MIT Professor Angela Belcher gives the 2008 Smith Lecture at Davidson on Tuesday.

This weeks’ community calendar in Davidson includes meetings of both the Town Board and Design Review Board. We also have listings for concerts, lectures and readings at the college. And coming up this weekend, the annual Community Rummage Sale takes over the Village Green Saturday morning and April Is for Arts continues with a Gallery Crawl in Davidson and Cornelius Saturday evening. For a full schedule …

WEEK OF APRIL 7-14

MONDAY, APRIL 7, 7 p.m., Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. – Town Board monthly meeting, with an agenda that includes a presentation on the Cornelius animal shelter proposal, a public hearing and vote on proposed new rules governing fences, and more discussions of the 2008-2009 budget. More about the meeting in our April 5 preview, “Board agenda: Fences, budget, animal shelter.” Full agenda on the town website.

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 7 p.m., Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. – Design Review Board monthly meeting. Agenda includes façade and signage for Toast Café, and design issues involving the proposed Rusher Oil on Griffith Street, the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, Bradford Pool House and affordable housing units, and a staff update. Agenda on the town website.

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 8 p.m., Davidson College Duke Family Performance Hall – MIT professor Angela Belcher gives the 2008 Smith Lecture, on the topic “From Nature and Back Again: Giving New Life to Materials for Energy, Electronics and the Environment.”

An iimage from John Knecht’s animation “Dumb Rains: the Fire Breather.” Mr. Knecht lectures Tuesday at Davidson College.

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 7 p.m., Davidson College Visual Art Center Semans Lecture Hall – New media artist John Knecht lectures about his animated works, which Davidson College art professor and artist Cort Savage says offer “humor and keen critique of contemporary culture and politics.” Mr. Knecht is Russell Colgate Distinguished Professor of Art & Art History and Media Studies at Colgate University. Free.

THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 7:30 a.m., Davidson Public Library – Downtown Davidson Inc. monthly meeting. This will be the first meeting for new executive director Sandy Lemons, who started April 1.

Sonia Sanchez, at Davidson College Thursday.

THURSDAY, APRIL 10 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Alvarez College Union 900 Room – Poet, playwright and activist Sonia Sanchez will present student writing awards and read from her work. Ms. Sanchez is in town to judge the annual Vereen Bell student writing competition.

FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 7:15 – 10:30 p.m., Davidson IB Middle School gym – Contra dancing with band Hey for Three and caller Diane Silver. Tickets are $7 for general admission.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 6 to 9:30 p.m., Davidson and Cornelius – Gallery Crawl sponsored by Downtown Davidson and Town of Cornelius PARC. Trolleys will shuttle visitors between locations, which include galleries along South Main Street and in downtown Davidson as well as Creative Art Exchange/Cornelius Arts Center in Cornelius. (See exhibit listings below for what you’ll see at some of the galleries.)

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 8 a.m. to noon, Village Green, Downtown Davidson – Community Rummage Sale. Details in our Feb. 9 news item.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1-3 p.m., Raeford’s Grill, 300 Mock Road – Grand opening celebration for this new fast-food take-out restaurant on Davidson’s West Side. Food, fun and music with the Band of Gethsemane Baptist Church. See our Feb. 15 article about the new business, “Raeford’s Grill: Cheap eats on the West Side.”

MUSIC, DANCE, THEATER & FILM

FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 8:30 p.m., and SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 8 p.m., Davidson College Duke Family Performance Hall — Davidson Dance Ensemble spring performances Students $4 Faculty, Staff and Community $6. Tickets available online through the Union Box Office.

SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 4 p.m., Davidson College Sloan Music Center Tyler-Tallman Hall – Concert Series performance by The Ciompi Quartet with clarinetist Allan Ware. The quartet was founded at Duke University in 1965, and all its members serve on Duke’s faculty in addition to traveling widely throughout the year for performances. General admission tickets are $20, $15 for seniors, and free at the door to students. Call 704-894-2848 for information.

TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 8 p.m., Davidson College Duke Family Performance Hall – C. Shaw and Nancy K. Smith Artist Series performance by the Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet. The group presents a musical fusion of Afro-Cuban-based jazz and other modern, urban world music. Tickets are $20. Call 704-894-2135 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays for reservations or more information, or order tickets online any time at www.davidson.edu/tickets.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Presbyterian Church – Free vocal performance by the Davidson Chorale. Maestro Ray Sprague, professor of music, will lead the choir in works by Bach, Pachelbel, Argento, Hawley, Lauridsen, and others. For information call 704-894-2848.

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Belk Arena – “Jason Mraz and the Music, Magic, Make Peace Tour 2008″ in concert. Mr. Mraz is known as a gifted young songwriter whose work is a mix of folk, pop, hip-hop and roots rock. He’ll appear with Make Peace Brothers and magician Justin Kredible. Tickets $25, available at Davidson College student union box office, phone 704-894-2135, or online http://www.davidson.edu/tickets.

SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 7:30 p.m., Charles Mack Citizens Center, 215 N. Main St., Mooresville – Mooresville Concert Series presents The Merrows, a contemporary Celtic music band. Tickets: 704-662-3334.
SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 6-8 –p.m., Davidson Village Green – Concerts on the Green 2008 season begins with Davidson College Symphony and Jazz Ensemble.

GALLERY OPENINGS & ART EVENTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 6-9:30 p.m., Cornelius Town Hall – Lake Norman Art League Spring 2008 Exhibit. Works by area artists will be judged by Carla Hanzal, curator at the Mint Museum. Awards announced 6:30 p.m. For details: www.LKNArt.org

Tonya J. Clay’s “Ascension of Shakti,” at Davidson College Visual Arts Center, through April 16.

THROUGH APRIL 16, Davidson College Visual Arts Center, Van Every/Smith Galleries, Main and Griffith Streets – “Tonya J. Clay: Mindscapes in a MultiPlied Moment.” Ms. Clay is a mixed-media artist and a visiting professor of art at Davidson. Gallery hours: Weekdays, 10-5, Saturday/Sunday, noon to 4. Listen to our “4 minute interview” with Ms. Clay.

THROUGH MAY 3 Creative Art Exchange, in the Oak Street Mill, 19725 Oak St., Cornelius – opening reception for exhibit of watercolor and oil paintings by Alexis Lavine of Greensboro and St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Her subjects include land and sea, day and night, flowers and gardens, people and animals.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 6-9 p.m., Merrill-Jennings Galleries, 463 S. Main St. – Evening reception for the exhibit “Art of the Landscape,” featuring original oils, acrylics and watercolors by Ray Byram, Susan Jennings, Jodi John, Paul Keysar, Virginia Quillen, Sergey Zhiboedov and others. Exhibit open April 5 through May 3. Gallery hours: Mondays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Details: 704-895-1213.

SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Davidson Village Green – Art on the Green festival, with exhibits, sales and demonstrations by artists chosen in a juried competition. Juror was Ce Scott, director of residencies and exhibitions for the McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte. Free.

THROUGH MAY 15, So Alive Gallery, 108 S. Main St.- “Angelic Presence,” an exhibit of art of angels by artist Gilda Morina Syverson. Gallery hours: Tuesdays to Friday, noon to 5 p.m., Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free.

CALENDARS ON THE WEB

TOWN OF DAVIDSON – Listings of public meetings, citizens committee meetings and other town events are available on the town website, http://www.ci.davidson.nc.us/

DAVIDSON COLLEGE – For an up-to-date listing of events on the college campus, visit the college calendar page.

DAVIDSON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH – http://davidsonumc.changemywebsite.com/calendar.asp

DAVIDSON COLLEGE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH – Calendar of events. http://www.dcpc.org/article83232.htm

ST. ALBAN’S CHURCH – online calendar – http://www.saintalbans-davidson.org/

ST. ALBAN’S SQUARE NEIGHBORHOOD – http://www.stalbanssq.org/calendar.html

LAKE NORMAN SENIOR CALENDAR, at LKNSenior.com

YOUR COMMUNITY CONNECTOR – online listing of alternative and holistic health information and events. http://www.yourcommunityconnector.com/

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

• TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. – Belle Banks gives her quarterly book review, looking at four books: “Atonement” by Ian McEwan, “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, “The Appeal” by John Grisham, and “Remember Me?” by Sophie Kinsella. (By the way, did you know Belle Banks has a blog? It’s called a Slice of Wry. See http://www.bellebanks.info/)
• TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 7-8:30 p.m., Davidson Public Library – Cake Decorating Program with MJ Bowman, a local pastry chef. Call 704-892-8557 to register.
• WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 7 p.m., Davidson College Duke Family Performance Hall – Lecture “Do We Want to be the New Rome?” by Ambassador Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. In the final installment of the college’s Bank of America Lecture Series, Mr. Haass will be speaking about principles, power, and the future of American leadership. Admission is free, but tickets are required. They may be obtained in person at the College Union ticket office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, or at the door beginning an hour before the talk. For more information, call 704-894-2135.
• THURSDAY, APRIL 17 – annual Autism Aware Fare at participating restaurants in Mecklenburg County. Restaurants will donate a portion of the day’s sales for local chapters of the Autism Society of North Carolina. Summit Coffee and Restaurant X in Davidson are among the participants. Details: http://www.autismawarefare.org/
• SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., St. Alban’s Church, 301 Caldwell Lane – Community Blood Center of the Carolinas will hold a Spring Blood Drive. Enter through the back entrance of the church. Walk-ins welcome. Or call or email Jeff Ready to schedule an appointment at 704-896-2625 or jsready@mi-connection.com.
• SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 10-11:30 a.m., Davidson College Blackwell Alumni House, 420 Main St. – Free “playshop” to explore life and business coaching. What is a life coach and do you need one? Why is coaching becoming so popular? Space limited. RSVP to info@readytobecoached.com or 336-499-2508.
• SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 7 p.m., Davidson College Belk dorm lawn – Davidson student bands, step dancers and an a capella group perform a concert to help raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The concert was rescheduled from April 4.
• SUNDAY, APRIL 20 , 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Alvarez College Union 900 Room – Free literary reading by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, prize-winning author of young adult novels. Ms. Murdock will read from her books “Dairy Queen” and “The Off-Season” For more information call 704-894-2254. (See our April 4 preview of Ms. Murdock’s visit.)
• THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 12:30 p.m., River Run Country Club – Fourth Annual Dick Sanderson Driving 4 Life Golf Tournament, raising money for research into ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease and to help Mr. Sanderson and his family, who live in Davidson. Registration now underway. Details at http://www.dicksandersondriving4life.org/
• THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 7-8:30 p.m., Davidson Public Library – “Project Prom: Makeup by Sheetal,” a workshop. Call 704-892-8557 to register or for more information.
• MONDAY, APRIL 28, 10 a.m. -6 p.m. , River Run Country Club – Russell B. Knox Memorial Golf Tournament, sponsored by Cornelius/Lake Norman, Davidson, Huntersville, North Charlotte Lions Clubs. Range opens 10 a.m., registration and lunch at 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. shotgun start, 5:30 p.m. prize drawings, 6 p.m. award ceremony. The tournament in memory of former Davidson Mayor Russell B. Knox raises money for Lions programs and charities. For information, call Ed Roberts at 704-892-0276.
• TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 7-8:30 p.m., Davidson Public Library – Davidson resident and preservationist Mary Wilson Stewart leads a workshop on book preservation, restoration and disaster recovery. Call 704-892-8557 to register.
• SATURDAY, MAY 3 – Davidson Town Day!
• SATURDAY, MAY 17, 8:30 a.m., Fisher Farm Park, off Shearers Road – Ready, Set, Go Green! 5K trail run and fun run, organized by students from Woodlawn School, to raise money for the Davidson Lands Conservancy’s land acquisition fund. See our April 2 news item about the event.

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