Ageless flirt
story by Nick Wagner
With 87 years of experience, Arnold Clark is a master at the game of flattery. The Frankfort man is often the center of attention, with a cowboy hat atop his head and often a guitar in hand.
"Music has been a life for me," Clark says. "I guess it's the only thing that keeps me living."
He plays in two bands, Ageless Country and Arnold Clark and Friends. He entertains at several senior centers around the region, strumming his guitar and dancing with the women. His wife, Odessa, usually joins him on visits to the centers.
"Lady has a special place in heaven for taking care of me for 70 years," Clark says of his wife.
The couple has been through a lot together: Their oldest son drowned in 1973. Their home was swept away by a tornado the next year. They lost another home in a fire in 1998. Arnold had a stroke in 2011 and was diagnosed with lymphoma last year.
Odessa and Arnold have known each other nearly their whole lives. They started dating in 1944 after attending a work party where Arnold stole Odessa from her date after the last song. Two years later, they married. Their 70th anniversary is in July 2016.
"She walked past me and made my heart beat so fast," Arnold says. "It's been beating the same way since."
The Clarks frequent senior dances in and around Frankfort, sometimes attending four dances in a week. It gives Arnold plenty of time to light up a room and flirt with the ladies.
It has become somewhat of a mission for Arnold to hug every woman he comes in contact with while at dances.
Odessa doesn't mind.
"His womanizing and drinking used to bother me a whole lot," Odessa says. "Now I've learned to ignore it."
But everyone knows that's just Arnold being Arnold.
"He's ageless," says Mary Nuckols, assistant director of the Franklin County Senior Activity Center. "He'll go from one lady to the next."
The flirtatious senior makes sure to look his best before heading out to socialize.
Together Arnold and Odessa make their way to a dance at the Frankfort Veterans of Foreign Wars hall.
Master flatterer Arnold greets Opal Phillips, a volunteer at the Anderson County Senior Center.
At 87 years old, Arnold still moves as he did when he started entertaining in 1961. The Frankfort man frequents senior centers throughout the area, where he sometimes performs with his two bands, Ageless Country and Arnold Clark and Friends. "Music has been a life for me," Arnold says. "I guess it's the only thing that keeps me living."
Taking a break from the music, Arnold consoles his friend, Donna Osmond, whose husband is dying from lung and kidney cancer. Arnold himself was diagnosed with lymphoma last year.
Reaching over his wife, Arnold embraces Jeraldine Shouse before the start of a dance at the Frankfort Veterans of Foreign Wars.
After more than 25 years of retirement, Odessa and Arnold Clark have had ample time to perfect their daily routine.
Arnold rests in his living room chair at his home in Frankfort.