The Gillett Coon Supper, now in its 69th year, is an annual event that draws hundreds of attendees from the area and across the state, with the funds raised going to area high school students headed to college. For years, politicians have made the annual pilgrimage to the small town in south Arkansas County to shake hands, meet new folks and take the obligatory taste of ‘coon.
Former Senator Dale Bumpers and then-Governor Bill Clinton once survived a plane crash while landing in DeWitt to get to the Coon Supper, and “ran away unscathed, to the dismay of every budding politician in Arkansas,” according to Bumpers.
In the mid 1970’s, Marion Berry began hosting a reception for the politicians at his house in Gillett, which was located across the street from the local high school. The elected officials and their staff who arrived early would mix and mingle before heading across the street to the actual Coon Supper. Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe even credits the start of his political career to the Pre-Coon Supper Reception at the Berry farm shop in 1982.
When Berry went to Congress in 1996, the reception at his home evolved into a fundraiser for his campaign. This year, the congressman was at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota tending to some health issues, and the family was unable to put the reception together. Our colleague Gabe Holmstrom, along with agency friend Ben Noble, decided, after talking with the Berry family, to take on the task of hosting the reception at the Berry farm shop.
U.S. Senator Mark Pryor, Congressman Mike Ross and Congressman Rick Crawford stopped by the reception, as did Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, Secretary of State Mark Martin and Land Commissioner John Thurston. Several state legislators from both the House and the Senate made an appearance at the farm shop on their way to the Coon Supper. A bi-partisan affair, public officials, candidates and others enjoyed the hospitality and fare at the farm shop, which included smoked and fried turkey, smoked pork butts and bacon-wrapped duck bites, fresh from Arkansas County.
Mitch Berry, Berry’s son, was quoted in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: “We’ve got some things going on here tonight that are not so traditional. We have people like Jeremy Hutchinson in the room. Normally, that would not be the case here,” jokingly referring to the Republican state senator from Little Rock. “Anyway, I’m glad everyone is here, even the Republicans.”
Here is the invitation we designed:
CJRW was pleased to join with Noble Strategies in continuing this great Arkansas tradition. You can read more about the Coon Supper here:
- The Taste of Coon, TalkBusiness.net
- Town continues coon fundraiser without Berry, Eldoradonews.com
- Lessons from the Gillett Coon Supper, Arkansasnews.com
We look forward to having the Congressman back on the farm celebrating with us next January.