Summer on the Square returns Saturday with live music, a grilling competition, a popular historical reenactment, vendors, games and more in downtown El Dorado.
Presented by Main Street El Dorado, Summer on the Square is one of several events that will be going on around in the city and Union County to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend.
Admission to Summer on the Square is free.
Holly McDonald, administrative assistant for MSE, said an SCA judges' certification class will be held Friday and the class is open to the public.
On Saturday, the day will begin at 10 a.m. with giant inflatables for children and the opening of King Kone snow cone vendor.
The July installment of Grill Wars will be double-steak cook-off, sanctioned by the Steak Cookoff Association.
Check-in and setup start at 9 a.m. and a cooks' meeting will be held at 11 a.m.
Categories include Steak A and B and "Anything on a Stick".
Entry fees are $160 for Steak A, $320 for Steak A and B and $30 for "Anything on a Stick."
In the A and B categories, cash prizes will be awarded to winners in first - 10th places.
The top prize is $1,000 for first-place winners in each category, $500 for second, $400 for third, $300 for fourth and $200 for fifth.
Sixth - 10 place winners will receive $100 each.
Payouts for the "Anything on a Stick" category are $150 for first place, $75 for second and $50 for third.
Steak plates will be available to the public for $25 each. The plates will be pre-sold and Beth Brumley, executive director of MSE, said 100 plates will be available for sale.
The plates will come with steaks prepared by three-time SCA Points champion Johnny Joseph, a potato dish (such as a baked potato or potato salad), baked beans, a roll, dessert and soda or water.
Plates may be picked up at 4 p.m. on Elm Street. Winners will be announced at 5:30 p.m.
Live music will begin at 1 p.m. with a performance by Arkansas band Borderline. The stage will be set up at Washington and Elm streets.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to take a photo with a 13-foot-tall, motorized shopping cart from Brookshire's.
Summer on the Square 2022 also marks the return of Showdown at Sunset, the long-running historical re-enactment of a deadly gunfight that took place in the city's downtown square in the early 1900s.
The bloody gun battle was one of several flash points in a years-long feud between the Tucker and Parnell families.
Then-City Marshal Guy B. Tucker, grandfather of former Arkansas Gov. Jim "Guy" Tucker, was also involved in the incident, along with several members of the Parnell family, who owned a downtown business.
Late in the afternoon on Oct. 9, 1902, tensions erupted on the east side of the Union County Courthouse square with an argument between three of eight Parnell brothers and Tucker, Union County Constable Harrison Dearing and Frank Newton, a downtown grocer who was also feuding with the Parnells at the time.
Gunshots rang out from both sides and within minutes, Dearing and two Parnell brothers, Tom and Walter, lay dead in the street.
Tucker, Dearing and Newton all reportedly shot Tom Parnell multiple times, killing him.
Dearing and Walter Parnell shot each other dead.
Tucker -- whose younger brother Clarence had joined the fight and stabbed a third Parnell brother, Mat -- was shot several times and survived.
Main Street El Dorado launched Showdown at Sunset in 1998.
The re-enactment depicts life in El Dorado in the early 1900s and chronicles the events that led up to the shootout.
In 2007, the American Bus Association listed Showdown as one of the Top 100 Events to see in North America. Showdown has also received the Community Trademark Award from the Arkansas Festival and Event Association.
The cast of characters includes Bob Mullens, who was a local photographer in the early 20th century, and William Puckett of Texarkana.
A dispute between the two men over an El Dorado woman, Jessica Stevens, set off the gunfight.
Both men had planned to marry Stevens, who worked for Mullens, and when Puckett arrived in El Dorado in September of 1902 to wed Stevens, a fight ensued between the two men, prompting Puckett to call Tucker for protection.
A short time later, Puckett wed Stevens in town and as the pair boarded a train headed for Texarkana, Mullens arrived, rushed them and was shot by Dearing.
Mullens died the following day.
The shooting enraged the Parnells, who were close friends with Mullens.
For more information about Summer on the Square or the SCA judge's certification class, call the MSE office at 870-862-4747.
Summer on the Square will continue Aug. 27 with a back-to-school bash and splash that will include.
Dual State Steak Competition
Grillers for Summer on the Square will have the opportunity to score more points with the Dual State Steak Competition, which is set for July 3 in Junction City.
The event, which is also sanctioned by the SCA, will be held in the Junction City High School Dragon Arena, 700 N. Main.
Proceeds from the event will benefit JCHS academic clubs.
The competition will include Steak A and B and hot dog categories.
Entry fees are $150 for Steak A, $300 for Steak A and B and $25 for the hot dog category.
First - 10th-place winners in the steak categories will receive cash prizes ranging from $1,000 for first place to $100 for sixth - 10th place.
Cash payouts for the hot dog category are $100 for first place, $75 for second, $50 for third and $25 each for fourth and fifth places.
A cooks' meeting will be held at 9 a.m. and a judges' meeting at 11 a.m.
The schedule for turn-ins to judges is noon until 12:30 p.m. for hot dogs; 1 until 1:30 p.m. for Steak A; and 2:30 until 3 p.m. for Steak B.
Winners will be announced and awards distributed at 4 p.m.
For more information about the Dual State cookoff, call John Green at 870-314-0704 or send an email to [email protected].