longer than a century. This trade led him to London, where he plied his wares on Seville Row, just about the most exclusive place on Earth for high fashion in terms of the men's textile industry. His goals were to learn English and continue his academic education.

His next move was to New York City, where Peter entered New York University (NYU), known for having one of the best textile/apparel curriculums anywhere. Upon graduation, Peter had completed his formal and technical education. His early success in New York, which familiarized 

him with many places in the U.S. and Europe, motivated him to remain in this country rather than return to Germany, where tradition sometimes requires one to wait 20 or 30 years for the kind of success he was already enjoying.

Circumstances, notoriety, and events played a huge role in Peter’s life, as they do for everyone. In his case, his employer's prominent reputation in the textile world came to the attention of the head of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, Winthrop Rockefeller. Rockefeller arranged a meeting with Peter, who was then Vice President of his firm. Rockefeller persuaded him to come to our state in 1963, and asked him to consider starting a manufacturing business. In 1964, Peter bought a factory for his employer in Beebe and built another in Batesville.

After Winthrop Rockefeller became Governor, he asked Peter and about 200 others to volunteer time to propel the state forward. Peter was asked to organize the manufacturing systems of the state prison industries, as well as work with the Arkansas Industrial Development Corporation to promote the industrial development

development of Arkansas internationally. This work continued during Governor Bill Clinton's time.

In his travel and work with Governor Rockefeller and the AIDC, Peter encountered James Gaston, one of Baxter County’s most prominent citizens, who, one suspects, influenced Peter to look seriously at our area as a residence. Fortunately, Peter found Cotter, where he acquired the Gay Apparel Company.

This business manufactured institutional clothing, which fit Peter’s expertise and nature. He already had experience developing specialized clothing for people with spinal cord injuries. White River Industries, Inc. became the successor company to Gay Apparel. Peter created 401 programs for employees, and was fully aware of the importance of technology in his industries. White River Industries operated until 1997, when the firm's manufacturing ceased in Cotter, Gainesville, and Melbourne, and moved to the Far East.

Fortunately for us, this beginning kept Peter in Cotter. When I asked him why he stayed, he said, “The people here are spiritually oriented and this makes them and the area very attractive to me. I love the natural beauty of Cotter and the White River.”

Peter’s devotion to philanthropy led him to establish the Peitz Foundation. Endowments have provided funding for the Peitz Cancer Support House and a Nursing Education floor in the new Health Sciences Building at ASUMH. Peter and his wife, Jan, are generous toward many of the area’s foundations and activities.

The couple is also deeply involved in the “Branding Cotter” campaign, a multi-industry effort to promote Cotter as Trout Capital U.S.A.

All this leads us to claim that Peter Peitz is Cotter’s Citizen Extraordinaire.

by Deb Peterson

The Cotter City Council met July 24 to discuss:

Proposed Ordinance Change. Ordinance #2008-06 was passed, transferring administration of retirement coverage for eligible members of the Cotter Volunteer Fire Pension and Relief Fund to  the LOPFI and Fire Retirement System.

Youth Center. At the June meeting, Wanda Fielding requested a donation from the city for support of the Cotter Youth Center. The council voted to increase the city’s donation from $400/month to $450. The donation is a percentage of the city’s gas franchise. Mrs. Fielding thanked the council for its generosity.

Spring House Lease Agreement. The city has entered into a lease agreement with the Cotter Area Chamber of

Commerce for the Spring House in BigSpring Park. The Chamber is considering building a deck on the east side of the house, easily accessible to the park drive, where they will sell refreshments.

CVFD Architecture Contract.. The city has contracted with Denis Dunderdale to draw up the architectural plans for the new fire station.

Compliment. Mr. Lane Anderson of Mountain Home was on the agenda but was not present. Peggy Hammock reported that he intended to praise Jere Reagan, Cotter’s Park Superintendent, for the fine job he does taking care of Big Spring Park.

Bridge Vandalism. Mayor McNair reported that vandals tore many of the lights of the Rainbow Arch Bridge and took the light bulbs. Beth Harmon suggested asking citizens for help with funding. An

 independent group plans to raise funds to repair the strings and replace the bulbs.

The mayor believes Entergy will donate installation services. Watch for further info on this.Garbage Company Complaint. John DuBois mentioned that he has had continual problems with the garbage service breaking the wheels off his container. The mayor advised that he will discuss the matter with the service.

Overlook. Todd Harmon asked if the prisoners will be available this year to clear the brush from Hopkins Overlook on Harding. Mayor McNair reported that he has asked about the overlook and the river bank on 345, and was advised that the prison schedule is full for the remainder of the year due to storm damage. The city will try again next year.

Next Meeting. The next city council meeting will be held at city hall on Thursday, August 28, at 6 p.m.

Cotter High School Reunion: August 30

Chamber News

by Deb Peterson

The Cotter Area Chamber of Commerce met at the Brass Door on August 19 to discuss:

Spring House Lease. The chamber continues talks with the city about leasing the Spring House. Insurance is an issue. The plan is to have an agreement in place by January 1.

County Fair. Volunteers are needed to staff the chamber booth at the Baxter County Fair September 9-13. Contact Debbie Gamble to volunteer or to drop off promotional materials for and donations for the raffle basket.

Nominations. Volunteers are also needed to form a nominating committee to

select chamber officers for 2009. Contact Mo Mosley.

Farmer’s Market. Jane Flowers is looking for someone to be in charge of organizing the Cotter Farmer's Market, held Thursdays, 9-11 a.m., throughout the summer at the Big Spring park pavilion.

Wounded Warriors. Gary Flippin is organizing an outdoor activity program with the Wounded Warriors Project and would like the chamber to sponsor a breakfast for the vets prior to a float. The proposed event is October 26-29.

Branding Cotter. The billboard promoting Cotter and its website will rotate between Mountain Home, Harrison, and Batesville. Yelcot has agreed to donate $5,000 annually in exchange for banners on the Cotter website.

by Sandy White

The 31^st Annual Reunion of Alumni of Cotter Schools will be held on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, August 30, beginning at 1 p.m. The reunion will be held at the North Arkansas Youth Center, formerly the Cotter Warrior Gym. There will be a short memorial service at 2 p.m.

There will also be a dinner on Saturday at the Brass Door in Gassville at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for this dinner cost $15 per person and may be purchased at the reunion.

We would love for everyone to come to the reunion and celebrate our time at CHS. The Class of 1958 will celebrate their 50^th reunion this year, and the Class of 1978 celebrates their 30^th. We encourage anyone who attended CHS, regardless of their year of graduation, to come to the reunion.

The Cotter Warrior Foundation will have a table set up at the reunion for anyone interested in joining this organization, formed to help advance, enrich, and support education programs in our schools.

Cotter Farmer's Market

Thursdays
9 to 11 a.m.

Big Spring Park

Contributions are welcome, and include a listing in the newspaper and business card-sized ad on our website with a link to yours. Free one-page website, if needed, also available.

Trout Capital News Assn.
P. O. Box 238
Cotter, AR 72626
www.troutcapitalnews.com

Deadline for submissions is the last Thursday of each month. Send to deb@debpeterson.com

Spotlighting Cotter History: The Pencil Factory

 by Wanda Fielding

Cotter’s pencil factory was built circa 1909 by H.B. Griswold of Chicago. Its foundation can still be found near the White River along the road leading to Roundhouse Shoals Trout Dock.

The building seen in the background was the H.H. Gallop Wholesale House, know affectionately as The Big Red Store

Although always referred to as a pencil factory, Mr. Hubert Routzong, editor of The Cotter Record, qualified the claim on April 14, 1911, writing, "While the Griswold plant is called a pencil factory for want of a better name, it is not a pencil factory. No pencils are made at the factory. The plant is a sawmill for cutting cedar into pencil slats."

B.J. Lowry, in her book Cotter, Arkansas: The Story of a Small Town, gives the following accounts of life in Cotter when the factory was in operation:

Former Mayor Rex Bayless said, “one of the biggest things in Cotter was the cedar mill.” The mill made cedar boards and pencils. The pencils cost one cent. The factory was across the railroad tracks where the Cities Service bulk plant was located. A lot of local people worked there, both men and women.

Cedar logs used to be stacked from Miller’s Trout Dock (now Roundhouse Shoals Trout Dock) plum through the Cotter Spring area up above the railroad bridge in an entire circle. There was a cable across and up the river toward Promise Land and Oakland, where there were a lot of cedar trees. Workers cut the trees and floated them in rafts down to Cotter, where the cable stopped them. The logs were pulled out and stacked crosswise.

People came to Cotter for cedar posts for their farms from as far away as Iowa and Nebraska. The factory closed in the late 1920s, and today the pencils are collectibles.

In December, 1910, the Bulletin reported some excitement at the factory:

A very unusual incident occurred at the pencil factory at Cotter last Thursday, when one of their cut-off saws ripped into a purse, an old bearskin purse, in the heart of a cedar log….A shower of coins fell about the saw….Apparently a buckskin purse containing a number of gold coins bearing dates between 1850 and 1860 had been buried in the tree.

H.B. Griswold is reticent about the find and the story has gone the rounds until the exaggeration has made a snug fortune out of the treasure.

“Yes, there was some money found in that way at our mill,” Griswold said. “It wasn’t a fortune, however.”

He went on to surmise that the purse had been in the tree at least 40 years because the saw was eight inches into the log before reaching it.

Pencil Factory Employees in Company Truck

Circa 1918, the factory was sold to the Wallace Pencil Company of St. Louis, with F.C. Wiseman serving as the local manager. On January 11, 1926, the factory burned with all of the machinery and most of the inventory being a complete loss. While there were news reports as late as 1929 that the factory would be rebuilt, no further mention has been found of it in later newspapers.

The factory provided employment for up to twenty "boys and girls" for over a dozen years and sent Arkansas red cedar to pencil factories worldwide.