Chatter - June 2012 by Do South Magazine

chatter june 2012 AtUrbanMagazine.com

lifestyle entertainment

Catherine Frederick

20 22 26

Now Hear This Urban Reader Urban Appeal

people

MANAGING EDITOR

Urban 8 Picking Blackberries Ignite: Kitchen Resurrection Buzzz Kids at Crystal Bridges DIY: It’s a Block Party

Never Give Up

taste

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRESIDENT

6 9 10 14 16 18

32 36

Cîroc Champagne Cosmo We Be Jammin’

travel

@INSIDE

38 42 46

A Day in the Dark The Elephants of Arkansas The Power of Petit Jean

Marla Cantrell

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Marla Cantrell Marcus Coker Kody Ford Catherine Frederick Dave Malone Tonya McCoy Anita Paddock Todd Whetstine

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Marla Cantrell Marcus Coker Catherine Frederick Alex Ojeda Todd Whetstine

DESIGNER

Jeromy Price

WEB GURU

David Jamell

PUBLISHER

Read Chair Publishing, LLC

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 ©2012 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

ne word. Baseball. That’s what my family, and it seems like anyone with a child between the ages of four and fourteen, is doing these days. I NEVER liked baseball. Couldn’t stand to

watch it on television, and I thought all my friends who sat in the stands, frying in the summer sun, day after day, were just plain crazy. Then my son started playing. Game on! Funny how kids change you. They burst into your life, melt your heart, and then at breakneck speed, they’re graduating high school and moving away to college. What. Are. They. Thinking? I’m doing my best to capture each and every moment! Take the other night for example. After our 8:00 baseball game, my very tired seven-year-old son walks into the bathroom, looks into the mirror and says, “Mama, look at my eyes, they’re sinking down like the sun.” Talk about a melt-your-heart moment. Then, I said, “Honey that’s a beautiful thing to say.” He looked at me like I had three heads. How I love that kid. While I’m busy capturing my memories, our Bait & Hook winners are busy with theirs. Notice I said winners? That’s because we couldn’t pick just one! We had so many wonderful photos of our Urbanite fisher-people, we spent hours narrowing the field of winners until we just couldn’t narrow it anymore. Check them out on page 24. We also have the story of a church whose private school closed after fifty-four years. Sad times, right? Well, maybe for a moment, and then they asked the question: What’s next? The result is breathtaking (and involves ice cream)! We’ll introduce you to an Arkansas couple who are rescuing elephants. Yes, I said elephants. We’ll take you down below for an extreme cave adventure, and let you meet a man we like to call the Comeback King. Read “Never Give Up” to find out why. And to all you dads out there, Happy Father’s Day. Enjoy!

To reserve this space for your charitable non-profit organization, email: Editors@AtUrbanMagazine.com

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@LIFESTYLE

It’s not a pretty dance. Unlike the USO flavor of the 40s where GIs with buzz cuts and Bogey half-smiles wooed ladies with Coke-bottle shaped dresses, accentuating every turn. Some of the best blackberries like to rest, throned like kings, bulging paunches, with thorny footmen at their sides. A few sword thrusts and your fingers are pink, shades lighter than the juice you seek. But you’ve come for the adventure of it. To push back the prickly advances of smaller suitors, to sidestep poison ivy’s greenest touch. You go into the deep where little light passes, you’re off balance and leaning. But this is where the truth is, the culmination of earth years and finding the sweetness in your lover’s brambly hair, the ripping touch, the poisonous days you survive, to break through into the deep, where the sweetest fruit grows.

@lines Dave Malone

@story Marla Cantrell @images Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

@LIFESTYLE

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

It just so happened that the neighborhood was in the midst of a revival. Small businesses were moving in, boarded up storefronts were going away, and everywhere the creative spark

– 1 Corinthians 10:31

was igniting. In September of 2011, Stephen approached the owners of the nearby Root Café, whose entire menu comes from

rinity Episcopal Cathedral is an imposing structure, built

food grown on thirty-three farms from across the state, to see if

in 1888, shaped like a crucifix, the nave illuminated with

they might need an extra state licensed kitchen.

sparkling light that flows through achingly beautiful stained glass. There are apostles in the windows on one

They did not, but they were being inundated with requests from

side, and prophets on the other, so that as you

others who did. They told Stephen about Kent

walk down the center aisle it’s as if these men

Walker, an artisan cheese maker, the only one

of old are watching every step.

in the state, who desperately needed a space for his shop.

Sixteen hundred Little Rock parishioners call Trinity home. Their mission is simple: come

Stephen spoke to Dean Jonathon Jensen. The

together each Sunday and do something

two thought Kent would be a perfect tenant for

beautiful that connects them to God. And when

Trinity’s Community Kitchen. “I talked to them,

that’s over, go out into the world to serve. The

and since it was a brand new idea, they offered

beauty here is evident, but where’s the service?

me six months free rent. At that moment I was in,” Kent says, while stirring twenty-five gallons

To see an example you have to show up on a

of Coleman milk into a repurposed soup

weekday, in the commercial kitchen that used

cauldron. “My first day here as Kent Walker

to feed the students who attended Trinity’s

Artisan Cheese was October sixth. When I

private school. But the school disbanded in May,

started I was making one pound at a time. Now

2011, after fifty-four years, when enrollment

I’m doing 125 pounds a week. I’ve made my

dwindled and funding was growing increasingly hard to find.

own Dutch-style cheese press, and just recently the Governor’s Mansion has become a customer. I’m pretty happy about that.”

Reverend Stephen Kidd remembers the day they decided to shut the doors. “We went through all the stages of grief,” he

Stephen speaks up. “We kept wondering why someone else

says. “We mourned, we bargained, we accepted. But our story is

wasn’t doing this. We asked ourselves if there was something

about death and resurrection. We saw ourselves at a crossroads.

really hard about this that we hadn’t considered, so we took

We asked, what’s next? What does the neighborhood need?”

on the philosophy that we’d continue to do it until we ran up against an insurmountable obstacle.

Turns out there wasn’t one. A few weeks after Kent came in,

“I’m a single mom,” Diane says. “It used to be that on Saturdays

Sally Mengle and Rachel Boswell of Loblolly Creamery, walked

I’d try to get to the farmer’s market, but I was usually late and I’d

through the door. Their dream was ice cream, and they needed

end up with the scraps, if I made it at all. I wasn’t the only one in

a place to make it. Four Little Rock businesses now carry their

my office who had this problem, so I knew there was a need for

products, including vegan avocado ice cream that sounds

a service like Farm2Work. Also, I wanted to eat fresh, local food,

bizarre but tastes like a little bit of Heaven. “We couldn’t have

but I was too busy to get it. Now, I eat better. My daughter’s

done this without this place,” Rachel says.

eating better. I’m there to pick her up from school. There was a time when she was eating boxed cereal and ramen noodles,

Soon after, Leah Greenfield, a mother of two, knocked on

when I was working fifty or sixty hours a week.

Trinity’s door. She needed a place for her baking business, Pie in the Sky. And then Diane Rose, owner of Farm2Work, an

“I know what it means to get to be there in the mornings and to

online farmer’s market, showed up. She didn’t need the kitchen,

pick my daughter up from school. I have an elderly mother I can

just the loading dock and cafeteria. Each week, twelve local

now take to her appointments. I never could have afforded to

farmers deliver everything from fruits and vegetables to herbs

get my own place – at one point I was working out of my dining

and eggs. On Wednesdays, Diane fills the orders, using the long

room and living room. This has changed my life.”

tables to do so. She and a volunteer then deliver the bags to customers at their places of work.

Stephen picks up the conversation. “Our newest member is Sharea

@LIFESTYLE

Wheeler. Her business is Sharea Soup. She told me what starting

tall buildings in the heart of the city.

her own business has meant to her. She’s no longer worrying about job security, about being in a place where she could be downsized,

Stephen and Jonathon look around the kitchen that is loud

and in this economy that brings her a lot of comfort.”

with clanging pots. In the background, music plays, the beat thrumming through the cavernous space. Jonathon poses this

Sharea also has a group of likeminded people to help her. The

question: “How many churches have large, untapped kitchens

shops at the Community Kitchen hold regular meetings to

like ours that sit unused most of the time?” Who knows the

discuss schedules and boost one another’s confidence. They’ve

answer? But this much is certain: they are out there. And if they

not done much advertising – most depend on active Facebook

open their doors, great people with good ideas will find the

updates – but they’re all growing. The rent and utility fee they

hope they’ve been looking for to start a new life.

pay is about twenty-five percent of what it would cost them to do business in any other location, so their profit margins are

“We thought it would take us a year to fill the kitchen,”

much higher than other startups.

Stephen says. “It took us six months, and we never advertised. Everyone here came to us,” he adds, and then smiles, not

With small businesses accounting for sixty to eighty percent of

exactly surprised, but instead comforted by the way God

all new jobs created in the last decade, what the Community

guided their entire plan.

Kitchen is doing is right on target. But that’s not Trinity’s primary goal. “We believe that God is seeking reconciliation,” Stephen says. “If people have enough to eat, if people have a secure

Check out each of the shops at Trinity’s Community

place to live, if people aren’t afraid of losing their jobs, then

Kitchen by searching their business names on Facebook.

reconciliation is possible. People can live a peaceful life with each other that improves everybody’s life. Hope, and promise, and dignity, that’s what we want for everyone. All these people were already working really hard. We just gave them a little help.” Jonathon is sitting beside Stephen, nodding in agreement. “We didn’t do all that much,” he adds. “This,” he says, pointing to the tables where Diane is checking her orders, “is all God’s work. We just haven’t messed it up yet.” There it is, the real beauty of Trinity. It is in the cheese Kent ages, in the soup Sharea simmers, in the ice cream Rachel makes, in the pies Leah bakes, and in the vegetables Diane delivers to the

uzzzzzzz. Swat! Yep. It’s that time of year again. The insects are back with a vengeance, thanks to our mild winter. I must

exude tons of carbon dioxide because I attract pesky buffalo gnats and mosquitoes like flies to… well, you know. And I don’t just get a small little red bump when I get bit. The bite site, usually somewhere really noticeable like the side of my ear @story Catherine Frederick

or my face, swells up like a blimp then proceeds to itch like crazy and hang around for a week or more. It’s ugly, I tell you. My neighbor has learned to sit next to me in the summer - he knows they’ll attack me first and he’ll be in the clear. You could spray yourself with poison or lounge around in a full body net. Since I’m a fan of neither, I searched high and low and discovered a few nontoxic anti-beast remedies you should try.

Buffalo Gnats Arrgh! These little buggers are the worst. Vile, tiny, bloodsucking, disease-carrying devils. I’ve searched for years to find a way to annihilate them. I am passing along each deterrent I found. BANANA BOAT SPORT SUNSCREEN. Evidently it’s the one in an orange bottle. They say it’s worked for everyone who tried it in Natchez, MS. It’s worth a try. VANILLA. Not the cheap imitation stuff. Pure vanilla. Dilute with water in a spray bottle and spritz away. Must reapply throughout the day. FABRIC SHEETS AND SOFTENERS. Tuck the sheets in your pockets. Wipe yourself down with them.

@LIFESTYLE

One guy I talked to mixed liquid fabric softener with water in a

MOTH SACHET. Moths can’t stand citrus or lavender scents

sprayer and sprayed his yard. Said it worked for about a week.

so grab a few organic lemons and oranges along with some drawstring pouches, or sew your own, and make a few sachets

Mosquitoes Whip up one of these recipes to keep these little buzzers at bay. Tip: mix up in small batches to make sure they’re always fresh. MOSQUITE MASH. This is NOT for you to drink, ya’ boozers! In a glass jar, combine ½ cup of vodka, 2-3 tablespoons of fresh basil (1 teaspoon if dried) and one large cinnamon stick, broken

to stash in your closet and drawers. Peel the citrus fruits and tear peels into small pieces. Allow to air dry then mix with several teaspoons of dried lavender buds. You can purchase lavender buds from our local co-op, or online. Cloves, fresh rosemary and bay leaves are also on the list of scents moths steer away from, so think about tossing in some of those as well.

into pieces. Steep the concoction for 2 weeks, then add ½

Plants

teaspoon of lavender essential oil and stir. Rub the mixture onto

If it’s your indoor or outdoor plants the bugs are buggin’,

exposed body parts, keeping it away from your eyes.

try this natural remedy. Mix up 2-4 tablespoons of a liquid biodegradable soap- I like Mrs. Meyers in fresh lavender scent -

MEOW MIX. Ellen Sandbeck, author of Green Housekeeping

into a bucket of 1 gallon of water. TEST FIRST! Spray the solution

(Scribner, 2008), recommends catnip as a natural mosquito

on a test area of your plant to ensure it does not harm the leaves.

repellent. You can purchase it in oil form or grow your own.

If your plant reacts negatively, reduce the amount of soap in the

She recommends mixing a drop of two of catnip oil with 1

mixture or avoid using it on that type of plant. Always spray in

tablespoon of olive or jojoba oil, applying it to exposed areas.

the early morning, spraying the top and bottom of leaves. Don’t apply to plants that are stressed, when the weather is too hot or

LAVENDER LOTION. This one’s for the ladies. Add one teaspoon

when the sun is strong, you’ll risk burning the leaves. This is a

of lavender essential oil to one cup of unscented hand lotion.

great spray for aphids and spider mites, but is safe for beneficial

Stir until blended. Apply to exposed areas, avoiding the eye and

bugs like lady bugs. You can even add some crushed garlic and

mouth areas.

cayenne pepper to the mix - just keep it away from your eyes.

Moths

Hopefully these options will keep pests at bay the natural way.

Moths may not bite people, but they do love fabric. I usually don’t have a clue until I pull out a sweater, only to find it riddled with tiny holes. I remember back in the day, my grandma had

If you know of other tried and true home remedies, send them to editors@AtUrbanMagazine.com. We’d love to share them with our readers.

mothballs in every closet. Gag, I can still smell those chemicalladen balls of death.

@LIFESTYLE

1. Stop by the gift shop FIRST. Let your kids pick out three postcards that show works of art that are currently on display. 2. Pick up the family guide brochure in the lobby, to help you work your way through the museum’s collection. 3. Make a game of it. Tell your kids they’re posing as visitors, but they’re really on a covert mission to find the art featured on the postcards. (Tell them they need to blend in, so that you don’t have to worry about them running ahead or speaking loudly in the galleries.) 4. When they match a work of art to the card, mark that card

kids at crystal bridges @story Marla Cantrell @image Crystal Bridges

chool’s out and we’re excited. Water parks await, baseball

with a removable sticker. 5. While standing in front of the artwork they’ve discovered, ask them a few simple questions. What do you think is going on in this piece? What do you think life was like? What do you think people did before they had electricity or running water?

diamonds fill with kids, and for the first summer ever we

6. In the abstract gallery, where art depends on shapes and

have the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art within easy

color instead of concrete images, the questions change. If

driving distance.

this painting could make a sound, what would it be? How does this sculpture make you feel? Is it happy? What do you

The Bentonville wonder opened on 11-11-11. The world-class

think the artist was thinking as he or she painted this?

museum, set on 120 acres complete with walking and biking trails, is free to the public. Inside its doors is a diverse collection

When the tour’s over, they’ll have the postcards to take home.

of work by American artists from Colonial times to the present.

And if you go at the right time, you can reward them with a

Portraits of George Washington share space with Andy Warhol’s

picnic on the grounds, or you can take them to the museum’s

Dolly Parton. And Pinocchio, in all his wooden glory, stands in a

café, Eleven, where there’s a special kids menu.

space illuminated by light. For more information, visit crystalbridges.org. Each week there are Family Sundays, with live performances and art project for the kids. Can’t make it on Sunday? Just follow @Urban’s kid-friendly guide to make it your best day ever.

therine Frederick @story and images Ca

@LIFESTYLE

riter’s block. Bad. Building blocks. Good. Who doesn’t love blocks? We’ve loved them since we were babies

Directions

and we’re adults now, so dang it, we’re gonna use them as the

Sand the blocks if needed, then paint with a thin coat of your

foundation of our Father’s Day gift. And whether you’re five or

favorite paint or stain. You can use just one, or multiple colors.

fifty-five, we know your dad will love them.

You could use your dad’s favorite, just be sure your photos are going to look good when matched up to it.

Ready? Then let’s get this block party started. After your paint dries, arrange the blocks in the order you want

Materials »» Unfinished wooden blocks (I used 1 ½” from Hobby Lobby) »» Sandpaper or sanding tool »» Craft paint or stain »» Photos (you can use up to six) »» Rubber band

them to appear in the puzzle, then secure them with a rubber band. Grab a piece of parchment or tracing paper and lay it on top of the blocks. Trace around the edges of each block with a pencil. Lay the tracing on top of your photo so you can easily cut the squares into the correct sizes. Repeat this for all photos you plan to use. Next get your ModPodge. It’s like glue, and in my opinion, the best thing made since sliced-bread. Paint a thin layer onto the block

»» Parchment paper or tracing paper

and carefully place the photo on top of the square. Press firmly.

»» ModPodge crafting glue

Now, cover the photo with another piece of tracing or parchment

»» Flat foam brush (optional)

paper and using a credit card, press down firmly in the center and work your way outward to remove any air bubbles. If you’re not covering all sides of the blocks with photos, you could apply some raised stickers, typically found in the scrapbook section of local craft shops. To finish the blocks, apply a thin layer of ModPodge over all sides of the blocks to seal the photo and give it a matte finish. That’s all there is to it! Happy Father’s Day to all of the wonderful dads out there. Send us your favorite photo of you with your dad and you could find yourself on Facebook! Email photos to: editors@AtUrbanMagazine.com.

@ENTERTAINMENT

Vocalist Adam Duritz and crew love their fellow musicians and have never shied from sharing their favorite tunes during concerts. Hardcore Crows fans drudge the depths of torrent sites to gather live bootlegs of the Crows’ broad catalogue of covers. It’s only natural that the Crows would eventually release a covers album. However, such an undertaking can be dangerous. While some artists have opted to completely reinvent songs, the Crows seem loath to venture too far from the source material, which offers mixed results. The Crows have performed some of the album’s classics—“Amy” by Pure Prairie League, “Ooh La La” by The Faces, and “Return of the Grievous Angel” by Gram Parsons - in their sets for years. The slightly distorted licks of “Untitled Love Song” offer a promising start for the album. As Duritz sings, “Throw your arms

now hear this

underwater sunshine or what we did on our summer vacation — counting crows

@review Kody Ford

ounting Crows are in a precarious situation, caught between staying commercially viable and pleasing the hardcore

around my neck, won’t be soon to forget,” he feels at home with the material, which was originally recorded by The Romany Rye. “Hospital,” a track by Coby Brown, far surpasses the original. Duritz’ vocal sounds like a man plagued by his demons as opposed to Brown’s distant, soft tonality (which is still a pretty good tune). Their formerly satisfying live take on “Ooh, La, La” now sounds so polished it could belong on the soundtrack to the next Shrek movie.

fan base. Previous albums like Recovering the Satellites and This Desert Life featured eclectic and adventurous songwriting while

The album as a whole plays out like this. The Crows perform at

Hard Candy felt like an overly polished appeasement to Top 40

their best when interpreting more obscure songs and seem to

radio. In Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings they attempted

be trapped under the weight of the more famous tracks. One

to return to the rougher, folky sounds of their early work, but

can only hope that their next collection of original tunes will

with mediocre results. That’s why fans have eagerly awaited

return them to the early days. But don’t hold your breath.

their follow-up. Unfortunately, Underwater Sunshine (or What We Did on Our Summer Vacation) is a mixed bag that will leave you simultaneously pleased and a little disappointed.

I Rate It

Reciting Robert Frost in the ICU By Taylor Prewitt, MD 340 pages @review Anita Paddock

his collection of book reviews on medical literature comes to us from Taylor Prewitt, a retired Fort Smith cardiologist. It

is a joy to read, particularly for those interested in the practice of medicine and the drama surrounding it, and how it’s been written about through fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Prewitt opens the section with a quote, “Woe to the person who no longer delighteth in hearing the story of another; for truly that person shall be weary of life itself.” Pretty good quote, isn’t it? One particular favorite of Prewitt’s is the biography written by Wendy Moore, The Knife Man: The Extraordinary Life and Times of John Hunter, Father of Modern Surgery. In eighteenth century England, grave robbers provided the cadavers for the students Dr. Hunter taught in anatomy class. He was so anxious to obtain the body of a young man who was over eight feet tall, that he bribed an undertaker to remove the body from the casket while mourners were drinking at a tavern. Hunter boiled the body down to a skeleton so he could study the bone structure of this giant who was a victim of a pituitary tumor long before the disease was identified.

@ENTERTAINMENT

Also featured is Florence Nightingale, who gained fame during

at the First Methodist Church, cheered the Razorbacks at most

the Crimean War aiding wounded British soldiers. She spent

every football game, and he was a favorite customer at Vivian’s

twenty months where “She said she had seen Hell and because

Book Store.

she had seen Hell, she was set apart.” Two different books, each titled Florence Nightingale , written by Cecil Woodham-Smith

Several years ago, when I first heard the title of this book, I

and Lytton Strachey provide the rich history of this woman who

got chill bumps. It was a fantastic title, and I asked Prewitt to

reformed nursing and lived the rest of her life by taking to her bed

explain it to me. He said there were times when he stood at the

and living into her nineties, suffering from obesity and senility.

bedside of an ill patient in the intensive care unit, a patient who seemed unresponsive to any treatments he tried. In an effort

Another fascinating story is that of Dr. Paul Farmer written by

to gather his thoughts and decide what to do next, he recited

the marvelous non-fiction writer Tracy Kidder. In his book,

poetry, often those poems written by Robert Frost. This calmed

Mountains Beyond Mountains, the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, the

him, helped him think, much like the airplane pilot who is told

Man Who Would Cure the World, we meet a man, who at age

to wind the clock when he gets in trouble in the air. In other

thirty-five, had obtained his M.D. and a Ph.D. from Harvard, and

words, stop a moment and calmly decide what to do.

divided his time between teaching at Harvard while living in a church rectory in a poor neighborhood and practicing medicine

Reading this book is like meeting a stranger on a plane. You

for free in Haiti. He went on to obtain funds from the Gates

immediately like him, and you enjoy the stories he tells

Foundation to combat tuberculosis that had become resistant

about the good books he’s read. You listen, you nod. Maybe

to drugs in Haiti, Peru, and parts of Russia.

you cry or maybe you smile. You savor the delight of hearing a good story.

My favorite parts of the book, though, are when Prewitt interjects his own personal anecdotes among the synopses of the books he reviews. He tells us he grew up in a small farm and railroad town in the southeast Arkansas delta. He was the editor of his high school newspaper and didn’t know he had an aptitude for science until he took biology and chemistry courses at the University of Arkansas. He talks about his father who cautioned, “Don’t let your schoolwork interfere with your education” and “Try to have a little fun every day.” Clearly, Prewitt followed his father’s advice. He practiced internal medicine in Fort Smith from 1969 to 2003. He played tennis, jogged, taught Sunday school classes

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never give up J

im Horton walks across the room, sure and quick, like a man who’s late for an appointment. He is dressed in a cyclist’s

@story Marla Cantrell @image Courtesy Jim Horton

shirt, shorts that hit him at the knee, and running shoes. His clothing is not an affectation. Just days before he’d finished a 100K bike tour through Arkansas’ wine country. When he adjusts the cap he’s wearing, his Livestrong wristband flashes yellow against his tan skin. Jim could easily pass for fifty, but he’s not. This personal trainer is sixty-eight and proud of it. There were times when it looked as if he might not make it this far. Like in 1984, when he was only forty.

@PEOPLE

“I’d been having some bleeding and I went to see the doctor.

Eventually, they opened the Phillips House on Dodson Avenue,

That bleeding turned out to be a blessing. Colon cancer is called

where he worked with his staff, many of whom were volunteers,

the silent killer because there’s often no warning. I was lucky

to help cancer patients become cancer survivors.

enough to get the warning. “That house started to burst at the seams. We were doing “When I heard, ‘You’ve got cancer,’ I thought about my three

nutrition programs, education programs, support groups.

kids. They were seven, five, and less than a year. I had to get this

We found out that some of our patients couldn’t afford pain

tumor out; I had to get back to work.”

medication and we worked with the doctors to help them get it. Sometimes they’d ask the doctor to write a prescription for two

The surgery was a success. The cancer hadn’t spread, so he

or three pills because they couldn’t afford more than that. That,”

didn’t need follow-up treatment. But the brush with cancer

he says, “will stop you in your tracks.”

changed Jim. Already fit, he began researching new exercise programs and diet plans.

With no space left, Jim started writing grant applications, and the board started looking for a new location. They let their

Jim smiles. “I’ve always been kind of extreme,” he says. “I

imaginations soar, considering what the perfect support house

started running marathons and triathlons and I swam like crazy.

would look like. It would have wide porches, chairs with stocky

I worked harder. I played harder. I ate better. If you’re going to

arms big enough to hold a mug of coffee, and tall windows

survive cancer, you’d better be healthy.”

where light would stream through.

Not long after, a new opportunity emerged. Jim became the

While Jim was running one day near Creekmore Park, he noticed

director of the cancer support foundation that was housed

a plot of land that was mostly woods. A cow lived there, so old it

inside a medical clinic in Fort Smith.

had no teeth. His excitement, which normally stays at about an eight, jumped to a perfect ten.

“I worked at a metal desk with drawers that hung, and I had a yellow legal pad and four pens, that’s how small this

“When the owner found out what we wanted to use the land for,

operation was.

he was all in,” Jim says. But while this perfect plan was coming together, something sinister was unfolding inside Jim’s body. At

“Doctors understood that cancer survival was much more than

fifty-five he was diagnosed with cancer for a second time.

just treatment. It was the mental part, the human part, what happens in the twenty-three hours after you leave the doctor’s

“I remember sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for my results

office. We had a simple plan for survivors: you help me and I’ll

and hoping for the best, but I didn’t get the best news. I had

help you. The simplicity of it really worked.”

prostate cancer.

@PEOPLE

“I had a triathlon scheduled in six weeks. I ran it and then came

comeback. He’d run again. He’d swim and bike. He was sure of it.

home and went to the hospital.” Jim laughs. “I had a friend

Before his diagnosis, he’d made plans to travel, and he decided

who’d brought me some Superman balloons and stickers, and

he should go. “So, seven weeks after my surgery, I went to

I took the stickers and put them in certain places that only the

Europe, with all my medical records,” Jim says, and then laughs.

surgeon could see, and I’d drawn arrows and written little notes

“I knew I needed to get away from all the medical stuff. My wife

on them like, Cut here, don’t cut here.

Susan and I stayed about six weeks. Didn’t take one pain pill during that time. We took a sixteen-day boat tour from Rome to

“Again, I felt lucky because I was getting my checkups and I was

St. Petersburg to Stockholm.

catching the cancer at an early stage. I can’t say enough how important this is. Never, ever wait.”

“The only problem I had was that I couldn’t raise my arm over my head, so I couldn’t lift the luggage to store it on the train. I

He felt lucky, but his body had taken a major hit. “I was back at

learned to ask for help. I took my time away just to think about

square one physically. I remember standing in the middle of

how great it is to be alive. We walked all over the place. I felt like

the floor and realizing I was too weak to take another step. I set

a kid in a candy store.

little goals: walk a half a block, walk a little farther, until one day I was back running.”

“When we came back, my running buddies came to my house. I couldn’t run, but I did let some air out of my mountain bike’s

While he was recovering, the work on the Donald W. Reynolds

tires so I could ride alongside them without bouncing too much.

Cancer Support House continued. “It was a five-year process.

Isn’t that cool?” he asks, and you see how his mind works, how

It’s a joy to me even today that I was able to be part of it, to

a spark of light surfaces even in his darkest hours. “Now I’m

watch it grow from the ground up.”

running and swimming again and doing triathlons. My time last year was better than it was when I was in my fifties.”

Jim retired as director in 2003, ready for a slower pace. But in 2008, after a scheduled checkup, he learned he had a tumor

Jim sits easily in his chair, his arms folded, his strong legs

in his left lung. The news hit him hard. He remembers driving

stretched out in front of him. He doesn’t worry about much. He

around town, not far from his home. “I had no idea where I was.

thinks God has treated him with care, bringing him through each

I’ve heard of this happening to other cancer patients. My mind

episode with cancer. So he plans for the future. He’s already run

was just on overload.”

twenty-two marathons as far away as Berlin, and there are more to come. His bike sits waiting, and somewhere there’s a lake he

The saving grace turned out to be all those years of training,

needs to swim across. His goal is simple: He wants to live every

which had increased the size of his lungs by a third. The

day he’s been given. “So far, so good,” he says, confident his

extra space would come in handy after the diseased lung was

story is far from over.

removed. With that bit of good news, he started plotting his

@TASTE

@image Catherine Frederick

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figure canning must be somewhere in my genetic make-up.

were ready to eat. I explained these berries were for canning.

My grandma used to can everything under the sun and stack

A few quizzical looks later, and one of the girls said, “You make

it up in on tall, green metal shelves, which lined the walls of

your own jam?” Silence. Then, “Cool.” So get your kids in the

her laundry room. She filled row after row of Mason jars with

kitchen for this recipe and show them how it’s done.

everything from peppers to relish to jams and jellies. What she didn’t can, she bagged and popped in the deep freeze.

If you didn’t make it out to pick your own berries this year,

That thing was so big you could have fit a whole cow in there.

don’t fret, store-bought berries are just fine. Canning kits are

Nothing went to waste.

readily available too. Lowe’s has a kit that includes the large pot, and they sell jelly jars too. I love a little flair, so I grabbed

If you ask me, preserving fruits and vegetables is a dying

some jar tags and fabric squares to decorate my jar lids. Don’t

art. I was sitting outside with a neighbor while I capped the

be greedy - share your jam with friends and family. I guarantee

strawberries, and there happened to be several girls over for a

it to make them happy and it could make you famous. What are

swim party. They took one look at the berries and thought they

you waiting for? Start jamming and don’t forget the biscuits.

@TASTE

Supplies Large canning pot Tongs 12 8oz. Mason jars with lids and screw rings (I love the quilted jelly jars) Wide-mouth funnel Caning rack to go inside the pot

Fill canning pot and a saucepan 2/3 full of water and bring both to a simmer. Submerge jars in the canning pot and add center lids to the saucepan. Leave the jars and lids in the water while you prepare the jam. Wash and cap the strawberries, then pour them onto a large baking sheet. Mash them with a potato masher, leaving large, visible chunks. Add 7 ½ cups of strawberries to a large pot. Pour in the fresh lemon juice, stir, then bring to a boil over high heat. Add in the fruit pectin, stir, then add your sugar. The original recipe called for 10 ½ cups! I brought it down to 9. Taste the mixture

Ingredients 7 1/2 cups mashed strawberries (5 pints)

9 cups sugar (more to taste)

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, strained

1-1/2 49g packages fruit pectin

and feel free to add more sugar if you think it needs it. Bring the mixture to a hard boil - meaning you can’t stir the boiling down. Let the mix remain at a hard boil for about a minute and a half. Turn off the heat and skim the foam off the top- discard. (TIP- add ¼ teaspoon of butter to the mixture to reduce foaming). Remove the jars one at a time from the hot water. Place your funnel in the first jar, and use a measuring cup to pour the jam into the jar. Stop when the jam is ¼ inch from the top. Use a damp cloth and wipe off any sticky reside from the jar. Slide a knife around the inside of the jar to remove any air pockets. Place a center lid on top of the jar and screw on a ring, don’t over-tighten. Repeat until all the jars are full. You may have a little extra jam in the pot- don’t be afraid to scoop up a big ‘ole spoonful and eat it. No one’s looking! Turn up the heat on the large pot of water. When boiling, add all of the filled jars and let boil for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and leave the jars in the pot for 15 minutes more. Remove the jars and let stand on the counter for 24 hours - you might hear the lids poppingthat’s a good thing! After 24 hours, check the jar seals. Remove the rings gently and press your finger in the center of each jar. There should be no give to the center lid when depressed. If any of the jars did not seal, simply store them in your fridge. Refrigerate jam after opening.

extreme caving

@story Marcus Coker @image Marcus Coker and courtesy Blanchard Springs Caverns

@TRAVEL

ne of the things I like about being alive is being above ground. I like the daylight, and I assume I’ll have plenty of

time in the dark—like eternity—once I’m gone. Which is why the idea of spending five hours below the earth, with only a flashlight the size of a half dollar strapped to my head, didn’t originally excite me. But now that I’ve spent five hours down below, in Blanchard Springs Caverns, I understand why bats like the underground. Blanchard Springs Caverns is located near Mountain View, and offers an experience called the Wild Cave Tour. Whereas other tours take visitors along paved walkways that have been lit so crystalline rock formations can easily be seen, the Wild Cave Tour takes cavers “off road” on a 1.6 mile hike to undeveloped parts of the caverns. The brochure promised I would get dirty, climb steep slopes, and crawl on my hands and knees. I thought I might have Batman as a tour guide, but I didn’t. I did, however, have Paul McIntosh, which was even better. Caving, it seems, is dependent on proper fashion. When I’d arrived, I was in shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Before starting the tour, Paul asked us to clean our hiking boots in a Lysol solution, and explained that the rest of our outfits would be provided. Since 2006, six million bats in North America have died from white-nose syndrome, a fungus. The disease doesn’t affect humans, but many cavers unknowingly spread the disease via clothing that doesn’t get washed after use. Paul

all directions, revealing rocks of all shapes and sizes. After less

said, “The only way to continue offering tours is to make sure

than half a mile, the sidewalk below us ended. Much like Mr.

boots are cleaned and to provide other gear.”

Rogers, we all sat down and changed into our cleaned hiking boots, preparing for the wild.

From the first step into the cave, I was fascinated. It was fiftyeight degrees, dark, and the moisture dripping from the ceiling

As I laced up my hiking boots, I took stock of my outfit—high-

reminded me of a dungeon. A dozen headlamps shone out in

water overalls, knee pads with duct tape, gardening gloves, a

helmet, and a flashlight. I felt distinctly not sexy—and I knew it.

Most impressive were the columns, which are the result of

However, I was soon thankful for the reinforced seat in my

stalactites meeting stalagmites. Some were larger than a high

coveralls, because I was scooting along an area called the Grand

school football player. All the structures are the result of water

Canyon. It was like going down a slide, made out of gravel. At

dripping off limestone and depositing minerals as it evaporates.

the bottom, we stopped by a creek bed. The ceiling was ten

“They’re supposed to grow a cubic inch every hundred years,

stories (100 feet) above us. I felt as big as a fly in a punch bowl.

but that doesn’t really work out. If one is two feet tall, it’s

Then, upon Paul’s suggestion, we turned off our lights.

possible it’s been here a million years,” said Paul.

It was pitch black. I could hear the creek rustling by, its sound

We proceeded down a path called the Subway, stopping

filling the dark expanse. Then Paul said, “It’s fascinating that this

occasionally to look at bats or peer down a seventy-foot hole in

was going on millions of years before I was a dream.” Suddenly,

the ground. As we continued, I realized I was essentially hiking

all my problems seemed insignificant. At the same time, I knew

in the dark, seeing the world only twenty-five feet at a time. Paul

that if I were alone, without a light, I’d never find my way out.

said, “We used to use brighter lights, but people got scared. LED lights don’t scare people because they can’t see as far.”

Once we turned our lights back on, Paul continued the tour, pointing out the rock structures that have formed over

At the end of the Subway, we came to the Ham Sandwich. (Go

thousands, even millions of years. Hundreds of stalactites hung

figure.) It was a narrow pathway, and I had to suck in my gut,

from the ceiling, and just as many stalagmites gripped the floor.

crawl on my stomach, and scoot on my back to get through it.

Some were the size of soda straws, others as big as my arm.

(Apparently the rocks were the bread, and I was the ham.) One by one, we reached a room just tall enough for Mickey Rooney

@TRAVEL

to stand in. I felt like I was in Journey to the Center of the Earth, but was only 150 to 250 feet below the earth’s surface. We stopped for lunch in the Hall of the Titans, a group of especially large columns that reminded me of sumo wrestlers. Paul said, “The columns were named after the Titan missiles used during the Cold War. The cave was actually listed as a fallout shelter in the 1950s and 1960s.” After lunch, we worked our way through the many levels of the cave. Sometimes there were marks where cavers from fifty years ago left their names. Everywhere, there were rocks—wavy rocks that looked like bacon, white rocks that looked like snow, even rocks that looked like Medusa’s hair. At times, we walked along false floors, which are large rocks originally supported by sediment that has since washed away. They were solid, like thick Jello, but I could feel them bounce as we crossed. Toward the end of the tour, as I was side-stepping along a ledge no wider than a paperback novel, my heart rate picked up for the first time, and I wondered if should have double knotted my laces. By the time we reached the pavement where the Wild Cave Tour had started just five hours before, I was tired, covered in mud, and ready to see daylight. But it wasn’t long before I was ready to go back, ready to put a flashlight the size of a half dollar on my head and discover an amazing underground world just twenty-five feet at a time. Reservations are required. Cost is $75 per person. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/osfnf and click on the Blanchard Springs Caverns link on the right, or call 888-757-2246.

hree elephants lumber across a field and one stops at a spring-fed pond

where she reaches her trunk into the water and draws in a cool drink. This may sound like a scene from the savanna but it’s not. This is Guy, Arkansas, just north of Conway. Elephants in Arkansas – that’ll grab your attention. These particular elephants also grabbed the attention of producers at Animal Planet, nature show star Jack Hanna, and the original Marlboro Man.

@story Tonya McCoy @images Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary

@TRAVEL

A farmhouse and old farm truck are the first things you see

“In the last fifteen years there’s been a shift in how facilities

as you enter Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary. That’s

look at these animals, in that you just can’t dispose of them.

because this is Scott and Heidi Riddle’s home. Here there are

They just can’t say ‘Ah this isn’t really working out.’ But back

cows, horses, chickens, ducks, and yes, elephants. The couple

when we began that was still going on a little bit and that’s one

moved here from Florida in 1989, and started the elephant

of the reasons we started,” says Heidi.

sanctuary about a year later. Heidi grew up in Switzerland on a horse farm and always wanted to work with animals. But she

The couple works with African (noted for their larger ears) and

didn’t know she’d fall in love with working with elephants.

Asian elephants. Right now they have four African elephants: Maximus, Toby, Amy, and Miss Bets. And they have two Asian

“I always figured I’d work with horses or something like that,

elephants: Peggy and Betty Boop.

and I came to the states just to spend a year traveling around with a friend and then one thing led to another and I wound up

Some of these elephants are stars, and not only in the circus sense.

staying,” Heidi says. “And then I heard about a course where you could learn about working with exotic animals.”

Amy, a large African elephant, was shipped to the United States when she was just a calf. Sadly, her whole family was

Heidi started working with elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo,

slaughtered in Africa and she was left with no herd. Bob Norris,

and that’s where she met Scott. The two married, and in

the original Marlboro Man from the 60s and 70s cigarette ads,

the late eighties they started looking for a place to build an

adopted Amy. He fell in love with the little elephant and raised

elephant sanctuary. The large plot of affordable natural land

her on his Colorado ranch. Later, author Malcolm Macpherson

they found in Guy, Arkansas, was a perfect fit. Today, they

wrote Bob’s story in the book The Cowboy and His Elephant.

have 360 acres, complete with sturdy enclosures built from

Eventually Amy outgrew the family ranch and the cowboy could

donated railroad rails.

no longer take care of her. Amy went on to perform in the circus and later retired to Riddle’s Elephant Sanctuary.

The couple worked hard to get the land ready. They knew that when an animal of that size was unwanted, it was usually

But Amy’s not the only famous elephant at the sanctuary.

euthanized. Sometimes owners would even shoot unwanted

Maximus, an African elephant that was the second elephant to

elephants. Before long circuses and zoos were sending the

be born in the sanctuary in 2003, was featured in a documentary.

Riddles elephants from all over the United States. Sometimes

Maximus starred in Animal Planet’s Growing Up Elephant, on the

elephants were sent because owners just couldn’t afford to

Discovery Channel where film crews documented his birth and

keep them. Other times they were sent because they needed

his first year of life.

specialized care due to medical or behavioral problems. The Riddles have housed up to thirteen elephants at one time.

And then there’s Hank, who recently caught the attention of Into the Wild star Jack Hanna. Jack, who works closely with

@TRAVEL

the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, requested the large Asian bull for

People come to live close to these animals for a couple of days.

breeding. So Hank is on temporary leave from the sanctuary.

Visitors also assist in caring for the elephants by helping staff bathe them and clean up after them. And they get to help the

But you don’t have to be a star like Jack Hanna to recognize the

staff feed them, which is no small feat. The adult elephants eat

star quality of these goliaths.

between 200 and 300 pounds of food every day, including nutritionally formulated pellets made for elephants, as well

“Elephants by in large are a popular animal, and most people

as local produce, grain, and even bamboo shoots that are

just want a chance to spend time close to them, learning

grown right on the sanctuary grounds. The guests even get the

what their needs are, just being able to watch them and feed

opportunity to take a short ride on the back of an elephant.

them an apple.” For a small donation, you can also see the elephants on Visitors A few times a year you can get up close and personal with these

Day on the first Saturday of every month from 11am-3pm.

giants at an Elephant Experience Weekend. “We host a small group of people that come in on a Friday

For more information call 501.589.3291 or visit www.

afternoon and stay, and have their meals here and leave Sunday

elephantsanctuary.org.

after lunch. And they get to watch and, if they choose to, they can participate in helping take care of the elephants and so

The sanctuary is located off Highway 25 north of

they get a better understanding of these animals. That’s been

Conway. Look for the elephant shaped sign. It’s a little

fairly popular and people come from all over the country. In

tricky to find, so it’s best to call ahead for directions.

fact, we’ve had some come from overseas.”

@story Todd Whetstine @images Wild Woods Photography

@TRAVEL

he splendor of Petit Jean State Park started as a business venture of a few local businessmen. They owned Fort Smith

Lumber Company and most of the land that is now Petit Jean. At first they planned to profit from all the timber that lay in and around the valley. But after doing their homework they realized they’d actually be taking a loss on the project, because the lumber was in such steep, rugged terrain. By then they’d fallen in love with the land and started a campaign to turn the land into a state park. It’s easy to see why. Petit Jean, just a couple of hours from both Fort Smith and Fayetteville, is home to breathtaking views atop sheer bluffs, a gorgeous cascading waterfall, and plenty of trails and camping spots. Be sure to take in the romantic story behind the park’s name when you visit the historical gravesite of the woman for which the park’s named. Adrienne, taking a new name Petit Jean, dressed as a cabin boy to steal away to the Americas from

Walk through sandstone passageways and across sandstone

France with her explorer fiancé Chavet in the 1700s. When Petit

boulders on Bear Cave Trail. Or enjoy one of the other nine

Jean became gravely ill she requested to be buried in the heart

trails ranging from one-fourth mile to twelve miles in varying

of what is now one of Arkansas’ most popular parks.

difficulty, from easy to strenuous.

The history of this place draws in troves of visitors, but it’s the

Rent a flat bottom boat, peddle boat or a water bike and hit one

beauty that keeps them coming back. I love to come here, listen

of the two lakes, Roosevelt or Bailey. Grab a pole and enjoy the

to the birds sing their first song of the day, and wait for the early

great fishing. There’s also a marina for your convenience.

morning sun to peek over the horizon where the Arkansas River splits the flatlands of the Delta and the Ozark mountains.

Take a couple of days for a family vacation or a couple’s retreat at Mather Lodge that was recently renovated to accommodate

Watch the sun set on the river valley from the Palisades

large groups, with guest rooms and meeting spaces. There are

Overlook. Or climb to the Mary Ann Richter Overlook on Red

two pools, a playground, and a great restaurant. Tall pines shade

Bluff Drive where you can see the peaks of both Mt. Nebo and

the campgrounds that accommodate everything from primitive

Mt. Magazine. You can also see Dardanelle Rock and Holla Bend

camping to RV hookups.

National Wildlife Refuge from this point.

@TRAVEL

Speaking of camps, there are more than 120. Twenty-six of these are pull-through RV sites with electric and sewer, and can be reserved all year long. Each site is shaded by tall pines with a fire ring, picnic table, and a lantern hanger, plus a nice flat spot to pitch a tent. But what happens if you show up unprepared to spend the night? No problem. The park can rent everything you need, from sleeping mats, a camp stove, and believe it or not, a canoe with paddles, lifejackets, and tush cushions! What more do you need? A gift shop? They have that too. Bo, my four-legged hiking companion, and I took it easy on this trip. Instead of blazing trails and pushing as hard as we could, we slowed down, taking strolls and enjoying the beauty of Petit Jean. I even spent some time in the hammock, which is unusual for me. The highlight of Petit Jean is the Cedar Falls trail, which is an extremely steep hike where you must pay attention and use caution as you maneuver it. The pot of gold at the end of this rainbow is well worth the effort. A thundering ninety-five foot waterfall plunges down into the bubbling, boulder-strewn Cedar Creek. Looking for a place to go this summer? Petit Jean State Park is your spot. Photographers love this place, and you’ll likely see at least one of us snapping photos while you’re there. Petit Jean even has its own landing strip. Fly in if you’d like and enjoy the peace, tranquility and spirit of Petit Jean. It’s one of the crowning jewels of Arkansas.

For more information, visit petiteanstatepark.com.

Read Chair Publishing, LLC 3811 Rogers Avenue Suite C Fort Smith, Arkansas 72903