We have been asked about subscriptions since our beginnings in 2010. We have declined simply because of our cost of mailing issues and having to pass that cost onto our readers who subscribe. How many of you would be willing to pay $4 per issue or $48 for a yearly mailed subscription? Answer me here or shoot me an email at eyeonjoseph@gmail.com and let us know how you feel.

Morgan Reed / Ozark Foothills Literacy Project

Ozark Foothills Literacy Project and Americorps are hosting a food drive in honor of Americorps Week. All donations will benefit the Feed the Children Backpack Program at the First United Methodist Church in Batesville. The food drive will run from March 11th through the 17th.

Many businesses are participating in the drive by allowing OFLP to set up donation boxes. Participating Batesville businesses include: Kroger, Independence County Library, and Cash Saver. Participating Cave City businesses include: Hometown Market and Dollar General.

For more information on the OFLP Food Drive, please call 870-793-5912.

Local musicians will gather for the 10th annual Friends in Great Places Concert at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.
The concert will be held in Independence Hall and promises two hours of entertainment. Featured guests will include Danny Dozier, Pam Setser, Tim Crouch, Gary Rounds, Brad Apple, Kenny Loggains, Samuel Cobb and Irl Hess. Special guests this year will be Creek Rocks, and Alex Prince will join the show as a clog dancer and singer.
Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu make up Creek Rocks. The duo have been playing music together since 2003 and were married in 2013. Woolf has recorded three albums as a solo artist, and Bilyeu is well-known as a member of the former Ozarks family band Big Smith. Their first album, Wolf Hunter, is a collection of 16 folk songs from the Ozarks. Selections were drawn from the collections of Max Hunter of Springfield, Mo., Bilveu’s hometown, and John Quincy Wolf of Batesville, where Woolf grew up. Joining them on the album and on stage are bassist Jason Chapman of the Chapman’s bluegrass band and percussionist Jay Williamson from Big Smith.
After intermission, local favorites will take the stage. Setser, of Mountain View, will provide vocals, mountain dulcimer, spoons and guitar. Crouch, of Strawberry, will play the fiddle, guitar, mandolin and bass. Rounds will be featured on vocals and guitar; Dozier on guitar; Apple on vocals, guitar and mandolin; Loggains on percussion; Cobb on the mandolin; and Hess on vocals and bass.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door or ahead of time at the Batesville Daily Guard, First Community Bank, Merchants and Planters Bank, UACCB and WRD Entertainment.
The Friends in Great Places concert is the main fundraiser for Kids’ College and helps provide partial scholarships to students who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. Kids’ College has proven to be a great asset to the community, serving the youth in Independence and surrounding counties for more than 20 years. The event is sponsored by UACCB, WRD Entertainment, Bad Boy Inc., Centennial Bank, First Community Bank, FutureFuel Chemical Company and Merchants and Planter Bank.

The University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville’s Community and Technical Education department is offering conversational Spanish for beginners from 5 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. Feb. 26 - Apr. 11.

According to an article in Business Insider magazine, “you should learn Spanish because it’s not a foreign language anymore. It’s good for your career and it will unlock a world of travel destinations.”

Instructor Tim Bennett has taught Spanish for more than 25 years to high school and adult students. This class takes a conversational approach, with group and partner activities, storytelling and short readings to ease students into the confidence needed to speak the language. The beginner-level class is appropriate for those with no previous experience or those who want to practice what they have learned. The cost is $67 plus the cost of the textbook which can be purchased at the UACCB bookstore. The course will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays in the UACCB Row Johns Library Building, room 815. For more information or to register, call 870-612-2082 or email communityed@uaccb.edu. Hannah Keller Flanery

January Eye On has been delivered!

Old Independence Regional Museum’s
10th Annual Old Fashioned Family Christmas Party
will feature Carols, Cookies, & Crafts
Terri Crawford

Old Independence Regional Museum will host its 10th Annual Old Fashioned Family Christmas Party on Saturday, December 9th, from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m.  Admission is free for this event, but donations are always appreciated.  “We envision an old fashioned Christmas as one where families come together to enjoy the sights, sounds and traditions of the season.  We look forward to welcoming visitors of all ages and hope that generations of families will come out and make some Christmas memories,” stated Terri Crawford, Humanities Educator.     

Santa and Mrs. Claus will make the journey down from the North Pole and will be available from 11 am till 1pm, to visit with little boys and girls.  Parents are welcome to bring a camera and take photos.  Morley Family Magic will be entertaining visitors as well with their balloon animal creations.

Museum guests are invited to visit stations throughout the museum where volunteers and staff members will be on hand to help decorate cookies and make Christmas ornaments.   A variety of ornaments will be available to make this year including several traditional favorites like salt dough ornaments.  

Christmas carols will fill the air while guests are visiting the museum.  Ed Casper, a local accordion player, will be strolling through the museum, from 10 till noon, playing his accordion.

The museum gift shop will be open during the event. “Santa’s Helpers” will be on hand to assist children in gift selection for parents, grandparents, and siblings.  Free gift wrapping will accompany gift purchases.  The gift shop carries books and toys, as well as a variety of educational, local and handcrafted items, many of which are priced for small pockets.

This humanities program is made possible by local support from Independence County and the City of Batesville, as well as by Challenge Grant Endowment funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities.  Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities

Normal museum hours are: Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Admission is $3.00 for adults, $2.00 for seniors and $1.00 for children.  The museum is located at 380 South 9th street, between Boswell and Vine Streets in Batesville.  

Old Independence is a regional museum serving a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff.  Parts of these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820’s Arkansas territory.