BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

An Evening of Giving Thanks will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ace’s, 316 Chestnut St. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

Dancing will be held from 9 to midnight, featuring music by Ribbon Grass.

A cash bar will be available.

The event is a fundraiser for the YWCA of Greater Johnstown and will also benefit the West End Food Pantry.

Tickets are $10 per person or $8 with two nonperishable food items.

Information: 536-3519.

Irish Christmas

The Tony Kenney Christmas Show will be presented at 8 p.m. Saturday at Arcadia Theater, 1418 Graham Ave., Windber.

In addition to holiday music, the show will feature step dancing and an Irish comedian.

Tickets are $37, $35 and $32.

Information: 467-9070.

Artistic duo

“Facets in Culture, Faces in Government, Portraying the Essence of People and Places,” an exhibit by Marcene Glover, and the Royal Knobbies Series by Dorie Sheridan will be on display through Jan. 7 at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, 411 Third Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

The two Westmont artists are mother and daughter.

Glover will offer a mixed-media collage of paintings, drawings and handmade jewelry, while Sheridan’s exhibit features painted silk sculptures.

Glover’s mixed-media paintings are from her collection of state and federal congressional portraits commissioned by each member.

Sheridan’s hand-painted silk adds a dimension of animation to her whimsical collection of freestanding and hanging sculptures in her Royal Knobbies series.

Information: 536-5399.

Charitable Christmas

Overly’s Country Christmas, an outdoor light display of 2.1 million lights, will continue for its 53rd season through Jan. 1 at Westmoreland County Fairgrounds, Mount Pleasant.

Donations for “Share the Magic,” a collection of new toys, nonperishable food items, kitty litter and pet food, will be collected at the covered bridge in Christmas Village.

Hours for the display are 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 5:30 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 6 to 9 p.m. Christmas Eve.

Admission is $10 per car or family van and $12 for extended passenger vans or minivans.

Information: (724) 423-1400 or www.overlys.com.

Luminous lights

A Hometown Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held at 7 tonight at Miners Park, Graham Avenue, Windber.

There will be visits with Santa, treats for children and refreshments at Arcadia Theater after the festivities.

The celebration is being presented by Windber Area Visioning Experience and Windber Citizens.

Information: 525-0726.



Christmas Light-up Night will be held tonight in Ligonier.

The Ligonier Valley High School Marching Band will lead Santa to the Ligonier Town Hall to flip the switch to illuminate the decorated Diamond at 6:30.

Bill Brown, a news anchor at WJAC-TV, Ligonier Mayor Ormond “Butch” Bellas and Miss Ligonier Emily Pompelia and her court will assist Santa, who will greet children in the community room of town hall.

Vintage Christmas short features and cartoons from 1940 to 1950 will be shown free of charge in the town hall auditorium after Santa’s arrival.

Information: (724) 238-4200.

Holly and jolly

The 39th annual Holly Bazaar and the fifth annual Festival of the Snowmen are on display at Community Arts Center of Cambria County, 1217 Menoher Blvd., Westmont.

The Festival of the Snowmen will be on display through Dec. 20, and the Holly Bazaar will be on display through Dec. 24.

The festival will feature 10 originally designed snowmen figures, which will be sold by silent auction.

The bazaar will feature the work of 85 juried crafters, whose merchandise will include holiday decorations.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Admission is free.

Information: 255-6515.

All aboard

The Santa Train, sponsored by the Horseshoe Curve Chapter of National Railway Historical Society, will run at 10:45 a.m. and 1 and 3:15 p.m. Saturday between Roaring Spring and Martinsburg.

All trips will depart from Roaring Spring, travel to Martinsburg and return.

Guests will get to travel with Santa and hear holiday music provided by local church choirs.

Tickets are $14 for adults and $8 for children ages 3 to 12. A ride in the caboose is $20.

All tickets must be purchased in advance.

Information: 695-1428 or 943-5321.

Super musical

The Pitt-Johnstown theater department will hold auditions for the rock musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday and 3:30 to 5:30 Monday in Room 240, Biddle Hall, on the campus of Pitt-Johnstown, Richland Township.

Callbacks are scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Those who audition should bring a musical theater song of 16 to 32 bars to sing, or one will be provided.

Sign-up sheets for audition times are on the door of the humanities office at 234 Biddle Hall.

Rehearsal dates are Dec. 3, 10 and 11 and Sundays through Thursdays in January and the first half of February.

Performance dates will be Feb. 18-21 and 25-28.

Information: 269-7232 or stewart1@pitt.edu.

Knitters’ niche

A special Black Friday Open House and Sit & Knit will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. today at Knit 1 @ BlackSmith Exchange, 608 Grove Ave. in the Moxham section of Johnstown.

There will be refreshments and prizes, and knitters will share tips, techniques and stories at this fun, free event, which is open to the public.

Information: 361-2049.

Outstanding bands

The 2009 Cambria County Band Festival will be held Wednesday and Thursday at Conemaugh Valley High School, 1342 William Penn Ave., Johnstown.

The festival will feature two bands, both selected through auditions. There will be 90 students in the junior high band and 81 in the senior high band.

Students will rehearse all day Wednesday and Thursday for a public concert to be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday in the high school auditorium.

The guest conductor for the senior high band will be Michael Bodolosky, executive director of Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, Richland Township.

Conductors for the junior high band will be Theresa Shearer of Bishop McCort; Jennifer Shuty of Portage Area; Jerrod Cannistraci of Richland; Eric Pfeil of Greater Johnstown; and Allen P. Bixel of Conemaugh Valley.

Tickets, which are available at the door, are $3 for adults and $1 for students.

Information: 535-5523.

Dancing and movies

“Vamos! An Exploration of Latin Dance & Culture,” an interactive workshop for children ages 7-12, will be presented from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Discovery Center, 201 Sixth Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

Through story and discussion, students will learn about some of the most popular Latin dance forms and how they became a part of the American culture, then receive instructions in salsa and meringue.

The CineMuse Cinema in the Children’s Museum will be featuring two short films.

“Walking With Dinosaurs: The Death of a Dynasty,” a BBC production on the devastating impact of a giant meteor on the last of the dinosaurs, will be presented at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

“Polar Bears on Thin Ice,” a BBC production on the polar bears of Manitoba, Canada, and how human encroachment on their habitat and climate change impact their quest for food and survival, will be presented at 2:10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Information: 539-1889.

Upcoming

Day of drums

Award-winning teacher and performer Jim Donovan will host Johnstown Day of Drumming on Dec. 5 at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, 411 Third Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

The event will feature Donovan’s interactive Rhythm Renewal Workshop from 1 to 3:30 p.m. and “The Night of 1,000 Drums,” a concert headlined by Donovan’s world fusion/AfroGroove project Drum the Ecstatic International at 7.

The workshop will guide participants in learning traditional rhythms, songs and chants from Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil as they learn how to create music with other people.

Donovan will provide a selection of authentic West African drums called djembes for participants to use during the workshop, where beginners are welcome.

The workshop is open to anyone over the age of 17 regardless of prior drumming experience. Advance reservations are strongly suggested.

The cost of the workshop is $25 in advance and $35 at the door.

The evening concert will feature Donovan on drum kit, the energetic Congolese vocalist and dancer Elie Kihonia, guitar, bass, several percussionists and Johnstown native Brandon King on keyboards and vocals.

Donovan, a founding member of the popular multiplatinum band Rusted Root, will fuse African roots music, magnetic harmonies and a relentless rhythm section.

Tickets for the concert only are $10 for adults and $8 for children younger than age 12.

Information: 536-5399.

Hallelujah chorus

Pennsylvania Consort will offer its 22nd consecutive presentation of Handel’s “Messiah” at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at Bedford United Methodist Church, 132 E. John St., Bedford.

Featured soloists are soprano Ginger Reinhardt, mezzo-soprano Janice Mianulli, tenor Richard Kennedy and bass-baritone James R. White.

Jeffrey L. Webb, an associate professor of music and director of choral activities at Pitt-Johns-town, will serve as music director.

The concert also will include a volunteer choir from Bedford, Blair, Cambria and Huntingdon counties and a chamber orchestra of 13 professional musicians from the region.

Tickets, which will be sold at the door one hour before the event, are $9 for adults and $4.50 for students.

Information: 733-2301.

Dramatic benefit

Conemaugh Valley drama team will serve its annual all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at Conemaugh Valley High School, 1342 William Penn Ave., Johnstown.

Performances of Jean Shepherd’s “A Christmas Story” will be presented at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

The dinner and show will benefit the drama team’s spring production of “Beauty and the Beast.”

The play is being directed by Brian Empfield and the cast features Ricky Stahl, Mike Meketa, Jenn Ocipa and Matt Sumrada.

Student directors are Shauna Bixel and Ricky Yerneaux.

Tickets are $10 for the dinner and show, $7 for the show only and $4 for the play only.

There is a $2 discount for advance purchases, and children younger than age 5 will be able to eat free of charge.

Information: 535-5523.

Silver Christmas

Singer Kenny Rogers, known for his silver-toned voice and silver mane, will return to Johnstown for his Christmas and Hits Tour at 7 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, 326 Napoleon St.

Tickets are $29.95, $37.95, $46.95 and $57.95. Building fees or taxes are not included in the price.

Information: (800) 243-8499 or www.ticketmaster.com.