PEA RIDGE — “It turned out very well,” Nathan See, chairman of the Mule Jump Committee, said. “I’ve had a lot of positive comments from the vendors, they have already asked to reschedule for next year. None have said they didn’t make any money.”
“I think it was a really good year and I think next year will be better,” See continued, explaining that the new location helped improve the turnout and the visibility of the vendors’ booths.
“We sold 1,380 tickets and are grateful for members of the Womens Business Association who worked our ticket booths,” See said, adding that including the number of tickets given away for vendors, there were 1,555.
“I’m very grateful to Billie Hickman and her family who worked the souvenir booth.
“This was truly a community-run event in which we all worked together,” See said.
Members of Pea Ridge First Baptist Church directed parking and manned the inflatables for the children.
Cannonball 4-H took careof trash patrol.
Other community organizations that helped include Pea Ridge Optimist Club, Street Department employees, city police, fire and ambulance departments. Ronald McDonald and Kosmo from Fast Lanes entertained the children.
“We had some mules that didn’t come because of the rain. I think that hurt us and I think our numberswould have been up.
“The mules were less willing to jump the heights we’ve had before, because of the muddy ground,” See said.
Wet weather createdchallenges including parking of mule trailers and limiting handicap accessibility, but attendance was still good, according to committee members, who plan to meet next week for afollow-up meeting to evaluate and begin plans for next year.
Editor’s note: See next week’s edition of The TIMES of Northeast Benton County for the winners of this year’s mule jump.
Community, Pages 13 on 10/14/2009