Tucker talks museum with Trumann Lions

Zack Tucker spoke to members of the Trumann Lions Club on July 21 about the Marked Tree Delta Area Museum. (DT Photo / Miranda Remaklus).

The Marked Tree Delta Area Museum contains not only the history of Marked Tree, but of the Delta as well. Zack Tucker, who volunteers at the museum, was the guest speaker at the July 21 meeting of the Trumann Lions Club.

The museum covers 2,000 years of civilization in the Arkansas Delta, according to Tucker. For the last 11 years, volunteers have worked to obtain grant money as well as collect and preserve histories. The oldest artifact at the museum is a piece of Indian pottery dating back to 1300.

Some of the exhibits the museum has include a servant's home, a general store exhibit, a Ritter Telephone exhibit and the Verser Clinic exhibit which includes over 3,000 artifacts which includes birth records.

The museum is an Arkansas Delta -- Made merchant. This means that the museum sells a variety of products that have been certified as made in the Delta.

The museum is also collecting information on the "Lost communities" that made up Marked Tree. Tucker said those communities include Weona, Harrisburg Corner, Black Oak, Northern Ohio, Joyland and Boat Run.

"We don't want these community's stories to get away," Tucker said.

Volunteers at the museum are also busy collecting oral histories.

"All of us have a story," Tucker said. "We all have different perspectives. We just sit down with you and a tape recorder and hear your story."

The museum is a stop on the Sunken Lands Cultural Roadway.

The museum has a couple of fund raising options. A brick can be purchased for the Marked Tree Reflection Walk with a $100 donation. A framed portrait will go in the Hall of Honor for those who make a $500 donation.

Tucker was born at Lake Village and grew up in Marked Tree. He is now a senior political science major at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He wants his career to be involved in the community. He is involved with the Chamber of Commerce in Monticello during school and he is involved in the Sunken Lands Chamber of Commerce while at home.