MAY CALENDAR : Much ado about ‘M’
Posted on Thursday, May 1, 2008
“M” is for May, Mom and Mother’s Day — and mmmmm, suck ’um heads, mudbugs — and my, my, so many toads. 1 May Day. People have frolicked on May 1 since ancient times. Romans celebrated Flora, the goddess of flowers. English villagers danced around the May Pole. Arkansans gather spring bouquets of ivory-billed woodpeckers. SPRING QUICKENS Eureka Springs May Festival of the Arts — events all month, including May 1 ’s Kick-off Party, noon-2 p. m. in Basin Park. Schedule is at Web site, www. eurekasprings. org. Call (888 ) 855-7823. COULD BE VERSE Stanford University poet and professor Eavan Boland weighs in on the works of W. B. Yeats (“ A line, ” he wrote, “will take us hours, maybe...” ), 6: 30 p. m. at the Main Library’s Darragh Center, downtown Little Rock. Call (501 ) 918-3032. STATE OF AGITATION “A Circus Hitched to a Tornado” exhibit of Arkansas political artifacts, through Oct. 25 at the Old State House Museum, Little Rock. Call (501 ) 324-9685. Arkansas Heritage Month.
TOAD TRIP 2 Toad Suck Daze and championship toad races through May 4 in Conway. Call (501 ) 327-7788. War Eagle Mill Arts and Crafts Fair through May 4 at the mill near Rogers. Call (479 ) 789-5343. Ramona Quigby through May 18 at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre, Little Rock. Call (501 ) 372-4000.
GUARANTEED SHAVINGS 3 North Arkansas Woodcarvers Show and Sale through May 4 at Baxter County Fairgrounds in Mountain Home. Call (870 ) 431-8070. Bugs, Bikes & Bands crawfish boil and celebration in downtown El Dorado. Call (870 ) 862-4747. Resource Rendezvous: Making Memories the Natural Way at Lake Dardanelle State Park near Russellville mark the 75 th anniversary of the state park system. Call (479 ) 967-5516. ONCE UPON A TIEMPO English / Spanish storytime and Cinco de Mayo party, 10: 30 a. m. at the Main Library’s Youth Service department, downtown Little Rock. Call (501 ) 918-3050.
VIVA ! — IT’S MORE THAN A PAPER TOWEL 4 League of Latin American Citizens’ Cinco de Mayo celebration, 10 a. m.- 10 p. m. at the River Market, downtown Little Rock. Call (501 ) 256-3888.
HIGH BROWSE Books in Bloom literary festival with authors including Stephen R. Donaldson, J. A. Jance and Michael Palmer, noon-5 p. m. at The Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs. More authors attending at www. booksinbloom. org. Call (870 ) 423-5300. 5 The flower of May is the: (A ) Lily of the Heights, (B ) Lily of the Valley, or (C ) Lily of the Middle Class. (Answer at May 28. ) 6 Sigmund Freud’s birthday, 1856; National Egg Month. Two fragile things: Eggs and egos. 7 National Salad Month — just what your mouth’s spinachin’ for. 8 National Moving Month: The month with a van-do attitude. CLEAR INTENTIONS 9 “Hot Color Cool Glass” exhibit includes art-glass works by Sonja Blomdahl and Dale Chihuly, through July 27 at the Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock. Call (501 ) 372-4000. Taste of the Mediterranean Bash, Greek buffet and auction benefits Easter Seals Arkansas, 7 p. m. at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Little Rock. Call (501 ) 227-3700.
THE WURST THAT CAN HAPPEN 10 German Heritage Festival, polka and bratwurst cook-off at the Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie, Stuttgart. Call (870 ) 673-7001. Hope Chamber of Commerce Free Bluegrass Festival in Hope’s Fair Park. Call (870 ) 777-3640.
LONG, TALL-TALE TEXAN Kinky Friedman, 8 p. m. at the City Auditorium, Eureka Springs. The author signs his latest: You Can Lead a Politician to Water But You Can’t Make Him Think. Call (888 ) 855-7823. Art in the Park arts and crafts festival through May 11 at Hollywood Park, Hot Springs. Call (501 ) 321-6871. Legacy Gallery and Theater open at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton, 11 a. m.-3 p. m. Call (501 ) 727-6219 by May 5 for free reservations. 11 Mother’s Day; National Twilight Zone Day. “Vast as space and timeless as infinity...” The fifth dimension is a mother’s heart.
POEM, SWEET POEM 12 National Limerick Day, National Prepare to Buy a Home Month. The neighborhood Realtor wails At recent reductions in sales — So few houses selling, There’s really no telling How many the government bails.
COLBERT RETORT 13 Stephen Colbert’s 44 th birthday. Which brings us to the Word of the Day: Santa Clausification. “Santa Clausification” is what Princeton professor Cornel West calls turning a real-life figure of history into a bland cultural symbol. — Santa Clausified today, Easter Bunnified tomorrow. Let’s remember, Nation, that real people have flaws and complexities. Let’s give people back the right to be wrong. — Eliot Spitzification.
SPROUTS AND CHEERS 14 Garden Club of America Flower Show, 10 a. m.-5 p. m. at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Community Gallery at Terry House, Little Rock. Call (501 ) 372-4000. 15 National Vinegar Month, National Correct Posture Month. A man with vinegar in his spine is ready for anything the day throws at him — especially croutons. Musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe by the Royal Players through May 18 and May 22-28 at the Royal Theatre, Benton. Call (501 ) 315-5483.
HUMMUS REMEMBER THIS 16 Greek Food Festival through May 18 at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Little Rock. Details at www. greekfoodfest. com. Call (501 ) 221-5300. MUDBUGS, STEAK
— AND GARNISH Crawdad Days and Music Festival through May 17 in Harrison. Call (870 ) 741-2659. Dermott Crawfish Festival through May 17, Dermott. Call (870 ) 538-5656. Magnolia Blossom Festival and World Championship Steak Cook-Off, May 17, Magnolia. Call (870 ) 234-4352.
Atkins Picklefest and pickle-juice drinking through May 17, Atkins. Call (479 ) 641-7161. 17 National Tennis Month: Take this lob and love it.
Saline County Art League quilt exhibit, 9 a. m.-3 p. m. at Shoppach House Historic Park, Benton. Call (501 ) 776-1324.
Lupus Springers 5 K race, 8 a. m. from Mid-America Park, Hot Springs, benefits the Arkansas Chapter, Lupus Foundation of America. Call (501 ) 525-9380. 18 National Smile Month. A smile is like a simile: It means somebody likens you. 19 National Revise Your Work Schedule Month — always the first thought on a Monday morning.
Fine Arts Club of Arkansas program, “Sonja Blomdahl: Incalmo Glass,” 9: 45 a. m. at the Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock. Call (501 ) 396-0351. 20 Cher’s 62 nd birthday. Sixty-two is the new 26. 21 National Hamburger Month. Where there’s a dill, there’s a way. 22 National Sweet Vidalia Month. The only thing better than a sweet vidalia is a sweet patootie. “My sweet patootie loves me.” — Popeye.
SHORE ENOUGH 23 Riverfest with Huey Lewis and the News, Merle Haggard and ZZ Top, through May 25 at Riverfront Park and North Shore Riverwalk, Little Rock and North Little Rock. Weekend’s lineup at www. riverfestarkansas. com. Call (501 ) 255-3378.
WRITERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE 24 Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas workshop with Western writer Dusty Richards, 9 a. m. in Dining Room 3 at Baptist Health Medical Center, Little Rock. Details at www. fwca. org. Call (501 ) 982-1793.
PONY EXCESS 25 Mustangs on the Mountain Show and Shine, 11 a. m.-3 p. m.
at the Museum of Automobiles on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton. Call (501 ) 727-5427. 26 Memorial Day. What turns a visit to the cemetery into a three-day weekend ? — barbecue ! 27 National Barbecue Month: It sticks to the ribs. 28 May flower answer: (B ) Lily of the Valley, best seen barefoot. “Why isn’t there a special name for the tops of your feet ?” — Lily Tomlin.
BLUE TIMES TWO 29 Eureka Springs Blues Weekend with Koko Taylor and Indigenous, through June 1. Call (479 ) 253-7333. 30 Fire on the Mountain bluegrass musical through June 22 at Arkansas Repertory Theatre. Call (501 ) 378-0405. 31 Clint Eastwood’s 78 th birthday. Seventy-eight is the new. 357. Coming next month: June ! Call (501 ) 399-3633, write to Ron Wolfe, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 121 E. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72201, or e-mail rwolfe@arkansasonline. com by May 15 to suggest June calendar entries or what to give mom for Mother’s Day besides what she has already got by the bundle — worries. Each event requires a phone number that is answered during business hours or by an answering machine that identifies the event or its sponsor.
SERIOUS ATTENTION Musical Brundibar and drama Contact With the Enemy — two remembrances of the Holocaust, weekends May 2-18 at The Weekend Theater, downtown Little Rock. Call (501 ) 374-3761.
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