We recently inherited an old aluminum jon boat from our father-in-law, the late Bill Scrimshire, a career politician from Malvern who once called Arkadelphia home. We aim to improve the boat and use it on local waterways soon. It’s a 1970s model Ouachita that was manufactured here in Arkadelphia. Ouachita Marine Corporation operated from its North 10th Street facility from the 1950s until the early 1980s. The plant would continue to be used by another boat manufacturing company, the Minnesota-based Alumacraft, which took interest in the local workforce of skilled aluminum welders. Alumacraft ceased local operations in 2020. Back to our boat: After replacing flat trailer tires and clearing it from years of junk and debris, we hauled it from Malvern to Arkadelphia, driving past the place where it was built 50+ years ago. Once we’ve made some repairs and adjustments, it should be good for another 50. We’d love to hear from readers who have had or still have a Ouachita boat (even better if they’re skilled outboard troubleshooters).
Will Braum’s Ice Cream & Dairy Store add an Arkadelphia location? We don’t know, and we’re not going to report rumors. What we know is that there’s been no new activity in real estate transactions to indicate the property has changed hands, and that a prominent contractor, the Russellville-based Cornerstone Construction, has been hired to tear down the old Western Sizzlin’ restaurant. The demolition comes with a hefty $20,000 price tag, according to public records we found at Town Hall. Cornerstone is commonly used for ground-up construction, and is headquartered in the Arkansas River Valley, near the area of the state where Braum’s has already set up shop. A local contractor would likely have razed the old Sizzlin’ restaurant for much less than 20 grand. We called Braum’s on Monday but haven’t heard back. The ball is in their court. Be patient and wait. Trust that we’re chomping at the bits to break the news and, um, give you the scoop.
Nice ushanka, he said. We had to look up the definition.
Gas lines, water lines, sewage lines — residents should expect interruptions, on any given day, to any underground utility along the planned Arkadelphia Bypass extension or the section of Pine Street that will be widened (again, we remind you, to include a turn lane). We don’t know if anyone is keeping an official tally on recent gas or water leaks caused accidentally or by careless heavy machinery operators, but we know of at least two (or is it three?) gas line leaks that have forced street closures in recent months. Shortly after a water main was cut Monday afternoon, crews were ankle-deep in a tiny river flowing along North 10th Street from Pine toward downtown. Don’t be surprised when mishaps occur.
Kudos to the Arkadelphia Street Department for sweeping the streets of the salt previously put down during this month’s winter storm.
Too hot or too cold? The current reader poll on our site suggests that, by a slim margin, most folks prefer cold weather to hot. We’ll publish the final results Friday. Vote if you haven’t already.
Ozzy the Chocolate Chihuahua sez: My diddy sed a buncha cuss words da udder day when he found out one of de cats walked on his compyooder and sent an email dat sed: ,./@*(=========={},../jfie;ohs.
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Nothing major to report from the January meeting of the Economic Development Corp. of Clark County. But we took some notes for future reference.
Something Spanish.
Public Service Announcement: Use sidewalks, when available, if you’re walking public streets. That’s what they’re there for.
Joel Phelps is editor of arkadelphian.com. Opinions in his semi-regular Bits & Pieces column are his own, but shouldn’t be taken lightly. Have a comment? Contact him by email at editor@arkadelphian.com.