citizen 102413 blayne and landis stories

YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERVisit us onl ine: www.lovelycit izen.comVOLUME 14 NUMBER 47 OCTOBER 24, 2013

A big time in AfricaRotary officer completes mission tripPage 4

‘A perfect match’

WoodSongs, Eureka made

for each otherPage 8

n Eureka school funds left alone Beebe effort to keep ‘surplus’ funds failsPage 3

n Opera in Ozarks director retiringJim Swiggart has been at helm for 25 yearsPage 5

n Gubernatorial candidate visitsAsa Hutchinson speaks to Carroll County GOP2

Long time coming

Eureka’s best-known fiddler moving on to follow his dreams, but Mountain Sprout pushing on with new member n Page 22

– Lovely County Citizen – October 24, 2013

The Citizen is published weeklyon Thursdays in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

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Dispatch Desk By Landon Reeves

See Dispatch, page 19

Oct. 144:45 a.m. – Caller reported a homeless

man walking up Spring Street. Officer responded and advised that the subject is going to leave Eureka Springs.

9:00 a.m. – ADT reported an alarm going off at the Blarney Stone. Officer responded, but it was a false alarm.

11:12 a.m. – Caller from Romancing the Stone reported a shoplifter. Office responded and to find the employee was mistaken.

4:23 p.m. – Caller from Spring Street reported he had some items stolen from his gallery. Officer responded and took a report.

Oct. 1512:45 p.m. - Subject came to depart-

ment to report his storage unit was bro-ken into and things were stolen.

4:46 p.m. – Dispatch reported Emer-gency Medical Services needed traffic control. Officer responded, but was redi-rected to an alarm.

4:47 p.m. – ADT reported a residential burglary alarm on Fairmount Street. Of-ficer responded; all okay, except for the medical emergency.

11:02 p.m. – Caller reported hearing loud noises from Harmon Park. Officer responded and told subjects at the park that the park was closed.

Oct. 1612:33 a.m. – Officer checked out

alarm on White Street; all okay.1:24 a.m. – Caller reported hearing a

loud noise near Razorback Gift Shop. Officer responded and checked on build-ings; all okay.

7:46 a.m. – Caller tried to assist a cat with a broken leg and it bit her, the cat got away and the caller went to the hos-pital. Officer took report and advised other officers to be on the lookout for a suspicious feline, considered to be armed and dangerous and feigning inju-ry to lure unsuspecting victims.

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October 24, 2013 – Lovely County Citizen –

Eureka school funds safe – for nowAttempt by Beebe to keep ‘surplus’ tax revenue thwarted at Special Session

By Kristal KuyKendall

[email protected] SPRINGS — Gov. Mike Bee-

be’s attempt to permanently confiscate “sur-plus” school tax revenue at eight Arkansas school districts including Eureka Springs failed during the Legislature’s Special Ses-sion last weekend.

Eureka Springs School District stood to lose as much as $1.3 million per year un-der the proposed legislation, which failed to muster enough support for passage during the Special Session that began last Thursday.

State Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, and state Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, were on the front lines of the fight against the measure, which died in committee in both chambers.

“Luckily we were able to join forces with some Democrats and others who op-posed this and get it stopped,” King told the Carroll County News on Monday. “This is purely ego-driven on Beebe’s part. And we are going to remain vigilant even during the next Legislative session that he doesn’t try this again.”

State lawmakers were asked to consider whether the state should permanently con-fiscate all school tax revenue that is above the minimum required to fund public ed-ucation for each district’s students. That school tax revenue is paid in as part of the Uniform Rate of Taxation by local taxpay-ers.

Amendment 74, approved by the state’s voters in 1996, requires that every school district levy at least 25 mils in property tax for the maintenance and operation of the local schools; local taxpayers may elect to pay more than 25 mils toward the school district as well. A mill produces $1 for ev-ery $1,000 worth of assessed property.

State law requires that each district spend just over $6,000 per student on their educa-tion. Under the law, local residents’ prop-erty tax dollars go back to the local school district to meet that minimum per-student expenditure, and the law — and courts’ interpretations of the law — at least some-what addresses what should happen when a district’s taxpayers don’t pay in enough to

cover all the students in that district.But some state officials – including Gov.

Mike Beebe and state Education Depart-ment leaders – have argued that the law is not clear on what should happen when a dis-trict’s taxpayers pay in more than is needed to meet the minimum spending requirement on the education of all its students.

That’s what occurs annually in Eure-ka Springs, thanks in part to the district’s inclusion of the retirement community of Holiday Island. Fewer students than the average neighborhood but higher proper-ty values there mean that Holiday Island boosts the district’s revenue without adding demands on its resources.

The school surplus has equaled about $1.3 million a year lately, and after the state two years ago attempted to keep the extra funds and “redistribute” them to fi-nancially struggling school districts across the state, Eureka Springs joined a lawsuit with Fountain Lake School District, which also enjoys the same “problem” as Eureka.

Late last year, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school districts, stating that under the current law — which they acknowledged was somewhat ambig-uous — tax dollars paid in for school fund-ing belong to the local districts in which the taxes were paid, and do not belong to the state for redistribution.

The Supreme Court denied Beebe’s request for a re-hearing earlier this year. Some language in the court’s ruling, how-ever, suggests that the Legislature could potentially alter the current law and allow the state to keep the excess funds.

And that’s exactly what Beebe had asked the Legislature to do.

“The courts didn’t agree with Beebe when he tried to take the money in the first place,” King said last week, “and then we beat a similar proposal back in the Legisla-ture this past session. Now he’s using a crisis to get what he wants. And if there’s one thing I believe on this, it is that the people deserve a fair hearing on this issue – and they can’t get that if we are forced to rush it through as part of the alleged fix for the health insur-ance shortfall.”

The issue arose last week, in an emergen-cy Special Session, because Beebe made it a part of his proposal for “fixing” the public school employee insurance budget shortfall. Insurance rates are increasing by 50 percent for next year, and state lawmakers have been scrambling to find extra funding so that teachers and other public school workers will only have to cover about 10 percent of the increase.

Both Ballinger and King said last week they were surprised that Beebe had tried to make the school funding issue part of the “emergency” regarding the health in-surance shortfall.

“I’m disappointed that the governor is deciding to muddy the waters with an issue that has nothing to do with teacher insurance,” Ballinger said. “Everybody is in agreement on the other bills related to the insurance, but not on this tax issue.

It is frustrating to me, and it’s clearly an attempt to override what I thought was a solid Supreme Court decision.”

School tax dollars should absolutely stay local, he added.

“We are in a better position to admin-ister those school funds than trying to do it at a state level,” Ballinger said. “Funds that are now going toward paying Eure-ka teachers and providing AP classes and things like that would, under this propos-al, (have been) sent to the state and spent in other districts elsewhere. That money is supposed to benefit the district where the taxes were collected.”

The Legislature ended up approving an additional $43 million in funding for the public school employee insurance fund, meaning that school workers will see just a 10 percent increase in their insurance premiums next year.


By landon [email protected]

EUREKA SPRINGS — The Eureka Springs Rotary Club’s president-elect and her husband have returned from a mission to South Africa and shared their adventure at the last club meeting.

“Well it was a gift from our son,” said Cathy Handley, Rotary president-elect. ”He had bid on the trip at an auction and he thought it was more of a vacation. It turned out to be a missionary trip.”

Her son, Michael Handley, is on the board for Samaritan’s Feet, an organi-zation whose goal is to provide shoes to impoverished children in America and around the world. Their current goal is to give 10 million shoes in 10 years, and they are on the 10th year and a million shoes short of their goal, Cathy said.

“The area that we went to was the prov-ince of Limpopo,” said her husband, Lar-ry Handley. “It was at the very northern tip of South Africa. It is fairly populated with locals and tribes and a fair amount of people from Central African and other Af-rican countries that have had civil wars.”

In Limpopo, they were the guests of Blessman Ministries, a group led by a physician from Iowa, Jim Blessman. The Handleys were able to see the contribu-tions of the Rotary Club’s wells that pro-vide clean water to the villagers. Cathy also met with fellow Rotarians in South Africa to discuss how to write grants to

get funds for additional wells in the area.Blessman Ministries provides food for

tribes as well as education on agriculture, irrigation and other practices that will help them self-sustain, Larry explained.

The Handleys also prepared and pro-vided food for many people while there. In one day, they fed 490 people with rice

that was donated by Iowan farmers, Cathy said.

She also said their group gave shoes to mentally handicapped residents who are mostly ignored by other Africans. The group also gave to other adults and chil-dren, who were extremely grateful, Larry said.

“I am a geographer, and I have taught in colleges and universities,” Larry said. “It is great to go to places like this because sometimes the pictures painted by the textbooks are quite general and you don’t get into the nitty-gritty details of how things fit together, like how their educa-tion system works or how their politics work.”

The Handleys left for Africa on Sept. 26, but months before departure they par-ticipated in several conference calls that let them know what they were getting into and offered additional instructions for

their arrival.“We got there and they gave you in-

structions on what to expect,” Cathy said. “Like keep windows shut because wild monkeys will demolish your room, and we were told that if you see a bug, kill it, because there are no window screens.”

Cathy said every morning she would see a slew of animals that before the trip she only has seen in zoos. She described them as running wild across the country-side and twice as big as captive animals.

The couple is planning a reunion trip for September 2014. They also said that the people who accompanied them were strangers at the beginning of the journey, but by the end they were lifelong friends.

“It was definitely a trip of a lifetime,” said Cathy. “They say that you can leave your heart in Africa, and I think you can, too. It makes you want to go back to help more, and I will absolutely go back.”

Eurekans return from trip to AfricaRotary Club officer’s vacation turned into heart-tugging mission of help

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Photo submittedCathy Handley, the president-elect of Eureka Springs Rotary Club, is shown volunteering during a recent trip to Africa.



Jim Swiggart, general director for Opera in the Ozarks, is retiring after more than 25 years of directing and teaching others how to make music.

Swiggart was born in Chan-dler, Okla., and he attended and graduated from Oklahoma City University with majors in voice, i n s t r u m e n t a l and church mu-sic. He has taught music in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

His connections to Opera in the Ozarks go way, way back.

In 1955, he was a junior in high school and attended a music camp at the Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony. The colony would later change its name to Opera in the Ozarks under Swiggart’s tenure as director.

The colony was previously owned by a German minister, who sold it to Profes-sor Henry Hobart of Phillips University in Enid, Okla. The minister was using it as a church camp, but the grounds were too worn down to continue the camp, so Hobart started a music education program for some of the best and brightest music students from Oklahoma and surrounding areas.

“The first thing he did was call his friends who were they very best pro-fessionals, like Constance Eberhart and Isaac Van Grove,” Swiggart explained.

“Those people brought their skills, and next thing you know there were kids here who have never been around a pro-fessional before and all the sudden there is a professional here sitting across the table from them helping them develop their music talents.”

The first production under Hobart was “Hansel and Gretel” in 1950, and one year later the production was tele-vised and the colony started gaining a reputation.

“It caught on like a prairie fire and everyone wanted to be a part of it,” Swiggart said. “It started in 1950 with 12 students and some staff and by 1955 there were 115 students with an opera company, orchestra and ballet compa-ny.”

As the colony grew, it started attract-ing a more mature and talented student body. Swiggart attended as a student from 1955 until his second year of col-lege in 1958. At that time it was a six-week camp that produced 10 operas a

year, with the support of the Eureka Springs community and the National Federated Music Clubs.

In 1980, after a few years of teaching mu-sic at public schools, Swiggart was ap-proached by his old high school vocal instructor to conduct a band camp at the colony and help them become profitable. With the help of a “brillant college pro-fessor,” Swiggart led

his campers to produce 20 music selec-tions in one week, which is a lot com-pared to band camps at other colleges that only did three in as much time.

“We challenged them, and when you are challenged you grow,” Swiggart said. “Those kids grew very quickly,

and I did that for several years until they needed someone to come and run the opera in 1989.”

With 30 students, a grand piano and the help of Carol Freeman, an instructor who attended the colony and the same university as Swiggart, the colony gen-erated profits for the first time in sever-al years and paid its bills with the help of Swiggart’s leadership and direction. The next year they built an orchestra and started establishing an even bigger, stronger reputation.

The colony changed the name to Op-era in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point in the early ‘90s to help outside music programs and officials from other ven-ues better identify with the purpose and location of the program. They de-cided to keep Inspiration point in the name so that the colony’s alumni could recognize their former program as well.

“This program fulfills a need that no-where else can,” Swiggart said. “I was challenging kids because I wanted them to experience more, and if you teach right, you will get it done. There is no

other pace quite like it in the United States. We give the students a hands-on experience that no one else gets, and that has what made me continue this until the point to where I am ready to retire.”

The music education programs at Opera in the Ozarks have graduated singers to see them go directly to major opera companies, and some of OIO’s alumni have even sung at the Metropol-itan Opera in New York.

“It is a very energizing thing for a person to be a part of someone else earning success,” Swiggart said. “That is why I teach … it is about producing a program that fulfills the needs of young people that inspires them to go on and have a life in music.”

Swiggart attributes all of his success and all of the opportunities he has en-joyed to his experiences with true pro-fessionals at the Fine Arts Colony. He said he and the students he has taught were only able to continue their path thanks to spending time with the great instructors at OIO.

Opera in Ozarks Director Jim Swiggart retiring

Jim Swiggart Photo submittedThe 2013 Queen’s Contest contestants are, sitting, Clare Ray and Cassie Roy; standing, from left, Kyla Boardman, Brenna Malone, Josie Muskratt, and Angela Tenan. Not pictured is contestant Raven Leggett. The Queen’s Contest, part of the Ozark Folk Festival happening this weekend, takes place Thursday night at The Aud beginning at 7 p.m. and features entertainment by The HedgeHoppers.

Queen’s Contest participants

“It is a very energizing thing for a person to be a part of someone else earning

success. That is why I teach … it is about producing a program that fulfills the

needs of young people that inspires them to go on and

have a life in music.” – Jim Swiggart


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The Fall Holiday Is-land Presbyterian Church Spaghetti dinner held Sept. 23 was a roaring success, by all ac-counts. Proceeds were presented by Reverend Clare Kel-ley, left, to Jerri Mar-lowe, Carroll County Senior Activity and Wellness Center Director (Meals on Wheels); Mary Os-born, Older Youth Specialist, CASA of Northwest Arkan-sas; and Don Shafer, Mission and Outreach Chairman of Holiday Island Presby-terian Church. CASA and Meals on Wheels each received a check for $1,850.“Thank you to the folks who donated their time, talents, and food to make this annual event possible,” said organizers. “Special appreciation goes out to ev-eryone in the community who bought tickets and joined in for fun, food, and friends. In supporting this event you became a part of something very special and important!”

Photo submitted

Spaghetti dinner a roaring success

The Holiday Island Theater Guild is once again in pre-production for its fall presentation, “The Ladies Man,” a French farce by Charles Morey and translated and adapted from “Tailleur Pour Dames,” by Georges Faydeau. Returning director Elise Buchman is excited to bring this produc-tion to the HI stage.

“It is set in the early 1900s and the Guild is grateful to Celebrations and Traditions by Michelle McDonald for her assistance in bringing the time period to life,” said play staff.

This fast-paced and uproarious produc-tion features a cast of four men and four women, some of whom have seen on the Holiday Island stage before, specifically Ron Huibregtse as Dr. Hercule Molineaux, a middle-aged physician; Susan Vernier as Yvonne, his wife; Yvonne’s overbearing mother Madame Aigreville (Vicky Vander Horn), French maid Marie (Clare Thomp-son Roy) and Bill Harris as Bassinet, a pa-tient of Dr. Molineaux’ with an unfortunate speech impediment. Mary Kolbe reappears on stage, this time as Suzanne Aubin, a patient with an unexplained interest in the

good doctor.Newcomers to the HI stage include

Tom Lukken, as Suzanne’s Prussian hus-band Gustav, and Noah FitzPatrick as Mo-lineuax’ valet.

“In Belle Epoque Paris, the recent-ly married Dr. Hercule Molineaux (Ron Huibregtse) tells ‘one, tiny, little,hardly noticeable lie’ to cover an innocent but em-barrassing indiscretion. From that single untruth tumbles a cascade of increasingly convoluted deceptions, misunderstandings and mistaken identities,” writes the play’s publisher.

The play also includes “more slamming doors than realistic architecture should ever accommodate, all adding up to a hi-lariously zany and infectiously charming farce.”

This production is scheduled for Nov. 7-9. The dinner theater on Thursday night (limited seating, at $27.50 per person) will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday night productions ($10 per person) are at 7 p.m.

For further information, call 479-253-7766 for the dinner theater; or 253-5622 or 253-5385 for Friday and Saturday tickets.

HI Theater Guild play opening

Photo submittedPictured is the Holiday Island Association of the Arts Guild’s cast for “The Ladies Man”: Noah FitzPatrick, Bill Harris, Ron Huibregtse, Susan Vernier, and Vicky Vander Horn. Not pictured are Tom Lukken, Clare Thompson Roy and Mary Kolbe. The din-ner theater on Thursday night (limited seating - $27.50 per person) will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday night productions ($10 per person) begin at 7 p.m. For more information, call 479-253-7766 for the dinner theater; or 479-253-5622 for Friday and Saturday tickets.


By Catherine [email protected]

This will not be Michael Johnathon’s first stop in Eureka Springs.

“I was there about a year and a half ago, and I did a concert at The Aud,” he said, before calling the city’s downtown area “adorable.”

“I loved the people, I loved the mu-sic,” Johnathon added. “Eureka Springs is a perfect place for WoodSongs to come.”

Johnathon’s “WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour” is headlining this year’s Ozark Folk Festival, going on now through Sunday.

Johnathon said City Advertising and Promotion Commissioner Charles Rags-dell and other Eureka tourism officials approached him a year and a half ago at a WoodSongs recording in Little Rock about coming to the folk festival.

“They said, ‘Please give us some time so we can bring it to Eureka Springs,’” Johnathon said.

On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at The Aud, WoodSongs will be taping two shows for listeners (and online viewers) on ra-dio stations around the world (including KUAF in Fayetteville), the American Forces Radio Network, Blue Highways TV Network and public TV stations na-tionwide.

The shows recorded at The Aud will feature a celebration of Ozark folk mu-sic, and Johnathon is encouraging locals – especially families – to come out and enjoy the performances.

“Parents should bring their children to this,” he said. “It should give them a real sense of pride in being from the Ozarks.”

Johnathon said they received hun-dreds of submissions from Ozarks-based musicians to perform on WoodSongs at The Aud.

“Anybody and everybody with a CD sent it in,” he said. “We got a huge pile of CDs, and we picked what I thought

were the best.”For the smaller bands performing on

the show, this means exposure on a na-tional level. WoodSongs has over 500 radio affiliates and is carried on Armed Forces Radio Network. The show has more than 2 million listeners each week, and its accompanying TV show is car-ried on the Public Broadcasting System, with each show being broadcast twice.

WoodSongs has recorded more than 700 shows since the program began in 1999, on Georgetown College’s WRZG radio station in Georgetown, Ky.

“We used to give them the show on cassette tape,” Johnathon laughed.

“We’ve gone from 15 to 20 people crammed in that studio to a 500-person theater in Lexington, Ky.,” he added. “It just grew really fast.”

Johnathon started his days as a ra-dio DJ just after graduating from high school, when a friend gave him a line on a job at KVOZ in Texas.

“A friend of mine thought I would

have fun with it,” he said. “Like many 18-year-olds, I was just looking for something to get me out of my parents’ house.”

So Johnathon drove 44 hours straight, from his hometown of Beacon, N.Y., to Laredo, Texas.

One night, he played “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the ‘60s folk-rock group The Byrds. As the song played, he recalled seeing the songwriter, his Beacon neigh-bor Pete Seeger, performing in his home-town in New York.

“I didn’t even know he was Pete See-ger,” Johnathon recalled of his child-hood.

By the time the song had ended that night in Texas, he decided to pursue a career as a folk singer.

Shortly after that night, Johnathon moved to Mousy, Ky., and explored the folk music scene.

“I started playing music with my neighbors there,” he said.

Johnathon said he and his fellow mu-

sicians started to notice that it was hard-er to get on the radio, giving him the idea to start WoodSongs.

“We needed a gateway to the audience that would respect the art,” Johnathon said. “That’s all I want WoodSongs to be about – who’s good.”

Ahead of the WoodSongs show, John-athon and other festival acts will be per-forming at Basin Spring Park on Friday. The free music begins at noon.

“I’m excited about playing at the folk festival Friday night,” he said.

Following is the full list of performers slated for the WoodSongs broadcast at The Aud on Saturday and more informa-tion about each musical act:

• MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHEY – One of Johnathan’s primary special guests on WoodSongs in Eureka will be Michael Martin Murphey, who is best known for his hits “Wildfire” and “Caro-lina in the Pines.” Murphey has six gold albums, including “Cowboy Songs,” the first album of cowboy music to achieve gold status since “Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs” by Marty Robbins in 1959. Murphey is also the author of New Mexico’s state ballad, “The Land of En-chantment.”

Murphey grew up in Dallas, Texas, where he developed a special love for cowboy songs and stories. As a youth, he enjoyed writing poetry and loved lis-tening to his uncle’s old 78 rpm records – particularly the music of country and folk artists such as Hank Williams, Bob Wills and Woody Guthrie. In junior high school, he began performing as an ama-teur, and later as a camp counselor at a summer camp.

At the age of 17, he took his first “professional” music job, playing West-ern songs around a campfire at a Texas ranch. By the early 1960s, Murphey was playing clubs in Dallas, performing country music, folk music, and rock mu-sic. He won over the conservative Texas audiences with his charm and talent, and

Michael Johnathon: Eureka Springs, WoodSongs are a ‘perfect’ match

Photo submittedMichael Johnathan’s hit radio program, “WoodSongs,” will tape two episodes live at The Aud this Saturday as part of the Ozark Folk Festival.


soon formed a band that developed a sig-nificant following in the Dallas area.

Murphey’s first big break came through his friend Michael Nesmith, who had become part of the popular television musical group, The Monkees. Nesmith asked Murphey to write them a song for the next Monkees album, and Murphey composed “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round.” The album “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” sold more than 5 million copies.

Murphey went on to write hits such as “Geronimo’s Cadillac,” “Carolina in the Pines” and his masterpiece “Wildfire.” His 1990 release “Cowboy Songs” was the first Western music gold album since Marty Robbins’ 1980 album “Number 1 Cowboy.”

Murphey went on to record a series of “Cowboy Songs” albums that reinvigo-rated the Western music genre. Murphey has multiple Grammy nominations and six gold records. His songs have been re-corded by Kenny Rogers, John Denver, Cher, Lyle Lovett, Flatt and Scruggs, Hoyt Axton, Roger Miller, Bobbie Gen-try, Michael Nesmith and the Monkees.

For more information, visit www.michaelmartinmurphey.com or watch a video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl4Y4FWWkn0.

• LEROY TROY AND THE TEN-NESSEE MAFIA JUG BAND – Also to be featured at the Eureka WoodSongs broadcast will be Leroy Troy and the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band. Leroy Troy and the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band is a six-piece band that has graced the stage of the Grand Old Opry over a doz-en times, and have played all around the world. Leroy was in the cast of the long-running television show Hee Haw, and it shows with their humorous music and corny jokes. Also in the group are “Lonesome” Lester Armistead, David “Ferg” Ferguson, Dan Kelly, and Mike Armistead. Their music has been fea-tured in movies and television shows, but their most infamous performance was playing at Billy Bob Thorton and Angelina Jolie’s wedding.

For more information or to watch a video, visit www.TennesseeMafia-JugBand.com or www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WOP9dW-F78.

• THE CLARK FAMILY TRIO is from Searcy, Ark. They perform modern bluegrass, Americana and Gospel favor-ites featuring tight, three-part “family” harmonies along with finger-style and flat-picked acoustic guitar. Nine-year-old Sally Ann Clark and her big sister, 15-year old Sophie, have grown up sing-ing with their mom, Cindy, who also plays upright bass for the group. They are joined by Little Rock super-picker Bill Nesbitt on acoustic guitar.

For more information: http://Clark-FamilyTrio.com/ or www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdlNZuGwWAs

• CLANCEY FERGUSON has been hailed as “Princess of Bluegrass.” This 15-year-old fiddler from Mountain View, Ark., is the 2012 Arkansas State Junior Fiddle Champion and the 2013 Arkansas Junior Contemporary Fiddle Champi-on. Despite her tender age, Clancey has amassed an impressive list of appear-ances including playing on stage with Rhonda Vincent on numerous occasions and being interviewed by Chelsea Clin-ton for “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.”

For more information: http://Clanc-eyFerguson.com/ or www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF30oXWDvR0#t=22.

• THE OZARK ALLIANCE is a fam-

ily band from Salem, Mo. Alex, Jenny, Allison, Robin, and Dennis Vaughn have been playing together as a band since 2002 -- with the exception of Allison, who was only born in 2004. The band specializes in traditional and modern bluegrass and bluegrass-Gospel music performed around a single mic. They won 1st place in the National Single Mic Championship at Silver Dollar City in 2008.

For a video of the group, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnBFKQE -OX5U.

• MOUNTAIN SPROUT is a high-ly energetic hillbilly music machine, spitting original tunes and blowing minds with witty lyrics and face-melt-ing musicianship. Hailing from Eureka Springs, five incredible musicians work seamlessly to bring forward the kind of bass-thumping, banjo-picking, gui-tar-playing, fiddle-shredding music that makes you get up and stomp your feet.

For more information: Mountain-Sprout.com or www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Gv4xVGXGQ.

• DAVID KIMBROUGH III is a gen-uine bluesman living in Northwest Ar-kansas. He began his career singing alongside his father, the great Junior

Kimbrough. David has recently added the mountain dulcimer to his presenta-tion of original, Delta, North Mississippi Hill Country and cotton-patch blues.

For a video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLp6sEcBOik.

• FIDDLIN’ BANJO BILLY MATHEWS has been playing music for over 40 years in the old-time genre. Still residing in the Ozark Mountains, he is known far and wide across the country for his musical skill and old-time fid-dling ability.

For more information: www.Ban-joBilly.net/ or www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQM1wSGlhJc.

• MARTIN JOHNSON is a native Arkansan and masterful young acoustic guitarist. At times classical, his fretwork drifts fluidly into finger-picking and on into what Martin affectionately refers to as his own “slap-hit” technique, where he uses his fingers to slap the fretboard to create syncopated rhythms and har-monic tones to accompany the more tra-ditional elements of his playing style.

For a video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd58JWV7chg.

• BRICK FIELDS will perform at a Gospel Brunch in Basin Park at noon on Sunday, Oct. 27 to close down the festival. Rachel Fields-Brick and Larry Brick are Arkansas natives who offer a natural approach to original Arkansas blues and folk music. The multi-award-winning couple are definitive blues art-ists, although their repertoire includes originals written by both and of vari-ous genres including Gospel, ballads, folk, and R&B as well as well-tested standards. The Nashville Blues Society has called Brick Fields Music an “Un-leashed cleansing of the soul!” and New Music Of Tomorrow says, “Brick Fields is by far the most soulful artist I have heard in years!”

For more information: www.Brick-FieldsMusic.com

Tickets for reserved seating for the WoodSongs performances range from $35 to $75 (all fees included), and are available at www.TheAuditorium.org.

For a complete schedule, tickets and more information, visit www.Ozark-FolkFestival.com or www.WoodSongs.com.

Photo submittedMichael Martin Murphey, best known for his hit “Wildfire,” will headling The Aud per-formance and taping of the international radio program “WoodSongs” Saturday.


Guest EditorialLetter from our state lawmakers

Citizens of the Week

david “d

-bo

b” Cro

okDespite facing terrible odds and the

opposition of the state’s Executive Branch, after a 33-hour special ses-

sion, the Arkansas House and Senate conclud-ed a marathon process over the weekend that exemplified how a bipartisan effort to do the right thing could yield positive results.

We were privileged to lead courageous leg-islators from both sides of the aisle who took a principled stand and prevented the Governor from appropriating funds from the school prop-erty tax revenue, which would have harmed eight small school districts, including Eureka Springs, and would have violated the Arkansas Constitution.

So, for now, Eureka Springs no longer faces the 17 percent drop in its budget and the neg-ative impact that would have occurred had the Governor been successful in his attempted con-fiscation of local school funds.

While we may justifiably celebrate a vic-tory, we must continue to be vigilant. We

are told this issue will not be brought up for consideration during the Legislature’s Fiscal Session in February; however, we were also originally promised that this issue would not be a part of this special session, yet somehow it appeared.

We have also been told that it will appear again during the 2015 General Session of the Legislature, so we must stay alert to any op-portunities for individuals who may attempt to challenge current law and ultimately seize funds that belong to our schools.

Rest assured we will remain diligent and constant as we continue our effort to do what is right for the hard-working taxpayers of Carroll County and our fellow Arkansans.

We will continue to work to be good stew-ards of our state and local resources and make government as efficient as possible while pro-tecting education in our community.

— STATE SEN. BRYAN KINGSTATE REP. BOB BALLINGER

Blayne Thiebaud is this week’s Citizen of the Week. The Mountain

Sprout fiddler is leaving the Eu-reka Springs-based band after seven years, and moving to Ha-waii. (See related article on Page 22.) Blayne has brought smiles to thousands of faces, including ours, and inspired no-telling-how-many new jigs as the most energetic and enthusiastic mem-ber of the popular hillbilly-blue-grass band. His soulful, thought-ful and spiritual demeanor when he’s not on stage — and his pure, honest character — are a stark

juxtaposition to his on-stage party personality. It takes a big person to admit they’re headed in the wrong direction and make a drastic move in order to find themselves and a better path for their lives. Blayne is not only doing it, he has been willing to tell the world about it, inspiring us and likely many of his fans to check the shape of our own ships and right them where needed. We wish Blayne the best on his Big New Adventure, and we hope to see him again — all well-round-ed and spiritually sound — in Eureka Springs very soon.

V e t e r a n s

w e w a n t y o u r

Send us a photo of your veteran and tell us their story. In honor of Veterans Day and those who have served our country, on Nov. 7,

the Lovely County Citizen will print photos of all the local veterans we can find – but we need your help. The Citizen also will recount the best veteran stories

we’ve heard this year – and yours could be chosen!

Send your photo and information to [email protected] or drop it off at the Lovely County Citizen, 3022 E. Van Buren, Suite H, Eureka Springs.

Submissions MUST INCLUDE the veteran’s name, hometown, current age, branch of service, years of service, and contact information for either you or the veteran.

Submission deadline to have your veteran included in this Citizen Special Edition is noon on Monday, Nov. 4.


Send your opinions toCitizen, P.O., Box 679, Eureka Springs, AR 72632, fax to (479) 253-0080 or e-mail to:[email protected]

Editorial PolicyThe opinions on the Editorial page are our opinions. The opinions on the Forum pages are your opinions.All forum entries must be signed and verifiable. We reserve the right to edit submissions.

What do thinkCitizen Opinion by Margo Elliott

What’s your favorite part of the Folk Festival?

James Elliot Tune“Mo Crispy”I love the elabo-rate story telling.

Randy Seward“Egg Man”I stay home raising my 48 chickens.

McKenna Hussey“Ukulele Girl”I always enjoy the parade and all the Fall colors.

Linda Asher Williams“TransientFlamingo”My favorite part of the Folk Festi-val is “The Folk”. There wouldn’t be a festival without all the folks.

Cassie Wilson“Only Ginger in the Irish Pub”The music. Strolling around town, listen-ing to it and watching people dance.

Josie Yerby“Crystal Queen”Our wonderful community com-ing together, and the long history.(See Vernon Tucker’s face-book page for more history)

Citizen Survey

Go to www.lovelycitizen.com and weigh in.

m No! We paid that money for our school district and that’s what it should be used for.: 74.0% (37 votes)m Yes. The whole state should chip in to support poorer school districts, especially when we have extra money we don’t need.: 26.0% (13 votes)

LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONDo you think it’s right for the state to confiscate the “extra” school funding property tax dollars paid by Eurekans if all the money isn’t needed by the local school district? Why/why not?

50 votes cast

Go to www.lovelycitizen.com and weigh in. Vote by Wednesday 9 a.m.

Tell us what you think!Citizen, P.O., Box 679, Eureka Springs, AR 72632, fax to (479) 253-0080

or e-mail to: [email protected]

m I like the parade the best.

m I prefer the live musical performance at The Aud.

m I love the live music at small venues around town.

m I enjoy the storytelling the most.

Stars and Stripes Forever show to kick off flag fundraiserThe American Legion, Walker-Wilson Post #9, in co-

operation with Mayor Morris Pate and the Greater Eure-ka Springs Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce a new Flag Initiative, through which American flags will be installed on existing utility poles throughout Eureka Springs.

The flags will be placed on poles that have street lights, allowing them to be installed permanently. This project will be carried out in stages, with the first stage running from the top of Planer Hill to the Train Station. There are also plans to add a larger flag at the top of Planer Hill, and to encourage residents and local business operators to display flags at their homes and places of business.

The eventual goal is to create a good presence of American flags all over the city, displaying loyalty to our country, support of our servicemen and women and to show our pride as Americans.

A special fund is being established through the Amer-ican Legion to cover the cost of purchasing these flags. To kick off fundraising efforts, Pine Mountain Theater is hosting a special show, “Stars and Stripes Forever,” on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. This show will feature special

music by local performers along with the “Presentation of Colors” by the American Legion Color Guard.

The highlight of the evening will be a keynote address by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Gray, who currently serves as the senior military and veterans’ affairs liaison for U.S. Sen. John Boozman.

The whole community is invited and encouraged to attend this special night to salute our country, our flag and our veterans. The show is free but donations will be accepted.

Individuals can sponsor a flag for $50, and local civic clubs and organizations are being asked to consider sup-porting this event. Mayor Pate has issued a challenge to anyone pledging that he will match a single donation of $500.

For more information contact Jack Baker, 479-253-2519 or Mike Bishop, 479-244-7641. Donations can be dropped off at the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center located in the Village at Pine Mountain.

— MIKE BISHOPPresident/CEO

Greater Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce


Gubernatorial candidate Hutchinson visitsBy Catherine Krummey

CarrollCountyNews@ cox-internet.com

EUREKA SPRINGS – Gubernato-rial candidate Asa Hutchinson spoke to Carroll County Republicans Mon-day night, hitting his platform highlights, talking about his ties to the area and answering questions from the group.

“There’s a lot of energy for the future here,” Hutchinson said of Carroll Coun-ty.

The former United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, Congressman and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary has been coming to Carroll County since he was a child living in Gravette.

“I grew up going over to Bible camp in Green Forest,” Hutchinson said, add-ing he and his wife, Susan, who was also at the Carroll County Republican

meeting, celebrated their first wedding anniversary in Eure-ka Springs.

In discussing his political views and what he would bring to the table, Hutchin-son discussed being against Obamacare and gun control and having a “passion” for job creation.

“What I bring to the table is a conservative philosophy which I’ve been following for the last two decades,” Hutchinson said.

“I believe in more individual choice,” Hutchinson said, referring to Obamacare. “I believe we have a good health care system in place. We don’t need the government involved in that.”

He also talked about how he saw Ar-kansas’ current job market as “non-com-petitive” compared to surrounding states such as Missouri, Louisiana and Texas, adding that the state’s income tax has a lot to do with that.

“We have the highest state income tax, at seven percent,” Hutchinson said, adding – through conversation with State Rep. Bob Ballinger – that while it’s going to be going down to 6.9 per-cent, it should be lower. “Through effi-ciencies… we can lower that rate.”

Locally, he said that “having a voice” on the economic development commis-sion would be helpful in getting more jobs to the area.

“We need to have people on our eco-nomic development commission from every part of the state, especially north-ern Arkansas,” he said.

When asked about another local issue, fluoridation of public water, Hutchinson was unaware that it was an issue gov-erned by state law.

Also to improve the workforce, Hutchinson addressed the need for bet-ter vocational and technical education.

“We have to have that opportunity for good voc/tech education as well,” he said.

Under education, the candidate also talked about the recent threat to the Eu-reka Springs School District’s budget.

“The state should not be able to take the money from Eureka Springs schools,” Hutchinson said.

Additionally, Hutchinson expressed frustration with the Common Core State Standards, citing its omission of cursive writing and mathematics tables.

“It was an idea that made sense at the beginning,” Hutchinson said of the Common Core. “Bureaucracy got a hold of it along the way. … As governor, I will call our secretary of education in and look into changing this.”

When questioned by Sheriff Bob Grudek about the damage done by the government shutdown, Hutchinson said he thought it would have no bearing on next year’s election.

“I believe it’s very short-term,” Hutchinson said. “I don’t think it’ll ef-fect the elections next year. I hope we have the strength to overcome this by next year.”

“I believe in more individu-al choice. I believe we have a good health care system

in place. We don’t need the government

involved in that.”– aSa HutcHinSon

Photo by david bellFormer U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, now a candidate for governor, speaks to Carroll County Republicans at Forest Hill Restaurant on Monday night in Eureka Springs.

Photo submittedThe two area Daughters of the American Revolution chapters of Abendschone and Harrison Colony gathered at the Inn of the Ozarks on Oct. 19 for a luncheon to greet the Arkansas State Regent Jo Ann Cooper and State Vice Regent Mary Deere on their bi-annual visit to meet all of the ASDAR chapters in Arkansas. In front from left are Abendschone Chapter Regent Fayette Schmutzler, Arkan-sas State Regent Jo Ann Cooper, Harrison Colony Chapter Regent Kathleen McMurrin, State Vice Regent Mary Deere, Vive Allen of Harrison Colony, State Chaplain. Back row, from the left, Harrison Colony Chapter Registrar Sally Jo Gibson, Abendschone Chapter Vice Regent Phyllis Jones, and Valerie Water-man of Harrison Colony.

State regent visits DAR chapters


Calendar of EventsOct. 23-27: Original Ozark

Folk FestivalTickets are on sale for the 66th Annual

Original Ozark Folk Festival. Tickets for reserve seating range from $35 to $75 (all fees included) and are available at www.TheAuditorium.org. The Original Ozark Folk Festival has been celebrated annually since 1948, making it the longest consecu-tively held annual folk festival in America. The festival takes place on Oct. 23-27 in Eureka Springs. The music, poetry, sto-ries and art of the Ozarks will be featured throughout the weekend. Bands, musi-cians, singer-songwriters, poets, artists and crafters are encouraged to submit samples of their music or art for consideration. Sub-missions are being accepted until Sept. 15. They can send a press kit or digital samples of their work to [email protected]. They can also mail their sub-mission to the CAPC, 121 East Van Buren, Suite 3B, Eureka Springs, AR 72632. For more information, please visit OzarkFolk-Festival.com and WoodSongs.com.

Oct. 24: Library help for writersThis Thursday, Oct. 24, Carnegie Li-

brary Director Loretta Crenshaw will speak on the library resources available to writers. She will demonstrate use of the EBSCO databases and show how the li-brary can help with research, craft, English or story. The evening begins at 6 p.m. at the Village Writing School at 177 Hunts-ville Road in Eureka Springs. Writers’ Night Out is a free weekly event open to the public. Come learn how the library can make you a better writer. For more infor-mation, call 479-292-3665.

Oct. 25: Mad Hatter BallThe 11th Annual Mad Hatter Ball is

scheduled for Friday, Oct. 25 from 6:30 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. Tickets will be avail-able starting 3 p.m. the day of the ball at the will-call desk in the lobby of the Cres-cent Hotel. Maybe you will go home with a beautiful, one-of-a-kind art masterpiece by a featured ESSA instructor in the silent auction. Don’t forget to enter the hat con-test for a chance to win a prize. All pro-ceeds raised support educational program-

ming and operating expenses at Eureka Springs School of the Arts.

Oct. 25-26: Voices from a Silent CityThe Eureka Springs Historical Museum

will host its fifth annual “Voices from Eu-reka’s Silent City” cemetery walking tours on Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26. The living his-tory tours feature live actors in period cos-tumes telling the stories of early citizens of Eureka Springs. Tours begin at 5:30 p.m. with the last at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children 12 and under. They may be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce, any Cornerstone Bank loca-tion or the museum. There is no parking at the cemetery, but free parking and shuttle service will be provided at the former Vic-toria Inn parking lot located on Hwy. 62 East. Tickets will also be available at the parking site, or may be reserved by calling the museum, 479-253-9417.

Oct. 26: Large item trash pickup day in Western Carroll County

Carroll County residents are invited to participate in the eighth annual Load Up Your Pickup Day, to take place on Oct. 26 at the Beaver Lake Exxon at the inter-section of Highways 62 and 187, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Accepted items include old appliances, old furniture, tires, electron-ics, sinks, toilets and bathtubs. Volunteers are needed at the locations to assist in di-recting traffic and unloading vehicles. For more information, call Gary Gray at Car-roll County Solid Waste at 479-253-2727 or 870-423-7156.

Oct. 26: 4-H Trick-or-Treat for charityThe Carroll County 4-H will Trick-

or-Treat for nonperishable food items on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to noon. The food will go to Loaves and Fishes, a food bank in Berryville. Put donations by the door and they will pick it up. For more information contact the local 4-H office at 870-423–2958.

Oct. 26: Pancake Breakfast FundraiserHungry? Come to the Berryville Senior

Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, and enjoy fresh homemade pancakes. Breakfast will

be served from 7 to 11 a.m. Plain, blueber-ry, pecan and chocolate are just some of the choices you have, in addition to sausage plus all the juice and coffee you can drink. All proceeds go directly to the Meals on Wheels program, which provides nourish-ing meals to residents of Carroll County. Bring a neighbor, bring a friend and enjoy conversing and visiting others who come out to support this worthy cause. The Pan-cake Breakfast is sponsored by the Carroll County Republican Committee. Join us as we work to help provide for the needs of Carroll County residents in need. The cost of the delicious pancakes is by donation at the door. The Berryville Senior Center is attached to the Library and Courthouse Annex.

Oct. 26: 18th Annual Howl-O-Ween Spooktacular

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge has scheduled its 18th Annual Howl-O-Ween Spooktacular for Oct. 26 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Games, food and a children’s cos-tume contest provide a fun experience for all ages. The annual Halloween party is the only time the refuge animals can be viewed in the dark of night. Visitors to the refuge during the day will be allowed free entry to the Spooktacular party in the eve-ning, but must exit the refuge at 6 p.m. and re-enter with a pass at 7 p.m. to allow the staff preparation time for the party. Normal admission prices apply: $15 for adults, $10 for children 12 and under, seniors and mil-itary members. Children under 3 are free. All donations are welcome. For refuge and event details, visit www.turpentinecreek.org or call (479) 253-5841.

Oct. 28: Hog farm presentationThe Waterkeepers Alliance will have a

presentation on hog factory farms on Mon-day, Oct. 28, at 5:30 p.m., in the Eureka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship church at 17 Elk St. Please bring food and drink to share after the meeting. Waterkeeper Alli-ance professionals will discuss impending health and economic issues, pollution of air and water, and the threat to the entire Buffalo National River watershed.

Nov. 2: Fall Village Craft ShowThe Village at Pine Mountain on U.S.

Highway 62 in Eureka Springs will be

hosting its annual Fall Village Craft Show on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Applications are currently being accepted for booth spaces. Spaces are 12’x12’ and cost $35, or $40 for a space with electrici-ty. Only handmade items are allowed. For more information, please contact Gayle Voiles at 479-244-6907 or 479- 253-7047.

Nov. 2: Help for children’s authorsBerryville’s award-winning children’s

writer, editor, and publisher Craig Fro-man will conduct a half-day workshop on Writing for Children at the Village Writ-ing School in Eureka Springs on Nov. 2. The workshop will begin at 1 p.m. at the Village Writing School at 177 Huntsville Road. Cost for the half-day workshop is $25. For more information, call 479-292-3665.

Nov. 3: Grizzly bear habitat debuts at Turpentine Creek

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge will introduce their popular grizzly bear, Bam Bam, to his new enlarged habitat with a grand opening celebration at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3. Bam Bam, a 6-year-old male grizzly bear rescued by TCWR in 2009 from a private owner, has become a visitor favorite with his “hind-and-seek” antics and love of his miniature stock tank soaking pool. Thanks to private and cor-porate donors, Bam Bam will move from a small concrete and wire enclosure to al-most a half-acre natural habitat featuring an in-ground swimming pool with a water-fall. Bam Bam will be relocated from his current enclosure to his new indoor den in the all-new Bear Bungalow Building. His den door will be opened an 10 a.m. with a special ceremony so visitors can see Bam Bam feel grass between his paws for the first time. All interns, staff and the refuge Board of Directors will be on hand for this historic achievement by Arkansas’ most popular wildlife sanctuary. The refuge opens at 9 a.m. for wildlife viewing with hourly Walking Tours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Trolley tours also available. Wildlife feedings start at 5 p.m. Normal admission prices apply, $15 for adults, $10 for chil-dren 12-under, seniors, and military mem-bers. Children under 3 are free. For refuge details, visit www.turpentinecreek.org or call 479-253-5841.


By Kristal [email protected]

Many of his Eureka Springs neighbors may not know it, but Ron Landis, 59, is known all over the world for his coin en-graving and minting skills. He maintains a studio on White Street where he mints coins using methods and machinery typical of 200 years ago, and he hand-engraves “hobo nickels,” which he sells to collectors all over the world.

But this past weekend, he gained quite a bit of new notoriety for his musical ability — something most Eurekans are already very familiar with. His former band, the Doe Brothers, was the “house band” at Chelsea’s Corner Cafe & Bar for years, beginning in the 1980s, and now he regularly sits in with several different groups all over town and plays with his “regular” group, Magic Mule. He has long been known around the region for his guitar and mandolin playing, but here lately, he’s built a reputation as a skilled performer on dobro and on steel gui-tar, also called “lap steel.”

Over the weekend, Landis won not one but two picking contests at Yonder Moun-tain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival, which took place last Thursday through Sat-urday at Mulberry Mountain just north of Cass on Highway 23.

On Friday, he entered the mandolin-pick-ing competition and went up against three other entrants; Landis won, and his reward was $50, a basket of prizes and the oppor-tunity to perform a song with Mountain Sprout. The prizes including things like T-shirts, a wool cap, artwork, a copper bracelet, a hand-carved Jerry Garcia hand-print, and “lots of other neat stuff,” Landis said.

“My main competition then was a young hippie-looking kid, he looked a lot like a young Sam Bush and he was really good,” he explained. “It was a really close decision between the two of us, so I ended up sharing my prizes with him.”

The performance part of the prize ended up being a lot more fun than he’d expected, he said.

“When I got up to the stage, it was dark, and Grayson (lead singer of Mountain

Sprout) asked me my name,” Landis said. “I guess he couldn’t see me with the lights shining in his face. I said ‘Ron Landis,’ and he looked closer at me and said, ‘Oh, it’s you! Get on up here!’ So because I knew them and they knew me, they let me play the whole show with them.”

Despite the rain and frigid temperatures that evening, there were hundreds of fans present (if not more) and “they knew all the words to the songs, it was a lively crowd,” Landis described.

Saturday morning brought the guitar flat-picking contest, which requires that you use a flat pick — and not fingers — to make the notes.

“The Sam Bush-looking kid was also my main competition at guitar, and he was real-ly good but he did the finger-picking style,” Landis explained. “There was another guy who was pretty good too, but what hurt the other entrants was that their styles just weren’t appropriate for a flat-picking com-petition.”

Landis won that contest, too.And because he won both competitions,

he was awarded the opportunity to choose which instrument to play and which band he wanted to perform with on the Main Stage that evening. He chose Railroad Earth, an internationally renowned progressive jam-bluegrass band based on the East Coast that headlines major festivals all over the country and has for over a decade. And he decided to play the mandolin with them.

“I really wasn’t that familiar with Railroad Earth before that, but they really rocked,” Landis said. “They were great sports about it. I told them, ‘Thanks for letting a new guy come in like this, it’s got to be a scary thing sometimes,’ but they were very cool about it and had fun with it.”

When Landis was introduced by Railroad Earth and he walked out on stage, the audi-ence — several thousand people — emitted the loudest cheers they had all evening, by all accounts.

“I had a lot of support out in the audience, and it felt so great,” he says. “I savored every moment of it; it was a huge rush for sure.”

Landis says the moment was definitely a lifetime high point, right up there with the

time that Sam Bush sat in with his former band, the Doe Brothers.

“Sam Bush is one of my heroes, so that was really special,” Landis recalled. “But Saturday night, they had the light show and thousands of people in the audience and the fog machine and everything.

“The Railroad Earth guys were so cool; they hammed it up a little and really let me milk it while I was up there on stage. It was so much fun!”

The band members and Landis performed the song “Old Dangerfield,” a classic but difficult bluegrass tune by Bill Monroe — another one of Landis’ musical heroes and major influences.

It was the same song Landis had per-formed in his competition, so he was very familiar with it after learning it and practic-ing it over the past several weeks.

“They suggested that song, and it’s the only tune I’ve been playing for the last two weeks, so I was prepared,” he said. “I played it for the band backstage before the show to show them I knew it and how I played it. The Railroad Earth guys suggested that we slow it down and add a little groove to it, and it ended up sounding fantastic I thought.”

The audience – and this reporter – agreed wholeheartedly, as the seasoned music fans on hand literally stopped the show with ex-tended cheers for Landis after the song end-ed. The Railroad Earth members grinned wholeheartedly as they waited for the ap-plause to die down, and the band’s regu-lar mandolin player, John Skehan, held up Landis’ arm like a boxer who’d just won a big fight.

He sure felt like he had, he said.Landis also plays the banjo, fiddle, har-

monica, tenor banjo, bouzouki, and dobro.A longtime music counterpart and Eureka

Springs fiddler, Chuck Onofrio, said he isn’t surprised by Landis’ victories.

“He inspires me musically, and has ever since we first started playing together af-ter high school in Denver,” Onofrio told the Citizen on Tuesday. “He’s also a great craftsman. The first time I saw him he was playing a banjo he had built. He inspired me to go to instrument repair school to learn how to repair and build violins.

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Ripley is a large solid black cat with thick short hair. She came to the shel-ter in January as a stray. Ripley is most content when lounging on her pillow, but also enjoys batting around a ball with a friend. She is a sweet cat who likes attention, but doesn’t care to be held. Ripley has been spayed, vac-cinated and is ready to go home. She can be adopted for half the usual fee. For more information, call the Good Shepherd Humane Society Animal Shelter at 479-253-9188 or stop by the shelter on Highway 62 East in Eu-reka Springs. Shelter hours are noon to 5 p.m. daily except Wednesdays.

Pet of the Week

Eureka musician makes his mark


“The area we grew up in in Denver turned out some really great musicians like Tim O’Brien and many others – and Ron is one of them,” Onofrio continued. “Right from the beginning we were playing with fantastic musicians, and Ron held his own even in the early years when we were beginners.”

Not long after high school, Landis had formed a band in which he played banjo, his primary instrument of choice at that time. He also had already learned to play guitar. But with several other banjo players avail-able and a scarcity of mandolinists, Landis decided to try his hand at the instrument. It’s known for its difficulty to play, with the strings very close together and chords re-quiring holding down eight strings at once, Onofrio explained. It requires strong hands, fast but short hand and arm movements, and a great ear, he added.

“He really excelled, almost instantly, at mandolin,” the fiddler recalled. “He learned it really fast — within a couple of months of first picking it up, he was playing at blue-grass speeds and had really learned how to get around on the instrument. It takes some people years to get to where he got in a cou-ple of months.”

Onofrio says of all the instruments Landis

plays, mandolin is his favorite to watch him on. “But I’m also really enjoying his dobro playing lately; he’s really come a long way on that instrument too.”

The fiddler says that Landis is one of few musicians that any band can hire, and “Ron can just show up and do a great job without rehearsing with them or anything – and not many people can do that.”

Landis says that music has helped him overcome many challenges in his life, including losing his business partner, best friend and Doe Brothers counter-part in 2005, when Joe Rust committed suicide.

“He suffered from depression, so it was no surprise to his family when he committed suicide,” Landis said quietly. “We had such a symbiotic relationship, it was like someone tore my arm and leg off.”

Landis says he drank heavily for a few years and fought his own depressive battles, before a serious car accident helped him “wake up.”

“I just got back into my music then,” he recalled. “It’s my cozy place; it’s my ther-apy.”

And for thousands of fans last Saturday night, it was clearly everyone’s therapy.

Photos by ???????????????????????


Cocktails for a memorable CauseCocktails for a Cause is a monthly Eureka Springs Downtown Network gathering. The third Thursday of each month, a different business hosts C4C to the benefit of a local non-profit organization. The cover charge and a portion of the sales of each libation goes to the month’s cause. Last Thursday the cause was the Eureka Springs Preservation Society, and the event was held at the Grand Central Hotel. The two-hour “cocktail hour” drew numerous folks who came to have fun talking and networking with their peers. And at this C4C, guests were treated to music by the regular pianist/singer at the Grand Taverne, Jerry Yester, a member of the ‘60s folk-pop group The Lovin’ Spoonful.

AT LEFT: Glenn Crenshaw and Tom Carlin swap stories. AT RIGHT:Susan Ozborne reacts to her first sip of a double-olive martini. Her husband, Guy McCormick sits behind her. The couple splits their time between Wichita, Kansas and their Eureka home on Lake Lucerne.

AT LEFT: Guy McCormick places his order.AT RIGHT: The lobby of the Grand Central Hotel was ground zero for this month’s Cocktails for a Cause.

Photos by david bell


Photos by Charles ChaPPell

Highlander boys handily defeat OmahaThe Eureka Springs Highlander boys’ basketball team defeated Omaha 73-42 on Tuesday in the school’s home opening game. Jake McClung led in scoring with 17 points including three 3-pointers, Reggie Sanchez had 15 points, Ryan Sanchez had 13 points, Trevor Lemme had 11 points including three 3-point shots, and Dalton Johnson contributed 7 points including two 3-pointers. The Lady Highlanders didn’t fare so well in their contest with Omaha on Tuesday, losing 31-27. Abby Moore led with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Samantha Mueller contributed 4 points. The Highlanders travel to St. Paul for their next game, on Friday, Oct. 25.


Voices from a Silent City haunts spectatorsThe 5th annual Voices from Eureka Springs Silent City Cemetery Tour kicked off Friday evening amid scattered showers. Ten locals portrayed various Eurekans and mim-icked their attire and personalities for the tours, lead by six guides – Alexa Pittenger, Carolyn Green, Rochelle Bales, Mary Diehl, Christy Braswell and Glenna Booth. Rod and Phyllis McGuire handled produced the tours with help from the local historical genius of June Westphal.

Ida Bentley, played by Hannah Grat, tips back the forty grains of strychnine after being jilted at the alter by her lover Harvey Bryant, as life without Harvey was too much to bare.

Okemah (Kim) Morrell, played by Karen Pryor, takes time away from playing in The Hill Folk band to entertain the crowd in her trademark costume.

John Wynn, played by Terry Miller, emerges from his unmarked grave in Potter’s Field to fiddle for onlookers.

Claude Fuller, played by Mike Maloney, ris-es aside his gravestone to pose for a pho-tograph.

Augusta “Mama” and Adolph “Papa” Kukler, played by Joanie Kratzer and Jim White, tune their zither moments before the rain showers started.

Perry Mark, played by Tim Grat, stands alongside his pride and joy, the first motorcycle to rumble through Eu-reka Springs.

AT LEFT: Rod and Phillis McGuire stand at the entrance of the cem-etery, greeting tour takers. Along with producing the tours, Rod was also the acting Greeter at the Gate.AT RIGHT: Joe Parkhill, played by Jake Allen, takes time away from putting Eureka Springs in the lime-light to pose amid torchlight.AT FAR RIGHT: John Philip Sou-sa, played by Terry McClung, stands amid the rainfall that was marching all around him.

Photos by ChiP Ford


DispatchContinued from page 2

8:50 a.m. – Animal Control found two stray dogs and followed them to their home then issued a verbal warning to the owners about a dangerous cat roaming the streets, rendering the dogs unsafe for canine passage.

4:24 p.m. – Caller form Victoria Woods reported some missing pills. Officer responded and pills were later found.

8:08 p.m. – Caller from Ridgeway Av-enue reported a domestic disturbance. Officer responded and spoke with com-plainant.

9:58 p.m. – Traffic stop on Highway 62 led to the arrest of subject on a Ber-ryville warrant.

11:10 p.m. – Caller reported a sus-picious vehicle at a gas station’s gas pumps. Officer responded and vehicle

was broken down and the driver was waiting for assistance.

Oct. 17 10:49 a.m. – Caller reported elder-

ly male walking back and forth along. Highway 62. Officer responded and he was okay.

1:45 p.m. – Caller reported her neigh-bor was harassing her. Officer responded and spoke with both parties. Can’t we all just get along?

Oct. 1811:22 a.m. – Routine traffic stop on

Passion Play Road resulted in an arrest.7:39 p.m. – Caller from a local restau-

rant reported a noise compliant on a lo-cal tavern. Officer responded and they turned the music down.

Oct. 191:46 a.m. – Caller from local hotel

reported a man screaming behind the building. Officer responded, but was un-able to locate the subject due to “some

psychopath screaming too loud” for him to hear the directions from dispatch. Just kidding.

3:01 a.m. – Caller from Ridgeway Av-enue reported a noise complaint. Officer responded and told party to keep it down and inside.

8:30 a.m. – Caller advised they had security footage of their neighbor’s dog knocking over their trash cans. Officer responded and a follow-up was made by Animal Control Officers.

7:41 p.m. – Guest from local motel wanted to fill out a police report about a stolen wallet. Officer took report, but wallet was found the next day. I hate it when I report my wallet stolen and then find it exactly where I left it.

8:29 p.m. – Anonymous caller re-ported someone using a leaf blower on Main Street. Officer responded, but the complaints were unfounded, it was just some Texan chasing teenagers with a

chain saw, no need for a report. Happy Halloween!

10:42 p.m. – Officers were advised to be on the lookout for a reckless driver on Mountain Street, but did not locate.

Oct. 2012:26 a.m. – Traffic stop at Rapid

Roberts resulted in a DWI arrest.11:38 a.m. – Caller from Chestnut

Street reported a truck and trailer block-ing his driveway. Officer responded, but no report was needed.

10:30 p.m. – Caller reported a vehicle leaving Grand Taverne headed to Chel-sea’s that should not be driving. Officer responded, but was unable to locate.

11:40 p.m. – Caller reported his dog was missing and ask for someone to no-tify him if it is found. The malingering killer cat strikes again!

11:41 p.m. – Routine traffic stop lead to the arrest of two subjects on charges of DWI and a Carroll County warrant.

Flu shot clinic coming to Carroll County

Those looking to ward off the flu this season should mark Oct. 30 on their cal-endars.

The Carroll County Health Depart-ment will be conducting a Mass Flu Shot Clinic on Oct. 30 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the county fairgrounds.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2013-2014 flu season starts this month and could last for more than six months.

It is recommended that all individuals 6 months of age and older should get the flu vaccine. Vaccinations are especially important for people at higher risk of flu, including health care professionals, children younger than 6 and people over 65.

In addition to the Mass Flu Shot Clin-ic, the CCHD will be providing vacci-nations to students and staff members at area schools. CCHD representatives will be at the Green Forest Alumni Center today from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They will also be at Eureka Springs schools

on Oct. 21 and Berryville schools on Oct. 23.

For more information about any of the Carroll County flu shot clinics, call the health department at 870-423-2923.

Between five and 20 percent of the U.S. population develops influenza, commonly called the flu, each year, according to a release from the health department. This leads to more than 200,000 hospitalizations from related complications. Flu-related deaths occur every year, ranging from a low of about 3,000 to a high of 49,000 people.

The most common problems associat-ed with the flu shot are mild, according to the CCHD. The side effects include soreness, redness or swelling where the shot was given; hoarseness; sore, red or itchy eyes; cough; fever; aches; head-ache; itching; and fatigue.

If these problems occur, they usually begin after the shot and last one or two days. If they persist longer, call your doctor.

Photo submitted Carroll County Extension Agent Randy Forst addresses the advanced class of Master Gardeners. Some 70 people attended the class at First Christian Church on Passion Play Road in Eureka Springs last week.

Master Gardeners get advanced


YOUR Children’s Story

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single writer in possession of a good desire to write must be in want of

a children’s story.Apologies to Jane, and the desire to write

a children’s story is not “universal” among writers. But I’ve been very surprised at how many people who are writing memoir or adult fiction also have a children’s story perking on the back burner. Sometimes, the children’s story is fully written—even illus-trated. Sometimes, it’s just a idea. But it’s been waiting patiently—perhaps for decades.

I, on the other hand, do not have a clue about writing for children. I don’t have a clue about children. They seem mostly to emit piercing shrieks in Wal-Mart or bang things on my coffee table. I’m grateful for the peo-ple who are parents. It’s a dirty job but some-one has to do it.

But what appeals to children in this tech-

nological age? What vo-cabulary is appropriate for each age group today? In what ways are today’s kids more sophisticated in perception than my generation? In what ways are they less? How has cultural and social collective memory and understanding shifted genera-tion by generation? What iconic archetypes are still relevant? Which are not? I can’t an-swer any of these questions.

So what will I do with all these children’s stories that our eager local writers are wav-ing about with excitement? How can I judge where these stories miss the mark and where they hit it spot on?

“A prophet is not without honor,” Jesus said, “except in his own country and among his own people.” Now that is a universal principle. Do we appreciate the quiet talent that lives among us and never draws atten-tion to itself? Do we allow our opinion to be slanted by a difference in ideology?

We have an award-winning children’s au-thor and editor living quietly among us who day by day drives from Berryville to his job in Green Forest. Craig Froman doesn’t have a huge sign on his car to say that his chil-dren’s book won a USA Best Book award. But that, in today’s glutted book market, is no small thing.

Nor does he advertise that in his job as an editor he sees hundreds of children’s man-uscripts in a year; as a publisher, he knows what parents buy; as a trained educator, he knows what children love. Because he loves children and does not see them solely as Wal-Mart shriekers and coffee table demolishers.

So the next question I faced was how to leverage this talent into the most useful workshop for local writers and their stories. Craig and I decided that the quickest way to jumpstart these stories would be to have him critique them, drawing concepts from them that he could then discuss as general princi-ples of writing for children.

And people who don’t already have a sto-ry written can still take the workshop to listen and learn.

I’m calling for submissions now, any-thing from coloring books and picture books

• • •Alison Taylor-Brown has an MFA in Fiction and a lifetime of teaching experience from pre-school to university levels. She directs The Village Writing School, whose mission is to foster the development of area writers through workshops, writers’ circles, and coaching. Her column, Village View, appears weekly. To talk to Alison about your writing goals and dreams, contact her at [email protected] or 479 292-3665.

By Sandra SynarVillage View Alison

Taylor-Brown

Village Writing Schoolupcoming workshops

November 2WRITING FOR CHILDRENHave your Children’s StoryCritiqued by an award-winningChilden’s Author & Publisher1-4 pm $25

Coming in DecemberWRITING YOUR CHRISTMAS STORYA free gift from theVillage Writing School

January 18, 2014GETTING STARTED(the first 2 pages, research,to outline or not, story arc,writing rules to live by)

For more info or to registervisit villagewritingschool.comor contact 479 292-3665 [email protected]

to chapter books. The deadline is October 31. Email your story to me at [email protected] or, if you only have a hard copy, call me at 479 292-3665.

The workshop will be November 2 from

1-4 at the Village Writing School at 177 Huntsville Road. The cost, including the cri-tique of your story, is only $25.

Let’s get these stories finished to keep these kids quiet and off the coffee tables.

Writer’s Night Out to feature Library DirectorThis Thursday, Carnegie Library Director Loretta Crenshaw

will speak on the library resources available to writers. She will demonstrate use of the EBSCO databases and show how the library can help with research, craft, English, or story. The evening begins at 6 pm at the Village Writing School at 177 Huntsville Road, Eureka Springs.

Writers’ Night Out is a free weekly event open to the public. Come learn how the library can make you a better writer. For more information, call 479 292-3665.


The Village Writing School To support our local writers, the Lovely County Citizen is providing space each week to showcase a student of The Village Writing School. For more information, email [email protected] or call (479) 292-3665

This Week’s Writer:

Richard Schoe

“Owwutch!“ winced the boa.In aggravated rage the snake bucked,

and the little gray mouse lost his grip on the sewing needle now deep in the snake’s bottom or where his bottom ought to be, if a snake were to have a bottom.

“That…sthmartths!” With yellow-eyed murder, the snake struck towards the mouse, dumping the little girl out of the tent like a mean jump rope hooking her legs out from under her. Blessing that it was, the little girl tumbled free, having hampered the snake’s strike just enough for the little gray mouse to hop clear, all fangs considered.

His eyes glazing vengefully over, the boa constrictor smoothly drew his body around behind him, picking the needle out of himself as it swam by. He hatefully swore an oath, promising inevitably gruesome doom to the girl and the mouse. Sounds of the jungle escaped from the air, vanishing into muted self-preservation as all the neigh-borhood watched the inevitable fact of jun-gle life and jungle death: how one would feed the other. Then, as abruptly as it had stopped, chatter and play would be resumed by the living.

The little girl scooped the mouse up, hold-ing him high and close, just above her heart. Making slow deliberate steps back and back, her eyes upon the snake, her heart upon the mouse, and her thoughts upon her savior as she prayed, “And deliver us from evil. . .”

The snake coiled, then reached back to strike. . .

“Stuuumphf.” The spear chomped into the ground. Cracking his body like a whip, the boa lashed out for the tall grasses behind the tent with its long body in hot pursuit of its head.

“Stuuumphf. . .Stuuumphf. . .Stuuumphf. . .”another and another and another spear

stitched after the snake’s retreating tail, the last spear just grazing the side of the wig-gling boa as it escaped. A final listphing “ow-wutch’’ was muffled by the rescuing hubbub.

The villagers flooded the grasses, fanning out and poking their spears in unwelcoming jabs ahead of their feet so that if anything were there, it would decide to relocate to a different neighbourhood, one without spears.

• • •A long-time transplanted flat-lander to Eu-

reka Springs, Richard Schoe is the father of three grown sons, is somewhat retired, somewhat self-employed; and the caregiver for his mother, Betty H. Schoeninger.

“Tell me a story, Dad.” “What do want me to tell you?” “Tell me a story about a little gray mouse.” And so began the gray mouse adventures that Richard Schoe told his youngest son. The mouse was the pet of a little English girl who moved to Africa when her parents be-came missionaries. This story makes lavish use of the onomatopoeia so popular with children while keeping the dramatic tension high. Try it out on a child you know.

The Little Gray Mouse and the Boa

The little gray mouse’s fear changed colour. The snake was hungry and had just discovered where the little

girl was sleeping! As if the boa had heard those thoughts,

he moved soundlessly back to the little gray mouse’s cage, nosing up against it, darting his tongue out into the air inside the cage. Quite large enough to keep a mouse in, but what could these ridiculously skinny bars keep out! The little gray mouse backed op-posite the snake, slowly, purposefully until he bumped into the little girl’s pin cushion and pricked himself straight up.

Taking an eyeful of the snake’s darting tongue, the rather sharp-witted mouse hes-itated, then, quicker than a mongoose, the little gray mouse grabbed the longest sew-ing needle, leaped as though shot right at the boa’s face, and stabbing like a sailor, the mouse harpooned the snake’s darting tongue. With a half twist, the mouse bolted the boa’s nose to the cage; his tongue was speared through by the needle and locked against the cage wires. Thrashing in pain, his nose trapped against the cage by his own tongue, the boa flailed and flopped and slam-bam-ded to get loose. The little gray mouse held on for dear life, his dear life.

“Oh! My thtongue! My thtongue! You Ssthabbed my thtongue!” wailed the snake. “Owutch! Owutch! Owutch!”

Like a fresh-caught fish landed on a boat deck, the boa flipped and fluttered. The cage thumped this way and walloped that way and thumped this way again.

“Oh! My thtongue. My thtongue. Let go my thtongue! Bad mouthe. Bad mouthe.”

What a ruckus! The snake bashed and crashed and trashed the orderly contents of the tent most inhospitably. From the little gray mouse’s first stab, the monkey alarm had hoot-hooted the call to the jungle neigh-bourhood. All the village heard.

Well, even a strong and keenly determined

mouse can only hold on for so long against a battering boa a hundred times longer and a thousand times bigger. The cage had quite disassembled itself under such tremendous poundings from the snake, and the little gray mouse was tossed loose outside. Tumbling, rolling he spilled out onto the tent floor, out of the cage, out into the open. . .still holding the needle.

“I am ssthooo mad!” listhpped the swol-len-thtongued boa, ranting his threats on and on at the little gray mouse and prepar-ing his dreadful wrath.

“I am going to eath you! I am going to hide and waith and sthqueeeethze the life outh of every living thing thath comes intho this tenth! Sthqueeeethze them and eath them…All of them!”

“Thwack!” It was the little girl, white-eyed and panting. She swung the broom, straight, even and real hard, just as if the snake’s head were an oversized baseball. Spinning like a ballerina, moving her head only at the last, dipping her raised foot down to stop her spin, planting both feet solid, she unleashed the broom again.

“Thwack!” the snake’s head tried to leave the tent but was held by its neck much like a rope being thrown to some-one needing rescue that drops short when played out.

“My head!” groaned the hateful boa lift-ing himself up off the tent platform. “You are sthooo going thwo be my lunch.”

Like a slinky thrown sideways, the boa uncoiled toward the little girl now dizzy and all unwound after her second swing. The snake, too close to hit and too strong to stop, made his first wind around the girl’s feet before she could think to step away.

The little gray mouse’s eyes snapped wide. The little girl! Up he bound, needle in hand, landing all crouched on the boa’s flowing form, rounding for its second wind on the girl’s legs.


By Kristal [email protected]

Some might say that Blayne Thiebaud IS Mountain Sprout.

No doubt, his energetic and oftentimes wild presence fills up the stage when the Eureka Springs-based hillbilly-bluegrass band performs. Thiebaud, the band’s fid-dler, is never still when he’s playing, bend-ing forward and back, side to side – all while sawing his fiddle with bullet-like speed, lightning-like electricity and stop-watch-like precision.

Reviewers have sworn they’ve seen smoke coming off his bow, and it would surprise none of Mountain Sprout’s fans if that actually occurred. Fans adore his on-stage persona, and Eureka residents have come to adore him off-stage as well. Friends and bandmates alike describe him as a “joker with a spiritual and serious side.”

But now Thiebaud, 30, is leaving Moun-tain Sprout, moving to Hawaii early next week. His last performances with the band will be Friday night, Oct. 25 at Chelsea’s Corner Cafe & Bar, and Saturday, Oct. 26 at a live taping of the international radio program “WoodSongs,” happening at The Aud as part of the Ozark Folk Festival this weekend.

Mountain Sprout has built a reputation over the last seven years as a hard-party-ing, rambunctious, irreverent group whose hits include tunes like “Screw The Govern-ment,” “Marijuana,” “Town Drunk,” “Dry Counties,” and “Tweeker,” which pokes some tongue-in-cheek fun at meth users.

They’ve toured the country a number of times and are favorites in the Mid-South region, particularly at music festivals large and small. The band typically performs several times at major annual Arkansas music festivals such as Wakarusa and Yon-der Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival, which incidentally was last week-end.

Festivals are a favorite place to perform for Mountain Sprout, and its members can usually be found pickin’ and singing around a campfire with friends and fans

till sunrise at such events. It is at festivals that Thiebaud is best known for his row-dy behavior, said lead singer Grayson Van Sickle.

“He’s kind of known for passing out by the bonfire and burning his boots, so he’s constantly having to buy new ones after al-most every festival,” he said with a laugh. “But seriously, he’s the world’s best fiddler in my opinion. He’s irreplaceable, actually. It will definitely be hard to reproduce the kind of energy Blayne brings to the stage.”

Thiebaud’s energy and carefree spirit have made him a lovable character, both on stage and off, but they’ve also led to sever-al abrupt life changes, some hard times and some difficult lessons.

One of those was his unexpected exit from the U.S. Army in 2002. He’d been enlisted for 11 months and was stationed in Hawaii when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred.

“It was intense during that time,” he re-calls. “At first, my initial reaction was that it was some fake military exercise. Then we found out it was real, and we were pret-ty sure we were all going to war.”

Luckily for Thiebaud, the Army units stationed in Hawaii were at the bottom of the list to be sent overseas, so he didn’t have to go. It wasn’t too much later that his independent thinking and penchant for re-bellion got him excused from further mili-tary service. He was honorably discharged, since he “didn’t quite see eye-to-eye with the Army,” he says, grinning.

He stayed in Hawaii for another six months before moving back to his home state of Texas; he grew up in Odessa.

“I got derailed a little bit in Texas by the party lifestyle, so I left Texas and went to Illinois to stay with my older broth-er, Dean, who I’d never really known till then,” Thiebaud explained. “I slept on Dean’s couch for three months. He was in a band called The Woodbox Gang, and that’s when I started really playing music.”

He’d taken violin lessons as early as sixth grade, but had focused on guitar in the years leading up to his move to Illinois. Fans may be surprised to learn that his fa-vorite music to play on guitar was heavy metal: Pantera, White Zombie and Marilyn

Manson were among his faves. Fans also may be surprised to know that Thiebaud doesn’t consider himself a “real” fiddle player. “I just try to mimic whatever I hear and like,” he says. “I don’t even know the lick to Turkey and the Straw, for example, I just play it like I remember it in my head.”

Whatever his methods, it was during his time at his brother’s – who earlier this year moved to Eureka and joined Mountain Sprout as well – that Thiebaud picked up the violin again and began to learn to play it bluegrass-style.

“I’d sit on the church steps at an old church where Dean’s band practiced and listen to them play,” he recalls. “One day, a guy named Adam Wagner walked up to listen, too. That’s how I met Adam.”

The two became fast friends and mu-sic-playing buddies, eventually forming a band called the Broke Strang Band. They performed around the Midwest region, coming through Eureka Springs the first time in 2004.

“I just kept coming back here after that; it was like I never really left.”

At that time, Mountain Sprout was based in New Orleans as a street band with a rotating membership of about a dozen musicians. Thiebaud met Van Sickle busk-ing on a New Orleans street, and he ended up sleeping on his floor for several months, joining the group of Mountain Sprout mu-sicians not long after. They traveled back and forth between NOLA and Illinois, per-forming at bars and festivals in between and staying in Eureka Springs as often as possible.

In 2006, Van Sickle, Thiebaud and Wag-ner sat down and decided to get serious about Mountain Sprout. They were at PK’s in Carbondale, Ill., when they made a pact that they were going to move to Eureka Springs, where their bassist, Melissa Carp-er, already lived.

“Grayson was looking for a place to set-tle down and raise his family, and Eureka was a good centrally located hub for the Midwest to branch out from. We already had some connections in the business here, and a fan base, so we moved to Eureka in

‘It’s Been a Long Time Coming’Fiddler Thiebaud leaving Mountain Sprout; band pushing on with new member

Photo by Joe huFF Performing to a very enthusiastic audience at Harvest Festival last Thursday are Mountain Sprout members, from left, Blayne Thiebaud, new member Mike Schem-bre, Dean Thiebaud, Grayson Van Sickle, Adam Wagner and Daniel Remond.


the fall of 2006,” Thiebaud explained. “I lived in a storage unit with Adam until we got kicked out, in the dead of winter – it was cold as sh**! Later we met Caitlin Cantele and Whitney Capps and ended up renting a house on Owen Street with some of our new friends.”

It didn’t take long for the gang to be-come known as the hard-partying band. Some have criticized Mountain Sprout for this and have advised them to “calm down” and focus more on their musician-ship.

“Duh,” Thiebaud says of those who say the band parties too hard. “It’s always been like that. We’ve been partying hard since before we started playing music. I started playing the fiddle for free beer, who wouldn’t? Then I learned I could ac-tually make money at it, too.”

Mountain Sprout took off, growing in popularity and in reputation. In 2009, Carver quit the band and bassist Dan-iel Redmond of Broken Arrow, Okla., moved to Eureka to become a full-time member.

The party lifestyle and spending nine or more months a year touring and per-forming began to wear on Thiebaud with-in a few years of Mountain Sprout mov-ing to Eureka Springs, he says.

Then, last New Year’s Eve, he decided

it was time to move on. “The lifestyle just got to me, all the

drugs and alcohol that come with being a professional musician and playing in bars,” Thiebaud says. “Grayson joined Alcoholics Anonymous and stopped drinking, Adam finished his first solo CD and starting hitting that hard, and Dan also had a side project, Ice Cold Fat-ty, starting up. I went on a three-month bender and after that I knew I had to go.”

It took a few months longer than he’d planned to make his exit, he says, but it’s all worked out. The band recently hired a new fiddler, Mike Schembre from Co-lumbia, Mo.

Now, Thiebaud is going to pursue “oth-er creative avenues,” though he will also likely end up playing fiddle whenever he can – “just not right off the bat,” he says. “I’m thinking about going to massage school just to have another profession under my belt that has nothing to do with playing music in bars.”

He will be living in the town of Cap-tain Cook on the Big Island of Hawaii, just south of Kona. He has a job lined up working for his room and board by clean-ing, cooking and entertaining for guests at a bed and breakfast, and he has several entertainment-job interviews lined up, he says.

“I’m relieved to finally be moving,” Thiebaud says. “I feel like I don’t have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders anymore, that weight of the lifestyle and being a so-called rock star.”

He says he will miss the people of Eu-reka the most – “and Chelsea’s. It’s just home; it’s the living room of Eureka, at least for me. I still get mail at Chelsea’s.

“It was the first place I stepped into here, literally, and it’ll be the last place I step out of.”

His bandmates are not at all happy that he’s leaving, but they’re determined to carry on with Mountain Sprout’s mu-sic. Redmond says that while Thiebaud does bring the most energy to the stage, “Mountain Sprout is Grayson, who writes almost all of our songs. As long as Grayson is comprehensive, Mountain Sprout will happen.

“I think every one of us is a big part of Mountain Sprout, but we are all ultimate-ly following Grayson’s lead,” Redmond continued. “But I hate to see Blayne go. He’s the most artistic of all of us.”

Thiebaud, listening to Redmond, jok-ingly repeats, laughing: “Autistic or ar-tistic?”

Redmond replied by giving Thiebaud some tongue-in-cheek advice: “You know what I suggest you do before you

go to Hawaii? See as many possums as possible. That’s the first thing I’d miss in Hawaii. ‘Man, I really wanna see some possums.’”

Thiebaud laughed.Then Redmond gets serious, when

asked to describe his bandmate in three words: “Brother I love,” he quickly re-plies.

Dean Thiebaud, when asked the same question, said “World’s best fiddler.”

“I think it sucks that he’s leaving, but he’s got to do what he’s got to do,” the guitarist and protective big brother said. He and Wagner provide acoustic rhythms for the band, taking turns on lead and both contributing vocals as well. “The band will be fine, and I hope Blayne will go get his head together and come back in a few months.”

Time will tell. Meanwhile, Mountain Sprout will tour in support of the new al-bum it recorded two weeks ago, entitled “Long Time Coming,” after a new song written by none other than Blayne.

“It’s been a long time coming,” the song says. “I have paid my dues. It’s been a long time coming, and all my dreams are coming true.”

Theibaud’s fans and friends — and es-pecially this reporter — certainly hope they do.

Photo by kristal kuykendall Mountain Sprout performs last Saturday on the Main Stage at Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival at Mulberry Mountain just north of Cass.


By KristalKuykendall

Mountain Sprout and bluegrass,country standouts

Lively Entertainment By Kristal Kuykendall

Following are my recommendations for the best live music in Eureka Springs this weekend. Below that is the complete schedule of entertainment for Eureka Springs venues during the coming week:

FRIDAYNew Delhi Cafe has lined up quite a treat

of music for Friday, Oct. 25. In the eve-ning, starting at 6:30 p.m., Foleys Van will take the patio stage for a stellar evening of bluegrass music. (For more on bluegrass standout Foleys Van, see www.LovelyCiti-zen.com/blogs/1880/entry/54693.)

During the day on Oct. 25, from noon to 4 p.m., Josh Jennings Band will per-form on the (covered) patio stage. Fay-etteville-based Josh Jennings has been writing and recording music for more than 15 years. His songwriting skills earned

him the top prize at last fall’s 65th Annu-al Ozark Folk Festival held here in Eureka Springs, and he is scheduled to perform in the main event this year, which is also this same weekend, Oct. 23-27.

In June 2012, Josh Jennings Band re-leased its debut album, “Ol’ Car,” which has received great reviews and is being played on Spotify and Pandora as well as local country radio.

Teaming up with lead vocalist, guitarist and frontman Josh is Bob Alexander, a sea-soned flat-picker who adds a lot of drive to their sound, and Kris Hurt holds down the rhythm with upbeat, walking bass lines.

The group performs all originals, but they have a familiar feel and sound to them — likely thanks to the accessible and ami-cable nature of Josh’s songwriting.

Josh Jennings will take the stage at noon Friday at New Delhi at 2 N. Main St. No charge for admission; open to all ages.

ALSO FRIDAYEureka Springs’ own Mountain Sprout

performs their final public show with fid-dler Blayne Thiebaud this Friday night, Oct. 25 at Chelsea’s Corner Cafe & Bar.

You have never seen anyone play a fid-dle as fast and as technically accurate as Thiebaud of the much-loved hillbilly-blue-grass band Mountain Sprout. You just ha-ven’t, and you probably never will again.

What’s more, Thiebaud manages to still hit every note within that lightning speed that leaves rosin burnin’ and smoke coming off his bow. But all of Mountain Sprout’s members are highly energetic, spitting out original tunes and entertaining listeners with whitty lyrics and face-melt-ing musicianship.

You won’t hear Mountain Sprout cov-er old bluegrass standards, either; but you won’t mind when you hear these humorous story-songs about this group of back-coun-try, pot-smoking, nature-lovin’ good ol’ boys trying to survive life in a dry county.

The Sprouts are a full-time working

band and play shows year-round all over the country, including at Wakarusa Music Festival and its younger, smaller sister fes-tival, Yonder Mountain String Band Har-vest Fest, also held at Mulberry Mountain Ranch near Cass.

Critics and fans alike adore Mountain Sprout, which also features Grayson Van-Sickle playing his machine-gun banjo, singing out a redneck novel of the mem-bers’s hilarious lives; guitarist Adam “Chucky Waggs” Wagner, who yanks the melody up by the ear and keeps it kickin’; smilin’ Daniel Redmond, who pulls out cannon-fire notes pounding the stand-up bass; and newest member Dean Thiebaud, with his silky-smooth, country-tinged, deep vocals and Western finger-picking guitar style.

Kevin Kinder of the Arkansas Demo-crat-Gazette wrote of the band after a per-formance in Little Rock: “Mountain Sprout has the look of wild all over them in their long beards and smoke and drink while they play attitudes. It is a potent combina-tion and it works. The Quartet plays wild and loose too, sawing fiddles or trashing banjos. They inject their funny songs about

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smoking and drinking and fighting with fervor and a sense of believability.”

The Sprouts have shared the stage with the likes of global icons Willie Nelson and Leon Russell as well as with jamgrass standard-bearers Yonder Mountain String Band and jamband titan Widespread Panic.

Since late last year, the group has drasti-cally cut back on its national touring sched-ule, and now, news comes in that Thiebaud is moving away and leaving the band as of next week – so you should probably get in on some Sprout love while you still can. (See related article on Page 22.)

Mountain Sprout will take the stage around 9 p.m. It WILL be crowded so get there early. Admission is $5; open to ages 21 and up. Chelsea’s is located at 10 Mountain St., 479-253-6723.

SATURDAYOne of Eureka Springs’ newer original

music acts — with the most impressive songwriting I’ve seen around these parts — Chucky Waggs, is headlining what is sure to be a relaxing-but-upbeat good time along with special musical guests on Satur-day, Oct. 26 at Chelsea’s.

Chucky Waggs, which is actually Adam Wagner of Mountain Sprout fame, will perform with some of his more talented musical friends.

Chucky Waggs features upbeat acous-tic guitar music with vocals in the style of traditional Americana, classic country, folk and blues, with a little bit of old punk fla-vor thrown in for good measure — though the “punk” mostly comes through in the lyrical form, not the musical stylings.

Wagner explains: “The melody and chords and song structure are more rooted in old-time, traditional music, Americana, folk and blues stuff, while the lyrics are a bit more modern — I still listen to a lot of the old punk bands I grew up with,” he says. “One of my favorite songwriters is Shane MacGowan from The Pogues, be-cause he has a way of writing songs that could be 100 years old or they could be current. I’m into that.”

Still wondering if you’ll dig Chucky Waggs? This might help: If you like any-thing about Bob Dylan’s music or Arlo Guthrie’s songwriting, or if you enjoy an energetic acoustic set that somehow nev-er drags and features strong but beautiful male vocals and some gifted, technical-

ly superior guitar-picking, you will love Chucky Waggs.

His album, released in January, is a pleasure to listen to. If you’re lucky, you’ll make it to this show and go home with a new Chucky Waggs CD. And if we’re all lucky, his “friends” playing with him at Chelsea’s will include a fiddle this, too, thrown into the sound mix of Wagner’s friends for great measure. I’m tellin’ ya, you will thoroughly enjoy this perfor-mance.

Chucky Waggs’ show at Chelsea’s be-gins around 9 p.m. Ages 21 and up are ad-mitted. Admission $5. Chelsea’s is located at 10 Mountain St., 479-253-6723.

THURSDAY, OCT. 24• Basin Park Hotel Balcony Bar & Restau-

rant, 12 Spring St., 479-253-7837: Mau-reen Alexander, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Blarney Stone, 85 S. Main St., 479-363-6633: Open Mic, 8 p.m. to midnight

• Chaser’s, 169 E. Van Buren, 479-253-5522: Jesse Dean & special guest, Joe Grover

• Jack’s Place, 37 Spring St., 479-253-2219: Karaoke with DJ Goose, 8 p.m. to midnight

• Squid & Whale, 37 Spring St., 479-253-7147: “Open Mic Musical Smackdown” with Bloody Buddy

FRIDAY, OCT. 25• Basin Park Hotel Balcony Bar & Restau-

rant: Hogscalders, noon to 3 p.m.; Hogs-calders, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

• Berean Coffee House, 4032 E. Van Bu-ren, 479-244-7495: live music, 7 p.m.

• Blarney Stone: Sam Clanton, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

• Cathouse / Pied Piper, 82 Armstrong St., 479-363-9976: Desi & Codi, 9 p.m.

• Chaser’s: Ozark Thunder & TOGA Par-ty, 9 p.m.

• Chelsea’s, 10 Mountain St., 479-253-6723: Mountain Sprout, 9 p.m.

• Eureka Live!, 35 N. Main St., 479-253-7020: DJ & Dancing, 9 p.m. to close

• Eureka Paradise, 75 S. Main St., 479-363-6574: DJ & Dance music, 8 p.m.

• Henri’s Just One More, 19 1/2 Spring St., 479-253-5795: Juke Box, 9 p.m.

• Jack’s Place: Barflies, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.• Legends Saloon (Lumberyard), 105 E.

Van Buren, 479-253-2500: DJ and Ka-raoke, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

• New Delhi Cafe, 2 N. Main St., 479-253-2525: Josh Jennings, noon to 4 p.m.; Fo-ley’s Van, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.

• Rowdy Beaver Den, 45 Spring St., 479-363-6444: Bottlerocket, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

• Rowdy Beaver Tavern, 417 W. Van Bu-ren, 479-253-8544: Karaoke, 8 p.m.

• Squid & Whale: 1 oz. Jig, 9 p.m.• Voulez-Vous Lounge, 63 Spring St., 479-

363-6595: Kaps and Stems Band, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY, OCT. 26• Basin Park Hotel Balcony Bar & Restau-

rant: Chris Diablo, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.• Blarney Stone: Brick Fields/CD release

party, 9 p.m. • Cathouse / Pied Piper: Desi & Codi, 8

p.m. • Chaser’s: Left of Center, 9 p.m.• Chelsea’s: Billy Don Burns, 4 p.m. to

7 p.m.; Chucky Waggs & AJ Gaither, 9 p.m.

• Eureka Live!: DJ & Dancing 9 p.m. to close

• Eureka Paradise: DJ & Dance music, 8 p.m.

• Henri’s Just One More: Juke Box, 9 p.m.• Jack’s Place: Barflies, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.• Legends Saloon (Lumberyard): DJ and

Karaoke, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.• New Delhi Cafe: Steve Jones, 1 p.m. to

4 p.m.; Pete & Dave, 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

• Rowdy Beaver Den: Jesse Dean, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Third Degree/Annual Hallow-een Bash, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

• Rowdy Beaver Tavern: Ozark Thunder/Annual Halloween Bash, 8 p.m.

• Squid & Whale: R.J. Mischo & Nate Boff, 9 p.m.

• Voulez-Vous Lounge: Kaps and Stems Band, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY, OCT. 27• Basin Park Hotel Balcony Bar & Restau-

rant: Steve Emery, noon to 3 p.m.; live music, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Blarney Stone: Pro Football Game Day • Chaser’s: The Pickers & Jambalaya

Feast, 5:00 p.m.• Chelsea’s: Chucky Waggs, 7:30 p.m.• Eureka Paradise: Local night• Jack’s Place: Pro Football with Dylan• New Delhi Cafe: Nathaniel, 1 p.m. to 5

p.m.• Rowdy Beaver Den: Jesse Dean, noon to

4 p.m. • Squid & Whale: Pro Football Game Day• UU Church, House Concert, 17 Elk St.,

479-244-0123: Audrey Auld, 6 p.m.MONDAY, OCT. 28

• Blarney Stone: Pro Football night• Chaser’s: Pro Football night and pool

tournament• Chelsea’s: Springbilly, 9 p.m.

TUESDAY, OCT. 29• Chaser’s: Game Challenge night• Chelsea’s: Open Mic, 9 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 30• Chaser’s: Ladies night• Squid & Whale: Sweetwater Gypsies —

Ladies Night & Pie Social

Photo by ryan riChardson Adam Wagner of Mountain Sprout is also “Chucky Waggs,” his side project. Chucky Waggs & Friends will perform Saturday at Chelsea’s.


Passion Play offers local discount for final shows

The Great Passion Play will be hav-ing a Carroll County Weekend this Fri-day and Saturday.

Residents of Carroll County can get tickets to those performances for only $5. Simply show proof of residence in Carroll County and enjoy the Play, the Bible Museum, the Sacred Arts Muse-um, free music concerts, David the shep-herd and the Parables of the Potter.

“These are the last 2 performances of the 2013 season,” Randall Christy, CEO of the Passion Play, said. “I know ev-eryone here at the Play is so thankful to the residents of Carroll County for their

prayers and support this season.”Christy spearheaded the effort to

make a 2013 season possible. “This season has been such a success

that we have released the 2014 schedule, and we are selling tickets and booking groups for next year already,” Christy said.

Reservations can be made online with the coupon code “CARROLLCOUN-TY”, over the phone at 800-882-7529 or in person at the box office. Present valid photo ID or proof of residence when you pick up your tickets for Friday, Oct. 25 or Saturday, Oct. 26.

By Catherine KrummeyCarrollCountyNews@

cox-internet.comEUREKA SPRINGS – In an about-

face from previous public statements, Carroll County Sheriff Bob Grudek apparently will be running for re-elec-tion in 2014.

At a meeting Monday night, Carroll County Republican Committee Chair-man Garry DeRamus asked, “Sheriff, will you be running for sheriff?”

Grudek — who last year said he would not be running again — simply replied, “Yes.”

The Carroll County Republican Committee meeting featured guberna-torial candidate Asa Hutchinson as its guest speaker, and Grudek questioned the possible future governor both about the effects of the government shutdown and county reimbursement for housing state prisoners.

“Twenty-eight dollars a day has been the figure for a long time,” Grudek said.

In response to Grudek, Hutchinson said he would like to make changes to ensure the counties are being ade-quately paid for housing state prison-ers and that he would also like to see Arkansas’ parole system strengthened, which the sheriff agreed with.

“We have a broken parole system,” Hutchinson said. “[There are] not enough parole officers.”

Grudek told CCN this morning (Tuesday) he had no further comment at this time, but said he’d “made that decision a long time ago.”

ECHO Clinic to expand services, thrift store


EUREKA SPRINGS — The Eureka Christian Health Outreach is planning to expand its dental services and thrift store services.

“We have room in the facility to ex-pand some of the medical services,” said Janet Arnett, clinic administrator. “We see that maybe we can expand our dental services. Right now, we do extractions only. We are investigating what we could do to expand, such as cleaning or fillings.”

There are also plans add another building to house a communi-ty meeting room for 20 to 30 people, a furniture store and a special shop with all merchandise priced a dollar or less, said Sharon Sikes-Evans, thrift store manager.

The profits from the store fund the clinic, which also provides free meals for the patients or anyone who needs them. The funding and supplies for the meals are donated from local churches and banks.

The clinic provides general care med-ical services along with psychological services, dental extractions, optometry services, Spanish translators, physical therapy and access to a social worker on the second and fourth Thursday of every month, except for holidays.

“We interface with our patients,” said Arnett. “That is the beautiful part of hav-ing the meals. We sit down with our pa-tients and get to talk to them.”

Thrift shop employees also give gift receipts to victims of property damage, such as fire or tornadoes, to help replace any lost items. The clinic provides ser-vices that help pay utilities or provide cheap temporary housing with the help

from some local hotels, said Arnett.They do not deal in cash, and appli-

cants must pass a police background check and an interview.

“We needed to address the home-less situation in this area” she contin-ued. “So we formed this group called H.O.M.E.,Hands Open for Ministry and Empowerment, because some of our pa-tients are homeless.”

The clinic services, free meals and thrift store are served and staffed by em-

ployees and mostly volunteers. Though they have more than 300, they are always looking for more. Anyone interested can come to the clin-ic/store to fill out an application.

“We have volun-teers that come from nearly every church in the area,” Arnett

said. “We are always open to anyone that wishes to volunteer one of the area. We are looking for someone with comput-er experience right now. The volunteers that I talk with seem to find it very re-warding. They are giving up their time to help other people from the area.”

The idea for the free meal and medical services came from Dr. Dan Bell and Su-zie Bell during a brainstorming session at the First United Methodist Church in February 2005.

The thrift store was opened in October 2009 after the clinic had moved from its original location at the Faith Christian Family Church.

“Serving ECHO is a gift,” said Grace Nance, who helps manage the meal pro-gram. “It’s a sheer delight to see our community come together to share a meal and care for one another’s needs. I get to witness physical, emotional and spiritual healing.”

“The volunteers that I talk with seem to find it very

rewarding. They are giving up their time to help other

people from the area.” – Janet arnett

Sheriff says ‘yes’ to run for another term

Bob Grudek


ARIES: Sometimes you aim for the sexy mystique of Dracula, but end up as a friendly fruit bat. You can still get a few laughs by seek-ing out someone with a beehive hairdo.

TAURUS: Every dog has its day, but play your cards right and you could squeeze a whole week out of Tuesday. You’ll be thank-ing the universe for dog years and belly rubs by the time Wednesday rolls around.

GEMINI: You may feel like a diamond in the rough, but look at the bright side: at least you weren’t swallowed by a Great Dane. No one would want to polish you after that.

CANCER: On Thursday you feel like a pair of itchy polyester pants in a cool cotton world. You might not be fit for everyday wear, but Lady Gaga would still slap some sequins on your butt and call you pretty.

LEO: It’s better to take life as it comes instead of snatching it from the Universe’s grip and shaking it down for answers. That just crin-kles its collar and pisses it off.

VIRGO: When you job be-comes unbearable, remember that nearly any work situation can be made a little better by sneaking some vodka in the water cooler. Not too much, though; you don’t want someone dancing on your desk and messing up your TPS re-ports.

LIBRA: There’s a fine line be-tween practical joke and felony, so put down the duct tape and grab a whoopee cushion. It’s just as funny, and you’ll be able to enjoy Thanksgiving without a hairy cell-mate named Bubba.

SCORPIO: Your sweetie is sending signals you can’t deci-pher. Better find a codebook fast, before they escalate to rat-a-tat-tapping their message upside your head.

SAGITTARIUS: Expressing yourself is fine, but bodypaint-ing with pumpkins in the Walmart produce section isn’t the way to do it. Grab your own gourd at home, unless you want to pay for half the town’s therapy.

CAPRICORN: Three things you’ll need to know for Saturday: ba-con grease is hard to wash out of a thong, bulls can be very temperamen-tal and you should always wear your running shoes, even to formal events.

AQUARIUS: Everything’s cool. The wombat has been paid off, and

the parrot promises not to squawk. Don’t buy any tube socks at the swap meet for a while, and you’ll be in the clear.

PISCES: `There’s a reason your deepest desires are bur-ied that far down: your subcon-scious threw them into the well with good reason. Unless you like weird Korean horror movies, don’t drag those thoughts into the murky light of day.

Wisecrack Zodiac © Beth Bartlett, 2013Want more? Visit Beth atwww.wisecrackzodiac.com

BethBartlett

Crossword Puzzle Answers on page 29

ACROSS1. Appease8. Olympian Comaneci13. Binds with a cord14. Mimicking15. Glossy paints16. “Of all the _____!”17. Excuse mak-er’s word18. Sprat’s wife’s diet no-no20. Aviv prece-dent21. Tone-out reason24. Anger25. Broadcast26. Exit28. Disdain31. Green areas32. Beat grain34. Cyst fluid container35. Sparing it may spoil achild36. Galactic measure41. Famous Whitney42. Iona or Skye43. Prevaricate44. Mortise insert46. Grove of fruit trees49. Diet guru

Jenny50. NASA vehicle51. Some are hallowed52. EnigmaDOWN1. Military acade-my newbie2. Flax genus3. A variegated chalcedony4. Type of shaft5. Came off a fast6. Cashier7. River Ruhr city8. She might be an angora9. Parrot

10. Sullies11. Upside down12. Eternal19. Hotshot pilot22. Hard to find23. Vintage cocktails27. Risque28. Elastic does it29. Intestinal disease30. Book of rites or numericalposition of an object33. Towel embroi-dery34. Dessert or

cheese wine,often37. Doom partner38. Make happy39. Clothes dry-ing rack40. Remove mois-ture again45. Leak in news47. Letterman’s

Here we are in October and flu season is typically months away, but already there are

fears being generated. Scary words are being televised and flu vaccine booths are popping up in grocery stores like weeds. No one knows what flu strain will be strongest this year so being vacinated may be helpful for some and not others. For sure, right now is the time to begin adjusting your supplements and herbals.

It’s time to ramp up the amount of vitamin D you take daily in anticipation of winter. I personally take 2,000 iu/day. This is good to do to keep respiratory dis-eases at bay.

When colds start to show up, flu won’t be far away; so here is a primer on natural care for these predictable nasties.

First, at the first symptom of cold or flu go heavy on Monolaurin and you may stop it in its tracks. Oth-erwise, did you know tropical red Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) tea, traditionally used to ease indigestion, also relieves colds and respiratory trouble? Hibiscus is also a natural source of Vitamin C. This can be add-ed to my favorites for both ailments, Elder tea straight (colds) or blended with Peppermint (flu) and is very effective at stopping or preventing them. Cheap, too! I like brewing the tea in large amounts, as drinking more is the way to go. How I brew leaves, flowers and herbs: (Rooibos, Green, Chamomile, Lavender, Hibiscus, El-der, Peppermint etc.) Make as an infusion - Pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. of the tea. Steep 10-12 minutes. Strain - or use a very clean or dedicated Mr. Coffee type maker- place 1 oz of herb in the basket to 1 full carafe of water - try a second batch with the same herb. Aromatic herbs or essential oils can ease stuffy noses and chest congestion.

A fully natural approach would start early (now) with a good strong immune booster like Astragalus or mush-room extracts. I’d go high value if the going gets rough. I’d then take large amounts of Monolaurin and maybe combine it with grapefruit seed extract. I’d also drink large amounts of Elder tea (mixed with peppermint if I got a fever) every day. I’d stay away from crowds; wash my hands a great deal, keep tissue paper around to catch sneezes and use herbal disinfectant on door handles, keyboards and telephones. Soap and water is one of the best germ killers/disinfectant. A good night’s sleep, healthy diet, extra vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate) and a good multiple vitamin goes a long way.

The Natural Way

Jim Fain

What to do when you have the flu


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HISID counters TRL offerBy Kathryn luCariello

[email protected] ISLAND – A month after

receiving a six-point offer from Table Rock Landing Owners Association to settle its lawsuit against Holiday Is-land, the HISID Board convened a spe-cial meeting yesterday and approved counter-offers on five of the six points.

HISID attorney Matt Bishop summa-rized the lawsuit and started by pointing out that HISID’s Assessment of Bene-fits classifications of R-1, C-1, etc. are not “zoning,” contrary to accusations the district had changed zoning.

“You have never zoned,” he said. “These are covenants on the land.”

Ken Brown challenged fellow com-missioner Greg Davis to recuse from voting on the TRL settlement because county records show Davis owns a TRL time-share, which Davis denied, saying he had turned it back in more than a year ago.

Later, during public comment, prop-erty owner David Blackford said he was “disappointed” that the board member (Davis) who accepted a quit-claimed deed valued at $15,000 as a gift from Holiday Island Development Corpora-tion (owned by developer Tom Dees) refused to recuse himself. Davis did not recuse.

Point #1 of TRL’s settlement offer was that TRL units would be assessed at a rate equal to an R-1 improved lot. This was discussed at length, with com-missioners attempting to decide what should be the assessment amount on time-share units, which had been 10 times the amount of an R-1 assessment in the past, then were reduced to 2.23 times the 2011 R-1 rate by the 2011 As-sessment of Benefits.

Based on calculations by Commis-sioner Linda Graves, which define how much of the time-share fee goes to as-sessments and to infrastructure vs. ame-nities, the board voted unanimously to waive late fees for 2012 and 2013 on ad-vice of Bishop because the assessments are in a legal appeal, and then voted to

charge TRL $17,000 per year for assess-ments from 2012 and going forward.

Point #2 of TRL’s offer was that it would dismiss claims for punitive dam-ages, refund of assessments paid prior to 2011 in excess of the R-1 rate, its claim for excess amenity charges to TRL property owners in 2012 and its attorney fees if HISID would pay $100,000. This was soundly rejected by the board, who approved unanimously a counter-offer of $10,000.

Point #3 calls for an agreed declara-tion that TRL owners are “Holiday Is-land property owners year-round and for all purposes.” Commissioners ob-jected that they know of no other time-share that gives its owners year-round privileges and that the phrase “for all purposes” leaves the door open to giv-ing time-share owners votes. The board voted 4-1, Davis voting nay, to ask TRL to clarify what it means by “for all pur-poses.”

Point #4 asks HISID to accept its as-sessment payments for 2011 and 2012 (each around $18,000) as payment in full and that the 2013 assessment will be paid at the R-1 rate. The 2012 assess-ment was addressed in Point #2, and for 2011, TRL owes around $129,000, of which $25,000 is penalties.

In consideration of the large amount of money, Graves suggested a compro-mise of TRL instead giving HISID 800 available nights of time-share use to market Holiday Island.

“They’re not going to give us 800 nights in the time-shares,” said Davis. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.... If we’re not willing to negotiate that down to the rate we’re willing to collect for 2012 and ‘13, then we’re wasting our time.”

The board approved 4-1, Davis vot-ing nay, to waive the $25,000 penalty on 2011 and then approved 4-1, again Davis voting nay, to ask TRL to come up with alternative means of paying the $104,000 balance.

Point #5 asks that the temporary re-straining order against the district, not

to tell time-share owners that they are not property owners, be made perma-nent. Bishop said no motion was need-ed because the issue was dealt with in Point #3.

Point #6 asks that the pending litiga-tion be dismissed with prejudice, which means it cannot be sued again, except for the issue of voting rights, which can be sued again within a year.

Bishop said the plaintiff always has the right to dismiss without prejudice “whether you like it or not.” The board voted 4-1, Davis voting nay, to leave it as is.

Bishop will present these counter-of-fers to the TRL attorneys.

The board then allowed a lengthy public comment session, during which Dees, who sits on the TRL board, spoke for about 45 minutes, chiding the board for not coming to him to resolve the problems and avoid the lawsuits. He said major problems selling lots were exacerbated by HISID making the golf course public and told the board this lawsuit will probably cost $400,000.” He warned the lawsuit could end up at the Supreme Court.

“So we’ve made our own mess, and we’ve got to clean it up. And it’s going to be extremely difficult to do.”

He ended by saying, “I can’t save you. I could have five or six years ago.”

Editor’s note: For a link to an mp3 of Dees’ comments, see this story on our web page at www.holidayislandnews.com.


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Railway Winery benefit brings out supporters, friendsIt started with a thought, “Helping fellow Chamber members... that’s what it’s all about.” Judy Kelly posed that to the Holiday Island Chamber of Commerce and the group decided to organize a benefit for Railway Winery at the Holiday Island Hospitality Center on Friday night – the winery was completely destroyed and washed downstream during the flooding earlier this year. Eight artists setup booths selling their wares for the night, with 10% of the proceeds going to the winery – though there were a few artists who gave more than the 10%. 65+ donations from across the area were sold off during the silent auction also.

Mariellen Griffith and Don Soderberg posed aside their artwork within their booths. Frank and Kathy Williams peer at a Jim Sexton piece named Holiday Island Fall Glory.

Greg and Vicki Schneider, owners of Railway Winery pose in front of a family heirloom.

KESA Sales Manager, Play-by-Play announcer for Highlanders games and radio personality Lynn Worley, chats with Déjà Vu and Farm to Table Fresh owner Kenneth Ketelsen on air.

Master photographer and painter Jay Vrecenak poses beside her piece she created exemplifying the struggle with SWEPCO in the area.

Keel’s Creek Winery owners Doug Hausler and Ed-wige Denyszyn come in from the rain to help support Railway Winery.

Photo guru Steve Shogren was all smile at his booth filled with photographic works.

Photos by ChiP Ford


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