Rebound - January 2011

january2011 AtUrbanMagazine.com

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Say Goodbye to Ordinary Something to Talk About Now Hear This

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Happy Cows, Happy Artist Before He Knew Heartache Xander’s Dad’s Great Example Not Your Average Joe Smiling in Jamaica

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The Piano Man Hoppin’ John

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A Night in the Clouds Going Local

In the Suburu with Buffalo Bull Whatever It Takes

Marla Cantrell Dana Clunn

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Marla Cantrell Laura Hobbs Jim Martin Tonya McCoy Anita Paddock Sarah Rumsey

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS

Jeromy Price Jihan Blue

WEB GURU

David Jamell

PUBLISHER

Read Chair Publishing, LLC

COVER IMAGE

entertainment

DIRECTOR OF SALES AND STRATEGIC PLANNING

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people

MANAGING EDITOR

Catherine Frederick

taste

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRESIDENT

destination

@INSIDE

Cari Humphry

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 ©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

J

anuary. The time of year when resolutions begin to whirl about in our brains like quartersized flakes in a snowstorm. Lose weight. Stop smoking. Work out. Get out of debt.

Reconnect with friends. Spend more time with family. It’s enough to drive us mad and give up before we even get started.

I choose not to get wrapped in making resolutions because I know I will beat myself up when I undoubtedly fail to keep them. Instead, I think of January as a new beginning, an annual mulligan - a gift. It’s my opportunity to ring out my faults and failures and give myself permission to start anew.

I want to share two quotes with you, one from American statesman Benjamin Franklin, the second from poet Edith Lovejoy Pierce. They speak volumes to me as I embark on this New Year.

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man. -Benjamin Franklin We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. -Edith Lovejoy Pierce I always look forward to the New Year, but I can’t help but gaze back and become keenly aware of how the previous 365 days flew by at lightning speed and be amazed at the milestones that have taken place.

My son, a year older and a head taller, is halfway through kindergarten, no longer afraid of mascots, and has traded in The Wiggles (men dressed in primary colors, singing and dancing about) for WWE (men dressed in tights beating each other over the heads with ladders and chairs). What a difference a year makes! @Urban has come a long way in just five short months. The response from you, our readers, has been overwhelming. Your enthusiasm for the magazine and the comments we receive confirm my belief that our region was hungry for a magazine like ours and I could not be more thankful to all of you.

Urbanites, I hope you dive headfirst into the New Year unburdened from the guilt that inevitably comes with resolutions. I hope you resolve only this: be better this year and open the book. Put down your words- it’s your story after all, enjoy every minute of it.

twitter.com/atUrbanMag facebook.com/aturbanmagazine

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@LIFESTYLE

He asked me, and I said yes.

Didn’t hesitate a minute.

Isn’t that the way most good things happen?

I was seventeen again, taking a road trip With the heart-breaker, campus flirt, Mr. Cool from high school.

We sang all the way to Santa Fe, Washed our faces in the Rio Grande, Urged the Subaru up cliffs to Taos.

In the Subaru with Buffalo Bull

Damn near blew away at The Grand Canyon Drove through sand storms That reminded us of 1950’s Westerns.

@lines Anita Paddock

At Oak Canyon we cried at its majesty Bought silver and turquoise bracelets And ate breakfast under the Sedona sun.

We were just two old pals who shared secrets at night and forgot them by day.

We had fun. What else is there?

That’s what I told everyone When I got home.

7

whatever it takes river valley BACA

@story Marla Cantrell @image Jeromy Price

O

n a balmy night in 2001, a man called Tree was throwing back a few at a bikers’ rally in

Oklahoma. He remembers the way the band sounded, the hodgepodge of tents set up just yards away, the tips of the cigarettes glowing orange in the darkness.

But mostly he remembers wondering what the hell BACA meant. The four letters were spelled out on the back of the vest of the man in front of him.

“It was two in the morning and I was so drunk I could hardly stand up. I’m not proud of that; that was my past. I’ve grown a lot since then,” Tree says, looking at the toe of his bulky boots. “I’ll never forget that man – he belonged to an Oklahoma BACA [Bikers Against Child Abuse] chapter. He talked to me, maybe for an hour or an hour and a half. But he was being a wise ass because he thought I wasn’t serious. He said, ‘If you really want to find out, go to my tent.’ Kind of challenging me. So at eight o’clock that morning I was at his tent.”

What Tree learned during that meeting was like the parting of the waters. “I’d been single my whole life and I kept wondering, Why am I here? Is it just to take up breath? There’s got to be a purpose.”

8

@LIFESTYLE

The purpose, for Tree, was BACA. He came home and started

what happened to the child until the bikers show up in court.

meeting with agencies that dealt with children and abuse. He

No one ever talks about what they hear. If they do they’re asked

found other bikers who wanted to help and the River Valley

to leave the organization.

BACA chapter opened for business.

After the assessment, the group gathers, climbs on their bikes and He is a bear of a man. He sits on a pew in a former church where

head to the child’s house, showing up in a procession so loud and

the River Valley BACA chapter is meeting, his legs splayed out

flashy it drives the neighbors out into their yards to watch. The child

in front of him, reaching halfway across the tight space. “I got

is given a “road name” to protect their identity, and then taken for a

the name Tree when I was still a kid playing first base. They’d

ride, along with a guardian, to initiate them into the club.

point at me and say, ‘If you can’t throw that ball over a tree you can’t get it past him.’

“We’ve bought school clothes, Christmas presents, Thanksgiving dinner,” Tree says. “We pay for a week at therapy camp if a kid

On this Sunday, there are eighty men and women gathered to

needs it. It may not sound like that’s part of our mission, but

discuss chapter business. Outside, a row of motorcycles wraps

we’re trying to show these kids there are adults who care, who’ll

the old building like a mechanical ribbon. Inside, there is more

stand by them, who won’t ever turn away.”

black clothing than you’d see at a funeral, and more leather than at a good-sized rodeo.

The bikers are big enough and burly enough to convince these kids that the scales have just tilted in their favor. “They’re

They look tough, and that’s kind of the point. Their job is to help

scared to death. But they look out in the courtroom and see

abused kids through a heartbreaking time. Each BACA member

ten or twelve of us sitting together and they can tell the truth

goes through an extensive background check, and follows the

without being afraid. DHS [Department of Human Services]

strict rules of the organization.

can’t sit at a kid’s house 24/7. We can. We can escort them to school, take ‘em back home, whatever it takes.

“We’re trying to show these kids there are adults who care, who’ll stand by them, who won’t ever turn away.”

“I remember my first time in court. It was in Talequah, Oklahoma, and we were there for a seven-year-old girl. She was so scared, so we went up and we made a human wall between her and her abuser. She went to court and her testimony was strong and they put him away for twenty-five years. On the way out I heard her call, ‘Tree, Tree,’ and she grabbed me around my leg and just hugged and hugged,” Tree says, and clears his throat. “It’ll get

Once BACA is contacted, an assessment team goes to meet the

you,” he says.

child and the guardians. They are the only members who hear

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@LIFESTYLE

“We aren’t vigilantes. We don’t condone violence. We don’t want

years in prison and his family hasn’t messed with that family

to do anything that would affect a court case. We’re there to

to this day.” Tree stops, adjusts the bandana holding back his

stand by that child. When a kid is so scared they haven’t slept for

shoulder-length hair and continues, “His family understood,

days and you show up on their porch and say, ‘I got you.’ We stay

you don’t mess with our kids.”

the night, and later you’ll hear him snore. He’s been so tired. We empower them. Kids are so much stronger than adults, but they

It’s been a wild ride in the nine years since Tree learned what

don’t realize it. We give them the strength,” Tree says, jabbing the

BACA meant. He’s never again questioned what his mission is.

air with his finger, “to say that person done that to me, without

“I thank God that He gave me this chance. I’m nothing without

being afraid someone will come back and get them.

this group. ..It’s all them. They’ll do anything for a kid. They’ll spend their own money. They’ll stay up all night.”

They’ve seen the very worst in life. We want to show them the best. Child abuse is an epidemic in this country,” Tree says, and

And then he points out the youngest member of the River Valley

points to another BACA member whose ropey braid reaches his

BACA chapter. “He’s just twenty-one. He used to be one of our

waist. “See that patch he’s wearing? The one with the number

kids,” Tree says. “We’ve seen the Round-Robin. That was the

four on it. It means four kids will die today from abuse in the

proudest day of my life when he got his patch. To watch a child

U.S. Multiply that by a year and you have enough kids to fill

who’d been served by us, who saw we do what we say we’ll

Southside High School [in Fort Smith]. Think about that,” Tree

do and have him want to sign up, it was proof that what we do

says, “that many kids that didn’t have to die.”

works. His life will be different than it could have been.”

The River Valley BACA chapter covers about sixty miles, but

As the group files out, Tree reaches out to many of them. Some

they’ll go wherever they’re needed. “In 2006, we went to Noel,

hug him, in that manly way, hitting each other on the back so

Missouri. This little girl was abused by a man and the man told

hard you can hear it. A woman with five rings on one hand and

her if she pressed charges he would kill her family, he would kill

four on the other, twists her inky black hair into a tortoise-shell

her dog. He’d been driving by her house. She and her parents

clip. Engines rev. Bikers in chaps pull on leather jackets and hit

had gone out to dinner and they came home,” Tree says, “and

the road, filling the street with a long line of bad ass bikes.

there was their dog. It had been skinned and was hanging on They look ominous – like they’re out to find trouble – but all

the fence by its collar.”

they’re looking for is the next child who needs a hero. Because “We were there for three weeks. Six or seven from this chapter

they have plenty of them, each identified by a simple patch

went. BACA had members from Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and

with these four letters – B.A.C.A.

Kansas. There were about 300 of us that took shifts over those three weeks. We surrounded the yard. We let her know she was For more information log onto bacausa.com

safe, twenty-four hours a day. After that, the guy got forty-five

10

SAY GOODBYE TO fullers field @story Marla Cantrell @image Spring Stout

@ENTERTAINMENT

H

unter Thompson, the lead singer for the Christian rock

University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, and until recently played with

band Fullers Field, picks up a microphone and stands

a heavy metal band. While he enjoyed it, he also felt it was fraught

stock-still while the drummer behind him begins to play. When

with obstacles. “That’s why the hard-core metal scene was hard

the guitars kick in, he taps his right foot and starts to sing. He

for me. There was temptation around me and these guys here,”

weaves the words effortlessly, telling a story filled with symbolic

he says, nodding at the three other band members, “keep me in

thorns and concrete regrets. His delivery is impeccable and his

check. We each take turns leading Bible study before practices.

voice quivers with emotion. He bows his head, as if a great

..I knew there was good Christian music I could listen to and still

burden is weighing him down, as if he’s had decades to reflect

be positive but then I would try to convince myself I could listen

on a life filled with turmoil.

to this other music and it wouldn’t affect me, but it will.”

Only he hasn’t.

Brian, who wrote many of the songs on the group’s latest album, “Say Goodbye To Ordinary,” believes their lyrics set them apart.

Hunter is just eighteen, and a senior at Greenwood High. He

“I try to tell people through my lyrics that it doesn’t matter where

joined Fullers Field, a Van Buren-based group, last year after

you’re at or what you’ve done, God still loves you. You pour your

drummer Blake Dobbins heard how talented he was. “When

heart out. You tell personal stories. People relate to that. We tell

our last singer left, I was working at Shoe Carnival and this guy

them it’s not all going to be roses, but it’s going to be worth it.”

I worked with said, ‘Hunter Thompson. He’s such a great singer.’

I looked him up on Facebook. ..But Hunter was trying to start

The idea that thorns are the counterpoint to roses is something

something on his own, so I left it alone. But then God laid it

Hunter has known for most of his life. As he reaches to put the

on my heart to talk to him again and when I asked him about

mike back in its stand, a spotlight hits a six-inch scar that starts

Fullers Field, he said he’d been waiting for God to show him an

just above his left elbow and disappears beneath the sleeve of

opportunity. Then he auditioned and that was it.”

his T-shirt. He remembers the day the accident happened. He was six, living in the Philippines with his missionary parents.

Blake, who’s also eighteen, is a student at the University of

“My parents had one prayer before we moved, that none of us

Arkansas – Fort Smith. He’s been with Fullers Field since it began

would have to have surgery. It was a third-world country. We’d

in 2008. Organizer and lead guitarist, Brian Stout, who’s by far

been there for six months. We were building a fort out back

the oldest at twenty-five, heard him play and knew he needed to

for me and my brother. There was a sandpit. I was running and

be part of the band. “What I didn’t know was how young Blake

I tripped on the ledge and fell on a strip of wood and it broke

was, and then one day he asked me to drive him to school and I

my arm pretty clean on both sides,” Hunter says, and pinches

figured it out. But it didn’t matter; he was just so talented.”

the fabric of his jean pants, making imaginary creases in the rumpled denim. “After that we spent a very lengthy night of

The final member of Fullers Field is Carter Bradley, who plays

trying to find the nearest legitimate hospital. We were lucky

the bass, and is another eighteen-year-old. He too attends the

enough to find a surgeon who studied in New York, so we had

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@ENTERTAINMENT

an American-trained physician. I have pins in my arm,” he says,

played Rock the River in Fort Smith where the crowd swelled

rubbing the spot where the scar begins. ..”You had to buy your

to nearly 4,000. They’ve played rodeos where some of the

own anesthesia and medicine or they wouldn’t perform the

audience mistook them for a secular band, dancing a little too

surgery. There were dogs chasing cats that were chasing rats.

close, and getting a little too rowdy. But they’ve also played

It was crazy. I was doped up for most of it,” Blake says, shaking

venues where amazing things happened. “We went to Webbers

his head. “It was a unique experience.”

Falls [Oklahoma] and we had all kinds of young people there. ..This one boy came down during the worship part of our show

Still, the family’s mission work set his course. At sixteen, while

and he gave his life to the Lord,” Brian says, and rubs his thumb

at a church camp in Oklahoma, he made the decision to go

across his chin. “A few weeks later he was diagnosed with a

into the ministry. “My dad is the director for missions for the

terminal illness. I know we make a difference.”

Concord Baptist Association, which includes Southern Baptist churches around here. I really felt the need to do something

Blake nods, the three crosses on his necklace flashing as the light

more than normal. I knew it was going to be music after I moved

hits them. “People tell us they play our songs over and over. They’ll

here [to Greenwood in 2008] and the doors started to open.

post some of our lyrics on Facebook. It feels good knowing you’re

God’s given me this talent and I have to develop that skill.”

helping someone. They’ll tell us we helped them through a tough time. ..They’ll say they got through a hard night with our music.”

Hunter is a massive guy. He looks like he was born to play football. And he does. Soon after his move to Greenwood, he

That’s what the band is about, delivering a message of hope

began playing left guard on the offensive line for the Bulldogs.

to those struggling to find it. “The hardest thing is balancing

In December, he played in the state’s 5A championship in Little

performance with praise and making sure you don’t get caught up

Rock, in a nail biter of a game. The team was down fourteen

in being all showy and not having truth behind it,” Hunter says.

points in the fourth quarter, but came back to win over Camden-

“You have to engage the audience – otherwise they should just

Fairview 36-35. ““I’ve always been a football player so I have

stay home and listen to the CD – but the worship has to be there

that jock thing. But I’m in talent shows, too, and I like to play

too. The jump around stuff we can just rock it out, but the worship

music there. I love that. I sing for FCA [Fellowship of Christian

songs are different. We have to be able to be worship leaders.”

Athletes] and I sang at the Veterans Day assembly at school.”

Brian smiles, knowing these three teens understand the serious He’s already looking ahead to summer. “With football you don’t

business behind the high energy band. “We’re just here to

have much of a life. We’ll tour after I graduate. Then I’m headed

introduce people to the one who can cleanse them and restore

to UAFS.”

them to new again. None of us forgets that. It’s what keeps us playing, it’s what keeps us looking forward to the next show.”

But for now the band is playing closer to home.

Brian says

the band draws everyone from “kids to grandparents.” They’ve

For more information, visit fullersfieldband.com

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something to talk about

Reid began his webcast in his basement a couple of months ago, using equipment costing a mere $500. Compared to the $100 or more it would cost by the hour to rent a studio, that’s quite a deal. Now Joe’s Grill and Cantina, located at 3400 South

everyday joes and does

74th Street in Fort Smith, sponsors Everyday Joes and Does, which airs every Monday on ustream.tv . The internet has made

@story Tonya McCoy @image Bobby Dyer

it easy for anyone to webcast just about anywhere. “It’s totally changed. You can do it on your phone. It’s given the individual the ability to do anything he or she wants to do,” says Reid.

S

izzling skillets of fajitas glide by atop waiters’ trays, and groups of diners laugh loudly while enjoying their .99

But Reid isn’t just “anyone.” He caught the DJ fever when he was

cent margaritas. In this same restaurant, four hosts of a new

only a teenager. At the age of fifteen he began working for the

talk show sit around a wire-laden table, in a dimly lit corner

local radio station KISR, and worked there for almost a decade.

booth. Cords wind their way around microphones and between

Times have changed since Reid’s days as a disc jockey. “Used to,

bowls of salsa. Guitar chords sound and the show begins.

in radio, I had to work for a company that had a board about as big

“We’re back, Everyday Joes and Does, live from Joe’s Grill and

as this table,” he says. “It had to have a 100,000 watt frequency.

Cantina,” announces Reid Maddox with a Southern twang.

You had a playlist, and you had to play by the FCC rules.”

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@ENTERTAINMENT

Reid said he soon learned DJ’ing for local radio didn’t pay a lot

donations, even pirated copies!” Reid is the entertainer and

and also didn’t offer much freedom to speak his mind. So now,

he’s also called the instigator. He has the DJ experience under

fifteen years later, he’s trying the broadcast life his way. He’s

his belt, but now he’s not tethered by the FCC rules. He’s the

created a local show where he and three of his friends discuss

‘say anything’ host who doesn’t worry about being politically

anything and everything.

correct and he’s not afraid to tell you exactly what’s on his mind. He jokes about wild stunts they could perform to make their show go “viral.”

“Here’s one scary thought for you. The Office of Secure Transportation says between 2007 and 2009 there were sixteen alcohol-related incidents involving their drivers who

And when he does say something that’s not exactly “PG,”

were transporting nuclear weapons and parts, along the

Kristal Kimblerling – co-host number four, and the mother of

interstate,” says one of the co-hosts, Tony (Anthony) Yates.

the group, speaks up. Kristal laughs as she says, “I want to show

Tony has an eye for news, making lists of interesting topics

my kids one of our shows, and it’s yet to be able to happen.”

each week. He worked in Fort Smith eight years as a news

Kristal is a modern, trendy mom who knows more than a little

producer for KFSM, and was assignment manager for KHBS/

about parenting, what with four kids who are thirteen, nine,

KHOG’s news department for seven years. Currently, he’s the

two, and one. She reminds the group to keep the show “family

community relations coordinator for the Western Arkansas

friendly.” She has a contagiously loud laugh and talks with her

Alzheimer’s Association but says, “You can’t take the news out

hands when making a point.

of the news man.”

Put these four together, and it’s like having dinner with your “And they drink?” asks the third co-host, Saundria Fayleen who

smartest, funniest, and most entertaining friends. They discuss

appears shocked by Tony’s drunk truck driver story. Saunie,

everything from national security issues to doggy daycare

as they call her, is the brainiac of the group. She’s working on

experiences. The group talks about almost everything, but

a master’s degree in Leadership and Ethics and already has a

Kristal keeps the check on the content, as their ustream site

degree in psychology. She offers a philosophical and intellectual

advertises they are “family friendly.”

point of view. She talks about the Greek origins of words, and the supernatural and overlooked blessings of natural resources

The hosts will occasionally ask people dining at the restaurant

like water. Also, she wouldn’t admit it, but she is the tech wiz of

to join in on the fun, so stop by Joe’s Grill and Cantina around

the show. She sets up the equipment to broadcast, and often has

8:00 on Monday nights to be part of the antics. Or watch the

to do some trouble-shooting live on air.

show at www.ustream.tv by searching everyday joes. You can log on and chat with the hosts live.

The show isn’t without its technical difficulties. Reid jokes, “We’ve been known to stop the damn thing and start over…

Seriously people if anyone has a Windows 7 we will accept

17

@ENTERTAINMENT

we’ve met in the past. This is his ninth studio release, his first with no rap (not by him anyway), and the first to be released with no parental advisory sticker. It has a definite classic rock feel to it, almost like a Bob Seger record that was never released.

Originally planned as a three disc set, Kid explained, “In the end, it would’ve been kind of pretentious to release a triple album.

I had four songs I didn’t even like.” I don’t know what they cut from the set, but there is plenty left here to like.

Highlights include “Collide,” a re-pairing with 2003 duet partner, Sheryl Crow. While not quite up to par with their previous track,

now hear this

“Picture,” it is a good listen with both vocalists performing at their prime. As an added bonus, it also features Bob Seger on

kid rock — “born free”

piano. Other highlights include the title track, which is exactly

@review Jim Martin

as you might imagine from the photo on the front cover, an

Kid Rock has always been an enigma. After releasing three

excellent road tune. And “God Bless Saturday,” which could

albums that went nowhere, he came back loud in 1998 with

have been this summer’s hit party anthem, if only it had been

“Devil Without A Cause.” With an unlikely mix of metal and rap,

released in the summer.

he’d created a genre all his own. Critics even predicted he would change the way we listened to music. But then, somewhere along

Low points include “Flyin’ High,” featuring guest Zac Brown, yet

the way, something happened. The underground artist somehow

another formulaic song about “home.” “Care,” which seems out

became mainstream, even accepted in country music circles.

of place on this set; the whole hip-hop/rap lyric mixed into a country song just doesn’t work here, even with assistance from

Over time, the quality of his work has changed as well. For

guests T.I. and Martina McBride. And the lowest of the lows, “For

better or worse? It depends on who you ask. Some prefer the

The First Time In A Long Time.” Sang in falsetto, it doesn’t even

dark vulgar rapper of his early releases like “Devil Without A

sound like Kid Rock. Who is he trying to be?

Cause” or “Cocky.” Others prefer the comedic happy-go-lucky party animal of 2007’s sample-heavy “All Summer Long,” his

Still, even with these lows, it’s a good listen well worth the money.

only number one charting hit.

It’s a good driving album. Buy it and play it in your car. Loud.

On his latest release, “Born Free,” we get a different Kid altogether.

I Rate It

A little older, a little wiser, and a lot more reflective than the ones

18

happy cows, happy artist the work of cari humphry @story Marla Cantrell @images Cari Humphry

@PEOPLE

A

rtist Cari Humphry likes cows, the girls more than the boys.

the Business School,” Cari says, smiling at the thought, “so that’s

“I’ve learned my cow anatomy,” Cari says. “Most males

where I went.”

are pretty ugly. Their necks are thicker and their faces aren’t as pretty. Even their bodies don’t have the same shape. ..And I’ll

Cari became an accountant. “I always liked numbers, and my

name them. Eileen is a cow I’ve painted several times. I did one

dad’s a CPA. I did take Art in high school and an oil painting

painting where I called her “Moonlight Eileen.” My friend, who’s

class in college. After that I painted maybe once a year.”

a great artist, Cheri Wollenberg, has a farm in Oklahoma, and she sends me pictures of her cows. I like their faces, so I’ll zoom in.”

But mostly she crunched numbers.

Cari, co-owner of Red Hill Gallery and Homewares, which is just

And then, while pregnant with her second child, she took a

a block from Dickson on 71B in Fayetteville, even has a series

summer art course that set her on a new path. “I haven’t put

called “Happy Cows.” The cows are tiny compared to their

away my paints since,” Cari says.

surrounding, a wide blue sky above them, a panorama of green below. “Artists have a lot of expressions behind their paintings.

When she felt confident enough, she listed her work on the

There are dark moments and that has its place – art is about

online site Etsy. “It was a shock to me that this sweet lady in

expression. But for me there’s a Bible verse, Philippians 4:8,

North Carolina was willing to buy that first ugly painting. It was

that says whatever is true and noble and lovely, think on these

a 5 x 7 of a cow,” Cari says. “She’s probably bought eight or nine

things. I’m reminded of that every day. There’s so much out

paintings now.

there that will distract you. What’s negative can seep into your “At first I had a rule that I wouldn’t paint anything that couldn’t be

art. I want to paint something that evokes something positive.”

finished in two hours, during nap time. They were only 12 x 12 at Just try to look at one of her paintings and not feel joy. Pigs

the most. I had a baby and a three-year-old. That’s how I started

kick up dust while running free, chickens all but dance off the

off. Knowing that, I’d get the paint down fast and it forced me to

canvas and even a rusty old truck seems to be smiling, happy to

be looser. And that’s my goal, to be loose and impressionistic.”

be resting underneath a bright summer sky.

Cari continues to learn. “I paint with a friend every Monday Until three years ago Cari didn’t paint much at all. “I wanted

night for a few hours. I study painters I like, brush strokes,

to be an architect. When I was little, I used to draw floor plans

techniques. ..I look back at some of my first paintings and I see

on church bulletins during the service. I was a pretty good

a progression. I also have quite a few that didn’t work out,” Cari

basketball player, and I thought about playing college ball. But I

says, without a hint of regret. “Those ended up in my closet.”

wanted to go to the University of Arkansas because of the great architecture program,” she says. She spent a year studying

Her five-year-old daughter spends a great deal of time watching

architecture before losing interest. “All the cute boys were in

her mother work. “She names a lot of my paintings. For a while

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they were named after whatever cartoon characters were

“Our shop has prints, originals, antiques, vintage items, handmade

popular at the time. I had these two cows called Max and Ruby,

jewelry and soaps, and you can get up close and touch things.

after the rabbit cartoon.”

We wanted this to be a place to buy things that are local.”

It’s been a gratifying transition from tallying numbers to creating

Cari, who is busy promoting local artists, has a global audience.

art for a living. In November, she and her business partner –

Her paintings have been sold to collectors in Australia, the

and fellow artist – Shannon Peters, opened Red Hill Gallery and

United Kingdom and Canada. “It’s humbling to have someone

Homewares. “Shannon and I had this vision for a while. I love

buy your art. To say it’s worth something. And I get to paint

to go in galleries, but I am honestly so intimidated, and I feel

things that make me smile and even laugh sometimes.

like they know I can’t afford anything in there. I feel like I don’t “I have a friend who wants me to paint her two bulldogs sitting

know the rules.

on a couch, one in pearls, the other in a tutu. I look forward to “Early on I’d painted a little 6 x 6. It was a bird, and everybody

that. ..When I sell a painting I’ll send a note with it, telling the

loves birds because they’re sweet. It sold to a girl who lived

buyer the story behind it. ..And everyone wants the story.”

in an apartment outside of Denver and she sent me a picture back of it sitting on a table with her dog. She said it was like

So that’s what she does. Cari weaves stories on canvas, using

Christmas opening up this painting. She loved it and it was

whimsical cows, happy pigs and runaway chickens. And every day

under $40. She thanked me for making art accessible for

she is aware that she’s filling her world with things that are true

people like her,” she says and then adds, “I can’t afford those

and lovely and noble, which is exactly what she set out to do.

big investments either.

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before he knew heartache the life of gary hutchison @story Jim Martin @image Gary Hutchison

O

nstage he’s a guitar-slinging outlaw taking no prisoners. Offstage he’s one of the most

humble men you’ll ever meet. Whether playing a solo gig, appearing as a member of Oreo Blue, or making an appearance with the Fort Smith Symphony, Gary Hutchison has become the preeminent guitarist on the Fort Smith/Fayetteville music scene.

Gary developed an affinity for the guitar at age five while on the road with his father in the summer of 1958. “We were in Ohio,” he says. “There were two brothers who played on their porch every night. One acoustic, the other electric, a beautiful Gibson archtop.” Taken by the Gibson, he recalls staring at it as the duo strummed through folk standards.

Though intrigued, it would be later before he took up an instrument of his own. Settling in Anderson, Missouri, he was in the fourth grade when he started playing trumpet in the school band. He also began honing his songwriting skills. “I had fully formed songs by age twelve,” he says. “They weren’t from experience. I was writing about heartache before I even knew what it was.”

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In 1966, with rock ‘n’ roll becoming popular, he sat the trumpet

He also developed a set of musical influences. Johnny Winter,

aside and picked up the guitar. He was thirteen. “I learned

Mike Bloomfield, and Roy Buchanan all played a role in

quickly,” he says. “Chicks dig guitars.”

developing the young Gary’s style.

His first guitar, from an S&H Green Stamps, was a disappointment.

Then, came Jimi. “I heard Jimi Hendrix’s version of ‘Red House’

It was made of plastic. A toy. Gary’s mother, Bessie Mae, walked

and was blown away. ‘Red House’ was like the blues on acid!”

to Western Auto and put a Tru-Tone guitar in layaway. “Back

In 1971, he went to work as a guitar instructor, also learning

then, you could get a guitar at Western Auto or Otasco,” he says.

sales and repair. He soon joined his first band. “I played lead

“We bought strings and picks at Rexall Drug Store.” The layaway

even though the other guy was better,” he says. “I couldn’t

agreement didn’t last. With Gary going by everyday asking to

change chords fast enough to play rhythm.”

play it, they finally let him take it home.

He worked with a number of local bands. Considering his He began teaching himself to play with a book for beginners,

willingness to sit back and learn with no desire to hog the

his mother singing along to help with chord changes. In no

spotlight, it was easy finding a space to fill. At twenty-one, he

time he was playing along with records of the day. “The first

became a full-time musician in 1974.

solo I learned was from the Beatles’ ‘Day Tripper.’ That’s where In 1978, he hit the road with Southern Fried, playing everything

I learned the standard blues scale.”

from straight country to straight blues, but specializing in Though learning fast, his favorite aunt remained unconvinced.

Southern Rock. They were named the number one unsigned

“I had a Sears Silvertone then, with the amplifier built into the

band in the nation by Billboard magazine in 1979. Times soon

case. I played bits and pieces of several songs like ‘Gloria’ and

grew dark for Southern Fried and the band fell apart.

‘Wipe Out.’ She wasn’t impressed.” He decided to take jazz lessons from instructor Bob Massey, a man he credits with being

Gary formed Double Vision with Southern Fried keyboardist,

a big part in who he is today. “I learned the jazz version of

Rick Banfield. They did well locally, but eventually split due to

‘Yesterday.’ That convinced her.”

conflicting points of view concerning musical direction. As the duo fell apart, he was also faced with a divorce. Once all was

Gary bought the first release by Ten Years After based on the

settled, he decided to make a change. “I needed some new

album cover. Disappointed to find a straight blues record, he

scenery,” he says. An old friend convinced him that Fort Smith

put it on the shelf with no intentions of getting it out again.

was the perfect place.

Later, his older brother insisted he give it another try. “This time, it spoke to me,” he says. “I was amazed by guitarist Alvin

Gary had known Fort Smith musician Bill “Flash” Flaspohler for

Lee’s aggressive style. That’s when I dedicated myself to that

some time, even playing in a band with him a few years earlier

blues/rock style of music.”

while Flash was in Missouri. “Flash got me a job,” Gary says.

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“Got a band together. All I had to do was show up.” Gary started

no plumbing till I was twelve.” Anytime a benefit came calling,

to work as a guitar instructor/salesman/technician during the

he was there, volunteering to help raise money for the cause.

day, as lead guitarist for Kamakazi at night. It didn’t take long

“I believe it all comes back to you in the end,” he says. “Treat

before this new place began to feel like home.

people good, and they’ll treat you good.”

“I planned to stay a couple years, then move on to Dallas or

And come back it did, just a few years ago. Suddenly faced with

L.A.,” he says. “I stayed because I like it. It wasn’t like I was

health problems and unexpected medical bills, area musician/

‘stuck in Lodi.’” The city accepted him too. He quickly became

promoter John Magnus stepped up. Knowing that Gary didn’t

one of the most popular guitar instructors in town. It spread to

have health insurance, John organized a benefit to be staged

the band as well, with Kamakazi filling area clubs to their limits

at the Rib Shack, all proceeds going to assist Gary Hutchison. “I

every time they played.

wasn’t destitute,” Gary says. “But it was bills I hadn’t counted on.” It turned out to be a huge success, with people driving

Of course, everything eventually comes to an end. The band split

from up to 200 miles away to show their support. The city

after being together almost two years. It wasn’t how you might

he had adopted as his new home had accepted him as one

think; there were no hard feelings toward one another, instead it

of its own and was giving back for all he had given it. “It felt

was just the opposite. One member found religion, and another

wonderful knowing they thought enough of me to help in the

wanted to take the time off to watch his children grow.

way that they did.”

That’s when businessman/promoter/manager/guru Dick Renko

For the past twenty years or so, Gary has worked as guitarist/

came into the picture. “I had set in at a reunion-type thing with

vocalist for local legends Oreo Blue. They were named best

David And The Immatures,” says Gary. “When Dick heard I was

blues band on four different occasions by the NAMA awards

available, he offered me a position in the reunited group.” An

before being inducted into the NAMA Hall of Fame in 2006.

institution in Arkansas music, David And The Immatures featured the Renko family, Dick, Suzanne, and David. “That was a new

Gary remains one of the most popular guitar instructors in the

genre to me,” Gary says. “I was accustomed to playing a harder-

area, also doing the occasional repair job. Free time is spent

edged blues style. They opened up an entirely new fanbase for

with nine-year-old daughter, Macy. When it comes to music,

me.” It was also while with the Immatures he brought to life

even at fifty-seven, he shows no signs of slowing down. He’s

his well-known stage character, Blind Domino Porkchop, even

working on a new CD, plays an uncountable amount of gigs

appearing in character with sunglasses and a porkpie hat on

every year, and is looking forward to the possibility of going

popular news program “Noon on 5.”

overseas to participate in a number of European blues festivals.

“B.B. King is eighty-five and plays 200 shows a year,” he says. “I figure I have at least twenty years left.”

Though continuing to play with numerous bands, Gary never forgot where he came from. “We grew up poor,” he says, “with

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xander’s dad’s great example single parent scholarship @story Marla Cantrell @images Warren Long

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T

en years ago Warren Long was laying brick every weekday.

years to make it from high school to college,” he says. “It took

When his shift ended on Friday, he headed to a Eureka Springs

a divorce. It took going through a lot. But I got there.”

He

restaurant where he worked through the weekend. But no matter

worked as a cook at Big Jake’s Cattle Company in Van Buren

how much he tried, the money never lasted until the end of the

twenty hours a week, juggled his schedule with Xander’s, and

month. “I had a world of trouble back then,” he says, remembering

pinched pennies. “I had a Pell Grant, and a National Science

the bone-tired weariness that dogged his steps every waking hour.

Foundation Scholarship. ..My parents saw a little non-descript ad about the Single Parent Scholarship Fund [of Sebastian and

It was the birth of his son, Xander, now nine, that changed

Crawford County]. I was scrambling for every thirty minutes of

everything. “He was premature; he came at thirty-two weeks.

study time I could get and I didn’t see how I could work more

It was scary, scary, scary. They had to helicopter my wife up

hours and keep going. That was when I contacted them.”

to UAMS [University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences]. I was terrified to hold him. He was three pounds, fifteen ounces and

The scholarship paid Warren $700 a semester. “Seven-hundred

got down to three pounds, ten ounces. It was miraculous. He

dollars might not seem like much, but it can pull you through.

was a little tiny miracle.”

They paid $350 at the beginning of the semester and another $350 in the middle. ..You have to bring in your mid-term grades.

Xander’s birth made Warren realize he needed a change. “I

..The second half of the money came at times when seasons

wanted to be a role model. I knew as he grew older I’d have

were changing and Xander needed clothes. ..In November, it’s a

a hard time providing for him by laying brick or cooking in

tense time. You’re getting ready for finals and you really don’t

kitchens. I could barely get the stuff he needed then and I knew

need to be working so much. The $350 can keep your electric

it was only going to get more expensive. I wanted to go back to

on for another month.”

school so bad I thought about it every day.”

In the beginning, he thought he should earn his associate’s But he couldn’t find a way to do it. It wasn’t until Warren and his wife

degree, get a full-time job and put the dream of a bachelor’s

divorced, when Xander was four, that he got the push that drove him

degree to rest. “I didn’t think I could do it, and then I started

to enroll. “I was awarded custody. ..That first week I was a nervous

getting A’s and A’s and A’s, I realized that I could. I knew I wanted

wreck. Before Xander, I’d never even changed a diaper. I’ve grown

to become a mechanical engineer. That was my ideal career.”

exponentially since then. Being a single parent, you have to be stable. ..There’s no yelling in our house. We talk things out. I had to

It took him five years to finish. That happened this past summer.

establish routines. And I knew I had to go back to school.”

He graduated third in the combined classes from the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith and U of A in Fayetteville. “I had a 4.0

So Warren took a trigonometry class at the University of

average. ..My diploma says ‘with highest honors,’ he says, “that

Arkansas – Fort Smith. He aced it, and that gave him the

made me so proud. And Xander was there. When they called

courage to enroll full time. He was thirty. “It took me twelve

my name and I heard him yell, ‘There’s my daddy.’”

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For now, though, he’s still hitting the books and working at Big Jake’s. “I average about one night a week as a cook,” he says.

“They’ve been so good to me through all this, always working with my class schedule.”

He’s also grateful for the Single Parent Scholarship fund. “I plan to give back to it when I can. ..What they did for me made so much difference. And they’ll team you up with a mentor if you want. They get to know you, ask about your child. They follow you through your time in school. It’s a great program.”

Warren is already giving back by talking to others afraid to take that first step. “I tell them to just sign up for classes. Start chipping away, even if you can’t go full time. Figure out the He’s done what he set out to do; he’s become a role model

school, the systems, figure the financial aid office out, because

for his young son. It comes in handy when Xander throws his

after you get one semester under your belt and show the school

hands up while doing his math homework. Warren can relate

you can make all A’s and B’s, the school will give you money. They

– this mechanical engineer has a love/hate relationship with

want students that excel. Study, do the homework, don’t blow it

the subject. “I, like my own dad, have a frustration level when

off. They’re standing by with money if you just make the grades.”

dealing with math. I tell Xander, ‘You’re not going to be an expert the first time at anything that’s worth doing.’ ..To me, getting

It’s great advice from a man who’s made the system work for him.

frustrated is key to the learning process. You work on it, run into

And what he’s learned in the past five years has guaranteed he

something frustrating and then it becomes an emotional thing.

and Xander will have a brighter future. When he tries to imagine

So then when I figure it out, it means a lot more to me.”

what might have happened had he not enrolled at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, he stops for a moment and then says.

In fact, learning means so much to Warren he’s still in school.

“I’d probably still be in construction. I hate to think of that. And

“I’m driving to Fayetteville to get my master’s. It seemed like the

I’d be yearning for the rest of my life to go to school.”

smart thing to do, and I was used to the workload. I really love this field.” He has no plans to leave the area after his education has ended. “In five years I’d like to be working either at Nuclear One in

To learn more log onto aspsf.org

Russellville – nuclear power kind of gets my juices going - or with wind turbines. I like alternative energy. I believe in getting away from our dependence on oil,” he says. “It’s a national crisis.”

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not your average joe joseph meadows

@story Marla Cantrell @images Catherine Frederick

J

oseph Meadows leans against the wall in one of the lofts he’s renovated above his bar, MoJo’s Ivory House Dueling Piano

Bar in downtown Fort Smith, and at only twenty-eight, talks about his long history in construction. “I’m a third generation builder,” Joseph says, “both my grandfather and father were in the business. In high school my job was to pull the weeds at the apartment complexes and to take care of the gardens. ..I didn’t like pulling weeds,” he says. “Not one bit.”

After graduation he headed to Fayetteville to attend the Sam M. Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas. He wasn’t sure he wanted to spend his life the way his father did, building apartment complex after apartment complex. But construction was in his blood, and when he finished school, he found himself right back where he’d been in high school – minus the gardening gloves. “Let me say this about my dad, before I started building on my own he made me literally get in the trenches and shovel dirt and learn it from the ground up. I did it at our complex in Van Buren, at Rena Valley. I worked with the concrete guys, staked out the buildings, went through the whole process. I was twenty-two at the time, and I think I learned more in that first year than I had in all my years of school combined.”

At twenty-three he was building spec houses in Greenwood.

And then a side trip to Las Vegas put everything on hold. “My girlfriend, Monica, and I were in Vegas with my parents and somebody approached her and asked her to do ‘Survivor,’ and she

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said no way. And they said, ‘We also recruit for ‘The Amazing Race,’ would you do that? Monica said, ‘I’d do that.’”

When Monica told Joseph he blew it off, believing it was some kind of scam. But when he got home he found an itinerary for a two-week trip to Los Angeles. Soon after, they were chosen as one of the teams for the 2006 season of the Emmy-winning CBS series, “The Amazing Race.”

So what about those houses he was building? “I told my dad I needed some backup and he said, ‘Hell yeah, go do it. It’s a one in eleven chance of winning a million dollars.’”

The two saw places they never dreamed they’d go: Munich, The two became known as Team MoJo on the adventure show.

Moscow, Rio, Bangkok, Sao Paulo, Jabreen. “It’s the best thing

“I can sleep through any alarm clock, but while we were in the

I’ve ever done. On my own, I’d never have gone to Oman in

race, I’d jump up as soon as I heard it go off and I was ready.

the Middle East, but there we were. ..I loved Greece, the old

..It was the absolute hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I

men smoking in the coffee shops. It looked just like I thought

lost fourteen pounds in twenty-eight days. We traveled over

it would.”

70,000 miles.”

There were nights Joseph and Monica slept on park benches, Through it all Monica and Joseph stayed the course. “We had

in places where stray dogs roamed and bats flew overhead.

strategy that if it had to do with putting on a harness and jumping

“When we got eliminated in Thailand we were both so spent,”

out of an airplane or off a bridge, she would do it. ..I hate high

Joseph says. “We didn’t want to give up, but we did, you

places, even getting this close to the window,” he says, tapping

know. We felt like we’d gotten far enough and we’d be fine if it

the panes of glass overlooking Garrison Avenue, “ makes me

happened. ..But honestly, losing was all I could think about for

uncomfortable. But if it was a physical task, I would do it. She

about a month. The show portrayed it like we’d dropped these

jumped out of the airplane and off the Corinth Canal [in Greece].

clay pots [that they carried on a ten-foot board] and that’s why we lost. In reality we couldn’t get a cab and there’s nothing you could have done about it.”

“For me, the worst part was running up twenty-two flights of stairs on a spiral staircase in Brazil. Hardest thing I did. I wanted to puke. I’m scared to death of heights and I had to repel off the

Even now it can be a little trying for Joseph to watch “The

side of the building.”

Amazing Race.” “You watch the show and think you can do it, but all the stuff they don’t show is so difficult. You see people

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Inside the Ivory House Lofts, cabinets hang suspended by cables, light floods in from tall windows and spiral staircases lead from one floor to the next. There is a lot of exposed pipe, as shiny as chrome wheels, running the length of the ceiling.

The smallest apartment is 650 square feet and the biggest is 1,350. “I wanted the place to have a New York loft feel. And I wanted to integrate the outside with the inside.”

Many of the tenants work downtown. “A lot of them ride bikes around, and they spend a lot of time downtown. This whole area will get even better once the riverfront is developed.”

Joseph is banking on the revival of downtown. He’s planning missing the clues and you don’t get why. It’s because they’re so

to renovate another old building nearby, with more loft

sleep deprived. It makes you feel crazy.”

living space. “Those will be a little bit more upscale. Granite countertops and a parking garage.”

Even so, he’d like another shot at the cool million. “I’d leave right now,” Joseph says. “I’d run out of that door in a split second.”

He’s happy with the life that’s taken him across the globe and then dropped him right back in his hometown. “For a while

“The Amazing Race” was just the beginning of the adventure

becoming a builder didn’t appeal to me; it seemed too easy.

for Team MoJo. Joseph and Monica married three years ago.

I don’t really know what else I could have done. I might have

“I feel lucky to have her,” Joseph says. “I learned a lot about

become a salesman, but I don’t know how good I’d be,” he says,

Monica on the show. She’s tough, and she doesn’t give up, and

jingling the keys to the loft he just locked tight. “I’m glad I

we worked so well together.”

came back to it. I like seeing if the numbers work, I like all the planning, I like that first day on the job, lining everybody up.”

In June the two opened Mojo’s piano bar at 823 Garrison Avenue.

“We’re used to leasing the buildings we renovate, but when the

As for the future, Joseph sees no end to the possibilities. “I’m

bar came along I thought why not give it a try,” Joseph says.

full of piss and vinegar right now,” he says, smiling as he walks through the three-story building he renovated himself. He tries

The fourteen loft-style apartments are on the two floors above.

to narrow down just what it is he wants, but this is as close as he

“This place used to be an arcade and before that a livery station,

gets. “I guess you could say I want the world.”

I think. There’s horse hair in the plaster.”

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smiling in jamaica

I

n January, Dr. Charles Liggett took a break from his dental practice in Fort Smith to visit Negril, Jamaica, a place known

charles liggett’s working vacation

for its black cliffs, azure waters, and golden sunsets. But Charles

@story Marla Cantrell @images Charles Liggett

relief to the hundreds of people lined up outside a makeshift

had little time to enjoy the view. He was far too busy bringing clinic, just hoping for a chance to see a dentist. “It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth,” Charles said, “but it’s truly a third-world country. Ten families will live in one shack.”

It wasn’t his first time in Jamaica. While a junior at the LSU School of Dentistry in New Orleans one of his professors, Dr. J. Suzanne Turpin-Mair, invited him to go with her to her native country. “She would go back there, through LSU, and hold dental clinics. She took about ten students. I was one of them.

At school we were watched over all the time. But there we got free reign. It was a little scary, but it was great.

“At that time, I hadn’t done much at all. We worked without X-rays. The only medical history we had was what they’d written down when they got there. We did a ton of extractions. ..The people there are so poor. Some haven’t seen a dentist in years – or ever. There was a lot of work that was emergency oriented.

Dr. Turpin-Mair could really get in there and take those teeth out. I learned from her. It was an amazing experience.”

Charles fell in love with the Jamaican people. “They speak with this Patois English dialect. ..It’s beautiful to hear. They’re so thankful and appreciative of what you do. They don’t have anything and they’ll bring you coconuts or something they’ve made. The children are so respectful to their parents. If an adult tells you to do something there’s no question it will get done.”

The trips are now a tradition for Charles. He volunteers through the Presbytery of St. Augustine in Florida. The head of the

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ecumenical program, Dr. Jim Jaff, takes his entire office staff from Jacksonville to work with the volunteers in Jamaica.

It’s a grueling seven-day mission, and every year the location changes. “Dr. Jaff and I usually go early and set everything up.

We have a church in Kingston where we keep our equipment.

Sometimes our clinics are in healthcare facilities, sometimes it’s a church. I’ve worked in hotel rooms with someone holding lamps for us. We now have coal-miner lights we wear. We’ve learned a trick or two.”

When the doors open the first day, the crowds are already gathered. Charles described their faces, the very young who hug the legs of their mothers, the very old waiting for relief from pain that follows them like a shadow through every difficult day.

The volunteers manage the workload by choreographing the process, from the initial paperwork to the day the dentures are fitted. “I do extractions. Three doctors are working on dentures. ..This year we’ll have someone to do fillings. ..When I’m by myself, I’ll do 100 to 150 extractions. In a couple of days I’ll do as many extractions as most U.S. dentists will do in a year. ..Last year I did an extraction every four minutes. I work standing up and by the end of the day my back is killing me. When the day is done we board a bus, eat a meal with the other volunteers, shower, go to bed and get up and do it all again.”

Even when his back is hurting, Charles takes his cue from the Jamaicans and pushes through. “They have amazing pain tolerance.

Americans are huge babies. They can take so much more than we can. They put up with so much. We see tons of farmers who’ve worked outside all their lives. They know what real pain is.”

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Not far from the clinics are pristine golf courses, grand resorts,

extraction and he got stuck and called me over. It was kind of

and waves tugging at white sand beaches. But none of that

neat. I was a little in awe of that. ..Every day I use something I

lures the volunteers away because what goes on inside the

learned on one of those trips.”

hodgepodge clinics trump anything a tourist can pay to see.

“One year, a lady came the first day and I pulled a couple of teeth.

The Jamaican trips started Charles thinking about those in need

She was maybe in her sixties. We made the impressions for her

in his own back yard. “I knew I wanted to do something like

dentures. We told her we’d have them ready on Thursday. She

that here. So I put something together at a weekend clinic our

walked nine miles, barefoot, to get there. We were cleaning up

[Parklane Family Dental] Central Mall office. “In December,

that first day and she was lying down on some of the chairs. She

we had our second annual free extraction day. It was a huge

stayed till Thursday because she was afraid someone would call

success. We saw 120 patients and extracted nearly 200 teeth.

her name and she wouldn’t be there.

We saw every patient that was willing to wait. I started at 6:00 that morning and worked until 7:00 that night. We had lots of

“We had music playing when we finally gave her the dentures.

help from area dental professionals, including Dr. Monte Butler,

She started dancing and kept going for ten minutes. She said,

Dr. Wes Moore, Dr. Ward Clemmons, Dr. Brad Hathaway, and

‘Take my picture. Take my picture.’”

Mike and Kris Liggett. Mitzi Euford also brought some of her hygiene students to help out.”

The group makes approximately 150 pairs of dentures on each visit. “These people are in pain – their teeth are rotten. The first

Charles doesn’t have a tally for the cost of the Fort Smith clinics.

year we did dentures we didn’t know how many impressions to

But he does know what he spends on a trip to Jamaica. It hovers

take. We were leaving Sunday. Some of the people had 7:00

near $2,000. When he weighs the cost against the benefits,

flights and we were working at 4:30 in the morning because we

the scale tips dramatically. “I doubt I would have started the

couldn’t let these people wait all week for the dentures they

weekend clinic at home without that first trip to Jamaica,” he

were so counting on.”

said. “I don’t think I’d be the dentist I am today.”

Charles has hundreds of these feel-good stories. But there’s a

As he looks back across the nine trips he’s made to the Caribbean,

practical aspect as well. He’s been able to perfect his craft in

what stands out are the people. “They are grateful and so giving,

a place where he’s forced to work without a net. “If something

even with so little to give. ..And the volunteers I work with, it’s

goes wrong, you don’t have an oral surgeon to bail you out. I’ve

like a reunion every year. I’m so glad I went that first year when I

learned a lot about techniques and what to do when things

was in dental school. I’m so glad I’ve been able to do this.”

aren’t quite right. I’ve gotten really good at surgery. That’s a huge help. You can’t help but get better. When I first went,

More than a thousand miles away, hundreds of Jamaicans are

I’d be calling the other guys over, ‘Can you help me do this?

also glad, thankful for a dentist like Charles, happy to have the

Can you help me do that?’ Last year Dr. Jaff started doing an

ability to flash a full-toothed smile any time they feel like it.

38

@TASTE

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40

hoppin’ john black eyed peas and sausage @recipe & images Laura Hobbs

W

elcome, 2011! What’d you bring me this year? A little more wisdom and prosperity? Maybe some

well-deserved peace of mind? Perhaps an exciting summer vacation? One million dollars? A miniature donkey?

Every year, Hubs and I make our annual pot of Hoppin’ John to ring in the New Year - and hopefully bring ourselves a little luck in the year to come. A Southern classic eaten on New Year’s Day, traditional Hoppin’ John consists of black eyed peas, onion, bacon and maybe a bell pepper or two.

We like ours with homemade cornbread – and the cheesier, the better. So, who was this John exactly, and why was he hoppin’?

Well, in short, I haven’t a clue. There are several theories out there, most stemming from the low country in the Southeastern US: for instance, some say it’s an obscure South Carolina custom to invite dinner guests over by saying, “Hop in, John”; others claim a crippled peddler known as “Hoppin’ John” sold the dish street side in Charleston, South Carolina; or a hungry hubby named John “came a-hoppin’” when his wife called him to dinner one night. Who knows? Who cares? Let’s eat!

@TASTE

In true-to-form fashion, I wanted to jazz things up a bit this time around. I was inspired by a Food and Wine recipe I came across recently, where the lovely Gail Simmons was

INGREDIENTS

taking Top Chef contestants’ biggest flops and reinventing their failed recipes into stellar, flawless successes of her own (an approach I found a little self-indulgent, but whatever - Gail is just so doggone cheeky and charming).

Gail took a Season 4 pigeon pea disaster and turned it into a wonderfully creamy black eyed pea stew with juicy sausages and spicy jalapenos. Now we’re talking.

3 Tbs. vegetable oil 5 Brats or hot Italian sausage links (just over 1lb.) pricked with a fork 1 small onion, diced 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced 2 jalapenos, seeded and minced 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika 1 can (14oz.) whole tomatoes, roughly chopped 2 cans (14oz.) black eyed peas, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish Salt and pepper to taste

In order to save myself some time, I deviated from the original recipe just a bit. Gail’s recipe called for dry black eyed peas, which you soak overnight, then cook for over

INSTRUCTIONS

an hour until they’re nice and tender. Sorry, Gail, but I’ve got other things to do than watch beans boil; so instead, I used canned black eyed peas, and they turned out just as good, if not better. The original recipe also calls for hot Italian sausages, but I think any sausage, whether it’s sweet Italian, German brats or your favorite smoked kielbasa, would work just fine – use what you like! One final tweak: Got a few extra beers around the house?

Maybe you didn’t float the keg from your New Year’s Eve bash? Try substituting the chicken broth with beer – preferably a light ale or a lager – and your beans will take on a whole new flavor.

In a large Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil until it’s shimmering. Add the sausages and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until they are browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer the sausages to a plate and cover loosely with foil.

Add the onion, bell pepper and jalapenos to the pot and cook over medium heat until just beginning to brown at the edges, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and smoked paprika, and cook for a minute longer. Add the tomatoes and their juices, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the black eyed peas and chicken broth, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring the pot to a boil. Lower the heat to low, cover the pot half-way and simmer for about half an hour.

Cut the sausages into ½” slices and add them to the pot, along with any juices from the plate. Add the chopped cilantro, adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper, and allow the stew to simmer for 10 minutes longer. Ladle into big bowls and garnish with a little more cilantro.

Serve with corn bread or a good, crusty bread.

Whether it’s New Year’s Day, Day-After-New Year’s Day, or Day-Day-After – well, you get the point. This pot of beans is good anytime during this chilly winter season as a bellywarming, comforting meal, especially when it’s served alongside some homemade cornbread. And who knows?

Step by step photos AtUrbanMagazine.com.

It may just bring you luck any time of year. Enjoy!

43

a night in the clouds

Terry and Patsy moved from Florida to Eureka in 1977. Years later the two started building cabins, and Terry used what his father

the original treehouse cottages

taught him. “My dad is an architect and builder, and we built

@story Tonya McCoy @images Original Treehouse Cottages

first property the couple had descended at a steep forty-five

homes down in the Florida Keys and they’re all up on stilts.” The degree angle, so they needed something that could be built on

A

string of white lights wraps around the rails of a cedar

a slant. The idea worked so perfectly that architecture classes

and pine walkway leading to a treehouse cabin hoisted

from the University of Arkansas visited the cabins to take a look.

twenty-five feet above the ground. The walkway begins on the grass and continues until the ground below drops off steeply

For each of the treehouse cottages, the couple chooses the site

into the green woods. Red-tailed hawks and chipping sparrows

by taking a bird’s eye view. Terry gets out the tall ladder and Patsy

fly at eye level and you can reach out to touch the rough

climbs a tree in the woods and scouts the area. “The thing is, it’s

midsections of fifty-foot tall pines. Patsy and Terry Miller began

so weird to get that feeling when you’re alone up on the tree, that

building these cabins in the sky almost two decades ago at

this is going to be the floor, and you’re so high,” says Patsy.

Original Treehouse Cottages in Eureka Springs. “What gave me the idea for this boardwalk is down there in the Keys they have

After the first three cabins, Patsy and Terry were able to expand.

elevated boardwalks going through the Everglades and stuff, so

They bought thirty-three acres of woodland at the edge of the

I wanted that kind of a feeling,” says Terry.

city. The process that followed was a simple one: When Patsy

44

@DESTINATION

and Terry agreed on a site, Terry and his crew cut a path through

outside the cabin with her easel and paints, on one of her stays,

the trees, making a driveway. Terry then used the wood to make

and created the piece for the couple. In another cabin stands

the actual cabin. You can count the rings to tell the age of the

an antique wooden armoire all the way from Ireland, with a

cedar posts that make up the railing of a deck that wraps around

mirrored door locked by a tiny rounded key.

each cabin. Leaves rustle as white-tailed deer graze several The furniture is sometimes from far away, and so are the guests.

yards below. “Look Pop, look at the antlers,” Patsy says to Terry.

There have been visitors from as far as Ireland and Canada. And in With huge windows opening up to a treetop scene, you never

the U.S. folks have traveled from New York and California. In fact,

feel like you’re far from nature, even when you’re indoors.

the couple accepts reservations a year ahead of time. They are

Just outside a ten-foot window, several guests have spotted a

open year-round and some visitors have stayed more than a dozen

mischievous squirrel named Jasper, who hangs upside-down to

times. Sometimes in the winter, the cabins are at their highest

steal birdseed from a feeder.

demand. “When it snows, people call begging to get in,” says Terry.

At night, a skylight just above the large four-poster bed reveals

With the cottages in such demand, many ask the Millers why

the moon and stars. Knot-holed cedar trims the rock fireplace and

they haven’t expanded the business, especially with others now

walls. The rounded pine wall gives guests a cabin feel, but rustic

building “imitation” stilted cottages in Eureka. Patsy answers,

would not be the right word to describe this luxurious get-away.

“Their idea is building right next to each other and there are a

The wood is new and light, and the floor is varnished to a silk.

whole bunch of them. That’s not what I want to do. That’s not what’s in my heart.” With seven treehouse cottages total - four

Four-foot windows surround the indoor Jacuzzi on three sides,

of which are built on thirty three-acres, there’s plenty of room

offering an aerial view of the forest. Tiles, handmade by Patsy,

for couples to spend some alone time, actually alone.

line the surfaces around the tub and work their way through the kitchen and bathroom. Terry boasts about his wife’s pottery,

But don’t worry about being completely cut off from civilization.

explaining that she also made the plates, bowls, and mugs at

The cottages have WiFi and satellite television. But there are

the cottages. “She’s in charge of all the decorating and all the

also small touches you might not expect, like fresh cut flowers

colors and this and that… She’s got a definite idea for things and

and loaves of homemade pumpkin bread.

she’s got real good taste in that,” says Terry. “Thank you, Pop,” Terry looks at his wife, then glances around the cottage, “This is

replies Patsy. “It’s true,” Terry says.

heart and soul stuff, this all has our heart and soul in it.”

When the two aren’t making things by hand for the cabin, they’re For more information go to treehousecottages.com.

looking for unique touches they can add. A watercolor portrait of a treehouse cabin by local artist Julie Kahn Valentine hangs on the wall of a dining area in one of the cabins. Valentine sat

45

going local

greenhouse grille takes dining back to its roots @story Sarah Rumsey @images Meredith Mashburn

46

@DESTINATION

W

hen owners, Jerrmy Gawthrop and Clayton Suttle, first decided to open Greenhouse Grille in Fayetteville, they

knew they wanted to start small. “Neither one of us had any restaurant experience prior to opening in May, 2006, and we didn’t know what would come of it,” Jerrmy explained. But the eatery quickly became a staple in Northwest Arkansas, and was bursting at the seams.

So the restaurant, known for its fresh, organic menu with herbs and vegetables grown right in the parking lot, moved to its larger location at 481 South School about a year ago. Now it’s three times larger and even more popular.

When I stepped inside Greenhouse Grille, I immediately appreciated the ambience. A guitarist was strumming a Jack Johnson tune in the background and I couldn’t help but feel as if I had entered my ideal restaurant. Good music, good food,

Jerrmy and Clayton make it a priority to support what’s local.

what more could I ask for? I was offered a list of organic wines

“We try to make use of every resource,” Jerrmy explained. “We

and beers to look over while I munched on Shitake Mushroom

avoid chemicals and preservatives, and stay true to making

Fries. My party ordered another batch before we ever finished

fresh, organic choices. We also try to recycle and compost as

the first. The seasonal menu offers dish after dish made with

much as we can, limiting trash to one bag a day during the week

fresh produce and fresh meat. “We try to plan the menu based

and two on weekends.”

on what the farmers are growing locally,” Jerrmy said.

“At the end of the day, we wanted to do something good,” Jermy Diners are lining up to taste the innovative dishes, which are

said, encapsulating their mission in one simple statement. And

prepared daily. Whether you’re in the mood for one of the

from good food, to good music, to providing an example of

staple items, such as the popular Grilled Buffalo Burger served

sustainable living, the Greenhouse Grille is doing just that.

on an organic roll with sweet potato fries, or a weekend special like the Roasted Pumpkin and Mascarpone Risotto with chives,

Greenhouse Grille is open Tuesday through Thursday 11:00 to

parmesan cheese, and toasted pumpkin seeds, you can’t go

9:00, Friday and Saturday 11:00 to 10:00 and Sunday brunch

wrong. Greenhouse Grille offers it all. “Our staff is incredible.

10:00 to 2:00. Entrees range in prices from $12 to $26.

Everyone works together. We listen to music and get inspired to More information is available at greenhousegrille.com

make great things happen,” Jerrmy said.

47

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