Dr. Terry Fiddler enters race for District 45 House position

Dr. Terry Fiddler has announced he will seek the District 45 House of Representatives position in the May Democratic Primary.

Fiddler has been a life-long resident of Faulkner County with the exception of the four years when he attended the University of Tennessee Medical Units in Memphis.

Fiddler has served on the Conway District Board of Education since 1987. He will be completing his term in September 2008. He has served in all positions on the board and has served as president for the last 14 years. Conway School District experienced a tripling of growth during his tenure on the school board and an addition of five elementary schools as well as two intermediate schools, one middle school, the auditorium and currently soon-to-be opened east campus of Conway High School and the new multi-purpose gymnasium at the west campus.

Fiddler has been in the private practice of dentistry in Conway since 1974. His professional associations with the Arkansas State Dental Association include board positions as well as president, chair of peer review for the state of Arkansas and editor of the Arkansas State Dental Association Journal Arkansas Dentistry since 2000. Fiddler was the founder of the Arkansas Forensic Dental Identification Team and continues to serve as its director. In 2006 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the state dental society. He has served as a delegate to the American Dental Association (ADA) for the last 14 years and recently completed a four-year appointment to the Council on Communications where he served as chair during the last year. His Council was directly responsible for the oversight of the advertising for the ADA. He has also been on staff of Conway Regional Hospital since 1975.

Fiddler has been active in numerous other civic organizations. He has been a member of the Kiwanis Club for 31 years serving on all board positions including president and was selected Kiwanian of the Year in 1992.

He served a five-year term on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on its board having been elected as the chair of the Committee of 100, a service organization with the purpose of aiding economic development for Conway and Faulkner County.

He is currently a member of the University of Central Arkansas Purple Circle Board which he helped to establish in 1986. He and his wife Joyce served as co-chairs of Toad Suck Daze in 1996.

His wife, Joyce, a former elementary teacher in Memphis City Schools and the Conway School District, earned her doctorate at the University of Memphis, and taught at the University of Central Arkansas for eighteen years.

She currently serves as president of the Friends of the Library and formerly served as chair of the Faulkner/Van Buren Regional Library System. Their daughters, Nikki Lovell and Brooke Fiddler, are both practicing attorneys in Little Rock.

In a prepared statement, Fiddler said, "I have always wanted to serve in an elected representative position. I did it in college and in dental school. That was one of my reasons for running for the school board. Public service officials should always do what they are elected or appointed to do to use their skills to problem solve and move forward in a caring and unbiased way. Being a life-long member of this community and county I understand the mindset of the constituency both in Conway and the surrounding rural areas. As a provider of health care services for the last 34 years and as a long-term school board member I am qualified to be a spokesperson and advocate for education, health care, and insurance benefits. From daily interactions with patients from rural areas I have come to understand the need for improved services in the areas of fire and police protection. I can be a strong voice for legislation in those areas. I want to serve Conway and Faulkner County as this area continues to be the finest place to live and raise your children."