Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Aug. 30, 2025 – A sea of red and black washed over downtown Jonesboro Friday evening as the community gathered to mark the end of the 28th annual Paint the Town Red Week with the Great A-State Block Party.
The event also saw attendees cheer on Arkansas State as it prepared to kick off its football season against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks Saturday at 6 p.m.
READ MORE: Know Before You Go: A-State vs SEMO
The A-State cheerleading team, Red Wolves Dancers and the Sound of the Natural State Marching Band lead the crowd in cheers as local rock, blues and country band Bloodhound performed on the main stage.
Hayden McClain, chair for the Jonesboro Commerce A-State Committee, shared his admiration for the annual event.
“We spent all year planning this event and all the events for Paint the Town Red. This is one of my favorite events, because every year we’ve made it bigger and better since we started bringing it back to downtown and supporting the local community.”
After opening cheers from the A-State spirit squads, Jonesboro mayor Harold Copenhaver unveiled two new Red Wolf-inspired street signs for Burke and Cate Avenues, which, unlike regular Jonesboro street signs, are black with the Arkansas State Red Wolves logo displayed.
The winners for the annual Paint the Town Red contest were also announced, chosen by the Chamber of Commerce’s A-State Committee out of 17 local participants.
Cody Slater, vice president of Chamber Programs, said it was the most entries received since before the coronavirus pandemic. The Newcomer Award was awarded to Divots Golf Lounge, Best Small Business was awarded to Fizz Facial Bar, and the overall grand prize was awarded to Kalmer Solutions.
Nathan LaRue, CEO of Kalmer Solutions, accepted a large display trophy on the company’s behalf. The company will also receive 30 premium tickets and six parking passes to the A-State vs. SEMO football game.
A-State chancellor Todd Shields introduced Arkansas State’s newest athletic director during the event, Chris Pezman. Pezman became A-State’s 14th Director of Athletics in June 2025.
READ MORE: Pezman named Arkansas State Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics
“This town loves A-State, A-State loves Jonesboro,” Pezman said. “This energy, this excitement that we feel tonight is what we got to carry to the stadium tomorrow and for the rest of the season. These kids have been working their butts off all summer to try and get ready for this season.”
Coach Butch Jones of Arkansas State Football concluded the block party, expressing pride in the Jonesboro and A-State community.
“For the first time, you can really feel the civic pride, the civic energy, everything that’s surrounding not just our football family, our football program, but our entire city and our entire university.”
Jones talked about working hard to achieve what he saw during the week, with the level of support from the community being just a vision three years ago.
“I’ve challenged him [Copenhaver] for three years straight that we need to make Arkansas State and the Red Wolves part of Jonesboro. It’s all a part of who we are, we are Jonesboro, we are Arkansas State, and we’re all in this thing together,” Jones said. “The great thing about being the football coach here is you get to paint the vision for what you want, and I still haven’t given up the dreams and aspirations of being able to sell out home games.”
Tickets for Saturday’s football game will be available to purchase in person at the Central Box Office or online here. It will take place at Centennial Bank Stadium.
