The Mena weekly star., 1921-09-01
HENA IS IN RACE
 FOR M. ASSEMBLY
fsfxe of the Original Ten Contenders Eliminated, With Our Town Given a Chance to Get in-Meeting Mon-
 day to Arrange Further Steps.

day to Arrange Further Steps.
 Mena is in the race for the location N the Assembly for the Methodist eHureh. South, covering the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisi- ana and Texas. This is the report 6fought back to Mena Friday by Dr. E H. Hawkins and Fred J. Smith, z<cretary of the Commercial Club, ~rho had attended the meeting of the e<fnmissioners on the selection of a zife. held at Fayetteville on Thursday, 3ug. 25. Ten communities, all To- 1afed either in Northern Arkansas or &outhwest Missouri, have been in the p4ee for the assembly. A meeting of 1ne commissioners had previously been hsId at Siloam Springs, and while it u.as generally thought that final de- 1jsion would be made at the Fayette- tile meeting, crack was left open md Mena's delegation, with razorback 0roclivities, rooted in.
 "A meeting of the executive commit xee of the Commercial Club and citi- zens was held at the Commercial Club last Monday morning to hear
 
 u1 a program to present definite Exposition to the commissioners.
 The establishment of the Assembly is big project, and whatever city or eommunity is selected will be put in fouch directly and indirectly with 800,- 00O Methodists from the states that are in the movement. 1t is project HI big that it is engaging the atten- ,f ha ... the church, and even after they have Narrowed their decision down to two 0r three points, the chances are that Experts will be appointed to investi- Hate water, climatic conditions and such other material things to be con- <idered in a project so comprehensive, .affecting so many people and touching not only the present generation but Inc children and grandchildren that will come after.
 Seventeen out of the 21 commis- #Ipners were in attendance, the entire tpnmission representing 13 confer &nces. Dr. A. c. Miller, editor of the Arkansas Methodist, is the presiding 4fficer of the commission, and to the credit of Arkansas and the church of &his state, be it said that he is one of fhe broadest, biggest and brainiest men of the commission. The commis- zfoners met in executive session at 5 2elock Thursday morning at Central Methodist church, an institution, by the way, that has history of pas 4orate dating from 1857, with a gap W two years during the civil war Following the executive session, the fommissioners and the representatives ot the contenders for the assembly were called into the auditorium of the 1hurch, when Doctor Miller outlined briefly and clearly the plan of the as- <emby, the magnitude of the under taking, and the effect that the selec- Hon of a location will have on the sue fess of the movement and the benefit it will be to the community by bring ing in each year from 2,500 to 5000 &hurchworkers. Under the rules 1dopted by the commissioners, each delegation was to be given 45 min utes to present it's proposition before Inc commissioners, and it was when fhe assignment of places was being made that Mena "nosed in" astonish- Iag the commissioners as well as the Representatives from other points by the audacity of breaking in at what WIS characterized by the presiding of- Iirer as the eleventh hour. However, Mena had friends on the commission, and after it was unanimously voted to give the city hearing, you may De sure that the two lonesome dele rates "hung around" ready to take the first opportunity to go before the eommission. Despite the fact that other communities were represented by delegations ranging in number From eight or ten to as large as twen- ty-two, Mena's two delegates held their own, good naturedly taking the joshing" from those who were sure the site was already selected for their Respective communities, even getting Hong splendidly with the bunch from Fayetteville, where the Chamber of Gommerce, the Rotary club and the 1aeulty of the university were boost 1ng East Mountain and Happy Hol- low farm as the most feasible location tor the Assembly.
 Morrilton, boosting Petit Jean mountain, was represented by 22 dele gates. Joplin did not come as city, but the representative coming from Joplin, Carthage, Carterville and Webb City wanted it distinctly under *tood that they represented Jasper county, Missouri Rogers, Sloan Springs. BentonviITe, Rogers, Mt. Magazine had delegations of fine men, 1eaders in the respective communi- ties, the latter point being represented by delegations from Blue Mountain, Havana and Paris.
 At the previous meeting of the Commission held in Siloam Springs, fhe process of elimination was used and this same process was carried put after all the delegations had ap- peared before the commission at Fayetteville and when this was com pleted, five of the ten contenders were xnled out with Neosho, Rogers, Siloam SHprings, Mt. Magazine and Fayette- xille still in the running, and a crack left open for Mena to come in. Now,
 is up to the citizenship to catch the Nlslon of the vastness of this project Rnd work out program that will ap- peal above all other propositions pre- &ented and thus make the Mena dark norse the winner. The state on the program will be made Monday morn- Ing
 As stated previously in The Star, {he vision that led to Mena making 7he start. came from summer visitors. guests of the city, chief of among
 hom should he mentioned Dean R.
 Smith. of Centenarv rollege, Shreveport. The Rev. E. W. Pot