Davidson United Methodist Church youth unloaded pumpkins for the Great Pumpkin Patch on South Main Street Wednesday. The sale begins today and runs through Halloween. (David Boraks photo)

The pumpkin patch at Davidson United Methodist Church is loaded with an excellent harvest this year, adding a nice fall touch to South Main. If you head there Saturday, watch out for bikers at the Davidson Housing Coalition’s “Ride for Hope and Housing” which will be sending out waves of bikers through local backroads.  That’s one highlight of a weekend that will also include the annual Children’s Schoolhouse Carnival on the green, contra dancing, an art reception, and several music concerts.  There will also be talks and seminars on asbestos concerns, Native American history, the Holocaust, and our local criminal justice system.

Weekend of Oct. 2-5

The Great Pumpkin Patch for Missions is back!  Davidson United Methodist Church members will be selling pumpkins at the McKay Youth House on South Main Street to raise money for church missions. Pumpkins will be available for sale through Oct. 31, Sundays to Fridays, noon to 8 p.m., Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Volunteers needed to man the patch. Call 704-987-9949.

Residents of Davidson’s West Side neighborhood have organized a meeting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Ada Jenkins Center, 212 Gamble St., to discuss concerns about asbestos and development of the Metrolina Warehouse. A Raleigh developer is considering a rail-oriented commercial and residential development on the site of the former asbestos mill and dump, which is off Eden, Sloan and Depot streets.

Get ready to swing!  Contra Dance Carolina will host its October dance at the Davidson I.B. Middle School Friday, starting at 7ish.  Lessons and partners are available!  The caller for the evening will be Adina Gordan and the band will be Get Reel.  Admission is $7.

Carol Higham, adjunct professor of history at Davidson College, will speak on Native American history as part of the DavidsonReads series Thursday, starting at 7 p.m. in the Davidson Public Library. Free. Details in our August DavidsonReads preview, “Ready, set, read: Events surround ‘One Foot in Eden.’”

Cernyak-Spatz

Holocaust survivor Susan Cernyak-Spatz will deliver the History Forum lecture Thursday, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Davidson College Sloan Music Center’s Tyler-Tallman Hall (NOTE CHANGED LOCATION).  Her talk is titled: “Surviving Auschwitz: Protective Custody Prisoner 34042,” based on the number tatooed on Ms. Cernyak-Spatz’s skin during her imprisonment.  Born in Vienna, Cernyak-Spatz was deported with her mother and ended up in the Auschwitz concentration camp.  Her mother died in Terezin.  Cernyak-Spatz’s memoirs, published in 2005, will be available for sale after the talk.

The Davidson College Symphony Orchestra will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and works by Schoenberg and Khachaturian at a free concert Friday, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Duke Family Performance Hall.  The maestra will be Tara Villa Chamra.

Davidson College parent and trustee Carlos Alvarez, president and CEO of the Gambrinus Company, will present the annual Chidsey Lecture on leadership Thursday, starting at 8 p.m. in the union’s 900 room.  The event is free and open to the public.  A reception will follow.

Live music at Summit Coffee this weekend includes Billy Jones & The Pocket Thursday, followed by Heidi Sidelinker Friday.  Bands play from 8-11 on the back patio, and use the upstairs stage in case of bad weather.

The Davidson Housing Coalition will hold a “Ride for Hope and Housing” Saturday morning, featuring four routes – 100 kilometer, 50 kilometer, 25 kilometer and a 5 kilometer Family Fun Ride. All rides begin and end in the parking lot of Davidson United Methodist Church on South Main Street. The 100K and 50K depart at 8:30 a.m., while the fun run launches at 9:30 a.m. Lunch follows at 11 a.m. Registration is $25 for adults and $5 for Family Fun Ride participants.

The new Davidson Farmers Market will continue Saturday, 8 a.m. – noon, offering shoppers fresh local produce and meats, baked items, flowers and more. This weekend features a chef demo by Barrington’s Restaurant. The market will continue through the end of October and is located next to Town Hall and behind Summit Coffee.

Big Sweep, the annual clean-up of lakes and creeks, will be Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m..  This statewide event involves hundreds of volunteers picking up debris.  Participants should wear old clothes and a hat.  Gloves, trash bags, snacks and drinks will be provided.  The closest gathering point for Davidson residents is the Southeast Greenway, 635 South Street. (Volunteers will also gather at Ramsey Creek Park, 18441 Nantz Road in Cornelius.)

The annual Children’s Schoolhouse Carnival on the Davidson village green will be Saturday, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.  This free event will include pony rides, a bounce house, rock climbing, a cake walk and more, plus a silent auction that features golf packages and other neat stuff.

Gray’s Fact Finders, a team of Davidson residents, will once again join the Autism Speaks Carolinas Walk Now for Autism, to be held at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway Saturday morning.  Donations to the Fact Finders can be made online.

Artist Ulysses Jackson, who has a reception this weekend, visits with gallery owner Christa Faut.

The Christa Faut Gallery will hold an opening reception Saturday , 4-6 p.m., for  “A Self That Touches All Edges,” new work by artist Ulysses Jackson.  The gallery is located at 19818 North Cove Road in the Jetton Village, Cornelius.

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church will host a classical music concert Sunday, starting at 3 p.m.,  featuring Ensemble Vermillian, playing 17th century work that includes recorders, baroque violin and cello and Davidson’s own Henry Lebedinsky on harpsichord. The suggested donation is $15 for general admission, $10 for students and seniors and free for under 10.

The Social Justice Ministry Team of Davidson United Methodist Church will host a forum Sunday, 4-6 p.m., titled, “Our Criminal Justice System: Is it Broken? What Is Our Responsibility?” Panelists will include: Mecklenburg County Sheriff Chipp Bailey, social worker Laverne Fesperman, assistant district attorney Bruce Lillie, and Davidson College Police Chief Fountain Walker. The event is free and a reception will follow.

Pianist Cynthia Lawing will perform a recital of Latin American piano music Sunday, starting at 7:30 p.m. in Davidson College’s Tyler-Tallman Hall.  Dr. Lawing will be accompanied by Mauro Botelho and cellist Nicholas Lampo.

Wildcat Sports

Wildcats Sports this weekend features the women’s soccer team in two games.  The Wildcats, off to a 2-0-0 Southern Conference start, look to extend their strong league start with home games against Samford and Chattanooga at Alumni Stadium this weekend.  Davidson will play host to the SoCon league’s newest member, Samford (2-7-1, 1-0-1 SoCon), on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and then play Chattanooga (4-6-1, 1-1-0 SoCon) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

• WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8, 7 p.m., Davidson College Alvarez College Union 900 Room – Lecture on “Mayan Land Rights” by Cristina Coc, executive director of the Julian Cho Society, a non-governmental organization in Belize. She will talk about traditional Mayan communities past and present and the history of the land rights movement. Sponsored by Dean Rusk International Studies Program. See also the exhibit of Grant Jones photographs from Belize under Galleries above. Free.
• SATURDAY, OCT. 11, 3-7 p.m., Beaver Dam (off Davidson-Concord Road) – Autumn Family Fest to help raise money and expand awareness of mothers facing health adversities. A limited number of family tickets are being sold through Sept. 27.  Cost is $150 and includes dinner catered by Market on Main in Hickory, games, adult and children’s raffles, and a Billy Jonas concert.  Proceeds will benefit A Giving Spirit Foundation, as well as MDA and ALS research efforts. There are corporate sponsorship opportunities available with more information at laurasleague@gmail.comThe event is organized by friends of Davidson resident Laura Woodall, who was diagnosed in 2006 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
• 

  Dr. Keith Devlin, the "math guy"

  THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 7:30 p.m., 900 room of the Davidson College student union – Dr. Keith Devlin, better known as “The Math Guy” on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition. will be giving the annual Bernard Society Lecture for the Davidson College Math Department.

• OCT. 24-26, Fisher Farm Park, off Shearers Road – National Mountain Bike Oktoberfest, a three day, family oriented festival with short track, time trials and kids races as well as the season’s final USA Cycling National Ultra Endurance race. Proceeds benefit Davidson Parks & Recreation Youth Scholarship Fund. Featuring national champion and two-time Olympian David “Tinker” Juarez, and co-sponsored by Cowbell Challenge Inc. Details: www.nationalmtboktoberfest.org
• FRIDAY, OCT. 24, 7 p.m., Davidson Public Library, on the Village Green – Ron Rash, author of “One Foot in Eden,” will speak as part of the Davidson Reads series. Rash’s “Eden” is the featured book in this fall’s community reading program. Details in our August Davidson Reads preview, “Ready, set, read: Events surround ‘One Foot in Eden.’”
• SATURDAY, OCT. 25, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Main Street Books, 126 S. Main St. – Author Ron Rash signs copies of his “One Foot in Eden” as part of the Davidson Reads series. Free.
• FRIDAY, NOV. 7, 10 a.m., Davidson Public Library, on the Village Green – Lecture by naturopathic doctor Amy Naylor, as part of Davidson Reads.
• SUNDAY, NOV. 16, 4-5 p.m., Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. – Davidson Historical Society presentation about the history of Lake Norman, in the final event of the 2008 Davidson Reads series. Free.

OF REGIONAL INTEREST:

• SEPT. 11 – NOV. 2, Rural Hill Center of Scottish Heritage, Huntersville – 7th Annual Amazing Maize Maze features flashlight mazes, group fun and a chance to get lost in a huge field of corn.  The maze is open Thursdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for children ages 5-17.  For directions and more, see the maze website.
• WEEKENDS, OCT. 4 – NOV. 16 – The Carolina Renaissance Festival will return for a 15th year at its home off N.C. 73 and Poplar Tent Road in Huntersville.
• THURSDAY, Oct. 16 – Early “no excuse” voting starts in Mecklenburg County.  The closest location to Davidson is the Cornelius Public Library, which offers voter registration and one-stop voting for the General Election.  Click here for previous coverage.
• SATURDAY, OCT. 18, 9 a.m. to noon, Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, 171 Fairview Road, off I-77 Exit 33, Mooresville – Stork’s Landing Maternity Center and Child Birth Education Center at the medical center present their annual Baby Fair, “Falling for Babies.” Free. Info: 704-660-4374. www.lnrmc.com.

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