Dogtown Wire

Fayetteville police Officer Mike Hammons brings the Torch of Hope into the games.

“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”

The oath of the Special Olympics starts with a simple appeal to no one in particular for triumph.

Anybody present at the 38^th annual summer games of Special Olympics Arkansas this weekend would tell you there was nothing but winners no matter who came in first.

About 2,000 special athletes, representing 17 areas around the state, came to Harding University in Searcy to compete. They competed in 89 track and field events as well as in aquatics, softball, volleyball, golf, unified football, power lifting, cycling, and bocce.

The original winner of the first Olympic Games may have been the only athlete celebrated in the lone competition of that game, but he had nothing on those readying to take on the mantle of a competitive spirit.

As I sit here writing, back in my growing up area of western New York, the Wayland Central School band may be finishing up the march in its third or fourth Memorial Day Parade.

Being a central school it served the 4-5 little towns, villages and off the beaten path farms that surrounded the “big city” of Wayland as the focus point of collective activities for the students who attended it.

One memory from my early youth was watching the Memorial Day parade from the big porch of our house on University Avenue in North Cohocton; a town without a stop light, but an old-fashioned country store, and about 400 folks.

Sunset sets the stage for Saturday night's Riverfest music.

The sun was little in evidence the first two overcast days of Riverfest, but there was humidity enough to assure this year’s festival-goers that summer, indeed, is upon us.

The humidity — and a smattering of Saturday afternoon rainfall — proved no deterrent, however, as good-sized crowds flocked to the parks along both sides of the river in the annual pilgrimage for live music, hard-to-resist unhealthy food and overpriced bottles of water.

Starting shortly before sunset on Friday afternoon, my music advisor and I set ourselves up in the Arkansas Music Tent at the far eastern end of the North Shore Riverwalk, almost below the aforementioned Junction Bridge. There we took in three acts with state ties: Grand Serenade, The Nobility and The Moving Front.

Indiana Jones has finally arrived in movie theaters after an absence of 18 years. This time around we have a mix of old and new faces as the rugged archeologist stays busy keeping alive and saving the world in “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull .”

The movie starts off in the Nevada desert. It’s 1957 and we see high school kids driving a racing jalopy while Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” blares from the radio. The jalopy gets on the highway and starts passing an army convoy. The convoy turns onto a dirt road and approaches a check point, but the convoy is manned by Russians and they shoot all the guards. 

When they arrive at a warehouse, Indiana Jones is pulled out of the car trunk, along with his pal, George “Mac” McHale, played by Ray Winstone.

Saturday I ventured out to the Arkansas Art Market – formally known as the ArtScene in Argenta – at their new location in the River Market area. The new space nestled above the Wrought Iron Grill officially opened for business May 3.

With about 20 artists, the space of about 3,000 square-feet had some familiar names, and a few new ones. With the River Market traffic, sales are up and the art and artists will be changing each week.

The Market hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and the second Friday night each month 5 to 8 p.m. The space will operate as an Open Market with artists paying a $25 fee to reserve a 10-foot by 10-foot area to display and sell for the day.

With the hot summer weather coming, and if you’re looking for a Gallery, this may be just the ticket to sell your art in the comfort of a great inside spot. This affordable a price for a sales spot is rare.

To further utilize the space, which has large windows overlooking President Clinton Avenue, beautiful hardwood floors and a wooden walkway above the Wrought Iron's outside patio area, it will be available for events such as weddings, receptions, open mic poetry and the like. Event rental starts at $650 for four hours, with a capacity of about 250-300.

Event planning is available as well as catering by the Wrought Iron Grill, to reserve or for more information contact LeAnn Bonton at 697-0196 or Katina Harper at 838-6931.

I thoroughly enjoyed my outing, so next Saturday treat yourself to the Arkansas Art Market at 614 President Clinton Ave (River Market) and support our local artists. Buy some art.

(For more on the local art scene and other artful tidbits visit Rhonda at Canvas Junkie.)

This Weekend in Art May 23

Looking for a RiverFest Alternative....check this out

Friday May 23:

Art Appreciation Workshop @Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church Artist John Green 7– 8pm

Eureka Springs May Festival (www.eurekasprings.org)

Saturday May 24:

Eureka Springs Art Car Parade (www.eurekaspringsartcarclub.com)
Zarks Fine Design Gallery@ 67 Spring St., Eureka Springs- Artist reception for ceramist Gary Egan and Steve Beacham from 6 to 9 p.m.
Abrya Studio @185 N. Main St., Eureka Springs -Artist reception Kathryn Semolic 4 to 8 p.m.

Sunday May 25 And Monday May 26:

Eureka Springs May Festival

Police officers from around the state gathered on the steps of the Capitol Building for the lighting ceremony of the final leg of the 2008 Law Enforcement Torch run this morning.

The ceremony kicked off the final leg of the 21^st torch run to take the Flame of Hope about 50 miles torch to the Arkansas Special Olympics Games to be held at the campus of Harding University in Searcy, Ark.

North Little Rock Police Department Captain Davis spoke to a crowd of runners, sponsors, well-wishers, and the media as the director of this year’s run.

“Recently I was reading some words, a quote, ‘The world will never be the same after this,’” said Davis. “Those words were spoken 40 years ago after the first Special Olympics were organized by Miss [Eunice] Kennedy Shriver in Soldier Field in Chicago.”

City photographer John C. Jones rarely misses a chance to take his trusty camera in hand to freeze the moments of time in our city.

A pair of nesting hawks made a home at one of the billboards stationed next to the Main Street viaduct, and naturally the progress of these new residents were worth chronicling to Jones.

Taking a few shots when the small nestling first arrived was done handily, and were safely accomplished.

While perched in the bucket of a lift truck to get the shots of the now larger nestlings, he lived through the old adage that to do it right, you sometimes have to put something in besides the sweat and tears.

“The Counterfeiters ”, an Austrian movie, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film this year.

Luckily, we are getting to see it here in Arkansas. This movie is based on a true story set in the waning days of World War II. A group of concentration camp inmates were forced to make counterfeit pounds and dollars for Operation Bernhard, touted as the largest counterfeit operation ever undertaken.

We first meet Salomon Sorowitsch gambling and spending lots of money in Monte Carlo.