The Rowan Museum will open its new exhibit “Over There, Over Here: Rowan Remembers World War I,” in conjunction with the start of North Carolina’s centennial celebration honoring the memory of those who fought and suffered through The Great War.

The purpose of the exhibit is to honor local, state, national and international involvement in the war. Visitors will see items from the war, as well as have an opportunity to walk through a recreated World War I trench.

This war involved us in order to, as President Wilson said, “make the world safe for democracy.” The Rowan Museum honors those efforts through this exhibit. Some of the artifacts in the exhibit are from the museum’s collections, while many will be on loan from private citizens in the community.

“The exhibit is going to be phenomenal,” says exhibit chair Terry Holt. He and his crew (Grady Hall, Elliott Mathis, Alan Shuping, Ryan Holt, Dave Harless and Roger Troutman) have been working for weeks.

Guests will be able to walk through a trench with a machine gunner above speaking to them. They will hear the sounds and see the sights and horrors of the war, explains Kaye Hirst, museum director. “We are showing items that we have never shown before, including a munitions cart given to us in the late ‘90s. It was pulled behind artillery.” There will also be numerous photos, uniforms and weapons as well as a major postcard exhibit of Camp Greene in Charlotte and several model airplanes from the Charlotte Aviation Museum.

The “Over There, Over Here” exhibit opens Sunday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, May 25.

The exhibit will remain in place for a full year, so that all third and fourth graders in the Rowan-Salisbury school system who tour the museum annually will have the opportunity to see it.

All grade levels of public and private schools, including home school groups, are invited to experience the exhibit, especially middle school and high school students as they study the war in depth in their classes.

The museum is located at 202 N. Main St. and is open Friday through Sunday, 1-4 p.m. For more information or to schedule group tours, call 704-633-5946 or email rowanmuseum@fibrant.com

Kickoff for the annual Memorial Week festivities at J.C. Price American Legion Post 107 is tomorrow, and the event runs through Saturday on the Post grounds at 1433 Old Wilkesboro Road. This year’s event will again be dedicated to Officer Mark Hunter, police officer and dedicated Post member who died last year.

On the midway will be rides by Inners Shows, concession stands, homemade ice cream, arts/crafts, novelty stands, photo booths, games and more. Free parking is on a first come- first serve basis; the parking lot is newly paved and no large or heavy trucks will be permitted on the midway.

The Auxiliary will sponsor a dance on Saturday and an open house next Wednesday.

Entertainment in the Post home features deejays from Thursday, May 29 through May 31.

A Posteverlasting Memorial Service for 2013 departed members will be held at White Rock AME Zion Church, Granite Quarry, on Sunday, May 25 during the morning service. Gospel singing is this Monday and Tuesday, at 6:30 p.m. in the Post home. Contact Homer Robertson at 704-636-5688 if your group is interested.

An initiation service will be held on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for new members prior to gospel singing.

Rides are provided by TC’s Amusement from Rock Hill, S.C., and will run Thursday, May 29, through Saturday, May 31.

On the midway, bicycles will be raffled off with the purchase of a $10 wristband which entitles youth to ride all the rides. There will be 12 or more mechanical rides, games, booths and food vendors. Individual tickets and armbands are needed for rides. Safety rules are in place. EMS and city police protection will be available on the midway.

For general information, call 704-636-2950.

SPENCER — Streamliners at Spencer, a four-day festival May 29 through June 1, is an event that celebrates classic streamliner locomotives of the 1930s through 1950s, gathering the engines around the historic Bob Julian Roundhouse at the N.C. Transportation Museum.

The full list of locomotives can be found on the museum’s event blog, “Streamliners Scoop,” at www.nctrans.org

A special Streamliners “Celebration at the Station” will be held the night of May 29 at the nearby Salisbury Station, featuring live music, guest speakers and a BBQ and chicken dinner for $20/person.

Regular daytime admission to Streamliners at Spencer for activities running May 30 through June 1 will be $30 for adults and $20 for children per day if purchased in advance. The price increases to $35 for adults and $25 for children per day if purchased on the day of the event. Nighttime photo shoots Thursday through Saturday are $25 per person, per night.

Tickets are available at www.nctrans.org or 704-636-2889 ext. 237 or ext. 257.

The N.C. Transportation Museum, located in historic Spencer Shops, is the former Southern Railway repair facility.

The Dancing Phalangies will be hosting a kickball game as a part of the Jeff Gordon’s Kick-it for Cancer campaign, on Saturday, June 7, at Dan Nicholas Park. The game will last from noon until 4 p.m. and is a family friendly community-wide event, free to play, and sure to be a lot of fun. The game they are hosting is one of only two games being held this year in the state. Proceeds will go directly to Levine’s Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.

Info at dancingphalangies.org or www.kick-it.org/games/2014/06/phalangies-vs-cancer

Call for artists for Arts Night Out, a Friday Night Out event in downtown Salisbury on June 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. It will be an opportunity to feature and sell your works during Arts Night Out on Easy Street (Liberty and North Main Streets), on street by Waterworks Visual Arts Center, and on East Fisher Street. Also looking for live art demonstrations, acoustic musicians and drum circles. Those interested can contact project coordinator Mollie Ruf by June 13 at mollie@visitsalisburync.com or 704-637-7814.

Call for visual or performance art teachers, counselors and junior counselors for Wake Up Leonardo! at Center for Faith & the Arts July 21-25.

CF&A needs a couple more teachers (visual or performance art) who will earn a stipend, and volunteer counselors and junior counselors for the arts camp offered to rising first grade-rising eighth grade. Camp will meet at CF&A in Haven Lutheran Church Monday, July 21, through Friday, July 25, and host a short family reception Friday evening from 7 to 8 p.m. on July 25. Call program director Susanna Hollingsworth at 704-647-0999 or email faithartpd@bellsouth.net for more information. See faithart.org for an overview.

The Salisbury Symphony Guild is hosting “Symphony of Gardens” on Saturday, June 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, June 22, from noon to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Visitors may stroll through beautiful gardens in Salisbury’s historic area while gathering ideas to carry home to one’s own yard and garden.

This year’s tour includes the Hambley-Wallace Mansion Garden, as well as 14 other locations. Tickets are $15 (which comes to just a dollar per garden) in advance and $20 tour days. Groups of five or more will be $10 each if purchased in advance only. Tickets, which include opportunities to win door prizes, are available at the Rowan County Convention Visitors Bureau, 704-638-3100 or at www.salisburygardentour.org

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Broadway’s Best Theatre Company presents the first installment of the Visiting Artists Series, “The Great American Songbook,” featuring the Triad Harmony Express, Downtown Sound and Easy Livin’ — for two performances only, on Saturday, May 31.

The award winning Triad Harmony Express is dedicated to preserving the tradition of barbershop harmonies. Their female counterpart, Downtown Sound, does the same, but both groups do so with larger choruses and a commitment to advancing the art of a cappella performance. Easy Livin’ is a traditional barbershop quartet featured in the two-act extravaganza.

“The Great American Songbook” begins in a mid ‘30s small Midwestern train station and takes the listener on a musical trip through some of America’s favorite songs. Along the way the songs are sung by engineers, conductors, hobos, salesmen and townspeople. The show is truly fun for the whole family.

Performances are on Saturday, May 31 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Reservations are suggested as tickets are already selling fast and seating is limited. Seats are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for students. Broadway’s Best Theatre Company is located near the intersection of I-40 and Farmington Road, Exit 174, in Davie County at 103 Beechtree Place. For tickets and information visit www.broadwaysbest.biz or call 336-575-4446.

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OCT’s Living Room Reading Series presents “MawMaw’s House of Talent” at 4 p.m. Sunday.

What’s the most sure-fire formula for lunacy? Bring a big time Hollywood production to a small town and almost everybody goes crazy — except for Little Bud Cuthbertson, grandson of Maw-Maw.

When a Hollywood movie mogul comes to town, Bud never imagines that his grandmother, the most stereotypical, little-old-Southern-lady in the world would get caught up in auditions, casting, and all the behind-the-scenes activities.

This reading is free. and is rated PG. Old Courthouse Theatre, 49 Spring St. NW, Concord, 704 788-2405, www.oldcourthousetheatre.org

CONCORD — Area singers are invited to join the fun as the Piedmont Choral Society salutes our country and helps a local non-profit through its 11th annual patriotic/benefit concert.

Rehearsals begin Monday, May 26, and run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Forest Hill United Methodist Church, 265 Union St. N. There is no audition and no charge and no prior choral experience is required. Rehearsals continue each Monday night until the concerts.

The chosen non-profit for this year is the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a Congressionally chartered charity composed of military men and women who received the Purple Heart Medal.

The Purple Heart benefit concert will be Thursday, June 19, at 7 p.m. at Forest Hill UMC, and will be repeated on Friday, June 20, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 22, at 3 p.m.

Contact Kay Yates at 704-699-6053 or kayy2000@gmail.com in order to have music ready when you arrive.

Union Street Live returns to Concord on the third Thursday of each month, from 6 to 9 p.m. The outdoor concerts take place in downtown Concord on Means Avenue next to the Historic Cabarrus County Courthouse at 65 Union St. South. Visit www.concorddowntown.com for more information.

June 19: Jim Quick & Coastline;

July 17: The Fantastic Shakers;

Aug. 21: Lakeside Drive Band;

Sept. 18: The Tams (rescheduled from the May 15 rain cancellation).

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The Brubakers open for Grammy-winning jazz guitarist Earl Klugh on Saturday, May 24, at Dale F. Halton Theater at CPCC, 1206 Elizabeth Ave, Charlotte.

The show begins at 8 p.m. They will be performing material from all four of their albums, including their latest CD, “Forever.”

For tickets, call the box office at 704-330-6534.

March Cohn will perform on July 12 at the McGlohon theater at Spirit Square. Prices begin at $25, Details are available at www.blumenthalarts.org/events-performances

Historic Latta Plantation’s annual Civil War Reenactment will take place May 31 through June 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Travel back in time to 1864 and experience war in the trenches. In addition to a main battle, visitors can see ongoing demonstrations throughout the weekend, walk through soldier camps, visit the historic home, and participate in an Afternoon Victorian Tea. Guest will also be able to enjoy shopping with Civil War sutlers and enjoy lunch from vendors.

Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and students and ages 5 and under get in free.

Saturday, May 31:

“Life in the Army” demonstration

“Life in the Trenches” demonstration

Ladies Take Tea (afternoon Victorian Tea)

“Civil War in the Trenches” talk

“Story of a Southern Belle” talk

Main battle: “To The Trenches!”

On Sunday, June 1, see the same talks and demonstrations, plus a Civil War battlefield church service demonstration.

There are also ongoing cooking demonstrations throughout the day and soldier camps are open to public. Children may also meet all of the Latta farm animals.

5225 Sample Road, Huntersville, 704-875-2312, www.lattaplantation.org

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The 2014 Southeast Old Thresher’s Reunion and Southeast Thresher’s Queen Scholarship Pageant are seeking contestants for the Pageant to be held July 1st, 2014 at the Denton FarmPark in Denton, NC. The 2014 Queen will reign over the 44th Southeast Old Thresher’s Reunion and be its representative at many festivals, parades and pageants throughout North Carolina. The winner will receive a $2000 educational scholarship, as well as a multitude of gifts and prizes.

Contestants for the title must be rising high school seniors (public, private or home-schooled) through age 25 as of July 5th of 2014. They are to be single, never have had a child or been married.

They should either reside, work or attend school in the following North Carolina counties: Alamance, Cabarrus, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Iredell, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Rowan, Stanly and Stokes.

Contestants placing second and third in the Pageant receive $450 and $350 scholarships respectively. Additional awards of Best Interview, Best “Country Cutie” Outfit, Best Casual Outfit and Most Photogenic will be given.

Entry fees are $75. The application deadline is June 15. For entry form rules and further information contact Denton FarmPark at 1-800-458-2755, e-mail gkeith@windstream.net; go online to www.farmpark.com and click on the Southeast Old Thresher’s Reunion and click on the Southeast Thresher’s Queen Pageant or visit us on FACEBOOK.

The Denton FarmPark is located 17 miles from Lexington off NC Hwy 47 and 17 miles from Asheboro off NC Hwy 49.

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The NC Museum of History in Raleigh announces that it is accepting entries for its inaugural Longleaf Film Festival to be held Saturday, May 2, 2015. The event will be presented in conjunction with the blockbuster exhibition “Starring North Carolina!” opening Nov. 15, 2014. It is all part of a yearlong celebration of the Tar Heel State’s rich heritage in filmmaking.

Submit Longleaf Film Festival entries online now March 1, 2015, at Withoutabox.com. Submission details and more information are available at LongleafFilmFestival.com

The film festival will explore historic and contemporary stories from the state, the country, and the world through narrative and documentary movies. All winning entries will be shown at the May 2 event, and prizes will be awarded.

All festival submissions will be eligible for the $500 Judges’ Choice award, and all films made in North Carolina are eligible for the $500 Made-in-NC award. Each film entered in the middle and high school student category is eligible for the $500 Best Student-Made Film.

Five main categories for entry:

• Narrative Feature (between 50 and 90 minutes);

• Short Narrative (between 5 and 25 minutes);

• Documentary Feature (between 50 and 90 minutes);

• Documentary Short (between 5 and 25 minutes);

• Middle and High School Student Film (between 5 and 25 minutes).

Find information about the NC Museum of History at 919-807-7900 and www.ncmuseumofhistory.org

Find this information online at www.salisburypost.com