Monthly Archives: October 2019

110 years since President Taft visited Little Rock

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One hundred and ten years ago today (October 24, 1909), William Howard Taft became the third sitting president to visit Little Rock. His visit is the shortest presidential visit to the city, to date.

In this day of touchdowns at airports by politicians on the political stump, it is interesting to note that the shortest visit was made on a train. It was a true “whistle stop” visit.

Taft’s train arrived at Union Station (then a new building, it burned in 1920 and was subsequently replaced by the one currently standing on that site) in Little Rock to a crowd of 15,000.

President Taft stepped from the train, made brief remarks in a hoarse voice that few heard, stepped back onto the train and departed.

That same day he spoke in Texarkana and Arkadelphia. He was on his way to Helena to speak at a ceremony.

Big Boo!-seum Bash tonight

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Sponsored by the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB), Big Boo!-seum Bash will take place Thursday, October 24, 2019, 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM. Hosted by the Greater Little Rock Museums and Attractions Consortium, the event will feature 14 partners at nine downtown attractions.

Big Boo!-seum Bash is a free, family-friendly event that provides people the opportunity to visit many of Little Rock’s museums and cultural attractions for a night of safe trick-or-treating and family fun and games. Visitors are encouraged to dress in Halloween costumes.

“The Big Boo!-seum Bash was created to provide the public free access to our great local museums and cultural attractions. It’s a great family-oriented event in secure locations that people of all ages enjoy,” said Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau President & CEO Gretchen Hall. “It’s a perfect time to visit an attraction possibly for the first time, or re-visit one that you haven’t been to in a while,” she added.

Prize Information:

Printed by Target Printing & Office Centre, game cards will be provided at each participating Boo!-seum location. Get your card stamped at each participating location to be eligible for prize drawings. Entry instructions are printed on the game cards. Prize entrants must be 18 years of age or younger. Prizes include:

  • Grand Prize – Electronic Tablet. Visitors must visit all nine locations to be eligible.
  • Second Prize – $100 gift card. Visitors must visit seven or more locations to be eligible.
  • Third Prize – Goody basket with items donated by LRCVB, NLRCVB and Boo!-seum Bash participants.
  • Social Media Prize – Special Boo!seum Goody basket. Entrants must tag #LRBooseum on Facebook and/or Instagram for drawing eligibility.

2019 Big Boo!-seum Participants Include:

  • Arkansas Arts Center – NEW location: Terry House Mansion, 411 E 7th St
    • Central Arkansas Library System will participate on-site
    • Central Arkansas Water will participate on-site
  • Heifer International – 1 World Ave
  • Historic Arkansas Museum – 200 E 3rd St
  • Little Rock Visitor Center at Historic Curran Hall – 615 E Capitol Ave
  • MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History – 503 E 9th St
    • Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum will participate on-site
  • Mosaic Templars Cultural Center – 9th St and Broadway
    • Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site will participate on-site
  • Museum of Discovery – 500 President Clinton Ave
    • Central Arkansas Library System will participate on-site
  • Old State House Museum – 300 W Markham St
    • Arkansas Secretary of State will participate on site
  • Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center – 602 President Clinton Ave

Artober – Purple

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October is Arts and Humanities Month nationally and in Little Rock. Americans for the Arts has identified a different arts topic to be posted for each day in the month.  Today’s focus is Purple.

This is a good excuse to feature the downtown Little Rock bridges lit up in purple. The first photo is the Junction Bridge (with a portion of the Main Street bridge in the left) in a photo taken by the LR Culture Vulture.

The second photo of the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge was taken by the LR Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The project was dedicated in December 2013 as part of Entergy’s 100th birthday celebration. The company, founded as Arkansas Power Company in 1913, later was known as Arkansas Power & Light before becoming Entergy.

Little Rock CVB

Hitchcocktoberfest dodges THE BIRDS tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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The Birds (1963)Join the CALS Ron Robinson Theater for HITCHCOCKTOBERFEST! They will be screening FIVE classic Hitchcock films throughout October, and continue the series off tonight (October 22) with The Birds

The screening starts at 7pm.

The 1963 film is rare for Hitchcock in that the central character is female (though of course, bad things happen to her.) It starred Tippi Hedron along with Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Veronica Cartwright, and Suzanne Pleshette.

Melanie Daniels, a wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a romance with Mitch Brenner, a young lawyer, which takes her on a journey to a small Northern California town. Things slowly take a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.

The movie was nominated for one Oscars: Best Visual Effects.