Volunteers Wanted. Emergency Infant Services, a local nonprofit agency serving needy children, needs some help. EIS is a program that serves thousands of needy infants and toddlers annually and is seeking volunteers to assist clients, answer phones, work with inventory and supervise the play area.

EIS is seeking temporary summer help but also needs volunteers who can assist long-term. They have flexible volunteer opportunities for youth, employee, civic and church groups.

EIS provides essential care items such as diapers, food, clothing and formula to needy infants and toddlers across the Tulsa Metro area. They provide immediate access to necessary items without appointments, income qualification, complex paperwork or filing periods.

EIS's offices are located at 14 E. 7th St. Those interested in volunteering may call Emergency Infant Services between 9am-9:30pm at 582-2469, or e-mail Danny Collins at eisdannyc@sbcglobal.net.

Suburban Bluegrass Jam. The Skiatook Bluegrass Association will be holding their 2nd monthly membership jam on Sat., Dec. 16, 1-4pm in the Orco Refrigeration building, just behind Hairbenders 2 at the Southeast corner of Rogers and A Street in Skiatook.

Membership is $15 for one year. The jam is open to all people interested in bluegrass, the Skiatook Bluegrass Festival, and other regional Bluegrass festivals. All people who support these types of roots music in Oklahoma are urged to attend and join the Skiatook Bluegrass Association.

The Skiatook Bluegrass Association is organized solely for the purpose of promoting and preserving the musical form known as bluegrass. The purpose is to educate and encourage bluegrass artists and audiences in the development, performance and preservation of this unique form of American musical heritage and culture.

To achieve this goal, the group organizes and conducts annual festivals, concerts and workshops that provide an environment to learn about and appreciate Bluegrass music.

The Association also promotes the program "Bluegrass Music in the Schools" and chooses to donate any profits from the festivals and concerts to music programs in local schools.

They sponsor junior workshops, contests and concerts to provide young people a chance to showcase their talents. Also, the organization will provide scholarships to junior artists to attend bluegrass camps to hone their artistic skills.

In order to accomplish these goals, the Association must raise at least $25,000 to hire talented and well-known bands for the festival, bands that will make the festival top notch and well-attended. There are many other expenses, such as advertising, tent rentals, lighting and sound equipment, water and electric bills, etc.

The Association is currently looking for sponsors--individuals and businesses that are willing to support this family event in their community. The potential for the area is great. The sponsors will be able to have an area at the festival to advertise their business, as well as advertising on flyers, posters, the website and TV and radio ads. In-kind sponsors, such as donated advertising, hotel rooms for artists, and supplies and services for the festival are also welcomed.

The festival is also accepting applications for vendors. The vendor fee is $50 per night without electricity, $75 with electricity and $100 with 50 amp breakers. They are looking for original art, crafts, foods, businesses and music associated booths. Volunteers are also needed.

The bands scheduled to appear June 22-23, 2007, include the Byron Berline Bnad, Cedar Hill, The Ferris Family, Bonham Review, The Neverly Hillbillies, The ZooGrass Boys, Pocket Change and The Dewayn Brothers. Other excellent bands will be added as finances and stage time permit. There will also be a junior fiddle contest, various workshops, an open mike stage, bluegrass karaoke and other children's and family events.

Interested sponsors, vendors, volunteers or members should call Jami Porter at 637-8385 (jporter@tulsarealtors.com) or Lucy Weberling at 633-8890 (lucyoga@attwb.net) For more information, please visit www.DiscoverBluegrass.com, www.lbma.oeg or www.SkiatookBluegrass.com.

Don't Get Bored, Get A Board. Tulsa On Board, a Monopoly-style board game featuring Tulsa businesses and organizations, is available for purchase by the public only through Dec. 2006.

The new board game allows players to "own" property squares featuring many Tulsa area businesses and organizations. Everything about the game board has been customized to celebrate Tulsa, including the pewter game pieces and game play cards.

The game's box cover includes images of Tulsa's downtown, Cain's Ballroom, the Tulsa Driller and other area icons. The creative and fun center artwork on the game board, sponsored by Williams, features images such as Route 66, the downtown skyline, the Tulsa Run and nods to Tulsa's aerospace and music history along with others.

The retail cost for the game is $34.99. Tulsa On Board games are available at the Reasor's locations at 41st and Yale and 19th and Yale. Additional retailers carrying the game include Miss Jackson's, Lyon's Indian Store, Mango and Salsa, The Learning Shop, AAA of Oklahoma and several more locations. For more information, visit www.tulsaonboard.org or call 477-7079.

Reconstructing the Past. A group dedicated to relocating and rebuilding the Curtiss-Wright Wiley Post Hangar at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City, says it needs help. Specifically, the Wiley Post Commission wants a few memories.

The hangar was build just north of Britton Road on May Avenue in 1929 by the Curtiss-Wright Corp., in keeping with its plan of developing model airports in cities that were deemed "progressive and air-minded."

The hangar served as home base for Wiley Post and his airplane, The Winnie Mae of Oklahoma. The hangar and airport were the initial home of Braniff Airlines, Central Airlines, and American Airways which later became American Airlines. Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and other aviation luminaries of the day were frequent visitors to the hangar. Today the hangar is considered to be one of Oklahoma's most significant and historic aviation structures.

The restoration group doesn't have much information about the daily operations at the hangar as it contemplates a $3.4 million relocation and reconstruction of the facility. So they are asking Oklahoma residents to go through their mementos in hopes of finding more information.

"We want to collect the stories as well as the mementos that are in the attic," said Bob Kemper, Executive Director of the group. Photographs unearthed would be displayed in a museum section of the restored hangar. The hangar group is also looking for people who can lend their stories about the hangar to an oral history project.

For more information on the project, call (405) 789-0005.

Cultural Diversity Grants Awarded. The Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust announced a new grant program aimed at Tulsa artists who represent diverse ethnic backgrounds. Artists or non-profit organizations who are sponsoring events at the PAC may apply for a grant up to $2,500 to underwrite the cost.

The Tulsa PAC Trust has long supported non-profits and has earmarked $10,000 for the fledgling year of this grant program. This special grant is said to celebrate Tulsa's ethnic diversity and to encourage local artists to use the PAC for performances and exhibits.

For more information or to request a grant application, please contact Shirley Elliott at 596-2367 or selliott@cityoftulsa.org

Garden Center Gets New Director. Tulsa Garden Center has hired J. Thomas Golden as Executive Director, with responsibilities to provide overall direction of operations, events, programs, fund raising and promotions. Golden was formerly marketing/communications manager for Tulsa Zoo Friends, Inc., and has also worked for Oklahoma Magazine, Tulsa Opera and the University of Tulsa.

Library Hall of Famer. Much like her favorite author William Faulkner, Ruth Nelson is a champion of the people. From serving nearly 20 years as a board member of the Tulsa Housing Authority to volunteering on the Tulsa Library Trust board, her humanitarian spirit is unstoppable.

Nelson has long been an advocate and financial supporter of Tulsa City-County Library, beginning with regular visits to children's area of the original Central Library at 3rd St. and Cheyenne Avenue, with her mother.

For her lifelong dedication to literacy, the Tulsa City-County Library inducted Nelson into the Library Hall of Fame in ceremonies last week.

The honor is presented prior to the Tulsa Library Trust's 2006 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award public presentation featuring author Mark Helprin.

Currently president of the Tulsa Library Trust, Nelson has been a driving force and key to the success of the Herman and Kate Kaiser Library Capital Campaign, named in honor of her mother and father, and the Judy Z. Kishner Library Capital Campaign. Her contributions helped complete a successful campaign to renovate the Rudisill Regional Library and establish the African-American Resource Center.

She has served on the Author Selection Committee for the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award since 2004 and on the Marcus R. Tower Service Award Committee since 2003.

Three of Nelson's grandchildren participated in the recent groundbreaking for the Herman and Kate Kaiser Library, located at Lafortune Park.

Serving on both boards of the Tulsa Library Trust and the Tulsa Housing Authority, Nelson keeps an ear to the ground on the needs of Tulsa's families and individuals seeking self-sufficiency.

The Hall of Fame was established in 1982 to recognize and honor organizations and individuals that have provided leadership and made contributions of time, talent and energy toward the success of the Tulsa City-County Library.

Winning Team. The Tulsa Drillers announced they have partnered with Family & Children's Services on a "Reaching Home for the Holidays" program to raise money for the non-profit organization. With every new season ticket package purchased until Dec. 31, 2006, the Drillers will make a donation to Family & Children's Services, an agency that assists needy children and families.

For every new 2007 full-season ticket that is purchased, the Tulsa Drillers will donate $25 to FCS. Ten dollars will be given to FCS with every new purchase of a large Flex Pack or a Fireworks Plus Tickets Plan, and $5 will go to FCS when a new small Flex Pack is purchased. The Drillers will then match the total raised by the ticket purchases.

In addition, ticket packages that are purchased may be donated to FCS for use by parents and their children.

For more than 80 years, Family and Children's Services has contributed life-changing work through counseling services, parenting education, child abuse services, literacy programs, marriage & family strengthening programs, early childhood services, community and school-based services and mental health services.

Persons or business wanting to participate in the "Reaching Home for the Holidays" program may contact Mark Hillard with the Drillers at 877-3715.

Go to College High School? The 1976 graduating class of College High School, Bartlesville, is looking for missing classmates for their upcoming 30-year reunion set for Dec. 29-30, 2006. For information about the reunion, please visit the website at http://collegehigh1976.myevent.com or contact Tracy Ruggles at 266-3056 or Martha Lunsford Rongey at 298-6120.

Native American Children's Art Contest. Indian Health Care Resource Center of Tulsa is holding an art contest for Native American children. All participating children will have the chance to win several prizes and be acknowledged at an awards ceremony.

Each submitted drawing must include the theme: "How do you get your 5-a-day of fruits and vegetables?" To participate, children must be Native American and be in Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Artwork must be an original design (no photocopies or copyrighted material). No computer generated artwork. All submitted artwork (limit 2 per child) must be delivered to Indian Health Care by Jan. 5, 2007. All entries must include the child's name, school and grade, home address and phone number, to be able to receive their prize.

For more information on the art contest or The Dance of the Two Moons please contact Emily Bolusky at ebolusky@ihcrc.org or 918/382-1206.

Nominees for State Poet Laureate Announced. The Oklahoma Humanities Council (OHC) recently announced 13 Oklahoma residents have been nominated for the appointment of State Poet Laureate.

Nominees include: Dorothy Alexander, Cheyenne; Nathan Brown, Norman; Robert Ferrier, Norman; Dena Gorrell, Edmond; Jennifer Kidney, Norman; Carol Koss, Oklahoma City; N. Scott Momaday, Oklahoma City; John Graves Morris, Lawton; Francine Roark Robison, Tecumseh; Sandra Soli, Oklahoma City; Donald Gene Stafford, Ada; Howard Stein, Oklahoma City; and Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Tulsa.

OHC coordinates the work of the State Poet Laureate Selection Committee, which studies the nominations and recommends a candidate to the Governor. The Governor is expected to appoint the new Poet Laureate by Jan. 2007 to coincide with the State Centennial year.

Dorothy Alexander is editor and publisher of the literary magazine Broomweed Journal and is founder, editor, and publisher of Village Books Press. She has published two collections of poetry, including a chapbook titled The Dust Bowl Revisited: Poems of Rural Oklahoma, and a full-length book, Borrowed Dust.

Nathan Brown is the Curriculum and Program Consultant to the Dean of the Honors College at the University of Oklahoma. His books of poetry include, Hobson's Choice, Ashes Over the Southwest, and Suffer the Little Voices, a finalist for the 2006 Oklahoma Book Award.

Robert Ferrier is retired from his position in research administration at the University of Oklahoma and now devotes his time to writing. He has two chapbooks of poetry, Rhythms and Ambient Light, which will be published in Dec. 2006.

Dena Gorrell, a retired secretary and native Oklahoman, was named Poet Laureate of the Poetry Society of Oklahoma in 2004 and 2005. She has published four poetry chapbooks, including Truths, Tenderness, and Trifles; Sunshine and Shadow; Five Favorites; and Light the Lanterns.

Jennifer Kidney is Director of the "Let's Talk About It, Oklahoma" reading and discussion program, a cooperative project of the Oklahoma Humanities Council and the Oklahoma Library Association. Her published poetry collections include Field Encounters, Endangered Species, Animal Magnetism, and Women Who Sleep with Dogs.

Carol Koss is a retired teacher from Bishop McGuinness High School and has worked to promote poets and poetry in Oklahoma through her service to organizations such as Individual Artists of Oklahoma and the annual spring poet series at OCU's Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film & Literature. Her poetry chapbooks include Painted Full of Tongues and Camera Obscura.

N. Scott Momaday is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Arizona. His novel, House Made of Dawn, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969. In addition to novels, Momaday's books include poetry, literary criticism, and works on Native American culture.

John Graves Morris is Professor of English at Cameron University and serves as Chair-Elect of the Lawton Arts & Humanities Council. He is widely published in such literary magazines as Blood and Thunder: Musings on the Art of Medicine, The Chariton Review, and Westview.

Francine Roark Robison, a former English teacher, was designated as the State Cowboy Poet Laureate by the Oklahoma Legislature in 2000. Her latest book, The Quilt and Other Pieces, contains stories and verse on her family history.

Sandra Soli is the poetry editor for ByLine magazine and has dedicated 40 years to supporting poetry and poets in Oklahoma. She has served on the boards of the Oklahoma Writers Federation and the Poetry Society of Oklahoma. Her chapbook, Silvering the Flute, was a finalist for an Oklahoma Book Award.

Donald Gene Stafford is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Chemistry department at East Central University. His writing experience includes poetry, professional journal articles, curriculum guides, and science textbooks.

Howard Stein is Professor and Special Assistant to the Chair, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, at the OU Health Sciences Center. His books of poetry include Prairie Voices; Evocations; Learning Pieces; Sketches on the Prairie; and From My Life.

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, internationally acclaimed Russian poet and novelist, has been a resident of Tulsa since 1991 and is Distinguished Professor of English at The University of Tulsa. His published works include The Collected Poems, 1952-1990, essays, and novels.