Page 6 - RVO Spirit of Morrilton June 2016

6VV SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2016
SPIRIT OF MORRILTON • RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
RAY BERTRAM/MAIN STREET MORRILTON
In addition to a wide variety of music, Pickin’ in the Park offers food and craft vendors, as well as children’s activities.
PARK, continued from page 5
“It just gives a place for folks to come together and visit, and it gives those musicians a place to display their talent. It’s just a good experience for the whole community — the county and the city,” he said. “It’s just a good place to come and enjoy an evening of entertainment.”
Pickin’ in the Park began last year, and it was conceived during a brainstorming session about activities that might bring the community together in the summertime, he said, and Main Street Morrilton and the Rialto Community Arts Center teamed up to bring the event to life.
“Somebody popped that idea, and we jumped on it and took action,” Roberts said.“It was successful.” He added that he hopes to see the event grow larger and attract more people as it continues.
A few changes are in store for the second year of Pickin’ in the Park. Roberts said organizers are considering setting up a sound system in the gazebo at the Broadway Pocket Park, which often serves as a stage for pickers.
“We’ll still be acoustic, but we will use microphones to mic the instruments so that the sound will be heard throughout the park instead of in one little area,” he said.
The organizers originally had planned to have two or three groups picking in different areas throughout the park, but for now, the musicians usually congregate at the gazebo for “a big old jam session,” he said.
The location of the event also may
change. Although the Broadway Pocket Park will continue to host Pickin’ in the Park some months, Roberts said the festivities may move into the air-conditioned Rialto Community Arts Center when the weather turns sultry in July and August.
Roberts helped renovate the old Rialto Theatre, which initially opened in 1911 as the city’s first movie theater but fell into disrepair decades later, the art center’s website states. The historic landmark could have been demolished in the mid-90s, Roberts said, but with the help of Stewart Nelson, Morrilton’s mayor at the time, Roberts and several others remodeled the structure, which opened as a performing arts theater for the 2000 Christmas season.
“That had been my dream ever since the place closed,” Roberts said. “That’s my baby, I guess you’d say.”
In a way, both Pickin’ in the Park and the ar ts center exemplify the atmosphere of friendly cooperation and laid-back creativity that attracts both visitors and residents to Morrilton. Roberts said that although he has lived other places, he always returns to his hometown.
“Morrilton is a unique city,” he said. “We’re small, but we’re strong, and we’ve got so much to offer people that it’s kind of like a diamond in the sky, more or less. It’s just a neat place.
“We invite everyone that plays or wants to play, sing or whatever to come join us,” he said. “Sometimes we have several pickers; sometimes we have a few, but it’s just a fun time for everybody.”