NCMC Events From Around the State… December 1, 2014

1). N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences (www.naturalsciences.org) hosts 5-year-old Florida author and kindergartener for Storytime on Tuesday, December 2^nd at 10:30 a.m. Most 5-years-olds (or adults for that matter) can barely spell Spinosaurus, Dromaeosaurus, or Tyrannosaurus rex, let alone write a whole book about dinosaurs, but 5-year-old Pembroke Pines, Florida native Christopher Isaiah Penn Smith can and did! In fact, he wrote and published “Guess Who, Mr. Dinosaur?” when he was 4 years old and in preschool! Chistopher will read from his book during each Storytime! National recording artist Yolanda Rabun and guitarist Emily Musolino will accompany Christopher in each session with a song that was written for the book. Museum Early Childhood Educator Beth Cranford will also have a live animal for the kids to learn about and touch. Storytime is held daily on the 3rd floor of the Museum’s main building inside Windows on the World, an intimate demonstration theater.

2). Asheville Art Museum (www.ashevilleart.org) invites you to First Friday Art Walk on Friday, December 5^th from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.  While all of our galleries are open on First Fridays, this evening’s event is a holiday-inspired Celebration of Color, and we invite guests to tour the new colorful exhibition What You See Is What You See: American Abstraction After 1950.  You will also find perfect gifts for everyone on your holiday shopping list in our Museum Shop!  On the first Friday of each month through December, the Museum participates in the Downtown Asheville Art District’s First Friday Art Walks from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Admission fee to the Museum is pay-as-you-wish during these events.

3). North Carolina Preservation Consortium (www.ncpreservation.org) is sponsoring a Basic Book Repair Workshop on Friday, December 12^th from 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Charlotte Mecklenberg Library. This workshop will teach you how to assess damage to books early, evaluate treatment processes, and perform simple, economical, basic book repair techniques.  Recommendations for setting up a basic book repair work station, purchasing affordable tools and supplies, and documenting repairs will also be provided. The registration fee for this workshop is $50.00 for employees of NCPC member institutions and individual NCPC members, and $75.00 for non-members.  The $75 fee comes with a year-long NCPC individual membership.  Lunch, refreshments, and materials will be provided.  A registration form is available on the NCPC web site in the Events section.

4). The Mount Airy Museum of Regional History (www.northcarolinamuseum.org), 301 N. Main Street, Mount Airy, announces a free Holiday Open House on Saturday, December 6^th from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.  Tour four floors of museum exhibits, view our themed Christmas trees, shop for holiday gifts, plus enjoy light refreshments, holiday music and various musical performances every hour.  Also, bring your children to visit Santa and enjoy cookies and punch from 3 – 5 p.m. - sponsored by MAPS (Mount Airy Professionals of Surry.)  The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is FREE. 

5). Joel Lane Museum House (www.joellane.org), “The Birthplace of North Carolina’s Capital,” will sponsor its annual Colonial Christmas Open House celebration on Saturday, December 6^th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, and donations are requested. The house will be decorated with traditional greenery and will reflect the very different way in which colonists and early Americans celebrated the Christmas holiday. Information about the house and grounds will be offered by costumed docents; re-enactors will demonstrate scenes of 18th-century life; the sounds of live music will fill the air; and other interpreters will entertain children using colonial games and crafts through the “Hands-on History” program. The museum store will be open with a great choice of gifts under $10 for both young and not so young, and the annual bake sale will feature delicious local specialties and traditional delights.

6). Museum of the Albemarle (www.museumofthealbemarle.com) announces that the Polar Express will arrive on Saturday, December 6th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as part of a fun-filled holiday open house. View the Polar Express O-scale train village, courtesy of the Albemarle Railroad Club. Visit the newly-renovated Discovery Room, featuring interactive exhibits with a railroad theme. A highlight of the day will be three showings of The Polar Express film (10:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m.), based on the popular children’s book by author Chris Van Allsburg. Junior Docents will help you make a bell ornament for your tree. On the museum grounds, a “Jingle Bell" carriage ride ($5 per person) and pony rides ($3 per child) will be available, as well as a free Space Walk Polar Express jump house.  Step up to the turnstile—but don’t wait too late! The Polar Express exhibit will leave the tracks January 3, 2015.

7). The North Carolina Pottery Center (www.ncpotterycenter.org) presents “Kids’ Holiday Ornament Class” on Saturday, December 13^th from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. at the Education Building at the North Carolina Pottery Center (233 East Avenue, Seagrove). Come get in the holiday spirit at NCPC! We invite kids (and kids at heart) to join us in creating one-of-a-kind ornaments. Participants will choose three stoneware ornaments from a range of precut selections, and then decorate them with paint. After they’re sealed, ornaments will be ready to take home and enjoy the very same day!  All supplies included. $5 for NCPC members/$5 for non-members. Additional ornaments will be available for purchase, if you’d like to make more than three. For more information, or to register, call the Pottery Center at (336)873-8430.

8). Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex (www.ncdcr.gov/ncmcf) invites you to celebrate the Christmas season with Victorian flare at the annual Holiday Jubilee at the 1897 Poe House on Sunday, December 14^th from 1 – 5 p.m.  This free event will feature a concert by Fayetteville’s own Coventry Carolers, who will perform on the front porch at 1:30 and 3:30.  The house will be elaborately decorated for a Victorian Christmas providing a beautiful backdrop for this festive event and will be open between the caroling performances. The Poe House kitchen will be alive with the smells of Christmas goodies cooking on our 1902 Glenwood stove. Kids can weave a Christmas bracelet or bookmark to take home. The 1897 Poe House will be decorated for Christmas from November 25 through January 4 and offers free tours daily. 

9). Fort Fisher State Historic Site (www.historicsites.org/fortfisher) will celebrate the upcoming holiday season by hosting its annual Holiday Open House on Tuesday, December 9^th from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. in the visitor’s center. Open House visitors will enjoy seasonal refreshments, decorations, and entertainment throughout the day, including an array of holiday musical selections by the Murray Middle School Jazz Band. The event will also feature storyteller and musician John Golden, as well as Masonboro Parlor, a group of local musicians who offer a unique combination of dance and period music. For this one day only, a special 25% discount will be offered on all museum shop merchandise, so visitors can stock up on gifts for the history enthusiast on their list. Before the conclusion of the program, the Friends of Fort Fisher will announce the winner of the 2014 rifle raffle, at which a lucky ticket holder will win a reproduction Civil War Springfield Musket. Raffle tickets are available right up until announcement time, but you need not be present to win.  Sponsored by the Friends of Fort Fisher and Fort Fisher Chapter 2325 of the UDC, the Holiday Open House is free and open to the public.

10). High Point Museum (www.highpointmuseum.org) invites you to launch the Holiday Season at the Museum’s Holiday Open House on Sunday, December 7^th from 1 - 4 p.m. It’s a day filled with special reenactments, music, demonstrations, refreshments and hands-on activities.  The Heart & Soul Singers from the Arc of High Point will be singing holiday favorites at 1:15 p.m. Children will be able to make a holiday craft. Santa Claus will make a special appearance from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. A new exhibit “Just like Mommy” featuring a variety of toys will be on display in the lobby. The Museum’s collections staff will answer questions about preserving personal collections. In the historical park, adjacent to the Museum, there will be weaving, spinning and blacksmithing demonstrations, as well as historic games and candle dipping. Visitors can learn about the life of a Revolutionary War soldier from The Guilford Militia, a Revolutionary War Reenactment group. In the 1786 Haley House, visitors will enjoy listening to old-fashioned holiday music played on dulcimers. The High Point Museum Guild will offer cider and cookies in the Hoggatt House. Admission and all activities are free to our Holiday Open House.