FREEDMEN'S TOWN IS HOSTING A JUNETEENTH FUNDRAISER TO RESTORE AND UPGRADE THE NEIGHBORHOOD'S HISTORIC CHURCHES.

The Coalition of Pastoral Leaders (CPB) is presenting a Juneteenth Celebration focusing on raising funds for historic preservation and the cultural heritage of the Fourth Ward/Freedmen's Town. This celebration includes a "Family Day" on Saturday, June 21 from 10am-2pm at the Mt. Horeb Baptist Church, 118 W. Gray. The fun will include kid's activities, archeological digging, and educational films.

Freedmen's Town/Fourth Ward is an area where the first freed slaves in Texas planted their roots and is home to our city's Founder's Cemetery, where the founding Allen Brothers are buried. One of its churches, Mount Carmel Baptist Church, is on the National Register of Historic Places as a landmark to the nation's only remaining district built by freed slaves. Sadly it was razed last month by the City of Houston.

This fundraiser will help restore and upgrade the area's remaining historic churches, develop their ongoing history archives, and enhance their audio/video equipment so they can increase their lectures and film presentations to the general public.

For more information on this event, call 281.932.3836. For more information on how to help SAVE OUR LANDMARKS and to join in a celebration of Houston's founding this August, log onto www.saveourlandmarks.org.

CENTRE STAGE THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS "ANNIE GET YOUR GUN" AT THE HOBBY CENTER THIS WEEKEND.

Centre Stage Theatre Company is celebrating America’s Wild West and one of the most famous women in American history with the musical production of "Annie Get Your Gun", coming to the Hobby Center in downtown Houston this weekend for four performances, including Saturday and Sunday matinees for the whole family.

The song titles of the musical are icons of Americana: “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” as is the character the play is based on, Annie Oakley. She has been called one of the first great female stars in American history rising to stardom as a sharp shooting entertainer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in the late 1800s. Oakley’s fictionalized story has been loved by audiences ever since it came dancing and singing to Broadway in Irving Berlin’s version in 1946.

To purchase tickets, call 713.315.2525 or log onto www.thehobbycenter.org.

PRODUCE FOR KIDS HAS DISCOVERED THAT KIDS DON'T GET TO EAT THEIR VEGETABLES.

A recent survey by Produce for Kids (www.produceforkids.org) has revealed that kids ranked broccoli as one of their three favorite vegetables, yet moms did not rank it in their top five most purchased items. Parents buy (in order of top-purchased) potatoes, baby carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, and corn. When kids were asked their favorites, it didn't match up as they liked carrots, broccoli, corn, green beans, and peas. When it comes to fruits, mom and kids alike say bananas, apples, grapes, strawberries, and easy-to-peel citrus fruits top their lists. Further trends with food and kids include cooking with them and enticing them with salad dressings and dips to eat fruits and vegetables.

For local information on eating healthy, log onto www.slowfoodhouston.org.

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• 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
  
  
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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”.