Local notes: Crawford family gathers in Springdale

Alisa Amor
Alisa Amor

Hope Cancer

The Wellness Center for Hope at Hope Cancer Resources offers a yoga, meditation and fitness class for cancer patients and caregivers in person, via Zoom and YouTube.

Their team of counselors and social workers support cancer patients and their families every day with a focus on emotional health, no matter the circumstances.

A certified tobacco treatment specialist is available to support those looking to quit smoking with nicotine replacement therapy and counseling.

Those in need of medical supplies, liquid nutrition or durable medical equipment, such as shower chairs or walkers, are asked to reach out. Donations of new or gently used items are also accepted.

Information: (479) 361-5847 or hopecancerresources.org.

Art Exhibit

Boswell Mourot Fine Art in Little Rock has announced an exhibition of new paintings by Ray Allen Parker, a figurative and portrait artist from Fayetteville. The show opens on July 16 and runs through July 31.

Parker's new exhibition is titled "Larger Than Life." A series of iconic portraits and secular altarpieces, these paintings present large-scale oil-on-canvas portrayals that explore the human face and figure. In them Parker strives to chronicle the lives he sees in the faces of his subjects. A believer in heroic paintings, he wants his work to feel bold but intimate, naturalistic but expressive ... to feel as vital as the subjects themselves.

Parker lives and works in Fayetteville, but grew up in rural Egypt, Ark., in the northeast corner of the state. He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a Master's degree in English.

APT

Arkansas Public Theatre will hold auditions for "Avenue Q" at 7 p.m. July 26 at the historic Victory Theater, 116 S. Second St. in downtown Rogers.

Doors for auditions will open at 6:30 p.m. Call backs, if needed, will be held at 7 p.m. July 27.

Auditions will be based upon readings from the script, singing and a dance combination. The entire audition packet, including the audition times, audition scenes, character descriptions and rehearsal schedule is available for download at www.arkansaspublictheatre.org. Please download packet prior to auditions and bring to audition with you.

Performances will be Sept. 10-12, 16-19, and 23-26, the first musical at APT since "Newsies" in March 2020.

Winner of the Tony "Triple Crown" for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book, "Avenue Q" is part flesh, part felt and packed with heart. The laugh-out-loud musical tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton, who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on "Avenue Q." Although the show addresses humorous adult issues, it is like a beloved children's show, a place where puppets are friends, Monsters are good and life lessons are learned.

Since 1986, Arkansas Public Theatre, an all-volunteer community theater, has been producing classic, cutting-edge, fresh-from-Broadway plays, musicals and special events in Rogers.

Information: arkansaspublictheatre.org or (479) 631-8988.

Writers' Colony

"Words in the Garden" is a weekly literary reading series from the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow and the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library. Every Wednesday through the summer at 4:30 p.m., a local and/or visiting WCDH writer-in-residence will present a reading and answer questions under the tent in the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library Garden at 188 Spring St., south of the Carnegie Library Gardens Building. The readings are free and open to all. July 14 will feature writer-in-residence Khem Aryal and Eureka Springs writer Alisa Amor.

Khem Aryal is a writer, editor and a teacher of writing. His two books of poetry were published in Nepal: "Epic Teashop" (Vajra Books, 2009) and "Kathmandu Saga and Other Poems" (NWEN, 2004). More recently, he guest-edited two America-Nepal special issues of "Snow Jewel," published by Grey Sparrow Press. Currently, Aryal is an assistant professor of English at Arkansas State University, where hes also serves as creative materials editor of Arkansas Review. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Missouri.

Alisa Amor's musicals have been performed on stages in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and Eureka Springs, where she currently resides with her husband and three cats. Writing in both Spanish and English, her focus has been on translating into theater the poetry and literary work of Mexico's first feminist, Rosario Castellanos.

Since opening its doors to writers in 2000, the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow has hosted more than 1,700 writers from 48 states and 13 countries.

Information: Visit writerscolony.org or call Michelle Hannon at (479) 253-7444.

Crawford Reunion

The 31st annual family reunion of descendants of James and Nancy (Davis) Crawford was held June 26 at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale.

James and Nancy Crawford came to Arkansas from Kentucky in the late 1860s. They established their homestead on West Flemings Creek near Fly Gap, south of St. Paul in Madison County. The land they settled is currently known as the historic "Pig Trail" (Arkansas 23) in Madison and Franklin counties. Coming with them from Kentucky, and settling on adjoining lands, were their seven children: George, John, Kathryn, Mary, Gilbert, Charles, and Emily. Descendants of their seven children gather annually for a family reunion and to visit old home places and cemeteries in the area.

Fifty-three family members, friends and guests attended this year. The following were recognized:

Tom Edmundson from Dewey, Okla., and Geneva Jones, from Cabot, Ark., were honored as the most senior man and woman at the reunion.

Emery Edmundson was the youngest at 19 months. She came to the reunion with her parents, Brittney Edmundson and Reilly Thurston, from Oklahoma.

Brannon and Aly Crawford were the most recently married in March 2020. They are from Cedar Park, Texas.

Tom and Yvonne Edmundson from Dewey, Okla., were longest married for 52 years.

James and Susan Crawford, from Bellville, Texas, traveled the greatest distance at more than 550 miles.

Kinfolks and friends came from Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas to join those from Arkansas. The next reunion is planned for July 2, 2022, at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale. All Crawford descendants and kinfolks are urged to invite all their family members to come next year.

Information: Email [email protected].

Khem Aryal
Khem Aryal
Ray Allen Parker’s current exhibition in Little Rock is anchored by two massive triptych paintings, conceived as secular altarpieces. In these works, each measuring approximately eight-feet tall by 12-feet wide, Parker invokes the potency and beauty of Renaissance and Gothic religious masterworks. This one is titled “Madonna and Children.” (Courtesy Image)
Ray Allen Parker’s current exhibition in Little Rock is anchored by two massive triptych paintings, conceived as secular altarpieces. In these works, each measuring approximately eight-feet tall by 12-feet wide, Parker invokes the potency and beauty of Renaissance and Gothic religious masterworks. This one is titled “Madonna and Children.” (Courtesy Image)

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