On Thursday, July 30, 2026, the Republican Party of Benton County gathered at Legacy Ranch at Dry Creek in Gravette for Legacy of Liberty: Celebrating 250. Dinner tickets sold out ahead of the event, and the hall was full by the time the program began.
The evening opened with a reception. Guests arrived to a full-wall American flag, a restored Dodge Power Wagon parked in the hall, live cello, and a 1776–2026 “United We Stand” banner behind the head table. The dress code was “Sophisticated All-American,” and the room took it seriously.
Recognizing the people who do the work
After the Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation, the program turned to awards. Longtime members and volunteers were called to the front and recognized for years of service to the county party — the phone calls, the folding chairs, the booths at county fairs, and the hundreds of unglamorous hours that make an organization like this function.
The keynote
Elected officials and candidates addressed the room through the evening before Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders took the podium to deliver the keynote, speaking on America's semiquincentennial and the state of Arkansas.
Thank you
Thank you to every guest, sponsor, volunteer, and elected official who made the night what it was — and to everyone who bought a ticket early enough to help it sell out.
Fifty-nine photographs from the evening are up on the event page.
View the photo galleryPhotos by Westworks Photography. Attendees can download the full collection from the photographer's gallery.