Happy’s Farm will host its Country Christmas Town and Lights four nights this season.
The event will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30; Saturday, Dec. 7; Friday, Dec. 13; and Saturday, Dec. 14.
Admission is $5 and includes a ride on Happy’s Express through the Christmas lights display, horse rides, a lesson in making reindeer food to use on Christmas Eve, Christmas cookie decorating and unlimited play in the jail arcade. Children ages 3 and younger will be admitted free.
Toy Walk and Go Fish game tickets will be 50 cents each or three for $1. Concessions will be available for purchase during the event.
Happy’s Farm is located at 985 Parks Road, just off Mt. Hope Church Road.
For more information, call 704-279-5268. Find out more about Happy’s Farm, an academic tutoring and child care facility, by visiting happysfarm.org.
Partnering with members of the Salisbury Symphony, the Rowan Public Library presents a special story and ballet program, complete with musical excerpts and sample performances with the ballerinas from the Piedmont Dance Theater.
This program will be held in the Stanback Auditorium inside the Rowan Public Library’s headquarters, 201 W. Fisher St., at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10.
There will be time to get up close and meet the ballet dancers after the program.
Children of all ages are welcome.
Call 704-216-8240 for more details.
Salisbury writer Jenny Hubbard’s new show “OrnaMENTAL” will open at Lee Street Theater and Performing Arts Center, 329 N. Lee St., next Friday.
The play, which will be presented as a staged reading, is a nuanced portrayal of women’s friendships.
This true-to-life comedy revolves around an annual Christmas tree decorating contest that brings together a diverse blend of characters.
Shows will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6-8.
All tickets are $15 and available at leestreet.org or by calling 704-310-5507.
Each performance includes an audience feedback session with Hubbard, the cast and director Marla Brown.
During the performances, Hubbard will be collecting donations for the Family Crisis Council.
Items needed include paper towels, children’s coloring books, teen activity books, 13 and 30-gallon trash bags, twin plastic mattress covers with zipper, twin comforter sets, dish detergent, bleach, laundry detergent, mops, brooms, diapers, small hampers, blow dryers, used cell phones, towels, twin blankets, personal hygiene toiletries, pillows, umbrellas, liquid hand soap and over-the counter medicines.
The Concert Choir will present its free winter concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury.
The performance will include Bach’s “Magnificat” and Rutter’s “Gloria.”
The Rowan Youth Orchestra will also be performing.
CONCORD — Brand new from Ken Ludwig, a regional premiere: “‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
But — a mouse is stirring, because Santa missed his house last year.
This tribute to the holiday season is a wild adventure of a mouse, an elf and a spunky little girl who just won’t take no for an answer.
The Old Courthouse Theatre performances are 8 p.m. Dec. 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21 at 8 p.m.; and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 7, 8, 14, 15, 21,
The show is rated PG.
Cost is $15 for adults, $12 for senior and students, $10 for children ages 12 and younger.
Old Courthouse Theatre is located at 49 Spring St.. NW. For more information, call, 704 788-2405 or visit oldcourthousetheatre.org
Join the Salisbury-Rowan Choral Society for musical journey around the world, exploring the ways and reasons various cultures celebrate during the winter season with music Saturday, Dec. 7.
Bring a new, unwrapped toy to be donated to the children served by Rowan County Department of Social Services.
This is a free concert, held at St. John’s Lutheran Church in downtown Salisbury.
Visit salisburyrowanchoir.com for information.
The St. John’s Men’s Chorus and two handbell ensembles will present “Come Let Us Adore Him,” a free concert, at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, in the sanctuary of St. John’s Lutheran Church, 200 W. Innes St.
A freewill offering will be received to benefit Rowan Helping Ministries, and the performance will include a Christmas carol sing-along for the audience.
KANNAPOLIS — “A Kannapolis Christmas,” the annual month-long holiday series hosted by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, will return to Village Park this year.
The annual Tree Lighting Ceremony, complete with fireworks and live music by the Piedmont Choral Society, will officially kick off the Celebration of Lights series Saturday.
The ceremony will begin at 6 p.m., with the fireworks following at 6:30 p.m.
The Celebration of Lights boasts more than 250,000 lights, and will take place nightly through Dec. 30, with the exception of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Each evening, from 6 to 9:30 p.m., there will be holiday entertainment, light displays, rides on the Winterland Express, visits with Santa, the Kannapolis Singing Bears and more.
A interactive model train display will be open on select dates.
In addition to the Celebration of Lights series, the Kannapolis Christmas Festival will take place from 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.
The annual event is free and features family-friendly fun including craft and food vendors, carnival rides, inflatables and live entertainment.
The Nativity Night will feature a live nativity scene, live choir music, a petting zoo, pony rides, vendors and more starting at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21.
The Celebration of Lights will take place as usual that evening.
For more information, visit cityofkannapolis.com and search for “A Kannapolis Christmas,” or call the Parks and Recreation Department at 704-920-4343.
MIDLAND — Experience a golden Christmas at the only place you can take a candlelight tour during the day.
Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site will offer special tours illuminated by lanterns and candlelight from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.
Tours focus on the working miners and how they would have celebrated Christmas, including Germanic origins of the modern celebrations.
The event is free, but food donations will help provide for those in need.
Enjoy refreshments and cookies while songs of the season are performed by local choirs in the auditorium.
Craftsmen will display quilting, lace, toymaking and other amazing talents.
Reed Gold Mine is the site of the first documented gold found in the United States and led the country in gold production until 1848.
For more information, call 704- 721-4653 or visit nchistoricsites.org/Reed/
The public is invited to attend Catawba College’s 26th annual Service of Lessons and Carols in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on two evenings this year — Monday, Dec. 2, and Thursday, Dec. 5.
Those attending one of these services, which has become known as the college’s gift to the community, will hear the story of the birth of Christ in both scripture and song.
The Service of Lessons and Carols is based on the famous ritual that originated at King’s College in Cambridge, England. It weaves carols of the season with scriptures or lessons, relating to the story of Christmas from the prophecies to the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
Musical selections include “Once in Royal David’s City,” “What Child is This?” “All Bells in Paradise,” “This Little Babe,” “Who is He in Yonder Stall,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Mary Said Yes” and “Joy to the World.”
A prelude of Christmas music will begin at 6:30 p.m., with the Service of Lessons and Carols starting at 7 p.m. Shuttle service to the Omwake-Dearborn Chapel will be offered beginning at 5:30 p.m. from the Robertson College-Community Center, Ketner Hall and Shuford Stadium parking lots on campus. After the Service, the shuttle will also be available to return guests to their vehicles.
Dr. Phillip Burgess, Catawba’s choral director and adjunct faculty member in music, will be the principal conductor, directing the 40-member Catawba Chamber Singers.
Others contributing music include Matthew Brown, organist; Jacob Hahn, pianist; and the Catawba Chamber Winds, directed by Dr. Stephen Etters, an associate professor of music at Catawba. Liturgist will be Dr. Kenneth Clapp, Catawba chaplain and senior vice-president.
Admission is free but tickets are required, limited to up to four tickets per individual, and available through the Catawba College Development Office.
Call 704-637-4396 between 1 and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Note that the college will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday the rest of this week and will reopen Monday.
KANNAPOLIS — The artistry and beauty of bonsai will come to Kannapolis for the first Winter Silhouette Bonsai Exhibition Saturday, Dec. 7 and Sunday Dec. 8.
The exhibition will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. both days in the atrium of the first floor of the David H. Murdock Core Laboratory building, 150 N Research Campus Drive on the North Carolina Research Campus. Admission is free.
The event is sponsored by Dr. Steven Zeisel, director of the UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute, with additional support from the NC Research Campus and the Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“This is the first major show in the Charlotte area, and the only show in the region that is being held in the winter,” Zeisel said. “In a winter show, many of the trees have lost their leaves, so you can see all of the branch structures and how delicate they are.
“You will be able to see the careful work that goes into creating a tree.”
Zeisel will be joined by special guest artist, American Bonsai Master William Valavanis, an internationally recognized bonsai speaker and author, who will be giving a demonstration from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday. He will show how to create a Japanese maple bonsai.
Ed Lauer and Harold Johnson of the Triangle Bonsai Club will demonstrate the process of creating a bonsai from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday
For information or to see the full agenda, visit winterbonsai.com
RALEIGH — The tree-lighting tradition at the State Capitol will continue when Gov. Pat McCrory and First Lady Ann McCrory light the Christmas tree Thursday, Dec. 12.
This is a free, public celebration. The festivities begin at 5 p.m. with luminaries being lit and holiday music by the Raleigh Concert Band and Garner Magnet High Die Meisters.
The governor and first lady will make their way to the South grounds at 6:15 p.m. to officially begin the ceremony.
The lit tree will be visible the length of Fayetteville Street.
Yellow Dog Bread Company will sell coffee and assorted pastries on the grounds throughout the evening. The Junior Woman’s Club will give away cookies and hot chocolate while local sports team mascots entertain the crowd prior to the ceremony. Even Santa is scheduled to make an appearance!
The annual holiday open house will begin at 6:30. The public is invited inside to see the Capitol’s holiday decorations, sponsored by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and featuring items grown, raised and harvested in our state. .
Governor Pat McCrory and First Lady Ann McCrory invite visitors to bring donations for NC’s Rural Shelters. Pets are the heart of many North Carolina homes. Dogs and cats are surrendered for many different reasons or are rescued and our state’s shelters become their temporary homes. Help brighten the holidays by dropping off food, blankets, towels, toys and treats and help our state’s shelters provide the proper care for these adoptable pets until they find their forever home with a new family.
Bring donations to the State Capitol Rotunda on Dec. 12, 13, 14, 15.