The following excerpt is from an extensive article about the history of Tontitown, Arkansas, as well as a new local history book about the community titled, “So Big, This Little Place.” Read the full article by Trish Hollenbeck in the June 15, 2009 edition of the Northwest Arkansas Times.
“So Big, This Little Place” [is] to be published just in time for the Tontitown Grape Festival on Aug. 5-8.
The author of the book is Susan Young, outreach coordinator at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale, but Young credits many more people for making the book happen. Most of them have family ties to Tontitown.
The book will be published in hardback form with glossy pages, plenty of photos and text about the history of the community. The major focal point being Bandini himself.
Charlotte Piazza, curator of the Tontitown Historical Museum, said the book covers the first 20 years of Tontitown’s existence, from founder Bandini to its subsequent growth. Fittingly, the book ends with Bandini’s death in January 1917.
The book is in draft form now, and there have been 1,500 copies of the hardback edition ordered for sale during the Grape Festival. The price for each book has yet to be determined.
The Tontitown City Council has approved spending $6,600 plus freight to publish the book. Denise Pellin, president of the museum board, recently gave aldermen a rough draft to peruse.
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Young credits Jan McQuade-Sturm for researching the genealogical register for the book, as well as the Tontitown Historical Museum, which is publishing it.
Liz Lester, an independent designer, helped with graphic design, while Brian King of the University of Arkansas Press helped her through the editing process.
Read the full article by Trish Hollenbeck in the June 15, 2009 edition of the Northwest Arkansas Times.
