By Martin Couch

The Taste of Bryant Chamber of Commerce event on Thursday night wouldn't have gone so smoothly if it weren't for the help of the Bryant High School Dance team.

 The annual Bryant Chamber of Commerce Taste Of Bryant, sponsored by Everett's Buick-GMC was held at the Bryant eighth grade cafeteria.

If you attended, what did you think? What was your favorite dish? From where? Leave a comment below. (Photos by Rick Nation)

By Martin Couch

Youngstown, Ohio native Suzanne Irilli has found a home in Bryant.

And Irilli will be getting to know her new hometown by working with Rae Ann Fields at the Bryant Chamber of Commerce.

"I am new to the Bryant area and I was looking for something that would involve me in the community," Irilli said. "This makes it easy to kind of slide in the door and get to know people in the area."

Irilli's daughter will be attending Bryant High School and her husband will be working in Benton after the family was transferred to Saline County from Ohio.

"Everybody has been so nice," she said. "People go out of their way to say hello and to stop and chat. Everybody has been very, very welcoming.

By Martin Couch

There will be a wide variety food vendors at this year's Taste of Bryant festivities that will be held tonight at the Bryant Middle School eighth grade cafeteria.

The original venue for the event was to be at the Bishop Park community center, but due to advertising agreements for Bishop Park, the arrangements did not allow the Bryant Chamber of Commerce to function there under their bylaws.

By Martin Couch

Fireman and EMT Michael Mullins was inspired by his grandfather Jim Mullins, who is a retired firefighter from the city of Benton.

For the last three and half years, Mullins, 33, has been a member of the Bryant Fire Department.

"I like helping others and being around kids, giving them tours of the station and teaching them fire safety," he said.

Mullins started his career as an EMT two years before coming to Bryant.

"I worked on an ambulance before I started for the city of Bryant," he said. "There have been several calls I've been on where we assisted people and helped them out and they mail us thank-you cards to show us how much they appreciate what we do. That to me makes it all worthwhile."

Fall football practice officially gets underway on Monday, Aug. 2, but preparations for the season opening Salt Bowl pitting Saline County rival Bryant Hornets and Benton Panthers have been going on for quite some time already.

The annual event, which has attracted more than 20,000 fans in recent years, will be played on Friday, Sept. 3, at War Memorial Stadium.

By Martin Couch

There are many factors, both pro and con, that will be on the table on Aug. 10 when a special county-wide election for the proposed FairPlex that will take the place of the old Saline County Fairgrounds.

Many Bryant residents, who mostly work in Little Rock and rarely go to Benton for employment, are voicing their opinions through the city's aldermen.

BENTON — The Saline Memorial Health Foundation has teamed up with First Security Bank to host its seventh annual Swing Fore Saline Golf Tournament on Thursday, Sept. 9 and Friday, Sept. 10, at Hurricane Golf and Country Club in Bryant. Tournament proceeds will be used to refurbish patient care rooms.

By Martin Couch

By chance of an advertisement, Richard Penn inquired about the Bryant City Engineer position in 2002 and was hired by then Mayor Paul Halley.

"I had worked as a Field Engineer for an engineering sales company where I was called upon for consulting engineers and municipalities," Penn said. "During the course of providing engineering solutions from central to northwest Arkansas, I became familiar with municipal operations and the engineering needs of cities."

BENTON — The return to school is fast approaching and it's time for school-age children to get immunized. Eydie Abercrombie, administrator for Saline County local health unit of the Arkansas Department of Health, reminds residents to remember that adults need vaccinations, too.