Summer is heating up and the best way to stay cool is to jump in the water! One of my favorite pastimes when the temperatures climb is spending the day in and around the pool. In an attempt to remain forever young, I slather myself with SPF, slap on a hat and sunglasses and head outside. I also love a good float session on a raft, the sillier and over the top the float, the better! When the evening comes, it’s time to enjoy a beverage and competitive game of tailgate golf.
How do you make the most of summer? By spending as much time as you can on a houseboat, of course! Texarkana residents Rebecca and Chad Shipp warmly welcomed us to take a look at their houseboat appropriately dubbed “Pirate Shipp,” at nearby DeGray Lake. … It is a beautiful 18’ x 91’, four-bedroom boat the Shipps bought in 2018. It is the second houseboat they have owned since starting this journey 14 years ago.
In the always true words of my good friend Ali Deal, “I thrive in the summertime.” … Summer is my jam. Summer is MY season. Summer is the feeling you get staring at a sunset while listening to the crickets chirp and watching the passing fireflies. I love nostalgically submerging myself back into my blissfully naive middle school days where I would run the streets on hot summer nights with my friends, then stay up with them until 4 am listening to our favorite summer songs playing on the tiny radio I had in my room.
When I was seven years old, my family went to meet the Roraback family to explore the possibility of Mrs. Roraback watching my sister and me while our parents were at work. They were a big family with four kids, and they lived on a lot of land with an assortment of animals. I remember that day because they had a daughter my age and I instantly connected with her. We have remained close throughout the years and Jessica (Roraback) Rich has become my lifelong friend. … During my first encounter with Jessica, she asked if I wanted to jump on her trampoline.
I remember walking the halls as an ambitious kid looking up to the seniors and thinking that it was a lifetime away that I would be in their shoes. They were so big, so grown, and so close to adulthood, yet young enough to be fun. I especially idolized the basketball players. All I wanted was to be like them one day. I started at Trinity Christian School in the fifth grade. Now eight years later, here I am, graduated and headed off to college. I sit here thinking about that scared little fifth grader who would have given anything just to be acknowledged by an upperclassman.
Some of the best things in life are free and they’re in Arkansas. The Natural State has unique locations that can be enjoyed for nothing but the time it takes to get there.
… • In the Ozarks, the Buffalo National River with its towering limestone bluffs is America’s first national river. Hiking trails traverse historic farmsteads, quiet stream valleys, wooded mountainsides, and offer bluff-top vistas.
Nicholas Watson, Valedictorian … Madison Jo Atchley, Salutatorian … … Riley Bennett … Kayla Bradford … Karli Bruce … Jaelyn Bunch … Evin Burton … Brayden Bushman … Vanarith K.
I’ve said many times before, “I am ‘just Nick.’” I’ve never been someone who went along with the crowd or looked for validation from people. I was given rules and expectations from my parents, and I was never given an option to not follow those rules or meet those expectations. It was just understood. I know that is difficult for some my age because peer pressure is real, and everyone wants to feel like they belong. My brain just wasn’t wired to care about fitting in, and I’m glad.
Kate Elizabeth Woodard … Jenna Alyse Woodard … Damon Rhett Young … Nathaniel Joseph Morriss … Jane Elizabeth Rounds … Nicolai Khalel Ang … Catherine Joanne Rounds … Evelyn Grace Patterson … Mary Grace Elizabeth McAfee … Charlotte Norma Jeanne Hueter
