Women’s History breakfast set
State Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, will be the guest speaker for Rise & Thrive Women’s History Month Breakfast from 7:30-9 a.m. March 20 at The Generator, 435 S. Main St.
Flowers, an advocate for justice and community progress, is also a lawyer and represents District 8 in the state Senate. She’s been a legislator since 2005, according to her Senate biography. The community is invited to attend the breakfast, according to a flier. Details: (870) 663-0200.
Caregivers Alzheimer’s group to meet
Area Agency on Aging of Southeast Arkansas, 709 E. Eighth Ave., will host its Caregivers Alzheimer’s Support Group meeting from 11 a.m. to noon Monday.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The speakers will be Carolyn Ferguson of Area Agency and Tonya Boyce, a spokesman with an Alzheimer’s agency. The topics are Community Education Resources and Ten Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease, according to a news release.
To join the meeting virtually via Microsoft Teams, use Meeting ID: 231 870 564 892 and Passcode: KQ7ag3og. To dial in by phone, call +1 312-625-2266,,389572774# and the phone conference ID: 389 572 774# Details: Carolyn Ferguson of Area Agency, (870) 543-6300.
4-H meet, greet set with state officers
The community is invited to join state 4-H Secretary Sylvana Burgess and other state officers in a 4-H Meet and Greet at 5:30 p.m. March 20 at the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service, 500 S. Idaho St.
This open invitation is for all county leaders, city leaders, school officials, community leaders, parents and students who are interested in 4-H programming and making a difference in the county, according to a news release.
The Jefferson County 4-H program is part of the Extension Service, which is part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Timothy Wallace is the county agent responsible for 4-H programs.
Registration is open until March 17. To register, visit https://forms.office.com/r/Kq39u2Wwjj. Details: County Extension Agent Timothy Wallace at (870) 534-1033 or twallace@uada.edu.
4-H offers Spring Break Day Camp
The Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Office 4-H Spring Break Day Camp will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 24-26 for ages 8-16. Campers will explore gardening, planting, cooking and more, according to a news release.
Youth will also explore careers in agriculture and develop an understanding and appreciation for Arkansas agriculture. Several slots are open for attendees. To register, visit https://forms.office.com/r/d1Q5Au45vF. Details: County Extension Agent Timothy Wallace at (870) 534-1033 or twallace@uada.edu.
Area Agency announces menu
Area Agency on Aging of Southeast Arkansas offers lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays at the senior centers. Next week’s menu includes:
March 17 — Vegetable beef soup, oriental slaw, cornbread, fruit and milk.
March 18 — Lemon pepper chicken, baked corn casserole, zucchini and tomatoes, chocolate pie and milk.
March 19 — Pork roast, sliced potatoes, glazed beets, heat bread, cake and milk.
March 20 — Swiss steak, rice, okra, roll, apricots and milk.
March 21 — Chicken and dumplings, green beans, stewed tomatoes, butterscotch bars and milk.
Great South Arkansas Junk Hunt opens
The Great South Arkansas Junk Hunt has merged routes with two smaller hunts, the former Historic Highway 35 Junk Hunt and the Highway 79-63 Junk Hunt Loop. The merger created one large route of sales to be held twice a year, spread over four days, according to a news release.
Organizer Jennifer Via and her team of volunteers moved the Junk Hunt to April 3-6, she said on the Free Range Conversations podcast with the Cleveland County Herald.
The event features more than 600 miles of sales. Plans are for the spring sale to happen the first full weekend of April, and the fall sale to be held the fourth weekend of October.
There are many towns along the route including Rison, New Edinburg, Kingsland, Woodlawn, Star City, Pine Bluff, El Dorado, Sheridan, Benton, Fordyce, Monticello, Crossett, Magnolia, Strong, Hampton, Warren and now White Hall on Highway 270 from White Hall to Sheridan.
People should also lists their items and an address in The Great South Arkansas Junk Hunt Sales Group on Facebook, which has over 13,000 members. According to Via, it is important to note full addresses and town names.
“If you’ve got a hub where you’re opening up space to set up sales, message us on the Facebook page and we’ll get it added,” Via said.
Via said it is important to note that each vendor hub varies on which days they are open.
“We have so much to offer in South Arkansas,” she said, referencing her initial reason for starting the original junk hunt in 2015. Details: ClevelandCountyHerald.com.
National Ag Day set
National Ag Day, set for March 18 this year, provides an opportunity to celebrate Arkansas’ largest industry.
The annual event was created by the Agriculture Council of America in 1973. It seeks to highlight the contributions farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers make on a daily basis to the food and fiber supplies on which consumers rely, according to a news release by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
In Arkansas, those contributions are extensive. According to the Arkansas Agriculture Profile, compiled by the Division of Agriculture, there are about 37,400 farms in Arkansas, covering about 13.7 million acres. Additionally, forestry accounts for the largest area of agriculture in the state and about 57% of the landmass in Arkansas.
Agricultural production contributes approximately $24.3 billion to the state’s economy each year and accounts for one in every seven Arkansas jobs, certainly justifying an annual celebration of the industry, according to John Anderson, senior associate vice president for agriculture-extension and director of the Cooperative Extension Service.