Hogs for Haiti, Hotel High, Peace Heroes

The Kruth Talks
By Amber Kruth

Hogs for Haiti

The University of Arkansas Razorbacks teamed up with Numana and are launching a 24-hour meal packing session starting at 7 p.m. Friday at Randal Tyson Track Center. Volunteers are needed to help pack 2 million meals to send to the starving people of Haiti. To volunteer, sign up the day of the event or e-mail richmorris@acumenholdings.com for group registration.

Hotel High

The Cherokee Casino has finished construction on a seven-story hotel and it’s open for business. According to Cherokee Nation Entertainment, the 140-room hotel is the tallest building between Springdale and Tulsa. Once a small bingo hall in West Siloam Springs, Okla., just across the Arkansas line, this venue is now 200,000 square feet of gaming with a private poker room, a 7,120-square-foot banquet room, a nightclub, coffee shop, three restaurants and now a hotel with three meeting rooms, seven suites and a fitness room. Quite a mark on the map for the once small town of Siloam Springs.

Swimming Good Time

Wilson Pool season started the summer with a record-breaking swim. Two hundred sixty-two people gathered at the city pool to break the Guinness Book of World Record for “largest swim lesson.” The pool is open daily, except for Mondays through Aug. 15.
Swimming is also an option at the Boys & Girls Club of Fayetteville daily except on Sundays. You must be a member to use the facility. Annual membership for youth is $60 for children, $200 for adults or $300 for a family. There is a scholarship-based membership available to lower-income families.
The pool at the Jones Center in Springdale is open for public swimming daily except for Mondays.

Summer Lunch

The Fayetteville School District is offering a free summer lunch program for kids 18 and younger. Lunches are served from 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily at Owl Creek Elementary School. Boys and Girls Club members can drop off their children at the center or adults can bring the kids directly to Owl Creek. No qualifications or registration required. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Peace Heroes

The OMNI Center has announced its annual Arkansas Peace & Justice Heroes award recipients. Honored at a July 10 banquet in Fayetteville will be: Barbara Harmony of Eureka Springs; Art Hobson of Fayetteville; Donna Massey of Little Rock; Robert McAfee of Hackett; and the NWA Workers Justice Center of Springdale. For tickets, call 935-4422 or order online at www.omnicenter.org.

Power Contract

The University of Arkansas announced that Arkansas Power Electronics International, housed at the Research Technology Park, was awarded $3 million in contracts to improve electronic technology in vehicles. This fund given by the Army through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will aim to develop silicon carbide power modules used in electrical ground combat vehicles and tanks. The ultimate consumer gain would be advanced technology in hybrid and electric vehicles.