House of Blurbs

Winter Market!

The Fayetteville Farmers’ Market announced the addition of a winter market at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. Beginning Saturday and continuing through March, the market will be open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with your favorite market vendors offering fresh produce, meats, eggs, baked goods and fine arts and crafts. For more information, check out the market’s Facebook page or fayettevillefarmersmarket.org.

Homes For Our Troops

Homes for Our Troops (homesforourtroops.org), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to building specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans, will hold a Groundbreaking Ceremony in Farmington on Saturday to begin construction of a home for Marine Sgt. Marshall Kennedy, who sustained severe injuries while serving in the U.S. military. The home will provide Kennedy with maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently. Kennedy was on his fourth deployment when he lost both of his legs and suffered severe damage to his left arm after stepping on an IED in Sangin, Afghanistan, on June 13, 2011. For more information on how you can get involved, visit homesforourtroops.org/marshallkennedy.

Tennis Court Renovation

The renovation of the Wilson Park Tennis Courts has begun, and for safety and construction purposes the two western tennis courts will be closed to the public throughout the renovation process. The two courts will be completely resurfaced along with one of the courts being converted into four youth courts.

This project was made possible by a grant from the United States Tennis Association for Two-Court Renovation Projects, along with additional money from the Arkansas USTA to cover material costs. The project should be completed by Jan. 31, at which time the courts will again be open to the public. For information regarding this project, please contact Fayetteville Parks and Recreation at 444-3471.

Walmart CEO’s Baby Pig

Walmart CEO Mike Duke is celebrating a birthday Dec. 7, and national animal rights nonprofit group Mercy For Animals has given him a gift: a mother pig named Julia, who was rescued from a factory farm just like those that supply cheap pork to Walmart stores.

MFA has sponsored Julia, who is now safe at a New York sanctuary for farmed animals, in Duke’s name. MFA has been leading a campaign against the retail giant following undercover investigations into different Walmart suppliers that revealed cruelty to pigs.

The group also protested Duke’s appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations meeting Tuesday outside the Harold Pratt House at 58 E. 68th St. with a 10-foot-tall inflatable pig locked in a narrow gestation crate and a mobile billboard circling the building.

Deputy Coles

Jay Coles has been named Deputy District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Arkansas District Office to expand delivery of SBA’s loan programs and services throughout 75 counties.

Coles’ 30-year banking career includes positions as regional sales manager and lending specialist in both the commercial and agribusiness unit for Wells Fargo Financial, regional credit manager at Telemark, and vice president/marketing manager and credit analyst with Bank One, where he focused on new product development and territory expansion. Coles has also worked at the Farm Credit Administration as an examiner-in-charge where he led a team to examine credit institutions nationwide. He also worked with the United States Department of Agriculture as an assistant to the Indiana USDA Chief of Programs where he was responsible for loan making and servicing of the economic emergency disaster loans and minority business financing.