BENEFIT, PANCAKES, SUPER TUESDAY MAKE PACKED WEEK

BY THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

The Chancellor’s Benefit for the Arts, the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and Super Tuesday Primary presidential primary election are in store for area residents this week.

“In Celebration of a Family Tradition” will be the theme for the Chancellor’s Benefit for the Arts, sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, at the Pine Bluff Convention Center Saturday.

The reception and silent auction will begin at 6:30 p.m. and dinner and entertainment at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $75 and may be purchased at the cashier’s office in the UAPB administration building or the Office of University Relations and Development in Childress Hall or by credit card by calling 575-8701 or 575-8703.

The Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, sponsored by the Men’s Clubs of Trinity and Grace Episcopal churches, will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the parish hall at Trinity Episcopal, 703 W. Third Ave.

The supper is an all-you-can-eat meal of pancakes, sausage and coffee or milk. Tickets are $6 per person. They may be obtained from any member of the Trinity or Grace Men’s Clubs, Cindy Williams at the Trinity Church office by calling 534-3832 or by calling the Grace office at 535-3852. Carryouts will be available.

Tuesday is also known as Super Tuesday when voters cast ballots in the presidential primary in Arkansas and several other states.

Early votes can be cast today at the Jefferson County Courthouse. Tuesday, polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Also this week, classes ranging from organ lessons to bird watching will be offered during the spring session of the Pine Bluff Chapter of Shepherd Centers of America. Classes will begin Wednesday and will meet from 9:30 to 11:45 a.m. each Wednesday through March 26 at Lakeside United Methodist Church, 1500 Olive St.

Classes include: Mexican Train Dominoes and Board Games; Canasta; art workshops; chair weaving; knitting and crochet; locker hooking; wreath making; organ lessons; computing class (This will be held in the Good Faith Building, 2304 W. 29th Ave.); and bird watching.

A registration fee of $10 will be charged for all classes. Details: Call Frances Moore, president of the Shepherd Center board, (870) 329-3042 or Jimmie Lee Edwards, publicity chairman, at 766-4422.

Also this week:

n The annual Talent Hunt sponsored by Tau Phi, the graduate chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Caldwell Hall auditorium at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The competition is open to high school students. Participation in the Talent Hunt is open for these forms of trained art: music, interpretative Movement to Music, speech, art. The first-place winner will receive a $250 cash award and trophy; second place, $100 and trophy; and third place, $50 and trophy. Details: Call James Horton at (870) 692-1064 or 543-4304 or Rodney Riles at (870) 329-0696 or 543-4348.

n The Pine Bluff City Council will hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. today for residents to air grievances with the Pine Bluff Cable Co. The event will be held at the council chambers at the civic center. Also today, the council will have the first public reading of a proposed rezoning ordinance that was forwarded by the Pine Bluff Planning Commission over the objection of planners at the Southeast Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.

n The Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s monthly meeting will be held at Pine Bluff. At 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County, presentations will be made by Art Norris on the National Center for Toxicological Research; Jim Bacon on the Pine Bluff Arsenal; and Lou Ann Nisbett about the Bioplex.

n A forum with local employers will be held from 8-10 a.m. Thursday at Southeast Arkansas College at Pine Bluff to present information about a new workplace-readiness credential that will reduce employee turnover, build job-seeker confidence, increase a graduate’s chances for hire and boost economic development.

n Arkansas Farm Bureau President Stanley E. Reed and former state representative Joyce Elliott will address participants at the 52nd annual Rural Life Conference Friday at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Reed will deliver the S.A. Haley Lecture at 9 a.m., and Elliott will be the luncheon speaker.