The Western Horse Heritage Foundation is a nonprofit organization for the purpose of encouraging and providing education in western horse skills and insuring the continued preservation of our western heritage. We sponsor Westfest, a community event the last Saturday in September, that includes a stick horse rodeo, the Great Ozark Trail Dog and Horse Race and other western events. Western Horse Heritage Foundation is also partnering with the Arkansas Child and Family Services Division of the Department of Health to provide support and educational opportunities for the Foster Children Program.

For more information about the Western Horse Heritage foundation, contact Bob King at 870-448-3228 or email.

They are working on a website and will have it up and running soon.  At that time, we will provide a link to the site.

Silver Hill Float Service is an Authorized Canoe Concessioner of the National Park Service, Department Of The Interior.  Providing shuttle services and rental of canoes, kayaks, rafts & tubes.  Personal Float Devices  and paddles are provided with all rentals.  Because of our experienced and customer oriented staff we are able to provide the personal assistance to help ensure your Buffalo River experience is enjoyable and hassle free.  We do the hard part for you, while you have fun and experience the beautiful scenery of our treasured river.  Just ask for information on camping, hiking, fishing, exploring, or picnicking and we will be happy to help. Check the water conditions for the middle river or interactive river map of the entire river.   We are located 10 Miles North of Marshall, Arkansas, and 30 Miles South of Harrison, Arkansas, right on U.S. Highway 65

Float trips are designed and planned to fit your needs.  We customize your points of entry and take-out based on your desires, schedules, experience and river conditions.  Special group rates & private shuttle service are available.  We are also pet friendly.

For your planning purposes please be aware that the possession of glass containers and polystyrene coolers(commonly known as Styrofoam) are prohibited while floating or camping along the Buffalo River.

We provide mesh recycling and trash bags for collection at the end of your float.  Thank you for helping us keep the river beautiful.

Canoes – $45.00 per day

Kayaks – $40.00 per day

Rafts – $25.00 per person per day, 4 person minimum

Group rates available

Tax on rentals. Nominal shuttle fees based on entry and take-out points

Our most popular day floats are:

Baker Ford to Gilbert          9.7 miles         roughly 5 hours

Tyler Bend to Gilbert          5.4 miles         roughly 3 hours

Grinders Ferry to Gilbert    4.3 miles         roughly 2 hours

We offer several other options as well as overnight trips.  Floats are available year round.  Call or e-mail  for reservations – our office hours are 8:00am to 5:00pm but we will meet you at our office outside of those hours if we know you are coming.     Check out the website of the Silver Hill Float Service.

This was the first sold out music show the Killebrew Theater has seen since it’s re-opening about 2 years ago, when the Chamber “brought it back from the brink” of closing.  And now, thanks to the Greater Searcy County Chamber of Commerce, the Kimbrell Theater is again live and well with great entertainment 3-5 times per month.

With  music from band members Adam Kyle, John Watts, David Watts, Jim Horton, Shawn Horton and Brandon Horton, and great comedy from Caleb Horton, the “boys”  gave the crowd all they could handle for over 2 hours with great country and gospel music, and side splitting comedy.

The boys were introduced and immediately began with their rendition of Man of Constant Sorrow, which was a huge hit with the whole crowd, and set the tone for the evening.     Their first hour consisted of some great country classics, like He Stopped Loving Her Today, Folsom Prison Blues, and Wipeout,  with featured drummer, Adam Kyle, showing off his talents.    After a short intermission the boys started right where they left off, and entertained the crowd with more great country and gospel music.    There was lots of dancing, clapping, and some great songs to sing along and everyone had a great time.

Another of the evening highlights was when the group dedicated a song to Jack and Edna Jean Treat.  Jack is the treasurer of the Chamber and on the Board of the Ozark Heritage Arts Center, and one of the persons who is most responsible for saving the theater.

If you missed this show, don’t worry, there are already plans being made to bring the Barren Hollow Boys back for another performance sometime in the late spring or early summer, so keep a watch on the website for dates and times in the future.   With the packed house for this show, it may be necessary to sell advance tickets for the next show however because these guys are hot!!!     Check out the pictures and videos of the show!!

Barren Hollow Boys

Dancers enjoying the music

The Greater Searcy County Chamber of Commerce presents the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus in Marshall for one day only with 2 performances.   Sunday April 1st at 2:00 and 4:30 PM.  The big top will be located just off U.S. Highway 65, on the north end of town, near the site of the Marshall Mini Mall and Searcy County Baptist Church.   The Culpepper & Meriweather Circus is a  tented, one-ring circus. No seat is further than 40 feet away from the ring, so you don’t have to worry about missing any of the action!   They were here 2 years ago and performed to standing room only crowds at that time.   For more information about the Culpepper and Merriweather Circus visit their facebook page.

Tickets are being pre-sold now and are going fast.   Tickets for Children 12 and under are $6.00  each, and Adult tickets are $9.00 each.   Contact the Searcy County Chamber of Commerce for tickets and more information at 870-448-2557.

Both are located near major thoroughfares to Branson, Missouri and Mountain View, Arkansas.  The OHAC is located in a building constructed as a community hall in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, or WPA.  It later became used as a gymnasium by the Leslie school system.  Inside the arts center is the 350-seat Killebrew Theatre.  It gets its’ name from Rex and Daphne Killebrew who remodeled the old Leslie school gym in 1992.  They gave it the name of the Ozark Heritage Arts Center.

Clarence Treat, who was part of the popular 60’s folk group, The New Christy Minstrels, is on tap to play the OHAC with his son Dean on Saturday, March  3 at 7:30 PM.   All profits from ticket sales will go to Spit for the Cure Breast Cancer Cohort to aid breast cancer research.  If you do some searching at http://www.uams.edu/spitforthecure, you can find out that a Marshall High School graduate, Susan Treat Kadlubar, Ph.D., along with Suzanne Klimberg, M.D., both of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, initiated the idea for Spit for the Cure.  Searcy County, where Clarence Treat’s benefit concert is being held, is also the home county of Dr. Kadlubar who grew up just a few short miles away from the Killebrew Theatre.

Clarence Treat

The OHAC’s house band, In Cahoots, or another band performs in the theatre every second or fifth Saturday.  Among those playing in February are the John Taylor Band, Red Hat Diva’s and The Barren Hollow Boys.  In addition to Clarence Treat’s performance in March, there will be performances by In Cahoots and a gospel group will perform on Mar. 31. Tickets can be purchased on site for $5 at 6:30 p.m.  Performances begin at 7 p.m.

The Volunteers

On Mar. 25 there will be a free concert in the afternoon by the U.S. Army band The Volunteers.  The Volunteers, according to the www.armyfieldband.com web site, is the Army’s premier touring show band.  The site states that they are a talented six-piece group performing a blend of popular American music, including rock ‘n’ roll, standards, country, jazz, and patriotic.

A new addition to the Leslie music scene is The Drop Zone which is located inside of Oak Street Station.  The Drop Zone is a no-alcohol and no-smoking family place.  It is also home to the Buffalo River Blues Society.  They have karaoke most every Friday evening in addition to live music the first and third Saturday of every month from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.  The Drop Zone is owned by Sandra Chidester and managed by Tom Anderson.

Anderson loves managing The Drop Zone and says it opened last September and can seat up to 80 people.  He said there is a calling for the blues in this area.  Among the four blues bands that have performed so far is CloverBlue.

Coming on Feb. 18 is Brethren, a blues band from Hot Springs. They’ve played their Mississippi Delta blues at music festivals and venues from Helena to Chicago. Mar. 17 is the date to hear Smooth Down Under, a rocking roadhouse blues band from Branson, Missouri. There’s going to be a youth concert on Mar. 24, with three local youth bands, Alive On Tuesday, WeBuiltThePyramids, and Arrows Point South.  At their Oak Street location in Leslie, The Drop Zone also has had updated bluegrass, rock n roll, and even Bohemian folk music.

The Drop Zone

Admission ranges from $6 to $10.  For more information, check out The Drop Zone on Facebook, or you can call 501-253-6373 or email thedrop.zone@yahoo.com .

According to Jack Treat, a member of the OHAC board of directors, the arts center has come a long way since 2010 when the facility was in a state of disrepair.  Several people have contributed time, effort and money to get the facility back on its feet.  Treat says the OHAC gives local talent a better venue in which to perform.

In addition to music, plays are occasionally performed in the facility.  The OHAC also hosts a small art gallery and a museum of interest to those who enjoy learning of Ozark culture and Leslie’s history.  On Jun. 1 the annual Ancestor Fair will be held there.

The arts center and museum are typically only open when there is a performance being held in the Killebrew Theatre.  For more information, please go to the Searcy County Chamber of Commerce web site.   And yes, the hills are alive with the sound of music.

By Darryl G. Treat     Leslie, Arkansas

On Friday, February 10th, 2012 at 7:00 PM,  at the Ozarks Heritage Arts Center in Leslie, the Operation Kindness, Searcy County Humane Society will be holding a Sweet Hearts Dance and Pie Auction.  All proceeds from the event will benefit the Humane Society Shelter Fund.     The dance will  feature the music of “Rendezvous”  with Joel and Randall Housley, and the Pie Auction will be held and sponsored by Ragland Auction Company, Michael and Roy Ragland.

There will also be Raffle’s and Door Prizes!!

Ladies, be sure and bring your Best Pies for the Auction to help support this good cause.  Admission is only $2.00 at the Door.   For more information, call 870-447-2166 or 262-949-0755.

For More information and a flyer of the event, click here.

It’s going to be a busy Spring at the Ozark Heritage Arts Center in Leslie.  Several music events are planned.  Check out the listing and times below and come out and help the Ozark Heritage Arts Center.

February 10, 2012  —  Sweet Heart Dance and Pie Auction    — Sponsored by the Searcy County Humane Society, Inc Shelter Fund      See more information here

February 11, 2012   — 2nd Saturday  – John Taylor Band

February 18, 2012  –  Red Hat Diva’s   — Gospel Group from Hot Springs

February 24, 2012 —  Marshall Rotary  — Music to be announced

February 25, 2012 —  Killebrew Theater Presents……  The Barren Hollow Boys    You don’t want to miss this performance!!!!!

March 3, 2012  – Clarence Treat  who played with the “New Christy Minstrels”

March 10, 2012 —  2nd Saturday  – “In Cahoots”

March 25, 2012  –   U.S. Army Military Band in Concert

Thank You…….

WestFest is a big new event coming to North Arkansas this fall. It will be a day long happening of fun and exciting activities celebrating western heritage and providing an opportunity to help our neighbors.  Built around The Great Ozark Trail Dog & Horse Race, which has been held for the past 5 years, WestFest will feature all new events for all ages. It will be for real cowboys and cowgirls, those that like to play like they are real, and those folks that just want to watch. A simple way to describe the day would be to call it a “Western Circus”.  There will be a “main attraction event” scheduled for each hour from 10 AM until (?), while at the same time there will be large variety of “sideshow events” happening all around the grounds.  A detail schedule and list of events can be found on the schedule page. Check back to this site often as updates and new information will be posted on a weekly basis.

Schedule of Main Events – Saturday, September 24, 2011

8-10 am

Cowboy Chuck-Wagon Breakfast  – Proceeds for the V.F. W. Building in Marshall

10-Noon

“World Stick Horse Rodeo Association” National Finals Rodeo.  Open to all Kids

Noon – 1 pm

Clog Dancing  – Main Stage

Winners announced for the First Annual Frontier Heritage Art Contest

Free Cowboy Chuck-wagon supper. Sponsored by the Thousand Hills Cowboy  Church

1 – 2 pm

The Great Ozark Trail Dog and Horse Race

2 – 3 pm

Pasture Roping

3 – 4 pm

Horse Race,  Quarter Mile Straight Track

4-5 pm

The “Barn Hollow Boys  – Music and Entertainment

Sponsored by the Western Horse Heritage Foundation

We will look forward to next year’s event and more information is located at the Searcy County Airport Website at  www.searcycountyairport.com or contact the event coordinators below.

Flying Jam Music Festival

Annual Fly-in, mini air show with Powerchutes, music festival featuring local musicians, food vendors, crafts and displays. Fun for the entire family. Music stage is in the hangar so bring folding chairs for comfort. Free admission to the public. Free parking.

Fly-in Coordinator for pilots, Richard Craig, 870-447-3032
Flying Jam musical groups sign-up, Jack Treat, 870-448-4488
Vendor information and sign-up, Dick Groves, 870-448-5809