Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" these events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests.

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Now, GO FIND FUN!

ST. MARTIN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH PRESENTS TWO MUSICAL PROGRAMS TO HELP YOU RING IN THE NEW YEAR:

• Saturday, December 29, at 12:30pm: the Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir (Kent
  Schmedel, Managing Director; Jack Noble White, Producing Director; and Scott
  Meneely, Associate Director) will present a program perfect for all ages. The group will process throughout the church ringing the traditional Christmas Carol "In Dulci Jubilo", creating a special ambience amidst the grand gothic interior and beautiful stained glass windows of St. Martin's Church, located at 717 Sage at Woodway, west of the Galleria. One unique feature of performances by the Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir is that they sing in harmony on several numbers even as they ring the bells. The group has performed for luminaries such as the Pope and the President of the United States in the White House, as well as in many countries abroad. The Bell Choir is comprised of thirty ringers, Middle School through College, who are from the Fort Worth Metro-Plex. They perform with 200 handbells ringing from memory without direction.
  
  
• Sunday, December 30 at 10:30am: The "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" will be presented by the St. Martin's Church Parish Choir (George Mims, D.M., Organist and Director of Music) using the Gloria Dei Organ and the Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir. The Festival originated with an order drawn up by E. W. Benson, later Archbishop of Canterbury, for Christmas Eve, 1880, at 10pm in the wooden shed which then served as his cathedral in Truro. The Festival begins at 10:15am with the bell ringers "Change Ringing", an ancient discipline that exploits the tonal palette of colors that a set of bells can make. This is followed by the "Angelus" which has been traditionally rung to call parishioners in from the fields to worship. A procession of bell ringers playing "In Dulci Jubilo" begins the service which is followed by the hymn "Once in Royal David's City", with the opening verse being sung by a treble boy, followed by an a capella choir, and then the congregation accompanied by the organ. A reception will follow in Bagby Parish Hall.
  
  

Tickets are not required for either event and both are free; a Free-Will Offering will be taken to defray expenses.

For more information, please call 713.985.3823 or log onto www.stmartinsepiscopal.org.

THE CITY OF DICKINSON KEEPS THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT GOING THROUGH DECEMBER 31.

The city of Dickinson hosts its 10th annual "Festival of Lights" which features over 100,000 holiday lights, train rides, food and craft vendors, and visits with Santa. (Train rides and Santa through December 23 only). The Festival began as an idea between two neighbors, John Montgomery and Robert Morgan, in 1998. John and Robert's goal was to provide a family-oriented event that would invoke the spirit of the holidays and create a sense of community in Dickinson. It began with 100,000 lights and in 2003, the Festival was moved to Paul Hopkins Park to accommodate the growing popularity and room for new displays that were added. The Park is located at FM 517 and Maple, east of I-45 South. Free shuttles are available on weekends from the parking lot behind Shrine of True Cross School located to the right after exiting I-45 on FM 517. "Festival of Lights" is open nightly from 6 until 9:30pm.

For more information, call 281.337.2795 or log onto www.dickinsonfestivaloflights.org.

HITS THEATRE BRINGS "LITTLE WOMEN" TO THE STAGE.

HITS Theatre is presenting "Little Women" through December 30. Follow the travails of the March family through this Broadway musical as it opens with New York-based Jo March enacting an operatic tragedy she has written -- causing her to reminisce on her youthful days in Concord, Massachusetts. She remembers two years prior, rehearsing her siblings in her new Christmas play. Each sister is trying to find something to be happy about that Christmas; it is difficult with their father away at war and no money for gifts or a Christmas tree. Jo promises they will no longer want for anything once she is a successful writer...and so the story goes, as each of the "little women" lives out their dreams.

HITS Theatre is a non-profit, non-Equity, 501(c)(3) arts and education organization which provides theatre training for children ages 4 to 20. HITS is housed in a theatre in the heart of the historic heights area of Houston, at 311 W. 18th Street. Classes and performances take place in HITS Theatre; HITS also produces a major Broadway musical at Houston’s Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park each spring. This is their first production for an older audience. Remaining shows are tonight (Wednesday, December 26), Thursday, December 27, Friday, December 28 and Saturday, December 29 at 8pm and Sunday, December 30 at 2pm. "Little Women" is best for children 10 years old and up. Tickets are $25/each.

For more information, call 713.861.7408 or log onto www.hitslittlewomen.org.

SMITH OPTICIANS HAS THE BEST EYEWEAR AROUND.

If you are into funky frames like I am, then you'll love the underground hit for eyeglasses, Smith's Opticians, located at 4313 Austin and Wheeler Streets on the edge of downtown Houston. Smith's is the only place that I go to get my unusual frames and their fashion doesn't even break the bank: they have over a thousand styles to choose from, ranging from $28 to $150. See what fellow Houstonians have to say about Smith's on the "Hot Town, Cool City" website: www.hottowncoolcity.org/view/site/detail/120/.

For more information, call 713.524.8884.

VISIT THE GREENWAY THEATRE WHILE YOU CAN.

Management at the Greenway Theatre has announced that they will be putting away the projectors and stop unspooling films in five days; the last film screened there will be on
Monday, December 31 at 7:30pm. (Read the Houston Chronicle story at www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5402926.html.) This is sad news indeed to those of us that have grown to love the unique "Underground Cinema" spot for independent and foreign films. I was a manager there in my past life and am truly sorry to see it go. Please support the theatre in its final days and let others know of this news. And while you're at it, support that other purveyor of indie films, the River Oaks Theatre, so that we can keep it in business. Many of us are trying to save that city-designated landmark building from the wrecking ball (see www.saveourlandmarks.org).

For a list of current films at the Greenway Theatre, call 713.866.8881 or log onto www.landmarktheatres.com/market/Houston/GreenwayTheatre.htm.

Sarah Gish
Gish Creative
1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116
Houston, Texas 77057
phone/fax: 713.532.1173

email: sarah@gishcreative.com
web: www.gishcreative.com
and: www.thesummerbook.com
and: www.saveourlandmarks.org

© 2007 Sarah Gish

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