Bobby Ampezzan
Stories by Bobby
ARKANSAN OF THE YEAR: Clash of the Titans
posted: 05/19/2013 4:11 a.m. Discuss
What is it about banking executive George Gleason that brings out the executive branch of government?
UNIVERSITY HONORS: UALR applauds trio who make school puff with pride
posted: 05/19/2013 3:59 a.m. Discuss
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock took time out from its busy end-of-year academic calendar to toast some of its brightest alumni May 10 at the Clinton Presidential Center’s Great Hall.
Margaret Jayne Dewoody Young
posted: 05/12/2013 3:52 a.m. Discuss
Is this the face of our Mother of the Year? If Maggie Young is the cover profile on Mother’s Day, it’s implied, right?
Tabriz devotees
posted: 05/12/2013 3:41 a.m. Discuss
A familiar crowd heeded the call of the Arkansas Arts Center’s opulent Tabriz (tuh-BREEZE ) fundraiser, and why wouldn’t they?
CITY CLUB, COUNTRY CLUB: Historic Appomattox Club prizes legacy, honors youths
posted: 05/12/2013 3:37 a.m. Discuss
Ninety years ago when the Appomattox Club formed, club President Ted Manley says, blacks weren’t welcomed into Little Rock’s mainstream (read: white) nightlife, so folks met regularly in one another’s home for socializing, food, drinks — well, that was during Prohibition. Actually, members were penalized for serving too lavishly.
UP AND COMING: Hollywood homeboy; red, white and the zoo
posted: 05/05/2013 3:39 a.m. Discuss
Yvette Parker is the elegant events and volunteer manager for Pulaski Technical College, and earlier this year she invited me to lunch inside the Campus Center.
FINALE IS A BEGINNING: Thoma times two
posted: 05/05/2013 3:38 a.m. Discuss
A finale for Melissa and Martin Thoma? Hardly. The Little Rock marketing mavens are at the height of their influence.
Good Pointe, Chelsea
posted: 05/05/2013 3:34 a.m. Discuss
A week before the Clintons made their way back to Little Rock to dedicate the renovated and (fairly ) newly renamed Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, the third Clinton flew into the airport for a fundraiser for her old dance company.
FULL PLATES AT EMPTY BOWLS: Many belly up to the buffet to feed the Foodbank kitty
posted: 05/05/2013 3:31 a.m. Discuss
Empty bowls? Food was everywhere at the 11th annual fundraiser for the Arkansas Foodbank, from the budding vegetable and herb garden along the walk from the parking lot to the boxed variety loaded onto the industrial shelves inside the warehouse, to the hot-and-ready catered vittles being emptied from the buffet tins of the 14 participating restaurants.
MUD ROLLS: Premiere event
posted: 04/28/2013 4:18 a.m.
Discuss
Little Rock native Jeff Nichols’ long-awaited third movie and biggest to date, Mud, premiered April 15 at the Rave theater to a fairly packed house that included the governor and first lady, the film’s director and two child stars, several politicians, such as North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith and former House Speaker Robert Moore, and many from Arkansas and Desha counties who were cast in small roles in the movie.
Bolo Bash banter
posted: 04/28/2013 4:08 a.m.
Discuss
Debbie Reynolds was so sweet. In an anteroom before the luncheon, she chatted up a reporter, pointing out the knee-hole in his Ralph Lauren jeans and saying, “You bought ’em like that?
DERBY DAZE: And they’re off
posted: 04/21/2013 3:29 a.m. Discuss
The weather was gorgeous, the stock market up, the day and year matched (4/13/13) — any combination of these or another dozen reasons could explain why last weekend’s 77th running of the Arkansas Derby was the best attended in seven years.
ON TRIAL FOR HIS LIFE: O’Neill is found guilty as sin of being a funny, clever guy
posted: 04/21/2013 2:55 a.m. Discuss
For those who follow KTHV-TV, Channel 11, anchorman Craig O’Neill off-camera — that is, on the fundraising circuit where he frequently serves as master of ceremonies, driving contributions and uncomfortable laughs in equal measure — the April 9 “Trial of Craig O’Neill” fundraiser for Presbyterian Village Foundation proved particularly savory.
Literary Festival authors take quiz on Arkansas with mixed results, grain of salt
posted: 04/16/2013 1:54 a.m. Discuss
As you read this, a particular kind of celebrity is mobilizing for a march on the capital city this weekend. Not as picture-perfect as the movie actor, or as cloistered in the rear of a tour bus as the rock star, or crawling with advance men like the president, the “published author” (belletris publicus) is filled with nearly as much self-importance and yet walks around free of the fanfare because, hell, we don’t know what he looks like.
Eric Paul Peterson
posted: 04/14/2013 3:53 a.m. Discuss
What’s the one word to describe Eric Peterson?
EGGSHIBITION: Eggciting finish
posted: 04/14/2013 3:46 a.m. Discuss
“Look, isn’t that more than you’ve ever gotten?” artist Mark Holder asked his artist wife, Kathleen Kennally, whose piece Child’s Play Mirror was only the latest in a string of donations from Kennally to the Youth Home fundraiser, Eggshibition. This one had more than a few bids, ending at $150.
THEY’RE GETTING HITCHED: Engaging gathering for pair
posted: 04/14/2013 3:38 a.m. Discuss
Some of Little Rock’s most visible and well-heeled denizens gathered at the Edgehill chateau of Cindy and Chip Murphy to celebrate the engagement of their son Toby Watkins to Washington lawyer Maya Grassi.
No soiree, no dress-up? Cash saved is ‘potlucky’
posted: 04/07/2013 2:53 a.m. Discuss
Grab a cup of coffee and sit down. Vicki and Mark Saviers have an important announcement about the annual fundraiser for Potluck, a group they’ve been deeply committed to for 21 years.
JURIS AMICUS: Verdict in after two hours: Corbin free to mete justice
posted: 04/07/2013 2:51 a.m. Discuss
Several from around the state got subpoenaed to show up at Whole Hog. The trial of state Supreme Court Justice Donald Corbin’s 75th birthday was chaos. Order in the restaurant? Nah. It was buffet-style.
Potluck food donations
posted: 04/07/2013 2:41 a.m. Discuss
Each Friday Carol Herzog, director of Potluck Food Rescue for Arkansas, sends her board an e-mail “snapshot” of food donations that arrived that week.
ANGELS OF HOPE: 20th Century Club honors 27 selfless teen role models
posted: 03/31/2013 3:28 a.m. Discuss
At the 20th Century Club’s Hope Ball on March 9, 27 high school juniors were honored for their service commitment to the club, which operates the 20th Century Club’s Lodge, a 21-room facility for cancer patients from out of town (some from out of state) who can’t otherwise afford a place to stay while receiving treatment at Little Rock hospitals.
ART OF THE SALE: Return on investment
posted: 03/24/2013 3:06 a.m. Discuss
Pulaski Technical College frequently points out that for every $1 spent on the school, $10 goes back into the local economy.
Robert Walden
posted: 03/17/2013 3:36 a.m. Discuss
On the advent of the man’s 70th birthday, everything’s coming up roses for the actor Robert Walden. For the second year he’s serving as ringleader to wife Christy Carpenter’s Winthrop Rockefeller Institute’s Film Forum.
THE SPORTING LIVES: Winners all
posted: 03/17/2013 3:32 a.m. Discuss
The week the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame was held, former University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt’s new book dropped. Summitt is the winningest Division I college basketball coach ever, and she retired last season because she has Alzheimer’s.
Rappin’ and appin’
posted: 03/17/2013 3:27 a.m. Discuss
We saw something March 9 at the 20th Century Club’s 2013 Hope Ball that we expect to see a lot more of at the Statehouse Convention Center … KTHV news anchor Craig O’Neill rapping the night’s opening remarks to the backtrack of Tone Loc’s 1988 hit ‘‘Wild Thing’’ … ?
ARTS PATRONS: Scholarship endowment artfully tops six figures
posted: 03/10/2013 4:33 a.m. Discuss
A few patrons of arts at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock gathered at the home of David and Nancy Bartlett to hoist a glass in celebration of the university’s Friends of the Arts scholarship endowment topping $100,000.
STARRY STARRY NIGHT: Stellar turnout
posted: 03/03/2013 3:13 a.m. Discuss
The aptly named 15th fundraiser for Access Schools attracted more people — 350 — and generated more money — $160,000 — than last year’s, proving that even on a starry, starry night, we can never wish too big.
Purposeful knitters cover little heads with warmth
posted: 02/24/2013 3:15 a.m. Discuss
“Supposedly knitting is the new yoga,” says Robin Reynolds, punching the Up button outside the glass elevator inside the lobby at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Miles of yarn
posted: 02/24/2013 3:06 a.m. Discuss
Robin Reynolds, director of volunteer services at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, keeps a precise tally of needlework donations made from just after the kickoff of the Knitting for Noggins program in 2006 through the beginning of the year.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESSMEN: Hall of Fame
posted: 02/24/2013 3:05 a.m. Discuss
Tommy Boyer of Amarillo, Texas, dreamed of making it to the Hall of Fame back in the early 1960s as an All-American basketball player for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.
CHOCOLATE FANTASY BALL: A value meal
posted: 02/24/2013 3:04 a.m. Discuss
Look, every parent knows, bringing a child up right means occasionally telling her, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Take the 10th annual Chocolate Fantasy Ball benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas on Feb. 16.
TOO LIVE KREWE: Fat weekend
posted: 02/17/2013 3:06 a.m.
Discuss
There were hirsute men in harlequin togs, kinchins hitchin’ rides on horses, classy cyclists wearing tweed and a bizarro warrior class wielding polo mallets, masked men and women throwing beads and man’s best friends lassoed to leashes but leading the march.
A CAPITOL IDEA: Junior Leaguers lobby, lunch with lawmakers
posted: 02/17/2013 3:02 a.m. Discuss
The women of the Junior League of Little Rock descended on the state Capitol on Feb. 5 to meet with legislators and get a better understanding of how the league’s efforts to create social change might be implemented or accelerated with legislators’ help and guidance.
ALMS FOR THE REP: Show must go on
posted: 02/10/2013 2:40 a.m. Discuss
All the beatified people — and some hell-bound — arrived at the Statehouse Convention Center on Feb. 2 in their divine evening gowns and elegant black ties to help our town’s beloved repertory theater pile up the wampum to put on another show.
Sheila Galbraith Bronfman
posted: 02/03/2013 3:03 a.m. Comment 1
To really know Sheila Galbraith Bronfman, you have to go back. Back, back, back to last weekend.
PRESIDENTIAL REUNION: Arkansas Travelers
posted: 02/03/2013 2:41 a.m. Discuss
Last weekend a group of Arkansas civilian campaigners for Bill Clinton and then Hillary Clinton, led by Sheila Galbraith Bronfman in late 1991 and again in 1996 and 2008, held a reunion in Little Rock.
REPAIRING THE WORLD: TODAH!
posted: 01/27/2013 2:09 a.m. Discuss
Bill Clinton is a tough act to follow, so when the Jewish Federation of Arkansas selected its Jane B. Mendel Tikkun Olam lifetime achievement award this year, they split the honor two ways.
NOSHIN’ WITH NOLAN: Nolan Richardson charms crowd during lunch event
posted: 01/27/2013 2:01 a.m. Discuss
If it has never been said before, then here it is — former Razorbacks head basketball coach Nolan Richardson is nearly a perfect blend of Bill Cosby and a revival tent preacher. If he isn’t making a rapt crowd throw their heads back and squeal, he has them solemnly nodding, even uttering, “That’s right” in stage whispers.
At your (full) service
posted: 01/22/2013 2:21 a.m. Comment 1
What do you associate with home delivery of milk, an ashtray at your work desk, the sainted American sports star, a bow-tied gasoline “jockey” at the filling station? Why, a happier America, of course.
‘OK, pal, step away from the pump’
posted: 01/22/2013 2:03 a.m. Discuss
The folks in Oregon and New Jersey know good service. By law, they must.
SHE’S WOMAN OF THE YEAR: All hail!
posted: 01/20/2013 2:42 a.m. Discuss
For Terri Erwin, it was the party of a lifetime. Hundreds of well-wishers holding up fluted glasses of champagne, the invigorating Atlanta Showstoppers band, a tribute video to her, Craig O’Neill cracking jokes about the ambitious party goers who drove straight from the Coon Supper in Gillett.
David Basil Burks
posted: 01/13/2013 3:03 a.m. Discuss
Picture David Burks sitting before the large windows of his executive’s office, looking out upon a gray empty academic quad, the heart of Harding University. Tomorrow the kids return, er, students, and the thought gladdens him.
LAST OF THE WINTER ICE: Skaters at Arvest Ice Rink take one more time around
posted: 01/13/2013 2:39 a.m. Discuss
No doubt inspired by the news that day that the National Hockey League and its players had reached an agreement to end the lockout, central Arkansans slid over to the Arvest Ice Rink in the River Market Jan. 6.
FASHION FORWARD: Fun, elegant styles got our attention in 2012
posted: 01/06/2013 3:39 a.m. Discuss
At the High Profile section of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, we aim to show you the splendid panoply of noteworthy names and faces every Sunday from around Little Rock, the state and beyond.
PARTY ANIMALS: Zoo Year’s Eve party welcomes 2013 to LR
posted: 01/06/2013 3:29 a.m.
Discuss
The seventh annual Zoo Year’s Eve party inside the Cafe Africa center on the grounds of the Little Rock Zoo wasn’t as wild as it has been in years past. No monkeying around, you might say. Mal and Mary Anne Lehman, longtime docents, remember an earlier party when they were charged with carrying around an eagle and a python, respectively.
RED CARPET UPSTART: What this film festival needs is a formal international ball
posted: 12/30/2012 2:50 a.m. Discuss
At the 2010 Little Rock Film Festival, Cody Carson looked around and “I saw everything going on and I thought, ‘The one thing missing is a formal international filmmakers ball.’” Now he and Sharl Hill and Kimberly Jones are trying to make that happen. They may one day look at the inaugural ball Dec. 15 at the Little Rock Club downtown and marvel at how it all got started.
OPEN BAR: First-degree fun
posted: 12/23/2012 3:31 a.m.
Discuss
Judges, old lawyers and new, and faculty and staff of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s William H. Bowen School of Law arbitrated its annual Dean’s Holiday Party on Dec. 13 at Trapnall Hall downtown.
Kaput or not kaput?
posted: 12/23/2012 3:13 a.m. Comment 1
Now is the season to wish someone Frohe Weihnachten.
Cafe sings in Jamaican accent
posted: 12/20/2012 3:43 a.m. Discuss
Around the newsroom, word of Porter’s Jazz Cafe’s sputtering term inside the historic Gus Blass Wholesale Co. building was met with wrinkled noses and pursed lips.
Gaze upon the crystal ball
posted: 12/16/2012 3:32 a.m. Discuss
As we approach the darkest day of the calendar year (winter solstice) or perhaps eternal darkness (apocalypse), why not tempt fate and peek into the future? Not the future of The Jetsons or Star Trek, of conveyor belts that relieve us of walking and phasers set to stun because, um, we kind of already have that.
