AY About You August 2023

ERE FOR Healthy

Unity Health provides medical excellence, incredible access and compassionate care locally for our communities, including our new state-of-the-art hospital in Jacksonville. Our network of award-winning hospitals, clinics and specialists are trusted as some of the top performing in the nation. Focused on quality care and education, Unity Health is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network and has the second largest residency program in the state. Looking for high quality care, close to home? Come see us!

AY’S BEST HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS FOR 2023

( Pictured from left to right )

• Cody Conard, D.O. Unity Health -WhiteCountyMedicalCenter,Searcy

• Abby Rice, PA-C UnityHealth-Family PracticeAssociates,Searcy

• M. Gregg Barden, M.D. UnityHealth-Searcy MedicalCenter

• Hannah Hare White, APRN UnityHealth-Newport;OB/GYNClinic,Newport

• Kyle Blickenstaff, M.D. UnityHealth-OrthopaedicandSpineCenter,Searcy

• Cari Long, APRN Unity Health -ClarityHealthandWellness,Jacksonville

page 58

The Dog Daze of summer are here! Check out everything for your pampered pooch, then kick back with one of the cool cocktails featured in this issue of AY About You!

Read more: page 56

Make 2023 Your Year for the Beautiful Smile You Deserve!

People all over Arkansas trust Drs. Jahon Zehtaban and Lee Wyant with their smile. With a combined 50 years of experience in providing clinical excellence you know your smile is in good hands. Dr. Zehtaban is a proud member of both the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. Credentials, experience, and caring concern for each individual patient ensure that you’ll receive exceptional esthetic results regardless of the challenges presented. Learn more how Drs. Zehtaban and Wyant can help you have an incredible smile by calling today for your complimentary smile consultation.

501.819.3608

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Dwain Hebda dwain@aymag.com

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Darlene Hebda darlene@aymag.com

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Kellie McAnulty kmcanulty@aymag.com

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Joe David Rice, born in Paragould and reared in Jonesboro, probably knows Arkansas as well as anyone alive. The former owner of an outfitting business on the Buffalo National River and the state’s former tourism director, his "Arkansas Backstories" is published by the Butler Center.

Amy Gramlich is a wife, mom, blogger, and public school educator, proudly planted in Arkansas. She loves to celebrate all occasions big and small with fun outfits, creative recipes and fresh home decor (which must always include plants). She enjoys all the details that go into planning the next trip or party.

Kelli Reep is a writer and public relations practitioner in central Arkansas. When she isn’t looking for the best pie in the state, she is being ordered around by three cats. She likes to read, cook, sleep and help out when she can.

Sarah DeClerk is an experienced journalist and past board member and president for the Arkansas Society of Professional Journalists. An Arkansas native, she holds a degree in mass communication from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

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 longtime members of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock.

Angelita Faller is the news director for the Office of Communications and Marketing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. A native of Newton, Illinois, Faller holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Eastern Illinois University and a master’s degree in digital storytelling from Ball State University.

Jamie Lee is a native of Southwest Louisiana, now residing in Little Rock. She is a freelance photographer and writer, focusing on food and restaurants. Jamie has been a photographer for 15 years, shooting seniors, families, portraits, branding and food. She also has over 25 years’ experience with marketing in the travel and tourism industry.

Little Rock native Becca Bona has been writing professionally for a decade. A fan of all-things-local, she enjoys focusing on the restaurant and beverage industry in central Arkansas.

rate is $24 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

are copyrighted ©2023, 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.

EXPL or E THE o UT door S THIS SUMME r

Explore 10,000 acres of the Ozark Mountains this summer at Dogwood Canyon. Experience nature in bloom with countless outdoor activities including horseback riding, fishing, wildlife tram tours, hiking and biking.

dogwoodcanyon . org

We Love Our Pups!

It’s still hot out there, but with kids returning to school and college football just a few weeks away, August is a month with a split personality – still summery enough to lounge by the pool or get in a last-minute vacation, yet carrying an undeniable hint of fall. It’s a great time of year with a lot going on.

August also brings one of our favorite issues on the AY About You editorial calendar, our annual Dog Daze saluting furry friends and faithful companions!

Dogs bring a special kind of love to our lives, and if you feel like we do about our pups, you want the very best for them, always. In this issue, we bring you dog-friendly bars and restaurants to visit, we take a look at health issues and cost of ownership, and we feature some dogs that have interesting jobs in the community. We even spotlight some furry friends looking for their forever homes, so check them out and go get a new pal!

Also this month, we feature some of the coolest cocktails out there to help take the edge off of late summer in Arkansas. These refreshing beverages come to us from some of the best mixologists in central Arkansas, so take a look and then make a date to try them in person.

In this issue, you can also find a number of dining and entertainment options to suit any mood. We visit Izzy’s, one of West Little Rock’s favorite neighborhood eateries, and get in a few laughs with The Main Thing, a comedy show in North Little Rock. And for something completely different, we give you a glimpse of the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell rock climbing festival near Jasper. It’s a wild weekend you’ll never forget.

As if all that weren’t enough, this month’s jampacked issue also features our annual list of Best Healthcare Professionals. Whatever type of medical expertise is required, this list is good for what ails you! All this plus much, much more.

As life shifts from summer break to the routines of the school year, there’s plenty to keep individuals and families running every day of the week. Be sure to take time to slow down and savor the moments as you do so. Kids grow up fast and days such as these don’t last forever, so make the most of it!

Thank you for reading AY About You!

Heather Baker, President & Publisher

READER FEEDBACK INSTAGRAM

DOE’S EAT PLACE IS NEXT ON THE STEAKS BUCKET LIST

“Go!!!! It’s sooooo good!! We go once a month! Yummy!”

Barb Burks Ford

AY’S 2023 MEN OF DISTINCTION SPOTLIGHT: FRANKLIN BASS

“Congratulations Franklin, well deserved.”

David Michael

ALDI IS COMING TO CONWAY!

“I LOVE ALDI’S. I just went to the one in Fort Smith and was hoping we could get one closer. I will definitely be going to this one in Conway”

Suzanne Hale

JENNIFER MAUNE WOWS JUDGES, WINS IMMUNITY

“Congratulations! I was watching and thrilled.”

Jo Hudgins

DESIGNER Q&A: LOVE IS BLIND – MIKE KIRBY, MADE IN THE SHADE “Made in the Shade did three door window shade treatments for me. I recommend them.”

Peggy Wells

FOOD BITES: ONE ELEVEN, MAD ROOSTER BEER & MORE “We are excited to be a part of the Argenta community!”

Ol’Bart at Diamond Bear

AY’S 2023 MEN OF DISTINCTION SPOTLIGHT: ARLO WASHINGTON “Arlo is doing great things.”

Cassie Wells

TRENDING ON AYMAG.COM

Could Casa Bonita See New Life in Arkansas?

The People Behind Your News: Ashlei King

ALDI Is Coming To Conway!

Alyson Courtney Reaches for the Sky at Argenta Community Theater.

New Things to Come for One Conway Tacos 4 Life Location.

Arkansas-based restaurant group Tacos 4 Life has opened a new restaurant concept, Dōblé Mexican Cafe, replacing its previous location on Dave Ward Drive in Conway.

The Little Rock Zoo is once again offering Behind the Scenes tours for the first time since the pandemic, including up close and personal experiences with elephants and penguins.

Two Hands Fresh Corn Dogs, a Korean-style street corn dog restaurant, announced it will be expanding its franchise to Arkansas.

CHARTS Lineup Includes Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard & More

We are devoted to providing high quality care which celebrates the dignity and grace of every person who enters our facility.

At Sherwood Nursing and Rehab we are committed to providing the highest quality of patient care. Our qualified staff is here giving support for the tasks of day-to-day living, allowing for the enjoyment of more pleasant and carefree activities.

We specialize in Short-Term Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care services.

245 Indian Bay Drive Sherwood, AR 72120

501.834.9960 Fax: 501.834.5644

5Top you just can't miss!

124TH ANNUAL TONTITOWN GRAPE FESTIVAL

Aug. 1-5

Tontitown

Celebrate Tontitown this August with the 124th Annual Tontitown Grape Festival. This year’s event will include grape stomping, the famous spaghetti dinners, free live entertainment nightly, carnival rides and more. All about tradition, this festival is perfect for the entire family, with something fun offered for every age group.

LUKE BRYAN

Aug. 10

Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion // Rogers

Joined by Chayce Beckham, Ashley Cooke, DJ Rock and Jackson Dean, Luke Bryan will be bringing Country On Tour to Rogers. In partnership with Live Nation, this concert will begin at 7 p.m., and gates will open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets start at $46.50 and can be purchased online, along with ticket add-ons.

47TH ANNUAL HOPE WATERMELON FESTIVAL 2023

Aug. 10-12

South Mockingbird Ln. // Hope

If you know anything about Hope, you know that the city has three Guinness World Records for the world’s largest watermelons. Every year, Hope hosts its Watermelon Festival in August and showcases its most famous product, along with several activities including arts and crafts, food, entertainment, a 5K race, the Watermelon Olympics and more. This year’s theme is “A Seed Spitting Good Time.”

4TH ANNUAL SOAR NWA

Aug. 18-19

Benton County Fairgrounds // Bentonville

Open Avenues will be hosting its 4th Annual SOAR NWA fundraising event this August, with activities centered around hot air balloons. All proceeds from this event go toward supporting Open Avenues mission of providing employment opportunities to those with disabilities. Live music, circus performers, a kid zone, a car exhibit, a beer garden, food trucks, merchandise vendors and tethered hot air balloon rides will be offered at this year’s event.

76TH ANNUAL MT. NEBO CHICKEN FRY

Aug. 19

Mt. Nebo State Park // Dardanelle

Celebrate the Arkansas River Valley poultry industry at the Mt. Nebo Chicken Fry, coming to Dardanelle. Now in its 76th year, the 2023 theme is “Chicken, Pickin’ and Potlickin’,” a reference to the Chicken Fry’s history as a must-go political event and one of Arkansas’ longest-standing and tastiest traditions.

Clean lines and quality materials turn the ordinary kitchen into something extraordinary.

in familiar New

By KELLI REEP

Talking with Scott Lucas is like talking with your oldest friend. Open, down-to-earth and confident, Lucas can calm your fears, soothe your anxiety, and coax out your best ideas for re-envisioning your new kitchen or bathroom renovation.

“I have never had a divorce on my watch,” he said with a laugh. “That is something I am pretty proud of. In 13 years of doing this, I have not had a couple break up over their home being built, remodeled or renovated. In fact, we bond with our clients, and some have become friends.”

Lucas began his career in the home construction, renovation and remodeling industry with his uncle who was a homebuilder.

“I followed him around when I was a kid, and I was always interested in what he did,” Lucas said. “In 2003, I went into the corporate world in the home industry. It was just a few years later, in 2010, when he decided to go back to homebuilding and started Lucas Construction.

“We started building new homes one house at a time, and then it eventually led to two houses at a time,” he said. “So, 2010 was a big year for us; we fully incorporated that year and it has grown from there.”

For 13 years, Lucas continued building new homes, but in the last three to four years, the biggest challenge has been the cost of construction.

“The cost to build a new home has become almost astronomical,” Lucas said. “It is almost impossible to afford to build a new home. What we are finding are buyers are looking to remodel their existing homes into the house of their dreams, which is more economical both in terms of time and money invested.

“This trend is what has transitioned us into moving more into the renovation and remodeling aspect of home construction, and we have changed our name to reflect that. Today, we are Scott Lucas Bath & Kitchen.”

Lucas and his wife, Cindy, owners of Scott Lucas Bath & Kitchen, decided to focus on just bath and kitchen renovations after pursuing both new home construction and room remodeling at the same time.

“We saw more clients wanting to update the homes they have now, and they are coming out thousands and thousands of dollars ahead of the cost of building a new home from scratch,” he said. “The advantages of doing so include getting to stay in their home, turn it into their dream space, and save time and money.”

Lucas’ creative eye turns an underused corner into a cozy dining nook.

Got a dream bathroom in mind? Lucas can make it a reality.

“I have seen all kinds of things – carpet in bathrooms, linoleum on walls, but there is almost always a way for us to come in and make the homeowner’s vision a reality."

As an example of this trend, Lucas and his team recently finished a remodel on a large home on a big lot in central Arkansas. With a new subdivision right across the street from the home, the owners Lucas worked with took out $150,000 to remodel their home instead of purchasing new.

“Even with their mortgage and the loan to remodel, these homeowners came out ahead,” he said. “If they had purchased their home across their street in the new subdivision, they would not be thousands of dollars ahead or nearly as satisfied, because they received exactly what they were looking for in remodeling.

“The homes in the new subdivision are half the size of the homeowners’ house, and the lot is half the size or smaller than the lot they are on now. That is just one example of what we are seeing in the industry today and why we are focusing on remodeling and renovation.”

In addition to the economy and efficiency of remodeling, homeowners who seek kitchen and bath remodels can get what they want in as little as four weeks, from beginning of demo and construction to the finished room.

“I guess this trend for us began with bathrooms, when a client asked us to renovate his and put in a shower,” Lucas explains. “At the time, garden tubs were big and while the bathrooms of that era were sizable, there either was not a shower in the bathroom or the shower

was really small.

“I posted to our Facebook business page that we can remove these tubs and improve the overall bathroom with a sit-down shower stall. I posted photos of our first shower installation and that is when I got my first call with a gentleman saying he wanted the exact same thing installed in his home. We have been pursuing these projects ever since.”

Lucas has lost count of the number of projects he’s completed since, but said many of the jobs hold the same attributes in common.

“The number-one call I get is to remove an oversized bathtub and install a big, walk-in shower,” Lucas continued. “There are some people who still use jet tubs, but for those who do not, it is wasted square footage that can be renovated into something useful that also adds value to the house. I do not know how many times I have walked into a home, and the garden tub was used for laundry or a catchall.”

The reclaimed space and functionality that clients receive are one big reason why bathroom projects represent some of the work of which Lucas is most proud.

“We walk in and put together a plan, then four to six weeks later, the room looks like something out of a modern home magazine,” Lucas said. “I have seen all kinds of things – carpet in bathrooms, linoleum on walls — but there is almost always a way for us to come in and make the homeowners’ vision a reality. If we cannot, we do whatever we can to ensure we get as close as possible with the budget, space and requirements we have.”

Scott Lucas Bath & Kitchen also helps homeowners look at their overall space to determine the best way to get what would work best and fit their overall needs. Lucas says in addition to bath and kitchen remodels, his company can expand the home to include screened-in back porches and decks to make homes more suitable for entertaining. By covering a back patio, screening in a porch and making them extensions of the house, these spaces become accessible to the outdoors without the inconvenience of the heat, humidity and pests.

Starting with a single shower project, Lucas Bath & Kitchen has become a leader in its field.

“We get a lot of people asking us to remodel their back porches so it’s more of an entertainment area,” he said. “During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, more people were seeing how their homes could be a hub for family life, and how they can entertain family and friends without having to have a formal dining or living room.

“[Clients are] looking at the space they have and deciding how it can best give their loved ones the space they need, while also welcoming guests. That is where remodeling such as open-concept kitchen/dining/ living rooms are trending, with the outside part of the house being incorporated into that.”

Lucas said most of the time when people call Scott Lucas Bath & Kitchen, they have somewhat of a vision of what they want their space to be.

“They have concept pictures or a vision board, but they don’t know where to start,” he said. “They know they like the look of their concept photos, so what we do is come in, do an initial consultation, and from that point we try to narrow down what the price will be and get a firm estimate in place. Then we start the shopping process of picking out all the finishes.

“We generally shop with clients, but occasionally there are clients who tell us we are the experts and ask us to guide them, which we are happy to do. We work with interior designers and vendors so together, we can help our clients determine their color schemes, what they want their new rooms to look like, and how it fits in with the rest of their home.”

With home trends like the modern farmhouse (brought to fame by Chip and Joanna Gaines) still in style, Lucas is seeing more homeowners painting the exterior brick of their homes to make it uniquely theirs while also remodeling the interior for more accessibility.

“There are some things about the rustic, modern farmhouse look that are timeless,” Lucas said. “Features from 10 and 20 years ago are still being seen today. You see lots of grays and whites, blues and greens in homes still. Browns will come back and stick around for a while then be out of fashion again. What is old always becomes new again.”

Another trend specific to bathrooms are

makeup vanities, where people can sit down and have their cosmetic items organized and at hand. For kitchens, it is common to remove walls and open up the space to combine kitchen, dining room and living room in an open concept, more like entertainment rooms.

“Many years ago, they tried to put in as many walls in a home as they could,” Lucas said. “Nowadays, everyone is moving toward big, open concepts; more and more, we’re incorporating the dining, breakfast, kitchen and living rooms.”

The open floor plan is not only fashionable, but helps the home remain functional and accessible even as the occupants age.

“One of the things I would advise people is to consider the functionality in addition to a good look, when considering their remodel,” Lucas said. “We see people opening up their spaces by widening doorways, expanding the footprint of the bathroom, and raising the height of the counters to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility guidelines.

“We can make showers accessible, install barn and pocket doors for ease of use and access. Barn doors are ideal for this and they do not have to look rustic. A lot of what homeowners in central Arkansas are focusing on is functionality because they are looking ahead to retirement, and these upgrades will allow them to live longer in their homes and more independently.”

Lucas said he’s practiced what he preaches in his own home as well.

“What Cindy and I did in our home was design one expansive room that combines our dining and breakfast rooms with the living room and kitchen,” he said. “I literally got draft paper, drew a 40 foot by 40 foot square box to serve as this entertainment room then designed the rest of our home around it.”

The one key piece of advice Lucas would give to homeowners considering whether to build a new home or renovate the one they already own is not to be intimidated or overwhelmed by the remodeling or renovation process.

“It may seem like a lot, but it is not. It is remarkably simple,” Lucas explains. “Everyone reaches remodel fatigue at some point, but once the project is complete, it’s over. You have it forever and you get to enjoy increased value and enjoyment from your existing home without having to move.”

Lucas says the team at Scott Lucas Bath & Kitchen is passionate about reimagining spaces and helping breathe new life into homes. Today, the company is focusing on central Arkansas projects, so they can stay within an area to ensure their clients get their renovations and remodeling done as quickly as possible.

“We go to dinner with clients who have become our friends and we hang out,” Lucas said. “Being in someone’s home and helping them make it the best it can be is an intimate process, and we do not take their trust in us lightly. Being personable is something Cindy and I take seriously, and I think it is what sets our company apart in central Arkansas.

“What started as new home construction has evolved to become central Arkansas’s leading home renovation company. If you are ready to reimagine what your home can be, we would love to chat.”

A skillful blend of textures and color can transform even a small space.

Home Remodeling in Central Arkansas

If you’re searching for a team to work alongside you to build your dream home, the Lucas Construction team is here for you. Specializing in kitchen & bathroom remodels, we take pride in remaking spaces in your house to make home a place you never want to leave.

If you’re searching for a team to work alongside you to build your dream home, the Lucas Construction team is here for you. Specializing in kitchen & bathroom remodels, we take pride in remaking spaces in your house to make home a place you never want to leave.

@ScottLucasBath&Kitchen

Shining in Th e C ity

Silver Dollar City Unites Art and Illumination for the 2023 Harvest Festival

There are few times in the Ozark Mountains as beautiful as fall, and there’s no better way to enjoy the season than with the pumpkin paradise that is Silver Dollar City’s Harvest Festival. Known for the thousands of gorgeous gourds that set the #1 Amusement Park in America aglow each year, the Harvest Festival is back and brighter than ever this September and October.

New for this year’s festivities, a Canopy Sky of hanging lanterns will cast a soft glow from two stories above the park’s Valley Road, combining with thousands of luminous pumpkins to suffuse every step – from Town Square to the Time Traveler – in warm shades of orange. To top it all off, the night will truly come alive in the Pump-

kin Plaza, where all-age dance parties and character meet-and-greets abound.

As the Home of American Craftsmanship, The City is an homage to a bygone era of magnificent makers. Guests of all ages will enjoy stepping back in time with the help of acclaimed artisans from across the country. See experts carry on the American crafting tradition, demonstrating their skills through everything from gourd-making and handcrafted jewelry to sorghum harvesting and artistic pumpkin carving.

For those seeking adventure to the tune of the Wild West, the Cowboy Emporium is the place to be. Making his return this year is Buck Taylor, known for the likes of Yellowstone and Gunsmoke and renowned for his watercolor artwork. And if you want a real “taste” of the action, stop by and see chefs Justin Jackson and Mark Day demonstrate their cattle-drive-approved recipes in the Chuckwagon CookOff every afternoon.

For the music lovers, there will be no shortage of folk, country and bluegrass performances to be enjoyed throughout the day. Dawson Hollow, Lindley Creek, Eastern Heights and Arbour Season are just a few of the acts on deck, with many more appearing throughout the festival’s run.

Whether you’re a fall foodie or you’ve worked up an autumnal appetite enjoying all the shows, rides and entertainment, there is a mouth-

watering assortment of pumpkin-packed foods waiting just for you. Discover unconventional favorites like the pumpkin corndog, sip on cold ciders and lattes and don’t forget your Tasting Passport to get samples of all the fantastically fall-flavored goodies. No matter what the season looks like for you, the Harvest Festival at Silver Dollar City is a must-experience for the whole family.

The 2023 Harvest Festival, featuring Crafts and Pumpkins In The City, kicks off September 15 and will keep on glowing through October 28.

More info at 417-336-7100 or by visiting silverdollarcity.com.

you’re here! We’re glad

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

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

”We could not be more excited for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year,” said Dr. McNulty, “Here at PCSSD we value all students along with their families and make every effort to provide an academic and

social learning environment that prepares students today and for the future.”

One of the biggest changes PCSSD will see this year is full implementation of the Academies of Central Arkansas.

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

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

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

www.pcssd.org

ABOUT PCSSD

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.

Livin’ in

Little Rock

A ROUNDUP OF THINGS TO LOVE IN ARKANSAS’ CAPITAL CITY

It’s hard to pin down exactly what to love most about Little Rock, Arkansas. Seriously, where do you start?

From breathtaking outdoors to funky local restaurants; from the Big Dam Bridge to the Clinton Library; from the top of Pinnacle Mountain to the bottom of Cantrell Hill, Little Rock defies easy categorization.

A city of neighborhoods, each with its own character and all with a sense of place. A city of history, where you can find the original Bowie knife, walk the halls of the frontier Statehouse Museum, hear the Civil War echo within the MacArthur Museum of Military History and soak in the solemnity of Central High School.

A city of culture, from the sublime Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Robinson Center and Rep to gritty music venues and dazzling murals. A city of diversity, complex and intricate relationships and influences radiating off one another like living pixels. A city of audacious dreamers and still-untapped potential, more than once written off and forgotten, only to rise again, grand and eloquent in the retelling.

Yet for all it is, and for all it can one day become, Little Rock remains at its heart very simple – as open and honest and genuine as the people who live here. A wise man once said, “They don’t call it Big Rock for a reason,” and truer words have never been spoken about our beloved city on the river. Newcomers feel the embrace of neighbors until they can’t remember what it was like to have once been a stranger. People aren’t just happy to welcome you here, they’re pleased to welcome you home, often with a plate or a cool drink, always glad you made it at last.

This year’s Livin’ in Little Rock celebrates those places that make our hometown one like no other on earth. Maybe it includes one of your favorite spots or maybe it’s simply a compass to lead you to something new. Either way, seek these out to experience our community to the fullest.

Here’s to you, Little Rock, and all who make you the special place you are.

Briar wood Nursing and Rehab is a 120-bed skilled facility located in an urban setting within the heart of Little Rock, in the neighborhood of Briarwood. We are located just minutes from downtown Little Rock and are only one block off interstate 630.

We provide long-term care and short-term rehab care. All residents are monitored throughout the day with assistance in providing daily care as is needed: bathing, dressing, feeding and providing medications. Briarwood staff also work at ensuring the best care for residents through individual care plans of residents' needs, as well as daily activities, which allow for a variety of interests and abilities.

Nearly all - 98 percent - of our rehab residents return to the community as a result of positive, caring therapists. Briarwood's approach has provided healing to many people in the community.

At Briarwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, we are committed to ensuring that the best possible care is given to you or your loved one in an atmosphere that is calm, quiet and focused on healing. We endeavor to ensure that all aspects of your well-being — mental, physical and spiritual — are cared for in a peaceful and safe environment. Our staff strive to promote dignity, respect, and independence as much as possible, in a beautiful, soothing enviornment that was designed with our residents' comfort in mind.

Briarwood's service-rich environment is made possible by its dedicated staff, from our nursing staff and therapists, to our operations and administrative employees. At Briarwood, our residents enjoy three generations of staff and families. That is over 30 years of service to the community!

Live Well. Be Happy.

LIVIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK

As the oldest museum in Little Rock, the Museum of Discovery should be at the top of any family’s itinerary when planning their visit to the capital city. The Museum of Discovery’s mission is to ignite and fuel a passion for science, technology, engineering, arts and math through dynamic, interactive experiences.

From the early childhood gallery and two-story climber to the PPG STEAM Studio problem solving workspace, there’s an activity for everyone that promises to be as entertaining as it is educational. The museum has more than 90 interactive exhibits teaching a variety of science concepts, with even more exciting exhibits debuting this fall.

Colonel Glenn Health & Rehab is central

SHORT-TERM REHAB, LONG TERM CARE & RESPITE SERVICES

We specialize in Short-Term Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care services. From the moment you enter our facility, we want you to experience the difference our facility has to offer. From our light-filled common area to our beautiful outdoor patios, we want you and your loved one to feel comfortable and safe when staying with us.

Fall Jewelry classes

starting September 5th and 6th. Beginner, Intermediate and advance class options.

Registration opens August 15.

BY LOCAL ARTIST MELISSA ORSINI

Best 201 8 of

When you walk into the Robinson Nursing & Rehabilitation Center you will feel a comfortable atmosphere different from any other facility you have visited. We feature tall ceilings and an open floor plan. We have a lovely dining room and a covered outdoor patio area.

When you walk into the Robinson Nursing & Rehabilitation Center you will feel a comfortable atmosphere different from any other facility you have visited. We feature tall ceilings and an open floor plan. We have a lovely dining room and a covered outdoor patio area.

We specialize in short-term rehabilitation and long-term care services. The short-term rehabilitation area has its own dining area and day room. From the moment you enter our facility, we want you to experience the difference our facility has to offer. From our light-filled day areas to our beautiful outdoor areas, we want you and your loved one to feel comfortable and safe when staying with us. You will also notice the pride we take in our facility by keeping our building sparkling clean from the inside out.

We specialize in short-term rehabilitation and long-term care services. The short-term rehabilitation area has its own dining area and day room. From the moment you enter our facility, we want you to experience the difference our facility has to offer. From our light-filled day areas to our beautiful outdoor areas, we want you and your loved one to feel comfortable and safe when staying with us. You will also notice the pride we take in our facility by keeping our building sparkling clean from the inside out.

Our team is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable environment. Robinson Nursing and Rehab offers modern conveniences in a gracious setting. We provide daily planned activities led by certified activity directors, like social events and outings and pastoral services with spiritual care for all religions. We strongly encourage family participation in group activities, meals and celebrating family birthdays and special days.

Our team is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable environment. Robinson Nursing and Rehab offers modern conveniences in a gracious setting. We provide daily planned activities led by Certified Activity Directors, like social events and outings and pastoral services with spiritual care for all religions. We strongly encourage family participation in group activities, meals and celebrating family birthdays and special days.

To help you plan your visits, we provide a monthly event calendar and a monthly meal planner. Robinson Nursing and Rehab does not have set visiting hours. We view this facility as the “home” of each resident.

To help you plan your visits, we provide a monthly event calendar and a monthly meal planner. Robinson Nursing and Rehab does not have set visiting hours. We view this facility as the “home” of each resident.

We try our best to communicate with patients and families to help alleviate the anxiety that accompanies this journey. Our team of nurses, therapists and support staff work closely together to develop a plan based on the individual needs of each person. We recognize that rehabilitation involves not only the patient, but the entire family.

We try our best to communicate with patients and families to help alleviate the anxiety that accompanies this journey. Our team of nurses, therapists and support staff work closely together to develop a plan based on the individual needs of each person. We recognize that rehabilitation involves not only the patient but the entire family. 501.753.9003 • 519 Donovan Briley Boulevard, NLR • www.robinsonnr.com

HellYEAH

By BECCA BONA // Photos LUCAS MARSHALL

Inside the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell Challenge

The Natural State’s varied terrains beckon you outside, and Arkansans are just crazy enough to go exploring. From the Buffalo River’s scenic bluffs to the autumnal foliage of the vast rolling hills of the Ozarks and everything in between, the landscape’s diversity inevitably sparks outdoor activities. Cycling, canoeing, hiking, swimming –there’s plenty to do.

But there’s one community rooted in an outdoor activity that takes to nature a little differently than the rest: Arkansas’ rock-climbing community. This network of gutsy folks is not only connected by the love of the climb, they chase that adrenaline rush at every opportunity. There’s a shared passion for the next foot and handhold, for making a clean vertical route. There’s trust; a bond formed like no other. And it’s getting close to that time of year in The Natural State where the climbers come out in full force, taking the Ozarks by storm.

As slated by tradition, Horseshoe Canyon Ranch near Jasper in Newton County becomes home to one of the wildest rock-climbing festivals across the country – 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell – during the final week of September. This year’s event will take place Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, 2023.

Gather your teammate and get ready for a wild ride. It’s almost time to giddy-up.

Setting the Scene: Horseshoe Canyon Dude Ranch

You might double-take whether you’ve traveled back in time when you visit Arkansas’ own Horseshoe Canyon Dude Ranch. For some, the olfactory delights of leather, fresh air and musk will stir up nostalgia. For others, it might be a first-time experience. Either way, Horseshoe Canyon Ranch is the perfect peaceful backdrop for an immersive vacation to times long past.

You’re likely to see wranglers, hats and all, working the livestock to the day pen. This charming swath of land nestled within the Ozarks will charm your heart. Plus, the family-owned ranch offers you the option to get some settin’ in on the front porch of your rustic log cabin.

Sure, you can do the typical activities – rock climbing, canoeing the Buffalo and hiking in the Ozarks. But you can also enjoy a Cowboy Cook-Out, try your hand at archery or skeet shooting, or get in on some horseback riding. Don’t miss out on the petting zoo or the wagon

rides for the little ones. No matter the season, Horseshoe Canyon Ranch offers a nature-immersed respite from the craziness of modern daily living.

But when it comes to early fall, all the serenity and quiet bliss of Horseshoe Canyon Ranch gets tossed out. Actually, it gets torn up, rolled into a dayglo-colored ball, tattooed, doused in beer and set on fire for people to dance around.

Thus comes the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell, a climbing festival that blows the doors off any athletic event in Arkansas or elsewhere. Chances are, even the most casual member of the vast climbing community has heard of it – part rave, part Mardi Gras and completely outside the realm of adequate description. Throughout the festival, the bucolic valley thumps with energy and adrenaline, its tangible, mystic pulse alternatingly drawing and driving humans to step up to the challenge over 12 or 24 life-altering hours.

24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell (24HHH)

Imagine, you’re at a party with all your closest friends (which happens to be in the hundreds) and you’re all putting your body to the ultimate test: climbing a steep, sandstone

24HHH participants can opt for a 12- or a 24-hour climb.

wall that marks Horseshoe Canyon Ranch as one of the best climbing areas in the Ozarks.

Throw in costumes, music and allaround comradery that bond the people who have come here to do something a bit more extreme and who want to push themselves as far as they can go. You’re at the base of 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell, a wild tradition that has graced the Ozark Mountains for more than 15 years now, a village comprised of vendors, climbers, organizers and volunteers who make the annual pilgrimage for an unforgettable whirlwind of a weekend.

Teams of two take to the 12-hour and 24-hour climbing competitions that mark the event’s lineup. They seek to complete as many climbing routes as they can within that prescribed time, then spend the rest of it in near-unbridled revelry. Horseshoe Hell is the Ozark version of Burning Man, only with a set of carabiners big enough to climb a sheer rock face over and over again at two in the morning.

If you’re wondering why, it’s all about the community.

“The instant camaraderie with everyone you meet makes it special,” said Aaron Madey, a veteran 24HHH climber. “Everyone around you is going hard in their own way and that psyches you up. Then your psych feeds others. It’s like a never-ending game of telephone but instead of words, you’re

passing on your own version of stoke. It goes on to energize others and eventually gets passed back to you.

“And it repeats until 10 a.m. on Saturday. Then it keeps going until Saturday night. Then Sunday morning. Then the next week, and month, and soon enough, you’re signing up for the next year’s comp and the psych starts back up.”

There’s still time to get involved with this year’s Hell; what follows are front-row perspectives of seasoned climbers to give you a taste of what to expect.

Climber Perspective: Katie Childs

A prominent photographer in Arkansas based in Little Rock, Katie Childs has been climbing for 14 years. She got into the sport initially because her then-boyfriend now-husband was into the activity. It wasn’t long after she became a part of the climbing community that she first heard of the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell Challenge.

“I think if you climb in Arkansas ever, you’ve heard of the event. It’s super popular,” she said.

Unlike other extreme nature sports where veterans can get somewhat territorial, Hell climbers are always ready to bring newbies into the scene.

“Doing the competition is so much fun. The crowd is wild and the energy is palpable.”

–Katie Childs, climber

“The climbing community is very welcoming and nice,” Childs said. “The organizers do a fantastic job of making it feel like you’re really doing something, but at the same time, it has a very grassroots vibe.”

Childs noted that the Horseshoe Canyon Ranch itself becomes a very real character during the Hell Challenge, permeating a bit of mysterious magnetism throughout.

“It’s already a very magical space,” she said.

Although she’s completed the 24-hour challenge before, Childs prefers to stick to the 12-hour challenge. The event schedule typically starts on Wednesday, with the 12-hour challenge slated for Thursday, followed by the 24-hour challenge on Friday. There are numerous vendors and activities that occur Saturday including a huge afterparty.

“The full 24 is such a crazy experience. I quickly discovered that it was not for me,” she said. “In a big day of regular climbing with friends, you might climb 10 routes. During my first 24 in 2013, I climbed around 85, I think. Now people are climbing ... over 200 pitches in 24 hours, which is absolutely insane to me.”

Insane or not, those who complete over 200 pitches in 24 hours more than earn their bragging rights. However, the community isn’t built on bragging, it’s built on comradery, connection and fellowship. There’s something about pushing your body to the limits and knowing that everyone around you is determined enough to do the same. That connection is the source of the climbing community which reaches beyond The Natural State.

“Doing the competition is so much fun,” Childs said. “The crowd is wild and the energy is palpable. The best part is seeing everyone. People come from all over the country to climb in it, so we really only see those friends once a year.”

There’s something about finding yourself in those 24 hours, Childs said. It’s about endurance. It’s about the bond with your partner. And it’s about the nature you’re enveloped in with a crowd that’s your climbing family.

“The hardest part for me was just the fatigue and staying up all night in general,” she said of her 24-hour experience. “Around 3 a.m., it’s so dark outside, you only have your headlamp and partner. There’s zero energy left, and you have to muster whatever you can to maintain safe climbing practice and strength. It’s extremely draining.”

However, there’s something beyond satisfying about pushing through that to make it all the way to the end of the 24 hours. Think adrenaline-fueled self-reflection paired with a quiet stillness bolstered by the sound of everyone around

you reaching for the sunlight and finish line.

“There is a very magical moment when the sun comes back up and you start to feel tingly,” Childs said. “The comp goes from 10 a.m. to 10 a.m., so you have several hours the next morning to keep climbing. I remember my brain feeling like everything was delayed; I would grab a hold and moments later it would register. And all at the same time I remember feeling ‘Wow, this is awesome.”’

Climber Perspective: Aaron Madey

An avid outdoor enthusiast, Aaron Madey is a teacher based in Northwest Arkansas. Cycling? Hiking? Canoeing? Madey’s likely done it, is doing it or is planning on it. As far as rock climbing goes, he began his journey in 2010.

“A friend of mine got me into it through our shared love of the outdoors, and originally it was mainly a good excuse to get outside,” he said. “It eventually became a main hobby,

The 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell is a rite of passage for climbers of all ages and backgrounds, especially Arkansans.

exercise and source of community.

“It’s an interesting sport because physically it’s all you, but if you’re rope climbing or bouldering with a spotter, there’s a special bond to keep each other safe and encourage each other. And that special bond grows to the bigger community when you start climbing at other places or with other people.”

Madey had heard of 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell early on in his years of climbing, but he wasn’t exactly sure what it might entail. He was even a bit intimidated by the whole thing initially, but once he competed, he realized it wasn’t all that scary. Quite the opposite, really.

“I didn’t really know what it was at first, other than a big party,” he said. “I learned about it from my first climbing partner and had it in my sights as something to aspire to.”

Madey was hooked after his first go in 2012. Even in the years he’s not climbing, he finds a way to support the event and the climbing community that calls Horseshoe Hell home via volunteering. He’s not likely to quit anytime soon.

“I first competed in Horseshoe Hell in 2012 with my main climbing partner at the time, J.D. Borgeson,” he said. “Since then, I’ve competed four more times with two other partners in the 24-hour event and once in the 12-hour event.

“Every year that I didn’t compete in the 24, I was on the volunteer staff. So, I’ve been every year since 2012.”

Madey is the first to tell you that there is a lot that goes into successfully completing the 24-hour challenge. Pacing, nutrition, hydration – they’re all important. In fact, there’s a comprehensive list of tips that can be found on the Horseshoe Hell Challenge website intended to help newbies prepare.

But the most important tip Madey shares with the newcomer is getting past the physical and mental endurance wall. He said that moment is different for everyone, but it does come for everyone, and the act of pushing through it is the most potent binding agent of the entire experience.

“That wall can present itself in many ways: worn-out fin-

gers, muscle cramps, mental fatigue or the dreaded partner fight,” he said. “Whatever it is, make it through the wall and you’ll be fine.

“For me, the best part of the competition is the communal feeling. I get to be around so many people pushing themselves, doing something they love. I love chatting people up next to me or just quietly vibing to some music in the dead hours of night with someone who might be a stranger but also your biggest source of energy at the moment.”

As far as the climbing goes, it’s tough; Madey said there’s something about competing in the wee hours of the morning that makes for an extremely unyielding challenge. And not necessarily because you physically want to fall asleep, but for the mental shock of realizing there are 6 or 7 more hours to go.

“In my experience the hardest part of the comp tends to arrive sometime around 3 or 4 a.m.,” he said. “A Red Bull and a good playlist go a long way for me around that time.”

Climbers don’t have to go all-in when doing the 24-hour challenge. Madey said one of the perks of the event is the ability to make it what you need it to be. It’s basically a choose-your-own-adventure situation.

“One of the things I like most is how varied you can make your experience,” he said. “Do you just want to do one route per hour, or try to get 200 laps? Do you want to climb a ton of easy routes, or go for harder grades? There are categories and winners, sure. But most people are just there to reach their own personal or team goal and I love that.”

The Experience

Vendors are part of what makes the Horseshoe Hell Challenge such a standout event. Hell Ink – tattoos commemorating the event – have become THE keepsake for climbers to aspire to. There have been beers brewed specifically for the challenge and much more, as climbers tend to be artisans, as well.

This year there is something new in the line-up: the Devil’s Disco Bouldering Challenge. The goal is for two teammates to complete a minimum number of boulder problems in eight hours. Costumes are encouraged and like the rest of the climbs in the Horseshoe Hell Challenge, there are different categories: recreational, intermediate, advanced and masters.

An event of this magnitude takes a lot of planning and logistics. Organizers lean on a huge pool of volunteers that help make it all possible.

“I have to plug the volunteer team,” said Madey. “I have volunteered as many times as I’ve climbed, and it is just as fun, or more, as climbing in the comp. It’s a big ol’ family of psych spreaders and dad jokers who make the whole thing possible. They really do have such a huge impact on the overall experience of people in the comp.”

Lions. Climbers. Cult members. Those who have ingrained themselves in the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell Challenge are difficult to pin down. The best thing to do – besides checking out the website, social media and app – is to experience it all firsthand.

“If you’ve heard of Hell, or are considering it at all, you should go for it,” said Madey. “Volunteer if you didn’t make it into the comp or if you want to get the experience without competing. Oh, and spectators are welcome, too.”

For more information, visit twofourhell.com.

The intensely personal bond 24HHH climbers share results in camraderie over competition, even at 3 a.m.

The physical rewards of 24HHH -- souvenir beer, horseshoes and blisters -- are minor, but the experience is so exhilarating many climbers immediately start dreaming of next year.

“Your psych feeds others. It’s like a neverending game of telephone but instead of words, you’re passing on your own version of stoke.”

– Aaron Madey, climber

By KEN HEARD // Photgraphy by KEN HEARD

The sky split open over Greene County at 4:08 a.m. on Feb. 17, 1930, and depending upon their theology, locals thought it was either the devil or Jesus coming.

AGIFTFROMABOVE

People in five states saw a brilliant streak of light and those near the Finch community about 15 miles southwest of Paragould heard three loud explosions. Roosters began crowing and cattle stampeded at the fiery show and noise.

There was debate that it could have been a sudden thunderstorm, but that idea was quickly quelled by witnesses.

“It was clear out that night. People could see stars,” said Doris Hagen, president of the Greene County Museum in Paragould whose grandfather, Tellas Treece, saw it and told her years later about the evening. “It wasn’t a storm.”

Instead, it was the second largest meteorite ever seen falling in the U.S. and then later recovered. An 800-pound chunk of iron, troilite and LL5 chronidite – a rare form of iron found in meteorites – blasted through the earth’s atmosphere and landed in a field just southwest of Paragould, creating a nine-foot-deep crater. Another 73-pound piece crashed into earth near the Finch Baptist Church and a third rock was never found.

Scientists later determined the meteorite broke into three pieces because of the three sonic booms residents reported hearing. The event sparked the interest in things from outer space, both because of the rarity and because of the

lucrative nature of finding a meteorite.

Four weeks after the meteorite’s fall, searchers found it on farmland owned by Joe H. Fletcher. The nearly four-foot long stone burrowed deep into the soil spraying clay 100 feet from its impact. Five men and a team of horses took three hours to dig the meteorite out.

Fletcher soon sold it to Harvey N. Nininger, a biology professor from McPherson, Kan., for $3,600. Nininger then sold it to Stanley Field, the president of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago for $6,200. The sale funded Nininger’s dream to become a meteorite hunter and he soon retired from his teaching position to search for falling space stones.

The Paragould meteorite was displayed in the museum on the shore of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago for decades and was later loaned to the museum at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The fascination with the approaching 2024 solar eclipse helped spur locals into action to bring the rock home. It’s now on loan at the Greene County Museum in Paragould, proudly featured in a room devoted to the event.

Meanwhile, an 80-pound piece of the meteorite, found near Finch, sold for $300. It’s now at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. And there have been other meteorites that searchers have discovered in Arkansas over the years.

A 107-pound meteorite landed in Cabin Creek, what is now Lamar, on March 27, 1886. A man paid $35 for it and then sold it to a Eureka Springs dealer. A year later, a New York collector bought it and unsuccessfully tried to sell it to the Smithsonian. Later, an Austrian industrialist paid $40,000 for the rock and gave it to a museum in Vienna.

About six months after the Paragould meteorite in 1930, a 37-pound stone hit Heber Springs on July 13, 1930. The finder refused a bid of $100 for it, and later sold it to a Rochester, N.Y., institute for $650.

Two airplane pilots also reported nearly being hit by meteors. On April 8, 1933, according to the Arkansas Gazette, an American Airways pilot said a meteor nearly hit his aircraft while he was traveling from Fort Worth to Texarkana, Ark. Another pilot said his plane avoided a strike on Dec. 26, 1935, when he was flying over Fort Smith.

In all, scientists estimate the Natural State is hit by four or five dozen meteorites (it’s a meteor when it’s in the sky and a meteorite when it lands) weighing an ounce or more each year. Because Arkansas has many wooded areas, many meteorites burning across the sky are not found.

So far, there have been 15 confirmed meteorite findings of significance in the state over the past century or so. And there is one questionable one.

Randolph County residents saw a bright streak in the sky in July 1859 over the Black River bottoms just south of Pocahontas. A.H. Keith, a local farmer, “discovered” the rock and displayed it in the yard of his Pocahontas home.

Legend has it that over the years, people would come to Keith’s home and chip off a piece of the rock for themselves and eventually, the boulder-sized object was lessened in size by nearly 66 percent.

In 1986, Keith’s family donated the rock to the county in honor of Arkansas’ sesquicentennial and it’s displayed now in the Randolph County Courthouse yard. It’s surrounded by a wrought iron fence at the foot of steps near a veterans’ memorial.

The problem, though, is that it’s probably not a real meteorite. A University of Arkansas geology team studied the rock and deter-

mined it to be a hunk of granite commonly found along the Current River just north in Missouri.

“There’s quite a divergence of opinion here on whether it’s a meteorite or not,” said Rodney Harris, director of the Randolph County Heritage Museum in Pocahontas and a pro-

Doris Hagan gets up close and personal with Paragould's famous space rock.

An etching details the discovery of the contoversial Keith Meteorite.

fessor of history at Williams Baptist University in Walnut Ridge.

“Some say it’s not one,” he said. “Others swear it is. Either way, there’s a divisive nature about it.”

Meteorite, or meteor wrong, the display brings in tourists who want to look at it whether it’s real or a hoax.

“If it’s not a meteorite, it’s an even more interesting story,” Harris said. “How did the idea of it being a meteorite get so far?

“This is a small town. The story has taken on a fascinating life of its own.”

Harris said the draw is the wonderment of where it came from. If it is from space, it’s eons old and came millions of miles before plunking down in the swampy Randolph County land.

“People have always been interested in things like that,” Harris said.

In addition to the fascination, there is a long history of fear and superstitions surrounding celestial events. Ancient cultures believed comets, meteor showers and eclipses were bearers of both bad and good news. A meteor shower immediately followed the death of Cleopatra in 30 B.C., and many people began watching the night skies for more signs.

A custom in Chile was to grab a stone and hold it after seeing a meteor to ward off any bad luck it could bring. In the Philippines, it was customary to tie a knot in one’s handkerchief before the light of a soaring meteor faded. Even now in the U.S., belief has it that if you wish on a “falling star,” or meteor, that wish will come true. Also, if two people see a meteor flashing by together, they are forever connected.

Eclipses, which are far more rare, also play on people’s fears. Several ancient tribes would shoot flaming arrows into the sky during a solar eclipse to scare away the beast that was eating the sun. The Chinese banged drums to frighten the hungry dragon that was devouring the sun during a solar eclipse.

Early cultures in Vietnam thought a frog was feasting on the sun. Norwegians blamed a hungry wolf. Northwest indigenous tribes of the U.S. believed it was a bear. In Indonesia, it was believed the mythical god Rahu began eating the sun, but spit it out when he burnt his tongue, causing the sun’s light to shine again.

The Kalina of Suriname believed the moon and sun were brother and sister. The siblings fought in the sky and an eclipse, either lunar or solar, meant one knocked out the other. When the unconscious sibling woke, the light of the sun or moon returned, they thought.

Hagen said when the Greene County Museum was established in 2008, members wanted to bring the meteorite back home to Paragould and capitalize on the interest of celestial things.

“The board began writing letters,” she said. “But we didn’t have the clout.”

Earlier this year, though, the Paragould Regional Chamber of Commerce formed its solar eclipse task force after director Allison Hestand heard that more than 40,000 visitors were expected to be in Paragould on April 8, 2024, to watch the eclipse.

The task force was charged with helping local businesses prepare for the glut of people who would come to Greene County. A year before the eclipse, Hestand said, Paragould’s hotels were already booked for the night before the event.

“In the process of preparing for this, the meteorite came up,” Hestand said. “The museum here is a treasure. We wanted to get the meteorite for people to see when they visited us.”

Members talked with Field Museum administrators and were able to get the meteorite on loan from the University of Arkansas museum for a year. Local businesses donated time and supplies to haul the meteorite from Fayetteville to Paragould and to hoist it into the museum.

“It’s here now,” Hagen said. “It’s within two to three miles of where it landed 93 years ago. It’s finally come home.”

In May 2024, when the loan expires, chamber members can either attempt to renegotiate another loan or buy the meteorite. Hestand did not say how much the 800-pound meteorite would cost, but said she’d heard a meteorite of that size could cost from $750,000 to $1 million.

Like the Paragould meteorite, next April’s solar eclipse is quite a rarity. Because it occurs a day after the moon’s perigee, the time the moon’s orbit brings it closest to the earth, the path of total darkness will be 117 miles wide, which is much wider than most eclipse paths.

The totality path will traverse from Texarkana northeast to Jonesboro and Paragould before crossing over the Missouri bootheel and into Illinois and then on toward Ontario, Canada. Total darkness in Arkansas is expected to begin between 1:45 p.m. to 2 p.m. and will last for four minutes.

“It will only be a few hours’ drive for anyone in Arkansas to be in the totality path,” said Darcy Howard, a member of the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society and member of the eclipse outreach education team.

The last total solar eclipse in Arkansas happened in 1918. A partial solar eclipse, much like the one in August 2017, will cross western

“It’s here now. It’s within two to three miles of where it landed 93 years ago. It’s finally come home.”

"It has that kind of power." Hagan with the mysterious rock, currently on loan to the Greene County Museum.

Arkansas in 2045.

Carl Freyaldenhoven, who, like Howard, is a Central Arkansas Astronomical Society member and on the eclipse outreach team, is hoping for better personal results with this eclipse than the one six years ago. Back then, in 2017, he drove to St. Joseph, Mo., where totality was to occur.

“I got clouded out,” he said, referring to the clouds that obliterated his view that day.

There is concern that because it’s springtime in Arkansas when the sun is covered, there’s a chance for rain. Long term forecasts (which the National Weather Service generally scoffs at) calls for a chance of clear skies in Arkansas with a higher probability of rain further northeast in the Ohio Valley.

Still, Howard said, it will still become as dark as night when the eclipse does happen despite the clouds.

“You can’t prepare yourself for what happens,” she said. “The sky becomes unnatural. Chickens will go to roost. Other [nocturnal] animals will wake up. That’s the power of the eclipse. People who see it will want to see another one. You don’t just look at it, you experience it.”

Freyaldenhoven thinks next year’s eclipse will continue to enhance the public’s interest in things from outer space. He said there are many videos today of meteors streaking across the sky, events people capture on business security cameras, residential doorbell cameras or cell phones and then quickly upload to YouTube, Facebook or other social media sites.

Hagen said she hopes the fascination will translate to more visitors to her museum.

“We received the meteorite on April 24,” she said. “On that first day, I just sat and stared at it. It took me two or three days before I could touch it. It has that kind of power.”

She said the meteorite came to the Greene County Museum at the perfect time. The COVID-19 pandemic kept people away from social gatherings for more than a year and attendance at the museum dropped dramatically. As the mandates that disallowed social gatherings abated, the museum began seeing more people.

“People were angry then,” she said of being quarantined. “We’re not the same people we were before COVID. Now we can get out and see a big rarity. It can make people happy.”

The museum, located at 130 S. 14th St. in Paragould is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Special appointments for private tours can be arranged by calling the museum at (870) 240-5810.

Local debate still simmers over the authenticity of the Keith Meteorite.

If You Plant It, They Will Come

Izzy's Restaurant, Farm and Apiary

By JAMIE LEE // Photos By JAMIE LEE

Izzy's buzzes with life thanks to co-owner Heather Isbell's flower garden.

Izzy’s Restaurant originally opened in 1985 as a one-room eatery about a mile east of its current location at 501 Ranch Drive in Little Rock. It was started by Bob Isbell, who upon retiring in 1996 sold the place to his son and daughter-in-law Robert and Heather Isbell. The couple expanded at the original location and in 2002, they purchased nearby land for a new home for the restaurant.

“We were really the only thing out here at the time,” Heather said. “This location was an old baseball field. Developers told us, ‘If you build a restaurant out here, everyone will start to build around you’, and that’s what happened. Now here we are, in the middle of everything.

“We’ve never looked back. We tripled the size of the restaurant so we would never have to expand again.”

Isbell has been a food person her whole life, going back to her upbringing on the California coast near San Francisco.

“My philosophy with food has always been keep it simple and fresh and it will be good,” she said. “I don’t have a professional culinary background, but I’d worked in restaurants before and worked in my kitchen with my mom, supplying local restaurants with food and baked goods. There are things on my menu now that are family recipes. The dressing for our top-selling salad, the Izzabella Salad, is made with my mom’s dressing recipe.”

Izzy’s menu is extensive and focuses on healthy options. Isbell noted everything on the menu is made inhouse and fresh. None of the vegetables used in the kitchen come from a bag; everything has been cut and chopped that day.

“We use as many local ingredients as we can get, including fresh produce,” she said. “We want to support our local farmers. I grow food on my own farm, so I know how hard that job is.”

Diners of all tastes will find something they like at Izzy’s from salads, sandwiches and pizzas to homemade soups, pastas and hot tamales. Special dietary needs are not a concern here, either.

Walking through the gardens of her farm, there’s buzzing all throughout the vivid and bright colors. Echinacea, monarda and zinnia nod in the breeze while dazzling hummingbirds, bees and butterflies fly in a choreographed frenzy.

among the many homemade brick oven pizzas offered. It is topped with a homemade tomato sauce, grilled chicken and fresh artichokes. Hot tamales are another favorite and the mixed platter is the way to go, with one meat and one veggie tamale, covered in cheese dip.

The unpretentious atmosphere and casual vibe of the restaurant has not changed since its opening, and creates the perfect environment for all types of clientele.

“This is a place where people grow up,” Isbell said. “We’ve had babies come in their carriers, who grow up and work here, and are now bringing their kids in here. It’s familiar. There is a lot to be said about walking into a place that feels comfortable and feels like home. We’re not trying to be something other than what we are — a family restaurant that’s been here for 35 years. We even have the original booths.”

The consistency of décor and menu also extends to the staff, many of whom have made a long career out of serving the restaurant’s delicious dishes.

“You will see the same faces for years,” Isbell said. “Our waitstaff doesn’t change, our management doesn’t change, and the food doesn’t change. It’s very comforting. It’s an easy choice and there are no surprises. It’s just all about keeping it simple. There is no ego cooking here at all.”

But being a Little Rock classic doesn’t mean change isn’t at times in order. Such was the case with the new location when Isbell married her love of serving others with her passion for serving the planet and its creatures through gardening.

“I’ve always been an avid gardener,” she said. “The story begins with a very good friend of mine giving me a book some years back. It was a book on all the butterflies and moths in Arkansas. I opened this book, and everything changed. I realized that in our garden centers, there was just not much for pollinators. It’s plants mostly for landscaping and annual flash color. A lot of the plants sold have lost their native quality and no longer produce nectar and pollen.

Determined to stem the tide as much as she could, Isbell turned on to native gardening, a form of agronomy that focuses on plants that originate in a given place and are thus foundational to local ecosystems. She started planting specifically for pollinators about 10 years ago and got fully immersed in natives about five years ago. From the start, she noticed her garden come to life in new and wonderful ways.

“Pollinators are not only honeybees. They are only a drop in the bucket,” she said “There are bumblebees, butterflies and more. If we don’t plant to help provide habitat, then we are stuck relying on transporting bees.”

“Because we make everything, we have the luxury to create a lot of vegan and gluten-free items,” she said. “Our menu offers a lot of options for anyone with dietary restrictions. We have a large vegetarian menu and an ‘everybody’ menu. A huge group can come here and it’s not a problem for everyone to find something, no matter what their dietary regulations are.”

The freshness of ingredients and care in preparation shines through in each dish. The Veggie Corn Cake Pattie is filled with fresh vegetables including black beans and zucchini. The Greek Salad offers a traditional mix of cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and goat cheese, brightened by a flavorful homemade lemon citrus Greek vinaigrette.

Among the entrees, the Izzabella Pizza is a favorite

Isbell’s approach to her native plant garden mirrors Izzy’s culinary philosophy in the respect that the simplest things in life are often the best. Walking through the gardens of her farm, there’s buzzing all throughout the vivid and bright colors. Echinacea, monarda and zinnia nod in the breeze while dazzling hummingbirds, bees and butterflies fly in a choreographed frenzy.

“The natives are so simple,” Isbell said. “They seed themselves; they spread and grow. Not a lot of maintenance other than pulling occasional weeds. I never fertilize and I water sparingly. They are strong and hearty once they are established. Just enjoy them and enjoy the life that the native plants bring into your garden.

“We have had extreme cold and heat lately. What’s not dead are the native plants. They thrive in those environments. A garden in the winter looks very different than one in the summer, but still provides a lot of habitat, such as seeds and shelter for birds and overwintering areas for butterflies. Natives change the way you look at gardens and people are really getting into it.”

Isbell noticed many kindred garden spirits among her friends and customers, which led her to cultivate milkweed for monarch butterflies,

The restaruant is a beloved fixture of The Ranch in West Little Rock. Izzy’s buzzes with life thanks to co-owner Heather Isbell’s flower garden.

selling it at the restaurant. The demand grew fast, along with the awareness in the community about planting for pollinators. Aspiring gardeners can even find a tab on the restaurant’s website to get tips on planting a native pollinator garden.

But by far the biggest event Isbell gets behind is an annual plant sale, held at Izzy’s once a year in the spring. The sale, which happens

Izzy’s fresh and delicious tamales, pizza,

salads

have been hallmarks of the restaurant for decades.

around the end of April, has been held in the foyer of the restaurant but may be moving to the parking lot because it’s getting so big. Isbell said she might also add a fall sale in the future to keep up with demand.

“When I opened that book, my world changed and now I have started this native garden project,” she said. “I have gardens out at my house with what I call 'mother plants,' from which I grow and sell about 2,500 native plants every spring. We get asked each day, ‘When is the next native plant sale?’ Just selling a few plants in the foyer has built this massive awareness of planting for pollinators.

“It’s quite amazing and a big draw for the restaurant. It’s built community. So, now the restaurant is not just about food. When people plant their own native gardens, their worlds change. It’s literally ‘If you plant it, they will come.’ We aren’t trying to save the world. We are trying to just save one sweet bug at a time.”

WHERE TO GO

Izzy’s 501 Ranch Drive, Little Rock (501) 868-4311

WHEN TO GO

Mon-Thu 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Closed Sunday

WHAT TO TRY

Veggie Corn Cake

Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup

Veggie Tamale

Greek Salad, add grilled shrimp

entrees, and

(clockwide from left)

Summercocktails

Summer may be winding down but it’s still hot, y’all. Fortunately, central Arkansas mixologists have a little something to say about that – cool cocktails that are as pleasing to the eye as on the taste buds and just perfect for taking the edge off a late summer’s day. This month, AY About You has assembled a collection of delicious drinks from some of the area’s most talented barkeeps. Whether your taste runs to vodka, rum or tequila, there’s a concoction in this collection that will hit the spot for your next dinner, date or nightcap. We’ve even sweet-talked the ingredients out of our contributors to allow you to try your hand at home! Give them a try for your next party, but be sure to visit the sponsoring bar or restaurant to try one from the hands of a cocktail craftmaster. Whatever the occasion or mood, these potent potables will make it a memorable experience. Cheers.

Pineapple Whip

Pineapple infused tequila, lime, pineapple, vanilla cream

Photos By JAMIE LEE

Mango Habanero Margarita Beach Barbie

A Dillyof a Philly

Cheesesteak stuffed peppers make a delicious appetizer

If your garden overflows with mini sweet peppers, this recipe is a keeper for your recipe box. Whip up this easy dish using those fresh sweet peppers and a delicious Philly cheesesteak filling made of leftover steak., sautéed onions, more chopped sweet peppers, and melted cheese. The result is a perfect mouthwatering appetizer that is sure to impress any guest.

Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers are also perfect for those who want to enjoy the flavors of a full-sized Philly cheesesteak but in a healthier, low-carb format.

What Makes This Dish the Perfect Appetizer?

Those Sweet Peppers!

The sweet mini peppers in your backyard garden are at their peak right now and are the perfect vessels for appetizers made with Philly cheesesteak filling. They are small, colorful and have a sweet flavor that pairs perfectly with the savory filling.

If you do not have your own harvest of sweet mini peppers, you can typically find them in abundance at the grocery store. They come in a variety of colors, including red, orange and yellow. When selecting the peppers, look for ones that are firm and have a smooth skin. Avoid peppers that are wrinkled or overly soft.

Dress Up What You Already Have

The Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers appetizer is a perfect combination of classic Philly cheesesteak and sweet mini peppers, bringing together ingredients you probably already have in the fridge.

Ribeye is often the steak of choice when it comes to traditional Philly cheesesteaks, so this dish is the perfect way to keep any leftover ribeye from yesterday’s grilling go to waste! However, you can use most any leftover lean steak, such as top sirloin. The only requirement is, Philly cheesesteak is typically made with thin, tender bites of steak so avoid meat that’s been over-cooked, which dries it out.

Let Your Creativity Flow

The great thing about this recipe is its versatility. If you do not have any red peppers, just use the colors you do have. If you don’t enjoy mushrooms, leave them out. As for cheese, you can use oaxaca and provolone cheeses — which are both great for melting — however, if you have neither, mozzarella is a wonderful substitute.

By AMY GRAMLICH // Photos By AMY GRAMLICH

Preparing Perfect Peppers

SEPARATE

To make 16 pepper appetizers, start by separating the peppers into two groups. One group of six peppers will be used for chopping into the filling. The other group of 10 peppers will be used as the shells for the appetizer. When separating the peppers, select the peppers that are the straightest and smoothest for the pepper shells.

CLEAN AND SLICE

Start by washing the peppers thoroughly and patting them dry. Next, slice the peppers vertically into two pieces. Then, cut off the tops of the peppers and scoop out the seeds and membranes from the inside. You may want to leave the tops on some of them to show the full pepper features.

STUFF

Use a spoon to fill each sweet mini pepper with the Philly cheesesteak filling. Be sure to pack the filling inside the peppers tightly.

INGREDIENTS

16 sweet mini peppers of various colors, separated

16 ounces of leftover cooked steak (about 2 cups of steak, chopped into pieces)

½ cup onion, chopped

2 yellow mini peppers, chopped

2 orange mini peppers, chopped

2 red mini peppers, chopped

½ cup mushrooms, sliced or chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 cup shredded or chopped provolone, oaxaca or mozzarella

1 tablespoon olive oil (or olive oil spray)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Wash and dry the sweet mini peppers.

2. Cut off the tops of the peppers and remove the seeds and membranes.

6. Add thinly sliced or chopped leftover steak to the skillet with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder, heating through.

10. Drizzle peppers with olive oil or spritz them with olive oil spray.

11. Bake at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the filling is heated through.

3. Sauté diced onions in a large skillet until translucent.

4. Dice six of the peppers, using all colors evenly.

5. Add minced garlic, sliced mushrooms and diced bell peppers cooking until vegetables are tender.

7. Add ¾ of the shredded cheese to the skillet and stir until the cheese is melted and combined.

8. Use a spoon to fill each sweet mini pepper with the Philly cheesesteak filling.

9. Place the stuffed peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with cooking spray, tucking in remaining bits of cheese into the steak filling.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Presentation is important when it comes to appetizers! Here are some serving suggestions that can elevate the presentation of the Philly cheesesteak peppers:

GARNISH WITH FRESH HERBS

Adding fresh herbs such as parsley or cilantro on top of the stuffed peppers can add a pop of color and freshness to the dish. Simply chop the herbs finely and sprinkle them over the peppers before serving.

PAIR WITH A DIPPING SAUCE

A classic marinara sauce or a spicy aioli are excellent choices to complement the flavors of the Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers.

ARRANGE ON A CHARCUTERIE BOARD

For a more elaborate presentation, arrange the stuffed peppers on a charcuterie board alongside other appetizers such as nuts, cheese, crackers and berries. Guests can nibble at their leisure at your party or small gathering.

DAZE 2023 DOG

Science-fiction author and renowned “dog person” W.R. Pursche once noted, “Everyone thinks they have the best dog. And none of them are wrong.”

And he’s right. They are, each and every one of them, the best dog. Of God’s bountiful gifts, and there are many, the relationship forged over millennia between human and canine could be considered one of the most precious.

Dogs are products of their environments, to be sure. But outside of harmful outside stimuli, man’s best friend enters the world as a fountain of unconditional love. And unless given a good reason not to, our faithful companions shower us with it. Every day, every moment. Even when we don’t deserve it.

As it does each summer, AY About You celebrates Dog Daze in the August issue, and this annual celebration of all things canine can apply to all pets and pet owners. (Even, sigh, cat owners.) Inside, we’ll take a look at adoption options, visit dog-friendly businesses, explore how CARE helps pets find their forever home, consider how pets have become more like family members and introduce you to five working dogs, from therapy canines to duck retrievers.

Plus, we’ll tell you where the nearest dog park can be found, reveal readers’ choices for the top veterinarians in the state, and take in some expert tips, tricks and advice for “pet parents.”

Scholars can debate animal sentience all they want, but don’t dare tell dog parents — or most any pet owner, for that matter — that their adopted child is not sapient, aware, exercising judgment and participating in his or her environment.

Granted, sometimes that judgment can leave something to be desired, in the form of reconfigured shoes or disappearing pizzas. But try and resist the melting eyes look — we dare you — and get between a dog and his owner at your own risk.

The Book of Isaiah hints at something all pet owners know in their hearts. That our adopted family members will be there, waiting to jump up and lather our faces with affection in Heaven.

God gave us dogs as a lesson on unconditional love. What that we were better students. So, here’s to the Dog Daze of summer. And cheers to our four-legged bundles of unconditional love.

Sponsored by Pinnacle Valley Westrock Animal Hospital

DOG ABOUT TOWN

Favorite Dog-Friendly Places Across Arkansas

By BECCA BONA

THE PIZZA CAFE

Locations:

1517 Rebsamen Park Rd, Little Rock

14710 Cantrell Rd, Little Rock

Hours: Sun–Thu, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri–Sat, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Astaple eatery since the early 1990s, Pizza Cafe is a great place to enjoy a delicious, cheesy pizza pie. The flagship location sits along Rebsamen Park Road, with a second location opening in West Little Rock in 2013. Both patios are dog-friendly, but the Rebsamen patio is the star of today’s show.

The outdoor area is a sanctuary for dogs and their owners alike. The wooden ramp leads to a nicely enveloped space set back from the road and parking lot. The seating includes several different-sized patio tables and chairs with umbrellas galore, giving the space the feel of a hidden, eclectic garden. The wooden patio is sheltered from the sun by a ginormous catawba tree, which makes you feel as if you’ve stepped into a carefully curated yard.

Servers are often quick to bring bowls of water out to friendly pups on the patio. Owner Frankie Fuhrman said she made the decision to make the switch to a dog-friendly establishment a few years ago. She’s glad she did.

“Once I got everyone on board,” she said, “It was a no-brainer to welcome pups to the patio.”

HUMAN PERKS:

PET PERKS:

The patio is pet-friendly and doggos are often welcomed with water bowls upon making their grand entrance.

Delicious pizzas, beverages and a spacious patio hidden away from the sun under a beautiful tree canopy.

Having a dog-friendly patio makes the neighborhood pizzeria feel all the more connected to regulars and first-timers alike. Thus, it’s probably not surprising that the presence of pups has done nothing but increase business and raise customer satisfaction.

“For the most part, people bring only well-behaved dogs,” Fuhrman said. “It’s nice to have pet owners feel welcome.”

Patrons bond over the fluffers as easily as they do over the excellent artisan pizzas or frosty cold beer; it’s not at all unusual for conversations to start with the opener, “May I pet your dog?” As such, the Pizza Café’s patio has become a destination spot for many pups and their owners around the Rock.

“It’s wonderful to see customers out and about with their pets,” Fuhrman said. “They always get a lot of attention. After all, who doesn’t love dogs?”

They always get a lot of attention. After all, who doesn’t love dogs?

Dog owners tend to be a slightly different breed. Meaning, they take the phrase “man’s best friend” incredibly seriously and are always scouting for places they can go where it’s acceptable to bring Fido along for the ride. Luckily for dog lovers, Arkansas business owners have been creating and continue to create spaces for owners and pets alike to have a good time together. Below are a few of our favorite dog-friendly spots across the state.

— Frankie Fuhrman, owner The Pizza Cafe

GOOD DOG CAFÉ

2640 E Huntsville Rd, Fayetteville

Hours: Thu–Sun, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Closed Mon–Wed

We’ve all heard of pet-friendly patios – but what about an entire dog-themed café? Good Dog Café first opened in 2019 by husband-and-wife co-owners Tryphina Renz and Marco Szabo. The couple, who owns five dogs, was inspired to go into business by their frequent trips to the local dog park.

“We fantasized it would be great if there was a food truck that served coffee there,” she said. “We always dreamed about opening a mom-and-pop breakfast place, so we put the idea together.”

Renz and Szabo bought some land in 2018 and began the hard work to make their dream a reality. Custom-built obstacles are placed strategically throughout the grassy yard, providing endless opportunities for energetic dogs to try new routes, go on adventures and use their brains. Plus, there are always toys and almost always an ample number of other dogs to play with.

“We kind of thought of it as being a dog playground,” Renz said. “We didn’t want just an open backyard. We thought it would be a little more fun if there was something for the dogs.”

The menu offers all-day breakfast as well as a few lunch options. Though relatively small in number — Good Dog has a tiny kitchen — the offerings are varied and highlight other neighborhood businesses such as Stone Mill Bread, a local favorite.

And, while the dogs are burning off energy, dog owners can boost their own with caffeinated beverages. The coffee in the café, Grounds & Hounds, donates a portion of the sales to support dog rescue. Beyond coffee, the menu showcases a variety of tea and homemade lemonade, as well.

COVID was a rough time for Good Dog as they had to close their doors for an extended period. Luckily, with community support, they were recently able to reopen. Fans can expect adoption events in the future, as well as other partnerships to bloom and blossom.

“The café has become a community,” Renz said. “We know almost every dog’s name when they come through the door. People really recognize each other and become friends. People aren’t on their cell phones, they are talking and laughing and having a good time. That’s what makes it special, people are coming together.”

Breakfast sandwiches, coffee and other beverages. Plus, there’s ample seating and the guarantee that your dog will have a good time

HUMAN PERKS:

Dog-specific treats (pup cups), and lots of space to romp, jump and run around off-leash.

PET PERKS:

The café has become a community. We know almost every dog’s name when they come through the door.

— Tryphina Renz, co-owner, Good Dog Café

BARK BAR

1201 S Spring St, Little Rock

Occupying a Mission-style church which sat dormant for many years, Bark Bar is a pet sanctuary. The indoor area feels welcoming and intimate with a full-bar just left of center stage while a garage door opens to a brilliant side yard equipped with turf, picnic tables and all kinds of doggy pools and toys.

In operation since 2017, Bark Bar quickly made a name for itself in the community by pairing up with other local businesses to offer programming and events that tickle the fancy of pet owners and pets alike. The menu likewise offers something for both humans and dogs.

“We have a full bar with frozen cocktails, eight beers on tap and plenty of non-alcoholic options,” co-owner Elizabeth Michael said. “We’re always cooking up delicious specials for the humans. We have a strategic partnership with Harley and Charlie and offer very cute dog treats and pup-cakes for special bark days.”

Harley and Charlie is a local pet products company that provides nutritious treats as well as handmade toys. Pets can enjoy PupTarts and Woofles and a variety of other options made fresh. Even those of us with finnicky dogs (hello, husky owners), are likely to find something from Harley and Charlie that furry friends will love.

If you haven’t yet been to Bark Bar and are excited to check it out, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind. The establishment takes dog health seriously, so before you visit you’ll want to fill out a few forms.

“Be sure to fill out our registration form online before you visit. That’s when we verify your dog is up-to-date on all its shots,” said Michael. “Your dog also must be spayed or neutered if they’re over 1 year old.”

Once those details are handled, owners can bring their dog as often as they like, thanks to various membership packages. Like to dress your pup up? There’s a night for that. Prefer to get crafty? Maybe you and your golden retriever love Air Bud. There’s a night for that, too. Birthday “pawties”? There’s a humdinger coming up.

“It’s hard to believe it, but Bark Bar is about to celebrate our sixth birthday on Saturday, August 26, which just so happens to be National Dog Day,” Michael said. “It’s been magical to walk in and soak up how happy the dogs are and how proud and happy their owners are watching them. You can’t have a bad day at Bark Bar, it’s an instant mood-lifter.”

PET PERKS:

Dog-specific menu and treats, plus indoor/outdoor dedicated space to romp, jump and run around offleash. In the summer months, there are usually all kinds of water pools for the pups, as well.

HUMAN PERKS:

Bark Bar offers local beers and delicious cocktails and mocktails, hosts recurring happy hours and sponsors themed events.

PEDALER’S PUB

410 SW A St, Bentonville

Hours: Tue–Sun, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Closed Mon

PET PERKS:

Pet-friendly patio.

HUMAN PERKS:

Awesome community of cycle lovers and music lovers. Plus, the wood-fired pizza is worth writing home about.

Pedaler’s Pub has been a welcoming space for pizza lovers and music lovers, who also happen to be dog lovers, since 2014.

Owner Kevin Bennoch, a former teacher, decided at that time that he wanted to combine his love of cycling, woodfire cooking and a pub atmosphere for people who like to get out and get some activity in.

Situated three blocks south of Bentonville Square near the Greenway, the pub is a perfect respite for those looking to start or end a ride with quality food and company. The beer list highlights local craft breweries, including those of nearby Bike Rack Brewing Co.

Dogs are more than welcome on the patio and are often greeted with a water bowl courtesy of a server upon arrival. While they are not allowed to roam off-leash, it’s a decently sized patio. Plus, most individuals who have just finished cycling are likely to ask, “Can I pet your dog?”

FASSLER HALL

311 E Capitol Ave, Little Rock

Hours: Sun–Thurs, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fri–Sat 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

PET PERKS:

HUMAN PERKS:

You can order beer by the liter-full.

Fassler

Hall first came to Little Rock in 2018, as a second location to its flagship in Tulsa, Ok. A project managed by McNellie’s Group, the eatery is a German-themed beer hall. From bratwurst to beer, dog parents can enjoy the spacious, canine-friendly patio a skip away from Little Rock’s River Market district.

The massive patio is equipped with family-style picnic tables dappled with heavy duty umbrellas to help ward off the heat. Dog parents can enjoy yard games such as cornhole and life-size beer pong while sippin’ suds, or they can enjoy a shady respite under one of the many umbrellas.

Fassler is the perfect place to enjoy an afternoon or early evening hang with your furry friend while enjoying one of the signature brats, including Greek-inspired lamb, hot Italian and traditional German. Plus, every Monday, brats are half-price.

While there’s not a dog-specific menu, there are ample water bowls and the staff often has a treat or two at the ready for cute pups. The patio is large enough for multiple parties to have multiple dogs present without chaos ensuing. Dogs should remain on-leash here, but they are welcome to sit under your feet in the shade of the umbrella or many tables. And don’t forget to give a nice “Prost!” on your way out.

Huge, expansive outdoor patio/beer garden offering plenty of space for people to spread out with their doggos.

l @ The Corner

Little Rock

l Baja Grill

Benton, Little Rock

l Bark Bar

Little Rock

l Boudreaux’s Bar & Grill

Maumelle

l Bricktown Brewery

Fort Smith

l Bruno’s Little Italy

Little Rock

l Cantina Laredo

Little Rock

l Cheers in the Heights

Little Rock

l Copper Mule & Tap

Bryant

l Core Brewing & Distilling Company

Springdale

l Diablos Tacos

Little Rock

l Diamond Bear Brewing Company

North Little Rock

l Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro

Little Rock

l Dugan’s Pub

Little Rock

l Faded Rose

Little Rock

l Fassler Hall

Little Rock

l Flyway Brewing

North Little Rock

l Gadwall’s Grill

North Little Rock/Sherwood

l Good Dog Cafe

Fayetteville

l Grateful Head Pizza Oven & Beer Garden

Hot Springs

l Hill Station

Little Rock

l Hopkins Ice House

Texarkana

l L’Attitude Bistro Clinton

Dog Friendly Bucket List

PRESENTED BY The Pizza Café

l Leo’s Greek Castle

Little Rock

l Little Bread Co. Fayetteville

l Local Flavor Cafe

Eureka Springs

l Lost Forty Brewing Little Rock

l Mojo’s Pints & Pies

Fayetteville

l Native Brew Works

Jonesboro

l Nomads Music Lounge

Fayetteville

l Pedaler’s Pub Bentonville

l Pizza Café East

Little Rock

l Pizza Café West Little Rock

l Porch Thirty Jonesboro

l Purple Cow Various Locations

l Red Door Little Rock

l Red’s Pizzeria Eureka Springs

l Rolando’s Hot Springs

l Samantha’s Tap Room & Wood Grill Little Rock

l Scallions Little Rock

l SQZBX Brewery & Pizza Hot Springs

l Stickyz Little Rock

l Superior Bathhouse Brewery Hot Springs

l Sweet Bay Coffee Co. Fort Smith

l Tacos 4 Life Various Locations

l Tazikis Mediterranean Café Various Locations

l The Butcher Shop

Little Rock

l The Edge Coffee Shop

Jonesboro

l The Faded Rose

Little Rock

l The Fold: Botanas and Grill

Little Rock

l The Grumpy Rabbit Lonoke

l The Little Red Restaurant Fairfield Bay

l The Oyster Bar Little Rock

l The Pantry Little Rock

l The Parsonage Jonesboro

l The Railyard Little Rock

l The Root

Little Rock

l Three Fold Noodles & Dumplings

Little Rock

l Town Pump

Little Rock

l Trio’s Restaurant Little Rock

l Tusk and Trotter

Bentonville

l U.S. Pizza Co. / Bryant

Bryant

l U.S. Pizza Co. / Chenal

Little Rock

l U.S. Pizza Co. / Heights

Little Rock

l U.S. Pizza Co. / Hillcrest

Little Rock

l Whole Hog NLR

North Little Rock

l Ya Ya’s Bistro

Little Rock

l ZAZA Fine Salad & Wood-Oven Pizza Co.

Little Rock

3 Check off the Dog-Friendly Bucket List as you visit a small sample of our favorite new places.

Certified with the National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors, Little Rock’s Pat Becker produced and narrated the award-winning series “The World of Dogs: Biography Series” for the Public Broadcasting Service. Past was host in Oklahoma City for a number of years for two television shows called “Dog Talk” and a radio show called “Speak.” Dog ownership and its responsibility have been an ongoing project and passion for this active owner of a variety of dogs. Pat produces the website DogTalkTV.com, a site to help dog owners better understand, care for and appreciate their pets. Her illustrated books on various breeds are meant to both entertain and educate. FREE SHIPPING WITH ORDERS OF 2 OR MORE BOOKS!

Order your autographed book today online at:

It’s a DOGGY DOG WORLD

By MAK MILLARD

Expert tips, tricks and sage advice for pet parents

There are many paths to dog ownership. For every spontaneous trip to the animal shelter and carefully selected purebred pup, there’s a lovable mutt who shows up at the door one day and can’t be made to leave. For every surprise litter, there’s a short-term foster turned permanent family member. No matter how it ends up under your roof, there’s no denying the place a dog finds in your heart soon after. In fact, parenting a pooch is one of the few things most people in the U.S. can agree on, with dogs being the most popular choice among the 86.9 million pet owners across the country.

According to Forbes, some 65 million U.S. households have at least one dog, a 56 percent increase over the last three decades. The pandemic further contributed to the spike, with nearly 1 in 5 American households adopting a new pet in that time, per the ASPCA. Though a portion of those adoptees went to seasoned pet parents, there is still a large contingent of newly minted dog owners finding their way in the wide world of canine companionship.

More dogs means more demand for the things they need to thrive, from toys and treats to baths and supplements. And whether or not you think dressing your dog up for Halloween is a waste of time or an essential yearly expense, Americans overall are happily shelling out more for their pups than ever before, to the tune of $136.8 billion in 2022. Luxuries notwithstanding, the average dog owner still spends around $730 per year on their pet. Factor in emergency vet visits and other unexpected costs, and it’s enough to make the prospective puppy parent wince.

Luckily, there are plenty of vets, trainers and dog-loving experts who have made a career out of turning pet ownership into a “pawsitive” experience for everyone involved. What follows is a primer with advice from professionals covering the basics across training, daycare, health and grooming. You can’t plan for everything, but knowing who and what to ask along the way can save you time, money and headaches. Besides, the less energy you spend worrying, the more you can put into deciding the best name. If you need a place to start, “Luna” and “Max” took the top spots in 2022.

I. The Dog-tor’s Office

Peters, DVM,

fers complimentary exams for your new puppy.

“We’re going to check them for worms, get them set up with vaccinations and get them going on heartworm and flea and tick preventatives,” Peters said. “I always recommend those to start out.”

THE OTHER MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO, BOTH MEDICALLY AND SOCIALLY, IS GET YOUR DOG SPAYED OR NEUTERED.

After addressing those common threats, the other most important thing you can do, both medically and socially, is get your dog spayed or neutered.

“There are so many unwanted animals out there right now,” Peters said. “No one truly understands.”

In addition to preventing any surprises down the road – and avoiding sending any more dogs to the shelter – you’re also making a healthier choice for your dog overall.

“When we spay and neuter pets, one of the main things I talk about is that it does help prevent cancer, because just like in people, hormones have been linked to cancer,” Peters said. “If you’re not breeding your pet, it is healthier for them to be spayed or neutered.”

The top item on a new pet parent’s checklist should always be a visit to the vet, no matter the dog’s age. In addition to getting a puppy started on vaccinations and preventatives, the new adult dog in your life will benefit from a preliminary check-up to catch any preexisting conditions or other concerns. But the initial investment in a dog’s health can be steep, depending on the age and condition of the pup you’re adopting.

“[A year] probably runs $200-300 to keep all their vaccines up, and then flea and tick preventative runs about $120,” said Brian Peters, DVM, chief veterinarian at Lake Hamilton Animal Hospital in Hot Springs. “Heartworm runs about $100. The range can get pretty up there.”

If you’re worried about the cost, check with the vet’s office ahead of time and see what your options are. Peters’ office, for example, of-

Your first few visits to the vet’s office are also a good time to discuss any breed-specific conditions your dog might face down the road. If you have a particular breed in mind for your next furry family member, it might be a good idea to ask the vet what kind of health issues are more common in that breed before bringing it home. Though they’re hard to prevent, knowing the kinds of issues your dog is predisposed to can keep you from being caught off-guard as your dog ages.

Another facet of canine health that would be easy to miss if you didn’t know any better is dental health. As Peters explained, there’s a lot more to it than tossing your pup a Dentastix every so often.

“If you think about it, we’re supposed to brush our teeth two times a day. Dogs don’t brush their teeth at all,” he said. “Right around five or six years old, we start looking at dogs’ teeth and recommending dentals. And once we clean their teeth, we look at them every year and decide if they need to be cleaned again or can they wait until the next year.”

Some breeds, including smaller ones, are more prone to dental issues, Peters added; while they’re mostly just taking care of plaque and tartar, those yearly check-ups can also be useful for catching more serious problems.

Choosing the right vet is no small matter, especially since your dog can’t tell you exactly what’s wrong when something is amiss. Recommendations from family, friends and even online reviews tend to go a long way, Peters said, in addition to considerations like years of experience and availability when you need them.

“We have lots of drop-off hours and things like that to try to make it as convenient for clients as possible,” he said.

Brian

is chief veterinarian at Lake Hamilton Animal Hospital in Hot Springs.

II. Old Dogs, New Tricks and Vice Versa

Training sets the tone for the entire relationship between owner and dog. Behaviors that are easy to write off in puppies can turn into serious safety hazards when that pup grows up. When adopting an adult dog, it can be even harder to know what kind of baked-in habits it might have picked up — or failed to — from previous owners.

“You need to intentionally give thought to whether or not you want your puppy, as an adult, to be doing what you’re teaching it to do right this minute. For instance, jumping up on you,” said Carol Culpepper, trainer and owner at Paws Mahal in Sherwood. “Every interaction is a training session.”

In a culture where dogs have their own Instagram pages, subscription services and even a DogTV streaming channel, it’s important to remember and, at times, reestablish the line between man and beast. That’s especially true in training; anything you want your dog to know, you have to teach it yourself.

“We think of them like humans and they absolutely aren’t,” Culpepper said. “We have to bring them up with careful, calm, patient management to prevent what we do not want. They don’t just naturally do what most people expect them to. It takes a lot of work, thought and preventative management.”

It can be intimidating to know that your dog is always learning from you. But on the flip side, you have the opportunity to set your dog up for success from day one with the manners it will need around you, other people and

even other dogs. When exposing a puppy to strangers of any species, time is of the essence. To that end, Culpepper referenced the advice of renowned animal behaviorist Ian Dunbar.

“One-hundred people before they’re three months old,” she said. “There’s a period of time in their neurological development that they are open to exposure to other species. That includes people. It includes men as a different species, so to speak, than women. It includes people with hats, sunglasses.”

But don’t go door-to-door introducing your dog to the neighbors just yet. Since the socialization window occurs so early, your puppy still won’t be fully vaccinated by the time it closes. Rather than taking your dog to the experiences and putting it at risk of contracting disease along the way, find ways to bring the experiences to your dog.

“Dr. Dunbar’s suggestion is to have what he calls ‘puppy parties,’ where you bring people into your home,” Culpepper said. “If you want your dog to be friendly with children, you have to bring in lots of children, with positive interactions, for it to grow up being calm and well-mannered and feeling safe around children.”

Children and men are particularly difficult for dogs if they’re not exposed early, she added, so prioritize those crucial exposures if you plan on having an all-ages-friendly pup.

But what can you do if your dog has already learned a number of unwanted behaviors? Unfortunately, treating a habit on the back end is much trickier than preventing it in the first place.

“You can’t break a habit,” she said. “You have to replace a habit, and that’s a challenging matter.”

For an older dog tasked with unlearning bad habits, Culpepper recommended two things above all: patience, and keeping your expectations realistic.

“This dog has been trained to be exactly what it is, whether intentional or unintentional,” she said. “You can’t flip a switch and change behavior. It’s going to take a number of weeks at the least, depending on what the behavior is, to replace it with something you want. You can definitely always go forward and improve, but it requires commitment, patience and a little bit of knowledge.”

Teaching a dog new behaviors and making sure they stick is no mean feat,

“DOGS THRIVE ON STRUCTURE AND SCHEDULES. THEY NEED REST, AND THEY NEED TIME, LIKE ANY MAMMAL BRAIN. AND THEY RELY ON IT."

Carol Culpepper (center) and the team at Paws Mahal have decades of combined experience.

Old dogs can learn new tricks — but it’s about replacing the habit, not breaking it.

Outside of emotional support or service dogs, chances are you and your hound won’t be attached at the hip at all times. If you work full time or travel often, you might consider daycare and boarding as an alternative to hiring a housesitter or keeping the dog in a crate during the day. On the other hand, if you’re the proud owner of a pandemic-era puppy, that dog might be a little too used to having you around 24/7. In either case, there are many benefits to putting your dog into daycare.

“One of the biggest reasons [people opt for daycare] is so that their dog is socialized and knows how to be away from them, so they don’t get separation anxiety,” said Heather Wegner, certified professional dog trainer and co-owner of CoolWag in Bentonville. “We actually do training while they’re with us, so they learn how to control themselves, and they learn how to be away from their owners without getting anxious. That’s a big deal.”

The enrichment daycare provides is great for active dogs that, left unattended at home, might blow off steam in more destructive ways. There’s also a practical safety element; at home, a bored, high-strung or anxious dog might spend all day trying to escape its crate, hurting itself in the process. Under the watchful eye of a reputable daycare, however, the dog will be able to put that energy towards more productive ends.

“Dogs live in the norm, right? If the normal thing that they’re used to is overstimulation, they’re going to want to be overstimulated all the time,” Wegner said. “We try to keep them on more level ground, where they’re learning and having fun, but not crazy.

not to mention doing it around a full-time job, a busy family or other obligations. In that case, definitely don’t be afraid to reach out to the experts sooner rather than later. Culpepper and the rest of her team at Paws Mahal have decades of combined experience, weaving together training and rest periods in a structured daycare environment to help dogs and owners both get the most out of their time.

“Dogs thrive on structure and schedules,” she said. “They need rest, and they need time, like any mammal brain. And they rely on it. They look forward to both the end and the beginning of each of those two things, quiet time and play time.”

A well-trained dog is, in many ways, a safer dog. Knowing your canine companion won’t ignore you to chase down a car or tackle an unsuspecting stranger can give you the peace of mind you need to take them out more often, allowing for more quality time and a stronger relationship.

“Boundaries are important. You have to think through what you’re going to limit. Just like with a child, we don’t let them run freely into the street,” Culpepper said. “We have to get in our minds some limitations and focus, and get a clear plan on how to manage those limits.”

III. Having a Ball

That becomes the new norm, and now when they’re home, that’s what they’re seeking. If you do it that way, then absolutely they have a much better demeanor when they’re not at daycare.”

But maybe your dog is on the opposite end of the spectrum: shy, lower-energy or otherwise apprehensive about hanging out with other dogs. Depending on the root cause of their hesitation, daycare can give the dog a place to work on their social skills and meet new friends with similar personalities.

“If the owner wants their dog to have more fun with other dogs, we can assess them and see,” Wegner said. “If they’re just nervous or they just aren’t used to other dogs, we can help with that. We would suggest some training or half-day daycares just to kind of get them used to other dogs.”

In addition to easing them into the daycare setting with smaller groups, CoolWag places dogs together based on their play styles and needs, allowing the newcomer to adjust in a lower-stakes environment.

“It’s not just getting used to other dogs. It’s getting used to the right other dogs,” Wegner said. “If they’re around dogs that intimidate them, that’s not so good for them. They really need to be around dogs that they can be on the same level with.”

Of course, not all dogs are going to vibe with others no matter how hard you try, so it’s important not to force it and risk stressing out your pup. Many daycares offer one-on-one setups to address this scenario. At CoolWag, boarding dogs who prefer people to other dogs are known affectionately as “bookworms” and receive individual enrichment activities with a staff member.

Eventually, some of those bookworms go on to become “butterflies,” the name given to

Heather Wegner and the team at CoolWag make sure dogs are enriched without being overstimulated.

A balance of quiet time and play time is an essential part of the Paws Mahal program.

dogs cleared for group play. Sometimes, Wegner said, all it takes is playing with one other dog, and then two; next thing you know, your formerly reserved pet is a certified dog’s dog.

“We do work towards that, even though we don’t guarantee it,” she said.

Temperament concerns aside, there are things any pet parent can do to make sure their dog has the best chance of a positive daycare or boarding experience. Crate training your puppy not only helps reduce separation anxiety earlier but helps prepare the dog for those “rest” periods in between play. The more comfortable your dog is with down time, the easier it will be to get used to the structure of

daycare. As with the other facets of training discussed earlier: the sooner you start, the more time your dog has to build good habits for a lifetime.

Health precautions such as vaccines and preventatives are always important, but especially if your dog is going into a group setting on a regular basis. Be prepared with vet records, and plan ahead before your first day of “school.” Many daycares require a waiting period after your puppy’s last vaccination to ensure they’re fully protected. Additionally, make sure to familiarize yourself with the facility’s guidelines around spaying and neutering. And, of course, a bit of common sense goes a long way towards keeping everyone safe: if your dog seems under the weather, it’s probably best not to put them around other dogs.

The cost of daycare and boarding depends on a number of factors, including how many dogs you’re sending and for how long. Also keep in mind the other services the daycare offers when assessing the price, such as on-staff trainers and enrichment activities. For the average dog and parent schedule, Wegner recommended two days of daycare a week.

“Five is too much, I think, unless you need it,” she said. “If you are working five days a week and you want your dog not in the house five days a week, you want them doing other things, it’s not going to hurt them. But it can be too much for some dogs.”

Maybe you’d trust the care of your dog to your third cousin’s best friend with no questions asked. If you’re like everyone else, though, you probably want to do your research before deciding where to send your dog for daycare. Based on the expectations of CoolWag’s own clients, Wegner recommended a few benchmarks when scoping out a new place.

“They look for a place where the people taking care of the dogs actually know dog behavior,” she said. “I would expect them to have a safe environment, where the dogs are not going to get hurt. I would expect turf, if it’s outside, to keep parasites from being spread. I would expect a good disinfectant protocol, so that germs aren’t being spread around unnecessarily.”

Enrichment options and on-staff trainers are other positive signs to look out for, Wegner added, and asking family and friends for a recommendation or polling current customers on their experiences are good ways to narrow down your search.

“If I take my dog somewhere, I want good customer service,” she said. “I want people to care about my dog, number one, and I want them to care about me, number two. I need to know they care.”

IV. Hair of the Dog

Last, but far, far from least, some of the most underappreciated considerations when adopting or buying a dog are grooming needs. As with training and daycare, the earlier you can expose your dog to potentially scary aspects of grooming, the better off everyone will be.

“I always say, as soon as you get a doggy, get them in to a groomer. Whether they cut their hair or not, just let the groomer run noises around them,” said Ashley Trentham, co-owner of Chenal Pet Palace in Little Rock and Arkansas Pet Resort in Maumelle. “Even if they’re just a teeny tiny baby, bring them in and we’ll turn on the clippers. We’re not doing a haircut on them when they’re that little, but it’s just getting used to that noise.”

Seeing brushes, clippers, dryers and even the groomer as friends rather than foes is especially important for longer-haired breeds that will need frequent visits to the grooming table. A dog unaccustomed to something as simple as nail clipping can lash out due to stress, putting both the groomer and the dog at risk of injury.

If you’re adopting a purebred puppy, there will be a wealth of information available about the dog’s hair texture, style and upkeep demands. For mixed-breed dogs — even those beloved doodles, whose coats can vary wildly depending on their parents — the picture is often less clear. Still, an experienced groomer will be able to give you personalized advice for keeping your dog clean, fresh and mat-free.

“A groomer is going to be really honest in saying, ‘This is what this is going to be’ on the texture,” Trentham said. “And most groomers will let you know what type of brush you need. There are all kinds of different brushes out there. And there are differences in whether you comb it straight or comb it back, comb away from the head or comb to the head, so they will let you know.”

As for how much money to set aside for regular grooming, that depends on a balance of the dog’s needs and your preferences, Trentham said. The more convoluted the coat, the more often you’ll be seeing the

“ONE OF THE BIGGEST REASONS [PEOPLE OPT FOR DAYCARE] IS SO THAT THEIR DOG IS SOCIALIZED AND KNOWS HOW TO BE AWAY FROM THEM, SO THEY DON’T GET SEPARATION ANXIETY.”

groomer. Of course, not every dog needs to be Westminster-ready; if you have a dog whose coat allows for it, a simple shave down every so often can be a cost-effective option.

“It all really depends on how you’re wanting to keep them,” Trentham said. “The doodles nowadays, with all their curly hair, all of that tends to mat up. I always say when people are getting their doodles, no matter if they’re small [or] big, pretty much budget anywhere from $60 to $120 every six to eight weeks, depending on your hairdo.”

If you’re eyeing your budget and wondering if you can’t just skip the groomer completely in favor of a DIY bath and haircut, you might want to reconsider. Even the most careful amateurs can make mistakes or overlook things, and for certain breeds, that can spell serious trouble.

“It’s a whole other world out there,” Trentham said. “Sometimes you think you’re brushing your dog, and you are, but only the top part that you’re feeling. You thought they were brushed, then when they come into us, they’re matted down to the skin. Some of these coats on dogs can be so deceiving.”

The good news is that many daycare and boarding facilities also offer grooming services, allowing you to take care of both needs at once. As with picking out a doggy daycare, a lot of the right fit will come down to comfort levels.

“You have to like the place, and your doggy

has to like the place,” Trentham said. “If they’re answering you honestly, talking to you about your intentions for the future, what length you want the coat to stay at, I think you’re going to get the right vibe. It’s like when you choose your hairdresser.”

Choosing a groomer and getting an appointment can be two very different things, especially for a reputable groomer with an established clientele. In particularly busy seasons, it can take weeks to get in. If you know your dog will need regular visits, see if you can set up recurring appointments to make sure your spot is always available. Most importantly, don’t wait until your dog’s hair is out of control to get in. Walk-ins, though not unheard of, are highly unlikely.

“Call!” Trentham said. “Grooming can be just as booked up as some hairstylists, so don’t expect to call and get in that day. One of the things I always tell people: Get on a schedule. It’s not a next-day thing.”

“I ALWAYS SAY, AS SOON AS YOU GET A DOGGY, GET THEM IN TO A GROOMER. WHETHER THEY CUT THEIR HAIR OR NOT, JUST LET THE GROOMER RUN NOISES AROUND THEM.”

Your dog’s grooming needs are as unique as its personality, so book that spa day sooner rather than later.

THEHEALING TOUCH

West Little Rock animal hospital treats pets like family

By MAK MILLARD & DWAIN HEBDA // Photos By STEVE LEWIS

It’s another busy day at Pinnacle Valley Westrock Animal Hospital. Staff scurry about keeping paperwork, appointments and patients organized, while in exam rooms and a main work area in back, techs and vets work shoulder-to-shoulder through the day’s appointments.

Some animals are just here for a spa day, getting bathed and groomed, while others are there for routine checkups. Most in the back are recuperating from a little of this or a lot of that.

Diagnostic and surgical devices of every description stand at the ready to help physicians decipher what’s ailing their four-legged clientele. In the well-choreographed ballet of skilled humans serving under-the-weather canines and felines, the air holds the electric charge of knowing that virtually anything could walk through the door at any moment.

Dr. Renè LaVergne, who owns the West Little Rock practice with his wife and fellow vet Dr. Sonya LaVergne, moves briskly through the melange. Animals have been the couple’s life and livelihood for decades, treating them in matters both serious and routine.The responsibility they hold for the lives of others is something that never leaves their minds.

“We’ve got some really special patients, people who really love their dog,” he said. “There are widows and widowers for whom this animal is all they’ve got. Family may be a few states away, but that animal-human bond helps these people survive. We take that seriously.

“I’ve seen people do amazing things out of love for their dog. I had one guy sell some land to pay for his dog’s surgery. That’s what makes us do what we do, for the people who really love their animals and make sacrifices for them.”

LaVergne is one of the more colorful physicians — vet or human — you’re likely to meet. A proudly self-proclaimed Cajun from south Louisiana, his life with creatures began as an obsession with horses as a youth, sparked by an equine encyclopedia his mother bought him. This fascination paved a path to his future vocation, fed and watered early in an unlikely setting.

“I missed a lot of school on Fridays and Mondays,” he said with a round chuckle. “My dad was a pharmacist and we had a deal; if I kept my grades up we’d go to New Orleans and watch the horse races. It was two hours and 15 minutes from my house in Sunset, Louisiana, near Lafayette to the fairgrounds in New Orleans, and we’d watch the horses work out, eat lunch, take a nap, go back and watch

Drs. Renè and Sonya LaVergne in their west Little Rock animal clinic The couple has extensive medical experience, specializing in dogs and cats.

the races. We’d watch Friday, Saturday, and if we had a horse in the feature on Sunday, we’d stay and watch it and skip school Monday.”

Horses have also been part of Renè and Sonya’s life together; the couple have owned several mounts in their lifetime and Sonya rides dressage events. But equines were never part of their vet practice; that was reserved for dogs and cats. And it is through such animals they have become the friend of the family to so many patients, healers who can be relied upon in the hour of need.

LaVergne came to Little Rock in 1991, a year after earning his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from LSU. He spent six years working in emergency medicine until 1997, when Westrock Animal Hospital opened. And while not everything that comes through the door these days is a matter of life and death, talking about his craft puts a unique steel into LaVergne’s tone.

“When an animal’s life is in my hands, everything’s got to be perfect,” he said. “When surgery’s on, everybody’s at their best. Surgery is the cleanest room in the house. We warm fluids, we warm the surgery tables, we anesthetize, intubate, put them on the gas machine. Clip them, scrub them. Then we go in there and do our thing.”

The practice is a marvel of efficiency and home to a variety of expertise and services not always found in stand-alone, independent practices. Pinnacle Valley Westrock Animal Hospital has its own in-house pharmacy, provides acupuncture treatments, administers

chemo, even keeps some vials of snake anti-venom on hand that’s rarely called upon but critical when you need it. There’s a dental machine over there and over here an oxygen apparatus for recuperating hounds.

A lot of this stuff came from LaVergne’s merging Westrock Animal Hospital and Pinnacle Valley Animal Hospital last spring. For a physician who proudly subscribes to the oldschool way of doing things, he admits he’s got far more technology at his disposal here than he ever would have imagined.

“This place is better-equipped than most,” he said. “There were three veterinary architects back in the day and one of them happened to live in Little Rock and so the building was built specifically as a clinic. My old place, I bought a house, remodeled and started working.

“I graduated veterinary school in 1990 and 33 years ago we didn’t have any of this stuff. Now we have an AcuVet laser; we have three anesthetic machines. We have a urinalysis machine and two machines for chemistries, because we run a lot of blood work. We do so much now.”

Three decades have also honed the couple’s chops through experiencing the onset of various diseases, some of which reached epidemic proportions. The latest bug to make the rounds, canine influenza, has been making its way through Arkansas this summer, leading many dog owners to consult their vets to learn the risk to their dogs.

Also known as dog flu, canine influenza is a viral infection that can cause symptoms resembling the more common respiratory ailment “kennel cough,” according to the Ameri-

What to Know About Canine Influenza

The latest virus du jour in the dog world, canine influenza, has been dominating headlines for most of 2023. The virus, known as H3N2, first appeared in the United States through an outbreak in Chicago in 2015. CBS News reported surges in the highly contagious “dog flu”, as it is commonly called, in Philadelphia, North Texas and Minnesota last winter, and the bug has been making the rounds to other states ever since.

“From what I’ve found, Dallas had it from June of 2022 to December,” said Dr. Renè LaVergne, who confirmed his clinic’s first case this June. “Oklahoma City got it in December, and they’re now tailing off, although they’re seeing one or two here and there. And then, finally, Fayetteville got it.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, common symptoms of the milder form of dog flu include a soft, moist, persistent cough, lethargy, sneezing and loss of appetite. More severe forms of dog flu may cause canines to develop high fevers and signs of pneumonia.

Per the American Veterinary Medical Association, virtually all dogs exposed to canine flu get infected, and about 80 percent develop symptoms, but even dogs that don’t show signs of infection can spread it to oth-

ers. Cats can also catch the virus, though often with less-severe symptoms.

Like every illness, those most at risk for severe cases are puppies, older hounds and those with immune deficiencies. While dog flu is not generally considered life-threatening, dog owners are advised to contact their veterinarian immediately if their pet stops eating or has difficulty breathing.

“We’re really concerned about those that don’t recover in the first few days,” LaVergne said. “It’s the secondary infections we worry about.”

As much as the disease itself, vets are urging pet owners to help stem the spread of dog flu by limiting interactions with other pups. Animals that have been diagnosed should be sequestered and care should be taken in boarding or visiting dog parks. And owners should know one other thing about the spread of the disease: Although humans cannot contract the virus themselves, they can inadvertently spread it after coming into contact with infected dogs.

“This virus lives 48 hours on surfaces, 24 hours on clothes and 12 hours on your hands,” LaVergne said. “You contain the spread of infectious disease by cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.”

Many vet practices are also doing their part by taking a page out of

"I've seen people do some amazing things out of love for their dog."

LaVergne gets a helping hand during an examination.

can Veterinary Medical Association. Coughing, sneezing, lethargy, fever and eye and nose discharge can all point to canine flu, but the only way to get a sure diagnosis is to get your dog to a veterinarian as soon as it starts showing symptoms.

“Every time a dog coughs, we can’t expect it to be canine influenza,” LaVergne said. “It’s part of the canine infectious respiratory disease complex and there are a lot of agents, some of which we can vaccinate for and some of which we can’t.”

While this outbreak is no small matter, it’s also vital to keep the bigger picture in mind with regard to your dog’s health. Don’t miss the forest for the trees: the biggest message for owners to take away from this situation, LaVergne said, is the overall importance of preventative care.

“[Dog flu] is a small fraction of what we see. There are a lot of other things that we do every day, and 98 percent of what we do every day is not influenza, is not respiratory disease,” he said. “But one thing they all have in common is the importance of people not waiting to come see us. If there’s one message I preach over and over to people, it’s when there is a problem, don’t wait.

“Coughing, sneezing, diarrhea, not eating. If your dog is not eating for a day, we need to know. Sometimes an owner can try this, try that, but if [the dog] is not improving, we need to see them.”

If that sounds eerily similar to the direction human medicine has been emphasizing in recent years, it should. As physicians, hospitals and even employers have increasingly focused on wellness and prevention of disease as preferable to reacting to its onset and progression, they’re taking a page out of the veterinary playbook, LaVergne said.

“I absolutely think veterinary medicine started wellness before the human doctors did,” he said. “It’s simple; it is much better to prevent a disease versus just putting out fires. For that reason, wellness and prevention is our big focus. We do a lot of that.”

To people of a certain age, the LaVergnes look like a prototypical neighborhood vet; small business people heavily invested in their community and steeped in relationships with generations of clients. But to modern audiences, they are increasingly rare as in this brand of medicine, as with elsewhere, the model is changing. LaVergne estimated that independent veterinary practices are in a 60-40 minority as many DVMs today opt to work for corporate practices thereby eliminating the risk, paperwork and overhead that comes with owning one’s own clinic.

“That’s not all bad,” he said. “It works out well for some people and it’s a way to keep an old doctor who, instead of retiring and going fishing, retires and stays on five or 10 more years. It gets them out of all the

headaches somebody else is doing, all the taxes and the payroll, and they enjoy veterinary medicine again. So, the corporate thing is not a bad idea, it’s just not for us.”

LaVergne glanced through a kennel door at a pup snoring after having a tumor taken off his leg, then over to another, a saddle-colored longhair lapdog that meets his gaze with chestnut eyes. For the oldschool vet, the why of his career still surrounds him.

“When I got out of school, the idea was you go get a job with the best person you can, basically you’re an intern, and learn as much as you can,” he said. “If you get along with the person, four or five years later you become a partner. In 10 to 15 years, you buy them out and you become the owner. That’s totally changed.”

The pup sighs. The vet smiles.

“I got into this to work with animals and when I got here it was, ‘I want to do this, in this place, for the rest of my life.’ And there’s other things that get to be a pain and a strain, but our purpose has never changed. We’re still centered on the animals.”

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the COVID-era handbook, LaVergne’s Pinnacle Valley Westrock Animal Hospital included.

“We’re going to see these [dogs] out in your car. This virus can spread 20 feet with one cough, so we don’t even want you parked at the front door,” he said. “We’re going to put you on the side door or the back door, where no other animals are exposed to you.

“We go out with disposable surgery gowns, masks and gloves. We have a trash can out there, and we put all that in there. We disinfect anything we’ve used, and then we walk back into the clinic. We wash our hands, and then we pick up a pen, write the record, count out medicines, prescribe things. And usually, I have a separate person doing it.”

While preaching caution, LaVergne is equally quick to point out that severe cases are rare and animal death from canine influenza even more so. Vaccine is available and while it doesn't really insulate a dog from getting sick, it can generally lessen the effect.

“I expect, for the next year, we’re going to recommend, and most of the kennels are going to require, every dog be vaccinated for this,” LaVergne said. “We hope and expect it to start tailing off after six months. [Vaccines] and herd immunity will help snuff out the outbreak.”

Little Woods Animal Hospital Cabot

Out West Veterinary Center and Urgent Care Conway

St. Francis Veterinary Clinic Conway

Tucker Creek Vet Conway

Watson Creek Vet Clinic Batesville

Boyd Veterinary Clinic Arkansas Jacksonville

Cloverdale Animal Clinic Little Rock

Hartman Animal Clinic Conway

Pallone Vet Hospital Rose Bud

Providence Veterinary Care Little Rock, Malvern, Arkadelphia

Vilonia Animal Clinic Vilonia

Top veterinary clinics as voted on by AY About You readers.

DOG TESTED DOG APPROVED

If you’re the proud parent of a new furry friend, you probably have an idea of just how much preparation is needed before a dog ever sets paw in your house. Kennel, collar, leash, toys, treats, brush, bed, pee pads, food and water and the storage for everything to boot – it can all be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. And with no shortage of options ranging from budget-friendly to downright eye-watering, it can be hard to know what’s

really worth the investment and what’s just fluff.

To make your adventures in dog ownership just a little easier, AY About You asked for recommendations from a few of the most trusted names in the business. Groomers, trainers and doggy daycare experts have all weighed in with their must-have items, saving you the trouble of wading through a sea of product reviews and comparisons. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s definitely one that owners of all stripes can appreciate.

Pawsh Park is a high-quality boarding and daycare option known for its superior supervision, comfortable accommodations and customized activity packages for meeting any pup’s needs. Pawsh Park’s trainers are experienced in a variety of positive and proven methods so they can bring out the best in any canine companion, and they can’t recommend the martingale collar highly enough for its perfect combination of comfort and control. What separates this collar from the pack is a loop design that tightens as the dog pulls, preventing escape without choking or injury. Especially useful for breeds with slender heads, it’s also a must-have for any dog that tends to back out of a traditional flat collar. Made for a snug fit without causing discomfort, the martingale collar is a gentle but effective training tool – and one that the experts at Pawsh Park use with all of their own training dogs.

After you’ve picked up your pup’s new favorite collar, be sure to take advantage of the free training evaluation Pawsh Park offers to new customers.

Withan array of themed luxury suites, in-room televisions and the option for a private doggy door and play area, Chenal Pet Palace is bound to feel more like a second home than just another daycare. The folks at Chenal Pet Palace are experts when it comes to keeping your dog comfortable and content, and they recommend a cooling mat to help your pup beat the Arkansas heat this summer.

Don’t be fooled: this product isn’t just for the spoiled spaniel. Along with other hot-weather necessities such as adequate water and shade, this mat can be an effective tool in helping your dog avoid the serious health risks that come with overheating.

“My dogs absolutely love theirs,” Chenal Pet Palace

owner Ashley Trentham said, and for good reason. Whether you’re camping, grilling out or just enjoying those late summer days outdoors, this mat is sure to keep your dog happy.

Chenal Pet Palace

14309 Kanis Rd.

Little Rock, AR 72223

(501) 223-2688

Once your warm-weather adventures are over, be sure to stop by Chenal Pet Palace and treat your pup to a much-needed spa day as well.

info@chenalpetpalace.com

Bentonville’s CoolWag is part daycare and boarding, part training and enrichment and all guaranteed fun for your furry friends. On CoolWag’s five acres, your dog will enjoy large indoor and outdoor play yards, certified trainers on staff daily and a wealth of activities and enrichment options.

For the active breeds, CoolWag also offers an array of programs in its sports facility, from agility and lure chasing to scent work and even dog football. CoolWag even hosts official NADD (North America Diving Dogs) dock diving events.

Even if your dog isn’t the sporting type, CoolWag separates dogs by size, age and personality to make sure your canine will find a few like-minded companions of his own to have fun with. Tuckered pups can relax on comfy couches and furniture reminiscent of home, and those staying overnight enjoy a slumber party with the staff at bedtime.

Stave off the boredom of a day at home or in a crate, and let your dog enjoy a fun-filled day (or more!) at CoolWag.

CoolWag

210 Prairie Lane, Bentonville AR 72712

(479) 273-3553

info@coolwag.com

Asthe state’s first off-leash dog park and restaurant, Little Rock's Bark Bar is the perfect place to eat, drink and hang out with fellow pups and their people.

Be on the lookout for special deals and events like trivia, book clubs and Twofer Tuesday. If all the fun has you feeling snacky, Bark Bar serves up an assortment of tasty treats for both humans and dogs, as well as a number of “Cockertails,” beer and wine offerings.

After scoping things out with a day pass, be sure to snag a monthly or annual membership –not for you, of course, but for your dog! Additional dogs can be added to any plan at a discounted rate. And don't miss Bark Bar's sixth anniversary pawty coming up on National Dog Day, August 26!

Bark Bar

1201 South Spring Street Little Rock, Arkansas, 72202 (501) 295-3989

barkbar.com

Fromdoodles and dachshunds to long-haired chihuahuas and Siberian huskies – and every mixedbreed beauty in between – your dog’s coat is as unique as their personality. And while some level of at-home maintenance is a must for keeping your dog’s look up to scruff, it pays to defer to the experts when it comes to a whole host of grooming needs.

The experts at The Doggie Spa in North Little Rock have been keeping all manner of four-legged friends looking and feeling fresh for three decades now. Whether it’s a nail trim, bath and blow dry or a full-on haircut and dye job (if you’re feeling adventurous, that is), The Doggie Spa has the tools and experience to make your pup the envy of the local dog park.

The Doggie Spa 11827 Maumelle Blvd, North Little Rock, AR, 72113 (501) 753-2211

doggiespa1@yahoo.com

dog daze

"I’m so in love with him.” Heathman with her best buddy Koning.

STAND BY ME

Kelli Heathman and Koning train to be a winning team

By BRIAN SORENSON

Photos By JAMIE LEE

Kelli Heathman wasn’t always a dog lover. Growing up in High Point, N.C., her parents wouldn’t allow pets in their home. It wasn’t until she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that she discovered canine companionship.

“When I moved to Las Vegas to start my career, I got my first puppy,” said Heathman. “I went to the animal shelter and saw him sitting there with these big pink lips. He was so adorable, and I knew I had to have him. I named him Alstott after Mike Alstott, who played football for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I’ve been in love with dogs ever since.”

Heathman now owns three dogs –two akitas named Lola and Oakley and a Belgian malinois known as Koning. To say they are pampered is an understatement.

“They live with us inside our home. We don’t have doggy doors, so if we go on day trips they have a custom-built climate-controlled dog house for them to stay in when they are outside,” she said. “They have a special diet. I just switched Koning to a raw diet, which has done wonders for his coat. All of them get groomed regularly, and they get baths every 30 days, like clockwork.”

Pets have become more important to their owners as they move closer to the inner circle of the family. Gone are the days when pooches were kept in a

chain-link pen, never to step foot inside their owners’ homes. To a certain degree they have been humanized, creating demand for grooming services, toys and other luxury pet products. According to market analysis firm Grand View Research, it is estimated that the worldwide pet grooming market stands at more than $5 billion as of 2022.

You might think Heathman is your run-of-themill pampering dog parent. But there’s one thing that sets her apart from most others. She and Koning are zealous competitors in the arena of protection sports. Protection sports are exercises and methodologies that challenge dogs in the categories of obedience and – as the name might suggest – protection of their

handlers. Maybe you’ve seen police dogs being trained to attack and take down hypothetical perpetrators wrapped in padded body gear. That image provides a rough idea of what protection sports are all about. The underlying principles are discipline and control.

Heathman became interested in protection sports after seeing it demonstrated by her akitas’ behavioral trainer, Calvin Wilbon of 1st Mind K9 in Little Rock. He has been training German shepherds and Belgian malinois for personal protection and law enforcement since 2014.

“After seeing what Calvin was doing with those dogs, I started looking into protection sports and became fascinated with it,” said Heathman. “I would find myself up at one or two o’clock in the morning watching YouTube videos to learn more.”

She was particularly interested in the Belgian malinois breed, which is known for its intelligence, agility and speed. Historically, they were used by Belgian shepherds to herd livestock, often being mistaken for German shepherds due to a somewhat similar appearance. The malinois is slimmer in stature with a coat of short hair but like its German counterpart, the breed is commonly used as an assistance dog, for law enforcement and in search and rescue operations. They are increasingly popular police dogs.

“If you look at the intelligence and athleticism of this breed you’ll realize how amazing the malinois is,” said Heathman. “I kind of got obsessed with them.”

Wilbon told her that he had two malinois puppies coming to the U.S. from the Netherlands. She agreed to take one if she could have a male, and if the puppy could live and train with Wilbon before joining her two akitas at home. He agreed, and Heathman’s journey into the world of protection sports began.

She named the young pup Koning – which is the Dutch term for king – and has been training for protection sports with him since he arrived four years ago. The duo will compete in two days of trials hosted by the Protection Sports Association in early September. Training is ongoing and conducted in short bursts.

“When I’m not traveling for work, I train with Koning twice a day,” said Heathman. “It’s no more than ten minutes at a time, however,

because you want to keep their interest level high. And because we are entering competitions, I also train with Calvin multiple times each week.”

Obedience is a major component of protection sports. Training dogs to ignore distractions and abide by their handlers’ commands is a key evaluation during competition. There are multiple levels of obedience: Level One involves the decoy, dressed in a bite suit for protection, sitting in a chair while the handler gives commands to the dog.

In Level Two, the decoys walk or jog around the handler while talking. In Level Three the decoy is running and agitates the dog while the dog listens for commands to heel, stay, jump or climb, as directed by its handler.

“Obedience is important because you need to control your dog, on or off a trial field,” said Heathman. “One of the most important commands is the attention heel, which is him by my side, on my left, with his head looking up into my armpit. It takes a year or year and a half to train a dog to be obedient before it’s ready to compete.”

The protection portion of the competition involves commands for the dogs to perform controlled bites on assumed perpetrators. These are not random bites, but bites made to specific body parts – usually a forearm or leg – with extreme precision.

“When they start them off as a puppy they use a small bite wedge,” said Heathman. “They focus on keeping to the middle of the bite wedge and to have a full mouth bite. When you go into trial, there’s a point system for each scenario that is performed by the handler and the dog, part of which is how full of a grip it has with its bite.”

As with obedience challenges, each higher level of protection exercises involves more complex situations with escalating distraction scenarios. To reach the highest level of achievement, both dog and handler must be highly-practiced, deeply disciplined and possess nerves of steel. The greatest achievement possible is entry into the PSA 3 club, which requires a minimum of 75 percent of available points in all obedience and protection scenarios at two separate trials. Points must be obtained while off-leash and under surprise or unplanned conditions.

Most people involved with protection sports are dog trainers. “There are very few of us that are handlers and not trainers,” said Heathman. “To be successful you need to be willing to put the time into it. You have to have a passion for it, because if you only do it halfway, you won’t get the outcome you’re looking for. You’ll get frustrated with the dog and frustrated with yourself. And you will have spent a lot of money for nothing. This sport is not cheap.”

Heathman said she is grateful for Wilbon’s partnership because she is busy with a career of her own. She has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with roles in both primary and specialty care. Her career journey has resulted in positions with increasing responsibility, and she loves her work.

“Once I graduated from college I wanted to move out of state and see more of the United States,” she said. “Lo and behold, I ended up in Las Vegas, where I began my pharmaceutical career as a sales rep. The journey since that time has been incredible. I’ve taken job promotions, I’ve moved around laterally and I’ve taken a step back, all to gain different

Adding a Belgian malinois to her family of akitas created a formidable canine collection.

experiences in order to round out my skill set so that I could eventually lead teams of my own.”

Heathman currently works for BeiGene, a global firm that focuses on products and services that cater to oncology patients across the planet. Her focus is more business administration-related than sales these days, with most of her work centered around contractual agreements and other back-office operations. She manages the western half of the U.S. territory and directs a team of six. Heathman relishes her role as team leader.

“I try to provide them with strategic guidance of where we need to be as a team, and then allow them to go execute the business,” she said. “I’m there to provide support and be their partner. If you asked, I think they

for that animal.”

Heathman suggested doing research on breeds before choosing a dog. Certain breeds require more exercise than others. Busy professionals who don’t want to invest in daycare won’t do well with dogs like hers. Akitas and malinois are working dogs that need plenty of activity and loads of attention. If they are neglected, their behavior can turn destructive, which can and often does result in frustration and regret.

She is also a proponent of crate training, which makes housebreaking easier and provides the dog with a safe and comfortable place to seek refuge. “I leave the door open and Koning goes and sits in it on his own,” she said. “Never use a crate as punishment. It should be a happy place for your dog.”

would tell you that I’m a servant leader. I feel my purpose is to motivate and inspire them so they can do their best work.”

Heathman’s responsibilities often require overnight travel. She’s fortunate to have a supportive husband – Dr. Monty Heathman – who provides care for her dogs while she is away.

“He’s a dentist with a local practice, so he’s home every night.” she said. “If I was single, it would be difficult. They would be in daycare a lot. When it’s absolutely necessary to board them, I do have a place I trust. I lived in Maumelle when I moved to Arkansas in 2009 and I discovered Arkansas Pet Resort. They really know my dogs and they provide the best care for them, so I’ve been using them ever since.”

Participating in protection sports takes commitment measured in both time and money. But the same is true with pet ownership in general. Heathman said people should not make the decision to adopt a pet without proper forethought. Bringing an animal into the family is a life-changing experience.

“A lot of times people will get a dog because they think it’s cute,” she said. “But they don’t realize the time it takes to care for one. You should do your homework before you get a pet because it should be with you for life. If you give up on it and it goes to a shelter, it can be a death sentence

And if someone is interested in the ultra-competitive world of protection sports, choosing a qualified trainer should be at the top of the to-do list. Having an expert by your side will lead to a more productive and satisfying experience.

“There are some really sad trainers out there,” said Heathman. “Here, too, you have to do your homework and try to understand what it takes to train a dog. It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. Ask prospective trainers how long they’ve been training and what their credentials are. Ask about their training philosophy and learn about their training techniques. Find someone that is the best fit for you and your dog and what you’re trying to accomplish.”

She seemingly hit the trainer jackpot with Wilbon. Not only has he proved himself to be a highly capable trainer, but he is the one who matched her with Koning in the first place. It has proven to be a relationship that transcends the typical handler-dog connection.

“The best part of this experience has been the bond I’ve developed with my dog,” said Heathman. “He is the sweetest, most loving dog I’ve ever owned. When it’s time to train I can tell he loves it and that he looks forward to time with Mommy. And I get to spend time with him. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I’m so in love with him.”

“The best part of this experience has been the bond I’ve developed with my dog.”

Under Heathman's expert command, Koning goes through his daily exercises.

dog daze

WORKING CLASS DOGS

By DWAIN HEBDA

/ Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

It’s a July afternoon in Arkansas, and hot. Austin Thomas, a game warden of five years with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, is putting K9 partner Jack through some easy paces for a photo shoot. Even though it’s a short demonstration, both officers have had a long day training new recruits. The heat is oppressive, yet neither misses a step.

When it comes to the call of duty, man and dog are always there to answer.

“When you’re talking about K9s you’re talking about drug dogs and bite dogs or apprehension dogs,” said Thomas. “Our dogs are not bite dogs. We don’t put our dogs in harm’s way to apprehend a suspect. Our dogs’ job is to find what is on the end of that track and when they do, they’re going to get rewarded.

“Labradors, like Jack, have got an outstanding nose to be able to smell all the different articles and put them all in the different situations.”

The duo, which are assigned to an area around Yell County, have been together for a little over a year, 10 weeks of which were spent in intensive training, learning the art and science of tracking through a variety of conditions.

“During training, we introduce the dog to tracking and also introduce the dog to article searches,” Thomas said. “I had to do a report on every track and every article search, and we did 145 tracks over a 10-week span and then about 160 article searches over the 10-week span.

“We start out in a short grass setting, which is like a soccer field, and we’ll get the canine used to tracking. Then we’ll move into the woods and harder terrain and going from short grass to knee-high grass to woods. At the end, we’ll come together and mix everything up, what’s called an exceptional track. I’m assigned to Central Arkansas, so I have a bunch of woods but we have some areas in east Arkansas where they have nothing but dirt and stuff like that.”

Thomas, a native of Dover and a former Marine, had his eye on the AGFC K9 corps since he became a game warden, but how he and Jack found each other was a matter of happenstance.

“As the K9 handler, it’s really the luck of the draw,” he said. “As soon as we got to our school, it was basically, ‘Hey, this is your dog.’”

Meet some fabulous pups with important jobs to do.

Jack

Though the animals are technically owned by the Commission, they live with their handlers thereby continually reinforcing the connection between the two.

“[The dogs] come home with us, they stay with our family,” Thomas said. “If we have other pets, they stay with our other pets. The agency provides everything for the canine, but we spend 24/7/365 with the dog.”

This close contact serves a professional purpose beyond the usual affinity most people have for their non-working pets. Thomas said the more he and Jack learn each other’s habits and mannerisms, the better they perform on the job.

“Whenever I’m on a lead, I have full control of the canine and I’m reading the dog,” he said. “Every dog has a certain tell; they might snap their head or they might have their tail in a certain position. Those are cues that he’s on a track, he’s not on a track, if he finds something, if he doesn’t find something. When Jack started doing article searches and what we call backtrack where he’s off-lead, he’s on his own trying to figure everything out. That’s the hardest part for both of us.”

Out of the field, Jack’s got another important responsibility, to act as a goodwill ambassador for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

“When we do PR events, I take him into schools and we let the kids play all over the dog,” Thomas said. “Every time I go to a school I kind of do a demonstration, but none of the kids want to see that.

All they want to do is pet the dog.

“That’s another thing about Jack; as a Lab, he’s a family-oriented dog, per se, and I think that is why we use them. They do their job on tracking, article searches and evidence recovery, but they also have that aspect where you can take them into a group of kids, and he’ll just lay on his back and just take all the lovin’ he can get.”

Augie & Winston / Methodist Family Services

What Augie the long-haired dachshund lacks in size, he makes up for in the ability to calm and cheer the people around him. The six-yearold pup has been a therapy dog for years now, leaving a long trail of good vibes behind him in the family tradition set for him by 12-yearold Winston, his dachshund brother from another mother.

Like all therapy animals, Winston and Augie completed intensive training to learn the ropes of their vocation. But as their owner Margaret Strickland will tell you, the best therapy dogs are as much born for the role as trained to do it.

“A dog has got to like what they do, or they will never be a good therapy animal,” Strickland said. “You can have a dog that is compliant, has all of the skillset. But if he isn’t happy, he’s not going to sparkle and he’s not going to connect.”

A lifelong animal lover, Strickland has been volunteering since a friend, who was already into therapy dogs, mentioned Winston had the markings of a great therapy animal.

“She was at my house visiting and she was playing with Winston,” Strickland said. “She was messing with his ears and picking up his tail and I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ She said, ‘Winston would be a great pet therapy animal.’ That’s what made me start thinking about it.”

One of the organizations where Strickland and her dogs have volunteered all along has been Methodist Family Health, a Little Rock-based organization that provides out-

patient and acute behavioral health treatment for children and youth.

“We usually see the teens, ages 11, 12 and up,” Strickland said. “We visit Methodist’s residential facility while there are other dogs that go to the hospital setting in Maumelle.

“It’s been a good way to share my pets because I like working with those older kids and being around those older kids. I feel like I have something to offer and even more so, I feel that my dogs have something to offer. Kids are in there who are not there because they want to be and it’s just a little bit of sunshine in their lives to see a dog.”

The therapeutic effect of Strickland’s fur babies extends beyond the kids. Staff are also eager to pet the pups as a way to help cope with the difficulties and stresses of their job.

“From the time we get to the facility, starting with the lady at the front desk, people are just delighted to see the dogs,” said Strickland, a retired speech pathologist. “We always allow time for staff, and they do seem to really appreciate the dogs. If a staffer is able to find a smile or brightness in their day, then they will be better staff members.”

Strickland the dogs have also visited various hospitals through the years, and she saw how the positive effect of the therapy dogs was magnified during the pandemic.

“During COVID, when we couldn’t see patients, they had a staff wellness room,” she said. “The dogs would just go and hang out with the nurses as they would come in and they’d love on the dogs because they were stressed.

“My dogs have something to offer.” Strickland with Augie.

Game Warden Austin Thomas and K9 Jack of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission run through their drills.

Paisley & Scruffy / Tail Waggin’ Tutors

Holly Pettit has been a dog owner for much of her life and over the past few years she’s found a rewarding way to channel her love of canines into a volunteer opportunity that helps others. Pettit and her dog Paisley are part of Tail Waggin’ Tutors, a literacy program offered through Central Arkansas Libraries.

“For a child learning to read it can be overwhelming and very anxiety-ridden,” Pettit said. “With this program, children come into the room and the library staff has picked out several books they can choose. They come over and they sit next to the dog and they just start looking at the book, reading the book.

“If they cannot read words, they read the pictures they see. We don’t correct them if they say the wrong word or if they don’t get it correct. We just let them read.”

Paisley’s whole job is to sit and listen to the child, who is given free rein to work through the story at their own pace. Not only does it help to have the dog “listening” to the reader, the ability to pet the dog while doing so further calms the child.

“Therapy dogs are outgoing and friendly animals,” Pettit said. “We want them to be outgoing but they’re not aggressive. They’re very calm and well-behaved and trained to come into a situation and sit there and be petted.

“By petting the dog, it’s a very friendly atmosphere and [the kids] get really relaxed. They’re not being judged on the reading and they really focus on the book at hand and they start reading to the dog. They’re practicing their reading skills and, at the same time, they’re improving their self-esteem.”

Paisley, a 12-year-old Maltese, has been part of Tail Waggin’ Tutors for the past four years. She’s joined in the activity by Scruffy, a five-year-old Great Pyranees labradoodle mix, who belongs to Pettit’s daughter, Natalie. Scruffy has been part of the program for two years.

Pettit said her decision to get the animals involved in volunteer therapy work is an extension of her desire to serve others, which she does in her work as a nurse at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

“I’ve always loved having a dog and taking care of people,” she said. “That’s kind of a calling for me, being a nurse for 30 years. My husband gave me Paisley 12 years ago and a physician friend had a dog that was

During that time, it was horrid to work at a hospital.”

Strickland only brings one dog at a time to the therapy visits and soon she’ll be bringing just one, Augie, full-time as Winston is getting too old for this kind of work and will soon retire. But whenever that happens, and it comes for all, these good boys have made countless interactions that changed the tone of a person’s day or even the arc of their life.

“It’s amazing how things come back around,” Strickland said. “Just today, I was at Children’s Hospital. We volunteer at the ambulatory surgery center where kids walk in and they have surgery like adenoids, tonsils. They have their surgery, parents and siblings wait in the waiting room. We’re just there to help pass time.

“This kid came up to me who said, ‘I know Augie. I was at Methodist.’ I recognized her and I was so glad to see her. She said, ‘I’m doing so well. I just graduated from high school and I’m going to vet tech school.’ That’s why I do this, because we made a difference.”

part of the therapy program through Therapy Dogs International. He knew Paisley and myself and thought we’d be a good fit.

“We went through six weeks of training and you have to pass a national certification test. It doesn’t cost anything to do the training program; they just ask that you volunteer somewhere with the dogs and there’s different places you can do that. We just started volunteering.”

To date, Paisley and Pettit have volunteered at Baptist Rehabilitation Institute, Presbyterian Village and Parkway Village senior living and the Patrick Henry Hays Senior Center during its health fair. They’re also regular Sunday greeters at Pinnacle View United Methodist Church.

Methodist Health staffers enjoy interacting with the dogs as much as the patients do.

Pettit with Paisley (left) and Scruffy.

Baron / Duck Retriever

Anne Marie Doramus has spent a lifetime in the woods and on the water of The Natural State. And during Arkansas’ famed duck season each fall, her earliest memories are conjoined between the greenheads she bagged and the four-legged companions that brought her quarry in, like her Labrador, Baron.

“I named him Baron because of my love for aviation,” Doramus said of the seven-year-old. “I have always loved aviation, and I wanted him to have a special name. So, Beechcraft Baron it was.”

The hunting culture is one of traditions held and respected over time. Thus does an ordinary rifle become an heirloom and grandfather’s shotgun a piece of living family lore. Perhaps nothing embodies this ethic more than the lineage of dogs a family owns over time, in Doramus’ case, always black Labs and always christened with a “B”.

“Our very first black Lab, his name was Bobo,” she said. “He was a mediocre retriever, to say the least. He didn’t like to listen very well, but he would get the job done. That’s really where my love for dogs began when I was a little girl.

“My second one was another black Lab named Boomer that my dad surprised me with the spring before eighth grade. I got to pick him out of the litter and he was trained in Little Rock by a dear friend of ours. Every Monday my dad would take me to guitar lessons and after that we would go see Boomer and train with him and play with him and work with him. It was the highlight of my week. That was a very, very special time.”

Boomer and Doramus forged a tight bond that went well beyond duck season until the prized retriever succumbed to cancer in 2016. Doramus called a breeder she knew to let him know she was in the market for another retriever, while checking out the latest litter on the guy’s website.

“I’d been following along for a while and the one in the green collar just happened to have my eye,” she said. “One gentleman got to pick ahead of me and I really hoped he’d take the one in the orange collar

“It just brightens people’s day,” Pettit said of the experience. “If we go to Baptist Rehab, [patients] may be there for a short time, but they miss their dogs and it gives them something different during their daily routine. If we go to a nursing home, they may not have a dog anymore but they remember when they had a dog and what joy that dog brought. They just love it. They don’t want us to leave and they always ask when we can come back.”

Pettit also said it’s easy to tell how much Paisley and Scruffy enjoy the experience as well.

“Dogs are attention-seeking, and they know they’re being praised and they see the joy as they’re getting petted and loved on,” she said. “When it’s time to go do a program, we’ll say, ‘We’re going to work,’ and we put their bandanas on, brush their teeth and brush them out really good. They know when I put that bandana on what they’re about to go do.

“They’re real excited when we get to where we’re going and by the time we leave, they are so relaxed. They’re almost in a trance and they come home and they sleep. I think they get a lot out of it.”

because I really like the one with the green collar. [The breeder] texted me, ‘You got him!’

“My then-boyfriend, now husband, Joe, and I and his dad drive over there and we pull up to the house and lo and behold, the dog with the green collar just starts running towards me. So it was all meant to be.”

Baron would train under the same trainer as Boomer before him, augmented by the puppy games Doramus would introduce him to that gave him an early start.

“I remembered all the tips and tricks from when Boomer was a puppy,” she said. “We’d get in a hallway, get a plain sock and tie a knot in it and just toss it down the hallway to make retrieving fun and

Doramus and Baron in the green tree duck timber last season.

Tail Waggin' Tutor Scruffy makes a new friend.

cheering the dog on. Honestly, you look really silly when you’re doing it, but you throw it a couple feet and you want the dog to like retrieving; you want it to go pick it up and bring it back to you.

“We did that every single day and by the time I sent him to school he at least had a little bit of the basics down. I taught him how to sit, he was retrieving, so we’re off to a good start.”

Such was the beginning of a long and close relationship Doramus shares with Baron, no matter the season. And while Baron doesn’t replace Boomer, and isn’t meant to, he shares the same joy as his predecessor, reminding his owner that the magic lies in the experience of the hunt much moreso than the outcome.

“Baron is really laid back and I like that about him. That’s why he and I are meant to be,” said Doramus, an Arkansas Game and Fish Commissioner. “When I go hunting, I could care less about even shooting sometimes, because I’d rather work the dog.

“The worst thing about having a dog is that they’re not here for long enough, of course. But you know what? I’ll put myself through that pain over and over again because I love them so much. That short time they’re here, we are their whole lives. And to watch them do what they love is one of my favorite pastimes.”

Kana / BowWow Buddies

Of all the things travelers remember about their visit to Little Rock, the airport hasn’t traditionally been one of them. Nice as it is, Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport is seen the same way by most: as a means to an end, a way to get to the people, places or appointments they’ve really come for. Often rushed and frequently weary, travelers pass through every day without so much as a sideways glance.

But that was before management implemented BowWow Buddies a few years ago, a pet therapy program that utilizes dogs to give travelers a way to de-stress and receive a unique welcome, courtesy of the hounds and their handlers. And in the case of retired Little Rock physician Dr. Kimo Stine and his six-year-old Portuguese water dog Kana, it gives the volunteers a purpose as well.

“About 2007 we got our first Portuguese water dog, and you have to be careful with them. Instead of you training them, they’ll train you,” he said. “We learned very quickly that they needed work, they needed a job.”

Stine and Kana began when the program started in 2018 and with the exception of COVID restrictions, have continued to show up at the airport, once or twice per month, ever since. Over their roughly 90-minute shift, the tandem meanders throughout the concourse, ticket area and baggage claim to introduce a little happiness into travelers’ day.

“It’s really neat to see the reaction of people when they see you walking with your dog and then they see the vest that says ‘Pet Me,’” Stine said. “They’re used to seeing dogs with vests that say ‘Do Not Pet Me,’ ‘Service Dog ’ or whatever, so when they see ours, as the handler, you begin to recognize people’s body language. I’ll say to them, ‘Hey, would you like to pet my dog?’ People love it, especially the kids.”

“The teams make the beginning of a passenger’s journey more enjoyable,” said Shane Carter, Clinton National Airport director of public affairs and governmental relations. “Not everyone comes to the airport for happy circumstances, while others may have anxiety about flying. Time spent with these remarkable dogs lowers stress and helps the passenger relax.”

“The program is remarkable, and it certainly shows by the smiles on so many faces. We’re so appreciative of the volunteers who give a

“It’s really neat to see the reaction of people.” Stine and Kana greet arriving passengers.

Baron scans the skies for some greenheads.

tremendous amount of their valuable time.”

In addition to their airport duty, Stine and Kana are familiar sights at other locations around town including hospital visits and day camps. Stine’s wife Christy and her dog, a bearded collie named Maile, have also made the rounds at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and other locales.

“We try to go to the airport as often as we can,” Stine said of he and Kana. “If there’s a special program, say there’s a Make-a-Wish kid that’s going out or they have a program for their employees or there was an airline celebration or something like that, we get invited to come out and be a part of those celebrations and let people hang out with the dogs.”

Given their experience, Stine and Kana make the job look easy and natural. But even a seasoned pro like Kana has to undergo preparation before doing his job as different rules from different organizations take both time and effort in order to comply. And as much as Kana enjoys it, the work takes a lot out of a dog.

“There are a lot of rules for the safety of the dog and the people around them. For example, they have to be bathed before they can come out,” Stine said. For some dogs, that’s

easy. Some dogs are wash and wear, right? Other dogs are a little bit more cumbersome in that regard. Portuguese water dogs can be bathed and blow-dried but it takes me about an hour and a half to two hours to get him ready.

“To be honest, my dog can’t go much past an hour and a half. It’s a lot of work. They’re basically ‘on’ that whole time. If you’ve been around dogs you know that they like to nap a lot, so it’s a lot of work for them to be constantly loved on and to walk around. The airport’s been really busy lately, so they’re constantly keeping their eye on all the people walking by them. They’re on alert. They come home, and they’re pretty worn out.”

HOW A HOUND GETS AROUND

A roundup of dog parks in Arkansas

Kana welcomes a young visitor to The Rock.

Homeward BOUND

For 25 years, CARE For Animals has worked to find pets a forever home

By JOHN CALLAHAN

Pets are an ubiquitous feature of American society, with Forbes estimating that some 66 percent of U.S. households, or about 86.9 million total, own some sort of pet. Either despite or because of the huge number of pets living in homes across the nation, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that 6.3 million animals who lack homes enter U.S. animal shelters every year. For many shelters, the numbers are overwhelming, causing great difficulty for both the animals and those who care for them, often leading to euthanization. One Little Rock-based organization, CARE for Animals, has spent the past 25 years saving as many lives as it can.

CARE for Animals has no onsite space to house animals. Rather, they take in pets that are about to be euthanized at shelters and place them with foster families. The animals they save tend to be harder to adopt either because they are generic and don’t stand out, or because they aren’t as easy to care for.

“Large breed dogs are much more difficult to adopt out [because] people have apartment restrictions, so we tend to get a lot of them,” CARE’s Executive Director Alexandra Mounger said. “You can have the devil himself as a little dog and someone will adopt it eventually, because they’re tiny, they’re cute and they’re compact. But big dogs, you could have the world’s best dog and it’s going to take a minimum of a month to find a home for it.”

Once an animal has been taken in from a shelter, it’s matched with a foster home, a network of volunteers of varying preferences and factors like apartment restrictions, children, other pets, a yard, etc. CARE provides for any and all of the pet’s and fosters’ needs, including medical services, food, kennels, toys and even transportation. While some fosters find it easier to handle food and transportation on their own, such things are never expected of them.

Fosters take care of the animal until it is able to be adopted. In some cases, this is very short term, while in other cases it could take months. But once a dog or cat becomes part of the foster system, they get a lifetime guarantee. CARE never allows their animals to go back to a shelter, so if a foster is no longer able to care for an animal, the organization requires it be returned to them.

“Dogs don’t do well in a kennel environment, especially long-term,” Mounger said. “They tend to develop bad habits and it can cause long-

term health problems. Every shelter knows this, they just don’t have a choice. Especially a lot of city-run shelters, if someone brings an animal in, they have to take it. So we’re not villainizing them for having to do that, but we do believe that animals show themselves most truthfully once they’re in a home and they’ve been able to get comfortable.”

The work CARE does is not limited just to fostering; many of their animals are also put through the Paws in Prison program, which allows inmates to train and care for dogs. The dogs are put through eight to ten weeks of obedience training and socialization, drastically increasing their odds of adoption, while also benefiting the inmates by teaching them skills that support rehabilitation and reentry into society. Many inmates who take part in the program are later hired for animal-related jobs, working at rescues or as service dog trainers.

To assist pet owners in need, CARE also operates a pet food pantry, offering free food once per month alongside other necessities like cat

CARE Executive Director Alexandra Mounger and her rescue, Cooper.

litter, food and water bowls, kennels and leashes. One woman, Mounger recounted, came to the pantry to get pet food for two months. By the third month she had found a job and, upon receiving her first paycheck, immediately made a donation to the food pantry, saying it was thanks to CARE that she had been able to keep her animals.

Another service CARE provides is spay and neuter assistance. Although CARE does not spay and neuter on its own, it offers vouchers worth up to $50 off the procedure at participating veterinary clinics. Though this doesn’t cover the entire cost of a procedure, it can help make it significantly more accessible.

“I don’t care which rescue or shelter you ask, they’re going to say that spaying and neutering is the first, most important thing,” Mounger said. “There are so many unfixed animals in Arkansas that wander freely. Even if you don’t let your pet wander freely, they just have to get out one time. That’s all it takes, and the next thing you know you have a litter of puppies.”

To further combat the problem, CARE held an event called Snip Snip Hooray, on World Spay Day, Feb. 28, where they partner with veterinarians across Arkansas. The inaugural 2023 event resulted in fixing 105 animals.

Other events held by CARE include their weekly Saturday Showing, where people can meet adoptable pets, talk to staff and caseworkers and learn about volunteer opportunities. It also supports two major annual events, Paws at the Net and Paws on the Runway. The former is a USTA sanctioned tournament at Rebsamen Tennis Center in Little Rock, held this year from July 14 to 16. The event also includes a virtual auction and plenty of ways to get involved, whether as a participant or a volunteer.

Paws on the Runway is a doggie fashion show set to be held on Oct. 9 at Rusty Tractor. Boutiques sponsor the event, dressing human models in Little Rock’s finest fashions and pairing them with an adoptable dog to walk down the runway.

CARE’s funding comes almost entirely from personal donations, with some support from event sponsorships. Some people donate on an annual basis, others make donations to memorialize a pet that has recently passed away, but it’s the monthly donors who give CARE a solid foundation. Mounger said regular giving allows the organization to make administrative improvements and develop new programs.

A handful of legacy gifts have also been crucial for seeing CARE through difficult times. Similarly, everything in the pet food pantry comes from donations. But if you ask Mounger what CARE needs most of all, she’ll tell you it’s fosters, not donations.

“Obviously we all love cold, hard cash, and it helps us do so much. But fosters are the lifeblood of what everyone is trying to do, even shel-

ters,” Mounger said. “Every time we get a new foster, that’s several more lives that get to be saved over the course of a year, assuming they foster that long. We do get a lot of fosters that end up adopting the animal they foster, and that’s great. As long as they get a good home, we’re always happy.

“But our real heroes are the ones who have multiple [animals] coming in and out of their homes. They save so many animals by doing that. It takes a special kind of person to be able to give a dog or a cat that kind of love, care and attention but not get so attached that you allow them to move on to another home.”

Two such fosters are Brian and Sarah Parks, who have been taking in animals since they discovered CARE on Instagram earlier this year. The couple already owns two dogs, so they did not feel like they could adopt another animal, but they were willing to try fostering. Since then, they have fostered five kittens and a dog, with two kittens named Cosmo and Wanda under their care at the time of writing.

“CARE provides all of the necessary supplies to take care of [an animal],” Brian said. “Cat litter and food, a few toys here and there. If the animal ever needs veterinary care, which happens more frequently than I thought it would, CARE also covers those things too. Sometimes we take them to the vet and other times we take the animal to CARE and CARE takes them to the vet. So from our standpoint, [fostering] is pretty straightforward.”

As for how they avoid becoming attached to the animals they take

Former CARE dog Blossom struts during Paws on the Runway, one of the organization's main fundraisers. Blossom now enjoys life in her forever home.

in, Brian and Sarah were already highly attached to their dogs, with each of them owning one before they were married. The first two kittens they fostered were the hardest to give up, but seeing them get adopted to a good home made it easier with later animals.

“It makes your house more interesting,” Sarah said of fostering. “It changes your routine, and it’s just kind of fun. You get to play with these guys and love on them and know that they’re going to get adopted and have a good home. It’s kind of like being the fun aunt and uncle. You don’t have all of the responsibilities because CARE is the one who’s going to be providing the supplies and adoption applicants. We just get the good end of the deal.”

Fostering still comes with the daily commitments of any pet, but Sarah explained it can be less stressful than a normal pet because it doesn’t come with the same lifelong commitment. This makes it good both for people who already have pets but want to help, and for those who aren’t sure if they’re ready to commit to the responsibility of adopting, whether it be due to their living situation or just because they’re in a busy season of life.

“If someone is thinking about getting a pet, or maybe someone’s child is interested, they could foster and see, is this a good option? Are we ready for a cat or a dog?” Sarah said. “And then that can help them decide, yeah, we’re ready, or maybe it’s not the best time.”

In this way, fostering can effectively be used as a “free trial” period; whether or not you end up wanting to adopt the animal yourself, you’ve already been a great help to CARE. For those who are considering becoming a foster, Brian and Sarah have a simple piece of advice: jump in and get involved.

“Approve it with everyone in the household, then think through what animal would be a good fit for your home,” Brian said. “CARE will ask questions of their potential foster families to try to figure out the living situation and match animals based on the animal’s temperament and the home environment.

“Jump in; it doesn’t hurt to try. CARE knows it’s a very big commitment and they’ve had many people try and just couldn’t do it. They know that and understand that, but the more foster families there are, the more animals CARE can be responsible for and get out for adoption.”

We do get a lot of fosters that end up adopting the animal they foster, and that’s great. As long as they get a good home, we’re always happy.

Meet Alice, a pup who at this writing is in a foster home as she awaits her forever family. Alice gets along with other dogs and kids. Learn more at careforanimals.org.

Find Your FOREVER FRIEND!

The dogs featured in this year’s AY About You Dog Daze gallery are eligible for adoption from the Pulaski County Humane Society and were available at time of writing. For more information on these or any of the other pets awaiting their forever homes, please contact PCHS at (501) 227-6166 or visit them online at warmhearts.org.

ADAM

Lab mix – DOB 12/2021

This energetic, playful puppy is ready to find his forever home. Adam was found as a stray, so we don’t know his background but from the looks of him, he will probably be a large adult dog. With a little training and love, he’d make a perfect lifelong friend.

APOLLO

Husky mix – DOB 11/2021 – 50 lbs.

A sweet, shy fella, Apollo was surrendered by his owner who could no longer care for him. This husky mix has an old fracture that gives him a slight limp, but he’s a brave guy who’s good with older kids and other dogs once he warms up to you.

ATLAS

Lab/Hound mix – DOB 12/2021 – 50 lbs. Another “mystery” dog, Atlas came to us as a stray, giving us very little of his background story. But what we can tell you is this energetic and playful boy is ready to find a loving home. Come check him out for yourself.

BELA

Shepherd mix – DOB 8/2019 – 50 lbs.

Meet Bela, a pretty girl as clever as she is cute. If you’ve got a secure spacious backyard, she’d love nothing more than to run around and explore the day away. Incredibly loving and loyal, this Shepherd mix will melt your heart.

BERT

Lab mix – 8/2020 – 52 lbs.

Bert shows us his sweet, playful nature every day and he’d love to share it with you, too! A Lab mix who came to us as a stray, he’s great on the leash and working on his house training. If you’re looking for a loyal pal, Bert fits the bill.

COLTON

Lab mix – DOB 8/2020 – 35 lbs.

Good things come in small packages! A former stray, Colton has the marking of a lovable Lab mix whose goal in life is to give and receive affection. A secure outdoor space for offleash exercise and a sunny spot on the floor is all this boy needs to be happy and at home.

DAISY LOU

Shepherd mix – DOB 7/2022 – 39 lbs.

As the name implies, Daisy Lous is a spunky, energetic girl with a lovable personality! A nice medium-sized dog, Daisy Lou is a shepherd mix with a lot of playful puppy energy to her. Always up for adventure, she’s the perfect addition to someone’s family – maybe yours?

FINNLEY

Lab mix – DOB 1/2019 – 56 lbs.

This handsome guy absolutely adores people, is friendly with all ages and a very energetic play pal. His favorite game is “keep away,” and he’s a big fan of tennis balls! Finnley has traits any family would love, so come out and meet him. He may just be the friend you’re looking for.

JUSTIN

Lab mix - DOB 6/2013 – 101 lbs.

Meet the big boy with a heart of gold! Justin came to us in 2015 during which time we’ve seen just how smart of a guy he is. He knows how to sit, lie down and roll over and will pretty much do anything for treats! Be sure to meet him outside his kennel to let the real Justin shine.

PADME

Lab mix – DOB 11/2022

Meet Padme, a sweet lab mix pup looking for a household that will show her love and affection for the rest of her life. Padme demonstrates a gentle spirit, but with plenty of that puppy energy we all adore and love so much. Come see if she’s right for your family!

REGIS

Chowchow/Shepherd mix – DOB 8/2017 – 53 lbs.

Regis is a survivor! Animal control found him injured and needing emergency medical attention that resulted in a leg being amputated. But you can’t keep a good dog down and Regis is ready for that patient forever family, in a home without children, who will bring out the best in him.

SOLOMAN

Lab mix – DOB 3/2022

A medium to large loverboy, Soloman is a cuddler once he gets to know and trust you. He originally landed in the shelter with his mother and siblings as a puppy and is back because his owner can’t care for him. Give him time and attention and he’ll give you his heart.

TRACEY

Lab mix – DOB 4/2022

Born in the shelter, Tracey was adopted, then returned after eight months through no fault of her own. Active, loving and loyal, she gets on well with people, children and other dogs and cats. What more could you ask? A house dog who loves a secure yard, this good girl deserves a second chance.

TRUMAN

Mixed -- DOB 7/2019

Look at that face! Truman is a charming and handsome pup who enjoys showing love and affection. A little shy on first meeting, it doesn’t take long to show off his skills, which include knowing a few tricks! The perfect age and temperament for an active family, Trumann would be the perfect loyal companion.

ZORRI

Lab mix – DOB 11/2022

Sweet and peppy with lots of puppy energy to burn, Zorri is as lovable as they get. This gentle souls is waiting to complete your family and with a little patience will grow into the ideal companion. Come see the one-and-only Zorri; we’re sure you’re going to love her!

arts&culture

“When you paint with color, it’s almost like you are writing a piece of music.”

Thomas takes a break in his Argenta studio.

Grandiose

in the Mundane

Fear of Failure Leads to Life of Bliss for Barry Thomas

By SARAH COLEMAN // Photography by JAMIE LEE

In the 1980s a young Barry Thomas moved to Los Angeles, pivoting away from his college football days and sprinting fullforce in the direction of his artistic dreams. With an insatiable desire to create, and a formal college education he decided to take his lessons learned in athletics and translate them in his new adventure.

Born in Arkansas, Thomas grew up in Pensacola, Fla. and San Francisco, as his father moved the family to wherever he was stationed in the United States Navy. When he was in high school, Thomas first found his way back to The Natural State, where he later received a football scholarship to play at the University of Arkansas.

Playing under Head Coach Lou Holtz, and throughout his life as an athlete prior to his collegiate career, Thomas was taught tangible life skills that led him to success both on and off the field. Values of discipline, sacrifice, hard work and overcoming adversity have all been important in Thomas’ life, both in football and in pursuing his career as an impressionist painter.

Thomas never simply stumbled onto opportunity, but worked tirelessly to create the opportunities he wanted for himself. After graduating from the U of A, he attended The ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Ca., where he had a self-described insatiable desire to learn about art, studying the greats of every discipline for hours on end.

“Athletics taught me a lot of discipline and character, it taught me that you have to work hard to get to what you want to achieve,” Thomas said. “It also taught me that you fail a lot. You get knocked down and you face adversity often, and when you have no one helping you, you get tested.”

Thomas said he equates art to football because both of the activities require character attributes such as endurance and accountability to oneself, above anything else.

“I use the same skills I needed to be a good football player in order to also make it in my career. Those skills are confidence, having a positive attitude, discipline, character, dedication and really, above all, integrity to my craft,” Thomas said.

While he uses all the skills he has learned throughout life to achieve his personal and professional success, Thomas said he believes discipline has been the most important thing. While discipline may seem restrictive upon first glance, he said it is the very thing that has allowed him to live freely.

“I still get up at 3:30 a.m. every day to prioritize, read and work out,” Thomas said. “I live my life in a way that allows me to be able to prioritize family time, friendships and time to do nothing. When I was younger, it made it possible for me to coach all of my girls’ basketball teams and allowed me to give back to the community.”

Resilience was essential for Thomas to survive his early days as an aspiring artist, which were at times romantic and at other times incredibly difficult.

“I was young, but I was very determined to become an artist. No one I knew at the time made a living from being an artist,” Thomas said. “My dad was a doctor and was not very confident at the time of my ability. I think he thought that I was going to starve to death while trying to achieve my goals.

“I was so enthusiastic and so passionate about it that I sought out every opportunity possible to train with the best.”

Determined to reach every goal he had set for himself and to achieve every dream in his heart, Thomas overcame sleeping in his car, renting an apartment in a rundown area and sacrificing his rent money for art books. His desire to learn paid off, propelling him into a life of bliss.

“My rent money definitely went toward buying books, and I remember living off of a $7 turkey most weeks and depending heavily on buying beans and tortillas,” Thomas said. “When my mother came to visit me she was absolutely terrified of where I was living. She kept asking

“I don’t paint what something looks like, I paint what it feels like.” Thomas and his tools.

Landscpe or portrait, Thomas’ themes reflect the locations and people around him.

me ‘Why do you live here?’ so I took her to the art bookstore and showed her all of the boxes of books I put on layaway. She ended up paying the bill for it all and I was so grateful.”

Thomas spent many of those years staying up all night studying art and practicing his craft. With a healthy fear of failure, he was desperate to learn and committed to himself.

“I stayed up studying because of two things: I was scared I was going to fail and I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to make a living at this,” Thomas said.

After receiving his formal art education, Thomas was a background painter for film and animation. His work in this sector eventually led him in becoming an acclaimed illustrator and commercial artist, for which he has won awards, including being chosen for the Society of Illustrators Hallmark Award.

From a young age, Thomas recalled being interested in art, although no one in his life had influenced him to become an artist growing up. Thomas holds the human experience in high regard and finds connectivity to be an important part of his work.

“I think I got a lot of my passion for the arts from looking at books and walking into museums. There is such a connection with art to nature and self-expression,” Thomas said. “To me, viewing paintings was very similar to reading the words of poets such as Walt Whitman. These writers got to live a life in which they wrote about things that they personally dreamed and experienced, and because of that, they are still living.”

Prior to moving back to The Natural State year-round, Thomas lived and worked in Salida, Co., where he focused on the beauty of the natural world. He painted rock formations, mountains and wildlife, focusing on the memory of the moment. The same concepts are still visible in Thomas’ work today.

“I’m incredibly passionate about my art, and I really draw inspiration from wherever I am. I think it’s important to remind people through my work that grandiose happens in the small moments of life,” Thomas said.

“In portraiture I do the same thing. I use live models a lot for portraits and even though they might just be sitting there, I am painting based off of the personal relationships we are creating. Life comes to the portraits from that connection.”

Impressionism is all about not painting a reflection of life as we

“I think it’s important to remind people through my work that grandiose happens in the small moments of life.”

Finished works line the walls of Thomas’ studio gallery.

With ample inspiration from central Arkansas, Thomas’ work is prodigious.

Works both finished and nearly so mingle with random bits of inspiration throughout the studio.

know it, but describing life through the artist’s eyes, which is why Thomas has been so drawn to the 19th century art style. Classically trained, Thomas ensures his work carries integrity while also making sure that he is present with the subject, pouring his emotions into palpable art.

“When you paint with color, it’s almost like you are writing a piece of music,” he said. “Painting is really similar to the symphony, as the goal of musicians and painters is one and the same. I don’t paint what something looks like, I paint what it feels like.”

Painting allowed Thomas to explore the world, painting the same locations that great artists painted before him in Europe, as well as painting life in Colorado and New Orleans. Thomas enjoyed the experience, especially his time living in Colorado, but found himself missing the diversity of life in Arkansas, which prompted his decision to move back to the state where he’s spent much of his life.

He said he doesn’t believe he will ever move away from Arkansas again, as living in the Argenta Arts District serves everything he’s ever wanted and needed in a community. Before moving to North Little Rock from Colorado full time, Thomas stayed here part time, living and working in a studio and loft located in an old red brick bakery, built in 1915.

“I realized how much I missed the area, the people and the diversity,” Thomas said. “No other place that I have been to quite has the same texture that central Arkansas has. It’s so centrally located, with rich history, old bridges and buildings, rivers, lakes, mountains and so much more. It is like a palette of opportunities now.

“Today, I am sitting in a nice house, in a studio with everything I could have ever hoped for, and it serves as a purpose of my life, work and study,” he said.

With the desire to paint a multitude of scenes, living in this part of the world has served Thomas well.

“Nowadays, I find myself particularly drawn to painting dirt roads, textured areas, and places that are deeply rooted in history,” Thomas said. “I draw a lot of inspiration from wherever I am and wherever I’ve been. I think it’s important for my work to be able to remind people that the grandiose happens in the seemingly mundane.”

Paintings showcasing the beauty of sunsets in the Delta and moments in nature are some of the things Thomas prides himself in creating, however, he finds equal importance in portraiture, and paints portraits from life as well.

Thomas also currently provides services to the community, offering private lessons, pop-up painting classes and live event paintings, in addition to commissioned pieces.

“Vincent Van Gogh once spoke about leaving Paris and moving to the south of France, because he wanted to be nearer to the people with their hands in the earth because they are closer to God,” Thomas said. “I want to continue to showcase the places where people’s hands are in the earth.”

“I think I got a lot of my passion for the arts from looking at books and walking into museums. There is such a connection with art to nature and self-expression.”

Small TOWN STRINGS

By NICHOLE SINGLETON

Orchestras statewide enrich musicians, communities

The auditorium fills as guests tread the isles in a unified flow of orderly chaos. The usher guides patrons to their respective row where they take their seats along with others, as if by routine so recognizable the brain doesn’t acknowledge it. The lights dim and sound empties the auditorium, leaving a stillness so sharp it can be felt. The concertmaster plays a single note for fellow members to match, creating a collective sound among each instrumental section.

The conductor enters to a wave of applause and, in full control of the theater body, raises arms and baton before initiating the opening beat pattern. The full orchestra awakens in a beautiful, singular motion as strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion echo collectively over the audience.

Waves of symphonic composition have danced through the ears of Arkansans for generations. The orchestra is a popular entity among The Natural State, though its familiarity may only be acquainted with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Celebrating its 58th season this year, ASO’s 60 concerts a year resonate through the Robinson Center Music Hall in Little Rock.

However, Little Rock is not the only stage to house such art, as other orchestras of equal historical relevance are tucked into each corner of the state from the northeast to the southern tip and even right outside of the state’s capital.

In the heart of Jonesboro, on the campus of Arkansas State University, Dr. Neale King Bartee will lead the Delta Symphony Orchestra as it celebrates its 50th season this fall. Since its first concert in February 1975, Bartee has conducted and directed the Delta Symphony Orchestra, called the Jonesboro Symphony until the early 2000s.

When Bartee arrived in Jonesboro, he immediately recognized the profound contrast to the town’s musical accessibility compared to his native Springfield, Mo., which had orchestra programs and band programs side-by-side in every school – 30 elementary schools, eight junior high schools and five high schools in all. Springfield also offered youth symphonies and community symphonies, opportunities that were nonexistent in Jonesboro.

“Band programs are good, but they’re only doing band music and you can’t do the symphonic music that orchestras provide with all the strings and other sections,” Bartee said.

Acknowledging the void that northeast Arkansas held, Bartee and other like-minded individuals agreed to form the orchestra. Bartee was appointed the conductor, a position he still proudly holds today. The Delta Symphony is a professional orchestra, the only one in Northeast Arkansas, and performs with professional musicians from across the state as well as Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama and Georgia. Depending on the literature and music presented for a given concert or season, the symphony can feature 60 to 75 musicians or more in the orchestra set.

“The idea was to provide an opportunity for musicians to perform in a string orchestra and even

the wind players and brass and percussion a chance to play,” Bartee said. “We also wanted to let people in the region hear and understand that there is this great heritage of symphonic music here.”

The Delta Symphony typically performs three to five concerts annually and is set to play five performances in celebration of its golden jubilee. In addition to performing at the Riceland Hall at the Fowler Center, its home stage, the orchestra also travels to perform at locations such as Lyon College in Batesville and the Portfest Festival in Newport. The Delta Symphony also performs in collaboration features like playing for the local production of the Nutcracker ballet.

You may not have experienced a live symphony performance before but it’s a safe guarantee that you’re already familiar with numerous classical compositions. Music performed in orchestras aren’t solely compositions of Bach or Mozart or Tchaikovsky, it’s the music you hear all the time in theaters and on television. Many of the most beloved movies have orchestral soundtracks and wouldn’t be what they are without symphonic music.

As part of its programming this season, the Delta Symphony Orchestra will feature the works from British composer Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” “E.T.” and “Star Trek” to celebrate the solar eclipse in April. Additionally, the symphony will close its 50th season with a concert featuring the work from American composer John Williams’ “Star Wars.”

Sarah Coffman, executive director of the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra based in El Dorado, said educating the public helps people see they are more accustomed to symphonic music than they may realize.

“Once they see and hear an orchestra and understand that the movies and shows they watch on television wouldn’t be the show or movie they love to watch if they didn’t have orchestra music, it’s much easier to understand the connection,” Coffman said.

Founded in 1956, South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is the oldest continuously operating orchestra in the state.

The Delta Symphony Orchestra in Jonesboro celebrates its 50th concert season this fall.

Founded in 1956, South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is the oldest continuously operating orchestra in the state. Established a decade before the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra began, the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra was born from a mission to make symphonic music more accessible in the region.

“El Dorado was starting out and all the mothers wanted their children to be cultured,” Coffman said. “They didn’t have any idea what that really meant, except they needed to hear orchestra music.”

Starting out very small, the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra has since grown to between 35 and 60 professional musicians from locations including Little Rock, Bentonville, Texarkana and various hometowns in Texas and Mississippi. While the orchestra does hold auditions to draw in new musicians to fill sections, these are only held as needed or when a member retires. As a result, some of its musicians have been orchestra members for more than 30 years.

Astoundingly, there’s not a lot of rehearsal that goes into the preparation for concert season in Jonesboro or El Dorado. With the Delta Symphony, musicians practice individually before convening the Friday before a Sunday performance; the orchestra practices three times together before showtime. The South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra achieves a similar feat, with musicians practicing individually then running through the performance together twice before taking the stage on concert night.

The South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra kicked off the year playing at the welcome reception for the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism, held in El Dorado this February. Coffman said the event

was “overwhelmingly and unbelievably received” as the performance filled the house of 1,800 seats. The group was also one of the symphonies chosen to perform for the Rhapsody in Blue Gershwin event to celebrate 100 years of the 1924 composition from American composer and pianist, George Gershwin.

Playing in the orchestra is also a prize, as each year the winners of the Wideman International Piano Competition are awarded the opportunity to play alongside the orchestra. The renowned competition has brought in young talented pianists, between 18 and 29 years old, from around the world to compete in Shreveport for the last seven decades. The prize to play with the South Arkansas Symphony is contributed to the maestro who’s directed the symphony for almost 30 years, Kermit Poling, whose expertise and staggering reputation elevates the South Arkansas Symphony experience.

Poling’s talents and compositions are highly sought-after as he’s invited to conduct throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe. He even directed the London Symphony Orchestra in 2017. South Arkansas Symphony’s performances are composed by Poling himself and typically holds five to nine concerts annually. This season will include a ballet collaboration, “Beauty and the Beast,” as well as a silent movie with a quartet on “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” the 1920 German silent horror film by Robert Wiene, Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. Additionally, for the first time in the symphony’s tenure, it will accompany an opera of “Hansel and Gretal” in the spring.

The Delta Symphony Orchestra and the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra share one strong commonality besides their genre of music,

Per its mission, the Delta Symphony Orchestra is committed to enriching lives through symphonic excellence.

that being their outreach to inspire future generations of musicians and provide adequate opportunities for them to grow and develop their talents and open doors for pursuing a career in music.

“Our big thing is to provide an opportunity for the young string players to start using their talent they’ve been developing since grade school or through Suzuki programs,” said Bartee, on the decision by the Delta Symphony Orchestra to start a youth symphony. A retired Arkansas State University music professor, where he taught for 41 years, Bartee said a lot of really gifted kids hit a wall at 12 or 13 years of age as public schools don’t offer string programs beyond sixth grade.

“School bands are offered but nothing promoting orchestras and symphonies,” Bartee said. “[Our youth orchestra] will allow kids in seventh grade to early college age the op-

portunity to participate.”

The youth ensemble will perform two recitals this season with five rehearsals leading up to each. Auditions will be held in August with spring auditions set for January. This isn’t the orchestra’s first dive into creating more opportunities for young string musicians; this year it will hold its 32nd Annual Young Artist Competitions. The event hosts young musicians in piano, strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion and voice from across the country, allowing them to showcase their art with the orchestra.

“Many years ago, we wanted to give young performers the chance to perform their solos or concert-type pieces with an orchestra accompaniment. Nobody was doing that anywhere, so we decided to create this competition that gave prize money,” Bartee said.

“We’ve had tremendous success. Winners have gone on to graduate school, Juilliard, Eastman [School of Music] and Curtis [Institute of Music] as well as perform in other symphonies around the country.”

The South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra also works with local schools to bring music education into the classroom, to inspire and encourage youth in artistic pathways. The symphony offers a Carnegie Hall Youth Program for kids that correlates with the orchestra performance by learning from Kermit Poling himself.

As executive director, Coffman extends these opportunities through the local Boys and Girls Clubs.

“The kids that we really want to come in don’t have ways to get here,” Coffman said. “Their parents can’t really afford to bring them, so we bring the experience to them.”

The twin goals of performance opportunities and youth development combine in Bryant, where the Saline Symphony Orchestra performs twice a year. The group seats close to 50 volunteer musicians, ranging from high school students to community members, some of whom formerly played as professional musicians. Members hail from Sheridan, Little Rock, Hot Springs, Benton and Bryant to take part in the orchestra, which marks its 10th season this fall.

“Many people in our area do not realize they have access to a quality orchestra right in their community,” said Darla Corral, conductor. “Orchestral music isn’t formal or reserved for certain classes of people. We welcome audience members of all ages and backgrounds to our concerts.”

Corral, who is approaching her ninth year as a public school music teacher, has been conducting the orchestra for the last three years. Before taking over the conductor position, she played clarinet in the orchestra, and has taught instrumental music, elementary choir and el-

“Each year, we hope to provide the community with a free, quality concert that showcases our local musical talent and promotes orchestral music.”

— Darla Corral

The South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (right) and Saline Symphony Orchestra (below right) add to the culture and quality of life in their communities.

ementary general music.

The Saline Symphony accepts new members twice a year before the start of each concert cycle with open rehearsals, the first being set for August at a season kickoff event in Benton. The orchestra rehearses every other Sunday leading up to performances, and does a dress rehearsal the day before the concerts, which are in December and the spring. The concerts are always free and typically draw in an audience of 200 to 300 music lovers.

“Each year, we hope to provide the community with a free, quality concert that showcases our local musical talent and promotes orchestral music,” Corral said.

Professional orchestras aren’t the only outlet to offer opportunities for youth musicians or music education. The Saline Symphony also

promotes pathways for its youth to experience music and making the performing arts more accessible by frequently featuring student performances in its concerts. Additionally, the orchestra holds community events that encourage youth to experience music up close with “instrument petting zoos’’ at the Saline County Library. This year the event will be held at the Bryant and Benton locations on August 9th and 11th.

A common message the leadership of these orchestras want to convey to the public is that music lovers don’t have to travel far or dress to the nines to experience live performances. Arkansas is rich in classical, orchestral music and offers ample opportunities to experience the historical and riveting sound right in one’s own backyard.

“The performing arts are important to keep music alive, build connections between musicians and communities, express emotions, and can even highlight different cultures,” Corral said.

LIVE Long Live LIVE

Long Live

The Main Thing keeps it real in Argenta

By Nichole Singleton

Time your visit to the Argenta Arts District just right and you could walk into THE JOINT, a cabaret theater and coffee house, when a comedic trio is on stage whose work has been featured on “Saturday Night Live”, HBO and Dick Clark’s United Stations Radio Network. The Main Thing, featuring Steve and Vicki Farrell and Brett Ihler, has been entertaining audiences with its unique take on live performance and comedy for decades.

The Farrells got their start in theater at a young age and met in 1972, the summer before Vicki graduated from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, while working on a showboat on the Mississippi River. They married the following year and have performed together ever since. Their comedy careers began in 1976 when Steve began working at Dudley Riggs’ Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, the longest-running satirical sketch comedy theater in the United States.

The following year, while Riggs was in Houston shooting a movie, he asked Steve to be the director and head writer for a comedy club he planned to open after noticing the absence of a comedic scene in the area.

“Vicki and I talked about it and decided ‘Alright, let’s pack up and go on this adventure’,” Steve said. “And that really made our comedy careers the permanent thing we were going to do in our lives.”

With the decision made and the offer accepted, the two traveled 1,200 miles south to work in The Comedy Workshop, originally opened as a cabaret theater before adding on space dedicated to stand-up comedy. The Comedy Workshop would launch the careers of Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks and Janeane Garofalo and hosted the likes of Rodney Dangerfield and Robin Williams.

Steve and Vicki, meanwhile, were not stand-up comedians, but crafted performances more of the sketch comedy and improv variety, learning to play lots of different characters for which they are still known today. Steve drew inspiration for the concept of playing multiple characters after seeing Peter Sellers’ role in the 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove” in which Sellers played distinctly different characters in the film. From a young age, Steve tried developing his own different characters, something that found a home The Comedy Workshop.

“When I finally started doing comedy in 1976, my first impulse was to not just come up like a regular comic who does their own personality for everything and every scene, but to create a character

The Main Thing’s Vicki and Steve Farrell and Brett Ihler (from left).

that would suit whatever scene we were improvising or rehearsing,” Steve said.

“That evolved into this idea of what if there were just three of us playing all these different characters? Which was a great business model because instead of having to hire a whole lot of actors, it only took three of us to do the entire show.”

By 1984, Steve’s writing had changed from sketch-length pieces to longer ones including one acts and full-length twoact comedies in which each performer would play multiple characters. The play called for super-fast changes, mostly to the face, the way characters walked, removing a pair of glasses or putting on a wig or a hat.

“[We wanted] something you could do in five seconds,” Steve said. “We wanted to create this kind of miracle onstage where, in the case of our act, three people would come out and play 20 to 25 different characters in the course of the play.”

Steve and Vicki spent the next seven years building their comedic craft working for The Comedy Workshop. They aspired to become a permanent, established act, something that audiences would know what they were getting versus the more fluid club dynamic. The duo became a trio in 1984 when Ken Poke became the original third member of The Main Thing. Music was essential to their performances and all three played instruments including keyboards, drums and guitar. They also added a tech person to the group who was a musician, too.

“Now being a four-piece band, we could provide any music we needed for our shows ourselves, making our act even more unique than other comedy acts that were around,” Steve said.

After leaving The Comedy Workshop, Steve and Vicki stayed in Houston to begin the new venture as The Main Thing, building their own theater which included a recording studio, Radio Music Theatre. It was here that Steve implemented a new writing style that exclusively featured original two-act comedy plays. Within two years, Steve had created 10 original full-length comedies and caught the attention of NBC’s Lorne Michaels which led to the opportunity for Steve to create for “Saturday Night Live”.

During the 1986 season, Steve’s original “Pango, Giant Dog of Tokyo” aired on November 8th which he wrote, produced and performed with Vicki and Ken. Steve continued to write for “Saturday Night Live” including the popular “Eggshell Family” that starred Steve Martin and Martin Short. The success with the groundbreaking late-night show opened more doors, including an opportunity with Dick Clark Productions

“We wanted to create this kind of miracle onstage where ... three people would come out and play 20 to 25 different characters.”

— Steve Farrell

for syndication on its United Stations Radio Network that continued over the next decade and was recorded at the Farrells’ Radio Music Theatre, reaching 67 stations across the country.

With success rising and consistent opportunities, the trio’s routine was back-breaking, including multiple shows every week and working 50 weeks a year. By 2011, it was time to reassess.

“We wanted to slow down and do something with our kids who were now grown and married,” Vicki said. “And we thought it would be fun to all join up and put all the things we do together.”

The Farrells’ son and daughter-in-law were running a coffee business while their daughter and son-in-law were in marketing. By meshing coffee, marketing and comedy together, THE JOINT was born, or what Steve laughingly refers to as “semi-retirement.” However, it took Fate to chart a route to central Arkansas, as the family had zero ties to The Natural State.

But they also had no particular location in mind and as they began scouting for this next chapter of their careers, except what they wanted to avoid: hurricanes, harsh winters and heavy traffic, all elements of their previous stops.

“We just wanted to, in the spirit of this ‘semi-retirement’, go to a place more manageable in size and less traffic, but still have the amenities of a metropolitan area,” Steve said.

With plans in motion, they scouted areas from Santa Fe to Athens, Ga., and on

one of their trips through Little Rock, they found the area to be very attractive. Over time, the Farrells continued to visit and vacation here, thus building a familiarity with the city and area until Steve and Vicki agreed it fit the bill for what they were looking for.

On one trip, they were peeking through the windows of an empty building of where THE JOINT is now, and the individual representing the building for lease came down to talk to them. At the time, some ambitious local developers were looking to turn one of North Little Rock’s original neighborhoods into an arts and entertainment magnet, now known as Argenta Arts District. The couple was sold and made the move from Houston to Little Rock.

The pair - Ken Poke passed on the move - then took a year off to get to know Arkansas and allow Steve the opportunity and creative space to write the first show. That performance, inspired by The Natural State and called “Little Rock and a Hard Place,” debuted in 2012.

“Now being a four-piece band, we could provide any music we needed for our shows ourselves, making our act even more unique than other comedy acts that were around.”

“

Steve’s writing style varies greatly with the project; some being comedy reviews while others are short comedy sketches like his “Saturday Night Live” approach, plus funny songs, fictional commercials or film shorts. In comparing the different styles, he said it’s easier for him to write an hour and a half of short sketches than it is to write a two-act, full-length comedy.

The writing process typically takes several weeks of brainstorming and writing down any ideas that surface before laying them all out in a storyboard, placing them in logical order, and seeing how the plot and storyline work. Once this process is complete, Steve spends the next three weeks on the storyboard writing dialogue. The troupe only spends a little more than a week in rehearsal before opening.

During the Farrells’ year off, they scouted multiple comedy clubs looking for a replacement third member. On one outing, they attended a Brett Ihler show, and within several minutes of his act, they knew they’d found their guy. Ihler signed on and has been part of the group since the act launched in 2012, playing bass and performing multiple characters. As with their time in Houston, they added a fourth member, Andy Smith, who provides lightning, sound effects and props. Andy is also a member of THE JOINT’s house band, the Big Dam Horns.

Now entering its 12th year, THE JOINT is a successful collective between the Farrells and their children, including a 100-seat cabaret-style theater with a coffee shop and bar. During its first decade, performances ran 50 weeks a year, built around five different shows, including popular sketches based on the Fertle Family, a large, rural multigenerational family and the people in town who know them. Though fictional, the Fertles are based on Steve’s own relatives.

“You’re watching a play that feels like you’re watching a large cast, but it’s being done by three people doing everything, including any music that is needed,” Steve said. “That’s what makes it unique and it’s worked for us for four-plus decades now.”

The shows that aren’t written around the Fertle Family tend to touch on Little Rock politics and current events, material that Steve says is directed towards the interests of locals and the community. Additionally, each election year, The Main Thing performs “Electile Disfunction” in which the trio portrays a wildly divided suburban family from Little

Rock featuring staunchly right-winged Dad, equally strident left-winged Mom and a radical young rebel of a son.

“We try to do things that the audience can come in and say ‘Boy does that remind me of my family’ or ‘That reminds me of growing up in a little Arkansas town,’” Steve said.

This year, they’ve cut back to just four shows to allow for more travel and additional time off, but THE JOINT is still open year-around. Open dates are filled by a variety of acts, including touring standup comics, an acoustic guitar series, a jazz series, a singer-songwriter series and weekly improv acts that Ihler coordinates.

Over the last 39 years, Steve and Vicki’s success with The Main Thing has continually risen in each aspect of its journey. Its nostalgic connection to the legendary acts and performers from almost a century ago has held up to the evolving technology of today and the social media trends that continue to rapidly change.

“What we provide, that you just can’t get with social media, is the live interaction between an audience and performers who can see one another and respond to one another live,” Steve said. “There’s nothing that can replace the live contact and the magic that happens spontaneously and improvisationally when you’re working before a live audience.” They have even been approached to take their Fertle Family act to film, but for the Farrells, trading the live performance for the movie screen just doesn’t translate to the same experience. Even as technology continues to evolve and social media continues to create viral trends, for the hometown troupe of The Main Thing, the magic will always be in live performances.

“The magic of live entertainment is lost when it becomes a recorded video experience,” Steve said. “If you were in a room and a musician made an elephant appear, that would have a tremendous impact. But if you see a musician standing on stage on your handheld device and an elephant appears, you think ‘Big deal, you can do anything on video.’”

Catch The Main Thing as they return to the stage with two more Fertle tales; “Birthday From Hell,” through August 26 and “A Fertle Holiday,” November 17 to December 31. For ticket information, contact THE JOINT box office at (501) 626-7181 or visit thejointargenta.com.

The Fertle Family

“We try to do things that the audience can come in and say ‘Boy does that remind me of my family’ or ‘That reminds me of growing up in a little Arkansas town.’”

“You’ve got to love the place that you go to in your mind and your imagination.”

Suzanne Rhodes, Arkansas poet laureate

Hear To See and Suzanne Rhodes POET LAUREATE

toBy JOHN CALLAHAN // Photos By MICHAEL DRAGER

In the words of Aristotle, “Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.” Indeed, poetry is a rich tradition passed down from far beyond even Aristotle’s ancient time, no doubt beyond the first pages of written history. Something about poetry has always echoed within human hearts and minds, and while it does not always seem as important as the great issues of the day, many great poets like Homer and Shakespeare remain as famous as any politician or general. It is for that timeless importance of poetry that the State of Arkansas chooses to recognize the skill and emotion that can be carried by words by naming a poet laureate. Today, that title belongs to Suzanne Underwood Rhodes.

The tradition of poet laureates is one that dates back to the classical era, when military heroes or the winners of athletic, singing, music or poetry contests would be awarded with crowns made from laurel leaves. The practice was revived in Renaissance Italy, and John Dryden was named the first poet laureate of England in 1668, but it would not be until the 20th century that the long and storied tradition would come to America.

Though there was no U.S. Poet Laureate until 1937, Arkansas actually established its own position of poet laureate more than a decade earlier in 1923. Since then, there have been only eight poets thus honored, with Suzunne Underwood Rhodes holding the title since January 2022. The details of the position have shifted over time; it was once a lifetime appointment, but since 2017, it has been subject to four-year term limits.

Rhodes is a native of New York but now lives and teaches in Fayetteville. Poetry has been a part of her life since she was very young, she explained, and she wrote her first poem when she was 6 years old.

“I had a mother who was wonderful,” Rhodes said. “She was a very literary person herself, and she read books and stories to me and my sisters from the time we were small until we learned to read on our own. Books were an important part of my life growing up, and I always had a very active imagination, so I was able to feed that with fairy tales.

Rhodes earned a bachelor’s degree in English at James Madison University in Virginia, followed by a master of arts degree from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. A teacher by trade, she has served as an adjunct professor at schools at King University, East Tennessee State University, Old Dominion University, Tidewater Community College and others, teaching subjects such as literature, composition, creative writing and, of course, poetry. She has also led many writing workshops through organizations like the Muse Writers Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Though she moved to Northwest Arkansas from Virginia Beach in 2018 to be closer to her grandson, the pandemic normalized online classes, allowing her to continue teaching an intermediate poetry workshop back in Norfolk.

“Some of the people I teach are retired, some of them are working professionals, and some are even college students,” Rhodes said. “Then I have the regulars who sign up time after time, and it’s very rewarding to see their progress. I take some credit for that, but the dynamics of the workshop are so helpful

because of the feedback they get from one another and how they learn to be better critics of other poems.”

Just about every poet you ask will give you a different answer on what poetry is, which is hardly surprising given the way a poet deals in words. Rhodes described “the real wrapped in vision,” a method of translation by which she turns the things she sees into words and metaphors. As a result, themes like nature, geography and living creatures are common themes in her works.

Rhodes described one case where she was visiting her daughter in Utah and the two went on a camping trip to Goblin Valley State Park. While there, some old relationship issues came to light, and Rhodes was faced with past mistakes. The landscape of Goblin Valley, with its bizarre, mushroom-shaped rock features called “goblins” by the locals, “was an absolutely perfect way to describe the guilt that I owned up to for what I had done,” Rhodes said, “but also the hope for forgiveness and restoration.”

Another favorite topic in her writing is persona poems, a type of poetry that takes on the persona of someone else, about women in literature and history. These have included figures such as Dorothy Bradford, who sailed aboard the Mayflower, and Mary Rowlandson, a colonist in the 1600s who was taken captive by Native Americans and later wrote one of the most famous “captivity narratives” in American literature.

“And then family poems,” Rhodes said. “The blood ties, as we all have scars and things we’re always working on. Probably until the end of my days, I’ll be trying to understand the complexities of life. I was the child of divorce and subsequently had an abusive stepfather. Poetry for me has always been a place that I can go to where I can find pleasure, and I’m not going to use the word escape. It’s just a world alongside the actual world, the imaginative life, which I thank God for.”

Just as poetry means something different for every poet, all poets have their own way of writing, their own guiding principles. Rhodes is an old hand at the work; though there have been dry seasons, she has been publishing poetry for many years and is working on still more. She describes the revision process as critical, with all of the labor and discipline that comes with it.

cal aspects of sound, rhythm, internal rhyme and all of the many tools in a poet’s toolbox. Figurative language and idioms in particular are handy devices of which she frequently encourages her students to make better use.

Regular practice complements revision as an important part of the discipline behind poetry, though Rhodes admits that she doesn’t always observe that tenet herself. The result of her continual work is self-evident from her seven published books to date, ranging from her two full-length collections, “What a Light Thing, This Stone” and “Flying Yellow,” to several smaller booklets – called chapbooks – two books of prose poetry and a guide for student poets titled “The Roar on the Other Side.” Aside from teaching, Rhodes is also a freelance writer and editor, but noted that the work can be draining and leaves little room for her imaginative life. She hopes to obtain a writing grant that will allow her to devote more of her time to completing her third fulllength poetry collection.

The final guiding principle for Rhodes’ work is community:

“Poetry is very private, but it’s also public. I like Robert Graves’ phrase ‘the reader over

“This is where I meet what I have done, with tears in the bone-dry gulch. Misshapen pieces of my heart lie everywhere as if strewn by giants in the far, unattainable towers.”

– Excerpt from “In the Valley of Goblins, Utah,” published in Crosswinds Poetry Journal, Spring 2023

Yet despite that gritty description, she loves the process.

“Seeking that perfection, striving for it, pulls together all of your intellect and spirituality to get ‘The best word in the best order’ as Coleridge said,” Rhodes said. “Some poems don’t need so much revision, but I have others that I’ve been writing for years and years, and I finally had to abandon some of them.”

Revising can be about finding the perfect word, for which Rhodes notes an internet thesaurus is a great help, but it is also about knowing when there are too many words. You must also know when to cut and when the poem ends, rather than going on and on.

“Cut out words,” Rhodes says, “until you get to the core thing that you really feel.”

When writing, Rhodes explained that “to see and to hear” are the most important things; the things one sees and hears should be reflected in their poetry through imagery, through the musi-

your shoulder.’ When we have an awareness of another reader, maybe just one reader, then it causes us to be more objective about what we’re doing, so we’re not going to have needless redundancies or tired, worn-out phrases. We’re going to want to bring as much delight and surprise as we can.”

Today, Rhodes is part of a group called the Ozark Mountain Poets, a branch of the Poets’ Roundtable of Arkansas, who meet monthly to discuss and critique each other’s poetry. Having come from the East Coast, she noted that she was impressed with the quality of work in the Arkansas literary scene. She has come to know a number of respected and published local poets like Gerry Sloan of

“My grandson swims in a brief scoop of sea clear as the sky as he snorkels about untouched by large forces in his pool of little fish. His mother happily snaps pictures of the scene while I’m gathering words for a poem”

—Excerpt from “Interim,” from Green Mountains Review American Poet Laureate Series, Edition 2.

Fayetteville. She also made note of Casie and Michael Dodd, founders of Belle Point Press in Fort Smith, who have already published numerous books since they began in 2021 in their mission to celebrate the literary culture and community of the Mid-South.

“It seems to be a very vibrant community of poets here that I’ve encountered, and I’m very happy about that,” Rhodes said.

While being part of a writing community is great, one should remember to be authentic, rather than attempt to fall in line and be trendy.

“It’s not about really striving to be unique or anything, but being true to yourself, to the way you see things,” Rhodes says. “And don’t compare yourself, because that’s so discouraging. That’s a complaint I get, ‘Oh, I’ll never be able to write like that.’ Well, it’s not a race. We’re not competing. It’s hard, but you’ve got to get it out of your blood. You’ve got to love your craft, you’ve got to love the discipline of it.

“You’ve got to love the place that you go to in your mind and your imagination. That is a sacred space, and it’s to be protected. It sounds trite to say it, but our frenetic age of distraction can really, really eat away from the creative self that we all possess. So it’s something to really guard.”

In Arkansas, the poet laureate tag is purely an honorary one, with no obligations or stipend, yet few poets could be content to do nothing with the opportunity.

“I don’t have to do anything in this office,” Rhodes said. “I could sit at home in my pajamas if I wanted to, but of course I’m not going to do that.”

Rhodes’ first project was to sponsor a poetry contest among homeschooled students. This year, hoping to

reach out to overlooked communities, she has begun a poetry workshop with women at Magdalene Serenity House, a nonprofit organization that helps women who have experienced trauma, sexual exploitation, addiction and incarceration through safe housing, long-term support and community partnerships. She began the workshop in May and has been pleased with the early results.

“The first workshop went very well,” Rhodes said. “The women were responsive and jumped right in. I was pleased to see their imaginative powers rise to the prompts. I loved being with them and look forward to our next gathering.”

With more than half of her four-year term still ahead of her, Rhodes still has plenty of time to promote poetry in the state. After all, four years in Arkansas were all she needed to become poet laureate in the first place, and neither her career nor her mark on the state will end when her term concludes in 2026. There is plenty of time remaining for her, and for all of us, to see and to hear, to turn sights and sounds into words that will long outlive us.

“Poetry for me has always been a place that I can go to where I can find pleasure, and I’m not going to use the word escape. It’s just a world alongside the actual world, the imaginative life, which I thank God for.”

Bryan Cearley, PA-C

Jeff Marotte, MD

Edwin Diaz, MD, MBA

Robbie Hurtt, MD

Gail Reede Jones, MD

Timothy C. Goodson, MD

The Power of Healing

There’s no replacement for good health, nor is there any replacement for the thousands of dedicated health care professionals across The Natural State who give their all to make sure we can enjoy that good health.

Even if you don’t see one of the following professionals every day, it’s hard to understate the effect they have on everyday life. According to the Arkansas State Medical Board, there are over 7,000 active MD licenses in the state, while the Arkansas State Board of Nursing reports more than 66,000 active nursing licenses. It’s almost certain that more than a few of these have been directly involved in your health.

From the primary care doctors who help spot and manage long-term problems to the emergency specialists who deal with crises; from the dentists who keep our smiles bright and healthy to the optometrists and audiologists who keep our senses clear and sharp; from pediatricians to geriatric specialists, we rely on them all in countless ways. And with the numerous challenges these professionals have faced in recent years, they are all the more deserving of recognition.

This year, AY About You is proud to honor the state’s health care heroes in the 2023 Best Health Care Professionals list, built by thousands of votes and nominations cast by readers and patients. It recognizes, by medical specialty, the people none of us could live without. The categories and professionals in the following list are presented in alphabetical order.

S hining

THROUGH

DR. SUZANNE YEE HELPS PATIENTS ACHIEVE THEIR BEST SELVES

By DWAIN HEBDA

Over more than 20 years, decorated Little Rock cosmetic surgeon Dr. Suzanne Yee has helped hundreds if not thousands of patients bring their best selves to light. Consistently voted one of Arkansas’ best at what she does and highly decorated within her field of medicine, she’s witnessed numerous moments where patients broke down at the sight of what she’d skillfully reconstructed, reshaped and renewed, as much artist as physician.

“Just the other day, I took a splint off of a patient’s nose after her rhinoplasty. She looked at it in the mirror and burst into tears,” Yee said. "She was so happy, she couldn’t stop looking at it. Another patient had just had a facelift and when I walked in the room, I could see how she was full of confidence and loved the way she looked.

“I love the way I can change a person’s outlook, to take away something that they think and worry about, so they are able to focus on more positive aspects of their lives. I am able to help patients in such a positive way.”

Suzanne Yee was born in Helena and grew up in Holly Grove, where she saw both the best and worst of people in her hometown as far as attitudes toward herself and her Asian immigrant parents. From those who were supportive she drew strength, and from her detractors she formed resolve, attributes which led her to graduate first in her class at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. After a year spent in Houston, she returned to Little Rock and hasn’t looked back since.

In the years since, she’s seen many changes in her field – in technology, surgical techniques and even the makeup of her patients. She’s adapted to these changes throughout her career, while maintaining certain elements of customer care and professionalism she considers foundational to any era.

“One thing that hasn’t changed is patient care,” she said. “We take care of the patients the same that we did when I first started. I think another thing that has not changed is we still have human interaction; this is not something you can do through the computer or online.”

Yee’s clientele is still heavily weighted toward women and still heavily weighted toward purely cosmetic procedures, but even this has changed over the decades she’s been in practice. She said while men enjoy a little more leeway than women when it comes to aging, both genders face

pressures to maintain youthful appearances.

“I think it still exists in the workplace for women more than men, but I’ve also seen a little bit more pressure on men in thinking they’re competing with the younger generation,” she said. “Men also want to look and feel their best and put their best face forward.”

Yee said the pandemic brought some of this thinking to light for the simple fact that many businesspeople found themselves on camera daily and many didn’t like what they saw.

“I believe there has been increased demand because one, more patients are on Zoom and they’re seeing their faces. They’re looking at themselves and we’re all self-critical,” she said. “A lot of patients began coming in for some enhancements or to make themselves look fresher.

“The other thing is patients were able to recover at home while not taking off work. Say someone has a tummy tuck; you really can’t see that on Zoom so they could stay at home and work and recover and no one knew the difference. They don’t have to take as much time off.”

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported patients not only spent $16.7 billion on cosmetic procedure in 2020, but 11 percent of women surveyed said they were more interested in getting work done now than prior to COVID. Nationally, 353,000 nose reshapings were performed in 2020, followed by 325,000 eyelid surgeries, 234,000 facelifts, 211 liposuctions and 193,000 breast augmentations

While the latest statistics show cosmetic procedures were down nearly across the board in 2020 itself, the pandemic spurred business in other ways, due to side effects of the virus and, more recently, as a side effect of diet medication.

“We’ve been seeing a lot more patients for hair loss because of COVID,” Yee said. “Patients are also losing weight from the new Ozempic; but that creates bio deficiencies and they have more hair loss. We have a lot of things to help – lasers, platelet-rich plasma and we also do hair transplants. We’ve seen more of that occurring because of hair loss situations, which have been growing over time, but we’ve noticed it more now.”

Yee said the hair loss segment of the cosmetic surgery industry has been so significant among both men and women it’s spawned an entirely new class of treatment options customized for each individual patient.

“There are a couple other things coming out for hair. There is a process that’s coming out where we can swab inside of a patient’s mouth and we can take that swab, send it off and they can direct the care,” she said. “Will minoxidil work for them, finasteride? Any type of pharmacological agents, we can direct their care and write the prescription for them, so they get the best treatment and know they’re going to get the best outcome from those medications. I think that’s really exciting.

“Also, there’s a company that is going to have the ability to take hair and get the stem cells from the hair and they can store it, and eventually make hair from that which we can use for transplants. That’s still a little early, but that’s coming.”

Another change in the clientele is the growth of younger patients, Yee said, especially as part of the booming numbers in minimally invasive procedures. The ASPS reported more than 4.4 million Botox injections were done in 2020, despite being a down year volume-wise, plus an additional 3.4 million soft tissue filler procedures.

“More young patients are coming in and getting Botox at a younger age. We see 20-year-olds getting Botox to prevent those forehead wrinkles and lines,” she said. “We do a lot of laser rejuvenation and microneedling to help reverse some of the sun damage that may occur. Also, we're stimulating collagen and elastin to continue to have that tight-looking skin, if you will.

“We do a lot of skincare, but we also have a lot of laser treatment that has no downtime; patients are able to come in, do a treatment, generate collagen, elastin and just get that nice glow. It’s been really nice because we’re all in a rush and we don’t have time to take off from work. These have been nice to prevent aging.”

Yee said those who scoff at what they perceive as mere vanity underlying cosmetic surgery would be surprised to know how much of her practice is reconstructive procedures. She's helped numerous patients who were born with a defect or who have lost breasts to cancer or who have suffered a traumatic injury.

In fact, in 2020’s down year, these procedures were the only ones that saw an increase including 5.2 million tumor removals (up 4 percent), 256,000 maxillofacial surgeries (up 23 percent) and 386,000 laceration repairs (flat, compared to 2019).

“Overall, people don’t realize what an impact [cosmetic surgery] has in just restoring normality to a person,” she said. “It helps with their self-esteem, it helps with their confidence. There are some things that patients just think about all the time and after they come see

us, it’s something they don’t have to think about anymore because it’s been corrected.

“It’s an enormous psychological benefit to make a person feel so much better about themselves. And it does make a huge difference in your quality of life. I’ve seen that for so many patients.”

In addition to building a thriving practice of her own, Yee has also given back to the medical community by teaching and mentoring medical students and young physicians. To each, she passes on her time-tested philosophy of bringing out the best in every patient through conscientious listening and compassionate care before, during and after the procedure.

“I enjoy the students who come visit me to shadow or who are completing their residency,” she said. “That’s been very fulfilling for me, seeing these young students coming through and wanting to do something in the medical field. I love sharing with them what it’s like to improve someone’s life, even patients that come in for aesthetic reasons.

“You finish with a surgery and when the patient comes back, they’re really happy and they have a lot of confidence. Or even if you just do a little bit of Botox on someone – they come back, ‘Oh my gosh! I can’t believe this,’ and they’re so happy about how they look. They’re able to work better with other people, and they’re more confident in being able to ask for certain things they normally wouldn’t if they didn’t have any type of enhancement. To me, that is very fulfilling.”

Dr. Suzanne Yee, MD, FACS

Congratulations to

Suzanne Yee for being named one of AY’s Best Healthcare Professionals Of 2023!

Dr. Suzanne Yee is one of the Natural State’s most accomplished cosmetic surgeons. Dr. Yee graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and was ranked 1st in her graduating class. She completed her surgery internship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and her facial plastics and reconstructive surgery fellowship at the University of Texas at Houston. Dr. Yee has been serving the state of Arkansas through her medical skills and fashion sensibilities at her cosmetic and laser surgery center since 2003.

Dr.

The

Human Touch

DR. DOMINIC MAGGIO WORKS AT THE FOREFRONT OF NEUROLOGICAL CARE

By DWAIN HEBDA

As a child, Dominic Maggio dreamed of being a physician

like his father. In fact, some of his earliest childhood memories are of accompanying his dad, an internist, on weekend rounds.

“He would take me to the hospital with him on rounds with patients on the weekends. They were always so warm and appreciative and just happy to see me,” said Maggio, who joined the staff of Legacy Spine & Neurological Specialists two years ago. “It was very rewarding to see them and have them tell me how big of a difference he made for them and how much he’s helped them.

Maggio did, in fact, follow his father into medicine, but of a different specialty. In college, he did research at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, work that captured his imagination and solidified his decision to pursue a career in neurological medicine.

“I was a neurobiology major in college. I really liked the brain and the spinal cord, I thought it was fascinating,” he said. “Knowing that I wanted to go to medical school doing research is a big part of that, so I started doing research over at The Miami Project and I just loved it.”

After stops in Virginia and Ohio – during which time he completed his residency and fellowship, respectively – Maggio, 37, jumped at the chance to join the Little Rock-based practice.

“What I really liked about this opportunity was that everything was a stand-alone establishment. I thought we could really have control over different things that can enhance the patient experience,” he said. “Sometimes at other hospitals there might be something where you see it can be optimized in a certain way, but there’s layers of bureaucracy and it’s difficult to actually implement what needs to be done to improve it.

“Legacy, number one, has a really great reputation. And number two, it was an opportunity where I could really have control over things, even aside from the practice of medicine, to really make sure patients have a great experience.”

It may come as a surprise that in a medical specialty that requires more than a decade of undergraduate and medical education, a practitioner with Maggio’s credentials would be as concerned about the practice’s appointment system or wait times. Yet in today’s medical market-

place, such elements of the patient experience are increasingly suffering given the relative lack of neurologists overall. In recent years especially, the alarm has only grown louder over a worldwide shortage of neurological physicians.

The American Academy of Neurology predicts by 2025, the U.S. will face a 19 percent gap between supply and demand of neurologists, from general practitioners to various specialists. The dearth is largely blamed on baby boomers, which have both increased demand while thinning the ranks of current physicians due to retirement. But industry experts also cite the stress of the specialty, comparatively low pay and an image problem that scares off medical students, known colloquially as “neurophobia.”

Ironically, the shortage in numbers comes at a time of great technological advancements, providing physicians such as Maggio some of the most advanced tools yet for treating patients suffering pain and injuries of the brain and spinal cord.

“It’s a very technologically advanced field. There’s new things that are popping up all the time,” Maggio said. “One is the use of robots. When I have a bigger spine surgery that needs rods and screws, I oftentimes utilize a robot that makes the procedure super, super precise and involves preoperatively getting a CT, and I can plug exactly where I want the screws to go in and the exact angle so when the rods go in everything is lined up perfect.

“Augmented reality is another one that has popped up and is really very popular and very similar to the robot, except that the physician has a headset on and is basically seeing three-dimensionally into the patient. That’s one on my radar; I don’t think anyone in Arkansas has used it yet, but that’s coming and looks very promising.”

Another new advancement, Maggio said, is the development of artificial discs which are introducing a whole new prognosis for people with spinal problems.

“Artificial discs are a really important technology that’s come out,” he said. “Discs are important to essentially keep the nerve tunnels open and sometimes if someone has a disc that has given its last breath and collapsed on itself, it causing some tightness of the nerve tunnels.

“Usually that would be treated with a fusion, but in general, fusion

can lock the level together and that can put added stress on the levels above and below. In the neck, I use an artificial disc and it not only prevents the adjacent levels from having an advanced deterioration, but it preserves all the range of motion. And in the lower back, the lumbar spine, we have been, for the right patient, putting in a lumbar artificial disc which might be the first in Arkansas.”

Additionally, when certain fusion surgeries are required Maggio can now complete those procedures using much less-invasive tactics.

“For some people who need a lumbar fusion, we’re able to do it minimally invasively,” he said. “Instead of a big incision and dissecting muscle off the bones, now it’s like an inchand-a-half or two-inch incision. We’re able to do that as an outpatient procedure, where it’s usually been a five-day hospital stay, now they can leave the same day.”

The most impactful advancements, however, are those that provide diagnosis and treatment options for pain relief and correction that were nonexistent in the past. The sacroiliac (SI) joint is one example; often overlooked or underdiagnosed, it can mask as back pain.

“Techniques for treating SI joint pain are really important,” he said. “As of eight years ago there was no FDA-approved way to fix that problem,” he said. “When we’re able to prove it’s an SI joint problem, it often requires an SI joint injection and then a very careful follow-up appointment to see if that made the pain go away, at least temporarily. In addition, the surgery for that, the outcomes are very good overall.”

Even garden-variety pain injections, long a staple of neurologic medicine, have advanced and are often a key component of a more far-reaching treatment regimen. Maggio said where Legacy distinguishes itself in the marketplace is by performing injections in-house, studying the effect and marrying that to additional procedures as necessary.

“Injections, specifically, are a really important part of optimizing surgeries,” he said. “Injections in general are an important part of getting the patient better without a surgery, but if the injections just aren’t enough and they are going to need a surgery, by having it all in-house and our own nurse practitioners and even myself calling the patient after the injection and seeing how it did and comparing it, you can really get a firm sense of exactly where the problem is coming from so you can do a surgery that’s very precise.

“Other places I was at, we would obviously try to be as conservative as possible, and a lot of times sent patients to other places to get their injections. Then when we’d get them back, you’d never have the same amount of information regarding how much the injection worked, because someone else was doing the injection. Here, I can always get X-rays with each injection, and I can see exactly where the needle is, I can see how it spreads. There’s just so much more information from us handling all of this in-house where you really know exactly where the problem is coming from.”

Dr. Dominic Maggio

Stephanie Bartlett MSN, APRN, WHNP-BC

Dostert MSN, RN

Dr. Bev.

A Winning Team

We’re proud to be winners in several categories of AY’s 2023 Best Healthcare Professionals Awards! It’s truly an honor to be recognized in this prestigious awards program. We are dedicated to our patients, and are committed to provide the very best care and treatment available.

Hand Surgery - David Rhodes, M.D.

Orthopedic Specialist - William Hefley, M.D.

Orthopedic Surgeon - W. Scott Bowen, M.D.; Paul K. Edwards,. M.D.

Orthopedist - Samuel A. Moore, D.O.; Larry L. Nguyen, M.D.; Jason Stewart, M.D.

Physical Therapist - Steve Longinotti, MSPT; Lisa Stallings, MSPT; Matt Thornton, MSPT; Debbie Williamson, MSPT

Jessie B. Burks, DPM

ASTEADY HAND

By DWAIN HEBDA

The theme of Texas-born Dr. Lewis Porter’s life in medicine could well be summarized as “keep an open mind.” In high school, he thought he was headed for a career in research, but an influential biology teacher steered him toward being a physician. He first became a nursing assistant for a year to see if medicine was where he really belonged, and when he made up his mind to attend medical school, he came in with the idea of being an orthopedic surgeon. Once again, a professor stepped in with some advice that changed the course of his life.

“When I went to interview at Howard [University], I told the chief of orthopedics I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon,” Porter said. “He said, ‘Well, you will know what your specialty is. Keep an open mind because you will find something that, even if they don’t pay you, you love it so much, that’s what you want to do.’ And that was general surgery.

“I tried everything else. I tried to love other stuff because other stuff has a lot better hours, but I love general surgery. This was it for me. I tell people God made me a surgeon.”

After graduating from medical school at Howard University in Washington D.C., Porter completed his general surgery training at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. With credentials like that, he could have worked anywhere in the United States. He chose Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton.

“My parents were getting elderly. I was at the University of Kansas as an associate professor, but it was too hard to get back and forth to check on them on a weekend,” he said. “I just needed a place where I could drive on the weekend and check on them and come back. Arkansas fit the bill and it was a beautiful place.

“What I’ve always said about a small hospital is, you have to embrace who you are and be the very best at doing what you do. You can’t be everything; some of the really big procedures that I trained to do, I had to give some of those up in a smaller hospital because you just don’t have the resources to do that. The advantages are, I love the community. I go anywhere and everybody’s like, ‘Hey Doc!’ and we talk, and you get to know families. It’s just that small-town family-type feeling. I enjoy that.”

In the 15 years he’s been here, Porter has advanced to co-director of

trauma services at the hospital and splits his time as a bariatric surgeon at the attendant Weight Loss Clinic.

“Where I put the most attention is where it’s needed at that moment,” he said. “I do a significant amount of general surgery, bariatric surgery. I do a lot of endoscopy and GI scopes and things. And I do teach some medical students. It’s just where your time is needed, allocating it where it’s needed at that moment.

“When I first came here, we didn’t do bariatrics, and then we established the program here at Saline probably about 10, 11 years ago. I have a special interest in bariatrics, I’ve been doing it since ’98, but I also enjoy everything else that I do. We had another surgeon who wanted to come on who wanted to do [bariatrics] mostly. She came in and she became chief of bariatrics, because that’s what she wanted to do all the time and I liked doing everything.”

Bariatric surgery is a collective term covering several procedures that modify the digestive system for the purpose of helping the patient lose weight. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery reported 263,000 bariatric procedures were done in 2021, led by 153,000 gastric sleeve surgeries, 57,000 Roux-en-Y (RYGB) surgeries and 31,000 revision surgeries.

Porter said the satisfaction he gets as a surgeon helping people get their weight under control is augmented by the Weight Loss Clinic’s ongoing program of patient support. He said those services are as important as surgery, moreso even, as far as patients achieving their goals long-term.

“It’s not even close, surgery is a minor part of it,” he said. “I had a bariatric center when I was in Wichita, Kansas, and when I came here, I didn’t just jump right into it because you have to have a center. It really has to be a multifaceted approach.

“I think with us we do take that overall approach. We have bariatric nutritionists that council people on what to eat. People, before they have surgery, they have to see the bariatric nutritionist, they’ll see a psychologist. There’s a lot of people involved. If people have to have some therapy and changes of behaviors that require a professional counselor to do that, we will do that before they can have this surgery. We try to take the approach to the overall patient to help them to be successful.”

Weight is one of the most salient elements of health and being over-

DR. LEWIS PORTER BRINGS WORLDCLASS SURGICAL EXPERTISE TO BENTON

weight or obese has been linked to a number of the most common, and deadly, health conditions in society today. Heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer, among the leading causes of preventable, premature death, all list obesity as a strong risk factor. A person being overweight or obese is determined by their body mass index (BMI); the National Institutes of Health reports 31 percent of people in the U.S. are overweight.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the latest obesity rates in the U.S. for children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years was 19.7 percent, affecting about 14.7 million individuals. Among adults, the obesity rate over that same time period was 42 percent of the U.S. population, with nearly 10 percent of the adult population suffering from severe obesity. In Arkansas, somewhere between 35 percent and 39 percent of the population fall into the obese category.

As Porter pointed out, the issue of obesity is a complex one and touches on many factors within a person’s life that go well beyond the dinner table.

“It’s not as simple as you shouldn’t have that dessert and things of that sort. There’s a lot to it,” he said. “I could talk to you about it for two hours because there are so many factors; there are socioeconomic factors, education, so many different factors that have led to this epidemic in this country. That’s why we take the approach to the overall patient to help them be successful. Not everybody is going to be successful, but we want to give people the best chance at success.”

Like all health care professionals, Porter is still seeing the ripple effects of the unprecedented impact of COVID conditions on the medical field and its practitioners. He said not all of the impact of the pandemic has been bad, as it helped physicians, nurses and health systems alike be lighter on their feet.

“I think one of the things COVID taught us was adaptability,” he said. “We have to be able to adapt. We have to be able to deliver medicine in its most efficient form, whatever that may be. That may change from year to year, from month to month. We have to be able to adapt to the needs of our patients and the needs of our practice.”

As for himself, Porter has learned to find ways to divert his attention from work. As a husband and father, family has always been an important way to unplug from the operating room. He’s also found favorite hobbies including fishing and working on classic cars a great way to relax. He called such things vital to his long-term survival in a high-stress profession.

“One of the reasons I like doing classic cars so much is, number one, it’s a lot of manual dexterity. You use your hands a lot and I like that,” he said. “Two, it’s problem solving. Sometimes things are not by the cookbook and you really have to problem-solve and things like that. And three, as in all surgeons, I really like to see a problem, fix a problem, see an outcome.

“Medicine is challenging and every once in a while I can unplug and you have to do that, you just have to. Surgeons are the worst at it. I saw that early in my career, people who just never unplugged and the only thing they did was medicine. I found out that as noble as it is, there will come a point that that’ll take a toll on you.”

For all of its challenges, Porter said he couldn’t imagine being in a different line of work.

He looks at every patient as an opportunity to live out his God-given vocation.

“My father was a wise man. Something he said when I went to train at Mayo Clinic was, ‘You know? People don’t really care how much you know until they know how much you care,’” he said. “I’m very blessed to do what I do and I hope that my patients can see that I do have a love for medicine. I want to give them the best chance for a great outcome. My goal is to help people regain and maintain their health, and I’m going to give my best for everybody in that regard.”

Dr. Lewis Porter

THE BEST HOSPITAL WITH THE BEST HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

At Conway Regional, we are committed to providing high-quality, compassionate health care to the communities we serve. We are growing to bring innovative services, more specialists, new medical offices, and expanded access. We are honored to be home to many of AY’s Best Healthcare Professionals in addition to being voted "Best Hospital" in the state by the readers of AY magazine for four years in a row.

2023

2023

AY's Best Healthcare Professionals 2023

To be called a professional is among the highest of compliments in any industry. And when that industry is medicine, the honor of being considered among the elite is amplified. Physicians and nurses of every specialty and background contribute immeasurably to the community by literally seeing to its well-being.

Each year, AY About You asks its readers to nominate the medical professionals who they believe exemplify the highest ideals of compassionate, skillful care. And every year, the public responds in droves, resulting in a list of the best medical professionals Arkansas has to offer. This year's roster, as always, recognizes the best, most skilled and most admired members of the medical community.

AY About You is proud to salute the many men and women across our state who work every single day to improve the lives of our neighbors, friends and loved ones.

ALLERGIST/IMMUNOLOGIST

KELLY BURKS, MD

Arkansas Allergy & Asthma Clinic

CURTIS L. HEDBERG, MD

Hedberg Allergy and Asthma

JIM MARK INGRAM, MD

Little Rock Allergy & Asthma Clinic

BRIAN JACKSON, MD

Jackson Allergy & Asthma Clinic

STACIE JONES, MD

Arkansas Children's Hospital

LORI KAGY, MD

Arkansas Allergy & Asthma Clinic

JOSHUA KENNEDY, MD

Arkansas Children's Hospital

TAMARA T. PERRY, MD

Arkansas Children's Hospital

BLAKE G. SCHEER, MD

Little Rock Allergy & Asthma Clinic

EDDIE SHIELDS, MD

Arkansas Allergy & Asthma Clinic

KARL SITZ, MD

Little Rock Allergy & Asthma Clinic

LINDSAY STILL, MD

Arkansas Allergy & Asthma Clinic

ANESTHESIOLOGIST

CAROL ANGEL, MD

Conway Regional Health System

RODGER DUNIGAN, MD

Northwest Medical Center

JILL FLAXMAN, MD

Natural State Pain and Wellness

DENNIS N. FLOYD, MD

Northwest Health - Northwest

Anesthesia Associates

HEATHER WHALEY, MD

Pain Treatment Centers of America

AUDIOLOGY

MARY CHATELAIN, AUD

Pinnacle Hearing

BRADLEY DAVIS, AUD UAMS Health

TRACY VAN ES, AUD Little Rock Audiology

BARIATRIC & GENERAL SURGEON

SAMUEL BLEDSOE, MD Arkansas Heart Hospital

J.D. FULLER, MD Arkansas Heart Hospital

JAMES TUCKER, MD Arkansas Heart Hospital

BARIATRIC PHYSICIAN

BRANDON INGRAM, MD

CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

K. BRUCE JONES, MD NEA Baptist

ANTHONY MANNING, MD Conway Regional Health System

ERIC PAUL, MD

Baptist Health Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas

LEWIS PORTER, MD Saline Health Systems and Weight Loss Clinic

BREAST CANCER SURGEON

JERRI S. FANT, MD

CARTI

JAMES E. HAGANS, III, MD Baptist Health Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas

YARA ROBERTSON, MD

CARTI

CARDIOLOGIST

MAHESH ANANTHA, MD White River Health Cardiology

THOMAS BEST, MD Arkansas Children’s Hospital

RENEE BORNEMEIER, MD

Arkansas Children's Hospital

ERIC BOWEN, MD National Park Medical Center

JOHN ROBERT BUSBY, MD

Baptist Health Cardiothoracic Surgical Center

MICHAEL CAMP, MD

Baxter Regional Cardiovascular Clinic

THOMAS D. CONLEY, MD

Baptist Health Heart Institute

BRIAN EBLE, MD

Arkansas Children’s Hospital

JOE HARGROVE, MD

CHI St. Vincent Heart Clinic Arkansas

PRABHAT HEBBAR, MD

CHI St. Vincent Heart Clinic Arkansas

CARL LEDING, MD

Arkansas Heart Hospital

VASILI LENDEL, MD

Arkansas Heart Hospital

MONICA LO, MD

Arkansas Heart Hospital

TENA MURPHY, MD

CHI St. Vincent Heart Clinic

GARY NASH, MD

Arkansas Heart Hospital

DON STEELY, MD

Conway Regional Health System

THOMAS WALLACE, MD

CHI St. Vincent Heart Clinic Arkansas

WILSON WONG, MD

Arkansas Heart Hospital

CARDIOVASCULAR SURGEON

FRED MEADORS, MD

CHI St. Vincent

BRIAN REEMTSEN, MD

Arkansas Children’s Hospital

RICHARD STEVENSON, MD

NEA Baptist

RUSSELL WOOD, MD

Washington Regional

CHIROPRACTOR

CHRIS BLACKMON, DC

Blackmon Chiropractic Clinic

AMANDA BLEDSOE, DC Bledsoe Chiropractic

DANA BROWNING, DC Pain Care Associates

MICHAEL BUTLER, DC Restoration Health

WILLIAM REID CLARK, DC Blackmon Chiropractic Clinic

JASON M. COLLINS, DC

Collins Chiropractic and Diagnostics

CHRIS CURTIS, DC Curtis Chiropractic & Wellness

BEV. FOSTER, DC

Chiropractic Health & Rehabilitation

TRACI KIERNAN, DC Natural State Health Center

KYLER POMEROY, DC Roots Chiropractic

DWIGHT STEWART, DC Pain Care Associates

DAVID VANG, DC

Pain Care Associates

JOHN VINCENT, CCEP, CCWP Wellness Revolution

ERIC W. WALKER, DC

Millennium Chiropractic, Sports Medicine and Rehab

ROBERT C. ZIEGLER, DC Ziegler Chiropractic Clinic

CLINICAL BREAST RADIOLOGY

SCOTT HARTER, MD

UAMS Health

BRITTON B. LOTT, MD

The Breast Center, A MANA Clinic

SHARP MALAK, MD Associated Radiologists, Ltd.

KELLY A. PIERCE, MD

The Breast Center, A MANA Clinic

Collins Eye Clinic is honored to have been named AY’s 2023 Best Healthcare Professionals!

Keep Your Vision In Check

We’ll help you stay focused with a comprehensive eye exam that includes testing for cataracts, glaucoma and degeneration, and identifies any need for prescription lenses. We encourage people of all ages to schedule routine vision screenings. Early diagnosis and proper treatment of eye disease can help preserve the gift of sight and avoid eye diseases such as glaucoma, corneal disease, or diabetic eye disease.

Dr. Collins, a board-certified Ophthalmologist, has practiced comprehensive Ophthalmology in the Ozarks for over two decades. Cataract Surgery • Premium Lens Implants • Medical/ Surgical Glaucoma

Phone: 417-869-200

Toll Free: 1-877-822-EYES(3937)

• Diabetic Eye Diseases • Eyelid Surgery

• Cosmetic • Botox/Fillers • Eye Trauma • Routine Exams

Thank You

voting Dr. Anne Trussell as one of AY’s Best Healthcare Professional

Dr. Anne Trussell owns and operates Sei Bella Med Spa. She is in the office daily working alongside her two nurses and medical aesthetician to offer the least invasive procedures with the best results. We offer bodysculpting, cellulite treatment, noninvasive facelifts, urinary incontinence treatment and intimate wellness with Emsella and EmFemme, laser resurfacing, chemical peels and laser hair removal, bioidentical hormone pellet therapy as well as the traditional injectables like Botox, Dysport and fillers.

W. Patrick Collins, MD

211 Carter St. Berryville, AR 72616

BECAUSE OUR CHILDREN DESERVE THE VERY BEST

Thank you for recognizing these champions for children as “Best Healthcare Professionals” in 2023.

As the only health care system in the state dedicated to caring for children, Arkansas Children’s statewide network of care ensures children have access to pediatric health care close to home in all four corners of our state, and beyond.

Thomas Best, M.D.

Renee Bornemeier, M.D.

Cindy Carpenter, C.N.P.

Sid Dassinger, M.D.

Brian Eble, M.D.

Abby Emanuel, R.N.

Jill Fussell, M.D.

McKinsey Jansen, R.N.

Stacie Jones, M.D.

Joshua Kennedy, M.D.

Tamara Perry, M.D.

Holly Pettit, R.N.

Saritha Ranabothu, M.D.

Brian Reemtsen, M.D.

Gerald Schaefer, M.D.

John Scott, D.D.S.

Amy Scurlock, M.D.

Elizabeth Storm Rule, M.D.

Scarlett Yates, R.N.

JOANNE ROBERTS, MIS, RRA

Associated Radiologists, Ltd.

STACY SMITH-FOLEY, MD

CARTI

COLON AND RECTAL

LANCE BURNS, MD

CHI St. Vincent Colorectal Surgery Clinic

ANGELO G. COPPOLA, MD

Premier Gastroenterology Associates

KEVIN HEATH, MD

GastroArkansas

DAVID K. MAGEE, MD

Colon & Rectal Clinic of NWA

ANGELA K. NUTT, MD

GastroArkansas

LEWIS PORTER, MD

Saline Health Systems and Weight Loss Clinic

LEE RALEY, MD

CHI St. Vincent Colorectal Surgery Clinic

HOLLIS ROGERS, III, MD

Highlands Oncology Group

PATRICK SZETO, MD

CHI St. Vincent Colorectal Surgery Clinic

COSMETIC DENTIST

HEATHER ADAMS, DDS

Heather Adams, DDS

MARCUS BLACK, DDS

Marcus Black Dentistry

DJ DAILEY, III, DDS

Smile Dailey

DAVID HILL, DDS

Hill Family Dentistry

LEE WYANT, DDS

Smile Arkansas

COSMETIC SURGEON

MICHAEL A. DELVIN, MD

Devlin Cosmetic Surgery

W. TOMASZ MAJEWSKI, MD

Majewski Plastic Surgery

BYRON WILKES, MD

McFarland Eye Care

SUZANNE YEE, MD

Cosmetic & Laser Surgery Center

DENTISTRY

BRYAN AUSTIN, DDS

Austin Family Dentistry

KYLE BENTON, DDS

Benton Family Dentistry

MICHAEL BOURNS, DDS

Bourns Family Dentistry

DALE COLCLASURE, DDS

Crestwood Dental Care

DJ DAILEY, III, DDS

Smile Dailey

JOHN DEAN, DDS

Dean Dental Solutions

MICHAEL DRAKE, DDS

Dean Dental Solutions

MEG DUNN, DDS

Dunn Family Dental

ETHAN ERWIN, DDS

Smile Hot Springs

ANGELA GRAY, DDS

Angela Gray Family Dentistry

MONTGOMERY HEATHMAN, DDS

Heathman Family Dental

SCOTT HILL, DDS

HMS Dental

BRAD W. JOLLY, SR., DDS

Jolly Family Dental

KEVIN JONES, DDS

Kevin G. Jones, DDS Family and Cosmetic Dentistry

ROBERT KALOGHIROU, DDS

Woodruff Family Dental

CHAD MATONE, DDS

Arkansas Dental Centers

TINA NICHOLS, DDS

Nichols Family Dental

STEVEN RAY, DDS Ray Dental

TARA SCALLION, DDS

Austin Family Dentistry

LANE SMITH, DDS

Saline Dental Group

DERMATOLOGIST

KATTIE ALLEN, MD

Premier Dermatology

REBEKAH BALTZ, MD

Premier Dermatology

RANDALL BREAU, MD

Arkansas Dermatology

ROBERT BROWN, MD

Ozark Dermatology

MISSY CLIFTON, MD Premier Dermatology

CAROLINE CUNNINGHAM, MD Premier Dermatology

SCOTT M. DINEHART, MD Arkansas Dermatology

CHERYL HULL, MD

Hull Dermatology & Aesthetics

JENNIFER JACKS, MD

Jacks Dermatology

MATTHEW KAGY, MD

Little Rock Dermatology Clinic

KAYLA MOHR, MD

Ozarks Health

MICHAEL F. OSLEBER, MD

Arkansas Dermatology

CHRIS SCHACH, MD

Ozark Dermatology

VIVIAN Y. SHI, MD

UAMS Health

BRIAN WAYNE, MD

Little Rock Dermatology Clinic

BLAKE WILLIAMS, MD

Premier Dermatology

MARLA WIRGES, MD Applied Research Center & Walk-In Clinic

EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN

SCOTT ARCHER, MD Cabot Emergency Hospital

BRIAN BAIRD, MD Cabot Emergency Hospital

JIM BOX, MD Cabot Emergency Hospital

CODY CONARD, DO Unity Health White County Medical Center

SCOTT DARNELL, MD Cabot Emergency Hospital

WADE GREGORY, MD Conway Regional Health System

ROBERT GARRETT LEWIS, MD CHI St. Vincent

CHARLES MASON, MD Cabot Emergency Hospital

CLAY NASH, MD National Park Medical Center

KEVIN ROBERTS, MD Little Rock Family Practice

ELIZABETH STORM RULE, MD Arkansas Children's Hospital

JASON SKINNER, MD Conway Regional Health System

JUSTIN WHITE, MD Cabot Emergency Hospital

ENDOCRINOLOGIST

BETH CROWDER, APRN Arkansas Heart Hospital

NIDHI JAIN, MD

CHI St. Vincent Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic - Little Rock

MARIA JAVAID, MD

Conway Regional Health System

ALLEN REDDING, MD

CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

FAMILY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN

JAMAL ABDIN, MD

Washington Regional Family ClinicFarmington

CAITLIN ABISEID SHULL, APRN Ozark Health

JULIA LEE ALLEN, MD White River Health Family Care

STACY L. ARMSTRONG, DO

NARMC, Washington Regional Harrison Family Practice

GREGG BARDEN, MD Unity Health Searcy Medical Center

SARA BLAIR, MD Autumn Road Family Practice

LAUREN BLOCH, MD White River Health Family Care

KRISTIE BRANSCUM, APRN

Baxter Health Family Clinic at Calico Rock

CAMILLE BRASWELL, MD

CHI St. Vincent Primary and Convenient Care Chenal

HUNTER CARRINGTON, MD

National Park Medical Center

STEPHANIE CODY, MD Baptist Health Family Clinic Hillcrest

WILLIAM COLE, MD

Family Medicine and Wellness

KEITH COOPER, MD

Conway Regional Health System

KENT COVERT, MD

Little Rock Family Practice Clinic

JHEANELLE DAWKINS, MD

Sherwood Family Medical Center, A Baptist Health Affiliate

BARRY FORD, MD Little Rock Family Practice Clinic

DERRICK GRAY, MD Northwest Health

LAURA HARDIN, MD Central Arkansas Family Practice

HAL HEDGES, MD Little Rock Family Practice Clinic

ERIN HEKMATPOUR, MD Autumn Road Family Practice

KEVIN HIEGEL, MD Little Rock Family Practice Clinic

STEVEN JAMES, MD Conway Regional Health System

JOHN JAYROE, MD Little Rock Family Practice Clinic

MICHAEL KITTELL, MD Kittell Clinic

ANN -MARIE MAGRE, MD

MANA Family Medical

ADAM MCCALL, MD

Advanced Primary Care of the Ozarks, Northwest Health

SIKANDAR MURAD, MD Little Rock Walk-In Clinic

CHRIS PITTMAN, MD Northwest Health/Northwest Family Medicine - Centerton

SHANNON POGUE, APRN-CNP Access Medical Clinic

JANELLE LEIGH POTTS, MD Mercy Clinic Family Medicine

PHILIP POUNDERS, MD Autumn Road Family Practice

TIMMOTHY REECE, MD Family Medicine of White Hall

ABBY RICE, PA-C Unity Health

KEVIN ROBERTS, MD Little Rock Family Practice Clinic

STEPHEN TILLEY, MD Tilley Clinic

BRAD TILLEY, MD Tilley Family Medicine

Awinningteam

We proudly congratulate our best Healthcare Professionals.

We congratulate the outstanding UAMS healthcare providers voted as Best Healthcare Professionals by the readers of AY magazine. At UAMS, we’re here to ensure you have access to the best care, right here close to home. With a staff of the best and brightest, personalized medicine and convenient access to clinics, you can feel confident knowing the state of your health is in exceptional hands.

2023

Sherwood FMC-Dawkins 2024 AY Best Healthcare Professional Ad_3.685x4.875.indd 1 7/24/23 8:07 AM

JASON E. VICKERY, MD

MANA Family Medical

MARK WATSON LEFLER, MD

Family Medicine and Wellness Clinic

GREG WHORTON, MD

CHI Hot Springs

JAMES WILKERSON, MD

CHI St. Vincent Primary CareSherwood

GASTROENTEROLOGIST

TERENCE ANGTUACO, MD

Premier Gastroenterology Associates

DANIEL BROWN, MD

CHI St. Vincent

Gastroenterology Clinic

BRIAN T. HUGHES, MD

Premier Gastroenterology Associates

BRUCE JOHNSON, MD

GastroArkansas

JOHNNY JONES, MD

Premier Gastroenterology Associates

STEVEN JONES, MD

Premier Gastroenterology Associates

BOBBY KAKATI, MD

GastroArkansas

DEAN KUMPURIS, MD

CHI St. Vincent Gastroenterology Clinic - Little Rock

DAVID MCELREATH, DO

Premier Gastroenterology Associates

BRIAN L. MCGEE, MD

Arkansas Diagnostic Center

DEBRA F. MORRISON, MD

GastroArkansas

DHAVAL A. PATEL, MD

Premier Gastroenterology Associates

LEWIS PORTER, MD

Saline Health Systems and Weight Loss Clinic

DOUG STOKES, MD

GastroArkansas

R. PAUL SVOBODA, MD

Premier Gastroenterology Associates

RON WHITE, MD

Conway Regional Health System

ALONZO D. WILLIAMS, MD

Arkansas Diagnostic Center

STEPHEN ZILLER, MD Arkansas Diagnostic Center

GENERAL SURGEON

ROBERT BREVING, MD National Park Medical Center

CHRIS M. CATE, MD Baptist Health Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas

JOHN D. DAY, MD UAMS Health

JOHN M. DELOACH, JR., MD

Baptist Hospitals North Little Rock

PATRICK FLEEMAN, MD

The Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas

JOHN HEARNSBERGER, MD Howard Memorial

WAYNE A. HUDEC, MD

Washington Regional General Surgery Clinic

DONNA JOHNSON, MD Mercy

JEFFREY KELLAR, MD

Washington Regional General Surgery Clinic

CHRISTIAN LATHAM, MD National Park Medical Center

LOGAN LYNCH, MD St. Bernards Surgical Associates

RONALD MULLIS, MD Washington Regional General Surgery Clinic

GUY PEEPLES, MD Baptist Health Conway

MICHAEL M. POLLOCK, MD Baptist Health Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas

LEWIS PORTER, MD

Saline Health Systems and Weight Loss Clinic

SIRINYA PRASERTVIT, MD

CHI St. Vincent Surgery Clinic

MICHAEL STANTON, MD

Conway Regional Health System

APRIL TURNER, DO

Baptist Health Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas

STEPHEN T. WOOD, MD Washingtn Regional General Surgery Clinic & Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital

GENETICISTS

GERALD SCHAEFER, MD Arkansas Children’s Hospital

GERIATRICIAN

SANJAY DASS, MD

CHI St. Vincent Primary and Convenient Care

JOSE FONTANILLA, MD Northwest Medical Plaza Primary Care - Springdale

LAURA OTTER, MD

CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

GYNECOLOGIST

WHITNEY RICH, MD

St. Bernards OB-GYN Associates

MATTHEW A. SELLERS, MD Cornerstone Clinic For Women

COURTNEY SICK, MD

Conway Regional Health System

HAND SURGEON

JESSE ABELER, DO Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas Surgical Hospital

JEANINE ANDERSSON, MD OrthoArkansas

ERIC GORDON, MD OrthoArkansas

J. KIRK GRYNWALD, MD OrthoArkansas

BRYAN HEAD, MD Conway Regional Health System

JAMES T. HOWELL, MD Conway Regional Health System

BRIAN NORTON, MD OrthoArkansas

DAVID M. RHODES, MD Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas Surgical Hospital

THERESA O. WYRICK-GLOVER, MD UAMS

HEAD AND NECK SURGICAL ONCOLOGIST

SCOTT J. STERN, MD CARTI

HEMATOLOGIST

JOSEPH BECK, II, MD CHI St. Vincent Oncology Clinic

PETER EMANUEL, MD CHI St. Vincent

HORMONE SPECIALIST

STEPHANIE BARTLETT, MSN, APRN Practical Wellness Clinic

IN-HOME CARE

TONDA GRESHAM, RN Elder Independence

INFECTIOUS DISEASE PHYSICIAN

RYAN DARE, MD UAMS Health

STEPHEN HENNIGAN, MD Infectious Disease Specialists of Northwest Arkansas

AMANDA NOVACK, MD Baptist Health Infectious Diseases-Arkansas

KRISTINE PATTERSON, MD UAMS Health

MARK L. STILLWELL, MD Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine

JOSEPH WYBLE, JR., MD CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN

SARA BLAIR, MD Autumn Road Family Practice

JENNIFER M. CO, MD CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

MARK DYER, MD CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

STEVEN A. EDMONDSON, MD Washington Regional Medical Center

GERRY EZELL, MD

Baptist Health Internal Medicine Clinic

BLAIR H. GREENWOOD, MD Conway Regional - Mayflower Medical Clinic

GREG KENDRICK, MD

Conway Regional Health System

TYLER NELSON, MD Bryant Medical Clinic

JOHN PRICE, MD

Northwest Medical Plaza - Pinnacle

T. BRENT ROSSON, MD NARMC

WILLIAM WESLEY THORPE, DO Baptist Health Internal Medicine Associates of NLR

BRANNON TREECE, MD

NEA Baptist

LIFESTYLE MEDICINE

MARINA IVANOVSKY, APRN Marina Lifestyle Medicine

MEDICAL ONCOLOGIST

BRAD BALTZ, MD CHI St. Vincent Cancer Center

LAWRENCE MENDELSOHN, MD CARTI

DEREK MIDDLETON, MD CARTI

GRACE RAJA, MD CARTI

THOMAS SNEED, MD CARTI

MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC/FACILITY

CONWAY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

INDIGO COUNSELING

NEW PATH MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

RENEW MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS

THE BRIDGEWAY

MENTAL HEALTH THERAPIST

NICOLE ECKARD, MS, LPC Resilience Therapy, LLC

NINA HARRISON, LCSW Indigo Counseling

KATHY JAMES, LCSW

Kathy James Psychotherapy and Wellness, PLLC

BUSTER LACKEY, LPC, LADAC Nami

REBECCA MANSFIELD, LCSW Counseling Services of Jacksonville

SUSAN L. SHACKELFORD, PHD Psychology & Counseling Associates

MARGARET ANN STANDRIDGE, LCSW Indigo Counseling

JAIME STARLING, LPC

New Path Mental Health & Wellness

THANK YOU

FOR VOTING US AMONG THE BEST HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN ARKANSAS

Welcome to Central Clinic for Women: a Central Arkansas women’s clinic that provides a full range of gynecology services and obstetric care for women. Our services include pregnancy treatment and annual women’s health checkups, screenings, and birth control. Here we provide only the best OBGYN treatment in Little Rock for women. Quality health and quality care are what you will find within the walls of our women’s clinic. We have some of the best doctors and staff available to provide you with unparalleled gynecologic and obstetric care. Our doctors strive to create a healthy relationship with patients in order to assist in promoting good women’s health no matter what age or stage they’re at in their life.

Our doctors listen

Empathetic Care is Available. We offer compassionate care to people of all ages. Arkansans at Risk.

We call Arkansas The Natural State, but ours is a rural state, which places Arkansans at risk.

Suicide rates are higher in rural America than in urban America, and suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in America.

This trend is alarming, but we are here to help.

Our physicians help adults with mental health or substance use disorders and adolescents and children with behavioral health issues.

Also, our services are available at any time.

Physicians are on the medical staff of The BridgeWay, but, with limited exceptions, are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of The BridgeWay. The facility shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians.

MENTAL HEALTH TRAUMA SPECIALIST

JOSHUA LEE, LPE-1 New Path Mental Health & Wellness

KATIE WALKER, LCSW, RPT Indigo Counseling

NEPHROLOGIST

GARRY BERNARD GLASCO, MD Baptist Health Nephrology Associates, P.A.

MICHAEL S. GERSCH, MD

Arkansas Renal Group, P.A.

MICHAEL GERSCH, MD National Park Medical Center

SARITHA RANABOTHU, MD Arkansas Children's Hospital

MARY JO SHAVER, MD

Conway Regional Health System

HANNA HARE WHITE, APRN Unity Health

NEUROLOGICAL SURGEON

JOHN D. DAY, MD UAMS Health

REGAN GALLAHER, MD

Conway Regional Health System

ALI KRISHT, MD

CHI St. Vincent Arkansas Neuroscience Institute

DOMINIC MAGGIO, MD

Legacy Spine & Neurological Specialists

ZACH MASON, MD

Arkansas Surgical Hospital, Neurological Surgery Associates

SCOTT SCHLESINGER, MD

Legacy Spine & Neurological Specialists

BRAD THOMAS, MD

Arkansas Surgical Hospital/Little Rock Neurosurgery Clinic

NEUROLOGIST

LARRY ARMSTRONG, DO

Washington Regional Brain and Spine Surgery Clinic

BEVERLY BEADLE, MD

CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

BRADLEY BOOP, MD

CHI St. Vincent

KATHRYN CHENAULT, MD

CHI St. Vincent North Neurology Clinic

ALAN DIAMOND, DO

Washington Regional Senior Health Clinic

TIM FREYALDENHOVEN, MD

Conway Regional Health System

LUKE KNOX, MD

Northwest Arkansas Neurosurgery Clinic, P.A.

SUKANTHI KOVVURU, MD

UAMS Health

KELLI SCHLESINGER, MD

Legacy Spine & Neurological Specialists

KEITH SCHLUTERMAN, MD Conway Regional Health System

ELAINE WILSON, MD

CHI St. Vincent Arkansas Neuroscience Institute

NEUROSURGERY/SPINE

ANTHONY CAPOCELLI, MD OrthoArkansas

NON-SURGICAL COSMETIC

ANGELA CASE, RN Melanie Prince Plastic Surgery

MISSY CLIFTON, MD

Premier Dermatology

J. MARCUS HEIM, DO Orthopedic Center at Northwest

MIMI LEE, MD, PA Mimi Lee, MD, PA Vein and Aesthetic Care

THERESA J. MOIX, APN Conway Medical Spa

KATHERINE THOMAS, RN Arkansas Aesthetics

ANNE TRUSSELL, MD Sei Bella Med Spa

HEATHER WHALEY, MD Defy Age Med Spa

NURSE

RACHEL ASHCRAFT, APRN Cornerstone Clinic for Women

STEPHANIE BARTLETT, MSN, APRN Arkansas Urology

KELLY BASSETT, APRN Baptist Health Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas

TRACEY CAREY, MSN, RN UAMS Health

BAILLIE CARMICHAEL, MSN Premier Dermatology

CINDY CARPENTER, CNP Arkansas Children's Hospital

BOBBETTE CARTER, PA Family Medicine of White Hall

NICHOLE CLARK, APRN Hope Medical Clinic

JULIE DAVENPORT, RN, CANS Premier Dermatology

JENNIFER DOSTERT, MSN, RN Practical Wellness Clinic

ABBY EMANUEL, RN Arkansas Children's Hospital

BEN EMANUEL, RN

CHI St. Vincent

HALEY ENDACOTT, APRN-BC, AE-C ENT and Allergy Center

KARI EPPERSON, BSN, RN

CHI St. Vincent

STEPHANIE FARMER, APRN Bryant Medical Clinic

ANGELA FOSTER, APRN

Conway Regional Medical Clinic

JESSICA GREASER, RN Aya Healthcare

EBONYE GREENE, APRN UAMS Health

LISA GRUMMER, APRN Cornerstone Clinic for Women

HONEY HULL, APRN Pain Treatment Centers of America

CHRISTINA HEITMAN, RN CHI St. Vincent North

SARAH HOLLAND, APRN West Little Rock Women’s Center

HEATHER HUMPHREY, MSN, APRN Psychology and Counseling Associates

DAVID BRIAN HUMPHREY, FNP-C Washington Regional Urgent Care

KAYLA INGRAM-SMITH, ARN Pain Treatment Centers of America

MCKINSEY JANSEN, RN Arkansas Children's Hospital

TAYLOR KELAMIS, APRN Kelamis Plastic Surgery

CHELSEA KELLOW, DNP East Arkansas Children’s Clinic

PAIGE KELLY, BSN, RN Wright Plastic Surgery

DANIELLE LYNCH, APRN Renew Mental Health and Wellness

RACHEL MCCRARY, APRN Pain Treatment Centers of America

DONNA MCGHEE, APRN Arkansas Renal Group, P.A.

NICOLE MCMINN, CNO Cabot Emergency Hospital

SARA MOLSBEE, RN Rejuvenation Clinic

SHELLEY PAYNE, APRN Baptist Health Family Clinic - Bryant

HOLLY PETTIT, RN Arkansas Children's Hospital

JACLYN PIASTA, APRN Monarch Health

SHANNON POGUE, APRN-CNP Access Medical Clinic

KATRINA SCOTT, FNP-BC Pain Treatment Centers of America in Hot Springs

ATALIE SESSIONS, APRN Autumn Road Family Practice

GAYE SINK, RN UAMS Health

ESTEE SNEED, APN Family Medicine of White Hall

KRISTY THOMPSON, APRN Pain Treatment Centers of America

DANA TREAT, APRN Hope Medical Clinic

SYDNEY VARNON, RN CHI St. Vincent North

HANNA HARE WHITE, APRN Unity Health

JENNIFER WILSON, APRN

Cornerstone Clinic for Women

SCARLETT YATES, RN Arkansas Children’s Hospital

TAYLOR YOUNGBLOOD, APRN Arkansas Neuroscience Institute

NURSE PRACTITIONER

LAUREN BLANSETT, APRN Conway Regional Greenbrier Family Medicine

ZACK COCO, APRN New Path Mental Health & Wellness

LINDSEY GILLUM, APRN Revive Lifestyle Medicine

JARROD JERRY, APRN Conway Regional Greenbrier Family Medicine

MEGHAN MALLET, APRN Conway Regional Medical ClinicPrince Street

OBSTETRICIAN

SCOTT BAILEY, MD Parkhill The Clinic for Women

KEVIN BRENIMAN, MD

Cornerstone Clinic for Women

BRIAN M. BURTON, MD The Woman's Clinic

KAY CHANDLER, MD

Cornerstone Clinic for Women

MICHAEL CLOUATRE, MD

Creekside Center for Women

ANDREW COLE, MD Conway OB GYN

AUDRA COLE, DO

Lifespring Women’s Healthcare

MICHAEL COPE, MD The Woman's Clinic

ASHLEY DEED, MD Central Clinic for Women

AMY WIEDOWER EBLE, MD Central Clinic for Women

AMY FRY, MD

Northwest Women's Specialty Group

AMY GALDAMEZ, MD Central Clinic for Women

SHELLY GIBBS, MD The Woman's Clinic

JULIE GOODWIN, MD West Little Rock Women’s Center

NICQUEL GORDON, MD CHI St Vincent Women's ClinicHot Springs

JAMES GORMAN, MD Parkhill The Clinic for Women

CHRISTINA GREEN, MD Saline Women's Clinic

J. TODD HANNAH, MD

Lifespring Women’s Healthcare

LINDSAY HEULITT, MD Central Clinic for Women

Dr. Derek Lagemann DPT Dr. Brad Sanders DPT

RANDALL HIGHTOWER, MD

Washington Regional Medical Center

Gynecologic Oncology

EMILY HINTON, MD

Parkhill The Clinic for Women

ROBERT HIX, MD

Parkhill The Clinic for Women

KEITHA HOLLAND, MD

Conway OBGYN

CINDY HUBACH, MD

Central Clinic for Women

JILL JENNINGS, MD

The Woman's Clinic

AMY JOHNSON, MD

Conway Women’s Health Center

DEBRA LAWRENCE, MD

Conway Women's Health Center

KRISTIN MARKELL, MD

Washington Regional Integrative Gynecology

BRANDIE MARTIN, MD

Conway Women’s Health Center

ADAM MCCALL, MD

Advanced Primary Care of the Ozarks , Northwest Health

DEAN MOUTUS, MD

Arkansas Fertility and Gynecology

LAUREN NOLEN, MD

Conway OBGYN

LINDSEY OSLEBER, MD

Arkansas Women's Center

LORIE OSWALT, APN

Lifespring Women's Healthcare

HEATHER OWENS, MD

Central Clinic for Women

PAIGE PARTRIDGE, MD

Parkhill The Clinic for Women

ANANTH RANGANATHAN, MD

Arkansas Women's Center

GREG REITER, DO

Creekside Center for Women

KIMBERLY REYNOLDS, MD

West Little Rock Women’s Center

JAMES ROBB, MD

Saline Women's Clinic

LAWRENCE SCHMITZ, MD

Lifespring Women's Healthcare

LINDSEY SEALE, MD

Parkhill The Clinic for Women

AMBER SILLS, MD

Women's Health Associates

KENNETH SINGLETON, MD

Cornerstone Clinic for Women

KALA SLATON, MD

Conway Regional Health System

DORA SMITH, MD

UAMS Health

JULIAN TERRY, MD

Parkhill The Clinic for Women

MARY THAXTON, MD

CHI St. Vincent Women's Clinic

Hot Springs

JOSH WARD, MD

Conway Women's Health Center

JULIA WATKINS, MD

West Little Rock Women’s Center

ONCOLOGIST

J. THADDEUS BECK, MD

Highlands Oncology

DANIEL S. BRADFORD, MD Highlands Oncology

BROOKE E. BRANDER, DO Highlands Oncology

LYNSAY BRAUTNICK, MD Highlands Oncology

FRED DIVERS, MD

Genesis Cancer Center

RHONDA GENTRY, MD CARTI

STEPHAN B. ROSENFELD, MD Highlands Oncology

PATRICK M. TRAVIS, MD Highlands Oncology

OPHTHALMOLOGIST

TRACY BALTZ, MD Little Rock Eye Clinic

CHAD BETTS, MD McDonald Eye Associates

SUSAN BLAIR, MD Little Rock Eye Clinic

JOSEPH G. CHACKO, MD UAMS Health

W. PATRICK COLLINS, MD Collins Eye Clinic

ROMONA L. DAVIS, MD UAMS Health

CHRISTIAN HESTER, MD Little Rock Eye Clinic

STEPHEN MAGIE, MD Arkansas Retina Clinic

MIKE MCFARLAND, MD McFarland Eye Care

EVAN NEWBOLT, MD McFarland Eye Care

JOHN D. PEMBERTON, DO UAMS Health

EDWARD PENICK, III, MD Central Arkansas Ophthalmology

OPTOMETRIST

PERRY AMERINE, OD Amerine Eye Care

VALERIE ARNOLD, OD

River Mountain Eye Care

PHILIP F. BRANDON, OD

Brandon Eye Clinic

SHELBY BROGDON, OD

McFarland Eye Care

TIFFANY BROWN, OD

Little Rock Eye ClinicNorth Little Rock Location

KENNAN DOAN, OD

McFarland Eye Care

PENNY FRESHOUR GRIGGS, OD

Penny Freshour Griggs

MARY JAMES, OD

UAMS Health

DEREK S. LONG, OD

Maumelle Eye Care

MEGAN MCDONALD MOLL, OD Hilltop Eyecare

RUSSELL T. SIMMONS, OD Simmons Eye Care

ORAL SURGERY

DARON C. PRAETZEL, DMD

Arkansas Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons

ORTHODONTIST

JOHN A. DANIEL, MSD, DDS

Daniel and Jones Orthodontics

ADAM HALL, DDS

Hall Orthodontics

ALEX JONES, MD, DDS

Daniel and Jones Orthodontics

CLAYTON OWEN, DDS

Owen Orthodontics

AJAY SURI, DDS

Suri Orthodontics

ORTHOPAEDIC SPECIALIST

JEFF ANGEL, MD

White River Health Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine

DYLAN CARPENTER, MD

White River Health Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine

WILLIAM HEFLEY,JR., MD

Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas Surgical Hospital

ORTHOPAEDIC TRAUMATOLOGIST

KAITLYN GRIFFIN, APRN Baptist Little Rock

REGIS L. RENARD, MD UAMS

ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON

GRANT BENNETT, MD

Conway Regional Health System

KYLE BLICKENSTAFF, MD Unity Health

W. SCOTT BOWEN, MD

Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas Surgical Hospital

CARI CORDELL, MD

CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs

PAUL K. EDWARDS, MD

Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas Surgical Hospital

BRYAN HEAD, MD

Conway Regional Health System

JAMES HEAD, MD

Conway Regional Health System

MICHAEL HUBBARD, DO National Park Medical Center

JERRY LORIO, MD

Arkansas Bone & Joint

KENNETH MARTIN, MD

Martin Orthopedics

CHELSEA MATHEWS, MD UAMS Health

CLAYTON RILEY, MD

Martin Orthopedics

TOM ROBERTS, MD

Conway Regional Health System

CHRIS YOUNG, MD

CHI St. Vincent Orthopedic ClincHot Springs

ORTHOPEDIST

TROY ARDOIN, MD

OrthoArkansas

KYLE BLICKENSTAFF, MD Unity Health

SAMUEL MOORE, DO

Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas

Surgical Hospital

LARRY L. NGUYEN, MD

Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas

Surgical Hospital

JASON STEWART, MD

Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas

Surgical Hospital

OTOLARYNGOLOGIST

STEVE CASHMAN, MD ENT and Allergy Center

FELICIA JOHNSON, MD ENT Center of the Ozarks

BRYAN K. LANSFORD, MD NEA Baptist Clinic

KEVIN LOLLAR, MD ENT Center of the Ozarks

LANCE A. MANNING, MD ENT Center of the Ozarks

ROBERT SAADI, MD UAMS Health

SHANE R. SMITH, MD St. Bernards Otolaryngology & Facial Surgery Centre

JARED R. SPENCER, MD ENT Center of the Ozarks

JAMES SUEN, MD UAMS Health

CORY VAUGHN, MD ENT Center of the Ozarks

PAIN MANAGEMENT PHYSICIAN

ROBERT C. BAKER, MD Pain Treatment Centers of America

TERRY FLETCHER, MD Pain Treatment Centers of America

BUTCHAIAH GARLAPATI, MD Arkansas Pain Center

JOHNATHAN GOREE, MD UAMS Health

JASON A. HUNT, MD Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital

MIKHAIL IVANOVSKY, MD

Pain Treatment Centers of America

SAMEER JAIN, MD

Pain Treatment Centers of America

CHRIS MARANTO, MD

Conway Regional Health System

CHRISTOPHER MOCEK, MD

The Mocek Spine Clinic

VADIM PETROV, MD

Pain Treatment Centers of America

AMIR QURESHI, MD

Arkansas Spine and Pain

MIKIO RANAHAN, MD

Conway Regional Advanced Pain Management

MERAJ SIDDIQUI, MD

WRMC Pain Management

HEATHER WHALEY, MD

Pain Treatment Centers of America

PEDIATRIC ALLERGIST

MATTHEW BELL, MD

Arkansas Children’s Northwest

STACY GRIFFIN, MD

Little Rock Allergy & Asthma Clinic

STACIE JONES, MD

Arkansas Children’s Hospital

TAMARA T. PERRY, MD

Arkansas Children’s Hospital

AMY SCURLOCK, MD

Arkansas Children’s Hospital

PEDIATRIC DENTIST

AARON FORRESTER, DDS

Groovy Smiles Pediatric Dentistry

MICHAEL KITCHENS, DDS

Kitchens Pediatric Dentistry

JOHN SCOTT, DDS

Arkansas Children's Hospital

SUMMER TYSON, DDS

Jonesboro Pediatric Dental Group

PEDIATRIC DEVELOPMENT & BEHAVIOR

JARROD ADKISSON, MD

Ozark Guidance

JILL FUSSELL, MD

Arkansas Children’s Hospital

PEDIATRIC GENERAL

CHARLES BALL, MD

Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

HANNAH BEENE-LOWDER, MD

Arkansas Children's Hospital

LAUREEN BENAFIELD, MD

Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

SARAH BONE, MD

Arkansas Pediatric Clinic

JERRY BYRUM, MD All for Kids Pediatric Clinic

ORRIN J. DAVIS, MD

Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

MEREDITH A. DENTON, MD

Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

ANTON DUKE, MD Arkansas Pediatric Clinic

TONY ELIAS, MD All for Kids Pediatric Clinic

STACY H. FURLOW, MD

Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

ASHLEY HALPAIN, MD All for Kids Pediatric Clinic

ANTHONY JOHNSON, MD Arkansas Pediatric Clinic

SEAN M. LIVINGSTON, MD Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

JOSH LYON, MD All for Kids Pediatric Clinic

MEREDITH MAHAN, MD

Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

DAWN MARTIN, MD All for Kids Pediatric Clinic

AMANDA MERRICK, MD Central Arkansas Pediatric Clinic

LORI MONTGOMERY, MD Arkansas Pediatric Clinic

JOSHUA O’NEILL, MD Little Rock Pediatric Clinic

CATHERINE ROBBEN, MD Little Rock Pediatric Clinic

CHAD RODGERS, MD Little Rock Pediatric Clinic

STACY SAX, MD Arkansas Pediatric Clinic

JOHN SIMMONS, MD

Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

KIM SKELLEY, MD All for Kids Pediatric Clinic

AARON STRONG, MD Little Rock Pediatric Clinic

VIRGINIA L. THOMAS, MD Northwest Arkansas Pediatrics, A MANA Clinic

DAVID WEED, MD

Central Arkansas Pediatric Clinic

SEPTEMBER WESTBROOK, MD All for Kids Pediatric Clinic

PEDIATRIC SURGEON

SID DASSINGER, MD Arkansas Children’s Hospital

PEDIATRICIAN

WILLIAM PATTON, MD East Arkansas Children's Clinic

PHARMACIST

CHRISTY SKINNER, RN, PHARMD Cabot Emergency Hospital

PHYSICAL MEDICINE/ REHABILITATION PHYSICIAN

ROY DENTON, MD Conway Regional Rehabilitation Hospital

PHYSICAL THERAPIST

TYLER BASS, DPT Advanced Physical Therapy

ANNIE CAVENAR, DPT Advanced Physical Therapy

MATT COLLAR, DPT Advanced Physical Therapy

MADISON FERRELL, DPT Advanced Physical Therapy

DEREK LAGEMANN, DPT Physical Therapy Institute

STEVE LONGINOTTI, MSPT Bowen Hefley Orthopedics

SANDY MCDONALD, PT Advanced Physical Therapy

BETH MILLIGAN, PT Conway Regional Therapy Center

KELSEY MOIX, DPT Advanced Physical Therapy

MARLA MURPHY, DPT Exceptional Physical Therapy

REID PARNELL, DPT Pain Treatment Centers of America

MARIO RAMIREZ ZERMENO, DPT Lonoke Physical Therapy

LISA SALLINGS, PT Bowen Hefley Orthopedics

BRAD SANDERS, DPT Physical Therapy Institute

MATT THORNTON, MSPT Bowen Hefley Orthopedics

ROB TILLMAN, PT, MOMT Ortho Rehab & Specialty Centers

DEBBIE WILLIAMSON, MSPT Bowen Hefley Orthopedics

GENA WOODWARD, MSPT Pain Care Associates

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT

SAVANNAH BRADBURY, PA

Conway Regional Neuroscience Center

KARLI BRADLEY, PA-C Arkansas Heart Hospital

BRYAN CEARLEY, PA-C Arkansas Urology

DOUGLAS A. CLARK, PA-C Arkansas Dermatology

KEVIN GIRTMAN, PA Baptist Family Clinic, Beebe

JASMIN LEASE, PA-C Arkansas Bone & Joint

MATT MILLER, PA-C

Arkansas Heart Hospital

EMILEE T. ODOM, PA-C

Arkansas Dermatology

MATTHEW REYNOLDS, PA-C Arkansas Dermatology

ABBY RICE, PA-C Unity Health

KARA RICHARDSON, PA Premier Dermatology

KAYLEN WELTER, PA

Conway Regional Health System

CARSON YORK, PA-C

Scribner Family Practice Clinic

PLASTIC SURGEON

JENNINGS BOYETTE, MD UAMS Health

JIM ENGLISH, MD English Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Center

J. ALEX KELAMIS, MD

Kelamis Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics

MELANIE PRINCE, MD Prince Plastic Surgery

KRIS SHEWMAKE, MD

Shewmake Plastic Surgery

MICHAEL L. SPANN, MD Little Rock Plastic Surgery

ERIC WRIGHT, MD Wright Plastic Surgery

PODIATRIST

JESSE B. BURKS, DPM Bowen Hefley Orthopedics/Arkansas Surgical Hospital

ALEX DELLINGER, DPM Foot & Ankle Associates of Central Arkansas

MEGAN HERRING, DPM Foot & Ankle Associates of Central Arkansas

NAVAL PATEL, DPM CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

AARON SEITER, DPM

Seiter Foot and Ankle Specialists

JAMES WASHBURN, DPM Washburn Foot and Ankle Center

PROSTHETICS & ORTHOTIST

GABE GALSTER, CP, LPO New Hope Prosthetics & Orthotics

MIKE HORTON, LPO, CPO Horton's Orthotics and Prosthetics

FRANK SNELL, LPO, CPO

Snell Prosthetics & Orthotics

PSYCHIATRIST

ANGELA CHAPMAN, MD

Psychology & Counseling Associates

MARY FRANCES DAUT, MD

Optimal Pain and Wellness

At Advanced Physical Therapy, our focus is on providing patient-centered, outcome oriented and scientifically based treatment for general orthopedic problems, prenatal and postpartum conditions, and pelvic floor dysfunction for men, women, and children of all ages.

Holland – President/CEO Advanced Physical Therapy of Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Benton

(901)-409-6701

// mholland@aptlr.com www.aptlr.com

Little Rock Family Practice would like

welcome Dr. Elizabeth Sullivan

Central Clinic 701 N. University, Suite 100 (501)664-4810

West Clinic 4208 N. Rodney Parham (501)228-7200

Visit our website! www.lrfpc.com

Currently taking appointments.

Melissa

JOHN DOWNES, MD Levi Hospital

LISA FITZGIBBONS, PHD Mercy Clinic Behavioral HealthRogers

LANCE C. FOSTER, MD Northwest Arkansas Psychiatry

KEVIN HURLBUT, MD Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital

TRAVIS JENKINS, MD Ozark Guidance

CARI LONG, APRN, PMHNP-BC Unity Health

ANDREYA REED, MD 501 Counseling, PLLC

REGINA THURMAN, MD Optimal Pain and Wellness

RADIOLOGIST

DANIEL CLARK, MD Conway Regional Health System

DAVID TAMAS, MD St. Vincent Medical Center

SURJITH VATTOTH, MD UAMS Health

REGISTERED NURSE

ROBERTA BRADSHAW, RN Baxter County Medical

CHRISTINA HEITMAN, RN CHI St. Vincent North

KYLIEGH JENKINS, RN CHI St. Vincent North

PAMELA VOLNER, APRN Painted Rock Health & Wellness

RUTHIE WATSON, RN Veterans Administration Hospital

VICTORIA WHEELER, RN Arkansas Heart Hospital

RHEUMATOLOGIST

JAMES ABRAHAM, III, MD CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

SWETHA BODDEDA, MD Conway Regional Health System

COLUMBUS BROWN, IV, MD Arkansas Rheumatology Center

THOMAS KOVALESKI, MD

CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

CUMMINS LUE, MD CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

JESSICA SHORT, MD Washington Regional Rheumatology Clinic

ZAINAB SIDDIQUI, MD Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

LAURA TRIGG, MD CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

RACHEL WAYNE, MD CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic

SPINE SURGEON

JUSTIN SEALE, MD OrthoArkansas

SPORTS MEDICINE

ETHAN SCHOCK, MD OrthoArkansas

JONATHAN WYATT, MD OrthoArkansas

SURGICAL ONCOLOGIST

JOSEPH IVY, MD Highlands Oncology Group

SANJAY MARABOYINA, MD UAMS Baptist Health Radiation Therapy Center

UROLOGIST

RUDOLPH BOWENS, JR., MD St. Bernards Healthcare

JOHN PAUL BRIZZOLARA, MD CARTI

EDWIN DIAZ, MD, MBA Arkansas Urology

TIMOTHY C. GOODSON, MD Arkansas Urology

ROBBIE HURTT, MD Arkansas Urology

GAIL REEDE JONES, MD Arkansas Urology

RONALD G. KUHN, MD Arkansas Urology

TIMOTHY LANGFORD, MD UAMS Health

JEFF MAROTTE, MD Arkansas Urology

VASCULAR SURGEON

CHRISTOPHER STOUT, MD Ozark Regional Vein and Artery Center

RUSSELL WOOD, MD Washington Regional Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery

WOUND CARE

MEGAN SANTIAGO, PA-C Wound Evolution

DEVIN SESSIONS, MD Wound Evolution

"Our mission is to provide the residents of Arkansas with access to concierge-level emergency care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Frustrated by the current state of emergency care, our founding physicians sought to solve the issues that are typical of large, congested hospitals. Our brand of inclusive and compassionate emergency care became the remedy. We provide immediate access to the best physicians, nurses and support staff our community has to offer in a calming, upscale setting. Our specifically dedicated staff and resources allow you to be seen, treated and on your way home as soon as possible. All of our physicians at Cabot Emergency Hospital are also owners who will guarantee you’ll receive a higher level of personal attention and care."

NO GAIN

Overdoing exercise does more harm than good

By JOHN CALLAHAN

The saying “Work smarter, not harder,” likely isn’t something you’d expect to be applied to exercise. By conventional wisdom, a tougher workout means better results and being sore the next day means it’s working. Yet there can be too much of a good thing, and working out too hard and too often can have a range of negative consequences while hampering your results.

Like everything else, exercise can be taken too far. As an extreme example, being able to run a marathon likely means you’re in good shape, but running a marathon every single day would quickly take its toll. The same principle applies to any level of fitness. Even if you aren’t doing something obviously excessive, such as attempting to lift a far-too-heavy weight, the steady wear and tear on your body can be draining.

Exercise is a form of stress on your body. By pushing yourself further than you would normally have to, you actually damage your muscle cells. The body’s process of repairing and replacing those cells causes muscle growth, called hypertrophy. But growth occurs while you rest, not while you work out. When you exercise too much, you place constant stress on your body without giving it enough time to recover and grow.

The side effects of overexercising run from mild to severe. The first signs a workout has gone too far are dizziness, nausea and cramping. These are all signs of dehydration, the most common exertion-related issue according to Dr. Wendell Pahls, director of Emergency and Transfer Service at Baptist Health in Little Rock.

“It is very easy, particularly in the summer months, to overexert yourself,” Pahls said. “A lot of folks will get out and decide that they’re going to go take a run, which they’ve done fine in the pretty spring weather. Then you go out in the summer weather, and you can easily get overexerted, overheated, dehydrated, and go home and discover that muscle cramps are ab-

solutely no fun whatsoever.”

If you begin to overheat, you might actually stop sweating as opposed to sweating more. Thus, if you notice you are sweating much less than you would expect for the exercise you’re doing, you should stop immediately and rehydrate.

“A really good way to make sure that you stay healthy while you’re exerting yourself is to make sure you pre-hydrate: get fluids on board before you actually get out and try and exert yourself,” Pahls said.

In the case of more sustained overexertion, routinely pushing yourself beyond your limits can lead to ongoing health issues. On the milder end of the spectrum, you may experience lethargy, chronic soreness and a lack of enthusiasm for exercise.

“A lot of people get in this hamster wheel of ‘more is better’ for soreness,” said Lee Ann Jolly, PhD, co-owner of Little Rock fitness center Jolly Bodies. “Soreness is actually a very poor indicator of workout effectiveness or progress. It’s more related to genetics and how we respond, as well as the specific stimuli you’re using or type of exercise that you’re doing.

“If you feel it when you’re in the workout, it doesn’t matter if you’re sore or not afterwards. You’re doing the work, feeling it where you should, during the workout. If anything, we’re worried about people being too sore for too long.”

Overexerting yourself can also reduce the quality and effectiveness of your workouts. You may eventually notice your progress has stalled or even reversed, and your resting heart rate (which is ideally low) actually begins to increase rather than decrease.

“People are surprised to hear me say this, as someone who’s been doing this for so long: no, I don’t love working out. If you tell me that I can work out less and get better results, then heck yeah,” Jolly said. “I don’t want to feel like I’m just bashing myself into a wall every day.”

Expected soreness can develop over time

into tendonitis, a painful warning that, if not heeded, could turn into serious injury. Putting too much strain on your body can eventually cause it to break, such as a snapped tendon that can be crippling and require surgery. In rare cases, someone who has been drastically overexercising can develop

he was running.”

Mental health issues can also be both a cause and an effect of overexercise. Charles Chamblee, PhD, a licensed professional counselor with Baptist Health’s outpatient counseling program, described six criteria for identifying overexercise. Together, these signs show a person isn’t just exercising too much – they may actually be addicted to it.

There are several possible roots to the problem, but as Chamblee noted it seems to have become significantly more common after the pandemic.

“How much of that is people just getting back into pre-pandemic levels of exercise versus the identification of this as some sort of addiction? I think that’s still yet to be determined,” Chamblee said.

Most people will exercise simply for performance or to improve their health. But some conditions, such as body dysmorphia, can spur compulsive exercise when a person’s self-image does not accurately reflect what they see in the mirror, whether too big, too small or not muscular enough. Eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder can also be major contributors, as well as OCD in cases where exercise becomes an obsession. In other cases, overexercise may just be a result of social pressures or a misunderstanding of what healthy exercise looks like.

“People put so much pressure on themselves to try to quantify how dedicated they are. It makes sense because the rest of our culture functions that way,” Jolly said. “We put a number on everything, and so I know that can cloud our judgment. Those are the kinds of things that get in the way of us listening to our body.

“When you’re in group exercise and you’ve got friends that are there in a community, it’s very hard to say, ‘Hey, gang, I’m not coming today,’ when you know everyone else is going. You’re like, ‘Why can’t I just have the energy, why? I wish I could.’ And so it messes with you mentally.”

rhabdomyolysis, where proteins and electrolytes contained in muscles move into the bloodstream with potentially life- threatening effects.

“[Rhabdomyolysis] is a condition that causes rapid and pathological breakdown of normal muscle tissue,” Pahls said. “It is often a consequence of physical exertion, sometimes trauma and occasionally infection. Unfortunately, it leads to serious consequences.”

Potential problems from rhabdomyolysis include a dangerously irregular heartbeat, vomiting, seizures, kidney failure and cardiac issues.

“I’ve seen a number of patients, including an unfortunate young man that went out and decided to do wind sprints to get himself ready for fall training,” Pahls said. “[He] overexerted himself and went through acute renal failure from his rhabdomyolysis from the extreme exertion of his legs while

ARE YOU OVERDOING IT?

Luckily, if you feel like you might be overexercising, there’s a pretty clear solution: work out less, rest more. The more difficult part is finding the proper balance. While any doctor or health organization can recommend a basic level of exercise, no one can tell you exactly how much exercise is right for you. That’s going to depend on your personal health, abilities and goals, and you can only find it through experience.

“Realistically, unless you’re a competitive athlete, an hour to an hour and a half, three to four times a week, is a very aggressive but very appropriate exercise regimen,” Pahls said.

Seven to eight hours of sleep per night and eating adequately with proper nutrition are also essential to both weight loss and regular exercise. The right diet for you will depend on your goals, as putting on muscle and trimming pounds require different nutrition. As a general baseline, Pahls recommends the 40/30/30 rule: 40 percent protein, 30 percent complex carbohydrates and 30 percent fat.

“That’s a very good, healthy diet that is edible,” Pahls said. “You can’t stay on a diet of cardboard and ice water for the rest of your life, which some people try to do. You have to eat reasonably and you have to eat healthy.”

The ideal caloric intake can vary drastically, from as low as 1,300 calories a day for a very small person to as high as 2,500 calories for a larger person. Additionally, you have to manage your expectations of what goals

Too much exercise can actually be bad for your physical health and obsessing over working out can speak to your mental state as well. Here are six things to look for that may suggest you’re out of balance.

1. Is exercise the most important thing in your life? Does your commitment to it prevent you from being involved in other activities?

2. Have interpersonal conflicts arisen because of your commitment to exercise? Has someone confronted you, worried you were exercising to the detriment of your health or relationships?

Charles

3. Do you use exercise as a way to change your mood, using it to escape from life or get a buzz?

4. Has the amount of time you spend exercising increased and is it encroaching on other aspects of your life?

5. If you miss exercising, does it lead to mood instability or irritability?

6. If you try to cut down on your level of exercise, do you later return to, or even exceed, your previous level?

Dr. Wendell Pahls

Chamblee, PhD

are really achievable.

“You take a woman who’s 5’2” and weighs 107 pounds, and she wants to lose 15 pounds and get down to 92, that’s probably not healthy,” Pahls said. “You get a guy that is 5’8” and 370 pounds and he says, ‘I think I need to weigh 135,’ that’s never, short of some type of bariatric program, going to be something that he can attain. Those are not legitimate, real goals.

“A healthy weight loss, if you’re really doing things optimally, is about a pound a week. That requires significant discipline. If somebody says, ‘I want to lose 15 pounds,’ you’re looking at four, five or six months of determined diet and exercise to make sure that you’re having a healthy weight loss.”

To find the right balance, Jolly recommends the rule of thirds.

“If you’re finding a good balance in life and working out, managing all that stress, a third of the time the workout should feel amazing,” she said. “You’re hitting it, you’re able to lift, you feel it in your muscles and at the end of it you feel good, there’s an endorphin rush. A third of the time, they’re ‘meh.’ It’s not that they were great, but they weren’t awful, you’re just kind of right there in the middle.

“And then a third of the time, maybe you thought, ‘I wanted to lift XYZ weights, I had it set, but my body wouldn’t do it. You’re not feeling it.”

If your workout experience roughly matches the feeling of thirds, chances are you’re right on point. But if you start to feel like more than a third of your exercises aren’t feeling right, then you may need to cut back. For example, if you work out six times a week and on three of those days you just aren’t quite up to it, your performance is backsliding and you start feeling the pain right away, you may want to instead only work out five times a week and give yourself an extra day to rest, or swap to a less intense regimen.

Exercise is hardly the only source of stress in a person’s life; any number of personal issues, from family to relationships to work, can pile more stress on top. Some people work out as a form of stress relief and while this certainly can be helpful, it creates yet another balancing act where you need to avoid going too far.

Rather than focusing on calories burned, miles run, pounds lifted or even simple aesthetics as milestones for exercise, Jolly recommends using your resting heart rate as an easily trackable measure of health. This places the emphasis on recovery and the health of your heart and lungs, rather than encouraging you to constantly push yourself to what might be an unhealthy degree. Serious injuries from overexertion are not limited to the likes of Olympic athletes; they can and do happen to average people in everyday workout settings.

“For most anybody that I work with, I’d recommend doing a couple private sessions so I can see how they move and where their current ability level is at,” Jolly said. “Then you have the knowledge as a participant in a group setting to see around those corners and know where your limitations are.”

For those who compulsively exercise, it likely isn’t as easy to just take time off and give their body and chance to rest. In those cases, outside help is crucial.

“Oftentimes, those who recognize any sort of compulsion or some sort of excessive activity in their lives, there can be an aspect of embarrassment to it,” Chamblee said. “So they’ll not want to tell anybody, they will want to try to figure it out on their own. And one of the biggest keys in being able to make any significant behavioral change oftentimes is accountability, having someone that you trust enough to be able to let them into what’s going on with you, and you ask for their help, their accountability, in making some of those changes.”

Setting meaningful goals outside of exercising can also help you move your focus away from working out

and get involved in other areas of life. When you no longer see exercise as the end-all, be-all of achievements, you avoid missing out on other, more meaningful opportunities.

“It may be important to talk to a counselor,” Chamblee said, “somebody who can help unpack some of the things that are leading to these behaviors. So many times, we see that it is a previous life experience that helps somebody to cope with things in an unhealthy manner. And whether we’re talking about exercise, eating disorders or some other behavioral thing, it can come back to something as small as a comment from a parent or a teacher when they were a child that just got stuck in their brain.”

Whether the addiction springs from a traumatic experience or a simple, offhand comment, identifying how current behaviors link back to that event can allow one to process it properly and develop healthier coping mechanisms.

The common thread is being aware of what is reasonable, attainable and sustainable. Unfortunately, with the constant bombardment of conflicting information from social media, it has become increasingly difficult to figure out the right path.

“As you’re taking in all of this information from the internet and social media, check your sources,” Jolly said. “What qualifications does the person that is stating X, Y and Z have? Ultimately, the consumer is the one that’s going to pay, whether they wasted money on a product, were over-promised and under-delivered, or they just feel stuck again on this hamster wheel of not knowing what to do. And so sometimes the best thing to do is just shut all that out and take a deep breath.”

At the end of the day, there might not be a silver bullet, but there is a silver lining when it comes to exercise: less can be more. Figuring out the right balance for yourself in working out, dieting and resting will result in better results than pushing yourself until you break something.

“A really good way to make sure that you stay healthy while you’re exerting yourself is to make sure you pre-hydrate: get fluids on board before you actually get out and try and exert yourself.”

Dr. Lee Ann Jolly

(Photo By Jason Master)

– By Jason Pederson

WHEN BEING LAST MIGHT BE BEST

Somebody has to be last, right? And for his graduating class of 2021, Will Porter of Little Rock says it was definitely him.

“I tried not to ask others if I could use their phones a whole lot, but sometimes it was necessary, like if I needed to contact my parents so they could pick me up,” recalled Porter, now 19 and a junior at Florida State University. Porter’s parents made him wait until he got his driver’s license before buying him his first smartphone.

“As far as giving Will a phone at 16 and driving, the premise was for him to be able to contact us in an emergency as well as monitor his choices with the phone while he was still under our supervision,” said Will’s mother, Robyn Porter. “This gave us the opportunity to continue to guide him and help him set boundaries and talk about the mistakes when they happened.”

What were some of those boundaries set by Robyn and her husband David? No smartphones in bedrooms at night. No smartphones at the table for meals. Parents had the right to look at a phone at any time and read anything that was being written or received.

“When I first got my phone, I wasn’t allowed to take it upstairs and I wasn’t supposed to use it when nobody else was in the room,” said Will. “It was mainly for direct communication between me and my parents in case something bad happened.”

Even now that he is on his own, Will still self-regulates his smartphone usage. “I shut my phone down every night before I go to bed,” he said. “I have a time limit set on my phone and have gotten rid of all social media. Smartphones are really great tools when you are taught how to use them well, but can be dangerous weapons when used without control.”

As anyone with children born since the arrival of the first Apple

iPhone in 2007 can attest, the Porter family is the exception. According to Common Sense Media, 42 percent of American kids have a smartphone by age 10, 71 percent by age 12, and 91 percent by age 14.

Brooke Shannon wants to change that. The Texas mom started Wait Until 8th, a non-profit that she hopes will create a movement. She encourages parents not to get their children a smartphone until they reach eighth grade. It won’t be easy. Our two children, both adults now, whined and argued and pleaded and eventually wore us down at 7th grade.

“We’ve essentially allowed a generation of kids to be the guinea pigs of technology,” said Shannon on a recent online forum for subscribers of The Free Press.

“Having spent so much time teaching high school boys, I feel like I had a front row seat to this experiment,” said one longtime Little Rock teacher who agreed to visit about cell phone usage if I allowed her to remain anonymous. She says her students are very open with her and she doesn’t want that to change.

“I saw my students change over the years, which is to be expected in any culture, but can attribute a lot of it to smartphone usage,” she said. “One day, I would guess about 2013 or so, I asked all of my freshmen ‘Who has a cell phone?’ and all but one did. That one kid was top of the class and was such a hard worker.

“They talked about the easy access to porn, how easy it was to become addicted. How they slept with their phones under their pillows so they wouldn’t miss a text, this was before Instagram and Snap even. How they received, and I’m sure sent nudes, and how they were up all night on them when their parents went to bed.”

Shannon says parents with concerns about improper usage have options. For example, a GABB Phone looks like a smart-

phone but it is internet-free. Designed for users ages 5 to 15, you can make calls, send texts, take photos, and the device has a GPS tracker for parents. Or, there are parental controls on smartphones that can limit screen time, content, social media, websites, games and more. There are also ways for parents to monitor smartphone usage without having to say “Let me see your phone.”

“Monitorization by parents is the safest option for teenagers and elementary age kids with smartphones,” said Will Porter. “Once I got a phone and I saw how much of a waste of time it can be, I understood more fully why my parents decided against me having one. Their concerns were definitely justified, and I wouldn’t change anything if I went back in time.”

What were their concerns? “Inappropriate material to be looked at or received,” said Robyn Porter. “Social media sites, bullying, and a decrease of interaction with us and others. I had access to Will’s Instagram and Facebook accounts on my phone so I could monitor them.”

The Little Rock teacher who learned so much from her students put that knowledge to work with her own children. For example, smartphones were not allowed until after eighth grade. Text messages were monitored for the first couple of years, social media was not allowed until after high school graduation, no usage after 10 p.m. on school nights (midnight on weekends), and phones charged overnight downstairs and not in bedrooms.

“I used to say to my friends, ‘If you aren’t willing to put a cardboard box full of Playboy magazines in your kid’s room and

tell them ‘Don’t look at those,’ then why would you let them take a smartphone to their room?’ Because that’s basically what you are doing,” she said.

“We’re still studying what smartphone use does to the brain, and what little we do know … it doesn’t look good,” said Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, author and recognized expert on Generation Z. Twenge was on the same online forum with Shannon.

“The more time spent on a phone, the more likely one is to be depressed, and the more likely one is to be sleep-deprived. We already have an adolescent mental health crisis and if we don’t make changes, things will get worse or remain the same – both tragic.”

One change Twenge would like to see is federal legislation raising the minimum age for anyone registering for a social media account to 16. She believes unlimited cell phone usage stunts social and academic growth, creating future disparities, while children with smartphone limits become better problem solvers, have deeper personal relationships, embark on more adventures and become more avid readers. You can get and learn to use a smartphone at any age, but you are only a kid once.

All children will eventually ask this question: “When can I get a smartphone?”

All involved agree that a lot of parents really, really struggle with how to answer. After all, smartphones are amazing, they are entertaining and they help with the safetyism that motivates many parents: “I want to know where my child is, and I want my child to be able to reach me if something happens.”

Without a smartphone, your child risks becoming a social pariah. But with one – especially one without limits – are you risking exposing your child to harmful content and unhealthy interactions?

“Our kids need us to be the parents,” said Shannon. “Too many parents are afraid to say ‘No’ or ‘Not yet.’ But studies show kids need, and do better with, structure and order. Kids will respect your boundaries. Without rules, kids will run all over you.”

To date, about 45,000 parents have agreed and signed the Wait Until 8th pledge. The Porters didn’t sign a pledge and didn’t cave to the pressure of “All my friends and classmates have a smartphone.”

“We don’t make choices based on what other parents allow for their kids because we are only accountable to God for how we raise the children He gave us,” said Robyn Porter.

“Growing up, I always thought it was weird to see 12- and 13-year-olds with smartphones,” said Will Porter. “To be honest, the older I got, the more frustrating it was to see all my friends get phones while I was left out. I wanted my own phone, mainly for convenience. But I understood why my parents chose not to buy me one before I could drive. In a world full of technology, it didn’t seem like such a bad thing to wait a little longer than others to indulge in this techno lifestyle.”

Good things come to those who wait, but that is not the motivation for Wait until 8th. It’s the fear that bad things might come, via smartphone, to those who don’t.

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.

JASON PEDERSON

“I SAW MY STUDENTS CHANGE OVER THE YEARS, WHICH IS TO BE EXPECTED IN ANY CULTURE, BUT CAN ATTRIBUTE A LOT OF IT TO SMARTPHONE USAGE”

MURDER MYSTERY: Death of the Deputy

By Sarah Russell –

He stood his ground; so did she. They were both good at that. Between them was a pregnancy, one that would reveal the lines they had crossed. Fiercely determined to keep their baby, she was prepared to face the consequences. He was not. So, was he the person that crossed the ultimate line?

Though the years got worn around the edges, Thurman Abernathy always maintained his innocence in the murder of Linda Edwards. And nobody has been able to prove otherwise.

The first line crossed was that of an affair. Edwards knew Abernathy, 36, was married with kids. Her own marriage had already hit its expiration date, and she, too, had kids. Bartending nights at the Black Orchid in Hot Springs had given the 29-year-old mother days free for her kids and school.

Her graduation from Garland County Community College was only one semester away when her finances hit the wall. She lost the house she was living in, so she put the furniture in storage, found a place to stay temporarily and got a job with consistent pay. She was now the Garland County Sheriff’s Department’s newest radio dispatcher. It also came with a title: Mom was now Deputy Edwards.

Abernathy also had a title – he was the head of the narcotics department for the Hot Springs Police Department. By the summer of 1976, the Air Force vet had been a law enforcement officer for almost 10 years.

Barely a month after she became a deputy, Edwards found out she

was pregnant, news that blindsided both her and her lover. Despite being very upset, Abernathy was insistent in his opposition to abortion, giving the baby away or letting Edwards raise the baby alone. She told a friend he couldn’t seem to stand the thought of him not raising his baby.

On the other hand, Abernathy faced a hard reality. This pregnancy threatened everything he was – husband, father, cop. And at that point, Edwards was still not financially able to give her kids a new home. They came to a painful, but mutual agreement. An outof-town abortion was arranged.

Ultimately, Edwards couldn’t go through with it; she came back to Hot Springs determined to give this baby life. As a friend later remembers her saying, “Don’t let yourself feel bad or hurt for me, because I’m on top of it now, OK?”

Certain that the baby was a girl, Edwards chose the name Capri Laura –Abernathy was a Capricorn and Laura was a take on Lawrence, his middle name. The father was not appeased and their relationship became one of fierce fights, yet Edwards never saw herself giving up on it, even though he was callous about her financial instability growing worse with the pregnancy.

“He was like a god to her,” a girlfriend said later, “but he never told her he loved her.”

“Determined mad” was how her friend described Linda’s mood on Saturday, August 21, 1976. That morning, she had read in the paper about Thurman’s promotion. That meant a pay raise, too. His choosing not to tell her had spoken volumes, and she didn’t care for the message.

She told her friend she had reached the point of ultimatum, that he was either going to get a divorce, marry her and give the baby his last name, or she was going to see a lawyer and have her last name changed to Abernathy.

After work that Saturday, Linda dropped the kids and her babysitting friend off at the Paramount Theatre. Just in case she wasn’t back in time to pick them up, she gave her friend money for cab fare home. It was early evening. It’s been documented that at 8:30 p.m. she made a call to Abernathy and sometime later, as he would tell investigators, they met in a church parking lot on Central

“He was like a god to her, but he never told her he loved her.”

Investigative reporter Mara Leveritt's piece.

Avenue. He was still on duty, he said, so they only talked briefly. Then he left first, not seeing what direction she took.

Incredibly, he would also say she mentioned nothing about a pregnancy, but did concede that she was “as usual” pressuring him to leave his wife. Witnesses would later say they saw her driving alone down Central Avenue around midnight.

Sunday morning her concerned friend notified the police: Linda hadn’t come home, nor did she call to check on her kids. By early evening, the 1972 white Chevrolet Impala found parked beside Highway 290 was confirmed to be hers. It didn’t appear to be a crime scene, nor were her purse, badge or police ID found inside. Nothing else was found in that vicinity.

In mid-February 1977, hunters found her skeletal remains miles away on Jack Mountain. Her purse, badge and police ID weren’t there either, although jewelry was. Blunt force trauma to the head caused her death, but the type of object used could not be determined.

Law enforcement agencies are not allowed to handle cases involving one of their own. Thus, both the Garland County Sheriff’s Department and the Hot Springs Police Department were required to stand back as the Arkansas State Police took over the case within a week of the disappearance. And it was the Arkansas State Police that, in July 1977, charged Lt. Thurman Abernathy with the homicide of Linda Edwards.

There was immediate concern whether the facts of the case, as investigators had uncovered them, had enough meat to them to get a guilty verdict. The prosecutor had motive and opportunity but no witnesses, crime scene or forensic evidence. Abernathy’s attorney was quick to present the legal argument that much of the state’s case was based on hearsay and was thereby inadmissible in court. He argued this applied to conversations that had taken place regarding the state of the relationship, the name of the person Edwards said she was meeting that night, the possibility that she was going to give Abernathy an ultimatum and even her sharing that she was pregnant in the first place.

A year after Abernathy’s arrest, a judge sided with the defense. The

prosecution countered, appealing to the Arkansas Supreme Court, which agreed with the defense, with one exception: Testimony affirming Edwards went to meet Abernathy that night would be allowed. Even with that allowance, the prosecution’s case was gutted.

At this point, the case changed hands to a new prosecutor who decided on a different strategy, to convene a grand jury in a take-itto-the people approach. This too ran aground, as in March 1979 they voted not to indict. Abernathy was quoted at the time as feeling “completely exonerated.”

Well, not quite. As Arkansas Times investigative reporter Mara Leveritt wrote back then, “Not being indicted is not the same as being tried and acquitted.” While Edwards’ family felt the justice system had failed her, Leveritt pointed out the potential for justice was actually built into the grand jury’s decision.

“The grand jury’s refusal to indict kept open the possibility of a trial in the future if more evidence were to surface,” she wrote. “Had Abernathy been tried and found not guilty, he would be immunized against ever being tried again by laws against double jeopardy.”

The case apparently concluded, Abernathy was offered his job back, with back wages. But when he discovered he’d also been demoted for conduct unbecoming a police officer, he then chose to be done with law enforcement. His marriage still intact, he remained in Hot Springs until his death a few years ago.

Meanwhile, the case flatlined. Officially, it is still an open investigation and in conversations within the community, intriguing questions are still bandied about. If Abernathy staged Edwards’ car on Hwy. 290, who would have helped him do that? Who might have wanted to ensure that Abernathy’s marriage was no longer threatened? Could Abernathy, being a narcotics officer, have been set up for a fall by someone he had taken down or someone he was after?

A thorough murder investigation would also have required looking into people in the victim’s circle. Who might have been angry at Edwards? Who stood to gain by her death? Did Edwards perhaps unknowingly have information gained as a bartender that someone feared she might reveal as a deputy? Even a random encounter cannot be ruled out. A beautiful woman in a white convertible out alone late at night could conceivably be a target, especially at a time when there were no cell phones or surveillance cameras. Due to the condition of her remains, it was not possible to say if there had been sexual assault.

And what to make of the other loose ends: Where is her purse, badge or police ID? Did a sexual predator, cop-hater or other killer take them as a trophy? And where was the crime scene? Had Abernathy lied about meeting her behind the church, eliminating that as a crime scene, or met her somewhere else altogether?

Through the years, Edwards’ now-adult children have always been her strongest advocates, setting up a website and a Facebook page to try and maintain interest in the case, as well as reaching out to local and national media to stir up any new leads. Among their unanswered questions, one is primary: What was under Linda Edwards’ fingernails? They submitted a request to gain permission to exhume their mother’s remains, an action that at the time the A&E cable network even offered to pay for.

Obtaining DNA from her fingernails is a long shot for two reasons. First, she would have had to have been close enough, of course, to her attacker to scratch that person. Second and perhaps more significantly, her remains were exposed to the elements for the six months between discovery of the car and hunters finding her in the woods which likely degraded any skin samples past the point of usefulness. At any rate, the family’s request has since gone as cold as the case itself. And, disturbingly, they have been informed the evidence in the case has been lost.

So, the family and the community have been left with this: Did Thurman Abernathy – husband, father and cop – commit the perfect crime? Was he the person who crossed the ultimate line? Or did someone else, perhaps still among us, slip into the night with the most terrible of secrets?

Lisa Edwards

Porches

By Joe David Rice

At a low point in our country’s continuing evolution, front porches became passé. While I’m no architectural historian or demographic analyst, I’ve given some thought to this matter and feel compelled to point out several factors which may have contributed to the demise of these delightful gathering places.

The first has to do with air conditioning. Although rudimentary efforts at AC can be traced back centuries to ancient China, inventors and engineers began making real breakthroughs on coolants and compressors in the early 1900s. World War II interrupted their progress, but the ubiquitous window units appeared shortly thereafter. Sales in the U.S. rose from 74,000 in 1948 to 1,045,000 by 1953. With more comfortable interior environments, folks no longer had to sit on their porches to cool off during the summer months, especially in the South.

No doubt the advent of television also played a pivotal role in the disappearance of the American front porch. The television industry went through a long gestation period, also hampered by World War II, before the spellbinding boxes finally arrived in U.S. homes. In fact, it wasn’t until 1947 that large-scale commercial broadcasting began. The total number of TV sets in the country rocketed from 6,000 in 1946 to approximately 12,000,000 by 1951. Stars such as Edward R. Murrow, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Jack Benny began regularly appearing in countless households across the country. Rather than sitting on their porches and engaging in conversations with neighbors, Americans retreated to their living room sofas and quietly watched hour after hour of Hollywood productions, many featuring a new technology known as the laugh track. Today the inventory of TV sets in America –about 330,000,000 – outnumbers our population.

I may be completely misguided on this last possible factor, but instincts tell me the automobile – the numbers of which also exploded following the war – played a part in the disappearance of the porch. For generations porches or verandas or stoops, whatever you wish to call them, provided a traditional place for adolescents to get better acquainted, particularly if a handy swing was available. But with millions of cars on the streets, the porch – once an integral part of the process known as courting – soon yielded to the backseat.

Take your pick. In the late 1940s/early 1950s, air conditioning, television, and/or cars (or a combination thereof) made American front porches less desirable. This trend did not go unnoticed by architects and subdivision developers. For the most part, the millions upon millions of new homes constructed following World War II lacked front porches. The houses had air conditioning, living rooms and dens for TVs, and a carport or garage. But spacious and comfortable porches had vanished from the blueprints.

As for me, I still prefer the old style home where friends and family can gather on the porch for watermelon and homemade ice cream. Where aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents can hold spontaneous reunions. Where family histories can be passed down to the next generation. Where the art of storytelling can be nurtured and appreciated. Where dogs can snooze and where cats can perch safely on the railings. Where recipes and other secrets can be quietly shared. Where adolescents can begin their initial efforts to unravel the mysteries of sex. Where neighbors can convene and discuss sporting events, the weather, the best time to prune the azaleas – or maybe even local political shenanigans.

Many such porches still exist in Arkansas, but don’t bother to look for them in the suburbs. Instead, check out neighborhoods where homes were built in the mid-1940s or earlier. El Dorado has many wonderful homes with classic front porches. Same for Batesville, Helena, Camden, Pine Bluff, Fort Smith, Hot Springs, Jonesboro, Little Rock, and North Little Rock. In northwest Arkansas, check out Fayetteville and Eureka Springs.

Recent articles indicate there’s a resurgence of interest in porches. One, titled “The Porch Is Making a Comeback,” appeared in a 2014 issue of The Wall Street Journal. And while the Journal’s conservative editors generally aren’t fans of unions, even they might approve of the Porch Sitters Union, a national “right-to-sit” group established in 2009 under this premise: “The Porch is a magical place where you are transported to a better state of mind and memories are born.” Many Arkansans are members – and I’m among them.

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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