People & Places

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Fayetteville student

Bodenhamer Fellow

Naseer Naseem of Fayetteville has been named a University of Arkansas Honors College Bodenhamer Fellow. The fellowship, one of the most prestigious undergraduate awards that the university offers, is worth $70,000.

Naseem graduated with distinguished honors from Fayetteville High School and is an AP Scholar. He plans to study biomedical engineering and eventually become a physician.

He has volunteered more than 200 hours at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Fayetteville. Naseem also traveled to Moore, Okla., following last year's tornado as a member of the Humanity First Disaster Relief team.

He was selected to participate in the Teen Leadership Experience, a program sponsored by the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, and attended Arkansas Governor's School. Naseem has been active on the Quiz Bowl team since seventh grade and was captain of the Academic Challenge Event team.

In his senior year, he founded and became president of the Science National Honor Society. He also served as treasurer of ASTRA, a student branch of Altrusa International.

He is the son of Hameed and Mubarka Naseem.

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Gilliland marks

90th birthday

Geneva E. Gilliland of Seligman, Mo., celebrated her 90th birthday on June 11. She was born June 11, 1924, in Shell Knob, Mo., to Tom and Lisa Mitchell.

She married Howard Gilliland on June 17, 1941. He died in 1987.

The couple had three children -- Herbert Gilliland of Seligman, Mo., Louise Pippin of Rock Springs, Mo., and Linda Schockley of Little Flock. Gilliland also has eight grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and 32 great-great-grandchildren.

She retired in 1987 after working for 28 years at Daisy Manufacturing. She also spent time working at a tomato plant in Pea Ridge and helping her husband on the family farm.

She worked as a caregiver for a number of years after retiring.

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Courtroom named

for former judge

The district courtroom for the Springdale District Court was named the Judge Stanley W. Ludwig Courtroom on June 10. Ludwig presided for 28 years over the city's district court and its predecessor, the Springdale City Court.

He presided over an estimated 300,000 cases during his time on the bench.

Ludwig, who retired in 2010, was appointed judge in 1982. He never had an opponent in any of the elections for the position.

Ludwig was a graduate of Springdale High School, the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas School of Law. He died in April 2013.

Jimenez, Garduno

win scholar awards

Diana Jimenez and Judith Itzel Garduno, both of Rogers, were named All-American Scholars by the United States Achievement Academy. The program recognizes students who excel in the academic disciplines.

All-American Scholars must have a 3.3 grade point average or higher and must be nominated by an instructor or other qualified sponsor. Jimenez and Garduno were both nominated by Margaret Lockhart, an academic facilitator at Elmwood Middle School in Rogers.

Both girls will appear in the All-American Scholar Yearbook published nationally.

Jimenez is the daughter of Tomas Jimenez and Abelina Garcia. She is the granddaughter of Celerino and Margarita Garcia of Guanajuato, Mexico.

Garduno is the daughter of Martin and Maria Garduno. She is the granddaughter of Serafin Pineda and Maria Perea of Tranadacuao, Mexico, and Thomas Garduno and Magdalena Ballesteros of Jerecuaro, Mexico.

Local cyclists log

almost 30,000 miles

A team of 252 cyclists from Northwest Arkansas logged almost 30,000 miles in May as part of the National Bike Challenge. The team racked up 29,236 miles, well over the goal of 5,000 miles set by the Northwest Arkansas Council.

Riders in Northwest Arkansas were among more than 37,000 who participated in the event nationwide. The local effort ranked 18th in the contest nationally.

Riders also burned 1,512,563 calories, and more than half of the riders logged at least 30 miles. Eight riders logged more than 500 miles, and four rode every day.

Participants from Girls Bike Bentonville, a 26-member team, logged 5,629 miles, and the 10 riders from the city of Fayetteville logged 804 miles.

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McCrary inducted

into Fifty Year Club

Dr. George McCrary of Fayetteville was recently inducted into the Arkansas Medical Society's Fifty Year Club for physicians who have practiced medicine for more than 50 years.

McCrary is an acute care doctor at the MANA MediServe Walk-In Clinic in Fayetteville. Before moving to Northwest Arkansas in 2003, he practiced medicine in Cabot for 10 years and in Jacksonville for 30 years.

Landscape contest

winners announced

The city of Fayetteville's Urban Forestry Advisory Board recently announced the winners of its third annual Sustainable Landscape contest. The awards recognize one residential and one commercial landscape.

Karen Ann Freeman and Bill Elder were honored for their design at 1794 W. Berry St., and Adventure Subaru received the commercial award. A public tour of the winning properties was held June 11.

Properties were selected based on design and aesthetics, environmental preservation and best management practices and attractiveness to wildlife.

Watershed photo

winners announced

The Beaver Watershed Alliance recently announced the winners of its second Watershed Photography Contest. Sam Thomas was the first place winner.

Second place went to William Armacost, while third place went to Jason Wiles. All three are Fayetteville residents.

Winners received prizes from Bedford Camera and Video including a Nikon Coolpix AW110 camera package, a gallery wrap canvas print and two round-trip tickets to Van Buren on the Arkansas-Missouri Railroad.

Cadet named

to Citadel list

Cadet Steven Cox of Fort Smith was among the members of the Citadel's South Carolina Corps of Cadets to be recognized for academic achievement during the spring 2014 semester by being named to the Dean's List.

The list recognizes cadets with 12 or more semester hours who have a grade-point average of 3.2 or higher and no grade below a C in the previous semester.

Huntsville High

receives award

The Huntsville High School EAST program received the annual War Eagle Steward Award on June 7 during War Eagle Appreciation Day at Withrow Springs State Park near Huntsville.

EAST students from the school have conducted a litter clean-up along the Huntsville Town Branch for the past seven years, removing thousands of pounds of trash from the War Eagle tributary. They also generated about $84,000 worth of community service hours during the events.

The award is presented each year during War Eagle Appreciation Day by the Beaver Watershed Alliance. The War Eagle is a tributary of Beaver Lake.

Watts' artwork

in Delta Exhibition

Untitled (Yes Yes Series) by Bentonville-based artist Louis Watts will be part of this year's 56th annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock.

Watts grew up in Little Rock and has always been fascinated by the Arkansas Delta region. This will mark the fifth time Watts has been invited to participate in the show.

The exhibition opens June 27 and will run through Sept. 28.

Cosmetology

students win

Northwest Arkansas cosmetology students took home 21 medals at the annual Arkansas SkillsUSA contest including first and second prizes in cosmetology and esthetics.

SkillsUSA is a national organization for high school students in the 11th and 12th grades who are enrolled in a variety of vocational and technical courses. First-place winners can earn scholarships at area colleges.

The students were trained by Career Academy of Hair Design in conjunction with Northwest Technical Institute. About 150 high school students from 16 area schools attend the classes.

Cosmetology students also won six of the top 10 in their field, while esthetics students won four of the top five honors. Nail care students won seven of the top 10 spots in their competition.

The Siloam Springs Career Academy of Hair Design won first prize in the chapter display event.

Dream Date

on in Searcy

Dream Date, a full-length play written by Dan Borengasser, has been selected for six performances by the Theatre on the Square in Searcy. Performances begin July 11.

The play is about a man and a woman who meet for the first time in a dream and are so smitten they try to reconnect in a future dream.

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Rider receives

Patriot Award

Carla Rider, director of nursing for women's and infant services at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, recently won the Patriot Award from the U.S. Department of Defense. The award recognizes employers who make a special effort to support National Guard and Reserve members through adaptable work schedules and flexible time-off policies.

Donya Gueydan, a nurse in the hospital's labor and delivery unit, submitted Rider's name for the award after Rider helped her during her husband's deployment as a National Guard chaplain. A Department of Defense representative presented Rider with the award at a surprise ceremony.

Restaurant wins

People's Choice

Restaurante Salvadoreno y Pupuseria, located at 14000 W. Walnut St., Suite 101, in Rogers, was the winner of the People's Choice Award at the 2014 International Food Fest in downtown Rogers. The food festival was part of the 14th annual Northwest Arkansas International Festival. Owners Luis Villatoro and Anyela Mendoza accepted the award. Second place went to Chennai Cafe, while third place went to two-time People's Choice Award winner Genghis Grill.

Send information about birthdays, honors and reunions to [email protected], [email protected] or Northwest Arkansas Achievers, P.O. Box 7, Springdale, AR 72765. Deadline is noon Monday for Thursday publication.

NAN Our Town on 06/19/2014

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