This issue had a different look and offered some tips on topics ranging from lowering your golf score to amping up your cakes. As usual, your favorite regular articles are here with more great information.

Few people may not know that a Saline County native is a reality star. Natalie White, originally from Bryant, won the CBS hit reality series Survivor: Samoa. We were fortunate enough to sit down with Natalie to relive her journey not only how we saw it unfold on television, but from her perspective as well.

As another holiday season was upon us, we found plenty of ways to help you make it to 2010. We profiled four types of christmas "Santas" to show the varying ways people find the perfect gift. Then we showed you more ways to shop in Saline County with gifts from $50 to $35,000. But all of that spending in a recession can be tough, so we also showed you some ways to be budget-aware.

It's easy to see that Saline County is growing. In fact, it's always been growing, and this issue covers just that. We looked at the history of growth in Saline County as the population shifted from Bauxite to Benton to Bryant, and took in depth looks at these areas. We also looked at businesses that have grown in this area, and what's in store for our county in the years to ahead. Whether you've lived here your whole life or looking to relocate to Saline County, this issue has everything you need to know about this wonderful area and all it has to offer.

This is our annual special edition of SCL featuring The Salt Bowl game between Saline County rivals Benton and Bryant. We made another dueling magazine which created two distinct sides of a single issue. This is definitely an issue worth getting if you don't have one already! Take a look to see all of the features about the game from coach interviews, the first Bryant football team, Do's and Don'ts of football fandom, and more!

With summer in full swing, we wanted to show how our readers can have fun this summer. We highighted six different activities that are sure to make your summer a blast. This issue marked our one year anniversary, and we wanted to take a look back at some of our favorite articles. All of this, along with our regular weather watch, fitness tips, health update, and financial focus made a great issue to celebrate a year of producing a high-quality magazine for Saline County.

Saline County Lifestyles managed to get some time with one of the hottest players in Major League Baseball, 2008 Cy Young Award Winner Cliff Lee. We were honored to feature such an outstanding player who hails from Benton. We also talked about preparing for summer's harvest, earthquakes in Arkansas, spring cleaning, the Royal Theater in Benton, and Saline County baseball. As always, we had our regular weather watch, fitness tips, health update, and a new section about finances called financial focus.

Saline County Lifestyles kicked off 2009 with some great ideas to fight off the chill of winter, from baking with your kids to some great ways to stay active despite the cold. And we couldn't go without talking about the Super Bowl, and a different perspective on Valentine's Day. We also interviewed Charles Cunningham about the impact of our new President, Barack Obama. With the current state of our national economy, we discussed some recession-proof jobs in Arkansas, as well as ways to stretch your household dollar. As always, we have our regular health, weather, and fitness articles along with a note from Dr. Sam.

In this issue we featured a list of great gift ideas that can be found right here in Saline County so consumers could keep their holiday dollar in their home town. Along with your favorite regular features, this issue provided tips on surviving “Black Friday,” holiday decorating and preparing for those large family get togethers. We offered helpful suggestions on how to make the 2008 holiday season the most fruitful one to date. We also took a look into the true spirit of giving with the Angel Tree program.