The Arkansas Municipal League at its 89th Annual Convention, held June 14-16, honored the City of Mansfield with the Four-Star Municipality Award. The award is presented annually to municipalities that have demonstrated excellence in loss control as it relates to employee safety, wellness, vehicle safety and prevention of legal liability.
The League’s 89th Convention was a hybrid event held in person at the Little Rock Marriott and Statehouse Convention Center along with an option for members to attend virtually. It featured a variety of sessions focusing on current events and timely programming covering a variety of topics important to municipalities for an audience of about 1,000 city and town officials and personnel.
The Arkansas Municipal League is a service and advocacy organization for the municipalities of Arkansas. The League offers its programs and services to the 499 cities and towns in Arkansas and was created in 1934 to assist cities with information and representation in the public affairs of our state and nation. To find out more, visit arml.org.
Hello everyone! Summer is here. I love warm weather, even as a plus size gal, I love it. Just don’t ask me to go swimming. I don’t like water. I’ve told y’all before. I can barely take a bath. Just kidding, but I don’t like water. I can look at a picture of the ocean or large body of water and I start getting anxious. I wasn’t like this when I was younger. I’ve been to the ocean and been on a few boats, but as I’ve aged, I just have a fear of the water.
Now y’all may not know but I like to talk to people. Even people I don’t know. Jacob gets onto me for it all the time. He says, “mom people don’t want to talk to you.” I think they do want to talk to me. I can just strike up a conversation with just about anybody. I can talk to our waitresses and find out what they are going to college to be. I really like to talk to the people. I have to call for different situations at the bank. Like ordering checks, I always ask them what state they are in. I met a real nice younger guy from Pheonix, AZ and I asked him if he had been to the Grand Canyon. He told me he hadn’t, and I told him he needed to load up his family and go. It would be a great vacation for them.
Anyway, back to being plus size. I buy good snacks when I go shopping. Debs, pop, chips, etc. I was at CVs one day and I had a bag of chips, bag of frozen French fries and some pizza rolls. Some man that I didn’t even know says to me, “that’s too many carbs.” Do you think that set well with me? No, it did not. I wanted to say mind your own business, Mr. Fitness. I do talk to strangers, but I don’t tell them what to buy and what to eat and I don’t judge people by what they have in their cart. I know I buy a lot of junk food. He made me so mad. Glad I got that off my chest.
This week’s recipe is for an easy peanut butter cake. My friend Lisa Favela asked me to make for her son Travan and she said it was delicious. I tasted they icing and it was so good.
PEANUT BUTTER CAKE 1 Devi’s food cake mix 1 can creamy vanilla frosting 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 1/3 Reece’s pieces candy 1 cup Reece’s minis unwrapped and cut in half Bake according to the box directions. When cool, mix the icing and the peanut butter. I put the icing in the microwave for a few seconds so it would be a little warm and added the peanut butter and mixed well. It’s very creamy. Spread on top of the cooled cake. Top with Reese’s Pieces and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. I admit I did not measure, I just put how much I wanted on top. Enjoy it this easy cake.
If you’ve ever been involved in building a house — or even if you’ve just heard about it — you know that there’s a well-defined process to be followed. But here’s something to think about: Some of the same steps connected to constructing a home are the same as those needed to build an estate plan.
What are those steps? Here are some to consider:
• Get the right “builder.” Unless you’re an experienced do-it-yourselfer, you’ll probably have to hire someone to build a house for you. Of course, you’ll make your wishes known about what you want your house to look like, but you’ll be relying on the builder’s expertise. And the same is true with estate planning — you’ll want to share your goals and vision with a legal professional who’s experienced in creating comprehensive estate plans.
• Build a strong foundation. “Every house needs a strong foundation” isn’t just a metaphor — it’s true for every house that’s built. And when you create an estate plan, you also need a foundation that includes whatever basic elements are appropriate for your situation — a will, a living trust, power of attorney and so on.
• Make the necessary additions. Even if you’re pleased with your new house, you may eventually decide to make some changes, such as adding on a new bedroom or bathroom. And the structure of your estate plan may need to undergo some modifications, too. For example, if you drew up a will two decades ago, but haven’t looked at it since, it may be out of date — especially if you’ve experienced changes in your life, such as new children or a divorce and remarriage. That’s why it’s a good idea to review your estate plans at least every few years.
• Protect your investment. Of course, when you build a new house, you’ll have to insure it properly. And while there’s no actual “insurance policy” for an estate plan, you do have ways to protect it. For one thing, you need to make sure beneficiary designations on retirement plans, investment accounts, insurance policies and other assets are correct. These designations are powerful and can even supersede the instructions in your estate-planning documents. So, as mentioned, if you’ve had significant life changes involving your family, you need to ensure your beneficiary designations are updated if you want to protect how insurance proceeds, investments and other assets are distributed.
• Watch for mistakes. It’s unfortunate, but mistakes do happen in home construction. Water stains can indicate that water is seeping through cracks in the foundation. Or cracks in retaining walls and garage floors could be a sign that the concrete structures were installed improperly. Estate plans can also contain errors or bad choices. Some are inadvertent, such as failing to put intended assets into a trust, but others are done with the best of intentions, such as naming adult children as joint owners of your assets. Even if your children are quite responsible, this move could give their creditors access to your money. If you want your children to be able to step in as needed, you could find other methods, such as giving them power of attorney.
Following these “construction” techniques can help you create an estate plan that can last a lifetime — and beyond.
This article is provided by Jeffrey O’Neal, Financial Advisor Edward Jones 20 N Express St, Paris, AR 72855 479-963-1321 jeffrey.o’neal@edwardjones.com edwardjones.com/jeffrey-o’neal Edward Jones, Member SIPC
PARIS- For decades, the game of baseball has been associated as an iconic piece of the American past time. And along with another piece, the observance of the Independence Day Holiday on July 4, the game of baseball and the great American past time have shared monumental events over the years.
Last year, RNN Sports shared the July 4 story of Lou Gehrig who gave his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939. And in typical Fourth of July holiday style and culture, and as we all enjoy traditional family and recreational activities at this time each year, part of that culture to many includes flocking to the Major League ballparks around the country for an afternoon or evening of July 4 professional baseball. In 1939, the scene was in New York City where fans packed Yankee Stadium to say good-bye to Lou Gehrig. And 28 years earlier, it was Detroit where the Tigers were hosting the Chicago White Sox. The Tigers lineup included perhaps the greatest hitter of all time, Ty Cobb, who went into the game having hit safely in 40 consecutive games.
Detroit went into the doubleheader that day with the White Sox and held a half-game lead over the Philadelphia Athletics. Detroit’s lead had slipped from having lead Philadelphia at one point in the season by 9 1/2 games.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the White Sox’s Ed Walsh pitched a great game and led the White Sox to a 7-3 win over Detroit. The Chicago win dropped Detroit temporarily out of first place, and in doing so, the Tigers’ Ty Cobb failed to reach base, breaking his record-setting hit streak at 40 games.
Detroit defeated Chicago in the second game of the doubleheader, but the Philadelphia Athletics were in the process of sweeping New York on that day, and Detroit finished the day still in second place.
Cobb’s 40-game hitting streak was one of only six such hitting streaks to reach 40 games. At the time, the press seemed to pay more attention to Detroit’s fall to second place than they did the end of Cobb’s hitting streak. It was many years after the fact that Walsh’s pitching performance that ended Cobb’s streak seemed to receive its deserved attention.
RNN Sports Photo / Jim Best
The Fourth of July holiday is celebrated in every community across our nation and is symbolically important to all of us in our own ways. The holiday is often marked by fireworks displays, family reunions and other activities, and to some, a trip to the ballpark to catch a baseball game. Whatever it means to you and your family, we hope you will also take a moment to reflect on the founding of our great nation while also focusing on a renewed spirit of patriotism that is so needed today.
So, whatever you choose to do this year on July 4th, all of us at RNN Sports wish you a very happy and safe Independence Day holiday!
PARIS- The Paris Lady Eagles made a return trip to the 3A Region 1 Tournament in 2023, and second-year head coach Jonathan Vire will have his sights set on coaching the Lady Eagles back to postseason play in the 2023-24 season.
Jonathan Vire will enter his second season as head coach of the Lady Eagles (RNN Sports Photo / Jim Best)
RNN Sports visited practice last week where we found the Lady Eagles working hard during the summer workout. The 2023-24 season will be a season of change for Paris as they look to find ways to regain the lost point production that was lost at the end of last season with the graduation of Jayden Wells and Brailey Forst.
RNN Sports Photo / Jim Best
The team recently returned from Branson, Missouri where they had the opportunity to play some outstanding schools from both Arkansas and Missouri in a summer camp format. And after their return home, several members of the team were in attendance for a summer workout where Vire spent time teaching basic fundamentals to the young Lady Eagles.
RNN Sports Photos / Jim Best
Photos from last week’s practice are now available on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports. RNN Sports will visit the Lady Eagles again next month to check on the progress of the team’s summer development. And as the summer comes to an end, a few of the players will turn their collective attentions to volleyball season as that team prepares for its August 22 season opening match at Russellville.
RNN Sports will have more on the Lady Eagles basketball team in its October season preview. Until then, stay with RNN Sports for the best coverage in River Valley high school sports!
Vesta Methodist Church is excited for our new direction with the Global Methodist Church! As part of the Global Methodist Church, our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly. Our vision is to join God in a journey of bringing new life, reconciliation, and the presence of Christ to all people, and to helping each person reflect the character of Christ.
With this new season of ministry, we are elated to welcome our new pastor, Eric Marsh, and his family, effective July 1st, 2023. Eric and his wife, Shea, have been married for 13 years. They have 3 children: Cooper (9), Caroline (6), and Cal (9 months). Eric has been in church his entire life and is a 3rd generation Methodist on both sides of his family. He has a Bachelor’s degree in History Education from Arkansas Tech, a Master of Arts degree in Biblical Exposition from Liberty University, and he will graduate with a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary in December 2023. Eric has been an associate pastor at Heritage Global Methodist Church in Van Buren, AR for two years and has coached football and taught at Alma High School for ten years. When asked about the opportunity to serve alongside the congregation at Vesta, Eric said, “I believe that Jesus working in the local church is the hope of the world, and I cannot wait to hit the ground running!”
All are welcome to worship with Vesta Methodist Church on Sundays at 9 AM. Sunday School classes, for all ages, are held from 10:15 AM to 11 AM as well. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
PARIS- Any resident of Paris knows the legacy of the Richey family. Dr. Jason Richey is a family physician in Paris and sees virtually everyone in the community for their health care needs. His wife, Tracey, has long served as a member and as President of the Paris School Board. Their children, Anna, and Emily Richey Fields have followed in the family’s tradition of pursuing medicine and will become practicing physicians within the next few years. Her oldest sister, Emily, is starting her third year of medical school at the University of Arkansas School for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Anna Richey will be a senior this year at the University of Arkansas majoring in biology / pre-med.
And Maggie, the youngest of the Richey children, has chosen a similar, yet different path than her father and sisters. In fact, Maggie is approaching her life in her own way, and she is quite comfortable in doing so.
Maggie, a member of the Paris High School graduating class of 2023, plans to pursue dental school for a career. Unlike her family predecessors, Maggie has chosen a path other than medicine, but is uniquely hers and fits her long-term ambitions for both her professional career and her family plans.
So, as part of the on-going series of human interests stories in June that have focused on Paris High School’s most recent graduates, I asked Maggie and her mom for permission to sit down with her for an interview. They graciously accepted, and last week we sat down at a local restaurant to visit and record her comments.
In full disclosure, I am an only child, so I can’t speak from experience what it is like to have brothers and / or sisters, or, to be the youngest child in a family. But in my many conversations with others over the years who have had that experience, the thing that I hear the most often is that it can be hard being the youngest child. It can also be hard being the youngest child when your older brothers and / or sisters are high achieving. There is an implied pressure to compete or to “measure up” to your older siblings’ accomplishments.
But I must share very openly with our readers that my impression of Maggie is that she is very comfortable and at peace with her place in her loving family, and in her decisions for her own future, as well. In fact, after having had the opportunity to listen to her, I came away with even more respect for her than I have always had. She is making logical and mature decisions based upon what is important to her in life, and I know she will be very successful.
So, when the interview started, I had to get the big issue out and, on the table…I asked her why she has chosen dental school and how did she arrive at this as a career goal. It is certainly one thing to choose dental school, but with potentially three generations of physicians in your family, it takes confidence to stand up and say, “I want to do something different.”
When I asked Maggie these questions, she explained, “Honestly, I am not really sure. I shadowed a dentist last summer and I really just loved it. I’ve always loved the medical field, and I thought about being a physician also. But I found that I just loved the field of dentistry more. And also, when I thought about being a dentist, I wanted to be a mom. I felt like it is less schooling, and I could work less days per week. I just thought that it would better.”
The choice Maggie is making is all about balancing her life between a career that she would love and still having the ability to have her own family and be a good parent. I applaud her for this decision. In my opinion, this is a very mature and impressive decision for someone as young as she.
Maggie’s experience of shadowing a dentist last summer made a huge impression on her. In fact, she shared with me that it was along that time when she knew she wanted to become a dentist. Starting in August, Maggie will begin the first step when she moves to Fayetteville to begin her undergraduate college education at the University of Arkansas. After she completes a four-year bachelor’s degree program in biology, she will move on to dental school for another four years. By age 26, Maggie could have her dental license and be ready to begin her practice.
As part of her balanced life, Maggie is applying to the sororities on campus and hopes to participate in sorority rush when she arrives at Arkansas. Maggie will be the second sorority sister in her family; her sister Anna is in Kappa Kappa Gamma at Arkansas.
As a new Paris High School graduate, I asked her about how she feels looking back at her experiences in Paris and how that has prepared her to move forward into her college education. Maggie shared, “I wouldn’t say that I miss it (high school) I am just definitely ready to move on. I definitely appreciate it (high school experiences and education) …I feel like there are a lot of amazing memories with the other students in my Class. We just did a lot of things together; Powder Puff Football, so many get togethers, like prom. I know it will be a little scary when I go to Fayetteville because I won’t know anyone, but being in a sorority can help with that.”
Academically, Maggie finished high school with a 4.00 grade point average and as a honor graduate. She received the Governor’s Scholarship and a collection of smaller scholarships to help fund her way to the University of Arkansas.
Like a lot of her fellow classmates in her graduating class, Maggie maintained her high-grade point average while also participating in both athletics and other extracurricular activities. She played volleyball her freshman and sophomore years and was a cheerleader for four years. All activities that require significant time commitments and demand that the student-athlete be able to work long hours after practices, games, and while traveling to maintain a high grade point. With all of her activities, Maggie managed to finish with a perfect 4.00 grade point average.
Maggie Richey as a senior cheerleader in 2022-23 (RNN Sports Photo / Jim Best)
Maggie’s mom, Tracey, was a teacher in the Nettleton School District in Jonesboro from 1996-99 while her husband Jason was in residency at St. Bernard’s Hospital. In a personal point of irony, I was a superintendent in Jonesboro when the Richeys were also living and working in Jonesboro. Our paths never crossed, and we did not know each other at the time, but, once it again it shows that it is a small world after all. Tracey’s roots as a kindergarten teacher are perhaps a reason why she has dedicated her life to serving on the local board of education and looking out for the welfare of both students and teachers.
As soon as Dr. Richey completed his residency in the AHEC program in Northeast Arkansas, the family moved back home to Paris. And from that time, the couple has served the community in their own ways, and now their youngest child, Maggie, is about to start her journey. It is a little scary to her right now as it is with all of us who have moved from home to begin college. But in true Maggie fashion, she will adapt easily and will be very successful.
After four years at Arkansas to obtain a degree in biology, Maggie will move on to dental school. She shared with me that there are no dental schools located in the state of Arkansas, so she will be applying to a dental school that will be outside the state. Maggie explained, “There currently is not one (dental school) in Arkansas. But in 2024, they are building one in Little Rock, so, depending on how that goes, I will apply to that one. There are a few schools in places outside the state that give in-state tuition rates to Arkansas students. That would be Kansas City, Memphis, and I think Oklahoma City and maybe Texas.”
But Maggie’s plans don’t end here. She has thought ahead to how she would start her career as a dentist. “There are a few dental practices in the local area that help to pay off your loans from dental school. So, I could work at one of those practices after I finish school for five or so years until I payoff my loans. And then I would come back here (Paris) to practice.
So, life is a whirlwind to Maggie and her family as she relaxes for a short time this summer and looks ahead to the start of college in August. Once she moves to Fayetteville to start her pursuit of becoming a dentist, it will all move so quickly for her. “Right now it is kind of slow for me, because I’m not really doing anything, so, it hasn’t really hit me yet like it is really happening.”
Maggie has included community service in her high school experience which, in this writer’s opinion, only reinforces her desire to help others. She is a compassionate person and should make a terrific dentist!
RNN Sports would like to thank Maggie and her parents for helping to make arrangements for this interview. It was a pleasure to interview her and I came away very impressed with her. And I know the Logan County residents who read this story will be excited to learn of her desire to return to the area as a dentist, serving the residents of Paris and Logan County.
On behalf of all of us at RNN Sports, we wish Maggie the best of success in her pursuit of her dreams as a professional and in her personal life. Congratulations, and good luck this fall at the University of Arkansas!
FAYETTEVILLE – Razorback Soccer will return to action in August to kick off the 2023-24 athletic year.
The slate features a total of 17 regular season matches against nine 2022 NCAA Tournament teams, two College Cup teams, three Elite 8 teams, and three league champions. Of the 17 matches, nine and the two exhibitions will be played at Razorback Field.
“The schedule meets all of our objectives,” head coach Colby Hale said. “It prepares us for SEC play, and we get outside of our comfort zone, which gives us an opportunity to grow, and it sets us up for the postseason per the parameters they lay out. If you want to be a championship program, you have to play a top schedule, and this certainly seems to fit that.”
The Schedule
Date Day Opponent Site Time
Aug 7 Mon Kansas State (Exh.) Fayetteville, Ark. 1 PM
Aug 12 Sat SIUE (Exh.) Fayetteville, Ark. 6 PM
Aug 17 Thu Arkansas State Fayetteville, Ark. 6 PM
Aug 24 Thu Oregon Fayetteville, Ark. 6:30 PM
Aug 27 Sun Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. 7 PM
Aug 31 Thu Milwaukee Fayetteville, Ark. 6:30 PM
Sept 3 Sun North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. 1 PM
Sept 7 Thu Clemson Clemson, S.C. 6 PM
Sept 15 Fri Tennessee* Knoxville, Tenn. 6:30 PM
Sept 17 Sun Grand Canyon Fayetteville, Ark. 1 PM
Sept 21 Thu Alabama* Fayetteville, Ark. 6 PM
Sept 24 Sun Texas A&M* College Station, Texas 2 PM
Sept 29 Fri Missouri* Columbia, Mo. 6 PM
Oct 5 Thu Georgia* Fayetteville, Ark. 6 PM
Oct 8 Sun Auburn* Auburn, Ala. 2 PM
Oct 13 Fri Florida* Fayetteville, Ark. 6 PM
Oct 19 Thu LSU* Baton Rouge, La. 6:30 PM
Oct 22 Sun Ole Miss* Fayetteville, Ark. 1 PM
Oct 26 Thu Mississippi State* Fayetteville, Ark. 6:30 PM
*SEC Game
All times CT and are subject to change.
2023 Notes
Arkansas will begin the season at Razorback Field for just the second time since 2016.
The Hogs will face Milwaukee and Oregon for the first time in program history.
For the second year in a row, the Hogs will face the national runner-up. Last season it was BYU, this year it will be North Carolina.
The exhibition versus Kansas State will be the first match played on Razorback Field’s new pitch. From May to July, the field underwent subgrading, installation of a new drainage system, and new sod (Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass), which will be trucked in from the same farm as the grass in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas will face four non-conference Power 5 teams in 2023, the most since it faced four in 2014.
The Hogs will debut two new uniforms to be revealed later this summer.
The Razorbacks are returning 69% of their offense from last season.
The SEC Tournament will return to Pensacola, Florida for the second straight year. It will include the top 10 teams in the league and run from Oct. 29 to Nov. 5.
Clemson and North Carolina will make return trips to Fayetteville in 2024 as part of home-and-home series.
Television designations and promotions will be announced at a later date. Season tickets are currently available through the Razorback Ticket Center for adults ($25) and children ($15). All season ticket holders will receive a newly designed scarf with their purchase.
For more information on Arkansas Soccer, follow @RazorbackSoccer on Twitter.
Note to Our Readers:The previous story was sourced directly and in its entirety from the University of Arkansas Office of Communications, Fuller Birch.
It was mid-May and school was already out and a long summer-time vacation stretched before us. Time on our hands, a rural community filled with a host of kids my age, and plenty of things to keep me occupied. With warming weather, my thoughts were on the swimming holes just waiting for my visit. Our favorite spots featured descriptive names; the blue hole, half-bushel, and the bluff hole. The half-bushel was one of my favorites. Located on shoal creek, it featured a half-bushel basket sized hole located about twenty foot up on the surrounding bluff. Filled with cold spring water, one could dive from forty-foot outcropping into the azure blue water below. Bobbing from the top, you came up gasping and wondering how you ever got the courage to try that and declaring that you would attempt it again.
Thoughts of sleeping in, long hours of baseball games, playing board games, and visiting the libraries to collect and read Zane Grey westerns were quickly dispelled by my much more practical mother. First of all, we were not going to sit around and watch channel five T.V. all day. By the way, that was the only channel we received unless you turned the antenna, held your thumb in the air just right, and rotated your body 45 degrees. Even then, the picture resembled a Colorado snowstorm. We were certainly not watching those day time soaps. The Edge of Night, Days of our Life, and others were not appropriate for children of that time. At four o’clock, we might be rewarded by watching Laramie, The Big Valley, or Wyatt Earp.
As June and July arrived, the house was unbearably hot and the water cooler came on. Those operated in reverse of air conditioners and placed moisture into the house rather than removing the water. The outside box was filled with well water and a huge fan pulled up the moisture and blew it into the living room. Sometimes, dad placed fifty-pound blocks of ice in the water and we enjoyed the cool breeze for short periods. My grandparents moved their beds out onto the cooler screened in front porch and us kids sometimes slept on pallets on the back porch.
My mother’s practical solution to having five growing kids for the summer? “Get outside the house, find you something to do, and don’t come back in till dark!”
More often, she not only told us to get outside but had a list of things to do. Mowing the lawn with a push mower, picking and preparing snap beans, or going with my grandmother to pick blackberries. I loved being with my grandmother and I also liked the blackberry cobbler but I hated picking those berries. We usually left out early in the morning, long sleeved shirts, boots, and a hat and smelling of the bacon lard smeared around our wrist and ankles to keep off the chiggers and ticks. What insects it didn’t exclude from our bodies were washed off in an outside bathtub full of cold water and purex when we got home. Everything in those blackberry patches stung, bit, or had thorns. Birds liked the berries, snakes liked the birds, and sticking your hands into the brush pile would yield numerous scratches plus encounters with wasps, snakes, and on one occasion, a black bear. Valor gave way to discretion and we left the berry patch to the large intruder. We picked and deposited the berries in gallon lard buckets. My grandmother could pick gallons while I picked quarts. If we got more than she wanted to can, we sold them to neighbors for one dollar per gallon. That was a mornings work for me but it would buy me a pop kola, hamburger, chips, and an ice cream at Lila Needham’s grocery in Scranton. I would even have money left over.
Church was a constant in rural Arkansas and the center of community affairs. As if Wednesday, Saturday, and a two-service Sunday wasn’t enough, we added a weekly Bible School and a revival that might last a couple of weeks. With all of our chores, work, and church, we certainly had little “idle” time to get into trouble.
Statewide nonprofit Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce a new team member.
Christi Brown started June 5 as the Program Manager for ASPSF West Region, which covers Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Scott, and Sebastian counties. As Program Manager, Christi will oversee volunteers; deliver scholarships, workshops, and resources to single parent students; and conduct local fundraising activities within the six-county region.
ASPSF Volunteer Stacey Elizabeth Robertson (left) and ASPSF Program Manager Christi Brown represent the nonprofit at the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce 68th Annual Meeting and Business Expo on June 8 at Van Buren High School. (Photo courtesy Stacey Elizabeth Robertson)
“The chance to advocate for scholarship support for single parents is so exciting,” Christi said. “I am familiar with the extreme need in Arkansas and the importance of providing opportunities for success in higher education. I was a single mom for a time and struggled with the balance of work, school, and motherhood.”
Before coming to ASPSF, Christi was the Institutional Assistant/Scholarship Administrator at the Arkansas Tech University Foundation. She’s on the board of directors for the Johnson County Community Foundation and South Central Highland Cattle Association. She previously served as a board member for Helping Our Kids, Inc.
“I’m so excited to welcome Christi to the ASPSF family,” ASPSF Program Director LaCresha Newton said. “I know she’ll make a great addition to the team, helping low-income single parents transform their lives through higher education.”
Christi and her husband, Jeffery, live in Hartman and raise cattle. She has one daughter, Kaitlin, in college, and two spoiled bulldogs. Born and raised in Johnson County, Christi has always lived in Arkansas.
“Christi came in with energy, enthusiasm and great ideas!” said ASPSF Development Manager Abbie Taylor Cox, who is based in Fort Smith. “I can’t wait for her to get started!”
For more information about Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund — which has awarded more than $35 million in scholarships across the state to low-income single parents since 1990 — contact ASPSF Communications Director Jen Para at jpara@aspsf.org or 479-318-2885.
About Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund: For more than 30 years, Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund has worked to create stronger, more educated, and more self-sufficient families. Through scholarships and services, ASPSF opens doors for low-income single parents, helping them pursue education, secure employment, and transform the future for their families. With the help of volunteers and community support, ASPSF creates multigenerational change, transforming lives for both single parents and their children. For information about scholarships, volunteer opportunities, and ways to give, visit www.aspsf.org.
