By KARYN JESTER
DavidsonNews.net

Mike Santoro is lead vocalist for The Stranger, a Billy Joel Tribute that plays a Concert on the Green Sunday.

This weekend’s fun starts at midnight Thursday, when “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″ opens at area theaters. Stop by Char-Grill in a Harry Potter costume and get a free “magic milkshake” and other prizes for correctly answering trivia questions. In Cornelius, poet Bonita Knott will be at the Warehouse on Friday and Saturday. The Mooresville Habitat for Humanity ReStore Community Fest is on Saturday and includes a yard sale, business expo and farmer’s market. And The Stranger, a Billy Joel tribute band, will be playing a Davidson Concert on the Green Sunday.

Also, at right on this page, see our movie show times listings for Our Town Cinemas where “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″ opens, joining “Zookeeper,” “Larry Crowne,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” and “Cars 2.” Read the full story

By KARYN JESTER
DavidsonNews.net

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," the last film in the series, opens with a midnight show Thursday at Our Town Cinemas in Davidson and other theaters.

Our week begins with meetings – Lake Norman Marine Commission Monday, and both the Mecklenburg County Commission and Davidson Town Board Tuesday. On Wednesday, don’t be alarmed when you hear the McGuire Nuclear Station sirens being tested at 11:50 a.m. On Thursday, there’s a blood drive at Ben & Jerry’s, where donors receive a coupon for a free pint of ice cream. Bonita Knott, “the barefoot poet,” performs Friday and Saturday at Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius. On Saturday, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Mooresville hosts a Community Fest with yard sale, farmer’s market and community business expo. These events and more below, or in our day-by-day calendar at right.

Also, at right on this page, see our movie show times listings for Our Town Cinemas where “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″ opens, joining “Zookeeper,” “Larry Crowne,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” and “Cars 2.” Our Town Cinemas has a midnight show Thursday to open the film, and Read the full story

Davidson Community Players' cast of "Ragtime" fills the stage at Duke Family Performance Hall.

By CHRISTINA RITCHIE ROGERS
DavidsonNews.net

Davidson Community Players this weekend finishes its run of “Ragtime,” a musical set in early 1900s America amid racial and ethnic tensions and the rise of the syncopated, swinging musical genre of the same name.

For musicians, ragtime songs are simultaneously fun and challenging to play, as the right hand rarely knows what the left is doing. The music is a continuous back-and-forth between the two hands, replacing beats and trading power in a way that can be playful and flirtatious, or dramatic and contentious. Read the full story

By KARYN JESTER
DavidsonNews.net

There’s a variety of different events to keep you busy this weekend. On Thursday, join the Lake Norman Chamber at Huntersville Family Fitness & Aquatics Center for a chance to network with fellow members and experience food from some of Huntersville’s best area restaurants. Also on Thursday, there’s a celebrity bartending competition at Alton’s Kitchen and Cocktails and Summit Coffee’s Songwriters Showcase, celebrating its one-year anniversary. The musical “Ragtime” starts on Thursday and goes through the weekend. The Charlotte Symphony will be performing at McGuire Nuclear Station on Friday. The Palace in Cornelius will be hosting its Artisan Market and Bazaar on Saturday and the Concert on the Green in Davidson is featuring the Beatles tribute band The Back Beat.

These events and more below, or in our day-by-day calendar at right. Also, at right on this page, see our movie show times listings for Our Town Cinemas where “Green Lantern” opens, joining “The Hangover Part II,” “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “X-Men: First Class,” “Super 8,” and “Bridesmaids.” Read the full story

Playing in the 1-year anniversary of the Songwriter Showcase at Summit Coffee on Thursday are, from left: Etta Lea Kuhlman, host Rob McHale, and E-S Guthrie.

By KARYN JESTER
DavidsonNews.net

Summer reading kicks off at the Davidson public library branch on Wednesday with stories, music and dancing on the Village Green. The Cornelius Outdoor Summer Cinema series opens this week with the movie “Where the Wild Things Are” outside JV Washam Elementary school. The Davidson Community Players will be presenting the play “Ragtime” starting Thursday at the Duke Performance Hall on the Davidson College campus. The Charlotte Symphony plays its “Musical Travels” program at the McGuire Nuclear Station on Friday and there’s a guided walking tour of Cornelius on Saturday. Meanwhile, Davidson’s Concerts on the Green are back Sunday, with the Beatles’ tribute band The Back Beat.

These events and more below, or in our day-by-day calendar at right. At right on this page, see our movie show times listings for Our Town Cinemas where “Green Lantern” opens, joining “The Hangover Part II,” “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “X-Men: First Class,” “Super 8,” and “Bridesmaids.” Read the full story

Charlotte's Blue Chip Jazz Band plays a Concert on the Green Sunday at 6 p.m. in downtown Davidson.

It’s reunion weekend at Davidson College, and the area is host to a pair of Saturday fund-raisers – the Loopy for a Cause 24-hour run for Batten’s Disease research, on the Davidson Village Green, and the Collier Lilly Ride 4 Life at Davidson College, to raise money and awareness for organ donation.  A new play festival opens this weekend at The Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius, featuring a collection of short plays called “Grave Comedies.” Rural Hill will be celebrating and re-enacting the wedding of the historic site’s founders on Saturday, and there’s a jazz Concert on the Green on Sunday.

These events and more below, or in our day-by-day calendar at right. At right on this page, see our movie show times listings for Our Town Cinemas where “X-Men: First Class” opens, joining “The Hangover Part II,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” “Kung Fu Panda 2,” and “Bridesmaids.”

Read the full story