By JOEL PHELPS | The Arkadelphian

Oh, Facebook. Where would we be without you? Likely well rested, in tune with reality and actually talking to and “liking” each other. We view it as a necessary evil, a way to share our articles with a broad audience of news-hungry readers in a media desert otherwise void of trustworthy information unless, of course, you’re still among those who buy a local newspaper (and bless those people!). Here’s an excerpt from our friends in Magnolia regarding online news publications versus Facebook:

We couldn’t agree more with Mike McNeill’s stance. Just plug in different names and statistics and you have the same scenario with your local news organization. So when your organization or club is posting to Facebook, remember we’re reaching a large and growing audience (1.1 million website views in 2022). Is your business moving or running a sale? Run an ad! We’ve got weekly and monthly rates available. Just email ads@arkadelphian.com or call 501-762-6135. Help us help you.

Case in point: It’s great to hear that the decades-old annual Chili Supper at Perritt Primary School is making its return this year following a recess during the Covid years. This is the kind of good news we love sharing with the community, and we thank PTC president Christa Neal for using The Arkadelphian as a way to help get the word out. We encourage more organizations to follow suit. Until we iron out our user-friendly events page complete with a submission form, just email editor@arkadelphian.com with the details of your event or announcement you’d like to share.

Last year we started posting a series titled “Week in Clark County History” in which we skim the front-page articles of the now-defunct Siftings Herald archives housed at OBU’s Riley-Hickingbotham Library. It’s a time-consuming venture, but one we enjoy and one that gives us ideas on what we’d like this news site to become. In this week’s History we shared an excerpt of a 1993 article about the popularity of the Elvis Presley stamps. To our delight we received a Facebook comment from Diane Pruitt, who shared with us that she still has some of the stamps her late husband purchased that day (he was among the few who got there early and waited in line before the post office sold out). Leaving the library, we received a phone call from Jason Jones, who oversees the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship, wanting to share with us some good news about retention rates among the AHS Class of 2021. These are the very types of announcements we wish could fill The Arkadelphian website. 

Two big events are coming up next week. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, a groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the site of what will become the new Peake Elementary School campus. Also, from 9-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, there will be an open house at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers visitor center on Skyline Drive to celebrate the 50th anniversary of DeGray Lake.

Joel Phelps is publisher and editor of The Arkadelphian. Any opinions in Bits & Pieces are his own. Email Phelps at editor@arkadelphian.com or call him at 501-304-2134.