On the recordDecember 8, 2014
the great Cesar Chavez once said: ``If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him . . . the people who give you their food give you their heart.'' That is true. Sometimes they give you more than that. Sometimes they give you an adventure in eating that you will never forget. That is what happened to me when, in January, I was invited by Mark Pryor to be his guest at a legendary Arkansas political event. I am talking about the historic, well-known, annual Gillett, AR, coon supper. Never heard of the Gillet coon supper in Arkansas? It is to Arkansas what Tom Harkin's steak fry is to Iowa, only it is nonpartisan, it draws about 1,200, and unfortunately they don't serve steak. Coon is raccoon served in large buckets. Folks just reach inside and pull out a chunk of coon, as they say in Gillett. I was there that night with Mark Pryor. I wanted to make sure I had my best manners as a visiting guest. I was certainly appreciative of the invitation to a packed room with the Governor and every walking politician in Arkansas. Bill Clinton had been there over and over again in his terms as Governor. He never missed that supper, and we weren't about to miss it that evening. I watched as they put these bowls of coon and other meats on the table, and I noticed something interesting. All of the visitors like myself had bowls of coon put in front of them. All the folks from Arkansas were eating out of the beef platter.…
