15 Mar 2026 The Wednesday Table
By Donna Lampkin Stephens
It’s not surprising that Pattie Howse-Duncan will have a fabulous Easter table this spring. The Conway woman built the first house in Hendrix Village, a charming neighborhood near Hendrix College known for its traditional architecture, cozy streetscapes, and many welcoming public spaces – like a village. She still lives in the neighborhood and has spent decades celebrating the joys of family and a beautiful table.
She estimates that for about 18 years, she and her family have been celebrating Family Dinner Nights on Wednesdays. While she has multiple sets of dishes, the Easter table includes her mother’s floral china and silverware from her grandmother and aunt, layering with paper and cloth for a memorable tablescape to serve her family of 10.
“What I learned is you just have to be intentional,” Howse-Duncan said. “If you don’t set a date, then all of a sudden you realize we have not been together in two weeks. Time goes by, and you realize we should’ve done something. I said, ‘Let’s pick a date.’”
Eighteen years later, the places are set for Howse-Duncan, her husband of 10 years, Keith; her son, Nathan Howse, and his family; and her daughter, Mary-Phillip O’Connell and her family. Howse-Duncan and Keith dated as students at the University of Arkansas. Forty-two years after their breakup, they were married.
“When the kids were growing up, we always sat at the table [for meals],” Howse-Duncan said. “They say that growing up, they always remember it was a big deal that we sat at the table because there was only one night a year they didn’t have to — the night we decorated the Christmas tree and ate finger foods. It did not surprise them at all that it’s evolved into this. Now my granddaughters love to come over and help me set a pretty table. It’s turned into something really special to us.”
She said occasionally the family will try a new restaurant, or every now and then one of her children will offer to host. “But they work, and it works out for me to cook,” she said. “And the grandkids prefer to come over here.”
Easter, of course, will be special. Her mother, Glenna Avriett, was a war bride, and Howse-Duncan traditionally uses the china she got in 1945, the Gainsborough pattern from Theodore Haviland of New York. “It looks like a breath of spring,” she said. “I also use a mixture of vintage silverplate flatware pieces that belonged to her and my favorite aunt, Irene Lemon.”
Howse-Duncan grew up as a military kid and lived as an adult in Mississippi and Arkansas before settling in Conway in 1994. A teacher and administrator, she retired from Conway Public Schools about 10 years ago. “When I was working, I would cook some of it on Tuesday night,” she said of the weekly family menus. “I can devote all my time now to what I want to serve.”
Her grandchildren, who call her “Honey,” get to help by choosing dish patterns and glasses. She uses pumpkin dishes for October and, of course, has Thanksgiving- and Christmas-themed patterns as well. “None of these are expensive,” she said. “The pumpkins came from Walmart. I do have other dishes that are nice, but that doesn’t mean we don’t use them. I’ll say to the granddaughters, ‘We’re celebrating such-and-such; what should we use?’”
She and Keith built their pantry around a set of open cubbies they bought from Jenifer’s Antiques that display all the dishes. “They’ll go in there and there they are, and they choose what we’ll use,” Howse-Duncan said. “That’s what makes it so much fun for the girls to help me do that sort of thing.”
She orchestrates tea parties for the children and enjoys watching them. “We do a big thing with birthdays, so they want me to go all-out with birthday decorations and setting up a pretty birthday table,” she said.
She said Molly, her oldest granddaughter, “started really enjoying this” about three years ago. “Two Christmases ago, I decided that would be a great present for her, so for about seven or eight months, I went to flea markets and antique stores and ended up filling one of those big tubs with things to get her started on her own — napkin rings, cloth napkins, cake servers, things like that,” Howse-Duncan remembered. “By the time I finished, I thought, ‘What have I done? This was her big gift, and I felt like I’d messed up.’
“When Molly opened it, I was holding my breath. She looked inside and said, ‘Honey, is this what I think it is?’ And she burst into tears. She said, ‘Honey, is this all mine? Oh, Honey, I just love it.’”
When Howse-Duncan looks at the family’s third generation, she knows her intentionality over the last 18 years has paid dividends. “My grandson and my two older granddaughters have said, ‘When I’m grown, I’m going to do family dinner, and you’re going to come to my place,’” she said. “That means a lot to me.”
Pattie’s Tips to Dressing a Table:
“I always start with something vintage for my centerpiece because that’s my style, then I decide what to use for fabric. Because our table seats 10, I rarely cover it with a full tablecloth because it looks so stark. I like horizontal runners for my table. My next decision is usually flowers, either fresh or really good faux. Next, I like to add another layer of texture, usually a placemat. I added the extra paper placemat print to the Easter table because it brought out more pastel colors. It was also fun to turn the placemat vertical rather than horizontal for a change. After that, I like adding little vignettes around the table so guests will have something unusual to look at.”
Strawberry Stack Easter Cake
1 Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
8 oz. sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 small container Cool Whip
2 quarts fresh strawberries
Bake the cake according to the directions on the box using two round cake pans. After the layers have cooled, slice each in half to make four layers. Slice the strawberries, reserving four or five of the prettiest berries for the top of the cake. Combine the sour cream, sugar and Cool Whip thoroughly. Ice the top of each layer with the mixture, adding sliced strawberries. Shake a thin coat of powdered sugar over the very top layer of the garnished berries. Add mint for more garnishment, if desired.
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