Another month in the rearview mirror, and our outlook is a bit better. Of course, we haven’t tamed the beast that is the novel coronavirus and though we’ve had an uptick in cases in Arkansas, we are trying to find our way.
Let’s talk about this great issue we have right here. Thanks to travel editor Joe David Rice, I’m planning a trip west — to Mena, the county seat in Polk County which has been dubbed, “the wettest dry county in Arkansas.” Me and my clan took a trip to Paris — the Arkansas one. I hope you enjoy reading about our adventure. Another town we explore is from writer Kenneth Heard. Do you know the significance of the tiny town of Piggot besides the Ernest Hemingway connection? It’s in this issue. And food is always a hot topic for us every month at AY About You. Dwain Hebda delves into the origins of salad. It will surprise you to know that the salad isn’t a 20th-century wonder when we were all trying to find our girlish figure. It’s much older than you might imagine.
Wanna help the state’s only zoo? Find out the opportunities you can participate in with Generation Zoo. With the challenges of a closed zoo behind us now (I hope), it’s time for you to participate. And wait until you read about the woman who shattered the glass ceiling for women executives as president of famed retailer Lord & Taylor. She was Arkansas’ Dorothy Shaver. You’ll love that piece.
This issue we also celebrate our finalists for AY’s Best of 2020. These are companies, both large and small, who were voted on by their peers and supporters to receive what we think is the state’s highest honor. I can’t wait until we open the ballots in August to see who won each category! I am really excited.
Drop me a line if we missed a city in the Natural State you want to see featured. Or a story we might have missed. We love the state, and we love covering the people, places and products that we have.
Heather Baker,
Publisher
hbaker@aymag.com
