1) Green Mother Goods Hosts Grand Reopening Specials Dec. 5-6
Green Mother Goods will host grand reopening specials Dec. 5-6 featuring organic cotton and hemp apparel and accessories, stainless steel bottles and containers, fair-trade global artisan crafts and knitwear, local-made handcrafts and jewelry, natural baby products and children’s toys and sustainable, responsibly manufactured goods. The new located is at 196 Boone Heights Dr. across from Goodwill. For more information, call 828-236-7010.
2) Screening of Love Actually Held Dec. 8
The High Country Lifelong Learners in association with the Watauga County Public Library invite you to join us for a movie viewing of Love Actually, on Dec. 8, from 2-4:30 p.m. Love Actually is a 2003 British Christmas-themed romantic comedy. From aging rock stars, to a stony headmistress, to a monolingual Portuguese housemaid- love arrives in many forms, shapes and sizes. Here, ten separate – but intertwining – stories of love all lead up to a big climax on Christmas Eve, proving that love is the driving force in all of these people’s lives. This film has an MPAA rating of R and an approximate run time of 135 minutes. For more information, please email high.country.lifelong@gmail.com.
3) Parent’s Night Out Held Dec. 6 and 13
Cheerleaders from Avery High School will help supervise Parents Night Out courtesy of Kaye’s Kitchen in Newland, and will receive proceeds from those evenings. CHildren will see the movie, “The Polar Express.” They will have dinner, play games and have contests. Prizes will be awarded. Each child will decorate holiday cookies and of course, hot chocolate will be served. The cost is only $10 per child, far less than a babysitter would charge, with all profits above costs going to the Avery High School Cheerleaders. The event will take place from 5-10 p.m. each night for kids kindergarten through fifth grade. This is by reservation only, to make reservations call 828-737-0314.
4) Appalachian Symphony Band and Trombone Choir Perform Dec. 3
The Appalachian Symphony Band’s Dec. 3 program, “Hymns, Carols, and Elves!,” features whimsical, spiritual and rousing works for brass, woodwinds and percussionists. The 8 p.m. performance will be in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts. Admission is free. Dr. Kevin Gray Richardson from the Hayes School of Music conducts along with graduate students Onsby C. Rose and Matthew Brusseau. The concert also will feature the Appalachian Trombone Choir directed by Dr. Drew C. Leslie. The program begins with “Evil Elves,” written by James Kazik and featuring the trombone choir. The composition showcases the musical versatility of the trombone through the use of mutes, extended ranges and advanced techniques to capture the antics of elves. The band will perform Fred J. Allen’s “Moravian Hymn Dance,” based on the hymn “Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” and “God of Our Fathers” by Claude T. Smith and based on the original hymn written by George W. Warren. Also on the program is Ron Nelson’s “Morning Alleluias for the Winter Solstice.” The composition was inspired by conductor Frederick Fennell’s experience waking in his hotel room in Hiroshima to a brilliant sunrise. Fennell commissioned Nelson to write a composition that would celebrate the triumph of the people of Hiroshima following World War II. The composition was premiered by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra in 1989. The holiday season will be celebrated with a performance of the English folksong “Greensleeves” and Grainger’s “The Sussex Mummers’ Christmas Carol.” The band also will perform Johann Strauss Jr.’s fast-paced “Thunder and Lightning Polka,” known for the composer’s use of tympani and cymbals to represent the sound of thunder and lightning.
5) Seby B. Jones Inaugural Lighting of the Tree Held Dec. 4
Seby B. Jones Regional Cancer Center warmly invites all High Country residents to help decorate and light a festive tree in honor and/or memory of loved ones who have faced cancer, no matter where they were treated. People of all faiths are welcome. The event will take place Dec. 4 from 6-7 p.m. at the Watauga Medical Center Auditorium located at 336 Deerfield Rd. in Boone. Please visit Watauga Medical Center’s auditorium atrium on Thursday, December 4th from 6 pm-7pm for a brief ceremony. Enjoy the first lighting of the tree, refreshments, live music and share in fellowship with Cancer Center staff, neighbors and friends. Decorated trees will be on display in the auditorium and the Cancer Center lobby until Jan. 5, 2015.
6) Messiah Sing Along Held Dec. 7
The 10th annual “Messiah” sing-along will be presented Sunday, Dec. 7, at 6 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall at Appalachian State University. Pi Kappa Lambda music society will collect donations to benefit to music scholarships in the Hayes School of Music. The sing-along will proceed in inclement weather unless the university closes. For more information, call 828-262-3020 or email belljr@appstate.edu. Hayes School of Music voice students will sing the arias and the audience will be invited to sing the chorus parts from the Christmas portion of Handel’s “Messiah,” including “Hallelujah.” Sheet music will be provided. Dr. Joby Bell will be the organist. Students Steven Austin and Carys Kunze will conduct the choruses. Student soloists will be sopranos Madeline Hamrick, Elizabeth Marie Thomas and Caroline Valitutto; mezzo-sopranos Farren Hilliard and Mary Robert McGrath; tenor Ethan Garner; and baritone Joshua Joyner.