The Gay News roving pack of bons vivants left Eureka Springs this afternoon. We didn't get too far in cartographic terms--a mere eleven miles down the road--but, according to the soothing, limited viewpoints we enjoy in the upper left-hand corner of NW Arkansas, we might as well have launched off planet Earth for a dangerous, daring trip to a distant galaxy.

Local Gay News readers know exactly what we mean. Yes, that's right. We went to Berryville. Distant Gay News readers will require a slightly longer explanation for this shocking development but, not to worry, here it is:

The county that contains Eureka Springs is divided in two parts by a wild and beautiful river known as «the Kings.» Back in the old days, before the Mini Cooper was invented, the Kings River often made it impossible for county residents to do government business. So the county is divided into two county seats, one on the eastern side of the river (Berryville), the other on the west bank (Eureka Springs.)

Fans of musical theater should know the outcome, and all the lyrics, by heart. Yes, it's Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and «West Side Story.»

The conservative, traditional «Jets» live on the Berryville east side. The newcomer, rowdy «Sharks» live in west side Eureka Springs. They're conservative. We're progressive. They raise livestock. We create abstract, conceptual livestock sculpture. On Sundays, we sell liquor. They go to church. We wear tie-dye. They wear Wranglers.

Are we getting the vibe?

Then one day, the paradigm cracked quietly--courtesy of a New Orleans native named Alexander Virden.

Virden says, «I was just looking for property on the internet,» when he bought a few idyllic acres near Berryville. In his travels through the eastern county seat, Virden passed a building every day, an old abandoned hotel once known as «The Saint George.»

«I thought, 'somebody should do something with that building',» Virden says. And so he did.

It took four home renovations and sales in Florida for Virden to collect the down payment to buy the Saint George Hotel. Cash in hand, Virden and his life partner Sandra Doss returned to Arkansas, purchased the old hotel, renamed it «The Grandview,» and set upon an ambitious mission to remake the cultural landscape of Northwest Arkansas.

The project is named «Ozarts.» It's cultural home is the Grandview. Its purpose is, «To make digital production facilities available to artists in a cooperative environment. Where production decisions are based on the merit of the project and the artists involved.»

Ozarts goals include local training in digital production, animation, music recording, and post production editing and sound, locally produced television programming and music recording, and renovation of Berryville's historic public square. (Full mission statement here.)

We're excited about the possibilities, here at Gay News, and we watched Virden, Doss and co-worker Erin McCullough midwife the birth of the concept today--at the Grandview Grand Opening, the first opportunity the public has had to enter the Grandview Hotel for more than 30 years.

The excitement in Berryville was palpable. The Grandview Hotel was built in 1902 and, in a community where family roots run long, deep and down through several generations, nearly everyone had a story.

«I remember my mother talking about the doctor coming to see my aunt at the hotel,» said Ginger Oaks, Executive Director of the Berryville Chamber of Commerce. «We lived on a farm, too far out for the doctor to visit so, when my aunt got sick, my mother stayed with her at the hotel. They always talked about the doctor coming here and saying, 'I will take care of you.'»

«My mother in law had her honeymoon here in 1906,» said Florene Neal, a local resident.

«I used to walk by this building every day on my way to school,» said another wistful resident. «I always used to wish I could go into this building. Now I can.»

In an historically unprecedented action, the Jets and Sharks got together to celebrate the Ozarts opening of the Grandview Hotel today. Ambassadors from both sides of the Kings River wore the gang colors of their local sports teams--red for Eureka Springs, purple for Berryville--at today's ribbon cutting ceremony. The center of the ribbon was held by a local Red Hat lady who, as kismet would have it, wears purple clothing and red hats as a regularly scheduled hobby.

«Congratulations for the excellent job you've done and the healing of this beautiful building,» said Red Team Member Jeff Feldman, President of the Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce. «Hands across the river on this historic occasion.»

«That leaves the purple side!» enthused Berryville Chamber Director Ginger Oaks. «We're so proud of what Team Grandview has accomplished.»

«Let's work at understanding our neighbors instead of being a microcosm of the world's polarization, let's make Carroll County an example of how people, cut from different cloth, can make a beautiful quilt, instead of an example of the division that is splitting our world apart,» said Team Grandview member Alexander Virden.

Good idea, don't you think?

We like it--the idea of embracing differences and coming together in mutually agreeable celebrations. That's what we're all about, here at Gay News.

So, when it comes to Ozarts and all their mutually agreeable celebrations, projects and activities...we'll keep you posted.

(L-R): Purple Team: Ginger Oaks, Executive Director - Berryville Chamber of Commerce
Team Grandview: Alexander Virden, Sandra Doss, Erin McCullough
LaVonne St. Clair, Founding Red Hat Lady & Mistress of the Ribbon
Red Team: Jeff Feldman, President - Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce

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