Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
THROUGH OTHER’S EYES
Since I haven’t seen the rest of my Features family in person since early March, I had to know how my coworkers have spent their time this year, too!
Last Day Out
Little did I know how much this picture of my daughter would come to mean to me as 2020 dragged on. It was taken Feb. 23 at Arkansas Public Theatre, on the last Sunday of the musical “Newsies.” It was our third theater weekend in a row — “Newsies” on Feb. 9; “Into the Woods” at the Arts Center of the Ozarks on Feb. 16; and then “Newsies” again on Feb. 23. It was our last live theater for 2020. Our last live music for 2020. Our last mother/daughter outing for 2020, because covid-19 protocols have kept her sequestered in her group home for adults with disabilities. Live theater has always been our happy place — especially when we’re eating Peanut M&Ms and drinking Diet Coke! We just didn’t know how long these last three performances would have to sustain us. Thank you to all the companies that make us welcome — TheatreSquared and Arts Live, too — and we cannot wait to see you again!
— Becca Martin-Brown, Features Editor
Take A Hike
The past year may have kept us all separate, physically, but it was the perfect year to take a hike. My husband Anthony and I loaded up our backpacks and our dog, Elvis, and went out for a trek on Pigeon Roost Trail at Hobbs State Park. It was perfect! We stayed overnight about half-way through the 8.5-mile trail and were seemingly alone in the forest, then did the hike out the following morning. It was a great way to get out and quarantine at the same time.
— Deb Harvell, Editorial Assistant/Features Design
Just A Moment
As caretaker for my 76-year-old mom, I’m taking the pandemic pretty seriously — so my 10-year-old twins, my husband and I haven’t had many outside excursions since March. But the week before Christmas, we indulged ourselves by picking up dinner from Yeyo’s in Bentonville, where the kids were drawn to the adjacent Momentary’s neon “You Belong Here” sign. We took a turn around the Momentary parking lot so they could see it better. To our surprise, attendance looked sparse, so we ventured inside, only to find ourselves the solitary viewers of the fantastic “Nick Cave: Until” exhibit. The chance to take in Cave’s electrifying study on race in the solitary grandeur of the Momentary elevated it to a once-in-a-lifetime experience that had me marveling at what we can find in our little corner of Arkansas.
— Lara Hightower, Profiles Editor & Features Writer