Searcy Living Issue 5 2012

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Issue 5 2012

f e at u r e s I Had A Blast In Afghanistan

12

Victory Over Cancer

38

Making It Happen

46

Reclaimed

50

Let's Join Our Community Together

56

Intact 58 Beno

68

Champion

72

Get Primed

76

58 “Great effort from great motives is the best definition of a happy life.”

D e pa rtm e n t s Publisher’s Note 11 Fashion Fun 18 Living In Searcy 22 Fab Do It Yourself 28

66

– William Ellery Channing

We The People 30 Hope Believe 52 Over The Counter 64 Out & About 66 Dinner & A Magazine

78

Games & Puzzles 80

out & about

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Publisher Christine Walker Art Director & Webmaster Garrett Johnson Graphic Assistant Ikey Ray Customer Service Stephanie McInturff Editorial Assistant Cherie Sewell Makeover Coordinator Christine Locke Special Project Coordinator Hannah Elliott Public Relations Associate Jennifer Jones Contributing Independent Photographers Kimberly Brackins (501)279-1515 George Dillin (501)268-9304 Cassie Jones (501)230-0539 Roxy Creative (501)593-6866 Candace Skarda (501)281-6297 Homan Photography (501)268-2844 Taylor Howard Photography (870)917-8012 Feature Writers Cecelia Wilson Cassie Jones Erica Brooks

Searcy Living Locally Owned and Operated 812 South Main Street Searcy, AR 72143 searcyliving@yahoo.com (501) 368-0095 SearcyLiving.com For subscription information go to SearcyLiving.com

Copyright 2012 Shark Promotions LLC. Searcy Living, Cabot Living, and Your Hometown Magazine are trademarks of Shark Promotions. All rights reserved. Ownership, rights, and logos are property of their respected businesses. No part may be reproduced without written permission. Shark Promotions LLC is not responsible for claims, misprints, discrepancies, advice of any kind, or content in advertisements or editorials, but will rectify errors in forthcoming issues.

Copyright Š 2012 Shark Promotions LLC

Searcy Living Magazine is a subsidiary of Shark Promotions LLC.

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Circles and Unity As this month's issue came together, it did not really have a theme. We had a potpourri of stories that seemed to be vastly different, but connected in a way. These stories included struggles, triumphs, determination and perseverance.

I mentioned the lack of a dominate theme in a staff meeting and one of our team members pointed out that we did indeed have a theme: Unity.

As I sat down to write you this letter for our Unity issue, I could not help but think of how our "theme" pertained to my own life and perhaps yours. Last year about this time, I shared with you in my publisher's note how that year had been one of the most difficult in my lifetime. During that year I had a lot of "rebuilding" to do. As I was slowly re-accumulating everyday household and decorative items, I noticed that I randomly purchased, without any planning, the same kind of theme: circles. There were suddenly circles in wall hangings, circles on my bedspread, circles everywhere! When I realized that I was surrounded by circles, I could not help but wonder if there was a subconscious significance. A couple of months later, that random thought went through my mind again, along with these words: protection, continuance, completeness, sustaining, and promise. I jotted those random words down and put them on my bulletin board. I can't help but to occasionally add to it: closure, reoccurrence, unity… you get the picture.

Life does seem to come full circle; it gets unified. The past comes into the present and the present is connected to the past. We go through cycles of pain and cycles of joy. We grow stronger and learn because of those cycles. Sometimes we become more compassionate, more thoughtful, more unified. I hope this issue brings you into the life of others and then returns you to your own with a little more insight, enthusiasm, and unity. Thank you, as always, for reading Searcy Living.

INTACT

“Smell the roses. Look at the small pleasures.”

Page 58

I HAD A BLAST IN AFGHANISTAN

“A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.” ~My friend Betsy's fortune cookie

BENO

“Though his own heart now beats a little erratically, it is now joined by two new hearts – both from an equally grateful nation and both of them purple.”

“‘You always see people sitting on the benches in the barn just because they like being around Beno.’”

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I Had A

In Afghanistan

By Cecelia Wilson

Susan Ramsey is like most military mothers: proud of her son, fearful of the dangers inherent in his daily duties.

But, like most military children, Marshall Kennedy did what he could to calm those fears for his mother, and he forged ahead in his career as one of the few, the proud…a Marine. After serving his country in Japan and two tours of duty in Iraq, Marshall was deployed to Afghanistan. In April 2011, Susan’s concerns became reality when Marshall had his first encounter with an IED. Fortunately, he only suffered a twisted ankle. But, two months later, he was not so fortunate. On June 13, 2011, Kennedy stepped on an IED and this time he suffered severe damage to his left arm, shrapnel caused head trauma and he lost both legs.

After he graduated from Forrest City High, Marshall had been eager to join the Marines. His great-uncle had been a Marine; his grandfather had been in the Navy. As his mother, Susan, says, “Something just drew Marshall to the military.” So much so, that, when he was 17, he was eager to enlist and his mother had to sign for him even though he wouldn’t leave for training for some time. “He was so disciplined, he was a good student and he wanted to be in the infantry,” she remembers.

Fast forward to that second IED encounter. Marshall Kennedy was in Afghanistan, with a wife and two small boys who were living at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He now answered to Sergeant Kennedy. As Squad Leader on a routine clearance mission, Kennedy and his team had been informed by local Afghans of a weapons cache in a nearby compound.

The Explosive Ordinance Disposal team was called and the squad began checking another compound. As the Sergeant was taking a knee to assess the situation before he and his men went forward, his left foot hit the pressure plate of an IED. Though he was thrown through the air and into a wall, Sgt. Kennedy remained conscious throughout the ordeal.

The Arkansas native was transported to a shock-trauma platoon and was eventually airlifted to Landstuhl, Germany.

Four days after his life-altering injuries, he arrived at Walter 12 Your Hometown Magazine

Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

More than one year and numerous surgeries later, Sgt. Kennedy, his wife Chelsie and their two young sons are still in the Northeast and, while the Marine is now an outpatient, he was not able to return to Arkansas until November.

In addition to the rehabilitation necessary for mobility due to the loss of his legs, Kennedy has been working hard to regain use of the fingers of his left hand as well as his grip. His heart suffered damage from the explosion, and he may in time require a pacemaker. He has some short term memory issues from the head trauma. In short, service to our country has required a heavy price from the young man. His attitude, however, is incredible given the circumstances. Without God and family, Sgt. Kennedy might have succumbed to the weight of his condition. Instead, he leans on that faith in God and believes there is a purpose for his survival, a meaning to the new life he will be leading once he is medically retired from the Marines. He even has a t-shirt that dispels any idea that he pities himself. It reads simply, “I had a blast in Afghanistan!”

Despite his limitations, 27-year-old Marshall remains active.

He has always loved hunting, shooting and NASCAR and now enters handcycle races, most recently the Marine Corps Handcycle Race in Washington, D.C. He is planning to enter the

University of Arkansas next January and earn a degree so he may teach History. His wife, who is short a few hours in obtaining her own degree as a social worker, is also planning to finish college at the U of A. Facing a challenging future was made a little easier when Kennedy was approached by “Homes for Our Troops.” By way of introduction, the following information was taken directly from their website, homesforourtroops.org: We are Homes for Our Troops, a national non-profit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2004. We are strongly committed to helping those who have selflessly given to our country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries since September 11, 2001. It is our duty and our honor to assist severely injured Veterans and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials and professional labor and to coordinate the process of building a home that provides maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently.

The homes provided by Homes for Our Troops are given at NO COST to the Veterans we serve.

Note: An eligible Veteran or service member may receive a Veterans Administration Specially Adapted Housing Grant up to a maximum amount of $63,780. Homes for Our Troops’ assistance covers all costs over and above this grant to ensure that the home is provided at no cost to the recipient.

 Cycling in honor of fallen soldier LCpl Brian P. Parrel, with Mrs. Parrel.

 Marshall, Chelsie, Caleb and Ethan Kennedy

 Susan with Marshall and the boys.

IED:

An improvised explosive device (IED), also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action.

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After being approached by the group, Sgt. Kennedy applied, went through a qualification screening process and was approved. His family’s new home will be custom-built so it will be accessible for his needs and it will be built on a lot in Farmington, Arkansas. But, as the organization’s website notes, volunteers, supplies and donations are needed to make the housing dream a reality for this deserving family as they transition to civilian life.

Susan Ramsey still lives in Searcy where she works at the Sunshine School. Her pride in her son was always apparent, but these days it continues to multiply as she watches him deal with his injuries with an heroic attitude. She will be the first to tell

you that 2011 was not a good year. Her father passed away May 31, 2011; her son Marshall was injured on June 13, 2011; and her mother died July 8, 2011. It was a lot to handle in such a short time frame, but she is grateful for the blessings God has given her, her son and his family. She is grateful he is alive and is thriving, despite not one, but two IED explosions. Her heart is full and so is Marshall’s. Though his own heart now beats a little erratically, it is now joined by two new hearts – both from an equally grateful nation and both of them purple.

To volunteer labor, expertise, supplies and donations for Marshall Kennedy’s new home, please visit: www.homesforourtroops.org

 At the War Memorial in Washington.

 Marshall and the boys before leaving for Afghanistan.

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Sgt. Kennedy might have succumbed to the weight of his condition.

Instead, he leans on that faith in God and believes there is a purpose for his survival, a meaning to the new life he will be leading once he is medically retired from the Marines.

”

 Marshall and the boys at the 9/11 site.  Marshall and the boys the day he left.

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Creating Christmas memories one family at a time.

Holiday DÊcor at Holly Jolly Prices! find us on facebook Monday-Saturday 10am - 8pm and Sunday 1pm - 5pm• 1211 East Beebe Capps Expwy., Searcy SearcyLiving.com 17

Busy mom Kim Pruitt enjoyed a day of pampering thanks to our generous sponsors. Cydney Lynch at Hays designed her outfit, Cosmetic Studio's Doris Yates updated her makeup, and Melissa Badger at Symmetrix styled Kim's hair. Many thanks to photographer Candace Skarda for portraits commemorating the day!

Before

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sponsors

Outfit from

Hays

Christine Locke Makeover Coordinator

Makeup by

Doris Yates at

Cosmetic Studio

3005 E. Race St. • Searcy (501) 268-0800

Hair by

Melissa Badger at

Symmetrix

In the Heart & Soul Plaza 1623 E. Beebe-Capps • Searcy (501) 279-2526

Photography by

Candace Skarda

Turn the page for more fashion retailers. >>>

2904 Hawkins Dr. • Searcy 501-268-4540

Candace Skarda Photography 501-281-6297 candaceskarda@photographer.net Facebook:Candace Skarda-Photography CandaceSkardaPhotography.blogspot.com

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IN SEARCY

T he

Home To many people who pass by this house, it presents itself as

being a snug little home; perfect for a small fun family. But as the old saying goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” the same holds true for this charming house. The original residence was built in 1895, and in the last couple of years Roy and Nancy Showalter have done renovations and added on to the back of the house.

Most of the designs were done by Mike Overstreet.

Family antiques are the décor used in the formal living and dining rooms and are also found throughout the home. Crystal chandeliers and an elegant open staircase add to the old historical feel of the house. The original living room had a wall along the stairwell with the stairs coming straight down into and only seen from the formal dining room. One of the renovation projects 22 Your Hometown Magazine

Story and Photos By Hannah Elliott

Roy and Nancy did was to knock out the wall and bring the stairs around to come out in the formal living room.

The informal dining room connects to the informal living room, which was part of an addition to the house. The Showalters hired Manuel Gibson to build the bar. They incorporated tiles that Nancy and her father saved from a drug company who, years ago, would send promotional tiles to pharmacies. They are Delft blue tiles from Holland, depicting various pharmacy scenes.

A sunroom, with views of the back and side yard, is also a part of the addition. Nancy and Roy chose not to put a television in the room so it can be a quiet place to read and relax.

The master bedroom is in the front of the original house and has a very regal appearance due to the color palate and a beautiful old

 The original residence was built in 1895 and was a farm house with 23 acres. Travelers knew they were getting close to downtown Searcy because this house was the only house on the dirt road that lead straight to the square. The home has belonged to several families over the years including the Garrison, Dacus, and Yingling families. chandelier. Bay windows give the room a unique appeal. There are steps going up to the master bed for the Showalters dog, Bella, who loves to be around Roy and Nancy.

Anne Claire’s room is fit for a princess.

She has a large room with neutral colored furniture, including a piece that belonged to Nancy’s grandmother. The base colors are a fun blue and green, with pinks and purples incorporated around the room for accents.

Another room, now the “drum room” was added on to the house and is upstairs above the extended master closet. Adjacent to the drum room is a small bathroom and bedroom that is their son’s room when he comes home for a visit. It is decorated with a Route 66 car theme.

The backyard hosts the most fun addition made to the house this past year. Roy and Nancy built an in ground pool, with a brick wall surrounding it for privacy.

 The Formal Living Room  Opposite Page: The Informal Living Room The home has almost 5,000 square feet of hardwood floors.

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 The Formal & Informal Dining Rooms

 Nancy and her father saved tiles from a drug company who, years ago, would send promotions to pharmacies. They are Delft blue tiles from Holland depicting various pharmacy scenes.

“We have built a home place here. We cherish the memories and traditions that we have made...”

– The Showalters

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Several tables and chairs are scattered around the pool deck as well as landscaping and a beautiful fountain. The covered patio includes a small seating area as well as the original sink from the kitchen and a small counter perfect for entertaining. The pool house has a bathroom with a large walk in shower. The bedroom is decorated in a way that gives a fresh seaside atmosphere, culminating with double doors that open to the pool. The concrete floor is painted and received several acid treatments to give the appearance of water.

The Showalters recently put the finishing touches on the outside of the house with new landscaping around the addition and pool. They put in a rock path around the side of the house and have creatively put a small seating area on top of the storm shelter to give it more of a discreet look and complement the serene environment.

 The master bedroom is in the front of the original house and has a very regal appearance complete with steps for the Showalters' dog Bella.

“Our love of Searcy and preserving its history is very important to both of us.”

– The Showalters

 Anne Claire’s room is fit for a princess.

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 The Showalters recently put the finishing touches on the outside of the house with new landscaping around the addition and pool. There have been several major renovations over the years.

“We have seen so many of the older houses being torn down in town that we wanted to do our part in saving at least one.”

– The Showalters  The covered patio includes a small seating area as well as the original iron sink from the kitchen and a small counter perfect for entertaining.

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 The bedroom of the pool house is decorated in a way that gives a fresh seaside atmosphere.

 The concrete floor is painted and received several acid treatments to give the appearance of water.

 A small seating area on top of the storm shelter gives it more of a discreet look and complements the serene environment.

Go to SearcyLiving.com to see more home galleries!

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D I Y

Visit my booth at The Bee’s Knees to see more projects!

Playroom Makeover Part 3: Activity Table An activity table is a key piece in any playroom. It’s the place to draw, color, cut and create! In this issue I will show you how to turn an ordinary table into a personalized piece perfect for inspiring little imaginations!

Supplies Paint • Mod Podge • Clear Coat • Tin Cans

1 Start by painting your table the color of your choice and allow to dry.

2

Print out family pictures on regular copy paper in black and white. (I have cut them out using decorative craft scissors to create a fun border.)

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To complete your activity table, simply Mod Podge scrapbook paper onto tin cans for adorable supply containers.

Tip: Use “pull lid� cans to prevent any sharp edges.

5

4

3 Mod Podge the photos onto the table and allow to dry completely.

Apply a clear coat to entire table for durability and easy clean up.

Tip: The higher the gloss the easier the surface will be to clean.

This project can be enjoyed by the entire family for years to come!

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<<<<<

Student Artists

Sidney Deener Elementary congratulates Nathaniel Ingram for being selected as the October Student Artist. Nathaniel is a kindergartener and is in Mrs. Phyllis Pettypoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s class.

>>>>>

Westside Elementary congratulates Bennisa Okai for being selected as the November Student Artist. Bennisa is in Mrs. Snowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second grade class.

Thanksgiving Day Meal at West Race Baptist Church: Please join us in celebrating Thanksgiving Day this year. We will be serving lunch from 11 to 1 in our Family Life Center building located at the corner of North Pear and Vine Streets (back of 1006 West Race Street) in Searcy. Everyone is invited to join us. For more information, contact the church office at 501-268-2312.

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Searcyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brent Hohenstein was 1 of 25 Elk Permit Winners for the 2012 season in Jasper, Arkansas by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. On September 24, 2012 he killed an 11x6 Elk Bull weighing in at 750 lbs. This is an Arkansas State Record for Elk points.

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Harding Alumni and Duck Dynasty Stars return to Searcy on Tuesday, November 27 to Harding University's Benson Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. No tickets or cost to attend. Compliments of Harding University.

If you have any questions, please call 230-2667.

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Breast cancer survivors at the 19th Annual Barbara Montgomery Memorial Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon gather for a photo in celebration of their victory over breast cancer. During the luncheon, each survivor was invited to take a white feather with the following verse attached: â&#x20AC;&#x153;He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4.â&#x20AC;?

Pictured: (front row) Sue Dunn, Kathy Teague, Donna Bradshaw, Rhonda Bradshaw, Joanne Peck, Brenda Polston, Lennie Peokey, Pam Williams and Maydell Yeakley (back row) Myrtle Hughes, Joy Oliver, Charlotte Jones, Carla Fowler, Diana Edwards, Flora Wood, Teresa McLeod, Melissa Lacy, June Tripp, Rhonda Crossen, Robin Reinbolt and Linda Ingram.

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William’s Temple Church of God in Christ, located at 509 S. Pecan Street in Searcy, Arkansas, recently celebrated the dedication and commitment of its Pastor Cedric L. Smith and First Lady Estellia Smith on September 8-9, 2012, culminating with a powerful message from Pastor Alvin Coleman, Jr., a notable Arkansas gospel artist and producer, from Empowerment for Life Church in Wynne, Arkansas.

The Smiths have diligently served their community for over 13 years.

Because of their diligent service, both pastor and wife have garnered recognition for their work, and strive to share the word of God beyond the walls of Searcy, Arkansas.

Pastor Smith serves as an international evangelist within the Church of God In Christ (C.O.G.I.C.) for the states of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Also, he is a member of the National Adjutancy of the Church of God In Christ, a Servant Arm office for the Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake. While Smith’s evangelistic message allows him to travel across the nation, First Lady Estellia Smith focuses her attention on molding young children into mighty men and women of God. During midweek services, she teaches young children (ages 5-12) through the creative arts of singing, arts and crafts, and drama to show children the mission of God in their lives and in the world. As a math and science educator at Riverview Kensett Elementary, Smith uses her love for children to nurture unlimited possibilities within her students. She also spearheads the annual Vacation Bible School during the month of August, and this year nearly 100 youth were in attendance where they received free backpacks with school supplies for the upcoming year. Through Christ, William’s Temple continues to flourish and offers great ministries for everyone.

The 100-member church has received recognition within the C.O.G.I.C., at the state and national levels, for its dynamic youth ministry - the focal point of the church’s mission. The ministry has been recognized as one of the most progressive in the state of Arkansas within the C.O.G.I.C. William Temple allows the youth of White County to develop their gifts while learning their

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purpose in Christ and serving as his disciples. In fact, the youth praise dance team has been privileged to receive an invitation to represent the state of Arkansas C.O.G.I.C. on youth day at the International Holy Convocation in St. Louis, Missouri during the month of November.

The convocation is an annual conference which brings together approximately forty thousand people from various C.O.G.I.C. churches for a week of revival, worship, training, and church business. This event will be aired on the Word Network. Furthermore, the youth ministry has something for all ages including: a youth choir, youth praise team and dancers, drama ministry, and youth ushers. The three age groups include: Sunshine Band, ages 5-12; S.W.A.G. (Saved With Anointed Gifts), ages 13-17; and the Young Adult Ministry, ages 18-35.

This year William’s Temple hopes to grow even more and receive a higher anointing from God. We believe the drive is definitely worthwhile. Visit us on the web at www.wtcogicministries.org or visit us during any of our weekly services listed below: Monday - 12:00 p.m. Noon day prayer Wednesday - 6:30 p.m. Bible study

7:30 p.m. (2nd & 4th) Hour of Power Service

6:30 p.m. (1st & 3rd) Children & Youth Bible Study Sunday - 9:30 a.m. Sunday School, 11:00 a.m. Worship Service

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Faith, family and friends, and advanced medicine kept Rhonda Crossen grounded and going during her battle with cancer.

Her world was turned upside down after being diagnosed with breast cancer on July 29, 2010.

Crossen discovered the lump in her breast by accident after an unexpected weight loss following a hysterectomy in June 2010, which made it possible to feel the hardened tissue. At her followup appointment with OB/GYN Bruce Thompson, M.D., she made it a point to ask him to feel the lump and to ask whether it was something to be concerned about.

Dr. Thompson confirmed that the lump was, indeed, of concern and immediately sent her to the RAPA/Searcy Breast Center for a mammogram. Despite being able to clearly feel the lump, Crossen said the mass did not show up on the mammogram as clearly as she expected.

“I can remember the mammography technician telling me that there was not a defined lump and it was highly uncharacteristic of a cancerous mass; instead, the scan revealed dense tissue. The technician explained how tumors can hide under denser tissue and that we would do an ultrasound to investigate further,” Crossen recalled.

Within a couple short hours, an ultrasound technician was examining the mass of tissue in question, and a radiologist was called in to analyze the lump and its characteristics before ordering a biopsy.

“After the biopsy, I went to the parking lot and just sat in my car,” Crossen said. “With each appointment I went to in the process, I could sense that I was getting a step closer to hearing the phrase ‘You have cancer.’ The reality of the situation started to sink in then.”

A call from the radiologist two days later confirmed her fears.

“He told me ‘It looks like cancer,’ and that there were a lot of abnormal cells,” Crossen said. “He said that the entire mass would be needed to do further testing to confirm that it was cancer.”

Finding the Silver Lining Due to the complexity of the mass, Crossen was referred to Surgical Oncologist Dana Abraham, M.D., who specializes in breast disease. It was Dr. Abraham who performed the lumpectomy and delivered the news to Crossen the following day.

“I’ll never forget her words,” Crossen said. “She said, ‘It is cancer’ and ‘It is Stage 1, and that’s the good news.’ Then, she went on to tell me that the mass was actually a multi-focal tumor.

Most tumors have only one focal point that the mass grows from; 38 Your Hometown Magazine

Rhonda with her husband Bryan at the White County Medical Center Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon in October 2011.

mine had four. She also said that the tissue surrounding the tumor was abnormal; even though it wasn’t cancerous yet, it would be.”

Crossen was diagnosed with Her 2 Nu Positive breast cancer that was also estrogen positive, meaning a receptor cell in Crossen’s body was actually signaling cancer cells to grow, and the cancer cells were being fueled by estrogen. “The doctor told me it was actually the best type of cancer to have,” she said. “As time passed, I began to understand what she meant by that – it was treatable.”

At the age of 37, and with a husband and three young boys at home depending on her, Crossen made the decision to have a bilateral mastectomy. “When I was faced with the news of cancer, I had so many thoughts swirling through my mind. Was I going to be around to see my kids grow up, graduate from high school, go to college and have kids of their own…? It was emotionally and mentally difficult to grasp all the information I had been given."

“When the doctor told me about the need to have a mastectomy, I knew that removing both breasts was the right thing to do. I didn’t want it coming back, and I knew there would be a much greater risk of the cancer returning if I had just the one removed,” Crossen said.

After a long and painful recovery from the surgery, Crossen met with Dr. Abraham again to discuss her next step in treatment. “I insisted that if I needed any further treatment, I wanted it to be done here at home, in Searcy,” she said. “That’s when she told me that Dr. Koch would be perfect for me.”

Chemotherapy treatments may have drained Crossen physically, but her spirit and faith grew stronger by the day. “The At Crossen’s initial visit with Medical Oncologist Ryan Koch, thought of my kids always kept me going,” she said. “I did have D.O., at White County Oncology, the two hit it off right away. some emotional days when I wondered why this was happening “We are huge sports fans in our family,” Crossen said. “When Dr. to me, but as long as I kept my focus on God, my husband and Koch said ‘Let’s swing the biggest bat we have at it,’ in discussing my children, I had faith that I was going to be okay.”

After four months of chemotherapy, Crossen completed the how to treat my cancer, I knew I had the right doctor! Also, he is a very godly man, which was so important to me because I was series of treatments on February 11, 2011. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, yes, I’m free!’ but the life solely dependent on God to of a cancer patient doesn’t work take care of me.” that way,” Crossen said. “Then, Having previously worked “She said she notices little things in life that I started taking Herceptin®, with Oncology Nurse Dovie may have passed her by before: the wind blowing which blocks the receptor cell Baxter, RN, and Dr. Koch’s through her hair, the smell of early morning, that tells other cells to grow into nurse Jana Aday, RN, at rain drops, sunshine and cloud formations cancer. Despite the side effects, Searcy Medical Center, I’m so thankful that all these catch her attention more these days.”

Crossen said she felt at medicines to treat breast cancer ease with the staff at White exist and continue to improve County Oncology. over time.”

When Crossen had her first chemotherapy treatment on October 8, 2010, she received a warm welcome from Baxter, Life Before, During and After Cancer along with Oncology Nurses Becky VanWinkle, RN, and Angie Pearrow, RN. After her initial fears about treatment subsided, Before being diagnosed with cancer, Crossen was an extremely Crossen enjoyed several laughs with the nurses during her eightactive wife, mother and employee. Even with a full schedule of hour treatment.

“Walking into the treatment room at White County Oncology working a 40-hour a week job, taking care of her home, husband is like taking a treatment in your own home,” Crossen said. “The Bryan and sons, Colby, Brett and Trey, she still had energy nurses and staff are so personable, and they take such good care to spare and spent hours in the evenings tending to her dad’s of you. They serve you while you’re there and are as sweet as garden while he was ill. The Crossens were a family on the go they can be. I’m the type of person who likes to laugh and play with school activities, baseball practices and games and church jokes, and there was a lot of that to go on during my treatments. functions.

Upon hearing her diagnosis, Crossen said she told her boys It takes a special person to be able to do what those nurses do in that life would be different for a while, but that it was not going caring for cancer patients, and they are wonderful.”

Pressing On

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Rhonda Crossen with White County Oncology Chemotherapy Nurses Angie Pearrow, RN; Becky VanWinkle, RN; and Dovie Baxter, RN. Rhonda Crossen is a cancer survivor thanks to her faith, family and friends, and advanced medicine. to change them as a family. “It was important to me for my kids to know that we were going to be the same fun, funny and affectionate family that we had always been,” she said. “In fact, I told them we didn’t even have to call it cancer; instead, I told them we could call it ‘boobie cooties,’ and that’s what we did!”

“In the beginning, there were a lot of emotions – sadness, anger, confusion,” Crossen said. “Then, I had a moment where I said, ‘Okay, God, if this is what your plan is for me, then, I’m going to glorify your name while I’m doing it.’ At that point, I felt like He had given me a mission, and I was going to be His servant.”

For several days following each chemotheraphy treatment, Crossen said her energy level plummeted. With barely enough strength to blink or swallow, she had to rely on the love and support of family and friends to do laundry, keep the house tidy, buy groceries and take the kids where they needed to be. “I’ve always been an independent person and ‘the helper’ to everyone around me,” she said. “Then, I found myself at the point where I was the one needing the help. It almost seems like a fairytale the way we were so well taken care of by our families, our church family and friends who came to meet our needs.”

Now that Crossen is on this side of her cancer journey, she feels better than she has in two years and has a whole new perspective on life. She said she notices little things in life that may have passed her by before; the wind blowing through her hair, the smell of early morning, rain drops, sunshine and cloud formations catch her attention more these days.

“Looking back, I would go through it all again to be the person I am now,” she said. “I’m still trying to find my new ‘normal’ in a physical sense. I still have some limitations as to my activity level and get tired quicker; however, I would not be where I am today without God. I felt His presence with me the entire time and experienced an indescribable peace that told me God was taking care of me. I know that He allowed this to happen to me for a reason. God’s timing is perfect; I’ve been told by more than one doctor that if my cancer had not been diagnosed when it was, it would have spread like wildfire. Also, He blessed me with a wonderful husband, and I truly could not ask for a better spouse. He took wonderful care of me…I am just a really blessed girl.”

As part of her life after cancer, Crossen has joined the Cancer Connectors program as a Navigator. The Cancer Connectors is a new program being offered through White County Oncology at the Cancer Center of Excellence in which newly-diagnosed patients are paired with survivors who have recently traveled their own journey through cancer. As a Navigator, Crossen will serve as a mentor to patients who are diagnosed with the same type of cancer she has been given the victory to overcome.

For more information about the Cancer Connectors program, please contact White County Oncology Office Supervisor Carrie Foster at (501) 278-3297.

40 Your Hometown Magazine

SearcyLiving.com 41

For Sale

Make It Your Home Mineral RightS IncludeD!

3 Bedroom • 2 Bath 14 Acres • 5 Minutes From Searcy Searcy Address • Gorgeous Views Loft Around Living Room & Kitchen

$215,000

42 Your Hometown Magazine

House with Acreage 14 Acres 5 Minutes from Searcy

Gorgeous Views 3 active wells in section!

501.268.2445

1560 W. Beebe-Capps, Suite A Searcy, AR 72143 www.SearcyHomes.com SearcyLiving.com 43

44 Your Hometown Magazine

all Listings...one Site. Searcyhomes.com 501.268.2445 • 1560 W. Beebe-Capps, Suite A • Searcy, AR 72143

Judy Johnson Exec. Broker 501.305.1503

511 W. Center 4 BR 2 BA HISTORIC HOME Near downtown. Updated beautifully. MLS 10323674

Judy Johnson 501.305.1503

224 Joy St. 3 BR 2 BA in West Searcy.

Neat and clean with lg. master bedroom. MLS 10320890

Judy Johnson 501.305.1503

NeW LiSTiNG

Shelley Dietz 501.827.2239

501.278.6669

Roxanne Miles 501.827.5403

117 Hefner 3 BR 2 BA plus office, Recently updated, freshly painted, fireplace, fenced yard, storm shelter.

MLS 10327877 $144,900

118 Brier Creek 3 BR 2 BA 2200 Sq. Ft. Mineral Rights Included.

MLS 10316408 PRICE REDUCED! $65,000

599 Foster Chapel Rd. 4 BR 2 BA 2356 Sq. Ft. on 10 Acres. MLS 10330646 $139,900

Morrow Church Rd. Seller will consider dividing.

Possible owner finance. City utilities & paved road. Up to 80 acres available. Priced according to size. MLS 10304196

110 nicole Spacious 2 BR 2 BA brick home w/ new H&A, covered patio & garage.

Some furniture and appliances stay. Conveniently located in West Searcy. MLS 10324193 $101,500

602 Dripping Springs, 3 BR 2 BA, 1648 Sq. Ft. home on 5 acres with 20X35 Barn. Kitchen has been updated, oversize deck for entertaining.

MLS 10320315 $122,900

970 W. Second 4 BR 2 BA, one of a kind in Ward City limits with 5 acres! Beautiful 4/2.5, 2593 Sq Ft. well maintained home with a 30 x 50 shop with electricity. MLS 10318836 $199,999

Rebecca Stone 501.278.6669

Roxanne Miles 501.827.5403

Price reduced!

3665 Hwy 36 W 3 BR 2 BA with 5 acres, detached garage/shop, barn, fenced for horses. 2.5 miles West of Searcy.

MLS 10330526 $239,900

Shelley Dietz 501.827.2239

Rebecca Stone

Triple M Road This beautiful 120 acres could be Searcy’s next new subdivision.

Great location with large shop with living quarters. Call to see this great piece of property. Will Divide! MLS 10325685

Shelley Dietz 501.827.2239

Rebecca Stone 501.278.6669

David Dale 501.281.3017

Donna Smith 501.288.7551

David Dale 501.281.3017

David Dale 501.281.3017

Donna Smith 501.288.7551

Donna Smith 501.288.7551

Price reduced!

Janice Wright 501.230.7739

315 Ranchette Village Loop 3BR 4 BA, 2844 Sq. Ft., two living quarters w/4th bedroom, new hardwood floors, located on 1.4 acres, wired 24x40 shop.

MLS 10326452 $219,900

Janice Wright 501.230.7739

1 Robinwood Separate dining, fireplace, spacious kitchen, large master 24 X 40, wired shop.

MLS 10321309 $243,700

Janice Wright 501.230.7739

900 Brisbane 4 Westgate Beautiful corner lot in The Dominion, 3 BR 2BA, excellent condition perfect location for your dream home, close new roof in 2010, 2 living areas, 501.230.9707 proximity to Searcy Country Club, walking near schools, stores & medical paths, gated subdivision, elegant European center. MLS 10328213 $107,000 architecture. MLS 10330162 $72,900 Greg Angel 501.230.9707

Greg Angel

1 Lee Circle 4 BR 2.5 BA, 2360 Sq. Ft., lots of updating done and move-in ready!

Storm shelter as well.

MLS 10329630 $175,000

Kelly VanHook 501.230.4567

112 Woodland Country Building Site. Mineral Rights Will Convey.

MLS 10281373 $13,900

Tom Worley 501.278.0805

156 Panther trail 4 BR 4 BA, you’ll find wonderful details and amenities throughout this custom built home sitting on almost 11 acres.

MLS 10328940 $425,000

Kelly VanHook Exec. Broker 501.230.4567

Kelly VanHook 501.230.4567

606 ethel Or Rental Property!

MLS 10292244 $65,000

Tom Worley 501.278.0805

Tom Worley 501.278.0805

Greg Angel 501.230.9707

Serving White County For 32 yearS SearcyLiving.com 45

Making I

be so easy to get lost in the bright lights and the glare of the cameras if your family’s story was a best-selling book and a Best Picture nominee for an Academy Award - not to mention the fact that the actress depicting you actually took home an Oscar. A lesser person might revel in the spotlight and focus on “me, me, me”, but Leigh Anne Touhy takes it all in stride. “We are just ordinary people leading ordinary lives,” she says matter-of-factly, with that bluesy touch of Memphis in her voice.

Sandra Bullock may have portrayed the Blind Side mom to Best Actress perfection, but the real life Leigh Anne Touhy is no less a force of nature.

She is a confident, self-assured Southern woman who hasn’t lost herself along the way to notoriety.

Though she is adamant that her family’s story-turnedbox-office-gold was not accidental, she also says it is “nothing short of a miracle.” She rightly points out the number of book deals made with studios, only to see those film rights shelved for years before being made into a movie, if ever. But her faith leads her to conclude that the journey in sharing their story was “well-orchestrated by God” so people would see what can happen when you reach out to help those in need.

Adopting Michael Oher when he was 16 was simply one act of many the Touhys believed was important enough to act upon rather than waiting around for someone else to take the initiative. “Everything we do is faith-based,” Leigh Anne explains her family’s motivations. “[Faith] plays a huge role in our lives.”

But, while the Touhys have a strong belief system, they don’t try to “shove it down’s people’s throats.”

After all, actions do speak louder than words and the Touhys have tried to impress that upon their children: “It is easy to talk a good game, but your walk and your talk should match up.”

Perhaps the book and movie struck a chord with so many Americans because of the amazing courage the Touhys exhibited in taking a complete stranger into their home. Even Michael admitted to an interviewer that he probably would not have done the same had he been faced with a similar situation. After all, the Touhys had a teenage daughter living at home at the time they brought in Michael to live with them.

But, doing the right thing meant the family not only gave a young man a second chance, they enriched t would

46 Your Hometown Magazine

n e p p a H It

By Cecelia Wilson

Memphis, The Movies & Beyond The Leigh Anne Touhy Story

their own lives and gained a new family member in the process. the Touhys, made the commitment to do whatever they can for Leigh Anne downplays the reason for adopting Michael. It others and find along the way that their own lives are better for wasn’t as much to make him an official member of the family, as having done so. he already felt he was a member of the family long before that Most people are hardly unaware of Michael’s whereabouts took place (as played out in one famous scene), and they felt the since the movie. The Ole Miss graduate and 2009 NFL first same way about him. Instead, adoption made life easier for the round draft pick (23rd overall), recently saw his Baltimore Touhys and Michael alike. Not Ravens fall just short to the allowed to add Michael onto New England Patriots during their auto or health insurance, the Playoffs for a shot at Super the legality of adoption simply Bowl XLVI. But, the Tackle made good common sense and is working hard and thriving eliminated a lot of red tape and at the game he loves in complications.

Baltimore, a city Leigh Anne says has a “very collegiate The Blind Side success atmosphere.” Leigh Anne and has propelled the Touhys’ family go to every game and message of cheerful giving enjoy every minute of it. Well, by expanding their outreach. almost every minute of it. In They can now encourage a her blog for AARP, Leigh larger, nationwide audience Anne did provide a behindto make a difference in the-scenes look at that Playoff someone’s life. Following the game that was far from jovial. popularity of the movie, the Between nerves, rude fans’ Touhys told their own story remarks and other spectators’ in the book, “In A Heartbeat: extracurricular activities, Sharing the Power of Cheerful Leigh Anne spent most of the Giving.”

The humorous, game in the women’s restroom motivating read provides in her bedazzled Ravens details on this grounded, jersey! religious family who inspire Sean, theTouhy patriarch, others to be cheerful givers is an Ole Miss Basketball by reaching out to those that Hall of Famer, successful pop up in everyday life rather entrepreneur and has been than trying the overwhelming “It is easy to talk a good game, but an NBA Broadcaster for task of taking on the whole the Memphis Grizzlies for world at once. Their faith, your walk and your talk should the past decade. A former their life, their giving attitude match up.” professional basketball player, is contagious, encouraging he was instrumental in creating people from all walks of life Grace Evangelical Church to make it happen for someone in Memphis and still finds else.

They even have a foundation to spread the word. The time to support several minority students at Briarcrest Christian Making It Happen – Touhy Family Foundation’s website School.

The Touhy’s daughter, Collins, followed in her parents’ and (makingithappenfoundation.com) is chocked full of information on ways to assist deserving, underprivileged youth. There are Michael’s footsteps by graduating from Ole Miss where she facts on adoption, links to numerous organizations with ideas on received a degree in Broadcast Journalism. Currently, she stays serving your fellow man, and donation opportunities. The site busy as a motivational speaker, on the Board of her family’s also shares success stories from ordinary families who have, like foundation and weighing a variety of career avenues. The SearcyLiving.com 47

“Their faith, their life, their giving

attitude is contagious, encouraging people from all walks of life to make it happen for someone else.”

former cheerleader (like mother, like daughter)/State Champion Pole Vaulter assists with coaching inner-city cheer squads. Sean Jr. (SJ), on the other hand, is breaking out of the Ole Miss mold to explore a new path all his own. At 6’ 1”, he has been offered a four year scholarship to play basketball at Loyola University. He will graduate from high school summa cum laude and a member of the Thespians National Honor Society.

As for Leigh Anne, her interior design background was put to good use in seasons 7 and 8 of Extreme Makeover Home Edition with Ty Pennington. The grueling schedule prompted Leigh Anne to opt out of the popular series after Season 8, but she hopes to be a part of upcoming specials. Besides being a bestselling author and on the Making It Happen Foundation Board of Directors alongside Sean and Collins, Leigh Anne has a schedule booked with speaking engagements and interviews while she explores a variety of television opportunities.

Life for the Touhys wasn’t created with a movie premiere; their penchant for helping others less fortunate didn’t start with bestselling books. It began when an Ole Miss athlete and cheerleader married, started a family and decided to make it their mission to share their hearts, their homes and their belief that God truly works through anyone who will step out in faith and do it cheerfully. As for the sequel, that’s being played out every single day and for years to come on the streets of Memphis and beyond.

48 Your Hometown Magazine

SearcyLiving.com 49

Reclaimed works with established, community-

based benefactors to take people from unjust and difficult circumstances and empower them with the resources and skills necessary to journey to newfound lives.

The process is beautiful because it is a living metaphor. Too many people are repressed and abused, convinced that they have been used, having nothing more to offer the world like a tattered, old dress. Reclaimed whispers something different.

This message materializes in taking donated fabric and clothing that most see as undesirable and refashioning it into unique expressions as apparel. The products are hand sewn in creation centers around the globe by women who have been hired at a fair wage by community based Reclaimed partners.

The clothes are then shipped, packaged and distributed through an established, stateside center that works specifically to employ struggling Sudanese and Vietnamese refugees in the area.

Therefore, the production process strengthens people with every phase, creating products from discard that stand for freedom through the hands of people who themselves were found by the wayside.

Reclaimed’s intention is not to simply make money with a stamp of benevolence on the brand, but to incite liberation enthusiasts who will carry the message that people matter.

A portion of Reclaimed profits are used to support domestic violence centers, which are closing more frequently in the U.S. due to a lack of funding. This, again, advances our call to freedom from oppression to all.

Products include T-shirts, coffee bag purses and children’s clothing from refashioned men’s dress shirts.

The founders of Reclaimed believe that when hope and help are combined in a single effort, good comes to and through individuals. Through Reclaimed, those directly affected by the abuse of others will once again find a place of value in today’s society.

MORE ABOUT RECLAIMED A new social-good enterprise called Reclaimed Clothing is making its mark on Searcy this fall.

The project began when Harding University Alumna Sydney Clyde had a change of direction after plans to attend Julliard fell through. With a passion for sewing and empowerment, Clyde consulted with mentors in the university community in June of 2011 to bring Reclaimed Clothing to life.

Since then, the project has established a sewing center in Nicaragua where Clyde is teaching women the marketable trade of sewing, and the enterprise is providing them with livable wages for their work. Harding University partnered with the project for its freshmen introductory weekend, Impact, at which students donated and collected 14,000 T-shirts for the cause. Reclaimed is founded on the purpose of influencing both internationally and domestically. Proceeds from recent work allowed Reclaimed and the students of Impact to give a local domestic abuse shelter, Hope Cottage, a check for $2,280.

Reclaimed is currently reaching out to Searcy locals through 50 Your Hometown Magazine

a promotional exhibit called “Strength and Dignity” at Midnight Oil Coffee House in partnership with Photojournalist Philip Holsinger. The photographer has traveled the world documenting culture and peoples and will be publishing a book within the year. This particular photo show features mothers and their children in developing countries to display the kinds of women and situations Reclaimed is helping through their intentional process. Many of these photos also appear in his book, “A Tourist of Saints: A Photo Graphic Journal of Haiti.”

All proceeds from the photo sales will go to Reclaimed. These can also be purchased online at http://shop.reclaimedclothing. com. Special photo suite deals are available by request to businesses or individuals who would like to display a specially selected series of photos that stand for valuing others. Message info@reclaimedclothing.com for more details. Orders for T-shirts, coffee-bag purses and little girl’s dresses can also be placed on the website.

Nationally Published Photojournalist philip holsinger Stevens Art Gallery at Harding University exhibited photos previewing the upcoming book “A Tourist of Saints: A Photo Graphic Journal of Haiti” by photojournalist Philip Holsinger.

The show comprises a collection of corresponding photos, sound recordings and excerpts from Holsinger’s personal travel journal that join to glimpse the secret lives of laymen in pre- and postearthquake Haiti. Having spent six years on the island, Holsinger was able to form relationships with people beyond the lens of his camera.

He said that his motivation for exploring the world through photojournalism is not to capture moments but to spend time with people of every culture and every class, sharing common humanity and the beauty of everyday life.

“All I know of places is what I have seen or heard, but a place is never as simple as it seems,” he said. “While bombs are dropping in Baghdad, people are still falling in love and arranging goods to sell in the market. People all over the world are dreaming of becoming a rock star or marrying the girl next door.”

He said this propels his search for truth and reality behind the caricatures of stereotypes by which people are hindered.

Holsinger has worked throughout the Americas, Eastern Europe and Asia. His photos have appeared in newspapers, galleries, wire services, books and magazines including National Geographic Online. While he has worked for a number of prestigious press organizations, the photojournalist now works primarily with Caractere Inc., his photojournalism cooperative, and, as the

founder of The Haiti Workshop, for Foreign Field Service Training in Journalism.

While the gallery featured 14 stories, the book expands as it follows Holsinger’s time in Haiti through 300 pages of his telling artwork alongside unedited journal excerpts giving unparalleled insight to the cultures and lives discovered in the fascinating journey of an international photographer.

SearcyLiving.com 51

1000!

The Searcy Living Foster Care Boutique is simply a room we have dedicated in the Searcy Living business office. Our awesome Searcy Living readers bring in donations and DHS case workers and foster parents get what they need for foster and disadvantaged children at no cost. Our office is located at 812 S. Main Street in Searcy. We welcome gently used or new items. Thank you, Searcy, for your generosity and time spent to support the Foster Care Boutique!

We do our best to provide â&#x20AC;&#x153;shoppingâ&#x20AC;? bags for the foster parents and case workers so they can fill it up for every child. This also helps us keep up with approximately how many children are being served. So far we have gone through over 1,000 bags in nearly three years! Thanks to you for helping!!!

Camera Shy Donors: Shelly Keech Nick Waldorf donated diapers Travis, Kristen & Landon Prince donated school supplies to the Foster Care Boutique.

Homeschool 4-H Club

52 Your Hometown Magazine

Needed Items for the Foster Care Boutique: • Baby Shampoo • Hair Brushes • Volunteers to sort (no need to call for appointment, just stop by the Searcy Living office during volunteer hours between 1pm and 5pm.)

Mark Burton

SearcyLiving.com 53

Thank You Twice As Nice!

ReClaimed Clothing and Twice As Nice This project supports people who have been in abusive circumstances by giving them donated fabric and clothing so that they can refashion them into new items of clothing. Twice as Nice donations will be headed to Nicaragua. It gives these people a purpose and an opportunity to make a living for their family.

They are also able to clothe their own children through this process. The business model is similar to that of TOMS shoes and Plywood People. What a privilege for us to be able to help this cause!!

54 Your Hometown Magazine

Bikers 4 Foster Kids donated baby gates.

Co-Chair Phil Bridges

Bikers 4 Foster Kids donated diapers.

SearcyLiving.com 55

to join the United Way of White County Board of Directors four years ago, I wasn’t certain just what the United Way did. My mother had served on the board for a number of years through her affiliation with the school district and when I stepped into the role of School & Community Coordinator for Searcy Public Schools, it seemed natural that I would pick up that duty. It wasn’t until I became involved that I realized how much the United Way affects such a wide spectrum of people in our community.

As an educator, the welfare of the children in our community is a number one priority for me and the other educators I work with daily. We see children who are active in organizations such as the Boys and Girls Scouts and 4-H, groups that teach young people survival skills, rules about safety, social protocols, and many other necessary skills. We see special needs children who are active in the Special Olympics and who attend the Sunshine School. All United Way agencies, students in our local school districts would not be able to receive these wonderful services without these local organizations.

On the other hand, as educators we see students who are in foster care because their parents are addicted to drugs or their family members have been abusing them since before they started school. Where do these children get the services they need? The answer… United Way agencies. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) provides children in foster care

56 Your Hometown Magazine

with a voice, the White County Children’s Safety Center affords abused children a safe place to go in their time of need, and Wilbur Mills treatment facility assists in helping those children’s parents learn to live a life without drugs and alcohol, so they can be the parents their children deserve. Additionally, the White County Domestic Violence Center houses mothers and their children who need to break away from violence in the home.

While we don’t like to think about children suffering from these difficulties, we have to realize there are many who are afflicted right here in our own community. Without these agencies, our children would not receive the support they need; without the United Way, the agencies would not be able to serve the number of people they do each day, or they might not even be able to remain in existence.

Children are our future, and all of these aforementioned United Way agencies are helping to shape that future. But, many adults in our area benefit from the United Way agencies as well.

I have visited the John E. Lightle Center on a few occasions and marveled at the number of senior citizens who awaited their lunch each day and who were obviously enjoying the company of one another, but would not have been able to do so if they didn’t have transportation to and from the facility. I also think about the number of meals that are delivered through “Meals on Wheels” to people who aren’t able to leave their home, and their only personal interaction throughout the day is with the

representative from the White County Aging Program when their meal is delivered.

Living in Arkansas, we are often plagued by inclement weather and disaster. The Red Cross immediately aids those who may have lost their homes or who need food or money for utilities. Last, we have several adults with special needs who want to work and live on their own. The Searcy Group Homes and New Hope Specialized Industries provide a way for physically and developmentally challenged adults to live independent and productive lives.

Recently, I was asked to speak at a Searcy Living Advertisers Appreciation luncheon. One point I made during my speech was how fortunate we are in Searcy and surrounding areas to have so many non-profit agencies whose goal is to meet the needs of those in our community. The United Way provides a way to contribute to many worthwhile agencies all at one time. October was United Way of White County Month and the campaign continues until January 31st. For more information, contact the United Way of White County at 501.268.7489 and LIVE UNITED.

SearcyLiving.com 57

72, of Searcy, opened her china cabinet and removed a 10-inch porcelain egg embossed with delicate scrolling and thin strips of inlaid gold. A 69-year-old photograph was revealed as she removed the egg’s lid. “Is that you in the middle?” a reporter asks as he looks at the black and white image. “Yes,” Ingrid replies. “That was Easter 1943.”

An Early Tragedy

Born March 22, 1940, in Upper Silesia, Poland – an area that has sometimes been a part of Poland, sometimes part of Germany – Ingrid was the only child of Valentine and Victoria Kopka. Her father was an electrical engineer who worked in a nearby coal mine. During World War II the family did its best to survive the horrors of National Socialism lead by Adolf Hitler. “In October 1943 my father made a comment to his best friend that Germany was going to lose the war and he was going to take my mother and me to Switzerland,” Ingrid said. “The best friend told the Gestapo and they banged on our door in the night and took us.”

In an act of inhumane chaos that characterized their diabolical acts, the Nazis used the mother and daughter as hostages to keep Ingrid’s father working faithfully. “They said, ‘We cannot shoot you because we need you, but we’re going to take your wife and daughter to Auschwitz for safety,’” Ingrid said.

The blond, blue-eyed three-and-a-half-year-old girl was soon on a train for Auschwitz and experiencing the horrors of the prison, the centerpiece of the Nazi concentration, labor and death camps.

On the inside of her left arm is a scar where a number had been tattooed by the Nazis and later surgically removed by a doctor.

Like that blank spot, Ingrid’s memories of the experience are clouded by her young age at the time of the events, along with six intervening decades. “I remember standing by the window every morning,” Ingrid said as she sat in her kitchen. “I could look down and see the roll call.”

The prisoners, many of them Jews, would report to be counted before dawn in the icy weather, clad in thin clothes. Living on only 1,100 calories a day and doing 12 hours of hard labor daily, they were susceptible to cold and disease. Still they assembled at 5 a.m. even in wind and cold.“If somebody fell over from exhaustion and touched another prisoner, he got shot and the other person got shot, too,” Ingrid said, remembering what she saw through the icy window pane. “Sometimes the roll call went on for four hours.”

“Coffee was made from burnt grain and came with a piece of bread and maybe a bit of margarine,” Ingrid said.

Standing and taking a bowl out of the cabinet, Ingrid stared into 58 Your Hometown Magazine

Ingrid Kopka, now known as Ingrid Holleman after her marriage to Harold Holleman, holds a ceramic egg given to her by her parents on Easter, 1943. Shortly afterward she and her mother were taken by the Gestapo to Auschwitz concentration camp.

[PHOTO CREDIT: Unknown; Kopka family photo] it. “At noon we would get soup made from rotten vegetables in a bowl about this size, and in the evening we got a piece of bread and a piece of blood sausage,” Ingrid said.

One could almost see the little girl, 68 years ago, holding a bowl of soup and looking into it as Ingrid stood in the kitchen looking into the container. Within three or four months, Ingrid said, prisoners would usually die of starvation.

“I remember always being hungry. We were there 15 months,” she said. “One time a matron was eating an apple and I was staring at her. She threw the last half of the apple at me and I got it. I ate it.”

Victoria didn’t have to work so hard because she had Ingrid, and

when she did work it was sorting through luggage brought to the camp by prisoners. Often jewelry and money were sewn into the linings and hems of garments, and her job was to find those items for the Nazis.

“There was a matron standing by to make sure they didn’t steal it,” Ingrid said. “They didn’t because they didn’t want to die.”

Estimates are that 2.5 million children were part of the 17 million who died in the Holocaust, including six million Jews.

Ingrid remembers the camp was surrounded by high-voltage fences with a walkway between, where the Gestapo walked with their dogs.

“I saw one day an old Jewish gentleman who was going to touch the fence,” Ingrid said.

“He never made it.

They started shooting. I remember him lying there with his hand up.”

The ordeal ended when they heard the thunder of artillery in the distance and were told the Russian army was about to liberate the camp. “A woman came to us and said, ‘Take your daughter and get,’” Ingrid said. “She opened the door and said, ‘Get!’” The mother and daughter walked to the railroad station in a nearby village, painfully aware of the way they smelled and looked; Ingrid’s mother, just an inch shy of six feet tall, then weighed only

77 pounds.

Shortly after they arrived home, the Russians came to their town and chose their home for their kitchen, which meant Ingrid’s family also got to eat. Her father continued his work, but then for the Russians. From there, the Kopka family began making their way through a maze of refugee camps as the family moved back to Poland. Finally they were told, this time by the Russians, to go. “‘OK, you’re free now,’ they told us. ‘Do what you want.’”

Ingrid Holleman of Searcy looks The family, trying to at the inside of her left arm where, survive, relocated to yet as a three-year-old, a tattoo was another camp. placed by the Nazis. It was later “I could see my school surgically removed and today a on the other side of the barely discernible scar is the only barbed wire,” Ingrid clue it was ever there. remembers. “But we had to walk all the way around through the gate to get there. Finally, a guard just lifted up the barbed wire and let us go under to the school.”

Returning to Germany again took deception. A narrow escape from one of the last war actions came when a guard shared a cryptic message with the family one day. “’You don’t want to be here tomorrow at 9 o’clock,’ he said,” Ingrid remembered. Sure enough the factory was bombed at that precise time.

In 1946 her father took the family to east Germany, to the same town where Martin Luther wrote his famous thesis. “We left Poland for Germany after my father bribed some doctor with American

SearcyLiving.com 59

dollars to say he had been wounded in the war,” Ingrid said. “But my father had never been wounded.”

Victoria, Ingrid’s mother, was strict. “My mother and I were very close,” Ingrid said. “But she was also strict. I had to listen to her. When she opened the window and called me I just went home.

I had to obey.”

Then in 1958 the family moved to west Germany on Ingrid’s 18th birthday. On the train ride Ingrid tasted her first banana. “It was soft,” she said. “I didn’t like the taste.”

West Germany was a huge adjustment. “I was overwhelmed,” Ingrid said. “I saw a lot of my friends over there, too [from Poland]. They didn’t want to talk. I guess they couldn’t speak much German.”

In the evenings a bell rang in the west German camp, Ingrid said, for every refugee that had arrived that day. The family found lodging in an old monastery. “We lived on top of the stable,” Ingrid said. “There was a tiny window.”

Unfortunately Valentine distanced himself from his wife and daughter, working out of town Monday through Friday, and Ingrid was never sure what kind of work he did. Later, Ingrid said, she found out her father had a mistress in the town where he lived during the week.

The mother-daughter bond, forged in the Nazi concentration camp, stayed strong. In 1961 Ingrid nursed her mother as she died from cancer. “I slept next to her, and during the night when she had to go to the bathroom I would help her,” Ingrid said of her mother’s last days. Her father never showed compassion for her mother during that time, building the wall between him and his daughter thicker.

Ingrid married and had two daughters, Christine and Patricia, then divorced. With the girls, she immigrated to San Francisco in 1967 and found a job with Bank of America. In 1974 she married Harold Holleman, a White County native who had finished a 26-year career in the U.S. Navy, 12 years of that building nuclear submarines. Valentine died in 1988.

Return to Auschwitz

Another idiosyncrasy, she said, was her tendency to buy shoes, something her family dealt with by having a yard sale without Ingrid present.

For many reasons, Ingrid decided to go back to the site of the dark days of her childhood. Eventually she found herself in Germany on a night train headed for Auschwitz; as the train approached the Polish border the memories were almost too much to bear.

“When I got to the gate I didn’t want to go in,” Ingrid said. With Harold she spent some time in the souvenir shop and watched a film about the concentration camp. Finally she walked back through the gates of the infamous institution for the second time – this time willingly. “I had to stop several times,” Ingrid said. “I just had to lean against the wall and close my eyes.”

During the tour she suddenly was very hungry, Ingrid said, and someone brought her some food.

“It just reminded me that I was hungry all the time and after I ate, it helped.”

Ingrid saw the 100-foot long table covered with human hair shaved from the prisoners, destined to be made into blankets, and visited the reconstructed bunk houses.

“There were three tiers with six to eight people on each, sleeping head to foot,” Ingrid remembered. “There was a bucket so you could go to the bathroom at night.”

Those on the bottom bunk were frequently urinated on, she said. “I don’t remember it ever being warm,” Ingrid said. “I remember it being cold.” The stench of the camp during her childhood stay was terrible.

One horrific memory was played out in her mind as she visited the camp, Ingrid said. “If someone died during the night they took their clothes off and there was a naked body on the floor in the morning,” she said.

Oblivious to the millions of murders going on around her as a child, Ingrid learned more about them during her visit. “People were told there would be showers but they would turn on the cyanide gas in there so they suffocated,” Ingrid said. “Sometimes there was a baby that survived, nursing on its mother’s breast, and they would just throw it Over 69 years later, Ingrid Holleman against the wall.” Some prisoners went crazy holds the same ceramic egg that, like from the stress and were shot. Workers robbed her, was fragile and valuable, yet the corpses of gold fillings in their teeth. intact after the horrors of World War While at Auschwitz, Ingrid placed flowers II, which saw Ingrid and her mother on the ovens where millions of victims were endure 15 months in Auschwitz cremated. concentration camp.

Ingrid was challenged to return to Auschwitz so she could confront her feelings and memories and did so in 1998. The visit came about when a therapist suggested the trip after her daughter Christine and her fiancé were fatally injured in a 1993 car wreck. “A truck went on top of their car and it caught on fire,” Ingrid described the tragedy. “Christine suffocated.”

Suppressed secrets soon surfaced. “When my daughter got killed I fell apart,” Ingrid said, describing how she sought help afterward. “Harold didn’t even know I was in a concentration camp.” The doctor’s suggestion floored her, she said. “Ingrid, why don’t you go back to Auschwitz?” he asked her during a therapy session. “I said, ‘Are you nuts?’” Ingrid said.

“Then I walked out.”

One symptom Ingrid saw in herself, a result of her many difficulties, was her tendency to hoard food. After the experiences in all the camps, then raising two children on a bank teller’s salary, she had learned the value of money. “Harold saw what I was doing,” Ingrid said. “When the refrigerator was getting empty I was panicking.”

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Meaning and Purpose

Ingrid, asked what it was like to live under the Nazis, points out that most of her childhood came after the war. “I didn’t live under the Nazis,” Ingrid replies quickly. “I was too young.”

Unique political wisdom is part of Ingrid’s intellectual legacy, having seen the horrors of war first-hand.

“This should never happen again,” Ingrid says of World War II. Asked if she was angry about what happened to her, she replies.

“Me, I was always afraid,” she says of her Auschwitz experience.

“I was cold and hungry. I cried and my mother said, ‘Be quiet.’”

Ingrid is quick to count her blessings, though. “We have it good in America,” she said.

Ingrid’s sense of humor and strong self-confidence is evident today. Asked what she would say to someone who says the

Using a photograph in a history book, Ingrid Holleman of Searcy shows where she was standing when victims were hung at a gallows in Auschwitz.

Valentine and Victoria Kopka, Ingrid Hollemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents, lived in Upper Silesia with their daughter before World War II when the Gestapo kidnapped the mother and daughter, taking them to Auschwitz.

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troubles of this world have gotten them down, Ingrid replies succinctly.

“I would tell them, ‘Get a life. Smell the roses. Look at the small pleasures,’” she said, then pointed at the flowers outside her kitchen door. “I can take a dry stick and make it bloom. If you have a roof over your head and something to eat, thank God for that.”

Survival

“Is the porcelain egg you’re holding in the picture the same one you keep the photograph in?” Ingrid was asked. “How did it survive the war?”

One imagines the fragile ceramic piece being rattled by the vibrations of bombs exploding and Stormtroopers’ hobnailed boots pounding on wooden floors. Years of war and multiple moves with hasty packing and little or no cushioning around the egg must have put it at risk many times. How did the egg remain intact? “I don’t know how,” Ingrid said. “It just did.”

One can’t help but be thankful that Ingrid, even more fragile and valuable than that egg, survived the horrors of Auschwitz and the war.

Postscript

Ingrid and Harold live in a comfortable home in Searcy and Harold is still working at age 84 with Holleman’s Service, his HV/AC company, where Patricia also works. The couple has 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Send your story ideas to Warren Watkins at DrWWatkins@juno.com.

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OVER THE COUNTER

Why Keep Taking My Antibiotics If I Am Feeling Better?

Harding University Center for Drug and Health Information

Article by William Doles - Dr. of Pharmacy Candidate 2013 Rodney Richmond, RPh, MS, FASCP, Faculty and Director of Center

How many times have you been to the doctor and been given a prescription for an antibiotic? Now of these times, how many times did you actually finish taking all of the pills? Do not feel bad, it is common for people to begin feeling better and then stop taking their antibiotics, but did you know that this can lead to serious problems in the future? Antibiotics are designed to be taken for a specific length of time, and only taking part of a prescription can lead to the development of resistant infections. If is important to remember to continue taking your antibiotics even if you begin to feel better after just a couple of doses. It is also important to remember to take your antibiotics at the exact times stated on the bottle. Antibiotics work best when they are taken on a regular schedule and not scattered unevenly throughout the day. These times should be scheduled around meals according to whether the medication should be taken with or without food. It is important to remember that by not taking your prescription correctly, you may be in danger of transmitting a resistant infection to a friend or loved one. We say this not to scare our readers, but it in hopes that you will always remember to complete your antibiotics in the future; not just for your sake, but for the sake of those around you. Thank you for taking the time to read this medication tip of the day provided by the Harding University Center for Drug and Health Information.

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Send us your photos: SearcyLivingPhotos@yahoo.com

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Show your support for life and help raise money at the same time!

Purchase an Official Choose Life Arkansas License Plate for the rear of your car. You can obtain one through direct purchase from the Department of Finance and Administration.

Let’s make the readership of Searcy Living the BIGGEST supporters for life in the state!

“Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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By Cecelia Wilson

The Down To Earth Trainer With A Magical Talent If you mention the name “Allen Fleming” in Searcy, some people might scratch their heads. But, if you say the name “Beno,” most horse lovers will immediately know who you are talking about.

The quiet horse trainer who has been working around horses since he was a young boy, smiles when asked how he got his name. As a kid, his stature was apparently a source of ribbing: “I’ve always been small and kids would run around and say, ‘You’re as small as a bean!’” The nickname stuck. But, as is often the case, big things come in small packages.

Beno was born in Newport and moved to Searcy six weeks later.

As a little boy, he would ride his bike out to Dr. Rogers’ farm south of Searcy just to watch the horses. Week after week he would stand at the fence as his fascination with the animals grew. Before long, the youngster was offered a job grooming the horses part-time. By the time he was a teenager, his mother had passed away and Beno needed full-time work. The extra hours suited Beno just fine. As young as he was, he already had experience under his belt and was now beginning a lifetime career that he loves.

A horse trainer most of his life, Beno worked for Joe Webb, then for C. E. Ransom on his farm until the Blakelys bought it from Ransom two decades ago. Beno stayed on, training horses for horse shows and hunting, and breaking problematic horses.

Fleming’s demeanor with people and with horses is almost legendary in White County. “You always see people sitting on the benches in the barn just because they like being around Beno,” Kathy (Blakely) Lightle says of the shy, unassuming trainer. “He is one of the kindest people I have ever known and he treats people and horses the same.”

He is well respected for his expertise as a trainer who never mistreats a horse, and he believes in training slowly, methodically.

Kathy, who has known Beno well since her family’s purchase of the farm so long ago, is adamant in her assessment of his way with horses: “It is magical.” So magical, in fact, that Kathy delights in telling the story of her own daughter’s long-standing admiration for Beno.

When Taylor was in third grade, her father picked her up from school one afternoon. She hopped in the car and was overjoyed with the news she had to share, “Daddy! Guess what? I get to be in the newspaper!” It turns out the youngster had been one of five students from the entire school chosen to have the paper they had written about their heroes featured in the newspaper. Sure his daughter had written about him, Steve asked, “Oh? What did you write about me?” The reply came quickly, “Oh, I wrote about Beno!”

The effect he has on people carries over to the horses as well.

And because each horse has its own distinct temperament, Beno recognizes those variances and trains each horse according to their own individual needs. “It’s a job I really like,” he beams. “All horses are different and I learn from each horse.” Beno’s “offices” are the stables, the pastures, the arena. A trainer’s job spans seven

days a week. After all, the horses don’t take the weekends off!

There is grooming, shoeing, feeding, and watering to be done, and inclement weather and holidays don’t change that.

The horses are brought into the stables and fed two flakes of hay a day in individual stalls, helping insure there is better control over the amount each horse is getting. (No french fries stolen off someone else’s plate here!) After being let out to pasture, Beno leads one horse at a time into the training arena. He works with them to assure they have a smooth gait and, because many are being trained for trail riding, Beno works to make sure they don’t spook easily.

Like humans, horses are creatures of habit and get accustomed to seeing their surroundings from a certain perspective. As Beno explains, “We go around [the arena during training] both ways because things look different going around the other way.” For example, one horse was quite comfortable every day going around his owner’s flowerbed with its large landscape rock as long as he was going in the same direction each time. But, when the horse changed course, that same unassuming rock looked totally foreign and the horse was skittish. Basically, the more situations horses are exposed to during training, the less likely they are to being spooked when they get out on the trail and are confronted with something unexpected.

Only once in the years that Beno has been training horses has he gotten hurt. A horse was spooked in a chute and landed against him, breaking Beno’s shoulder. Accidents happen, but many mishaps aboard a horse can be avoided by simply being smart. “If

“He is one of the kindest people I have ever known and he treats people and horses the same.”

– Kathy (Blakely) Lightle

Allen "Beno" Fleming

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When Taylor Lightle Gann was in third grade she was one of five students who was selected to write about their hero.

Taylor and Beno

“It’s a job I really like. All horses are different and I learn from each horse.”

– Allen "Beno" Fleming

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[a rider] starts getting a little cocky or starts going too fast, he’s going to get hurt,” Beno states with assurance. And anger should never go hand in hand when riding. “If a horse makes you mad, put it in the stall and cool off. After all,” Beno laughs, pointing at a horse grazing nearby, “look at their size – they’re gonna do what they want!”

Despite the hard work, the hot summers and the cold winters, the father of five loves his job and finds it “kinda relaxing.” But in 1971, Fleming decided to move to Flint, Michigan where his Dad was living and try his hand at working in an auto plant. Certainly the salary was good, but it didn’t take long for Beno to realize how much he missed the slower lifestyle, the safe neighborhoods and the sweet smell of hay back in Arkansas. Put simply: “I missed working outside.” It took only a few month inside a factory to convince Beno that the little boy who used to ride his bike to a farm to watch the horses had it figured out right from the beginning.

Beno likes to say that each horse has its own personality. So, what do names tell us about a horse or a person? Some can argue that racehorses always seem a little uppity with their fancy names that read more like a paragraph than a moniker. Beno even remembers one Tennessee Walker known as “Up Jumped The Devil” that was aptly named. But, the trail horses Fleming trains are simply more down to earth than those more lofty-named counterparts. And if Charlie, Bug, C. W., Lawrence, Tony and Hawk could do more than whinny, they would tell you that Beno knows his stuff pretty well.

And Beno’s “name” is just as down to earth as the horses he trains each day. Somehow it doesn’t sound right calling this modern day cowboy anything as formal as “Allen.” Sitting high atop his charges with his dusty boots and well-worn jeans, Beno seems anything but small as he takes the horses through their paces, and that earthy nickname seems to suit him just fine.

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By Hannah Elliott Photos by Jennings Rodeo Photography

n her rookie year, Corie Vaughan made it to a place where every rodeo competitor wants to go: Nationals. To get to that level though takes a significant amount of commitment, which is how she was raised. Corie has been riding since she was seven and spends hours every day on the back of one her three horses. She then spends a couple more hours practicing goat tying and roping. Occasionally she will race the horses, including barrel racing. This is all in addition to school work and sports that she is involved in as well.

Throughout the year Corie competed in Regionals, which meant 12 weekends of performances. She worked hard to qualify for State and took the Barrel Racing Reserve Champion of the AR Jr. High Rodeo Association. Finally, the devotion Corie put into school and training for rodeos paid off in May, when she found out she was going to Gallup, New Mexico for Nationals in June.

While she qualified for pole bending as well, her main purpose for going to Nationals was barrel racing.

When Corie qualified for Nationals, she began talking to local businesses about being her sponsors. The sponsors made it 72 Your Hometown Magazine

possible for her to go by providing performance shirts, as well as financial assistance to cover the expense of the trip, such as fuel and rodeo fees.

The Vaughan family are no strangers to the way of rodeo life.

Corie’s dad, Heath, works for a large ranch, has his own cattle, ropes, and works for a stock contractor as a pick up man at rodeos (a rider in the arena who helps a contestant off a bucking horse).

Tiffany, Corie’s mom, also does barrel racing in rodeos. Codie, Corie’s younger sister, is learning the ways of riding and racing and plans to follow in her big sister’s steps. As rodeos are such a part of the Vaughan family, making the trip to New Mexico was exciting for everyone. They loaded the trailer with two of Corie’s horses: Raisin, her main barrel racing horse; and Justin, her back up horse for barrels. The drive was around 16 hours with stops every 3-5 hours to walk and water the horses.

Once the Vaughans arrived, Corie spent time riding the horses to get them acclimated to the altitude.Ten days and thirteen performances later, Corie took 17th in the world for her rookie year. In the first round of barrel racing she took 13th out of 160

participants. Participants included the top four from every state, as well as all of Canada and Australia. In the second go round Corie won, which made her #1 in average for the short go. Mrs. Vaughan explained, “She probably could have won the world, but tipped the third barrel over and so she ended up with 17th.”

For her rookie year, Corie did a great job and is pleased with how she placed. She received a scholarship from Nationals and in the future could potentially earn a rodeo scholarship to go to college. Corie expressed she would like to go to a college where there is a rodeo team.

Corie’s goal this year is to win Rookie of the Year in the High School division. It is a joint effort for the family to help Corie achieve this goal, with her school work and plans to be on the soccer team. She is very dedicated though, so to her the goal is completely reachable. For Corie riding is “like second nature. I don’t even think about it.”

“

Corie has been riding since she was

seven and spends hours every day on the back of one her three horses.”

A SPECIAL THANKS TO CORIE’S SPONSORS Pro Tire Strother-Wilburn Land Title Co. Mr. Postman Hays Double Bees Byron’s Jewelry Charlie’s Auto Paint & Body

First Security Bank Whisperwood Ranch Haymond Insurance Honey Hill Animal Hospital Caldwell Country Store Ray and Phyllis Goelin

Corie & Codie

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What do you do for fun? What do you do to relax? Many people would say watching TV, playing video games, enjoying good dining or going to the mall. While these are great things to enjoy, perhaps nothing is as satisfying as being counterintuitive and turning our consumer minds around into being producers, even out of the job.

God gives us all strengths, talents, and interests. Don’t hide them under a bushel! Don’t think you have to prepare tediously or study endlessly before you begin a hobby. This is an excuse. You don’t have to be the best artist, the best athlete, the best hunter, or mechanic. Just produce with what God gives you now and in doing so you will improve.

Leonardo da Vinci is often labeled a Renaissance man, meaning he sought to exercise skills in many areas of knowledge and development.

He didn’t stay idle. He didn’t look to constantly entertain himself when he had free time. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Do you really know your full potential? Be your own Renaissance man or woman!

Garrett Johnson Art Director Searcy Living Magazine

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“You don’t have to be the best artist, the best athlete, the best hunter, or mechanic. Just produce with what God gives you now and in doing so you will improve.”

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Creamy Mushroom Chicken with Almonds

The first time I made this dish, we ate every single drop available....and were wanting more the next day. It's such a lovely flavor combination! Don't skip toasting the almonds; it amplifies their flavor and provides a nice crunch. This serves 4 nicely and it can easily be served gluten free by exchanging the pasta for a gluten free variety. Enjoy!

COOK 12 ounces linguine, cooked 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thinly (across, like a hamburger bun) 1 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced 3 Tbsp olive oil 4 cloves fresh garlic, chopped salt and pepper 4 ounces white wine 2 c. half and half or heavy cream 3 Tbsp Dijon mustard 1/2 c. toasted slivered almonds

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook chicken, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and garlic until chicken is done. (Slicing the chicken into thin layers helps it cook much quicker.). Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

add

Add wine to hot skillet and cook until it is reduced by 50%; this means you should cook until you have about 1/4 c. left. At this point add cream and Dijon mustard, cooking until it becomes slightly thicker.

return

Return chicken to skillet and add mushrooms. Cover and simmer 2 more minutes then uncover and sprinkle with almonds.

serve

Serve over pasta. (You could also serve this over rice and it would be equally delicious!)

Tanya Turner Leckieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cookbook Cartwheels In The Kitchen, is available at Wear Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s At, Midnight Oil Coffee House, Harding University Bookstore, on eBay, and by contacting her at lazydaygourmet@sbcglobal.net

You can find more recipes on SearcyLiving.com!

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Pineapple Upside Down Cake The Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe is the featured recipe from Mrs. Glenave Curtis’ published book “Recipes for Body and Soul.” Mrs. Curtis spent twenty-six years teaching homemaking skills and nutrition in the Searcy area and still continues to teach Bible classes. Glenave also spent several years as a home-tester for General Mills recipes.

She has had some of her own recipes featured in Southern Living Magazine. Glenave is currently writing a book about her late husband, Dean Curtis. Glenave Curtis’ recipe book is available at the Harding University Bookstore, Hastings, and Amazon.com.

¼ c. butter, melted 1 c. light brown sugar 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained 1¼ c. flour 2/3 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt 1/3 c. softened butter ½ c. milk 1 tsp. vanilla 1 egg

PREPARE

Generously butter a 10” cake pan. Cut parchment or wax paper to fit shape of pan. Place in buttered cake pan. Pour melted butter in pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter, then spoon and spread evenly the pineapple. (Preparing the pan with parchment is very important.)

MIX

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add softened butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat 1 minute. Add egg, beat 1 ½ minutes.

Pour over pineapple.

bake

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven.

remove

Place a large (at least 12 inch) round serving plate over top of pan and quickly turn upside down. Remove pan from top of cake. Carefully remove paper.

Delicious served warm.

Optional: Several whole maraschino cherries (well drained) may be decoratively placed in pan with pineapple.

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ACROSS

DOWN

2. An IED is also known as a roadside ________.

4. Corie Vaughan made it to________.

7. Reclaimed is an enterprise for ________-________.

8. What plays a huge role in the Touhy's lives?

10. The picture of Ingrid in 1943 was taken on this holiday.

11. Who is Taylor's hero?

12. Who killed an Elk Bull and made a state record?

1. The Showalters saved an older one of these.

3. Hollywood's portrayal of the Touhy family.

5. It seemed like a ________ how Crossen was taken care of by her family and friends.

6. Betsy Bailey says our future depends on ________.

9. Horses are creatures of ________.

Riddles

STUMPED?

Get the answers, play games, download wallpaper and tons more online at SearcyLiving.com!

You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?

What is it that after you take away the whole, some still remains?

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