2 Arkansas beauties vie for a crown
OUR OWN CIVIL WAR? When the 2014 Miss America Pageant returns to Atlantic City next Sunday, at least two Arkansans will compete for the coveted crown — Miss Arkansas (Amy Crain, 23, of Hot Springs) and Miss New Jersey (Cara McCollum, 21, of Forrest City and now a Princeton University student).
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HOLLYWOOD: Former Little Rock resident William Froug, an Emmy awardwinning Hollywood TV writer and producer in the 1960s, recently died at 91 in Sarasota, Fla., reports the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Born in Brooklyn in 1922, he was adopted by Rita and William Froug of Little Rock and graduated from Little Rock Senior High in 1939. After serving in the Navy, Froug wrote for radio and then for TV, including Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island and The Twilight Zone. He later became a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles before retiring to Sarasota. REDHEAD NO STRANGER: Legendary country-music star Willie Nelson is rolling into Arkansas again, on Thursday, Nov. 21, at Robinson Auditorium Music Hall. Tickets, ranging from $53 to $102, are now on sale.
ARRIVING IN STYLE: Little Rock native and fashion designer Anna Taylor, 22, now of Fayetteville, debuts the spring collection of her ethically produced clothing at 2 p.m. today at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week in New York City. Taylor founded her international clothing company, Judith & James, as a student at the University of Arkansas to alleviate poverty in the Kenyan slums through vocational training and employment for local women. The clothes, created from locally sourced fabrics, are made by women who live in Nairobi slums, but who are compensated with fair wages. This past July, 14 women graduated from the sewing training program Taylor created there. In Little Rock, her clothing is sold at Tulips and Beyond Cotton.
GHOST STORIES: The 19th annual Tales of the Crypt is set for 5:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at Mount Holly Cemetery in downtown Little Rock. The free event is presented by Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School drama department students who, in period attire, portray Arkansans buried there. But before then, a special edition of this living history presentation will be held at Mount Holly from 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28. The Masonic Grand Lodge of Arkansas will offer Masonic Tales of the Crypt to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Masonry in Arkansas. Historical presentations by costumed actors on 11 stops will focus on some of the most interesting individuals from Arkansas Territory days of 1819 through the great Galveston flood at the turn of the 20th century. The event is free, but donations will be accepted to help restore the tombstone of Arkansas’ first grand master, William Gilchrist, who died in 1843. A reception afterward at the Grand Lodge, 700 S. Scott St., will include more actors portraying additional characters. Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@ arkansasonline.com.