Gish Picks: Week of November 18, 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. FREE MUSIC! Hey tweet peeps! Follow me on Twitter and be eligible to win a cool kids' cd, making your holiday shopping that much easier! I'll choose a winner from all followers signed up TODAY. Be sure you know how to "direct message" since that's how you'll be notified that you’re a winner. You'll get daily PICKS of fun times in Houston – news you can use. I look forward to being stalked by you! Now, GO FIND FUN!

"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" presented by UH School of Theatre and Dance

LET THE CHRISTMAS GAMES BEGIN!

Even though the UH School of Theatre and Dance had to cancel their summer “Children’s Theatre Festival,” they are living up to their promise of presenting shows for kids from time to time. “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is their second presentation (“Holes” being the first) and will be onstage only two times: Saturday, November 21 and Saturday, December 5 at 1pm. “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” reflects on how it’s the season of loving, giving, and...mayhem! Called "The Worst Kids In The World" in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, the show is based on a book written by Barbara Robinson. It tells the story of 6 children (the Herdmans) who are delinquent and violent and go to church only for the Sunday school snacks! They find themselves drafted into the annual Christmas Play – which turns out to be a blessing in the end.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” takes place at the Wortham Theatre, UH Main Campus, entrance #16 off Cullen Boulevard. Tickets are $10/adults and $5/children.

FOOD AND FUN WITH THE HOUSTON GRAND OPERA.

What better way to introduce kids to art than through their stomachs?! This Saturday, November 21 at Discovery Green, Houston Grand Opera is teaming up with Recipe for Success Foundation to celebrate cultural traditions from around the world with story, song, food and art. As part of their “Opera to Go!” program, HGO picked two classic children’s tales about food: “Hansel and Gretel” (onstage at 10am) and “How Nanita Learned to Make Flan” (onstage at 1pm). The event will continue until 5pm with kids’ activities throughout.

“Hansel and Gretel” was written by the Brothers Grimm and is the story of how two young children are lured by sweets into the clutches of an evil forest witch. Campbell Geeslin wrote “How Nanita Learned to Make Flan” as a magical Mexican tale of a child who, because of a pair of magical shoes, learns to make flan and create a special life. “Opera to Go!” is HGO’s traveling program of high energy, 45-minute operas that can be scheduled by request at libraries, schools, and community centers.

11th Annual Holiday Shopping Bazaar at Congregation Brith Shalom

ENJOY CONGREGATION BRITH SHALOM'S HOLIDAY SHOPPING EXTRAVAGANZA.

It’s that time of year again! Grab your hats and coats and take the family to the "11th Annual Holiday Shopping Bazaar" at Congregation Brith Shalom this Sunday, November 22 from 9am-5pm. You can do all your holiday shopping in one place and have a great time doing it with the entire family. More than 45 vendors from Houston and the surrounding area will showcase their wonderful variety of products and gift items such as jewelry, handbags, cosmetics, sports memorabilia and collectibles, stationery and personalized invitations, unique gift items, unique items for children, pottery, art work, and much, much more. There will be free entertainment for the kids including a moonwalk, slide and games and there will also be food for sale provided by Super Pita. Congregation Brith Shalom is located at 4610 Bellaire Boulevard.

Admission is free and open to the public.

THIS WEEK'S ATTRACTION...THE AFRICAN AMERICAN LIBRARY AT THE GREGORY SCHOOL. For more attractions, go to www.gishcreative.com/attractions.htm.

I love Houston and especially its diversity (90 languages are spoken here on a daily basis) and its commitment to celebrating all of our cultures. The City has spent years working on a special project to safeguard the history of our African-American population for generations to come. The African American Library at the Gregory School just opened last weekend to much fanfare and is a significant addition to the Houston Public Library and a very important expansion to the Library's special collections. It’s housed in the building that served as the first "Colored" public school for African-Americans in Houston which is located in Houston's historic Freedmen's Town/Fourth Ward, a National Register Historic District. The Gregory School was named after Edgar M. Gregory, a Union officer and Assistant Commissioner to the Freedmen's Bureau in Texas, which established many schools and churches. Built in 1926, the two-story concrete framed structure is a State Archaeological Landmark, as designated by the Texas Historical Commission.

The mission of this new library facility is to serve as a resource and repository to preserve, promote, and celebrate the rich history and culture of African-Americans in Freedmen's Town, the city of Houston, the surrounding regions and the African Diaspora. The first floor will house temporary and permanent historical exhibits, a restored classroom, a digitizing photo lab, and receiving and processing of archives. The second floor will feature two reading rooms, open archives, two conference rooms for researchers and visiting scholars, an oral history recording room, visiting scholars' offices, staff offices and work areas.

The Library is located at 1300 Victor Street and is open Monday and Tuesday, 10am-7pm, Wednesday and Thursday, 9am-6pm, Saturday, 9am-6pm.

WHAM IS BACK IN TOWN!

Spacetaker is hosting the "4th Annual Winter Holiday Art Market (WHAM)", a weekend art sale and celebration of Houston's talented and diverse artists, this Friday, November 20 (5-10pm) and Saturday, November 21 (11am-8pm) at Winter Street Studios, located at 2101 Winter Street. The juried Winter Holiday Market offers a wide variety of arts and crafts including paintings, sculpture, and photography, as well as jewelry, clothing and soaps - you'll find plenty of unique, hand-made holiday gifts. Also featured will be a student exhibition, a collaborative venture between Spacetaker and the Teen Council of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. In addition to the exhibition and the shopping fiesta, there will be demonstrations and performances of more than 60 local artists of all disciplines as well as DJs and live music, complimentary beverages, and an array of food vendors from local restaurants. All work is available to take home the day of sale.

Artist demonstrations are scheduled throughout Saturday afternoon and include arts and crafts for kids organized by the Teen Council and live soap-making by Feto Soap, which proved to be a big hit with the families last year. Black Swan Screen Printing will host a free, interactive silkscreen station allowing guests to create original T-shirt designs during the event. Music Heals will present DJs for musical entertainment starting with Friday night's happy hour, and the band PeteSimple closes out the event on Saturday evening with a live performance.

Spacetaker, a nonprofit artist resource center dedicated to economic development, continuing education and networking opportunities for artists, hosts WHAM to afford local artists the chance to showcase and sell their work to the general public, while simultaneously promoting the breadth and artistry of our city's creative community. Since its launch, WHAM has generated more than $123,000 for more than 150 local artists and continues to grow as an important venue for Houston artists.

WHAM is free and open to the public.

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