May 19
Food Truck Friday
BATESVILLE — Area food trucks will rally at Riverside Park to serve lunch and dinner during Food Truck Friday. There will be a wide variety of items to choose from served by The Mobile Dog, the Patty Wagon, Crossfire BBQ, A&B Custom Meats, Tropical Sno and more. For more information, contact Kyle Christopher at (870)-793-2378 or tourism@mybatesville.org.
Movies in the Park
BATESVILLE — The Batesville Parks Department will present a free showing of Disney’s Moana at 8:30 p.m. at Riverside Park. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, grab dinner from the food trucks, and watch a movie on the banks of the White River. For more information, contact Kyle Christopher at (870)-793-2378 or tourism@mybatesville.org.
May 19 and May 20
Thumbpicking Guitar Weekend
MOUNTAIN VIEW — The Ozark Folk Center State Park celebrates the legacy of Merle Travis and the modern tradition of the style with the annual Thumbpicking Guitar weekend. The event features performances by Thom Bresh (Merle’s son), PJ Hastings, Steve Rector, Danny Dozier and Randy Bucker. Contests in traditional thumbpicking and contemporary fingerstyle guitar will take place Saturday, with a $1,000 prize for winners in each division. On Friday, the Folk Center will host a thumb-picking workshop for players at all levels from 9 a.m. to noon. Registration is $55 and includes admission to the Friday-evening concert. For more information, call the Folk Center at (870) 269-3851.
May 20
Mexican Dinner and Bingo Night
PANGBURN — The Pangburn Future Business Leaders of America will sponsor a Mexican Dinner and Bingo Night at 5 p.m. in the Pangburn School Cafeteria. More than 200 prizes will be given away, including 100 bales of hay, a $300 area rug and a $70 hammock. Dinner costs $6 and is free for children younger than school age. Bingo will cost 50 cents per card. Proceeds from this family-friendly event will help FBLA members go to the national conference this summer to compete. For more information, call (501) 728-3513.
May 22 and May 23
Farce of Nature Auditions
JACKSONVILLE — The Community Theater of Jacksonville will hold auditions for Farce of Nature, by the writing team of Jones, Hope and Wooten, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday in Room A of the Jacksonville Community Center, 5 Municipal Drive. The theater is looking for three men and three women. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. For more information, visit the theater’s Facebook page, or email communitytheaterofjacksonville@gmail.com.
ONGOING
Farmers Market
HORSESHOE BEND — The Horseshoe Bend Farmers Market will be open from 8-10:30 a.m. each Wednesday, beginning May 24, at Faith Presbyterian Church, at Church and Fourth streets. Vendor will offer fresh produce, baked goods and crafts.
World War I Exhibit
CALICO ROCK —The Calico Rock Museum, 104 Main St., is hosting a World War I commemorative event, A State of War: Calico Rock Remembers World War I, during May. The event includes an exhibit designed and fabricated in-house that focuses on the young men from the area who served in the war, the impact of the war in the area and a broader look at the war. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call (870) 297-6100 or email ggushue@gmail.com.
Tai Chi Chih Classes
MELBOURNE — Ozarka College will offer a series of Continuing Education tai chi chih classes from 10-11 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Part 1 will meet May 30 through June 8, and Part 2 will meet June 20-29. The course instructor is Vicki Webb. “Tai chi chih is an easy- to-learn, non-martial-arts form of movement that promotes physical strength and balance and enhances focus, concentration and emotional wellness,” Webb said. To learn more, visit www.taichichih.org. The cost is $30 per session or $25 for students ages 60 and older; or $50 for both sessions or $40 for those 60 and older. For more information or to register, contact Candace Killian at (870) 368-2003 or ckillian@ozarka.edu.
Single Parent Scholarship Application Deadline
SEARCY — The deadline is June 1 for applying for White County Single Parent Scholarship Fund Inc. summer 2017 scholarships. The scholarships are for White County single parents who have minor children and are pursuing postsecondary education in order to achieve skilled employment. View the application at www.aspsf.org/county_white.html. For more information, contact Executive Director Dan Newsom at wcspsf.inc@gmail.com or (501) 230-2414.
Art Contest
SALEM — The Salem Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9777 Auxiliary will sponsor an art contest for students and adults at the Fulton County Fair. The contest’s theme is What Red, White and Blue Means to Me, and entries can be any art medium. The age divisions are youth, 12 and younger; juniors, 13-18; and adults, 19 and older. All adult entries must be framed and wired and ready to hang, and youth and junior entries can be on heavy poster board with holes punched in the top and string or wire to hang. Enter online after June 1, and preregister by July 15. For more information, call the Salem VFW Auxiliary at (870) 371-0421 or the fair office at (870) 895-5565.
Free Brown-Bag Lunch
CABOT — The Mount Tabor United Methodist Church Women of Cabot serve a free brown-bag lunch at 11 a.m. each Thursday at the church, 4100 Arkansas 89 S. In 2016, this mission of the church served more than 8,600 lunches to the hungry and needy of Cabot.
Opportunity for Bridge Players
BEEBE — Bridge players are needed at 1 p.m. Wednesdays at the Shepherd’s Center at Beebe United Methodist Church, 302A N. Main St. Beginners are welcome. For more information, call (501) 843-2930.
Beebe Caregivers Support Group
BEEBE — The Beebe Caregivers Support Group meets at 3 p.m. the third Thursday of each month at the Shepherd’s Center at Beebe United Methodist Church, 302A N. Main St. For more information, call Sandra Garrett at (501) 940-4021.
Alzheimer’s Support Group
CABOT — The Alzheimer’s Support Group meets at 10 a.m. the second Tuesday of each month at Cabot United Methodist Church, 2003 S. Pine St. For more information, call (501) 265-0027.
Republicans Meetings
NEWPORT — The Jackson County Republicans meet at 7 p.m. the fourth Monday of the month at Merchants and Planters Bank, 915 Arkansas 367 N. For more information, call Jeff McDonald at (870) 731-7646.
Cabot Lions Club Meetings
CABOT — The Cabot Lions Club has regular get-togethers at noon the first and third Thursdays of the month at the Kingpin Sports Grill. Lions serve local communities and protect the planet. Club members provide children with eyeglasses, offer food for seniors and provide assistance during natural disasters. All are invited to the meetings.
Upcoming
Spring River Associational Singing
STRAWBERRY — The Spring River Associational Singing will take place at 6 p.m. May 27 at Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church, 113 S. Main St. The Heavenly Highway Hymnal, 1st and 2nd editions, will be the primary books, but others will be available. Everyone is invited, including singers and musicians of the Spring River Associational churches. Light refreshments will be served. Offerings for the purchase of more hymnals will be accepted. For more information, call John R. Way, president, at (870) 283-3292.
Celebrating Ozark Heroes Workshops and Concerts
MOUNTAIN VIEW — The Ozark Folk Center State Park will present a day celebrating Ozark music May 27 with workshops, dialogue and group playing with Mark Bilyeu, Cindy Woolf, Clarke Wyatt and Betse Ellis. This multisection workshop is geared for intermediate and above players and/or singers. Open to a variety of instruments — breakout sessions will accommodate mandolins (to join the fiddle class), both fingerstyle and clawhammer banjo, guitar and vocalists. Beginners are welcome to attend. The special guest performer will be Meredith Axelrod. An afternoon matinee set in the Craft Village will be from 2-3 p.m., and the evening performance will be from 7-9 p.m. For more information, call the Folk Center at (870) 269-3851.
Memorial Day Ceremony
CABOT — American Legion Post 71 will host a Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. May 29 at the Cabot Veterans Community Center. The guest speaker will be Allen Miller. After the ceremony, Post 71 will honor the fallen by placing a wreath at the memorial, followed by the playing of taps. For more information, call the post at (501) 203-5715.
North Arkansas Electric Cooperative Annual Meeting
SALEM — Legendary country group Shenandoah will perform at the North Arkansas Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting on June 1 at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Salem. Cooperative members and their families are invited to attend. The meeting schedule of events includes registration, 2-6:45 p.m.; bingo, 2-4 p.m.; entertainment, 4:15-6:45 p.m.; a barbecue meal, 4:15 p.m.; and a business meeting, 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.naeci.com or call (87) 895-3221.
Museum Ships on the Air
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — STARS (Small Town Amateur Radio Service), part of American Legion Post 71 in Cabot, will assist with the Museum Ships on the Air, World Wide Museum Ships, on June 2-4 at the USS Razorback submarine at the Inland Maritime Museum, 120 Riverfront Park Drive. STARS will attempt to contact other museum ships. The Inland Maritime Museum’s hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1-6 p.m. Sunday. After Memorial Day, May 29, the museum will also be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $5 for children younger than 12.
Summer Reading Program
BATESVILLE — The Independence County Library, 368 E. Main St., will begin its annual Summer Reading Program on June 5. Preschoolers through sixth-graders are eligible to participate and receive weekly prizes for reading books. There will be live performances June 7 and July 5, and weekly story times with Charlotte on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For more information, call the library at (870) 793-8814, email info@indcolib.com, or visit www.indcolib.com.
Gospel Concert
AUSTIN — Southern gospel trio 11th Hour will be in concert at 6 p.m. June 10 at Lifeline Fellowship Church, 109 W. Allison St. Admission to the concert is free, but an offering will be received. For more information, call Rowland Promotions at (501) 284-1182.
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) 378-3500; or email trnews@arkansasonline.com. Deadlines for calendar-item submissions are noon Friday for Thursday editions and noon Tuesday for Sunday editions.