Artifacts 8/4/06

Sikeston to hold cowboy arts festival

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sikeston Depot Museum and the Downtown Merchants Association will sponsor the second year of the Cowboy Up! Arts Festival next weekend in conjunction with the Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo. The event starts from 1 to 6 p.m. Aug. 11 with cowboy poet-comedian Jake White, music from Handpicked Bluegrass and other entertainment. Events Saturday include lunch with the rodeo clowns from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and other entertainment through 6 p.m. For more information, call (573) 481-9967. Vendor space is still available.

'Gateway Arch' premieres Aug. 19

ST. LOUIS -- The documentary "The Gateway Arch: A Reflection of America" will have its world premiere at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. The film was produced by Civil Pictures and co-directed by Southeast Missouri State University graduate Scott Huegerich. Huegerich also co-directed "The World's Greatest Fair," which won a CINE Golden Eagle Award, a Missouri Humanities Council Governor's Award and two international film festival awards. The new film is narrated by St. Louis native Kevin Kline. For tickets to the premiere, call (314) 543-1111 or visit www.metrotix.com.

Jackson dodgeball tournament Aug. 12

The Jackson Underground Dodgeball League will hold its annual Summer Slam tournament Aug. 12 at Litz Park in Jackson. The tournament will be the league's last of the summer. Teams of six to nine players will compete in the single elimination tournament, which begins at about 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.judl.net.

Billington to hold book signing at Hastings

Hardy Billington, the man who led a petition drive to bring President George W. Bush to Poplar Bluff in 2004, will hold a signing for his book "The Election by Faith in '04" from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 5 p.m. on Aug. 12. Billington's self-published book recounts his experience with the petition drive and his religious conviction that Bush would save the country.

Wood carving show opens Saturday

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff will hold an exhibit called "Creations in Wood," made of wood carvings by the Poplar Bluff Area Woodcarvers and the Southeast Missouri Woodturners and Woodworkers starting Saturday. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the museum. The exhibit will remain there through Aug. 27. For more information, call (573) 686-8002 or visit www.mham.org.

Ky. Dam Village holdsspecial event

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. -- The Kentucky Dam Village in Gilbertsville, Ky., will hold a Camper Appreciation Weekend today and Saturday. Those who camp Friday night stay free on Saturday, with entertainment including an Elvis impersonator Saturday at 8 p.m. For more information, call (270) 362-4271, extension 2364, or e-mail marya.greer@ ky.gov.

--From staff reports