An Arkies Musings

I was honored to be asked to officiate my niece Stacey's wedding. I love Luke and Stacey. They have such a zest for life. This is their story as I told it during the wedding ceremony. Once upon a time in a land not so very far away lived a girl with beautiful golden hair. One day a friend of the golden-haired girl suggested a date with the prince of the great land to the north. Although the golden-haired girl wasn’t really looking for a prince, she agreed to a group date. The prince thought a visit to a land not so far away might be nice, but when a mutual friend said the girl with the golden hair would be perfect for the prince, he saw warning flags waving. The prince arrived fashionably late to the group date at Kennedy School. The golden-haired girl along with some mutual friends socialized late into the night. As the evening was coming to a close, the prince, knowing that he had a long ride home, excused himself to visit the chamber pot.  When he returned, he ask...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the August 24, 2016, issue of The Mena Star I have always enjoyed watching the Olympics. I have passed on my Olympic passion to my daughter. When she was five years old, her hero was Olympic hurdles gold medalist, Edwin Moses. She would set things up in the hallway and practice jumping over them. This year is the first time that I haven’t been spending every evening watching the Olympics. Earlier this year we made the decision to do away with our satellite television. I’m still interested in the Olympics, but now I keep up with it by reading articles on the internet. Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, and Usain Bolt are top performers in these games, and there have been lots of articles about their medal winning performances. As I was reading Olympic news, a story grabbed my attention. It didn’t involve any well-known names. It wasn’t about an American medal winner. It was a story about lending a helping hand. During a qua...

During the past few weeks, I have been able to photograph some interesting skies around town. Because my iPhone is always with me I have been making an effort to take photos when I see something that interests me. One day as I was pulling into the Wal-Mart parking lot, I noticed that the sky had some very dark clouds. When I came out the sky was even darker. As I was driving home I saw a break in the clouds that made an interesting photo. On another evening the sunset color was so bright that I could hardly believe it. As I was stopped at the red light, I took a quick photo. I have taken several sunset photos in town in the last couple of weeks. This one was taken while my wife and I were taking an evening walk at RMCC. One evening as I was going home, the clouds to the south were reflecting the colors of the sunset. I stopped by the Old Bank Antique store to take this photo. Evening color made an interesting backdrop for the flags at Jans...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the August 17, 2016, issue of The Mena Star Recently the Relay For Life of Polk County held their fifth annual Celebrity Waiter fundraiser. As a member of the planning committee, I spent many hours on the phone asking people if they would like to participate. As I contacted person after person, I started feeling rejected because I wasn’t getting any positive responses. As I was making calls, an old song from the fifties came to mind. Travis and Bob sang the song “Tell Him No.” The lyrics said, “Tell him no, oh-oh-oh. Tell him no, oh-oh-oh. When he asks for a date, tell him no, oh-oh-oh. Tell him no.” After each call, the song went through my mind. After dozens of calls with no success I started to feel like the story found in the Bible in Luke 14:16-20 (NLT), “Jesus replied with this story: ‘A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, “Come, the banquet is r...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the August 10, 2016, issue of The Mena Star My wife recently spent a week in Chicago. She traveled to Chicago by train, and while she was there, she relied on public transportation. Being without a car was a new experience for her. There were significant delays on her train trip to Chicago, and she arrived several hours late. As she waited for her train back home in the downtown Chicago train station, my wife began to worry about getting on the correct train in the crowded and extremely busy terminal. Over the public address system, a service was advertised that gave you access to a lounge with drinks and snacks and a personal escort to your train. Wanting to make sure she got on the correct train, my wife used the service. The train trip back was on time and uneventful. While my wife had a great trip, not every traveler has that experience. A while ago, I received a phone call shortly after I arrived at work. A caller from Minnesota was ...

More than $15,000 was raised during the 5th annual Relay For Life of Polk County Celebrity Waiter Event held on August 5th. Lou and Denni of Mena Mountain Resort prepared a delicious meal, and 11 local celebrities waited tables for tips. The room looked beautiful as each celebrity decorated their table.  The tables had themes such as Salsa Night, Vintage Aviation, Honoring Those Who Serve, Gilligan’s Island, Roaring 20’s, Survivors, and Masquerade. Many of the waiter’s guests dressed according to the theme. Farrell Cole with help from Loyd Shrum auctioned off donated items. The local celebrity waiters who participated in the event were; Oscar Sanchez sponsored by Papa’s Mexican Cafe, Regina Lawry and Barbara Holdeman sponsored by USEM Federal Credit Union, Jim and Joyce Stroope  sponsored by Nidec, Christy Green and Paula Jewell sponsored by Bear State Bank,  Cassondra Gortemiller and Teresa Bates sponsored by Union Bank and Five J Electric, Amanda Spoon spons...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the August 3, 2016, issue of The Mena Star Recently my wife celebrated her birthday. A friend of hers baked her a cake and decorated it beautifully in my wife’s favorite color. There was quite a bit of the cake left over after the birthday meal celebration. My wife and I have been trying to limit our sugar intake, but this cake and the frosting were so good that I wasn’t able to resist. I did limit myself to a small piece of cake each evening until I had finished all of the leftover cake. As I was eating cake, an old proverb came to mind that I’m sure you have heard, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” The use of this proverb goes back hundreds of years. A 1546 collection of proverbs by John Heywood has the entry, “Would ye both eat your cake, and have your cake?” In his Yale Book of Quotations, Fred Shapiro included a John Davies quote from 1611: “A man cannot eat his cake and have it still.” “Let them eat cake” is another well kn...