Gish Picks: Week of May 7, 2008


Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" these 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. I know all of you are furiously signing your kids up for summer camps, but before you do, I need to make corrections to the information I gave you on two organizations: Eticool School offers on-site programs covering a variety of etiquette-related topics but is not set up as a “summer camp” per se. Helen Perry will arrange individual or group sessions in your home, school or a restaurant. Secondly, Blaffer Gallery’s “Summer Arts” workshops are $60 for the entire series of 6 sessions, not $60 per workshop. Now, GO FIND FUN!

MFAH OFFERS FREE ADMISSION TO MOMS ON MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and its two house museums, Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens and Rienzi, are offering admission specials on Mother’s Day weekend, this Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11.

Mothers get in free to "Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption" at the Caroline Wiess Law Building on Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11 with a buy-one, get-one-free card available now at Bayou Bend, Rienzi, Texas Art Supply stores, and other select locations. The Pompeii exhibition features nearly 500 objects from the ancient city buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

Mothers also get in free on May 10 and May 11, no card needed, at Bayou Bend and Rienzi, the house museums dedicated to American decorative arts and European decorative arts, respectively. Bayou Bend, the 14-acre estate and former home of Houston philanthropist and collector Miss Ima Hogg (1882-1975), provides an opportunity to explore early American history through the outstanding collection of furniture, paintings, silver, and ceramics on display in more than 20 room settings and to take a stroll through the gardens surrounding the historic house. Rienzi, the former home of Houston philanthropists Carroll Sterling Masterson and Harris Masterson III, is situated on four acres and houses European works from the 18th and 19th centuries.

For more information, call 713.639.7771 or log onto www.mfah.org.

THE 54th ANNUAL LEAGUE CITY LIONS CLUB "VILLAGE FAIR AND TEXAS MUSIC FESTIVAL" PULLS INTO TOWN THIS WEEKEND.

This three-day festival, from Friday, May 9 through Sunday, May 10, is an old-fashioned, fun-filled event with exciting live entertainment and fun activities for everyone. On Friday, enjoy live bands including the Grateful Geezers, carnival rides and games, craft vendors, festival foods, and a Kids Zone sporting rides, games, a petting zoo, circus acts, and other family entertainment.

The fun continues all day Saturday beginning with an early morning 5K Run/Walk through downtown League City. The Main Stage showcases premier live music throughout the day concluding with the hot sounds of Stoney LaRue and John Conlee. In the afternoon, find out who the winners are of the barbecue cook-off and apple pie contest.

Celebrate a Cajun-style Mother’s Day with your family on Sunday with a delicious crawfish and shrimp boil and live Cajun music! With thousands in attendance, the Village Fair is believed to be the largest fundraising event in North Galveston County, raising money to support a variety of Lions Club charities. On Friday, the Lion Club previews the Festival for over 500 special needs children from area schools.

The Festival takes place at Walter Hall Park, 807 Hwy 3 N in League City. Tickets are $10/Friday evening and all day Saturday and $5/Sunday. There is a $20 Three-day pass and children 12 and younger are free. Tickets and wristbands for the carnival rides are sold separately.

For more information, call 281.332.5005 or log onto www.lcvillagefair.com.

IT'S "ADOPT-A-BUTTERFLY" DAY AT THE HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE.

It's Mother's Day weekend so it's a perfect time for adoption! This Saturday, May 10, from 9am until 2pm, families can adopt an aerial delight and release one of nature’s most delicate and beautiful creatures into the Cockrell Butterfly Center habitat. Adoptions are $15/butterfly and you'll receive an adoption certificate, a commemorative gift, and your name will be on the Museum’s website as a Butterfly Parent when you join them on this special day. This inspiring occasion is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the special women in your life, honor a milestone, or dedicate your adoption to a lost loved one. All proceeds benefit the Cockrell Butterfly Center. Limited to 500 adoptions.

For more information, call 713.639.4629. You may purchase tickets online at store.hmns.org/DateSelection.aspx?item=329.

DRAGONFLY TRANSPORTATION HAS THE ANSWER TO ALL YOUR TRANSPORTATION NEEDS FOR SUMMER CAMPS, CHURCH GROUPS, SCHOOLS OR SENIOR CITIZEN FIELD TRIPS.

Their 18 passenger mini-buses are perfect for small groups and they have larger charter buses available upon request. Their 18 seat mini-bus is set up with a 20-inch television outfitted with a VCR/DVD player and an XM-radio with a CD/MP3 player. Dragonfly Transportation places safety first so most of their buses have seatbelts. Please call for rates as prices will vary depending on pick up and drop off locations, the size of group, and the time of the year. Please go to www.caniride.com to view the mini-bus and read reviews of their business.

For more information or to book a bus, call 713.539.6809 or email glenn@buswkn.com.

SIGN YOUR KIDS UP FOR ROBOTICS CAMPS!

The American Robotics Academy® offers the most exciting "Robotics Program" going on in the Houston area, which includes “Lego Robotics”, “Crazy Action Contraptions” and “Robots on the Rampage”. Classes are divided by age and skills level and teach students to understand "how things work" through hands-on activities that demonstrate the principles of simple and motorized machines. They gain experience with design and problem solving through the use of gears, motors, wheels and axles, pulleys, and remote control devices. Working in teams of three, students learn a variety of ways to design a robot to do the things they want it to do. They decide and build, as a team, the best design of their robot for the competition to be held at the end of each class session.

The camps are offered in several convenient locations in all areas of Houston, including Missouri City, Beaumont, Clear Lake and the Woodlands. Their two main camps are at the Gateway Academy near downtown and the Met Private School in Memorial. All American Robotics Academy® camps are designed around a curriculum that enables students to take a full day/week program or choose to enroll in just morning or afternoon classes.

For a complete schedule and more information, call 281.599.7626 or log onto www.roboticsacademy.com.

JOIN THE "CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS" THIS SUMMER AT THE WMBC FINE ARTS CAMP.

On Monday, June 9, through Friday, June 13, Willow Meadows Baptist Church becomes host to a unique faith-art experience that exposes children and youth to visual art, music, movement, drama, and much, much more! The Fine Arts Camp consists of age-appropriate art activities for ages 3 years old through completed 8th grade. This year's camp theme, "Carnival of the Animals," consists of the exploration of music by Camille Saint-Saens, the animal poems of Ogden Nash, and the animal sketches and sculptures of Alexander Calder. Willow Meadows Baptist Church is located at 4300 W.
Bellfort in Southwest Houston. Camp fees are $100 per student.

For more information or to enroll, call Tracie at 713-723-2870 or go to www.wmbc.org.

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. However, if you want off this list, click here and you're a goner. 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 print through 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 helping their children), 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 © 2008 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World