LITTLE ROCK — July is when bugs and beauty queens, cardboard boats, hot dogs, fireflies, flying saucers, blueberries and — oh, yes — fireworks make the middle month of summer really pop.
1 National Ice Cream Month. National Women’s Motorcycle Month. Rum raisin, rummmm!-raisin’.
RED, WHITE AND BLOOEY
Patriotic Spectacular with Candy Coburn, Marshall Tucker Band and fireworks 6-9 p.m. at Jacksonville High School’s Jan Crow Stadium, Jacksonville. Call (501) 944-4820.
BLUE AND GRAY IN BLACK AND WHITE
“Portraits in Gray” Civil War photo exhibit through July 21 at Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers. Details at rogersarkansas.com/museum. Call (479) 621-1154.
SAUCER SERVICE
2 World UFO Day.
“Visits? That would indicate visitors.” — Air Force Captain, Plan 9 From Outer Space
MISSION: AARP POSSIBLE
3 Tom Cruise’s 50th birthday.
Idaho admission day, 1890. Idaho admits to parents raising tater tots.
BOOM! WITH A VIEW
4 Independence Day. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette free Pops on the River celebration, noon-10 p.m. at Riverfest Amphitheatre, downtown Little Rock, with bounce houses, food trucks, car show, “Oh say! Can you Sing?” contest at 6:30, Happy Tymes Jazz Band, 7; Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, 8:30; fireworks, 9:30 from the Main Street Bridge. Details at arkansasonline.com/pops. Call (501) 918-4539.
ALL WET, AND STUBBORN
Cardboard Boat Race at Ozark near Altus. Details at ozarkchamberofcommerce.com. Call (479) 667-2525.
Donkey and Mule Day celebrates long-eared, cussed orneriness with races and talent contests at Ozark Folk Center State Park, Mountain View. Details at ozarkfolkcenter.com. Call (870) 269-3851.
BIG TOP, SMALL BOTTOM
5 Circus showman P.T. Barnum’s birthday, 1810; invention of the bikini swimsuit, 1952. Either way, the greatest show on earth.
IT’S COOL-EWWWW! INSIDE
6 Air Conditioning Appreciation Days and National Garlic Month: The case against pizza-scented air conditioning.
THE BEATLE GOES ON
7 Drummer Ringo Starr’s 72nd birthday. “I would have stayed with the band.”
— Ringo Starr. CLIP-CLOP SHOP
8 How to celebrate National Farriers’ Week: With lucky shoes and happy feet.
SUNBURN NOTICE
9 Nude Recreation Week. International Town Crier’s Day cries, “Keep your shirt on!”
10 Teddy Bear Picnic Day, National Grilling Month, National Hot Dog Month.
The teddy bears had a picnic, And everybody came For hot dogs Fallen through the grill And blackened in the flame.
The teddy bears had a picnic, And, oh, was this a hit; A bear, you see, is born to grill — Complete with padded mitt.
TIARAS R US
11 Miss Arkansas Pageant, with crowing of the winner July 14 at Summit Arena, Hot Springs. Details at missarkansas.org. Call (800) 745-3000.
GREAT CAESAR’S GHOST!
12 Julius Caesar’s birthday, 100-or-so B.C. The emperor cuts his cake, like Gaul, in partes tres — into three parts, not enough for everybody, and Rome falls like a loose candle.
Royal Players’ Barefoot in the Park through July 15 and July 19-22 at the Royal Theatre, Benton. Details at theroyalplayers.com. Call (501) 315-5483.
OOZE IN THE NEWS
13 Bugs, Slugs and More programs on creepy, slimy things through July 15 at Lake Catherine State Park near Hot Springs. Call (501) 844-4176.
Friday the 13th. Ick!
PANTS ON FIRE
Musical The Full Monty, weekends through Aug. 4 at The Weekend Theater, Little Rock. Details at weekendtheater.org. Call (501) 374-3761.
READS AND TREADS
Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries book sale through July 15 at the Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library, downtown Little Rock. Details at cals.org. Call (501) 918-3000. Fat Tire Festival and mountain bike competitions through July 15, Eureka Springs. Details at fattirefestival.com. Call (479) 422-7654.
WINKIN’, BLINKIN’ AND SOD
14 Firefly Fling summer festival at Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, Fayetteville. Details at bgozarks.org. Call (479) 750-2620.
EVERYTHING IS BLUE-TIFUL
15 National Blueberry Month — when happy little bluebirds fly over white cars.
SING THE BODY ECLECTIC
Tattoo artist demonstrations, 2-4 p.m. at the Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, in conjunction with “Tattoo Witness: Photographs by Mark Perrott,” with the exhibit continuing through Sept. 9. Details at arkarts.com. Call (501) 372-4000.
DIAMONDS ARE A PEARL’S
BEST FRIEND
16 July’s birthstone is the same as which woman’s first name: (A) Jewel, (B) Diamond Lil, (C) Poor Pitiful Pearl, (D), Ruby Tuesday, (E) Tropical Storm Beryl.
Answer at July 29.
TAKE IT OUTSIDE
17 National Recreation and Parks Month.
RING-A-DING-DING
18 Cell Phone Courtesy Month, and three ways to make quiet use of a cell phone:
At a restaurant: A cell phone slipped under the short leg of the table prevents wobbling.
At the elevator: A cell phone is better than fingers to wave in front of a closing door.
In the library: A cell phone is almost as good as a Kindle to use for a bookmark.
19 How to celebrate National Horseradish Month: With haute cuisine.
IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOUR SHOES SQUEAK
20 Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon, 1969.
PIN INTEREST
21 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Raw World Tour, 7:30 p.m. at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock. Call (800) 745-3000.
AW, RATS!
22 Rat-Catcher’s Day remembers the peepy Pied Piper of Hamelin, who rid the town of rats and put the dent in rodent.
YUP
23 National Day of the Cowboy.
“Gene Autry was the most ... He was my first musical influence.”
— Ringo Starr
WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY
24 National Drive-Through Day.
The Sound of Music through Sept. 1 at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, Little Rock. Details at murrysdinnerplayhouse.com. Call (501) 562-3131.
PUTTIN’ ON THE SPRITZ
25 Musical Hairspray through July 29 at the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff. Details at artssciencecenter.org. Call (870) 536-3375.
BADA-BING, BADA-BOOM
26 Drum Corps International Arkansas, 7 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock. Details at dci.org/littlerock. Call (317) 275-1212.
TA-DAHHHH!
Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, Barnum Bash, through July 29 at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock. Call (800) 745-3000.
OUGHTA SEE ’EM DO THEIR STUFF
Ding-Dong Days through July 29, Dumas. Details at dumasar.net. Call (870) 382-5447.
WHISTLE WHILE YOU CORK
27 Altus Wine Festival and grape stomping through July 28, Altus, near Fort Smith. Details at altusgrapefest.com. Call (479) 518-1963.
Rogers Little Theater musical Chicago through Aug. 12 at the Victory Theatre, Rogers. Details at rogerslittletheater.org. Call (479) 631-8988.
SIMIAN SIMILARITIES
28 Breakfast With Siamangs, 8 a.m. at the Little Rock Zoo. Details at littlerockzoo.com. Call (501) 666-2406. A siamang is: (A) A bouncing baby baboon, (B) A gallopin’ galoot of a gibbon, or (C) The Great Grape Ape. Answer at July 30.
SEEING STARS
T Tauri Film Festival young filmmakers’ showcase, 7 p.m. at University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville. Details at ttauri.org. Call (870) 251-1189.
RUB-A-DUB — BLUB!
World Championship Cardboard Boat Races, 10 a.m. at Sandy Beach, Heber Springs. Details at heber-springs.com. Call (501) 362-2444.
29 Hard rock quiz answer: (D) Ruby, Ruby, when will you be mine?
APE WITH A CAPE
30 Monkey-see quiz answer: (B) Gibbon wins the ribbon.
CAUTION: WATCH FOR LITTLE
SQUIRTS
31 National Smart Irrigation Month: Good to the last drop.
Coming next month: August! Call (501) 399-3633, write to Ron Wolfe, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 121 E. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72203, or e-mail
by July 15 to suggest August calendar entries or celebrity co-chairmen of the 20th annual Volkswagen Weekend, Aug. 24-26 in Eureka Springs, namely: Bugs Bunny, Beetle Bailey, Van Morrison. Each event requires a phone number that is answered during business hours or by an answering machine that identifies the event or its sponsor.
Style, Pages 29 on 06/26/2012