this week’s EVENTS

LITTLE ROCK — TODAY Culinary Arts Dining MELBOURNE - The Ozarka College Culinary Arts Department will present its second gourmet dinner of the semester from 5-8 p.m. in the Culinary Arts Dining Room at the John E. Miller Education Complex on the main campus in Melbourne. Menus will be provided with entrée selection and prices. Seating is limited, and reservations are required. For more information or reservations, call the Culinary Arts Department at (870) 368-2062 or (870) 368-2061.

White River Community Garden BATESVILLE - The White River Community Garden is accepting applications for the 2012 gardening season. There will be an informational meeting at 7 p.m. at the Independence County Extension Office, 1770 Myers St. Available garden plots include 10-by-10-foot beds for $35 per year and 4-by-10-foot beds for $20 per year. Senior citizens 65 and older will receive a $5 discount. Applications are available on the information board at www.cityofbatesville.com and at the Batesville Chamber of Commerce and the Independence County Extension Office. For more information, call Sharon Clark at (870) 251-2148.

FRIDAY Bald Knob Driver Safety Course BALD KNOB - The Bald Knob AARP Chapter and Central Baptist Church, 1507 W. Center in Bald Knob, will hold an AARP Driver Safety Course from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The instructors will be Jerry and Bertie Yates. The cost is $12 for AARP members, who need to bring their membership cards, and $14 for nonmembers. To register, call Jerry and Bertie Yates at (501) 283-0283.

Father-Daughter Banquet JACKSONVILLE - The Jacksonville Sertoma Club will hold its second Father-Daughter Banquet at 6:30 p.m. at the Jacksonville Community Center. The event will include dinner with dessert, dancing, professional photos, and tiaras for the girls. Tickets are $35 for a father and daughter, $45 for a father and two daughters, and $50 for a father and three or more daughters. Participants are asked to wear evening attire. For more information, call Mary Twitty at (501) 912-9422 or Valerie Perry at (501) 529-3685.

SATURDAY Democratic Party Lunch HEBER SPRINGS - The Cleburne County Democratic Party will offer a Beans and Cornbread Lunch at noon at the Waychoff Senior Center, 320 Trailwood Drive in Heber Springs. Jean Wallace, chair of the Association of County Officers, will be the guest speaker. Former County Judge Claude Dill will cook, door prizes will be awarded, and donations will be accepted.

The SAME Café SEARCY - The SAME Café will be open from 4-6 p.m. at the West Side Church of Christ, 709 W. Arch St. in Searcy. The SAME Café is open thefirst and third Saturdays of each month to anyone in the community who would like a free warm meal.

Music in the Mountains HORSESHOE BEND - The Horseshoe Bend Theatre will begin a new season of Music in the Mountains at 6 p.m. The show will feature local singers and musicians. For more information, call (870) 373-3303.

MONDAY Life Care Planning Seminar SEARCY - A Life Care Planning Seminar for seniors will be sponsored by Hospice Home Care from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lightle Center, 2200 E. Moore Ave. Other health care providers and businesses will discuss their services to seniors. There will also be a presentation on 5 Wishes - personal, emotional, spiritual, and medical for endof-life care - at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon. Admission and lunch are free. For more information, call (501) 279-7955.

The Biggest Loser Contestant BATESVILLE - Becky Comet of Benton, a contestant on The Biggest Loser, will speak at 2 p.m. in the Lyon Building, Room 100, at Lyon College. Comet was one of the final-four contestants on last season’s The Biggest Loser. She lost 88 pounds during her time at The Biggest Loser Ranch. Comet will speak about her experiences at the ranch and with weight loss. She is the mother of Lyon College sophomore Samantha Comet.

TUESDAY Mardi Gras Dinner on Shrove HEBER SPRINGS - St. Francis Episcopal Church in Heber Springs will hold its annual Mardi Gras Dinner on Shrove from 5-7 p.m. at the Parish Hall, 20 Woodland Cove Drive, just off Arkansas 110 across from the Heber Springs Sports Complex. The menu will feature shrimp or chicken gumbo. Food is available to eat in or take out. Tickets are $10 for adults and $4 for children 7-12. Children under 6 may eat free. Proceeds will benefit the St. Francis Episcopal Church Ministries and Outreach. For more information, call (501) 365-6564.

Rockin’ Luke Stroud NEWPORT - KASU Radio’s Bluesday Tuesday concert in Newport will feature Rockin’ Luke Stroud, a rockabilly pianist and vocalist, at 7 p.m. at the Newport Country Club’s ballroom. Stroud performs songs from the heyday of early rock ’n’ roll, including numbers by Sun Records recording alumni Elvis Presley and Sonny Burgess, as well as Hank Williams Sr. and others. The concert is on the third Tuesday, which is a change for February only. The free event is open to the public.

UPCOMING The Beginnings of Japanese Food BATESVILLE - Samuel Yamashita, a history professor at Pomona College in California, will present a lecture about the beginnings of Japanese food at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Derby Lecture Hall at Lyon College. Yamashita received a doctorate in Japanese history at the University of Michigan in 1981 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. He recently published Leaves From an Autumn of Emergencies: Selections from the Wartime Diaries of Ordinary Japanese. The free event is open to the public.

Batesville AARP Driver Safety Course BATESVILLE - There will be a four-hour AARP Driver Safety Course at 7:59 a.m. Feb. 25. at the first Community Bank, 1325 Harrison St. The cost is $12 for AARP members, who need to bring their membership cards, and $14 for nonmembers. To register, call (870) 307-0110.

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy BATESVILLE - The Lyon College Concert Chorale will perform Beethoven’s Ode to Joy at 8 p.m. Feb. 25 and at 3 p.m. Feb. 26 at RobinsonCenter Music Hall in Little Rock. The Lyon Concert Chorale will be combined with the choirs of several other Arkansas colleges and universities to present Beethoven’s masterwork with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Philip Mann. Tickets are available at 501-666-1761 or tickets.arkansassymphony. org.

Delta Visual Arts Show NEWPORT - The fourth annual Delta Visual Arts Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 25 in downtown Newport. The show will feature 100 artists from five states. Volunteers are needed for shifts from 10 a.m. to noon, noon to 2 p.m., 2-4 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. For more information or to volunteer, call the Newport Economic Development Commission at (870) 523-1009.

Literacy Tutor Training Workshop BATESVILLE - The Ozark Foothills Literacy Project will offer a tutor-training workshop at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Jubilee Family Church, 45 Thunderbird Drive. Volunteer tutors are matched with adult students who are learning to read or learning English. Tutors meet with their students for two hours each week. The Literacy Project currently tutors 30 students across three counties, with more students waiting for tutors. To register for the workshop, call (870) 793-5912 or email info@literacyindepe ndence.org.

The Bankesters Bluegrass Group PARAGOULD - Blue Circle Records artists The Bankesters will perform at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Collins Theatre, 120 W. Emerson St. in downtown Paragould as part of the Bluegrass Monday concert series presented by KASU 91.9 FM. From southern Illinois, the Bankesters are a family band comprised of dad Phil, mom Dorene, three of their adult daughters and a son-in-law. The band has produced three albums and a music video. The concert is open to the public, and donations of $5 per person will be accepted. For more information about the family, visit www.bankesters.com.

World Day of Prayer FAIRFIELD BAY - The churches of the Fairfield Bay area will sponsor World Day of Prayer at 1 p.m. March 2 at Fairfield Bay United Methodist Church, 765 Dave Creek Parkway. This year’s service was written by the women of Malaysia around the theme Let Justice Prevail. World Day of Prayer is a worldwide ecumenical movement of Christian women of many traditions who come together to observe a common day of prayer each year on the first Friday of March. For more information, call Angela Worrell at (501) 884-6675.

Trivia Game Night BATESVILLE - The Humane Society of IndependenceCounty will hold a Trivia Game Night, beginning at 6 on March 9 at the Fellowship Bible Church on Main Street. Tickets are $10 per person or $80 for a table of eight. A chili supper will be served. There will be a table decorating contest and a bake sale. Space is limited, and reservations are required. For more information or reservations, call Bev Finch at (870) 613-3045 or Sue Augustus at (870) 307-5305.

Newport AARP Driver Safety Course NEWPORT - Arkansas State University-Newport will hold an AARP Driver Safety Course from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 10. The cost is $12 for AARPmembers, who need to bring their membership cards, and $14 for nonmembers. Refreshments will be served. Preregistration is required. Call the Continuing Education Department at ASU-Newport at (870) 512-7898 or email pcalhoun@asun.edu.

To submit an item for the Calendar of Events, mail information to Calendar of Events, Three Rivers Edition, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR, 72203 ; send faxes to (501) 378 - 350 0 ; or email trnews@arkansasonline.com. Deadlines for calendaritem submissions are noon Friday for Thursday editions and noon Tuesday for Sunday editions.

Three Rivers, Pages 55 on 02/16/2012

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