Gish Picks: Week of June 10, 2009


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. This week I'd like to let you know about a change in the Children's Theatre Festival, a fine program established by the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance. I know many of you have enjoyed their lively and fun theatre presentations, many of which were highlighted here over the years. The Children's Theatre Festival recognized the need to provide quality theatre to young audiences, so, in order to serve an even larger community of students, parents, and teachers, they evolved this year into a new program called Theatre for Young Audiences. We'll miss them in the summer, but look forward to seeing their presentations at schools! Now, GO FIND FUN!

GET OVER THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER WITH THIS "BEACH PARTY AND BOW WOW LUAU".

This Saturday, June 13, ease on down to "Golden Retrieverville" aka Hollywood Frame Gallery (2427 Bissonnet) for a fun party to benefit Golden Beginnings Golden Retriever Rescue. You and your family can don flip flops and Hawaiian shirts on Saturday, June 13 from 6-9pm and visit the Gallery for games, scrumptious tropical food courtesy of Bayou City Seafood, and lots of great giveaways for all the surfer dudes and dudettes!

The highlight of the evening will be an auction for Jim Tweedy's "Golden Retrieverville," an original, commissioned artwork to benefit GBGRR. Raffle items include a flat-screened TV, Bose headphones, a fishing trip, a custom-framed print of "Golden Retrieverville" and more. Parrot-head sightings guaranteed!

Golden Beginnings Golden Retriever Rescue is celebrating its 10th anniversary and is an all-volunteer non-profit organization founded in Houston for the rescue and placement of homeless golden retrievers. They provide temporary shelter and quality medical care for unwanted, abused, or abandoned retrievers and then place them in permanent homes where they will be cared for and loved for a lifetime. Since its inception, GBGRR has placed thousands of dogs into permanent homes.

Hollywood Frame Gallery is a huge supporter of many canine causes and is located near the Village shopping center between Kirby and Greenbriar. The Gallery is owned and operated by Ricky and Kathleen Connaughton, who live nearby.

PARTY WITH THE SYMPHONY IN THE WOODLANDS.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion invites you to the party of the year at the Houston Symphony's 20th Season Celebration Concert this Friday, June 12 at 8pm. This event commemorates the past 20 years of extraordinary performing arts events at The Pavilion. Guests can celebrate at this festive birthday party with clowns, magicians, stilt walkers, jugglers, games, arts and crafts, and even cake! Radio Disney will also be on hand with dancing, games and prizes. Pre-concert activities start at 7pm in the Fidelity Investments Plaza and are free to everyone attending the concert. No need to bring a gift, just enjoy the fun!

Tickets to the 20th Season Celebration Concert are $15 for orchestra seating. Mezzanine and lawn seating is free courtesy of Macy's and tickets are not required.

FREE MOVIE MATINEES AT THE MFAH STARTING THIS THURSDAY.

Chill out at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston where it's always 68 degrees! Take a break from the heat and create your own itinerary from the hefty list of activities listed on www.mfah.org/chill for a personalized day of fun. And new this summer are Free Family Movie Matinees! There's something for everyone on the big screen of the museum's unique theater. On the second Thursday of the month, starting this Thursday, June 11, enjoy a half-hour of Looney Tunes shorts at 11am and feature films at 2pm, all for free. And Thursdays are always FREE at the MFAH from 10am to 9pm, courtesy Shell Oil Company Foundation -- so bring your family for the Movie Matinees and stay for a Creation Station, a Storytime Tour, or a Gallery Talk, all happening throughout the day. The full schedule of Thursday Movie Matinees is below, so mark your calendars!

June 11
11am - Looney Tunes
2pm - 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

July 9
11am - Looney Tunes
2pm - THE SOUND OF MUSIC

August 13
11am - Looney Tunes
2pm - DUCK SOUP

Film details can be found at www.mfah.org/films and all Looney Tunes short compilations are 37 minutes.

THIS WEEK'S ATTRACTION...MOORHEAD'S BLUEBERRY FARM. For more attractions, go to www.gishcreative.com/attractions.htm.

YOU WON'T GET BLUE WITH THESE BERRIES.

If it's fresh fruit - and especially blueberries - you're craving, pack the kids up and head to Moorhead's Blueberry Farm. You'll get to pick the freshest blueberries possible and Moorhead's provides the bucket and bags free of charge (the blueberries are $1.50/pound -- CASH or CHECK only). And you're guaranteed safe eating: the farm has never used pesticides on its blueberries or bushes.

They have a "News" page on their website which reports on up-to-the-minute happenings on the farm, such as how the berries are looking, how picked over they are, and when the future crops will come in. It's looking great for the weekend of June 13 and they predict the peak will be June 20. The season runs from late May through mid-July, varying slightly year-to-year depending on crops. During the season, the farm is open daily from 7am-9pm. Facilities include restrooms, picnic areas, and cold drinks for sale. Happy Eatin'!

SIGN YOUR KIDS UP FOR ROBOTICS CAMPS!

The American Robotics Academy® offers “Lego Robotics”, “Crazy Action Contraptions” and “Robots on the Rampage” summer camps. 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.

WONDER-SPACE COMPUTER AND TECHNOLOGY CAMPS KEEP KIDS COOL WHILE HAVING ELECTRIFIED FUN.

Wonder-Space is taking sign ups for all kinds of computer and technology camps, as well as new math camps. Working with electrical engineers and computer scientists, the directors of Wonder-Space have developed challenging project-based curriculums to intellectually excite campers. Each course is custom tailored to a specific camper's needs and abilities.

Parents can choose one course per week from a range of project-based Wonder-Space courses or register for multiple weeks to explore different courses or concentrate on the same topic and learn advanced skills. No experience is necessary, but there are suggested pre-requisites. All campers are grouped by age level. Please check the registration bulletin to find out specific dates for each course.

And if you're out of town, Wonder-Space expanded this year to Austin, Dallas, and Washington, D.C.

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 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 © 2009 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World