AY About You April 2022 by AY Magazine

A R K A N S A S ’ L I F E S T Y L E M A G A Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 2 2 | AY M A G . C O M

Little Rock Home Show | NASA | New in Town Bucket List $5.00 U.S.

your

DESTINATION for something different

At Brashears we believe furniture shopping should be an enjoyable experience. That’s why we do things a little differently—creating a relaxed shopping environment where you can find unique, quality items that fit your lifestyle and personality.

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A ONE-OF-A-KIND OVERNIGHT EXPERIENCE

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Make 2022 Your Year for the

"I love my new smile. Thanks Dr. Lambert!" Before

Lorah with beautiful No Prep Veneers.

After

Beautiful Smile You Deserve!

“People all over Arkansas trust Drs. Lee Wyant and Alyssa Lambert with their smile. With a combined 40 years of experience in providing clinical excellence you know your smile is in good hands. Dr. Wyant is Arkansas’ only Fellowed Cosmetic Dentist. Credentials, experience and caring concern for each individual patient insures that you’ll receive exceptional esthetic results regardless of the challenges presented. Learn more how Drs. Wyant and Lambert can help you have an incredible smile by calling today for your complimentary smile consultation.”

501.819.3608

ACCREDITED FELLOW

COSMETIC SERVICES Porcelain Veneers & Crowns Dental Bonding Zoom® Whitening Invisalign • Dental Implants

C. LEE WYANT, DDS ALYSSA LAMBERT, DDS

16524 Chenal Pkwy Little Rock, AR 72223 501.819.3608 smilearkansas.com

All photos of beautiful smiles created by Drs. Wyant and Lambert.

Red Moon Tavern.

WHAT’S INSIDE 10 12 14 142 144

Publisher’s Letter Connect

Top Events Murder Mystery Arkansas Backstories

HOME&GARDEN

Building Success The Home Show Returns

16 22

FOOD&DRINK

old Moves B Face Behind the Place: Susie Powell 68 Spring Recipes 70 Cigar Republic 56 62

ARTS&CULTURE

Howlin’ for the Zoo ‘ Creative Roots’ onnected by Craft C

76 82 88

TRAVEL 94

Keeping the Natural State Natural

HEALTH

108 A Walk to Remember 112 To Celebrate a Life 118 The ‘Red Carpet’ to Recovery 124 Dental Advancements Bring

New in Town Bucket List, page 60

Bigger Smiles

136 The Line in the Sand

ABOUT YOU

100 Space Cowgirl 140 This Side of Seven: The Test

ON THE COVER Blast off! On Dec. 25, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched into space. And an Arkansas native plays a pivotal role in its mission. Read more: page 100. Photo credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

2022-2023 PCSSD REGISTRATION OPEN Pulaski County Special School District is now registering students for the 2022-2023 school year. Families returning to a PCSSD school can submit a letter of intent (bit.ly/PCSSD-22-23LOI) to return to the District. Families new to the district can register their children through the online registration portal located on the District website (www.pcssd.org). Pre-K student enrollment is also open for eligible 3 and 4 year olds.

PCSSD’s mission is to provide equity and excellence for all students through rigorous college and career readiness instructional strategies. We serve 26 schools in Maumelle, Little Rock, North Little Rock and Sherwood. For families who do not live within the PCSSD zone but wish to attend one of the schools, the Arkansas School Choice Act is an option. The Arkansas School Choice program enables a student in kindergarten through grade 12 to attend a school in a nonresident district. School choice applications are being accepted through May 1 this year. If you have specific questions related to registration and school choice, please contact the Office of Equity and Pupil Services at 501-234-2021.

ABOUT PCSSD

REGISTRATION PROCESSES Returning Students - Current PCSSD families can submit a letter of intent to return to the District next school year. The letter of intent will replace the need for returning students to reregister this year. The letter of intent can be found at bit.ly/PCSS-22-23LOI. New Students - Parents of students who are new to the district can register their children through the online registration portal. The NEW STUDENT registration portal is only for students K-12 who have never attended a PCSSD school and reside in the PCSSD attendance zone. The online registration portal can be found on the PCSSD website. Pre-K - The PCSSD Pre-K program is part of the Arkansas Better Chance program and supported by the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. It provides students with a strong foundation of knowledge and skills to build on through kindergarten and into elementary school. Students must meet certain requirements. Contact prek@ pcssd.org for more information.

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 at their maximum potential through collaborative, supportive and continuous efforts of all stakeholders.

PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER

Heather Baker hbaker@aymag.com SENIOR EDITOR

Dustin Jayroe djayroe@aymag.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Mark Carter mcarter@aymag.com

STAFF WRITERS

Emily Beirne ebeirne@aymag.com Sarah Coleman scoleman@aymag.com Katie Zakrzewski katie@aymag.com

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Mike Bedgood mbedgood@aymag.com

ART DIRECTOR

Jamison Mosley jmosley@aymag.com

DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Kellie McAnulty kmcanulty@aymag.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Lora Puls lpuls@aymag.com

Dwain Hebda is president of Ya!Mule Wordsmiths in Little Rock. A writer, editor and journalist of some 30 years, his work appears in more than 30 publications in four states. Nebraskan by birth, Southern by the grace of God, he and his wife, Darlene, have four grown children and two lovely dogs.

Janie Jones has been a journalist for more than 20 years. She and her husband, Wyatt, co-wrote two books: Hiking Arkansas and Arkansas Curiosities. She is also the author of The Arkansas Hitchhike Killer: James Waybern “Red” Hall, a book that originated from a two-part article she contributed to AY About You.

Julie Craig began her magazine career while living in New York City as an intern at Seventeen. With fashion and home design as her forte for the past 15 years, Julie is a blogger, writer and editor who has reported stories for Us Weekly and written about and photographed New York Fashion Week.

Ebony Blevins After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from Arkansas State University, Ebony Blevins has worked for and with numerous publications and marketing companies around Arkansas. Along with freelancing, she is currently developing her fine art photography body of work.

Angela Forsyth lives in Northwest Arkansas. Her articles have been published in AY About You, Arkansas Money and Politics, Food & Drink, Modern Home Builder, Manufacturing Today, Inside Healthcare, Retail Merchandiser and many more magazines. She’s a happy wife and mom to four kids and a dog.

Jason Pederson spent 20 years as KATV’s Seven On Your Side reporter. He is now Deputy Chief of Community Engagement for the Arkansas Department of Human Services. He and his wife, Mary Carol, have two biological children and one bonus son. They are long-time members of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock.

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Linda Burlingame lindaaymag@aol.com Tonya Higginbotham thigginbotham@aymag.com Mary Funderburg mary@aymag.com Tonya Mead tmead@aymag.com Shasta Ballard sballard@aymag.com Amanda Moore amoore@aymag.com

ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER

Jessica Everson jeverson@aymag.com

ADVERTISING COORDINATORS Austin Castrellon ads@aymag.com Virginia Ellison ads@aymag.com

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ginger Roell groell@aymag.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Kaitlin Barger, Jenny Boulden, Kenneth Heard, Meredith Mashburn, Tony Milligan, Sarah Russell, Jared Sorrells

ADMINISTRATION Casandra Moore admin@aymag.com Vicki Vowell, CEO

TO ADVERTISE:

501-244-9700 or hbaker@aymag.com

TO SUBSCRIBE:

501-244-9700 or aymag.com

Nic Williams, an Arkansas native, is a practicing lawyer and contributor to AY About You. He has developed original recipes for more than half a decade and considers Ina Garten as his inspiration. Most importantly, he’s a proud doggy dad and is grateful for his supportive friends and family.

AY Magazine is published monthly, Volume XXXIV, Issue 12 AY Magazine (ISSN 2162-7754) is published monthly by AY Media Group, 910 W. 2nd St., Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201. Periodicals postage paid at Little Rock, AR and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to AY Magazine, 910 W. 2nd St., Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201. Subscription Inquiries: Subscription rate is $20 for one year (12 issues). Single issues are available upon request for $5. For subscriptions, inquiries or address changes, call 501-244-9700. The contents of AY are copyrighted ©2021, and material contained herein may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. Articles in AY should not be considered specific advice, as individual circumstances vary. Products and services advertised in the magazine are not necessarily endorsed by AY. Please recycle this magazine.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STATE PARK

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publisher's letter

Is That You, Spring? We had a few false alarms, but I think spring might have actually (finally) arrived. Maybe this is the part where I knock on wood to avoid another USO (unexplained snow occurrence). I guess no matter how it feels outside by the time you read this, it is “official” per the March 20 Spring Equinox — otherwise known as the astronomical first day of spring for us in the Northern Hemisphere. You know what else is astronomical? Our cover this month features the James Webb Space Telescope’s launch on Christmas Day of 2021. That’s because we had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Amber Straughn, the program’s deputy project scientist for communications, for this month’s issue. Her humble beginnings in Bee Branch didn’t hold her back from following her dreams all the way to NASA. We’d say that is definitely “shooting for the stars.” Down here on Earth, this month also marks the 70th Annual HBAGLR Home Show. We’ve got the scoop on that event and a special section all about homes to get you — and most importantly, your home — ready to break ground. This month’s food and drink section features a cast of culinary characters from all sides of the established spectrum. First, there’s the New in Town Bucket List, a round-up of some of our favorite new restaurants that have opened in the past couple of years. But then there are the features on Susie Powell of Hoot’s BBQ, celebrating 10 years in business, and Little Rock’s Cigar Republic, celebrating its third anniversary. Whether it’s a brand-new eatery or a tried-and-true staple, we’re always glad to get around the state and celebrate all of the people and places that make Arkansas special. Speaking of getting out and about, this month offers more opportunities to do that than I’ve seen over the past two years. Like the Little Rock Zoo’s annual Wild Wines; the novelty from Arkansas Hospice, Party at the Plaza; Wolfe Street Foundation’s Red Carpet Recovery Gala; the Central Arkansas Heart Walk; and the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance’s Arts & The Park. We’ve got the details about all of the above in this issue. We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we do!

Heather Baker, President & Publisher hbaker@aymag.com / heatherbaker_ar

AYISABOUTYOU

TRENDING ON AYMAG.COM What Happened This Side of Seven: Defying the Odds Jayme Lemons in the Limelight Arkansas’ Buffalo River: A National Treasure 2022 AY Readers’ Restaurant Poll Winners

CONNECT AYISABOUTYOU

AYISABOUTYOU

AYMAGAZINE

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READER FEEDBACK 17 SPRING BREAK ACTIVITIES IN ARKANSAS “Thank you for the tag!” ARVH ATHLETICS TOP WEEKEND EVENTS IN ARKANSAS: MARCH 17-20 “Thanks for the shout-out!” Huckleberry Jam BUSINESSES ABOUT YOU: CHARLOTTE POTTS, STATE FARM INSURANCE “Thank you so much for the spotlight! We’re so grateful for the families we get to serve, and you guys highlighting the team is so special!” Charlotte Potts THE HUMAN TOUCH “As usual, Jamison Mosley did a masterful job on the photography. My friend, Dwain Hebda, always surprises me with insightful questions and weaves wonderful stories. Thank you AY Magazine arts and culture section for your interest.” Kevin Kresse

INSTAGRAM

CONTESTS

We’re proud to support Arkansas’ own Kelsey Lamb on the new NBC show American Song Contest, which debuted on March 21.

Dylan Johnston from our March feature, This Side of Seven: Defying the Odds.

Tune into 103.7 the Buzz every Friday morning to hear AY president/ publisher Heather Baker’s weekend plans.

Contest deadline is April 14! Go to aymag.com and click on the “Contests” tab.

1. ROCK N ROLL SUSHI Little Rock has two locations where you can rock (to the jukebox) and roll (with some sushi). Try out some of Rock N Roll Sushi’s flare and flavor on the house with this gift card to either of its capital city locations. CODE: SUSHI

2. CIGAR REPUBLIC

Embrace the finer things in life with a trip to Cigar Republic, the premier destination for cigars and whiskey in Little Rock. Boasting the largest walk-in humidor in Arkansas and more than 450 unique cigars, there’s something for all tastes. CODE: CIGAR

3. TURPENTINE CREEK

Take a walk on the wild side at Turpentine Creek. This Eureka Springs refuge provides a home for abandoned and neglected big cats, from tigers to lions to leopards. Win two tickets to tour the refuge and see all the amazing animals! CODE: CATS

UA alum Tony Tost’s directorial debut is featuring an ensemble cast.

March WINNERS Rock N Roll Sushi: ALLISON MCDANIEL Allsopp & Chapple: RUTH REDD Turpenting Creek: JUDY ZAHND

FAMILY FUNERAL HOMES

agenda

Top

you just can't miss! ARKANSAS DERBY April 2

Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort — Hot Springs “And they’re off!” Dust off your favorite sun hat — the biggest race day of the year is back at Oaklawn.

KIDS FEST LITTLE ROCK April 15-16

Statehouse Convention Center — Little Rock What promises to be one of the most fun events of the year is finally here. Kids Fest will feature mini-figure displays, bounce houses, heroes, princesses, video games, tabletop games, a Nerf battle maze and more.

PARTY AT THE PLAZA April 23

Argenta Arts District — North Little Rock It’s a packed slate of food, art, music and family fun at Arkansas Hospice’s Party at the Plaza, featuring headlining musical acts Kris Allen and Jason D. Williams.

70TH ANNUAL HBA-GLR HOME SHOW April 23-24

Statehouse Convention Center — Little Rock No matter what stage of homeownership you’re in, this year’s Little Rock Home Show is a can’t-miss event. From farmhouse to contemporary to traditional to coastal to industrial, the show will have something for everyone’s aesthetic.

TIM MCGRAW April 29

Walmart AMP — Rogers You don’t have to “live like you’re dying” to catch up with country legend Tim McGraw this month; he’ll be at the Walmart AMP running through all the hits that made him one of our favorites.

events

April 17

Food Truck Festival for the Future Boys & Girls Club of El Dorado

8-9

Ashley McBryde JJ’s Live, Fayetteville

Cigar Republic’s ThreeYear Anniversary Party Cigar Republic, Little Rock

14-17 Disney On Ice Simmons Bank Arena, North Little Rock

60th Annual Arkansas Folk Festival Mountain View

Baby Shark Live Simmons Bank Arena, North Little Rock

29-30

29-8

Wild Wines Little Rock Zoo

Arts & The Park Hot Springs

aymag.com

home

Building g Buildin SUCCESS By JULIE CRAIG// Photos courtesy RIVER ROCK BUILDERS

A successful Searcy couple builds a family home full of fun and function

ruly a majestical wonder built on 11 acres of land in Searcy, the home of Ben and Alex Hollowell is another visual masterpiece built by Keith Wingfield and River Rock Builders. With 7,000 square feet of heated and cooled space, it was once again about location, location, location for Wingfield. After all, that’s what this building team is known for around Central Arkansas. Dream houses are brought to life. State of the art, energy-efficient and always a sweet location. “We were able to work with the homeowners to find the best location on the property to build the home, along with the extensive landscaping, pool and play areas,” Wingfield says. “We also located a photovoltaic system on the ground to produce all of the electricity needed by the home.” Amazing exteriors are River Rock’s specialty, of course, taking in the surroundings as inspiration, always. “We used a combination of masonry brick veneer and stucco to create a unique Neo-Colonial architectural style blending both Georgian and Federal architecture in a wooded setting,” says Wingfield. “These exterior materials are durable and sustainable and low maintenance.” What more could a homeowner want? Perhaps, energy efficiency is top of mind. River Rock builds using only sustainable design and materials, and this home is no exception. “This is the second home we’ve built to a Net Zero rating … and we have followed LEED guidelines to hopefully achieve a Gold rating once the final submittals have been reviewed and checked,” Wingfield says. “This project is right in our wheelhouse of builds,” Wingfield says.

“We utilized our scheduling and selection software to make sure we had the correct materials where they belonged. “Lots of details were involved, but we were able to work through them thanks to Ryan Renard and I, who split the duties of project management.” While both COVID-19 and an extremely wet spring delayed much of the work for the first several months, the team persisted and completed the entire process in just 18 months, including shipping delays for materials.

“We are always satisfied when the customer is satisfied,” Wingfield says. “It’s really that simple. We try to make it as stress-free as possible, but it’s a challenge at times, especially with supply chain issues that we’ve had during COVID.” Those long-awaited materials would go not only toward a magnificent home build, but useful outdoor features as well. Ben is the president of a major software distributor in the midsouth region, based here in Arkansas; and Alex, raised in Searcy, is an attorney and full-time mom to the couple’s two small girls. With that in mind, the home’s surroundings had to have plenty of outdoor activity space. “It has a beautiful pool and play area set in a handy space just off

aymag.com

the large, rear-covered patio, complete with motorized screens and an outdoor kitchen,” Wingfield says. “It’s great for year-round entertaining and fun.” Inside, the stately entry offers a crossbeam coffered ceiling detail that is mirrored by the wood floor inlay. The large-scaled light fixture adds to the grand impact of the entry — setting the tone for a beautiful home, inside and out. “I really like the 12-foot coffered ceiling in the great room and kitchen area,” says Lindsey Raney of Lindsey Raney Interiors. “It’s just so very elegant.” Grays, blues and creamy whites, paired with textural fabrics and rugs, were chosen to provide an “elevated comfort” feel. Raney worked with the Hollowells to help create the inviting space they envisioned from the start. A beautiful Calcutta white quartz slab was chosen for the kitchen countertops, paired with a subtle light cyan elongated picket tile backsplash. The combination of beautiful neutrals made for the perfect match. Quartz was selected for its durability and beautiful tones that ac-

“We are always satisfied when the customer is satisfied.” cent the spacious bath area. A tonal subway tile installed in a herringbone pattern gives the shower an elevated feel. For flooring, the homeowners chose a combination of prefinished hardwood along with porcelain tile and LVT for the harsh wear areas of the detached garage. And, of course, LED bulbs fill every space for ample — and efficient — lighting. “First and foremost, it’s a family home, so as the two girls grow up, many friends will be able to enjoy the playroom, playground and swimming pool,” Raney says. “Of course, mama and daddy have all the elements for great entertaining as well. So, in the end, all is good!”

CUSTOM

home builders.

Green building

is fundamentally about living with clean air in a healthier environment, using sustainable materials, and lowering energy costs. We are a team of custom home builders, specializing in the design and construction of high-quality, high-performance homes.

501-416-8986 | RiverRockBuilders.net | Little Rock, Arkansas

2022 Home Show

Photo courtesy Erica York Homes.

the

Home Show RETURNS The HBA-GLR Home Show returns to Central Arkansas — bigger and better than ever By WRITER // Photos By PHOTOGRAPHER

By JULIE CRAIG

aymag.com

2022 Home Show

Brock Ferguson Homes.

In the middle of a pandemic. A time when events had started, but really what was to be the calm before a major storm. The 2021 Home Builders Association of Greater Little Rock (HBAGLR) Home Show, taking place again this year in downtown Little Rock, happened the first weekend that public events were able to “really happen” last year in Central Arkansas. Meredith Townsend, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Greater Little Rock (HBA-GLR) says, “Learning how to navigate that while still under restrictions was a challenge.” With the pandemic ebbing, 2022 promises to be a year bigger and better than ever for the event’s 70th iteration. “It’s a big deal, and we are excited to be back,” she says. “While we had a small show in 2021, we anticipate a great weekend in 2022 and hope that families are ready to get out and

explore the Home Show for new ideas. Whether you are looking for a new home, interested in remodeling your current home, looking for home solutions or design ideas, the 2022 show will have it all in one spot for you.” Presented again by Lumber 1 Home Center, the Home Show is designed for visitors to connect with experts, meet professionals in the industry and gain resources for DIY projects (hello, more than $10,000 in giveaways!) — all under one roof. “As an exhibitor, you are in the room with the people who want to speak with you,” Townsend says. An ideal setup, indeed. While last year brought about challenges, it also brought about great — successful — changes. “We switched to the Statehouse Convention Center for a number of reasons, including our vendors,” Townsend says. “The large, open space has load in and out through different doors to make it a lot easier for large trucks and not cause a traffic jam. We also love that everything is on one level, and we have the ability to use the space in a variety of ways, creating a unique experience for our visitors.” The two-day, wall-to-wall lineup of all things residential features renowned experts in home improvement, remodeling, décor, interior design and outdoor solutions, with hundreds of exhibitors on display. Visitors can expect an entire zone devoted to Lumber 1 as well as Southern Bath & Kitchen, another returning sponsor. “You may not think you need anything for your home, but you might find something that will inspire you,” Townsend adds. “You get to meet experts in the industry, so when the time comes for you to need something, you aren’t having to spend the extra time looking for

Erica York Homes.

a solution. You will leave with the resources you need to help take care of your home.” The 2022 show will continue the IKEA-like layout from last year. “We want visitors to see everything, and one-directional layout allows for that,” Townsend says. “We want our visitors to have an experience, moving through the show, and not get stuck in a traditional trade show intersection, not knowing what they have or have not seen.” Show organizers begin hard work on the next event for the following year immediately after one ends. Prior to COVID-19, the show averaged about 2,000-3,000 visitors during the weekend. “COVID has been a challenge working with some of our regular vendors due to restrictions their company has placed on them,” Townsend says. The turnout this year is expected to increase with the number of people updating their homes post-COVID for a fresh look. But to Townsend, it’s not just about the numbers. “Your home is where a lot of formative experiences happen and where you create those moments you remember forever,” Townsend says. “Because of that, I really enjoy getting to know our vendors on a more personal level, and I love getting to know our visitors. The stories I get to hear from our visitors on the memories they make in their own homes are always very heartwarming. “Whether it’s the empty nesters loving life as grandparents, the recently married couple looking for ideas for their first home together, or the single parent excited about being able to purchase a first home, it is always, again, very heartwarming.” So, what’s new this year?

Acme.

River Rock Builders.

aymag.com

2022 Home Show

KellCo Custom Homes.

th 7 0 Annual

HBA-GLR Home Show Presented by Lumber 1

WHEN:

Saturday, April 23 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday, April 24 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. LRHomeShow

River Rock Builders.

“We’re working with some local designers and hope to be able to create some actual living spaces filled with items from local stores here in Central Arkansas,” Townsend says. “We are also putting together some DIY workshops as well as celebrating students who are looking at trade careers in construction.” If you’re not sure what goes into buying a new home, there will be mortgage lenders, title companies and real estate agents available to answer all questions. And if you’re building a new one, builders will be on hand to discuss your needs. “Your home is your most valuable asset,” Townsend says. “Come on out and see what’s trending.” As always, booth assignments and placements are made on a firstcome, first-served basis. Therefore, it is important to get your registration in quickly. For more information, visit hbaglr.com/homeshow.

WHERE:

Statehouse Convention Center 101 E. Markham St. Little Rock LRHomeShow

2022 Home Builders Guide

Akel’s Carpet One

Hair and Make-up was done by Abby Blevins Beachy.

kel’s Carpet One is more than a carpet store. We have been serving the community for 35 years, providing excellent service and the best value in town on luxury vinyl, tile, hardwood, carpet, cabinets, and more. Carpet One is the largest flooring company and supports Akel’s Carpet One’s buying power. Therefore, we can bring you quality products with the best warranties and pricing. In addition to residential flooring in Arkansas, Akel’s Carpet One can handle all your cabinet or flooring needs for commercial, multi-family and rental properties in eight states and 27 cities. Akel’s Carpet One treats you like family striving to “Make Your Home, Beautiful, For Less!” Before starting Akel’s Carpet One, Richard Akel traveled the world playing tennis professionally. He then returned to his hometown in Little Rock and started a lumber yard in 1987 — the same year the first of his three daughters was born. That lumber yard eventually became one of the most successful flooring companies in the state — Akel’s Carpet One and beyond. Now, it’s a family affair here at Akel’s, with four of five family members working to continue the business into the next generation. Richard has always done whatever it takes, is a family man, turns ideas into realities, acts with integrity and treats everyone like family. These traits are deeply embedded in Akel’s Carpet One culture. Most weeks, Richard travels to lead his teams and grow the business, looking out for his community to bring you the best flooring prices. He’s a humble man, and we are proud of what he has created. Akel’s Carpet One is grateful for the support of everyone in the community, and we love supporting the community, too! Akel’s Carpet One loves encouraging sports and supporting youth, and therefore we support organizations such as Youth Home, Hope Ball, youth basketball, football and cheerleading teams. Working at Akel’s makes you feel like you are always in a sports tournament: may the best win, in

all the best ways — may the best win by giving our customers the best value and experience. Here at Akel’s, no project is too challenging for us. Construction can get stressful, especially right now with COVID. So, we are thankful for our team and proud of their work and expertise. The team alongside Akel’s Carpet One is hardworking and will do whatever it takes to “Make Your Floors, Beautiful For Less!” We have had the same team members work with us from the beginning, and they have been on the team because they believed in the possibilities and embraced Akel’s to be the best, and helped create what Akel’s Carpet One is today. Akel’s Carpet One flooring and cabinet specialists have a combined 100 years of experience in flooring. We are the experts! Another thing that separates Akel’s Carpet One from the rest — each Akel’s Carpet One flooring and cabinet specialist manages your installation from A to Z. You have one point of contact throughout the project’s life that ensures your installation is set up for success and lasts for years. Suppose there is an unexpected delay or unforeseen events. In that case, our team does whatever it takes to make sure everything is communicated timely and correctly, and the job gets done right! Now, more than ever, your home is where love grows, and we are honored to be a part of that journey. We get so much joy each time we transform a customer’s space: “Making It Beautiful, for Less!” whether it’s updating your old, uncomfortable carpet into the pretty, extremely comfortable carpet that your family can sit on the floor and make new memories on; or changing your kitchen to be functional and allowing you to cook and host for your family meals; or it’s building a sanctuary bathroom for you that is relaxing and will enable you to escape the day to day. In the past 35 years, Akel’s Carpet One has served more than 25,000 customers in Central Arkansas, and we hope to serve you soon! Please email contact@akelscarpetone.com for any questions or project needs.

Little Rock • Maumelle • Sherwood / akelscarpetone.com

CARPET • LUXURY VINYL • HARDWOOD • TILE • KITCHEN & BATH 1121 N Rodney Parham • Little Rock • 501-420-3071 • akelscarpetone.com

2022 Home Builders Guide

Gary Houston Electric Co.

or nearly 45 years, Gary Houston Electric Company has served Central Arkansas with affordable, quality and timely commercial and residential electrical contracting services with a strong emphasis on customer service. The company’s area of expertise includes, but is not limited to, homes, retail spaces, restaurants, offices and warehouses. It services both new construction and existing structures needing electrical repair or being remodeled. Customer service is what makes Gary Houston Electric unique, says company president Keith Weeks. “The majority of our work comes from repeat customers, whose relationships we strive daily to build and maintain,” Weeks says. “We’ve never lost sight of the fact that our customers are the ones that have made all of our accomplishments possible, and we want to serve them in a way that reflects that.” Gary Houston followed in the footsteps of his late father, became an electrician and founded the company in 1975. It all started with a team of one and has grown to more than 50 employees.

Weeks says he was attracted to working as an electrician with the company as a young man who was entering the workforce looking for a good, stable career. “I found the electrical field to be a great choice,” he says. “I have worked from an apprentice, journeyman electrician, estimator, vice president, and now as the acting president. This is my first home building related business job, I have worked with the company for over 30 years.” Now as the company head, he enjoys seeing the opportunities it provides to those looking for a career path like he once was. “I love to see all the new people entering the electrical field with our company. I have certainly seen many people advance over the years with our company and have enjoyed a lot of proud moments with them.” For more information or to see how Gary Houston Electric Company can serve your needs, log on to garyhoustonelectric.com or call 501-375-8330.

1922 West 3rd Street • Little Rock / 501.375.8330 / garyhoustonelectric.com

For more than 40 years, Gary Houston Electric Company has served Central Arkansas with affordable, quality and timely Commercial and Residential electrical contracting services with a strong emphasis on customer service. We service both new construction and existing structures needing electrical repair or being remodeled.

1922 West 3rd Street | Little Rock, AR 72205 501-375-8330 | garyhoustonelectric.com

2022 Home Builders Guide

KellCo Custom Homes

charming Cliffside

by KellCo

The Porte Cochere Estate House at Cliffside is a stunning and uniquely inspired home. The porte-cochere style is an echo of the 19th Century and features a grand entrance to a private courtyard. This private residence also has a motor court that accommodates added parking. Kelley had several goals while designing and building this home, such as embracing traditional styles while also incorporating modern originality; combining timeless elements to create an eclectic sense of wonder. The double drive leads to an artfully designed landscape with rustic-style amenities. Its large windows frame the picturesque views and absorb lots of natural light which further highlights the coffered ceiling within the hearth room, handcrafted brick arches and woodwork. The chef ’s kitchen is perfectly appointed with a large, culinary island and is accompanied by a double butler’s pantry. Italian porcelain splash tiling and acacia hardwood flooring accent the area built for entertaining, with plenty of space for family and friends. “As a custom home designer and builder, I am driven to new levels of uniqueness and architecture that continue to be the driving force for all my endeavors within the real estate industry,” Kelley says. “The responsibilities of a good contractor are hefty and, to say the very least, exhausting. Working with each individual needs of my clients is important to me, and it’s equally important that I get it right. Throughout the entire build process, I am fully committed and engaged.”

930 East Kiehl Ave. / Sherwood / 501.993.5232

KellCo Custom Homes T Power Custom he

Specializing in building one-of-a-kind custom homes and combining leading edge designs with exceptional functionality that speak not only to your aesthetic needs, but to your unique vision, through our remarkable attention to luxury in every detail. InnovationRedefined. Pushing beyond the predictable to create truly unique custom homes.

Serving all of Central Arkansas | 501.993.5232

2022 Home Builders Guide

Michele Phillips & Company, REALTORS ®

ichele Phillips of Michele Phillips & Company, Realtors has been a Realtor for more than 20 years, originally opening the home office in Sherwood, the second office in Cabot and still growing with its Searcy office doors on the verge of opening. While she started on her own, Phillips now has more than 60 of the finest real estate professionals in the state at her employ, ready to serve, and the company itself ranks in the top 5 percent in the state. With licensed agents in Central Arkansas and throughout the state, Phillips says she and her staff not only love what they do but take pride in it, as well. “Buying and selling is a very complicated process. Our agents are highly trained and ready to walk buyers and sellers through the process from beginning to end,” Phillips says. “We are very relationship-based: ‘The realtors your friends recommend.’” While the pandemic has made the real estate market in Arkansas very busy, the rates are at an all-time low. With a record past two years, Phillips says everyone wants to buy a house and inventory is limited.

This is also a time when sellers should be taking advantage of the market, and according to Phillips, it will not always be this way. “This too shall pass,” Phillips says. Michele Phillips & Company, Realtors are hands-on, helping their clients navigate the experience with expertise in the field. While it may be tempting to choose to sell or buy real estate without a professional, Michele Phillips & Company, Realtors advises against this. “In past experience, the sellers are not pricing the homes correctly. You would be surprised how many times the sellers home made more money using a realtor,” Phillips says. Proudly supporting the military, Michele Phillips & Company, Realtors is blessed to honor those who have served and grateful for the opportunity to serve them. “We treat every transaction with a great deal of respect,” Phillips says. “No matter if it is your first home, second home, whether you’re downsizing or building a new home, looking for or selling commercial, residential or land, we can help.”

michelephillipsrealtor.com

2022 Home Builders Guide

Parkinson Building Group

“

“For the last 20 years, we have helped our clients construct beautifully designed, fully custom homes in Central Arkansas. We are constantly evolving toward a better tomorrow for our clients.”

fter 20 years in the industry, Parkinson Building Group continues to fill the same need for its community as it has since day one: bringing dream homes to life. And just as the world of home trends and designs changes over time, so do the requirements of a home builder. Owner Bill Parkinson has not shied away from adapting to fit the needs of his customers. In fact, the company has altered its structure over the last few years to be a better resource for its clients and offer better service through a deeper level of oversight and communication. “We are constantly evolving toward a better tomorrow for our clients,” Parkinson says. “In our business, it’s easy to keep doing things the way we have always done them, but through the restructuring of our team members and the implementation of the latest technology, we are revamping our customer’s experience. This is not only helping ensure that we capture the full scope of our clients’ visions, but also that we are able to communicate with them how that is affecting the build along the way. We are focused on

guiding them through the building process. They are our first priority.” Parkinson begins the building process with a casual meeting to discuss their client’s ideas and aspirations. The Parkinson team then works closely with the client’s architect and designer to ensure all details are executed throughout the home building process. It was this kind of problem-solving that attracted Parkinson to building and construction. “I have always been drawn to good design and enjoy helping our clients flesh out what it is that they are trying to accomplish,” he says. “Our business is one of creation, and I love that we are able to help people reach their goals in creating their ‘forever homes.’” Parkinson Building Group has built hundreds of homes, each distinctively different and customized to the client’s personalized lifestyle. “The building industry, while a challenging profession, is also extremely rewarding — especially when we get to help people reach their goals and fulfill their dreams,” Parkinson says. “We feel it’s a privilege to get up and do it every day, and we truly love what we do.”

501.954.8570 / parkinsonbuildinggroup.com

As a custom home building firm, we are focused on our client’s needs and desires. We work closely with our clients from the identification of a lot to the development and pricing of a plan to the building and creation of the vision.

501.954.8570 / parkinsonbuildinggroup.com

Acme wants to be a one-stop shop for all your projects.

We are proud to offer MAC Metal Architectural siding. 10921 Maumelle Blvd. • North Little Rock • 501-812-5574 • brick.com/littlerock

2022 Home Builders Guide

Carl Gray Henson Builders

arl Gray Henson Builders has engineered a lifelong interest in building into a full-blown custom building business. Since 1974, the business has developed into a company fully devoted to helping its clients create dream homes that exceed expectations while remaining small enough to give each customer the personal attention he or she deserves. Its expertise is known not only just around the state, but it has also received national recognition. Carl Gray Henson Builders is a 20-year member of Southern Living’s Custom Builder Program, receiving the coveted Cornerstone Award in 2016. Beyond Southern Living, Carl Gray Henson was given the Distinguished Service Award from the American Lung Association for its work in the “Kids Kozy Kottage” program. For residents of Central Arkansas, it’s hard to find a more decorated group of custom home builders. Owner Carl Gray Henson and his team work tirelessly for their clients, facilitating the construction of magnificent homes from lot selection to design and building. If you dream of a home built with passion and attention to timeless architectural detail, Carl Gray Henson Builders is the right choice for you.

Carl Gray Henson has been building custom homes in Little Rock, West Little Rock, and surrounding areas for many years. Carl offers hands on service and is very passionate about what he does. All of his projects are built with timeless architectural detail, but with plenty of modern conveniences. Along with custom home building, Carl also does some remodeling and ensures your satisfaction. “We care about each and every customer, and that is why we follow up with you long after we finish building your house. Our repeat business is a testimony to the trust that our customers have in us regarding one of the most important purchases in their lives. We’re glad to help.”

P.O. Box 24626 | Little Rock 501.413.8341 / carlgrayhenson.com

2022 Home Builders Guide

Energy Air Inc.

nergy Air Inc. (EAI) has served Central Arkansas’ multi-faceted heating and cooling needs since 1992, a longevity that continues to make EAI one of the most trusted and experienced names in the industry. EAI is helmed by president and CEO, Tracie J. Kelley, who is also the driving force of KellCo Custom Homes and KellCo Real Estate. Kelley’s inspiration was paved by her father, who is a heralded expert in the industry. It has been a natural journey for the venerable Kelley to follow in his footsteps, in her own way, to create what has become the state’s premier heating and air conditioning company. “Maintaining a strong will to push forward and staying focused on the individual needs of my clients certainly wasn’t learned in any textbook, but by great work ethics and self-discipline, which has resulted in over 50 years of combined industry experience and success,” she says. Despite the accolades she has received for her unwavering commit-

ments to her customers, the fundamentals by which she operates have remained unchanged. Instead, she is even more motivated to perform for her clients. “I’ve been surrounded and loved by a multitude of intelligent and powerful people who have taught me so much,” she says. “It truly takes a village and I am surrounded by the very best.” EAI provides exceptional HVAC services to all makes and models, and holds a Class “A” license, which allows EAI to offer an even greater variety of services to its customers. “As Arkansas’ No. 1 choice in a heating and air company, we provide an extensive list of services for your home and your business needs,” Kelley says. EAI offers convenience to its customers by providing homeowners with several added services who value working with one company for many needs, including, electrical, plumbing, generators and ductless systems, just to name a few. “EAI is proud to offer only the very best in customer satisfaction, warranties and pricing, guaranteed,” Kelley says.

Whether you are looking to replace a component in your existing HVAC system or it’s time for a completely new system, Energy Air Inc. can provide dependable comfort and efficiency for all your HVAC needs!

501.913.8001 / energyairar.com

2022 Home Builders Guide

KellCo Real Estate We take into account what makes a property ideal for the construction process. With our experienced team of professionals, carefully selecting the right property for your individual needs will ensure that you have the best place possible for your new home build.

ince 1994, real estate professional Tracie J. Kelley has dominated the industry at every angle and her business has evolved into a collaboration of more than 65 team members delivering exceptional services and unwavering customer service at every level. Kelley recognizes that her many successes through the industry continue to be deserved only by the team that she has carefully grown. “My work is only as good as the people I chose to work with,” she says. As president and chief executive officer of KellCo Custom Homes, Inc., Energy Air, Inc. and KellCo Real Estate, Inc., Kelley maintains the ability to provide powerful insight for her clients, whether it be the de-

sign or building of a new home, selling her homes or the overall mechanics of the home, this level of service has set Kelley apart from the market. KellCo Real Estate is proud to team with its Principal Broker, Mary A. Freeman, who instills a wealth of knowledge into the firm. Mary has been in the real estate industry since 1984 and delivers outstanding customer service. Together, the team at KellCo Real Estate works hard for its clients and delivers only the best in expectations. Whether you’re in the market to buy, sell, or even build, they stand ready to over-deliver and outperform, any day — serving all of Central Arkansas.

BUILD • DESIGN • SELL

KellCo Real Estate Inc.

Experts in the Real Estate and home-building industry, we understand the importance in what is said to be, one of the most important investments one could ever make of owning a new home. kellcocustomhomes.com

501.993.5232 / kellcocustomhomes.com

Tracie J. Kelley 501.993.5232

ENTERGY SOLUTIONS

Free home audit to help lower your energy bill When buying a house, you want a residence that is comfortable and feels like home. With a free home audit from Entergy Solutions, we’ll look for problem areas throughout the house to improve energy efficiency and lower energy costs. Visit our website or call to schedule. EntergySolutionsAR.com | 866.627.9177

Impressing Central Arkansas for 30 years. With a variety of home styles, we combine expert design, quality, and experience to provide the dream home for customers of varying tastes and needs.

hartnessconstruction.com

501.650.0500

Refresh your home inside and out for Spring.

Pella is the most preferred window brand by homeowners in Little Rock.* Your local Pella® team is ready to show you the right window or door for your home and budget. Whether wood, vinyl or fiberglass, let our team find the right product that fits your vision. Pella can help support the completion of your project - from a new construction install to a remodel project. Your home is unique, so you shouldn’t have to settle for an ordinary window or door. Call or visit today to schedule your free in-home consultation and learn more.

8740 Maumelle Blvd, North Little Rock

501.758.5050 PellaLittleRock.com *Based on a 2020 survey of leading window brands among homeowners.

Windows & Doors

2022 Home Builders Guide

Staci Medlock, Realtor

taci Medlock is consistently one of the top-performing real estate agents in the Central Arkansas area, carrying more than 15 years of experience under her belt. A native of the area, caters to a wide range of clients across the region, including Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Maumelle, Jacksonville, Cabot, Searcy and Beebe. While Medlock’s abilities as a Realtor are across-the-board, she has extensive experience in new construction, custom home building and working with first-time homebuyers. For sellers, she is acutely aware and highly qualified on identifying updates and other changes to be made that ensure a selling process that moves faster and closes for more money. “I am an expert in negotiating contracts, explaining the buying and selling process and walking clients through their new home purchase or sale with confidence and ease,” Medlock says. She employs a wide range of marketing strategies on every listing, including professional photography, social media marketing and promoting homes on numerous online channels and websites. In addition, she establishes various offline marketing strategies such as creating flyers and printed materials, submissions to newspapers, real estate magazines and holding open houses for enhanced exposure to other real estate agents and potential buyers. “There’s never a dull moment,” Medlock says of the profession.

“There is a lot of extreme multi-tasking, but I love to take care of people. Real estate is one way I am able to help clients by assisting them with selling or purchasing their home.” Medlock served as president of the North Pulaski Board of Realtors (NPBR) in 2016 and was also the 2016 Realtor of the Year of NPBR. “I am truly blessed to be able to serve so many people by helping them find their dream home,” she says.

Staci Medlock previously voted Realtor of the Year, served as President of the NPBR, recognized as a Multi Million Dollar Producer for the past 16 years and is currently serving her fourth term representing her District in Pulaski county. She specializes in working with first time home buyers as well as new construction with extensive experience helping both home buyers and sellers across Central Arkansas.

Whether you are looking to BUY OR SELL OR BUILD, give me a call. I can help. 501.944.8687 2411 McCain Blvd., Suite 4, North Little Rock, Arkansas 72116 / stacimedlock.com 501.944.8687 / stacimedlock.com

2022 Home Builders Guide

TEC Electric

hen introducing new lighting into your home, having a guide to help you get the perfect mix of aesthetic and practicality is invaluable. That’s why the staff at TEC Electric considers themselves lighting experts and walks customers through the entire process from initial design to complete installation. For half a century, TEC Electric has been the premier company for Arkansans’ lighting needs from elaborate chandeliers to small detail lighting. Its extensive inventory also includes ceiling fans and other accessories, and the wide range of services includes design assistance, lighting layout design and builder onsite services. If you have to see it to believe it, stop in one of the showrooms located in North Little Rock and Jonesboro for a look at the lights or a chat with one of the available interior designers. For online and non-local shoppers, TEC Electric also offers an online lighting catalog as a convenient way to browse products from home.

Why do business with TEC Electric?

• Product Knowledge - We know manufacturers, product lines, comparable items and more! • On-Call Lighting Experts - Call or visit us with project questions - no purchase required. • Local Roots - We’re home-grown and community focused, just like you!

TEC Electric has been serving Arkansas and the surrounding area for over 50 years. Dedicated to service and product knowledge, our team will earn your respect day-in and day-out.

More than lighting. POETRY IN MOTION

TECELECTRIC

Interior Lighting • Exterior Lighting • Fans • Lighting Controls • Furniture • Home Accents

tecelectric.com Noth Little Rock: 501-758-5483 • Jonesboro: 870-932-7252

Handcrafted with premium materials and engineered with cutting-edge smart home technology, Haiku represents the pinnacle in style and innovation for home ceiling fans. More than 75 international awards attest to its quality, while its world-leading efficiency makes it the perfect choice for energy-conscious homeowners.

tecelectric.com North Little Rock | 501.758.5483 | Jonesboro | 870.932.7252

in g n i r

style

to the outdoors... One yard at a time

e have installed quality oriented manufacturing systems that insure a quality product every step of the way. Hanamint will continue to concern itself with product excellence. We are dedicated to serving the customer who wants quality, style and value. 10 Year Warranty on Aluminum Frames

19650 I-30, Benton •

congofp.com •

800.421.4447

Kitchen Again

B E F ORE

Free Consultations Financing Available

501.223.8888

kitchentuneup.com Cabinet Refacing & Redooring New Cabinets • Wood Restoration ©2022 HFC KTU LLC. All Rights Reserved. Kitchen Tune-Up is a trademark of HFC KTU LLC and a Home Franchise Concepts Brand. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.

AFTE R R EDO O RIN G

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SAY GOOD BYE TO CLOGGED GUTTERS!

501-508-6474 479-234-4147 1-877-848-2422

THANK YOU FOR NOMINATING US!

LeafGuard brand by Englert is the original and only one-piece gutter system, with a built-in hood that covers the gutter bottom and deflects leaves and other debris. This unique, seamless design keeps debris from collecting in your gutters.

www.leafguardandmore.com

Want to know what’s happening for the weekend? Tune in on 103.7 The Buzz every Friday morning when AY Media Group President & Publisher Heather Baker is their guest!

Bradford House provides skilled professional care in a compassionate and supportive atmosphere. Our licensed nurses, physicians, optometrists, dentists and other specialists believe that building strong relationships with residents and families is essential to the healing process. The entire staff is devoted to providing the Bradford House provides skilled professional care in athe dignity quality of care which celebrates compassionate and supportive atmosphere. licensed and graceOur of every single resident.

nurses, physicians, optometrists, dentists and other specialists believe that building strong relationships with 1202 SE 30th Street residents and families is essential to the healing process. The Bentonville, AR 72712 entire staff is devoted to providing the quality 479.273.3430 of care which BradfordHouseNR.com celebrates the dignity and grace of every single resident. Bradford House provides skilled professional care in a compassionate and supportive atmosphere. Our licensed nurses, physicians, optometrists, dentists and other specialists believe that building strong relationships with residents and families is essential to the healing process. The entire staff is devoted to providing the quality 53 of care which 1202 30th Bentonville, AR celebrates theSE dignity andStreet grace of|every single resident.

aymag.com 72712 | 479.273.3430

Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

• SHORT-TERM REHABILITATION • LONG-TERM CARE • RESPITE SERVICES

Russellville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is nestled in the heart of the River Valley in Russellville, Arkansas. Our staff provides skilled professional care in a compassionate and supportive atmosphere. Russellville Nursing & Rehabilitation Center not only provides long-term care services, we also offer a wide range of rehabilitative services. Our physicians, nurses and staff all believe strong relationships with residents and their families is essential to the healing process. The entire staff is devoted to providing quality care, which celebrates the dignity and grace of every single resident.

215 S. PORTLAND AVE. RUSSELLVILLE, AR

479-968-5256 • russellvillenr.com

NOW OPEN 4221 WARDEN ROAD, NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR WALDOSCHICKEN.COM @WALDOSCHICKENAR 501.313.2390

CELEBRATING 10 years in business. April 2012 - April 2022

CHECK OUT OUR MENU! 2008 US-65N McGehee, AR , 71654 870-222-1234 55

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food

By DWAIN HEBDA | Photography By JAMISON MOSLEY

The newly opened Waldo’s Chicken and Beer.

Bold

Moves By Sarah Russell // Photos by Jamison Mosley

Despite the difficulties, the pandemic produced a tableful of new restaurants across the state.

t came upon us like a storm of biblical proportions, ripping quickly through our blue skies, immobilizing us in fear. COVID-19 has proved itself capable of mocking borders, doctors, scientists, pharmaceuticals, masks and mandates. Two years later, it remains an enigma taunting us still with its uncertainty. What is certain is the serious impact it has had — and in many cases, still has — on lives, communities and businesses around us. Yet, in the midst of this storm, there were those who chose to bravely set sail. In what was a bold move forward, several business owners in our communities defied the odds, not only by opening new restaurants but doing so successfully. The immediate and relentless havoc that COVID-19 had on the existing restaurants was all too obvious. Exceeded only by the federal government, the foodservice industry is the country’s second-largest employer. In a profound ripple effect, the pandemic impacted not only the foodservice employees and owners but also the industry’s vast network of suppliers. The economics of this was clear, but there was more. Restaurants are, after all, more than just numbers and menus. Within months of COVID-19’s emergence, Penn State University published a study about the other ramifications felt in our communities. “Restaurants,” its Social Science Research Institute stated, “are an integral part of the fabric of our society, for social, cultural and emotional reasons.” Those owners who dared

Cypress Social.

Copper Mule Table & Tap.

to proceed not only gave our communities new businesses, but also hope. One such owner was Jim Keet, Chairman of JTJ Restaurants, LLC. Four decades in the restaurant industry have shown Keet and his team to be successful and resilient. At its Highway 10 location, their newest Taziki’s Mediterranean Café had ironically just had its March opening in 2020. Fortuitously, it not only provided indoor sitting, but a double drive-thru as well as a patio, the latter two both covered. These multiple accommodations, not necessarily the norm with other restaurants, provided options for the COVID-concerned then and now. Taziki’s health-focused menu and authentic flavors — red peppers from Turkey, lemon juice and olive oil from Greece — might have just given new meaning to the term “comfort food” for the COVID-confined. It was immediately apparent to the JTJ team that Taziki’s opening came with another new challenge that was now facing the industry. As Keet explains, “We took a very aggressive approach from day one. We wanted to make sure our guests and staff were safe in terms of launching a very long and comprehensive protocol that staff still goes through.” Implementing COVID prevention standards became the new norm. The JTJ team also had to immediately pivot to this question as well: What was to be done about Cypress Social? Three years of work had gone into the planning and implementation of its North Little Rock location, due to open that April. The structure itself had been taken down to the bare bones, a total rebuild that included repurposing the beautiful cypress lumber found there. While often the interior work is dominant in a restaurant’s opening, Cypress Social had also undertaken substantial exterior work as part of the plan. Thus, the existing lake had been deepened, a fountain installed, landscape thoughtfully created as part of that. The intent for Cypress Social was “to make it a destination type — a place people all over the state would want to come visit.” Making this a “destination” would have to wait; its April opening was delayed to August 2020. This presented other issues for Keet and his team. “It was very challenging, but we had already hired management staff and a lot of the lead employees as well,” he says. “We continued to pay them — full salary — because we felt we had recruited the best possible staff. We didn’t want to lose them, and we wanted to demonstrate our commitment to them in the midst of crisis.” Six months into the pandemic, Cypress Social opened to guests who immediately appreciated not only the menu — Southern, Delta Mississippi, Cajun — but also the openness and serenity of its setting. It has, in fact, become not only the destination envisioned but a favored repeat destination for diners. Recent media awards it has received attest to that success. A few months later in Bryant, Copper Mule Table & Tap opened as a casual dining alternative to what was mainly chain restaurants bordering the interstate. For the owners — married couple Jamie and Rob Gaston — it was their first venture into the restaurant business. Admittedly inexperienced in this field, they nevertheless had crucial background experience that proved vital for themselves, their staff and their guests. As an RN, Jamie quickly grasped the intricacies of implementing COVID protocols. “As far as that goes,” Rob says, “we were in a better place than

most.” Copper Mule’s well-spaced bar, dining rooms and patio combined with Jamie’s health expertise created a notably safe place for the community. The crowd is as diverse as the menu, the latter being influenced by Hurricane Katrina refugee Mindy Mitchell. As general manager and chef, Mitchell weaves a blend of southern favorites — burgers, steaks, chops — with Creole dishes beloved in lower Louisiana. The deep-fried boudin of the Mule Balls and the Crawfish Cheese Dip will feel like home to many folks, with items such as a fried bologna sandwich with kettle chips evoking memories for others. Their other great success in creating Copper Mule is more of an intangible. That Penn State statement about restaurants being a part of the fabric of our social, cultural and emotional lives encapsulated what the Gastons had really hoped to create: a local hangout with heart and soul — a place like Cheers. Featured in the iconic sitcom of the same name, Cheers was the local bar “where everybody knows your name.” Walk into Copper Mule and you’ll see one or another of the Gastons checking in with their guests, saying hello and making sure everybody’s fine. Rob points out that two years in, “Jamie seems to know everybody who comes in.” And being parents themselves, expect the Gastons to keep all the events they hold — i.e., Thursday Thirsty, live music twice a month and sports specials — family friendly. They’re showing the love, too, with their “Kids Eat Free Wednesdays.” Rob’s corporate background has proved to be crucial in meeting other challenges that have evolved for the restaurant industry since the pandemic started. Analyzing and addressing the profit and loss issues created by higher prices, lower margins and shortages/delays were somewhat familiar territory for him. For Copper Mule and other establishments, these factors have had an effect across the board — menu changes, restaurant opening times and staff schedules especially impacted. While the Keets and the Gastons have defied the odds in opening new businesses during the pandemic, the numbers for many previously existing restaurants are harsh. “Regrettably, the mortality rate in the restaurant industry has been about 25 percent of restaurants have closed permanently,” Keet points out. His current businesses and the new Waldo’s Chicken & Beer his team just opened in North Little Rock — as well as the Gaston’s Copper Mule — will, we hope, continue on their path to success. But on a whole, the National Restaurant Association notes, the biggest challenge for 2022 will be staffing issues. Some chains have

Red Moon Tavern is another fresh face in Little Rock.

already implemented robots in the kitchen — flipping burgers, cooking fries, tossing salads and making pizzas — in what is possibly a permanent move to counter long-term staff shortages. The number of job openings in this industry is now the highest it has been in two decades. But why? “I think we’re seeing a point that people are quitting smaller businesses with lower pay and less benefits, going to larger businesses with higher pay, more stable working hours, better flexibility, better benefits,” explains Mervin Jebaraj, the Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business. The National Restaurant Association’s numbers also reveal that almost half of restaurant owners cite staff shortages as being the reason they have not been able to open to full capacity. There’s also concern among economists and business owners as the first round of numbers for 2022 are showing a significant stall in restaurant sales. In fact, the national sale numbers show an alarming $3 billion dollar drop from mid-2021. And this is at a time when, like all of us, the restaurants find rising costs on everything. “The restaurants who made it through these time periods are on better footing now, but certainly not all the way recovered,” Jabaraj notes. Our storm is not over. It might instead be co-opting the tactics of hurricanes, known for a first siege, a prolonged pause, then an unleashing of a final show of strength. Our new restaurants and our existing ones still need continued support from the community they exist — and love — to serve. And we need them, too — socially, culturally and, most importantly, emotionally. Together, we can keep the doors open.

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New in Town AY’s ARKANSAS

Bucket List

PRESENTED BY Waldo’s Chicken & Beer

frobites l A Little Rock

atburger & Buffalo’s Express l F Greenbrier

ock N Roll Sushi l R Little Rock

rkanSeoul Korean Food l A Company Bentonville

irls Gone BBQ l G Fayetteville

poon Fusion Korea Oh l S K-Dog Fayetteville

ennett’s By Keith & Co l B Sherwood

ohana Asian Restaurant l K Conway

ullivan’s Steakhouse l S Little Rock

lue Heaven l B Benton

os Compas Authentic Mexican l L Food Fayetteville

rick & Forge l B Conway

ochi Xo l M Fayetteville

he All American Steakhouse l T Springdale

rood & Barley l B North Little Rock

ule Kick at MAD l M El Dorado

he Croissanterie l T Little Rock

ajun Trouxth l C Little Rock

l’ Bart Southern Eats l O Conway

he Grumpy Rabbit l T Lonoke

amp Taco l C Little Rock

astafina l P Cave Springs

he Prickly Pickle l T Central Arkansas

harlie’s Place l C Little Rock

LOMO Quesadilla Bar l P Fayetteville

OPDOG Hot Dog Company l T Little Rock

hi’s Baohouse l C Little Rock

ress Waffle Co. l P Little Rock

opper Mule Table & Tap l C Bryant

ed Moon Tavern l R Little Rock

alhalla Restaurant & Axe l V Throwing Benton

ypress Social l C North Little Rock

ed Oak Steakhouse l R Pine Bluff

ockside Bar & Grill l D Little Rock

ock City Kitchen l R Little Rock

ollar Slice Club l D Fayetteville

ock City Taco l R Little Rock

aco Virgo l T Rogers

ake and Bake l W Fayetteville aldo’s Chicken & Beer l W North Little Rock oo Pig Mooie BBQ l W Centerton GFBFKitchen l Y Conway

3C heck off the New in Town Bucket List as you visit a small sample of our favorite new places.

AY About You

Arkansas Bucket List Every Wednesday morning on KARK 4

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Face Behind the Place

Susie Powell

of Hoots BBQ & Steaks

By JENNY BOULDEN // Photos by LACEY WEST

Susie Powell.

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ome of the best barbecue in the Arkansas Delta was dreamt up on a Texas beach. It was somewhere around 2010, reckons Susie Powell, owner of Hoots BBQ & Steaks in McGehee. Three years earlier, she and her husband, David, had sold their farm and bought a 45-foot motorcoach. Then, they took their vehicle south to explore the coast at their leisure, from Key West to South Padre Island. They were living the dream. But eventually, even that idyllic life grew old. Their dream had plumb worn out, and suddenly it was time for a new one. One day, sitting on the picturesque beach in Port Aransas, Texas, the couple came to the realization. “We’d been traveling for three years,” Susie says. “We finally got bored with having nothing to do and just looked at each other and said, ‘We can’t live this way.’ David said, ‘Let’s go open a restaurant.’ I said, ‘OK. Let’s go open a restaurant.’” It was a bold suggestion, pulled, she says, right out of the blue. Susie had worked decades at a dentist office in McGehee. David was a farmer with a law degree. What neither of them had whatsoever was restaurant experience. But Susie loved to cook and was good at it. She asked David his thoughts on what sort of restaurant they should open. “He said, ‘Let’s open a barbecue restaurant,’” she recalls. “I said, ‘We can’t open a barbecue restaurant. I’ve never smoked a piece of meat in my life!’ I always could cook, but smoking meat’s a whole different technique.” But they learned how to smoke meat, and learned it well. And they found a jewel of a location for their venture, right on US-65, where almost everyone passing through McGehee would see the restaurant. It was a former gas station and convenience store with acres of parking. But it had twice before been a restaurant.

And curiously, when it was built in the 1940s, the spacious, high-ceilinged building had originally been a cattle auction house. So, in a way, selling beef (plus Hoots’ pork, chicken, turkey, bologna and seafood) is going back to its roots, albeit in a completely different way than ranchers did there 70-odd years ago. After 18 hard months of renovating the building themselves,

the couple hired a team of restaurant staff (who also had little restaurant experience, Susie says, with a bit of a wry laugh). It was going to be trial by fire. All their cards on the table, they opened the doors of Hoots in April 2012. The line was out the door all day. Customers kept coming. Hoots was an instant hit from Day One. And, save for the first closed month of the pandemic before Susie installed a to-go window and pivoted to 100 percent carryout for six months, the pace at Hoots has remained busy, and the restaurant’s popularity has only grown. In fact, Susie says if you want a table at dinner, especially on weekends when the out-of-towners descend on the place, you almost always need reservations. People come for the food, she says, from about 100 miles around, including frequent guests from Mississippi and Louisiana. She says regulars know to also request their orders of ribs when they make their reservations; otherwise, they might be sold out. Besides the large sitting area, there’s a separate bar area and an expansive special event space in the back. All get frequent use. Hoots has counter service at lunch and table service (from an even bigger menu that includes favorites like premium steaks and barbecue-rubbed grilled salmon) at dinner. April 23 will be Hoots’ 10th anniversary. And its success comes directly from Susie herself, and her staff of about 50, to whom she gives much of the credit. David came up with the wild idea for opening the restaurant and was absolutely integral to building it up those first years — deciding on the menu, getting it operational. But on June 5, 2015, he died of a sudden heart attack. They’d been married 20 years. “I’ve been doing this myself since 2015,” Susie says. “After he passed away, everyone said, ‘Oh, are you going to sell?’ I said, ‘Why would I want to sell this place? I love what I do!’ Sure, at times it gets frustrating and hard, and you get mad and want to pull your hair out, but I have a lot of people employed. And I just love this place. It means a lot because David and I built it together.” Susie’s a petite, practical woman who radiates good humor and a determined grit that’s served her well as she’s adapted to her role as sole owner. David was the gregarious, front-of-house guy who greeted everyone, while Susie worked in the kitchen, her preferred place out of the spotlight. In 2019, she was included in AY’s list of Intriguing Women in the state. She’s not fond of being in front of the camera, but admits that the photo shoot, held in the old train station in Little Rock, was “actually a lot of fun.” Susie grew up as Susie Morse in Dermott, about 8 miles down the road, the daughter of Betty and Neil Morse. Neil was an insurance salesman; Betty worked at a bank. Hard work is clearly in Susie’s blood; after her mother retired from the bank, she came to work for Susie, helping bake Hoots’ signature desserts. Betty continued working at the restaurant at least a couple of days a week until this past December. “When she finally decided to stop, she was 82,” Susie says, the respect clear in her voice. Susie comes in early every morning to bake fresh desserts (Hoots offers four kinds of cake, plus cheesecake, banana pudding and a lemon icebox dessert in a cup). She still uses her mama’s old family recipes and makes them from scratch.

“We work hard to keep the quality up. I’m really proud of our food.”

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Most Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, she’s in the kitchen, which is now under the purview of Chef Brian Hargis, a talented professional she hired after David’s passing. She says Hargis is wonderful, but, “When I’m in the kitchen, I like to cook!” The premium steaks are her specialty. Other times she might be found shucking oysters or doing a thousand other daily tasks. She’s always in action. And romance has found her again. “I have a boyfriend now. In the summer, if he needs help on his farm, I’ll help him,” she says. They enjoy being on the water of nearby Lake Chicot, and “of course” rooting for the Razorbacks. She’s partial to the blues and country music piped through the restaurant’s sound system. “But as far as hobbies, that’s basically it,” she explains. “Mostly, I just work.” Susie’s work ethic and Hoots’ smoker have that in common. It’s constantly on six days a week, slow-cooking brisket and pork butts for 14 hours per batch. They smoke chicken and ribs for lunch and fresh again for dinner. Both batches reliably sell out. Only Sunday, when the restaurant is closed, is a day of rest. Still, she says, the work is never boring, and every day is different in the restaurant business. “I do care about this place. I care what people think. I care about my amazing employees. I care about having a consistent product,” she says. “Our barbecue is really good, and consistently so. It’s just as good now as the day we opened; we work hard to keep the quality up. I’m very proud of our food.

She says people might call her a workaholic, but it’s not like that. “I only can explain it by saying it is a love affair. I have a love affair with this place. When you love what you do, it gives back to you. It really does.” And she gives back to the community whenever she can. McGehee, she says, may not be growing much, but it’s holding steady. The local Boys and Girls Club is her favorite cause to support. She likes its mission of giving the youth of Southeast Arkansas a positive space to grow and to stretch to meet their full potential. After all, the community’s young people are part of the restaurant’s namesake. “David and I wanted the restaurant to have a name that fit our personality, but we also wanted to fit into our community,” Susie explains with a grin. “Our school mascot in McGehee is an owl. So, we root for the Owls. An owl hoots, and David and I had a hoot no matter what we did together. The name means this is a place to have a good time.” Susie says she and David had a favorite quote that drove them ever forward, and the simple words give her energy and determination: “Live every day like it’s your last.” Susie says matter-of-factly, “Honestly, that’s what I live by. I get up every single day and live it like it’s my last day. “No regrets.”

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Recipes

Strawberry Shortbread Bars Strawberry season has not quite started in Arkansas. But if you can’t wait, these bars will hold you over until you can pick up fresh berries from your local farm. The base is made of buttery shortbread and is topped with a jam-like strawberry and rhubarb filling. You won’t be able to taste the crushed pineapple, but it brightens the flavor, so be sure to include it! If you prefer pie, you can simply pour the filling into a pre-baked pie shell and chill in the refrigerator.

SHORTBREAD DIRECTIONS SHORTBREAD INGREDIENTS Nonstick baking spray 2 (8-ounce) sticks unsalted butter, room temperature ½ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING INGREDIENTS ¾ cup granulated sugar ¹/3 cup all-purpose flour 1 (21-ounce) can strawberry rhubarb pie filling (or regular strawberry pie filling if desired) 1 (8-10-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained 1 (3-ounce) package strawberry Jell-O Whipped cream (optional)

By Nic Williams

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch cake pan with baking spray, or use butter wrappers to lightly grease bottom and sides. Note: You can also make this in a 9x9-inch pan, but you will have leftover dough and filling. 2. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. On slow speed, slowly pour flour in, and mix until a dough forms with no visible traces of flour (approximately 30-45 seconds). Be careful to not overmix. 3. Roll dough out into a rectangle roughly the size of your cakepan. With floured hands, press dough into bottom of pan, and use your fingers to gently create a half-inch border around sides. 4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until top is a light, golden brown. Set aside to cool.

FILLING DIRECTIONS 1. Whisk sugar and flour together in a large saucepan. Once mixed, add strawberry rhubarb pie filling and pineapple. 2. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Stir regularly, making sure to scrape bottom and sides with your spoon or rubber spatula. Once filling thins out and most of the fruit has broken down, it will have a jam-like consistency. 3. Stir in Jell-O mix, and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. 4. Pour filling into shortbread crust, and let chill in refrigerator, uncovered, for at least 2 hours. If making well in advance, remove bars from refrigerator about 10 minutes before serving. Top with whipped cream if desired.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMISON MOSLEY

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Rising Clouds Cigar Republic Lights Up State’s Premium Cigar Market

By DWAIN HEBDA // Photos By JAMISON MOSLEY 70

Joe Miller.

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hen Joe Miller came home to Arkansas with the idea to open a premier cigar lounge a few years back, he wanted to create something that reflected what he had experienced during time spent abroad. The product of this vision, Cigar Republic, came to life three years ago and remains a one-of-a-kind experience for cigar aficionados. Miller, who is as hands-on as an owner can get, oversaw every detail of renovating the former restaurant space, located at 1315 Breckenridge Drive, just off Rodney Parham Road in Little Rock. From the curated wall of whiskey to the largest humidor in the state, no expense was spared in bringing the place to life. But arguably the most important element of Cigar Republic is something most patrons can’t even see — a 15-ton fresh air system that turns over the air in the room every 5 minutes. While not as sexy as savoring an 18-year-old Scotch alongside a silky Arturo Fuente, it’s the key to providing an outstanding customer experience. “Cigar smoking is not just about the cigar, it’s about the enjoyment of a cigar at the right time and at the right place and with the right people,” Miller says. “The environment in which you smoke undoubtedly affects the overall cigar experience, and that special environment is what we are all about.” Across America, good cigars are in high demand. The product’s wave of popularity, ignited in the 1990s, got a boost over the pandemic and continues to billow today. Cheddar.com reported in March that cigar imports rose 7 percent in 2020 compared to 2019’s numbers. And through the third quarter of 2021, imports were up an impressive 49 percent year over year. “There are so many cigar smokers out there. People just don’t understand,” Miller says. “Cigars touch every demographic. My brother’s going to a new church — he found out even his pastor likes cigars.” Smoking parlors have been around for hundreds of years as part of private clubs, upscale restaurants and even the homes of the wealthy where smokers — for generations, only men — might retire after dinner to a nightcap and talk of business, politics or whatever topic was at hand. Cigars and pipes were the first to be smoked in such places as the cigarette would not emerge until late in the 19th century. But once manufacturing processes were perfected, cigarettes became a global phenomenon. In 1901, 3.5 billion cigarettes were sold, compared to 6 billion cigars, per the University of Dayton. By 1965, boosted by Hollywood movies and large numbers of World War II veterans who lit up in the service, cigarette smoking reached a high of 4,259 cigarettes smoked per capita annually in the U.S. Cigar sales, meanwhile, experienced yo-yo popularity throughout the 20th century, from a sluggish 5 billion in the 1950s to 11 billion in the early

1970s. A low watermark in the early 1990s of just 3 billion sold, per the Cigar Association of America, revealed cigars’ base market of “old white men” was dying off with no clear market segment to take its place. In 1992, Cigar Aficionado magazine debuted, a publication widely credited with giving the industry a fresh set of legs. Not only did the slick publication educate its readers on what brands to try, its cover features on cigar-loving celebrities from film, sports, entertainment and politics — including a growing percentage of women and celebrities of color — steadily grew cigars’ image as a status symbol. By 1996, the comeback had gained a momentum that has sustained more or less uninterrupted since. The upscale cigar lounge has come along with this new popularity. During his time overseas, Miller saw examples of the cigar lounge at its finest, and seeing nothing on par with that in Little Rock, was determined to introduce that level of refinement through Cigar Republic. “You’ve got to understand, there are 4,500 cigar shops in America, and 4,350 of them are all the same,” he says. “You walk in, there are guys sitting around smoking. They know who each other are, they don’t know who you are. There’s no ventilation; smoke just fills the air. It’s just a good ol’ boy hangout. There’s nothing wrong with that, it serves a purpose. But that’s not what we’re about.” Cigar Republic is actually two businesses in one. The massive humidor — offering more than 550 varieties of fine cigars — is open to the general public for retail sales and offers all the assistance needed to serve customers, from newcomers to seasoned collectors. The other part of the business is a private club whereby members can relax with a stogie and a drink from the bar, which boasts a spirits collection on par with the cigars. Standard memberships go for $50 per year, while the more exclusive Locker Membership runs $100 per month and includes multiple additional perks. Day-rate and out-of-state guests round out the offering, all of whom enjoy a standard of service and quality of selection that wows industry types and discriminating clients alike. “We have hosted six different cigar makers and presidents and VPs of cigar companies, and all six have given us a ‘Top 10 in the U.S.’ rating,” Miller says. “Our local members really appreciate us, but it’s the out-oftown business travelers who always give us the most compliments. They have seen what the top of the market looks like, and they understand how well we compare nationally.” Cigar Republic has come online during a period when the cigar-smoking clientele is growing in diversity as well as numbers. According to the 2020 CDC report, Tobacco Product Use Among Adults-United States, 3.5 percent of all U.S. adults smoke one or more cigars per month, including 6 percent of adult males and 1 percent of adult females. Cigar use among Black adults is highest at 5 percent, followed by white adults at 4 percent, and adult Hispanics and Asians at 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

Growth in demand has also come with its share of issues, as supply chain snarls have made some cigars hard if not impossible to get. Combine that with the labor shortage affecting the hospitality industry in general and there are plenty of challenges to go around. Despite this, Miller says, the reputation of Cigar Republic has thus far outrun any and all market issues. “To quote Field of Dreams, ‘If you build it, they will come’ — but you’ve just got to run it right,” he says. “I believe that when you walk into a place, if you’re in tune, if you know a little something, in two minutes you can tell if the owner is there or not, or if the owner has been there that week or not. If the owner is hands-on, like I am, it’s just got a good vibe.” He says the all-encompassing nature of the business makes it difficult to envision another location, although he gets asked about it all the time. He would like to open more retail-only stores, if the right combination of location and personnel comes along. But for now, it’s a full-time job and then some to continue burnishing Cigar Republic’s reputation as the state’s go-to for premium cigars and fine spirits. “[Cigar Republic] is really a labor of love,” he says. “We don’t close. My wife and I run the place. We live two blocks away. I’m happy to say that we don’t close for anything. We’re open every day of the year except Christmas. “I’ve just always believed if you build something nice and take care of your clients, the clientele will find you. They’re out there. You’ve just got to give them a reason to come to your place, and Cigar Republic definitely gives people a reason.”

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A CELEBRATION OF FASHION, ART & MUSIC

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APRIL 22, 2022

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild presents a one day event featuring fashion, art and live music. Our spring fashion show, hosted by Vesta’s, begins at noon with a luncheon and art show by local artists. Event design by Tanarah Luxe Floral & Event Styling. Return in the evening for a dazzling night of art and live music. Tragikly White, Pat Becker and the Rex Bell Trio, and the Betty Ward Combo will perform. Catering by Evette Brady. Food and libations included in ticket prices. Tragikly White

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travel

HOWLIN’ for the ZOO:

New Looks, New Faces and Wild Wines By EMILY BEIRNE // Photos courtesy LITTLE ROCK ZOO

igger, better and best are what’s in store this year for Arkansas’ beloved family attraction, the Little Rock Zoo. After a record-setting year in 2021, the zoo has set its sights on making 2022 the best year yet. “2021 was a fantastic year for the Little Rock Zoo. We had the highest admission in five years and recordsetting membership sales,” Zoo Director Susan Altrui says. “I expect 2022 to be even better.” Two species that received renovated exhibits in 2021 have settled into their updated homes. The serval cats, known for their high energy and big ears, are taking full advantage of their “new” exhibit. The renovated area provides the cats with more room to play and allows guests better views of the servals’ antics. The colobus monkeys, Little Rock Zoo

residents for almost a year, live in an interactive habitat with a climbing structure that allows the monkeys to crawl above guests walking on the path below. “[The colobus monkeys] have made themselves at home this past year, and our guests are really enjoying getting to know them,” Altrui says. Speaking of new faces, the zoo has had two births in recent months. Kevin, a baby eastern black rhino, and Betty White, an African penguin chick, were born in November 2021. “[The zoo] has the incredible opportunity of being able to watch baby Kevin grow up and get to know him,” Altrui says. “There is nothing greater than a baby rhino, and this is a great step forward in our conservation efforts.” The eastern black rhino is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which makes Kevin’s birth an exciting event not only for the Little Rock Zoo but for his entire species. A name that will never be forgotten, Betty White, perfectly captures the zoo’s baby penguin, according to Altrui.

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Betty White.

2021 was a fantastic year for the Little Rock Zoo. about this lesser-known reptile as the AGFC program progresses. Until the Susan Jones Citizen Science Center opens its doors, the Little Rock Zoo has educational events for the whole family almost every week. Back by popular demand, “Breakfast with a Twist” is scheduled each weekend to celebrate one of the zoo’s animals. “It is a brilliant program. Zookeepers talk about the animals, and Painting with a Twist comes out to help guests paint portraits of the animals,” Altrui says. Another beloved event is making a comeback, and this one is only around for one weekend. Wild Wines 2022 is taking place April 29 and 30 this year, and the

“[Betty White] is a superstar. Her audience demands to see her and, as she has recently been made an animal ambassador, guests will be able to see her and learn more about her,” Altrui says. Animal ambassadors are part of the zoo’s educational program where animals have meet-and-greets with the public. “There will be a new show at the amphitheater from Memorial Day to Labor Day with Betty White that will allow guests to learn about her species.” The education doesn’t stop here. The Little Rock Zoo is currently preparing for the opening of the Susan Jones Citizen Science Center. A portion of the zoo’s Education Building is under renovation for the new center. This space will be used for interactive, hands-on learning activities for children. Zoo staff will teach children and their families about science and the importance of conservation, and that conservation is happening not only with non-native animals but with animal species indigenous to the Natural State. “[The Little Rock Zoo] has partnered with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in a breed and release program of the eastern collared lizard,” Altrui explains. This lizard is mostly found in the Ozark mountains, The zoo’s new Malayan tiger, Jaya. and children and families have the opportunity to learn more

(Jamison Mosley)

Little Rock Zoo has planned two nights of roarin’ fun. “VIP night is April 29 and it will feature more high-end wines,” Altrui says. Wine for the event is provided by O’Looney’s Wine and Liquor. “Jonathan [Looney] has selected excellent wines for our guests.” The night will also include entertainment by Rodney Block, and the animal ambassadors will make appearances — including baby Betty White. “The ‘Mane Event’ [on April 30] will feature more than 200 wines, and this night will have a more casual feel compared to VIP night,” Altrui says. Live music includes Christine DeMeo, Harp Steel Drums, and more. More than 40 local restaurants will be in attendance

serving food, including Table 28, Petit & Keet and Cantina Laredo. For non-wine drinkers, beer and other beverages will also be available. This is an adult event, so only guests 21 years and older will be permitted. “Wild Wines is the zoo’s largest fundraising event. Proceeds go to the Zoo Foundation and, in past years, these funds have helped purchase a new train, build new exhibits and been a major part of the zoo’s continued growth,” Altrui emphasizes. “[The Little Rock Zoo] appreciates the help and efforts of our visitors. 2022 is going to be a great year.”

A NIGHT

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THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING When you buy a hunting and

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arts&culture

‘CREATIVE ROOTS’ Arts & The Park Returns to Hot Springs By Sarah Coleman

Hot Springs has long been applauded for its efforts in the arts community. Combining arts and the outdoors, Arts & The Park is back for another year, with the theme of “Creative Roots” and plentiful opportunities to experience all genres of art. 82

With such a wide range of activities slated, there really is something for everyone at Arts & The Park. (Photos from previous years courtesy Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance.)

According to Mary Zunick, cultural affairs manager of Visit Hot Springs, the city has been committed to celebrating the arts and integrating them into the community for decades. Years ago, Don Munro and Dorothy Morris, both prominent local philanthropists, started working toward rebooting the Hot Springs Area Culture Alliance (HSACA), becoming official in 2014, allowing for the planning of Arts & The Park to begin. “We want people to think of Hot Springs as an arts community all 365 days of the year, pushing to keep Hot Springs at the forefront of art in Arkansas,” Zunick says. Scheduled from April 29 to May 8, Arts & The Park will be hosted by the HSACA and include live performances, workshops, children’s events and exhibitions. With a wide variety of activities, Zunick says the festival contains something for everyone.

The annual event that first began in 2015, after briefly converting to a primarily virtual event in 2020 and 2021, will return as a hybrid event this year — offering both in-person and virtual opportunities. Including activities to represent all of the arts, Art Springs, the two-day, free festival will be kicking off Arts & The Park from April 30 to May 1. Taking place at Hill Wheatley Plaza, located in the heart of downtown Hot Springs, the festival will be jam-packed with talented artists, artisans and fine crafts. There will also be food truck and beverage vendors, the Renaissance fair and a children’s area with a book giveaway. “There’s really something for everyone with every interest,” Zunick says. “Whether you’re interested in visual arts or poetry or music, or whether you’re looking to purchase art for your home or as a gift, there are options for everyone.” While this event is focused on highlighting the arts in

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Hot Springs, Zunick also speaks about the importance of fun being a cornerstone for visitors’ experiences. “I think that art is a high priority for Hot Springs. Downtown is, of course, known for nature, history, bathhouses and Majestic Park. It’s nice that there’s more than one thing to do, and art is permeated throughout our community,” Zunick says. “There’s a unique ability to not only catch a concert or step into a gallery but for visitors to experience enrichment and for residents to experience artistic offers throughout the year.” While Arts & The Park is not new to Hot Springs, it has almost been revived in a sense, after being limited because of safety and health concerns in recent years. While it is no longer the only source to experience the event through, the virtual evolution has allowed for Arts & The Park to outlive its 10-day in-person stretch. This year, the virtual cooking class will be hosted by Andrew Disney from VAULT restaurant. The online event will allow attendees to follow along to prepare a meal to enjoy with their families and friends in the comfort of their own homes. There will also be a virtual photo exhibit displayed on the website for attendees to look back on throughout the year. Don House, fine art and portrait photographer and writer, will lead a workshop centered around Mike Disfarmer — the late small-town Arkansas photographer whose negatives came to national attention in the 1970s, despite his famous works being developed in the early 1900s through 1959.

“This exhibition of Mike Disfarmer’s work and the Don House workshop seemed the perfect fit for the 2022 Arts & The Park theme ‘Creative Roots,’” Zunick says. “We are thankful to the Arkansas Department of Heritage and Arkansas Arts Council for their sponsorship of the festival, which seeks to encourage artists to draw inspiration from their own individual ancestry or the cultural heritage of our state.” Disfarmer’s portraits rose to fame after his death, with his work now widely acclaimed. House will lead the workshop in accordance with Disfarmer’s signature style, and participants will be able to take pictures with their own cameras. Reproductions of his works will be on exhibit at the Hot Springs Convention Center debuting on April 28. Along with unique online events taking place, there is a broad lineup of in-person activities, including chalk sidewalk creations, a book giveaway to foster love for literature and more. The songwriter competition will ensue for the second year to pay homage to local music legend Henry Glover, and young artists will be encouraged to participate in a mural workshop. The 10-day event will include other exciting activities and workshops for attendees. While Hot Springs’ gallery walks take place the first Friday of every month, the Arts & The Park gallery walk will offer visitors an opportunity to visit all the galleries on May 7. In addition to this, artists will be opening their studios for on-site tours from May 7 to 8, presented in partnership with Riser Ford. These tours will be free and self-guided, allowing a glimpse into the artists’ creative process and environment. Arts & The Park is about fun and enrichment, fostering a love for art in attendees and supporting the community. The HSACA will host an annual fundraiser on April 23 at the Mid-America Science Museum. “Hot Seats in Hot Springs” will be emceed by Maxwell Blade and Davis Tillman, who will live auction 15 handcrafted Arkansas Cypress Adirondack chairs that were individually painted by 15 jury-selected artists. According to Zunick, the same fundraiser was conducted in 2005, with local businesses sponsoring the chairs. The painted Adirondack chairs can be found throughout Hot Springs. In addition to Arts & The Park, the HSACA will continue to work on fostering a community for the arts in Hot Springs. For more information about arts and cultural events in Hot Springs, visit hotspringsarts.org.

Arts & The Park is about fun and enrichment, fostering a love for art in attendees and supporting the community.

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HOT SPRINGS

HAPPENINGS APRIL 2022

TULIP EXTRAVAGANZA Now-Mid-April Garvan Woodland Gardens

ARKANSAS DERBY April 2 Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort

ARKANSAS CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL April 3 Horner Hall

HOT SPRINGS BOOK FESTIVAL April 7-9 Various locations

THE OAKLAWN HANDICAP & APPLE BLOSSOM April 23 Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort

THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND April 16 Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort

GARLAND COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS PLANT SALE & GARDEN SHOW April 22-24 Garland County Fairgrounds

ARKANSAS HIGH SCHOOL FISHING CHAMPIONSHIP April 24 AGFC’s Lake Hamilton Fish Hatchery

ARTS & THE PARK April 29-May 8 Various Locations

SEEK

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arts&culture

Connected

Craft

By DWAIN HEBDA | Photography By JAMISON MOSLEY

‘Back to Basics’ at the Arkansas Craft School By Kenneth Heard // Photos by Ebony Blevins here’s a return to the basics of craftsmanship at the Arkansas Craft School on the corner of South Peabody and Arkansas 66 in Mountain View. Instructors there teach students how to hammer and hone knives, craft leather, turn wood to make pens and furniture, sculpt pottery items, create jewelry and work with hot glass to form marbles and paperweights. For many, it’s a nostalgic trip back down memory lane. There are no 3D printers here to mass produce things. It’s all done by hand and skill and passion to make one-of-a-kind items. For those who have lived in Stone County years ago, though, hand-making things was not a hobby. It was a way of life. Perched at the foothills of the Ozarks in north-central Arkansas, Mountain View was home to those who, for decades, had to be self-sufficient. It’s a quaint idea now. The town of 2,800 is full of craft shops, and musicians often gather at the courthouse square most summer evenings to play the local hillbilly music made popular more than half a century ago. The Ozark Folk Center State Park located north of the downtown embraces the craftsmen of yore, drawing thousands of tourists yearly to see demonstrations of blacksmithing and other skills. “This is how they lived,” says Mike Doyle, the director of the Arkansas Craft School. “They had to make their own tools and crockery 60 or 70 years ago. They had their own leather shop and a blacksmith.” The craft school was created in 2007 after a Rockefeller Foundation report highlighted the importance of crafts for the rural Arkansas economy. The report said it was especially prevalent in the Ozark region. The school was housed in a one-room schoolhouse for 10 years. It served as the education arm of the Arkansas Craft Guild to support practicing artisans and to stimulate success in the creative economy. In 2017 the school moved into the old Lacky Chevrolet car dealership a block from the Stone County Courthouse. The dealership was a landmark in the town, selling Chevy Citations and Cavaliers in the 1970s from its sandstone rock building. Next door, in similar rock buildings, was a real estate company and a pool hall. Across the street, in a building shaped similar to the Times Square Flatiron Building in New York, is a land company. Workers remodeled the dealership in 2018, Doyle Xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxx.

says, to make more room for classes. Upon completion, the craft school now features 6,500 square feet of craft space. The school added a second building in 2021 with a $140,000 grant from the Windgate Foundation to purchase the Heritage Springs Blacksmith Shop on Arkansas Highway 87. The new building, called the Annex, holds workshops for metalworking and has programs for rural youth and for area veterans. “The [grant] recognizes the importance of crafts in the rural Arkansas economy,” Doyle says. “The motive for starting the school is

something, but need to think, ‘How did it get there?’ We’re getting into the learning process.” The instructors are passionate about their handiwork and, like most creative types, they are somewhat quirky. Gartung enjoyed making pens and other wood products so much that when he was ministering a church in Nome, Alaska, he’d go into his shop when it was 28 degrees below zero to work. He’d bundle up in a winter parka, turn heaters on and make his wooden pens. He moved to Conway to be closer to his

There’s pottery, stiching and everything in between at the craft school.

that Mountain View is the center for crafts in the state.” Students can pick from a variety of courses offered each month. Some classes may last a day, others are held for weeks. “We’re exposing people to new skills,” says Bill Gartung, a woodworker who holds a popular woodturning class to teach students how to make pens. “We have to use our imaginations. It’s tapping into older ideas to create new things. “Everyone enjoys the final product of

wife’s family and then relocated to Mountain View because of the creative draw of the town. “I love going back to work with my hands,” Gartung, 64, says. “Once you’ve hand-turned a pen, you’ll never go back to using a Bic pen.” James Crowell, a knife-making instructor at the school, was once a mechanic in New Jersey. He was also a bladesmith and taught classes in Maine. In an attempt to do local humor, he said he would stand next to a sign in

Maine that read “Lobster Tails $2.” He’d wait for someone to walk by and then say, “Once there was a lobster …” and would spin a “tale” about the crustacean. He made more money with his hands than his wit. He began making knives in 1980 and joined a knife-making group. In 1986, he earned his master smith rating and was certified in the craft. He moved to Arkansas in 1978; his trek was the result of a complex family connection. “My first wife’s older sister’s boyfriend’s mother bought a house in Arkansas,” he says. “We inherited it and came here.” Crowell, 70, began teaching for the school four years ago, holding classes in his shop. “There were three types of people who took the classes,” he says. “There were those who wanted to see what it was all about; there were others who wanted to do this as a hobby; and there were those who saw it as a profession. “They all came with an interest, but for varied reasons.” In his elementary classes, Crowell would use patterns on pieces of metal. He’d tell them to “remove what doesn’t look like a knife.” In advanced classes, students could

heat the metal and bend it, hammering it into shape and then honing fine edges on them. “I don’t necessarily work to pattern anymore,” he says. “A good bladesmith can make knives without patterns and have them look very close.” The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way Ed Pennebaker teaches his glass classes at the craft school. He now mainly teaches students how to make paperweights and marbles, crafting the items out of heated glass. He can’t teach glass blowing because stu-

dents had to share the pipes they used to create shapes by blowing through them. Like the other artists, Pennebaker, 67, is not from Arkansas but instead gravitated to the creativity of the Stone County area. From Kansas, Pennebaker moved to Osage to be closer to his wife’s relatives. They also lived in Harrison before relocating to Mountain View. In addition to glass, Pennebaker also works with steel and combines the two elements in making sculptures. “Working with your hands is satisfying,” he says. “It’s a little bit different with glass because you don’t actually touch it with your hand. You use tools to manipulate the material.” He says younger students take his classes not to really possess the things they make but rather the process they take in making them. “It’s not the collection of objects they want,” he says. “They are collecting experiences. It’s a different mindset.” Doyle, 70, who has been the craft school director since December, is a retired Marine Corps officer of 22 years. He returned to graduate school after retiring and earned two masters and two doctorates in educational administration and theology. He was a dean at the National War College in Washington, D.C., before moving to Arkansas. He says there is a sense of nostalgia for some of those who take the craft classes, but for most who attend, it’s the “feeling of disconnecting” that lures students in. “You spend the time with yourself,” he says. “There are no cell phones, no internet. It’s a quiet time and you deal with yourself.” He says the structure of classes differs from regular work life, as well. Rather than dealing with co-workers in offices by popping up to talk to each other in cubicled spaces, or “ground hogging,” students at the school share their experiences. “It’s an artistic zone,” he says.”They’re in a room with other people. I can watch to see how they mutually grow together. By the third day, they’re returning to old-fashioned ways. They’ll bring things from home to show. People bring food to share with everyone. When

it’s time for lunch, they’ll all go together rather than going off by themselves.” Because the classes are hands-on training, most are limited to about six to eight students, Doyle says. Students range in age from children to retirees. Instructors hold classes for disabled veterans and for school-aged children. Doyle says the older students take classes in the middle of the week; younger ones favor the weekend courses. Each year, a doctor and several friends travel to Mountain View to take classes, he says. A group of women takes classes together

in painting and jewelry making. “It’s open to anyone,” he says. “We don’t want this to be an elitist organization.” The school lost some momentum when the pandemic hit. Because of social distancing mandates, the hands-on approach to teaching the crafts was altered. But now, Doyle says, classes are returning and the purpose of the school is back in swing. “It reintroduces the back-to-basics type of work,” he says. “It’s something we were losing as we become more technical. We can mass produce things with machines, but we can still hand-make one-of-a-kind things. “It speaks to us. Our hands were made to do more than just punch letters on a keyboard.”

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travel

Keeping the Natural State l a r u t a N By JOE DAVID RICE

Photos by TONY MILLIGAN and courtesy OZARK SOCIETY

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ednesday evening, May 23, 1962, would prove to be an important one for Arkansas, although the 28 people gathered in the Fayetteville home of Harry McPherson probably didn’t realize it at the time. They’d responded to an invitation to participate in a meeting about the future of the Buffalo River, the headwaters of which lay about 50 miles to the east. The Buffalo had long been in the sights of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who had identified locations for the construction of two dams across the stream, and those plans upset a handful of local folks. One of those in attendance was Marion Wasson, a 32-year-old scoutmaster living in Siloam Springs. Wasson, now 91, and his family enjoyed the outdoors of Northwest Arkansas at every chance. The Buffalo was a favorite destination for Wasson and his boys, and they often floated the river in a homemade boat he’d made from a kit. Wasson remembers that day in late May well. “One of my good friends that I often camped with had heard about the meeting and said, ‘Let’s go see what we can do to help,’” he says. The get-together started out with coffee and cookies but soon got down to serious business. “It didn’t take us long to figure out that it would be in the country’s best interest to get the Buffalo turned into a national river.” The group voted to organize the Ozark Society that very night, and each person in the room tossed a dollar bill into a pot. “When you’re battling the Corps of Engineers, you have to remember that they’re kind of immune to everybody’s song but their own,” Wasson says. “I really didn’t know what to expect. I figured we were probably just grasping at straws, but we all wanted to do it anyhow.” Dr. Neil Compton, a physician from Bentonville and the meeting’s initiator, made a strong impression on Wasson. “He was a very energetic gentleman,” Wasson says. “He knew that the idea would work.” That very next evening, the Ozark Society was formally established. Convening in the Law School on the University of Arkansas campus, the group elected Dr. Compton as its president. But before the election was held, an inspiring film about Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas’ recent float trip on the Buffalo River was shown. Douglas, the quintessential outdoorsman, had fallen in love with the stream, saying, “The Buffalo River is a national treasure worth fighting to the death to preserve.” Well, nobody got killed, but the next 10 years were often pretty tense for members of the newly formed Ozark Society. A week after his election as the society’s president, Compton sent a letter to Democratic Congressman Jim Trimble, whose district included the entire watershed of the Buffalo River. Stating, “We have laid the groundwork for

what I believe will be a permanent organization that will function for many years to come,” Compton presented a strong argument for the preservation of the free-flowing river. Trimble, however, had already made up his mind, siding with the Buffalo River Improvement Association, a pro-dam body founded by James Tudor, owner of the Marshall Mountain Wave. These two organizations — the Ozark Society and the Buffalo River Improvement Association (BRIA) — competed for public support for nearly a decade. Or as Compton put it: “The battle for the Buffalo would be fought hammer and tongs down to the last dog.” One of the first skirmishes occurred during the annual Arkansas State Fair in 1963. After a couple of successful ventures at county fairs in Northwest Arkansas, the Ozark Society rented a booth on the state fairgrounds in Little Rock. Their plan was to distribute promotional literature and ask fairgoers to sign a petition to save the Buffalo River. Learning of this, the BRIA leadership made a few phone calls to powerful friends in key state agencies and got the Ozark Society tossed from the exhibit hall. A second incident occurred a few months later on the river itself. By then, membership in the Ozark Society had grown to some 400 individuals, including a small chapter on the University of Arkansas campus. This group announced an April float trip on the Buffalo River, and these plans apparently caught the attention of the BRIA in Marshall. After dark, a Searcy County Sheriff and his team approached what they thought was the co-ed group camping on a big gravel bar near Maumee. But the local men had gotten confused about the date and had inadvertently raided a traditional float trip of the Smallmouth Bass Society. Stunned to find no drunken students and embarrassed by their mistake, the de facto posse saved some face by confiscating a carload of contraband liquor. Things got serious over Memorial Day weekend in 1965. Canoeists were horrified to find barbed wire stretched from one side of the river to the other at one point south of St. Joe. They then encountered 18 massive 100-year-old trees that had been felled, completely blocking the stream, and some paddlers reported gunfire peppering the water around them. One floater was quoted as saying, “If things keep going on like this, we’re gonna have another Vietnam up here.” Meanwhile, in April, 1963, a young man named Ken Smith had returned home to Arkansas from his job at Yosemite National Park. He’d done some exploring in and around the Buffalo in the mid-1950s during his days at the University of Arkansas, and he got the idea to produce a book about the river. With a six-month leave of absence from the National Park Service and the blessings of the Ozark Society, Smith pursued his dream, exploring the Buffalo’s rugged landscapes via his Volkswagen bug and the river in a canoe borrowed from Compton. After driving 6,000 miles and taking almost 3,000 pictures, Smith then spent his spare time drafting the book. Published in 1967 by the Ozark Society and titled The Buffalo River Country, it was an instant success, helping to spur the public’s interest in a

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national river designation. The Ozark Society and the BRIA kept jostling back and forth, hoping to prevail in the battle for political supremacy. Congressman Trimble remained steadfast in his support of the dams, and Sen. J. William Fulbright more or less straddled the fence, hoping to work out a compromise of sorts. John L. McClellan, Arkansas’ other U.S. senator at the time, opted not to ruffle Trimble’s feathers. Then, in late 1965, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus released a lengthy statement in support of the national river proposal. Compton was ecstatic, writing Faubus, “Your letter is one of the most splendid statements ever made in the behalf of the preservation and the proper use of our delicately balanced environment.” The Corps of Engineers had no choice but to back off, given the Governor’s official position. Yet Trimble refused to concede, promising to do all he could to dam the Buffalo. And then in one of the biggest surprises in Arkansas’ 20th-century elections, political newcomer John Paul Hammerschmidt upset Trimble in the general election of 1966, becoming the first Republican sent to Congress from Arkansas in nearly 100 years. No longer worried about getting on the wrong side of Trimble, Fulbright and McClellan sponsored a “national river” bill for the Buffalo in January 1967, and Congressman Hammerschmidt was quick to introduce similar legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. But the BRIA wasn’t done. In a public meeting a few months later in Jasper, James Tudor said, “We aren’t anywhere nearly beaten. These pettifogging politicians have not overwhelmed us.” Tudor’s son, Eddie, had been appointed to the Arkansas Publicity and Parks Commission, the agency that ran the original 2,000-acre Buffalo River State Park. The federal legislation for the Buffalo National River called for state park property to be donated to the National Park Service, but Tudor convinced his fellow commissioners to essentially hold the state park hostage. But wiser heads eventually won the day, and Buffalo River State Park and the much smaller Lost Valley State Park were transferred by the State of Arkansas to the Department of the Interior following President Richard Nixon’s signature on legislation creating the Buffalo National River on March 1, 1972. So, 3,570 days after Wasson and those 27 fellow conservationists first got together to discuss the formation of the Ozark Society, they were able to celebrate a magnificent but hard-fought victory. And in the half-century since, the group’s members have worked nonstop to

protect other free-flowing streams in the state. They were actively involved in the passage of the National Wilderness Acts of 1975 and 1983 that safeguarded key tracts in the Ouachita and Ozark National Forests. One man who’s been engaged with the Ozark Society for decades is Stewart Noland. Now officially serving as archive chair, Noland got introduced to the society during his days as a Boy Scout. “The Ozark Society is an organic, homegrown recreation and conservation organization,” Noland says. “It’s intimately involved in the preservation of wilderness areas, unique natural areas and wild and scenic rivers. It provides a rational voice for these important issues.” David Peterson, now going on his sixth year as president of the Ozark Society, is a former math professor. Even during his days on the University of Central Arkansas faculty, Peterson stored his canoe on top of his car, so he’d be ready to take a float trip when water conditions were favorable. Upon retirement, Peterson decided it was time to give something back to the state and got active with the Ozark Society. “Recreation is a big deal for our 1,000 members,” Peterson says. “We have some sort of hike two or three times a week.” Citing the organization’s motto of “Conservation-Education-Recreation,” Peterson notes the value of a series of environmental books published by the Ozark Society Foundation. “These regional books are important,” he says, “by helping us to avoid repeating our mistakes.” Peterson is especially proud of the group’s involvement that led to the closure of a controversial large-scale hog farm on a major tributary of the Buffalo River. Crediting the work of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Peterson says, “We had as good a conclusion as we could have imagined.” But despite these successes with the Buffalo River, Peterson wants the Ozark Society to remain vigilant. “It’s possible,” he says, “to love the river to death. If we’re not careful, we can lose the very thing we hold dear.” *** Although Wasson continued to participate in Ozark Society events in his younger days, he hasn’t been active in years. When I ask him if he’d ever told his children — now in their mid- to late-60s — about his role in saving the Buffalo River, he chuckles and says, “Nah. They wouldn’t be interested.” “Well, sir,” I say, “you’re a hero to me.”

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SPACE

COWGIRL: Amber Straughn’s Flight From Bee Branch to One of the Biggest Space Missions in History By DUSTIN JAYROE

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rowing up on a farm led Dr. Amber Straughn to NASA. That’s not hyperbole or romanticism; she proudly says it herself. Her roots on the family pig and cattle farm in rural Arkansas — a place far from the light pollution of the big city — caused her to do something that our ancestors have been doing since the beginning of time: look up. The Van Buren County sky she saw at night made her wonder what else was out there beyond the farm, beyond this planet. These days, she spends most of her time 1,000 miles away from “home” in Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., for her job at NASA. But in her mind, she’s been lightyears away since as far back as she can remember — dreaming of distant galaxies, the same ones she now studies in her role as deputy project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. *********

It was in junior high when Straughn (née Holley) decided what she was going to be when she grew up. She was in love with space, not only for the cosmological marvels she saw every night but also because of the impression the Hubble Space Telescope launch left on her in 1990. But she was also interested in genetics and considered following that path into a field like medical research. “Who knows why, but around [the] seventh, eighth grade, I was like, ‘I need to decide what I want to do with my life,’” Straughn says. She now laughs at the “ridiculous” nature of such a lifelong commitment at this young an age, but this determination and motivation are recurring themes throughout her journey. The stars have always seemed to find alignment for her, though. She decided on astronomy and directed her course toward the heavens. Straughn graduated from South Side High School in a class of fewer than 30. And while college is a small step for most, it was a giant leap for her. To that point, no one in her family had a degree, and the institution she would attend — the University of Arkansas — had a larger enrollment than her entire hometown. It helped that she had already made an impression. A counselor at the high school helped to get her involved in summer internships, which Straughn has in the past referred to as important “stepping stones” that moved her orbital path forward. Then there was Dr. Lin Oliver, a physics professor and advisor at the U of A who’d heard about this starry-eyed girl from Bee Branch. Tuition money was an issue, but her grades and test scores weren’t. At Oliver’s behest, Straughn applied for and was accepted to receive a Chancellor’s Scholarship, fully funding her undergraduate education. His mentorship carried over into her time on the Hill, Dr. Amber Straughn. (NASA)

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and she says he was “instrumental” to her making it out with a diploma. Unlike high school, college didn’t come easy. At South Side, there were no honors or AP classes during her time. The confident teen felt like she “breezed through” the high school curriculum. She felt smart. So when she signed up for classes at UA, her schedule was littered with honors-level math and science courses. Like calculus, despite her never having taken precalculus, and honors physics, representing the very field she dreamed to make her profession. “I signed up for all these honors classes, and I very quickly started drowning,” Straughn says. “I had to drop a lot of my honors classes and go into the ‘regular’ physics class. I think I was overwhelmed, and Dr. Oliver really helped me out.” Straughn rattles through the difficulties she’s experienced just as readily and easily as the triumphs. Such as how, after earning a B.S. in physics, she was rejected at most of the places she applied to for graduate school — the Harvards and MITs of the world. It’s a refreshing honesty beneath a story that, because of the candor, is relatable as much as it is inspiring. “I’ve been grateful that my life has been filled with a lot of successes in my career, but it’s not all success,” she says. “I think it’s important to talk about failures and missteps, too.” Her acceptance to Arizona State University proved to be pivotal. There, she was awarded the NASA Harriett Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship for underrepresented groups in STEM, and earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in physics. It turned out to be the perfect situation. Arizona State, she says, is one of only a few schools that allow students to pursue a Ph.D. in physics while also conducting astrophysics research, which was right up her alley. Even better, her doctoral advisor, Dr. Rogier Windhorst, was affiliated with the very field of astronomy that had piqued her interest as a little girl — cosmology, a broad field that, essentially, pursues the origins of the universe. Also, Straughn says that there were 10 professors at universities across the country who were working on a project called the James

I’ve been grateful that my life has been filled with a lot of successes in my career, but it’s not all success,” she says. “I think it’s important to talk about failures and missteps, too.” Webb Space Telescope through the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at that time. Windhorst was one of them. She joined the Goddard team as a postdoc in 2008, and she became the deputy project scientist for communications for the James Webb Space Telescope in 2011. Her foremost fantasy as a little girl — spurred by a “fundamental feeling” that moved her on dark nights at the farm in Bee Branch — was finally a reality. The universe is full of questions, ones that humanity has asked for eons; Straughn had become an important part of the collective vessel searching for answers.

Early photos of Straughn hint at her future career and her closeness with family, including her late father, Donald. In December, life came full circle when she watched the JWST launch from her mom’s couch in Bee Branch.

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Ball Aerospace’s Jake Lewis is reflected in one of the mirrors on a James Webb Space Telescope Array that was in the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility for Testing. (NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham/Emmett Given)

********* The Hubble Space Telescope filled in a number of blanks for scientists around the world after its launch in 1990. Named after the “pioneer” of modern astronomy, Edwin Hubble, the telescope has become one of the most iconic spacecraft of all time. It’s sent breathtaking imagery down to us on Earth for three decades, enough to inspire and educate generations to come. But there was one series of media, in particular, that changed everything. Dubbed the Hubble Deep Field, its an image of deep space through a needle’s eye worth of our night sky. Or, as Stuart Clark wrote in The Big Questions: The Universe, the relative size of a tennis ball at 100 meters away. Hundreds of exposures were combined to produce the solitary photo, which contained 3,000 deep-sky objects. Nearly all of them were galaxies. The universe was much, much bigger than many people realized. And we now had a tool that could study some of the earliest moments of its birth some 13.8 billion years ago. Straughn was in high school when the image was released. The memory of the moment has remained with her to this day. “I remember just being stunned by that image of that first deep field,” she says. “It was a stunning image.” From its launch in 1990 to the release of the Deep Field in 1996, it’s easy to conclude that Hubble has had an important role in shaping Straughn’s life. There are numerous scientists today who would likely say the same thing about their own experiences through the lens of Hubble. But not many of them can also say they worked on Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST). Straughn can. For as many answers as it found, Hubble also presented a whole host of new questions, some of which we didn’t even know to ask. JWST might just be the tool to finish what Hubble started. JWST is a space telescope with much-improved infrared resolution

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and sensitivity as compared to Hubble — or any other space telescope. Hubble could peer deep into the depths of the cosmos; JWST can go much farther. For almost 30 years, JWST was an idea. On Christmas Day in 2021, it blasted off into space. “Telescopes, of course, help us see much beyond what we can see with our eyes,” Straughn says. “And putting telescopes in space has lots of benefits — getting above the atmosphere, allowing us to see the universe in different kinds of light. “It’s not an overstatement to say that Hubble has revolutionized our understanding of the universe in ways that we never expected, and JWST will be about 100 times more powerful. Even with that simple fact, you can start to think about the advances in astronomy we’re likely to make with this telescope. It was designed to help us answer some of those biggest questions we have in astronomy today.” Straughn says the beauty of “huge, powerful” telescopes like JWST is the ripple effect to nearly every field of astrophysics — from our solar system to exoplanets to far-away galaxies, and beyond. But such intricate and elevated science takes time (it has been called the “most sophisticated” and “most difficult” space telescope ever built and sent to space, after all). In NASA’s words: “The 21-foot, 4-inch (6.5-meter) primary mirror — much too big to fit inside a rocket fairing — is made up of 18 hexagonal, beryllium mirror segments. It had to be folded up for launch and then unfolded in space before each mirror was adjusted — to within nanometers — to form a single mirror surface.” From its Dec. 25 launch day, every sequential milestone has been successfully reached, but there are yet a few months to go before it is fully functioning. Straughn expects us to see some breathtaking imagery by this summer. “It’s going to be paradigm-shifting, I’m sure,” Straughn says of JWST. “One of the most exciting things to me, as a scientist, about tele-

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Speaking and educating are common practices for Straughn. (NASA)

The JWST team pictured with a full-scale model of the telescope, contextualizing its incredible size. (NASA)

Straughn and her husband, Matt. (Courtesy)

scopes like this is that we have all these specific questions we’re going to set out to answer, and I’m sure we’ll answer those. [But] there’s this idea that there are surprises out there in the universe. There are things we haven’t dreamed of yet.” ********* For as telescopic as her thoughts often are, Straughn has remained grounded below her successes. Like the readiness to heed her hindrances along the way, she’s also quick to share credit with all to whom it is due. There were the faculty members, such as the aforementioned Drs. Oliver and Windhorst. But, perhaps most important of all, there’s been family. “Nobody’s able to achieve anything by themselves,” she says. From her very first moments on Earth, Straughn’s mother, Carolyn, has been her biggest cheerleader. Even when she didn’t fully understand her dauther’s passion. As a girl who would become a first-generation college student, the adolescent Straughn didn’t know many college graduates, let alone a scientist. She didn’t know what a scientist was, or did, nor did her family. She just knew that she loved the stars and wanted to pursue that. This was good enough for a supportive mother. “My mom was always telling me, ‘You can do what you want to do, keep working hard,’” Straughn says. Straughn’s father, Donald, passed away when she was in high school, but not before instilling in her his core values. “My dad was the epitome model of hard work my whole life,” she says. “He always had multiple jobs. He raised beef cattle, and he had a farm. He raised watermelon. … And he worked on a dairy farm. And

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Our facility fe residents, as w 42-inch flat sc and friend con with 23 pri he was a mechanic.” Getting to as far as she’s come is, like he taught, a lot of hard work. But there’s also — another one of her favorite points to drive home — “a lot of help along the way.” The combination of support and family peak in her husband, Matt. She met him, a Little Rock native, in undergrad, and he’s been beside her for every step through the cosmos. “In a reverse of our societal norm, he’s followed me all over the country for my education and career,” Straughn says, reiterating that this took him from Arkansas to Arizona to Maryland. All for her. “[He’s the] most important person in my life.” The significance of her pronoun — she — is also not lost on Straughn. Historically, science has been male-dominated, and women have faced considerable barriers when trying to break into the field. Progress has been made, but, like the JWST floating in space, there is yet more work to be done. And also like with the telescope, Straughn is playing a big part in it. One of her primary roles as deputy project scientist for communications is to do just that — communicate. Her public speaking engagements have led her to elementary schools and higher education institutions. She’s appeared on TEDx, National Geographic, NOVA, The History Channel, 60 Minutes, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and more. With every appearance, she serves as an example to girls (and boys) all over the world that, like her mother and father taught, hard work rewards even the most galactic of dreams. No matter who you are, or where you come from. It’s ever-present in the subtext of who she is: a woman at NASA leading a critical mission, who was once just a little girl in Bee Branch gazing at the stars.

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health

A Walk to Remember American Heart Association Invites All to Participate in Annual Heart Walk

By KATIE ZAKRZEWSKI

he 2022 Central Arkansas Heart Walk is fast approaching, and the American Heart Association is encouraging Little Rock to gear up for the April 30 event. Central Arkansas Heart Walk participants and teams are invited to North Shore Riverwalk Park to celebrate heart and stroke survivors, raise lifesaving funds and encourage physical activity. The Central Arkansas Heart Walk is presented by QualChoice Health Insurance. The chair sponsor is Nabholz Corporation. The American Heart Association (AHA), the leading voluntary health organization focused on heart and brain health for all, created the Heart Walk as an opportunity for Arkansans to boost mental and physical health while funding community wellness. The Heart Walk is the American Heart Association’s premiere event for raising funds to save lives from this country’s No. 1 and No. 5 killers — heart disease and stroke. Heart Walks are being held across the nation; now, Little Rock is preparing for its turn. The 2022 Central Arkansas Heart Walk is led by co-chairs Erin and Jeff Marcussen. AY About You had the opportunity to sit down with the two and learn a little more about their roles, and how they got involved in heart health awareness. Erin Cullum Marcussen is the manager of compliance at Southwest Power Pool, Inc. A native of Little Rock, she graduated from Pulaski Academy before attending the University of Arkansas, where she received her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor, Summa Cum Laude. Jeff is the senior preconstruction specialist for Nabholz Corp. He grew up in Maumelle and attended Catholic High School before getting a degree in landscape architecture at the University of Arkansas. Erin and Jeff explain that the issue of heart health hits close to home. “Jeff ’s family has a history of heart disease, and he lost both his grandfathers as a result,” Erin says. “His maternal grandfather passed away very young, leaving behind three young daughters, which certainly makes the issue personal to our family. In addition, heart health, and wellness in general, in Arkansas is such an important issue.” Erin provides some insight into the importance of heart health and being aware of heart disease. “Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer in America and kills more women than all forms of cancer combined,” she says. “We’re eager to do anything we can to raise awareness, and the funds will help our community and benefit our fellow Arkansans.” Jeff explains that, in addition to heart-related issues in his family, he was constantly reminded of the importance of heart health at work as well. “Because of my family’s heart history, I’ve been keenly aware of heart health my whole life. Additionally, there’s an internal wellness program at Nabholz where we discuss the importance of heart health, so it’s a constant topic that I’m hearing about at work and at home.” The two explain their roles as co-chairs of the Heart Walk, with an emphasis on serving the community in any way possible. “As chairs, our role is to support the Heart Walk with

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Jeff and Erin Marcussen. (Courtesy) fundraising, volunteers and to bring awareness to the event,” Erin says. Jeff echoes her explanation. “There’s personal and professional drive to further that. It helps fundraise and raise awareness within the community, and impacts those by fundraising and educating on a local level.” The two have several goals that they plan to achieve through this Heart Walk. “While heart disease is not completely preventable, awareness and research can help to reduce the impact this disease has for many people,” Jeff explains. “The AHA’s focus on heart disease helps to do just that, through research grants, information and events such as the Heart Walk.” “Our goal is to raise funds that will stay in Arkansas and to bring awareness to this issue,” Erin says. “And, of course, we want the walk to be fun for families and the teams participating.” Jeff emphasizes, “This is unique because it’s a family-friendly event at your own pace, and it’s an opportunity to get everyone involved, from parents to grandparents and children. Plus, this year’s walk is the first in-person walk that we’ve had in a couple of years, so it will be good to see everyone in person again.” The Heart Walk is April 30 at the North Shore Riverwalk in downtown North Little Rock. Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m., and the race starts at 9 a.m. Registration is available online for both teams and individuals. Anyone interested in registering a team can also contact Katie Bryson at the American Heart Association of Central Arkansas at Katie. Bryson@heart.org. aymag.com

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By DWAIN HEBDA Dr. Lamar Riggs had had enough; enough of the hospital, enough of the treatments, enough. He informed his family that, come what may, he didn’t want to be in one of those places anymore. “He’d had a head injury, he had medical problems and got tired of going to the hospital,” says his nephew, Keith Riggs. “His main caregiver had used Arkansas Hospice before and recommended that we consider talking to them.” Lamar and family liked what they heard and started with Arkansas Hospice on palliative care. From that day on, Keith says, his uncle was in the best care money could buy. “With my uncle in palliative care, [Arkansas Hospice] pretty much became his primary care physician,” Keith says. “He did not go to a hospital. They coordinated all of his care. They coordinated all of his medical devices, all of his medicine. They pretty much did everything on that. The nurse who would come in a minimum of once a week, more often if needed, was absolutely phenomenal. “The thing about it that was always highly impressive to me was, their No. 1 goal was to do what the patient wanted. They always wanted to know what Lamar wanted. Sometimes, they’d ask a question and the caregiver would kind of answer it, and they’d say, ‘No, Lamar, I

want to hear from you.’ They didn’t care what I thought. They didn’t care what his caregiver thought. It was all about his dignity, making sure the outcome is exactly what he wanted.” Lamar Riggs passed in November 2020, but not before he recommended to Keith that Arkansas Hospice was what his brother, Jack, Keith’s dad, needed. Keith required little convincing, and Jack was under hospice care for about a month in spring 2021. Once again, Keith was impressed by the attention to detail as much as the compassion of the Arkansas Hospice team. “My dad had the same situation. He had gone to a hospital and said, ‘That’s it. I’m not doing any more,’” Keith says. “He didn’t want to take his medicine, all that. I recommended that we get hospice in there, and hospice became his primary physician. You don’t call 9-1-1 anymore, you call hospice. That’s the only number you call. They handle everything. “With my uncle and my dad, at the end of life, they contacted the coroner, the police. They got all the drugs that were in the house that were narcotics. They coordinated getting all the medical devices that were there. It was very, very easy to work with. At that point, they made it as easy as possible for the family, in both situations.” The Riggs family’s story is music to Arkansas Hospice’s collective ears, but they are hardly the first to have whistled this tune. For almost four decades, family members have been singing the praises of the organization, dedicated solely to helping patients of all ages and their families in 43 Arkansas counties face serious illness and end-of-life scenarios with dignity. “Our mission is about providing care, not making money to have to pay investors or anything like that. So, any money that is

made is put back into the organization to enhance our care options,” says Shannon Boshears, vice president and chief philanthropy officer, whose father was a patient with the organization. “We’re a nonprofit hospice, and that’s pretty much a rarity these days,” Boshears says. “In the beginning of the hospice movement, most of them were nonprofits, but that has completely flip-flopped since then. We’re the only nonprofit hospice in the state, and we serve anybody who needs that care.” Formally incorporated in 1992 as a private, not-for-profit organization, Arkansas Hospice was launched from one family’s pain. A decade earlier, Michael Aureli brought his cancer-stricken mother into a local emergency room only to be turned away with the line, “There is nothing more we can do for you.” Along with his colleague, Dee Brazil-Dale, Aureli formed the organization that would become a legacy, ensuring no family would ever have to hear those words again. Three decades later, the highly decorated Arkansas Hospice continues to stand out in the field of end-of-life care. It is one of the few hospice organizations to offer multiple services — including pediatric hospice and general palliative care — under one roof. It also supports a robust suite of services for patients and families, both during and following a patient’s passing. Even more impressive is how some of these are offered as a public service whether a family utilizes Arkansas Hospice’s health care service or not. “We have bereavement services. That’s one thing that’s huge for us,” Boshears says. “We are the only hospice that offers community bereavement, providing grief support to the family and friends after the patient has passed.

We offer that not just to our patients’ caregivers, but to anybody. I think it’s huge that anybody looking for grief support can call on our bereavement department. “We’ve also started a national podcast called Speaking of Grief that has become one of the most popular grief podcasts in the nation. That’s been super helpful, just talking about grief during the holidays, children who’ve committed suicide. It kind of runs the spectrum of a lot of what we do.” Boshears says the main misconception about Arkansas Hospice is that it operates as a place, when nearly all of the organization’s work occurs in patients’ homes. While this has presented enormous complications during the COVID-19 outbreak, it couldn’t derail the mission-driven personnel from fulfilling their responsibilities. “Health care, in general, just took such a hit,” she says. “I think that hospices found that

Members of the Arkansas Hospice bereavement team talking to Amanda Jaeger for a THV segment discussing grief during the holiday season.

“We refer to it as a Hospice Heart. ... It’s very sacred work on a lot of levels.”

across the nation. With all the restrictions in nursing homes and visiting and people not wanting to allow other people into their homes, we really had to navigate a lot of those restrictions that were very difficult. “The nursing crisis in itself, across the board, has also been very difficult, but hospice health care workers are a special community. They really have a heart for end-of-life care or palliative care. We appeal to a certain type of nurse, which makes it harder to find people. But once we do, they’re not hopping job to job as a nurse. “We refer to it as a Hospice Heart, and it is just that. People, once they’re in that line of care, don’t want to do anything else. It’s very sacred work on a lot of levels.” Later this month, the organization will throw one of the most ambitious events in its history: Party at the Plaza, a fundraiser taking place in North Little Rock’s Argenta Arts District. The event runs from 2 to 10:30 p.m. on April 23. “We’ve never done this event. This is the largest public-facing event that Arkansas Hospice has ever done,” Boshears says. “It was over a year ago we decided we wanted to do something that was more outdoors because of the pandemic, and it really grew into this.” Among the attractions for the Party at the Plaza event are art vendors, family-friendly activities and a virtual scavenger hunt. A variety of VIP and ticketed attractions will also be offered, as well as food and drink specials by neighborhood restaurants. “Most of the activities are free to everybody,” Boshears says. “Arkansas Hospice and Party at the Plaza are really celebrations of life. That’s what we’re trying to show through this. We do end-of-life care and palliative care, but we really celebrate life through doing those things.”

From 2016: The Arkansas Hospice team helped Arnie, a 90-year-old patient and former swim coach, back into a pool he designed 40 years earlier.

To learn more about Arkansas Hospice, please visit arkansashospice.org. For full details on Party at the Plaza, visit Arkansas Hospice’s Facebook page.

Party at the Plaza Entertainment Lineup • Kris Allen • Jason D. Williams • The B-Flats • The Salty Dogs • Rodney Block Collective • The Rocktown Sparks Plus the “Paw-ty at the Plaza Dogtown Dog Costume Contest,” virtual silent auction, “Scavenger Challenge” To learn more about Arkansas Hospice, please visit arkansashospice.org. For full“Artists details on Party aton the Plaza, Arkansas contest, thevisitAvenue,” Hospice’s Facebook page. a “Memory Sidewalk” and much more.

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Cabot Health & Rehab, LLC offers both semi-private and private rooms (when available). Our staff is dedicated to ensuring that our residents are provided a robust activity calendar, a superior dining experience in a warm, family-like setting. When recuperation and convalescence is needed, our staff works as a multi-disciplinary team to develop a comprehensive rehabilitation program to facilitate a return to home.

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health

Walking the Wolfe Street’s Glamorous

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‘Red Carpet’ to

Recovery

Gala Sails in a New Direction

By JENNY BOULDEN

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aymag.com

The journey from addiction to recovery is never smooth sailing — it takes sustained hard work. And for decades, the Wolfe Street Foundation’s own hard work has made thousands of recoveries possible by providing countless support groups with space to meet and with an array of resources, from literature to peer services to social activities. Now in its 40th year, the Wolfe Street Foundation has found a bold new course to chart. And this month it is for the first time throwing a glitzy-yet-sober gala to celebrate all the good the foundation does in the world. Helming the good ship of Wolfe Street is Justin Buck, executive director of the organization since September. Buck, who has 15 years of fundraising and leadership experience at various Central Arkansas nonprofits, sounds energized about Wolfe Street’s future. “For 40 years, we’ve been hosting AA, NA, Al-Anon, all of those mutual recovery support groups. And they work! If you show up, they really do work,” Buck says. “We’re going to continue doing that into the future, and acknowledge the power that’s in those rooms for people’s personal recovery. But we’re also going to stretch our organization to enable and support even more recovery.” He says that during the past few years, which included fewer meetings due to the pandemic and had several leadership changes, the organization had begun to lose its way. “I told my board, ‘It seems like we’ve been meandering through Jell-O, trying to figure out our path. We had a bit of an identity crisis,’” Buck explains. “Honestly, the Wolfe Street FounJustin Buck. (Courtesy) dation has been a bit of a ship without a rudder, so our board of directors decided we want to focus on becoming a true recovery community organization. “‘We recover together.’ That’s our new tagline and our emphasis — the togetherness.”

More Hands on Deck

Thus, Wolfe Street Foundation plans to have a more active focus on building community in the community and hiring more peer service specialists, professionals whose roles fall somewhere between 12-step sponsors and social workers. One-on-one, they

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6-9 p.m. Arkansas Governor’s Mansion

work with clients to discover what obstacles stand in the way of their full recovery, and navigate them to resources to help sustain their recovery. The foundation currently has one full-time peer service specialist (Buck is the only other full-time employee). With funds from the gala, it plans to hire several more. Each year, Wolfe Street has about 15,000 people come through its doors for support groups, meals and social activities. “That’s 15,000 second chances, words of encouragement, days of sobriety, days of recovery,” Buck says. He says that, because people maintaining their sobriety often need safe social spaces and events free of challenging substances, Wolfe Street Foundation is expanding its offerings to provide a comfortable venue for forging stronger connections among the people it serves. Already, it offers communal breakfasts and lunches (“the best $5 plate lunch in Little Rock,” Buck calls it) in an upstairs hall, and has a pool table for impromptu games. Now, they’re going to be adding more cozy sitting areas for people to talk with each other and will be hosting more alcohol- and drugfree parties. Traditionally, the organization throws sober events to provide people in recovery with somewhere to go on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s where their sobriety won’t be challenged. In 2022, it’s adding community events on St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Independence Day, Halloween and perhaps others. And on April 21, Wolfe Street is also for the first time broadcasting its glamorous Red Carpet Gala event live from the Governor’s Mansion to people back at the center, so they also can enjoy Wolfe Street’s biggest night from afar.

Exploring New Waters

In previous years, Wolfe Street had a tradition of holding its gala during the Academy Awards as the Oscars’ only officially sanc-

tioned broadcast in the state. Buck says that while fun, the awards show drove the night’s content, so organizers had to compete with Hollywood for guests’ attention, and it made for a long evening. Then last year, the foundation had to pivot to a virtual fundraiser. “It went great, and we raised even more money that year,” Buck says. “So, we made a conscious decision this year to celebrate Wolfe Street on our biggest night, rather than celebrating the Oscars. We have invited some special guests, and we’re hoping the Arkansas glitterati still show up.” Event chair and Wolfe Street board member Laura Monteverdi says they have planned a deeply powerful and highly entertaining night at the Governor’s Mansion. “This is a black-tie event! We’re still going Laura Monteverdi. (Courtesy) to have a red carpet, and there will even be a correspondent to greet you as you walk in,” Monteverdi says. “I think it will be extra-special this year since the pandemic’s been going on for so long, and people are so ready to get back together in person.” Monteverdi, an evening anchor on KARK-Channel 4, says she joined the Wolfe Street board about three years ago. She’d known nothing about the foundation before then but had become a passionate promoter of addiction awareness after she was blindsided when her boyfriend, Brock Eidsness, died of a heroin overdose in 2015. She says sharing stories of loss — and of people living in recovery — can reach people in meaningful ways. “While I’m not in recovery myself, I have lost someone I love to this disease,” she shares. “And so it’s a passion of mine to share Brock’s story, encourage others, most importantly, that they’re not alone — there are so many others impacted by this — but also to educate them. I was very naive when I lost Brock, and I wasn’t aware of what was going on. I want people to recognize the signs and understand that this, too, can happen to them.”

Another Famous Captain Coming on Board

The event will have at least one bona fide celebrity, plus Arkansas’ top movers and shakers. Captain Lee Rosbach of Below Deck (a popular Bravo TV reality show) is the night’s featured guest. At last year’s virtual gala, Captain Sandy of Below Deck: Mediterranean was the featured guest and shared her 30-year journey of recovery. When the Wolfe Street Foundation board discovered her colleague, Captain Lee, also had a moving addiction story Captain Lee Rosbach. (Courtesy) to share, they asked,

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and he enthusiastically responded. “Captain Lee has a powerful story of losing his son to drugs in 2019, following 20 years of struggling with his addiction,” Monteverdi says. “He’s opened up about his son because he’s really using his son’s death to ignite change. He’s even testified before Congress about the need for more resources. I think our guests are going to love hearing from him.” The night will also include leadership awards for work in the local addiction recovery community, and guests will hear moving stories from Arkansans living successfully in recovery.

Hand Me a Fancy Drink

Another star of the show will be mixing the fancy, fruity drinks behind the not-your-standard-fundraiser bar. That’d be blogger Mocktail Mo, stirring up her original concoctions. Yes, mocktails. Another bold change the board chose this year was to make this the first sober fundraising gala Wolfe Street had thrown — or that any of them had attended. “There’s always been a disconnect between our mission — helping people recover from addiction — and serving alcohol at our gala. We’ve heard about it from people in recovery for years, the awkwardness of the situation for them,” Buck says. “And we have been told by some this year, ‘You can’t raise money without booze!’ But we think we can. When you think of how many times people in recovery go with us to events with alcohol, we think our supporters will be happy to go without drinking one evening, for them.” “Her mocktails look amazing!” Monteverdi says of Mocktail Mo. “And mocktails are really big right now — I’m starting to see them on all the restaurant menus.” The glamorous night will also involve a seated dinner from the Governor’s Mansion kitchen, a live band (Marquis Hunt) with dancing at the end of the night and live and silent auctions. Buck also hints at a major announcement to be made at the event. Monteverdi encourages supporters who can’t attend the event to participate in the silent auction that will be available on wolfestreet.org, or to spend the evening at Wolfe Street’s center itself, which will be hosting a Red Carpet Recovery Gala watch party.

Party Near and Far

Buck says gala tickets are $225 per person, $400 per couple, or $2,500 per table. “We realized that’s not incredibly accessible for everyone, especially for people in early recovery. So, we are broadcasting the whole evening to the Wolfe Street building here. We’re having a watch party and celebration here, so our whole recovery community can join us,” he explains. “While we’re sharing our vision for the future, it’s not just going to be to a room of tuxes and bowties. We’re sharing that out to our whole community. We hope everyone will join us that evening, either here or at the Governor’s Mansion.” Monterverdi says, “We want people to know that no matter what way you’re touched by this, we’re in this together. Whether you lost someone to addiction, whether you are in recovery yourself, or maybe you’re just someone who wants to help raise awareness or learn more. We’re all in this together. Put on your very best, and come out to join us!”

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health

New Dental Options Bring Bigger Smiles By ANGELA FORSYTH

ental visits — they’re not just cleanings and cavity fillings anymore. The latest advances in dental technology have opened the door for patients to choose from a broader list of services. The most recent innovations bring exciting changes to cosmetic dentistry, including improvements to veneers, whitening, bonding, orthodontics and lip shaping. Between childhood traumas, tight budgets and time constraints, many people have valid reasons for avoiding the dentist. But fortunately, the changes that have happened over the years make dental procedures easier, more attractive and more attainable. Dr. Montgomery Heathman, owner of Heathman Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Little Rock, understands the hesitation. “Another reason some people don’t want to go to the dentist is because they saw their parents or grandparents lose all their teeth and end up in dentures, and they don’t want that,” he says. “But people are keeping their teeth longer and longer.” The following services are some of the newer advancements in dentistry that will have you booking an appointment ASAP.

BONDING

Bonding is not new, but it’s an option many people may not be familiar with. A white putty-like resin material is applied to the tooth which is then molded and smoothed to the desired shape. Dental bonding can repair chipped, cracked and broken teeth. It can also fill gaps between teeth and lengthen a tooth that is shorter than the rest. Bonding can be done in a single visit, involves minimal drilling on the surface of the tooth and requires no anesthesia. Among cosmetic procedures, it is one of the easiest and least expensive options.

VENEERS

BEFORE

Veneers are custom, tooth-colored shells that fit over the front of the teeth. Heathman compares them to press on nails. “Veneers have been out for a long time, but the materials we’re using now allow us to be less invasive and more conservative in our approach,” he explains. Different types of veneers include porcelain, composite, Lumineers or temporary veneers. Compared to crowns, this is a restorative option that preserves more of the natural tooth structure. “It’s a nice way to whiten teeth, close gaps and change positions of teeth; it’s a lot cheaper than orthodontics.” Veneers are often referred to as a “smile makeover” or “smile design.”

TRIAL VENEERS AFTER

Some practices — including Smile Arkansas in Little Rock — create custom trial veneers also referred to as “trial smile.” Dr. Alyssa Lambert, a clinician at Smile Arkansas, explains this this option “provides patients the ability to visualize how they will look with their new smile and make any adjustments necessary before the veneer designs are finalized.” She notes that this way patients are able to provide their own input and be a part of the design process.

OTHER NON-METAL CROWNS ALL-CERAMIC CROWNS

These are usually made entirely from porcelain or another type of ceramic. The most advanced ceramic materials produce crowns that look completely natural as opposed to having a grey line at the gum line, which comes from having metal underneath. Crowns can also be used to lengthen a tooth that has been worn down or to change a gummy smile.

Technical advances have made it possible for costly metals used in traditional dental crowns to be replaced by more affordable zirconium oxide, polyether ether ketone, lithium disilicate and other materials. These materials are quite durable, and their opalescent and translucent characteristics make it difficult to distinguish from a regular tooth. Heathman says he often uses zirconium because it’s a good option for people who are allergic to metals. “It’s a high-end, hard substance that’s almost impossible to break and looks very natural,” he notes.

INVISIBLE ORTHODONTICS

For people who want to correct the alignment of their teeth but don’t like the look of traditional braces, there are a couple of orthodontic alternatives. The most common one — Invisalign — has become much more popular in recent years. The clear aligners made from BPA-free plastic are removable and are considered far more comfortable than traditional metal braces. Lingual braces are another option. These are fixed to the back of the teeth. Lingual braces are overall more efficient in moving roots compared to Invisalign, but very few orthodontists offer this treatment.

GUM LIFT

Also known as gingivectomy, a gum lift can reduce the effects of chronic gum disease and can cosmetically alter the look of a “gummy smile.” During this process, the dentist quickly and painlessly shapes or removes excess gum tissue with a soft tissue laser or scalpel. It requires only one appointment. It can be done in one visit, while the patient is awake with local anesthesia to numb the area. Generally, gum contouring takes about one to two hours.

WHITENING

The latest in-office professional whitening services include KöR, Zoom and Opalescence as the fastest and most noticeable results. These options, however, are also the most expensive. Heathman suggests over-the-counter options such as Crest whitening strips, which he says are “just as efficacious and about 25 percent of the cost.” Other at-home products include whitening kits, whitening pens, whitening toothpastes and customized whitening trays.

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BOTOX LIP FLIP

Dental work can encompass every aspect of the mouth in relation to the gums, lips and shape of the smile in order to achieve the aesthetic results desired. With a BOTOX lip flip, a small amount of BOTOX is injected into the upper lip near the Cupid’s bow. This relaxes the muscle causing the lip to slightly flip upwards, look fuller and reveal a larger smile. “It’s a more subtle look than fillers,” Lambert explains. “We also use BOTOX to ease muscle joint pain in areas of the mouth.”

DIAGNODENT

This state-of-the-art laser cavity detection system is a pen-like, handheld tool that is used to scan the tops of teeth. It is able to find cavities that are easily missed on x-rays and are not visible during a visual dental inspection. The advanced technology allows the dentist to diagnose tooth decay in the earliest stages of development, often before it causes damage to teeth.

FLUORIDE FOR ADULTS

Kids have been getting fluoride treatments at the dentist for years, but for the last few years, Heathman has been advising his adult patients to get it, too. It lowers the development of gumline decay by 75 to 80 percent, and only costs $20 to $30. “What we’re trying to do now in dentistry is be proactive as opposed to reactive,” he notes. The great news is that the newest options in dentistry are available in a wide range of costs and complexity. These advancements are relatively noninvasive and allow people to feel more comfortable and confident about their smiles. “People are very surprised to realize that having a smile they’re proud of changes their life,” Lambert says. “It changes their self-esteem, or the way they feel people look at them or how they see themselves.”

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Heathman Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Little Rock and the Dental Clinic at Stuttgart were founded and are owned by Monty Heathman, DDS. An Arkansas native hailing from Springdale, Heathman holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Arkansas and a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry. Growing up in the industry, Heathman followed in his father’s — the late Dr. Norman “Dwight” Heathman Jr. — footsteps, continuing the family legacy. Heathman treats patients of all ages, and enjoys all aspects of clinical dentistry, particularly in cosmetic, implantology, surgery and full mouth rehabilitation. “I love taking care of patients and creating smiles for people,” he says. “It’s very rewarding, and I love the relationships I’ve built with patients. You see them grow up, their kids, grandkids and you get to know them.” Heathman leads a team — not a staff, because “staph” is what he calls infection — that holds dear to their mantra of serving others. “It’s hard work, but we enjoy it. When a patient leaves and they’re happy and healthy, we know we’ve done our job well,” Heathman says. At his practice, Heathman says they’ve kept up with the evolving dentistry practices. Because of this, they’ve been doing more composite tooth-colored fillings because they’re a lot more conservative. They also have new and improved screw-in implants, which are more aesthetic, and zirconium crowns, which leave patients with a better chance of not breaking a cap. Within the last year, Heathman has begun to offer BOTOX and fillers to patients. Outside of the office, Heathman enjoys deep-sea fishing, it being another one of his biggest passions. He and his buddies — who call themselves “Team Tunacious” — travel the world to compete in deep-sea fishing tournaments. Recently he and his buddies had the opportunity to meet and fish with Jarrett Przybyszewski from

Wicked Tuna. Heathman and his wife, Kelli, both love dogs and have several, including two Akitas named Lola and Oakley, as well as a Belgian Malinois named Koning who is currently being trained for protection and competes in Protection Sports Association competitions. The Heathmans are also incredibly involved in animal rescue work. If he wasn’t a dentist, Heathman says he would’ve been a crop duster because it looks cool. But at the end of the day, he is extremely passionate about serving his patients the best way he and his team can. “Knowing I’ve taken care of my patients, treated them well in a caring and efficient manner is the best part of my job,” he says. “We love to serve the public to the best of our abilities.”

12501 Cantrel Road • Little Rock • 501.223.3838 • heathmanfamilydentistry.com • dentalclinicstuttgart.com

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Thomas Kennedy, DDS of Arkansas II, PLLC - General Dentistry

At DDS Dentures + Implant Solutions of Conway, our dentist places and restores dental implants and personalizes each treatment plan to meet the needs of every patient. About Dental Implants A dental implant is a small, threaded titanium post, which is used to replace the root of a missing tooth. This post is placed directly into the jawbone during a surgical procedure. During the healing process, dental implants fuse to the jawbone during a process called osseointegration. Because of this fusion, implants are strong, resilient and are currently boasted as the most successful teeth replacement option currently available. In fact, dental implants can last a lifetime with proper care and maintenance. Overdentures: Removable Full-Arch Replacement Sometimes referred to as implant-supported dentures, overdentures are a more stable, modern version of regular dentures. While conventional dentures rest solely on the gum tissue and the underlying jawbone, overdentures remain anchored by dental implants. Such a feature makes them a removable denture instead of relying solely on suction or an additional adhesive and much less prone to sliding off when the patient speaks, laughs or eats. Depending on retention needs, the denture can rest on two to four implants per arch. Overdentures are still removable for easy cleaning. However, they can “snap” onto the implants for maximum stability and security, thus we call them snap-on dentures. Patients who are missing most or all of their teeth are usually excellent candidates for overdentures.

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health

The Line in the

Sand

Tracey Childress would like to be out of a job. As executive director for Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center, she’d love to see the day when the doors of the child abuse advocacy center are closed forever. To wake up and know that she and her 14 staffers and three mental health contractors were no longer needed, that the line of bruised and violated children had come to an end. To live in a world where children no longer screamed for help, cried into darkness or felt the innocence of their young lives torn from their psyche by people they trusted. But until that day comes, Childress is going nowhere, choosing a career that draws a line in the sand against violence upon children, serving victims of the unthinkable in the most heart-rending ward of health care there is. “Our mission here at the child advocacy center is to ensure that we have a comprehensive coordinated response to child abuse,” she says. “We are under Mercy Hospital in Hot Springs and have had our doors open since 2003.

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Tracey Childress.

By Dwain Hebda Photos by David Yerby “At the time, Garland County had some of the highest rates of child abuse in the state, which led to Mercy Hospital opening the child advocacy center to provide services at no cost to children and families for the response of allegations.” Asked what impact the center has had on that sad statistic over the past 19 years, Childress pauses. The good news is child abuse is decreasing in the Natural State. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the total number of Arkansas’ child maltreatment victims has dropped annually between 2016 and 2019, from 9,200 to 8,400

statewide, an incidence of 12 per 1,000. It was also the lowest number of children who were the subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment in that time window, at 57,000 total, or 52 per 1,000. The bad news is the number of confirmed cases in 2019 was still roughly equivalent to the population of Beebe. In nearly half the counties in Arkansas, the rate of confirmed child abuse cases is 10 per 1,000, including the top three counties — Boone, Jackson and Poinsett — that are at or close to 16 per 1,000. About a third of Arkansas counties had at least 100 true reports of child maltreatment in 2019. And while 2020 saw a precipitous drop in numbers, no one in child welfare believes those statistics, knowing COVID lockdowns and cessation of in-person school skewed reporting numbers outside of any realm of accuracy. And sure enough, Childress says, 2021 statistics initially spiked after things began to open up before leveling headed into 2022. “One thing we saw through COVID locally, we saw our numbers dip. And we

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“The whole premise of a child advocacy center is putting the child first.”

all knew in this field it’s not because there was less child abuse happening,” she says. “We just knew that there wasn’t that catchment, so to speak, that checks-and-balances with our kids not being in school and having other eyes on them.” “When things started easing, we saw the direct correlation of our numbers rising with physical abuse cases. Our physical abuse cases here in our counties rose by 30 percent.” All that said, Garland County has been trending in the right direction since 2013 when, per Childress, it ranked among the highest in per capita child maltreatment. In 2019, the county ranked 31st in the state at 8.2 cases per 1,000, which translates to just under 200 confirmed cases, per Aspire Arkansas. And for that improvement, the CooperAnthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center deserves a good share of the credit. Among the other five counties under its watch — Saline, Montgomery, Polk, Hot Spring and Grant counties — only Polk County was at a rate above 8 per 1000, a testament to the organization’s efficiency and expertise. “Prior to the inception of child advocacy centers, all the different entities and agencies were involved, but they all worked independently,” Childress says. “A child, prior to a center, would have to sometimes be interviewed

by seven or eight different adults independently, and it could look very much like being taken to a police station or being interviewed in a cop car at the house. Or, worstcase scenario, a child being interviewed in the very location that they were abused in, because an investigator would show up and now realize the magnitude of the situation, with the offender standing right there in the home.” The center acts as a singular resource for reporting entities, be they through Mercy Hospital or some other intervener, for any child or youth up to the age of 18, where the abuse allegation amounts to a criminal offense. In all, the center handles an average of 750 such referrals every year. “Our multidisciplinary team is comprised of all the entities that respond to the

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The whole of the center’s interior is bright and colorful. It’s a safe and fun place for children who, oftentimes, come from homes filled with darkness.

investigation, but it’s all coordinated,”Childress says. “The child advocacy center doesn’t determine there could be a crime committed here. What happens is an agency contacts us and says, ‘There’s been this allegation, I need to refer the child.’ We then provide that forensic interview, we provide advocacy, we provide forensic medical if needed, we provide the mental health component. “One thing that I really want to speak to is the fact that it doesn’t matter what the allegation is — when a child is referred to us, we use a holistic approach. When our trained skilled forensic interviewers have them in that forensic interview process, these children are screened for all forms of maltreatment. They are not zoning in only on what the allegation is, because 66 percent of the time there is a dual form of maltreatment happening.” A longtime frustration in this field is the reactive nature of the work — no matter how

well such centers perform their task, they generally enter the picture only after a child has been harmed. Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center hasn’t been content with that scenario, and has expanded over the years to provide community outreach and education on the topic of child abuse, education programs that began in 2016 and have since spread to all six counties it serves. This has created a better-informed citizenry and, Childress says, has played a big role in lowering the rates of abuse overall. After 30 years of listening to children relay their darkest moments, it’s her most hopeful sign for the future. “Our prevention program is now kindergarten through fourth grade,” Childress says. “We are equipping our children and teaching them prevention with this body safety program. We’re letting them know that they have safe adults, who to go to and what to do if you go to the first safe adult and they don’t know what to do, to keep on telling. We’ve equipped them to know that it’s their body, and they have a right to say no, no matter who it is that does something that breaks their body’s safety rules. “This has had an exponential impact, because as we’re delivering this information to students, the teachers and the counselors and the superintendents and the principals are all becoming knowledgeable as they’re all receiving this information. It’s been just amazing to see the response from this. We have teachers and counselors calling us two and three days later saying, ‘You know what? Sally or Bobby came in two days after you left, and they felt comfortable to talk to me, and they said they did because they had learned this.’” Child abuse is not like other public health emergencies. There’s no abuser gene to be isolated in potential offenders, no predator vaccine to be administered, no blood test to predict the next child to be harmed. Thus, despite progress made, the victims continue to come, from all zip codes and neighborhoods and outward appearances. And when they do, they find the first genuine safety they’ve had in a long time. “The whole premise of a child advocacy center is putting the child first and ensuring that the child comes first, not the benefit of the investigator or the case or the outcome or the needs of an agency, but that the child would come first,” Childress says. “Us being here obviously does not take away or hinder an offender from wanting to or offending upon a child, but one thing we have seen is the response from this community to take care of their children and families that are in need. This has been pretty powerful for those of us in the field.”

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This side of

SEVEN

– By Jason Pederson

e h t

n school, tests are scheduled. You know what to study, you strive to understand the material, you know when you’ll be tested, and then you get the chance to show off (hopefully) how much you have learned. In life, tests are often pop quizzes. For example, you can prepare to give CPR, but will you ever get the chance? You can resolve to return a wallet full of money should you ever find one, but it’s just hypothetical until it happens. And what if your rent is past due on the day you do find that fat wallet? Will you pass the test? One Sunday morning, our doorbell rang. It was early — 6:45 am. The dogs started barking. I put on my glasses and headed downstairs. There, on our front doorstep, was a young woman in a short dress (despite the chilly temperature), holding a paper bag. “Did I just talk with you on the phone?” she asked. “No,” I answered. “Can I help you?” “I must be at the wrong address.” “Who are you looking for?” I asked. “I’m not sure what his name is,” she replied.

I had another question: “Are there drugs in that bag?” “No,” she answered. “Is it food?” Again, the answer was no, but no further explanation was offered. Standing there in my glasses, blue pajamas, and with my crazy bedhead hair, it was clear to her she was going to have to help me figure out what was going on. “I’m an escort,” she said. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure who called you, but good luck,” I said as I closed the door and headed back upstairs. Before I could crawl back into bed, the Holy Spirit convicted me. I had just shut the door in the face of somebody’s daughter. I rushed back downstairs and saw that her high heels had taken her back out to the street. I opened the door and motioned for her to come back. “Look, I’m not passing judgment on your lifestyle, but I would like to encourage you to forget about whoever called you and just go home,” I said. “Yeah,” she agreed. “And this sucks because it cost me $30 to take a cab out here. Can I use your phone?” She had a phone, so I’m not sure why she needed mine, but I said sure and handed it to her. “Can you turn around and come back and get me?” she asked someone. She handed her phone back and remarked on how cold she was. “Wait right there,” I said. “Let me get you a blanket.” Which I did. I handed it to her, closed the door and went back upstairs. My wife, Mary Carol, was drifting in and out of sleep and asked, “Who was that?” Who was she? I don’t know. What was she? A missed opportunity. Each year during late March or April, Christians reflect on the torture and crucifixion of Jesus Christ and then celebrate his resurrection. The followers of Christ are tasked with learning about his life and then working to follow his example. Jesus had encounters with escorts. In chapter seven of the Gospel of Luke, a prostitute crashes a dinner where she knew Jesus would be and wept at Christ’s feet, wetting them with her tears. She then pours expensive perfume on his feet and wipes it off with her hair. The Pharisees are offended and embarrassed by her conduct and question Jesus’ status as a prophet, since he was allowing a sinner to touch him. Jesus defends her, saying that because she has sinned greatly,

the forgiveness of those sins is also greater — and she, more grateful. And then there is the encounter Jesus has with the woman at the well as told in the Gospel of John. We don’t know her profession or even her name, but we know she was a Samaritan, a race with whom Jews did not associate. We know she had married five times, and her current mate was not her husband. Yet Jesus treated her with kindness and visited with her as an equal. She left the conversation a believer. Unlike Jesus, who would accept invitations to meals where prostitutes would be present, this was the first time I had ever interacted with an escort. She needed guidance. I advised her what not to do rather than offer her a better way. She needed transportation. I helped her call a cab rather than offer to have Mary Carol and I give her a ride. She needed warmth. I gave her a blanket rather than ask her to come inside. After she left, I found that blanket neatly folded on our front porch chair. I had expected it to be gone. That is when it hit me: My heart was unprepared for her visit. My goal is to become more Christ-like, and I was suddenly faced with how far the distance is between how Jesus would act and how I acted. Titus 3:1 challenges us as believers to, “Be ready for every good deed.” I wasn’t ready. When Christ was tested by Satan in the wilderness, he was ready. He responded with scripture that was committed to memory. And there are passages that would have helped me pass my test too — if only they had been in me. “Contribute to the needs of God’s people, and welcome strangers into your home.” (Romans 12:13) “So continue encouraging each other and building each other up, just like you are doing already.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) “Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.” (Hebrews 13:16) It is now so clear: I should have welcomed her into our home, encouraged her and offered to do more to help. This young woman did not want to be visiting my doorstep or any other doorstep at 6:45 on a Sunday morning. There was no joy in her demeanor. She was not embracing a sinful lifestyle. My next opportunity to shine probably won’t be as blatantly obvious as an escort ringing my doorbell (and yet I STILL missed it!). I need more of the Holy Spirit in me and will be working toward one goal: to be ready the next time I am tested.

“Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.” (Hebrews 13:16)

JASON PEDERSON For two decades, Jason Pederson served as KATV-Channel 7’s Seven On Your Side reporter. Now on the other “side” of his award-winning time on the news, he now serves as Deputy Chief of Community Engagement for the Arkansas Department of Human Services. His perspective-filled and thought-provoking column, “This Side of Seven,” publishes exclusively in AY About You magazine monthly.

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M U R DE R : Y R E T M YS S, R E D R U M B A O M TH E p t. 2 – By Janie Jones surveillance camera at Woody’s Tavern in Moab, Utah, filmed Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner in the hours leading up to their murders in August 2021. The camera followed them as they walked away. Five days later, a friend found Turner and Schulte at their campsite near an irrigation ditch in the South Mesa region of the La Sal Mountains. They were dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Though they were nude from the waist down, the state medical examiner determined the victims were not raped. One theory was that it was a hate crime. Turner and Schulte were a lesbian couple who had been married for just four months. The Grand County Sheriff ’s Office (GCSO) is in charge of the case, with assistance from the FBI. The victims’ loved ones have criticized the GCSO for consistently playing their cards too close to the vest, failing to provide more frequent updates. On the flip side, the GCSO has asked the public to show restraint in sharing suppositions and conjectures on social media. Online armchair sleuths repeatedly tried to link Brian Laundrie to the slayings because he and Gabby Petito were in Moab at the time, but authorities ruled out Laundrie by checking cellphone transmission towers. It rained between the night of the homicides and the discovery of the bodies, so some pieces of physical evidence, such as tire tracks and footprints, may have washed away, but a few things were preserved, including a single Samsung cellphone. It is not clear to whom the phone belonged, but a search warrant requested a specific phone number from AT&T. Investigators know of another number used by both victims. Court documents state, “As only one cellphone has been recovered, we are currently searching for another phone

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that was known to be possessed by one or both victims. The information stored by the service provider/carrier of this number could provide information about the whereabouts of the phone as well as other information that may lead to a suspect.” Bullet fragments along with four shell casings were also collected from the crime scene, so detectives know the slugs were 9 mm. “It’s a silver-colored 9 mm bullet,” Schulte’s father, Sean, says. “It’s a very specific ammo.” Sean has been active in pursuing leads on his own, and he received roughly 40 tips in a “clue box” he set up on a picnic table at a Moab park. In September, some people brought him a set of keys they had found in mud alongside the road leading to the killing ground. The keyring had a tag on it but no clear name or logo with which to trace the owner. Sean says he gave all the tips he had received, including the keys, to the GCSO but did not hear back from them. Besides inspecting the crime scene, officials went through the victims’ belongings in their Econoline van parked at McDonald’s where Turner worked. Schulte and Turner had con-

verted the van into a living space because they couldn’t afford housing in Moab. The search produced a journal, a Bible, newspaper clippings, mail, pay stubs, notes with phone numbers and a damaged black Samsung Galaxy 8, apparently not the missing phone mentioned in the court documents. But also in the van were an electronic scale, a glass pipe and 10 Clonazepam pills. This raised another potential motive. Were the murders committed because of a drug-related dispute? Friends and relatives were quick to point out that the Clonazepam was prescribed for anxiety and panic attacks. The only other drug used by the women was medical marijuana, and it has been legalized in Utah since 2018; hence, the glass pipe. They used the scale to weigh packages when they sold items online. On the night of the slayings, a wedding party was being held at Whispering Oaks Ranch, which offers lodging and is a venue for reunions and other special events. The resort is on La Sal Loop Road — not far from the location of the double homicide. But according to a local resident, no one could have seen the campsite from the gathering, and noise from the celebration probably would have prevented wedding revelers from hearing gunfire. Nonetheless, Schulte’s father says he acquired a list of the 100 guests and offered it

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to the sheriff ’s office and the FBI, but nobody returned his call. The GCSO did collect and analyze videos from home security cameras in the area. Turner and Schulte had told their friends about a man camping near them. He creeped them out. They did not give any details about him, but a Schulte family friend, Cindy Sue Hunter, was quoted as saying, “They weren’t comfortable. … They made the offhanded comment that if they were murdered, it was him. I don’t think they ever thought that was going to happen, or I don’t think they would’ve went back up there.” Turner and Schulte were shot several times in the back, sides and chest. Despite having the element of surprise on their side, how could one person carry out the deed alone? A friend of Turner’s thought the newlyweds might have been partially unclothed because they were being intimate. If so, this could explain how they were caught off guard. Particulars about the angle of the shots have not been released to the media, so the idea of a second gunman remains a mere opinion. On Feb. 22, the GCSO announced they had interviewed a person of interest within days after the deadly shootings. A deputy, who stopped a 27-year-old man for a traffic violation, thought the driver was very edgy and acting weirdly for someone just getting a speeding ticket. His vehicle was a Subaru Outback with Ohio plates, but he had a Utah driver’s license and lived in the vicinity of Moab. When lawmen questioned him about the victims, he acknowledged he knew Schulte because he had been hired to work at the Moonflower Community Co-op, where she was also employed. Asked point-blank if he had killed the women, he said he had not, but the nervous behavior exhibited earlier was gone. Instead, he stared vacantly at his interrogators. His conduct and demeanor made him look like someone with untreated mental health issues or an ex-con apprehensive about being pulled over by a cop. A co-worker said the man claimed to hear voices. A place of business had asked him to leave for allegedly making unwanted advances to women. Unable to account for his whereabouts at the time of the slayings, he said he had camped in the mountains and gave officers the location. There, deputies confiscated two blankets and a bloody jacket. Nationwide news outlets covered this purported break in the case only to learn the next day that the GCSO had released the man, saying he had been cleared. The blood on his jacket was not a match to either victim. The sheriff ’s office states their investigation is active and ongoing, and there is a feeling the homicides will be solved. Meanwhile, the citizens of Moab are left to cope with the fear of not knowing if the evildoer is a stranger or a member of the community who knew the victims.

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Ozone By Joe David Rice

ou may be a bit wary of this word, but keep reading. This is neither a technical treatise on respiratory hazards nor a scholarly piece on greenhouse gases. Those heavy, academic topics are beyond my expertise, such as it is. No footnotes will be found. No scientific authorities will be quoted. No dire predictions will be made. I want to introduce you to Ozone, a small Johnson County community smack dab in the middle of the Ozark National Forest, some 15 miles or so north of Interstate 40. It’s one of two or three places in America with that unusual name. Perched 1,950 feet above sea level, Ozone is bisected by Arkansas Highway 21, also recognized as the Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway because of its twisting, panoramic route through some of Arkansas’ prettiest landscapes. The road is best appreciated by those on a leisurely mission. According to local legend, the town got its name in 1875 courtesy of Mrs. Delia McCracken, the local postmistress, who was rightly proud of the delightful purity of the unspoiled mountain air. In her era, the word “ozone” generally referred to the fresh and distinctive smell in the atmosphere following a thunderstorm. My guess is that Mrs. McCracken would have no use for the “Ozone Alerts” and “Ozone Action Days” of the 21st century. There’s not much going on in Ozone these days, and that’s part of its charm. The community still has a post office, a couple of churches and the Ozone Burger Barn, one of the area’s rare retail establishments. It’s a popular stop for travelers, especially motorcyclists who come from far and wide for the chance to sample the ever-changing vistas and sweeping curves of the scenic byway. Next time you’re heading to Northwest Arkansas, consider a deviation from your usual route, and enjoy an Ozone experience of the positive variety.

Joe David Rice, former tourism director of Arkansas Parks and Tourism, has written Arkansas Backstories, a delightful book of short stories from A through Z that introduces readers to the state's lesser-known aspects. Rice's goal is to help readers acknowledge that Arkansas is a unique and fascinating combination of land and people – one to be proud of and one certainly worth sharing. Each month, AY will share one of the 165 distinctive essays. We hope these stories will give you a new appreciation for this geographically compact but delightfully complex place we call home. These Arkansas Backstories columns appear courtesy of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System. The essays have been collected and published by Butler Center Books in a two-volume set, both of which are now available to purchase at Amazon and the University of Arkansas Press.

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