Dondie’s White River Princess on May 12 after much of the repair work had been completed to the restaurant. Photo: Michael Hibblen
Seven months after a fire caused extensive damage to Dondie’s White River Princess in Des Arc, the landmark seafood restaurant will be reopening to the public on Friday, May 29 at 5 p.m. During the previous weekend, on Saturday, May 23, a first serving of food was for firefighters and other emergency personnel, “to show our appreciation for their fast response and hard work put into saving all they could at Dondie’s,” a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page said.
The restaurant was closed when the fire broke out on the night of Oct. 16. Co-owner Ben Scott says it was ignited by hot towels that had just been dried and spontaneously combusted after employees left. Scott, his wife Courtney, and his parents Roger and Belinda Scott have jointly owned the restaurant for more than two years, which sits alongside the White River, is two stories tall and was designed to look like a large riverboat. He says they immediately knew they wanted to make repairs and reopen, but didn’t know if that would be possible.
“There was definitely a mix of emotions,” Ben Scott said. “We didn’t know with insurance and how all that was going to play out, if [reopening] was going to be possible. So that’s kind of how we were able to reopen and it all worked out, but we had a lot of uncertainty there for a couple months.”
While he doesn’t have an exact cost, Scott says repairs were more than $500,000, with insurance covering the work.
“I wouldn’t really call it fighting with insurance, it’s just a process. They never really ever acted like they weren’t going to pay because it was a payable claim. It’s just a matter of trying to figure out how much was damaged and what it would cost for reconstruction. So it was a process and definitely there were some times we were unsure,” Scott said. “But we definitely had a lot of support and encouragement and prayers, and honestly, it’s everything you’d expect from a small town that loves its businesses.”
The restaurant was first opened by its namesake Dondie Guess in 1989. After a few years, he sold Dondie’s to Mike Scarter, who owned and operated it for more than three decades. In early 2024, Scarter sold the restaurant to the Scott family.
“He got older and had gotten in bad health and just decided it was time to sell,” Scott said. “I had spoken with him probably five or 10 years ago about potentially, if something ever happened and he got to a point that he wanted to do something, that I was interested.”
Roger and Belinda Scott had owned several other restaurants in Des Arc for about 25 years. Ben Scott says having grown up in the industry, it was natural for him to eventually want to co-own a restaurant. Roger Scott has also served as Des Arc’s mayor since 2023.
Patrons of Dondie’s won’t notice many changes when it reopens. There are some new nautical-themed items on display, lighting has been modified in places and the kitchen has been modernized. A new sign features the restaurant’s slogan “Dock. Dine. Unwind. Every meal is a shore thing.” Scott said the menu hasn’t been modified.
“It’ll pretty much look the same as what everybody remembers it as,” he said. “We’re excited to serve everybody and we want everybody to have a good experience.”
Scott said there might be a few new workers, but most of the staff will be the same people who were working there before the fire. While those employees were without work in December, Dondie’s organized a fundraiser selling tee-shirts for $20 each, with all proceeds going to the employees.
He knows a lot of people are eagerly anticipating the reopening and is asking for patience from customers.
“We’re kind of out of the swing of things for seven months and I think we’re going to be really busy,” Scott said. “Wait times may be high, but just please be patient with us. We’re excited to open, we’re excited to serve everybody and we want everybody to have a good experience.”
One of those excited to see Dondie’s reopen is Rex Nelson, a senior editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette who frequently writes about food, restaurants and culture. He describes Dondie’s not just as a local gathering spot, but a regional gathering spot with customers who are willing to make a drive.
“It’s just one of those places that you’re going to see everybody from a certain era, either on a Friday night or a Saturday night or a Sunday after church at Dondie’s,” Nelson said in an interview. “Whether it’s a Dondie’s or a Craig’s Barbecue at DeValls Bluff, the thing about those Delta restaurants is that Delta folks will drive an hour for a good meal.”
Nelson’s mother and grandparents lived in Des Arc and as a child, he spent much of his summers in the city, though that was years before Dondie’s opened.
“Dondie’s kind of in a way hearkens back to an older, lower White River culture that we’re quickly losing. I hope that it’s here for many vears to come and I’m heartened that they decided to build back after the fire.” Nelson said. “It is certainly in the tradition of the great catfish places you used to find all up and down the White River, and it’s got one of the best views of the river anywhere.”
I reported this story for the May 26 issue of The Grand Prairie Herald. Our intern Eli Dean of Harding University helped me write the story.
I am proud to share that I have been hired to serve as managing editor for the recently formed Newsroom Ventures LLC, which is the parent company of six newspapers acquired over the last year by Roby Brock. I’ll also be a contributing reporter for state news organization Talk Business & Politics.
Michael Hibblen and Roby Brock on April 24 in the Little Rock television studio of KARK-4 and KLRT-Fox 16 where Brock records his programs Capitol View and Talk Business & Politics. Photo: Hibblen selfie
I’ve known Roby since I moved back to Arkansas 17 years ago, partnered with him on many stories while I was working at Little Rock NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 and am pleased to now be working for him. KUAR aired a radio version of Talk Business & Politics and Roby often joined me on the air to discuss political topics.
I greatly appreciate that he has purchased these community newspapers — many of which were on the verge of being shut down. All have histories stretching back a century or longer of serving their communities. I’m glad Roby came up with a viable business model to keep publishing weekly editions of each paper, while we are also expanding their websites and social media presence.
At this point, I’m primarily editing and reporting for The Glenwood Herald and The Grand Prairie Herald in Hazen. I’m steadily expanding my responsibilities for our other newspapers, which are The Pine Bluff Commercial, The England Democrat, The Fordyce News Advocate and The Waldron News.
I started as a freelance reporter for the company on March 9, then on April 24 Roby announced I was becoming its managing editor. In a story that ran in the newspapers about my news position, Roby said: “I’ve known Michael for many years and I value his friendship as much as I do his news reporting, editing skills and attention to detail. He will be a great asset to our collection of newspapers, websites and social media platforms.”
I appreciate his confidence and have enjoyed writing for the newspapers, especially feature stories about the people of the communities I’m getting to know. The Arkansas Press Association also ran the story about me becoming managing editor.
The cover of the May 7 issue of the Arkansas Press Association’s weekly magazine Publisher’s Weekly. Click to read as a PDF.
The association is a nonprofit trade organization that supports the state’s newspaper industry. The following week, Ron Kemp interviewed me for a very kind profile which was run in the APA’s May 7 issue of Publisher Weekly. He noted the irony of me now being part of the England newspaper as I spent a year working for a radio station in the city, KLRA-FM 96.5, while I was in high school 36 years ago.
I occasionally meet with Roby at the England Democrat, with the newspaper office still located in the downtown building that has long been its home. It features some fascinating old newspaper equipment that Roby eventually plans to display as part of a museum there. The England building is also the company headquarters for Newsroom Ventures. The Hazen newspaper, where I work each Tuesday, is also in its longtime downtown location, looking out on the unused track that once carried passenger and freight trains of the Rock Island Railroad. The historic passenger depot is a block over.
I joined Roby on the May 3 episode of his television show Talk Business & Politics, which airs on KLRT-Fox 16, while the audio airs on my former radio station KUAR. He opened the segment by announcing I had been hired as managing editor, then we discussed the end of the fiscal session of the Arkansas Legislature and plans for a special session which would begin the following week to consider a state tax cut package.
I’ve always loved writing for newspapers and am looking forward to what’s ahead. While early in my career, I wanted to work in the biggest markets possible, today I’m finding incredible joy working at community newspapers which provide unique storytelling experiences.
Sculptor Kevin Kresse speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for the atg Pavilion at Argenta Plaza in North Little Rock. Photo: Michael Hibblen
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday in North Little Rock for a pavilion in Argenta Plaza that will eventually house statues and busts of influential musicians who emerged from Arkansas. Artist Kevin Kresse, best known for crafting an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of Johnny Cash for the U.S. Capitol, is making the sculptures of 20 musicians who span a broad range of genres, along with Stax Records executive Al Bell.
The first group will be unveiled in September, Kresse said, and will include a replica of the Cash statue using the same mold. Others will be Levon Helm, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Al Green, Glen Campbell, Louis Jordan and Florence Price. Subsequent unveiling ceremonies will take place each year until all 21 statues or busts are on display. In addition to the busts being placed in the pavilion, a second casting will be made of each which will be placed in the hometowns of the musicians.
“It’s something that I’ve been dreaming about for so long that it’s almost surreal that this day is here,” Kresse said in an interview before the ceremony. “It’s the beginning of what I see as a longer adventure with this being the beginning of it. But I see this spreading out around the entire state eventually, hopefully moving on to educational components for kids and everything too.”
Attending the event were private financial donors, state and local tourism officials, representatives of the communities the musicians are from and some of the musicians’ family members. The pavilion is being named after Applied Technology Group, which is headquartered a few blocks away and is owned by Scott and Ruth Landers. The $3 million project is a partnership between North Little Rock Tourism and the nonprofit Argenta Arts Foundation.
“This project will move the needle on tourism not just in the Argenta Arts District, but throughout the state, as well,” said John Goudin, who is the project’s campaign chair. To the financial backers, he said “they’ve never blinked from day one on this project, so thank you all so much.”
Also at the ceremony were Glen Campbell’s youngest sister Sandi Campbell Brink and cousin Steve Campbell, who still lives in Pike County. Glen Campbell was born in the community of Billstown, near Delight, which is also where he was laid to rest in his family’s cemetery after his death in 2017.
Steve Campbell said the second cast of the statue will be placed in a room at the Delight Branch Library. In the meantime, he said in an interview that he’s painting the room and preparing materials that will be placed in there.
“The heritage of music in Arkansas is totally unbelievable. When you start looking at the people that came out of Arkansas and made it so well, it influenced the entire world of music. So Glen being part of it, it thrills us to the core. But all of the others, as well, that there are parts of it, where just the whole nucleus stretches out to the entire state.”
Kresse says the idea of creating a series of statues came to him in 2018 while driving back from the city of Marvell where he had unveiled a bust of Levon Helm, drummer for The Band. He said he had a list in his head of artists he wanted to honor, then began working with radio host Stephen Koch of “Arkansongs” and musician Greg Spradlin. Koch and Spradlin had been working on getting highways named for some of the musicians. But the project was put on hold when Kresse was commissioned for the Cash statue in the U.S. Capitol. Once that was unveiled on Sept. 24, 2024, he then began talking again with Goudin.
The goal, Kresse said Monday, was “for everyone in Arkansas to see the huge cultural impact that the music has had on the whole world and for them to get a real sense of pride of that.”
Also at the ceremony was Jimmy Cunningham, director of tourism development for the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission. Compared to the neighboring states of Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, he said Arkansas is late in promoting its musical heritage.
“Arkansas’ got such an incredible, incredible music history, with so many greats, so many giants, and so many contributions, but we haven’t curated our narrative. And so, you know, if nobody else tells the story, how is it gonna get out? We gotta do it ourselves,” Cunningham said.
“I’m excited about it because I think Arkansas needs to celebrate its music. It needs to tell the world how important that music is, and this is one way to do it.”
Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Shea Lewis said the pavilion will become a key stop along the Arkansas Music Trail, giving travelers a place to connect to the state’s musician legacy while also boosting economic tourism.
“When visitors come here to see the 21 different busts,” he said, “they’ll stay and explore our restaurants, shops, and the riverfront that North Little Rock has to offer. It’s the power of tourism. It drives our foot traffic, supports small businesses, it strengthens our overall communities, as well as quality of life. It’s what makes Arkansas special, our creativity, our culture, the warm, welcome people that they feel when they arrive.”
Here is the complete list of artists being honored and the cities where second castings of statues and busts will be placed:
Johnny Cash –- Dyess
Albert King — Osceola
Howlin’ Wolf — West Memphis
Al Green — Forrest City
Charlie Rich — Colt
Sonny Boy Williamson — Helena
Conway Twitty — Helena
Levon Helm — Marvell
Louis Jordan — Brinkley
Sister Rosetta Tharpe — Cotton Plant
Big Bill Broonzy — Pine Bluff
Lefty Frizzell — El Dorado
Scott Joplin — Texarkana
Glen Campbell — Delight
William Grant Still — Little Rock
Florence Price — Little Rock
Pharoah Sanders — North Little Rock
Al Bell — North Little Rock
Granny Almeda Riddle — Heber Springs
Jimmy Driftwood — Mountain View
Ronnie Hawkins — Fayetteville
This story was published by Talk Business & Politics on May 11 and will run in upcoming issues of The Pine Bluff Commercial and The Glenwood Herald.
This is the online home of Michael Hibblen, managing editor of Newsroom Ventures, which publishes six Arkansas newspapers. I've worked as a reporter, editor and manager for newspapers, radio and TV stations for more than three decades, with this website telling the story of my career. Also featured are outside interests I've researched. The views expressed here are my own and might not reflect those of my employers.
Preserving the Rock Island Depot at Perry
Since 2017, I've been part of a group working to preserve the former Rock Island Depot at Perry, Arkansas. To keep it from being demolished, we raised money to move the depot to an adjacent lot, still alongside the tracks, which is now owned by the city. The building has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and our group has become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEPOT.
My Book
Released by Arcadia Publishing in 2017, Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas delves into the history of the railroad, which once had a huge footprint in Arkansas. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ MORE ABOUT MY BOOK.
For 13 years, from May 2009 to December 2022, I worked for NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. That included 10 years as News Director while continuing to anchor and report. You can read and hear reports from that time on Little Rock Public Radio's website.
