Ellington

November 4, 2004

NEED TO VENT?: Attend Voting Experience Feedback meetings to voice concerns about the Election Day process. The first meeting is Saturday, Nov. 6, at 10 a.m. in the Margaret Walker Alexander Library meeting room, 2525 Robinson Road; the second on Monday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. at the South Hills Library, 515 West McDowell Road. Call Jan Hillegas—who may or may not be a new elections commissioner by the time you read this—at 352-3398 for more information and additional meeting dates and places.

TEAMING UP FOR JUBILEE: The Americorps National Civilian Community Corps and Jaquith Nursing Homes are teaming up to host "Jaquith Jubilee" through Nov. 11. The program is on the campus of Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield and led by 12 Americorps members. During the Jubilee, Americorps NCCC members are spending one-on-one time with the nursing home residents, playing games, fishing, writing letters to the families of the residents, or going for a walk with them. They are also assisting the residents with woodworking projects, horticulture therapy and photography lessons. For more information, call 351-8262.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: From Nov. 4-18, the Small Business Development Center at Jackson State University will be sponsoring free seminars, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Mississippi e-center located at JSU, 1230 Raymond Road. To find out more about this or to register, call 979-2795.

PAINT ME A PICTURE: Tom Harmon of Byram, was recently awarded the Gold Medal in Mixed Media by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for his painting, "Night Attack." The painting was exhibited in Salt Lake City, Utah at the 2004 National Veterans Creative Arts Festival October 9-16. "Night Attack" is based on his experiences while serving in the U.S. Army for over three decades. The competition had more than 1,325 entries overall from approximately 140 veterans. Harmon was also awarded a Silver Medal for his sculpture of hands, titled "Reaching Out," and a Bronze Medal for his watercolor, "Pikes Peak Storm." For more info, contact V.A. Patterson at 982-3939 or 201-9366.

MAKEOVER FOR BELHAVEN: Construction has begun on the campus of Belhaven College to build a "state of the art visual art and dance building." The projected date of completion for this 45,000-square-foot building is Summer 2005. It will house the visual art department in four large studios and will also have an art history lecture hall, graphic design studio, photography darkrooms and art faculty offices. In addition to this, it will house private individual studios for art majors, a gallery for college and public events, a rotunda lobby, and four new dance studios and a dance training room. When the new building is completed, the old Fine Arts building will be torn down, and that space will likely be used for parking. Raymond Hall, an older building on Greymont Street, is also undergoing major renovations. This will be converted into the home for the staff that serve Belhaven's adult students. This project is expected to be completed soon.

CHICK MONEY: Grant guidelines and applications for The Women's Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson are available for nonprofit organizations serving the needs of women and children. Requests for funding must be submitted by Feb. 15. Complete application materials are available via the charitable group's website at http://www.cfgreaterjackson.org/women.html Click on "How To Apply."

MIXED MEDIA: The Mississippi Arts Commission is sponsoring the ultimate mixed media project. In correlation with the spring production of Carl Orff's musical "Carmina Burana," the Mississippi Chorus is inviting artists to submit works that reflect the four themes of the musical: fate and fortune, springtime, drunkennes and debauchery and love and passion. For more info, artists can attend a meeting at the Cedars (4145 Old Canton Road) on Nov. 10 at 6:30. There will be complimentary refreshments. From the selected entries, a multi-media presentation will be professionally edited and projected to provide the set design for the performance. Contact Bebe Wolfe, [e-mail missing] or the Wolfe Studio 366-1844.

SIGNS OF LIFE: New walk signals at the corner of Riverside Drive and North State, near Millsaps College. Is this a sign that more people are walking to work and places like Video Café? We hope so.

TAKE YOUR DAMN SIGNS DOWN: From past experience, we know that when this issue of the JFP hits the street Wednesday that there will be a litter of political signs all over the friggin' city that no one is going back and getting. Like with garage-sale signs (ahem), pack out your crap. Go get your signs … now … especially if they were bought with non-Jackson money. You know who you are.

RHYTHM OF THE DAY: November is International Drum Month. Pat Brown of the Percussion Marketing Council announced the 13th annual celebration with the theme "Discover Your Inner Drummer." Brown says at PlayDrums.com, "Every human being is also a rhythmic being. By drawing public attention to this fact during International Drum Month, we're hoping to inspire people to discover the drummer that's inside and let it out by becoming active players."