of The Ozarks

As May comes to an end and June comes around the corner it is time to celebrate Pride Month. I am Proud to say our local chapter has a lot going on in June and onward into our Summer Speakers Series. Our local FFRF chapter will be celebrating its 4th Anniversary. Our chapters continues celebration of our LGBTQ Allies and Community – by again tabling marching in the parade – at Fayetteville’s Pride event.

Local Chapter Anniversary (About)

This June 12th will mark our 4 year anniversary since we came together on a hot Sunday afternoon at Airship Coffee in Bentonville back in 2022. From our humble beginnings as a bunch of secular citizens trying to find ways to move the needle, to having an established organization nearly 1,000 people strong, we are doing bigger & better things everyday. This journey is only made possible by you; our members, supporters and volunteers who value church/state separation. Our group is firmly planted here and we will continue to draw awareness to this issue. Our summer calendar is just getting started, and we’re excited to have you join us.

Secular Sunday Meetings

We had a great meeting on May 17th in Fayetteville, and discussed many great things coming in this upcoming year. For those interested these are the types of things we discuss at our Secular Sunday Business Meetings. See Meeting Minutes for more details.

Summer Speaker Series Highlight

Get Tickets now. Seating is limited.

2026 Secular Speaker Series (link here)

Our 3rd Annual Speaker Series is set and tickets are now available. Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to make these events available to the general public for only $10 per person per event. And Ozarks FFRF Standard Members receive a 50% discount on each event! Please join us for the following guests :

• Saturday, July 18th at 2pm – Sam Grover (Senior Counsel for FFRF) @ Bentonville Library (Walton Foundation Community Room). Get tickets here!
• Saturday, August 22nd at 2pm – Hemant Mehta, best known as The Friendly Atheist @ Fayetteville Library (Ziegler Reception Room). Get tickets here!
• Saturday, September 26th at 2pm – Sam McGuire (American Atheists) @ Fayetteville Library (Ziegler Reception Room). Get tickets here!
• Thursday, October 22nd at 6pm – Fish Stark (Executive Director for American Humanist) @ Bentonville Library (Walton Foundation Community Room). Get tickets here!

Our speakers will discuss issues relevant to our area, like Ten Commandments in schools and Christian Nationalist policies our representatives embrace.  We’ve also got some cool guest interactions planned with our members so stay tuned to our website, newsletter and social media for the latest and lock in those dates! 

Pride in Fayetteville

We are here to stand with and support our community in separation of Church and State. Know you are Safe with me. I am here to stand with you, for those who may feel they do not have a voice.

Upcoming Events and Activities

June 13th (Saturday) – 7:30am to 12:30pm

• Bentonville Farmers Market – Come join us as we engage the community on secular values.  Look for us in the Free Speech area at 2nd Street and A Street Promenade.

June 20th (Saturday) – 5:00pm to 9:00pm*

• 2026 Bats & Bluegrass Festival (221 South Main Street, Cave Springs, AR, 72718) – this event spotlights the conservation efforts of the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, and includes nature hikes around the sanctuary, live bluegrass music from Sons of Otis Malone, family-friendly activities, local food trucks and bats emerging at dusk! This is a great way to celebrate the Summer solstice!
• *Note: there is a $25 fee for adults, Children 17 years & under are Free.

June 27th (Saturday) – 11:00am to 6:00pm

• NWA Pride Festival 2026 (W. Dickson Street) –  The Ozarks Chapter of FFRF will be tabling & walking in the NWA Pride Festival on West Dickson Street for the third consecutive year.  Save the Date!  (Note: this tabling event will take place in lieu of the Fayetteville Farmers Market).

July 11th (Saturday) – 7:30am to 12:30pm

• Bentonville Farmers Market – Come join us as we engage the community on secular values.  Look for us in the Free Speech area at 2nd Street and A Street Promenade.

July 18th (Saturday) – 2:00pm to 3:00pm @ Bentonville Public Library

• Secular Speaker Series with Sam Grover (FFRF) – Come join us for our first speaker series event of 2026 as we listen to Sam Grover, Senior Legal Counsel with FFRF who was heavily involved in the litigation against Arkansas Act 573 (Ten Commandments in public classrooms).  Get tickets here!

July 25th (Saturday) – 7:30am to 12:30pm

• Fayetteville Farmers Market – The Ozarks Chapter of FFRF will be at the Fayetteville Farmers Market!  Come meet likeminded freethinkers and spend time chatting with fellow citizens of the Ozarks.

To be fair it was a busy weekend. Yesterday we tabled at the Bentonville Farmers market and I participated in a protest in the evening for visiting Justice Barrett. This protest was hosted by https://indivisible.org/ After a busy Saturday I spent several hours updating the website. I hope you all like the new additions.

AHA recognition.

Communities in Action: Chris Sweeny, Ozarks FFRF – TheHumanist.com https://share.google/YSFEljtXDSipiVucd

Updates to the Website

• Added Summer Speakers Series Page

• Added Victory Points Page

• Updated the Meeting Minutes with PDF and made the years collapsible.

• Updated Newsletter Page to have years collapsible.

We are part of The American Empathy Project (https://www.americanempathyproject.org/) Please sign up for the event. Here is our link from Mobilize.

KUAF Advertising

We are looking to utilize part of our allocation to advertising this donation drive. We had discussed 2 daily spots for a 10 day run (20 spots total), beginning on Wednesday, April 22nd. Each spot will consist of a 15-second plug for this event, similar to the following

“Support comes from the Freedom From Religion Foundation of the Ozarks, hosting a May 2nd donation drive at the NWA Women’s Shelter Thrift Store in Rogers. The drive includes collection of household and personal care items. Information at OzarksFFRF.org.”

Please Share

Please post and share any way you can. Post in public places if you can. Share with friends. Donate what you can. Special needs are listed above on flier. Towels and toiletries are a big need. As prices have increased and donations are down it is a tough 1 – 2 punch for our friends.

Importance of being seen and present in our community. We choose to be active in our community in many ways. We do a road side clean up, we are going to be participation in the American Empathy Project. We are active at Pride events, No Kings days, Farmers Markets, and even our Summer Speaker Series. We are trying to show that the seculars community cares as much about our community as everyone else. We are proud to be representing FFRF and the importance of Separation of Church and State.

In this pursuit our Facebook group has recently went from a private group to a public group page. This will allow us to best leverage our presence online. For those who want to remain anonymous you can still do so in the public group. Alternatively please join us over in the discord.

Recent Activities

Secular Sunday Meetings

We had a great meeting this morning (April 19th in Bentonville) and discussed many great things coming in this upcoming year. We also discussed the Facebook going Public. For those interested these are the types of things we discuss at our Secular Sunday Business Meetings. See Meeting Minutes for more details.

Bentonville Farmers Market

We had a handful of members present for our first Farmers Market event of the year on April 11th. We had a member come all the way from KC Missouri (Thanks Phil). Thanks to all who showed up. We did not get any friction yet from DBI. Downtown Bentonville who runs the Farmers Market.

Road Side Clean up

We had 8 members join in for the road side clean up on March 29th. This is a join venture with the NWA Freethought Group. Thanks Everyone!!!

Upcoming Events and Activities

We have a lot of upcoming activities and the Summer Speaker Series will be amazing. Please join us at the Farmers Market in Fayetteville and also start spreading the word for the Donation Drive.

April 25th (Saturday) – 7:30am to 12:30pm

• Fayetteville Farmers Market – The Ozarks Chapter of FFRF returns to the Fayetteville Farmers Market for the first time in 2026!  Come meet likeminded freethinkers and spend time chatting with fellow citizens of the Ozarks.

April 26th (Sunday) – 2:00pm to 4:00pm

• Neighbors for a Better Arkansas @ GoatLab Brewery (Lowell, AR) – This “Meet the Candidates” event will bring citizens together where attendees can hear what the candidates have to say in their run for US Senate and House of Representatives. Hallie Shoffner and Robb Ryerse are both confirmed to speak at this event, and Ozarks FFRF will have a table. 

May 2nd (Saturday) – 10:00am to 2:00pm

• Donation Drive @ Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter (Rogers, AR) – As part of the American Humanists Empathy project, the Ozarks Chapter of FFRF applied to host a donation drive for the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter. 

May 9th (Saturday) – 7:30am to 12:30pm

• Bentonville Farmers Market – Come join us as we engage the community on secular values. 

May 17th (Sunday) – 10:00am to 11:00am

• Secular Sunday Meeting @ Ozarks Natural Foods (380 N College Ave, Fayetteville, AR 72701) – with the summer season nearly in full swing, we’ll have a lot to discuss for planning purposes.     

May 23rd (Saturday) – 7:30am to 12:30pm

• Fayetteville Farmers Market – The Ozarks Chapter of FFRF will be at the Fayetteville Farmers Market!  Come meet likeminded freethinkers and spend time chatting with fellow citizens of the Ozarks.

2026 Summer Speaker Series

⦁ Saturday, July 18th – Sam Grover (Senior Counsel from FFRF)
⦁ August 22nd/23rd – Hemant Mehta (The Friendly Atheist)
⦁ September 26th & 27th – Sam McGuire (American Atheists)
⦁ October 22nd – Fish Stark (American Humanists Association)

Recent Activities

Secular Sunday Meetings

Before long we will have the farmers markets and our Summer Speaker series. For those interested these are the types of things we discuss at our Secular Sunday Business Meetings. See Meeting Minutes for more details.

Tulsa Trip

The Spring has started out Strong, there were several from our local chapter who went on a Road trip to see 3 brilliant and delightful speakers talk about science mostly. The event was in Tulsa and had Seth Andres, Forest Valkai, and Erika “Gutsick Gibbon”. This event was the brain child of Seth Andrews. It warmed my Secular heart to see so many people (approx. 300), it was a SOLD OUT show. People from all over America came. There was an after party meetup hosted by the Atheist Community of Tulsa ACT members.

Our local chapter has hosted both Seth and Forest as part of our Summer Speaker series in the past.

A bit of Good news – Small Victory

Local news article about how Federal Judge rules on 10 Commandments in School. – We hope this sticks.

Court blocks law requiring Ten Commandments in public schools

Upcoming Events and Activities

Please join us for the first Road side clean up for 2026. Come out and help keep our stretch of road clean. The event is the last Saturday of the Month. March 29th. We also have many more activities coming in April.

March 29th (Sunday) – 7:30am to 10:00am

• Adopt-A-Highway Road Cleanup – Our first road cleanup of 2026 will start at Onyx Coffee (101 E Walnut Ave, Rogers, AR 72756) at 7:30am.  We will carpool from downtown Rogers at 8:00am.  The 1 mile section of road takes approximately 90 minutes to clean, and we anticipate returning to Rogers by 10:00am. Orange vests and trash bags will be provided by Benton County. For those able to join us, we recommend wearing long pants, gloves and hat (sunscreen and bug spray, if needed). We have plenty of “grabber tools” to borrow of these can be purchased online separately. Please come support the Ozarks Chapter of FFRF by doing good in our local community!

April 11th (Saturday) – 7:30am to 12:30pm

• Bentonville Farmers Market – our first Farmers Market event of 2026 takes place in Bentonville.  The Ozarks Chapter of FFRF will be set up in the designated “Free Speech” area (location TBD).  Come join us for an hour or two as we engage the community. 

April 19th (Sunday) – 10:00am to 11:00am

• Secular Sunday Meeting @ Onyx Coffee Lab inside The Momentary (507 SE E St, Bentonville, AR 72712) – join us as for our monthly get together as we talk business and get together for a quick tour of the museum after our meeting.  Take note of the new location!

April 25th (Saturday) – 7:30am to 12:30pm

• Fayetteville Farmers Market – The Ozarks Chapter of FFRF returns to the Fayetteville Farmers Market for the first time in 2026!  Come meet likeminded freethinkers and spend time chatting with fellow citizens of the Ozarks.

Updates to the Website

We have added our backlog of Meeting Minutes as well as the Newsletter.

Have added many links to both Linktree and the website. New Allies, new Friends more Secular connections.

Updated the Upcoming Events as well as links to support the local and national FFRF groups.

• Local Ozarks FFRF 2026 Membership
• National Membership – linked to Local Chapter

Our local chapter likes to support our community and one of the strongest relationships we have is with the NWS Woman’s Shelter Thrift Store. Our visit to the NWA Woman’s Shelter Thrift Store event in late January was a big success. We had 12 people help. We had scheduled from 10-1, but was able to wrap up early with so many hands. A few of us ate chose to eat some food at a nearby taco place, in shopping center after the event.

This was fun and invigorating to have so many people help, and make quick work, and over 30 hours of support in the time we were there. Chris Sweeny was even asked a few questions by local newspaper reporter who also took some candid shots of us working. I never was able to find the news article but it is not why we were doing the event but if you find it let me know.

Below is a few candid pics I took. We look forward to keep this relationship going.

Please join us for the upcoming roadside clean up.

March 29th (Sunday) – 7:30am to 10:00am

Adopt-A-Highway Road Cleanup – Our first road cleanup of 2026 will start at Onyx Coffee (101 E Walnut Ave, Rogers, AR 72756) at 7:30am.  We will carpool from downtown Rogers at 8:00am.  The 1 mile section of road takes approximately 90 minutes to clean, and we anticipate returning to Rogers by 10:00am. Orange vests and trash bags will be provided by Benton County. For those able to join us, we recommend wearing long pants, gloves and hat (sunscreen and bug spray, if needed). We have plenty of “grabber tools” to borrow of these can be purchased online separately. Please come support the Ozarks Chapter of FFRF by doing good in our local community!

I obviously take great pride in our local FFRF chapter. Many of the members I consider close friends and it was great to see them today at our Secular Sunday Meeting, in Fayetteville. We met at the Meteor and it was great to have 10 members present. For full meeting minutes please check them out here. Todays minutes coming soon…

Please join me in signing up for the local chapter. Local Ozarks FFRF 2026 Membership

All members of the National FFRF have free base level local membership. National Membership – linked to Local Chapter

2026 is going to be amazing! We will keep fighting for the separation of church and state issues. We plan on starting our cyclical cycle of the Farmers market in April. For full list of Events. See here.

Highlighted Upcoming Events

March 7th (Saturday) – 2:00pm to 5:00pm (Tulsa, OK)

Ozarks FFRF Field Trip! – Join Seth Andrews, Erika “Gutsick Gibbon,” and Forrest Valkai for three short presentations and roughly two hours of lively audience interaction at a freethought event right in the buckle of the Bible Belt.  Event is being held at OU Schusterman Learning Center – Perkins Auditorium in Tulsa, OK.  Tickets are $35 per person.

SOLD OUT – Let’s Carpool – possible Happy hour after with Tulsa Secular Community.

March 15th (Sunday) – 10:00am to 11:00am

Secular Sunday Meeting @ Onyx Coffee Springdale (100 E Emma Ave, Springdale, AR 72764 ) – Come join us for our monthly business and social meeting. 

Note: New Meeting Location!!!

March 29th (Sunday) – 7:30am to 10:00am

Adopt-A-Highway Road Cleanup – Our first road cleanup of 2026 will start at Onyx Coffee (101 E Walnut Ave, Rogers, AR 72756) at 7:30am.  We will carpool from downtown Rogers at 8:00am.  The 1 mile section of road takes approximately 90 minutes to clean, and we anticipate returning to Rogers by 10:00am. Orange vests and trash bags will be provided by Benton County. For those able to join us, we recommend wearing long pants, gloves and hat (sunscreen and bug spray, if needed). We have plenty of “grabber tools” to borrow of these can be purchased online separately. Please come support the Ozarks Chapter of FFRF by doing good in our local community!

Farmers Market Start in April 2026.

2nd Saturday in Bentonville.

4th Saturday in Fayetteville.

So much more…. to come….LET’S GO!!!!

Billboard

Summer Speakers Series

Pride Events

Holiday Festivities and more….

I wanted to share that we have distributed the FFRF Grant to the following organizations:

$350 was awarded to KUAF, the public radio station and NPR affiliate for northwest Arkansas, the Arkansas River Valley, eastern Oklahoma and southwestern Missouri, whose mission is to be a leader in public media, serving our audience with programs that challenge, entertain, educate and inform.  Our members appreciate this resource, and in light of funding cuts to public radio stations, our group decided to increase our charitable contribution from $250 in 2024 to $350 in 2025 (No picture).

$350 was awarded to the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter, whose mission is to provide shelter and support at any hour for those affected by domestic violence in our community.  Our members volunteer annually at the NWAWS Thrift Store, and we are happy to contribute to the important work they do. 

For the first time, the Ozarks Chapter of FFRF awarded $300 to the OMNI Center to support their mission to educate, empower, and connect people to build a non-violent, sustainable, and just world.  This organization has many parallels with FFRF and we are excited to partner with the OMNI Center!  

Finally, on a side note, our group was able to install the “Bill of Rights” Nativity Display at the Capitol in Little Rock, AR, earlier this month.  LaDonnan and I will take it down on Saturday Jan 3rd.

Let’s have a few fun hike on New Years day. See events.