Mayor Molly Rawn

To all who served, you will never be forgotten.

Thank you to Bo’s Blessings and the staff and volunteers of Fayetteville’s National Cemetery for today’s Memorial Day ceremony.

Congratulations to Coach Deifel and the entire Arkansas Razorback Softball team.

We are College World Series bound! Fayetteville is so proud of you.

CALLIN’ THE HOGS IN OKC FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY 🐗‼️

On behalf of the City of Fayetteville, I extend my condolences to Sloan’s family, friends, colleagues, and loved ones.

Happy Mother’s Day! To all of the moms, I hope you are being celebrated by your family today, whatever that looks like for you. 💗

Last week Jeremy and I had the pleasure of attending the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation Celebration of Excellence dinner.

The Fayetteville Public Education Foundation (FPEF) is a nonprofit organization that supports public education and Fayetteville Public Schools by awarding grants to teachers, students and classrooms.

We learned about some outstanding programs being led by Fayetteville teachers - integrating art and science, building circuits and even exploring caves!

A fun bonus for me: I spotted several students I’ve gotten to know through the Mayor’s Youth Council. The last slide is my Princeton-bound friend Mira, who I got to work with last year when she and her peers proposed a city resolution encouraging safe handgun storage.

Thanks to everyone involved in FPEF especially the new Executive Director Tony Moten, Jr.

Thank you to the Fayetteville Sequoyah Kiwanis and the Springdale Kiwanis Clubs for inviting me to speak at their Youth Excellence Awards luncheon.

Twenty-three students from throughout Washington County were recognized including four from Ramay Junior High, Woodland Junior High, Fayetteville High School and ALLPS School of Innovation. Fayetteville Public Schools

These students were nominated by their guidance counselors because of their kindness, strength of character, and resilience. Many of these students have overcome incredibly challenging circumstances but are nevertheless thriving.

Their stories are inspiring, as is their resilience.

Thank you to the organizers and to weatherdan for being a great honorary host.

Tonight I joined the team from SXNW Hospitality for Chef’s Night Out, a fundraiser for , a group I am proud to partner with as a member of the Mayor’s Alliance to End Childhood Hunger.

Thank you and for hosting and raising $30,000 toward the fight to end childhood hunger.

Our Fayetteville chefs showed up and showed out, including Elliot Hunt of Maudie Schmitt of Darwin Beyer of and Rachel Anderson from .

Thank you to everyone who made our Earth week kick-off such a success! We got an early start accepting a donation of two Dogwoods from the Phi Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. As AKA PAO President Stacee Lambey-Nichols shared, these two trees will beautify our square and remind all of us of the legacy of service the AKA’s continue to build.

Saturday saw the return of one of Fayetteville’s favorite traditions: the City of Fayetteville tree giveaway. For the second year in a row I signed the Mayors Monarch Pledge and gave away packets of milkweed seeds in an effort to restore our monarch butterfly population. The pros know to get in line early as they go quickly!

Congratulations to the winners of the City’s Environmental Stewardship Awards: Justin Keen, The Fayetteville Town Center and the Watershed Conservation Resource Center.

More Earth week activities are in store!

Today marks the first day of 2083 in Nepal’s Bikram Sambat calendar. This past Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a New Year’s celebration with a group of NWA Nepali residents.

Organized by the non-profit group NWA Nepali Samaj, this was their first New Year’s Event and I am delighted they chose to hold it in Fayetteville. It was a wonderful celebration of culture and heritage with dancing, food, and fellowship. We even had a special video message from the Nepali Embassy in D.C.

We have a rich and diverse culture in Fayetteville and that is just one of the many reasons I am so proud to call it home.

Friday evening I was invited to join Shabbat services at Temple Shalom. This was an educational event, designed to teach the broader community more about the Shabbat service. It was sponsored by the Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace at the U of A.

Following the service was a celebration of Mimouna, a joyous post‑Passover festival observed by Maghrebi Jews especially in Morocco, Israel and France, and also among Moroccan Jewish communities living abroad. The celebration marks the end of the Passover prohibition on leavened bread so there was a beautiful spread of bread and sweets!

I cherish the opportunities I have to engage with all of our residents and to learn more about the faiths and cultures our community members hold dear.

Thank you Temple Shalom for being welcoming hosts.