in the same newspaper, "in the early 1970s, the park was attracting almost a million visitors each year." Jess Odom ownership A disagreement arose among the members of REI with regards to investing the profits of the first year. Snow believed all the profits should be reinvested in the park, but the other members wanted to divide some of it among themselves. Jess Odom, an Arkansas businessman in search of an opportunity, bought REI members' shares for $750,000 and gained a controlling interest in the park in October 1968. Odom had been successful in several other endeavors, including the founding of a planned community northwest of Little Rock called Maumelle. In summer 1968, there were plans to expand the park further in time for next season's opening; the planned attractions were the "Skunk Holler" section, new shops, and more Li'l Abner-themed performances. Odom signed a long-term licensing agreement with Capp, giving the park and any future Li'l Abner franchises the rights to use all characters, events, jargon, names, and titles until 1998. In return, Capp would receive two to three percent of the gross of admissions over the same time period. According to some sources, in 1969, the cave discovered during construction, "Old Man Moses Cave," was opened to park visitors. However, according to Mystic Caverns' owners, the Old Man Moses Cave was never opened to the public while it was part of Dogpatch, USA. Also in 1969, the first annual Miss Dogpatch pageant was held in the park. During that time, Orval Faubus, former governor of Arkansas, served as the president of Dogpatch, USA. Also in 1969 the B-movie 'It's Alive!' was partly filmed at the Dogpatch Theme park. 1969 marked a particularly popular year for rustic and hillbilly pop culture. Shows such as Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, and The Beverly Hillbillies were in vogue on American television, and a similar rustic-themed park about 40 miles away near Branson, Missouri, Silver Dollar City, had become a huge success. The Li'l Abner comic strip was appearing in more than 700 newspapers daily throughout the country, which kept the fictional town of Dogpatch in the public eye. In 1968, Al Capp had granted New York restaurant chain Longchamps, Inc. the rights to use his characters and artwork in a planned Li'l Abner-themed restaurant franchise. Capp had also approved the creation of a Li'l Abner TV series, and the Dogpatch, USA operators