CCAPS to honor volunteers

Lisa Antoon

In this episode of Life in LA — Life in Lower Arkansas, I sit down with Lisa Antoon, a member of the board of the Columbia County Animal Protection Society (CCAPS). Lisa joined me to talk about the organization’s upcoming Honors Night, which will be held Saturday, March 21 at Union Street Station. The evening will recognize several of the dedicated volunteers who make the work of CCAPS possible, and it will also serve as an important fundraiser to help support their mission of caring for animals in our community.

During our conversation, Lisa and I discussed the many things it takes to keep CCAPS operating — including the reality that running the organization costs around $30,000 each month. We talked about the work being done at the animal shelter, visited with some of the puppies there, and discussed the warehouse operation on South Jackson along with other fundraising efforts that help sustain their work. If you love animals and appreciate the people who work so hard to care for them, Lisa encourages you to come out to Honors Night. Tickets are $20 at the door, and it promises to be a great evening while supporting a very worthwhile cause. 

Steve Nipper will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Entertainment will be provided by Rev. David Moore, Johnny Sprayberry, Phil Lester, Thomas Woolley, Jeff Smart and Nancy White & Ava Buford. Honorees will be Troy Alphin, Dr. Mark Bryant, Larry Price, Steve Strobele, Doris Warren, Clistie Utley, Terri Ferrell, Peggy Kenly, Lonnie Lockhart and more.

Click below to listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

Season 3, Episode 5

Riding The Cat Bus for 35 years!

Terry Hanson

Today’s guest is someone who’s logged more miles on the backroads of Columbia County than most of us could count. Terry Hanson has been driving a school bus for the Magnolia School District for 35 years — and that’s not counting the year he spent subbing before that. He drives Bus 72, known to the kids as the “Cat Bus,” and in some ways it’s a reflection of his career — reliable, steady, and still rolling strong.

Terry’s day begins out in the Mt. Vernon community, where Lafayette County is practically in his backyard. From there, he heads down those familiar roads, past places like Frog Level — the original county seat of Columbia County — gathering his students one by one on the way into town.

He’s seen a lot of changes over the years: from cranking open doors by hand — which has given his right arm quite a workout — to the new high-tech buses with automatic transmissions, mounted tablets, cameras, and safety systems that make sure no child is ever left behind. And somewhere along the way, he’s driven not just children, but the children of his first riders — which tells you something about how deeply rooted he is in this community. And many of those riders have grown up to become outstanding citizens, and some have become personal friends. It demonstrates the importance of sticking with an endeavor.

Terry was recognized last June as one of a handful of district employees with over 30 years of service, and it’s a safe bet he’ll be honored again when this school year wraps up.

So, buckle up and ride along as we hear the story of Terry Hanson — 35 years behind the wheel, thousands of students safely carried, and a legacy of dedication that’s pure Magnolia through and through.

You know the routine: press the play button below or tune in wherever you get your podcasts to catch today’s episode.

Listen on Google Drive

Season 3, Episode 4

 From pews to pastures, Jack does it all

Jack and Sunny Daniels

His father either had a great sense of humor or a knack for coming up with names. He named the acreage he farmed around the Red River Miracle Farms, based on a favorite saying of his: “God grants the miracle, we do the work.”

But why did Mr. Daniel’s name his son Jack?

“I have a lot of fun with the name,” Jack told me. 
“Apparently my dad had a pretty good sense of humor.”

In today’s episode, I sit down with Jack to talk about the story behind Miracle Farms — its roots, its name, and the faith that still shapes the work that happens on the farm out near the Bodcaw community in Nevada County. And along the way we learn a few amazing facts about the man who keeps things rolling at the farm.

Click the play button below to hear this week’s episode:

Season 3, Episode 3

 Stories from the man behind the chair

Today on Life in LA, I sat down with a man who’s been part of Magnolia’s story for nearly six decades. Don Higdon began barbering on the square back in 1966, when a shop might have just one pair of electric clippers that all three barbers shared. Since then, he’s seen every hairstyle imaginable come and go — from the flat top and the GI cut to the mullet and beyond — and he’s had a front-row seat to the conversations, laughter, and life stories that passed through his chair.

But there’s a lot more to Don than just a good haircut. In our conversation, I learned about the wedding he once kept secret from his father-in-law, the seasons he spent working in the oil field between barbering, and even his hidden talent for writing — short stories, a novel, and a little freelance journalism along the way.

These days, Don and his wife, Carla, still keep busy helping their daughter and son-in-law, Sunny and Jack Daniels, at the Pumpkin Patch at Miracle Farms in Bodcaw. The old sign for Don’s Barbershop still stands on North Vine Street, though the building now serves as a deer camp — a fitting reminder of a long and colorful career.

I really enjoyed visiting with Don, swapping stories, and reminiscing about what it was like to get a haircut in the good old days — and I’ll admit, I wish I still had as much hair today as I did back then.

So, settle in and enjoy this conversation with Magnolia’s longtime barber and storyteller, Don Higdon.

🎧 Listen to This Episode

Season 3, Episode 2

 Reclaiming life through art

John Ferguson (right) with some of his art

What do you do with 37 years of high-stress law enforcement experience? If you're John Ferguson, you trade in your badge for a welder and start finding the beauty in the broken.

Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we're talking to a fellow I’ve known for quite some time. John spent 37 years in law enforcement right here in South Central Arkansas, finishing his career at the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy.

John has a fascinating story. He graduated from Magnolia High School in 1982, went into the military, and came back to enroll at Southern Arkansas University as a history major. But a simple ride-along with a friend who was a police officer was all it took—he was hooked on a career in service.

As you can imagine, decades of police work can be incredibly stressful and began causing John some health problems. So, he looked for a way to relieve that pressure and found it in an entirely new world: metal art.

Now calling his business Metal Art by Ferguson, John has only one rule for his creations: all elements have to have been something else in a previous life. He detects the possibility in every miscellaneous piece of trash, giving it a new life.

One of his most unique pieces is an eight-foot-tall female figure commissioned by a lady who had recently moved to Mt. Ida from Illinois. Her only stipulations were that it had to be a woman wearing a dress and be tall. And so was created the Eight Foot Fairy Godmother!

Mt. Ida is now home for John and Diane, drawn by the crystal clear lake waters where he learned to scuba dive. We caught up with John at the recent car show at Immanuel Baptist Church so you'll need to excuse the background noise of motorcycles and announcers! John showed us all of his incredible work, including the story behind the massive 8-foot woman sculpture he once completed on commission. He even revealed that he writes poetry!

You can reach John by email at Metalartbyferguson@yahoo.com or by phone at 870-914-0876. Drop by Ouachita Artists Gallery the next time you’re in Mt. Ida where his work is on exhibit.

And click the button below to hear my interview with John. It’s an inspiring conversation about service, stress, and the power of transformation. Let’s dive in!

Season Two, Episode 12

 The country store lives on!

Andrew (left) and Philip Story

Philip Story grew up his formative years in the small community of Macedonia, some seven miles south of Magnolia at the intersection of Arkansas Hwys. 19 and 160. He grew up walking up the road to one of the two Franks' grocery stores that served the community. Nearly everything was sold there, including ice cold Coca Colas and those lemon flavored Jackson cookies that were sold out of the big glass jar.

Today, Philip is the co-owner not only of his own country store but the one remaining Franks store  building as well. In December of 2022, the ribbon was cut on Keith's Grocery Store a mile or so north of the old Franks store. Along with his wife Terri, son and daughter-in-law Andrew and Sarah Story and daughter Gretchen Wooley, it’s a family effort running the store that has been serving the Macedonia community for decades. It was opened by William Keith  Sr., and carried on by his son, William "Butch" Keith, Jr. Butch passed away in August of 2021 inside the store he loved and served most of his life.

The store remained closed until Philip, recently retired from Albemarle, developed a hankering to return to a profession he had enjoyed in his younger years--grocer! In December of 2022 the Story family held a ribbon cutting at Keith's Grocery was open again serving the Macedonia community.

History repeats itself! Macedonia once was home to not one but two country stores, both just a stone's throw away from each other. How two stores managed to thrive and survive so close to each other in a small community has always been a mystery to me. Macedonia once again has not one but two stores serving its population.

"It was a surprise but we've just tried to put our best foot forward doing what we do as good as we can and find a way to it better and treat our customers as we want to be treated ourselves," Philip told me when I asked about the opening of another store adjoining Keith's Grocery. They've not seen a decrease in sales since the new store opened and they still offer a down-home meat counter with a selection you want find fresher or personally cut to order elsewhere.

I enjoyed my interview with Philip as much as any I've done here in Lower Arkansas. The fact that my dad and his mom were first cousins and we both had family roots in Macedonia made it that much more enjoyable. Take a moment to listen to today's podcast and you may soon find yourself shopping at Keith's Grocery, 

Season Two, Episode 11

How to bottom chairs? Bo knows!

Bo Jameson

I've been intrigued by old-timey chairs and rockers as long as I can remember. With a last name like Ford, it's only natural. Heck, my mom rocked me and my two siblings in a sewing rocker gifted her at the birth of my much older big brother!

Our local historian, Mike Gee, has written an excellent article on my great grandfather and the Ford Chair Factory he founded. You can find it at Mike's Facebook page, Columbia County Arkansas History and Genealogies. It's worth the time to stop and read. So when I was recently gifted a Ford rocker in excellent condition, I was intrigued by the business card I found stuck in the woven chair bottom.

The business card led me to Bo Jameson, a distant cousin himself who resides right here in Magnolia. Bo graciously consented to an interview. He shared with me how he became interested in putting new bottoms in old chairs. Our visit reminded me that we had met before, once at the Magnolia Blossom Festival a few years back and probably long, long ago when he worked with my dad, Melroy Ford, at the old Napa Auto Parts located back then on South Washington Street.

Bo gave me instructions to his house and noted that there was a speed limit sign hanging from a tree in his front yard. What he didn't tell me was that there was also an old chair sitting out by the curb waiting for trash pickup. It was a fitting indicator for a guy who works on chairs, but it didn't stay there long. While we talked, some fellow in a pickup truck stopped, examined the chair, and placed it in the back of his truck. Maybe he's a future chair expert in the making!

Bo and Mary graciously invited me in and their two dogs, Petey and Lulu, also made me feel right at home. Wait until you hear the story about Lulu, the little chihuahua they've just recently added to their family! I told them they should name the dog Tripod, but they already had a better name picked out!

The original Ford chairs were fitted with cowhide bottoms which were eventually replaced with other materials, such as Hong Kong grass from China or fiber made from bullrush plants here in the U.S.  The South Arkansas Heritage Museum features a number of Ford chairs. They recently added a beautiful child’s rocker with a cowhide bottom that shows what that early bottom looked like. Take a look here at their Facebook page.

Bo has experimented with different types of cord, which he explains in my interview. Some of the bottoms are pretty straight forward, while others incorporate unique designs such as horse heads, flowers and even an Arkansas Razorback.

Simply Unique selection of chairs

Bo is self-taught in the art of re-bottoming chairs, having learned it from a two-part article in a woodworking magazine. He's put bottoms in wood chairs as well as metal, and boasts that he can put a bottom in anything that has four cross-pieces to support it. He picked up so many aluminum and metal frame chairs to give new life that they began to set aside frames for him at the metal recycling yard!

He shared an intriguing legend he had heard about the meeting of Doc Ford and Henry Ford. Seems Henry came to visit Doc at the Ford Chair Factory and spent some time talking with him. Some time later a brand-new Ford car was delivered to the chair factory owner as a gift. 

I've never heard that story before, so if anyone can confirm or verify, please let me know! Henry Ford was known to give cars to friends, family members and employees as tokens of appreciation or goodwill. He once gave one to President Woodrow Wilson, so it could have happened! Meantime, I've written to the Henry Ford Museum to see if they know anything about it. Perhaps there is a Ford rocker sitting somewhere at the museum!

I referred one of the questions I am most frequently asked to Bo for clarification. How can you tell if an old wooden rocking chair is a Ford chair or not? There are a few tell-tale signs to look for, he told me:

1. A small groove or cove turned in to the top of the chair upright, leaving a rounded finial at the top of the chair. There are also a couple of indentations turned in to the two uprights between the top and bottom slats of the back. There are probably specific terms known by lathe operators, but that's the best I can do! 

2. A fine line turned in to the upright at the location of slats and rounds to indicate their location. The line will resemble a faint pencil line.

3. No screws or nails are used to hold the chair rounds or slats in to the upright pieces. The rounds were made of dried hickory and had a small bulb at the end similar to the tip of a drumstick. The dried rounds were driven into the uprights, which were turned from uncured or "wet" white bay lumber. When the bay dried around the hickory rounds, the chair could not be pulled out! The only hardware used in Ford rocking chairs are the screws holding the armrests to the uprights, carriage bolts attaching the rockers, and a couple of finishing nails driven in to the uprights to secure the armrests.

In the small shop he has to the side of his home, Bo showed me five or six chairs he is currently working on. He doesn't take in as many chairs as he once did, but he is still open to receiving a few. It takes him about two days of labor to complete one chair, so it is somewhat a labor of love. Watching him demonstrate how the weaving is done, there is an element of knitting that keeps the string in place. Most days now he uses macrame string that is more readily available than grass from China! 

Some of his finished products are on sale at Simply Unique at 110 North Washington in Magnolia.  That includes the shiny black beauty he is shown working on in the photo above, which he delivered this week. Of course I had to drop by the store on Tuesday morning to take a look and snap a few photos. I enjoyed the warm welcome I received and thought what a good place the store would be to open up my own booth!

At one time most rural homes featured large front porches, and they were traditionally equipped with wooden chairs or rockers. I remember sitting with my grandfather, Adley Ford, on his front porch in the Macedonia community. Whenever a car sped by in front of his place on Arkansas Highway 160 he would lean forward, shouting out, "Get on down that road!" And then he would go back to rocking in his well-worn Ford rocker.

Ron Ford, Louise Hendricks, Bo Jameson

We have lots of family memories centered around Ford chairs and chair bottoms. My brother and sister and their spouses would come in for the Blossom Festival and it was a perfect family reunion. We once ran into Bo a few years back when he was still showing chair bottoms at the festival. Who should walk up but our first cousin, the late Louise Nipper Hendricks, herself a Macedonia girl who knew much about the chairs and their history. Nothing would do but to snap a photo. 

If you wonder how to put a new bottom in an old chair, Bo knows. Click the link below to hear my interview! And you can contact Bo by phone at 870-234-2165 or by email at bodiddle@suddenlink.net.