This week, a celebration of 50 years of the Ozark Folk Center State Park presented through archival audio from its 1973 grand opening as well as interviews of key park figures and commentary by historian and writer Charley Sandage.

The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, in an early attempt to preserve the vanishing heritage of the Ozark Mountains, assisted local craftsmen and musicians to form the Ozark Foothills Crafts Guild in 1962. The guild started with 30 members and grew to a membership of over 300 master craftsmen and musicians. In 1963 the guild, in cooperation with local civic organizations, education advocate Bessie Moore, and renowned Ozark singer-songwriter Jimmy Driftwood organized the first Arkansas Folk Festival which attracted approximately 15,000 people. The festival became an annual event and within a few years was attracting almost 100,000 people to Mountain View. Because of the success of the annual festival the guild realized that they needed a permanent home. The guild, in cooperation with local government, obtained a grant from the United States Economic Development Administration to establish a private commercial craft center at Mountain View. Prior to its opening in the Spring of 1973, the state of Arkansas recognized the potential of the project and folded the Ozark Folk Center into the state park system and provided additional funding.

Ozark Folk Center State Park is dedicated to perpetuating the music, crafts, and culture of the Ozarks. Located in Mountain View, Arkansas, and open mid-April to late-October, the park offers visitors an opportunity to watch artisans work, to stroll through the Heritage Herb Garden, and to hear live Southern mountain music.

In the Craft Village at the Ozark Folk Center, more than 20 working artisans demonstrate, create, and sell handmade items. Handcrafted items like leather purses and goods, baskets, brooms, stained glass, ironwork, pottery, knives, weavings, quilts, wood carvings, spun yarn, soap, candles, and more are made onsite. Artisans also host workshops throughout the year for a more immersive crafting experience with personal attention and hands-on instruction.

The Heritage Herb Garden is where old-time pass-along plants, medicinal herbs, native plants, and edible herbs are grown. The Garden functions as a living classroom for workshops and programs. Events celebrating both culinary and medicinal herbs are held in May and October.

Music is at the heart of this park. Fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, and autoharp are just some of the instruments that combine to produce that enduring Ozark Mountain sound. The Ozark Highlands Theater hosts live concerts and special events, bringing legendary artists from all facets of Americana music to the stage. Workshops are also available at scheduled times for musicians and dancers of all skill levels.

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1973 archival recording of Ozark original Jimmy Driftwood singing is famous song “The Battle of New Orleans,” at the park’s grand opening from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.