For Valentine’s Day or any time, solutions for treating your sweetie are numerous in Faulkner County.
If it’s a dinner date you desire, Conway has plenty of restaurants with excellent food and atmosphere for a romantic evening, including Mike’s Place, Michelangelo’s, Oak Street Bistro, Fuji or Outback Steakhouse.

A friend of mine treks ten hours to visit her family during the summer while her husband is away on business. What makes the feat impressive is that she makes the trip with three boys and she’s pregnant!
My parents and brothers also live several hours away. I’ve made the nine hour trip to Indiana alone several times. I’ve driven alone east eight hundred plus miles to my brother’s in North Carolina. By “alone” I mean there was no other adult in the car, but there were eight helping hands anytime I needed assistance! Those helpers are now 10, 8, 4, and 3.

Four girls’ sports teams in Faulkner County won state championships during the 2009-10 school year. The coaches of those teams recently discussed what it took to get their teams to victory.

Greenbrier Softball

Brian Butler, coach of the Greenbrier girls’ softball team, said, “It’s obviously your dream to get to that game, and it’s the first time that Greenbrier has made it to the championship in softball. It was our fifth semifinals in the history of Greenbrier fast pitch softball. The other four times we lost to the team that eventually won. It was getting kind of old.”

As our discussion begins, it is clear we are each struggling to find a few positive phrases to share about the book. Oftentimes we open with general comments. We take turns sharing our opinions, both positive and negative (imagine kindergarteners sitting in a circle). This time, the positive comments were scarce.
“It wasn’t a horrible read,” begins the first clubber with a chuckle, “just not an enticing one.”
“I kept thinking of better ways to steer the story.”
“A few times I found myself questioning the conversations between characters. A lot of it seemed overly contrived.”

Bill and Martha Hegeman, fixtures in the community and in the St. Joseph parish, are serving as honorary chairs of the 98th annual St. Joseph School Bazaar.
The Hegemans went through school together at St. Joseph, graduated in 1953 and were married in 1954. They have been working at the bazaar together ever since. It is St. Joseph School’s largest fundraiser.
“It’s strictly a school event,” Bill Hegeman said. “All proceeds go 100 percent to the school. That money helps reduce tuition that the students have to pay.”

Ugh! A complex individual to say the least. Imagine a modern-day Maude: grumpy, opinionated and cantankerous. And yet there is a piece of her that is charming, witty, and dare I say loveable! Meet Mrs. Olive Kitteridge, the axis around whom the novel revolves. One would deduce since the novel is a Pulitzer Prize winner, it would be a no-brainer. Hands down, a fabulous read. Well, our club almost unanimously gave the book a hearty endorsement until I crashed the party ... “Olive” just drained the life out of me!

Downtown Conway has become the social center of town with year-round activities for the whole family, as well as plenty of shopping and dining.
“We’re looking forward to a big year this year,” said Kim Williams, director of the Conway Downtown Partnership. “Bring out the kids. Eat, dine, play. We’re going to have quite a few activities, so there’s something for everyone.”

“Small studies yet large generalizations” quipped one reader. “I found it interesting but maybe not completely factual” voiced another. “His methodology allowed for a tremendous amount of wiggle room.”

Ethereal, genuine, soulful, artistic: these words accurately describe the music of Ashley Sullivan, a local singing/songwriting ingénue. Her music embodies a modern day Janis Joplin and is reminiscent of Jewel, one of her influences. However, rather than her talent being the result of years of disciplined practice, Ashley didn’t pick up a guitar until she was 16 and didn’t start singing until 17. She is now 18 years old.

Three months into the new year and resolution makers are resolving not to participate in such trivial nonsense next year! By March, the newness has worn thin. What was once an exciting challenge is now a pain in the neck and encouraging texts from friends are few and far between!