This Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker's "Fritz" both have Lake Norman connections.

What a wonderful time of year. Bright lights, beautiful music, holiday sweaters, fragrant evergreen trees and lists of things to do that never quite get done. This also is a time of year to reflect on how thankful we are for our health and happiness, and we have news below on a cancer survivor group led by Mary Ann Mabry that recently celebrated Christmas 2009.

Also for this week before Christmas, Around Davidson brings news of area dancers performing in North Carolina Dance Theater’s “Nutcracker,” and the parents who have formed a Lake Norman carpool to get them to the stage on time.  We also have congratulations to new Eagle Scout Benjamin Pluer.

WHAT WOULD CHRISTMAS BE WITHOUT THE NUTCRACKER?

“…While visions of sugar plums danced through their heads…”  makes us think of Christy Dennis, daughter of Joe and Laurie-Joe Dennis, who danced in this year’s “Mini Nut” show.

This mini preview version of  The Nutcracker involved a cast of 18 North Carolina Dance Theatre students doing selections from Tschaikovsky’s famous ballet.  Christy danced in the party scene as a “friend of Clara” and also in the Land of the Sugar Plums scene as a “candy cane.”  Ellie Frith, granddaughter of  Sondra Rudy of Cornelius, was the Sugar Plum Fairy.  This small ensemble performed nine times at the Southern Christmas Show; a children’s home in York, S.C.; Stowe’s Garden in Belmont, S.C.; a retirement center in Matthews; and at the Christmas Tree lighting downtown at Trade and Tryon.  Lots of hard work on the part of the dancers but the enthusiasm of the audiences made every minute worthwhile.

Christina Dennis in the "Mini Nut."

But wait.  The real Nutcracker story requires a large cast including ballerinas as well as young boys and adults. Performing weekends at the Blumenthal in Charlotte, Christy, a seventh grader at Bailey Middle School, trades her candy cane costume for others as she performs as a Mother Ginger dancer, a soldier and a member of the Arabian dance group. Ellie Frith, meanwhile, trades her Sugar Plum Fairy tutu to be one of the dancers who performs the leading role of Clara in the full ballet.

Younger Davidson-area dancers who are part of the Nutcracker include three who coincidentally are all in Mr. Tom Underhill’s fifth grade class at Davidson Elementary.  Phoebe Klett is a soldier and a Chinese dancer while Kerry Dennis and Troy Neymen are cast as party boys.  Kerry also follows in his sister’s footsteps as a trumpeter in the fight scene, and both Phoebe and Kerry are gongs who ring in midnight, when Clara’s home transforms into a battle scene between bad rats and the handsome Nutcracker.

Tom Underhill will need to stay on his toes with three dancers from the Nutcracker Ballet in his 5th grade classroom at Davidson Elementary. From left are Kerry Dennis, Troy Neymen and Phoebe Klett.

Phoebe is the daughter of Chris and Amy Klett, while Troy is the son of Levent and Kelly Neymen. They and the Dennis family all live in the McConnell/St. Alban’s neighborhood and team up to form the Lake Norman Express Nutcracker Service, zooming up and down I-77 to get dancers to dressing room calls on time.

The carpool also includes the family of Tyler Haritan, son of Tim and Andrea Haritan of Cornelius.  Tyler is a 7th grader at Cannon School who danced in every Mini Nut show and will appear in all the full ballets as Clara’s little brother, Fritz. (That’s Ellie and Tyler taking their bows at the Southern Christmas Show in the photo at the start of this post.) Planning transportation for these dancers, who perform in 12 Nutcracker shows over two weekends, requires patience and coordination.  “Are we driving tonight?” is the constant refrain in these households.

Kudos to these young people and their parents for the effort required to participate in the NC Dance Theater.  The ballet runs through Dec. 20, so there is still time to catch them on stage!

TROOP 58 HAS A NEW EAGLE

Congratulations to Benjamin Pluer who became Davidson Boy Scout Troop 58′s 66th Eagle Scout in a ceremony held Sunday, December 6.  Benjamin, 17, is the son of Tom and Vickie Pluer who have lived in Huntersville since 1990.  He is a junior at North Mecklenburg High School who has been a member of Troop 58 since crossing over from Cub Scouts in 2004.  The Eagle award requires completion of 21 merit badges; Benjamin completed requirements for 43!  He is currently the Senior Patrol Leader for his troop.

Boy Scout Troop 58's newest Eagle Scout, Benjamin Pluer, stands with his proud parents, Tom and Vickie Pluer and older brother, Will.

For his Eagle project, Benjamin built nine animal houses and six information boxes at Davidson’s Fisher Farm Park.  The houses are for butterflies, bats and birds while the boxes contain information and pictures on different types of wildlife found in the park.  Eagle projects such as Benjamin’s enhance the park for all our residents.  Many thanks to you.

In addition to scouting, Benjamin enjoys drama and performed this past spring in North Meck’s production of ”Peter Pan.”  This coming Spring watch for him in the school’s presentation of “Chicago.” It is also interesting to note that Benjamin’s older brother, Will, earned his Eagle Award from Troop 58 in 2005.  Will is currently a student at NCSU majoring in biological engineering and will take his Spring semester away from campus doing research in the Galapagos Islands.  Nice to catch up with the Pluer family.

COUNTING ON ONE ANOTHER

Happy smiles went hand-in-hand with holiday outfits when friends gathered at the home of Fran Cowan.

This is the time of year when many of us encounter health problems, making us all the more thankful that we are able to celebrate yet another Christmas.  This past week a group of women cancer survivors gathered for holiday fellowship, hot cider and a “Yankee Swap” the Davidson home of Fran Cowan.  These ladies have all survived the heart-stopping diagnosis of cancer, endured radiation and/or chemo and now meet quarterly to do something fun and often a bit foolish – but never dwell on the past.  Rather they count on one another for support, education and even fund raising. If you know someone who might benefit from this group of healthy, happy, energetic women, call Mary Ann Mabry at 704.896.6273.

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Have news for Brenda? Write to her at hbarger@bellsouth.net.