August 2023

The pride of the 501

Marching band has been a part of my family for generations. My granddad was a high school band director. Both of my parents played in the band, as did my uncle. I spent many years as a percussionist and even drum major. My son recently took up the tuba at Greenbrier Middle School. We all love music and attention. However, we're not so fond of being out in the heat in long-sleeve polyester uniforms.

Recently, some very kind UCA Bear Marching Band students braved that heat to meet editor Stefanie Brazile and me and help introduce their new Director of Athletic Bands, Derek Stoughton. Derek said to us that he chose Conway because he realized it was a community “where incredible music-making was happening every single day.” His realization is shared by so many who come to our 501 communities and see how, from the arts to athletics, Central Arkansas is something special. From our educational foundations to opportunities, we offer students many avenues for academic success.

Each August, we strive to tell stories that showcase these successes throughout the 501. This month, we introduce you to married couple Dayna and Mark Lewis--both Conway Elementary School principals. You will be impressed by Logan Horton, who has revolutionized the options for Arkansas students to participate in esports at both the high school and college level. We even share the story of Ron Hill, who received his college degree more than 55 years after he graduated from Beebe High School.

I will always remember the lessons of my favorite band director, Pat Perusich (Ms. P). She said the marching band should be THE representation of pride a community feels for its school. She instilled in me to take pride in my work, pride in my team and pride in our accomplishments together. I hope you will find this month's issue to be a representation of pride for all our Central Arkansas schools, and Ms. P, I hope it makes you proud.

Stefanie W. Brazile

FOUNDERS

Donna

BRAND AMBASSADOR

Donald Brazile

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Paulette Higginbotham

ADVERTISING SALES

Donna Spears

DIGITAL DIRECTOR

Levi Gilbert

PHOTO DIRECTOR

Mike Kemp

COPY EDITORS

Andrea Lively and Andrea Miller

FINANCE DIRECTOR

Debbie Flowers

SOCIAL MEDIA Morgan Zimmerman

CONTRIBUTORS

Becky Bell

Don Bingham

Jessica Duff

Laurie Green

Ben Gruita

Dwain Hebda

Vivian Lawson Hogue

Tammy Keith

Beth Jimmerson

Mark Oliver

Susan Peterson

Richard Plotkin

Kelli Reep

Dr. Robert Reising

Judy Riley

Carol Rolf

Donna L. Stephens

Rita Halter Thomas

FAULKNER CO. EDITORIAL BOARD

Johnny Adams

Jack Bell

Don Bingham

Jessica Brown

RaeLynn Callaway

Glenn Crockett

Beth Franks

Sylvia Gauvey

Russ Hancock

Spencer Hawks

Mathilda Hatfield

Roe Henderson

Jerry Hiegel

Antonio Jamison

Mike Kemp

Julie LaRue

Karl Lenser

Monica Lieblong

Lori Melton

Deanna Ott

Pat Otto

Jon Patrom

Amy Reed

Lori Ross

Margaret Smith

Jan Spann

Kim Tyler

Suzann Waggoner

Jennifer Whitehead

Kay Wood

CONWAY CO. EDITORIAL BOARD

Mary Clark Shelli Crowell

Dr. Larry Davis

Shawn Halbrook

Alicia Hugen

Alisha Koonce

Stephanie Lipsmeyer

Stewart Nelson

Kristi Strain

Jim Taylor

Morgan Zimmerman

WHITE CO. EDITORIAL BOARD

Betsy Bailey

Amy Burton

Tara Cathey

Cassandra Feltrop

Phil Hays

Natalie Horton

Matt LaForce

Mike Parsons

Brooke Pryor

Judy Riley

Carol Spears

Kristi Thurmon

and is owned by Jeremy Higginbotham and Stefanie Brazile.

The contents of 501 LIFE are copyrighted and materials presented may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publishers. Articles should not be considered specific advice, as individual circumstances vary. Advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by 501 LIFE.

LEFT: Me "joyfully" marching in the late summer of 1989 at the Four States Fair Parade.

RIGHT: My uncle and mother at exact same parade, 24 years prior.

Members of the UCA Athletic Marching Band look forward

Hayden Hirons (from left), Hana Lovett, Ashley Ligon, Dr. Derek Stoughton, Zach Hopkins, Addi Hankins and Lily Camper.

501 LIFE would like to thank our advertising partners.

Arkansas Grown, 77

Bledsoe Chiropractic, 69 _____________________________________

Centennial Bank, 40 Conway Corp, 35

Conway Healthcare & Rehab, 61

Conway Regional Health System, 83

Conway Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, 53

Denture + Implant Solutions, 81

DJM Orthodontics, 31 _____________________________________

Edward Jones, 63

Explore Springdale, 71

First Community Bank, 21

First Security Bank, 84

First Service Bank, 13

Freyaldenhoven

Heating and Cooling, 23

Girl Scouts - Diamonds, 79

Greenbrier Public Schools, 65

Harding University, 81

Hartman Animal Hospital, 49

Harwood, Ott & Fisher, PA, 51

Heritage Living Center, 5

Jacksonville Parks and Rec, 35

Julie’s Sweet Shoppe, 79

Kilwins Little Rock, 45

MSC Eye Associates, 45

Ott Insurance, 47

Pulaski County

Special School District, 36

Quitman Public Schools, 26

Reynolds Performance Hall, 75

Salem Place, 75 Shelter Insurance, 77

South Conway County School District, 57

Superior Health & Rehab, 2

Unity Health, 3, 37

University of Arkansas Community College

Morrilton, 72

University of Central Arkansas, 61

UCA Foundation, 27

Velda LuedersColdwell Banker, 8, 14

Kelli Reep lives in Mabelvale and has written for state and regional publications for more than 20 years. She is a graduate of UALittle Rock and Henderson State University and has been a public relations practitioner since 1992. She currently serves as staff to three cats and enjoys looking for the best pie in Arkansas.

Rita Halter Thomas is a Conway native and a pastor’s wife.

attended the University

Central Arkansas and is

award-winning writer, author, editor, writing coach and speaker. She is married to Jimmy and has one daughter, Marinna, and enjoys horseback riding and spending time with family. She sings with the worship team at Mountain Top Cowboy Church in Heber Springs.

Vivian Lawson Hogue is a Conway native, local historian, and even resides in a 112-year-old historic house in the city. She graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a degree in art education. A retired teacher, she worked in the Conway School District for 23 years. She can be reached at vhogue@ conwaycorp.net.

Junior PGA Championships

Aug. 1-4 • Hot Springs

Party in the Garden

Aug. 10 • North Little Rock

The Hot Springs Country Club is home to Arkansas’s first golf course and will host the 47th Junior PGA event. It will feature 312 players — 156 boys, 156 girls — in a stroke play competition. The Junior PGA Championships have been springboards for many of the PGA and LPGA Tours’ most accomplished players. Visit juniorpgachampionship.com

Titans Obstacle Course

Aug. 5 • Jacksonville

The Jacksonville Community Center will host an obstacle race for kids ages 6-15 as an end-of-summer adventure from 9 a.m. to noon. Kids will navigate through fun and challenging obstacles including a mud run, slip `n slide, tire run, noodle jump and more! Participants will receive an official sweatband (while supplies last). Visit jacksonvilleparks.com or call 501.982.4171.

This fundraising event begins at 7 p.m. at the Ben E. Keith Foods Mid-South Distribution Center. It will treat guests to an evening showcasing the talents of local chefs Shane Henderson and Gilbert Alaquinez. Tickets are $150 and include a three-course dinner and libation pairing. Proceeds benefit NLR community outreach programs. Visit Eventbrite.com.

Mother Daughter

Look-A-Like Contest

Aug. 20 • Little Rock

Pre-register to participate, or come out and watch moms and daughters walk the runway for a panel of judges at 2:30 p.m. at the Central Arkansas Women’s Expo. Rebecca Davis from Alice 107.7 will host the contest, and winning doppelgangers receive a $700 total value spa package. For a copy of the rules and to learn more, visit alice1077.com.

Fortune Feimster

Aug. 20 • Little Rock

A stand-up comedian, writer and actor who uses her confessional comedy to bring people together, Fortune will perform at 7 p.m. at Robinson Center Performance Hall. She recently wrapped filming an action series with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fortune is your funniest cousin who isn’t afraid to entertain with tales of her insecurities and faux pas. Find ticket info at Robinson Performance Hall.

Why are so many new readers and advertisers finding their place in the pages of 501 LIFE?

• 501 LIFE is an exclusively ‘good news’ publication that celebrates the people, places and events that make Central Arkansas a special place to work, live and raise a family. We are the only publication dedicated and distributed in high-traffic areas exclusively in Central Arkansas.

• Individual monthly visits to 501lifemag.com have grown from an average of 16,000 visitors in 2020 to 45,000 visitors per month in the last quarter of 2022. Each month, a digital flip-through edition of the magazine as well as new stories are available on the site. This and more are also shared in our two e-newsletters that reach thousands of inboxes each week.

• 501 LIFE social media accounts have grown 65% in the last 24 months. The magazine has more than 20,000 social media followers across all platforms. We have extremely high engagement numbers from our followers.

• The editor promotes each issue on KARK News at Noon and on Conway Corp’s “Here and There“ programs.

Your organization can be part of this successful publication. Call Paulette Higginbotham to learn more about our print and digital options at 501.314.2601

Headed out on a special trip? Have a special occasion or gettogether coming up? Pack a copy of 501 LIFE in your suitcase, snap a photo at your destination and send it to us for publication in a future issue!

The staff at Cabot Physical Therapy was “Loving LIFE” and making Napoleon Bone A Part ride the bike. Back row, from left: Melissa Carter, Craig Hill, Shana Hill, Crystal Lomax, Derek Shaffer and Jacob Luckett. Front row: Jack Bridges, Napoleon and Amanda Harris.

The owners of Climb Conway were “Loving LIFE” at their new climbing gym on Pats Lane. Joy (from left), Jeremiah, Gracie and Maura Cascairo.

Charlotte Miller from Conway was "Loving LIFE" in Amsterdam after completing a Hendrix College playwriting study abroad program in London.

Hattieville community members were “Loving LIFE” on July 14. Musicians of all skill levels meet to play at the Hattieville Community Center (Conway County) on the second Friday night of each month. You can bring an instrument or come to listen and fellowship. Learn more from Randall Gullett at 501.246.1775.

Shalae Bland, Seasonal Park Interpreter (from left), Kasey and Matt Nokes were “Loving LIFE” and watching the sunset on Petit Jean Mountain when a kitten was discovered alone in the park. Kasey and Matt took “Jean” home to Little Rock, where she is adapting well to her new life “We took her home because Petit Jean is one of our favorite places, and we had considered adopting a cat before,” Kasey said. “When we found her, we knew it was meant to be!” Bland was thankful to see the story end this way and wanted the experience to be a reminder to the public about releasing cats inside the park. “Although baby kittens are adorable, they can unfortunately grow into feral cats and become invasive species and a threat to the natural wildlife when released by humans into settings like Petit Jean State Park. It was a great ending to a great day to find a loving and caring home for "Jean," while at the same time helping to protect the park.”

John (from left), Stephen and Hamp Maus were “Loving LIFE” at their Maus Pecans booth at Morrilton’s First Thursday Farmers Market.

Insomnia Cookies team members are “Loving LIFE” and preparing for back-to-school orders. Rachel Johnson (from left), Bella Moore, Blu Kirby and Rakyia Holmes.

Jean hanging out with her canine brothers.

Rally for Recovery

Renewal Ranch hosts ninth annual event

Renewal Ranch residents, families and supporters came together July 13 to celebrate the ways in which the nonprofit organization ministers and restores faith in the men who have walked through their doors over the past 12 years.

The ninth annual Rally for Recovery began with dinner service to more than 30 tables arranged around the Restoration Center’s main room, complete with table settings and a sound stage decorated to represent a warm summer’s evening. Phase 1 residents brought out dishes prepared by Executive Chef Ron Griffin as the night’s host, Jay Runyon with JACK 92.7 FM, welcomed guests with his story about how Renewal Ranch gave his son a second chance at recovery.

Runyon was then joined by Renewal Ranch Executive Director James A. Loy to talk about the history and motivation behind the creation of the ministry, which is focused on giving the opportunity to develop a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ that fosters freedom from the chains of addiction, forgiveness from one’s past and hope for a man’s future.

“The importance of having our Rally for Recovery is for us to come together and take a stand against addiction because it is destroying the fabric of our communities and families,” said Loy. “We have the privilege to share the answer and His name is Jesus.”

Phase 2 Assistant Supervisor and recent Renewal Ranch graduate Alvin “Chuckie” Linker also took to the stage to discuss his own personal testimony as a former addict facing homelessness, loss of family relationships and regretful choices made during his lowest moments.

“I was in and out of my drug addiction for 40 years,” said

Linker. “I lost everything I had. I didn’t know who to call. I was homeless and, at one point, was living on the side of a riverbank fishing to eat for about six months. Finally, a friend of mine approached me and said he knew of a place called Renewal Ranch.”

Since graduating from the program in April of this year, Linker has been brought on as a full-time staff member of the ranch.

“I’ve become a child of God. My kids and grandkids are back in my life again. I never thought I’d be in ministry, but after 40 years of addiction, I am free only by God’s grace and God’s mercy.”

The night ended with a parade of Renewal Ranch graduates and their families walking across the stage with a few words of encouragement and memories shared about each restored man by Program Director Chase Moser. Guests were given clappers, bells and noisemakers to celebrate.

Kelli Brawley, special events and annual giving coordinator with Renewal Ranch, worked behind the scenes to execute the night of fellowship and inspiration.

“The most memorable part of the evening for me was watching the Phase 1 men react to the Graduate Parade and knowing in their hearts they want to be the next ones to cross that stage,” Brawley said.

Though another year of the rally has come and gone, Renewal Ranch supporters can look forward to the ministry’s next event. The Roundup Chili Supper will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 21 at Central Baptist Church in Conway.

The ninth annual Rally for Recovery included men whose lives have been changed for the better over the past nine years. The Restoration Center’s main room hosted families and supporters who are celebrating men who have overcome addiction.

501 LIFE COUPLE OF THE MONTH

Dayna and Mark Lewis CONWAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

Photo by Mike Kemp

HER STORY:

EDUCATION: I have three degrees from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, with the last one being my Doctorate in Educational Leadership.

JOB: I was a classroom teacher for 17 years before transitioning to administration. I taught kindergarten and first, second and third grades in Alma, Shreveport and Laredo. I accepted an assistant principal job when I moved to Conway, and after two years I was blessed to be named principal of Woodrow Cummins Elementary. Dr. Woody Cummins visits his namesake school often and is a wonderful mentor to me.

FAMILY: I am the daughter of Gary and Kay Baxter. My parents have been married for 58 years! My dad is the mayor of Mulberry. My brother, Gary, and his wife, Stephani, live in Kansas City, where they are raising their daughter, Magdalen, who just graduated from kindergarten. Mark and I have three children: KatyBeth, a senior in the UAMS nursing program, and Adam and KaraLyse, both seniors at Conway High School.

COMMUNITY/CHURCH ACTIVITIES: I am a member of First United Methodist Church. I love volunteering with Delta Beta Sigma, a national junior sorority for high school girls that our daughters have both been officers in. I previously served on the board for Junior Achievement of Arkansas.

HOBBIES/SPECIAL INTERESTS: I love combining two of my passions: reading while sitting on any beach! Spending time with family and friends makes my heart happy.

SINCE BOTH OF YOU ARE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN THE SAME DISTRICT, DO YOU TALK ABOUT WORK AT HOME OR SHARE IDEAS THAT ARE WORKING: Mark and I love sharing what is working in our buildings with each other. We bounce ideas off of one another, and the ideas end up better because of the collaboration.

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS THINK ABOUT HAVING PARENTS WHO ARE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS: Our children love having principal parents … most of the time! They spent lots of extra hours at our schools before they were able to drive themselves. As principals, we arrive at our schools around 7:20 each morning, stay until at least 4:30 most days, and have quite a few school activities in the evening. They can answer the school phone and door as well as any paid employee. Having principal parents does put quite a bit of pressure on our children for perfection, which can be stressful, but overall the good outweighs the bad.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT LIVING IN THE 501: I am a military brat. My dad retired from the Air Force after a 27-year career. The longest we lived in one city was three years, but Arkansas was always “home” because all of our extended family lived in the Van Buren/ Mulberry areas. I came to Conway in 2010 and immediately fell in love with it. Living only an hour and a half away from my parents is such a blessing. I love that our children have a childhood home that is only five houses away from their grandpa, Gary Lewis. Conway Public School District (CPSD) is very special to me. Our three children are thriving because of the quality education they received or are receiving. In addition to Mark and I being principals in the district, Mark’s mom, Carolyn, retired from CPSD, served on the School Board for 10 years and has an elementary school named after her!

HIS STORY:

EDUCATION: I have a B.S.E in early childhood education and an M.S.E in Educational Leadership, both from the University of Central Arkansas. I have an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership from the University of Arkansas.

JOB: I’m starting my 20th year as principal at Jim Stone Elementary. Before that, I was the assistant principal split between Jim Stone and Theodore Jones elementary schools for five years. I began my career as a third-grade teacher for three years at Ida Burns Elementary when Principal Robert Anthony gave me a shot at teaching.

FAMILY: I’m the son of Gary and Carolyn Lewis. I grew up working on Lewis Brothers Ranch (family ranch). My mom is the namesake of Carolyn Lewis Elementary here in Conway. Our kids are so smart and it’s a blessing. Adam is a leukemia survivor. He did chemo every day for 38 months from age 3-6. With KatyBeth getting close to graduating and Adam and KaraLyse being seniors, it’s about to look different at the Lewis residence.

COMMUNITY/CHURCH ACTIVITIES: I’m a member of First United Methodist Church. I have most recently served as a member of the board of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators and president of the Arkansas Association of Elementary School Administrators.

HOBBIES/SPECIAL INTERESTS: I enjoy playing golf, weight training, riding my Peloton bike and smoking meat on the recteq.

SINCE BOTH OF YOU ARE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN THE SAME DISTRICT, DO YOU TALK ABOUT WORK AT HOME OR SHARE IDEAS THAT ARE WORKING: We have a 30-minute max of unpacking the school day, good, bad or both. Then we focus on family after that.

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS THINK ABOUT HAVING PARENTS WHO ARE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS: They really do enjoy it for the most part. It’s hard to have to make them come second when we have events at night, but they understand. When Adam was younger and SWAT was training in our buildings, the commander let me take him and some friends to watch and even tour the SWAT bus. So there are a few perks in there. I think it has truly taught them how hard educators work behind the scenes, which led to a high respect for the staff at all of their schools.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT LIVING IN THE 501: I’m a Wampus Cat lifer. I started kindergarten when Julia Lee Moore opened their doors in 1978. I’m a proud Wampus Cat graduate of 1991. Our kids know how important education is because of this city. I can’t imagine a better place to raise a family. Our schools, first responders, restaurants and businesses are the absolute best. Let’s not forget Toad Suck Daze!

THEIR STORY:

We started dating in 2014 while working on our educational specialist degrees at the University of Arkansas. Mark knew I was the one when we attended some Chicago Cubs games in Wrigleyville that summer. He asked if I wanted to catch a day game or a night game. I replied, “Let’s go to both!” He asked where I wanted to eat and I replied, “I thought we would eat brats at the ballpark!”

Julie’s Sweet Shoppe helped Mark propose to me in September of that same year. He ordered five cupcakes and they read, “Will you marry me?” and the engagement ring was in the sixth cupcake’s spot! Mark’s mom had been diagnosed with cancer and treatment had her feeling pretty rough. We got married over Thanksgiving break, just two months after the engagement, for her.

We love supporting our children in whatever activity they are involved in. When we got married, our children were 12, 9 and 8 years old. We have transitioned from cheering them on at soccer games, dance and gymnastics to cheering for them as one has aspirations to be a nurse, one a pilot, and the youngest maybe an educator! Family nights consist of watching our favorite TV shows or movies, playing games or listening to our favorite artists. Seeing our children be successful is our greatest joy.

Playing above Par

Arkansas students receive the 2023 Arnold Palmer Scholarship

The Arkansas State Golf Association and First Tee — Central Arkansas are pleased to announce the award winners of the newly established Arnold Palmer Scholarship. The recipients and their colleges of choice are:

• Maggie Huett, Lakeside High School, University of Cincinnati

• Collin Spangler, Conway High School, Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia

• Sydni Hood, Mills University Studies High School, University of Arkansas-Little Rock

• Whit Warford, Benton High School, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville

Following the very successful 2019 Arnold Palmer Cup matches held at The Alotian Club in Roland (Pulaski County), the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation, together with four members of The Alotian Club, established a scholarship program for recipients to be selected by the Arkansas State Golf Association (ASGA) and First Tee — Central Arkansas.

“It was an honor to conduct video interviews of these great young people along with board members of the ASGA,” said Monica Blake, executive director of First Tee. “We unanimously agreed that each of the recipients has proven themselves to be worthy of this scholarship through their accomplishments in and out of the classroom. And they also exhibited in a live interview that they are the types of people that will carry themselves in a way on and off the golf course who would make Mr. Palmer himself most proud.”

“My mom and dad were dedicated to supporting youth, and they would be proud to know that the Arnold Palmer Cup was helping to further the education of these fine young men and women,” said Amy Palmer Saunders, chair of the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation. “Working together, Warren Stephens and everyone at The Alotian Club, the ASGA, First Tee of Central Arkansas and our foundation supporters have made a real difference, and I couldn’t be

more grateful or more excited for these students as they move forward in their lives.”

Warren Stephens, founder of The Alotian Club, added, “It was an honor to host the Arnold Palmer Cup, and I know Mr. Palmer would be proud of these recipients as are we.”

Representatives of the ASGA and First Tee of Central Arkansas completed the process of reviewing all the applications and conducting interviews to award the scholarships on the basis of character, leadership qualities, scholastic achievement, golf activities and other criteria. Two males and two females will be awarded a one-year Arnold Palmer Scholarship of $5,000 each. The recipients must be accepted into an accredited college or university in Arkansas.

Through First Tee — Central Arkansas, children ages 5 to 17 are provided with year-round access to a state-ofthe-art facility and Life Skills Experience. First Tee’s Life Skills Experience provides age-appropriate programming that introduce Nine Core Values and Nine Healthy Habits. The Nine Core Values include honesty, integrity, respect, responsibility, courtesy, sportsmanship, confidence, judgment and perseverance. These values are essential for young people to make positive choices and overcome challenges across all areas of their lives. Additionally, concepts around healthy choices (Nine Healthy Habits) reinforce the importance of physical, social and emotional wellness.

The Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation champions the Palmer family's philanthropic legacy through grantmaking and initiatives, supporting efforts on behalf of youth character development, children’s health, and a commitment to nature and its ability to enrich and heal.

The Arnold Palmer Cup is a co-ed, Ryder Cup-style tournament that pits the top university/college golfers from the United States against a team of internationals. Played on some of the world’s greatest courses since its 1997 debut, the tournament is supported by the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation and its partners, Rolex and Nike, in the foundation’s commitment to youth character development and to the growth of amateur/collegiate golf.

Sydni Hood (from left), Collin Spangler and Maggie Huett are three of the high school seniors who recently won Arnold Palmer Scholarships.

Let the good LetBoil!times the goodLetBoil!times the goodBoil!times

By Don Bingham

Photos by Mike Kemp

The crawfish are now washed, and the men are quartering onions, halving lemons and discussing each one's idea of the correct amounts of seasonings that must go into the pot, if the flavor is to be successful. Some of the boys are encouraged to add salt, cayenne pepper and garlic to the boiling pot of water. Fresh ears of corn and the new red potatoes are added at this point and left to cook until tender. It's time! Time to add the crawfish while everyone is watching - this delectable southern dish will soon be ready to pour out of the huge stock post onto the tabletop for a feasting delight.

The host has custom-built two large rectangular tables with epoxy tops, each with a circular opening in the middle of the table. Plastic-lined trash cans are placed under the table, and guests simply throw the shells from the crawfish directly into the center opening of the table. This level of competency is for the serious crawfish chef and makes clean-up much quicker and easier. The volume level of talk is diminished while guests intently peel and sometimes, 'suck' the heads of the crawfish and peel the crawfish for the delicate meat, all done with their fingers!

The two chefs for this block party are Brannon Runions and Joseph Bingham. Many of the invited guests brought

side dishes to go along with the crawfish and shrimp, including side dishes for those who are allergic to shellfish. The process is a long one, from the purchasing of the ice chests full of live crawfish and the washing procedures, to the boiling of the large stock pots of seasoned water, and the time-consuming peeling of the tiny, delectable wonders – but the process is well worth the fun, the fellowship and the feasting!

The Joe Binghams and the Brannon Runions will do six to ten crawfish boils during the crawfish season; this takes dedication and perseverance. At this boil, we all consumed three hundred dollars worth of crawfish and a much lesser amount of shrimp. Crawfish boils have been around for a long time, mostly born out of the Cajun and Creole traditions of cooking. Chef John D. Folse of Louisiana has written The Evolution of Cajun and Creole Cuisine. Chef Folse, a Certified Executive Chef, actively promotes Cajun cuisine worldwide and his influence is enjoyed in the 501 population.

Crawfish are available in the late spring months of the year and more readily accessible in the Little Rock markets. Try your hand at the Crawfish Boil and "let the good times roll!"

Recipes continued on page 22

Boiled Crawfish

30 quarts cold water

12 medium onions, quartered

6 heads of garlic, split in half, exposing pods

1 dozen lemons, quartered

1 quart cooking oil

4 pounds salt

1/2 pound cayenne pepper

4 3-ounce bags crab boil

24 medium red potatoes

12 ears of corn

50 pounds cleaned crawfish

Live crawfish may be purchased already washed from your seafood supplier. However, a second rinsing in cold water is best. The purging of crawfish — that is, washing the crawfish in cold salted water — is a step in the process that many will do; true Cajun chefs, however, consider this unnecessary and will skip the purging. Rinsing in cold water will suffice. In a sixty-quart stockpot, bring water to a rolling boil. Add onions, garlic, lemons, cooking oil, salt, pepper and crab boil and continue to boil for thirty minutes. This boiling of the vegetables will ensure a good flavor in the boiling liquid. Add red potatoes and cook for approximately ten to twelve minutes. Add corn and cook for ten minutes before adding the crawfish. Once the water returns to a boil, cook crawfish for seven to ten minutes, turn off heat and allow to set in boiling liquid for twelve additional minutes. Crawfish should be served hot with potatoes and corn and beverages of choice!

Summer Focaccia

The following recipe for Summer Focaccia was a recipe given by Tammy Driggers, a guest at the Crawfish Boil.

5 cups of all-purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur; it just sounds like royal bread!)

1 1/2 packets of quick-acting yeast

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 cups of lukewarm water (in separate cups) Good quality olive oil

Time: 20-24 hours

Supplies: 9X13 baking pan, large bowl, spatula, 2 measuring cups, plastic wrap, tea towel, small spoon, and oven.

Mix yeast in 1 cup of lukewarm water, stir gently, and set aside. Sift flour and sea salt together in a large bowl. Pour the cup of yeast water into the flour mixture. Stir gently with spatula, adding remaining water. Scrape the sides and gently stretch and fold the dough over and over itself until it becomes sticky and separates from the bowl, about 3-4 minutes. This is a very wet dough.

When the dough has separated from the sides of the bowl, pick it up and shape it gently into a ball and place back in the bowl. Pour generous amounts of olive oil over the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or tea towel, secure around the bowl with a rubber band, and place in the refrigerator to rise overnight for 10-12 hours.

Remove from the fridge and let rest for 30 minutes. Using a spatula, fold dough over itself several times. Cover the bottom of a 9X13 sheet cake pan with olive oil. Pour dough into a cake pan and cover with plastic wrap/tea towel and let rise for 2 hours. Uncover and gently push dough to ends and sides of pan with fingers, without tearing. Cover with a tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Dip your fingers in cold water to prevent dough from sticking to your hands and press into dough with your fingertips until you have little dimples in the dough all over the bread. Drizzle more olive oil over the bread, sprinkle with coarse sea salt or your favorite salt and rosemary. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven, middle rack, until bread is brown on top, about 30-40 minutes.

Topping options: before baking, add the baker's choice of the following to the dimpled top of the bread dough: grape tomatoes, olives, roasted garlic cloves, thin slices of onion, feta or Parmesan shaving, and lemon zest.

“If you love focaccia bread, but have been intimidated by making it at home, this is the perfect recipe for you! Take a deep breath, say a prayer, dive in, and make the bread! Something I have learned over the years is that a slow-rise dough makes a much more tender and delicious bread — it just takes a little more patience. Don't fear the dough.”

- Tammy Driggers

Background photos by Blake Tyson

HERE COMES THE LEADER OF THE BAND

UCA Athletic Band welcomes new director

By Donna Lampkin Stephens

Derek Stoughton is thoughtful about the direction he’ll take as the new University of Central Arkansas Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands.

“I feel one of my responsibilities in this role is to honor the legacy of Brantley Douglas and all the previous directors before him,” said Stoughton, 40, who took the reins from his retiring predecessor on July 1. “What a delightful person Brantley is, very helpful.”

But beyond honoring Douglas, Stoughton will also put his own stamp on the program.

And he likes what he sees.

“The potential here is through the roof,” he said. “Not only can we get great players and students, but the support from our faculty and administration is remarkable. We’ll hit the ground running in August.”

Stoughton, originally from Kimberley, British Columbia, moved to Texas at 16. He started piano at 7 and drums a few years later, and he eventually gravitated to drums and percussion. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Studies and Human Learning from the University of Texas and then taught high school band for eight years in public schools in McKinney, Pflugerville and Austin, Texas.

“I loved making music, but I always knew my heart was in teaching, band directing and conducting,” he said. “That was the path.”

And he always had an eye on a collegiate position.

“When I was at UT, I thought I’d go on to be the world’s best Texas high school band director, but as I got involved in wind ensemble, I knew college was what I wanted long-term,” he said. “I wanted to get some good experience teaching in high school, and I’m so grateful for that experience.”

After those eight years, he moved to Stillwater, Okla., to be a full-time graduate student at Oklahoma State, where he earned a Master of Music in Wind Conducting. From there, he was “very lucky” to get a college job at Southeastern Louisiana, where he served as interim director of bands and director of athletic bands and

conducted the Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” he said.

After four years at SELA, he went on to the University of Colorado for his Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting and Literature. He finished that program in May and is still getting used to being referred to as “Dr. Stoughton.”

He accepted the UCA job in late April, moved to Conway in early June, drove to Louisiana to get married June 17, honeymooned with his wife, Ashley (recently hired to teach music at Westside Elementary in Greenbrier), moved her to Conway and started at UCA on July 1.

“It’s been insane,” he said.

Why UCA? “First and foremost, I wanted to be at a place D, and with our Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, choirs and orchestras, that’s happening here,” he said. “I wanted to be where I can be immersed in great music and be around students who want to be the best musicians every day.”

While exploring the job listing, he looked up recordings of the UCA Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Michael Hancock, director of bands, whom he knew. Stoughton also knew Hancock’s wife, Kelly Hancock, who teaches bassoon in the department.

“When this opportunity came up, fortunately they remembered me,” he said. “That’s another lesson — never, ever burn a bridge. You never know when folks are going to come back to you later in life.”

The new Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts was “an unbelievable draw.” During his interview, he got to tour the building wearing a hard hat and construction vest.

“It is stunning, and the acoustics … ,” Stoughton said, sighing. “I get giddy thinking about being able to take the Symphonic Band in there.”

Ultimately, though, the UCA music faculty and students sold him.

“I was hoping and praying God would lead my wife and me here,” he said. “The students are incredibly talented and want to learn and do well. We’re going to have a tremendous season. I just can’t wait to get started with them.”

The goal for the Bear Marching Band for football season is to perform three shows — one for every two home games. High School Band Day in September will allow even more musicians to participate “to make the music even better,” Stoughton said.

The final home game of the season will fall on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

“I don’t want to give away our shows yet, but we’re going to do a nice tribute to our veterans, and we’re really excited about that show,” Stoughton said. “I hope that our community and, most importantly, our students are going to be very impressed with what we can accomplish when we work together for the good of our university.”

He will also be in charge of the Purple Rage Basketball Band and conduct the UCA Symphonic Band.

“I like different things about them,” he said of the two athletic bands. “With football, there’s a much more grand production, what you can do on the field with the numbers of students and adding the visual component. Basketball is a much more intimate setting, and there are more opportunities for the band to influence the team. The visiting team can’t help but hear the heckling and sounds and jeers and chants.”

Top: Dr. Derek Stoughton earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas.

Bottom: Ashley married Derek Stoughton June 17 and they honeymooned in Ireland. They enjoyed a meal Dromoland Castle Hotel in County Clare.

The beat goes on

Brantley Douglas’ retirement allows him to impact more bands

By Becky Bell

Being in love with instruments and bands as a young man eventually guided New Jersey native Brantley Douglas’ path to becoming a key part of the University of Central Arkansas band system.

For the past 12 years, he has served as the associate director of bands and director of athletic bands, but after a career of 38 years as a band director, he recently retired from his UCA post. “As an associate director of bands, I was dealing with concert ensemble and marching ensemble … and when I wasn’t dealing with that, I was handling the symphonic band, and unless I was ordering instruments, I was planning trips. And that has to do with what it takes to move a lot of people and move equipment.”

As director of marching bands, Douglas led the Bear Marching Band, which plays for the UCA football games, as well as the Purple Rage Pep Band, which plays for basketball games. As he looks back at his career with UCA, one thing he is most proud of is that his band is one of the few entities that did not let the pandemic shut them down. Through very creative and painstaking measures, they kept the music playing. “I tell you it was interesting. We managed to have marching band during the pandemic, and I think what is fascinating is while other programs were shut down, UCA had football and we had a socially distanced marching band,” Brantley said. “We had rehearsals outdoors and what makes it especially unique is we can say the band has been running continuously for 108 years now, while some organizations had to stop.”

Keeping the marching band going during the pandemic was difficult. A system was devised to handle band camp in a way where the students would be kept safe. “We managed to have no COVID-19 cases to spread because we were so careful,” he said. “Sitting six feet apart in the end zone was something very unusual. It was definitely the most challenging years of my career.”

Seeing the UCA bands through the pandemic and making sure everyone realized they had been an organization for more than 100 years is something he will always hold on to as huge milestones of his career in Conway. And despite his decision to retire as a full-time band director, Douglas in no way plans to slow down much. He plans to travel for fun and to be a part of more band programs. For example, after retiring, this summer he took a fun trip to Las Vegas and a college band director’s trip for the national foundation, attended a conference on band software, and helped at a junior band camp with 950 students and at a senior band camp with more than 400 students. In August, he will be attending the Drum and Bugle Corps German Championship in Indianapolis.

Douglas will never be far from the music notes that brought him into a career that sustained him throughout his life. He will always be ready to help if someone needs him to play, to teach someone to play an instrument, or if someone needs tips on leading a band. Keeping the music going is not just something he did at UCA; it's something he will do throughout his life.

During his last game leading them, the UCA band awarded Douglas the Spirit Stick.

Photo by Mike Kemp

Sometimes it pays to be different, like when Disney is making a movie and wants to cast a girl whose character is a nerdy, knitting, cello-playing math whiz.

Piper Wallace of Conway connected to the role and landed it. “My first real, real big break would be the movie,” the 15-year-old actress said. “World’s Best” is a family musical comedy that is streaming on Disney Plus, and Piper plays 12-year-old quirky Claire. She and Pram Patel, played by Manny Magnus, are the only middle schoolers in a high school math class. Pram (pronounced Prame) wants to follow in his late father’s footsteps to become a rap star. His father is played by Utkarsh Ambudker. The film also includes Punam Patel as his mother, as well as Christopher Jackson of “Hamilton” fame and Doug E. Fresh, a beatboxer, as himself.

Piper said she has auditioned for movies before, but she never gets her hopes up.

“I did feel something special about this part [Claire], because I could relate to the character. She was different and very unapologetically different. She had this huge, knitted cello case and wore old-lady dresses to school,” Piper said.

Piper, who prefers shorts and T-shirts to dresses, is homeschooled (math is not her favorite subject), sings and has played the piano since she was 6. She learned to play a song on the cello for the movie, although it is a professional whom audiences hear. One of her hobbies is taking care of her three pet rats, Lavender, Poppy and Nutmeg. She thinks her unusual name helps her stand out in auditions, “along with my red hair and weirdness already.”

Piper auditioned for the movie in 2022, and one day when she and her 13-year-old sister, Joleigh, were playing outside, Piper’s New York agent called to give them the news that she had been cast as Claire. “We were freaking

out,” Piper said. “My agent said, ‘Do you want to go to Canada?’” She spent seven weeks in Ontario in May and June 2022 filming for 10 hours a day in an abandoned school. She stayed in an apartment an hour away, and each morning, a “big, black SUV” picked her up, star style. She was taken to the set for hair and makeup. She wore pigtails and had braces on her teeth at the time.

Her parents, Jenny and Cameron Wallace, took turns staying with her, and the last few days of filming her entire family, which also includes her brothers Parker and Andrew, came to Canada. In case you’re wondering, Piper said she is “100 percent” driving her career. Her mother “is pretty opposite of a stage mom,” although always supportive.

Piper said she tried soccer and gymnastics, which “weren’t my thing,” but when she found theater, “I fell in love with it.” Her extensive acting resume´ includes Toyota television commercials, and she has performed at Red Curtain Theater in Conway, Argenta Community Theater in Little Rock and TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, to name a few. She said playing the lead in “Matilda: The Musical” twice, including at TheatreSquared, was her biggest role until this movie. She most recently had a pivotal role as young Violet in the musical “Violet” at TheatreSquared.

Piper said she wasn’t nervous to be around well-known actors in “World’s Best.”

“I wasn’t intimidated, but it was very surreal.” She said the actors were all “the sweetest people,” and when they came together in the studio to record her rap scene, “Utkarsh was eating a Pop Tart,” she said. “I hadn’t really practiced or cared to rap myself. I have always been able to do things like that. I’ve done it just goofing off. We went into the recording studio and recorded it a few times. All of them were behind me, bobbing their heads, super encouraging.”

One of her first days of filming was the last scene of the movie, which is where she raps. “That was pretty nerve-wracking. We rehearsed it in a different building. They were all saying, ‘Yea, Piper, you did great!’”

Piper delivers some of the funniest lines in the movie with a deadpan look: “Actually, my family doesn’t celebrate summer.” She also said, “I like the part where I say, ‘My dad keeps a journal, too, but it’s written in Elvish.’”

The premiere of “World’s Best” was in June in New York City, and she had to miss two performances of “Violet” to attend. Her understudy, Peyton Lyons, filled in. “I was so proud of her,” she said.

“Violet’s” director, Aimee Hayes, says she’s a “Piper Fan Club member!” “Piper has an honesty and kindness that she brings to all her roles. Coupled with a sharp sense of humor and a joyfilled smile, Piper energizes every scene she’s in,” Hayes said.

There was energy at the movie screening in New York City, for sure. “It was so much fun to watch it with people,” Piper said. “The first time I watched it was a little different than when I watched it here at home. I was focused on my friends. I didn’t focus on things I could have done differently. Actually seeing it on the screen was amazing.”

Piper enjoys making movies a little more than her stage work, although she loves both. “My goals right now: just continuing to do auditions. Whatever happens, I believe happens for the best, whether I get another movie, I move to New York, or I just stay here and don’t do any more movies,” she said. “I’m going along with it as I grow up and going along with what my opportunities are. Right now, I’m just trying to stay humble and stay kind. I’m very happy with where I am now.”

And, more importantly, with who she is.

TOP: Piper Wallace of Conway, dressed as Claire, holds a note from Disney welcoming her on the first day on set in Canada of “World’s Best,” which is streaming on Disney Plus. She received a backpack of Disney goodies, along with being paid for her role. BOTTOM LEFT: Piper at the movie premiere of “World’s Best” in New York City with fellow actors Utkarsh Ambudkar and Kayla Njeri. Piper’s suit was custom-made by Shelley Hall of Hot Springs, the costumer at Argenta Community Theater. BOTTOM CENTER: Piper Wallace poses with Chris Jackson, who has the role as the Leopard Lounge operator. BOTTOM RIGHT: Piper with Thomas Kail, left, the producer of “World’s Best” and director of “Hamilton,” and Manny Magnus, who plays the main character in the movie.

The new state of play

Logan Horton is the godfather of esports in Arkansas, and he’s got a growing organization.

By Donna Lampkin Stephens

Horton, 28, was hired as esports coach at Hendrix College in 2020. Hendrix was one of the state’s early collegiate programs, following Henderson State. Others with official teams or interest in building one include Lyon College, Southern Arkansas, Arkansas State, UAMonticello, John Brown University and the University of Arkansas. Many universities also offer club teams.

A former competitive and sponsored esports player, Horton grew up in Hot Springs and graduated from HSU. While teaching at the Academies of West Memphis in 2017, he looked back to those experiences in an effort to reach his students.

“I needed my students to show up to class,” he said. “A lot of them have what I would call real-world things going on in their lives, so I used some technology things after class to have some video game tournaments, and that was how we created esports.”

According to Bobby Swofford, assistant executive director and esports liaison for the Arkansas Activities Association, more than 110 high schools competed last spring in the

various games. Schools can have multiple teams, so overall there were 417 teams with more than 1,900 competitors. And it’s only going to continue to grow.

"The growth of esports within the Arkansas Activities Association is something that I would have never expected at this rate," Swofford said. "It is the fastest-growing activity in our state, and it is going to do nothing but continue to skyrocket in popularity."

After Horton’s experiment launched in West Memphis, he moved to Lake Hamilton, where he built a successful esports program that served 60 students and generated more than $200,000 in scholarship opportunities, according to a Hendrix press release.

“I saw how effective it was at reaching kids who fell through the cracks,” Horton said. “That’s who we’re always trying to reach, and there’s such a large demographic in general who play video games. There are so many kids who wouldn’t have an opportunity to be invested in school spirit otherwise. It’s about school spirit.

Continued on page 34

Arkansas High School esports Championship 2023

Hosted by Hendrix College

“That was my big pitch when I went to Lake Hamilton.”

He said he had bonded with an older brother through video games and saw how they could aid in communication. Teams are recruited for particular video games, usually those with a large spectator base that are based on skill and not on chance.

Swofford said a national survey found that 90 percent of esports competitors are not involved in any other school activity and that those who are involved in at least one have a 99 percent graduation rate — 10 points higher than those who are involved in none.

Horton said his job was different from a coach of a traditional sport. “I’m teaching them a lot of other skills,” he said. “I’m teaching life skills, which is what makes the difference here at this level. What I’m teaching is communication, teamwork and leadership to make players independent and able to handle a lot of pressure. We’ve got big teams, and we have to be communicating.”

After two years at Lake Hamilton, Horton went to Hendrix to start its program.

“We have medaled (finished in the top three) every year in the (Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference),” Horton said. “Last year, we won League of Legends.” While he said the Warriors are “almost never” the best team on paper, they’ve been able to win more than not.

“It’s that level of communication, what these players can communicate to each other, that really turns the tide of how the game is played,” he said.

Hendrix hosted the high school state championships last fall and spring, drawing roughly 500 fans and students in the fall. "With more than 1,900 competitors in Arkansas

last year, esports is reaching students that other activities have failed to do in the past," Swofford said. "Students are looking for new and exciting things to be a part of, and this seems to be it.”

Horton said he took pride in that growth. “I have a big list of a couple of hundred coaches in the state now,” he said. “There’s been a lot of opportunity. I’ve gotten to write curriculum, build classes and programs across the state. I got to help build a video game/business degree at Arkansas Baptist College.

“It’s spreading rapidly, not just here but everywhere. Thirty-eight percent of (high) schools in Arkansas now have esports, and it’s crazy to think five or six years ago it didn’t exist at all.”

He said his son, whom he adopted while at Lake Hamilton through the McKinney-Vento Act, was a poster child for the program.

“It was really about the students we might miss and their opportunities,” Horton said. “Honestly, I may tear up a little, but I think my son is a big testament to that. He was in the alternative learning program, a military brat who’d lived all over the world and never had a baseline of what education is supposed to be like.

“All kids learn differently, and he just needed that opportunity, a passion. This was a kid who wasn’t going to graduate from high school, but I got him as a junior, and he made up classes through the summer and graduated on time. He lives in Illinois now, and his entire career has been provided by him finding an online gaming community while he was participating in esports.

“It’s phenomenal, the power of having a passion for something you have a calling for.”

The 2023 Arkansas Activities Association esports high school championships were held at Hendrix College last April, and the Cabot Rocket League won one of the titles. Hendrix offers esports for credit as an athletics class option.

PCSSD READY FOR 2023

By Jessica Duff

The Pulaski County Special School District boasts many dedicated educators and administrators from 26 schools across Central Arkansas, which includes the DRIVEN Virtual Academy now beginning its third year with the district. These educators are getting ready for another school year and looking forward to seeing their students again and meeting new students.

Superintendent Dr. Charles McNulty and Deputy Superintendent of Learning Services Dr. Sonya Whitfield are both looking forward to kicking off the 2023-2024 school year.

“We could not be more excited for the upcoming 20232024 school year,” McNulty said. “Here at PCSSD we value all students along with their families and make every effort to provide an academic and social learning environment that prepares students today and for the future.”

One of the biggest changes PCSSD will see this year is the

full implementation of the Academies of Central Arkansas.

“I am most looking forward to the opportunities the Academies will provide our high school students,” said Dr. Whitfield. “High school students who are interested in entrepreneurship, engineering, science, construction, business, energy or medical science will matriculate through their desired pathway; giving them relevant and hands-on experiences in their desired field of study.”

McNulty is very pleased with the growth within PCSSD over the last few years, but he envisions more good things to come.

“We are now highly competitive at the state level with our academic and co-curricular programs getting recognition across Arkansas,” he said. “We now set our sights on being the best school district in the nation because we have the best professional staff, students, and families in the nation!”

Pulaski County Special School District spans more than 600 square miles in central Arkansas and requires highly skilled and passionate personnel to adapt educational policies and personalization to 26 schools. Every school is accredited by the Arkansas State Board of Education. PCSSD has served schools across Pulaski County since July 1927.

PCSSD is committed to creating a nationally recognized school district that assures that all students achieve their maximum potential through collaborative, supportive and continuous efforts of all stakeholders.

Photo by Mike Kemp

KID OF THE MONTH

REAGAN MADSEN

By Rita Halter Thomas

While many preteens spend hours on their phone texting, playing games or posting on social media, 11-yearold Reagan Madsen of Conway spends hours doing things to enrich her life and those around her through theater, dance, music, school, church and missions.

This month, young Reagan will hit the stage in her 13th theater production when she plays Amaryllis in Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man,” presented by Red Curtain Theatre (RCT). While most of her stage time has been under RCT, she has performed with both The Studio Theatre in Little Rock and Argenta Community Theater in North Little Rock.

Besides acting, Reagan dances ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, pre-pointe and musical theater. She is an assistant teacher for Red Curtain Dance, where her mother, Christina Muñoz Madsen, teaches dance classes and is the choreographer for “The Music Man.” Theater is a family affair for the Madsens. Reagan’s 14-year-old sister, Sydney, will play Gracie Shinn. Their dad, Dave Madsen, is Constable Locke.

Reagan also sings, plays multiple instruments, including the guitar, ukulele, piano and violin, and she will start cello in the fall. It seems Reagan’s gifts run in the family. Outside her professional background in broadcast journalism and marketing, Mom Christina also danced from an early age through college, enjoying theater and music. Further, Reagan’s maternal grandfather was a professional violinist.

All that and brains, too. A fifth-grader at Raymond and Phyllis Simon Middle School, Reagan is a straight-A student and a recipient of The Simon Prize. Recipients of The Simon Prize receive mentoring and networking support through ninth grade to encourage young girls to begin educational careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). This summer, Reagan attended a STEM camp for engineering at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton.

To balance it all is Reagan’s heart for Jesus. She feels it’s important to use and give of the gifts God has given her. She is active within her youth group at New Life Church

and summer church camps, and she recently returned from a mission trip to Cuba.

“We had no idea what to expect, but what we were really doing was helping the church there … help the people of Cuba,” Reagan said. “One day we were helping move bricks from one side of a pavilion to another so they could build onto the church,” she said. “We got one beach day, on … an actual beach with white sand and clear water,” she said. “We had baptisms there … if someone wanted to be baptized.”

Touching a colorful beaded bracelet on her left wrist, Reagan said she made bracelets to share based on a book by Max Lucado about John 3:16. As she touched each color, she explained the symbolism of each bead: black, red, white, blue, green and yellow. The bracelets are designed to explain God’s love, even when having done wrong, and Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Reagan created cards to explain each color, both in English and in Spanish, to accompany the bracelets.

Reagan saw firsthand the cultural differences in the church. “It’s very different from the way we worship here. They just worship more freely. They are very energetic,” she said.

While in Cuba, Reagan shared her testimony, and her mom translated. “I gave my life to Christ during Kid Life. I was in third grade.” Reagan said she wanted to know Jesus more and grow closer to Him. Now, she celebrates two birth dates. The first is for her physical birth, and the second for her spiritual birth, which was one day before her ninth birthday.

Having accomplished so much so young, Reagan quotes 1 Timothy 4:12: “Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example to all believers in what you say, and the way you live, in love, in your faith, and in purity.”

Her advice to others? “Like it says, just because you are young doesn’t mean you can’t do great things.”

See photos of Regan's mission trip Cuba this summer with her youth group on page 40.

Reagan Madsen, 11, traveled to Cuba this summer with her youth group to help a church. In addition to practical tasks, she shared her testimony with other kids through the help of her mother, Christina Muñoz Madsen, who translated. Reagan enjoyed one day at the beach before returning to Conway.

By Kelli Reep

Creativity is in Bonnie Alberts’ blood. The owner of She Studios in Little Rock, Alberts is a relative newcomer to the art world, but has always pursued art in some form since she was a child.

“As a kid, my grandmother taught me to crochet, my mother taught me ceramics, and there was a short flirtation with hook-a-rug, but none of those lasted very long,” Alberts said. “Guitar and songwriting got me through my teen years. In my late teens through my mid-20s, I developed a deep love for cooking and baking. The culinary arts lost their allure, however, when I had to make dinner for my family every night. And I was in my late 30s when interior decorating became my passion. I tried drawing and painting numerous times, but the most I could ever produce were extremely intricate doodles and paint-bynumber paintings. For years I felt like an artist without a medium, but photography, like a decades-long marriage filled with its many ups and downs, had always been my constant companion.”

Alberts’ decades-long passion for photography began when she was 12 and received a box camera as a present. “That’s what first exposed me to the beauty of solitary seascapes, rural landscapes, stark, cold winter scenes, black and white photography, and the joy of the dark room,” she explains. “Pulling a print out of the solution to hang dry and seeing it come to life was transformative.”

From the beginning, the resounding theme in her images was solitude. While living in Italy, Alberts became increasingly interested in color and texture — the deeply

saturated colors of the Mediterranean, and the gritty textures one might only find in a centuries-old city. Never straying far from the theme of solitude, even in a chaotic city of a million souls, she remembers ‘unplugging’ her images from the noise that surrounded them. “I continue to play with color and ‘unplug’ my images today in a very different way,” the artist said.

She founded She Studios in 2015, although it did not begin as such. The company was Partenope Press, an independent publishing company she formed to print a travel guide to Naples. It was the COVID-19 pandemic that made her change course.

Partenope Press was an indie publishing company formed to publish the Napoli Unplugged Guide to Naples, a travel guide Alberts created and co-wrote. “After our unexpected move to Arkansas and the onset of the pandemic, I changed course.

“Unable to travel during lockdown, I looked to my vast repository of images for a new form of creative expression,” Alberts said. “Meanwhile, I changed the name of my company to She Studios and retooled it to bring all my creative endeavors under one virtual roof. I chose the monicker ‘SHE’ to celebrate the talented, intelligent, creative, impassioned, strong, confident, and amazing women I met along the way and to honor my fellow women veterans.”

Alberts is a Navy veteran, joining the service when she was 19. She was a bit of a vagabond after leaving her New

Photo by Mike Kemp

Jersey home and traveling to Seattle, Florida, Georgia, Spain, Guam, Virginia, Italy, and now north central Arkansas. “My husband and I love living in Little Rock and Central Arkansas,” she said. “A small city by comparison, it is not too crowded, easy to get around, has all the amenities we could want or need, and an abundance of green space. We have season tickets for the Travelers and love the shows and plays at the Arkansas Repertory and Robinson Theaters.

As a self-taught photographer, Alberts has developed a process, which turned her passions for photography, art and historic preservation into what she calls “artful creations that celebrate our favorite places.” She considers herself an Arkansas transplant and brings a unique perspective and a photographic eye to her current work, a collection of more than 150 designs that celebrate the Natural State.

“It’s a fusion of creativity and technology (my left brain and right brain are spit equally down the middle),” she said. “My designs exist purely in the digital world until they are printed. They are neither hand drawn, nor hand painted, but rather created with a digital camera and photo editing software that helps me to transform my images from a photo into something evocative of a watercolor over a pen and ink drawing. Focusing on the built environment, I use a 21st century approach to create images that recall a simpler place and time. I bring my designs to life on a variety of substrates. For paper prints and note cards, I use professional inkjet printers with pigment inks and print on high quality cotton rag art paper. I use a sublimation printer and heat press for my ornaments, coasters, zipper bags, tote bags, tea towels, notebooks, coffee mugs and other such products. I hope that through my Arkansas Heritage Collection, I am helping to promote Arkansas’s rich cultural and natural heritage and cultivate a broader appreciation of that heritage by both tourists and Arkansans alike.”

Chow Down at any cost

Let’s talk family dining from $5 to $50

By Ben Gruita

Welcome back, friends, for another mediocre article written by me, the glutton who posts on the Facebook page called Ben Has Too Much Time on His Hands.

Kids are expensive, but I want you to think of me as your fairy godmother of cheap eats. I’m here to tell you about a few places around town that’ll help the kiddos get full while not draining your bank account. Let’s start off small. Payday doesn’t always come fast enough, but for $5, I don’t think you can get a better meal than at FRANKS on McCain Boulevard. They don’t play when it comes to mile-high toppings and great service. This place is new, but you can tell they have years of experience in that kitchen.

What’s that? You miraculously found a $10 bill in your wallet that somehow “others” skipped over? Say no more, I got you. Take that $5 from earlier, add it to the $10 and go as fast as you legally can to Smoking Bull in Greenbrier. When I tell you that I am willing to risk secondhand smoke because I keep wanting to stand by their smoker, I’m not joking. I will risk it and do so with a smile on my fat face. I’ve had much barbecue in my life, but their ribs are so good, it’ll make your kids think you’re cool. After all, anyone who knows about food that good should be at least given a high five and an ugly tie on Father’s Day.

Those $5 and $15 meals are not fancy enough for you? OK, high roller. Being a parent is very rewarding and draining. Let’s put being a parent to the side for a second and talk relationship with your spouse. As a husband, I always want my wife to look at me and think I look good. Sure, it grosses out the kids to see us holding hands and, sure, I could spend time in the gym in order to get in shape, but that makes me sweat and the gym never has good snacks. Instead of the gym, I take the family to Point Remove Brewing Company in Morrilton. For under $20, she can have a fantastic appetizer and some of the best drinks you’ve ever had. After a couple of those suckers, your spouse will think you’re hot or at least decent- looking. Oh, and the kids love the outdoor playing area. Kids run around and play while you enjoy adult conversation. It’s a WIN/WIN.

The Gruita family loves to share meals and make memories. Ben and Misty with their kids Greyson and Isabella.

Photos by Mike Kemp

Now we’ve come to what I call “the top-of-the-line family outing.” You want a place so good that your tastebuds will sing in ways you didn’t know possible? You want a place so good that your kids will actually eat? Let me tell you about one such place that looks so exclusive your kids will think you’re kin to the Walmart family. A place where the food is so phenomenal, you’ll swear the chef sprinkled some magic on the plate. Now if you go here, I cannot be held liable for your kids spreading rumors that you know people. You ready to know the name of this place? You sure? Once you go, you’ll forever be changed. Cypress Social is where you need to go. Sure, you’ll spend $50 on a meal, but

OH, WHAT A MEAL.

If you do go and thanks to that meal, your kids finally call you dad while making eye contact and forgetting about their phones ... well then, my job is done. Remember, friends, food should be enjoyed, and it doesn’t matter if it’s $5 or $50. Memories are what matter. Now, go out there and make some.

Follow my weird FB/Insta/TikTok and KitKat page called Ben Has Too Much Time On His Hands for more odd posts. Next week, we’re naming a stuffed squirrel.

Cypress Social in North Little Rock serves a Beer Battered Shrimp Po Boy, with lettuce, tomato, onion and remoulade on a Gambino’s roll and a 16-ounce, house-butchered ribeye, with sauteed spring vegetables, roasted baby red potatoes and chipotle bourbon butter.

Faithful and True

Titus, CHS’ resident dog, the latest in long line

By Dwain Hebda

Brother Richard Sanker, a Franciscan monk who joined Catholic High School in 1983, said a resident dog is a tradition that precedes his long tenure. He cares for 7-year-old Titus, a German shepherd who is a friend to students and staff on campus.

Photo by Mike Kemp

Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock is an institution defined by its traditions. Everywhere you look here – from how students dress, to special events throughout the year, to the ethos of brotherhood stretching back over generations – speaks to things that transcend the passage of time and changing popular taste.

The school’s resident German shepherd, Titus, is but one visible reminder of this unique attribute. The latest in a long line, the 7-year-old pup is a familiar sight on campus, especially during the school year. Wherever he goes in the building or on the grounds, he’s overseeing his boys, accepting the obligatory pats and reassuring by his presence that all is well.

“Titus’ purpose here is to settle the anxiety of some of the boys. That’s really his main role,” said Brother Richard Sanker, CFP. “The kids go through so much at home at times, and they can come in and pet the dog and feel a little bit better.

“There was one boy, I don’t know the whole story, but he would come and he would say to the dog, ‘It’ll be OK, it’ll be OK.’ He was really talking to himself. It was like therapy. Titus is not trained as a therapy dog, but he certainly acts as one.”

Sanker, a Franciscan monk who joined the school in 1983, said a resident dog at Catholic High is a tradition that precedes even his long tenure. He said the late Monsignor George Tribou, a legendary figure who served Catholic High for 50 years, 34 of them as principal and rector, liked having a dog around.

“Father Tribou had a mutt he called Dog; that was before I got here,” Sanker said. “After that, he had a black Lab, Kate, named after Katherine Hepburn.”

The last dog Tribou owned, Jonah, started the current run of German shepherds. Sanker inherited Jonah upon Tribou’s death in 2001. Following Jonah was Zeke, whom Sanker picked out as a puppy and who lived for 13 years and 13 days. Then came Titus.

“I’ve always liked German shepherds,” Sanker said. “In

fact, I have a picture of me as a novice brother about 60 years ago, a picture of me with a German shepherd.”

Sanker said all three of the German shepherds he’s owned have fallen right into step with the activity and hubbub of being in an all-boys school environment. They have had run of the grounds and the building but, unlike an average watchdog, were also part of the melee, never lacking companionship.

“I would take Jonah into the woods, and he’d love me to throw stones. He’d get them and run back into the office and lay down next to Father Tribou,” Sanker said. “Father Tribou would say, ‘Would you quit playing with my dog with stones? They’ll break his teeth.’ I think I said OK, and next week I’d be out there throwing stones again and he’d run into the office with them.”

At the same time, Sanker said the three dogs also displayed their own distinct personalities, which in Titus’ case has meant taking his self-appointed role of school gatekeeper very seriously.

“Here’s the difference,” he said. “Jonah was really Father Tribou’s dog. Zeke would just stay outside and relax. But Titus comes in and makes sure everything’s OK. Titus was actually overly protective of me when he was a puppy.”

As time has gone on, Titus has mellowed, but the protective instinct he showed from the time he was fluffy has never fully gone away.

“He knows the kids that walk by or any of the teachers, but he’s alert to strangers in the building. He will go over to them and sniff them out,” Sanker said. “When somebody comes into my office, he comes in with them. The others didn’t do that. He’s a great protector that way.”

The daytime hustle and bustle of the campus during the school year only intensifies how silent the hallways are at night and over summer break. And while a monk’s life is one marked by a special kind of solitude, Sanker said he’s never felt alone thanks to the Lord on his shoulder and a dog by his side.

“As a Franciscan, I’m so much in love with anything in nature. To me, the warm greeting of a dog is just like that dog saying, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK.’ I just love that.”

Brother Richard Sanker

Rising to the occasion

Community Service Inc. hopes to eradicate drug, alcohol use in youth

By Carol Rolf

Susan

According to an old adage attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The administrators at Community Service Inc. (CSI) in Morrilton would surely agree.

“Our mission is to be a leader in providing quality services to youth and their families that will empower them to attain success in their homes, schools, careers and communities,” said Susan Okroglic, president and CEO. The nonprofit is a community-based youth service provider founded in 1958 in Conway County.

CSI is committed to helping youth ages 4 to 19 through prevention and education, therapeutic foster care, day treatment, substance abuse services, mental health services and juvenile justice, according to Okroglic. The agency serves 23 counties at 16 locations throughout Arkansas and provides prevention services to eight more. They employ 90-100 people statewide and operate on a tight annual budget of $8.5 million. “We served about 2,000 clients last year, but our prevention team often reaches tens of thousands through their community events, etc.,” she said.

‘We are small but mighty.’

Okroglic, president and CEO

Community Service Inc. is a nonprofit, community-based youth service provider founded in 1958 in Conway County. Staff members include Darlene Shepherd (from left), Jennifer Riley, CEO Susan Okroglic, Marnie Osborne, Lisa Griffin, Director of Prevention Services Shannon Cook and Debbie Roberson.

Photo by Mike Kemp

“Our founders’ goal was to ‘combat juvenile delinquency,’ but that also included addressing other needs, such as the physical needs of the family, school supplies and medicine,” Okroglic said. Over time, addressing mental health care has become one of their main goals.

“We speak with parents, go into schools addressing ways to prevent, and look for signs of drug and/or alcohol misuse,” said Shannon Cook, director of Prevention Services. “We go to senior centers, community groups, health care fairs, child safety fairs — anywhere we can — telling people to lock up their medicines, know what they are taking and don’t share medicines with others.”

Cook said they want to reach young people before they smoke their first cigarette, take their first drink of alcohol or try another drug such as marijuana or methamphetamine (meth).

The average age of a young person in Arkansas who starts smoking or using alcohol is 12, Cook said. “Our goal is to get to those young people before they start,” she said. “We also want to let the parents know about the long-term effects of smoking and drinking.

Arkansas spends more than $1.4 billion on health care annually because of smoking (tobaccofreekids. org), which includes vaping and smoking marijuana. “If we can do anything to prevent them from smoking or drinking, we’re coming out a winner,” Cook said.

She also believes that meth is the principal drug threat in Arkansas. “Meth is not like it used to be when people cooked it in their backyard,” she said. “It’s coming across the border (from Mexico) in droves. It’s sometimes mixed with other drugs, which can make it fatal if taken. And it’s easy for young people, and others, to get.

CSI has joined a new statewide initiative called Me Over Meth, which is sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Aging, Adult and Behavioral Health Services (DAABHS) to raise awareness, Cook said, adding that ads have been appearing in local publications. “The prevention campaign is aimed at building community capacity to eradicate methamphetamine in our state.”

More information on Me Over Meth can be found at meovermeth.org.

Okroglic said she became involved with CSI for a personal reason. “My dad smoked for many years,” she said. “He died in 2017 from complications from smoking. “I am a social worker with a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation science from Arkansas Tech University, a master’s degree in social work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a doctorate in social work from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville,” she said. “I came to work here in prevention services in 2002. I became CEO in 2016.”

Cook has been with CSI for eight years. She has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in sociology, both from the University of Central Arkansas.

Okroglic said clients come to CSI through several avenues. “Clients can be referred to us through the courts,” she said. “They also come to us by word of mouth, by referrals from schools or they can just walk in. When they come to us, we take some demographic information, including ID cards, and schedule a time with a therapist for an assessment.

“We are small but mighty,” she said. “Our goal is to treat or intervene … with both kids and their parents. It’s been really stressful for kids and their families postCOVID-19. We are here to help.”

For more information on Community Service Inc., call 501.354.4589 or visit the website CSIYouth.com.

The Alliance Family of Companies

John S. Harwood, MS Tax, CPA, CFF, ABV, CGMA, CFE

L. Tray Ott, CPA, PFS

Connie Cody Fisher, CPA

My dad’s first book was published when he was 72. It was based on his early life experiences growing up in his log cabin home. His next book, published in 1979 at age 79, was “A History of Sloan-Hendrix Academy,” which is where he graduated, later taught and met another teacher, my mother.

Of his early education, he said, “My mother taught me the alphabet from the Bible and our log cabin’s ‘wallpaper,’ which was old newspapers, and to count to 100 before I started school.” His one-room school in the small, rural community of Post Oak had a blackboard and seats of split logs. Well water was kept in a bucket and everyone drank from the same dipper. It could be said they developed herd immunity, as illnesses were few.

School hours were from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Restrooms were two wooden privies separated by gender. They were

300 feet from the school, presumably downwind. Dinner (“lunch” outside the South) was brought from home in a lard bucket, perhaps biscuits with apple butter or fried eggs and meat. Clothing for boys was usually well-worn overalls, homemade shirts and shoes likely worn by previous owners. With no playground equipment, children played many activity games involving running and chasing. No one was overweight.

The favorite textbooks were the McGuffey Readers. They taught reading, and the illustrated stories included the importance of moral values such as truth, loyalty, work ethics, and the social needs of politeness, justice and respect. Deskwork was done with chalk on thin, framed slabs of slate.

A creek 200 yards from the school sometimes froze hard enough for children to skate in shoes. And to verify greatgrandpa’s stories, they really DID walk at least a mile to

school, snow or not. In some cases, wagons or horses were available but it would be a cold trip, regardless.

When dad passed the highest grade available in his one-room school, he was accepted into Sloan-Hendrix Academy, a church-sponsored high school at Imboden. Tuition was $4 a month. Dad lived about three miles away, and he walked those three-mile round trips every day after studying subjects such as English, Latin, ancient history, algebra, grammar, composition and comprehension. There, he found his niche in learning and never lost it. Even now, my parents’ textbooks would be considered college level.

There would be little point in recounting these stories except to contrast later school conditions, students, teachers and teaching methods. Three of my older siblings were Great Depression and World War II kids but fared well even after hard times, losing their home and belongings to fire in 1934 and moving occasionally. Still, our parents insisted on education and high ethics as they were the two primary ways to succeed and become of value to oneself and others.

My youngest brother and I were pre- and midWWII babies and saw somewhat better post-war living circumstances. We walked four blocks to school, then ate ripe persimmons from the Hartons’ tree on the way home, or threw them at each other. No textbooks with moral emphases, but we enjoyed the “Fun with Dick and Jane” readers, the smell of new crayons, pencils, paper and mimeographed worksheets. We played pick-up sticks or congregated at the iron monkey bars and merry-go-rounds on dusty school grounds. School dinners were delicious home-cooked meals freshly prepared by the cafeteria ladies.

Upon my reaching high school in 1959, classes in Latin and Spanish were offered. English classes included required

memorization of Macbeth’s soliloquy by Shakespeare. If you wanted band or choir, you could have either or both. If you wanted painting and drawing, you were on your own! And some of us did do “our own” and made a living or hobby with it. I was privileged to teach art there 29 years later, and did so for 20 years.

School assemblies included local pastors who delivered brief scriptures and prayers. Fridays were for pep rallies, with the band playing as cheerleaders twirled down the auditorium aisles in their ankle-length, corduroy skirts. There were no fights, illegal drugs or disrespect, but in 10 years that would change.

My own children, who graduated in 1987 and 1990, were not far from the 1961 curriculum, but it was changing. Social customs and behaviors were changing too, as was family life. One student said he seldom saw his parents, that they would leave notes to each other on the kitchen counter. Another student lived in a car under a bridge.

For various reasons, our country now has 3.7 million homeschooled students. Homeschooling allows one-onone teaching from approved textbooks and methods, with school days holding flexible schedules. There are helpful networks of other supportive parents. Students might learn to cook, plant gardens and build simple projects. They can play sports or play instruments. Even so, they still have to satisfy learning levels and pass tests.

We must remember this is not new. Our ancestors from other continents arriving on our coasts in the 1600s taught their children in these same ways. Most families had few books, but many had Bibles.

Mahatma Gandhi said, "There is no school equal to a decent home, and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent." For answers to problems in education, here is the recipe that worked before: decent homes and virtuous parents … served with a generous side of the Good Book.

celebrating athletic excellence

By Dr. Robert Reising

Photo by Mike Kemp

Harold “Sonny” Wilson

His modesty is genuine, yet often cleverly cloaked in quips or comic comparisons. He deflects adroitly, too, preferring that others garner praise and credit intended for him. In retirement, after decades of service to his profession, he gains his satisfaction not from possessing and displaying tangible evidence of his effectiveness but from discerning the success and happiness enjoyed by those whose lives he once touched as a coach or an administrator. He is not an easy man to interview, but he is surely an easy man to respect.

A few years ago, long-time Heber Springs coach Johnette Wilhoit Goldman christened Harold “Sonny” Wilson “a track guru,” and echoing her belief was her colleague Dale Cresswell, another Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame (ATFHF) inductee. The pair proudly argued that Sonny laid the foundation for one of the premier track and field programs in the state, and, in the words of an unknown wordsmith, Heber Springs High “has the hardware to prove it.” But self-effacing Sonny insisted his contribution was exaggerated, that it was cumulative, “a year-after-yearafter-year thing,” impossible to create quickly.

Sonny’s beginnings were elsewhere. He was born in 1953, about 30 miles northeast in Batesville, to church-going parents, and was the beneficiary, in his words, of a ”good, good, good upbringing.” He gratefully adds that, with his brother, now a lawyer, he “grew up in a Beaver Cleaver home” and sensed early on that not everyone around him had enjoyed circumstances similar to his.

Simultaneously emerging was Sonny’s growing passion for sports. He enjoyed participating, but he especially relished opportunities to study them. His 130-pound frame did not bode well for his otherwise acceptable football play, but he was enamored with track and field, the challenges in every

track meet, and the exhausting demands of the field. The half-mile was his specialty as a performer, and he reluctantly admits to success as a high school letter winner en route to his diploma in 1971.

Health and Physical Education was the academic major Wilson chose at Arkansas State University (ASU), and, honoring his parents’ wishes, he gave full-time attention to the academic. Nonetheless, in his free hours he continued his study of sports and athletes while nurturing a career goal that would permit full-time attention to both. Recently he admitted that after completing his ASU degree in 1975, “All I wanted to do was coach kids and have a little fun doing it.”

“… coach kids,” he did, and he had more than ‘a little fun doing it.’” After experience in Mountain View and Siloam Springs, he launched the 30-year stay in Heber Springs (1979-2009) that brought him and his achievements state and national recognition. During twenty-two of those years, he introduced and developed a cross-country program and revived a sputtering track program, guiding the Panthers to 18 Conference Track Championships, five State Track Championships, 17 Junior High Conference Championships, four Outdoor State Championships, and one Cross Country State Championship.

Continued on page 56

Commonly, Sonny’s work schedule was grueling, with “two-a-days” (that is, two practices a day for each sport) as the weekday norm. Assignments in three sports — cross country, track, and football — demanded many a twelvehour day, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Yet he loved the challenges he met.

Married a few weeks after his university graduation, Sonny appeared to thrive on long hours and heavy responsibilities. With eyes fixed not on the past but on the future, he was not long in beginning part-time graduate work at the University of Central Arkansas. By 1989, the father of three children had earned both a master’s degree in education and certifications qualifying him for posts in school administration.

Dr. Jimmy Patchell, now ASU’s nationally celebrated coach, headed the list of youngsters coming under Sonny’s always-positive influence while Panther Track and Field Coach: 48 who garnered All-State Track and Field honors, 28 who earned 39 event championships, and 11 who set state track and field records, seven outdoor, and four indoor. Two of Sonny’s stalwarts vied for national honors at the prestigious Golden West Invitational Meet, held annually to determine the nation’s (often the world’s) high school best at a common site and absent variations in weather: Pole Vaulter Walter Mooneyham in 1988, Decathlon performer

Brent Patchell, Jimmy’s brother, three years later. At the Golden West and through Jimmy Patchell’s heralded feats, Sonny reached his coaching nirvana.

Upon leaving Heber Springs in 2009 after serving in several administrative capacities, Sonny became an assistant high school principal in Batesville, where he could aid in the care of his aging parents. In 2020, when COVID-19 wiped out school attendance and mandated athome distance learning for one year, it ended his 11 years of working in his hometown — a total of 45 in education.

A host of accolades have come to the “track guru” who shepherded innumerable Arkansas athletes to stardom. The Arkansas Gazette named him Track Coach of the Year in 1984, the Arkansas Activities Association, Coach of the Year three times, 1985, 1996, and 1997. The ATFHF honored him with its Meritorious Service Award in 2004 and seven years later — two years after ending his coaching career — with induction into its Hall of Fame.

In 2013, in its first year, Sonny Wilson gained induction into another Hall of Fame, the Honor Den at Heber Springs High, and in 2021 he witnessed the renaming of the track on which he had launched his fun-filled multi-decade sprint into Arkansas’s athletic excellence: the GoldmanWilson Track.

Mr. Helmick Goes to Washington

Tops in Arkansas, principal in the running for national award

By Dwain Hebda

Steven Helmick will always remember the day he was announced Arkansas Elementary School Principal of the Year. Not just for the prestige of the award itself, which is considerable, or that it put him in the running for national honors.

It also doesn’t have anything to do with the fact the award was presented in recognition of his service to parents, faculty and students, or that it was announced during a surprise assembly of the entire student body at Don R. Roberts Elementary in Little Rock, complete with a video tribute and dignitaries from the State Department of Education.

No, what will always stand out to the 15-year educator and sixth-year principal is what came next, what he considers the perfect metaphor in the life of a principal.

“They had me blindfolded when I was walking in,” he said. “I opened my eyes and I’m surrounded by thousands of people cheering. The students and the staff are celebrating and my family was there and it was a tremendous surprise and super awesome experience.

“Then less than 45 minutes after that, we were sheltering in place because that was the day the tornadoes hit. Literally, I was doing interviews and photos and I was like, ‘I’ve got to go.’ That was probably around 1:30, 1:45, and we had some students in our building until about 6:30 that night because parents were having a hard time getting here to school.

“That’s kind of the life of a principal; you never really know what you’re going to get. Every day is different, and that’s one thing I love about the job is just that every single day I walk in here is a new experience and definitely keeps me on my toes.”

Every chapter of Helmick’s professional journey has likewise been subject to the winds of fate and circumstance. Born into a family of educators, he originally set his sights on the corporate world after college but soon found that unfulfilling. He’d find his calling on the other side of the world.

“My wife and I took an exploratory trip to Rwanda,” he said. “She’s an RN and we were considering moving over to an orphanage there in Africa, where she would be a nurse and I would be a teacher. When we came back, that’s when I determined to get my teaching certification, and I was placed in my first teaching job at Stephens Elementary in Little Rock.

“That opened my eyes to the tremendous needs of kids in our own community. I fell in love with teaching and the rest is history.”

From Stephens Elementary, where he taught fourth grade, he went to Watson Intermediate in Little Rock as a fifth-grade teacher. From there, he came to Roberts, where he taught fifth grade for three years before moving into administration.

“My master’s is in middle childhood education and I am certified through eighth grade,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do upper elementary or middle school, but I fell in love with fourthand fifth-grade kids, specifically fifth grade. I just loved the kids at that age, where you could just do really amazing things with them. It’s just a really cool age where the students develop and figure out more about themselves as kids, but they’re old enough to where you can really just go deep with them and have some really authentic learning experiences.”

Photo by Mike Kemp

Principal Steven Helmick finds fun and engaging ways to connect with students to teach lessons or just give them a reason to smile. During COVID-19, he ran a mile for each fifth grader because they did not get to have a promotion ceremony. He also does bizarre activities as incentives, like camping out on the school’s roof, being slimed or shaving his head for milestones the students reach through fundraisers or goals.

After three years as assistant principal, he took over as principal and quickly earned a reputation for humor, kindness and empathy for the students. During his tenure, he’s issued any number of challenges to the student body, always with a wager he’s glad to pay up. Thus far, he’s shaved his head, been taped to a wall, run for miles and perched on the roof of the school.

His is not the stereotypical stern principal image that keeps students on the straight and narrow out of fear. Which, he will tell you, is exactly the point.

“First of all, that’s just not me. I’m not this stuffy, strict person,” he said. “If I tried to be that, I’d be a terrible principal because that’s not who I am. I try to be authentic; I don’t try to create something that’s not true. It’s not a show, it’s not a skit. It’s just, hey, we love your kids. We know parents are trusting their family member with us, and we value that, respect that, appreciate that. So, while they’re here, we’re going to do everything we can to make it memorable for them.

“I believe, as an elementary school, we have to help kids learn to love learning. If we can help them learn to love learning and give them memorable experiences, stuff to laugh at, then they see me in a different light. I’m entering their world, I care about them, I care about what they’re interested in. Then, when we have to talk about things that aren’t going well, they know I’ve got their back. They know I care about them as a person.”

Helmick is now among 36 principals in the running for the 2023 Nationally Distinguished Principal Award, presented by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, to be handed out later this year in Washington, D.C.

Reed's Road Home

Greenbrier Schools’ head mechanic and school bus route coordinator retires

By Carol Rolf

Greenbrier is home for Randall Reed. “I grew up here, went to school here, worked here and still live here,” Reed said, laughing. “I turned 62 on June 19. I had already decided it was time to retire after working for the school district for 43 years, but I haven’t slowed down just yet.”

Reed retired at the end of the school year as the head mechanic and school bus route coordinator for Greenbrier Public Schools. In addition to recognition on his retirement, Reed was recognized by the Arkansas Association of Pupil Transportation with the Arkansas School Transportation Hall of Honor Award at the association’s annual conference in June in Hot Springs.

“Mr. Reed represents the very best in his field. We are so proud for him to receive this deserving award. Randall has served the kids in this district for over 40 years and we will absolutely miss him,” said Greenbrier Superintendent Scott Spainhour.

“The Transportation Hall of Honor is an honor given to those long-standing school transportation professionals

who have dedicated their life and career to ensuring that students are transported safely,” said Mike Simmons, the public school program coordinator for transportation with the Arkansas Department of Education, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation. “The award is not only based on their job but the impact that they have on their community. There have been, I think, 27 recipients prior to Randall. The award is presented annually at the Arkansas Association of Pupil Transportation Conference.”

The Greenbrier Public Schools Transportation Department was also recognized at the recent conference, receiving a 2023 AAPT Safety Award for being one of the sixth safest school bus fleets in the state.

“I started school here in the Head Start program in 1966,” Reed said. “I graduated from Greenbrier High School in 1977 and took a job as a mechanic with Ryder Truck Rental, where I stayed for about a year. I had always

Photo by Mike Kemp

worked while I was in school during the summer, seventh grade until I graduated, working under the CETA program (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, which provided summer jobs to low-income high school students, as well as jobs for low-income and long-term unemployed individuals) and spent my time in the bus shop. I pretty much taught myself how to work on small engines.

“I was hired by the school district in June 1980,” he said. “I was a one-man shop. There was nobody else here with me. The superintendent told me the shop was ‘yours to run the way you want to.’ The bus shop was right in front of his office so he could keep an eye on me if he had wanted to.”

Reed said the district had 13 buses at that time.

“We have grown to 52 buses, serving pre-K through high school,” he said, adding, “I’ve grown with the district. Our buses travel hundreds of miles a day. “I drive a bus, too,” he said, laughing. “I’ve enjoyed my career here at Greenbrier Public Schools. We are all family.”

Reed and his wife, Leigh, have been together for 27 years. They have a blended family of four adult children and seven grandchildren. They also have a menagerie of animals on their farm near Greenbrier – horses, donkeys, dogs, chickens and even peacocks, which Reed raises and

sells. Leigh Reed retired three years ago from Greenbrier Public Schools; she also drove a school bus. “She is already a substitute bus driver,” he said. “I guess I will become one, too.”

Reed said he was “surprised” by the recent honor. “They blindsided me,” he said, laughing.

Longtime friend and co-worker, Patty Holiday, was at the awards banquet as well. “I’ve known Randall for a long time,” she said, adding that she has worked with Greenbrier Public Schools for 25 years. “I’ve only worked with him for about two years. But I was secretary at the elementary school for several years and had to call on him for many things. Last year, I was transferred to the transportation department as secretary. He was my boss.

“I’ve grown up here, too … gone to school here all my life,” she said. “Randall was a good boss. He knows his stuff really well.”

Holiday, who is also a bus driver, plans to continue her job with the Greenbrier Public Schools transportation department. “I just turned 62 as well,” she said. “Randall is a week older than me. I plan to keep working … to build up my retirement. “I know I’ll be calling on Randall to be a sub next year,” she said, smiling.

A Central Promise

Central Baptist College offers free tuition to BMA members

During the June 2-3 board meeting, the Central Baptist College Board of Trustees approved a tuitionfree scholarship program for all members of the Baptist Missionary Association of America churches. The BMA Promise is both a recruiting and retention incentive.

CBC President Terry Kimbrow admitted, “This is a huge leap of faith for us. However, over the years, the loyalty to the institution, founded by the Arkansas churches of what is now the Baptist Missionary Association, has waned.” Dr. D.N. Jackson, who was instrumental in the founding of CBC and was later elected the first president, said in the Dec. 5, 1951, issue of the Temple Trumpet (now the Baptist Trumpet), “We all know we need this College. We must provide an institution of higher learning for our young men and women. After all, it is upon their shoulders the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel will fall.” Kimbrow commented, “That was over 70 years ago. I’m convinced we need this college more now than we did then.”

CBC is a four-year, private liberal arts college located in Conway (Faulkner County). The college was founded in 1952 and has been committed to transforming lives through education that integrates Christian faith and academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment since its inception. CBC offers more than 40 baccalaureate degree programs which are offered in a traditional format, online, and in an accelerated format through the PACE (Professional Adult Education Department) program.

According to Brooks Walthall, vice president for Enrollment Management, “The facts are quite sobering: Only 9% of CBC students checked the BMA box on their application when asked with what church they are affiliated.”

“That may be misleading because some of them may not even know they are members of a BMA church.” Kimbrow

said, “That is going to change.” The BMA Promise scholarship will benefit any student who is currently a member of a BMA church and has been for at least one year. The prospective student’s pastor will sign a simple statement sent to him by the college, to confirm that the student has been a member for the required time. Students currently enrolled, and meet the criteria, will be eligible to apply for the BMA Promise.

Jim Fink, chairman of the Board of Trustees, confirmed the action by the 20-member board. “We (the Board of Trustees) feel this will help reestablish the strong connection our churches have historically had with the mission and ministry of the college,” said Fink. “This is something all of our churches can get behind and promote.” The BMA Promise will make up the gap between federal and state grants as well as scholarships and billed tuition (the scholarship does not cover fees or room and board).

“To my knowledge, no other church-related college in Arkansas offers anything even close to this,” Kimbrow said.

“The mindset of some students and parents is that they cannot afford CBC,” noted Tonya Hammontree, director of Financial Aid. “As a result, they don’t give us the chance to package their financial aid.” The new scholarship will initially be limited to the first 50 students to complete the admissions process. The goal is to grow the scholarship program progressively and to make it open to an unlimited number of BMA students. The BMA Promise applies only to students in the traditional program that have been a member of the BMA Church for at least one year.

To be eligible, students must complete the admissions process online and submit the 2023-2024 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) and register for classes. Call the Department of Admissions at 501.329.6873 for more information or visit cbc.edu/bmapromise.

A Better Place for the Bledsoes

Moving closer to church allows family time to try new hobbies

By Stefanie Brazile

Photos by Mankenzie Evans

The Bledsoe family loves to host friends and share their large home, pool, hot tub, trampoline, picnic areas and game room. The pool has seating for 25 people and an upper deck welcomes 9 more. The hot tub, trampoline and picnic area are connected by decks and seating areas. Rocks, boulders and many indigenous plants reflect a quintessential Arkansas landscape.

The winding street and shaded yards set the tone for a relaxed visit with Dr. Amanda Bledsoe at her and her husband Adam’s “newish” home in Pulaski County.

As usual, she greeted me with a big, welcoming smile and led me to her backyard sanctuary, a half-acre with about 30 trees, a cascading water feature and a Crystal Blue pool nestled behind a three-story home. The family of four moved last summer and soon after celebrated with a Fourth of July pool party, which has since become an annual event.

“We moved for the community and to be near our church family, and now have the best `friend community’ we’ve ever had,” Dr. Bledsoe said. They left behind a ranch-style home and 13 acres in Damascus (Faulkner County) to be closer to their jobs and their friends from church and to live the fast-paced life they love. It was hard to leave the haven that “the farm” afforded after busy days, but they have found that refuge in their new neighborhood.

During the pandemic, they watched a church online and when they were able, began driving 45 minutes several times a week to attend it. After a year, they decided to move closer to the community of believers. “Before the move, we drove to Little Rock on Sunday mornings and would hang out all day exploring the city, but I told Adam I wanted to live close enough to church that I could leave there on Wednesday nights and put my head on the pillow in 10 minutes,” she said.

Adam also enjoys his now 15-minute commute to THV, where he is co-host of a lifestyle segment titled “The Vine,” while Dr. Bledsoe is only 10 minutes from her Maumelle chiropractic clinic. She alternates the short drive with a 25-minute commute to her Conway clinic several days each week. Known for giving patients “hope through healing,” the popular chiropractor practices what she preaches and has massage chairs, foot and leg massagers and diffusers around her home.

Adam and Dr. Amanda Bledsoe chose a home on a half-acre that is completely shaded by about 30 trees. They love sitting near a cascading water feature and the Crystal Blue pool that is always cool because of the shade.

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“I start each day in my 70s-themed, spectacular office in a massage chair looking at photos of my family before I do a devotional and write in my gratitude journals,” she said. “I’m on my fourth journal in six years.”

Her home office has green carpet and grasscloth wallpaper, a library with a collection of old Bibles and songbooks from their families, as well as numerous books. There is a shelf of mugs and other items from Bledsoe family travels and a framed piece of Dolly Parton art that she ordered in downtown Conway for her business office in ’21 that never arrived due to supply chain issues. In perfect timing, it arrived in ’22 and became the theme for the new home office she loves.

“I commissioned art to go around it and it’s fantastic! I like Dolly because I like big hair, and she’s a woman I admire as an entrepreneur, so I added a second art piece of her. I like being surrounded by pictures of things I love.”

As a business owner, Dr. Bledsoe is committed to the “Shop Small” concept and supports independent businesses year-round. Her clinics and home are filled with original art and items created in Central Arkansas. Much of her décor was purchased at auctions during charity events. “I love local artists and have been buying from them since 2005 when I graduated from UCA and made Conway my home.”

When she’s home, Dr. Bledsoe spends more time outside than inside. “I love the water feature and being able to sit in this chair because you’re looking up at a canopy of trees and I can hear the water while looking at the pool. It’s a sanctuary.”

The couple has been married 19 years and loves hosting friends. With a teen (Audrey) and a tween (Hunter) still in the nest, they were looking for a house that had large spaces for entertainment. The pool has seating for 25 people and an upper deck welcomes 9 more. There’s a hot tub, trampoline and picnic area that are connected by decks and seating areas. It reflects a quintessential Arkansas landscape, with rocks, boulders and many indigenous plants.

“I love seeing all the chairs full,” she said.

Inside the home, which was built in 1976, there are five bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths, two living rooms, a game room and bonus areas upstairs. Adam also has a home office. The Bledsoes have opened their home for many dinners and celebrations in the past year because they enjoy providing a space where everyone can be together in a comfortable, relaxed environment. Their two Labradoodles, Ruby and Sadie, enjoy lounging on leather sofas and greeting their family members who come in and out throughout the day.

This summer, the family is trying to reserve Fridays as a family day to continue exploring Pulaski County. Because they no longer have a long commute, they play tennis on weeknights with other families, ride bikes together and have more time to relax.

And when they can, they retreat to their backyard, which provides shelter from noise and distractions — a shady oasis nestled in the capital city.

1: A swing and Adirondack seating welcome visitors to the home. 2 & 3: Adam is the chef in the family and enjoys the kitchen island for meal prep, yet the whole family uses it for seating during on-the-go quick meals. 4: Family meals are also enjoyed at the sunny breakfast nook surrounded by windows overlooking the pool. 5: Sadie, a blonde Labradoodle, enjoys lounging on leather sofas throughout the day. 6: Amanda Bledsoe’s home office is a nod to the 70s, complete with green carpet! The walls feature grasscloth wallpaper, several pieces of Dolly Parton artwork and commissioned art pieces from Central Arkansas artists. A wall of built-in shelving holds favorite books, family photos and collectibles. 7: The blue-and-white themed dining room has parquet flooring, Cinderella mirrors, Dr. Bledsoe’s piano and framed photos of their church family. They brought the table from their ranch-style home in Damascus to this home because of good memories of mealtimes past.

Larry's legacy

Approximately 200 guests were on hand for the rededication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly minted Dr. Larry D. Davis Workforce Training Center in honor of University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton Chancellor Emeritus Dr. Larry D. Davis.

During his tenure as UACCM chancellor from 2010 until his retirement in 2019, Davis was responsible for the conceptualization and vision of the Workforce Training Center and oversaw construction on the facility until its opening in 2018.

“If it were not for Dr. Davis’ commitment, leadership and unwavering dedication to this building’s design and construction, we wouldn’t be standing here today,” said UACCM Chancellor Lisa Willenberg during her opening remarks. Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt, president of the University of Arkansas System, was in attendance and praised the facility, describing it as a “model for the other two-year schools in the University of Arkansas system.”

Doug Brandon, former chair of the UACCM Board of Visitors, also spoke at the event. Brandon praised

Davis for carrying UACCM into its next phase during his remarks: “Hard work, vision and legacy, what an economic development ratchet this facility is, not just for Morrilton or Conway county, but for this whole region.”

The facility opened in April 2018 and houses several workforce programs, including automotive service technology, welding, industrial mechanics and maintenance, and heating, air conditioning and refrigeration. The facility also features the Workforce Education and Training offices and Tyson Training Hall, a 5,000-square-foot conference room.

Willenberg presented Davis with a resolution from the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, granting Davis Chancellor Emeritus status. The resolution states in part that “whereas Dr. Davis led a 45-year career in higher education in Oklahoma and Arkansas, had the personal vision and foresight to lead efforts to construct the Workforce Training Center, and served UACCM with dedication, honor and distinction, the UA System Board of Trustees bestowed the title of Chancellor Emeritus.”

Dr. Davis honored at UACCM with naming of Workforce Training Center

The Tablecloth Journal

How I found a way to pull up a seat to my daily blessings

By Laurie Green

I can't think of “back-to-school" time without thinking about "getting into a routine." I know when my kids were school age, Arkansas summers meant staying up late and sleeping in till noonish because, let's face it, missing breakfast meant one last meal I had to worry about making. There was no daily grooming required; showers, hair brushing and washing clothes were all optional until you started to smell, LOL. Seriously, I'm exaggerating, but you get the jest. Summers were all about freedom, but back to school definitely required a schedule to be successful. I mean four kids sharing one bathroom growing up was rough on any given day, but even more so during school mornings.

As my children have all grown and started having their own families, I still find myself getting excited when I see the aisles start filling up with school supplies and the anticipation of that "fresh start" of a new routine. Maybe it's all the Sharpies and scented markers that I like buying, but I wanted to share a little something I've been doing that you might like to add to your fall routine. Personally, I love to write in a journal, but the problem is that sometimes what I don't "see daily" I don't remember, so I came up with a grand idea that I like to call "Tablecloth Journaling."

Last year, I bought myself a cheap, fabric-lined tablecloth from Dollar General and set out a jar of colored Sharpies on my kitchen table. Each morning during my prayer time, I just started writing on the tablecloth. Scripture I wanted

to memorize, verses that spoke to me, things I was grateful for, songs or books I loved, prayer requests and answered prayers, they all got written down. It became a focal point of conversation anytime we sat down at the table.

I encouraged my friends and family to add to it anytime they were over, and I fully covered and finished my first tablecloth at the end of 2022. On January 1st, I started my second journaling tablecloth and it's easy to see that this is definitely a family routine that I look forward to continuing. My mother even mentioned how beautiful these tablecloths will be for my children and grandchildren to have and remember me by when I'm gone.

It's made a beautiful area for me to sit down at and see the promises and the goodness of God in my life, especially on the hard days! I just look down and there is something for me to read that encourages and lifts my spirits. My only regret is that I didn't think about doing this when my kids were school-aged.

Life is so fast-paced, and I know some of you are right in the middle of the battlefield, and it's easy to miss out on all the blessings that life has to offer. So I want to encourage you as you start this year's school shopping and routines, pick yourself up some Tablecloth Journaling supplies and start creating a place for your family to inspire and encourage each other. Share wisdom, scripture and kindness, because you never know who may sit down and be unexpectedly blessed by your journaling tablecloth.

AUTHOR OF THE MONTH

JACQUELINE LEE _____________________

By Susan L. Peterson

Jacqueline Lee describes herself as a nurturer who loves to help people. Even when growing up in tiny New Edinburg (Cleveland County), she knew she wanted to be a nurse, and in 2009 she received her BSN in nursing from the University of Central Arkansas and has worked as an RN since.

She never thought she would be a published author, but several years ago when her son Trelin came home from school in tears from being bullied, she found a unique way to help him — by writing about it. She knew it was a teachable moment, and in telling his story, she hoped to help others.

In addition to addressing the problem through more typical channels at school, she and Trelin sat down and wrote about what happened. He gave valuable input on his thoughts and feelings. The book not only relates messages of how to deal with bullies but also explores why some children become bullies.

Once they completed writing the book, Lee looked online for a publisher and found Xlibris Publishing. It was costly, but she was determined to see it in print. “Bobby’s Bully,” published under the name Jacqueline Watkins, came out in May 2016.

Local radio stations and TV news broadcasts highlighted the mother/son duo, and she said that they apparently “touched more people than I ever would have imagined.” Lee also happily reported that her son’s tormentor did receive help and changed his behavior.

At work, Lee saw another problem to address — assisting the local Hispanic population with communication when they needed medical help. Although translators are provided, there were often time constraints. She knew that communicating directly would be a better way to help this vulnerable population, so she made it her mission to learn Spanish.

Lee began her bilingual journey by using online apps. Eventually she earned her medical workplace Spanish certificate and spent three weeks in an immersion program in Costa Rica.

Just this April, Lee published a second children’s book, “My Medical ABC’s,” or ”Mi Abecedario Medico,” designed to introduce Spanish-speaking children to basic essential items they might find in a health care setting. Pictures and words such as antibiotic, stethoscope and Band-aid are given in English and Spanish, along with a handy pronunciation guide. The book can also help English speakers learn Spanish.

To save money, Lee decided to self-publish this book using Amazon. She even hired her own illustrator, Walter Blythe, a local artist whom she found online on Facebook. “He nailed my vision,” she said.

In her spare time, Lee loves to read, travel, cook and spend time with her family. She is working on her next children’s book, which will be about various medical occupations.

Lee has not yet had a chance to do much marketing of her latest work, but both books are available on Amazon and at happileebooks.com, which also includes additional information and resources for children.

Photo by Mike Kemp

Decades to diploma

Ron Hill completes college graduation more than 50 years after he started

By Richard S. Plotkin

The day Ron Hill graduated from Beebe High School, the Conway Log Cabin Democrat reported that the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to increase the minimum wage to $1.60 an hour.

An advertisement in the newspaper promoted the upcoming “Wednesday Special” at the Dog ‘N’ Suds at Harkrider and Oak streets in Conway — a chicken basket for 99 cents, “3 pieces of heavenly fried chicken, tangy cole slaw, french fries.”

The date was May 27, 1966. Fate, however, soon got between Hill and a college degree.

But for those who know him, Hill is a force of nature who does not accept “no” for an answer. So, on May 5 — almost 57 years after his high school graduation — Hill received a Bachelor of General Studies at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). “He’ll break down barriers for himself,” said Cheryl Theall, adviser for UCA’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “But he’ll break down barriers to help others as well.”

Houston D. Davis, the 11th president of the University of Central Arkansas (from left) and Ron Hill, a UCA graduate.

Photo by Mike Kemp

Out of high school, Hill enrolled as a physical education major at what was then Arkansas State College-Beebe. He wanted to be a football coach. After two years, Hill transferred in 1968 to State College of Arkansas in Conway, which became UCA in 1975. Hill began coaching youth football in 1968. At UCA, he joined the football team and still planned to get his degree in physical education. Fate had its own plans. “I injured my knee in spring football,” Hill recalled. “I dropped out but neglected to withdraw.”

Hill returned to UCA about 10 years later with what he recalls being 108 credit hours and a grade-point average (GPA) of 1.03. The university admitted him, but he was told, “Don’t make a C [or less].” Hill’s major again was physical education, but he did not give up his day job at Dean Milk in Conway. Close to graduation in 1984, Hill had earned 172 credit hours, a 2.52 GPA and $272 in parking fines. Unable to pay, Hill decided to “lay out” a semester. He did not go back.

Years passed, but Hill built a life for himself. Along the way, he coached youth football for 51 years – “They’re all my kids,” Hill proclaims now – and started a concrete business in 1998. In 2002, he married the love of his life, Karen. They live in Conway and share two daughters, two stepsons, five grandsons and a granddaughter.

As a member of the Kiwanis Club of Conway, Hill helped organize the group of civic clubs, businesses, government officials and individuals that constructed the two City of Colleges signs in Conway. Then three or four years ago, Hill thought, “I’ve got money. Even if they [UCA] take $272 and multiply it …”

Hill’s motivation was to not let 172 credit hours go to waste. Also, he explained, “I’ve always put ‘attended.’ I have not put ‘a graduate.’ So, I wanted to change it from

‘attended’ to ‘graduate.’” A chance meeting with UCA President Houston Davis at Einstein Bros. Bagels on campus marked a watershed in Hill’s journey. He said Davis told him, “We’ve got a program, a degree, for you. A General Studies degree. Call these people and talk to them.”

One of those people is Theall, who worked with the registrar’s office to determine that Hill needed only nine credit hours for a General Studies degree. In Hill’s case, Theall explained he needed three upper-division courses after factoring in the number of hours he already had earned — most at UCA, which simplified the determination — in areas that could be pulled into General Studies concentrations. “When we’re talking about the Bachelor of General Studies here at UCA, every student is uniquely different, based on what they’re coming in with,” Theall said. “There are so many different pieces to the Bachelor of General Studies.”

UCA first offered a Bachelor of General Studies in 2018. The requirements for completion have changed since Hill re-enrolled. According to UCA’s Undergraduate Bulletin for 2023-2024, it is a flexible, multidisciplinary program designed for students who have at least 60 hours of college credit but have not completed a bachelor’s degree.

“The help of everybody at UCA was unreal,” Hill said. “I didn’t have a clue. They walked me through it, they told me what to do.”

The day Hill at long last got his college degree, he describes himself as “just grinning.” He received hugs from President Davis and Theall at commencement. He was 74 years old that day, heading to 75 on Dec. 23.

He had outdueled fate. And he still does not like to take “no” for an answer.

The roast of Rosebud

RoZark Hills Coffee Roasterie has made a name while making a difference

By: Judy Riley

A coffee roastery in Rose Bud? Absolutely! It was a long but interesting road to Arkansas for the creators of RoZark Hills Coffee Roasterie. The move was partly because of family and partly because of the lure of escaping the city that brought Rita Fox from Seattle to Rose Bud. But coffee roasting was in Rita’s roots in Seattle. Her dad, Glenn Curtis, an entrepreneur and visionary, had a metal fabrication business in Seattle. In the early 1970s, three young men approached him about refurbishing the first coffee roaster for what would become Starbucks.

“When people saw how Starbucks had overwhelming popularity, others wanted to get into the gourmet coffee roasting business. That changed the family business into full-time supply and fabrication of coffee roasting equipment,” Fox said. Ultimately, Curtis sold the business to son Marty and the Curtises set off to explore America. On one of their many trips through Central Arkansas, they fell in love with the Romance/Rose Bud area and bought an 80-acre farm. After building a house, barn and fencing, they reached out to Rita and Marty, asking them to move to Arkansas and start a coffee roastery business.

Twenty-six years later, RoZark Hills Coffee Roasterie now buys beans through green coffee importers supplying coffees from countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Mexico, New Guinea, Sumatra, Tanzania and Panama. They roast these single-origin beans and have created six of their own blends. Popular ones are Country Morning Breakfast Blend and Roastmaster’s Blend. They sell decafs, organics, 14 flavored coffees and a few seasonal blends. They package, using their own label and sacks, right in their facility in Rose Bud (White County).

The beans arrive green in burlap sacks. The roasting only takes 10-12 minutes, but the skill is in the operator. “A roaster needs to know each beans’ characteristics to get their fullest flavor potential. Are they hard or soft, high or low acidity, heavy or light body? What flavors (re: chocolate, nutty, caramel) can be pulled out? You roast the beans to obtain the specific outcome you want,” Fox said.

RoZark originally served a wholesale-only client base. And it is still their biggest business. They sell and deliver to coffee houses in Central Arkansas. But as word spread, folks began to drop by and ask to buy directly. Curtis, ever the visionary, suggested converting what were offices to a retail space. Fox thought that was a very bad idea. In her words, “Who will drive to Rose Bud, Arkansas, to buy coffee?” The answer is carloads of coffee lovers! A painting of a steaming cup of coffee on the floor and the distinct odor of roasted coffee greets customers. RoZark displays their coffees, coffee-making equipment, teapots and various teas ready for the next customer.

Fox and her staff of five, some with long tenure, have a soft spot for schools, teachers and students. They offer roasted, bagged coffees at wholesale prices to student groups raising funds for projects. Students sell at retail and keep the profits. This arrangement is a win-win. RoZark coffees reach new audiences and student projects get support.

How do they market their coffees? Fox says mostly by word of mouth. “Our customers share their coffee with friends. They gift it for Christmas and birthdays. If our customers move from the state, they continue to order our coffee and take it all over the country. This has been going on for 26 years, so by now, we have a faithful following.”

Coffees are available online at https:www.rozark.com, by calling 501.566.5808. Their retail hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 5898 Highway 36 West, Rose Bud. A short, picturesque drive from anywhere in the 501 to Rose Bud for a sack of deliciousness is no sacrifice. Worth the trip!

Photo by Mike Kemp

Every year, Conway Corp celebrates public power by encouraging local students to show their energy smarts and participate in a poster and essay contest. Students in grades Pre-K-four were asked to create a poster on the theme “My Life, Powered by Conway Corp,” while students in fifth-seventh grades and eighth-12 grades were asked to write an essay or create a video on the same theme. Prizes were awarded in each age category.

Julia Lee Moore Elementary third-grader Farredah Oyeniyi won first place in the poster contest. Farredah won a Conway Corp prize pack, trophy and a $100 donation for her school’s art program.

Luke Sides won first place in the 5-7 grade category for his essay “Living On-Grid.” Luke was a seventh-grader at Ruth Doyle Middle School during the 2022-2023 school year.

Lily Douglas won first place in the 8-12 grade category for her essay “The Light of Conway.” Charlotte was a senior at Conway High School during the 2022-2023 school year. Below is an excerpt from Luke’s winning essay: “Beep! Beep! Beep!

I wake up with a start as my alarm goes off. It’s 6:20 a.m., time to get ready for the school day. Conway Corp has already played a role in my life today, and I’ve only just woken up. That alarm that just went off? It runs on electricity, which Conway Corp provides my house with. And without that alarm, I probably wouldn’t have woken up on time, which would have made me late for school.

Now I go through my morning routine, which includes taking a shower, microwaving a Jimmy Dean sausage muffin for breakfast, brushing my teeth, and playing Wordle on my phone. But wait! All of these would be impossible without Conway Corp. The clean water for my shower and for brushing my teeth comes from Conway Corp. The electricity used to power the microwave and charge my phone is provided by Conway Corp. So far, Conway Corp has helped with my hygiene, allowed me to enjoy a hot meal, and provided me with entertainment.

Read more of Luke’s essay at 501lifemag.com/mylife2023

Below is an excerpt from Lily’s winning essay:

“I’ve always been one to reminisce. I’ve spent the past two hundred and fifty-three days recording a second of my day just for the future pleasure of looking back. Nostalgia is powerful. This powerful force has, in my memory, become intertwined with the use of Conway Corp. I’ve lived in Conway all my life. It feels like the city, each bend and twist in the road, every shop that has helped pass the time, and all the schools where I’ve befriended so many and have learned so much, have become permanently ingrained in my memory. As I’m rushed into this transitional period of life, a chapter where I’m graduating, leaving my hometown, and having new expectations put on me; I find myself looking back at my younger years, realizing how simple that period of my life was.

Conway Corp has consistently been an integral part of my life. From when I was a child who would attempt to imitate the gymnasts I saw on the television, to the adolescent who would pass the time on the phone, and now to the girl who enjoys every afternoon practicing swimming at the University of Central Arkansas. As a kid, during the summer days, Conway Corp would power the water that would run through my oscillating sprinkler. The sprinkler would bring entertainment, laughter, and relief from the blistering sun to my friends and me, and bring nutrients and hydration to the grass and myriad of plants my mom planted that spring in our garden beds.

Read more of Lily’s essay at 501lifemag.com/mylife2023

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Energy Smart Poster and Essay Contest, and thank you to all students who submitted an entry. Conway Corp is proud of these students, who continue to remind us how integral Conway Corp is to our daily lives. We’ve been helping power area education since our creation in 1929, and we’re looking forward to the start of another great school year this month.

Farredah Oyeniyi

By Beth Jimmerson

PROUDLY PRESENTS

PERSON OF THE MONTH

DR. KAREN LOIS BILLINGSLEY LASKER

HOMETOWN:

I was born in Brinkley (Monroe County), but I am a proud native of Helena (Phillips County). Since 2010, we have called the great city of Conway our home.

FAMILY:

My husband, Nick, and I will have been married 34 years on Aug. 5. We have one son, Alfred-Lloyd (Big AL) and one grandson, Knox. I was raised with three siblings, Andre (deceased), Valerie and Roslyn. When I married, I gained five other siblings, Dalian (Duck), Lloyd Jr. (Bugg), Tennille, Tanzetta and Terina, all of Conway.

EDUCATION:

I am a 1983 graduate of Helena – West Helena Central High School. I received my Bachelor and Master of Education degrees from the University of Central Arkansas and continued my Specialist and Doctorate Degree in Educational Administration from the University of Arkansas.

PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

This is my 35th year of service to education. I have worked as a substitute teacher, a teacher of special education, a coach for volleyball, basketball, soccer and track in the Helena, Mount Holly and Fort Smith school districts. I worked as an administrator in Fort Smith (Sebastian County), Carrollton, Texas, and Conway.

I received many honors in high school, college and in my professional career. The ones that stand out are Coach of the Year, Administrator of the Year and induction into the Helena-West Helena Sports Hall of Fame. These mean the most to me because it wasn’t what I did individually but what we accomplished as a team! I have been the first to do a lot of things in my life, but the honor has been that someone paved the way for me. I stand on the shoulders of many before me, and one of my greatest accomplishments would be to make them proud.

WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT PLACING THE BEST CANDIDATE IN THE RIGHT POSITION:

My favorite thing to do is to help/serve others. In my position, it is all about the people. My “why” is knowing that you have the opportunity to help someone solve a problem or issue or just being a listener. During my career, I have strived to impact lives athletically and or professionally. I am a recruiter at heart — the better teachers I recruit, the better impact it will have on the process of educating our youth. When you see me in the store, at church or at a restaurant, I am probably going to talk to you about education.

COMMUNITY & CHURCH ACTIVITIES:

I love the community I live and worship in. I think it is important to not only live in a community but become a part of it. I am an active member of my sorority Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. Recently, I have been attending church more often with my mom, Maureen Billingsley, who turns 85 in August and is going strong.

MOST CHERISHED POSSESSION:

My family and my faith is my most cherished possession. My dad passed away in 2003 and my brother more recently in January. My sisters, mom, husband, son, grandson and I spend as much time together as we possibly can. We all lean on God and each other for support and encouragement.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT LIVING IN THE 501:

The one thing I love about Arkansas is the people. No matter where you go, you will find someone who treats you with kindness and oftentimes will invite you over for dinner!

I am the Assistant Superintendent of Recruitment and Personnel for Conway Public Schools.