Category Archives: History

Two Jewish Guys Chanukah Special on KUAR

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Chanukah begins at sundown tonight.  To get everyone in the spirit of it, KUAR – UALR Public Radio – is presenting the 11th annual Jewish Guys Chanukah Special tonight at 7pm on KUAR – FM 89.1.  Little Rock attorney Phil Kaplan and adman Leslie Singer recorded the broadcast before a live audience earlier in the month.

The Jewish Guys Chanukah Special celebrates cultural Judaism and features skits, music and general shtick. Musical guests included the Meshugga Klezmer Band and the Bauman Brothers.

“This year’s special guest is Susan McDougal who special prosecutor Ken Starr sent to prison for no cooperating with his investigation of President Clinton,” Leslie Singer says. “I’m going to ask her if she celebrated Chanukah with the Jewish inmates she has said took her in.”

Kaplan and Singer started identifying themselves as the Two Jewish Guys during KUAR’s semi-annual on-air fund drives several years ago. In 2001, the Two Jewish Guys and UALR Public Radio began producing an annual recorded Chanukah Special. After first featuring a live audience at the Central Arkansas Library System main campus, it outgrew that space and moved in 2007 to the Clinton Presidential Center.

“Interesting enough, at least two-thirds of our audience are not Jewish. That really inspires me that they are interested in the religious and cultural part of Judaism,” Singer noted to KUAR. “They enjoy a peek into another culture. And they like it.”

The program will also be broadcast on Christmas Day at 1pm. That is also the 5th of 8 days of Chanukah.

CALS commissions new art to Celebrate Centennial

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The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) has commissioned a piece of public art celebrating its 100 years of service to the community.

To help complete the work, through Thursday, December 29, CALS is gathering translations of the word “celebrate” in as many in different languages as possible. Patrons wishing to participate may submit a translation and identify the language on the CALS website, http://www.cals.org. Each entry of a correct translation of the word celebrate will be included in a drawing for a $50 gift certificate for “gently read” books, supplied by CALS’s River Market Books & Gifts. The drawing will be held on Friday, December 30.

Arkansas artist Michael Warrick (who is on the faculty of UALR and has pieces throughout the US as well as China) has designed a top which will incorporate the translations of the word in a ring around the piece. The Main Library campus will host the art, which is expected to be completed in 2012.

A Capital Christmas in 2011

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Contrary to popular belief, the Little Rock Culture Vulture doesn’t live at the Capital Hotel.  But since it is a hub of cultural performances, it is appropriate to feature it on this site.

During the holiday season, the halls are decked and the walls festooned with greenery, lights and ribbons.  This year, in addition to the tall tree in the lobby, there is a gingerbread village with two trains.

Performances from a variety of schools and other groups are ensuring that the sounds of Christmas cascade throughout the colonnades in addition to the sights of lights.

 

Coming Soon: Mosaic Templars Holiday Open House (Dec 4)

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Join the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in a one-of-a-kind holiday celebration. Watch the museum come alive for our Holiday Open House event on December 4, 2011 starting at 1:00pm and running until 5:00pm.

This fun event will feature holiday performances by local choir and theatre groups as well as a special presentation featuring Mosaic Templars own Act Out Loud students. We will also have a Kids’ Holiday Craft Corner with a variety of holiday activities including holiday refreshments.

Please bring toys to donate to the Say’s Stop the Violence toy drive to benefit children in the local community. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information about our Holiday Open House event, visit mosaictemplars.com or call 501-683-3593.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Sandwiching in History: Union Station

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The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program each month sponsors a Sandwiching in History tour which familiarize people who live and work in central Arkansas with the historic structures and sites around us. The tours take place on Fridays at noon, last less than an hour, and participants are encouraged to bring their lunches so that they can eat while listening to a brief lecture about the property and its history before proceeding on a short tour.

Today at 12 noon, this month’s tour is the Union Station at 1400 West Markham.  It was constructed in 1921 to replace an earlier depot which burned in 1920.  Since the 1870s there has been a railroad station on or near this site.

The current structure was designed by architect E. M. Tucker of St. Louis and exhibits elements of the Italian Renaissance Revival style. The Missouri Pacific Railroad acquired the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad in 1917 and continued passenger service out of this depot until 1970.

Union Station was a bustling place in its heyday, serving as the point of departure for soldiers leaving Camp Robinson during World War II as well as a whistle stop during Harry S. Truman’s presidential campaign. The building is currently used as office and event space as well as the local Amtrak station.

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Coming Soon: HAM’s 44th Annual Christmas Frolic (Dec 4)

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Celebrate the holiday season like days past at Historic Arkansas Museum’s annual Christmas Frolic on December 4, from 1 to 4 pm.

Visitors can watch nails being forged at the new Blacksmith Shop, create tree ornaments and holiday cards, sip on hot cider and enjoy ginger cake, play pioneer games, listen to 19th century fiddle music, expect a visit from Father Christmas and do some holiday shopping in the Museum Store. And lots more!

Music will be provided by Arkansas Country Dance Band, Lark in the Morning and roaming fiddlers.

Plenty of free parking is available at 3rd and Cumberland Streets.  Historic Arkansas Museum is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

As a child, the Culture Vulture’s parents brought him to this every year. It kicked off the Christmas season for us.  Memories of the hot cider as a kid are almost as warming as the actual cider was.  My ADD however did not allow me to enjoy the candle dipping for very long.  I couldn’t understand why you just couldn’t put the wicks in the middle of the wax, let it harden and then cut them out.

 

Coming Soon: Holiday Open (Old State) House (December 4)

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This Sunday, December 4, from 1pm to 4:30pm, the Old State House becomes the Holiday Open (Old State) House.

The traditions of joyous family holiday celebrations past can be relived at Holiday Open House. Visitors will find the Old State House colorfully decorated for the season. Fun, hands-on activities will be available to children; they may create unique holiday cards and more!

Delightful carols will be performed by local music groups. Visitors will also enjoy delicious cookies and punch.

It will also be a great time to revisit the galleries or see them for the first time. From the restored legislative chambers which tell the story of Arkansas’ leaders, to the First Ladies gowns to the exhibits: Arkansas Arkansaw-A State and Its Reputation and An Enduring Union — there is plenty to see.

Call (501) 324-9685 for more information. Admission is free.

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