Mountain View Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet

Robbie Purdom presents the 2024 Distinguished Citizen Award to Connie and Kenneth Crymes March  14 at the Ozark Folk Center's Skillet Restaurant.

See the March 20 issue for a  photo page of the event. A feature on the couple was published in the March 13 issue. An excerpt follows:

A local couple’s lifetime of serving the community is being recognized with the naming of Kenneth and Connie Crymes of Mountain View as 2024 Distinguished Citizens by the Mountain View Area Chamber of Commerce.

Kenneth and Connie have long histories with local organizations such as the Stone County Historical Society, Stone County Jaycees and Jaycettes and Mountain View Volunteer Fire Department.

Kenneth graduated from Timbo High School in 1956 after starting his school years in some of the one-room schools of the area. Connie attended East Side School in Batesville through 8th grade, then attended Fifty Six School for 9th-11th grade before graduating from Mountain View High School in 1961.

Following graduation, Kenneth worked in construction and was involved in the paving project for Highway 66, operating a “sheepsfoot” roller to compact the gravel base. He later spent four years in the U.S. Army at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and helped haul sand for Rockaway Beach.

Kenneth also had a stint with West Tree Service clearing right-of-way, where he worked with Millard Avey, Raymond Long and Bennie Decker. He and Bennie would be assigned to climb trees, he said, because they were smaller and younger than others.

A job at Brewer Motor Company in the early 1960s put him in the company of Roy and Melvin Wrinkle, who helped him build a washtub base by using a piece of car hood. Kenneth carved a stick for the neck and he played the base for many years.

When the car dealership sold, Kenneth took a job with Arkansas Forestry and completed a career of nearly 30 years.