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Gov. Mike Beebe plans a trade mission to Europe, with stops in Paris, London and Hamburg.

The headline? Old story. It’s said to be the toast shouted by a colorful Pine Bluff legislator during a famous AIDC trade mission, joined by many legislators, that included a fancy banquet back in the 1970s. Perhaps Ernie Dumas, who was there, can fill in my missing memory.

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UPDATE: Ernie comes through:

The story is this. The Arkansas delegation that accompanied Frank White (AIDC director) and Governor Pryor to England, Germany and Belgium in 1976 to see if we needed to open an office in Europe was in a fancy dinner on the old square in Brussels (above). There were some toasts, including one or two in French (or was it German?), from the hosts. So Rep. Boyce Alford of Pine Bluff raised his wine glass and uttered the only French words he knew, “Campho-Phenique.”

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Ernie refreshes my memory, too, on why Saline County was on my brain originally.

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