MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Dec. 20 and 27
▲ Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is the local provider of blood for patients at 40 area hospitals in southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas and southeast Kansas. Sick and injured hospital patients depend on CBCO donors to provide the lifesaving blood they need. Donors at any CBCO blood drive between the dates of Dec. 11-31 will receive a free long-sleeved shirt as a thank-you gift. These shirts carry a very special holiday message. CBCO wishes its donors the happiest of holiday seasons. Area residents can help by giving blood at one of the upcoming blood drives in Bella Vista: 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20, at Allen’s Food Market, 60 Sugar Creek Center; or, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27, at Highlands United Methodist Church, 371 Glasgow Road.
Dec. 21
▲ The AARP Smart Driver course is offered to reduce overall maintenance and car insurance costs. The course teaches current traffic laws, defensive driving techniques and how to operate a vehicle more safely in today’s challenging driving environment. It also teaches how to manage and accommodate common age-related changes in vision, hearing and reaction time. The course length is four hours and reservations are required. The cost to AARP members is $15 (membership card and number). Nonmember cost is $20. Class location is at Mercy Clinic Community Room, 1 Mercy Way, Bella Vista. The class is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Be sure to call 479855-3076 for reservations.
Dec. 26-Jan. 31
The Bella Vista Recycling Center is taking (live) Christmas trees after Christmas this year at the center, as well as used wrapping paper. The trees should be put in the marked trailer on-site, and the Fly Tyers Club will put the trees in Bella Vista lakes for fish habitat. Used wrapping paper should be placed in the newspaper bins.
Jan. 1
▲ It’s a family tradition to hike a trail at an Arkansas State Park on the first day of the new year, and Hobbs State Park is offering two guided hikes. Start the year off on the right foot with a hike on the trails of Hobbs State Park Conservation Area just east of Rogers. Two different guided tours will be available on Monday, Jan. 1. Meet Interpreter Steve in the Van Winkle parking lot on Arkansas Highway 12 at 10 a.m. for a one-half-mile nature hike on the Sinking Stream Trail. The second is with special guides Jim and Diane Gately in the Van Winkle parking lot on Arkansas Highway 12 at 2 p.m. for a one-half-mile historic hike. They will guide participants through what was the Peter Van Winkle sawmill community. The Van Winkle sawmill mill was the largest in the state during the 1870s, and the area of hiking is on the National Register of Historic Places. This trail is barrier-free. For those who wish to venture on their own, there is a one-third-mile stroll along the paved Ozark Plateau Trail next to the park’s visitor center or an all-day hike along the nine-mile Little Clifty Loop to reveal the hidden diversity of winter wildlife in the Ozarks. Hobbs State Park offers 35 miles of trails of different lengths. For more information, call 479-789-5000 or visit the website, friendsofhobbs. com.