Food and fellowship | Residents turn out for Dine on the Line

People sit at dinner tables placed on the state line of Arkansas and Texas on Friday in downtown Texarkana. Dine on the Line, a two-state, two-city event, encourages the community to come together and promote Texarkana. The event featured food, drinks and live music.
People sit at dinner tables placed on the state line of Arkansas and Texas on Friday in downtown Texarkana. Dine on the Line, a two-state, two-city event, encourages the community to come together and promote Texarkana. The event featured food, drinks and live music.

Musical accompaniment, Italian-accented appetizers and long tables set up at the Downtown Post Office and Federal Courthouse on State Line Avenue as diners from both sides of the city took their seats to break bread at the fifth annual Dine On The Line.

Dine On The Line is a celebration of the Twin Cities and its people. It is also a celebration of the city's historical heritage embodied in downtown, as the funds gathered by Main Street Texarkana go to continuing the efforts of reviving the area as a center of history, culture and commerce.

Charles Tabler, a lifelong resident of Texarkana, Texas, was with his date, Tammy McWilliams of Genoa, Arkansas. The two of them work at Sterno and had previously found it difficult to attend Dine On The Line. But this year, Tabler decided to take the plunge, take the day off and ask McWilliams to accompany him.

"I had been reading about Dine On The Line in the Gazette," he said. "It sounded like something fun to do. Good excuse to take off from work. Never eaten at a dinner with tables in the middle of the road. It is good fun and a chance to help out downtown."

Ken Schnipper of Texarkana, Arkansas, and his wife, Gwenn, also attended their first Dine On The Line.

"One of my wife's friends called and invited us to come with them. Got a chance to meet lots of people, talk and eat. It was amazing, very worthwhile, supporting downtown," he said.

Bill Scurlock, president and head brewer of Pecan Point Gastropub and Brewery, was there with his wife, Linda. Pecan Point, one of the high-profile restaurants of the Texarkana downtown scene and a center point of Texarkana's growing craft brewing efforts, has been a part of every Dine On The Line since it began five years ago.

"This evening, we are a part of the Oktoberfest activities, serving our wine and beer. We brought our State Street Blond, named after Main Street's original name before 1920. It is one of our lighter beers, good warm-weather, summertime, outdoor beer," said Scurlock. "We currently have eight different Pecan Point produced beers on tap. We picked our State Street Blond for Dine On The Line as well as our Ramage Hop Harvest, a beer named after the farm that produced its hops. Locally grown hops are a big thing with us, and with this recipe, we use green hops just a day after harvest, which produces a citrusy aroma and a slightly grassy nature due to the green hops."

"I love supporting Main Street and Main Street supports us," he said. "People come to me and talk to me a lot about Main Street, its attractions, business opportunites and so forth. I point them to Main Street Texarkana's office for that. They have all the information."

"This year's Dine On The Line was great. We couldn't have asked for better weather, atmosphere, band (Chasing Rita) and more. It all fell into place," said Larry White, president, Main Street Texarkana. "Since we've had practice putting these on, it went a bit smoother this year. Folks showed up, as word has gotten out that this is a great downtown event to support our downtown organizations. This morning, we had the unveiling of the mural going up on the side of TLC.

"The mayors of both cities read a proclamation honoring Corrine Mae Griffith, born here in 1896. She lived in Texarkana with her family until they moved to the West Coast. She became the biggest actress of the silent movie era, earning the name the Orchid Lady for her beauty. Dr Pepper has been sponsoring murals like this to help support downtown communities. This one, like Dine On The Line, is here to support downtown Texarkana."

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