Grace - November 2010

grace

november2010 AtUrbanMagazine.com

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DIRECTOR OF SALES AND STRATEGIC PLANNING

Marla Cantrell

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Golden Voice Now Hear This

people

MANAGING EDITOR

Catherine Frederick

My Father, Fishing Dry Run Creek The Art of Living Eye in the Sky Editing Bermuda Bokashi Bucket

24 27 30 32 34 36

Seth Plattner’s NYC To War and Back Glass Bender Polo’s Finest Hour Truly an Artist Marica Porter

taste

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRESIDENT

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38 40

Pumpkin Pie Martini Pumpkin Rice Pudding

destination

@INSIDE

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Clinton Center This Ain’t Your Mama’s San Antonio

Dana Clunn

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Marla Cantrell Laura Hobbs Jerry Hoffman, Sr. Jim Martin Jill McCormick Tonya McCoy Anita Paddock Seth Plattner Clara Jane Rubarth JD Williams

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS

Jeromy Price Jihan Blue

WEB GURU

David Jamell

PUBLISHER

Read Chair Publishing, LLC

Advertising and Distribution Information

Dana Clunn at 479 / 650 / 9665 Dana@AtUrbanMagazine.com Editorial or Artwork Information

Catherine Frederick at 479 / 782 / 1500 Catherine@AtUrbanMagazine.com ©2010 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

T

he most vivid memories of my childhood are these: my grandfather, a retired coal miner, sitting at the kitchen table, his hands wrinkled, nails split – pinching tobacco

from a red Prince Albert tin, rolling his own cigarettes. My dad walking through the front door at my grandmother’s, dressed in military fatigues and shin-high lace up black boots, always covered head to toe in sweat and dirt - dog tired from digging ditches under the hot Arkansas sun. Looking me right in the eyes he would tell me, ‘I work like this so hopefully you won’t have to’. And my mom, standing over a stovetop of sizzling bacon and scrambled eggs - her hair in curlers, make-up perfectly applied, paisley housecoat zipped up tight.

These are my stories. Recalling them is like re-reading a chapter in my favorite book – with each page I read, I paint a picture in my mind. There are chapters I wish I could skip over, erase if you will. Others I wish I could wave a magic wand and have the pages jump to life, just like in the movies.

My mom died unexpectedly on Thanksgiving, eighteen years ago – it feels like no more than three. When she died, the large family get-togethers at Thanksgiving and Christmas died right along with her. Recalling those pages, I close my eyes and think about them long enough so that I hear the laughter from all the kids as we ran wildly through the house. I taste the cheese dip and sliced deli meat from the sandwich tray. I smell the sweet, pungent smoke from my grandfather’s tobacco. I see my mom smiling that warm smile, attending to every detail – full of grace.

Why do I share my stories with you? I believe personal stories are for sharing, for hearing, for seeing and for feeling. As storytellers, we paint with words with the hope that your imagination takes you to faraway places, introduces you to people you’ve never met, or gives you an understanding of experiences and opportunities within your reach.

In the weeks ahead many of us will be running around frantically --like chickens with our heads cut off –not the best analogy for Tom Turkey on our cover. But it’s during all of the craziness –preparing the food, traveling, entertaining weird Uncle Lou- we forget to capture the moment. We miss an opportunity to write a new page in the book called Life.

So this month Urbanites, I urge you to slow down. Continue family traditions or start a new one, mend fences and offer forgiveness.

Never miss an opportunity to tell those close to you how much you love them. And finally, honor the brave men and women who selflessly give of themselves and their families in defense of ours.

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@LIFESTYLE

I see my father fishing forty-five years ago clinching the joints of a cane pole cut with his lath hatchet from cane breaks along the Arkansas.

Working evenings after supper, wearing his bib overalls still dusty from work, he trims the cane, sands rough places and cuts ends until the cane is nine feet long, imagining like other men the supreme catch lurks patiently for the perfect pole.

His cotton twine is wrapped and tied securely onto the pole’s tip, adequate for the agonies of a defiant adversary.

My Father, Fishing @lines Jerry C. Hoffman, Sr. August 16, 1939 – June 13, 2005

I see my father fishing in shaded nooks of some creek’s bend nodding gently with the bobbing line, until he jumps to attention setting the hook or grasps an empty line.

Then he grabs another frantic minnow to stab onto the rusty hook while telling me that minnows do not feel pain until I believe the manly lie.

I see my father fishing, dropping the line into the deep holes close into the bank, watching the red and white bobbers, a gentle fisherman who does not grieve at empty stringers when we return from this Eden believing the same God who is his salvation controls the fishes’ appetite and the universal river moving in all of us binds all creatures together. After hours of moving from shade to shade along the bank he gives me the empty minnow bucket and drives dusty country roads home.

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dry run creek

and Oklahoma native Dave Whitlock, to mastermind the project.

And today, without exaggeration, there exists no better trout fishing anywhere in the world than that found near Mountain

a half-mile stretch of heaven

Home, on Dry Run Creek. It’s a half-mile stretch of trout heaven

@story J.D. Willams

and fly fishing paradise.

J

Unless, of course, you’re over fifteen years old.

green crease at the foot of the dam and tumbling along under a

Dry Run Creek if you’re a grownup. It’s all part of a diabolical

ust below the dam on Lake Norfolk, hidden in plain sight, lies one of northern Arkansas’ best kept secrets. Tucked away in

Call it a stroke of genius or a sadistic plot, but you can’t fish on

the shadow of the towering spillway, coursing through a fine

government plot to introduce kids to the joy of fly fishing. If

canopy of stately oaks and dogwoods, flows one of the Ozarks’ finest treasures - Dry Run Creek.

you’re like me, you’ll drag a teenage boy out bed, drive him

A few years back, Ozarks’ trout fishing enthusiasts teamed up

an expensive fly rod, tie the fly to his line, teach him how to

to the stream while he sleeps in the back seat, let him borrow cast, and tell the little so-and-so where to fish, just so you can

with state and federal agencies to transform what was then silt-

watch helplessly as he hooks into a once-in-lifetime-could-be-

choked backwater into an ultimate habitat for trout. That team

a-record trophy trout.

hired the world’s leading trout stream expert, legendary angler

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@LIFESTYLE

consider thirty days in county lockup as a fair trade for the thrill

But I’m not bitter.

of netting the catch of a lifetime. In case you didn’t know, fly fishermen can be a rough bunch. No, really.

On Dry Run Creek I am demoted to fishing guide for my two teenage sons. It’s not just a good idea; it’s the law. It’s also the law that whatever you catch in Dry Run Creek stays in Dry Run

All kidding aside, Dry Run Creek is without doubt the finest

Creek; the entire stream has been designated as a catch-and-

location on earth to introduce a kid to fly fishing. Scientific

release area. Just in case there might be some doubt, let me

surveys on the half-mile creek conservatively estimate there

confirm that I am indeed a law-abiding citizen. But between you

are more than 11,000 fish of four species – many measuring

and me, I’ve never in my life wanted to break the law so badly as

sixteen inches, swimming the waters. The stream-side design

when I first gazed down upon this fly fisherman’s dream.

provides access for to all. Along half the length of the creek, wheelchair ramps connect the nearby parking lot to a series of

The place is just filthy with fish. Rainbows, Browns and Cutthroats

platforms placed strategically at ideal locations along the bank.

are stacked into the pools of this stream like cord wood. There are

And that same parking lot connects to a wonderful campground

big fish everywhere - the kind fly fishermen speak of in hushed

along the bank of the adjacent Norfolk River.

tones using highly technical jargon like, “fat hog,” “football,” and Speaking of which…

“lunker.” Every riffle and run holds packs of eight-finned thugs, skulking around back-alley eddies, preparing to ambush their next innocent invertebrate. But those are just the street punks in

In case you don’t have children under the age of sixteen, all is

this trout mafia. To bust the ringleaders you must fish the deeper

not lost. It just so happens that Dry Run Creek empties into the

pools. And to hook the Don Corleone of the Dry Run mob, you’ll

Norfolk Tailwaters – a river that flows from under the Norfolk

need to work your way upstream to the deepest pool of all.

Dam and supports some world-class fly fishing of its own. Here’s

Lurking there in the twilight behind a waterfall is the Godfather

the good news - grownups are encouraged to fish the Norfolk -

himself – a massive rainbow trout, rarely hooked, more rarely

and the trout population there is decidedly less criminal.

landed, spanning well over thirty inches. I’ve seen this trout’s mug shot taken while he was being held in the arms of a young

Want to know more? Check out the website of the nearby Blue

boy who somehow managed to reel him in. The boy could barely

Ribbon Fly Shop www.blueribbonflyfish.com.

lift him from the water. The poor kid, his entire face was contorted with the wild-eyed grin of a newly hooked fly fishing addict. His dad had taken the picture and waved it proudly under my nose.

I suspect Eliot Ness’ father did the same when his son nabbed Capone. My own son hooked that same fish and wore the same manic smile until the line snapped. It was for the best, really. This is the kind of fish that makes grownup fly fishermen seriously

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I

n 1962, architect Fay Jones stood on a hillside in Fort Smith, not far from the Arkansas River, and envisioned a house

inspired by a ship. He built the 3,800 square foot wonder for Blake and Billie Berry, whom he befriended in high school. Today, the owner and steward of what’s now known as the “Boat House” is Dwight Curry. “I think the house is art,” Dwight said.

When Dwight bought the home in December of 2008, he knew wanted to restore it. Mrs. Berry told Dwight that he should remodel the home to fit his lifestyle. “She said that’s not what Fay Jones would want. You’re not a couple with two boys. You’re going to use the house differently than we did. She said his design always started from how do you use the house.”

But Dwight was determined to ensure the house followed Jones’

the art of living

orininal intent. He went to the University of Arkansas, Fay Jones School of Architecture and obtained the original plans. “I wanted

restoring the fay jones boat house

everything that’s new somehow to tie to something that’s already

@story Tonya McCoy @image Catherine Frederick

here or to something that he drew. There were actually three sets of plans drawn up on this house, so we were able to pull from the plans he (Fay Jones) had drawn up specifically for this house.”

With the help of Tony, from Tony Kimes Construction, Dwight converted the home from four bedrooms and three baths, to three bedrooms and three baths. He also constructed a twotiered deck that had been in Jones’ original plans. Dwight continued Jones’ design throughout the house, carrying a cut-

Before & After Photos at AtUrbanMagazine.com

through design on the cabinetry throughout the dining room and bathrooms. Even the sofas have their original cushions, some recovered, some still preserved in their original orange cloth. He turned the carport into a garage, using a wooden design on the garage door that was drawn up by Jones. The total project took about fifteen months and was finished in spring of 2010.

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@LIFESTYLE

The details of the “Boat House” provide continual eye candy.

Jones, an apprentice of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright,

Large rectangular footholds lead you across a small pool of

believed in open style Prairie Homes. He added natural aspects

water, filled with round gray stones, ending just a few feet from

to these spaces, creating his own design called “organic

the front door. Inside, a fountain trickles calmly, surrounded by

architecture.” Dwight has made subtle changes to the original

a jungle of green-leafed plants. The house is sturdy, built of

home but said, “The way the living spaces flow from one to

concrete bricks and long panes of glass. Light hits every corner,

another. I kind of feel like we got it right, but the house was

illuminating the cork floors, filling the rooms, and breaking

right to begin with.”

the aesthetic distance between what’s inside and the natural setting outside the home.

Jones’ artistry caught everyone’s attention when he built Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs in 1980. The building’s

And it does feel like a ship. Long lines of fat, brown wood

open design using 6,000 square feet of glass works so

planks, typically used on the exteriors of houses, run across the

brilliantly that the chapel looks different during every hour of

first level of the ceiling, which then opens to a higher angled

the day. It was for this work and other inspired architecture,

plane. A large open fireplace anchors the house, orange and

he was named one of the ten most influential architects of

tan cushioned benches emerge from the walls, staying in their

the twentieth century by the American Institute of Architects

assigned places, obeying their master’s belief in open space.

in 2000. However, the “Boat House,” shows that even in the

And the view from the terrace room feels as if you’re at a ship’s

sixties Jones had a taste for designing with light, open space,

prow, looking out across the entire wooden deck.

and natural beauty.

Moving water plays a major role in the “Boat House.” The back

Dwight leaned on a balustrade gazing back toward Jones’

door leads to a double level terrace, where spilling water falls

masterpiece. “His design is timeless in the fact that you can take

from the top tier to the bottom, from one square pool into a

a house that was built in the 1960s - mid century - and put as

larger one. Leaves fall diagonally off of red and yellow trees and

many contemporary elements as I have around it. ..To be able to

across a five acre grassy field. If Henry David Thoreau were alive

do that and it run seamlessly, I think speaks for the timelessness

today, he would have competed with Dwight to buy this home.

of his design. He really was just a brilliant man.”

eye in the sky razorback tracon @story Tonya McCoy

T

housands of feet up in the air, while you sip your

hundreds of miles an hour, from colliding mid air with another

complimentary ginger ale and finger through an inflight

aircraft. “It can be extremely stressful, it’s very important because

magazine, you’re probably not thinking about the people

if the wrong thing comes out of your mouth, it could cause a

on the ground holding your life in their hands. In a small

crash,” says Bruce Flippo, air traffic manager for Razorback Tracon

dark room in Fort Smith, a team called the Razorback Tracon

and Fort Smith Regional Airport’s Air Traffic Control Tower.

(Terminal Radar Approach Control) directs your plane across the sky. Controllers watch your green dot as it moves across the

About one hundred feet above the dark Tracon room three men in

black circular radar. This local team keeps your plane, traveling

the local air traffic control tower watch as an Air Evac helicopter

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@LIFESTYLE

rises above St. Edward Mercy Medical Center. The chopper pilot

air space to other destinations. Controllers are in contact with

radios in to the tower as they take off. Minutes later a small

anywhere from 300 to 1,000 planes in a single day.

Cessna is cleared for landing and descends gracefully onto the Multiple airports and multiple take-offs and landings mean

runway below the tower.

many lives at stake. Controllers must be highly skilled. Whether Whether it is a private jet, or a commercial prop, all pilots must

controllers are trained in the military or in college, they still

keep contact with air traffic control. Since 9/11, security has

have to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

gone up along with stress levels for controllers. “It’s a big deal.

The total process can take about four years. Bruce explains that

It’s a whole new level of security that has changed the way we

only about six of every ten controllers actually make it to the

do business. It’ll never be like it used to be. It destroyed a kind of

certified controller status. “I’ve seen extremely smart people

innocence that once was and will never be again. It’s something

with advanced college graduate degrees not be able to make it

that has changed the complexity of the job that we do,” says

as air traffic controllers. And then other times you see people that

Bruce. For security reasons, he cannot explain what measures are

you’d be sure would never be able to make it as an air traffic

taken in an emergency, but he does admit that the controllers

controller, but they get into the field, they start learning and they

have had to use the emergency protocol a few times since 9/11.

just take to it like a duck to water.”

Another major concern for controllers in Arkansas is the weather.

Bruce remembers how he got into air traffic control. After

There’s the saying that if you don’t like the weather here now, wait

graduating Southside High School in 1973, Bruce says he still did

a few minutes, because it will change. However, for controllers,

not know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, so he

quick-changing weather can mean pop-up storms that can put

joined the Army. “We [Bruce and his Army recruiter] went down

flyers in danger. Bruce says, “Thunderstorms are a very big deal,

the list of jobs, and I didn’t know what an air traffic controller was.

because they can destroy an airplane.” Controllers stay tuned to

.. And I thought, well that sounds pretty interesting, the way he

the National Weather Service for storm warnings. Pilots make the

described it, and I thought, I’ll try that out.”

final decision to fly, but controllers give them information about Thirty years, and a successful career later, Bruce jokes, “I still don’t

the location and severity of thunderstorms.

know what I want to do when I grow up, maybe I’ll decide one of these Besides weather, controllers also direct pilots on speed, altitude,

days.” He may tease about how he got into the business, but he also

heading, and much more. Adding more stress to the job, Fort

takes great pride in his work. Although he’s the manager now, Bruce

Smith flights are not the only ones on Tracon’s radar. They guide

admits his time in Tracon and the control tower were his favorite parts

pilots in approaches and landings for XNA, Springdale, Rogers,

of the job. “It’s always something different. And at the end of the day

Poteau, Sallisaw, and Waldron. Tracon covers 7,000 square miles

you feel like you’ve done something good. Policeman and firefighters,

of air space from the ground up to 15,000 feet, and controllers

all feel like they’ve contributed something that’s valuable to our

must even maintain contact with all the planes flying through the

society. And I feel like controllers have that same pride too.”

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@LIFESTYLE

Even the quiet push-mower has been banned from the front garden as my neighbor who shares my cottage garden has laid a fieldstone path so the plants are within arms’ reach.

This past hot summer and trips “away” left Bermuda grass taller than the roses. What some may call “weeding” I call “editing” as I select the Bermuda – excellent for expansive lawns and impossible among roses – for removal. I fill bag after bag with

editing bermuda

long healthy grass roots to be dispatched to the City composting process, and I consider that plants, like texts, lead their own

a writer’s garden

lives. Some may stay, others go. My mantra becomes “Peace to all plants.”

@story Clara Jane Rubarth @image Clara Jane Rubarth

“A good gardener starts as a good weeder,” writes Amos

T

he front garden I tend is much as I imagine it was when, in

Pettingill of Connecticut’s White Flower Farm, and I’ll admit to

1890, the house was new and the neighborhood flourishing.

enjoying the editing process although I question his contention that weeding is women’s work.

As then, the garden is both an invitation to stop and appreciate and a notice that beyond is private and requires a personal and

I work steadily – left to right, of course – plunging deep into

specific invitation. The painted pickets announce the boundary.

the friable soil to seek out the smallest fragment of Bermuda The profusion of blooming plants in the height of summer

root, planting iris bulbs, and applying a generous layer of

provides me, as it would have previous residents, with bouquets

mulch as I work.

to cherish and to share. Each year has been different. The year of the cosmos began the cycle with a riot of tall, nodding

Life began in the Garden, it is said, and certainly the labor of

flowers. The next year, no cosmos grew despite my best

tending holds the inevitable diminishments of life at bay. The

efforts. That was the year zinnias took center stage, followed

space the roses require reminds me, as I work, of the space

by the year of marigolds. The daisies came next, open-faced

required by everything. Words without spaces run together in

and abundant. Their second year they crowded out all other

an unintelligible jumble. Mathematics was hampered by the

flowers, yielding only a little to echninacea and rudibeckia. This

lack of a zero until that science, too, was granted a space.

year, the formerly white petals were golden, having been won over by their black-eyed-susan cousins. Amidst all this chaotic

The Bermuda grass, like the zero, becomes something simply no

wonder, heritage roses do their showy best, and Texas petunias

longer there.

march along the pickets to the delight of bees and butterflies.

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@LIFESTYLE

bokashi bucket

That’s about as technical as I can get. What I can tell you is that it worked for me. The pear trees I fed with Bokashi grew faster than the ones left untreated.

new way to compost

It’s a fairly short, simple process. Every time you add scraps you toss in a handful of Bokashi. Once the bucket, which is small enough to

@story Marla Cantrell

fit in your pantry, is filled, it sits unopened for two weeks. During that time, you drain the liquid from the spigot, dilute it with water and use it as fertilizer, or pour it down your drains to keep them

A

clogs at bay and your septic tank working properly.

n unassuming bucket, fitted with a spigot and tightly-sealed lid, is doing a lot for the Green movement. It’s the container

The smell when the container is open is, well, unusual, but

used to compost kitchen scraps, including meat, fish, and chicken

not unpleasant. Think kitchen-scrap beer; it is a fermentation

bones, which are not typically compostable, into organic matter

process after all. But the odor disappears as soon as the lid is

that is ready to use in a matter of weeks.

back in place.

The secret rests in the composting medium – Bokashi – a product

The process is getting attention on YouTube, where enthusiasts

filled with EM, or effective microorganisms (lactobacilli, yeasts and

show the process, from the initial toss of the Bokashi into the

phototropic microbes), that ferment the waste. When the process

bottom of the bucket, to the end result in the garden. And in

ends, the scraps retain their identity; a potato peel still looks like a

certain Asian and European cities, Bokashi kits are handed out

potato peel. But once in the ground, or added to your traditional

to apartment dwellers, schoolchildren, and restaurant owners, to

compost heap, it disintegrates quickly, attracts earthworms,

keep landfills from overflowing, and to replenish the soil strained

detracts vermin, and turns so-so soil into gardening gold.

by years of misuse.

The composting method has been practiced for hundreds of years,

Here, it’s a little hard to find. I buy mine online from Emerald

but it wasn’t until the 1980s, when a Japanese microbiologist

Earth at emearth.com. The start-up cost is about $70, and there

discovered the current composition for EM, that the product was

are recipes online that show how to make your own Bokashi

developed for mass use.

using the EM product and bran you can buy at local feed stores.

With the holidays fast approaching, it could be the perfect gift

According to the Emerald Earth website, Effective microorganisms

for the gardener on your list, or you might want to try one for

“allow nature’s little recyclers to restore the health and balance

yourself. You’ve got to do something with all the scraps that

of the ecosystems, without the negative side-effects so often

accumulate after big family gatherings.

found in synthetic chemicals and suppressive technologies.”

Log on to AtUrbanMagazine.com and register to win a Bokashi kit of your own.

19

golden voice a bright future for sarah silva @story Seth Plattner @images Kat Hardin

I

n what might have been another life, pop musician Sarah Silva was known across Arkansas as that very petit, flowing-haired

brunette with the powerhouse voice who, while performing, wore jeans, a big gaudy belt buckle, and, perhaps her most signature item, an oversized black cowboy hat and boots. She’d saunter her way around the stage at the state fair with an infectious grin, belting out country numbers while occasionally yodeling—yes, yodeling— to really thicken the charm. These days, the only remnants of that boot-scootin’ Sarah Silva are the actual boots and, refreshingly, the grin. She’s gone from brunette to peroxide-blond, long tresses to shockingly short, cowgirl garb to eclectic rocker chic. “You have to look like a star if you want to be one!” she says. “I live my life in a way that makes me feel comfortable and beautiful in my own skin despite outside criticism. And trust me, there’s plenty. But, you do what you do. Besides, unpredictability is the new black.”

And what about her music? It’s miles away from what you hear at the state fair, but the country twang isn’t entirely absent; and that’s fine—as a singer and songwriter, Sarah would rather glean from the various genres her musical life has taken her through than reject them.

Sarah is a born-and-raised Fort Smithian, who at the age of four made her public debut singing the national anthem for her preschool graduation at Central Prep Center in Fort Smith. In the years that followed, Sarah sang the song so much she became known as “that girl who always sings the national anthem,” a

@ENTERTAINMENT

classification that wasn’t always positive. As much as talent

Thus, we arrive at her in-progress world tour for her debut self-

draws praise, it can also draw criticism.

titled album, now available on her website, sarahsilvamusic. com. “I’ve finally finished it, so now’s the time to promote it.

But she brushed off any negativity and kept on singing, both in

After all, some of the best movements in history have begun on

the church choir and on stage where she pleased the crowds with

the grassroots level.” Speaking to those roots, she’s played for

country standards. As genre-pegged as her musical upbringing

her hometown crowd in Fort Smith, but she’s also performed at

might seem, there were other influences: Ella Fitzgerald, Carole

Harry’s New York Piano Bar in Paris, where Gershwin composed

King, James Taylor, Billy Joel and, naturally, Whitney Houston, “the

“An American in Paris;” Googie’s Lounge at The Living Room

cat’s meow to every little girl in America in the 80s,” said Sarah.

in New York City, where Nora Jones played before her twelve-

“I’ve always had a certain consciousness about my voice because

Grammy-Awards days, and the Hotel Café in Los Angeles, where,

I listened to her during my developmental years.” If that wasn’t

on any given night, you can find established artists like Jason

enough, in her high school years Sarah (quite effortlessly) delved

Mraz or Death Cab for Cutie playing the same bill as rising

into musical theater, performing in shows like “Footloose” and

stars. Having sat in on her New York show where Sarah, lone

“Little Shop of Horrors,” experiences that led her to Oklahoma

at a piano, did a mixed-set of her own singles and a few sing-

State University in 2002, where for a year and a half she worked

alongs, I can relate this: beyond her vocals, she knows how to

towards a degree in musical theater. Still, the theater world wasn’t

write a killer hook (proof: “Wonderful Man” and “Grand Piano”)

satiating enough for an artist whose passion for performing is

and encompass a singular emotion through not only lyric, but

only as great as her passion for creating. That is to say, Sarah

melody. I’ve known Sarah for almost fourteen years, and though

didn’t just want to sing songs; she wanted to sing her songs.

I’ve been privy to every incarnation she’s ever had, I was, without a doubt, awed. With her pixie hair and black corset, she sat

Fast-forward eight years. Sarah has a degree from Belmont

comfortably pounding on the keys, voice soaring, sinking, cooing

University in commercial music with an emphasis on music

and crooning, and, though I’ve never doubted Sarah’s inevitable

business. She’s educated herself, made the calls, met the people,

success, I finally saw it crystallized in her performance. Her star

waited the tables, and, most importantly, written the songs and

rose that night, and it was brilliant.

played the shows to get her into the ever-thriving music scene of Nashville. So, if she hasn’t “made it” yet, it’s not for lack of

After her tour she’ll return to Nashville to continue writing for

effort. If anything, it’s simply because for Sarah, it’s her way, or

herself and other artists. After that, the world is seemingly her

no way. “I‘ve been handling all of the business aspects myself,

glistening oyster. “For one, I’m not opposed to leaving Nashville,

which, while I am more than capable of doing, is a tiring process

though I’ll always have roots here. Then, maybe another tour!

to tackle on your own. But, I certainly have an entrepreneurial

And, I’d say I’m definitely at a point where representation is

spirit and welcome the challenge.” In doing so, Sarah has assured

knocking on my door—and for the first time in my career, I am

herself and her fan base that what you see, what you hear, and

definitely willing to answer.”

what she makes you feel in her music is entirely her.

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@ENTERTAINMENT

own repetitiveness. “Rocking Chair,” is a laidback jazz tune that is ultimately too relaxed to stir much interest in anything but a nap. The same can be said for the J.J. Cale influenced “River Runs Deep,” while “Milkman” is just plain embarrassing.

Even with all the lows, this collection does have a few high points. It’s not until track 7, “Crazy About You Baby,” that the blues man Clapton is normally purported to be finally makes an appearance on one of the better cuts featuring a mini-guitar duel between EC and younger guitar-slinger Doyle Bramhall II. And track 10, “Diamonds,” may be the best love song Clapton

now hear this

has ever released.

eric clapton — “clapton”

But just as the album begins to redeem itself, we’re hit with

@review Jim Martin

“When Somebody Thinks You’re Wonderful,” a tin pan alley holdover that doesn’t fit the artist’s style at all.

In a recent interview, Eric Clapton was quoted as saying about his first studio release in five years, “This album isn’t what it was

The set ends with “Autumn Leaves,” giving Clapton a chance

intended to be at all. It’s actually better than it was meant to be

to show his recently found vocal virtuosity, and while he’s

because, in a way, I just let it happen.”

not Sinatra, he’s certainly not bad for a guy usually known for dismissing his singing skills.

Oh, what I wouldn’t give to hear what it was originally meant to be, because as it is, “Clapton” is more a jumbled mess than

Co-produced by Doyle Bramhall II, “Clapton” makes you long

anything. A hodgepodge of both covers and original tunes,

for the good old days when the late Tom Dowd sat at the helm

touching on everything from brass bands to little-known

producing such hits as “461 Ocean Boulevard,” “Slowhand,” and

country blues to jazz-based torch ballads, lending the album no

the masterpiece “Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs.” If this

consistency whatsoever. Even assistance from a crew of guest

album is indicative as to where the artist’s attitude now lies,

artists including Sheryl Crow, J.J. Cale, Allen Toussaint, Wynton

Eric Clapton, once called “God” by young British fans, seems

Marsalis, and former Blind Faith co-hort, Steve Winwood, can’t

content to rest on past successes. While that may be fine for

revive this set, and it’s really frustrating, leaving any longtime

other musicians of his age, it doesn’t suit him at all.

Clapton fan yearning for his past glories.

Opening track “Traveling Alone,” is a gritty stomper that throws

I Rate It

a few sparks, but is prevented from ever truly catching fire by its

22

seth plattner’s nyc

@story Marla Cantrell @images Kat Hardin

finding his place in the city

S

eth Plattner belongs in New York City. He knew it long

“Saturday Night Live.” “Seth Meyers, who is the head writer

before he moved, when he was still a boy in Fort Smith. His

now, was just coming in. Amy Poehler was really big then. It

mother once lived there and he listened to her describe the city,

was the year they brought in the people who are the key players

the thrum of traffic, the lights like Christmas all year long. On

now. I was there Kristin Wiig’s first year and she’s huge now.

his first visit during high school he toured New York University.

I remember when she was on the bottom rung, but everbody

When he was a senior he made the decision to attend. “I only

knew she was something special. It was also the year Andy

applied to NYU so quintessentially I was putting all my eggs in

Samberg came in as a cast member with his two friends, who

one basket. I’m glad I got in because I didn’t have a backup plan.”

were his writing partners. “SNL” was on the cusp, I felt.”

His major was English, but his real love was creative writing.

Seth drops the names easily – Meyers, Poehler, Samberg. That year

He’d dabbled in theater, liked the idea of writing comedy, and

he wore tennis shoes, so he could run up and down stairs, passing

decided it might be a good idea to intern somewhere. Like, say,

out last-minute changes on scripts riddled with handwritten notes.

24

@PEOPLE

At the beginning of the week there were thirty skits, by Saturday

As for the crowds in New York, Seth has adjusted. It’s not like he

only eight survived, and those were being altered until just minutes

was really ever alone, even in Fort Smith. “I’m a triplet, and in

before the actors took their spots on stage.

that set I have an identical twin. We were two peas in a pod and had that connection you hear about. I have an older brother,

The writing was quick, pithy, to the point. He loved it. He had

and a step-sister I’ve known since she was a baby, so she’s my

a tentative agreement to work at “SNL” after graduation, but

sister, you know. And my mom, of course, who’s wonderful. The

when the time came there were no openings. “People hold on

other kids all attended the University of Arkansas and stayed

to those jobs forever, and why wouldn’t they?” Seth asked.

home. I moved on. We’re like that ABC show “Brothers and Sisters,” we get in each other’s business, we fight, but we love

So Seth kept looking for a place to land. He found it at “ELLE

each other very much. My mom’s favorite thing is to have us

Magazine,” where he works as the assistant to the editor in chief,

all in the kitchen, all these conversations going on, and her just

Robbie Myers. He seems to have a knack for showing up when

being able to listen.”

great changes are imminent. “I came into “ELLE” at what I like to call the very end of the glory years, when magazines were

Seth thinks growing up in Fort Smith has helped him succeed.

abundant, tons of money, they were throwing lavish parties, they

“I’m able to take everything in and process it slower,” Seth said.

were spending every dime and dollar to send editors to Europe

“It gives me time not to jump the gun. That’s the way we are in

to shows,” Seth said. “That was their heyday. But to survive today

the South. We keep our wits about us. I’m hospitable. I think

it’s about becoming a brand. “ELLE” is the magazine, but it’s also

we all are in the South. I don’t think there’s anybody here who

the website, the iPad application, it’s a book, it’s our integration

hasn’t found my disposition charming. Northerners take to it.”

into TV. So we’ve done a really good job of branching out to make His editor is encouraging him to write more. “She said I had a

“ELLE” a name and not just a magazine.”

light that has been hidden too long,” Seth said. He carries a The TV integration is an MTV reality show, “The City,” that

notebook with him, jotting down thoughts, ideas, sparks from

follows those with key roles in the fashion industry and at “ELLE

a conversation that could turn into something more. But if he

Magazine.” Seth shows up alongside four beautiful, complex

finally sits down to churn out a book, he won’t be looking to

women – all driven to succeed, and all determined to get their own

New York for inspiration.

way. “What’s on the screen is only a tenth of what goes on in a day,” Seth said. ..”You work in a magazine and people have egos,

His story will be about his hometown, its idiosyncratic residents,

because people have ideas and they’re cerebral and they want to

and just how interesting life is, away from the big city, a world

be heard. But drama is what sells, and we do show a lot of drama.”

removed from the engine that keeps New York moving at breakneck speed.

It’s a big life for the twenty-six-year-old, but not entirely “At my heart,” Seth said, “I’m still just a kid from Arkansas.”

unexpected. “I’ve worked really hard,” Seth said.

25

@PEOPLE

to war and back

W

@story Marla Cantrell

every detail of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the

hen the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, Eric Kuhlman was fourteen. He watched the news coverage,

a soldier’s story

families holding pictures of missing relatives, analysts dissecting Pentagon. For Eric the world had broken into two pieces: what it was before, and what it could never be again. He joined JROTC at his high school in Wichita, Kansas. “Me and my three friends went together to join up in June, just after I graduated in 2006.”

Eric said. ”One of my buddies was sent to Germany – he was part of the 1st Infantry Division. He was deployed to Iraq. He didn’t come back.”

His mother, Della Bennett, was on vacation in Cabo San Lucas when Eric drove to Kansas City to enlist. When she got home, Eric handed her a window sticker that read, My Son is Serving in the Army. “After he did it he was afraid we were going to be upset.”

While still in Iraq on his first tour of duty, Eric, a Specialist assigned to the 101st Screaming Eagles, reenlisted. Della remembers how hard it was, waiting for him to call, knowing there would be weeks when he couldn’t. She cried at odd times, and found it hard to listen to the radio. “”I’m Already Home” [by Tim McGraw] is about a soldier who was killed overseas and the song says if you’re reading this letter, I’m already home. I turned it off every time it came on.”

In February of this year, Eric was deployed to Afghanistan. The risk was high. The Department of Defense calculates that more than 1,200 members of the U.S. Military have died in Afghanistan as of October 14. In Iraq, the number soars to more than 4,400.

Della reasoned that he’d made it through fifteen months in Iraq, so he’d make it through Afghanistan as well. “During one phone

27

@PEOPLE

call he told me he had a guardian angel, and I said, ‘Good, don’t

What bothered Della most was that she couldn’t see his face. His

piss him off.’”

mouth was wired shut, so she couldn’t talk to him on the phone.

She called Germany and asked the nurse to take a picture. “I didn’t

But there was one thought that kept Della on edge; Eric had

know how I looked – they wouldn’t let me see myself - and I didn’t

been nicknamed “The RPG Magnet.” “If there was one around,

want to scare my family,” Eric said. “But I finally let them take it.”

he found it. He had one [rocket-propelled grenade] blow up in front of him and it knocked him off his feet.”

It’s helped Della immensely. “It wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. I could see his eyes and he still had that sparkle. He was still Eric.”

In July, an RPG hit even closer. It was at the end of the day. Eric was on patrol near the eastern border of Afghanistan. He and his

Della did not see Eric in person until he was taken to Walter

fellow soldiers had been working with the locals, trying to earn

Reed Army Medical Center. “We got there on August 3, at one

their trust, helping them on their farms and in their businesses.

o’clock in the morning. It was his twenty-third birthday. He kept

“It was a pretty bad area; the Taliban had a stronghold there,”

writing, “the brown sack,” and I kept asking what he meant. It

Eric said. ..“They shot three RPG’s. The first two missed. The

was his Purple Heart. It was in an envelope in a brown paper

third one hit my truck. It went through the spare tire, the back

sack. He wanted us to see it.”

wall of the truck and entered the cabin about six inches to the right of my head. ..I remember the medic pulling me out of

On October 13, Eric had his twelfth surgery. There are scars on

the truck, taking me to one of the huts we took over. While

the back of his neck that his fiancée says looks like an asterisk.

they were working on me they were still fighting the Taliban

And as hard as it’s all been, he doesn’t have one regret. “The

right outside. I remember hearing all the machine guns going

military makes you look at life differently,” Eric said. “It’s not all

off right outside. The look on their faces is burned in my brain

fun and games. You take responsibility. Even though we are at

forever. I could see they weren’t sure I was going to make it.”

war, you have fun, you build friendships. I’ll have a lot of those for the rest of my life. I’ve gained a lot more brothers.”

Della had just gotten home from work when she heard the news.

“It was July 27,” Della said. “At six o’clock the phone rang. A

Della is planning a big Thanksgiving dinner this year. Eric will be

captain identified himself and said he had news about Eric. He

home, on the mend and in the company of those who love him

said he’d been critically wounded. It seemed like everything

best. “After it happened, several people seemed surprised that

just stopped. I hung up the phone and I just stood there.”

I was doing okay, given everything that we were going through.

I’d think, well he has his arms and legs, he can recover from his

Eric’s jaw, scapula, and collar bone were broken. His left index

injuries, and he’s coming back to U.S. soil.’ Della’s stopped for

finger cut to the bone. One of his lungs had collapsed and he

a second, and took a deep breath before continuing. “So I’d say

had damage to an artery. He had three surgeries before he was

what I’d been thinking. I’d say, ‘It could be a lot worse. I could

flown to Germany.

be planning a funeral.’”

28

GLASS BENDER

D

errick Maxey stands at a wooden table, four feet wide and ten feet long, getting ready to form the letters that

will soon become a neon sign. The table, inside Maxey Signs and Neon in downtown Fort Smith, is covered in a canvaslike material called Nonsbestos, so that the glass, heated to a blistering 350 degrees, won’t burn through the wood below. At his left is a stand made of metal pipe, with a gas burner as thin as a ruler, where flames flicker in light streaming through the dustcovered windows. To the left is another burner, three-pronged, like an industrial candelabra, called a cross fire. “Winters are better,” Derrick says. “In summers I wear a thermometer around my neck. It can get as hot as 115 degrees in here.”

Derrick picks up two sticks of glass tubing, approximately an inch in diameter, and heads to the cross fire. He holds the ends of the long tubes together, making sure the center points meet, and dips that portion of the glass into the blue flame. As he turns his right hand palm up, scars flash, running from the crook of his arm to his wrist.

Once the process is moving along, Derrick handles longer lengths of glass, heating them until they move snake-like in the flames. A blow hose hangs around his neck and he attaches one end to the glass he’s heating. The hose has a mouth piece that looks like a small whistle, and he puffs into it to keep the glass from collapsing as the temperature rises.

The heated glass lays atop the hand-drawn pattern of the letter ‘T,’ and Derrick begins to bend it into shape. “Everything here is drawn backwards,” he says, “so your letters are flat and all the bends are on the back. When you flip it over, the letters are smooth and uniform. ..The hardest parts are when you have to

derrick maxey @story Marla Cantrell @images Catherine Frederick

drop and turn it at the same time, like for ‘A’s’ and ‘T’s’.”

@PEOPLE

His work, created in a yawning old warehouse of a building, lights

Derrick flips a switch, and a series of neon tubes begin to glow,

up the city, from downtown, to La Huerta on Rogers Avenue, to

red and purple, green and blue. “I’ve been doing this for about

the StarWash Car Wash on Phoenix. His first neon sign still hangs

four years. I started working in the sign business in 1995, when

in the lobby of his shop. It’s bright red with white letters spelling

I was nineteen. I bought this place in 2003. You’ve got to love

out ‘Diner.’ To the novice it looks perfect, but not to Derrick.

it, because this glass,” he says, “will fight you sometimes, and all

“It’s hard to look at that one,” he says. “I drove back and forth

you can do is walk away for a while.”

to Tulsa for two years so I could learn from Jim Matchen. He’s as old-school as they get. He pumped his first glass when he was

At thirty-five, he’s already thinking about the future. “It’s hard

fourteen years old, back in the hard-knock days. His brother is

to find a twenty-year-old willing to put in the time and the labor

seventy-eight, and they still run a shop together.”

to learn. But I’ve always been curious, trying to find Point ‘B’ in a plan where I knew where Point ‘A’ and ‘C’ were. I’m sure others will come along who feel the same way, and all this will go on.”

It wasn’t easy for Derrick to find a mentor. “A lot of people hold the secrets kind of close,” he says. “And nobody does it exactly the same. There aren’t many people around who know it. There’s only one other glass bender in Fort Smith, then it jumps to Fayetteville, and then Little Rock, and then Tulsa.”

Once the letters are formed, the next process begins. The entire piece is reheated and then cooled down slowly, to strengthen it.

Then the glass is pumped. “We pull all the air out of it to create a vacuum and the tube is shocked with electricity to remove all the impurities, and then it’s filled with argon gas, for the blue

But the long hours needed to make the sign shop a success has

color, or neon gas for the red, which is backfilled into the tube.

come with a price. “I got divorced less than a year ago. This

It’s sealed to make as perfect a vacuum as you can get.”

business probably had something to do with that,” Derrick says.

But he’s gained a few things too. “It’s hard, but I have a daughter

The original neon lights were made in France when a Paris

and I’ve learned what’s important. I think that after the divorce I

inventor and chemist, Georges Claude, discovered a way to

became a better father.”

pass electricity through tubes filled with inert gas. In 1911, he patented his discovery, and the following year his first

And as much as he loves it, he’s willing to let it go. “I’d walk

commercial sign went up in front of a barber shop in Paris. “I’ve

away from all this for my daughter. Your friends, your family,

heard people say it’s a dying art. But it’s become Americana. I

that’s it. That’s what counts. It’s not about chasing the dollar,”

don’t think it’s going anywhere.”

Derrick says, and wipes the sweat from his brow.

31

polo’s finest hour once-in-a-lifetime dog @story Marla Cantrell @image Brian Fittin

J

une 7 was like any other Monday. Curtis Feimster got up early, put in a full day at Northwest Arkansas

Media in Fayetteville, where he works as a new business executive. He came home, ate dinner and watched a little TV. He went to bed around eleven o’clock, fell into a sound sleep, so sound in fact he didn’t hear the smoke alarm that started to shriek at just after two on Tuesday morning. “I woke up to Polo’s barking. It wasn’t a normal bark. It was almost like a musical instrument out of tune. He was jumping in my face. At first I thought I was dreaming, so I rolled over and he kept jumping.

When I finally got up the house was filled with smoke.”

Curtis clung to Polo, maneuvering the hallway filled with smoke. The front door was obscured by flames, so the two turned and worked their way through the burning house to the back door. Curtis’ heart pounded, fear shot through his veins, his legs trembled beneath him. This is what he thought: he had to get out, he had to save Polo, he had too much living to do to have it all end at forty-seven.

Outside, he saw two of his neighbors, cell phones in hand, both calling 911. “The guy across the street

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was crying because he didn’t think we got out of the house. He

There are lessons here, Curtis is sure of it. Some he’s already

started hugging me and saying into the phone, ‘the man is safe,

processed: how one life can touch a stadium full of others, how

the man is safe.’”

kind people can be, and how most of what he’d accumulated over the years, including overflowing closets filled with Ralph

Curtis stood a safe distance away, dressed in boxer shorts and a

Lauren (Polo came by his name honestly) aren’t the things you

T-shirt, his over-heated and terrified dog at his side, and watched

miss when all is lost. “I had pictures of my father, who’s now

pillars of smoke rise from the belly of his house. “By the time I

deceased. I can’t get that back. I think about that a lot.”

got out, both my vehicles were gone. It really got to me later that morning when the fire marshal took me in the house and warned

Other lessons are still hazy, although Curtis believes one day

me to brace myself. He said, ‘It’s bad.’ I had a friend drive by later

he’ll be able to articulate them. “Why this happened to me is a

and he called and said, ‘I saw that house and I don’t know how in

million-dollar question. I pray that the Lord will tell me someday.

the world you got out.’”

I do know He left me here for a reason. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t wait to find out.”

The fire started in the garage, and soon enveloped the entire house. Curtis doesn’t like to think about what might have

Counseling has helped. He decided he needed to talk to someone

happened if he didn’t have Polo. He brought him home twelve

after the smoke alarm in his new apartment malfunctioned, ringing

years ago when the pup was just eight weeks old. “I went to get

out twice in one night. He woke in a panic, his fear fresh, the

a chocolate Lab. Polo is a black Lab. But I picked him up and I

thought of dying as white-hot as it was on that early June morning.

couldn’t put him down.” And here is the irony that keeps coming Polo is not the same either. “He’s very clingy. Even if I get up to

back to Curtis. “He wasn’t supposed to be my dog.”

go get a glass of water, he’s there at my heels.”

As the sun rose, Curtis began making calls, first to his mother in Huntington, and then to his sister, and then to his boss. That’s

But the two are getting better. Curtis doesn’t stress over the

when the terror began to abate in tiny increments. “There’s been

mundane anymore, and when he finally moves back in his house,

people do stuff for me that I don’t even know. My boss told me

which should be rebuilt by January’s end, he thinks he’ll be more

the day of the fire, ‘You’ve touched a lot of people’s lives and

of a minimalist. Possessions don’t make a happy life. The things

you’re going to block their blessings if you don’t let them help

that do he had all along: family, friends, faith, a boss and co-

you.’ That was hard. Customers, co-workers, old clients, people

workers who still look after him.

out of town, my boss – so many people helped. I had a guy that heard about it, that Polo was staying at K-9 Connection for a

And, of course, Polo, the dog that turned out to be his closest ally,

couple of days, and he paid for a month for his doggy daycare.

greatest friend, and in his hour of unfathomable desperation,

The Milk Bone vendor sent a gym bag full of bones. People have

Curtis’ four-footed hero.

donated bags of dog food.”

33

At the age of eighteen, Crissie Palmer, the now-owner of True Grit Tattoo Parlor in Fort Smith, grabbed a handheld tattoo machine and drilled a butterfly onto her calf. Crissie had never been tattooed before, but she had always wanted one. “It was

crissie palmer — true grit tattoo @story Tonya McCoy @image True Grit Tattoo Parlor

the easiest tattoo I’ve ever gotten. I’m not sure if it was the location or the fact that I was paying way more attention to what I was doing than to what I was feeling.”

Crissie showed her “true grit” then, and now has the same kind of toughness that has seen her through the first year of owning her tattoo parlor. Just like the character Mattie Ross, in the John Wayne movie, “True Grit,” Crissie is an independent Arkansas girl who takes business into her own hands. She even grew up in Waldron, which was only about seventy miles from “down around Dardanelle in Yell County,” where the gutsy Mattie was from. Crissie says, “I never needed anyone to go behind me and say, hey you need to do this or you need to do that, I’ve always gotten things done.”

Crissie has etched everything from Winnie the Pooh to the Fundamental Theory of Calculus in the past decade she has worked as a tattoo artist. She’s put her work on college students, bikers, and even one seventy-three-year-old woman who

@PEOPLE

wanted a small rose on her ankle. “Her fella’ had passed away

Many people get tattoos because they want to be unique,

and they had been married over fifty years at that point,” Crissie

and this is where Crissie comes in. Although she can do the

says. “And I had to ask why she had waited this long to get one.

stereotypical “flash,” like a butterfly or a cross, what sets her

She said, ‘Something good had to come out of it. He had said

apart is her ability to design something unique and specific

over my dead body would you get a tattoo. I’d wanted one since

for her customers. When tattoo enthusiasts come to her with

we got married,’” Crissie smiles, “People can be inspiring.”

a picture or concept, she can bring it to life. She can even freehand details without the use of a transferrable.

Some of the funnier tattoos Crissie has done include a cow being beamed up by a UFO, for a lady who said it reminded

Besides her years of experience as a tattoo artist, Crissie

her of home, and a banner reading “Sold As Is” on a man who

studied art at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. She

wanted a coverup of an old tattoo.

humbly insists that her studies there have little to do with being a successful tattoo artist. However, just flipping through her

On this Sunday afternoon, Crissie is giving a first time tattoo to

portfolio, which sets just inside the door to the parlor, you see

nineteen-year-old Bianca Carroll of Sallisaw. She picks up her

how artistic her work really is. When you first open the book,

tattoo machine, showing Bianca the lucky Mercury Dime used

an unbelievably intricate tattoo portrait of an old man, wearing

as a washer, an old tattooing superstition meant to bring wealth.

glasses and holding a toothpick in his mouth, stares back at

Bianca lies back on the green cushioned table, trying to convince

you. Flip through and page by page there are perfect tattoos of

herself that getting a tattoo cannot be any worse than getting

wolves and lions, skeletons and angels.

dental work done. Crissie assures her that orthodontic pain is a lot worse and adds, “showing off a filling isn’t near as much fun.”

Through the years the negative stigma surrounding tattoos has

The machine buzzes as Crissie begins outlining a vine pattern on

faded. Crissie explains that even when she was growing up, her

Bianca’s foot. “Paralyzer,” by Finger Eleven plays on the radio.

father, an elementary school teacher, and her mother, a nurse, both had tattoos. Now it seems almost everyone has one, but

After Bianca leaves, beaming over her new tattoo, Crissie talks

Crissie says this does not mean that everyone is a good tattoo

to her next customer. He wants a skeleton playing a guitar and

artist. She says the show “Miami Ink” has taken the focus off

leaning against a tree tattooed on his arm. Crissie shows the young

the customer and inspired many under-qualified tattoo artists

man a paper on which she has sketched the skeleton. They tweak

to get their licenses.

the design from an acoustic to an electric guitar, and talk about the size. In many typical shops, you pick a pattern called “flash” off a

“I think the more tattoos, the more whimsical you get with it.

wall, the picture is transferred onto you with paper, and a tattoo

But that first tattoo has to be everything you ever wanted. It’s

artist fills in the design. “If you go into every shop in town you’re

got to mean your family, your kids, your religion, something

going to see thirty of the same sheets of flash. And after a while,

really important.”

you’re more likely to run into someone with your tattoo.”

35

Marica Porter

dance is the language of her soul @story Anita Paddock @images Kim Singer

36

@PEOPLE

T

here’s a new mistress in town. A Ballet Mistress. With the

This year is Western Arkansas Ballet’s twenty-fifth anniversary.

Western Arkansas Ballet.

They are planning a Silver Gala on November 6. And then in December, Marica will be dancing the role of the “Sugar Plum

Marica Porter comes to us from Missouri with a BFA in dance, a BA

Fairy” in the production of “The Nutcracker.” A new full-length

in business administration, and a minor in mathematics. What a

ballet of “Alice in Wonderland” is scheduled for April.

perfect combination for someone running an organization that teaches young children and young adults the joy of dance.

When she’s not dancing or teaching dance, Marica stays busy restoring a 100 year old house in the Belle Grove District in Fort

As a little girl growing up in rural Missouri, her parents enrolled

Smith. She does most of the work herself, but her dad is often

her in dance classes when she was only four. They wanted to

recruited when he comes to visit. The pickup she got in college

give her the chance to interact with other children. They had no

is parked in her driveway, with the odometer registering more

idea that dance would become her life’s work. And her passion.

than 220,000 miles. “It’s as much a part of me as my dance shoes,” she says

Marica says she just couldn’t get enough. “I was always dancing, all over the house, inside and outside, up and down the aisles of

And even though she’s single with no children, she has a family

the grocery store.”

of 150 children that she teaches weekly. The next time you’re in the grocery store, you may see one of her students. She will be

She dressed up in ballet costumes and put on mini-performances for her parents and brother, and although she’s sure they grew tired of watching her perform in the living room, they remained a patient and encouraging audience.

Following high school Marica attended Stephens College in Columbia. She moved to Fort Smith specifically to become the ballet mistress at Western Arkansas Ballet, which involves teaching

dance

classes,

developing

summer

programs,

conducting community outreach programs, and working with the media. This past August she studied at the American Ballet Theatre in New York City, immersed in activities that would assist her in carrying out the mission statement of the Western Arkansas Ballet to “create a community dedicated to the Fine Arts through quality dance education, training, and performance.”

the little girl in a tutu, dancing down the produce aisle.

@TASTE

1 oz. Vanilla Vodka 1 1/2 oz. Pumpkin Pie Cream Liquor 2 oz. Chilled Espresso Graham Crackers Cinnamon Combine ingredients in mixing tin with ice and shake Rim glass with graham crackers Strain off into martini glass Garnish with cinnamon

Recipe by Bartender Jeff Price

Provided by Mojo’s Ivory House 479.434.5434

38

pumpkin rice pudding thanksgiving remix

O

@story Laura Hobbs @images Laura Hobbs

hBoyOhBoyOhBoy - my favorite time of year has arrived!

to put an unconventional twist on the classics. She’ll add bold

It’s time to throw out any sense of dietary moderation,

seasonings and atypical ingredients to the basic flavors of

surrender any inkling of self control and promise myself that

Thanksgiving dinner, making for a different meal every year, but

I’ll get back to my once-draconian workout regimen as soon as

one that’s always a crowd pleaser.

I finish off that third helping of mashed potatoes. Eh, maybe In keeping with Mom’s nonconforming ways, I recently made

tomorrow. Yes, the holidays are upon us!

a Thanksgiving-themed dessert that is a comfort classic with Around our house, Thanksgiving is a two-part affair. Part one

a few unexpected ingredients. I took a standard rice pudding

takes place down in Figure Five on Thanksgiving day with

recipe and turned up the volume by adding pumpkin, spice

Hubby’s family (if anyone can point out Figure Five on a map,

and a generous helping of brown sugar and bourbon whipped

you score some serious bonus points). There we have the

cream. I started by using Arborio rice, which is the short-grain

basics and the classics: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes,

Italian rice most commonly known for its starring role in risotto.

Sage’s infamous green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie

With a high starch content and creamy texture, Arborio would

– the list goes on and on. The flavors are simple, the ingredients

compliment my rice pudding’s consistency perfectly.

are traditional and the portions are enormous. Part two takes

remaining ingredients for a classic rice pudding can’t get much

place on Friday in Fayetteville at my parents’, where Mom likes

simpler: milk, cream and sugar.

40

The

whipped cream

pudding

@TASTE 2 cups of milk

In a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat, combine the milk, ½ cup of

1/2 cups of heavy cream

cream, rice, sugars, pumpkin and spice, whisking to combine. Allow the mixture

1/2 cups of Arborio rice

to come to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook over low heat for

2 Tbs. brown sugar

half an hour, whisking occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the pan.

2 Tbs. vanila sugar*

Remove from the heat. Divide into jars or serving bowls, and top each with a

1/2 cups of pureed pumpkin

generous sprinkle of brown sugar.

extra brown sugar for sprinkling

In the bowl of a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with

*If you don’t have vanilla sugar, substitute regular

a handheld mixer, combine the chilled cream, bourbon, brown sugar and spice,

granulated sugar and add 1 tsp. vanilla extract.

and beat at high speed until stiff peaks form. Spoon the whipped cream over the rice pudding and serve immediately, or chill up to 6 hours before serving.

1 cups of heavy cream, whipped 2 Tbs. bourbon 2 Tbs. brown sugar 1/2 Tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Side note: I got different textures when using whole milk versus 2% milk. With the whole milk, the texture of the pudding was grainier but thicker, probably due to the higher fat content. With the 2% milk, the texture was creamier but everso-slightly runnier. To ensure creaminess, try using 2% milk.

A unique addition to my pudding was vanilla sugar. Having

To compliment the spiced flavors of the rice pudding, I added

scored a Ziplock bag full of vanilla beans from a friend’s recent

a kick to basic whipped cream with Kentucky bourbon, a few

trip to India, I used a coveted few to make a jar of vanilla sugar.

spices and a little brown sugar. I also added a thin layer of

I simply cut the beans in half and then split them lengthwise

brown sugar between the pudding and the whipped cream -

down the center, then stuck them in a 16 oz. mason jar with a

the brown sugar slowly melts into the warm pudding, creating a

tight fitting lid. Every day the sugar gets a little more vanilla-y

super-sweet, syrupy layer between the two.

– and every day I have a harder time not sprinkling it over Pumpkin pie again this year, huh? Why not spice things up with

everything from oatmeal, to fruit, to my tongue.

something comforting, decadent and unique? This pudding To put a Thanksgiving spin on my version of this classic, I

can be served hot, chilled or at room temperature – whichever

substituted half the sugar for brown sugar, added a few sprinkles

you like best. A cute way to serve this holiday pudding is in

of pumpkin pie spice and a dollop of pumpkin puree.

Half an

individual portions, by using 8 oz. canning jars and wrapping

hour on the stovetop with an occasional brisk whisk, and my

each with a cheery bow. Your guests will feel special – and they

pudding was done: thick, creamy and decadent. But why not just

certainly won’t have to share. Enjoy!

take it over the top? Next stop: whipped cream, and lots of it.

Step by step photos AtUrbanMagazine.com.

41

@DESTINATION

O

n a twenty-eight acre stretch of land along the south bank of the Arkansas River in downtown Little Rock is the

William J. Clinton Presidential Center. It appears to hover there, like a bridge of silver and glass, above the park below. Inside, a replica of the Oval Office stands, cordoned off, the Presidential Seal embossed on the ceiling, a moon rock encased in Lucite on a small table. “We don’t let visitors in here,” Rebecca Tennille, spokesperson for the Clinton Center, said. “Some of the items are reproductions, but some aren’t. We’ve considered creating an Oval Office that is completely a replica, so people can walk through it. The biggest comment we get is that it’s smaller than visitors thought it would be.”

The Cabinet Room is another crowd pleaser. “Every Cabinet member gets to design his or her own chair,” Tennille said, “but nobody’s chair can be higher than the President’s.”

clinton center

There are more than 1,000 artifacts on display in the permanent

market district’s shining star

exhibit. The center hosts four free days a year, so that everyone

@story Marla Cantrell @images Clinton Center @images Mark Mundorff

has a chance to visit. “Gathering all this,” Tennille said, looking across the long expanse of cases filled with memorabilia, “is a science. It begins as soon as a presidency does.”

There is a crayon drawing by a little Billy Clinton, an essay by a very young Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton detailing her plans for a big future, and a tiny gold baby bracelet worn by Chelsea. But the biggest draw is the area devoted to the pop culture of the eight years (1993-2001) Clinton was in office. A clutch of visitors listens as Clinton delivers a speech to press correspondents, his timing impeccable, laughter rolling in waves as he makes joke after joke.

“It’s really fun to watch people, the nostalgic feel people have for it,” Tennille said. “We don’t really see the partisan point of view.

We’re far enough out that we tend to be able just to look back.”

43

@DESTINATION

Tennille, who has worked for the Clinton Foundation since

Another display shows the drama that unfolded during the

2007, said the former President shows up often, surprising

2000 Presidential election, when on November 8, the Orlando

visitors, and greeting the volunteers, many of whom worked

Sentinel put out four different editions trying to anticipate every

in his administration when he was governor of Arkansas. “He

eventuality. The Florida results would not be calculated the next

remembers everyone’s name. It’s just amazing. It can be years

day, or even the next. In the end, Al Gore won the popular vote

since he’s seen someone and he’ll know them immediately.”

with 50,999,897 votes to George W. Bush’s 50,456,002 but lost by five votes in the Electoral College.

For Clinton, the greatest joy comes from seeing school buses lined up in the parking lot. “One day he walked up on a group of

If you miss “Headed to the White House,” you can catch the

kids and their eyes got really wide,” Tennille said. ”They couldn’t

“Haiti Built Back Better” exhibit which starts in December. “The

believe it was really President Clinton.”

Clintons have a long-time investment in Haiti,” Tennille said.

“They even took their honeymoon there. He’s had a passion

Right now the exhibit getting the most attention is called “Headed

for the people and the culture that dates back prior to the

to The White House.” It will be at the center until November 21.

earthquake. So the exhibit will be in two parts, one about the

Visitors can vote for one of three candidates: George Washington

arts and the people and then another about the earthquake and

for the Federalist Party, Abraham Lincoln for the Republicans,

what’s happened since then. The art is beautiful, and we’ll have

and Franklin Roosevelt for the Democrats, and watch the results

pieces from his personal collection.”

as they change. Videos play depicting campaigns in the 1800s when candidates slung mud with the best of them. A lectern is

There are only fourteen other Presidential libraries in the

set up with a monitor on the opposite wall, where a speech coach

country.

teaches amateurs the right way to deliver a powerful message,

Clinton Center. In 2009, the staff tracked the hometowns of

using the text from John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech, “Ask

visitors in the past five years. Those from Little Rock took first

not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for

place, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth, Memphis, Los Angeles,

your country.” And, yes, Clinton’s campaigns are showcased, his

and then Northwest Arkansas.

Approximately 300,000 people a year travel to the

Southern drawl strong as he sends out the message that got him The trip is worth the short drive, and a great way to learn about the

elected – twice.

man from Hope who was our governor, and then our President.

It can be tough on the campaign trail. Candidates sleep little, smile a lot and talk until they’re hoarse. One of the exhibits

The William J. Clinton Presidential Center is in the River Market

includes a long row of lifelike hands for visitors to shake, one

district at 610 President Clinton Avenue. More information is

after the other, until the task becomes daunting. The display

available at clintonpresidentialcenter.org.

includes facts about how dangerous it can be, from catching someone’s cold to getting cut by the rings of supporters.

44

Activities Pearl Brewery Farmers Market 200 East Grayson Street

this ain’t your mama’s san antonio

What to do when you’re not eating

pearlfarmersmarket.com 210.212.7260

Every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., locals gather at the Pearl Brewery Farmers Market. This place has it all from grass-fed bison vendors to certified organic melons. Local bakeries offer their wares so plan to grab a cup of coffee and a Danish, then score a seat at the outdoor tables and enjoy people watching. You may want to arrive by 9 a.m. before items start selling out. This market also offers permanent retail stores such as Melissa Guerra Tienda de Cocina and Adelante Boutique, a women’s clothier with some hip, albeit pricey, finds.

visit like you’re local

@story Jill McCormick @images Jill McCormick

The Vineyard

T

1207 N. Loop 1604 West

his ain’t your mama’s story about visiting San Antonio.

You’ll find no mention of the Alamo, the River Walk, or

came into my own in Fort Smith, and moved back to San

The Alamo Quarry Market

Antonio. I realized that I didn’t know much about my native

255 E. Basse Road

Sea World. I was born in San Antonio, raised in Houston,

alamoquarry.com

city so I decided to become a tourist in my own town.

The Rim

What follows are some of the hidden gems and local

therimshopping.com

La Cantera Parkway and I-10

knowledge so you can enjoy the city like a local. My philosophy on vacations: to truly experience the heart and

North Star Mall

soul of a city you must eat your way through it. Activities are

northstarmall.com

7400 San Pedro

what you do to let your stomach digest all that great food.

There is plenty of great shopping for those seeking retail therapy.

A few that stand out: The Vineyard, The Alamo Quarry, The Rim and North Star Mall. All boast places recognizable to Fort Smithians while offering unique retailers. Baby Baby which reminded me of a fancy schmancier, but smaller, version of Van Buren’s Alicson’s Wonderland, is at The Vineyard; Whole Foods is at The Quarry, and one huge Bass Pro Shops is at The Rim. And the fifty-year-old and iconic North Star Mall offers something for everybody

46

@DESTINATION

Eateries

Where to go for an eclectic dining experience.

Rosario’s

rosariossa.com

910 Alamo

Meal for Four:

210.221.1806

Around $50

thecove.us

606 West Cypress

Meal for Four:

210.227.2683

Around $40

The Cove in Midtown is just a weird place starting with its location: it is literally attached to a working car wash with a sign outside that reads, “Ice cream, grill, coin laundromat.” It caters to vegetarians and carnivores alike. It’s kid-friendly, complete with a playground, yet has live music at night and is open until 1 a.m. Like I said, weird.

The Cove serves self-described SOL food (sustainable, organic, local), offering everything from an organic spinach salad complete with a homemade, heart-shaped pita chip as well as the messiest, yummiest burger around. The Texas Burger is smothered in refried beans, avocado, and salsa.

barbecuestation.com

1610 NE Loop 410

Meal for Four:

You’re in San Antonio, a former city of Mexico, so you know that you’ll want some good Tex-Mex. Rosario’s is near the Alamo (yes, an Alamo reference so shoot me…) and is vibrant and yummy. The restaurant offers some different dishes, such as beef tongue and sweet breads. I can’t vouch for these as even I am not that adventurous, but it speaks volumes to its credibility in serving true Mexican fare. You’ll still find those classic Tex-Mex dishes like chicken mole and fajitas. The fish tacos are fantastic as the fish is grilled, not fried, and is served in foil to keep it nice and toasty.

The Cove

The Barbecue Station

210.227.2683

Around $25

Texas BBQ is different from Arkansas’. Texans tend to use more beef (as opposed to pork) and the sauce is a bit more tangy than sweet.

If you want a complete hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint, you cannot miss The Barbecue Station and its brisket plate. The smoke stains on the walls are so thick you wonder if this place sustained fire damage or if smoking the meat has left such an indelible mark. You can’t miss the self-serve bean station with a sign that reads, “Purchased Beans $1.09. Stolen beans $5.” Classic.

Kate’s Frosting

katesfrosting.net

2518 N. Main Ave or 1020 Townsend

Mini Cupcakes Full Sized Cupcakes

210.248.9809

$1.25 / each $2 to $3.25 / each

Kate’s Frosting, voted “Best Cupcake in San Antonio,” is a must stop.

This confectionary offers mini and full-sized cupcakes in classic flavors. They also have rotating flavors like Ruby Slipper, which is a red velvet cupcake, and The Jock, which is a banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting sprinkled with chopped bacon. Sounds odd until you try it. The sweet and salty flavors complement each other really well so you’re not saturated with saccharin.

From unique dining experiences, to people watching, to great shopping, San Antonio has it all. And the Alamo too.

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