RISON - Organizers of last weekend's Pioneer Crafts Festival at the Pioneer Village in Riosn said they felt they made some progress in their effort to revive what was once one of the largest events of its kind in south Arkansas, but admit there is still work to be done."What does it look like to be a called a success?," asked Marty Bowlin, the current president of the Pioneer Village, in summing up Saturday's festival. "Well in terms of the number of vendors, the people visiting, it was better than it was last year." The volunteer group that oversees the Pioneer Village located at 200 Yaney Street in Rison has focused most its efforts over the past 10 years on refurbishing the historic structures that make up the Village. In addition to shoring up the structures themselves, the group has also added air conditioning and heating units to the church, the mercantile and the McMurtrey House.While the Pioneer Village once served as the former Cleveland County Fairgrounds, the property is probably most known for being the site of the annual Pioneer Crafts Festival held there each spring starting in the early 1970's. The festival had a successful 38-year run that saw estimated crowds in the thousands before the introduction of massproduced crafts and economic factors took their toll on the crafts industry as a whole. The final Pioneer Crafts Festival was held in 2009.After discussing the idea for a couple of years, the Pioneer Village decided to try to revive the event last year. Last year's event was kicked off with a Beans & Greens Supper on Friday night followed by the festival on Saturday. Despite some threatening weather, the group was pleased as more than 100 people were estimated to have attended the 2024 event.Bowlin said she believed the crowd this past Saturday was bigger than last year, but felt it could have been better had it not fallen during the Easter weekend. While there was no rain, it was overcast for much of the morning...
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