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Charleston Chamber President's Message, Auto Advice, Calendar of Events, Food Pantry Urgent Needs
Charleston Chamber President's Message, Auto Advice, Calendar of Events, Food Pantry Urgent Needs
Charleston Chamber President's Message, Auto Advice, Calendar of Events, Food Pantry Urgent Needs
Get ready for a jam-packed February in Charleston with updates from our Chamber President, auto advice, senior activities, event calendar, and how you can help the Food Pantry! 🌟🚗🗓️🍴 #CharlestonCommunity #GetInvolved
Lacy Flanagan, Editor
Feb 10, 2026
Trivia Question❓In what year was Charleston, Arkansas officially incorporated as a city? Answer at the bottom of the newsletter |
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Visit the Belle Museum, a dedicated local history museum nestled in Charleston, Arkansas.
Founded by lifelong residents Delbert and Mary Belle Ervin, we celebrate the rich heritage of Charleston and Franklin County through a diverse collection of artifacts and family histories.
Embrace the past and learn about the stories that have shaped our beloved community!
Help keep our local history alive - click HERE to donate to the Belle Museum today! |
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A Message from Charleston Chamber of Commerce President Jonas Schaffer |
Dear Chamber Members and Friends,
As we begin a new year, I want to personally thank each of you for the role you play in making Charleston such a special place to live, work, raise a family and do business. I am honored to serve as President of the Charleston Chamber, and I’m genuinely excited about what’s ahead.
This year, the Chamber is launching a new and expanded calendar of events designed to bring our business community together, support local growth, and create opportunities for connection, collaboration, and fun. We want you to mark these dates down now!
We are also improving how we communicate, starting with a more consistent email newsletter, so you’ll be better informed and more engaged with what’s happening throughout the year. Let’s all make sure this works well: please visit our new website and sign up for the newsletter.
Please make sure you confirm your email and check your junk mail if you do not get an email asking you to confirm (this is important).
Looking ahead, we have some fantastic events planned:
Our goal is simple: to make this one of the best years Charleston has ever had. That means supporting our businesses, investing in community traditions, and creating moments that bring people together.
We encourage you to watch for upcoming emails, attend events when you can, and stay connected. Your participation is what makes the Chamber—and our town—strong.
Thank you for being part of this community. I look forward to seeing you throughout the year.
Respectfully,
Jonas Schaffer President Charleston Chamber and Economic Development |
Spread the Love & Donate | ||
Valentine's SAVERS FUNDrive! |
COLLECTING
Please use bags for clothes and textiles and tightly pack boxes of small household goods. Separate books from household goods and media. All items must be clean and in sellable condition.
Donations can be dropped off at the following locations:
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Rogers-McFerran Family History |
By Gail Scoggins |
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Members of the Albert L. Rogers family stand in front of the old home place. Left to right are: Albert L. Rogers, Harriet McFerran Rogers, Minnie, Ada, and Pearl. |
Two of my great great grandfathers, Jones L. Rogers and Samuel McFerran came to this area from middle Tennessee when both were young men. Great great grandfather Rogers first settled in Johnson County and married Sarah S. King of Clarksville, where my great grandfather, Albert L. Rogers, the youngest of 11 children, was born. The family then moved to this area where Samuel McFerran had settled and owned over 1100 acres. Samuel McFerran and Ester Kennedy McFerran were the parents of my great grandmother, Harriet Elizabeth McFerran Rogers. She and Albert L. Rogers were married May 24, 1866 and lived out their lives in this community.
To this union seven children were born. The eldest was my grandfather, Thomas Jones Rogers, who left his area to live in the Indian Territory with his bride, Anna Choate Rogers and their son, my dad, George L. Rogers. After my grandmother’s death when my dad was 11, grandfather brought him to live here with his grandparents. Grandad made his home in Ft. Smith where he was a carpenter. He helped to build many of the old homes and store buildings in old Ft. Smith.
Two of his sisters, Minnie and Pearl Rogers, never married. They were school teachers and lived on the old home place until Aunt Minnie died in 1946. Aunt Pearl then moved to Ft. Smith to live with my parents for a while. She had moved back to this area before her death in 1959.
My husband and I bought this old home place from her in 1955 and moved our family of three sons and a daughter here in 1958. Our three sons, Larry, Roger and Randy, with their families, still live on land that was Rogers and McFerran land. Our daughter and her family live at Vesta.
There are many offsprings of Samuel McFerran and Jones L. Rogers still living in this area.
Great grandparents, Albert (better known as Uncle Dee) and Harriet Rogers were charter members of the Grand Prairie Methodist church and raised their children in the church. All are deceased and all but one were buried in the old King Cemetery east of here. Great Grandfather Rogers was a farmer, served as a school director at the old Grand Prairie School, and was a staunch Democrat. The Bible was used in school and many of the textbooks were on the Bible. I have several of those used by my ancestors. I think things would be better if we could turn back to some of those lessons and use the Bible in the schools again.
My mother was Lena Niblett Rogers. Her grandfather, John Niblett, was born in 1827 in Taynton, Gloucester, England. He came to the United States as a stowaway when he was 11 years old. I’ve always heard he was caught and made to work on the boat for his fare by climbing the ropes and setting the sails. He continued to work until he was seventeen and then enlisted in 1865 in Pittsburg, PA. He was sent to the post of Fort Smith and met Elizabeth Carver whom he married on the post in 1866. They were transferred to Fort Craig, New Mexico where he was seriously injured when his horse fell on him. He was discharged in 1868 and he and his wife and son returned to the Mansfield area to live out their lives in Arkansas. They are buried in a small family cemetery near Mansfield.
Another great grandfather, George W. Choate of Tenn. and his bride, Amy Hornsby of Atlanta, GA. moved to Arkansas and had several of their children here. He served for a time as a Deputy United States Marshall under Judge Isaac Parker. He and his wife are buried in Union Cemetery near Hackett. |
Secret Little Hack |
Visit the picturesque Charleston Lake for a peaceful afternoon of fishing, hiking, and scenery. |
Auto Advice from Charleston Auto Parts - Bumper to Bumper |
Well, the ice has finally melted! After a week of being cooped up, all we've managed to do is navigate our trusty vehicles over some truly nasty roads, sprinkled with delightful chemicals and sand. Ah, winter magic!
But before we dive in, let me introduce myself. I’m Scott Robins here at Charleston Auto Parts - Bumper to Bumper in the great town of Charleston, Arkansas! We’ve got you covered—whether you need batteries for your vehicle, mower, ATV/UTV, oil changes, and many other products. We have just about whatever you need, and if we don’t, we’ll do our best to help!
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s jump in! One thing we always forget about is the cleanup afterward. Thankfully, we don’t live any further north, where our neighbors have to deal with vehicles that seem to lose half their lifespan under all that salt and grime! It’s up to us to wage war against the salt, muck, and sand that threaten to turn our cars into a sad pile of plastic and metal.
My battle strategy? I seek out a nice automatic car wash with an undercarriage wash to blast away the grime and scrub off enough junk to keep my car from becoming an outdoor sculpture! The good news is salt works slowly, so with a few visits, we can reclaim our vehicles.
If automatic car washes aren’t your style, you can always go the manual route, but be prepared for a workout! Crawling around to spray off the car can be a lot like an impromptu yoga session, but without the zen. Feeling particularly adventurous? Invest in a power washer attachment that rolls under your car and does the heavy lifting—assuming you’ve got a power washer lying around!
But let’s not get bogged down in the grime of it all. Today, the sun is shining, the ice is melting, and we should enjoy the moment! Oh, and while you’re at it, don’t forget to check your oil!
Thanks for reading, and let’s chat again next time! |
Crafted Artisan, LLC presents: | ||
Make Your Own Valentine |
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Come make your own hand-crafted Valentine! Limited seats available so we are offering online sign ups! Click HERE to secure your spot now! $10 (Ages 10+) |
CALENDAR OF EVENTS |
BEGINNING FEBRUARY 3 2026 |
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 12 2026 Open to the Public |
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13 2026 |
MONDAY FEBRUARY 16 2026 No School City Offices Closed Library Closed |
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24 2026 Charleston Public Library 10am |
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24 2026 |
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 26 2026 |
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26 2026 Games, Crafts, Catch 'em All, and more |
MARCH 23-27 2026 |
WEDNESDAY MARCH 11 2026 Grow Smarter: Social Media Strategies that Deliver Results |
THURSDAY APRIL 2 2026 |
FRIDAY APRIL 3 2026 |
SATURDAY APRIL 11 2026 |
SATURDAY APRIL 11 2026 8am - 12pm |
SATURDAY APRIL 18 2026 |
SATURDAY MAY 17 2026 |
FRIDAY MAY 22 2026 |
MONDAY MAY 25 2026 |
FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH Open to the Public |
FIRST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH |
2nd & 3rd MONDAY EVERY MONTH Charleston Fire Station |
EVERY WEDNESDAY 10am |
EVERY THURSDAY 322 S Rattlesnake Rd 9am - 12pm
Drop-in & Paint Crafted Artisan 1pm - 4pm |
EVERY FRDAY 1pm - 4pm |
EVERY SATURDAY 10am |
Charleston Senior Activity Center February 2026 Calendar |
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The Charleston Food Pantry is Currently in Need of the Following Items: |
Donations can be dropped off at the Food Pantry on Thursdays from 8am - 12pm or at Simmons Bank Mon-Fri from 8am - 4pm. Monetary donations are welcome and appreciated. |
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💡 Answer to Trivia Question: Charleston, Arkansas was officially incorporated as a city in 1874. |