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- [00:02]
A
Hello and welcome to arnet, the show that shines a light on the trailblazers, game changers and hardworking heroes driving Arkansas forward. From bold entrepreneurs to community champions, we bring the stories that inspire and ignite progress. Now, here's your host, David Bratton.
- [00:28]
B
Hello. Hello and welcome, everybody, to the arnet Podcast. I've got a great show coming to you today. I am sitting here with Stacy Spence McMinn. Stacy, how are you?
- [00:41]
C
Fine. How are you, David?
- [00:42]
B
I am doing great, Stacy. It's been a long time.
- [00:44]
C
It has been.
- [00:45]
B
Holy smokes. I guess I've known you since we were little kids.
- [00:49]
C
We were east side elementary.
- [00:51]
B
It was east side. Yes, absolutely. He.
- [00:55]
C
Yeah.
- [00:55]
B
We lived through the tornado of 76. You remember that?
- [00:59]
C
Yes, I absolutely remember that.
- [01:01]
B
Yeah, that was a crazy time. We're both lifelong people of the community right here.
- [01:07]
C
Yes, sir.
- [01:09]
B
Now, Stacy, tell me a little bit about what's been going on. I hadn't seen you, really, since 1987.
- [01:15]
C
Sounds so bad.
- [01:17]
B
Oh, right. What do you've been up to since I last saw you?
- [01:21]
C
A lot like you. Just kind of reevolving ourselves. Right. I am. I am a grandmother. I have three grandkids. I have three children. Spence is 32 years old, and my daughter Madison is 30. And then my youngest just turned 21. And my husband, Jimmy McMinn, he is from. Actually from Sherwood.
- [01:42]
B
Okay.
- [01:43]
C
Yeah, we met close to here. We met Over Anytime Fitness. We met at the gym and we've never been back.
- [01:48]
B
No kidding.
- [01:48]
C
That's always our joke. So. But yeah, he works in Alaska, so he's there three weeks and comes home three weeks now.
- [01:57]
B
What does he do in Alaska?
- [01:58]
C
He works on the North Slope. He does safety. He's a safety officer. Yeah, he got started in Calfrac, remember bb, and kind of went up that track and ended up in North Dakota some. And then he quit that for a while and came home and was working. We have a. There's a nonprofit in Ward called Beyond Boundaries, and it's an equine assisted center for children with disabilities, and they use the horses. And that is in his background. So he was the barn manager for about eight years. And then our youngest had an accident, suffered a traumatic brain injury. And after we kind of got over all of that, we. He got a phone call to go back, and so he took it so that we could try to, you know, continue some of the therapies and some of the things that aren't covered.
- [02:44]
B
Sure, sure. Now, your son's accident, was that a bull riding accident?
- [02:48]
C
It Was a bull riding accident.
- [02:49]
B
Okay, that's. That's pretty tough sport.
- [02:52]
C
Yeah, it was, it was really bad. He. He was 17 at the time and the year before he had started, I guess he had just. He got into it. My husband was a bull rider.
- [03:04]
B
Okay.
- [03:04]
C
It was not in my cards at all. I was not excited about it or happy about it when I found out they had gone and, and ridden over at someone's house and there was a Bible rodeo, Bible camp and they have the training and stuff there. So Brandon asked me if he could go to it. We worked it out and he went. And then I had a. We had a lot of fusses and fights over it. But at the time, out of all three of my kids, Brandon was very, very different. He just is real athletic and a lot of different things. Very, very smart kid and he was very thoughtful. So. So he came to me and was just like, mom, I really want to do this. And I'm a good kid, I make good grades, blah, blah, blah, you know, gives it all on me.
- [03:51]
B
Sure.
- [03:51]
C
And so we talked about it and I told my husband, I'm like, you cannot encourage this. If he wants to do it, then he's got to do it on his own. He's got to train. We got him set up with somebody to work with. He's got to have the right equipment. He's going to have to pay for all that kind of stuff. So we did it and he was really good at it and he moved up pretty quickly. Took just gotten a few little sponsors and stuff that were backing him. And then we headed to the high school finals for the first time. So he was sitting in third place. And it was the second night and he drew. It was a. It was a smaller bull, which he's kind of long legged and so that was difficult and kind of stumbled when it came out of the gate. And when it did, he. They call it, he went back on his pockets and it kind of knocked him sideways and then jammed his hand in and. And then when he was off, he was turned around kind of backwards so he had his hand back in it and he was trying to turn back around. He was always a really good gymnast, so he could do, you know, all kinds of flips. So we hadn't really worried about some of that stuff. Cause he was always able to get himself out of it, but not that night. So the, the bull came up and kicked up way high and then just came down with both legs, you know, both hooves, one kind of on his neck and the other about the middle of his back. And it. It just slammed him down and he didn't move. And so it was very. It was definitely life changing for us. I worked with children with disabilities for 28 years, and that was not in my cards when I graduated high school. Never thought that that was something I would ever get into. And now I can look back at it and just think that was just God preparing us for. And Jimmy working at beyond boundaries around kids with disability, all that. It just all kind of fell into place about, okay, this is where we are. But we were flown from Texarkana, and it's another thing, like, when all this is happening, he's not. They call it posturing. He was posturing, like, his legs. So he was posturing, and he was not reacting to anything. Even when they were trying to put in, you know, lines and stuff, he didn't flinch. And I knew as long as he was like that, the worse it was going to be. We got to the hospital in Texarkana, and we knew that we were going to be flown to Children's. Well, they were wanting to send us to Texas because we were right there on the thing. And we have some Cabot people that work on Angel 1. And I told Jimmy, I'm like, call somebody. Tell them. So called Chad and Boo Cabot chat. And when they came into Texarkana, it was like this immediate. I felt, yay. It was one of the nurses. His son was on the track team with Brandon, so he knew him. Another person, the same kind of thing. They lived down the road in Ward. What's the chances of that? We flew to Little Rock. When I got off the helicopter, Chip Bailey met.
- [06:41]
B
Yeah, Chip was one of my very good friends.
- [06:43]
C
I know it's just like the craziest thing. So I was like, I felt so much better. And they warned me. They're like, you know, when we get down to the thing, there's going to be about 20 to 30 people, you know, assessing, because it's a teaching hospital. So we get down there and they're all doing it. And I had the recording on my phone, so I knew to give that to them. So they knew what they were looking at, what injuries to look at. And the critical care physician that was talking to me was super kind. And she just said, no, where are you guys from? And I said, well, we're from Cabot. She was like, oh, I'm from Ward. I didn't say, you know, how you do you say Cabot just because Ward thinks Ward so. And she said, well, I'm actually from Ward. And I said, oh, where? And she said, oh, I used to always hang out at Dudes Place.
- [07:20]
B
Place.
- [07:21]
C
I said, well, dude is my dad. So just from that point on, it was just like all of these things lined up, and it just. He was in his coma for about two and a half weeks. So he had seven bleeds, and we had to relearn everything. Walk, talk, breathe, even blinking his eyes. I mean, it was very humbling and very. Yeah, so the whole family came together.
- [07:43]
B
That's good.
- [07:43]
C
And we. We've been doing it ever since, so.
- [07:46]
B
Yes. I was following your story on Facebook, you know, when you'd make your post, and we were all praying for you, and I'm glad it worked out best.
- [07:53]
C
Absolutely.
- [07:55]
B
Absolutely.
- [07:56]
C
All right.
- [07:58]
B
Well, you know those people at Children's Hospital in Little Rock, they do amazing work.
- [08:04]
C
They really do.
- [08:05]
B
They really do. Let's talk a little bit about your work experience.
- [08:10]
C
Okay.
- [08:13]
B
Right now you're at Allied Therapy and Consulting.
- [08:15]
C
Yes, sir.
- [08:16]
B
What do you guys do there?
- [08:18]
C
We serve children zero and up. We also dabble that in adults, but it's primarily pediatrics. We do physical, occupational, speech, and they do developmental therapy. So we have a clinic in Ward, and we have a clinic in North Little Rock. And then we are the. The contractor providers for Cabot School District, Loan Oak School District, and Carlisle School District. And then we do a. A place out in Little Rock called Charter. Yeah, Exalt Charter. When I started with her, there were seven people, so. So it's grown tremendously. So we have it. And we have a partnership with Children's Hospital and uca. No kidding. So we get a lot of complex care kids. So that's why I said when this all happened, I knew, like, what was happening and where we needed to go.
- [09:02]
B
Sure.
- [09:03]
C
So sure.
- [09:04]
B
Amazing. All right, let's. Let's dive on into the interview part of this.
- [09:10]
C
Okay.
- [09:11]
B
For folks who do not know you yet, how would you destruct. Describe Stacy McMahon outside of job titles?
- [09:20]
C
Well, I hope that they describe me as kind and personable, and I just. I really do have goodwill towards people, and I want good things for our community. Yes.
- [09:36]
B
I know you've always been big in the community. I mean, ever since high school. In high school, you're always, you know, doing the leadership stuff. Yeah, I think, you know, I'm an idiot. I can't think of the words, but,
- [09:48]
C
like, you know, there were some things I. I felt like I was. I felt like I was a little more kind of timid in high school to be Honest with you, I kind of. I never saw that I was much more of a follower. I was scared of lots of things, definitely. So I definitely like cheerleading and stuff like that. Those things felt like I had to do those, you know, that was supposed to do those things, I don't think, until I got through college. And, you know, really. And honestly, I went through a divorce. And that really, you know, that. That's when you realize, like, hey, I got to take care of myself, and we got to figure things out, Right?
- [10:21]
B
Exactly. Well, what has inspired you to step from community business leadership into wanting to run for mayor?
- [10:31]
C
No, this one's crazy. I really. You know, my dad was county judge for 16 years, and he had the personality to handle it. You know, he had real thick skin. He. You know, there's some. Sometimes things get said about your family that it's not true.
- [10:48]
B
When you're in politics, it's gonna happen. You're asking for it.
- [10:51]
C
You are, and you get really defensive, and. And dad never did that. He was really good at handling all that. So I think that's partly why I kind of. Like I said, I used to be kind of, like, timid and anxious about it. And this is funny. I shouldn't even. Ironic. Both of my husbands, my ex husband and my current husband both served on the city council at ward.
- [11:09]
B
Are you serious?
- [11:10]
C
Yes. Isn't that funny? I was talking to my ex husband this past weekend. We had. Our grandson, had a birthday party, and Todd Hart. So Todd was city councilman now, and then Jimmy was the city councilman. So, you know, I knew, like, all that because of them, I still kind of stayed back. I did primarily volunteer stuff because I feel like nobody can get mad at me if I'm a volunteer, because if they start to graph at me, I can say, I'm not paid for this, you know, so. Yeah. So then about three or four years ago, there were. There was an opening on the city council, and they had to do an appointment. And about the month or so before, there were some problems with ward water.
- [11:51]
B
Okay.
- [11:51]
C
And my sister had. And she'd asked me to help her, and I got in it, and it. I was frustrated. I mean, to be honest with you, I was just really frustrated.
- [11:59]
B
Yeah.
- [12:00]
C
And so I asked to speak to the council, and I went and said my piece and talked to the water person. And. And then after that, I started going to the meetings. And so then when that opening came up, I stepped up and said, you know, I want to do this. So then, as I've served on the Council. I see things that I want to do or I've wanted to do. And I think the. Charlie Gasto, the current mayor. I. I have been friends with Charlie for a while. We serve in the Chamber, Commerce and stuff together. Okay. And he. He is really. Worked really hard about. I used to call him a deadly do. Right. You know, he had to do everything right by the book there.
- [12:37]
B
Yeah.
- [12:38]
C
It's his military background. He's there. So he's done a great job getting all those kind of things together. And he is retiring. And as soon as I heard that he was retiring, he's retired. We had talked before because I said, when are you. And he thought he was going to do four more years. So I thought I had four more years to prepare. And then I heard that he got into a community retirement community in Florida that he was going to. And I'm like, okay, I got to move fast. I got to go. Because I feel like if I didn't. And that's the other thing. I'm very into. I don't know the way things work. At New Year's, my daughter was home from New York and she is real big on manifestations and, you know, you gotta make. So she made us. We all had to write down five things we wanted to do. Are you serious? Five things that were our goals this year. And one of mine was to be more involved in our community so that I could be prepared to be mayor. That was one of the things. So anyway, she makes us fold them all up, we put them in a bowl and then we had to draw one. And that was supposed to be our thing for the year. And. And it was that. And she was like, so you get your stuff together, man. So after that, I started taking more classes online, like through the Municipal League and things like that. And so then when this happened with Charlie, I'm like, okay, God, this is it. I guess I'm stepping up, right?
- [13:48]
B
That is incredible. That's an incredible story on. Because I was. I was trying to figure out what made you run. You've worn lots of hats over your lifetime. Clinic administrator, non profit founder, chamber president and a mother. Most important role. Looking back on your roles in life, which one do you think shaped you the most?
- [14:15]
C
I mean, I know most people would probably say motherhood, but to be honest with you, I was the youngest of four kids, and I can't ever remember not having a kid that I was driving someplace or taken care of because my siblings, my oldest sister had four children.
- [14:29]
B
Sure.
- [14:29]
C
You know, I just. That was like A natural thing for me that I always did. But I will have to say, working at Allied, it truly changed my life. It made me. Yeah, it made me have like, a totally different view about what I should be happy about, you know, how to be humble and, like, seeing what some of these families go through.
- [14:47]
B
All the years we've lived in this community, we've seen Ward change a lot. What direction would you like to take, Ward, when you're the mayor?
- [14:58]
C
I have some different little ideas. I've been trying to piece together some different things that I'd like to do. We've got a lot of residential homes that are coming in. I mean, there's 550 that are being built. I mean, it's just I saw the
- [15:11]
B
little subdivisions going around, going up.
- [15:13]
C
So, you know, we need more. We definitely need more businesses and we need more spaces that can accommodate businesses so that people are not, you know, driving into town all the time to Cabot. And a lot of people on Ward had to bebe for the same reason because they don't want to fight traffic. So those are some of the things I'd like to do, but also would like to do some things that would kind of like bring our community together. It's a little spread out town. There's not really a downtown town, you know, so I. There are some ideas and stuff I have that I would like to do that could encourage that. I think that Michelle Fitzgerald is the Parks and Recreation director in Ward. Actually, I think she may be the second, maybe the second or third person who's ever had that position as paid position, and she is good at it. I did Parks and Rec a million years ago as a volunteer, and it was. Is a lot of work. We, you know, had to run to Sam's and get all this stuff for the concession stand, get everybody's uniforms and all that stuff. She does all that, and it's definitely more expanded and she does a great job playing planning things year round. So I feel like that we can expand on some of those things that would bring, you know, that we'd have some regular things. This past weekend, when I was in northwest Arkansas, I was in Pea ridge, and the second Saturday every month, it's super small little community, about 6,000. They use the school campus and it's very tree shaded, but they have, you know, a little bit of live music, two or three people playing music, and have kind of a little farmer's market, and they had bounce houses and things like that for the kids.
- [16:41]
B
Right.
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C
And, you know, it's all free. And they have ice cream and all that jazz. And I thought this cream was free. The ice cream was 50 cents.
- [16:49]
B
50 cents.
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C
Can you believe that? I mean, that's basically free, right?
- [16:52]
B
Yeah, but.
- [16:53]
C
Yeah, and so that it just brought me. It made me feel really nostalgic because, you know, Ward used to always have the word jamboree. Well, it's kind of hard to have that jamboree on that main drag now because of the traffic going back and forth to bb. But. Yeah, like the prison band used to always play there. Yes. So did not know that. Yeah, they were always there. So. Yeah. In their jumpsuits, but.
- [17:14]
B
Okay.
- [17:14]
C
But so you would go down there and listen to them and it was just a fun time. So I'd like to bring some of those things back and then just really working on cleaning up the city.
- [17:23]
B
Sure, sure.
- [17:24]
C
There's a lot of subdivisions that were built early on and a lot of little narrow streets. A lot of narrow streets. And a lot of people's fencing's falling down and so.
- [17:35]
B
Sure. I have a long time.
- [17:36]
C
Yeah. And I have ideas about how to work with people who are wanting to build in our community to work out some type of co op that we could offer some of those residents some assistance to get their fences and everything put back up because it affects everybody. That just looks terrible when you're driving through there.
- [17:55]
B
Right now, you have that one restaurant right there on the main drag. My wife and I found it recently. We love going there. Jalapenos.
- [18:02]
C
Yeah.
- [18:03]
B
Shout out.
- [18:04]
C
Yeah. Two Mexican restaurants, Cocos and Jalapenos.
- [18:06]
B
Yeah, we love Cocos too. To go to Cocos first forever, but Jalapenos, right there with them.
- [18:12]
C
I love it.
- [18:12]
B
I really like it. Stacy, what is your secret to keeping your energy up?
- [18:19]
C
Well, again, I think it's just where I work. I mean, seriously.
- [18:23]
B
Yeah.
- [18:24]
C
When you see. Also too. My mom and dad, until they passed away, they were always go getters. And, you know, my mom was 87 and the day before she passed away, she was on the phone making will and dealing. Yeah. She was something else. And so I think some of us just genetic. And you watch it and you learn it and you do it. But also too. I see. I see these families and they've got, you know, kids with disabilities. And I just think, I mean, I lived it for, you know, what, six months. I cannot imagine living my lifetime like that and. And not feeling, you know, thankful that I'm not loading up a wheelchair every time and pulling somebody out, trying to figure, you know, it's just a lot of work. So I just think that that's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to be, let's be going, let's go enjoy life and go.
- [19:08]
B
Right. Be a true hardworking individual. You know, just be a good person.
- [19:12]
C
Be a good person.
- [19:13]
B
Absolutely. Well, I think we may have already answered this one, but what was the moment or the experience that made you say, you know what, now's the time for me to run for mayor?
- [19:26]
C
Yeah, I think it was just that when I got that phone call, the New Year's and everything also too, though, I think, yeah, I just, I had some resolve. I mean, I had to talk to my boss about everything because I'm just like, I think it's time. She always knew that it was kind of in my cards to do it.
- [19:43]
B
Sure.
- [19:44]
C
But yeah, I think that's kind of what made me go, that's awesome.
- [19:49]
B
All right. When you are elected mayor, what's the first hands on thing you want to tackle? The first one.
- [19:56]
C
Okay, my. I went to school for. I went to University of Arkansas for communications and that's what I really would like to focus on. Initially, I feel like that I've got a lot to learn, how the departments work within each other and, you know, I was really hopeful that maybe no one would file against me and in August I could start spending some more time there to figure things out. But I've already heard that there's, you know, likely some other people, and I'm okay with that. That makes me excited, actually, because the past few years you can't even get any people on the, the committee. There's nobody. And I think last time around there was one person that ran for a council position.
- [20:33]
B
Really?
- [20:34]
C
Yeah. Yeah. So I would just like to improve the communication because I feel like that, for example, water, Water department, they get a really bad rap because there's stuff
- [20:47]
B
on Facebook, social media, people posting about
- [20:49]
C
it, but there's not. And I feel like that it has happened for so long because that started the previous administration before Charlie. And I think that at this point, you know, when everybody's been on you for so long, I think they just come at it very defensively. Right. And so when I got on, there was a thing that came up a couple of years ago that the law required us to have like a water committee. So of course.
- [21:15]
B
No kidding. There's a law about that.
- [21:17]
C
Yeah, all this stuff with Act 605 and everything too. So. So I agreed to be the chair of the water committee. So what I did. When I went in with it, I thought, how am I, what am I doing with all these people? And why am I supposed to be on the committee? So what we did the first six months, I guess we learned the business, like we got to go tour where we get our water from in Heber Springs. We Bruce, who's the water director, he took some people on rides and showed them where everything was and how it all worked. Brittany, who works in the office, and Brian, which Brian is smart as a whip, He's Bruce's right hand man. They went through like we have a new electronic system now too. So you can literally call up there and say, like, I have a leak. Can you see when it started? And they can, they can go online and see when the leaks start right
- [22:03]
B
there on the computer.
- [22:04]
C
Yeah, it's really cool.
- [22:05]
B
That is.
- [22:05]
C
So they went through how to look at a bill, what all that includes. And I think a lot of misconceptions have been out there about it's the water, because our bill includes sewer and water and trash pickup and not everybody else has that, you know, other places it's just their water and they may have a septic tank or you know what I mean? So I feel like that, that along with all the other things, I just feel like that there's been a lot of negative publicity and everybody is very defensive. So they get tired of trying to explain themselves. So I'm just like, I think that we have to educate, we have to educate a lot. We have to improve the communication among the departments and we have to have good carryover. Again, going back to the water department, because I've been in it so much, you know, when things happen and it's after hours, this is an example after hours, there's a drop time that that information is not going into the office right away. And so then when people call to follow up on it, the central office didn't really know what had even happened yet. So. And that was always very frustrating to me because I'm just like, okay, you know, like, what happened? They came and what happened? Or you had cones sitting down and you're like, why don't I have cones sitting out? Or whatever. So that's probably the biggest thing. There are also some things that are going on with the city that people can receive more information. Like you can sign up for alerts and text messages.
- [23:27]
B
Okay?
- [23:27]
C
And I told Charlie when I found that out, like I didn't find that out until after I was on the council. Right. And so let us know about it. So when you're new, they give you that option. But all the people who've been there for a while had no idea. So, yeah, those are. Those are some of the things that I feel like I have to focus on first, because we can't move and improve until we're all communicating and working on the same page.
- [23:48]
B
Right. I know. The only way I know anything that's going on award is little community Facebook page.
- [23:53]
C
Right.
- [23:54]
B
You know, and you see a lot of people not so happy over there.
- [23:58]
C
I know, but. Well, and there's been some times that we had a. A group of people that came, they had an open meeting. It was a thing that was going to change, and they were all very upset about other things. And so it just became a time they were, you know, venting on everything. But when you ask them, like, who have you talked to or have you done? Well, they hadn't talked to anybody, you know, or they didn't know that this was happening. So after the meeting, I went outside with them, and I was just asking, like, how do you receive your information? And, well, just. And so they're like, do you read the newspaper? No, I don't get a newspaper anymore. Like, do you do social media? No, I don't do the Internet. I'm like, okay, you know, you're just like. So I'm just like, you got to give me something back. Like, how. How do they get it out? Well, in that particular situation, the neighbor that found out about everything and saw everything on the public post went door to door to all of his neighbors to get them involved.
- [24:49]
B
Oh, wow.
- [24:50]
C
Yeah. So I'm like, okay, we don't. We. The city can't necessarily do that. You know, like I said, if we start with some communication and we start with some, you know, community leaders that would. Would be willing to lead up some of those types of things to get the word out, it may work. We're small. We're small. We could do that.
- [25:07]
B
Well, you can grow it. Yeah. That's what's best part about it. Now we're getting pretty close to wrapping this up. What is something that people would be surprised to learn about you outside of work in politics?
- [25:22]
C
Well, you know this, but most people don't know this now, though. I used to sing, and I forgot all about that. Yeah. And I sang at. Which this may also get me in trouble, but I sang at Bill Clinton's inauguration ball.
- [25:36]
B
Okay.
- [25:37]
C
I used to. Awesome. Yeah. When I was in high school, and then right when I finished, I used to. I sang a lot I sang jazz and blues.
- [25:44]
B
Sure.
- [25:45]
C
And kind of always thought that might be what I wanted to do, but at the time, I really did not have the confidence to do it.
- [25:53]
B
Yeah. That is funny. Now you sang it. Bill Clinton's inauguration. I met Clinton numerous times when I was at the police department on a motorcycle squad. Now, by the time I got on the motorcycle squad, he was already out of office. But of course, he comes to Little Rock quite often, so we would still escort him going to events and stuff. And the thing I remember most about Clinton is once he met you, he never forgot your name.
- [26:21]
C
You're exactly right.
- [26:22]
B
You know, we briefly. He'd come by and shake our hands. Thanks for the escort. And, you know, he'd get everybody's name the first time. Well, a month or two later when he's back in town, he still knew your name.
- [26:32]
C
Exactly. I'm like, how in the heck I know.
- [26:34]
B
And he wouldn't call me by my last name.
- [26:36]
C
No, your first name.
- [26:37]
B
First name.
- [26:38]
C
When I saw him, he. When we remember when he first ran, I guess it was the first big governor's debate with Sheffield Nelson. They had it at the University of Arkansas. And so I worked in a group called University Programs, and I was assigned to be the host for the Clintons. So I had to, you know, breathe them there, get them there, take, you know, Hillary back and whatever. And as soon as I walked up and said, you know, I'm Stacy Spence. I'll be your host, he was like, stacy, how's your mom and dad? How's dude? And then asked me about my sisters and everything, I was just like, yes, sir. Yeah, he always very personal. That makes a good leader. Right, right, right.
- [27:17]
B
And different, I can tell you. And of course, we didn't do it, but he invited the motorcycle squad one night. He went to an event, and of course, we work hand in hand. Secret Service. So we escort him to the event. He goes to an event, and on his way out, he comes by and speaks to all the motors, and he invited us to go play cards with him. You go play cards with the president or former president at that time. But of course, we didn't do it. But I thought, man, that would have been cool.
- [27:42]
C
I know. He'd come over to our house a couple of times with my dad. Yeah. So actually, one time. This is so weird that I can even remember this. I've forgotten about it. Bill. Oh, wait. Faubus. Governor Faubus. Oh, yeah. Governor Faubus came over to our home one time.
- [27:59]
B
Oh, wow.
- [27:59]
C
And this is Before I knew everything about, you know, segregation and everything like that. I don't remember why he was there or who he came over for. And he had just. They had written a book or whatever. And so, yeah, I mean, it's kind of weird. Like, now look back at it and think, gosh, that really wasn't normal. Like, David Pryor, my brother, was aide for. And the Priors used to come over for 4th of July, and we were around them. That's bizarre now. And I hadn't really thought about any of that in forever.
- [28:25]
B
Now, you spent time in Washington, D.C. and what, 91 was.
- [28:29]
C
Yes, sir.
- [28:29]
B
Okay, now, how do you. How'd you like that?
- [28:33]
C
It's funny. I think Madison, my daughter Madison, I think she inherited that. That gene. For me, I loved it. Again, I was super anxious. Now, Clint McHague. Clint McHague lives there. So he was going to school at Georgetown. So Clint and I lived together. I lived with he and all of his college, you know, roommates. They were girls, too. Wasn't just all guys. So. But he worked. He worked on the Senate side, and I worked on the Congress, Congressional side. And so it was really a great experience. And I really thought that I wanted to move back there. And I just got a little anxious about.
- [29:07]
B
Sure.
- [29:08]
C
Going and doing that by myself. But. Yeah, you didn't have phones then, either. I can remember. You remember you used to have the calling card where you had to, like, push in 50.
- [29:17]
B
Holy smokes.
- [29:18]
C
That's a long time ago. So I had to remember those. Yes. So I had to catch a bus to Dupont Circle. And the Dupont Circle. I caught a. I did the subway and then got on another bus that would take me over to the Longworth Building.
- [29:31]
B
Okay.
- [29:31]
C
So the first time I got back, I took the bus over to Dupont. I couldn't remember what I was supposed to get, and then I didn't know who to ask. And I had to use my calling card to try to get a hold of Clint or get a hold of somebody to tell me what I was supposed to do. Right. And, yeah, that was an experience. But I can remember coming up out of the subway and there was, like, some reggae music playing and just people, all this hustle and bustle. And I thought, wow, what have I stepped on? Yeah, this is not. There's no cows. There's no empty grass everywhere.
- [30:02]
B
100%.
- [30:03]
C
And I love that, but I just. You just can't take this. I mean, no matter where I go to and travel with my kids or go see Madison, New York, and I Love it. I cannot wait to get home.
- [30:13]
B
I'm the same way. My Washington, D.C. experience. While I was on the police motorcycle squad, me and one of the guys I worked with, we had personal Harley Davidsons that we rode from here cabin to Washington D.C. for Police Week. So we were there for the whole week for Police Week. And it was a. I didn't know what kind of thing. You know, it was just craziness. I hadn't been around that many people ever. I mean, I was a police officer in Little Rock, but Little Rock is tiny compared to just people going every direction. We went down, and we're kind of idiots. We went down to the subway and I couldn't figure out how to.
- [30:50]
C
How to read it or how to
- [30:51]
B
read all this tracks going everywhere.
- [30:53]
C
I'm writing on my hand. I would have to write on my head so I can remember, because it was. I would get so nervous about, what if I get on the wrong thing? Where am I going to end up?
- [31:01]
B
Yeah, it was definitely an experience. I was ready to get back, you know?
- [31:05]
C
Yes.
- [31:05]
B
But that's amazing. It's something where our life took us,
- [31:09]
C
you know, when you're open to it.
- [31:11]
B
Absolutely, yes. Let's say it's your first year as mayor.
- [31:18]
C
You. You.
- [31:18]
B
We're gonna say you just completed your first year as the mayor of Ward. What does success look like to you?
- [31:28]
C
I think it looks like a build of momentum like that. We've now got our feet underneath us, and we're ready to really go into it.
- [31:37]
B
That's awesome. We're headed in the right direction. Right? Let's go. That's great. That is great. All right, Stacy, how can people connect with you? What is your social media?
- [31:48]
C
I'm on Facebook and I just started a new page of just McMinn for mayor.
- [31:53]
B
McMinn, McMinn for mayor. So it's MCM I n n for Mayor.
- [32:00]
C
Yes, sir. And so I'm on social media. It has my name and everything on it, but Brandon's situation kind of hijacked my personal Facebook page. And so a lot of people that are on there have a. A lot of followers that followed us all the way through and were praying for us from all over, from the. I mean, it really. From the High School Rodeo association across the United States and even down in Mexico. So there's a lot of people on there, and they're so. I honestly think that they've given me a lot of, like, give me a little confidence, make me feel a little bit better, like, I can do this. Yeah, Right.
- [32:31]
B
Absolutely.
- [32:32]
C
Yeah.
- [32:34]
B
Rodeo crowd. That's a good crowd.
- [32:36]
C
They are a good crowd.
- [32:37]
B
You know, I grew up doing the rodeo stuff myself. Now. We did more horse shows. We did more.
- [32:41]
C
You did horse shows?
- [32:42]
B
Yeah.
- [32:42]
C
I did not know that about you.
- [32:43]
B
Yeah. Yeah. I used to do a little calf roping back in the day, and I never rode bulls.
- [32:48]
C
I'm glad you did. I did a little bit of barrel racing, but not very much. Okay. Yeah.
- [32:53]
B
I did not know that the county
- [32:55]
C
fairs were the only time I got to ride. Yeah.
- [32:58]
B
Amazing. We grew up together, didn't even know it. I know it, but McMinn for mayor. I'm gonna put a link in the show notes. Everybody can scroll down to the bottom, see the show notes, and there will be a link to. To Stacy's Facebook page. And, Stacy, thank you so much for coming. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming, being on the show, and I want you to know the Arnet podcast door is always open. If there's something you need to get out to the people, you're more than welcome. Come on. This show we have, we usually get, I don't know, hundreds. We have right now, we have close to 3,000 downloads.
- [33:35]
C
And we've only been doing this proud of you. Yeah.
- [33:38]
B
So you're always welcome to the show
- [33:40]
C
anytime you run that agenda. If I get elected for that communication piece, so I can make sure.
- [33:46]
B
Well, if there's something breaking or you have an event coming up, please come on the show and let's talk about the event or just any information you need to get pushed out.
- [33:53]
C
Yes, sir.
- [33:54]
B
Push it out.
- [33:54]
C
That'd be great.
- [33:55]
B
Absolutely. Well, thank you.
- [33:57]
C
Thank you.
- [33:58]
B
Please come back and join us again.
- [33:59]
C
I will.
- [34:00]
B
And, Mr. Producer, we are sending this to you, sir. Thank you.
- [34:06]
A
That's a wrap for this episode of the Arnet podcast. We're grateful to have you as a part of our community. If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or leave us a review. It really helps us keep telling these important stories. And don't forget to check out the podcast description for more on our guest and topics. Thanks again for listening and make sure to follow the show so you'll never miss an episode of the Arnet podcast. This has been a Mallard Island Media and Mr. Producer production.