Thirst Rescheduled

Due to the record-breaking ice storm during the last week of January, we had to cancel the first Thursday Thirst book club. The date for the first meeting has been rescheduled to February 26th. We hope you'll join us in the Library Annex at 6pm to talk about Twilight!

Thursday Thirst

I am excited to announce a new book club I am starting to discuss horror literature. It will be held on the last Thursday of each month, at 6pm - starting January 29th.

We will start by discussing the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Meet with us in the Library Annex building at 192 Spring Street.

Youth Authority at the library

The library has started a fun new program for teens and pre-teens. It is a gaming club called the Youth Authority. They meet the first and third Thursdays of every month in the late afternoon. There are several video game stations set up at each meeting, including an xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation. The most popular game right now is Rock Band, and the library has the full set, so several members can play at once.

This program is for 7th to 12th graders, so if you are interested, call the library at 253-8754 for more details and specific times. As always, library programs are free and snacks are served!

Yard Sales - oh my!

August 1st and 2nd is the 14th annual Yards and Yards of Yard Sales event organized by the Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce. We paid the $15 to be "official participants" and to be included on the map given to visitors looking for bargains.

I've been scouring through all our closets, the garage, and the basement to find things worthy of selling at our yard sale. We have a pretty wide variety of items this time, from baby gear (our three year old refuses to sit in a stroller any more), to appliances, to electronics and household items. It's strange how many promotional pens I've found with the names of companies I've never heard of. I suppose the life of a pen is much like the life of money, changing hands so many times it ends up very far away from its origin.

Anyway, I hope this year's yard sales are a big success and that we can sell lots of stuff and make a little bit of money!

Christmas Eve skate party

This year was the first ever Christmas Eve Skate Party here in Eureka Springs. They are hoping to make it an annual tradition, and based on this year's turnout, I'd say there is a good chance it will continue (depending on weather, of course). I was amazed at the skill of all the young skaters in town. Some boys were only seven or eight years old, skating in the park, doing tricks in the bowl and half-pipe just like the adults.

Our daughter was interested in the skating, but our younger son understandably only wanted to play on the playground. So we spent time in both areas, enjoying the beautiful day (60 degrees on Christmas Eve!). One thing that was very interesting was a customized mini-van in the parking lot. It was painted to look like a space shuttle, complete with rocket boosters on the back. I've seen plenty of customized car spoilers and bras, but this van was truly a spectacle. We drive a mini-van too, and never thought much could be done to customize it. I guess we were wrong.

Candlelight tour a success

Yesterday was the 25th annual "Candlelight Tour of Homes" here in beautiful Eureka Springs. This year, the library was on the tour, along with one church, four Bed & Breakfasts, and nine houses. Since I work on Saturdays at the library, I got to dress in Victorian style and visit with many people participating in the tour. The tour benefits the Preservation Society and it is their biggest fund raiser.

The weather was gorgeous, in the upper fifties, and the feeling was very festive. Many of the visitors even dressed Victorian and there were bands and choirs spaced along the tour to add Christmas music and cheer to the event. Eureka Springs is the perfect town for an event like this, with all the different styles of architecture from the Victorian era. It will be interesting to see how the town changes once there are new condos for sale right next to the Crescent Hotel, which is one of the oldest hotels in town. I am anxious to see how the two coexist and how the change effects the town, if at all.

Christmas Parade

This year's Christmas Parade was last Friday night and we enjoyed it much more than last year. For one, it was much warmer. So I didn't have the kids complaining about their freezing hands the whole time. My husband was sick last year, so I was alone with both kids and that was a bit difficult. This year, we all went and had a great time.

My daughter brought her camera and took about a hundred pictures and was really into it. I was shocked when she picked up some candy that was thrown off a float and she holds her hand out to me and says, "Mom, could you please do something with this candy? Quick! I'm going to miss my shot." She was actually more concerned with getting a good photo than with the candy. Very surprising for a six year old.

She got some good pictures, but we haven't downloaded them yet. My husband uploaded some of his pictures from the parade to his Eureka Springs Pictures website.

Fall Art Fair

This weekend is the third annual Eureka Springs Fall Art Fair. The art fair will take place at the Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center. More than 75 local artists will display paintings, sculptures, pottery, jewelry, drawings, stained glass, mixed media and more. This is the perfect place to shop for original gifts or just to see some amazing art. The hours are Saturday, November 24th from 10am to 6pm and Sunday, November 25th from 11am to 6pm. The cost is $2 per person. Come support the local Eureka art scene!

Go Rockies!

Since we moved to Eureka Springs from Colorado, and our families still live there, we are aware that the Rockies baseball team will play in the World Series this year. My in-laws are very into sports and attend many of the games played in Denver. In fact, my father-in-law prides himself with purchasing his tickets, plus a few extra on sites like Craig's list. Then he resells the extras at the last minute and makes enough extra cash to cover his ticket cost, plus enough spending money to buy snacks during the game. Pretty sweet deal.

So when the World Series tickets were scheduled to go on sale, he wanted to buy as many as possible and even had several family members try to purchase some as well, which he would then buy from us. As an added incentive, he offered to pay us an additional $50 for every ticket we end up buying.

So I was thinking we would get some spending cash for our Disney World trip out of it... But alas, the ticket system basically crashed because of all the users trying to log in at once and no one in our family was even able to get through the first screen. By the time we got in, all the World Series games were already sold out. Oh well, at least my in-laws got a great deal for our trip by swapping their inexpensive Las Vegas condo for a top of the line Orlando vacation rental. We'll be within walking distance to Epcot Center, then we can just ride the Monorail to get to all the other parks. Only three months to go!

Family entertainment

The major weather cool-down this week has made us feel like doing a lot more outdoor activities. On Sunday, we walked about five miles total - from our house to downtown and all around. We even discovered a few streets we had never seen before. We took lots of pictures and had a very nice afternoon. It's days like that when we remember why we decided to call Eureka Springs "home."

The only complaint we share with some of the other locals is the lack of family activities. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things to do, but we would enjoy more planned events geared towards families with children. Currently, many families drive to Branson for family shows, but we would like to see something closer to home. During the summer months, there is a "drive in" type movie event held on Sunday nights in a parking lot on Main Street.

During the winter, there is a serious lack of things for families to do. My husband and I are actually in the process of brainstorming with some city officials for ideas of a possible regularly scheduled family event held in the Auditorium during the off-season months.

"Go Cards!"

We drove up to Springfield, Missouri on Sunday to watch a Minor League game between the Springfield Cardinals and the Arkansas Travelers. The Travelers got slaughtered, losing 11 to 1. Even though we are not much into sports, we just wanted to take the kids to a big stadium and thought they would enjoy all the sights and sounds of a live sporting event.

They had a good time, but it's hard for young kids to sit down for three hours. All in all, they did great. Their favorite part was meeting the mascot characters dressed in costume. This was my son's first time meeting any character in costume and I'm happy to say he loved it. So now I am really looking forward to our Disney World trip in January because he will love meeting all the characters just like my daughter did when she was his age and we took her for the first time.

Kid's Day at the Farmer's Market

Today was the first ever Kid's Day event at the Eureka Springs Farmer's Market. There was face painting, a monkey to pet and take pictures with, a watermelon seed spitting contest, and the Fire Department had their Smoke House on display to teach about fire safety in the home. Everything was free and a great time was had by all. I am thankful that we have so many people in the community willing to share their talents for free to benefit the children. My family hopes this will become an annual event.

Of course, there was lots of fresh produce available for sale, along with a couple of new vendors who make their own tasty jams, jellies, baby food, breads, and more!

Yards and yards of yard sales

This weekend is the annual Eureka Springs event which we know as "Yards and Yards of Yard Sales" where lots of families have yard sales and they even give out sale maps at the city Visitor's Center. Last year the event drew hundreds, maybe even thousands of people to the area. We weren't prepared enough to put out anything for sale ourselves, but this year I am ready. It's just an easy way to sell stuff without the stress of planning your own sale. There is no advertisement needed since everyone is just going all over town looking for stuff for sale. Even though I don't have enough stuff to sell to go through all the trouble myself, since my neighbors are selling too, we should still be able to sell what little we do have. It's mostly kid's toys which usually sell well.

As for us, there isn't much we feel we need right now. The only major thing is a barbecue grill, which we have been putting off for quite some time. One luxury I wouldn't mind is an outdoor fireplace for our back deck. We would like to start entertaining friends and neighbors more and would be able to enjoy our outdoor spaces in the cooler months, as well as the added ambiance a fireplace lends.

Anyway, the yard sales start Friday, so wish me luck! I work all day Saturday at the library, so whatever doesn't sell on Friday will be donated to friends or charity.

Hell's Angels behaved themselves

As many people already know, last week from Wednesday to Sunday our little town of less than 3,000 residents was the chosen reunion spot for about 500 Hell's Angels. We were fully aware of the function for a few weeks before, and I must admit I was a bit nervous about it. There were plenty of additional state police and also FBI officers here the whole time, plus the Angels had their own security and "policed" themselves very well.

Today's Hell's Angels are not the same grungy, greasy men as they are portrayed in the movies. Most are clean, well kept, leather clad men with fancy accessories such as Wiley X motorcycle sunglasses. I mean, the club members own Harley Davidson motorcycles exclusively and with their high price tags, you know these people have money.

All in all the week went well. I felt sorry for the families who came to visit our sleepy little town that were surprised when they happened upon a restaurant with 200 bikers parked out front. We were actually more disturbed by the police helicopter that circled the town every night, all night. As if they would be able to see anything from the air anyway, since we are in a very wooded and hilly area.

The highlight of their visit was when the local Red Hat Ladies group marched on over to the Angel's hotel to chat and ended up riding around on the backs of the motorcycles. What a sight to see a big burly man on his bike with a little 93 year old lady sitting in the back dressed to the nines with her big red hat, purple fancy dress, a red feather boa and high heels! That one made the local papers.

White Street walk

Last Friday was the White Street walk here in Eureka Springs. It is a big event for artists as part of the May Festival of the Arts as they display their work out on the sidewalk, on the porches, and within the galleries on White Street. My husband thought it would be a bad idea for our two year old to go and suggested that he stay home with him while just me and my six year old daughter go, but I wanted my husband to come too, so we all went.

We rode the trolley downtown and that part went fine, but when we started walking around, my son didn't want us to carry him and he wouldn't even hold our hands while walking. So we spent the whole time watching him instead of looking at the art displayed. What I did see was nice, but my husband was right, we would have enjoyed it much more without the little one. Our daughter was disappointed too because she is a very talented artist herself and would have liked to spend more time looking at the artwork. She did see four of her teachers from school, so that made her happy.

ART-rageous parade a success

Yesterday was the 20th annual ART-rageous parade here in Eureka Springs. My daughter was in the parade with her dance class and they were dressed like little butterfly ballerinas. The parade theme was Spring garden and the whole thing was very colorful and beautiful.

After the parade, my daughter performed at the Basin Park stage along with her Evolve dance class and other classes from the Main Stage after-school program. The audience loved them and we had a great time!

May is for ART in Eureka Springs

Ah, the month of May is upon us, and that means a whole month devoted to art. This is the 20th annual May Festival of the Arts for our city. There will be different art events happening all month and I am so excited! The ART-Rageous Parade kicks off this Saturday at 4:00pm and my little girl is looking forward to being in it with her dance class, with a performance following the parade on the Basin Park stage. The parade will have a "Spring Garden" theme, so there will be lots of flowers, butterflies, and greenery.

Scream Break

I just read on the local events calendar that Raycliff Manor "Castle Fear" run by Eureka Screams, will be opening their doors for the two spring break weekends (Mar 16-17 and Mar 23-24). This haunted house attraction is usually only open about a month before Halloween, so I think it's great if they can attract a crowd during spring break. The cost is $13 per person, which you can buy online at Eureka Screams.

We've never seen it yet ourselves, because knowing my luck I'd probably end up in their "Tinkle Tally". Yes, you guessed it - they actually keep track on their website when someone wets their pants at the attraction. Based on the results, I think I may be too chicken to ever set foot in Raycliff Manor!

Victorian Classic

This weekend is the 25th annual Victorian Classic race. Friday evening from 4-6pm at the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks is the Pre-registration, packet pick up, and wine and cheese social. On Saturday, the 2 mile and 10K runs start at 9:00am at the Best Western Inn, and the 2 mile walk starts at 9:05am. This is a Rotary Club project to benefit ECHO, a free health clinic in Eureka Springs.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

The next event coming up here in Eureka Springs is the St. Patrick's Day Parade. It will be on Saturday, March 17th at 2pm. From what I've heard from locals, this parade is a big one and a whole lot of fun. We're looking forward to it!! It will be the first day of Spring Break for the schools too.