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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 6, 2002
SOUNDS OF THE SEASON: The Hernando Symphony Orchestra will perform its final holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hernando High School Performing Arts Center, 700 Bell Ave., Brooksville. Tickets are $9 for adults; $5 for students. Call 799-8507.
FESTIVAL OF TREES: The Brooksville Woman's Club will present its annual Festival of Trees and Holiday Craft Sale in the atrium at the Hernando County Government Center in downtown Brooksville. The craft sale is during business hours today only, but trees will remain on display through the holiday season. Call 799-3801 or 754-4027.
ALL LIT UP: The Hernando Beach Yacht Club will have its 24th annual Christmas Boat Parade at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The parade will start at the yacht club, 4163 Shoal Line Blvd., and proceed through the main canals. Trophies will be awarded after the parade. Refreshments will be available for purchase at the yacht club during and after the parade. Participants are asked to bring a donation of a new toy to be given to needy children. Call 596-3805.
PANCAKES WITH ST. NICK: The Kiwanis Club of Spring Hill will have a Pancake Breakfast with Santa from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Krysher Hall), 2301 Deltona Blvd., Spring Hill. The cost is $3 at the door. Children ages 2 and younger eat free. Call 683-7668.
KEY PLAYERS: The Hernando Jazz Society will have a concert featuring piano music from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the SNPJ Hall on County Line Road in Spring Hill. Admission for jazz society members is $2; nonmembers, $5. For information, call 683-7254.
CRUISE WITH A CAUSE: The Spring Hill Cruisers toy collection for the Christmas Angel Program will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Hardee's Restaurant at Commercial Way and Cortez Boulevard in Weeki Wachee. There will be classic cars on display, caroling, music and a visit from Santa. Visitors should bring a new unwrapped toy for children ages from newborn through teens. All donations will go to the Christmas Angel Program. Call 596-0729 or (727) 856-0421.
DINNER-DANCE: Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10209 will have a Christmas Dinner-Dance on Sunday at the post, 15166 Spring Hill Drive, Spring Hill. Social hour is at 2 p.m., with dinner at 3 p.m. and dancing at 4 p.m. Music by Tony Boeing on the Fletcher organ. The menu includes baked ham or roasted chicken. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. 796-0398.
COMMUNITY CONCERTS: The Community Performing Arts Guild will distribute free tickets to its upcoming concerts at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Troubadour Bill Schustic will perform Jan. 11, and Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore will be performed on Feb. 15. Shows are at 3 and 7 p.m. Distribution and concerts are at Mariner United Methodist Church, 7079 Mariner Blvd., Spring Hill. For information, call 597-0409.
JUST DUCKY: The Chinsegut Nature Center will host a speakers night at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Featured will be a talk on Florida ducks by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Waterfowl Management Section. To reach the center, take U.S. 41 north of Brooksville 7 miles, then turn left on County Road 476 and go 1 mile. The nature center is on the left. For information, call 754-6722.
EVERYDAY HEROES: "Improving the Human Condition," a photographic exhibit of moments in the work lives of health care professionals, is on display through Jan. 1 in the main lobby of Oak Hill Hospital, 11375 Cortez Blvd., Spring Hill. The free exhibit is part of a collection of work by photographer Ken Schles. Call 597-3080.
CHORAL CHRISTMAS: The Nature Coast Festival Singers will perform Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi's Gloria and other Christmas music Sunday and Monday. Concerts are at 3 p.m. Sunday at Christ Lutheran Church, 475 North Ave., Brooksville, and at 7 p.m. Monday at Wesleyan Village Church, 8168 Jasmine Drive, Brooksville. Performances are free. Call 683-4833 or 754-8739.
ART ON DISPLAY: The work of Spring Hill Art League artist of the month Helen Blanchet will be on display through December during business hours at the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, 10005 Cortez Blvd. in Spring Hill. Blanchet paints primarily in oil and watercolor. The exhibit is free. For information, call 596-4000.
ANGELS ON HIGH: The Spring Hill Community Association will have its second annual Angels On High event Dec. 14-21 on the community association grounds at 1202 Kenlake Ave., Spring Hill. This year's event includes live music, carolers, refreshments and an expanded lighted path, where the angels will be displayed. The event is free. Call 666-4746.
CHRISTMAS TREE FOLLIES: The Hernando County Fine Arts Council will present "The Christmas Tree Follies" Dec. 13 and 14 at Silverthorn Country Club. Participants can win one of six Christmas trees (gifts included) that are being raffled. View the trees from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 14. Each tree, with ornaments and presents, is worth at least $2,500. There will be a luncheon-fashion show at noon Dec. 13. Tickets are $35. There will be a golf tournament at 8 a.m. Dec. 14. Admission is $50 and includes lunch. The event concludes with a black-tie dinner-dance at 6 p.m. Dec. 14. Tickets are $100. All events are at Silverthorn, 4470 Golf Club Lane, south of Brooksville. Call 796-3923 or 799-4653.
TOY RUN: The 13th annual Toy Run to Shriners Hospital for Children will be Dec. 14. Bikers will leave at 11:29 a.m. from the Country Kitchen restaurant on the State Road 50 truck route in Brooksville. Participants will take new toys to children in the hospital in Tampa. Call 597-2369 or 686-9116.
CHRISTMAS DREAMS: The 28th annual Hernando County Christmas Parade will be from 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 14 in Brooksville. The parade starts on Oakwood Drive (behind Hernando High School) and travels south down Howell Avenue to Fort Dade Avenue in downtown Brooksville. This year's theme is "Christmas 2002: When I Dream of Christmas ... ." The parade is hosted by the Brooksville Kiwanis Club. Call 754-4295.
CHRISTMAS IN BROOKSVILLE: The city of Brooksville Christmas Festival will be from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 14 in the parking lot behind City Hall, 201 Howell Ave., Brooksville. The festival will follow the Hernando County Christmas Parade. Vendors will sell homemade arts, crafts, candies, dolls, jewelry and ornaments. The free event will include entertainment, pictures with Santa, games, hayrides and more. Call 544-5407.
LIGHT UP THE HOLIDAYS: The Hernando County holiday tree lighting ceremony will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Hernando County Courthouse, 20 N Main St., Brooksville. Visitors may bring lawn chairs or blankets. There will be holiday entertainment, followed by the lighting of the tree at 6:30 p.m. Floats that were in the Christmas parade earlier in the day will be lighted and on display along Main Street, in front of the courthouse. The event is free. Call 754-4031.
CHRISTMAS PAST: The May-Stringer Heritage Museum in Brooksville will host Christmas Tour of Yesteryear from 6 to 10 p.m. Dec. 14 at the museum, 601 Museum Court. There will be candlelight tours of the museum, an old Victorian house. Tours are $3 for adults; $2 for children. Call 799-0129.
HOLIDAY OF HOPE: A Holiday of Hope and Fantasy Wonderland will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Jerome Brown Community Center and Tom Varn Park, on Darby Lane in Brooksville. Additional activities will be at McKethan Park, off Broad Street. Organized by Somebody Cares and almost 100 other organizations, the free event will include games and prizes for children, who can win gifts to give adults in their lives (parents, teachers, grandparents). The North Pole will be set up on the playground at Tom Varn park, where kids can meet and take photos. There will also be a Shoe Zoo, where 1,000 pairs of sneakers will be given away; only one pair of shoes per family will be given away, and children who don't receive shoes will receive gifts. Call 544-5498 or 799-7709.
CHRISTMAS FANFARE: "Christmas Spectacular" continues through Dec. 25 at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Dec. 19; 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; and 3 p.m. Sundays. Doors open two hours before each show for double buffet and full service cash bar. Dinner and show, $37.50; show only, $26.45. Ages 12 and younger, $19.95 and $14.95, all plus tax and tip. Call toll-free 1-888-655-7469.
HOLIDAY HOOPLA: "Hooray for Holidays!" continues through Dec. 25 at the Angel Cabaret Theatre, 5201 U.S. 19, New Port Richey. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays, and 1:30 p.m. some weekdays. Doors open two hours before each show for buffet and cash wine and beer bar. Dinner and show, $32.50; show only, $19.95; ages 12 and younger, $19.95 and $14.95, all plus tax and tip. Call (727) 847-0019.
CHRISTMAS STORIES: "The Sights and Sounds of Christmas," with a cast of more than 100 singers and performers and many live animals on stage, continues through Dec. 15 at the Harry Bollback Performing Arts Center at the Word of Life Fellowship off Hudson Avenue in Hudson. The first half of the show includes a life-size The Twelve Days of Christmas; the second half tells the traditional story of the birth of Jesus. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. today, Saturday, Thursday and Dec 13, 14 and 15; at 2:30 p.m. today through Sunday, Thursday and Dec. 13 and 15; and at 1 and 4 p.m. Dec. 14. Admission is $16 for reserved seating, $14 for open seating in the wings; ages 12 and younger, $5; and a $2 discount for ages 55 and older. Call 1-877-412-8687. Lunch or dinner buffet in the conference center is available.
PLAYHOUSE CHRISTMAS: Turn-of-the-century carolers, a reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas and instrumental excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, performed by Danielle Flury, will be part of the Playhouse 19 Christmas Special, Saturday and Sunday and Dec. 14 and 15. Show times are 8 p.m. for the Saturday shows and 2 p.m. for Sunday shows. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for ages 14 and younger. Call (352) 563-1333.