Despite some minor problems, the forest festival grew from last year in attendance and fundraising.The extension homemakers ,or E.H.C., put on the contest which judges eight pies for award of best in show. Stephanie Potter’s pecan pie was the winner this year. Potter’s pecan pie went missing after receiving the blue ribbon though. Denise Ezell said that the Hoo Hoo members usally buy the pie, but didn’t have the chance becouse someone stole it. “I wouldn’t be mad but the money from the pie sales goes to C.D.and E at the end of every year,” said Denise Ezell. Mrs. Potter would be flattered but she really just needs her pie pan back. Gurdon Sargent Chris Russle was excited about the success of the police’s car bash fundraiser this year. At $1 a hit the community raising $410 for tasers for the unit. Another problem was the amount of trash that was produced by the festival food cars. But at six p.m. teams from the street department began to clean up. Jim White hit the street early and in a good mood. “I have a relative that works for the street department. I ‘m married to his niece so I sort of get conned into doing these types of things,” said White laughingly.
Around 30 students made their own game. A patch of grass in front of a building on the main street became “the sphere” for the students. As one student explained the game as a mixture between wrestling and tag. The person would run across he lawn while some one on the other side would try to tackle them. “It was pretty fun,” said C.J. Farris who played with his friend Kyle White at the Festival. A group of 20 students were playing until the Gurdon police made them move because of trucks that needed to get though. At night people started move behind the sonic where the bandstand hosted Elvis Impersonator Cody Slaughter, and the Exit 123 band. The King of Rock and Roll showed up to a crowd of over 200.
Elvis sang "Cold Kenntucky Rain", "Stop ,Look and Listen Baby", (also called rubbernecking) and "My Baby Knows She Loves Me." The audience sat in their thick jackets while Elvis’s thin polyester jumpsuit wasn’t enough against the evening chill. Despite that, he warmed up the crowd with Willie Nelson’s “Always on My Mind,” and fans were satisfied.
“You tell em Elvis” said David Merion while he sang along with “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.”After Elvis left the building Exit 123 ,a band from Bryant area, that sang classic country covers like "Pink Cadillac", "God Blessed the Broken Road", and "Johnny B. Good." They provided a mix of classic rock and country everyone could enjoy. John Nelson, editor for the Tailgate news, said he was happy with the turnout.
“It was bigger than last year,” said Nelson who remembers the biggest being when Jody Evans played in 2005.
“I think there is going to be a revival of the small town way of life,” said Nelson of the spirit of volunteerism and nepotism he loves about Gurdon.
Check out more about the winners, events and upcoming news at Gurdon’s festival website
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