When we produced Season 1 of “Arkansas Treasures” – a program that invites our audience to meet with professional appraisers to learn more about their most treasured heirlooms and collectibles – we were fortunate to collaborate with Amory LeCuyer, an appraiser and estate sales expert from Virginia who has worked on similar shows for public television stations in Maryland and Arizona.
I remember asking Amory at one of our first meetings about his favorite memories from his decades of experience in antiquities and collectibles. Without hesitation, Amory said, “I rarely remember the objects, but I always remember the stories.”
In August 2023, I learned first-hand exactly what he meant. Over the course of a weekend, we welcomed around 500 guests into the Arkansas PBS studios. You could feel the buzz of excitement as our guests gathered in the registration and welcome area, chatting eagerly about the items they brought. Some people brought heirlooms that had been passed down for generations; others brought the objects they had collected since childhood. Still others brought items that had inexplicably caught their eye at a thrift shop or flea market. For each one, there was a fondness or fascination that had nothing to do with the object’s monetary value.
I met one woman who brought a crystal dish that had been given to her grandparents as a wedding gift back in the early 1920s. The crystal was lovely, but it’s not the reason I remember that woman. It’s because she shared that prior to their wedding, her grandfather had been a soldier in the cavalry in World War I and had had a horse shot out from underneath him three times during his service. The fact that he returned from the war unscathed was the real treasure – not the crystal dish. It’s the story that stays with me, not the object.
That’s the treasure of Arkansas PBS, too – the stories of our state, our history and our people that you won’t see anywhere else. Telling those stories – telling YOUR stories – is an essential part of our identity and our mission.
We hope you’ll join us for Season 2 of “Arkansas Treasures,” which will film at an appraiser event in our studios April 12-13. Tickets are available now for a donation of $120 or $150 at myarpbs.org/arkansastreasures. Closer to the date, we’ll also have a limited supply of free tickets available through a lottery. The Season 1 filming event was truly one of the most fun experiences I’ve had in my time at Arkansas PBS, so I hope I will see you at the Season 2 event!
Whether you attend “Arkansas Treasures” yourself, or just watch it from the comfort of your favorite chair, we hope you will enjoy the tales it shares as one more example of how Arkansas PBS is your window to a world of discovery and inspiration. Thanks for being part of our audience!
I hope to see you there! You can find more information at myarpbs.org/arkansastreasures!
Marge Betley
Chief Executive Officer
Arkansas PBS Foundation
mbetley@myarkansaspbs.org
800-662-2386