ABOUT | March 2016

Much Work to be Done

Reflecting the Character of the Arkansas River Valley March 2016

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

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MARCH 2016 EDITION

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8 Still Much Love & Work to be Done

Fred Teague awakes in a wooden box in a camp trying to understand what it’s like to be that man. For the next thirty days Fred — a local business owner, husband, and father — will live the life of a homeless man.

14 Grownup Stuff

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Food which Sustains Man’s Heart

At Central Presbyterian Church off Main Street in Russellville, Pastor Brain Brock is making sure that the tradition of taking communion not only stays alive but shows a little love.

24 Countertop Creations

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

34 Mattie Ross: True Grit’s heroine

As a child growing up in Dardanelle, my grandmother kept the same two books on her nightstand. A faded blue leather King James Bible and a first-edition paperback copy of True Grit by Charles Portis.

44 See, Feel, Understand, Love, Have Faith

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MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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A PAGE FROM

The Editor’s Notebook

Walking the Walk SUPPORTING A THEME WAS NOT ON OUR LIST of objectives as we sorted through story ideas for the March issue. There isn’t really a constant theme throughout the magazine. As usual, it’s a diverse mix of stories and columns that we hope will catch the eye and mind of a diverse set of readers. But as I compiled content for Chris to put together and jettison off to the printer, I noticed three stories that do share a common thread.

Our cover feature is a timely piece. You must be living under a rock with no internet connection if you weren’t aware of Fred Teague’s 30-day challenge. Fred’s 30 days of living homeless made a statement about his cause while at the same time allowing him to experience just a taste of the everyday life experienced by those less fortunate. I would imagine that it was a life-changing experience for Fred and that it provided a deeper understanding of not just the financial bleakness of being homeless but also the emotional bleakness of loneliness. Homelessness is more than an economic situation. It’s also a psychological situation. Attitudes must change before circumstances change. Read the story to see what I’m talking about.

Brian Brock is another man led by his faith to seek out something more than shallow platitudes and token gestures. Brian is the pastor of one of our River Valley churches. As part of his pastoral duties (this was a duty of his own choosing) Brian makes communion bread for his congregation from scratch. On the surface that might not seem like a big deal, but just under the crust (see what I did there) it’s actually about getting your hands dirty. Or in Brian’s case, covered in flour and egg. Through this physical act Brian seeks a closer connection to the people of his church and a deeper understanding of his faith.

The third story is mine. It’s the outdoor column. I didn’t really know what to write about for this month, but there is one question dominating my thoughts as the days grow longer: where are the trout lilies? You can read the column to find out why, but this, too, is an example of a person looking for something more profound, something that offers a physical expression of spiritual quests. I didn’t plan for any of this — the column or the March issue — to come out this way. But when inspiration flows you never know where it will take you.

Johnny Carrol Sain, Editor johnny@aboutrvmag.com

Celebrating a Decade of Character in the Arkansas River Valley A Publication of One14 Productions, Inc Vol. XI, Issue 2 – MARCH 2016

DIANNE EDWARDS | founding editor JOHNNY CARROL SAIN | managing editor johnny@aboutrvmag.com BENITA DREW | advertising benita@aboutrvmag.com CHRISTINE SAIN | advertising christine@aboutrvmag.com MEREDITH MARTIN-MOATS | freelance meredith@aboutrvmag.com SARAH CHENAULT | freelance sarah@aboutrvmag.com LYDIA ZIMMERMAN | columnist lydia@aboutrvmag.com LIZ CHRISMAN | photography lizchrismanphoto@gmail.com CHRIS ZIMMERMAN | layout/design chris@aboutrvmag.com CLIFF THOMAS | illustrator maddsigntist@aboutrvmag.com

ABOUT… the River Valley is locally owned and published for distribution by direct mail and targeted delivery to those interested in the Arkansas River Valley.

Material contained in this issue may not be copied or reproduced without written consent. Inquiries may be made by calling (479) 219-5031.

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS: MARCH 2016 March 4 — Downtown Art Walk in downtown Russellville 6-9 p.m. For more information contact 967-1716.

March 5 — Archeology Day at Petit Jean State Park from 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. March is Archeology Month in Arkansas, and you are invited to spend a day discovering the archeological treasures of Petit Jean Mountain including the American Indian pictographs of Rock House Cave. Contact the park for a schedule. Admission is free. For more information contact (501) 727-5441 March 5 — Star Gazer’s Challenge at Lake Dardanelle State Park from 8 - 9 p.m.

Admission is free. Meeting place is the swim beach parking area. Join a park volunteer to learn stories of the night sky objects as we explore the sky. See how many objects you can identify. For more information contact 967-5516.

March 8 — Mental Health First Aid at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center Annex from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sometimes, the best first aid is you. Take the course, save a life, strengthen your community. No cost for the class, $14.95 for the book and lunch is provided. This course brought to you by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Arkansas Chapter and Turning Point Adult Behavioral Health Unit.

March 10 — QuickBooks Beyond the Basics from 9 a.m.- noon and 1- 4 p.m. at 106 West O St on the Arkansas Tech University campus.

Two hands-on workshops for QuickBooks desktop software “QuickBooks Beyond the Basics” includes using reports, customizing forms, and working with inventory, jobs, estimates, progress invoices, and more.

The 1-4 p.m. session, “QuickBooks Payroll,” includes tracking employee time, issuing

ABOUT...the River Valley

paychecks, paying liabilities, and producing payroll reports. A computer is provided during each interactive session. Cost per session is $65, and lunch is included when you attend both workshops. Seating is limited with registration required no later than Mar. 8. For more information contact 356-2067 or asbtdc. org/training/russellville-events March 12 — PCLS Race for Literacy from 8 a.m.- noon at Russellville Junior High School.The Pope County Library System (PCLS) Foundation in conjunction with the PCLS will host its annual race with proceeds supporting library programming at the four branches located in Atkins, Dover, Hector, and Russellville. For more information got www. popelibrary.org or call 968-4368.

March 15 — Dardanelle Health Fair from 9 a.m.noon at 615 N 5th Street Dardanelle. For more information contact 489-5237.

March 22 — Dutch Oven Cooking Rewards at Lake Dardanelle State Park from 3 - 4 p.m.

Admission is $2. Meeting Place: grassy area across from visitor center. Join a park interpreter to learn some of the basics of cast iron care, Dutch oven use, and a few new recipes. We will be outside for the cooking segment of the workshop. Please sign up 2 days ahead of time. To sign up or for more information contact 967-5516.

March 25 - March 27 — Great Escape Weekend and Easter Egg Hunt at Petit Jean State Park from noon - 5 p.m. Celebrate spring and the great outdoors. Enjoy free nature programs and family activities. The celebration concludes with an “Easter Egg Scramble” for children to search for about 2,000 Easter eggs. Contact the park for a schedule. Admission is free. For more information contact (501) 727-5441.

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*Unless otherwise indicated, all area codes are 479. To have your event included in the ABOUT Calendar of Events, email: editor@aboutrvmag.com or fax to (479) 219-5031. Deadline is the 15th of the month preceding publication.

April 2 — 3rd Annual Bash at the Ballpark.Tech Field on the campus of ATU from 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. Music, food, prizes and other activities in conjunction with the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys’ baseball game at Tech Field against Arkansas-Monticello. Admission to both Bash at the Ballpark and the game will be free and open to the public. Rain Date is April 16, 2016. For more information about Bash at the Ballpark or sponsorships for this event, please call the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce at 968-2530.

April 16 — Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Concert at 8:00pm in Witherspoon Auditorium, on the ATU campus. Pre-reception is at 6:00 p.m. at the Lake Point Conference Center.

Tickets may be purchased at Brown & Brown Ins. at 705 West Main St. in Russellville, from Symphony Board member Ann Squyres at 8807523 or at the door the evening of the concert.

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479-498-2467 MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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Still Much Love wandx

Work to be Done

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

Story written by MIKE QUAIN | Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN

MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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They do something that very few of us are willing to do

They go all in Story written by BILLY REEDER | Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

Down a bumpy road and up a muddy path is an overgrown patch of trees. Through the trees and around a bend is a four-foot by eight-foot wooden box. Inside the box, just before dawn, a middle-

aged man is getting ready to go to work on an early January morning. The temperature is well below

freezing and the world around his box is covered in frost. Instead of a morning shower he uses wet-wipes. For breakfast he eats a couple of Pop Tarts. He steps out into the morning and begins the mile-long walk from his camp to his job. People are watching him and he’s determined not to let them down.

A mile away, Fred Teague awakes in another wooden box in another camp trying to understand what it’s like to be that man.

For the next thirty days Fred — a local business owner, husband, and father — will live the life of a homeless man. No money. No house. No options. He will live off of resources provided by the community, but continue to get up each morning and keep his businesses and the Russ Buss operating. It is what will become known to thousands of people across social media as Fred’s 30day challenge. And when he wasn’t at work, you could find him walking down the road to eat at the mission or sitting alone in a truck stop to stay warm.

He told me, “I realized that I’ve been working with the homeless for the past three years, and really, I have no idea what they’re experiencing. I want to try and get a better understanding of what their lives are really like.”

Fred is one of the founders of The Russ Bus, a local homeless advocacy group and division of One Inc. Started three years ago by him and Ashley Francis, The Russ Bus philosophy in working with the local homeless population is simple: find the one who is neglected and forgotten and help them find a permanent way out of their situation. They don’t consider the homeless population they work with to be clients but rather friends.

Over the past few years, groups across Arkansas have helped shine light on the homeless populations across the state. People often equate homelessness with what they’ve witnessed in larger cities — people sleeping on sidewalks and panhandling at busy intersections. However, rural poverty and homelessness often take on a different form with people and families sleeping in cars or winding up in low-rent hotels. Because of this, these people often go unnoticed by the general public.

In other words, the rural homeless are often a group of people who live within the shadows of everyday life. They are the ghosts in our midst. “One of the biggest misconceptions people have of the homeless around here is that they’re just a bunch of lazy people sleeping on sidewalks.” Fred said. “That’s not true at all. What we have in Russellville is a population of working homeless. They get up and go to work just like the rest of us. The only difference is that they don’t have a home to go home to.”

“I realized that I’ve been working with the homeless for the past three years, and really, I have no idea what they’re experiencing. I want to try and get a better understanding of what their lives are really like.”

The causes of homelessness are complicated because every person has their own particular story. Some are feeling consequences of their own life choices. Some are because of mental illness. Some have simply fallen through the cracks. The risk is that a short span of living on the streets can become chronic if the issue isn’t addressed.

For all the accolades, there is a darker side to the Russ Bus work that carries with it physical and emotional baggage. Anyone who works with people on the fringes of society sees things on a weekly basis that most of us would like to pretend don’t exist. They see the tangible effects of drug addiction. They see children malnourished and cold. They see abuse. They see people who have simply given up. They see people who’ve become oblivious to their own situation. They see the darker side of humanity.

It is at this very axis, at their lowest point, that many homeless people find their “friends.” This is when Fred and The Russ Bus team step in and do something extraordinary. They do something that very few of us are willing to do. They go all in.

Let’s be honest for a moment. Giving to charity is necessary for those organizations to exist. But giving to charity is easy. We often take what we don’t want or don’t need, stick it in a box and send it on its way. We feel better about ourselves. Or we take a trip, mingle with the locals, snap a few pictures, spend a couple of days working and a couple of days sightseeing then come home and back to our lives. This isn’t to say that those things aren’t valuable.

Very often those experiences open our eyes to realities we had never considered. But what it seldom does is inconvenience us. It doesn’t drag us out of bed at two in the morning. It doesn’t have us working in an ice storm to make sure our friends are safe. It doesn’t leave you at the ER with someone who got beat up. It doesn’t have us getting up in the face of a guy who’s done nothing to improve their situation. It doesn’t put us in a position where we’re committed to an individual from that point on.

This is where charity goes out the window and gut wrenching, soul-searching, life changing work takes place. And this is where you’ll find Fred. I’ve been with him during some of these moments and this is one of the things that is most striking. If you’re not willing to have hard conversations with people, if you’re not willing to get in their face, get them moving, and hold them accountable, you can’t really say that you’re caring for them.

When asked if it was uncomfortable confronting people, Fred said not at all. “There was this one time that we found a family living in a car behind the hospital. We got them in a motel and a week later I found out that the dad hadn’t done anything all week.

Nothing. He didn’t try to find a job. He just sat there in the room.”

What came next, Fred said he wasn’t proud of. “I berated him in front of his wife and children.” One of the kids later asked his dad why he didn’t say anything back. “Because it was all true,” he said. >> MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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It’s easy to get a coupon for a free meal or a night’s stay at a motel if you know where to go. But we have to understand that these aren’t solutions. Solutions break the cycles of addiction. Solutions keep people from becoming chronically homeless. And sometimes solutions mean letting people experience the discomfort of living with the decisions they’ve made. There’s a reason they put people in micro-cabins. They’re dry, they’re warm and they’re secure. But what they aren’t is too comfortable.

After only a few nights sleeping in one, Fred found this out first hand.

“The walls start closing in on you and you know this isn’t home.” The point is that this is only a shelter. This is just temporary. You need to go through the process of putting your life back together. The pain we experience in life, if channeled appropriately, can be the exact motivation needed to bring the change needed to escape it.

“Unless you let them go through the process, you’re not loving them,” Fred told me. Recently, someone offered to rent an apartment for a family and Fred told them no. At least not until the adults in the family got jobs. “You can get a voucher that will pay your rent for three months, but if you don’t have your act together what’s going to happen on the fourth month? You’re going to lose your apartment,” Fred said. “The people who donate to us get up and go to work every single morning. I think they should expect the people we deal with to do the same.”

The Russ Bus doesn’t follow a particular formula. They look at every situation and try to come up with the best solution.

Sometimes it means the person is sleeping in a tent. Sometimes it’s a micro-cabin. Sometimes it’s a hotel room. But it’s always accompanied by the resources and accountability needed to get

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them back on their feet. “You have to get involved, but you also have to defend them. This is a group of people who get up every single day and put one foot in front of another battling all sorts of things,” Fred said. And while he may be tough on them at times, just like a good coach, Fred is always in their corner cheering them on. In many cases The Russ Bus team are the only people offering support. Each night during the challenge Fred would post a video on Facebook talking about the day and the obstacles it held. And though he had an audience on social media, one thing was clear – he was alone in that box in the same way so many he helps have been. Often, family and friends are non-existent in the world of the homeless. The reasons why vary but the loneliness and lack of support remains. We often think of poverty in terms of money, but the poverty of isolation can be just as crippling.

Many Russ Bus friends get back on their feet. Some don’t. Some they have to let go. They don’t stop caring, but sometimes the assistance they give has to change until the person is ready to take the steps necessary to change themselves.

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

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Fred is a man of faith. “My theology is simple: love God, love people. That’s it. And love cannot not do something.” During the challenge, his son’s bible study group labeled him “Homeless Batman.” It’s oddly appropriate. When someone gets involved on this level, when someone sacrifices so much of their own life for the service of others, it’s exhausting. When that person also has a family, runs two businesses and decides to live in a 32-squarefoot box for a month so he can better understand the plight of the homeless, it’s heroic. But Fred doesn’t want this story to be about him. He didn’t want the challenge to be about him, but rather the homeless friends he was trying to better understand. “I was never homeless. I was fake homeless. I could have gone home any time,” Fred said. What Fred wants people to understand is that there are so many people living in the shadows of our world who don’t have that luxury. There are those who will have to claw and scrape their way back up.

A couple of weeks into the challenge we tried to sit down and talk about the experience, but every hour he’d call and tell me it would be another hour before he could get there. Then another.

Then late that night, while I was talking to him on the phone, he saw a guy walking down the street. “Hang on… I really need to go check on him. Do you think we could do this another night?”

On this morning, we’re meeting at Waffle House for breakfast. He’s just finished the challenge and though his enthusiasm never waivers, the man looks tired. Not tired in the way someone looks after staying up all night, but tired in a deeper sense. It’s the kind of tired that ages

a person, the weariness of a man living on the streets. It’s mental and physical exhaustion compounded by a continuous lack of a good night’s sleep or hot shower. Over the next few hours his phone must have gone off over 20 times from different people trying to call and text him. This is the kind of tired that can shorten lives.

What’s become apparent for him and the Russ Bus team is that it’s time to make a change. It’s time to let some of this go.

Partially, for his own health, but mostly because he’s realized that The Russ Bus can do so much more and he’s currently holding it back. “We’re trying to fill the gaps in the services we provide for our friends. We simply don’t have the ability to do it all on our own anymore.” So taking their cue from One Inc.’s founder, Aaron Reddin, they’re working to develop teams to share the load.

“It’s time to let go and that’s going to be hard,” he told me. In the face of what seems to be a never-ending stream of homelessness, they have plans. Transitional housing is a big project they want to tackle. But all of this takes money and organization. And it’s time for The Russ Bus to evolve to meet that need.

As we left I asked him if he was going home to bed and he said, no. He had work to do. And so as I watched him get in his old work truck and answer yet another phone call, I thought again that the Homeless Batman title was fitting. Perhaps not the hero we expected or wanted, but the hero we need. The one walking alone down the street. The one eating lunch at the mission. The one trying to stay warm on a January night. The one who reminds us all that there is still much love and work to be done. l

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MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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EVERY DAY LIFE

ABOUT...the River Valley

Grownup Stuff Story written by SARAH CHENAULT | Illustration by CLIFF THOMAS

As children get older, they often gain independence and strong will. Some children, however, are just born with an innate sense of needing to do everything themselves. My son is one such child. He is fiercely independent and delights in conquering “grownup” tasks.

Aside from wanting to use real tools (read: taking apart bookshelves and anything else with visible screws to sneakily unscrew) and asking Santa Claus for items such as a chainsaw (for him to cut down trees with of course), my son also enjoys cooking. He loves to concoct “delicacies” for his family and is strongly opposed to asking for help when making snacks for himself.

One evening, he was getting quite animated while playing with his toys and decided he was going to go into a different room to play. He often does this as he doesn’t like to feel as if he is being observed while he assumes a variety of characters during his playtime.

After a few minutes, I got up and checked 14

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

on him and he was still engrossed in his toys.

I got back into my recliner and after a few moments of rare quiet time was fast asleep.

I awoke in a sleepy panic some moments later unsure of how long I had been napping.

I checked the clock and was pretty sure I had been snoozing only about 30 minutes.

Not even long enough for the dryer to finish its cycle. I eased back into the recliner and let the post-waking tension ease away.

Wait.... The dryer? Why is it on? I thought to myself. Did I put clothes in the dryer? No... I was pretty sure I didn’t.

I got up and started walking towards the laundry room. Halfway there, I smelled something cooking. I darted into the kitchen to find it completely empty. I was so puzzled and thought I was in a sleep induced stupor until the sound of the running dryer put me back on the trail of the mystery smell.

I rounded the corner into the laundry room to find my son standing in front of the dryer, facing away from me. The dryer was indeed on and he was staring eerily at it.

“Raff? You’re kinda freaking me out.

What are you doing?” He looked up at me and casually said, “Cooking my hot dog.”

Cooking his hot dog? Then it hit me.

“WHAT?” I scrambled to get the dryer door open, and sure enough, there it was, being flipped and flopped inside the dryer’s drum. It finally came to rest on one of the dryer’s fins and I reached in to fetch it. The heat from the dryer combined with the cooked wiener smell was quite overwhelming. After rescuing it from the appliance, I examined Raff’s snack. It was nicely toasted and looked as if it had fared well despite being tumbled on high for who knows how long.

I looked at my son incredulously. I told myself to stay calm but I felt my eyes widen and my nostrils flare.

“Why did you put the hot dog in the dryer?” I demanded.

Raff looked at me like he had no idea why I was upset and plucked the hot dog from my fingers. He took a big bite, chewed it, then calmly said, “Because I wanted a snack.”

“Raff! Why didn’t you come get me and ask me to get you a hot dog? You could have caught the whole house on fire by trying to cook something in the dryer!”

(I didn’t know if that was actually a fire hazard, but I had never anticipated having this conversation with my child.)

“But it didn’t catch on fire, and it cooked it good! See?” He held out his half eaten prize that was, surprisingly, “cooked good.”

“But you could have so don’t let me ever catch you trying to cook food in the dryer again!” Never in my life did I imagine those words coming out of my mouth.

Raff looked at me with disdain. “You said I can’t use the microwave or the oven, and now I can’t use the dryer either? That’s not fair!” He stomped off to his room with the rest of his hot dog in hand. I just stared at the ceiling and wondered how I was ever going to get him raised. And then I thought, if the oven and microwave ever break at the same time... there’s always the dryer. l

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Food which Sustains Man’s Heart Story written by SIERRA MURPHY | Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”

Luke 22:19, NKJV.

PATRONS OF THE APOSTLES WOULD OPEN THEIR DOORS to the tens, sometimes a hundred or so, people that would come looking to participate in the worship that took place in local “house churches”. Archaeological evidence assumes that Corinthians, Thessalonians, Colossians and others across the Eastern Mediterranean communed over roasted produce and livestock to give thanks and praise their God. The night before Jesus Christ was crucified marked, what could be argued, one of the most important meals in history.

“Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat,” Jesus said to the apostles in Luke chapter 22. Over the meal, Jesus, “took bread, gave thanks, and broke it,” Luke said. Following the bread was the cup, but Christ partook of neither.

He was crucified the next day.

The example first century Christians set for fellowship has been followed for almost 2,000 years and is still thriving today. Every Sunday, at some places Saturday, Christians gather together to partake in communion, one of the holy sacraments.

Unleavened bread, which represents Christ’s body, and the fruit of the vine, which represents his blood, are passed around for members to partake in. Both act as reminders of Christ’s death on the cross that day after the Passover meal.

At Central Presbyterian Church off Main Street in Russellville, Pastor Brian Brock is making sure that the tradition not only stays alive but shows a little love.

MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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“We were trying to recreate what the apostolic church was doing,” Brock said, hands clasped behind his head. He had just handed over a sample of the homemade communion bread his congregation is served every Wednesday night and one Sunday a month. The firm, but giving, flaky bread is sweet and leaves a buttery taste in your mouth; it’s hard to believe members wouldn’t sneak another piece.

“It makes for a nice presentation,” Brock said.

The perfectly browned creation is challah bread, often pronounced “holah.” It’s a Jewish egg bread that has assumed Eastern and Central European roots. “It’s not as difficult as I thought it was,” Brock said.

Brock’s particular recipe calls for honey, bread flour, salt, oil, eggs and yeast. Other popular ingredients include water and allpurpose flour. Some recipes follow closely to ingredients and processes found in 1 Kings and others refer to Exodus chapter 12. White flour, gluten free bread, skillet made, or unleaven, we have proven more than once that communion bread can be adapted to modern congregations.

“I wanted to continue the tradition for communion, and no one around here bakes challah,” Brock said. “I realized if I was going to do it, I had to do it myself.”

The idea came to him after he attended a gathering that aimed to recreate apostolic worship. He brought home what challah bread was left over and his family loved it.

One snowy day, upon his family’s request for more, he looked up his own recipe and has been making it ever since. “Other traditions in Christianity, and any of the orthodox religions, they have rituals built in to prepare oneself for the act of leading worship,” Brock began. “They have prayers they say while they’re dressing. For me, the act of getting ready for worship really was making sure the batteries in the microphone are okay and making sure everything was loaded properly into my teleprompter app, then throwing on my robe and heading to 18

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

the sanctuary. That’s great if it’s just going to a job.”

For Brock, the time he spends preparing for and leading services is more than “just a job.”

“I get to think about the act of worship while I’m rolling out and braiding the bread,” Brock said. “For me there’s prayer and I get to think about who’s consuming it, who’s coming to the table and why they’re doing it. It’s almost become ritual for me to prepare for worship.”

While it became a spiritual ritual for Brock, he wanted to instill in his congregation that the act of communion itself was not to become a service ritual, monotonous and just a part of the life of a Christian. “I took a class on the Eucharist and we were talking about the importance of the elements. What we serve really does matter for people to have an experience,” Brock said. “Too often we think of church being the ‘head stuff.’ It needs to be a full, enriching encounter that engages the senses.”

Getting up to partake in communion,

fellowshipping with brethren as you consume the body and blood of Christ, tasting the honey of the sweet challah bread, Brock believes every aspect makes an impact on that special time with God. “The bigger thing about it is being able to connect with the people through the act,” Brock said.

“Communion should be something enjoyed, not something endured.”

Just like Christ poured out his love for all sinners on the cross, so does Brock pour out his love for his congregation when he takes the time to make communion bread every other week.

“It’s my way of saying to the congregation ‘love you.’” Brock’s affection has been positively received by his congregation.

“Part of it was I got a sense the congregation not only appreciated the effort, but liked the bread.” >> The experience from both Brock and his congregation only go so far. He also stresses the need to collectively experience communion and do so in the same manner the first century churches did. “In a small

“I get to think about the act of worship while I’m rolling out and braiding the bread. For me there’s prayer and I get to think about who’s consuming it, who’s coming to the table and why they’re doing it. It’s almost become ritual for me to prepare for worship.” way we’re living out the idea. We’re not supposed to think about it; we’re supposed to do it.”

The same applies to all facets of the Christian life — being a good neighbor, having reverence for God, portraying Christ’s love to spouses. Communion is just a focused snap shot of the larger life of a Christian. “It’s not just something we do,” Brock said. “It’s who we are.” >> MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

19

“Doing this gets back to the notion that it matters. “If the only person it matters to is me, that’s okay, because in my call to serve the people it matters. It’s not just something to check off a box.

People are actually engaged and having an encounter with the risen Lord through baking a loaf of bread.”

For now, it doesn’t look like any other communion bread will do. “I have, on occasion, gotten to the point where I’ve had to visit someone in the hospital and I had to run by Kroger to pick up a loaf of bread.

It didn’t have the same feeling.” Brock baking the bread fulfills what he envisions as communion, both before, during, and after service. “It is a way for me to stop and take time out and say for this period of time, this is important.”

Despite Brock’s dedication to his congregation now, he wasn’t always a proponent of carrying on the family business. “There are pastors in each generation of my family,” Brock said.

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preaching in Presbyterian churches. “It was not my wheelhouse,” Brock said.

“It is hard living a life in a fishbowl all the time.” After struggling through “teenage rebelliousness,” it wasn’t until his six-year stint in the Navy that he had “another one of those God moments.”

“My buddies and I were in Dubai,” Brock said. “We were getting ready to hit the big road in the center of Dubai while everyone is going 90 miles an hour, when the cab driver picks that moment to turn around and ask us, ‘are you Christians?’”

Brock laughed. “It haunted me a bit because I didn’t know exactly how to answer it.” Brock’s answer came after his return to the United States.

“I started praying about it,” Brock said. “I went back to my minister and asked, ‘how do you know you’re called into ministry?’” His decision came to him just months later as he was looking into Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. “This is where I’m supposed to be,” Brock said, remembering the

day he toured campus. He remained in Austin, Texas, for three years.

From Austin, to “the coal fields of South Carolina,” to Arkansas, Brock has worked his way up from youth minister to leading pastor of Central Presbyterian off Main Street. Celebrating his sixth year at Central, Brock agrees that Arkansas was a good fit. “It’s been a wonderful place for us,” Brock said.

University of the Ozarks

The future of his congregation relies in his understanding for communion.

“Doing this gets back to the notion that it matters,” Brock said. “If the only person it matters to is me, that’s okay, because in my call to serve the people it matters.

It’s not just something to check off a box.

People are actually engaged and having an encounter with the risen Lord through baking a loaf of bread.” l

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THE IDENTITY OF THE SOUTH

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Join Us for Two Evenings with Award–Winning Southern Authors 7 p.m., Thursday, March 3 7 p.m., Thursday, April 7

Rick Bragg

Pulitzer Prize winning author Rick Bragg has written several critically acclaimed and best-selling books, including, “All Over but the Shoutin’,” “Ava’s Man,” “The Prince of Frogtown, ” and “Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story.” A native Alabamian, Bragg says he learned to tell stories by listening to the masters, the people of the foothills of the Appalachians. Bragg’s books have become anthems in his native South, honoring the poor and working people, and have struck a chord with readers everywhere.

As a national correspondent for the New York Times, Bragg won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, for which the committee cited his elegantly written stories about contemporary America. He is also well-known for his Southern Journal, which is published monthly in Southern Living.

Peter Guralnick

Peter Guralnick has been called “a national resource” by critic Nat Hentoff for work that has argued passionately and persuasively for the vitality of this country’s intertwined black and white musical traditions. His comprehensive and long-awaited biography of Sam Phillips, “Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll,” was published in November of 2015.

Rolling Stone called Gurlanick’s book on Phillips, “Rigorously researched.... Definitive.” His books include the prize-winning two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, “Last Train to Memphis” and “Careless Love.” A recent inductee in the Blues Hall of Fame, his book, “Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke,” was hailed as “monumental, panoramic, an epic tale told against a backdrop of brilliant, shimmering music, intense personal melodrama, and vast social changes.”

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21

VALLEY VITTLES

ABOUT...the River Valley

Laughter is Brightest Where Food is Best Story by JOHNNY CARROL SAIN | Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN

JOHNNY’S ICE CREAM AND DELI | 2405 East Parkway ~ Suite 1, Russellville

There is perhaps no tighter bond between a country and a plant than the bond between Ireland and the potato. The potato’s ease of growing in Ireland’s acidic peaty soil along with its high carbohydrate load made it a staple of poor Irish folk.

It led to an explosion of Irish babies. The potato contributed, probably more than anything else, to an island of under one million people in the 1590s growing to 8.2 million by 1840.

Potatoes are native to South America.

They reached Europe via Spanish explorers in the late 1500s and then onto the British Isles in the 1600s. In humanity’s timeline that’s relatively recent, but Irish dependence on the potato cemented its place in the culture. In a sad ironic twist, that reliance on the humble tuber also led to an Irish population crash with several potato blights (caused by lack of potato 22

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

genetic diversity) wreaking havoc on those without other food options.

That’s a melancholy history, but we don’t have to dwell on the somber. Instead, we can focus on the delicious In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, we decided to look for an upbeat and tasty potato dish here in the River Valley. And we found it at Johnny’s Ice Cream and Deli. Though you wouldn’t know it by the business name, Johnny’s serves up an entire menu of baked potatoes. They’re called Super Spuds — chicken and bacon, chili cheese, deluxe, club potato and, our pick, the steak.

It’s a hot ‘tater covered in tomatoes, green peppers, onions, cheese, steak and then smothered with ranch dressing. And it’s sure to bring a smile in this the month of shamrocks and Irish lore because according to an old Irish proverb, laughter is brightest where food is best. l

MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

23

COUNTERTOP CREATIONS

ABOUT...the River Valley

BUTTERED SWEET POTATO KNOT ROLLS 1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp) 1 c warm 2% reduced-fat milk (100° to 110°) 3/4 c canned mashed sweet potatoes 3 T butter, melted and divided 1 1/4 tsp salt 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten 5 c bread flour, divided Cooking spray

You say Potatoes…

Story by LYDIA ZIMMERMAN, Food Editor

I

love listening to music while I am cooking at home. Marked as favorites on my playlist are Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. There is nothing like listening to their sweet sounds while baking something sweet, and one of my all-time favorites recorded by this duo is “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” I was listening to this song one afternoon (while baking cookies) and noticed with a quick calendar glance that St. Patrick’s Day would soon be upon us. It was then, while singing this song, that I thought about Irish food. And what food is more Irish than potatoes?

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, I have gathered some common and not so common recipes for both white and sweet potatoes.

As always, enjoy!

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

Dissolve yeast in milk in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes.

Add sweet potatoes, 1 tablespoon butter, salt, and egg yolks, stirring mixture with a whisk.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 4 1/2 cups flour; stir until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel very soft and tacky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press 2 fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down. Cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide dough into 24 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), shape each portion into a 9-inch rope. Carefully shape rope into a knot; tuck top end of knot under roll. Place roll on a prepared pan.

Repeat procedure with remaining dough, placing 12 rolls on each pan. Lightly coat rolls with cooking spray; cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Uncover rolls. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes with 1 pan on bottom rack and 1 pan on second rack from top. Rotate pans; bake an additional 7 minutes or until rolls are golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped.

Remove rolls from pans; place on wire racks. Brush rolls with 2 tablespoons butter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe courtesy of cooking light magazine

HASSELBACK POTATOES 16 small white potatoes (about 2½ lb.) ½ c (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing 32 fresh sage leaves Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) Preheat oven to 400°. Peel potatoes, then use peeler to shave off some flesh as needed to give potatoes a smooth, rounded egg shape. Cut potatoes crosswise into thin slices, stopping ¼” before cutting all the way through.

Place potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and gently press down on them to fan slices in one direction.

Brush potatoes all over with ½ cup butter. Tuck 2 sage leaves into each potato; season with salt. Roast potatoes, brushing occasionally with more butter, until forktender, golden brown, and crisp, 25–30 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of bonappetit.com/Isaac McHale, The Clove Club, London FAUX PANERA BREAD BAKED POTATO SOUP 4 c low sodium chicken stock 2 tsp chicken soup base 4 large potatoes scrubbed, peeled, diced 1/2 white onion chopped 1 tsp chopped garlic

2 T butter 2 T flour 4 oz cream cheese 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 2 tsp chives 2 T of real bacon bits In a medium sized pot add cubed potatoes, chicken stock, and soup base.

Cook potatoes in stock over medium heat for about 12 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. In a large pot heat butter over medium heat

until it melts, add onions and saute until the onions are translucent. Sprinkle flour over the butter, and cook for a minute or two.

The butter and flour mixture should become fragrant. Add potato and chicken stock by 1 cup increments and stir until soup mixture is well blended. Continue until the all of the potatoes and stock are added.

Add the cream cheese, and stir until it has melted. Add salt, black pepper, chives, and bacon bits. If desired garnish soup with shredded cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream.

Recipe courtesy of copykat.com

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mixture on platter; drizzle with dressing.

Garnish with pecans and remaining dill.

Recipe courtesy of health.com

STRING BEAN AND FINGERLING POTATO SALAD WITH SHRIMP 1 lb fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise 1/2 lb thin string beans, trimmed and halved crosswise 2 tsp Dijon mustard 2 1/2 T cider vinegar 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 2 T chopped fresh dill, divided 3/4 lb medium shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined (about 17) 3 T pecan halves, toasted Place potatoes in a saucepan; cover with water to 3 inches above potatoes.

Bring to a boil; simmer potatoes just until tender (about 8 minutes). Add string beans; simmer until beans are crisp and tender (about 3 minutes). Drain.

While potatoes cook, combine Dijon, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon dill; stir with a whisk. Set dressing aside.

Place shrimp and potatoes-and-bean

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

LOADED BAKED POTATO CASSEROLE 5 lbs yukon gold potatoes- washed, peeled and cut into large chucks enough water to cover the potatoes in a large stock pot 8 oz cream cheese 8 T butter 1/2 c sour cream 1/4-1/2 c milk 1 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp garlic powder 2 c cheddar cheese 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 4 green onions, sliced In a large stock pot, arrange the potatoes chunks. Add enough water or chicken broth to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the liquid from the potatoes.

Return the cooked potatoes to the pan.

Add in butter, cream cheese, sour cream, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until most of the clumps are removed. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Add in the milk, up to 1/2 cup, and continue mashing until the potatoes are smooth and fluffy.

Add more milk if desired. You can also use a hand or stand mixer to get the potatoes extra fluffy and smooth. To the potatoes, add in 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

and half of the cooked bacon crumbles. Stir to combine. Spread the potatoes in a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

Top with remaining cheese and bacon.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Garnish with green onions and serve immediately. This serves 8-10+ people.

Recipe courtesy of centercutcook.com

CURRIED CARROT, SWEET POTATO AND GINGER SOUP 2 tsp canola oil 1/2 c chopped shallots 3 c (1/2-in) cubed peeled sweet potato 1 1/2 c (1/4-in) sliced peeled carrots 1 T grated ginger 2 tsp curry powder 3 c fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 1/2 tsp salt

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots; saute 3 minutes or until tender. Add potato, carrots, ginger, and curry; cook 2 minutes. Add broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender; stir in salt.

Pour half of soup in a food processor; pulse until smooth. Repeat procedure with remaining soup.

Recipe courtesy of health.com

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EASY POTATO BREAD FOR BREAD MACHINE ** This bread is great to make after having boiled potatoes when you have the “potato water” (water that is left from having boiled your potatoes) available to use.

1 3/4 c “potato water” (water that is left after having boiled potatoes) 4 c bread flour 1/2 c instant potato flakes 2 tsp salt 4 T granulated sugar 1 package Rapid Rise Yeast 2 T softened butter (not melted), cooled Place 1 3/4 c of warm (100-110 degrees) “potato water” in the bottom of bread machine container.

In a bowl combine flour, potato flakes, sugar, and salt together. Add this mixture to the bread container. Make a “well” in the center of the flour mixture and pour yeast in.

Add softened, cooled butter to the corners of the bread container. Close lid and bake in machine.

Another option: I set my machine on dough cycle and when it is finished I take my dough out and knead it 8-10 minutes more. I then shape into loaves and place into greased loaf pan, cover and let rise until doubled. Then bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTE: you may have to add a little extra water to the container after the dough is mixed to get a good dough consistency.

CHICKEN BRUNSWICK STEW 2 T all-purpose flour 2 tsp chicken bouillon granules 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning 1/8 tsp pepper 6 (about 1 1/2 lb) bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 lb), cut into 1-in pieces (about 3 c) 1/2 c chopped onion 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce 1 T Worcestershire sauce 1 box (9 oz) frozen baby lima beans, thawed 1 box (9 oz) frozen whole kernel corn, thawed Salt and pepper, if desired

In large resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix flour, bouillon, poultry seasoning and pepper. Add chicken thighs, potatoes and onion; seal bag and shake to coat. In 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, place chicken and vegetables.

In small bowl, mix tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over chicken and vegetables; stir gently. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.

Stir lima beans and corn into stew.

Cover; cook about 30 minutes longer or until beans and corn are tender.

With slotted spoon, remove chicken from slow cooker. Remove chicken from bones; discard bones. Cut chicken into pieces; return chicken to stew. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe courtesy of pillsbury.com

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MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

27

BEER BLUE CHEESE SIDELINE AU GRATIN WITH CRISPY BUFFALO CRUST 4 T unsalted butter, divided 1/3 c onion, minced 1/4 tsp kosher salt 1/8 tsp black pepper 1 T flour 1/2 c beer, room temperature (a mild lager works well) 1/2 c milk 2 1/2 oz blue cheese crumbles, (1/2 oz set aside for garnish) 3 c Idaho® potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds 1/2 c shredded pepper jack cheese 1 c panko crumbs 1/4 c hot wing sauce, plus 1 additional tablespoon 2 green onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare a

casserole dish with non-stick spray.

In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, melt 2 T of unsalted butter. Add onion, salt and black pepper and sauté for several minutes until the onions are soft and translucent.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir until well-blended. Cook flour mixture for another minute. Slowly pour in the beer while whisking to blend. Simmer for a couple minutes until the beer mixture begins to thicken. Pour in the milk and continue to stir.

Add 2 oz of blue cheese crumbles and blend until the cheese is melted and incorporated. (It’s fine if a few blue cheese crumbs do not melt all the way.) Remove from heat and stir in the sliced potatoes.

Toss the potato slices until completely covered in the cheese sauce.

Arrange half of the cheesy potato slices in the casserole dish, layer on the pepper jack cheese and then finish arranging the remaining potato slices. Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes. While the potatoes are baking, prepare the panko topping.

Melt 2 T of unsalted butter and mix with 1 T of hot wing sauce. In a bowl, drizzle butter and sauce mixture over the panko and toss to coat.

Remove potatoes from the oven, uncover, and top with the remaining hot wing sauce and then sprinkle the panko topping over the potatoes and return to the oven for another 20 minutes uncovered.

Garnish with the chopped green onions and the remaining 1/2 oz of blue cheese crumbles, if desired.

Recipe courtesy of idahopotato.com/ Kim Banick

SPICED SWEET POTATO JUMBO CUPCAKES WITH VANILLA FROSTING 2 sticks unsalted butter, plus 3 T reserved and softened 1 c granulated sugar 4 lg. eggs 2 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp reserved 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 2 c self-rising flour 1 1/2 c canned sweet potatoes 2 c sifted confectioners’ sugar 3 T heavy cream Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 8 large baking cups in muffin pan and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together 2 sticks butter and granulated sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and pumpkin pie spice; beating until mixed throughout.

Add 1/2 of flour, beating on low speed until incorporated throughout. Add sweet potatoes and continue mixing until incorporated. Add remaining flour mixture and beat until combined throughout. Divide mixture between baking cups.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25 minutes, or until cupcakes test done.

Remove from oven, cool completely and frost.

To make frosting: In a mixing bowl combine reserved 3 Tbs. butter and confectioners’ sugar. Beat on low until incorporated, add heavy cream and continue beating on low until mixed throughout.

Beat on high for 2 minutes. Apply frosting to cooled cupcakes.

Recipe courtesy of recipe4living.com

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

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There are some answers you won’t find on the Internet.

BOXTY- IRISH POTATO PANCAKES 1 c mashed potatoes (2 potatoes cooked and mashed) 1 1/2 c grated raw potato (2 medium potatoes) 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp salt 1 to 1 1/2 cup buttermilk 2 oz butter Peel and cut the potatoes for the mash into quarters. Cover with water in a medium saucepan, and bring to the boil.

Reduce heat, cover with the lid and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain and mash.

Grate the other potatoes. Place a cheesecloth over a bowl and add the grated potatoes. Gather the cheesecloth in a ball.

Over the bowl, squeeze the excess fluid and starch from the grated potatoes. Discard the fluid.

In a large mixing bowl combine the mashed potato and grated potato. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda into the bowl.

Combine well with the potatoes.

Add one cup of buttermilk to the potato/ flour mixture and stir well to form a thick batter. Add additional buttermilk, up to 1/2 c if the mixture is too thick.

Melt the butter in an 8 in round saute pan. Pour half the mixture into the pan.

The pancake should be close to one inch high. Cook on each side over low heat until brown and crispy. This takes 12 to 15 minutes per side.

Alternatively cook one 12 in round pancake, or 8 to 10 small pancakes about 3 inches in diameter

Serve hot with melted butter and a side of bacon or sausage if desired.

Recipe courtesy of irishamericanmom.com CHEESY MUSHROOM POTATO BITES 15 small read potatoes 8 oz of shredded white cheddar cheese 4 oz of butter (halved) 2 T of milk 8 oz of chopped button mushrooms 2 cloves of garlic minced 2 tsp of chopped fresh thyme 1/4 tsp of salt 1/4 tsp of pepper parsley to garnish Place the potatoes in a large saucepan.

Cover with water and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer the potatoes for 20 minutes until tender.

Drain the potato water and let the potatoes stand until cool enough to handle.

Melt half the butter in a large skillet.

Stir in the mushrooms and minced garlic.

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Sautée over medium heat for 3 minutes.

Add the chopped fresh thyme and turn off the heat.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cut each potato in half. Scoop out the center of each potato using a melon baller, collecting the potato in a bowl. Put the potato shells to the side.

Melt the remaining butter in the microwave for 15 seconds. Add to the potatoes with the milk. Mash together.

Season to taste. Add 2/3’s of the cheese and all of the mushroom mixture. Combine well together.

Place the potato skins on a foil lined baking sheet, sprayed with cooking oil.

Spoon equal amounts of the filling into each shell. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top of each potato.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. The appetizers are ready when the cheese is melted and turning a light golden brown color.

Cool the potato bites on paper towels.

Garnish with parsley and serve warm.

Recipe courtesy of irishamericanmom.com

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29

COMMUNITY PAGES

ABOUT...the River Valley

River Valley Writers Debut Book Launch at Art Walk The River Valley Writers will launch the debut of their anthology, Scenes of the South, at the Downtown Russellville Art Walk on Friday, March 4, 6 – 9 p.m. Authors of the book will be in attendance at both The Depot, 320 West C St., and A Conversation Piece, 312 West 2nd St. for book signings.

There will be a drawing for a free copy.

The stories are as diverse as the authors, some with previously published work, themselves. The 52 stories and poems reflect a deep sense of rootedness to the South and speak to the colorful accents of the people who inhabit the landscapes that frame the writers’ collective home. Subject matter ranges from talking owls, Indian philosophers, guns, and a twister.

The book has garnered favorable praise.

ABOUT...the River Valley editor Johnny Carrol Sain adds in a blurb that appears on the back cover, “The rich culture of the

30

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

Arkansas River Valley and surrounding area comes shining through in each bit of prose and rhyme.” Local novelist Brandy Nacole commented not only on the worthiness of the collection of works but also on the synergy of the writers themselves in the books’ forward. “As writers, we create. As a group, we work together and push each other ahead to reach that fulfillment each writer craves: a finished story. Then, together, we step into the unknown and shape our futures. And that, my friends, is exactly what the River Valley Writers has done. They’ve pushed, cheered, and advised one another and created an anthology to enjoy,” she wrote.

Facilitator Cathy Graves echoed that sentiment, “The group’s goals are to write, critique, and publish. The members are all on equal standing and work collaboratively.

We write in different genres and at different skill levels, which add to the excitement and anticipation of works read each week.

We wish to thank the Pope County Library System staff, especially Sherry Simpson, for our success in publishing the book.

We benefitted from the library’s constant support and guidance.”

The paperback book sells for $10 and is available through Amazon, and at several Russellville locations: Gallery 307, 307 West C. St., A Conversation Piece, 312 West 2nd St., and a later book signing is

slated for March 19th at Hasting’s, 104 N. Hampton Ave., 11:00 a.m.

Any adult writer that wishes to join the group may attend one of the weekly meetings held on Tuesdays, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at Pope County Library’s Heritage Hall.

MARY KIRKCONNELL CELEBRATES TEN YEARS OF ADVOCACY FOR RIVER VALLEY CHILDREN March 3 marks Mary Kirkconnell’s tenth year as an advocate for children in foster care with CASA of the 5th Judicial District.

She has been the courtroom voice for 29 youths in the River Valley. “Through

CASA, I have met so many beautiful children,” Kirkconnell said. “My heart aches for them because of the childhoods they are missing, the types of childhoods that many of us consider normal.”

From infants to teenagers, Kirkconnell has advocated for children’s best interest by always being there. Kirkconnell has made such a lasting positive impression on her families that some stay in touch with her after the case closes. “Sadly, I cannot give them the gift of the kind of childhood that I enjoyed, but I can help in a small way to sort out their current situation, to speak for them in the courtroom, and to make my best recommendation for their future,” Kirkconnell said.

Kirkconnell has never hesitated to ask the hard questions regarding what’s in the child’s best interest. With compassion, empathy and love Kirkconnell embodies the mission of CASA. “Mary has dedicated a decade to kids that need her advocacy the most — priceless. Our community is a better place thanks to Mary,” said Genney Baker, executive director of CASA of the Fifth Judicial District.

CASA of the 5th Judicial District was established in the River Valley in April 2000. The mission of CASA is to provide abused, neglected and dependent children a voice in the court process in order for these children to find a safe, permanent home as quickly as possible For more information about CASA and how you can help please visit their website at www.arcasa5.org or call them today at 479-880-1195.

Becca Freyaldenhoven (right),Director of Community Services at Farm Credit of Western Arkansas presents a $500 donation to Traveling Arts Fiesta Presents Cuba.

Project Manager Jeannie Stone (left) and Treasurer Betty LaGrone accept the donation.

Traveling Arts Fiesta is a collaborative artistic endeavor that will deliver professional fiestas to designated communities in western Arkansas. The first series of Fiestas, to begin in the summer, will feature a lecture on the art of the Cuban landscape as well as the art of Arkansas-based Hispanic artists. The goals of the Fiestas are to celebrate cultural diversity and to raise awareness of the aesthetic beauty inherent in Latin American art. For more information, to contribute, to schedule a lecture, or to participate, email travelingartsfiesta@gmail.com, or call (479) 747-0210.

ARKANSAS SYMPHONY TO PERFORM AT TECH Conductor, Philip Mann and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform at Witherspoon Auditorium on the Arkansas Tech University campus on April 16 at 8 p.m.

The event is presented by the Russellville Symphony Guild and will feature a mix of pop favorites and light classical music.

Reserved seating tickets are $25 per person, which includes a 6 p.m. pre-concert reception at the ATU Lake Point Conference Center sponsored by the Russellville office of Wells Fargo Advisors. General admission tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students grades K-12. Tickets are free for current Arkansas Tech University and UACCM students with college ID. >>

MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

31

For more information or to purchase tickets, please call Russellville Symphony Guild board member Ann Squyres at 479880-7523. Tickets are also available at Brown and Brown Insurance 705 West Main Street in Russellville. They may also be purchased at the door on the evening of the concert.

ARKANSAS TECH’S BOWEN CHOSEN FOR NATIONAL DIVERSITY AWARD Dr. Robin E. Bowen, president of ArkansasTech University, is one of 27 administrators from around the United States selected for the 2016 Giving Back Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education.

According to the magazine, recipients were selected based on their “outstanding demonstration of social responsibility, a commitment to charitable services and involvement with students, faculty and staff to serve underrepresented populations.”

Other 2016 recipients of the award

include presidents and chancellors from such institutions as Columbia University, the University of Georgia, the University of Oklahoma, Penn State University and Vanderbilt University.

“The Giving Back Award is being given to leaders of institutions of higher education who exemplify what it truly means to ‘give back’ to others,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine. “These presidents and

chancellors are role models, and we honor their efforts to give back to everyone on their campuses and in their communities.”

Bowen was unanimously elected by the Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees as the 12th president of Arkansas Tech on April 22, 2014, and she took office on July 1, 2014. She is the first female president of a public, four-year university in Arkansas.

Among the initiatives that Arkansas Tech has enacted to serve underrepresented

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populations under Bowen’s leadership is the establishment of a Department of Diversity and Inclusion within the Office of Student Services. Bowen has encouraged efforts for Arkansas Tech to engage the growing Hispanic population inside the state.

Bilingual posters and flyers providing yearby-year advice on how to prepare for college have been distributed to high school students around Arkansas. The university has reached out to prospective students and their families with bilingual advertisements in periodicals dedicated to the Hispanic community. Select tours are offered in Spanish to make the parents and families of prospective students feel more included on campus.

Bowen has worked with the Mexican Consulate of Little Rock to obtain scholarship support for students of Mexican descent. As a result, seven Arkansas Tech students benefited from the program during the spring 2015 semester and 14 Arkansas Tech students received the IME Fellowship scholarship during the fall 2015 semester.

The first sign of a

On Dec. 3, 2015, the Mexican Consulate announced that Arkansas Tech will be the lone institution of higher learning in the State of Arkansas to receive IME Becas Fellowship scholarship funds during the 2016 calendar year.

One of AY Magazine’s 2015 Most Powerful Women and a recipient of the Arkansas Traveler certificate from the State of Arkansas, Bowen is a board member for the River Valley Shelter for Battered Women

and Children, the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Arkansas River Valley Alliance for Economic Development and the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.

She serves as the chair of the Pope County steering committee for Uncommon Communities, a WinRock Breakthrough Community Development Initiative.

For more information about the Giving Back Award, visit www.insightintodiversity. com. l

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

The True Grit heroine is a preteen archetype of our Ozark/Ouachita grandmothers and a reflection of our cultural history.

Story written by MEREDITH MARTIN MOATS | Photography by LIZ CHRISMAN

As a child growing up in Dardanelle in Yell County, I lived with In her left hand she’s holding loosely to the reigns of a black horse. The back pages were

my parents and my grandmother Martin, whose room was filled with pictures of John Wayne and Glen right next to mine. Her bed was always covered in a purple Campbell, an extended advertisement for the handmade quilt sewn by her youngest sister, Estella Mae. A photo of her and her late husband sat on the cedar chest, and she always kept the same two books on her nightstand: A faded blue leather King James Bible and a first edition paperback copy of True Grit by Charles Portis.

Charles Portis is an Arkansas native. He was born in El Dorado in 1933 and raised in the tiny town of Hamburg, graduating with a degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas in 1958. He’s best known for True Grit, though many of his fans say it’s actually his worst book.

Others praise the work as one of the great American novels, a work some consider in the same vein as Huck Finn.

I was too young at the time to read anything longer than a chapter book, and all I knew of True Grit was that it featured murders and shoot outs and hangings and that somehow or another it was about our hometown of Dardanelle. A picture of the fictitious Mattie Ross — the book’s fourteen year old protagonist — graced the front cover. Her long brown hair hung in braids and she’s balancing her weight on the butt of a rifle.

first film rendition of the novel, which was quite a hit in 1969. I remember picking the book up a few times thinking I’d give it a try.

But I was young and quickly bored.

Though she received very little formal education, my elderly grandmother read voraciously. She enjoyed sitting in her harvest gold living room chair with a Louis L’amoure western or a religious booklet. Sometimes she’d stow away to her room to read the National Enquirer in secret. By the time I was a preteen she took to reading whatever I brought home from school or the library. She borrowed my Laura Ingalls Wilder and Judy Blume books. She made her way through a lot of Sweet Valley High stories and seemed to share my long-standing obsession with any book that had a horse in it. >>

MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

35

Judge Parker’s courtroom Ft. Smith National Historical Site.

By the time I was a teenager and taking AP English classes at Dardanelle High we were both reading Toni Morrison and Shakespeare. But it would not be until years after her death that I finally got around to reading about the spunky girl from Dardanelle, Arkansas, who “had clear title to 480 acres of good bottom land on the south bank of the Arkansas River.”

It wasn’t until I was in graduate school and visiting a friend’s parents in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, that I recalled that old bedside copy of True Grit. My friend’s father wanted to know where in Arkansas I was raised. Most people have no idea where Yell County is or, if they do, they make some kind of joke about the nearby nuclear plant. But his eyes lit up when I said the name of my hometown. “You mean you’re Mattie Ross?” he laughed. It took me a minute to make sense of his question.

“I’ve never met anyone from Dardanelle in Yell County,” he explained, quoting a line from the book.

I’d like to think I was quick witted enough to quote John Prine and laugh 36

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

at my own fascination with meeting real people from Muhlenberg County.

But instead I just told some rambling, unnecessary detailed story about how my grandmother had a copy of the book by her bed. Isn’t it funny how easily we are enamored with the artistic romanticization of someone else’s hometown?

My grandmother had been dead for about five years by then, but I’d had the copy of the book on my shelf since her death. And with this conversation I realized it was high time I learned about this Mattie Ross character. By then I was in my early thirties and the John Wayne and Glen Campbell film version had become a classic. The Cohen Brothers were gearing up to make their 2010 film version featuring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld, giving the book increased exposure.

When I picked up the old paperback it was yellowed and brittle and smelled like dust. I wondered how many times my grandmother had read it and how she’d come to own a copy in the first place. The book is set in the late 1800s, not too long

after the end of the Civil War. It begins with Mattie speaking: “People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day.”

She explains that the family’s hired hand, a man by the name of Tom Chaney, went off with her father to Fort Smith to purchase some horses. While there Chaney wound up in the middle of a gambling game gone wrong. When Mr. Ross tried to keep Chaney from fighting, Chaney shot him in the head killing him instantly. Then he ran off with Mr. Ross’s money and his horse and his gold plated watch. With her mother sick in bed it falls on young Mattie to head to Fort Smith to collect the body. She travels with Yarnell, a black man who I’ll touch on a bit later. “From our place to Fort Smith was about seventy miles as the bird flies,” Mattie explains, “taking you past beautiful Mount Nebo where we had a little summer house so Mama could get away form the mosquitos, and also Mount Magazine, the

Hell on the Border Jail Ft. Smith National Historical Site.

“People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day.” highest point in Arkansas, but it might as well have been seven hundred miles for all I knew of Fort Smith.”

We don’t know much about the deceased Mr. Ross, but Mattie makes it clear that she adored her father. As many critics have noted, her attachment to Rooster Cogburn — the “deputy marshall for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas having criminal jurisdiction over the Indian Territory” that she hires to avenge her father’s death — is at least partially her way of latching on to another father figure. Whereas Mr. Ross was a so-called stand up, wealthy landowner with two California gold pocket watches, Mattie first happens across Rooster Cogburn while he’s being questioned by the infamous Hanging Judge Isaac Parker for shooting an unarmed man. As the story progresses we learn that Rooster has a

sordid history at best. But in Mattie eyes he has real “grit,” and is the best person to locate her father’s killer. Mattie has money to pay Rooster for the job and she’s determined to accompany him as he makes the trek out west where Chaney is presumed to be.

Though a fictional plot, the landscape and cultural dynamics are largely accurate and still visible today. For starters, there’s Mattie’s fathers ties to California, a narrative running through the histories of just about everyone in Yell County. Mattie passes through familiar points along the way, including Mount Nebo where we learn that her family is of the small wealthy class of Dardanelle folks who can afford to summer in the cool of the mountains.

Mattie rides with a black man named Yarnell to Fort Smith, a hired hand who has to sit in a segregated rail car and is on

the receiving end of racial slurs from the white man running the train. When they arrive in Fort Smith they learn that there is to be a triple hanging that day thanks to the notorious Judge Parker. And Mattie frequently encounters Native Americans from multiple tribes, noting that Fort Smith lies on the outskirts of what would have been termed “Indian Territory.” And there is plenty mentions of regional outlaws Jessie and Frank James for good measure.

As multiple reviewers have noted, True Grit is both a western and a parody of one, and a young and blunt Mattie Ross provides the deadpan narration that carries the story. The lines between con men and law enforcement are vague at best and life in the so called Indian Territory is filled with a lot of backstabbing and gun powder and revenge. In other words, there’s no good ole days to be found here. >> MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

37

Gallows and prisoner transport at Ft. Smith National Historical Site.

Yet at the same time, Portis gives little space for his characters to speak to or against the evils of a world where monied white people hold all the power. Nor do his characters take any real opportunities to question unjust systems that are in place.

And while it’s true that Mattie Ross is a protagonist who defies her own gender and social norms, she never comes across as anyone trying to call the larger social system into question. For example, when she tells the back story of a black man named Yarnell she mentions how he was born free in Illinois but later kidnapped in

Mt. Nebo in the distance.

38

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

Missouri and brought to Arkansas before the Civil War. Maybe she does find fault with a system that made it possible for a person to be kidnapped and owned in her home state.

But she doesn’t say so. By the end of the book, when she has long since returned to her home in Dardanelle, we learn that she enters into her later years as a wealthy, one-armed, unmarried banker who chooses to have the late Rooster Cogburn dug up from a Confederate cemetery in Memphis and reburied in Dardanelle. She has a tombstone made for him in Batesville

inscribed with these words: “A Resolute Officer of Parker’s Court.”

It’s pretty clear early on that the so-called grit she’s looking for in Rooster Cogburn can be found in herself. She starts off pretending to be tough and initially has to convince Cogburn and Labeouf (another law enforcement official on the trail of Chaney) that she’s fit to make the trip to avenge her father’s murder. By the end of the book she’s seen shoot outs and helped load dead men onto horses. She fights rattle snakes and fires weapons. And she wins the respect of the two morally questionable officers of the law who are better at drinking and arguing then finding criminals.

As my friend Rachel Reynolds Luster notes in her Art of the Rural article, “Bread and Buttered: Ozark Women on Screen,” Mattie fully embodies the “plucky” Ozark and Ouachita archetype.

She is crafty and determined. She’s resourceful and cares little for how the rest of the world sees her. She admires people who live in the gray areas of life and when she sets her mind to something you know she’s going to get it done.

And isn’t this the archetype all of us Yell County women aspire to be? At the very least, it’s certainly how we like to remember our collective grandmas.

For all the messages young Arkansas girls are given about what it means to be a woman, we all know that hovering around the edges of those pervasive, stifling, sexist ideas about passivity or gentleness or under-nuanced godliness, there’s a whole word of stories where our bygone great aunts and grandmothers were tough, resourceful, fearless and creative. They rung chicken necks. Their depressionera kitchens were home to an endless loaves and fishes situation. Despite being drenched in a world of patriarchy, no man would dare override their decisions. At least not by the time they hit seventy. It’s a duality of messages that confuses young girls and lead to the complex stories of middle-aged women. Just as Portis sets up his book as both a western and a parody of one, I’d say that Mattie Ross provides a useful caricature of how we all like to imagine our elderly female relatives: they don’t take any mess.

Though True Grit is often considered to be one of Portis’s least funny novels, I found myself laughing in at least a few of the places where Mattie quotes scriptures. Take for example this passage where she goes to the barn in Fort Smith to take a look at the ponies her father had purchased before being murdered: “I hated these ponies for the part they played in my father’s death but now I realized the notion was fanciful, that it was wrong to charge blame to these pretty beasts who knew neither good nor evil but only innocence. I say that of these ponies.

I have known some horses and a good many more pigs who I believe harbored evil intent in their hearts. I will go further and say all cats are wicked, though often useful. Who has not seen Satan in their sly faces? Some preachers will say, well, that is superstitious “claptrap.” My answer is this: Preacher, go to your Bible and read Luke 8:26-33.”

Just like a Yell County preacher, Mattie likes to make references to the Bible without actually quoting scripture, forcing the reader to admit to themselves that they haven’t read their Bible nearly enough to have committed it all to memory, guilting them in to pulling out the good book the first chance they get.

Story continued on page 41...

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COMMUNITY COMMERCE

ABOUT...the River Valley

Advanced Solutions, Inc. 220 East 4th Street Russellville, AR 72801 479-880-2005

Advanced Solutions, Inc. Nestled in the first story of a yellow house on 4th Street in Russellville is Advanced Solutions Incorporated, also known as ASI. The dual computer networking and accounting company has been servicing the River Valley since 1999 and only shows signs of growth. Spearheaded by Willy Wijaya, president, and Monty Kasselman, founder and CFO, ASI works with servers, work stations — you name it.

“We do server and network administration,” Wijaya said.

“It’s for anyone who has a company big enough to have a network but not big enough to have in-house IT staff,” Kasselman finished for him.

Those companies include many industries like construction, manufacturing, retail, municipalities and home businesses.

What started as a two-man team working from their homes turned into a five-man staff complete with three on-call technicians servicing all of Russellville and parts of Clarksville. “We’re not quite Steve Jobs or Bill Gates,” Wijaya said with a laugh. “But we worked out of our homes.”

While the Jobs and Gates partnership didn’t prove to be as successful as their solo ventures, Wijaya’s and Kasselman’s doesn’t show signs of failing.

Wijaya and Kasselman became a dynamic duo after they solidified a working business relationship at another company, and they have been friends and business partners ever since. Monty did the accounting while Willy did the systems and network maintenance. “We had a complimentary skill set and a good working relationship prior,” Kasselman said. “It was a symbiotic relationship that formed out of working together.”

After almost 10 years of working together from their own homes, Wijaya and Kasselman moved into their 4th Street office and began offering more individual-friendly services.

The storefront, which was bought in 2007, allowed ASI to invite 40

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

By Sierra Murphy

the Russellville community into their world for on-site computer servicing and Apple maintenance. Even if your product is out of warranty, ASI can provide part replacement and repairs, a service that would otherwise cost you an hour drive to Little Rock. “We have access to original manufacturer’s parts,” said Kasselman.

They also have access to almost all their client’s networks via remote access.“We can remote into a server, work station, laptop or whatever and resolve their problem,” Kasselman said.

Now almost 20 years into knowing each other, the duo has brought on three more technicians and is looking to gain momentum and open a satellite office. No matter how big ASI gets to be, though, their business mission won’t change. “If we were in the client’s shoes, we would want help from A to Z,” Wijaya said.

From educating their customer about the service and product they are looking to buy, to on-site training on how to work the product after implementation, Wijaya and Kasselman are there every step of the way. “That’s what sets us apart,” Wijaya said. “We have the experience and background.” As do their personnel — with four staff members of ASI holding degrees in information technology, almost every one of them being from Arkansas Tech University.

“Our company has the experience and education to help businesses in Russellville,” Wijaya said.

The Russellville residents are here to stay both in the business and in the River Valley. “My philosophy,” Kasselman said, “is we’re here because it’s community oriented and out of all those other places we can take advantage of, we can come back home.”

Kasselman met his wife here, and both he and Wijaya have begun families here. Their commitment to the community has made it clear they’re not a “one-time deal.”

“We’re men of integrity, and men of faith,” Kasselman said.

Wijaya finished for him. “We’re confident we have the capability to handle any business networking needs.” l

...continued from page 39 Of course, this is the story of how Jesus sends the demons into the pigs. There’s a world of symbolism going on with Mattie and animals, way too much to discuss in this short article. But I think it’s safe to say that Mattie’s relationship with the Bible will have a familiar ring to those of us raised in the region. She never let’s the Bible get in the way of what she deems justice. And she finds it to be an apt book at upholding the predominant morals of the day.

Reading this book as an adult, and thinking about the tough attitude of this mythical young girl from Yell County, I found myself wanting Mattie to do so much more than just push past the boundaries of age and gender. I wanted her to take that can-do attitude and ask tough questions about Jim Crow and Native American rights in world that was being rapidly colonized.

I wanted her to wrestle with the whys and hows of the Civil War, an event that Mattie references throughout the book. But I’d say that behind Portis’s depiction of Mattie as a self-reliant young Ouachita girl, is a voice

Courthouse at Ft. Smith National Historical Site.

that’s ultimately reflecting the world, not really challenging it.

I have read True Grit a few times now and I’m sad to say that all that wear and tear has torn my grandmother’s old book to pieces. Both the front and back covers are no longer attached, and my toddler daughter made off with one of the photos of John Wayne. I suppose there goes the book’s worth as a collector’s edition.

Despite my critique of Mattie’s ultimate

adherence to the status quo, I can easily imagine how my grandmother would have been drawn to a person like her.

Who wouldn’t be? After all, she was only fourteen years old and facing all her fears — a preteen version of the gutsy grandma we all want to know and/or be. And maybe there’s more to Mattie than I can see. Perhaps she’s there in all her bravery and flaws to remind us of both our cultural strengths and weaknesses. l

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BACKYARD LIVING

ABOUT...the River Valley

Tougher and a Tiny Bit Braver

By Meredith Martin Moats

The Boiled Down Juice Read more from Meredith at www.boileddownjuice.com

42

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

MY FATHER RECENTLY GAVE ME AN ENVELOPE full of my mother’s old photos. Inside I discovered an image of a twelve-year-old me reaching out to pet our recently born colt.

I’m wearing wranglers, an embossed leather belt, and my long hair hangs down the length of my back. In the background sits heavily wooded Spring Mountain; in the corner of the frame, the neighbors clothes are hanging out to dry. Surprisingly, I am wearing short sleeves, a rare occurrence even in the warm months.

My short sleeves exposed large patches of psoriasis, a skin disease I’ve had for years. I was already going into remission by the time the photo was taken. The patches are relatively small and only cover a small portion of my arm. For years there were scales all down my leg and from my elbow to the middle of my forearm. I tried all kinds of cream, sat under sun lamps, applied a medicated tape I had to wear for days at a time and eventually took cortisone shots, something that is considered too dangerous today. But the patches only grew. Bright red and scaly, they would peel and crack. I wasn’t supposed to pick at them, but I could never resist. Sometimes they hurt, itched and bled. But mostly the discomfort was emotional.

Miraculously, by the time I was around 13 — around the same time I was diagnosed with scoliosis and given a back brace — the psoriasis was almost gone. This may have been the result of the treatments or just good luck.

The severity of auto-immune disease is known to come and go. By then I had learned a lot about how cruel people can be when your body doesn’t fit their expectations. I can still hear the voice of the young girl who refused to sit by me at the Dardanelle Rodeo. She called me gross and began to run away, grabbing her friend’s hand and pulling her along, telling her that if she touched me her arms would turn scabby and bloody, too. By the time I was fitted for that back brace I was a little tougher, a tiny bit braver. And I had learned to quickly recognize the people who asked questions about my body with a kind and accepting curiosity.

My mother was always taking photos of our family, something that drove me crazy back then. I usually made quite an effort to hide my arms from the camera. I even developed a pose for family shots where I’d fold my arms in toward my chest, an awkward look to say the least. For whatever reason, my guard was down that day. Or maybe I didn’t even realize she had the camera.

I still have occasional flareups with psoriasis, but mostly it’s turned into psoriatic arthritis, another autoimmune disease that effects adults who had severe psoriasis as a child. It does cause me some discomfort, but thankfully I am able to keep it under control with a healthy diet and lifestyle. And

“I want to bring that young girl with me into the present... to bring those experiences into everything I am and pass them down through the coming generations.” it’s not a visible disease like my psoriasis, unless you count the subtle ways it’s reshaping a few of my fingers. Every so often when I play guitar my fingers swell and turn red. I sometimes wonder if my hands will eventually curl in the way my grandfather’s, a man greatly disabled by rheumatoid arthritis, did.

Nearly 26 years later, I’m a distinctly different person then the timid girl in the photo. My mother is dead; those boxes of photos are where I have to go to hear her stories. I’ve traveled, I’ve started a family, I’ve faced more fears than I care to count, and I’ve come back home in more ways than one. And now I look at my arms reaching out to that colt and I think those patches look beautiful. The red is fiery and

shiny. The white, pale skin around the red fades into my summer tan. I don’t have any regrets over the sadness and shame I used to feel, nor do I feel like I wasted my time worrying. I learned a lot about myself in those moments. And I certainly don’t regret what I learned about people and the limits of acceptance. All of us are so affected by mainstreams ideas of beauty. It takes bravery to reject this mask.

After staring at the photo for sometime, I decided to share it with my sons. I told them about the psoriasis, the cruelty of some of my peers, and the kindness of others. I told them how my mother almost never sounded fierce except when she made it clear to me that I was never, ever to be cruel to anyone, to shame or make fun of them. She had no

Historic Charm.

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tolerance for human cruelty — whether I was receiving it or dishing it out.

They had a lot of questions about my arms, and wanted to see the subtle scars that can still be seen near my elbow.

They were particularly intrigued by my telling of the repeated needle pricks from the cortisone shots and how my mother called me brave as I sat still during the whole procedure.

I owe a lot to that girl in that photo.

I can see a latent fierceness there, and all these years later I might be starting to uncover it. While I do remember how sad I was back then, I don’t want to go back to console my fears or take away those patches. I want to bring that young girl with me into the present, show her how to channel her anger and would-be shame into a different way of being — to bring those experiences into everything I am and pass them down through the coming generations. l

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1903 S. Arkansas • (479) 968-3991 MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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OUTDOORS

ABOUT...the River Valley

See, Feel, Understand, Love, Have Faith

By Johnny Carrol Sain IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHO ALDO LEOPOLD WAS, please, stop reading this essay right now and do a Google search. I’m not kidding. If you’re in to fish and wildlife and healthy ecosystems and how biological systems from the formation of proteins on up to the biosphere hinge on one another to encourage and enable life on this ball of rock and water, you need to know Aldo Leopold.

If you haven’t Googled already, here’s a little excerpt from his work in A Sand County Almanac to whet your appetite: “The song of the waters is audible to every ear, but there is other music in these hills, by no means audible to all. To hear even a few notes of it you must first live here for a long time, and you must know the speech of hills and rivers. Then on a still night, when the campfire is low and the Pleiades have climbed over rimrock, sit quietly and listen for a wolf howl, and think hard of everything you have seen and tried to understand. Then you may hear it — a vast pulsing harmony — its score inscribed on a thousand hills, its notes the lives and deaths of plants and animals, it’s rhythms spanning the seconds and the centuries.”

Sounds close to religious text, doesn’t it?

If you’re a stubborn cuss and still haven’t engaged the search engine, it might surprise you to know that despite his near spiritual prose Leopold was a pragmatic scientist. He graduated from the Yale School of Forestry and the Sheffield Scientific School, a division of Yale.

He was a hunter, angler, naturalist, forester, educator, writer and encompassing all of these is his unofficial title as father of modern wildlife management. He

was also a founding member of the Boone and Crockett Club and, despite my mixed opinions of that organization, the strength of its founders alone nudge my views slightly to the positive side. Leopold was quite the outdoors renaissance man, and here’s a confession — I view him as a spiritual leader as well. The doctrine he preached was called the land ethic.

Leopold said this about his doctrine: “A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of land…“We can be ethical only in relation to something we can see, feel, understand, love, or otherwise have faith in.”

See, feel, understand, love or otherwise have faith in the land… Yes, I am a disciple.

My badge of discipleship is a full beard. It, and my head hair, are quite shaggy at this time of year. The mountain man look regularly invites comments and questions from strangers, and even family and friends: No! Emphatically no, it has nothing at all to do with Duck Dynasty.

Yes, it is sort of tied to deer hunting. But not in the way you’re probably thinking.

No, it’s not a lumbersexual/fashion statement thing. I’ve been wearing flannel and sporting facial hair long before the hipsters hijacked it.

And some folks just think it’s gross. Luckily, I do not care what those folks think.

But even as I try to explain why I shy away from razors and scissors during the dark time of year, I see eyes glazing over. I don’t blame them.

Read more from Johnny at www.aviewfromthebackroads.com

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ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

Discipleship is a deeply personal endeavor.

Nobody wants to hear about yours unless they share your faith.

As my days have rolled along seemingly faster with each orbit around the sun, I’ve searched for deeper meaning and understanding of myself and my place.

Leopold’s thoughts on the land ethic spurred many of those questions. So I made an effort to become aware. I saw. I felt. I tried hard to understand. I loved. I had faith.

And, like all good spiritual travelers do, I wanted an outward physical manifestation of where my faith rested. Thus the beard and long hair.

You know summer is fading fast here in Arkansas about a month before the autumnal equinox. It’s still blazing hot, but the sun’s edges soften. The shadows grow longer.

Then, on no particular day in late August, there will be a barely perceptible change in the air as northerly winds carry tentative feelers across the Rocky Mountains and

Great Plains, and into valleys tucked under the Ozark Plateau. I don’t know what the trigger actually is, it may be those breezes, but my decision is made on one of those days: Shaves and haircuts end.

It’s a form of personal rewilding as the seasons change and the hunt is nearly here, and this rewilding carries on through winter. By January the beard dominates my face and my longer locks are untamable under a baseball cap.

As we approach that halfway point between winter and spring, changes happen in mirror opposition to the first breaths of fall. Warm and humid gusts coming off the Gulf of Mexico coax evening songs from spring peepers and cricket frogs. Spring beauties, the first tiny wildflowers in my yard, emerge and their fuchsia-striped petals welcome honeybees on warm day excursions. And I begin looking for a more dramatic botanical harbinger of spring.

It’s called a trout lily. Leopold’s quote

about a man knowing plant birthdays is why: “Tell me of what plant-birthday a man takes notice, and I shall tell you a good deal about his vocation, his hobbies, his hay fever, and the general level of his ecological education.”

I think knowing plant birthdays is also a way to see, to feel, to understand, to love, and to have faith in something bigger than me and you and the petty junk we get bogged down in so often. And so, the day I find the first trout lily in full bloom is the day I cut and shave the wooly wild from head.

It’s an act fully designed to keep me aware. It’s an act to ensure that I am always seeing, always feeling, always understanding, always loving, and always clinging to faith in my home in this place and on this planet.

It’s an homage to cycles and mysterious systems that we are all too young to really understand. l

www.lizchrisman.com MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

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On a Personal Note An Unashamed Voice Speaks Hope Guest Written by Lesa Ford

I had to change everything about myself. They say they did so little for me but the truth is Fred met with me weekly, he introduced me to people at church and helped me get connected. He told me I could do this and told me how serious it was.

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There are four words to describe what the Russ Buss did for me. They believed in me. They believed in me before I believed in myself. They loved me, genuinely loved me, until I could love myself.

I originally met Fred during my fourth stint in rehab. I met him at The Journey. He encouraged me and made me feel like there was hope and that people cared. There was a short period that I returned to using drugs and alcohol because I didn’t know how to live. I very quickly became homeless.

It was awful and I was hopeless. I bathed in the river just to have a place to bathe. I didn’t have food to eat or clean clothes. I was given the gift of desperation which led me to the decision to check myself into rehab for the fifth time. There was a waiting period to get in. This is when I decided to call Fred and the Russ Buss.

I told Fred I needed clothes, bedding and hygiene products for rehab. Fred had seen me fail before, he had every reason not to help me but he did. He met me 40 minutes later. I got a coat. Not a raggedy old coat but a nice white coat. That’s what I remember the most because it was cold. I didn’t feel judged that day. I was barely 100 pounds and looked awful, but they helped me, they cared for me, and that made me want to succeed. I didn’t want to let them down.

I got to rehab on Feb 26, 2014, which is still my clean date. I was scared and absolutely alone.

We got to go to church on Saturday nights at The Journey and Fred told me he would be there.

Every week he checked on me and guided me. It was my first real connection with society. I got involved in support groups but I had to reconnect with society and learn how to live. I had to change everything about myself. They say they did so little for me but the truth is Fred met with me weekly, he introduced me to people at church and helped me get connected. Everyone had family at their graduation. I didn’t have any family that

ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY ~ MARCH 2016

wanted to be there so I invited Fred to come be my support. He came and that day he told me I could do this and told me how serious it was. They made sure I had a phone and got me two pairs of jeans and two shirts so I would have something to wear to get job applications. They helped guide me to make the right decisions, good decisions, and told me to respect myself. I was a lost soul. For two years, now, these people have been there for me.

They made me feel normal. They spoke hope and life into me. I finally had friends who obeyed the law. I learned from watching them. Everything in this process has been new to me. I needed a law abiding productive member of society to show me the way, and I have followed their direction. God has blessed me with so many good people, but Fred was the very first person there for me. They are still guiding me.

I got my first home last year and I got to wake up with my kids on Christmas Day. Each victory I share with the Russ Buss. Each setback they encourage me. I had nothing two years ago. I couldn’t even look in the mirror at myself. This has taught me to be humble and grateful, not proud. An unashamed voice speaks hope. When you come from nothing you learn to appreciate things, you learn the glory goes to God and to always help people. If Fred and The Russ Buss had not been there for me I am guessing I would be in prison or in the ground.

I finally get to wake up each morning knowing I have somebody that has my back 100 percent. That changed my world and changed my heart.

Today I have a wonderful relationship with my mother, and I get to spend every other weekend with my children. I thought I was really something the day Fred was at my coming out. The reality is I was still a mess. I have grown into a lady. Hitting bottom was the best thing that ever happened to me because I was so low I had no where to look but up.

That’s when I saw hope and I ran for it. My prayer is that I never stop running for it.

Look for more interesting features and tidbits in "On a Personal Note" each month in future issues of ABOUT...the River Valley. You'll find short stories, interesting pieces and other great reads from people you know, or would like to know from around the River Valley.

ENGAGEMENTS

ABOUT...the River Valley

Save the Date!

Calendar listings of engagement, wedding and anniversary announcements on the pages of each issue of ABOUT‌the River Valley are available at no charge. They may be mailed to: ABOUT Magazine, P.O. Box 10176, Russellville AR 72812 or sent via email to: editor@aboutrvmag.com. (A phone number must be included for verification.)

March 12

May 22

Ashlee Van Peeren & Brian Byrum

Allauna Frederick & Brady Boone

March 18

May 28

Jessica Drain & John Arivett

Courtney Hurlbut & Matt Hudson

March 19

Candace Scott & Jonathan Robinson

Andrea Foster & Ben Ball

June 4

April 2

Hannah Limbocker & Logan Taylor

Caroline Beavers & Chandler Tedder

April 16 Caitlin Miller & Alex Cravens

May 14 Mercedes Roush & Ryan Most

May 21

Photo by Benita's Photography

Sydney Sulcer & Chris Welk Emily Callaway & Alex Enderlin

June 25

Katie Crow & Brandon Goates

Morgan Austin & Tyler Balloun

Alex Hughes & Michael Killingsworth

Lakyn George & Tyler Collins

June 11

July 9

Emily Callaway & Alex Enderlin

June 18

Kaci Jackson & Luke Posey

Erin Grice & Cory Putman

Atalie Knight & Eric Sessions

July 23

Julie Paladino & Braden Vaughn

Laura Ridgeway & Niall Blasdel

Jenna Spikes & Gabe Barnhart

To have your engagement or wedding published in a future issue of ABOUT Magazine, send your information, photo* and a check for $57.50 to: ABOUT Magazine, PO Box 10176, Russellville AR 72812, or visit www.aboutrvmag.com/forms.html. Word count is limited to 225 words. Deadline is the 15th of the month preceding publication. For additional information, call (479) 857-6791. *Digital files are accepted and will be published upon receipt of payment.

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MARCH 2016 ~ ABOUT the RIVER VALLEY

47

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