WE’RE NUMBER ONE. Arkansas won a heart-stopper basketball game at Alabamamama, Saturday, but the Crimson Tide players clearly won the weird hairdo competition.
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THE GOOD EARTH. My late-blooming jonquils are about half-high, and some are evidencing the development of blooms on the tips of rising green blades. In the side yard the flowering quince has some scattered red blooms, although the plant itself doesn’t look so good. And, I swear, there’s a dogwood tree in the neighborhood that looks like it is putting out little bitty bloom greenery. It’s time, I suppose.
Neighbors are complaining about an invasive armadillo and I am unfortunately being blamed for its presence. Also, the armadillo is rightfully a topic for Animal Crackers.
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AN OBITUARY in the ‘Texarkana Gazette’ for Martin Joseph Filogamo. Me and my running buddies knew him as Marty Filogamo, a pitcher for the Hope semi-pro baseball team ‘back in the day.’ I cannot remember the name of the Hope team, but I do remember other teams that came to Wilson Park to play our hometown Cubs — the Mineral Springs Flyers (including the fabulous Bell brothers), Texarkana Bears, and Texarkana Phillips 66 Dusters. Anyone remember other teams, or the name of the Hope team?
Marty Filogamo was a well-regarded educator who later had a long career as headmaster at St. James Day School (Episcopal) in Texarkana.
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EARLY NEXT month the Arkansas Department of Heritage will announce the newest members elected to the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame.
Here are the nominated finalists, including the county or city of location:
Feltner’s Whatta-Burger, Russellville
Doe’s Eat Place, Little Rock
Kream Kastle, Blytheville
McClard’s Bar-B-Q, Hot Springs
Bruno’s Little Italy, Little Rock
White House Café, Camden
Ed Walker’s Drive-In, Fort Smith
Neal’s Café, Springdale
Dixie Pig, Blytheville
The Venesian Inn, Tontitown
DeVito’s, Eureka Springs
How many of them have you visited? I’ve been to just six of ‘em, and was never asked to leave. Nor could I tighten my belt a notch after a visit.
The inaugural winners of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame in 2017 included:
Jones BBQ, Lee County
Lassis Inn, Little Rock
Rhoda’s Famous Hot Tamales, Lake Village.
Somehow they all have survived without a visit from me. Actually, I’ve never heard of any of them. I don’t care if Rhoda says she’s famous, I’ve never heard of her or her tamales.
There is another category: ‘Gone But Not Forgotten,’ about great Arkansas eating places that no longer exist.
Pity that no one nominated Joda’s. I will next year. If I don’t forget.
The nominees in the ‘Gone’ category this year included:
Jacques and Suzanne, Little Rock
Klappenbach Bakery, Fordyce
Coy’s Steak House, Hot Springs
Cotham’s Mercantile, Scott
The secret for getting selected for any of the lists is to have a bunch of your friends nominate you and vote as often as possible.
A few I’d like to add to the nominations for the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame are Herman’s Rib House, Fayetteville; Juanita’s Candy Kitchen, Arkadelphia; Fat Jack’s Oyster Bar, Texarkana; annual Center Point VFD Chili and Soup Supper, and the Clow Alumni Wild Game Supper. Maybe others but I’m having a hard time thinking right now. Pardon my drool.
AN UPDATE. I am dropping Fat Jacks from my possible nomination list. Went there Saturday with a clear vision of an oyster po’ boy washed down by a chilled adult libation. I gave up and left after waiting 27 minutes for a waitress to take my order. There were two waitressesessesses and the joint wasn’t real, real busy at the time.
The waitressesesseses seemed to be in some sort of competition to see which one could ignore me the longest. It was a tie.
Also, and this is really mystifying, there was a modern day jukebox that played rap crap nonstop. Really? In Fat Jacks? Jack Mills is turning over in his grave. Of course, the rap stuff may have been someone’s idea of a practical joke.
And where is this Arkansas food hall, anyway?
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THINGS I LEARNED from opening email. A sign in the veterinarian’s waiting room said: “Be back in 5 minutes. Sit. Stay.”
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WORD GAMES. The twins: Down and Out. A tragic story.
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HE SAID: “God has given us two hands – one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing.” Billy Graham, evangelist
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SHE SAID: “I think my message to the politicians who have within their power the ability to make change is, ‘Do you really, really not care about the future of your great-grandchildren? Because if we let the world continue to be destroyed the way we are now, what’s the world going to be like for your great-grandchildren?’ Jane Goodall, anthropologist
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SWEET DREAMS, Baby
