LThree UCA marketing students have created a video about 501 LIFE. Hayden Weber, Chloe London, Editor-in-Chief Stefanie Brazile and Madison Bressler.
finding the best life has to offer
iving Your Best Life is the theme of our April issue, and we have included stories about many Arkansans who are passionate about their lifestyles. This month’s edition features three families who are dedicated to life on a ranch, and the cover photo is one of several that will introduce readers to a working ranch and its fifth-generation owners.
We offer readers live-action photos that seem to have been pulled from a movie set; however, these are the lifestyles of the Caldwell family at Union Rock Cattle Co. in Rose Bud (White County) and of the Mike Lagasse family in Quitman (Cleburne County). While the photos capture sunshine and smiles, raising livestock is a task that never sleeps. Let’s just say they don’t get to take federal holidays!
I recently spent a couple of afternoons with three talented UCA marketing students who have created a video about the magazine. They wanted to explore the benefits of this nearly 18-year-old publication to our readers in 11 counties. I enjoyed watching their creative process and helping them apply skills learned in a classroom to real-life situations. We appreciate Chloe London, Madison Bressler and Hayden Weber for choosing 501 LIFE for their project!
A couple who are living their best lives are the Reverends Lynn and Nathan Kilbourne. Life has not been easy for the couple; they lost a home to a tornado, and both daughters were born prematurely, but the Kilbournes credit their church families for bringing them through those hard times. Nathan will bring that appreciation to the pulpit on April 5 when Christians worldwide celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which gives us all the hope of salvation and truly the best life.
We round out our Live Your Best Life issue with, of course, food! My current guilty pleasure is Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies — sometimes crumbled on ice cream — but you’ll want to check out what Arkansas food historian and author Kat Robinson has chosen as the best thing she’s ever cooked — including the recipe!
Arkansas Farm Bureau, 68
________________________________________________
Barksdale Federal Credit Union, 8
Bell Urban Farm, 17
Bledsoe Chiropractic, 32-33
________________________________________________
Chenal Pines, 77
Circle L Feed & Hardware, 71
Conway Corp, 31
Conway FUMC, 49
Conway Regional Health System, 73, 83
Conway Symphony Orchestra, 65
________________________________________________
Downtown Conway, 48-49
________________________________________________
First Security Bank, 84
First Service Bank, 37
________________________________________________
Harwood Ott & Fisher, 48
Hartman Animal Hospital, 57
Heritage Living Center, 5
________________________________________________
Julie’s Sweet Shoppe, 60
________________________________________________
Karen Ferguson REALTOR®, 25
Kilwin’s, 65
________________________________________________
Methodist Family Health, 53
MSC Eye Associates, 79
Oaklawn Racing, 29
Ott Insurance, 81
Plant Outlet, 76
________________________________________________
Quitman Schools, 59
________________________________________________
Restored Life Counseling, 55
Rose Bud School District, 47
________________________________________________
Salem Place, 43
Shelter Insurance, 77
Sissy’s Log Cabin, 9
South Conway County School District, 19
Spark Community, 15
Superior Health & Rehab, 2
UACCM, 67
Unity Health, 3
University of Central Arkansas, 23
Velda Lueders, 74
________________________________________________
Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, 21
Women’s Leadership Network, 17
________________________________________________
Y107.1, Kat Country, Jack FM, 77
David Grimes is a native of Conway and a graduate of UCA. He and his wife, Laura, both work in accounting and love to stay active in their community. They are parents to three children. He also serves on the Conway City Council, is a board member of the of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and is a big Conway Wampus Cat fan.
Kat Robinson is Arkansas’s original culinary traveler, with three PBS programs, thousands of articles, and 13 books on food in The Natural State to her credit. The Emmynominated documentary host and food historian is currently working on a history of Arkansas barbecue and is a committee member for the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame.
Karl Lesner has worked in the fitness and wellness industry for more than 30 years. Prior to his current role as Fitness Manager at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, he was the Director of the Wellness and Athletic Center at Hendrix College. He is married to Melanie Lenser, who is a preschool teacher at First Presbyterian in Conway.
TASTE OF LITTLE ROCK
April 7 • University of Arkansas Little Rock
Bring your appetite and sample standout dishes from local restaurants at the 21st annual event. All proceeds benefit the UALR Alumni Association and support student scholarships.
TIFFANY IN CONCERT
April 17 • Little Rock
Step back into the era of big hair and shopping malls. Known for “I Think We’re Alone Now,” Tiffany skyrocketed to fame as the youngest female artist to top the Billboard charts.
ARKANSAS TRAVS 125TH OPENER
April 7 • North Little Rock
Spend an evening cheering on the home team while enjoying hot dogs and Cracker Jacks at Dickey-Stephens Park. An exciting opening night kicks off the 501 minor league team’s 125th season.
BELL URBAN FARM PLANT SALE
April 19 • Conway
An exciting mix of vendors will showcase remarkable plants, tools, seeds, fertilizers, raised bed kits, worm castings, native plants, compost bin kits, ice cream, sweet treats, and coffee from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
PAWS ON THE PROMENADE
April 11 • Little Rock
Celebrate your four-legged best friends at this “pawsitively” adorable event. Enjoy a lively community dog walk, games and more, plus meet adoptable pets from the Humane Society of Pulaski County.
PRODUCTION OF THE BOOK OF DOG
April 23-26 and April 30-May 3 • Downtown Searcy
This heartwarming performance explores the bond between dogs and humans. The story follows a stray dog named Marvin who transforms the lives of a girl named Olivia and her family.
TOP LEFT: John and Mary Loe of Vilonia were “Loving LIFE” while skiing at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon, where they also immortalized their favorite magazine in the snow.
TOP RIGHT: Becky Bell (from left), Dr. Scott Bonn and Lisa Hutchison were “Loving LIFE” Feb. 19 at Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus, where the professor and TV commentator discussed his bestselling pop-culture book, “Why We Love Serial Killers.”
BOTTOM LEFT: Greenbrier School District administration office workers were “Loving LIFE” when they discovered co-worker Robin Lewis-Sprague was on the March cover of the annual Home and Garden issue. Lisa Head (from left), Cheryl Hartwick, Lewis-Sprague, Ashley Hammett, Denee Acre, Stephanie Worthey, Leann Livingston and Pam McCammon.
Conway Regional Health System’s marketing department was “Loving LIFE” as they celebrated John Patton’s retirement Feb. 27 after 25 years of dedicated service. Pictured are Waid Rainey (from left), Tori Owens, Keith Kelley, John Patton, Lauren Norris, Jayla Burris, Lane Hancock and Miranda Hogg.
Members of Brownie Troop 6452 of Conway were “Loving LIFE” Feb. 28 while selling cookies. Pictured with co-leader Crystal Kemp are Eden Ayoub (from left), Raeli Ryerson, Kennedy Keith, Adeline Mabry and Iris Pearson.
The Conway Corp TV and Six Leg Media crews were “Loving LIFE” on the road in March in Bryant while covering the 6A state basketball tournament. Six Leg Media, the broadcasting program at Conway High School, partnered with Conway Corp on six home conference basketball broadcasts.
“The Golden Girls” were “Loving LIFE” on Feb. 18. when they surprised 501 LIFE Publisher Jeremy Higginbotham for his 50th birthday at Julie’s Sweet Shoppe.
The owners of O’Malley’s Irish Pub in Conway were “Loving LIFE” when they hosted a huge St. Paddy’s event that spilled outside their restaurant to tents on the parking lot. Jon and Wendy Thomason invited firemen, a bagpipe player and women performing an Irish jig. They also offered St. Patrick’s Day merch, specialty drinks and food. It was a huge success!
CBC supporters gather to invest in the next generation of Christ-centered leaders
“Don’t see CBC for what it was or what it is. See CBC for what it can be.”
—Jonathan Falwell
Central Baptist College hosted its seventh annual Scholarship Gala on March 5 at Antioch Baptist Church in Conway. The evening brought together friends, alumni, churches, businesses and community leaders to support the private Christian college’s mission and to invest in student scholarships. The event featured keynote speaker Jonathan Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University and senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va.
During the program, CBC President Dr. Jeremy Langley announced that $551,643 had been raised through event sponsorships and private donations, with all proceeds designated for student scholarships.
Joey and Valerie Styles and daughter Taylor Collins.
Natalie Smith, Jaclyn Burroughs and Cameron Burroughs.
Makes a splash!!
Afrightened audience experienced the 50th anniversary of JAWS at Reynolds Performance Hall on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas on March 7, thanks to a spectacular performance by the Conway Symphony Orchestra (CSO).
501 LIFE Magazine was the media sponsor for the event. The magazine brought the Shark Squad — Debbie Flowers, Paulette Higginbotham and Preston Higginbotham They were joined by Brand Ambassador Lisa Hutchison who suited up as a shark and delighted moviegoers with photo opportunities.
DRIVEN BY JOY
UCA students build custom cars for children’s independence and mobility
On March 14, seven Central Arkansas children received personalized, ride-on cars from the University of Central Arkansas through the Go Baby Go Program. Go Baby Go is an international, often student-led initiative that modifies battery-powered ride-on cars for children with limited mobility, fostering independence, social interaction and cognitive growth. By providing customized, accessible transportation, the program allows children to move freely, play, explore and interact with siblings and peers in ways that might not otherwise be possible— helping improve both confidence and overall quality of life.
UCA speech-language pathology (SLP), occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students worked in teams for weeks to adapt each car to the child’s specific needs, adding supportive seating, customized controls and safety features. The cars were presented at the Conway High School Fieldhouse, where students, families and faculty gathered to celebrate. As each child climbed into their car and took off, the room quickly filled with smiles, laughter and a clear sense of excitement—making the impact of the project unmistakable.
1. Courtney Clawson (from left), OT crew chief; Mackenzie Kester, PT crew chief; Bridgette Hearn, SLP crew chief; and Claire Althoff, medical student crew chief. 2. Berenice (from left), Javier, Liam, Adria and Emmy Pablo, who was in the driver’s seat. 3. Andrew and Demia Hendrix. 4. Karen Lenard (from left), Teayona Smith and Royal Williams.
Learning Comes to Life
With cutting-edge patient simulators and strong community support, Conway Regional is shaping the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Conway Regional Hospital celebrated the grand opening of a Simulation Lab on March 5. It has state-of-the-art computerized patient simulators that mimic symptoms and diseases. Some simulators can breathe, have a pulse and can even talk. There are simulators for CPR training and giving birth.
The Simulation Lab allows physicians, residents, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to practice complex procedures and emergency scenarios using advanced technology that replicates real patient care situations. This handson training helps medical teams build the skills, coordination, and confidence needed before performing these procedures in clinical settings.
Supported by a $800,000 grant from the Arkansas Office of Skills Development, a $1 million matching initiative from the Conway Regional Health Foundation, and generous community donors, the Simulation Lab will provide training opportunities for more than 1,500 healthcare learners each year as we continue delivering thoughtful, personalized care to the communities the hospital serves.
Chief Administrative Officer Rebekah Fincher (from left); Greg Kendrick, MD; Michael Stanton, MD; President and CEO Matt Troup; Hospital Education Supervisor JoAnna Olson; Board Member Jeremy Riddle; and Lead Content Creator Miranda Hogg.
Keith W. Cooper, MD, interacting with a patient simulator.
NEXT LEVEL LEADING
The Women’s Leadership Network (WLN) hosted a Level Up Conference on March 6 at the Conway Community Center. The conference encouraged women not to let fear hold them back. The speakers inspired attendees to assess their lives and make changes in areas where they are unhappy. For example, asking for a promotion or changing jobs, even if it’s hard. WLN members want to support one another in professional and personal issues.
The Women’s Leadership Network is committed to empowering women to live authentically, and to become agents of influence. What began as a conversation about how to support women has evolved to a network of over 1600 women committed to promoting gender equality, providing resources, and fostering community engagement and leadership for women.
TOP: WLN Board Members Jennifer Mouser (from left), Kelli Brawley, Karen Walker, Paula Myers and Wendy Holbrook, WLN Executive Director Dr. Shaneil Ealy and Lindsay Davis. BOTTOM LEFT: Speaker and sponsor Jessica Crum, owner of Silverlake Design Studio (from left), and keynote speaker Valerie Grubb, founder of Val Grubb and Associates Ltd. BOTTOM RIGHT: Shari Price (from left), Sarah Gumm and Tamra McMahon.
A Step Back in Time
Local students see the past come alive at the Central Arkansas post offices
By Stefanie Brazile
Students from Morrilton Intermediate School (MIS) timetraveled on Feb. 27 to discover historic figures at regional post offices. They experienced the “Picture America” post office mural bus tour, in which University of Central Arkansas (UCA) theater students in full costume portrayed figures from American postal history, as well as the artists behind the New Deal-era murals painted in the post offices.
The tour was coordinated by Dr. Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and Quinn Gasaway, who wrote and directed the performances.
With the United States’ 250th anniversary in mind, UCA has planned a series of community events. One of those was a collaboration with about 50 gifted and talented fifth- and sixth-grade students. They witnessed period monologues depicting life in the past, performed by actors at three U.S. Post Offices and at Morrilton City Hall.
“It’s a challenge to help connect 10- and 11-year-old students to our past 250-year history of America,” said Clair Pruitt, Gifted
and Talented instructor at MIS, which is part of the South Conway County School District. “We walked into post offices with the murals depicting life in the 1930s and 1940s, and students watched actors perform live as historical characters. This gave the students an unforgettable experience of what it was like to live long ago.”
The Picture America post office bus tour stopped in Morrilton (South Conway County), Dardanelle (Yell County) and Paris (Logan County).
The tour highlighted how federal mural projects shaped small-town Arkansas — and how today’s students can see their communities as part of a larger national story.
“I am so grateful to theatre director Quinn Gasaway, who coordinated what was essentially a carefully timed and precision ‘flash mob’ at each stop,” said Seymour, the project’s creator. “MIS students had no idea they would encounter historical figures dressed in period costumes connected to the U.S. postal service — including the artists behind the murals in Dardanelle and Paris — coming to life before them. That element of surprise captured their attention and kept them engaged. And, just as importantly, it made the experience fun.”
About 50 students from Morrilton Intermediate School visited post offices in three counties to view murals painted in the 1930s and 1940s depicting life in rural Arkansas. Actors in period costumes performed monologues for them, bringing the experience to life.
The project was funded by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of Arkansas Heritage; the National Endowment for the Arts; the UCA College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
In Morrilton, they interacted with Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer and Congressman French Hill. They discussed how public art reflects community identity. The next stop was Dardanelle’s 1939 historic post office. The students rotated through simultaneous first-person performances by Benjamin Franklin (portrayed by Chihiro Nakazaki), the first U.S. postmaster general in 1775; Ulysses Simpson Bratton (Keiren Minter), America’s first African American postmaster, who served in Little Rock in 1910; and Ludwig Mactarian (Phil Robbs), the Armenian American artist who painted the Dardanelle mural in 1939.
The final stop was Paris’s historic post office, where the students met Ebenezer Hazard (Echo Mitchell), the U.S. postmaster general from 1782 to 1789. Students also met Flora Hawes (Kaitlyn Kelley), America’s first female postmaster, who served in Hot Springs in 1889; and Joseph Vorst (Ashleigh Mathews), the German American artist who painted the Paris mural in 1940.
“The post office field trip was an onsite learning opportunity that made history come alive; it was most certainly memorable and so much fun!” Pruitt said.
The historical journey back in time would not have been possible without the guidance and support of Seymour, Pruitt, Lipsmeyer and Hill; Blake Reeves, art teacher at MIS; Aida Kuettle, Morrilton’s ESOL and community outreach coordinator; Gasaway, tour coordinator and director; Cozy Cozart, costume designer and technical assistant; Dr. Lesley Graybeal, UCA outreach and community engagement coordinator; Jennifer Deering, UCA grant writer.
Morrilton Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer (from left) and a student listen to Congressman French Hill.
OF IT ALL CENTER THE
A long-awaited space for gathering, growth and big events in North Little Rock
North Little Rock celebrated a major milestone on March 10 with the grand opening and ribbon-cutting of its new Convention Center, a long-anticipated addition to the city’s growing downtown.
Located at 120 Main Street in the Argenta district, the 31,000-square-foot facility was built on the site of the former City Services building and is designed to host a wide variety of events, from conferences and banquets to performances and community gatherings.
The center features a spacious ballroom, pre-function areas and a 1,368-square-foot catering kitchen, along with tables, chairs and
built-in audio-visual equipment to support events of all sizes. The venue can accommodate up to 1,000 guests for seated dinners or 1,500 for larger events and shows.
City leaders say the new convention center fills a longstanding need for a mid-size event venue in North Little Rock, allowing the community to host events locally that previously had to be held elsewhere.
As development continues in the Argenta area, the new facility is expected to attract conferences, performances and visitors, further supporting local businesses and strengthening North Little Rock as a destination for both residents and guests.
LEFT: Dr. Arnessa Bennett. CENTER: Laura Gutierrez (from left), Carlos Gutierrez, Judge Robert Tellez, Antonio Torres, Lucy Garcia and Tony Nar. They are members of NLR’s Chamber of Commerce lead group Bien Pilas. RIGHT: Pat Brewer (from left), Dorothy Williams and Zandra Dotson.
By Kelli Reep • Photo by Makenzie Evans
Three University of Central Arkansas students are turning a class assignment into a real-world opportunity for 501 LIFE Magazine. Chloe London, Madison Bressler and Hayden Weber recently selected 501 LIFE as the focus of a marketing project that includes producing a promotional video and social media strategy for their senior-level business marketing class. The students said the project allows them to apply classroom concepts in a professional setting while supporting a publication rooted in the community.
London said she first became interested in 501 LIFE after noticing the magazine’s office and learning more about its local impact. That initial connection led the group to choose the publication as the subject of their assignment.
“Our goal is to highlight what makes 501 LIFE unique and why it matters to the community,” she said.
As part of the project, the students are developing a video that introduces audiences to the magazine’s mission, storytelling approach and community presence. The finished video will be provided to 501 LIFE for use on its social media platforms in April.
The assignment challenged students to create a campaign that includes both visual storytelling and strategic messaging. The group approached the project by identifying key elements such as audience, purpose and platform, then building a plan around those components.
UCA marketing students Hayden Weber, Chloe London and Madison Bressler.
Bressler said the experience has reinforced the importance of understanding both content and audience.
“We’ve learned how much thought goes into creating something that connects with people,” she said. “It’s not just about making a video. It’s about telling a story that resonates.”
Weber added that working with an established publication brought an added level of professionalism to the project. “It gave us a chance to think beyond the classroom and consider how our work would actually be used,” he said.
The students divided responsibilities based on their strengths, collaborating on planning, filming and editing while also contributing to the overall campaign strategy. The project is expected to be completed later this spring.
In addition to technical skills, the group said the experience helped build confidence as emerging professionals. “Just because we’re in college doesn’t mean we’re not capable of doing professional-level work,” London said. “This project shows that.”
The students also see video as an increasingly important tool in modern marketing, especially when paired with thoughtful strategy. “Video can be really effective when it has a purpose,”
Weber said. “It’s about creating something meaningful, not just content for the sake of it.”
For 501 LIFE, the collaboration offers a fresh perspective and a new way to reach audiences. For the students, it provides hands-on experience that will carry into their future careers.
The team films B-roll scenes at Conway Corp.
COUPLE OF THE MONTH
REVERENDS LYNN AND NATHAN KILBOURNE
CONWAY
Photo by Makenzie Evans
HIS STORY:
I am curious — always wanting to learn new things.
NATIVE OF: Johnson City, Tenn.
EDUCATION: I hold a Bachelor of Arts from Emory and Henry College and a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School. I am also an Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church.
CAREER: I am senior pastor of Conway First United Methodist Church.
HONORS: My daughters told me I was the best dad in the world.
HOBBIES: I enjoy woodworking, hunting and Duke basketball.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: All the church activities!
HER STORY:
I’m an introverted extrovert who loves the church.
NATIVE OF: White Hall (Jefferson County).
CHILDREN: We have two daughters, Eleanor and Lydia.
PETS: We have a rescue dog named Peaches, who is part dachshund and part beagle.
EDUCATION: I hold a Bachelor of Arts from Henderson State University and a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School. I am also an Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church.
CAREER: I am vice president of development for the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas and I am a proud pastor’s wife.
HONORS: For the past three years, I have served as the executive director of the National Association of United Methodist Foundations.
SPECIAL INTERESTS: Jazzercise, reading for book club, and I always think a nap sounds like a good idea.
WHAT IS A FAVORITE FAMILY TRADITION? We look forward to dinner at Patron on Sunday nights!
What will your daughters do this April on Take Your Daughters to Work Day?
THEIR STORY:
We met at Duke University’s seminary and started dating after sitting next to each other in our preaching class. Lynn received a scholarship from the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas, so she was “For Arkansas. For good.” Moving to Arkansas was an adjustment for Nathan, having grown up in the mountains of East Tennessee. Lynn taught Nathan how to call the Hogs, and Nathan taught Lynn the correct way to pronounce Appalachian.
May 30 will be our 17th anniversary, and through these years, we’ve experienced a full range of all the joys and challenges life can present. We lived through a literal tornado in 2014 while living in Vilonia and later that year experienced a figurative one as our daughter Eleanor was born 13 weeks early. She weighed only 2 pounds and 7 ounces. At that time, Nathan was serving as the pastor of Vilonia United Methodist Church, and Lynn was serving as the associate pastor of Conway First United Methodist Church. As pastors, we were both used to helping others and being present for them in their times of pain, grief and fear. For several months, our churches surrounded us with care and compassion while we picked up the pieces of a wrecked house and as we anxiously watched our daughter grow in the NICU at UAMS.
In 2020, we welcomed our second daughter, Lydia. She, too, was born prematurely, but for different reasons. We were living in North Little Rock, both of us serving as senior pastors –Nathan at Jacksonville FUMC and Lynn at North Little Rock FUMC. Again, we found ourselves being cared for by the people for whom we were appointed to care.
Now we’re back in Conway, a city we have loved since the first time we lived here. Both of our daughters are healthy and strong! We don’t believe that God caused any of the obstacles we experienced, but looking back, we can see how God was present with us through it all, most especially through our church communities
They will hang out with the staff at the church office where they get all kinds of treats and occasionally get roped into setting up for events or folding bulletins. Lastly, they get the chance to play with their friends whose parents also work at the church.
In front, Lydia; back row, Lynn (from left), Nathan and Eleanor.
It was the summer of 2020, about three and a half months into the pandemic. Before it began, I had been on the road constantly for more than two years straight, chronicling restaurants and writing books about eateries all over Arkansas.
When restaurants closed and pandemic restrictions began, I went from driving 3,000 miles a month to spending hours in my mom’s kitchen making food.
Every morning, I would get my daughter, Hunter, up for online school, make breakfast for us and dive into cookbooks. We’d have a light lunch around noon, and I’d begin making whatever creation I had decided on for that night. At six each evening, my partner, Grav, would come over from working in his woodshop, and we would sit down with my mom and Hunter and eat dinner together.
At first, dinners were created from recipes in old cookbooks that I wanted to try. It segued into family recipes I wanted to record, then became attempts to create better versions of those dishes.
Fried chicken wasn’t something I often made as an adult. I grew up in the age of “it’s Shake N’ Bake, and I helped!” I watched my grandmother fry chicken, utilizing the grease kept in the back of the oven in a cast-iron skillet, a choice that added other flavors I’ll never be able to duplicate. But
I liked fried chicken. I had taken courses on how to make it and had picked the brains of numerous chefs on how to make it better. I experimented when I had the chance, learned my preferences for flavor and which parts I liked best (I’m a thigh girl), and took notes on how each batch came out.
And one night in July 2020, I got it just right. Here I was with all the time in the world, isolating with my family and playing around in a tiny kitchen. I had ordered chicken thighs from the grocery pickup and finally got them. I had plain yogurt and dill pickles, and I was ready to go. Through a combination of marinating, dipping, frying and baking, I created that night what was, and still is, the best plate of fried chicken I have ever had in my life. I served it with chicken-fried green tomatoes, chow chow, blackeyed pea salad, Esau sweet corn, and homemade mashed potatoes with chicken gravy I’d made from the grease. I shared it with my family, and that night I ruined myself for most fried chicken.
See Kat’s Recipe on page 28
1 pint buttermilk OR plain yogurt
1 pint dill pickle juice
2 Tbsp. pepper sauce, divided (I prefer Crystal pepper sauce with the blue label)
4-5 pounds skin-on chicken thighs
(you may take the skin off, but leave the bone in)
2 cups of large breadcrumbs
(made from freshly toasted bread)
4 cups flour, divided
2 Tbsp. paprika, divided
2 Tbsp. dried parsley, divided
2 Tbsp. garlic powder, divided
2 tsp. salt, divided
2 tsp. black pepper, divided
6 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
Zip-top gallon-size bags
Cast-iron skillet
2 sets of tongs
Metal rack
(for draining chicken after frying)
Roasting pan with rack
A meat thermometer
The day before you fry, blend the buttermilk, or yogurt, with the pickle juice and a tablespoon of hot pepper sauce. Put chicken in gallon-sized ziptop bags (you may need two) and pour in the mix. Smush out the air and massage the marinade into the chicken. Refrigerate overnight.
The next day, place a colander in a bowl. Empty the zip-top bags into the colander and let the chicken drain and lightly air-dry while you set up your frying station. Shake one teaspoon each of salt and pepper together and dust the chicken.
Divide the paprika, parsley and garlic powder evenly between two gallonsized zip-top bags. In one, add three cups of flour. In the other, add the other cup of flour, the breadcrumbs, and the remaining salt and pepper. Beat the eggs together with the remaining pepper sauce.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a cast-iron skillet with about an inch and a half of vegetable oil to between 375 and 400 degrees F.
For each piece of chicken, do the following in order: Drop into the flour bag, seal and shake. Remove with tongs and dip both sides into the egg wash. Drop into the breadcrumb bag, seal and shake. Immediately use a second set of tongs to place the chicken in the hot oil. Repeat until the pan is full. Brown each side until it’s almost the golden color that you want. Remove from oil to metal rack to drain.
When all of the chicken thighs are fried, place on a rack inside a roasting pan and place in the oven. Allow to cook for 35-45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 minutes before serving. The resting time allows the chicken to reach an internal temperature of around 165 degrees before eating.
By Beth Jimmerson
Spring and early summer in Arkansas bring warmer weather, longer days and, unfortunately, the potential for severe storms. High winds, lightning, heavy rain and even tornadoes can quickly move through the region, sometimes leaving power outages and damage behind.
While most people focus on preparing their homes and families, utilities like Conway Corp are also preparing long before the first storm clouds appear.
Keeping the lights on during severe weather is no small task. It takes careful planning, ongoing maintenance and a dedicated team ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Reliability is our No. 1 priority, and our crews work on storm preparation year-round.
Preparation begins with maintaining and strengthening the electric system. Throughout the year, Conway Corp crews inspect and maintain substations, power lines and other critical infrastructure. Trees and vegetation near power lines are trimmed to reduce the likelihood that branches will fall during high winds and cause outages. Equipment is routinely inspected and upgraded to ensure the system is as resilient as possible before storm season begins.
When severe weather is expected, preparations ramp up even further. Crews monitor weather forecasts closely and ensure vehicles, tools and equipment are ready for rapid deployment. Additional staff may be scheduled so that crews are available to respond immediately if outages occur. Dispatchers and field teams coordinate to track outages and determine the quickest and safest way to restore power.
Even with the best preparation, strong storms can still cause outages. When they do, safety is always the first priority. Crews first work to assess damage and isolate problems in the system before
WIFI THAT ADAPTS TO YOUR NEEDS
beginning repairs. In most cases, restoring power to substations and major distribution lines quickly restores service to large numbers of customers before crews focus on smaller neighborhood issues.
Conway Corp also benefits from mutual aid agreements with other utilities. These partnerships allow utilities to send crews and equipment to help each other during major storms. When largescale damage occurs, additional line workers from neighboring utilities can arrive to help speed restoration efforts and ensure power is safely restored as quickly as possible.
While utility crews are preparing for storms, there are also steps residents can take to stay safe. Avoid downed power lines and always assume they are energized. If you experience an outage, report it to Conway Corp and use flashlights instead of candles. It’s also a good idea to keep phones charged, have batteries on hand and prepare an emergency kit during storm season.
Severe weather is a fact of life in Arkansas, but preparation makes all the difference. From routine maintenance and vegetation management to coordinated storm response and mutual aid support, Conway Corp works year-round to ensure our system is ready.
Because when the storm passes, our goal is simple: restore power safely and get our community back to normal as quickly as possible.
Your home deserves fast, reliable internet that learns and adjusts to how you live. Managed WiFi, powered by Plume, delivers consistent coverage in every room — while giving you greater control over your network.
Set parental controls, manage devices, create secure guest access and enjoy always-on security that filters threats and quarantines suspicious activity automatically.
Learn more at ConwayCorp.com/ManagedWiFi.
Last fall, photographers from across the
South converged in Rose Bud for the Western Visions Photography Workshop, led by internationally acclaimed equine photographer Scott Trees.
Based on the experience of photojournalist Diana Cantey
Photos by Diana Cantey and Scott Trees
The thunder of hooves, the shimmer of sunlight on water, and the quiet patience of photographers waiting for the perfect moment all came together on a working ranch in the foothills of the Ozarks.
For one autumn day in Rose Bud, the traditions of ranch life and the artistry of photography met in a celebration of the American West — right here in the 501.
Photographers from across Arkansas and neighboring states gathered Oct. 4, 2025, for the Western Visions Photography Workshop, an immersive event celebrating horsemanship, ranch life and the artistry of equine photography.
Organized by Central Arkansas photojournalist Diana Cantey, the workshop brought together photographers from Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas, including members of the Arkansas Professional Photographers Association and Arkansas Women Photographers. Their destination was Union Rock Cattle Company, a fifth-generation working ranch whose roots stretch back to the 1930s.
Leading the workshop was internationally acclaimed equine photographer Scott Trees, whose five-decade career has taken him around the world photographing Arabian and performance horses. Known for dramatic lighting and emotive imagery, Trees shared not only technical expertise but also a philosophy about connecting with the subject.
The day began at the Red Apple Inn and Country Club in Heber Springs (Cleburne County), where photographers gathered in the rustic Club Room over coffee and pastries. Trees opened the workshop with a presentation on understanding equine behavior — teaching participants how to read a horse’s expression, anticipate its movements, and recognize fleeting moments of beauty and grace.
For many attendees, the workshop quickly became more than just a class. “I was amazed by how quickly everyone bonded,” said one participant from Little Rock. “Even before we left the classroom, I felt like I’d found a new group of friends who shared my passion for storytelling through the camera.”
After the morning session, the group traveled about 10 miles to Union Rock Cattle Company to put those lessons into practice amid the bustle of ranch life. Stock trailers lined the grounds, and the sounds of cattle, horses and leather tack filled the air as photographers spread out across the property.
Four riders charge across open pasture, ropes swinging and hooves thundering, vividly capturing the spirit and vigor of the working West. Austin Dryer (from left), Christan Dryer, Anna Cagle and Megan Caldwell. Photo by Scott Trees
— Scott Trees
by
Photo
Diana Cantey
Cowboys and cowgirls guided cattle through working pens and across open pasture, offering photographers a vivid look at authentic ranch work. At one point, as riders prepared to move the herd, a cowboy pulled out his cellphone and played the familiar theme song from the television show “Bonanza” — an unexpected moment that perfectly blended Western tradition with modern life.
Dust kicked up beneath pounding hooves as riders galloped across the fields, creating scenes that seemed straight from a classic Western film. Later in the afternoon, photographers moved to a lakeside pasture for one of the day’s most dramatic sessions. Ranch owner Seth Caldwell rode his striking gray horse, Tractor, through shallow water, sending arcs of spray sparkling in the sunlight.
Moments later, Megan Caldwell urged her chestnut gelding Zan into a gallop across the water’s edge. The horse’s reflection shimmered on the lake’s surface, creating a powerful silhouette. “This was my favorite part,” said participant Mickey Arlow of Bella Vista. “Finding the right angle to catch the light on the water and the horse’s muscles in motion — it was both challenging and exhilarating.”
As the afternoon faded toward evening, the workshop shifted to portrait work in an open field. The instructor moved among the photographers, offering hands-on guidance and reminding them to stay patient and attentive.
“Scott encouraged us to wait for those honest, unscripted moments,” said Kim Boyd Vickrey-Jones of Jonesboro (Craighead County). “I learned to trust my instincts and let the environment guide my camera.”
Photojournalist Diana Cantey takes photos at the Western Visions Photography Workshop. Photo by Scott Trees
The day concluded with a dramatic finale. Megan returned to the field wearing a flowing royal blue gown and performed an impressive display of trick riding atop her palominos, Slim and Fergie. Her Roman-style ride across the golden field created a cinematic scene that drew applause from the photographers gathered along the fence line.
As twilight deepened, another powerful image unfolded. Cabe Sulhoff rode a towering black Percheron named Shaq across the horizon while carrying a billowing American flag. The last light of day ignited the sky in shades of crimson, orange and gold — a perfect closing frame for the workshop.
“It wasn’t just about taking pictures — it was about feeling the moment and experiencing the ranching culture,” one participant reflected.
For Cantey, the event accomplished exactly what she hoped it would: bringing photographers together to learn, collaborate
and build community while celebrating the heritage of ranch life. Workshops like Western Visions offer photographers opportunities not only to sharpen their technical skills but also to share experiences, build friendships and find inspiration in unexpected moments. By the end of the day, participants left with new knowledge about working with natural light, anticipating equine movement and capturing authentic storytelling images.
But perhaps more importantly, they left with a renewed appreciation for the culture and landscape that inspired those photographs.
As the sun slipped below the pastures of Union Rock Cattle Company, the echoes of hooves and camera shutters faded into the quiet evening — leaving behind images that captured the beauty of ranch life in the Natural State.
Megan Caldwell bravely experiences Roman riding, standing barefoot on her horses Fergie (on the left) and Slim who are not tied together in any way. The horses can also jump fire. Megan has practiced this style for about six years, and has done trick riding all over Arkansas for much longer. Self taught, the mother of three performs at rodeos and events. Photo by Diana Cantey
A Rose Bud ranch family builds a life of purpose, legacy and joy
By Phyllis Ormsby
While some capture the spirit of the West through a lens, others live it every day. Megan and Seth Caldwell of Union Rock Cattle Co. in Rose Bud find blessings in their work, and there might be a little mud and manure mixed in, too. These young ranchers are quick to tell you, though, that when the work is hard, the blessings are big.
Seth is a fifth-generation rancher operating on land his family has had for about 100 years. “This all got started back in the ’30s,” he said. The family raised cotton and other crops, transitioned into dairy cows, then into beef cows, and along the way started producing eggs. In the early 1970s, Seth’s great-grandfather Bill was into Black Baldies and Brangus cattle. Today, they focus on purebred Brangus and breeding for carcass merit.
He grew up spending a lot of time at his greatgrandfather’s house in Rose Bud, sleeping overnight on a pallet and going to eat breakfast at what used to be the Conoco with all the older men from the community. Today, he and Megan live in that same house where they are raising their three sons, twins Brecken and Byson, 6, and Monte Blu, 3. “There were a lot of memories in that house and we were blessed to be able to buy it,” Seth said.
The biggest blessing of all, they said, is getting to raise their boys on the ranch. “I couldn’t have asked for any
better way to raise boys,” Megan said. “They never sit still so we’re always out doing and going. From farming to raising animals, raising my boys in this way of life is something I could have never dreamed of. Ranch life is a great way to raise good people.”
“Kids get so much more exposure to things, real-life problems, birth and death,” Seth said. “You learn about love and beauty and peace. I think it’s the way God intended it. We’re just being a part of nature, and I think raising kids in that, well, there’s no better way to do it. You won’t find harder-working or better kids than kids raised in that atmosphere. I think that’s something to be really thankful for, when your kids know how to work and act and how to live and know God and family are the most important things.”
“This lifestyle isn’t just about animals,” Megan said “It’s about beliefs and values passed down through generations. Ensuring things are left better for those yet to come. It’s all about the legacy.”
Megan and Seth Caldwell of Rose Bud are raising their sons on land his family has owned for nearly 100 years. Their young sons (Brecken, Byson and Monte Blu) are growing up on a 3,000-acre working ranch. In May, the Caldwells will host their second annual calf branding event for friends and neighbors. Last year, it took two days of hard work, fellowship and laughter to brand 200 calves with the Union Rock Cattle Co. brand. They want to create an experience where ranchers help one another and make memories that last a lifetime.
Ranching may look glamorous in TV shows and movies, but the reality is that the work never stops and it often involves blood and sweat, mud and manure. There’s a total of about 3,000 cows, calves and bulls on about 3,000 acres that the ranch owns, plus another 3,000 acres that are leased. The cattle are usually worked off horseback and every single cow is dewormed and vaccinated twice a year. Then there’s calving season and breeding season, not to mention tending to pastures, growing and cutting hay and all the fences that require constant monitoring and repair.
All of this has always been normal life for Seth, but Megan had never been around livestock until she was a junior at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She came there on a track scholarship after growing up outside of Chicago. “There was no land or livestock around,” she said. “My first rural experience was coming to Fayetteville. I grew up doing sports and that’s all I knew.”
After two years of not having a declared major, she signed up for an animal science class, met Seth and then fell in love with horses. She had 16 years of gymnastics under her belt and was drawn to trick riding and later to Roman riding. In 2014, Megan sent in a video application to be a flag girl, one of an elite team of 21 skilled horsewomen who perform during the 10-day Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. At the time, she said, she had no idea what the NFR was, but she fell in love with rodeo and to date has performed there five times – once while pregnant. “I love all
the aspects of behind the scenes, getting to be part of the biggest rodeo there is. I just got the right opportunities. The connections and the friendships I’ve made have been incredible,” Megan said.
Last May, the Caldwells decided to host a calf branding at their ranch. Friends and neighbors came over for two days of hard work, fellowship and lots of laughter. At the end of it all, 200 calves wore the Union Rock brand, but that’s not the only reason for the gathering. “It’s important to have your brand on them but that’s not what I was trying to accomplish. It was more about the family side of things, the legacy,” Seth said. “The calves having a brand on them and having smoke in your face was just extra. We just wanted to create an opportunity for our family and friends to get together and spend time together. To come to a place and learn and have fun and make memories to last a lifetime.”
“I’ve only seen these branding events on TV shows,” said Megan. “Our vision, our goal, was to put together something people could look forward to every year, make a memory.” The event must have been a hit, because their second annual branding is set for this May, one more opportunity to make lifetime memories for their boys, the Caldwells said.
“What we do is not just a weekend hobby, it’s a way of life,” Seth said. “It’s the stuff that people don’t see at 2 or 3 in the morning when we’re pulling a backwards calf out of a first-time heifer. Once you’ve been a part of it, it’s just what you want to do. There’s nothing in this world I’d rather do than what I’m doing now.”
Churches in the greater Downtown Conway area invite you to visit this month!
Thinking about Easter underscores the value of community worship throughout the year. Beyond Easter services, there are many reasons to be part of a local church. Attending Bible studies, prayer groups, and worship services connects people to a faith community and provides spiritual growth and a sense of purpose. Also, when Christians gather, it strengthens everyone through the love they express among themselves. Visit these churches on social media to find schedules for their services:
Robinson & Center Church of Christ, 1505 Robinson Ave.
Christ Church Conway, 1065 Clayton St. City Church, 1832 Robinson Ave.
Conway First Baptist Church, 1719 Robinson Ave.
Conway First United Methodist Church, 1610 Prince St.
First Presbyterian Church, 2400 Prince St.
Greater Pleasant Branch Baptist Church, 601 Spruce St. One Church, 1073 Front St.
Saint Peter’s Episcopal, 925 Mitchell St.
Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 1265 Robins St.
St. Joseph Catholic Church, 1115 College Ave.
Cabot’s Michelle Mace blends art, adventure and purpose into everyday life
By Phyllis Ormsby • Photos by Makenzie Evans
It’s hard to put a label on the eclectic life of Michelle Mace. She has trained dogs to perform in plays and at Razorback games, trained horses, worked canine search and rescue, and taught herself to play the accordion, piano, guitar and violin while operating her own mobile dog grooming business. In her spare time, she creates artwork from painting and sculpting to needle felting and sewing. She also wants to learn archery from horseback. So you could label her eclectic life, her best life!
“My whole life I’ve been looking for new challenges and new ways to grow and experience everything life has to offer, because it truly is a gift and I want to take full advantage of every possibility,” Mace said. “I just want to see and do everything that’s possible because we’re only here once. I don’t want to miss out.”
Now 56 and living in Cabot, she said her desire to try new things started when she was a kid. Her dad was in the Air Force and she was born here in Arkansas, but Mace grew up in rural Pennsylvania, where most of her family still lives. “There were no kids to play with out there, but we always had plenty of barn cats, a dog and horses. I was out there messing around with the horses, working at liberty, teaching the barn cats how to sit up and jump through hoops,” she said. During those harsh Pennsylvania winters, she was inside working on all sorts of crafts and art projects.
When she and her husband, Kenneth, moved to Arkansas in 1992, she joined a training club and got a German shepherd. Mace worked as a vet tech at a clinic, and the director of a search-and-rescue group invited her to join. That started a 29-year commitment to canine search and rescue, and it became the most enriching period of her life. “Search and rescue took me a lot of places,” she said. “I traveled everywhere to seminars and earned college credits.”
Michelle Mace, of Cabot, trained her dogs to perform on stage and in commercials. She also raises horses, creates sculptures and paints them. Continued on page 53
Michelle Mace has trained her pets to perform. Rabbitt represented Purina in 2024. In 2019, Hamilton played Sandy in “Annie” at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse in Little Rock. (Photo courtesy of Murry’s.)
Last year, Michelle and her dog Rabbit performed at a Razorback football game and a basketball game. They heard the cheers of 70,000 people.
‘The main thing that makes me feel like I’ve succeeded in life is to know that I’ve made a difference in the lives of others.’
Mace and her dogs have searched through tornado rubble and been called to find evidence for murder investigations. Sometimes, they can reunite a family. Other times, they provide closure. “You have to learn to handle all the emotions. That kind of thing is very sobering. One thing that really helped me is to write about my experiences,” she said. One day, she hopes to compile those memories into a book.
“Search and rescue is something you choose to do. It’s 100 percent volunteer. You have to be ready no matter what you face. You must be trained on HazMats, ready for meth labs with booby traps; we have to recognize those things and keep ourselves and our dogs out of danger,” she said.
The time commitment and the physical strains were heavy. She also lost a lot of time with her family, which had grown to include three daughters, so when her last searchand-rescue dog passed away a couple of years ago, Mace retired. But search and rescue is only part of what she trained her dogs to do. Some became not searchers, but stars.
Mace met Ginger Murry of Murry’s Dinner Playhouse in Little Rock when she started her mobile grooming business back in 2000. The Playhouse celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017 with “The Wizard of Oz.” “I wanted to find a shelter dog to train him to be in the play,” she said. “Afterwards, we adopted him out to an approved home.”
In 2019 the Playhouse was going to do “Annie.” Mace was already on the hunt for another dog to train for plays, and that’s when she found 9-week-old Hamilton, a scruffy, bewhiskered terrier mix so photogenic that she found an animal talent agency for him. He appeared in advertising for a major pet food brand before he was a year old. Now nearly 8, he has starred in “Annie” five times.
— Michelle Mace
Then she found and trained Rizzo, a purebred Russell terrier who has played Toto twice and is now 5 years old. “All dogs make great pets but not all do well in these situations,” Mace said. “First off, I want a dog with a stable temperament. I’m not set on a purebred breed. I want a dog that’s outgoing, that wants to be in the middle of everything and has a lot of energy and a lot of drive. Those are the most trainable. Some dogs have been selectively bred to be biddable and take orders from humans. Some are basically bred to be cute and that’s fine, too.”
Dogs with high energy and drive aren’t always the easiest ones to live with, Mace added. “They aren’t going to be happy with just a walk or two during the day.” She’s grateful for the patience and support of her husband in a household with nine dogs, one of which has five puppies.
They do dog sports, like dock diving, Frisbee competitions and scent work, and perform at schools and events like the Cave City Watermelon Festival. Last year they performed at a Razorback football game and a basketball game. “There is nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of hearing 70,000 people roar because your dog just made an incredible catch,” she said. “But the ultimate thing is the partnership. You really cannot force a dog to do anything. They do it because they love it. I love to have other people get to enjoy my dogs.
“The main thing that makes me feel like I’ve succeeded in life is to know that I’ve made a difference in the lives of others. Whether that’s through the work in search and rescue or bringing joy to audiences through a performance, I feel if we could all just try to bring a little joy to others, the world would be a much better place. And my specialty or calling is trying to do that through my dogs.”
How we prevent burnout and stay energized on the job by Working Well, Living Better
By Tresvil G. Pack, Ph.D., assistant professor at UA Little Rock
The best way to prevent burnout is to find work you love. The statement, “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life,” often attributed to Mark Twain, is at least partially true. If we find work that matters to us and aligns with our interests, values and skills, we are more likely to remain productively employed doing that work.
We can put that in another frame by looking at the Theory of Work Adjustment, researched by scholars in the past (Dawis, England, and Lofquist, 1964; Biscontini, 2024). They found that tenure in any job is achieved when the employee is satisfactory and satisfied. Satisfactoriness is defined as having the abilities required to do the work, and satisfaction is defined as the work providing the reinforcers that the employee values.
The rest of the story, however, is that no matter how great a fit any individual is for any position, burnout can occur if certain conditions are not met.
To prevent burnout in a job that is a good fit, you need to set good boundaries around work. That means that there are defined times for work and times that are not for work. I have heard of individuals being on call 24/7 for several years. Do you know what those jobs have in common? They can’t keep good people because they burn them out.
Defining the work timeframe is only one strategy to prevent burnout. Another strategy is to take breaks throughout your workday. If you see clients or have meetings for your work, that will mean not scheduling them back-to-back all day, but giving yourself a 15- to 30-minute break every few sessions and scheduling a lunch break every day. There are going to be days when you need to schedule yourself as tightly as possible, either to meet goals/deadlines or to make time later in the week for something else. When you have days with meetings scheduled back-to-back, make sure to grab a drink
between clients or go to the restroom. If you don’t need a drink or restroom break, then take time to do something to relax or recenter yourself. This might be as simple as a stretch, using some breathing techniques or a walk around the building. Doing something to break up the routine of back-to-back meetings helps you recoup some of the energy lost in the previous meeting.
If you work with machines, these same principles apply. Don’t sit at your machine all day. Make sure you build in a minimum of two 15-minute breaks and a longer lunch break. I would recommend taking a short break every hour to get up and move for a few minutes. The increased heart rate and circulation in your body will help you stay focused for the next hour.
Strategies that help prevent burnout include:
Seeking support: This could look like your friends, coworkers, family members, church members, a professional counselor or therapist.
relaxation: Look for programs in your local area designed to help you relax. Yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, guided imagery and journaling are examples.
Good nutrition: A healthy diet that provides the needed nutrients, without excess carbohydrates and sugars, will result in greater resilience.
Exercise: Regular activity will burn off some of the cortisol and adrenaline you produce while operating under stressful conditions.
Sleep: Adequate rest allows the body to rejuvenate, which results in a greater ability to withstand stressful events the next day.
PERCY’S COMEBACK powerful
From shelter stress to a loving home, Conway pup’s life takes a joyful turn
By Lori Dunn • Photos by Makenzie Evans
It’s hard to believe that just over a year ago, Percy was living on the streets of Conway. With no roof over his head and no steady source of food, every day was a question mark, and he was growing thinner.
Percy was picked up by animal control and taken to Conway Animal Services, but suffered from anxiety and did not adjust well to shelter life. Then he received a lifeline.
Laura Fleming began volunteering with Conway Animal Services in the spring of 2025. She moved to Arkansas from Pennsylvania in 2024 and realized that she had some extra time and wanted to be part of her new community.
“We had just moved here, and I had all this free time to help,” she said. “Percy was one of the first dogs I met when I started volunteering.”
Percy is a pit mix with some boxer in his DNA. His veterinarian believes he is about 3 or 4 years old, but he still has a lot of “puppy
energy,” Fleming said. Sadly, a year ago, Percy was not playful when Fleming came into his life because he was stressed and agitated.
“He was spinning around in his kennel. He had bad skin and diarrhea. He was losing weight, and it was really sad to see,” Fleming said. “He was in a kennel between February and August.” During that six-month period, the shelter staff and volunteers did their best for Percy, but time was limited by the number of animals they had to care for. No one ever applied to adopt him, and life was not very hopeful.
But Fleming could not get Percy out of her mind or her heart. Fleming is a dialysis social worker, and her animals help her relax after work. She decided to take him home for a weekend visit to meet her kids and partner Chris Bierman, and see how he would do outside of the shelter.
“I just wanted to get him out for a little bit,” she said. Percy did really well during the home visit and got along well with the three other dogs in the house. The stray saw how dogs with forever homes were living their best life!
Continued on page 58
“When I look back at the pictures of Percy from when we first brought him home, it’s hard to think of how he struggled living on the streets. Searching for food or a quiet shelter to lay his head must have been difficult, but despite those challenges he has such love in his heart. As much as we changed his life by bringing him into our home, his goofy smiles and playful cuddles have brought unmeasurable happiness to ours.”
— Laura Fleming
The other dogs are Skeeter, an American foxhound adopted from the shelter; Luna, a pit mix; and Koda, a Dutch shepherd. Koda is the “grumpy old man” of the group, but they all get along pretty well, Fleming said.
In fact, Percy did so well during his home visit that Bierman decided he needed to be in a home environment rather than the shelter. “Chris said, ‘There is no way we are going to send him back.’ So, we fostered him, and he gained weight,” Fleming said. “I just loved him. He is so sweet.” The couple formally adopted Percy in January.
Percy is now comfortable with his family and fur brothers. He knows that he can count on them, and all the anxiety has faded away. Even though he weighs about 60 pounds, he is still a lap dog. “He was timid at first, but now he is just all over me. He is very attached to me and is snuggly all the time,” Fleming said.
His appetite is also much better. “He eats everything. There does not seem to be a single thing he doesn’t like,” she said. He loves his chew bones, too.
Besides being petted and receiving attention, he loves lying in the sun in their fenced backyard. And Percy also loves day trips. “If I go out to get in the car, he will jump in. He likes to ride,” Fleming said. She encourages any animal lover to volunteer at their local shelter.
“When we moved down here, we didn’t know anybody. Helping at the shelter made me feel like part of the community,” she said. “It’s hard to see some of the dogs when they come in and are in bad condition. But there are a lot of people doing everything they can to save them.”
And who knows. A person just might meet a new best friend that way. “Percy really brings so much joy to us. He is a sweetheart for sure,” Fleming said.
Percy’s path from living on the streets to living in a loving home is more than a pup could dream of, and he helps them live their best life by giving them unconditional love. And lots of puppy kisses.
Best Lifedefining my
By Vivian Lawson Hogue
As I approach a birthday, I am thinking of the blunders that endangered my “nine lives.” Before the age of 3, I fell into a fishpond in our yard. Fishponds were the trend in Old Conway at some earlier point. I think I just wanted to see some fish and leaned over too far. I don’t recall who pulled me out, but the event caused my mother to cover the pond with chicken wire.
Two years later, I found a bottle of aspirin and ate several. When mother discovered the bottle and me, she scrambled an egg and made me drink it. I would think drinking a raw egg would be more dangerous than eating an unknown number of aspirins. I was supposed to throw up and didn’t, but at least I had no headaches. In the second grade, I was included in a “rhythm band” set to perform on the stage of the old “red building.” We wore homemade costumes of red, white and blue crepe paper. My teacher, Mrs. Clark, played piano for the group. As we prepared to practice one day, we all “fine-tuned” our “instruments,” of which mine were cymbals. I was directed to stand behind Mrs. Clark, and that was HER mistake. MY mistake, for a reason known only to a 7-year-old, was thinking it would be entertaining to clang those cymbals behind her head. After doing so, she justifiably gave me the public tongue-lashing of my life.
A few years later, I descended quickly and unexpectedly from a limb of a neighbor’s oak tree. It was probably about 8 feet to planet Earth, enough to knock the breath out of me. I was able to get up but couldn’t breathe well or speak as I ran across the street to our house. In that era, there was no traffic on College Avenue, so my least concern was looking for oncoming cars. I couldn’t get many words out to my mother, but she’d probably seen it before. As she continued canning tomatoes, she said to lie down and I’d be all right. And I was.
My latest bad move was nothing like these but was just as frustrating, embarrassing, etc., etc. It was caused by many distractions and hurried circumstances. It is nearly impossible to retract words, thoughts, images or errors once they are published. Yet here is my pitiful explanation for my blunderful February column. I will preface by saying that before teaching art, my earlier subjects taught were geography and American and world history. I DO KNOW George Washington lived at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson lived at
Monticello, but in my haste, I typed the opposite. My son read that column and emailed to say, “I hate to be ‘that guy,’ but … ” and you know the rest. My apologies to George and Thomas.
But there are parts of my life that are not so “blunderous.”
My parents, although from different socioeconomic levels, made two good decisions: dad asked mother to marry him and she said yes. Because they were both teachers, they had our “raisin’” and education foremost in their minds. We five siblings had caring, attentive, nurturing parents. Mother continually worked for her family of seven. She cooked, sewed, washed clothes in a wringerwasher and lugged baskets of heavy, wet garments outside to dry. She did teach me valuable laundry lessons. When washing, add bluing to the white clothing. Also, if I knew what was good for me, I wouldn’t wash anything red with the five guys’ white underwear.
Mother read to me from the McGuffey readers until I eagerly read for myself. She made cloth dolls for me and kept a sharp eye out on her last child and hoped-for girl. That girl, however, climbed trees, had no interest in dolls, and did not inherit her mother’s fabric art talents.
Mother made my school clothes as well as some Naugahyde seat covers for a brother’s car. She crafted my beautiful, peau de soie pageant dresses with rhinestone embellishments and handmade roses. When I began my teaching career, she created full-sized cloth flags of the major world powers, all of which we hung from the ceiling of my classroom.
My dad was not an affectionate man, but we knew he loved us and held dedication to our welfare and education. He taught me much of his botanical and insect knowledge. For example, I learned that if stick-tight seeds ever attach themselves to your socks, you may as well toss them.
I have, so far, lived what I consider the “best life,” which includes my husband and children, but I also have, so far, lived the life I was given. God knows everyone before they ever appear in their mothers’ wombs. He says He knows how many hairs are in my now-white tresses and surely knows there are fewer now. Bless His heart, I know he meant well, but He had His hands full with this one.
BACK ON STAGE FIFTY YEARS LATER
A forgotten Arkansas band finds new fans — and a second life
By KD Reep • Photos by Makenzie Evans
In the late 1970s, a group of young Morrilton musicians climbed onto the roof of a shopping center in North Little Rock, instruments in hand, as police officers below aimed their weapons. It looked like a scene from a movie, but it was something else entirely: the cover of the first Fyter album.
More than 40 years later, Fyter is back, and this time, their music is reaching far beyond Arkansas. “We just wanted something cool,” said Travis Johnson, lead guitarist and vocalist, about the album cover. “We took our guitars, climbed up there and made it look like we were the bad guys in a movie.”
The moment was staged with help from the North Little Rock Police Department, thanks to a connection through the band’s manager. What
started as a creative idea became a striking visual that still turns heads today. Back then, Fyter was like many young bands in Central Arkansas. Formed by musicians who crossed paths in competing groups, the band came together organically. The local music scene was limited, especially for musicians not yet old enough to play in bars, but the band performed at proms, Knights of Columbus halls and wherever they could. “There weren’t that many places, but we made it work,” said bassist Kevin Compton. Like many bands of the era, Fyter dreamed bigger. After being turned down by record companies, they took matters into their own hands and recorded their first album in Oklahoma City in 1978. “We always wanted to make an album,” said Mike Newman, lead singer and rhythm guitarist. “When nobody else would do it, we just did it ourselves.”
Continued on page 65
‘The first thing we thought was, “Do people really want to see a bunch of older guys play?” But it sold out, so that answered that.’
— Mike Newman
They pressed about 1,000 copies, selling them at shows and placing a few in local record stores. At the time, it was a modest effort. Today, those same records have become collector’s items. “People still reach out and say they have one,” Compton said. “It’s kind of cool after all these years.”
Eventually, the band members went their separate ways. Life moved forward with careers, families and distance, though music never fully left them. Then came an unexpected email. Years later, the band was contacted by a European music publication, It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine (psychedelicbabymag. com), which focuses on obscure and collectible bands. At first, the message seemed questionable. “I thought it was junk,” Newman admitted. “But they followed up and said it was legit.”
The band agreed to answer questions, and soon their story appeared online. That exposure led to something even more surprising. A record label in Spain, working through publisher Out-Sider Records and distributed by Guerssen Records, expressed interest in re-releasing Fyter’s original album. They also wanted to release a second album made up of previously unreleased songs. “We didn’t go looking for it,” Newman said. “They came to us.”
And the deal came with another surprise. “You don’t pay us,” the label told them. “We pay you.”
In March 2025, both albums were released simultaneously. A limited run of colored vinyl sold out within days, snapped up by collectors worldwide. “Apparently, there’s a network of collectors who watch for these things,” Johnson said. “They grab them as soon as they come out.”
Continued on page 67
A group of guys from Morrilton formed a band named Fyter in the late 1970s and produced one album, then went their separate ways. About two years ago, a record label in Spain contacted them, wanting to reproduce the first album and to produce a second album of unreleased songs. In March 2025, “Fyter Flying” was released and it was an immediate success with oversees fans and collectors around the world.
What was once a small, self-produced album from Arkansas is now circulating internationally, often selling for far more than its original price. With renewed interest in their music, the band decided to do something they had not done together in decades: get the band back together and perform.
On March 7, Fyter took the stage at Cedar Lounge in Morrilton.
The show sold out well in advance, with a waiting list for tickets. Fans traveled from multiple states to attend. “The first thing we thought was, ‘Do people really want to see a bunch of older guys play?’” Newman said. “But it sold out, so that answered that.”
For the band, the night was more than a performance: it was a reminder of the impact they made years earlier. And on stage, something clicked. “You realize you’re part of people’s lives,” Johnson said. “They come up and tell you they met their spouse at one of your shows. You don’t always realize that at the time. I had moments where I thought, ‘This is what I’m supposed to be doing. I felt at home again.”
Getting back to that point was not effortless. The band had to shake off the years during rehearsals, held at Johnson’s home in Mayflower. Still, the chemistry returned faster than expected. “It was rusty,” Compton said. “But not as bad as we thought it would be.”
The current lineup includes Johnson, Compton, Newman and drummer Steve Braud, who stepped in following the loss of the band’s first drummer. Together, they blend original songs with covers, creating a show that resonates with longtime fans and new listeners alike. “Most people don’t know our original songs,” Compton said. “But they recognize the covers, and then they discover the rest.”
For Fyter, this second chapter is not about chasing fame. It is about rediscovery, connection and joy. “It’s about live rock and roll,” Johnson said. “There’s still a place for it. There’s still a reason for it.”
Upcoming performances at Cedar Lounge are scheduled for April 10 and May 23, giving fans more opportunities to experience the band’s revival. More than four decades after their first album, Fyter is once again doing what they set out to do in the beginning: making music, connecting with people and living fully in the moment.
Kevin Compton (from left), Mike Newman, Steve Braud and Travis Johnson make up Fyter. Braud stepped in following the loss of the band’s first drummer, Duane Harlan.
the lagasse way
A family business built on hard work, service and deep community roots.
By Judy Riley • Photos by Makenzie Evans
Hard work, persistence and a big heart are the secrets to Mike Lagasse’s lifestyle and his success. He was born on a Naval base in Norfolk, Va., but when his dad retired, the family moved to the Wooster Community in Faulkner County. “My dad was a big influence on my five siblings and me. He stressed the importance of hard work and getting a good education. Through the family’s business, a small service station in nearby Shady Grove, we learned to be honest and fair with everyone and to always use good manners. Dad’s Golden Rule was, if you are on time, you are late! We learned to be punctual and manage our time wisely,” Lagasse said.
Cattle and farming were always an interest for him; he got his first cow in the fourth grade. Later, influenced by agriculture teacher Paul Wilcox at Greenbrier, Lagasse’s attraction to agriculture grew. “Wilcox taught us to show cattle and challenged us to know agriculture. There was always work to do on the farm. In junior high and high school, I learned to fix flats and pump gas working for my dad, and to milk cows on two nearby dairies, the Dunks and the Angels,” he said.
Lagasse attended the University of Arkansas after graduating from high school. His major was animal science with a minor in agricultural business. Both degrees prepared him for his future, but not without work and sacrifice. After his first year of college, he had to take a semester off to work to pay for the next semester. Lagasse did that twice, working construction and washing cars for a car dealership. He graduated in 1989 and went to work for the Southern Farmers Association, a member-owned cooperative with feed stores across Arkansas. He stayed with them for 10 years, managing stores in Searcy, Augusta and Newport.
Lagasse purchased his own feed store in 1999 in Quitman. He began with 1,000 square feet, including a warehouse and showroom. Over the years, Circle L Feed has grown to 20,000 square feet on 5 acres surrounding the store. He caters to farmers and kids in FFA and 4-H with agricultural projects, providing specific feed rations for different species of animals. Circle L Feed has one of Central Arkansas’s largest inventories of animal management and health supplies. As the business grew, as if that were not enough, so did the cattle farm. He now has a herd of 450 momma cows, and he spends most of his time with them.
Lagasse has three daughters. Harleigh and Lainie manage the feed store, and Sydney, the youngest, is still in high school but has worked there. His three stepchildren, Will, Austin and Laci, his brother Stephen and several nieces and nephews have worked for him over time. His wife, Donya, works full-time as an asset supervisor for a trucking firm and takes care of the home and the family pets. From the beginning, it has been a true family business. He adds that the employees who aren’t family have worked for them a long time and might as well be family.
Success is simple for Lagasse. It’s hard work, sacrifice and dedication — principles learned at the feet of his parents. In addition, good employees and strong community relationships contribute to this success. “Local folks like to shop local, and we do everything we can to meet their needs. I preach to our employees to go above and beyond in service, whether it is special orders or keeping inventory in stock. After that, we give back any time we can. It might be buying or adding on to other buyers for kids who show animals in four area county fairs, giving to area church pantries and food banks, or supporting youth fundraisers. Our giving has a theme: helping those who have faithfully supported us through the years,” he said.
Lagasse is living a lifestyle many would envy, built on these values and close family ties. “The best part of my life is waking up every day, getting to do what I love, having a family-oriented business and cattle farm. I enjoy helping other farmers do what they love. I am grateful for my wife and kids and their support. I am grateful for people continuing to support small family businesses so we can continue supporting agriculture for future generations.”
Laci Garrett (from left), Sydney Lagasse, Donya Lagasse, Mike Lagasse, Lainie Lagasse and Harleigh Lagasse.
“Becoming the best you can be makes you feel the best you can feel.”
— Dr. George Sheehan
Small, consistent activity can boost energy, reduce health risks and improve daily life
By Karl Lenser
With this issue of 501 LIFE focused on living your best life, I thought it would be prudent to address the importance of physical movement as a means to enhance and improve your life. There are many benefits to incorporating an active lifestyle, such as more energy throughout the day, reducing the risk of developing life-limiting diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, in addition to obesity and low-back pain.
Unfortunately, a common misconception is that individuals need to spend a superfluous number of hours working out at a fitness center to receive health benefits. The good news is that simply investing 30-45 minutes of movement four to five days per week will significantly impact one’s overall health. The key to obtaining the physical benefits of movement is finding ways to move and being creative with a mindset that looks for opportunities to burn calories and enjoy the activity.
For example, taking the stairs instead of an elevator is one simple way to add some physical activity to your day. If you have a sedentary office /desk job, set a reminder to get up and take a walking break, as sitting for long periods of time is detrimental to the lower back (especially with poor posture) and overall health. Studies have shown that even highly conditioned athletes, such as triathletes and marathon runners, are susceptible to some negative health risks if they are sedentary for extended periods (it’s rare, but it can happen).
Walking is always the “go-to” activity as it is a simple and natural movement, in addition to being a good calorie burner. Now that warmer weather has arrived, getting outside for a walk or bike ride is a much easier option than on the dark, cold days of winter.
Joining a fitness center is a great investment in one’s health, as it offers many options to improve cardio fitness, in addition to strength, balance, and flexibility. Another benefit of joining a fitness center is the social aspect that is vital to living better and enhancing one’s overall health. Group exercise classes provide a great example of merging the physical fitness portion of wellness into the social component. Working out with others makes the workout more enjoyable and provides a wonderful opportunity to develop new friendships.
The human body has more than 600 muscles that are designed to move and put into action. Failure to consistently use these muscles greatly increases the risk for health problems that can make it difficult to live your best possible life. Everyone can benefit by getting physically active and enjoying the social, mental and physical benefits that will help you live better.
Physical movement is inexpensive medicine and is an investment that has amazing rewards and benefits. People who are moving are improving!
Karl Lenser and his daughter, Anna Lenser, celebrate after the Little Rock Half Marathon on March 1. Karl proudly ran across the finish line 85th out of 2,800 finishers. He also won 1st place in the male 65-69 age group. Anna ran a personal best time of 2:08.
By David Grimes • Photo by Makenzie Evans
Bobby Tiner’s accomplishments on the football field spanned over four decades, both as a player and a coach.
Tiner was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) in 1990 as part of the 32nd class, joining Geese Ausbie, Leota Barham, Benny Ellender, Lowell “Hoss” Manning and Henry Moore.
Although Tiner has called Conway home for many years, he is a native of Morrilton, where he was a multisport star for the Devil Dogs. He was selected to play in the 1962 high school all-star basketball game following his senior season. Tiner almost enrolled at Arkansas Tech but chose to attend Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway instead. In 1967, the school changed its name to the State College of Arkansas and, in 1975, it became the University of Central Arkansas.
Back then, UCA was a member of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference, or simply the AIC. A group of former players and coaches still gathers annually to play in a golf tournament to remember those golden years. Founded in the late 1920s, the AIC lasted until 1995. The conference came to be affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) rather than the NCAA.
In addition to UCA, the schools most associated with the AIC were Arkansas Tech, UA-Monticello, Harding, Henderson State, Hendrix, Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas. At various times, Arkansas State, UALR, and UAPB were also briefly members. The AIC has a rich athletic history and is well represented in the ASHOF, with many former athletes and coaches honored with enshrinement.
Tiner excelled in multiple sports as a Bear, lettering four times each in football and baseball and twice in track. He was named All-AIC four times in both football and baseball. As a quarterback, he was gifted at both running and passing and tallied more than 6,000 total yards. He also played on teams that won two AIC football titles and three baseball titles.
Following his time at UCA, he played minor league football for the Arkansas Diamonds in 1968 and 1969 in the Continental League. Tiner taught and coached at Pulaski Oak Grove High School for 35 years, beginning in 1971. After several years as an assistant, he was elevated to head football coach following the 1976 season, when the Hornets finished 0-10. Tiner immediately turned the team around, compiling a perfect 10-0 regular season record in 1977. They eventually lost in the playoffs, finishing 11-1. The Arkansas Gazette named Tiner its coach of the year among all state classifications.
In 1979, Oak Grove lost its season opener to McCrory. The Hornets would not lose again, finishing 13-1 and capturing the 1979 Class AA state championship with a victory over the same McCrory team.
Tiner retired after the 2001 season but remained on staff for a few more years as an assistant. The school later named its football stadium in his honor — Bobby Tiner Stadium. His devotion to his alma mater is unmatched. He still regularly attends UCA sporting events and hardly ever misses the weekly Bear Backers luncheons each Monday. Years ago, he was the broadcast partner of Bill Johnson for Bear football radio broadcasts.
He was selected as a charter member of the UCA Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
About 25 years ago, I started playing tennis, just for exercise and enjoyment. One Saturday, I participated in a fun doubles event at Hendrix College, where you played quick matches, rotating frequently to pair with different players. Eventually, I was paired up with Tiner. At that time, I knew who Tiner was, but did not really know him. However, I certainly knew that he had been, and still was, an exceptional athlete. Tennis was no exception. I was still learning the game, and I nervously said something to him, letting him know I was a newbie and not to expect too much help. With a friendly smile, he simply told me to just hit the ball and have fun, which is what we did.
Over the past quarter-century, I have had the opportunity to interact with Tiner countless times, including our service together on the ASHOF board of directors. He is as fine a gentleman as I have ever met.
A multi-sport star out of Morrilton, Bobby Tiner was a dual threat quarterback who could run and pass. He attended what is now UCA, and is one of the all-time great athletes in Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference history. In 1979, as head football coach, he led Pulaski Oak Grove School to the AA state championship.
Plant Talk with Brett Battle
Bright pots, bold color and fresh mulch for spring beds
Spring has arrived, inviting everyone outside to play in the dirt. It’s time to freshen up those flower beds, make new ones, and start creating beautiful containers and pots for the pools, patios and decks.
Planting in containers: These are always the most stunning as they are full of annual plants that bloom all season until the fall frost. The great thing about containers is that you can create something different every year. A few things to think about when creating containers:
Use good soil: This includes premium bag potting soil with peat and vermiculite. Do not skimp on this part. Good soil has nutrients, drainage, and aeration to help your plants grow beautifully.
You need a filler, a thriller and a spiller: Pick a variety of plants for the container. A filler is something that takes up a good amount of the container with some height and density. This could be an evergreen, ornamental grass or a tropical plant like Hibiscus. The thriller is a few small plants with lots of color and sparkle. The spiller is a few trailing plants to hang down the side of the pot. Remember, you do not have to buy everything in big, ready-now pots; they will all grow, and annuals grow fast.
Add fertilizer to your soil: A granulated time-release fertilizer that will supply nutrients for six months.
Add fresh peat and vermiculite to the soil: Vermiculite is a lightweight, sterile, and porous mineral that improves soil structure, enhances moisture retention and boosts nutrient absorption. It acts like a sponge, storing water and nutrients
for plant roots, while aerating the soil and assisting with seed germination, propagation and soil aeration.
Remember to water: This is very important. Containers are not like plants in the ground. They cannot draw water themselves, so you have to be kind to them. How often you water depends on the type of plants you have and the outside temperature. As it warms, most containers will need some water every day. Do not rely on rain; one inch in your container is only one inch of water.
Another thing to consider in April is mulching your flower beds and fertilizing trees and shrubs.
Mulching does three things. It helps retain moisture in beds and plants. It reduces weeds in the beds and gives an aesthetically pleasing look. Many people are switching over to rock in their beds, so they do not have to mulch as often. This gives you two of the three benefits, but it does not address moisture. In fact, once it gets hot, the stone heats the beds, which dries them out and requires more water.
Fertilizer is a must at this time of year. Everyone wants to fertilize their lawns but forgets about the trees and shrubs. Fertilizer is their food. Do not use liquid fertilizer; instead, use a time-release fertilizer. They make three-, six- and nine-month options. The longer the feed time, the higher the cost. Most plant material needs a well-balanced fertilizer, so we use a 12-6-6 at the nursery for all our material.
Good luck with your container gardening, mulching and fertilizing. It can be so much fun to create and watch it grow and develop
AUTHOR OF THE MONTH
RENÉE THAKALI
By
Susan L. Peterson • Photo by Makenzie Evans
At 21 years old, Conway’s Renée Thakali boarded a plane for Nepal—never imagining the journey would shape the next four decades of her life.
That journey, which began as a Peace Corps assignment in the 1970s, is now captured in “The Joyous Fort, Our Homeland in Thini,” a newly published book co-authored with Pratikshya Thakali.
Thini is a small mountain village in Nepal with a population of 500, and the book weaves together its history, culture and people through the dual perspectives of the two authors. Renée writes from her experience as a young Peace Corps volunteer in the 1970s and as a daughter-in-law over the next four decades, while Pratikshya offers the viewpoint of a daughter born and raised in Thini. During the eight years Renée lived in Nepal, she developed a deep attachment to the land and its traditions — and met Aita Thakali, who would later become her husband.
In 1977, at just 21 years old, Renée joined the Peace Corps. She originally planned to become a teacher, but during her senior year of college, she realized the classroom was not her true calling. A chance encounter with a Peace Corps poster in a hallway changed the course of her life. She applied to join that same day and arrived in Nepal just a few months later.
For three months, Renée learned to speak, read and write a new language while living with Nepali families. She was then assigned to Paundur village, a beautiful place that was suffering from devastating damage due to frequent landslides. She engaged the local community in a conservation project to plant a large landslide area with local fast-growing native trees and grasses and started a small forest nursery with the schoolchildren.
Next, Renée was sent to a more remote village in the Mustang district to start a new soil conservation office and oversee the construction of a forest tree nursery with her Nepali counterpart. Her journey to Thini village in Mustang began with an hourlong flight on a small plane from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, to the city of Pokhara nestled close to the towering Annapurna Range of Himalayan mountains, then trekking, up and down steep hills on narrow trails for six days to reach Jomsom, the district center — a place that felt almost untouched by modern times. At the time in 1979, the local homes were constructed with rocks and mud plaster. There was no running water, no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no telephones and not even glass windows. Huge woolly yaks and large herds of goats and sheep were often running down the dusty main village trails. The only modern convenience in Jomsom was a small airport with infrequent flights due to high winds and bad weather in the high mountains. Despite the lack of modern facilities, Renée immediately felt at home in this high-altitude environment as she was welcomed with huge smiles from everyone she met, offering her cups of hot steaming tea and heaping plates of delicious local foods, not realizing that when she first arrived Thini would later become her home.
Historically, Thini was once a thriving settlement with four monasteries and was the home of King Thokarcen. Today, little remains of that era except the crumbling stone walls of an ancient fort built on a steep hillside in the eighth century to protect its people. This fort inspired the book’s title, and its picture appears on the cover.
Located at the base of the high Himalayan mountains, Renée’s original mission focused on soil conservation projects, but her work expanded to include food preservation projects for the local women using simple methods to air dry local fruits and introduce new seed varieties to grow more vegetables for improved nutrition.
Renée spent a total of eight years in Nepal on two different Peace Corps assignments. During her third year, she met Aita, and the two were married in a civil court there. In her memoir, she reflects on “merging her life with the people through a cross-cultural marriage,” candidly sharing both the joys and challenges of becoming part of a new family in a different country with different expectations of her.
Renée Thakali After returning to the United States, Renée was hired by the USDA Forest Service, and the couple settled into life in small-town America. Aita faced many of the same challenges Renée had encountered in Nepal — learning a new language, adapting to unfamiliar customs and even learning to drive. Their two daughters, Keshari and Jasmina, grew up partly in Nepal and partly in America and learned both English and Nepali.
Over a 37-year career with the Forest Service, Renée’s family lived in several states, including California, Colorado, Arizona and Illinois. In 2018, following her retirement, they moved to Conway to be closer to their daughter, a medical researcher at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), and to enjoy the year-round cycling, hiking and fishing available here in the Natural State.
The idea for the book gradually took shape after Renée and Pratikshya met for the first time at a family gathering in Atlanta. The two quickly discovered close family connections and began exchanging photos and stories. They eventually realized that the unique traditions and heritage of the Thakali people from Thini should be documented and preserved not only by foreign anthropologists but by a local, authentic voice. The village has experienced so many rapid changes over the past 25 years — to the infrastructure, the economy and the society — affecting the way of life for the younger and future generations.
The co-authors wrote the book remotely. Renée organized much of the material, while Pratikshya ensured cultural authenticity. Renée also enlisted two graduate students from the University of Central Arkansas to edit the manuscript early. After reviewing publishing options, she selected BookBaby.com for its flexible, à la carte services.
Renée and Aita have returned to Nepal many times over the years, and she is proud that some of her early conservation work from x45 years ago can be seen today. For example, small forest groves now cover previously barren slopes. Their next visit will have a new purpose — exploring book publishing and distribution options in Nepal.
Renée says she is grateful for all the warmth and strong community support she has received in Conway while writing and now marketing her new book. “The Joyous Fort, Our Homeland in Thini” is available online and through local book sellers.
PERSON OF THE MONTH
ROBERT D. WRIGHT
CONWAY
Photos by Makenzie Evans
My desire to help others is rooted in the example set by my mother, Frances Acklin. Although we didn’t have much, she consistently demonstrated generosity toward others, especially those who were in greater need than us. She instilled in my siblings and me the value of practicing our beliefs and fulfilling the principle embodied in the Greatest Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 20:37-39)
— Robert D. Wright
HOMETOWN: Conway.
FAMILY: My wife, Alice, and I have a daughter, April, a son-in-law, Marquis, and three grandchildren: Daniel, Aria and Elliott.
EDUCATION: We are a family of Wampus Cats! I graduated from Conway High School (CHS) in 1981, and Alice graduated in 1983. Both April and Marquis graduated in 2012. After high school, I earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hendrix College in 1985.
WORK: I retired in March as director of development and supported employment for Independent Living Services. After graduating from Hendrix, I served as executive director of three nonprofit organizations: The Faulkner County Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Boys and Girls Club (B&GC) of Faulkner County. During my tenure at the B&GC, a 15,000-square-foot facility was built that doubled the previous facility’s capacity and added features such as a full-size gym, computer lab and art room. I capped off my career with 13 years at Independent Living Services.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: While attending CHS and Hendrix, I received numerous sports awards. In 1999, I was inducted into the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor and four years later into the Conway High School Sports Hall of Fame.
HOBBIES: My hobbies include watching basketball and football, traveling and spending as much time as possible with my family, especially my grandchildren: Daniel, Aria and Elliott.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: I am a Sunday school teacher and a trustee at Mount Gale Missionary Baptist Church. I am active in Kiwanis and the Volunteer Council at Conway Human Development Center, serving twice as president. With more than 20 years in the Big Brother/Big Sister Program, I was named Big Brother of the Year three times, received the Governor’s Award for more than 1,500 hours of volunteer service, and received a Letter of Recognition from U.S. Sen. John Boozman. I am also a 2000 graduate of the Faulkner County Leadership Institute.
WHAT DREW YOU TO THE BIG BROTHER/BIG SISTER PROGRAM?
I grew up in a large family with 13 siblings, including eight brothers, all of whom had a positive influence on me. When I was approached about becoming a big brother and learned more about the BB/BS organization, I believed I could make a difference. Although I am no longer involved in the program, I still hang out with my little brother Shawn, whom I met more than 30 years ago.
WHAT DOES RETIREMENT HOLD FOR YOU?
Resting, relaxing, traveling with my wife, Alice, and doing whatever else God has in store for me.
Robert D. Wright was an outstanding athlete who received numerous awards while at Conway High School and at Hendrix College. In 1999, he was inducted into the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor and four years later into the Conway High School Sports Hall of Fame. (Submitted photos)
