A politician, a preacher and Vino’s back room

LITTLE ROCK — It sounds like the start of a well-worn joke: A congressman meets a Methodist minister in a beer hall. ... But that was the case with Vic Snyder and Betsy Singleton a decade ago at Vino’s.

“That’s where I met my wife,” Snyder confides. “Not everybody can say they met their Methodist minister wife in a beer hall. It was eight or nine years ago, back when they had the annual birthday tribute to Louis Jordan. It was on a Saturday afternoon and that’s where I met Betsy, in the back room of Vino’s. We talked for half an hourand she invited me to her church the next day.

“I had gotten to know Henry [Lee, Vino’s founder] in my days in the state Legislature, when he was one of the folks trying to expand the ability of microbrew operators to sell their beer to customers to take home. I rounded up some co-sponsors from Fayetteville and Fort Smith, one of whom was a Republican, Peggy Jeffries of Fort Smith, who asked if her name would help. Later, I’d tease her that there was a memorial plaque to her in Vino’s, thanking her.”