SPRINGDALE, Ark — The community is working together to help Springdale icon Tommy Evans, 55, who spends so much of his time in Downtown Springdale spreading joy.
If you drive down Emma, you could probably find him on Shiloh Square ready to wave and smile at cars passing by.
Amber Perrodin said she's known Tommy since she was about 10 or 11 years old. "It's just been powerful to make friends [with him] ... he just sits there to listen and talk ... He feels like his mission in life is just to bring joy to people."
You can find stickers on his scooter and flowers in his basket, but ask Tommy about his cowboy hat and you'll learn there's strength in his smile.
"He was thrown from a bull onto a fence and got tangled up [and his foot got stuck in the stirrup]— he was in a coma for nine months," Perrodin said. "He's a big-hearted cowboy who still wears his old cowboy hat from the accident."
Tommy jokes saying the bull gave him a vacation. He explained that he would work nonstop as a forklift driver and bull riding. Now his days are full of faith and friends.
"I'm thankful for them because they've done so many things to help me," Evans said.
With the weather getting better, Tommy is ready to make his way downtown. In 2020, the community helped buy him a scooter and Perrodin says he's put a lot of miles into his so-called "truck."
Perrodin says he's due an upgrade though, as his brakes have given out and the events he attends require an all-terrain scooter.
"It's important that he's able to be at those because he is alone and lives alone. This is his social life. He's otherwise isolated. We want to get him back out here and keep him healthy and keep him around a long time," Perrodin said.
If you'd like to help get Tommy his new scooter, you can visit their GoFundMe page.
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