During the days of April 27-30 I was in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Ft. Smith is a border town that is separated from Oklahoma by the Arkansas river which encircles it like a giant horseshoe. Many people from Oklahoma work and do their shopping in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.
Ft. Smith is a sprawling town with several built-up and self-sustaining sections within it. It is the second largest city in the state of Arkansas after Little Rock. The downtown area of Ft. Smith features many attractions, including a Museum of History that chronicles its pioneering history. I visited the museum on Friday afternoon.
I was giving a Cross Mission at Christ the King Church, one of the many Catholic Churches in Ft. Smith. The Church property is large. There is the original stone Church, used for smaller services such as weddings and funerals; a big, new Church with three large entrances; a Family center, and offices for various parish ministries.
The weather was glorious at this time of year, and the Arkansas landscape sparkled with fresh, green foliage that was long and lovely and lush. As I was driving to the Church to say mass on Saturday and Sunday, I made a point of driving through different parts of the city just to enjoy, en route, the bountiful foliage.
The Southern charm of the parishioners was something else. I had two Irish friends who were visiting me in Florida, and they decided to accompany me on this trip to Arkansas. They were in for a pleasant surprise when they experienced the real hospitality of the local people who invited them to lunch on Sunday afternoon at one of their local restaurants.
We also drove into Oklahoma, over the Arkansas river, on Saturday morning. We visited the Cherokee Casino in Oklahoma where we had lunch. Oklahoma looked so vast. We saw few towns as we drove along the countryside. Mostly farmland with the odd gas station at intersections of the highway. I understood why the people there went to Ft. Smith when they wanted to go shopping.
We had to rise early (5:00am.) on Monday morning to catch our flight to Atlanta, and, from there, a connecting flight to West Palm Beach. We got back around 3:00pm. We had a wonderful journey, all told.
The beauty of this trip is that I was able to achieve a dual purpose: to enjoy, at the same and in the same place, my friends from Ireland in addition to the good parishioners of Christ, the King parish in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.
—Fr. Hugh Duffy
3 Comments
Susan DuBois
Fr Hugh,
We so enjoyed you and your sermon. I am also so happy that you had time to enjoy a little of the area. Our Community was started with an Irish Catholic church which sat at the head of Garrison Ave. You should have seen it from where you ate lunch on Sunday. The family that own the restaurant that you ate at were part of the Italian immigrants that settled in the area.
Susan DuBois
Fr Hugh,
In continuing on Fort Smith. we also have another Catholic church that was started by German immigrants in the late 1800’s. Along with a large group of the Hispanic culture, we also have a large group of immigrants from IndoChina, mainly Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. We hope you can visit with us again next year.
Susan
Hugh Duffy
Thanks for you valuable input about Ft. Smith’s Catholic Community, Susan. I did see the imposing Church of the Immaculate Conception at the crossroads in town, as well as St. Bonaface.