By many standards, Pea Ridge is a small town. Although it doubled in size from the 2000 to the 2010 census, it is still small.
Someone joked on Facebook about an item from the police reports that this is Mayberry.
Mayberry was the site of the Andy Gri◊th Show from 1960 to 1968, then of Mayberry RFD. Gri◊th was once quoted as saying that although the show was filmed in the 1960s, it was more like life in the 1930s. It was a popular show for years, never ranking below seventh and often fi rst.
Is Pea Ridge like Mayberry? Yes and no. Is a small town good? There are positive and negatives to both small towns and large cities.
There are many good things - as well as bad - here. There are what may appear to be inane calls to the police like people saying their child won’t obey them. While to many of us that may seem ridiculous, there may be more to the story that we don’t know.
People still wave when passing on the street whether on foot or in a vehicle. Many people are still recognized by their vehicle. Since I’ve changed to a new vehicle from the “green monster” I drove for six years, I’ve had manypeople say they don’t recognize me anymore.
Teachers know students by name and usually know which student belongs to which family and have often taught siblings of their current students. In some cases in Pea Ridge, there are people in the schools who have two and three generational ties to the students.
I think of the quote, if you find a perfect church, don’t join it because then it won’t be perfect anymore.
There are no perfect families, churches, communities because all are composed of people, none of whom are perfect.
When I first moved to northwest Arkansas in 1980, I was probably a bit disdainful and critical of the small town atmosphere and then, that defi - nitely included Rogers and Bentonville. I had moved here from Shreveport, La., and many of my friends from there thought I’d moved to a very remote and isolated area. Over the past 33 years, I probably o◊ended natives of the area by contrasting the “way we did it” with the “way they do it here.” Forthat, I’m sorry.
I’ve come to love this community and the wonderful aspects of smalltown life. Is there gossip?
Yes. But, guess what, there’s gossip in big cities, too, it’s just diluted by the mass of people and information.
There have been people in positions of power who move in here and try to tell everyone how things should be done and how they were done where they came from. That usually isn’t received very well. Although we can all learn from one another, if one person is doing all the “teaching” and not learning, not valuing and appreciating the people and culture from here, their life lessons probably won’t be respected or helpful.
It is neither right nor wrong, good nor bad to be in a small, relatively crime-free community.
Life in northwest Arkansas has changed. When I first moved here in 1980, the Lehman murder was in all the newspapers and was the first murder in the county in five years. Crime has increased. But, thankfully in our small community, the seriousness of the crimes is still relatively petty compared to city life. Yes, there are criminals, there are petty calls to the police and ambulance andpetty gossip and prejudice.
But, there are good, caring people who band together to help one another, too.
Entertainment may be simple by some standards, but people still enjoying going to the city park, gathering at a gospel or bluegrass singing or just playing their instruments, watching and competing in a mule jump, going on a trail ride or a ’coon hunt, buying locally-grown produce at the farmers’ market, visiting a pumpkin patch, going to the city’s Freedom Fest or annual fair and pageants and cheering on their children and grandchildren at the multitude of athletic events.
Life is good in Pea Ridge, Ark. Apparently, there are many who agree, or why would they move here?
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Editor’s note: Annette Beard is the managing editor of The Times of Northeast Benton County, chosen the best small weekly newspaper in Arkansas three years in a row. A native of Louisiana, she moved to northwest Arkansas in 1980 to work for the Benton County Daily Record. She has nine children, four sonsin-law, five grandsons and a granddaughter. She can be reached at [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/30/2013