What a weekend of fun we have coming up in the Lake Norman area. Here’s hoping the weather delivers. Friday is PARC day at Smithville Park in Cornelius. Saturday is opening day for the regular season of Davidson Farmer’s Market, this year with new features including food trucks. A block away, Davidson College’s Herpetology Lab hosts its annual Reptile Day, a great way to learn about some of our cold-blooded fellow residents. The Lake Norman Shrine Club needs boats for a bass tournament on Lake Norman this weekend. And Davidson-based Reckless Running, run by local Olympian Anthony Famiglietti, will host the American Two-Mile Championship Saturday morning at Jetton Park. On Sunday, Davidson College hosts a Holocaust remembrance event. And there’s plenty of local music – from open mic night at Kadi Fit Thursday to classical concerts to jazz. Read on for the details.

Our Town Cinemas has “The Croods,” “Olympus Has Fallen,” “GI Joe: Retaliation,” and “The Host.” See the showtimes at right on this page. Read the full story

Tanja Bechtler and Bob Teixeira play Sunday at St. Alban’s in Davidson.

The British classical vocal group Stile Antico was a big hit in Davidson in December 2011. They’re coming back to town with a program “Treasures of the Renaissance: Masterpieces from the Golden Age of Choral Music,” on Tuesday, April 16.  Meanwhile, this Sunday afternoon brings two choices: the husband-wife duo Bob & Tanja plays at the Music at St. Alban’s Series, while the Davidson College Concert Series concludes with a performance by the Davidson Trio. Also this weekend, live music at Summit Coffee including David Childers Friday night, and a Sunday Jazz Brunch, and open mic night at Kadi Fit in Cornelius Thursday. Read on for the details. Read the full story

While we’re waiting for Spring to show up and stick around, now’s the perfect time to hit the road. As much as I love Charlotte, and our neck of the woods especially, I happen to love Charleston even more. Which, is exactly where I’m headed for the weekend.

Want to come? Here’s what you’ll find if you do: Read the full story

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NASA offers a short video compilation of the best views of our planet from space in the past year, including true color satellite images, Earth science data visualizations, time lapses from the International Space Station, and computer models. Can’t see the video? Go directly to the page on YouTube.

From left, Aaron Marsh, Brody Galloway, and Emily Dyckman are among the cast of “Treasure Island”

Davidson Community Players’ Connie Company youth theater will present a stage version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” April 13-21 at the Armour Street Theatre. The show was adapted for the stage by Charles DeWald and is being directed by Vito Abate. Read the full story

Rusty Knox plays Friday at Summit Coffee and Saturday at The Wine Cellar.

Our Easter weekend community calendar brings a variety of seasonal activities, from egg hunts and Easter Sunday services to holiday brunches and athletics – including a Hough High girls’ soccer game against Lake Norman. Local music venues are busy the next few nights, and the schedule includes a pair of gigs – one in Davidson and one in Cornelius – for local guitarist and songwriter Rusty Knox. Carrburritos in Davidson also starts a regular music series Thursday night with a jazz trio. The Davidson Farmer’s Market has a winter tailgate market Saturday, and the Lake Norman Rotary hosts 5K and 10K races on Saturday morning off Sam Furr Road in Huntersville. Read on for news about those events and more this weekend.

Our Town Cinemas has “Oz the Great and Powerful,” “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” “The Croods,” “Olympus Has Fallen,” “GI Joe: Retaliation,” and “The Host.” See the showtimes at right on this page. Read the full story