LOCAL COLUMNIST

A day in May in L.A.

Richard Mason, columnist, El Dorado
Richard Mason, columnist, El Dorado

You know, Lower Arkansas.

I have just come back from a Saturday packed with events in the territorial capital, El Dorado.

Territorial? Well, El Dorado has been called Arkansas's Original Boomtown and Cadillac City, but when the oil money faded, south Arkansas began to be treated more and more like a territory, and that's okay.

Things were popping downtown on a perfect day in May, and Vertis and I couldn't wait to put down our umbrellas and get outside.

I stopped by my downtown office to check the mail and put down a few notes after our outing. We had just returned from watching around 50 gals giving it the old "Dancing Queens" from "Momma Mia!" in the middle of Jefferson Street in the heart of America's best Main Street Downtown, and these gals weren't just shuffling to the music of "Momma Mia!" They were perfectly choreographed, and the cheering crowd was so appreciative that they repeated the number.

Of course, that was just part of El Dorado Main Street program, "May on Main" and with crawfish, sidewalk cafes and plenty of other goodies, the day ended with the production of Showdown at Sunset. This gunfight on the Courthouse Square is by all accounts better the O.K. Corral one in "Tombstone." I've seen both and El Dorado's shootout is a better production. The same number killed and wounded, but of course the El Dorado gunfight hasn't had a zillion dollar Hollywood movie made of it... yet.

However, a lot went on this last Saturday before the shootout. We started the day having breakfast in beautiful Corinne Court at Off the Rails restaurant, and this "Best in the City Breakfast Place" is certainly unique. Back a couple of decades ago, we found an 1878 Central of Georgia Coach and a Texas and Rio Grande Railroad Caboose in the middle of a cotton field in South Texas. They were once part of a historical railroad museum.

We hauled them to downtown El Dorado, hooked them together (the caboose is the kitchen), put up a train shed and today Off the Rails is the top breakfast place around -- think Eggs Benedict -- and the breakfast is free if you are staying at the Downtown Guest Quarters, which is right next door. But our day was just getting started.

After breakfast, we went a couple of blocks south to MAD, where under a large pavilion stretching some hundred yards or so running parallel to the new Amphitheater (where Willie Nelson and Family will pack some 8,000-plus folks on June 22), a combination of a Master Gardeners Plant sale and the MAD Farmers Market had crowds flooding in, and if you know me very well, you know I have a sweet tooth.

After a sample or two or three, I nearly filled my Sierra Club green mesh bag. I can't pass up Tea Cakes, and to be honest, I couldn't pass up several other items, and I sure couldn't just walk by homemade cinnamon rolls. The veggies, fruits, watermelons and scads of other fruits, greens and vegetables are just beginning to come in, and in the next weeks, the market will hit its stride, and you had better bring several bags if you are like our family who has sworn off plastic bags. The MAD Farmer's Market also has farm raised meats and eggs.

Of course, in any good Farmers Market, crafts are always plentiful, and I noted dozens of custom bird houses, which would make the nesting birds around your house the envy of every bird in the neighborhood.

The long covered pavilion is a perfect place for both venues. At the north end, the Farmers Market is spread out over about a 50 yard by 20 yard stretch you can walk down the middle of, with the pavilion overhead and goods, vegetables, food and crafts on both sides. And as a bonus, live music was playing.

The adjacent amphitheater with its wide grassy viewing area makes it a perfect place to let your kids play while you shop. Or, you can just let your kids cross the street and play in the largest Playscape in the state, and if you come after Memorial Day, the kids can cavort around a huge Razorback where multiple fountains spew water up. The kids love it!

On the south end of the pavilion there is a space that sets up perfectly for the Master Gardner's Plant Sale. Wow, it was overwhelming, and the variety of special plants for special situations was impressive. The Master Gardeners had literally dozens of tables covered with virtually every plant you can imagine, and a whole lot you can't imagine.

I can't say enough good things about that group because they feature a lot of native Arkansas plants. The crowds were elbow to elbow, and folks hauled away hundreds of plants. It was a perfect place to spread out and display the literally thousands of plants and the customers were standing in line to buy them.

But we weren't even close to being through for the day. It was just up the hill from MAD and two blocks from Main Street to the Mayhaw Festival.

This year, the Festival had expanded down Jackson Street well past the Newton House Museum where dozens of booths were set up with everything you might think of, and Mayhaw Jelly topped the list of about a dozen food and beverages, along with arts, crafts, and one booth, which really caught my eye, that sold minerals and fossils.

The Newton House Museum, the city's oldest house, was open for tours, and on the preforming stage a wide selection of music kept the crowds entertained.

The Mayhaw Festival also features a wide variety of plants, and if you like the little tart Mayhaws, you can buy a Mayhaw Tree.

It was approaching noon, and just a couple of blocks away May on Main was just getting started. The setup on Jefferson Street across from the Courthouse drew the crowds to chow down on mudbugs -- that's crawfish to you Yankees -- and live entertainment was on the stage set up on the courthouse steps.

That's where when I stood, and as I greeted friends, neighbors, and just enjoyed a warm spring day, it occurred to me that this is what a small town in the south is all about, and although every day can't be a festival or a Farmers Market, the stores, restaurants and shops will be there.

As you walk down the street greeting not only friends, but sometimes strangers who just happen to attend the festival, you smile and think, "This is what life is all about, and this is the perfect size town. We don't need to get any bigger, because we might lose this precious gathering of friends who we see and interact with."

My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of "Momma Mia!" and as the 50 gals strutted their stuff, I shook my head, looked at Vertis, and I said, "We don't get many days any better than this." She smiled and nodded as another friend stopped by to chat.

Richard Mason is an author and speaker. He can be reached at [email protected].

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