April 1996

GRADUATE HELPS TO BRING DUNBAR HIGH'S GLORIOUS PAST TO LIFE Date: 04-07-96 Category: HIGH PROFILE Page: DLR4 CATHERINE G. BARNARD, Democrat-Gazette Feature Writer Alma Williams is making history these days. Forty-two years after graduating f om Little Rock's Dunbar High School, she and other graduates are reminiscing to bring alive a piece of Arkansas' past. For years, the story of secondary education for black Arkansans before desegregation has been overlooked -- often overshadowed by the crisis at Central High in 1957. Arkansans will soon be able to see the historical significance of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (grades 7-12) in a traveling exhibit of memorabilia collected by alumni and historians. Dunbar, now a junior high magnet school, was one of the South's top schools for blacks betweenl929 and 1955. Through the 11 chapters of the national Dunbar Alumni Association and the public history program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, this part of Arkansas' educational history will tour the state beginning this fall. The exhibit will include 100 oral histories, more than 300 photographs, and numerous materials f om Dunbar such as diplomas, play programs, graduation announcements, yearbooks and school newspapers. Williams has contributed her junior high and high school certificates and diploma, as well as her parents' certificates from junior high dating back to the 1930s. Alumni association members have donated half of the $100,000 needed to complete the traveling exhibit. Williams, chairman of the event, hopes to match those funds from money generated by "Men Who Cook for a Cause" April 19 at Robinson Center Exhibition Hall. Some 40 prominent Arkansans, including Rep. Jim Argue Jr., D-Little Rock, Sen. Bill Walker, D-Little Rock, and Jennings Osborne will prepare their favorite recipes for the benefit's guests. The evening's festivities will also include dancing to music by the Lorenzo Smith trio and a silent auction. Dr. John H. Lewis, first principal of Dunbar, will make a special appearance as portrayed by Curtis Tate, living history coordinator of the Arkansas Territorial Restoration. Tickets are $40 each or $75 per couple. A 1954 graduate employed in community relations at Entergy, Williams is delighted to add mementos f om her alma mater to the collection for the traveling exhibit. "I don't think there is any other project in this city or in this state that captures the accomplishments and history of blacks from Arkansas," says Williams. In the archives at UALR, she points out a photograph of a band competition scattered among the materials being collected for the exhibit. "We hosted and attended band festivals among black high schools from across the region," says Williams. "We traveled to Memphis and St. Louis for competitions that were very much like the All-State competitions today." Williams was a cheerleader, basketball player and honor student at Dunbar. She also traveled with the forensic team to Oklahoma for competitions. She believes Dunbar was "the ultimate school in the state for blacks" because of the quality of education offered. "Our teachers brought the world to us," says Williams. "They made it so vivid and taught us so much about what we couldn't see. All we wanted to do was go and see everything we had studied and had learned about. They taught us education was freedom. To be prepared to do something with your life. It was almost like a mandate. You went to college. During that segregated society, you knew it was not right or fair, you knew education was freedom, and you were going to make that mark and do that." She and many of her fellow Dunbar graduates went to college and became successful in fields such as education, law and medicine. "There is so much history in that school," says Williams. "So many accomplishments from the graduates. They're doing so much in their respective areas, as well as right here in this city. So that history needs to be captured." Williams fits the description of a successful Dunbar graduate. She has a degree in psychology from Talladega College in Alabama and a degree in law from the UALR School of Law. She taught elementary school in the Little Rock school system for 17 years, and she is now in her 1 7th year with Entergy. Her community involvement doesn't stop with her professional career. She is on the board of Ballet Arkansas, on the advisory council of the United Negro College Fund and the UALR College of Education, and former board chairman for Southwest Educational Development Lab. "I'm involved in so much," says Williams, "we laugh (at Entergy) and say, I don't know where the company ends and Alma begins', because I'm into everything. Those things I do enhance Entergy as well." Williams' drive for success might have been inspired by her experience at Dunbar, but success is not something she treasures just for herself. Her family has always been important, and she worked hard to be an inspiration and provide opportunities for her two children. "When my kids were growing up, we traveled extensively across the country," says Williams. "As teachers, my (former) husband and I would go to school during the summer to pick up graduate classes at different institutions to give the kids the opportunity to be exposed to different parts of the country. We would make it a complete vacation and take in all of the historical sights hoping it would make a lasting impression on them." Her son, Andre, is now a businessman in Boulder, Colo., and her daughter, Judy, is a veterinarian in Pasadena, Md., outside Baltimore. She talks about their educational and career achievements, and mentions her two "marvelous" grandsons, Kendall, 7, and Addison, 5, who live in Boulder. Williams is hopeful that the work on the history of her alma mater will be an inspiration to all of Arkansas' youth. "It's a fantastic story to be told," she says. "Black youngsters need to see that blacks have made contributions for many years. Those are the sorts of things that build up a role model. Despite the odds, there have been successes that have come about. They need to see history. It can be the motivation that they need to also move forward and be productive citizens."

OSBORNES ALTER FILINGS Date: 04-24-96 Category: BUSINESS Page: 1D JONATHAN WEIL, Democrat-Gazette Business Writer Four months after a U.S. bankruptcy judge ordered Jennings Osborne to disclose his company's finances, the Little Rock millionaire is continuing to guard the information from public view. Osborne, best-known for his Christmas-light displays, filed for bankruptcy after a fight with the Internal Revenue Service, which contends that he and his wife, Mitzi, owe at least $1.2 million in taxes. The Osbornes dispute that figure, saying they owe only $600,000. But rather than take the matter to tax court, the Osbornes filed last July for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which requires financial disclosure. The couple's bankruptcy proceedings now center on Jennings Osborne's Arkansas Research Medical Testing Center Inc., which conducts experimental drug studies for pharmaceutical companies and produces $170,500 in monthly income for the Osbornes, according to court records. Friday, the Osbornes filed an amended disclosure statement and an amended Chapter 11 reorganization plan with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James G. Mixon. Mixon ordered the revisions in December after complaints by an Osborne creditor, Fairfield Communities Inc., that earlier disclosures didn't reveal enough about the testing center's finances. The amended disclosure includes a one-page statement detailing the testing center's monthly cash flow. The filing contains no other financial statements for the center. While the new filings say creditors will be allowed to inspect the testing center's financial records, the filings themselves contain no new information about the company, whose shares the Osbornes say are worth $2.7 million. Attorneys for Fairfield say the disclosures are inadequate. "They were required to file certain corporate documents that describe financial information regarding the corporation. We do not believe that what they filed complies with the court order," said Brian Rosenthal, an attorney with the Rose Law Firm. Fairfield, a secured creditor, is a Little Rock-based vacation property company that sold the Osbornes the property where the testing center is headquartered. It says it is owed $864,664 on the Rebsamen Park Road building. Osborne has disputed the obligation, saying Fairfield charged usurious interest rates on the 1986 note used to finance the purchase. The Osbornes' attorney, James Dowden, said disclosure of the testing center's finances has been satisfactory. "The disclosures offer the most comprehensive assessment to date of the Osbornes' finances," Dowden said. "All those financial documents will be made available." In some respects, the Osbornes' new filings depart significantly from the couple's earlier reorganization plan. On the Fairfield claim, for instance, the Osbornes said they have escrowed more than $400,000 in case they're required to meet an $850,000 balloon payment in March 1997. The couple's earlier reorganization plan didn't mention any escrowed funds. The Osbornes also said they have escrowed more than $128,000 to satisfy debts owed to unsecured creditors, including the Little Rock law firm Friday, Eldredge & Clark, which is owed more than $47,000. Other parties owed money include the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, owed $207,996. The couple lists total assets of $ 11.6 million. Last week's filings also offer details into the Osbornes' lifestyle. The two said they spend $520 a month caring for guard dogs, and own $800,000 worth of jewelry and furs, among other things. Mixon will consider whether to approve the amended disclosure statement during a May 17 hearing.

SOCIAL EYES Date: 04-28-96 Category: HIGH PROFILE Page: 2D Phyllis D. Brandon Getting a tasty bit of history from men cooking for a cause Dunbar History Project Men who graduated from Dunbar High School, which was Little Rock's school for black students before desegregation in the late '50s, joined other supporters of the project to become celebrity cooks at "Men Who Cook for a Cause!" on April 19 at Robinson Center. While listening to music by the Lorenzo Smith Trio, the 200 guests feasted on a variety of foods ranging from Southern shrimp kebabs and stuffed manicotti to million-dollar pound cake. The evening also featured barbecue cooked and served by Jennings Osborne and his wife, Mitzi. Alma Williams was chairman for the evening, which raised money to benefit the National Dunbar History Project. A traveling exhibit giving the school's history will eventually be housed in a branch library, to be built at Wright Avenue and Chester Street. Among the cooks were Rep. Jim Argue, Charles Bolton, Richard Davis, Woody Crockett, the Rev. Dennis Edwards, James McCarther, Stephen Recken, Bobby Roberts, Larry Ross, Michael Lewis, R.S. McCullough, Sen. Bill Walker, Henry Warren, Sherman Tate, Dr. Alonzo Williams, Charles Donaldson, Ron Lanoue, the Rev. Hezekiah Stewart, Bill Worthen, Dr. Gary Nunn, Ronnie Nichols, Virgil Miller, Charles Stewart, Tracy Steele, Donnell James, Dr. Carl Johnson, Billy Lofton, Walter Lloyd, James Miller, Ron Sheffield, Curtis Sykes and Sidney Williams Jr. No need for mulligans with this group State Golf Association The Arkansas State Golf Association honored six Arkansas women and men who have made outstanding contributions to the game of golf and were named to the 1996 Hall of Fame at a reception and dinner April 20 at Pleasant Valley Country Club. The 1996 winners were Tommy Bolt of Cherokee Village; Alice Fryer and Charles Wade, both of Little Rock; Lou Miller of Hot Springs; and Ron Richard of Fort Smith. The late Ellis Bogan of Fayetteville was inducted posthumously. The evening, with 220 guests, included a chicken rousad dinner and featured KATV-TV's Paul Eells as master of ceremonies. Presenting the inductees were Jim Lindsey of Fayetteville, Jack Fleck of Magazine, Mickey Miller of Hot Springs, Wyn Norwood of Maumelle and Tracy Harris and Cary Collins, both of Little Rock. Among the special guests was Roger Harvey of Atlanta, southeastern regional manager of the United States Golf Association. Who would have thought they could sing! United Cerebral Palsy benefit Multitalented members of the media were stars April 20 at "There's No Business Like Show Business," a benefit for United Cerebral Palsy at North Oaks Events Center in North Little Rock. Those who watch the television news regularly would not suspect that Pamela Smith and Richelle Davis are also singers and Norris Deajon is a stand-up comedian, but they contributed to the evening's entertainment. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writer and cartoonist Ron Wolfe joined his wife, Jan, in her puppet show, while features writer and columnist Helaine Freeman also sang. Creel Morgan played the flute. David Higginbotham, Bob Boyd and Sissy Brown added their talents to the show that had Jim Porter as master of ceremonies. Brown ended the show with all singing "There's No Business Like Show Business." Music was by the Bob Boyd Trio. The 75 guests dined on chicken breasts sauteed in wine with a mushroom sauce, braised new potatoes, and amaretto and pecan caramel cheesecake. Tables were decorated with black top hats securing bobbing black, white and clear balloons. Among the UCP supporters were Wendy and Todd Hickingbotham, Judy and Pete Hornibrook, Annette and Franklin Shirrell, James McCloy, Vivian and Bill Maples, Ann and Hunter Gammill, Liz Rainwater, Denise Patton, Rosalie Shane, Dabbs Cavin, Meredith and Bill Whitmore and Gayle and Dennis Jungmeyer. Going for Baroque at governor's mansion Governor's Artist Series A harpsichord sat primly in the living room of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion April 18 for the first event in the 1996 season of the Governor's Artist Series hosted by the Governor's Mansion Association. Beth Gifford Fuller, a harpsichordist, and Rene Singleton, a Baroque soprano, who are both from Baton Rouge, La.,entertained the 70 people who had bought tickets for the series of four evenings at the mansion. On the spring evening, partygoers sipped glasses of wine or orange juice before a supper of lasagna, green vegetable salad, carrot sticks and radishes and cheese bread. The performances were followed by glasses of bubbly, coffee and chocolate cake. Money raised by the $200 tickets provides a fund to update and buy furnishings for the mansion. Among those enjoying the program were Frances and Sam Buchanan, Frances and Wayne Cranford, Carolyn and Louis Schauiele, Nan Brown and Chris Barrier, Martha and Sam Sowell, Randy Byars, Pat and Jim McClelland, Pat Torvestad, Sallie and Tom Overby, Bill Gaskin and daughter Ashley Rankin, Allen Smith, Ruth Emerson, Judy Grundiest, Kay Spencer, Kay and Bill Allen, Eva and Dr. Jim Pappas, Jeanine and Alan Rothman, Judy and Randy Wilbourn, Sally and Dr. Jon Bates, Donna McNair, Annette Connaway and Don Ryan, Ann Die of Conway, Adron and Ginger Crews and Dale and Lee Ronnel. Friends gather to gently dishonor his honor' COPE benefit An agency dedicated to eliminating poverty benefited almost $15,000 from a roast and toast of Mayor Jim Dailey held April 18 in the ballroom of the DoubleTree Hotel. The "evening to dishonor his honor" raised money for the Community Organization Poverty Elimination, which assists low-income individuals and families in Pulaski and Lonoke counties. Skip Rutherford was master of ceremonies for the evening, where gentle barbs flew back and forth among the participants, who included Monsignor Gaston Hebert explaining before the invocation that there were two priests in attendance because John Brummett was there -- and "it takes two priests to perform an exorcism." Roasters at a podium with a photo of Dailey and his wife with their quadruplet grandchildren were Brummett, Annie Abrams, Craig O'Neill and Monsignor George Tribou. Brummett said it was great to live in a city where you give veto power to a man who can't make a decision. Craig O'Neill, talking about Rutherford, after saying "you gotta' like a man whose name is a verb," played a tape of a telephone call to Dailey, where O'Neill portrayed a Japanese visitor to the city. Dailey, while friendly, suggested other alternatives to the man than coming to his offce. He also didn't catch, "Sake it to me." Enjoying laughs with Dailey were his wife, Patti, his mother Ellen Dailey, J.J. Lacey, Lou Caudell, Bob East, Gail and City Manager Charles Nickerson, Wendell Jones, Donna and Dr. Renie Bressinck, Kay and John Smith, Bruce Moore, Todd Larson, Jo and Presley Melton, Don Renshaw, Jesse Mason, Nancy and Steve Rousseau, Mayor Pat Hays of North Little Rock, Ruth and Rollie Remmel, Jim Johnson, Joan Adcock, Glenda Joyce, Henry Hodges, Suzanne Coulter, Paige Coulter, Jeff Sharp, Kathy and Ray Hightower, Stephanie and Hank Kelley, Laura and Mark Carter, Dr. Dean Kumpuris, Dr. Jim Flack, Virgil Miller, Barry Travis, Dr. Myer Titus, Jerry Sherman, David Sink, Hazel Fingers, Michael Mason, Delia Moore, Leta Anthony, Daryl Coker and Charles Stewart. Mickey, friends big part of party Centers benefit Guests who crashed the party took over the dance floor and were the hits of the evening as supporters of Centers for Youth and Families gathered April 19 at Next Level Events. Mickey and Minnie Mouse kicked up their heels to music by The Hole in the Wall Gang, while Goofy was surrounded by supporters. The Disney trio was in town to see their fans the next day at the 1996 Children's Festival at Park Plaza. While bidding in a silent auction on items ranging from a three-month membership in the Little Rock Athletic Club to a custom-made shirt from Tom James Co. and a $50 gift certificate from Shinn's Cleaners, the 175 guests sampled hors d'oeuvres including sevenlayer dip with homemade tortilla chips, hot crab and artichoke dip, barbecue meatballs and marinated chicken breasts. Event tickets were $35 each. Craig O'Neill was master of ceremonies for the evening where guests included Jane Hankins, Janet and Sam Alley, Maggie and Dick Dearnley, Lucy and Dorsey Jackson, Katherine and Jeff Johnson, Angie and Grant Colclasure, Mary Lou and Terry Rasco, Jan and Jim Gattis, Anna Kay Grace, Marie and Dillard Martin, Donna McNair, Teresa and Dr. Pat Osam and Tricia and Marty Rhodes. Center's supporters toast director with buffet Cooks Tour V Dr. Kent Westbrook, director of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, was the honoree April 19 at a cocktail buffet hosted by Betty Jo and Dr. Harry Ward and Jean and UA President Alan Sugg at the President's Home in the Cammack Woods on North University Avenue. The patrons' event, with its $60 tickets, preceded the April 21 Cooks Tour V of four homes on Canal Pointe. Money raised went to ACRC. Jonnie Westbrook joined her husband in greeting the guests, who also bid in a silent auction. Lou Ellen Treadway is president of ACRC Auxiliary, which has 430 members. Waiters passed among the crowd with trays offering ricotta and herb tarts, mixed-grill vegetarian boboli, pork loin kebabs with mustard glaze, goat cheese artichoke hearts and Parmesan tortilla rolls and chicken salad cream puffs. Spring-fresh azaleas and dogwood decorated the dining table, which offered fresh fruit salad, sausage mushroom phyllo crisps, chicken and pine nut empanandas, marinated Greek vegetable salad, Parker House rolls with peppered ham, St. Moritz dessert bars and walnut cappuccino bars. The food was prepared by Cafe St. Moritz. Among the 250 guests were Stephanie Simonton and Jerry Atchley, Kathy and Dr. Bart Barlogie, Ted Treadway, Ann Jansen and Dr. Ralph Broadwater, Saundra Chisam, Stuart and Jim Cobb, Robin and Gary Dean, Mary Kaye and Jim East, Mary Louise and Poindexter Fiser, Gwen and Dr. Jim Hardin, Helen and Fred Harrison, Julie and Bill Haught, Ginger and Dean Dodd Wilson, Sherry and Harrigan Wortsmith, Doll and Rex Wilkins, Bonnie and James Cone, Barbara and Pete Hoover, Drs. Laura and Steve Hutchins, Manjula and Dr. Sundar Jagannath, Janie and Chester Lowe, Pat and Jim McClelland, Nancy McKenzie, Ann Blair and Bert Parke, Evelyn and Ed Penick, Carol Ann and Ed Penick Jr., Mary Jane and Bob Robinson, Carolyn and Louis Schautele, Shirley and Sam Strauss, Karen and Dr. Jim Suen, Sandra and Dr. Bill Tranum and Mary Lynn and Bronson Van Wyck of Tuckerman.

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