Disney in the Delta?

Would-Be Theme Park Developer Tries to Sell $200 Million Dream as Questions Abound

G. W. Johnson has big plans for a near 4,000-acre patch of Cross County bottom land. At the heart of it is a 1,000-acre theme park shaped like the 50 United States.

Like a speeding pickup on a dry dirt road, Johnson is kicking up a cloud of dust as he travels around east Arkansas pitching would-be investors and talking about the grand dream of his.

As the dust settles, questions are arising about possible securities violations.

His vision of Johnson Country USA is bigger than the combined developed acreage of Disney's Animal Kingdom (500 acres), Epcot Center (300 acres) and Magic Kingdom (107 acres) near Orlando, Fla. Disney's overall land holdings in the Sunshine State total 30,500 acres, about 47 square miles.

Known for his children's show hosted by Ropin' Rodeo Bob, Johnson has talked of the ease in raising $200 million to make his dream a reality.

Some believe Johnson isn't adhering to at least two tenets of his Ropin' Rodeo Bob Fan Club code of conduct: do your homework and always practice your math.

"He's either off-plumb, or he's lost all sense of reasoning with this," one would-be investor reports. "He has a snowball's chance in hell. He doesn't even get close to doing this deal from what he told me.

"Nothing he told me made any business sense. If he pulls it off, I'll stand in line to applaud for him."

In an area of the state desperate for some good economic news, others are more hopeful.

"The general feeling is if he can buy the land, maybe he can do this," says Wynne businessman Stan Kelly.

Locals report a doublewide trailer from Delta Mobile Homes in Wynne recently was set up on the property. Johnson has told people it will serve as a temporary base camp to start work on laying out, planning and such for proposed theme park.

Johnson and his secret investors were tentatively scheduled to buy the land July 27, but that closing was rescheduled to Aug. 3.

Additional survey work to clear up discrepancies in the property abstract was cited as the cause of the postponement, according to those who have talked with Johnson.

The property, located about six miles east of Wynne near the Princedale community, is just shy of 4,000 acres of which 3,467 acres is farmed in rice, soybeans and winter wheat. The rest of the acreage is dominated by wetlands near the St. Francis River.

The land is owned by Progressive Farms, a partnership of corporate entities controlled by the owners of the Boston Celtics. The would-be purchase price of the land is an estimated $3.6 million.

Although Johnson doesn't own the land, he is already marketing it under "investment opportunities" on his web site. Those interested in purchasing land near the theme park site are directed to call Johnson's office in Osceola.

Johnson has told people he intends to invite Gov. Mike Huckabee to visit the site once the land is purchased.

Johnson has already drawn the attention of another arm of state government.

Officials at the Arkansas Securities Department have heard about Johnson's efforts to raise funds and believe he may be violating securities law based on the queries they've received.

"For someone who does it correctly, they have to file for an exemption, or they have to register to sell securities," says Ann McDougal, deputy commissioner at the Arkansas Securities Department.

Johnson isn't registered to sell securities but apparently money has been changing hands with enough people to require filing with the securities department.

Prospective investors reported in July that Johnson told them he has 60 shareholders and that he intends to resell part of the land or leverage it to help make the theme park happen.

In late June, Johnson told a gathering in Wynne that he has enough commitments from investors to do the deal but was offering stock out of courtesy to locals.

Johnson is promising astounding short-term profits for investing. One businessman reports Johnson guaranteed a return of 20 percent in 90 days for a $4 million investment and said the land will be worth a whopping $50,000 an acre.

"He told me that he didn't really have any financing in hand," one would-be investor says.

Johnson couldn't be reached for comment. He has told people that he recently traveled to California to talk with the people who built Disney World.

The Johnson Country USA Theme Parks Inc. web site is heralding job opportunities associated with the project and soliciting resumes:

"We are looking for persons with experience in the theme park industry as well as construction and plumbing for the construction of the theme park."

Who Is This Guy?

G.W. Johnson was born Gary Wayne Johnson in Marmaduke (Greene County) on Dec. 29, 1949. His parents divorced when he was 6 years old. He graduated from high school in 1968 at Poplar Bluff, Mo.

During 1974-81, Johnson did course work at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where he graduated with a bachelor s degree in business education.

Mixed in that timeframe were a two-year stint working at Collier Foods in Jonesboro, two years as assistant manager of an A&W Root Beer in Carbondale and three years as manager of a Burger King in Carbondale.

From 1982-85, Johnson taught grades 9-12 at Albany (Texas) High School for three years. He moved back to Arkansas and was hired by the Osceola School District.

Johnson is remembered as a low-key, unassuming, quiet guy during his 13 years as a teacher in Osceola. He joined the faculty as a junior high typing teacher in the 1985-86 school year. His junior high teaching position was known as keyboarding when he resigned at the end of the 1997-98 school year.

Bruce Young, Osceola superintendent, recalls that Johnson tried unsuccessfully to sell him on a paperback reader for elementary students he had created.

"One, it wasn't very interesting," Young says. "Two, it was about [a character named] Cowboy Bob, or something with a six-shooter. This was at the time of the [Jonesboro] Westside shootings, and the timing was terrible."

Somewhere along the line Six-Gun Bob traded in his shooting irons for a less lethal accessory and was rechristened Ropin' Rodeo Bob. This character has become the centerpiece of a low-budget children's show created by Johnson.

"The Happy Times Show" airs weekly at 10:30 a.m. Sundays on KAIT-TV, Channel 8, in Jonesboro and 9:30 a.m. Saturdays on KASN-TV, Channel 38, in Pine Bluff/Little Rock.

The show, described as featuring fun games, exciting stories and thrilling adventures, promotes multiplication skills in a Mouseketeer-type setting.

It is hosted by that fast multiplier Ropin' Rodeo Bob and his four friends (Addaline, Jessie, Mathew and Sucaba) and the Happy Times Ranchers.

His corporate web site markets merchandise through his children's book publishing venture: a dozen coloring books based on the first 12 numbers of the multiplication table and an alphabet reading book.

The web site also hawks cuddly animals, customized clocks and tee-shirts. There's also good fortune bracelets, the hand-woven kind that will cause the wearer's wish for luck, wealth, romance (represented by a colored-faux gem stone) to come true when the bracelet falls off.

Johnson's leap from school teacher to children's books and programming/Internet sales to theme park mogul is eye-brow raising.

"He's always been a guy that wanted to make it big," says his father, Fred Johnson. "When he was in Osceola, he was working two or three jobs. I hope [the theme park] works out for him. If it doesn't, he might lose everything he has."

RELATED ARTICLE: Gary Johnson's Field of Dreams

A new era of parks will give birth in the new millennium - Johnson Country USA. This park will combine the thrills of the high-tech amusement park with the beauty of traditional theme parks to bring together the past, present and future. It will be good, clean, educational fun.

Our park will feature scaled-down proportionate duplications of all 50 states. The total 1,000-acre land mass has been broken down to proportionately represent each state.

New creative and never-before-seen rides will fill the park, creating the challenge of the unknown, making the rider want to come back again and again. An adult and children's ride will be included in each state and will be designed to focus on some of the major characteristics of that state.

In addition, each state will have food popular to the area. There also will be a souvenir shop and learning center set up to emphasize the state's noticeable differences and history. At the entrance of each state there will be a permanent statue of the state bird, tree and flower.

Finally, there will be a highway connecting each state, except Hawaii and Alaska, that will provide a high-up view of the park so the customer can see all the different parts the park has to offer.

This is just a brief description of the Johnson Country USA Theme Park. There will be many more fun and educational things for all ages. It will take an estimated four months to experience everything the park has to offer, so you can always do something different when you come back.

Source: Johnson Country USA Theme Parks Inc.