Mayor

Wow, what an amazing month for the City of Benton. We had over 50,000 people in our city attending Amplify, which was held right between Rivercenter and Holland Chapel Church. The free concert featured amazing performers from around the United States which brought in visitors to our city from other states and cities. Although it was the first time to be in June, the turnout was fantastic. 

On the same day as Amplify was the Juneteenth Celebration in the Ralph Bunche Community. I had a chance to visit this event before going and being a shuttle driver for Amplify. It was a great event for our community with vendors, food, and speakers. The event is an annual event that brings people together which is always good for our community. Of course, on the way to Amplify I had a chance to stop in on our Farmer's Market to pick up some fresh peaches and other things. 

Then, we moved right into our Third Thursday event which had roughly 4300 in attendance for the BBQ cookoff with 12 different judges representing various parts of our city and county tasting some amazing ribs and pork. We also added Parklet as a test to Third Thursday, which other cities and towns have down all over the state and nation which gave our businesses on Market Street a better chance to be involved in the event by extending their business into the parking areas. It did limit the door-to-door parking, but it allowed for people to visit both sides of the streets by crossing one of the two cross walks that are available. 

We also had our public tennis courts redone because the first application did not meet the needs of the public. With the constant supervision of our park staff the latest edition of the resurface of the tennis courts will provide for a better playing surface for all competitors. Then the work to surface the new layout for the pickle ball courts also began. This will allow the pickle ball courts to run north and south so that the rising and setting sun will not be in competitors eyes during their competition. 

Things to look forward to in July:

July 3 will be our 250 celebration as well as the 4^th of July celebration

          EVENT will be held between Rivercenter and Holland Chapel

          4:00 PM     Set up begins

•    Inflatables for the kids
• National Guard lights grill for free Hot Dogs
• Band Arrives
• Food Trucks set up
• ETC.  

           7:00 PM    Event Begins

• Quilts of Valor quilt presentation
• Kids Zone Opens
• Free Hot Dogs Available
• Fireworks set up for a 25-minute show

           9:00 PM     Special Program Begins 

• Color Guard Presents the Colors
• Secretary of State (Cole Jester) brings Invocation
• Pledge of Allegiance
• America 250 special presentation
• 9:14 PM Patriotic music begins on KLAZ 105.9 
• 9:15 PM Fireworks Begin
• 9:40 Fireworks End

July 14   Committee Meetings

July 16   Third Thursday

July 23   Chamber Bingo

July 27   Council Meeting

Hope to see you at our July 3 Firework Celebration.

Your Neighbor,

Tom 

Stay Connected!
We do our best to keep the community updated, but we can only share events we know about. We don't know what we don't know. If your group, business, or organization has something planned, please reach out so we can help spread the word.

📞 Call Jordyn at 501-315-6008
📧 Email Jordyn.Efird@bentonar.gov 

Together, let’s keep building a strong, vibrant, and connected Benton. Thank you for being the heart of our city.

Your friend,
Tom