Buddy Dixon & The Travelers Mascot

108  Sacred Heart Mens Club members, wives and friends participated in the second annual Take Me Out To The Ballgame trip.  The attendees gathered at the Sacred Heart Church parking lot on Monday, June 17, 2013 and boarded two buses from the Quachita Bus Line Co., leaving at 4:30 PM headed for North Little Rock.  Along the way the attendees received a package of "in the shell" roasted peanuts that go along with the song "Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Buy Me Some Peanuts, etc., etc.  Upon arriving at Dickey-Stevens Ballpark, home of the Arkansas Travelers baseball team, a dinner consisting of hamburgers and hot dogs and all the fixings was waiting for them.  After a prayer , led by Fr. Bill, the attendees ate their fill and were ready for the ballgame which started at 7:10 PM. The Travelers were playing their arch rivals, the Naturals from Northwest Arkansas, and unfortunately were beaten by a score of 5 to 2.  After the game the attendees again boarded the buses for the trip home, arriving at 11:30 PM.  A good time was had by all and the Mens Club thanks Buddy Dixon, and his wife Martha, for all the hard work they put in to plan and execute a great outing. 

2013-14 Mens Club Officers, Buddy Dixon, Program Director, Bob Heisler, President, Scott Krantz, Sergeant At Arms, Don Glinka, Secretary, Tom Townsend, 1st VP, Rick Goss, Treasurer, 2nd VP, George Byrnes

The Mens Club last meeting of the 2012-2103 year was held on Tuesday, May 14. Approximately 140 members and wives, and widows of previous members, attended and were served Ribeye steaks, grilled outside the Lower Hall of the Church, baked potato, green beans, salad, rye bread, and for dessert four different flavors of Fr. Bill's ice cream. Pictures from this years activities were shown on the dropdown screen during the social hour. All of these pictures are available under the pictures tab of this website.

After dinner the 2012-2013 officers were honored and given Mens Club baseball caps as an acknowledgement of their work during this past year. The officers for the coming year, headed by President Bob Heisler (pictured above), were acknowledged as well as the Committee chairmen for the past year. The pictures of the new officers and the committee chairs are included under the  pictures tab. 

Buddy Dixon called on four members to come forward to help him advertise the upcoming baseball trip on June 17. They sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" and Buddy then discussed the particulars of the trip. The cost is $33.00 per person and includes bus tickets, dinner at Dickey-Stephens ballpark, and tickets to the game. There is room for 110 people to attend and reservations are on a first come, first served basis. Checks should be sent to Buddy Dixon at 5 Sur De Curso Lane and made payable to the Mens Club.

Buddy and Martha Dixon were then honored for their work on the highly successful Crystal Bridges Trip in April. Buddy was given a box of Goo Goo candy bars which he had enjoyed in his youth in Tennessee and Buddy & Martha were presented with a Norman Rockwell print entitled "Going and Coming" . See pictures under pictures tab. 

The evening was closed with those attending forming a circle around the Hall and singing "Let There Be Peace On Earth". A great close to a very successful Mens Club year.

Museum of Native American History, the entire crew that went on the Crystal Bridges trip.

Early on the morning of April 15, 2013, 55 enthusiastic members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church boarded a bus to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR.  The trip, sponsored by the Sacred Heart Men's Club, had been planned well in advance by Buddy Dixon, aided by his wife, Martha.  The bus arrived at the Museum by noon, and the group enjoyed lunch in one of the Museum's large meeting rooms.  Following lunch, the members were  broken  into smaller groups for guided tours of the Museum and its many exhibits. After the tours of the museum proper, the members visited the Norman Rockwell exhibit, which is on loan from the Norman Rockwell Museum.  The Crystal Bridges Museum and its setting in a small valley on what was once Sam Walton's home property is outstanding, and everyone was impressed with their experience at the Museum.

After the Museum visit, members boarded the bus for the trip to our motel, where they enjoyed a cocktail hour prior to leaving for Fred's Hickory Inn for dinner.  The Inn is famous in Walmart lore as the place where many decisions were made about the fledging Walmart company, including the place where the name Walmart was born.

After breakfast the next morning at the motel, the members boarded the bus for a trip to the Walmart Museum in downtown Bentonville.  While you might think this would be a let-down from the Crystal Bridges tour, the Walmart Museum was full of nostalgia for the group, as the small store inside the museum featured items for sale that most had not seen since they were quite young, including Slinkies, Goo Goo candy bars, salt water taffy, bubble gum banks, model airplane kits, etc., etc.  Inside the museum itself the history of Walmart was displayed in such a way that gave you a feel of why the company succeeded and why Sam Walton was such a visionary.  The members ended their tour in the museum soda fountain, with ice cream cones, malts, shakes, and other goodies that  they had enjoyed in their youth.

The members then bussed to the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville, which was funded and built by a close friend of Sam Walton.  Here  the history of the Native Americans is displayed, starting from their arrival on the North and South American continents to the present.  The tour of this museum was self guided, and presented the history in a very understandable fashion.  See the group photo at the museum above. 

The members then boarded the bus for a trip to the train station of the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad in Springdale, AR.   On the train trip to Van Buren, AR,  the members were served a wonderful lunch while traveling through the beautiful Boston Mountains of Northwest Arkansas.  When they arrived in Van Buren they boarded the bus for the trip back to Hot Springs Village. 

The Men's Club thanks Buddy and Martha Dixon for their excellent planning and execution of a trip none of us will soon forget.

Note: See all the pictures from the trip under the Photos section of this Men's Club website. 

Ray Ambrozich gathering his crew for Hwy 7 cleanup.

Twelve members of the Mens Club, headed by Ray Ambrozich, met at the El Acapulco parking lot to clean up one mile of  Highway 7 on Saturday, April 13, 2013.  Ray passed out plastic bags and pick up tools to aid the volunteers in the clean up process.  The men were joined by Tom Hickox's young, and very cute daughter, Sophe, who aided in the pick up effort.  Approximately 10 bags of trash were picked up from the one mile section of the road that runs North from the Rock Shop to El Acapulco Restaurant.  The group finished and were headed home by 9:00 am. 

Thanks goes to John Bodensteiner, Bob Heisler, John Froning, John Rachwal, Bill Patterson, Dave Witchger, Tom & Sophe Hickox, Bill Hartnett, Marvin Young, Gordon Wilson, Bill Hurley, and the leader, Ray Ambrozich for their work.

Thanks to Ray Ambrozich for his work on this project which is carried out twice a year in the April and October time frames.  Ray has been the chairman of this project for a number of years and is retiring as of the end of the Mens Club 2012-2013 year.

Check the Photos section of the web site for more pictures of the cleanup effort.

The Mens Club held their Annual Fish Bake on Friday, March 22, 2013 in the Lower Hall of the Church.  Over 400 patrons were served at the 5:00 & 6:30 PM  seatings.  Chef Rick Hiemenz and his staff of cooks prepared the meal of baked Tilapia, tater tots, green beans, and rye bread that was served by members of the Mens Club.  Coffee and water were part of the meal for which ticket prices were $10 per person, and additional beverages were available from the Refreshment Center staffed by Mens Club Members headed by Lanny Mabus.  Matre'd's Bob Kindelsperger, Buddy Dixon, and Fr. Bill Elser, aided by the waiters were able to seat and serve the patrons in a very timely manner. 

After the main course, students from the Sacred Heart CCD program sold ice cream prepared by Fr. Bill Elser.  The CCD students were aided by the St. Jude Guild of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart and over 15 gallons were consumed by the patrons with the money collected going to support the CCD program. 

Over 60 members of the Mens Club participated as cooks, Matre'd's, waiters, Refreshment Center staff, kitchen coordinators, ticket sellers, take out coordinator, set up and clean up helpers.  Over $2800 was earned for our charities making this one of the more successful events for the Club. 

Thanks to the workers and to the patrons that attended.

See additional pictures from the Fish Bake in the Photos section.

Boys & Girls Club Reps-Ike Eisenhauer, Joe Stiewe, Mens Club Rep-Buddy Dixon

Ike Eisenhauer, long time Paul Bewie Boys & Girls Club Board Member and Joseph Stiewe, new Executive Director of the Club gave a very informative presentation on the status of the Club and the reasons for the recent changes. If you were not aware, the Club recently entered into an agreement with the Jesseville and Fountain Lake School Districts to aid all three organizations.

The basics of the arraignment were that the school districts  purchased the real estate and facilities then owned by the Club in exchange for the Districts paying off the debts of the Club, which were substantial and unsustainable.  The Districts are leaseing back to the Club, under very favorable terms, a portion of the property for after school and summer programs.  

The School Districts, for their part, were looking for a place to run their Alternate Learning Environment (ALE) , which they had been running in rented space in the facilities near the bowling alley on Hwy. 7, south of the Village. The Districts will expand the facilities at the Club location to handle these ALE classes in a more stable, and over time, less expensive model.  

The new relationship between the Club and the School Districts also has other benefits. It allows the three to work together more closely to serve the kids. The Club and Schools are working together to maintain the buildings and fields, as well as securing increased grant funding to help provide the very best for the kids. 

Joseph (Joe) Stiewe, is the new Executive Director, being hired in February of this year. Joe has been involved with Boys & Girls Clubs (B&GC) for some 40 years, having joined the local B&GC in Wisconsin when he was 7 1/2 years old in Wisconsin. He was most recently Executive Director of the local B&GC in Longview, TX.  Joe has a wife, Yvette, a son 26 years old, and daughters, 24 and 15. Joe explained that based on his review that the Club had become an after school day care, with few programs normally associated with a good B&GC Club. The intent is to restore these programs that will be allowed by the reduction in costs associated with the new association with the School Districts and  with the help of local volunteers and continued financial support from organizations such as the Sacred Heart Mens Club.