Travelin' Arkansas: Events Taking Place April 3-11
March 2003

Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism

Visitors are encouraged to bring comfortable walking shoes, a camera and lunch to the annual Spring Dogwood Tour on April 18 at Jasper. The tour departs the county courthouse gazebo at 9 a.m. and returns around 3 p.m. It entails an approximate 80-mile trip with three to four stops at some of the most scenic spots in Newton County. The tour changes each year, but usually includes a stop along the Buffalo National River and highlights other forest areas. Transportation, via a school bus, is provided. Reservations are taken until April 16. An admission charge of $5 is payable the day of the tour. For more information, contact Colleen Breedlove at (870) 446-5122.

Oak Crest Workshops and Retreats in Eureka Springs offers four-day retreats guided by trained and experienced faculty amid the relaxing beauty of the Ozark Mountains. Want to focus on body and spirit? Try the new "Yoga for Women" retreat, April 5-10, to increase flexibility, learn stress-reducing techniques and improve health. Want a deeper healing connection? Learn to tap the healing powers inside with the ancient hands-on art of Reiki in "Finding Balance With Reiki," April 12-17. In "Communicate and Live Life!" April 26-May 1, learn peaceful communication skills to enhance family life or ease business relations.

Learn how to share your life stories effectively with others during "The Art of Memoir Writing," April 20-25. Strengthen marital bonds with "Love and Money for Couples," May 3-8, or make fitness a family affair with "Mother's Day Yoga," which pairs mothers and daughters or grandmothers and granddaughters. Just interested in something fun? Pick up a new hobby with a class in watercolor, astrology or stage magic.

For accommodations, workshop fees and more information, call 1-888-608-5998. Workshops are scheduled from April to October. To enhance the learning process, class sizes are small, so reserve your spot early.

The Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View will host the annual Gospel Jubilee, April 11-12, at the state park's grand Music Theater. Featured guests include Albert E. Brumley Jr. and local groups. The pre-season concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. each evening and admission will be charged. For more information, call the Center at (870) 269-3851 or visit www.ozarkfolkcenter.com.

The 15th annual Ozark UFO Conference will be held April 11-13 at the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center in Eureka Springs.

The conference includes lectures and audio-visual presentations on UFOs and related phenomena by authors and researchers, as well as by people who claim to have had UFO sightings or experiences.

The program will also feature updates on reported global UFO activity. Vendors with books, tapes, T-shirts and more will be on hand. Admission is $35 per person if purchased by April 7 or $40 per person at the door. The cost includes all sessions offered Friday through Sunday.

For more information, contact Lou Farish at (501) 354-2558 or visit www.ozarkufo.iwarp.com.