Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
Spotlight Series
Country singer Trace Adkins kicks off East Arkansas Community College's 2022-23 Spotlight Series with a 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 concert in the college's Fine Arts Center, 1700 Newcastle Road, Forrest City.
The rest of the lineup (all performances at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center):
- ◼️ Oct. 22: The Association
- ◼️ Jan. 21: Tanya Tucker
- ◼️ Feb. 18: The Bar-Kays
- ◼️ April 22: Kansas
Single tickets for each concert are $44. Season ticket packages go on sale Monday. Call (870) 633-4480, Extension 352, or visit EACC.edu.
West Fork fest
The Shire Post Mint in West Fork hosts its first public event, Shire Fest, Sept. 10. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette) Shire Post Mint, a fantasy coining operation at 52 W. Main St. in West Fork, hosts its first Shire Fest, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 10. Vendors and area craftspeople will be selling specialty goods, including clothes, books, jewelry, beauty and wellness products, leather, candles, gaming accessories, arts and crafts and food and drink. The festival will also feature "games, activities, crafts and prizes," according to a poster for the event. Musical performers include Jude Brothers, Austin Cash, Jess Harp and Tom Maringer and RJ Yelverton. The mint's indoor retail shop will offer handcrafted coins from movie and TV series ("The Lord of the Rings" and "Game of Thrones") and specialty in-house designs, including Moon Coins and breakable Pizza Coins.
Costumes are encouraged; masks are required for entry into the indoor spaces. Admission is free. Call (479) 208-7700 or visit shirepost.com.
Maringer bought his first antique coin press and opened the mint in 2001, hand-engraving steel dies and pressing coins one at a time, techniques used in the 1800s and earlier. He worked with author George R.R. Martin to make custom coins from his series of novels, "A Song of Ice and Fire," the inspiration for HBO's "Game of Thrones."
The festival coincides with West Fork's annual West Fest, Sept. 10-11, which includes a parade, a Miss West Fest pageant and live music. Visit facebook.com/west.fest.18.