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Siloam Springs
Herald Leader
Wednesday
May 4, 2016 • 50 cents
Volume 122 • No. 49
Your Hometown Newspaper since 1892Local news, sports and community information
2 Sections • 20 Pages
Copyright 2016 © NAN LLC
Polaroid Pop-Up
Downtown event held Friday
Page 6A
Hard work pays off
Seniors Capehart and Lyon making
most of final track season
Page 1B
■ Contact Us
Phone: (479) 524-5144• Fax: (479) 524-3612
Mail: 101 N. Mt. Olive, Siloam Springs, AR 72761
Email: hleditor@nwaonline.com
Website: http://hl.nwaonline.com
The Siloam Springs Public Library will be
offering an additional Preschool Story Time
at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays. This story time
will follow the same format as the story time
that is offered on Thursdays at 11 a.m. Ms.
Julia will be leading the additional story
time. For more information, contact the
library at 524-4236.
■ At A Glance: Additional story time
’08 tornado victim memorialized in park
The south side of Siloam
Springs now has a park located
where a deadly tornado claimed
the life of a 15-year-old girl after
a tree fell on her as she slept.
That teenager, Eliana Stepha-
nie Chacon, died that fateful
morning of May 2, 2008, but her
spirit lives on in the park that
now bears her name.
The Eliana Chacon Memorial
Park opened Saturday, April 30,
at 228 E. Lake Francis Drive,
a plot of land that previously
housed Choice Mobile Home
Park.
The property was later known
as Rosebud Trailer Park, which
the city of Siloam Springs
bought in October 2013 and
unveiled last weekend in front
of about 50 people, mostly
Chacon’s family members who
visited from the northern Mexi-
can state of Chihuahua.
“This is a special day for me. In
this place, I lived many wonder-
ful moments with my daughter,
and here is where I saw her last
smile,” said Margarita Rodri-
guez, Chacon’s mother, during
the ribbon cutting. “Many days
and nights I came here to cry,
but now I will come to enjoy the
smiles of the children, and to
remember her.”
Holland Hayden, commu-
nications director for the city
of Siloam Springs, described
Chacon as a wonderful young
woman who was revered by the
community, and stressed the
importance of giving something
to the Spanish-speaking popula-
tion, which makes up 20 percent
of the city.
“We’re really excited to bring a
park to the south side of Siloam
Springs. I think that the south
side has needed a park for a
long time, and it just gives it an
extra special feeling for it to be a
memorial park,” said Hayden, as
she shed a few tears.
“It just gives them a sense of
belonging and a sense of clo-
sure for them with Eliana,” said
Mayor John Mark Turner. “We
want to reach out and embrace
them and make sure that they
understand that they’re part of
our family here.”
nElianaChaconMemorial
ParkopenedSaturdayin
SiloamSprings.
By Jose Lopez
Staff Writer n jlopez@nwadg.com
Jose Lopez/ NWA Democrat-Gazette
Margarita Rodriguez, second from left, gathers her thoughts as she speaks during the ribbon cutting for the
Eliana Chacon Memorial Park Saturday in south Siloam Springs. Rodriguez’s daughter, Eliana Chacon, was
15 when she died May 2, 2008, after a tornado ripped through the area, causing a tree to fall on top of her
in the family’s trailer as she slept. The city of Siloam Springs bought Rosebud Trailer Park, the site of this
tragedy, in 2013 to turn it into the Chacon Park, with construction beginning Jan. 11, 2016. Standing with
Rodriguez are her translator, Debbie Andrade, from left, and her children Alan Daniel Chacon, 28, and Edwin
Chacon, 18, who survived the tornado at age 10.
Local kids will be getting a
taste of entrepreneurship dur-
ing National Lemonade Day this
Saturday.
Students from the Boys and
Girls Club of Western Benton
County, Siloam Springs High
School, Gentry Middle School
and local home-school groups
will be selling lemonade at six
locations throughout Siloam
Springs and at the Chicken Coop
in Gentry.
A map of all the lemonade
stands in Northwest Arkansas,
including information bubbles
with the name of each stand and
hours of operation, is available at
nwa.lemonadeday.org.
This is the second year in a row
that Northwest Arkansas groups
have participated in National
Lemonade Day, according to
Sarah Heimer, executive direc-
tor of Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Northwest Arkansas, the local
administrator of the program.
This year more than 1,000 kids in
the region will be participating in
the event, she said.
National Lemonade Day
was founded in 2007 as a way to
A taste of entrepreneurship
nNationalLemonadeDay
setforSaturday.
By Janelle Jessen
Staff Writer n jjessen@nwadg.com
American Legion forms honor guard
American Legion Post 29 has a
new honor guard that provides
military honors for local veter-
ans’ funerals and a color guard to
post flags at civilian events.
The 12-member guard was
formed last September and has
since performed at 23 funerals,
said Jim Gillig, co-commander
of the honor guard and adjutant
of Post 29. The color guard, com-
prised of the same members, has
posted flags at civilian ceremo-
nies such as those at John Brown
University, Siloam Springs High
School, Siloam Springs Library’s
grand opening and most recently
at the Oklahoma Arkansas Honor
Flight send-off ceremony for
veterans at the Cherokee Casino.
The group was recently certi-
fied to perform funeral honors
by Military Funeral Honors of
Arkansas and has performed fu-
nerals at the National Cemetery
in Fayetteville, Gillig said.
During funeral ceremonies,
the honor guard stands at atten-
tion and salutes the veteran as
they arrive at the cemetery, he
said. They play taps, shoot three
rounds of rifle fire and fold the
flag to be presented to the family.
See TORNADO on Page 3A
See HONOR GUARD on Page 3A
See LEMONADE DAY on Page 3A
John Brown University will
hold spring commencement for
traditional undergraduate stu-
dents at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 7.
The graduate and degree com-
pletion ceremony will take place
at 2 p.m. Both ceremonies will be
held in the Bill George Arena on
JBU’s Siloam Springs Campus.
John Brown University will
graduate 207 students in the
traditional undergraduate pro-
gram and 147 students in the
graduate and degree completion
programs. This year’s graduating
class represents 25 states and 20
countries.
Robbie Castleman, professor
of Biblical Studies at John Brown
University, will give this year’s
commencement address. Castle-
man is a member of the Bible
and theology faculty, received
John Brown
graduation
to be held
Saturday
From Staff Reports
See GRADUATION on Page 3A
Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader
Dennis Bergthold, owner of 2B’s Auto, donated a minivan to the Ameri-
can Legion Honor Guard. Also pictured, from left, are honor guard
members Jim Gillig, J.W. Smith and Chuck Lankford. The van will be
used to transport members of the guard and their equipment to funer-
als and events.
By Janelle Jessen
Staff Writer n jjessen@nwadg.com

2. News Wednesday, May 4, 2016 n 3ASiloam Springs Herald-Leader
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Turner was a city board
member in 2008 during the
deadly tornado and said he
remembers all the police
and ambulances in the area
during the tragedy.
The mayor said the park’s
aestheticswillimproveonce
the landscaping is finished,
and that the city will add a
sidewalk for park visitors to
arrive there safely. He also
encouraged area residents
to keep the park beautiful.
For Chacon’s old-
est brother, Alan Daniel
Chacon, 28, this plot of land
has brought him mixed
emotions over the last eight
years because of the sour
memories.
“She was too young when
she left, so there was still a
lot left from us to receive
from her,” he said. “I have
kids now, my brother is
going off to college, so we
didn’t get to see a lot of that
from her.”
However, he said the park
is her way to give those lost
experiences to her family.
“I’m just glad that we’re
able to come back as
a family and have our
kids enjoy something
like this,” said Daniel
Chacon, whose 3-year-old
daughter is named Sydney
Eliana Chacon, in her aunt’s
honor.
TORNADO
Continued from Page 1A
Jose Lopez/ NWA Democrat-Gazette
Sydney Eliana Chacon, 3, poses next to a plaque for the
Eliana Chacon Memorial Park, which had its grand opening
on Saturday in south Siloam Springs.
the “Rookie of the year”
teaching award in 2003 and
is the faculty sponsor of the
Dead Theologians Society.
She will retire this year af-
ter 15 years at JBU.
She has published eight
books, and has another
accepted for publication,
including “New Testament
Essentials,” “Story-Shaped
Worship,”“Parenting in the
Pew” and “True Love in a
World of False Hope.” She
has also published eight Bi-
ble study guides including
“Peter, Learning to Follow
Jesus,” “Elijah, Obedience
in a Threatening World”
and “David, a Man after
God’s Own Heart.”
For additional informa-
tion about JBU commence-
ment exercises or to watch
the live simulcast, visit
www.jbu.edu/commence-
ment/.
GRADUATION
Continued from Page 1A
empower youth to become
tomorrow’s entrepreneurs
by helping them start, own
and operate their very own
lemonade stand, according
to the organization’s web-
site, www.lemonadeday.org.
The organization de-
veloped a 14-step process
that walks youth through
the process from dream
to business plan, while
teaching them the same
principles required to start
a big company, the website
states. Students get to keep
their profits and are taught
to spend, save and share
by giving back to the com-
munity.
Three groups of 11- to
13-year-old students from
the Boys and Girls Club will
be setting up lemonade
stands from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Saturday at Walmart
Neighborhood Market, Sig-
nature Plaza and Harps,
according to Stephen John-
ston, athletics director for
the club.
This is also the second
year that the Boys and Girls
Club has been involved in
Lemonade Day. Johnston
said his students have been
working for three or four
weeks to prepare for the
event.They have developed
a business plan, asked for a
loan for startup money, and
done the math to figure out
howmanysuppliestheywill
need and how much they
will need to charge to make
a profit.
The curriculum teaches
students to think of all
aspects of running a busi-
ness, including the smallest
details, Johnston said. They
also learn common busi-
ness terminology, he said.
“The more successful
they are at this, the more
likely they are to be involved
in business later in life,” he
said. “It get’s them excited
about it early in life.”
Northwest Arkansas has
historically been a hot-
bed of entrepreneurship,
spawning leaders such as
Sam Walton, J.B. Hunt, and
Mark Simmons, Heimer
said.
“This is the perfect breed-
ing ground for kids to do a
program like this,” she said.
“It fits the culture really
well.”
The materials for Lemon-
ade Day were free of charge
to those who participated
due to sponsorship from
the Walmart Museum. Sam
Walton had a great pas-
sion for entrepreneurship,
and the program is right in
the spirit of who he was,
Heimer said.
Heimer is encouraging
people to get out on May 7
and if they see a stand, stop
and buy lemonade.
“Beyond that, ask the kids
about their product,” she
said. “There is likely a story
behind it.”
Customers should also
ask kids which philanthropy
they plan to support with
their earnings, she said.
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LEMONADE DAY
Continued from Page 1A
“Each one (of the honor
guard members) are veter-
ans,” Gillig said. “They are
all proud to be there. It’s an
honor to be there to perform
fullmilitaryhonors.”
Familiesareveryapprecia-
tiveofhavingtheirlovedone
receive military honors at
theirfuneral,hesaid.
“Their reaction tears at
yourheart,”Gilligsaid.
The honor guard has been
a long time coming, accord-
ing to Gillig. The idea to es-
tablish an honor guard was
broughtupfouryearsagobut
there were not enough par-
ticipants to bring it to reality.
GilligsaidthatMaddenWaits,
former second vice com-
mander for the post, insisted
thatveteransdeservemore.
Gillig volunteered to help
get the honor guard off the
groundandtheymadeafive-
minute video and passed it
around to recruit members.
The honor guard started off
with eight members and
theywerelargelyself-funded,
Gillig said. Members bought
whiteshirtsandthepostcov-
eredthecostofembroidery.
The post started practic-
ing for a three-shot volley
with eight old rifles the post
had on hand. It is a com-
mon myth that all veterans
receive a 21 gun salute, Gil-
lig explained. That honor
is actually reserved for U.S.
presidents.
Once they got going, the
honor guards started “grow-
ing by leaps and bounds,”
andhasreceivedalotofsup-
port from the community,
accordingtoGillig.
The honor guard received
a donation of six ceremo-
nial rifles and blank rounds
of ammunition from the
CivilianMarksman’sProgram
and began practicing. They
also received a donation of
an electronic bugle from
Walmart on which to play
taps,hesaid.
J.W. Smith applied for a
grant to fund the purchase
of pistol belts and gloves.
The honor guard has also
received support from fami-
liesofthedeceasedandfrom
WassonFuneralHome.
The honor guard recently
receivedadonationofamin-
ivantocarrytheirequipment
andmembersfrom2B’sAuto.
Shawn Hunter of Inuendos
Design Co., a former mili-
tary honor guard member,
donatedletteringforthevan.
All of the donations and
support will help the honor
guard perform military hon-
ors at even more funerals.
Membersofthehonorguard
take their duties very seri-
ously,Gilligsaid.
“It’s just one little way we
can give back to the com-
munity and veterans who
served,”Gilligsaid.
HONOR GUARD
Continued from Page 1A
She was too young when she left, so there was
still a lot left from us to receive from her.
Alan Daniel Chacon
Eliana Chacon’s oldest brother
Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader
Shawn Hunter of Inuendos Design Co., donated lettering
for the side of the American Legion Honor Guard van. Also
pictured, from left, are honor guard members Larry Buck-
minster, Less Carroll, Jim Gillig and Stuart Reeves.