Displaying the T-shirts employees at the Taylor Burlington Factory store will wear as they seek donations for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by selling paper balloons are Denise La Voie (second from left), operations manager, and Jeremiah Koches (third from left), merchandising manager. Also pictured are Downriver LLS volunteers Barbara Holbeck (left) and Karen Ranka. The society is gearing up for its annual fall Light the Night walks to start this month. The Downriver walk is set for Oct. 14 in Wyandotte. The store raised $11,000 in last year’s drive.
By Evelyn Cairns
The Southern Great Lakes Symphony has announced its performance schedule for the 2011-12 season, which once again will include a Downriver Idol contest.
The opening concert on Oct. 2 will feature flutist Jeffery Zook, who will conduct a master class prior to his performance with the orchestra at the Flat Rock High School Community Auditorium.
On Nov. 19, the Heinz Prechter Performing Arts Education & Performing Arts auditorium at Wayne County Community College Downriver, in Taylor, will be the location for the screening of the 1927 silent film “Metropolis,” with live orchestral accompaniment to be directed by guest conductor Nick Hersh.
The Downriver Idol auditions will be held in January, and finals semifinals, and finals in February. For the first time, a junior division will allow younger sing-ers to compete with their peers.
The Idol finalists will sing with the symphony in late February, when the orchestra will play music from Disney’s “Fantasia.”
In April, the symphony will be joined by the Downriver Community Voices and soloists featuring works by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Massenet, Bizet and Tchaikovsky.
The orchestra’s major fundraiser of the year will once again be “Backstage Pass,” offering the public an opportunity to mingle with symphony members while enjoying food and beverages.
Season tickets are $75 (seniors), $90 and $125. Individual concert tickets are $25 ($10 for those 80 or older). Students with school ID or attending with a paying adult are admitted free.
‘Girls’ Night Out’ slated
Dinner, a fashion show and an artisan boutique will be highlights of the seventh annual Child’s Hope “Hopes & Dreams . . . A Girls’ Night Out,” benefit set for Sept. 22 at The Henry in Dearborn.
Supporters of the Dearborn-based organization, which funds child-abuse-prevention programs throughout Wayne County, will gather at 5 p.m. to shop at the boutique while sipping wine and nibbling hors d’oeuvres.
Dinner, the fashion show, by Neiman Marcus, and a raffle will follow at 7 p.m.
Mary Kosch is honorary chair, Linda Freitag, event chair, and Anne Doyle, mistress of ceremonies.
Tickets, $125, patron, and $175, founding friend, are available by calling (313) 583-6401 or going to www.childshope.org.
Places to go . . .
Through Nov. 15 — Series of Families in Action Mental Health Education lectures for those with loved ones experiencing serious forms of mental illness; 7 to 9 p.m. at Oakwood Heritage Hospital, 10000 Telegraph, Taylor; for dates, topics and additional information, call (248) 348-7197.
Through Nov. 20 — Michigan premiere and world joint premiere of “Daddy Long Legs,” a musical about a young orphan given the chance for a university education by an anonymous benefactor; at the Gem Theatre, 333 Madison Ave., Detroit; for tickets, $34.50 to $44.50, call (313) 963-9800 or visit Ticketmaster locations; for more information, go to www.gemtheatre.com
Sept. 19 — Cooking class, “Tour de France: French Cooking at Its Best,” 5:30 p.m. at The Henry in Dearborn; class and diner, $90 (dinner only, $75); for reservations or more information, call Leslie Jacobs at (248) 646-4517 or email [email protected] or Cathy Howells at (313) 253.4377 or [email protected]
Sept. 21 — Lecture by Del Quintin Wilber, author of “Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan,” and Jerry Parr, retired Secret Service agent who was head of Reagan security detail at the time; 7 p.m. in Henry Ford Museum, near the limousine that took the president to safety; free, but ticket reservations are required; for more information, call (313) 982-6001 or go to www.thehenryford.org/events/lectureRawhideDown.aspx.
Sept. 23 — Dearborn Symphony concert featuring the Vanguard Voices; 8:30 p.m. at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center; for ticket informa-tion, call (313) 565-2424.
Sept. 24, 25 — Fall Flavor Weekends at Greenfield Village; traditional cooking demonstrations and tastings; farmers’ market on Sept. 24; free with village admission ($21, seniors; $22, adults, $16, youths; children 4 and under are free); for more information, call (313) 982-6001 or go to www.thehenryford.org.