Monticello Live

Linda Moore Kemp was born and raised in Helena, Arkansas. Her father farmed grains, and her mother was a housewife. Linda is the youngest of four children.

Being a nurse was always a dream; however, it was not a career Linda pursued early in life. After high school she married and raised 2 children. It wasn’t until 1981 that she and her family moved to Monticello. That was the year she began her journey to become a nurse.

She found herself always “wanting to make things right when they are wrong.” Linda wanted to work after her kids were grown and found nursing the next step she would take.

She took classes toward a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing at UAM. Her teenage children kept life busy. But balancing family life and school paid off in 1987 when she earned her associate’s degree in nursing and became a registered nurse.

Linda worked for her state boards and licensing while employed at Jefferson Regional Hospital in Pine Bluff. She stayed there a year working in medical surgery. In 1988 she was hired as a home health nurse for the Arkansas Department of Health of Chicot County. She mainly cared for patients who had returned home after surgery. Her patients were mostly elderly. She advanced in her career and became a Home Health Specialist where she supervised home health nurses in Lincoln, Ashley, Chicot and Cleveland counties.

This prepared her for her last position with the Arkansas Department of Health. For four years Linda held the position of supervising administrator for Drew, Lincoln, Cleveland and Desha counties. On this level she made sure the clinics as a whole were up to code. She supervised the clinics administrators by helping them meet their target population goals. Each clinic is required to reach a certain amount of people according to their population. They were to offer immunizations, family planning and WIC. Linda enjoyed working with people from around the state. After working collectively for 17 years she retired from the Arkansas Department of Health.

At that point, Linda was ready for a slower pace of life. Her husband had retired and she was looking forward to spending more time with him. So in October 2005, she became the Monticello School District school nurse. She loved the school hours and working for the Health Department prepared her for working with children. Her office is at Monticello Elementary School where she works Monday, Tuesday and Friday. On Wednesdays she is at Monticello Intermediate School. Thursday she spends the day at Monticello Middle School. She is available MHS when she is needed. She also covers the Preschool, Adult Ed. and Occupational School.

She enjoys being there for the kids. She helps out when they are sick or they get hurt. Her motto is to “make a decision as if I were the parent.” Her other responsibilities are:

This has been a busy week for Linda. The schools average 25 students absent a day. Last week has seen record-breaking absences. On Thursday at MES there were over 150 absent. This is the worst the district has seen in years which led to the school canceling school this past Friday. The staff sanitized the school and hoped that it would give the children time to get better.

Linda’s advice for all of us is to get a flu shot every year but also to wash your hands often. If you contract the virus, stay home and rest. Drink lots of fluids, and do not go out in public until you are fever-free for 24 hours.

Although the flu season is tough this year, Linda is thankful for her job. Her goal is healthy children. She believes that if they are sick, can’t see or hear, then they can not learn. Nursing for Linda is a way of life. And she is glad that the Monticello schools are a part of hers. She loves the added bonus of seeing her granddaughters on a regular basis at their particular schools. Linda considers it a privilege to make sure the Monticello Schools has healthy students. And because of this year’s flu season, Monticello is thankful for her! Linda Kemp – one Monticello Life.

“There is a place where dreams come true, where wishes big and small lead to happily ever after.” This is the current advertising campaign for Walt Disney World. It can be heard on most television and radio stations. One of Monticello’s own, Rebecca Akin, just finished being a part of this magical experience. Here is her story:

Rebecca was born and raised in Monticello. Her dad is President/CEO of Akin Industries, which is a furniture manufacturing company. Her mother is a speech pathologist. Rebecca’s fond memories of growing up in Monticello are many. As children, she and her brother John spent time at Akin Industries where they creatively built trampolines out of excess chair foam. She also remembers city parades, her favorite teachers, ninth grade cheerleading, homecoming court and competing in a UAM monologue competition. She graduated from Monticello High School in 2002.

She attended Ouachita Baptist University, mainly due to the influence of her mother and grandfather. Her mother, Susan, was an OBU graduate, and her grandfather, Raymond Coppenger, taught religion and philososphy at the university. OBU had always played special role in her family and was already a special place for her. Rebecca had known from an early age that she wanted to pursue theater.

“OBU is a safe environment to do theater. I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about racy characters at their small theater,” she said.

She also enjoyed spending time with her grandfather who is now 97 years old. She attended church with him and could walk to his house from campus. She graduated from OBU in August 2006 with a bachelor’s of art, double-majoring in Theater and Mass Communications. She was encouraged to find a theatrical internship, and was excited to land one at Walt Disney World.

At the Disney Internship, Rebecca took entertainment and communication classes. The classes were hands-on, and she experienced the in’s-and-out’s of how theater works at WDW. Rebecca also worked daily as a tour guide for the The Great Movie Ride at MGM Studios. On each tour, she would read a fifty-page script to a group of 70 people. She could not deviate from the script unless the car would get stuck for mechanical reasons. This happened quite often. During the wait, Rebecca enjoyed entertaining her tourists. She would usually end up telling jokes like her favorite, “Why was Cinderella so bad at soccer? Because her coach was a pumpkin, and she always ran away from the ball’. Because most of the riders were at a point of impatient frustration, she usually received more groans than laughs. But this did not stop Rebecca from having fun and making the most of her situations.

At the end of the internship she was voted on by her peers and manager for the Thunderous Applause Award. This award was confirmation to Rebecca that although she might be different than most of her classmates, her fun spirit and attitude paid off.
Rebecca learned more than theater at Walt Disney World. She also grew in her Christian faith. Walt Disney World is known as a “happy” place, but she found herself unhappy at times. It proved to be quite a culture shock as she discovered the variety of people and backgrounds at the park. There were parts of her experience that she “hated” but that she wouldn’t trade them. She said she grew as a Christian and learned to rely on God on a new level.

Rebecca is unsure what is next for her now that her Walt Disney experience is over. Currently she is working for Akin Industries creating a furniture catalogue. She likes this stage of life where “nothing can hold her back,” and possibilities are endless. She loves theater and wants to keep that avenue open. Already, she has many credentials:

• Stage Performances- This is Where We Came In, The Art of Self Defense, Anything Goes, Sound of Music, and South Pacific
• Directed one-act play, The Diary of Adam and Eve
• Created and directed Monticello Children’s Theater Camp
• Semester study in Salzburg, Austria

It is obvious that many dreams have already come true for Rebecca. But because of her love for theater and her love for life, it will be interesting to see what other wishes of this Monticellonian are granted. She is proof that there is a place that dreams come true, not only at Walt Disney World but also in Monticello. Thanks, Rebecca Akin- one Monticello life.

A new year signals more than just the passing of time. It also brings change and newness. In January, Monticello saw the appointment of a new police chief, Robert Rosegrant. This is his story.

Chief Rosegrant has seen many changes in his own life and recounted them for MonticelloLive. He was born and raised just outside El Dorado and Junction City, where he graduated high school in 1965. He wanted to join the United States Marines but wasn’t quite eighteen, legal age to become a Marine, so he passed his time by going to school at Louisiana Tech. When he came home for Christmas break as a legal adult he headed straight for the recruiter’s office and then home to tell his mom. She, like most mothers, was none too excited about the adventure he was about to begin.

Young Robert went to war in Vietnam with the 7th Marines in July of 1966. Serving there a little less than a year, he was wounded and medivac-ed back to Millington, TN where he recuperated for four months. From there he became an “in camp instructor” at Camp Pendleton, CA until 1969. After his years of service with the Marines he returned to Arkansas, not to move out of state again.

On April 27, 1973 Robert Rosegrant married Penny. She currently serves as the Circuit Court Case Coordinator for Judge Bynum Gibson. Together they happily raised two children, Tracy and Michael and now enjoy three grandsons and one granddaughter, all of whom call Monticello home.

Robert began his lifelong career in law enforcement with the Arkansas State Police on June 1, 1973, his first assignment being in Camden. From Camden he went to McCroy and then in May of 1975 came to Monticello. He’s been here ever since. He retired from the State Police force in June of 2005 after spending the better part of his adult life as a State Trooper. For his last ten years with the state, he was the Assistant Troop Commander for Troop F, based in Warren.

Mr. Rosegrant didn’t grow up watching cop shows on television to pique his interest in becoming a policeman. Instead, his older brother David was the reason. David was the first in the Rosegrant family to choose a career in law enforcement as a State Trooper, and Robert followed in his footsteps. Since then, their younger brother and one of Robert’s nephews have also joined the ranks of law enforcement and made a career out of it.

Now the new Chief of Police for our city, Robert is dedicated to tackling problems and facing issues here in Monticello daily. Our Police Department employs one chief, eighteen police officers, three criminal investigators, four radio operators and one secretary. The department also houses the office of one State Police criminal investigator.

Chief Rosegrant says that the biggest challenge facing the Police Department is the city’s growing drug problem, but he knows that it’s a state-wide problem that is being constantly combatted behind the scenes. Because drug users are always coming up with new ways to manufacture and transport drugs, new tactics must continually be created by our law enforcement entities.

Even though the job is tough, Chief Rosegrant says that it is rewarding. Asked what makes it rewarding he said, “It’s just the satisfaction of knowing that maybe something you did changed a person’s attitude and lifestyle.”
You’ll undoubetedly see Chief Robert Rosegrant around town. He and Penny have purposefully chosen to make Monticello their lifetime home and plan to stay because of the people. They like that it is “the friendliest town” and the family atmosphere that is sensed here.

Because his job literally promotes safety and peace in our community, we’ve chosen to focus on his one Monticello life, Robert Rosegrant.