Gish Picks: Week of August 26, 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. My father, Theodore Gish, a German professor and Texas German scholar and the inspiration for much of what I do, passed away recently at age 78. If you are interested in learning more about him or already know him, please look for his obituary in this Sunday's Houston Chronicle. And I'm happy to report this week on a German-American School his good works inspired! Now, GO FIND FUN!

ANNUAL THEATER DISTRICT OPEN HOUSE.

I love this time of year! Kids go back to school and we get to learn all about our marvelous theatre companies at the annual Theater District Open House, sponsored by Capitol One. This year the Open House takes place this Sunday, August 30 from noon-4pm at four spots:

• Alley Theatre at 615 Texas Avenue
• Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby
• Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas
• Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana

Learn all about offerings from various arts organization, including the Alley Theatre; Cadillac Broadway Across America - Houston; Da Camera of Houston; Houston Ballet; Houston Grand Opera; Houston Symphony; Society for the Performing Arts; Theatre Under The Stars and Uniquely Houston®. Guests will enjoy activities and live performances by each of the Theater District groups that include musical theater shows, behind-the-scenes backstage tours, interactive instrument petting zoo, costume trunk and meet-and-greets with costumed performers. And to top off the fun, each arts group will offer Open House-only savings specials on season tickets. It can get crowded, so arrive early to avoid the throngs and for best parking (I recommend the parking lot next to the Hobby Center).

A LIGHT SHOW NOT TO BE MISSED.

After a summer of fun programs that included the annual Shakespeare Festival, film screenings and lots of performances, Miller Outdoor Theatre kicks off the fall with “LUMA Light Show” this Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29 at 8:30pm. LUMA, the world's first human light show, has been seen on four continents, in a dozen countries and coast to coast in the United States. The show brings cutting-edge illuminated technology to the stage combined with a wide variety of disciplines from dance, magic, puppetry, rhythmic gymnastics, acrobatics and physics phenomenon (that’s the human part!).

This event reminds me, on a much smaller scale, of the Jean Michael Jarre amazing 1986 light show, “Rendez-vous Houston,” that I still remember vividly. LUMA plays on the fascination we have with lights, from our yearly pilgrimage to fireworks shows in the summer to our reveling in holiday lights in the winter. Don’t miss this one!

Miller Outdoor Theatre has programs almost on a daily basis so check their complete calendar of events on their website. Last week I met a patron who drove in from Crosby for the “Mamma Mia” sing-a-long, so it’s worth the trip! Evening shows are family-friendly while all of their daytime performances are designed especially for children. Those performances begin at 11am and last approximately one hour; no tickets are necessary to sit under the canopy and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. And as they say in their marketing materials, “It’s Free! It’s Fun! It’s for Everyone!”

PEARLAND'S "FRIDAY NIGHT FLICS" ENDS THIS FRIDAY.

Pearland Parks & Recreation, in partnership with Pearland Town Center, has been presenting their annual "Friday Night Flics 2009" all summer on select Fridays in July and August in Pearland's Independence Park. This Friday at dusk they'll present their final movie, "Monsters vs. Aliens" (rated PG). Families are welcome to this free screening as are blankets, lawn chairs, and picnics -- and you'll watch the film on a drive-in size big screen! Independence Park is located at 3919 Liberty Drive and parking is onsite.

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

Have you visited The Woodlands recently? I recommend it as an easy weekend getaway as it's only 45 minutes from Houston. We recently stayed in a great place for families, The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center. The Resort has fine hotel rooms perfect for business or leisure, a full service spa, two championship golf courses, several dining options, and a bar. They also boast two pools, a quiet one with a hot tub and a fun family-friendly one, The Forest Oasis Waterscape™; the pools are separated for maximum enjoyment. The family pool features a 30-foot Forest Tower with a double-helix racing slide, a relaxing waterfall, underwater music and underwater marine murals, and daily water basketball and volleyball. Seasonal activities include dive-in movies, live bands, build-your-own S’mores and organized games. I was thrilled not only by the Center's amenities but also by the friendly service of the abundant hotel employees. And we couldn't tear the kids away from the pool (bring plenty of sunscreen and be sure to save your seat EARLY in the morning as it gets crowded fast). I recommend getting a room by the pool for easiest access to the fun and there's plenty of parking next to the hotel. Sightseeing in The Woodlands is minutes away and many spots are featured on the Resort's website. Rooms start at a very reasonable $99.

A loyal GISH PICKS reader kindly alerted me to the fact that the Woodlands Children’s Museum is changing locations and that the Houston Museum of Natural Science/Woodlands is closing its doors, so I wanted to pass that information on to you. Stay tuned to the Woodlands Children’s Museum website for their latest information on the move; they’ll be open through September as scheduled. The Museum is worth a visit -- they have several interactive exhibits for kids as well as a special exhibit of antique Mexican toys. Join the Museum and you'll be the first to know about their new location! The Houston HMNS/Woodlands will remain open through September 7 (note: if you’re in the Sugar Land area, they are opening a satellite museum there on Saturday, October 3). Both Museums are located in the Woodlands Mall.

While you’re in town, visit other sites The Woodlands has to offer: Market Street, The Woodlands Waterway, The Fountains at Waterway Square, and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. For natural time, hit the more than 145 miles of hiking and biking trails, which includes Town Green Park, a great spot where families can run and play. For a complete list of activities and attractions, log onto www.thewoodlandscvb.com.

REDUCE YOUR HOLIDAY STRESS!

Now that school is back in session and the fall hasn’t gotten crazy yet, it’s a perfect time to get your family’s Christmas card done. Photos make great gifts and are also an excellent way to personalize your holiday card. George Hixson Photography is well known for their quality family portraits that can be shot in any location – your home, in the pool, at the beach, at a park, their studio – anywhere you wish. George will work with your needs to help you express your family’s personality while staying within your budget. The result will be photographs all are happy with and you’ll get to rest easy when the holidays hit because you crossed this off your “to do” list early!

For more information, contact Hixson@pdq.net or 713.298.2238.

NEW GERMAN-AMERICAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

The German Language Center in Montrose opened a German-American elementary school this year which features dual-language immersion and is possibly the only school of its type in Texas. In a true multi-cultural atmosphere, children receive about half of their instruction in German and study German language and culture while continuing with a traditional English-language curriculum. Students will celebrate American holidays such as Thanksgiving but will also receive a visit from Germany’s Sankt Nikolaus at Christmastime. The school is starting with first grade and has plans to expand to fifth grade by 2013. It's an outgrowth of their preschool and kindergarten, Kinderspiel, which is next door. Renate Saggau created the German Language Center after the funding for Houston’s Goethe-Institut, an international nonprofit organization, dried up in 1999.

My father represented the Institut in the South Central United States from 1971-1978 as the only American to hold such a position and worked with Ms. Saggau in the 1990s. Both Saggau and my father endeavored to keep German culture, language, and scholarship alive in our city that was home to German immigrants starting in the 1840s and now has about 20,000 resident Germans. It is so exciting to see German culture and language being shared with children! The Center is located at 3516 Mt. Vernon.

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