6 FEATURES The Village of Dogpatch 02.03.15
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After years neglected, amusement park in Marble Falls, AR gets new owner, environmentally friendly makeover Kerrigan reading > Features
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efore Silver Dollar City, there was Dogpatch USA, the beloved theme park that was created based off a comic strip by Al Capp featuring characters Li’l Abner and Daisy Mae, as well as others. The park will soon shed its hillbilly roots in favor of a more natural approach to a theme park. The park was recently purchased by Bud Pelsor and his business associate, James Robertson, on Aug. 13, 2014. Pelsor is the inventor of the spill-proof dog bowl, and claims that making the switch from inventing to hospitality was not a very hard one. “My business associate wanted half of my company. He was getting ready to buy into my corporation. When he saw Dogpatch, he asked me, ‘how much would you like to have Dogpatch?’ And I said I would trade my whole corporation, my intellectual property, I would turn it all over for Dogpatch. And that’s what I did. Instead of taking the money, I took half of Dogpatch, and he was okay with it, because he had fallen in love with it too,” said Pelsor. Pelsor and Robertson toured Dogpatch together on Aug. 23, 2014 and had decided to buy the property by May 1, 2014. Since then, Pelsor has been working on renovating and promoting the new Dogpatch, which will instead be called The Village of Dogpatch. “We’re keeping the name, but we’re adding to it,” said Pelsor. Instead of featuring rides and comic book characters, Pelsor wants the park to focus more on Eco-tourism. The former comic book characters will be replaced by artisans and crafters from all over, who will work in the village and sell their creations. A Blacksmith shop has already been donated to the park, and a female blacksmith, who is also a leathersmith, has been recruited to work in the park.
1966
Guests from around the country touring Dogpatch during the Riverwalk hosted Dec. 6 and 7, 2014. Photo taken by Eddy Sisson.
“Hardly any of the products in the former Dogpatch were made on site, and that’s what we want to specialize in. We want to have a trademark label for the Village of Dogpatch. I would like to have a few villagers that are producing art that will gain fame. It will be a really nice place to come and visit resident artists and get art that you can’t find anywhere else,” said Pelsor. The resident artists will be the main attraction of The Village, along with all the natural beauty that has always been Dogpatch. “Dogpatch has huge trees, wonderful stone formations and water features, huge waterfalls, antique mills, and grottos. Everything I saw was so wonderful and spiritual, not in a religious context, but an Earth connection. It’s an escape from the hectic hustle and bustle. It’s just a wonderful place to be and I just fell in love with it. I thought, ‘hey, I’m the guy that can steer this back in the direction it needs to go,’” and that is just what Pelsor is doing. The new owner has plans to restore Dogpatch to its former glory. He will restock the trout farm with trout and the Margarita Ferra mussel, which
10/03/1967
5/17/1968
Albert Raney Sr sold his family’s trout farm, future home of Dogpatch USA
is indigenous to Arkansas. There are also many caves that have yet to be explored, and Pelsor plans on turning one of these known caves into a miniature amphitheater. Another one of Pelsor’s goals is to work with the United States Department of Agriculture tree stewardship project. He will work in conjunction with the state of Arkansas to find out which trees would be the best to plant for his reforestry project. Two of the species that will be included in the park are the Ozark Chinquapin and the Arkansas Black Apple. “It doesn’t matter if the Arkansas Black Apple qualifies for a grant, I will still put in an orchard of Black Apples, just to have,” said Pelsor. There will also be a mill in the park that will run 24/7 and will be used to generate electricity and power the street lights in the park. “We’re a step above organic here,” said Pelsor. “We will be working on improving the water, improving the soil, and improving the food. I would also like to start our own manufacturing process in Marble Falls.” This will feature solar energy, wind energy, and food-grade American made plastic molding.
1971
1973
First grand opening of Dogpatch USA
1974
Bridge over the trout pond in Dogpatch
Al Capp retires, ending the Li’l Abner comic strip
Music pavillion before clean up
1981
Odom partners with University of Arkansas
Jess Odom becomes owner First groundbreaking ceremony with owner O.J. Snow
“There will be no carbon footprint. We are working hard to get it off the grid and make it green,” said Pelsor. Along with these new editions, park guests will be able to see some of the original Dogpatch in The Village. Bud believes that up to 85 percent of the original theme park’s buildings can be renovated and rebuilt, and they will be included in the park. “There will be a lot that will look the same,” said Pelsor. He also has plans to construct a museum that will memorialize, not just the former Dogpatch, but the city that came before it, and the Native Americans before that city. The city of Wilcox was built around the 1840’s and existed before Dogpatch. The city was there for about 65 years, and the new museum will memorialize Wilcox. However, the first deed to the property was to a Choctaw Indian, so the museum will also memorialize the artifacts of the Native American heritage. “I have to go back to the beginning to tell the whole story. I want to put a museum in to do this,” said Pelsor. A Riverwalk was hosted Dec. 6-7 for the public to come out and view Dogpatch. Over 5,000
Ozarks
people from 7 different states showed up for the chance to visit Dogpatch again. “I always want to be prepared, so I figured that it being December and short notice, we’ll be lucky if we get 500, so we better prepare for 2,000,” said Pelsor. The amount of people that ended up coming out was therefore unbelievable. “On Monday when I drove around to clean up, it almost made me cry. I only picked up about 4 coffee cups and 10 cigarette butts,” said Pelsor. “It was just so amazing. I’m not used to that. I’m used to clean up being 15 trash bags.” Emotions ran high at this Riverwalk, which included performances by musicians and refreshments for all. “I got hugged at least a hundred times by women, I even got hugged a few times by men. They were all tickled to death to see that someone was finally doing something, anything,” said Pelsor. “After 20 some years, people lost faith in anyone coming back to do anything. But the dream never died, it just got faded and dusty,” said Pelsor. “The Riverwalk really brought people out of the woods. I got business cards and phone numbers. So I’m networked in pretty well to all the indigenous artists, I may even advertise to the world that I'm looking for artists to come live in a really nice, unique community.” Bud plans to host a second Riverwalk on the first Saturday of May, Derby Day, which will be open to the public as well and is hopeful that The Village of Dogpatch will be open between 2 and 5 years. “If we could have the gates open permanently in three years, I would be really happy. My five year plan is to have enough artists in The Village to already be a destination. The memory of Dogpatch bringing people, but when they get here, they’ll realize the artists that are here, The Village of Dogpatch will be its own destination,” said Pelsor.
10/14/1993 Entertainment buys Dogpatch
Inc.
8/13/2014
Dogpatch purchased by Bud Pelsor
Dogpatch USA closed permanently
Owner Bud Pelsor in front of fish house
View of the park from the dock
Pictures contributed by Cloressa Ruckman and Eddy Sisson
Sadie Hawkins dance reverses traditional gender roles Holland Primm > Opinion
Whether you love it or hate it, the Sadie Hawkins dance has become a regular event in regards to high school dances. The taboo tradition actually originated from the Li’l Abner comic strip written by Al Capp, the same comic strip Dogpatch USA was based off of, in which Sadie Hawkins, a character depicted as being quite an unattractive woman, was able to call the shots for one day a year. In fact, in the story, all unmarried women in town were able to choose bachelors in the hopes of catching one
for marriage. The idea for a reversed-roles dance came from this and thus, a high school custom was born. The nontraditional scenario of girls asking boys evokes many mixed emotions from both sexes. For girls, the majority feel intimidated by the roles being reversed and shy away from asking anyone. Boys are the opposite; most enjoy not having all of the pressure put on them. “I think it’s fun because girls get to pick the guys for once and it’d be cool to switch roles in the asking process,” said junior Alan Buttram. Even guys realize that girls are frightened by the idea of
putting themselves and their self-esteem on the line to ask someone with a 50/50 chance of being shut down. “I think it’s a good idea but I don’t know if some of the girls would ask guys,” said sophomore Brett Davies. Girls, on the other hand, have been somewhat divided in their opinion about asking a guy. Some stick to the traditional notion that guys should always be the one to initiate the asking process. “I think it’s dumb that girls have to ask guys,” said junior Celine Petersohn. “It makes no sense.” Fears and concerns of being judged or turned down keep
many from gaining the courage to ask the guy that they’ve got their eye on. Guys may seem intimidating to ask, especially because girls simply aren’t used to having that responsibility. “I’m too shy,” said sophomore Ashton Stephens. Other girls, however, are taking a completely different stance for asking guys to Sadie Hawkins. As a sort of nod to feminism and the idea that women are equal to men, girls are therefore unafraid to breach social norms and take control. “It’s the twenty-first century,” said sophomore Kelsey Hamlin. This frame of mind better
fits the guys’ thought process that girls are allowed to take the reins. Despite popular belief among girls, guys are not weirded out by being asked. Instead, they enjoy being chosen and appreciate not having to do everything. “Guys asking girls has always been the standard for dances, so it’s expected,” said Buttram. “I don’t think it’s weird at all because girls are equal to guys.” Whatever your stance on Sadie Hawkins may be, realize that in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a high school dance. So don’t stress about asking or being asked, and just enjoy yourself.