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.

Season Two, Episode 10

Preserving history, moving a church

David Covey

David Covey is owner and operator of D & E House Moving Company out of Hot Springs, Ar.  I spent a good bit of time watching David, his daughter Amy Moss and a few others of his crew moving the Mt. Prospect Methodist Episcopal South Church 18 miles to Southern Arkansas University.

On one of his final days at the site, David spared a few minutes to visit with me and answer some questions. Here is the transcript of our conversation, as the original audio was difficult to hear in some places due to wind noise. If you want to hear the interview, scroll to the bottom to find the play button, as well as a list of resources concerning the church.

Steve Ford: A lot of people have had moving experiences in church, but one man has had a moving experience moving a church. So it's my privilege today to talk to David Covey, owner and operator of what's the name of that company?

David Covey: D&E House Moving.

S.F.: D and E House moving. You have just finished moving one of the biggest buildings I've ever seen moved. This is the old Mount Prospect Methodist Episcopal South church building that was up there near Stephens. David, what was it like?

D.C.: It was a little bit low to the ground. It could have used some more air underneath it to be able to get underneath it a little better. But it was all right. It’s in real good shape.

S.F.: You've moved some other buildings out here at the Southern Arkansas University campus, haven't you?

D.C.: Yes, all of them.

S.F.: The Ozmer House, the Alexander House and now the church. Which one was the hardest to move? 

D.C.: I don't know. The Ozmer house there….

S.F.: It didn't have to go very far anyway.

D.C.: No, it was widest in the way it was built in like they built them in the 1800s. It was a breezeway and we had to support both sides of the house and everything, to keep the porch from falling apart and everything separating. But I guess the church there was a pretty good tackle there. We had to take the roof down. I wasn't supposed to have to take the roof down.

S.F.: Oh, really?

D.C.: Yeah, well, the college was going to do that and I accidentally put in (the contract) there, “If they couldn't find nobody to take the roof down, I would take it down.” That's the biggest mistake I made.

S.F.: Oh really? I’ve been there! “If you can't find anybody, I will do it.”

D.C.: Yeah, that was the biggest mistake I made.

S.F.: Oh, man. Well, I hope they compensated you for that. So you had to jack the building up, move it off the the piers and they prebuilt the piers out here (at the new site), right?

D.C.: Yeah, they, they put them up, but like we've been behind for about four or five months. So they went ahead and laid the piers, they went out and I guess measured and did real good out there and did a good job of it.

S.F.: So you sat it right down on the new piers here?

D.C.: It’s going to.

S.F.: So you had to jack it up and then you moved it kind of over to the edge of the property. What kept that building from just falling apart?

D.C.: Well, a little bit of knowledge and stretching them cables around it top and bottom. Squeeze it together there because   them old antique nails are like wedges. If they're loose, they get real loose and they'll work right on out.

S.F.: I think you told me those are 2 by 4s, but it's the old 2 by 4….

D.C.: Two by fours and everything roughs off and they were held in there.

S.F.: The building didn't have a ceiling. It was just I guess they added the ceiling. They added a ceiling fan. Can you imagine what it was like without?

D.C.: I don't know. In that condition I would have been worried that that ceiling not having no bridge beam down the middle holding that ceiling.

S.F.: I guess it had a beam, they said they would like candles up there (on the beams) to have lights. It was used as a school also. How wide would you say this building was?

D.C.: She's 30 feet wide and 40, I think 42 feet long.

S.F.: How wide is the county road?

D.C.: It's a little less than that, but we had plenty of ditch way, ditch clearance on the trees and everything.

S.F.: And you had a few tree limbs you had to deal with?

D.C.: Yeah, we had one major tree limb had to deal with up there on the state highway.

S.F.: Yeah, I happened to come up on you when you were cutting that limb. I guess you always run into things you don't expect?

D.C.: Yeah, sometimes. Yep, there's always something.

S.F.: Then you got it on to the campus that you pulled….

D.C.: Well, it was raining.

S.F.: You had to fight rain.

D.C.: Yeah, we had to leave it out there for a day or two out in a good hard driveway to let it dry a couple days and we started again across….

S.F.: ….across the grass and park next to the piers. How did you get it from next to the piers onto the piers?

D.C.: We just raised it up and put another set of beams under it. And Ivory bar soap.

S.F.: So Ivory! you told me you were going to use Ivory soap. I thought, I can't always tell when that guy's telling me the truth.

D.C.: (Chuckles)

S.F.: But you did tell me you were going to jack it up and it just slide into place.

D.C.: Mmmm, hmm.

S.F.: That's, that's not how you moved it, though.

D.C.: Yeah, we raised it up and well, we used, oh, then we used the skytrack to pull it.

S.F.: Oh, you did have it raised on that side, didn't raise it up. And then you use the sky track to pull it on over.

D.C.: Yep.

S.F.: Then nothing to it,

D.C.: Nothing, it was all downhill. The main thing on them soaped beams, you keep them level. You don't want it to just slide off.  It will go faster than you want it to, if you don't keep everything under control.

S.F.: I think they're going to have to replace some of those original beams underneath.

D.C.: Yeah, someone replaced some of them and they're going to take them back out, I think, and replace the bad beams that's on each end around the doorways.

S.F.: Your work is almost over now you've got it in place putting the original rafters back up. What else do you have to do out here?

D.C.: Just let it down 7 inches on them piers when they get done fixing those beams. They got to do their woodwork before I let it on the piers.

S.F.: Oh, OK. But you still got it in place.

D.C.: Yeah, it's still sitting on 4 level creepers….

S.F.: ….and you will finish the rafters shortly.

D.C.: Yeah, very shortly. If that storm hadn’t come through last night and now

S.F.: Y’all were going to work till midnight (last night) to get it done!

D.C.: It started lightning and we had to get down. We didn't lack much!

S.F.: Tell me, you've got like a pretty good crew out here. Tell me who your crew is.

D.C.: Amy Moss is the main hand and that five little crew. I had the short crew, but they couldn't get on the roof.  The ground crew, they’re the ground crew.

David Covey, Amy Moss
& the Short Crew

S.F.: You did have them soaping those beams though, didn't you?

D.C.: Yeah....

S.F.: What’s next on the agenda for David Covey and D&E house moving?

D.C.: We got a little one over in Sheridan that needs to be moved about 60 feet off the property where the guy can close his loan. And immediately after that, we're going to Oakland, Georgia, going to load up onto a barge and go four miles out in the ocean.

S.F.: I heard you were going to be moving a house out in the ocean.

D.C.: You show him that picture of the house? And we have 4 hours and I think my brother said four hours and 20 something minutes before the tide comes in.

S.F.: Are you kidding?

D.C.: No.

S.F.: You got a close schedule there. You'll have to get Amy to watch your schedule!

D.C.: We got to get it up and on wheels and get out of the ocean in 4 hours.

S.F.:  (Looking at photo of house.) Oh my gosh. Look at that.

D.C.: There's three stories.

S.F.: Three stories! It's up on piers....

D.C.: Piles, they’re on big pylons.

S.F.: You've got to move that house.  Good grief.

D.C.: It's 60 feet wide and a little over 100 feet long.

S.F.: But you're not moving it off the island?

D.C.: It’s going about 500 feet, it’s going from probably right here to that front house, about 500 feet.

S.F.: That'll be a fun 500 feet. How did you ever get into house moving?

D.C.: Just growed up around it. My dad worked for my uncle, which was his brother  and we just took a liking to it.

S.F.: And you took a liking to it?

D.C.: I quit it twice whenever I was 19 or 20 and come back to it and finally just give up and took a liking to it and just started doing it.

S.F.: So how long have you been moving houses?

D.C.: About 35 years.

S.F.: Wow, you got some experience?

D.C.: No, I'm done with it. My experience is done. (laughter)

S.F.: What was the favorite house you ever moved?  

D.C.: I moved one in Hot Springs there that was 56 feet wide and 134 foot long, 42 feet tall.

S.F.: Did you have to cut it in half?

D.C.: No, we just moved it in one piece.

S.F.: Wow!

D.C.: It weighed 436,000 pounds.

S.F.: What would you say to someone who was thinking about going into the house moving business?

D.C.: Make sure he's got plenty of kids that wants to work.

S.F.: Oh yeah, and have and have a good insurance policy?

D.C.: Yeah, a good insurance policy!

S.F.: OK, I’ve estered you all for the last 10 days or so. I've gotten some good pictures and enjoyed visiting with you and Amy and the short crew too.

D.C.: I appreciate the pictures.

S.F.: Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're going to share those. I'm doing a write up that the MagnoliaReporter is going to publish it and I'm going to send them some pictures and a a pretty long write up. There's a fascinating history behind this building and you're now part of it.

D.C.: I'm part of the historical part of Bella Vista too.

S.F.: Oh, really?

D.C.: We went and picked up a building.  You could say this hill was a ravine, but that ravine fell about 90 feet straight down.

S.F.: Wow.

D.C.: We backed in there. There were a couple trees and we picked up that old, old cabin and picked it up. Had come up off the side of that hill and up and out of there. We had to keep it from going down the hill and then take it down to the Historical Society. It was about, I don't know, they filmed us all the way and it was 100 and I don't know, it was old, old, old. It was some of the first cabins built up in Bella Vista and stuff, log cabins and stuff.

S.F.: I guess it's kind of like carpentry. They say measure twice and cut once. You got to really measure well and know what you're getting into.

D.C.: But them was hand hewed, hand hewed logs and wooden pegs.

S.F.: Well, I appreciate you taking time to visit with us and thanks for letting my drone buzz you. It's been around, we've had a good time taking some good pictures and look forward to seeing these in print very shortly. Thanks for visiting with us.

D.C.: Thank you, sir!

!

 Other resources:

My Mt. Prospect Article on Magnolia Reporter.

Dedication of Alexander-Warnock House on Magnolia Reporter.

Article about Mt. Prospect grant on Magnolia Reporter.

Mt. Prospect history from Banner-News article on Facebook 

SAU article on ANCRC Grant

National Register of Historic Places listing on Mt. Prospect

Finally, need a house moved? Check out D&E House Moving!

Season Two, Episode 9

Meet the Mayor of West Lamartine! 

Larry Polk at the workbench

When it rains in these parts, I often open the Facebook page of a guy that I know is going to post the amount of rainfall he received in West Lamartine. When I heard him called the Mayor of West Lamartine, I was intrigued. But when he repaired my mother's favorite clock, I knew I had to get a microphone on him and learn more about Larry Polk.

Larry and his wife Jean live just about a mile off U.S. 371 in Lamartine.  As befitting a "public servant" in the role of mayor, Larry's Facebook profile and background picture both feature a highway sign bearing the name of his community. Larry and Jean are active members of First Baptist Church in Magnolia, where Larry serves as a deacon. A stack of New Testaments on his workbench attests to his service through the Gideons organization.

Larry has done just about every kind of engineering there is to be done. He cut logs to put himself through college--two years at Southern Arkansas University and two at Louisiana Tech, where he earned his degree in engineering.  Having retired from Albemarle, Larry reflected that he had done everything he had wanted to do in engineering. He had worked with pumping in the brine field, on transformers providing power to the wells and even in drilling operations. 

Larry at the rain gauge

So it was no wonder that when a friend handed Larry an old clock years ago and asked if he could get it running, he added another skill to his resume. Larry became a clockmaker, a term that is used to describe someone who repairs clocks.

There's much that can go wrong with one of the old clocks. They can get "out of beat", causing them to stop running altogether. He has diagnosed a case of this issue by asking his client to hold his phone up to the clock so he can hear the beat. Another problem may be the wear and tear that comes from the gears continually spinning, sometimes causing the hole in which they sit to become elongated and restricting movement. In the case of my mom's clock, it had been in storage for eight months and some of the gears became rusty. A cleaning put it back in working order and it keeps good time today.

Obviously the title of Mayor of West Lamartine does not indicate an elected position. He earned the moniker when a neighbor on the other side of U.S. 371, Greg Rich, referred to Larry as Mayor of Lamartine. Larry replied that he was only mayor of the western half while Greg was the mayor of the eastern half.

Lamartine is one of the oldest communities in our county. As I spent some time there talking to Larry, I became intrigued with what is labeled by some as the oldest community in our county. It's on its way to becoming a ghost town, save for the modern houses that remain. Once upon a time, a two-story brick plantation house was home to John Dockery and his son Thomas, who rose to the rank of Brigadier General during the Civil War.

Dockery named the community after a French poet and politician, Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine, whom he admired. Dockery had big plans for the new community, which in 1851 boasted a post office, a few stores and a number of churches. Most of their remains are long gone today.

Two events occurred which kept Lamartine from becoming the economic center of Columbia County.  Dockery and local investors began work on a railroad that would connect the Mississippi River with the Red River.  Dockery became president of the first railroad company to be chartered in Arkansas, the Mississippi, Ouachita and Red River Line. But the Panic of 1857, along with the approach of the Civil War, brought the project to a premature end.  Dockery died in 1860 and many of the young men from Lamartine were scattered by the War. When the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railroad was built through Waldo three miles to the south, any hopes for developing Lamartine were dashed.

Today it is little more than a ghost town. A memorial marker on the highway tells the abbreviated history of the community. It incorrectly lists Lamartine as the birthplace of T.P.  Dockery.  He was actually born in Montgomery County, North Carolina, where his father had participated in the Indian removals there. The family moved to Tennessee and on to Columbia County, where land was plentiful and cheap.

Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church

The plaque sits at the intersection of U.S. 371 and County Road East 60, which leads to Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and Shiloh Cemetery, one of the oldest and largest in the county. Shiloh church was built in 1853 and organized in 1855. According to an article in the Banner-News of October 1936, Shiloh's first building was of split logs; the second of dressed lumber from the Grance Courtney sawmill nearby. The second building was partially destroyed by a storm so a third building was constructed in 1892 and remodeled in 1924. The fourth and present building was constructed in 1958, a modern brick structure with an auditorium capable of seating 250 people.  The adjacent cemetery had over 1,000 graves situated there in 1936, according to the newspaper article.

Sarah and Don Ray have devoted time and energy to the preservation of the cemetery, which is a separate entity from the church. Sarah told me last year that there were over 2,000 graves as of 2023. Many of the cemetery records were lost in a house fire, so the Rays were working on a new count to replace the one lost.

A cousin, LaJoyce Doran, told me that Shiloh was the church where her aunt Katie Hyde had died and was buried. Katie passed away dramatically one Sunday morning while sharing her testimony at church. She succumbed while speaking at a revival service, shouting that she could see Jesus before she passed on the spot. What a revival service that must have been!

 The plaque stands in front of the site of several stores that were built prior to the railroad coming through Waldo. Most of the store owners packed up shop and relocated to the south. One of those who did so was Joe Washington Dorman, a farmer who transitioned to blacksmith. His grandfather, Green Washington Dorman, had moved to the area first from Spring Hill, then Emerson and finally settling between Lamartine and Falcon.

The senior Dorman had come to the area with his wife, lured by free land. He and his wife had 18 children, 16 who lived to adulthood. His son, Wylie Richard Dorman, was one of those survivors. His son, Joe Washington Dorman transitioned from farmer to blacksmith and operated a smithy, or blacksmith shop, across the road from where the plaque now stands. His wife's father, J.W. Whitehead, had been a blacksmith and perhaps it was from him that Joe learned the trade. When the railroad came through Waldo, he was one of the merchants to relocate. 

Joe Dorman's sons learned to weld and drive welding trucks and were working in the oil fields at the tender age of 14.  Joe had taught them to weld in the 1920s, converting Model T Fords into wagons when people could no longer afford gas during the Great Depression. They called the converted Model Ts “Hoover Wagons”. 

Dr. Tony Dorman shared the information about his family line. He observed that his grandfather had lived near Dr. Grimmett in Waldo and married the twin sister of Grimmett's mother. She died in a freak accident from injuries she sustained by backing up to the fire place. Tony's grandfather, as he tells it, went to Rosston, found an old maid and married her since he had been left with an infant child following his wife's demise.

To the west of the plaque, County Road 60 is known as Beech Creek Road. The Mayor of West Lamartine lives down this road, not far from U.S. 371.  His brick house, neat as a pin, sits back from the road behind his pond. Out back he maintains a garden and his weather observation site.

Beech Creek Missionary Baptist Church

 Go far enough out the Beech Creek Road, as I did recently and you'll come to Beech Creek Missionary Baptist Church, founded in 1850.  It attests to the importance of religion in the founding of Columbia County. Tony's great-great grandfather, Green Washington Dorman, is buried in that church's cemetery. He was born in 1920 and died in 1907.

But it's time to get back to the mayor and his ability at clock repair. He had always wanted a clock and today owns several. His favorite is a weight-driven model from the Gustav Becker Clock Company. Becker is one of the better known and higher quality clockmakers from the mid to  late 19th century. Some of his clocks are so well made of such quality material that they were still precise after over 100 years of service. 

Fun fact: many clocks with pendulums have the letters R and A, separated by a down arrow. My mom's clock has these letters. This has led some folks to make the observation, "I have an RA clock." But the R/A is not the name of the clock, but rather instructions on adjusting the pendulum. R stands for Retard, A is for Advance. By turning the adjusting knob below, the pendulum will swing faster or slower. 

Larry's workshop held three or four clocks he was working on at the time of my interview, and they were all unique and interesting models.  Given enough time and parts, which can sometimes be difficult to come by, he will soon have them all operating correctly again.

This has been a longer introduction to my podcast than usual. Much of it came from the entry on Lamartine from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, but other of it came from Facebook correspondence. I'm always intrigued by vibrant communities that once existed but today are a mere shadow of the past, remembered in piles of bricks or church cemeteries. It's doubtful that Lamartine will ever be restored to its former glory, but that's probably ok with its current residents.

Larry is a soft-spoken man of deep faith. I enjoyed visiting with him and hearing his story. If you'd like to take a listen, I encourage you to click the link below or tune in wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for your time, Larry!

Season 2, Episode 8

 Archeologist and the lives of early LA  residents

Dr. Carl Drexler

Long before those of us who speak our particular version of English inhabited what is now Lower Arkansas, early man inhabited the countryside. Dr. Carl Drexler is research archeologist for the Arkansas Archeological Survey stationed at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. He is intimately familiar with all periods of cultural development in this region and recently expanded upon them at a talk at the Columbia County Library.

Dr. Drexler was born three years before the release of the first movie featuring the exploits of Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr. and admits he did not see the series until his teen years. And while he may actually own a fedora, he prefers a different style of hat when he's working in the field. Unlike Indiana Jones, he does not use a bullwhip in his work, but he does have a nickname. You'll just have to listen to the podcast to hear what it is as we wouldn't want to make it to accessible by putting it into print.

And like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, there are stolen artifacts that need to be recovered. In 2006--before Dr. Drexler's assignment at SAU began--26 bowls and pottery objects valued at over $100,000 were stolen from the Survey headquarters on the SAU campus. The objects have been listed on the FBI's National Stolen Arts registry and may be viewed on the FBI's website at this link.  And while there have been reported sightings of some of the objects through the intervening years, the reports have not panned out. The mystery continues!

If you're interested in learning more about archeology in South Arkansas, check out the website of the Red River chapter of the Arkansas Archeological Society at this link.

To learn more about the first peoples to call Lower Arkansas home and find out Dr. Drexler's nom de guerre, take a listen to my interview by clicking the button below!

Season 2, Episode 7

 Solar eclipse is awesome!

John and Grace Harden

with Ella, Mitchell and Audrey

Take it from John Harden: the solar eclipse coming up April 8 is an awe-inspiring event with spiritual impact that you don't want to miss. As a father who took his family to see the last, John has first-hand experience. Back in 2017 they drove from Magnolia to Lebanon, Tennessee to witness the eclipse.

"You've got to get into the region of 100 per cent totality," John told me. "I drove eight hours to see it the last time, that's probably the extent I would have done it in 2017 but knowing what I know now, I would have driven two days for it. It is that much of a must see. It's incredible."

John recommended watching the weather forecast carefully.  Depending on what the regional forecast holds, you might want to get up early to go north or south to be on the line of totality.

"It's a deeply spiritual experience," John told me. "Some Bible passages will never read the same again after you experience this: Psalm 19:1, 'The heavens declare the glory of God and the expanse proclaims the works of his hands." And Genesis 1:3, 'Then God said let there be light and there was light.' These passages will never read the same."

John noted that many people are moved to tears by the experience of seeing the eclipse. He compared it to making a trip to the Holy Land. 

"The Holy Land will take you back to the time of Jesus, this (the eclipse) will take you back to the time of Creation," John explained. 

John also recommended getting to your location early, expect traffic delays and be prepared with food and water in the event you are stuck in traffic.

As you prepare to view the 2024 Solar Eclipse, take a moment to listen to my interview with John Harden by clicking the play button below.

Season 2, Episode 6

 What in the world is lymphedema?

Maddie Jo Stephens

Jamie Stephens moved to Lower Arkansas from Louisiana, so she was rightly confused when I told her the name of my podcast. But she’s been here for about seven years and she and her family are adapting to “Life in LA”, even though they’ve run into a challenge they weren’t expecting in the process.

“My daughter Maddie Jo was diagnosed at six years old with primary lymphedema which means that she was born with it” Jamie told me.

Lymphedema is tissue swelling caused by the buildup of high-protein rich fluid in the extremities. Primary lymphedema begins at birth while secondary lymphedema is acquired following trauma or cancer.

Jamie first noticed Maddie Jo’s condition following dance class when she was six. The day had begun like so many others.

“I got her home that evening,” Jamie told me.  “I was changing her shoe and her foot was two times bigger than the other one. I thought she broke it but it wasn’t broken.”

So began a search for a doctor with experience in treating primary lymphedema. They sought treatment in Magnolia, Little Rock, Shreveport and eventually got the diagnosis in Dallas. Many of the doctors she’s talked with have told her that she knows more about the condition than they do.

“It's not their fault, they don't tell you in medical school,” she said. “They spend less than 24 hours on the lymphatic system because it was considered not as important to body as say the circulatory system. In the last 10 to 15 years, they’ve come to find out it is just as important.”

While there is no cure, there are some treatments such as massages that can help to reduce the swelling.  Compression also helps, which requires the use of bandages, stockings or special garments.

One of the biggest issues facing children with the condition is finding shoes they can wear.

 “Kids with lymphedema in their feet cannot wear mainstream shoes,” Jamie explained. “If they do, you have to buy two pairs in two different sizes to make one pair and it's only certain brands that are like $100 piece so you buy two pairs to make one pair and that other pair has no use.”

Special garments may be required, but those are expensive also. A custom-made garment from Germany may cost $1,200 and the child may outgrow it in just months.

How has Maddie Jo adapted to the condition? It must be difficult with her classmates, I mused.

“Thankfully she's always gone to Emerson (Public Schools) and they love her,” Jamie said. “She's a butterfly, she does not let it get her down.”

If she notices other children staring at her, Maddie Jo takes the opportunity to strike up a conversation and explains the situation, giving a short course on lymphedema.

Her condition has led her to lots of new experiences:

• She was named the 2024 Ambassador for Children’s Hospital in Dallas, Texas;
• She connected with Ryan Seacrest and the American Idol judges through video message, and recently met Seacrest in person;
• She landed the role of Chip in Magnolia Arts’ production of Beauty & The Beast Jr.

Maddie Jo doesn't let the condition get her down and Jamie says she is always smiling, bubbly,  and eager to make friends. Her favorite saying is, "I love everyone, but I love Jesus more, even more than you, Momma."

Maddie Jo’s condition has led her mom to start a foundation, the purpose of which is to empower children battling primary lymphedema by providing essential support. This includes assistance with shoes and compression gear, but also to promoting awareness of the condition.

 One of the ways the foundation is promoting awareness is through a special event coming up March 2 at the Barn at Big Oak Hill near Emerson. A 5K Color Walk/Run will kick off at 10 a.m.  Participants will be doused with different colors at each kilometer mark, creating a unique outfit to mark the occasion.

 “We encourage all who participate in the Color Walk/Run to wear white shirts and shoes that you don’t mind getting color on,” Jamie said. After the walk/run, join us for live music by Brooklyn Fogle, great food by Crayston BBQ and shaved ice from Sub-Zero New Orleans Style Shaved Ice.

 There will also be information tables with brochures and T-shirts for sale. To register to run or walk, visit jorising.org or come early for the event to register in person. You can also follow Jo Rising on their Facebook page.

Hear my interview with Jamie by clicking below and share this post to help get the word out about the event and lymphedema.