Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy, Chief of Clan Kennedy, and Christopher Kennedy, North American Chief of the Kennedy Society, will be honored guests at this weekend's Rural Hill Scottish Festival.

Get ready for another busy week throughout the area, with a long list of local and regional events – from the 19th annual Rural Hill Scottish Festival and Loch Norman Highland Games to Davidson’s Art on the Green and the season opening Concert on the Green. Also on the schedule: Davidson Community Players’ Connie Company presents “A Bear Named Paddington” while Davidson College students perform a series of one-act plays. Monday brings a Cornelius Town Board meeting and there’s a public hearing in Huntersville Wednesday on the widening of I-77. The region’s Jewish community gathers at Davidson College Thursday for Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust Remembrance ceremony. Several organizations host fund-raising golf tournaments this week, and The Lake Norman Chamber hosts its annual Champions of Diversity Breakfast Wednesday. Read on for the details, or see our day-by-day calendar at right on this page. Read the full story

By BILL KISER
DavidsonNews.net

A Davidson gallery crawl Friday night kicks off April Is for Arts in north Mecklenburg, the Cornelius Habitat for Humanity ReStore reopens after renovations, and the YMCA hosts a Family Fun Day and summer camp preview this weekend.  Davidson Community Players’ Connie Co. youth theater offers free performances of “Alice in Wonderland” at Armour Street Theatre in Davidson. Meanwhile, there’s a planning board meeting in Cornelius Monday and Davidson’s Town Board meets on Tuesday. And there’s a preview screening of the movie “Bully” Thurdsay, sponsored by the Cornelius-based Foundation for Respect Ability. Read the full story

Paintings by Nathaniel Rogers: at left, "Nailed" and right, "The King Is Dead"

An exhibit of oil paintings by Davidson College art professor Nathaniel Rogers will open with a reception Wednesday night, March 14, at 7 p.m. in the Van Every Gallery of the Belk Visual Arts Center at Davidson College. The exhibit, “Secret Things, Tiny Rituals,” includes 20 paintings depicting figures in fairy-tale or theatrical settings, but in the midst of unexpected behavior, such as setting fires, shooting weapons, or using knives or hammers.

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"Dog," by Beth Ybarra

Paintings by Lake Norman area artist Beth Ybarra are on display during March at the Davidson Town Hall’s Rotunda Gallery. Meanwhile, a bit of news from the business side of the local art scene: Christa Faut Gallery in Cornelius, which had its roots in Davidson, has closed its doors.

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Community Arts Project instructor Janet Johnson (left) works with Huntersville resident Hannah Glover, 10, sculpting animals out of clay during the drop-in art time at last year's Cornelius Arts Center Camp Crawl. (Christina Ritchie Rogers / DavidsonNews.net)

The Community Arts Project invites community members on Saturday to a Summer Camp Crawl at the Cornelius Arts Center, 19725 Oak Street, from 9 a.m. to noon. The event is free, and offers families the chance to sample different projects from CAP’s upcoming summer camps. Read the full story

The Arts & Science Council (ASC) will hold a community meeting in Cornelius Wednesday night to get citizens involved in defining a cultural vision for Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Community members are invited to attend the meeting and share ideas and opinions for ASC’s next “cultural action plan.” Read the full story