My Resume

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Cave City man gives up business to pursue hoop dream

By Julie M. Fidler
A Cave City man who owned a business for over 20 years gave it up to share his love for basketball with children.

Tim Palmer, former owner of Batesville Radiator, said he “lived and breathed” basketball as a Cave City High School student. His son, Dalton, 17, is a senior at CCHS.

“Mark Johnson was president of the booster club at Cave City,” Palmer said. “He asked me to be a volunteer coach for the Pee Wee program, starting with baseball and then basketball.”

It was while he was coaching basketball that he realized how much he enjoyed working with kids.

“Tracey Bustos (a student information officer at University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville) recommended that I complete a non-traditional scholarship application,” said Palmer. “She told me one time, ‘People are crazy if they don’t think you need to be doing this (working with children).’ … About the time I was ready to give up, not think about it any more and keep on doing what I was doing, I got a letter in the mail saying I’d gotten the scholarship. That changed everything.”

Palmer and his father, Gerald, worked in the same building before Tim Palmer became a full-time college student. “I was able to work beside my father, who was also self-employed in the same building but in a different business, for 22 years. I would not have traded those years for anything,” he said.

Palmer starting working with the Pee Wee basketball teams while they were in the third grade and continued working with the same group until they were in sixth grade. This year, they are seniors.

“These boys were my inspiration and incentive to keep going to UACCB to accomplish my goals,” he said.

After he graduated high school, Palmer had an offer to try out for the Lyon College basketball team, but turned it down. “In high school I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do,” he said. “I did well enough to play basketball. It was all I thought about.” However, he said he was “burnt out” on school and couldn’t imagine attending college at that time.

That changed when Palmer decided to go back to school. “I knew I wanted to be a coach and teacher those four years,” he said. “I felt that was the direction I needed to go and wanted to go.”

He said he was “scared to death” when he first started classes and felt he was the “oldest one on campus.” Soon, though, he was accepted by the other students and worked his way through math classes with the help of study groups.

“The kids accepted me out there after awhile, and I got along good with them,” he said. “It worked out great.”

While in his last semester at UACCB, Palmer applied for a scholarship from the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges Academic All-Stars and won. It paid complete tuition. Palmer completed his bachelor’s degree in December 2009 and graduated cum laude from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

He continued to coach while working on his degree. “I was asked by a parent and friend to coach their daughter’s Mid-America Youth Basketball team,” he said. The team consists of girls from Southside and Batesville, grades 7-11.

“This was a blessing because it took the place of the twenty-plus boys I coached while at UACCB,” he said. “These girls have been an inspiration to me, just as the boys had, and helped me make it through ASU. I still coach this team, and they will always have a place in my heart, along with the boys I coached.”

He completed practice teaching at Batesville junior and senior high schools, and is currently a teacher’s aide at Sulphur Rock Elementary in the Batesville School District. There, he works in the school’s “success center,” helping disadvantaged students.

Meanwhile, Palmer says he’s “waiting for the opportunity for another door to open” so that he can continue coaching.

“Starting college was one of the best decisions I have made,” he said. “I just wish I would have done it 20 years ago.”

Palmer is the son of Gerald and Sharon Palmer of Cave City and has been married to Karen Palmer for 28 years.

UACCB Student Manages Time Between Jobs, Babysitting and School

By Julie M. Fidler

BATESVILLE -- Although she works two part-time jobs, more than 40 hours a week, helps care for 11 cousins and takes on a full course load, one University of Arkansas Community College student doesn’t think she’s doing anything special. Linh Tran of Batesville is a first-semester freshman who seems to know a thing or two about time management.

Tran graduated from Batesville High School this spring, but she already had some credits at UACCB through advanced placement pre-med classes. Her junior year, she attended school while working three part-time jobs.

The North Carolina native grew up in Batesville. Her parents moved to Arkansas when she was a toddler to be near her mother’s family. Her parents, both originally from Vietnam, met in North Carolina and married there.

Tran, who is taking a 13-hour course load this semester, has her work cut out for her in the evenings. She waitresses at Tai Lee restaurant, owned by her aunt, and helps out at another aunt’s nail salon, Nails Spa. There, she sets appointments, helps clients and cleans up after manicurists. From there, it’s on to her grandmother’s house where she feeds and takes care of some of her younger cousins and helps others with schoolwork.

“I come in like the enforcer,” she says about her approach toward her cousins. “I’m the oldest of my cousins and I have 11 of them, ages 3-16. I’m the one that says, ‘Do your homework.’”

When does she fit in time for her own studying and homework? “Very late at night,” she said.

Currently, Tran’s classes are mostly in general education, but she said she would like to get an associate of science degree in science and major in biology.

After graduation she plans to take advantage of  a UACCB transfer scholarship and go on to either Lyon College or Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. “I want to work toward a bachelor’s in biology right now,” she said. “I’m contemplating about pre-dental and want to stick to biology. I want to be a dentist, so I might try that, and if I want to go further, I might be an orthodontist.”

Tran said she’s enjoying going to school at UACCB. “It’s nice because it’s community-based,” she said. “It’s more relaxed here. It’s great because most of the people look familiar here, so either you know them or kind of know them.”

She said she would recommend the college to those considering attending. “If you had a good base at high school, they understand that it’s been awhile since you’ve had some material,  so they take it easy with you. If you need to talk to them, they’re always there in their offices or after class.”

“The staff here is really helpful too,” said Tran. “The ladies in the business office, enrollment and financial aid  -- I think I’ve asked them maybe a hundred questions since I’ve been here. They’re really understanding and patient about even answering the same questions over and over again.”

Tran was active in Key Club in high school and has joined the college version of the organization, Circle K International.

CUTLINE INFO

University of Arkansas Community College first semester student Linh Tran takes a moment to look at her schedule book between classes.

Non-traditional College Student Earns Masters to Help Children

By Julie M. Fidler
BATESVILLE -- After working 16 years at Arkansas Eastman in Batesville, Lance Hall wasn't sure what he wanted to do when his employer was bought by another company. Reductions in force got him thinking about his future and his family.

Hall currently serves as an occupational therapist for the Batesville School District.

Hall started in maintenance at Eastman and worked his way into operations.

A Batesville High School graduate, Hall dropped out of University of Arkansas in Fayetteville after starting his second semester.

“I thought, if I could get on at Eastman or Newark (power plant), with that money and everything, why go to school?” Hall said. “At that time, the money was the main thing. I ended up getting on at Eastman, so it worked out good.”

In 1995, Arkansas Eastman became Eastman Chemical, and Hall began to see several reductions in force. He said he wasn’t worried, but began to think about the future of his family.

He and his wife, Mandie, had a 2-year-old son, Boston (now 5) at the time. Hall felt he was missing milestones in Boston's life and, with shift work, he knew he wouldn't be able to participate in the boy’s future activities.

That’s when he began taking classes at University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville. “I was never worried about job security,” said Hall. “The last couple years I was there, I was doing shift work, switching from days to nights. I got to thinking about the future of my son, and I thought I was going to be missing things like ball-playing and everything. I thought it’d be a good time to find a different field.”

“I knew I wanted to go back to school,” said Hall. “I was looking at the allied health field. White River Health System was willing to hire me part-time as an emergency room technician. That opened my eyes to nursing and a whole host of other fields -- imaging, nuclear medicine …”

Hall immediately researched when and where classes were available with an eye toward getting into the School of Occupational Therapy at University of Central Arkansas at Conway.

“I laid out my options and thought, if I could get into school at Conway, I thought that’d be my best bet. I was taking classes here before I made that decision, lining up my science courses toward the medical field, working with a UACCB counselor. Everything slid into place, and I had enough hours to apply for OT school.”

The journey wasn’t easy. “As I struggled with a career change while out at Eastman, I continued to work 48 hours a week and take up to 19 hours per semester,” Hall said. “This was in addition to working part time at White River Medical Center three to four shifts a month. Many days were spent using my vacation hours from Eastman in class at UACCB only to return to work after class,” said Hall. “Then, I would have to find time to complete my homework after a 12-hour shift or during my days off.”

At times, going back to school as a “non-traditional student” was awkward.

“Being older and a non-traditional student, it’s different because you’re worried about going back as you’re older,” Hall said. “Wondering how instructors and students are going to look at you. It’s a little different outlook know you’re going to have to buckle down and study.”

The faculty and staff at UACCB made the transition easier, according to Hall. “I couldn’t ask for better instructors,” he said. “Everybody was helpful and understanding. Before I made that transition to the OT field, they helped guide and mold me in the direction they thought I might need to go. They threw all the options out there and let me decide.”

Hall said he was thankful for a non-traditional student scholarship that transferred over to UCA. “That helped out big time,” he said.

Now, Hall has a master’s degree in occupational therapy and looks forward to going to work every day.

Hall works with students from pre-kindergarten age through seniors in high school. “I’m working with the non-athletic side,” he said. “It’s basically the academic and functional side of it.”

He said he works with children who have very minor to extreme problems with fine motor skills or visual perception issues and some who have been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis and Down’s Syndrome.

“I like that because kids are kids,” Hall said. “They’re honest, and they tell you what they’re thinking. I’m trying to get each of them back to their activities of daily living. For kids, daily living is playing. For us it’s work.”

Hall has been working for Batesville Schools since the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

“I get to go to work and basically play with Legos, puzzles and Play-Doh. It’s a joy to see a kid reach a milestone. It’s like when a parent would see a kid walk or crawl. I get to see a kid develop.”

“Even since this fall, I’ve seen kids make tremendous strides,” said Hall. “To see that light bulb go off is just a feather in the cap. It just makes your day.”

Young Dancers Spread 'Glee'

By Julie M. Fidler

A group of young Batesville dancers works after school and on weekends, resulting in a performance much like that seen on the hit TV show, “Glee,”  minus the singing.

The 55 fourth- through sixth-graders at West Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School learn everything from jazz to disco to hip hop.

Teacher Danielle Green has been with the dance program at West since it began in 2004. The dance team formed in the 2005-06 school year. Its makeup is split pretty evenly between boys and girls.

“This year, we’ve done ‘Through the Years,’ with musical icons like Elvis and the Beatles,” said Green. “We go from them to the Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys and the Black-Eyed Peas. So, we end with what’s current.” She said the team recently started learning a jazz routine.

To keep up to date, Green attends dance conventions like “The Pulse on Tour,” featuring famous current choreographers. “Last year, I went to Dallas,” she said. “Over spring break this year, I may be able to go back.”

Last summer,  Green went to Broadway Dance Center in New York City and took 10 hours of classes. “It was a lot of fun,” she said.

According to the teacher, “disco is really a big deal. The kids are all doing it and liking it.” She said educational standards require her to teach different time periods and cultures. “We do all of it.”

Each year, over 100 students try out for the dance team, and the numbers grow by at least two or three a year. Cuts have to be made.

“Even if we’ve have kids move, I’ve seen not as many drop off (the team) this year,” she said. “They’ve held with it and stuck with it. Try-outs are involved.”

To be fair, Green brings in outside judges and score tabulators for try-outs.

“A lot of times, I’ll pick a score to have as a cut off and take that many children (for the team),” she said. “There are cuts. But, a lot of times, those kids come back the next year; and most of them make it.”

Not all children join as expert dancers, Green said.

“There are some children from year to year,” she said. “They may not be the best dancers. Then, all of a sudden, it begins to click. They come on (stage), and it’s amazing.”

Some have even switched to West Magnet for the chance to dance, said Green. Her first group of fourth-graders are now high school sophomores. Many are either on the football or dance teams or are cheerleaders. “We’ve got representation of West throughout our school district,” she said.

The children seem to gain a lot of confidence through the program. “That’s the big thing,” said Green. “It gives them confidence do things they’d never have gotten to do. Taking these classes would not have been possible. It’s a wonderful program. Due to performance confidence, our academic tests scores have gone up.”

In 2008, the West Magnet Dance Team won grand champion status in Arkansas Dance Spectacular. Since then, the AAA oversees dance competitions. Due to the championship, the team received an Arkansas State Senate Citation.

More recently, the team has performed in Branson, Mo., at the shows “Red, Hot and Blue” and “Spirit of the Dance” and at Silver Dollar City. They’re currently preparing for the Branson show, “Liverpool Legends.” They’ll also perform again at Silver Dollar City. Two years ago, the team danced in front of 19,000 people at a University of Memphis basketball game .

They also perform during games at Lyon College and Batesville junior and senior high schools. Last month, the team danced at the Pink Zone basketball game at University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Public recitals are coming next month. The fourth- through sixth-grade team performs at 6:30 p.m. April 29 at Independence Hall on the campus of University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville. Recitals for kindergarten and first-grade dancers are May 5, and May 6 for second- and third-graders. All of the recitals are at UACCB at 6:30 p.m.

Southside youth enjoys deadly fun on weekends

By Julie M. Fidler
SOUTHSIDE -- A Southside junior high-schooler spends his weekends participating in a death-defying sport.

Kyler Keeney, 13, has won 27 motocross races within the last year. Kyler started getting in races late in 2009, with the help of a couple of friends who were already involved in the past-time.

“I’d wanted a dirt bike for a long time,” he said. “We just found one and bought it. Then, my mom told me about this track up at Heber Springs. We started going up there to practice a lot, and I asked Dad if I could race there, and he said I could.”

“Dad” is Elton Keeney of Batesville. “These bikes are designed and built to race,” he said. “Expensive too.”

Kyler’s father said they were lucky to have the help of Rick Caudel, owner of  Western Sizzlin’ in Batesville, from the beginning. Others who help keep Kyler’s bikes in shape, or sponsor all the equipment he needs, include Quick Signs and Graphics of Heber Springs, and Clint Carter at O’Neil Bottoms Motocross Park, Independence County Off-Road and B&R Marine and Cycle, all in Batesville.

The motocross season starts early in the year in February. At that time, there’s not a race every weekend. But, when March rolls around, the races start up and run every weekend through the end of November. “We’ve missed three races since Feb. 28, 2010, and that’s ‘cause they were rained out,” said Keeney.

Arkansas State Motocross Series and Arkansas State Championship Series put on the races at tracks across the state that host them. “There’s a point series of races, and it goes on at every different track,” said Kyler.

“I raced three or four in 2009, and they were at Heber Springs,” Kyler said. “That’s where my first race was.”

AMXA opened a new track in Cave City in 2010 and the owners wanted Kyler to try it out before a race there.

“He broke his collar bone, and still came in second,” said his father.

Kyler has hundreds of trophies and plaques to show for all of his races. He also had a broken wrist and has been “knocked out” twice during races.

Although the family’s pictures of Kyler flying through the air on his bike are probably the most stunning, Kyler said there are things about the races he likes more than the jumps. “There’s jumps and burns, which is in the corner. You go up on a dirt wall. It’s like an embanked corner. Then rollers, which is a jump thing in the middle of a corner.”

“My favorite part is not really the jumps, but being close to other bikes and clearing corners and all that,” said Kyler.

In the height of the racing season, Kyler practices on the track three or four days a week for the weekend competitions. “Lately, I’ve not been practicing as much because it’s so cold,” he said.

Kyler obviously has the support of his father, but what about Mom, Sherry Keeney? “My mom doesn’t really like that I race that much,” he said. “It scares her. Her whole side of the family doesn’t like it much, except for my grandpa, because they think it’s too dangerous. Dad’s side of the family  -- I don’t think they really want me to quit.”

“His grandma came to Heber and watched him,” said Keeney. “He’s in the air, 80 or 90 foot. She screams, gets up and leaves.”

What advice would Kyler offer a would-be motocross racer?

“When I started off, I didn’t know how to do anything,” he said. “I wasn’t very good at all. At each race, Dad would ask a lot of the pros questions and would get a bunch of hints from them. He’d tell me all this stuff, and I’d try to get the best ways from all of them. Also, I just spent a lot of time on the bike.”

“Once they start, there’s no way they can stop racing,” said Kyler

“Sometimes, we’ve hit two different races in one weekend,” said Keeney. “Not long ago, we practiced at Enola where the state series championship banquet was. He wrecked pretty bad, went to Heber and raced. He got knocked out, we got back home at midnight and went back to Enola to race the next day.”

Kyler seems to look at the injuries as an inconvenience. “When I get hurt, I pretty much want to hurry and get over it so I can ride,” he said. “After I broke my collar bone, I rode a dirt bike the very next day and raced in three weeks.”

“And won,” Keeney added. “The doctors were screaming, ‘No, no, no!’”

As for his plans for 2011, Kyler has three out-of-state races in his sites. “Next year I want to go to Loretta Lynn’s in Tennessee, Ponca City, Okla., and Branson, Mo.,” he said. “I want to try to make it to Loretta’s, but it’s hard to get there. You go to a track one weekend, and it’s like a race. Whoever gets in, like, the top eight in the area qualifier, goes to a regional qualifier, and they go from there. You’ve gotta be good … and fast.”

Cave City home improvement crew gives family extreme makeover

By Julie M. Fidler
CORD -- Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Will and Earlene Sterling of Cave City took on a major home improvement project for another family … for free. And, they say they’d do it again “in a heartbeat.”

Dennis and Darlene Kellems of Cord called Sterling Home Solutions last October to get a bid on getting their home repaired. The doublewide mobile home had parts of the floor falling through in places. Meanwhile, the Kellemses’ young daughter, Cassondra, was dealing with a lot of medical issues, including dialysis. Darlene and Cassondra moved in temporarily with a family member, separating them their husband and father.

A couple of weeks after Darlene had called the Sterlings’ business, Arkansas Children’s Hospital contacted them about the project, for which some funding had been donated.

“We saw a family in need, and decided to do our part,” said Mrs. Sterling. “We couldn’t bear to think of a family being split apart because of this situation.”

“This is the first time we have ever reached out in this manor,” she said.

The floors of the Kellems home needed to be repaired due to water damage.

But, the Sterlings and their crew didn’t want to leave it at that.

“After learning about the struggle this family had been through, we wanted to do more than just fix the floors,” Mrs. Sterling said. “We wanted to give them a new home.”

The crew, all working for free, repaired all of the floors, installed new carpet and laminate flooring throughout the entire home, replaced all of the lighting, installed new smoke alarms, painted the entire home (walls and ceilings), repaired the dishwasher and installed new mini-blinds and curtains.

Mrs. Sterling did all the decorating. “We built Cassondra’s room to match her personality.” The teen-ager loves country music. Will Sterling designed a bed frame in the shape of a guitar. He lined the wall at the ceiling with sparkly compact discs, lit by track lighting. The icing on the cake for Cassondra is a framed, autographed picture of the country group, The Dixie Chicks.

Members of The Home Depot’s Team Depot donated the paint and painting supplies. They also sent out a crew to help with some of the final cleaning. Furniture-4-Less donated a new bed for Cassondra. Sterling Home Solutions crew members Nick Ring, Clay Smith and Robbie Dye all worked for free.

“Nick Ring is our floater,” said Mrs. Sterling. “He can do most anything. Clay Smith is our painter, and Robbie Dye is our framer and roofer.”

The project took the group five days (61 hours). The result was a completely remodeled home.

“We got a warm heart just knowing this family is all under one roof again,” Mrs. Sterling said. “They were excited and emotional. They were expecting new floors, not a new home.”

“Will and I received such a blessing during this project,” she said. “It warmed our hearts to be part of a new beginning for such a deserving family.”

She thanked Eye On Independence Magazine: “Thank you for sharing their story with your readers. Our hope is that God continues to bless the Kellems family.”

Independence County Veteran Signed Up, Inspired by Terror Attack

By Julie M. Fidler
Remembering 9/11 inspired a Batesville veteran to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. Josh Newman, 27, said he was in his senior year of high school and remembers the morning clearly. He was on his way to school when it happened.

“I was a senior in high school,” Newman said. “I remember it like yesterday. It was September 11th. I was driving to school that morning, and I remember watching the news seeing the airplane hit the tower. After I graduated, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to serve my country and be a part of the whole war on terrorism.”

He enlisted in May 2002 through the delayed entry program and signed in as an active duty Marine that October.

A native of Fox, Ark., Newman was in the Marines from 2002-07.

“Boot camp was a humbling and unique experience,” he said. “I went to San Diego. It was more mental than physical. I think a lot of people should go through it. It’ll make them grow up and think on their own. I’m glad I did it. I don’t have any regrets. I loved it. I miss it. Like any jobs, it’s not always fun and great, but when you get through,  it’s like, ‘Wow. That wasn’t too bad.’”

To the veterans who served before and with him, Newman said, “May God bless them for their service. Those are the only words I could say to them.”

 Stationed at Camp Lejeune, N. C., he worked in personnel administration. That included typing up orders, issuing plane tickets for first-time Marines arriving for their schooling.

“They’d come straight from boot camp, go to Marine combat training, then go to their first schooling to get their specialty,” said Newman. “Then they’d get shipped off.”

“I was stationed at base command,” he said. “Marine Corps engineer school was the unit I was with. I would handle the mail. I did a lot of different things in administration. I was a human resources liaison.” Instructors and staff sergeants were also stationed at the base.

“It was a great job,” said Newman. “I was stationed on the bay. There was water coming in from the ocean there. I could look out my window and see dolphins jumping.”

About the area in which he was stationed, he said, “The weather’s pretty much the same as here. They did have a lot more rain. It felt like home, but at the same time, it was not near.”

In boot camp, Newman started as a private in the enlisted ranks. He excelled fairly quickly and was soon promoted to lance corporal in 2004. The next year he was promoted to corporal, and in 2007, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

He said he was fortunate not to get deployed. “When I went through school, it was a little unique because my instructor had a heart for his Marines, and I did get to choose where I wanted to be stationed,” Newman said. “I was married, and I had my daughter. I was stationed at a non-deploying unit. It just happened to be the one I chose was a really good one.”

“Once I was stationed there,  I loved it,” he said. “I did a lot of exercising and would get up and run 3-8 miles every morning and would do a lot of physical training. Occasionally, we’d go on what we called ‘humps’ where you get a backpack full of stuff and take this long hike. I went through the gas chamber.”

As a part of his job, Newman supervised 14 Marines. “For me doing my job, I excelled. Simple as that,” he said. “I just did my job, and that’s why I excelled.”

Newman and his wife, Kayla, welcomed their first child, a daughter, at a nearby Naval hospital early in 2004. They named her Elexis.

“My wife has been a stay-at-home mom,” he said. “We’re high school sweethearts. I met her when I was in tenth grade, we dated since eleventh grade and have been together since then. We got married in ’03 and have three children.”

Elexis is now six; Logan Joshua is two; and the family added Natalie Faith the last day of this past August.

His job in the military helped prepare Newman for his current position as a city mail carrier. “After I got out, since I worked in the mail room and handled mail, I was planning on trying to go back to the civilian world. So, about a year before I got out I took the postal service test, and within a few weeks after coming back to Arkansas, I got on at Mountain View as a ‘casual’ just to help out part time.”

In May of 2008, he hired on as part-time “flexible” at the Batesville Post Office. He started in distribution, sorting the mail. He then went to a window clerk job and finally to a city carrier position.

“They’re downsizing and cutting jobs, so I decided to take the carrier position,” said Newman. “It’s a lot more strenuous, and I am a disabled vet. I hurt my knee when I was in. It’s pretty hard walking the streets.”

 In August 2009, he  decided to go to college to pursue an associate’s degree in general education with a business focus. “I’m going to try to get a business bachelor’s degree,” he said. “I’m looking at Lyon College to get my bachelor’s degree.”

When he’s not carrying mail or going to class, Newman plays drums with a contemporary Christian band, The Awakening.

“Since I’ve been here in Batesville the last couple years, I immediately got with some friends, met new people and play music,” he said. “We started a band. I was in a band called Titus 3 for a year. A couple members quit, so we recruited a couple new guys and changed our name to The Awakening. We’ve been together since this last July. We play at the Depot once a month or so.”

Batesville's Own Bicycle Guru

By Julie M. Fidler
A 75-year-old Batesville man keeps in touch with his childhood through spokes, wheels and shining chrome.

Wallace Biddle still has his very first bicycle, a 1946 J.C. Higgins, red and white. His parents gave him the bike as a birthday present when he was 12 or 13. He put it into a barn when he began to drive.

Biddle grew up on a cotton farm southwest of Bay, between Jonesboro and Truman, in Craighead County. “It was a really small town,” he said. “There’s nothing there now. My dad ordered it (the bike) from the Sears & Roebuck catalog.” Sears’ store brand was the J.C. Higgins. Before that, it was Elgin, according to Biddle.

“It cost maybe $10 at the time,” he said. “It would probably cost $70, $80 or $90 now.”

Before he got his bike, Biddle would occasionally get a chance here or there to ride neighbors’ bikes. His family worked the cotton farm, and times were hard.

“I was proud of that bike,” said Biddle. “I’d clean it up every night before I went to bed. When we got our first vehicle, and I began to drive, I just put it in the barn. And it stayed up there all those years.”

About 20 years ago, he thought about the old bike and decided to get it out of the barn. It was still in pretty good shape. Biddle set out to make it “good as new.”

“That’s what got me started,” he said.

Bikes decorate his home, a shop, a garage and the yard, and are hung along a wooden fence in his front and back yards.

Biddle wasn’t born knowing how to repair or renovate bikes, and it has been a learning process. “I worked in a body shop for awhile after I got married,” he said. “They let me sand, and eventually I got into painting … on cars, that is.”

When asked what tools are involved, he said, “Just sandpaper and paint, basically.”

Fixing that first antique inspired him to do more.

He won’t work on just any old bike, said Biddle. He most enjoys ones at least 50 years old. “It has to be 50 years old before I’ll fool with it,” he said. “I like bikes from the 1940s and ’50s.” Bikes he says his family couldn’t afford when he was a boy.

“I have some that I always wanted when I was a kid but couldn’t afford, the ones that were more expensive back in the ’40s,” he said. “I have those ones now.”

When asked if he has a favorite brand, Biddle said, “Oh, I like to work on like them all. I don’t have a favorite. I guess some of them would be Western Flyers, Hawthornes, which used to be Montgomery Ward, Monarch, Rollfast, Schwinn.”

He estimates he has 40-50 bikes right now. Where does he get them?

“I bought most of them outright,” he said. “I find them all over, go to bike shows and bought a lot of them on eBay.”

Biddle said the nearest show is Springfield, Mo. He plans to enter at least one bike and is re-doing some previous work to make it “show quality.“

A triple-bypass heart surgery a year ago this month made Biddle put his hobby on the back burner, but only for a little while.

“It was probably three months before I was back at fixing bikes,” he said. “I feel great now; a lot better than before.”

He displays some of his bikes in his son, Howard Biddle’s, flea market on Malcolm Avenue in Newport. Howard Biddle said the enjoyment fixing old bikes gives his father has probably helped him stay so healthy. “He’s in better shape than I am,” he said.

Biddle has done a bit of remodeling for others, including a Monarch, an Elgin and a late 1960s Schwinn Sting-Ray Pixie.

“I haven’t made any money,” he said. “It’s just a hobby. I enjoy looking at them when I get through with them.”

Biddle has five children: Howard Biddle, Steve Biddle, Theresa Duncan, Jeanette Biddle and Laura Robinson. He has nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. He was the husband of the late Dorothy Biddle. He belongs to West Baptist Church of Batesville.

Shelter "Sweethearts" Need Home

By Julie M. Fidler
What better way to share the love on Valentine’s Day than to adopt a “sweetheart?” There are plenty of them at the Humane Society of Independence County’s animal shelter in Batesville.

Whether you’re a dog person or a cat person, there’s a sweet companion waiting for you. Many of the pets at the shelter have been there for years. Many were abused, abandoned and left to fend for themselves. Many are already house-trained, and all are spayed or neutered.

According to Bev Finch, executive shelter director, for a $50 charge, not only will you bring home your new companion, you won’t have vet fees to “fix” your friend (usually a cost of well over $50). Each pet has already had all its shots (except rabies and feline leukemia) and is guaranteed healthy.

“In six years, ONE female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies,” said Finch. “In seven years, ONE female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 kittens.”

Since 2002, when the doors to the shelter opened, the Humane Society has taken in 5,252 animals -- all at no cost to the county.

“We have assisted in helping 1,077 low-income families get their companion animals sterilized at greatly reduced prices at our spay/neuter clinics,” Finch said.

The Humane Society of Independence County holds fund-raisers throughout the year to cover the cost of the animals’ needs. Bark in the Park is one of those events. Finch said it was quite successful last year.

The event was held at Riverside Park in Batesville and drew a good crowd, she said. “There were activities and games for all ages. People brought out their pets, and it was just a lot of fun.”

The Humane Society is planning a “trivia night” for March as another fun way to raise money. Finch said she recently attended one such event in Mountain Home for an animal shelter there. She said people are divided into teams and asked questions similar to a game show. The exact date for the fund-raiser hadn’t been set at press time.

For those who would love to have a sweet canine or feline friend but, for some reason, are unable to adopt one, there’s still plenty they can do to help. Money is always good.

Finch said she appreciates all of the donations the shelter receives, not just the monetary ones. One can also donate time, and not necessarily a lot of it. “People think, if they’re going to volunteer, it’s going to take up a lot of their time,” she said. “Not so. You can sign up for a few hours a year, if you want.”

A volunteer dog-walking group meets every Thursday to take the dogs for a two-mile walk. Other volunteers are needed just to sit with animals at PetSense in Batesville each Saturday. The shelter keeps some cats at the store, which makes them more visible to customers. Dogs are brought in on Saturdays.

If you can’t give money or time, other donations are always accepted. Items such as cat litter and old bed sheets and towels are just as valuable, according to Finch. Other things the shelter always needs include laundry detergent, bleach, dog biscuits and cat toys.

The Humane Society of Independence County is located at #5 Environmental Drive, along Hwy. 167 North,
adjacent to the Recycling Center. Shelter manager is Lauren Howard.

The shelter is open Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5:30 p.m.; and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The shelter is closed Sunday and Monday. The phone number is 870.793.0090. You may view adoptable pets by going to www.petfinder.com/shelters/AR65.html.

Thrift Shop Helps Domestic Abuse Victims

By Julie M. Fidler
BATESVILLE -- Now double the size, Family Violence Prevention’s resale shop is attracting some welcome attention for the organization that helps victims of domestic abuse.

Rebecca Riley, executive director of FVP, said the shop’s new location at 1280 North St. Louis Street (next to Tool Central) has increased visibility greatly. Formerly located near the end of West Main Street in a 3,000-square foot building, the new shop fills 6,000 square feet with clothing, furniture, appliances, housewares, knick-knacks, books and anything else one might need -- all at exceptional prices.

Riley said some victims of abuse, now clients, who have received help learned about the organization through the resale shop. The shop is governed by the board of directors of Family Violence Prevention, Inc., and pays two part-time employees. A new manager, Tonya Gibson, has just been hired at the shop. She replaces LaVonda Estep, who resigned to take another job.

The rest of the store is run by eight volunteers who put in many hours. “We have some very dedicated volunteers who almost work full-time at the shop,” said Riley. “We can always use volunteers.”

With more and more donations coming in than ever, due to the visibility of the new location, the shop will need more help from those who can spend some time sifting through donations.

Donations to the shop may be made during business hours 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Like the previous, smaller shop, the new store houses an “awareness section.” It includes T-Shirts decorated in memory of local victims and other items in remembrance of them. “That’s necessary to reserve that space,” Riley said. “The shop serves a dual purpose. It brings in some income so we can offer services, and it spreads awareness.”

Riley said the organization’s clients are able to use clothing, furniture and other items that are donated.

+ + +

Family Violence Prevention will host its second annual dinner and silent auction April 1. The event includes a 5-course meal, prepared by a chef. Local businesses donate items for the silent auction.

Last year’s event, “Silent (No More) … Dine to End Domestic Abuse,” was sold out with 130 in attendance.

This year’s dinner will be at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Batesville. Tickets go on sale in February at the FVP office in the basement of the Independence County Courthouse. They are $60 each.

+ + +

This past October, FVP held its 22nd annual candlelight vigil in remembrance of victims of domestic abuse across the state. Speakers at the vigil included Jayne Ann Kita, executive director of Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

During the vigil, the names of those who died due to domestic violence in 2009 were read out loud. There were 20.

During the same month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, FVP held a family event at Riverside Park to promote awareness … a first annual Celebrate Peace Event. It targeted children and youth and included games and activities.

The Artiste Becomes a Man

My baby is 18 tonight. Nicholas Jon was meant to be Nicole Marie, as I was meant to be Julie Marie.

Well, as I was not a disappointment to my mother, Big Nick Jon was not a disappointment to me. He was, however, a handful.

He was due to arrive on my 30th birthday, March 3, 1993. How cool was that? But, did Nicholas do what was expected of him? Hell, no. He picked his own birthday.

In fact, he kept us guessing and waited until roads were impassible, due to a blizzard.

On Mon. Feb. 22, while his dad was at work and his Grandma Fidler and I were shopping, Nick let me know he was on his way. Grandma rushed me to Harris Hospital in Newport, where Nick’s doctor was. False alarm. His brother never did that.

Although we had timed our route very carefully to the hospital from the ’hood, we really hadn’t figured in a blizzard. Come Wednesday about suppertime, Nick decided to make his appearance. We got in the Neon and headed to Jackson County.

On the way, we saw a beautiful shooting star. I wanted to change Nicole’s name to “Starr.” However, I had chosen Vincent’s name, and it was dad’s turn. Nick made us wait through “Home Improvement” and well into Jay Leno. Then, we were rushed to the delivery room. It was fixin’ to get more difficult.

Nick, like his brother, was very active. He was constantly moving around, finding where he wanted to be and having hiccups when he wanted to have hiccups. When the doctor (a pockfaced substitute from Memphis because Dr. Jabez was busy murdering ducks) announced we had a boy, I was fine with that. When he told us the baby wasn’t breathing because he had wrapped his cord around his neck (just like his brother), I was pissed.

The little guy was blue in the face and not making a sound. That acne-ridden doc slapped the Dickens out of Nick, and Nick let him know otherwise.              

Since then, my little artist has not fallen in with the “in crowd.” I’m so proud of my boy. I know he’ll do well.

Happy Birthday, my Sweetie Pie/Stink Pot!

Love,
Mom

The Legend of the Great Teen Idol Hair Controversy

I guess everybody is aware of the biggest international headline making the news this week. Lybia? No. Huge earthquake in New Zealand? Of course not. Union laborers fighting for their financial well-being in Wisconsin? Don’t be silly!

I’m talking about JUSTIN BIEBER’S HAIR, people! Have you seen it? OMG. Now, he looks like he’s 17 instead of 7. What on earth ever shall we do?

Well, I am here to advise the “Tween” girls of today. Ladies, I’ve been there, and I know what you’re going through. This, too, shall pass. Trust me.

Way back in 1976, during a whole 'nother millennium, when I was your age, there was a total fox named “Tony DeFranco.” And you know what? He was from Canada! Ontario! His whole family was musical, too. AND … this boy loved hockey, could dance and had the face and voice of an angel. But, more importantly, he had the HAIR of an angel.

Tony and his brothers and sisters, the DeFranco Family, burst onto the scene when they were discovered by Tiger Beat magazine. Yes! Tiger Beat magazine in Hollywood. We had it in the old days, too, believe it or not. So, when Tony was only 13, he had a huge hit with a dreamy song called, “Heartbeat, It’s a Lovebeat.”

I was 10, and I was in love with a capital “L.” I slept, dreampt, ate and breathed Tony DeFranco. I even had my hair done like his beautiful wavy brown 'do for my big brother Bob’s wedding. I was also an Official Tiger Beat DeFranco Family Area Promoter for Peoria, Ill. -- meaning, the next time they performed in Peoria, I would get to meet Tony and the rest of the family backstage!!!

Then, suddenly, in the spring of 1976, as Tony’s 17th birthday approached, the story broke in Tiger Beat. See, back in those days, we didn’t have the Internet, Facebook, My Space, Twitter, IPods, cell phones, video games or even cable television, let alone entire TV networks full of shows aimed at girls my age! Yes … that is hard to wrap your brain around, but please try, and listen.

So, anyway … My April issue of Tiger Beat came in the mail. I subscribed, of course. What’s that? Well, the magazines were much like those you buy at Wal-Mart now-a-days, but instead of looking at them on your world wide web, we had to either buy them at stores or, with a $7.95 check from your mom, you’d get a whole year’s worth, PLUS a book called “Tony’s Secret Photo Album!” OMG.

I opened the magazine, and there it was … Tony with CURLY hair. I mean, what we called “an afro.” Yep. I closed that Tiger Beat in a hurry until I had a minute to think.

The story was, Tony had gone swimming with his family in the ocean, and he let his hair “air dry.” See, till this point, Tony had always very carefully blown his hair dry with an old-fashioned, hand-held dryer and, I imagine, a round “straightening” brush.

Well, this led to months and months of internal debate for me. I consulted my Mom. “He’s a cute boy,” she said. She found it safe to ride the fence.

I showed my Dad side by side pictures to get his opinion. “Shhhh!” he said. “The weather’s on!”

I asked my big brother, Mike, while he was fixing his bike in the driveway. “Who cares?” he said. “He’s fat, and he looks like a girl either way.”

No help there. I consulted my closest girlfriends, but alas, they were with the opposite camp --- Donny Osmond and his brothers. Every Tiger Beat reader knew we would never see eye-to-eye on that particular issue. My 57 DeFranco pen-pals were split pretty much down the middle.

That’s when it hit me! This was Tony DeFranco we were talking about! MY Tony. My future husband. Who cared how he wanted to wear his hair? By the time Tony’s 17th birthday rolled around at the end of that August, I had accepted Tony just the way he was, curly Canadian white-boy afro and all.

And you know what, girls? Tony and his family never had another record as big as “Heartbeat” after that. We watched him lose to Donny, and we took it with our chins in the air and our shoulders held high.

You know what Tony’s doing today? He’s a very happy family man, a very successful real estate agent in California, and guess what? He’s still a total fox!

So … see? Nothing to worry about!

www.tonydefranco.com

Depression-Era Photo Inspires Artist's Journey

By Julie M. Fidler
A Batesville artist, inspired by an old photograph, made a week-long trek along Route 66, stopping here and there to set up her easel and paint.

On Feb. 22, Aline McCracken, a part-time art instructor at University of Arkansas Community College in Batesville, opened a month-long exhibit of water colors she painted on her “sentimental journey.”

In 2005, McCracken found a photo of her father and two uncles, taken during the Great Depression. The three brothers (McCracken’s father, Russell Cantrell, and two of his brothers, Vernon and Doyle) traveled west to pick fruit. They came back and forth from Arkansas, stopping to play music to earn gas money. At the time, they used the well-traveled Route 66.

McCracken knew two of her friends, Stacey Spraggins and Renee Ramsey, would enjoy seeing parts of the famous route. Spraggins, who McCracken said is “fascinated” with Route 66, planned a trip that would take them through five states from Springfield, Mo., to Santa Rosa, N.M.

“Father, Uncle Vernon and Uncle Doyle were three of six children,” said McCracken. “The picture was taken after they’d been in California several years and came home for a visit in Fulton County. They bought this car … Daddy played his banjo. He sold it when I was born, to pay the bill.”

Doyle stayed in California to raise a family while the other two brothers came back to north-central Arkansas.

The three women set out in McCracken’s car because it was the newest, and because it was a PT Cruiser. “What better way to see Route 66 than in a ‘cruiser?’” said McCracken.

However, the car broke down in Santa Rosa, N.M. While they waited for repairs at the dealership, the friends unloaded all of their supplies and painted in the lobby.

“We painted while we were there,” McCracken said. “We took 1,200 photographs between the three of us. People in those towns would follow us around and give us advice and give us presents.”

McCracken had seen part of Route 66 in its hey day. “I was on that road in 1964 in a Volkswagen with a friend from Georgia,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”

The three traveled through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.

The artist’s exhibit features watercolor paintings of the road itself or things around it.

Some of the paintings on display have already won awards. “Santa Rosa Angel” won first prize in the still life category at the Grand Prairie Festival of the Arts in Stuttgart. It shows a statue of a child angel on the grave of a young girl.

A painting titled “40 Over, 66 Under” won third place in the landscape category at the same festival. “To find Route 66, one must have a guidebook,” McCracken said. “Many places in the old ‘Mother Road’ are covered by the new interstate highway. In this scene, 66 is a weed-covered trail which curves under and around I-40.”

“That whole trip was just one fantastic adventure after another,” she said. “Art’s more than just paint on paper.”

The exhibit, “Route 66: Springfield to Santa Rosa,” is on display at University of Arkansas Community College in Batesville in the Roy Row Sr. and Imogene Row Johns Library and Academic Building. The show lasts through March, and it is open free to the public.