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HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD LOCAL MOVIE GURU GRAHAM GORDY
SMOOTH
LOCAL JAZZ BY RODNEY BLOCK
MUSIC INTERNATIONAL
POWER LIFTER
PHILLIP BREWER
@TOAD SUCK DAZE
KRIS ALLEN SHAWN MCDONALD JERRY JEFF WALKER DJANGO WALKER INSIDE AUSTIN’S
SXSW
INTERACTIVE EXPO
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WELCOME iCONWAY MYCONWAY YOURCONWAY-WHAT DO YOU WANT CONWAY TO BECOME?
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iConway – Individuals coming together to discuss, debate, agree, improve, and shape Conway to be the city you where you want to grow, live, work, play, raise a family, contribute.
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ON THE COVER Toad Suck Daze 30th Anniversary original painting by Conway’s Heather Mainord. Only 200 of the 17x24 hand signed and numbered prints will be made. Available at the Toad Store, 1321 Oak St. (the Old Ice House) in Downtown Conway, 327-TOAD(8623).
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Toad Suck Daze and Conway happenings, iCon has you covered with our events calendar. Check out photos from past area events. PAGE 8
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r undabout
ecofriendly
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iCON MUSIC: Rodney Block’s music is “outside the box.”
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TOAD SUCK HEADLINERS: Kris Allen, Shawn McDonald and more are set to take the stage at this year’s annual festival.
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ON STAGE: Who’s playing where. We’ve got the lowdown on area bands and plays, covering Conway’s nightlife.
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ICONOMICS: Killing the goose that laid the golden egg
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iCON FLAVOR: It’s a simple recipe, and Donald Bryant, owner of The Fish House, has perfected the process. From golden-fried catfish to all the fixin’s, this Conway restaurant has it all.
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ON THE MOVE: University of Central Arkansas’ Haley Fowler is working on her life’s goals, and her position on campus fits the plan.
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CITY ART: Local artist Matthew Lopas has a distinct outlook on art. His 3D paintings are definitely worth looking into.
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POWER LIFTER: Conway’s Phillip Brewer has taken what was formerly a weakness and turned it into a strength — and not just metaphorically.
34 April Ambrose will be named Hendrix College’s Outstanding Young Alumna during Hendrix Alumni Weekend, April 15-16. She gives Hendrix credit for helping choose her life’s {green} path.
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contents
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APRIL 2011 / VOL. I, ISSUE 2
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36 Conway native Graham Gordy finds success in Tinseltown
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iCON TECH: Games, social networking, finance and more ... if you’ve got a smart phone, there’s an app for almost anything.
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DOWNTOWN: April is filling up with all kinds of activities, and the focus is downtown Conway. Concerts, open house and an artwalk, just to name a few.
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SXSWi: Social networking has taken on a life of it’s own — so much so that SXSW has dedicated an entire event to the cause. Want to get involved? Better book now.
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iCONSCIOUSNESS: As the city of Conway continues to grow, there’s a potential problem that’s going unnoticed - at least by many.
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LAST LOOK: Why do they call it Toad Suck, anyway?
STAFF EDITOR / LORI QUINN CREATIVE DIRECTOR / STEWART COLE ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER / RHONDA OVERBEY GRAPHIC ARTISTS / JAY PRINCE & KELLIE MCANULTY ADVERTISING SALES JESICA TALBERT BETSEY WILLBANKS ROBIN RYE DAWN RIVERS Follow us on Twitter: @iconwaymagazine www.iconway.net Check out our Facebook page!
COMMENTS? We want your feedback! Write to us at feedback@iconway.net. iCon, Conway City Magazine, is a publication of the Log Cabin Democrat. All rights reserved. iCon is published monthly, 12 times per year. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to iCon, Conway City Magazine P.O. Box 969 Conway, AR 72033 For subscriber service, please call (501) 327-6621 Unauthorized use of materials contained herein is strictly prohibited. 7
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EVENTSCALENDAR
Flag Raising Ceremony 04.01 {Friday} Ceremony to recognize national child abuse prevention month; noon; Faulkner County Courthouse. Downtown Open House 04.03 {Sunday} Downown businesses open from 1-5 p.m., to showcase Spring/Summer merchandise. www.downtownconway.org. Conway Christian Golf Tournament 04.04 {Monday} Centennial Valley Country Club. Registration is 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Lunch is at 11:30 a.m. for all golfers. Tee times are 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Player registration entry fee is $100/golfer. Four-man scramble includes lunch and cart. For more information call (501) 513-2522.
Awards for Excellence 04.07 {Thursday} Faulkner County Board of Realtors’ Awards for Excellence; 6 p.m.; Centennial Valley Country Club Events Center. For more information call (501) 513-2528.
Model Railroad Club 04.04 {Monday} The Central AR Model Railroad Club (CAMRC) meets
Hendrix Senior Art Show Opening 04.07 {Thursday} 4-6 p.m. Trieschmann Lobby, Hendrix College Cam-
in partnership with
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at Whole Hog Cafe at 120 E. Oak St. for a self-pay meal at 5:30 p.m. The club meeting follows at 6. As train hobbyists involved in all scales of railroading, we participate in the world’s greatest hobby by designing, constructing, and demonstrating train layouts in action during family-friendly train open house events held in Conway. We also build community awareness of the railroad history of this area and sponsor educational activities about railroading. Visit our website: www.artrains. org. or call 269-3030.
Earth Day Celebration 04.22 {Friday} Local bands will be performing downtown at Simon Park. pus, 1600 Washington Ave. Admission is free. Contact Department of Art, (501) 450-1423.
SUBMIT AN EVENT TO iCON: FEEDBACK@ICONWAY.NET n
CONWAY YOUNG PROFESSIONALS’ CHAMBER AFTERPARTY
Lecture on Judaism and China 04.07 {Thursday} 7:30 p.m. Mills Building, Room A, Hendrix College Campus, 1600 Washington Ave. Admission is free. Lecture by Dr. Dan Ben-Canaan, professor of Research and Writing Methodology at Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies in Harbin, China, and the founder and director of Heilongjiang University’s Sino-Israel Research and Study Center. Contact Crain-Maling Center of Jewish Culture, (501) 450-4598. Bread and Puppet Theater 04.08 {Friday} UCA Public Appearances presents the internationally-known Bread and Puppet Theater, who will hold a workshop at UCA April 4-8, culminating with a performance on campus April 8. The outdoor performance will be free and open to the public beginning at 3 p.m., Friday, April 8. The show will be made that week, so the exact place will be decided once the theater troupe is on campus. The performance will move indoors in case of inclement weather. Lindsey Davenport, Whitney Allison
E-Waste Drive 04.08-04.09 {Friday-Saturday} Electronic waste drive 8 a.m.-noon. For more information, contact kim@conwayarkansas.org. Kidsfest 04.09 {Saturday} Children’s Advocacy Alliance presents Kidsfest at Simon Park, a family fun day to celebrate our kids. Event includes a 1k Superhero Race, a 5k Fun Run and a children’s music festival. 8-10:30 a.m. State Crappie Championship 04.09 {Saturday} Weigh-in for the State Crappie Championship will be held April 9 from 3-6 p.m. inside the Conway Expo Center. It’s free and open to the public. The Arkansas State Crappie Masters Championship is sponsored by the Conway Convention & Visitors Bureau. Last year, there were fishermen from 15 states, and many were pros. Email CVB@ ConwayArkansas.org or call (501) 327.7788 for more information. Kids Fishing Rodeo 04.09 {Saturday} Crappie Masters presents the Kids Fishing Rodeo. Sponsored by the Conway Convention & Visitors Bureau, signup is from 8:15-9 a.m., with the event taking place from 9-11 a.m., at Bob Courtway Middle School, 1200 Bob
Paige Turner, Austin Hall, Meghan Thompson, Lynn Nguyen
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Courtway Drive. For more information, call the Conway Convention & Visitors Bureau at (501) 327.7788. Omelet Breakfast/Auction/Car Show 04.09 {Saturday} Faulkner County Day School 29th Annual Omelet Breakfast/Silent Auction/Car Show to support the programs and services of the Faulkner County Day School. The breakfast will be from 6:30-11a.m on Saturday at the Antioch Baptist Church on Amity Road. Tickets may be purchased by calling 329-2164, or from families associated with the Day School. Adult tickets are $6 and tickets for children under 12 are $4. For more information call 329-2164. Persons interested in volunteering should contact Colleen Brock at 329-2164. Shakespeare Scurry at The Village 04.15 {Friday} Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre presents Shakespeare Scurry at The Village at The Village at Hendrix. It will feature a 2K fun run. Period costumes are encouraged for the event that culminates in a renaissance fair. The evening will also showcase a preview performance of the festival. The run begins at 6 p.m., and the preview performance begins at 7 p.m. Both are open to the entire family. Tractor Show 04.15-16 {Friday-Saturday} Tractor Show at Pickles Gap Village. For more information call Howard or Maryhal Hargis at (501) 988-1354. UCA Mudbugs & Bears Crawfish Boil 04.16 {Saturday} Join UCA alumni and friends for a traditional Cajun Crawfish Boil, Saturday, April 16, 5-7 p.m. (immediately following the UCA Spring Football Scrimmage) at the Crafton Alumni Pavilion on the UCA campus. Advance tickets are $15 per person for an all-you-can-eat meal. Free hotdogs for children 10 & under. Purchase your tickets today at (501) 852-2955 or online at www.uca.edu/alumni/events (Tickets will be $20 the day of the event). Dr. Jack Logan Memorial Golf Tournament 04.16 {Saturday} Conway Interfaith Clinic’s Dr. Jack Logan Memorial Golf Tournament will be held at the Tannenbaum Golf Course, Greers Ferry Lake with a breakfast at 8 a.m., and a 4-Person Scramble/Shot Gun start beginning at 9 a.m. For more information call Denise at (501) 932-0559, ext 305 or (662) 538-4598. Stuck on a Truck Final 25 04.18 {Monday} Final 25 contestants and two alternates drawn for 2011 Stuck on a Truck at Toad Suck Daze www.stuckonatruck.com. Home Builders Golf Tournament 04.18 {Monday} Faulkner County Home Builders’ Association’s 12th annual Golf Tournament will be held at Centennial Valley Country Club. For more information contact Veronica Palmer at (501) 327-2121. Cooking with Chef 04.26 {Tuesday} “Cooking with Chef” at the poolside 10
Gazebo Centennial Valley Country Club. 7 p.m. Chef Vince Scherrey, Tommy Bowman, Dee Thompson and Alex Rosas will prepare for you their best grilled items. They will provide you with grilling tips, recipes for some great marinades and teach how to work with seasonal, fresh food. Class will include a taste of the featured recipes and an adult beverage. $40 per person or $60 per couple. You must register for this class. Contact Maret at maretcm@gmail.com or (501) 339-3234. Stuck on a Truck 04.28 {Thursday} Stuck on a Truck at Toad Suck Daze starts at noon in downtown Conway www.stuckonatruck.com. Toad Suck Cup 04.29 {Friday} Annual golf tournament; Centennial Valley Country Club. Contact Conway Chamber of Commerce more details and registration information at (501) 327-7788. Car Show 04.30 {Saturday} The annual Toad Suck Car Club Show will be held on the Bank of America lot, in part with the Toad Suck Daze Festival. For more information, visit www.toadsuckcarclub.com. Women Can Run/Walk Kick Off Party 05.06 {Friday} Kick-off party for Women Can Run/Walk event. There will be a Pasta Party at the expo center at the new fairgrounds. Lorraine Moller, four time Olympic marathon runner, will be guest speaker, plus other activities. Packet pick-up for the race will be at The Sporty Runner May 5-6, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, call (501) 328-9255. Women Can Run/Walk 5K 05.07 {Saturday} Women Can Run/Walk 5K in association with The Sporty Runner. The start and finish will be at Conway Regional Hospital by the Women’s and Surgery Center on Ada. Our Women Can Run/Walk clinics started the first week in March and will continue through May 6th. The ladies are trained twice a week for 10 weeks, and then come to Conway for their graduation event, which is the Women Can Run/Walk 5K. There are 40 cities around the state having clinics. The clinics and race are sponsored by Women Run Arkansas Run/Walk Club. For more information call 328-9255. Real Housewives of Faulkner County 05.07 {Saturday} The Real Housewives of Faulkner County event will be 6 p.m., Saturday, May 7, at Agora Event Center in Conway. Supporters of Habitat for Humanity are encouraged to go to www.habitatfor humanityfaulknercounty.org and make a donation for their favorite Real Housewife. Off the Clocks 05.10 {Tuesday} Conway Young Professionals “Off the Clocks,” sponsored by Oak Street Bistro; 800 Fourth Avenue, Conway. 5-6:30 p.m. Come and learn more about Conway Young Professionals. Bring your business 11
Lindsay Grifford, Amanda Legate
Brian and Jessica Zimmerman
Josh and Jennifer Spencer
Rachel Curtis, Patrick Pipkin 12
ST. PATRICK’S DAY IN CONWAY
Kelsy Crain, Abby Halley, Ryan Loundy
Dr. Jason and Jessica Harvard
cards to network. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be served. Cash bar available. For more information, call (501) 327-7788. Taste of Home Cooking School 05.12 {Thursday} Taste of Home Cooking School at UCA Reynolds Performance Hall, sponsored by the Log Cabin Democrat and Women’s Inc. VIP seats, premium seats and general admission tickets on sale now at www.uca.edu/tickets. For more information, call (501) 505-1213.
Creating a Culture of Execution 05.16 {Monday} Power lunch “Creating a Culture of Execution,” sponsored by Acxiom Corporation in partnership with FranklinCovey and Conway Young Professionals. Event takes place from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Agora Conference Center, 705 E. Siebenmorgan Road, Conway. Cost is $15 for members and $25 for nonmembers. To register call Lindsay Grifford at the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce at (501) 327-7788 or email Lindsay@ConwayArkansas.org.
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Travis Wynegar, Katie Nielsen, Eric Glover
Daniel Shea, Kaitlyn Williams
Margaret Smith, Brian Ross, Timmy Myers, Eleise Myers
Slade Patterson, Trista Casey
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Sarah Fulcher, Leah Smith
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ICONMUSIC RODNEY BLOCK
‘OUTSIDE THE BOX’ Jazz and hip hop ensemble Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers will release a new album this summer and has performances scheduled well into the rest of 2011. Block said the group “started out as the Rodney Block Trio, then it morphed into the Rodney Block Project, and now it’s called Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers.” The core members are Block, Oliver Thomas, Sam Carroll and Michael Chandler. They have played together four years. “We all parallel. We are all church musicians, growing up through a traditional setting. We all got connected in Little Rock. They are excellent musicians. It’s hard to keep a band together for that long, but we work well together and we have really good chemistry. We’re going to keep it together for as long as possible,” he said. Block began playing trumpet in the sixth grade. He went to summer music camp and excelled at the regional and state competitions. He continued playing the trumpet throughout high school and college, and he also played in a band with his brother and sister, he said. “It was something I truly enjoyed doing. It’s still fun, and it pays well, too,” he said. Block said when he moved to Conway in
“MUSIC IS ENDLESS, AND IT’S TIMELESS.” —RODNEY BLOCK
2002, one of his first appearances was for a CASA event in Conway. “We have such a great support system and great friends in Conway. Whenever we go to a function, there’s always great support. We always do the Festival of Chairs for CASA, things for Centennial Valley Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce, Taste of Conway, Conway Regional Auxiliary, Girls’ Night Out.” In 2009, the Rodney Block Project’s album “Outside the Box” came out. “We collaborated with other Little Rock artists — jazz, hip hop, smooth R&B. A little something for everybody. It was very well-received here in the region. With the new album, we’re kind of keeping that same concept,” he said. “We’re all writing music. Every member is contributing music to the new album to try to give our audience a lot of varied perspectives.” He said the album will likely be released in late May or early June, and a new website is scheduled to be up and running as well. “We’ll have lots of marketing items we’ll be giving away and selling,” he added. Performances are frequent. “We’re all over the place weekly, whether it’s private, corporate or public. You may catch us at the Afterthought, at a corporate event, at the governor’s mansion. The gigs or functions we play are varied. I think the neat thing is we can play any type of music the customer likes — Big Band, Top 40. “In the summer months, you may catch us at Michelangelo’s in the dining area or on the rooftop. Keep your eyes and ears open, and plan for a nice evening in Conway.” After the new CD comes out and the new website is launched this summer, Block hopes to see the ensemble have more of a presence on the national scene, he said. “We traveled to Brazil in 2009 for a music tour. We’ve been a couple of places. We hope to expand that in the next six to eight months. More on the coast — New York and California, and also Chicago and Nashville.” Last year the group opened for pop legend Earth, Wind & Fire at Riverfest, Block noted. Block said of his music, “Music is a very spiritual thing. It communicates better than words. It gives you the ability to communicate what is in your heart and your soul. “It is my sanctuary. It makes me happy. It keeps me balanced. It’s so different and varied. There’s always something new that can be expressed. I get so excited when I hear new musicians, whether it’s country, bluegrass — I’m able to find something different that I like.
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CONWAY’S KRIS ALLEN TAKES “HIS STAGE” 9:30 P.M. FRIDAY IN SIMON PARK DOWNTOWN. n
KRIS ALLEN / JACKIE STRAIN MAHAR PHOTO
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TOADSUCKDAZE HEADLINERS
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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TOAD SUCK DAZE OR A COMPLETE SCHEDULE, VISIT WWW.TOADSUCK.ORG. n
FACING PAGE: SHAWN MCDONALD; BELOW DJANGO WALKER AND JERRY JEFF WALKER; WES JEANS
Toad Suck Daze is pleased to welcome Kris Allen, Django Walker, Jerry Jeff Walker and Shawn McDonald as the 2011 entertainment headliners. Local American Idol winner Kris Allen will headline on Friday, April 29, beginning at 9:30 p.m. Allen won the eighth season of American Idol in 2009. His self-titled album debuted at No. 11 on the US Billboard 200, and he has had several Top 20 hits from this album as well as songs from American Idol. This will be the first time Allen has performed on the newly-named Kris Allen Stage in Simon Park. On Saturday, April 30, beginning at 7 p.m., dual headliners Django Walker and Jerry Jeff Walker will take the stage. Django began performing at age 16, and his debut CD was released in 2002. His song, “Texas on my Mind” was also recorded by Pat Green and reached No. 1 on the Texas Music Chart. Django’s sound has been described a unique country-rock style and classic rock with undertones of good old Southern comfort. Jerry Jeff Walker began his solo recording in the 1960s with the seminal album “Mr. Bojangles.” He had a string of records in the 1970s associating mainly with the country outlaw scene which included artists such as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. In 1986, he formed his own independent record label, Tried & True Music. Some reviews have called Jerry Jeff the Jimmy Buffett of Texas. Oddly enough, it was Jerry Jeff who first took Jimmy Buffett to Key West. Contemporary Christian artist Shawn McDonald released his first album in 2004. The first single off his fourth album, “Closer,” was released in October and is being played nationwide. His lyrics are bold, stark and authentic, as are his shows where he shares his compelling testimony.
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ONSTAGE Katmando 04.01 {Friday} Live music, Katmando, at Gusano’s. Jazz and Cuisine Classic of Conway 04.02 {Saturday} Agora Events Center, 705 E. Siebenmorgan Road. An evening of live jazz and fine cuisine. Featuring Arkansas’ jazz band, Carl Mouton and The Big Timers. Experience the finest restaurants in Conway, paired with excellent jazz. Complimentary at this year’s classic: valet parking, red carpet entrance and professional photography. On hand are Mike’s Place, Michelangelo’s, Oak St. Bistro, ZaZa’s, O’Henry’s, Patticakes Bakery and more. Visit www.wpwproductions. com for details and tickets. Contact Preston Welborn, (501) 358-1755, preston@wpwproductions.com. Tommy Rock 04.08 {Friday} Live music, Tommy Rock at Gusano’s. An Evening with Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood 04.09 {Saturday} UCA Public Appearances’ “Night-Out Series”will continue with “An Evening with Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood,” with the two stars of the Emmy-nominated series, ABC’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” appearing at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m. on the University of Central Arkansas campus. For more information visit www.uca.edu/tickets. ‘Urinetown,’ the Musical 04.14-04.15 {Thursday-Friday} 7:30-9:30 p.m. Bridges/Larson Theatre, Snow Fine Arts Center, University of Central Arkansas. Don’t let the title scare you! This Tony-winning Broadway musical is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love and revolution. In a time when water is worth its weight in gold, the government has ruled that the public must pay to use the toilets or face banishment to Urinetown. But our hero plans a revolution 22
Silver Moon Cinema back in action Outdoor community big-screen cinema Hosted by Conway Parks and Recreation Department Admission: $1 donation to a local charity Movies start at dark, but the time changes depending on any pre-movie activities and time of sunset. For updates go to http://www.conwayparks.com/
UPCOMING SHOWS ‘Cars’ at the Village at Hendrix 04.02 {Saturday} Charity: Trey Hickey Fund. Before the movie, there will be car show presented by the Christian Car Club of Conway. There will also be a bounce house and car bash. The Green Cart Deli will be on site and featuring a Silver Moon Cinema dog. Proceeds from the car bash and a portion of the sales from Green Cart Deli will also go to the Trey Hickey Fund. ‘Table at Luigi’s’ downtown Oak and Locust streets 05.14 {Saturday} Charity: Mary Landreth Scholarship Fund. The movie was filmed entirely in Conway by the UCA Filmmaking class. ‘Grownups’ downtown at Oak and Locust streets 06.11 {Saturday} Charity: H.A.V.E.N. (Help for Abuse Victims in Emergency Need) ‘Tangled’ downtown at Oak and Locust streets 09.24 {Saturday} Charity: Bethlehem House
to lead the town to freedom. Tickets are $10. Contact UCA Ticket Central. Smokey’s Band 04.15 {Friday} Live music, Smokey’s Band at Gusano’s. Jay Jackson 04.16 {Saturday} Live music, Jay Jackson at Gusano’s. An Evening in the Park - Hendrix
Wind Ensemble Spring Concert 04.18 {Monday} 5:30 p.m. Staples Lawn, Hendrix College Campus, 1600 Washington Ave. Admission is free. Contact Department of Music, (501) 450-1422. ‘Legally Blonde’ 04.21 {Thursday} UCA Public Appearances Broadway Play Series presents “Legally Blonde” at Reynolds Performance Hall. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.uca.edu/tickets.
‘The Composer is Dead’ 04.23 {Saturday} Conway Symphony Orchestra presents the children’s concert, Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead at 2 p.m. at Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus. For more information visit www. symphony@conwaycorp.net. Hendrix Chamber Players Concert 04.24 {Sunday} 7:30 p.m. Reves Recital Hall, Hendrix College Campus, 1600 Washington
{SAVE THE DATE} The Ranch Ride 06.04 {Saturday} The Ranch Ride first annual bicycle race for Soaring Wings Ranch, a local Christian home for children needing a chance. For more into, go to www.theranchride.com Ave. Admission is free. Contact Department of Music, (501) 450-1249. Chamber Orchestra Spring Concert 04.25 {Monday} 7:30 p.m. Reves Recital Hall, Hendrix College Campus, 1600 Washington Ave. Admission is free. Contact Department of Music, (501) 450-1249. ‘Cinderella’ 04.28 {Thursday} UCA Public Appearances presents the Russian National Ballet Theatre performing Prokofiev’s “Cinderella;” Reynolds Performance Hall; 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.uca.edu/tickets. 30th Annual Toad Suck Daze 04.29-05.01 {Friday-Sunday} Downtown Conway. Admission is free. A three-day festival of food, family and fun
held on the streets of downtown Conway, Arkansas. This ‘Laid Back Weekend’ occurs annually the first weekend in May and has something for the entire family: Arts & crafts, “Toadal Kids Zone,” a carnival, local and national entertainment, food, rock wall, petting zoo, “Stuck on a Truck,” 5K/10K, golf tournament, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, magicians and so much more! Night of Distinction 05.14 {Saturday} The University of Central Arkansas will host its first formal gala and silent auction fundraiser at the Farris Center on the UCA campus at 7 p.m. Dinner, dancing, presentation of awards of distinction, silent auction and special entertainment by country music artist Lee Greenwood and the Conway Jazz Orchestra. Proceeds benefit UCA alumni association scholarships. For tickets call (501) 8522892 or visit www.uca.edu/gala.
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CONWAY BUSINESS NEWS: WWW.FAULKNER COUNTYBUSINESS JOURNAL.COM n
ICONOMICS
BY ROGER LEWIS
NATURAL GAS DRILLING
KILLING THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG It’s no secret our opinion is that the benefits associated with the exploration of the Fayetteville Shale far outweigh the costs. The jobs, the wages, the community investment, the positive impact on income, sales, ad valorem and severance tax collections convinced us long ago that this endeavor was worth the trouble. The natural gas industry’s timely and significant investment is why Faulkner County, our neighbors and the rest of Arkansas weathered this recession as well as we did. We don’t wish to belabor that point in this space. However, we do feel the need to offer a rebuttal to a number of faulty assumptions or outright falsehoods that are derailing productive conversation about the future of the natural gas industry in Arkansas. Currently, there are a number of proposals from public figures and elected officials promising to solve a myriad of state problems with taxes and regulation of the natural gas industry. Their goals may appear admirable, but their plan is wrongheaded and founded on some bad information. Myth #1 Arkansas doesn’t have to compete for natural gas jobs. Since the discovery of the Fayetteville Shale 6 years ago, there have been multiple significant discoveries of natural gas in similar formations. The Marcellus Shale Play in Pennsylvania, the Haynesville in Louisiana and the Barnett and Eagle Ford in Texas are all competing daily for drilling capital, equipment and labor that could be put to work in Arkansas. Companies have and will continue to assign their resources to the most profitable region. Arkansas cannot blindly impact the industry with clumsy regulation or exact-
ing tax policy and expect the jobs and investment to stay.
Myth #2 Arkansas has a severance tax rate that is much lower than other states. The policies on severance tax collection around the country are as different as the states that wrote them. When you compare the real amount of money paid in severance tax on natural gas and adjust for the many and varied exemptions from state to state, Arkansas’s natural gas is taxed fairly and equitably. Texas has a higher nominal rate but much more aggressive exemptions. Louisiana has a dynamic rate that changes with price. Pennsylvania doesn’t have a severance tax on gas at all. What matters is what you actually pay and Arkansas companies and oil companies pay enough. Myth #3 Natural gas exploration in the Fayetteville Shale is hurting the environment and is poorly regulated. Arkansas is a newcomer to the energy industry. No one debates that the learning curve was steep and at times painful. However, the fact is this: drilling operations in the Fayetteville Shale are regulated by no less than 10 state and federal agencies, nine broad federal statutes and countless state level laws and regulations. The business of gathering natural gas is still new to Arkansas. However, in 5 years our state agencies, county governments and citizens have learned how to live with and prosper with this industry. We have made great strides. Almost all of this progress is due to the efforts of people who live and work in the Fayetteville Shale. But not a single one of those individuals so determined to “fix” these problems on our behalf is from the Fayetteville Shale. That alone should tell you all you need to know.
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“IT’S
ICONFLAVOR THE FISH HOUSE
A SIMPLE RECIPE. START WITH A HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT AND YOU PRODUCE A HIGH QUALITY PLATE.
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BY COURTNEY SPRADLIN
DOWN HOME CUISINE Not much has changed at The Fish House in the last decade. This is a good thing. White, flakey fish raised at U.S. farms is the starter. The finisher is a simple recipe that Donald Bryant has known from childhood. He should know it — he’s a veteran of weekend fishing trips and a patriarch of traditional southern “fish fries.” He and his wife eased into the restaurant business. It made sense. Thirteen years later, Bryant said he still uses the same quality ingredients as always. “Five years ago established Conway restaurants took a back seat to the new ones. We’re keeping up with the same quality until the newness wears off. We’re holding the quality up in the meantime.” The Fish House, with its tried and true recipes, down home ingredients and good people with know-how will be a part of Conway dining for a long time to come. The Bryants have plenty of local and state awards under their belts in the catfish category, but did you know you could get clams on Harkrider Street? How about crab legs? The grilled menu is 10 plates deep and features salmon, tuna, tilapia, pork, chicken, shrimp and catfish. “We have pretty much anything you would want from a restaurant. You want it, we got it, and we fix it up for you.”
COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTOS
The spotlight remains on the House’s star item — its catfish, it’s Southern, it’s tradition and it’s not going anywhere with the times. All of American’s favorite words wrapped up in a meal; crispy, flakey, crunchy, hot, and you got it — deep fried.
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ONTHEMOVE HALEY FOWLER
TEN 1 QUESTIONS with
HaleyFowler Haley Fowler works as Assistant Director of Alumni Services in the Division of Advancement at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. She partially grew up here, fittingly attended UCA, and still lives here today, giving her a lifetime’s perspective on the town. Haley answers some questions for iCON about her life and career.
Tell us about your early years in Conway. I grew up in the Little Rock/Bryant area and came to Conway to see my Dad and grandparents every other weekend. Some of my fondest, early memories of Conway involved my grandparents. They lived near Stoby’s, and I can remember us always walking across the street to get cheese dip and peanut butter chocolate shakes.
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What were your post-collegiate goals? After I earned my bachelors [in Speech Communication and Marketing], my goals were really basic. I wanted to find a job that I was passionate about, continue my education with a master’s degree, get married, start a family, and give back to the community. I truly love working in alumni relations. It is a very busy and rewarding job. My husband, Michael, and I will be married for five years in October, and we had our first child, Crafton, in July 2010. I try to volunteer as much as I can. I feel as a Conway resident it is my responsibility to give back to a community that does so much for me. I am very passionate about the Boys and Girls Club and the impact it has on Conway’s future.
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What does being Assistant Director of Alumni Services entail? I oversee and develop student and young alumni programming and chapter development to promote alumni association membership and involvement. I also oversee the e-communications and website for the Alumni Services office, as well as serve as advisor to the Association of Future Alumni, a student group under the Alumni Association.
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How do UCA alumni benefit from involvement in the alumni association? Being a member of the UCA Alumni Association is a great way to get connected and stay connected to UCA. The alumni association provides a variety of events, programs, services, and benefits to its members to help them grow personally and professionally while making lasting connections with fellow alumni. We hope that active and supportive alums continue to carry the pride and passion for UCA, as it is vital for the growth and future of the university.
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Was staying in Conway part of those goals from the start? Staying in Conway wasn’t necessarily one my goals; it was more my Dad’s goal for me to stay in Conway! When my husband asked him for my hand in marriage, my Dad said, “You can marry her under one condition: you can move her wherever you like as long as it’s on the north, south, east, or west side of Conway.” Michael said, “Yes sir,” and, well, we’re still here!
Detail your community involvement. I serve on the Faulkner County Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors and have served in several of their committees. I am a Women’s Inc. Board Member, a Kiwanis member, and serve on the Paint the Town Purple Committee. I am also involved as an Advisor for Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority, am a UCA Alumni Association Member, a Young Alumni Chapter Member, and a member of Conway Young Professionals.
What do you most enjoy about Conway? I think one of the best things about our city is having three colleges and the life that the students and college activities bring to our city. This ranges from concerts, plays, and philanthropic fundraisers to athletic events. It’s amazing to see how many college students are taking an active role in giving back to Conway and Faulkner County through various philanthropies.
If you have any free time, what are your favorite extracurricular activities? After having our son, I will say my extracurricular activities have definitely changed! My world revolves around an eightmonth-old, so we do a lot of singing and playing. My husband and I enjoy being outdoors and going to the lake any chance we get. I also enjoy hanging out with family and friends.
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What do you think of the changes in Conway in recent years? I feel that Conway’s growth has brought nothing but a positive impact on the community, citizens, and education system. My grandfather’s car dealership used to have a tag line “We’ll beat them cities boys by a country mile.” That is so true for Conway. We have a small town feel with the amenities of a big city. I also think the city has done a great job of bringing in companies that offer jobs, so 28
our graduates have the opportunity to stay in Conway.
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Anything on the horizon for UCA that the public should know about? The UCA Alumni Association is currently celebrating its 100-year anniversary. We have kicked off our Alumni 100 campaign, and UCA will be hosting a Night of Distinction Gala on May 14th. This inaugural fundraising gala will benefit the Alumni 100 Fund, which is dedicated to fully endowing alumni association scholarships. We are very excited about this event as it is the only formal gala of its kind in Conway.
BY JENNIFER STANLEY
THE UCA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IS CURRENTLY CELEBRATING ITS 100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY.
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CITYART MATTHEW LOPAS
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THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE Matthew Lopas was born in 1965 in Chicago. An artist all his life, he has been painting interiors lighted by warm light for many years. For him, interiors without figures often suggest the people that inhabit the space: the presence of an absence. He is chair of the art department at Hendrix College and was instrumental in the design and funding for the threebuilding Art Complex at Hendrix.
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artist statement In my bed at night I could hear the sounds of lake Michigan. Cold winter air crept through my window. I was 5 years old and my parents had just bought a very large 1920s stucco house. My immigrant father had been discharged from the Army and was starting his medical career. The house he bought was so big that it scared even him. After all, he grew up in apartments in Belgium and on the west side of Chicago. Up to then we had lived in small military housing. The new three-story house had a cavernous entryway, a black and gold marble fireplace, a back staircase, a secret door into the basement, and a boiler that looked like a WWI submarine. Even when I knew that there were other people in the house, I sensed them more than saw them. My parents rented out the third floor and I heard the murmurings of people I never saw. Sometimes they snuck out on the roof, causing damage to it. Thus my room always had a wall where the plaster cracked and the wallpaper bubbled. My eye got lost in the dirty drip patterns and flaking plaster. No matter how many times it was repaired, a new slimy organic stain appeared. I wondered how many decades this had been going on. I stayed up at night and listened to timbers gently creak with the weather. Occasionally there would be a big “CRACK” as the old timbers settled loudly with age. Sometimes I wandered the place when everyone was asleep. I peered over my shoulder and thought I saw figures in the deep shadows, listened to the sounds in a kind of half asleep state. This slow perception of reality seemed to make the space loom larger and larger until that house was a whole world. It was in this mode of perception that I first became aware of myself as a person alone in the world. Ever since then I have been interested in depicting empty interior spaces that suggest their inhabitants, and somehow seem animated with life and the self reflection of the viewer. —Matthew Lopas
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COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTO
ECOFRIENDLY APRIL AMBROSE
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BY BECKY HARRIS
LEED CERTIFIED BUILDINGS, LIKE THE HP CALL CENTER IN CONWAY, SIGNAL A NEW ERA IN SUSTAINABLE DESIGN n
GREEN GIRL April Ambrose will be named Hendrix College’s Outstanding Young Alumna during Hendrix Alumni Weekend, April 15-16. It might be difficult to pick a reason. Is it because she’s the go-to person for owners, architects, engineers and contractors who want to develop a green building project? Because she’s been involved with more than 30 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) projects? Because she’s been nominated as Conservationist of the Year by the Arkansas Sierra Club? Because she founded the Arkansas Earth Day Foundation and was named an Eco-Hero? She gives Hendrix credit for helping choose her life’s path. “My Hendrix College experiences, both in the classroom and in the community, instilled in me a life-long love of learning, passion for service and desire to grow. I am highly creative in my approach to life. When existing structures do not serve me, I often find it necessary to forge a new path. “Accordingly, Hendrix allowed me to work with my strengths in designing a major that worked for me. As such, I took the experiences of past Integrative Studies Majors and designed a major that combined the appropriate environmental aspects of the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education Departments to create an Environmental Studies Major. My experiences and those of my mentoring professors were combined into a new established major for future students,” she says. April is manager of the Viridian office in Little Rock and coordinates the company’s LEED and sustainability projects. “Sustainable design, at its base,” April says, “is about using our resources efficiently. This applies only partially to the actual materials used to build a building, but mostly to the resources the building and its occupants will use over its lifetime. The future of building development and construction is centered on the people and their purpose, while balancing the triple bottom line of social, environmental and economic values. “LEED certified buildings, like the Hewlett-Packard call center in Conway, signal a new era in sustainable design, one that reflects a truly integrated approach to creating built environments that are in alignment with the economy and the natural world. In doing so, they are also proving they are responsible leaders in their industry and their community,” April says. According to the company’s website, the goal of a LEED-built project is to minimize building energy and water use, reduce the environmental impacts and increase the indoor environmental quality for the occupants. The success of the HP call center in Conway is measured this way: 56 percent construction waste diverted from the landfill; 44 percent reduction of indoor water usage; and 32 percent use of recycled content. To achieve these kinds of results, April helps budget, plan and design facilities that respect occupant needs, financial responsibilities and the environment. Her previous experience also brings expertise in lifestyle greening, education, advocacy, organizing, public relations, coalition building and project management. She has served as a representative or board member for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Advocacy Committee, Arkansas Climate Awareness Project, Arkansas Environmental Education Association, Natural Foods Store and Earth Charter. She unabashedly lists Arkansas as one of her loves, and it’s a fine place for her other interests: canoeing/kayaking, hiking, camping, dancing, yoga, live music, rocks, native plants, dogs, art, local food, festivals and community. 35
LOCALICON GRAHAM GORDY
HOMETOWN TO HOLLYWOOD Conway native Graham Gordy made the proverbial trek of so many to the glitz and promise held in Los Angeles and New York. However, unlike so many, Graham eventually found success in the film industry ... and remained grounded in the process. Part of that humble mind-set began in Conway, where Graham says he was “part of the old Smoking Oaks posse that wandered those streets.” A 1994 graduate of Conway High School, he initially ventured as far as the University of Central Arkansas (with a self-professed really bad haircut and Nirvana’s “Nevermind” in tow) before wanderlust sat in, and he took his first chance at acting on the golden coast after his first year at UCA. “I wasn’t there long before I realized that there were 30 other guys who looked exactly like me and were better actors. I came back to finish my degree in English and Philosophy at UCA and started writing plays. That’s what led me to New York City and NYU where I lived for eight years,” says Graham. He went on to earn an MFA in Dramatic Writing at New York University. Icon had the opportunity to ask Graham some questions about his life, work, and future plans, details of which follow: Icon: What do you most remember about Conway High School? GG: Ummmm, honestly? The coaches, probably, since I still do impressions of most of them. I had some amazing teachers at Conway High, many of whom were coaches and many who weren’t. Regardless, though, some of the best comedy material of my life came from that school. Icon: What did you most miss about home? GG: When I was in NYC, I missed everything. Family, friends, cheese dip. I will always cherish my time in New York, but I really love Arkansas. It gets an unfair wrap a lot of the time, but life is so much easier here. And every time I get on a plane to leave it, all I can think about is when I get to come back.
CHECK OUT GRAHAM GORDY ON IMDB
Icon: And which family members do you come home to? GG: I live in Little Rock and have two amazing children, Lilla Bird and Ike. My mom, Sondra Gordy, is a history professor at UCA. My brother, Hunter Austin, lives in Conway with his wife, Ambra, and two kids, Hadleigh and Ethan. And there is no shortage of Gordys around Central Arkansas; chances are I’m related to all of ‘em. Icon: How did your interest in screenplay writing begin? GG: When I moved to LA to act, I started taking classes at The Groundlings for improv and sketch comedy. It’s sort of a “farm team” where Will Ferrell and a lot of other comedians come from before they get onto “Saturday Night Live.” It was there that I had a sketch writing course. I had only written fiction in college, so it was my first dramatic writing class. When I got back to UCA, I had a very supportive group of people — Bob Willenbrink, Claudia Beach, Liz Parker and Greg Blakey — who encouraged me to move into playwriting. I initially went to grad school for playwriting and wrote stage plays in New York, but you can’t really make a living writing plays, so I eventually moved into writing screenplays. Icon: Was “The Love Guru” your first screenplay? GG: No, I’d written a few before that. I wrote the screenplay for a movie called “War Eagle, Arkansas” that was produced a year or so before “The Love Guru.” Icon: What other work you have done in the industry? GG: Initially it was all writing for the stage, then I got the opportunity to write for
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STEWART COLE PHOTO
Mike Myers. I worked and wrote for him for five years before “The Love Guru” was produced, so I wrote on “Shrek 2” and “Shrek 3” as well. Since then, it’s been much smaller (and much different) projects. I’ve mostly just been a writer-for-hire, doing whatever I can to survive, while trying to get other projects off the ground. I have a screenplay called “The Slow Rise of Wesley Sinker” they’re saying they will produce in 2011. We have producers, we have an actor; now it’s just about finding the right match at director. I’ve also been doing a few short films over the last few years with great crews here in Arkansas. And, finally, a friend and I sold a TV pilot to AMC (who do “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad”). We should know within the next few weeks if they’re going to shoot that. Icon: Once the process of making a movie begins, what is the typical timeline? GG: The process of shooting a feature can be three or four months for a major studio picture or as short as a month for an independent. For instance, because our budget was around a million dollars for “War Eagle, Arkansas,” we had to shoot a lot more in a lot less time. Icon: Once a screenplay is sold, and the process of casting/creating/shooting a movie begins, what is the role of the screenwriter? GG: It really depends on the size of the project. Film is really a director’s medium, so the director can call on the screenwriter as much or as little as he/she wants. A screenwriter may be on set everyday, or not at all. However, in television, the directors are really fulfilling the writer/creator’s vision. It’s pretty much the same way on the stage. Icon: What was your impression or feeling about being around all of the Hollywood-types during the making of “The Love Guru”? I mean, Ben Kingsley, Mike Meyers, Jessica Alba….. GG: Everyone was really nice. You’re in a very close-knit group for some extremely intense weeks. And you inevitably do everything from work to socialize with them because you’re on a bit of an island (assuming you’re not shooting in LA, and most things don’t anymore). Then you kind of all go your separate ways and say “hi” if you run into each other again. It’s really kind of a strange process. More like summer camp than a job. Icon: Which actor made the biggest impression on you and why? GG: I wouldn’t want to limit it to that production. Good actors are good actors. They have very little entitlement; they work hard, and they come prepared. I’ve worked with just as many terrific actors in off-Broadway theaters, or here in Arkansas, as I have on films over the years. The thing that separates the good ones is that they don’t show up thinking they’ve already won the race. Icon: What elements make a good screenplay, or what sets a screenplay apart? GG: I’m not sure anything sets my plays or screenplays apart. I’m very much a student at this and feel like, after doing this professionally for 10 years, I’m finally starting to get the hang of it. A well-written movie is one that keeps you engaged for 90 to 120 minutes. If the audience is leaving the movie, you’ve failed, and I’ve failed plenty. The second is great, authentic, and most of all, original characters. And the third is that the action dramatizes a theme that hits home with the audience. If you can teach people a little something while holding a mirror up to their lives, you’ve really done something great. There are other elements, of course, but so much of it just comes down to a well-structured story. The major difference between drama and prose is that you can’t tell the audience what the characters are thinking or what you want them to think. Your medium is action. And that’s the tough part. Icon: What, in your opinion, are some of the well-written screenplays of all time? GG: As far as well-written, I think “The Verdict” is among the best ever. I love “On The Water Front,” and “Cool Hand Luke.” There are just so many that are great examples of solid structure and storytelling. Then there are dozens that may not be as well-written but just have that magic to them. Icon: Any additional, future plans related to screenwriting and acting, and what else are you working on now? GG: Mostly, I’m waiting to find out about that TV show and the feature. In the meantime, I’m writing a screenplay with a buddy of mine here in Little Rock. I’ve also written the first act of a script that I’m dying to get back to and finish. I’ve been writing some web stuff for Hulu in order to pay the bills. And I have a short film that I made with some friends that is making the festival circuit right now. Overall, it seems like I need to keep about five things going in order to feel productive. These projects come and go and only one out of 10 may be produced (and sometimes it’s not the one you want). I’d love to dedicate three or even six months to something I was extremely passionate about, and I hope to someday get that chance. But in the meantime you have to do a lot of things to keep the wolves from the door. 38
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POWERLIFTER PHILLIP BREWER
BY RACHEL PARKER DICKERSON
ALWAYS COMPETING Over the course of about 20 years, Phillip Brewer of Conway has taken what was formerly a weakness and turned it into a strength — and not just metaphorically. “UnReal Phil” (as he is called on stage) is a competitive power lifter and body builder. He specializes in the bench press. In December, he competed in an international power lifting event in Moscow and placed third overall. The achievement earned him a ranking of No. 2 all-time in his weight class. Brewer’s enthusiasm for competitive power lifting goes back to when he was a seventh grader in Horatio, Ark., and first bench pressed in his PE class. “In sports, I was always driven. I wanted to be the best I could be, whether we would run or jump rope,” he said. “When we moved over to the weight room, it was something I had never done. I was the weakest seventh grader.” After that, Brewer said, he started doing 1,000 pushups three times a week. The following year, the PE class did the bench press again. “In eighth grade, there were two kids stronger, and they were nearly double my body weight,” he said. When he was 16, his coach suggested he look into competitive lifting, as his ability had exceeded the state record, he said. “I started doing a few meets around the state. I just kept competing. I don’t think I went a year without competing.” When Brewer was 24, he began competing in body building events. Body building involves being as lean as possible, he said. For several years, he alternated between body building and power lifting. Power lifting is a bench press, squat and dead lift competition, Brewer said. While he is a bench press specialist, he will do his first full-power competition in April at the American Powerlifting Federation. He anticipates being one of the top competitors in his weight class in the nation. Now 31, Brewer has many good friends at the gym where he trains. “Some of the younger guys want to get under my wing,” he said. “People who are 18, 19, 20, walk in and want to be like me. I have 20 years in this. Usually, people start getting good in their late 20s, early 30s.” He added he tries to guide his hopeful friends in the right direction. Discipline is critical to Brewer’s sport. He lifts weights five days a week for about an hour and a half. His weight is key, as it determines what class he will compete in. Generally, his diet is very strict — chicken, fish, lean steak, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables and protein powder. However, if he wants to gain weight quickly for a meet, he makes sure to eat plenty of pizza and ice cream. After one recent such event, he said, “I just started cleaning up my diet, and I feel better already.” In the past year, Brewer set a number of records at events 40
in which he competed. In May at the Amateur Athletic Union State Championship in Sapulpa, Okla., he set a new world and national record in the 181 weight class by lifting 475 pounds. In November at the Southern Powerlifting Association in Plano, Texas, he set a national record by lifting 460 pounds in the 165 weight class. The event in Moscow was called Worldlifting. Brewer indicated the trip to Russia was a culture shock. “When I left here, it was 50 degrees. I got to Dallas, and it was 70. I got to New York, and it was 20. When I landed in Moscow, it was negative 8 Fahrenheit. It snowed the whole time I was there. It was pretty cold. It was dark the whole time. The general public didn’t really care for us,” he said. However, at the event itself, he was surprised by the reception. “Over there, power lifting is like our UFC . Their power lifters outnumber us 10-to-one. All the lifters were good. The fans knew who we were. We were almost kind of popular, like, famous over there. I don’t know that I’ve ever been to a meet and had random females taking pictures of me and hanging on me with their boyfriends taking pictures.” He continued, “There were probably 100 to 150 people in the audience, and it was insanely loud. You go here to even a big meet where people are very supportive, and maybe half the audience will (cheer).” Brewer, weighing in at 165, lifted 479.5 pounds in the raw bench press. “Raw” means he does not use any special equipment to assist him, he explained. He won his class and was named third Absolute. He was invited back to Russia for Battle of the Champions in June in Arkhangelsk. He has three competitions in April. Brewer’s daughter, Ava, will be 3 in April, and he plans to take her to Disney World and Sea World during a meet in Orlando. When he’s not training or competing, Brewer enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He works at Rock-Tenn in Conway. As for his future goals, Brewer said, “I would really like to get the all-time pro world record in 165 and break three times my body weight. I really would like to get to where I can do some of these competitions and pick up a few more sponsorships where it doesn’t cost me quite as much money. Some of the other guys in my weight class have sponsorships.” Brewer has one sponsor who supplies clothing. Meets can be expensive after travel costs, lodging and entry fees, and even if he wins money at a competition, he may only break even or come home with $300 out of the $1,000 he won. He said he will continue to travel more as there are opportunities to win money. He said he expects to continue power lifting for the rest of his life. “Unless there’s an injury or something, I don’t see myself not competing,” he said.
See Phillip Brewer in action in this YouTube recording of Philip Brewer setting a raw bench press record
RACHEL PARKER DICkERSON PHOTO
Lee McRae of Conway, a longtime power lifter, said of Brewer, “We have been to a few competitions. The people at those who don’t know him are shocked when he lifts over 450 plus with ease. He also has spotted me when I have made my biggest lifts. I am glad I am in the old man division. If these events were offered in the Olympics, he would be up near the top.”
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ICONTECH APPS
BY JAMES RYKEN
THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT You can’t go anywhere these days without encountering groups of people engrossed in their phones. In most cases the phones aren’t being used for phone calls either. The user is typing, reading, swiping or shaking. iPhone, Android, Blackberry — the phone type doesn’t matter. The thing that has people so addicted to their phones now is the availability of applications or programs, commonly called apps. You can play games, watch movies or book a trip. If you can think of it, there’s probably an app for that. Below are some of my favorites. n Games Angry Birds is probably the most popular app out there. The game involves slingshotting various birds into random structures containing laughing green pigs. The goal is to destroy the pigs and as much of the structure as you can in a minimal number of shots. Sound silly? It definitely is, but it’s even more addictive. Cut the Rope is similar to Angry Birds in its simplicity and addictiveness. It is a physics-based game where your goal is to get candy into a frog’s mouth using gravity and other tools at your disposal. A round is usually started by cutting a rope or a series of ropes. 42
Words with Friends is a classic turn-based Scrabble game. The beauty of the game is you can play multiple games at once with your network of friends. Games can last a day or a week; you play at your leisure. The chat function is nice as you can message your opponent to either talk trash or maybe just to chat about the weather. Qrank is a daily trivia game where your scores are compared with your network of friends or other users from your city and state. It’s fun to see your name at the top of the leaderboard after you’ve had a particularly good day. Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense game. You use various plants and gardening tools as weapons against an advancing horde of zombies as they’re trying to invade your suburban home. More addictive, silly fun. n Social Networking Facebook is everywhere now and I believe the main reason is its integration into mobile phones and devices. You’re out and about and see something interesting? Pick up your phone and post the status to Facebook. Just sat down at a restaurant and want to let folks know where you are? Check-in to the place on Facebook. Twitter is really growing. It’s great to have a network of sources for sports, news and comedy mixed in with friends sharing random thoughts. FourSquare is a social networking application that involves checking into the application as you go different places around town. It’s probably most useful when you’re in a higher-density urban area with a big network of friends. It’s interesting to pull up your friends list on a Saturday night and see where everyone is having a good time. LinkedIn is like Facebook, but it’s based on your professional network rather than social. It’s a valuable business tool for finding that connection needed to make the next sale or getting an in for your dream job. n Entertainment Netflix has an app that allows you to manage your queue or even watch movies on your mobile device. My gym has a wifi connection, so I found myself catching up on a movie on the treadmill the other day. Now that’s living in the future! Flixster is today’s answer to the movie theater’s “Now Showing” phone recording and so much more. You can get movie times to area theaters, watch trailers, read reviews and even buy tickets from this app. When terrestrial radio’s obituary is written, the Pandora, Slacker, and Jelli apps will play a prominent role. These are streaming music apps. Pandora and Slacker allow you to create your own virtual radio station based on their evolving knowledge-base of users and their musical tastes. Jelli is a bit different in that as one song is playing on one of their genre-based radio stations, the listeners get to vote on what the next song played will be. Iheartradio is an app from the Clear Channel Radio mega-network of stations. It allows you to stream any radio station from the Clear Channel umbrella. When smartphones first came into prominence, Shazam was that killer app that you couldn’t wait to show off to your friends. When a song is playing that you want to know the title and artist, simply launch
the Shazam app. It’ll listen for a few seconds and quickly display that information. n Sports ESPN Scorecenter is a handy free app from ESPN that gives you access to any and all scores you’re interested in at your fingertips. One of the nice features of Scorecenter is that you can customize the app to provide scores for only the teams and sports you’re most interested in. For the hardcore fan, the app will even send you text updates for big games or important news from your team. For the baseball fans out there, MLB at Bat is the must-have app for the baseball season. It provides customized news, scores and stats for all your favorite teams. Where the app really shows its value is in combination with either an MLB TV or Audio subscription. With either subscription you stream live audio or HD video from any game. For the fitness fanatics around, there are several apps that can add to your exercise experience. Runkeeper, MapMyRun and Runtastic are three apps that use the GPS functionality built into today’s phones in order to track the route, time and distance of your runs. They all have history functionality built in to keep track of all your workout statistics. n Travel Kayak is a travel aggregator website that allows you to find the best deals and rates on flights, hotel rooms and car rentals. Kayak allows you to set up periodic alerts that let you know when that airfare or hotel rate has gone up and down. It’s an invaluable tool when planning a trip. Once you’re in your destination city, UrbanSpoon will help you decide what to eat. With its novel ‘slot machine’ setup, you can choose the location, food type and price categories that suit your needs. Give it a spin, and it’ll suggest a restaurant that meets your needs. It’ll also provide menus, reviews and directions. I use Google Maps in place of a GPS unit. Just enter your destination in the search bar and it will give you turn by turn directions. If you don’t drive or travel enough to justify a full-blown GPS unit, Google Maps will suit you just fine. n Productivity Red Laser takes advantage of the camera built into your phone. Open the app, snap a picture of the barcode on any product in the store and it will pull back information on how much that product costs around town. It’s a nice way to save time-comparison shopping on big-ticket items. It’ll also let you know how much that item costs on the big online sites like Amazon. PrivacyStar is a privacy tool that is headquartered right here in Conway. As the use of traditional landlines has declined, telemarketers have started targeting wireless numbers. The PrivacyStar service allows you to automatically block any ‘unknown’ or ‘private’ number. It also allows you to block any known numbers that you don’t want to be able to call or text you. If you do a lot of bouncing back and forth from home and work computers and your phone, Dropbox may be a tool you can use. You set up the program on any computers you’d like connected, as well as your phone, and you can have access to any files that are placed in the Dropbox directory. Take a picture with your phone, save it to Dropbox, and it will immediately be accessible on your home or work computer that has been set up with Dropbox. 43
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IT’SCOOLDOWNTOWN
FOR MORE DETAILS, VISIT DOWNTOWNCONWAY.ORG n
April is filling up with all kinds of activities that have appeal to the masses. We have everything from a family-friendly Earth Day concert celebration, to our first-ever downtown Spring Open House/Artwalk that will thrill art enthusiasts’ creative side. The downtown Spring Open House is a new event that the Conway Downtown Partnership is hosting with the merchants. On April 3, the shops of downtown Conway will open their doors and encourage folks to stop by and check out what’s new for spring. There will be live music on Oak Street to serenade folks while they explore all that downtown Conway has to offer. Also, on April 3, the Conway League of Artists will host Artwalk: Art in the Park. This event will spotlight artists as they create works during the day, as well as a variety of art available to purchase. Remember our artists are not set up to accept debit/credit cards, so bring cash or checks for when you find that perfect piece ... you won’t be disappointed. Simon Park will play host to two concert opportunities in April. On Saturday, April 2, the Conway School of Music will host their student musician’s concert in Simon Park beginning at 3 p.m. The band “Stormy Weather” is scheduled to perform as well. The concert is free to the public, and there will be concessions for the concert-goers. Next is the Earth Day concert celebration on Friday, April 22, beginning at 8 p.m. Downtown Conway is bringing Earth Day back with this concert celebration in Simon Park. Currently, the band “The Found” is scheduled. You can them out at www.thefoundmusic.com. These are just a few of the events that are scheduled for April. For the complete list of activities in downtown Conway, visit downtownconway.org
Kim Williams Executive Director Conway Downtown Partnership
Here is just a sampling: Silver Moon Cinema; Saturday, April 2; dusk; The Village at Hendrix Green.
Shakespeare Family Festival and Shakespeare Scurry; Friday, April 15, 5:30-8:00 p.m.; The Village at Hendrix.
“Kids fest” sponsored by the Children’s Advocacy Alliance; Saturday, April 9; 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.; Simon Park.
Toad Suck Daze; Friday, April 29-Sunday, May 1; in downtown Conway.
Blackbird Academy of Arts presents “Mirror, Mirror a Ballet of Spells and Enchantment” on Saturday, April 9; 7 p.m.; Hendrix, Staples Auditorium.
PUTT AROUND CONWAY WINNERS Brooks Thomason – 2nd Place Scott Ashby – 1st Place Will Kennedy – 2nd Place Zach Freedle – 3rd Place (There was a tie for 2nd place)
OL IT’S CO N! TOW DOWN
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SXSW2011 INTERACTIVE
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BY LEE WATSON / SENIOR BRAND STRATEGIST / CLAROVISTA
South By Southwest Interactive is the largest conference for people in media, marketing, tech and interactive. An estimated 18,000 to 22,000 people descended on Austin, Texas, this year for the annual event. SXSW is comprised of three pieces: Music, Film and Interactive. SXSW has occurred every spring since 1987. In 2007, Twitter gained an enormous amount of traction. While it did not launch at SXSW, the unique gathering of attendees was instrumental in establishing Twitter as a dominate player. In 2009, Dennis Crowley’s new baby “Foursquare” launched at SXSWi. Mashable called it the “break out mobile app” of the event. In 2011, I predict Yowie will gain a lot of traction. The new online startup puts fans in front of celebrities via a bi-directional video chat. Jamie Snider and Carols Montes (co-founders) joined Lindsay Duggar (Mainstream Technologies), Justin Wright (also with Mainstream) and Greg Henderson and myself for dinner at La Condesa (an upscale authentic Hispanic restaurant in southwest downtown Austin). We tried authentic Dr Pepper (from Dublin, Texas), some awesome guacamole dip and a perfect dinner while we chatted about the Yowie platform and their future plans. According to Jamie: Yowie brings you interactive video chats with your favorite people. We’ve been putting together great shows for people like Amy Poehler and Paul Scheer, bands like Deerhunter and Interpol, as well as the casts of “Chuck.” “Glee” and “True Blood.” Our platform has earned us ongoing relationships with premium content providers such as Sony, NBC, MTV Networks and Disney. Bloggers from USA Today and the LA Weekly have also hosted successful shows on our platform. Our platform enables a type of interview crowd-sourcing where the viewers can submit and vote up the best questions to be asked and potentially go live with an influential host over the web. Celebrity hosts have said they were impressed that people ‘asked really cool questions’ and have called us a ‘hip uStream.’ So how “geeky” is SXSWi? Well, the conference center had a dedicated 45mb Internet pipe on WiFi, and AT&T had at least two GSM trucks nearby. There was also a plethora of cellular antennas on near by buildings. That said, during peak times at the conference there would be so much data traffic that I couldn’t get Twitter to refresh. Who did you get to meet? Well, I went to the Tech Crunch party with Lindsay Dugger and Justin Wright (both of Mainstream Technologies in Little Rock). While we were there, Lindsay bumped into Nadia, the host of Bitchen’ Kitchen on the Cooking Channel. Nadia interviewed Justin about the conference and that’s expected to air sometime soon. On Sunday, Lindsay and I attended a panel in the nearby Hilton. Conway’s Kristian Anderson was one of the panelist. Kristian is someone I’ve corresponded through email, and his business partner Mark McCuin’s office is next door to mine. But it wasn’t until SXSWi in Austin that we were able to finally meet. When Kristian introduced himself and said he was from Conway, Arkansas, Lindsay yelled “Go Wampus Cats!” Sunday night at the Mashable House, we met Pete Cashmore, the founder and CEO of Mashable (the largest social media, tech, marketing blog acquired by CNN a little more than a year ago). We chatted with Pete about Arkansas, our tech community and SXSW. Pete invited us to attend a private gathering of tech, media and marketing leaders in Orlando later this year. It’s these kinds of connections that SXSWi is all about. 47
SXSWi TOP THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. Stay in downtown Austin! Stay a block or two from the convention; otherwise you’ll spend countless hours waiting for cabs, buses and shuttles. It’ll cost a little more, but in the end you’ll really be glad you did. One day I waited four hours for a cab! Oh yeah, you better get that hotel room now.
any of a hundred other things you’ll need to do at SXSWi.
2. Charge your devices! Have plenty of power cord to reach those random electrical outlets. Power isn’t that easy to come by — even with all the charging stations — with so many people needing to charge their MacBook Pros, iPads, iPhones, etc., power can be hard to come by and you’ll need it with all the tweeting and note taking you’ll be doing.
7. Be ready to listen! Lots of the attendees are pitching their new startup, app or idea. Some are good, some not so much. Regardless, everyone has a story and everyone wants to tell it. Listen. You’ll never know what you could learn or who you could meet.
3. Conferences badges don’t display your business name very large. Print the name of your business (bold and in all caps), twitter and a few words describing what you do on a one by four inch label to attach to your badge. Make it easy for passersby to see your first name, business and what you do. It makes that introduction much easier. Plus, you can decide if you really want to talk to that person or not. With so many people around you really have to maximize your interaction, and its important to choose highquality people to interact with.
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6. Register early! Register for SXSWi as soon as the date is published, which is usually August.
8. Bring plenty of business cards. Again, SXSWi is all about meeting and connecting with people. Have plenty of cards (restock every night) to hand out. 9. Cash, carry plenty. Even though the cabs have stickers that warn against paying the cabbie with cash, you may have to or end up walking. Authentic Hispanic restaurants may only take cash, and you’ll also need some to slip that bouncer so you can get in through the back door.
4. QR Codes are everywhere! Know how to work a QR code reader or scanner app. It’s like the city of Austin is obsessed with QR codes. Sometimes they lead to really boring or crappy Facebook Pages or sucky landing pages, but every once in a while they take you to a special RSVP page for one of the exclusive networking opportunities.
10. RSVP and Become a VIP. Ok, so everyone wants to be a VIP right? Well, at SXSW being a VIP gets you in early to the most exclusive parties in town. They’re more than just parties they’re super networking events — the who’s who, the global interactive, media and marketing communities are there. Some are overhyped and you might not even get in once you RSVP. Choose the right event, get there a little early and sweet talk your way into the VIP line.
5. Have your smartphone handy! Keep your phone handy to shoot a picture, tweet, bump, check-in, scan, check weather, RSVP to a party, grab a cab, look for lunch or
SXSW has a huge economic impact on the city of Austin. In 2008, the impact was estimated at just over $110 million dollars — in under two weeks.
ICONSCIOUSNESS
BY COURTNEY SPRADLIN
CONWAY’S HIDDEN HOMELESS Rural Today. Urban Tomorrow. Despite the number of glorifying events I attend that celebrate the prosperity and climate of opportunity and good fortune that is this growing city — I know that this is the face and not the entire body of my home town. “Six-hundred percent growth in 60 years,” said Roger Lewis, author of Faulkner County’s annual economic report. “And more to come for Conway.” We are on track to true urbanization. I see that we have the backbone to support economic growth, to educate more people, to construct more subdivisions, to bring in more yogurt places and even our fifth, sixth and seventh Starbucks. We’re proving that we can keep up with everyone else and we’re going to continue to conform when it comes to another urban phenomenon.
cording to the National Symposium on Homeless Research. They are single adult men, 77 percent, and single women, 7 percent. The rest are typically families. A countywide count performed in January revealed 173 homeless individuals in Faulkner County. Sixty-six of those were sheltered in some way. That means that they may have services from the Bethlehem House, the Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas, HAVEN or Last Chance Ministries near Vilonia. Lively believes that if in the count, 173 were found, there must be double that number. By most definitions, to be homeless means that you live in your vehicle, a tent, a box or you may be sleeping at a public location. The Webster definition states that a person who is homeless is living without shelter or living in a place that is unfit for human habitation. Fifty-two people in Faulkner County who fit either of those definitions are school-age children.
Homelessness. As it is today, the City of Conway has many homeless, though we qualify as having a rural homeless population. People aren’t sleeping on sidewalks, or are they? They are according to Judi Lively, director of Bethlehem House, a transitional homeless shelter for men, women and families. “They’re there. There are several places within the city limits that people stay. Some stay in public facilities that are open all night. They stay in laundry mats and in their cars,” she said. A small patch of woods within the city limits is an ideal place to sleep for a rural homeless person who depends on a bicycle or his or her own feet for transportation. “Sometimes they stay behind a business that doesn’t have a lot behind it or one that comes up to some wooded area.” Abandoned buildings, closed manufacturing centers, warehouses and empty homes are also ideal. Lively said that the rural homeless do not congregate or camp together. “They learn pretty quick to go unnoticed.” She said that she’s never seen more than two who were not family members stay together. In a rural area, the homeless population hides. The hidden homeless of rural communities are predominantly non-Hispanic white males, ac-
“I think the need is increasing and obviously the economy has been a part of that. It’s safe to say that the fastest growing population of homeless in Faulkner County is families with children. We can see that,” Lively said. Lively said that the rural homelessness phenomenon is under recognized and as such, under addressed. “Because people don’t see, they don’t believe that there is a problem. And they’re not going to work toward resolving that problem.” As Conway grows our host of leaders develop strategic plans that address urbanization and its effect on our roads, our economy and our face. When we are the size of Little Rock — and our growth rate proves that we will be — will we have made plans for a population of homeless citizens that transitions from rural to urban? A 2009 Point-In-Time count in Little Rock found a total of 1,425 men, women and children qualifying as homeless. Four hundred and fifty-two of them were literally living on the city’s streets. Only 8 percent were identified as “chronically homeless.” Ten percent of them were veterans of military service. We’re planning for everything else in Conway — are we planning for this? This. Will. Happen. Here.
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LASTLOOK
THE LEGEND OF TOAD SUCK Long ago, steamboats traveled the Arkansas River when the water was at the right depth. When it wasn’t, the captains and their crew tied up to wait where the Toad Suck Lock and Dam now spans the river. While they waited, they refreshed themselves at the local tavern there, to the dismay of the folks living nearby, who said: “They suck on the bottle ’til they swell up like toads.” Hence, the name Toad Suck.
“The Toadsuck Ferry” shown above was painted by accomplished artist and master watercolorist Will Hammond “Bill” Satterfield Jr.(1938-2000) of Little Rock, nephew of Bush and Katherine Satterfield of Conway, who when visiting his aunt and uncle in the 1960s went to the ferry and thought it would make a good painting. The original was sold to a Conway couple and a limited number of prints were made.
The tavern is long gone, but the legend and fun live on at Toad Suck Daze.
Bill Satterfield attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. He lived and painted in Hawaii, Tennessee, Arkansas and Sweden. He was an art instructor at the Swedish University of Upsala, Memphis State University (now University of Memphis), and the Arkansas Arts Center.
The Toad Suck Daze festival is always the first weekend in May. 50
The Toad Suck Ferry stopped taking passengers across the Arkansas River in the late 60s when the Kerr-McClellan Lock and Dam at Toad Suck was completed.
An American Realist, his works were primarily landscapes and nautical studies which reflected his love of rural Arkansas and nature. His enthusiasm for fishing and sailing was evident in his drawings and paintings.