Best of Siloam Springs

30 • Best of Siloam Springs Wednesday, March 27, 2019 Siloam Springs Herald-Leader Julie Mebb Owner/Stylist 605 S. Mt. Olive St. • Siloam Springs, AR 479-215-9414 • 479-871-2651 Beyond the Fringe GET TWISTED WITH US Thank you Siloam for choosing us as your favorite place to buy a gift and your favorite pharmacy. 623 S. Mt. olive, Siloam springs 479-524-4311 www.jepsondrug.com April Rich 711 S. Mount Olive Siloam Springs, AR 479-524-6984 AUTO • HOME • LIFE AUTO • HOME • LIFE ® arich@shelterinsurance.com Pink Poodle 828 S Mt Olive St • Siloam Springs, AR 72761 Hours: Opens at 8 • Closes 5PM • Phone: (479) 238-9100 Thank you for trusting us with your fur babies! We love Siloam! Postcard perfect Improving quality of life important part of community partnerships, projects By David Woods Holland Hayden knows why Siloam Springs is such a special place. "Siloam Springs has a real unique community of people," she said. "e support people get from each other is unusual, in a good way. Not only do we have great people, but we have a simple way of life." Hayden, communications officer for the City of Siloam Springs for six years and lived in Arkansas for more than 20 years before she stumbled upon her new hometown. "I lived in Fayetteville before I moved to here," she explained. "I never really knew anything about Siloam Springs. I'd just kind of drive through on the way to Tulsa." It didn't take Hayden long to embrace the community's beauty and way of life. "We have some great businesses along Hwy 412," she said of the city's central business corridor. "Once you get off Highway 412 and get downtown, it's a throwback to communities before all the hustle and bustle. It's this beautiful, nostalgic downtown that has a calming creek running through it. We have foun- tains. It's like it's out of a postcard." A postcard perfect community doesn't happen by accident in today's hectic, high-pressure world. "We narrowed one of our main streets into downtown," she said of a recent project aimed at improving conditions for pedestrians and retailers. "It gave us better pedestrian access and it slowed traffic down. People are more encour- aged to walk now." Hayden explained that much of the progress in Siloam Springs, has one aim: Improving the quality of life for residents and visitors alike. "We really worked well with our com- munity partners including the Walton Family Foundation to bring amenities like the Siloam Springs Kayak Park to the community," Hayden noted. Continuing to improve the quality of life and bring more opportunities to the community, recreational and otherwise, is a focus of the Chamber of Commerce, City of Siloam Springs and other com- munity partners. "It has to do with amenities and the people who live here and want to move here," she said. "When people come back to visit they see really positive changes and it makes them want to come home."

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