June is big for outdoors events
June will be a big month for outdoors events, starting with the Central Arkansas Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet June 16 at the Benton Event Center.
The event will begin with a cocktail social at 5 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m., followed by a live auction that will include firearms, an elk antler chandelier, wildlife art, a Canadian fishing trip and many collectibles.
Since 1984, the Elk Foundation has permanently conserved or enhanced more than 7.1 million acres of habitat for elk and other wildlife. It has also opened or improved access to more than 1.1 million acres of public land for Americans to hunt, fish and enjoy other forms of recreation.
Tickets cost $65 per person, and $95 per couple. Each single and couple ticket includes a yearly RMEF membership and a Bugle magazine subscription. Corporate tables and sponsorship opportunities are available as well.
For ticket information and reservations, call Betty Thornquist at (501) 796-2363 or visit https://events.rmef.org/shop/ centralarkansas.
FOUNDATION DINNER
The Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation will hold its first Steve Smith Endowment Dinner on June 28 at the Witt Stephens Jr. Nature Center, 602 President Clinton Ave., in Little Rock.
Individual tickets cost $250. Proceeds will be used to assist various Arkansas Game and Fish Commission projects. Former Game and Fish Commission member Witt Stephens Jr. will match every dollar raised up to $150,000.
Smith, who died in 2017, was the first president of the Game and Fish Foundation and was instrumental in establishing the organization as an effective advocacy and auxiliary arm for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
For more information, visit agff.org.
MOORE AT FORREST WOOD CUP
Country music star Justin Moore of Poyen will perform a free concert Aug. 12 at the Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
The Forrest Wood Cup is the championship tournament for Fishing League Worldwide and will take place on Lake Ouachita Aug. 10-12. It will include 56 anglers from FLW’s various circuits that will compete for a first-place prize of $300,000. Weigh-ins will be at Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs.
Moore, who also performed at the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, will feature music from his Kinda Don’t Care album. The concert also will be live-streamed at FLWFishing.com.
Moore has charted five No. 1 singles, including “Small Town USA” and “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.”
“As one of our sport’s most celebrated events, the FLW Cup deserves one of music’s most exciting acts, and Justin Moore certainly fits that mold,” said Kelly Oettinger, FLW’s vice president of marketing.
“We have a storied history of some of the top country artists in the world performing here, and by continuing to provide our fans with first-class entertainment, along with the first-class bass fishing that our anglers will experience on Lake Ouachita, we are confident that fans will have the experience of a lifetime this August.”
SANDERS ENTERING BASS HALL
Tommy Sanders of Little Rock, the best known voice in outdoors television programming, will be inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame on Sept. 27 at the Johnny Morris Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Mo.
Other inductees will be Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.; Gary Klein of Mingus, Texas; Helen Sevier of Montgomery, Ala.; Berkley Bedell of Naples, Fla.; and Dr. James Henshall, a 19th century author who popularized bass fishing.
Sanders has represented B.A.S.S. on television since 2000 and starred on ESPN Outdoors for more than 25
years. Sevier is the former CEO of BASS, and Bedell is founder of the Berkley fishing brand. VanDam is the most successful angler in BASS history, and Klein has enjoyed a stellar fishing career, as well.
Besides starting FLW coverage, Sanders has hosted Stihl Timbersports, the Great Outdoor Games and the wraparound segments for the ESPN Outdoors block. He’s mainly known as the host of The Bassmasters, for which he has earned many awards. Recently inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame, Sanders is also known for his recent work as host of Bassmaster LIVE and The Livewell.