“Hills of Home” was crafted by Isabel France who lived in The Ozarks at Shepherd Springs near Mountainburg, Arkansas. Her articles appeared  for many years on Sundays throughout several newspapers in the state. In one article during 1947, she tied Vought test pilots to the Ozarks, and this article, to me, was her best… ever. 

Isabel is buried with her husband, Owen Frances, and many, many other Frances atop the first hill north out of Mountainburg, off of US71. Each visit is an inspiring, silent time for me to reminisce the good times of “our gang’s” high school years before WWII. I’m proud to honor Owen and Isabel with the clipping below from “Hills of Home”:

It’s a long way from Arkansas to Connecticut. It’s a longer way from calling hogs across the chilly waters of Jack’s Creek in Crawford County to flight test work in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but that’s how far an Arkansas lad has traveled.

Fort Smith-born Wayne Harding Jr. is doing flight test work for the Chance Vought Aircraft corporation. All pilots have for designation certain flight calls. For instance, Pilot Bill Millar is “Mike” and Bill Horan from Connecticut has “Flight Hypo.” Bob Baker from New Jersey uses “Flight Jean,” his wife’s name, and Jim Barber is “Flight Barber,” using his own name. Vinnie Lynch from Connecticut answers to “Flight Devil”; he is “so devilish, tormentin’ mean,” and Wayne Harding from Arkansas is “Flight Ozark.”

“Just the sound of the name ‘Ozark’ during daily flights does away with some of my homesickness for the Arkansas mountains and hollows,” is Wayne’s simple explanation of his flight call.

He spent New Year’s week back home, ate hot biscuits three times a day - breakfast, dinner, and supper. No one ever heard tell of lunch. He practiced up on hog calling. Figured out a new way to get them hogs across the creek. Let them walk the swinging bridge. He found all of his “old gang” married, except for Joe Tibbitts and Butch Walker, who are doing “socially right well” at the Arkansas university, Fayetteville.

Personally, Wayne wouldn’t give 94 acres right under Piney Pint in the Arkansas Hills of Home for the entire eastern seaboard from Maine to Maryland.

Later in my life, in other industries, I have found "an edge" exhilarating and important. If reading His Edge leads you to develop "an edge," you will have captured the esprit of the esprit de corps found in the successful people around you.
~Wayne Harding _______________________________________________________________