Gish Picks: Week of May 28, 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. Now, GO FIND FUN!

THE HOUSTON PUBLIC CENTRAL LIBRARY IS FINALLY RE-OPENING THIS WEEKEND WITH A TWO-DAY EXTRAVAGANZA.

The Houston community is invited to join Director of Libraries Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson, Mayor Bill White, Council Member James Rodriguez, and other City officials for the opening ceremony Saturday, May 31 at 10am, followed by a free celebration throughout the weekend. There will be something for everyone to enjoy including music, crafts, food, multicultural dance performances, library tours, technology test-drives and author appearances. The first 1,000 people through the Library’s doors receive a commemorative book bag. Scheduled events are 10am-6pm Saturday, May 31, and 1-5pm Sunday, June 1.

The Central Library is located in downtown Houston at 500 McKinney. The weekend of entertainment includes a festival on the Library’s Plaza with music by Trout Fishing in America, Jose Luis Orozco, Grupo Kache, and more. There will also be 20 booths of family entertainment, Ringling Bros. clowns, appearances and book signings by visiting authors including Rosemary Wells, David Wiesner, Anita Bunkley, Bill Crider, Ellen Hopkins, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Bapsi Sidhwa, and Katherine Center. Multicultural dance performances take place throughout each day, and the gadget petting zoo will be a crowd favorite.

And this year, the Houston Public Library is turning their annual "Summer Reading Program" into a fun family affair. Everyone is invited to participate in the program running June 1 through August 1, including kids, teens, and adults. To register go online or visit one of Houston’s 38 neighborhood and HPL Express library locations.

For more information, call 832.393.1313 or log onto www.houstonlibrary.org.

THE FORT BEND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS A MAGICAL MUSICAL EVENT.

How tall is a double bass? How small is a piccolo? You’ll find the answers to these questions and more when the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra presents “A Family Affair” this Sunday, June 1 at 2pm at the Stafford Performing Arts Centre, 10505 Cash Road in Stafford, Texas. In keeping with the “family” theme, the orchestra has selected an assortment of music beloved by children everywhere, from “Harry Potter” to “The Pink Panther.”

For this last concert of the season, four members of the orchestra will step up to the podium to conduct. Sandy Chapman, Andrea Cope, David Flores and Joe Mack will each bring their own unique style to the program and the audience can expect some surprises. All audience members are invited to join the musicians and volunteers at a post-concert reception welcoming Héctor Agüero, Jr., who was recently named Music Director, in the Stafford Centre lobby immediately following this performance.

Ticket range from $5-$25; children 12 and under are free. For more information, call 281.276.9642 or log onto www.fbso.org.

THE LEE AND JOE JAMAIL SKATEPARK OPENS THIS WEEKEND.

The long-awaited free downtown skatepark will open for public use this Sunday, June 1 with a celebration from 1-5pm. The entire family can enjoy the skating, artwork, live music and more during the first of what will be many events at the new downtown skatepark. The park is named after Lee and Joe Jamail in appreciation of a generous gift donated by the Jamail family. In addition to the naming gift, the Jamail family has been influential in helping develop the full scope of the park as a model of urban environment. The Jamail gift, along with funding from several leading Houston families, the City of Houston, Huffington Foundation, the Houston Downtown Management District and several other Houstonians have been used to construct and open the park.

The Grand Opening day events include a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 1pm with Mayor Bill White, the Jamail family, and representatives from HPB, HPARD, and PUSH. Activities during the rest of the afternoon will rotate between open public skating sessions and professional skateboarder “jam sessions.”

Local DJs Squincy Jones and Dayta will be spinning tunes to keep the crowd hyped. Houstonians will be joined by some of the top professional skateboarders in the country, including: Kronik Energy’s Benji Galloway (World Cup Skate Board Champion); Nike’s Lance Mountain; Hurley International’s Steve “Salba” Alba, Bruno Passos, and Lincoln Ueda; and Independent Trucks has incorporated Houston as a destination along their national tour, bringing 17 of their riders including Christian Hosoi, Andrew Reynolds, and Steve Caballero, just to name a few. And the Houston Parks Board has partnered with the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art to coordinate the display of five large panels showcasing urban art created by local aerosol artists.

For more information, call 713.942.8500 or log onto www.houstonparksboard.org.

XPLORATIONS SUMMER SCIENCE ADVENTURES ARE NOW IN THE WOODLANDS!

What better way to teach your child about science than to enroll them in the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Woodlands Xplorations Camps? Their camps in The Woodlands offer the convenience of being in the neighborhood while ensuring the high standards of the museum’s summer camp program. This summer, kids can experience the magical world of Harry Potter™ in "Hogwarts Science Academy", track down clues in "Crime Scene Investigators" and build beyond their imaginations in "Build It Big". Day camps start at $185/week and before and after care is available. Camps begin June 9 and will sell out very quickly so sign up now!

To enroll today, call 713.639.4652 or log onto www.hmns.org.

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.

BUILDCLEAN™ WANTS YOUR HOME SAFE: TEST YOUR GRANITE COUNTERTOPS FOR RADON TODAY IN FREE STUDY.

BuildClean™ is offering Houstonians free, in-home radon tests to determine whether granite used in indoor applications, such as countertops and floors, emanates dangerous levels of radon. Exposure to radon, which is the second leading cause of lung cancer (U.S. Surgeon General), is a significant health risk. There are a number of studies that suggest granite emits levels of radon far above the EPA-established action-limit of 4 pCi/L. BuildClean™, formed earlier this year, is dedicated to educating consumers and the building industry about safe, healthy and environmentally friendly building materials. By funding both laboratory testing and conducting the Houston in-home radon study, BuildClean™ hopes to determine whether granite is a safe choice for use indoors.

To learn more or sign up to participate in this free study, please call 713.533.4509 or visit www.buildclean.org.

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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