Arkansas Times | April 2022

INTELLIGENCE FROM MARS | DELTA VODKA > RUSSIAN VODKA | SUPPOSITORY SUNDAY

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APRIL 2022

FEATURES 23 THE MAKING OF MARS

Meet Tom Mars, Arkansas’s litigating superhero.

By Austin Bailey

27 ROAD TRIP

How to make the most of the sweet spot on the calendar.

28 HIKING THE LOVIT

Why the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail is underrated — and how to enjoy it.

By Stephanie Smittle

36 BOW AND BUCK SHOT

All the wild creatures you can hunt in Arkansas, and when you can do it.

By Austin Bailey

41 ALL IN

Sidle up to the craps table. Your Arkansas casino road trip lies ahead.

By Rhett Brinkley

48 BIG BLUFF PROBLEMS

SELF-PORTRAIT: Virmarie DePoyster’s “Empathetic, Artist, Native Puerto Rican — Immigrant.”

On the Buffalo National River’s 50th anniversary, a call for conservation.

By Lindsey Millar

9 THE FRONT

Q&A: With celebrated woodworker Doug Stowe.

The Big Pic: Ringing in 4/20 with Dr. Yes.

13 THE TO-DO LIST

A Dean Mitchell exhibit at Hearne Fine Art, “Into the Woods” at The Rep, Tiny Towns at Vino’s, Henry Rollins at Rev Room, Celebrating Michael Goodrich at White Water Tavern, Pachuquísmo in Conway and more.

ON THE COVER: Canoers paddle under a bluff on the Buffalo National River. Photo by Jeff Rose.

4 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

19 NEWS & POLITICS

Remembering Brent Renaud, a fearless journalist and filmmaker who focused his camera on vulnerable people around the world.

By Sam Eifling

53 SAVVY KIDS

Talking autism and acceptance with Amber and Kyle Hendrickson.

By Katherine Wyrick

63 CULTURE

68 CULTURE

A Q&A with painter Virmarie DePoyster.

By Stephanie Smittle

70 FOOD & DRINK

Delta Dirt Distillery is building a family legacy from sweet potato vodka.

By Brian Sorensen

76 CANNABIZ

Marijuana monopolies.

By Griffin Coop

Trekking through a traveling Smithsonian 82 THE OBSERVER Getting rectal with the state’s medical exhibit in rural Washington County. marijuana offerings.

By Caroline Millar

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VOLUME 48, ISSUE 8 ARKANSAS TIMES (ISSN 0164-6273) is published each month by Arkansas Times Limited Partnership, 201 East Markham Street, Suite 200, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201, phone (501) 375-2985. Periodical postage paid at Little Rock, Arkansas, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ARKANSAS TIMES, 201 EAST MRKHAM STREET, SUITE 200, Little Rock, AR, 72201. Subscription prices are $60 for one year. For subscriber service call (501) 375-2985. Current single-copy price is $5, free in Pulaski County. Single issues are available by mail at $5.00 each, postage paid. Payment must accompany all orders. Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents without the written consent of the publishers is prohibited. Manuscripts and artwork will not be returned or acknowledged unless sufficient return postage and a self-addressed stamped envelope are included. All materials are handled with due care; however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for care and safe return of unsolicited materials. All letters sent to ARKANSAS TIMES will be treated as intended for publication and are subject to ARKANSAS TIMES’ unrestricted right to edit or to comment editorially. ©2022 ARKANSAS TIMES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

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ARKANSAS TIMES

THE FRONT

DOUG STOWE BELIEVES OUR BRAINS ARE IN OUR HANDS

Q&A

NEW BOOK BLENDS PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICAL INSIGHT. Perhaps Arkansas’s most decorated woodworker, Doug Stowe of Eureka Springs is also one of our most erudite thinkers about the meaning of craft and its importance in community and education. The founder of the Eureka Springs Guild of Artists and Craftspeople and a co-founder of the Eureka Springs School of the Arts, Stowe is a past Arkansas Living Treasure and the author of more than a dozen books, most recently “The Wisdom of Our Hands” (Linden Publishing, $16.95), a passionate, thoughtful and highly approachable treatise on the importance of making things with our hands.

Eureka Springs School of the Arts. What differences and similarities have you observed among them?

My adult students have all signed up and usually paid something to be there and made a commitment to a certain number of days and they are extremely attentive to my teaching. The kids don’t always know “what’s in it for me.” They come to woodshop because it’s expected of them.

I have to prove to them that it’s of interest.

Or they have to prove to themselves that it’s of interest to them. Adults are less forgiving of their own mistakes. For kids, they’re so proud of their work. I could look at it and say, “They could’ve done that better.” But they have what some of my adult students need, and that’s the willingness to forgive themselves for not measuring up to the standard.

The hand slips or the mind slips or the wood doesn’t perform, one or another. So many times I’ve looked at the grain on a piece of wood, and I think, “Because the grain goes this way, I have to approach it from a certain direction,” but then I find that it’s tearing out. And it’s just some little misunderstanding we’ve had. Perfection is elusive and maybe there’s no such thing.

There’s a fair amount of pedagogical theory in this book. When did you get interested in education and make the connection between craft and better methods of teaching? My mother was a kindergarten teacher, so I was watching her go off each day and I was listening to the stories she told when she came home. I had a natural interest in teaching and a fear of it because AGE: 73 I saw what my mother put into it each day.

It really became of interest because I had FROM: Eureka Springs a daughter and when the school she was attending, Clear Spring, decided to be a A RECENT CREATION HE’S PROUD OF: “A box high school, I asked, “Are you gonna have called ‘A Reliquary of Wood.’ It’s designed to look like a woodshop?” They said, “We don’t have You’ve been a woodworker for 46 years, a little chapel, so it’s got doors that open to reveal funding, but if you can find funding, we’d a published author on woodworking what would be the choir loft of the chapel and has certainly start one.” So I happened to find topics for nearly 30 and a teacher for little doors that pull out. Inside I’ve got 25 Arkansas funding, so we were able to get started. more than 20. How have each of the hardwoods to celebrate the diversity of our forests. I [Studying woodworking education took three pursuits informed the others? I did another version that I call ‘The Choiring of Trees,’ Stowe to conferences all over the world, think of myself as a woodworker. I teach named after Don Harrington’s book.” where he learned about the Swedish eduwoodworking and I write about it and I do cational sloyd system of handicraft-based it. That’s who I am. I don’t think there’s education and the theories of play through geometric building blocks anything I would do differently about that. But we’re multifunctional. of Friedrich Frobel, the German educator who created the concept of We’re like Swiss Army knives in a way, with screwdriver blades and all kindergarten. Stowe wrote a how-to book called “Making Classic Toys that stuff.

That Teach” and explores the teaching theories in “The Wisdom of Our Hands.”]

You seem spry at 73, but do you envision a world where you pull back If you visit the Clear Spring campus, you find the giant kindergarten on any of your work? I’m already pulling back. I’m going to retire from blocks. The kids use them to make forts and objects of beauty. One Clear Spring School at the end of this semester. I’ll still be available as day they turned them into a giant sofa that they can all sit on. For me, a resource and volunteer. With this book, I don’t know if I have another woodworking isn’t just about picking up a piece of wood, it’s also about one in me or not. I still have articles I’m working on. I’ll still be teaching doing things that reshape our relationships to each other. Woodworking adults. Maybe not at the same pace. All of us get to a point where we is a way we build community and we serve within that community. It’s a slow down. I think we have a tendency to get a little smarter about way of connecting more deeply with the natural environment. Developthings. When you do something a lot, you start to realize that some of ing yourself as a craftsman is not just getting your dovetail joints more the steps you thought were essential are not. Some of the things start closely to the line; it’s about bringing yourself more closely to the line, falling to the wayside and you simplify, and I think that enables you to to your own sense of what is ideal. do what you do and maybe with a little less stress and in a little less time. Slowing down is not necessarily a bad thing.

You teach children at Clear Spring School and mostly adults at the — Lindsey Millar ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 9

THE FRONT BIG PIC

SAY YES TO CANNABIS* DR. YES REVIEWS

ARKANSAS MEDICAL MARIJUANA STRAINS.

I

n honor of this month’s very important international holiday 4/20, the Arkansas Times presents the first entries in a new weekly series of medical marijuana strains that you can find at arktimes.com/author/ dryes. Dr. Yes is not an actual medical doctor, so take his prescriptions for what they are, insight from a longtime stoner who lives and thrives in the straight 9-to-5 world. *If you’re a grown-up with a medical marijuana card. Use responsibly, etc., etc.

Northern Lights is a longtime celebrity strain in the cannabis world. Believed to be developed from Afghan indicas during the 1970s in the Pacific Northwest, it quickly made its way to the first Dutch cannabis seed catalogs and became a basic building block of modern cannabis production.

Famous for its pungent pine smell and euphoric indica stone, this strain has been in high demand for decades. As patients called for more old-school strains in Arkansas, cultivators responded.

You can now purchase vintage favorites such as Acapulco Gold, Panama Red and Hash Plant, and now Northern Lights is being offered by two different cultivators. I decided to pick up both versions from the Good Day Farm Little Rock dispensary to see how they compare.

10 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

STRAIN: Northern Lights Indica CULTIVATOR: Good Day Farm THC: 19.7% PRICE: $35 per 1/8 ounce before tax

STRAIN: Northern Lights Indica CULTIVATOR: Osage Creek Cultivation THC: 25% PRICE: $40 per 1/8 ounce before tax

My GDF jar had several tight, compact, welltrimmed and cured nugs that were covered in dark orange hairs and lightly dusted with trichomes. The smell was a sharp pine mixed with pungent citrus, while the flavor was somewhat sweeter. The effects were relaxing, clear-headed and wonderfully euphoric. It pleasantly uplifted my mood while I was doing chores and listening to music, but then transitioned into a relaxing full body stone that made me want to sit in the yard and watch the clouds. It also took away all of my anxiety for the duration of the effects, which was between 1-2 hours. Overall it was a great experience.

Osage’s nugs didn’t look considerably different, but that’s where the similarities end.

The smell and flavor were extremely light, and I could barely pick up a slight skunky sweetness. The effects were also light, and can best be described as an introspective head high that wasn’t particularly relaxing or enjoyable. It lasted 30-45 minutes and made me a bit anxious, so I was happy when it was over. This was a complete waste of $40.

The winner of the Northern Lights showdown was easily Good Day Farm. I’ll definitely be avoiding Osage’s version in the future, but I highly recommend GDF’s Northern Lights if you want to experience the joys of a true oldschool cannabis classic.

STRAIN: Gorilla’d Cheese 50/50 Sativa/Indica Hybrid GENETICS: GG #4 x Clementine CULTIVATOR: Revolution THC: 27% PRICE: $49.99 per 1/8 oz before tax Since I first got my Arkansas medical marijuana card a couple of years ago, I’ve found that Revolution (formerly known as Delta) delivers quality cannabis more consistently than any other cultivator in the program. Although the price is also higher than average, I am rarely left with buyer’s remorse.

So when I saw that Native Green Wellness in Little Rock had a new batch of Revolution’s Gorilla’d Cheese in stock, I couldn’t wait to try it out.

My jar contained three large, fluffy nugs completely encrusted in trichomes. The trim on the buds could have been a bit better, but I didn’t mind because they were so wonderfully grown and cured. The smell was very pungent and reminded me of a fresh container of grated parmesan cheese mixed with overripe citrus, but the flavor was a light, creamy citrus. The effects hit me fast with an uplifting, euphoric head high and then a wave of physical relaxation that started in my head and went down my whole body. It felt like I melted into the couch for a couple of hours of foggy, unproductive bliss.

Gorilla’d Cheese is one of the most potent and effective 50/50 hybrids I’ve had the pleasure of trying. You get mental and physical effects in equal measure, and it all combines into a very relaxing, enjoyable, long-lasting experience. I highly recommend this strain for everyone, but beginners should approach with caution because of the high THC content.

Revolution’s Gorilla’d Cheese easily holds a place in my top five strains available in the Arkansas medical market.

STRAIN: Blue Dream Sativa-dominant hybrid GENETICS: Blueberry x Haze CULTIVATOR: Bold THC: 20.64% PRICE: $42.99 per one-eighth ounce before tax Beloved throughout the cannabis world, Blue Dream has been one of the most soughtafter strains of the last decade. It’s famous for having an uplifting high and a sweet berry flavor. This has been one of my favorite strains for many years, so I picked some up from Native Green Wellness in Little Rock to see if Bold Team Cultivation’s version lives up to its famous reputation.

My jar was filled with lime green nugs that were small, compact and lightly frosted with trichomes. I was immediately greeted with a strong smell of sweet berries that reminded me of a berry-flavored bubble gum. The effects were definitely uplifting, but not energetic or hard-hitting. My brain felt fuzzy and relaxed.

I abandoned my productive plans for the evening and was very content just listening to music for the next hour.

Blue Dream has a gentle, cerebral high that can be enjoyed anytime, and by all different types of cannabis patients. It’s perfect for creative pursuits, taking a long walk, or just chilling out. I would have liked the effects to last longer and the price point to be a bit lower, but I still enjoyed it and would recommend it to any cannabis patients who have yet to try it, especially beginners.

STRAIN: Grape Pie #2 Indica-dominant hybrid GENETICS: Cherry Pie x Grape Stomper CULTIVATOR: River Valley Relief THC: 23.4% PRICE: $40 per one-eighth ounce before tax I’m always excited to try cannabis from a new cultivator. So when products from River Valley Relief showed up on local Weedmaps menus, I made a quick trip to pick up Grape Pie #2 from Good Day Farm Little Rock dispensary.

Several different strains are newly available from River Valley Relief, but when I opened the jar, I knew I chose wisely. Inside, I saw pristine buds. Each perfectly trimmed purple and green nugget glistened with frosty trichomes. An intoxicating aroma of sweet, creamy grapes and berries washed over me with hints of peppery, earthy fuel. The smell carried through strongly to the flavor, making this some of the most delicious cannabis I’ve tried in recent memory.

Immediately after vaping I received a quick wave of euphoric energy, which settled into a relaxing, giggly, chilled-out stone that lasted about two hours. I found the effects to be pleasantly potent in a way that could appeal to longtime cannabis users and beginners alike. Grape Pie #2 simultaneously provides gentle sativa euphoria without heart-pounding anxiety and a mellow, relaxing body sensation without overwhelming sleepiness. I could enjoy this during the day while doing chores, or in the evening watching TV or hanging out with friends. Even the packaging impresses. It’s elegantly designed and includes not only the standard THC percentage, but also the CBD percentage and the strain’s top three terpenes.

If Grape Pie #2 is an indicator of the type of quality and genetics we can expect from River Valley Relief, I can’t wait to try other strains.

Highly recommended.

ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 11

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BY STEPHANIE SMITTLE

LUNA LUNA, DREAMGIRL FRIDAY 4/22. VINO’S. 7 P.M. $15.

This Dallas-based pop outfit — vocalist Kevin González, drummer Kaylin Martínez, bassist Ryan Gordon and vocalist Danny Bonilla — is taking its bilingual slow burns to Vino’s after turning its buzzed-about Texas house party tour into a tour of clubs across the country, and if we’d all had couple-skate anthems like “Don’t Forget” as adolescents, our romantic pursuits might have been less perplexing. Expect any lingering toxic machismo in the room to be single-handedly banished with the tune “Feelings in Me,” and bring your best dancing partner. They’re joined by fellow dream pop rockers Dreamgirl, out of Kansas City, Missouri.

Could this be it? The turning point in the pandemic? Here’s hoping. When we went to press for this issue of the Arkansas Times, artists and hospitality industry workers alike were still in recovery from calendar limbo, so if you’re still staying in, now’s a great time to buy a gift certificate from your favorite bar (buy your future self a beer!) or order merch from your favorite local musician. If you’re going out, tote that vaccination card with you and consider that gathering safely for live performance is still a work in progress; be on the lookout for cancellations, policy changes or date changes, and handle them with all the grace you can summon.

ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 13

CELEBRATING MICHAEL GOODRICH SUNDAY 4/10. WHITE WATER TAVERN. 2 P.M.

Michael Goodrich — longtime local musician, collector of plants and records and bizarre string instruments, groovy hippie uncle of the Little Rock music scene — died on Jan. 5, leaving behind throngs of friends and cohorts who unanimously attest to his lust for life and joie de vivre. (Lest there be doubt as to his good humor about mortality and the beyond, consider that he once started a band titled “The Death of Michael Goodrich.”) His last Facebook post was of a sunrise as seen from the door of his beloved metal Lustron home, captioned with the words “The Sun King!”, and it’s a pretty accurate snapshot of the way he seemed to greet mornings and people alike. This gathering at one of Goodrich’s favorite watering holes celebrates his memory more fittingly than could a funeral.

14 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

JORDAN BAK

MONDAY 4/21. ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Forever playing second fiddle to virtuoso violins, it’s pretty exciting when a viola player takes center stage, particularly one with chops like Jordan Bak. Only the third violist to receive Juilliard’s prestigious Artist Diploma and a fervent champion of new music from living composers, the Jamaican-American recitalist “drives a very loud Dodge Dakota 5.9 R/T,” his biography notes, and has a commitment to working with youth orchestras and string students, as he’ll do with the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra during this Arkansas visit for this concert from the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock. Get tickets at chambermusiclr.com.

COURTESY OF HEARNE FINE ART

‘AND THE BEAT DON’T STOP: 50 YEARS OF HIP-HOP’

DEAN MITCHELL: ‘THE RETURN’

THROUGH FRIDAY 6/3. HEARNE FINE ART, 1001 WRIGHT AVE. When tiny thumbnail previews of Dean Mitchell’s watercolors “Desert Valley” and “Wild Cactus” landed in my email inbox, my eyes registered them as photographs, and yet, after seeing them loaded up full size on the computer screen, the observable brushstrokes tell me they’re not intended to be photorealistic at all. His arresting character studies — “Rowena,” “Mom at the Manor” — are worth seeking out, and for this show at Hearne, Mitchell shows his etchings and oils as well as watercolors, including some of the aforementioned scenes from the American West. When viewed in person (and not in pixels), will Mitchell’s cactus still somehow evoke a cactus more aptly than a photo of a cactus would? My bet’s yes. Mitchell visits Arkansas from Florida for this exhibit’s reception, to be held at Hearne Fine Art from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, April 2.

THURSDAY 4/7-FRIDAY 7/1. MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER.

The National Hip-Hop Museum, founded in 2019, boasts the largest collection of hip-hop memorabilia and artifacts around the world, and part of that collection is headed to Little Rock’s Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, with an opening launch party scheduled for 5 p.m., Thursday, April 7. “For many of us, hip-hop has been part of our entire consciousness and has impacted our lives from music and fashion to art and culture,” Quantia “Key” Fletcher, museum director, said. “It has been the voice of the marginalized populations and offered a mic oftentimes in hallowed spaces.” Got a kid between the ages of 7 and 13 who’d like to hone their skills as a hip-hop lyricist? Email scarlet.sims@arkansas.gov to register them for an educational workshop from Dazzmin Murry (Honey House, Dazz & Brie) at MTCC in partnership with the Arkansas Arts Council and the Hillary Rodham Clinton Library and Learning Center.

HENRY ROLLINS

KURT LUNSFORD

FRIDAY 4/29. REV ROOM. $30-$155.

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TINY TOWNS

SATURDAY 4/2. VINO’S. 7 P.M. The last time we heard Jonesboro indie rock darlings Tiny Towns live was just before the pandemic squelched our dreams for the 2020 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, so it’s an encouraging sign to see such enthusiastic crowds filling this quartet’s shows two whole years down the line. I defy you to listen to “Take Me Under” and not allow the silky bass line to gradually replace all the blood in your body; these riffs are pure cotton candy and resistance is futile. They share the bill with Any Given Room and Lilac Kings.

Henry Rollins’ autobiography is probably a little too sweeping and explosive to fit neatly into memoir format (though he’s got one of those, too). For that, we get his “talking shows,” a series of spoken word performances from a dude who looks so hardcore and grizzled you half-suspect he might be a youth group leader. For the latest installment, “Good To See You,” expect a Rollins covid diary delivered with his signature intensity and energy, informed by the backdrop of the former Black Flag frontman’s biography, which reads like a bucket list for counterculture polymaths: mosh pit injuries, cameos on “Sons of Anarchy” and “Adventure Time,” periods of intense political activism for LGBTQ rights and for cannabis legalization, bylines in Vanity Fair and the Los Angeles Times and relentless touring to entertain troops deployed overseas.

General admission is $30, and a top-tier ticket gets you entry to a meet-and-greet, a photo with the punk rock legend and other perks. Get tickets at revroom.com.

ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 15

PACHUQUÍSMO

THURSDAY 4/7. REYNOLDS PERFORMANCE HALL, CONWAY. 10 A.M., 7:30 P.M. $5-$15.

The Pachuquísmo troupe’s nine-woman cast lands in full zoot suit attire in Conway this month with a show that blends jazz, tap and Mexican Zapateado movement to tell the story of MexicanAmerican youth, “pulling the narrative of the Zoot Suit Riots,” a show description reads, “out of the male-centered context to portray the experiences of las pachucas of the 1940s through movement, spoken word and video.” A school matinee goes up at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 7, and an evening performance takes place later that day, accompanied by a Q&A with Catherine S. Ramirez, Latinx literature scholar and author of “The Woman in the Zoot Suit: Gender, Nationalism, and the Cultural Politics of Memory.” Get tickets at uca.edu/publicappearances.

‘INTO THE WOODS’

TUESDAY 4/19-SUNDAY 5/8. ARKANSAS REPERTORY THEATRE. It’s so easy to say — as I smugly did throughout adolescence despite being a choir kid surrounded by throngs of “Rent” disciples — “musical theater’s not my cup of tea.” Saying so got increasingly more difficult, I found, as more smart, subversive work from the late Stephen Sondheim made its way into my ears. And with Sondheim, the gateway elixir is often this fairytale fever dream, always surprising, never moralistic, stubbornly ambiguous and light enough on its feet to make a reluctant theatergoer wonder how the musical’s runtime swept by so swiftly. Get tickets at therep.org.

16 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

LEA SALONGA

MONDAY 4/25. UA PULASKI TECHNICAL COLLEGE, CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES AND ARTS. 7:30 P.M. $20-$65.

If your kids have ever belted out “Reflection” from “Mulan,” or Princess Jasmine’s part in “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin” (and by “your kids,” I definitely mean you, a grown-ass adult, at karaoke), they were mimicking none other than Lea Salonga, who not only sounds but looks like a Disney princess in the flesh. Salonga — full name Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, OL — became a child star of the stage in her native Philippines and has been singing ever since, winning a Tony for her performance in “Miss Saigon,” starring alongside George Takei in “Allegiance” on Broadway and churning out flawless studio recordings (check out “Bahaghari,” her 2017 collection of traditional Filipino songs). Get tickets to this concert at Pulaski Tech’s performing arts center at uaptc.edu.

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NEWS & POLITICS

IN HIS ELEMENT: Brent Renaud (right) works with Christof Putzel in Erbil, Iraq, in 2014.

REMEMBERING BRENT RENAUD A FEARLESS JOURNALIST WHO FOCUSED HIS CAMERA ON VULNERABLE PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.

BY SAM EIFLING

T

he documentarian Brent Renaud, who along with his brother, Craig, defined nonfiction filmmaking for a generation of Arkansans, was shot and killed outside Kyiv on March 13 while reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The first American journalist to die covering the conflict, he left an inimitable legacy in his home state and far beyond.

In the hours after his death was reported, those who knew Renaud remembered the soft-spoken 50-year-old as a fearless, ego-free storyteller who captured the struggles of discarded people in some of the hardest places in the world to cover.

To many in American journalism, the Renaud brothers, like the Maysles brothers decades before them, were a singular pair in documentary filmmaking, quiet giants whose skill, drive and personal warmth made admirers and friends out of everyone whose careers they touched.

“Isn’t it incredible to think that the best documentary filmmaker came out of Little Rock?” said Christof Putzel, a correspondent and producer who worked with Renaud for 15 years.

“Brent fought his way out into the world and told

the most important stories of our time. There’s just no question — if Brent was on it, it was going to be a stronger story than any that had come before.

That’s the tragedy. This is what we’ve lost. We lost our ace.”

Details of his death are still spare. News broke early March 13 that he had been shot and killed, apparently by Russian forces, as he passed a checkpoint with a documentary filmmaker named Juan Arredondo, on their way to film refugees.

Time released a statement saying Renaud was on assignment for a Time Studios project about the global refugee crisis.

A photo circulated of an old New York Times press credential he was wearing, held beneath plastic and a PEACEKEEPER badge, showed Renaud’s particulars: hazel eyes, 5-foot-6, all of 140 pounds. For a man so unassuming in person, his death ricocheted around the globe in a blink.

Jake Sullivan, the top national security adviser to President Joe Biden, called the killing “a shocking and horrifying event” during an appearance on CNN. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a letter of condolence to Renaud’s family,

praising the filmmaker’s bravery. It read, in closing: “May Brent’s life, service and sacrifice inspire generations of people all around the world to stand up in the fight for the forces of light against forces of darkness.”

Grandiose as it might sound, that sentiment does capture, in part, what Brent Renaud was known for. He specialized in work that represented — and aimed to protect — vulnerable people who had no platform of their own.

Dave Rummel, formerly a senior producer at the New York Times, where the Renauds were frequent contributors, knew the brothers as exceedingly patient, willing to venture to impossible places and spend the needed time there to gain people’s trust.

“They really knew where to look and where to focus,” Rummel said. “They were extremely hardworking, never complained. They didn’t always work for a lot of money, but story was everything for them.”

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call-ups from small-town Arkansas to war in Iraq, won awards from the Overseas Press Club and from the International Documentary Association.

The Renauds won two duPont-Columbia Awards: for a New York Times short doc, “Surviving the Earthquake,” about the long recovery of children who lost limbs in the 2010 Haiti earthquake; and for “Arming the Mexican Cartels,” which tracked American rifles into the veritable war zone that was northern Mexico a decade ago. They also won a Peabody Award for a Vice series, “Last Chance High,” about a Chicago high school for students with severe emotional disorders.

“If you wanted to binge-watch Brent’s work for the past 25 years, your jaw would be open the entire time,” says Putzel, who worked with Renaud in Mexico, Chicago, Iraq, Egypt, New York and Arkansas, as well as on the podcast “American Jihadhi,” which Renaud helped to script and voice. “You would be laughing and crying and feel things inside that you’d never felt before. That was every single one of them.”

Jason Gillen was a lifelong friend of Renaud’s, beginning in second grade at Jefferson Elementary in Little Rock. They grew up playing soccer and basketball, swimming in the Cammack Village pool and later dipping their toes into the burgeoning Little Rock independent music scene with trips to DMZ. While Renaud’s choice of filmmaking as a career surprised Gillen, he said he knew Renaud would be successful. “Anything he wanted to do, he could do it.” And even from a young age, he was unflappable. “He was always cool, always calm,” Gillen said.

As adults, Gillen and Renaud were out of touch for a long stretch, but had reunited in recent years, in part due to their mutual love of Arkansas Razorbacks sports. “He was a huge Hogs fan, especially basketball,” Gillen said.

A 1990 Hall High graduate who went on to Southern Methodist University in Dallas for his undergraduate degree, to Columbia University for his master of arts degree and later to Harvard as a 2019 Neiman fellow, Renaud remained forever a son of Little Rock. He maintained a home and a studio here, and was among the co-founders of the Little Rock Film Festival, which in its run from 2007 to 2015 brought countless filmmakers to town, lifting the trajectory of the craft in Arkansas.

Among the early festival staffers was Levi Agee, now the director of production for Arkansas PBS, overseeing a department that makes documentaries. He arrived at the festival barely out of his teens, from the no-Blockbuster hamlet of Sardis, Arkansas. Like others in a small cadre of early volunteers, he had no avenues to follow his film obsession other than the scene the Renauds helped to create and nurture.

“They legitimized the film festival to people from California and New York,” Agee said. “That’s why we got all these big films over the career of the festival. The Renaud brothers had so much

clout and integrity that I don’t think can ever be re-created.”

Gabe Gentry, a filmmaker who now works for Winrock International, was another film festival volunteer whose life changed in the Renauds’ orbit. He got a call from Craig in 2014: Brent was going to cover the ISIS invasion of Iraq and needed an editor and second camera. Four days later, at 2 a.m. local time, Gentry landed in Erbil, Iraq, where he saw Brent waiting for him. They had sped only a few hundred yards from the airport when they were stopped by a group of men with Kalashnikov rifles approaching their vehicle.

Brent immediately put him at ease: This is normal.

They’re going to ask you to step out. They’re going to check your gear.

In the month they were on the ground together, shooting and editing documentary shorts for Al Jazeera America, Gentry said, Renaud remained imperturbable.

“The consistent calm he had, I was in total awe of,” Gentry said. “Whether he was looking across a field and seeing an ISIS flag or in a hotel giving notes on an edit, his voice and body language were consistent, just unshakable.”

Getting close to stories — dangerously close, in many instances — was a hallmark of Brent Renaud’s work. In recent years his brother, now married with a son, traveled less with him into the field. Brent charged forward.

Close calls were inevitable. In a 2013 interview with Filmmaker magazine, Brent Renaud described some of his early near misses — traveling in southern Mexico and Guatemala and miscalculating the dangers of his trip: “Long story short, a soldier held a 9mm pistol to my head while another attempted to dangle me off the side of an ancient pyramid.” Yet the accumulated years of experience, he said, helped to blunt the inevitable risks. “It’s a game of percentages,” he continued.

“And even in the most dangerous places on earth your chances of survival are really high, and if you have a little extra experience with negotiating roadblocks, negotiating with warlords, and knowing where to stand when things get hairy, you really can do the job fairly safely. If we did not believe that, we wouldn’t do it.”

Renaud’s obsession to push as close to a subject as humanly possible was not, his friends said, borne of any sense of thrill-seeking. Rather, it was how he could tell the story of people who were cast into those dangers through little to no choice of their own. They remembered him as a person of uncommonly serene, reserved humanity, who could read a room in a heartbeat and whose austere interview style always drove toward hardto-reach truths.

He struck his colleagues as distinctly Southern in that way. He didn’t waste a word, a cut or a breath. For such a prolific storyteller, in harrowing situations, he never gave the impression of being in a hurry.

Jeff Newton, a producer who for 10 years worked with Renaud in war zones, saw the best of him on a trip to Iraq. ISIS was using crude drones to drop bombs around the compound where the men stayed, and at one point, as Renaud followed a wounded child to an ambulance in the parking lot, a mortar exploded close enough to him to knock him off his feet. He was back out the next day, maneuvering as close as he could get to the front lines. He took over the shoot when Newton injured his back, and he was on the streets filming as snipers took aim at civilians who had to run alongside armored personnel carriers for protection as they fled Mosul.

“He shot that and never once complained about the fact that he was in harm’s way,” Newton said.

“He was always trying to make sure he got the shot. He gave a fuck about all those people. He gave a fuck about people who were refugees, that no one would give a shit about.

“Brent would’ve hated the fact that we’re fawning over his incredible career. He would’ve said thank you for the lens, now please turn it back around on the people he was shooting.

They’re just people trying not to get killed. He would say turn that lens back on them and please don’t stop filming those people. Don’t forget about the reason he did what he did.”

James Chin met Brent Renaud in 1995. The filmmaker was in Phnom Phen, Cambodia, for work, and Chin was his translator. They became friends immediately and grew so close that when Chin got a visa and a chance to become a U.S. citizen in 2000, Renaud flew to Cambodia to make it happen.

“I got the visa and called him. All I had was $40.

I didn’t have money to buy the plane ticket,” Chin said. “He said, ‘How long will you stay?’ I say, ‘No, I come here to live.’ He said, ‘OK, wait there for me, I will fly over there to buy you a ticket.’ He flew from New York to Cambodia.”

For the next two years, Chin lived with Renaud in his Manhattan apartment, adjusting to life in a new country and saving money to live independently with his two children, who soon joined him in the States.

Today, Chin is an independent truck driver living in Virginia. Chin and Renaud stayed close as brothers, talking or texting every couple of days. Renaud would stop at Chin’s house whenever he drove from New York to Arkansas, always requesting Chin’s special fried ginger and chicken. Soon after COVID-19 hit, Renaud climbed in the cab of Chin’s truck and the two went on the road together for about a month so Renaud could document a nation nearly paralyzed in the new pandemic.

The two were friends through plenty of Renaud’s adventures, but this time, Chin said he worried more. He asked Renaud not to go to Ukraine. The last text Chin sent Renaud went unanswered.

“His voice is still in my ears,” Chin said.

Austin Bailey and Lindsey Millar contributed reporting.

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WELL-SUITED: He tried to drop out of law school, but Tom Mars stayed when he learned he was at the top of his class.

THE STORY OF TOM MARS — ­ COWBOY, COVID CRUSADER AND LAWYER TO COLLEGE SPORTS STARS.

BY AUSTIN BAILEY ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 23

S

MASKED CRUSADER: Tom Mars argued that schools should be allowed to protect students with mask mandates.

Caroline Morgan (bottom) and other parents across the state appreciated it.

24 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

ix Red Bulls a day, the constant companionship of an 11-year-old terrier mix named Sarge and the occasional excursion to reel in 500-pound goliath groupers. Such are the secrets to success for Tom Mars, Arkansas’s litigating superhero.

Twitter addicts know @TomMarsLaw as the guy who playfully deflates the egos of Arkansas’s dumbest politicians. Sciencebelieving parents know him as the valiant attorney who kept the ivermectin cult from unmasking Arkansas schoolchildren during COVID-19’s most dangerous peaks. Mars has worked as a Walmart executive and head of the Arkansas State Police. Hardcore sports fans credit him as “the father of free agency” for college athletes and lawyer for some of the brightest lights in the college coaching ranks.

It’s an impressive C.V. for someone who couldn’t get accepted to any law school in Virginia and had to get his dad’s help to secure a spot at the University of Arkansas School of Law. He tried to drop out after his first semester, but got talked into staying when he realized he was at the very top of his class.

From there, Mars clerked for a federal appellate judge in Arizona, landed a job at the Rose Law Firm, ruled the world from Walmart HQ, answered Mike Huckabee’s call to run the State Police, worked in private practice and moved to Vail, Colorado, for a while to be CEO of a swank orthopedics clinic popular among Winter Olympians. Now, Mars’ career has taken another twist. He clocks 80% of his billable hours on college athletics, which is odd considering Mars never paid much attention to sports. It was only by chance that it became a specialty.

In 2017, friend and pastor Rev. Rex Horne asked Mars during one of their regular coffee dates if he’d heard about Houston Nutt’s predicament at the University of Mississippi. Of course Mars knew nothing, despite having been Nutt’s neighbor when he was at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Horne explained the NCAA found a series of compliance violations at Ole Miss in 2016. Coach Hugh Freeze tried to pin all the blame on Nutt, who’d been fired from Ole Miss in 2011. Mars took on the case to find phone records showing Freeze repeatedly used his university-issued phone to call an escort service. That revelation led to Freeze’s downfall at Ole Miss, while Nutt got a public apology.

Mars quickly became the go-to for college football players, like decorated quarterback Justin Fields, who hoped to transfer and gain immediate eligibility to play at their new schools, something NCAA rules usually prohibited. When the University of Georgia fired basketball coach Tom Crean this year, he hired Mars to ensure that he gets what’s owed to him in his contract.

If you, like Mars circa 2017, don’t really care about the sports stuff, no worries. There’s more interesting stuff to learn here.

Such as, Mars has a tendency to think and speak in Successories. Remember the motivational posters that hung in the offices of all mid-level managers a couple of decades ago? That’s Mars’ vibe, and he’s disarmingly earnest about it. For anyone who aims to be so accomplished that you can split the time between a mountain home in the Ozarks and a waterside townhouse in Florida, taking on only the work you feel like doing, take heed: “Ego is the greatest enemy of leadership.” “It’s important to me to give my clients 110%.” “My definition of success is being remembered more for what you did for other people than what you did for yourself.” “If you work hard, you’re probably gonna do well. If you work harder than everybody else, you’re gonna do even better. Nobody works harder than I do.”

It’s a safe bet Mars was the hardest-working gas station attendant in Bethesda, Maryland, when his father took a position as a dean at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and wooed his son southward. A recent high school graduate, Mars didn’t really have any other plans at the time. “They tempted me with postcards that I totally bought into, of Hot Springs and Eureka Springs.” He remembers noticing, around the time he hit Marked Tree and Trumann, that not all of Arkansas was the mountainous vacation destination he was led to believe. Still, the family discount rate of $2 a

semester hour was enough to keep Mars put long enough to earn a degree. As an undergrad, he honed that work ethic as a part-time EMT, a job that came with a free tiny apartment right next to the embalming room of a funeral home. “My social life in college was not very memorable,” he said.

All superheroes have unexpected origin stories, and it was during his freshman year at ASU that Mars uncovered his own. Mars knew he’d been born in White Plains, New York, but that his parents lived in Syracuse at the time. So he dug through his parents’ filing cabinet when they were out of town. The snooping revealed that Mars, born Thomas Bradley West, was given up by his birth mother and spent years in orphanages and foster homes before being adopted at age 4. He remembers nothing from those preadoption years. Mars later learned his birth mother had a mental illness that put her out of the running to parent, and that his biological aunt cared for him for his first few weeks of life. He’s since gotten to know his biological sister, Jayne West, an accomplished opera singer.

His goal when he was younger was to work for the FBI, so after college Mars served a couple of years on a police force in Virginia before claiming that spot at the law school in Fayetteville. He escaped briefly for a clerkship in Salt Lake City, during which he declined the long-coveted spot at the FBI training academy but accepted a job offer to work with Hillary Clinton at the Rose Law Firm. His wife at the time was an ER nurse from Searcy, so coming back to Arkansas made sense. Mars has two daughters from that first marriage, both of them grown and living in Rogers. His second marriage to a TV news anchor gave him a stepdaughter, now grown, and a son (and fishing buddy) who’s now in college in Florida. The two have a yen for catching freakishly large fish, and Mars is quick to show off photos of the father-son team reeling in knobby, muddy groupers and glossy sharks the size of Honda Civics.

It may have something to do with those six (or more!) Red Bulls he guzzles a day, but Mars is exceptionally intense, about his work and also any other pursuits he takes on. For instance, running. “I’ve had four knee surgeries. I used to run a lot,” he said. “When I was at Walmart, people would comment that they’d seen me out at 5 a.m. with my headlamp in the snow.”

Also, being a cowboy. This was during the ’90s, when a friend introduced Mars to training and showing reining horses — the prancers who swirl in ice skater fashion. Mars was all in. Soon he had his own barn with horses and a training track, and spent weekends at shows from Nebraska to Texas. He adopted this hobby so wholeheartedly that it became his fashion identity, prompting co-workers to suggest he ditch the spurs as office attire. At least he has some self-awareness. “I think it’s probably true that when I get involved in something, whether it’s professional or just something I like to do, I get pretty passionate about it.”

Of late, those passions include Sarge, of course, and a smoosh-faced cat named Leo. During a telephone interview, Mars lost focus only twice: once when a call came in from a very fancy and well-known sports figure client whose name he asked me not to disclose, and once when Sarge sneezed and Mars had to pause the interview momentarily to make sure he was OK. Sarge, Leo and Mars spent loads of time together during the pandemic. A virus Mars caught in 2013 left him with myocarditis, and the condition kept him at high-alert in the face of COVID-19.

“That’s one reason I’ve been super cautious, one reason I’ve been such a supporter of mask mandates,” he said.

Ever since Mars took on Houston Nutt’s case, his phone rings often with more potential clients than he can take on. Representing those high-profile athletes and coaches as paying customers means Mars could carve out time and resources to successfully battle the likes of the Arkansas General Assembly and their idiotic 2021 law forbidding school districts from requiring masks. His pro bono suit on behalf of Arkansas parents cleared the way for school boards to be allowed to require masks if they so choose. As a former police officer, Mars also has a soft spot for law enforcement types and will sometimes work with them for a lower-than-usual rate.

Is it true that Mars charges $800 an hour? “That would be ridiculous,” he said. “I charge $750.”

OFF THE CLOCK: Mars is as intense about his hobbies as he is about his work. He’s trained reining horses and likes to fish for gargantuan specimens like this goliath grouper.

ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 25

“Let all men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly.”

STARTS MONDAY APRIL 4 AT 7 P.M.

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26 APRIL 2022

ALSO THE CRAPS TABLES. IT’S TIME FOR A ROAD TRIP! Hurry it up, because we all know this is the sweet spot on the calendar. Ice storms behind us, heatstroke weather in front of us. Now’s the time to get out and about in Arkansas.

We’ve taken the liberty of serving as your travel agents, executing dry runs of a few trip options so you’ll have a good idea what you’re in for. Difficulty levels range from tenderfoot (How hard is it to feast on a $150 steak and lose your shirt at the Saracen Casino craps table? Not very hard, writer Rhett Brinkley admits) to hardcore (Solo backpacking the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail was no big deal for Stephanie Smittle, but that’s only because she’s a professional).

If you’re a good Arkansan who floats the Buffalo at least once a year, you’ll be interested to learn about all the work that goes into keeping our favorite canoe routes clean, open and welcoming. March 1 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Buffalo River as the United States’ first National River. Lindsey Millar wades into the history, looks to see what’s around the next bend, and gives some ideas on how to celebrate this important milestone.

We’re reluctant to throw too much fanfare at Historic Cane Hill, an undersung community in Northwest Arkansas that’s now a temporary home for a Smithsonian traveling exhibit. But that’s only because we’re tempted to keep the secret to ourselves.

Contributor Caroline Millar and her son scoped out the Smithsonian “Habitat” experience, which opens April 16 and ushers visitors through the forest to take in oversized fungus sculptures, a human-sized nest and other thoughtfully curated extras to help us think about and understand nature in a fuller way.

Clearly, there’s lots to do in Arkansas. So get going.

ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 27

⇨ROAD TRIP⇦

LOVE the LOVIT

THE LAKE OUACHITA VISTA TRAIL IS UNDERRATED — AND A PERFECTLY LOW-STAKES WAY TO TRY OUT SPRING BACKPACKING. STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE SMITTLE

T

he whole human-versus-the-elements thing was a mismatch from the get-go, right? I’m guessing the Garden of Eden was blissfully free of poison ivy and Lone Star ticks, but that bit where the snake crashes the party was a pretty good indicator of outdoor hazards to come — and frankly, sounds an awful lot like August in Arkansas. As ever and everywhere, Mother Nature always bats last in The Natural State, and most of your time ramping up to a backpacking trip here will be spent asking, “What bad problems can happen to me and what can I do about that?” And while that’s crucial to consider, it leaves very little time for pondering the possibility that good things will happen. Behold, the following list of virtues of the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail, a 40-ish mile path through the Ouachita Mountains along the south banks of Lake Ouachita in Garland and Montgomery counties: 28 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

PITCH A TENT: The Lake Ouachita Vista Trail boasts the best of both worlds — established areas for car camping and plenty of secluded backcountry for hike-in camping.

ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 29

THE LOVIT IS A CHOOSE-YOUR-OWNADVENTURE TRAIL Though it’s under-heralded compared to the “big four” Arkansas hiking trails (Buffalo River Trail, Ouachita Trail, Ozark Highlands Trail and Eagle Rock Loop), the LOViT ranges from a paved ADA-accessible nature loop at its western end to challenging mountainous sections with steep elevation. Since its completion in 2014, it’s also become favored terrain for throngs of mountain bikers, thanks to its designation from the International Mountain Bicycling Association as an Epic Trail, the ultimate seal of approval for long mountain bike trails. Because the LOViT runs roughly parallel to both Lake Ouachita and U.S. Highway 270, you’re unlikely to get dangerously lost. And because there are car-accessible campgrounds along the way, it’s relatively easy to bail if the weather turns or you decide you’d like to sleep in your own bed, thankyouverymuch. For the more wildernessminded among us, there’s abundant Ouachita National Forest backcountry where “primitive” hike-in tent or hammock camping is allowed.

The AllTrails app for iPhone and Android is a reliable source for figuring out how much elevation you want to tackle (or not), and the trail’s builders and caretakers — a group called the LOViT Traildogs — have put together detailed descriptions of each segment of the trail so you can build your own trip. Find it by clicking “The Trails” at lakeouachitavistatrail.org.

THE SCENERY IS A CONSTANT Like the much-heralded Buffalo River Trail, the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail was designed to hug a waterway, which means that nearly everywhere you hike, you have gorgeous views of the lake. (On the west end of the trail where you’re hiking at lower elevation, this also means near-constant access to water for filtering into your Nalgene bottle, though you’ll want to tote a liter or two of water in reserve up Hickory Nut Mountain, Bear Mountain and Brady Mountain, maybe more for summer and early fall hikes.)

Even better, the LOViT Traildogs have installed benches along the length of the trail at scenic vistas, each with a plaque dedicated to a LOViT lover past or present. (One defiant inscription reads: “For John Conley: Jug Fishing Is Too A Sport.”)

Other delights: some truly magnificent sunrises to caffeinate by, the fluffy flash of a white-tailed deer’s namesake as it drinks from a stream, the occasional predawn fishing boat idling near the marinas, the boulder-strewn forests carpeted with olive green moss around Pollard Creek, towering pines, the quartzstudded turf marking sites of bygone quartz mines.

30 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

LET’S TALK ABOUT MONEY

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: (Clockwise, from top left) A marker for the 1.25-mile ADA-accessible nature loop at the LOViT’s western end, one of many benches at scenic vistas along the trail, some navigational assistance from the Traildogs, dinnertime at secluded Eagle Vista Loop, a canopy of towering pines, the falls at Charlton Recreation Area and a National Geological Survey medallion on the Old Fire Tower Spur atop Hickory Nut Mountain.

There’s something inherently elitist about paring down all your worldly possessions into a fancy knapsack not because you have to, but because you can. Sure, my pack may make me look less like a savvy thru-hiker and more like a disenchanted kid running away from home, but it’s understood as a hobby and not a necessity, and our view of someone carrying a pack on their back depends on who’s carrying the pack and where they’re doing it. (The pearls that would be clutched at the thought of empowering Little Rock’s unsheltered population with great backpacking gear and open access to public lands and trails!) We tend to tolerate camping as long as it’s tied to consumerism, and there will forever be a proportional link between the weight of your gear and the amount you can shell out for it; “ultralight,” generally speaking, means expensive, and the internet abounds with $700 gossamerthin tents masquerading as crucial investments.

That said, you can absolutely backpack in Arkansas without dropping hundreds of dollars — especially if you’re only planning on being out for a couple of nights and especially if you avoid the winter months. A couple of tips for keeping your backpacking budget in check: Borrow gear shamelessly and liberally. Is there anyone in your circle of family or friends who spends a lot of time outdoors? You may well be able to borrow the bigger-ticket items you’ll need for a backpacking trip — a tent, a sleeping bag and a sleeping pad — so you can try before you buy.

Wondering what you need? Check out our gear list on the next page or one of the myriads of great lists online, talk to the knowledgeable folks at Ozark Outdoor Supply and always make sure you have the 10 essentials: navigation, headlamp and batteries, sun protection, a first-aid kit, a pocket knife, your shelter (tent or hammock), a way to start a fire, extra water/water treatment, seasonappropriate clothing (it gets colder than you think), and a day’s worth of extra food just in case.

And if your outdated gear could use a refresh, Facebook groups like Backpacking Arkansas are great places to scout out opportunities for swapping used gear.

Skip the dehydrated backpacking meals.

A macronutrient-rich packet of Chicken Pho from Good To Go is going to be both tasty and convenient, but it’s definitely not your cheapest option, and there’s no reason to buy an at-home dehydrator until you’re pretty sure backpacking is going to be something you do regularly. Lowcost trail food like peanuts, oatmeal, chocolate, vacuum-packed tuna, red lentils (not brown — they take forever to cook), instant coffee and instant rice are easy to come by at the grocery store and make great outdoor meals. Pro tip: Check that kitchen drawer where all the forgotten takeout condiments live. Your unused packets of mayo, hot sauce, soy sauce, ketchup or parmesan are perfect additions to a camp meal.

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WATER IN THE WILD: Spring LOViT hikes mean abundant water sources, but save the “no filter” philosophy for Instagram; all backcountry water needs to be treated or filtered before it’s safe to drink.

And if we tell you about a few particularly gorgeous spots to camp or relax, will you promise to be good “Leave No Trace” stewards and solemnly swear to pack out every scrap of your trash? Yes? OK. Then check out the Eagle Vista Loop, a secluded peninsula on the Tompkins Bend segment of the trail east of the Tompkins Bend Campground and Shangri La Resort that feels like a slice of paradise. Also: the Old Fire Tower Spur, a short offshoot trail to a site at the summit of Hickory Nut Mountain that bears the concrete anchor remains of a bygone Forest Service tower plus two National Geological Survey medallions installed in the 1950s. (If your tent tends to flop around in the wind, just make this spur a visit and camp downhill at the less-wind-tossed Hickory Nut Mountain Campground.) Lastly, the Charlton Campground and the Brady Mountain Recreation Area and swimming beach — both off the main LOViT path and both accessible by car — are well-maintained car camping getaways for those who don’t want to take the backpacking plunge.

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PIT STOPS ALONG THE WAY Burl’s Smokehouse (10716 Albert Pike Road, Royal): This roadside general store is a convenient place to pick up some house-made jerky, a giant cinnamon roll or a sandwich before you hit the trail. Bonus: loads of weird antique farm and railroad decor to peruse, including a freestanding jail cell from days of yore.

Shangri La Resort (987 Shangri La Drive, Mount Ida): Just off the LOViT near the Tompkins Bend Campground, this mid-century motor court and restaurant serves up some of the best house-made icebox pie in the state, and makes for an appealing backup lodging plan if the weather goes sour or a crucial piece of gear fails.

Joplin Store (5402 U.S. Highway 270): On a 27-mile LOViT hike this spring, a stop at the Joplin Store was my only encounter with civilization. There’s a sparse selection of emergency camping gear in case you forgot something — and if not, some gas station fried potato wedges can lend a welcome caloric boost before ascending Hickory Nut Mountain.

WHAT’S IN MY PACK

The contents of your pack are going to differ based on the length of your trip, the time of year you go, and your level of experience and comfort. You’ll always and forever need the 10 Essentials (see pg. 31), but outside of that, there’s room to customize. Here’s the entirety of what I wear or tote for a solo trip in the spring: • Map of the trail (You can laminate it at Kinko’s to protect it from rain!) and compass • 45-liter backpack • Tent with rain fly • Inflatable sleeping pad, inflatable pillow • 30-degree sleeping bag • Pooping-in-the-woods sack: trowel, toilet paper • Kula cloth or “wilderness wipes” • Water filter (and treatment tablets as a backup) • Water reservoir for scooping up unfiltered water • Water bottle for filtered water • Food (plus an extra day’s worth) and critterproof food canister • Toothbrush and a dab of toothpaste squeezed into a Ziploc • Notebook and tiny pencil • Bandana (also useful as a potholder) • Camp lantern plus extra batteries • Cookset: camp cup, fuel canister, backpacking stove, lightweight cooking pot, spork • Rechargeable headlamp • Bug spray, chapstick and sunscreen • First-aid kit (backpacking-specific kits can help with blisters) • Matches, rechargeable electric lighter and fire starter chips • Trash bag • Duct tape • Phone battery bank and charging cord • Pocket knife • Sunglasses • Buff (or other neck gaiter) • Rain jacket • Spare pair of socks/underwear • Fleece vest or down jacket • Crocs for wearing at camp or crossing water • Emergency whistle • Bear spray (I’ll likely never use it in Arkansas, but I do know how.)

• Car key (Attach to a gear loop inside your bag so it doesn’t fall out!), driver’s license • Base layer clothing: pants, long-sleeved shirt • Foldable sun hat • Hiking boots

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Located deep within the rocky, forested terrain of the Missouri Ozark Mountains, Top of the Rock is a remote haven of natural beauty that brings conservation to life.

Explore the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum, featuring an astounding collection of Native American art and artifacts.

Discover the great outdoors as you journey along the Lost Canyon Cave & Nature Trail.

Connect with family by connecting to the great outdoors. topoftherock.com

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⇨ROAD TRIP⇦

Bloody woodland rites ARKANSAS HUNTERS GO WILD OUT THERE.

BY AUSTIN BAILEY ILLUSTRATIONS BY LAUREN WILCOX PUCHOWSKI

T

he daring and skill it takes to subdue the Arkansas wilderness and stock the deep freeze may be old hat to seasoned hunters. To the uninitiated, though, these woodland rites stop just short of sorcery.

Imagine bobbing through the bayou after nightfall, harpoon in hand, searching for the red glow of alligator eyes; mind melding with dogs trained to ignore their instincts and do your bidding instead; nonchalantly popping open a mourning dove’s chest cavity with the flip of a thumb. For an all-American country boy hobby, hunting gives off an aggressively Druid vibe.

About 3 million acres of public land in Arkansas are open for hunting, but fewer people are taking advantage. Interest in the sport is on the decline in Arkansas and elsewhere. But as with other nature-centric pastimes of yore (mushroom gathering, herbology, witchcraft), what hunting loses in popularity it gains in mystique.

Does a photo exist of you at elementary school age, your face painted with fresh blood as you prop up the lifeless head of your first kill? If not, here’s a glimpse at what you’ve been missing.

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“NEVER ASSUME THAT ANY ALLIGATOR IS DEAD” According to Keith Stephens, communication director for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, it’s alligators — not feral hogs — that are the most dangerous animal you can hunt in Arkansas. Alligator season comes in September, but it’s highly regulated and requires lots of planning. Hopefuls can apply in June for a chance at one of the 33 permits.

Arkansas’s “Alligator Hunt Orientation and Training Manual” is every bit as titillating as the title promises: “The American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) has been a component of Arkansas’ native fauna for thousands of years. One of the earliest recorded accounts of alligators in Arkansas comes from the Arkansas Gazette, May 1828, which reported the killing of an 11-foot specimen on the north side of the Arkansas River at Little Rock.”

Arkansas’s alligator numbers dwindled dramatically in the 1960s, but the state stepped in to regulate and restock. Populations rebounded enough that the hunt is back on. A limited number of permits allow hunters to take alligators at least 4 feet long. But crossbows and guns won’t do the trick. You have to use handheld snares or harpoons on an alligator hunt or else your dead alligator is liable to sink to the bottom and be lost.

You can shoot them dead after you’ve got them on the line, but don’t get cocky. “Improper placement and discharge of the weapon can occasionally only knock the alligator temporarily unconscious. Therefore, never assume that any alligator is dead.” Sever their spinal column with a knife, and even then, keep their jaws taped up, Game and Fish advises.

If you don’t want to kill a gator but wouldn’t mind putting your eyes on one, head south to Arkansas Post National Memorial or Millwood State Park in the summertime. Alligators are most active when the temperature is between 80 and 90 degrees.

OOH, BABY, OOH, SAID OOH The smallest animal you can legally hunt in Arkansas is the mourning dove, whose fluffy feather coat belies its tininess. These migratory birds weigh only about 4-6 oz. but make for good eating if you can harvest enough of them.

Hunters can also take aim at white-winged and Eurasian collared doves during Arkansas’s dove season, which changes each year based on the birds’ migratory schedule but usually covers a few weeks in September, October, December and January.

BLOODY BUNNIES Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease is affecting domestic and wild rabbits in other parts of the United States, and Arkansas doesn’t want it here. The highly contagious, often fatal disease would be terrible news to Arkansas’s native eastern cottontail and swamp rabbit species.

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HOGS FOREVER There are no rules here. “Feral hogs are not a game species. The public may kill them 365 days a year, 24 hours a day on private property,” Stephens said.

But then what? “You can eat them, but you should be very careful in how you butcher them,” he said. “They also carry up to 45 bacteria, diseases and parasites, including trichinellosis, brucellosis and swine herpes virus.”

BIG GAME The biggest animal to hunt in Arkansas is the elk, which stands roughly 5 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs around 500 pounds. The species was native here until overhunting and habitat loss wiped them out by the 1840s.

Thanks to an elk restoration project launched in 1981, the Arkansas elk herd now numbers about 450. A limited number of permits are issued for elk hunting in a lottery system each year. The dates for the 2022 elk season haven’t yet been set, but are typically in October.

ARMADILLO’S REVENGE While there’s no armadillo season in Arkansas, you can kill armadillos if they’re digging and burrowing and causing a nuisance on your property. But should you? Armadillos are awfully cute. Plus, some of them carry leprosy and can transmit it to humans.

JUST CAWS Crows are in season in Arkansas from September to February, and Arkansas Game and Fish offers some tips online about how to lure them your way. Put out decoys, and be ready to take out the first crow you see. Crows traveling in groups often send a scout out ahead, and if the scout escapes, it will blow your cover with the rest of them.

Another tip: If you’re using a crow call, avoid making a “caw-caw-caw” cadence. That’s crowspeak for DANGER. 38 APRIL 2022

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CAMP OUT IN THE ICONIC MEMPHIS PYRAMID

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BIG THINGS HAVE MICRO BEGINNINGS ADVERTISEMENT

H

ave you spent any time learning about Arkansas’s medical marijuana industry? If so, then you likely know that the overwhelming majority of our medical cannabis is grown by a select few licensed commercial cultivators. But did you know that every dispensary can grow a limited amount of cannabis as well? As it turns out only about 5 of our 38 dispensaries currently take advantage of the opportunity. Why so few? In part, this is due to the significant financial investment required to set up an operation in the first place, along with the limited experienced workforce available to carry out operations once built. But primarily it’s because of the very language of the law, which severely limits the number of plants that can be grown by dispensaries at any given time. In short, it’s too great a risk with little promise of reward.

But instead of seeing risks and limitations, Harvest Cannabis Dispensary saw a golden opportunity.

Family-owned and operated, Harvest was intent on cultivating from day one and did just that.

Yet much like other craft industries, such as microbreweries, the process evolved with each and every grow cycle as Harvest discovered its foothold. Robbin Rahman, Executive Director of Harvest, said “After our first year of cultivation, we wanted to move in a direction more in line with our fundamental mission - to offer the highest quality and safest cannabis possible, with the smallest environmental impact - but we didn’t quite know how to get there. Then we found Justin.”

Justin Berger, hailing from Utah, presented a simple message: “Organic does matter.” Equally adept on the ski slopes as he is espousing great philosophers in a greenhouse, Mr. Berger was armed with the vision, experience, and know-how to pave a new path forward - towards organically grown cannabis.

According to Elizabeth Barnett, Owner and CEO of Harvest, “As a family, we choose organic wherever we can - our food, our garden, even our cleaning products. We are careful about what we put into our bodies and the chemicals we expose ourselves to. So why should the medicine we offer our patients be any different? When Justin presented this concept to us, the decision was really a no brainer. Besides, we’ve never really done things the traditional way.”

So in the height of a pandemic, Mr. Berger packed up and moved to Arkansas as Harvest’s new Cultivation Director, and immediately set about transitioning the whole operation to organic - a slow, arduous process full of challenges and set-backs to this day.

So why does organic matter? We all know that medical marijuana is without a doubt much safer than unregulated marijuana. After all, it’s subject to intense regulatory testing and Arkansas has some of

By Dr. Johanna Rahman and Justin Berger the most stringent standards in the country. But even so, “organic is still the best way to grow medicinal cannabis,” said Mr. Berger. Not only does organic cannabis have far less environmental impact, but the levels of toxins and heavy metals are even further reduced.

According to Mr. Berger, “Conventional cannabis cultivation is a very wasteful process. Here at Harvest we’ve completely redesigned procedures around a reductionist, sustainable, minimal-impact model, which still provides cannabis everything it needs to thrive. Just without relying on synthetic nutrients or chemical pesticides. The organic fertilizers and nutrient regiments I’ve created maintain beneficial microbes, delivering elements from the soil to the plants, just like in the natural world. Growing organically allows cannabis to reach its true potential, free from excess nutrient retention or synthetic compounds. And the difference is profound.”

S

o why doesn’t everyone do it? While the current size of the organic cannabis industry is growing by the day, there are only a select few commercial cultivators doing so. Mr. Berger explains, “automating and managing microbially rich feed is difficult and inherently problematic for both the machines and the microbes. On a commercial scale difficult things are even more difficult, whereas craft-sized cultivation allows for adapting and shifting gears in a more malleable way.” Furthermore, very few standardized protocols exist for organic cannabis cultivation. He adds “Imagine how difficult it might be to grow all your vegetables at home, organically, without any sort of guidebook and few resources to turn to. Now scale that up 100-fold, and add on a tight schedule, enclosed environments, narrow margins, and intense regulatory oversight. It’s still a lot of trial and error, yet I don’t get to see the results of tiny adjustments for months. So, it’s also a whole lot of data collection, whiteboards, spreadsheets, and log books. And plenty of restless nights. But we’re getting there.”

Cost is also a huge factor as organic is always more

expensive initially. Mr. Berger estimates, “It costs about double the amount of conventional out of the gate.

With investments already being well into seven figures for any large project, most can’t take any more risk.”

Harvest Co-Owner, Mizan Rahman, added “From a purely business perspective, this makes little sense.

Maybe even no sense at all. But we don’t do things from a purely business perspective. We make good decisions today for a better tomorrow.”

Clearly, conventional methods are cheaper, easier, and faster, but Harvest is committed to taking the road less traveled and hopes by eventually perfecting the process at a micro-scale, other commercial cultivators might adopt organic practices at a macro-scale.

“Sometimes taking the hard way pays off in the end.

Growing in soil using microorganisms, fermentation and rock minerals is the original way. The overall quality of the medicine will be profoundly different from the rest of the flower in the state. Always compare and contrast, but I can guarantee once you’ve tried it, you’ll never want to go back.” said Mr. Berger.

Mrs. Barnett concluded“While we don’t shout it from the rooftops, we’re really quite proud of what we’re trying to accomplish here. Our patients deserve the highest quality and safest medication possible. We hope to someday be the first certified organic cannabis grower in the state. When it’s ready for the shelves, we hope you’ll come try it yourself and experience the difference. We also hope other cultivators will follow our lead. And if they need help, well, we might just have a plan for that too.”

Harvest’s transition to organic cannabis cultivation is ongoing but we anticipate completion in mid-late 2022. Please visit our website for more information and be sure to join our mailing list for news and updates.

Dr. Johanna E. Rahman is Harvest’s Medical, Creative, and Social Impact Director Justin Berger is Harvest’s Cultivation Director 1200 Thomas G Wilson Dr, Conway, AR 72032 (501) 504-6065 • harvestcannabisarkansas.com Store Hours: Monday-Saturday: 9am-8pm Sunday: 12pm-6pm Online Ordering Hours: Monday-Saturday: 9am-7pm Sunday: 12pm-5pm

Marijuana is for use by qualified patients only. Keep out of reach of children. Marijuana use during pregnancy or breastfeeding poses potential harms.

Marijuana is not approved by the FDA to treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of marijuana.

⇨ROAD TRIP⇦

ARKANSAS DICE ARE OUT I WENT GAMBLING AT THE STATE’S THREE OPERATING CASINOS AND DIDN’T LOSE. MUCH.

F

STORY AND PHOTOS BY RHETT BRINKLEY

or me, casino gaming is all about timing. If I walk up to the craps table and everyone looks sad and dejected, I just saunter away full of false self-confidence, pretending my hair is blowing in the casino oxygen. If the people at the table look like they’re in a Saracen Casino commercial, laughing and high-fiving, I boldly enter. Unfortunately, most of the time, there’s no way of knowing when the timing is going to be right until it is.

In 2018, voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing four casinos to operate in Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson and Pope counties, forever changing the gaming landscape in Arkansas. That made the timing right for the state’s two racing/game of skill “racinos,” Oaklawn and Southland, to make huge bets on themselves. They announced multimillion dollar expansions, including live table games (to add to existing digital equivalents) and sports books, new restaurants, hotels and event centers. In 2019, the Oklahoma-based Quapaw Nation opened the Saracen Casino Annex, then followed with Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff in October 2020.

Pandemic numbers are looking less gloomy at the moment, and the time feels right to strap on a mask and take a little in-state casino road trip. Let’s face it, after the past two years the odds still aren’t in my favor, but the timing has to be right. Right?

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ROOMS WITH A TRACKSIDE VIEW Formerly known as Oaklawn Park Racetrack, Oaklawn is locally famous as the historic thoroughbred racetrack in Hot Springs with opening day 50-cent corned beef sandwiches bigger than your face. And that it remains. But in early 2019, Oaklawn embarked on a $100 million expansion that includes a 200-room luxury hotel, a spa, an event center, two new restaurants and a food court.

My first impression pulling up on Central Avenue is that Oaklawn’s parking lot is bigger than it once was, and the hotel neatly blends into the facility. If I didn’t know any better I would assume it’s always been there.

I check into my room on the seventh floor, equipped with its own iPad for room service/ guest information. Behind a 65-ish-inch flatscreen is a large panoramic painting of racehorse legs spraying dirt toward the viewer, a crowd of blurry onlookers in the background watching the race from the infield.

The room is modern and luxurious by my journalist-salaried standards, but what sets it apart from any other hotel room I’ve ever stayed in awaits just beyond the curtains. Opening them reveals an incredible view of the fabled, meticulously groomed thoroughbred racetrack.

The windows do not open, but if they did I probably could fly a paper airplane made from Oaklawn stationery right onto the track.

Less than a year old, Oaklawn’s fine dining establishment The Bugler is located just outside the casino and the new food court. Headed up by James Beard Award-winning executive chef Ken Bredeson, the restaurant announces itself with the statue of a bugle player blowing imaginary musical notes from the hallway right into the restaurant entrance. A row of tables runs parallel to the racetrack inside and on a patio. Pro tip: Reserve a table at sunset. Adorned with chic modern lighting and sleek restaurant booths, The Bugler feels both upscale and casual and doesn’t take itself too seriously. A large cartoon-style painting of a horse jockey thinking about a massive Thanksgiving spread is visible from about anywhere in the restaurant.

Highlights from the meal include crab cakes served on top of a sweet corn relish and my girlfriend’s steak being preceded by a knife case presentation in a sort of choose-your-ownsteak-knife adventure. The baked hot chocolate dessert was outrageously decadent: Ouachita chocolate cake in the bottom of a coffee cup, topped with piping hot marshmallow fluff that’s bruleed. The texture is surreal as the fluff molds back into its previous shape after a spoonful is taken, making your bite disappear like it never happened.

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COVERING THE SPREAD: Night and day views from the hotel room at Oaklawn, cashing out at Southland, shrimp and grits from The Bugler, taking a break from winning, Southland’s Reuben.

The most brilliant thing about Oaklawn’s casino is that it’s nonsmoking, which sets it apart from every casino I’ve ever been to, giving it a much cleaner feel. Standing amongst other players at the craps table, I feel too full of marshmallow fluff to gamble. I should’ve known my timing was all wrong. I play the safest bet in the house, the pass line with odds, but everyone craps out almost instantly. Down $100 after just 20 minutes, I retreat to the room.

The nighttime view of the track from the room might be what I remember most. A large horseshoe planter on the lawn lights up with LEDs, as does an adjacent floating fountain spraying water highlighted with neon colors. I turn off every light in the room, device screens included, and quietly take in the view with a $14 room service cocktail. Highly recommend it.

Morning comes suddenly. Slightly hung over and confused about my location on earth, I open the curtains and am practically blown backward by the combination of sunlight and the herd of majestic horses galloping down the track! A $14 carafe of coffee delivered to the room as I watch the superlative creatures run warm-up laps on expertly manicured dirt?

When you’re at Oaklawn, of course.

Tally: $100 lost on the craps table. $80 won on the Super Bowl from a Saracen bet just before mobile gaming was legalized: depleted at the craps table. Down $20.

A NEW ERA OF GAMBLING IN WEST MEMPHIS Just west of the Mississippi River from Memphis, Southland began as a greyhound racetrack in the 1950s. In 2019 it announced both a $250 million expansion and the end of greyhound racing, a victory for animal rights advocates and dog lovers who find the practice to be cruel and inhumane. The last greyhound race at Southland is scheduled for Dec. 31.

According to greyhound protection organization GREY2KUSA, after the year’s end, West Virginia will have the last two active racetracks in the country.

Southland is building a blue glass, 300-room high-rise hotel. It’s still under construction, but the frame is up and you can’t miss it from Interstate 40. A new casino complex, which looks near completion, is scheduled to open this spring. Combined with the current gaming floor, it will total 113,000 square feet, with about 2,400 slot machines and 60 table games.

I arrive on a Wednesday around noon and am thrilled that Southland has also gone nonsmoking. I walk the floor, which is dark and like most casinos feels like a gaming tomb devoid of time. It feels pretty lively for a Wednesday afternoon. I imagine weekend ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 43

nights are slammed. A big crowd is eating lunch in the sports bar. A dated cartoon painting of happy dogs that look like they’re racing in their sleep hints that you’re close to the track with the caption, “Any closer and you’d need a muzzle.”

I check out the new “Roll to Win” craps table, a millennial spin on the classic game, now played on an interactive surface that feels like plastic and illuminates the craps graphics with flames skirting the edges. Between rolls, the table takes on a “Tron’’ appearance, turning all black with cyan grid lines. Bets are made on iPad stations, so there are no chips. The stick person who slides the dice to the roller is the lone dealer. The table’s minimum bet is $5, perfect for a fledgling journalist. This Gen-Z version of the game likely cuts down on labor costs for the casino while adding another table and maybe enticing a new era of bettors. Also, there is no chance of dealer error. I put $50 in the machine and after a few short rolls around the table, I’m down to $10. The dice slide over to me and I go on a long roll, winning several points. No one at the table can believe it. “He’s rolling!” I hear a guy say. I’ve never felt cooler in West Memphis. I get up to $73, cash out, and eat an excellent Reuben from the sports bar.

Driving home I consider making a bet on the Razorbacks’ first-round NCAA Tournament game versus Vermont. Mobile sports betting was legalized in Arkansas in early March, meaning sports bets can be made from anywhere inside the state lines. But none of the three casinos had apps running yet (that may have changed at the point you’re reading this, as all were working furiously to get them live).

Tally: After the Super Bowl bet and putting $150 down on craps tables at Oaklawn and Southland, I’m up $3. I drive home feeling rich.

STEAKS ARE HIGHER IN PINE BLUFF Saracen’s $300 million casino opened in October of 2020. The hotel is still in development, but you can see the framing of the first couple of floors of the future 13-story hotel tower housing about 320 rooms, an additional restaurant and a coffee shop.

The drive to Saracen is an easy, smooth 45 minutes from Little Rock. My friend and I arrive for a 6 p.m. reservation at Saracen’s flagship restaurant, Red Oak Steakhouse, tucked away at the back of the casino. The last row of slot machines offers views into the kitchen, their neon reflections shimmering among chefs cooking over high flames. My voice cracks like a teenager asking someone to prom when I order the A5 Kobe strip steak ($150). Red Oak is one of the few restaurants in America offering certified Kobe beef, an elusive breed of pure-blood Tajima Wagyu cattle born, raised, slaughtered and processed in Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture.

What makes the steak special is its marbling, which Saracen’s food and beverage director, Todd Gold, attributes to genetics. “With Kobe, there are no big chunks of fat like on traditional 44 APRIL 2022

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COVERING THE SPREAD: Night and day views from the hotel room at Oaklawn, cashing out at Southland, shrimp and grits from The Bugler, taking a break from winning, Southland’s Reuben.

PLACE YOUR BETS: Southland’s new casino addition is expected this spring with the hotel to be completed later this year, Saracen’s Red Oak Steakhouse offers steaks from the Quapaw Nation’s own cattle company and Kobe beef from Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture.

steaks. Rather, the fat is evenly dispersed throughout the muscle in a type of spider web of ultra-thin veins,” Gold said. Carlton Saffa, Saracen’s chief marketing officer, tells me Saracen sought the certification to reinforce its commitment to raising the bar in Arkansas, making Saracen as much of a food destination as it is for gaming.

The fried oysters app our waiter recommends might be worth the trip alone — a layer of delicious pork belly-smoked grits topped with creamed spinach and the delicately fried oyster, covered with a flavorful pickled-corn tartar sauce that I would happily eat out of a jar with a spoon. It’s the best dish I’ve eaten this year.

The 8-ounce Kobe strip arrives on a wooden cutting board with three crisped rice rounds resembling scallops and topped with microgreens. Each rice round has a dollop of a sweet and tangy orange sauce beside it, almost resembling cherry tomatoes. Cutting through the Kobe strip proves to be effortless; a dull butter knife would probably work just fine. As far as steak goes, I’ve never had one more tender; it almost dissolves in your mouth.

A “wow” is certainly in order. It’s also thinner than my friend and I both imagined, nicely seared, but could’ve done with one less pinch of salt. It’s unlike any steak I’ve ever eaten and, to drive the point home, comes with a letter of authenticity. Our waiter drops off a complimentary side of Brussels sprouts, which are fantastic and enough to feed a family of four ($9 value).

If we’d been blindfolded and taken to Red Oak Steakhouse, I’d be shocked to exit the restaurant and find myself in the back of a casino in Pine Bluff. It could definitely exist among the elite restaurants in Little Rock or Bentonville.

The casino is slammed without feeling crowded and has a nice vibe. Casinos can feel sad, but Saracen feels like a place where people might go to hang out and drink and maybe get a bite to eat without even gambling. My only complaint: It would be a nicer experience without the secondhand wafts of cigarette smoke.

We nestle up to a craps table with a $15 minimum. The table is hot. A lot of people know each other. The dealers are friendly with the regulars and sometimes know their bets before they make them. We play for a couple of hours without ever buying back in. My friend cashes out up well over $100. I lose $17. Given how hot the table was, I should’ve bet more aggressively.

Tally: I visited four casinos, risked $370 and walked away down $14. I feel good about it, but now I feel like I need to win back that $14.

That’s the problem with gambling.

If you have a gambling problem the National Council on Problem Gambling Helpline offers a confidential, 24-hour helpline for problem gamblers or their family members at 1-800-5224700.

READERS

CHOICE

A ARDS WINNER 2022

DESTINATION DINING RIGHT HERE IN ARKANSAS! Join Us For Easter Brunch, April 17 and Mother’s Day Brunch, May 8

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READERS

CHOICE

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Best Desserts Around Arkansas

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APRIL 2022 45

Escape to the great outdoors as you journey through 10,000 acres of natural beauty and rugged scenery amongst towering bluffs, waterfalls, handcrafted bridges, and wildlife.

417.338.3340 | DOGWOODCANYON.ORG 46 APRIL 2022

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APRIL 2022 47

⇨ROAD TRIP⇦

SAVE THE BUFFALO AGAIN AND AGAIN ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL RIVER, A CALL FOR CONSERVATION.

BY LINDSEY MILLAR

I

s there any part of Arkansas more widely beloved than the Buffalo River? The case for “The Natural State” being a fitting motto for Arkansas begins (and could almost end) with the crystal clear river, meandering through towering bluffs of the Boston Mountains in what feels like near pristine wilderness. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that an annual pilgrimage to the river is a minimum requirement for Arkansas citizenship.

For those of us who weren’t around in the 1960s and 1970s, when environmental activist Neil Compton and other conservationists faced down powerful forces who wanted to see the river dammed for hydroelectric power, there aren’t any hints of that terrible counterfactual on the river: For long stretches of the Buffalo, it feels as if what it is always was.

March 1 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Buffalo River as the United States’ first National River, and throughout the year Buffalo River National Park Service and the Ozark Society, formed 60 years ago by Compton and others to preserve the Buffalo, and other groups will hold events to celebrate the milestone year. June 9-12, the park service will celebrate the artistic inspiration the river

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provides with a student film festival at the Kenda Drive-In in Marshall, a folk storytelling event at the Buffalo Point Campground Amphitheater and a free music festival at Tyler Bend. Oct. 8-9 the park will host a photo geocaching scavenger hunt, a “yoga in the park” event at Steel Creek and Buffalo Point and a “moon party” at Tyler Bend with telescopes to enjoy stargazing in the park, one of the rare spots formally designated as a Dark Sky Place by the International DarkSky Association. In other words, because the Buffalo River is largely free from light pollution, it’s an ideal spot for stargazing.

Other celebrations will look back on the herculean effort involved in the establishment of the National River, something David Peterson, president of the Ozark Society, doesn’t believe would be possible today. “It was a sort of miracle built on dogged persistence and grassroots people,” he said.

But the work of conservation never ends. For those intimately acquainted with the Buffalo — or anyone who follows the news — that motto should be top of mind after the hog farm debacle. The story has many twists and turns, but here’s the short version: In 2012, the state foolishly awarded a permit to a concentrated

animal feeding operation, or CAFO, for an industrial hog farm in Newton County, located near Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo. The permit allowed for up to 6,500 hogs; the C&H Hog Farm normally operated with a little less than half that. Still, that number of swine produced mountains of fecal waste, which had to spread across fields. Groups like the Buffalo Watershed Alliance raised the alarm, warning that the pig poop was likely to seep through the porous karst topography of the area into the watershed. In 2018, there were some 70 miles of algae blooms along the river. Algae forms naturally, but it’s stimulated by phosphorus, which excreta is full of. Though they were never able to make a direct link, the Buffalo Watershed Alliance and others suspected the CAFO as the culprit.

After long legal battles and years of activism, the state stepped in to correct its error, buying out the hog farm for $6.2 million and temporarily banning similar operations, but an effort to make the moratorium permanent was derailed by the Arkansas legislature, despite endorsement from Governor Hutchinson.

Gordon Watkins, president of the Buffalo Watershed Alliance and a Newton County resident, believes that even without the ironclad

JEFF ROSE

‘A SORT OF MIRACLE’: Visitors float below Roark Bluff on the Buffalo National River, a pastime Ozark Society President David Peterson says was made possible by “dogged persistence and grassroots people.”

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APRIL 2022 49

protection a permanent ban would’ve provided, the likelihood of a similar operation returning to the watershed in the near to midterm is low. But the relatively small footprint of the park in the watershed requires constant vigilance.

“Buffalo River National Park is a thin blue ribbon that only takes in 11% of the watershed,” Watkins said. “The other 89% is outside of the park’s control and sphere of influence. All of those tributaries, what’s done in them, has a direct impact on the Buffalo. It’s important to encourage private landowners to adopt practices that will help preserve the Buffalo so it’s clean and pristine. That’s what attracts visitors.” And money. A 2020 study from the park service found that visitors to the park spent an estimated $66 million in the region.

Thankfully, state government and lawmakers are more engaged than ever, according to Watkins. The Buffalo River Conservation Committee, formed by Hutchinson a few months after the announcement of the hog farm buyout and seeded with $2 million for conservation and water quality grants, includes representatives from the state Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy and Environment, the Department of Health and the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. It’s helping with crucial but boring work: providing money to pave dirt roads that spill sediment into the watershed, to upgrade outdated area wastewater treatment plants and septic tanks, and to help ranchers keep cattle out of streams.

Perhaps the most pernicious threat to the river today is a tricky one — it’s me and you and thousands of others who love the river.

According to official park service records, 1.5 million people visited the park in 2021, just shy of the record 1.78 million in 2016. But those numbers, based on traffic counters throughout the 95,000-acre park, which includes 100 miles of road and 135 miles of waterway, likely represent an underestimate. “Crowdedness is a real problem,” the Ozark Society’s Peterson said. “There are too many people on the river.”

Peterson hopes the National Park Service will address the issue through a permit system, though with so many access points and visitors who bring their own boats to float, that could prove logistically difficult.

The park service is in the beginning stages of a comprehensive river use and management plan, according to Cassie Branstetter, public information officer for Buffalo National River Park. It will update a plan that’s 40 years old and, it’s hoped, guide the park for the next 50 years. Branstetter said the process is in the early stages and will likely take several years, and include ample time for public comment, before completion. So don’t look for any official discussion of use restrictions anytime soon.

Ross Noland, a Little Rock lawyer and the executive director of the Buffalo River 50 APRIL 2022

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“CROWDEDNESS IS A REAL PROBLEM. THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE ON THE RIVER.”

Foundation, grew up floating the river. His dad, retired engineer Stewart Noland, was one of the founding members of the Arkansas Canoe Club and among the group that made the first descent of the Hailstone, the wild, rapid-filled upper stretch of the Buffalo, from Dixon Ford to Boxley. Ross was on the river as young as 2 or 3, and he’s made regular pilgrimages with his elementary school-age children for years.

His favorite stretch of the park is floating from Ponca to Kyle’s Landing. “But so is everyone else’s,” he said. “That’s because it’s the most beautiful stretch of the river.” But he won’t do it on a Saturday in June because of the crowds. He, Peterson and Watkins all encourage visitors to consider spreading out and trying less trafficked stretches. Hemmed-In Hollow Falls, with its spectacular 200-foot waterfall — the tallest between the Appalachians and the Rockies — is deservingly the most popular hiking destination in the park. Less heralded is the Railroad Trail in Gilbert, a moderate hike on an old railbed that follows the river, Branstetter offered. The 37-mile Buffalo River Trail is one of Arkansas’s premier backpacking paths, but often when you take it in small bites, you won’t see another soul for miles, Branstetter said.

Noland and the Buffalo River Foundation work to help prevent the outside world from creeping into the park. As a nonprofit land trust, the foundation primarily works with landowners to create conservation easements, interests in land that govern use and development, and very occasionally purchase property near the river.

The foundation is a cooperative conservation organization. “We can’t make anyone do anything,” Noland said. “There’s a history of distrust stemming from the way the park was formed. We’re careful not to contribute to that.

We want to work with people who want to work with us.”

One of the Buffalo River Foundation’s primary objectives is to conserve what Noland calls “the scenic integrity” of the river. “Fifty years ago, there were hardly any structures visible from the river aside from visible sites like Buffalo Point or Tyler Bend. In recent years, people who probably love the river have found places along the river to build. You see it at Rush. You see it at Love-Hensley near Snowball.” The foundation aims to establish easements on as much property near the river to prevent development that undercuts the sense of wilderness the Buffalo River is known for.

To get involved in efforts to conserve the Buffalo, donate to the Buffalo River Foundation (buffaloriverfoundation.org) or the Buffalo Watershed Alliance (buffaloriveralliance.org) and join the Ozark Society, which has seven local chapters, and sponsors regular hikes and float trips (ozarksociety.net), and publishes essential outdoors books, including Ken Smith’s “The Buffalo River Country” and “Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Arkansas.”

To learn more, check out our website at: WWW.WONDERSOFWILDLIFE.ORG

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Time to sever ties.

Tired of the same old ad agency schtick?

Grab the scissors and give us a call.

cmwagency.com • 501.448.6661 52 APRIL 2022

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SAM I AM A YOUNG FAMILY FINDS A HOME AT ACCESS

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APRIL 2022 53

2022-2023 PCSSD REGISTRATION OPEN Pulaski County Special School District is now registering students for the 2022-2023 school year. Families returning to a PCSSD school can submit a letter of intent (bit.ly/PCSSD-2223LOI) to return to the District. Families new to the district can register their children through the online registration portal located on the District website (www.pcssd.org). Pre-K student enrollment is also open for eligible 3 and 4 year olds.

PCSSD’s mission is to provide equity and excellence for all students through rigorous college and career readiness instructional strategies. We serve 26 schools in Maumelle, Little Rock, North Little Rock and Sherwood.

For families who do not live within the PCSSD zone but wish to attend one of the schools, the Arkansas School Choice Act is an option. The Arkansas School Choice program enables a student in kindergarten through grade 12 to attend a school in a nonresident district. School choice applications are being accepted through May 1 this year.

If you have specific questions related to registration and school choice, please contact the Office of Equity and Pupil Services at 501-234-2021.

REGISTER NOW pcssd.org/register 54 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

ABOUT PCSSD

REGISTRATION PROCESSES Returning Students - Current PCSSD families can submit a letter of intent to return to the District next school year. The letter of intent will replace the need for returning students to re-register this year.

The letter of intent can be found at bit.ly/ PCSS-22-23LOI. New Students - Parents of students who are new to the district can register their children through the online registration portal. The NEW STUDENT registration portal is only for students K-12 who have never attended a PCSSD school and reside in the PCSSD attendance zone. The online registration portal can be found on the PCSSD website.

Pre-K - The PCSSD Pre-K program is part of the Arkansas Better Chance program and supported by the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. It provides students with a strong foundation of knowledge and skills to build on through kindergarten and into elementary school.

Students must meet certain requirements.

Contact prek@pcssd.org for more information.

Pulaski County Special School District spans more than 600 square miles in central Arkansas and requires highly skilled and passionate personnel to adapt educational policies and personalization to 26 schools. Every school is accredited by the Arkansas State Board of Education. PCSSD has served schools across Pulaski County since July 1927.

PCSSD is committed to creating a nationally recognized school district that assures that all students achieve at their maximum potential through collaborative, supportive and continuous efforts of all stakeholders.

APRIL 2022

CAN’T MISS THESE!

NEWS & NOTES ICE, ICE, MICKEY

April 14-17

Disney on Ice Dream Big 2022 | Simmons Bank Arena Superlative ice skating and your favorite Disney characters doing their thing — on ice! Check online for times and ticket prices.

NATIONAL BURRITO DAY

April 7

Lili’s and El Sur boast the best burritos. While eating one, play the Throw Throw Burrito Game — a card game and dodgeball rolled into one. (But only if you’re cool with getting hit in the head by a squishy flying burrito — some of us are not.)

BREAKFAST WITH A TWIST

APRIL 9

NATIONAL SUBMARINE DAY

April 11

Call it kismet. It’s National Submarine Day, and there’s a sub you can visit right here in Central Arkansas. The Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum is the only place in the world where you can see not one, but two floating naval vessels that bookend World War II: the tugboat Hoga and the submarine USS Razorback. You’ll get to experience the sights, sounds and, yes, smells of submarine life when you step aboard. Did you know that you can have a submarine sleepover or birthday party? Call the museum for details.

Learn About Orangutans; 8 a.m.

TICKETS REQUIRED IN ADVANCE Be a part of the wildest breakfast in town!

Breakfast with a twist is back at the Little Rock Zoo. An orangutan family will host.

NIGHT LIGHTS

BEST OF THE FEST

April 21-23

April 15-16

Kids Fest Little Rock | Statehouse Convention Center Doors open at 11 a.m.

Kids will go crazy for minifigure displays, bounce houses, costumed heroes, princesses, community organizations, video games, tabletop games, a nerf battle maze, photo ops and much more.

Tickets are $15.

DO PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET

April 17

Time to hop to! Because it’s egg hunting season in Arkansas.

Take your empty basket to “The Great Easter Egg Hunt” at Hamilton’s Farm in Alexander.

They will have two hunts for different ages, a petting zoo, kids fun zone, food and drinks, lots of kid’s games, a face painter and photo ops with the Easter Bunny. Adults (16+) are free.

At BoBrook Farm’s “Spring Fling and Egg Hunts,” 10 a.m.-3 p.m., there will be hayrides, food trucks (The Crepe Coop and Bird on a Leash), lawn games, farm animals and a fence maze.

The Easter Bunny will be hopping about from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for free pictures, and River Bottom Winery will be out with wine and beer. Something for everyone. Admission is $8, and tickets can only be purchased at the door.

EARTH DAY

April 22

Plan a nature scavenger hunt, make a nature collage, pick up trash, plant seeds and be car-free for the day.

Wildwood’s largest volunteer-led festival, and its most magical, Lanterns spans three days and provides fun for the whole family. Explore the park while enjoying entertainment, food and beverages from around the world — all for a great cause. This year’s destinations include India, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Germany and New York City. Proceeds support Wildwood’s grounds and educational programming. Adults (18-plus) are $10 online, $12 at the gate; children (6-12) are $5 online, $7 at the gate; children 5 and under are free!

PARTY ANIMALS

April 29 & 30

7-9 p.m. each night April showers bring ...

Wild Wines at the Zoo! At Wild Wines, guests enjoy food from the area’s best restaurants paired with hand-selected wines and liquors. Special appearances by some of the Zoo’s Animal Ambassadors make for a unique event that benefits the Arkansas Zoological Foundation for the Little Rock Zoo. The ticket for Friday night’s VIP Night includes admission to the Saturday night “Mane” event.

SAVVY kids Brooke Wallace, Publisher, brooke@arktimes.com | Katherine Wyrick, Editor, katherinewyrick@arktimes.com | Lesa Thomas, Senior Account Executive, lesa@arktimes.com | Find more at SAVVYkidsAR.com ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 55

April marks Autism Awareness Month, which strives to raise awareness, celebrate differences and promote acceptance for a condition that occurs in one in every 44 children in the United States. Central Arkansas has many resources for families, from schools to advocacy groups.

We highlight these and feature a family new to the area whose child has blossomed at Access.

HOMECOMING

A YOUNG FAMILY FINDS A FIT AT ACCESS.

BY KATHERINE WYRICK

W

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN CHILSON

eather permitting, Sam, age 5, visits the zoo almost every day after school. His routine is the same. First stop: monkeys, who, on this sunny day, were feeling frolicsome. Next up: penguins, specifically the zoo’s new chick, Betty White. At 6 months old, she’s now as tall as her fellow penguins but stands out because of her fuzzy feathers and general air of befuddlement. We tagged along as Sam — a beautiful boy with rosy cheeks and watchful eyes — led the way.

Sam, who is autistic, and his parents, Amber and Kyle Hendrickson, recently relocated to Little Rock from Michigan in large part because of ACCESS. They also wanted to be closer to Amber’s family in Mena. When looking for a school for Sam, Amber and Kyle searched the country, from Los Angeles to Houston, before realizing that everything they needed was right here in Little Rock.

April is Autism Awareness Month, the purpose of which is to raise awareness, celebrate differences and promote acceptance for a condition that affects an estimated one in 44 children in the United States today. According to Autism Speaks, autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, 56 APRIL 2022

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speech and nonverbal communication. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls.

Central Arkansas has many resources for families, from schools to advocacy groups. Here, we share one family’s story.

At what age did you have Sam screened and what led you to do it? From an early age, we noticed that Sam preferred consistency and repetitive play. He also had speech and language delays and sensitivity to some sensory experiences. Because of these developmental differences, we worked with a program (where we lived in Michigan) that brought speech and occupational therapy into our home before he was 2. Then we started speech and occupational therapy in a clinic for about a year before we sought out an autism screening and diagnosis when he was 3.

We discussed the things we noticed with his therapists and his pediatrician, and we were almost certain Sam was autistic, so we decided to go through the diagnosis process with a professional screening.

We were able to recognize these differences in part because of people who have worked for years to raise awareness about autism.

My [Amber’s] cousin, Jake, was diagnosed as a child, and he’s in

SAM’S LIKES: The Little Rock Zoo, ACCESS Early Childhood (his teachers, therapists and friends), french fries, little toy figurines of all kinds, jumping on the trampoline, his grandparents, watching movies, dancing.

DISLIKES: Changes in routine.

Helping Arkansas Children Since 1899

MethodistFamily.org

his early 20s now. My aunt and uncle, Christy and P.T. Plunkett, have been incredible autism advocates for years. Because we’ve seen their journey firsthand and have learned from them, we knew what to look for, and we weren’t afraid. For us, the stigma of diagnosis had been removed, and we didn’t see autism as something that needed to be “fixed.” Now we understand it as a different, valid way of experiencing the world. Helping people become more aware of autism does make a difference as we move beyond just awareness to autism acceptance in our communities.

We look forward to a time when all autistic people experience inclusion, respect and equity, and that takes work.

What’s one of the biggest obstacles you’ve had to overcome thus far? For parents of children with disabilities, it can be a challenge to figure out where to get services and therapies to best meet their needs. When the pandemic began, we were living in Michigan, and Sam was attending a special preschool in one place while going to a clinic across town for other therapies.

We started looking for options that would meet most of Sam’s needs in one place. That, plus a desire to live closer to my family, led us to consider options in Arkansas. We started talking with ACCESS, and we were blown away by their model. We relocated just over a year ago, and we’re thankful that ACCESS is a perfect fit for Sam.

MEET WILLOW: DAUGHTER, SPIRITED SIDEKICK, AND FRIEND TO ALL “Other ortho groups don’t have the attention to detail it takes to cater to kids. It just takes a different kind of service to handlepediatric cases.”

- Terri Tharp (mother) READ MORE ABOUT WILLOW THARP AND THE SPECIALIZED APPROACH WE TAKE TO PEDIATRIC CARE AT SNELLARKANSAS.COM

RESTORING MOBILITY AND INDEPENDENCE SINCE 1911

Little Rock n Bryant n Conway n Fayetteville n Fort Smith n 800-342-5541 Hot Springs n Mountain Home n North Little Rock n Pine Bluff n Russellville

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APRIL 2022 57

How has parenting Sam changed as he’s gotten older? Are there new joys/challenges? Because Sam’s development is on a different timeline than a neurotypical 5-year-old, sometimes it feels that parenting him hasn’t changed that much over the years. Things we were working on when he was 2 years old are things we’re still working on now. But that reminds us of the joy in small milestones, which is something every family can and should appreciate. For example, when Sam tries an unfamiliar or nonpreferred food, it’s a big deal and worth celebrating. We’re grateful for people who remind us that progress is always progress, no matter the timing.

Can you give any advice to parents of a child who has been recently diagnosed? Hold on to the truth that a diagnosis doesn’t change anything about your child. We tend to panic with a diagnosis, but your child is the same person, before and after. They will need extra support, but they also need acceptance.

Also, as much as you can, make a commitment to listen to autistic people. There is a growing movement of autistic adults who are speaking out about their lives and experiences, and they are sharing the beauty of neurodiversity with the rest of us. For its many faults, we have come to value social media for its ability to connect us with a broader community that affirms neurodiversity.

We love to learn from autistic adults (follow #ActuallyAutistic), and their perspectives continue to inform the way we support Sam. Their influence is why we choose to use the phrase “autistic person” instead of “person with autism.” Autism is not a disease, nor is it something that can be separated from a person.

We also follow a lot of speech and occupational therapists on social media, and one of our favorites is a woman named Cari Ebert (@ cariebertseminars), whose teenage son is also autistic. Recently she shared these thoughts, and they are a good summary of our approach to parenting Sam: “Autism is not a disease or an illness with symptoms that need to be cured; it is a different, yet valid way of being human. Autistic children learn, play, communicate, process sensory information, and interpret the world differently from neurotypical children. It is

EXTRA RESOURCES? WE'VE GOT YOU: ACCESS ACADEMY Little Rock Phone: (501) 217-8600 Web: accessgroupinc.org THE ALLEN SCHOOL Little Rock Phone: (501) 664-2961 Web: theallenschool.org AAROC (ARKANSAS AUTISM RESEARCH & OUTREACH CENTER) Little Rock Phone: (501) 454-8542 Web: aaroc.org

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not wrong. It is simply different. We cannot change the underlying neurological differences inherent in autistic individuals. Autistic children may have co-occurring conditions with symptoms that do require medical interventions. But the autism traits themselves (the differences) are not in need of ‘fixing.’ Our role as parents, therapists, and educators is to provide meaningful supports, modifications, and accommodations to help autistic children thrive in a world that is not designed for them … We must focus on creating a space for autistic individuals by eradicating ableism and ushering in autism acceptance.”

You guys cast a wide net when looking for the right school.

What was it that drew you to ACCESS? We had heard about ACCESS through the years, from friends and family, and the school’s reputation was outstanding. The literacy-based curriculum empowers children to communicate and reduces frustration — even children who need a lot of support with speech and language, like Sam. Plus, they prioritize play at every stage. We knew Sam would be in hours of therapy each week, so it needed to be fun.

Additionally, we lived out of state and wanted to find a place closer to my family. It’s a gift to have a school like ACCESS in Little Rock. We were also looking for a program that provides therapy services along with preschool in one place, and we loved how often therapists are working with students in the classroom at ACCESS. We’re thankful that ACCESS met all our criteria and more.

In what ways have the professionals/therapists helped?

Is there one therapy that has made the most difference?

Sam loves routine, so the fact that he gets to see his therapists so consistently at ACCESS, whether he’s going to the gym for occupational therapy or engaging with his therapists in the classroom, is ideal. We also see the ways his therapists utilize Sam’s interests. They work very hard to build a secure, trusting relationship with Sam, connecting with him and building on his strengths. They know he loves animals! His amazing speech and occupational therapists find ways to motivate Sam with animals all the time, whether they’re playing with animal toys or going outside to see a turtle in the garden.

How do you balance work and parenting? This has been an

ARKANSAS AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES MONITORING (AR ADDM) Little Rock Phone: for children under 3, call 1-800-643-8258; for children ages 3-21, call 1-800-482-8437 Web: pediatrics.uams.edu/specialties/ developmental-pediatrics ARKANSAS AUTISM FOUNDATION Little Rock Phone: (501) 454-8542 Web: arkansasautismfoundation.org DENNIS DEVELOPMENT CENTER Little Rock Phone: (501) 364-1830 Web: uamshealth.com/location/dennisdevelopment-center

METHODIST FAMILY HEALTH Little Rock Phone: (501) 661-0720 Web: methodistfamily.org PEDIATRICS PLUS Alma, Arkadelphia, Conway, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Russellville, Sherwood, Van Buren Phone: Alma (479) 632-4600; Arkadelphia (870) 464-1337; Conway (501) 329-5459; Little Rock (501) 821-5459; North Little Rock (501) 791-3331; Russellville (479) 890-5494; Sherwood (501) 753-5463; Van Buren (479) 471-9600 Web: pediatricsplus.com SCHMIEDING DEVELOPMENT CENTER, UAMS PEDIATRICS Little Rock Phone: (479) 750-0125 Web: sdcpediatrics.uams.edu

ongoing challenge for us, and finding balance is part of what it means to be a parent right now, especially a parent of a disabled child. With professional and parenting responsibilities, it’s common to push ourselves until we have nothing left to give. Living near and having the support of extended family has been critical. We are also huge advocates of therapy for our own mental health and wellness.

It helps us gain perspective and parent our child from a place of wholeness. We’ve also tried to find work that allows some flexibility.

When Sam was a baby, Kyle stayed home with him. He also worked part time as a realtor, and he chose that career for a time because of the flexibility it afforded. Now, Kyle is a fifth-grade teacher in the Little Rock School District, which has the benefit of a schedule that is similar to Sam’s. For Sam’s entire life, I’ve worked remotely as a public relations professional in an agency, which has also allowed me to control my own schedule in some ways. I’ve recently made a career transition to work on the communications team at Garver, and I’m excited about the way Garver prioritizes a healthy work-life balance for their employees, too. We know these types of flexible career choices are a privilege, and we hope there will be more companies in the future that offer even more flexibility and accommodations to more people.

What’s one of your favorite things about being Sam’s parents?

There’s so much delight in the life of a 5-year-old! Sam continues to find his sense of humor, and he loves to laugh and make us laugh.

We’re always surprised by his wit.

ARKANSAS AUTISM FOUNDATION 2022 AUTISM FESTIVAL & WALK

Saturday, April 16

War Memorial Stadium 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

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APRIL 2022 59

SPONSORED BY VISIT HOT SPRINGS

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN HOT SPRINGS THIS MONTH

IT’S TIME FOR A ROAD TRIP!

APRIL MEANS TULIPS, HORSE RACING, CHERRY BLOSSOMS, BOOKS...

APRIL 2

The 2022 Arkansas Derby

Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort Bust out your best hat, it’s time for the Arkansas Derby! With a purse of $1 million, the Arkansas Derby is the most lucrative thoroughbred horse race in Arkansas.

APRIL 23

The Oaklawn Handicap & Apple Blossom

Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort The Oaklawn Handicap is a $1 million American thoroughbred horse race held annually in April at the Hot Springs Oaklawn Park Race Track. A Grade II event raced on dirt, the course covers a distance of 1 1⁄8 miles.

The Apple Blossom Handicap is a $1 million Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares 4 years old or older, run under handicap conditions over a distance of 1 1/16 miles on the dirt track at Oaklawn.

BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS!

Elizabeth Eckford

David Hill

APRIL 7-9

Hot Springs Book Festival

Various Venues The Hot Springs Book Festival gathers authors from near and far for three days of book talks, sales, signings and fairs at various venues throughout the city, starting on Thursday, April 7. The festival will feature authors David Hill, Corabel Shofner, Nate Powell and more. This festival will celebrate authors with specific ties to Hot Springs and Arkansas. Attendance for all events is free, but registration is required. Register for each event through the library’s website at gclibrary.com. More details to be announced in the coming weeks. Follow the Hot Springs Book Festival on Facebook at www.facebook. com/hotspringsbookfestival.

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LATE FEBRUARY TO MID-APRIL

Garvan Woodland Gardens Tulip Extravaganza

550 Arkridge Road Garvan Woodland Gardens in springtime is a spectacular sight: more than 150,000 tulips bloom between late February and mid-April.

To learn more, visit garvangardens.org.

Patio Season is Here!

Soak up the season on our favorite patios and decks in downtown Hot Springs. Enjoy live music on the wooded mountain patio at Rolando’s Restaurante, wooded mountain patio, people-watch from Diablo’s Tacos & Mezcal, check out the skyline from The Waters hotel rooftop, SQZBX Brewery & Pizza, Hotel Hale, Steinhaus Keller, The Argentinian Coffee & Wine Bar and more!

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PIZZERIA

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Beer Park at Superior Bathhouse Brewery is your new destination for sunny, outdoor relaxation in Hot Springs National Park. Enjoy any of our 18 beers on tap along with our Beer Park exclusive, the Superior Dog hot dog cart! This outdoor space is perfect for popping in for a few drinks, or to hang out while you are on our waitlist for indoor dining.

It’s perfect for the whole family, especially your four-legged members!

FAMILY FUN!

APRIL 30-MAY 9

Arts & The Park

Hot Springs National Park Hot Springs’ 9th Annual Arts & The Park, a 10-day celebration of the arts, will be held April 29 through May 8. The festival kicks off on Friday, April 29, with the opening of Art Moves, an outdoor art exhibit at the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail, and the Disfarmer Exhibit at the Hot Springs Convention Center. On Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1, Art Springs, a 2-day open-air arts festival, will be held at Hill Wheatley Plaza. Fine artists and artisans will be showcased, along with live music, performances, children’s activities, Chalk Walk, food and fun! Workshops, demos, a virtual cooking event and more will be featured throughout the week. The final weekend includes Gallery Walk and Artist Studio Tours, May 7-8. For more information and a full schedule of events, visit HotSpringsArts.org.

The Patio Is Open. Come See Us!

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APRIL 2022 61

wn has all you need for the ultimate getaway. Book yours at Oaklawn.com.

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OAKLAWN’S INFIELD & RACING SCHEDULE The Infield at Oaklawn offers a fun, safe and family-friendly environment with pristine scenery, exceptional service and the excitement of thoroughbred racing.

Offering spacious picnic areas, concessions, kids’ activities, live mutuel tellers, food trucks and live entertainment. Patrons are encouraged to bring folding chairs and blankets.

16 T E L • S PA • E V E N T C E N T E R • D I N I N G • C A SSaturday, I N O •April HO

R A C I N G D E C E M B E R 2 0Rockey 2 1 - MJones AY 2 0 2 2 • O A K L AW N .C O M

ARKANSAS DERBY WEEKEND APRIL 1 & 2 Friday, April 1 Beer Garden Saturday, April 2 $1.25 Million Arkansas Derby, Fantasy Stakes, Oaklawn Mile, Carousel Stakes and Temperance Hill Stakes The Derby Day Hat Contest Live Music with the Parker Francis Band, 1-5 p.m.

Saturday, April 9 Rainbow Stakes, Rainbow Miss Stakes 2022 Arkansas Baggo State Championships Live Music with the Fraze, 1-5 p.m.

Saturday, April 16 National Museum Racing Hall of Fame Count Fleet Spirit Handicap Live music with DJ Doug Kramer, 1-5 p.m.

POP’S LOUNGE LIVE MUSIC SCHEDULE Every Friday and Saturday, 4-8 p.m. Cliff & Susan Fridays and Saturdays, 9 pm-1 a.m.

April 1 & 2 Aaron Owens Band April 8 & 9 The Swade Diablos April 15 & 16 Nathan Bryce & Loaded Dice April 22 & 23 Bobby DeGonia April 29 & 30 Identity Crisis Sundays, 5-9 p.m.

April 3 Cliff & Susan April 10 Roots to Branches April 17 Doug Kramer April 24 Jacob Flores May 1 Rockey Jones 62 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

Saturday, April 23 Visit Hot Springs Day The Apple Blossom Handicap The Oaklawn Handicap The Oaklawn Stakes National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Live music with the Dexter Rowe Band, 1-5 p.m.

Saturday, April 30 Food Truck Festival + Fan Appreciation Day Bachelor Stakes Live music with The Fraze, 1-5 p.m.

CULTURE

THE SMITHSONIAN COMES TO THE OZARKS HISTORIC CANE HILL WELCOMES HABITATS.

BY CAROLINE MILLAR PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF HISTORIC CANE HILL

THE FUNGUS AMONG US: Steel mushrooms, part of a traveling Smithsonian exhibit in Cane Hill through November, invite us to consider the complex, microscopic communication network under our feet.

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APRIL 2022 63

DAY TRIP: At left, Cane Hill’s early 20th century fruit cellar brings local history to Smithsonian’s “Homes” portion of the outdoor exhibit. At center, blacksmith and sculptor Paul Siebenthal of Fayetteville created monarch and dragonfly sculptures especially for the Smithsonian exhibit. At right, tropical fish at Fossil Cove, seemingly suspended in mid-air, show this area was once an inland seabed.

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reviewing a traveling Smithsonian exhibit recently provided a good excuse for a day trip to Cane Hill, a small rural community nestled in Washington County, 20 miles southwest of Fayetteville and a few miles east of Oklahoma. That such an exhibition would land here came as a surprise; but a leisurely day hike through a 4-mile wooded trail system and preserved historic grounds had my 11-yearold outdoors-loving son and me chanting the Smithsonian message, “Protecting Habitats Protects Life,” and left us pondering the natural and built heritage of this special place in the Arkansas Ozarks.

Cane Hill is the oldest settlement in Northwest Arkansas, built by pioneering families in the 1820s who were attracted to its natural springs and rich farming potential. In its heyday, the town was an epicenter of education, boasting the first public school and public library in the state and later the first college to accept female students. It also had a mill, a stoneware pottery and thriving apple orchards. Civil War enthusiasts may know the area for the Battle of Cane Hill in 1862, a prelude to the Battle of Prairie Grove. Today, a nonprofit, Historic Cane Hill, Inc., oversees the historic buildings of the town, 16 of which are on the National Register of Historic Places and many of which have been

completely restored. But unless you’re a historic preservation nut, or ever had car trouble at this particular spot of state Highway 45, chances are you’ve never heard of this place.

Lawrence McElroy, director of arts and culture for Historic Cane Hill, sought the Smithsonian’s “Habitat” exhibit as a way to put Cane Hill on the map for day trippers. He also liked how it integrated art sculptures into the natural setting.

For this flexible and build-it-yourself exhibition, the Smithsonian provides hosting organizations — which include nature centers, arboretums and botanical gardens — digital files of professionally designed graphic panels, and shop-drawings for three-dimensional sculptures, which hosts are free to incorporate into the trail system. Before “Habitat” came along, McElroy’s traditional role was to curate the museum’s historic collection and gallery space. “When I started this project, I didn’t realize what I would be doing is curating a trail system,” he said. McElroy relied on what he calls Cane Hill’s army of community support. “It’s not like [the exhibit] shows up on an 18-wheeler and they unpack it with, ‘Here’s everything you need.’ You’re pretty much starting from scratch,” he said.

After a three-hour drive from Little Rock, my son and I picnicked on a sunny lawn near the Cane Hill Gallery/Habitat Visitors Center, where I

picked up a trail map before setting out. Habitat can be accessed from any point, but I chose the bridge at Jordan Creek, newly constructed for the Smithsonian exhibit. From there, the Smithsonian’s nature-themed educational panels narrated the trail with themes like “A Log Called Home,” “Snug as a Bug” and “Dead Wood is Life” that urged us to consider the area’s ecology.

“Fossil Cove” is one of two stations that didn’t come from the Smithsonian. McElroy asked local experts to write specifically for Cane Hill.

This panel points out that the limestone boulder under our feet was once an inland seabed.

Crouching down with our noses to the rock, we found scores of 2-3-inch long, squiggly lines raised in relief form above the surface of the rockbed.

These are fossilized stems of crinoids, a plant that once thrived in groves in the inland seabed, catching plankton with their many arms, McElroy explained. We also reached to feel the screwshaped circles that are Archimedes fossils, also called “moss animals,” that lived in the seabed for 77 million years. At this same stop, McElroy pointed to vines overhanging the bluff at Fossil Cove. Thanks to the help of Theo Witsell from the Natural Heritage Commission, he learned they’re wild grapes.

“Ozark Streams,” also written by local experts,

highlights the non-finned critters that live in the free-flowing waters, such as the ebony damselfly, black and iridescent blue, which feeds on smaller insects at the surface of the water. We may return in August, when Dustin Lynch, with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, will give a special program on crawfish diversity that includes stream snorkeling for crawdads.

Walking past a gurgling stream, we heard the soft, rhythmic sound of someone hand sawing through the distance in the woods. It was Christopher Scanga, a volunteer worker, finishing a new railing he built on a steeper section of the trail. Scanga temporarily moved to Cane Hill last fall from Maine with his wife, Deborah Schwartz; the couple live nomadically, choosing where to move each year based on the kind of volunteer projects they find. “The variety of this place is why Debbie and I are here,” Scanga told us, adding that he personally connected with the place. “I was raised on a farm in rural Pennsylvania — Appalachia — so a lot of what I see and feel around here is familiar to me. You know, extended Scotch-Irish families have been here for generations. I also love tools, and never had the chance to drive a 4x4 before.”

Midday, Gretchen Crane, the third generation of a Cane Hill family, dropped by in a large moving

truck with her husband, Daniel, to deliver a load of enormous wooden bug parts. Using the Smithsonian’s shop drawings, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville sculpture students cut the parts with a CNC (computer numerical control) router. Once painted and assembled, the sculptures — an 8-foot praying mantis and a 3-foot grasshopper — will be installed into a gnarly and dark canopy of beaux d’arc trees.

For Smithsonian’s “Nests,” McElroy is collaborating with a sculptor to create a humansized nest made of cedar sticks and found objects.

“It’ll be a portal that looks into the habitat beyond,” McElroy said.

The outdoor exhibit opens April 16 and will be on display every day from sunrise to sunset until Nov. 26. I may return with the rest of my family later in the year to attend the educational Habitat programs scheduled this summer and fall, including a workshop on early 20th century farming in the Ozarks, a nature writing workshop from UA writing faculty, a lecture by a UA entomologist on five insects and their impact on human history, and an archeology day with the UA’s Arkansas Archeological Survey, which will highlight early 19th century production of pottery in the area. Details can be found at historiccanehillar.org.

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APRIL 2022 65

SPONSORED CONTENT

The 35th Annual May Festival of the Arts in Eureka Springs To say that Eureka Springs is a colorful community is an understatement. There’s a creative vibe running through our historic arts village driven by more than 350 working artists across mediums. During the month of May, we show it all off. The 35th Annual May Festival of the Arts is packed with one-of-a-kind art exhibits, the ARTrageous parade, demonstrations, performances, culinary arts, free music in the park, and the wildest street party thrown by artists – the White Street Walk.

The ARTrageous Parade — 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, is the place to express your inner creator and truly be yourself! The parade is the customary kickoff to the May Festival of the Arts, an annual citywide extravaganza of imaginative events throughout the entire month of May. There will be music, performances, parade floats, and a chance to win cash and prizes based on your costume, performance, or float! Keep in mind that to be eligible for prizes you must fill out a parade entrant application by April 24, found on the web site below. You can return it via snail mail, email, passenger pigeon or however you like!

DON’T MISS THESE OTHER EVENTS: Drummers in the Park May 16 White Street Art Walk May 20 Eureka Springs Plein Air Festival

BLUE SPRING HERITAGE CENTER

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Blue Spring Heritage Center 1537 Co Rd 210, Eureka Springs, AR 72632 www.bluespringheritage.com 479.253.9244 66 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

Our 35th annual May Festival of the Arts is packed with one-of-a-kind art exhibits, demonstrations, performances, culinary arts, free music in the park, gallery strolls and the wildest street party thrown by artists – The White Street Walk!

2022 ArtRageous Lineup May 5-8: The Bridge of Love - Mother’s Day May 7: ArtRageous Parade 2pm May 8: Mother’s Day Brunch, Lunch, Munch, Wine & Dine around town EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT: GALLERY STROLLS May 8: Opera In The Ozarks Concert May 14: 2nd Annual Camaro Show May 16: Drumming in the Park May 20-22: Dirtsuferz Onewheel Enduro Race

May 20: White Street Art Walk May 21: Music in the Park May 28-29: Just So Festival on the Trails May 29: Harmon Park Art Trail Festival & Pop-Up Art Studio May 1-31: Art Exhibits and Artist Receptions May & Beyond: Eureka Springs Plein Air Festival & New interactive app - Eureka Springs Public Art Tour & Tour of the Springs of Eureka

EurekaSprings.org • EurekaSpringsFestivalOfTheArts.org

CULTURE

THINK LIKE A QUEEN BRIAN CHILSON

A Q&A WITH VIRMARIE DEPOYSTER.

LIGHT AND LANGUAGE: Virmarie DePoyster poses in the studio with “Inner Fire, Family Rock, Regal — Passive,” a portrait from her “Beyond Labels” series.

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C

hances are, whoever coined the adage “Those who can’t do, teach” never met many art teachers. Painter Virmarie DePoyster, who moved from her native Puerto Rico to El Dorado, Arkansas, at age 15, has carved out an art career that blends gallery exhibitions, commissions and outreach work, much of which grapples with questions of identity. This year, her portrait “Trustworthy” was purchased by the The Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas for its permanent collection, and “Hope,” her pastel painting of a honeybee, will be reproduced 101 times to create a traveling “bee swarm” installation for ARORA, Arkansas’s largest organ, tissue and eye recovery agency.

You say in your artist statement that you consider yourself to be doing something similar to what your Spanish-English translational dictionary did for you as a teenager. Can you explain that?

My dad was a Pentecostal preacher in Puerto Rico to a very large church. He got our babysitter pregnant, and my mom was a little pissed off. That awful turn of events brought me, mom and my two sisters to live with family friends in El Dorado.

I was 15 and going into the 10th grade. We slept all four in a one-bedroom and were on food stamps for a year before my mom could find a job. Along the way we met the most wonderful people who gave us clothes and helped us. Teachers really wanted to help us succeed. Back then, there wasn’t a Spanish-as-a-second language program, so we went straight into a classroom setting without knowing or understanding English. It took about a year to understand English well, so I carried the dictionary with me everywhere. So I was labeled as the new girl, the Puerto Ricans, etc. Before that I was “the Pentecostal.” Like everyone who immigrates or migrates, we longed for a better life — to belong, connect and not stand out. Art gives me a voice and allows me to tell stories I am passionate about as the dictionary allowed me to speak all those years back.

I was almost astonished to see your more recent collection “Holding Space” after seeing your more realistic portraits.

They’re so different and so much more impressionistic.

What would you say, if anything, that the pandemic has changed about your work?

That series came about because during COVID, I was by myself. Before COVID, … I had been with models, and I had 10 students who came weekly. So I started trying to look and see how I could hold my own space when I don’t have people to hold space for me. It became a lot about line, a lot about shape, trying to find softness in things, trying not to be bitter. … I found that at the beginning of COVID, my colors had become very dark, very gray, very moody. And I thought, ‘I’m gonna play with colors I haven’t played with before,’ and then when I started coming out of

that, everything became more airy. Looking at really bright color was just getting my eyes. I didn’t want to see all that brightness. I wanted it to be more subtle, soothing. So that’s why the palette is different.

You do gallery exhibitions here in Arkansas and outside the United States, but I understand a huge part of your work has been focused on art as therapy — leading a program teaching at-risk youth in Conway and Russellville, for one, and three years providing art services to patients in acute care at The BridgeWay. Why do you think it’s a good idea for people dealing with adversity in their own lives to turn to making art? What’s the benefit?

Providing therapeutic art classes to patients is some of the most meaningful work I have ever done. Weekly, I got to facilitate and witness patients draw and paint about their current situation and how much better they felt for letting it out on paper. My teaching style and the way I saw art changed for the better because of them. Often we get stuck in thinking patterns and we relive over and over a situation or a problem; that’s the left side of the brain at work. When we create we use the right side that sees shapes, lines, colors and allow the thinking side of the brain time to rest and energize.

What music do you listen to while you work? What was the music you were listening to when I came into the studio?

That was some Spanish guitar. I do listen to a lot of Spanish music. I can listen to it for hours and hours. I go from Spanish guitar to salsa, and then sometimes if I’m working on something really detailed and very tedious, I listen to classical music. … During my “Beyond Labels” exhibition, I started having health issues and learned I needed a hysterectomy. An MRI detected a “suspicious lesion” in a fibroid and I wasn’t going to know whether it was cancer or not until the frozen section of the spot was done. I only shared it with a few people because I wanted the message behind the exhibition to be heard and didn’t want to overshadow it with my illness. As I waited for surgery, I was in the “waiting room” — you know, that place where you wait and wait for answers. To stay busy I painted and surprisingly I learned I was not able to listen to music at all. The noise was too much as I had so many thoughts circling in my head. I’m sure a music therapist could tell me what that’s all about.

What is your favorite color, or maybe just your favorite color right now?

For some reason it’s always this turquoise teal. I have shoes that color, underwear that color. Sometimes people think it’s moody, so I try to pair it with colors that make it happy, because I like it so much.

— Stephanie Smittle

OFTEN WE GET STUCK IN THINKING PATTERNS AND WE RELIVE OVER AND OVER A SITUATION OR A PROBLEM; THAT’S THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BRAIN AT WORK. ARKANSASTIMES.COM

APRIL 2022 69

FOOD & DRINK

DELTA DIRT DISTILLERY BUILDS ON FAMILY FARM LEGACY A HOMEGROWN SWEET POTATO-BASED ALTERNATIVE TO RUSSIAN VODKA.

BY BRIAN SORENSEN PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN CHILSON 70 APRIL 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

FARM TO BOTTLE: Brothers Thomas (left) and Donavan Williams distill sweet potatoes from the family farm into Delta Dirt vodka.

H

arvey and Donna Williams and their three adult children are building on a family legacy in the Arkansas Delta. The family founded Delta Dirt Distillery in HelenaWest Helena in 2017, opening their doors to the public in April of last year. The fledgling distillery will celebrate one year in business on Cherry Street with the release of its gin on Saturday, April 2.

Williams said he started the distillery as a way to reconnect with the family farm — to reconnect with the soil that had been tilled, planted and harvested by three generations of Williams men.

His great-grandfather — known as Papa Joe Williams — was the first to work the land. He was a sharecropper in the era before agricultural mechanization and corporate consolidation. His son sharecropped that same land, purchasing the farm outright in 1949.

“It’s fortunate that we were able to hold on to the farm,” Williams said. “I grew up down here, and there were a lot of Black farmers and Black land, even in those days. Many of them have since moved up north, or sold their land. There are very few Black farmers left in the area now. I’m grateful for what we have.”

Black farm ownership has indeed dropped since those days. According to a 2021 report from the Congressional Research Service, Blackowned farms accounted for an estimated 5.5% of American farms in 1910. By 2017, Black farm ownership had fallen to 1%. A similar decline can be felt in Arkansas.

Up until the 1980s, the Williams family farm featured traditional row crops — cotton, soybeans and wheat, among others. When market dynamics started to shift, Williams’ father, Harvey Williams Sr., diversified into vegetable farming, planting acres of sweet potatoes, squash and okra.

“I’m not talking a couple of rows of vegetables,” Williams said. “Last year my dad did 80 acres of squash. At the peak, we got up to almost 200 acres of sweet potatoes.”

Williams said he originally intended to follow in his father’s footsteps. He went to school at the University of Arkansas and obtained a degree in agricultural engineering. The plan was to run the farm better than anyone before him. But then he and Donna, his high school sweetheart and thennew wife, started a family, and life took them in a completely different direction.

Williams started what would become a threedecade career in the food production industry. He started out as a frontline supervisor at a turkey

plant in Springdale. He later joined a major food manufacturer and gained experience in engineering, continuous improvement, capital procurement, and other corporate functions. At one point Williams was the general manager of a corn dog plant in Haltom City, Texas.

Despite his success, the sweet nostalgia of home was difficult to resist. His and Donna’s parents were back in Arkansas, and so was the family farm.

“I always wanted to get back home,” Williams said. “So, I was able to get a job running a snack chip plant in Newport. That allowed us to move back to Arkansas.”

Settling in Jonesboro and commuting to Newport for work, Williams continued to think of his family’s farm. He needed a way to reinvolve himself, though not necessarily in day-to-day farm operations. That’s when the idea for the distillery came about.

THE DISTILLERY A few years ago, Williams’ brother, Kennard Williams, attended a meetup of farmers where they showcased their products and methods.

There he discovered vodka made from sweet potatoes, which sparked the idea for Delta Dirt.

He shared his findings with his brother, and the family decided to go all in. The family’s youngest son, Thomas, was sent to distilling school, and briefly starred on the Discovery Channel program “Master Distiller.” With a trained spirits maker in the fold, they turned their attention to recipes.

Using the family farm’s signature crop — sweet potatoes — was a way to differentiate Delta Dirt from other distillers in the region. The tubers, however, are particularly challenging to work with.

“Sweet potatoes are a hearty vegetable with a unique profile,” Williams said. “The process of extracting sugars is very difficult. But once you get the sugar, you’re home free.”

A University of Florida professor helped Delta Dirt determine the right mix of enzymes, temperatures and other factors to maximize sugar extraction and increase yield from the sweet potatoes. The fledgling distillery started to figure things out.

“Both of my sons are catching on to the process and finding ways to improve it,” said Harvey Williams. Oldest son Donavan moved home from Chicago shortly after the distillery opened to the public. Both sons have been canvassing the state as of late, promoting the Delta Dirt brand.

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The family’s daughter, TaHara Williams, is in the Navy and currently stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. She helped put together the drink menu for the distillery’s tasting room, so she is involved, even if she’s far away and focused on a career of her own.

The distillery’s flagship offering is the sweet blend vodka. It is distilled from sweet potatoes and corn, both grown on the family farm. Two bourbons — one made with sweet potatoes and the other without — will come in time. And a gin is slated for release during the upcoming anniversary festivities.

Williams said the plan was to focus on slow, careful growth in the beginning. They started out self-distributing, but circumstances changed that in a hurry.

Delta Dirt built a significant inventory in preparation for last year’s King Biscuit Blues Festival. When the festival was canceled due to pandemic-related concerns, the family found themselves sitting on a sizable stockpile of spirits.

According to her husband, it was Donna Williams who was the catalyst for action. She thought the situation called for an accelerated distribution plan. They ended up in a deal with Southern Glazer’s, and now Delta Dirt spirits can be found throughout Arkansas.

“We went from eight to 10 cases a week to 50 cases a week,” Williams said.

SPIRIT OF OUR ANCESTORS: Harvesting sweet potatoes and turning them into Delta Dirt Vodka has become a way to keep the family farm in the family. Brothers Donavan (left) and Thomas Williams work in their distillery in Helena-West Helena.

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HELENA IS HOME Although he and his siblings attended school in nearby Marianna, they always felt a special connection to Helena. For them Helena was the big city, a place to shop and people-watch. They all loved the time they spent there as kids and young adults.

Helena’s decline has been well-documented over the years. Businesses have shuttered and the population has slowly drained away.

Williams is hopeful Delta Dirt can play a role in reviving the once-thriving port city.

“People here are slowly recognizing that we

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are building something special here,” he said.

“With the decline in economic conditions and the migration of people from Helena to places like Conway, Jonesboro and Northwest Arkansas, I think they are starting to see that we can have the same kind of things here in Helena, right here on Cherry Street like back in our heyday.”

And often it’s the outsiders who are helping locals see the possibilities.

“Last week we had three people who said they saw our sign on the highway and decided to pull off for a visit,” Williams said. “They are coming from all over.”

THE FUTURE Williams said Delta Dirt is working on a more comprehensive distribution strategy to branch out to other states. One day he would like to see Delta Dirt in stores as far away as Atlanta.

Here in Arkansas, brewers get much of the publicity. But distilleries are starting to catch up in terms of numbers and attention.

“Up until recently there was only one guy that was doing spirits at a substantial level, and that’s Phil [Brandon] at Rock Town,” Williams said.

“Now there are a handful of distilleries in the state. There’s Hot Springs [Distilling], Fox Trail in Rogers, Postmaster in Newport, and us down here in Helena.”

There are about a dozen distilleries actively producing spirits in Arkansas today. A distiller’s guild was organized last year, and Williams said he is excited to see what progress the group can make on issues like e-commerce. He would like to be able to direct-ship his product to people all across the country, but it’s not possible in today’s legal environment.

For now, Williams said, he is having fun and he enjoys running a business with his family. It’s not the path he originally envisioned, but in the end, he is accomplishing the goal he had in mind all along.

“It wasn’t like I wanted to be a distiller one day,” Williams said. “But I always wanted to do something with this farm. And this may save the farm like my dad saved the farm in the ’80s.”

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APRIL 2022 73

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ARKANSAS TIMES

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f one of your most important weekend questions this glorious patio season is, “Where are we brunching on Sunday, y’all?” we know how difficult the answer is. Navigating lines, Saturday night hangovers and menus that all look equally enticing makes it hard for even the most dedicated and experienced brunch enthusiasts. But there should be no question where you’re brunching on Sunday, April 10, because you can combine brunch offerings from several Central Arkansas restaurants at the Arkansas Times’ annual Bloodies, Bubbles & Brunch at Argenta Plaza from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Brunch delights from Cannibal & Craft, Purple Onion (from Cabot), Brunch Brothers, Grumpy Rabbit (Lonoke), The Root Cafe and Rosie’s Pot & Kettle will be featured, as well as Bloody Marys and brunch cocktails provided

by Old Dominick Distillery out of Memphis. DJ Mike Poe will be on hand with music.

And new this year, an all white bouncy house provided by Polished Parties for photo opportunities, the finest brunch selfies and post-brunch bouncing. Tickets are $30 and available at centralarkansastickets.com.

Use special promo code ARTIMESITW to receive 20% off of select* performances!

*Valid only for weeknight performances and Saturday matinee performances of INTO THE WOODS. Pending availability.

Glenn Freeman Arkansas Times 2021.pdf

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2/14/22

10:51 AM

Inspiring a Legacy Glenn Freeman of Pine Bluff created Arkansas Community Foundation funds to honor his mother and his wife’s parents.

As he respects his family’s past, grants from these funds make a real difference for his community’s future.

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You can build a lasting legacy for the person you care about by creating a fund with the Community Foundation. Contact Foundation staff today to learn how we make the process simple, flexible and efficient.

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COMMON OWNERSHIP OF CULTIVATION CENTERS AND DISPENSARIES HAS SOME CRYING FOUL.

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he state law legalizing medical marijuana in Arkansas has allowed some individuals to own stakes in both a cultivator where marijuana is grown and a dispensary where cannabis products are sold, giving them control over both production and some retail sales in the state’s booming market.

But some competing dispensaries have called foul, saying the cultivators are creating an unfair marketplace where the cultivators allow their own retail outlets to sell cheaper and newer products.

Hot Springs dispensary owner Dragan Vicentic, who has tangled with cultivators on a variety of issues, minced no words in a 2019 letter to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.

Vicentic said a potential sale of another Hot Springs dispensary to an owner of the BOLD Team cultivation facility would “place a monopoly

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and an unjust hold on the market by a cultivator that could tilt competition unfairly.” Vicentic argued the cultivator could offer cheaper prices to the affiliated dispensary than to nonaffiliated dispensaries and could offer their outlet superior products and newer products.

Today, Vicentic says his fears have been proven true.

“I think my letter to the ABC backs up my fears that have been brought to fruition!” Vicentic said in an email.

Vicentic isn’t the only one with concerns.

Matthew Wilbers, who manages a Pine Bluff dispensary a few miles from a cultivator-affiliated dispensary, said his store is at a disadvantage when it comes to pricing and the availability of new products.

“There does seem to be a distinct line of

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competitive advantage whenever you have such a close affiliation between a dispensary storefront and a cultivation facility,” Wilbers said.

OWNERSHIP The individuals who have ownership stakes in both a cultivation facility and a dispensary have violated no laws.

The amendment voters passed in 2016 to legalize medical marijuana allows for eligible individuals to have an ownership stake in one cultivation facility and one dispensary. Even a fraction of a percentage of ownership would be enough to disqualify someone from purchasing an interest in another similar facility, according to state Medical Marijuana Commission spokesman Scott Hardin.

The amendment also allows for licenses

Fuel the Music: donate.klre.org

Fuel the News: donate.kuar.org Become a sustaining member and support news and culture for central Arkansas. UA Little Rock Public Radio Spring Fund Drive: April 4-8

Marijuana is for use by qualified patients only. Keep out of reach of children. Marijuana use during pregnancy or breastfeeding poses potential harms. Marijuana is not approved by the FDA to treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of marijuana.

WE HAVE BIG NEWS We’re about ready to move into our bright new space in Rogers! Follow us online for dates, details, and 4/20 updates.

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awarded by the commission to be transferred to other eligible individuals.

The Medical Marijuana Commission frequently grants these transfers at its regular monthly meetings. Sometimes, the changes are minimal and mostly amount to changing the percentage of ownership the current owners have in the company to allow for new owners to come aboard.

In other cases, the ownership changes are significant. In March, the commission approved a change of ownership for Good Day Farm’s dispensary in Little Rock. Before the change, four individuals — attorneys Alex Gray and Nate Steel, who also have an ownership stake in Good Day Farm Arkansas cultivation, and their wives, owned 100% of the dispensary. After the change, those four individuals own less than 2% of the dispensary and 15 other individuals own the remaining amount. Louisiana Republican donor Boysie Bollinger became the biggest stakeholder in the dispensary, with a 25.51% ownership stake.

While the individuals who own both a cultivator and a dispensary have not violated the Medical Marijuana Commission rules or the state amendment, Vicentic has asked the office of Attorney General Leslie Rutledge to look into what he calls a monopoly that creates an unfair marketplace. Rutledge’s office declined to pursue the matter, Vicentic said, leaving him few options.

“You would think, because it’s a monopoly, that the state attorney general would jump on that thing because it’s against the people,” Vicentic said, noting that he would likely need to file a civil lawsuit to pursue the matter further.

Along with Good Day Farm Arkansas, individuals who have a stake in ownership of the BOLD Team and Osage Creek also own four dispensaries in Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Fayetteville and Little Rock. (A soon-to-open dispensary in Van Buren will be known as Good Day Farm Van Buren but the dispensary will not be owned by any of the owners of Good Day Farm Cultivation, according to Hardin).

DISPENSARY DIFFERENCES Online cannabis menus show dispensaries affiliated with cultivators do have some cheaper products than nearby nonaffiliated dispensaries.

According to Weedmaps, Suite 443 in Hot Springs is selling edible gummies from BOLD for as little as $7 a package, while nearby Green Springs Medical Dispensary’s least expensive gummies are $25. The Green Springs menu does not list any products made by BOLD. According to Vicentic, the retail prices for some items at Suite 443 are even lower than he can obtain at wholesale prices.

Suite 443 is wholly owned by Mark Drennan who also owns a 24.5% stake in BOLD cultivation.

Green Springs is 100% owned by Vicentic.

Vicentic’s dispensary isn’t the only one that has found itself across town from a dispensary affiliated with a cultivator. In Pine Bluff, Hash and Co. is less than 5 miles from High Bank dispensary, which is wholly owned by Kyndall Lercher, who

Online cannabis menus show dispensaries affiliated with cultivators do have some cheaper products than nearby nonaffiliated dispensaries. also owns a 25.5% stake in BOLD. According to Weedmaps, High Bank has gummies from BOLD available for $7.60 and, on St. Patrick’s Day, offered a special deal of $5 for some gummies.

Wilbers said his store simply can’t match some of those prices.

“You notice that you can’t sell some of your products for the prices that you see, the products being offered at some of these other locations,” Wilbers said.

Price isn’t the only issue, Wilbers said. High Bank tends to receive new products earlier, although Wilbers’ dispensary eventually receives them as well. But, as long as High Bank receives products first, it creates an impression in customers’ minds that one dispensary is the place to find new products, according to Wilbers.

“You’re already kind of setting it into the subconscious of the customer base that [the affiliated dispensary] is the location to come for for these products because you know, if we had it first this time, then we’ll have something new first next time, and so it goes,” Wilbers said.

In Little Rock, online menus showed Good Day Farm had less expensive flower from its homegrown strains than nearby Curaleaf, while in Fayetteville, Osage Creek Dispensary did not have much difference in price from other Fayetteville dispensaries.

Wilbers said what the affiliated dispensaries are doing is a slap in the face to patients who must drive greater distances to get these deals if they don’t have such a dispensary near them. He also thinks it creates an unfair marketplace.

“Trying to create more of a distinction based strictly on exclusivity or pricing that can’t be outcompeted really is a bit too monopolistic for my tastes,” Wilbers said.

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AND OLD DOMINICK DISTILLERY PRESENT

SUNDAY, APRIL 10 Argenta Plaza | Main Street, North Little Rock

11am-2pm | TICKETS $30 Enjoy great brunch dishes from your favorite local restaurants, Bloody Marys, Mimosas and Cocktails crafted by Old Dominick Distillery.

Restaurants include: Copper Grill, Grumpy Rabbit, Cannibal & Craft, Purple Onion, Brunch Brothers Catering, Rosie’s Pot and Kettle, and Twisted Fries! And more to come!

Coffee by Nexus Coffee & Creative.

While you enjoy brunch and drinks, DJ Mike Poe will be spinning hits.

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APRIL 2022 81

THE OBSERVER

SUPPOSITORY SUNDAY CRAB-WALKING ON THE WILDER SIDE OF THE STATE’S CANNABIS OFFERINGS.

L

ike a lot of people who pay too much attention to the news, The Observer often wrestles with paralyzing anxiety. The obvious cures — an end to wars both cultural and literal, reinvigorating the journalism industry to its former glory, with teeming newsrooms and an informed electorate — seem a long way off. So, for now, we settle for weed.

Medical marijuana is a game-changer for The Observer, staving off panic and palpitations brought on by pandemics, Putin and the like. An unobtrusive puff on a vape pen doesn’t bother anyone around, and leaves The Observer unbothered, too.

Recently, The Observer learned of an even more discreet delivery method. A friend with whom The Observer sometimes compares ailments and cures sent a photo of an Osage Creek suppository, a 10 mg white pellet, aerodynamically shaped for easy insertion. I was nervous, but gained courage when a few similarly anxiety-ridden friends agreed to join in the experimentation. And that’s how, for the sake of journalism, we made plans to try our luck with cannabis suppositories.

I called my mom for advice, which proved to be a mistake.

She had no advice to give and claimed to have no memory of medicating her babies rectally. She seemed perturbed that I even asked.

And then, when the appointed Suppository Sunday came along, the hole gang bailed.

“But I made a playlist!” I texted them. No takers. I was on my own.

My first mistake was keeping the suppositories in the

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fridge, meaning they were not only slick and slimy, but also cold. Initially the cannabis suppository had the opposite effect of what I was going for: Anxious that it would somehow slide out, I nudged it deeper and tightened my gluteus maximi. My partner laughed as I grabbed a spare set of underpants (in case of leakage) and crab-walked to the car. It was March Madness, after all, and there were basketball games to watch with friends.

Upon arrival I poured myself a ginger ale and settled in on the deck, eyes wide and cheeks clenched, waiting for my anxiety to stop ramping up and start ramping down. My thoughts raced. Are my friends looking at me? What will happen if I uncross my legs? Don’t sneeze, don’t sneeze, don’t sneeze.

It took 45 minutes, but finally all my worries and troubles floated away. I stood up, turned around and asked if anyone could detect any leaks. My friends nodded knowingly. I sat back down and rode the wave, chatting and drawling, smiling and laughing. This lasted for about an hour or two.

The experiment was a success.

In The Observer’s expert opinion, the cannabis suppository yielded a high quite different from vaping, smoking or edibles. It was slow to kick in and quick to mellow out. So I would say these are good for anxiety, but only if you’re comfortable with butt stuff. If just thinking about this makes you clench up, these aren’t for you.

Another consideration: These suppositories aren’t limited to a single orifice, so I’ll try the vaginal route next time and report back. The Observer knows you’re curious.

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ON THE MAP: THE ARKANSAS RIVER VALLEY

While Interstate 40 is a well-traveled connector across eight states, lost by many are the rural sections spanning the 300 miles off I-40 in Arkansas that offer plenty to see — and plenty to do.

For instance, in the northwestern part of the state is the River Valley Tri-Peaks Region — one of the six natural divisions of Arkansas. Situated between the Ouachita and Ozark Mountain ranges, the River Valley has been long treasured for its scenic beauty and breathtaking views of Mount Nebo, Mount Magazine and Petit Jean Mountain. It is also home to Lake Dardanelle, one of the most accessible lakes in Arkansas stretching across 34,000 acres with fishing, swimming and outdoor entertainment options for everyone.

While the River Valley is most known for its outdoor recreational activities, the area boasts hundreds of historical sites for residents and visitors to explore. It also contains Arkansas’ wine country and is home to annual cultural events and heritage festivals, many of which are held at state parks and on town squares throughout the River Valley.

YOUR FUTURE ROAD TRIP DESTINATION

PETIT JEAN MOUNTAIN LAKE DARDANELLE

Off I-40 in Russellville, nestled in the heart of the River Valley on more than 130 acres, will be the highly anticipated, premier entertainment destination known as Legends Resort & Casino.

Inspired by the sweeping landscapes of the Arkansas River Valley, thoughtfully planned resort amenities and diverse entertainment choices will create the perfect setting for visitors to feel and be legendary. Throughout the resort and casino property, guests will enjoy a celebration of Arkansas’ legendary figures in sports, music and entertainment; cuisine; and the stunning landscape of The Natural State.

Currently in development, Legends Resort & Casino will feature gaming, entertainment and amenities for everyone, including a luxury hotel with 200 rooms and a resort-style pool, spa and fitness center. On 50,000 square feet of gaming space with 1,200 slot machines and 32 table games, visitors will be able to up their game while feeding their spirit. Guests can also experience the thrill of live sports betting at the sportsbook, perfectly situated in a luxurious sports bar complete with LED video walls.

It will be the perfect escape to meet up with friends, catch the big game and make it a night to remember.

Legends Resort & Casino will offer a bold and robust culinary experience with a variety of food and beverage options, including a food hall. Whether guests are looking to grab something on the go or savor prime cuts in the luxurious steakhouse, there are dining options for every mood.

A LEGENDARY FUTURE

The sights and sounds of the River Valley are a must-see. But with the addition of Legends Resort & Casino, road trips in Arkansas just got that much more exhilarating.

For more information, visit legendsarkansas.com or stop by the Legends Resort & Casino development office located in Downtown Russellville at 314 West B Street.