Campfire Concert Brings Music Back To The Hills

As the executive director of a hands-on, experiential science center, Ozark Natural Science Center’s Rose Brown says she knew, at the beginning of the global outbreak of covid-19, her organization would face a challenge. But it’s one she and her team have more than risen to.

“In the last six months or so we’ve had to explore entirely new areas of how to engage people with the Center and the environment,” Brown says. They’ve accomplished that mostly through keeping up an active social media presence and offering virtual programming but, on Saturday, they’re trying something new: a Virtual Campfire Concert, featuring the bands Still on the Hill — known for their expertise in the flora and fauna of the Ozarks — and Tater, Mater and Squarsh.

“We did have the option of canceling, even postponing it, but we realized that we would be able to offer their music and services as a way to connect with our community,” says Brown. “Our funder, Arkansas Heritage, said, ‘Be creative.’ So we wanted to think of a way we could make this work, to show that we’re still here, and doing what we can to help kids and adults stay connected to the natural environment. Music is a way to reconnect with students, the community and teachers, and we think this is a good time for everyone to just have something fun to do.”

The concert will be available via Facebook Live, but Brown says they are also filming it so viewers will be able to access it later. While music is the primary draw, the bands will also be telling Ozark-based stories that offer an educational angle to the evening.

Brown says the Center will continue offering virtual educational offerings as long as the pandemic requires it.

“We live in a time when we’re fortunate enough to have access to virtual programming,” she says. “And it’s exciting. It’s gone well — the teachers and the students have used it, responded and given feedback, so we’re going into the fall with lots of great plans of how we can keep that going until kids can come out and stay the night again in the lodges.”

(Photo by Stephen Ironside) Kelly and Donna Mulhollan — known as the duo “Still on the Hill” — have released four Ozark-themed albums and are lifelong naturalists. Both have been ornithology instructors for the Halberg Audubon Ecology Camp for 18 years. Their performance Saturday will include stories linked to their expertise in Ozark nature.