W E LC O M E
When I was in kindergarten I became friends with a girl whose birthday fell just days before Christmas. Over the years, I remember the kids in our class discussing the merits and faults of such a fate: Did she get more or fewer presents than the rest of us? Did she also tell Santa what she wanted for her birthday? The two weeks off from school seemed nice, plus there were class parties and lots of chocolate in the weeks preceding. We decided it couldn’t be too bad sharing your birthday with a holiday; after all, it is the most wonderful time of the year. While I’m a summer baby myself, I experienced a bit of this phenomenon— the overlapping excitement for two celebrations—while working on this issue, which happens to mark our 25th anniversary. That’s right, At Home in Arkansas has been inspiring people’s homes and lifestyles for a quarter of a century now! We’ve marked the special occasion with a retrospective in this issue’s Spotlight section (page 31). I love any excuse to go thumbing through our archives, and this assignment was no different. It was fun (and inspiring) to see the changes over the years in everything from our logo and personnel to broader trends in home design, magazine layout, and photography. But for everything that is different, a lot has stayed the same throughout these 25 years. For one, the name of our owner and publisher, Kelly Fraiser, is on the masthead of all but a handful of editions, as she’s been with the magazine since its very beginning. Some of the state’s most well-known creatives appear in features and ads from way back when. And, most of all, the warm, welcoming spirit of Arkansas pervades each feature in every issue. We can’t thank you enough for being a part of our story. Here’s to the next 25 years—and to a very merry Christmas.
Stephanie Maxwell Newton, editor stephanie@athomearkansas.com
10 At Home in Arkansas | December 2021
Photo by Rett Peek
celebrate it all
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