Just in: A first-place award for yours truly.
My week is considerably brighter now that I have received my plaque from the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors for first place in education reporting. I won the award for my story “Teacher Mentoring.”
Despite trouble with a story, today was just plain amazing!
First, I will be able to keep my job after July 31. My reporter position is funded through a two-year grant that will expire this August. I’m happy to say I’ll remain as a SDL reporter after the grant ends.
I’m thankful that my bosses like my work enough to keep me, and for a community that has been very vocal to my bosses that they want me to stay. Yay!
What could make my day even better? Well, my flight to Kona, Hawaii, is officially booked! I even got the roundtrip fare at $200 cheaper than I expected.
I will now be spending a full week in this paradise where I’ll have a private stretch of beach behind our townhouse. See the above picture!!
Have you been to Hawaii? If so, any suggestions of what to do?
One of the many reasons I love working at a rural newspaper is the various assignments you receive. Sure, there are several you might not want to do but there are more that you do want to cover. I absolutely love it when my job means heading out to a local park or refuge. For an ongoing project, I headed out to Arkansas Post where I was lucky enough to be the first visitor to spot the above bat. The bat’s called Arkansas Post’s visitor center home for more than a month now. I think it’s pretty cool.
However, it’s not the only wildlife I saw:
I caught myself singing out loud in a crowded auditorium this weekend when the Harlem Gospel Choir came to town.
The performance was amazing and was the perfect cap to a great, yet odd weekend that had me attending my very first turkey calling contest.
I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I definitely prefer duck calling contests to turkey calling contests.
First of all, it’s hard to watch a man act like a turkey (the head jerking, the odd walk, the rustling of leaves) and not laugh. Especially when the rest of the crowd is all serious acting.
I watched only a few contestants before heading outside to the 3D pop-up archery contest. I instantly felt like I was on steadier ground. I even met two guys from my hometown who are related to my cousin’s wife. Small world (OK, my hometown is only an hour-and-a-half away so it’s not much of a shocker).
Overall, it was an odd weekend and busy with a memorial for a former co-worker, local children’s events and a visit to a local wildlife management area.
I LOVED last night’s talent show at Holy Rosary Schools in Stuttgart. Had to share at least one of the performances I saw (my favorite), which is this little guy getting down.
http://ar-stuttgart.static.ghm.zope.net/resources/deep_dish/flash/flv_player.swf
It’s been gorgeous weather for the most part this week. The temperatures are in the 60s, the sun is shining and the first flowers are blooming. What’s not to love — well, excluding the mosquitoes now biting me?
Here’s 5 reasons this week was so interesting:
1. There’s storm chasers, then there’s us — damage chasers.
A severe thunderstorm passed through Arkansas County on Wednesday causing power outages to more than 1,000 people. There was not a lot of damage but there were a few accidents including a tractor trailer blown off the road. My co-worker and I teamed up (she drove since I hate to and I took pictures) to get damage pictures.
2. Salvaging airplanes
For work, I visited a local business on Tuesday to snap pictures of the last stage in their work. The company is a parts distribution company that dismantles commercial aircrafts at the end of their life cycle before repairing and reselling the parts. The stripped plane is then sold for recycling. On Tuesday, the recycling company was in town to tear the stripped plane into smaller pieces. Why is destruction so fascinating?
3. Watching the sun set.
4. Blooming flowers.
5. Photographing new birds.
Bonjour! I attended my very first meeting of the Arkansas County French Club. They had French wine, lots of finger food and free French lessons on basic phrases.
I have never attempted to learn the French language before. My past foreign language attempts have been in German and Spanish. I love the German language, which I think came from my fascination with my German heritage. Spanish was the only foreign language taught in my high school and two years worth was required for honor graduates.
I would still prefer to refresh my German and Spanish, but it was fun to learn some basic French phrases. Here’s the critical ones I remember.
Je m’appelle Sarah. My name is Sarah.
Comment vous appellez-vous? What is your name?
Je ne comprends pas. I don’t understand.
Parlez-vous anglais? Do you speak English?
I like barbecued raccoon meat.
I finally accepted this fact Saturday night after I tried “coon” for the second year in a roll at the 69th annual Gillett Coon Supper. Believe me, it’s words I never thought I would utter.
The Gillett Farmers and Businessmen’s Club hosts the coon supper as a fundraiser for college scholarship. It originally began after World War II as a way to raise money for athletics at Gillett School District but the focus shifted when the district was consolidated with the DeWitt School District.
It remains one of the most popular events in Arkansas County and is held each January. It also garners more than 600 attendees — pretty impressive for a community of only 691 residents. Continue reading “Sampling ‘coon’”
This six-minute video on some of the best TV news bloopers from 2011 had my newsroom filled with giggles after I found a Charles Apple post about it. I loved it so much I had to pass it on. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
We’ve had plenty of fog-covered mornings lately. Fog can be nerve-wracking, but it has its pluses. I love the little surprises you see when the fog lets up just at the right moments so you can see what its hiding, such as geese in the field you are passing.
The snow geese winter in the area and, lately, you can definitely tell when the noisy birds are flying by.
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
We preserve, conserve, and study the native plants of Arkansas
Our Nicaraguan Journey
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Think left & think right & think low & think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!" -Dr. Seuss
I previously worked as a news and sports photographer. Recently I have been enjoying wildlife photography. My approach toward bird photos is similar to sports photography. I attempt to capture mostly action and hopefully a unique perspective.
Urbanites in the woods, doing all our own stunts.
WILD IN FLORIDA: Exploring and Photographing Florida's Threatened Ecosystems, Wildlife, and More
by Jo Woolf
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Memos for Me 