Annual Gillett Coon Supper slated for January

The 9th annual “Berry Pre-Coon Supper Reception” will be held on January 11th at the Berry Farm Shop in Gillett. The pre-supper reception starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Berry farm shop. Tickets are $40 each. Sponsorships are available to be a Berry Good Host for $1,000 and Berry Good Friends for $500. The 77th Gillett Coon Supper follows at the Gillett School Gymnasium at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to the Coon Supper may be purchased by contacting Larry Bauer at 870-830-4002.

“The Coon Supper has been a long-standing tradition in Gillett for over 75 years,” said Mitch Berry, son of former Congressman Marion Berry, D-Gillett. “We are proud for the Berry Pre-Coon Supper Reception to be associated with such a legacy. In the past eight years, we have been able to raise tens of thousands of dollars for scholarships for Arkansas State University students, and we value the opportunity to invest in a group of such deserving students.”

The Marion and Carolyn Berry Scholarship is awarded to a qualifying Arkansas State University student who shows an interest in public policy and public service. This year’s recipients were Kylie Meredith and Lacy VanWinkle, both of Jonesboro. Meredith is a double major in Agricultural Business and Marketing and interned in Congressman Rick Crawford’s D.C. office during the spring 2019 semester. VanWinkle, a junior majoring in Agricultural Business, is interning in Crawford’s Jonesboro office for the fall 2019 semester.

The Gillett Coon Supper is hosted by the Gillett Farmers and Businessman’s Club and has long been a required stop on the Arkansas political circuit. Politicians are tested on their political acumen by if they will eat the smoked raccoon.

The founding hosts of the Berry Pre-Coon Supper event are Campbell Ward, JPJ Consulting, Mitch Berry, and Wright Lindsey & Jennings.