Page 3 - Spirit of Mt View Oct 2015

THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRATGAZETTE • SPIRIT OF MOUNTAIN VIEW SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2015 3SS
COMMERCE
Banding
together
AREA MERCHANTS ORGANIZE FOR COMMUNITY EVENTS
By Jennifer Ellis
SPECIAL SECTIONS WRITER
Following last weekend’s blood-moon lunar eclipse, the Mountain View Merchants Association held its own celestial-themed event — Moonlight Madness — in which more than 200 people came out to
listen to music on the courthouse square, eat hot dogs and visit some of the 22 shops that kept their doors open late and gave away door prizes and cash.
“We’re a small town, and people tend to go to Batesville, Mountain Home and Little Rock [to shop], so it’s just an encouragement to get people to shop locally,” said Mary Jane Allen, owner of Candy Bouquet and one of the people spearheading the Merchants Association.
The group came together a little over a year ago, after lack of suppor t in 2013 caused the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce to forgo its annual Fourth of July celebration on the courthouse square.The merchants wanted to bring back the event and introduce new festivities to benefit the community, spur tourism and affect profitability.
“We felt some of the activities in town that were going on for years — suddenly, people stopped doing them, ... so we decided we could do this,” said Faye Tindall, owner of Fashion Savvy and an organizer of the merchants group.“These events don’t need to stop — that’s what makes Mountain View.”
Since then, the merchants have put on monthly events, including fundraisers, such as a murder-mystery theater, a chocolate festival and a cook-off to fund festivities like the Fourth of July fireworks display, while also working with area entities that include the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce.
“The chamber can’t do it all.The chamber does some, the merchants do some, and sometimes the merchants and the chamber work together on events like the murder-mystery theater,”MountainViewMayorRogerGardnersaid.“Wealltry to work together as a team up here. It’s just to the betterment of the community when you do that.”
Keeping the local merchants’ businesses alive and their outlook in the economy positive is what it’s all about, Allen said.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Tohelpraisemoneytoputonthe2015FourthofJulyfireworksdisplay,theMountainViewMerchantsAssociationandtheMountainViewChamber of Commerce put on the Ozark Mountain Murder Mystery with cast members including, from left, Billy Wolfe, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce Michalle Stevens, Amy Miranda, Lorraine Bradshaw, and Roger and Faye Tindall.
“We want to encourage the merchants and mainly get them involved in working together, and we’ve just had really good luck with that,” she said. “We’ve been astounded with the cooperation. We have 24 merchants on the square, and [for Moonlight Madness], we had 22 participating.”
The shops include a candy store, a dress shop, a woodworking store and gift shop, a quilt shop, an ironworks gallery, flea markets and more.
Not every event the group puts on is a fundraiser, Allen is quick to note. For example, Moonlight Madness was just a Mountain View par ty, she said.
“It’s vintage Mountain View. Honey, you have to be here. ... It’s just any excuse for a par ty,” Allen said.
Up next, the Merchants Association will host its second annual Chocolate Festival, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Candy Bouquet, where local contestants will enter their best confections for a chance to win in three categories. Patrons pay a $5 admission and can try up to 10 samples.
Other upcoming ventures the merchants are planning include a holiday open house, a Christmas parade, a Nativity display, a spring concert and a Roaring ’20s and Mafia-themed production.
“We could use volunteers, and at our meetings, we welcome anyone in town to come with ideas or critiques of things that we’ve already done,” Tindall said. “We welcome input from everybody in town, whether they are merchants or locals.”
The Mountain View Merchants Association meets Thursdays at the Candy Bouquet. For more information, call 870-269-5955.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Faye Tindall, the organizer of the Merchant Association’s International Chef ’s Cook-Off, prepares a dish for the event.