Make plans now to spend your holiday weekend in beautiful  downtown Brevard.

Where else can you catch the hometown spirit, but in Downtown Brevard for Independence Day!

We start off with a bang early in the morning with the 5K/10K Firecracker Run, organized by the Brevard Rotary Club.

During the day, downtown streets are closed to an overflowing crowd. In 2011 Transylvania Community Arts Council hosts its 39th Annual Fine Arts & Craft Showcase. Not only is this a great way to showcase the artists of the region, but what better time to come and shop for those special gifts?!

Our Classic Automobile Show stretches for blocks and delights even the casual aficionado of 1920s to 1970s vintage vehicles. Organized by the Transylvania Cruisers, entertainers like Elvis and the Blues Brothers have been known to show up and croon while you swoon over these classic beauties.

The music doesn’t stop with the cars. Our Courthouse Gazebo is center stage for day-long musical entertainment.

2011 Gazebo Entertainment Schedule:
11:00am    Wanda Lu Paxton & Rule 62
12:00pm    Deano and the Dreamers
1:00pm      Lynn Goldsmith & The Jeter Mountain Band
2:00pm      Stepchild
3:00pm      Sylvan Square Dancers
4:00pm      Moon Shine Babies

For more information visit Heart of Brevard or call 828-884-3278

The Land of Waterfalls Art Gallery is an artist’s cooperative whose members include local fine artists. Each artist has a unique talent, style and a variety of media represented. Experience fine art while visiting the falls at Connestee Falls Park located next to the gallery.

The Gallery will have a Ribbon cutting by the Chamber of Commerce on March 4th at 2PM and their Grand Opening with mini painting give aways and a drawing for a painting will be March 5th.

Watch their web site www.landofwaterfallsgallery.com for upcoming events including Guest Artists, Demonstrations by Gallery Artists and Featured Artists Receptions.

Their Winter Hours are Wednesday thru Saturday 10:00am to 4:30pm

Contact information: Phone: 828-883-3830 email: landofwaterfallsgallery@gmail.com

Address: 5388 South Greenville Highway next to Connestee Falls Park in Brevard North Carolina

Grab your friends and enjoy a Country Christmas. Neighborhoods featured on the tour this year include: Straus Park, Cadence Point, Mountain Brook, Rosman, Middlefork and the Glady Fork area. Homes are selected by location, décor, design and or views. Most homes this year will be decorating for the Holidays.

To order tickets for the Holiday Tour of Homes ($30) or to order tickets to the Kick-off Party ($50) call the TC Arts Council at 884-2787. The Transylvania Community Arts Council is located at 349 S. Caldwell Street in Brevard. All proceeds go to support the TC Arts Council’s youth programs. TC Arts would like to thank Comporium, Audrey Love Charitable Foundation and the NC Arts Council for supporting this event.

Artists featured in the Santa’s Palette this year include: George Andrews, Donna Allstaedt, Sonia Arnold, Elaine Bailey, Rick Bland, Marcia Brennan, Joe Bruneau, Aleshka Cleveland, Carole Coogan, Ann & Marlin Dixon, Sharyn Fogel, Madelene Gozansky, Pam Granger-Gale, Joseph Hagarty, Kathy Hardy, Ellen Harris, Sue Hershey, Joan Mastny, Jessica Midget, Linda Muir, Deda Parker, Allison Pressley, Ellen Riching Stinchcomb, Ann Zelle and many more.

The humorous, Pulitzer Prize-winning drama that has delighted audiences for
decades. When the affable Elwood P. Dowd introduces his imaginary friend
Harvey–a six-foot, three-inch tall rabbit–to guests at a society party, his sister
has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate; she decides to
have him committed to a sanitarium to protect the family from embarrassment.
The ensuing wonderful mixture of warmth and constantly bemusing humor has
made this a celebrated success wherever seen, including more than 1,700
Broadway performances and four movie adaptations. Put this timeless
masterpiece on your must-see list!

Cast

Myrtle Mae Simmons.…………………. Allison Pressley
Veta Louise Simmons.………………… Claudia Carter Covington
Elwood P. Dowd…………………………. Michael Boulos
Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet.………………… Michele Barg
Ruth Kelly, RN……………………………. Amy Jo Riddick
Duane Wilson.……………………………. David E. Gibbs
Lyman Sanderson, MD……………….. Marvin Barg
William R. Chumley, MD.…………….. Terry A. Moore
Betty Chumley.…………………………… Martha Hogenboom
Judge Omar Gaffney………………….. Fred W. Greene
E. J. Lofgren.……………………………… Jim Keeley

TICKETS: $16 (adults) & $10 (full-time students); BLT season tickets apply.

PHONE RESERVATIONS: Call (828) 884-BLTReservations [884-2587] at any
time for phone reservations and additional information.

Yea – a 3 day holiday weekend  - Labor Day a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 6 in 2010).  Saturday is Brevard/Transylvania’s 2nd annual Farm Fair and there is so much more happening in the area. But how many of us really remember or know how or why Labor Day was mandated? Wondering myself – I went to Wikipedia and this is what I discovered.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parades. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer recess. Similarly, some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school, although school starting times now vary.

In U.S. sports, Labor Day marks the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons. NCAA teams usually play their first games the week before Labor Day, with the NFL traditionally playing their first game the Thursday following Labor Day. The Southern 500 NASCAR auto race was held that day from 1950 to 2004.

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.^[1] In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. militaryand U.S. Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.^[2] Cleveland was also concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.^[3] By the 20th century, all 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

Mozart’s delightful opera exemplifies intrigue and deceit. This is the story of a botched attempt at marital infidelity. The story provides subtle mockery of the nobility – the very benefactors who financed Mozart’s work. This opera features some of the composer’s best-known arias and duets.

Baritone Jonathan Christopher will be playing the role of Figaro. He come from Bermuda, and is attending McGill University. He previously performed as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte and Ubalde in Armide. Soprano Sara Ptak dazzles in the role of Susanna. She is from Peru, IL, and attends DePaul University. Notable roles include Gretel in Hansel und Gretel and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. Soprano Véronique Coutu plays the Countess. She hails from Montreal, Canada, and attends McGill University. She has performed as Colinette in Colas et Colinette, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and Nancy in Albert Herring. Baritone John Allen Nelson will play the role of the count. He hails from Kansas City, MO, and attends UMKC Conservatory of Music. Notable roles include Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore. Lastly, Cherubino is played by mezzo-soprano Reilly Nelson. She is from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and attends the Eastman School of Music. She has performed as Rose in The Secret Garden and Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos.

Brevard’s Dancing with the Stars Hosted by Heart of Brevard

Sweetheart Dancing with Our Stars – Valentine’s Weekend Dance Sponsored by Heart of Brevard Talent doesn’t just thrive in Hollywood, California. Western North Carolina has plenty of community celebrities who are willing to compete for one night of glory on the dance floor. Come join us for Dancing with Our Stars on Valentine’s Weekend February 13, 2010 in downtown Brevard. The audience votes for their favorite—$1.00 per vote—which means you can vote as many times as you want and for as many couples as you want! This dance event is held at the Brevard Little Theatre/American Legion Hall located at 55 E. Jordan Street. The Sweetheart Dance is from 8:00 pm through 11:00 pm, with the Dancing with Our Stars program beginning at 9:00 pm. Admission is $10 per person at the door. The evening is a fundraiser sponsored by the Heart of Brevard to raise scholarship funds for TC Arts Council’s Summer Kids Art Camps. For more information, contact the Heart of Brevard 884-3278 (www.brevardnc.org)