Our community calendar this weekend includes dueling Thursday night events – a  school and town board election forum, an Irish poet, and an art opening -  as well as helpings of music and sports. Davidson College’s football team is away (at Dayton) this weekend, but its nationally ranked soccer team takes on Furman at home on Saturday night. And the women’s team has home games Friday and Sunday. “Almost, Maine” continues at Davidson Community Players. And get ready for hoop: Don’t miss Friday’s “Night With Cats”  kickoff for the Davidson College basketball season, complete with dancing, scrimmages, contests and giveaways. Read the full story

Our community calendar this week includes a Town Board meeting, an election forum with candidates for school and town boards, a NASCAR scholarship fund-raiser at Brickhouse Tavern, and plenty of music and sports. DavidsonNews.net editor David Boraks visits with the Davidson Senior Scholars, and Davidson’s new middle school football squad hosts a home game against St. Mark’s School at Davidson Day School.

On the literary and art scene, a DavidsonReads program on “identity” and “The Color of Water” by James McBride is scheduled Tuesday. Irish poet Anne Leahy visits Charlotte Writers Club North on Thursday. And an exhibit of 30 years of photographs of Davidson by college news director Bill Giduz opens with a reception Thursday night. Read the full story

It’s a weekend for panel discussions, a theater opening and the Carolina Renaissance Festival. Thursday, the DavidsonReads community reading program presents a panel of local clergy discussing religion and education and this year’s townwide reading book, “The Color of Water,” by James McBride. Saturday, Davidson United Methodist Church hosts a community forum on restorative justice.

The Davidson College men’s soccer team plays Elon on Saturday with hopes of adding to their wins against other North Carolina schools, including Tuesday’s defeat of Duke

Davidson Community Players raise the curtain Thursday night on their latest production, “Almost, Maine,” a romantic comedy that follows nine tales of love on a cold, clear, moonless night in the fictional town of the title. Also, the Carolina Renaissance Festival opens its six-week run off Poplar Tent Road, east of Davidson. Read the full story

It’s a week for panel discussions, a theater opening and a big soccer game. Monday a panel of Davidson College experts will discuss “Trash Talk: The Why and How of Sustainable Waste Disposal.” Also, radio station WFAE-FM hosts a discussion on meeting the needs of nonprofits. Then Thursday, the DavidsonReads community reading program presents a panel of local clergy discussing religion and education and this year’s townwide reading book, “The Color of Water,” by James McBride.

The Davidson College men’s soccer team plays nationally-ranked Duke Tuesday night at home, in an evening that includes a half-time exhibition game with members of Street Soccer 945, a soccer program for the homeless.

Davidson Community Players on Thursday raise the curtain on their latest production, “Almost, Maine,” a romantic comedy that follows nine tales of love on a cold, clear, moonless night in the fictional town of the title. Also, the Carolina Renaissance Festival opens its six-week run off Poplar Tent Road, east of Davidson. Read the full story

Sanctuary of Davidson is hosting its grand opening on Thursday, Oct. 8, from 7 to 9 p.m. at 108 S. Main Street. The gallery, owned by Davidson resident Kristen Feighery, features fine art and handmade crafts from local artists. The grand opening will include a silent auction to benefit Davidson-Cornelus Day Care. Read the full story

A variety of lectures are on tap at Davidson College this week, including the kickoff of the 2009 Bank of America Lecture Series, featuring Michael A. Levi, director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change at the Council on Foreign Relations, talking about “The Energy Emergency: National Security, Climate Change and Global Poverty.” The Town Board pauses for a daylong “mini retreat” Tuesday to talk about the Comprehensive Plan and our town’s vision for the future. The Punch Brothers play at Davidson College Wednesday to headline the week’s musical events. And Saturday brings cyclists to town for the Davidson Housing Coalition Ride for Hope & Housing on area streets and greenways. Also this weekend, Davidson United Methodist Women hold a book sale benefiting local charities for women and children.

The DavidsonReads townwide reading series continues on Thursday, as Davidson Professor Shireen Campbell leads an open discussion of this year’s book, “The Color of Water,” by James McBride. And don’t forget the Amazing Maize Maze, a 7-acre cornfield maze, continues Thursday to Sunday at Rural Hill in Huntersville. Read the full story