Mena’s Wendy’s earns training certification

By Ethan Nahté

The Wendy’s in Mena, which is conjoined with ExxonMobil and Baskin-Robbins has become among the elite for the company’s brand in western Arkansas and even a portion of Texas. Many people probably take for granted restaurants (and employees), especially those of the fast-food sort. As a society, the United States is the biggest fast-food consumer in the world according to a Dec. 31, 2022, article in CEOWORLD Magazine, and hamburgers are amongst the most popular food varieties.

Mena has its share of places to grab a burger. Consumers might choose a restaurant based on favorite tastes, options, friendliness or cleanliness of a restaurant, or simply by brand

As of March 3, Wendy’s is a certified training restaurant, meaning that Mena is the place where would-be managers will come to learn and enhance their skills to be a team leader.

Tori Stockton, general manager at the Wendy’s in Mena, said without her assistant manager Bethany Stephenson this accomplishment would not have happened at all. “This is an accomplishment we’ve been working about six months to achieve.” Stockton said. “Only about 10% of the Wendy’s restaurants within franchises earn a training store certificate — about 600 within the 6,000. It’s a big deal for us.”

Brittany Brown, the district manager of Wendy’s in Mena, said, “Today we are certifying Mena — certifying

Tori Stockton — as a training restaurant manager. One of the biggest values that I believe that Tori has as a restaurant training manager and one of [founder] Dave Thomas’ values is treating people with respect. She has created an amazing culture that we are going to bring teams in from all over Arkansas, all over Texas, to train in. She shares that value really, really good. I am excited to announce that she is our new training restaurant manager and she is going to mentor the leaders beneath her.”

Anthony Dagastino, a field training manager for Wendy’s, has worked for Wendy’s 45 years. “Back when I started in the 70s and 80s, the business and everything about it was so much less complicated. The manag- ers today have to be so much better than I was, and Tori has proved she is operating at an extremely high level. We’re so proud of what she has done; so happy with what she has accomplished. We’re happy to have her with the brand.”

“What that means for us is we’re doing everything we should be to uphold Wendy’s standards,” Stockton said, “and giving customers the best experience that we can. Going forward, we will be shifting people from other stores and be able to train them, and hopefully give the Wendy’s brand a good name.”

Brown said, “Soon, you will be able to get the exact same service you get at the Mena, Arkansas, Wendy’s… in the Texas and other Arkansas’ Wendy’s nearby.”

(Ashley Moore contributed to this article.)

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Just about every morning at 6 a.m. I can be found in our local Walmart shopping and wandering around greeting employees and customers alike. I have been doing this since the pandemic to minimize my contact with the general public, but equally important, to avoid waking my wife. Almost without exception I will get a smile and return greeting from all those I greet.

That may not seem important to some, but to me it is. Some of these hard-working folks have been up all night, working to have food or other of life’s necessities for us on the store shelves, so we can go about our daily lives, often without a thought of the efforts of others. Some are up at the crack of dawn to be at work to fill our needs. These are our friends and neighbors. Our children go to school with their children. They attend the same churches, restaurants, and community events as the communities they serve. During the pandemic they worked diligently to keep medications, clothing, food, and life’s necessities available so we could carry on. They were exposed daily to a dangerous virus and some got sick as a result. Even so, they came to work for each of us, unselfishly, and to me are just as much heroes as all those who served to get us through a bad time in our history. They are deserving of our respect and to say thank you would be nice. I ask you to think of that next time there is an outof-stock item or shortage and realize that is beyond their control. Do not take it out on them. If you don’t have something nice to say, say nothing at all.

Want to share your opinion?

I still recall learning to read. I thought this was the greatest thing ever! I went around my entire neighborhood reading my “Dick and Jane” book to everyone who would listen. By third grade I was reading high school level and by junior high I was directed to a special area of the library with college level books to read.

Reading opens the world to us. We have access to different cultures, religions, life styles, different viewpoints, political discussions, and a view into history and possibilities for the future. It provides an escape when a latchkey kid comes home to an empty house. A way to drown out the parents fighting. The ability to pump up the imagination along with acceptance of others even though they may be different from ourselves. Even the possibly of a way to a life not spent in poverty.

An education where one learns to come to their own assumptions about the world we live in is such an added bonus. Which is better? Fear, guilt, indoctrination, denying access to resources, or having someone come to a perspective due to their own mind’s decisions and research?

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I am not sure how or when we arrived at a place where civility went by the wayside and it became acceptable to vent on others. Surely you have seen the videos of road rage, neighbors at each other’s throats, dangerous and disrespectful interactions with our law enforcement officers. Most people are appalled by this behavior and rise above it, but the few with anger issues are fast becoming a norm and it needs to stop before we become a lawless bunch of Neanderthals. If your mommy and daddy did not teach you manners, then shame on them, and on you for not learning them on your own. There is a saying that goes, treat others as you would want to be treated. Try smiling and say thank you next time you shop at Walmart and make someone’s day a little brighter. It will not cost you anything, but those you thank will be richer for it.

Thank you for a forum to voice my thoughts, though at times we may disagree.

With respect and kindest regards, Ronald Goss, retired, Mena

So why are we banning books? The Supreme Court 6th Circuit found that the First Amendment protects the right of students to receive information and that “a decision to remove the books from the school library was unconstitutional.”

And yet efforts to ban books has increased in the last 20 years at what the American Library Association calls, “unprecedented”. Like 1930’s Nazi Germany many books have been banned already. These are the ones we should be reading. SB 81 Arkansas now wants to target librarians. This is a dangerous step by Arkansas government.

If this continues how will students find out their own truth? Learn resilience and to think logically amongst a narrowing of education and free speech?

So why are we banning books? The Supreme Court 6th Circuit found that the First Amendment protects the right of students to receive information and that “a decision to remove the books from the school library was unconstitutional.”

And yet efforts to ban books has increased in the last 20 years at what the American Library Association calls, “unprecedented”. Like 1930’s Nazi Germany many books have been banned already. These are the ones we should be reading.

Letters may be submitted by e-mail to news@mypulsenews.com; mailed to P.O. Box 1450, Mena, AR 71953 or dropped off at 1168 Hwy. 71 South, Mena, AR. A drop-box is provided by the front door for after-hour convenience.

SB 81 Arkansas now wants to target librarians. This is a dangerous step by Arkansas government.

If this continues how will students find out their own truth? Learn resilience and to think logically amongst a narrowing of education and free speech?

Cynthia Thanos-Wade, Mena

J.D. Vaught among Ag Hall of Fame inductees

LITTLE ROCK — Leadership and service that brought distinction to the state’s largest business sector is the hallmark for the five newest inductees into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame. A total of 180 men and women are now enshrined in the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame.

These five were inducted March 3 in a ceremony at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock:

• Jesse “J.D.” Vaught, Horatio

• Ellis Bell, Forrest City

• Bert Greenwalt, Jonesboro

• Chris Isbell, Humnoke

• Steve Stevens, Tillar

Carla Vaught accepted the award for her father, Jesse “J.D.” Vaught.

Sassy Squatch had their grand re-opening after a winter break, complete with a ribbon cutting and a group of customers to help them celebrate. They have new hours, 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Check out their ad on page 9. (Ethan Nahté/Pulse)

March is Women’s History Month

By Ethan Nahté

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders proclaimed March as Women’s History Month on Feb. 23.

Sanders fits into the category as Arkansas’ first female governor, not to mention she is the youngest current governor in the United States.

Also, as part of Women’s History Month, there will be an event this Saturday honoring Shirley Shewmake Manning at the Polk County Library Saturday, March 11. See the March 1 issue of the Polk County Pulse for details.

Pictured is astronaut Nicole Mann, currently orbiting the earth in the International Space Station. She’s a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and the first indigenous woman from NASA to go to space.