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Today’s Email Announcements

1) Fiesta Forever on Cinco de Mayo at Elkland Art Center

Join your friends from Elkland Art Center on Tuesday, May 5 from 7-10 p.m. for a fun night of music with BanDam! There will be a dress-up photo booth, 50/50 raffles (you keep half; we keep half) and a piñata. Don’t miss a chance to win money and junk falling out of a busted hunk of papier mache, to dance to live music and support a community arts organization you love. No cover, but each activity is “pay-to-play.” For more information, call Lexie Danner at 828-964-5627.

2) Appalachian Symphony Orchestra to Perform Works by Italian Composers on Friday

Selections composed by Italian opera great Verdi will be performed May 1 by the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra. The program begins at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free.

Dr. Chung Park conducts the 52-piece orchestra, which opens the program with the overture to Verdi’s opera “Nabucco.” The composition was first performed in 1842 in Milan. Of it, Verdi said, “This is the opera with which my artistic career really begin.” The opera is about the Jews’ exile from Babylon by King Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar.)

Verdi wrote 28 major operas before his death in 1901.

Trombonist Drew C. Leslie will be the guest soloist for “Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra,” a 1966 composition by Italian Nino Rota. The composition is considered an important work in the trombone repertoire. In addition to his orchestral work, Rota composed the film scores for “The Godfather II” and Fellini’s “8 ½.”

The orchestra will also perform the preludes to Act I and III from Verdi’s “La Traviata.”  The opera was based on the play “The Lady of the Camelias” by Alexandre Dumas II. Rather than presenting the essence of the entire opera, Verdi’s preludes in this composition set the stage for each act. The prelude to Act I is a haunting strain that foreshadows the death of Violetta, one of the main characters, before transitioning to a more upbeat melody. The more somber melody from the Act I prelude is repeated in Act III.

The concert concludes with the overture to Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino (The Force of Destiny).”  The overture is comprised of melodies from the opera and stresses a three-note motif that is often called the “fate” motif, three E notes played in unison by the brass section, and a “destiny” motif that also foreshadows the tragic destiny of the opera’s principal characters.

3) Boone KOA Campground Opens Friday for 2015 Season

The Boone KOA Campground, located at 123 Harmony Mountain Lane in Boone, will be opening for the 2015 camping season on Friday, May 1.

The Boone KOA is one of 485 open-to-the-public KOA campgrounds in the Kampgrounds of America system in the U.S. and Canada.

“As KOA begins its 53rd year of providing quality camping to North American families, we are proud to claim this campground as part of the KOA family,” said KOA President Pat Hittmeier. “No matter where your travels take you, we have a KOA campground nearby tailored to your needs. Just like this local KOA, our folks in Yellow Shirts are always ready to give you a top-notch camping experience.”

To celebrate 53 years of serving campers, KOA is partnering this summer with Keystone RV Company and Cabela’s to offer a great prize package through the “What’s Behind The Yellow Sign?” Giveaway. Beginning May 4, campers can enter to win a new Keystone Passport 171EXP (valued at $19,500) and a Cabela’s prize package worth $2,000.

The Giveaway will run through August 30. Enter beginning May 4 at www.BehindTheSignGiveaway.com.

Campers can pick up a new 2015 Edition of the KOA Directory absolutely free at any KOA campground. The Directory is a complete travel atlas of every state and Canadian province, and includes descriptive listings of each KOA campground as well as detailed maps and directions to each location. The digital edition of the 2015 KOA Directory is also available at http://koa.uberflip.com/i/268207.

Kampgrounds of America is celebrating its 53rd Anniversary in 2015. KOA, the world’s largest network of family-friendly campgrounds with 485 locations in North America, was born on the banks of the Yellowstone River in Billings, Montana in 1962.

4) Baha’i Devotional Meeting on Sunday in Stony Fork

There will be a Baha’i devotional meeting at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 3 in Stony Fork. The theme of the meeting will be “The strengthening power of prayer”.   Baha’is revere the founders of all the world’s great faiths.  The Baha’i teachings center on unity and the removal of prejudice. All are welcome. For more information and directions call 828-268-2191.

5) Lions to Sponsor Community Blood Drive on Tuesday

The Boone Area Lions Club wants your blood! The Lions are sponsoring a Community Blood Drive with the American Red Cross on Tuesday, May 5 from 1:30-6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express in Boone. There is a critical need for healthy blood; don’t pass up this opportunity to help out. To make an appointment, call Sarah at 828-963-4420 or go online to www.redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code “Holiday Inn Express”. Drop-ins are also welcome.

6) Senior Center to Host AARP Driver Safety Class on May 12

AARP will offer the nation’s first and largest driver safety classroom refresher course geared especially to older adults’ driver safety needs on Tuesday, May 12 from 12:30-5 p.m. The class will be held at the Lois E. Harrill Senior Center in Boone (132 Poplar Grove Connector). The cost of the program is $15 per person for AARP members ($20 for non-members) and will offer information on how to compensate for changes in vision, hearing and reaction time; what to do if confronted by an aggressive driver; how medications may affect driving; and much more valuable information.  Coffee, water and light snacks will be provided. Call the Lois E. Harrill Senior Center at 828-265-8090 for more information or to reserve a seat.

7) Mabel United Methodist Church to Host Annual Yard Sale on Saturday

Mabel United Methodist Church will host its annual yard sale from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 2. Proceeds will benefit the Church Benevolence Fund. Lots of treasures will be featured! Breakfast, lunch and baked goods will be available. Call Gloria Walters at 423-460-1303 or Diane Terry 828-297-6120 for information or directions.