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108 East Madison Avenue Berryville, Arkansas 72616 |
Ozarts and the Grand View |
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Grand View Hotel Ozarts News, Columns, and Writing Pictures |
By Alexander Virden
Healing the Great Divide
I would like to talk about The Great Divide. I have been aware, for many years, that the King’s River has been the line drawn in the limestone, separating Them and Us. Both sides claiming Us, and calling the other side Them. But it wasn’t until recently that I’ve come to understand that to some, of the Us and Them, it is much more than a friendly joke. There is some serious negative energy draining life from this county and I’d like to put forth a peace flag. In essence, each side has its own free paper. Citizen on the left and Patriot’s Herald on the right. I had become aware, of people, who refuse to read the Patriot’s Herald because they felt it was too conservative, as well as those who won’t read the Citizen, because they think it’s too liberal. Knowing this, I was still shocked to learn, while having lunch in Eureka last week, that a business owner in Eureka Springs did not read the Patriot’s Herald. When I pressed him, the closest thing I could understand, as a reason, was he felt it was too religious oriented. I’ve always considered myself part of the socially progressive group and I was floored that someone, who I would put in that group, would dismiss the paper out of hand. It has always been a cornerstone for me, that to be progressive, you had to be open to understanding all those around you, not just the ones who agreed with you. It also stunned me that any business owner would not read every newspaper in the county, just as a matter of business routine. Carroll County is a microcosm of the world’s polarization, to our own detriment. We who look at the Israelis and Palestinians, or the Iraqis, that are killing each other, because they don’t believe in Islam in the same way and say "Why can’t you get along?" Is it hard to believe this has gone on for over a thousand of years? Absolutely not, when you consider our small county, of 26,000 people, has divided up and taken sides. What we are doing with Ozarts and The Grand View is of great importance to the health of Carroll County as a whole. And there are a lot of people in Eureka who would be very interested and could benefit from what we’re doing, but they don’t know anything about it. Why? I’m glad you asked, because they won’t read the Patriot’s Herald. They only read the Citizen. I have only been visited by one reporter, from the Citizen, when they covered the first Circle the Square. But they’ve never done any sort of follow up story on the Center, or the Hotel. Though I would imagine this is because budget and staff problems, resulting in an inability to cover the whole county, rather than anything motivated by prejudice against Berryville. Which leads me to this point: there is enough news to go around. All our papers struggle with limited budgets and personnel. It would be a miracle if they all covered every story. But even if they do, we still get the chance to see different perspectives. The Citizen and The Patriot’s Herald are both free and come out only once a week. So if you care about Carroll County, pick the both up and read them both. Let’s work at understanding our neighbors instead of being a microcosm of the world’s polarization, let’s make Carroll County an example of how people, cut from different cloth, can make a beautiful quilt, instead of an example of the division that is splitting our world apart. OZARTS
Circle the Square: Ozarts is looking for sponsors for the Circle the Square concerts this coming summer. If your business or organization would like to support these musical events they are a great opportunity to show your civic pride. We are also still looking for bands to play at the events. If your group is interested please contact me through Ozarts. Ozarts is still looking for: Artists, Independent Publishers, Bands, musicians, potters. Please feel free to send me your questions by mail, or email. Ozarts Center for the Arts 108 East Madison Avenue, Berryville. (Across from the post office.) Ozarts.org (870) 654-3231 Alexander@Ozarts.org Open by appointment.
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