Museum of Native American History, the entire crew that went on the Crystal Bridges trip.

Early on the morning of April 15, 2013, 55 enthusiastic members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church boarded a bus to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR.  The trip, sponsored by the Sacred Heart Men's Club, had been planned well in advance by Buddy Dixon, aided by his wife, Martha.  The bus arrived at the Museum by noon, and the group enjoyed lunch in one of the Museum's large meeting rooms.  Following lunch, the members were  broken  into smaller groups for guided tours of the Museum and its many exhibits. After the tours of the museum proper, the members visited the Norman Rockwell exhibit, which is on loan from the Norman Rockwell Museum.  The Crystal Bridges Museum and its setting in a small valley on what was once Sam Walton's home property is outstanding, and everyone was impressed with their experience at the Museum.

After the Museum visit, members boarded the bus for the trip to our motel, where they enjoyed a cocktail hour prior to leaving for Fred's Hickory Inn for dinner.  The Inn is famous in Walmart lore as the place where many decisions were made about the fledging Walmart company, including the place where the name Walmart was born.

After breakfast the next morning at the motel, the members boarded the bus for a trip to the Walmart Museum in downtown Bentonville.  While you might think this would be a let-down from the Crystal Bridges tour, the Walmart Museum was full of nostalgia for the group, as the small store inside the museum featured items for sale that most had not seen since they were quite young, including Slinkies, Goo Goo candy bars, salt water taffy, bubble gum banks, model airplane kits, etc., etc.  Inside the museum itself the history of Walmart was displayed in such a way that gave you a feel of why the company succeeded and why Sam Walton was such a visionary.  The members ended their tour in the museum soda fountain, with ice cream cones, malts, shakes, and other goodies that  they had enjoyed in their youth.

The members then bussed to the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville, which was funded and built by a close friend of Sam Walton.  Here  the history of the Native Americans is displayed, starting from their arrival on the North and South American continents to the present.  The tour of this museum was self guided, and presented the history in a very understandable fashion.  See the group photo at the museum above. 

The members then boarded the bus for a trip to the train station of the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad in Springdale, AR.   On the train trip to Van Buren, AR,  the members were served a wonderful lunch while traveling through the beautiful Boston Mountains of Northwest Arkansas.  When they arrived in Van Buren they boarded the bus for the trip back to Hot Springs Village. 

The Men's Club thanks Buddy and Martha Dixon for their excellent planning and execution of a trip none of us will soon forget.

Note: See all the pictures from the trip under the Photos section of this Men's Club website.