I am beginning to worry that Clay has sold out to the DemGaz and is retiring. Hope I am wrong and he is taking a well deserved long vacation. His insights into the athletic program would be an irreplaceable loss to this board and its members.
I am sure he will be back soon. Time will tell. Clay is not that old, I think is is about 4 or 5 years older than I am.
He has put too much sweat into this board.
I don’t think he goes anywhere for a long while.
I would bet you hear from him today. He was out here for a little while last week and said nothing about retiring other than he wished he could get away sometime in late Aug. to go to AK, but did not see that happening anytime soon.
It’s a good time for vacations. He has the staff and contributors to cover everything while he is out relaxin. I hope his castin arm is getting sore
Clay is not leaving. As I posted a couple of weeks ago, we all have to get in our vacation time by the end of July or essentially forfeit it. That’s what he is doing. It’s what I’ve done the last 10 days.
My shoulder is sore from catching fish after two weeks of vacation. I divided it into thirds. There was a front third in Cotter. Middle third was in Colorado with Jim Daniel and Jeremiah Gage. Last third was back in Cotter. Caught fish in all thirds. More were caught in Arkansas than in Colorado, per the usual. But it was fun in all three thirds. I’ll write a complete column on the trip. Also, in the third part, we helped our daughter Becca and new husband Kristopher move into their dream home above the Norfork River. Lot of work there as the folks who sold left everything intact. Sadly, the guy wore my size clothes and there is a bunch of fishing shirts that I will be required to take. Lots of Pategonia with price tags still on them. I’ll help them out and tote them out!
Just so everyone knows, I’m excited about the change to this website/forums. It was what I wanted. I did need vacation. There have been a lot of meetings and a lot of work to get it all done. My thanks to Dudley, Richard, Matt and Jimmy for all that they’ve done. It makes me proud to see it come to fruition.
So as I write that, I have no plans to leave it and will look forward to many more years of work with this site and with our magazine. We are hitting a new spurt in growth in the life of Hawgs Illustrated. Our print magazine has grown in the last three years since promotions by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette began. This is going to enable growth, too. I think it’s wonderful.
But we all need vacations to continue to step up our game. I needed one. My wife was good to cut me free for my trip. She knows me better than anyone. So I headed out with Bill Pettit, my close friend from Cotter. Jim and Gage were able to join us for a bit of time, carving a couple of days out of their heavy schedule on short notice.
I’m glad to be home, although I didn’t like the heat that greeted us on the way back. Those cool mountain streams at 9,500 feet are pretty neat in July.
So are any of those shirts pink? 
I’m glad that you had an opportunity to recharge, and I’m glad to see you back.
Marty, there are a lot of colorful shirts, but nothing real bright. You don’t wear neon in the river. And, for sure, none are pink. There is a lot of North Face fleece, too. One is Razorback red.
Clay, I’m afraid your job carries a lifetime sentence.
Ordained from birth.
I’m a lifetime type guy. No worries. I wanted this job 25 years ago and still want it.