From pet adoptions to festivals, there is something for everyone in Texarkana this weekend.

Local Events This Weekend:

Thursday, May 3:

Movies in the Park at Spring Lake Park Thursday at 8PM. Dolphin Tale. Admission is free! Bring your lawn chair or blanket. Concessions will be available. You can bring your own food but no alcohol is allowed. For more details contact the City of Texarkana, Texas Parks and Recreation Department at 903-798-3978.

Saturday, May 5

May Market by Hands on Texarkana on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Shop the Artisan’s Circle for jewelry, pottery, birdhouses, paintings, purses and more. Located at the Ben and Jane Collins’ Home on 19th and Olive streets.

National Adoption Event at Petsmart. Several local rescues will be at Petsmart this weekend with dogs up for adoption to good homes. Adoption fees start out at $50. All of the dogs are spayed or neutered, up to date on vaccinations and socialized. There will be small, medium and large breed dogs at this event. These dogs have been in rescues and foster homes so there will be someone on hand to answer any questions about their temperament. To find out more please visit TexarkanaAnimalLeague.org.

Sunday, May 6:

The PoodlePatch Rescue will be at PetSmart for National Adoption Day on Sunday, May 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Poodles of all sizes – toys to standards, as well as a 6-month old Boxer Staffordshire Terrier mix. All are completely vetted and housetrained. PoodlePatch will be celebrating their 5th birthday at PetSmart – come out and celebrate. Ouachita County Humane Society will also be there with a variety of dogs, cats and Kittens.

Horses, Dogs and Cats at Fat Jack’s is a yearly fundraiser for ARTEX Animal Welfare Association. The benefit is Sunday, May 6 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be a live auction, 50/50 raffles, poker fun run game, raffles and live music. There will be many prizes to be had ranging from gift cards to a weekend stay in Hot Springs. Tickets are $5 each or five for $20. You do not need to be present to win. Fat Jack’s is located at 3324 North Stateline Avenue, Texarkana, Arkansas. For more information call Dixie at 870-774-8932, Jill at 903-733-6300 or visit the ARTEX website.

Area Festivals, May 3 to May 6:

The annual Peach Blossom Festival is May 5 in Nashville on Main Street. The town has a celebrated connection to the fruit and was once a major center for peach trade in the state. The festival has entertainment, vendor booths, a car show and more. For more information visit www.nashvillear.com or call 870-845-1262.

Collinfest is May 5 in De Queen at the Cossatot Amphitheater. The town is the hometown of country music star Collin Raye. The singer returns home for his 14th benefit concert. Admission is $10-$20 and proceeds fund college scholarships for local students. For more information visit www.collinfest.com or call 870-642-2446.

The 42nd annual Hamburg Armadillo Festival is May 3-5 in Hamburg, Arkansas. The festival features armadillo races, arts and crafts, carnival rides, the Southeast Arkansas Antique Tractor and Engine show, and more. For more information visit www.hamburgark.com or call 870-853-8345.

Join park staff for a weekend of outdoor skills instruction May 4-6 during Women’s Outdoor Weekend at Millwood State Park in Ashdown. Classes offered include tent camping, kayaking and canoeing, dutch oven cooking, backing up a trailer, and beginning birdwatching. A $125 registration fee includes use of tent and campsite, use of all equipment, instruction in all classes and all meals. For more information visit www.arkansasstateparks.com or call 870- 898-2800.

The 20th annual South Arkansas Mayhaw Festival is May 4-5 in El Dorado. The event is an all day celebration of music, food, and southern culture. The event includes mayhaw jelly sales, a 5K walk/run, crafts, an antique car show, and more. Mayhaw is the name given to the fruit ( which ripens in late April through May) of hawthorn trees. It is considered a celebrated delicacy of Southern cuisine. For more information visit www.soarkhistory.com or call 870-862-9890.

ASMSA will host a free Science and Engineering Institute Saturday, May 5 giving students in grades 6-10 the opportunity to learn about musical acoustics, computer programming and chemistry. The classes will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on the ASMSA campus in downtown Hot Springs. Free enrollment in the Science and Engineering Institute classes is being provided by a grant from the Elisabeth Wagner Foundation. For more information about, call Stephanie Rizzo, ASMSA Marketing and Research Specialist, at 501-622-5133. For more information about ASMSA, visit www.asmsa.org.

Announcements:

Curtis Bennett, from Rockwall PD, is riding in the annual Police Unity Tour Bicycle Ride on May 9, 2012, in honor of Deputy Sherri Jones. Donations are needed to help him with the $1,750.00 entry fee for this event. Anyone interested in contributing should call 903-798-3240.

It’s time to help our community win a $100,000.00 grant in the PetSafe Bark for Your Park Contest!  It will be known as “JefFURson Park,” for the community dog park. This dog park, located on the Partnership for the Pathway Trail, will be sectioned off for large, medium and small dogs and will include an agility course. There will be ample room for you and your canine companion to exercise and socialize. Please vote for Texarkana, Arkansas and help our shelter, which serves Miller County, Arkansas and Bowie County, Texas by voting every day.  Click here to vote.

The animal shelter needs dog and puppy food desperately! The Texarkana, Arkansas Animal Care and Adoption Center located at 203 Harrison and is open Monday through Saturday from 10AM to 5PM. Call for more information 870-773-6388. If you do not want to haul bags of food, just stop by Tractor Supply Company on Stateline and purchase a gift card. Volunteers will purchase dog food with the cards and take them to the shelter. The volunteers are able to get a discount as well as tax-exempt status so the gift cards go further. Please remember to SPAY AND NEUTER your pets. Our local shelter is always over-crowded with homeless dogs and cats. Don’t ask for gifts on your birthday this year, have an animal spayed or neutered instead. Dog Bathers, dog walkers and volunteers are also needed to help the animals get ready for adoption. Anyone can help, ages 16 and up. You can make a difference by giving a dog a bath or helping a potential adopter walk a dog.

If you have room in your heart and your home for one more person, the Educational Merit Foundation High School Exchange Program is seeking volunteer families to host high school students from France, Germany or Norway for five or ten months starting this August. EMF students are carefully screened and arrive with everything they need, including medical insurance and spending money for their stay. All you have to do is add a seat at your dinner table, provide a bed and your family’s unique American way of life. Give a student the chance to learn firsthand about America! Call now for more information and to learn how your family can experience the rewards of hosting a student: 1-800-HOST EMF. That’s 1-800-467-8363.

Have An Upcoming Event?

We want to hear about your upcoming events! To have your church, group or civic organization announcements listed here please send an email and include the who, what, where, when and why. Please include contact information for the event.

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