Effort Underway To Create Display for Johnny Cash Suit

RISON - Volunteers are looking for donations to create a permanent home inside the Cleveland County Courthouse for the suit that Johnny Cash wore during his March 1976 concert at the Rison High School football field.Annette Rawls with the Cleveland County Historical Society, which is spearheading the fundraising effort, said the donations will support the construction of a custom-made dustproof cabinet that will display the suit on the first floor of the courthouse. The cost of the display case is expected to be close to $4,000.The suit is currently on display at the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home display at Dyess in northeast Arkansas. Previous to that, it was on loan for display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.Since the Cleveland County Historical Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Rawls said all donations are tax deductible. Donations can be mailed to Cleveland County Historical Society (CCHS), P.O. Box 192, Rison, AR 71665. Please note that the donation is for the Johnny Cash display case.Born on Feb. 26, 1932, to Ray and Carrie Rivers Cash in the Cross Roads community north of Kingsland, Johnny "J.R." Cash moved to the Dyess community in Northeast Arkansas with his family when he was 3 years old. The Cash family was among those selected to take part of a federal Depression-era program to help struggling farmers. While Cash grew up in the Dyess community, he and his family made frequent trips back to Cleveland County to visit relatives since both of his parents had deep roots here.It was that local connection that prompted Cash to hold a concert at the Rison High School football field on March 20, 1976, as part of America's Bicentennial Celebration. An estimated 10,000 people took in the concert, which is still considered the largest crowd to ever attend an event held in Cleveland County.Cash started his visit with a ceremony at Kingsland before boarding a train to make the short trip to Rison...