DestinationsMagazine.us, Vol. 1

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DestinationsMagazine.us

DestinationsMagazine.us ...it’s all about the journey!

In this issue: Ashley McBryde, makin’ a name!Hardy Homesteaders and PowWowWalnut Ridge’s Musical HeritageVisit Leavenworth,WashingtonSweet Potato IdeasTurkey Leftovers SolutionsSugar Creek Goods, LLCClinton’s Deb’s Higher GroundsChocolate Buttermilk Layer CakeAffordable Christmas Ornaments Fishin’ with Crowbar Russell and More...$2.50

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We want to create something a little different. We believe it’s the little things that make life great…the journey should be at least as memorable as the destination.

We want to include positive pieces about hometown success stories and combine them with tales from distant places our readers might want to visit one day.

We want to include how to cre-ate some of the crafts you see in the big network crafting shows or ex-pensive magazines but using mate-rials most anyone can come by. We want to delve into home improve-ment, because making the place you live more livable improves the quality of your life. While the price of – well, everything—continues to climb, we will provide ideas to make your dollar feel more like two. We want to give you hints as to where to begin and how to be successful. So, we want to hear from you. We want to know what you like or would like to see.

Do you have that fantastic fam-ily recipe everyone raves about? Send it! We want to build a reci-pe collection of the types of things people actually eat, and that “Joe Average” can find ingredients for at the local grocery store, may already have at home, or could easily grow in a home garden.

Are you searching for a super recipe for something you’ve eaten in the past? Maybe another reader can provide it. Do you have a won-derful family tradition? We’d like to know about it…others are search-ing for traditions to start for their young families.

Know how to knit socks or a fun cap, crochet a beautiful baby blan-

ket, or embroider a pillow case? Do you have a great idea for an easy-to-sew apron, a unique quilt design, or maybe a great scrapbook tech-nique? Send us good quality pic-tures and easy to follow directions so that we can share your ideas!

Need information on hunting season, fishing advice, or some-

thing new and different in the li-brary? Would you like info on brief getaways you can actually afford? Are you seeking hidden treasure businesses to shop and welcoming cafes to meet your friends in off the beaten path? We hope to provide some of all of that, as well.

Have a lead on where to pur-chase inexpensive canning jars or fish hooks? Do you have innovative ideas for drying foods or starting a garden? Share them. Are you interested in ideas on how to be more independent and self-suf-ficient? Do you need practical thoughts on recycling old items to new uses? Many people are thinking the same thing!

Do you know how to make a limestone wall or have you created an amazing Pennsyl-vania Bluestone pa-tio where the wreck of your back porch used to be? Send

pictures and the story. Do you have plans for a wonderful potting shed or portable chicken coup?

Do you know someone amaz-ing…or just an ordinary person who has an amazing story? Send it. Know someone who has received a great honor? Earned their degree late in life? Witnessed the attacks at Pearl Harbor? Made a differ-ence in people’s lives for a long time and gone unrecognized? Those sto-ries can be very interesting…and they are upbeat in this world where fewer and fewer stories seem to be these days.

We want to be a resource. We want to create step-by-step “how-to” articles. We want to create a magazine you want to read…we think we’re on the right track. The market is flooded with expensive ideas that use inaccessible com-ponents, but we think folks would rather have projects that they can do themselves, that turn out great, and that they can afford.

It is our hope that you will help us create a homey publication as practical, comfortable, and familiar as your favorite pair of comfy jeans. You know the ones. ;).

~~~Please share your ideas with us!

We’d love to hear from you! Mail: Steeplechase Publishing P.O. Box 466 Hardy, AR 72542Website: www.DestinationsMagazine.usPublisher:Lauren Siebert©2012 Steeplechase Publishing

About The Magazine

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Table of Contents:Page Feature2 About the Magazine3 Table of Contents/Thanks!4-5 Worth the Visit6-7 Ashley McBryde 8 Fallen Leaf Fishin’ with Crowbar Russell9-10 Some Hints on Finding Uncommon Happiness

11-13 Music Culture of Walnut Ridge14 Hunt for Art15 Local Author in Amazon’s Kindle Format16-17 Hardy Arkansas Homesteaders/PowWow18-19 Sugar Creek Goods, LLC20-21 Homemade Christmas Ornaments

First Thanks First!Behind every adventurous under-

taking are people who believe in it and support it even though it’s just a website or a thought and you have nothing you can show them on pa-per…folks who believe in an idea enough to support it even though the economy is lean. We appreci-ate those folks who want to help

us do something good for our area. We’d like to take a moment to rec-ognize the first ones and dedicate this issue of DestinationsMagazine.us to you: The City of Hardy, Don and Fran Cavenaugh, Leanne Fry, Michelle and Christopher Siebert, Meshoppen Stone, AZ Printing, First National Banking Company, Jade’s Home and More, Comput-er Source, North Arkansas Veteri-

narian Clinic, Bill’s Towing, Griffin Park, LilsGarden.net, Sugar Creek Goods, Eaglecrest Nursing and Re-hab, In and Out Tobacco, Coldwell Banker, and Paradise Studios.

We’d also like to thank Nestlé USA, the National Turkey Federa-tion, and the Louisiana Sweet Po-tato Commission for their generous contributions to our content. They stepped up first.

21-22 Learning to Spin23 Book Nook Reviews24-26 Leavenworth, Washington27-29 Sweet Potato, Chocolate Cake, and Turkey Recipes30 Really Helping31 New Year’s Success Contest

www.DestinationsMagazine.us

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According to travel.usnews.com, the top 25 places to travel include, London, Barcelona, Paris, Maui, Puerto Rico and so on. Those would be awesome destinations if you’ve been blessed with finances enough to travel the globe! However, we here at DestinationsMagazine.us have decided to create our own, less ambitious, list of great places to travel…closer to home!

For the purposes of this particular issue most of the travel destinations will be located within driving dis-tance of our home office, near Har-dy, Arkansas, and we’re only giv-ing previews of coming attractions which will appear in more depth in future issues of DestinationsMaga-zine.us.

For those who love to camp, fish or hunt, chin up! Even though we’re entering the fall and winter seasons, it’s always good to plan a vacation in advance so that money can be saved up to get there and back, and have a ton of fun while you’re gone.

The state of Arkansas alone con-tains 52 state parks! This doesn’t even include the many hidden treasures you can find in places like Hardy, Cherokee Village, Cal-ico Rock, Norfork, Bull Shoals and other rural areas along the Spring and White Rivers. Many of these places are not only privately owned, but well maintained and can range from fully equipped and ready for an RV to roll on in, to the more traditional “old style” campground where there is a fire pit, a place to pitch a tent, and a great view of the Ozarks. Let’s not forget that most places around these parts generally have the added beauty of the glis-tening of whatever body of water is nearby.

One of the beautiful things about

Arkansas is that most cities are smaller in size and most are within driving distance of camping…or home just depending on how the day has gone.

Moving to more “Metropolitan” ar-eas in the East --

One of my personal favorite-to-travel-to-for-a-day places is Mem-phis, which is about 135 miles from Hardy. It’s generally a good idea to snag a hotel so you don’t have to rush through your visit, and some-times a bargain can be found for around $70.

The average drive time from Har-dy to Memphis is 2 1/2 hours. It’s a destination far enough away and big enough that if you’re trying to get away, you probably won’t run into someone you know. Mem-phis has a great “day” life includ-ing everything from Elvis Presley’s Graceland, to the zoo, to the malls, to little shops along the main streets and hidden places that, when you get lost, you discover you’re glad you did. If you’re taking the kids, I suggest going during the day and visiting things like the Gibson gui-tar museum or if you plan it just right, Memphis in May.

The night life in Memphis can be a blast! There are plenty of eater-ies and places to get together with friends or chat with friends-to-be. Let’s not forget Beale Street, listed as a National Historic Landmark and designated “Home of the Blues” by Congress in 1977. Well-known mu-sicians from trumpet legend Louis Armstrong to B.B. King to Muddy Waters helped to make the area fa-mous, and The Beale Street Music Festival and Memphis in May, per-

petuate the legacy. If you’re travel-ing with friends, your small group will make you feel comfortable there on a Friday or Saturday night when it can be crowded in a festive kind of way.

On the way to Mem-phis from Hardy you

will find Jonesboro. Average 63-mile drive from Hardy, takes a lit-tle over one hour. Jonesboro is a great destination for a day trip with its restaurant chains, bowling alley, movies, mall, stores and great ideas for decorating and fashion.

Closer still, Walnut Ridge cele-brates it’s musical heritage along “Rock ‘n’ Roll” Highway 67 with a Guitar Walk at Cavenaugh Park!

Average drive time from Hardy to Little Rock, (if you obey speed lim-it) is about 3 hours (143 miles).

Little Rock has a great down town area as well as being the State Capitol. Some of the architecture is amazing. Like Memphis, Little Rock contains a zoo and shopping malls. Wild River County (a water park) and many of the same restau-rants are there, but it is also just a short drive from the next destina-tion which would be Hot Springs, also known as the “Spa City”

Average drive time from Hardy to Hot Springs: 4 1/2 hours (194 miles), hotel recommended and it’s a prime vacation spot for a 2-3 day stay.

Hot Springs is home to Arkansas Diamond Crater State Park, where a family can travel to dig for real dia-monds. There are also several bath houses and a great downtown strip. Magic Springs and Crystal Falls is a combination theme and water-park containing the Arkansas Twister, a thrilling wooden roller coaster. The

Worth the Visit from a Hardy Perspective by Lauren Siebert

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DestinationsMagazine.usMid-American Science Museum at Hot Springs is more than worth the stop. The cost to go through is about $9 per adult and $7 per child, (on a par with a 3-D movie per family and way more fun because it’s not over after an hour and a half!) It is an affordable, educational and excep-tional way to spend a day together.

Bringing it back a little, closer to home, Mountain Home, approx-imately an hour and ten minutes from Hardy, is a great place to trav-el for light shopping and a change of pace without spending too much.

Mountain Home is fairly close and you will most likely run into someone you know. It is an excel-lent place to travel for dinner or a movie, and makes for an super “date night” destination or a good place to take the family for a day. Being a “wet” county, a couple can have a glass of wine with dinner at the restaurant of their choice. (My personal favorite is Roma’s Italian restaurant. It’s is amazing.)

Further to the west, Branson, Missouri, with an average time from Hardy of three and a half hours (about 150 miles), is another hotel-worthy stop.

A midwest mecca for wholesome entertainment and outlet shopping, Branson is home to things like Dol-ly Parton’s Dixie Stampede dinner experience, shopping at Branson Landing, and more entertainment

than I know what to do with. Silver Dollar City, a theme park with all the usual trimmings, includes the 1800’s village where you can step back in time to watch artisans craft items in the old ways.

If you decide to stay in town I

would suggest three nights because most hotels offer a discount and you can get the rooms much cheap-er than for a one-to-two day stay.

Springfield, Missouri, and Eureka Springs, Arkansas are less than an hour’s drive from Branson. Eureka Springs is another beautiful hidden treasure, containing an amazing downtown area and plenty of ho-tels. Thorncrown Chapel, a glass cathedral in the woods, the winner of architectral awards and a favorite wedding site is nearby, as is Quig-ley’s Castle, billed as the “Ozarks Strangest Dwelling.” There are also a zoo, an aquarium, and museums. Being a tourist town, the costs of things are a little higher, but its still an affordable destination for an in-dividual or family to travel to.

To the southwest of Hardy (about 65 miles) is Mountain View. No visit to northern Arkansas would be complete without considering a stop at the Folk Music Capital of the World where spontaneous mu-sic events break out nightly on the courthouse square during good weather and the October-scheduled BeanFest touts “Championship Outhouse Races.” Just down the mountain, the Ozarks Folk Center State Park is home to conferences and events, and to the artisan’s Craft Village which preserves tradition-al Arkansas Heritage and Ozarks Mountain folk arts of the 19th and

20th centuries...you can even learn how to make soap!

Not far from Moun-tain View, Blanchard Springs and Blanchard Caverns are natural wonders in the “Nat-ural State” and defi-

nitely are worth visiting.Last but not least on the list is

Hardy itself. You can get just about anywhere in town within ten min-utes. Many people who live here don’t take time to check out the old-style downtown area, but the

Old Hardytown Main Street strip is home to many pre-World War II buildings and twenty or more stores each one unique. Hardy is “the state’s smallest town to boast a historic district” according to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Located along the Spring River and near several lakes, camp-ing, fishing, cookouts, and friendly faces wait around each corner in Hardy.

Hardy holds many more major events each year than you’d expect from a bitty place: from Home-steaders to the Indian Pow Wow. Griffin Park, minutes away, is the home of Arkansas’s longest, high-est, fastest (55 mph!) zip line, and to many concerts and events!

Hardy, Cherokee Village, High-land, and Ash Flat form “The Quad Cities” and each contains some-thing unique and different. They are all within 12 miles of each oth-er. From a premier Golf Course, to a movie theatre and bowling alley, great ball field and great amenities, you can vacation or Staycation here if you’re not worried about running into EVERYONE you know.

Home vacations make for the least expensive because when you forget something at the house, it’s only about twenty minutes away!

(Above left:) Thorncrown Cathedral, Eureka Springs, AR. (Above) “Old Town” Hardy, AR. By: Arkansas Dept. of Parks and Tourism)

Photo courtesy of Branson/Lakes Area CVB

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Everyone has that favorite band or singer. No matter how many times you’ve have heard them in the past, you feel like you’re always left wanting more. You find your-self turning up the radio or singing along with the CD for the millionth time whether you’re by yourself or with friends on the drive to someplace. Me, too. That was how I felt after hearing Ashley McBryde per-form for the first time, and it continued with her CDs which I bought, played, and studied.

I’m an am-ateur singer/s o n g w r i t e r , and I’m always learning from people who have more ex-perience or a special feel to their work. I wanted to learn more about this artist, so I caught up with her. Ashley McBryde seems to be amaz-ingly comfortable in every environ-ment, and she was willing to share her story with me, and thought I’d share what I learned.

As a youngster, Ashley, who was born in Waldron, Arkansas in 1983, found herself drawn to one of the most powerful forces on the planet. Music! “I started messing around with my dad’s guitars when I was like three, and he would get mad because they were expensive. So he

gave me my grandmother’s mando-lin and told me to go figure out how to play it, and so I just banged on it until it stopped sounding terrible.”

In her early years the music of artists such as Dolly Parton influ-enced her in ways that would mold her into one of the most talent-

ed singer/songwriters to set foot in the Ozarks or splash across the streets of the Memphis and Nash-ville scenes.

Ashley described her beginnings this way, “My family was big into bluegrass music when I was grow-ing up. So, I went to a lot of fes-tivals and things. I would kind of watch, and I wanted to do what they did. When I was nine, my dad took me into a music store in Thay-er, Missouri. While he was talking to the store owner, he handed me

a three-quarter size guitar. He asked me if I could figure out how to play it, and I said ‘I don’t know,’ but I took it and I was just play-ing with it getting it all figured out when dad said it was time to go. I went to hand the guitar back and dad said, ‘No, that’s yours.’ He had

just bought me my first gui-tar.”

As time passed, her passion for the p r e f o r m i n g arts grew and a few unlike-ly musicians began to help broaden her musical hori-zons. “As I got older, I start-ed looking at guitar players like Tony Rice and there were different wom-en that were really cool and i n f l u e n c e d me like Em-mylou Harris,

Mary Chapin Carpenter and Tr-isha Yearwood. With men it was Ricky Skaggs and some people you wouldn’t expect like Chris Ledoux - I always thought he was a real-ly cool dude. As I got even older it was people like Patty Griffin, Lu-cinda Williams and Hayes Carll. The things you strive to do in mu-sic change, but these artists defi-nitely added their own spices to my style.”

In June 2011, Ashley released her newest CD, ‘Elsebound,’ con-

Ashley McBrydeby Lauren Siebert

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taining 11 original tracks filled with powerful and compelling lyrics. Each song brings something differ-ent to the table. Ashley explained that the inspiration for the songs she writes comes from her own life experiences or those of her close friends.

When asked if she had a favorite song on the new album Ashley said, “That changes on like a weekly ba-sis, like today I’d say Arkansas. That one is always in the top three. There are 11 songs on the CD and it changed 11 times while we were cutting the album. Every time I lis-tened to it, I’d generally find some-thing else that I loved that we did, however subtle it might be, with the guitar or piano.”

Ashley shared how the transition which took her to serious artist territory began. After what most would deem to be a promising stint in retail management, Ashley took a leap of faith and decided to per-sue her music career full time.

“I’d already been playing for a few years before I got the job with Gui-tar Center, and I started advancing with them and got my first store and then got my second store, and that was when they asked me to choose between working for them and working for myself. It really wasn’t that hard a decision--besides giving up health insurance and a steady paycheck,” Ashley explained. “For my soul it wasn’t a hard decision at all. I had told my boss then, ‘It’s not that I’m working hard, it’s who I‘m working for that seems to be the problem.’ So I went home and told my dog Banjo and everyone that I had quit my job, and it felt really good.

Ashley explained that although she knew it was a risky decision, it was something she felt compelled to do. “In order to not hate myself I had to do this. I realized that if you just do it full time with no safety net, you will find a way. You will find a grocery store parking lot to

sing in, you will find a doughnut shop that will let you do loud music

(Elsebound Cover and photo of Ashley below, courtesy of Ashley McBryde.)

you will find whatever you have to survive,” Ashley said. “If you can do what you love - you don’t have to get rich doing it - if you can do what

you love and be happy with your-self because of it and feed yourself and your dog...If you can just do it consistently for a living, do what makes you happy or makes others happy and makes a difference to people, there is no other bigger suc-cess than that.”

Music is a force that moves the masses, effecting people in ways that words cannot explain. As a singer/songwriter, Ashley gave some insight into her love of music,

“If you want to do this for a living, you have to do it all the time and there are no days off. No time when you’re not working or thinking about networking. The music has had the ability to change my mind and change my life in a lot of ways. I think if you have the ability to do that for someone else, not only should you, but you’re obligated to. Music can do things ‘to you’ and ‘for you’ that only music can do.”

Ashley paused thoughtful for a moment before continuing, “The main thing I want people to take away from my music is that it’s real and raw and honest. I think that there should be more real, raw and honest music on the radio. Sadly, that’s not what sells, but there is so much fantastic music out there if you can just get your hands on it!”

“If you know a local artist, sup-port them. My whole team is vol-unteers--friends of mine that vol-unteer to do things. Because of them, we are miles and miles past where we were two years ago.”

Three years after walking away from her job at Guitar Center, Ash-ley is steadily progressing in the music industry and has sold more than 1,500 copies of her latest CD. Her musc can be found on iTunes, YouTube, Reverb Nation and at any of her shows.

If you would like to know where she’ll be next, check out her web-site!

www.AshleyMcBryde.com

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DestinationsMagazine.usmoney on artificial baits! To “Ban-jo” all you need to do is hold your line tight in one hand...poppin’ your line with the other hand to re-lease your bait.

I don’t clam to know it all by any means, but these are just a few things I’ve learned over a lifetime of livin’ on the river with a family of outstanding River Folks. Catchin’ more numbers of good fish during the fall and winter has, over the years, been a plus when producing fishin’ programs for “Arkansas Out-laws Wanted” episodes that air on the ABC Network through Dish and Direct TV, and on KAIT Channel 8 and KATV Channel 7 in Arkansas every Saturday Night. That’s what has worked for me, and I sure wish you luck in makin’ it work for you! Keep your hooks sharp!

Crowbar Like “Arkanas Outlaws Wanted” or “Crowbar Russell” on Facebook!

Sitting by the Camp Keirl Bridge down on the Spring River Latisha said, “Look at the trees Crowbar.” The reflection on the water from the fall colors was beautiful. I simply replied, “I agree,” knowing she was admiring the peace, and at the same time I’m remembering that this is the time of year for some of your best fishing! When the colors of the leaves begin to change and fall, it’s a sure sign the bass will start hitting.

Uncle Bill Russell always said, “When the leaves start fallin’ on the water, the Bass start rollin’ their eyes to the Top!” Even though Bass will hit other baits, plus all kinds of top water baits...Top is what I really like to fish! Uncle Bill proved to be right once again. Fishing hard on a cloudy day in October and up into November can be worth 50 to 100 fish a day. Just be sure and prepare to adjust your drag because a lot of these fish will be good size this time of year, and this will prevent you from breaking your line. Let

me add that you could pick up a Walleye here and there!

With the fall and winter water be-ing so clear...most people including myself use small fishing line. A lot of the time I will use 8-lb and 12-lb test since it’s stout and hard to see in clear waters. The difference in line will be in the difference of your water, so be sure and keep a check on it.

Now finally, your fall fishing moves out and from the middle of November your winter fishin’ starts! Things change...it gets cold-er...and fish go back to deep rocky holes...and around deep falls. Deep running crank baits and a good graphite rod for “Jiggin” with some sort of jigs will be in hand. You’ve gotta change your way of fishin’ since your fish have changed their ways of hittin’! These deep holes make carrying a “Plug Knocker” for crank baits a good idea...also try to learn to “Banjo” your line.

These two tactics will save you

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Fallin’ Leaf Fishin’ b y C r o w b a r R u s s e l l

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by Deb Dalwrymple

The word ‘holistic’ seems to have an almost negative conno-tation. I believe this is simply due to confusion about the word, or what exactly it means as it ap-plies to everyday life. The word itself is defined as “of, or relating to the consideration of the com-plete person, physically and psy-chologically, in the treatment of disease…concerned with wholes rather than analysis or separation into parts.”

People have a tendency in many areas of their lives to compartmen-talize and separate themselves. They continue to do so when they think about their health. Being holistic doesn’t just mean treat-ing the body with herbal cures and tinctures. It also doesn’t mean dressing in hemp clothing, and starting to meditate all day long or giving up your belongings to some charity and going off to live on the road. It sounds drastic but that’s the most popular image that comes to mind when people think of a holistic practitioner… then they meet me.

My interpretation and applica-tion of ‘holistic’ is this: In all parts of one’s life, there must be melody and peaceful co-existence. When there is harmony in all areas of one’s life, a person can be happy, healthy and disease free. When a person has no stress (or has learned how to handle stress so it doesn’t affect the body negative-ly) that person’s blood pressure is lower. When a person has healthy eating habits and gets good exer-cise, the body responds positively. When one has a good personal re-lationship with family or partner,

that person’s mind is clear when he or she is away from loved ones while at work. When one enjoys his or her work, that person is happier and can have a better re-lationship with family when he or she comes home.

I n t e r -connected-ness is the key. Now of course h e r b a l t i n c t u r e s and remedies fall into this cat-egory as well. Being of Native American descent, it is my per-sonal belief and choice of practice to use what the Almighty Creator put here for us to use to address physical ailments. However, all too often, physical ailments can be directly related to an emotion-al issue that one has been going through, or a lack of nutritional value from one’s diet or lifestyle.

A person doesn’t have to give up his or her lifestyle to become healthy and happy, but it does re-quire effort and change upon the person’s part. Sometimes, once someone steps back and looks at their life from outside the box they live in everyday, they may realize the different areas that are causing health problems. Wheth-er it is stress from work, stress from home, lack of exercise, lack of sleep (from stress and wor-ry), poor diet, or like most, ALL OF THE ABOVE. You have the power to change all these areas in your life. To me, that is what “ho-listic” is and what it means. With

or without the nutritional support from herbal cures and tinctures, one can become at peace with his or her surroundings. Now, is it easy? No. Simple? Yes. It takes time and dedication, but the out-come is worth the effort.

Part of my holistic journey to happiness was not only to become physically healthy, but emotional-ly healthy as well. I did away with personal relationships that were unhealthy, and I make sure that any new ones are positive. Also, I’ve had faith in my talents and myself even when some who were close to me said it couldn’t be done. I opened my own business. I am a Licensed Massage Thera-pist and a Sound Therapist. I love and enjoy my work and sharing my gift with those who are inter-ested in a different path. But I found myself missing something.

After three years of practice, I realized I really missed being in-volved in a business I once had, and it went much deeper than “I just miss doing that”. So, as I mentioned I went a bit against the grain and decided to open my own second business. I own and op-erate Deb’s Higher Grounds Cof-fee House in Clinton, Arkansas. Working for a very popular coffee house when I went through mas-sage therapy school, I had always had a dream of barista-ing and massage-ing on alternating days in order to keep myself busy, and ultimately very happy, as I loved both professions equally. So af-ter graduating massage school, I married, moved away, and sep-arated myself and my talents. Three years passed very quickly, and I realized there was a hole where that dream once had been, and it was starting to affect me in a negative way. So I took my own advice. My dream has become reality, but only because

Some Hints on FindingUncommon Happiness

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DestinationsMagazine.usI realized what had happened, and I decided to fix it. Granted, it’s been hard to manage a fami-ly and two businesses, especially in the economy that we current-ly have, but I am still thankful I went against the grain and came back to my dream.

I do what I love everyday! Mondays, I practice massage and sound therapy, and Tuesday through the rest of the week I pre-pare good ol’ fashioned, home-made food using wholesome in-gredients for all those who come through my shop’s door. Even on my most tired days, I have a genu-ine smile on my face when I come home to my family, because I am happy. They benefit from this happiness everyday, simply be-cause they feel like they also have the freedom to be happy, or can talk with me about daily troubles and we can come to some conclu-sion that eases the heavy heart or

mind.I do not know where I “learned”

this approach, I’ve just always practiced this way, and taught it to whomever would listen. I feel like I was born with the gift, but it is able to be learned by those who are willing. So the main thing is to never let the little things stop you from achieving your goals. Don’t give up just because one teacher of‘holistics said you have

to be Vegan, and you really can’t imagine a world without steak! Happiness is attainable on many levels. Don’t put your health and per-sonal happiness aside because you have yet to find your way. Open your mind

and it will come. There are many teachers, and many ways.

Deb Dalwrymple is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Sound Therapist, and the owner of Deb’s Higher Grounds Coffee House in Clinton, Arkansas. Deb is also a mother, wife, and a Holistic Prac-titioner.

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E v e r y communi-ty, no mat-ter how large or small, was founded on an idea and a dream. Some in America would grow to become home to millions of people who worked, played and lived in those cities. Some commu-nities weren’t concerned with en-tering the Rat Race and would rath-er hold fast to their foundations, taking pride in knowing where they came from, and what their home town was able to accomplish over time. Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, is one of those towns.

“Our past reveals who we really are,” Don House, Mayor of Wal-nut Ridge explained as he began to share the area’s colorful history, “It tells where we really came from and how we got there or how we did the things we achieved. With-out that knowledge how do people pick up or go forward? Do they just start all over again? That’s not necessary. The Great Wall of China was not built by one generation! It was built by multiple generations over time, and it’s something that has marked the world.”

House explained that in this re-gion, when people think of music, they tend to think of folk music and tend to associate those thoughts of folk music with locations like Mountain View, Hardy or Mountain Home. “Not long after our area was settled in the early 1800’s, Walnut Ridge developed its own interest in music. And later, when Colonel

P o n d e r returned from the Civil War, he bought land near the rail-r o a d , built the

first home in the town itself, and began drawing out plans to develop a town alongside the railroad.”

House shared his earliest mem-ories of hearing about the famous singers and musicians that had come to Walnut Ridge. “Many times those that travelled through were one-man shows like Roy Acuff who came as a young man prior to becoming Grand-Ol’-Opry famous. That was in the days when we had street cars, and the main streets of Walnut Ridge were dirt.”

House recalled a time when his father had told him about a theatre in town near the railroad where the late Jimmy Rodgers had come. “He was known for his style of music es-pecially his yodeling. In his time he performed and was famous.”

“U.S.Highway 67 was one of the other things that played a major role in Walnut Ridge’s early de-velopment. The highway basical-ly started in Wisconsin and was the main north/south corridor in the US running from the Chicago area and taking you to the Mexican Border…and it came right through Walnut Ridge.”

With the Highway and railroad running parallel and both through the heart of town, more entertain-ers, entrepreneurs and folks who came to settle arrived. “The only difference is today they just pass by

and hardly see the town, but back then they actually went between Walnut Ridge and Hoxie on a very long stretch of road running the length of town beside the railroad tracks,” House explained. “Those kinds of strips allowed a lot of oth-er things to develop. There were a lot of motels and venues of various sorts for entertainers, venues that we would have called ‘honky tonks’ in the past. A lot of schools and a lot of communities had moved to the railroads and the highway.”

When WWII began, Walnut Ridge was selected as a site for an Army Air Corps base which meant thousands of new people coming to Walnut Ridge! Town grew along the highway, railroad, and the base. Although the base was de-commissioned in the late 1940’s, it continued to be active with military personnel until 1958. The airport remains today and still has a decent amount of traffic.

“In especially the 50’s and mid-sixties,” Mayor House contin-ued, “Over a period at the most of 12-15 years - electrified instruments came to the scene. The first electri-fied instruments that appeared on TV were out of Memphis with the Rhodes family. Entertainer Eddy Arnold came to Walnut Ridge with an electrified amplifier, prior to the days when that was the conven-tional way to play.”

House reminisced, “People said, ‘that will bury you! You can’t do it.’ But, I remember Dusty and Slim [Rhodes] who were person-al friends saying, ‘No, we’re going to try it. This is going to work,’” House exclaimed. “Then others be-gan to take it up.” TV came to the

The Musical Heritage of by Lauren Siebert

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DestinationsMagazine.usscene. “If you were in Memphis you could get a good signal, but if you were this side of Crowley’s Ridge in rural areas you couldn’t get much of a signal. So, people would still turn out en mass from far and near to see an entertainer. Radio stations that you could get at night were limited to Chicago, New Orleans and Memphis and if you were lucky, occasionally, a St. Louis station in our region.

In the mid-fifties, there were so many entertainers that were develop-ing, in the mid-south especially cen-tered in and near Memphis. There was a flood of entertainment making it nearly impossible for entertainers concentrated there to make enough money to survive.

So, where did they go? They went’ to those US highways in Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. They’d perform outside of Memphis, but always close enough that they could work during the day and drive here to Walnut Ridge, Newport or wherever at night. There were lots of places they could play up and down the highway,” House said. “High School auditoriums, gymnasi-ums and honky tonks or night clubs. We had a proliferation of them. So here came the likes of Carl Perkins, the father of Blue Suede Shoes out of northern Mississippi; Conway Twit-ty, out of southeast Arkansas; then came a lady named Wanda Jackson, then Roy Orbison, then Elvis Presley. There were others that played up and down a 50-mile strip from Pocahon-tas to Newport primarily.

The musicians were often near-ly penniless. Sometimes it took all their money together to buy a meal, because one would get more money than another. They’d meet some-where to eat. They got discouraged and went through all the things an entertainer goes through,” House said. “I’m sure they did the same thing on other strips similar to High-way 67 in northeast Arkansas, but what I’m saying is when you get a sample of one you get a sample of them all.

Walnut Ridge has chosen to high-light that heritage, which is where Rock and Roll and Rockabilly re-ally began. The musicians may have recorded in Memphis, Jones-boro and other places around, but they struggled to begin careers and honed their skills while building their reputations and fan bases in smaller communities before ever becoming famous.”

Cavenaugh Park is BornCharles Snapp is a coordinator

and volunteer for the development of Cavenaugh Park. He explained, “Several years ago, the state legisla-ture renamed a section of highway 67 which runs from Bald Knob all the way to the Missouri line. They called it, ‘The Rock ‘n’ Roll High-way.’ A portion of the Rock ‘n’ Roll highway runs through down-town Walnut Ridge. They did that as a tribute to all the Rockabilly and Rock ‘n’ Roll performers that played through this area.”

After the highway was renamed, several communities along the strip began holding weekend events to highlight the area’s musical heri-tage.

Snapp explained, “The communi-ty of Walnut Ridge had begun to re-alize how special their heritage was and to think of things that could be done in order to make an attraction that would last longer than just a weekend and that would be acces-sible most any time to visitors of Walnut Ridge. Citizens wanted to take pride in their musical heritage and bring it to the forefront.”

A committee was formed to brain-storm and find ways to help revital-ize the city. One member, Sue Gib-son, came up with the idea to line the roadway with silhouettes; this was the beginning for what would become Cavanaugh Park and The Guitar Walk.

“The guitar walk is a 115-foot con-crete replica of the most popular guitar of the 1960’s - the Epiphone

Casino. “The neck of the guitar has solid brass fret bars and the inlays on the guitar neck are mother-of-pearl pattern porcelain cut in the shape that would come on that ac-tual guitar,” Snapp said. “The body of the guitar, like the neck, is solid concrete six inches thick with a tex-tured surface. The guitar has stain-less steel ‘strings’.”

The guitar walk is lined with ten plaques containing historical infor-mation about various artists who had come to Walnut Ridge while making their way to fame in the music industry.

“The plaques around the edge are a newer fiberglass system, they ac-tually have the photos of the artist embedded within the frame and they are guaranteed to last through the weather with no discoloration or cracks for a minimum of 10 years,” Snapp said. The guitar it-self is impressive, but in addition each the plaques an audio tour.

“The stories were told and re-corded by legendary artist ‘Son-ny’ Burgess who was a Sun Studio recording artist himself. ‘Sonny’ spent countless hours recording these stories that were narrated down to just a few minutes of story about the artist you look at,” Snapp explained. “A lot of the stories re-late to events that happened along the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway’-- and a lot of the stories had never been told or published anywhere.”

“Sonny” Burgess, Billy lee Reilly, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wanda Jackson, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley each hold a place along the guitar walk. “When a visitor punch-es one of the buttons, they will hear either some of the artist’s music or story about the artist. There are multiple stories and multiple song tracks on them. It could take a person a couple of hours if they listened to everything on all the au-dio tracks,” said Snapp. “They are designed so that if a person were to

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DestinationsMagazine.uscome to the guitar walk once and then later on decided to come again they wouldn’t necessarily hear the same stories each time they visited.”

The community of Walnut Ridge has begun to cel-

ebrate and recognize its musical heritage through the Guitar Walk and Cavenaugh park. Snapp says, “The park took a little over two years to compete.” It was fi-nanced by community support, and it has become a ma-

jor attraction, bringing many new people to the area to see the attraction.

“It’s beyond belief. Anybody that would tell you that this is what we had planned from the beginning is misrepresenting the issue, because until it was completed, with the changes that had been made through the process there was no way to know,” Snapp said. “It truly is a World Class attraction and if you like music of any type from Rock ‘n’ Roll to Gospel, these artists that we’re presenting at the park gave birth to the music known as Rock ‘n Roll. The park is educational and entertaining and definitely worth stopping to see.”

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different because you are not sim-ply seeing the world, you are actu-ally SEEING it. Please be careful driving, seeing can be hazardous.

People are the hardest things to reduce to our simple shapes, and you have just done it. Yes, you. You are now an official ‘wannabe artist’, and if you go on, there will be no stopping you. Someday we’ll see that masterpiece you were so certain was beyond your ability. But first, BABY STEPS.

~~~

letters or bills, deposit slips from your checkbook, or even the want-ad section of a newspaper…and sketch, anywhere you find yourself.

Sitting at the doctor’s office at Christmas time, you can depict the Christmas tree as a simple tri-angle. Put little circles on it for the decorations, a squiggle or two for the icicles, and I’ll bet anyone who sees it will know exactly what it is. And you did it.

It’s tougher to reduce people to mere flat shapes, but you’re sit-ting there with nothing else to do, so try it. Don’t get fancy yet and attempt to draw the real shape of the head on the man sitting across from you. Just indicate it with a simple circle. A rectangle for his neck, a bigger rectangle for his chest--is it wide, or tall and nar-row?

Can you see another rectangle for his hips or maybe the poor man is just a big rectangle or circle. Legs and arms are long rectangles, etc. De-ciding these things is the beginning of your magic—the wonderful magic of being able to see what you are look-ing at. Once you be-gin doing that, (and very few people do, you know. Just think of how many conflicting descrip-tions they give of the same accident!), you will never be the same. You have now entered the strange world of the artist. Everything around you will look

How many of us have looked at some beautiful painting and thought, “Gee, I wish I could do that?” Maybe a lot more of us than anybody’d guess. So I thought, if you will be really patient, I’d help you to do that. We’ll start with baby steps. Yep, if you do the little things I’ll share with you, before it’s all over you will be surprising all your friends with pictures you never thought you could do.

You see, everybody will tell you, “Oh, so-and-so has a lot of talent.” Maybe. Heaven knows having a lot of talent does give you a head start. But I’ve watched many peo-ple with that talent do absolutely nothing with it, while people who don’t have a single shred study and learn and end up doing really neat things. It makes me remem-ber what a wise teacher once said: “Art is two percent talent and ninety-eight percent ‘I want to.’”

So if you want to, here is how we’ll start. Remember I said please be patient. And please try what I suggest, no matter how sil-ly it will seem to you, okay?

First, I want you to realize that the whole world--every single thing in it--can be reduced to sim-ple shapes. To begin, we’ll start with the flat ones. Don’t panic, by the time you can see them easily,

the ones that have shape (that’s depth as well as height and width) will be duck soup.

Oh, and you don’t need a fan-

cy sketch book or a studio, and any pencil or pen will do. Use the backs of your store receipts,

Hunt for Art by Diana Hunt

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Local author, Christina Strong, has lived in our area for years. Her New York publishers, Berkley, Jove, Diamond, Fawcett, Ballan-tine and the one for all the book clubs—Crossings, Literary Guild, Doubleday, Rhapsody and others have published her books in paper-back or hardback editions. “Fifteen in all, and it was a great pleasure to write them. I’m always excited when people read them and let me know what they liked best about them. Men liked learning to drive a stagecoach in Forgiving Hearts, and I was really tickled to find out that some of them actually read romances. I had to really think about describing how to handle six horses, I can tell you. Couldn’t have done it without having be-longed briefly to a driving club in Virginia. It was a really essential part of that!”

Her books are set in historical periods like the American West during the period surrounding the Civil War or in Regency England. “I take pride in researching the era that I’m writing about. I want the facts to be factual.” There is also an emotional component to her writ-ing, “The stories are about people who become real to me as I write them and their interactions. Some people care very much about each other and some are villains who care only about themselves. And of course there’s always something intriguing going on.”

Many people think that the next ‘new’ thing in publishing is ‘elec-tronic format books.’ Chris says, “I’m not a cutting-edge electron-ic gadget person, but I did get an electronic book reader, a Kindle, from Amazon. I was amazed at how easy it was to read. The books don’t generally cost as much, and

there’s a lot more room in my car-ry-on as I can put about 3,000 books on it! That’s pretty con-venient.”

When Chris’ literary agent, Gail Fortune, recently ap-proached her and asked if she’d like to have her books out in elec-tronic format as well as in print, Chris says she told her, “I think that’s a great idea! I download other people’s books. Now other people will be able to download mine.” So now, Chris’ books are available from Amazon.com in the Kindle format. “Love’s Triumph, which I wrote under the name Christina Cordaire, and Ride the Wind Home, which I wrote as Christina Kingston were the first ones they put out there. Amazon took on a tremendous amount of work to get us electronic books, and the wait as they worked all the problems out was worth it. Ev-ery now and then you might find a glitch, but they are few and far between, and sometimes even fun-ny. All in all, Dan Slater and his admirable crew did a splendid job getting the books out there.”

“The neat thing about the Kindle Reader is that a free application can be downloaded to personal computers or cell phones so that you don’t really have to have the Kindle itself to read the book,” Chris says. More information is available at www.Amazon.com. by Johanna Harrison

Local Author’s Books Come out in Amazon.com’s Electronic Format

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Hardy is known to be a home to many old buildings, quite a few of which can be traced back to the 1800’s. There is, however, one log cabin in particular which was hand-built in the 1960’s that stands out. While it may not be quite as old as the others, it is unique in both construction and purpose. It’s just

three miles outside the main street of downtown Hardy on the banks of Sugar Creek, which winds paral-lel to the Spring River.

The casual passerby may not have taken the opportunity to see the treasures which lay hidden inside this rugged little cabin, the home of Sugar Creek Goods. Those who take a few moments out of their busy days to stop in get to experi-ence a rare treat!

The smells of caramel and vanil-la swirl behind the door. Strings of Christmas lights and individu-al candles illuminate the cabin’s hand-laid genuine stone floor and cherry interior and make for a most inviting and peaceful atmosphere. The craftsmanship is evident. Soft music plays in the background cre-

ating a relaxing ambiance without interrupting visitors’ thoughts. A spinning wheel sits among the colorful handmade quilts, quali-ty hand-crafted pottery, candles, hand-built cedar chests and jarred honey from local farmers.

Vicki Mann, the owner of Sugar Creek Goods LLC, said she named

it after the creek which meanders nearby and empties into the Spring River. She explained the history of the small log cabin she now owns. It was original-ly built by Mr. Calvin Roger Stark and Mr. Jim Warren to house a craft-er’s guild, but it has been transformed over time into an old-style antique store, and now serves as her dream come true.

“I am in love

with this place -- Hardy in gener-al. It’s the old feel, the old crafts. I thought I could fit in here, because that’s something I really wanted to do.” She continued, “I’ve worked seven days a week most of my life in a factory-type setting and in doing that you never get time to do the kinds of things that you think you would love to do. In my older years as I slowed down, I started push-ing back, and saying ‘this is what I’d love to do,’ and I started work-ing toward my goal! That is exactly what my sons and I did.”

Mann was originally from Straw-berry, Arkansas. She explained she and her family lived in the parson-age First United Methodist Church of Stamps, Arkansas, when tragedy struck and her husband, Rev. Terry Mann, passed away in 2011 after a six-year battle with cancer. Her de-sire to move closer to what she felt was truly her home led her and her sons, Jacob and William, to travel the 250-plus miles from their old home and to settle in Hardy.

Mann described how her back-ground was a perfect fit for the business she now runs, “I was raised as a farmer’s daughter.

Sugar Creek Goods, LLC-Home to a unique Dream story/photos by Lauren Siebert

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When I opened the cabin here, ini-tially, I had wanted to put in spin-ning wheels and fabrics, needle crafts, and crocheted items which I’m still intending to do. As I start-ed purchasing my items, I discov-ered an abundance of extremely talented local crafters,” Mann’s face was glowing as she reminisced on her beginnings, “I started look-ing for people who created really unique items that were handmade. I thought ‘if I can buy from local people, that increases their income, and if I sell the items, it increas-es my income. We can help each other!’” The business is constantly changing and adding new items to its stock. Sugar Creek Goods sells produce from local farmers and gardeners when it is in season, and has a particularly good selection of large pumpkins in the fall.

Mann explained that she is just a season away from offering things such as hand-crafted soaps and threads. “Right now, as I increase my product lines, adding fabrics and things of that nature, we are signing up folks who are interest-ed in spinning, knitting and mak-ing soap!” Mann exclaimed. She says she enjoys sharing her love of crafting with others, as Sugar Creek Goods grows. “We will of-fer the classes…I had always hoped to offer spinning, sewing and other classes along those lines. Thanks to some local teachers, we will now be able to.”

Mann’s eyes still glinted as she said, “I have a great hope that my interests will be someone else’s in-terests and that together we will be able to share in them and grow.”

In an article written to get the word out about her business, Vicki wrote: “ ‘Let’s help each other,’ the words carry comfort and a sense of well being. We know this can be put into action, so we have pur-chased products from farms and had success this summer with fresh produce. We currently have fresh pumpkins provided by the Lindley

farm of Hardy AR., weighing from 1-100lbs. Our intention is to cycle money within the United States, and within Arkansas through our families’ goods while promoting farmers products and artisans’ goods. We believe this will promote a stronger community.

Our gift shop has fresh honey from Long’s Honey of Lynn, AR, and Peace bee farms of Procter, AR, as well as products made from bee pollen and beeswax, including products from Burt Bees. We also carry beautiful handmade wreaths from Creekside Farms of Califor-nia that are woven with lavender, a variety of herbs, and dried flow-ers grown on their farm. We have handmade soaps made with goats milk, bath salts, bath oils, and tea sachets from Ariel’s Secret Garden of Springdale, AR, quilts (baby and queen sized machine quilted) from the Three Sisters of Saffell, AR, cro-cheted toboggans and bags from Imboden, beautiful hand-craft-ed Cedar chests from Jim Lindze of Melbourne, AR, hand-built pie safes with tin punch inlays from Owen Wilson of Jonesboro, AR, Paintings in oil and watercolor by DeWana McIntosh of Smithville, AR, Good Earth Pottery, by Rodney Lemonier of Evening Shade, AR, Original music from Geniave Hunt-er of Lynn, AR, and inspirational jewelry, cups, Christian flags and clinging crosses from Texas and

North Carolina. We offer classes on soap making, spinning fiber, and knitting! To inquire or sign up for classes call 870-996-3387. We are proud to say, ‘We carry products made in the USA and offer classes taught by local artists.’ ”

“Our future vision is to expand our inventory and carry fabrics, fi-bers, yarns, crochet threads, along with tools such as spinning wheels, carders and weaving frames for tap-estry. We pray that with the com-munity’s support in Sharp County and tourists from across this great country, our business will provide for our family and help to support others!”

You can check out Sugar Creek Goods in person at 2178 Hwy 63, Hardy AR 72543 or online at http://www.facebook.com/Sugar-CreekGoods. You can also give them a call them at 870-966-3387.

Keepsake IdeaFor a quick momento, fill clear or-

naments with l i g h t w e i g h t materialss so they won’t pull the ornament off its hanger. Photos, glit-

ter, confetti, leaves, tinsel, printed words, feathers...unlimited choices!

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Christmas Au Naturel - Pine Cones and Acorns as Ornaments story/pics by Lauren Siebert

In recent years, families have be-gun to “haul in their horns” so to speak. Christmas decorations have risen in cost along with everything else, however, this doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice a beauti-ful tree just because money is tight. When life gives you lemons, make

lemonade!Here are a

couple of decorating ideas that use mate-rials found in nature along with a few things

that you may already have at home or can purchase economically.

Since Acorns are easily found in most of the Ozarks, we decided they would be a great place to start.

What you will need:A hot glue gun, which can be pur-

chased at a discount store for about three dollars. (Traditional glue and a blow dryer will work also, but it will take much longer.)

A can of whatever color spray paint you like.

¼-inch ribbon (dental floss, twine or string of some sort will work if no ribbon is available).

About 10-15 acorns (unless you want a ton of them in which case go nuts!) or other nuts also work well.

Step 1: Gather a desired amount of acorns from the ground of the nearest oak tree. While making these I discovered that when acorns fall from the trees, their tops often seem to separate from the acorns, so find spare tops that you think will fit the acorns you have selected.

Step 2: Place a small amount of hot glue in the cap of the acorn and quickly secure the top of the Acorn to the interior of the cap, holding the cap in place for about 10 sec-onds.

Step 3: Take the now-glued acorns outdoors, place them apart from each other on newspaper or in the bottom of a box.

Step 4: In a side to side motion spray the acorns and allow the paint to dry on the sprayed side. (Pay attention to which way the wind is blowing so you don’t spray yourself or vehicle.) Let them dry, and then flip and repeat all sides.

Step 5: Once they are dry take them back inside and using about a 3-5 inch piece of ribbon make a loop in the ribbon and hot glue the ends to the top of the cap of the acorn, once that’s dry, you now have an inexpensive but strangely beautiful ornament!

Pine cones are another easi-ly-found natural forest product in most parts of the Ozarks, and they also allow for another inexpensive yet beautiful Christmas decoration.

What you will need:Gulf paraffin wax (found near

the Jell-O at the discount store for about two dollars a box).

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LEARNING

TO SPIN by Vicki Mann

Isn’t it amazing what you can learn from YouTube? Anytime I set out to learn something new my first instinct is to research it online. What a field of informa-tion we have at our finger tips, that once and not so long ago, we would have had to pull out of an encyclopedia or spend hours in the library researching.

In 2011, I began learning about sheep. They are amazing animals that provide wool, milk, and have up to 3 lambs per cycle when they reproduce.

The wool is sheared, bagged and hauled to market, sometimes twice per year, spring and fall. It is scored by its quality which in-cludes cuts, wool size, color and vegetable matter. A very fine, white, clean wool is “Premium”, and will receive the best market price. If there is black wool mixed in with white, then the fleece will be scored at a lower grade. Wool with a high content of vegetable matter will also score low. Fine

White glitter (optional but adds a nice touch).

1/4-inch ribbon (dental floss, twine or string of some sort will work if no ribbon is available).

Hot Glue Gun.Clear Spray paint or spray glue

(clear spray paint or spray varnish is cheaper).

As many pine cones as you would like, preferably about the size of a tennis ball or smaller.

Wax paper or a plate (Optional, but suggested.)

Metal regular cereal spoon (Op-tional).

Step 1: Using pots and pans you’ve designated for crafting or at least ones you don’t care about as much as your others (double boiler works best) set some water to boil and set the paraffin wax in the top pan or if one pan over low heat.

Step 2: While the water boils, melting the wax, take a 4-5 inch section of ribbon, form a loop and glue it to the top of the pine cone--not the pointed end, the flat end.

Step 3: Once the glue dries and the ribbon is secure, dunk your pine cone in the melted wax and remove it so the wax can drip back into the pan. Watch the angle of the “icicles” so they look realistic!

Step 4: Repeat dunking the pine-cone four or five times with about 15-20 seconds between each time. (I found that if you take a spoon and pour the wax on top of the cone and let it run down it gives a great icicle appearance.)

Step 5: Once your pinecone has dried and the wax is set, it should have a snowy appearance. Take it, the clear spray paint, and the glitter outside.

Step 6: Spray the pine cone and while the paint is still wet, quick-ly shake the glitter onto the pine cone. Add as much or as little glitter as you would like.

Once the paint has dried, the pine cone has become another great looking and inexpensive Christmas decoration!

First Day Hikes 2013: Check out www.ArkansasStateParks.com to find information on these hikes which are a great way to start the New Year off right!

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DestinationsMagazine.uswhite wool is used for garments, and coarse wools are used in tap-estries and carpets.

The sheep’s milk is processed just as in any dairy, and sent on to become a packaged end product such as Ricotta cheese. Lambs are sold at market prices or kept on the farm to grow to maturity and become producers.

After viewing many videos, and a lot of reading, I became interest-ed in spinning wool. I purchased a spinning wheel from eBay, not knowing too much about what a good spinning wheel was. I was later told by a spinner that this was not the best place to buy a spinning wheel. So, I have a re-production spinning wheel that was heavily finished and probably used for decoration but it does work. The spool was replaced, I began learning to peddle to in-grain this motion in my mind so that once I started spinning the wool, peddling would not take much concentration.

When I received my first coat of wool, I was a bit shocked. Yes, it actually had manure still on it. Eek! I couldn’t believe that it would ship like this, but unless you purchase cleaned wool, this is what you can expect. Before the wool can be spun, it first has to be cleaned, picked and carded.

To clean it, shake the wool like a rug. You’re trying to shake out debris and vegetable matter. Soak it in HOT water and heavy deter-gent in your washing machine or outside in a large cast iron heated pot. If using the machine, soak (about an hour), rinse and let the washer spin the water out with as little agitation as possible. Repeat this process about 3 times. Spread the wool out on a wire rack to air dry outside.

After thoroughly drying, the wool has to be picked and carded.

To pick the wool, first spread the fibers out. Picking can be done with pickers handmade of wood and spikes, or you can use a spe-cial comb, or simply spread the fibers by hand.

Carders are hand tools that are similar to brushes with fine teeth, and they are designed to be used in pairs. The wool is pulled off the wool coat in locks. These locks are placed on the teeth of a bottom carder, in a vertical position and brushed with a second top carder.

While holding the bottom carder in the left hand lying flat, bristles up on your left leg, brush down, across and up with the second top carder. This carding action will cause the fibers to join together in uniformity, aligning them, while discarding some vegetable matter for smooth spinning. Repeat this action 3 to 4 times, while continu-ing to roll the wool back to the bottom carder. Once the wool is carded it can be dyed any one of a variety of colors, and spun into thread/yarn; or spin the wool nat-ural as it comes and dye the yarn as an end product.

After admiring my spinning wheel for almost a year, then

learning to peddle it, I decided not to be afraid of it. I learned that the wool needed to be thread-ed onto the flyer using a leader string, then threaded out the ori-fice and held with the right hand. It was fed and spun with the left thumb and forefinger. It took a little while to learn how to hold the wool, and how to process it

into the spool. I was hold-ing the wool too tight, and s o m e t i m e s holding the thread too long – begin-ners mistakes. This caused the wool to

spin tight, ending up bungee-like and very thin.

The combination of how long the wool is held with the left fin-ger and thumb and how fast you peddle determines the size of the thread and the spin in the thread or yarn. This is also dependent on the spinning wheel used, of course. I said to my mentor, “My thread breaks easily in spots where I have joined new pieces of wool.” She said, “That is normal for the first thread and it will be stronger when plied 2-4 times.” Plying is the process of joining several of the very thin threads to make one thicker, stronger, more usable thread. Make sure to feed a 4-inch overlap when joining the thread.

There is much more to learn, and it will take some time to hone this craft, but I find it remarkable to go back into the world that our mother’s, mother’s, mother came from, visit for a while, and enjoy some elements of life long ago.

Sometimes faster is not better, and relaxing behind this wheel is divine.Spinning wheel diagram. Photo: cliffhousealpacas.com

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Animal Lovers Must ReadThe Story of Edgar Sawtelle

by David WroblewskiDavid Wroblewskis’ beautifully

written story of a family that has raised a very special breed of dog for generations on their northern Wisconsin farm. Breathtaking-ly told and richly populated with unique characters this book will both make your heart soar and break.

Family/Rural Hard Times Must Read

Clay’s Quilt by Silas HouseAppalachia at it’s best and

worst. Author Silas House has captured the very es-sence of Ap-palachia, fam-ily, hard times and fierce love. Make sure to read the other two novels (Parch-

ment of Leaves & Coal Tattoo) that will bring you full circle in this unforgettable family trilogy.

Light Must ReadThe Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Absolutely captivat-

ing and so hard to put down, The Sugar Queen will draw you into its spell. Wit, magic, food and family combined with love makes a recipe for not only this book of-fering, but the other books writ-ten by this author. You truly must sample them all! (The Girl Who Chased the Moon, The Peach Keeper, & Garden Spells.)

Great Non Fiction Must Read

Mrs Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill

I could not read this book fast enough! Kennedy fam-ily fan, or not, this book is well worth reading. It is currently on

the best seller list, and it just will not stay on the library shelf. Au-thor Clint Hill doesn’t dish gossip, just the plain honest truth about

Jackie Kennedy and his service as her personal secret service agent from 1960-1964. In those four short years Mr. Hill will take you all over the world and right inside the lives of Jackie Kennedy, her husband and children. I recommend this book to everyone I see.

K-3 Must ReadThe Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

All adults know the story of the stuffed rabbit that becomes real through the love of his boy. If you have not read this book to your children and grandchildren, shame on you. Beautifully illus-trated and beautifully told, this story has been on library book shelves since its publication in 1922. Your

chil-d r e n w i l l make you read this one over and over.

Chapter Books For Young Readers

Must ReadThe Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

I first read this book in the third grade and still it captivates me. The funny, endearing mouse that lives in a hotel really does ride a motorcycle and gets into all kinds of mischief with his human friend Keith, a guest at the hotel. This is an easy to read book with great illustrations. Boys and girls alike will love this story.

The Book Nook Must Reads by Cecilia Mullins Sharp County Librarian Hardy Branch

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Leavenworth, Washington, in the Cascade Mountain Range of the Pa-cific Northwest, is a town that un-derstands not only how to survive, but how to flourish. In the 1800s, settlers moved into the mountain-ous area seeking its rich resources and a better life, and by 1890, the original town had been constructed on Icicle Flats. The arrival of the Great Northern Railway Company’s line brought the townspeople new prospects. Logging and sawmilling were profitable businesses, and the town expanded quickly, but when the railroad re-routed the line away from Leavenworth, the sawmill closed, and for more than 30 years

Leavenworth struggled to survive.Early in the 1960’s the towns-

people decided that possibly tour-ism was the answer. After all, the mountains surrounding the town were reminiscent of the Alpine hills of Bavaria. The people stud-ied Bavarian culture and hired an architectural expert who assisted them in transforming their town into a Bavarian-style village. They worked hard to recreate the feel of such a place, and to this end, they formed many businesses and festi-vals to put people in the spirit. The hard work and perseverance of the citizens of Leavenworth has paid off for them, and for the million or so travelers who have the opportunity to visit each year!

One business that reflects what Leavenworth is about is Dee’s Coun-try Accents. Dee Howie, proprietor, explained that her family-run quilt-ing store has been in business for 25 years. It was originally situated in the mall, but it had been experienc-ing some growing pains in its too-small rented space, until 1994 when Mrs. Anderson’s Lodging House, a charming 10-room bed and break-fast became available. Then they moved to the new building, the old-est wooden structure in town, and

settled the quilt shop under the same roof. When asked what she would want people to know about her store, she said, “We’re Believ-ers, spreading the Good News! A lighthouse in the community.” The store is exceptionally well stocked with everything from superior qual-ity thread to hard-to-find yarns, fabric to notions, and actual quilts for which the patterns can be pur-chased. While other family mem-bers may work the counter, Dee is usually there creating something wonderful. A particularly inter-esting quilt called “Garden Fair,” which is a thirteen-month project, hangs in the hallway as an inspi-

ration to would-be Block-of-the-Month quilters.

Dee is quick with advice and a cheerful smile. Her bubbly person-ality shows through as she interacts with customers, generously sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for quilting.

As one meanders down the streets of this lovely vacation destination, music from the central gazebo sets the tone for a relaxing experience. Smells of authentic Bavarian fare fill the air. The unique and inter-esting shops call out to be snooped through. Where else could you find a store boasting one of the largest

A Visit to Leavenworth, Washington! A Bavarian Village Recreated by Johanna Harrison

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DestinationsMagazine.usselections of nutcrack-ers in the w o r l d ? The Nuss- knacker Haus fits the bill.

In fact, L e a v -e n w o r t h ' s Ambas-sador is a w o o d e n n u t c r a c k e r by the name of Woody G o o m s -ba, who according to his official biogra- phy, stands eighteen inches tall. He must be quite a char- acter! Word is he can hold a stein of beer in his right hand while he is still able to crack nuts. The Leavenworth Nut-cracker Museum naturally occupies the floor above the nutcracker store.

The München Haus Beer Gar-den and Bavarian Grill is centrally located in the village across from the park. It is a family-friendly, pet-friendly outdoor garden gath-ering place where people of all ages are welcome and guests enjoy time together. The hosts also serve all sorts of beverages, fresh-made pretzels, and the most extensive se-

lection of sausages in the area. The garden is surrounded by greenery including flowers and grape vines which add to the ambiance. The nightlife here begins with evening band entertainment. The talented local bands which perform really seem to enjoy their work, and they certainly draw the audience in.

There are many opportunities to sample local wines throughout the

village, and the Stemilt Creek Win-ery tasting room is no exception. The helpful gal behind the counter takes the time to tell stories about the labels of the family winery's of-ferings. With wines named things like "Boss Lady" and "Caring Pas-sion", you know there have got to be stories...

Kris Kringl's Christmas shop is lovely. It has a large selection of gifts and sparkle which dazzles the eye...a super collection of orna-ments and stained glass.

The downtown area is overflow-ing with flowers in spring and sum-mer! Automated sprinklers send a fine mist which benefits more than the plants on a hot day. A horse-drawn carriage travels the streets. A beer wagon stationed near the park makes a good photo backdrop, and cheerful, German-costumed people offer up friendly greetings.

At the Taffy Shop, an antique, chain-driven taffy pulling machine labors away with the sticky candy, turning and pulling it until it's just right. In the same room, an antique candy press sits idle. Some of the candy-forming cylinders once used by the press are gathered in dis-play at the machine's base, giving a glimpse into the candy production "hows" of yesteryear.

While the village is certainly something worth seeing, there are

other things to do in the area. Ici-cle Ridge and other mountains are picturesque beyond the village. The Wanatchee River flows through them. Nature's scenic views are free to enjoy from nearly anywhere in the area. There is a long educa-tional walking path near the river, and during warmer weather, peo-

ple can be seen enjoying the water. Swimmers, floaters in inner tubes or rafts, and even some Paddle boarders cruise silently by on the quieter parts of the river. In the surrounding areas, mountain bik-ing, climbing, and hiking opportu-nities are too numerous to mention.

U.S. Route 2 winds through the beautiful Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest leading toward more metropolitan venues. There are many pull-offs which allow driv-ers the chance to take time to con-template the river’s fluid beauty

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A Visit to Leavenworth, Washington! A Bavarian Village Recreated by Johanna Harrison

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DestinationsMagazine.usas it careens over boulders, churns over the rapids, or flows swiftly along through the smoother chan-nels. Mother Nature at her finest.

If you’d rather head toward Wenatchee, be sure to check out Liberty Orchards’ Aplets and Cot-lets factory and store at 117 Mis-sion Avenue in nearby Cashmere, Washington. You can’t miss the turn off of U.S. Route 2, just follow the signs to the factory. Tours are available during the week, and on weekends a video runs in the candy store so you can see how the treats are created. Further onward to the east, you will run through miles and miles of great fruit-producing farm-land where bargains are to be had on produce by the case, and winer-ies await your visit.

If you’re looking for something

more involved, Leavenworth’s var-ious themed festivals might be right up your alley. The annual Mai-fest which celebrates the renewal of Spring happens in May. If you plan your "Bavarian Getaway" in the summertime, you will be able to experience The Village Arts in the Park celebration, which is billed as the The Pacific Northwest’s longest continually-running outdoor art show, from May through October. It provides artists a market for their talents, and there's no telling what you might find.

The Christkindlmarkt outdoor Christmas Market, occurs toward the end of November. The Christ-

mas Lighting Festi-val is at the end of the same month and the following few weekends. Music, concerts, and merri-ment continue during winter weather. The Bavarian Ice Fest occurs in mid-Janu-ary. These are only a smattering of the events and festivals Leavenworth has in store for you.

In the winter months, the town is still very much alive. A holiday at-mosphere is created when between November and March average snow-fall is approximately 95 inches. De-cember and January are the months of greatest accumulation with 64.4 inches falling during this period-

That makes the 40 km of groomed cross coun-try skiing trails in the i m m e d i a t e Leavenworth area and the 150 miles of groomed or u n g r o o m e d cross country skiing trails and 120 miles of snowmo-biling trails

comprised of U.S. Forestry Service land surrounding the area a tan-talizing prospect for recreation. Downhill skiing is available at Ste-phens Pass (35 miles to the west) and Mission Ridge (35 miles to the east), and many ski events are scheduled in the region.

Finally, the Leavenworth expe-rience wouldn't be complete with-out a visit to Cordi Bradburn's cast aluminum "Storyteller" sculpture which has been in place next to the City Hall and Library near the cen-ter of Leavenworth since 2001. A grandmother is immortalized while sharing stories with children. “The Storyteller” knows the story so well she doesn’t even need to glance at the book perched on her lap. Rumor has it that residents of Leavenworth also have a soft spot for the statues, and they sometimes dress them with hats and scarves during cold weather. You've gotta love that!Photos by Siebert

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Sweet Potatoes Good All the Time!

Sweet potatoes are not just for Thanksgiving and Christmas any-more! But since the Holiday Sea-son is here, you might consider these facts about humble but hearty sweet potatoes. They’re finding their places in dishes beyond the traditional ‘Candied Yams’ and ‘Sweet Potato pies’ everyone makes at during family celebrations and that’s great because they are really a healthy treat! You might be sur-prised to learn that the sweet pota-to is not related to the white potato at all! It’s not a tuber, it’s a root, and it’s the root with the lowest gly-cemic index. It’s also the healthi-est vegetable of all according to the Center for Science in the Public In-terest (CSPI).

The glycemic index rates foods on how quickly the body turns the carbohydrates in the foods to sug-ar. The complex carbohydrates in sweet potatoes break down slow-ly, which means blood sugars rise slowly and remain pretty stable, and this makes them a naturally sweet treat even for most people with diabetes. When prepared and eaten with the skin on, the sweet potato has more fiber than oatmeal. The unique combination of com-plex carbohydrates, fiber and natu-ral sugars in this 130 to 160-calorie wonder have the added benefit of leaving sweet potato eaters feeling fuller longer, which can aid in los-ing weight! That’s a blessing as we shed those unwanted pounds gain we’ll probably gain the Christmas season!

The vegetable’s nutrition is best maintained when it is cooked with the skin on. Not only does it boast high dietary fiber and complex carbs, it’s also loaded with protein, vitamins A, C, E, and the B-com-plex, and the elements potassium, copper, iron, and calcium, all of

which are necessary to maintain a healthy body. It contains virtually no fat or sodium, and in many di-ets, it’s a suitable replacement for other starches like potatoes, corn, or rice. Sweet potatoes also are high in beta-carotene, and stud-ies have shown that high intake of beta-carotene-rich vegetables re-sults in a significant reduction in the risks for certain cancers. What more could you ask for in a vege-table?

To bake sweet potatoes in their jackets, scrub them clean and dry them. Brush with vegetable oil, arrange them on the oven rack or on a foil lined pan. Bake at 450°F for 35 or 40 minutes, until tender. Remove them and prick their skin with a fork, allowing them to cool slightly before use. Slice the skin, and being careful not to get burned, use a pair of oven mitts or pothold-ers, and squeeze the ends toward the middle to encourage potato up through the cut in the skin.

Apple Sweet Potato BreadIngredients: 1 ½ cups sugar1 cup cooked sweet potato½ cup water1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 eggs, lightly beaten1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking soda¾ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon ground cinnamon½ teaspoon ground nutmeg¼ teaspoon ground cloves¼ teaspoon baking powder1 cup chopped tart apples¾ cup chopped walnutsInstructions: In a large bowl,

combine sugar, sweet potato, wa-ter, vegetable oil and two eggs until well blended. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, spices and baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingre-dients only until just moist. Stir

in apples and walnuts. Bake in a greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan at 325°F for 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours or un-til a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing loaf and allowing it to cool completely on a wire rack. Store wrapped in plastic in the re-frigerator for up to a week… but there shouldn’t be anything left by then!

By Johanna Harrison

Pineapple Sweet Potato Muffins

(Recipe and photo courtesy of the

Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission)

2005 Sweet Rewards Breads and Breakfast Winner – Karen Gulkin

Ingredients:1 cup cut or whole canned Louisi-

ana yams, pureed1 can crushed pineapple (8

ounce), drained1 teaspoon orange zest2 eggs2/3 cup sugar½ cup walnuts, chopped2 cups all-purpose flour1 tablespoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon saltInstructions: Preheat oven to

375°F. In a medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes, pineapple, orange zest, eggs and sugar. Stir until well combined. Stir in walnuts. In a large bowl combine flour, powder, soda and salt. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and fold until dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not cover mix. Spray muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon about ¼ cup batter into each cup. If there is not enough batter to fill the tin, put a small amount of water in the empty ones. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes. Makes 14-16 servings

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Ham and Sweet Potato Pot Pie with Pecan Crust

(Recipe and photo courtesy of the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission)

The perfect comfort meal that will please the family with every bite.

Ingredients:1 cup chopped onion 2 cups cubed sweet potatoes or

2 (15-ounce) cans sweet potatoes, drained and cubed

2 cups canned chicken broth, di-vided

1/2 cup all purpose flour 1 cup skim milk 2 cups cubed cooked ham 1 9-inch refrigerated pie crust 1/2 cup finely chopped pecansInstructions:Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large

pot coated with nonstick cooking spray, sauté the onion over a me-dium high heat for 5 minutes. Add fresh* sweet potatoes and 2/3 cup chicken broth. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. (If using canned yams, add them and 2/3 cup chicken broth to sautéed on-ions; heat thoroughly.) Add flour, stirring and gradually add milk stirring until well combines. Add ham, bring to a boil and then trans-fer mixture to a 9x9-inch baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. If mixture is too thick, add more broth or milk. Unfold crust and sprinkle pecans on one side, fold, and roll with rolling pin press-ing pecans into crust. Spread pecan crust on top of mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until crust is brown. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

*Canned sweet potatoes are pre-cooked.

More recipes at:

www.DestinationsMagazine.us

Chocolate

ButtermilkLayer Cake by Nestlé

Buttermilk is beloved in recipes for its ability to make rich, moist cakes. This chocolate buttermilk lay-er cake uses a variety of your favorite chopped candy bars sprinkled be-tween each layer and as a coating for a sweet, crunchy surprise.

Ingredients: 3/4 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL

HOUSE® Baking Cocoa (plus extra for coating pans)

2 1/4 cups cake flour2 teaspoons baking soda1 teaspoon fine salt1 1/4 cups buttermilk (at room

temperature)1/2 cup brewed coffee or water2 teaspoons vanilla extract1 cup unsalted butter (at room

temperature)2 cups superfine sugar4 large eggs (at room temperature)2 to 3 containers (16 ounces each)

prepared chocolate frosting or about 3 3/4 to 5 1/2 cups homemade

1 to 2 (1.55 ounces each) NESTLÉ CRUNCH Candy Bars (finely chopped)

2 to 3 (2.1 ounces each) NESTLÉ BUTTERFINGER Candy Bars (finely chopped)

Directions:PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease

bottoms of three 8- or 9-inch-round

cake pans; line with a parchment or wax paper circle. Grease parchment, then coat lightly with small amount of cocoa, tapping out excess.

SIFT flour, ¾ cup cocoa, baking soda and salt together into a large bowl. Combine buttermilk, coffee and vanilla extract in small bowl.

BEAT butter in large mixer bowl until smooth. Beat in sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; beat again. Al-ternately add flour mixture in three additions with the buttermilk mix-ture in two additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl; beat again. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Invert each layer onto wire rack; remove parchment paper, then invert right-side-up. Cool com-pletely.

TO ASSEMBLE: Level (trim tops off) the cakes if desired using a ser-rated knife. Place a dollop of frosting in the center of a cake pedestal or serving platter so the cake won’t slip. Tear four strips of parchment paper and place in a square around the out-er 3 inches of pedestal (this will help prevent getting the frosting on the pedestal). Place one cake layer over dollop of frosting. Spread about 1 cup frosting over top; sprinkle top evenly with about ¼ cup chopped Crunch bar. Top with another cake layer; spread with about 1 cup frosting. Sprinkle with remaining chopped Crunch bar. Top with third cake layer. Cover the top and sides with a thin layer of frosting (this is the “crumb coat”; it doesn’t have to be perfect). Refrigerate for 15 minutes, then cover with the remaining frost-ing. With hands, press chopped But-terfinger around sides of cake. After the frosting has set, gently remove strips of parchment paper. Cut cake into slices for serving.

Recipe/Photo Courtesy: Nestlé USA

29

DestinationsMagazine.usDelicious Ideas

for using Turkey Leftovers

by Johanna Harrison

Menus for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners vary as much as the people who cook them, but some themes replay. Turkey, for instance, makes a strong showing on the table those days, and then there is the question of what to do with the turkey that is leftover. Here are some ideas courtesy of the National Turkey Federation.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cal Ripken, Jr.’s Down Home Turkey Pot Pie (Approx. 12 servings)

Noted Baltimore Orioles infield-er and Baseball Hall of Fame mem-ber, Cal Ripken, Jr. recalls, “The day after Thanksgiving, I called home from Puerto Rico while play-ing winter ball to get this recipe. The married couples prepared Thanks-giving dinner (three turkeys) and the single guys had to reciprocate by serving the leftovers.”

Ingredients:2 Tablespoons bacon grease 2 Cups sweet onions, diced small 4 Cups white potatoes, peeled

and diced As needed turkey stock, low-sodi-

um chicken stock or cold water 4 Cups COOKED TURKEY, skin

removed and cut into bite-size pieces

1 Cup cooked peas, well drained 1/2 Teaspoon each salt and black

pepper 2 Cups biscuit mix 1 Cup milk Instructions:Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat ba-

con grease in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook about 2 minutes. Stir in potatoes. Barely cover mixture with liquid. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat. Stir in diced turkey, peas, salt and pepper. Mix gently. Spoon turkey mixture into 3-quart dish. Meanwhile, mix

biscuit mix and milk together with a fork in a medium bowl just un-til blended. Knead and roll out on floured surface. Place dough on top of turkey mixture, trimming edges to approximately 1 inch larger than dish; secure dough edges to bak-ing dish. Make several 1-inch slits on dough to allow steam to escape. Bake in preheated 400 °F oven for 25-30 minutes or until crust is brown and mixture is hot and bub-bly. Chef: Recipe adapted from “Cooking Famously” by Dar-nell Griffin, author and publisher.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Post-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup (Yields about 9 to 10 cups)

Ingredients:3 Quarts TURKEY BROTH 2 Cups dry white wine All leftover turkey meat and

drumstick bones from a whole bird. 1 Large onion, chopped 1 (6-Ounce) box Long-Grain and

Wild Rice Original, DIVIDED 2 (14.5-Ounce) Cans stewed to-

matoes with onions, celery & green peppers

2 Cups chopped celery 2 Cups chopped carrots 3 Cloves fresh garlic To Taste salt and freshly ground

black pepper As needed Buttermilk biscuits Instructions: In a large soup kettle, combine

turkey broth, white wine, turkey meat/drumsticks, onion, garlic and seasoning packet from wild rice box. Bring to a boil, then cover and gently simmer, on low, for 2 to 3 hours, skimming any foam from the surface.

Cool slightly. Remove all bones from broth and discard bones. Re-turn turkey meat to the soup kettle.

Add tomatoes, with the juices, and simmer another 10 minutes. Add celery, carrots, garlic and rice. Simmer another 45 minutes or un-til the vegetables are tender.

Season with salt and pepper. Serve with biscuits. Recipe Source: Dr. Andrea Breemer Frantz of Pittsburgh, PA. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turkey Mushroom Quiche (Yield: 6 servings)

Ingredients: 1 9-Inch baked pie shell 3/4 Cup COOKED TURKEY,

chopped 1/4 Cup canned sliced mush-

rooms, drained well 1 Cup Cheddar cheese, grated 2 Each green onions, thinly sliced 4 Each eggs, slightly beaten 1 Cup milk Pinch cayenne pepper Pinch freshly grated nutmeg Pinch salt Instructions: Arrange turkey in a baked pie

shell. Top with mushrooms, cheese, and onions.

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk and seasonings. Pour into pie shell.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 30-35 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean.

Serve with a tossed salad and buttermilk biscuits, if desired.

Recipe Source: Recipe developed by Ontario Turkey Produc-

ers’ Marketing Board, Kichener, Ontario, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turkey Pilaf (Yield: 6 servings) Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon butter 4 Each green onions, sliced 2 Stalks celery, chopped 3 Cups COOKED TURKEY,

chopped 1/2 Cup dried apricots, chopped 1/2 Teaspoon fresh ginger root,

peeled and grated 2 Cups TURKEY BROTH 2 Cups instant rice 1/2 Cup currants 1/4 Cup fresh parsley, chopped Instructions: Melt butter over medium heat in

large skillet. Saute onions and cel-ery in butter. Add turkey, apricots, ginger and turkey broth. Bring to a gentle boil; stir in rice and currants. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 5 minutes. Toss with parsley. Serve with steamed snow peas and a crisp salad. Recipe Source: Recipe developed by Ontario Turkey Producers’ Marketing Board, Kichener, Ontar-io, Canada (Editor’s note: Currants are dried, dark-red seedless grapes packed with flavor as they dry.)

30


Really Helping:How you can make a real

difference in your community! by Chris Clem

Community Outreach---Being the hands and feet of Jesus in your com-munity is not as hard as you think!

Let me just start by saying, “I LOVE community outreach!” That being said, doing an effective job of it can be a challenge; and if your church does not have a his-tory of reaching out beyond your church walls, it can be daunting. Through my involvement with the Significant Church partner-ship, I have learned some simple, but vital, elements of successful outreach campaigns. These have been tested by a number of Sig-nificant Church partner churches and put through the paces here at our church, Highland Assembly of God in rural Highland, Arkan-sas.

I know you’ve often heard the story repeated about the time Je-sus fed the 5,000. A simple truth is buried just under the surface of the story that is a cornerstone for successful community outreach. Finding this simple truth begins with a question, “Why did Jesus feed those thousands of people?” ANSWER…They were hungry.

Let me pose this question to you, “Why did Jesus not clothe them?” ANSWER: They did not need clothes.

So here is the simple truth: Suc-cessful community outreach is built around finding and meeting needs in your community. It real-ly is that simple. The side benefits of meeting the needs are many. The event opens the door for the gospel, builds goodwill in your area and gives you and other con-gregation members the opportu-

nity to participate in ministry. The reason I mention the bibli-

cal example of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is that it can be easy for us to give people things we think they need and not give them what they really need. If you have ever been on a car lot, you know what I mean. You are looking for an SUV and the s a l e s -m a n is try-ing to dump his last two-door, econo ride on you. It does not fit your needs, and you get offended be-cause he is trying to make you take something you don’t want or need. Guess what? You don’t go back to his car lot AND you are of-fended! This can happen in out-reach events when we assume we know what people need and try to force a product or program on them.

“So how do I find out what the needs are in my community?” Glad you brought that up. ASK…that’s right, simply sit down with the local school district superin-tendent or school principal, law enforcement or fire officials, may-or, county judge, etc. -- whomev-er you know who deals with the part of your community they may be more familiar with than you are. They will have a list of needs, big and small, and you will know that by taking on a recommended project you have met a real need AND strengthened a relation-ship with a commu-nity leader.

Over the last three years, we have asked our local community leaders a lot of questions. As a result, we have purchased large and small items for

our local school district and fire, police and sheriff’s departments. Just recently I met with our school board to gain their approval for our annual Backpack Extravagan-za, where we provide 800 stocked backpacks which give about half of the students in our school district the school supplies they need. We also provide haircuts, wellness checks, eye exams and other services free of charge to all attendees. Because our school superintendent voiced a need, we were able to mobilize and meet the need. But it required asking the question.

Last year we had 3,500 people on our property for the backpack half-day event. That represents exactly half of the 7,000 people in our community. Our entire community mobilizes and finan-cially sponsors the event with the church committing only a small amount from our outreach bud-get. A true win-win!

Jesus is calling you to reach out, and you and your church can do it! You can make a difference!

Pray, Ask and Get Busy!Chris Clem, PastorHighland Assembly of [email protected] To view a short video of the 2011 High-

land Backpack Extravaganza type in this address in your webbrower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNLieFvFJNw&-feature=player_embedded

To talk with Pastor Chris about out-reach ideas for your community give him a call or shoot him an email!

New Year’s Success by Lauren Siebert

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If you had to guess what the top three American picks were when it comes to choosing a New Year’s resolution, what would you guess? DestinationsMagazine.us is here to answer that question and offer some advice. According to the American Psychological Associ-ation, weight loss, quitting smok-ing and getting more physically active are the top three. I believe that all three are most definitely great goals, but this year I suggest tweaking your resolution and add-ing some additional “conditions” to your self-contract.

Regardless of what your resolu-tion is, find a friend whose goal is the same and turn it into a friendly competition using an inexpensive and healthy reward system. For in-stance, if you have a favorite fruit, vegetable or low-calorie snack, hold a competition over the course of a month in which you both weigh in on the same day at the beginning and then again at the end. Or com-pare notes on stopping smoking to see who is closer to the goal, or who has exercised more consistently, or whatever applies to the resolution. Once the results are in and the scores have been tallied, buy each other’s favorite listed treat and cel-ebrate together. Not only will you be able to sit at your favorite park or other place, but you will have some quality downtime with your friend. You both win!

Another resolution-forming sug-gestion is to ensure that your goal is attainable, and that your motiva-tion is good, but don’t beat yourself up if you’re not moving as fast as you’d like to. Start small. Try some-thing like “I resolve to be happier.” Learn to enjoy the little things you

might otherwise take for grant-ed in your crazy schedule. One easy way to do this would be to call a friend or family member who crosses your mind often but that you just ha-

ven’t been able to make the time to go visit.

Using time wisely helps! Stud-ies indicate that the average travel time to one’s work is approximate-ly 26 minutes. If you have a mobile phone, use those minutes to play catch up. Not only is it safer to have a conversation than to text, but the joy you and your loved one will get just from hearing each other’s voic-es is certain to give your whole work day a great start. You won’t have to wonder how he or she is any more, you’ll know.

Making resolutions is a tradition-al and fun part of ringing in the New Year, however most people forget about them within a month or so. If you would like to make your resolution feel more serious, write it down. You’ll be more likely

Contest: Can you identify the piece of an object in the picture to the right? If so, mail a postcard with the answer to: P.O. Box 466, Hardy, AR 72542 or email it to: [email protected]. We will draw an entry from those postmarked

to stick with it. Consider going to a dollar store

in your area and getting an inex-pensive but professional-looking picture frame. Certain stores of-fer frames that have a “Certificate of Achievement” already mounted inside the frame. It sounds cheesy, but get the frame. Fill out the exist-ing certificate with your resolution or make a certificate of your own and display it in the frame. Hang it in a prominent place in your home where you – and others – are sure to see it.

If you have children this a fun mo-tivator for them as well, and Lord knows, children are the greatest accountability factor monitors. For all of three dollars (in most stores), you have just given your resolution a major shove in the right direction for you to achieve success.

Happy New Year! May the New Year be filled with happiness health, success, financial security and true friendships.

If you have additional ideas, please submit them to [email protected], and we’ll post the best ones on our website so others can give them a shot, too.

by 12/31/12 and post the win-ners name on the website for a $20 Walmart shopping card. Good luck! (One entry per person, please. Answers must be specific.)

New Year’s Success by Lauren Siebert

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Meshoppen Stone, Inc. For 50+ years Meshoppen Stone, Inc. has been a premier supplier of Pennsylvania Flagstone (Bluestone), servicing architects, builders, landscapers, stone retailers, garden centers and large contractors. Meshoppen Stone is one of the largest stone fabricators, wholesalers, and haulers in the United States, handling many types of stone from all over the country. Meshoppen Transport, Inc., is a multi-purposed flatbed trucking company whose drivers are skilled in loading, transportation, and on-time delivery of products ranging from stone, to steel, to wood, to manufactured products of industry. (Above) One of the Meshoppen Transport fleet of trucks stands loaded with precisely cut stone. Behind it is the truck scale and saw building which houses both blade and water saws to provide quality fabrication of natural stone to the customer’s exact specifications. Pallets of stone awaiting shipment line this part of the yard. (Right) A Customer’s logo is preserved in stone which was cut using the versatile water saw. This saw excels in the intricate cuts and filigree work that cannot be done by traditional blade saws. Thicker cut stones lie palletized and are ready to ship once their loads are complete.

Meshoppen Stone Inc., Meshoppen PA 1-800-836-1269 www.meshoppenstone.com

From our quarries in Pennsylvania to your home or business in Arkansas. Custom natural stone for all of your interior and exterior applications.

See our list of natural stone retail centers below or call us at 1-800-836-1269 for help with your application.

Bennett Brothers Stone Schwartz Stone Company Stevens Stone Supply Tri County Farm & Ranch Antiques Brick & Block 5643 Hwy 7 N Hwy 109 4669 Hwy 65 N 455 Hwy 62/412 1609 E 9th Street

Hot Springs, AR 71909 Scranton, AR 72855 Clinton, AR Ash Flat, AR 72513 Little Rock, AR 72202 501-984-5040 479-938-2317 501-745-8890 870-994-7575 501-375-0060

DestinationsMagazine.us, Vol. 1

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