ARDOT Unveils Fallen Worker Memorial Fall BBQ Cook-Off Winners
AAPA/MAPA Emerging Leaders Branson Event Recap 2026 Quality Conference Sneak Peek
Save the Date – 2026 Convention at Oaklawn
Chairman Bobby Kennedy
CK Asphalt
Vice Chairman
Denis Guillette
Redstone Construction Group
Secretary-Treasurer
Max Mathis
Blackstone Construction, LLC
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mason Cline
Emerging Leaders Chair
APAC-Central Inc.
Murry Cline
APAC-Central Inc.
Brandon Finn Past Chairman
Emery Sapp & Sons, Inc.
Nick Haynes
SN Contractors
D.B. Hill, III
AGC Representative
Lane Loper
Asphalt & Fuel Supply
Brad Marotti
Delta Asphalt of Arkansas
Vince Tate
Martin Marietta
Guy Washburn
Cranford Construction Co.
Cindy Williams Time Striping, Inc.
Arkansas Asphalt
Pavement Association
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 24304
Little Rock, AR 72221
Phone (501) 224-4840
www.arasphalt.com office@arasphalt.com
Park Estes
Executive Director director@arasphalt.com
Administrative Services
Best Association Management
Dear Friends and Fellow Members of the Arkansas Asphalt Pavement Association,
As we wrap up the 2025 paving season, it’s a great moment to pause and reflect on everything we’ve accomplished together. Through perseverance, dedication, and plain hard work, our industry has navigated one of its most competitive years yet – and we’ve come out stronger for it.
In the spirit of the holiday season, let’s take a moment to count our blessings. We are profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Arkansas by helping ARDOT maintain the 12th-largest state highway system in the nation. Few industries get to say their work literally paves the way for safer, smoother travel for millions of families, farmers, and businesses every single day. That’s something worth being proud of.
“We are profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Arkansas by helping ARDOT maintain the 12th-largest state highway system in the nation. Few industries get to say their work literally paves the way for safer, smoother travel for millions of families, farmers, and businesses every single day.”
Looking ahead, let’s carry this momentum into 2026 with renewed energy. By readying our plants and equipment, refining our mix designs, embracing smarter technologies, pursuing greener and more sustainable practices, and building even stronger teams, we can raise the bar higher than ever before.
Here’s to smooth roads, strong partnerships, and an even brighter future ahead.
Please save the date and join us January 8-9 in Little Rock for the AAPA Quality Conference. It’s the perfect way to kick off the new year with fresh ideas, valuable training, and great fellowship.
I look forward to seeing each of you there.
Warmest regards, Bobby Kennedy AAPA Chairman President, CK Asphalt
ON THE COVER: On Thursday, Oct. 9, the Arkansas Department of Transportation unveiled its Fallen Worker Memorial. ARDOT employees designed the 27-foot memorial. It depicts praying hands, with the middle section representing a highway leading to heaven or infinity. It sits on landscaped grounds on the east side of ARDOT’s Central Office Complex at 10324 Interstate 30 in Little Rock and includes an almost 200 ft. paved walkway with the fallen names etched into brick. (Photo courtesy of Rusty Hubbard, ARDOT.)
Bobby Kennedy
In Memory of the Fallen: ARDOT Unveils Praying Hands Tribute
By Deborah Horn
Despite the sunny skies and cool breezes, the overall mood was solemn as approximately 1,000 gathered for the unveiling of the Fallen Worker Memorial on Oct. 9, 2025, in honor of 92 Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) employees and Arkansas Highway Police (AHP) officers who have lost their lives while on the job.
The workers honored that Thursday came from all walks of life, and their individual deaths spanned more than seven decades.
ARDOT employees handed out programs while news crews set up video cameras and photographers and print journalists gathered close to the stage. The Rockefeller String Quartet from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra played while hundreds of ARDOT employees wearing orange vests gathered at
the perimeter of the landscaped grounds, called the Reflection Area, where the 27-foot monument was placed.
Near the monument and stage, ARDOT set up a group of 300 chairs in two sections: one reserved for the 120 family members who attended, and the other open to guests. Both sections were filled by the start of the 1:00 PM dedication ceremony.
Jared D. Wiley, ARDOT Director, opened by saying, “I’m filled with pride by the number of you who made it a point to be here today with us to support each other. In the crowd today, we have highway commissioners, elected officials, industry partners, and the largest single gathering of ARDOT employees in history. Thank you all for being here today.”
Park Estes, Arkansas Asphalt Pavement Association
About 1,000 guests, public officials, and Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) employees attended the unveiling of the 27foot Fallen Worker Memorial. It is designed to honor the 92 ARDOT employees and AHP officers who have lost their lives while on the job. (All photos courtesy of Rusty Hubbard, ARDOT.)
(AAPA) Executive Director, said his organization stood behind and financially supported the Fallen Worker Memorial. “It was important to the entire industry that we recognize those we have been lost on the job and salute their contributions,” he said. “Without them, as well as all the hardworking men and women past and present, Arkansas would be a very different place with many fewer educational and economic opportunities.”
In Honor of Service
Laura Wenty, ARDOT’s Community Relations Manager, said before the ceremony’s start, “When we lose someone, we feel it through the 3,500-person organization.”
An ARDOT District 4 crew member who came for the ceremony said, “We all feel it. I think it’s good to remember those who went to the Lord. This (memorial) shows respect for the families.”
The memorial was designed to honor ARDOT and AHP, an agency that falls under the highway department, and the employees who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to Arkansas. It is an abstract representation of praying hands, with the space
between the two columns symbolizing a highway to heaven or infinity.
Dave Parker, ARDOT Communications Division Head, said, “From the top of the footing, it is 26 ft. to the top of the two towers. The top skip extends one ft. above that, so 27 ft. to the top of the uppermost, white skip line suspended on the bars between the two towers.”
Also, it is 26 ft. wide, 10 ft. long, and two ft. deep, with an almost 200 ft. paved walkway leading to it, and the monument and grounds are located on the east side of ARDOT’s Central Office Complex at 10324 Interstate 30 in Little Rock.
The names of the deceased were etched in brick and now line the exterior of the walkway. The memorial’s “total cost, including in-kind donations (such as material, equipment, labor, etc., is equivalent to about $354,000.” ARDOT’s former and current employees raised $90,000 through internal fundraising efforts, and a long list of businesses donated money, talent, and time to the memorial.
“This monument not only pays tribute to the ARDOT men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice but also serves as a strong reminder: safety
After the ceremony, hundreds gathered in the Fallen Worker Memorial’s Reflection Area. The names of the deceased were etched in brick and now line the exterior of the walkway that leads to the monument.
must come first for everyone—the driving public and the workers out there. We are all in this together,” Wiley said.
In Their Honor
D.B. Hill, III, Arkansas Good Roads Foundation Secretary/Treasurer, delivered the invocation, and the AHP Honor Guard presented the colors as the Rockefeller String Quartet played the National Anthem.
Sen. Frederick J. Love, who represents District 15, said, “Let me begin by offering my deepest condolences to you, your families, and your friends… As a father, I cannot imagine the pain you have experienced. My heart goes out to each and every family here today.” Love also discussed the combined efforts of ARDOT and himself to pass legislation aimed at worker safety. Over the last 10 years, “We have passed eight laws regarding workers’ safety, including three this past session. We are doing everything in our power to save lives.”
Jerry Halsey, Arkansas Highway Commission Member from Jonesboro, delivered a written message from Gov. Sarah Sanders. Capt. Chad Heath, AHP District 4, said, “It was a wonderful ceremony and
honors the families and their sacrifices. It shows them a great deal of respect.” Leah Griffin of Huntsville, Miss., said, “It was perfect.”
Tammy Small of Hector, her son, Caiden Mason, and her cousin, Lisa Carter, attended the service. Small was the granddaughter of Floyd Mason, who was killed on the job in 1954. “Those were dangerous jobs and dangerous times,” Small said. In part, because there were no backup beepers on trucks back then, and drunk driving was as taboo as it is today.
Small said she was thrilled that ARDOT had tracked her down; otherwise, she wouldn’t have known about the memorial. She and her family were honored that Floyd Mason was remembered. “I thought it was a wonderful ceremony, and much more than I expected. It was somber and dignified. I was very impressed by how ARDOT handled every detail.”
Small said she felt that her father, Billy Floyd Mason, would have been pleased, and her son, Tobin Williamson, who lives in Maine, also watched the ceremony. “He found it just in time to catch it online,” Small added.
“My father, James Garner, had a heart attack on Oct. 16, 1980, while working in McGehee, AR,” said JoAnn Scharfenberg of Texas. “This memorial service was
Approximately 300 family members of the deceased ARDOT employees and AHP gathered at ARDOT headquarters for the unveiling of the Fallen Worker Memorial.
so well done, and it was much more emotional than I expected when I heard my daddy’s name spoken aloud in recognition of his service. The memorial is beautiful and I especially appreciate the director’s commitment to see that this project was completed.”
From Leadership to Bricks
Wiley said, “We wouldn’t be here today if not for the perseverance and hard work of our friend and mentor, former (ARDOT) Director, Lorie Tudor. Lorie recognized the importance of having a permanent place like this to honor our fallen workers. She wanted to give them a way to be remembered by our agency and their friends and families, with an appropriate amount of dignity and respect. She persistently worked to make this memorial a reality for workers and their families.”
After taking the lectern, Tudor said, “Today’s dedication of the Fallen Worker Memorial is truly a celebration of what we can accomplish when we all work together. Over the years, the desire to build a memorial has always been there. It’s just that it was a big task and we didn’t really have the time or the resources we needed to make it happen.”
In early 2020, Tudor became ARDOT Director. Fast forward to the spring of 2023, Tudor said, “We had our memorial that we had then of orange cones with a paper sleeve with each fallen worker’s information displayed in the central offices here in the department. Also, that spring, we tragically lost one of our employees, a young man, Timothy Harris, Jr., who was struck and killed while trying to remove a hazard to motorists.”
She continued, “As I was showing Timothy’s cone to his family, it hit me very hard that this orange cone memorial was so inadequate for honoring all the lives that had been given in service to our state. We just had to do something better. That is when the Fallen Worker Memorial became more than a desire. It became a passion.”
Sharon Polk of Little Rock, the mother of Timothy Harris, Jr., was at the unveiling. She remembered seeing the line of orange cones that marked each employee’s death and was later told that her son’s death was the motivation behind the push to create a monument.
Of the ceremony, Polk said, “It was nice and it was heartfelt. The monument is special. Now, we have a place to go and sit, to remember. I’m thankful that they thought of that.”
Jared Wiley, ARDOT Director, spoke ARDOT’s desire to recognize the four AHP and the 88 ARDOT employees who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The AHP is part of ARDOT.
Lorie Tudor, former ARDOT Director, was the push behind the creation of the Fallen Worker Memorial.
The 92
Ten ARDOT District Engineers read the names of 88 ARDOT employees who lost their lives in their districts during two separate portions of the ceremony. The District Engineers included Cannon Callicott, Drew Hoggard, William Cheatham, Jason Hughey, Hunter Lake, David Archer, David Ross, Stacy Burge, and Shane Wood.
ARDOT Division Heads also read the names of those lost in their departments. These included Travis Brooks, Planning and Research; Andy Nanneman, Bridge Operations; Maggie Garrett, Internal Audit (Chief Auditor); and Deric Wyatt, Maintenance. Jeff Holmes, Arkansas Highway Police Chief, read the four names of AHP employees who died while on duty. The fallen include Mark Abbott, Robert Andrews, John Barefield, Billie Barker, Wesley Biggers, Samuel Brandon, Jack Brockman, Ralph Buchanan, John Bullard, Joe Burchfield, James Camp, Sam Carrigan, William Childress, Jackie Coffman, Lewis Connell, James Copeland, Roland Copeland, Jonathan Cottier, Corey Crawford, Joe Daggs, L.A. Daniels, Daniel Dannelley, Chester Darden, Willis Earnest, Clarence Farmer, Bruce Fick, Whipple Fields, Jonathan Fish, Walter Gage, Bill Garner, Harden Garner, James
Sen. Frederick J. Love, who represents District 15 and spoke at the event, said, “Let me begin by offering my deepest condolences to you, your families, and your friends… As a father, I cannot imagine the pain you have experienced. My heart goes out to each and every family here today.”
Garner, John Garner, Charles Glover, Billy Godwin, Ward Goodman, Frank Green, Virgil Green, Hubert Grigg, Dorothy Hargraves, Jerome Harris, Timothy Harris, Jr., Herschel Harrison, James Henderson, Billie Hensley, Willie Hicks, Russell Hightower, Clarence Hobson, Billy Hyde, Brandon Jones, Anthony King, Benny Malone, Gregory Martin, Floyd Mason, Mack McChristian, Isreal Meza, Chandler Moore, Terrell Moore, James Nichols, Glenn Page, Winfred Petty, John Phelan, Vaughn Pierson, Carl Pitts, Junior Purtle, Odell Quinn, James Ralls, Curtis Rawls, Delbert Reynolds, Sharren Richards, Dale Richardson, Dan Roberts, Ancil Robison, Lesley South, Marvin Sullivan, Oleather Swanigan, Jr., David Truelove, Wayne Turner, Otto Utley, Bennie Walker, Dale Wallis, Orice Ward, Kirk Watts, James Webb, Anderson Williams, George Williams, Lee Williams, Thomas Wilson, Michael Wolters, Artie Woody, Waldo Wylie, and Richard Young.
For more information about the Fallen Worker Memorial, go to ardot.gov/memorial/.
