![There’s a reason Drs. Frances Harris and Joe Hargrove have been two of the four perennial co-chairmen of Celebrate the Moments of the Season, a fundraiser that supports the youths enrolled in the performance-arts-oriented Tidwell Project Inc. “Once [children] begin to participate in the performing arts, they can be anybody they want to be,” Hargrove says. The 15th annual event takes place today.](https://wehco.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2017/12/15/resized_250588-hptidwell-1-1217_2-24037_t800.jpg?90232451fbcadccc64a17de7521d859a8f88077d)
There's at least one annual event making up Little Rock's social season whose four co-chairmen have stayed the same from year to year.
Drs. Frances Harris and Joe Hargrove, physicians and spouses, have teamed up with Susan and Dr. Alonzo Williams to not only head Celebrate the Moments of the Season, but to sponsor the Christmastime fundraiser for the Tidwell Project Inc. This organization exposes economically disadvantaged youths ages 13-18 to the performing arts -- dance, music, drama and poetry -- and enables talented students to pursue educational and personal growth.
The 15th annual Celebrate the Moments of the Season takes place today and will include entertainment, food and an opportunity to support Tidwell students. Local artist Nicky Parrish and her band will perform as well as the Tidwell Project dancers.
In the past, the event has featured national R&B recording artists as featured entertainment ... the Manhattans, Jeffrey Osborne, Johnny Gill, Brian McKnight. But this year, the focus will be on several local entertainers, Harris says.
The Tidwell Project currently has 35 students who meet at Tidwell's Centre for the DansArts in midtown Little Rock. Led by C. Michael Tidwell, a teacher at Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High, the organization features a talented youth dance troupe that performs at various functions.
ON A MISSION
Harris, who practices internal medicine, and cardiologist Hargrove, say their longtime dedication to Celebrate the Moments of the Season has been driven by the Tidwell Project's mission. Says Harris, "our duty is to get people to understand, to educate them about this whole idea of what we're trying to do and to encourage them to financially support it and ... talk it up, spread the word, encourage others to support it."
Hargrove points out that not only has the event benefited from longtime co-chairmen, "we have pretty much the same sponsors every year."
"Over the last 15 years, they've come back with their continuous support because of the product that the Tidwell Project produces. I've been encouraged by that. The people who volunteer are the people who've volunteered for the past 15 years, so the commitment is there," he says.
The couple has no background in dance. "We're more rug cutters than we are formally trained dancers," Harris laughs. But they have benefited from Tidwell's dance teaching through their involvement with another organization, the Arkansas Medical Dental Pharmaceutical Association, and the benefit shows it has put on.
LIFE-ENHANCING EXPERIENCE
Hargrove says the passion Tidwell has for the children led him to become involved with raising money for his organization. And, Hargrove adds, "the performing arts really do make a difference." He cites studies he has read that have shown that children who participate in them do better academically, get better jobs, tend to be promoted more frequently, make better citizens overall, are more likely to volunteer -- "and [most] importantly, they tend to vote. So the performing arts really do make a difference in these youths' lives.
"The other thing that excited me about the Tidwell Project is what it does for promoting education," Hargrove continues. "The money raised over the past 15 years has gone toward college scholarships. We currently have people who are in businesses here who are scholarship recipients."
The Tidwell project also benefits the community in general, Harris says. "The Tidwell Project performs at different events around the city and around the state. So they expose ... adults [to dance] who ordinarily don't go to dance performances."
The participants, Harris points out, learn more about dance than just how to do it.
"Another objective is for them to learn to appreciate dance as an art form," she says. "And I think they learn other valuable behaviors -- things like how to work cooperatively with each other and how to be committed to whatever the end goal is. How to resolve conflict."
Hargrove remembers when, some years ago, Tidwell brought some of his students from the high school and some of the Tidwell Project students to dinner at a restaurant. To that dinner he invited business people, men and women, to talk to these children about real life situations -- how to interview for a job, how to dress. He also taught them table etiquette as well as gave them fashion and grooming tips. "These students were really committed and really involved," Hargrove says, adding that Tidwell students generally stay until graduation then come back to help out.
BEATING THE BUSHES
The couple have spent the last days up to the event calling people who committed in the past to make sure they don't forget about sending in their contributions, as well as asking new people to become involved as supporters. "I am a self-appointed photographer," says Hargrove, who can usually be seen at the event with his camera.
In February, the event committee will have a wrap-up meeting to figure out what it can do to improve the event. Around March or April members begin getting lists together to send letters for the next Celebrate the Moments of the Season.
The event has always been pretty popular, even from the beginning. "It comes at a unique time of the year," Hargrove says. "People are wanting to get out and celebrate, women want to show their new dresses and et cetera."
"We just want it to be a really good dance party," Harris says. "We want people to come out, dance, have fun. It's a lovely time of the year and we want everyone to enjoy themselves. And that's what we're going for this time."
Hargrove hopes for more than that.
"We're always looking for new volunteers to help with the organization as well as contribute."
15th annual Celebrate the Moments of the Season, 6:30-10 p.m. today, Grand Ballroom, Little Rock Marriott. Tickets, $100, can be bought at the door.
High Profile on 12/17/2017