ABOUT | July 2019

AMBROSIAL ARTISAN

JULY 2019 • www.aboutrvmag.com

Reflecting the Character of the Arkansas River Valley

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A VIEW OF THE PAST

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RIVER MONSTER

July 2019

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

8 Ambrosial artisan

Classically trained as a French pastry chef and using only all-natural ingredients, Andi has built a rockstar reputation and loyal following.

If you think this is overstating the situation, consider these comments from the quiet, but determined, customers waiting in line on a sunny Saturday morning. .

14 Pops is the tops

16 A view of the past

Beautiful gardens surround the site and a fully stocked greenhouse populated with native plants and heirloom seedlings sits beside the impressive two-story, state of the art, modern barn. Often referred to as the “teaching barn,” this large wooden structure has served as the main office and educational research center for the Arkansas Archeological Office at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute since the station moved from Arkansas Tech University in 2007.

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22 River Monster

Pizza can be found across the land. There seems to be an outlet in every little town and even in between. But in the heart of Pottsville, something different, something delicious, something huge is carving a new channel in the River Valley pizza scene.

30 The power of respect 36 10 things ABOUT...

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

Funky Town Mall

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ABOUT THIS MONTH’S COVER Andi Kuroki, the hands, feet and mind behind Kuroki Bakery poses with her two sons (one holds a loaf of traditional Japanese milk bread) in her home kitchen. She’s converted this space into the current headquarters for her baking business. Fun iSpy for our readers: the mixer featured far camera right belonged to her great grandmother and is still a workhorse in her kitchen today.

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EDITOR’S LETTER

Wonders in every era I’m not a Luddite by any stretch. Truth be told, technology — specifically the internet and everything attached to it including the Pandora’s box of social media — plays a significant role in my day-to-day. It also makes my life more interesting through introductions to new people and connections to friends — real friends — across the nation and the globe. And it makes my life easier through the power of Google, which is now more familiar as a verb than it ever was as a noun. It’s broadened my horizons and, in fact, made my career. Though editor at ABOUT is my main job, I freelance for several other publications all of which feature digital publication and some are exclusively online.

Crazy as it sounds, I wouldn’t be me — who I am today — had I lived in another time of humanity by even a few decades.

But even with all the good, I often yearn for a simpler existence and a slower pace.

And I treasure the relationships built over years of shared experiences in our little corner of the world seemingly tucked away from the hustle and bustle both geographically and in ideology.

This issue is a celebration of those textured connections to this place… sort of.

Writer Jeannie Fowler introduces us to Andi Kuroki who actually — physically — traveled half way around the world to help hone her skills as baker and all-around

goodies craftsman. And then, with the accolades piling up, she settled here in the River Valley. Andi makes delicious food and drink the old-fashioned way: with local ingredients (when possible) and through a sensual connection to the process — the smells, the colors, the tactile sensations, and finally the tastes — that ensures she’s done it right.

Our second feature story, by Meredith Martin-Moats, is set atop Petit Jean Mountain, but the subject matter ranges across Carden Bottoms and on up to the Ozark hills.

The artifacts and evidence of who was here, who called this place home before we came, are incredibly interesting. “The Teaching Barn,” AKA the Arkansas Archeological Office at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, provides a glimpse into that prehistoric world. The gardens filled with native and cultivated plants that were used in various ways by people who lived not on the land but with it, artifacts, maps, and a knowledge of this home of ours, that has often been home for others through the centuries, deepens our appreciation for the things we can touch and see and feel. The things that ensure our survival. The things that ensure our humanity.

We live in a time of wonder, sure. But here in the River Valley, it’s always been so.

Reflecting the Character of the Arkansas River Valley since 2006 A Publication of One14 Productions, Inc Vol. XIV, Issue 6 – July 2019

DIANNE EDWARDS | founding editor JOHNNY CARROL SAIN | managing editor johnny@aboutrvmag.com LIZ CHRISMAN | photography editor lizchrismanphoto@gmail.com BENITA DREW | advertising benita@aboutrvmag.com MEREDITH MARTIN-MOATS | freelance meredith@aboutrvmag.com JILL MCSHEEHY | freelance jill@aboutrvmag.com SARAH CLOWER | freelance sarah@aboutrvmag.com LYDIA ZIMMERMAN | columnist lydia@aboutrvmag.com CHRIS ZIMMERMAN | layout/design chris@aboutrvmag.com CLIFF THOMAS | illustrator maddsigntist@aboutrvmag.com

ABOUT… the River Valley is locally owned and published for distribution by direct mail and targeted delivery to those interested in the Arkansas River Valley.

Material contained in this issue may not be copied or reproduced without written consent.

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR OF EVENTS

July 2019 4th — Happy Independence Day! 5th — Finding Woody at Petit Jean State Park from 2-2:45 p.m. Admission is free.

Join Park Interpreter Carrie to discover the many woodpeckers that make Petit Jean State Park their home. The program will include a short walk by Lake Bailey for a chance to see a few. Bring binoculars if you have some. There will be a few available to loan but on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information contact 501727-5441.

8th

— Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre presents Romeo & Juliet Russellville Center for the Arts from 7-8 p.m. Arkansas Tech University and the Russellville Center for the Arts presents a community showing of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theater’s Romeo and Juliet. Proceeds will go to support the Center and to support Governor’s School at ATU. Tickets are $15. For more information contact 498-6600.

15th-19th —River Valley Arts Center Theater Camp for ages 6-13. Fees are $80 members/$90 non-members. For more information contact 968-2452.

10th — Outdoor Exploration Day Camp at Lake Dardanelle State Park from 9 a.m.

Find up-to-date information and future events @

www.aboutrvmag.com/events - 4 p.m. Admission is $65. Lake Dardanelle State Park is the perfect place to explore some of what Arkansas has to offer.

Discover the fun of the area’s rich history, culture, and the great outdoors. This camp is for kids ages 8-12. Fee covers lunches, snacks, and supplies. Campers must bring their own water bottles and sunscreen.

Campers may choose from the three camps offered. Registration is required at least one week in advance of the camp. Registration packets are available at the visitor center, or by calling 967-5516.

25th — Community Bingo at Brookdale Senior Living Russellville. Bingo starts at 2 p.m. Everyone is invited.

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28 29 30 31 1 2 3 *Unless otherwise indicated, all area codes are 479. To have your event included in the ABOUT Calendar of Events, email: editor@aboutrvmag.com or fax to (479) 219-5031. Deadline is the 15th of the month preceding publication.

27th — Music Downtown at Sundown Summer Concert Series Depot Park in downtown Russellville at 7 p.m. The last concert for the 2019 series will feature Knox Hamilton and the Downhill Runners.

Family friendly and free admission. For more information contact 967-1437.

Aug. 8th-10th — Bargains Galore on 64 from Fort Smith to Beebe Arkansas along Arkansas State Highway 64. For more information see go to the Facebook page Bargains Galore on 64 - 2019.

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Ambrosial artisan Story by JEANNIE RODRIGUEZ-STONE | Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN

The time is 8:16 a.m. The place is the Downtown Russellville’s Depot Park. The Farmers Market has only been open a few minutes, and tension is high for those 15 folks patiently waiting in line to purchase their favorite baked goods under the crisp, white tent. Kuroki Bakery: Artisan Breads & Pastries is open for business, and Andrionna Kuroki, known to friends as Andi, is behind the counter and warmly greets each customer, often aware of what the order will be beforehand.

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“She’s an incredible baker.

Her scones are the best we’ve ever had, and we lived in Scotland, so we know a good scone,”

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CLASSICALLY TRAINED AS A FRENCH PASTRY CHEF AND USING ONLY ALL-NATURAL INGREDIENTS, Andi has built a rockstar reputation and loyal following. If you think this is overstating the situation, consider these comments from the quiet, but determined, customers waiting in line on a sunny Saturday morning. For Jessica Cox, passing the first few customers who carefully clutch their treasured pastries in boxes, sacks, and bags bearing the Kuroki seal quickens her heart rate and feet. “If I don’t get here by 8:25, she is sold out of my favorites,” Jessica exclaims as she moves to the head of the line. She side-whispers so as not to take her eyes off the prize, “Every item, every flavor is delicious.” Jessica is giddy to find raspberry buttercream macarons filled with lemon curd pink clouds of layered pastry concoctions with a strong come-hither appeal.

Sometimes the stars align and lucky shoppers find the bakery booth by happenstance. Newcomers Taylor and Jackson Jacobs, with 7-month old Cameron, have been lured by the buzz of the crowd patiently waiting. “This is our first time,” Taylor says, seemingly shocked to have been out-of-the-loop. “I wanted to get fresh vegetables, but I also found fresh bread. I am looking for healthier options, and this bakery offers that.” Her arms are filled with a variety of baked goods including challah, a braided Jewish bread steeped in symbolism because it is made from dough set aside as an offering.

Andi’s spiritual pilgrimage is marked by transcending cultural barriers through food pathways and has included gastronomical jaunts to Tokyo, Japan, ancestral home of her husband, Masanori, an economics professor at ATU. A family trip to Tokyo became a culinary research trip for Andi, who noticed the country has a fascination with French pastries. “There is a huge mashup between traditional and Japanese pastries, and there is a French pastry shop on every corner,” she says. Andi insists there is no better way to meet people than to eat their food. “Food is the common ground,” she says, “and everybody eats.”

Her admiration of Japanese culture doesn’t end with the noodle shops and pastry shops. Andi is a fan of the discipline. “The Japanese do everything with such care. They strive for the highest quality and take pride in a job well done,” she says. “Everything is done with passion and respect for both old ways and innovation.” Another national trait she is fond of is concern toward society rather than the individual.

Andi relates how this devotion to others manifests in society.

“Even when you’re in the busiest part of Tokyo, people are quiet; there are not raised voices. They consider there might be men coming home from work and taking naps, so they are quiet out of respect,” she says. Andi puts her own inclusive spin in her business. She is not phased by special dietary requests: sugar-free, vegan, gluten-free. “Nobody has to feel left out,” she says.

Taste preferences are obliged as well. Not all pastries have to be sweet, and savory pastries share the spotlight under the tent.

Andi’s inclusive spirit embraces the farmers who surround her at the market as she sources local produce for her signature dishes

like cinnamon pecan scones, which are topped with honey caramel from Rural Route Farm.

French chocolate tart with brown butter crust, Japanese milkbread, Italian focaccia, Greek lasagna, and a classic French baguette that requires a starter, called poolish, to be made 14 hours in advance and must be pulled every hour for four hours (after mixing for 45 minutes) to acquire the gluten and chewiness Andi demands. The list of tasks is formidable, and she often makes 1823 recipes, requiring 15-16 timers, in a single day. Organization is the key to survival.

In the beginning, Andi used a color-coded timeline because it was difficult to keep track of the different steps. Her inner thoughts on those busy days would often add to her stress. What recipe is next? Who has paid? Does my son have a performance at school?

Who is picking him up? Diagnosed with ADD as a child, Andi has learned to control the chaos, she says. x The French culinary term ‘mise en place’ - or everything in its place - is also descriptive of the Japanese kitchen philosophy and one which Andi fully embraces. An admitted clutter-control freak and queen of making lists, she says “there is nothing excessive in my kitchen. I like to have every little thing set out and ready before I start cooking.” Andi recently purchased a Google Home Mini that controls all the timers.

Keeping busy satisfies Andi. “I am a tactile person. Baking bread requires more than just following the directions. I have to listen, look, touch and use 100 percent of my senses,” she says.

“I love keeping my hands busy. Even when I’m at rest, I’m still thinking.” Her work ethic and commitment to care for her eldest son, Ezikiel, attracted her husband. The family, now in its fifth year, added another son, Kyohei. His Japanese name translates to ‘peaceful echo.’ Andi laughs as she explains the custom of naming children. “The Japanese name their children what the parents hope for their children, and Kyohei is anything but peaceful,” she says.

Still, the boys are heavily influenced by her home business and reportedly enjoy being domestic. “We definitely agree on equality in our home,” Andi says, “and my husband does all the laundry and dishes.” However, she gets an emotional thrill when the boys take to the kitchen. “My little guy (at a mere 3-and-a-halfyears-old) makes his own scrambled eggs, with a pinch of salt and ground pepper.”

Influenced by food obsessions in her own childhood, Andi and her mother were hooked on old-school food shows like Iron Chef.

Her paternal grandmother was a professional cake decorator who traveled the country and demonstrated her skills at grocery markets. “One of the best gifts I ever got was a complete cake decorating kit with bags and little tips and my own apron,” she says with enthusiasm. Her family continues to nurture her cooking interests, and her woodworker father created the extra large butcher block JULY 2019

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that serves as Andi’s pastry counter. A passion for food and cooking continues to unite the far-flung families who live as close as Missouri and as far as Tokyo.

Researching the rituals involved in elaborate preparations appeal to Andi’s curiosity and desire to push herself to the highest culinary standards. She uses only the finest ingredients available and is quick to adapt recipes for dietary needs, including cakes and cookies she creates for catered celebrations. Andi confesses that “this is not something I can just slap together. It’s a part of my soul. That is why I can’t make bread if I am angry. My baking is always a product of love, kindness, and happiness. When I make wedding cakes, I always listen to romantic music. I want people to taste that love.”

No doubt the people already do.

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The time is 8:28 a.m., and canelés, brûléed custards, made with rum and vanilla beans, are gathered on the lower shelf of the glassed pastry cart, tucked in discreetly and not calling too much attention to themselves.

Andi tells a customer the pastries are from the Bordeaux region of France in hushed, ethereal tones.

“You can really taste the creamy custard inside and the lovely Maillard browning,” she says.

Customers Kirby and Christine Austin have completed their purchases and turn to leave. They are hugging super-seed boules and a box of cranberry scones.

“She’s an incredible baker. Her scones are the best we’ve ever had, and we lived in Scotland, so we know a good scone,” Christine says.

Andi holds an associate degree in Baking and Pastry Arts from the Art Institutes: International Culinary School of Kansas City and has worked as a pastry chef for Story Restaurant in Prairie Village, Kansas, recognized as a semi-finalist for Outstanding Restaurant by James-Beard. Andi was the lead designer and pastry coordinator for Sugar Mamma’s Bakery and Cafe in Kansas City, Missouri, and production assistant for Three Women and an Oven in Overland Park, Kansas. Her notable achievements have included winning the commission to create the congratulatory Grammy cake for the Zac Brown Band in 2013 - the honor was based on internet reviews of cake decorators in the Kansas City area- and winning the 2019 Taste of the Valley Best Beverage

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151 E. Aspen Lane, Russellville, AR 72802 • Phone: 479-967-1117 • Fax: 479-967-0089 • www.centralarkansassurgical.com 12

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

award for her original Lavender Lemonade.

It is that lemonade Andi offers in generous sample cups to customers as they linger over the nearly depleted shelves and racks.

“It is made from organic lavender buds,” she says, lilting the sounds of the words as if they had dropped from heaven. The refreshing liquid seems an elixir. One woman briefly inhales its essence then takes a long sip. Lost in reverie, her eyes remain closed. It seems we have another pilgrim firmly planted on the path to epicurean enlightenment.

Kuroki Bakery operates at the Pope County Farmers Market on Saturdays, 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Depot Park. The baked goods are also available through Russellville Online Community Market; orders are placed ahead then delivered to the depot on Tuesday evenings. To order, visit http://russellville.locallygrown.net/ .

To keep up on what is happening in Andi’s world, and to enjoy saliva-inducing photos and recordings that feature Andi working her magic, like and follow her on Facebook at Kuroki Bakery: Artisan Breads and Pastries.

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JULY 2019

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E V E R Y D AY L I F E

“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he is wrong.”

– CHARLES WADSWORTH

Pops is the tops Story by SARAH CLOWER | Illustration by CLIFF THOMAS

EVERY YEAR, about the time that Mother’s Day and Father’s Day rolls around, I interview about a dozen kids and ask them a few questions about their parents. I have always been fascinated by what their little minds latch on to, their opinions about their moms’ and dads’ habits and tendencies, and what memories stand out the most for them. In honor of Father’s Day, I asked several kids the following questions about their dads. Hilarity ensued.

How old is your dad?

(Most common answer: accurate age of their father) “I don’t know. Older than me, duh. Wait… could he be younger than me? Can that happen?” - Ben, age 6 “Well I think he is really, really old, like 32, but my mom says he acts like he’s 12. But I think he’s 32.

Ask my mom. She’ll know.” - Jordan, age 9 “I don’t know, but he has A LOT of gray hair.” Claire, age 5 What is your dad’s favorite food?

(Most common answer: Food from his grill) “Anything my mom doesn’t cook. When she cooks the loud beepy thing goes off and the kitchen smells bad.” - Claire, age 5

“Anything weird!” - Ruby, age 13 “Westy Sizzles.” - Raff, age 10 What is your dad’s favorite drink?

(Most common answer: Beer) “Monster juice. He gets’em from the gas station, and he says I can’t have any because it will make me go hyper.” - Ben, age 6

“I don’t know what it’s called, but we always have to drive a long way to a place called ‘The Well.’” - Claire, age 5 “He puts lots of green stuff in a blender and drinks it all of the time. So… lettuce water is what it is I guess.” Sadie, age 7

Enjoy the Freedom of the Open Road this Independence Day.

(479) 968-3991 • 1903 SOUTH ARKANSAS

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What is something your dad always says?

(Most common answer: Go ask your mom.)

“Plays on his phone and does magic tricks. Oh, and tells ‘Dad jokes’” - Ruby, age 13

“Son, I love you.” - Raff, age 10

“Goes into the bathroom. He’s in there for hours!” - Claire, age 5

“He tells me about his childhood all of the time, but Grandma Suzy says that’s not how it was.” - Ruby, age 13 “He says bad words sometimes and he tells me not to tell mom.” - Jordan, age 9 What is something you wish your dad said more often?

(Most common answer: Yes, I will play with you.)

“He says ‘Come on slow poke’ all the time, so I wish he would tell me ‘There’s no rush, take your time’” - Ruby, age 13 “I wish he said no to a lot less things.” Hayden, age 13 “I wish he sighed less. He sighs ALL THE TIME and mom always says “no one likes a sigher” and she’s right!” - Ben, age 6

Does your dad help out with chores around the house?

(Most common answer: No.) “Like clean his room? Oh yes. He cleans all the time. He needs to come over to my mom’s house because she’s messy.” Raff, age 10 “I don’t think so. I think my dad needs a back doctor. My mommy says that when she asks my daddy to do something, he always says his back hurts.” - Claire, age 5 “Yes, he sits on the couch because he says it keeps it from running away. I don’t like that couch. We need a new couch.” - Ben, age 6

What do you think your dad does for fun?

(Most common answer: Mow the lawn)

Does your dad do anything to embarrass you?

(Most common answer: Yes, when he tries to get things cheaper.)

“Plays video games.” - Raff, age 10

“Yes! When a boy calls my phone and

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my dad sees who it is, he will answer it and tell him that I can’t talk because I am having horrible gas and have been in the bathroom for a long time! I don’t have gas! He’s the one that has horrible gas!” Adrienne, age 15 “Yes, he tells my friends that one of the Kardashian’s died, but he can’t remember their names and usually says ‘Kevin.’” Laney, age 14 “Yes, when blows his nose it’s so loud! It scares people!” - Sadie, age 7 What is your favorite thing about your dad?

(Most common answer: Everything!)

“He plays video games with me and has cool hair.” - Raff, age 10 “When he lets me ride the lawnmower with him.” - Ben, 6 “When he plays with me for a long time!”

- Dragan, 7 Would you trade your dad for a different dad?

Unanimous: “No way!”

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A view of the past Story by MEREDITH MARTIN-MOATS | Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN

It’s still foggy as I drive to the Arkansas Archeological Survey office at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute atop Petit Jean Mountain. The car winds around forested roads before reaching the fields of Santa Gertrudis and Red Angus cattle dotting the landscape of the former Winrock Farms. At the top of the mountain, we head toward the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, specifically, the Heritage Farmstead, a series of farm buildings built as replicas of the Westphal family’s property, homesteaders who once inhabited the opposite side of the mountain.

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well house, sorghum press, and rows of trellised muscadines and grapes are visible from the driveway. Beautiful gardens surround the site and a fully stocked greenhouse populated with native plants and heirloom seedlings sits beside the impressive two-story, state of the art, modern barn. Often referred to as the “teaching barn,” this large wooden structure has served as the main office and educational research center for the Arkansas Archeological Office at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute since the station moved from Arkansas Tech University in 2007.

The survey office is one of 10 archeological stations across the state which serve as research centers and public outreach sites for regional archeological research. Together these sites make up the Arkansas Archeology Survey, a part of the University of Arkansas System. Arkansas’s model of these diversified research sites is highly successful, serving as an inspiration for statewide archeological programs across the world.

Dr. Emily Beahm is the station archeologist with the Arkansas Archeology Survey at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute. She has a love for cultural studies and plants, and much of her work fo-

cuses on the vast Native American gardens that encircle the barn.

These gardens highlight and study the ways in which humans have interacted with the land over time, ranging from plots dedicated to hunter/gatherers crops to intentional plant to domestication. In her position as station archeologist Beahm oversees 11 geographically and culturally diverse countries ranging from the River Valley to the Ozarks and and parts of the Ouachitas. Her central office is located on the bottom floor of the barn, a cozy nook filled with books and posters from the Survey’s extensive public outreach work.

Beahm started out as an assistant to Skip Stewart-Abernathy, the former regional director of the survey. Stewart-Abernathy excelled in harnessing the cultural power of the site at the Rockefeller Institute. Beahm, whose dissertation research focuses on late prehistoric sites in Tennessee along the Cumberland River, became the station archeologist when Stewart-Abernathy retired in 20015. Today the station is home not only to the heritage farmstead and the research gardens but also the survey’s regional collections: a wide array of things including an extensive comparative collection of objects on the ground floor, used for analyzing materials. Beahm offers a tour of the barn.

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“Skip accumulated a lot of things,” she explains, opening up drawers lined with little old bits of broken jars and pottery. “You can search by color lists and shape,” she continues. Clues about the shape of a jar lip, for example, can be used to determine when and where the jar was created. She opens up drawers full of broken blue and white pieces, another is full of green glass. Finding aids accompany the collections, organized by color, size, and shape. It’s a perfect example of the ways in which archeology can provide clues when there are no written records available.

The Barn is also home to an extensive raw materials collections which allow researchers to explore where materials were being quarried and give accurate estimates to found stones and tools. A large room across from the comparative collections contains tubs from excavated sites throughout the region. Several large grinding stones sit next to the plastic tub, a collision of centuries.

The upstairs of the barn is home to her assistant Larry Porter and a room full of site forms, paper copies, and quad maps of both well-known and privately owned sites. “The site location information is not subject to freedom of info act,” Beahm explains.

“So we don’t give it out unless it is for legitimate research.” This extra step of privacy, she explains, helps people be more willing to share information with the survey. “We take calls from folks who ask, ‘I have this artifact what is it?’ Or ‘I think there is an old site on my property.’ And we get lots of calls about cemeteries.

People want to find the boundaries,” she explains.

Much of the teaching barn is geared toward behind-the-scenes research and providing access to material artifacts from around the region. But it’s clear Beahm loves public outreach. And the sunlit, large downstairs classroom of the barn is a central part of that community-based work. Near the back of the classroom, she points to an experiment waiting for a group of homeschool students who will arrive in the coming weeks.

There are wooden boxes of large seed pods and a tree bark 18

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

looking material shaved into delicate, twirled threads. One is the inner bark of milkweed; another is the bark of a pawpaw tree spun for baskets. “If you break it open and peel off the outer bark,” she explains as she opens up the milkweed seed pod, “you get the inner fiber, the bast fiber.” The fiber is silky and strong. This wellknown wildflower is found in the Woodland section of the garden; a sampling of the first domesticated and cultivated crops that were derived from locally available wild plants. Most of us gardeners probably know milkweed as the place where butterflies lay their eggs. But its bark can be used for fiber and cordage, and it was widely cultivated for this usage during the Woodland period, 600 B.C.-900 AD. Like the milkweed, most of the plants Beahm works with are what many of us would call weeds. Her vocabulary is dotted with the colorful names of Arkansas native plants such as rattlesnake master, little barley, maypops, dogbane and goosefoot. These are plants we coexist with every day, possibly even spraying them with weedkiller to keep them out of a manicured lawn or mowing them under with a blade. But archeological evidence shows that not only did humans use these plants for food, medicine, and cordage, they also cultivated them, a process that changed their morphology.

“Arkansas is a treasure trove of archeologically preserved plantbased materials,” Beahm explains, “providing researchers with evidence of plant use through time. The Ozarks have preserved plant material that wouldn't otherwise be preserved because of the constantly dry conditions.” She points to the work of her survey colleague, Elizabeth Horton, station archeologist at Toltec Mounds in Scott, Arkansas. As a paleoethnobotanist (a person who studies plants and their relationship to prehistoric people) Horton’s research has uncovered sites that have yielded examples of baskets and sandals and mats made out of these plants growing here in the gardens at the barn. “We have sandals made out of dog-

bane and we have baskets made out of both dogbane that contain goosefoot,” Beahm says. “So we have this preserved materials in addition to seeing the seeds change morphologically.”

“One of the things I did is develop these teaching gardens so that we can look at which shows plant use through time in Arkansas,” explains Beahm. There are three main gardens: the Arkansas Native Plants Walkway, which includes varieties of sun and shade growing native plants including ferns, acorns, pawpaw, dewberries, maypops and pokeweed. It’s a hunter/gatherer inspired landscape that is meant to mimic human interaction with the landscape between 8500 and 650 BC. The Woodland section mentioned above is filled with knotweed, marsh elder, squash, bottle gourds, dogbane, and rattlesnake master. It also contains wild grains that

were domesticated over time. The third garden, the Mississippian period garden, is probably the most familiar to gardeners of today. It represents agricultural practices post 900 AD, including the domestication of corn and beans from Mexico. “It’s the traditional corn, beans, squash often referred to as three sisters,” Beahm notes. “I also added a historical sorghum and cotton plants,” Beahm explains.These are plants that correspond to the homesteading buildings. “But the cotton hasn’t worked,” she laughs. “So this year we’re doing a historic herb garden including culinary herbs and medicinal herbs.”

All of the work of the garden is funneled into education programs for Arkansans of all ages. Beahm, alongside fellow Arkansas Archeological Survey archeologists Jodi Barnes, Eizabeth

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~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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Horton and George Sabo are the authors of a fifth grade social studies curriculum entitled Gathering, Gardening, and Agriculture: Plant-based Foodways in the Southeastern United States.

The curriculum offers instruction and hands-on activities for teachers and students allowing public school instructors a way to bring the past to life and help students gain a deeper understanding of their homes.

Last year Beahm also began a homeschool education program and this year they have created a curriculum: “Not Just Food: The Many Uses of Plants in Arkansas History.” “We used last year’s work as a starting point but expanded it a lot,” she explains. Last year they had kids work in the garden and harvest once a month for six months, she explains.

“This gave homeschool students the chance to see the garden change through time and engage in the tasks and watch the bounty transform with the seasons.”

This year they’ll start looking at plants as materials for baskets, for medicine, clothing, and tools. “The first class of the season,” explains Beahm, “will focus on gourds and gourd grafting.” As the summer continues, they can expect to make cordage from rattlesnake master, use a drop spindle, and use native plants to make dye. Her goal is to approach the classes as a “springboard for other contexts, including technology.” Beahm wants students to think about how archeologists can make inferences based on form and also decoration. “Why do people decorate?” Beahm asks.

But it’s not just homeschool students who get to participate in the gardens or utilize the resources at the survey atop the mountain. The teaching barn and the Rockefeller Institute is also a site

20

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

for Project DIG, a program for 5th and 6th grade Gifted and Talented students six Pope and Yell County schools The core goal of the long-running project is to teach kids about the scientific nature of archaeology. The project has existed for 11 years, but Beahm is putting her stamp on the work.

“I’m trying to instill a sense of the importance of cultural heritage so they don’t destroy archeological sites, basically,” she explains. “I talk to them about how important culture is and how it influences everything they do,” Beahm explains. “The most important thing is that it shows kids that the way they live is not the only way to live either now or in the past.”

Students engage in this concept by creating a new culture, explains Beahm. “We create a new culture; we make artifacts, and I break those artifacts and then a different class excavates those and tries to learn about the culture,” she explains. At the end of the program the students conduct a research symposium at the Rockefeller Institute and present their findings. The Institute prints up programs and signage, providing materials to mimic a professional symposium. The most recent symposium was just held this past April.

As we walk through the gardens Beahm points out the pawpaws growing on the trees and persimmons, blackberries, and pokeweed. It’s a beautiful location and full of ever-changing tools for research. The hunter gatherer area is fascinating, and the three sisters area makes my gardner heart happy. But it’s the Woodland area where we spend most of our time talking. To the untrained eye, these native plant gardens encircled in stones look like well-manicured weeds. “These are wild progenitors of those

domesticated varieties,” Beahm explains as she points to the dogbane, milkweed, maypops, and columbines. Maypops, often referred to as passion fruit, produce edible wild fruits. Goosefoot provides edible seeds that ripen in summer and fall.

Beahm points to some little barley, a thin, weedy grass that looks exactly as you might expect. In fact, you can probably go outside right now and find some of you own growing around your mailbox.

“Little barley is super common,” Beahm explains. But how exactly it was used is still a puzzle. “We know Woodland people planted maygrass for grain,” she explains. “It’s ready in early spring and is easy to harvest. But no one is quite sure how little barley was processed for food.” Beahm says that they know the tiny grains were removed from the shaft because they find it preserved this way in some of Arkansas’s own sites. So she and the staff are experimenting with the wild growing grain, trying to figure out how earlier humans might

have effectively removed the tiny grains from their coating.

Unlike the fairly stable conditions in the barn filled with artifacts, these teaching gardens have a mind of their own. Though Beahm has tried to plant these wild foods in well contained circular gardens with well-outlined plots and readable labels, the plants are forever popping up in places uninvited, especially the maypop and goosefoot, which has ignored its plot altogether and has instead started coming up in the gravel rock path between garden plots. “But this is all part of the research,” laughs Beahm.

You can follow along with the activities of the teaching garden online at their webpage at www.archeology.uark.edu/wri-native-gardens. From there you can a link to their facebook page which is regularly updated with kids workshops, plant growth pictures, and links to upcoming events.

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~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

21

Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN Story by JOHNNY CARROL SAIN

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River monster Pizza can be found across the land.

There seems to be an outlet in every little town and even in between. For Pete’s sake, you can buy a slice at the gas stations. Because of this ubiquity, and because even bad pizza is still pizza and any pizza by definition is tasty, good pizza is hard to come by.

But in the heart of Pottsville, something different, something delicious, something huge is carving a new channel in the River Valley pizza scene. Appropriately enough, it’s called Arkansas River Pizza.

Arkansas River Pizza funnels the cosmopolitan restaurant experience of its owners into real New York style pizza — without the east coast trip — that simply blows the competition away.

The secret is fresh made-from-scratch

22

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

dough, fresh chopped veggies, and locally sourced meats from Ferguson’s Packing in Atkins, Petit Jean Meats, and even family farms.

We had the River Monster Pop Pizza — a Leviathan-sized pie measuring 20 inches and loaded with everything in the kitchen including 120 slices of pepperoni.

It weighs 11 pounds and is everything a pizza should be and more. Every topping and every seasoning rings out with each bite yet somehow melds together for a pizza experience you won’t forget.

If you and a buddy can eat the entire River Monster in one setting, it’s free.

Five and a half pounds of pizza per person seems impossible… until you taste it. And then you’ll wonder if just one River Monster will be enough.

JULY 2019

~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

23

C O U N T E R T O P C R E AT I O N S

“I never met a lasagna I didn’t like” ~ Jim Davis, creator of Garfield Story by LYDIA ZIMMERMAN, Food Editor Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN

Y

ou may be heading to your favorite Italian restaurant or making a pan of this delicious dish in your oven at home. Either way is a great way to celebrate National Lasagna Day, which is recognized each year on July 29.

Originally, in Italy, the word “lasagna” did not refer to the food but to the pot in which the food was cooked. The word “lasagna” for the pot is derived from the Greek word for chamber pot.

It’s thought that Lasagna — the dish — originated in the region of Emilia-Romagna of Italy. But researchers in Great Britain found a cookbook with a lasagna recipe that dates back to the 1390’s, claiming their fame to that first lasagna. But whoever created this masterpiece of noodles, sauce and cheese matters not as many of us have enjoyed variations of it over the years.

As a way to celebrate Lasagna day I’ve gathered some usual and unusual Lasagna recipes.

Also, I’ve included a chocolate-lover’s-dream of a brownie recipe created by my son Lucas who just attended the ATU “It’s Worth the Whisk” camp. Believe me when I say you will have to have a cup of coffee or a glass of milk to wash this brownie down due to its richness.

As always, enjoy!

VEGETARIAN LASAGNA ABOUT Magazine Featured Recipe ~ July 2019

2 T olive oil 1/2 c chopped onion 1 c sliced mushrooms 1 T minced garlic 2 small cans of black sliced olives 3 c tomato sauce 2 T Italian Seasoning 2 T sugar 15 oz ricotta cheese

24

1 egg 2 T Italian Seasoning 1/2 c parmesan cheese 2 -10 oz bags of frozen spinach, defrosted and excess water squeezed out 12 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained 2 c mozzarella cheese

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion, mushrooms, garlic and olives.

Saute’ for 3-4 minutes stirring frequently. Add tomato sauce, 2 T Italian seasoning and sugar, stir well. Let simmer covered on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

While sauce is simmering, in a medium bowl mix together ricotta cheese, egg, 2 T Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese. Sit aside.

In a 9x13 inch pan spread 1 c of

Vegetarian Lasagna

tomato mixture. Place 4 noodles on top.

Then spread 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture on top and spread.

Then evenly place 1 c of spinach on top, then another layer of 4 noodles. Repeat with sauce mixture, ricotta mixture and noodles.

Spread remaining tomato mixture on top of noodles and top with the mozzarella cheese.

Cover lasagna pan loosely with foil and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

EASY PICANTE LASAGNA 1 lb ground turkey 16 oz jar chunky picante sauce 1 c heavy whipping cream 2 egg, slightly beaten 1 c Mexican cheese blend, shredded 1-2 T Italian seasoning 1 c Plain Greek yogurt 1/4 c parmesan cheese 9-12 uncooked lasagna noodles 2-3 c Italian cheese blend, shredded, divided Preheat oven to 350. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add ground turkey and cook until browned.

Stir in picante sauce. Remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl, add heavy whipping cream, eggs, mexican cheese, italian seasoning, greek yogurt, & parmesan cheese. Stir until well combined.

In a 9X13 dish, layer the lasagna: meat-noodles-yogurt mixture-italian cheese. (any order of layering will do) Use a small dish for more layers.

Finish with a layer of italian cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes Uncover and bake for 15-20 minutes Let cool for about 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Recipe courtesy of divascancook.com

Triple Chocolate Brownies

LUCAS’ TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES 1/2 c butter, unsalted 4 oz Bakers German chocolate (1 bar) 1 c granulated sugar 1 1/2 c sifted flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 3 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 c milk chocolate M&M’s chopped Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large microwave safe bowl place butter and german chocolate. Heat for 30 seconds, remove from oven and stir well. Place back in oven at 30 second increments, stirring well after each in-

crement until chocolate is melted. DO NOT OVERCOOK! After chocolate is melted, add 3 eggs and mix well. Then add sugar, sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Again mix well.

Pour mixture into a greased 8x8” baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for approx 20-25 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Remove from oven and immediately pour the chocolate chips on top of the brownie. Let sit for 2 minutes to melt, then spread over the brownie evenly.

Let cool completely, then spread the milk chocolate M&M’s over the top.

Recipe courtesy of Lucas Zimmerman, my son

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~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

25

SUMMER SLOW COOKER LASAGNA WITH ZUCCHINI AND EGGPLANT 1 1/2 T olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 large zucchini, chopped 1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2-in chunks 2 large ears corn, kernels removed 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 2 1/2 c canned tomato sauce 12 uncooked (regular, not the no-boil kind) lasagna noodles 1 1/3 c shredded mozzarella cheese 1/3 c shredded parmesan cheese 1/3 c panko breadcrumbs Fresh chopped basil, for serving Set a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the olive oil. When hot, cook the onion in the oil for 2 to 3 minutes, until it starts to soften. Add in the zucchini, eggplant, corn, tomatoes, garlic, salt and red pepper flakes.

Cook for 7 to 9 minutes, until the veggies are tender. Remove from the heat, taste and season with additional salt and red pepper flakes if needed.

Spread 1/2 c of the sauce in the bottom of your slow cooker. Top with a layer of three lasagna noodles, breaking them as needed to fit. Using a slotted spoon, top with 1/3 of the vegetable mixture, then 1/2 c of the sauce and 1/3 c of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat this process two more times — noodles, vegetables, sauce, cheese. End with a final layer of noodles and the remaining 1/2 c of the sauce. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/3 c mozzarella, the parmesan and panko.

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Cover and cook on low for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the noodles are cooked through. Turn off the slow cooker and let sit uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. This will let the lasagna set so you can cut it easily and it will hold its shape. Sprinkle the top with fresh basil before serving.

Recipe courtesy of ohmyveggies.com APPLE PIE LASAGNA 5–6 medium apples, peeled and sliced.

Juice from1 lemon 2 T All-purpose flour 1/2 c Packed light brown sugar 1 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp Apple pie spice 2 T Maple syrup For The Cream Cheese Filling: 8 oz Cream cheese, softened 1 c Powdered sugar 2 T Brown sugar 1 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 c Heavy Cream 1/2 tsp Pure vanilla extract 2 T Caramel 8 oz Cool Whip For The Lasagna: 2–3 pkg Graham Crackers 8 oz Cool Whip.

1 c Heath milk chocolate toffee bites Prepare The Pie Filling First: Peel and slice your apples into small pieces; about the size of a dime. Place in a medium size saucepan. Squeeze the juice from a whole lemon over the apples.

Add all of your dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and apple pie spice. Mix all ingredients well and then add maple syrup.

Using a saucepan on medium-high heat, cook the apples for about 15-18 minutes until they begin to brown and bubble. Remove from heat and cool completely. Refrigerate if necessary.

While the pie filling is cooking, prepare the cream cheese filling. Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature, or soften in the microwave for 15 seconds.

To Prepare The Cream Cheese Batter: Beat cream cheese on medium-high speed with a wire whisk attachment until light and fluffy. Turn off mixer and add dry ingredients: powered sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon. Beat into cream cheese.

Add heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until whipping cream is fully mixed into cream cheese.

Add caramel sauce last and mix into batter.

Add cool whip and beat on medium speed until mixture is well combined. Divide into thirds.

To Assemble The Lasagna: Cover the bottom of a 9X13” pan with graham crackers. You can break the crackers into pieces in order to get into the nooks and crannies.

Cover the graham crackers with a layer of the cream cheese batter and spread evenly. Spoon half of the apple pie filling over cream cheese and gently press into the mouse. Add a small handful of toffee chips on top. Repeat this twice so that you end up with three layers of mousse, 3 layers of graham crackers and 2 layers of apple pie filling. The top layer will be mousse.

Cover the top layer of Cool Whip with additional toffee bites and drizzle with caramel.

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

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I suggest to allow at least two hours in the fridge for the graham crackers to soften. Store in an air tight container and keep refrigerated. Best served cold.

Recipe courtesy of beyondfrosting.com EASY LASAGNA STUFFED BURRITOS BURRITOS: 1 T olive oil 1 onion , diced 2-3 cloves garlic , minced 1 lb ground lean beef 12 oz ground sausage 21 oz bottle tomato puree / sauce, or passata (or marinara sauce), divided 4 T tomato paste 2 tsp beef bouillon powder Salt and pepper , to taste Pinch of dried oregano Pinch of dried basil 6-8 large tortilla wraps (white or while wheat) 7 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced 3/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese WHITE SAUCE: (OPTIONAL) 2 T butter, chopped 2 T all purpose flour 1 1/2 c milk 1/4 tsp salt Preheat oven to broil or grill settings on medium heat. Lightly spray a baking sheet / tray with cooking oil spray; set aside.

Meat Sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large pan or skillet.

Sauté onions and garlic until translucent and fragrant over low-medium heat.

Add in the ground beef and sausage; fry

until browned, while breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon.

Stir in 3/4 of the tomato puree. Add the tomato paste, bouillon powder, salt and pepper (to taste), and dried herbs. Bring to a simmer until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly (the sauce will be thicker than normal lasagna sauce to avoid wetting and ripping the tortillas).

While cooling, prepare white sauce (optional) White Sauce: Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; cook, quickly stirring for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Gradually add milk, starting with 1/4 c, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth. Return to a low heat and cook, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, for about 10 minutes, or until sauce thickens and comes to a boil. (It should coat the back of a wooden spoon.) Remove from heat.

Assemble: Heat tortillas in microwave for one minute until soft. Place two slices of mozzarella onto the tortilla; spread about 1/4 c of meat on each tortilla, and top with 2 more slices of mozzarella. Fold over tortilla ends, and roll up. Pour remaining tomato puree/sauce over the top (about 2 T each burrito), spoon white sauce over the tomato sauce, and top with the shredded mozzarella. Place burritos on prepared baking sheet / tray; bake burritos until cheese has melted and the tortillas are golden. Serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy of cafedelites.com

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~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

27

COMMUNITY

Lineup for Music Downtown at Sundown July 27 @ Russellville’s Depot Park Downhill Runners Southern blues meets rock and roll with a hint of grunge — that’s the sound of Downhill Runners. The band consists of Russellville locals Drew Brent, Corey Pintado, Jakobe Huddleston, Joey Balch, and Dylan Rylee. The band members met while playing on worship team bands at local churches and have been great friends ever since. Each member brings their own tastes to the table when creating songs as well as performing covers. Together, the band has a wide variety of influences ranging from Prince, Chris Stapleton, Johnny Cash, and bands like Shinedown and Radiohead.

Knox Hamilton It’s the bond between brothers Boots and Cobo that gives Knox Hamilton’s music a degree of familial intuition; a genetic thread of energy running between the two.

Knox Hamilton — comprised of Boots, Cobo and their longtime buddy and guitarist Drew Buffington — doesn’t make songs by mistake. Every note, every chord, every lyric is intentionally created to wrap your mind in a warm embrace while still setting your soul free to wander the cosmos. One listen to the first single “Washed Up Together” from their debut album “The Heights” and you’ll agree the result is hard to argue with. Before “The Heights,” the band released a four-song EP called “How’s Your Mind” featuring the runaway 28

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

Knox Hamilton

single “Work It Out.” The addictive tune raced to the top of SiriusXM’s Alt18 charts and reached “near-Adele levels on alt-rock radio” (Huffington Post), garnering KH the hard-earned respect of the indie rock community and over 7.9 million streams on Spotify. Creating music that nods to their small-town church roots while dedicating themselves to their far-reaching artistry, Knox Hamilton is a band built to last.

Recent ATU grad steps forward to aid Dardanelle during flood Cade Schneider grew up surrounded by family who fulfilled their desire to help others by working in the health care industry.

“I knew that I wanted to be the same way in terms of helping others, but I didn’t want to go into the medical field,” said Schneider, a Paris native who graduated from County Line High School. “I wanted to take a whole new approach.”

He found his way to help others by studying emergency management at Arkansas Tech University, and he found his opportunity by serving an internship with Dardanelle Mayor Jimmy Witt during the historic Arkansas River flooding of 2019.

Witt called the ATU Department of Emergency Management seeking assistance from a student in the program. Schneider, a May 2019 graduate of ATU with a Bachelor of Science degree in emergency management, happened to be standing in the

department office when the telephone rang.

“I thought that the opportunity was rare when it presented itself,” said Schneider.

“After giving it a bit of thought, I started quickly realizing the importance of this opportunity and the possibilities in the future with emergency management coming from the experience. I was about to get real experience in an emergency operations center and see how things are run.”

As the scope and severity of the disaster expanded, Schneider went from watching to actively participating in the mitigation efforts.

“It quickly changed from just handling communications to being (Witt’s) righthand man in making sure his requests were getting done and handling connections and assets that were available,” said Schneider. “I know that being around when everything was happening and seeing how a good leader takes charge during disasters will really help in my future.”

Schneider developed social media posts that became the information conduit between the City of Dardanelle and its citizens during a time when reliable, accurate information was paramount. He also managed the flow of information going to and coming from the mayor’s office by ensuring that Witt was able to reach the most critical personnel at the most critical times.

“All through my college career, I heard the saying that communication is key,”

said Schneider. “Now, I truly know what that means. If there is no communication between regions or even within our operation, nothing can or will get done. Communication is about finding a solution to a problem and then relaying that solution to other regions so when the time comes, they too can fix their problem in the same way.”

It was a real world, real-time laboratory that allowed Schneider to apply and confirm the lessons he learned in the ATU Department of Emergency Management.

“I learned how to communicate effectively so others can understand better and faster,” said Schneider when asked to reflect upon the most valuable aspects of his ATU education. “I also learned how people normally react during stressful times of a disaster, and I was able to incorporate that in how we communicated over a social media platform. I learned in the depart-

ment how to listen and understand when someone steps up during a disaster and takes lead in a certain area. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. No one is the best at everything. Lead when you can, and follow when others take lead in order to get the best results.

“Also, I learned how to be personable when communicating and leading,” continued Schneider. “By being personable, it shows people that you care and take pride in what you are saying. This helps create trust and credibility. If you are not personable and just go straight by the books, it comes off as you’re only there to get the job done and you don’t care about anything else. People don’t like that and will not take you seriously if you are like that, especially when they are most vulnerable. I also learned how to network. This came to my benefit because while I was in school, I networked as much as I could whenever possible. Then, when I was helping Mayor Witt, I was able to utilize those connections, which helped and added needed resources and assets to our list.”

Arkansas Tech has conferred more than 1,100 emergency management degrees since developing its program in the late 1990s. In addition to the bachelor’s degree in emergency management, ATU also offers a Master of Science degree in emergency management and homeland security.

In 2005, ATU became the first institution of higher learning to have its degree programs accredited by The Council for Accreditation of Emergency Management Education.

Visit www.atu.edu/emergencymanagement to learn more about the ATU Department of Emergency Management.

RUSSELLVILLE ANIMAL SHELTER

Featured Friends

Salty & Pepper BREED: Long

Haired (spayed)

GENDER: Female

Meet Salty and Pepper. Salty is a threeyear-old spayed female who still has her claws. Pepper is also a spayed female, but she’s been declawed and is around four years of age. Both are sweet, laidback kitties who love to be petted and would like nothing more than to curl up on your lap for hours. Go meet them at the Russellville Animal Shelter, and then give them a home.

To learn more, or to adopt this month’s featured friend, please contact the Russellville Animal Shelter at (479) 968-1944.

Photo by MADISON REVES

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~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

29

The power of respect Story & Photo by JILL MCSHEEHY

HIS WARM VOICE on the other end of the call immediately eased my clenched stomach. Both excitement and nervous energy pulsed through my body as I prepared for the biggest interview of my life.

I am a new-ish gardener from Pottsville teaching other beginners how to garden through my blog and on my fledgling podcast, The Beginner’s Garden Podcast.

He is an Emmy-winning TV producer and podcast host. You might have seen his show on PBS, Growing a Greener World, or listened to his podcast, The Joe Gardener Show. He’s on a first-name basis with the person who named the world-famous Cherokee Purple tomato and keeps highly-respected agricultural experts on speed-dial.

And yet he agreed to be a guest on my podcast. In the height of the garden season. In the middle of filming Season 10 of Growing a Greener World. Days away, I found out, from learning if his show will receive a second Emmy this year.

To describe my body as a bundle of balled-up nerves when I hit the “call” button on Skype would be an understatement.

At the same time, though, I couldn’t wait to ask Joe Lamp’l, who himself gardens in Atlanta, Georgia -- a similar hot-hu-

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mid climate as ours -- some of my most pressing tomato questions.

The questions I chose to ask were ones I hear most frequently myself, especially in the height of the summer. Most gardeners find their lush tomato plants begin to lose their vibrance in July. Whether due to disease, heat, blossom-drop, unmanageable growth, blossom-end rot, or other reasons, we grow discouraged and perhaps give up on keeping up with them altogether.

Not only did Joe give suggestions for those issues, he also posed a solution I had never considered: start a new crop of tomatoes in July.

This was a new idea to me, but Joe explained that starting a new crop in July would allow these tomato plants to escape some of the early-season ailments. With little effort, we could extend and even multiply our tomato harvest.

But Joe doesn’t suggest starting tomatoes from seed again or purchasing pricey transplants at the garden center. Instead, he suggests starting new tomato plants from your current ones.

Simply find a “sucker” from one of your tomato plants, carefully pinch it off, and place it in a pot of well-moistened potting soil. Keep it watered for four weeks to allow the root system to establish in the pot.

Then, transplant the new tomato plant into the garden. Depending on the variety, you could find yourself harvesting a fresh crop of tomatoes from late September until our first frost, usually in early November.

I don’t know about your garden, but each year I’m constantly fighting to keep my tomato plants healthy mid-season. Last year I had to pull my tomato plants in August because Septoria Leaf Spot, a fungal disease common in humid areas, overtook them.

This simple method of starting new tomato plants from the first ones before disease sets in holds rich possibility for gardeners wanting to take advantage of our long growing season in Arkansas.

I learned so much about tomatoes and gardening in my conversation with Joe Lamp’l, but I also learned something perhaps even more poignant that went deeper than garden talk.

At the beginning of the call, I wanted to respect his time and was ready to dig into the interview. But before I pressed “record,” he slowed our conversation down and asked me questions. He treated me as an equal, with respect and consideration.

During our two-hour call, I felt like I was talking to an old friend.

In those precious two hours, I learned that no matter how “big” a person is in his or her sphere of influence, there’s power in noticing someone, giving of your time, and even asking questions. There’s meaning when we pause from our busy schedules to invest in someone coming up behind us.

Sure, I left that conversation knowing more about gardening and excited to share the interview with my podcast listeners.

But I also left with something more -- a tangible example to follow and encouragement to honor and respect everyone, no matter how big or small.

If you want to hear this two-part conversation with Joe Lamp’l, the episodes air on July 2nd and 9th at journeywithjill.net/podcast.

WELCOME

Home

R I D E & CA R E

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Let AMCARE take the worry out of who will take care of you upon discharge from the hospital or rehab with our Welcome Home “Ride and Care” service.

AMCARE will assist you with transportation home from the Hospital, Rehab or Out Patient Surgery. We will also take care of picking up prescriptions, groceries and any other errands you may need.

You will have a choice of 4-6 hours of exceptional care service which also includes light housekeeping, laundry, changing the linens, meal preparation, medication reminders, and much more.

Call 479-880-1112 for more details or to Schedule your Ride & Care Home.

Licensed by Arkansas Department of Labor and Arkansas Department of Health. Bonded and Insured.

www.youramcare.com JULY 2019

~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

31

Story and photo by JOHNNY CARROL SAIN

A JOURNAL of our RURAL & NATURAL HERITAGE

Gar Hole

P

oint Remove Creek’s slow warm currents dawdle in the lazy hot days of mid-summer. The creek bottom’s air dawdles, too. It’s stagnant and damp, amplifying smells of life and death, and the pungent odor of death is strong today. Metallic green and blue bottle flies swarm and cover the corpse of a shortnose gar lying on the silty creek bank. Its mucous coating is irresistible to the flies. The gar was a victim of arrow. A thumb-sized hole punched through its midsection is clear evidence.

Just a few feet from the dead gar I catch glimpses of living gar gliding through quiet brown water.

More gar carcasses litter the slippery creek bank, and each carries the same mark of death. But there’s not a fly one on the other bodies. Flies can’t break down the scales, and the slimy mucous has been gone for days. The bodies are dried husks hollowed by maggots that, from a distance, look as though they could reanimate. The scales and bony heads filled with needles hold their form in the elements and through the fly swarms. Mummies of Point Remove Creek they are: the embodiment of ancient secrets passed down from the age of “terrible lizards,” embalmed by sun and flies. They look misplaced. Gar carcasses stacked on the creek bank don’t look natural. It’s not their death that’s bizarre. The gar’s life measured in seasons of survival — fighting the torrents in a flood, gulping air in bath-warm stagnant pools, evading the blue heron, predating the shad — is balanced on the thin edge of existence.

Death is always just a fin stroke away. But the mass of punctured bodies left to rot is spiritually disturbing.

The gar’s thick interlocking scales were no match for a heavy fiberglass arrow. Ironically, the scales of the gar family’s largest

32

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

member, the alligator gar, were once used as arrow points by Native Americans. But I doubt Native Americans left carcasses to rot on creek banks. There’s too much protein underneath the rough and toothy exterior of a gar for that. It shows a lack of respect for ancient processes and our elders, and gar are our elders by a wide margin; they’ve been around for over 100 million years. Some of the gar’s more famous prehistoric contemporaries were Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor. Gar evolved at a time when giant reptiles ruled the air and sea, and grasses, yes grasses — wheat, corn, everything you spend all summer mowing — would not evolve for another 30 million years. Gar are older than grass.

Homo sapiens’ earliest primate ancestor was still 65 million years away when gar first pumped water over their gills.

Small gar break the skim in a pool just off the creek’s main channel, pulling my thoughts back to the present. We local anglers call these pools gar holes. Gar are about the only type of fish than can live in them during the parched summer months.

A sluggish eddy points to pool and current melding, and gar hang around the periphery of the eddy looking, smelling, feeling for an easy meal. Gentle plips and violent splashes signal gar feeding, or more like-

ly, gar breathing. Despite the gills, gar can and do breath air when they need to. An air bladder functioning as primitive lung is a family feature. In low oxygen waters gar porpoise, take quick pops or sometimes gently rise to the surface and inhale.

Watching little shortnose gar suck air in the creek is neat. Watching four-foot longnose gar do this in the Arkansas River is pretty cool. But neither experience compares to a friend’s encounter with an alligator gar on the White River in eastern Arkansas.

He said he first noticed just a dark shape that grew more massive by the second as it rose from the depths like a modern day Cetus. Suddenly, all the movies about killer sharks, crocodiles and sea monsters rushed in with vivid detail as the prehistoric beast hovered like a saturated log just under the surface next to his suddenly tiny aluminum boat. After a seconds-long slurp of river bottom air, the gar submarined, pectoral fins rolling figure eights and broad tail casually rippling the surface as it sank. I dream of such an epic encounter, but the little shortnose gar in Point Remove will do for today. They remind me that what I can see is only a glimpse of life under the waters.

Point Remove Creek is a semi-popular fishing destination for the rougher and

poorer crowd, folks that can’t afford a boat and don’t mind muddy shoes and mosquito welts in exchange for a stringer of catfish.

Catfish are a delicacy enjoyed by all classes and by all means. But as you can tell from the decomposing bodies on the creek bank, nobody eats gar. Hell, I’ve never eaten gar, and I’ve caught and killed far more than my share. I shot gar in number and tossed their ancient forms to the mud.

“Food for the raccoons,” is how I justified my actions, and maybe the raccoons rejoiced. But more likely it was just the flies. Though the gar’s inherent toughness probably allowed them to live out of water for hours after being impaled by an arrow, ol’ Sol eventually wore them down and the flies feasted on gar slime.

With a fishing arrow nocked, gar were my preferred target. They often suspended just below the surface, shadows in the murky waters I stalked. In clearer waters their cryptic camouflage and penchant for absolute stillness — perfect ambush hunting technique — made them motionless targets if you could at first determine that they weren’t a water-logged stick or branch

jutting from submerged brush. Even motionless, the smaller gar were challenging to hit. The combination of cylindrical bodies and diffraction of light led to a lot of misses at first, but eye and hand quickly came up with a solution, and I was deadly.

Alligator gar are rare in my local waters, but longnose gar, some nearing five feet in length, swarmed below Dardanelle Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River near my home. This was the bowfishing equivalent to big game hunting, and a giant longnose was challenging. You mostly saw them as they porpoised, appearing on the surface for only a moment as a greenish-silver flash, and then diving only to resurface in an unknowable location. Skill had bowed to luck if an arrow found the mark, but when the arrow sunk in the fight was on — the ferocity of a primitive survivor wrapped in a near bullet proof vest, armed with a mouthful of stilettos, and I was tethered to it by a shaft and length of braided Dacron “Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? Or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?”

No, but I can skewer him with an arrow.

There was satisfaction in being deadly.

The twang of the bow followed by hissing string and surprisingly delicate arrow splash, and then the frenzied thrashing of a fluorescent arrow nock signaling a hit. It was a primal feeling of accomplishment. The chemical rush is a holdover from our true origins, from a time before grocery stores and restaurants, a time when our survival depended on personal and thoughtful killing.

Brought to boat, a gar was guaranteed to slice your hand or finger with razor gill plates. Or sometimes you didn’t even know how it cut you. Just suddenly there was blood, your blood, mixed with gar blood and slime. We even used heavy work gloves to handle fish and still we were cut.

And for the fight, the gar was unceremoniously knocked on the head and thrown into a barrel with other unlucky fishes. And here again is where I cheated both the dead gar and myself: after an all night excursion we would dump the carcasses in a remote location on my farm, “food for the raccoons,” we said. But again, all I ever saw eating on a dead gar was flies.

Continued on page 35...

What’s there to do about the river valley?

ENJOY A SUNSET.

www.lizchrisman.com

*The view over Lake Dardanelle at sunset can’t be beat.

JULY 2019

~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

33

COMMUNITY COMMERCE

Funky Town Mall Story by HANNAH BUTLER

It’s safe to say that Funky Town Mall is one of the most unique places to shop in Russellville.

If you’ve never been, it feels like you’re on a scavenger hunt as you scour the shop for different treasure. The mall is a collection of different booths filled with oodles of jewelry, books, crafts, pocket knives, furniture, clothes and more.

It’s almost a maze you want to get lost in.

“I’ve had customers say they’ve walked around two or three times and they saw something different every time,” says owner Amanda Armstrong.

Amanda started Funky Junky in downtown Russellville in 2012, and then kicked up Funky Town Mall in 2013. In the beginning, vendors weren’t allowed. But when Funky Town started, people were coming to Amanda and her husband Jimmy asking if they could sell a few pieces.

“We’ve always liked that extraordinary, different, vintage retro vibe,” said Amanda. “And then we came up with Funky Town Mall, naming it ‘Funky Town’ because it was like a garden of people under one roof, like a town, but it’s in our mall.”

Funky Town Mall Now, the antique shop has around 80 ven(479) 968-3865 dors who pay a monthly fee. There aren’t 1612 South Arkansas many requirements for renting a booth at Russellville, AR 72801 Funky Town. It’s really for anyone who needs to get rid of anything. “Declutter and defunk your homes, your attics, your basements, your storage sheds,” Amanda says. “Get rid of it and make some extra income.”

Renting a booth isn’t a requirement, though. Funky Town also offers the opportunity to sell items in the mall parking lot every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. The fee is $10.

Though, Funky Town has room for more booths, plans to expand with additional room for vendors are in the works. “I’m kind

of antsy to change things up,” Amanda says.

“It’s kind of like moving around furniture in your house.”

Funky Town gets a lot of travelers so Amanda tries to fill the shop with items from all over the country, buying from estate sales.

This aspect of the business is one of Amanda’s favorite parts. She gets the chance to meet people from everywhere.

“No two days are the same,” she said. “I love to hear people’s stories and why they’re here.”

For additional information, call 479-968-3865 or visit its Facebook page or at Funky Town Mall. Its Instagram page is @funkytownmall. Sales can be made through social media.

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

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...cont. from page 33 I never thought about the gar, about their place as apex predators fine-tuned for the complex river ecosystems they inhabited. I did not think of the gar as anything but targets for my amusement. I did not think of the sacred circle now defiled. I did not think.

The question about whether this might be wrong came from an unexpected source.

My wife, who had always supported my outdoor pursuits and activities caught me off guard one day. I was discussing a gar kill from the previous night’s bowfishing when she asked, “Have you ever thought about the killing?” Of course I thought about the killing.

“No, I mean have you ever thought about why you kill them?”

I had not.

But I thought about it the next time a gar swam within range of my arrow. I shot the fish anyway. It was only about a foot and a half long, just another shortnose gar. The gar came to hand with little fight and lay still in the mud as a pink cloud vanished in the shallows. A trickle of red channeled through armor plating near its savage eye

and dripped onto the mud. I thought of my wife’s words again as blood splattered into the creek and became one with the water.

The arrow had not penetrated the gar’s body cavity; it struck and held in only muscle, and I was able to work it loose with minimal damage. And then, with a gentle nudge, the gar was back in its element.

With a few lazy tail strokes it became part of Point Remove Creek again. That was my last gar by arrow.

In the decade or so since then, I have thought of that gar often. I think of it every time I look at the bow and shotgun here in my writing nook. I hunt and fish, and game meat is the main course at most of our meals, and I think of it every time I put the sights on an animal. I think of it every time I push my fork into a morsel of meat. I think of it as I watch the gar, likely distant relatives, in Point Remove Creek today. I think of it as I see their dried bodies half buried in silt. It’s not black and white. The act of killing an animal cannot ever be simply good or bad. It’s a nuanced act hinging on motive and intent, tactic and ethos. The taking of a life hangs on a timeless code. And within

the complexity, I’m ok with being a killer.

But I’m no longer ok with a pointless death.

I can’t abide a thoughtless killing.

I’m haunted by thoughtless kills that litter my past.

Of course gar die. Everything dies. But dead gar piled on the creek bank somehow seem outside the circle and its exquisite tragedy. The act of killing without thought or purpose runs counter to natural order. It may be one of the few true evils in this world. It’s why the words of my wife struck like the dagger of truth, why dead gar left to the elements offend my soul.

Flies still buzz around the freshest carcass as an afternoon sun bakes the creek bottom.

The heat index is well into triple digits and my clothing is soaked with sweat. The older hollowed gar carcasses look like parched fossils in the desert, mere feet from their watery home but forever separated. Before leaving Point Remove I say a prayer for the gar and for the creek, and I say a prayer for the archer who left the fish gasping for liquid life here on its banks. I say a prayer for enlightenment and understanding. I say a prayer for mercy when enlightenment strikes.

JULY 2019

~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

35

COMMUNITY LEADERS

...

Chris

OLSON

AGE: 38 OCCUPATION: Executive Director RussVegas

Foot Races Foundation HOMETOWN: Born in and lived in Russellville

until 1996 then moved back in 2006.

FAMILY: Wife Lisa, daughter Grace Anne age 9 and son Reid age 5.

1

What is your favorite book and why?

The Bible. It’s refreshing to know what God has done in order to have a relationship with me.

2

Dog or cat?

Dog! A dog looks at you and is thinking how it can make your day better. A cat looks at you and is just mad we’re so big and they are so small.

3

What's the best thing about living in the River Valley?

The hometown spirit and public schools.

It’s nice to live in a place that has community roots. Russellville is growing and will continue to grow. But in the midst of the growth, the hometown feel still remains. Our communities commitment to our public schools is amazing, and it shows in how our kids come home from school and how they are competing with other students across the state and nation. RSD is the reason we moved back to Russellville.

4 Photo by LIZ CHRISMAN 36

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

What’s something no one would ever guess about you?

I was in the military. I was fortunate enough to spend six years in the USAR, from Fort Benning to Fort Sam Houston. It was an experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything. The military was the catalyst that I needed as a boy to grow into a responsible young man.

5

What is your favorite music genre and artist?

If I would have to choose, it would be 90s hip-hop because that’s what conjures up so many memories for me as I was growing up. But honestly, I love all music because one song can change your day. It brings people together, makes you want to let your hair down, get focused, or give you the courage to try one more time. I love music.

6

What do you nerd out on?

I am the vacation nerd. I’ll spend way too much time finding the perfect rooms, activities, fastest route, and especially best food. It is truly satisfying for me to take family and friends on good adventures.

7

If you could change one thing about the River Valley, what would it be?

I would change the the way we disagree. Even in Russellville, so many of us come to each issue with varied experiences. There is rarely one single correct way and I like to hear and respect others opinion. We may not agree, in fact my own opinion might be unbelievable to you, but we learn so much about one another when we listen, ask questions, and learn to agree to disagree sometimes.

8

Where is the one location in the River Valley you would tell a firsttime visitor that they must go?

There are so many, but I would say Mt. Nebo. I have so many great memories on Mt. Nebo as a kid. Now my kiddos are getting to experience the magic of the crisper air, birds-eye view, and the reminder that there is a lot of world out there to see.

9

Have you considered pre-planning? Call today for a free, no-obligation consultation.

479-968-1143

2757 East Parkway Drive

Pizza, tacos, cheeseburger, or fried chicken?

Cheeseburger. I like good food and appetizers, but from this list, you can’t beat a well made cheeseburger from one of our awesome burger joints or homemade on the grill while hanging out with friends on the back porch.

10

What is your favorite quote?

Could be from an inspirational person or an original.

I have two. Every time my wife and I say good bye we say "Love ya, mean it.” It’s so simple but still has a big impact knowing that my best friend knows my faults and successes, but chooses to love me and she means it. Additionally, my dad always told me while headed out for the night in high school and college:”Remember who you are.” Regardless of how the night went, this was a reminder to control my decisions on that particular night, it was and is always in the back of my mind to remember who I am and where I came from.

Happy 4th of july!

At Depot Park

Shows start at 7pm

JULY 27

Downhill Runners &

Knox Hamilton Follow our Facebook page for updates as we add attractions to this final Music Downtown event of this summer.

Concessions • Family Friendly Bring a chair or blanket & enjoy!

Free Admission!

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As Always, Free Delivery. 12 mo. interest free financing w/ approved credit.

1402 N Church Street, Atkins AR JULY 2019

~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

37

Engagements Do you want Independence from Pain?

Call Rhonda Wolf

MS, LMT

@ 479-385-2755

located inside the Denver Clinic, 1305 E Main Street, Russellville

Calendar listings of engagement, wedding and anniversary announcements on the pages of each issue of ABOUT‌the River Valley are available at no charge. They may be mailed to: ABOUT Magazine, P.O. Box 10176, Russellville AR 72812 or sent via email to: editor@aboutrvmag.com.

(A phone number must be included for verification.)

JULY

OCTOBER

6th Sydney Hinkle & Garrett Johnson

12th Leslie Hudgeons & Parker Witt

13th Linsey Samuels & Matthew Futrell

12th Keeli Matchett & Ryan Rooke

20th Fayth Braton & Noah Johnson

19th Alahna Martin & Derrick James

20th Maylia Henderson & Stephen Sohn

26th Brittney Baskin & Nathan Henderson

27th Kristen Connelly & John Dickey

AUGUST

NOVEMBER 2nd Lexi Culwell & Garrett Crosby

10th Emilee Smith & Stephen Hunt 17th Olivia Castleman-Dry & Kyle Roberson 24th Bonnie Daily & Casey Moore 31st Lauren Lovelady & Hugh Benfer

SEPTEMBER 7th Kaylee Konsella & Kendall Goates 14th Ashlyn Dale & Brandon Baugh

8th Anna Maria Walker & Jeremy Greene 9th Hunter Eshnaur & Rance Ellis 16th Dr. Meghan Kerin & Dr. Aaron Bratton 23rd Lizzy Tripp & Brandon Grice 23rd Kassie Walker & Jace Powers TBD Elizabeth Chronister & Lonnie Newton

14th Taylor Richard & Kyle Rollans

DECEMBER

14th Sydni Tolliver & Daniel Parker

7th Hannah Bowden & Clay Singleton

14th MorganWoodward & JD Bridgforth 21st Summer Dawson & Adam Land

14th Dixie Worrell & Joshua Sayger

28th Kelsey Fincher & Tyler Edwards

BOOTH SPACE AVAILABLE

317 W. B STREET RUSSELLVILLE, AR 38

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ JULY 2019

The Scarlet Locke Hair Lounge has space available for an experienced and fun sylist with clientele. Booth space is $85.00 per week.

We are in the heart of downtown Russellville and the only salon with a full beverage bar.

Call 479-747-3111 for more information.

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That hospital is right here in Russellville.

With a stroke, every minute matters. Reducing the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment can significantly impact stroke outcome.

Because of the coordinated efforts demonstrated across a range of hospital departments and disciplines, Saint Mary’s stands ready to deliver exceptional stroke care at a moment’s notice. Saint Mary’s AR SAVES program has been consistently recognized for rapid door-to-medication treatment times for several years. And this year, we are the only hospital in the state to receive three top stroke care honors.

As an ArSRH hospital, we are capable of providing time-critical care — including emergency evaluation, real-time stroke assessment, and treatment through telemedicine. Although that care is delivered in the Emergency Department, it takes the synergy, commitment, and collaboration of many departments to provide the outstanding stroke care for which we are recognized.

Outstanding commitment leads to outstanding results. When you need us most, we will be here, for you.

1808 West Main St. | Russellville, AR | 479.968.2841 SaintMarysRegional.com | facebook.com/SaintMarysRegional

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