LITTLE ROCK — TAKING NOTE:
Two Little Rock-based travel agents - a father and daughter - appear in Travel + Leisure magazine’s “A-List: The 121 Top Travel Agents” in the October issue.
Fred Poe of Poe Travel is touted for his “Insider Clout” in Turkey. “Poe’s reach in Turkey is evidenced by his many years on this list- and the full-service office he maintains in Istanbul - but his latest coup is beyond its borders: last year he secured visas for an entire group of rank-and-file (i.e., non-diplomatic corps) Americans to travel extensively throughout North Korea.”
Daughter Ellison gets a “New Favorite” nod for her work in India/Sri Lanka, where she plans trips to locales like Ulagalla Resort, “a 54-acre jungle retreat powered by solar panels and dotted with airy pavilions with plunge pools.”
LOCAL NEWS:
The October issue of the Atlantic Monthly has a touching feature on the ties that bind members of a National Guard unit from Paragould together against the backdrop of the war in Afghanistan, where they’re currently serving.
The feature, “All War is Local,” tells of lifelong connections between members of the 1037th Route Clearance Company, a National Guard unit from Paragould dubbed the War Pigs.
Among them are three sets of brothers, a father and son, many in-laws and endless personal connections closer than the proverbial six degrees.
To see the article online, go to http://tinyurl.com/ 2f9954z.
OFF THE WALL:
Change has come to Juanita’s Mexican Cafe and Bar, recently acquired by Jim O’Brien and Joe Cates, including the painting over of the longtime wall mural of blues musicians in the bar and live music area.
“That was from when this was a blues venue;
we offer more diverse music now,” says general manager James Snyder.
But there’ll be less of it.
“We’re not going to be doing music five nights a week anymore,” says Snyder. “ Instead, we’ll focus on larger, higher quality national acts.”
What will replace the wall mural? A screen for Razorbacks games and Pay-Per-View events.
JUST DUCKY:
Duck stamp collectors have deemed Arkansas’ 2009-2010 waterfowl hunting and conservation stamp their favorite out of 37 eligible entries.
A recent issue of Linn’s Stamp News reports the $7 resident and $20 nonresident Arkansas stamp featuring a pair of hooded mergansers took first place in both design and favorite-stamp categories of the society’s annual Duck Tracks duck stamp poll.
The worst design? North Dakota’s text stamp.
BUNNIES AND TALES: University of Arkansas graduate student Meaghan Mulholland won the 2010 Playboy College Fiction Contest. Her story, “Woman, Fire & the Sea,” appears in the October issue and lands her $3,000.
Paper Trails appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact Linda Caillouet at (501) 399-3636 or at lcaillouet@arkansasonline.com.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 09/22/2010