If you read Bits & Pieces, consider yourself a true fan of The Arkadelphian. This column is bits and pieces of news and opinions on matters, and it doesn’t land on social media like some posts, like the popular Dispatch Desk. I spent one recent morning driving around town distributing business cards that have our QR code that lands directly on our homepage. Of the numerous medical clinics I visited, all had heard of Arkadelphia’s online news source. One person, however, said, “Oh, yeah, that Facebook thing?” Take a deep breath, Joe. I explained it isn’t a “Facebook thing” but rather a website where one can find local news and information. I’d like to ask a favor of you, Dear Bits & Pieces Reader: help spread the word that there is more to The Arkadelphian than what one finds on social media. The spoon-fed Facebook crowd sees only a portion of what is on this site. Bookmark this page, just like eBay or Amazon, and visit it at least once a day to see what’s new.

Saw a $12 bag of potatoes while at the supermarket Sunday morning. Since when?

Lots of folks headed to Feaster Park this past Saturday for the End of Summer Blowout, hosted by the City of Arkadelphia with Southwest Auto Collection as the event’s top sponsor. Check out the slideshow below for some images from that event.

This weekend marked move-in day for students at Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist universities, and today was the first day of classes. It’s a relief to see some parking lots adjacent to student housing filled with students’ vehicles. As I dropped off my wife at work we took note of one student whose gait and face we recognized. I distinctly recall seeing this young man in the halls of Louisa E. Perritt Primary School when he was a first-grader there, and I remember him being in several group photos I took as a young reporter for the Siftings Herald. Where has the time gone?

I once knew a guy who passed gas when he flogged himself. He was a flatulent flagellant.

We recently returned home following a brief but needed vacation on the Emerald Coast. We stopped at a gas station in Mississippi, and taped to the door was a letter noting the store would maintain shortened business hours until the place was again fully staffed. Signs reading “Now Hiring” seem to be everywhere. This is aggravating. Not naming any names, but someone I know quite well could have waited a little while to land a job and collect a regular paycheck rather than making the risky decision to start an online newspaper.

We broke a record while on said vacation. The site had 25,600 views last Monday. Prior to that, the record had been 16,000 views, when we broke the news that Henderson had announced how many professors would be spending their last semester at the School with a Heart. Arkadelphia businesses take note. This is the place to advertise if you want people to see your message. What sets us apart from print newspapers and billboards, aside from affordability, is that we can provide our customers statistics on how many times their ad was seen or clicked on. Call 501-304-2134 for information on how to advertise here.

Oh, by the way: Our readership has exceeded 4,400. That’s on par with, if not better than, the circulation of the Siftings before it folded.

Joel Phelps is publisher and editor of The Arkadelphian. That joke about flatulence was his own, but he gives you permission to share it. Email Phelps at editor@arkadelphian.com or call him at 501-304-2134.