March 11, 2005
*****
By Jim Taylor, travel writer
Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism

FORDYCE -- In 1982, the Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival was in its second year, and country music legend Johnny Cash took to the stage in a performance in the Fordyce High School gymnasium from which the festival still benefits. Performing with Cash were his wife, June Carter Cash, and a then-little known musician named Marty Stuart, who has since become a country star in his own right.

Cash, who died in May 2003, donated his appearance, and the $10,000 it earned became the basis of the festival's revolving operations fund, according to Joe Bill Meador, who has been involved with the event since its inception. The festival will be marking its 25th anniversary on April 18-23.

"The first one turned out better than we expected," Meador said, "and then the next year, Johnny Cash put us on the map." Cash was a native of Kingsland, a community located about eight miles northeast of Fordyce. Meador approached Cash indirectly about a festival appearance through Cash's cousin, Marie Cash, who had been one of Meador's schoolteachers.

"When the big day arrived, I remember coming across the overpass and meeting the biggest, blackest, shiniest 18-wheeler truck I had ever seen," Meador recalled. "It was solid black with 'Johnny Cash' in handwritten script on the side. I thought to myself, 'My goodness! Looky here, looky here.'"

Meador drove a horse-drawn wagon in the festival parade with Cash standing in the back. "I'll never forget the adoration I saw in people's eyes as we went along that parade route," Meador said. "It was like everyone had a kinship to Johnny and they felt like he was part of the family."

Cash's concert was originally planned for the Fordyce High football field, but the threat of rain forced it into the gym. "Talk about a packed house," Meador said. "We had people everywhere, in the bleachers, on the floor, standing in the doorways and even standing outside to hear the best they could. And Johnny had brought his full show -- band, lights, video screen -- and what a show it was!"

The featured musical performer at this year's festival, which is held around the Dallas County Courthouse, will be singer-songwriter John Arthur Martinez, an Austin, Tex., native and a veteran of that city's competitive music scene. Martinez's career received a boost in 2003 when he finished second in the USA Network's televised talent show "Nashville Star." Martinez is scheduled to do two one-hour sets on Saturday, April 23 beginning at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Also on tap for this year's event are a performance by Elvis Presley impersonator James Wages at 8 p.m. on April 22 and an encampment of Civil War re-enactors at Marks' Mills Historic State Park, located at the junction of Ark. 8 and Ark. 97 about ten miles east of Fordyce. The encampment is expected to include staged fighting to commemorate the April 1864 battle that occurred at the site during the Union Army's failed Red River Campaign to end Confederate control over southwestern Arkansas and Texas.

Festival events planned for downtown Fordyce on April 22-23 include an arts and crafts show to open at 9 a.m. both days, a modular train showcase and a carnival. Other activities planned for April 23 include the Cotton Belt 5K Run at 8 a.m., the parade at 11 a.m., auto and motorcycle shows, and additional live music including country, rock-and-roll and gospel performers. Festival admission is free.

Meador credited the Redbug Reunion Rally, which is a Fordyce High, all-class reunion that has been held in conjunction with the festival since its second year, with contributing to the festival's success. This year's reunion will begin at 5:30 p.m. on April 22 at the Fordyce Civic Center.

The festival celebrates Fordyce's beginnings as a railroad town. It was platted in 1882 when the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway, more commonly known as the Cotton Belt Route, was built. The town was named after Samuel Fordyce, who surveyed the route and later became the railroad's president.

For additional festival information, phone Meador at (870) 352-6110. For information on restaurants, lodging and other Fordyce area attractions, which include the Dallas County Museum, contact the Fordyce Chamber of Commerce at (870) 352-3520.
 

Submitted by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201, (501) 682-7606
E-mail: info@arkansas.com

May be used without permission. Credit line is appreciated:
"Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism"
 

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