News & Updates
Freedom Sings Arkansas proudly accepted the "Saluting Heroes Award" on July 15, 2022. The award is sponsored by Rainwater, Holt and Sexton Law Firm & came with a $1,000 donation to Freedom Sings Arkansas.
The presentation was captured & narrated by KTHV Channel 11 anchorman Rolly Hoyt. Thank you Rolly & Channel 11.
And thank you Rainwater, Holt and Sexton Law Firm for your generous donation and this beautiful award!
The spot aired Tuesday, July 26, 2022 & can be viewed here on YouTube.
Our latest retreat was successfully held on August 25 & 26, 2022. Thanks to everyone involved, five new songs were created and shared with our audience. We will have the demo versions of the songs on the web site as they are made available from the artists.
A special thanks goes out to Stephen McAteer and staff at the MacArthur Museum for their hospitality.
Our Veteran & songwriter pairing went as follows:
Mikel Brooks - Steve Dean and Don Goodman
John "Doc" Crawford - Bill Whyte
Duane Vanderpluym - Bobby Tomberlin
Tim Wood - Wood Newton
Gold Star Wife Sharri Briley - Minnie Murphy
Our next retreat will be held in February 2023!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~August 1, 2022 - For Immediate Release:
Freedom Sings Arkansas Alum Lesa Dickson has been named
Community Service Coordinator.
Program Director Paul W. Tull made the announcement after working with Lesa on the past several FS-AR sponsored events and had the following comments: "Lesa has worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to help promote our program in many endeavors. She has taken on a leadership role in our program and I am proud to name her our first ever Community Service Coordinator.
We are grateful to her for lending her time and talents. Thank you, Lesa!"
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7/23/2022
A Special Thanks goes out to Rock City Harley-Davidson for sponsoring an event with us and "We Are The 22" on a hot July Saturday. Burgers and hot dogs were grilled an enjoyed by many. We had both radio and TV coverage for the event and we are so grateful. A special shout out to Travis Lemmon at the H-D shop for coordinating the day. Lesa Dickson, FS-AR Alum put this event together can did a great job!
Thanks Lesa and Travis!!!
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We regret we have to cancel 6.10/11.2022:
Our live Retreats return June 10 & 11, 2022
Friday, 6/10 @ 6p we will me at the MacArthur War Museum for a 'meet-n-greet' with our writing Veterans & songwriters.
Sat morning will find the songwriting
commence at the museum @ 9am.
Everyone will meet @ the Benton VFW #2256 at 6pm for the culmination of the weekend when the newly written songs are performed. Hope to see you there!!!
We are very sorry to announce our June Songwriter Retreat has been cancelled due to
recent health guidelines that have been released.
The rescheduled date is being discussed and we can look forward to a late Spring/early Fall date.
As always, thank you for your support!
Thanks to all who attended the Patriotic Social at Prost Pub in Little Rock on April 14, 2022.
A special thanks goes to our hosts at WIlly D's, Susan & Cliff Prowse and their Big Red Dog Productions. And a big Shout Out to their Yadaloo Festival
We appreciate "We Are The 22" being in attendance and having an information table set up along with VA Volunteer Services with a table.
Our silent auction was a success gathering just over $500.
We are grateful to all who donated.
Freedom Sings Arkansas wants to send a special thanks to
Patrick Borecky for an $850 donation!
His November 2021 "Quotes for a Cause" generated the funds through his Farmers Insurance Company!
Please give Patrick a call for ALL of your insurance needs!
Fiddle update...congrats to Vietnam Veteran Frank Meeks and wife Joan, on winning the
Charlie Daniels autographed fiddle!
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Exciting news as Freedom Sings Arkansas has been the recipient of an extraordinary donation!
Our original fiddle autographed by Charlie Daniels has been donated back to Freedom Sings by the gracious Sheila Beatty-Krout.
Beatty-Krout, a United States Daughters of 1812 volunteer at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. She became aware of Freedom Sings Arkansas and its unique mission at the Veterans Affairs Volunteer Service quarterly meetings, chaired by Michael Dobbs.
Dobbs, chief of Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System Volunteer Service, was an early supporter for Freedom Sings Arkansas and assisted in its founding in Arkansas.
13 Dec 2020
We have added a new section today containing songs that have been written locally by our stable of songwriters with
Veterans meeting with us via Zoom!
Check out the new section today under the "Our Music"
tab on the Menu Bar!
Freedom Sings Arkansas retreat
veteran in The News
Anguished Veteran Finds Solace With Freedom Sings Arkansas - USA
Wed, 07/01/2020 - 9:24am BY CASEY COLLIER (FRANKLIN BANNER-TRIBUNE, FRANKLIN, LA)
Local resident and veteran Gregory Mitchell was suffering last year a debilitating mental anguish.
The former Redeye, Stinger, and Chaparral missile crewman had served on the Redeye Team, Combat Support Company, 3rd and 32nd Armored Division of the US Army from 1977-1980, and was in the throes of post-traumatic stress disorder pertaining to his service.
He attempted to end his own life, and was brought to the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi, Miss. But he still felt the effects of his trauma after undergoing professional treatment there.
He said a friend of his told him about a program to help struggling veterans, called, Freedom Sings USA.
So, he got in touch with the non-profit organization, and was accepted to their Little Rock, Ark. ongoing classes, for a two-day songwriting workshop where he was greeted by fellow veterans, and invited to work with professional songwriters to carefully craft a song about his personal military experiences, perform it in front of an audience, and have it professionally recorded and made available to the public.
Read more @:
https://www.banner-tribune.com/local/anguished-veteran-finds-solace-freedom-sings-usa
As the Program Director of Freedom Sings Arkansas, I am happy to announce the first Executive Council, effective immediately, composed of the following Veterans:
President: Tim Wood
Vice-President: Chris Dover
Sergeant at Arms: Carlos Cervantes
Our program’s Lead songwriter is Don Tucker.
Don, Veteran Gregg Shively, Rodger King and I will will serve songwriters.
I'd like to personally thank each person on this note and the many others who give
their time and money to keep this program going.
Very Respectably,
Paul W. Tull, Director
Freedom Sings Arkansas
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5/26/2020:
Freedom Sings USA co-founder Don Goodman has informed me we are to receive a fiddle autographed by Charlie Daniels! Thanks Don!!!
That (not :) golden fiddle should arrive this week. My plan is to hold an online donation (raffle) to help raise much-needed funds for our organization. More info to follow...stay tuned!
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Update and Easter Greetings!
A new feature has been added to our Home Page. It came to our attention not everyone desires to have music downloaded. A simple solution was dispatched to allow those who wish to have a physical CD mailed to them is now available. We will 'burn' you a copy of any songs for the usual donation of $1 per song, plus postage and mailing supplies. There will be no 'mark up' on supplies and we will only ask for a donation to cover the costs.
Our goal is to raise approximately $5,000.00 to have all of our Demos and Work Tapes from past (& future) retreats professionally recorded and produced. But until then, you can have any of our songs mailed to you on a CD to enjoy now!
Thank you for reading this note. Please continue to tell friends and family about our work.
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April 2, 2020 Meeting Agenda with Director's Notes
Roll Call: THANKS TO ALL WHO CALLED AND SHARED OUR MEETING. Please let me know if you were on the call & I missed your name.
Don Goodman, Carlos Cervantes, Bruce Wesson, Lesa Dickson, Gregg & Rita Shively, Rodger King, Steve Dean, Joel & Bobbie Crinella; Jimmy Ford, Bobbie Standefer, Harold Tucker, Don Tucker.
Had a request for next meeting to be on 2nd Thur, May 14th. at 6:30p
No objections were voiced so we’ll set this date/time for next meeting
Updates –
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web site is functioning great & able to process donations – spread the word; new ‘Steve Dean’ Tab (www.FreedomSingsArkansas.org)
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Facebook is also active – pls go “Like” the page
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501c3 status still pending
Treasury Report:
$636.02 in the bank, with no money owed/outstanding debt.
1. Unknown (future) liabilities include legal fees.
2. We will soon incur a $60 fee for QuickBooks (required) purchase.
3. Website has been prepaid x 3 yrs by anonymous donation: Cost of $396.
4. Thanks to Bill Luplow for $100 donation.
Old Business
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Joel Crinella & wife considering leading our “Boots on the Ground” program. I’d like to see Carlos C. in leadership role at events, too. Other volunteers?
Volunteers will be utilized as events return to normal this Spring/Summer. Our plan of action includes taking our CD & Music to local VFWs & other like-minded, patriotic organizations that we have contacts at, and then branch out and create a network of sites we can draw support from & show support to them
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Our financial goal is to raise $5,000 to produce next CD. This amount should cover all production costs for all songs written at Arkansas retreats. Donations are always accepted online or a check can be mailed to program director
Other discussions- Web site can accommodate lyrics for songs written. Lyrics can be sent to Paul (paultull@hotmail.com) and be added to songs
New Business
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“Zoom” program for meetings & songwriting events – Don Tucker will address the topic Don T & Michael Dobbs will move forward on this project…stay tuned for details
There will be a video on Freedom Sings USA (www.FreedomSingsUSA.org) website of a recorded song writing session soon to see how this works
Paul will attempt to link Facebook at web site. Rita Shively has web site experience and will now assist Paul with web site management and content.
Adjournment
29MAR20 Group email
Hello everyone,
I truly hope this note finds you & your family in good health. “Social distancing,” a term most of us were unfamiliar with a few weeks ago, is our new norm. It’s difficult, but necessary.
On Thursday, April 2nd, 2020, we plan to host our monthly organizational meeting via a “Call-in” teleconference. Michael Dobbs and I will be on our hospital campus to facilitate the business meeting. This will be my first time running a full scale call-in meeting, so please be patient as we work through the process. I will email the call-in number and our agenda no later than mid-day Thursday, with instructions on how to access the meeting.
Web site update: I have added a “Steve Dean” page to our web site (www.FreedomSingsArkansas.org). We are very fortunate to have the Little Rock native as a co-founder of Freedom Sings USA, and his desire to bring the program to his home state. Check out the new page…just look for the “Steve Dean” tab on the menu. Check web site often to see new things, and tell your friends and family about it.
Thanks to our donors this month: Bill Luplow and an anonymous donor. This organization ruins off of volunteers and donations. We have to have a consistent supply of both, and we appreciate you!
Paul
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Respectfully,
Paul W. Tull
Director, Freedom Sings Arkansas
Call/text: 501-626-9480
We are pleased to announce we have a new mailing address.
All correspondence to Freedom Sings Arkansas should be sent to:
Freedom Sings Arkansas
PO Box 585
Bryant, AR 72089