The smell of sawdust blew in the air as Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders climbed in the cab of a Prentice 2570 Feller Buncher to try her hand at felling pine timber.
The logging operation owned by Shelby Taylor Trucking made the perfect first stop during the events of the day for the Sanders Administration's "Capital for a Day".
In Grant County the smell of sawdust has always been the smell of money. Sheridan, the Grant County seat, is a former timber town that's seen a major shift from trees to subdivisions.
Bobby Taylor, whose family has been in the timber industry for decades, greeted Sanders Thursday morning at his office to kick off Sheridan's "Capital for the Day."
A brief roundtable in an office with a large turkey mount on a wall afforded Sanders a chance to chat about turkey hunting and the importance of the changing timber industry in Arkansas. (Watch on our Facebook page here.)
Sanders then traveled to a nearby timber farm owned by Taylor on a long, dusty road to learn hands-on about logging.
Many people, including local city officials, think Sanders' "Capital for a Day" are campaign stops, but they aren't.
These events allow the governor to have access to everyday folks and listen to their concerns while seeing the town's successes. Cabinet secretaries and state legislators also spend the day in town and visit county and city officials, state agency offices and even historic sites.
After felling four or five pine trees, Sanders headed to Kohler, one of Sheridan's major employers, for a tour of its plant that produces plumbing fixtures and accessories for residential and commercial use.
She then popped into Mill Town Coffee Co., before attending a Meet and Greet at Lady Birds Cafe located on Sheridan's town square. Her husband, Bryan Sanders, also attended the event as did with state Senators Alan Clark, Ben Gilmore and Matt Stone. All three represent a portion of Grant County.
Attendees enjoyed a catfish lunch with all of the trimmings – fries, onion rings, hush puppies, slaw, tomato relish, green beans, pinto beans, mashed potatoes, salad, corn on the cob, and more. (The Reckoning noted the only thing missing was Attorney General Tim Griffin who loves catfish.)
Sanders visit to Sheridan comes during a volatile time when many citizens are questioning local officials at standing-room-only meetings.
Since May, three Sheridan School Board meetings have descended into contentious battles between community members and the school board over THC vapes, bullying, crime on campus and school choice, including heated remarks to homeschool parents by school board member Wade Crosswhite.
At Monday night's packed Quorum Court meeting citizens asked hard-hitting questions about a possible data center. In turn, County Judge Randy Pruitt went on the defensive and citizens tangled with him about the resolutions.
In a special-called meeting of the Sheridan City Council Tuesday night, tempers flared over grants. That meeting ended with Mayor Cain Nattin resigning from a local board.
It is unclear if Sanders was aware of the events occurring in Grant County, but when she addressed the crowd at lunch, Sanders said, "This is a great community. I love that we are getting to spend the full day. We started Capital for a Day when I came into office because it gives us such a great opportunity to see things in a community...some of the bright spots...but also it gives us a chance not just to see things that are going really well but also see some of the problems. What are the direct needs of the people in different communities cause what is going on in Sheridan may be really different than what is going on in Hot Springs or Bentonville or Jonesboro. So by spending the day talking to people we have the chance to hear and answer some of those questions directly."
She also said that her cabinet secretaries attend the Capital for a Day event to meet and help constituents maneuver state government.
Watch the entire speech here.
After shaking hands, taking pictures and answering one-on-one questions, Sanders took questions from media.
In Sheridan people have asked the Reckoning where the governor stands on homeschooling. We asked.
Sanders answered:
Sanders spent the afternoon at a private event at RoofConnect, a well-known locally owned national roofing contractor. That event was closed to the press. The parking lot was filled to capacity.
After RoofConnect, Sanders cut flowers in the Sheridan Intermediate School's garden and hosted a roundtable inside the school with Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward, teachers, parents and students. That event, too, was closed to media.
At the end of the day, many Grant County citizens were happy the governor visited Sheridan.
"I enjoyed getting to hear the governor, members of her cabinet, and some of our local Representatives speak," Melissa Shaw, who attended the noon Meet and Greet, said. "I appreciate that they took time out of their busy schedules to interact with the people who they represent."
