RISON - Marty Bowlin, president of the Pioneer Village, joins in on an episode of the Free Range Conversations podcast focusing on the historic property in Rison.
This episode of the podcast is now streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and on clevelandcountyherald.com in its entirety.
Bowlin, affectionately dubbed the "Leader of the Village People," by some of her volunteers has been on a mission to revive the property and get awareness out about the buildings and events featured at the Pioneer Village.
Podcast host and Cleveland County Herald Publisher Britt Talent discussed with co-hosts Roy Phillips and Douglas Boultinghouse that the Village had been "mothballed" for several years after the demise of the Pioneer Crafts Festival more than a decade ago.
Since the Village volunteers stepped up to repair the structures, the Pioneer Village has been the site of a slew of events including the Christmas in the Village Festival, Drive-Thru Light Displays, Fourth of July Family Fun Celebration - and earlier this year, the revival of the Pioneer Crafts Festival.
"People would come up to you and say 'I remember going there,' 'I really enjoyed that,' 'I wish y'all could bring that back," Bowlin said. "So we did." Held this past April, the revival had a rough return with storms and rain dampening the event, but it still included a soldout dinner of "beans and greens" the night before, and a few craft demonstrations the next morning.
"That lady with the loom in the McMurtrey House was really pretty neat," Bowlin said.
The Village plans to hold the festival annually the third weekend in April each year, hoping for better weather in 2025.
On the event front, the Village has also found success partnering with Rison Shine Community Development, Inc. to host a community-wide Easter egg hunt and breakfast with the Easter Bunny.
The two organizations (both under the Kickstart Cleveland County Initiative) are currently collaborating on the Food Truck Friday series held the third Friday of each month.
From Talent's estimation, the event has been bringing about 300 people into the Village each month.
Boultinghouse, an active member of both organizations, has been heading up the scheduling of trucks.
"We've had trucks contacting us, and we've booked trucks through the end of the year," he said. "Our goal is to make this go year-round." The Pioneer Village and Rison Shine are also joining forces to revive the haunted house that was held in past years. The Haunted Village is currently in development with plans for this October to be announced soon.
And those plans had eerie timing too according to Bowlin.
Bowlin said past-president and current treasurer Sharon Gray received a phone call early on a recent Saturday morning from someone wanting a tour.
Larry Flaxman, best-selling author, screenwriter and paranormal sleuth, was wanting to tour the property and check for any paranormal activity on the grounds.
Flaxman and his wife visited with Bowlin and her husband, Billy, who also volunteers at the Village.
"Larry drives up and the next thing you know, he gets this little box out and starting touring around, and he's got his camera," Bowlin describes of the person she calls a "ghost hunter" filming for YouTube.
Flaxman discovered E.V.P. activity, short for Electronic Voice Phenomena, when touring the Mt. Olivet Church at the Village.
According to Flaxman's findings, someone by the name of Coppertine was pleading "Let me out." His exploration can be viewed on his YouTube channel @LarryFlaxman.
Since the recording on the podcast episode with Bowlin, Flaxman has released a second video filmed in the Mercantile building at the Village. In this structure, someone name Matthew that previously worked in the store speaks of science.
Bowlin said that after Flaxman shared his clips, the Pioneer Village has received other requests to explore the property for paranormal activity.
Organizers of the haunted house said the sudden paranormal interest spurred their efforts to bring the event back after taking a hiatus in 2023.
According to Bowlin, the purpose of holding events at the Village is to bring people into see the collection of historic buildings that make up the Pioneer Village, with hopes they'll want to come back and host their own events there.
The Pioneer Village is available for rental for events such as family reunions and small weddings making use of the variety of structures around the property.
On the grounds are the Bunyard-Rice Cabin, built in the 1870s near England in Lonoke County and moved to the Village in the 1980s; the Mt. Olivet Methodist-Episcopal Church, built in 1867 in eastern Cleveland County, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Structures; the Mercantile, built in 1902 originally serving as the clerk's office on the grounds of the Cleveland County Courthouse, which is also on the National Register; the McMurtrey House, a Victorian home built in 1892 by one of the early doctors in Rison, Dr. J.S. McMurtrey; Lois' Cottage, an original wing of the McMurtrey House that was converted into a two-room cottage; the Post Office, originally located along the railroad tracks near downtown Rison with an unknown exact age; the Barn built in the 1970s when the Pioneer Village was being developed; the Blacksmith Shop, a fully-functional replica of the original cotton shed that deteriorated in recent years; and its newest structure, the Beard House, an 1870s classic dog-trot style home donated by Bob Abbott, nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places.
Throughout the Free Range Conversations podcast, Bowlin shares how the Pioneer Village got its start thanks to a generous donation from music legend Johnny Cash, a native of the county; and how Talent and Phillips found one of the icon's suits at the Village that was then sent to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bowlin also shares a story about the time a bear wandered into the Village.
To schedule a tour or event at the Village, Bowlin can be reached at (870) 540-7545, or Sharon Gray at (870) 692-3130.
Upcoming events at the Village are posted on the "Pioneer Village at Rison" Facebook page and at clevelandcountyarkansas.com