Future events
local stage
Becker’s Shadyside Restaurant, 998 N. Gallatin Ave. extension, Uniontown, will present a dinner-theater show at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22. Stagecoach to the Stars Productions will perform the comedy “Mr. Ed.” Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. with the show following at 7 p.m. The entire package is $25 per person, which does not include a tip. Reservations are required. For reservations, information, meal choices and/or directions, call 724-438-0931.
Religious plays will be offered on Sunday afternoons at Becker’s Shadyside Restaurant, 998 N. Gallatin Ave. extension, Uniontown. Beginning at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, theater patrons will be treated to an all-you-can-eat brunch and then watch the play “I Paul” presented by Michael Gallagher’s Stagecoach to the Stars Production Co. Gallagher will perform the part of Paul, the apostle. The cost is $17.50 per person, which does not include a tip. Reservations are required. Call 724-438-0931 for reservations, information or directions. Youth groups and other church groups are welcome. Group discounts will be available for 20 or more with reservations.
The Frazier Drama Club will present its fall production of “Alice in Wonderland” at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 21-22, in the Frazier High School Auditorium in Perryopolis. Tickets will be available at the door. For information, call 724-736-4426.
music
The Point Marion Lions Club will host a “Music Jamboree” fund-raising event at the skating rink in Point Marion every second Saturday of the month. The event will begin at 6 p.m. and will feature an open-stage portion from 6 to 7:30 p.m. A feature group or band will play from 7:45 to 8:45 p.m. These events will continue every second Saturday of the month through June 2003. There will be music from the staff band and unexpected guests. There is a $2 donation at the door. The kitchen opens at 5:30 p.m. To participate in the open stage, book a band or perform in the feature portion, call 724-725-5737 or 1-304-599-0795.
The second concert of the 2002-03 season of the Asbury Festival Recital Series will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, in the sanctuary of Asbury United Methodist Church of Uniontown. The Asbury Festival Choir, with the assistance of professional soloists from the tri-country area and accompanied by organ and harp, will sing Camille Saint-Saens’ “Christmas Oratorio.” The organist will be Jim Hutchinson, Asbury principal organist, and the harpist will be Christine Mazza. William M. Dreucci, Asbury’s director of music, will conduct the performance. Individual tickets will be available beginning on Monday at the following outlets: Fayette Chamber Offices, 65 W. Main St., Uniontown; Judy’s Do-Re-Me Music Shop on South Beeson Boulevard, Uniontown; Amend’s Jewelry in the Uniontown Mal; and White Picket Fence in Hopwood. Tickets will also be sold at the Dunbar Street entrance to Asbury church two hours before the performance. The front doors will open for all ticket holders at 6:15 p.m. There is no reserved seating. A two-concert subscription package can still be purchased for this concert and the remaining two at considerable savings off the price of non-subscription tickets by calling 724-557-1119 and leaving a voice mail message. Asbury church is located at the corner of South Beeson Avenue and Dunbar Street in Uniontown and is handicapped accessible from South Beeson.
“Symphony on Wheels” will travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday, Dec. 21, to attend the “Holiday Pops” concert. A holiday tradition that grows more popular every year, Heinz Hall is transformed into a winter wonderland by the sounds of the season. The audience will enjoy such favorites as music from “The Nutcracker” and holiday classics like “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night.” An audience sing-a-long will follow. Deadline for purchasing tickets for this concert will be Friday, Dec. 13. Ticket cost is $42 for seating in the grand tier or orchestra level.
Bus transportation from the Uniontown Mall is available for a charge of $17 for a round-trip ticket. Call Susan at Communities In Schools at 724-437-2540 for reservations.
The Connellsville Thanksgiving Festival of Choirs sponsored annual by the Mozart Music Club will be held at 6:45 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, at Wesley United Methodist Church on South Pittsburgh Street in Connellsville. Spiritual and gospel music will be the main emphasis in this year’s event. Merle Stutzman, choral director head at Connellsville Area High School, will once again direct the combined choir. Joanna Ball is chairperson for the event.
Chris Hornick, band director at Connellsville Junior High East, will direct an instrumental ensemble. Guest soloists will be soprano Sheryl Nagy and trumpet performer Jim Henigen.
Nagy teachers private piano, voice and organ locally. Henigen is the band director at Connellsville High School.
The Jazz Ambassadors of the U.S. Army Field Band, the official touring jazz ensemble of the U.S. Army, will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown. The event is sponsored by the Herald-Standard and the State Theatre.
Free admission will be provided with a ticket. Tickets are available only through the Herald-Standard. Ticket requests will be honored on a first-come, first-served basis. Non-ticketed patrons will be seated 10 minutes prior to the state of the show.
For the fourth year, the Recital Series of Trinity United Presbyterian Church will feature a return performance by the John Winkler Family of Morgantown, W.Va. at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1. This multi-talented family will perform a medley of holiday music.
For more information on the concert or the potluck supper, which will be served prior to the concert, call the church office at 724-437-2709.
A free-will offering will be received to further the Trinity Recital Series. The church is located on the corner of Morgantown and West Fayette streets, Uniontown, with parking available on the lots across the street.
art
The Flatiron Building in Brownsville houses two museums. The Heritage Center tells the story of the two major eras of history relating to the making of America. The Westward Expansion (National Road era) and the Coal, Coke, River and Railroad (Industrial era) offer changing exhibits every two months. For more information, call 724-785-9331. The Frank L. Melega Art Museum located in the upper level of the historic Flatiron Building offers Melega’s original art of many mediums focusing on the industries of the area. Reproductions and limited-edition reproductions are available for sale in the gift shop.
“New Millennium: Emerging Artists” features works by 17 California University of Pennsylvania art students at Brownsville’s 64 Crayons Cultural Center, Thompson House, 815 Water St. The exhibit, which opens on Oct. 24, has been extended until Nov. 23. Most of the works on display may be purchased in time for holiday gifts. For more information, call 724-785-9010 or e-mail geezersbks@worldnet.att.net.
“The Mad Potter’s Tea Party” exhibit will be held through Saturday, Dec. 21, at 64 Crayons Cultural Center, which is located at the Thompson House, 815 Water St., Brownsville. The exhibit includes pottery, paintings, prints and drawings by Judith Hopson and friends. Most of the works on display may be purchased in time for holiday gifts.
odds & ends
The book, “Point Marion … From the Beginning,” is currently for sale. The 490-page volume that includes the genealogy and history of the area begins with the Indians and ends with the year 1999. It details not only the borough of Point Marion, but also the surrounding area because Point Marion was once located within the boundaries of Springhill Township in the former state of Virginia. The book is available at The Book Store in the Cherry Tree Plaza, Smithfield Pharmacy in Smithfield, Kendall Floral, Clar-Mac Sales and the Point Marion Hardware in Point Marion, New Geneva Pottery in McClellandtown and Riverrun Books and Prints in Greensboro.
The fifth annual A Country Christmas in the Greenhouse will be held Friday, Nov. 29, through Sunday, Dec. 8, in Duda’s Greenhouse in Republic. The show will feature crafts by more than 25 local crafts. Live wreaths, swags and blankets will also be available. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, including Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, call 724-246-2132 or 724-246-7762.
Geezers’ Writing Workshops have been moved to Tuesdays from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The workshops are free, but individual tutoring sessions for writers may be arranged for other times at reasonable rates. These will also be held at Geezers’ Literary Book Shop, which is located on the third floor of the Thompson House in Brownsville. For more information, contact Dr. Fred Lapisardi at 724-785-9010 or e-mail Geezersbks@worldnet.att.net.
The “Carpathian Cookery” cookbook, now in its 10th printing, is again available for sale. The 330-page cookbook now features a protective plastic cover and includes sections on Easter customs and recipes (and Christmas customs and recipes), traditional Rusyn foods and other ethnic dishes and many other recipes of St. John’s parishioners. Many paska and kolachi recipes, as well as meatless dishes and Lenten recipes, are included. The price of this cookbook is $13 plus $2 postage and handling. To order, send a check or money order to Ethnic Craft Club, St. John Byzantine Catholic Church, 185 E. Main St., Uniontown, Pa. 15401 or call 724-438-6027 for more information.
The Smock Heritage Museum is open every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum portrays life as it was in a typical coal-mining town during the Coal & Coke Era. Three rooms in a “Patch Company House” are open, and the tour takes visitors back in time to life during that era. “Cicconi Tavern” is on display where several meetings were held to organize the union along with information on Colonial Mines No. 1 and No. 2, photos, antiques, vintage clothing and a unique craft shop. The museum will open on weekdays by appointment. For more information, call 724-677-2528.
Penn State Fayette has announced the Fall 2002 Cultural Events Series. All events are open to the general public. Musician Andes Manta will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, in Swimmer Hall. For more information, call 724-430-4199.
The fall coffeehouse at Penn State Fayette will be held from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, in the J.L. Williams Building Caf?. The audience can relax and enjoy some coffee and refreshments while listening to coffeehouse-style talent from Penn State Fayette faculty, staff and students. Penn State Fayette English professor Dr. Fred Adams serves as the coffeehouse emcee as he performs many favorites on his guitar. Each evening has a mix of poetry reading, singing, piano and jam sessions. Campus clubs and organizations sponsor the coffeehouses by providing coffee and refreshments for all in attendance. For more information, call 724-430-4199.
The Friends of the Brownsville Free Public Library are currently selling packets of note cards. A hand-drawn sketch of the library is displayed on the front, with the inside left blank. One packet includes 12 note cards for $5. They can be purchased at the library or from any member of the organization. The organization is also conducting a membership drive. They meet the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. in the library. For more information concerning the note cards of the “Friends,” contact Barry Blaine, librarian, at 724-785-7272.
Great Bethel Baptist Church, 47 W. Fayette St., Uniontown, is gearing up for the collection week of Operation Christmas Child’s “Love in a Shoe Box” project. Great Bethel will serve as the collection center, and once again as a drop-off site for completed shoe boxes. OCC, run by international Christian and relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, delivers show boxes filled with small gifts, toys and candy to suffering children all across the globe. Completed shoe boxes may be delivered to Great Bethel Baptist Church from Nov. 18-25 during the hours of 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This year there are drop-off sites in Uniontown, Markleysburg, Amity, Connellsville, Everson, Normalville and Meyersdale. Call 1-800-397-9257 for more information.
The employees of Mount Macrina Manor invite the public to view the Live Nativity Presentation from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15, on the grounds of Mount St. Macrina. This year visitors can enjoy the reading of the nativity throughout the presentation as well as holiday music. In addition, the first 100 cars will receive an angel handcrafted by the residents. The event is free of the public.
Mount Macrina Manor Cookbooks will be available for purchase in December for only $10. The book offers a collection of more than 300 recipes from residents, employees and their families. Proceeds of the sale benefit the residents of Mount Macrina Manor. For additional information or to place an order, call Christie at 724-430-1125.
A covered-dish dinner and dance will be held on Friday, Nov. 22, at the Bullskin Senior Center, which is located on Route 982 near Connellsville. Participants are asked to arrived by 11 a.m., bring a covered dish and donate $1. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. followed by dancing from 1 to 3 p.m. Hoe-down square dancing, slow dancing, polkas, waltzing, line dancing and clogging will be offered. The Dave Dahl Trio will provide music and figure calling.
King’s Transit is offering a coach bus trip to the Oblebay Light Festival in Wheeling, W.Va. Pick up will take place at the Flenniken Library at 102 E. George St., Carmichaels, at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8. A cafeteria-style lunch stop will be made on the return trip. The cost for the bus tour is $13 per person, which must be prepaid at registration. Checks can be made to the Flenniken Library. The deadline for registration is Saturday, Dec. 7. For more information, call 724-966-5263.
Fayette and Washington County artisans will be featured in the 20th annual Holiday Treasures Arts and Crafts Show and Sale, which will be held Friday through Sunday, Dec. 6-8, in the unique earth-sheltered home of Scott and Barbara Campbell on Grindstone Road, Brownsville.
To inaugurate 64 Crayon Cultural Center’s new 54-inch video screen, avant-garde film maker Elena Tchoujtchenko, whose work appeared at the center last March, has been invited back to present a full-length feature film. The film entitled “Ever After,” developed with California University of Pennsylvania professor, Judith Good, around an investigative piece about women in prison, will be presented from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24. Tchoujtchenko, whose short piece entitled “The Birth” was shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival, will also offer two new music video shorts. For more information, call 724-785-9010 or e-mail Geezersbks@worldnet.att.net.
Geezers’ Literary Book Shop’s second anniversary party will take place on the third floor of the Thompson House in Brownsville on Saturday, Dec. 21, from 5 to 9 p.m. Awards will be presented for outstanding technical and social support by Geezers’/64 Crayons members. Refreshments will be served. Members are admitted free. The public is invited, but there will be a $5 donation or the purchase of any book expected of non-members. For more information, call 724-785-9010 or e-mail GeezersbksWworldnet.att.net.
area
stage
The Apple Hill Playhouse in Delmont recently announced its 2002 summer schedule, which offers dramas as well as comedies. This season’s highlights include the male and female versions of “The Odd Couple,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Taffetas” and “Picnic.” Apple Hill Playhouse is a restored barn that has been converted to a 175-seat performance space. Dinner-theater packages are available with the nearby Lamplighter Restaurant. Apple Hill is located about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh in Delmont. For more information, call 724-468-5050 or visit www.applehillplayhouse.org.
music
The Voices of St. Vincent are currently holding auditions for all sections of the chorus. Rehearsals are every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. in the St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica in Latrobe. Rehearsals are required. For additional information or to schedule an audition, call Joseph Bronder at 724-532-6600.
The Messiah Choir of St. Vincent College will hold final auditions for all selections of the chorus to sing the “Messish” on Saturday, Dec. 7. Rehearsals are every Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Rovert S. Carey Student Center, formerly Kennedy Hall. Rehearsals are required. For more information or to schedule an audition, call Joseph Bronder at 724-532-6600.
art
Greensburg Art Center Gallery at 230 Todd School Road, Greensburg, will feature its own instructors in an exhibit entitled “Teachers in Our Midst.” The opening reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. today. The show will continue through Feb. 8. This is an off-the-wall show, which means painting purchased can be removed immediately. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and noon to 3 p.m. Saturday. For directions or information, call the gallery at 724-837-6791 or visit the Web site at greensburgartclub.org.
odds & ends
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Schenley Park is staying open every Friday until 9 p.m. Visitors can enjoy an evening stroll through the entire conservatory, then sit and relax in the Palm Court where cappuccino, expresso and desserts will be available. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardents, the 13-room Victorian glasshouse and gardens in Schenley Park, is open year-round Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phipps is closed Mondays. Phipps admission rates are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors age 60 and older, $4 for students with ID and $3 for children ages 2 to 12. Children under 2 and Phipps members are admitted free. For more information about the conservatory, call 412-622-6914 or visit online at www.phipps.conservatory.org.
Harvest candlelight tours begin at Compass Inn Museum near Ligonier on Saturday and continue on Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 24 from 2 to 5 p.m. The Inn, an authentically retored 1799 stagecoach stop, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is decorated for the Harvest/Thanksgiving season with pumpkins, cornstalks and other natural accents. Visitors are asked to allow one hour for the tour. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students through high school. Children age 5 and under are complimentary. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are requested for groups of 10 of more. The inn will open for groups of 20 or more on weekdays. For additional information, call Compass Inn at 724-238-4983. Christmas candlelight tours begin Friday, Nov. 29, with special evening tours.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPA Aquarium has switched to its fall and winter hours of operation. The zoo will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily with admission gates closing at 4 p.m.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History will present a special exhibit, “Fascinating Fakes,” through Dec. 8 in the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems. The exhibit showcases specimens that have been embellished to increase value, altered to look like a more valuable piece and examples of some specimens with questionable authenticity. The exhibit is free with museum admission. “Fascinating Fakes” can be enjoyed Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays until 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, $5 for children ages 3 to 18 and full-time students with ID. The exhibit is free to children under age 3 and Carnegie members. For more information, call 412-622-3131.
Zoo officials announced that the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium will be closed Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 28. In the past, the zoo has been open on Thanksgiving.
The zoo will be open as usual Friday, Nov. 29. The only other day that the zoo is scheduled to be closed is Christmas Day.
Thanksgiving Day attendance during the last five years was less than 500 visitors. The last time the zoo closed for Thanksgiving was in 2000 due to an early snowstorm.
Conveniently accessible from all sides of the city, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is open all-year round. For direction, hours and ticket sales information, call 412-665-3640.
Members visit the Pittsburgh Zoo for free.
Call 412-365-2534 for membership information. Visit the zoo’s new Web site at www.pittsburghzoo.com.