VisionWorks' Breakthrough Solutions
Community and Regional Success Stories
Brinkley Continues to Lick the Skillet - September 2002
A railroad town, Brinkley, AR was formerly called Lick Skillet
because when the day’s work was completed, the railroad construction
crew, mostly all immigrants from neighboring towns, cooked their
supper over an open fire. When the last "skillet was licked," they
returned to their homes.
This resourcefulness and ability to make the most of things is
still evident in Brinkley today. Thomas Jacques, editor of The
Brinkley Argus, reports recent activities:
• A $3 million improvement of Lake Greenlee has been completed by
the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Many members of the community
were involved in the planning process.
• Baxter Sharp has been instrumental in creating the Monroe County
Community Foundation. He is also on the board of the Arkansas
Community Foundation (a VISION 2010 Partner).
• Downtown renovation is moving along. There are now 5 antique
stores in town, and the community is looking for more.
• The high school building, an architectural treasure, has been
restored, and we are seeking to continue a millage for the school.
• The convention center is doing well, and the softball complex is
attracting many tournaments.
• The city library is installing an information kiosk for public
access to the Internet.
• The second stage of the depot restoration – a museum and visitor’s
center – will open by May 2003 in time for the Bicentennial
Celebration of the Louisiana Purchase. The survey, completed in
1815, started from a primary surveying point just south of Brinkley.
• Brinkley is a natural route for people to come off the interstate
to visit the surveying point, to see the museum and visitor’s
center, and to stop at (the famous) Low’s Bridal Shop in town.
• Impressed with the high-tech BEST lab in the Brinkley school,
Image Entry, a data processing firm, has moved to town. Image Entry
processes tax information for the state.
• The server at the BEST Lab is now being used to develop a home
page for the city.
NOTE: Brinkley learned about the EAST Program through VISION 2010.
Brinkley was one of four communities that learned about the program
and, within four days, made a $100,000 commitment to participate.
"We have changed our Fall Roundup festival to Lick Skillet Day,"
states Jacques. "It all ties back to retaining our heritage and
creating tourism opportunities for the community. One of the things
that VISION 2010 helped us to do is to step back and look at our
town. If you weren’t from this town, what do you see and what would
you do?"
Brinkley is a great example of a community that is taking advantage
of several strategic assets: historical (Lick Skillet, depot, high
school, Louisiana Purchase), geographic (I-40 and Louisiana
Purchase), services (convention center & softball complex), and
financial (school millage and community foundation). Congratulations
to Brinkley for its excellent work.
For more information, check out
www.brinkleyar.com and
www.lapurchase.org/index.html.
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