Pat Decker Cash was born and raised in Mountain View, Arkansas. She
says she is a City girl, because she grew up on Main Street, downtown, Mountain
View, population less than 1000 for most of her growing up life.
Her father was Buster Decker, one of the most well known persons in the area. He was so well known because he was so friendly, outgoing and an owner of several different businesses in the area. Her mother, Mae Hinkle Decker (who also had a great personality) and her Dad were the first people to go in to the Tourism business by opening a theme park called “Land of the Crossbow” located at Blanchard Springs, near Fifty-Six, Arkansas, just north of the little town of Mountain View. The Decker family lived at the park in the summer in the early 1950’s, a decade before the world renowned discovery of the upper level of Blanchard Springs Caverns which was called “The cave find of the century” by Time magazine. This put Mountain View on the map! Growing up in this type of environment developed Pat’s ability to be fun loving and a great “people person.” Like her father, she never met a stranger and loves to be surrounded by people. In high school she was voted by the students, Ms. Mountain View High School, her junior and senior years. At the same time she was voted Friendliest, and Wittiest. Her friends say that when they get down in the dumps they just go see Pat and she will have them laughing and forget about their troubles.
She married Jim Cash in 1964 and they have three children, Pamela Ann Dobbins, Jana K. Wickham and Jim Ed Cash. They now have five grandchildren. Both Jim and Pat still attend the First Baptist Church where they both have been members of all their lives. They also live in the house Pat grew up in on Main Street.
In 1984 after visiting Branson, Missouri and attending shows there, Jim
and Pat decided that Mountain View had just as much to offer and possibly
more with Blanchard Springs Caverns being located nearby. We already
had music on the courtsquare, which is very unique, and other theater type
shows such as the Ozark Folk Center, Grandpa Jones Dinner Theater, The Folklore
Society and Jimmy Driftwoods Barn. So they felt like another type of
show with country music and comedy would be a fantastic asset to the community. They
had a friend who agreed to build them a theater where Jim’s Pulpwood
Yard was located, this was where Jim was self-employed and bought and sold
timber. Pat was employed at Arkansas Power & Light as a customer
service representative. But they both loved country and western music,
50’s and 60’s rock and roll, and gospel music so they decided
to “stick-their-necks-out” and build a theater. And that’s
how the Cash family got started in the music business. Their first
years were not profitable at all. They had to support the show by
working at other jobs and not giving up on their dream.
Today Pat is a Vice-President of Customer Development with The Citizens
Bank, but in the early days of the show she had no plans of being in the
show. Her big
debut as a comedienne started at the end of the first year when she disguised
herself and went on stage to sing Happy Birthday to Jim. The band thought
she was some crazy woman and would not stop playing music. She started
gig dancing and when they finally did end the song she was out of breath
and could not sing. She introduced herself as Aunt Minnie Miles, because
she said, “She ain’t got many miles left!” Then she
told a joke and the crowd laughed and laughed. So, she told another. Jim
or Pat could not believe it. They had auditioned several comedians
and just could not find one that was funny. Comedy is all about timing
and enjoying what you are doing and she had it all. After 23 years
of making people laugh she still enjoys every minute of it and people from
all over the world loves Aunt Minnie Miles.
Her son Jim Ed, after finishing high school, began to perform with Aunt Minnie Miles as Bumpy Miles. Like his mother, he too had the art of making people laugh and entertaining the public. Bumpy Miles was a great asset to the family business and performed at the show for 15 years. In the summer of 2006 he decided to pursue a career in the real estate business and take some time off from the show. Pat hopes that he will soon return to the stage with her. So many people loved the mother-son duo. The entire family is involved one way or another in this family operated business!