HOBBS STATE PARK-CONSERVATION CENTER EVENTS
Sunset Tours on Beaver Lake
Hobbs State Park and Conservation Area have released the dates of five sunset pontoon boat cruises on Beaver Lake during the month of October. Nothing could be more enjoyable than viewing a beautiful sunset out on Beaver Lake. Many birds will be coming back to their nests this time of day. We will look for them, and listen for their calls. Don’t forget your cameras. All tour departures leave from Rocky Branch Marina promptly at stated times: Thursday, Oct. 4 — 5:15 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 14 — 5 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 18 — 5 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 25 — 4:45 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 28 — 4:45 p.m.
Tickets must be purchased in advance. Adults are $10 plus tax and children (ages 6-12) are $5 plus tax. For more information and to make reservations, call the park at 479-789-5000.
Fall festival
A host of free family-orientated events will take place at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area Sunday, Oct. 7. Activities will take place at the Historical Van Winkle Hollow and the Park’s Visitor Center.
Historic Van Winkle Hollow events from 1 to 4 p.m. will include: Blacksmith demonstration, early food preservation, old-timey games, stone tool-making demonstration, Van Winkle historical presentation, apothecary shoppe, dutch oven demonstration, pearling, dowsing demonstration, mountain woman, pioneer homesteader, and tall tale tellers.
Visitor Center demonstrations from 1 to 4 p.m. will include: Weavers, smockers, lace makers, spinners, music, “table-top” programs, kids’ crafts and free ice cream.
A free shuttle will be available. Park at the visitor center parking lot on Ark. Highway 12 just east of the Ark. Highway 12 and War Eagle Road intersection. The free shuttle will run continuously from 1 to 4 p.m., between the visitor center and Historic Van Winkle Hollow. More information is available by contacting the park office.
Burials in the Ozarks
Abby Burnett is an independent researcher who studies all aspects of burial in the Arkansas Ozarks. Her book, “Gone to the Grave: Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850-1950,” was featured on AETN’s cemetery documentary, “Silent Storytellers.” Abby lives in a log cabin in the Boston Mountains when she’s not out photographing tombstones in rural cemeteries. Tombstone portraits, popular in this country since the 1700s, depict how the deceased looked in life, or occasionally, after death. Abby tells us, “Though somewhat scarce in Arkansas, it is possible to find photos, cameos and statues adorning tombstones, and to learn about the lives these images represent. Whatever form they take, these portraits have stories to tell — some of them quite Gothic.”
Burnett’s upcoming program at Hobbs State Park, “I See Dead People,” will give the stories behind a few of the most unusual portraits found in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas and Kentucky. Come live a day in the life of Abby Burnett, but don’t be scared. This program will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, at the Hobbs visitor center. There is no cost and the public is invited.