With a goal of bringing attention to the area’s small businesses, an annual event was organized by the cities of Texarkana, Texas and Arkansas with the help of representatives from the Texarkana USA Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Texarkana, Communities United, Northeast Texas Small Business Development Center, and the Greater Texarkana Young Professionals. Stuff Your Stockings with Small Businesses was a shop-small scavenger hunt that took place November 17 through December 1. 

To participate in the scavenger hunt, citizens had to check the organization’s Facebook page for hints on participating businesses, find the hidden stocking at the business, and scan the attached QR code to win prizes. Most of the small businesses that participated in the scavenger hunt donated items or gift cards from their stores to be given away as prizes.

Brooke Stone, the Communications Manager for Texarkana, Texas, helped organize and manage the scavenger hunt. “To support small businesses means a great deal to me and means a great deal to all of these other people who are a part of this, and we just want to see our small businesses thrive and be successful,” said Stone. The goal of the scavenger hunt was to bring attention, awareness, and new customers to Texarkana small businesses. “When you buy from a local business, you’re supporting that person and their family and that money is going right back into our economy here in Texarkana,” said Stone.

Two small businesses that participated in the scavenger hunt were The Village and Taste and See. Peggy Speer, owner of The Village, said she thought it was a good idea and thought “maybe it will pique people’s interest so they will come in.” She noticed several new people come into her store because of the scavenger hunt. Owner of Taste and See, Denay Maheu, thought that even though this year’s stockings brought new people in, last year’s scavenger hunt made more of a stir and drew in more families. She thought the mini elf, last year’s hidden item, acted as a draw for children in particular and played into the game aspect of the scavenger hunt. “Honestly we had more business last year with the little elf. We named her Ella, and we had little kids asking where she was even after we took her down,” Maheu said. Texarkana’s next annual small business scavenger hunt will take place in the weeks surrounding Small Business Saturday set for November 30, 2024.

To celebrate Texarkana’s Sesquicentennial on Dec. 8th, the TXK 150 Committee, appointed by the city council, is collecting items from the community to place inside a time capsule that is set to be opened in 2073. Earlier this year, the committee opened a time capsule that was buried to mark the centennial celebration of Texarkana in 1973. That time capsule gave the committee the idea to bury a new time capsule to be opened in another 50 years.

Lisa Thompson, a member of the committee, stated that right now the committee is collecting photos, newspapers, magazines, trinkets, pens, and anything else community members think would make an interesting addition. Currently, the committee has collected a coin from Red River Army Depot, a Texas High fall sports program, a Texarkana Symphony Orchestra program, a Run the Line medal and t-shirt, photos of city officials and first responders, and a few other items that will be included in the time capsule.

For this year’s time capsule, the committee is wanting to include more items that are of interest to the general public because they recognized that the previous time capsule had several letters and items that were specific to certain families. “We thought if we bury a time capsule in 2023, we want it to be something when they open it up it’s easy to understand and there’s no question about who it was for,” said Lisa Thompson.

As of now, there is no definite location that the time capsule will be buried, but committee members are looking for a place downtown that is appropriate to reflect the split nature of our unique border city straddling the state lines of Texas and Arkansas. “We thought we would bury it somewhere downtown… we don’t know yet exactly where because we’re trying to be neutral to both sides,” said Lisa Thompson. The time capsule is set to be opened in the year 2073 by the TXK Bi-Centennial Committee.

To further celebrate the Texarkana Sesquicentennial, there will be other events happening in downtown Texarkana on Dec. 8. “There’s a big celebration at the courthouse. We are lighting up the courthouse and we’re going to unveil the lights… it’s permanent lighting on the courthouse so we can light it up in different colors for different events,” said Lisa Thompson. In addition to this courthouse celebration, there will also be some performances at the Perot Theatre to celebrate Texarkana’s city history. “The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra and singers and a pictorial history of the city is going to be shown… it’s like a big finale to our events,” said Lisa Thompson.

Members of the Texarkana community are invited to donate items to the time capsule by November 30. To donate items to the time capsule or for more information, contact Lisa Thompson at lisa.thompson@texarkanatexas.gov.

The T-Line bus now stops on Texas A&M University-Texarkana’s campus, opening up transportation options for students around town. The route this bus follows gives students access to Richmond Road as well as the transfer station to take other buses around town to the students’ desired destination.

In the past, the T-Line made a stop at TAMUT when it was connected to Texarkana College, but when TAMUT first moved to its current location on University Avenue, fewer students needed the bus stop. However, now there are approximately 300 students that live on campus and many others that commute to classes every week making the need for transportation options a lot higher. In August, the T-Line was on campus full time again.

Dr. Alytrice Brown, Assistant Vice President of Student Life, was on the committee that worked to bring the T-Line back to campus and states that she would like to see a second bus stop added to campus in the future. “I’d like to see a bus stop in front of the Science and Technology Building in the big parking area for route six and I’d like to see the bus that stops in front of BLV for route seven,” she said. Dr. Brown has heard firsthand of how the bus has helped several students in times of need of transportation. “I really think the students are using it and it’s been a huge help,” she said. Dr. Brown also added, “I’ve heard from a few students who’ve said that it’s been a real important piece of what they needed and what was missing because they can go grocery shopping,” she said.

When seeking out students on campus to speak about their perspective on the T-Line, a limited number of students who were interviewed had mixed feelings about their experience. One student said that a downside to their bus ride experience was that they were asked to quiet down multiple times. “We got told to lower our volume…We can’t even whisper?,” said John Droke. A student also expressed some confusion about where all of the stops were along the route. “They didn’t tell us where we were going,” said Andrea Loredo. Dr. Brown and some faculty members plan to look into the situation to ensure that student experiences with the bus are the best that they can be.

The affordable price of the bus ride was one thing that students appreciated. “For $1 for it to drive you all around Texarkana, it’s not bad,” said John Droke. Another student stated that “Overall, it is a great choice for students. While the ride may be a bit bumpy, the price is great and it doesn’t take very long to get from one place to the other,” said Andrea Loredo.

The T-Line bus that stops on campus is on route six that runs along Richmond Road. The buses start their routes at 5:30 a.m. and the last bus of the day comes around 6:20 p.m.. The bus comes to TAMUT Monday-Friday every hour at 46 minutes after and waits for three minutes before continuing on the route. The cost to ride the bus is $1 one way or $20 for a monthly pass that includes unlimited rides.

Having your house destroyed by a hurricane can change your perspective on life, as it did for Dr. James Worthen, the new Dean of the College of Arts, Science, and Education at Texas A&M University-Texarkana.  “It made me want to serve and give back, so I thought I would be better able to serve as a dean at a place that needs to grow and build,” he said. Dr. Worthen decided that TAMUT was the perfect place to do this.

Prior to his position here, Dr. Worthen was the Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Southeastern Louisiana University for 15 years. Becoming a dean was not necessarily his goal, however, when his home was destroyed in Hurricane Ida in 2021, it changed his perspective and he decided he wanted to focus on helping others through his career.

Dr. Worthen looks forward to helping push TAMUT to new heights and assisting the college with new development. “In many ways it’s sort of new and growing and I thought this would be a great place to help build things,” he said. In addition to assisting TAMUT’s growth, Dr. Worthen also looks forward to helping others on campus. “When you help someone solve a problem or fix something, that’s very satisfying and that is what I like about it,” he said. 

Typically, when he is not spending time with his wife, son, or dog, Dr. Worthen enjoys some activities that he feels you might not expect out of a university dean. “I think this: that people who met me in the real world outside of the university would be surprised at what I do for a living,” he said. Dr. Worthen used to be a musician and played in some bands. His last band, which he left in 2019, was based in Hammond, Louisiana and played at different venues such as the Columbia Theatre and breweries around the area as well as a few places in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Dr. Worthen also enjoys doing things outdoors, especially hunting. He has been a hunting guide in an operation in Uvalde, Texas in the past. He particularly enjoys bow hunting whitetail deer and hogs.