fear october 2011 AtUrbanMagazine.com
Marcus Coker Catherine Frederick Laura Hobbs Todd Whetstine
DESIGNER
Jeromy Price
WEB GURU
David Jamell
PUBLISHER
Read Chair Publishing, LLC
COVER IMAGE
lifestyle
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Marla Cantrell Marcus Coker Catherine Frederick Laura Hobbs Tonya McCoy Anita Paddock Buddy Pinneo Whitney Ray Mary Sangster Todd Whetstine
entertainment
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Marla Cantrell
19 20
Now Hear This Urban Reader
people
MANAGING EDITOR
Catherine Frederick
Tarantella Giving Up the Ghost Flash Fiction Waiting for Bigfoot Urban Gardener
22 24 28 30 32 36
Saving Eternity Monster Matt Bringing Maggie Home Urban Sprawl The Man in Tights Songs of Home
taste
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRESIDENT
7 8 12 14 18
38 40
Autumn Risotto Cocktail for the Cure
destination
Subscribe to @Urban and receive 12 issues per year for only $20. Send check or money order payable to: Read Chair Publishing | 3811 Rogers Ave, Ste C | Fort Smith, AR 72903
@INSIDE
42 46
Spooked Hiking the Hurricane
Jeromy Price
Advertising and Distribution Information
Catherine Frederick at 479 / 782 / 1500 Catherine@AtUrbanMagazine.com Editorial or Artwork Information
Marla Cantrell at 479 / 831 / 9116 Marla@AtUrbanMagazine.com Š2011 Read Chair Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. The opinions contained in @Urban are exclusively those of the writers and do not represent those of Read Chair Publishing, LLC. as a whole or its affiliates. Any correspondence to @Urban or Read Chair Publishing, LLC., including photography becomes the property of Read Chair Publishing, LLC. @Urban reserves the right to edit content and images.
@LETTER FROM CATHERINE
F
ear. It’s something we all experience. For some, it’s a fear of spiders and snakes, while others are terrified of heights or small, dark breathless spaces. Oh wait. That’s my list.
My poor husband has been trying to get me on a cruise for over ten years and I simply cannot bring myself to do it. I’ve heard about all of the perks. Great food, endless drinks, entertainment. But all I can think about when I see a cruise ship is, That‘s just a giant coffin on water. Deep, frigid water. I’ve even tried to be a better friend to the spiders this year, pushing them back outside where they belong. But then they start eyeing me with all of those eyes of theirs and scurrying towards me and it’s lights out spiders - sorry, I tried. This is the month when fear gets the most play: horror movies come out, Halloween creeps in, and even the full moon seems a little eerie. In this issue we’ll take you across the state line where a strange light has caused curiosity, panic, and even an investigation by the US Army. We’ll visit a place in Fort Smith called “a breeding ground for ghosts,” and we’ll trek deep in to the woods for an elusive look at Bigfoot. We’ll also introduce you to a man who bolted from a fitful sleep one August night and knew he’d been called to save a beautiful piece of Victorian statuary that just happened to be in a cemetery. These stories are just the beginning. We also have a great read for you, a new CD you’ll want to hear, and a recipe using risotto that just screams fall. Add to that a trip to one of the best hiking trails in America, a singer/songwriter whose hard times opened her heart to the homeless, and a childless couple in Chicago who prayed for the right baby to find them, and ended up meeting her right here in Fort Smith. Enjoy! As for me, I’m going to flip through a few more cruise brochures, hang a few fake spiders in the doorway, and simply remember to breathe. There’s nothing to be frightened of, right?
@LIFESTYLE
Have you seen the spectre dance? His cavort among the trees? When the moon is full, his tarantella's silhouette is seen against a hanging, harvest orb, obscured by weathered leaves, where fog billows low to misconstrue the solid, from the quake grass weed. His body, a wizen picayune, flails in a boundless beat. Madness crackles from his eyes, to syncopation in his feet. He stomps his midnight, moonstruck rant because he cannot cease. Whirling tangled vines of dread-locked hair, raising dust into the trees. He dances to the eclectic whine, of shadowed beasties in his glen. He dances to a frenzied song, @lines Mary Sangster a demented opera in his head. But most, he dances to the moon, and drums that never cease, with their booming, drumming, thudding bane, that keep throbbing through his dread, as the moon casts her manic lunacy, upon him once again. 7
A
crescent moon shines on the Fort Smith Museum of History, its shimmer reflected in the
tall windows. It’s long past closing time. All the visitors have gone, and the four-story building that used to be a hardware store becomes deathly quiet. The lights, turned out one by one, leave a darkness so thick it seems to press against my skin, like a blanket on the hottest
the museum of (haunted) history
day of summer. Surrounded by 65,000 square feet of
@story and images Marcus Coker
the unknown, I follow volunteer Mike Ellis toward the elevator. The ghost—he says—is in the basement. The floorboards creak beneath my every step, as if something in the century-old downtown building is crying out for help. The structure itself seems to moan as the night wind blows against it, and the elevator closes as Mike and I begin our descent. I step off the elevator into the shadows. The basement is damp and secluded, and if you screamed, no one would hear you. I catch a glimpse of a human figure to my right, and I gasp. I feel my heart beating, and a single drop of sweat rolls down my face as my eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. It’s just a manikin, I realize, and I begin to walk across the floor with trepidation, as if a trap door might fall out from under me at any moment. Twenty feet from the elevator, I feel it. The room gets colder, as if there’s been a change in pressure, like there’s less air in the room. My hair stands on end, and I feel like a slug just crawled over my soul. I think, So that’s what a ghost feels like. I take a breath, fold my arms across my chest, and keep walking.
8
@LIFESTYLE
Mike takes me to the back corner of the basement and shows me a small room that resembles an old jail cell. There’s a sign that says ‘Vault of Prohibition,’ a prop for an upcoming haunted house. There’s a story that someone’s buried here, but no one’s been able to find the tombstone. Mike points out a broken bottle that had been intact the last time he was here. He has no explanation as to what happened. I notice a small skull with hair on it—another prop, no doubt—and decide it’s time go back upstairs. Caroline Speir, Mike’s wife and exhibit designer for the museum, waits for us at the front desk. She says, “Every time the elevator doors opens, there’s a ding. When I’m at the front desk and hear the ding, I look over. It’s just a habit, to see what’s going on.” But when Caroline first started working at the museum, there were times when the ding would sound, and the elevator wouldn’t be moving, the doors would be closed. “I would ask other people at the desk, ‘Did you hear that?’” says Caroline. “Yeah, they heard it.”
it. The occurrences beg the question: Who or what has been sleeping in this bed?
One Sunday Caroline came to work to meet another employee. Caroline had her children with her, and they were all in the
On the second floor sits Judge Isaac Parker’s courtroom, or at
back. Her co-worker hadn’t arrived yet, but she heard a voice
least much of the original furniture from his courtroom. Judge
say, “Hello.” Caroline says, “I was hoping it was the guy who was
Parker was a U.S. District Court Judge in Fort Smith during the
going to be working with me, that when we came back up to the
nineteenth century. He’s credited for bringing order where
front that he would be there. But when we got back to the front,
none had been before. Part of his job was to sentence the
he wasn’t there. No one was. I didn’t say anything, because I
worst of the worst to hang by the neck until dead. For three of
didn’t want to scare my kids, but they had heard it too. They
those years, the hangings were open to the public. During that
said, “’What was that?’”
time, crowds gathered to watch the condemned men trudge the twelve steps to the platform, watched as nooses were dropped
When she gives tours of the first floor, she often tells visitors
around their necks and waited until the trap door beneath their
about John Rogers, a Confederate soldier and attorney, the
feet thudded open.
namesake for Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith. The museum houses his bed, and sometimes the sheets are found inexplicably
Once a group of paranormal investigators left a recorder in the
turned down on one side, as if someone’s been sleeping in
courtroom, and Leisa Gramlich, director of the museum, says
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@LIFESTYLE
the sound of a gavel banging against a bench was caught on
The third floor mostly houses artifacts for children, things like
tape. Another time, there was a big hail storm that blew out
toys and dolls. Once when Leisa was working there, she and
the windows on either side of Judge Parker’s chair, but not the
her coworker heard a child’s voice. “The voice bounced to the
windows directly behind it. “It was like his spirit was watching
other side of the room, and we both looked, and I even yelled,
out,” says Leisa.
‘Is somebody up here?’ Sometimes the elevator gets unlocked, and a child might go up. So we walked through, didn’t find
Leisa moves from the courtroom exhibit to a gallery where
anyone, then went back to the elevator.” Leisa believes there
photos of local veterans hang. She says she used to arrive each
could be a logical explanation. “There was a wedding party
morning to find the pictures hanging out of order. Each day she
downstairs, so there were voices coming up the elevator shaft,
would straighten them, but the next morning they would be
which is probably what I heard. But we both heard it, and we
jumbled once again.
both heard a child’s voice.”
In the back corner of the second story is a meeting room,
Still, paranormal investigators have explained that the building
a reception hall for weddings and parties. On a number of
is basically a breeding ground for ghosts, that often after people
occasions, the room has given Leisa a strange feeling. She
die, their spirits stay attached to the objects they owned. With a
says, “It’s nothing discernable, nothing I could hear or see, just
building full of over 30,000 artifacts—including swords used in
a feeling.” But recently there was a child who saw something
battle, and even President Zachary Taylor’s punchbowl—there’s
ghostlike, a person in the room wearing tattered clothing. The
no telling what’s lurking around the museum, just waiting to
museum staff doesn’t tell visitors about the ghosts, but Caroline
make your heart race, just waiting to make your skin crawl.
says, “Sometimes little kids start talking about what they see.” You’ll just have to see (and feel) for yourself. Many museum visitors—kids and adults alike—encounter ghosts while touring the building. Caroline says, “People will
From October 21-23 and October 28-31, a haunted house
come down, usually after being on the second floor, and go, ‘Is
called Blood on the Border will take place in the museum
this place haunted?’ It’s usually because they’ve felt something.
basement at 320 Rogers Avenue. The event will begin at 7
I tell them, ‘It depends on what you believe.’ One lady said,
p.m.; an ending time has not been set. Beginning at 7 p.m.,
‘Well, I can feel her.’ And that’s all she said.”
Western Arkansas Ballet will perform Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” outside the museum every half hour. Cost for
The third and fourth floors, used for storage, are off limits to
Blood on the Border is $5.00. There will be concessions
visitors. Among other things, there are hundreds of clothes,
available, and all proceeds will benefit the museum.
a dentist’s chair, some Smurf drinking glasses, and a Victrola record player that Mike says once mysteriously started playing Dean Martin’s “Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket.”
10
For more information, visit fortsmithmuseum.com or call 479.783.7841.
@LIFESTYLE
@Urban has teamed up with the University of Arkansas-Fort
we wouldn’t let our own writers publish (such as graphic
Smith Center for Lifelong Learning for our first ever Flash
violence) it won’t make the cut in the contest either.
Fiction Contest. The top three stories will be published in our January issue.
A complete list of contest rules is on our website at AtUrbanMagazine.com.
All you need to do is send your super short story of 100 words or less (word count includes title) to: @Urban Magazine/3811
The last day we’ll accept submissions will be December 1
Rogers Ave. Ste. C/Fort Smith AR 72903. You MUST include
(postmarked). The winners will be notified on or before
two pages: one with ONLY your story and its title (DON’T PUT
January 1, 2012.
YOUR NAME ON THIS PAGE). The second page will have the title of your story, your name and contact information, including a
In addition to publishing the winners’ work, @Urban will award
phone number and email address, if you have one. Each entrant
gift certificates - $125 for 1st place, $85 for 2nd place, and $40
can submit three stories. Entries formatted incorrectly will be
for 3rd place – thanks to the UAFS Bookstore, and the Center
automatically disqualified.
for Lifelong Learning.
The contest is open to writers eighteen or older, with the
Not sure how to write flash fiction? No problem. The UAFS Center
exception of those who work for the UAFS Center for Lifelong
for Lifelong Learning is offering a class on the genre beginning
Learning and their families. @Urban writers and their families
October 5. For more information call 479.788.7220
are also disqualified from the competition. To see an example of a 100 word short story, this one written @Urban will ONLY accept submissions sent by snail mail,
by Zack Thomas, the instructor of the upcoming class, log on to
so please don’t send them electronically, as they will be
AtUrbanMagazine.com and click on the “Arts” tab.
automatically disqualified. Stories longer than 100 words will also be disqualified. And one final reminder: If it’s something
We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Submit your entries by December 1, 2011 12
@story Marla Cantrell
A
man in Idaho, passing time on a long car trip, tells his wife
Far away, just outside Cedarville, a fifteen-year-old boy
to count the deer on the side of the road. It’s too dark to
rambles down an old logging trail. He has a .22 rifle in tow, in
see any detail, so she watches as the headlights catch the glint
case he comes across a wayward coyote, a tent he plans to set
of their eyes. Keeping track, she logs the sightings: two, three,
up, and food for the night.
four, five. Around seven, he leaves camp, walks toward a canopy of oak Just then, another set of eyes appears, too high off the ground
and pine, and is hit squarely in the back by a small branch that
to belong to a deer, or even a man. Its outline is visible: broad
looks as if it’s been ripped from a tree. He hears a thumping
shoulders, hulking body, long arms. Its head reaches almost to
sound, followed by a series of accelerating growls. He takes his
the top of the speed limit sign.
flashlight and shines it toward the noise. There in the darkness is something bigger than a man, a good seven feet tall. It has a
Fear clutches the couple, the man hits the gas, his wife grabs
coat of black fur, and smells, the boy says, like a wet dog with a
the dash. They file a report with the local sheriff and move on
little extra funk thrown in.
into the night.
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@LIFESTYLE
He backs away, stops briefly at camp to douse the fire he built
It was enough to make him join the group. Soon he was
earlier, leaves his gear, and scrambles back down the logging
spending weekends armed with high-tech cameras and thermal
trail, promising never to return again.
equipment, looking for Bigfoot. “The male can get as tall as thirteen feet and weigh six hundred pounds. They’re built like
A hundred miles away, Troy Hudson, at age nine, is on a Boy
linebackers, some as broad as four feet at their shoulders. We’d
Scout retreat in Talihina, Oklahoma. He hears a sound like
go in and kind of antagonize them, try to get them to come
an ax chopping wood, but whoever is wielding the ax is only
towards us. We were intruding.
making one cut every thirty minutes. After two hours, he tells his scoutmaster, who dismisses it as the work of a man who
“After I watched some people who lived near Indian reservations
lives nearby.
approach them, I realized I was wrong. I was the one going into the Bigfoot’s home. I started going in with respect. Now, I ask
When night falls, Troy and his buddies set out to investigate.
permission. I put away the cameras. I’m there to learn. When
Down the worn trail they spot what looks like a tall man on the
you take that approach, not immediately, but maybe after four
incline near the creek bed. They run until they can’t breathe.
or five times, you see a small pattern of change, and they start
When they finally stop they see the man again, this time in the
to come closer.”
creek bed. After a third sighting, they make it back to camp. Shaken, the boys count the scoutmasters who are asleep on
But just who are they? Often Bigfoot is described as an ape-
cots circling the campfire. No one is missing.
like creature, sometimes predatory, always frightening. In the 1970s movie, “The Legend of Boggy Creek”, which was set in
So what was it they saw?
Fouke, Arkansas, a Bigfoot-like monster terrorized the small town. Troy believes none of that.
It’s a question Troy left untouched for years. Back at home, a friend’s mother mentioned a Bigfoot sighting that happened near
“They are disciplined. They have a social structure. They can
the campground on the same night as the Boy Scout retreat.
speak English, I’ve heard them, but mostly they use their primal language. They care for their young. A family who lives here in
But it wasn’t until 2004, when he came across a group of Bigfoot
Texas, way out in the country, started seeing them regularly.
investigators while working in Texas, that he reconsidered the
As they gained trust, the Bigfoot started showing up more and
childhood encounter. Memories tripped across one another: his
more until now they see them almost every day.
best friends were Native American, and many of them believed in the legend of the towering “Big Brother” who lived peacefully
“And the Bigfoot aren’t just in the mountains. I’ve seen reports
in the woods, sometimes showed up near the powwows, and
of them in a suburb of Dallas, in Tulsa, and in Van Buren on the
were considered one of the tribes.
Arkansas River. Oklahoma has seventy-seven counties; I have reports of Bigfoot activity in sixty-six of them.”
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@LIFESTYLE
Troy’s had no less than fifteen partial sightings of Bigfoot, which
Recently, after the passing of both his parents, he traced his
means they were leaning out from behind a structure or tree,
family line back to both the Choctaw and Cherokee tribes. He
and “three full-blown, daytime, head-to-toe sightings.” When
wonders if it’s part of the reason he’s drawn to the legend of
he gets that close, tears come, his heart swells, it feels as if he’s
Bigfoot, and why he’s had so much success finding them.
flooded with light. “The key is not to have fear. Relinquish all fear and you’ll have a better experience.”
Troy, who is in law enforcement, no longer belongs to an organized group of investigators.
He comes to Honobia,
As for those not expecting any encounter at all, stumbling into
Oklahoma, which is about 100 miles from Fort Smith, every
the land of the Bigfoot can be treacherous.
year to help organize the Bigfoot Festival. There he often sees Nubbie, the young Bigfoot who lives near the small town and
“I talked to a man who was walking in the woods behind his house
often stands on the ridge to watch the people below. “He looks
in northeast Oklahoma, scouting for a place to hunt deer. He heard
like a very young Chewbacca,” he says, referencing the Star
someone walking behind him. When he stopped, they stopped.
Wars movies. “He seems to like people.”
But he couldn’t see anybody. He became extremely nervous. He heard a whistle, but saw no one. He continued on, the steps
The rest of his spare time is spent studying Bigfoot, talking
matching his, and a small branch was thrown sideways, it didn’t fall
to other investigators, or sitting patiently deep in the forest,
from a tree, and it hit him. He started getting sick and laid down on
waiting for the next sighting. He takes a little heat for it, but
the ground. He thought he fell asleep. When he woke up he felt
it’s worth it. “The world is full of mystery,” Troy says. “If you take
good. He looked around and he was in a different spot, the terrain
the approach that anything is possible,” Troy says, “and open
was different. He ran back and found his house and apologized to
your mind, miracles are out there. When you see something
his wife for being gone so long, but then she shocked him when
that’s not supposed to exist standing fifteen feet from you, it
she said he hadn’t been gone more than ten minutes.
will change you. I know it changed me.”
“I talked to some Native American tribal leaders and they’d had similar experiences. If you’re in an area where they have their
For more on the Honobia Bigfoot Festival log on to
young, or where they live, they have the ability to make you see
bigfootmountain.com
whatever they want you to see.” Troy stops short of calling the Bigfoot supernatural. He thinks they’re long lived, and that they have burial rituals that keep us from finding any remains. And he believes they have elders or wise men, which are the rare silver or white ones. He says they all look different, the same way people do.
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@LIFESTYLE
Looking at our trees and shrubs out front, it’s hard not to whip out the clippers and snip away the dead and dying leaves and branches. However, I did some research and found it’s best to wait until spring and watch for new growth so you can see the full extent of the damage and then make your necessary cuts. If you love fall color, October is the month to plant winter annuals. Layer them on top of spring flowering bulbs so your color blooms right into spring. Bury your spring bulbs deep into the soil (at least double the size of the bulb), then plant your winter annuals on top. Hubby and I choose pansies for
finally fall @story Catherine Frederick
G
our winter annuals. Their beautiful burst of color is a welcomed replacement to the drab brown we’ve endured over the past several weeks.
oodbye. Goodbye and good riddance scorching heat. Several of my plants are entering dormancy, stressed to the
Last fall we planted flowering kale and cabbage and added in
max, withered and burned from the intense summer sun. I’m
pansies of contrasting colors. If you’re planning on planting kale
ready to see life and color back in my garden - and my yard. Even
and cabbage, do so soon so it has time to root before the frigid
though I’m doing little planting with the exception of my garden
temperatures set in. I’m thinking of adding edible ornamentals
table, there is still plenty of maintenance and preparation to
to my beds this year – lettuce, spinach or beets. We’ll harvest
keep me busy outdoors.
as needed. I may even throw in some parsley and cilantro for ground cover.
If you compost (and you should), start shredding the leaves that are already tumbling to the ground. Add them to your compost
Of course there’s the hippie in me who wants to clear out a
pile or use them as mulch for your garden.
location and toss out a ton of wildflowers (October’s the best month to plant them). Perennials from seed don’t always bloom
It’s also time to bring any houseplants back indoors. Wait too
to their fullest the first season so it’s recommended you mix in
long to move them and you risk sending them into shock. I
some annuals so you’ll have plenty of color.
waited too long last year and my beloved Schefflera dropped almost every leaf. Before bringing your plants back in, tidy up
Whatever you plans, don’t delay. Jack Frost will be nipping at
unhealthy leaves and check for insects. I scratch the top layer of
our nose before we know it.
soil around and rustle the leaves a bit to ensure I rid the plant of any gnats or mosquitoes.
18
@ENTERTAINMENT
guitarist – the solo simply scorches. And off we go into what is easily his most diverse and ebullient collection in years.
now hear this
lenny kravitz — “black and white america”
W
@review Buddy Pinneo
“In The Black” is ‘80s-inspired, driving, melodic dance-pop that will grow on you with every listen. Kravitz is clearly feeling confident, because with “Liquid Jesus,” he finds himself outPrincing Prince. The result is unintentionally hilarious. Better to skip “Rock Star City Life,” which feels assembled from pre-
hen Let Love Rule was released in 1989, Lenny Kravitz
fabricated pop-rock Legos. Oh well. “Boongie Drop,” featuring
began his long and rewarding career of being endlessly
Jay Z and DJ Military, soon saves the day.
derided as a poseur – hopelessly overpowered by his influences (Bowie, Prince, Lennon, Hendrix, Curtis Mayfield). But there’s
Next up is the painfully mediocre “Stand,” an entrée for a section
something to be said for sticking to your story.
of the album best described as “flyover country.” All is not lost, however. The momentum builds again with “Life Ain’t Ever Been
Today, he’s American rock royalty.
Better Than It Is Now,” a true funk pleasure. This is followed by “The Faith Of A Child,” a we-are-all-one ballad with absolutely
The most obvious thing about Black And White America is its
gorgeous backing vocals.
autobiographical title. Born to a Russian-Jewish father and AfricanAmerican mother, Kravitz has always stood astride two worlds.
You can hear the island life of his Bahamas home clearly in “Sunflower.” And then comes “Dream,” a ballad which for almost
In the title opener, he cites the vision of Martin Luther King. He
any other artist would be the album’s closer. Kravitz keeps it
talks about the racism his parents experienced in the 1960s.
simple and the result is majestic.
But don’t be fooled. The song hardly feels political, thanks to an instantly smooth funk-and-soul groove that’s equal parts
“Push” draws the set to an official close with a mid-tempo, piano-
Curtis Mayfield and late ‘70s-era Prince or Off The Wall Michael
based anthem that’s lyrically so optimistic it defies belief.
Jackson, right down to the light guitar phasing, fat-thumbed bass guitar and hyperactive horn section.
But if all you do is listen to the music, Black And White America will never disappoint. When something sounds this sweet, good
Anyone itching for Kravitz to use it as a political soapbox will
intentions are good enough.
be ultimately disappointed. If you want Lenny more in your face, just skip to track 2. “Come On Get It” will have even the most uptight tax accountant bobbing his head. Right about the halfway point, we’re reminded just how far he’s come as a
I Rate It 19
Mary Baxter is the mother of Stella, her only child, who died suddenly of meningitis. She and her husband are anguished souls whose grief is so debilitating that they are unable to comfort each other. An attorney, he goes to work each day and is able to function. Mary is not. She’s a wreck. She’s unable to write or read, the activities she’s done for a living, as well as for pleasure. She’s angry at everyone, especially mothers who still have their little girls to take to school, bake cookies for, take to the park to swing. Her mother suggests she learns how to knit, a suggestion she dismisses at first. Mary eventually takes her mother’s suggestion, something she rarely does. Mary’s beautiful mother was an alcoholic while Mary was growing up, and she’s never really forgiven her, even though her mother is now sober and living in Mexico. She has never been someone Mary could count on. Her mother didn’t even come to her own granddaughter’s funeral. Mary drives forty miles to Big Alice’s Sit and Knit. She doesn’t
The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood Norton Publishing @review Anita Paddock
Y
want to take a chance that someone might know her and ask how she’s doing. Alice ushers her into the back room and promises her she can learn to knit. Mary chooses a blue yarn, the color of her daughter’s eyes, and Alice casts on the first series of loops and twists before handing the smooth needles to Mary.
ou don’t have to knit to love this book. What you do
20
need is an appreciation for an honest and emotional
Mary takes her knitting home and shows it off to her husband,
story told by an exceptionally talented writer, Ann Hood. This
Dylan, who obsessively watches CNN when he’s home. With
novel takes place in Providence, Rhode Island, and mirrors
the light of the television flickering shadows across their bed,
the personal life of the author who also lost a daughter and
Mary decides she’ll join the knitting circle that meets every
joined a knitting club.
Wednesday night.
@ENTERTAINMENT
Mary is welcomed by the other knitters, and soon she recognizes
and worked down to the heel. When her friend left for
the therapeutic qualities of focusing on knitting, rather than her
a Phoenix vacation, Judy had to wait until she returned
devastating loss. As she slowly learns to knit, she also learns
before she could finish the sock.
that each woman in the circle has her own personal grief. Beth has cancer, Ellen has a daughter waiting for a heart transplant,
Judy started knitting in the 1960s. Her best friend and
Scarlett unknowingly let a child drown, Harriet and Alice are old
mother-in-law taught her to knit, and before long she
and alone with their own particular sorrows.
was knitting baby blankets and baby sweaters. After her children arrived, she took a sabbatical from knitting, but
And while Mary is finding solace in knitting, her husband finds
she picked it up again when grandchildren came along.
comfort with “a woman who is always happy.” He moves out of their home, and Mary briefly takes up with a man she meets at
A native of Michigan, she had the unique experience of
a country inn.
attending a one room school house through the sixth grade. “I always tried to please my teacher,” she says,
Anyone who has suffered a loss, and who of us hasn’t, will find
“because I would have her the next year, and the next
glimpses of themselves in this novel of loss and recovery. Have
year, and the next.” During the cold winter months, the
plenty of tissues on hand and perhaps a cup of hot chocolate to
students were allowed to leave the school grounds and
provide a little extra comfort.
ice skate on a nearby pond. A bookmobile came to their village every two weeks in the summer. “What a treat is was to climb those steps, find the books I was interested in, and check out the most allowed,” Judy recalls. Her favorite book was a Rand McNally Tip-
Judy Adler is one of fifteen women, whose ages are
Top Elf book called Penny and Pete’s Surprise.
between forty and eighty, who meet in Fort Smith regularly to knit. The oldest once owned a yarn store in
She and her husband, Dick, moved to Fort Smith from St.
California, so she is considered the expert when someone
Paul, Minnesota, in 1984, when he was transferred here with
needs advice. “It really is addictive,” Judy says. “And it’s
Whirlpool. “I’m a very contented transplant,” she says.
good for the mind to figure out the patterns. Sometimes I have to enlist the aid of my husband to help me with
She is currently re-reading The Help; she’s trying to
the math involved.”
decide if the movie was better than the book.
One of the members taught her how to knit socks (which are evidently hard to do). Judy started with the cuff
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I
t was three in the morning when Randy Smith tripped from sleep into waking. His wife, lying next
to him, did not hear him rise, did not know her husband was using the back of his hand to wipe the newfound sweat from his brow, or that he was struggling to find a way to save something meant to last an eternity.
fairview cemetery
But there he was on that frenzied morning of August
@story Marla Cantrell @image Marcus Coker
thirtieth, 2005, shaken, yes, but also determined. The source of his trouble was a Georgia marble monument that stood in Fairview Cemetery in Van Buren. Perhaps stood is the wrong word. It was not standing when Randy awoke. It had been split into a dozen pieces a few days before when a massive limb from one of the graveyard’s ancient trees fell soundly on the ornate sculpture. The memorial, designed in 1840, was a tribute to Alfred and Martha Wallace’s three young children. Rising nine feet above the earth, it housed a 350 pound cherub inside four stately columns. Randy envisioned the Wallaces, their three solemn treks to the same family plot. “I knew when I woke up that it was my job to save the monument.” It was no easy task. The key, however, lay in the earlier work Randy had done “kind of on a dare” to get the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places. The certification arrived in June, just two months earlier, and that made the monument eligible for a preservation grant. “I thought when the cemetery made the Register, my work was done. Over. Finito. But how
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@PEOPLE
do you turn your back on something this important? I wasn’t
So there he was, the man now recognized as the go-to guy for
setting out to be the poster child for historic preservation. And
information about Fairview.
I’d never written a grant application before. The first year it failed, but I tried again and the second time it passed.”
It was no time to stop.
With matching funds from the city, the Wallace Children’s
Civic groups and schools started calling on him to speak
Commemorative Monument was saved.
about the importance of historic preservation. Gaggles of schoolchildren showed up on weekends to help clean the stones
Randy relaxed. He was finished.
with a product called D-2 Architectural Cleaner, which leaches impurities from the monuments without harming them. “Bleach
Well, not quite.
and other household cleaners are the absolute death knell to these stones,” Randy says. “It destabilizes them and alters the
While researching Fairview’s cemetery for the National Register
PH. That’s what had happened to the cherub at the Wallace
he’d gotten to know the residents. “I read everything I could get
Children’s Monument before we had it restored. You could rub
my hands on about who was buried there: the first lawyers, the
your finger across the back of her head and the marble would
first physicians, the first merchants. John Drennen, co-founder
come off just like sand.
of the city, is there. Judge Jesse Turner is there. Van Buren was, in the early 1800s, for all intents and purposes the edge of
“Bringing kids in to help teaches them to love the history of
the Western frontier, to some extent a dangerous place to be.
where they’re from. It teaches them how to care for something
We had people coming here from Pennsylvania, Connecticut,
ancient. I’d bet that you’d never have a kid who came here to
Tennessee. They were here to seek their fortune, to start
help restore a monument who’d grow up and come back to
businesses. They all had to have a sense of adventure.”
vandalize anything here. That in itself is something.”
He believes in the cemetery the way other people believe in Van
Children were learning history in a graveyard, more organizations
Gogh, or Cézanne, or da Vinci. “You can look at the monuments,
were coming in to help with preservation efforts.
all hand carved, and you can tell where the family stood in the community. None of it was done en masse. The Victorians liked
Randy was nowhere near finished.
tall sculptures, rising up to the heavens, closer to God. Everything was symbolic. A broken rose symbolized a life cut short, a torch
In 2006, he was approached to help organize a “Tales of the
turned upside down meant a life had been snuffed out. There’s
Crypt” event. “I come up with a list of characters. Tom Wing,
an hour glass carved on one of the monuments that has wings
with the UA – Fort Smith Historic Interpretation program,
attached: time flies. Simple message but very true.”
assigns his students to play the roles for a grade. They research these people’s lives, show up in period dress, stand at the
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@PEOPLE
actual gravesite, and must be able to do a six to ten minute
a common cause. Even though he’s quick to credit dozens of
monologue as that person. It seemed like a perfect way to raise
other people for making all this happen, it likely wouldn’t have
both awareness and money for Fairview preservation.”
without him.
In death, at least, every life gets equal billing. “Last year we had
Tell Randy that and he’ll shrug it off and turn the conversation
Mrs. Burton, who was buried in the pauper’s section. We had
back to the cemetery. “Every stone has a story,” he says. “If
Mrs. Violet Turner, a Victorian housewife once.”
the monument’s gone, the story’s gone. Most of the families of these great people who founded Van Buren, who lived here
Last year nearly 450 people showed up for “Tales of the Crypt.”
centuries ago, are long gone. There’s no one left to remember
This year, they decided to add something new. There will be
them, but their stories don’t have to die. That’s what we’re doing
an added tour, this one a twilight version that will take place at
here. We’re saving those stories.”
nightfall in the city’s oldest public cemetery. So here Randy is, six years after the morning he awoke to the
The “Twilight” version of Tales of the Crypt is
realization that Fairview was calling his name. He now sees the
Saturday, October 22, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
hallowed ten acres not just as a cemetery but as his personal classroom. “The stories just go on and on forever. When this
The regular version of Tales of the Crypt is Sunday,
year is over, we’ll have done thirty-six portrayals. And we’ve just
October 23, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
scratched the surface.” Admission is $3.00 for adults, $1.00 for children, with He’s had several chances to walk away, to move on to another
every dollar raised going toward the preservation of
project. Except there’s not another place on earth like Fairview.
a monument within the cemetery.
“The trees,” he says, “I’ve thought about cataloging them. We have some wonderful old gnarled cedars. The Victorians liked
Tickets will be available at Fairview Cemetery on
them because they stayed green. For a while they were called
a first come, first serve basis. Fairview is located
cemetery trees.”
off AR Hwy 59 (Logtown Road), between Poplar & McKibben Street, 3 blocks north of the train depot in
The wheels are turning. There is so much still undone. Randy keeps adding to his list of projects. It’s astounding what one person, given the right motivation, can accomplish. He doesn’t sit on any board, isn’t a registered member of any group, and yet he’s been able to bring hundreds of people together in
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downtown Van Buren.
@PEOPLE
Matt rubs his left bicep where a tattoo of Freddy Kruegar lurks beside an equally frightening tattoo of the infamous Jason Vorhees. “I grew up with the original Freddy, with Jason. Most people think that’s corny, but it scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. It still does.” Matt’s uncle bought him a makeup effects book when he was a boy, and Matt eventually began making his own Halloween costumes. In 2007, Matt won the KISR Jetsetters Ball costume contest when he appeared as a seven-foot-tall werewolf. In 2008, he transformed into a nine-foot-tall alien with a head five feet long and three feet wide. He used spandex, carpet, fun
monster matt
M
noodles, and vacuum cleaner hoses to construct the outfit. He also won in 2009 and 2010, but he’s not entering this year.
matthew crabtree
Instead, the thirty-year-old will be acting in “Evil Dead: The
@story Marcus Coker @images Matt Crabtree
Musical,” a parody of the famous horror film about a group of college students who are turned into demons by an evil force while vacationing in the woods. Also, he’ll be participating in the Scream
att Crabtree sits in the front seat of his car at a drive-in
Country Haunted Trail. Both take place in Drumright, Oklahoma.
movie, convulsing and screaming. A blinding light from
the giant screen burns his skin, and he reaches up to remove his
It was through the director of the musical that Matt landed his
sunglasses. As he does, his skin begins to peel off his face.
role in the movie “Screen.” He’s had such fun, he hopes to one day work fulltime in the horror film industry as a makeup artist,
The director yells, “Cut!” and Matt relaxes. He’s covered in fake
costume designer, actor, or even director. So long as there’s a
blood and grinning from ear to ear. He’s acting in an upcoming
chance to scare you to death, he’ll be perfectly happy.
movie called “Screen,” which is being filmed in Cleveland, Oklahoma. This is Matt’s first time in horror film, but he knows exactly what to do. “I’m a horror movie freak,” says Matt, who lives in Fort Smith. “We can blame my mom for that one. She went to see ‘An American Werewolf in London’ the day before I was born.”
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For more information about “Evil Dead: The Musical,” go to evildeadtour.com. For more information about the Scream Country Haunted Trail, go to screamcountry.com.
O
n January 3, forecasters were predicting more snow in the
Jack was the name they’d picked out for the baby. It felt good
Chicago suburbs. Margaret and Mike Pote, already settled in
to say it: Jack Pote. That’s what they were thinking when the St.
for the night, were preparing dinner. And then the phone rang.
Louis Arch appeared on the horizon, shining like the moon on that stellar night. “Just then the birthfather called to let us know
They’d been waiting for a call from Arkansas about the baby, not
it was a girl. I’ll never forget it, the arch lit up and her crying in
yet born, that they were hoping to adopt.
the background as he talked.”
@story Marla Cantrell @images Courtesy Margaret Pote
A girl. The two switched gears, thinking now of ruffles and tiny dresses. It felt wonderful, except that the night seemed endless, the road ahead a long black ribbon that looked eternal at that moment. It took eleven hours to make it to St. Edward Mercy in Fort Smith. There they met their brand new daughter. They named her Maggie Grace. “My name is Margaret. My aunt’s name is Margaret. Growing up they used to call me Maggie Bags. I thought it was a nice way to integrate her into our family but not step on the birthmother’s toes by giving her the proper name of Margaret. I wanted to make sure I honored Maggie’s birthmother.”
bringing maggie home
That moment could have been the end of a wonderful story:
“We hadn’t heard from the birthfather in a while,” Margaret
NICU (neonatal intensive care). She was hooked to wires and
says. “Doubts were starting to creep in. With adoption you don’t
monitors. For the longest time they had to put her in our arms
truly know if it’s going to happen until the judge signs. So when
because we were so afraid to pick her up.”
Mike and Margaret finally had their baby. But something else was going on. Maggie was having a hard time. “She was in the
I heard his voice I thought, Oh my gosh, this is really it. Margaret doesn’t elaborate on the medical issues Maggie faced. “Just to protect ourselves from the hurt of the adoption possibly
Instead she talks about the wonderful care her new daughter
not going through, we hadn’t prepared a lot. We hadn’t packed.”
received, and the Ronald McDonald Family Room, housed inside St. Edward Mercy, where Margaret and Mike found solace while
So she and her husband Mike tore through the house, getting things in order, and then headed off into the frigid night.
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Maggie grew stronger.
@PEOPLE
“It’s like walking in to a showroom, like something on HGTV,”
a hotel and have our
Maggie says. “I only expected a little room with a bed, but it’s
start there. We’re in our
like an oasis. The NICU is loud and stressful. Babies cry, the
early forties and we’d
monitors never stop dinging. It’s hectic.
tried for five years to have a baby before we
“The Ronald McDonald Room is very quiet. The beds are
turned to adoption. We
comfortable. There is always prepared food out, snacks
were so ready.
to make. There’s a laundry facility, which is something you don’t think about, but we were there a full month. I was
“But
we
found
a
doing laundry twice a week because when we came we only
way, driving through
expected to stay a week.
Nashville, and we took our time, spending one
“You can nap there, and I can’t tell you how important that is.
night in a hotel on the
You’re just exhausted. And you meet the other families who
way home.”
have children there. You grow relationships. I’m still in contact with several parents I met while I was there.
Today, Maggie is a happy baby with equally happy parents. “When you face infertility, it becomes a very expensive, emotional
“There’s a family room, dining room, kitchen. It’s like you’re in
experience. And then when you’re faced with adoption, it’s another
someone’s home, not in a sterile hotel room in a strange city
emotional, expensive, scary prospect. But you find professionals
where you don’t know anyone. I would have been leaving the
that you can trust and you put your faith in it. I prayed a lot. I prayed
NICU at midnight and returning at six in the morning.”
the right baby would find us. And she did.”
Mike stayed the first week, but then had to return to work in
Margaret also has fond memories of Fort Smith, thanks to
Chicago. He came back as often as he could, checking in on
the graciousness of those who stepped in when she was
Margaret and his new daughter.
feeling overwhelmed, who gave her a place to stay, and surrounded her with the support she needed in her first
A month passed, and Maggie was well enough to go home.
days as a new mother.
They said their goodbyes to the others at the Ronald McDonald Family Room, and gathered up their little girl. To learn more about how you can help the Ronald “The day before we were discharged a huge blizzard hit,
McDonald House Charities of Arkoma log on to
affecting Chicago and all the way down to St. Louis. We were
rmhcofarkoma.org
so excited to get her out of the hospital, I was willing to go to
@PEOPLE
Urban Sprawl Winner At the beginning of summer we asked you to take a copy of @Urban with you on vacation. We hoped we might get as far as Washington, D.C. We’ll we did. We also made it to places like Alaska, Sedona, Belize and Costa Rica. And we crashed a wedding!
Picking the winner was tough. But in the end, we settled on Shirley Perez, who took us to (drum roll please) THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Congratulations Shirley, for your great photo. And enjoy your stash of @Urban gear and a work of art from Canvas HQ in Fort Smith! 30
@Great Wall of China
Congratulations Shirley Perez
J
ammie Walker wears tights. He is, after all, a ballet dancer.
“People hear ballet and they see the funny costumes, the funny tights. But I’m so in it now, I’m in the zone. I rarely think anything about it,” says Jammie, who grew up in Fort Smith and is currently in his senior year as a dance major at the University of Oklahoma. “I’m in that world, so I love the funny costumes, the makeup. I could try to compare it to a normal job, like putting on a suit and tie for a business person. It seems normal to me, because I’m completely ensconced in that world.”
@story Marcus Coker @images Kat Hardin
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@PEOPLE
By the first of the year, professional dance companies will begin
Jammie danced all through high school, performing each year in
holding auditions for company members, and Jammie will try
Western Arkansas Ballet’s annual production of “The Nutcracker.”
out. If all goes as planned, he’ll be hired and make dance a long-
After graduating from Southside, Jammie received a scholarship
time career.
to OU. Until that time, Jammie’s training was mostly in ballet technique. For the last three years, however, he’s also been
But Jammie hasn’t always loved dance. When he started at the
learning modern and contemporary dance, which are different
age of three, he didn’t have much say in the matter. “I was really
styles of dance popularized during the last century. “Naturally
uncoordinated as a child; I would run into random things. So my
my body wants to go in the direction of modern dance, but I’ve
mother thought putting me in ballet classes might help. I hated
always considered myself to be just a mover. It used to be you’d
it at first. You can imagine—a boy going to ballet class.”
have very dedicated ballet or modern dancers, and the two didn’t cross tabs so much, but now you just have dancers. It’s great, but
Despite Jammie’s original dislike for ballet, he continued to
at the same time, the stakes are higher. You have to be able to do
take class once a week through most of elementary school. “I
everything and do everything at least reasonably well.”
don’t know why my parents were so persistent about it. I always liked moving, dancing and stuff like that, but the structure of a
This summer, Jammie spent time in New York City, training with
ballet class was sometimes more than my attention span could
some of the best in the dance world. There were rehearsals
handle. I didn’t like it until probably fifth grade. Then I was like,
each day, then shows in Central Park. There were times when he
okay, this is pretty cool.”
was intimidated, times when he wondered if he had the training and talents to keep up with the other dancers. “You feel like
By the time he was in sixth grade, Jammie started taking two
you don’t belong, like, how could I ever compete with these
classes a week at Western Arkansas Ballet. Before long, it was
people? But everybody breathes the same air. No matter how
three classes, then four, then rehearsals on Saturdays. “It wasn’t
good somebody is, everyone has different gifts even within the
a big deal to give up that much time. I just saw that as what I
dance world. Good technique is good technique, and that’s not
did, my thing. And I feel like I was really fortunate. I was never
what it’s all about. Someone can bring a passion to dancing on
seen as that stereotype of a dancer; I didn’t get flack about it. Of
top of that technique, and they’re going to be in demand.”
course there were moments, but I never felt insecure about it.” When Jammie talks about dance, it’s like he’s talking about his Jammie tried other sports and activities—piano, gymnastics,
best friend, that person who’s always there for you, the one that
taekwondo, soccer—but only ballet stuck. “Soccer lasted up until
brings you joy. “Everyone needs to express themselves. Some
junior high, then I quit for a while. I tried to go back in tenth grade,
do better with written words. Some speak, some sing. For some
but you’re working opposite muscle groups. It was hard to work on
people, the best way to communicate is through movement.
the flexibility that ballet required. In junior high and high school, I
And from a young age, it was very easy for me to articulate how
said was going to quit ballet every year. In the end, I couldn’t stop.”
I was feeling through movement. It’s helped me become more
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@PEOPLE
Jammie’s unsure what will happen next. If he’s hired by a professional company, he could be dancing intensely as a professional for the next ten to fifteen years. Some professional dancers perform into their fifties and sixties, even into their seventies. Dancing can be rough on the body, so a lot of it depends on how the individual dancer holds up. Jammie’s been fortunate; he’s only had one significant injury. In the ninth grade, while landing a jump, he fractured his pelvis and couldn’t dance for two months. So far, it’s been his only setback. This semester, Jammie’s taking voice lessons. “If I can learn to carry a tune, it’s just one more thing you can put on your resume.” He smiles, and his eyes light up. “Like if I ever want to do Broadway.” introspective. So it’s a discovery process of different emotions,
Jammie’s done everything he needs to do, and a lot of the
as well as a recollection process. You have to remember different
results are out of his hands. “After this year, I’ll have bachelor’s
times in your life and communicate those to an audience.”
degree. If dance doesn’t work out, I’ll just go to law school. I’ve always been interested in law. But I’m so focused on dancing
Creativity like Jammie’s is hard to keep to yourself, and Jammie
right now, most other things just fall by the wayside.”
loves an audience, even a small one. “I do it for the stage, for the performance aspect of it. I want the audience to leave with
Still, Jammie remains hopeful and tries to stay grounded. He
a smile on their face, to think that it was a great show.”
gets so focused on school and dance that he forgets to notice the sky. He knows he needs to slow down and chill out. His
If you watch him dance, chances are you won’t just be smiling—
arms extend wide in one fluid movement, as if he’s trying to
you’ll be amazed. His strength is evident not only in his build, but
soak up all that life can offer. And then he offers this optimistic
also in his movements. As he leaps off the ground repeatedly,
prediction, one he seems certain he can fulfill. “I feel like there’s
it’s as if gravity doesn’t exist. His ability to make something so
no reason why I can’t love what I’m doing every day.” How could
physically demanding look so effortless gives new meaning to
success not come to someone who dances because it brings
the word graceful. “At a certain level, it has to be more than just
him joy? The answer is simple: it already has.
technique. You have to put your soul into it. You can be the best technical dancer in the world, but if there’s not passion behind it, I honestly don’t believe that’s what people want to see.”
34
“Of course we had a record player and I had four or five favorite records when I was six. It was Johnny Cash’s Live At Folsom Prison, Buffy Sainte-Marie, John Denver, Michael Jackson, The Moody Blues. It was this weird mix. “When I was real young there was something about it for me that was transcendent, you know, that I could connect to music for some reason.” The twenty-seven-year-old listens to everything from heavy metal to classical now. But her two latest CDs, Ephemera and Pendulum are a mix of indie folk and acoustic soul, with mostly acoustic guitars. It’s mellow music perfect for grabbing a glass of wine and sinking into a bubble bath. Her voice is rich and at times so smooth it’s haunting, although she’s never had a voice lesson in her life. She even croons an Arkansas twang in some songs. The music is very chill, but the imagery in the lyrics is vivid and not easily forgotten.
songs of home desirae souverville @story Tonya McCoy @image Marcus Coker
D
“I know there are different audiences for different things, but I’ve sort of settled into this singer/songwriter idea and that’s really the kind of music I love. It’s soulful, it means something, there’s a message, you can hear what’s going on in the music, and that’s what I gravitate toward.”
esirae Souverville picks up her acoustic guitar and weaves
In the song, “Summer of Change,” Desirae sings about something
a tale of life, love, and the search for home. The Fort Smith
that has a powerful meaning for her: the search for home. “Every
singer/songwriter has written more than 200 songs and she’s
city is every city, they’re all the same, overpacked and too busy
been in love with music her entire life.
for feeling/It’s the concrete jungle that steals my joy, I want to run for the hills, leave everything that’s tied to this sad, sad
“I can’t remember ever not singing. My first memory of music
story/Been looking for a place to call my home.”
was probably when I was four, and my favorite album was Tommy by The Who, and I could sing the entire thing.
36
Desirae, her four brothers and mom, Francoise, were a family of
@PEOPLE
wanderers. Desirae was born in Fayetteville. When she was two,
for The Next Step Day Room, a center in Fort Smith that helps
her mom moved the family to the Sacramento area and then
the homeless with employment, food, housing, and counseling.
moved around California and Washington state. “My heart goes out to those people because I lived that in my “Literally, we moved every two years, sometimes to the day.
younger years… I understand that it can be anybody, it doesn’t
We never stayed anywhere longer than that. You know, I don’t
mean that you’re lazy and don’t want to work. People come
know why we moved so much. I think it’s just her [Francoise’s]
across hard times and what they do down there [at Next Step]
gypsy blood.” She laughs affectionately when she talks about
is just amazing.”
her mom. The Next Step Day Room recently broke ground on a new shelter Desirae’s mom was also a performer - a belly dancer - but
specifically for veterans, and Desirae sang the National Anthem.
she gave that up when she had kids. She became a midwife,
She also recorded a song for the fundraising video.
continuing in that field while still working other jobs. Desirae is now working on another CD, and this time she plans “She worked her butt off. I remember her working two and three
to mix it up. There will still be indie folk, but she’s also singing
jobs just to keep us in a house.” Desirae says despite her own
rock, jazz, and honky tonk type songs. She plans to release it
hardships, her mother always helped others. “She’s the kind of
sometime next year around March.
person who’d give you the shirt off her back.” It will be quite a month; she’s also expecting her first child in March. While living in Seattle, Franciose became concerned about the
When the time comes, her mother, who now lives in the south of
growing drug problem in their community, so she decided to
France, will come home in time to deliver Desirae’s baby.
bring them back to Arkansas. Desirae sees it as proof of just how small the world is. Her There were other problems as well. Despite her best efforts,
husband, Aaron, was delivered by Desirae’s mom when she was
there had been times when money was so tight the family was
a midwife in Fort Smith.
forced to live in shelters for short periods of time. Until then, she’ll keep writing songs and singing. And maybe, “Looking back on it, it seems surreal… Looking back on some of
just maybe, she’ll have a lullaby or two ready when her newest
the things I went through, you know I was thirteen or fourteen,
fan arrives.
I’m like wow. How did we get through that?” Purchase Desirae’s music at desiraeecrater.com. Though Desirae wasn’t homeless long, she remembers those experiences. Recently she’s used her talent to raise awareness
@recipe & images Laura Hobbs
Well, here we are. During the dog days of Summer Scorcher 2011, I would have never imagined that there would come a day when I’d need my Snuggie again. Alas, the earth turns or the air pressure drops or the sun shrinks - whatever it is that makes the seasons change. (Meteorological wizard, I am not. Quit your snickering.) I can think of a handful of dishes that illustrate fall in a beautiful, definitive, culinary way: chicken pot pie, chili, braised chicken with carrots and potatoes. The flavors of these dishes are earthy and comforting, and the food has the intrinsic ability to warm us from the inside out. That’s what so great about cooking in the fall; making dishes that are hearty and cozy, perfect for keeping us toasty when the air has its first sips of chill.
Another dish that has autumn written all over it is risotto. With origins in Italy, risotto is a creamy dish that uses Arborio rice, a high-starch, short-grained rice from the beautiful Po Valley. Risotto flavors can be as simple as onion, garlic and butter, but it’s also the perfect canvas to carry more complex ingredients and flavors. In keeping with the fall theme, I chose additions that would perfectly represent autumn’s flavor palette: squash and mushrooms. It’s my experience that mushrooms tend to fall into the “love ‘em or hate ‘em” category. I feel that as a foodie, it’s my duty to force people to eat foods that would normally make them squirm by saying things like, “Will you get over it, already? Just try a little bite! Come on, mushrooms are delicious!” as I shove a forkful in their face. If they still refuse my offer, I slam the fork down in indignation and stomp away to find my next victim. What? That doesn’t work? OK, let’s try a different route, then.
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@TASTE
Mushrooms are not only good for you – they are nutritionally dense while being low calorie and low sodium - but they’re incredibly delicious. Mushrooms come in all shapes and sizes; for this dish, I used shiitakes, beech mushrooms and the ever-popular (and less-expensive) white button mushrooms, but it’s not required to mix and match. Use what you like! It’s your dish. The same rules apply to the squash. I happened
1/2 cups squash, cubed (1/2”) 1 3 1/2 cups mushrooms, coarsely chopped 3 1/2 cups chicken stock 1 small onion, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup Arborio rice 1/2 cup white wine 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus rind 2 Tbs. parsley, chopped 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped 4 Tbs. butter 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
to come across some beautiful delicata squash at the local farmers’ market, but any hard winter squash will do, like butternut or acorn. The trick with the squash is to get it nicely softened before adding it to the risotto; I found that steaming it in a little chicken stock before sautéing it was the way to go. The last thing I want to mention before I send you on your merry way? Just a friendly reminder about a little thing called patience. Cooking risotto is not a wham-bam-thank-youma’am affair. It takes love. It takes constant attention. It takes continual stirring. It takes Buddha-like patience. Heck, it even takes a little rice massaging. But the end results are worth it. Uncle Ben’s this is not; risotto is a creamy, velvety, buttery experience that is not to be passed up because you’d rather be parked on the couch watching Real Housewives. So get in
In a large saucepan, combine the cubed squash, 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and ½ cup of the chicken stock over medium heat. Cover and bring to a simmer, and allow the squash to steam until soft, about 8 minutes. Remove lid and allow the stock to evaporate, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and increase the heat to medium high, and sauté the vegetables until soft and just beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside. In a large pot, heat the chicken stock over low heat and keep covered at the back of the stove, with a soup ladle at the ready. In a large, shallow pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer. Add the Arborio rice and the parmesan rind, and cook until you can hear the rice crackling, about 2 minutes. Pour the white wine into the pan, and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly. Begin adding the heated chicken stock, one ladle at a time to the rice, stirring constantly. When the broth has completely soaked into the rice, add another ladle and keep stirring. Repeat this process until all of the stock is used and the risotto is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the grated parmesan cheese and the last tablespoon of butter, and cover for about 5 minutes.
the kitchen, roll up your sleeves, and celebrate the arrival of cooler temps outside.
After 5 minutes, remove the lid and stir the risotto. Add the cooked squash and mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, and fold gently to combine. Serve the risotto with the toasted walnuts and remaining chopped parsley.
@TASTE
1 oz Absolut Liqueur n o i s u F d e t a 1 1/2 oz X-R uice J y r r e b n a r 2 oz C k Frederic e Catherin @image e c ri P ff e J @recipe
Provided by Mojo’s Ivory House 479.434.5434
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A
lmost every night in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, on a country road littered with beer cans and fast food
wrappers, a strange light appears. What it is and where it’s from have been widely disputed for more than a century. Written reports of the light date back to the 1880s. Some claim it was born out of the misery and death of the Trail of Tears, which ran through the area. Others say it’s a signal from another dimension, and still others say it’s the spirit of a mountain man looking for his lost love. Whatever the origin, scientists and even the US Army have been unable to put the mystery to rest. What is known is its name, or actually its two names: locals either call it the Hornet Spook Light, after a nearby town that no longer exists, or the Joplin Spook Light because of its proximity to the Southwest Missouri city.
an ozark mountain mystery @story Whitney Ray @images Courtesy “Spooked” Documentary Team
There are stories of the light chasing animals, scaring children and even killing unnamed travelers who were making their way through the western edge of the Ozarks.
Though no
deaths have ever been officially linked to the phenomenon, its legend grows. Almost every night, dozens of cars park along a half mile stretch of the wide dirt road where the light is most commonly spotted. Searchers bring binoculars, video cameras, and anything that will help them get a closer look at the light. They watch the light, which might appear for three minutes and then disappear for half an hour. And in its absence they talk amongst themselves. “Some weird stories have been told that it’s a headless ghost carrying a lantern,” said Missouri resident Chase Barnard.
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Philip Freeman brought his rifle affixed with a powerful scope
The light seems miles away one moment and just beyond your
to get a closer look. He shares a story he heard, but could never
reach the next. Some walk or drive toward the light, but are
verify. “This elderly couple was traveling down the road and
never able to catch it. Others claim it floats right up to them, or
this light came through their pickup - they had a pickup with a
in a few rare cases shoots through their bodies.
camper on the back - it went all the way through and she had a heart attack.” He added his own similar tale. “Close to thirty
Brian Petty, a former news photographer and award-winning
years ago, we were driving around in a pickup with the kids in
documentary filmmaker, has heard them all. He coproduced and
the back and the thing kind of came at us and it split. It was two
directed “Spooked.” Brian spent several weekends videotaping
different colors when it split and everybody was all scared.”
the light, conducting experiments and talking to folks along the dirt
Philip told his story to documentary film students from the
road. He took on the project hoping to solve the mystery. “I love to
University of Arkansas who set out to solve the mystery. They
debunk things and I wanted to find a cause for it,” said Brian. The
came away with as many explanations for its existence as there
documentary filmmaker has a bachelor’s degree in geology and a
were members of their investigative team. On one outing the
master’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas. His
crew captured the light floating in and out of trees about a mile
education led him to explore the geography of the land as a source
down the road. In their film “Spooked” you can see the light swell
of the light. Brian thinks underground caverns full of water that
like a paper towel laid on a wet countertop. It pulses red and
is slightly acid and highly ionized could work like a car battery to
burns orange as it grows. In a matter of seconds the light turns
create the light. “Over time, water in the underground caves can
yellow and stretches as thin as a sheet of paper, barely visible to
build up an electric charge and shoot light sporadically through
onlookers. It disappears. Then moments later reappears. The
the limestone layers that make up the land along the Oklahoma-
light shimmers, never holding steady. Then it’s gone again. The
Missouri border,” Brian explained. But this answer alone doesn’t
road is pitch black and all you hear are gasps, crickets and the
satisfy him. Once he started investigating, he realized solving the
sound of rocks crunching beneath boots and sneakers.
riddle of the decades-old light was not going to be that easy. “This one still has some mystery in it for me.”
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As it does for most who’ve investigated it. During WWII, army
to his theory that the light is a naturally occurring curiosity
troops from Camp Crowder near Neosho, Missouri, were training
beaming from underground caverns filled with electrically
for combat communication. Their training taught them how to
charged water, but admits, it’s never been proven.
use light signals in war. In their off time, many of the troops made the short trip across the Oklahoma-Missouri border to get
Brian likes it that way. “The neat thing about this is it’s a true
a glimpse of the spook light. The mystery engulfed the troops
American living legend on the edge of the Ozarks and you can
and soon the Army Corps of Engineers was enlisted to take a
go there and sit on the road and giggle and laugh and be with
shot at explaining it. In 1946, the Corps ended its investigation
friends and somebody might get scared. It’s something you can
without an answer. It issued a report calling the phenomenon a
actually see and it occurs every night and it’s fascinating.”
“mysterious light of unknown origin.” What’s great about the spook light is it’s there. Unlike aliens In 1955, retired Army Captain Bob Loftin tried his hand at
or the legendary Mexican monster Chupacabra, the spook
solving the mystery. Loftin teamed with an investigator from
light makes itself available to all comers.
the Federal Bureau of Standards and explored the possibility
look is between ten and midnight. Just bring your binoculars
of a section of Route 66 as the source of the light. In Quapaw,
and your imagination.
The best time to
Oklahoma, about ten miles west of the dirt road where most of the sightings occur, a series of lights converge. There are traffic lights, railroad crossing lights, a red light atop the Quapaw city
Directions from Fayetteville to the spook light:
water tower, and headlights and taillights streaking east and
Take I-540 North for 60 miles. It will merge with Highway
west on Route 66. Loftin claimed all these lights seem to merge
71, don’t worry just keep going north in to Missouri.
when viewed from the spook light sighting grounds. He said
Once you enter Newton County, just before Neosho,
the effect was enhanced by humidity, giving the lights a ghostly
starting looking for the Iris Road exit. Go west on Iris
shimmer. Loftin’s findings were published in a booklet called
Road until it dead ends at a T. Turn left on Stateline
“The Tri-State Spook Light” and sold for a dollar a copy.
Road. You will be driving on the Oklahoma-Missouri boarder for a couple of miles till you see Ottawa County
The explanation has merit, but only if you ignore the eyewitness
Road E 50. Turn right. Drive about 500 feet until you
accounts and written reports published in newspapers and
reach the start of the first dip in the road. Pull safely to
books before Route 66 was completed in 1933. Loftin also fails
the side of the road, turn off you lights and prepared to
to explain how the lights from ten miles away could approach a
be spooked. But be respectful of the residents along the
car, an animal or a person. Brian has an explanation. He thinks
road and watch out, the sheriff’s office makes regular
there are two spook lights: Loftin’s light, which stays in the
stops along the road to make sure people aren’t causing
distance and disappears when cars aren’t racing up and down
any problems or are too freaked out to drive home.
Route 66, and a light yet to be explained. And he holds tight
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abor Day weekend my wife and I took a few days to explore a place we’ve never
been. Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area (HWCA) absolutely took our breath away (in more ways than one). While researching this area I asked many life-long Arkansans about this densely forested region. To my surprise most had never heard of it. I must admit I hadn’t either, until I discovered that one of the top national outdoor magazines had named Hurricane Creek’s twentyone mile point-to-point hike from Fairview Recreation Area to Haw Creek Falls Campground as one of the best fifty hikes in the country. Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area is just a short drive from Fort Smith and it is one of the most beautiful bits of geography Arkansas has to offer. Haw Creek Falls Campground is tucked away in a very rural part of the state, just northeast of Clarksville, about thirty miles up Highway 123. There are over 15,000 acres of jagged ridge tops and gorgeous emerald pools that lay hidden in the valleys.
It’s a densely covered forest
consisting mainly of oaks, hickories and short leaf pines. Dogwoods and redbuds streak the valleys and stream banks during the spring, with their brilliant blooms bursting forth just beneath the canopy of the trees.
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@story Todd Whetstine @images Wild Woods Photography
@DESTINATION
The trees are just one of the highlights. A natural stone bridge and thousands of building-sized boulders strewn about the streams are quite a sight to behold. A great way to view HCWA is hiking along the Ozark Highlands Trail, which cuts right through the heart of the wilderness area. The Ozark Highlands Trail is currently 165 miles long, stretching from Lake Fort Smith to the Buffalo River. Before long, as volunteers continue to make progress, this trail will cross into Missouri and continue on, all the way to St. Louis. This twenty-one mile hike along the Ozark Highlands Trail from Haw Creek Falls Campground to the Fairview Recreation Area is spectacular. A campsite is situated about midway down the trail. We spent two days camped along the Big Piney Creek and two days backpacking along Hurricane Creek. Our backpacks were loaded with bare necessities: tents and tarps, bags and beans. GPS, extra batteries, flashlights, and two sticks to rub together
We found several nice secluded places to pitch tents, have a
for making fire were all stowed away for easy access.
picnic, or swim along Road 5881. The scorching summer had dropped the water level at Big Piney. Still it was cool, clear,
As a dedicated nature photographer, it’s always been my goal to
and quiet, providing great opportunities to get reflection shots.
search for the remote magnificence that lies undisturbed high
I never strayed far from the camp. The boulders along the
on the ridges or deep in the valleys or along a clear running
way became platforms for my tripod. The road is sandwiched
stream. Remote beauty is what HCWA is all about.
between the creek and an overhanging bluff and doesn’t see but two or three cars a day. We love places like this, and our
We spent the first two nights along Big Piney Creek in the Fort
family has great memories camping in these remote area.
Douglas area, along County Road 5881. A few miles up the road we crossed a ford and quickly found a secluded spot just big
It turned out we needed the rest we got at Big Piney. Our next
enough for our two-man and one-dog tent. Within minutes our
adventure was backpacking up Hurricane Creek, which turned
tent was up, and our toes were in the water. We spent the first
out to be a difficult journey. We could have taken the nice and
two days there resting and relaxing along the creek. We only
scenic Ozark Highland Trail, but we didn’t. Instead, I decided a
saw two other hikers in two days.
shortcut up the creek would save a little time and allow us to
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If you enjoy peace and solitude you’ll love the HCWA. Even having never been there, we easily found several very nice little campsites along Big Piney right along Road 5881. There’s great fishing and swimming in the creeks. Great hiking and camping can be found along the trail. Wild game in the wilderness includes black bear, whitetail deer, turkey, and squirrels. With deer season just around the corner, anyone looking for a good place to hunt should look no farther. Just be sure to check regulations in the Arkansas Hunting Guidebook. Putting the crosshairs on a monster buck should be no problem in this neighborhood. Remember to always let someone know where you’re going and when you’ll be back. Now that the weather’s cooling down, it’s a great opportunity to get out and see the wonderful world of backwoods Arkansas. There’s nothing quite like a campfire, food cooked outdoors, see more cool stuff. Let me make this perfectly clear: Do not
and the sound of leaves crunching under your hiking boots as
backpack up the creek! Every step revealed one outstanding
you discover treasure after treasure in our wonderful state.
hidden gem after another but the rocks were moss-covered and slippery. In other areas, the creek had cut deep slots in
It will make you glad you live here and feel sorry for everyone
the canyon making the water too deep to carry the backpacks
else who doesn’t.
across. This unfortunately forced us out of the water on occasion causing us to bushwhack through heavy vegetation. By the time we got to our base camp two miles up the creek, Hurricane Creek had reduced the toughest woman I know to tears. It took over four hours to cover that two miles. But there was a reward waiting. Our camp was perched on top a bluff overlooking deep emerald pools. The memories we made and the things we got to see were worth every bug bite and slippery step we took. There is a natural stone bridge we didn’t get the chance to see on this trip. It sits beside the OHT about six miles up from the Big Piney trailhead.
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To get to HCWA take I-40 east to exit 55. Take Highway 123 at Hagarville. Fourteen miles from Hagarville you’ll come to Haw Creek Falls Campground. About two miles past the campground is a bridge that crosses Big Piney Creek. Road 5881 is just across the bridge. This road will take you into HCWA along Big Piney Creek.
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