September is when fall comes down like a ton of leaves. Foliage-fanciers love it a bushel. Leaf-rakers love it a peck -- namely, a peck in the aching back. But everybody gets a basket full of this month's music and art shows, monkeys and balloons.
1 Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month. If nobody wrote, and nobody rewrote, there never would be an answer to the question: What chucklehead wrote this?
BIG BREAKFAST
FOR THE BANJO PLAYER
Arkansas State Championship Banjo Contest at Ozark Folk Center State Park, Mountain View. Details at ozarkfolkcenter.com. Call (870) 269-3851.
TRUE BLUE
Hot Springs Blues Festival, 1-10 p.m. at Hill Wheatley Plaza, Hot Springs, with the Spa City Youngbloods, Charlotte Taylor and Gypsy Rain. Details at spacityblues.org.
BRUSH WITH FAME
Exhibit by Amy Sherald, the artist who painted former first lady Michelle Obama's official portrait, through Dec. 31 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville. Details at crystalbridges.org. Call (479) 418-5700.
WITH A LITTLE HELP
FROM HIS FRIENDS
2 Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, 7:30 p.m. at Walton AMP, Rogers. Details at waltonartscenter.org. Call (479) 443-5600.
NEWS SCOOP
End of summer ice cream social, 2-4 p.m. at Fort Smith Museum of History, Fort Smith. Details at fortsmithmuseum.org. Call (479) 783-7841.
AT EASE
3 Labor Day -- a three-day weekend followed by a four-day work week that feels like a three-day Monday.
SASHAY-HEY-HEY
4 International Square Dancing Month, National Courtesy Month, Chicken Month.
Turn the corner by your right,
Mind your manners,
Please don't fight;
Thank your lady
Swing your gent,
Soap's your friend,
Enjoy the scent;
Chicken in the bread pan,
Cell phone low,
Shush the dog, and do-si-do.
AMTRAK? AM NOT
5 Train-robber Jesse James' birthday, 1847
SEUSS WHO
6 Happy Cat Month, Fall Hat Month.
"Today, you are you, that is truer than true." -- The Cat in the Hat
NEED A LIFT?
7 Hot Air Balloon Festival through Sept. 9 in and above Harrison. Details at arkansasballoonfest.com. Call (870) 741-1789.
OH, YOU SQUID
8 Arkansas Comic Con through Sept. 9 at Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, with movie writer Joe Bob Briggs and Rodger Bumpass, the voice of SpongeBob's squinty pal, Squidward. Details at arkansascomiccon.com.
NEWS SPLASH
White River Carnival at Riverside Park, Batesville. Details at chamber.batesvilleareaalliance.com. Call (870) 793-2378.
SPINNERS AND WINNERS
Rumble on the River bass team tournament, 6 a.m. on the Ouachita River at Camden. Details at arkansasbassteamtrail.net. Call (501) 844-5543.
HOT WHEELS
Main Street Food Truck Festival, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. around Capitol and Main, downtown Little Rock. Details at mainstreetfoodtrucks.com. Call (501) 375-0121.
CATCH THE BUSKER
The food truck festival has vittles and buskers. But what's a busker? -- (A) A burger in a corn husk, (B) A husky burrito, (C) The deep-fried remains of a dusky Dorito, or (D) A street entertainer.
Answer at Sept. 12.
PUTS A GRAMP IN THE DAY
9 Grandparents Day -- when MeMaw and PawPaw get to be the favorite grandparents, and Bomma and Geepah wonder why it's not them.
CHALLA'S ANGELS
Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year.
HEM AND HERS
10 Sewing Machine Day -- the only other day besides Halloween that goes wooga-wooga.
MEANTIME, BACK
AT THE SPREAD
11 Make Your Bed Day is only fair. After all, your bed makes you.
HEY, WATCH IT, BUSKER
12 Busker bluster quiz answer: (D) A street performer, like a sad clown with fancy ways of juggling sticks of churned cream -- a bitter but better butter busker.
GOOBER-NATORIAL
13 National Peanut Day, National Positive Thinking Day. An optimist is someone who believes that somewhere at the bottom of the snack bowl, under all those empty shells, there's still one more peanut.
NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET
14 National Wilderness Month. Aren't they all?
RETIRED: BETTER THAN TIRED
15 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Fall Senior Expo, health seminars, screenings and entertainment, 9 a.m-2 p.m. at Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock. Details at arkansasseniorexpo.com. Call (501) 378-3807.
MAKE-AND-DO ADO
Tinkerfest, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Museum of Discovery, Little Rock. Details at museumofdiscovery.org. Call (501) 396-7050.
HER CLUE, HERCULE
Solved: the date of mystery writer Agatha Christie's birthday, 1890.
FUN WITH FUNGI
16 National Mushroom Month, and we'll have morel on that after this message:
"Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar!" -- story by Ray Bradbury.
IVY'S POTTED AGAIN
17 National Indoor Plant Week steps out.
CANSA-DO ATTITUDE
18 Acansa Arts Festival at various venues through Sept. 23, Little Rock, with singer and painter Jimmy Abegg, comedian Kevin James Doyle, dance company Momix. Details at acansa.org. Call (501) 663-2287.
BANG, CHITTY-BANG-BANG
19 Petit Jean Fall Swap Meet through Sept. 22 at the Museum of Automobiles on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton. Details at museumofautos.com. Call (501) 727-5427.
BALLOON-FESTOONED
20 A Fair to Remember, 6:30 p.m. at the Masonic Center, Little Rock, benefits Arkansas Hospice Foundation. Details at arkansashospice.org. Call (501) 748-3333.
THE WEEK OF EEK
Hot Springs International Horror Film Festival through Sept. 23 at Central Theater, downtown Hot Springs. Details at hotsprings.org. Call (501) 321-2277.
COO-CUE THE DOVE
21 International Day of Peace, why not? What could go wrong?
WHAT BECAME OF THE MONK
Curious George: The Golden Meatball, through Oct. 7 at Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre, Little Rock. Details at arkansasartscenter.org. Call (501) 372-4000.
HOT STUFF
Spa-Con pop culture convention through Sept. 23 at Hot Springs Convention Center, Hot Springs, with actress Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) and Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster) with his Munster Coach coffin-car. Details at hotsprings.org. Call (501) 321-2277.
GO GREEN
LIKE HERMAN
The Munsters was a 1964-1966 television series about the peculiar family who lived at: (A) The last house on the left, (B) 1313 Mockingbird Lane, (C) 3113 Dead Man's Curve, (D) 3311 Transylvania Twist, or (D) The house on haunted hill.
Answer at Sept. 24.
LEAVES OF BROWN
COME TUMBLIN' DOWN
22 First Day of Fall.
LAUGH IT OFF
The Comedy Get Down with Cedric "The Entertainer," Eddie Griffin, D.L. Hughley and George Lopez, 8 p.m. at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock. Details at verizonarena.com. Call (800) 745-3000.
23 LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): Is today your birthday? If so, then leave it to a perfectly balanced Libran to cut the cake. Librans make every slice the same size. Tip the scales to your advantage with Bruce Springsteen, 69 on Sept. 23; and friend of Kermit puppeteer Jim Henson, born Sept. 24, 1936.
HOME CREEP HOME
24 Munster-mash quiz answer: (B) 1313 Mockingbird Lane -- later flipped by the Property Brothers and sold to another odd family with a weird "M" name, the Muppets.
WHERE'D HE COME FROM?
25 Comedy The Foreigner through Oct. 20 at Murry's Dinner Playhouse, Little Rock. Details at murrysdp.com. Call (501) 562-3131.
RECOVER BAND
Recovery Jam health screenings and entertainment, 4-8 p.m. at River Market Pavilion, Little Rock, benefits Hoover Treatment Center for drug recovery. Details at bcdinc.org. Call (501) 663-7221.
HURLY-BURLY HARLEY PARLAY
26 Bikes, Blues and BBQ bikers rally through Sept. 29, Fayetteville. Details at bikesbluesandbbq.org. Call (479) 527-9993.
SMASH HIT
27 Crush a Can Day -- because the man who can crush a can the right way knows how to use his head.
ROCKABILLY SENSIBILITY
28 Depot Days Festival through Sept. 29, Newport, with barbecue and rockers Ace Cannon and the Blockhouse Orchestra. Details at depotdays.org. Call (870) 523-3618.
HOGWARTS AND ALL
29 Arkansas Symphony Orchestra concert, Sorcerer's Apprentice, 7:30 Sept. 29 and 3 p.m. Sept. 30 at Robinson Center Performance Hall, Little Rock. Details at arkansassymphony.org. Call (501) 666-1761.
OVER THE RIVER
AND THROUGH THE WOODS
Big Dam Bridge 100 Cycling Tour, 10-to-100 mile rides including the 4,226-foot-long bridge, Little Rock. Details at thebigdambridge100.com. Call (501) 607-2904.
THE RHIZOME ZONE
Central Arkansas Iris Society rhizome and plant sale, 8 a.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, Little Rock. Details at centralarkansasiris.org. Call (501) 416-6390.
SUBLIMINAL COMMUNICATORS
TELL SNEAKY JOKES
FULL OF SUBTLE TEASE
30 Subliminal Communications Month -- gone without notice? How could this happen? Somebody didn't see the memo.
Coming next month: October! Write to Ron Wolfe at
by Sept. 15 to suggest October calendar entries or how to celebrate Oct. 4 as National Frappe Day, such as: frippery flap, it's apple frappe for supper. All entries require a web address and/or phone number that is answered during business hours.
Style on 08/28/2018