An Arkie’s Faith The tour guide

changed personal information and promised to keep in touch. I was surprised when a few months later, I received an email from Bernd telling me he was coming to Texas and would like to see me and learn more about Mena.

We had a lovely time hosting Bernd and his wife Marion in our home. It felt surreal to have a new friend from Germany visiting us here in Mena. I told him my wife and I had planned a trip to Germany the following year. He was excited about the idea and spent much time explaining the German transit system and showing me all the different rail pass options. He said that when we came to Germany, we must stay with them for a couple of days at their apartment in Hannover.

of affairs of state. When his castle building caused the virtual bankruptcy of the Bavarian state, his ministers accused him of insanity and deposed him on the grounds of mental illness. They had him committed to the custody of Lake Starnberg Castle.

The day after his imprisonment, Ludwig was found dead in Lake Starnberg. He disappeared while walking and was discovered a few hours later. The death was officially declared to be suicide by drowning, but the circumstances of his death remain open to question. Ludwig was a strong swimmer, and the water was less than waist-deep where his body was found. There was no water found in his lungs at the autopsy.

As we neared Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bernd told us that it was possible that at the next intersection, the Polizei might ask us to take a detour that would add an hour to our trip. Ten miles away, at Schloss Elmau, the G7 summit was underway. Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S., and the U.K. were meeting to discuss global economic governance, international security, energy policy, and the response to the war in Ukraine.

When we arrived at the checkpoint, the Polizei escorted our bus to our destination instead of making us detour around the area. As the police cars escorted us with lights flashing, our tour guide, Bernd, leaned over and told me, “See that nice BMW? You should convince the Mena police department to get some of those.” As more police cars joined us, I said, “You’re getting more important, Bernd.” He replied, “No, It’s because of you.” He said, “The Poleizei say, these Mena people, they need special observation.”

Throughout the 10-day tour of Germany in June 2022, Bernd was our tour guide as our group of 50 Americans visited many Reformation and WWII sites. We spent many hours on the bus as we traveled from place to place. He and I became good friends as we visited on the bus. My Daddy and I sat in the seat directly behind the driver, and Bernd sat in the seat across the aisle. When he wasn’t talking to everyone on the bus over the P.A. system, Bernd and I would talk and learn about each other’s lives.

When the tour ended, Bernd and I ex-

Earlier this month, my wife and I and my sister headed to Germany for our summer vacation. Our first stop was Hannover, where Bernd met us at the train station, and we took trams and a bus to his home. For the next two days, we had a personal tour guide who showed us all of the sights in Hannover and took us to the village of Gehrden. After Bernd saw us off at the train station on our way to Berlin, he kept in touch for the rest of our trip, offering us local insights. My friendship with Bernd made my vacation even more special.

Having a tour guide for a friend makes things so much easier as I travel in a foreign country. As we travel on life’s path, we all can have a tour guide for a friend. The Bible says, “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” Exodus 15:13 (NIV)

Gentle Reader, God is not just a guide who points us to a path. He isn’t just a person we ask for directions when we’ve lost our way. He doesn’t just hand us a map and walk away. God is a guide who makes the plan, directs our destination, and journeys with us. He walks with us every step of the way and wants us to follow His lead day by day. “The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’” Psalms 32:8 (NLT) It is lovely to have a tour guide as a friend.

SELLERS continued from page 4 we were able to get that as part of the lease. That’s where we bale hay, do upkeep on that property, and where we are able to hunt and fish.”

Rodney grew up doing the farming life. “We had chicken houses ever since I was a baby. My grandma and grandpa had them. My great-grandma had chicken houses. I literally grew up in the poultry industry, just like my kids are doing. That’s all they’ve known.”

His great-grandma was a Lane Poultry Farm, which was acquired by Tyson Foods, Inc. Tyson is the company the following generations of his family has been with their entire careers.

“They were all broiler houses,” Samantha explained. “We’re the first generation to have breeder houses, which is the egg production.”

HPAI

The past few years have seen an increase in Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which is easily spread by migrating birds, carrying the disease to poultry farms. It can be fatal to birds, especially in an enclosed area such as a chicken house. There have been 56 reports in Arkansas between Oct. 31, 2022, through May 30, 2023, on the USDA’s website. The USDA reports that 58.79 million birds have been affected nationwide within commercial and backyard flocks.

836 flocks have been confirmed having HPAI throughout 47 states. Fortunately, there have been no detections reported in the last 30 days.

The last detection in Arkansas amongst chicken flocks was Dec. 1, 2022. The last flock detected in Oklahoma was Dec. 6, 2022. No cases have been detected in Polk County or adjacent counties, but the Sellers, like other farmers, have to be aware. It’s a lot of work for those such as the Sellers with four houses combining a total of 44,000 chickens.

“It’s still pretty bad. We’re all still on high alert with it,” Rodney said.

“We keep [the chickens] for 40 weeks,” Samantha said.

“We’re always with chickens, because none of our four houses are the same age. Are never without birds. We always have birds in at least one house at all times,” Rodney said.

“We don’t go on trips,” Samantha said with a laugh. “We go on day trips. Our kids are still involved in a lot of youth athletics, but we try to do one-day events We just leave early after we feed chickens and we get back late. Then we take care of the rest of what needs to be taken care of.”

Slaking the thirst

When you have that many mouths to feed, it also requires a lot of water for the birds. Sellers Farm relies on well water as their source. They have seven wells supplying the four chicken houses with 4,000 gallons of water per day.

To obtain city water, the Sellers would have had to spend $14,000 - $17,000 of their own money to have the water department run water to their property a few miles from Cove to their farm according to a quote provided just before COVID-19 hit. That does not count the monthly water bill.

Data analytics

“A lot of the things we do we were not expecting,” Samantha said. “Our experience with broilers wasn’t as data driven. With our egg production, it’s very data driven. We have to really analyze. It’s based on batches: how much feed they’re actually eating, whether they’re eating all of it, the time it takes for them to eat. All of that factors into the egg production and how many eggs they produce on a daily basis. We get paid by the dozen.

“Those are some of the ways we maximize that,” Samantha said, “analyzing the data on how much feed they’re eating, which converts into the egg production. Actually, with Cobb, we got the top producer last year with them.”

“We time the water now instead of letting them have free choice,” Rodney added. “It cleaned up the eggs. We weren’t anticipating it, but we found when it cleaned up the eggs it allows you to hatch more eggs.”

Samantha said, “Timing their water not only cleaned up the eggs, but for the longest time, no one wanted to clean up breeder houses because it was a soppy mess. It’s very dry and powdery now.”

Rodney said, “We clean the litter out and put it on the hay meadows and pastures. It doubles your production in hay, easily.”

Samantha said. “There’s no part of the farm that’s wasted; that goes unused.”

Samantha explained their routine, “With the chicken houses, one thing that’s unique about our farm is Rodney and I do all of the feeding, and they only eat one time per day.”

“We feed at 5 o’clock every morning, seven days a week” Rodney said. “If there’s one little hiccup, you’re going to live with that for the rest of the term of that chicken. That’s how crucial the feeding is on the hens,” Rodney said. “We just feed once in the morning and it lasts about an hour, and two hours by the time we get feed weighed up for the next day.”

The rollers are computer controlled, allowing the speed and length of time they operate to be programmed.

“We have to scale every feed every day so we know how much they are eating that day and how many pounds per hundred we are feeding the hens,” Rodney said. “The broilers are kind of similar, the same way. They try to get them to eat the most they can in the time that they can.”

“With them only eating first thing in the morning, we also walk [the facilities] at that time,” Samantha said. “We’re able to see if they ate well. Was it an environmental factor? Was it something going on with the feed? Did they eat exceptionally well?”

Compared to his childhood days on a

Sellers

continued from page 11 chicken farm, methods and technology have changed when the farmers would have to physically look each day, sometimes several times per day, to ensure the houses were running properly. The new tech doesn’t tell the Sellers what’s wrong, but it does alert them via cell phone there is an alarm and which house is affected.

Rodney said, “We monitor the ventilation, make sure the birds have plenty of fresh air. It’s all computer run. It’s got a program that tells the thermostat what temperature to keep the house. It pretty much runs flawlessly until it don’t. We have an alarm system on all four houses. There’s 10 fans in one house. Something as simple as one fan not working, it will let me know.”

The computer system also controls the amount of water provided each day, from 5 in the morning until 10:30, then it’s off. The computer shuts it off and kicks it back on from 3 – 5 p.m. The computer will warn them if something such as low water pressure occurs, as low as 2 pounds difference. It will trip the alarm and alert the family.

It also controls the ventilation, the cool cells to lower the temperature inside.

Their houses do not have heat. The chickens are big enough and the houses are insulated well enough that at 30 degrees outside, the house interiors are still at 68 degrees, which is the constant temperature they keep the houses. The litter is also a big heating factor.

Egg collection

Egg collecting on a large scale is not like smaller farms or backyard flocks where someone goes out with a basket filled eggs. The eggs move along the aforementioned rollers.

After the morning feeding and prepping of the next day’s feed, the Sellers take a break from the chickens, then are back at it around 8:30 a.m. to gather the eggs. They’ll gather until 10:30 or 11. It depends on the age of the chickens. It requires planning other events around the egg gathering.

Rodney said, “At the early age of the flock, you’ll probably get 80% of your eggs gathered in the morning. The older the flock gets it’ll turn more 50/50 in the morning and evening. You’ll gather for a couple of hours in the evening.

“Right before that, you go in and walk, pick up your mortality, turn your egg tables on. They come to two tables in each egg room. We take them and put them on the egg rack,” which holds up to 5,040 eggs when filled. “They go to our egg cooler. Tyson comes twice a week to take them to their hatchery. Once they leave our farm, it’s 21 days until that chicken is hatched.” is how I describe how it works. There are actually three sections to the chicken house and two of them are parallel. In the middle of the chicken house, you have two short cement walls. The middle part is what we call the scratch. That’s typically where the egg production occurs. Then there’s nests on each side where the hens are sitting on flats. There are nests on either side. Those nests have the conveyor belt underneath them. They pull those eggs down to the egg gathering table on the left side and the right side.”

Cobb Award

As Samantha mentioned, Sellers Farms were the 2022 co-winners for the Cobb700™ Sold Flock Survey Award for Top Flock Producer for top egg production. The Sellers’ hens produced 174.03 adjusted total eggs per hen housed. On average, every hen was producing at that volume.

“It’s a big award to win,” Rodney said. “They call it the top producer in the United States. It’s not just Arkansas. To get that, you have to produce the most amount of with straw and reaches with their hand beneath the hens in the nest to gather

Samantha said, “For someone who doesn’t have a poultry background, this

See SELLERS continued on page 13

Sellers

continued from page 12 ed until 2019. A pastor in Oklahoma was the first one to have won it around here. We thought that was pretty cool. Let’s shoot for that. We really started focusing real hard on what we could do to improve ourself.

“I’ll be the first to admit, with hen houses, you have to require help or you’ll go insane trying to do it seven days a week,” he said. “We were very fortunate to have a lady, Teofila Alarcon, come on board with us who had gathered eggs for 16 years. She said she could help us out and she’s still with us to this day.

“I owe a lot of credit to her for that award. She showed us a lot. We took some of what we’ve done and some of what she’d done and put it together.” with you, puts you in a magazine… it was a great accomplishment, especially for us not growing up in a hen operation. When our breeder manager first called us, it took seven years to get the first set of houses open. He asked if we would be interested in breeder houses. I just instantly told him absolutely. I had never been in a breeder house. I grew up in broiler houses and knew nothing about [breeder]. the kids with him in the egg room.”

He said, “They can stay with me and be entertained. We didn’t have to hire a babysitter. I got to spend with my kids. Family is all we know. We do one thing together; we do everything together.” eggs per heat. They have a goal, what they want you to achieve. They have above average, and they have the top producer award.

“We didn’t even know that award exist-

Samantha said, “After many years of doing the same thing, we just tweaked it and had some conversations about ways to maximize the egg production. The cleaner they are the more you can pick up out of the scratch you don’t have to cull. We worked on some strategies on ways to reduce that and what we needed to do differently at the beginning of the flock.”

“We’d never heard of it because nobody around here had ever won it,” Rodney said. “Tyson comes and does a deal

“I called my dad and told him, ‘Hey, dad, I’m in the chicken business. We’re fixing to build some breeder houses.’ He said, ‘Have you lost your mind? That’s a lot of work.’ I said, ‘It ain’t no worse than a broiler house.’ He said, ‘Yeah, it is, too. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.’ What’s funny is he has been over and helped us out. He will tell you now that if he had it to do over again, he would try the breeder side of it.”

“The breeder side has really opened a lot of doors for us,” Samantha said. “We’re older parents but we had young children at the time. Having the egg room — that sanitized clean area — allowed us to take them to the chicken house with us. So, they got to go to work with us. It was a big deal because I work away from the farm, so Rodney was able to keep

An aside, Mena will be seeing a lot more of Samantha this coming school season. “I was a teacher for 10 years. This last year, I was the principal at Cossatot Primary School, and I just got hired at Louise Durham Elementary as the principal.”

She is also member of both the Arkansas Association for Educational Administrators and the Arkansas Association for Curriculum Administrators.

Cattle

The Sellers also have 85-90 head of cattle. In addition to being a Farm Bureau Member, Rodney is a member of both the Polk County Cattlemen’s Association and the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association.

“We started out with 13 head. That’s all we could afford at the time,” Rodney said. “They were crossbred cows. We started keeping heifers out of that and growing.

Sellers

continued from page 12

We always knew we wanted to get into the purebred stuff. We went a different route, initially wanting to go full Brahman, which is what makes up Brangus, which is a registered breed.”

Samantha said, “They worked for replacement heifers. They are very hardy for our area and very pretty to look at. Great stock. Around here, people prefer black” Samantha said.

Rodney explained, “Brangus is a crossbreed of Brahman and Angus. It is a recognized breed, now, which brings more money. The Brahman will put more weight on a calf than about any breed I have found. You mix them with Angus, which can put on the black color ev- cow had which calf, the weaning weight at what age. Or, if a cow weaned one at a significantly lower weight, they know they don’t need to keep that heifer if it appears to be the standard outcome.

His grandfather had a similar binder, but he added photos of each cow as his health got worse. He knew someone would have to check his herd for him at some point. He’d instruct whomever to get his binder, show them a picture and the tag number and send them on their way.

Speaking of family and cattle, their nephew, Zach McCormick of Cossatot River FFA showed one of their cattle last year at the Polk County Fair, taking the prize for American Heifer. It was the first time they had ever had one of their livestock shown.

“She was a very pretty animal. Her mom was one of the animals we started with — one of the original 13,” Rodney said. “When he picked her out, we were like, ‘Absolutely!’ That’s probably not your best bet to win anything.’ She is actually in my pasture today. We turned her back out. That was neat.” erybody wants and the Angus title, you have in my opinion, the ideal animal. We switched gears and was all involved for two years, transitioning everything to a Brahman. Once we started comparing the prices and number values, it wasn’t comparable. We’re at 25 head of purebred Brangus right now, with one purebred Brangus bull. We’re using that as the ‘Grow Your Own.’ We’re using that as replacements. When we get older heifers, I’ll sell five to 10 and replace them with Brangus eventually. We’re about three years out of being full Brangus on this farm. That’s the goal.”

Rodney used to show calves when he was in junior high and high school. There’s a lot of money that goes into showing livestock, but there’s a lot of prize money that can be earned.

“The Brangus come in heavier,” Rodney said. ‘You get the hardiness. They do well with the heat for here and do well in the winter. Full-bred Brahmans struggled in a couple of cold winters.”

Compared to the chickens, Rodney is old-school when it comes to the cattle. He has a binder to keep up with the herd. “When a cow has a calf, we tag it, we write the tag down, it’s tagged with the momma’s number on it.”

That allows to keep track with which

Grow Your Own

Grow Your Own is a practice growing in popularity, and a practice that allows the farmer to have more knowledge and control of either their produce or livestock.

“Not all cows are going to be the same,” Rodney said. “I can take a group that we raise ourselves as heifers — take a group of 10 — and I can sell them to somebody that I would consider be top of the line. There will be some in that group that will not produce or won’t produce as well as the rest. Our philosophy is if we keep tallies on what every momma does on weights and how well the calf grew from start to finish — if it can get the weight on in five months or if it takes seven months to get the weight on, that’s the route we chose to keep up with tally marks to keep up with. That way we know which ones to keep and which ones to retain and grow our own herd.”

Samantha said, “We’re able to keep tabs on that group from start to finish. If we go out and we buy a large group,

See SELLERS continued on page 22

Wickes Trade Day

Saturday, July 8, 9 a.m. - TBD

Located in Wickes on Hwy. 278 on the lawn between Union Bank and the fire station. Vendor set-up is at 8 a.m. Support local businesses. Enjoy Hispanic food, BBQ, baked goods, tumblers wood works, items from Double R Forge, freshies, homemade cards, floral arrangements, key chains, clothes, jewelry, pony rides, face painting, and more. Vendors are not guaranteed to be present as unforeseen circumstances may arise. Call 479-216-8234 for any questions.

Jubilee In June

Friday, June 23, 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 24, 8 a.m.

Friday night begins with the Miss Hatfield Jubilee Pageant at the Hatfield Auditorium.

Registration for 3-on-3 basketball and line-up for the parade begins at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The parade begins at 10 a.m. Come enjoy several live musicians and bands, crafts, vendors, games, food and more for the admission free family event around the Hatfield Park. The evening’s fireworks will begin around 9:20 p.m.

Free sack lunch each Tuesday, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., for all ages, at Janssen Park pavilion. Bubbles, chalk, free books, games, and music. Sponsored by First Presbyterian Church. Meals will be available all summer, May 30 through August 15.

Narcotics Anonymous meet at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Monday, noon - 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 7 p.m. on Thursday, 7 p.m. on Friday, and 6 p.m. on Saturday at the old bus barn at the Crossing Church. For information call Erica at (479) 234-5289 or Candice at (501) 356-8300.

The Polk County Housing Authority has Rental Vouchers available. They are also in need of Applicants and Landlords. Contact them at 509 S. Morrow, Mena, (479) 394-1565 or polkarhousing.com

First Presbyterian Church will be presenting a study, “The Evolution of the Bible”, in its Adult Sunday School Class on Sunday mornings beginning at 9:45. The class will be conducted by Earl Harrell. Anyone with an interest in this study is invited to attend. Classes will be at the church in the parlor, 904 Church Ave., Mena.

The Ouachita Beekeepers Association is now meeting on the second Thursday of the month, 7 p.m. in the Education Building of the UA Extension Office, 211 DeQueen St. in downtown Mena. Come early and enjoy refreshments and bee talk with other beekeepers.

GriefShare continues to meet every Thursday from 10 a.m.-noon at First Presbyterian Church Mena for anyone in the community who is grieving the loss of a loved one.

The Hatfield Branch Library is open every Tuesday and Friday from noon - 4 p.m. The library is located at 121 Ceme-

Around Town

tery Rd. (old Agri building) in Hatfield.

The Cove Branch Library is open Monday and Thursday from noon5 p.m. The Library is located next to Cove Town Hall at 5568 Hwy. 71 S.

Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES) will be in Mena at The Ouachitas Coffee and Taproom on Wednesday, June 21, at 1 p.m. Tyler Draper, CAPES Cluster 9 organizer, will be on hand with other CAPES volunteers to train locals interested in volunteering to collect petition signatures. The public is also invited to come out and sign the petition to put LEARNS on the ballot.

The Mena/Polk County Senior Center will have The Gator and Friends band performing in Mena every Thursday, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

The Center has an exercise class on Mondays and Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Contact Trena Looney with questions, (479) 394-5459.

Free meal and a message at Living Word, 171 W. Johnson, Hatfield, Wednesdays @ 6 p.m.

The Cossatot Senior Center in Wickes has meals and activities for seniors. If you need to make delivery arrangements or changes call (870) 385-2373.

Christ’s Church of Cove, 5234 Hwy. 71 S, Cove gathers every Tuesday, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m., for free coffee and conversation.

Hatfield First Baptist Church

“Shepherd’s Closet” Open Wednesdays, 10 a.m. - noon. Large selection of good, used clothing & a limited supply of non-perishable food items. Free to anyone in need.

Alcoholics Anonymous meet at The Crossing Church, 3 p.m., Sundays; at 5 p.m., Tuesdays; and at 8 p.m. Saturdays at the old bus barn. For information call (479) 2348366 or (479) 216-3786.

The Food Pantry at the Mena Seventh Day Adventist Church is open every first and third Monday of each month, 4 - 6 p.m., located at Fair Grounds Road. For more information, call (479) 437-4018.

American Legion meets every 2nd Tuesday at the Legion Hall in Acorn. Potluck at 6 p.m., meeting follows.

Come play Bingo, Saturdays and Mondays, starts at 6 p.m., doors open at 4 p.m.

Reynolds Gardner Community Men’s Breakfast every Tuesday, First United Methodist Church, Mena, 8 a.m. (full breakfast for small donation). All men from the community are invited to attend.

Alcoholics Anonymous meet at 7 p.m. Fridays at the First United Methodist Church, Ninth Street and Port Arthur. Discussion/Book Study for information call (479) 243-0297.

Bluegrass Jam Session is open to musicians and fans alike. Bring your instruments for an unplugged session to the Daisy Room (behind Janssen’s Avenue Florist & Gifts) the first and third Thursdays of each month, starting at 6:30 p.m. Free event. Some snacks are provided.

It’s easy to have your event listed in Around Town, which will be read on radio stations KENA and KQOR daily. Simply send your Around Town announcement to news@mypulsenews.com or call (479) 2439600 and let us know about your event! To have it in the Polk County Pulse newspaper, we need to know by FIVE on FRIDAY. We look forward to continuing to serve the community!

Former Dierks clerk enters plea deal over stolen $500K

By Patrick Massey

A former Dierks city secretary and water clerk accused of stealing more than half a million dollars in city funds agreed to a plea deal this week in which she pledged to pay back the stolen funds in return for a reduced prison sentence.

Cheryl Delarosa, 60, entered a guilty plea to six counts of theft of property and six counts of abuse of office — all Class B felony offenses. She admitted to embezzling just over $500,000 between 2015-2020. Her plea included an agreement to repay the City of Dierks $164,000 by Aug. 9 of this year, and the remaining $337,000 upon the end of a sixyear prison sentence.

In addition, Delarosa will face an additional 20 years of supervised release and agreed to forfeit her city retirement.

Delarosa is scheduled to be formally sentenced in August.

As part of her plea deal, if the first installment of $164,000 is not paid by Aug. 9, Delarosa agreed that the court could sentence her to the maximum punishment under state law. The court’s partial suspended sentence under Delarosa’s plea deal states she would be sentenced to an additional 24 years in prison if she fails to make the first reimbursement by that date.

The case came to light in 2021 following an audit into the missing funds. Special Agent Joe Pickett, with the Arkansas State Police Special Investigations Unit, led the DELAROSA continued on page 19