SPENCER — This weekend, June 2-3, the NC Transportation Museum hosts the annual Great Southeastern Rail Days Festival. Visitors can ride the rails aboard three different passenger trains, including the Flagg 75 Steam Engine Caboose Train. The event also includes a 30th anniversary celebration of the Southern Railway Merger with the Norfolk & Western. Games, magic, music and fun will round out the celebration.
In an additional event tailored for steam engine enthusiasts, for the first time since 1994, rides behind a real coal-fired steam locomotive on mainline tracks in North Carolina will be offered when the NC Transportation Museum hosts passenger train excursions June 16-17, the only public rides in North Carolina.
One and a half hour round trip journeys will be offered from the NC Transportation Museum to the town of Barber and back, behind a genuine Southern Railway steam locomotive, No. 630, built in 1904 and once used to pull freight trains in North Carolina.
Trips are Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m., 12:15 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. Coach seating is $35 for adults and $25 for children ages 3-12. Kids ages 2 and under who will ride on the lap of a parent or guardian do not need a ticket. Tickets are available at www.tvrail.com or by calling 704-636-2889 ext. 237.
‘Parkie’s Patches’
Looking Glass Artist Collective, 405 N. Lee St., welcomes its newest member, James E. “Parkie” Parker, the maker of “Parkie’s Patches” handmade wearable art. His hats, scarves and purses are now on sale in the collective’s shop, which features art and handmade items by local artists.
Parker, a costume designer and director, retired from the Catawba College theatre arts department in 2003 after 33 years of service.
He will be one of the actors in the upcoming Lee Street Theatre production of “Six Feet Under,” an evening of 10-minute plays — and in keeping with the “10” theme, all of Parkie’s handmade items will be on sale for $10 each during the run of the plays.
The collective currently has openings for new artist members. For information, contact Sarah Hall, manager, at 704-633-2787 or email salisburyartists@ gmail.com or visit www.salisburyartists@ gmail.com.
Looking Glass Artist Collective is located at 405 N. Lee St.
Green Goat workshop
SPENCER — On Saturday, June 9, from 1-3 p.m., award-winning artist and arts educator Leslie Hudson-Tolles will lead a personal photo collage/ painting workshop at the Green Goat Gallery. This workshop is suitable for individual adults and young adults as well as adult/child collaborating partners. No painting experience is necessary.
Participants are invited to bring up to 20 photographs to incorporate into their one-of-a-kind painting. Hudson-Tolles will instruct students on design, color theory, and painting techniques to create an original 11”x16” gallery-wrapped canvas. The $50 cost includes all materials. Space is limited; preregistration is required.
For information and to register, call the Green Goat Gallery at 704-639-0606.
PPT auditions
Piedmont Players Theater announces auditions for the classic American comedy “You Can’t Take It With You” by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman.
Auditions are June 5-6 at 7 p.m. at The Meroney Theater, 213 S. Main St., 704-633-5471, www.piedmontplayers.com
If you are interested in stage managing this production, call 704-633-5471.
“You Can’t Take It With” is directed by Jim Epperson. Performances are July 26-Aug. 4.
Call for area singers
CONCORD — Community singers are invited to join the Piedmont Choral Society for their 9th annual All Patriotic Music/Benefit concerts. There is no cost, no audition, and no previous choral experience is required.
Rehearsals begin Monday, June 4 at 7 p.m. at Forest Hill United Methodist Church, 265 Union St., N. and will continue on Mondays in June.
Three concerts are planned for the end of June. Over the past 8 years, the choral group has raised over $20,000 for area non-profits. This year’s beneficiary is Kitty City in downtown Concord.
Join the group and honor our country and our military heroes, as well as contribute to a worthy non-profit. Contact Kay Yates at 704-699-6053 or kayy2000@gmail.com
Psalmist concert
The third annual Psalmist Workshop Spring concert (previously called recitals) will be held this Saturday, June 2, from 4-6 p.m. in the North Hills Christian School gym.
Students will perform songs by Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman, John Mayer and the Dave Matthews Band. The North Hills Praise Team will be featured, as well as past and present students.
It is open to the public with free admission; donations will be accepted. There will be an intermission with refreshments.
The event will be filmed and edited DVDs will be available. To see the promotional video, visit www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JZhwtg8f2WE or www.psalmistworkshop.com
D-Day Remembrance
CHINA GROVE — From 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, June 2, The Price of Freedom Museum and ‘A’ Company of the CMVPA will host a day honoring all Veterans of American wars. Neil Wilkerson will sing the national anthem and the SRHS ROTC Color Guard will participate in the recognition of all Vets. Military vehicles and helicopters will be on display, as well as military weapons and war related memorabilia. The Price of Freedom Museum is at the intersection of Patterson and Weaver Roads. Visit www.priceoffreedom.us
Call for vendors
Art and craft vendors are invited to sell their work in Rail Walk during Salisbury’s “Arts Night Out,” 5-9 p.m., Friday, June 22.
Artists may reserve an 8×8 space inside the Looking Glass Artists Center’s black box theater, 405 N. Lee St., salisburyartists@gmail.com
OCT auditions
CONCORD — Old Courthouse Theatre announces auditions for “Fox on the Fairway,” a tribute from Ken Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo) to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s,
Auditions, consisting of a cold read from the script, are7-9 p.m. June 3-4 (registration 7-8 p.m.).
The plays calls for three women in their 20-40s and three men, aged 25 to mid 40s. There is slapstick and physical humor as well as lots “groping,” so the director advises those with a problem with this not to audition.
Performance dates are Aug. 2-19.
Find OCT at 49 Spring St., NW, 704 788-2405, www.oldcourthousetheatre.org
Lexington craft fair
LEXINGTON — On Saturday, June 2, the Lexington Farmers Market will include a craft fair from 8 a.m.-noon.
Local crafters and artisans will have their wares for sale at the Historic Southern Rail and Freight Depot on Railroad Street, including baskets, handcrafted wood birdhouses, birdfeeders and furniture, quilts, handmade pocket books and accessories, wreaths, walking sticks and more.
Lexington garden tour
LEXINGTON — June 2 from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and June 3 from 1-5 p.m., Lexington is the site of “All Around the Town,” a tour of five private gardens within the city limits.
$10 tickets will be on sale the days of the tour at the Agriculture Center, 301 E. Center, and each of the homes, and can be used both days. For details call 336-906-7710.
Free museum admission for vets
Blue Star Museums initiative offers free admission to active duty military and their families this summer, Memorial Day through Labor Day, to more than 1,500 museums across America, including:
Charlotte — Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Levine Museum of the New South, Mint Museum of Art
Durham — Bennett Place State Historic Site, Historic Stagville, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
Greensboro — Greensboro Children’s Museum
Raleigh — Gregg Museum of Art & Design
Winston-Salem — Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Old Salem Museums & Gardens, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, SciWorks Science Center and Environmental Park.
For a complete list, visit www.nea.gov/national/bluestarmuseums/index2012.php?st=NC#list