Launch - September 2010 by Do South Magazine

AtUrbanMagazine.com volumeI / issueI

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Scott’s Bike Shop Poem Belle Starr Antiques NICU Family Room Ambient C-Section Sam Gray

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Catherine Frederick Marla Cantrell Catherine Frederick Dana Clunn Marla Cantrell JD Williams Cara Dorrell Carla Ramer Kat Hardin Jeromy Price Jihan Blue Read Chair Publishing, LLC McCormick Armstrong

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@LETTER FROM CATHERINE My eyelids grow heavy as I sit here proofing and preparing to send this first issue of @Urban off to the printer. I realized in the midst of all the proofing, creating and directing that I had not written “my page” - nothing like a good jolt of adrenaline to pull you out of your slumber. I won’t lie. I’ve purposefully put this off for weeks, wondering, “What the heck am I going to say?” and, “Will anyone even read this page?” Contemplating what to write, I thought back to when I moved here fifteen years ago and how I never thought I’d stay long- guess it’s true what they say, time does fly when you’re having fun. So, what can I tell you? I can tell you that our little corner of this grand universe hasn’t changed a lot in fifteen years – and I’ve come to like it that way. I like that a large bustling metropolis has not grown up around my neighborhood. I also like that I can travel to and enjoy a large bustling metropolis, if I so choose, and be back home, all in the same day. I can tell you why I love this area, the River Valley, my home. It’s where I got my first real job (thank you – you know who you are), where I met and married the love of my life (and was blessed with two of the best step-daughters I could ask for), where I bought my first house, and where I am proud to raise my adorable, lovable, laugh- a-minute little boy (who just so happens to start Kindergarten in two days). I can tell you my love for our region is why I’m bringing you this magazine. It’s my hope that each month, with each page you flip, with each word you read, you’ll discover a little more about something, someone, or someplace that exists right outside your own backyard. Perhaps you’ll even make some new discoveries of your own. I can tell you how thankful I am. Thankful for all of the warm wishes, the excitement, and the truly talented artists, photographers and writers without whom this magazine would not see the light of day. Thank you to all of those who granted us interviews- we are honored to tell your stories. And last, but certainly not least, thank you to my family who’ve allowed me to embark on this journey. I can tell you my eyelids are heavy once again. I’ve said enough for this month and so Urbanites, enjoy this first issue of @Urban, enjoy the last few days of summer, as the leaves begin to turn and fall begins to nip at our heels, and enjoy everything there is to love about this great region we all call home.

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scott’s bike shop blazing trails in business and outdoors story > J. D. Williams

cott Chapman is making the world a better place to live, one bicycle at a time.

Scott’s Bike Shop, which recently relocated 100 yards due east of the center where it originally began, now resides in the former Ozark Mountain Smoke House at 3716 S. 87th in Fort Smith. When the owners of the beloved restaurant decided to hang up their aprons for good, Scott took the opportunity to acquire the property and convert the building into his new retail space. Back in the day, you could walk in the door of the famous sandwich shop and feel as if you’d been transported back in time. Walk into that same building today and you’ll feel as if you’ve been teleported to modern-day Crested Butte, where mountain bikes first evolved as what the locals called klunkers back in the early 1980s. Scott, sole proprietor of Scott’s Bike Shop, has retained the rustic feel of the Ozark Mountain Smokehouse but today the rugged rafters no longer suspend whole smoked hams. In their place hang lean road racers and Top Fuel mountain bikes. The old cast-iron oven that produced thousands of cookies is still there - as is the menu mounted on the wall above the cash register. But where the soda machine once stood there are racks of bike accessories. And the buffet area is, well, still a buffet. But instead of serving up meat, cheese, and bread, Scott’s buffet serves up a wide variety of great bikes ready to roll out the door and change a customer’s life. Ask Scott what he likes best about owning Scott’s Bike Shop and he’ll tell you story after story of individuals and families whose lives have been changed when he helped them pick out exactly the right bike. And

@LIFESTYLE

his own bike the pressure melts away and he’s a little kid all over again. Scott is convinced that no small part of his shop’s success can be attributed to the fact that he still truly loves to ride bikes. Riding is his hobby, his passion, his therapy, and his business - all in one. Though he isn’t able to ride as much as he did before he opened the shop, Scott rides whenever he can and still enters both road and mountain bike races. He’ll readily admit he loves the adrenalin any bike race generates, but he credits the experience he gains in those races for up-to-date expert advice his customers have come to value so highly – which is one of the reasons Scott’s Bike Shop has gained such a loyal fan base in the area. it turns out that Fort Smith is fast becoming a hot spot for bicycle enthusiasts. Obvious to even the casual observer, bicycle sports are becoming an important part of the lifestyle enjoyed by many citizens of Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley. As you might expect, bikes have always been an important part of Scott’s life as well. He traces his earliest memory – one he remembers vividly - all the way back to age three when his neighbor taught him how to ride a bike. Besides routinely using his bike as transportation to and from work, one of Chapman’s first jobs came from another Fort Smith entrepreneur named Buster Brown, who owned Bicycles of Fort Smith. Scott spent so much time in the shop that Brown finally offered him a job. Today, Scott’s eyes light up when he describes that brief moment at the end of every day when he turns out the lights, looks back into his own bike shop, and thanks God that he gets to own a toy store where he makes his living doing something he loves. He’ll tell you that no matter how tough a day he’s had running his grown-up business, as soon as he climbs aboard

Scott has big plans for the future. He’s been accumulating vintage bicycles over the years and intends to someday display them museum style in his shop. He hopes his new building will become a rallying point for local bicycle enthusiasts – which is why he retained the outdoor courtyard area downstairs. And because he’s already using all the available space in his shop, he has plans for expansion – someday. But recently Scott had to admit there was something important missing from his shop. So if you stop by for a visit these days you’ll be warmly greeted by Scott’s newest employee - a friendly little Boston Terrier pup named, of all things, Maximus. Scott brings Max to the shop every morning and lets him nap behind the counter whenever the stress of overseeing customer hospitality gets the best of him. And now that Max is in charge, Scott says the shop is running smoother than ever.

@LIFESTYLE

Galveston Island lines > Carla Ramer From the book

Beneath the Black Water

by Carla Ramer

we walked along the jetty our way illu minated by strings of lightbulbs hu ng on wooden railings with our boxes of cut fish pieces a nd baskets made of wire we would climb u nder the railing a nd aim our flashlight with its dull yellow bea m down the rock escarpment where the cra bs would not be suspicious of us the rocks were rou nd a nd gritty a nd made our descent treacherous a nd comical when we reached the edge of the water we doused ourselves with mosquito repellent a nd u nveiled the once-icy longnecks so skillfully stolen from his dad’s cooler holding the flashlight for each other we tied bait to the bottom of the baskets lowering the m into the black brine idle chitchat drifted down to us from the bait shack a nd Merle Haggard’s voice ca me to us from someone’s tinny radio a nd light shed from the railings did not reach us as we sat in ocea n blackness a nd dra nk warm beer a nd listened to the night waves roll in

belle starr antiques a passion for americana story > Marla Cantrell

t ten, Beth Randall was already enamored with the past, hoarding Beatles memorabilia, like The White Album, which was released fifteen years before she was born. When she wasn’t working on her own collection, she was helping her mother plan their next trip to the Deep South. It was there she grew to love antique stores, Southern food, and the history, thick as kudzu, that twined around every statue, courthouse and antebellum home in their path. “Those were some of the best times of my life,” Beth said. If you saw her then, it would have seemed logical that this girl from Cabot would end up owning a place like Belle Starr Antiques in downtown Fort Smith. But that was before she turned fourteen and began her modeling career. Car trips to antebellum houses with names like Rosalie and Longwood were replaced by flights to Italy. At seventeen, Beth was living in New York, already bonetired of runway modeling and the push to grow thinner and thinner. “It became a dark industry for me,” Beth said. So she came home and enrolled at the University of Central Arkansas. She’d struggled through her earlier years in school, finding her footing only after leaving the structure of the classroom. “I was extremely dyslexic,” Beth said. “I graduated high school by correspondence – a year early - and that’s when I finally realized how to deal with the dyslexia, how to see things in my mind the right way. And I was fine in college. I made the dean’s list, and ended up with a 3.8 GPA.” Something else happened at UCA that had nothing to do with her studies. She met Brad Randall. “We ran around together,” Beth said. “We were really good friends. But we lost touch when I moved to Little Rock.”

@LIFESTYLE

When she ran into Brad again, he took a closer look at her. And she looked back. He asked her to marry him, and she said yes, and the two settled into life in Fort Smith. “Our life is so wonderful. It’s such a treasure. It takes a special man to handle my kind of zest. I have so much energy. I don’t really sleep much. He calms me down and takes the reins sometimes and I’ll follow him.”

be ready when customers flooded in. Tears started as Beth described the time and care it took to do such a thing. “I had such strong women to follow. My other grandmother – on my father’s side - was so poised and well-spoken. I have a vivid memory of us having a tea party at her house in Texas, and her letting me pick out my cup. I have them all still. Looking at them is like getting a hug from her still.”

In fact, it was Brad who encouraged Beth to take the chance on Belle Starr Antiques. “We were out driving one day and I was wondering where I’d be in ten years. I wanted to be in a place where I could take part in the community, and I wanted that feeling of helping in some way, no matter how big or small.”

Beth identifies with those tethered to the past. She understands what drives them; she knows what keeps them in the hunt. “I am amazed at the great people here. My mom and I used to travel to find places like this, and now I get to live in a place I’d pay money to visit.”

Beth, who is the product of a long line of strong-willed women, was looking for a recognizable historical figure to name her shop after. Brad recommended Belle Starr, the “Bandit Queen” who once lived in the Indian Territory, had ties to Jesse James, and who was sent to prison for horse theft by Fort Smith’s own U.S. District Judge Isaac Parker. Today, Beth is working at Belle Starr Antiques, which is a block behind The Hamburger Barn at 21 North 4th Street. The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. She has already rented most of the space. When the shop phone rings, she thinks of her grandparents. “My rotary dial telephone was used in my Papaw’s grocery store, Templeton’s IGA, in Cabot. I saw it in the back room and I said, ‘Oh, Memaw, I have to steal that for my shop!’” Recently, her memaw sent her a box of two-hundred recycled shopping bags folded into perfect squares, so Beth would

On the sound system, Frank Sinatra sang In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning as softly as fog on the mountaintop. “Listen,” Beth said, and for a second everything stopped. “Don’t you absolutely love that? This is such a great life. Who gets to do exactly what they want at just twenty-seven?” she asked. “Who gets a family like I have, and a husband who now spends our date nights at auctions with me?” “I wish I could tell you how lucky I feel,” she said, frustrated as what she sees as her failed attempt, not knowing that she’s gotten it exactly right.

ronald and mercy team up for babies new family room opens this fall story > Laura Keep images > St. Edward Mercy

elody Howe knew her life was about to change. After all, the mom-to-be from Ozark was expecting triplets! What she didn’t know was that they would be born at twentynine weeks, weighing less than three pounds each and needing machines to help them breathe. Autumn, Brylee and Callie were fighters from day one, but it would take nearly three months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at St. Edward Mercy before they were all ready to go home. During that time, the Howes made the hour-and-a-half drive from their home outside Ozark to Fort Smith more times

than they care to count. Many times they would stay with the girls in the NICU until midnight, drive home to catch a few hours of sleep, then head back to the hospital by six the next morning. “It was really hard to leave them and I was up all night worrying about them,” said Melody, “It would have been a tremendous blessing to have a place to stay nearby.” Soon parents of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit will be blessed. The Ronald McDonald Family Room at St. Edward Mercy is set to open this fall. The room will give moms and dads a place to go during the day to eat, take a nap, shower, do laundry and use the internet. For parents who live more than thirty miles away, there are four overnight sleeping rooms available. The Family Room will be located inside the medical center, just one floor above the NICU, giving parents the comfort of being just a heartbeat away from their infants. “The parents have to be able to bond with their babies,” said Dr. Victor Coloso, neonatal intensivist, “we have to maintain the unity of the family. This room will allow us to do that.”

@LIFESTYLE

The Family Room at St. Edward Mercy will be the first in the state of Arkansas.There are only eighty in the U.S., with just six set to open in 2010. Getting approval for the new room took about eighteen months. “Bringing the Ronald McDonald House Charities to Fort Smith has been a major goal over the past few years and we are very excited to see it come to life,” said Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkoma Board Member Michael Hadley,“We feel fortunate to be able to provide a place of refuge with the comforts of home to families with sick children.” The charity will spend about $150,000 renovating the space. Once complete, it won’t feel like part of a hospital at all. “My concept for the Family Room design is the healing powers of nature,” said Joshua Jones, interior designer, “Scientific research has found that viewing and experiencing nature, or even artwork portraying natural environments, significantly improves one’s health including boosting mood and behavior and lowering stress levels.The design of the living space will not just include nature portraits, but will also incorporate the use of organic textures like stone and wood, healthy green-friendly, low VOC materials, and the soothing sounds of running water.” The Family Room will be staffed by one full-time manager and four part-time associates. In addition, they will be looking for volunteers to work in the room as well as donations for the food pantry. Food items should be ones that are easy to prepare- single serving, microwaveable, grab and go type foods. Home cooked meals will also be provided through meal group volunteers. “We look at this as a real opportunity for the community to work together to take care of families in crisis, which will in turn improve the health and well-being of their child,” said RMHC Executive Director Stephanie Medford, “Although McDonald’s is the largest corporate donor to

Ronald McDonald House Charities, no one company can solely fund our programs and the projected growth of those programs. We need the support of the entire community and greatly value any investment, whether it’s through cash donations, your time as a volunteer or fundraising efforts.” There are certainly lots of families to help. Each year, more than 1000 babies are admitted to the level three NICU at St. Edward Mercy. Many of them will be there as long as sixty-to-ninety days with their family by their side waiting for the precious newborns to grow and mature. “As a medical center, we are always striving to find ways to make not only our patients but their families more comfortable,” said Jeff Johnston, CEO of St. Edward Mercy, “The Ronald McDonald Family Room will allow us to bring a little bit of peace to families in an extremely stressful situation.” Melody Howe knows from experience that anything to ease these parents’ stress will be welcome, “I certainly hope I’m never in that position again, but I’m grateful other families that are will have a place to go.” And at least for a little while, a place like home. If you are interested in starting a meal group, donating wish list items or just helping out at the Ronald McDonald Family Room, please contact Julie@rmhcofarkoma.org.

@LIFESTYLE

ambient c-section calming the fears of moms-to-be story > Marla Cantrell

r. Timothy Bell calls Tammy Schaefer his scrub extraordinaire, in great part because she changed the way planned Cesarean sections are performed at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith. “I’d look at our patients and wonder, what she’s thinking,” Tammy said. “I’ve had two C-sections. I know what it’s like to put myself in those shoes. It’s one of the few surgeries where you’re wide awake.”

So, in November, 2008, after an extremely hectic day, Tammy turned on a radio while setting up for the next surgery. Another employee brought in a battery-powered Halloween candle and set it on the bed. They turned the glaring lights low. “We felt so much better, just in that little bit of time. It got me thinking.” Over the next several months, a system, coined ambient C-section by Tammy, evolved. Now, the mothers-to-be are allowed to walk into the dimly lit surgery foyer with their partners, instead of being wheeled in. They’re given choices, like whether they want music to be played in the O.R. They’re asked if they want aromatherapy used in the minutes before entering the surgical suite. “Orange Dreamsicle is our most popular scent; vanilla is the least favorite,” Tammy said. Once inside the O.R., the patient is helped onto the surgical bed where a vacuum-like hose pumps warm air onto the cold surface. The lights are still low; the battery-powered candles are flickering. The woman’s partner is allowed inside before she has a spinal tap, which is also a new development. “Sometimes we have to stand between the dad and mom because it’s hard for the dad to watch,” Tammy said. “But

it’s still so important that they’re there. After that we kind of have to go a little aggressively after the patient, to get them ready for surgery. I heard women say they picked a spot on the ceiling and just stared at it, to try to get through all that. I thought to myself, we could do better. So now we have artwork on the ceiling for them to focus on.” The music is also a stress reliever. “We get country music requests the most,”Tammy said. “But one patient wanted AC/DC, so we just rocked along with her.” During the process, the lights are gradually being turned up, so that the patient is acclimated to it by the time the C-section begins. The woman’s partner holds her hand while the baby is being delivered. None of what is being done is rocket science, and it can only be done for planned Caesareans. Emergency situations are just that – nobody’s thinking about aromatherapy. But it took a thoughtful surgical technician who had lived through two C-sections to change the way an entire staff operates. Dr. Bell believes it has immeasurable benefits. “If you could compare a regular C-section and take the mother’s pulse rate and the baby’s pulse rate, a very simple test, and then look at what goes on here, I’d bet you’d find both pulse rates would be lower. It’s too bad we can’t do that, because there are too many variables. But I do know my patients speak very highly of their experience. And it’s all because of Tammy.”

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sam gray fayetteville underground story > Marla Cantrell images > Sam Gray

hree. That’s how old Fayetteville artist Sam Gray was when his prodigious talent was discovered. “As I was leaving Sunday school,” Sam said, “my teacher handed my mom a drawing I did of our family, and it had little squiggly hairs going out, and arms and everything, and she told my mom she saw something in me.”

@LIFESTYLE

Genetics may have played a role. His mother was a photographer, and Sam’s father had an art studio at their Little Rock home. “My father used to do pastels and abstracts. I’d get drawn up to the attic when he’d be working and I’d be fascinated by it and try to join in. It was just a hobby, and in time he got busy with his own work and I just filled in that gap.” At twenty-two, the gap has been more than filled. Sam, who has a studio at the Fayetteville Underground at One East Square Plaza, feels fortunate to have found the non-profit cooperative where fifteen studios are available for a nominal fee. Artists, who are selected through a juried process, host their own shows once a year, work in the galleries and gift shop, and learn the business end of a very creative endeavor. The shows change monthly, and on the first Thursday of each month, the Fayetteville Underground opens its doors for a special showing from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Fayetteville Underground was created to help emerging artists, and make art more accessible to the public. It’s grown so popular, the gallery is now bringing in exhibits from as far away as Paris. But it’s the work of the local emerging artists that continues to draw crowds. They can be bought for a comparatively small price, and many of the pieces will continue to gain value as the artists become better known. The inspiration for Sam’s latest works came from a mission trip to an orphanage, arranged through All Nations Mozambique. “That’s Marcelino,” Sam said, pointing to a rendering of a heartbreakingly beautiful child. “He was abandoned, very malnourished when they found him. He’s six, but he looks three. His frame is so small. In him, I saw a

sense of helplessness. It’s named Look Up to Me and he has a dried-up tear, which for me means a sign of hope. He’s been taken in, fed, and loved. You look in his eyes, and even if you don’t know him, you know him.” Sam feels honored to be able to do the work he does, and to share the images with an audience. He is so grateful, so untouched by the torment many other artists feel. “It’s good to be young,” Sam said, as if that explained his attitude. “Honestly, just being able to have hands to work with is a blessing, and I realize that. I don’t get bogged down in what others call angst.” Last year, Sam walked into Boswell and Mourot Fine Art Gallery in Little Rock, and talked to the owner. “I wasn’t really expecting anything, but I did have a website up, just in

@LIFESTYLE case.” A few months later he was showing his art at the gallery, and shortly after he made his first sale. He realizes he’s been extremely fortunate, “Not everybody gets that chance, despite how much talent they have.” Now in Fayetteville, he’s finding his footing as an emerging artist with a growing following. “Even the negative things people say teaches you a lot. It wouldn’t be good if you didn’t have the negativity. You need the whole circle because if you were always praised you wouldn’t learn as much. It’s a risk. You’re exposing yourself through your work. But there is that moment when you’re watching people look at your work, and they point to it and draw in closer. That’s an amazing moment. That’s when you know you’re touching them.” Sam believes the ability to be vulnerable is the key to art, and to life. “It keeps people real. There’s a lot of things in today’s society that distract us. You don’t see the real side of people that much. You can almost live a virtual existence. Thirty or forty years ago, it was a different place. Everything’s so quick. Everybody wants to feel satisfied right away. And have everything now. Art makes you slow down.” He has many wise observations for someone so young. But he doesn’t think he’s all that unique. “I’m a pretty simple guy,” Sam said, and rubbed his chin. He stopped, and then tugged on the hem of his khaki shorts. “Okay,” he finally admitted. “My work can be a little deep. I can be very direct, and then have a few hidden things you have to look hard to find. The truth is, it’s all pretty complex.” He is still so new, so joyful, that the very act of living excites him. “Just being able to see,” Sam said. “Think how crazy it all is. And to be able to create art, how great that is,” he added, shaking his head. “It’s a lot to take in.”

singer / songwriter story > Marla Cantrell

n Ingrid Michaelson’s latest album, Everybody, apple trees get angry, the wind talks back, and the thing she wants most from a lover is to promise not to promise anymore. The Staten Island singer/songwriter talked about the images she creates while standing outside her tour bus in Boston, just hours before taking the stage with the U.K. trio Keane. “I don’t really know what anybody else’s experience in life is,” Michaelson said. “I don’t write about anything that hasn’t been written about before. I feel like if that’s what I’m doing, I have a responsibility to make it a little bit different and somewhat interesting.”

Michaelson’s tale of finding staggering success using little else except a MySpace page and word-of-mouth is one of the great stories in the music industry. It’s repeated like The Little Engine That Could to those hoping to be discovered. “With my first album I was just figuring things out and I really didn’t know my ass from my elbow. I think there’s a charm in that. On Everybody, it’s much more complex. I wanted more of a fleshed-out sound. I knew what I wanted, and what instruments I wanted.” It was her second album, Girls and Boys, released in 2006, that first drew national attention. Two things happened after that: one of her songs was picked up by a wildly popular ABC show, and Old Navy used The Way I Am in a sweater commercial. “When Grey’s Anatomy first came out my mother told me she thought my songs should be on the show. I hadn’t even heard of the show, so I watched it and I was like, ‘You’re so right.’ I pretty much had no fans, really, except for my mom. One day I got found by a licensing company on MySpace and they said they worked with independent artists getting TV placements. And they said they had a good relationship with Grey’s Anatomy and I said, ‘Oh my God, yes, let’s work together!’ Within a couple of months I’d gotten my first placement on that show. Since then, they’ve used eleven of my songs.”

@ENTERTAINMENT

Michaelson is a master at crafting deceptively innocent lyrics. And it’s worked. She’s sold 500,000 albums and over 2.3 million singles. But while you’re singing along with her sweetest songs, clapping at all the right places, she’s using her sleight of hand to make you stop and think. Like the title song in Everybody. Listen closely. Listen to the line: Happy is the heart that still feels pain. “I try to kind of sneak in the sad lyrics in a happy snappy melody, so it’s like taking your medicine - like Flintstone vitamins - so it still tastes good and it tricks you.” Michaelson also has the ability to take her own emotional temperature, dissect the components that caused the rise or fall of the numbers on the thermometer, and translate it into music. And while she can be incredibly vulnerable when she sings, she is still a realist. “I’m not the kind of woman who’s going to tie on an apron and bathe my husband’s feet. Certainly not,” Michaelson said. “But I think I would do that if somebody did that for me back.That’s what the song (The Way I Am) is about, loving someone and caring for them and having them love and care for you back.” Some of her greatest work comes from the vain attempts of trying to translate that complex emotion. “So many times when you love somebody, and you tell them that you love them hundreds of times, you wish you could think of a new way to say it. It’s almost like a frustrating problem when you love somebody that much.”

Sometimes drama kind of masks itself as love. Love is one thing. And then there’s the emotional mess that often mimics it. “It’s easy, for me anyway, to kind of jump into

love and lose yourself in the excitement and the drama of love,” Michaelson said. “I’ve been involved in lots of drama in my life and sometimes drama kind of masks itself as love. You think it’s love but it’s just something feeding your ego, or something exciting. Real, true love is a different matter for sure.” On stage, she’s one of the brightest and best. She’s on fire and the crowds respond. Michaelson uses all her training in theater – she planned to be on Broadway one day – to connect with the crowd. But the Michaelson on stage is not the real Michaelson. “People think I’m kind of a partier person, but I’m not at all. I like to get in my pyjamas, eat some cereal and watch a movie. I don’t like drinking; I don’t like going out. I don’t like being in large crowds. I’m a homebody. I like to make people laugh, and I like having fun on stage. So people are like, ‘I want to be your best friend. Come out with us and drink.’” It’s not like she has a lot of time to party. She tours ten months out of the year, oversees her own record label, Cabin 24 Records, and is always working on the next big song. But she does find enough time for romance, although she stopped short of sharing any details. “It’s a good one,” Michaelson said. “We’ve been around for some time now.” At thirty, things are pretty good for the girl, who, just a few years ago, was tied in knots the night before her debut on Grey’s Anatomy. Today, she sells out auditoriums in the world’s biggest cities, and causes a buzz wherever she goes. It’s a hectic life, one that’s filled to the brim and overflowing. And Michaelson, who understands the incredible gift she’s been given, wouldn’t have it any other way.

shannon wurst what’s more honest than a song story > Marla Cantrell

ed clay roads rise up in Shannon Wurst’s melodies, brackish rivers rumble by, and Wurst lassos it all, piecing it together with the power of an Arkansas thunderstorm in April. Her latest album, What’s More Honest Than a Song?, features ten of the Fayetteville artist’s own songs. “When you play your own work,” Shannon said, “it’s much more vulnerable. People see into you, or assume the song is about you. It can be intimidating, but at the same time it can be really therapeutic.” Shannon, still in her twenties, first picked up a guitar at eight years old, but soon abandoned the idea of playing. At sixteen, she picked it up again, influenced by singers like Alison Krauss and Jewel. But it was the impact of two very important men in her life that set her on the right path. “My step-dad, Ed Carr, played bluegrass. I hated bluegrass when I was young. I came from this southern rock father, Ronnie Wurst, and here was my step-father playing hill music. I played with them both. I learned from them both. But there’s a point in your life when you hear something and it makes you want to cry, and you just absolutely fall for it. That’s what happened to me and bluegrass.” Still, Shannon did not see a way to make a living at music. She took a safer path, graduating from Alma High School, then setting off for the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, intent on a career in interior design. On summer breaks, she worked as a river rafting guide in Colorado, living in a tent all summer, braving the rapids, and forming close friendships with the other guides. When she graduated, the thought of a lifetime behind a desk disheartened her. She decided it was time to take a chance. “I had a friend who spent summers rafting, and winters working as a dog musher. I called up dog companies until I convinced one of them to hire me. There I was, a girl from Arkansas who had never lived in the cold, living in Vermont. I found myself caring for forty dogs. I

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was slicing frozen, raw meat on a band saw at seven in the morning. Breaking up dog fights. We did night sled rides, so I had to wear a head lamp. It was a magical winter.” There was something about taking chances that Shannon liked. “I’m certainly fearful of lots of things I do,” Shannon said. “But I told myself a long time ago I had to try things. In my mid-twenties, I decided that I can do anything, if I work really, really hard. ” Her “anything” was music. She wanted to make a living at it, and finally felt confident enough to try. “Eventually, I decided to move to North Carolina because many of the songs I sing are deeply rooted in Appalachian culture. Their music culture is very well respected. It’s taught in the school system there. I love that. Every generation gets to share in that. We have the same thing here in Arkansas, but we don’t celebrate it as much. So I came back home. I wanted to cross the generations. I wanted to reach out.” For a while, she was a member of 3 Penny Acre, but her solo career began to take flight, and she had to make the decision between the two. “It’s interesting to carve your own path, to realize it’s not going to look like anybody else’s. I think to fulfill your dreams, you have to wake up and work on them, not just keep on dreaming.” She’s won several awards, including the Northwest Arkansas Female Singer/Songwriter of 2010. Her latest album, What’s More Honest Than a Song?, which was released in March, hit the number three spot on the Arkansas Music Chart. Shannon has played before thousands at festivals across the country but prefers a smaller audience, where she can see everyone in

the room. “I want people to feel at home, to listen to these songs, to this music they might not ordinarily hear, and I want them to feel uplifted by it. It’s not mainstream music; it’s not American Idol. It’s easy to fall into that mentality of thinking if you don’t go that mainstream route, you’re not really very good. But there are phenomenal musicians everywhere, singing other forms of music, taking it to audiences that might not otherwise hear it.” With that explanation, Shannon picked up her guitar, leaned forward, and for a moment her dark hair covered her face. She started singing about twenty-nine dollar motel rooms, cheap coffee, and the land lying west of the Mississippi. The years she spent listening to Alison Krauss and Jewel worked their magic – you could hear their influence – but her voice is uniquely her own. After a while you could feel the hard times, hear her old car rattling down the road, begging for the relief of the next exit. Shannon smiled, her dimples deep enough to lose a dime in. She tapped one high-heeled shoe to the beat, then closed her eyes. Her voice continued to rise, the audience started clapping, and nobody within hearing distance wanted any of it to end.

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Fella, The Secret Garden, Nine, Damn Yankees, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sweeney Todd.

a season of entertainment uafs performing arts story > Marla Cantrell

or thirty years, Stacey Jones, the associate vice chancellor for the campus and community events at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, has been bringing some of the nation’s best shows to the area. He calls the upcoming 2010-11 season one of the most exciting ever. Scheduled to perform at the Arkansas Best Corporation Performing Arts Center at the Fort Smith Convention Center are: > > > >

The Three Phantoms in Concert: September 29 Fiddler on the Roof: November 2 Cirque Dreams Illuminated: January 21 A Chorus Line: March 1

The season’s opener, The Three Phantoms in Concert, brings together three stars who have played the lead in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Phantom of the Opera. The trio will sing songs from that show, as well as Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Guys and Dolls, Company, Kiss Me Kate, Most Happy

Fiddler on the Roof is a show Stacey tried to book last year; however, the cast wouldn’t perform single-night shows. That has since changed. “I love Fiddler,” Stacey said. “Sunrise, Sunset, If I Were a Rich Man. All such great songs.” Cirque Dreams Illuminated features twenty-seven worldclass artists who combine theater with acrobatics. The show has been called jaw-dropping. “We were careful to choose a Cirque show that was very family friendly,” Stacey said. A Chorus Line wraps up the season in March. It’s a revival of the original show, which won both the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Awards. “The show deals with the hardships of making it in the theater, something I think is relevant for the students, and a great show for the community.” Stacey said his job doesn’t feel like work. He’s met icons like Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Allen, and Garrison Keillor. He’s also passing on a gift he was given while attending Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. “I didn’t have much money, and I attended everything that was free. It was an eyeopener. Students here get the same opportunity. Theater can really open up the world to a young person, really expand their horizons.” Season tickets, which include passes to student performances throughout the school year, are $145. Individual tickets are also available through the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Box Office at 479.788.7300.

Don’t miss this show!

Three Phantoms In Concert Three Phantoms In Concert

Three Phantoms In Concert highlights the individual talents of three artists who have all portrayed the Phantom, featuring solo numbers from the shows that made them stars. Featuring songs from Les Misérables, Miss Saigon and The Phantom Of The Opera, the program also includes numbers from Guys and Dolls, Company, Kiss Me Kate, Most Happy Fella, The Secret Garden, Nine, Damn Yankees, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sweeney Todd and many more.

Sept. 29 • 7:30 p.m. Arkansas Best Performing Arts Center (Fort Smith Convention Center)

This show is brought to you by the UA Fort Smith Season of Entertainment and is sponsored by the Arkansas Best Corporation.

To purchase tickets please contact the UA Fort Smith Box Office.

(479) 788-7300 or uafortsmith.edu/Season

30th Season of Entertainment

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three dog night story > Marla Cantrell

he rock band that made Mama Told Me Not to Come famous wants you to ignore that advice on September 18. That’s when Three Dog Night is performing at the Van Buren Fine Arts Center, and they’re hoping for a full house. Many of the band’s hits were recorded in the 1970s, when they had twenty-one consecutive Top 40 hits, twelve consecutive gold records, and sold 50 million albums. Four original band members including frontmen Danny Hutton and Cory Wells, keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon, and guitarist Michael Allsup will be performing in Van Buren. Paul Kingery, bassist and vocals, and drummer Pat Bautz complete the lineup. Three Dog Night’s mega-hits, including Joy to the World, Old Fashioned Love Song, and Never Been to Spain are now part of the American musical lexicon. But the group isn’t stuck in the past. They’ve recently released two new songs, Prayer of the Children and Heart of Blue, and will soon unveil a new album. “Today’s recording is light years from how we did it back in the ‘70’s” Wells said. “Just the technical end is awesome and extremely portable; we recorded in motels and hotels on the road and in our homes.” Tickets for the 8:00 p.m. performance on September 18 are $36. For more information, you can call log on to www.centerforfinearts.org or call 479.471.4017.

ategories. Labels. Names. They make us feel as if we’ve got a handle on things - and people. Particularly people. In this increasingly complicated world it helps us keep our sanity if we can hang a tidy label on the people in our lives. Of course, some folks are easier to categorize than others.

But there are those rare people in the world who are - how shall we put it - category teflon. The simple nouns and adjectives we use for everyone else we know just don’t stick to them. The ink that tattoos our label of choice on others might as well be preschool no-stain finger-paint. For example...

“Joe Smith is a carpenter.”

“Bill’s a total jerk.”

“J.P. is a doctor at the ER. And a pilot. And he’s an award winning professional photographer and writer. Did I mention he was a missionary for a while? And he’s one of the best white-water canoe paddlers you’ll ever meet.”

See what I mean?

Well which is it?

“Suzanne is my sister.”

j.p. bell 28

visual storyteller story > J.D. Williams images > J.P. Bell

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And therein lays the conundrum of attempting to categorize J.P. Bell. But let’s be honest with ourselves. We’re going to do all we can to make a label stick - even to a guy like J.P. – so let’s get on with it, shall we? J.P. is a soft spoken native son of Arkansas, a devoted husband, proud father of two, and a life-long resident of the area. So far, so good, right? But J.P. didn’t always live in Arkansas. It turns out that just after he finished second grade, his father, a carpenter, immigrated to Northern California looking for work. When the family joined J.P.’s dad, the train ride that pulled them from the Ozarks to the Sierras started a romance with the rails that J.P. never outgrew. To this day his favorite photographic subject is a Sante Fe steam train crossing the landscape of the American West. He grew up just north of San Francisco exploring the outdoor wonders of the Sierras with a great friend whose dad happened the president of the Sierra Club. J.P.’s outdoor adventures amid the Redwoods of Northern California created a bond with nature that endures to this day. But when J.P.’s mom and dad ended their marriage just before he started his senior year of high school, the Sante Fe once again pulled J.P.’s family into the next phase of their life when they returned to Fort Smith. Having finished high school in Fort Smith, J.P. received a Dixie Cup Corporation college scholarship, one of only ten granted nationwide that year, which was more than enough to cover the cost of attending

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the University of Arkansas. Among his many wilderness expeditions, he spent an entire college summer living out of a tent along the shores of Lake Norfolk near Mountain Home, Arkansas, patrolling the waters in a canoe and doing research on the various animals of that ecosystem. Even today, ask any local paddler to name the River Valley’s best whitewater canoe paddler and the answer will likely be J.P. Bell. And although he was content with the solitary work of a field biologist and the outdoor lifestyle associated with it, J.P. soon found other college friends and a home-away-from-home at the Baptist Student Union on the university campus. His experience there clearly changed him, his faith, and his focus. Those changes helped him see the value of helping others and of sharing his faith in Christ as a natural part the process. When he later discovered that his grades made him fully qualified to apply for medical school, J.P. began his medical career. That led J.P. to Montana, practicing medicine as a resident of the Blackfoot Indian reservation near the majestic beauty of Glacier National. He’ll gladly tell you stories of weathered Blackfoot Indian women who routinely walked into his clinic, gave birth, and strolled casually out the door an hour later so they could get back to their family in time to prepare the evening meal, finish their chores, and introduce their new papoose to the rest of the tribe. He’ll also tell you about the time he delivered the baby of one of those Blackfoot Indian women only to discover later that the mother had named her new daughter “Placenta” because it was the first word she heard after the delivery and thought it had a beautiful sound. (Yes, really.) Even today J.P.’s landscape photo art prints certainly bear the brushstrokes of that mountain state’s natural wonders. And several years back he acquired a small cabin not far from the Blackfoot reservation.

Dr. Bell also spent three months in the interior of Yemen as a medical missionary and budding photographer? And the next time you’re at your favorite bookstore you’ll likely find James P. Bell’s book called Steam Trains: A Modern View of Yesterday’s Railroads published by Voyageur Press. Which brings us back to the train ride J.P. experienced as a young boy crossing the great American West to join his father in California. That journey created a passion for trains that has driven J.P. to take thousands of photos of his favorite subject - the nation’s surviving steam trains. Recently, the Reeder Railroad based in Hot Springs, Arkansas, invited J.P. to photograph their classic steam locomotive on the set of the upcoming remake of the western movie classic True Grit, due out around Christmas. It is clear that J.P. has passion for capturing images on film that flash-freeze a moment of history, and, in that moment, arrests the all-too-swift passage of time and stops us in our tracks – just long enough to hear a story told through a single-lens reflex. And the most common subjects of his photos reveal J.P.’s yearning for what was once a greater, wilder America. What emerges on the other end of J.P.’s darkroom sink is quite often a plea to his fellow modern Americans to remember what made us great. If ever there was a man difficult to label and limit, it’s J.P. Bell. But looking through his more artistic works one first discovers a label that just might stick to the man - “storyteller.” And because J.P. has actually managed to live the kind of adventurous life so many of us only talk about, he has lots of interesting stories to tell. He often weaves two common threads of complimentary colors into his narratives, the way Native American weavers often create their art with signature patterns. J.P.’s signature themes are always a profound hope in Jesus Christ and mourning for the lost greatness of America.

t’s not what you’d expect from back-to-back rejections, but this is what aspiring singer-songwriter Becky Reeves said getting turned down by American Idol – once in Nashville and then in New Orleans – did for her. “It made me more confident. If somebody would have told me I’d go and get passed over twice I probably would have thought, Oh no. Don’t go. It’s going to make you more insecure. But it did just the opposite.” It took a lot for Becky to try at all. For most of her life she felt her music was a personal, private thing, something she did alone in her room, or in front of friends and family. But there was one exception—church. Her mother, confident of Becky’s talent, set up solos on her behalf, not only at her church, but at churches across the Fort Smith area.

“She kept me going,” Becky said. “I wasn’t able to just sit back and do nothing because I knew she’d ride my back about it. I hated it at first. I was a teen, awkward, and I worried about what my friends thought. I’d cry and cry. The older I’ve gotten I’ve become more and more thankful for it. It pushed me until I could push myself.” Becky has played a few small venues and has a new demo album. Those who believed in her kept telling her she was meant for American Idol. This summer they finally convinced her. In July the pre-school teacher headed to Nashville. “There were 16,000 people at the Bridgestone Arena,” Becky said. “I was up at two in the morning and didn’t get out until six in the evening on the day I sang Me and Bobby MaGee.” The process began on July 16 when the contestants signed up and received ID wrist bands. It continued on July 17, when the thousands of American Idol hopefuls filled the stadium. They were divided into groups of four, then waited in long snaky lines for their turn with one of ten producers. The sections were divided only by black curtains, so while Becky sang for her allotted thirty seconds, she could hear nine other voices rising. “There were thousands of people staring down at

becky reeves no more what ifs story > Marla Cantrell

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you. It’s very intimidating. When your line is finished, they call you forward and tell you yes or no. You exit and it’s over.” She went back to her hotel room in Nashville, made more than a dozen calls home, and then passed out. And this is what surprised her—she wasn’t unhappy at all. “It was good for me to push myself to my limit, to do the scariest thing you can imagine. From that point on, nothing is as scary. I’d decided if I failed in Nashville, I’d go on to New Orleans. Then I wouldn’t have any what ifs. What if I got a different producer. What if I sang a different song.” On July 26, she performed along with 10,000 others at the New Orleans Arena. She picked a softer, folksy melody, Feels Like Home. For the second time the answer was no. “I literally laughed when they said it. Whatever, I thought. I just felt like two no’s weren’t going to stop me.” The rejection changed her. “I realized this is what I want to do, whether it turns out to be in a big way, or just playing around town. When I was first starting out, I was often told I sounded like Janis Joplin,” Becky said. “I lived in such a little bubble; I didn’t know who she was. I bought a CD set and I found a common soul, someone who struggled.” It’s the struggle that unites us. And it’s the music that pulls us through. “Songs are what people turn to when life’s hard,” Becky said. “They put a song on repeat and listen again and again. We live the phases of our lives through music. It makes you think and it inspires you. What a gift to be able to be part of it.” The double no from this summer is exactly what Becky needed. It set her course, shifted something inside her, and

lit a fire. She is just beginning to realize the power of her own music. “When I recorded Your Song, I had people in the room crying. That’s intense. That’s not somebody else’s. That’s your heart, that’s your life, that’s your struggles, pain, your words and your questions. And you’re singing it, you’re vulnerable, and it’s affecting people. You want people to be feeling what you are.” As for American Idol, she only has one more chance. When auditions resume next year, she’ll be twenty-eight. That’s the cut-off age for contestants. She hasn’t decided whether she’ll try again, but she wouldn’t trade her experiences in Nashville and New Orleans for any amount of money. Becky is both driven to perform, and content to see what happens next. It might be the perfect combination for this artist’s continued success. “I’m going to play every chance I get. Everywhere I’m asked. I just want to live my life and not have any what ifs,” Becky said. “I don’t think any of us get the life we imagined at the beginning. Too much other stuff happens. Things change course. We get stopped, or we stop ourselves. But I do know one thing. Whatever my life looks like in the end is fine with me.”

denny flynn

ProRodeo hall of famer story > Marla Cantrell

enny Flynn, executive director of Kay Rodgers Park in Fort Smith, wears two things every day: a thin gold wedding band, and a belt buckle the size of a saucer. “1975 was the highlight of my bull riding career, and that’s when I got this NRF buckle,” Denny said. “I don’t go a day without it.” In July Denny was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs. “I was the first one to get the lifetime achievement award.” It’s a big honor for a boy who led a hardscrabble life in Charleston with a family tied to the land. “My dad’s eighty-eight and sleeps in the same room he was born in,” Denny said. “He worked at the Fort Smith Livestock Auction and traded cattle all the time, so he was always bringing cattle home. We’d work ‘em in the head gate, give ‘em shots and we’d ear notch ‘em. He’d just put us right up there on ‘em. He’d take an old well rope, put it around their belly and turn us out in the sticker weeds. You get thrown off in the sticker weeds, you hold on tighter the next time.” Denny remembers long days riding horses, afternoons playing bull rider on a fifty-five gallon bucking barrel suspended by four ropes, and sprints to the mailbox for the cowboy magazine that arrived like clockwork on the fifteenth of the month. Sometimes he got there first; sometimes it was his big brother Mike. “Mike was probably better than me,” Denny said. “He won state in 1967 in the high school rodeo. But he hurt his knee early on, and that was it.”

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In 1973, Denny got his first Pro Rodeo card. By 1975, he was already fifth in the nation. But then he ran into the wrong bull. “He threw me up in the air, stuck a horn through my stomach, and went up there ten inches, and missed my heart by about a half an inch,” Denny said. “Sidelined me for two months. I dropped from fifth to nineteenth, and they only take the top fifteen to the nationals. I think I had a thousand dollars to my name. So what are you going to do?” Denny asked. “Go home and get a job digging ditches, hauling hay?” In the fall, he got back in the game, riding at Madison Square Garden, and then in Tennessee. “In Memphis I had a bull with high horns, hooking bull, and it wasn’t fine. I told my friend, Randy Majors, I wasn’t going to get on him. And Randy said, ‘If you don’t get on him, you’ll never get on another horned bull.’ I was scared to death.” Denny rode the bull, the rodeos kept coming, and Denny won enough to put him back in the running at the National Finals. He rode nine out of ten bulls and won the championship. “I could have rode ten more,” Denny said. Despite a case full of awards, he does harbor one regret. “It’s my own fault I never won a World. I didn’t travel enough. This one guy had his own plane. July and August I could sometimes ride three bulls a day. You could win $600 here, $200 there, $1,000 sometimes. I could of tried a little harder.” Denny downplays the danger he faced, and the close calls that caused his mama so much worry. He spent the hours before the rodeo walking around the livestock pen, sizing up the bull he’d drawn and imagining himself riding him. “They’ll set a

pattern. We’d watch ‘em buck the same way over and over again. We’d watch film just like the Razorbacks do. We’d try to figure them out. It’s more than just crawling on a horse, hanging on to a saddle horn and bouncing across a pasture. You got to be in control.” In 1975, Denny won approximately $100,000. Today, national champions pick up a cool million. Looking back, he finds it hard to believe the life he’s led. “How did a little ole boy from Charleston get here?” Denny asked. “ I remember dreaming about being a cowboy. I can flash through Madison Square Garden, and Cheyenne and San Francisco, back and forth across the United States in the fifteen years that I rode,” he said, shaking his head in awe of it all. “And all the titles. It flashes so quick through your mind, and there you are being inducted into the Hall of Fame and everybody there congratulating you. I tell you, it’s just amazing.” At fifty-nine, he’s glad he’s still gets to promote rodeos. He’s equally excited about bringing in more than 100,000 people a year to the Arkansas/Oklahoma State Fair, which begins on September 24 and runs through October 2. This year, Champions of the Cage, a mixed martial arts event, will be held September 25, and the free-style bull fighting is set for October 2. The entertainment lineup also includes Gretchen Wilson, who’s best known for her song Redneck Woman, Chris Young with Stoney LaRue, and rock band, Puddle of Mudd.

There is choreography in the way they sidestep each other in the tight space behind the counter, where drinks are poured and tickets tallied. They seem acutely aware of each other, in the way that close-knit families sometimes do. When asked if she was afraid to open the restaurant at 115 North 10th in the middle of recession, Cara shakes her head. “Everybody still buys food, booze and lipstick, no matter what the economy’s doing,” she says. “Then she asks as much to herself as to anyone, “Where do I get my fearlessness from?” and her mother answers from across the dining room, “From your dad, honey. He was like that.”

cara’s kitchen at brunwick place story > Marla Cantrell

ara Kious, co-owner of Cara’s at Brunwick Place in downtown Fort Smith, moves quickly, calling out orders, assuring a customer she’ll make fried okra for her the following week. “Check your email,” she says, “I’ll let you know which day.” She stops momentarily, putting the final touches on a three-tiered cake whose snow-colored frosting drifts like clouds over its dark edges, and then moves a vase of daisies over a quarter of an inch. “Mom tells me to calm down, and I have about three notches,” Cara says. “I’m not as hyped as I used to be.” Mom is Charlotte Kious, Cara’s partner at the popular lunch spot. “Mother is CFO,” Cara says, and her mother smiles at her from behind the cash register. “She is the actual top dog.” “But you’re the star,” her mother shoots back.

The bravery came from her late father, but her love of cooking runs through the entire family. “My mom and dad were great entertainers,” Cara says. “We were always feeders; we had parties and they cooked. My brothers cooked. I’ve lived in the same house my whole life, where I’ve thrown some great parties myself. Sometimes I had a hundred people over.” She discovered something about having people over. Good things happen during those gatherings, things that can’t be duplicated while eating in front of a television, or sitting in a drive-through waiting for fries. “Food connects people in so many different ways,” Cara says. “You feel love when people feed you well. My passion goes into my food and into your mouth and then it fills your body and you know what I’m feeling every time I feed you. You can taste love.” When she opened Cara’s at Brunwick Place for the first time, fifty of her hardworking friends either took vacation time or played sick so they could be there when Cara made her grand debut. “I cried the first day. I’m going to cry now,” Cara says, fanning away the tears, her tangerine-colored nails glowing like the tips of matches. “When I drove to work that first day, I just bawled. It was overwhelming. My dream was coming true.”

@TASTE But it’s the food that keeps the business thriving. Lunches cost less than ten dollars and are made with local produce and fresh ingredients. Today, Cara serves forty to ninety people each day from a menu she calls “consistently inconsistent”. The cuisine doesn’t conform to any one category. It’s Southern, with a little extra kick, made by a cook who likes to improvise. “Some of the vegetable sandwiches I’d made in the past,” Cara explains. “But I also take three or four recipes and combine them and see what happens. Thursdays I always have a surprise on the menu. Sometimes I don’t even know what it will be until the night before. I wanted to attract Baby Boomers. I wanted to touch people thirty to eighty. I wanted the hard workers and the health conscience.” The desserts, however, made by Cara’s twenty-year-old son Christopher Kious-Shipp, can undo any attempt to tip the scale lightly. “He makes the most delicious crepes and he does all the cakes. It’s embedded in him. The family’s passion transcends.” Cara is a passionate woman, and wears her enthusiasm like the flashing lights on a slot machine. “Yesterday, I kissed everybody in here. I said it was Kiss the Cook Day. Ben Franklin once said, ‘The handshake of the host often affects the taste of the roast.’ I believe that. I’ll hug and I’ll pat you. If I grab your hand and you’re freezing, I’ll put it up to my heart and I’ll warm you up. I’m a Taurus. I’m all Mother Earth. I like to nurture people. I like taking care of people. You don’t get that everywhere. But I promise you this, you’ll get it here.” She smiles, looking down the long aisle where a line of tables hug the exposed brick walls. “But it works the other way, too. This place changed my life.” “She spent ten years working from home,” her mother Charlotte adds, “it wasn’t good for her. She needed this.”

Cara picks up the train of thought. “I had people laugh at me. They said I’d never make it. We get so tied up in what other people think. You shouldn’t care what people think. It didn’t stop me. I dove in headfirst.” The next step was finding the right people to help her. “You’ve got to bring those who share your joy. I wouldn’t be here without my mother. People actually come here just to see her. She’s good with the men,” Cara says and laughs. “And my son Christopher, of course. I also have Trina Williams, who helps me in the kitchen. Janelle Arce came from Bolivia and somehow found me. They’re my inspiration. Janelle told me once, ‘there are no consequences; we’re brought together for a reason.’” Cara’s mother takes a white towel and wipes a spot on the counter. “Coincidences,” she says, without looking up. “It’s coincidences, Cara. You said consequences.” Cara rolls her eyes in that universal way all children do, no matter what their age. “Well, anyway,” Cara says, “coincidences, consequences. Whatever. It’s all been wonderful.”

just peachy

a taste of down-home goodness story > Laura Hobbs

hile picking up my CSA share from Wynn Family Farm recently, I had to make a few adjustments to my order. The share included yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant – all vegetables that my home garden is currently churning out like crazy. In order to not overrun my refrigerator with veggie duplicates – and sentence myself to a weekend of vegetable freezing - I opted to take a double share of local peaches, instead. These beautiful, sweet, local peaches came from the Aselage Family Farm, which lies just outside of Berryville. I picked out the best ones - soft, fuzzy and blushing - and carried them home in delicate brown paper bags to ripen to their perfect state of - well, perfection. Then the weekend rolled around. As some of you may know, my husband and I suffer from a dire ailment we refer to as “Sweettoothitis”. It’s a terrible malady. It creeps up unsuspectingly - after any meal, or first thing in the morning, even before that first cup of coffee. It nags and tugs relentlessly at our willpower until we have no choice but to give in. Sweettoothitis isn’t picky; it’ll take anything sweet to keep it satisfied. So, with a Sweettoothitis flare-up no emergency room could handle, I set myself out to “tame the beast”, shall we say.

I decided on a pie, but it wasn’t going to be the conventional, fussy, lattice-topped kind we think of when we think “pie”. This pie was going to be simple, rustic, and borderline crude, with messy edges and a disorderly filling, but with the flavors and textures to rival any Sara Lee creation. I started by making pâte brisée dough – my go-to recipe for a flaky, delicate pastry crust. The dough’s ingredients are as simple as you can get, and it’s easy to make; but if you’re pressed for time or are too sucked into a Jersey Shore marathon to pry yourself away from the TV for that long, feel free to use a store bought refrigerated pie dough. After the dough was assembled and chilling in the fridge, I got to work on my peaches. These little guys were so perfectly ripe, I didn’t want to pollute their flavor with a finicky mix of flavorings or spices. So I kept it simple: lemon juice and sugar, and a few almonds scattered on top. With perfectly ripe fruit, you can’t go wrong there! I also added a little corn starch to thicken the filling and create a delicious, syrupy consistency. But wait, there’s more! No pie is complete without a) ice cream or b) whipped cream. In my usual Take-It-To-Eleven style, I whipped up a quick almond crème anglaise to compliment the flavors of the peaches. Now, don’t get all nervous here – crème anglaise may sound complicated, but the steps are simple and the ingredients are straight forward: cream (or in my case, half and half), eggs, sugar. See, not so bad! With a couple of easy steps and a quick strain, you can practically consider yourself a crème anglaise crackerjack. A little elbow grease and an hour later, we were sitting down to a late afternoon pick-me-up of peach pie with black coffee. The sweetness of the peaches stood out, especially with the complimentary flavor of the almond crème anglaise, and the crust was flaky, tender and subtly sweet. Is all this talk aggravating your Sweettoothitis, too? I think I may have some chocolate around here somewhere...Enjoy!

@TASTE

Rustic Peach Pie FOR THE CRUST 2 ½ cups flour ¼ cup sugar 1 tsp. salt 2 sticks very cold butter, diced ½ cup ice cold water

FOR THE FILLING 6 medium peaches, pitted & sliced 2 tsp. lemon juice ¼ cup sugar 1 tbs. cornstarch ¼ cup sliced almonds

For the Crème Anglaise 3 egg yolks 1 cup half & half ¼ cup sugar ¼ tsp. almond extract

Heat the oven to 375°. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt and ¼ c. sugar. Add the butter, and pulse the mixture until the texture resembles coarse crumbs, with some larger pieces remaining. With the machine running, add the water through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until the dough holds together without being too wet or sticky. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half tightly in plastic wrap. Shape into flattened disks. Refrigerate dough at least one hour before rolling. (Dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.) Meanwhile, combine the half and half and the ¼ c. sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, and bring it just to scalding, with small bubbles appearing on the outer edge of the pan. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks with a few small spoonfuls of scalding milk and sugar mixture to temper the eggs. Stir the tempered egg yolks back into the milk and sugar mixture, increase the heat to medium high and whisk constantly until foamy and thickened, about three minutes. Off the heat, add the almond extract. Strain the crème with a fine mesh strainer and put in the refrigerator to cool. In a large mixing bowl, combine the peaches with the lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator (keep the other for another use) and roll it out to a 14” circle on a well-floured surface. Carefully move the rolled dough to a baking pan lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Carefully spoon the peach mixture into the center of the dough, and fold the sides up and over the peaches. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top. Brush a simple egg wash (1 egg, 2 tbs. water) over the pie crust and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375° for an hour, until the peaches are bubbling and the crust is beginning to brown. Serve with the crème anglaise alongside. Step by step photos available on AtUrbanMazine.com.

farmer’s market homegrown culture

story > Catherine Frederick

grew up around a garden full of fresh fruits and vegetables from my grandparents’ backyard. There was even a composter. If we wanted fresh tomatoes or okra, we just walked out into their garden and picked it. No, I didn’t live on a farm and my family wasn’t a bunch of hippies - just people who believed that homegrown tasted better. I didn’t truly fall in love with garden fare until my mid-twenties, so when my son was born, I made it my mission to introduce him to fresh vegetables and fruits regularly. Now he’s five and he has a love for fresh fruits and veggies—from carrots and bell peppers to onions and tomatoes—even squash and zucchini; there is nothing he won’t tryand usually asks for seconds. ‘Farm to table’ has become a buzz phrase, making my mom a trendsetter way before it was trendy to eat as a locavore. A locavore is defined as someone who primarily eats foods from their local or regional farmers market or food grown at home. By eating locally, most locavores hope to create a greater connection between themselves and their food sources, resist industrialized and processed foods, and support their local economy. “The word ‘locavore’ shows how food-lovers can enjoy what they eat while still appreciating the impact they have on the environment,” said Ben Zimmer, editor for American dictionaries at Oxford University Press. “It’s significant in that it brings together eating and ecology in a new way.” For me, it’s all of those things, but it’s also the memories of my family gathered ‘round the table that are evoked when I eat a fresh-picked tomato or a juicy peach.

@TASTE

tips for your trip > > > > > Since we don’t have the space in our backyard for a full garden, we are huge fans of our local farmers markets. Just like my grandparents’ garden, as the season progresses, new flavors are discovered every week. My five-year-old delights in strawberry season, until blueberry season starts, and then it’s blackberry season, and just when he’s eaten that last luscious local berry till next year’s crop, the crisp juicy apples appear. Before you dash off wide-eyed to the market, I’ve compiled some tips to help you make the best selections. Let’s start with a list of items you should pull together before you leave the house. Grab a cooler and a cold source. Your delicious hand-picked fruits and veggies will ruin quickly if you don’t give them a comfy, cool place to rest on the ride home. Bring along change & small bills. Remember, you’re not shopping for vintage antiques—it doesn’t cost a fortune to buy and eat healthy fruits and veggies. BYOB! In addition to supporting our local economy, support our environment by bringing your own bag. You can pick up sturdy bags at several local stores for under $1.00.

don’t forget to bring

Arrive early Take a tour before buying Separate items by weight and durability Don’t overbuy Use web for creative recipes

When planning your trip, remember, early bird gets the worm. Arriving early assures you get the pick of the crop. When you arrive at the market, resist the urge to grab the first pint of ripe berries you see. Make a first pass. Look with your eyes and not your hands, scanning each vendor for what’s available, what looks the best, and who has the best price. Either bring one bag for cans and other heavy items and one for delicates, or buy the heavy stuff first. This will ensure your tomatoes are BLT ready and not instant spaghetti sauce. Take your taste buds on an adventure, and let the produce of the season dictate what’s on your menu for the week. Search the internet for new and interesting recipes and make the most out of your market finds. Lastly, try not to over buy. Stored properly, farm fresh produce will last but can’t stay fresh forever. Most markets are open on Saturdays and also one or two days during the week. Support our local farmers, our environment and the health of your family. It’s an experience not to be missed.

fayetteville cheap eats

budget-friendly cuisine story > Wayne Bell

Not everything about the economic downturn has been negative. Take the upturn in budget-friendly Fayetteville eateries, where the menus are both eclectic and kind to the wallet. Here are a few of the best.

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Hammontrees 326 N. West Ave

Average Cost:

The Little Bread Co. 479.521.1669

Under $10

Average Cost:

Hammontree’s Grilled Cheese features a dozen or so signature grilled cheese sandwiches - each with its own movie or television themed name such as Parmageddon, Brie’s Company or Ozark Monte Cristo. The fare is prepared with premium ingredients and pressed into a Panini for that crispy crust that elevates a simple sandwich into a wonderful meal. The Ozark Monte Cristo is a favorite of mine. They start with two slices of jalapeño corn bread and stuff a variety of cheeses and Ozark Mountain Smokehouse ham inside. The entire sandwich is then lightly dusted in powdered sugar and topped with a spicy pepper. Each bite is filled with the crispy exterior and the soft gooey center. Pair any one of their sandwiches with their homemade soups (love the black bean) and you have a real treat.

Bliss Cupcake Café 112 W. Center Street, Suite 130

Average Cost:

116 N Block Ave

479.575.0575

$2.75 to $3.75 + tax

Bliss Cupcakes has been open for about a year now and has a selection of beautiful, handmade, and flat- out delicious cupcakes. From their menu of over forty options, Bliss features wonderful miniature creations including the lemon raspberry, Razorback red velvet, and chocolate milkshake. Each cupcake is as beautiful as it is tasty.

479. 527.0622

Under $10

Little Bread Co. is so popular that on most Saturday mornings there is a line out the door. The crew makes homemade bear claws, homemade croissants, homemade pecan sticky buns, homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade bagels, homemade pastries, homemade muffins. Do we see a trend here? My personal favorites are the muffins. Each day features a new sweet or savory selection, which utilizes unique ingredients like dark chocolate, fresh fruit, or even vegetables. The pumpkin-walnut is a must in the fall. In December, look for their Gingerbread variety, and candied orange peel and clove. Lunch is its own treat with soups and sandwiches. From the California turkey to the half dozen quiches, Little Bread covers all the bases. Don’t forget about the cheesecakes, cookies, and dessert breads to round out your trip.

Trailside Cafe & Tea Room 546 West Center, Unit A

Average Cost:

479.966.4945

Under $10

Trailside Café might be the perfect, albeit small, lunch spot. Don’t let its size fool you. Trailside offers up one of the best lunch values in the Ozarks. Each day, Trailside features signature soups, like lentil, split pea, salmon chowder, and my favorite - pepper pot (on Fridays) - which is the perfect blend of peppers, butternut squash, chick peas, and tomatoes.

Orange Mango 609 W. Dickson Street

Average Cost:

479.582.2200

$4 (35¢ per oz.)

Orange Mango is all about frozen yogurt. Be prepared to wait a bit. The location is incredibly popular. Once inside, you’ll be given a cup and shown a dozen or so varieties of low-fat frozen yogurt. The flavors change, but some classics include vanilla bean, peanut butter, and blueberry. After you mix and match your favorite flavors, you’re off to the insane topping bar, loaded with fifty or so different toppings. They range from the popular (chocolate chips and fresh fruit) to the odd (waffle syrup and organic granola). When you’re finished assembling your dessert, you simply pay by weight.

Also try a tea sandwich. Trailside offers a wide variety including ham and Swiss, cucumber and cream cheese, and egg salad. My personal favorite is the pear and blue cheese. It showcases the sweetness of the pear with the pungency of the stout cheese. Make sure to save room for dessert. You’ll get a nice portion of homemade cobbler, cheesecake, or chocolate cake (the best I’ve ever had). Each one is simple and classic. There are also sherbet fizzes and tonic shakes. Trailside also has one of the largest and finest tea selections in the area.

So in the end, Fayetteville has truly stepped up and met the economic conditions head on. My appetite, and my wallet, couldn’t be happier.

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riverfront market little rock’s river market district story > Cara Dorrell

arket place destinations now offer much more than local crafts and farmers markets. They are evolving into unique centers that showcase a city or region’s culture, history, and flavor. The River Market District, located in downtown Little Rock, running along the river bank, is a prime example. The array of attractions promises to fill both day and night with exciting places to visit. Travelers could spend an entire weekend walking the river and touring the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden, taking in a show at the Riverfest Amphitheatre, and even riding the district’s roving trolley. If shopping is the intended daytime activity, shops abound, spanning every need from souvenirs to beauty products. The Ottenheimer Market Hall permanently houses fifteen diverse merchants, with specialty items, groceries, and fresh food. Galleries and museums share the district. To keep up the selfcontained feel, varied lodging choices are available. Courtyard by Marriott, and Hampton Inn & Suites are the closest, but the most distinctive is the Peabody Little Rock, where the ducks are the main attraction and walk the red carpet for fans. Nightlife on the River is just as varied as the daytime activities. Restaurants line the district, giving the traveler multiple options. The 500 block of President Clinton Avenue has three spots of interest contained in one location. Each destination is singular in identity and atmosphere, ranging from affordable to night-out-on-the-town. The Underground Pub can be found, appropriately, under Boscos, and has a dark and authentic ambiance. Decked out in all its UK-inspired glory, the Underground Pub is home to authentic British pub food, traditional American fare, and an always welcome happy hour. This location is the most affordable of the three. It’s a lunchtime retreat

@DESTINATION for locals craving fish and chips, and a nighttime hot spot via a DJ and good company. The Underground Pub also features pool and dart games, bringing a competitive edge to the night’s entertainment. Boscos Restaurant and Brewing Co. is the beer fan’s destination. Boscos has been making their own brew for sixteen years, winning awards for their unique style. They feature four styles always on tap: Boscos Famous Flaming Stone Beer, an “original Steinbier” brewed with traditional German techniques resulting in a unique caramel character. Boscos Bombay IPA is an intensely hoppy amber beer; Downtown Brown, is an English-style, nut brown ale, with sweet and malty flavors; and the Isle of Skye Scottish Ale is a rich, full-bodied brew with three varieties of hops and vanilla. Special and seasonal beers are also offered, along with award-winning cask-conditioned ale available on select dates. Boscos also has an extensive menu, with prices falling into the moderate range. Their brick oven prepares not only devilishly delicious pizzas, like the Pollo Diablo, but also one of their signature items, Wood Oven Planked Salmon. Other signature dishes include double cut pork chops and prime cuts of steak, accompanied by a surprising multitude of choices, like pizzas, pasta and sandwiches. A Sunday Jazz Brunch is offered to help keep the weekend fresh. Mimosas, Bloody Marys, and fresh-squeezed juices welcome those gathering for the midmorning feast. The brunch menu includes omelets, benedicts and hash, and the staple Belgian waffles.

For those seeking a romantic getaway, Sonny William’s Steak Room is a more intimate choice. Sonny William’s is the most expensive of the three establishments; however, they specialize in memorable moments. Their wine list is extensive and features award-winning labels, including premier Napa Valley wines. Their menu features Omaha aged Angus beef steaks, and several wild game selections, including a wild game sausage and cheese plate, duck breast salad, and grilled elk. But that’s not all that lives on the wild side; their seafood dishes include Alaskan king crab and Tasmanian salmon. If looking for a special, Friday is Prime Rib Night at Sonny’s. Patio seating takes the romantic atmosphere outside with a view of the Arkansas River, and a piano bar is located in the back of the restaurant. Live entertainment can be heard Tuesday through Saturday from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. The River Market District in Little Rock is a close destination, compared to other river walks and outdoor markets. It houses just as much diversity and entertainment as its contemporaries as far away as New Orleans and Seattle. The district is growing in appeal, with accessible culture, food, shopping and hotels. A multitude of artistic exhibits showcase the region’s history. A visit to Little Rock is not complete without a stroll beside the river, a freshly brewed beer, and good times.

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