AREA LIFE

Ho ho ho! Celebrate the holidays with activities the whole family will enjoy: music, art, sleigh rides, and visits with Santa. Then, turn the pages of Area Life to read about two photo journal projects that serve as a reminder of our blessings this holiday season: one that depicts the many joys of life, even those at its end, and one that introduces children who are looking for forever homes to prospective parents. Warm up with a bowl of soup to benefit premature babies through the March of Dimes, or schedule a visit to the MSUM Planetarium and immerse yourself in the wonders of the universe.

Friday, December 2

THE UNIVERSITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA HOLIDAY CONCERT

This combined MSUM and NDSU student orchestra will perform a holiday-themed concert of works with MSUM choirs.

7:30 pm

Hansen Theatre in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts on the MSUM campus

For tickets, call the MSUM Box Office Noon - 4:00 pm, 218-477-2271 or buy at the door.

Saturday, December 3

CHRISTMAS ON THE PRAIRIE

This is a fun family event, celebrating the Christmas season and the history of Cass County. Events include cookie decorating, musical entertainment by local schools, a silent auction, fundraising dinner, and an appearance by Santa.

1:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Free admission

Bonanzaville

1351 West Main Avenue, Fargo

Saturdays, December 3, 10, 17 SANTA FLY-IN

Noon - 2:00 pm

$5 Child, $7 Adult Fargo Air Museum

1609 19th Avenue North, Fargo 701-293-8043 or fargoairmuseum.org

Saturday, December 3

HOLIDAY VENDOR FAIR

25+ booths for your holiday shopping convenience. Lunch served (free will donation). Register for door prizes.

10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Admission is a canned food item for our food shelf.

Holy Cross Catholic Church

1420 16th Street East, West Fargo

For more info 701-277-9681

Saturday, December 3

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO YUNKER FARM

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Members Free, Non-Members $5 1201 28th Avenue North, Fargo

December 3-4

SANTA VILLAGE

1:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Rheault Farm

2902 25th Street South, Fargo

Free admission with donation — canned goods, new toys, cash donation. 701-499-7788 or fargoparks.com

Sunday, December 4

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT SERIES: HOLIDAY BRASS

The Holiday Brass program is a glorious start to the festive winter season. The mighty trumpets, horns, trombones and tuba virtuosi of the Fargo-Moorhead

Symphony bring Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces and contemporary holiday favorites to life.

2:00 pm

$12 - $10 Adults/Seniors, $6 Students. Available at the door or online. First Presbyterian Church, Fargo fmsymphony.org

Sunday, December 4

WINTER CHOIR AND BRASS CONCERT

2:00 pm

Adults $5, Students/Seniors $2

NDSU Festival Concert Hall

Monday, December 5

JAZZ ENSEMBLE AND LAB BAND

7:30 pm

Adults $5, Students/Seniors $2 NDSU Festival Concert Hall

Tuesday, December 6 WIND SYMPHONY

7:30 pm

Adults $5, Students/Seniors $2

NDSU Festival Concert Hall

December 7-8

SANTA VILLAGE

4:00 - 8:00 pm

Rheault Farm

2902 25th Street South, Fargo

Free admission with donation — canned goods, new toys, cash donation.

701-499-7788 or fargoparks.com

Thursday, December 8

ALL IS CALM: THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914

This highly-acclaimed collaboration between Minneapolis men’s chorus Cantus and Theatre Latte Da reenacts the remarkable World War I truce between Allied Forces and German soliders in the trenches on Christmas 1914.

7:30 pm

Hansen Theatre in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts on the MSUM campus

Tickets at mnstate.edu/perform or 218-477-2271 or at the door.

Bonanzaville

Saturday, December 10

THE BOOM: 1945-1960 IN CLAY COUNTY

MSUM professor Dr. Terry Shoptaugh will give a presentation on the Clay County home front at 2:00 pm.

1:00 - 3:00 pm

Free and open to the public. Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County at the Hjemkomst Center

202 1st Ave North, Moorhead 218-299-5511 or hcscconline.org

December 10-11

SANTA VILLAGE

1:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Rheault Farm

2902 25th Street South, Fargo

Free admission with donation — canned goods, new toys, cash donation.

701-499-7788 or fargoparks.com

Sunday, December 11

KAUNAU’S MAGNIFICAT AND SELECTIONS FROM HANDEL’S MESSIAH

2:00 pm

Adults $15, Seniors $12, Students $5 NDSU Festival Concert Hall

Monday, December 12

THE LIFE AND ART OF SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY

6:30 pm

Hot cider and cookies will be served.

Moorhead Library 118 5th Street South, Moorhead 218-233-7894

Monday, December 12

THE RED RIVER VALLEY CHAPTER OF AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS PRESENTS: A CHRISTMAS SING-A-LONG

A lovely evening of carols performed by area organists and ensembles.

7:00 pm

Monetary donations will be accepted for the Fargo-Moorhead Food Pantry St. John Lutheran Church 1710 5th Street South, Fargo

December 2011

Tuesday, December 13

THE ARTS PARTNERSHIP BOOKFAIR

Enjoy authors reading and signing, actors giving performances, musical performances, calligraphy, visual artists and more fun to kick off your holiday shopping season.

Use coupon number 10589299 for your purchases in store and on line this day only.

Barnes & Noble

1201 42nd Street Street, Fargo

9:00 am - 11:00 pm

December 19-20

HOLIDAY POPS FAMILY CONCERT: CHRISTMAS AT THE MOVIES

The informal Fargo Theatre is a perfect place to enjoy sparkling holiday classics performed by a full symphony orchestra.

7:00 pm

$15 - $12 Adults/Seniors, $8 Students

Available at the door or online.

Fargo Theatre

314 Broadway in downtown Fargo fmsymphony.org

Black Friday - Christmas Eve

UNGLUED CRAFT FEST

This pop-up handmade gift shop features local and regional indie gifts for everyone from babies to teens to grandparents on your shopping list! The fest features kid/adult gift workshops, free hot chocolate, and giveaways.

Thursdays 5:00 - 9:00 pm

Fridays & Saturdays 10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Sundays noon - 8:00 pm

68 Broadway North, Fargo ungluedmarket.com

Thursday, December 29

MARINE FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY

6:00 - 9:00 pm

RSVP required. Please call Ruth Danuser 701-799-8946 or ruth@ calvaryfargo.com

December 4

DECEMBER / JANUARY / FEBRUARY

Chamber Music Concert Series: Holiday Brass

together to honor and recognize all people who stand strong in the face of MS. At the Little Black Dress for MS Luncheon, women are encouraged to wear a black dress.

11:00 am -1:00 pm

$35 in advance. Corporate tables also available.

Through Friday, December 30

UNCLE SAM’S NEW DEAL IN MINNESOTA (EXHIBIT)

Learn how the government created jobs for Minnesotans during the Great Depression through an “Alphabet Soup” of WPA and CCC Clay County programs. Projects include the murals of the old Moorhead High School, Buffalo State Park’s buildings, and the founding of our historical society.

Monday - Saturday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Sunday noon - 5:00 pm

Regular Hjemkomst Center museum admission rates apply.

Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County at the Hjemkomst Center

202 1st Ave North, Moorhead 218-299-5511 or hcscconline.org

Through mid-January

ORDINARY VIKINGS (EXHIBIT)

A collection of 30 “bog stav” sculptures hanging as mobiles in this exhibit.

Mondays – Saturdays 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Sundays noon – 5:00 pm

Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County at the Hjemkomst Center

202 1st Avenue North, Moorhead 218-299-5511 or hcscconline.org

Saturday, January 21

MARINE MOMS

Join other Marine moms from SubStation Fargo for support, hugs, advice, stories, laughter, inspiration, and encouragement.

1:30 pm

Location varies each month. 701-799-8946 or ruth@calvaryfargo.com

Saturday, February 4

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS Restore Recycled Art Show & Silent Auction to benefit Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity

6:30 - 9:30 pm. Final bids end at 8:30 pm. Spirit Room Gallery 111 Broadway, Fargo Shelby Cochran 218-284-5253 or lakeagassizhabitat.org

Thursday, February 16 ON THE MOVE LITTLE BLACK DRESS FOR MS LUNCHEON

Join people who are passionate about the MS movement at a luncheon featuring a silent auction, a delicious lunch and motivational speaker Chris Linnares. This is an opportunity for women — and men — to come

December 8

Hilton Garden Inn, Fargo RSVP to 701-235-2678 or littleblackdressforms.org

February 24-26

RED RIVER VALLEY HOME & GARDEN SHOW

Learn how to bump up your home’s curb appeal straight from an expert. John Gidding, a designer on HGTV’s “Curb Appeal: the Block,” will be featured at the 51st annual event. The Home & Garden Show is organized by the Home Builders Association of Fargo-Moorhead and offers the largest selection of home and garden exhibits in the region.

Friday 3:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Saturday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sunday 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Fargodome

All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914

Quotable

“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Then you will seek me and find me: when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”

JEREMIAH

Awoman sneaking a peek at a neighbor’s stealthy cat through her sunlit living room window. A baby boy with twinkling eyes happily reaching for a mobile suspended above his head. A joyful lady smiling brightly as she’s assisted on to a bus in her wheelchair.

These are not exactly the heartbreaking and cheerless images most people think of when they hear the term ‘hospice.’ That’s precisely the point, say the organizers of a new photography exhibit called “Witness to Life: A Photo Journal of Hospice Care” showing now through February 5 at Plains Art Museum. As the exhibit’s opening plaque alludes, “Witness to Life” celebrates life, rather than the end of life that is commonly associated with hospice care.

“The goal was to illustrate, in words and pictures, the quality of life enjoyed by hospice patients, the reallife moments that families experience, the memories they create together, and the relationships that develop along the way,” said Mary Lou Dahms, director of marketing and public relations for Hospice of the Red River Valley (HRRV). “Witness to Life” was commissioned to help HRRV celebrate its 30th anniversary and remind people of the good work its service providers give to families in need.

The collection of black-andwhite photos lining the second floor of the museum is the result of a twoyear partnership between HRRV and Minnesota State University Moorhead, from which the university also produced an online magazine (www.horizonlines. org). Student photographers were carefully chosen based on their talent and as well as their ability to show compassion and respect toward the three families involved with the project, said Dahms. “The students themselves were extremely professional and sensitive, and they learned a lot about end of life and the work of a hospice program,” she added.

“Witness to Life” follows three patients, including two elderly women and a baby boy, through their hospice journeys. Kris Kerzman, communication manager for Plains Art Museum, said the images certainly capture the beauty, grace, and even humor, with which these patients and their families face illness, but they are also extraordinarily poignant because there is a finality to the photographic subjects’ lives.

“I think people who come to view the exhibit are probably thinking about the circumstances behind these pieces very deeply because we all have these people in our lives, and we’re all aware of what’s happening but rarely do we get that glimpse as they go through the hospice process,” said Kerzman.

The organizers hope the exhibit illustrates that dealing with terminal illness does not have to be scary or lonely, and that it dispels the myth that hospice is only for the elderly. “Life is to be lived and these individuals certainly were, and in one case still are, going about the business of living even in the midst of a life-limiting illness,” said Dahms. [AWM]

EXHIBIT PAIRS CHILDREN WITH ‘FOREVER FAMILIES’

Three hundred supporters and contributors of North Dakota Heart Gallery gathered to unveil six precious new portraits during the organization’s fourth gala event on November 3.

The traveling portrait gallery – which has landed in statewide libraries, malls, and churches – visually introduces children in North Dakota waiting for adoption. Most have been in foster care.

Radio personality Christopher Gabriel said the exhibit has featured 47 children, 35 of whom have been paired with families, since 2008. “Today you’ll be the first to view these stunning portraits and experience firsthand what it looks like to change the life of a child,” he said.

Justin Forde read a letter from Senator John Hoeven that challenges citizens to “open their hearts and homes to these children who hold so much promise.”

Casey and Valerie Anderson, local parents of five who adopted one of the children featured in last year’s exhibit, were in attendance at the event again this year. The Minnesota Twins mascot, T.C. Bear, also showed up to meet the children.

Linda Jaeger, regional supervisor at Southeast Human Service Center, said 13 children in North Dakota are currently waiting for forever homes. “Do you want to do something beautiful for God?” she asked, quoting Mother Teresa. “There is a person who needs you. This is your chance.”

The children and the photographers who took their Heart Gallery portraits:

Mila — Kevin Cederstrom

John — Jamie Rennich, Otis & James Photography

Caleigh — Alyssa Flaten, Mosaic Photography

Emerald, Sonny and Exavier — Abby Tow, Classic Photography