Hold onto your hats – it’s shaping up to be a busy weekend. Local fund-raisers will aid Mooresville Christian Mission, the Hammers home-repair program and the Ada Jenkins Center. Ambassador Jack Perry discusses current events, a Canadian expert talks about the environment, Japanese taiko drummers perform, identical twins give a concert of dueling pianos, the Appalachian group Poultry in Motion will set toes a-tapping at St. Alban’s, and “Jack and the Beanstalk” will be on stage. Whew! Plus, there’s a chili-cookoff, battery recycling, a job fair, and a workshop on the town’s bike-friendly plans. For sports fans, the Wildcats women’s basketball team and swim team are at home.

Weekend of Jan. 24-27

EVENTS –

Summit Coffee will have live music this weekend on the upstairs stage, featuring The Velcrows Thursday and the Rick Spreitzer Trio Saturday. Bands play from 8-11 p.m. Friday, the coffee house will host a “Summit Cares Winetasting” event in support of the Mooresville Christian Mission, which provides crisis assistance to families. The event will run from 7-9 p.m. and feature six wines from South Africa. Kate Minogue and Kelly Gardner will be singing and light appetizers will be served. Summit will also offer discounts for wine bought by the case and half-case. Winetasting will be upstairs and limited to those with tickets, which cost $15 per person.

The Town of Davidson will hold a Bicycle Master Plan public workshop Thursday, starting at 7 p.m. at Davidson United Methodist Church (changed from Town Hall). The town has hired a consultant to help create this plan, with recommendations for new bike lanes, greenways, intersection design, bike racks, and public education programs. Come put in your two cents. Please visit the planning department website for more information.

Thomas Homer-Dixon, an international expert on the environment, will speak at the college Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Duke Family Performance Hall. Dr. Homer-Dixon’s lecture, “Environmental Stress, Security and American Leadership,” will focus on his research and ideas. A professor at the University of Toronto’s Trudeau Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Dr. Homer-Dixon studies threats to global security in the 21st century and on how societies adapt to complex economic, ecological, and technological change. He is particularly interested in the relationship between climate change, world energy consumption, and violent conflict, and in how we can use the Internet to promote democratic problem solving. The lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets are required and available at the Davidson College Union box office.

“What’s going on down the road?” a brief video and discussion with community leaders about current events in the town of Davidson will be held Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in room 302 of the Davidson College Union. The event will be followed by a reception and is open to the public. Questions: email aubell@davidson.edu or dascott@davidson.edu.

Fee-fie-fo-fum. “Jack and the Beanstalk,” a play by Davidson Community Players’ Connie Co. Children’s Theater and the Davidson College Theatre Department, opens tonight (Thursday) at 7. Performances are at the Children’s Community School, and tickets are $5. Additional shows are scheduled for Friday at 4:30 and 7 p.m.; Saturday at 10:30 a.m., 2:30 and 4:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. The play is recommended for ages 4 and over. For more information, call 704-892-7953.

Identical twin pianists Richard and John Contiguglia will perform tonight (Thursday) at 7:30 p.m. in the college’s Sloan Music Center. This will be the second concert in the college’s new Adams Foundation Piano Series. The Contiguglia brothers have devoted their careers to popularizing music for piano duets by composers such as Schubert, Liszt, Beethoven and Gershwin. Tickets are $20. The concert will be held in the Sloan’s Tyler-Tallman Hall.

Fugaku Taiko, an ensemble from the Mt. Fuji region of Japan, will be at the college’s Duke Family Performance Hall Friday at 8 p.m to perform traditional Japanese drumming. The show is part of the Davidson College artist series. Tickets are $15.

The Lectures for Lifetime Learners series presents “Current Events with Jack Perry” Friday, 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at the town’s Parks & Rec office on Armour Street. Mr. Perry is a longtime Davidson resident who is a retired U.S. ambassador and former head of the Dean Rusk international studies program at Davidson College. Bring a bag lunch. Details: 704-892-3349.

The Davidson Elementary PTA will sponsor a “Battery Valet Service” Friday at the elementary school on South Street. Old household batteries cannot be disposed of in trash or recycling. Drop used batteries in the marked bin in front of the school Friday and PTA volunteers will cart them to the North Mecklenburg Recycling Center for environmentally-safe disposal.

A new show opens Friday at Creative Art Exchange, in the Cornelius Arts Center (in the old mill behind the police station, 19725 Oak St., Cornelius). “February Artists Three” brings together the work of mixed-media artist Nellie Ashford, ceramicist Karla Chambers and painter James Donaldson. And opening reception is Friday, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

“Souper Bowl 2008,” a benefit for the Hammers emergency home-repair program, will feature live entertainment, a silent auction and tasty soups from local restaurants Saturday starting at noon in Davidson College’s Chambers Building. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students and $5 for children under 12.

The North Mecklenburg High School chapter for Our Towns Habitat will host a Chili Cook-Off at Davidson United Methodist Church Saturday, 6-8:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance, and can be purchased at the ReStore on North Main Street in Cornelius. Tickets at the door are $7. Awards will be given for the best tasting and the most creative chili. Should you have a great recipe of your own and want to enter, call Taylor Smith at 704-340-2038 for details.

The Town of Davidson and the Ada Jenkins Center are hosting a job fair and informational session for upcoming job opportunities in Davidson Saturday, 10 a.m. – noon at the Ada Jenkins Center. Participants will include the Homewood Suites by Hilton, the Sheraton Hotel, Family Eye Care, Shula 347 Grill and Downtown Davidson. For more information, contact Lauren Blackburn, town planner, (lblackburn@ci.davidson.nc.us). (See also our Jan. 18 article on what’s coming at Exit 30.)

The second annual ICE gala to raise money for the Ada Jenkins Center will be held Saturday at the River Run Country Club. The black-tie optional gala begins with a cocktail reception and silent auction followed by dinner and live auction, emceed by Larry Sprinkle, WCNC-TV weather anchor. Proceeds will support the center’s after-school program, mobile dental clinic and free medical clinic, and other education and assistance programs. Details: www.adajenkins.org

On Sunday, Jan. 27, at 3 p.m., Poultry in Motion brings its toe-tapping variety of traditional Appalachian music to St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, as part of the St. Alban’s Concert Series. Led by Charlotte’s own Jon Singleton playing banjo and fiddle (that’s him in the photo at left), Poultry in Motion includes Atlanta-based ballad singer Leila Lazenby, upright bassist Robbie Link, and special guests. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for seniors and students.  A free wine-and-cheese reception will follow the concert.

SPORTS –

Sports at Davidson College this weekends features the men’s and women’s swim team hosting UNC Wilmington starting at 1 p.m. This will be the final home meet of the season for the swim team, and the Wildcats will celebrate “senior day.” Then at 2 p.m., the women’s hoopsters will hold the NCAA-sponsored “Pack the House” challenge. Tickets will be $2 for adults and free for all kids 12 and under. The women will play their Southern Conference rival, Wofford.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

• MONDAY, JAN. 28, 7 p.m., Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. – Monthly planning board meeting. Agenda to be posted on the town website.
• MONDAY, JAN. 28, 7:30 p.m., 900 room, Davidson College union – Join Royal Shakespeare Company playwright Rona Munro and director Roxana Silbert for a viewing of “The Right Stuff.” A discussion of the film and the events surrounding the Cold War space race will follow.
• TUESDAY, JAN. 29., 8 p.m., Duke Family Performance Hall – Hubbard Street Dance Chicago performs works by young choreographers as part of the Davidson College artist series. Tickets are $20.
• THURSDAY, JAN. 31, 7 p.m., Huntersville Town Hall – Davidson-Concord/N.C. 73 Area Plan follow-up workshop. Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville are working with consulting firms to create a long range transportation and land-use plan for undeveloped areas near Davidson-Concord Road and NC 73. This is the latest in a series of public meetings. Please visit the planning department website for more information.
• FEB. 4, 6:30-8 p.m., Davidson Parks & Recreation office, 416 Armour St. – Mother/daughter self-defense with Ken Nazemetz. For ages 11 and up. Details: use bar code 2113 at www.d-recs.org
• FEB. 19, 7 p.m., Main Street Books, 126 S. Main St. – Main Street Readers book group, reading “Atonement.” Also, March 18, “Pavilion of Women.” Details: Debra Smithdeal, 704-892-6841.
• FEB. 22, 8-11 p.m., Chambers Building, Davidson College – Contra Dance Carolina will host the Green Ball, a dancing fundraiser for the Davidson Lands Conservancy. Tickets are $10 and lessons in contra dancing will begin at 7:30 p.m. The caller for the evening will be Diane Silver and the band will be Land of Sky.
• FEB. 26, 8 p.m., Duke Family Performance Hall, Davidson College – Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon (photo) will give the annual Conarroe Lecture. Mr. Chabon will sign books after his talk. The event is free, but tickets are required and can be picked up at the college union ticket office from 10-4 weekdays, beginning Feb. 12.
• MARCH 3-4, Davidson College – Davidson Garden Club 24th annual Horticultural Symposium, “Herbaceous Havens: Creating Garden Sanctuaries.” Details, including a full schedule of events, at www.davidsonsymposium.org.

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