By Carin Schoppmeyer
The Morning News

University of Arkansas administration and faculty, arts patrons and community leaders gathered May 15 at the Fayetteville home of UA Associate Vice Chancellor (and Walton Arts Center board member) Judy and J. William Fulbright College Dean Bill Schwab. The event was to help welcome new Walton Arts Center President and CEO Peter Lane, his wife Bobbie and sons Jack and Chris to Northwest Arkansas.

UA Chancellor Dave Gearhart told us, “The university is going to do everything we can to be supportive,” of the arts center because the two entities are “inextricably linked.”

Jeff Schomburger, incoming Walton Arts Center board president and chairman of the search committee, told us that his committee had found in Peter “an inspirational leader” who “can present a vision of where we are going to go.”

Peter said he was impressed by our strong sense of community beginning with the initial visits he and Bobbie made here. He said, “It’s rare to see the spirit that exists here.”

Those welcoming the Lanes included Elizabeth and Gerald Jordan, Denise and Hershey Garner, Jane and Curtis Shipley, Helen Lewis, Sen. Sue and Bernard Madison, Linda Gaddy, Susan and Tony Hui, Sandy Edwards, DeDe Peters, Lewis Epley, Billie Starr, Debbie Walker, Curt Rom and Butch and Roy Clinton.

Colleen and former St. Louis Cardinals’ catcher Tom Pagnozzi opened their east Fayetteville home May 16 for the fifth annual Grand Slam Celebration fundraiser. The more than 300 supporters I joined raised more than $41,000 to provide sports scholarships for children whose families could not otherwise afford it. The scholarships are used for sports ranging from football, baseball and soccer to cheerleading and gymnastics.