Could have been a professional grave-digger...
A little-known chapter in Kemp’s life
that just recently came to light: Te fact that he once was an official county em- ployee, although it only lasted for three months. He recounts it this way...
“My dad had talked Stone County Judge Earl Storey into giving me the summer job in between my junior and senior years of high school. He felt he had really “set me up good”, but I wasn’t too sure. I just hoped it was better than what I was used to: A summer of hauling hay – the square bales that had to be tossed up into the upper part of the barn while fighting mad wasps and bumblebees, rusty nails and 110-degree heat, then tightly stacked by hand.” Thus ensued three months on the Stone County Road Department.
Kemp facilitates a workshop at the AAC summer conference in Hot Springs on communications and
media relations, including the value to all county officials of learning to write occasional press releases. AAC Photo by Barry Burkett
In addition to informing county and district officials and employees, Kemp said it is also his desire to let the public know what a good job their county staffs do. “County government really is where the rub- ber meets the road, even on state and federal laws and regulations,” he said. Quite often, laws will come from the state or federal government that county officials must enforce. Tink, for example, of real estate ap- praisals. Te Arkansas General Assembly can pass a law stating that all real estate must be ap- praised every three years, but it’s the job of coun- ty officials to make sure that law is carried out in their areas. Te case is the same when the state decides how much tax people will be charged when they purchase vehicles, how county tax money is dispersed to school districts, significant changes in voting laws, etc. “If a law passes, people think the state does the legwork,” Kemp said. “However, county of- ficials often have to figure out how to implement those laws.” Fortunately, those state officials aren’t on their
own when implementing laws. Te Association, Kemp said, exists to coordinate county offices, back them up and generally help them do their jobs. Kemp said he’s proud to be part of that process and to help educate the public about how much “bang for the buck” taxpayers ex- perience from their county elected officials and
COUNTY LINES, FALL 2010
staffs in every community. Kemp and his wife of 35 years, Peggy, moved
from Rose Bud in White County to Conway earlier this year. When someone moves closer to their employer, that’s often a sign that an indi- vidual truly enjoys his or her job. “It’s a creative outlet for me, which is real important,” he said. “I get paid, and I get a really nice creative outlet. “I’ve told a lot of people I consider this my
dream job. Ten years ago, when I first started thinking about making a move out of the news- paper business, what I really thought would be a dream job would be to produce a small maga- zine. … Tat’s exactly what I’m doing. Te fact that it revolves around county government, which I have always had a great appreciation for, is icing on the cake.”
Bio Bullet Points:
■ Age: 54 (but that’s the new 34, right?) ■ Married 34 years to Peggy. They re-
cently moved to Conway. Son Jeremy, wife Leslie and grandson Corin, 2, live in Auck- land, New Zealand; son David and wife Charity live in Conway.
■ Hobbies: Photography and motor-
cycles. He currently rides a 2004 Kawasaki ZZR-1200.
He recalls his duties that summer as four- fold: Following the motor-patrols and picking up the chunks and too-large rocks out of the rural gravel roads; building miles of barbwire fence; repairing low-water bridges; and being the “fresh meat” on a three-man grave-digging detail.
“In Stone County at that time (1973), if someone died who was indigent or had no close family to take care of getting the grave dug, they could call the county. I am a little unclear on what the qualifications were for getting this service arranged – but I remember that every couple or three weeks, I would be pulled off the road crew with two older gents and we would spend the better part of a day digging a grave with a pick and shovel. Unlike the Delta, where you can’t buy a rock, Stone County is aptly named. Digging the full six feet was pretty optimistic in some cemeteries,” he recalled. “It brought in spending money for gas, tires and insurance and a new stereo. It was pretty hard work, but it had its fun moments. And how many people can say they’ve ever worked as a grave-digger? That’s gotta be worth something!”
The rough manual labor also provided something else: A little extra motivation to hang in there and get a college degree. “I enjoyed working with the road crew that summer, but I decided that wasn’t my top career choice.”
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