Category Archives: Holidays

Holiday Open House and Sweet Potato Pie contest at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

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Celebrate the season with Mosaic Templars Cultural Center at the Holiday Open House!

The main attraction at Holiday Open House is the Say It Ain’t Say’s Sweet Potato Pie Contest. Both amateurs and professionals can compete to see whose pie is worthy to be in the same category as Robert “Say” McIntosh, a popular Little Rock restauranteur known for his generosity and his tasty sweet potato pie.

Those who can’t bake … eat! Guests get to sample the entries and vote for their favorites to win the People’s Choice Award.

There’s even more to enjoy at Holiday Open House, like musical performances and a family craft room!

Holiday Open House is free, but visitors are encouraged to bring a toy to donate to local children through Say’s Stop the Violence, a local nonprofit organization.

Hours are from 2pm to 5pm.

For more information, please call (501) 683-3593 or visit mosaictemplarscenter.com.

(A free trolley can take you to the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Old State House Museum and the Arkansas Governors Mansion.)

That time The Jackson 5 rode in the Little Rock Christmas Parade

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The 2019 Big Jingle Jubilee Holiday Parade takes place today in downtown Little Rock. It seems like a good time to remember one of the earlier incarnations.

On December 2, 1972, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 performed in concert at Barton Coliseum. But earlier in the day, they were the grand marshals for the second annual Little Rock Christmas Parade.

They were featured in a full page ad for M. M. Cohn advertising the parade (and of course encouraging persons to stop by the store while they were downtown).

The Jackson 5 sang and waved from the upper level of a London style double decker bus. About fifty kids followed behind the bus yelling their appreciation and singing along.

Writing for the Arkansas Gazette, Bill Lewis notes that the biggest cheers at the parade, however, went to Gary Weir as KATV’s Bozo (even louder than the one’s for Santa).

I Triple Dog Dare You to miss A CHRISTMAS STORY at CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight

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Image result for a christmas story movie poster"Spend time with Ralphie, Randy, the Old Man, Mother, Flick, and even Santa Claus tonight with the CALS Ron Robinson Theater shows A Christmas Story.

This beloved holiday movie follows the wintry exploits of youngster Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), who spends most of his time dodging a bully (Zack Ward) and dreaming of his ideal Christmas gift, a “Red Ryder air rifle.”

Frequently at odds with his cranky dad (Darren McGavin) but comforted by his doting mother (Arkansas native Melinda Dillon), Ralphie struggles to make it to Christmas Day with his glasses and his hopes intact.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

Santa to visit Little Rock Zoo Friday for Hometown Holidays

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Santa Claus is coming to town and will be stopping by Hometown Holidays at the Little Rock Zoo on Friday, December 6. This ticketed, special event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. in Café Africa. For guests who purchase tickets, this will be a special dinner of delicious offerings of holiday favorites and kid-friendly options.

Along with dinner, the ticket includes live holiday music, holiday crafts, animal meet and greets, and train rides. There will even been gingerbread house-making. Later in the evening, all guests will have their souvenir pictures taken with Santa at the Arkansas Heritage Farm!

Limited to 100 guests, prices for Zoo members are $35 for adults and $30 for children. Ticket prices for non-members are $40 for adults and $35 for children. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are required for all children, regardless of age, as seating is limited. High chairs and booster seats are available but limited in quantity. Guests are requested to arrive on time and enter through the Safari Trader Gift Shop. Shuttles will be standing by to transport to Café Africa.

To learn more or to purchase tickets click here.

Play BingoFlix tonight as CALS Ron Robinson Theater shows SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS

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Santa Claus Conquers the Martians PosterJoin the Central Arkansas Library System for BingoFlix!

Play bingo to some of the most hilarious movie cliches during a screening of the so-bad-it’s-good film, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians! Win prizes including free movie and event tickets to upcoming shows at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater!

Martians come to Earth to kidnap Santa Claus because there is no one on Mars to give their children presents. Earth kids Billy and Betty set out to save Santa and return him to Earth. The film is a baffling mixture of sci-fi, Christmas cheer and childish slapstick!

Filmed mostly in an old airport hangar on Long Island, it features a cast culled largely from Broadway shows at the time. Among the cast are future Tony winner Bill McCutcheon (who also played Shirley MacLaine’s suitor in Steel Magnolias) and Pia Zadora in her film debut.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

ASO announces program for annual Home for the Holidays concert

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Home for the HolidaysOne month from today, on December 19, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will present its traditional holiday concert Home for the Holidays

ASO’s traditional holiday show is back for a one-night-only performance including music from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Holst’s In the Bleak Midwinter, music from the hit film Polar Express, and your favorites like “O Holy Night”, “Sleigh Ride”, and “It’s Beginning to look a Lot like Christmas!”

Vocalist Stephanie Smittle will be performing with the ASO for “It’s Beginning to look a Lot like Christmas,” “This Christmastide (Jessye’s Carol),” “O Holy Night,” and “Mary Did You Know.”

Tickets are $16, $36, $57, and $70; active duty military and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Robinson Center street-level box office beginning 90 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 1.

Artists
Israel Getzov, conductor
Stephanie Smittle, vocalist

Program
HOLST – In the Bleak Midwinter
TCHAIKOVSKY – Nutcracker Suite, Op 71a, “Waltz of the Flowers”
Arr. O’Loughlin – Christmas Canticles
WILLSON/Arr. Holcombe – It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas*
FRASER – This Christmastide (Jessye’s Carol)*
SILVESTRI/Brubaker – Polar Express Concert Suite
ANDERSON – Sleigh Ride
TORME/ Lowden – A Christmas Song
ADAM/ Ryden – O Holy Night*
LOWRY/SCHRADER – Mary Did You Know?*
O’NEILL/Phillips – Mad Russians’ Christmas
O’NEILL/Phillips – Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24

*denotes a song that Stephanie Smittle will be performing with the ASO

Tricks and Treats on Little Rock Streets: Halloween 1950 in Downtown

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A recent romp through an ARKANSAS GAZETTE gave insight into Halloween in Little Rock in the middle of the 20th Century.

Apparently by late afternoon on Halloween 1950, downtown Little Rock was filled with kids and teens in costumes. Much of the focus seemed to be on tricks as many of these revelers were utilizing water guns to soak people, throwing enough talcum powder to create an aroma downtown, shooting off firecrackers, and soaping store windows. Several industrious store owners had coated there windows with glycerine so that soap would not mark them.

The mayhem was enough to cause even more problems to traffic at rush hour. Police officers were helpless as they were directing traffic.  One city bus filled with passengers was attacked by a phalanx of waterguns, until the windows were all closed.

A GAZETTE writer noted that two teen boys were dressed rather convincingly as girls. One was described as “rather pretty.” It was not until the teen let out an expletive (which the paper reported as “g— d—–”) that the reporter was certain it was a male.

Not everyone was focused on tricks.  Merchants in the Heights neighborhood created a block party with a carnival. It was deemed to be so successful that it would become an annual event.