ASH FLAT — Some scrapbookers would stay up all night to finish a project.
On Feb. 22, a group of women in Ash Flat will spend 21 hours straight designing, cropping, layering and piecing together their scrapbook pages, all to raise money for a local cause.
The event, Crop This House, is in its fourth year and will raise money for the fifth annual Rock This House event at the local Church of Christ. Held each summer, the Christian women’s conference draws hundreds of people from across northeastern Arkansas.
“I think our population sign in Ash Flat says maybe 400, and we had over 700 people in our church for Rock This House last year,” said Leslie Scribner, coordinator for Crop This House.
Events as big as Rock This House take a large budget to keep going, so Scribner and others don’t mind donating $50 to participate in the yearly scrapbooking event. The time they get to craft, Scribner said, is worth the cost.
“Ladies will travel far and wide to scrapbook for a weekend,” Scribner said. “For women with families and jobs, that uninterrupted time to work on a project is amazing.”
The church’s doors will be open from noon Feb. 22 to 9 p.m. Feb. 23.
“We average anywhere from 20 to 50 women,” Scribner said.
In the past, the scrapbooking hours have typically been cut off around midnight, but Scribner said the demand was there to keep the event going all night this year.
“You can leave in the middle of the night if you need to go sleep, but there are going to be a lot of ladies who stay the whole time,” Scribner said. “There’s a group from Jonesboro coming who have said they will be there all night long for sure.”
Scribner, who has little ones at home, was able to finally finish her second child’s baby book at last year’s Crop This House. This year, she’s aiming to finish baby book No. 3.
“So many people work to finish wedding albums or graduation gifts,” Scribner said. “I’m going to stay as long as I can, at least until midnight and go back early the next morning, but I do need a little bit of sleep.”
Those interested in participating in Crop This House can register at ashflatcofc.org. The registration fee includes a T-shirt, designated table space, meals and snacks, demonstrations, door prizes and more.
Two other fundraisers for the Rock This House event are scheduled for this spring, said Jan Haney, Rock This house coordinator. A 5K run/walk and a bow shoot are both set for March 30. Funds from each of the events will help pay for the speakers for this year’s conference, including president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and New York Times best-selling author Lysa TerKeurst.
“It’s always the most inspiring weekend of the year for me,” Scribner said. “It’s such a wonderful motivator to see a multitude of women praising Jesus and just having fun.”
Staff writer Emily Van Zandt can be reached at (501) 399-3688 or evanzandt@arkansasonline.com.