Last week, the Enterprise-Leader shared highlights from the first six months of 2021. This week's issue looks at highlights in the second half of the year.
July
• Looking at projected growth over the next 10 years, Prairie Grove School Board voted to add another wing to its new building under construction and to reconfigure grades, making the decision to use the new school building as a middle school, instead of a junior high campus.
• Farmington City Council approved an ordinance to impose a temporary moratorium on any new requests to rezone property to multi-family residential for six months. Mayor Ernie Penn recommended the moratorium in response to citizen concerns that Farmington is getting too many multi-family developments and to give the city time to adopt a new future land use plan and to review regulations for multi-family zoning designations.
• Carroll Ray "C.R." Bell, a resident of Peachtree Village in Farmington, was inducted into the Arkansas Softball Hall of Fame on July 2, 2021, at North Little Rock.
• Historic Cane Hill Inc., was awarded a $55,000 historical preservation grant to stabilize and repair the first floor joists and foundation piers of the John and Alice Edmiston House. Historic Cane Hill also kicked off strategic planning meetings with several consultants to discuss a vision for the organization and the community.
• Prairie Grove City Council approved the city's first Planned Unit Development, a development with 56 lots on 10 acres to the east of Cedar Springs Independent Living Community on Mock Street. Residents will have garage access in the rear through an 18-foot paved, private alleyway.
• Farmington Planning Commission approved two more phases for the subdivision Goose Creek Village and gave its OK for two new multi-family residential developments. In all the commission approved plans that will add 121 single-family lots and 44 multi-family units for residents in the future.
August
• Prairie Grove Police Department arrested a Springdale man after a four-hour standoff on U.S. Highway 62 on Aug. 9, 2021. The suspect, Braden Collins, led the University of Arkansas police on a high-speed pursuit through Farmington toward Prairie Grove on U.S. Highway 62 before wrecking in a front yard on East Heritage Parkway. Crisis negotiators finally were able to get Collins to put down a gun and exit the vehicle peacefully.
• Clinics for covid-19 vaccinations continued throughout the summer and into the fall. Clinics were held at Farmington High School Cardinal Arena and Cardinal Stadium, Lincoln High School and Prairie Grove Tiger Arena.
• Farmington and Lincoln sponsored their annual Back To School fairs to help prepare students for school. Farmington's Back to School Bonanza served 493 children and Lincoln's Back to School Bonanza helped 273 children.
• With the start of a new school year, Farmington, Prairie Grove and Lincoln school boards all voted to require students and staff to wear facemasks.
• Some cancellations began to happen because of covid-19 concerns. Cane Hill Harvest Festival canceled its weekend event and Farmington Fire Department canceled its pancake breakfast, which had been set for Sept. 11, 2021.
• Figures from the 2020 census were finally released and they showed Farmington's population grew 27% from 2010 to 2020; Prairie Grove's population grew 59%; Lincoln's population grew 2% during the 10-year period.
• Arvest Bank and Prairie Grove Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the bank's new Arvest Pavilion in downtown Prairie Grove.
• Chris Powell of Prairie Grove was sworn in as a new Prairie Grove City Council member to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of council member Doug Bartholomew.
September
• Thousands turned out over Labor Day weekend for the 2021 Clothesline Fair. The fair was canceled in 2020 because of covid-19. The 2021 fair would have been the 70th annual fair, except for the pandemic. One change was that the Prairie Grove Lions Club took on the responsibility in 2021 for coordinating the arts and crafts vendors for the fair, instead of the Arts Center of the Ozarks.
• Gov. Asa Hutchinson participated in a formal announcement at Farmington's Performing Arts Center about a coalition called Heartland Advanced Medical Manufacturing Regional Cluster. The regional organization aims to identify, attract and keep health care manufacturers in the Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma area. The city of Farmington has joined the regional coalition.
• Farmington Fall Festival, held at Creekside Park, commemorated 9-11. The festival had food and craft booths, live music and an art show by elementary students.
• Prairie Grove School Board was the first to vote to lift the mask mandate for staff and students.
• Farmington School Board approved a new mask advisory to use covid-19 data from the state to guide administraors in making decisions on whether masks would be optional, optional but recommended or mandated. Based on the data in September, masks became recommended but not required.
• Washington Water Authority sued the Arkansas Department of Transportation and city of Farmington, asking a judge to stop work on the widening of Arkansas 170 until an agreement is reached to move the authority's water lines.
• Prairie Grove police officers Andrew Gibson and Tyler Franks were presented the 2021 Officer of the Year award by the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police for their heroic actions while responding to a domestic disturbance on May 4.
October
• The Arkansas Apple Festival, the Junk Ranch and Junk at the Mill drew thousands of people to western Washington County during the first weekend in October.
• The city of Lincoln received a $307,285 community development grant to help pay the costs to repair sewer lines and manholes along Sugar Hill Road.
• Farmington City Council approved a new future land use plan which will serve as a guide for the planning commission when it is dealing with zoning issues and zoning requests.
• Prairie Grove City Council voted 7-0 on Oct. 18, 2021, to overturn the mayor's firing of fire Chief J.C. Dobbs. The vote came after an hour-long executive session to discuss Mayor Sonny Hudson's decision to fire Dobbs on Sept. 30, 2021. Many people spoke on Dobbs' behalf at the council meeting that night.
• Farmington City Council approved the preliminary plat for a new single-family subdivision called Wagon Wheel West, which would have 123 lots on 20 acres on the north side of Clyde Carnes Road.
• Lincoln Bright Futures held an appreciation luncheon to thank all those involved in helping students throughout the past year. Jana Claybrook, a board member, noted that Bright Futures did not shut down during the pandemic but continued to step up and meet students' needs.
• Farmington police captured an escapee from the LeFlore County Detention Center near a cemetery on Appleby Road in Farmington and then assisted the sheriff's office in capturing a second escapee.
• A record crowd came out for Prairie Grove Police Department's Trunk or Treat. Many other organizations helped with the event by setting up their own tables and giving out candy.
• Lincoln Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony to welcome the new business Appletown Store, owned by Tim O'Brien and Deanna Morris-O'Brien. The couple bought the building on U.S. Highway 62 with the intent to provide a place for local and area vendors but at the same time save the building so that its history can be remembered by the community.
November
• Farmington School Board member Jeff Oxford resigned from the board after serving the school district for 19 years.
• Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack was in Lincoln in November to tour the new Keto Savage company located in the former Harps building. Owners Robert and Crystal Sikes completely remodeled the building and are using it to produce keto nutrition bars that are shipped across the country and as a studio for podcasts and videos that reach millions of people.
• Area churches, including Farmington United Methodist Church, Brand New Church and First United Church in Prairie Grove, provided Thanksgiving meals to those in this area. Many organizations provided drive-through food pantries and walk-in food pantries throughout the year.
• Lincoln School Board member Kendra Moore announced that she is running for the new District 23 seat in the state House of Representatives.
December
• Stacy Hurst, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, returned to the battlefield state park for the second time in 2021 to give an update on steps to preserve the park's artifacts and make improvements to the building used to store the items. These improvements will allow the artifacts to remain in Prairie Grove.
• Students at Folsom Elementary in Farmington unveiled a new mural for their school. The mural is made up of artwork created by every student in the building with the theme, "Friendship and Unity."
• Farmington School Board appointed Mark Vaughn to fill a vacancy on the board.
FILE PHOTO Covid-19 vaccination clinics were held in Farmington, Lincoln and Prairie Grove during the year. This one is at Cardinal Arena in July,
FILE PHOTO First United Methodist Church in Lincoln and Lincoln Bright Futures served 273 children during their 2021 Back to School Bonanza in August.
FILE PHOTO The Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police presented Prairie Grove officers Tyler Franks, left, and Andrew Gibson with the 2021 Officer of the Year award during a dinner in September in Little Rock.
FILE PHOTO The city of Prairie Grove opened a new dog park at Muddy Fork Park during fall 2021.
FILE PHOTO Boots and Bows was one of 63 exhibition square dance groups that performed during the 2021 Clothesline Fair. Thousands of people came to Prairie Grove over Labor Day weekend for the fair.