Chances - March 2011

march2011 AtUrbanMagazine.com

chances

14 18

When Rock & Roll Was New Now Hear This

20 24 28 32

Tale of a Craftsman Fostering the Future Sculptor in a Baker’s House The Pioneer Woman

38 40 42

You’re Back and We’re Still Here The Irish Jig Guinness Stew

44

Cowboy Up

Marla Cantrell Marla Cantrell Marcus Coker Laura Hobbs Jim Martin Tonya McCoy Julie W. Moncrief Marcus Coker Catherine Frederick Sharon Martin

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER

Jeromy Price

WEB GURU

David Jamell

PUBLISHER

Read Chair Publishing, LLC

COVER IMAGE

lifestyle

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

entertainment

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

people

MANAGING EDITOR

Catherine Frederick

Upon His Exit The Year of Spherical Thinking The Future of Gardening

taste

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRESIDENT

7 8 12

destination

@INSIDE

Matt Miller

Advertising and Distribution Information Catherine Frederick at 479 / 782 / 1500 Catherine@AtUrbanMagazine.com Editorial or Artwork Information Marla Cantrell at 479 / 831 / 9116 Marla@AtUrbanMagazine.com ©2011 Read Chair Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. The opinions contained in @Urban are exclusively those of the writers and do not represent those of Read Chair Publishing, LLC. as a whole or its affiliates. Any correspondence to @Urban or Read Chair Publishing, LLC., including photography becomes the property of Read Chair Publishing, LLC. @Urban reserves the right to edit content and images.

@LETTER FROM CATHERINE

W

e all know how fickle Arkansas weather can be. Temperatures drop and rise, storms rumble, and then it’s calm. But last month we got an Oscar worthy performance

from Mother Nature. Snow fell and then fell some more, gathering on the ground like tiny cotton balls, clinging to the trees, covering everything in its path.

Commerce ground to a halt, kids and their lucky parents slid down snowy hills, and kind neighbors checked on each other – just to make sure everything was okay.

Then just as quickly, the first warm snap. I pulled out my flip flops, scuffed from last summer’s overuse, and longed for the day when I could toss them aside to run through cool blades of dewy grass.

I want nothing more right now than to break out the tiller and break up the cracked soil. I will plant things that my family will eat throughout the summer. It may sound crazy, but at times I consider turning our entire front yard into a garden.

This month, we’ll introduce you to a new way to put fresh food on your table. It’s a green system called Aquaponics, providing year-round sustainable agriculture. Start your seeds earlier and enjoy ripe, juicy fruits and vegetables sooner, if not all year, right from your own home.

We’ll also take you all the way to a dude ranch in Jasper, look inside the (super steamy) love life of the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, and introduce an artist who’s found the secret to a balanced life.

If all that leaves you a little hungry, we have that covered too. How’s stew made with Guinness Stout and a batch of cinnamon rolls sound?

We hope you enjoy reading @Urban as much as we enjoy putting it together every month. You have no idea how happy we are that you let us into your homes each month to share the stories of the wonderful people we’ve encountered in the weeks it takes us to fill these pages.

If you would like to submit stories, story ideas, or your own poetry, you can find submission guidelines on our homepage at AtUrbanMagazine.com twitter.com/atUrbanMag facebook.com/aturbanmagazine

5

April 9, 2010 @ 7:00P.M. Second Street Live

W

hen we started @Urban Magazine, we made a

On April 9, at 7:00 p.m., @Urban is hosting a poetry jam at

commitment to include a poem in every issue. We did

Second Street Live, at 101 North Second Avenue in Fort Smith.

this at a time when most mainstream publications had long

We will award the top three prizes to our winning poets, who

since moved away from publishing poetry - something we

will then read their original poems on stage.

believe is a huge mistake.

Next comes our headline poet, Carla Ramer, who was Apparently, you agree. We received 115 entries in our first

coincidentally the first poet we featured in @Urban Magazine.

ever @Urban Poetry Contest. As the stacks of envelopes grew

Carla is a published poet. She writes and performs poetry,

higher and higher, we grew more and more excited. And as

talks about poetry to junior high school and college students,

we read your wonderful work, we laughed at your humor,

and is the author of the chapbook “Beneath the Black Water.”

shivered at the beauty of your words, and were shaken to the

She lives in Fort Smith.

core when you took us along on some of the most trying days of your lives.

So save the date! Carla will take you on a rollercoaster ride with her phenomenal work. She will leave you breathless,

We feel so honored you shared your poems with us. By

broken with laughter, and at times close to tears.

We

now the winners have been notified. The first place poem

guarantee that even weeks later, you’ll be thinking about the

will be published in our April print edition of @Urban. The

depth of her work.

second and third place winners will be published online at AtUrbanMagazine.com.

Better still, the reading is absolutely free. So invite your friends, come on down, and help us celebrate the talent @Urban

But that’s only the beginning.

discovered in our own backyard!

@LIFESTYLE

I am surprised to see that I can still look up at a winter’s tree with the blue sky behind. You are gone but I can see the same view as before. I did not know, I did not fathom life without you.

There they are, the slender, dark twigs and branches of a tree in winter, so beautiful even in their bareness because of their discipline to remain and bear the season. Every tiny branch points upward, arching however it has to, to point upward.

I can’t believe you are not here and I still am. Your navy eyes won’t twinkle at me anymore. Unless perhaps I see them in the night sky, or in a bluejay dashing across my back yard.

Point upward like the twigs and branches, I tell myself, yearning for one nice, neat lesson of your life to comfort me and carry me forward. You never pointed any other way than in the direction of decency. Your core was decency, like a branch knows to point upward without thinking.

I miss your presence. You showed me the way. Your father died when you were twenty-six. You died when I was fifty. Surely I can figure out how you went on to accomplish so much and enjoy so much and contribute so much.

I’ll keep looking at the trees. I feel like I’m looking in the direction of you, and that they will somehow give me a clue. A clue of how to take the next step. I love you, Dad.

7

Upon His Exit @lines Julie W. Moncrief

the year of A spherical thinking

rtist Matt Miller is a follower of spherical living, a concept he uncovered while talking to his traveling buddy in

Morocco. The philosophy is a simple one: we start out rounded, untouched by our environment, unscathed by negativity, not yet influenced by the expectations of others. That is our pure

matt miller

spherical state. “But at a certain point you start getting cut off

@story Marla Cantrell @images Catherine Frederick & Matt Miller

from what you started as,” Matt says. “Your roundness gets chipped away, you get stuck, you get stagnant.”

8

@LIFESTYLE

He talks about spherical living while standing in front of a

When he graduated he made a decision that set his future. “I

painting of a man playing the violin. The musician fills the large

had enough money to paint for three months - I hadn’t painted

round canvas, stooped and standing a little off center, so that

a lot during college. I think I it might have been close to

his bow is the first thing you notice. The painting is so large it’s

$2,000. I had oatmeal every morning, oatmeal and protein in

hard to lift alone. “You don’t see these round canvases, called

the afternoon, vegetables at night. I turned my garage into a

tondos, very often. These are my own evolution. I started

studio and I painted every day.

creating my own round canvases because it was hard to buy them unless they were two feet or under. ..I guess I just got

“I did a show and got an offer on two of my paintings and I

bored with the rectangle. ”

couldn’t sell them. A man offered me $1,000 for both and I just couldn’t,” Matt says, touching his temple and then his

In his Fayetteville studio, where he works mostly in acrylics,

heart, showing how the realization hit him in both places. “I

his abstract paintings live among portraits of rock legends, a

knew I wasn’t supposed to sell them at that time. Time passed.

painting of an ancient Chinese warrior staring into the distance,

Then my dad, who’s an architect, was doing some work for a

and a massive red canvas where a silver helix sweeps across the

guy who was opening a restaurant and wanted nine paintings

expanse, a turquoise circle anchoring its center. “The spiral has a

to fill his walls.

lot of meaning. It’s representational to me. It all has to do with the Golden Ratio, [a mathematical formula used by da Vinci] which

“That money bought me six month’s time. That’s how I see

is in everything from the nautilus shell to our DNA, to our own

money. Art buys me freedom, it buys me time. ..It’s a New Age

proportions. ..It’s the ratio that connects everything to nature.”

perspective. If you think you’ll be content when you make a million dollars, no you won’t. When you make a million, you’ll

In fact, it’s the only thing that anchors his eclectic body of work.

want two, and if you make two you’ll want three. But when you

But the twenty-six-year-old doesn’t see it as a problem. He

make $1,000 and it buys you two weeks of time, it buys you

keeps growing, trying new things, taking chances. “My very last

whatever you want.”

year of college I was so uninterested,” Matt says as he twists his wide leather bracelet, crisscrossed with slashes of blue paint

It’s a radical twist for a guy who spent four years preparing to

from a recent project. “They’d tell you to read The Wall Street

enter the world of finance - and for someone who hadn’t taken

Journal every day and I was like, No I don’t care. ..I didn’t want to

one art class since high school. “I was never formally trained in

go into investment banking because my heart just wasn’t in it.

art. ..I think my art might have come from my resentment for my earliest teachers because I never felt like they appreciated my

“My original goal was to just make money. Then I would do what I

work. Maybe it was because I was acting out in class, I didn’t show

wanted. I started asking myself what I was creating, what I was doing

up all the time. Everything I did, I didn’t get the praise I needed. I’d

for myself, what I was doing for other people. At the end of the day,

think, I worked so hard on this and you don’t like it. Why?

what do you do? Do you inspire people? Do you inspire yourself?”

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@LIFESTYLE

“But the kid who followed the instructions perfectly would get

While there he met several artists who think like he does. “I met

the heck praised out of him, which is great, but I’d say, Fine, cool.”

one guy through a buddy who got a tattoo from a buddy who studied under him. Only a few people get to visit his studio. He’d

Things changed in high school. “I’d go into my art class when I

spent five years doing eleven paintings of Ganesha. Talk about

was a junior and feel free to breathe. She’d give us three or four

intricate. …It was right when Avatar came out and we had this

big assignments. I’d be late on the last one or two, but then I’d

conversation. He was like, ‘You know, they stayed very commercial.

bring her a big painting. It would be something I whipped out in

I wish they’d gone a little deeper. The connection with the earth,

a week but it got me out of three weeks of work in class. I could

how we’re all the same, that was right on. I wish they’d explored

run the halls. It was my way of getting around the real world.”

that more.’ But there’s the side of selling $16 million in ticket sales in one weekend. The concept of that connection with nature was

One of those painting sold for $1,000 shortly after Matt left

beautiful to me, wishing commercial life could be more focused on

Jonesboro High. It was a painting of an old Blues guy. “I resisted

that. I really agreed with what he was saying.”

selling it for months,” Matt says, looking out across his massive gallery where he estimates he’s produced a few hundred works

Matt came home and got back to work. “I know what I do has

since then. “It was so hard to let it go. But the guy said, ‘If you

meaning, and I’ll come full circle one day. My art is leading me

sell it you can always paint more and I finally gave in.’”

somewhere. It’s got to be bigger than the art. And whether that’s giving back to charity or helping children in Ghana, I don’t know. I just keep chipping away.”

In college he painted less and less. He played football at ASU, but became disenchanted. “I was a kicker and a punter. I’d be with the team three and a half hours and practice only forty

As for his quest for spherical living, he’s still struggling. “I’m still

minutes. I dislocated my shoulder. Played rugby a little. I

influenced by our culture and what surrounds me. I still get caught

moved to Fayetteville after those first two years.”

in the negative, stuck on my couch. ..But if you keep an open mind, travel, surround yourself with interesting people, experience

Matt takes off the sunglasses that sit atop his dark blond

new cultures, you can get back your edges, and get back to your

hair. He hoists a tondo easily onto a work table, his biceps

spherical nature. In some sense, you can always roll,” Matt says as

flexing beneath his white T-shirt.

he picks up a paint brush, twirling it between two fingers. “And if

“I bike now. I’m about to

you roll,” he says, “you won’t ever be a square.”

go snowboarding. I run, play soccer. It all plays into my work.

Every experience matters.”

For more information log onto mattmillerstudio.com It’s one of the reasons he dropped off the grid for a month last year. “I went to Thailand and Bali. I needed that. I was working really hard and losing my passion. I had to stop. I had to leave.

I had to be re-inspired.”

10

And with good reason. Aquaponics is a relatively cheap way to grow an abundance of vegetables and fruits in a very small space. In fact, all you need to get started is a Google search for “Barrel Ponics.” The first of the 3,000 or so hits you’ll get is fastonline.org, which is owned Travis Hughey, just an ordinary Joe who’s looking for a way to help feed the hungry in the U.S. and around the world. From there you can download a manual that will lead you through the steps to create your own system using plastic barrels, gravel, and a few plumbing supplies.

Now back to the fish. One of those barrels will lay lengthwise on the ground. A rectangle is cut out, and then filled with water.

This is where the fish – tilapia is a popular choice – will live.

Another barrel is cut in two to hold the plants. A third, installed

the future of gardening

above the other two – think water tower on the highest hill of your hometown – will help cycle the water that is pumped from the fish tank to the gravel-filled planters and back again.

aquaponics

It’s a symbiotic, sustainable way to grow. Nutrient rich water

@story Marla Cantrell @image Paul Van Lare

from the fish tank is forced into the planters. The pump aerates the fish tank. Plants drink from the fertilized water and what’s

M

ost home gardeners are waiting for the final freeze of

left over is re-circulated into the fish tank.

the season so they can head outdoors, start up the tiller

and turn over the earth. But for a growing number of others,

It’s a perfect circle.

tomatoes are already ripening on the vines. You’re thinking greenhouse right now, aren’t you.

The case for aquaponics is growing. The World Food Programme claims that one child dies from hunger every second. Hughey,

You’re wrong.

who gives his Barrel Ponics manual away for free, and many like him, see aquaponics as a way to fight the battle.

These tomatoes are being grown with a year-round organic system called aquaponics.

Half hydroponic (water-based

The system uses very little water, so it makes sense where water

planting) and half aquaculture (meaning fish – I’ll explain in a

is scarce. Plants flourish in the system, and can be planted close

minute), the contraptions are catching fire across the globe.

together for a higher yield. In colder climates, the systems can

12

@LIFESTYLE

be brought indoors for a continuous flow of healthy, organic

many, hit by the recession, are acutely aware of the need to grow

vegetables. The components are easy to come by, cheap, and

their own food. Add to that the number of people turned off by

fairly simple to construct.

chemicals, and others who want a source of fresh vegetables long after winter hits, and you have an attentive audience.

But it isn’t as easy as putting a few barrels together and hoping for the best. There is science involved. Paul Van Lare, owner of

It is astonishing to think that there’s a movement afoot that could

Growfresh Organics in Fort Smith, said there’s a ratio that has

help ease the grip on the world’s hungry. That alone is reason

to be honored. Get too many fish, and your plants won’t thrive.

to celebrate. But there is another advantage to this organic

Get too few and you have the same problem.

system. “The reason the University of Arkansas Fayetteville put over 200 aquaponic systems in the high schools is because of

Growers also have to know the fish. If you choose tilapia, you

the involvement of science and agriculture, the hands-on ability

have to understand they’re warm water fish, so they’ll withstand

for kids to learn, to see how the nutrients from the fish are

fairly high temperatures. When the mercury drops, however,

providing food for the plants,” Van Lare said. “To plant the seeds,

you have to be ready to bring the fish inside,

to measure the fish, it’s really great for kids, at school

or into a greenhouse, which is an increasingly

or at home.”

popular way for aquaponic gardeners to extend Start searching and you’ll find more than enough

the season.

information to keep you going. Sylvia Bernstein has Van Lare’s system is inside his store. Right now he’s growing

a blog at theaquaponicsource.com devoted to the subject. Read

spinach, collard greens, cilantro and lettuce in a two-by-four

it and you’ll begin to understand the potential the system offers,

aquaponic system he set up in November, just after he opened.

the effort to familiarize others with the process, and the results

Twenty-four tilapia swim in clear water in a tank beneath the

enthusiasts believe it has to feed a multitude of hungry people.

planter. It’s an ebb and flow system, meaning that for about ten minutes an hour, a pump in the fish tank churns, forcing water into

Which brings us right back to the fish. What do you do with them

the planter above. As the water rises, the Red Wriggler worms that

when they’re say a pound or a pound and a half? That’s when most

live in the planter crawl to the surface to stay dry. The surface,

of these aqua-gardeners decide to eat them. That’s the other part

by the way, is made of dozens of fired clay balls that are about

of what has people like Bernstein so excited. Not only will the

the size of marbles. Once the water recedes they eat the manure

garden provide fresh vegetables, it provides protein as well.

deposited from the fish water and leave worm casings that will mix It’s worth your time to check out this new wave of “green”

with the next flow cycle to make “worm tea” for the plants.

growing. It could lead you to a new hobby, a healthier lifestyle, A lot of what he’s doing right now is educating those who come

or even a mission to feed the hungry. And it all starts with a few

in his store to learn about aquaponics. Van Lare believes that

unassuming barrels.

13

@story Jim Martin @image Sharon Martin

T

erry Anderson was a “Guitar Hero” before the phrase was even coined. He’s been featured on hit records, toured the

world, and as the owner of Fort Smith’s Ben Jack Guitar Center, has influenced more local guitarists than can be counted. He‘s a tenacious businessman, a brilliant musician, and one of the most personable people you could ever meet. He was there when rock ‘n’ roll was born and has the scars to prove it.

Raised in Harrison, Arkansas, Terry was seven years old when his mother died leaving him, his brother, and their father on their own. With no TV, he developed an affinity for early rock ‘n’ roll while sitting by the family radio. He was at a restaurant with his dad when he decided he could play too. “I see it as clearly now as I did then,” Terry says. “They had a TV, tuned into

@ENTERTAINMENT

‘Ozark Mountain Jubilee,’ when Carl Perkins came on wearing a

His first recording session was on a rock arrangement of “Flight

slick tailored suit, blue suede shoes, and carrying a gold-top Les

Of The Bumble Bee.” “Some record executive had the idea

Paul. My eyes must have been as big as silver dollars.”

of taking classical songs and messing them up,” Terry laughs.

Calling their version “Bumble Boogie,” the record company also

Terry started out on a ukulele. In 1955, his brother found a

had a new name for the band. They became “Bee Bumble and

Stella guitar packed away in their father’s closet. They later

the Stingers,” with R.C. donning the role of Bee.

learned it had belonged to their mother who bought it in 1929.

From that moment on, it was all Terry thought about. “It never

“Bumble Boogie” did so well on the US charts, they were asked

seemed like work or practice,” he says. “It was so much fun it

to record a rock version of the “Nutcracker Suite.” While only

was all I wanted to do.”

reaching number sixteen in the US, “Nut Rocker” was a number one hit in England. When told they were going to tour there,

He began playing with a neighbor who was also into music,

they didn’t believe it. They had heard enough broken promises

eventually leading to his first paying job. “We were told we

to be skeptical. Somehow though, this one panned out and

could play at a local hang-out for ten dollars,” Terry says. “I

before they knew it, the band was on a plane headed overseas.

thought we had to pay him, and I gladly would have.” He knew

Terry was nineteen.

he had found his calling.

Their first shows were in a small club in Liverpool called The “I’ve been fortunate,” he says. “I’ve never really had to look

Cavern. It was located in a downtown basement with leaky pipes

for work.” A friend, living in Springfield, offered the underage

lining the concrete walls. He remembers being surprised by the

Terry a job playing six nights a week. Though the college town

quality of performance of the opening act, a local quartet known

had a lot of clubs, they were able to draw the biggest crowds by

as The Beatles. “If only I had known,” he says. “I would have

keeping an up-to-date repertoire of the day’s Top 40 hits.

stuck with those guys. I would have carried their equipment, swept their floors, whatever they wanted.” The Beatles had just

He’d been there two years when he was offered a spot in R.C.

released a single on a local label, “Love Me Do.” “It was different,”

Gamble’s band. It was an opportunity to go on the road, and

Terry says. “I liked it, so I bought it. I still have it.”

possibly make a record. Terry agreed. The excitement did not last, but it still made for some good stories, like the time he was

After touring overseas, the band members went their separate

first carded in a Wisconsin bar. Most bartenders assumed that

ways. “Actually,” Terry says, “that particular group of guys never

as a member of the band, he was of legal age. When asked for

played together again.” He was back in Harrison, playing dates

I.D., eighteen-year-old Terry found himself at a loss for words.

with friends, when R.C. called on him once again. “He’d found a

“Of course, he’s twenty-one,” said the drummer, saving the

regular gig in Fort Smith,” Terry says. “He wanted me to play, and

day. “You can’t go on the road if you’re not twenty-one.” The

of course I wanted to. We had the same tastes in music, had the

bartender shrugged, handing Terry his drink.

same sense of humor. We never had a problem getting along.”

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@ENTERTAINMENT

Terry was commuting between Harrison and Fort Smith when he

In 1965, steel guitar master Ben Jack opened a music store in Fort

learned another band had tried contacting him through a local

Smith. “I knew I was going to marry Trish,” Terry says. “I needed

music store. The MC’s, featuring the McClellen brothers, Tommy

a job more steady than just playing music. I remember walking

and Lee, were professionals from the get-go, insisting that band

in the store and seeing more guitars than I’d ever seen in my life.

members wear matching suits and always keep a smile on their

That made an impression on me.” He introduced himself to Ben

face while on stage. Terry stopped by Fayetteville’s Rockwood

and was offered a job giving lessons. “I told him I’d never had a

Club to audition, was hired, and was off to Toronto, Canada,

lesson. I didn’t have a clue about how to give one.” He started

to join in a thriving early-sixties club scene based around

anyway, and in August of 1966, he and Trish were married.

Rockabilly music. They weren’t the only Arkansans there.

Before long, Terry was running the store. “Ben would run errands,” Conway Twitty was playing down the street, while Ronnie

he says, “leaving me there for hours at a time. That’s how I

Hawkins was on the next block. “Ronnie was a showman. He

learned the business.” When Ben opened a store in Fayetteville,

had two keyboard players, one who sang just like Ray Charles.

Terry bought half of the Fort Smith store. Ten years after that, he

The guitarist set his amp with the speaker pointing straight at

bought the other half, reserving the right to keep the name.

the ceiling. One night, someone came in saying Ronnie’s band had left him. Not just one or two guys, but the whole band.” It

Today, Terry is a family man still happily married to Trish. They

wasn’t until later with the release of “Music From Big Pink” that

have two daughters and two grandchildren. He still operates

he realized Ronnie’s band was “The Band.”

the music store carrying the same name, Ben Jack Guitar Center.

He still plays a bit, recently sitting in with local legends, the

Terry worked with the MC’s about six months. He left the band,

Cabbageheads. Stop in his store, located in Stonewood Village

and after some active duty with the Army Reserves, came back

on Rogers Avenue, and he is quick to greet you with a smile,

to settle in Fort Smith, resuming his position with Bee.

sage advice, and if you’re lucky, he may even share a story from the days when rock ‘n’ roll was born.

They were playing at Hugh’s Lounge, drawing a good-sized crowd three nights a week. It was there he met the love of his

When asked if he has advice for those starting out, Terry looks

life, Trish. “She was from Wewoka, Oklahoma,” he says. “She

up and winks. “There’s only one way to make a small fortune

was staying with her sister when she heard the Stingers were in

in the music business,” he says, a mischievous grin on his face.

Fort Smith.” She was on a date when she came in. She and Terry

“And that’s to start with a big fortune.”

met, and they’ve been together ever since. When Hugh decided to sell the lounge, it was Trish who suggested R.C. buy it. She also suggested he change the name to the Beehive, giving the Stingers a permanent place to play.

16

@ENTERTAINMENT

covers of obscure material previously recorded by the likes of Bobby “Blue” Bland, Junior Wells, and B.B. King, with only one original tune, “Just Another Rider,” co-written by Warren Haynes.

With outstanding production on the entire set, Gregg just may have made his best album yet. There’s not one song that can be considered filler.

High points include opening track “Floating Bridge,” an acoustic based dirge featuring the piano styling of special guest Dr. John, The funky B3 intro played by Gregg on “Little By Little,” and “Just Another Rider,” an obvious sequel to the Allman Brothers classic “Midnight Rider.” All of these find Gregg’s vocals at their prime.

He sounds as though he knows of what he speaks, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to any faithful fan. They already know… he does.

Low points, well, there really aren’t any. You can hear the emotion, the pain, in Gregg’s voice on every cut. It’s strange that an album

now hear this

of covers sounds like it could be his most personal release yet.

Just one listen to any of these tracks and you would swear you’re

gregg allman — “low country blues”

listening to a man who can still see the hell hounds on his trail.

@review Jim Martin

O

There are some music releases that become known for well-

nce called the greatest white blues singer ever, Gregg

written songs, high production values, or creative instrumentation.

Allman has been making records, both solo and with the

Others are so complete, so satisfying, that you simply do not want

Allman Brothers, since 1969. Some are classics, who can deny

to listen to anything else for a while. Gregg Allman’s latest release,

1972’s “Eat A Peach,” 1971’s “At Fillmore East,” or his solo

“Low Country Blues,” definitely falls into the latter category.

revelation “Laid Back” from 1973, and some are not, just check out either of the group’s two releases on the Arista label. He has

He sings, not only as though his demons of the past are still

never released an album like this.

scaring him, but as though, if given a chance, he just might be able to scare them back.

On his first solo release since 1997’s “Searching For Simplicity,” Gregg seems to have focused more on the dynamics of his deepdown gritty voice than ever before. Produced by T. Bone Burnett,

I Rate It

“Low Country Blues” is a straight-ahead blues album featuring

18

tale of a craftsman ralph irwin

@story and images Marcus Coker

H

is hands could be mistaken for those of an auto mechanic—large and calloused, stained with dirt and

paint—hands that have been used, a lot. His bright blue eyes seem to sparkle with imagination as he speaks passionately about the world he sees around him, a world that sounds quite different from yours and mine.

@PEOPLE

“I think we miss a lot,” says Ralph Irwin. “I think we’ve been robbed of a lot of creativity. Someone says, ‘Well, it’s just a door off an old rail car.’ And I say, ‘No, but look at it. It’s got a wonderful logo on it from Santa Fe. Look at the graphic quality of that. Look how the paint’s peeled. It’s kind of a handsome thing in its own right.’”

Ralph describes himself as a commissioned artist, designer, and craftsman. With a talent for nearly all mediums of art, Ralph might be described by others as a sculptor, painter, or simply a jack-of-all-trades. He certainly never limits himself. His business, Ralph Irwin Studio, is located in downtown Van Buren in a historic, threestory building. Inside, scattered atop several desks and workbenches, are sketches of projects in their early stages: meditation gardens, stone fireplaces, crosses for churches. Throughout all three floors are other projects near completion: a customdesigned stainless steel fountain, hand-painted signs for a local casino, and wooden carvings from 18th century China that will soon be the base for a table.

Working with forty different mediums, including wood, stone, glass, and metal, Ralph fields assignments from individuals, organizations, universities, and hospitals.

Chances are you’ve seen one of his projects at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith; the sundial is perhaps the most recognizable, although the Campus Center and several other buildings also showcase his handiwork. You may have also noticed another one of Ralph’s creations at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center: the Sisters of Mercy sand-carved redwood mural.

Ralph considers each job a privilege and realizes that the people who hire him want to say something about their home, space, or company. “Art is a gift that allows us to communicate,” he says, noting that art speaks to us spiritually, not intellectually. “I consider myself sort of a storyteller.”

Ralph is not the type of man to limit his stories to 140 characters. “We’re losing the art of conversation,” he says, as he recalls seeing two people in the same room text messaging one another. “I think we’ve shortchanged ourselves. I know this is the information age, [but] we’ve robbed ourselves of going out and just playing in the sand or kicking in a dirt pile.”

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@PEOPLE

Ralph sees beauty and inspiration where most of us see the mundane. Having grown up in Long Beach, California, Ralph says he had to expand his thinking when he moved to the area in 1972. He asked, “How the heck do you make a living [as an artist] in Arkansas?”

There’s so much talk about starving artists, many would be intimidated by the idea of supporting a family on an artist’s income. Most would want to have something to fall back on, but remember, Ralph Irwin sees things differently.

On the ring finger of his left hand is a simple gold band, a hint

many times with people he may never meet in person. Knowing

that even if Ralph’s never had a back-up plan, he has had a back-

that his art is frequently used to minister to those who are

up person. Ralph’s wife Nancy works with him and has always

hurting, Ralph often designs meditation gardens with large,

been supportive. That support has helped carry him through the

authoritative stones engraved with comforting scriptures. After

times when the lights were turned off, when the phone service

a local family lost a child, they tied a ribbon around one of those

was disconnected. “The successful person gets up one more

stones as a memorial. “It’s always about people,” says Ralph.

time, “says Ralph, “We’re all going to get flattened. It could be cancer. It could be a death in the family. It could be any number

Ralph’s heart for helping others extends to all ages. Seeing

of things. We just have to work our way through, and that’s okay

youth in trouble, Ralph suggests art: “I have a theory that people

if it takes a while.”

that are creative don’t have time to destroy. Something tells them that’s counterproductive.”

When asked about others who dream of being professional artists, Ralph says, “I think we worry too much about criticism. I think we’re

At sixty-eight, Ralph may have hands that show some wear and

just too hard on ourselves because we’re always worried about

tear. Still, his eyes—eyes that see with vision and purpose—

what the other guy thinks. You have to be willing to take the risk,

reveal a greater story. There is work left to do; there are stories

put all the marbles out there. I think that you need to go into it with

left to tell. “I think there’s no retirement when you’re an artist.”

the idea that you’re not going to fail; it’s just a matter of finding

He admits some things are changing, things like lifting heavy

your way. If you want to do it, you can do it.”

objects, but he still gets excited about whatever he puts his hand to. He sits back in his chair, smiling, and says, “It’s all I ever wanted to do.”

At this point in his life, Ralph says it’s not so much about getting things—it’s about giving things. He asks, “What are you really

For more information, visit ralphirwinstudio.com.

leaving behind?” For him, it has a lot to do with relationships,

22

S

haden Jedlicka remembers walking home from school on a freezing afternoon when he was nine. There was snow on

the playground swings, the wind lifting the heavy chains and clanging them against the metal poles. As he breathed, little

fostering the future

blasts of fog escaped, ice snapped beneath his shoes, and he shoved his hands deep in his pockets to fight off the cold. His house was not far away, and as it rose from behind a scruff of

shaden jedlicka

bone-bare trees he could see his yard filled with unfamiliar cars,

@story Marla Cantrell

and a swarm of people he didn’t recognize.

The Department of Human Services had come to call.

Thirteen kids and five adults were living in the house. There was no electricity. No running water. In the group were Shaden’s two brothers and two sisters. Eight of his cousins were also there.

“My cousins were crying. They were at our house because their house had caught fire on Christmas Eve. They’d been in foster care before and DHS was there to check on them.

“I heard my mom in the very back of the house and she was saying, ‘They’re not taking my kids.’ This guy came up to me. He was my caseworker, but he really didn’t let me know what was going on. We still hadn’t been told we were leaving but we were crying because everybody was crying.

“All the children were taken in. We went to the DHS office and sat for a very long time. Eventually they came and took us away, two by two, not telling us what was going on.”

There had been abuse, Shaden said. And neglect. When he tells the story he jets across the details, rushing to the next part.

“They found a spot at Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter.

They took in all fifteen of us. It was amazing. We got to stay

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@PEOPLE

together. We went to school together. I needed glasses and they

“I had six o’clock engrained in my sleep schedule. I got ready

got me glasses. ..We had an art teacher. They cared if I ate or not.”

first. Then I woke up my younger brothers and sisters. They walked to school at around seven.” He and one of his sisters

But it didn’t last. “My cousins had to leave first because they

were in junior high. School started at eight. “We walked a long

had to find homes. First they took the girls, and then my two

way and we always tried to get there before breakfast was over. It

boy cousins. I remember telling them goodbye. And praying.

took us forty-five minutes. We walked in the rain. Sometimes we

After that, one of the guys said, ‘I hate to tell you this, but there’s

got drenched. The school would call home to try to get someone

a chance you might never see each other again.’”

to bring us dry clothes. They never could get anybody to answer.”

Shaden stopped in the midst of the story, pulling at the sleeves of

It was while he was in junior high that something snapped in

his gray sweatshirt until only his fingertips showed. “What third

Shaden. He didn’t really have friends but he loved his teachers,

grader has to deal with that? What third grader knows how to feel?”

and he had a church he turned to when things were really tough.

He was thirteen when his youth pastor took him aside. “They were concerned because we were coming to church with marks on us.”

It was his first experience with DHS. In sixty days his mother got him back. “I didn’t want to go,” Shaden said.

The talk was on a Sunday. On Monday Shaden did something Once home, things returned to the way they’d been before. “When

that continues to trouble him even now. “I went to school and I

I was at the shelter I didn’t have to get my brothers and sisters up

talked to the counselor. ..The DHS worker came to school to talk

and give them baths. My older sister didn’t have to wake us up at

to me and then went to the house. He came back and called me

six o’clock. We didn’t have to figure out how to get to school.”

and my sister to the office and said he was taking us back into foster care.

DHS reappeared just as Shaden was entering the fifth grade.

“It was the beginning of the school year and we’d missed

“All the kids were separated at that point. The two younger

the first five days.” He and his brothers were sent to a boys

brothers went to one foster home, two sisters to another, and

shelter in another part of the state. His sisters went to another

the older sister to a different one.”

home. “It was a weird time,” he said. “My brothers and I stayed to ourselves.” We were the only three there under the age of

The story that follows dips in and out of foster care, and pushes

thirteen. We got bullied. I got beat up. I talked to my sisters

across the state line where he lived for a time with a relative.

maybe once a month.”

What he lost - what he can’t quite put to rest - is not what happened to him, but what became of his brothers and sisters.

Again, his mother returned. DHS closed its case. “My sister was

“I feel like foster care has really taken away my connection to

fourteen but she lied and said she was sixteen to get a job as

my brothers and sisters. I’ll never get it back. ..I spent so much

a waitress. She brought home money and that’s how we’d eat.

time trying to live without them. ..I tried not to need anyone

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@PEOPLE

like I’d needed them. The state failed. Not only did I feel like

This amazing woman changed Shaden’s life. “I was sixteen

a parent to them, but we’d been through everything together.

and suddenly I was an only child. We did have disagreements.

They knew everything about me. When I see them today it’s

..Biological parents can’t say, ‘You’re being too bad, you can’t

sad. We couldn’t pick up where we’d left off.

live here.’ Unfortunately, some of the attitudes you develop in foster care become concrete.”

“The worst was telling them I was the reason they went back into care. That I caused it. ..It’s taken a lot of work. I really

But the love of his family soon won out. Things at school were

hated myself for a while. ..For me going into foster care meant

also getting better. He’d always bonded with his teachers,

a new home, a new school, a new start, but I didn’t factor in the

seeing in them the attributes missing from most of the adults in

thought of losing them too.

his life. When he walked across the stage to get his diploma he remembers the significance of it. “My biological mother didn’t

“I went through a depression. You go back and you’ve missed

graduate from his school. My biological dad didn’t. They all

holidays, you’ve missed birthdays, you’ve missed big moments.

stopped at ninth grade. Only my older sister and I,” Shaden

..But it’s not just brothers and sisters. It’s your friends, your

said, proud to include her.

neighborhood, your church. You lose any sense of remembrance, any sense of the past. Driving by the mall you think, Oh, that’s

Today, Shaden works to improve the lives of kids in foster

the mall. But driving by the mall with your brothers and sisters

care. He’s a 2010 FosterClub All-Star and the president of the

is completely different.

When you’re seventeen, and you

Arkansas Youth Advisory board. He also volunteers with ‘The

haven’t seen your brothers and sisters for five years, and all you

CALL,’ a local program that works with DHS to recruit and train

have is that memory of driving by the mall that last time, then it

foster parents through local churches.

becomes something more than what it is.”

Now in his second year at the University of Arkansas – Fort In 2007, Shaden was in the tenth grade. He was living in

Smith, he has a goal in mind. He wants to someday work as a

another shelter and attending Southside High School. That’s

school counselor.

where he met Penny Jedlicka. She was the secretary for the school counselor. “I was enamored with her. At that point no

Shaden wouldn’t change one day of his past. “There’s no reason

one had ever asked me about college, and she did.

to regret where you’ve come from,” he said. And he credits his “forever mom,” Penny Jedlicka, with making a quick decision

“She heard I was going to be moved to Little Rock because in the

that had long-lasting effects. “If my mom hadn’t stepped in and

shelter setting they only have forty-five days for them to find you

kept me from going to Little Rock, there’s no way I’d be where I

a home or you move to another county. One day she called me in

am today. I think I would have lost my future.”

from class and asked how I’d feel if she was my mom.”

26

R

on Watson opens the door to his home on a day so cold frost covers the ground. He is wearing an untucked shirt and chinos,

and he is barefoot, standing on a concrete floor that is painted white.

The sculptor and furniture designer bought the 6,000 square foot building two years ago. If you’ve lived in Fort Smith long enough you probably remember Von Hatten’s Bakery. It closed twenty-five years ago. “I should be going to psychiatrist for doing this at seventy-six,” Ron says. “But I loved the space. My other house was a fine house and 4,000 square feet, but all small rooms. I started feeling closed in. It was built in 1890. It really was breathtaking, fireplace in the dining room and all that. I had more fun in the seven years that I was there and I needed it psychologically because my best friend, my dog and my mother all died in one month. I was absolutely crazy. So I threw myself into my last house.” Ron laughs. “Myself,” Ron says, “and a lot of money.”

Ron sits at his dining room table, the one he made himself. It is distressed wood, the base a solid oval with a series of slats running vertically across the sleek design. Just behind him is the kitchen he installed. Rows of wine bottles sit behind glass doors, the floor is dark tile, crisscrossed with wooden strips, and an industrial light fixture hangs above the island.

sculptor in a baker’s house

He looks out across the open space to the new loft area filled with books, and talks about grief like a man who’s accepted its frequent visits. “You live, you die,” he says. “You don’t handle grief. It handles you. I think about it more now, of course. Recently we buried H.L. Hembree, [the former head of Arkansas Best Corporation] and the week before John

ron watson

Sullivan, whom I’ve been friends with for fifty-five years.

@story Marla Cantrell @images Catherine Frederick

“My whole family’s gone. I was an only child. My mother was ninetythree years old when she died. ..She’d had both legs off. And she

@PEOPLE

wanted to die. ..The only time I have any problems is Easter

After graduating he took a job with Ward Furniture in Fort Smith.

because Christmas was not much for us.

The company grew exponentially, from a $3 million commodity

It just didn’t work.

to $45 million. “It got me some really good job offers and I took

Easter was a big deal in my family. I can’t tell you why.

one in New York. I was about twenty-six, the age where you “I don’t get lonely. I love to work. I’m still designing furniture. I

drank a lot and partied.” His laughter fills the space. “And I did

have lots of friends. I’m going to direct a play at the Fort Smith

that very thing.”

Little Theatre. I cry sometimes.” Ron raps the table three times.

“Grief goes, ‘Hello? I’m here for awhile.’ You cry, you feel down, you get over it.

“I lived right down the street since 1945. Then I bought the property next door when I was in the Navy. I came home and renovated it. I went to school on the GI Bill and just kept it for quite a while.”

Ron earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Arkansas.

He had his heart set on industrial design. It was the perfect choice. During his long career he’s been awarded several international prizes for his furniture collections, and one for a Kawai grand piano he redesigned. “It was their R-7, a good piano,” Ron says, “worth about $57,000. That’s how they paid me, they gave me the piano. I still play it.”

His career took off from there. He returned to Fort Smith in the He looks back at those days, remembering Fayetteville, the

seventies. He had a big enough name by then to freelance.

professors who saw his talent, the job that filled his pockets

And La-Z Boy had just bought the rights to several of his

every weekend. “I made good money in college because I could

collections, so he could coast for a while. “I had a grand job

serve drinks. I was old enough to serve alcohol at the Elks Club.

that was ego tripping, but I was traveling almost non-stop for

That was Don Tyson’s favorite place to play cards. He always

three years. It gets old.”

wanted to know if I was going to be there on Saturday. He’d give me 150 bucks. So if he called, I went. That was a lot of

He walks through his house, showing off the shower big enough

money in the fifties. ..He was so upset when I graduated. He

to hold a king size bed and dresser. “This used to be the rising

was a nice man, but he was crazy,” Ron says and laughs again.

room for the bakery,” he says. There is a chair in one corner, a

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@PEOPLE

linen closet filled with rows of white towels, a large painting on

with the flow. I could have on this one. Then I looked at Hobie

the far wall. “I don’t worry about the painting. It’s great to live

and I said, ‘Oh dear, you don’t have a place to stay.’

with art. It’s far enough away.”

“So I threw on a pair of jeans and a jacket and I walked to the He’s serious about art. On one wall hangs a seascape from the

hospital. I left the house about nine-thirty and at a quarter after

1780s. “I saw it at an auction years ago and knew I had to have

eleven I was out of surgery. It was unbelievably fast. ..They cut

it. Sometimes you just do,” he says, throwing his hands up. Just

my leg and put it up there and when it went ‘bing,’ opened, you

down the hall is a full blown art gallery. Ron points to a wooden

could tell it. First of all, within five seconds the pain went away.

platform, elevated far above the main floor. “That’s where the

..Of course, I’d had morphine,” Ron says and laughs yet again.

delivery trucks pulled up and unloaded bags of flour.”

The experience prompted him to set up an appointment with the A recent showing just ended and he’s planning another in April.

University of Arkansas in Fayetteville to talk about the master’s

“This is not really to make money because nobody does. There’s

degree in sculpture he never quite got around to. “I’m doing an

just so much young talent in this town.”

outside program in sculpture. I’ll have a big one man show,” he says, moving his outstretched hands like a Jazz performer, in tights little circles, “with lights and cameras. That will be fun.”

Near the entrance is a nearly life-size plaster replica of Christ on the cross. His head hangs, His metal crown glints in the spotlight. It is breathtaking. “I did this in college. I was going

He stands in his living room, filled with furniture he designed

to get my master’s then but I didn’t. Once you get out, and you

himself and looks out the wall of glass to the water garden

start to have successes, you never go back.”

beyond. “The heart attack changed me,” he says. “I don’t care about money anymore. I care about things that I do. I wake up

Unless you’re Ron Watson.

and think, Oh, I’m going to get to do this.”

“My friends took me to dinner on December 4, it was my

Hobie stands at his side and wags his tail. He nudges Ron’s

seventy-sixth birthday, and I had the biggie. And I had four

hand and Ron reaches for a treat. “I try to bring joy. I have a

glasses of wine. Four. That’s my two-year limit. That’s not a lot

different mindset than I did. I really like it. It’s comfortable, like

of wine, but it’s a lot of wine if you haven’t had any in awhile.

a warm, cozy feeling. Things are going to be alright even if they

I was undressing and I thought, The indigestion is coming on.”

aren’t.” He laughs once more, that signature laugh of his, and

He points to the center of his chest. “I felt it right here, and it

says, “And I don’t wear socks anymore.”

got bigger and bigger and I looked at Hobie and I said, ‘Hobie, oh dear, I’m having a heart attack.’ I talk to my dog. It got worse

Call 479.414.5555 if you’d like to be included on the mailing

and worse and I thought, I’m ready, I’ve made my peace with the

list for upcoming art shows at Ron’s gallery.

Lord. If I have a heart attack I’m just going to swim it out and go

30

@story Marla Cantrell @images Chris Baker & Bill Nyard

@PEOPLE

L

adies, you will lust after the Marlboro Man. It’s okay, he’s far

Although she’s added chapters, some of what’s in the book she’d

enough away – in Pawhuska, Oklahoma – that you’ll likely

already shared with the readers of her daily blog, “Confessions

regain your wits before you jump in your SUV and crank up the

of a Pioneer Woman,” which began in 2006. Her blog is now

GPS. Once you settle down, you can blame it on Ree Drummond

getting 2 million hits a day.

and her new book, “The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels and Tractor Wheels,” published by William Morrow.

They were hooked, just like you’ll be.

Within its pages, Ree tells the steamy story of her courtship with

It is a remarkable read. Ree’s honesty keeps you enthralled. At

her now-husband, a.k.a the Marlboro Man, whose real name is

times she’s a mess, worrying over her next move, unsure about

Ladd. The author, blogger, and mother of four homeschooled

the road ahead, coming to grips with the realization that her

children, goes back to a trying time in her life, when she’d come

parents’ marriage is in serious trouble. But it’s her unveiling of

home to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, holed up in her childhood

her love of her husband that keeps you, well, swooning. He’s

bedroom near the town’s pristine golf course, and started to

handsome, hard working, ethical, and romantic. Oh, and he calls

deal with the end of her long-term relationship with her college

after each date ends, with news that he’s already lonely.

sweetheart in L.A. And then there’s the biceps. My God, the biceps. Wrap all that She is queen of the cliff hanger, leading the reader through

up in a starched shirt, Wranglers, and cowboy boots, throw in

her happenstance meeting with the handsome rancher in

the blue-green eyes, toss in the salt and pepper hair and see if

a Bartlesville bar on an otherwise unremarkable night in

you don’t lose your head a little.

December. She walks you through her early dates at her new beau’s sprawling ranch, and lets you watch as he proposes,

It’s a welcome look into the life of Ree Drummond, who’s best

kisses her, and then climbs back into his big ol’ diesel truck and

known for her down to earth recipes, pithy tales of mothering,

rides away.

and homespun posts about her life on the cattle ranch where she drives twenty minutes just to get her fix at the nearest Sonic.

Ree looks at her life with a critical eye, charting out her shortcomings like a meticulous mapmaker. But the truth is, she’s

The redhead, who counts Lucille Ball as one of her inspirations,

adorable, tripping along in high-heeled boots, sweating like a

published her first book in 2009. It was called “The Pioneer

pig the first time she meets Marlboro Man’s extended family,

Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Cook,” and was a

getting up close and way too personal with mama cows.

number one New York Times best seller. “Black Heels to Tractor Wheels,” came out February first. By the tenth, it was number two

She is a jumble of contradictions: a klutzy ballerina, an urbanite

on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller List and landed the same

in love with a country boy, a vegetarian who caves when that

spot on the New York Times Bestseller List February twentieth.

same country boy presents her with a sizzling steak.

Movie rights have already been optioned. Rumors are rampant

33

that Reese Witherspoon will be playing Ree on the big screen, a

But maybe that’s part of being a pioneer. You get to blaze your own

choice that seems like a perfect fit.

trail, forge ahead where others might hesitate, and take chances.

It’s been a whirlwind since she traded in her Donald Pilner

It’s a big, happy life. Ree is glad to share it. It’s lucky for us that

spiked books for a scuffed up pair of cowboy boots. And it’s

she does because we can learn a thing or two from this woman.

about a million miles away from the life she expected when

We might not be up to driving a tractor, or herding cattle, but

she stopped in Bartlesville for a short stopover before heading

we can change our opinion of what our lives should be and

to Chicago.

embrace the treasures that come our way.

Of course, she never made it to The Windy City. At least not to live.

And if that treasure has a body that looks like it was chiseled

It’s a strange twist in Ree’s story, that the girl who gave up the city

from a block of granite, wears his Wranglers snug, and tips his

life for the man of her dreams, is now boot-scooting across the

cowboy hat when he says howdy, all the better.

country, promoting her new book, and preparing for the release

Meet Ree

of yet another book in April. “Charlie the Ranch Dog,” a children’s book based on the family’s Basset Hound, is due out in April.

Friday, March 4 Norman, Oklahoma Hastings 2300 West Main Street at 6:00 PM

She’s also appeared on shows like Good Morning America and The View. She’s been in People, Southern Living, and Woman’s Day.

34

Saturday, April 9 Little Rock Arkansas Literary Festival Q&A and book signing at 6:00 PM

@PEOPLE After reading “The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels – A Love Story” and making her knee-buckling cinnamon rolls, @Urban thought it was time to ask Ree Drummond where she gets her daily inspiration. This is what she told us:

1. Coffee 2. Annie Leibovitz 3. My grandmother 4. Psalms 5. David Sedaris 6. A mountain view 7. My parents, in different ways 8. Mother Teresa 9. Ina Garten 10. The prairie

@TASTE

@recipe & images Ree Drummond

Cinnamon Rolls

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together.

Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

1 quart Whole Milk 1 cup Vegetable Oil 1 cup Sugar 2 packages Active Dry Yeast 8 cups (plus 1 cup extra, separated) All-Purpose Flour 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Plenty of Melted Butter

2 cups Sugar

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Generous Sprinkling of Cinnamon

Maple Frosting

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

1 bag Powdered Sugar 2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring 1/2 cups Milk 1/4 cups Melted Butter 1/4 cups Brewed Coffee 1/8 teaspoon Salt

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed.

Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

36

That evening, after the fire, friends and family stopped by ROTC to survey the damage. Owner T.L. Nelms says they stood on the patio drinking warm beer. “A lot of it was burned up, but we had to test it to make sure.” T.L. has kept his sense of humor about these things. (He even has memories of a local top executive who used to dress up as 70’s Budweiser commercial super hero, the Bud Man, but we won’t go into that.)

Despite appearances, the restaurant was not a total loss.

However, the smoke, water and fire damage totaled a hefty $75,000.To make matters worse, T.L. did not have fire insurance.

“Most of the damage was from smoke. Every square inch of this

you’re back and we’re still here

building, every- square- inch, was covered with black soot. Even inside the filing cabinets was covered. Every square inch of this building had to be scrubbed.”

rotc

At first the job of cleanup and rebuilding seemed daunting

@story Tonya McCoy @image Catherine Frederick

for T.L., and he thought he’d have to close the doors forever.

“Originally I said. ‘Well, we can sell the property and they’ll

L

ong before he was President, a much younger Bill Clinton

bulldoze the building and we won’t have to clean it up.’”

stopped by for breakfast here. The late business mogul Don

Tyson, of Tyson Foods, ate lunch here. And get this, the Senior

The ROTC extended family did not want to see the place go.

Vice President of Worldwide Policy for drug giant Pfizer used

“I was ready to give it up, and everybody started showing up

to be a cook here. Restaurant On The Corner and Grill, or as

and pitching in. And it was all volunteers. If it wasn’t for the

Fayetteville locals call it “ROTC,” has a rich history. But whether

volunteers it would have never happened. We would have never

it’s the tradition, the friendships, or the cuisine, patrons refused

reopened.” Even Don Tyson and other community businessmen

to let a recent fire burn out this nostalgic corner of their past.

donated money to help with expenses.

On December 22, 2009, a fire alarm went off at ROTC and

And this March marks the one year anniversary of the reopening

firefighters rushed to the restaurant to put out the flames. After

of ROTC. Folks are still coming to visit with friends, have a

an investigation, firefighters said that a trashcan on top of an

drink, grab a bite, and even enjoy some local art. T.L. says the

extension cord which had been running electricity through a

addition of the art shows are his wife, Mary Sanchez-Nelms,’

compressor could have been to blame.

idea. Paintings by Bertha Guitierrez, who is originally from El

38

@TASTE

Salvador, hang now in a room just off the main dining area.

came out of their way to come here to eat. Then when the

Mary plans to show work from different local artists about every

economy went south, they didn’t have as much money because

three months. But you can’t look to the future without at least

there wasn’t any building going on.”

acknowledging the past.

T.L. says business comes in waves, “You have to be rediscovered At the age of twenty-four, T.L. could not have foreseen what

all the time I guess, but it comes and goes. And we’re lucky that

an interesting hangout ROTC would become when he opened

when it goes¬, it comes back.”

the restaurant in 1974. ROTC was on Dickson Street where the Three Sisters venue is today. A couple of years after he opened

However T.L. has some regulars – and employees – who have

ROTC he added “The Grill,” which was a bar next door. “I didn’t

been with him for decades. “Many of the cooks have worked

think it was going to be as much work as it all was. And then all

for me for thirty years. So if you liked the food then, you’ll still

of a sudden, we opened it [ROTC] and it got popular, and it just

like it now.”

kind of snowballed.”

Cooks here make homemade fries daily, and meats are prepared No matter what brings folks here, or what makes this place

fresh and in-house. The pizza’s made from scratch too. His menu

so memorable, this Fayetteville tradition endures through

includes country favorites like chicken fried steak, southern

generations. Now thirty-seven years later, T.L. still sees old friends.

fried catfish, and po’ boy sandwiches.

“In the old days everyone that was associated with the University [of Arkansas] went to ROTC. I’m always seeing people from thirty

Look around the dining room and you’ll see farmers and

years ago or twenty years ago coming in and bringing their grown

businessmen. Friends and lovers. Young and old. They’re all at

kids. Some you don’t recognize; some look exactly the same.”

home here at ROTC. And they’re a resilient bunch around here.

The menu even proclaims, “You’re Back and We’re Still Here.”

In 1997 the death of his business partner who owned the ROTC property forced T.L. to move off Dickson Street, and away from the crowd of University customers. That’s when he bought his property at 3582 North Highway 112 in Fayetteville, and combined ROTC and The Grill into one business. However, the move off Dickson and the ups and downs of the economy started to take its toll on the small restaurant long before the fire.

“What’s hurt us the most out here is we used to do a lot of business with people that were in construction like plumbers, carpenters, and electricians. They’d grown up with us and they

ROTC and Grill is located at 3582 North Highway 112 in Fayetteville, just past the 112 Drive-In Theatre.

Lunch daily at 11:00 Open all day for dinner Wednesday thru Saturday Closed Sunday, Monday & Tuesday nights Bar is open 4:00p.m. daily

@TASTE

@image Catherine Frederick

1 oz Vanilla Vodka 2 oz Irish Cream 2 oz Chilled Espresso 1 oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur 1 oz Creme de Menthe 3/4 oz Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup

» » » » »

Fill a 16 oz shaker with ice Mix ice together with all of the ingredients in a blender Blend until combined Top with whipped cream and chocolate syrup Drizzle with Creme de Menthe

Provided by Mojo’s Ivory House 479.434.5434 40

mean I can’t make a mean Irish stew. Traditionally, Irish stew uses lamb or mutton, as the base for the stew, but for the sake of availability and frugality, I like to make it with beef. And according to my torn-and-tattered Joy of Cooking, “this famous stew is not browned”. Look here, Rombauer ladies: I’d rather eat my Uggs than a bowl of boiled meat and potatoes. Flavor trumps tradition; in my opinion, browning is an essential step for any flavorful stew.

Another essential ingredient in this hearty stew is Guinness Stout. Brewed in St. James’ Gate in Dublin since the 18th century, Guinness has a knack for pleasing some palates, while making others pucker and cringe. For the stew, it serves as a base for the broth; and because it boils for a good five minutes before combining with other ingredients, any funkiness is mellowed out to perfect palatability.

@recipe & images Laura Hobbs

I

f St. Patrick knew that his legacy as the patron saint of Ireland would - centuries later - be celebrated by a day of partying, boozing and pinching, he would probably roll over in his grave, get up, and start leading the rats out of Germany with his magical pipe... Oh, wait. That was the other guy.

The vegetables are more or less traditional, but feel free to play with the ingredients. For mine, I added carrots, Yukon gold potatoes and parsnips. Some may find the parsnip’s flavor overpowering, and may opt for something more delicate, like turnips or even rutabaga. The spices are kept at a minimum - only a little thyme and bay - allowing the full flavor of the meat to shine through.

St. Patrick was born in the 4th century to a wealthy family, and his father was a deacon in the Catholic Church. At 16, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders, and held captive somewhere along the west coast of Ireland. He eventually fled his kidnappers, returned home, and became a priest. His method of teaching the Holy Trinity was by using a three-leafed shamrock to help explain the doctrine, which has now become one of the more famous emblems of the Emerald Isle. Absurdly abridged history lesson is over.

So let’s fast-forward, oh, 17 centuries: St. Patrick’s Day is now a holiday where the Irish and non-Irish alike celebrate their heritage with parades, green clothing and plenty of green beer.

As with any stew, make sure you know what you’re getting into – this isn’t a Rachel Ray-style 30 minute meal. It’s labored over for the majority of an afternoon, and only gets better as time goes on.

Pick up a good book, a glass of wine, and let the stew do its thing – you’ll be glad you did.

So whether you’re Irish or not, give this stew a try on St. Patrick’s Day and give a moment of thanks that every year, St. Patrick comes all the way from the North Pole, and puts all those great treats in the stockings you hung by the fireplace... Wait a second... That was the other guy. Enjoy!

First, a full disclosure: I’m not Irish. I’m not even sort of Irish. But just because I don’t have green blood flowing in my veins, doesn’t

42

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2 cups onion, chopped 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1/4 cup flour 2 1/2 lbs. boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1” cubes 2 cup Guinness Stout 1 Tbs. tomato paste 3 cups beef broth 1 bay leaf 2 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed 2 cups carrots, peeled and sliced 1” thick 1 cups turnips or parsnips, peeled and sliced 1” thick » olive oil » salt and pepper to taste » parsley for garnish In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add about 3 Tbs. of olive oil to the pan. Add the onion and thyme, and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion begins to soften. Remove the onion mixture and place in a large bowl.

In a wide, shallow dish, combine the flour with a liberal amount of salt and pepper. Dredge the chuck roast cubes in the flour, shaking off the excess. Add an additional tablespoon of oil to the pan, and half of the dredged chuck roast cubes, browning on all sides, about 10 minutes, keeping an eye on them and turning them when necessary. Add the browned meat to the onion mixture, and repeat with the other half of the dredged chuck roast cubes. Remove the second batch of meat from the pan.

Add the beer to the pan, scraping the bottom to loosen the brown bits. Bring the beer to a boil, and cook until it’s reduced to about a cup, approximately 5 minutes. Return the onion and meat mixture to the pan, and stir in the tomato paste, cooking for about 30 seconds. Add the beef broth and the bay leaf. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally.

Uncover the pot and add the potatoes, carrots and turnips or parsnips, stirring to combine. Simmer, uncovered, for another hour and a half, stirring occasionally, until the meat and vegetables are tender.

Adjust the seasonings, and garnish with parsley.

Step by step photos AtUrbanMagazine.com.

43

cowboy up horseshoe canyon ranch

@story Tonya McCoy @images Horseshoe Canyon Ranch & Andy Chasteen

B

arry Johnson sits with one boot propped on his knee and leans back on his leather couch at

Horseshoe Canyon Ranch lodge near Jasper, Arkansas.

He’s facing the mounted head of an enormous Wyoming Elk, and his back is turned towards large windows that show off towering rocks. If you squint you can see the antlike figures of climbers moving slowly up the bluffs. “I’ve always wanted to do this.

Since I was a little kid I always wanted to be a cowboy, I always wanted to be a rancher. Since I was five years old that’s all I wanted to do.”

Growing up in North Little Rock wasn’t exactly a home on the range, but he spent every spare minute he could get riding horses. “I was a suburban kid, but I’ve always been an ‘outside’ kind of person. Did a lot of hunting and fishing and we had a friends that had horses.”

Barry never ventured far from horses even in college.

While studying finance and construction management at Brigham Young University, he worked on a ranch in Wyoming. He was a wrangler and float trip guide on the Snake River, at Heart Six Ranch in Jackson. Here he met his future wife Amy, who was working as a groundskeeper at the ranch.

@DESTINATION

After college, he worked in group insurance sales until he saved up enough money to invest in his dream: Horseshoe Canyon Ranch.

Now Barry and Amy have four young ranch-hands to help out with their family business, which has been thriving for fourteen years.

“Cameron, my oldest, he works with the horses. He’s sixteen. He takes out trail rides. Cody is thirteen. He works as one of the climbing guides. And then Sierra is ten and Creed is seven. So they run around with the other ten and seven year olds.”

While this ranch has traditional trail rides, skeet shooting, and plenty of farm animals (horses, pigs, goats, and occasionally cattle), there are many thrilling activities you would never expect to find on a dude ranch. The most notable attraction has to do with the huge bluffs practically in the backyard of Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Barry says this is some of the best sandstone climbing in the U.S. “Sandstone’s nice on your hands, it’s grippy, not a lot of sharp edges. It dries out quickly and it’s just a good quality rock. And that’s what we have mostly in Arkansas is good sandstone,” says Barry. “And Cody loves to climb; I mean that’s all he does.”

Cody knows about climbing like most teens know about Xbox.

Proof of that comes less than a half hour later as Cody faces a

Many people travel to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch just for the

boulder and sizes up the rock almost three times his height. He

climbing, but you don’t have to be an expert to try the sport. Besides

quickly slips on some soft soled climbing shoes and chalks his

the tall bluffs which stand about one hundred feet, you can also

hands generously. Within seconds he’s already found knobby

find boulders around fifteen feet high. There is instruction and

grips he calls “jugs,” in climber speak, and has pulled himself

help from guides like Cody who give sound advice to beginners.

half way up the rock. He twists and balances acrobatically along

“Just don’t climb any higher than you want to fall,” he says as he

the boulder’s face. Light from the sun glints off his necklace.

places a large cushioned mat below the boulder.

It’s a climbing nut, which is a metal piece at the end of a wire that can be wedged in a crevice and attached to the climber

Or try something more exotic. The Via Ferrata which means “road

for safety. The homemade necklace matches the one around his

with Irons” in Italian, is popular in European countries, and the

father’s neck. “It’s a climber thing,” says Cody.

Johnsons have two challenging courses. It’s for climbers who

45

want the heights, but also want some added safety. Rebar rungs

won’t soon forget. If you’re quiet, with a little luck, you might

are placed at points along the bluffs for grips. Climbers are still

see a herd of monstrous 800 pound elk or a flock of graceful

up between sixty to one hundred feet off the ground, but instead

trumpeter swans.

of going up or down they move horizontally along the rocks.

Climbers balance their feet on a long cable while holding the

If it rains, no problem. In the upstairs of the ranch barn is a

rungs to move through the courses. Just think of it as a higher

basketball court, rope climbing, wall climbing, and occasionally

than usual tight rope act. You’re safety net is the fact that you’re

some crate stacking. Ranchers and guests take milk crates and

attached to a second cable so if you slip, you won’t fall… far.

use the handles as footholds as they climb and stack, while they’re anchored by a rope from the ceiling. “Our record is twenty-three crates and it was like a giant Dr. Seuss looking thing.”

Also, there are two zip lines for more adrenaline rushes. Get a swift bird’s eye view of the ranch while dashing through the air on one of these thrilling lines. And for those who like to explore,

While this ranch is an adrenaline junkie’s dream there are also

ranchers take a trip to the nearby Buffalo River for canoeing,

plenty of ways to kick back. The less adventurous can hang out by

swimming, hiking, and searching for arrowheads. In the woods

the pool or hot tub. The breathtaking views of the bluffs can’t be

near the Buffalo you can to catch a glimpse of nature you

beat from the vantage point of your cabin’s front porch rocking

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@DESTINATION

chair. And your stay wouldn’t be complete without a traditional trail ride under the stars with a cookout or marshmallow roast.

Speaking of food, this ranch boasts surprisingly upscale cuisine.

While there is traditional fare like hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch, during the evening Chef Nick Bottini transforms the lodge into a fine restaurant. He serves grilled mahi mahi, seafood pasta, and just about any cut of steak you desire. Chef Bottini has been featured in Southern Living for his culinary appeal. People travel from in and out of state just to enjoy the restaurant on Horseshoe Canyon Ranch.

Prices at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch range from daily rates And every year travelers from all over the United States, and also from Great Britain and France, travel to spend time on the ranch with the Johnsons. The obvious draw is the climbing,

of $95 to weekly rates of $1,095 depending on the season and the age of visitor. The price includes cabins, activities,

adventure, and the chance to “cowboy up” for a week. But

and meals. Certain discount rates apply for groups. You can

Barry says the most important thing is that most activities on

check out rates and make reservations at gohcr.com or

the ranch can be done as a family. “This way there’s just a lot

call 800.480.9635. The sooner you make your reservation

of face time… It’s just a great family vacation. And people say it’s the best they’ve ever had.”

He says families form better relationships with each other and also make new friends. “People come from all different walks of life and cultural backgrounds. But by the second day at lunch you don’t know what kids belong to what family and everybody’s moved around to different tables and it’s just a really neat atmosphere.” Barry adds, a hint of pride in his voice. “When you ask people what was their favorite part of the ranch, they’ll say, ‘The cabin was nice, the food was great, I loved my horse,’ but what they remember most and what they talk about most is the people they’ve met here and the friendships they’ve made.”

the better, as the weather warms up spaces fill up fast. The spring season begins March ninth.

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