Celebrate Independence Day the old-fashioned way at the annual Old Tyme July 4th Festival in Mountain View, July 1 to 4. Events will be held on the historic downtown Courthouse Square and at the Stone County Fairgrounds.
Friday, July 1, brings the opening of the town’s Merchants’ Firecracker Sale where visitors can register for door prizes and cash drawings to be awarded on July 4. Ozark Mountain music will be played on the square and at area music theatres.
Saturday’s events include the opening ceremony; the Red, White and Blue parade, featuring Uncle Sam, festive floats, antique vehicles and horses; special musical programs on the square, along with old-timey games such as sack races, egg relays, watermelon seed spitting contests, skillet tossing, and wrestling. There will also be a horseshoe pitching contest with trophies being awarded to the finalists.
A Praise in the Park church service at the City Park Amphitheater kicks off Sunday’s activities at 8 a.m. A 2 p.m. gospel and patriotic concert at Brickshy’s Backstreet Theater features free admission (donations welcome) with limited seating. Music on the square and the Merchants’ Firecracker Sale continues through the day. Independence Day starts off with special music at the court square gazebo, followed by the drawing for door prizes and cash awards from the merchants (must be present to win), a 4 p.m. free concert, a 7 p.m. Firecracker Dance and 9 p.m. fireworks display, all at the county fairgrounds.
Contact the Mountain View Area Chamber of Commerce for additional information toll-free (888) 679-2859 or via e-mail at mvchamber@mvtel.net. For lodging and other information, check the chamber Web site: www.YourPlaceintheMountains.com.
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Lake Chicot State Park will host its 5th annual Jammin' in the Delta Blues Festival on Saturday, July 2, from noon until dusk. Advance tickets are available from the park and the Lake Village Chamber of Commerce and are $6. Day-of-show admission will be $8.
Scheduled musical acts include Kern Pratt and the Accused and Roosevelt Rogers, both of Greenville, Miss., and Essie Neal of Little Rock. D.J. Crazy Ray of Little Rock will emcee the event and entertain during breaks. Food vendors will be on hand and will be serving barbecue, catfish and other items.
Lake Chicot State Park is located just off Ark. 144 about eight miles northeast of Lake Village in extreme southeastern Arkansas. The park lies on the shores of the state’s largest natural lake. For information on the park’s campground and rental cabins and for other park information, visit www.ArkansasStateParks.com. For ticket and other information, phone the park at (870) 265-5480.
For information on lodging, restaurants and other attractions in Lake Village, visit http://lakevillagearkansas.net or phone the Lake Village Chamber of Commerce at (870) 265-5997.
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Dardanelle’s Sesquicentennial Celebration will be July 4 on Front Street.
Festivities will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a breakfast by the Dardanelle Lions Club. Throughout the day there will be live entertainment, food booths, inflatable games for kids, carriage rides and more. The celebration of 150 years and Independence Day will end with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.
Admission is free. For more information, phone (479) 229-3328 or visit www.dardanellechamber.com.
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Two of the state’s oldest known Independence Day events are both in northeast Arkansas: the 61st Annual Corning Homecoming Picnic and the 78th Annual 4th of July Homecoming and Picnic in Piggott, both held on July 4. The Corning celebration begins with the annual downtown parade at 9 a.m. with the picnic following at Wynn Park. There will be concessions, free live entertainment, games and carnival rides. Also scheduled are beauty pageants for ages 7 to 18, cash prize giveaways, and the highlight of the festival – the drawing for a 2005 Lincoln to be held at midnight following a spectacular fireworks display. Admission is free. The Corning Area Chamber of Commerce has additional information at (870) 857-3874 or cacoc@neark.net.
Piggott’s party begins with a 9 a.m. parade, followed by various bands and entertainment, a sing-along, a beauty pageant, carnival, food concessions featuring barbecue, hamburgers, fried chicken and more, and the Miss Piggott contest at 8 p.m. Fireworks are at 11 p.m. with a truck-giveaway at 11:30 p.m. Admission to the event, which is held at the picnic grounds, is free. Tom Sneed is the local contact for additional information at (870) 598-5264.
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The 2nd annual Ace of Clubs House Twilight Tours in Texarkana, to be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the Tuesday evenings of July 5, 12, 19 and 26, will feature guided tours of the Italianate-Victorian house built in 1885 in the shape of a playing card “club.” Participants will also be treated to refreshments and live music on a 1901 Steinway piano.
The house, located at 420 Pine Street, was built by a local lumberman and Confederate veteran, James Draughon, and was sold in 1894 to local attorney Henry Moore, whose descendants occupied it until it was deeded to the Texarkana Museums System in 1985. The home contains furnishings from the 1880s through the 1940s and each room reflects decorating trends from one of those decades.
Normal operating hours for the house are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tues.-Sat. with the last tour beginning at 3 p.m. each day. Normal tour rates, which will be in effect for the evening tours, are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors aged 55 and up and $4 for students ages five and up. Group discounts (not available for the evening tours) can be obtained for tours of 12 persons or more prearranged at least two weeks in advance. For more information and to schedule group tours, phone (903) 793-4831 or e-mail texarkanamuseums@cableone.net. Additional information on Texarkana’s museums is available at www.texarkanamuseums.org.
An exhibit, “The Little Black Dress is Back,” will be on display at the Ace of Clubs House through September. It features many examples of such dresses from the 1920s, when designer Coco Chanel turned the black dress from a mourning item to a fashion piece, through the 1980s.
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The 9th annual tribute to native son, Louis Jordan, is scheduled for July 8 at Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom in downtown Little Rock. The salute is a concert/conference honoring the Brinkley-born rhythm and blues (R&B) and rock 'n' roll pioneer, held annually on or near his birth date of July 8. There will be historic examples of Jordan's early music "videos" and art available for purchase. Guest musicians playing jazz, punk, rock, blues and more will perform renditions of such Jordan hits as "Caldonia" and "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie." Proceeds will go toward a memorial and sculpted bust of Jordan by Arkansas artist John Deering, which will be placed in his Monroe County hometown. Admission is $10 and donations can be made at the event or by mail to: Louis Jordan Tribute Fund, c/o Bank of Brinkley, Brinkley, AR 72021.
Jordan was in his prime in the 1940s when he and his group, the Tympany Five, launched 54 singles into the R&B charts, including 18 songs that went to #1. He pioneering style became known as "jump blues" or "jumpin' jive." From 1943 to 1950, Jordan held down the top slot for a total of 113 weeks, earning him the moniker of "King of the Juke Boxes." He is a member of the National Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame.
For additional information, call (501) 569-8485 or e-mail skoch@arkansas.net.
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Enjoy a “Walks Through History” program of Yellville on July 9. The walking tour of historic properties in downtown Yellville will begin at 11 a.m. from the front of the Marion County Courthouse on the square and last between one and two hours. The tour will visit several historic properties located in the vicinity of the Marion County Courthouse, including the J.C. Berry’s Dry Goods Store. Admission is free and the event is co-sponsored by the Marion County Historical Society.
The "Walks Through History" program is a series of monthly outdoor walking tours that seeks to familiarize people who live and work in communities outside of central Arkansas with the historic structures and sites around them. Presented by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP), an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, an AHPP staff historian leads the tour, delivering a brief lecture about the properties visited and their history.
For more information, phone (501) 324-9788 or visit www.arkansaspreservation.org.
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Those wishing to join the count should bring binoculars and a butterfly field guide and meet at the park’s Wonder House, west of the park’s lodge. Some 300 individual butterflies representing up to 30 species have been counted during previous years’ events, according to a park official. The data collected is forwarded to the National Butterfly Association and becomes part of a national publication.
Located 13 miles northwest of Mena atop Rich Mountain, Arkansas’s second highest peak, the park lies along a section of Ark. 88 known as the Talimena Scenic Drive. For more information on the butterfly event and the park, visit www.queenwilhelmina.com, phone (479) 394-2863 or e-mail queenwilhelmina@arkansas.com. For reservations in the park’s lodge, phone toll-free 1-800-264-2477 (V/TT).
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A free performance of “Shakespeare in the Park: Much Ado About Nothing” will take place at 6 p.m., July 11 and 12 at Devil’s Den State Park near West Fork.
The Arkansas Repertory Theater will present this romantic comedy with the beautiful lakeside setting at Devil’s Den State Park as its stage.
For more information, phone the park at (479) 761-3325.
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Children and youth ages 7-16 can experience different art mediums at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts (ESSA) Youth Art Experience Day Camp, July 11-15 and July 18-22, in Eureka Springs.
Morning and afternoon sessions will feature choices such as pottery, papermaking, book making, printmaking, the history of rock and roll, radio productions, poetry for poetry slams and more. Group and individual instruction is provided.
ESSA offers classes in arts and crafts throughout the year for interested, emerging and professional artists.
Admission for the day camp is $65. For more information, phone (479) 253-5384 or visit www.esartschool.com.
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There will be all types of bluegrass on tap July 15 and 16 during the 6th Annual Bluegrass Festival, held at the Lester Flatt Memorial Park in Otto, just south of Vilonia. Activities scheduled include bluegrass and gospel music, jamming sessions, arts and crafts, and swimming and fishing. Food vendors will be on hand plus there will be a potluck supper. Park amenities include showers and restrooms, a dump station, covered pavilions, and camping facilities. No alcohol is allowed and security personnel are on duty. Admission is $10 daily with a two-day pass going for $18. Camping is $8 a day. Contact Elizabeth Kuykendall at (501) 835-2451 for additional details.