The annual flag retirement ceremony was held at the American Legion at Veteran’s Park in Acorn last Friday on Flag Day. Flags that have been dropped off for proper retirement and disposal were burnt during a respectful ceremony by the members of the American Legion. (Photo by Andy Philpot)
The annual flag retirement ceremony
CPolk County sends six athletes to high school all-star games this week
Polk County is well represented in Conway this week as the AHSCA All-State Games are taking place, featuring the top talent of graduating seniors in sports of baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and football.
Six athletes from Polk County schools were named to various teams, which are playing their games Tuesday through Friday of this week.
Kelsie Frachiseur, of Wickes, was chosen to play in the softball game; Kristen Gray, of Mena, was selected to play in the girls’ soccer game; Lindsey Thacker, of Mena, was named to the volleyball team; Danielle Frachiseur, of Wickes, was chosen for the girls’ basketball team; Kyle Roberts, of Mena, was named to the boys’ basketball team; and Malachi McGee ,from Mena, was named to the football team. Full story on Page 1B of the June 20th, 2013 edition of the Mena Star.
Mena Firefighters (left to right) Daniel Sanchez, Duane Harvey, Tom Hairston, and Seth Smith recently completed ARFF Training in Jefferson City, Missouri. (Photo by Speckhals)
Mena firefighters complete ARFF training
Four fire fighters with the Mena Fire Department have recently completed a 40-hour course that now has them certified in Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting training.
The week-long course took place in Jefferson City, Missouri, which is the closest regional fire school to Mena.
The four fire fighters who went through this week of training were Daniel Sanchez, Seth Smith, Cpt Duane Harvey, and Cpt Tom Hairston.
While local fire fighters more commonly deal with structure fires, this training gave them experience that had them in a burning airplane simulator.
Remembering Hearts Forever honor passed children with annual balloon release event
When a parent passes away, a link to the past is lost; when a spouse passes away, a link to the present is gone; but when a child passes away, a link to the future is departed. An inescapable part of life is loss, and grief, a natural progression for healing. The parent-child relationship is physically, socially, and psychologically unique among all other human relationships.
They must learn to rebuild their life without their beloved child...but rebuilding lives do not have to be done alone. And parents of a child that have passed are not alone. Remembering Hearts Forever of Mena/Polk County will remind you that you are not alone. Members of the organization take the time to listen to other parents who have also experienced the loss of a child. Each parent has their own story to tell. And each member knows exactly what you are going through.
It was this past Saturday, the Saturday before Father’s Day, that over 35 family and friends gathered at the Janssen Park gazebo to share in the loss of their loved ones and to uplift others who have recently lost a child. At noon, balloons were released into the sky with names and messages honoring those that have gone on all too quickly.
With the loss of a child, there are differences in how men and women cope with the loss. Men in general are taught to be the rock, who can be leaned on by others and to look up to for support, which frequently causes men to submerge their own pain. Women, on the other hand, express emotions openly. Understanding the differences in how men and women grieve can help minimize the perception that one parent has suffered a greater loss than the other.
Patience with the process and allowing feelings to come without judgment is the key as life is not really measured in time, but it’s measured in “events”. We can’t always choose what events happen to us in this life but we can choose what we do after that event happens.
There is not one correct way to grieve the loss of a child - be perceptive of the patterns of grief and its impact can help smooth the path towards a happy and healthy new life, for parents who have suffered the loss.
For more information on Remembering Hearts Forever, please contact Ken or Diane Mathis at 479-243-0191. By Elizabeth Horn
The Junior Ouachita Little Theatre’s production of Airline will take the stage this weekend the OLT, with shows on Friday and Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon. It features a great blend of young talent in a comedy that is appropriate for the whole family. (Photo by Andy Philpot)
JOLT’s Airline opens Friday night
I attended the dress rehearsal, on Monday, of the Junior Ouachita Little Theatre (JOLT) summer production, Tim Kelly’s Airline. It is one of the prolific playwright’s best known plays, about the ultimate no-frills airline called Go Bananas, and the experience it delivers to its passengers. It is really a lot of fun and very cute. It has a large cast and crew, made up almost completely of local kids. It is capably directed by Mena High School Sophomore, Natalie Ford, and the assistant director is Mena High Junior, Katelin Haines. The adult advisor on this play is Scott Jenkins, who put many hours into design and construction of the multifaceted set, as well as coaching and nurturing the cast and crew.
Performances will be this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM, and Sunday at 2:30 PM. Next weekend, Friday and Saturday, June 28-29, performances will be at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $8, $5, for students, and seniors 60 and over available at the door 45 minutes before each performance. Jolt continued on page 2A of the June 20th, 2013 edition of the Mena Star.
Mena Star Intern
15 questions with...Nathan Smallwood
1. What was it about The Mena Star that interested you to want to spend your summer intern time here? I felt it would give me the opportunity to get experience in journalism before I went on to college.
2. What is one thing you hope to get more comfortable with during your time at The Mena Star? Talking to people in more serious, and in a more business-like manner.
3. How has being in the Upward Bound program helped you in both your education and your personal life? It’s helped me in education by giving me a lot more opportunities to learn where I wouldn’t have had the chance otherwise. It’s also helped me financially as well. Personally, I’ve made a lot of good friends, and also seen places I could take friends to.
4. What are your college plans, and what do you plan to major in? I’ll be attending the UofA in Fayetteville, and will be majoring in Journalism. As of now, I plan to focus on broadcasting, but would also consider editorial journalism.
5. If you were writing the script of your life, where would you like to be five years from now? I will hopefully have a bachelor’s degree, and interning or beginning an entry level position at a major news organization.
6. If you had one trip in a time machine, where would you go and what would you want to see? There are so many things I would like to see, but I’d like to go back to Egypt and watch how they built the pyramids.
7. What’s the most memorable trip you’ve taken, and what is one trip you’d like to make one day? The most memorable trip I’ve been on is when Upward Bound took us to Washington D.C., seeing all the history and all the monuments. For me, it was the moment when I realized where I was and what it all means. You never forget the emotions of it. While the whole week we were there, the realization hits you gradually, but it’s definitely a “wow” factor. The trip I’d like to take would be to go to England and spend a year there watching Premiership Futbol, and following Chelsea (that’s my team).
8. How did you get your name? With “Nathaniel Alexander” I’m named after a couple of my great-grandfathers, and of course I get “Smallwood” from my dad.
9. What is a skill, talent, fact, or hobby we may not know about you? For a guy my size, I can shoot a basketball fairly well. Something interesting is that I’m right handed, but I shoot a basketball left handed.
10. If you were to take a month’s vacation to a deserted island, what are three things you would make sure and take with you for survival? My X-Box with a television, some swim trunks, and I’ll also need a camera when I go exploring.
11. If you could have anyone’s autograph, who’s signature would you want? Kevin Garnett.
12. If Hollywood makes a movie about your life, which actor do you choose to play the role of you? Will Ferrell. He’s serious when he needs to be, but he just has so many good jokes.
13. If you had entrance music that played every time you arrived somewhere, what is your entrance song? It’s going to be the Oscar Mayer Wiener song.
14. If you could have two super powers, which do you choose? I would like to be able to fly (who doesn’t want to fly?), and super strength.
15. What is a piece of advice, a saying, quote, or Bible verse that stays with you? A piece of advice that I have adopted as my personal motto: Don’t worry what other people think about you, as long as you are happy with yourself and happy with where you are going, that’s what matters.
For the Full Articles, please pick up the June 13th issue of The Mena Star
So last week I introduced the fact that I was going to use a few weeks’ worth of columns to put the art of applause under the microscope. Last week was more about how I thought the introduction of applause began, and this week I wanted to focus on the legendary concept of the “slow clap”.
I’m pretty sure by now we’re all familiar with the slow clap, and that it is most often used at a dramatic or powerful moment in a movie. The scene usually involves a crowd of people witnessing something heroic, the underdog getting their moment to shine, or that long-awaited kiss between two people that we’ve been rooting for over the past hour and a half of movie. Despite the size of the crowd, it’s usually completely silent, and the only thing that breaks the silence is the beginning of the slow clap.
The slow clap is just that…you hear one person slap their hands together, followed by a delayed second slapping of the hands, followed by a third delayed hand slap. It’s usually around this third delayed slapping of hands, that someone else takes the cue and begins their slow clapping, which prompts a third person, followed by a fourth and so on. The clapping starts slow, and the more people that join in, the faster it starts to become. As the entire crowd is now clapping, cheering begins and it simply becomes a magical moment. Jun 20, 2013, 09:45
