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PARADE OFFERS REUNIONS, FOOD, FUN

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Sunday, October 25, 2009 12:03 AM CDT

The aroma of grilled hot dogs, burgers and ribs floated over downtown Pine Bluff Saturday morning as thousands of mostly black -and-gold-clad supporters of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff gathered to watch the annual homecoming parade.

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff homecoming parade-goers, lining Main Street, snap photographs of the Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South as it passes Saturday morning. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

“This is like a reunion, you see people you haven’t seen in a long time,” said Fred White as he and Kenny Poindexter fired up a portable grill in the doorway of K&K Rugs and Pictures at 4th Avenue and Main Street and prepared to cook hot dogs about 30 minutes before the parade was scheduled to begin.

White described the weeklong homecoming celebration, which included alumni reunions, Greek shows, and finally the football game against Edward Waters College Saturday afternoon as a “major event in Pine Bluff.

“I think this is one of the biggest money makers of the year and this town needs a shot of adrenaline,” he said. “You look at towns that are not nearly our size like Jonesboro and they have restaurants that we don’t have. Nobody wants to come here.”

Poindexter said homecoming was a “special time of the year and it’s really exciting.

“It also helps my business because people from out of town who are downtown for the parade come and look at what we’ve got,” he said.

Around the corner, Johnny Jynes and Julian Armstrong, the owners of Agape B.B.Q. had their own mobile grill and trailer set up and were getting ready to offer hot dogs, hamburgers and ribs to those who came to watch the parade.

“A lot of people who left here come back and fellowship and remember the time they spent on the yard (referring to UAPB),” Jynes said. “It’s like a big family reunion and they make a week of it so people have plenty of time to catch up.”

Jynes said while he didn’t attend UAPB, his wife and daughter did, and after the parade was completed, he would take his trailer and cooker to “a spot on University Drive that we’ve got reserved.

“Times are hard economically and this is something positive for Pine Bluff,” he said. “It’s a shot economically and people are going to spend money and get it back into the system.”

Dewayne Evans of Gould came to the parade for another reason, to watch his daughter, Kayala Evena, 9, march with the 34th Avenue Elementary School Drill Team.

“A lot of people come back here and have a nice time,” Evans said.

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