Parents of slain girl set up memorial golf classic to award scholarships to graduating Greenbrier students

By MICHAEL ALLEN
LOG CABIN STAFF WRITER

Katie Wood’s lifelong dream lives on.

Wood, who was 24 at time of her tragic death in March 2008, was a 2002 graduate of Greenbrier High School and was scheduled to graduate from the University of Arkansas in May 2008, with a double major in English and fine arts.

Wood’s dream was to set up a fund where she could give back to other Greenbrier High graduates. She was planning on going to Sweden for a graduation trip, afterwards she wanted to continue on with higher education by obtaining her master’s degree to become a professor.

Wood’s ex-boyfriend, Zachariah Marcyniuk, has been convicted of killing her on March 9, 2008, after bursting in her apartment when she opened the door. Sharon Wood said her artistic, loving and caring daughter was brutally beaten and stabbed nearly 50 times. Marcyniuk has been sentenced to death.

The donations came rolling in after Wood’s death, so her parents, Dale and Sharon Wood, established a scholarship fund. Last spring, both awarded two Greenbrier High seniors who had interest in art or English with separate $500 scholarships. Sharon Wood said her beautiful and friendly daughter would have loved the idea.

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“When Katie graduated from high school she received a $500 scholarship,” Wood said. “We sat around the kitchen table, and she said ‘You know when I graduate, I want to start the Katie Wood scholarship fund to give back to other graduating Greenbrier students.’ We had no idea that we were going to have to go this route.”

Ken Schulte, a close friend of the Woods, came up with the idea of having a golf tournament so that funds and community awareness could be raised for the continuation of the scholarships. So, the first Katie Wood Memorial Golf Classic was held Saturday, May 16, at Persimmon Ridge Golf Club in Greenbrier. There were 10 three-player teams to compete in this year’s event.

“We just thought that Katie would have got a kick out of it,” Wood said. “We knew that’s how she would have wanted it to be set up. So the money is in a scholarship fund at First Service Bank in Greenbrier. Anybody can donate to it, which makes it even greater.”

The recipients of the $500 scholarships were 2009 graduates Taylor Neal for English and Shelby Lucille Wade for art. Neal will attend the University of Central Arkansas in the fall with plans of majoring in journalism. Wade is preparing to head for the University of Arkansas at Morrilton Community College this fall.

“When we woke up that Saturday morning, the radar looked pretty bad,” Wood said. “We thought, ‘Oh Lord, we can’t have this happen on Katie’s day.’ Well, sure enough, when we got out there while the golfers were getting ready for the shotgun start, the sky just cleared off. It was just a little misty at first, then it was beautiful for the rest of the day. It was just perfect for the first time.”

Many volunteers helped with the event. Wood said all of the 30 participants walked away with prizes and goodie bags.

“Oh my goodness, the people in Greenbrier are just amazing,” Wood said. “You couldn’t ask for better people to reach and help. Even though they may be down own their luck since the economy is the way it is, they still reached out and helped. There are so many people who didn’t even know Katie who came in and helped with this event.”

According to Wood, the golf classic will be held next year around the same time in May.

Chester Arthur Dean, 96, passed away Tuesday, May 5, 2009, in Fayetteville.

A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville.

Mr. Dean was born in Lewisville on Oct. 15, 1912, to Arthur and Gertrude Dean. The family moved to Texarkana, where Chester graduated from Texarkana High School. He attended the University of Arkansas between 1930 and 1934, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and majored in engineering. In 1935 he married Marian Elizabeth Buxton of Joplin, Mo. She preceded him in death in 1999 after 64 years of marriage.

Mr. Dean began his service in the U.S. Army attached to the Civilian Conservation Corps’ forestry program near Cass. He became a commissioned officer in the Army with the Quartermasters Corps. He later transferred and served with the Corps of Engineers during and after World War II, eventually attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. Upon leaving the Army, Mr. Dean obtained his professional engineer’s license in Florida and became city engineer for the city of Clearwater. The experience gained in service to the Army engineers became the fulfillment of a lifelong dream as a builder, and in 1949 Mr. Dean left Florida to join the Hiram S. Elliot Construction Co. in Kansas City. In 1954, Mr. Dean founded the Chester A. Dean Construction Co. in Kansas City. In 1976, Donald R. Pearce joined the company, and they eventually formed Dean-Pearce Construction Co., which now operates as Pearce Construction Co. in Kansas City.

During his career in Kansas City, Mr. Dean held several official posts and memberships with the Associated General Contractors of America and the Builders Association-Kansas City chapter. He was a licensed professional engineer registered in Florida, Missouri and Kansas. He served as the planning director of the city of Prairie Village during the administration of Mayor Robert Bennett. He also was a director of the Missouri Bank and Trust Co.

After selling his construction company and retiring, in 1980 Mr. Dean moved to Fayetteville, continuing to take an active role as a consultant in the construction business, even into his 90s.

Mr. Dean was a licensed pilot, an avid golfer, a member of the Fayetteville Country Club and enjoyed hobbies in stained glasswork, woodworking, painting and model railroading. Mr. and Mrs. Dean’s love of travel took them all over the world, from China to New Zealand.

Mr. Dean is survived by daughter Jane D. McMaster and husband Lee of Wichita, Kan.; son Arthur B. “Buck” Dean and wife Deborah of Jacksonville, Fla.; granddaughters, Margaret M. Caccia and husband Ralph of Potomac Falls, Va., Kathryn M. Kraske and husband Steve of Westwood, Texas, Sarah M. Helbig and husband Chris of Goldsboro, N.C.; and grandson, Geoffrey A. Ballentine and wife Theresa of Phoenix. Great-grandchildren include Elizabeth and Joseph Caccia, Nicholas and Michael Kraske, and Evan, Elyse and Finnian Helbig. He is also survived by sister-in-law Jane B. Robbins of Houston.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter in Bentonville.

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I’ve been getting the #43 Roast Pork Chow Mai Fun (Rice Noodles), and love it.   Their steamed dumplings (#08) are made in the restaurant, and taste really fresh!

China Cafe menu (adobe pdf)

Both pairs came in this week, and I picked them up yesterday.

Model # A0506-17: Checkerboard (Front)

Model # A0506-17: Checkerboard (Side)

Model # A0506-17: Checkerboard

Model # A0506-33: Brown (Front)

Model # A0506-17: Brown (Side)

Model # A0506-17: Brown

Obama told aides he feels “like a cylon without a Resurrection Ship.”

WASHINGTON—According to sources in the White House, President Barack Obama has been uncharacteristically distant and withdrawn ever since last month’s two-hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

“The president seems to be someplace else lately,” said one high-level official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Yesterday we were all being briefed on the encroachment of Iranian drone planes into Iraq, when he just looked up from the table and blurted out, ‘What am I supposed to watch on Fridays at 10 p.m. now? Numb3rs?’”

“I haven’t seen him this upset since Admiral Adama realized that Earth was actually an uninhabitable wasteland,” the official continued. “Or at least that’s what he told me. I don’t actually watch the show. It’s not really my thing.”
Enlarge Image Battlestar Message Board

Obama attempts to console himself with leaked production stills from the upcoming spin-off Caprica.

Since the end of the series, Obama has reportedly brushed off key budgetary decisions, ignored his wife and children, and neglected his daily workouts, claiming that he no longer cares if he lets himself go “just like Lee did before the rescue on New Caprica.”

In addition, sources confirmed that instead of meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday, the depressed president sat alone in the Oval Office, scouring Internet message boards for posts by other fans about the series conclusion.

Hoping to cheer himself up, Obama also decided to re-watch the extended director’s cut of “Unfinished Business,” a season three episode he once described as “bringing the Starbuck-Apollo relationship to a head in the best possible way.”

Revisiting the series, however, has only made the president more miserable. After a staffer suggested he bring DVDs of the show along on a recent policy trip to Denver, Obama reportedly muttered under his breath, “What’s the point? It’s over.”

“We were going over his schedule when he sighed and asked if I watched Battlestar,” said a White House secretary, whom Obama used to playfully call “Billy.” “I told him I was planning on it because my sister’s a big fan, but he just stared out the window the whole time.”

“I also noticed he took down his Battlestar Galactica season 4.5 poster,” she added.

Obama watched the finale just as he had every previous episode, alone in the White House screening room with the volume turned all the way up. Sources said he emerged exhilarated and told several aides that the show’s writers “wrapped things up the best they could, though the very end was a little much.”

The commander in chief also bragged that he “totally called” the fact that “All Along The Watch Tower” would be used as the jump coordinates for the FTL drive.

Despite his initial excitement, by Monday morning the absence of the hour-long Sci-Fi program had begun to affect the president.

“I’m a little concerned,” first lady Michelle Obama was overheard saying at a fundraising event Tuesday. “When Firefly was canceled, he walked around like a zombie for a week, and Serenity was the only thing that snapped him out of it. Last night he said he felt like he had just discovered David Axelrod was one of the Final Five, whatever that means.”

A devoted fan of the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica, Obama was initially hesitant to watch the new series, saying he was upset to learn that hotshot pilot Starbuck would be played by a woman. However, during a particularly slow week in the U.S. Senate, Obama decided to rent the first season from Netflix.

Aides said Obama “blew through” season one in a weekend, then purchased season 2.0 from a local Best Buy, and, in order to catch up in time for season three, downloaded the majority of season 2.5 from iTunes.

“When we spoke last month, he said season three was his least favorite because some of the episodes with Helo and the Sagittarons—and pretty much anything that involved Cally—were boring and didn’t advance the plot,” Afghan president Hamid Karzai said. “But I told him that when you watch it all on DVD, and you don’t have to wait a whole week for a new show, those peripheral episodes actually add new color to the already established world.”

Added Karzai, “Lately, though, it seems like he’d rather talk about the resurgence of Taliban warlords in Kandahar than the show.”

During an emergency press conference on Wednesday, Obama addressed his recent detachment, as well as various other matters facing the United States.

“Our nation finds itself in uncharted territory in the deep emptiness of space,” Obama announced. “The Old Girl has limited supplies, no allies, and now, no hope. I never said this would be an easy journey. Yet I promise you this: There is a place where there is no war and no economic turmoil. It is where, according to the Sacred Scrolls handed down to us by the Lords of Kobol, the thirteenth tribe traveled over three thousand years ago. That place is called Earth. Not the other Earth. This Earth. It’s complicated. Anyway, I plan to take us there.”

Added Obama, “So say we all! So say we all! So say we all!”

original location

This aromatic blend was inspired by the natural flavorings Pacific Northwest Indians once used when preparing salmon for their ceremonial feasts known as potlatches. Fruity and slightly hot, this wonderful amalgam combines paprika, crushed red pepper, chili pepper, oregano and other herbs. Its rich flavor and color particularly complement grilled Pacific and Atlantic salmon. The seasoning also enhances meat and poultry, and adds a spicy kick to corn on the cob. 3 oz. A Williams-Sonoma exclusive.
I found a recipe for making Potlatch online:

Potlatch Seasoning, Makes 6 ½ Cups

Our celebration seasoning with a kick!  The word Potlatch comes from the Northwest Native
American languages as a word for a gathering in celebration.

Ingredients:

• 3 c  Paprika, sweet
• ½ c  Cumin, whole seed
• ½ c  Fennel, whole seed
• ¼ c  Onion powder
• ¼ c  Garlic powder
• 1 c  Searing seasonings (see recipe)
• 1/3 c  Cayenne pepper, ground
• ¼ c  Thyme, dried leaves

Method: Combine all of the ingredients together and store in an airtight container.
Notes : For a traditional Northwest flavor, add sun-dried blueberries to the mix.