10 Feb 2025 Thank you for being a friend

By KD Reep

Every degree of love is sweet, whether romantic, familial or love for oneself. Agape love, however, is bittersweet in that it is selfless, unconditional and sacrificial love often described as the highest form.

While this type may be hard to find, you can swing by Julie’s Sweet Shoppe in Conway a couple of days a week and find it at a table brimming with laughter, song and good-natured jabs. Central Arkansas’s own version of the Golden Girls meets there, and people say you can tell who among the group (known as Julie’s Chicks or the Bakery Girls) is Blanche, Rose, Sophia or Dorothy just by listening to them.

Julie Goodnight, owner of Julie’s Sweet Shoppe, said she has known (and loved) her Chicks since the group started meeting at Ed’s Bakery in the early 2000s. “I was looking back at some photos, and I found some from Veterans Day around 2006, but they have been meeting since before then,” she said.

 “When it began, the men would sit at one table, and the ladies would sit at another. Ellen is an original member. She is hilarious, has a wonderful Southern accent, is so spunky and has no filter. You never know what is going to come out of her mouth.” 

Ellen Griffen joined Julie’s Chicks shortly after she and her husband retired. “We had friends who were already going to Julie’s, and we went in there one morning, and this friend of mine invited us to sit at their table and visit.”

Griffen, who grew up in Conway, says she most enjoys the camaraderie her lady friends share. “It really means a lot because it gives us time to visit, and we talk about our families and all the problems we might be having,” she said. “It gives you a good feeling to know you can tell each other anything on your mind. It’s almost like a good dose of medicine.”

She said while they all have different opinions and points of view, each admires the other for their outlook on life. Griffen also said the group keeps them all motivated, even if they wonder how long they can continue going each week.

“As you get older, you need to have some kind of social life,” she explained “After you retire, you don’t need to just stay at home and do nothing. You need something to look forward to.”

Ellie Stewart, who knew Goodnight in elementary school, is a former school librarian who moved to Central Arkansas from New York and joined the group when she retired. She said she only meets with them once a week because she has an exercise group that meets on the other day. 

“The group is just wonderful because we all support each other,” she said. “We all go through different things. I just had a hip replacement, and I haven’t fully recovered yet. They give me support.”

Griffen says Goodnight is an honorary member of the Chicks, and that they would not be together if it weren’t for her. “She has a group text in her phone for us,” she explained. “Julie is so good to us, and we love her so much.”

Maryon Woods got involved with the group 25 years ago when she and her husband would visit another bakery, where Goodnight originally worked. “We went there a couple of mornings each week until he died,” she said. “I went back, and there was a table full of people, and they invited me to sit.”

She says her favorite thing about the group is the love they share. “We love each other like sisters,” Woods said. “We share wisdom and recipes and cut up. We encourage each other. My son calls this my therapy. We even sing sometimes – old hymns we all grew up knowing.”

She said no matter your stage in life, you always need a friend: someone you can talk to at any time in your life about whatever you’re going through. “That’s what these women do,” she said. “They know all about me, and I know all about them.”

“We’re all Christian ladies so we’ve cried and prayed together,” said Martha Beal, who retired with her husband to Conway after living in Oklahoma and Texas. “It’s a good release from everyday things.”

Beal and Veta Flanagan, the newest member of the group, spent the holidays together. “I didn’t want to go out of town, so I asked Veta if she’d come over, and I’d fix lunch, and that’s what we did.”

She says the group means a lot to her because of the fellowship it brings. “Especially when you get older and your mate is gone, the time together with people in the same boat is important,” she said. “I cherish it.”  

Flanagan moved to Conway to be closer to her granddaughters. She said she was invited to join the ladies at their table when she popped into Julie’s Sweet Shoppe one morning. 

“I think it was three years ago when I joined,” she said. “I just sat down and visited with them. They started inviting me to other things like church lunches, and it was really nice to know someone in town.”

With much of her family and friends in Texas, Flanagan says the ladies are her support system. “They mean everything to me. We sync together so well, and there is no jealousy or silliness. It’s just like good medicine.”