Parks Director/Tourism Secretary Summer Chambers and Hempstead County Economic Development (HCEDC) Director Anna Powell gave an update to commission members regarding the opportunity for Hope, Arkansas to be featured in the show Viewpoint, a topic that was approved in the special-called meeting two weeks ago. Chambers said she, Powell, and Commission Chair Sharon Caldwell would meet the following day to discuss possible locations and next steps. Powell shared that she was told by producers that once the paperwork was signed, which it has, that Hope was chosen for the show, and that after the questionnaire is completed then the scriptwriters would begin working on the script for the show. Mayor Don Still announced that he received information earlier in the day that Great Southwest will pay half the cost of the segment fees. 

Chambers informed the commission about two grants that are in the works for Hope. She said that one is the matching Outdoor Recreation Grant for a Splash Pad at Northside and the second is with the Extension Office to create walking trails and update safety throughout the  parks system. The second is a non-matching grant that could go up to $5 million, so it could provide a number of possibilities for the city’s parks, if approved. Chambers said she would keep them updated. 

In discussions regarding the “Welcome to Hope” signs, after Chambers updated the commission on costs, Still said he thought one of the signs wasn’t visible enough in its location and asked fellow commissioners their thoughts. In the ensuing discussion, Commissioner Trevor Coffee suggested asking other groups and organizations who the commission has worked with previously to allow them the use of their location for a new sign placement. Suggestions were also made about buying property to save the cost of continued rent. The issue was tabled until more information can be found on landowners and other locations. 

In other business and updates, Chambers shared with the commission the price bids for a Hope Tourism pop-up tent to use at events, but said she was still waiting on a price quote from one of the companies. She provided the commission a copy of the CJRW quarterly performance review that showed analytics on some of Tourism’s ad placements. She also updated the commission on the Firework Show set for July 6th at the airport and said the headliner is country-rock artist Chase Rains. Chambers said the sign-ups for Watermelon Festival’s Softball Tournament, Cornhole, and Watermelon Olympics are taking place and that the commission will need to decide at the next meeting if cash prizes will be awarded.

Chambers also updated the commission on the Jack Williams Memorial Tournament scheduled for June 15th. She said this tourney was initially scheduled for Train Day but didn’t happen so parks and tourism is facilitating this one independently, as opposed to paying an organization to do so. She said that if it goes well, then they would be looking into doing more independently produced tournaments in the future, and she will be looking into software that could assist with that to save the cost of paying outer organizations.