Here's my "All Over the Map" from this week's issue of Arkansas Weekly:
Last November brought the opening of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. The brainchild of Walmart heir, Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges is a significant addition to the state’s tourism landscape. Art lovers from far and wide will now journey to our beautiful state to admire the major works of American artists that are collected in this multi-million dollar museum. Arkansas, of all places, is now an important destination in the international art community.
Now, I’ve been presented with an exclusive scoop regarding the development and construction of another major tourist attraction coming to Arkansas, and this time, our neck of the woods will be the beneficiary of potentially millions of tourism dollars.
Late this summer, plans will be announced for the construction of a multi-million dollar museum in northern Independence County. This will be a museum so rich in culture and importance that, when combined with Crystal Bridges, will make Arkansas the “go-to” place for travelers from all over the world.
“I was first noticed by Lulu (a longtime cast member on the show – Ed.) at a Hee Haw convention in Hattiesburg, Mississippi,” said Reeve. “She saw me singing the ‘PFFT! You was gone’ song in my Archie Campbell show at the convention. She said I reminded her so much of Archie, and we struck up a relationship, and the next thing you know, she’s introducing me to Goober, Misty Rowe, Mike Snider, Gailard Sartain, and Minnie Pearl’s hat. So, when I heard about plans for the museum, I lobbied hard for Walnut Grove through my Hee Haw connections.”
The museum will be roughly the size of Walmart and located next to a corn field that will be surrounded by a wooden fence that will spank people with one of its planks. Eventually, a 3,000 seat theatre will be constructed and a replica of Junior Sample’s car lot will sit nearby.
Visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of Hee Haw related activities including a “Gone, But Not Forgotten” show performed by animatronic versions of Junior Samples, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl, Archie Campbell, Kenny Price and Buck Owens; a walk-through exhibit of an actual pair of pants once worn by Lulu; and as the name of the museum suggests, a vast archive of Hee Haw material and memorabilia including an original issue of Playgirl featuring a nude layout of the Hager Twins from 1973 and the actual stuffed carcass of Beauregard the Wonder Dog.
Reeve says the call is out to all surviving Hee Haw cast members to make plans to attend the projected opening.
“We even contacted the Hee Haw Honeys,” said Reeve. “And they all said they’d come providing it didn’t fall on bingo day at their retirement home.”
Now, I’ve been presented with an exclusive scoop regarding the development and construction of another major tourist attraction coming to Arkansas, and this time, our neck of the woods will be the beneficiary of potentially millions of tourism dollars.
Late this summer, plans will be announced for the construction of a multi-million dollar museum in northern Independence County. This will be a museum so rich in culture and importance that, when combined with Crystal Bridges, will make Arkansas the “go-to” place for travelers from all over the world.
Ladies and gentlemen, in 2015, Walnut Grove, Arkansas will be the home of the Junior Samples Memorial Museum of the Hee Haw Historical Collective and Archives. This project will add millions to the local economy and will make Independence County a required stop for tourists worldwide.
“I’m really excited,” said Munroe Reeve, constable of Walnut Grove and part-time Archie Campbell impersonator. Reeve, also known by locals as “that crazy guy who sometimes argues with himself on the side of the highway after a long night at Spanky’s Club,” says it was his love of the long-running country and western variety program that caused him to persuade the museum’s backers to locate in his small community.
Junior Samples
“I was first noticed by Lulu (a longtime cast member on the show – Ed.) at a Hee Haw convention in Hattiesburg, Mississippi,” said Reeve. “She saw me singing the ‘PFFT! You was gone’ song in my Archie Campbell show at the convention. She said I reminded her so much of Archie, and we struck up a relationship, and the next thing you know, she’s introducing me to Goober, Misty Rowe, Mike Snider, Gailard Sartain, and Minnie Pearl’s hat. So, when I heard about plans for the museum, I lobbied hard for Walnut Grove through my Hee Haw connections.”
The museum will be roughly the size of Walmart and located next to a corn field that will be surrounded by a wooden fence that will spank people with one of its planks. Eventually, a 3,000 seat theatre will be constructed and a replica of Junior Sample’s car lot will sit nearby.
Visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of Hee Haw related activities including a “Gone, But Not Forgotten” show performed by animatronic versions of Junior Samples, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl, Archie Campbell, Kenny Price and Buck Owens; a walk-through exhibit of an actual pair of pants once worn by Lulu; and as the name of the museum suggests, a vast archive of Hee Haw material and memorabilia including an original issue of Playgirl featuring a nude layout of the Hager Twins from 1973 and the actual stuffed carcass of Beauregard the Wonder Dog.
Reeve says the call is out to all surviving Hee Haw cast members to make plans to attend the projected opening.
“We even contacted the Hee Haw Honeys,” said Reeve. “And they all said they’d come providing it didn’t fall on bingo day at their retirement home.”
And yes, the Hager Twins really did pose for Playgirl. Minnie Pearl almost fainted when she saw this.
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