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Owner: Katherine Friday
Address: 281 Matt Abbott Drive, North Little Rock
Phone: (501) 470-9801
Hours: By appointment
Startup: March 2009
Web site: www.fridaywellness.com
Starlight Ridge Retreat Center is being marketed as the "best-kept secret in Arkansas," and with a 3,500-SF main building sitting on 65 acres in the hills between Conway and Little Rock, it is a secret waiting to be revealed.
Owner Katherine Friday originally built the retreat center as a home where she and her ill husband could live in peace until his death. But when her husband died at the same time as the foundation was poured for the home, Friday changed her plans.
"I went ahead and built the house the way we had decided," Friday said. "About a year ago, I decided that I had to share it with people."
Friday is an ordained minister, certified yoga teacher and certified transpersonal hypnotherapist. She also has training in a number of emotional, mental, physical and spiritual therapies, practices and techniques.
The Starlight Ridge Retreat Center was created to be an eco-friendly establishment that could host weddings, receptions, corporate meetings, luncheons, family reunions and other parties.
"Our intention is to give people the opportunity to rejuvenate and renew," Friday said. "We offer natural therapies, like massage therapy, body work and natural facials. Everything we use comes out of the kitchen."
The Starlight Ridge Retreat Center also features on-site catering, yoga classes, an outdoor kitchen, fireplace and a patio sitting area.
"This is for people to have fun," Friday said. "It's for them to remember what it is like to relax and to have healthy food."
Starlight Ridge Retreat Center has yet to hold a grand opening ceremony, but Friday said that the center was planning one for the fall.
Adrian Adams, personal assistant to Friday, marketing director and licensed masseuse, said that the Starlight Ridge Retreat Center was unique in central Arkansas.
"The first time that I drove up, it was like, 'How did I not know this was here?'" Adams said. "It reminds me of the Eureka Springs and Fayetteville area. We needed a place like this in central Arkansas."
Even though the retreat center caters to individuals, Friday said that she preferred having large groups so they can have more of an experience.
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