UDC Convention

UDC Convention

August 22-24



Leaving Fayetteville traveling through the Boston Mountains south to Texarkana is about a five-hour drive. There is a touch of Fall in the air, however it is still summer, call it the 52nd day of August even if the calendar says first day or Autumn. Few trees reflect the season change. The drive from Fayetteville to Fort Smith is about an hour through the Boston Mountains. It used to be a two-lane highway weaving through the mountains. Modern improvements give us a four-lane freeway all the way. The old highway 71 emerges about ten miles south of Fort Smith. The metro-plex falls away and the real Arkansas begins to reveal itself.



Once you reach Waldron all travel on 71 highway is small towns with big churches. Towns of little note but of great significance for our country. This is the heart of America. The home of Elk’s Club, Odd Fellow’s, Knights of Columbus, Friday night football, fishing, hunting, bowling, and Saturday dates with cheerleaders. It is these communities that have sent their sons and daughters into the maelstrom for the last 200 years and silently buried them with dignity when they came home in a box. One of the reasons the UDC exists is to honor the fallen, not only in the War Between the States, but in all the wars and the men and women who did not come home.



Religion here is fervent, emotional, and constant. Preachers do double duty as mechanics, lawyers, and dentists. Their sermons on Sunday tend to focus on the realities of the community. The sick and infirm are visited, the poor are fed cared for and directed to gainful employment. Women in the south seem to prefer their men religious and political. That might explain why so many marry preachers. In this part of Arkansas Sarah Sanders is assumed to be the next governor. Yard signs are 10 to one supporting her. The modern Democrat in this part of Arkansas is rare as hen’s teeth.



We give too little credit to the sacrifices made across America from these towns north, south, east, and west. They are worn-out watching their children neglected by politicians who have never seen their towns and communities. The government of their home is home, not some far off capital in Little Rock or Washington DC. They are angry about the abandonment of our proud culture in cities, of the painful sight of mentality ill living on the streets, the drugs that daily take hundreds of lives. And the millions of illegal migrants who consume their tax dollars and politicians who demand even more.



These small towns and hamlets are where the heart of the UDC can be found. Most members live quiet lives surrounded by family friends and the stories of their ancestors who lived on the same land 200 years ago. Accommodations are made for the necessary pleasures of modern society. Homes are air conditioned, a real luxury if you have never experienced the humidly and heat of South Arkansas. Indoor plumbing, paved roads and connecting through the internet. And the ever-present Tyson’s chicken processing plant and Wal-Mart are never far away. The UDC convention is in the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Texarkana. This is the third time we have attended at this center. In two years, the state convention will be in NWA from the talk the ladies have made Fort Smith looks like the most likely setting.



The two-day convention is an opportunity for old friends to meet and assure each other they are still alive. Much of the meeting is taken up with the usual business of a large organization, bylaws, and procedures. The men who attend with their wives are left to their own devices during these meetings. Committees are formed, officers elected, dinner is served. The ladies, husbands in tow attend. As dinner breaks up ant the evening meeting is called the men tend to seek safety in small groups separate from their wives. Many of the men are members of their own heritage organizations, SCV (Sons of Confederate Veterans) or MOSB (Military Order of Stars and Bars)



Like the communities they come from, they are troubled and in private they express concern about the future. There are a few young faces, giving hope for the future of the UDC. However, the average age is 70 and many of the women are in their 80s. There are large questions in the back of many minds about the viability of this and other heritage organizations.



Dinner on Friday night is the crowing event for the host chapter. Everyone dresses, formal gowns for the ladies and coat and tie for the men. The after-dinner speaker relates historical stories of that long gone past. No one is seeking to repeat the past in any form. The men and some of the women are veterans of America’s wars, WW II, Korea, Cold War, Vietnam, Gulf War I and II. They gather to honor their fathers, and grandfathers, some have relatives that served in every war from 1621 to 2022. Prayers are made for the fallen the flags are retired and the evening ends in a somber note.



Saturday morning is a hurry up of meetings for women and packing up for the men. Everyone is anxious to be headed home. The last-minute business is wrapped up quickly. By eleven people are streaming to their autos for the drive home. For some this will be their last convention, infirmity and death is an ever-present reality. However, there is good cheer and spirit among all. Next year in Little Rock is already in the first stages of planning.