This is Not Your Father’s Convention

by Hardy Peacock with photos by Denver Norsworthy

know that you’ve heard it all before, seen the varmint, been around the block, and volunteered to lead the charge down the primrose path.

This is different. This convention is different. I know it is still in Hot Springs and the trade show is still in the Hot Springs Convention Center and we still have a night set aside for our suppliers to play host. You can see old friends, learn about new products, and chase away the blues. We still are playing golf and those that don’t play golf can go to the races.

Yes, I recommend all of these.

So, right about now you are asking what is so different? Well, two days instead of three. A one day trade show as requested by a lot of the attendees and virtually 100% of the exhibitors. The Mid-America Museum! So, what is so different about the Mid-America Museum? Why am I writing about it? How high is up? Who’s on first?

Inquiring minds want to know!

The point of all this is that on Wednesday, March 24th, after the golf, after a day at Oaklawn Park, the “Driving the Blues Away” Party will be at the Mid-America Museum.

One more thing that you may notice in the brochure and around the convention will be highway signs that say Highway 61, but more about that later…

In our never-ending fight for truth, justice, and the American way me an’ the Swooze descended on the

M-A-M like a 60 Minutes news team. We wanted to see it all, do it all, and take pictures of it.

We were met by Kate Garner, Director of Education, and proceeded to take the grand tour.

Granted, a party in a museum is a little unusual, but this museum is a lot unusual. In the first place it is not a dark, cobweb draped, gloomy crypt filled with static relics. This is an open, active, hands-on, fun kind of place. Most of the exhibits encourage (even need) active participation on your part. If you want to try some of the more strenuous displays like the worm crawl or the mine you should wear jeans or a warm-up. Everybody should try the virtual reality capsule, the shadow panel, and the kinetic energy exhibit. The Delta table, the Vandegraf Generator, and the Tesla Coil will also be worth spending a little time investigating. All of the facilities of the museum will be open and in operation,

The exhibits will be joined by all sorts of catered food, plus a few other attractions. A top-notch band, Larry B & the Cradle Rockers, a butt sketch artist (don’t ask, just come find out), a karioke set-up, plus other attractions will all be available. Maybe even the Blues Brothers, themselves.

The Swooze and I had a great time. We started with a virtual reality trip through history. They had two different trips set up at that time and we did the history trip, looked all over the museum, then came back to the virtual reality area for the canyon race. This is a lot like flying a star fighter in Star Wars, but with better graphics. Some of the trip through history is so good you are tempted to wave at some of the people. Okay, I really did wave at some of them and kept wondering why they didn’t wave back.

Then we dashed to the theatre for the laser light show. I still have not adjusted to light beams that seem to have substance. For all intents and purposes it seems that you should be able to grab a handful of laser and put it in your pocket; somewhat like catching lightning in a bottle, I suppose. Actually, they do have lightning in a cage; the Tesla Coil, again. We tried every exhibit. We had some hair-raising experiences, especially with the Vandegraf Generator. The Swooze didn’t exactly do a trapeze act on the chandelier to get some of these photos, but I’m not sure how she got them without hanging from the ceiling.

Did I mention the sound experiments? Or the shadow panel? Or the mirrors? What about the aquarium?

The tour of the mine is just a little hard on the knees (Ask Lee Stephenson. He had to follow a grandson and probably moved a little faster than I did. Of course he could also send out a scout who reported back occasionally, “Come on Granddad, you can do this one.”) Folks at the museum assure me that they have had everyone from toddlers to an 83 year old grandmother negotiate the worm crawl.

Have you ever wondered why a river flows as it does? Try the Delta table and move mountains, create rivers, and watch the patterns change.

Want to get up close and personal with a hot air balloon?

Want to buy a world class model airplane? Would you rather have some kind of scientific puzzle? Would you want maybe a gyroscope? Check out the gift shop.

Shuttle buses will make regular runs from the hotel to the museum, the food will be abundant and good. The Mid-America Museum is fascinating. In the 61 years of the History of the Arkansas Oil Marketers Association we have never had a night like this one.

This is not your father’s convention!

Now, about Highway 61. That sort of became the theme because the Arkansas Oil Marketers Association is 61 years old, but US 61 is also the Blues Highway. The theme of this convention is Driving the Blues Away.

US 61 runs North and South on the Mississippi side of the Delta. This is the highway that led North to the Blues Mecca of Memphis. This is where Muddy Waters came from. Highway 61 is the highway that B. B. King left Helena to find and played jook joints (I always thought it was juke joints, but B. B. spells it jook.) and road houses all the way to Memphis and fame. Hwy 61 is where Bessie Smith died in a car wreck. Leadbelly was here. Highway 61 is the locale for the Mississippi Public Broadcasting blues show on Saturday nights, hosted until recently by Dr. Bill Ferris, the Blues Doctor. US 61 is where the greatest Bluesman, Robert Johnson, supposedly came to a crossroads at Midnight and made a deal with the devil to be able to play anything he wanted to on a guitar.

According to the legend if you go to a Crossroads on Highway 61 just before Midnight and start playing your guitar a very tall black man will come and take it away from you. He will tune the guitar, play the screamingest, cryingest blues that you have ever heard. Supposedly it will cause your soul to leap inside your body. After he finishes playing he will offer the guitar back to you…whether you take it or not is up to you.

Some people say that it should be near a cemetery, but I have been to Robert Johnson’s crossroad and there is no cemetery in sight.

Maybe the devil didn’t have too good a grip on him as Robert Johnson’s last words were, “My Redeemer is coming to take me away.”

Robert Johnson’s recordings, there were only 29 of them, have been inspiring musicians ever since. Musicians that have credited him with influencing their careers include Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, and Elvis Presley.

Whatever, bring your blues to Hot Springs and drive them away on the AOMA Hwy 61 without making a deal with the devil.

Denver Norsworthy, photographer.