This week’s Arkansas Times is now on the web. The new material includes an Insider item about the stripping of Janet Huckabee’s name from the Grand Hall at the Governor’s Mansion. (Photo is from a state event there. Good thing the Hucks didn’t allow booze, what with all those swords swinging around.)
Officials tell us the Mansion Commission voted recently not to have any names on rooms at the mansion and that the sign that existed wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. Officials also said they can find no record that the Mansion Commission officially voted to rename the hall after the former first lady, who helped raise money to build it.
Well. I know the Commission held a news conference to announce the naming because I was there. And a commission member was quoted then as saying that it was done by formal motion. There may be further chapters in this story.
Not to worry about the Huckabees being forgotten, of course. A plaque installed by the Huckabee administration outside the hall still remains in place to honor Janet Huckabee. The Beebes have graciously installed a plaque honoring the donors who made the construction possible. The Huckabees had promised such a thing, but the only plaque they got around to installing was the one about Janet.
For old times sake: A look back at a fine Arkansas Leader editorial that rounded up all the things the Huckabees had named for themselves — and a few of the tributes they accepted, or wanted to accept, along the way.
There’ll always be the lakes, nature centers, etc.