When our former A&P chairman said last month that Dickson Street was unsafe, Fayetteville was not impressed. Not just because it isn’t true but also because Dickson Street is one of three locations in Northwest Arkansas being considered for the expansion of a family-friendly organization called the Walton Arts Center. You may have heard of it.
The chairman resigned shortly afterwards but his words are still echoing through the minds of many locals. “Why don’t we just do something about it?” said Lee Ann Kendrick, while discussing the situation with her daughter and a friend. “So I ran with it,” said Heather Kendrick-Gerlaugh, daughter of Lee Ann.
They did some thinking, some planning and a little bit of soapboxing and before the night was over, the idea for a Take Your Kids To Dickson event was born. That was a few weeks ago. The event is tomorrow.
Heather and daughter Marti Pearl
The group, which calls itself The Lighter Side of Dickson, is led by Kendrick-Gerlaugh and consists of about a dozen local students, artists, professionals, parents and nonparents who share a common belief: that the Dickson Street area is indeed a family-friendly atmosphere. So to prove it, they got to work immediately to plan one heck of an event.
In just a matter of weeks, the group was able to organize a 6-hour event which includes a “Tot Walk” through over a dozen sponsoring Dickson Street businesses, several activity “Fun Zones” for kids to hang out at and win donated prizes, live music from four local bands and they even convinced city officials to close off an entire block of the street for part of the day.
I’ve got three words for The Lighter Side of Dickson: Are you freaking kidding me? (OK, five words)
The fun starts tomorrow (Saturday June 12), at 3pm and lasts until 9pm. A full schedule of events, including a map and information on the musicians playing is available at takeyourkidstodickson.com.
Who’s in?
It’s car-free now from 3-6pm. So get down there with your kids and your bikes!
[...] Take Your Kids to Dickson :: Fayetteville Flyer. [...]
This will be totally awesome!!!!
Yay! Thanks for the press. We’re really excited about the event, and we hope to see everyone there. You don’t have to have kids to enjoy good music, jugglers, and free samples!
I think this is a great idea, and I hope it’s a success!
(And pardon the shameless promotion, but a little bird told me:)
Dickson Street Bookshop will have 50% off all ALL children’s books $8.00 and below, and 20% off everything above $8.00 during the event, on top of their already cheap/used prices. Not. Bad.
We’re super psyched this is happening, and hope some of you might stop by WAC for (shameless plug coming…wait for it) The Spencers Theatre of Illusion magic show at 2pm before enjoying Take Your Kids to Dickson. Let’s all do the good weather dance!
Jodi
Walton Arts Center
These are good folks behind this event. I wish them all the best. If you have youngin’s, take them down to Dickson. It will be a great time!
Are there any drink specials? Just Kidding!! Go Kids!! I hope they can convince the WAC to stay down there on Dickson.
[...] first thing I heard when venturing down to Take Your Kids To Dickson on Saturday afternoon was Hosta’s Greg Moore saying over the microphone from the Rose Garden [...]