By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
A group of teenagers who gave up some of their summer vacation to work in mission projects recently visited in the Forrest City area.
The group was from Project Building Together in the Arkansas Delta, made up of 30 teens from Episcopal churches from around the state. They came to this area to paint, clean houses, do yard work and fix-up projects for low-income people in eastern Arkansas.
There were about 30 kids in all, working in Forrest City, Wynne, Marianna and Moro.
In Forrest City, about six young people from the project painted Christ Church School on Ophelia Street.
According to Elena Reyes, youth worker at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Conway, this particular project was put together to help an area perceived as neglected.
"We wanted to give back to our state," said Reyes. "The Delta has always been overlooked. Many people travel to faraway countries on mission trips, and they don't realize that Lee County, for instance, has been named one of the 10 poorest counties in the nation.
"The Delta still needs a lot of help," Reyes continued. "We were in Wynne the other day and did yard work and cleaned houses for the elderly, and we painted a house for a 104-year-old man. That was really interesting to us -- he was 104 years old. We couldn't get over that."
After their long, hot work days, the group traveled to Marianna each night, where they gathered at a community center and met with youths from African-American churches.
"It has been real interesting to meet with them and get to know them," said Reyes.
At Christ Church School there were three local members helping out the missionaries in their task.
"We have had help from local churches on some of our projects," Reyes said. "It's neat that they come and help us as we are trying to help them."
The young missionaries headed back to their homes Saturday.
Colt has been approved for a grant to purchase a truck to help fight brush fires.
Rep. Marion Berry announced today that Colt will receive a $15,000 grant from theU.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"This USDA grant will be used to purchase a late-model fire brush truck to replace a 1977 model that requires constant repair," Berry said. "This new vehicle will allow the fire department to provide better fire protection for the community."
The federal money will be provided through a Community Facility Grant administered by the USDA Rural Development Agency.
The Arkansas Arts Center's Artmobile will be in Forrest City Wednesday, Aug. 1, at the St. Francis County Museum.
Sponsored by the Forrest City Junior Auxiliary, the Artmobile visit will be a special treat that morning for kids taking part in the Discovery Room, held annually at the museum. The Artmobile will also be on display for the general public from 1-6 p.m. at the museum.
The Artmobile features an all-new exhibition -- "Time Travelers: The Twentieth Century Through Art." It includes 24 framed and three 3-dimensional objects form the Arts Center and the Decorative Arts Museum. Among the artists in the exhibition are two Arkansans -- Louis Freund and Louis Betts. Other artists include Arthur Dove, James Van Der Zee, Will Barnet and Sister Gertrude Morgan.