Life in LA Today

"Older things are fascinating to me," Amy Staten McNeil told me when I asked how it came to be that we now have a museum in Magnolia. Amy is the brainchild behind the South Arkansas Heritage Museum, where she also serves as founder and chairman of the board. The museum was incorporated in 2016 as a non-profit corporation, but it didn't have a home until April 10, 2019 when the deed to the Henry Lo...

When David Beene was a young boy growing up in the country outside of Stamps and Buckner, Arkansas he used to have to walk to town down a dirt road.  Occasionally a car would come along, but they never stopped to offer him a ride. "The people who came by you would speed up and cover you in dirt," he said. "They knew where you were going!" He vowed at that point when he got older, he would get a jo...

Tucked away at the edge of Garland City in Miller County, Arkansas just out where the crop dusters operate and the tractors go back and forth, sits an antebellum gem known as the Wynward Hall Plantation. This historical house is occupied by one of L.A.s most prolific historians. Charles and Patsy Walthall call this  house with the long history home and enjoy talking about it.   I first met Charles...

I met his daughter before I ever met him. The little girl in the Central Baptist Church daycare with the bright eyes, big smile and outgoing personality led me to believe that this was a very special family. My thought was confirmed when I met the rest of the Martin family shortly after! Deputy Leroy  Martin became Sheriff Leroy Martin the first of this year and he's still growing into the role. B...

On this day of Holy Week, I thought it would be interesting to talk to someone who had actually visited the Holy Land. So I found someone who had been there six times! Rev. Danny Bullock, who currently serves as pastor of Antioch West Baptist Church, fulfilled a long-time desire of visiting the Holy Land, then had opportunity to return five more times with various groups. Visiting the actual area...

She may live in L.A. (Lower Arkansas) but her taste in cuisine is distilled from living in three different countries on two different continents, as well as coming from the South. Sharon  Ford loves to read, and one of the things she is passionate about reading is cookbooks. I told her I didn't think they had much plot or character development, but after more than 50 years of marriage to me, those...

Larry Price has handled more quarters in his career than anyone I have ever met. Owner and operator of Price Oil Company, Larry also built carwashes throughout our region. The King Kleen Carwash on East Main was famous in our family for another reason involving an ape. But for today's podcast, I asked Larry to recount the story that is pretty well known throughout L.A. as "The Monkey Had a Gun!" L...

For many people, the fear of losing control of their mental faculties as they grow older is a very real concern. We recently sat down with Dr. Jason Franks of Southern Medical Group for a discussion on maintaining good health even as we grow older. It's an issue he's passionate about and spends much time in research and thought. Dr. Franks outlined for us a number of risk factors that may contribu...

Most of the time when you have an appointment with your personal physician, it's because something is wrong with you or because it's time for an annual exam. But if you showed up at your doctor's office and he had all the time in the world just to visit with you, what could he share that might help you live a longer and healthier life? That's the approach that Dr. Jason Franks took recently when h...

If anyone were qualified to write the next history of Columbia County, it would be Mike Gee. Mike is historian for the South Arkansas Heritage Museum, administrator of the Columbia County, Arkansas History and Genealogies page on Facebook and a frequent contributor of thoughtful and in-depth research into all things historical for this area. So when Acclaim Press announced that it would be publish...

Mike Love of Magnolia, Arkansas was the drummer for a garage band in South Arkansas. The group started in high school, grew to become The Cut-ups. But when they played a gig down in Springhill, somebody suggested they let a local guy named Joe Stampley sing with them. From that fateful day on, they became Joe Stampley and The Uniques, and became one of the most popular bands to ever come out of th...

Elvin and Charolette Pool were looking for a house that might become home for them. Elvin owned a business interest in Camden, Charlotte had a gift for decorating. In addition to her gift as a decorator, Charolette loves collectible glassware and Elvin loves to see Charolette happy. So they were looking around Camden for a suitable house, one similar to one they had owned previously. They weren't...

Maybe you've heard the song by Tim McGraw,  Live Like you Were Dying . It's about a man who got the bad news that he didn't have much time left to live. As the song goes: I asked him "When it sank in that this might really be the real end how's it hit you when you get that kind of news? Man, what'd you do?" That's basically how today's podcast goes! Back in 2006, Rev. Elvis Griffin--pastor of Fait...

Chris Gilliam was a high school student visiting a university in Monticello, Arkansas back in 1978 when a chance encounter changed his life. He was watching a baseball game on campus as the UAM Boll Weevils played the Muleriders from Southern Arkansas University.  While he was watching the game, he was approached by a friendly guy by the name of Earl Miller. "Earl drove the bus for Southern Arkans...

The history of printing is a fascinating study, and it's just too bad we don't have time to deeply into the topic. Printing was first developed by the Chinese just after 1000 AD, but moveable type didn't come along until the 1200s. Western culture credits Gutenberg with developing the printing press around 1250 AD in Germany. Gutenberg's press used individual blocks of letters that were placed by...

As a little girl, Rebecca DeSoto Swofford dreamed of owning the Kate Turner House at 709 West Main Street in Magnolia, Arkansas.  One day many years later she drove by and saw a "For Sale" sign in the yard and the rest is history! The latest chapter in the history of this grand old house in Magnolia that is on the National Register of Historic Places. I recently sat down with Rebecca on a cold day...