1) Annual Rotary Pecan Sale
Be sure to get your bag of regular or chocolate coated pecans. One bag is $9, two bags are $17 and three or more bags are $8 per bag. Income from the sale benefits the playground located at Cannon Memorial Hospital and scholarships at Mayland Community College. You can find your pecans at these local businesses: Habitat ReStore in Newland, Mtn. Retreats Realty in Banner Elk, Clyde’s Cuts in Newland, Edward Jones in Linville, Leather and Lace Hair Place in Newland, Avery Hardware in Newland, YMCA in Linville, Banner Elk Pharmacy, Avery County Chamber of Commerce at Tynecastle. Get your pecans, make a pie and donate it to the Avery Chamber. We love pecan pie! Make checks payable to: Rotary Foundation of Avery County.
2) Concert at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum
St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Parish will sing their annual Festival of Lessons and Carols on Sunday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m. Lessons and Carols will be presented in the atrium of the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum as the church continues renovations. “This will be the most recent incarnation of a service that has been sung at St. Mary of the Hills for at least three decades, probably longer,” shared Director of Music Jim Bumgardner in a recent parish newsletter. The Advent service follows a pattern of congregational Christmas carols, choir anthems and scripture readings related to the birth of Jesus. The best-known festival service began Christmas Eve 1918 at historic Angelican King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England. Now the performance has been broadcast over BBC radio since 1928 and American Public Media since 1979.The Blowing Rock Art and History Museum (BRAHM) is located at 159 Chestnut Street in downtown Blowing Rock.
3) Events at Watauga County Public Library
- Dec. 9-14 is Amnesty Week. Bring in canned goods and we will deduct $1 per item from your library fees and fines. Not applicable on lost or damaged items.
- Holiday Book and Basket sale Dec. 5-7. Come in and do your early Christmas shopping. Lots of fiction, non-fiction, and gift baskets to choose from. Children can visit Candy Cane Corner where they can buy and wrap gifts for family members.
- Christmas Reception on Dec. 7 following the Boone Christmas Parade. Come enjoy homemade cookies, hot chocolate and apple juice, along with craft tables set up just for kids. At 12:30 p.m. Steve Somers will present The Arctic Express, an imaginary train ride looking at winter festivals and holidays around the world. We expect Santa to show up, so be good. Look for our library staff at the parade!
4) Boone Christmas Parade
On Dec. 7, experience small town America at its finest with a procession down King Street, complete with decorated floats, local celebrities, dance troupes, music and more.
5) Book Signing at the Boone Mall
After last year’s fun success at Black Bear Books in the Boone Mall, we’re doing it again. Book signing! I’ll have my latest novel, The Man as well as all of the other novels and short story collections. Please come by and say hello. Bring whatever you have and I’ll sign it. It was so much fun last year, and we set a record at Black Bear for sales, that we couldn’t not do it again. The weather isn’t going to be great, but the mall will be warm, warm, warm. Hope to see you all there- Glenn A. Bruce.
6) The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Opens Dec. 6
Wilkes Playmakers are busy rehearsing their next production- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which will be presented this month. This delightful comedy is adapted from the best-selling Young Adult book by Barbara Robinson, and has become a classic for all of the family to enjoy during the holiday season. The plot of the play involves a couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant when the Herdman kids join the cast! The Herdmans collide with the Christmas story head on resulting in lots of chaos and laughter, which gives the pageant a renewed energy and meaning. The play is filled with kids, Christmas carols, love and laughter. Showdates are Dec. 6, 7, 8, 12-14. Tikets are $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors and $5 for military with ID.
7) Programs at Grandfather Mountain State Park
- Winter Tree Identification Hike: On Dec. 16, at 2 p.m., participants will learn how to identify local trees without the aid of leaves by learning differences in bark, limb, bud and branching patterns. Participants are encouraged to bring field guides to local trees. Program will last two hours for the 1.5 mile hike.
- Christmas Hike: On Dec. 25, at 1 p.m. get out and enjoy the brisk mountain air for a guided hike along Grandfather Mountain State Park’s Profile Trail. Participants will learn about trees, community types, birds and forest ecology in winter. Difficulty will be easy to moderate 2 mile round trip hike lasting 2 hours.
- First Day Hike: On New Year’s Day at 1 p.m. join a ranger on a winter exploration hike looking for tracks and other signs of animal activity. We will be out for three hours and we may be off the trail. Dress for weather and conditions.
8) Baha’i Devotional Meeting
There will be a Baha’i devotional meeting from 10 a.m. until noon on Sunday, Dec. 8 in Stony Fork. The theme of the meeting will be “Understanding the Nature and Reality of Man.” All are welcome. For more information and directions call 268-2191.
9) Audubon Christmas Bird Count
Audubon North Carolina is proud to participate in the 114th year of the Christmas Bird Count. This month, bird watchers across the state and country will work together to record important information for bird species in an effort to enhance our understanding of the state of birds today, and to further conservation and protection efforts.