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As I’ve mentioned in earlier columns, I grew up on Alford Street. For those unfamiliar with the street names in Flippin, that is the street that runs in front of the school. It is named after John Alford, who came to Marion County in 1880. He was my great-great-grandfather (the father of Ida Alford Wood) and he and my great-great-grandmother, Mattie, settled on a farm where the town of Flippin is now located. They moved here from South Carolina after the Civil War, first spending a few years in Missouri before finally settling here.

Our area of the Ozarks is one of the richest regions of the United States in archaeological remains and they show evidence of Indians having lived here from the most primitive times. Remains of these ancient people which have been found in the dry caves and bluff shelters shed light on the prehistoric past even more than the stone artifacts found along our streams on the open sites.

Step into the building behind her home and one will discover how and where Alicia Van Der Veer makes soap. Not just any plain soap by the kind that makes one want to use it to smell good and get clean. Each soap is made to look unique and have a name like none other.