Holiday Island
cookin' up chili
The fifth annual Arkansas State Chili Championship will be April 24 at the Holiday Island Country Club. Cooks from around the country will compete for $3,000 in prize money in four chili categories: red, homestyle, green and people's choice. The winners will be invited to cook in the World Chili Championship in September at Myrtle Beach.
For an $8 fee, spectators get to sample as much chili as they want and vote for their favorites. Public tasting is from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Proceeds from this cookoff benefit the Eureka Springs Historical Museum.
Information: (845) 235-3073.
Happy hours
benefit writers
Gotahold Brewing has chosen the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow as their #tipsfortransformation recipient during April, National Poetry Month. Poetry Happy Hours will be held at 5:30 p.m. each Thursday in April in the beer garden at Gotahold. The readings and performances will benefit the WCDH scholarship fund and celebrate the beauty and art of poetry.
Opened in 2020 by Wendy Reese Hartman and Dave Hartman at 408 W. Van Buren St. in Eureka Springs, the mission of Gotahold Brewing is to change customers' perception of beer while inspiring deeper connection, compassion and positive action in the world. Through #tipsfortransformation, Gotahold donates the tips received every Thursday to a worthy cause.
Poetry Happy Hours will feature the following poets:
April 1: Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Kansas and author of 24 books.
April 8: Bill McCloud, author of "The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969."
April 15: Geoffrey Brock and Geffrey Davis, award-winning poets and writing professors at the University of Arkansas.
April 22: Annie Newcomer and Leslie-Ann Murray, promising emerging poets from Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., respectively.
April 29: Kristin Hunt, author of "I'm Much Better on Paper" and "Write or Die."
Information: (479) 253-7444 or writerscolony.org or email [email protected].
Lung scans
encouraged
Highlands Oncology, Northwest Arkansas' leading cancer treatment facility, is sharing new guidelines from medical experts that will nearly double the number of people advised to have yearly CT scans to screen for lung cancer. This will impact many and will include many more African-Americans and women than in the past.
The new recommendations, by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, include people ages 50 to 80 who have smoked at least a pack a day for 20 years or more and who still smoke or have quit within the past 15 years. Under the new criteria, 14.5 million people in the United States will qualify for the screening, an increase of 6.4 million.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Lung cancer screening is important since early-stage lung cancer often has no symptoms. A recent clinical trial has found that lung cancer screening with low-radiation dose CT scans significantly lowers the risk of dying from lung cancer.
While many insurances do not cover the cost of a lung cancer screening, the NWA Lung Cancer Screening Program with The Center for Chest Care at Highlands Oncology provides the CT at no charge, believing individuals at high risk of developing lung cancer should have access to this life-saving test without the worry of cost.
Information: (479) 751-8765, highlandsoncology.com or email [email protected].
