If you missed your opportunity last weekend, you have yet another chance to enjoy some great fun in Madera County.  Come celebrate Christmas in the Mountains on its final weekend!

Local crafters, shop keepers and artisans welcome you to join their Christmas celebrations.  The festivities began last weekend and will continue December 7th through December 9th.

Patrons will enjoy experiencing the simplicity of Christmas past in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  There is something planned for everyone in the family in the communities of North Fork, Oakhurst and Coarsegold.

Come and enjoy the fresh mountain air with local artisans, candy makers, storytellers, and music makers.  You will also encounter roving carolers throughout your travels.  Whether you visit for one day or the entire weekend, your family is sure to have a wonderful time!

Motorists will be greeted by paintings of woodland critters. Your children will be able to enjoy Breakfast with Santa, photos with Father Christmas and Santa, and storytelling hours.  There will be a shuttle service available to Yosemite National Park as well. 

Visitors will be able to purchase their “passport” (a holiday bracelet) for $5.00 which will open the doors to special gifts from restaurants, shops and hotels during their visit.  These bracelets will be available at stores displaying a pine cone decal in their window.

The Vision Academy of the Arts is sponsoring this event.  They are a non-profit organization.  Their main purpose is to promote art in the mountain area.

If you are interested in attending any or all of the fun events scheduled, visit (http://www.visionacademy.org/CITMschedule.htm) for more information.

It is once again time for “Christmas in the Mountains.” The Vision Academy of the Arts sponsors this annual event and a good time is had by all. Oakhurst, Coarsegold, and North Fork are filled with holiday joy for the first two weekends on December, and you don’t want to miss it.

Activities include: a tree lighting ceremony, breakfast and photo ops with Santa, storytelling, theatrical performances, traveling musicians, and local artisans will have their creations on display so you can start your Christmas shopping early. There’ll even be a window display contest, so if you come early you can pick your favorite and see if that store wins.

All of this fun is set in the breathtaking Sierra Nevada mountains. You can enjoy the best of nature and the best of neighborly hospitality at the same time. Stop by any store with a pine cone decal in the window to purchase your holiday bracelet ($5). This bracelet gives you access to special treats and services at local businesses.
You may have already seen this year’s guide in participating restaurants, hotels, and shops. “Christmas in the Mountains” begins on November 30. If you haven’t been able to pick up a guide you can visit the Vision Academy website to see the complete schedule.

The Squirrel Cage Theatre Company will be presenting their second consecutive weekend performance of their annual fall dinner show on Friday, November 16th and Saturday November 17th.  The play presentation is called “Shakeup at Sugar Pine.”  Audience participation is encouraged by hissing and yelling at the characters.  The first weekend’s showing was a great success.

The doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7:00 pm. Tickets for this event will be $25 for a family (immediate family only) $10 for adults, $5 for children under 12.  Reservations may be made in advance for tables only.  Individual tickets are available on site the evening of the performances.

The main food dish served on Friday will be lasagna.  The main food dish on Saturday will be stew.  Dinner is included in the ticket price.  Desserts will be an additional cost to guests. 

There will be a sealed bid auction at intermission each night.  Interested parties will bid for a portrait of the Smiley Mountain Band, which is the featured group at this year’s Frank Logar Memorial Gathering of Musicians.  The portrait was completed by North Fork artist, Joan Constable and is completed on torn paper.  The auction will benefit the 2008 music scholarship.  Sealed bids will be accepted at all showings of the play.  The winner will be announced on November 17, 2007.  Winners need not be in attendance to receive their prize.

Joan LeGro Bushnell is the author of the play. She has lived for more than 40 years in Eastern Madera County. She has resided in Teaford, Bass Lake and North Fork.

If you are interested in more information on this enjoyable show, contact:  (559) 877-2129.
 

Students at Yosemite High School have been starring in three entertaining shows.

The school has mounted not one, but two productions of the Neil Simon classic, The Odd Couple. One version sticks to the original in which sloppy Oscar and neatnik Felix are roommates who are constantly add odds with one another. The other version puts a twist on the play using two female leads, Olive and Florence, for this look at what happens when two very different people share space.

Crimes of the Heart is the third play that rounds out this trio. This play shows three sisters who return home because their grandfather is dying. As with any family gathering, the sisters must revisit the past and ponder what lies ahead. The play manages to keep on the sunny side of things, despite the serious subject matter.

The shows run until October 20, 2007, so it is not too late for you to get your tickets and support area youth and the arts.

Call (559) 683-4667 ext. 256 for reservations and more information.

Place:
Performing Arts Theater on YHS campus
Plays:
The Odd Couple (Female Version), Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.
The Odd Couple, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 20 at 2 p.m.
Crimes of the Heart, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.
Tickets:
$8 for adults; $5 for students and children

Whether you’re a budding artist who needs some encouragement or a seasoned artist who enjoys the company of other creative folks, the Yosemite Western Artists welcomes you to attend “Painting from Life with Doug Boomer.”

The Yosemite Western Artists (YWA) has been around since 1969 when it was founded by a group of artists who wanted to share and collaborate. They are dedicated to promoting the arts in our area.

Join them every Friday, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, for a painting session at the Historic Gertrude Schoolhouse. Artists are welcome to work in any media.

Session fees start at $7; please contact the group for more information. The group arranges for models and pays them for their time. The fees you pay go towards this payment.

YWA works with a variety of models. Recently, they arranged for a model to pose in a Santa costume so artists could get started on holiday-themed creations.

You can check on the YWA website or get in touch with Doug Boomer by phone( 642-3648) or e-mail: dboomer@sti.net. Doug can tell you about who will be modeling at each session.

If you don’t have plans for tomorrow, gather your pencils, watercolors, pastels, collage materials or whatever you use to create and join them!  Then plan to attend upcoming sessions. Why create alone, when you can enjoy the camaraderie of fellow artists?

You only have two more weekends to get to the Golden Chain Theater to see their hilarious fall comedy/mystery “The Crazy Quilt Club.” The show is running each weekend until October 21. Saturday performances are at 8pm and Sunday performances start at 2pm.

In the tradition of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and many a classic sweet literary old lady, Veronica Blather seems to find herself solving murders wherever she goes. Since her reputation precedes her, Veronica has a hard time finding a place to live.

Then her niece comes up with an offer she can’t refuse: the opportunity to stay in a retirement home for knitters. What could be more perfect than that? Well…whenever Veronica goes, murder follows, and soon she is faced with another crime to solve.

The cast of characters are sure to delight you: Matilda, the Crazy Quilt Club President; Sarafina, who is ready for anything; Lydia, a woman who thinks Tuesday is a good day to die; and Clara who has a distant relationship with the truth.

Are you good a picking up on clues? Do you think you can solve the mystery before Veronica? This lady is as sharp as her knitting needles, so make sure you pay attention. Get your tickets today and test out your sleuthing skills.

Visit the theater’s website or call 559-683-7112 to learn more.

Those of us who live in California love the natural beauty that abounds. And we love the countryside, dotted with rows and rows of fruit trees that add to our wines. The patchwork of colors is truly breath-taking. And so we love our wines and our local wineries who add so much to our historical legacy. We will be showcasing a number of our local wineries in coming weeks.

California is a wine lover’s paradise, and it makes for great day trips and romantic getaways. Fall is the time for it. Surely you know our local wineries. Or think you know them. Many have been reborn under the leadership of the younger generation. If you want the inside scoop on wineries farther afield, you may appreciate knowing about The California Wine Club. Their website is http://www.cawineclub.com/.

Husband and wife Bruce and Pam Boring started CAW in 1990. Avid wine connisseurs, they loved visiting wineries all across the state. They have compiled all of this information on the winery, the family behind it, what makes each wine special.

You may wish to become a member and subscribe to their email list. It is free. You will learn more about monthly featured wines, and you may chose to order the monthly selection or others from their 12 page catalog. I suspect that many of our Madera wineries are included in their listings. If not, we’ll have to help spread the word on our fine establishments which grace the countryside that we call home.

The ever-changing scenery of Madera County, California — from the lush, fertile San Joaquin Valley to the wild, rocky High Sierras — provides constant inspiration for a thriving art community. In fact, the Southern Sierras is home to the highest number of artists per capita of any region in the U.S. Through September 28, Madera County residents and visitors can view works by some of our county’s finest artists at a special exhibit at the Central Valley Community Bank in Oakhurst, California. Throughout the month of September, works by member artists of the North Fork Community Art Gallery will be on display at the bank from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Central Valley Community Bank is located at 40266 Junction Drive (next door to OKA’s Restaurant) in Oakhurst, California.

Artists’ work can also be viewed at the North Fork Community Art Gallery which is open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The gallery also sponsors the Sierra Art Hop from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month. This weekend, September 14-16, most fine art and gifts will be on sale at 10% off at the gallery and gift shop.

The gallery is located 3/4 mile east of the “Y” intersection in downtown North Fork at 57839 Mammoth Pool Road (Road 225). Go past the Recreation Center to the old sawmill site. Just follow the signs. For additional information, call 559-877-2487.

If you’ve always wondered what a Scotsman wears under his kilt, there will be plenty of people to ask this weekend at the 30th Annual Fresno Highland Gathering & Games. Madera County Scotsmen will be wearing the plaid this Saturday, September 15, when the games kick off at 8 a.m. at Fresno Roeding Regional Park. The park is located at 890 W. Belmont (Highway 99 and Belmont, just east of SR99) in Fresno, California. General admission is $12, seniors and military $10, children 6-12 $6, under 6 free; parking is $3. For more information and a map, visit the Scottish Society of Central California website.

If you’ve never been to a highlands games, you’ll find them fascinating. This is your chance to witness unusual sports like the hammer throw and caber toss, which looks like a telephone pole being hurled. Scottish athletics are not for the faint of heart. The tradition of the highlands games dates back to the Roman invasions in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Ancient chieftains and kings used the games to test the agility, cunning and physical strength of their clansmen. To the victors went the spoils: leadership in the clan and on the battlefield.

But highland games are not only about brawn. There are wonderful high-stepping dance competitions, a living history stage where Scottish stories are be told in the old oral tradition, great food, fabulous celtic music, plenty of celtic merchandise and special tents for clans and societies. And don’t forget the pipe and drum competitions. There is no sound in the world quite so spine-tingling as the sound of bagpipes played en masse.

Smooth jazz, rich oyster bars, the colorful French Quarter, cruising on a Mississippi steamboat — all the color and excitement of New Orleans beckons. The Madera Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring two delightful tours of The Big Easy:

• February 11-15, 2008
• March 10-14, 2008

The Chamber will host an information session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 17 at the Holiday Inn Express located at 2290 Marketplace Drive in Madera, California. Space is limited, so please RSVP if you plan to attend Monday’s information session. To RSVP, you can call the Chamber office on Monday at 559-673-3563 or email cmindt@maderachamber.com. 

Trip details, brochures and information sheets will be available at the meeting. Collette Vacations has planned excursions to the French Quarter, Court of the Two Sisters, St. Louis Cemetery, a jazz revue on famous Bourbon Street, a river cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez and much more. For information about tour highlights, click here. For more information on The Big Easy and its attractions, visit New Orleans’ website.