Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 16, 1994 TAG: 9412190022
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Elk dignitaries from 22 states are expected to attend the lighting ceremony. The Elks National Home Chorus will provide special holiday music. Spectators occupying more than 20,000 cars are expected to drive by and enjoy the magnificent Christmas scenes on U.S. 460, Bedford, which will be illuminated nightly between 5:30 and 10 p.m. from tonight through Dec. 31.
SANTA PAWS: Put your pet in a picture with Santa at the Roanoke Valley Chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Snapshots will be taken from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. from Monday through Dec. 24 at 1313 Eastern Ave. N.E., just off Orange Ave. Appointments are not necessary. Donations of $5 per snapshot will be appreciated, with proceeds going to the SPCA's Injured Animal and Spay and Neuter Fund. A bake sale will also be going on during picture-taking hours. And, don't forget to look for the SPCA's new $8.50 cookbook, "Sharing Our Best.
For information, call 344-4840.
CHRISTMAS CANTATE: Last year, a fledgling group of children between ages 8 and 12 made a notable debut despite complicated music and a director who insisted on treating them as professional musicians. They, as well as the adult Cantate Singers, hope to top their success in performances of holiday music tonight at 7:30 and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Houston Chapel on the campus of Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg. Tickets, $5, are available from Cantate Choristers and at Co-Operative Savings Bank branches inside Kroger Timberlake or on Old Forest Road.
SHINING STARS: Roanoke's brass quintet, Brass 5, promises a sterling performance of favorite Christmas selections tonight at 8 o'clock in Virginia Western Community College's Whitman Auditorium. Proceeds from the $5 admission fee will help fund the Brass 5 Brass Players Scholarship Fund. Call 983-0003.
MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC: Valley Word Ministries' Christmas musical, tonight at 7:30 at 1928 Loch Haven Drive, Roanoke, benefits the Samaritan Inn. The Inn, founded in 1977, provides food, clothing and other assistance to the needy.
Music and ministry will be provided by Pastor Curtis B. Gray, the Sons of Thunder and other featured musicians and singers. Admission is free; a love offering will be taken. Call 562-1500.
The Virginia Opry will present its third annual Country Christmas Show on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Stonewall Theatre in Clifton Forge. The newly formed Virginia Opry Gospel Quartet and its band, Gloryland, will be among the performers.
Advance tickets cost $5 for adults, $2 for children 12 and younger. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children at the door. Call 862-7407.
The Oratorio Society of Charlottesville-Albemarle will present candlelight Christmas concerts, accompanied by a brass quartet, organist and harpist, Sunday at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul's Memorial Church in Charlottesville. Tickets cost $7 for adults and $5 for students. Call 295-4385 or 293-8649.
AU CONTRA: Children will dominate the dancing between 7:30 and 8:30 tonight at the Sedalia Center's December contra dance. Then baby-sitters will take charge of the young charges so that parents and other adults can practice no-partner-needed country dances done in lines and circles. Tally Cox and Friends will provide the music while Becky McKenzie of Rockbridge County calls. Admission to the event, near Bedford, is $5; $2 for children 15 and younger. Call (804) 299-5080.
The Blue Ridge Country Dancers, with musicians Jimmy Costa and Tina Liza Jones and caller Beth Molaro, will contra dance Saturday from 8-11 p.m. at the YMCA Family Center, 108 Orange Ave., Roanoke. Usually, about 75 participants turn out to do the 200-year-old New England rooted dance form. A beginner workshop starts at 7:40. Donations are welcome. Call 763-2338.
NATURAL NATIVITY: Hollins Road Baptist Church will present its 15th annual Live Nativity Scene from Sunday through Thursday, from 7-9 p.m., at 3502 Old Mountain Road, Roanoke. Costumes and props are worked on year round to bring about the nightly drama featuring 20 congregation members against a 52-foot backdrop of the town of Bethlehem. Call 362-9569.
DANVILLE DRAMA: Danville's new theater group, the Danville Community Players, presents "A Christmas Carol: Scrooge & Marley" tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at Langeston Junior High School, 228 Cleveland St. Advance tickets are $6 for adults, $3 students and senior citizens; $7 adults, $4 students and seniors at the door. Call (804) 793-6013 or (804) 793-8064.
by CNB