Monthly Archives: August 2014

Sundays in the Library with Hillary (Starting in September)

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READSunday can now be one more fun day with extended library hours at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center, 4800 West 10th Street.  Beginning September 7, the Children’s Library’s operating hours will include Sundays from 1-5 p.m.

The interior of the Children’s Library includes a computer lab with fourteen computers, teaching kitchen, large activity area, individual and group study rooms, theater, and community room in addition to a collection of more than 21,000 books, DVDs, and CDs.   The grounds are on a six-acre site which includes a greenhouse and teaching garden, walking paths, and an amphitheater. The surroundings reflect the topography of Arkansas’s ecosystems, from the native hardwood trees in the highlands to vegetation of the wetland areas, which are both planted and original to the site.

The Children’s Library hours are Monday – Thursday from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Sunday from 1-5 p.m. The Main Library, 100 Rock Street, is also open on Sundays from 1-5 p.m.

The Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library & Learning Center is one of fourteen CALS branches serving Pulaski and Perry counties. For more information, call 978-3870 or visit www.cals.org.

Gridiron Gridlock continues through Saturday

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gridronThe Arkansas Repertory Theatre is thrilled to announce that more than 75 lawyers and law professionals will once again take The Rep stage with their production of Gridiron. After a four-year hiatus, the lawyers bring back their biennial musical production spoofing Arkansas people and politics. Its played Wednesday and Thursday.  It continues tonight (7 p.m. and 9 p.m.) and Saturday (8 p.m.).

Gridiron traces its origins back to 1916 when a few theatrically inclined lawyers banded together to write and perform a vaudevillian-style dinner  vshow. The show was an immediate success and became an annual event. It’s now close to celebrating its 100th anniversary. Some believe it is the longest-running production of its kind in the nation.

In the 1963, the late Griffin Smith took up the mantel of Gridiron and began an extended and mutually beneficial association with the Pulaski County Bar Association, which saw the production grow in production quality and popularity.

This year’s show will be produced by the Gridironers themselves, some of whom have been in Gridiron for more than 30 years.  The cast is all volunteer, but the show is professionally produced at The Rep.

“Gridiron is a special thing,” said Dent Gitchell, a 40-year veteran of the show and the show’s historical archivist.  “It’s not just a hoot to watch, it’s an opportunity for lawyers, young and not-so-young – judges, paralegals, and other legal professionals – to get to know each other outside the courtroom, share a common experience, and have a lot of fun.”

It’s also something else: a way for the lawyers to give back to the community. Funds raised through ticket sales support some deserving local non-profits. This year, the lawyers intend to donate the net proceeds to The Rep and the Pulaski County Bar Foundation in appreciation for the support both institutions have given to Gridiron over the years.

New Penguin Born at Little Rock Zoo

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3rd Chick 4 days old compressedThe Little Rock Zoo is proud to announce that an African penguin chick successfully hatched on July 28 and is doing well.

The egg was laid by penguin parents Skipper and Eze, also parents to penguins Gilligan and Bugsy, two chicks previously hatched at the Little Rock Zoo. The chick currently weighs only 700 grams but only weighed 62 grams when it hatched.

Unlike Gilligan and Bugsy, this chick is being hand-raised by keepers because its parents abandoned the egg after it was laid.  Keeper staff successfully incubated the egg in a brooder meant for chicks and are hand feeding it a formula of fish krill.  Initially, the chick was fed every three hours around the clock.  Now, the chick is fed every four hours during the day.

The chick will not be on exhibit until it is old enough to swim on its own. The sex of the chick has not been determined yet and will be determined by a blood test. The chick has not yet been given a name by keeper staff.

This latest addition to the Zoo’s colony of African penguins at the Laura P. Nichols Penguin Ponte exhibit comes at the recommendation of the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for the African penguin, a conservation program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The African penguin is an endangered species whose population has declined more than 95% since preindustrial times. The African penguin is threatened by oil spills, overfishing, and climate change.

 

About the Little Rock Zoo

The Little Rock Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).  Look for the AZA logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you and a better future for all living things.  With its more than 200 accredited members, AZA is a leader in global wildlife conservation and your link to helping animals in their native habitats.  For more information, visit www.aza.org.

For more information on Little Rock Zoo, visit www.littlerockzoo.com or call 501-661-7208.

Little Rock Look Back: Tom Prince – LR’s 67th Mayor

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Mayor PrinceFuture Little Rock Mayor Tom Prince was born on August 13, 1949.  After graduating high school in 1967 (where he was on the state championship golf team), he attended the United States Naval Academy.  He later received his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and began practicing law in Little Rock.

In 1984 he ran for the City of Little Rock Board of Directors and was elected.  In January 1985, he was selected by his fellow City Directors to serve as Mayor of Little Rock.  He served as Mayor until January 1987.  During his term in office, Arkansas celebrated its Sesquicentennial. Mayor Prince oversaw the City’s participation in the celebratory activities.  As Mayor he was also a strong advocate for expanding the city’s involvement in quality of life issues through enhanced parks and arts while maintaining a commitment to public safety and public works issues. After the completion of his four year term on the City Board, he did not seek a second term.

City of Little Rock races are non-partisan.  After leaving office, he became involved in Democratic Party politics.  In 1992, he campaigned for Bill Clinton’s presidential bid in Iowa and other Midwest states.  When his law partner, Sheffield Nelson, ran for Governor in 1994 as a Republican, Prince resigned from his Democratic Party positions and worked on the Nelson campaign.  In 1997, he was elected chair of the Pulaski County Republican Committee.  In 1998, he ran for the United States Senate as a Republican.

In 1999, Prince experienced a family tragedy and took a sabbatical from practicing law. In 2000, he moved to St. Louis to become general counsel for a securities firm located there.  Following several years with the securities firm, he joined a St. Louis law firm in private practice.  He remained in private practice in St. Louis through 2012.

A St. Louis Business Journal profile of Prince in 2010 highlighted his interests in single action shooting and in horseback riding.

It takes Different Spokes at the Old State House

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spokes-small-wideDifferent Spokes is the newest exhibit at the Old State House Museum. The exhibit looks at the history of bicycling and places cycling in Arkansas within a worldwide historical context. Visitors will be able to view galleries of artifacts, historical pictures and video to learn the history of bicycles.

As cities and towns begin dedicated services and trails for cyclists, it’s important to note that the enthusiasm for bikes in Arkansas has roots that go back over 100 years,” said Old State House Museum Director Bill Gatewood. “The interest at the turn of the 20th century in bicycles was very similar to the one that we are seeing at the turn of the 21st century.”

While the exhibit mainly explores the technological advances of cycling in the past 130 years, Different Spokes also tells the story of competition, economics, and social life. The history of trail systems, cycling communities and history in Arkansas is explored in videos produced by the Old State House Museum. From an 1880 wooden bicycle built from white oak and agricultural implements to the world’s first carbon-fiber bicycles made by Brent Trimble of Berryville, Different Spokes contains artifacts that show this history from past to present. Gatewood says the Museum relied on contributions from the cycling community to present this story. The exhibit will remain on view to February 2016.

“I have not participated in any other exhibit that has had this kind of immediate response from the community,” Gatewood said. “The passion these people have for their pursuit is overwhelming, and I believe it will be reflected well in this exhibit.”

The Old State  House Museum is a division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Special Tales from the South tonight!

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talesfromsouthTonight is the Tales from the South Music Hour!

It is a special Singer/Songwriter show featuring world-renowned musicians Tommy Stephenson and Phil Brown.  Additional music will be provided by Kevin Kerby and blues guitarist Mark Simpson.

Tonight’s Tales from the South takes place at the Joint in Argenta.

Tommy Stephenson is a world class keyboardist with 15 Gold & Platinum albums to his credit. He has recorded and toured the world with such artists as Tommy Bolin & Energy, Joe Walsh & Barnstorm, The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Albert King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, B.B.King, Muddy Waters, Joe Cocker, Van Morrison, Paul Butterfield , Rick Danko and most members of The Band, Gary Wright, Poco, Chuck Berry, Phil Brown, Big Momma Thornton, The Pointer Sisters and many more!

Phil Brown has been influenced by everyone from Marty Robbins & George Jones to the Beatles and the Kinks. After working as a roadie and a studio musician, he toured with Little Feat and started a career as a songwriter. Among the singers to sing his songs are Cher, Pat Benetar, Kim Carnes, Steve Perry, Lou Graham and Ace Freheley.

“Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

Dinner is served from 5pm to 7pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $35 for dinner, and $20 for just the performance.

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show.

Previous episodes of “Tales from the South” air on KUAR Public Radio on Thursdays at 7pm.  This program will air on August 28.

Visit Wilmot this Summer – At the Arkansas Arts Center

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Susan Paulsen, Wilmot, 2011, photograph, courtesy of the artist

Susan Paulsen, Wilmot, 2011, photograph, courtesy of the artist

The heat of summer has returned.  This is a good time to enjoy the cooling setting of a museum. Summer is also an appropriate time to journey to yesteryear, to a time and a place of a slower pace.

The Arkansas Arts Center is currently exhibiting Susan Paulsen: Wilmot

Wilmot is a little town in Ashley County, in southeast Arkansas. . . . A few years ago, Susan Paulsen set out to tell a kind of story, to chronicle a place in Arkansas through evocative photographs taken there over the course of many visits, in all seasons of the year. . . . Together, they form a picture of a place. For the artist, that place has a personal importance—part of her family comes from there, and for generations it has been a kind of homing place for them.

Through her photographs of this particular place, she wants, as she has said, to make a sort of poem about all such places; to find commonalities among these individuals and people in other places. Her goal, from the outset, has been to evoke all the Wilmots, wherever they might be. But still there is this town, these people. . .”  – From the essay by George T. M. Shackelford, Susan Paulsen: Wilmot.

The evocative visual poetry of Susan Paulsen: Wilmot comes to the Arkansas Arts Center in the form of more than 70 photographic prints and groupings of photographs that she took in Wilmot, Arkansas between 1995 and 2012. Most spectacularly, one large wall is covered by a grid of 90 photographs.

Susan Paulsen: Wilmot was organized by Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris. The images are coming home to Arkansas for their American debut. They will be on view in the Townsend Wolfe Gallery until September 28, 2014.