72nd Annual Fulton County Homecoming Festival – May 28-29
FULTON COUNTY- “We Grow in Different Directions, but our Roots Bring Us Back Home” is the theme of the 72nd Annual Fulton County Homecoming Festival in Salem Arkansas May 28-29. The festival, held on the Fulton County Courthouse Square. The festival will get underway Friday, May 27th with a Fish Fry at the Salem Senior Life Center at 4:00 p.m. Street Market Set-up is from 4:30 to 5:45 pm. The FNBC Community Bankers Street Dance featuring the popular Forever Young Band will start at 6:00 p.m. on the south side of the court square.
Saturday’s activities start on the court square with the Street Market setup from 6:00 to 7:00 am. Registration for the Bank of Salem Mark Thomas Memorial Apple Pie 5K Race is from 6:45 to 7:30 am with the race at 8:00 am. The 5K has divisions for all age groups for runners and walkers. Pre-register at https://runsignup.com/Race/AR/Salem/ApplePie5k. The first 20 people that cross the finish line will receive a home-baked apple pie and overall female and male winners will receive silver cup trophies. Visitors and residents of Salem and Fulton County are reminded that streets that are in the race route will be closed from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.
Registration for the Elite Home Health Squirt Race for children age 10 and under will start at 9:15 am and the race is at 10:00. Squirt Race registration forms and t-Shirts can be picked up anytime between 8:00-4:30 Monday thru Friday at Elite Home Health in Salem.
Spring River Home Health will have a 1 Mile Senior Walk with registration at 9:40 am and the walk begins at 10:30 am.
The 1st Annual Bill Hill Memorial Car Show will be held from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon. Motorcycles and antique tractors are invited to participate. Judging will be at 11:30 am. The location is at Hill’s Auto Sales, 424 Hwy 62 West. All entries in the car show are encouraged to be in the festival parade.
Registration for the Tri-County Medical Supply Terrapin Race will start at 10:00 am. and the race start time is at 11:00 am. Kids, start finding those terrapins.
1st Choice Healthcare will sponsor Horseshoe Pitching beginning at 11:00 am behind the Salem United Methodist Church. There will be a youth division and divisions for men and women.
The Monty McCullough Memorial Parade will lineup at 12:30 at Preacher Roe Ball Park on Highway 9, North with satellite lineup locations near the old arena and Burch’s Custom Butchering on Mize Street. The parade will roll at 1:00 pm. Grand prizes will go to the Float with the best display of the 2021 festival theme “We Grow in different directions, but our roots bring us back home”. Cash prizes will be awarded to the best parade floats: $300 for 1st place donated by Bank of Salem, $200 2nd place and $100 3rd place cash awards donated by Areawide Media, Moody Realty and Fulton Title Company. Call Fulton Title Company at 870-895-2545 to register for the parade. A negative Coggins test is required for horses in the parade.
A new event, the Whatever Corn Hole Tournament, is scheduled for 2:00 pm or after the parade on the Courthouse Square. The competition is open to anyone who would like to play. Entry Fee for the tournament is $20/Team and cash prizes will be awarded and will be determined by number of entries! The tournament will follow ACO rules and will be double elimination.
The Salem VFW Post 9777 will have free Bingo on the square from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Area businesses and individuals are donating merchandise and gift certificates for prizes.
The festival will conclude on Saturday night with another new event, the Southfork River Therapy and Rehab Movie on the Lawn. The free family movie will start at dusk on the east side of the Salem United Methodist Church.
Several high school class reunions are scheduled at Old Main by reservation only. Contact Friends of Old Main board member Patty Neal at 870-710-0720 for information on class reunions.
Salem VFW Post 9777 and Auxiliary will have their annual Veteran’s Memorial Service at the post home at 105 Veterans Way on Monday, May 31 at 11:00 am.
Plan to be in Salem, Arkansas Memorial Day Weekend. Have fun and make lots of memories. Contact the Salem Chamber of Commerce, telephone (870) 895-5565 for more information.
Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew serves on the Arkansas Travel Council Board of Directors, is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current publicity chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.