NCMC Events From Around the State… December 22, 2014

1). Discovery Place, Inc. (www.discoveryplace.org) announces the launch of Welcome, a new program that provides low-cost access to families with EBT or WIC cards.  Welcome will reduce the cost of admission to $1 per person for families who present EBT (electronic benefit transfer) or WIC (Women, Infants and Children) cards at Discovery Place, Charlotte Nature Museum or Discovery Place KIDS in Huntersville or Rockingham, for up to six family members. While this initiative provides families with accessibility, more importantly, Welcome is intended to celebrate the diversity of perspectives and ideas in the community and stimulate positive and progressive change in educational outcomes for Charlotte’s children.  Through Welcome, Discovery Place, Inc. is participating in Museums for All, a national initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.

2). Cameron Art Museum (www.cameronartmuseum.org) invites you to Group Singing: Wilmington Sacred Harp Singers on Sunday, December 28^th in the Weyerhaeuser Reception Hall.  At 1:30 p.m. there will be instruction for beginners and the main program will be from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. for the entire group. Wilmington Sacred Harp Singers presents a traditional Sacred Harp Singing and invite you to join in the music. This dynamic form of a cappella social singing dates back to Colonial America, using a modern reprint of an 1844 songbook called The Sacred Harp. Sacred Harp and related shape-note styles are the oldest continuous singing traditions in the United States. No previous experience is necessary. Songbooks provided, free and open to the public, donations appreciated.

3). Thomas Wolfe Memorial (www.wolfememorial.com) announces that beginning in January of 2015 and continuing through June, a monthly Thomas Wolfe Book Club, sponsored by The Wilma Dykeman Legacy, will meet in downtown Asheville at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site.  Each month, a different local author will lead the club in discussion of a pre-selected short story written by Thomas Wolfe. The Thomas Wolfe Book Club meetings will take place on the 2nd Thursday of every month from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM.  Refreshments will be served from 5:30 to 6:00; the discussion will take place from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM.  Our text, from which all story selections will be made, is The Complete Short Stories of Thomas Wolfe edited by Francis E. Skipp with a Foreword by James Dickey (New York: Scribner’s, 1987). This book is on sale at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial and at your favorite local bookstore. For more information about events at Thomas Wolfe Memorial call 828-253-8304 or visit wolfememorial.com.

4). N.C. Transportation Museum (www.nchistoricsites.org/spencer/spencer.htm) invites you to Winter Fever Train Rides, an annual offering of expanded train rides between Christmas and New Year’s Day.  This year, their added offering will be Restoration Tours of the Class J 611 Steam Locomotive. Winter Fever Train Rides give families a great opportunity to visit the museum, browse new exhibits, visit the museum’s Gift Station, and enjoy a 25 minute train ride around the former Spencer Shops locomotive repair facility, a State Historic Site. Tickets can be purchased at the Barber Junction Visitor's Center at the N.C. Transportation Museum on each event day. Museum admission plus the train ride is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and active military and $8 for children 3-12. Admission only is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and active military and $4 for ages 3-12.  Winter Fever Train Rides are offered Dec. 27, 28, 31.  Sunday rides are at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Rides take place at 11 a.m., 1, 2 and 3 p.m. all other days.

5). Joel Lane Museum House (www.joellane.org) presents a lecture on "How to Read a House: Identifying Historic Buildings” by Mitch Wilds on Thursday, January 8^th at 7:00 p.m. at the Visitors Center of the Joel Lane Museum House. Admission will be $16 for the general public and $11 for members of the Joel Lane Historical Society. Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited, and advanced payment is required. Please go to the Eventbrite web site to purchase admission. Be sure to include the names of all in your party; nametags will serve as tickets. Tickets are non-refundable unless we must cancel the event.

6). Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum (www.ncmaritimemuseums.com) invites you to On Stage: The Clythia, Masthead Light, January 1-31.  The Clythia was a large Norwegian bark that shipwrecked on January 22, 1894 near Wash Woods.  Visit the Museum in January to view her masthead light and discover her history and the details of her stranding just south of the Virginia-North Carolina line.  For more information, call the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum at 252-986-2995.

7). Museum of the Albemarle (www.museumofthealbemarle.com) invites you to History for Lunch: Sweden on Wednesday, January 7^th, 12:15–1 p.m. Longboats! Warriors—in horned helmets and armed with spears, axes, and shields! Villages in ruins! These are the images often associated with the Scandinavian people we call Vikings. However, archaeology has shown that they were also long-distance traders and daring explorers who operated within a complex society. Martha Williams, archaeologist and MOA volunteer, will discuss these fascinating people and their northern European home. Join us for an exciting History for Lunch at the Museum of the Albemarle on Wednesday, January 7^th!  Bring your lunch, MOA will provide the beverages.

8). Greensboro Historical Museum (www.GreensboroHistory.org) announces the opening of their new exhibit, Warnersville: Our Home, Our Neighborhood, Our Stories.  Warnersville, the first planned African American community in Greensboro, has a unique history that will be told through a multimedia exhibit that includes video and oral histories, artifacts, film, maps, photographs and the poetry of Warnersville native Alonzo Stevens.  New technologies in the exhibit include ipad stations and a kiosk where stories come alive at a touch. Artifacts on exhibit range from the large, a set of doors and the cornerstone from JC Price Elementary School, to a 1960s championship baseball. The Warnersville exhibition project has been a true collaboration from the beginning, with an advisory exhibit committee that includes participants from David D. Jones Elementary School, the Warnersville Recreation Center, neighborhood churches, and the community. The exhibit will be open for the next twelve months. Special programs will be presented throughout 2015 highlighting different aspects of the Warnersville story. The Greensboro Historical Museum is open daily except Mondays. There is no admission fee. For group tour information, call (336) 373-6831.

9). Hands On! (www.handsonwnc.org), a Child's Gallery in Hendersonville, NC invites you to The Spirit of Kwanzaa all day on Tuesday, December 30^th. Come learn about this African American holiday through self-directed educational activities. Free with $5 admission/Free for members.

10). Historic Wilmington Foundation (www.historicwilmington.org) invites you to Preservation Talks, a new series of discussions on Preservation and History.  The first lecture is Preservation Tax Credits in the NC Legislature with speakers Ted Davis (R) and Susi Hamilton (D) on January 6^th, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at First Church Christ, 1620 Chestnut Street, Wilmington. Reception following presentation, refreshments provided. RSVP: 910.762.2511.