Time to get some of that Cré Maith (Good Clay)
Time to get some of that Cré Maith (Good Clay)
Community meeting tonight; The lights at Garvan Gardens still twinkle; Recycle that Christmas tree plus sports and headlines
Note to subscribers: An annual or monthly subscription is billed to your debit or credit card as ARKANSAS.SUBSTACK.COM and if you have questions, please email arkansas@substack.com. Thanks for reading and subscribing!Pandemic deaths at 536 for year
The state Department of Health didn’t update its Covid dashboard this week due to the Christmas holiday. The numbers were last updated on Tuesday, Dec. 19. The death count for 2023 then was 536 and the total number of reported dead Arkansans was at 13,406 since 2020.
Covid toolkit
There’s now a one-stop shop to learn about vaccination sites and other Covid related information. Click here to learn more.
If you don’t want to get sick and die, there’s some things you can do:
Get vaccinated
Get boosted
Wear a mask
Avoid crowds
The Headlines
Meetings: There’s a public meeting tonight in Maumelle that starts at 5 p.m. on a proposed development. For more, keep scrolling. The Maumelle City Council meets next Tuesday, one day delayed due to the holiday on Monday.
Events: Maybe you haven’t heard but just in case, Monday is 2024. Yes, a New Year. That means Sunday is New Year’s Eve. Plan accordingly. Also, with Monday being a holiday, trash and recycling will run one-day delayed next week. City, county, state and federal offices will also be closed.
ICYMI: Maumelle Charter High School earns construction award
Eye on the sky
Today: A slight chance of showers then partly sunny, with a high near 45, with a low around 32.
Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44 and a low around 29.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 53 and a low around 31.
New Year's Eve: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55 and a low around 30.
New Year's Day: Sunny, with a high near 44 and a low around 25.
Public Notice: Community meeting tonight
Maumelle City Clerk Tina Timmons passes along notice of a community meeting at 5 p.m. tonight in the map room at City Hall.
The meeting is for community feedback on a planned commercial district at the southwest corner of Maumelle Boulevard and Crystal Hill Road.
Per an ordinance passed earlier this year, these community feedback meetings are required by the city. Decisions are made by the ones who show up.
Time to get some of that Cré Maith (Good Clay)
Maumelle’s Virgeen Healey and Ray Schott are the newest members of the Arkansas Craft Guild.
The married couple, seen below, are responsible for Cré Maith or Good Clay in Gaelic and were accepted into the guild at the 45th annual Christmas Showcase held earlier this month in Little Rock.
The pottery they make is seen below and can be used for most anything any dish would be used for as it is both functional and food safe.
Their pottery is described as being, “sculpted organically to reflect scenes you might see in Nature. Applied textures and sprigs, as well as unique glazing techniques help to define the floral aspect of their finished ceramic pieces.”
It will also be for sale at the Arkansas Craft Gallery in Mountain View.
“Taking pleasure in the 'Ordinary Miracles' of life, we create organic hand-built works celebrating the beauty of our earth,” they said. “Cré Maith attempts to express the 'Pockets of Joy' that going to the beach, catching fireflies, and running barefoot through meadows or shorelines bring into our lives. The clay medium allows us to get our hands dirty again with abandon. Our current body of work is organic in nature and we design with a focus on texture and layered colors. We endeavor to recreate what is seen and unseen in nature which is the origin of our design.”
The couple is relatively new to pottery as Healey started taking classes in ceramics in 2016. Her husband, Schott, followed soon after. They’re both members of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Ceramics Department work study program and have works at the Historic Arkansas Museum Gift Shop in Little Rock and The Stone Maiden in North Little Rock.
A website is under development but you can also see their work at arkansascraftguild.org and on Facebook.com/cremaith.
Gallery hours in Mountain View are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and for more information check out the sites above or call 870-269-4120.
The lights at Garvan Gardens still twinkle
Do you still have that Christmas spirit?
Are you, after watching Lord of the Rings again, looking for something else to do?
If the answer to either is yes, then Garvan Woodland Gardens is waiting on you.
The botanical garden in Hot Springs had traditionally offered Christmas lights until the ongoing pandemic came along. The lights returned last year and are back bigger and brighter this year with nearly 6 million twinkling bulbs spread across a roughly 1.5 mile, one-way walking path through the gardens.
Last year’s display had a little more than 5 million lights, and the additions were noticeable on a pre-Christmas visit. Not just on the grounds of the garden, but there’s more lights in the parking areas as well.
The lights are really something. The garden’s rolling landscape, in combination with the lights, gives a layered look that defies description that is anything beyond pretty.
If you want to go, there’s still time as the lights are on and up until this Sunday night, New Year’s Eve. Hours run from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Tickets are $20 and have to be purchased in advance, or, pro tip, spring for an annual membership. A dual membership is $75 and gets you into the gardens year around with no admission or waiting in some dumb line.
It also saves you a bit of money if you go back in the spring for the tulips
For more, or to buy tickets in advance, click here.
Recycle that Christmas tree
If you want to get all Christmas-y about it, you're supposed to keep your tree up through the first week of January.
The whole 12 days of Christmas, Epiphany and all that but not everyone does that and now might be the time you’re trying to figure out what to do with that beautiful tree you bought at Junior Deputy.
There’s an environmentally friendly, good for nature option that the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission offers annually in dropping off that tree to be used as a fish habitat in one of the state’s many bodies of water.
This offer only applies to live Christmas trees, the fake ones need not apply..
There’s other options, of course. You could put your Christmas tree out on the curb ““on your yard waste day” if you live in Maumelle or North Little Rock and for more information in Maumelle, call 501-851-2888, while those in North Little Rock can call 371-8430.
You should, under no circumstances, burn the tree in your fireplace as it is a really good way to set your house on fire.
But, if so inclined, you can sink the tree yourself. Any Arkansas stream or river or lake will do.
Game and Fish said, “the small spaces and dense cover offered by fresh Christmas trees make excellent nursery habitat for small fish as well as great places to fish.”
If sinking it yourself, weigh it down with either cinder blocks or sandbags, so the tree will stay sunk and then remember where you put it.
What’s also really great is while Game and Fish will take care of the trees come February, you can also take trees from the pile for yourself to sink.
They note, “trees are relatively short-term habitat because they don’t have much thick woody material, but they can be gathered in clusters easily and sunk in large groups” and “the main stems will last longer than the wispy branches and continue to draw fish throughout the year.”
Trees can be dropped off at any of the following locations until the end of January:
Trees can be dropped off at any of the following central Arkansas locations until the end of January:
Arkansas River – Riverview Park Access in North Little Rock
Lake Barnett – Reed Access
Greers Ferry Lake – Sandy Beach (Heber Springs), Devils Fork Recreation Area and Choctaw Recreation Area (Choctaw-Clinton)
Harris Brake Lake – Chittman Hill Access
Lake Pickthorne – Holland Bottoms Access
Lake Overcup – Lake Overcup Landing
Cox Creek Lake – Cox Creek Lake Public Access
Lake Hamilton – Andrew Hulsey State Fish Hatchery Access Area
Topgolf in full swing
A crowd of about 150 people were on hand last Friday at the new Topgolf in Little Rock for a ribbon-cutting and grand opening.
The mammoth, two-story structure features 72 bays for golf along with party rooms, bars and a restaurant at 5 Topgolf Way off Colonel Glenn Road.
You can’t miss it, or the netting, on the freeway.
This is the second Topgolf in Arkansas with the other being in Rogers,
Topgolf is the anchor of mixed-use development dubbed the “Village at Club View” and is repped by Colliers.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr., an avid Topgolf fan, was among those who spoke on Friday.
“We’re having fun but this is also economic development,” he said. “This is going to be 300 jobs.”
As noted, the facility will employ 300 when fully staffed and will include a bar, restaurant as well as other yard games that the company said makes it, “ the prime spot for team outings, family gatherings, meetings or really anything.”
Scott also thanked other economic and business leaders for their efforts in getting Topgolf to Little Rock and among them were VCC’s Sam Alley and his wife Janet, who are both avid golfers.
Topgolf will be open this holiday weekend as well.
New Year's Eve: Closing at 1 a.m.
New Year's Day: Opening at 10 a.m. and with a normal closing time.
Art notes
Auditions for Grease set
The Argenta Community Theater will be having auditions for its summer 2024 production of Grease on Saturday, Jan. 20.
Auditions are set to start at 10 a.m. that day at the theater and callbacks will be held the following day starting at 2 p.m.
Rehearsals will begin in June with the show to debut July 24 and running through Aug. 3.
All persons interested should email casting@ArgentaCommunityTheater.org for an audition appointment; however, walk-ins will be accommodated on a first come first serve basis.
The show will be directed by Vincent Insalaco, Choreographer is Allison Stodola Wilson and Assistant Director is Bridget Davis.
Auditions are open to all genders, races and ethnicities.
High school basketball report
High School basketball has been underway for a bit but now that the football seasons are over for the North of the River schools, teams are back at full strength, plus conference action starts in December as well.
So, hoops it is.
Maumelle
Record so far: 6-8
Last week: No games played
The week ahead: The Hornets play again when they travel to eStem on Jan. 2, next Tuesday.
Schedule
Tuesday, Jan. 2 ... at eStem ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 5 ... vs. Sylvan Hills ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 9 ... at Parkview ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 12 ... vs. Jacksonville ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 19 ... vs. Catholic ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 23 ... at Cabot ... 7 p.m. ... (NC)
Friday, Jan. 26 ... at Vilonia ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 30 ... vs. eStem ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 2 ... at Sylvan Hills ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Feb. 6 ... vs. Parkview ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 9 ... at Jacksonville ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Fri, Feb 16 ... at Catholic ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Fri, Feb 23 ... vs. Beebe ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Roster
Maumelle Girls
Coach: Grover Garrison
Record so far: 1-10
Last week: No games played.,
The week ahead: Maumelle is off until a trip to eStem on Jan. 2.
Schedule
Tuesday, Jan. 2 ... at eStem ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 5 ... vs. Sylvan Hills ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 9 ... at Parkview ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 12 ... vs. Jacksonville ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 23 ... vs. Little Rock Christian ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 26 ... at Vilonia ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Feb. 6 ... vs. Parkview ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 9 ... at Jacksonville ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Fri, Feb 16 ... at Mount St. Mary ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tue, Feb 20 ... at Little Rock Christian ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Fri, Feb 23 ... vs. Beebe ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Roster
Maumelle Charter boys
Record so far: 10-6
Last week: The Falcons are in the post-Christmas tournament at Episcopal Collegiate in Little Rock that started Wednesday. F
The week ahead: Tournament at Episcopal Collegiate in Little Rock.
Maumelle Charter girls
Record so far: 14-6
Last week: A post-Christmas tournament started Dec. 27
The week ahead: Tournament at Malvern with games against Kirby and Malvern expected.
Boys and Girls schedule
Dec. 27-28 at Malvern Classic … VG… TBD
Dec. 27-29 at Episcopal Christmas Tournament … VB … TBD
Jan 2. … Tuesday … Danville … VG / VB ... … 4:30 p.m.
Jan 4. ... Thursday ... Lee Academy … VG / VB ... 4 p.m.
Jan. 5.... Friday ... at Perryville … VG / VB ... 4 p.m.
Jan. 9 … Tuesday … Lamar … VG / VB ... … 5 p.m.
Jan. 12.... Friday ... at Baptist Prep … VG / VB ... … 4:30 p.m.
Jan. 16 … Tuesday … Atkins … VG / VB ... 4 p.m.
Jan. 19.... Friday ... at Dover … VG / VB ... … 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 23 … Tuesday … CAC … VG / VB ... 4 p.m.
Jan. 26.... Friday ... at Mayflower … VG / VB ... … 4:30 p.m.
Jan. 30 … Tuesday … Perryville (Senior Night) … VG / VB ... 4 p.m.
Feb. 2.... Friday ... at Lamar … VG / VB ... 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 6 … Tuesday … Baptist Prep … VG / VB ... … 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 8 ... Thursday ... at Atkins … VG / VB ... … 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 12-17 … Sr. High District Tournament … VG, VB
Feb. 21-24 … Regional Tournament
Feb. 27- March 2 … State Tournament
North Little Rock
Coach: Nathan Clayborn
Record so far: 8-3
Last week: No games played
The week ahead: Will play Van Buren in Fort Smith’s storied Coke Classic on today, Dec. 28.
Schedule
Thursday, Dec. 28 ... vs Van Buren ... 2:30 p.m. ... Coke Classic ... Fort Smith Southside
Friday, Jan. 5 ... vs. Conway ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 9 ... at Little Rock Southwest ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 12 ... vs. Jonesboro ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 16 ... vs. Central ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 23 ... at Bryant ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 26 ... at Cabot ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 30 ... at Central ... 7:30 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 2 ... at Conway ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Feb. 6 ... vs. Little Rock Southwest ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 9 ... at Jonesboro ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Fri, Feb 16 ... vs. Bryant ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Thursday, Feb. 22 ... vs. Cabot ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Roster
North Little Rock Girls
Coach: Daryl Fimple
Record so far: 15-0
Last week: Been a big week for Fimple’s bunch. Rolled past Greenwood last Friday and picked up a pair of tournament wins today as once games pop, they can’t stop popping in Texas.
The week ahead: McKinney North is today in Mansfield, then off until Jan. 5 when Conway comes to town.
Schedule
Thursday, Dec. 28 ... vs. McKinney North at Mansfield, Texas ... 1:30 p.m. ... (NC)
Friday, Jan. 5 ... vs. Conway ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 9 ... at Little Rock Southwest ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 12 ... vs. Jonesboro ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 16 ... vs. Central ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 23 ... at Bryant ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 26 ... at Cabot ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 30 ... at Central ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 2 ... at Conway ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Feb. 6 ... vs. Little Rock Southwest ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 9 ... at Jonesboro ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Fri, Feb 16 ... vs. Bryant ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Thursday, Feb. 22 ... vs. Cabot ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Roster
Central Arkansas Christian
Coach: Matt Hall
Record so far: 9-3
Last week: Rolled past Valley Springs on Dec. 21.
The week ahead: CAC travels to Mayflower on Friday, Jan. 5.
Schedule
Friday, Jan. 5 ... at Mayflower ... 7:15 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 9 ... vs. Perryville ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 12 ... at Lamar ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 16 ... vs. Baptist Prep ... 7:30 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 23 ... at Maumelle Charter ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 26 ... vs. Dover ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 30 ... vs. Mayflower ... 7:15 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 2 ... at Perryville ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Feb. 6 ... vs. Lamar ... 7 p.m. ... (C)
Thursday, Feb. 8 ... at Baptist Prep ... 7:30 p.m. ... (C)
Roster
Central Arkansas Christian Girls
Coach: Steve Quattlebaum
Record so far: 2-11
Last week: Lost to Valley Springs but picked up a tournament win
The week ahead: Play at the Jessieville tournament continues today.
Schedule
Thursday, Dec. 28 ... at Jessieville tournament ... TBD. ... (NC)
Friday, Jan. 5 ... at Mayflower ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 9 ... vs. Perryville ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 12 ... at Lamar ... 6:30 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 16 ... vs. Baptist Prep ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 19 ... vs. Atkins ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 23 ... at Maumelle Charter ... 6:30 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Jan. 26 ... vs. Dover ... 6:30 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Jan. 30 ... vs. Mayflower ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Friday, Feb. 2 ... at Perryville ... 6 p.m. ... (C)
Tuesday, Feb. 6 ... vs. Lamar ... 6:30 p.m. ... (C)
Thursday, Feb. 8 ... at Baptist Prep ... 6 p.m. ... (C)