Charlotte.com: Catawba Community
News, sports and entertainment from Charlotte.com

• Ring in New Year with a decade dance
  "Dancing Through the Decades," a New Year's celebration for the family, will take place on the streets of downtown Lenoir on Monday night.Festivities include DJ Joe, with music from each decade beginning with the 1960s, and a costume contest themed to the same time period. The winner from each decade receives a $25 Visa gift card.Also on tap are children's activities from 8 to 10 p.m. featuring face painting, Becky the Balloon Lady, jumper, basketball shootout and more; food vendors; dancing; and a live countdown to 2008.In case of inclement weather, the event will move to the Mulberry Recreation Center.MORE THINGS TO DO | 6V
• Holiday Calendar
  HappeningsHoliday Features: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 27-29 and 31; 1-4 p.m. Dec. 30. Hickory Museum Of Art, 243 Third Ave. N.E., Hickory. Exhibits include Nativity by Jim Havner. Family scavenger hunt details available in gift shop. Interactive children's gallery. Western Piedmont Symphony Festival of Trees on display in the north and south lobbies of the building. Free. 828-327-8576. www.hickoryart.org.Kwanzaa 2007: 6 p.m. Dec. 27-31. Ridgeview Recreation Center, 700 First St. S.W., Hickory. Schedule: Dec. 26, sponsored by the 828 Motorcycle Club. The YMCA Youth Achievers and Derrick Reynolds provide entertainment centered around the Kwanzaa principle of Umoja, or Unity. Dec. 27, Sandford Sisters sponsor the principle of Kujichagulia, or self-determination. Dec. 28, Friends of Ridgeview Library and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority sponsor Ujima, or collective work and responsibility. Entertainment by the Healing Force of Winston-Salem. Dec. 29, Sponsored by Exodus Outreach Missionary Church with the celebration of Ujamaa, or cooperative economics. Dec. 30, the NAACP Youth sponsor Nia, or purpose, and also provide entertainment. Dec. 31, sponsored by the Concerned Citizens of Ridgeview, who will sponsor the principle of Kuumba, or creativity. Imani, or faith, the seventh principle, will be celebrated in individual homes on Jan. 1. A feast of celebration will be held after each event. Kwanzaa, created and first celebrated in 1966, is a Swahili word meaning first and is part of the phrase "matunda ya kwanzaa," which means "first fruits." Free. 828-324-8007.Children's Movie: 10 a.m. Dec. 28. Hiddenite Center Education Complex, 70 Hiddenite Church Road, Hiddenite. Movie is free but donations welcomed. Popcorn, candy and drinks available. Free. 828-632-6966.Laser Holidays: 3:30 p.m. Dec. 28; 2 p.m. Dec. 29. Catawba Science Center, 243 Third Ave. N.E., Hickory. A laser light show featuring classic and modern holiday favorites. $2 for members and $3 for nonmembers. 828-322-8169.
• NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY
  new year's eve partyHickory Jaycees' bashRing in the new year at the 11th annual Hickory Jaycees' New Year's Eve Bash, 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday, Park Inn Hotel, 909 U.S. 70 S.W., Hickory.Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door and include beer, wine, brown-bag setups, food, door prizes, disc jockey and party favors. A special package of two tickets and a room at the Park Inn is $159.Dress is jacket and tie for men; semi-formal attire for women. 828-328-5101; www.parkinn.com/hickorync.Have blast at American LegionNEW YEAR'S EVEHere's another place to celebrate the new year: Join the New Year's Eve Blast from 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday at the American Legion Post 48, 1127 W. U.S. 70, Newton. Tickets include buffet meal, set-ups, party favors and champagne. Music provided by Last Chance, and brown-bagging is permitted. Nonmembers are welcome. The cost is $25 per person. For tickets, call 828-238-8319.Hickory museum provides day of funART MUSEUMTrying to amuse the kids and the visiting relatives this week? The Hickory Museum of Art is the perfect place to spend an afternoon, and admission is free. Here are five fun things to do during your museum visit:• Check out "Nativity" by artist Jim Havner on the third floor. The crèche sculpture is part of the folk art exhibition, "Homegrown & Handmade III: Silent Preachers and Bringers of Light."• Pick up a Family Scavenger Hunt in the HMA Shop and explore the towering sculptures in Bill Brown's "The Art of Transformation."• Browse the large selection of holiday gift items in the HMA Shop and A Gift of Art: Hickory Museum of Art's Holiday Show & Sale.• Send your children on a quest to find the life-size sculpture of a sumo wrestler by Jeff Williams.• Sit on the giant kingly throne and read a story in Little Hands, Big Hands -- an interactive children's gallery.After your visit, don't miss Western Piedmont Symphony's Festival of Trees, on display in the north and south lobbies of the Arts & Science Center building.The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The museum will be closed New Year's day. For details, call 828-327-8576 or go to www.HickoryArt.org.Learn about `green' SegwaysEXHIBITFind out everything you always wanted to know about Segways -- battery-powered, personal, "green" transportation devices -- at 2 p.m. Dec. 30; 2:30 p.m. today and Friday, at the Catawba Valley Arts & Science Center, 243 Third Ave. N.E., Hickory.Other activities at the Science Center are:• Crabs or Not? Learn about different kinds of crabs during the demonstration in the new aquarium gallery. Demonstrations are from 10 a.m. today through Saturday.• The "Laser Holidays," featuring classic and modern holiday favorites set to laser lights run at 1 and 4 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.Admission is $5 adults; $3 ages 3-18 and seniors; free for CSC members. 828-324-4906.More listings in Friday's E&T section
• Entertainment Calendar
  HappeningsFarmers Market: Fresh Freight Exchange 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays; Garden Market 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday; Mountain Sunshine Farm 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Seafood Market 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 828-438-5252. Morganton Open-Air Market, 300 S. Green St., Morganton.Square Dance Lessons: 7-8:30 p.m. Dec. 31. Neill W. Clark Jr. Recreation Center, 3404 Sixth St. N.W., Hickory. Learn to square dance. Call Vickey Jones, 828-465-2200; Carolyn Speagle, 828-495-7279; Tammy Johnson, 828-324-6990. $5. 828-324-6990.MusicRick Cline Trio and Guests: 8-11 p.m. Sundays. Olde Hickory Tap Room, 222 Union Square, Hickory. Dec. 30, Seth Carper on sax; Jan. 6, John Alexander on sax and Gary Marcus on piano; Jan. 13, Byron Hedgepath, vibes and Mike Holstein on bass. Free. 828-322-1965.Men in Black Tie: 7-10 p.m. Jan. 3 and 17. Rockers Lounge, Rock Barn Golf & Spa, 3805 Golf Drive, Conover. Jeff Cline, Mark Sinclair and Ken Sigler perform a variety of standards, beach and Motown music. Free. 828-459-1125.Men in Black Tie: 7-10 p.m. Jan. 25. Youssef 242, 242 11th Ave. N.E., Hickory. Jeff Cline, Mark Sinclair and Ken Sigler perform a variety of standards, beach and Motown music. Free. 828-324-2005.TheaterAuditions: 5:30 p.m. Jan. 7-8. Hickory Community Theatre, 30 Third St. N.W., Hickory. Fifteen boys and girls, ages 5-18, needed for "The Really, Truly Story of the Three Little Pigs." Play directed by Tammy Lowdermilk. 828-327-3855. www.hct.org.Auditions: 6-9 p.m. Jan. 9-10. Lenoir-Rhyne College, 625 Seventh Ave. N.E., Hickory. Lenoir-Rhyne College Playmakers are auditioning for two plays."The Diary of Anne Frank." Needed are five women and eight men. Rehearsals begin Jan. 14. Performance dates are Feb. 20-24."Searching for Eden: the diaries of adam and eve." Needed are one woman and one man with strong movement skills. Possibility of double casting with sign language integrated throughout the production. Rehearsals begin March 17. Performances are April 18-20.Auditions open to college and high school students, faculty and the community. Creative movement will be part of the audition. For details or questions, contact Mia Self, 828-328-7161 or mia.self@lrc.edu. 828-328-7109. www.lrc.edu.
• Religion Calendar