Monticello Live

The Monticello Film Academy (MFA) participated in the Little Rock 48 Hour Film Project this past weekend. The kick-off was Friday, August 20 at 6pm. Rebecca Spencer and Desiree Thornhill, two instructors along with five of the ten film school students drove to the Riverdale 10 Cinema in Little Rock to draw their movie film genre and receive all the rules. Gianna Thornhill was selected to draw for the team and drew Mockumentary.

Students were required to make a complete movie in 48 hours and had to incorporate three elements not chosen by them. Additional elements required for the film were: a character named Geoff or Georgia Cooke, camp counselor, a wheel or tire, and a line of dialogue, “Here we go again.” The official start time for filming was at 7pm.

The students’ movie, Legend of the Blackburn Sisters was turned in at 6pm on Sunday. Screening of the film will be on Thursday, August 26 at 7pm at the Riverdale 10 Cinema on Cantrell in Little Rock. Legend of the Blackburn Sisters is about a skeptical twelve-year-old boy who struggles to make a documentary disproving a local legend about two sisters who have supposedly been haunting an old mansion for over a hundred years.

These young Monticello filmmakers are competing as the only child group in the competition with 20 adult filmmaking teams from Arkansas. Awards show will be on Saturday, August 28 at 7pm.

“Elvis” put on a special performance at the Woods nursing center, Monday afternoon.

Shown here, Elvis was definitely a hit with the crowd who attended , as he performed some of the hits that made him famous.

A Monticello family will be featured in the next thirteen weeks on the Outdoor Channel. Doug Hampton, a Drury Outdoors pro staffer, along with his team-mate Rod Owen competed with national Celebrity J.W. Hart this past fall. They formed “Team Hart” which competed against three other celebrities paired with other Drury pro staffers as well. Tim Sylvia of the U.F.C, Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Aaron Lewis of the rock group Staind are the other competing celebrities. 

Although the show is technically about the celebrities hunting with the Drury Outdoors team members, Hampton wanted to make sure that his family got in on the action. They did just that, and in a huge way! Brandy Hampton, Doug’s wife, knocked down a Kansas giant that grossed 151″s and was followed up just two days later when their son Coltin dropped a huge 6 year-old 13 point Kansas stud that grossed 165″s. Doug Hampton also had four kills in four different states including two P&Y bucks in the mid 140′s, as well as a 14 point muzzle loader kill that also grossed 140″s. (more…)

Gary testing out his new SeaArk Bayfisher at Lake Monticello.

Ten weeks ago CMT began airing a new reality TV show called Gator 911 staring Gary Saurage, conservationist and owner of the Texas-based adventure park, Gator Country. The show chronicles the adventures of Gary as he and his team work in dangerous waters to rescue gators from unusual places and deliver them to their new refuge.

After the first few episodes, Gary was contacted via Facebook by SeaArk Boat’s marketing coordinator, Wendy Tassin, to discuss a possible sponsorship. Turns out, he was already a SeaArk fan. After a few weeks, the SeaArk team began building a custom boat for Gary outfitted with a huge Gator Country decal to match the one on his truck. Gary, along with his partner Jana Parr and a caiman from South America named Spek, were in Monticello Friday in order to pick up the boat and meet and greet the local media, SeaArk employees and their families. The pair were on their way back from Nashville where they attended the CMT Music Awards and rubbed elbows with other celebrities such as Kid Rock, Melissa Peterman and Kara DioGuardi.

SeaArk team members Beth Clemons and Margie Pickens aren’t so sure about holding Spek

In addition to the Gator 911 television show and the park, Gary and the Gator Country Crew take the animals on the road for exciting special events and appearances. Gator Country provides homes for 300 American alligators, 4 species of crocodiles, 4 species of turtles, 2 species of caiman, sulkata, tortoise, snakes and a Savanah monitor lizard.

The University of Arkansas at Monticello hosted the Weevil Stampede this past weekend. The rodeo was the final of the 2009-2010 year for the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.

UAM’s men’s team finished the event seventh with 100 points, while the women’s team finished second with 260 points.

For the season, UAM’s women team placed fifth overall. Senior Lana Chastain won the Women’s All-Around with 1,095 points. Visit the NIRA Ozark Region page for complete final results of this season.

Full team and individual results are listed below.

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Students from the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association competed in the UAM Boll Weevil Stampede tonight, Thursday 22. Below are the results of the first round events. Events will continue tomorrow and Saturday, both at 7:30 PM. Cost for admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children 6-12 and UAM students with an ID card. Children under 5 get in for free.

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The University of Arkansas at Monticello rodeo team will host the annual Boll Weevil Stampede at the Drew County Fairgrounds April 22 through the 24th.

The event will showcase teams from the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association as they compete in various rodeo events. Eleven teams from seven states will be competing.

The events will begin at 7:30pm nightly. Cost is $8 for adults, $5 for children 6-12 or for UAM students with their student ID. Children under five get in for free.

UAM’s Women’s Team currently sits third and the Men’s Team sits seventh. Cody Mounts is currently ninth place in bareback riding and eleventh in bull riding. Casey Greer is fifth in steer wrestling. Slade Deason and Jacob Rayburn are sitting ninth and tenth respectively in team roping. Colleen Glass is fifteenth in barrel racing. Stephanie Zakrzewski and Chelsey Brock are tenth and eleventh in breakaway roping. Lana Chastain sits second in goat tying. Zakrzewski also sits seventh in goat tying.

The 2009-10 UAM Rodeo Team with Coach Jolyn Wells

Last time Monticello Live spoke with Lake Village & Monticello native, Christopher Slaughter, he had just finished filming as Matt Damon’s body double in the upcoming Paul Greengrass film ‘Green Zone’. Since then, Christopher has started his own production company [Red Clover Productions] and has worked on a half dozen films including his latest ‘Top Gun in 60 Seconds’.

Christopher and his friend Mark Wong produced a 60 seconds version of this 1980s classic ‘Top Gun’ that has been shortlisted by the Jameson’s Empire Movie Awards – Done in 60 Seconds Competition. For this competition, you are required to take a full length motion picture and cut it down to just 60 seconds, while maintaining the storyline and hitting key plot points. Of course it doesn’t hurt that Christopher and Mark put their own comedic twist on it either.

Don’t let the length of the film fool you. Christopher and Mark filmed at five locations in the United Kingdom and in the North Sea on multiple weekends spanning five months in order to put this film together. In order to get the authentic Top Gun look, they were even able to film around a real F-15 fighter jet and use real military uniforms.

To support the film, public votes are needed to make the final shortlist and the deadline for votes is March 12th with the awards ceremony being held in London on March 28th. To vote for Top Gun, click here. It’s number 16.

Photos by Shelley Smith,  Becky Phillips, and others.

Tom Martin, Chipper Jones, Michael Murphy, Adam LaRoche, Jeremy Payne, Mitchell Murphy, Ryan Langerhans, Andrew Brannon, Willie Robertson, Matt Duff, and Tyler Chambers

CashboX, a local southern rock band, recently got the opportunity to perform for some “big time” stars. CashboX is made up of singer Andrew Brannon, from Monticello, guitarist Tyler Chambers, from Monticello, drummer Michael Murphy from Dermott, and Bassist Jeremy Payne from Lake Village. The band recently recorded the theme songs for the Duckmen 13: Fear the Beard, already out on DVD, and the Buck Commander 3: “The Bigs,” due out next year. The Duck Commander, a reality show about the Robertson family, airs weekly on The Outdoor Channel.

Michael Murphy, Tyler Chambers, Jason Aldean, Jeremy Payne, and Andrew Brannon.

 Because of CashboX’s success with the theme songs, Willie Robertson, star of the Buck Commander DVD series and Duck Commander DVD series and Duck Commander reality show series, sent the band and their families to the ranch of Major League Baseball player Adam LaRoche in Fort Scott, Kansas, where they played a concert for the Buck Commanders themselves. The Buck Commanders present were: Chipper Jones,3rd base for the Atlanta Braves; Adam LaRoche, 1st base for the Atlanta Braves; Matt Duff, a former St. Louis Cardinal pitcher; Tom Martin, a former New York Mets pitcher; Ryan Langerhans, outfielder for Seattle Mariners; and Willie Robertson. (more…)

As Arkansas broadcasting legend B. J. Sams is retiring this week from KTHV after 56 years in the radio/TV industry, Monticello native Charles Crowson is one of the many Channel 11 staff who hates to see him go.  Sam’s has been a part of the “THV Morning Show” for 12 years.

But as B. J. is going to have the chance to sleep late, Crowson, a 1993 Monticello High School graduate, who has been with KTHV since 2007,  will move from his news reporter position with the station, to the morning show’s couch, as the two-time Emmy nominated reporter becomes a daily part of thousand’s of Arkansan’s morning routine.  (more…)

Timberlodge Lanes is making some changes.

When you walk in, you will notice the new atmosphere, new menu items such as ICEEs and the new management. With these new changes, the times have changed also. Mon, Wed, and Thursday the bowling alley will be open from 12pm – 10pm; Friday and Saturday it will be open from 12 pm to 11pm. One of the new activities that the lanes will now have will be starting this Thursday and will be happening every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

The Lanes will be turned into Glow Bowling, so come prepared for lights, music, and black lights to make everything glow. This will be happening from 7pm – 10pm on Thursday and 8pm-11pm on Friday and Saturday.

The cost will be $5 an hour per person. Get your family and friends together to try out this wonderful activity.

Repair crews are seen working Saturday on the damaged underground phone, cable TV, and natural gas supply lines

Saturday morning, around 11 o’clock, normal activities of cooking lunch, while watching TV, and talking on the telephone to friends came to a quick stop for many Monticello residents.

That is approximately the time that a Robin Hood Drive resident had a backhoe operator reportedly working on replacing a sewer line, in the residence’s back yard. (more…)

aSuper Bowl Sunday  It seems like as many new TVs are sold for the Super Bowl as there are for Christmas.

Cablevision’s Terry and Chris are shown here working on a tower this week, upgrading antennas, as Cablevision is getting ready for more cable tv upgrades, that will be taking place in the near future. With flat screens already popular, plus digital and high definition coming into more homes, next year will be even better.

ESPN reports that, nationally, Pizza Hut sales are expected to be 55% higher than the Sunday average.

Super Bowl Sunday:  Even the commercials are new and better.

Miller’s Spectacular Shows will be entertaining “children of all ages” this week, at the intersection of HWYs 425 & 278.

Tonight’s the last night and the weather’s perfect.

Rides, games, food, & fun.  Come on out and enjoy the fun.

The carnival will be operating from 6 til 1o p.m.

Coming to this web-page, information about Luna Brothers Circus.