Of all our living governors past and present -- there are six -- only one is conspicuously absent from the state. President Bill Clinton? Actually, he makes it back relatively often for an ex-president and still maintains a "residence." (Perhaps one day we'll get a peek at that penthouse atop the library.)
The only one we've never caught at the Wally Allen is Mike Huckabee, the conservative cable TV host whose name is still bandied about as a Republican presidential nominee (this year's Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll had him running just behind Texas Gov. Rick Perry and even with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and, yeah, OK, Sarah Palin).
Well, the Arkansas Pregnancy Resource Center's Legacy of Life is welcoming Huckabee as its honored guest and keynote speaker Oct. 2 at the Statehouse Convention Center fundraiser. Tickets are $100, though event chairman Jennifer Gunderman said the board has "already finalized our guest list [with] our support base and existing donors."
Huckabee is one of the strongest anti-abortion major-party candidates in recent years, but he is not offering his appearance for free.
Board member Melissa Goff wouldn't say how much the former governor will make on the appearance, just that the center reached out to him through a speaker's bureau and met his fee with the aid of some "very generous underwriters."
The nonprofit was formed as a Catholic lay apostolate at Christ the King Catholic Church in west Little Rock, but it has expanded to several other parishes and congregations. Goff said it is not "solely a pro-life organization," although it doesn't offer any abortion counsel or contraception.
"We help women in crisis pregnancies, whether they are abortion-minded or not, find the resources they need to successfully keep their child."
Some of those resources include financial and emotional counseling. The center offers free ultrasounds. The center maintains support after birth, "with child care referrals, assistance with clothing, formula, diapers and the emotional support they need."
FREE STEW!
An adherent of economics philosopher Friedrich Hayek and the primacy of price signals in the marketplace, I marvel at organizations that give me something for free, then ask me to chip in.
"Hi, I'm Ira Glass. Do you love your public radio?"
Get lost, socialist!
Here's an organization that's making us give nothing for something so that it may continue to give something to people with nothing. Stewpot, the inner city interfaith soup kitchen run out of First Presbyterian Church's basement, is hosting an Appreciation Dinner on Oct. 7 for all of its volunteers. Dinner will be in the Fellowship Hall of Westover Hills Presbyterian Church.
Brian Deloney of Maddie's Place is cooking gumbo, and Scott Seidenschwarz from First Presbyterian is whipping up the rest (rice, bread, salad).
Reservations must be placed by Oct. 1 with Mary Jane Cheatham, chairman of the Stewpot board, by email (mjghc@sbcglobal.net) or phone (501) 772-3036. And here's the kicker -- it's free.
"There is no charge, but nonvolunteers may make a donation to Stewpot," goes the news release.
One day the market's invisible hand will come knock, knocking at the gates of these good-will dispensaries, God willing.
I asked Cheatham what's the long-term forecast for solvency and succession.
"Have absolute faith," she said.
Stewpot provides meals each weekday from noon to 1 p.m. -- feeding about 140 -- and has for more than four decades.
FINE ARTS FELLAS
Lunching with Rachael Reid and Julie Tabor, two board members of the Fine Arts Club, at the annual meeting of the Arkansas Arts Center last month, I heard Tabor say, "This is our first year for men ..."
First year for men? You mean to say as recently as last year one of Little Rock's oldest and highest-regarded clubs had been denying admittance to anybody possessing a Y chromosome? If not for Augusta National Golf Club, which denies membership to any human without a Y chromosome, there would be no parity.
Pardon? Augusta admitted Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore in 2012? D'oh! Well, then it's about time the Fine Arts Club discard its jacquard veil of misandry ...
Anyway, I heard it wrong. There have been male members of the Fine Arts Club. Mostly the doting husbands of distaff members, but nonetheless.
What's new is three men now sit on the 21-member arts club board. They are Todd Bagwell, late the contracted event planner of the arts center; Aaron Perkins, and Don Deaton.
"It's just more diversity," club president Reid told me.
When I asked Jennifer Owens, another board member and the club's nominating chairman, if the presence of men made a difference at the board meeting or the retreat last month, she said, "No, not at all. If anything, it's a different way of looking at events."
Actually, they've formed a subcommittee to brainstorm new events and fine-tune existing ones in an effort to buck up the club.
I suggested a motorcycle rally. Imagine! Rock 'n' Roll 'n' Rococo.
"I would be very surprised," said Owens.
(The club capped its centennial year celebration with the Beaux Arts Ball in June. It was one of the best parties I've been to, ever -- not fussy or feminine in any sense, and much of the credit is Bagwell's.)
Share news or views on the subject, or complaints, with Bobby Ampezzan:
bampezzan@arkansasonline.com
High Profile on 09/21/2014