November Service Project: Desserts 4 Thanksgiving

The Charlotte Rescue Mission needs homemade desserts for their Thanksgiving meal (The preference is homemade [just like we all prefer] so please make the effort, but I doubt they will turn away store bought desserts). 1000 people will be served and what Thanksgiving meal is complete without dessert?!?! Spend some family time in the kitchen cooking up family recipes, rolling out dough, cutting out shapes or pressing pie crust into a pan. Make a special treat or two and deliver them to the Charlotte Rescue Mission on Tuesday, November 25 or Wednesday, November 26 from 6 am - 6 pm. Take pictures and email them to 13Days4Love@gmail.com and or share them on your FB page.

If you have children, use this opportunity to talk about your blessings and spend some time discussing the many that you and your family have. You can also make this a great educational activity and focus on the mathematical aspects of baking. ;-)

Family Fun: November 14-16 Weekend What-To-Dos

Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road, presents a free one-day symposium on the arts in Africa. on Saturday, November 15th, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Symposium speakers include Dr. Herbert M. Cole, professor emeritus in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of California, Santa Barbara; and Drs. Akinwumi Ogundiran, UNC Charlotte; Henry John Drewal, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Cécile Fromont, University of Chicago; Victoria Rovine, UNC Chapel Hill. A masquerade performance by the Oyotunji African Village Yoruba performers will take place at approximately 4:30 p.m., and will be followed by a brief reception. It’s free to attend, but registration is required. Call 704-337-2107 or visit the website to learn how to register online. Box lunches from Panera Bread will be available for $10, cash only.

The Charlotte Symphony Guild’s Musical Petting Zoo offers a chance for children to look at, listen to, and try out orchestra instruments. These FREE events take place at ImaginOn, 300 East 7th Street. The next event:

Saturday, November 15th, 2014, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at ImaginOn, 300 East 7th Street.

Call 704-416-4630 for more information.

Grey Seal Puppets is presenting “The Emperor’s New Clothes” at Sharon Presbyterian Church, 5201 Sharon Road, on Saturday, November 15th, 2014, 3:30 p.m. Admission is FREE but you need to reserve your tickets ahead of time and they are very limited. Reserve them now. The award-winning puppeteer troupe puts a new spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, transforming it into a fable. Stay for post-show refreshments afterwards.

Sanctuary at Davidson, an art gallery and shop at 108 South Main Street in Davidson, is presenting the Downtown Davidson Holiday Art Crawl on Saturday, November 15th, 2014, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Come enjoy a beautiful fall evening and the kick off of the Holiday season at the Downtown Davidson Holiday Art Crawl. Join 30 artists as they showcase and sell handmade art and gift items up and down the charming Main Street of Downtown Davidson. A multitude of art mediums represented ranging from fine art and textiles to pottery and baked goods. Crawlers will be treated to local musicians playing live in several Main Street venues and wine/beer tastings as well. For the kids: face painting, free crafts and a cup of delicious hot apple cider.

Bass Pro Shops, at Concord Mills, is hosting Santa’s Wonderland 2014, featuring FREE photos with Santa, crafts, games and activities. The festivities take place November 16th (with a preview event November 15th, 5pm to 8pm) through December 24th, 2014. The free Santa picture is a 4×6 print. Other packages are available for purchase. On Mondays through Thursdays the wait will be shorter. Each day a limited number of Bass Passes will be available. They will be for a specific time. You won’t have to stand in line, but will just return when your time comes. See the schedule for full information on when the crafts, games, activities and Santa visits will take place each day.

Preview event, November 15th, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

•   Magical tree lighting

•   Unveiling of Santa’s Wonderland

•   Carolers

•   Santa will be giving away a $25 Bass Pro Shops gift card to one lucky winner every half-hour! 5:30-7:30pm

•   Picture with Santa 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

•   FREE craft and backpack clip* November 15, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

•   FREE cookies and McSteven’s hot chocolate

Games

•   Laser arcade

•   Slot car racing

•   Remote control trucks

•   Moving trains

•   Soft gun arcade

Crafts

•   Decorate a gingerbread stocking: November 15th

•   Decorate a stuffed reindeer: November 16th to 23rd

•   Color a plaster ornament: November 24th to 30th

•   Decorate a foam bird ornament: December 1st to 7th

•   Decorate a Santa bobber craft: December 8th to 14th

•   Decorate a stick soldier ornament: December 15th to 21st

Cookie decorating: December 22nd to 24th

Mommy Meltdown: The Morning After Election Day....(Trust this isn't what you're expecting)

Ok, so your candidate didn't win, you're upset about the results of the election, I get it. And just because your people didn't win doesn't meant that your vote doesn't matter, lets be real, someone has to lose. Guess what, take that energy and frustration and turn it into change. Get involved in making the change you want to see in your community. If it really matters that much then you will pull your self off of the couch, re-prioritize and use your time, talent and efforts to do something other than spout about your disappointment from the comfort of your FB page!

Seriously, how much time have you spent this year volunteering and helping those that need it most? If you can write a check, great, that is needed too but don't talk about it unless you're going to be about it! And I mean how much genuine time have you spent trying to make your community better?! Not just the required hours you have to fulfill to maintain membership in an organization or because you are trying to get in organizations! Great you host events where "a portion of the proceeds benefit _________" but are you trying to increase the amount of proceeds that benefit others and not just your bank account with each event? Can we at least get a check presentation to see how much of our money is helping whomever? ****Soap box….stepping down….*****

Miss me with all of this pity party foolishness right now! If you are a parent, please be mindful of the dangerous example you are setting with any apathetic comments about voting and the process. If you have children who are old enough to understand and be engaged in the voting process, this is the perfect life lesson in perseverance or as the saying goes "there being more than one way to skin a cat" (which is so disgusting when you think about the image). My son and I started doing our monthly service projects for the simple reason of becoming involved in the changes and improvements we wanted for our community.  We didn't need any one particular government party to be in office to do this, we didn't need the approval of anyone accept the people we were trying to serve. What I DO know, is that WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Each and every month regardless of the size of our project, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Join us in one of our monthly projects, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Come up with your own activities/projects to impact your community so that you can say, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! To the over 200 people in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Charlotte and Raleigh that received new pillows and pillow cases this year, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! For the over 100 patients undergoing chemotherapy that will receive a Comfort Kit, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! For the children that received some of the 250 pounds of peanut butter and graham crackers from Tyler’ Birthday Service Project, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  What will you do so that you can say, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?!?!

Yes, your vote is a powerful way to make change, but so are your daily actions. Now more than ever is the time when YOU need to do something different for things to BE different! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!