December 1997

Date: 12/3/97 Category: News Page: B1 Arkansas Democrat-Gazatte/BENJAMIN KRAIN Crackle of Christmas downtown Daniel O'Day and his brother, James, watch fireworks glitter Tuesday night over Little Rock's Riverfront Park. The Jennings Osborne family lit up the park with holiday lights and sponsored the fireworks display to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season.

Osborne gifts shine all over Date: 12/5/97 Category: Features Page: W11 Jennings Osborne has a dream. "Someday I want to flip a switch and light up all of Arkansas," the Little Rock philanthropist says. Don't underestimate his luminous ambition. This year, Osborne has lent some 16 million lights to towns and cities throughout the state. He hopes to double that number next year. "We have found that Christmas lights, barbecue and fireworks are fantastic vehicles for happiness," he says with evident cheer. This holiday season, his bulbs will burn in Hot Springs, Benton, Magnet Cove, Warren, Monticello, Searcy, Sherwood, Helena, Melbourne, Pine Bluff, Fort Smith, Van Buren, Mena and Hamburg. In Little Rock, you can spot his handiwork at the state Capitol, the Ronald McDonald House, St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, the Little Rock Zoo and the River Market. "The River Market is our big, big thing this year," he says. "We're having over 350 figurines there, and we've also put up one of our Nativity scenes. It's really pretty." The display started shimmering Tuesday. Saturday evening, Osborne, along with his wife, Mitzi, and daughter, Breezy, welcome a real character to the state Capitol. Mickey Mouse arrives from Florida to flip the switch on the exceptional scene; the lighting ceremony is slated for around 5:45 p.m. (Mickey can also enjoy the Osborne lights in Orlando; the family has lent 4 million to Disney World.) If you pass the Osborne home on Cantrell Road, you'll see a lone weeping angel decorating one lawn. The figure serves as a solemn reminder of the court decision that compelled him to restrict the wattage on his property. "We'll have a wonderful Christmas, but it still saddens us that we can't have lights at our house," he explains. The melancholy quickly vanishes from his voice when he speaks about the dozens of displays he is helping create. "We love to do it and we never expect anything in return," he says. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world." -- Lisa Martin

Date: 12/5/97 Category: Features Page: W1 1 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/CHRIS JOHNSON Illuminated reindeer are part of the Christmas display at the Little Rock Zoo. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEPHEN THORNTON Jennings Osborne (left) listens to Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey during the recent ceremony to light the Christmas tree. Special to the Democrat-Gazette/A.C. HARALSON The heart of downtown Fayetteville will be glowing this Christmas season. Special to the Democrat-Gazette/A.C. HARALSON Colored Christmas trees will brighten up downtown Helena. Special to the Democrat-Gazette/A.C. HARALSON The set of The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs gets decorated for Christmas. Towns across the state are creating Christmas cheer with light displays. The lights in downtown Hot Springs will delight young and old alike.

All aglow Dazzling holiday light displays all across the state offer much to put holiday stars in the eyes of young and old alike. Date: 12/5/97 Category: Features Page: W10 LISA MARTIN SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE You have worn holes in your loafers from pacing the malls. The idea of wrapping three dozen presents truly fills you with terror. And if you see one more jolly Santa hawking batteries or bleach or beer on TV, you're going to hurl a tin of fruitcake at the screen. Breathe, then pour yourself some hot chocolate and plot an enchanting evening. From now until the end of the month, dozens of Arkansas cities and towns are hosting dazzling displays of Christmas lights. Even the hardest-hearted Scrooge will soften at the stunning sight of buildings aglow. It's an instant dose of holiday cheer, more potent than eggnog, more foolproof than mistletoe. In Little Rock, 350,000 lights from businessman Jennings Osborne will enliven the River Market through New Year's Eve. Look for the Nativity scene, as well as hundreds of glimmering holiday figures. For more enlightenment, call 375-2552. On Saturday the city's "Big Jingle Jubilee" includes a free 2 p.m. concert at Robinson Center, followed by a Christmas parade at 4. Around 5:45 is the Capitol grounds lighting ceremony. "The Capitol comes alive with people of all ages enjoying their building," says Secretary of State Sharon Priest. "The joy of watching the children's choirs sing and the awe on folks' faces fills me with the spirit I had as a child." Call 370-3229 or 682-1010. Travel a mile north of Interstate 30 on Otter Creek Road to see the subdivision's brilliant luminaria display from 7 to 10 p.m. on Dec. 13. Contact number is 455-2500. Lights twinkle at the Little Rock Zoo with help from Osborne. From 6 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 12-31 a hike through the grounds will reveal towering displays of animals, storybook characters and wintry scenes. Call 666-2287. Elsewhere in Pulaski County, the lighting of the Jacksonville holiday display follows a 1 p.m. Christmas parade on Saturday. Call 982-1511. Osborne lights also adorn the city of Hot Springs. On Dec. 17, 135,000 lights will become giant animated Christmas trees in Arlington Park on Central Avenue. Call (501) 624-5333. Shimmering strands also deck St. Joseph's Catholic Church, the Hot Springs Civic Center and the Bill Clinton Cultural Center. More than 70,000 luminarias will glow on streets and sidewalks in the Spa City's downtown historic district Dec. 9-10. Call (501) 321-8028 or (501) 321-2277. To the southeast, Pine Bluff radiates holiday cheer, courtesy of 3 million lights on the Jefferson County Courthouse, the Convention Center and Main Street. This year, a drive through animated display, "Enchanted Land of Lights and Legends," will lure visitors to Jefferson Regional Park. Look for reindeer, a toy factory and an animated steamboat. Call (800) 536-7660, ext. 2147. The center of DeWitt is ablaze in bulbs. A million lights make the fourth annual "Christmas on the Square" brilliant and breathtaking. Call (870) 946-3520. The Osbornes also help Warren and Monticello shine this season. Around 200,000 lights decorate the Bradley County Courthouse Square. Only in Warren will you spy the "Tomato Man," a glowing figure that honors the tomato capital of Arkansas. Call (870) 226-5225. Back in central Arkansas, more than 1 million lights will transform Conway into a winter wonderland, starting Saturday. "You cannot drive through it without a sparkle in your eye because it's just magnificent," says Janiece Driscoll of the Conway Chamber of Commerce. Sparkling snowflakes guide visitors from Interstate 40 to the city's center. "In downtown, almost every single building and business is lighted up," Driscoll says. "And this year we have a suspended skyline of snowflakes over Oak Street." Call (501) 327-7788. Stray eastward from Conway for the splendid Searcy lighting fest. More than a million bulbs beautify Berryhill Park and the courthouse square. Like the Ashdown/Little River County area near Texarkana, Searcy has won the Henry Award from the Arkansas tourism industry for its suburb holiday lights. Call (501) 268-2458. Or head on up I-40 to the Pig Trail and on to the spectacular "Lights of the Ozarks Festival" in Fayetteville. The city's square is strung with some 3 million white lights. You can literally see the glow from miles away. Call (800) 766-4626. Elsewhere in Northwest Arkansas, Eureka Springs "tends to look like a fantasy village everywhere," says Sheri White of that city's Chamber of Commerce. "It's like a fairy-tale city at Christmas." Downtown homes, old Victorian hotels and other businesses are trimmed with vibrant lights the entire month of December. Consider driving east on U.S. 62 for "A Sacred Journey in Lights," on the grounds of the Great Passion Play. You'll see 8-foot angels, immense candles and 12 biblical scenes. Call (501) 253-8737. In Springdale, Bentonville, Siloam Springs, Fort Smith and Van Buren, downtown buildings gleam for the season. And in Harrison, you'll encounter the "City of Lights Festival," complete with more than a million lights. Call (800) 880-6265. Proceed east for a 40-mile loop between Bull Shoals, Flippin, Cotter, Gassville, Midway and Lakeview. Arkansas 178 and 126, and U.S. 62, 62B prove to be perfect vantage points to enjoy the vivid view. Call (870) 453-8480. While you're close, check out the bedecked Baxter County Courthouse in Mountain Home. Call (800) 822- 3536. In the northeast, experience the fourth annual "Lights on the Ridge" festival in Jonesboro, featuring a million Christmas lights illuminating the city. Call (870) 932-6691. Proceeding down the state's eastern side, some 100,000 lights line Helena's historic Cherry Street, thanks to Osborne. Call (870) 338-9831. Farther south, participants in Crossett's Christmas Parade start marching at 2 p.m. Sunday. The "Festival of Lights" also includes the lighting of luminaria and a monumental Christmas tree. Call (870) 364-6591. Westward from Crossett, 12 miles of lights dot the landscape in Magnolia. The Columbia County Courthouse and its grounds twinkle until the first of the year. Call (800) 482-3330. The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism says most of the communities let the lights burn from 5 to 10 nightly until Dec. 29. The Parks and Tourism people have compiled a color brochure, complete with a map, which lists more than 50 glittering venues. Call (800) 628-8725 or download the information at www. l 800natural.com The pamphlet proves positively that in Arkansas, there's more twinkling than just Santa's eyes.

Date: 12/7/97 Category: Sports Page: C1 1 Another turnaround for Lunney boys • The last time Barry Lunney Jr. was at War Memorial Stadium, he helped a team go from the worst in the SEC Western Division in 1994, to first in 1995. Saturday night, Lunney, now a Fort Smith Southside volunteer assistant, did the same thing for his alma mater. Lunney helped call plays for the Rebels in their 38-10 Class AAAA state championship victory over Cabot. This time it was his younger brother, Daniel, quarterbacking a team that finished last in the AAAA-West conference a year ago. "Little Rock's been good to us recently, especially for Southside and my dad [Coach Barry Lunney Sr.]," Barry Lunney said. "It's always special to win here, and it always will be. I have good memories from the last time I was here, but I'm really glad for my dad. "I don't get paid, but I feel like a full-time coach and it's just nice to continue to have success here." Southside was 1 -9 in 1996. Barry Jr. was quarterback at the University of Arkansas when they finished last in the SEC West in 1994 and rebounded to reach the SEC Championship Game in 1995. -- Jeffrey Wood Show me the Lunney; Rebs QB ends big season • Fort Smith Southside junior Daniel Lunney completed the best season a quarterback has had in AAAA-West history with a 213-yard, four-touchdown passing performance Saturday. Lunney, who was 25 of 34 in the Rebels' 38-10 Class AAAA state championship victory over Cabot, set conference records in four passing categories. He finished with 3,555 yards, 279 completions, 413 attempts and 37 touchdowns. -- Jeffrey Wood Finally, fireworks go off at stadium • Minutes after Southside's victory Saturday, the sky outside the southeast end zone exploded with fireworks. But it wasn't Jennings Osborne lighting the fuses. It was the Fort Smith Southside Rebels booster club. Osborne, a prominent Little Rock resident known for his Christmas displays, helped set up fireworks for Razorbacks games this year, but they were rarely fired during the Razorbacks' 4-7 season. -- Jeffrey Wood Southside receiver sets single-season record • Fort Smith Southside senior Terry Moss set a state single-season reception record with 6:53 remaining in the first quarter. Moss, a member Fort Smith Northside's 1996 Class AAAA runner-up team, broke the record with his 91 st reception, taking a short pass from Daniel Lunney 17 yards to the Cabot 3. Greg Washington of Nashville held the record of 90 catches, set last fall. Earlier, Moss had receptions of 8 and 7 yards from Lunney. Two plays following his record-setting reception, Moss caught a 2-yard touchdown pass. Moss finished with 9 receptions for 83 yards and 3 touchdowns. Moss came into the game with 88 receptions for 1,337 yards and 12 touchdowns. -- Robert Yates Tolbert Trust Fund receives $5,000 donation • Knight's Super Food grocery stores in Jacksonville, Cabot and Beebe presented a $5,000 check to the Kenyana Tolbert Trust Fund before the game. The check was presented to North Little Rock Athletic Director Gary Goss on behalf of Jacksonville, Cabot and Beebe high schools. Tolbert, a senior wide receiver-free safety from North Little Rock, remains paralyzed from the neck down after fracturing and dislocating two cervical vertebrae in a game Nov. 7. He is undergoing rehabilitation at Baylor Rehabilitation Institute in Dallas. -- Robert Yates For the record, West still the best • The West is still best. Since Class AAAAA and Class AAAA merged after the 1982 season, AAAA-West schools have made War Memorial Stadium an annual stop. Fort Smith Southside's appearance in Saturday's final marked the 16th time a AAAA-West team has advanced to the championship game. Previous AAAA-West champions were Southside in 1992, 1991, 1988 and 1983. Fort Smith Northside won the title in 1987. Van Buren and Springdale won in 1996 and 1989, respectively. -- Robert Yates Odds & ends • Fort Smith Southside's victory was a record fifth in the final since Class AAAAA and Class AAAA merged following the 1982 season. The Rebels won the title in 1991, 1991, 1988 and 1983. Pine Bluff has four championships -- 1995, 1994, 1993 and 1990.... Cabot's appearance in the final was the first for a AAAA-East team since 1984. That year, Little Rock Catholic beat West Memphis 41-12.

Precious pot paintings profitable for charities Date: 12/14/97 Category: Features Page: D1 BY KIMBERLY GILLESPIE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Alice Cockrill Allred's house has "Gone to Pot." It's where, in a corner of her kitchen, she sits and gives faces to ordinary clay pots. She names them, sells them and plants the profits squarely in her pocket -- and in the coffers of local charities. Her husband, Dr. Louie Allred, built shelves there so she could move her supplies off the family's dining table. She paints "like a little demon" almost every night when she gets home from her job as a travel consultant with Russ Travel Services/Carlson Wagonlit Travel. "I have a hectic job, but I get home, change clothes and just start painting," she says. Her clay pot enterprise grew from something she saw in a store long ago. "There were some pots with clowns or something painted on them," she recalls. "I thought those are cute, but you could do a lot more with them. I'm always doing that. I get ideas for all kinds of things and just expand on them." She has donated part of her "White Trash" collection -- otherwise known as the "Tacky Lady" ensemble including "Mildred," "Nadeen" and "Thelma Lou" -- to an auction benefiting the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Race for the Cure also sold to the highest bidder one of her Laugh O' Lanterns, Allred's longer-lasting, jollier version of the classic jack o' lantern. Centers for Youth and Families auctioned off clay likenesses of President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. A pot painted to look like Jennings Osborne fetched funds for the Ryan White Centers. And Holiday House received a classic Santa Claus. "I'm pressed for time, and I want to give back," she says. "If I can do this, I'm happy to do it. I'll stay up until 3 in the morning if I'm going to do this for charity." She stays up until 3 a.m. a lot. "I get started and I just don't want to stop. It's my therapy. I don't need to go talk to anyone -- I just paint," Allred says. "It's cheaper than therapy. And I don't need much sleep I take lots of vitamins." Several specialty stores around Little Rock sell her work, but she refuses to go to craft shows or market indiscriminately. "If I go to craft shows, I can sell more, but I want it to be art," she says. "I want it to be more exclusive than that. These are all hand-painted and they're all different." Genetics, she claims, are the root of her success. "A lot of my family is artistic. Some of them paint, some draw. My cousin, Mary Cockrill, sculpts. I've always liked drawing faces," Allred says. "I like doing those better than anything else. I remember drawing faces when I was in sixth grade and pasting them on my mother's good wallpaper. I don't remember what she did, but I'm sure I got in a lot of trouble." Her son is a chip off the old clay block, she says. Lander, 14, "can already draw as well as I can." He helps her, and comes up with his own designs as well. He painted an Indian motif on a pot, and filled it with sand to hold incense. Since she started "Gone to Pot," requests have come in from people wanting various celebrities -- including Elvis and Marilyn Monroe -- and Allred readily supplies her public with holiday characters like Easter bunnies and leprechauns. A number of functional ideas for her product have come in, too, she says. Businesses have asked her to custom-design pots that fit their decor for such things as holding sugar packets and candles. Her pots can be used to store pens and pencils, hair and skin care products and, of course, house plants. Her husband, appropriately, keeps the pots in his dental office filled with candy. "They're all treated so it's OK for them to get wet," she says. "One lady even told me she put a plastic liner in it and used it as an ice bucket for wine." Pots aren't the only things she'll paint -- she's done wine glasses, jars and bottles under the name "MAC Made Products." Two of her pots are displayed in the Clinton's private solarium at the White House, according to Allred. "I painted Bill with a beard and a Santa hat and coat and Hillary is wearing fur," she says. "My friend Robyn cq Dickey took them to the Clintons in Washington, and she said Hillary just howled. She says they're displayed in the solarium and that's a pretty big deal because Hillary gets lots of stuff and most of it goes in the basement." Right now, she is busily finishing up Christmas orders, most of which are Santas and angels. "I did a Mrs. Claus last year, but I didn't like her so I'm not doing her anymore," she explains. Although Allred paints pots year round, "I think people really go whole hog with Christmas." Louie Allred says she has to be done by Dec. 21 so the family can enjoy the holidays sans paints, brushes and a preoccupied wife and mother. "I guess I'll try, but it probably won't happen," she says. "I just have to keep painting." Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MARK WILSON Alice Cockrill Allred gives character to clay pots, painting them with the faces of celebrities and holiday icons. Santas and angels are the most popular subjects these days. Her work can be found in various specialty stores around Little Rock. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MARK WILSON Tacky Ladies! Alice Cockrill Allred didn't model her White Trash clay pot collection after herself. She paints these and various celebrity and holiday characters under the name "Gone to Pot."

Mother's love doesn't flinch in face of tragedy Date: 12/17/97 Category: Sports Page: C6 Wally Hall Like it is DALLAS -- Kenyana Tolbert is sitting in a wheelchair awaiting of his first interview since a tackle in a high school football game left him paralyzed from the neck down. He is not sitting up under his own power. But he still looks like the 6-foot-3 multitalented jock. Except that a tube has been surgically inserted into his throat and it pumps life-sustaining air into his lungs. He speaks in short, labored whispers, and not many of them. Most of the time that's not important to his mom. After 18 years she can read his large, expressive eyes. Eyes that seldom leave his mom. She has become more than a loving, nurturing mom to him. She is his hero. When Kenyana suddenly frowns, his mother slips in beside him and asks, "Dizzy?" He nods yes and she gently turns the chair until the back is near the bed. Then she sits and leans the chair back until his head is almost in her lap. She doesn't call for help, choosing to hold the heavy chair with her arms until he gives a small nod. It is what moms do. It is what she is about. Loving and caring for her five sons. Kenyana leaves no doubt that the early progress he has made at Baylor Rehabilitation Center -- he has developed his neck muscles enough to shrug each shoulder, one at time -comes from the work ethic he learned from his mom. Amanda Gupton's untold story of heroics began the day her first son, Kenyana Tolbert, came into this world. It is a saga of bravery, strength and determination. It is about a 1 5-year-old mother wrapping her arms around her baby and never letting go. When the father, Donald Tolbert, who was a star quarterback on Oak Grove's 1979 state championship team, refused to believe Kenyana was his for the first six years, she didn't care. Years later, when a more mature Tolbert came back into the picture wanting to know his son, she encouraged Kenyana to be around the father he had always been curious about. As far as she was concerned, it could only help. But when he was in the eighth grade and the Tolberts asked for custody, it wasn't open for discussion. No, she said. By then she was full speed into bringing up her children with a strong value system: respect people and property, go to church and don't expect anyone to give you something for nothing. She doesn't go into it, but she couldn't stand the thought of raising a welfare family. So she didn't. When a marriage ended in divorce -- she had four more "blessings," as she calls all of her sons -- she went from working one full-time job, to working weekends too. If her boys needed something, she would provide it. Amanda doesn't consider herself a story, let alone a hero. But since the football injury on Nov. 7 that left her 6-3 oldest baby paralyzed from the neck down, her motherly love has had the beat of a warrior's heart, too. With a calm that could only be described as incredible considering the crisis, Amanda didn't leave the hospital except to run to their apartment -- which she gave up when she moved to Dallas -- the first week except to bathe and change clothes. Now, in Dallas she has added a few hours for sleeping. She takes all her meals beside her son. Today, like every other day, she will wake up at 6:00 a.m., in the Ronald McDonald house almost 20 miles away so she can be in the rehab-center room in time to help feed and then clean him. She will stay until he is asleep. Sunday night that was 12:30, because he was still excited by the four-hour visit from his teammates from the AAU Wings, a trip arranged by Elbert Crawford. The first day they were in Dallas, Kenyana asked her to be there and there were no other considerations. She's been in Dallas a little more than three weeks and her knowledge of this city is two exits, the hospital's and the one that leads to the room where she stays for $1 a night. The only restaurant she knows is McDonald's across the street, where she goes to get her son the junk food he loves as a substitute for the hospital food he hates. Amanda doesn't want to talk about what she is or isn't doing. She is embarrassed to admit that a few days after she got here she went broke. The free shuttle from the Ronald McDonald House left too late and returned too early for Kenyana's needs. So she started taking taxis and it wasn't long until the little money she had was gone. A lifelong friend, Margo Tenner in North Little Rock, made arrangements for a rental car, but now paying for it is another worry Amanda has. She keeps her worries and concerns to herself. Every word is about Kenyana and the power of prayer. She hasn't asked for money from the Trust Fund because she's never asked anyone for a penny in her life. She's willing to do without so Kenyana won't have to. Right down to his basic needs. "There are two extremes when it comes to parents here," said Kenyana's nurse. "One doesn't want to touch them and the other is the one who says, Show me how to do that, I need to know. Amanda set a new standard for the second one. Since the day they got here, no one bathes her son but her and she's the one who exercises his legs and arms every few hours." Since the accident, Amanda has ignored the dozens of requests for interviews from the media, even putting Kenyana on a "no information," status. "I didn't want or need attention and Yana [her pet name for him] doesn't want anyone feeling sorry for him," she says. Amanda became so consumed with caring for him she didn't realize she was being ignored. When a North Little Rock High official came to visit he never said a word to her, and with her standing there, asked Kenyana, who could barely talk, if he needed anything. "That hurt me and made me wonder why he would ask Kenyana that with me standing there," she said. "No one in this world knows more about what he needs than his mama. I'm the one who is there every minute of every day. He didn't need anything, but he should have asked me." Which is true, and the offcial did apologize. Amanda and "Yana," are very close. When she moves around the four-bed hospital room she is careful to not go too far without telling him. It wasn't until after the silent auction fund-raiser for Kenyana that Amanda got angry. No one called to tell her it was a success, raising almost $70,000. Kenyana didn't know until Monday of this week, and he smiled when he heard. He smiled bigger when he heard that more than 1,200 people came. People have been there for him because he is a good person, not because he has been a good athlete. "I am what I am because of her," he says in a raspy whisper. "I've lived every day of my life with her and I'm going to when I leave here." As angry and hurt as Amanda was, she still only asked sister Tonya why she might be left out of the loop of information. Tonya, who opened her home to the brothers the night of the accident and will "forever if that's how long Amanda needs to be there," has been puzzled, too. Amanda has been consumed with caring for Kenyana. She is worried someone will think she cares about the insurance or trust fund money. "All I want is for my son to get well, nothing more, nothing less," she says. Everyone who knows Amanda knows she has far too much pride to take anything she didn't earn. As a single parent raising five boys, she has worked two full-time jobs as a certified nurse's assistant at St. Vincent's and West Lake Living Center. It has been hard, but for her, there was always the lesson she wanted her sons to learn. "I didn't want my boys raised on welfare," she says. "I've never got a penny from welfare. I earned what it took to take care of my family by working." After the auction, though, she couldn't bite her lip anymore when she learned there was a rumor that Kenyana had been living with his dad. "Kenyana has never lived with anyone but me," she says as Kenyana nods in agreement. "I don't know how it happened, but after all his years in school, this year his address got changed at the school to his dad's, and because of that Kenyana almost had to transfer to Oak Grove. "He went home and got the light bill to show them where he lived." Amanda Gupton and Donald Tolbert are basically strangers existing in a world with one common bond, their son. Both are in Dallas. Tolbert and his wife were placed in an apartment two blocks from the hospital because his insurance would pay the $10 per night. He was in Little Rock Monday attending a funeral. Amanda wasn't told about the apartments because her insurance didn't cover housing. "I'm not complaining, I wish I was closer, but I really appreciate the Ronald McDonald house," she says. "I don't know what I would have done without them." Amanda is not a complainer. She is an intensely private person who never thought about the things she missed as a teenage mother. After Kenyana was born she went back to high school, hurried home to care for her son and after graduation went into training to be a nurse's assistant. Kenyana's second-grade teacher, Karla Hilburn, was impressed with her 10 years ago. "We would have parent-teacher consultations and I might have three parents show up out of the whole class, but Amanda was always there," Hilburn says. "I'm sure now she had to take off work to be there, but she never missed any school function that involved Kenyana." On this Monday Amanda has to meet with the social worker assigned to Kenyana. It will be the first time she has been given any details about the insurance. For now her insurance is paying the hospital bills, which are running more than $2,000 a day. Then Donald's will kick in. Eventually the policy from the Arkansas Activities Association will take over, but there is a six-month waiting period. The social worker tells her she has contacted Jerry Jones with Mutual of Omaha and asked if that waiting period could be waived. She then tells Amanda, "The doctor has said he will write a letter stating that Kenyana is going to be disabled the rest of his life." If that registers with Amanda there is no indication. She believes her son will walk. She tells the social worker that she thinks there has been improvement. She explains how he moved his shoulders and adds, "He can feel them putting the tube down his throat and told them not to go so deep, and he said he had a tingly feeling, like needles." The social worker talks about miracles, but her eyes indicate she believes the doctor. Kenyana did not break his neck. He fractured the No. 2 and 3 vertebrae in his neck and they in turn severely pinched the nerves in his spinal column. Amanda talks about a man who had a very similar accident in Oklahoma City and he walked. The social worker smiles. The meeting is over and Amanda is hurrying to return to Kenyana's room when she is told NLR basketball Coach Ron Ingram said to tell Kenyana they would have beaten Central if he had been there. "Coach Ingram should have put my son Tony on the team, they might have beaten Central then, too," she says. A mother's love. It has been three weeks since she has seen her other boys, ranging in age 9 to 16, and she has been trying to figure a way to get them here for Christmas. "Kenyana really misses them and he wants us together as a family for Christmas,' she says. Before the day ends she will learn that Jannings Osborne has offered to get the other sons to Dallas and put them up in a hotel. She shakes her head in disbelief and says, "The Lord is really good to us." Then she hurries off, it is time to exercise Kenyana. Just another day in the line of duty for a hero.

Listen closely, Kenyana has something to say Date: 1 2/18/97 Category: Sports Page: C1 Wally Hall Like it is In talking with Kenyana Tolbert it was both sad and encouraging. His strength and determination are unbelievable. Where most people in his condition hate therapy, he thrives on it. He's learning to control his breathing through the respirator and will have a wheelchair that he controls by his breath. Technology is amazing. Tolbert is going to have a small panel installed in his mouth in case he needs a nurse in the middle of the night. His shoulders are still wide and his eyes and mind are alert as ever. Sometimes, though, the anger of frustration flashes across his face. Reality can cut deep. Monday it was because the lights were too bright and he had to ask to have them turned down. A simple thing he once did for himself. When he was tired and ready to be moved back to his bed, he was asked if there was anything he wanted to add to the story. He nodded and motioned with his head for the reporter to move closer so he could hear. "Thank everyone, please," he whispered With Christmas coming up, and Kenyana wanting and needing it to be as close to normal as possible, lenning. Osborne is taking care of transportation and lodging for not just Kenyana's immediate family, but his cousins and aunts who always gathered on that day as a family. Wednesday, there were numerous calls from people concerned about Christmas presents and things for the family -- with his mom not working, all his brothers expect is to see Kenyana -- so a fund has been established just for those immediate type of needs. Anyone wanting to help the Gupton family can call Pat Jones at NationsBank, 370-5100. Kenyana also loves to get cards in the mail (and food, after all he is still a teenager who loves junk food). That address is Kenyana Tolbert, Room 307, Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation, 3505 Gaston, Dallas, Texas, 75256. .. . On the final day of interviews last week for the University of Arkansas head football coaching job, several players approached members of the selection committee to express some concern. It seems a few had called players at Ole Miss about Tom Tuberville, and he sounded to them, too much a guy from the old school. Those players then asked the committee to not hire Tuberville. That may have swung some weight, just as it did when three of the search committee members said they couldn't vote for Tuberville. Nor would they lie and say it was a unanimous decision. Someone then called Tuberville and told him it wasn't unanimous, and he wasn't happy with that. Someday, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will come out about the search committee meeting and the tempers that flared. Until then, all that is known is that Bill Montgomery was against Nutt until the final vote. That was what was obvious in the picture that ran the next day. .. . Mike McGibbony is the current President of the Arkansas Hall of Fame, a honcho at NationsBank and an old helmet head himself. Tuesday, after he announced the new inductees to the Hall of Fame, in a small group, he said he heard Houston Nutt, new head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, speak on Monday. "He had me pumped up,' said McGibbony. Enough to buy more tickets someone asked. "Forget tickets, I was ready to whip someone's butt,' he said. "I want to play for the guy.' At the news conference, McGibbony also debuted the Hall of Fame's new public service announcement and it is a dandy. Tim Hamilton at KATV Channel-7 spent hours researching the footage that is used and it is a first-class representation of the Hall of Fame.

Well-done Pagans has plenty to offend all Date: 1 2/16/97 Category: News Page: B4 BY JACK W. HILL ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Lightning did not strike them dead. Patrons did not march out or hurl rotten fruits and vegetables. So perhaps the Red Octopus Productions players were not offensive enough with the annual Pagans on Bobsleds, subtitled this year A Symposium. Maybe next year they will get it right. Meanwhile, there's still plenty to offend almost everyone this year, as always. The annual anti-Christmas pageant, held at Vino's, opened a week-long run Monday night and cut right to the chase with "Passion Play," a sacrilegious sock puppet show. Multiple skits followed, some hilarious, some not. Some went on too long, some were way too brief (especially "Lord of the Dance," which closed out the first act). The "Singing Telegram Support Group" was an inspired bit of lunacy, with actors portraying little fish to work out their hostilities. Wide-eyed Jennifer Pierce, who looks as if she belongs in the cast of the TV series Friends, was a hoot here and in her other skits -especially "Wrong Sign," where she, Christy Ward and Sandy Baskin evaluate a man based on his horoscope sign and his continuing dishonesty about it all. Donavan Suitt's traditional drunken "Mr. Santa" skit was all one piece this year, rather than divided into segments, so it seemed to run on too long, although parts were amazingly funny. Ward really showed her versatility with "Impressions," three appearances in which she asked audience members to suggest the name of a person, a Christmas carol that person would sing and a disease for them to suffer from. She impersonated, in turn, U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, Gov. Mike Huckabee and noted local lighting fan Jennings Osborne. Cris Counts, Jason Gregory, Brooks Caruthers and Jeff Ward float in and out of the 26 skits, and all are shameless in their pursuit of laughter. No one claims credit for directing, but everything flows nicely. Performances continue nightly at 8 p.m. through Saturday; tonight's show is nonsmoking. Shows are for adults only.

Spreading Christmas cheer See you at the River Market Date: 12/20/97 Category: Editorial Page: B10 It's 7 on a Sunday evening in downtown Little Rock--a time that once meant only abandoned streets and a quick look-around as eyes searched for signs of life other than panhandlers. The scene was even drearier at Christmastime. Downtown was a place to work and then get away from as soon as possible. But a visit Sunday evening to the River Market shows how much things have changed. For a dose of the Christmas spirit, East Markham comes highly recommended. It may now be the best place in town to catch the holiday mood. Little Rock can be proud of the dream it's turning into a reality. A neighborhood that once consisted mainly of abandoned warehouses now has brought forth a vibrant stretch of street full of hand-holding couples, parents carrying babies, and teenagers out to see and be seen. Can you imagine? Families are actually driving from West Little Rock, Lakewood, Maumelle and other outposts of respectability to pick up some Christmas cheer in downtown Little Rock. Folks are catching on: Downtown is coming back. The first thing signaling that all is well, or at least improving, came during the search for parking. Folks might have to drive around the block a couple times to find a place to their liking. But once that task is done, they can visit the ice skating rink. Or a Christmas light display hosted by, who else, Jennings Osborne and family. Okay, the skating rink may be more bumper-car than Ice Capade, but to have an ice rink at all is a feat in these latitudes. There was something endearing about the first-timers holding on to the surrounding wall for dear life--and something impressive about the double axler. Maybe, there's a future for hockey in this town after all. A number of professional teams seem to think so. Oh, yes, there were a few showoffs at the rink who could skate backwards--they looked suspiciously like Yankees--but for sheer entertainment, we'll take the mom sprawled on her backside; her little daughter doubled over with delight. We kept looking for Charlie Chaplin, but in the pratfall department all we saw were a few Chevy Chases. Pretty funny though. And you had to give them credit for courage. The skating rink is a temporary addition to the River Market, courtesy of Southwestern Bell. Thank you. It will stay up until January 4th, with a dollar of the admission price going to skate rental and the other two bucks to local charities. So all the fun is for a good cause. Be prepared to wait a while, but it's a wait that can be made a pleasure with a little coffee or hot chocolate--on sale nearby, ladies and gentlemen, just step right up! Then it was time to see the Christmas lights just north of the rink. O1' Jennings said he planned to Osborne-ize the display this year. And he did. If you're a fan of angels, there must be hundreds of 'em--flying, standing, kneeling and a-heralding. It's not exactly the old Aurora Osborealis that once illuminated Cantrell Road, Little Rock and the universe, but it's lovely and the neighbors don't complain. All in all, the trip to the River Market took less than an hour and gave us enough holiday spirit to get us started shopping at last. And it sure beat elbowing somebody out of a parking spot at a jammed shopping mall.

LR area aglow in holiday trim Tours offered on city, private buses Date: 12/21/97 Category: News Page: B1 BYSHAREESEKONDOARKANSASDEMOCRAT-GAZETTE It's hard to miss 1 5-foot angels decking the columns of a Heritage Park house offNorth Hills Boulevard in North Little Rock. The Lakewood neighborhood is one of the most illuminated this year with homes decked with lights and figurines. Scouting the Little Rock metropolitan area for impressive light displays is a holiday pastime. This year several neighborhoods pulled out all the fixings for a holiday feast for the eyes. "We started decorating like this when our grandchildren were young," said Janice Ostedgaard, whose doorway at 1 Heritage Park Circle features the oversized angels blowing trumpets. "We had toy soldiers standing up there for the longest; last year was the first year we had the angels. Tom Chandler, a Little Rock decorator makes them for us. But we've been decorating our home for the more than 30 years. People love it, and so do we." Heritage Park features several homes covered with lights from rooftop to sidewalk. Other lighted areas north of the Arkansas River include the Indianhead Lake subdivision in Sherwood and homes along Toltec Drive, Oakridge Road and Ozark Drive just on the North Little Rock and Sherwood borders offNorth Hills Boulevard. South of the river, the River Market area is lighted courtesy of Jennings Osborne, and the state Capitol is aglow as usual. Other Little Rock neighborhoods good for lights tours include University Park and Otter Creek. The city of Little Rock is renting its trolley buses for light tours. The 25-passenger vehicles will be driven by a Central Arkansas Transit Authority driver, who will make front-door pickups anywhere served by the authority. For $60 an hour -- there's a two-hour minimum -- groups or families can tour and have holiday parties at the same time. Reservations can be made by calling the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department at 371-4770. Kim Clark of Capital Tours also has a 25-passenger bus for lights tours through New Year's week. At $5 a person, she takes elderly groups, Scout troops and organizations on at least a twohour tour of glowing neighborhoods around the metropolitan area. "We practice oohing' and aahing' before we take off," said Clark. More information on Clark's tours is available by calling 851-8431.

Here's wishing everybody a Merry Christmas Date: 12/25/97 Category: Sports Page: C1 Wally Hall Like it is If there is one thing I try to avoid it is writing first-person columns. The reason is simple. I'm not the news. I say that to excuse today's column. I feel sorry for those grinches who moan and groan about Christmas, especially those who pen columns. The truth of the matter is, if they can't find joy today then they just aren't trying. For instance, look at the picture that accompanies this column. Right there in color is reason enough to celebrate today. Jenninge Osborne made it possible for Kenyana Tolbert to have a Merry Christmas by asking one question: How can I help? And it should be pointed out, he did not ask for publicity. Yet, he doled out $2,000 so a young man, who is enduring a personal crisis, and his family, can be together. As a matter of fact, since Nov. 7 when Kenyana was injured playing football, people all over the country have shown an incredible desire to help. I can't think of one person who has done more to unite our great state than Kenyana. There were no racial, religious or geographical differences in the outpouring of care for him. I like that a lot, and I like Christmas. It is a time to be joyful, so here are just a few of the things I like and appreciate in this wonderful state. I like the fact that Houston Nutt won the head coaching job at Arkansas, proving hard work and a value system still mean something. I like all the in-state commitments he's getting. I like what Charles Baker, the basketball coach at Shorter College, said about the Latrell Sprewell incident: "Couldn't he have found a better player to support him than Robert Horry, who last year on national television threw a towel in his coach's face." I like the work that is being done by the people on the Alltel Arena board. They have great vision and insight. I like what Rett Tucker, a 1968 Hall High graduate, did with the Visitors Center at Central High, where his children attend school. I like the way Jerry Jones refused to buckle under to pressure during the season and fire Barry Switzer. I like it that the Green Bay Packers are probably going back to the Super Bowl. I like it that the Chicago Bulls have started winning again. I like Mike Huckabee and regret that his morals make him a target. The man lives by the Ten Commandments and bass fishes, which far outweighs his refusal to reveal his income. I like the letter Warren Stephens wrote to this newspaper explaining, without accusing, that neither his company nor his family had a favorite in the race for the coaching job at Arkansas. I like the fact Frank Broyles listened to the people and hired Nutt. I like Lee Hardman and what he stands for and has accomplished at UAPB. I like AAU basketball and despite the fact it has a few coaches out of control, thousands of others are giving countless hours to help kids. I like it the public schools have not locked AAU out of their gyms in the summers, helping keep kids offthe streets. I like it that Corliss Williamson is finally being given the freedom to demonstrate his skills. I like it that Derek Fisher is a huge hit in Los Angeles, on and offthe court. I like it that Joe Kleine donated tickets to the Kenyana Tolbert auction, and then secretly set about making sure Tolbert's four brothers had Christmas, too. I like it that Tuesday night, of all the watches he has been given, Eddie Sutton was wearing the one he received at the FCA's "Tribute to the Triplets." I like it Nolan Richardson is again able to coach Hawgball. I like it that Nutt did not break a contract to come to Arkansas. His was a one-year contract at Boise State. I like the young staff he has assembled. I like it Elbert Crawford arranged for Kenyana's AAU Wings teammates to visit him in Dallas. I like it that the Arkansas Derby is returning to television. I like it that I will be able to cover the last Rose Bowl before it becomes part of the coalition. I like it that when I say, "Merry Christmas," that is exactly what I mean.

Letters Feedback Leave the law-abiding alone Date: 12/27/97 Category: Editorial Page: B7 I am glad Gov. Mike Huckabee put a stop to the state police roadside inspection stops. If I have broken no laws, I deserve to be left alone. Because of the unconstitutional tactics of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the IRS, U.S. marshals, the Game and Fish Commission, Winston Bryant, etc., our country is fast becoming a police state, and we do not need the Arkansas State Police stopping law-abiding citizens and detaining them while they search for some reason to give them a ticket or to tow their car away, leaving them stranded. The state has the right to require an inspection sticker, and the minor trouble and small cost do not hurt anyone, but a police state that causes people to fear getting out on the roads will result in blood in the streets the first time they stop a George Washington or a Col. Jackson or anyone else who believes our Constitution and Bill of Rights are still in effect. Washington and Jackson led a force of fed-up Americans who killed thousands of agents of a repressive government to give us freedom. We now have more laws, less freedom and higher taxes than the repressive government our forefathers freed us from. BILL MILLER Harrison How the light will shine Recently, John Robert Starr, that grand old sage of politico-osophy, claimed Bullwhiz to be dead. The fact is, Bullwhiz has simply and conveniently been reincarnated into the gracious brother guv, Bullwhiz M. Hucklebilly. Of course, the honorable attorney general, Winston Bryant, can sue Brother Bullwhiz, for Bryant is the lawyer for the people and the people overwhelmingly want to view for themselves the information on the guv's hot line. When--and it will be--exposed, the identities of Action America will shine like a Jennings Osborne Christmas. MARC FITZGERALD Corning

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