What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1488902
DECEMBER 25-31, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 41 Collections — The last of these annual highlights is of course the museum collection itself, Barnett says, "which is the heart and soul of the museum's mission to preserve our history. The museum collections currently include over 65,000 objects — everything from furniture to postcards, clothing to farm tools, photographs to newspaper archives. The list continues to grow. We've had approximately 55 donations with at least 300 individual items so far this year — that averages to about five donations a month, more than one per week!" Barnett adds that work has already begun on plans for 2023, "such as our new preschool program, Museum and Me, which is in partnership with the Rogers Public Library and begins in January." For more information, visit rogershistoricalmuseum.org. Terry Vaughan Smokehouse Players "Our biggest accomplishment in 2022? We reopened our doors after a two-year hiatus due to covid and ended up having our most successful year yet," says Terry Vaughan, co-founder with husband Tim Gilster of the Fayetteville-based theater troupe Smokehouse Players. "It took courage, grit, and tenacity — but we progressed from performing 'Love Letters' to only a small handful of people in April to sold- out performances of Edward Albee's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' in November," she says. "It wasn't easy, but with the help of the community and an army of actors, directors, and volunteers, Smokehouse Players survived and thrived. And, in the process we got to provide three vastly different free theater experiences to our beloved community while helping raise a total of $29,715 for Magdalene Serenity House. Now that is a win, win, win! "What a happy ending to our efforts in 2022," Vaughan enthuses. "It is important to remind everyone that creating theater is a team sport, and our victory is shared by many. We would like to thank everyone who supported us this year (actors, directors, playwrights, press, promoters, volunteers, matching donors, and audience members). It is because of you that we are still standing. … Thank you for helping us little guys keep fighting the good fight." Ezra Idlet Trout Fishing in America Ezra Idlet, the taller half — and player of guitar, banjo and more for Northwest Arkansas folk duo Trout Fishing in America — says 2022 "has been a year of rebuilding." "Covid shut down live music pretty hard," says Idlet, who has played as a duo with bassist Keith Grimwood for most of half a century. "We went from touring year 'round to creating monthly livestreams from our studio! This year we've started building a new normal. Gigs are coming back. We're playing for real live people! "There's no way to overstate the joy we feel playing our music in a live setting," he goes on. "We've reorganized our priorities to include more home time to be with our families. We've also spent a lot of time in our recording studio working on ours and other folks' projects. Our routine has been to get together every week and rehearse, write, and record. What an amazing luxury it's been to have the time to do that! "What have we accomplished? We've maintained a friendship that's lasted almost 47 years. Anyone who's ever been in a longtime relationship knows that it's something you work at. We released our 25th album, 'Safe House,' this year. It feels like we're becoming more of ourselves every year. Our music is merging. Instead of dividing our shows into kids or adults, we're playing for multiple age groups. It feels good to see multiple generations of Trout fans in the audience." Smokehouse Players sold-out performances of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in November and raised a total of $29,715 for Magdalene Serenity House in 2022. (Courtesy Photo/Danielle Keller, Arli Media) For Northwest Arkansas' own multi-Grammy nominees Trout Fishing in America, 2022 "has been a year of rebuilding." (Courtesy Photo) "What a happy ending to our efforts in 2022. It is important to remind everyone that creating theater is a team sport, and our victory is shared by many." — Terry Vaughan, Smokehouse Players