Gish Picks: Week of March 3, 2010


Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests. I know many of you go to events based on GISH PICKS recommendations; PLEASE remember to tell the organization that you are there because of us. Word-of-mouth like yours helps our business to grow. In the same spirit, please also feel free to share GISH PICKS with friends and families. Do you have something you would like to promote on Gish Picks? Advertisers can promote family-friendly events, products or services to Houstonians all over the city and the surrounding area who are active parents, involved citizens and great shoppers. We love doing this community service and want to keep it free for our readers but in order to justify the hours spent researching, writing and designing this newsletter, we need advertising support. If you'd like to learn more, please click below. SUMMER'S ALMOST HERE. We're busy putting together THE SUMMER BOOK: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS and will have it out soon so that you can start planning your child's summer fun. Stay tuned for details! TWEETIN' FOR CULTURE! Hey tweet peeps! Follow me on Twitter and you'll get lots of PICKS of fun times in Houston – news you can use. I look forward to being stalked by you! Now, GO FIND FUN!

ENJOY CREATIVI-TEA THIS WEEKEND AT THE CRAFT MUSEUM.

This Saturday, March 6, 11am-3pm, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC), will present “Hands-On Houston: Celebrating Metal,” a special edition of “Hands-On Houston”, a free, craft-activity open house for kids and families on the first Saturday of every month. “Celebrating Metal” will focus on the metal arts in conjunction with the Museum’s current exhibitions, “Iron: Forged, Tempered, Quenched,” featuring American blacksmithed objects, and “eXtreme Tea,” featuring exquisite tea implements.

Families and visitors of all ages will enjoy participating in a metal-embossing activity, watching live demonstrations by Houston Area Blacksmiths’ Association and other artists, and viewing the exhibitions. Complimentary refreshments will be served by Té House of Tea.

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is located at 4848 Main Street in the Museum District.

TEXAS HISTORY YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT.

Express Theatre presents the final show of “Freedom Train” this Saturday, March 6 at 2pm at Northwest Mall. A great way to wrap up “Black History Month,” this play highlights the courage of slave families traveling to Mexico for freedom and the perilous journey along the way. “Freedom Train” is an inspiring tale of survival that centers around three generations of the Tyler family who travel from slavery in East Texas to the freedom that awaits them in Mexico. Their story of bravery and determination depicts a bit of little-known Texas history and, being a celebration of freedom, it’s set to rhythmic music that will make learning this history fun.

Express Children’s Theatre is Houston’s oldest and largest performing and arts education organization dedicated specifically to children and families. Founded in 1991 with two shows, four actors and a shoestring budget, the award-winning theatre company has presented professional, culturally diverse performing arts designed to entertain and educate. Express offers weekly performances at its 90 seat theatre in Northwest Mall (located between Hempstead Highway and 18th Street, just off 610 Loop in Northwest Houston) and their touring series brings the magic and excitement of quality theater directly to children in their schools and communities.

Tickets are $8/each and they offer group discounts.

ALICE JUST WON'T STAY DOWN THAT RABBIT HOLE!

Alice (as in the one from Wonderland...) is back with a vengeance, treating kids to the classic Lewis Carroll tale in many new and creative renditions. Last year Express Theatre and Company OnStage put on shows starring our favorite lost Alice. And most recently, the Alley Theatre staged an original musical, "Wonderland!" that was a big hit here and no doubt will be as it travels to other cities; and this weekend, Johnny Depp's latest remake-of-a-kids-story, Alice, opens across the country. We'll have to see how that one holds up to the 1951 version.

So what's happening closer to home? We've got "Alice Now!" at A.D. Players Children's Theater from April 21 through May 22. Artistic director Jeannette Clift George's adaptation of the children's classic tickles the funny bone and invites the audience to become part of Alice's topsy-turvy adventures in Wonderland. With original music and fantastical costumes, favorite characters such as the White Rabbit, Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, and March Hare come to life as Alice journeys through each wacky episode from the book. And shortly after that, "Wonderland!" (a different version from the Alley's) is opening April 24 at Upstage Theatre and promises a fun, zany trip with Alice set to a little jazz, some blues, be-bopp, folk and rock mixed with all the colorful action. That show is on through May 9. And over in Galveston, the Grand 1894 Opera House is staging "Alice in Wonderland" on Thursday, April 8 and Saturday, April 10 as part of their Grand Kids Festival. Their show is suitable for grades K-3 and is a high-spirited musical featuring a mix of jumbo nine-foot-tall body puppets, costumed characters, traditional puppetry and participation from the audience.

So mark your calendars now and head out to theatres this weekend. And with all this hysteria around Alice, I think Lewis Carroll would say it truly is a "Wonderland"!

THIS WEEK'S ATTRACTION...MERCER ARBORETUM. For more attractions, go to www.gishcreative.com/attractions.htm.

Spring is almost sprung (once we can get rid of cold and rainy weather!) so I am recommending you head outdoors this weekend to go see flowers – specifically flowers at the beautiful Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens. This nationally recognized public garden covers over 250 acres along Cypress Creek and features the Texas Gulf Coast’s largest display of native and cultivated plants. Thelma and Charles Mercer acquired 14½ acres of native woods alongside Cypress Creek in 1949 and over the next 25 years they created a garden paradise that included native plants such as dogwood and non-natives like camellias. The Mercers lived there until 1974, when their dream of sharing their private garden with others was fulfilled when the property became a Harris County Precinct 4 park. Additional land purchases by the County of 200 acres in 1983, 38 acres in 1993, and 2.37 acres in 2000 have expanded Mercer’s total holdings to over 254 acres. Through community support and volunteer commitment Mercer has grown into a premier botanical facility attracting 250,000 visitors annually.

I went to Mercer with my family and enjoyed walking among the gardens, as well as the trails deeper in the woods (bring spray and wear comfortable shoes and long shirts in case there are horseflies!). There’s also a picnic area and a canoe launch. And if you wait and visit Mercer in April, they are hosting “Kids March Across Texas” on Saturday, April 10, noon-2pm. Kids will join the Mercer’s Wildflower Club to learn about organic gardening as well as local roadside beautification projects.

CHECK OUT THESE COOL WEBSITES.

As you can tell, I love gathering information and I love sharing the information I find! So I keep an eye out for websites that would be of interest to you, my readers -- that I found helpful as a mom. Here are a few that I want to share with you today; enjoy!

The Story of Stuff features a 20-minute animated video on our consumerist society. Watch it with your kids and be amazed!

Community of Respect is a community-wide anti-bias initiative started by former Houston Mayor Bill White and former Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace.

Foundation For a Better Life - This Foundation has created public service campaigns to communicate the values that make a difference in our communities – values such as honesty, caring, optimism, hard work, and helping others.

Here's a great way to plan better meals and manage food prep and shopping time better -- check out E- mealz.

Now it's your turn to tell me some of your fave sites -- I'll be glad to share them with all of you when I can!

For more about my marketing company, Gish Creative, and the services we offer, please click here. You are on this list because I thought this e-newsletter would be helpful to you or because you signed up for it. Please feel free to tell your friends to subscribe by clicking here.My goal is to serve as an information resource for Houston parents through my various endeavors, including:

GISH PICKS, which is online (www.thesummerbook.com/gishpicks_archive.html) and in the Houston Community Newspaper group (www.hcnonline.com);

THE SUMMER BOOK®: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS (www.thesummerbook.com) which comes out annually on March 1 and is sold at bookstores all over Houston, including Barnes and Noble and Borders; and

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS, PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS, and ART PROGRAMS that cover topics such as summertime fun, passion-finding (for adults, children and parents and children together), marketing, historic preservation, art classes, and activism. All of these services can be tailored for any audience and budget.

The purpose of GISH PICKS is to help parents become aware of all the fun things they can do with their children in Houston and the surrounding area, so HAPPY TRAVELS! Please do give me feedback and ideas, as you are out there in the trenches also looking for interesting things for your family and I want to hear what you find. If you are having trouble getting to a website listed here, try hitting the “Ctrl” button and left-clicking on the web address, which should make it “live”.


Sarah Gish Gish Creative 1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116 Houston, Texas 77057 phone/fax: 713.532.1173 email: sarah@gishcreative.com web: www.gishcreative.com and: www.thesummerbook.com and: www.saveourlandmarks.org © 2010 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World