A lifelong hobby brought one new resident to Bella Vista where she found a club full of kindred spirits. When Carol Phillips moved to town, she joined the Fly Tyers Club and offered to share her presentation on the history of fly fishing.
Over the years, Phillips, who had two careers, also collected fly fishing equipment from around the world.
She told the club that fly fishing has been around for at least two thousand years. The techniques haven't changed much, she said. In the Middle Ages, fly fishers used a green branch that was tapered and woven horsehair that was also tapered. The tapered shape helps "put the casting energy to the fly," she explained.
It's a presentation that Phillips has given many times. She also teaches a class on fly casting as a certified instructor.
Born in Louisiana, she earned a master's degree in museum studies and worked in museums at the very start of her career.
Later, she spent years as the superintendent of a state park in her native Louisiana, but when she moved to Indiana, she went back to her first career in museums at the William Henry Harrison home in Vincennes.
But she always knew she would retire to Arkansas. She spent time in the state over the years, often using it as an escape from Louisiana's heat, humidity and fire ants. She knew she wanted mountains and a place to fly fish. Fly fishing isn't just for rivers, she explained. She's fished in all the Bella Vista lakes, sometimes from her canoe.
She feels lucky that she moved to Bella Vista before the coronavirus made it difficult to get out and about.
"It's the best place to be right now," she said. Not only was she able to continue fishing and canoeing all summer, but she also resurrected a former hobby -- golf. She plays with a women's group a couple of times a week and enjoys it. It's what kept her sane during covid, she said.
Both Carol Phillips and her husband Dale sought out volunteer opportunities when they retired to Bella Vista. Dale Phillips is now the co-president of the Bella Vista Historical Society and one of the founders of the Civil War Roundtable. Carol Phillips helps at the museum when they need her. She was in charge of furnishing the settler's cabin on the museum grounds, but the museum's volunteer staff does a good job without her help, she said. She's happy to pitch in when they call on her.
She chose to join the Joint Advisory Committee on Lakes. While she knows the lakes are very well managed, she believes she can contribute to the committee. That was why she made it a point to visit each of the lakes with her canoe.
An avid traveler, Phillips had to cancel a trip to Nepal because of the virus. She has visited 48 of the fifty states and several locations overseas, including Egypt and Cuba. She once paddled a canoe down the Amazon River.
"There's always next year," she said about her travels. There will also be trips back to Louisiana, where her family, including one son, lives. They're spread out all over the state, she said.
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