1950s Celebration Will Mark NATCO's 50th Anniversary
April 2001

FLIPPIN, Ark. - If you hear some be-bop and some do-wop in the air Friday, April 27, it means the NATCO 50th anniversary party is underway, both inside and outside, at the Northern Arkansas Telephone Company building and parking lot. Times are 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. All customers and friends of NATCO are invited to attend and enjoy the free hot dogs, hamburgers, anniversary cake and Cokes, view authentic '50s cars on display by local owners, and reminisce with NATCO employees who will be dressed in '50s fashions. Guests may also wear '50s fashions.

Free telephone service for one year, or Internet service for one year, will be awarded to NATCO customers who were born Sept.17, 1951, the date Northern Arkansas Telephone Company was incorporated by founders Ray E. Sanders, Artel Chamberlain, and attorney David Bridewell (all now deceased). Proof of birth date will need to be shown on a driver's license.

Inside the building, the Marion County Historical Society and the Bull Shoals Historical Society will have exhibits with their history books available. Bull Shoals, The Best Little Town by a Dam Site was published last year by the Bull Shoals group. Marion County Historical Society published Genealogy of Marion County Families, 1811 to 1900, and also has the 1870 and 1880 official census in print and the reconstructed 1890 census for Marion County.

Old style telephones and photo murals depicting the development of telephone communications will be on display inside the NATCO Conference Center. This exhibit is on loan from the Museum of Independent Telephony in Abilene, Kans., said NATCO President Steven Sanders Sr.

Deanna and Travis Sullivan step back in time with the help of a 1955 Mercury Montclair, as they get ready for NATCO's 50th Anniversary party April 27, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. NATCO employees will dress in 1950s styles, and customers who dress in '50s attire will have their names entered in a special drawing for prizes. Autos from the 1950s will be on display, like this Merc of Dennis Gessler of Mountain Home.

"When my father became the owner of the telephone company at Flippin in 1951," said Sanders, "there were 42 telephones. Flippin was quite a bit different than it is today." He continues, " My father, Ray Sanders, died in 1982, and did not see the digital network NATCO has built here. My mother, Millie, knows today's telecommunications are far advanced compared to switchboards she operated in Flippin and in Lead Hill in the 1950s."

See 50 years of NATCO history in a PowerPoint presentation.

Today's telecommunications services, such as DSL, will be demonstrated for visitors inside the NATCO building, and tours of the facility will be given. Also inside will be an ongoing Power Point presentation featuring the history of NATCO and development of the Flippin area. The South Shore Memory Project will also be set up on a computer for the enjoyment of those attending. South Shore Memory Project is a local history in digital format featuring area residents sharing their personal histories, at www.ozarkhistory.com.

The South Shore Foundation, NATCO's charitable foundation, maintains a Web site with extensive area tourism and business information at www.southshore.com, and has donated Web pages featuring area communities including Flippin, Bull Shoals, Lead Hill, Omaha, Pyatt, and Diamond City. Additional communities represented are Cotter, Gassville, Norfork, Yellville, Calico Rock, Lakeview, and Midway.