Holiday celebrations fill the calendar this weekend, including Hanukkah events Friday and Sunday, Santa’s pre-Christmas tour through town, two Beggar Boys Celtic concerts at St. Alban’s, storytelling by Mrs. Happy Holiday, and the annual Christmas Vespers service at the college Sunday night. Plus, there’s a gallery crawl, a workshop on the town’s historic district, a talk on Southern food traditions and broadcast of a big hoop matchup for Davidson’s Wildcats. (Correction: Santa’s ride through town is Dec. 18.)

Weekend of Dec. 7-9

EVENTS

Hanukkah celebrations by local Jewish groups include an event Friday (which features the lighting of Candle Four at sunset) starting at 6 p.m. at the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Cornelius, where the Lake Norman Jewish Council will hold a Shabbat service, a dinner and time for crafts and fun activities. For more information on the Mooresville-based group, visit the congregation website, www.lakenormanjc.org. Sunday, Beth Shalom of Lake Norman (which meets in Davidson) will host its fourth annual Hanukkah celebration at the Birkdale green in Huntersville. This free event will include food, games, crafts and a magic show, plus the lighting of a 9-foot outdoor menorah for all eight days of the holiday.

Seaweed Designs Art Boutique will hold a Friday night gallery crawl from 5-8 p.m., featuring artist Jenny Yeager Brown, who will draw the winner at 7:30 p.m. in a contest for an original acrylic painting. The boutique is located in South Main Square (416-C South Main Street).

The Beggar Boys will perform two concerts this weekend at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. The Celtic Christmas concert by the Beggar Boys is a popular annual feature of the St. Alban’s concert series. The group consists of Boston musicians playing with Davidson’s own Henry Lebedinsky and Kate Minogue. In addition, the musicians will be joined by Irish step dancers from Charlotte’s Rince na h’Eireann academy of Irish Dance. Performances will be Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for general admission ($10 for students and seniors). Children under 10 can attend for free. A portion of proceeds from this concert will benefit the Ada Jenkins Center. Also check the series website.

The Town of Davidson will host a workshop on Davidson’s historic district design guidelines and plans for expansion of the downtown historic district Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. at Town Hall. The workshop will be followed by a walking tour of noteworthy neighborhoods with local historians. For details, email Town Planner Lauren Blackburn.

Mrs. Happy Holiday, also known as Janet Harllee, will shares stories of the season Saturday at 9:30 (aimed at ages 5-7) and 11 a.m. (ages 8-10) at Town Hall. Cost is $5 per child. Register on http://www.d-recs.org (barcodes 1888, 1889) or call 704-892-3349.

Davidson College will host an “Alternative Gift Fair” with holiday items that stress peace and justice Sunday 2-4 p.m. in the college union atrium.

The Davidson College Chorale, Symphony Orchestra, Brass Ensemble and Flute Choir will peform Sunday at the annual Christmas Vespers service. This free public event begins at 7:30 p.m. at Davidson College Presbyterian Church.

Ticket Alert! The North Meck Soccer Club has started selling tickets for its second annual Casino Night Feb. 9 at Raceworld USA in Cornelius. The event will feature a silent auction, dancing, and such card games as Texas Hold ’em and Black Jack. Tickets are $75 per person through December, $125 at the door. Click here for more info.

SPORTS

Davidson College teams don’t have home events this weekend, although the men and women’s swimming and diving teams compete all day in the MAC Long Course Invitational at the Huntersville Aquatic Center Saturday.

The headline sports event of the weekend will occur across the country at the John R. Wooden Classic in Anaheim, Calif., where the Wildcats men’s basketball team will face off against No. 8 UCLA Saturday starting at 5:30 p.m. You can watch the event on the nationally syndicated stations HDNet and Superstation WGN; or on radio at WFNZ-AM (610, Charlotte), WEGO-AM (1410, Concord), or WSAT-AM (1280, Salisbury). Charlotte alumni will gather to cheer the Wildcats at the Daddy’s American Bar & Grill. According to the Bruins website, “While Davidson will be a tough challenge for UCLA, the Bruins should be able to pull away in this game. However, it will be particularly interesting to watch how the Bruins attack the zone defense and how much intensity they start the game with against Davidson.”

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

• MONDAY, DEC. 10, 9-11 a.m., Davidson Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. – Satellite office hours for U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, staffed by Tony McEwen, district liaison. Details: 704-344-9950.
• TUESDAY, DEC. 11, 7 p.m., Davidson Public Library – Local authors will be reading from “13 Terrifying Tales from the North Carolina Piedmont,” a collection of area ghost stories.
• TUESDAY, DEC. 11, 7 p.m., Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. – December Town Board meeting, including farewell to outgoing Mayor Randy Kincaid and board members Cary Johnston and Bruce McMillen as well as swearing-in of new Mayor John Woods and board members Margo Williams, Evan Webster, Bill Johnson, Brian Jenest and Laurie Venzon. See Dec. 7 posting, “Town Board changes guard Tuesday.”
• WEDNESDAY, DEC. 12, 7 p.m., Town Hall – December Design Review Board meeting.
• FRIDAY, DEC. 14, 7-10:30 p.m., Davidson IB Middle School gym, South Street – Contra Dance Carolina will hold a night of high-energy dancing, with free lessons at 7ish and dancing starting at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $7 for general admission, $5 for students. Diane Silver will be the caller and “Hot Flash” will be the featured band.
• TUESDAY, DEC. 18, 6 p.m. – Santa Claus will be escorted through town on a fire engine. The Davidson Fire Department uses its special connections with the North Pole to arrange a date each year for chauffering the jolly guy in red through Davidson neighborhoods. When you hear the sirens, you’ll know Santa’s coming. There’s still time to get on his good list, folks!