2012 toad suck festival guide

By RICHARD DUKElog cabin staff writer

Grammy-nominated

music star Jamey Johnson will bring his country act to the main stage at Toad Suck Daze this year. Johnson will be joined by popular soul group En Vogue, country recording artists Randy Houser and Drake White, Christian pop singers Jonny Diaz and Todd Agnew.

Johnson is the lat-est in top-flight acts who have made their way to the Toad Suck stage. In addition to his own music, John-son is a songwriter, who has penned songs for Trace Ad-kins, George Strait, James Otto and Jes-sie James.

Johnson’s most recent album, “The Guitar Song,” reached No. 1 on the U.S. Country chart and has been certi-fied gold. That was a follow-up to his plati-num album “That Lonesome Song,” which featured the hits “In Color” and “High Cost Of Liv-ing.” Johnson’s other hits include “The Dollar,” “My Way To You,” “Playing The Part,” and “Heart-ache.”

En Vogue enjoyed its most success in the mid-1990s where they won more MTV Video Music Awards

than any other fe-male group in his-tory. The group’s album “Funky Divas” went triple platinum and featured the hits “Free Your Mind,” “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” and “Giving Him Something He Can Feel.” They are also widely known for their collaboration with rap group Salt-N-Pepa on “Whatta Man.”

The group in dif-ferent forms have appeared in several movies and television shows including “A Different World” and “Batman Forever.” Three of the origi-nal members remain with the group.

Randy Houser is another country star who has written songs for his musi-cal cohorts. Although he is best known for singing “Boots On” and “Anything Goes,” he also co-wrote the hits “Honky Tonk Ba-donkadonk” for Trace Adkins and “Back That Thing Up” for Justin Moore.

Houser’s most re-cent album is “They Call Me Cadillac,” and he has been nominated for five Country Music Asso-ciation Awards.

Drake White is a singer and songwrit-er residing in Nash-ville, Tenn. The Ala-bama native ad-libs throughout a show, frequently involv-

ing the audience. He credits many country, blues, rock, freestyle and bluegrass influ-ences that forms his musical sound that is unique in its own way.

Jonny Diaz has a song style that can be compared to Jason Mraz and John May-er. Recording for the past nine years, Diaz released his major label album “More Beautiful You” in 2009, which featured the hit title track. He has appeared as an opening act for Ste-ven Curtis Chapman and MercyMe among others.

Todd Agnew, who has been recording since 1997, is widely

Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

Jamey Johnson, En Vogue bring country, soul to Toad Suck stage

Jamey Johnson

Sunday, April 29, 2012 — 3T

MUSIC < 4T

Randy Houser

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“Amazing Grace” called “Grace Like Rain.” Agnew has released eight albums, the most

recent being “How To Be Loved” in 2012.

ScheduleFriday

5 p.m. Dueling Pianos from Kings of

Conway6:15 p.m. SubUrban

Legend7:30 p.m. Kristen

Nicole9 p.m. En Vogue

Saturday11:30 a.m. Cobb

Brothers Band1 p.m. Luke Wil-

liams2:30 p.m. Gwendlyn

Kay4 p.m. Ryan

Couron5:30 p.m. Indian

Rodeo7 p.m. Drake

White8:15 p.m. Randy

Houser9:30 p.m. Jamey

Johnson

SundayNoon Judah

Chorale1:15 p.m. belair.2:30 p.m. Jonny

Diaz4 p.m. Todd

Agnew

MUSIC from 3T

En Vogue’s Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson and Maxine Jones perform at the 6th annual Jazz in the Gardens on March 20, 2011, in Miami Gardens. PHOTO BY JOHNNY NUNEZ / WIRE IMAGE

Only true Arkansas toads are allowed to compete in the Annual World Championship Toad Races during Toad Suck Daze.

So it’s a challenge for youngsters and ac-companying grown ups to search creeks and streams after dark.

You might spot the intrepid toad hunters, carrying flashlights and cardboard boxes, specially outfitted for keeping those special toads fit for the series of races that highlight the annual Toad Suck Daze races in the Toad Dome.

Once gathered, the successful hunters drop off their toads at the

Chamber of Commerce office during business hours where the toads are happily ensconced in Toad Condos. Infor-mation about bounties

paid will be forthcom-ing.

Last year’s weather was not as conducive to toad hunting as in years past, but once the word

went out and Toad Con III was declared, the hunters were successful at rounding up enough

toads to keep the races going.

A popular spot for successful toad procure-

ment is Tucker Creek Walking Trail, beginning where it intersects with Salem Road.

Sunday, April 29, 2012 — 5T Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

A participant hunting toads for last year’s races comes up toad-less. COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTO

Rounding up toads for races can be a challenge

To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat6T — Sunday, April 29, 2012

By MEGAN REYNOLDSLOG CABIN STAFF WRITER

Jerry and Angela

Rye consider being se-lected as co-chairs for the 2012 Toad Suck Daze festival an honor.

They have each worked for Acxiom for more than 15 years and call Conway home, and they both share an en-thusiasm for the love of the toad.

“Jerry went to school at UCA and he loved it and didn’t want to leave,” Angela Rye said. “I came here after I fin-ished school to work for Acxiom.”

They chose to raise their children, Alys-sa, 9, and Jacob, 3, in Conway because of its family atmosphere and close-knit community.

“I just love it here,” Angela Rye said. “It’s so close and really, it’s like a big family. Even though its grown so much over the last several years, you still feel like it’s a small little family community where everyone pitches in to help. If there is a need, people come run-ning.”

CO-CHAIRS < 7T

Honorary co-chairs excited to share love of all things toad

Jerry and Angela Rye and their children Alyssa and Jacob. SUBMITTED PHOTO


The family are ac-tive members at Central Baptist Church, where Jerry plays saxophone in the orchestra and they couple helps with the church’s Awana pro-gram.

Jerry also graduated from the Faulkner Coun-ty Leadership Institute and has also become active in the Faulkner County Youth Leader-ship Institute program.

Between volunteer-ism and serving on vari-ous committees, Jerry has worked behind the scenes of Toad Suck Daze for ten years.

Angela Rye said her husband called her after a meeting two years ago to let her know they had been asked to serve as co-chairs.

“We love Toad Suck Daze, so we were so ex-cited to have the chance to host and promote the festivities,” she said. “It really was an honor.”

Rye said her children have taken on an active hosting role as well.

“They think they are the hosts and it is their job to get to invite ev-eryone to come,” Rye said.

The family will head the Mardi Daze parade Saturday morning along-side Toadmaster Brian Ratliff.

For those attending the festival, Rye said, the message is that there re-ally is something for ev-eryone.

“Bring the whole fam-ily and take part in all of it — take it all in. Just come and walk around and be a part of it,” she

said. “Stay for the whole day, make a weekend of it.”

Members of the 2012 Toad Suck Daze Commit-tee are: Chairman Marc Shock, Vice-Chairman Joe Crisafulli, Treasurer John Albritton, Secre-tary Stacie Edwards, Assistant Treasurer Carter Rook, Assistant Secretary Jackie Strain-Mahar; sub-committee chairmen Scott Thone (Concessions/Amuse-ment), Carter Rook (Drinks), Lanette Rog-ers (Entertainment), Jay McConnell (Golf), Joe Crisafulli (Logistics), Brenda Curtis (Mer-chandising), Sherry Pelot (Toadal Kids Zone), Re-becca McHughes (Toad Bucks), Chris and Jenni-fer Green (Toad Dome), Joy Cox (Toad Market), Sarah Cook (VIP/Schol-

arship), Valerie Lane (Volunteers/Informa-tion); and Anne Mann, Brad Tabor, Chris Baker, Doug Coppock, Gelinda Mudgett, Jackie Bennett, Aaron Knight, Amanda Cutter, Arthur Ingram, Chip DeBoard, Chip Miller, Jordan Lieblong, Kim Nash, Paul Kerst, Sarah Luyet, Wes Dyson, Justin Bennett, Michelle McKown, Cindy Ludford, Robert McHughes, Scot-ty Robinson, Amanda Beene, Michael Fowler, Lisa Hall, Kim McClain, Johnny Rackley, Amy Reed, Amanda Williams, Jessica Zimmerman, Brett Barry, Amanda Bledsoe, Evelyne Dean, Kristy Grunwald, Tanya Malcolm, Jackie Rackley, Sharon Rietzke, Danny Williams, Ken Ekenseair, Mike Rhoades and Lloyd Smith.

CO-CHAIRS from 6T

New book analyzes history of Faulkner CountyBy BECKY HARRIS

LOG CABIN STAFF WRITER

Since the last Toad

Suck Daze, lovers of our area have been blessed with a new book dedi-cated to the history of

Faulkner County.Dr. Roger Pauly of

the University of Cen-tral Arkansas has writ-

ten and published His-toric Faulkner County: An Illustrated History.

Participating in the

publication of the col-orful book through its commissioning was the Faulkner County His-

torical Society with sup-port from the Faulkner

HISTORY < 8T

County Museum, the University of Central Arkansas Archive and the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. The history book is avail-able at the Faulkner County Museum.

Pauly presents a choice of answers for the question of how Toad Suck Ferry got its name, including the popularly accepted one about the boatmen who, marooned because of low water, lay around and sucked from bottles of spirits so long that they “swelled up like toads.”

The Toad Suck cross-ing of the Arkansas River was served by a ferry from 1820 until 1970 when the Kerr/McClellan Arkansas River Naviga-tion System was complet-ed. There was no question the official name of the crossing on Highway 60 connecting Faulkner and Perry Counties would be Toad Suck Ferry Lock and Dam.

As reported in last year’s official Toad Suck Daze guide, there are a hundred or more “Suck” locations in the U.S.

There’s Bear Suck in Oklahoma. Tennessee has Bee Suck, Bug Suck Lake and Mud Suck Creek.

There once was a Toad-suck, Texas, established long after Toad Suck, Ark. But when the rail-road went around those Texas pretenders, the community dried up.

Not one of these loca-tions, however, has a three-day festival dedicated to and exalting the lowly toad.

Welcome to Toad Suck Daze. Have fun.

HISTORY from 7T


Scholarship recipi-ents for 2012 Toad Suck Daze are:

Lisa Yates, of Con-way Schools, daugh-ter of Lorie and Dar-rell Yates, attending Central Baptist Col-lege; Andrea An-drews, of Conway Schools, daughter of Tracy and Mark An-drews, attending the University of Cen-tral Arkansas; Aspen Madrid, of Conway Schools, daughter of Artuvo and Tracy Madrid, attending Hendrix College; Bec-ca Morgan, of Conway Schools, daugther of Yvonne and Trevor Morgan, attending Hendrix College; Cal-li Morrison, of Con-way Christian School, daughter of James and Angela Morri-son, attending UCA;

Hannah M. Rehm, of St. Joseph School, daughter of Kevin and Crystal Rehm, at-tending UCA; Hunter Parker, of Greenbrier School, son of Gary and Donna Parker, attending UCA; John Martindal, of Vilonia School, son of Rodney and Tammy Martin-dale, attending UCA; Katelyn Dunn, of Vi-lonia School, daugh-ter of Josh and Tina Dunn, attending UCA; Kayla Pruitt, of St. Joseph School, daughter of Paula and Carl Pruitt, at-tending University of Arkansas Com-munity College at Morrilton; McKenzie Kaye Treat, of Con-way Christian School, daughter of Mark and Tammie Treat, attending Central Baptist College; Mi-

chael Caleb Imboden, of Conway School, son of Cory and Jill Imboden, attend-ing UACCM; Robin Hamilton, daughter of Shane Hamilton and Kellie Yates, at-tending UCA; Sar-ah Hammontree, of Greenbrier School, daughter of Shawn and Tonya Ham-montree, attending Central Baptist Col-lege; Sarah Lewter, of Greenbrier School, daughter of Erin and Dustin Lewter, attending UCA; Sa-vannah Cooper, of St. Joseph School, daughter of Buster and Valerie Cooper, attending Hendrix College; and Savan-nah Sloane Nolan, of St. Joseph School, daughter of Michelle Nabholz, attending UCA.

Scholarships go out for 2012 Toad Suck Daze

While there are a few more unusual things to add to the menu at Toad Suck Daze this year, or-ganizers believe the “tried and the true” items are what keep people coming.

“It’s worth men-tioning, though we al-ways do want to know what’s new and differ-ent, that all of peoples’ favorites are going to be back this year,” said Mary Margaret Sat-terfield, event chair. “People talk about how they’re excited for Toad Suck Daze because they want to get their chicken on a stick, a corn dog, and all of their favorites.”

The usual vendors, some of whom have been with the festival for more than 20 years, will be back again this year.

Add to the menu fried mashed potatoes, fried cream cheese

nuggets and fried Wis-consin cheese.

Satterfield said a popular Wisconsin cheese stand is back, though it has been gone for several years.

“I don’t know if it’s because they’re from Wisconsin, or if their

cheese is really good or what, but everyone loves the hot Wiscon-sin cheese stand.”

A new sandwich stand will be at the festival this year, said Satterfield, building “Cubans” and “Phil-lies.”

Another vendor will debut fried Moon Pies and fried peanut butter and jelly sand-wiches.

The fried Twinkies, fried Oreos and fried candy bars will still be available, she said.

Food vendors at

2012 Toad Suck Daze will be in the 40s.

Remember that the

festival’s currency, Toad Bucks, are non-refundable.


Chicken on a stick is a long-running favorite food option at Toad Suck Daze. COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTO

Tried and true items highlight food offerings


The third annual Conway Corporation Toadal Game Zone is bigger and better this year and features a ten-by-ten lighted stage for Toad Suck Daze visitors to per-form Dance Central 2 or karaoke.

In addition, Con-way Corporation has again hired IGX to bring even more vid-eo games to the event

and will have a tent full of the latest that gaming systems have to offer.

The Toadal Game Zone tent will open the Toad Suck Daze festival at 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 4. Visi-tors to the tent can play video games, sing karaoke from Conway Corpora-tion’s Digital Cable package or dance on

stage with Dance Central 2 for Xbox 360 Kinect.

Free game play will be available all day, every day, and the stage will be desig-nated for karaoke or dancing at different times throughout the weekend.

Karaoke and danc-ing contestants will be entered into a draw-ing to win a $50 VISA

gift card. Two gift cards will be given away each day of the festival. Visitors to the booth will also be eligible to win other prizes including free digital and high-defi-nition cable service for six months.

The Toadal Game

Zone tent will be open during Toad Suck Daze festival hours, May 4-6 and is located on the corner of Main and Parkway streets downtown.

Toadal Game Zone Schedule

Friday: 6 – 8:30 p.m.

Dance Central 28:30 – 11 p.m. Kara-

okeSaturday: 8 a.m. – 6

p.m. Open Stage 6 – 8:30 p.m. Dance

Central 28:30 – 11 p.m. Kara-

okeSunday: 11 a.m. –

5:30 p.m. Open Stage

Conway Corporation Toadal Game Zone features karaoke stage

Two Toad Suck attendees play Guitar Hero in the Conway Corporation Toadal Game Zone tent last year. COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTO

Toads hop to various commands

By DAVID MCCCOLLUMLOG CABIN STAFF WRITER

From years of ex-perience, from young-sters to celebrities, there is no toadally surefire way to han-dle a racing toad.

Some say it’s simi-lar to relating to a girlfriend: Whisper in its ear and it will do anything. The trick is finding the toad’s ear.

Then, there’s the diva method: Ap-plause. A toad, like humans, will reach back for a little extra with applause.

Another method is referred as the wife-nurturing approach: Blow on its back and the toad will be at your command — at least for awhile.

And there’s the ‘Mom’ in her ‘clean- your-room’ approach: Yell at it. Steady and stern.

There’s the heavy-handed strategy: Slap

just behind the toad. (Just make sure the toad doesn’t make a sudden backward move).

The fairy tale prin-cess approach: Kiss it. One beauty queen once said that it may not assure victory, but there was possi-ble a chance it could turn into a handsome prince.

About 300 toads will be used for weekend races, from youngsters to celeb-rities. Probably, mo-tivation techniques are as different and varied as they are for any athlete.

There’s always a surprise with a toad goes on its own tan-gent — or “toadgent.”

When then-Gov. Bill Clinton participated in the race in 1988, his toad jump off — way out of its lane.

Clinton analyzed: “Just like the Legis-lative. It took a turn to the right.”

A participant in last year’s toad races prepares to unleash her racer. COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTO


Competitors named in festival’s most ‘ribbeting’ eventBy MEGAN REYNOLDS

LOG CABIN STAFF WRITER

Stuck on a Truck, a

grueling mental and physical test of endur-ance, is one of the most exciting and entertain-

ing features at the Toad Suck Daze festival. For

STUCK < 14T

Stuck on a Truck has been a staple of Toad Suck Daze for more than 11 years. COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTO


more than 11 years, the event has begun before the first toad hops to a finish line and usually continues for days after

the last corndog has been consumed.

The event began in 2001 as “Hug a Bug,” and with a grand prize of a red Volkswagen Beetle. Sixty-five hours and 14 min-

utes from the start of the competition, Phillip Toll of Conway won the keys to the brand new bug.

This year, gathered around a shiny, new 2012 Ford F150, 25 competi-

tors will stand for days with at least one hand on the truck in hopes of taking it home, driven by their desire to win, and the cheers of support from their loved ones. Contestants are moni-tored by paramedics and receive only short, period-ical breaks to recharge.

Last year’s winner, local hairstylist Anna Johnson remained stuck to her truck for nearly six days, winning after 136 hours.

Giving back to the community is another aspect of the competi-tion. This year specta-tors and supporters are encouraged to vote for their favorite contestant to donate money to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Foundation.

One vote will equal one dollar, and the contestant raising the most money will win a prize. Previous year’s fundraisers have brought in $10,000 for lo-cal charities.

The competition will begin at noon on Thurs-day. Other prizes up for grabs include a Bad Boy MZ4221BS mower from Duncan Outdoors, a Hot Springs Spa hot tub from Luxury Pool & Spa, an Eight Weeks to Wellness program from Hurley Chiropractic and a $2,000 gift certificate from Frey-aldenhoven Heating and Cooling.

Contestants on deck for this year’s contest in-clude: Brandon Curtis, 28, of Conway; Johnny Tipton, 38, of Cabot; Chris Brynell, 27, of Cabot; Billy Brown,

45, of Greenbrier; Stepha-nie Henson, 31, of Mau-melle; Melissa Wyles, 35, of Conway; Ginger King, 23, of Beebe; Mo Skelton, 35, of Conway; Matt Gris-som, 23, of Conway; Char-lie Wagner, 20, of Conway; Elizabeth Reynolds, 39, of Vilonia; Steven How-ard, 40, of Clinton; Amy Fletcher, 20, of Conway; Jason Beck, 27, of Hensley; Keri Davidson, 34, of Guy; Renee’ McGhee, 48, of Op-pelo; Ronald Upson, 35, of Cabot; Brian Root, 54, of Hot Springs; Luke Martin, 24, of Conway; Jumbo Cau-then, 35, of Atkins; Kayla Scott, 21, of Conway;

Lucas Law, 37, of Con-way; Jason Hocott, 27, of Conway; Russell Dorsey, 23, of Conway; and Ste-ven Calhoun, 20, of Con-way.

STUCK from 13T


The 22nd Annual Toadsuck Sunday Dinner will offer Toad Suck Daze revelers an early start on this year’s activities.

The dinner will be the today. The fund-raiser will be held at the Conway Senior Citizens Center, 1620 Donaghey Ave., the meal will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“These hours have proven to be conve-nient for individuals and family groups who stop by after Church,” Debra Rob-inson, director of the Faulkner Coun-ty Senior Citizens Program explained. “Folks still have most of the afternoon available for other activities.”

This year the menu

includes: Chicken and dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, cran-berry sauce, rolls, cheese cake and a choice of drinks (in-cluding a mysterious green beverage la-beled “Toad Juice”).

It will also feature a Kid’s Meal, which includes a hot dog, potato chips, cookie and drink. Prices will be $6 for adults, $4 for children ages 4 to 12, and children 3 years and under will receive a free kid’s meal. Carry out meals will be avail-able.

This year in con-junction with the din-ner, there will be a Bake Sale and Silent Auction. There will be baked goods made by some of the best cooks

in town. The Silent Auction will feature lots of gift certificates and a big variety of items that have been donated. Donations will also be collected for a chance to win a beautiful handmade quilt by Lollie Horn. Ms. Horn is one of the center’s participants and has been making quilts for many years.

Tickets are now on sale at the Conway Senior Center. Tick-ets will also be sold at the door.

All proceeds will benefit Senior Pro-grams in Faulkner County. The Faulkner County Senior Citi-zens Program is a United Way Agency.

For more informa-tion, visit http://fcse-niors.no-ip.org or call 327-2895.

22nd Sunday Dinner scheduled for today

Rotary members to work TSD pancake breakfast

Members of Conway Rotary Club will again don aprons and wield spatulas for the annu-al Pancake Breakfast on the Saturday morn-ing of Toad Suck Daze.

The event returns this year to the dining hall of Central Baptist College, the presenting sponsor.

Pancakes, toad sau-sages, coffee and juice will be served from 6:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Tickets are $5 and can be bought from Conway Rotary Club members and at the door.

Proceeds go to schol-arships for students attending Central

Baptist College, Hen-drix College and the University of Central Arkansas.

More than 90 mem-bers of the club will participate in some facet of the event, with long-time members having moved up the

PANCAKE < 17T


By DAVID MCCOLLUMLog Cabin sTaff wriTer

The Crawl, Drag and Squirt at Toad Suck Daze is a com-bination of imagi-nation, education and competition for youngsters.

First, it allows elementary school youngsters to learn what it’s like to ful-fill a common dream — to be a fireman.

The kids will go through a timed ob-stacle course that requires many of the skills use by firemen. They include putting on a coat and pack,

CRAWL < 17T

Kids learn firemen skills at Crawl, Drag and Squirt

Crawl, Drag and Squirt allows children to live the firefighter dream. CoUrTneY sPraDLin PHoTo


crawling through a confined space, pull-ing a sled, smashing things with a rubber mallet, dragging a hose over a set dis-tance and shooting water at targets.

Through the age-graded competi-tion (grades 1-2 and 3-4 with boys and girls divisions), the youngsters learn about fire safety and the community is educated about the various chal-lenges faced by fire-men.

Youngsters qual-ify in preliminary competition at each of Conway’s elemen-

tary schools. Other preliminary compe-tition will be Friday at the Central Fire Station.

Opening ceremo-nies will begin at a roped-off area on Front Street will be at 11:30 a.m. Sat-urday. Final rounds will start at 12:30 p.m.

Each youngster who makes the fi-nals will receive a medal. Trophies will be awarded the top three finishers in each division. A traveling trophy is awarded to the ele-mentary school that accumulates the most points in the finals.

CRAWL from 16T

cooking order to cook toad sausages.

Those with the most seniority will be greeting old friends at the door.

For sponsorship

information, con-tact Roger Lewis at [email protected].

In addition to Central Baptist College, this year’s sponsors are Hur-

ley Chiropractic and Welness Cen-ter, Arvest Bank, DQ Grill & Chill, Independent Living Services, Nabholz Construction Ser-vices, NBMC, Inc,

Dr. and Mrs. Jim Capps, Conway Pre-cast: Greg and Joan Shofner, Freyalden-hoven Heating and Cooling and State Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway.

PANCAKE from 15T

By RICHARD DUKELog Cabin staFF writer

Another year, an-other chance to write about the natural con-nection between toads and Blue Bell Ice Cream.

The Blue Bell Ulti-mate Toad Suck Daze Experience is open to students in grades Kindergarten to 4th grade. The contest in-volves a story about both toads and Blue Bell Ice Cream. The stories should be lim-ited to 100 words, but children are encour-aged to use their imag-ination.

Two winners will

be named in the 2012 contest. The winner and their immedi-ate family (up to 6 people) will receive the grand prize, only during the 2012 fes-tival. Winners will be selected by an anonymous and inde-pendent judging pan-el. All entries must include the entrant’s name, parent’s name, grade, school, and phone number.

The grand prize in-cludes: free Blue Bell Ice Cream during the Toad Suck Daze fes-tival, $200 in Toad Bucks to be used dur-ing Toad Suck Daze, free Toad Suck Daze

t-shirts for the family, access to the VIP roof-top and special VIP Toad Racing.

The contest opened April 9 and the dead-line to submit entries was April 25.

Children encouraged to write about toads, ice cream


Toad Market gives festival-goers

chance to shopBy RICHARD DUKE

Log Cabin sTaff wriTer

A perfect combi-nation of commer-cial and homemade products come to-gether with the Toad Market. A trip to the festival would not be com-plete without stop-ping by the market to see the unique items available.

According to fes-tival organizers, the market has seen vendors come back year after year, with some being involved as long as the festival itself.

Around 150 ven-dors will be a part of the 2012 lineup, selling everything from homemade

soap and jewelry to clothing and lawn furniture and pret-ty much everything in between. Many of the vendors sell items, some person-alized, that cannot be found anywhere else.

There is a wide variety of prod-ucts including: dip mixes, jewelry, chil-dren’s clothing, iron work, signs, home décor, T-shirts, sand art, wooden toys and much more. Also included in the Toad Market is a Business Expo area for businesses and organizations to hand out informa-tion.

Those attending the festival and the Toad Market will see local ven-dors and friends, but thhey will also see special shops that come in from other parts of the state and region just for the fes-tival. It ’s a good time to stock up on some very unique items.

The Toad Mar-ket will be open all three days of the festival. For a com-plete list of vendors, visit www.toadsuck.org.

A young Toad Suck Daze attendee makes a selection at the Toad Market last year. CoUrTneY sPraDLin


Toad Suck Daze is packed with activities for children. COURT-NEY SPRADLIN PHOTO

Toadal Kidz Zone offers loads of activitiesThe kids know where

to go during Toad Suck Daze.

There’s an area just for them, the Toadal Kidz Zone on the lawn of the Faulkner County Courthouse.

Clowns, magicians, balloon artists will stroll through the area. There will be a petting zoo and pony rides.

A sand pile with hid-den treasures will be a popular spot for digging.

School choirs will sing and gymnasts will

tumble on two stages.This year’s sponsor is

Smith Ford.Other sponsors are

Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, Dick’s Sport-ing Goods and Y107.1 My Country.

Here’s the schedule of activities:Friday Kid’s stage

3:45 p.m. The Bal-loon Man

4:15 p.m. Children’s Pet Show

Friday Court-house stage

5:15 p.m. Tommy

Terrific’s Wacky Magic, 6:15 p.m. Tommy

Terrific’s Wacky Magic, saturday Court-

house stage10:30 a.m. Ida Burns

ZONE < 20T


Scat Cats Choir11 a.m. Mustang

Singers of Julia Lee Moore

11:30 a.m. Pride of Woodrow Cummins Choir

Noon Vilonia Prima-ry Melodies Choir

1 p.m. Ruth Doyle Intermediate Choir

1:30 p.m. Showstop-pers of Greenbrier Westside

2 p.m. The Balloon Man

2:30 p.m. Sonshine Academy Dancers

3 p.m. Radio Disney Rockin’ Road Show

4:15 p.m. Kinder-Songs with Brian and Terri Kinder

5:15 p.m. Dick’s Sporting Goods Toady Prize Dig

5:30 p.m. Voices of Sallie Cone

Saturday KidS’ Stage

10:30 a.m. Marvin Williams and Friends

11 a.m. Greenbrier Eastside Sports Stack-ers

11:30 a.m. Green-

brier Eastside Baton Twirlers

Noon Tommy Terrif-ic’s Wacky Magic

1 p.m. Little Rock Zoo “Warm and Fuzzy Mammals Show”

1:30 p.m. Sonshine Academy Gym and

Cheer Force All Stars2 p.m. Little Rock

Zoo “Reptiles Rock”2:30 p.m. Checkers

the Clown4 p.m. The Balloon

Man5:30 p.m. Central Ar-

kansas Baton Twirlers.

Sunday CourthouSe Stage

12:30 p.m. UCA Community School of Music Guitar Studio

1:30 p.m. Mayflower Golden Eagles Choir

2 p.m. Theodore Jones Elementary Choir

3 p.m. Central Ar-kansas Children’s Choir

3:30 p.m. Tiger Tones of Ellen Smith Elemen-tary.

Sunday KidS’ Stage1:30 p.m. Balloon

Man2 p.m. Checkers the

Clown2:30 p.m. Tommy

Terrific’s Wacky Magic3 p.m. The Balloon

Man3:30 p.m. Tommy

Terrific’s Wacky Magic

ZONE from 19T

Children play in a sand box at last year’s Toad Suck Daze. COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTO


Children ride motorcycles on a carousel along the midway at last year’s Toad Suck Daze. The festival offers many sporting options, real and simulated. COURTNEY SPRADLIN PHOTO

Sports again hopping through Toad Suck weekendBy DAVID MCCOLLUM

LOg CAbIN STAFF wRITER

Participants will be running, putting and riding during sporting events at Toad Suck Daze.

TOAD SUCK RUNSThe Toad Suck Daze

10K, 5K and Tadpole Trots have been part of the festival from al-most the beginning and attract both serious and recreation runners throughout the state and beyond.

The event, coordi-nated by the Conway Kiwanis Club and Re-gions Bank and which benefits several local charities, will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday at John McConnell Sta-dium at Conway High. The 10k serves as the Road Runners Club of Arkansas state cham-pionship race at that distance. The 5K and

SPORTS < 23T


LOG CABIN DEMOCRAT

With the launch of the Log Cabin’s iP-hone app two years ago, loyal readers have been able to keep up with the lat-est news and infor-mation as they go about their weekend at Toad Suck Daze.

The convenience of having a home-town newspaper at the touch of a but-ton has been a ma-jor draw for users as they browse for local news, check out the Spotted galleries, search the classified section or get updat-ed on the latest Toad Suck Daze news and festival information.

The Toad Suck Daze portion of the Log Cabin Democrat iPhone app contains all of the informa-tion you will need to navigate the festi-val’s attractions and happenings, includ-ing event listings, vendor and Toad Bucks locations, and photos of videos of all things toad.

“There isn’t a more comprehensive and interactive guide to Toad Suck Daze than our iPhone applica-

tion,” said Publisher Rick Fahr. “The app lets you keep up with everything that’s go-ing on as it’s hap-pening.”

This year, Fahr said, the iPhone app will be available for free on the iTunes store during the fes-tival.

Also adding to the interactive experi-ence is the addi-tion of photo shar-ing via Instagram, a free app available on both iOs and An-droid platforms, that enables the user to document the festi-val experience, and using #toadsuck, live feed their pho-tos to a slideshow on the Log Cabin’s website at www.th-ecabin.net.

The initial app project was a col-laboration involv-ing marketing firm Clarovista, the Conway Chamber of Commerce and four sponsors.

Log Cabin iPhone app, Instagram lend

interactive guide to Toad Suck


walk will begin at the same time. The Tadpole Trot, an age-graded se-ries of races over various distances for youngsters, 4-12, at various distances, will be-gin after the main races.

Pre-race reg-istration is open online at www.toadsuckrun.

com until 8 p.m. Thursday. Day of race registration begins at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 7:30. Partici-pants can also register and pick up packets from 4 to 7 p.m. Fri-day at the Con-way High School fieldhouse.

Entry fees for the 10K and 5K events are $20 through Thurs-

day and $25 be-ginning Friday, May 4. The Tad-pole Trot costs $5 without a T-shirt or $8 with a T-shirt.

SOME GOLFThe TSD three-

man scramble will be Friday at a new location — The Greens at Nutters Chapel.

Shotgun starts will be at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Entry fee is $300 per team and is due by Wednes-day, May 2.

The field is lim-ited to 60 teams in five flights.

Furthern infor-mation can be ob-tained from Jay McConnell, 501-713-1532.

THE RIDEThe Tour de

Toad will fea-ture 33- and 45-mile bike rides

through Faulkner and Perry coun-ties.

The event wil l begin at 8 a.m. Sunday at the Conway High f ieldhouse. All partic ipants wil l receive lunch.

Registration fee is $35 per person and can be done online at www.active.com or at 7 a.m. on the day

of the race. Con-tact Kely Bulling-ton (329-7323) or [email protected].

Process will Literacy Action of Central Arkan-sas, which teach-es adults to read and those non-natives who don’t speak English to read, write and speak the lana-guage.

SPORTS from 21T

2012 toad suck festival guide

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