Ten Years in a few paragraphs...

A lot of things have happened in the past ten years...both in our personal lives and with our activities with "Exploring Izard County". I lost my father to cancer after a lengthy fight with the disease in September of 2010 and then my mother to Alzheimer's in 2012. Bot of my founding colleagues suffered their own personal struggles and tragedies. Because of the circumstances involved with these events in our lives, our work (and play) at EIC has been sporadic. It was not non-existent, however. We did do a lot over these ten years - including hosting some incredible events! these include:

"Calico Rockin" Road-Trip 2010

*The "Heavenly Heartland" Road-Trip in the Spring of 2010.

*The "Calico Rockin' - The Bluff City Bash" Road-Trip in the fall of 2010.

*The "Old Lunenburg Music-Fest" in the Fall of 2011 An afternoon and evening of great local music and talent.

*The "Spring Splash 2" Road-Trip in the Spring of 2012 (with special guests, "Don't Stop Please").

*The "Trail of Trees - Trail of Tears" Road-Trip in Spring 2013.

*The "Trail Tree Symposium" with a presentation by Bob Gaut and appearance by "Ozark Traditions" traditional mountain folk group in January of 2014.

*Numerous "Flash Excursions" with groups numbering as many as 30 going to various places around the county. 

*The "Trail of Trees - Mystery Trees" Presentation & Tour with  Bob Gaut and a showing of the Mountain Stewards' film "Mystery Trees" Knob Creek Church in Spring 2016.

"Spring Splash 2" Road-Trip 2012

*The "Trail of Trees 2" Tour in connection with the Calico Rock "Native-American Day" in September of 2016 including a showing of "Mystery of the Trees" at the Calico Rock History Museum.

*The "Hidden Hollows" Road-Trip in Spring of 2018

*The "Schoolhouse Rockin' " Road-Trip in the Fall of 2019

So...we haven't been completely inactive. We've also found...or been told about many incredible places that were new to us. A complete list of those would include places like Benbrook Mill site, Old Water Mill site, Byrd-Smith Mill site, Cool Cave, Ball Hollow, Sadieville Falls among many other incredible places! And Trail Trees! Man, we got 'em!

"Trail of Tree-Trail of Tears" Road-Trip 2013

And while our posts at the "Exploring Izard County" blog  have been "far and few between", we have had a pretty steady presence on our companion Facebook Group page. If you are on Facebook and have never joined our group, please do! We have a lot of great discussion and interaction with our followers there. It's also a place where you can share your own adventures and historical knowledge in and about Izard County with interested folks!

Throughout this past ten years, there have been periods of activity on our part and at other times periods of inactivity. But our work at EIC and our love of the county has always been a large part of our lives - even during some of the darkest times. There is something quite therapeutic about getting out on the backroads and into the outback of Izard County. There's something comforting about learning the history of our area and the people who lived and struggled before us in this amazing place on Earth!

"Hidden Hollows" Road-Trip 2018

Looking forward, the EIC Crew will strive to keep finding the hidden gems in the county, both physically and historically: The stunning places of natural beauty; the funny and interesting anecdotes from the people of the past. We'll continue sharing what we find with those who are interested and hope to be a service to those unable to get out into the Izard County Outback themselves because of distance or infirmity. We will work hard towards a goal of helping individuals and organizations find ways to preserve and restore historic properties that are in their charge. 

The ten years ahead of EIC will be awesome!